"Let me see if I understand your proposition correctly. You would like me to use my fabulous skills and marvelous abilities to help you make this 'haul' as you put it." The man speaking laughed quietly while swirling the blood red wine around in his large goblet. "In return I get forty-percent of the spoils from this little caper while your crew must split ten-percent and you and your little Sheikah partner here split the other fifty giving you each twenty-five-percent. Do I have the right of it my little blonde thief…oh though, I suppose I should call you a pirate seeing as how you sail around on that abhorrent little dingy of yours." The man chuckled again not looking at his two guests concentrating solely on his wine.
"Yes si-err Lord Ghirahim, I know it's not yer usual method but we figured ya might be inclined to waive yer usual hirin' fee considerin' how much we stand ter gain on this one job alone. We wouldn't have bothered ya if…"
"It that case, you should not have come at all," the man called Lord Ghirahim interrupted sharply finally looking up at them. If you had not wished to bother me, you and your little Sheikah dog here would not have come expecting a charity case."
"Hey now, there's no need for insults here. We was being polite…"
"No my promiscuous pirate, you have been quite insulting coming to my home like this and offering me such an abhorrent deal. Really whatever made you think I would accept such outlandish terms as to be paid after the job?! The idea alone makes me Furious, Outraged, Sick with Anger! Really such audacity; I would have expected more from the famed scourge pirate Tetra, but apparently you are nothing more than an uncouth termagant sailing from shore to shore just to fulfill whatever wanton desires you entertain in that empty little head of yours."
"Hold it right there Lord Leotard, if y'all think I'm just gonna sit here an' let you call me a two-bit whore you've got another thing comin'." The pirate's hand moved towards her weapon eyes ablaze
Lord Ghirahim looked at her in an utterly bored way not even remotely disturbed by the slight threat on his life. "That madam is exactly what you are going to let me do since you both came into my house and asked for my help. Really do you believe me such an imbecile as to take your word that the effects that we would procure from this endeavor would be evenly divided as you say. Tell me did you ever hear of that botched caper that took place in Woodfall almost a year ago?"
"Yeah course we did, an' what da ya mean botched?! They hit the Goddess lovin' payload with that job! I wish I'd been in on it but this here job we got will make that one seem like crumbs in comparison."
Ghirahim just looked at her in scorn swirling his wine once again before replying slowly as if he were talking to a simpleton and needed to draw the young brigand a picture for each new concept. "It is quite obvious we do not share the same sources. You see when they were planning that job those fools came to me, just as you are doing now, promising much the same. I of course turned them down for I do not lower myself to such standards. They in turn found someone who works in the same field as I, though their standards were far more basal than my own and they were more willing to trust their supposed employers than I. After they had successfully gotten away and were diving up the goods an argument broke out amongst the leaders. The dimwitted creatures fought over their shares eventually leading to the murder of two while the third remains on the run unable to fully enjoy his new found wealth because the Knights are still looking for him. He currently runs from town to town, boarder to boarder forever looking over his shoulder. Tell me what is to stop you and that pathetically obtuse crew of yours from turning on me the moment we have carried out your plan and are safely away. The answer my dear bumbling buccaneer is nothing. I only accept upfront payment on any job I take, period. The amount, of course, depends on the degree of difficulty involved, though I do tend to take off a few rupees here and there if it is a thrilling enough caper. However, we've already discussed my price and if you do not have the rupees I do not have the time. Good day you may show yourself out. Just be sure not to let the door hit you on the way out, I would not want it sullied any further than it must be." The man turned his chair around showing them his back as he looked out the floor to ceiling window of his office at the dark night of the city.
"Are you so stupid or just too arrogant to see the prize we're dangling in front of you," said the Sheikah speaking for the first time during the meeting. "This job could set us all up for years and even those with a smaller percentage will be fine if they play it smart."
"Ah, now you've hit the proverbial nail on the head my dear shadow crawler. Most people are not intelligent by any stretch of the imagination. People are often greedy fools and there are never enough rupees to satiate their endless thirst. They fail to see rupees are ugsome little things, but a necessary abhorrence at the same time. I charge the fees simply because it would not do for a being of my position to freely go about aiding any would be thief who so happened to ask; like some insipid little fairy sprite. They fail to grasp that there are things out there worth far more than any pile of glittering gems and oddly enough these are the very things no amount of rupees may buy."
The Sheikah and the pirate looked at each other still facing the man's back. Tetra then spoke to the man in a sweet voice though her cunning mind was going a hundred miles an hour. "Forgive me Lord Ghirahim but it sounds ta me as if there is somethin' ya want rather badly. I wouldn't think there'd be nothing y'all would want that ya couldn't have. Even if ya couldn't buy it a man with yer skills could always get it in some other fashion. Course maybe yer not as good as the rumors say, I'll tell ya what though. If y'all help me out I can help ya with yer problem, course, we'd have to renegotiate percentages an' all." Tetra smiled coyly at her Sheikah friend sure that the man would take the bait. Instead though", they heard that slight laugh of his that sent chills down their spines.
"Did you really think that pathetic attempt at bribery would work on such a fabulous being as myself. How very droll your mind must be my dear scourge of the Great Sea. However," The man spun back around facing them with a smile that could only be made more terrifying if it had had blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. "You did come up with an interesting solution to both our dilemmas. If you manage to bring me the one thing I have yet to be able to acquire in all my years in this business then I shall forgo my usual fee and help you without taking even a small percentage of the goods. Do we have a deal?"
The two looked at each other once again before the Sheikah spoke this time. "What proof do we have that you will keep your word once we've given you what you want?"
"That my dear…what was your name again?" "Sheik," said the Sheikah through gritted teeth." "Right Sheik, your parents must have been quite unimaginative and boring to give you such a hideous label," said Ghirahim while waving his hand dismissively as if the Sheikah's name was unimportant to him.
"Anyway as I was saying my dear Sheik, unlike you two, I have built my reputation on my word and have never once failed to deliver. However, I suppose a bit of a compromise is in order. I will make this rather simple for you, if you choose you want my help then you will acquire that which I will ask of you. I will not demand delivery until after we have successfully completed your job. I will however demand two forms of proof that you have obtained what I asked of you. If you decide my terms are too great we will all pretend this meeting never happened and we will all go on about our merry little lives. I will even go so far as to say you do not have to choose which option you will take tonight. After I present my offer you may leave this room and my estate. If you successfully fulfill your end of the bargain you may contact me as you did before and we will set up a time to meet to go over your proof and our plans. Now does that sound adequately fair to the both of you?"
The two stared at the pale man a moment before leaning together to have a quick whispered conversation. After a few moments the two reached their conclusion with Tetra playing spokesperson again. "We'll hear yer offer but as ya said we won't be making the final decision tonight."
Ghirahim flashed the pair of blondes another of his disturbingly toothy smiles before presenting his deal. "It is quite simple really all I want is a certain young man but I have thus far been unable to capture him by any means. He is quite wily and has thus far eluded every trick I have; he also does not fall for persuasion easily. Regrettably, he is rather well guarded too, which makes it a tad more difficult. If you were to manage to remove the boy from his protective little bubble then all I would demand as proof is a picture of him bound and gagged; as well as a lock of his hair, quite simple really."
"That's it! Ya just want us to kidnap some dumb kid. Ha! Why haven't ya done that yerself? Tell us who it is an we'll go get 'im tonight if that's all ya want," said Tetra not even bothering to hold back her laughter.
The scathing look the pirate received, though, was enough to make her shut her mouth instantly shrinking back into her chair. "Speak of him as 'some dumb kid' again and not only will I forget this little deal I will give the Knights a little tip-off on your whereabouts. Quite the bounty on your heads is there not?" The two remained quiet but glared at the man with looks that could have made all the snow on Snowpeak melt.
"As I said the boy is well guarded and I have indeed made several attempts myself but to no avail. You see I only seek out the best for myself and he is the best; for he is none other than…" Ghirahim paused for what seemed to be dramatic effect. "The Prince of Hyrule."
There were several minutes of stunned silence in the room both the Sheikah's and the pirate's mouths were agape nearly touching the floor. "Ya-ya want the frickin Prince! Are ya serious! Our mission is a thousand times easier than getting' ahold of im!" Tetra was all but shrieking in her shock at what or whom the man wanted.
Sheik being more calm in attitude had picked his jaw up off the floor before speaking; his voice only betraying a hint of his incredulity. "You're the one behind all the recent attempts on the Prince over the past year and the reason behind his tightened security."
"Very astute my dear crimson-eyed Sheikah but as I said my endeavors have yet to bear fruit in this. If you should succeed in bringing me the boy I shall in turn help you with your own task. By the end of it we could all be happy. I would have my little golden nightingale to place in a gilded cage, you would have your bounty, and Hyrule would still have his twin sister to rule over its feeble minded populace."
"Yer crazy we only have a week in which to perform our job but the one yer suggestin' would take months to plan. How are we supposed to pull that off," said Tetra rather hotly.
"That my pirate princess is your dilemma if you should decide to take me up on my generous offer that is." Ghirahim paused for a moment before considering something while sipping his wine. "I do have one request though, if you should take me up on my offer and succeed; please make certain that when you take his picture his eyes are open. I would love nothing more than to see the delicious sight of fear in those sky-blue orbs of his. Such a sight would fill my heart with rainbows." The man smiled a bit more apparently lost in his fantasy before snapping back to the meeting, all business once again. "That is my final offer make of it what you will but I request you leave now; I am a busy man after all."
A/N: Alright for those who may or may not know I've decided to expand upon this story since I now feel I can write it without it ending up like 'Three Weeks'. The story type will likely be a bit closer to my more normal stories, if that's what you can call them. However, since I already I have this up I decided this would be a good story to get a bit of input in from you my fabulous readers. So here is what I need from those who are willing. Currently there is a poll on my page with a question regarding this story and what you would like to see in it. I will leave it up for a while and then either change it out for another question or take it down. During the process of writing the story I will occasionally add different polls so watch out for them. These kind of stories take me a good while to write so it might be sometime before you see this story. During that time I'll also be taking suggestions for tidbits on this story. Some of the things I'm looking for are at the bottom of my profile page so feel free to PM me with ideas. I do have the basic plot line planned out but certain filler ideas are missing from it as of yet. Thank you for your help. As always leave me a review with what you thought of this story and any ideas you might have for it becoming a multi-chapter.
Later