Chapter Two


Link had to spend the next few days in bed, he recovered perfectly fine from the tension pneumothorax according to Nudge, and his broken rib seemed to be healing fine. But it would still take a few weeks, and he had to be careful about his shoulder, because since it was already loose his shoulder could easily dislocate it again.

But what worried them the most was that Links spirit seemed to have died, along with his family. He was able to leave bed a couple days after the incident, but he never got up. Not only did his insomnia get worse, but he also refused to eat anything. It had been four days since he had last eaten anything, and add together his lack of sleep, he looked very sickly.

Finally Tetra decided it was time to go and have a talk with Link, otherwise he was going to die of grief. She walked below deck, with some stew that they had for lunch and some of Links favorite hard tack, to the room where the rest of the crew slept. As expected, Link was lying on his bed his face was very pale and his shadowed eyes were dull and lifeless. He was still shirtless, with his arm in a homemade sling, and his ribcage was wrapped tightly in adhesive tape, "Hey kid," Tetra greeted with a smile.

Links reply was just looking in the opposite direction, but Tetra was determined to get Link out of this depression he had gone in, "I brought you some lunch," she announced.

The same reaction came from Link. Tetra sighed in frustration, "Come on Link, it's your favorite, stew and hard tack."

When Link refused to reply again, Tetra put the food down and sat on the edge of his bed, helping the boy into a sitting position, "Link," she started in a soft voice, "You need to eat something or you'll get sick again, and remember what happened last time."

Links face seem to gloom over even more and he looking away from her trying to hide the tear forming in his eyes, "Link look at me," Tetra ordered not having any of this.

Link very slowly looked back at Tetra tears leaking from his blue eyes, "What do you think Aryll and your grandmother would say if they saw you like this?" Tetra asked after a few seconds of silence she continued, "You know what I think, I don't think that they're dead."

Link, who had looked down so he didn't have to keep eye contact with the blonde girl, suddenly looked up in surprise, "What do you mean?" he asked, it was the first time he said anything since they had been to Outset.

"Well think about it," Tetra said, "We didn't find there bodies, in fact we didn't see any bodies, and I doubt that any enemy that would do that to a island would take the time to bury dead bodies."

Links face brightened a little bit at hearing this, and realized that she had a good point. Tetra had to force herself not to sigh in relief when she saw Link smile a little, "There you see, now how do you to think there going to react if they found out you were moping around like this and not trying to save them," Tetra teased, "Now would you, please, please, eat something?"

Link smiled at her and took the bowl she offered. He started eating at a healthy pace, once he was halfway through the bowl he started eating some of the hard tack. Why Link loved the bland stuff so much was beyond her, it was very plain and dry with no taste at all. Maybe when you just try it, it's pretty good, but when that's all you eat for days on end while at sea it got very plain.

"So where are we headed?" Link asked breaking Tetra's thoughts.

Tetra almost laughed, "I'm not sure, we've been so worried about you that we were just sailing around randomly. I'll have to check the sea charts to find you where we are."

Link wolfed down the rest of the food in less than a minute, this defiantly relieved Tetra, "Are you still hungry?" she asked.

"A little, but I can wait for dinner," Link replied since dinner would be in about an hour, "Help me get my tunic on, I want to go up to the deck?"

Link took off his sling and set it aide, then Tetra helped him into his green shirt. He winced slightly against the pain of his cracked rib, "Where's my hat?" he asked after briefly looking around for it.

"Oh, it's right here," Tetra replied walking over to the laundry crate, digging through it briefly then coming back with is green pointed hat.

"Thanks," Link said while putting the hat over his blonde locks then the two walked back up from below deck.

The rest of the crew seemed surprised but at the same time relieved to see Link out of bed, "Hey swabbie, its good to see you on her feet again," Niko greeted cheerfully to him.

"Well, I figured that I couldn't mope around forever, especially when they still could be alive," Link replied.

"That's the attitude," Niko agreed.

"Just make sure you take it easy," Nudge added in, "If you're not careful you're going to start getting out of my line of work, I was only in medical school for one year."

"Thanks Nudge," Link said sarcastically. "So where are we Tetra?"

The Captain was already looking at the sea charts, "It looks like we're pretty close to the Forsaken Fortress," she announced.

"We should check it out," Mako suggested, "Maybe that guy Ganondorf is back, and he's the one that destroyed Outset, and he's hiding out again at the Forsaken Fortress."

"Yeah, let's do it, maybe Aryll and Grandmother is there," Link agreed.

They didn't arrive at the cursed isle until after dark, but was disappointed to find that it was as dead as when they last saw it. Link, Tetra and Zuko went out on Links boat, because it would be easier to get to the shore. The trio were just about to head back to the ship when Link noticed up in one of the rooms, a small flicker of light could be seen, as if someone had lit a small fire, "Tetra, look," Link pointed at the window, "Someone is here."

"And by the looks of it, they seem to be trying to go unnoticed," Tetra mused.

"Lets go check it out," Link said and started getting out of the boat.

"Wait Link," Tetra stopped him by putting a hand on his uninjured shoulder, "It might be dangerous, you should wait here. "Zuko and I will go."

"No way, it's my family, and I'm not just going to sit around while they could be in danger," Link insisted.

"But Link-" Tetra started.

"No! Zuko can watch the boat and we'll go check it out, besides I know my way around this island."

Tetra sighed in defeat, "Alright, lets go," she gave in and the two of them stepped out of the boat onto the concrete, "Just be careful," Tetra warned and pulled out her charm necklace and gave it to Zuko, "You watch us through this, if we run into any trouble then come up and get us."

"Aye," Zuko replied.

Link knew exactly where we needed to go, so it didn't take that long to get there. When the reached the large double doors where the light was, they could hear voices inside. But the voices were hushed and whispered. Link put his finger to his lips and shushed Tetra quiet before slowly pushing the door open just enough for them to squeeze through. They crawled through the opening staying low, while straining to listen to what they were saying.

"- to enter the Sacred Realm," a male voice growled softly.

"Yes that is true," a different male voice replied gruffly to he other voice, "But until we can get to the Temple of Time we must lay low here."

"How do we get to the Temple of Time, my Lord." the first voice asked.

"First we must find the sacred instrument, alone with the piece of the Triforce, then we must-" the second voice stopped mid sentence after Link gasped from shifted a little and his rib twinged in pain.

"What is it?" The first voiced whispered.

"I thought I heard something," the second voice replied.

Before Link and Tetra even had a chance of run or hide, footsteps were heard coming closer to them, and a very large man as big at Ganondorf but not the same guy, came into view, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" They recognized him as the second voice.

The first voice came into view, and was shown as a very strange creature that looked like a bull standing on two feet, "Who is it?" he asked.

"I have found two intruding eavesdroppers over here," the large man replied, "You two should know that little children who eavesdrop are also punished." The man lifted his hands and at once Link and Tetra started floating in mid air.

"What should we do with them, my Lord," the bull creature asked. Link and Tetra both had the same terrified look on there faces, and with out realizing it Tetra grabbed a hold of Links hand.

"Well I don't see any value to them, and I don't see them as any threat," the man replied then added with a laugh, "There only children. I guess we should just dispose of them."

With that, the man lifted his hand in the air and as he did that, Link and Tetra went shooting out the window as fast as a bullet. Link was feeling a sense of déjà voo, sneaking into the Forsaken Fortress, see a mysterious man then flying out toward endless sea. He didn't know how far they went past the cursed island but since he and Tetra were holding hands they didn't separate. Unfortunately when they landed in the water, Link landed on his side with the stab wound. The boy didn't know which was worse, landing on the side with his stab wound where his lung could collapsed again, or landing on the other side where his shoulder could dislocate again. Both were indeed the most painful thing he ever experienced, it was just unfortunate that he had to deal with them at he same time.

Thankfully Link knew that his lung didn't collapsed again, he could tell because it didn't feel like his lung was shriveling up again, but boy did it still hurt landing hard on the water with a broken rib. Pain exploded inside his chest and he couldn't stay afloat, "Tetra!" he cried out desperately, "Help – it hurts – can't – stay up -" that was she last he could stutter out before his head went under water.

Tetra reacted immediately, "Link, No!" She cried and grabbed the boy by his tunic pulling him above the surface. She held him tightly around the waist, while trying to stay afloat herself. Just when she was thinking that she couldn't stay up any longer, the two of them started defying the law of gravity again by floating in mid air. Oh not again.

She and Link flew over to a nearby piece of land that was out in the middle of the ocean, where a figure was standing. This figure was obviously the one that was making them fly over to the rock. The Figure gently set them down on the rock, where they both tried to catch there breath, "Link, are you ok?" Tetra asked worriedly.

"Yes … let me just … catch … my breath," Link replied breathlessly, "… Are you ok?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Yes," Tetra replied.

The two of them at he same time looked at the figure that just saved them. He was wearing a strange outfit, a blue jumpsuit that looked too baggy to be a real jumpsuit with a weird looking eye on the chest, "Who are you?" Link asked.

"I am a decedent of the shadow folk, the Shiekah's," the figure said loud enough to be heard over the roaring wind, "Tell me, do you know who that man was?"

Link and Tetra just looked at each other then back at the figure shaking there heads, "He is an Evil Pirate King from an alternate universe," the Shiekah explained.

Confusion crossed the children's faces, "Someone from an alternate universe, how is that possible," Tetra asked.

The figure dodged the question by asking another one, "Do you know the story of the Hero of Time?"

"Yeah, we've heard of the legend," Link replied.

The Shiekah didn't seem to think this was enough and started telling the story anyway, "The Hero of Time grew up in the Kokiri forest, and for reasons that I am unsure of, he left the forest. From there he met Princess Zelda and she gave him a sacred instrument. After that the Hero, disappeared from the world and did not reappear for two months. Shortly after he reappeared, he departed a second time and was never seen again. It is believed that the second time the Hero left, he found his way into the alternate universe and by doing this he created a pathway from this world to that one and this is how the Evil King was able to come to our world."

Tetra and Link were now very confused, this wasn't the same story they were used to hearing, "That's not the story of the Hero of Time, what happened to the part about him saving the land from darkness?" Tetra asked.

"I do not have the knowledge to answer that question, but what you should do is go where the Great Deku Tree dwells. He will be able to answer your questions," The Figure explained, "But before you go, I have this to give you. Keep it safe from all evil and especially from that Evil King." The figure handed Link a blue ocarina.

"But I don't know how to play one of these," Link replied.

"That is not an inconvenience, just keep it safe from the Evil one," the Sheikah said and then threw something on the ground followed by a blinding flash and he was gone, leaving Link and Tetra sitting on the rock all by themselves.


Next chapter won't be for two weeks, I'm going on vacation and won't be able to update next Friday, remember to review.