And it's another humongous chapter! This is where things start going a little differently than in the game. Enjoy!
XX
Tetra gazed pensively out at the waves, sighing heavily. "This sucks," she grumbled. "Worst birthday ever."
"It's your birthday today?" Link asked, standing next to her. Tetra nodded sadly.
"I kind of hoped that I wouldn't have to remember the day I came of age as the day my sister was kidnapped by a giant Cucco," she said, "but yeah. It is my birthday." Link smiled.
"Wait here," he instructed. And with that, he dashed deeper into the ship. Tetra just rolled her eyes and resumed watching the horizon. After a few minutes, Link returned with a small purple satchel. "Happy birthday." He held the satchel out to her and Tetra held it awkwardly.
"Wow…" she mumbled. "Thanks. What is it?"
"A spoils bag," Link replied. "If you kill off a few enemies and the things they drop catch your fancy, you can put them in here."
"Why would I need to kill—" Tetra began, but Link cut her off.
"You want to save your sister, right?" he asked. Tetra nodded. "It's going to be pretty hard for you to save her without killing something." Tetra shuddered. "Have you even set foot outside Outset Island?"
"No," Tetra replied.
"You've never been to Dragon Roost, that place where all the Rito come from?" Link asked. "Not even Windfall Island?"
"No," Tetra said again. "I've never been anywhere besides Outset Island." Link looked up in the sky.
"We're sailing north right now," Link explained. "North is where Nayru's Star is. You know what that is, right?"
"Yeah," Tetra replied. "It's on the hilt of the Master Sword. It's the brightest star in the constellation." Link grinned and nodded.
"Yeah, that's right," he said slowly. "So if you're ever sailing and you don't know where you are, look for Nayru's Star. It'll tell you where north is. Then there's Farore's Star on the trunk of the Great Deku Tree in the west and Din's Star on Ganondorf's belt in the east. So just look for those three stars and you'll know which way you're going." Tetra stared up at the sky. She could see the three stars, faint red, green and blue spots in the sky.
"It's kind of weird, don't you think?" she asked.
"Why would you say that?" Link asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I mean, you'd expect Din's Star to be north, Nayru's Star to be west and Farore's star to be east," Tetra said seriously. "That's how it is in the original Triforce, right?"
"Well I guess they named the stars based on their color," Link clarified. "So you're into Hylian legends too?"
"My parents would read them to me and my sister all the time when we were little," Tetra replied, smiling a little.
"So they don't anymore?" Link asked. This seemed to dampen Tetra's mood.
"No…" she mumbled. Link's expression softened, already knowing where she was going with this.
"When did they…" he trailed off, hoping Tetra would answer.
"My father died when I was six," Tetra explained. "I barely remember him. Aryll was a baby then, so she wouldn't remember him either."
"What about your mom?" Link prompted.
"She died two years ago," Tetra mumbled sadly.
"I'm sorry," Link said. "My mom… passed away a few months ago."
"Oh…" Tetra mumbled. To her surprise, Link smiled.
"But I don't mind," he continued. "The pirates… Gonzo, Niko, Nudge, Senza, Mako and Zuko… they're like my family. They'll always be there for me, no matter what. I can count on that." He sighed. "So is it just you and your sister right now?" Tetra shook her head.
"There's Grandma too," she said. "She was so sad when she found out that Aryll…" She trailed off and sighed. Link took her hand and began pulling her towards a door. "Where are we going?"
"My room," Link replied flatly.
Tetra gazed around the room. Almost every inch of the walls was covered with some picture or poster. Above his bed was a particularly large poster of a blonde man clad entirely in green, holding a glowing sword. "That's the Hero of Time," Link explained. "The man who sealed evil away in the Sacred Realm one hundred years ago." He smirked lightly. "I take it you're a fan of his?" Tetra stared down at her green tunic and blushed.
"Not really…" she mumbled. "On Outset, boys who come of age have to wear this for a day."
"But you're a girl," Link clarified.
"Really?" Tetra shot back sarcastically. "I did not notice that. Anyway, I didn't think it was fair that only the boys got to go through this ritual when they turned twelve, so I told Grandma that I wanted that ritual for me too." She fumbled with her kilt. "I didn't know that wearing this was part of that ritual. I didn't really want to wear this, but Grandma got it in her head that I should participate in the whole tradition, including wearing this thing."
"It's kind of weird, seeing it on a girl," Link admitted.
"Yeah, well get used to it," Tetra retorted. She gazed up at the portrait of a brown-haired woman hanging on the opposite wall. "Is that your mom?"
"Yeah," Link said sadly. The brown-haired woman in the portrait smiled confidently, looking absolutely fearless.
"She looks really strong," Tetra commented.
"She was," Link replied. "The strongest person I've ever known… well, next to you, of course."
"M-Me?" Tetra repeated, her face growing red. "But we just met!"
"But you've got guts, going all the way to the Forsaken Fortress just to save your sister," Link complimented. Tetra smiled.
"Thanks, Link," she said. Suddenly, there was a knock at Link's door.
"Mr. Link?" a nasally voice called.
"What is it, Niko?" Link asked gently.
"What would you like for dinner?" the rather short pirate, presumably Niko, asked.
"Ask Tetra," Link replied. "It's her birthday today." Tetra crossed her arms stubbornly.
"That's really not necessary," she refuted. "I don't think I should be celebrating when my sister's being held hostage by a giant Cucco."
"Fine," Link sighed. "Just the elixir soup then." Tetra gasped. How did he know that elixir soup was her most favorite food in the world?
"Tetra?" Tetra's eyes fluttered open to see Link gently shaking her awake. They were both at the top of the mast, looking out for the Forsaken Fortress, but Tetra had fallen asleep a few hours after night fell. "We're here." Tetra sat up, clutching the blanket wrapped around her. She was sure that wasn't there before… She pulled out Aryll's telescope and gazed at the fortress. Several searchlights shot beams of yellow light into the ocean.
"Din's fire," she cursed. "That place is too heavily guarded. We'll never get in." She groaned in exasperation. "This is hopeless!" Link's face slowly lit up.
"No it's not," he said suddenly. "I can get you in there. It'll be painful, but a lot more painless than getting caught in there."
"Is it really so dangerous?" Tetra asked.
"The Forsaken Fortress used to be the hideout of a group of pirates whom we were rivals with," Link explained. "But then there was this huge accident, and this place has been abandoned for years... until now. All I've heard are nasty rumors about this place. Long story short, it's suicide going in there without some sort of plan."
"What did you have in mind?" Tetra asked. Without warning, Link slipped something over her head. It was a faintly glowing blue stone with a black string wrapped tightly around it. "What's this?"
"It's a special pendant," Link whispered. "I guess you could consider it another birthday present." Tetra stared at it.
"Pretty," she said sarcastically. Link smirked.
"I know, it is," he said. "But it serves an even better purpose. Through this stone, I can see what you're doing and communicate with you." Tetra's eyes widened.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah," Link replied, nodding. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a similar pendant. "I have one too."
"So what's the plan?" Tetra asked.
"I'm going to catapult you over there to that window," Link said, pointing to a window where a bunch of seagulls flocked together.
"Why that window?" Tetra asked.
"There's so many seagulls there," Link explained. "I bet that's where they're keeping your sister." Tetra nodded.
"So you're going to catapult me?" she asked. Link nodded.
"It'll be painful," he said again. Tetra shook her head.
"I can deal with it," she insisted. "Whatever it takes to save Aryll." Link looked rather uncomfortable.
"All right," he said uncertainly. Within a few minutes, Tetra had climbed inside a barrel, curling up into a ball to fit inside. "Tetra, are you sure about this?" Link asked.
"I'm sure!" Tetra called from inside the barrel. Link shook his head.
"You're insane," he commented.
"Deal with it!" Tetra shouted. Link took a deep breath.
"Ok," he said. He nodded towards the pirates. "Three… two… one." Gonzo fired the catapult, and Tetra screamed as her barrel flew through the air. The barrel flew through the window Link mentioned, and all the seagulls seemed to part sideways for Tetra's barrel. A few seconds after she landed, a large, pig-faced man peered inside her barrel.
"Hey!" he shouted in a deep voice. "Intruder!"
"Din's fire…" Tetra cursed. She leaped out of the barrel and took off running, but everywhere she turned, there were more pig-faced men. She grasped the stone Link gave her earlier. "Link, you catapulted me into the wrong room!"
"I know," Link said. "I'm sorry. I noticed shortly after we catapulted you."
"How am I supposed to shake these things off and get to Aryll?" Tetra yelled, swerving sideways so that the Moblin heading straight towards her and the Moblin chasing her collided. They bounced off each other, looking dazed and confused. "What do I do?"
"Your sword!" Link yelled. "Kill them!"
"Are you insane?" Tetra shrieked as she drew her sword hesitantly.
"Hey, you wanted to be the hero, so this is how you do it!" Link yelled back. "Everything in there except for your sister is an enemy! Just cut down everything in your path!" Tetra yelled as she swung her sword in front of her, squeezing her eyes shut as she did so. "Open your eyes! You won't be able to see your target!" Tetra snuck a peek at the two Moblins, who had now regained consciousness and were dashing towards her. "Now Tetra!" Tetra slashed at the two Moblins, killing them both. "Atta girl," Link complimented her. "Now see if there's anything on their corpses." Tetra gazed down at the two Moblins lying dead on the floor.
"Just these weird necklaces," she said as she picked up a rather colorful necklace with a skull-shaped pendant.
"Keep them, just in case," Link instructed. "They might come in handy later. If not, you can probably sell them for a profit." Tetra pocketed the two skull necklaces in the spoils bag Link gave her earlier. "All right. Now the only way you can get up to where they're keeping your sister is if you shut off all the searchlights and get up there yourself."
"Isn't there a room that leads there or something?" Tetra asked.
"There's only one door that leads there, and that's on the outside," Link told her. "The searchlights are on the sides of the fortress. There's three of them, and you're going to have to shut off all of them if you want to make it all the way up to your sister." Tetra nodded and got straight to work. Guarding each searchlight was a creature almost completely identical to the ones she had seen in the forest on Outset Island.
"Link, how do I turn this thing off?" she asked the stone hanging around her neck. "The guy controlling it is dead, but it's still going."
"Tetra, do you see this blueprint?" Link's voice asked. Tetra clasped the stone and squeezed her eyes shut. An image floated up to her mind, a faded brown piece of parchment with a complex diagram on it. "There should be a switch right around here." She saw a finger point to a spot on the blueprint. Tetra went and stooped down to press the switch.
"Got it!" Tetra said triumphantly. She proceeded similarly with the other two searchlights.
"All right, Tetra," Link said finally. "Look at this map here." Through the stone, Tetra could see a map of the Forsaken Fortress. "You're sister's up here." Link pointed to a spot on the top of the fortress. "The thing is, you need to work your way around the fortress, up there. So take this route here." He traced his finger along the side of the fortress. "Around this way… and then you're going to need to sidestep across this really narrow ledge to finish getting there. Get it?"
"Yeah," Tetra said.
"Don't be afraid to kill anything if you have to," Link warned.
"But I'll try not to anyway," Tetra said as she set off towards the tower. In the next room were two Moblins. They both noticed her immediately and began charging towards her. Tetra swerved between them and dashed up the door. With great difficulty, she pried open the door and shut it just before the Moblins could catch her. She sighed in relief when she found herself outside again, but this time, another Moblin was there. Tetra ran again, but the path seemed to end after a bit. "Kill it, Tetra!" Link shouted from the stone. Tetra drew her sword hesitantly and yelled as she swung it, killing the Moblin with one slash. She picked another skull necklace off the corpse and proceeded to where the path ended.
"Uh, Link?" Tetra said into the stone. "Where do I go from here?"
"You're almost there, Tetra," Link assured her. "There's a really narrow ledge just in front of you." Tetra could see a tiny path jutting out from the wall.
"You mean I have to walk across that?" she asked rhetorically.
"Tetra, it's the only way you'll get up there," Link said, sounding rather exasperated. "Unless you wanted your not so little bird friend to give you a lift."
"No way in the Sacred Realm is that happening," Tetra said as she pressed herself against the wall and began to sidestep across the narrow ledge. She groaned as she stared at the waves dozens of feet below her. "I hate heights!"
"Don't worry, Tetra," Link assured her. "You'll be fine. Just don't look down."
"Easy for you to say!" Tetra retorted as she began to lose her footing. She screamed as her knees shook. Link just chuckled.
"You're almost there," he said soothingly. "Just a little farther. Think of Aryll." Tetra squeezed her eyes shut as an image of her sister popped into her head. She could clearly remember her sister lending her telescope for her birthday. It seemed like so long ago… Tetra sighed in relief as the narrow strip of land widened into a new path. "There. You made it. Now your sister's not too far ahead." Tetra nodded.
"Thanks, Link!" she yelled as she broke into a run. She dashed up the path and shoved open the door at the top. Inside the room was a large case holding not only Aryll, but an older blonde girl and a brown-haired girl, both with pointy ears.
"Aryll!" Tetra yelled as she ran up to the cage. She grasped the bars with both her hands.
"Big Sister!" Aryll yelled as she ran up to the bars.
"Thank the goddesses you're ok!" Tetra cried.
"Who's that, Aryll?" the brown-haired girl asked.
"This is my big sister Tetra, Maggie," Aryll introduced. "She's here to save us!"
"Hang on, just a second!" Tetra said in a hushed voice. "Let me just get these bars open." She tried to pry open the door.
"It's useless," the blonde girl said in a slightly nasally voice. "It won't open. You think we haven't tried already?"
"Just hold on!" Tetra insisted. Suddenly, Aryll gasped.
"Big Sister, look out!" Tetra looked up, only to see the giant black bird who kidnapped her sister swooping towards her. It caught Tetra in its talons and began its descent upward. "BIG SISTER!"
"ARYLL!" Tetra yelled, trying to reach down for her sister. She struggled in the bird's wicked grasp. "Let… me… go!" But the bird didn't let go. It flew over to what appeared to be a large wooden ship set off from the top of the Forsaken Fortress. It landed on a balcony, dropping Tetra on a red velvet carpet.
"Ow!" Tetra yelled as she slowly stood up. She gasped as she saw a tall dark man with fiery red hair looming before her.
"It appears we missed one," he said in a deep voice. Tetra couldn't see his face, but he could see his eyes glowing bright crimson. He lifted Tetra up effortlessly by her right hand and began scratching the back of it with the nail on his thumb.
"Hey!" Tetra yelled. "What do you think you're doing?"
"No sign of the Triforce," he said.
"Triforce?" Tetra repeated. "What in Farore's name are you talking about?" The man dropped Tetra, and she fell unceremoniously to the ground.
"She bears a striking resemblance to her, but she is not Princess Zelda," the man continued. His eyes flickered towards her dangerously. "Just a stubborn little girl who could not mind her own business."
"Hey!" Tetra yelled again. "It is my business! You're in charge of that bird, right? You kidnapped my sister! She didn't even do anything wrong! Let her go!"
"I don't see the need," the man said.
"Let her go!" Tetra yelled again. She reached for her sword, but the man swiped at her with his arm, knocking her back.
"I can't believe they sent a little girl to stop me," the man said, almost mockingly. He turned towards the large window in the room and said something in a language Tetra couldn't understand. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, the giant black bird had lifted her again, this time with its beak. "Dispose of this girl. She is of no further use to us." Tetra felt herself falling as the bird nodded its head. It then proceeded to fling Tetra out into the Great Sea. Tetra screamed as she flew farther and farther, and, as she painfully hit the water, everything went black.
"Mr. Link!" Gonzo yelled, rushing into Link's room. Link looked up from his map of the Forsaken Fortress.
"What is it, Gonzo?" he asked.
"It's that girl Tetra!" Gonzo yelled. "Zuko saw her flying out into the Great Sea!" Link shot up.
"What?" he yelled. He grasped the blue stone laying next to him on the bed and squeezed his eyes shut, seeing Tetra lying either unconscious or dead in the Great Sea. Link sprinted up onto the deck of the ship. "All hands on deck!" he shouted. "We're going to look for Tetra!"
"But she could be anywhere!" Niko protested. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack!"
"No!" Link yelled. "We have to save her! Prepare to set sail!" The rest of the pirates went about their business, readying the ship to sail. "Give me that." Link snatched Zuko's telescope away from him without morning and climbed up into the lookout. He peered through the telescope into the sea, but there was no sign of Tetra. Link instantly panicked. "Put some wind on those sails!"
"Yes, Mr. Link!" the pirates shouted, one by one.
"Zuko!" Link yelled as he tossed the telescope to its original owner. As the ship slowly moved away from the Forsaken Fortress, Link sat on his knees and clasped his hands together. "Oh goddesses…" he prayed. "Please, let her be ok…"
XX
So those of you who hoped to see something different from the original game, here it is! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! PLEASE REVIEW!
