Between the Devil and the Deep Sea
2.0
The Voyage
Upon Kūkū's insistence, and much to Link's objection, the pirates stay in their small bungalow, though it is clear there isn't enough space for all of them. Link suspects that she just enjoys cooking for the large bunch of men. Orca and Sturgeon return to their home to fix the damages from the flood once the water recedes. The island is still split into two, but the rift of ocean water between the two halves is low enough now that it only soaks Link up to his claves as crosses the eastern half to the western half.
He waves to Mesa, a known slacker on the island that grows most of the island's fruits and vegetables. He has his sickle in hand and is tending to his crops, which luckily made it through the storm as well.
Behind Link, the pirates' ship has almost been completely swallowed by the ocean. The main mast still sticks proudly out from the waves, though no flags adorn it.
Link crosses the shallow channel of water to the other side of the island, intent on heading back home. He runs into Grog heading back into town from the docks. He is thin, droopy-eyed and is most known for his strange, spiked haircut. Though Link isn't on very familiar terms with Grog, he still gives a polite greeting which is returned in kind.
Grog shifts a little on his feet and looks out at the pirate ship almost completely sunk into the ocean. "I hear your little guests will be staying with us from now on."
"I'm sorry?"
He nods at the ship. "One of them came to my sister to ask for some rooms at the inn."
"I see," Link says, biting the inside of his cheek. For the best, he supposes. The little house has been getting cramped with ten people crammed into it, and Link has been getting weary of Niko following him about. "I wasn't aware, but I can't say that I'm not glad."
Grog laughs at this. "I hear you. I would be getting a fever with all those people living in such a small space."
Link gives the man a tight smile. "Give Anju my best, will you?"
"Sure thing," Grog says, already on his way again. "See ya, Link."
As Link finally reaches the beaten path to his bungalow on the cliffs, he spies two of the pirates, Mako, a bit of a know-it-all bookworm, and Niko throwing something off the lānai that wraps around the house. "What're you doing?" he calls, making the two jump. They shuffle their feet and mutter to each other as Link approaches.
"I found a rat!" Niko blurts.
"Excuse me?"
The meek skivvy puts his hands behind his back, and kicks one foot. He tries to not meet Link's eyes. "I'd accidentally brought a rat back from the ship," he says. "I wanted to keep it."
"You were going to keep one of those filthy rodents in my house?" Link roars. "Are you insane?"
Mako shakes his head. "The thing died this morning," he says. He readjusts his spectacles. "I just had him throw it into the ocean just now."
"For Farore's sake, we eat out here," Link scoffs. "Wash your hands. Now," he tells the skivvy and the bookworm. "If I find another rat, I'll kill it myself." Niko's head bobs up and down like a buoy in volatile waves.
Niko and the other pirates aren't so bad though, Link's decided. Niko, being the youngest and most childish of the group often begs Link to show them island games, such as 'ulu maika where players bowl stones, or whatever is on hand, through two stakes. Often times, whether by luck, skill or just sheer experience, Link beats Niko out, much to the young pirate's dismay. The other pirates laugh heartily and taunt Niko. To help regain his image and composure, Niko will puff himself up and declare that they'll play a real seaman's game. Much to the pleasure of the rest of the pirate crew, Link also has a tendency to win against Niko in those games as well.
The islanders are kind enough to the outsiders, but they keep a noticeable distance from them, which the pirate crew has taken note of. It doesn't seem to bother the crew very much. They're allowed join in community gatherings on the island, participate in games, but Link can see that they're treated much more harshly than the islanders and the few other outsiders like Orca and Sturgeon. For Link, Orca and Sturgeon have been Outset staples since he was small; he can't remember a time without the two, but he knows that while the islanders are more receptive to the long-time outsiders, they're still outsiders. When the pirate crew goes to the market to trade or purchase supplies, the island merchants set higher prices and budge less when they haggle. If the pirates are seen struggling, the islanders are reluctant to offer help, if they do at all.
Link quickly develops a feeling of an inexplicable kinship with the pirates, much like he does with Orca and Sturgeon. He can remember as a child being the last picked for games. His schoolmates chose to speak to him very little. With Aryll, it's much the same. The memory of her running home crying one afternoon when one of the other children in her class chopped off one of her pigtails surfaces in Link's mind. The children of an outsider, the two siblings are often held at a distance by the island elders, but Link knows that being born on the island has offered them more warmth.
While Link gets along just fine with the pirate crew, even with a few bumps here and there, their captain is another story.
When Link enters the home, he greets his grandmother and sister. "How was your day?" he asks Kūkū, bending low to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"Oh just fine," she says, waving him away.
Next to Aryll, helping skin sweet potatoes, is Miss Tetra, the pirate captain. Link gives her a polite nod which she returns. Aryll eyes the brief exchange.
Miss Tetra is about Link's age, making her younger than many of her crew, though she has a powerful command over them.
"Tell your men we don't keep pets here," Link says plainly. The captain raises an eyebrow, but she says nothing.
Despite their somewhat rocky start, they seem to have fallen into a tolerable rhythm. Within their first few days on the island, Tetra made it clear that she did not care for Link, and he suspects that she's still a bit bitter about him throwing her overboard. She often mocked him, though now that they have a mutual tolerance, she keeps the comments to herself. Aryll, however, has faired better in making the captain's acquaintance. His sister's admiration for the pirate captain grates a little on Link, but he tries to let it go. Tetra speaks softly and sweetly to Aryll and Kūkū. This, of course, has softened Gonzo, the first mate, to the two as well.
Aryll pipes, "They're going to stay at Anju's inn!"
"Oh yeah?" Link replies, though he's already heard the news from Grog, Anju's brother.
"Even Tetra won't stay."
"You need your space," the captain says.
Aryll gives Link a watery-eyed, pouty look. It's probably failed on Tetra already. Link doesn't budge much either. "So long as Kūkū doesn't mind," and his grandmother hums in allowance, "if they want to stay here, they can," Link says, leaving the decision open.
"It's not like we're leaving the island," Tetra reminds Aryll.
Link's little sister asks, "Are you going to live here then?"
"We don't exactly have many options with the ship gone."
The possibility alone excites Aryll, who asks Link to help build Tetra a house close to them.
He eyes the captain. "We'll see how it goes, Aryll."
The pirates eat one last meal with the Forney siblings and their grandmother out on the lānai. The salty smell of the sea wafts over the meal, and it fills Link with a sense of peace. The men joke and fill their stomachs, and Link's grandmother is more than happy to give them seconds if their stomachs allow.
Niko taps Link on the arm. "Link, I hear you and the old man," meaning Orca, "are going out on a trip in a few weeks."
"We're going crabbing with a few others," Link says.
"I'd like to come with."
Link glances at the younger lad. Although he's the lowest ranked out of the pirate crew, he at least has experience at being out at sea. Another hand on deck would definitely help. "Talk to Orca," Link says finally, taking a sip of his drink. "The decision's not mine."
The wait time before setting sail for crabbing fills Link with anticipation as the days drag on in 'Okakopa. Occasionally if the day is nice, he takes his waka ama, an outrigger canoe dubbed the Red Lion, out onto the waves, just to feel the salty winds in his face and hair and feel the warm drag of the water. When he takes his waka ama out, the seagulls chase after him as the wind fills the sail. Eventually when the wind dies, Link lies in the main hull while the seagulls settle on the outrigger hull. Lying in the hull, Link can feel the bobbing of the waves, the steady rise and fall.
When Link arrives on shore from one of these trips, it's the afternoon of the twentieth of 'Okakopa, and he's met by Tetra on the beach. He lowers the sail as she pads through the sand. She reaches out her hands, and without greeting, says, "Give me a corner." The captain helps Link fold up the sail, and she nods over at the red canoe. "This your boat?"
"It's called a waka ama."
"They don't have those up north," the woman says. Curious, she takes a closer look at the double hull vessel. One slim finger reaches out and scratches at the old, chipping paint of the main hull.
Although the other pirates have settled into the island inn, their captain remains in Link's house by his sister's insistence.
"Niko has taken quite a liking to you," she says as she turns and starts walking down the beach. Link trails along behind her at a lazy pace.
Link hums.
It's odd that she's seeking out a conversation with him.
"I'd like for you to talk him out of going crabbing with you and Orca," she says.
"I'm sorry?"
"He's not well," says Tetra, stopping just short of the path off the beach. "He's come down with a fever, though he insists it's nothing."
Link scratches at the stubble itching at his chin.
"Please Link," Tetra begs – how odd of her. "I don't think he'll make it back if he goes. He's not well at all."
Link goes to visit the young skivvy, holed up in Anju's inn. In exchange for their rooms, the pirates have taken to helping Anju and Grog out where they can. They tend to the cuccoo and cattle, and help clean and maintenance the inn as well. Niko has been in bed though for at least a couple of days with a fever that just won't break.
When Link tries to greet Anju, she barely snaps from her reverie. "Oh! I'm sorry!" she gasps when she finally realizes that Link is trying to speak with her, and the book she's holding slaps to the floor. He shakes his head and asks which room the pirate is in. Anju leads him to the room, but not without tripping over her own two feet twice. She shows him the room with a reddened face, still spitting apologies at her clumsiness.
Link brings up a stool and sits at Niko's bedside. "Look, about going crabbing…"
"I want to go!" Niko exclaims.
Link holds his hands up and offers an apologetic smile. "I know, I know. It's just, if you're not well still when we're ready to ship out in a couple of days, you'll have to stay here. We can't be always looking out for an invalid. Everyone needs to be at their best."
It takes some time, but the pirate finally relents.
When it comes time for the crabbing trip, Niko is still not well. Link visits him one last time before they ship out on Orca's boat. Link can see that he would not be fit for sailing the moment he opens the door. Niko is pale, sweating from the fever, and he is weak too from the illness. Link wrings out a cloth in some cool water and lays it over Niko's forehead.
Link promises him, "We'll be back soon enough, and we'll leave again soon. You can come with next time."
But when Orca's boat returns in the second week of Nowemapa, and Link steps out onto the dock, he can feel that something is different with the island. He eagerly stretches his bones and aching muscles, but once he shakes the stiffness from his limbs, something is still off. Something is not quite right at all. He turns to Orca, who nods, feeling the same malaise upon returning. Their trip was highly successful, but the strange feeling of the island on coming home deflates Link's previous elation. As soon as Orca releases Link from work for the day, Link hurries home.
His tired feet rush up to the western cliffs. He waves to Sue Belle, probably on her way home from Rose's. He throws open the door to the bungalow and sweeps Aryll up in a bear hug. Though she smiles at him, it's tight. "What's wrong, Brother?" she asks, with little laughter in her voice. "We've only been apart for a few weeks."
Link looks at his little sister, just starting to grow into womanhood. He sighs. She's less of a child every day. He swears she's gotten taller during his time away, but Aryll is not what's off at all.
"Brother?"
"I don't know," he admits. "And I'm not trying to hide anything from you. It's just… I don't know. Something's not well with the island; I feel it."
"You feel it?" Aryll frowns. "Oh," she says, and a shadow slips over her. "You haven't heard?"
"What's the news, my little sand crab?" he teases with a wide grin on his face despite the dread that's creeping and scratching at his heart. He finally releases her from his arms, and his little sister scowls some at his affectionate, but childish term for her.
"One of Miss Tetra's crew is dead," Aryll says. "Niko. It happened a few days ago."
Link's heart plummets. It falls straight out from his ribcage and sinks through his gut until it splatters on the floor at his feet. He stutters, "Wh-what?"
Aryll nods. "Yeah, Niko. The little one." She cocks her head to one side when Link continues to let the silence hang. "Were you good friends?" she asks.
"Where is Tetra?" Link manages to croak.
His sister barely gets out the answer before Link is bolting out of the house and down to the beach where he leaves the Red Lion. As he races down the cliffs to the beach, he feels something soft underfoot. Link pulls his skimmer away to find a mouse lying on the path, dead. He stoops to take a closer look at it. Blood has spurt from its mouth, though he's not sure if he's the cause. It strikes him that he may have killed the small the rodent, but he doesn't think much on that. No, that's not the odd part of it. Of course there are field mice and rats on the island, but the rodents are never this close to shore, and they certainly keep out of the open where men are known to frequent.
Link puts the mouse out of mind and hurries on to the beach. When he comes to the shore, the female captain is sitting in his canoe's main hull, staring out into the ocean. Seeing him approach, Tetra quickly wipes her eyes and nose, her cheeks a dark, rosy color. Her strange purple eyes are swollen and puffy, but Link doesn't comment on any of that. There's not much room in the hull, but Tetra scoots as much as possible to one side, and Link steps into the canoe. The two are squashed side-by-side, but neither seem to mind.
Link's thumbs fiddle with one another. "I'm sorry," he says softly. "What happened?"
Tetra's breath hitches, and she tries to beat back the sobs. Link waits patiently for her. "Less than a week after you left, he started vomiting. Blood," she heaves, her usual strong voice now cracking. "He was in so much pain, Link. I called for Sturgeon, but there was nothing he could do.
"We took him out to sea yesterday."
The fresh tears start to leak from her eyes, and she can't speak anymore. Link hesitantly reaches out to embrace her, but she doesn't push him away like he thinks she will. She instead curls into him, and his strokes her hair.
His eyes settle on the sea.
It's my one day off this week. I guarantee that even though I'm in overtime, they're going to call me today. (I'm not going to pick uuup.)
It's a nice day, so I'm going to set up shop out on my lawn, enjoy a good cigar, and probably wave at my neighbor that wears a tank top and shorts year round since he's always sitting outside. Yes, even when he's shoveling snow he wears the same thing - although he'll at least put on a vest if it's close to zero out.
Anyway, kick back guys. Enjoy some time to yourself. Until next week!
:x