Pirates of the Seas: III
The ship lurched to the side, rocking on the waves of an angry sea and holding itself strong against... something. What it was Tetra did not know. But the force had woken her from her sleep, and it was too large just to be dismissed as the sea itself. Had they run ashore, or had Gonzo, supposed to have been steering the ship, gotten preoccupied and let them run into rocks?
Whatever the cause, it filled Tetra with a deep twist of annoyance and anger in her gut. So she pushed herself from her bed and quickly donned her clothing, slamming the drawers to her dresser with unnecessary force.
Through her brooding silence she listened to the shouts that came down from above deck. Those did not bother her at first, for at least it meant the crew still awake knew that they had done something wrong. But as Tetra hooked her scabbard to her belt she noticed that the shouts were only met with more, and she knew that something else had happened.
Now her stomach rolled with annoyance and anger, but there was also a small seed of worry buried far below. Moving to open the door, she near broke her own hand as it flew open on its own accord.
In the doorway stood Link, donned in mail and a green tunic. Tetra almost laughed, for long ago had Link since grown out of the hero's tunic once given to him by his grandmother all those years before. This one was a makeshift, more well-suited to sailing the open seas in both design and lightness. Tetra had made it for him for his birthday one year as a joke of sorts, but he had taken to it immediately, as a reminder of what had once passed.
The laugh that grew in Tetra's throat, however, was silenced as Link sprung into the room and place a hand over her mouth. He kicked shut the door and Tetra grabbed at his hand, trying to pry him away.
"What are you doing?" she managed to yell out though his fingers. It was meant to sound intimidating, to sound as a threat, but her voice only sounded as a thing of worry.
"Hush would you," he hissed. He opened the trap door, hidden neatly in plain sight upon the floor of Tetra's room. It led to below deck, where her crew kept their own cots among storage.
Link near dragged Tetra below deck, ignoring her entirely as she began to struggle against him. Once there she pulled away, almost stumbling into a stack of crates.
"What are you doing, damn it!" she repeated, louder this time. She opened her mouth to continue, to lecture Link some more, but she finally caught sight of him in the dimmed light of the lanterns that hung above. Sweat drenched his body and spots of red dappled his tunic. His blue eyes were wide with what could quite possibly be fear and anxiety, and his hair, now long and kept in a neat ponytail and the nape of his neck, hung around his pallid face like a mop. A scratch lined his cheek, and he used the shoulder of his tunic to wipe the blood away.
"We're under attack," he managed to say.
Tetra felt her brow furrow. "Then why aren't you up there fighting?" she asked in annoyance. Worry had finally overtaken her, and she tried to run around Link and above deck. But he stepped in front of her, blocking the way. His hand gripped her shoulders and he forced her back.
"No," he said, "I've been ordered to get you to safety! Now come on!"
"Ordered?" Tetra yelled out. "Ordered by who? I'm the captain and I give the orders!"
She watched as anger flickered across Link's face. She knew she was being irrational now, for more often than not Link knew what it was he was doing. And if he was worried about an attack, then she had all the more reason to be just as worried.
"These pirates, these people, something - I don't know! - they know that you are Zelda! Don't you understand? We need to go. The others said they'd hold them off-"
"You think I'm afraid of pirates?" she laughed out with scorn. Her pride then entirely spoke through her, and deep in her gut she knew she was about to do the entirely wrong thing. "You think I'm going to let my crew, my family, stay on my ship and get killed defending me? Damn that idea!"
She took off for above deck once again, but this time Link stayed in place, looking after her with his brows knit it worry. As she ran up stairs, she heard the footfalls of Link coming close behind.
She kicked open the final door, and the darkness of the night met her eyes with a sudden force, for it was perverted with flames and flashes of color that ran across deck. Shouts rang out into the night, and, for a moment, Tetra stood petrified as she took in what went on around her.
To the left a second pirate ship rested right up against her own, so close that a plank was not even needed to cross between the two.
Link almost ran into her as he came up from behind. Just as Tetra turned her attention to him, a shout sounded from all too near. She half expected Link's eyes to hold a mocking 'I told you so,' but all there was in his eyes was fear. But quickly it faded into determination as he pushed her aside to block the incoming slash of a sword with his own.
Tetra quickly shook her previous thoughts from her mind, and she drew her own blade. Knowing Link to have his own situation fully dealt with, she leapt into the fray. Shouts and the sharp sound of metallic clangs filled her ears, but she did best to ignore it.
She tried sighting her own crew as in the darkness. The large shadows across deck must be Gonzo and Senza she decided quickly. Turning to her side she saw Mako. And she saw the man who was fighting Mako. Broader and taller than even Nudge, the large pirate held a massive sword of his own that he swung wildly around, trying to land a hit on the smaller pirate.
But Mako, ever the masterful tactician, danced around his quickly, using his speed to his advantage. But plans never go accordingly, and the large pirate kicked out his leg and managed to said Mako sprawling to the ground, unconscious.
It was then that Tetra finally realized what was happening around her, and immediately she sprang to her crewmates defense. She drew her own blade to meet with the downstroke of the other pirate. Her arms jarred against the blow, even as she managed to brace herself.
The other pirate stepped back and studied her for a moment before declaring: "I am Murdo! Servant of the seas! And now you die, girl." Without another word he swung out his sword with astounding force, and Tetra quickly ducked beneath it, knowing fully well that if she were any slower her head would be rolling across deck.
As she dodged the pirates blows, adrenaline coursed through her body. She parried his blows, but the impact stunned her for a moment and she could not counter. Even her speed failed her, and she cursed through gritted teeth, for she had become a training dummy for a fool.
The man who called himself Murdo raised his blade, preparing to strike her down for good. Just as she raised her blade to catch the blow she realized her mistake. Murdo kicked out at her instead, seeing her exposed mid-section, and he caught her right beneath her ribs.
She fell backwards as the wind escape her. Her sword fell from her hands, and when she landed on the ground she quickly grabbed out for it. She cursed herself silently, knowing fully well that she should have seen the blow coming, for Mako had fallen in almost the same way.
She had just grabbed her blade as she watched Murdo finally bring his sword down against her. But a flash of green caught her eye, and, just as she had jumped in front of Mako, Link just in front of her.
Tetra tried to climb to her feet once her sword was finally in hand, but pain shot through her torso, and she quickly went to the ground once again.
Before her the blade of Link and Murdo were locked, each pushing against the other to gain the advantage. Tetra was filled with a sudden dread as she was reminded of Link's battle with Ganondorf. Murdo was similar in stature, with the same build and height, and foreboding air that seemed to engulf him.
She slowly pushed herself away from the battle with her hands and feet, crawling backwards despite the pain that spread throughout her stomach. She felt as if she were about to be sick, and her head began to swim.
Still she tried to keep her eyes open, more out of annoyance that she should be rendered so helpless by such a cheap blow than anything else. She cursed into the night, knowing that she should have left with Link.
Link. She looked over to where the once-hero had knocked the sword from Murdo's hands. He pointed his own blade at the pirate, and whatever he said sent the larger man stumbling back in surprise and fear. Link raised his sword for a final blow, and, watching him with spotted vision, Tetra wondered if he'd actually kill the man.
A yell sounded out into the night, and it was all that Tetra chose to hear. For though she had been expecting the dull grunt of a deathblow to be landed on Murdo, the noise had come from a voice all to familiar.
She watched in her daze as Link fell to the ground, crumpling into a heap unto himself. A silhouette of a woman stood beside him, her hair silver in the light of the moon. She slid her sword into its sheath as she studied the fallen body.
It was then that she noticed Tetra, half unconscious and half petrified. She made her way over, completely ignorant of the scene around them. Kneeling down before the pirate captain, she gave a small smile.
"My name is Zale. And you must be Zelda," she cooed in false adoration. She noticed as Tetra moved to her blade, so she grabbed at her neck. "No no, killing me won't do you any good, I should think." She moved her fingers around Tetra's neck and pressed down onto a pressure point, and it was by that way that Tetra finally felt consciousness slip from her.
The last words she heard were Zale's, ringing out clear against the noise of the fighting: "Murdo, get the boy, would you!"
A/N: Sorry this is kindasorta lateish? I think? I actually half-broke my spacebar so it takes me a lot longer to type than I'd like. But yeah, hope you enjoyed this chapter! And, of course, feedback is always welcome! Like it, hate it, want to kill me now? Let me know! Next chapter will be within a week, since I feel I need to make myself reasonable deadlines. Or, maybe I might get to it sooner, who knows? Thanks!
