Six horses rode out from Hyrule Castle, carrying five ordinary male riders, and an inconspicuous woman and her cloaked child. Such a small dispatch would appear to be nothing of particular significance, but among them were the princess Zelda, Impa, and five Hylian Knights. These men would be her crew, she the captain under the name Tetra. Tonight she would sleep on her mount, resting on Impa, as they rode to cover as much ground as possible before a search was inacted. They took short, half hour breaks, pushing their horses dangerously hard. Fleeing the castle was hasty, she knew, and for someone who was expected to remain sheltered, the consequences would be harsh. But the consequences of inaction were far more dangerous, and with that in mind she rode forward relentlessly.
They took saner breaks on the second and third days until reaching the port city of Windfall. It did not take many Rupees to find a boat at the central pier. Impa instructed the other group where to lodge their horses, and once they returned they boarded the ship immediately, with Zelda's horse still in tow.
The princess was captivated with their journey and the sheer expanse of the world around her. For a moment the worry, the growing tension flooded away, flowing into the crystalline waters and open skies.
Miserable. Link's thoughts were clouded in the despair of his mentor's death and whatever fate had befallen Outset. His cell stimulated his mindset further- it was cramped, smelly and dark. The boat was like a floating prison for the souls that these sailors chose to abduct, and he was not alone among their prisoners.
"I am Error," greeted the man in the cell across from him, but Link remained silent. There was some chatter amongst the other prisoners, and occasionally he heard tired, chalky laughter.
"I didn't know the Gerudo fools could sail. But I knowed they's was thieves, and slave drivers, and all matters of unhonorable men."
"Oh, they can sail, they just don't do it because the only boats they can get they have to steal." Of course, these men were evil. Murderers.
But Link was a failure. And in effect, didn't that make him a murderer? If he chose not to fight, to not protect the people he loved, then what he did choose was for them to die.
The princess was in full sweat. "Zelda, I think you need to rest your powers. You're becoming drained of them." The girl only breathed in and out, fanning herself halfheartedly. Impa wiped her brow. "…How is your father?"
"Angry. And…worried. I hope he will not bear down on you for this." Impa smiled at her concern.
"I'm responsible for myself, you know." Zelda nodded as if she were no longer listening. The boat swayed gently, and above the "pirates" could be heard fooling around as they worked.
"Something's happened at Outset." Impa knew well what would be said next. "Can't we get there any faster?" with a look of urgency.
"I'll give the order for the men to focus." This was fine.
"Can't we get there any faster?" Zelda asked, with an urgent look in her face. She looked much better with loose hair and a dress. Impa wondered if their pirate attire was even necessary.
"I doubt it. We'll be there soon."
Link let himself pass in and out of consciousness. At one point he noticed the man in the cell across from him had been taken away somewhere, but he did not give much thought to it. He had been a short, fat man in his early 30's.
When he gave the effort to be awake enough to think straight, he dreamt of revenge. He would make that captain look at the same sword he had held before Link, stained now with his own blood. Link loathed that man. The echoes of the ship began to frighten him. He was fed once a day, which made him resent his captivity even more. What frustrated him more than anything was his own helplessness.
When "Tetra" and her pirates landed on the shores of Outset, not a single native was there to greet them. Troubled, that at the worst the island had been abandoned, she hastened the crew up towards the houses. On her command Impa called out, but there was no response. Again, and again she yelled, and threatened to intrude in the houses if there was no reply as they would take them all to be empty. Reluctantly a man stepped out of his home, clutching a kitchen blade defensively.
"What happened on this island?" Zelda began. He told her that it was not the business of plunderers and murderers such as herself. She stepped back from him, agitated, but then remembered that as Tetra she would have to be aggressive. "You think you can defend yourself with that rusty little thing? Give me a break. Now tell me what happened on this…forsaken island." She glanced at Impa, but her caretaker was staring forward with her usual look of intent.
"Pirates, people just like you came here," his voice began to crack, "Murdered our elder and took one of our chil-one of our young men." Zelda felt her thoughts freeze.
"What man? Why did they take him?" Impa said, taking over the questioning as she sensed Zelda's distress.
"He was just turned old enough to have his own house built, if he wanted. Then those men came and asked for somebody…and then all hell broke loose."
"Who else was there? Bring them here. We want a detailed account of what happened," said Zelda. And then, hesitantly, she added, "Or else," in as piratelike a manner as possible. After the villager had complied, and the stories were all taken together, Zelda concluded that the one that had been taken was, in fact, the one with the Crest. "Which way did the ship that took him set sail?" And, to appease them, for she was at heart no pirate, "We'll track it down and bring your villager back." Suddenly excited, they all told the pirates that the ship had headed north. Zelda then dismissed herself and the crew and began to head back towards the ship. All these people had from her was her word. How could they trust her? Away from the crowd of people discussing the matter among themselves was an elderly woman, clutching her face in her hands. It was the most pathetic sight the princess had ever seen, and she turned her head away quickly and focused straight on the boat.
Zelda stood at the deck, watching the sea, apprehensive of what was to come when they came into contact with the boat ahead. What was to come when they found the boy with the mark- or when they did not find him.
"We have to turn back!" cried one of her men. She turned to see the man coming up the stairs with a young girl in his grasp. "It's a stowaway from that island. We have to take this girl back." Zelda approached her cautiously. She could only be 8 or 9. Compared to Zelda at her age, she was muscular and dark skinned.
"Who are you?" she asked the girl.
"I came with because my brother was taken away on that ship. I'm not afraid of you." Zelda paused for a long moment.
"We can't stop now. We'll send a letter at the next postal branch we come across. For now she will board with me." The man set the girl down, who rubbed her bare arms in a silly defensive gesture. Impa came to them, and Zelda told her to find some light work for the girl to take up.
Link's eyes open hesitantly at first, but then he jolted awake as he realized that someone was standing directly in front of him, and his cell door was open. The intruder was a man with scraggly black hair that fell to his shoulders and dark, burned skin-a nameless crewmember.
"Get up, you lazy boy. We're here."
