Chapter 5: A Swordsman Unveiled
Gnashing their teeth as they swung across, the bokoblin pirates boarded Tetra's ship in vast numbers. Each of them drew their knives, swords, daggers, any bladed object they could find to inflict as much pain as possible to Tetra, Gonzo or the others. Link didn't know how the pirates were supposed to fight them all; none of them, however, looked scared or nervous, not even Niko.
Immediately, a group of bokoblins dashed for Tetra, all of them growling, yelping, and hissing at her, quickly encircling the young pirate captain. Gonzo and the others tried to reach her, but other groups of Ghashar's raiders had already reached and surrounded Tetra's men. Link got ready to jump out of the crow's nest to help them, but he stopped and his jaw dropped at what he saw.
Tetra was holding her own position; because of her small size, she could easily dodge, roll, or jump out of the way of any sword while returning a stinging stab or slice from her own curved dagger. Completely unwounded or scarred, Tetra rolled out of the circle of bokoblins, jumped up and stabbed one in the back, killing the creature within moments.
Jumping off the creature's back while deflecting off a couple of slashes with her dagger, Tetra spun over in the air and threw her hand down. It took Link a few moments to realize that she had tossed a handful small throwing knives at the group of bokoblins, at least half of them hitting their targets and a third of those hitting vital spots on a couple of them; they died within seconds.
On the other side, Zuko and Mako were successfully beating back Ghashar's forces. Zuko's techniques revealed the ferocity of his fighting style. His hits were strong and merciless, but they were slower and not as efficient as Tetra's; that was partly because Zuko was wielding a short saber which was heavier than the dagger Tetra used.
Mako, however, was the most surprising fighter, he used his heavy books to fend off the bokoblins. Quite humorous and at the same time amazing, many of the bokoblins were suffering from heavy concussions after their bouts with the short pirate genius. Link smiled as he saw Mako smack a bokoblin behind him in the face with a mathematics book.
Gonzo was fighting in the way Link had imagined a pirate to fight; even more relentless than Zuko, Gonzo's cutlass slashed through small ranks of careless bokoblins. Even the wooden, rectangular shields that the bokoblin pirates had made could not withstand a single swing from the pirate's well-made sword.
One of Ghashar's raiders came up silently and quickly behind Gonzo and attempted to cut him down. Suddenly, the creature's yellow eyes went wide as it screeched for a moment and feel over on the ground. Nudge, flinging his long hair into the air flamboyantly, stood triumphant over the fallen bokoblin and carrying his own scimitar.
Over by the helm, Senza was handling a group of the vile creatures rather well. Perhaps 'holding' them is a better word, Link thought amusingly. Indeed, Senza was choking at least four bokoblins, two to each arm in a tight unfriendly bear hug. He was the largest and the strongest of the pirates and so he needed no weapon but his own hands.
Link was absolutely amazed, Tetra and her pirates were outnumbered, but it was obvious that they were much more skilled. Each pirate was at least taking three enemies on average, with the exception of Niko, who could barely take one. Standing there, Link saw the swabbie shake his sword fearfully in front of one of the bokoblins, before Nudge had to keep pull the swabbie out of trouble.
Tetra was probably the most amazing of the seven. Being the most agile, she would use any opening through ranks of bokoblins to her advantage, often knocking down a couple and cutting their throats quickly and accurately. Link had blink his eyes twice when he saw Tetra back flip over the head of a bokoblin, slicing its skull down the middle as she went over.
Ghashar's pirates had already lost over half their raiders—some of Tetra's pirates had stopped fighting to toss bodies overboard before they began to decay—and were beginning to back away to the rail. Although they were growling and hissing savagely, there was fear in the eyes of the raiders, fully knowing that they were losing.
Tetra had a triumphant smile on her face; the other pirates had finished throwing the bodies overboard and joined her in surrounding the remaining bokoblins. "Well," Tetra said with confidence in her voice, "it looks like I win again, Ghashar. And as always I'll let you live..." she stopped suddenly and her smile vanished as she looked at the bokoblin captain.
Link raised a brow and looked at Ghashar, too. The enemy captain was grinning rather smugly for someone who had been defeated. Suspicion entered into Link's heart and mind as he watched, Why is he smiling? he thought, I don't understand, he lost! He continued to watch silently as Ghashar let out a quiet laugh.
"Stupid little girl..." He said, "You haven't won... you can't even move." He grinned, before Tetra could respond, a large bokoblin came up behind her and bound her hands together. The other pirates dashed to help her, but they fell over onto the ground finding their own hands and feet bound.
Those bokoblins were a distraction! Link thought horridly; as Ghashar had spoke to Tetra, a group of large bokoblins—who were obviously high-ranking pirates in Ghashar's group because of the clean and well-made clothes they wore—had sneaked up behind Tetra and the pirates and bound them slowly and quietly so they did not notice them nor their roped bonds. These bokoblins were larger and more muscular than any bokoblin Link ever had seen in his life.
"What is this!?" She shouted angrily, "h-how?" It was evident that Tetra had not planned for this.
Ghashar laughed again, "Pathetic wench, ye never thought me capable of such tactics." He grinned viciously, "always thinkin' that ye were smarter than me. Aye. I know your weakness, Tetra." Eyes blazing yellow fire, Ghashar walked over and spat at her, "If if ye don't plan fer it, ye can't handle it, matey. My elite pirates here, who tied ye and your crew up, were trained for this. Now, I can get rid of ye and be the most feared pirate in the Seas!"
Tetra snorted, trying to act tough, but Link could see how frustrated she was; her body was shaking with anger. She could not move since her feet were bound as she stood there by the elite who had tied her hands earlier. Moving her eyes about franticly, she scanned the area for any chance of escape.
"Oh no, little matey." Ghashar said smugly, "You're not going down with the ship. You're going to die first." He looked at Gonzo and others and snorted, "After all, without ye, these men would be nothing more than sharkbait." Turning back to Tetra he added, "but... I'll give ye a chance, join my crew, Tetra and I'll let ye young pretty wench live. Beauty 'tis a bad thing to waste in the Seas." He stated, eyeing her hungrily.
Tetra smiled and answered saying, "Go drown yourself in the Sea, you loser."
"Yer compass is a bit off methinks, but go in the direction ye wish, even if it be straight to death." Ghashar answered, "Kill them, but kill the girl first." Tetra looked up in shock and Gonzo and the others struggled angrily.
No... Link thought, This is it, I have to move! Grabbing a rope, Link swung out of the crow's nest in a heroic fashion, letting out a combat yell as he swung. Ghashar and the others looked up to see Link swinging and yelling down... in the wrong direction. Link's battle cry turned into a cry of surprise as he smashed into the cabin wall.
Everyone winced as Link's body slid down the wall and onto the ground, Tetra let out a groan, "I cannot believe he just did that..." If she could free her hands, she would have put her face into them, "Why me?"
Gonzo shuffled over on the ground to Tetra as best he could and whispered to her, "We're dead, ain't we?"
"Yep." Tetra said hopelessly, "As if he could really fight," she added, gritting her teeth in frustration. Dang it! I can't die here! she thought, I must get the Ocarina of Time, somehow... if I don't... She shook her head, not wanting to think about it.
Ghashar, getting over the surprise of Link's arrival, let out a guffaw, "And what does this be, girl? Backup in case ye lost?" Snorting he said, "I thought ye were smarter than that, Tetra. But don't worry, he'll be easy to take care of." He added, grinning rather wickedly.
Tetra felt a burning anger overcome her. Link had no place here, he would be an innocent, dying at Ghashar's hands, his blood on her hands for the rest of her life. The kid was stupid, in Tetra's opinion, but he was still a kid. He did not deserve death at such a young age.
But Link wasn't finished yet, getting up, he shook his head furiously. Slightly dizzy, Link turned around to face Ghashar and the others. Stay calm, he thought, realizing that he could use his error to his own advantage, don't draw your sword yet, let them think you're harmless. Hopefully, Ghashar and his men would think the sword was a toy because of Link's mistake.
Ghashar motioned to two of the lesser bokoblin raiders and said, "Get rid of the 'hero' while I get rid of Tetra here." He grinned mercilessly, "Kill the boy any way ye want, I don't care, as long as he's dead." Turning to Tetra he noticed her face contorted in anger, "Oh? What's this? Ye don't want the boy to die?"
"He's an islander!" Tetra spat angrily, "He has no part in this, let him live."
There was a loud noise of collective laughter from Ghashar and his raiders. The bokoblin pirate captain eyed Tetra and said, "Aww... now, ain't that cute, mateys? She cares about the poor boy." In found realization, the bokoblins began to mock her and to laugh at her, "And he's just about yer age, perfect couple..."
"Not like that you pervert!" Tetra bellowed, seething with anger.
"Oh please... ye needn't lie..." Ghashar said knowingly, "After all, why would ye care even care about the little drip?" His smile widened to his pointy ears, "Unless, of course, you've been enjoying yerself with 'im in yer cabin, Tetra." There was a chorus of obscene whistles from Ghashar's group, "Didn't ye say us men can't 'resist your good looks', aye?"
Tetra didn't respond, she was not going to give Ghashar the satisfaction of an outburst. She was very offended, however, at the idea that she could even like the kid. Granted, he wasn't ugly, but she also found Link to be an extreme annoyance.
"Now then..." he said with finality in his voice, "Let's finish ye off nice and quick!"
-S-
Calming himself and remembering Orca's words to him, Link got ready as the two bokoblins approached him. Both of them were grinning at him, feeling completely superior to him. Link's plan was working, the raiders were overconfident and were underestimating him; they would pose no real threat.
He felt nervous, these bokoblins were more dangerous than the ones he had faced on Outset, he had to live. He had to save the pirates; he owed them his life in any case. Looking over, he saw Ghashar talking and heard him said how he was going to kill Tetra quickly. A sudden, irrational surge of courage filled Link; he wanted to protect her, he wanted to protect all of them. Now, he was fully determined not to die.
Suddenly, one of the bokoblins dashed at Link, drawing a large saber and slashing at him with a loud growl. Link sidestepped, avoiding the attack by an inch. Slightly surprised, but not shaken, the creature slashed out at him again, this time vertically at Link's body. There was a loud clash as he brought up his shield to block the creature's attack.
The noise had caught everyone's attention, Ghashar, looking slightly perplexed, turned and yelled, "What are ye doing!? Kill the darn boy!" Again, the raider quickly slashed at Link; the islander dodged it easily. Slash. Block. Slash. Block. Slash. Dodge. Slash. Sidestep. Over and over again, Link avoided and deflected the raider's attacks, the raider's face growing more and more frustrated with every attempt.
Ghashar, being very impatient, screamed, "Kill him you idiot!" But then he stopped, because he saw that Link was smiling.
"Don't underestimate me," He said confidently. The bokoblin stopped when he saw the islander's smile and a look of fear flickered on its face for a moment. Yet it was only a moment, as Link slammed his shield into the bokoblin's stomach, making it fall over.
Everyone's eyes went wide, Tetra's jaw had dropped as low as it could possibly go and the pirates were staring with open mouths. The bokoblin got up, growled and suddenly lunged at Link. Not even trying to aim, the raider slashed over and over again fiercely, just trying to hit him and deal a fatal blow.
But it was in vain, Link used the bokoblin's anger and frustration to his advantage, dodging the strikes with ease. Luring the creature to the railing of the deck, Link suddenly slid under and brought his shield up fast into the bokoblin's stomach again. Lifting it up, Link used his shield to toss the raider overboard and into the water depths between the two ships. He then turned to face the raiders and Ghashar again; with his sword sheathed to keep the mask of its authenticity on.
The other bokoblin had backed away, but Ghashar eyes flared at him, "He's a boy, ye coward!" He snarled, "If yer so scared, get one of yer mates to help ya, yarr!" The bokoblin nodded and grabbed another one of Ghashar's pirates, this one had a greenish tint in its skin, as opposed to the other, who was purple.
Ghashar snorted at Link, "A bit surprising for a whelp, matey," grinning, he added, "but a kid is still a kid, yarr." The two bokoblins approached Link, this time more cautiously since they knew he was dangerous. Slowly, they began to encircle him, and Link watched their movements carefully.
The first dashed at Link, attempting to distract him as the second came up behind, they began to attack at the same time; Link would not manage to fend them them off. The shield only was not enough, for he could not knock one of the bokoblins over because the other would immediately slash at him with its sword. The pirates had flanked him, blocking the islander from any point of escape. Link had no choice now but to strike back.
At that moment, both of the bokoblins dashed at him, hoping to strike together and finish him off. They reached him and there was a sudden yell combined with the sounds of clanging and swinging, as blood flew into the air.
Bokoblins stumbled backwards; both were wounded across the chest. Standing in front of them, was Link with his sword drawn and raised behind him with his shield in front of him. It had happened so fast, Tetra barely realized what he had done, and when she did, she was amazed.
What had happened was, as the raiders were about to strike Link, he quickly drawn and brought his sword behind his back and spun around with it in his left hand with the point outwards and slashed both bokoblins across the chest. That type of technique was extremely difficult to do, even for an experienced swordsman.
A bit shocked and a little more frightened at the realization that Link's sword was real, the raiders began to back off, trying to recalculate their assault. It would be more challenging now; the raiders were at a disadvantage now, as their opponent was unwounded.
"Dang..." Gonzo whispered to Tetra, his tone shown that he was clearly impressed with Link, "I didn't think some kid could do that. I thought he was sharkbait." He looked at Tetra and continued, "Maybe you should try an' escape, eh, Miss? He's keepin' the enemy distracted, but there is no way he can win on his own."
Tetra turned to him and nodded, "Right," she whispered back to him, "stay still and wait for me to free myself. I'll then free the rest of you. Remember, don't move even if your bonds are broken until I tell you to!" She ordered, Gonzo nodded firmly. At this point, Tetra went to work as discreetly as she could, keeping an eye on the battle. With a small knife, she began to loosen the ropes on her wrists. She hoped Link would distract them long enough to escape.
The bokoblins were frustrated, they could not flank him because he could just spin around again with his sword and they dared not attack him head on, considering he could use his shield to knock one over and his sword to impale the other. The raiders were loosing their advantage over the young warrior now.
"Aren't you going to attack?" Link asked curiously, he didn't give them time to finish though, "Alright... then I'll attack!" He said, sounding rather childish, yet bold. Immediately he dashed at the one with green skin with his sword raised.
Tetra couldn't believe it, after the excellent moves Link had pulled, he was pulling the dumbest move she had ever seen. The attack opened his back to the other bokoblin, making him vulnerable. Sure enough, the purple bokoblin circled around and advanced on the boy's undefended side. The raider was going to stab him in the back while he was busy handling the green skinned one.
As Link reached the bokoblin, the raider struck out at him vertically. Easily parrying the blow, Link returned the strike for one of his own. The blades clanged loudly, slamming together as the raider parried successfully against the attack successfully. The purple-skinned bokoblin came up behind Link and raised his blade up, preparing to stab him in the back.
Suddenly, Link dropped to the ground and rolled swiftly around the green-skinned bokoblin. Quickly getting up and jumping upwards, Link took out his sword and spun around with yell, striking the bokoblin across the back and then slamming his shield down upon it, knocking it over.
Shocked at this display of speed, the purple-skinned bokoblin stepped over his comrade and chased after a retreating Link, who as he reached the mast, grabbed onto it and swung himself around, avoiding another strike from the raider's scimitar, and coming behind the bokoblin. Jumping up, Link stabbed the creature in the back, killing it within moments.
The green-skinned one had pushed himself up and wanted his revenge. Screeching and growling at Link, he dashed for the boy, slashing wildly. Dodging, blocking and parrying the attacks, Link locked his sword with the bokoblin's and began to twist his arm around, trying to make the bokoblin loose its grip on the scimitar.
It worked. He knew it had worked when the bokoblin let out a yelp and dropped the sword. The creature growled and began to back away from Link, but it was too slow because Link suddenly dashed at the bokoblin and rammed his shield into the creature's chest. The impact was so sudden and so powerful that the raider was sent failing over the rim of the deck and into the water.
Ghashar ground his teeth together, "Well... it looks like we got ourselves a problem here... eh, shipmates?" He turned and looked behind him to some ten rather well-dressed blue-skinned bokoblins standing by. They all had much higher quality looking scimitars than the regular raiders and their jackets were made of much more fine materials. The only pirate of them that had better was Ghashar himself, though, Link noticed for the first time that Ghashar didn't seem to carry a sword with him.
"I know at least two of ye can handle him." He said to the first two in the group, they looked at him slowly, without expression and then nodded, "I thought so." He pointed to Link, "Now get the little blighter and show no mercy."
The bokoblins nodded again and approached Link very slowly, as if they were not intimidated by him. Drawing their scimitars, which were clean and very sharp looking, the raiders began to circle him. Ghashar began to laugh and explained, "Ye may notice that these ones are more disciplined than the rest." He nodded, "That's because these mates of mine are part of me best men, my Elites."
Elites, huh? Link thought, he actually didn't like the sound of them, but it didn't matter, I have to beat them anyway, especially if I want to get out of this. Still, the Elites didn't seem a bit frightened. What was strange, or perhaps even disturbing was the fact that they didn't seem a bit confident either, it was like they were emotionless.
Then Link realized it; these pirates were definitely skilled—since advanced and master swordsmen, or even fighters—never showed their emotion in combat. Link was skilled, sure, but he didn't think he was skilled enough to take two Elites on, they were just too calm for what they had seen him do to the other raiders.
They continued to circle him, on any moment, one of them could strike and wound Link if he chose to. Then, they could just continue to circle him for who knew how long and repeat the process until the kid was dead. Suddenly, the one behind Link dashed at him, drawing out his sword swiftly and striking.
There was another clang as Link turned around quickly and parried the blow. Without warning, the other Elite Pirate struck at the boy, who only barely managed to block the attack with his shield in time. Unfortunately, the Elites seemed unshaken by this and they began to attack again, only faster this time.
They kept Link on edge and they struck swiftly and accurately. Blocking as many attacks as his could, he realized with despair, that the Elite Pirates were not in the least frustrated, they were patient. Link was a child and had less stamina than the Elites, he would not last too long against them.
But the young warrior would not allow himself to be so beaten so easily; Link decided to try an offensive stance against the Elites. Rolling between an Elite's legs, he got out of the circle and quickly slashed at the Elite's back. Too late, the Elite's sword came up and blocked the blow, while the other moved quickly to encircle Link again.
Oh no you don't! Link thought, gritting his teeth, he wouldn't let them take him into the circle again. Instead, he swung himself around the Elite he was facing and slashed at his backside, but Link did not intend to hit. The Elite, thinking that Link was trying to damage him, spun around and brought his sword up to parry, but the blade did not meet the other.
Instead, he felt a sharp stinging in his left side. Looking over, he saw that the cunning kid had stabbed the Elite in his left side while he was trying to defend against the nonexistent attack. The Elite let out a roar and slashed his own blade at Link, who managed to dodge it, barely.
Crap, he thought, They're still focusing their attacks! Indeed, they were; even enraged and wounded, the Elite Pirates still aimed their attacks carefully, it was obvious that Link would have to win by skill rather than by enraging the enemy. The other Elite came up behind Link and slashed horizontally. Carefully ducking the blow, Link rolled up and slammed his feet into the wounded Elite's stomach, sending him stumbling back a bit.
Link then jumped up and spun around, swinging his blade around in hopes of hit. It didn't work, the Elite jumped back to avoid the edge of his young opponent's sword. Rushing forward, the Elite Pirate pulled his own fake, by pretending to slash downwards onto Link's head, but then sidestepping to pull a deadly horizontal slice. Link struggled to bring his shield up in time to hear the Elite's blade scrapping against it.
The wounded one took the opportunity to flank Link and strike at him. Then, he did something amazing that shocked and awed Tetra and the pirates as she was busy freeing them, Link back-flipped over the blade of the Elite's scimitar to avoid it. While it looked like a stunt, the boy had figured that the Elite had swung too low for him to duck and the other, still unwounded, Elite had been preparing another attack, making a side-dash evasion too risky; back-flipping had been Link's only option.
Landing on the ground, Link quickly caught his breath, "Geez, you guys are really good." He said, complimenting them, "Really good at not letting your emotions force your tactics." It was obvious that the Elites were frustrated at how difficult it was to get him. They smiled though, as in thanks for the compliment, but the smile also seemed to say, "but we have to kill you now."
Link also agreed; for the fight was taking too long, but he wasn't going to lose, he decided it was time to stop going so easy on them, even though they were giving him quite a rough time. He made the attack this time and dashed at them yelling viciously like he was in war.
Jumping into the them, he began to slash in all directions frantically, but each slash was not a random strike. He moved his sword and aimed it for certain areas of the Elites' bodies. A bit surprised by his sudden courage, both Elite Pirates suffered blows to the arms, waists and legs.
Splitting apart from each other, the Elites tried to flank Link again and close in on both sides. This time, the young warrior was ready, bringing his sword behind him in preparation and as the Elites came to him, Link released his sword and spun around several times, hitting accurately. The Elite Pirates stumbled back and fell over, now heavily wounded. They had not expected the boy to try another spin attack, most swordsmen found that even a single spin attack was draining; it seemed like Link had a lot more stamina than other kids had.
Taking the one on his left, Link dashed to him and began to attack. The Elite was up and ready with his scimitar and as the young warrior came up to him, he slashed at Link, still focusing his attacks and not letting his frustration and fear get the better of him.
However, Link continued to dodge and block the attacks; he was getting used to the Elite's style of fighting and he began to predict their attacks. First, Link struck at the Elite horizontally, then to distract and surprise him, the fourteen-year old boy spun around completely and brought his sword onto the Elite's other side.
Knocking the creature back, Link used a finishing technique. Jumping up, holding his sword with two hands and bringing it back behind his head, he brought the sword down to the ground as he touched it and sliced the Elite Pirate down the middle, killing him.
The last Elite—the wounded one—looked on fearfully; moments ago, they had been keeping the kid at bay, but now, this young child had killed his companion and had gained the advantage. Unless Ghashar sent assistance, the Elite Pirate felt that he was doomed. Even so, the Elite feared for his life and began to back away. He did not realize that Link was very forgiving, in fact, the young warrior was sure he had gotten the point across and he did not see the need to kill the other Elite Pirate.
Unfortunately, Ghashar had about eight other Elites and maybe about ten regular raiders left with him, Link didn't see how he could win to this. Ghashar was stunned and surprised at this little child who could defeat one of his best pirates. But he still had the numbers and then, there was himself.
Ghashar grinned, "Yer a good fighter, but I don't play fair, kid," he let out a laugh, "Ye don't have any chance against all of us."
Link had admit it, he had no chance against them, but what else could he do? He had already attacked and even killed many of the bokoblins, he couldn't back down now, but he was running out of ideas. There was no way he could ever face those remaining eighteen raiders, not counting Captain Ghashar himself.
Turning to his remaining pirates, Ghashar said, "The kid's free for any of ya who want to take 'em! I recommend you all do, just finish him and then we can get on with our original job." The pirates each drew their swords and raised them in the air with a victorious roar from the group.
"I don't think so, Ghashar!" said a voice from the side, all of pirates and Ghashar looked and their jaws dropped, Tetra was standing, freed from her bonds, and grinning mischievously, "Good distraction, Link." she applauded the boy, "gave me time to free myself. I think you're finished, Ghashar."
Ghashar sneered, "Oh please! Yer about as much help to him, as a fly is to a shark, little matey!" The pirates "yarred" their agreement, "Ya'll never win, Tetra! Though you make it easier, I can finish ye off with the boy!"
But Tetra merely laughed, "I never said that I'd be the only one helping him." Placing two of her index fingers in her mouth, she whistled loudly; that was the signal. Immediately, Gonzo, Senza, Nudge, Zuko, Mako, and Niko all got up and drew their weapons (except Senza, who preferred to use his fists). They had been pretending that they had been bound, apparently Tetra had freed them.
Tetra drew her own dagger, herself silhouetted against the setting sun in the west, her blue eyes almost glowing with victory. The other pirates stood by her, ready to fight and shed blood—their enemies' blood—onto the deck, "You're finished, Ghashar!"
Link felt energized and readied himself with Orca's sword in his left hand and his grandmother's shield in his right. All the weariness had left from his body and spirit. Suddenly, the wounded Elite that Link had fought earlier, had crawled over to the edge of the deck and dove over.
"One man down, Ghashar," Tetra said snidely, "and we haven't even done anything yet." Although they had the advantage, they had to fight fast, the wind was picking up with more strength and the chance to get to Outset would be lost if they fought too long.
Ghashar began to back down, "We'll see, yer mateys are no match for my Elites! I still have plenty of shipmates on board!" He was trying to scare Tetra and the pirates, but it was not working. In fact it had the opposite effect, Ghashar was becoming more frightened by the minute.
Link felt courage flowing through his veins and he shouted, "Go back to where you came from! You're not welcome here!" Tetra and the others looked at him, slightly surprised, but then they smiled at him approvingly. Ghashar growled at Link, infuriated at his defiance of the proud pirate captain.
He looked at his Elites and the remaining raiders with a last order, "Kill them, kill all of them!" The bokoblins all cried out in favor of him and turned to Tetra and her pirates to attack and they did. Dashing into Tetra's group, they began slashing madly, the Elites followed behind the raiders, being careful to focus their attacks, unlike the raiders who had no real strategy.
The pirates faired well, Tetra was keeping an Elite Pirate at bay with her curved dagger. Ducking, weaving and flipping, she kept well out of his blows and returned some of her own, inflicting damage upon him. Tetra seemed to avoid parrying, which was intelligent because her small dagger could not deflect the attack of the powerful and well-crafted scimitar of an Elite. This was apparent when the Elite slashed horizontally at her and she had to dodge the assault by moving around the mast, barely missing the blade as it slammed into the wood mast, creating a long thin dent.
Gonzo, however was strong enough to handle an Elite's blows and even struck blows that gave the Elite a run for his rupees. Senza was off alone, handling two or three bokoblin raiders at once. Foolishly thinking that he could handle the massive bear-like Senza, an Elite rushed over to stab him when Senza threw the half-choking bokoblins on top of the Elite, crushing him in an entangled bokoblin pile.
Nudge was handling himself well, like Gonzo. His technique was different though, being as flamboyant as he was, Nudge tended to strike fast, short blows that were a little graceful and like a dance. The dance, however, did not have a predictable pattern, making it difficult for the Elite he was facing to keep up with his motions and movements.
Niko, Zuko and Mako had all gathered together to keep their strength in numbers. The bokoblins' underestimates of the damage that Mako's books would do were again demonstrated as one after the other tried to attack him a little to close, only to find an old book cover smashed into its face. Zuko struck with hard slashes, creating heavy wounds to legs and feet of the raiders and Niko, as scared as he was, managed to stab weakly a knocked over Elite in the chest. The pirates were still outnumbered, though.
Link dashed over to assist, but Ghashar stepped forward and blocked his path, "I don't think so, matey. Yer going to fight with me." One of his Elites was with him and Ghashar looked at him, and then nodded. The Elite handed him a scimitar in a well-made leather scabbard adorned with gold and rubies, Link was awed as he saw the jeweled golden hilt of the blade of the high-quality sword.
This was Ghashar's weapon, "Me finest blade," he grinned, "I usually save this one for warriors like ye. Prepare yerself, boy!" Ghashar drew out the shining curved blade of the scimitar and pointed it at Link.