Chapter 8: Hyrule, the Mainland
She had completely redone her hair and set them into two shoulder-length pigtails with a red ribbon tied around the stems of each pigtail. Around her body, Tetra had donned a loose white, and very girlish-looking dress which covered her body from her neck to her toes. It was real cute, but it bothered Link at the same time as he recalled his recent feelings about her.
"Well," Tetra grinned, "What do you think? Do I look like a little girl?" she asked, hoping to get a good opinion. Then she noticed the disturbed look on his face and frowned, "Hey, come on now. It's the best I could do with what we could get."
"Err... well..." Link hesitated, "It's... cute. And you do look a lot younger, but..." He could not believe he was looking at a fierce pirate captainess. Remembering the way Tetra had fought against Ghashar's men, he couldn't believe that the girl he was staring at was the same cocky, stern and tough pirate he had met the day before, "Just... why are you dressing like that?" he asked.
Tetra sighed, "Well... I suppose since you weren't originally in on the plan, you wouldn't have known. We are disguising ourselves as middle-class bomb merchants." Pointing to herself, she explained, "I am posing as one of the merchant's young daughters, about, oh say, nine years old whose come to watch the tournament." She adjusted her sash and inquired again, "So do I look the part?"
"Well, yeah..." Link answered, "... but you look so strange."
"That's because you're used to good 'ol sexy me." She teased, sticking her tongue out, "Now, I'm a cute, innocent little girl..." Smiling, she added very slyly, "...innocent to an extent, that is." She eyed him intensely and placed her hands together. Rubbing them she asked, "So, Link... you said you had a little sister, right?"
"Uh... yeah." He blinked, looking a little confused and a little frightened, "I do. I kinda told you about her when I was checking her telescope..." he added before asking slowly, "but why do you want to know?" Tetra was about to respond when she cut off by a loud dull noise coming from behind them.
The door to the cabin suddenly swung opened and out came a bunch of middle-class merchants. All of them were dressed in high-quality vests, jackets, hats, coats, pants, belts and boots all different colors and sizes. Link was about to ask who they were when he abruptly realized that there were exactly three short merchants, and three large ones; it was Gonzo and the other pirates.
Tetra clapped her hands together, "Oh good, you're all here." Tetra said with a smile which turned into an impish grin as she took note of their shocked stares at her new attire and appearance. "All of you look very well-dressed and some of you even look rather handsome. It's a big improvement from a few hours ago."
"M-miss... Tetra?" Nudge asked, forgetting to clear his throat, "I-is that really you?" Nudge had donned a head-fitting brown cap and a gray set of merchant clothing.
"Yes. It's me." Tetra tapped her foot, "I told you boys that you'd be quite surprised." She motioned to Niko, "Did you clean the cloak like I wanted, Niko?"
Niko stepped forward, and unfortunately, he looked worse than before. His face was covered in small, loose patches of hair all over his beaver face. Apparently, the pirates had tied to improve his appearance and didn't do as well as they had hoped. Nevertheless, he looked very sharp in his dark blue vest.
He nodded, "Aye. I got it right here." He took out a light-blue cloak that was the right size for Tetra. Handing it to her, Niko started staring at her again, transfixed upon her dress and her body. Tetra's eyes narrowed and Niko received a prompt slap from the pirate captainess, "Hey! What was that for?"
Taking the cloak, Tetra responded hotly, "You don't need to drool over me. I'm supposed to be a little girl, not your hot date." She threw the cloak over herself and tied the draw strings together, "So..." she began to speak, an impish smile growing on her face, "Senza, Nudge, Gonzo... which one of you wants to be my daddy?"
Gonzo, Senza, and Nudge's eyes all popped open in shock. The three stared at each other, each red in the face for a long time. Then, they asked in unison, "D-daddy?" and looked at their leader with some apprehension.
Tetra looked dumbfounded, "What?" She exclaimed, placing her right hand on her forehead, "Didn't tell you boys about out plan yesterday? I swore I had explained everything you needed to-"
"No," Zuko responded, cutting Tetra off completely, "Ghashar attacked us yesterday before you could finish explaining it to us. Remember? Link came in and told us about the Black Ship and-"
Then Tetra cut him off, "Oh, that's right," She spoke quietly with sudden realization. Letting out a laugh she apologized, "I'm sorry. I forgot that we had ended our meeting abruptly." She folded her arms, "Well, this is a good opportunity then to explain everything to you guys at once. Come over and gather around me." She ordered, beckoning them all with a finger.
Link, Gonzo and the others obeyed and assembled around their leader. Once she was sure that they were all alert and paying attention to her, Tetra commenced her explanation, "Now then, listen up. We're posing as middle-class bomb merchants, at least, you six are," she added, pointing to Gonzo, Senza, Nudge, Zuko, Mako and Niko, "Since I look the youngest, its obvious that I'm going to have to pose as a child: a daughter of one of the big three over here."
"Well, Miss..." Senza said with an impressed smile, "That's all well and good, but what about Link here? We ain't got any clothes for 'em."
"He won't need them." Tetra replied with a half-smirk.
Link blinked twice before asking, "Huh? What do you mean?" His face was completely blank of what Tetra was talking about; the pirates shared the same look as the islander.
A wide grin spread on Tetra's face and for one wild moment, Link thought he saw her blush, "Well..." She closed her eyes as if she were entering a trance and then giggled. Opening her eyes—that carried a sudden shimmer that Link had never seen before in her eyes—she looked at him and said, "Kid, you're going to be my older brother."
It was like an anvil had been dropped on each of their heads, Link and the pirates had hardly expected Tetra to play the role of a little girl, where she could not do the speaking for them. Now, not only was she a little girl, but she was Link's little sister.
Is that why she asked me about Aryll earlier? The islander thought, feeling that this was going to be extremely awkward, if not outright embarrassing, to have Tetra act as his little sister, "Um... is... that why you asked about Aryll earlier?" He asked slowly, repeating his own thoughts. He wanted to try and gain some ground over this situation and said, "No offense, but I don't think you could act like her at all."
"Oh really?" Tetra asked with a challenging tone of voice. Giggling slowly, the sly pirate leader said to her cronies, "He doesn't know me very well, does he, boys?" She motioned for them to give her some room, and they obeyed quickly. She was now facing off to Link like they were in some sort of life-or-death duel. Clearing her throat, Tetra breathed in.
"Oh! Big brother!" Her eyes were suddenly shining with artificial, yet convincing innocence, her voice was a bit higher and sounded disturbingly like Aryll's. Tetra skipped over to Link childishly and grabbed his arm, cuddling it tenderly, "Oh, big brother... you're going to fight in the big tournament right? You know," Her eyes flickered towards him, glimmering brilliantly, "You know, for me?" Letting go of his arm, Tetra moved away and asked rather pompously, "How was that for acting like a little girl?"
There was a long pause before Link could regain control over over his voice box and his jaw muscles. Speaking, however, was still painful for him, "... Th... th... that was..." he swallowed, "... that was pretty good. You... acted a lot like Aryll there." The red color in his face finally began to wash away.
"Thought so." Tetra smiled wittingly, "I figured a guy like you would have a cute little sister." She turned back to the pirates and saw that her performance had almost knocked the wind out of them. Each of them was struggling to breathe, "Oh, come on, boys." she said, rolling her eyes, "You can stand me being cutesy for awhile." Clapping her hands twice before speaking, Tetra asked, "Now, who's going to be my daddy? Eh? We don't have all day."
Senza, Gonzo and Nudge were still hesitant about claiming Tetra as their child and it began to irritate Link. They were all red in the face, and glanced at each other as if hoping the other one would speak first. Bah! They only have to a parent to her! Link thought, his own eyes flickering steamed flames, Why are they red in the face? She's only my age, and at least, they don't have to be her older brother. Finally, after several moments, Gonzo said, "I'll do it, Miss."
"Oh, good." Tetra said promptly, "Next, we need new names, except Link, for our trip. I've already come up with a name for my role. I'm going to be Elena." The pirates looked stunned again, "Yes I know. That name is pretty irksome to you boys, you're not alone on this."She added, rolling her eyes, "But like I said, we really don't have a choice in this. We're going to have to take regular middle-class names. Understand?"
This was different, Tetra spoke kindly and understandingly towards the others and Link had an idea as to why. Tetra liked dressing up and changing her name to something ordinary just like the rest of the pirates did—not at all. He felt sorry for them, almost wanting to dress up and change his name to make the others feel better, especially Tetra.
Gonzo and the others nodded solemnly, apparently they understood like Link did that they had to do this even if it disquieted them. Within a few minutes, the pirates had come up with new names for themselves, each of them grimaced as they said it. Gonzo was William, Senza was Benjamin and Nudge gave himself the name Johnathon. Zuko took the name George, Niko was Anthony and Mako decided to use Albert—Tetra approved all of them.
"Alright then," She said when they had finished, "when we get to the mainland, we're going to have to head to the Sword and Shield Tavern in Castle Town. We have a reservation under the name 'Jacobson', but only Link, Gonzo and I are going to have that name, understand?" She strained, "The rest of you are either cousins, brothers or business partners; pick one and stick with it. If you change your relation to Gonzo at any time, people will begin to get suspicious, so don't do it!"
Swallowing, the pirates all agreed on the issue, understanding the gravity of the situation completely. Then, they continued to give their captainess their full attention. "After going to the Tavern, we'll head to the Arena to register Link." Tetra explained, "After that, for the next few days, we'll train him." Stopping, she looked over to the islander and said, "No offense, we know you're a good fighter, but it doesn't hurt to practice, kid."
"Yeah, that's okay." Link said, he had no qualms with that whatsoever; the more he trained, the better chance he had of getting into, at most, the semi-finals of the tournament.
"Excellent!" she replied, sounding rather pleased with Link's response. Then Tetra continued, "After which, various things will be done for preparation. We'll have to get food for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner; either by buying it from the market or going out. I don't recommend going out too often, considering it leaves us in the open and if you are going to go out, we all go." Narrowing her eyes, Tetra added darkly, "There will be no three-somes going out for a bite." The pirates didn't even look at each other, but they were sure Tetra also meant drinking.
Now, she was about to continue to explain the plan, but she hesitated as if she did not like this part. However after a moment, she decided to continue, "I know you're all going to hate this," she groaned, "but... we have system here, right?" She asked looking around. "Ya know, the lower rank you are, the more clean-up chores you have to do? Well, guess what? The ranks don't matter for this mission."
Link noticed the pirates looking at each other, bewildered and nonplussed; he was curious as to what Tetra meant. Thinking back, he remembered Zuko telling him about how the 'swabbie' was the lowest rank on the ship—the one who did all the cleaning around the ship. He didn't know about what rank system Tetra used, but it didn't matter to him; he waited for her to clear the confusion.
"We're all going to have to take turns washing our clothes and such," Tetra finally said. There was a large groan from the whole group of the pirates—although Niko was looking particularly happy about this piece of news—Tetra raised a serious brow and said over the pirates' groan, "And I mean all of us. Including me and Link. These are the only high-quality clothes we have and since we'll be training Link everyday, we'll be fairly sweaty. We have to spend a lot of time to keep these clothes clean." A dominate smile grew onto her face before she added, "However... just because I have to do a swabbie's work, doesn't mean I'm not the final word anymore. I'm still your captain, got it?"
This was something the pirates could all agree on—obeying Tetra that was—they still; however, looked like they wanted to find some way to avoid having to do wash-work insomuch that Link could not hold back a chuckle. Then Senza approached Tetra, "What about room assignments?" he asked, a question that caught the islander's attention, "Were not just going to leave the kid alone, are we?"
"Of course not!" Tetra laughed, "He'll need the most sleep out of all of us. The formation is the same." She explained carefully, motioning with her hands, "Gonzo and Zuko will be across from my room, Senza and Mako, you'll be to my left and Nudge and Niko will be to my right."
Now, he wanted to know. "What's with the specific arrangement?" Link asked no one in specific.
"It is so Miss Tetra can be protected by all of us easily." Mako explained, adjusting his glasses gingerly, "We can get to her room quickly or form an instant defensive position around her room. Likewise, this formation makes assisting each other more feasible."
"Whoa..." Link was clearly impressed, Tetra and her pirates were much more organized than he thought even beforehand. It's no wonder these guys are so good at stealing things. They really put their minds to it, He thought and then realized there was something even deeper about it, and they put each other first rather than themselves. He looked at Tetra, "So... where I am staying?"
Tetra grinned rather slyly, "Well... that is a problem, isn't it? We can't put on the outside, that would disrupt the way the formation is set up for immediate defense." With a slight shrug, Tetra sighed and said after a few seconds, "The only way I see it working is if you are inside the circle. In other words," her eyes flashed, "you're going to room with me."
There was a general shock among the group; the pirates were each making protesting sounds. Link, on the other hand was again speechless and red as a beet. Tetra's temper seemed to be growing short, "Look!" She exclaimed, "There isn't any other way... unless you want him in sleep in the hall." She added unkindly towards the six, silencing the pirates, "Link is going to room with me, alright?" The pirates only grunted and Tetra took that as a yes.
"Well... if there are no more complaints," she said as if she were daring them to protest. None of the pirates said anything, "I think we're almost ready to go. One thing to check before we go though... " She turned to Zuko and asked, "How's our bomb supply holding up?"
"Pretty good." Zuko responded, "We've got over three hundred; that should be enough to pose as a false supply. I suppose if we needed any more..." He mused with a grin on his face. He and Link exchanged glances before the both of them starting snickering.
"No..." Tetra chuckled, she also knew what Zuko was referring to, "That won't be necessary. Are there any questions, boys? Link?" She asked them all. This time, the pirates had the courage to shake their heads. Link followed suit, even though the idea of sharing a room with Tetra for three days made feel quite nervous. "Good!" Tetra said, "Well then... set the sails! We're going to Hyrule, next stop is Kakariko Port Town!"
-S-
Despite the hours of washing, training, and acting ahead, spirits were fairly high. Some of the pirates, like Senza and Zuko, kept winking at Link while others, like Gonzo and Nudge gave him jealous glares. Link asked Zuko what it was and he was shocked to learn that Gonzo and the others were jealous of him getting to room with Tetra. Zuko, on the other hand had been winking at Link for good luck; either way, Link felt bad.
But the excitement in the air was highly contagious and before long, Link wasn't worried about rooming with the pirate girl for much longer. The pirates had not often been to Hyrule and according to them, every time they went, the mainland seemed like a whole new place. Every year there were different merchants, shows and other forms of entertainment, including the tournament which was never boring or repetitive, for the tourists. Link gathered that the pirates had been to previous Swordsmen Tournaments from their tales.
Link noticed that the pirates had placed fake advertisements on large white sheets all over the ship and had changed the flag to make it unrecognizable. The large sheets depicted images of well-kept and fresh blue bombs for sell at low prices not matched anywhere else. It was, at least Link thought, a very good disguise for their ship.
It was early-afternoon when the ship finally pulled up to one of the docks in Kakariko Port Town. Despite it's name the port town was ironically not connected to the Kakariko Village at the foot of Death Mountain. Why it was called 'Kakariko Port Town' Link never really found out.
It didn't matter though because the sight blew him away. He could see the gigantic mainland of Hyrule from the dock, it was larger than anything that could fit in Link's imagination and then there was the port town itself. I... I just can't choose which to look at first! He thought, suddenly realizing his jaw was wide open and closing it.
The buildings in the port town were not nearly as tall as the ones in Windfall, but they were wide and thick and made of wood, brick and other materials. Each building had plenty of windows and large doors. But this was just the docks, further down the streets Link could see houses with triangular roof tops that he had never seen before.
Unable to hold in the the excitement anymore, Link rushed for the gangplank when he was grabbed by a hand and pulled back. It was Tetra, "Hold it, kid. You look ridiculous right now." Still holding on to him, she said to Niko, "Did you wash his clothes like I asked?"
Niko nodded, "Aye. I have 'em right 'ere." He pulled out Link's green tunic, cap and white pants, which were all clean with the sword and shield ready on top. "They weren't so hard to clean, either," he added with a smug grin.
Taking the clothes, Tetra piled them on Link with his sword and shield, "Quickly!" She hustled him over the cabin door, "Go inside and change into your Hero's clothes with the sword and shield so people won't be so keen to notice that we have an islander with us!" She said rather briskly.
"W..." Link was about to protest but then he saw the look on Tetra's face and complied quietly, "... Alright..." He opened the cabin door and went inside. A few minutes later, Link came out wearing his hood-like green cap and tunic, he had strapped Orca's sword to his back and slung the shield over the sheath.
This time, Tetra smiled when he came out, "Excellent. Now," she said, giving each of the pirates a sharp look, "Remember, try to hold off on the accent and speak clearly. You can still talk like sailors, but none of this 'yarr' stuff, okay?" she explained, "You guys are, from here on out, going to have to speak for me because I'm a child."
The pirates nodded and Gonzo replied, "Will do. This shouldn't be difficult."
Tetra went over to Link and grabbed his hand, making his face burn up suddenly, though he became frightened when he saw her narrowed eyes, "Knock it off! That will definitely reveal us. Stop with the blushing, brothers aren't supposed to be embarrassed with their cute little sister."
"But..." Link protested, how on earth am I not going to blush with her around all the time... she's so cute. Link thought, remembering the first time he saw her, and way she had looked at him. The islander felt his face go even more red and knew that his crush on her was going to be quite a nuisance.
"Just think of me as Aryll, okay?" Tetra consoled, "We have to go now." She added as Gonzo and the others got their bags, canes and other things together and headed to the gangplank. Tetra guided Link over so that they were behind Gonzo; the boy could see her breathing deeply, trying to get rid of the stress that had overtook her for the day. It made him wish he could do something to relieve her of it all.
Thus, off the ship they went; Gonzo walked down the gangplank first with Tetra almost dragging Link following close behind. Then Nudge and Senza came down the ramp, Senza who was looking rather strange in that navy brimmed hat. Then they were followed by Mako, Niko and Zuko in tow; the pirates looked nothing like pirates at all and most of the people didn't pay them any mind.
Except for the Royal Guard in white with the red falcon of the Royal Family on his chest, standing in front of them, there was a cold stern look on the guard's face. Oh crap, Link thought tensely, Did we blow it already? The Guard stopped the group with his hand and approached Gonzo.
"Say now..." The guard said, his voice was noble-sounding and light, "Just where do you think you're going? I don't think we were expecting any shipments of bombs yet. Aren't you a bit early? Or a bit late I suppose...?" He added with a dry cough.
Link was sure that they were doomed, but Gonzo, who had been apparently trained by Tetra for the occasion, merely said very calmly, "Well... we ain't selling yet, my good friend! We're here for the tournament, sponsoring a fighter, see?" Gonzo said all this with a hearty laugh and grin, hoping to get on the guard's good side.
However, the guard was not so easily softened, "Fighter? I see no warrior among you. Unless..." He looked at Link and stifled a laugh, "Unless you mean this little boy... surely, you don't mean to enter someone so young. He could die and that little play sword isn't going to help him."
Feeling insulted, Link opened his mouth to defend himself when he heard a cute voice next to him say, "But it isn't a play sword. It's a real one and my brother is very good with it!" Swallowing and thinking of Aryll, Link dared a look at Tetra. She was smiling with her mouth-open and her eyes were sparkling like they were when she had pulled the 'cute' act on him, "Right, big brother?" She added, looking at him.
Link swallowed discreetly, thinking of Aryll hadn't helped at all. Behind those sparkles in Tetra's eyes, he could see azure flames coming out from behind them. Immediately he forced the redness out of his face and spoke with a clear voice, "Right! I've been training for years... I'll be fine." His words were no lie, unlike what the rest of the gang was saying.
"Well..." The guard considered them for a few minutes. He rubbed his chin in thought, looking from Gonzo to Link and then to Tetra's still shining face, he gave in, "Alright, I'll let you enter, but you must pay a docking fee of seventy rupees, sir."
Gonzo paid the fee without protest and the guard let them pass, "Enjoy your stay in Hyrule and good luck." He said dryly, doubting Link's true potential and skill. Feeling insulted again, Link was about to turn around and correct the guard when Tetra stopped him.
"Knock it off!" She whispered sharply, her eyes were narrowing dangerously, "I didn't think you were so cocky, kid. You'll prove him wrong in the tournament in a few days. Don't cause any unnecessary trouble!" Leaning into him, she threatened darkly, "Or I'll give you trouble, understand?"
Link nodded meekly and Tetra returned to her to cutesy behavior. Not wanting to aggravate the already tense situation, Link didn't say anything more. It was a bad time to disobey Tetra, she was extremely stressed and worried despite her cute appearance (Link could feel her squeezing his arm very uncomfortably).
The group continued to move through the town, it seemed like everyone here was a sailor of some sort. Some of them had earrings, others carried large fishing nets, all of them had the familiar sailor's accent and a few even had peg-legs. Even the other swordsmen vouching a spot in the tournament, from what Link could catch from their conversations with other people, seemed to carry the characteristics of seamen; some of them even looked like pirates.
Although the streets were fairly empty, they felt crowded to Link who had never been in a place larger than Windfall up to that point. This was mainly because Kakariko Port contained more people than Windfall Island. Even though the isle was a popular trading place, it never had more than a few hundred people most of the time.
"Wow..." Link said, speaking his thoughts out loud and unable to contain his awe, "This place is huge... there's so many people and so many buildings. What do they all do?" He heard a snort from Tetra next to him, "What?"
"Listen to you..." She said, amused by his comments, "You sound like such a child. 'What do they all do?' That can't be answered, unless you want to ask them all yourself." She side-glanced at him, a teasing smile on her face, "If you're so amazed by this port town, you're going to have a heart attack when we get to Castle Town."
Link had to blink, "What...? You mean the town in the castle is bigger?" He asked, unable to even imagine any town larger than Kakariko Port.
Tetra let out a very girlish giggle that was not like her at all, "My gosh... I keep forgetting how naïve you are, being an islander." She shook head in pity, "You know, it's a bad idea to keep staring around at everything like that." she warned, "I know it's amazing, but you have to stop. You're supposed to be a middle-class boy; you're not supposed to be blown away by all this." she explained and then added with a grin, "In fact, you should be rather bored."
"S-sorry... I... I'll try not to be so amazed next time." Link said with an embarrassed grin, "So... Just... how are we going to get to Hyrule Castle anyway?"
Gonzo was the one who replied, "We're going to the stables at the edge of town to get a wagon ride to the castle." He explained, "It'll take us across Hyrule Field to the Castle drawbridge. The trip will be a few hours, so be prepared..." He added, looking rather discouraged, "It's going to be boring."
However, Link was very excited at the thought of seeing Hyrule Field. "Ah... no way!" Link countered, "We'll be able to see the whole field! I read that you can see everything from Hyrule Field, including Death Mountain."
"Ah... I've seen it. Nothing really special." Gonzo shrugged indifferently, "It may impress you for awhile, but after looking at it for a few hours, you'll be dead sick of it." He guaranteed.
But Gonzo's words did not faze Link's enthusiasm of seeing Hyrule Field first hand. Sturgeon's books had never carried any pictures, so Link always had to rely on his imagination to see the great plains and towns of the mainland. So far, his imagination had, to his delight, utterly failed him.
-S-
It didn't take very long to reach the stables. Almost immediately, Gonzo had found someone that knew where the stables were and gave the disguised pirate clear directions to its location. There were some interruptions in the group's travel by wandering traders and merchants who became interested in the pirates' supposed trade, but Gonzo managed to talk them away without hesitation. Apparently Tetra had prepared the pirates more than Link had originally thought.
Within a half-an hour the group arrived at the stables without any real delay on their part. The stables were actually a dual set of buildings, one being a true stables with horses for the rent, the other was a station for wagons that would follow the roads out to other cities, taking passengers for a certain fee.
Because there were so many people, Tetra, Gonzo, Link and the rest had to wait in line for a ticket and again wait for a wagon to arrive to take them to Hyrule Castle. It was a tedious wait, one which no one really loved or hated, but within another half hour, a brown wagon made of wood and iron came to pick them up. The lanky driver smiled at them and removed his cap when he bowed.
"Greetins to ya folks!" He said with a friendly voice, "More merchants headin' to the castle, eh? Well... that's reasonable, it is a good time of the year for business!" He added with a sly grin. Link understood why, the station was still filled to the brim and tickets were eight rupees each. It was a good time for business at the stables.
"Yeah," Senza smirked while noting the price of the tickets. He leaned over to Nudge and whispered, "Especially since they seemed to have increased their prices suddenly." He snorted, "Easy way to get profits, eh? I wonder what their 'reason' is..."
Nudge cleared his throat and grinned, "'Inflation', of course." The two snickered at their joke and gathered up their belongings while Gonzo, Link, Tetra, Zuko, Mako and Niko all pilled onto the wagon. Nudge and Senza got aboard a few moments later with the luggage, both still had grins on their faces.
The wagon was a large box-like cart with seats all along the sides of the of the wagon. Straps were set into the wood seats every foot or so, the straps allowed a passenger to keep their self bound to the seat in case the cart went over a sudden dip or sharp rock.
Tetra was still clinging to Link under the pretense of being his little sister, so she sat down next to him and placed her head on his shoulder innocently and lovingly. It made Link feel uneasy, but he knew that she was only acting to make herself look like a little girl. And it was, at least to him, quite effective. His face felt very red and it didn't help that some of the pirates were throwing him jealous glances, he was finally grateful when the driver stopped looking over their tickets and spoke to them.
"So.. yer headin' to the castle, right?" He asked even though he already knew, "Maybe it ain't my place to ask, but where are ya'll goin' there for? It can't just be business if ya have yer kids with ya." He added to Gonzo.
"Well, it's sorta a mixture of both." The disguised pirate replied, "Ya see, I'm entering my son into the tournament and his younger sister was literally begging me to take her to see her brother fight." He chuckled, "Since we're starting a business in bomb-selling, I thought I'd bring my business partners out here to check out possible locations." He glanced at Tetra to confirm whether or not he had spoken correctly. She responded by throwing a wink at him which told Gonzo that he had done everything perfectly.
The driver looked at Link and asked, "Oh, that boy?" Gonzo nodded. "Is that why he has a sword... Well dang... he's gotta be strong if you're going to enter him." He said, clearly impressed, "I don't know any fathers who'd enter their young son into the Swordsman Tournament. A hard-working lad I'll bet."
Link suddenly liked the driver, for he was the first one to actually believe that the boy had any real skill at all. I've been training for this thing for years, He thought, It's nice to finally have someone on the mainland to be rooting for me. Link gave a warm smile to the driver for his acknowledgment.
"So!" The driver exclaimed, "How fast do ya want to get there?" There was a kind of sneaky tone to his voice.
"Uhh..." Gonzo hesitated, not really knowing what to think of the driver's question, "Well, we want to arrive at the castle as soon as possible of course, but..." The driver cut him off.
"'As soon as possible'? Well..." He grinned mischievously, "I can make the horses run like Majora's chasin' them if ya want..."
"No!" Gonzo exclaimed loudly, "As convenient as that is, I want a more comfortable ride. Besides, I've got kids here! They're only..." He stopped and glanced quickly at Tetra. She mouthed "nine" to him and Link held up all the fingers on his hands and then two fingers on his left hand, "They're only nine and fourteen for Naryu's sake. Get there as fast as you can, but don't burn the road, make it steady..." Tetra shot Gonzo a warning glance and he quickly added, "Please."
"Of course!" The driver responded sounding completely content with the decision, despite the faint tone of disappointment in his voice, "We don't want to hurt the children now, do we? Especially not that cute daughter of yours." And with that, the driver called to the horses and forced them forward onto the road that led out to Hyrule Field.
-S-
The ride was fairly uneventful. Link and the pirates didn't say much to each other, for there was nothing they could have said, lest they revealed their true identities and blow the raid. For Link, on the other hand, the ride wasn't all that boring, he enjoyed the sight of the huge field of Hyrule basking in the afternoon sunlight. The wind was gently caressing the grass across the field, it seemed so peaceful.
As they got further from the town, Link could see more clearly now, the large mountain range in the north with it's giant mountain to the northeast called Death Mountain. A ring of smoke circled the head of the mount, which, unlike the other peaks, was not covered by snow. Link's curiosity was aroused and he asked Mako why the mountain peak was not covered in snow.
"It's because it is a volcano," He replied, shifting his glasses to his nose, "The heat from the magma inside melts all the snow off the peak. The heat is also the source of the smoky ring around the summit." He chuckled and added, seeing Link's worried expression, "Don't worry, Death Mountain is actually too far out to damage Hyrule Field or the castle. But there is the danger that it might erupt if you try to climb it."
"Albert's right, kid." The driver chimed in, "Didja know that Death Mountain used to be the only mountain in Hyrule hundreds of years ago? It's said that the eruptions of lava from the mountain flow'd and harden'd, creating a large mountain range to the north over time."
"Wow..." Link was amazed, Sturgeon had never taught him about volcanoes, so he never knew anything about Death Mountain besides its name. The name, Death Mountain now made sense to him because he knew that the mountain could spew out deadly rocks of fire from its mouth at any time, making it life-threatening and unpredictable. I hope I never have to climb it, he mused.
Even the splendor of Death Mountain couldn't keep Link enthralled for long, as true to Gonzo's words. The place began to bore him and the young warrior longed for some excitement. Tired, Link tried to put his head on Tetra's, hoping that she'd pass it off for acting and let him rest his eyes, but she wouldn't have it and quietly pushed him off.
He was so tired and so bored and the trip just seemed to drag on forever. It just wouldn't end; so repetitive had the clopping of the horses' feet become that they seemed to meld into the silence of the field. Some of the pirates were nodding off and Tetra seemed too quiet to be awake. It was just when Link thought that the ride would never end when the driver called out, "We're here! Welcome to Hyrule Castle, ladies and gentleman!"
