Author's Note: AAAAHHH GOD. My head is clogged with mucus right now and I have class in half an hour. Sorry for the late update, kinda passed out last night. =_= Anyways, big chapter, important chapter, crudely edited chapter. Thank you for continuing to read this, please R&R, visit the forum maybe, and hope that I don't sneeze my brains out. See you in a week. Maybe.
It was like everyone except Link knew what to do.
Gonzo had charged topside with brass knuckles, belting out a nonsensical battle cry. A grim-faced Mako, now wide-awake, wielded a strange contraption consisting of a giant wooden fist connected to a box by some sort of spring. Zuko had already begun picking off any monsters within range of his shoes of fury. Tetra herself had a cutlass drawn and was positioned at the bow, as if daring the first of the monsters' raiding party to try and board her ship so that she could lop its stupid head clean off.
Sky landed behind Link and bent forward so his head was near the boy's ear.
"Now might be a good time to retrieve your sword," Sky prompted.
"Right," Link mumbled. He swung himself around and skittered down the ladder.
It was like Tetra sensed him touch down on to the deck: her head snapped around and she snarled, "Hey kid! Get belowdecks and stay out of the way! This is no place for grandma's boys." One of the cannon boats shot a bomb aimed straight for the girl. She simply stared it down, as if in a game of chicken. Right before it reached the ship, an old sandal hurtled into it and the bomb exploded in mid-air. Tetra didn't even blink as shrapnel stuck in her bun, instead pulling a throwing star out of the wraps on her arm and whipping it into the forehead of the nearest Bokoblin. The beast let out a guttural yell that made Link shudder.
The pirate captain noticed that Link was still standing by the ladder. She whirled around and screamed, "I SAID GO!"
Link bolted for the door and scrambled down the stairs, passing Niko as he went topside with a small meat tenderizer pilfered from the galley.
Forward. Turn. Turn. Uh, which way was it again? Good thing Sky was better at directions than he; otherwise it would have taken much longer to reach the closet. When they did arrive at his base of operations, they found Billy with Link's sword in his mouth and his shield carefully balanced on his shoulders.
"Shup." He was gingerly gripping the sheath with the tips of his teeth, but some saliva got on it anyway. He placed the sword at Link's feet and shrugged off the shield. His tail began to wag.
"So I heard guys yelling about an attack or something." Yes, his tail was definitely wagging.
"Tetra told me to stay here," Link said. For once, Sky and Billy acted in unison as they both gave him incredulous looks.
"And you're going to listen to her?" Billy demanded. "Kid, come on. You can't be serious."
"I have to agree," Sky chipped in. "In this situation, you'll be more of a help there than down here."
"But—"
"Tell me something, kid. Are you really gonna take orders from the bitch who got your sister kidnapped?" The wolf saw him flinch. "She thinks you can't do squat. You're dead weight. And you're just going to take that?"
The anger Link had pushed deep, deep down inside of him came bubbling up to the surface. He was right. This was all her fault. But did she act that way? No! Instead, she insulted him, made him clean everything, and fed him such tiny servings that it created a hollow feeling in him all the time. No. He was not going to take this. His dark green eyes turned black and he set his jaw.
"I'm going back up," he declared with barely restrained fury. He picked up the sword and strapped the shield to his back.
Sky nodded. "Not the best motivation, but I suppose it works," he said under his breath.
Billy nudged Link out of the closet, then paused and muttered, "Oh right. The porthole's still open. Do you think monsters can get in that way?"
"I'll close it," Sky said automatically. Using his powerful wings to hover in front of the porthole, he pushed it shut with his beak. There was a sucking sound as it closed, forming an airtight seal.
"Did you close it all the way?"
"Completely shut," Sky affirmed.
"Good," Billy said, and slammed his shoulder into the door, trapping Sky inside.
Link stared at the wolf. The middle Link returned the look with a dead serious expression. "You can either waste precious time trying to get this door open, or you can go up there, kick some ass, and show that bitch what you're made of."
Banging on the door and heated words from inside gave Link a pretty good idea on how Sky was feeling about this, but he got the feeling that Billy wouldn't let him get at the door even if he tried. As bad as he felt about it, Link made for the stairs.
Topside, chaos had broken out. Bokoblins had scaled the ship and were openly engaging pirates in combat. Bombs came soaring into view, only to explode into bursts of light and noise due to the near-constant stream of random junk that came flying out of the crow's nest. The pirates themselves had taken out the catapult Link had seen them use against the big purple bird and were effectively taking out cannon boats and incoming rafts. The air was rent with shrieks, screams, and explosions. An influx of clouds smothered the sun and made everything appear much darker. The wind was picking up, carrying with it the smells of gunpowder and blood.
Billy didn't seem fazed at all. He laughed wildly and leaped on the nearest Bokoblin, yelling, "Interfere this, you stupid bird!" His teeth carved ugly gashes into the monster's flesh. The Bokoblin screeched and flailed around in a desperate attempt to rid itself of an invisible assailant.
Link tried to steady his breathing. The shield weighed his arm down and it was tiring trying to keep it up all the time. It took several attempts to get his sword out, the dried blood on it causing it to stick to the insides of the scabbard.
As he finally managed to yank the blade out, it began to rain.
The next hour or so was a turbulent mishmash of slashing and screaming. Link spent most of it hiding behind his shield, cowering from the many fists and crude machetes aimed at his head and torso. After a while, the ache in his arm turned to numbness, and he had to resort to his sword to keep the monsters at bay. If he killed any, he had no idea. Every time the blade was lodged in something, he pulled it out and swung again. The rain dropped the temperature and made everything slick. Sometimes, Link would catch glimpses of other pirates amidst the throng of monsters. Gonzo smashing one's head against the railing. Nudge punching another's face in. Mako's contraption socking one in a place that made Link wince. Billy, streaked with blood, mutilating another victim's leg. The smell of blood was strong and it made Link's eyes water. Blackening corpses and grimy Rupees lay scattered around the deck, sliding to and fro as the ship turned with the dark, stormy waters.
Eventually, Link managed to back into a corner. His breathing was shallow and his arms felt like lead. Looking over the battlefield with squinted eyes, he saw that there were many dead bodies strewn everywhere. However, there were twice as many monsters that were still alive.
Just as the thought of returning to the closet to hide and throw up crossed his mind, an enormous, hulking beast entered his line of sight and headed directly for him.
Its face was akin to the grotesque union of a human and a fattened pig, complete with bulging lower lip, small and yellow bestial eyes, and a large, hairy snout. Tattoos decorated its well-muscled arms, which made carrying its giant spear quite easy.
The beast pulled the lethal weapon back, rain dripping off the tip like blood off a cleaver. It was going to kill him.
Why?
There was no why. Link could see it in the beast's eyes. There was a mindless drive to kill, destroy. It was going to kill him because. That was its why.
Link tried to raise his shield, but he was exhausted and his arm didn't react fast enough.
The spear shot forward and buried itself in Link's lower torso. He couldn't even scream; all that came out was a breathless whimper as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. His brain couldn't handle the pain. The noise around him suddenly grew duller and his vision blackened around the edges. He could barely feel the impact of his body against the deck when the Moblin tore the spear out of his intestines. His sense of smell died and his breathing was coming even shallower, the loudest sound he could hear.
He found that he was staring at the sky. The rain seemed to be falling slower. Faintly, as if from a great distance, Link heard Billy yell, "LINK! YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
His eyes slid shut. His breathing didn't seem so loud anymore. Dimly he thought, Who's going to open the door for Sky?
When a terrifying, icy sensation stole over him, he immediately knew that Link was dying. He didn't know how, or why, but he knew. His head snapped around just in time to see the Moblin tear its bloody spear out of the kid. "LINK!" He kicked off of the Bokoblin he had been gnawing on and charged.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
He shoved the Moblin and knocked it off balance, causing it to bump into Gonzo. Gonzo shoved the Moblin back. In the face.
Billy reached for his pouch to get the kid a fairy when—oh right—paws. So all he could do was circle around the near-lifeless body, screaming for someone, anyone to help him. His shouts of "HE'S DYING!" and "COME HERE AND FUCKING DO SOMETHING!" went unheeded. The rain drenched his fur and the cold feeling numbed his teeth and feet.
Never had he felt so helpless.
Sitting beside the kid's head, he let out a low whine. "He's just a kid," he whimpered. Just then, Niko found the boy lying there bleeding like there was no tomorrow and he hollered for Tetra. The pirate captain was otherwise preoccupied dealing with the Moblin, who was currently punching Gonzo in the gut. She only replied, "Not now!"
Billy rose. A low growl started in his throat. This, at least, he knew how to handle.
He tackled the Moblin, his redirected rage and frustration giving him the power to knock the beast over so that he could begin tearing at its face. The pirates could only stare dumbly as deep gashes magically appeared in the wailing monster's flesh. Then Niko had yelled to get Tetra's attention again.
That was what Billy had been doing while they were working to keep the kid from dying. It was all he ever did, really: kill, kill and kill some more. He had stood on the Moblin's chest with the rank taste of its flesh and blood in his mouth, its shrieks of pain deafening his ears, its bloody, barnyard odor clogging his nostrils, and the sight of its petrified stare and mutilated face filling his vision. Billy stood there with that terrible feeling of frozen failure while he killed the Moblin, thinking of the pirates who were aiding the kid in ways he couldn't, of the only guy who probably knew what to do—who he had trapped in a musty old closet—and of the boy, who deserved none of the things that had happened to him.
Billy killed that Moblin, and he hated himself.
Link was too tired to open his eyes, but he got the distinct sense that he was falling. He did not know how long he fell. Maybe he was asleep for a bit, but he felt like it took a good while for him to realize that he had stopped.
First came the wind. A gentle one, that tickled his nose. Cracking an eye open, Link found that the sky had cleared up, now a scintillating blue. The grass beneath him was odd, much softer than the coarse island grass he was used to. This place smelled funny. Where was the salt?
The eleven-year-old-boy slowly got up, freezing when he noticed that there was a big, gaping hole in his torso. Tentatively, he poked around in the hole, horrified as well as curious that there was a giant pink noodle in his tummy. The weirdest part was that he didn't feel anything. It didn't hurt, it was just squishy. Weird…
Link wiped the blood from his internal organs off on his shirt and looked around.
HOLY GODS!
Where was the Sea?! There was no water at all! Grass, as far as the eye could see! Some funny looking trees, maybe a couple of mountains over there? In the words of Billy, this was a big-ass island! What kind of freaky place was this? The lack of a shore anywhere made his head spin.
Instead of waiting around for something to happen, he picked a random direction and started walking. A rock here, tree, tree…when was he going to reach the shore?
Something appeared on the horizon. What else was there to do but walk towards it? The figure grew larger, approaching at an increasing pace. Link squinted, then gasped. The figure was him.
Well, sorta. The figure was like a slightly older, skinnier version of Link, with darker (and fluffier) hair. He was even wearing a green tunic and cap, although the sleeves were of a tan color. In his left hand was a sword and in his right was a shield.
Now that he thought about it, why was this other Link running?
It seemed that he was going pretty fast. Oh gods, did he tick off a pig? What a great time to be away from a source of water. This one time, he—
Oh. Those were a lot bigger than pigs.
Two beefy guys in shiny blue clothing (the only armor Link had seen before were the shells of crabs) showed up behind the other Link, jogging after him at a brisk, steady pace.
Link began to back away, but he tripped over his own foot. That's how the other Link found him: a small confused kid sitting on his butt. The other Link turned his head to stare at him as he sped past, but then he was out of his line of vision and the thirteen-year-old kept running.
The shiny men were coming up pretty fast.
Link felt a rough jerk on the back of his tunic. Before he knew it, he was being dragged backwards across the grass. Then he was being chucked behind a big tree and his elbow collided with one of its roots. It didn't hurt as much as it should have.
Big Link—he couldn't think of anything else to call him—stuck his head out from behind the tree, so Link did the same. The two men were still coming. Big Link sighed, jabbed a finger in his face, then directed it at the ground: Stay here and don't do anything stupid. Not waiting to see if Link assented, he gripped his sword and ran forward.
Link peeked around the trunk to see what would happen. Big Link charged the men, sword arm held straight out. He ducked underneath their sword swings and wound up between the two. Letting out a yell of exertion, he unleashed a Spin Attack that caught one of the men's hamstrings. The man howled with pain and collapsed. The other one had survived the attack with only a cut to his thigh. As Big Link completed the spin, the man bashed the teen across the face with his shield. Big Link went flying. His limp body landed with a soft thunk and he rolled a little before winding up with his face in the grass. The man advanced, a malicious sneer on his face.
Link had never seen one human attempt to murder another, and he didn't plan for that to change anytime soon.
"YAAAH!" Link sped out from behind the tree, hurdled over the crippled man, and body slammed his buddy. This was when Link discovered that their shiny blue clothing was made of metal, and metal was not good for a growing boy's head.
He bounced right off the man and went sprawling. The man halted in his advance and looked at Link. His dark eyes wandered around the spot where Link lay, obviously very confused. After a few seconds of not winding up decapitated, Link worked up the courage to shout in a wavering voice, "H-hey! You smell bad!"
The man might as well have been on the other side of the field, from the way he seemed to completely ignore the boy's storm of insults targeted at his intelligence and personal hygiene.
Can…can he not see me? Link wondered. He could neither hear nor see Link. Like Billy and Sky. Who were dead. Link's breathing quickened and he glanced down at the hole in his gut. No. He couldn't be dead.
"Look at me!" he screamed as he kicked the man in the shin. "I'm not dead! LOOK. AT. ME!" His nose grew thick with snot and tears stung his eyes. The baffled man just rubbed his shin, Big Link all but forgotten at the moment. He could not understand why it felt like a little kid was kicking him repeatedly when there was obviously no one there.
Link's frantic assault gave Big Link the distraction he needed to sneak up on the palace guard and get his sword in the guard's exposed throat. The man gurgled and his eyes widened, but he didn't struggle much. His blood spread over the grass like thick red paint. Big Link didn't pull out his sword until he was 100% sure that the guard was dead.
"You killed him," Link whispered. He was kneeling, fists resting in his lap. He looked dazed, his eyes fixated on the dead guard's face, which was contorted with those last few seconds of pain.
Big Link put away his sword and shield. He folded his arms. "Yeah, well if I didn't kill him, he would've killed me." His eyes narrowed. Who was this guy, and what was he doing in the middle of nowhere? Why did he look like a chubbier and slightly younger version of himself? He walked slowly around Small Link, like a hawk trying to figure out of a particular animal was predator or prey.
"Wait…," Big Link grumbled. "That guard couldn't see you. Or hear you." His nostrils flared and he reached for his sword. "Goddessdammit! I told you I don't want your help!"
Small Link frowned. "My help?"
"You think a different form is good enough to fool me?" Big Link spat, "I know it's you! I'm not dumb enough to take any crap advice from a failure." He injected such venom into the last word that Small Link visibly shrank away from him.
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Get out!" Big Link roared as he advanced upon the other boy. "I'll pop your head off like I did last time with your wings!" His face was warped with hate.
Small Link had never experienced such vehement hatred from another person. This, along with the fear of being dead, pushed him over his limit. The shame he felt as tears rolled down his cheeks and sobs wracked his chest was not enough to stop the terror that filled him.
Big Link didn't expect this. For a bit, all he did was stand there while Small Link cried and cried. Somehow, he doubted that if Small Link really was that other guy, he would have caved at the first signs of aggression. And now that he was crying, Big Link finally realized where he had seen this kid before.
"You were the guy who led me to the secret passage!"
The sudden benign tone stilled Link's sobs. He wiped both his eyes and nose on his sleeves so that he could see and breathe. When his vision was clear, he saw that the look of intense loathing on Big Link's face had been replaced with a much friendlier countenance.
"I—sniff—what?"
Big Link sat down beside him. "When I had to sneak into the palace. It was dark and stormy and I couldn't really see, even with my lantern. I could just barely see you, though. When I tried to call out to get your attention, you ran. I followed you, and you led me to the secret passage into the palace. Then you just…disappeared. I probably would've gotten there too late if you hadn't helped me."
Rain, a dark figure with a light. Small Link could just barely recall the nightmare. He had been alive then. Did that mean he wasn't dead right now?
Hope bloomed in his chest, his elation blocking out Big Link's next words.
"Look, I'm sorry I flipped out on you. I thought you were this jerkface who was bugging me earlier. I was the only person who could hear or see him, so…" His eyes slid downwards, embarrassed that he had made the young boy cry. Then he saw Small Link's wound.
"Holy gods!" Big Link shouted. "Are you okay?! How are you not dead right now?" His hands fluttered around anxiously. "You—uh, you want some potion for that?"
"Nah," Link said mildly. "It doesn't really hurt." He poked around the wound some more to prove his point, but the queasy look on Big Link's face made him stop.
"You sure you don't want any potion?"
"Nope."
Big Link rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Apparently, he wasn't such a bad guy when he wasn't set on I'LL KILL YOU mode.
"Are you going to disappear again?"
Small Link shrugged. Last time he had 'disappeared' was when Billy had woke him up. This was really vivid for a dream, though. There was a distinct lack of salt in the crisp breeze, and he had never smelled in a dream before. If he was in fact asleep, then Big Link was a figment of his imagination.
"Can I ask you some questions?"
"Yeah sure whatever." Big Link was trying not to stare at his exposed innards.
"Why is your hair pink?"
Immediately, Big Link's hands flew up to his bangs and pressed them down, possibly a nervous habit. "It's not pink!" he said defensively. "It's tan! The sun just makes it look kinda reddish. Next question!" It seemed to be a touchy subject for him.
Small Link shifted from side to side. "Are you a hero?"
The hands fell. Big Link made a face. "I guess you could say that. But I'm definitely no famous try-to-save-the-world guy. I just want to help."
"So…" Small Link's voice was very low. "What's the difference between a hero and a murderer?"
Big Link's answer came much slower this time. He looked everywhere except at the dead guard, and he kept tousling his hair as he spoke. "Personally, I think it comes down to whether you want to, or you have to, and whether you're doing for yourself or not. I mean, I'd rather not kill people, but if they're trying to hurt others or stop me from saving someone…" He shrugged. "Well then you sort of have to, right?"
Small Link said nothing, so he kept going.
"Look at it this way: a murderer kills because he wants something and is willing to hurt someone for it. A hero kills to protect others, not because they want to. What does a hero get from dead monsters or…guards? A Rupee, maybe, but it's the people who don't get hurt that really benefit. I mean, at least that's what I think a real hero is. Just because you kill a ton of things and have a fancy sword doesn't make you a hero. If you can't do what has to be done when people need you the most, you're nothing but a failure." He sounded angry, or maybe bitter. "Do you get what I'm saying?"
Small Link "hmm'd". Would he be willing to kill to protect Aryll? Would saying yes mean that he was a hero, like the one of legend? Would saying no make him a failure? An extremely sour taste abruptly coated his tongue, accompanied by a, itchy sensation that quickly numbed his entire mouth. The numb feeling spread through his body. The taste in his mouth turned rank, like the inside of something that had died long ago.
Small Link had to close his eyes and concentrate on not gagging. Big Link uttered, "See you later, I guess." And everything faded away, until all he experienced was numbness.
After an indeterminate amount of time, the numbness receded and a gurgling began in his stomach, like after a big bowl of Grandma's homemade beans. It welled up in his throat, pressing against his lips. His eyes flew open and he belched simultaneously.
Doctors and potion masters called this 'The Burp of Life'. The puff of dark smoke that Link expelled was the remnants of the potion he had ingested, signaling that the medicine had done its work.
He felt good. More than good. Heck, he hadn't felt this good since he had been on Outset. All of his aches and bruises were gone, and he sensed that the hole in his gut was fully healed. Link found himself grinning from just how energized he felt. He could take the lantern swinging test a hundred times now.
The sky was a dark gray again. He was back on the pirate ship. Link became aware of pirates staring down at him. Billy leaned in too. Blood dripped from his maw.
"Thank the goddesses!" he exhaled. "I thought you were screwed." As he spoke, flecks of blackened monster meat freed themselves from his teeth and landed on Link's face, yet this euphoria he was experiencing prevented him from caring.
Link was so busy smiling at Billy that he didn't notice Tetra's fist flying in from the right. She connected with his jaw and Link was flat on the deck. Tetra seemed to tower over him, absolute fury etched into her features. In her left hand, she clutched an empty bottle.
Her voice started as a low growl that erupted into a shriek of rage. "I told you to STAY OUT OF THE WAY!" Everyone flinched at that. For a second, Link's ears hurt more than his jaw.
The pirate captain thrust her left hand forward. The bottle she held looked foggy and dusty with age. She hissed through gritted teeth, "My great-grandmother died protecting this Blue potion. And I had to waste it on you." She dashed the bottle against the deck. The shards of glass looked dull under the gray sky.
Link wanted to dig a hole and hide in it so he could escape the hate that rolled off of Tetra in waves.
"You can't fight. You're worse than useless!" she spat. "Your sister is going to die because you're too weak and stupid to do ANYTHING!" She stormed off. The pirates were expressionless, dispersing as Tetra, had finished screaming, leaving Link and the wolf alone on the deck.
A low rumble. It began to rain again.
