Between the Devil and the Deep Sea
11.0
The New Year
Torches line the market square, and in the center, a large bonfire roars. The islanders willing to risk attending the gathering whirl between one another as they dance, enjoying the music. There is only a small fraction of people attending this year than in previous years, and islanders that Link hasn't seen in a while are in attendance, finally emerging from their homes. Drums beat, and the islanders' footfalls thump the earth. The brave, or the foolhardy, don't wear any masks, only their wide smiles are on display as they move through the dance. Through the throng of people and the dizzying pattern of the dance, Link catches sight of Aryll and Zelda here and there. Ilia is on his right, being dragged along through the motions of the dance but enjoying it none the less.
When he finds a reprieve to escape, Link slips out of Ilia's grasp and finds Gonzo and Senza hanging off to the side. "Oi, Link!" Gonzo calls. "Care for a drink?" Senza takes a quick swig of a bottle before passing it to Link.
Unsure of what it is, Link takes a whiff of the liquid sloshing inside. His face scrunches in distaste when the pungent smell hits him, twangy. The pirates laugh at him. "Just give it a try," Senza says, and Link does. The drink burns a little going down his throat, and he coughs a little, not expecting that effect.
"Farore! What is that?" he spits, handing off the bottle to Gonzo. Link rubs his chest where a small fire feels like it is burning.
The two laugh. "It's whiskey we've been holding onto," says Gonzo, and he takes a drink of it. "Good, yeah?" And the pirates laugh again at Link's expression.
Link rubs his mouth with the back of his hand.
He stands off to the side with the two pirates, watching the dance progress. Ilia floats by, and then Aryll and Zelda. Senza wanders off after a period of time, and Gonzo passes the liquor to Link, who's hesitant to take another drink, but the warm feeling that stays after the burning subsides is decidedly pleasant. Link grimaces a little after downing another gulp of the liquor and hands it back off to Gonzo as they watch the dancers.
Gonzo leans over, "Still just 'nice', yeah?"
It takes Link a moment before he catches on, and the laughter bursts up from his belly. Gonzo gives Link a nudge with his elbow, laughing along with the lad. When he finally catches his breath, Link can feel the wet tears that cling to his eyelashes, and he rubs them away.
"I'm uh, I'm gonna go grab some food," says Link, and he head over to the hālau.
Inside the hālau, a small fire crackles where fish is being cooked, smoke wafting up through the hole in the roof. People are packed in tightly to get their share of food brought. He accidentally bumps straight into Sue-Belle, and she gives a rushed apology before realizing who it is. "Oh, Link!"
"Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!"
She seems a little stunned, but a smile brightens her face and a little sigh of relief escapes her. "Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!" she returns. She falters at saying anything else.
"It's okay, Sue-Belle," Link says. "I understand."
"I don't mean-" she tries, but Link shakes his head, cutting her off.
"It's okay. Really."
She says softly, "Mahalo."
"'A'ole pilikia."
Sue-Belle nods, and she turns to go. Link, the thought striking him, reaches out to grab her shoulder. She turns back to him, dark hair, swirling with her. "I uh… I haven't seen Rose in a few days," he says to her. "Have you?"
She shakes her head. "No, I haven't either."
They don't say anything for a minute. Link feels that sickening dread seeping into his stomach again much like he did when he returned from crabbing in Nowemapa to find out that Niko had passed. A shiver runs through him, and Sue-Belle gives him a questioning look.
"I'll check on her tomorrow," Link promises.
"I hope everything is alright."
"Me too."
No longer feeling hungry, Link turns to leave when he hears Aryll calling. His eyes scan the crowd trying to pick out his little sister when Sue-Belle lightly touches his arm to get his attention again. She wraps him in a tight hug, and he's hesitant to return it until he hears her whisper in his ear, "E kala mai ia'u. I didn't mean to ignore you like I have."
She pulls away and says, "Let me know?"
"Of course."
"Thank you, Link," she says, a small, genuine smile on her face. She turns away and disappears off into the people.
Link hears his name being called again, and he finds Aryll standing with Zelda and Ilia by the entrance of the hālau. "Have you been in here this whole time?" Aryll chides him.
He shakes his head. "No, I was just talking to Sue-Belle," he tells her.
"Oh," Aryll says so softly, he barely hears it over the chatter in the meeting house. "She hasn't spoken to either of us in so long."
"I know." The day where she turned away from him like the other islanders is still fresh on his mind. The sting is still there, but Link reminds himself to let it go.
Aryll shakes it off, and she proclaims, "Well, I'm going to grab something to eat!" The blonde marches off with Ilia in tow.
Zelda sidles up next to him, and the two fall back to the outer wall of the hālau. They haven't spoken much all day, which Link supposes isn't too far from the normal. He waits by her side, and she sniffs a little, crossing her arms. "Hey," she says finally, and it makes Link chuckle a little. "So uh…" Her nose wrinkles. "Hau'oli Makahiki Hou" is what she tries to say next, but her pronunciation is off. "Or whatever," she finishes, which makes him laugh.
He corrects her, and she tries it again.
"I'll get it," says Zelda with that classic determination of hers. Link doesn't doubt her.
She starts describing some fish she'd seen off the shore earlier that day. They were an almond shape, streaked with bright colors over white and blue. When she asked Anju about them, the clumsy inn keeper taught her the name, which Zelda trips over. "Why does it have to be so long?" she groans. "How do you all deal with that?"
"We only have thirteen letters."
"I know! That's half of what Hylian has!" she complains, throwing her arms up.
"I would have to argue and say that more is more complicated."
"How do you say the name of that fish again?"
"Humuhumunukunukuapua'a."
"And you don't see anything wrong with- oh stop laughing at me!" But she has a smile on her face that she's fighting to keep down in her usual scowl.
She clears her throat and crosses her arms again. "You sure about this? About what we're doing?" she asks him seriously.
He hesitates to answer. Not knowing how to answer her, he instead opts to deflect the question. "Can we not talk about it here?" he asks her. "I don't think it's a good idea."
She waves her hand, telling him to look around at all the people, which is exactly his point. "And it's my point, too," she says. "Public affairs are so private."
"How is this private?" he snaps.
But he takes another look, and all of a sudden, that familiar feeling he gets when he argues with Zelda hits him, and his argument deflates.
Nayru, is she ever clever.
"Can it wait?" he sighs.
"Fine."
Link's eyes drift over the people, and he spots three of Zelda's men across the way, talking amongst one another, passing the liquor bottle between them. Nudge, Gonzo and Senza pay no mind to the islanders, and for once, it looks as though the islanders aren't hyper aware of the pirates either.
"What's taking Aryll so long?" Link mumbles, pulling himself up from the wall.
Zelda trails after him as they weave through people to find Aryll and Ilia. Finding them, however, also leads Link face-to-face with the Bombers leader, Jim. He scoffs at them. "Should have known it'd be the Forneys to bring the outsiders here."
"Your point?" Link growls, feeling Aryll and Ilia shrink behind him. Aryll slips away into the throng of people.
"Don't you think it's funny that a fever comes to the island not long after outsiders show up?" Jim sneers as some of the other Bombers members approach. "There's a reason we don't often let outsiders stay on Outset, Forney."
Link grits his teeth. Some of the islanders are taking notice of the argument stewing. "I don't see anyone but you making a fuss about them being here."
"You're a disgrace." The Bombers echo the sentiment, but Jim rounds on them, hissing, "Kulikuli!" The Bombers clap their mouths shut at the order.
"We are maoli," Link defends, "just as you are." He pauses, trying to decide, but then adds, "Lolo." It isn't the most scathing insult to grace his lips, but it's just enough to elicit a response from the Bomber, and Jim fists his hand. Link stiffens.
The impact never comes though.
Swift and slick like a cat, Zelda slips between Link and Jim. She knocks aside his flying fist, throwing off his balance, before driving her knee into his belly. Link lowers his guard, as he watches in amazement. The captain didn't earn her position among the crew without reason, that's for sure. The remaining pirates, brought by Aryll, come to form a half circle behind Link and Ilia, although it appears as though they're not needed. In a flash, the captain kicks Jim's feet out from under him, bringing him down to the ground. She hovers over him, waiting for him to try and get up, but he only rolls to one side groaning from the kick she'd delivered.
She whips her head up, glowering at the islanders that gathered around to witness the fight and daring them to help the Bomber.
Link's the first to break the tension. "Come on," Link says to Zelda, grabbing her wrist, "let's go."
The captain doesn't move.
He leans close to her ear and whispers, with his breath tickling the back of her ear, "Zelda, come on."
Slowly she turns away from Jim, ripping her arm free from Link. She storms out of the hālau with her crew following at her heels. Aryll glances between Link and the retreating pirates before choosing to rush after her favorite captain.
Ilia stiffens uncomfortably, eyes wide, as the islanders start to whisper. Grabbing her by the upper arm, Link leads her out after the pirates. The low hum of talk races after them, but Link tries his best to ignore it. The pirates slip off into the night. Intent on getting away from the festival, Link doesn't think to let go of Ilia until they're a ways away, the buzzing talk now silenced.
He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, and then he rubs both his eyes. "E kala mai ia'u," he says to Ilia, letting his hands flop to his side.
"What?"
"Ah-" he stops short. Ilia stares at him blankly. "Um, don- don't worry about it," he mumbles, suddenly self-conscious.
"Are you okay?"
Link nods. "Look, I'm just gonna go out on the water for a bit," he says hastily, already turning to make his way to the beach where the Red Lion waits for him.
"Oh, alright."
Link stops, sighing to himself. He turns back to Ilia, and she waits expectantly for him to say something. "Did you… want to come with?" he offers. "You'll have to help me row though, there's not a lot of wind tonight."
She grins and nods.
They don't go too far from shore, and after a bit they just sit in the waka ama, enjoying the sinking feeling that comes when a crest of a wave pass underneath the outrigger. The only sound out on the water is the calling of the sea. Not even the seagulls are out causing a ruckus. A lantern sits on the floor of the hull between them, casting off a flickering light. Though he knows the dangers, Link cannot deny the amount of peace the ocean gives him.
"Hey, Ilia," he calls. "Where would you go in Ordon to get away?" There's no ocean in the middle of a forest. No crystal blue waves or seagulls. No white sand that burns the pads of your feet in the afternoons. No colorful fish or coral reefs.
Ilia shrugs. "There was a spring just outside of town," she tells him. "That was kind of like my special spot. We had a creek that ran through the town from the spring." She describes the mossy rocks, the reeds at the edge of the water. The spring was surrounded by great trees that shielded it in the shade, and Link wonders briefly how anyone could stand not to have the feeling of the warm sun on his skin.
"Listen, Link," says Ilia. "You don't have to go if you don't want to. Sturgeon and Borville can ask someone else. It's just that…" she trails off.
"Just what?" he croaks.
"Sturgeon trusts you. He says that out of everyone on the island, you'd come back. You'd do what's right."
"If the sea doesn't swallow me, I guess." The crest of a wave drags them upwards, and the waka ama creaks as if agreeing with him.
She gives him a flat look. "You'll be fine, I feel it," she says, and Link wishes he has that kind of confidence.
Waves lap at the Red Lion.
"You don't have to go, Link," she says again.
Link purses his lips and looks out across the dark waters. The island is a formidable, inky figure in the night, but at the heart of the island, the lights from the bonfires and torches cast a soft glow. It illuminates the market square with colors and warmth.
He cranes his neck and takes a look up at the moon, thinking that midnight has probably passed. Rolling his shoulders, he wishes the girl, "Hau'oli Makahiki Hou, Ilia."
She giggles a little when she says, "I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"Happy New Year, Ilia," he translates.
"Oh!" Ilia grins at him. "I suppose it is the New Year, huh?" she laughs, and then she returns the wish.
Suddenly, he can feel the tendrils of anxiety creep over him. It makes his heart thump louder, faster, and he can feel beads of sweat starting to swell up on his palms. His mind races, but he can't quite work out where the nervousness is coming from. When he speaks, he tries to keep the shake out of his voice. "Do you want to head back?" Link asks. He doesn't want to look at her, but he forces a quick glance, and he can tell just from the look in her eyes that she doesn't.
Ilia doesn't answer though, so he turns around in the hull and picks up an oar, and she takes the other one. Together they row the waka ama back onto shore. Unsure of what to do once back on shore, Ilia waits on the beach while Link drags the outrigger onto shore. He muses that the task is much easier with Zelda helping.
"I'll walk you back," he tells her once the boat is secure. He blows out the lantern, shrouding them in darkness, and stashes it away in the main hull. It takes a bit for his eyes to adjust, but the beach is familiar to him. Having walked it hundreds of times, his feet know it by memory.
When they enter the inn, Anju isn't at the front desk, her paperwork in neat piles. The rowdy voices of the pirates in the common room drifts into the lobby as Link and Ilia pass through. He stands awkwardly in the hall while she fishes her room key out of her pocket to unlock the door. "Got it," she laughs when the door creaks open.
He gives her a tight smile and turns to go. Lightly, he feels her fingers wrap around his arm. Turning back to her, he only gets an "'Ae?" out before her lips crash into his. Suddenly, everything is hotter, tighter. Claustrophobic, almost.
When he blinks again, her door is closed, and Link is still standing stupidly in the hall. Blood pumps in his ears as his eyes start to blur again, the wood grain on the door becoming indistinguishable.
Rousing from his stupor, Link spins on one foot and hurries down the hall. As Link barrels into the lobby, Gonzo stumbles out from the common room, his cheeks pink with drink. "AYELINK!" Gonzo slurs into one word. The other pirates whoop and laugh at hearing Link's name, calling for him to join their games. How long had he been standing in the hall? Link takes a look into the common room where the pirates have gathered, almost all of them merry thanks to liquor. "Come ply a game, yeah?" Gonzo asks.
"Uh, no," Link stutters out, locking eyes with Zelda, the only sober one in the group. "I have to go."
"Wass wrung wit' yer face, lad?" Gonzo laughs, leaning towards Link. "Been drinkin'?"
"I have to go," Link repeats, stepping away.
Zelda's lips purse into a thin line. She shakes her head.
Let me just take a moment to say HOW FREAKING STOKED I AM FOR HYRULE WARRIORS.
Like, I don't want to work. Hyrule needs some savin'!
=:O