NH3: I began this chapter on August 21 since the recent storms along the eastern coast gave me part of the day off. So here is the next chapter.

And I just recently found out that me and my sister's names are on the 2009 hurricane list. Nicolas's is also on it, but it's spelled with the 'h.'

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Chapter 11: Sunken-Ship Cavern

"I wouldn't bother getting dry, Nicolas," Link said as Nicolas began to squeeze water out of his shirt.

"Me neither, but I'm wearing this shirt…it's annoying…" he responded, before he began to take his shirt off. Link stared at him oddly as he did, still wondering why Nicolas was bothering. Nicolas caught the stare.

"What? It's not like that shirt provides any decent protection," he said a little defensively, tossing the shirt onto the platform by the column of light. Quickly running his fingers through his hair, he turned towards Link.

"You can't tell me that's comfortable," He continued, mentioning towards Link's soaked shirt and undershirt. Link silently agreed. In fact, after another moment's thought, he didn't see much wrong with it. Their outfits consisted of their tunics and shirts, but their legs were covered with tights and boots more suitable for water. When those got wet, it didn't feel as bad. In fact, neither boy thought about it…

With a sigh, both of relief and annoyance, he pulled off his own shirt and undershirt, tossing them next to Nicolas's. The colors looked oddly matched, being blue and green, but no one who would think of it was there.

"Ready to go inside?" Nicolas asked, strapping a belt to his chest. Link hadn't seen it before, but he had a feeling it held onto Nicolas's spear on his back.

"Yeah," Link said, doing the same for his sword and shield and fastening his green cap. Their bare bodies seemed to contrast each other as they walked towards the entrance. Link was athletic and well-built, but not so that it was really noticeable. Nicolas was more slender, and while just as thin, wasn't as well-built. Link's skin tone was also slightly darker from constant exposure to the sun.

The entrance laid out before them was incredibly fancy. Link thought that this might have once been a door for a captain's quarters. Now it was the entrance to a dungeon. Nicolas reached there first and pulled on the door, letting Link in before following.

The first room they walked into was very spaced out. It looked like the decks of several ships had been fused into a box-like shape. Ahead, and to either side, a door sat in the center of the wall. The door ahead was locked. The ceiling was one giant mirror, and in the center of that, what looked like a sealed opening. Link began to cautiously walk towards the door on the left, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Too easy. Something's not right…" Nicolas said, pulling Link back. "Try firing arrows on the floor."

Link was confused as to Nicolas's suspicions, but pulled out his bow and quiver, drawing an arrow and aiming at the floor. He let loose, and as the arrow impacted with the ground, a wooden claw trap snapped up from the ground, trying to grab thin air but snapping together instead.

"How did you know?"

"The mirror on the ceiling. You can see the circular step-switches that activate the traps and where the traps come out of," Nicolas said. Link looked up, and sure enough, there were markings standing out in the mirror, but not on the actually floor. It might have had something to do with their angle of sight, but they had to be very careful in this room.

"Follow me," Nicolas said, and, looking up at the mirror, began to step forward, awkwardly, as to avoid the traps. Link followed his footsteps exactly, and they slowly made their way to the left door.

After a minute, they reached it, and Nicolas noted that the areas around the door were safe. Link walked through the door.

This room was wooden and bare, save for a pedestal nearby. Link instantly knew that a treasure chest should be there, but since it wasn't, Link drew his sword. Sure enough, a slimy sound erupted from the floor and about seven Chuchus appeared. Link charged and swiped at two of them, instantly killing them. Beside him, Nicolas ran forward and slashed downward at one about to pounce on Link, killing it. Link quickly hopped over the spear to stab another Chuchu, and behind him heard slashing. Link turned and made it just in time to kill the last one, about to pounce on Nicolas.

"Thanks…" Both of them said at the same time, and a treasure chest suddenly appeared on the pedestal. Link quickly walked over and opening it, smiling as he took out the dungeon map and compass, both in the same chest, surprisingly. He pocketed it, deciding he would open it if they got lost. After all, it wouldn't show the treasure they were working for…

"Apparently, the room across from this one is completely empty. We have to go up," Nicolas said. Link looked back to see the dungeon map that he had just pocketed now in Nicolas's hands.

How did he do that?!?! Link thought annoyingly, though he kept the thought to himself. I didn't even feel that…

"You sure?" Link asked.

"Yeah, the boss is lower, but we have to go through the locked door to get there," He responded, walking back to the door of the room. Link followed and quickly found himself back in the foyer-like room of booby traps.

"So how do we get up there?" Link asked.

"Grappling Hook?" Nicolas suggested, pocketing the map in his own pocket. Link shrugged and Nicolas began to carefully step his way across the room to the center, easily avoiding the traps, or so it seemed to Link. He was pushing himself to his the exact same spots as Nicolas. They reached the center of the room.

"Safe spot," Nicolas said, looking up at the hole. Luckily, they could see a bar up there, and Link took out the Grappling Hook. He threw it up and coiled it around the bar, resisting the urge to swing. With a small, unnecessary boost from Nicolas, he began to climb it.

He quickly reached the top and hung there. The room was tiny, barely fitting him and the chest on the ledge. Link momentarily thought that this might have once been a smuggler's hold for a ship as he opened the chest and took out the key inside. He then unhooked the Grappling Hook and gracefully dropped to the ground in front of Nicolas.

"Got it?" he asked.

"Got it," Link confirmed, and Nicolas began to tread careful steps to the locked door. A few feet away from it, though, Nicolas stopped, Link doing the same behind him.

"What is it?" Link asked.

"This part's tricky. There's no safe spot by this door…" Nicolas responded without turning. He instead merely lifted his hand over his shoulder. "Key."

Link dropped the key into his friend's hand.

"Don't move an inch, Link," he warned, and before Link knew it, Nicolas dove forward, rolling through a trap as it closed and jumping over another, soaring towards the door with key outstretched in his hand. The key plunged into the lock, and the traps all retreated at the same time, now having been turned off. Link didn't move as Nicolas turned back towards him.

"Its okay, the traps are all gone now," he said, and Link warily moved towards the door, still unsure of the traps. But no traps were sprung, and he sighed in relief as he came up next to Nicolas.

"Next room?" Link suggested, and Nicolas smiled before they walked through the next door.

This room, or rather, this space, was very foggy, which instantly put Link on edge. If it wasn't for the wooden wreckage of the ships around them, he would've thought he was in the Earth Temple again. But the surrounding were more like the Ghost Ship though…

Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a warning ping repeating several times. He recognized that sound.

"Wizrobe! Get out of the way!" Link yelled, diving to the left as three fireballs suddenly erupted from the fog, clearing away most of it in the process. Link heard the Wizrobe laugh as it disappeared somewhere ahead and drew his bow. He momentarily though about firing at it with a Light Arrow, but the energy of releasing it was so much that he would be stunned for a few moments, and that could be the death of him. Instead, he drew an arrow and, calling upon the power of the fairies inside of him, lit it on fire with magic. Then, he closed his eyes.

In the darkness, he could hear Nicolas shuffling his feet somewhere off to the right and behind him. A few moment's later, he heard the tell-tell ping of the Wizrobe appearing again and snapped his eyes open, aiming into the fog and firing the arrow. The fire cleared away the fog, showing a path to the Wizrobe he had just lit on fire. The Wizrobe screamed in pain, and Link attempted to rush it, but it was already beginning to recover and it would just disappear again.

Suddenly, a familiar spear came flying through the air and impacted with the Wizrobe, which screamed in pain as it was tossed back before disappearing into black dust. As it died, torches along the walls all came on, quickly banishing the fog from existence and revealing the next door ahead. By a wall, Nicolas stood, waiting for the fog to completely clear before walking over and picking up his spear from the ground. Link walked up to his side and they wordlessly walked into the next room, both set on their goal.

The next room was a seemingly random collection of masts and sails, all lodged against the side walls over a great pool of water. If they fell, they would have to climb up a ladder and start over. But this was a pretty easy room; not a single enemy was in it and all they needed to do was jump from mast to mast, and a few times slide down sails before they had reached the other end and were walking through another door.

This door led to a spiral staircase, and looking down, Link saw several Keese, Peahats, and Red Bubbles in the stairwell. He sighed.

"Time to clean up…" Link said, before both he and Nicolas rushed down the stairs, jumping across and down to quickly catch the monsters by surprise. The whole spectacle of battle was over in a few minutes, and at the bottom, they reached a door and walked through it, into what must have been an antechamber to the boss's battle zone. Some quick smashing of jars revealed some cool treasure, but it eventually led to Link and Nicolas standing in front of the Boss Door, the lock already been disengaged by some unknown monster or person.

"Ready, Nicolas?" Link asked, looking at Nicolas. Despite his seemingly fearless demeanor through the dungeon, he actually looked a little fearful of what was to come. Link laid his hand on Nicolas's bare shoulder and patted it, trying to comfort him as the door began to open before them. They walked inside and the door closed.

Darkness.

And then, suddenly, a small ball of fire lit up in the large room, floating there. It barely gave off any light, but its existence put the boys on edge. Where was the boss?

Suddenly, the ball of fire split into two and rocketed towards each boy.

"Duck!" Nicolas yelled, seeing it happen first, and Link did so as the fireballs flew above them. They then soared up towards the ceiling and fused together, before beginning to bubble and expand. Link watched in horror as the fireball increased in size and morph its shape, until it was finally a great demon, wielding four arms, two legs, and a body of fire. It looked down at them and roared, sending bursts of fire at them. Link immediately ran to the side, wondering if a wet shirt would have helped protect from this. He quickly decided that it would have dried and been more prone to catching fire then his bare skin. Plus it was no really, really hot in the brightly lit room.

Link caught sight of a few small rocks suddenly smacking into the demon's shape. The demon turned its head and looked upon Nicolas who had resumed running around the demon. Apparently, his fears weren't long-lasting. But what was he trying to accomplish…?

The boy suddenly remembered his Ice Arrows and pulled out his bow, stringing the Ice Arrow on it and aiming. The demon was in position to punch Nicolas and engulf him in flames, but if he timed it just right…

Link let the arrow fly, and it impacted the flaming fist as it began to punch down, instantly turning it to ice. The demon screamed in pain, which threw off its aim and sent the fist smashing into the ground near Nicolas. The fist shattered into pieces and the demon screamed again at the loss of his hand.

Link didn't waste any time. While it was mourning, Link shot three more Ice Arrows, each impacting the other hands. A few more arrows ensured the shattering of these hands, and the demon switched tactics as it began to stomp around and engulf them in flaming feet. It didn't sound appealing at all, but as Link dove to avoid a foot, the bow and arrows clattered away from him.

"No!" He cried out, but didn't have time to say anything else; the demon tried to step on him again and Link had to roll to the side. He began to run in a circle around the room, thinking that he would pick it up when he went around.

Suddenly, behind him, the demon morphed into two, smaller demons, and one instantly shifted to a spot ahead of Link. He was trapped!

Then, an Ice Arrow flew from the sidelines and froze the lower legs of the demon ahead, allowing him safe passage. As he passed, another arrow froze the rest of it and it shattered after running a little bit away from it. Link looked and saw Nicolas expertly wielding the bow as he aimed for the other demon., He let go, but the demon split into two more demons, the arrow passing through them harmlessly. They were now about the size of Darknuts, and thus, faster. Link watched as Nicolas barely strung an arrow in time to completely freeze the leading demon charging him. He dove to the side as the second demon crashed into the first, shattering it himself.

The first demon began to run after Nicolas, and Link realized he had dropped the bow and arrows. He ran over and picked them up, slinging an Ice Arrow and taking careful aim before letting it fly.

Direct hit! The demon froze, and a wailing sound began to emerge from within right before Nicolas smashed it with his spear. The creature, in its frozen state, began to shake and tremble, defeated, and then disappeared into dust. Link started jumping in joy and cheering as a Heart Container appeared from the dust. Nicolas simply smiled and laughed as the room returned to a more peaceful state of being.

Finally, after their initial victory cheer, Link walked up to Nicolas, who stood next to the Container.

"That monster…was incredibly clumsy…" Nicolas said, still smiling, and Link laughed as he took the Heart Container into his hands. Then, after a moments thought, he held it out to Nicolas.

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"You need it more then I do. Just take it," Link said.

"But you're the one who fired at the demon," Nicolas protested.

"And then you saved my ass!"

"You saved mine too…" Nicolas attempted, but it was already clear that Link had won the stupid argument. "…Fine."

Link placed it in Nicolas's hands.

"Um…now what?" Nicolas asked, clueless as to it use.

"Just squeeze it. It'll break and the energy will be transferred to you," Link explained. Nicolas did so, and sure enough, the Container shattered, but the pieces disappeared as Nicolas absorbed the energy.

"Whoa…that felt good…" he commented. Link smiled before remembering something.

"Hey, where is the…" before Link could ask, an odd wind began to swirl around the room, ruffling their features. They looked up, and suddenly, a cascade of water came down and swirled around the room, along the walls before meeting on the floor in the center. Slowly but surely, the shape of a grand chest began to form from the water. The water finally stopped and retreated, leaving the shimmering, water chest in place. The boys walked up to it, intensely curious. Nicolas reached out and touched it.

"It's an illusion." Nicolas realized, knocking against it. Sure enough, it sounded like metal and not water. Link nodded and proceeded to open the chest.

And inside was the Current Caller.

It was a black version of the Wind Waker alright, though when it shimmered, it looked bluish as well. Link began to reach for it, but it suddenly shifted away from his hand. Link tried again, but failed. He sighed and stood up, wondering what was going on when the voice from the memorial up top suddenly sounded again.

"Young waker of the winds…you may only be able to hold and use the Current Caller with the consent of a caller of the currents…" it said, and Link sighed. Nicolas listened intently next to him.

"Who is a caller of the currents?" He asked out loud.

"It is whoever does not possess a comparable magic artifact…" the voice responded.

Link understood suddenly. It was a sort of check and balances system, made to keep too much power from falling into one's hands. And the only convenient person who could possess the Current Caller….was Nicolas.

"Nicolas, it's you. You have to take ownership of the Current Caller." Link said, momentarily thinking how it got more and more convenient to have him around. Could this be fate at work?

Link saw Nicolas look to the chest and walk forward. Leaning against, he slowly extended his hand to the baton inside. The baton did not shift away, but seemed to actually inch a little bit towards the hand. Nicolas gently grabbed the Current Caller and pulled it out of the chest.

The moment the Current Caller cleared the chest, the water in the room suddenly began to rise in a column around where the chest used to be. The room dried up incredibly quickly and the column finished rising to reveal a column of light, wide enough to spirit them both out of the dungeon.

"Ready?" Link asked, looked over at Nicolas. He smiled.

"Definitely," he responded, before they both stepped into the light together and began to rise, before disappearing into nothingness.

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NH3: YES! After several chapters, they finally get the Current Caller. But the story is nowhere near over, I assure you.

So yeah, R&R. I get way too many visitors to this story that don't review. (WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!! LOL!)

And i-wish-a7x, you'll have to wait another chapter to get the final part of your question answered. I couldn't really fit in into this one…