Chapter 14: Aurora Falls! Blaze Joins the Crew!
Link lay on the bed, sleeping heavily. His body took too much damage, and now he had to get more energy to heal his body. Makar managed to treat Navi in time, but now she was sleeping off the rest of the poison while the plant continued working. Gladius, who also took a lot of damage, was in the corner being treated by Makar.
Medli and Ossa managed to escape the battle unharmed, so they patrolled outside. Russell only had a minor head wound from where Link slugged him, but it was nothing major. Blaze, however, was suffering. After finding Link and Aeron in the castle, Blaze took them both back down to the camp where everyone else was. Aeron died before Blaze got there.
Blaze was grieving over Aeron, and the following days consisted of trying to cheer up Blaze and burying all the soldiers that died during the rebellion. Link was actually out for about two days straight, and he woke up only an hour before the funeral.
After the funeral, Link and his crew ate dinner with some rebels and Blaze. That's when Link mentioned Aeron's last words. Speaking up during the meal, which Link had eaten five servings of, he said, "Hey Blaze. Before he left, Aeron gave me some very specific instructions."
"Instructions?" Blaze, who was now in a black jacket, jeans and gloves as apposed to his guard uniform, asked.
"Yeah…" Link took a bite of steak and then drank some of Medli's special drink, and then stared directly at him. "I want you to join my crew."
"What?!" Blaze shouted. "Me?!"
"That was Aeron's last wish. He wanted me to take you out onto the seas and live however you wanted to." Link replied as he devoured the rest of the steak. "He said you were a musician, right? I'd love to have you on the crew! We could party all the time!" Link laughed as he picked up another loaf of cheesy garlic bread, which he then devoured in a few bites.
Blaze stared down, quietly. After a moment of thinking, he looked back up at Link with sad eyes. "He always knew I wanted to sail out onto the seas…" He began to get choked up but held back his tears. "However, I can't go." Link dropped his second steak and looked up at him, as did the rest of the crew.
"Why not? We'd love to have you." Navi, who was unconscious for the whole fight, said.
"Yeah, you seem like a cool guy and a good fighter!" Russell complimented.
"Thanks, but the problem is someone has to watch over the island as king." Blaze said to the table. "Our original plan was for us to overthrow Sivmer and set up Aeron as king…since he's…gone…I have to take the throne." Link frowned, realizing the importance of keeping watch over the island. He assumed this meant that Blaze could not join the crew.
"Well, crap." Gladius grumbled. "I was looking forward to another sword fighter to train with."
"Are you sure you can't just set up another king?" Ossa asked. "If I remember correctly, you could just have an election or you yourself could pick out a new royal family."
"It's not that easy." Medli interrupted, speaking for Blaze. "Back on Dragon Roost, we weren't allowed to choose a new royal family or elect anyone. The next leader of the tribe after the current leader retired would be his child. You aren't allowed to get a new family unless every single blood relative is dead."
"Hm." Link sat back in his chair, chugging some more drink. "I see. Well, we could always kidnap you."
"No, I'm afraid I can't let that happen." A member of the rebels spoke up. Everyone looked near the middle of the table, where a gallant teen stood up. "After we clean up Sivmer's actions, I am going to become a guard for the royal family."
"Oh yeah?" Link asked. "Who are you to stop me?"
"My name is Phantom." He said. "You'll have to kill me before I let you take him." Link, exhausted and not wanting to cause trouble, slumped down in his chair. That seemed like the end of the conversation as everyone went on eating and Link devoured another ton of food.
The following morning, Link and his crew had intended to shove off and leave the island. As they packed up supplies that the island offered to them and they made their final goodbyes, it happened.
The government attacked.
With no warning, seven warships invaded the area. Ossa was the first to notice, as he had climbed the watch tower on the ship and had been looking around. "Link! We have trouble!" As he shouted, he jumped down from the watch tower and crashed onto the deck, where he then reassembled himself. Everyone was creeped out at first but soon ignored it as the ships docked onto the beach.
Everyone ran and hid in the forest as men started to step off of the ships and look around. Many of them had swords, but a few held rifles with sharp swords at the end. As everyone was hiding, one rebel named Scott stood up and walked out to greet them. "Who are you?"
"We're the Unified Government." A tall, buff man answered. "As part of our plan to unite all people within our world, we have come to offer you one of two options."
"Sorry, but as long as we stand we can't become part of a higher power." Scott replied. "It's how we've been in the past, and we aren't changing tradition." The buff man nodded, acknowledging the fact that they have tradition.
"Let's change that." He said. He shouted, and afterward multitudes of canon fire were shot at the town. He walked forward and stabbed Scott. As Scott fell to the ground, grabbing the wound, he bent forward and whispered, "We will take this island." Snapping Scott's neck, he stood up and turned around and shouted at the men. "Find the ruler, kill him and take the island!"
Link looked at Blaze, who was terrified. "I…I have to turn myself in." Blaze said. "They'll kill everyone if I don't do something."
"No!" Link and Blaze turned around to find Phantom and other rebels. "Blaze, as long as I live I cannot allow you to turn yourself in to harm. Me and the other rebels will fight as long as we can."
"But for what!?" Blaze shouted back. "They'll just find me and kill me!" As he said that, something in his mind clicked. Looking at Link, he nodded. Phantom stared intently, waiting for orders.
"Phantom. Do your best." Blaze said. "I'm leaving the island." Phantom's jaw dropped, but he quickly changed his expression. "Link, I guess I'll be joining your crew. We need to stop by the base really quick though, I have a few things I need to get." As they stood up, he whispered something to Phantom, and then divided himself in half, giving Phantom an extra fighter.
Blaze stopped by his base, gathering together some clothes and a few musical instruments. As soon as he got those things, they were out of the base and going back to the ship. Blaze had officially joined the Red Lion Pirates!
As everyone loaded the ship, a group of soldiers appeared from the forest. It was by accident, as they did not mean to stumble onto the ship. Link looked at them and ran forward, preparing to attack. One man's voice cracked through the area as Link's fist was thrown straight into his gut. "Is that the kid pirate, Link?" He was then punched so far backward that he appeared back on the beach where the soldiers had originally landed, which wasn't that far off.
The tall, big man walked up and looked down at the soldier, whose eyes had rolled back and blood rushing from his mouth. "What happened to you, corporal?" The man could barely speak, but he slowly uttered out the words Link…is…alive…
Meanwhile, Link and his crew finally sailed off, leaving behind the island of Aurora in the midst of a battle between the rebels and the government. Blaze was hesitant to leave, but ultimately realized that he must live in order to one day return and carry on his family's rule. But in the meantime, he would aid Link to help him become the Pirate King.
As they sailed away, Navi went up to Link. "Say Captain, where are we going now?"
"Oh! I forgot!" Link responded. He ran down into the lower decks and came back up with the same clothes from his fight with Sivmer. Link was now in a purple tunic. Cleaning out the pockets, Link pulled the map out from earlier. "I grabbed this before I left. Maybe we can go somewhere with it to help us find the first map toward the Second Earth."
Navi grabbed the map and took out the compass they got from the Forsaken Fortress. As she looked at them closer and studied what was happening, she realized something. "Link…this isthe first map!"
To be continued…
Sorry for not updating on time. I got back from vacation Thursday and I was so tired. Plus I had to visit some old friends and also work on other writings, so yeah. Next week will be on time. Hopefully.