There and Back Again
Book 2: Brothers
Prologue
"It is something that grows over time... a true friendship. A feeling in the heart that becomes even stronger over time... The passion of friendship will soon blossom into a righteous power and through it, you will know which way to go..."
The sound of the waves amplified each time they clashed. While the sky was mostly clear, the waters were rougher than usual.
Men watched from ashore as two ships raced in the distance. They had heard rumors about what was going down this afternoon and hoped to catch a glimpse of the action.
Far off in the horizon, a Royal Cruiser was hunting an unidentified ship. The ship, presumably controlled by pirates, was of importance to the Kingdom of Hyrule, and was being pursued by one of the country's fastest vessels.
On board, men were preparing for battle as they closed in on the target.
"Captain! What be your orders?"
A large, yet gentle man stood at the helm of the craft. Sporting a red bandana on his head and low-cut green shirt, he barked his orders to a crewmate.
"We must deliver t' package successfully! Load t' six pounders, yet hold your fire until me signal! We cannot blow this mission, Niko!"
"Aye, Captain Gonzo!"
The lackey ran off, relaying the orders to the rest of the crew.
The cruiser was almost upon their prey now. Only one-hundred meters or so separated them from battle.
Gonzo looked left the helm in the hands of the quartermaster, Senza, and surveyed the situation.
"We'll need t' come up beside her in order t' succeed. We mustn't attack until we have what we need."
Looking to Senza and nodding, he gave the order for full throttle.
The time was now.
The Royal Cruiser quickly came up alongside the enemy vessel. Just as the hull was about to come to equal measure with the other, a member of the crew called out to the captain.
"Captain! Where be t' package?!"
Without answering, Gonzo raised his head to the top of the main topmast and smirked.
Standing firmly on the yard of the mast was the package.
A young man clothed in green looked upon the horizon without quiver. His green cap, and a blue scarf wrapped carefully around his neck, whipped back and forth in rhythm to the wind.
The hull of the cruiser came even with the pirate ship, and without hesitation, the young man sprung into action.
Taking out his grappling hook, he flung it over the yard of the foremost mast and jumped from his position.
Swinging around the mast, he let go when he reached peak height. Instantly, he equipped his clawshot and launched it towards the crow's nest of the enemy ship.
Latching onto a metal frame, he was hauled across the gap.
He landed in the nest and drew his weapons. They consisted of a metal shield and a blade that shone in a way that seemed almost ethereal.
The young man quickly disarmed the lackey in the nest, throwing his weapons overboard. Jumping from the nest, while seemingly suicidal, was a simple feat for him. As he approached the main deck, he again used his clawshot to propel himself across the ship.
The claw grabbed the gated window of the captain's lodge. He was thrust across the main deck, swatting off enemy attacks during the trip.
The captain's lodge was heavily guarded, so he broke procedure and let go of his item. It continued towards the lodge while he was left rolling on the main deck. Once he got to his feet he was surrounded by four opponents, each holding a curved blade.
This time he couldn't simply spring into action. He was on a mission and he didn't have time to play with these pirates.
With a quick glance behind him, he back flipped off the ship and plummeted towards the water. Using his sword, he thrust it into the hull of the ship, stopping him next to one of the cannons.
The man operating the cannon must not have seen him yet, since the cannon was not firing or being pulled back.
Still using his sword to hold himself up, he took out a bomb from his seemingly nowhere and threw it in the opening between the window and the cannon.
The men inside immediately began shouting and ran as far away as they could in the little time they had before it exploded. The young man took advantage of this moment to push the cannon back so he could fit through the opening. The bomb that evacuated the area never went off. It was a dud to intimidate the cannon operators. He got far enough into the hole to peek back out and retrieve his weapon.
Now inside, he made his way through the inside of the ship, disarming each enemy he met along the way. He eventually made it to the brig, the area where all prisoners were kept.
All but one of the cells was empty. Inside the occupied cell was a bald man who couldn't be a day over twenty-five. Wearing a simple white shirt and blue pants, he screamed at the young man who had just entered the room.
"Please let me out! I don't care what you do with me just so long as you get me away from these guys!"
Walking over to the cell, the man in green took out his bow and drew an arrow. He motioned to the prisoner to step away from the gate. As he commanded, the man ran over to the back corner of the cell.
With a second of concentration, a frosty blue light illuminated around the tip of the arrow. He released his grip and the arrow struck the lock on the gate, freezing it instantly. Unsheathing his sword, he took a mighty swing at the lock, cleaving it in two.
The gate opened and he motioned to the man to follow him. Turning around, he started towards the door.
But before he could take a step, the prisoner called out to him.
"Wait! I know why you're here... but who are you? What's your name?" He stood his rescuer, visibly shaking with both excitement and fear.
Without turning, the man in green responded.
"Link."
The two made their way to the main deck with ease. Link took one of the disarmed pirate's swords and threw it at the man he had saved. Together, they fought their way to the top of the main deck. At this point, both ships had begun firing on each other. The instructions to hold fire until Link had brought the man back had gone out the window once the pirate's launched their attack.
This had become too dangerous. Cannon fire was too unpredictable. Any shot could hit them at any moment.
Link told the prisoner to get behind him and they charged towards the main mast. The crew was too occupied with retaliating against the Royal Cruiser to care about the lost prisoner. The captain, however, was not.
Link knew exactly who the captain was. Scervo, the robotic pirate. It was said that one of the past heroes had engaged him in combat and destroyed him.
Yet, here he was. Electricity running through each section of his robotic body.
Link threw the prisoner in front of him and yelled at him to climb as fast as he could. While he climbed, Link made a dash for the window of the captain's lodge. With Scervo in pursuit, he had to be quick. The ancient pirate was powerful, but far slower than Link.
Using the wooden fences that border the ship, Link climbed up to the quarterdeck in an unconventional manner. He ran to the window where the clawshot was latched and detached it.
However, he had little time to do so since Scervo had already made it to the top of the quarterdeck. They circled each other for a moment, waiting for the other to strike.
With the onslaught from the Royal Cruiser continuing, the integrity of the vessel was weakening. In just a minute or so, it was going to sink.
He didn't have time for this. Link broke his pace and darted towards Scervo, shield held out in front of him. With a smirk, Scervo electrified his blade and swung down against the shield. Since it was made of metal, it would actually electrocute Link instead of protecting him.
That's what should have happened.
In response to the swing, Link bashed his shield against the electric sword and deflected it, leaving the captain wide open.
Without time to react, the captain let out a scream of both agony and confusion. Why wasn't he electrocuted?
Link drove his sword directly into the chest of Scervo, penetrating him instantly. His enemy, now in utter disbelief, would be incapacitated for a few more seconds. He took this opportunity to withdraw his sword and give one final strike. With a clean slash, Link decapitated the robotic captain.
With his enemy defeated, Link now had to escape with the prisoner. He looked up, checking if the man he rescued had made it into the crow's nest safely. Judging by the man frantically running from side to side, he'd made it.
Running to the base of the mast, Link placed five bombs down and lit them. Using his clawshot, he pulled himself up to the nest where the prisoner waited.
Link picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. Once the bombs exploded, the base of the mast became too damaged to continue standing. It began tipping in the direction of the Royal Cruiser, just as planned.
The prisoner began screaming and Link readied his clawshot for a last time.
When they had reached a forty-five degree angle, Link launched his clawshot at one of the several targets he had asked the crew to install.
With perfect precision, Link hit the target on the hull of the cruiser and they were thrust to safety. With Link and the prisoner off the ship, Gonzo gave the final order to attack. All sixteen of the ship's cannons were fired in succession, crippling the pirate ship in place.
With the help of Niko and another crewmate named Mako, Link and the prisoner were pulled onto the main deck.
With a heavy sigh, Link had succeeded in his mission, albeit it becoming a bit dangerous at the end.
Gonzo approached him and pulled him to his feet. "I thought you'd be quicker than that." Link laughed and dusted himself off.
"Well anyway, you brought Sakon aft into our custody. Thank you for that. Aye, t' King will be pleased when he hears o' this success."
Making his way to the ladder that led to the top of the mast, Link stopped and looked back towards the Captain. The rest of the crew was completely silent in the presence of the man who singlehandedly infiltrated an enemy ship, recovered a prisoner, and defeated their captain.
"I'll be the one to interrogate him."
Gonzo stepped back at the statement. "But, sir, you were only brought on t' help retrieve him. T' lords specifically told me not t' let you talk t' him."
The tension in the air thickened. Gonzo was not supposed to mention that last part.
Link let go of the ladder and walked to the door that led to the lower deck. "Then he doesn't have to know about it. Speaking to him is the only reason I'm here."
Gonzo shuffled in place, clearly unsure of what to do.
Without thinking, he proposed a deal. "Fine. You can speak with him, but I will report it to the lords."
Link turned back, nodded, and proceeded to the lower deck.
Once in the ships brig, he motioned for all other guards to leave. Without knowing that Link wasn't allowed to speak with Sakon, the guards left.
Sakon was in the corner of the cell, humming happily to himself when he noticed Link. "My hero!" he exclaimed in a clearly sarcastic tone.
"I don't have time. I need you to answer one question for me."
Springing to his feet, Sakon came forward to the front of the cell. "Oh, and what might that be, oh Hero of Legend?"
Link looked him in the eyes, knowing just what kind of person he truly was. It disgusted him that he had to save such a vile human being, but the information he held was more important than who he was.
"I thought you didn't know who I was. You asked for my name back there."
Sakon grimaced and pressed his body against the gate. "I didn't... but then you revealed the legendary blade to free me. That's when I figured it out."
Without breaking eye contact, Link remained silent. Sakon knowing who he was didn't matter. What mattered was the information he held.
The question he needed to be answered for the past few months could finally be asked.
"What is the King's Campaign?"
A/N: Welcome to Book 2 of There and Back Again! This was a bit more of a full chapter than a prologue, so we'll just call it an extended prologue. I've had the scene where Link boards the enemy ship in my mind for well over a year now, so it was a lot of fun to finally bring it to life in the story. As always, thank you for reading! I hope you will continue to join Link on his adventure!