Note: Happy holidays! Sorry to post an update sans holiday cheer, but my next update will contain this story's first finale (which likely will also not have any holiday cheer).

For those of you that were here for MM, this novelization will follow a similar format: arcs ('books,' as I've decided to name them this time, which were retroactively added to MM) that end in 'multi-part' finales. Legends of Which the People Speak's first story arc is coming to an end, and I expect the finale to take up three 'parts' or 'chapters.'

See you all in 2021. Things are pretty bad in the U.S. right now, but the vaccine is a (distant) silver lining. Hang in there!

Chapter 7: Figuratively Speaking

A boat's gentle creak rocked her awake. It guided her from dreams of Mila's treachery and the moblins' bloody death. A wooden ceiling replaced the dark fortress. I escaped, Aryll realized. The pirate from all those months ago – Tetra – had come to save her. Or maybe Zelda? She recalled the wicked man's laugh, as he held his prize triumphantly by the wrist.

Aryll curled inward when a sharp headache tore through her thoughts. Ow. She clutched the blankets wrapped around her shoulders. The pile of sheets and pillows beneath her offered comfort, shoved in the far back corner of the room. Aryll was in a small cabin likely on the underside of a fishing boat. Crates of food, water, and bags of clothing scattered the floorboard, as well another pile of blankets and pillows. Wooden planks led to a ladder open to the sky. No one else was in the cabin with her.

Her head swam too much to try lifting it, but even that fact couldn't shake her immense relief. I really escaped. I can't believe it. She'd had dreams like this so often, but none as vivid as that horrible flight from the fortress. This is real, Aryll thought. I'm alive. And I'm not in the Forsaken Fortress anymore. She smiled despite her aching limbs, stomach, and forehead. For the first time in a year, this dream of freedom would not be ripped away by the sight of a moblin with a staff. She was on her way home. Your Grandma sent me, Tetra had said.

Aryll discovered a flask of water beside her and some bread. She found the strength to sit up and took both slowly. The water was already halfway gone before the first sip. She sat there, eyes closed as she ate and drank carefully. She didn't want to throw up.

In only a few minutes, Tetra thundered down the ladder. Her boots plopped onto the wooden floor, immediately spotting the young blonde woman in the corner. "Finally!" the pirate exclaimed. Her shoulder was crudely bandaged, sleeve pulled up to reveal a blood-soaked cloth. She'd replaced her black attire with a blue vest, white pants, and sandals, red scarf and sash tied loosely. Despite looking disheveled, her blonde hair remained styled in that perfect curl.

It took immense willpower for Aryll to sit up against the wall. "How long was I out?"

"Conveniently long enough for me to carry you to a bed."

A wiry, masculine voice sounded off from above deck. "She's awake?"

"Yes, Niko. Stay up there and keep watch. You can come say hi later." Tetra crossed the room to kneel beside Aryll's makeshift bed. "You actually woke up once or twice before now, but I doubt you remember. I forced water down for you, otherwise you might be dead."

Aryll closed her eyes again to temper the nausea. The slow, rhythmic sway of the ocean was far more disorienting than she remembered. It's been so long. "You got us out?" Aryll asked.

Tetra nodded. "Thanks to you. You'd think your mother was a rito, the way you jumped out of that window."

"I knew the anchors were out there."

"Hey, no complaining from me," Tetra said. "I got us to my pal Niko's fishing boat just fine. By the time any other moblins knew what was up, we were long gone. Just … don't expect your saviors to always have the strength to catch you when they've got an arrow lodged in their shoulder."

So much clouded Aryll's mind beyond pain and fatigue. She tried to find one question to cling to. "My Grandma sent you?"

"In a figurative sort of way? Absolutely."

I knew something was up, Aryll thought. Mid-chase in the fortress hadn't been the right time, but she wouldn't hold back questions now. "Are you going to hold me for ransom or something?"

Tetra laughed. She went from kneeling to sitting, lying her back against the wall adjacent to her bed. "There aren't enough rupees on your island to put together for a sail, let alone pay for your return. I could've gotten a much better payoff without going to the fortress with the highest security on the Great Sea."

"Then why did you?"

Tetra smirked. "I don't seem like the heroic sort to you? Maybe I wanted to save a princess from a scary tower."

"You're the princess," Aryll said. "According to Ganondorf."

"Princess Zelda? That pet name the old man who kidnaps little girls gave me? I was trying really hard to forget it."

"There was more going on than that," Aryll pushed. She remembered the glowing triangle on the back of his palm.

Tetra sighed, throwing her gaze to the floor. "Well, if we're cutting straight to business, I have no interest in talking about me. If that's what you're hoping for, I'll go above deck and let you sleep. But I'll entertain some questions about you."

Aryll closed her eyes again when the headache flared against her skull. I can live with that, she decided. It didn't matter to her whether a pirate named Tetra or a princess named Zelda brought her home. If she were back on Outset with her family, Aryll could put every strange thing that happened at the Forsaken Fortress behind her. "Okay," Aryll agreed. "Then answer my first one. Why did you save me?"

"I want out," Tetra answered. "I want to leave the Great Sea and never look back."

Aryll didn't quite understand. "But no one can do that. It's always storming out there."

"Hey, you're the one that grew up on a poor little island and spent the last year in a tower. Trust me, I know way more about the Great Sea than you. Storm included. My crew and I have tried to make it through several times. And I lost some good people, so I'm not stupid enough to try again. But the Great Sea has turned into a horror show while you've been gone. Ganondorf's ships are everywhere, and they're always raiding. Islands like yours turned out okay because there isn't anything to take. But patrols come by still, always checking for little girls that match his description."

Aryll's heart sank. She suddenly wanted to go above deck and see for herself. While trapped in the fortress, she'd imagined the world 'out there' as static. Why would it change? Why wouldn't it wait for me to come back? Aryll realized how naive she'd been. It's been over a year. How much has changed?

Tetra continued, "There are rumors of a map that can help you navigate that storm and leave the Great Sea for good. That's all a pirate usually has to go on, but I've reason to believe these rumors are the real deal. And would you imagine my shock when my search lead me back to one particular island? An island that a giant bird dropped me on over a year ago? I don't believe in fate, Princess, but something like that makes it hard to be a cynic."

"Grandma," Aryll thought aloud. Of anyone on Outset, her Grandma's past was mysterious enough to fit the bill. Especially given how close she'd been with Orca's father.

"And there you go validating my suspicions," Tetra said, smiling. "Not that I need more validation. I wouldn't have stormed that fortress if I wasn't sure. But your Grandma…" Tetra paused. She seemed hesitant to say more. Oh no, Aryll thought. Her dizziness returned in full force. My Grandma... what? Is she sick? Is she hurt? "… she's not doing so well. When I went to ask her about the map, she was so… delirious. The whole island tried to warn me, but I can't get anything coherent out of her. We tried everything, but they're all convinced that bringing you back is the only way to wake her up."

So she's alive, Aryll thought. "And what about Link?" She already knew the answer. She could feel it deep within her.

Tetra's smile vanished. She couldn't meet Aryll's eyes. "Mid-escape attempt didn't seem like the right time." She sighed. "You sure you want to talk about this?"

Aryll couldn't wait a second longer. "He didn't survive the fall, did he?"

"Oh, he survived the fall," Tetra said, as if that was obvious. She took a moment to find more words, but the effort seemed to cause her a great deal of discomfort. "It wasn't pretty though. No one on that island knew enough to help him, and he was barely hanging on. We volunteered to take him to Greatfish Isle, since they're the best of the best. It about broke your Grandma to see him go, too. I guess it did break her, eventually."

"And Greatfish Isle couldn't help him?" Aryll asked. She clung to the smallest ray of hope, however defiantly.

"I'm sure they did," Tetra continued. "Your brother fought like Din on that boat ride to stay alive, and I imagine he fought twice as hard when he had well-equipped caretakers surrounding him day and a night. The only thing is… ahh… the island, it…" She trailed off. "It's gone."

Aryll didn't understand. "Gone?"

"Several months ago," Tetra said. "While your brother was still on it. Ganondorf ripped it to shreds. The entire thing."

"The… entire island?" Aryll stammered. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know where that creep gets his powers," Tetra said. Aryll thought Tetra sounded on the verge of tears, but the pirate hid it quickly. "But he has them. He's done horrible things. Things that… are hard to say. And I don't think he died when you stabbed him with that spear. The Great Sea hasn't seen the last of him."

An entire island? Aryll tried to process that. She tried to imagine one man tearing an island apart. It seemed fake, like one of those legends from the old kingdom. The Goddesses' tyranny over this realm of mortals will end, Ganondorf had said. Aryll had thought him insane for claiming something so ridiculous.

But a chilling thought intruded: what if he does have the power to kill the gods?

"Link was still on Greatfish Isle?" Aryll said. "When Ganondorf destroyed it? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Tetra said. "Your brother never left that island. I'm sorry, Princess. He's gone."

You return?

"To you, I trust my anger, my strength, and my resolve. To you, I ask again for your favor."

You and I are one.

"Until our pact is complete, and the dark mothers are slain."

Then welcome you I shall.

When Ganondorf opened his eyes, there was only darkness. It rippled in thick, heavy waves that filled every space. There was no air. He did not need to breathe when he communed with Demise. He sensed the demon only in feeling, a presence that slithered through his skin and wrapped around his neck from within. He remembered how terrifying that suffocation used to feel. Now it was simply another state of being, one where a demon did the breathing for him.

"I found her," Ganondorf said. In a dark realm with no air, articulated thoughts became words. Even his rambling mind could be read clearly here. His thoughts were muffled in the stuffy veil of eternal night, but the snake coiling within his body could sense everything. "I found the princess."

And our deal saved you from death, Demise said. A peasant stabbed you. Do not be so careless.

Demise's anger shocked Ganondorf. "I was… surprised to finally find her. I let my guard down. It will not happen again." Hiding anything from the demon while here was impossible. He had never tried, and he never would.

The Hero's sister escaped?

"Yes." Ganondorf did not suspect that she had any connection to the Goddesses. He was not sure why Demise cared, nor why he spoke 'the Hero' back into existence. "The Wrath pursues them. They likely travel to a village in the south."

Will our Wrath falter?

"No. This is not the Wrath's first test." Ganondorf was disappointed. He had hoped Demise would be pleased.

I will be pleased when the dark mothers are a stain beneath your boot. While the Triforce of Wisdom remains beyond our grasp, there is too much left to chance.

Ganondorf winced. "I have never been so close to avenging my people. Forgive me for my confidence."

You were closer in Hyrule, and your misstep cost us everything. We will not get a third chance.

Ganondorf remembered the feel of the Triforce beneath his hands when the forest child led him to its sanctum: warm, electric, impossibly powerful and fragile. It shattered beneath his brown hands, deemed unworthy. They left him only Din's power. "That was a trap I will surpass this time."

Yes, as long as peasants aren't allowed to toy with the power of the gods. They have undone us before. Do not underestimate them.

"It doesn't look so bad," Niko said. He sounded surprisingly high-strung for someone that looked so laid back. "Trust me. Tetra and I may be beautiful people, but the rest of our crew had some pretty nasty mugs. Except for maybe Senza and Gonzo. They were lookers."

Tetra rolled her eyes. She leaned against the ship's railing, face open to the sea breeze. All three of them stood out on the deck beneath the late evening sky. "Don't ever compare me to you again. Stick to contrasting."

Niko was short, plump, buck-toothed, and big-nosed. His red-striped shirt sat above a belt with a cliché pirate's skull as the buckle. I'm not sure I trust his opinion on my scar, Aryll thought.

She remembered looking in the cabin mirror, tracing the red line that ran along her cheek – from beside her left eye to the bottom of her jaw. It was still fresh, but thankfully, it didn't appear to need treatment. Her raw palms from the rope were a different story, which Tetra had wrapped on her behalf. Aryll was still queasy and the headache hadn't abated all the way, but she could finally walk.

Aryll had spent the entire day oscillating between thinking about Link's death and tending to her injuries. Your brother never left that island. I'm sorry, Princess. He's gone. It still didn't make sense. She tried to imagine her brother exploding along with an entire island, but the absurdity of it overwhelmed her. At least it was quick, Aryll thought. Maybe even a relief if he never truly healed from his injuries. Given everything else going on, the numbness only occasionally broke into tears. She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. She'd already cried over Link so much in the fortress. Maybe I've been mourning him this entire time.

The Great Sea didn't look too much different than it had a year ago. The water wasn't a different color, and neither was the sky. They occasionally passed distant watchtowers, which Niko and Tetra steered clear of. They sailed by one island with a small, wooden fortress that looked distinctly militaristic. Prior to her capture, she never saw combat bases or watchtowers on the Great Sea.

"Whatever," Niko said, shaking his head. He pulled himself from the railing and walked along the deck. Aside from wet wood, a slim mast, and a couple of open crates, only benches took up the fishing boat's limited space. Niko had clearly mastered the tight shuffle to the other side. "I'm just trying to make her feel better."

"I'm not sure that little red mark is what's bothering her," Tetra said, turning to Aryll. Aryll had successfully leaned away from them and stayed out of the conversation. Until now. "Is the trauma, grief, or exhaustion winning out right now?"

Aryll mentally sighed. The ocean air and waves had been a much better alternative to small talk. "I'd honestly rather not talk about. This is a deal, right? I get my Grandma feeling better. You get the map's location. And then we part ways." I'm not sure I trust Tetra, Aryll thought. And not just because she might be a magical princess in disguise. Piracy, by definition, meant that she attacked other ships for a living. Just because Ganondorf and his army of monsters had ruined the plunder-destroy-and-murder business didn't mean that Tetra had had a change of heart. True, the pirate risked her life to save Aryll, and there was no reason for Tetra to treat her injuries with so much care on the way to Outset. But she's not your friend. She wants something in return.

Mila and Maggie's betrayals made new friends an unappealing prospect. She just wanted to be home with her family. Or what's left of it.

Tetra didn't reply at first, and her usual wry smile was lowered in concern. "I know everything feels numb right now," she finally said. "But I'd keep it that way as long as you can. It won't get any easier once you start feeling things."

"Did your brother blow up in a magical island explosion, too?" Aryll asked.

Tetra laughed. "So you do have jokes? No, I was an only child. Thank the wind. Not sure my mother could've handled two of me."

Thank the wind? Aryll decided to let that go. Maybe a weird pirate expression? Aryll didn't bother following up with any more questions. She knew Tetra wouldn't budge, and she honestly didn't care enough. As numb as her mind felt, her face was in paradise. The ocean breeze on her cheeks was the most alive she'd felt in over a year. It reminded her of fishing trips with Link and Grandma, along a golden shoreline blessed with peace.

"Enemy ship!" Niko exclaimed.

Aryll took a moment to react, letting go of the railing to stand straight. Tetra, by contrast, was already across the boat and helping Niko take down the sail. She's so fast, Aryll thought. "Where?" she asked.

"Let Niko and I worry about that," Tetra said, not looking up as she pulled the blank, white cloth down into the boat. Aryll turned to search for herself, and it only took her a few seconds without Niko's telescope. A large, ominous-looking vessel touched the horizon directly in their path. She couldn't make out anything about its crew, and Aryll wagered they couldn't even see their fishing boat yet.

"So much for taking advantage of that good wind," Tetra said. The mast came down next, sliding underneath the benches - a perfect fit for the boat. "Are you okay paddling?"

"Yeah," Niko sighed. "But you owe me big time."

"Come on Aryll," Tetra said, gesturing to the trapdoor leading below dock.

"We're… hiding?" Aryll stammered.

"As the two fugitives from the Forsaken Fortress?" Tetra mocked. "Obviously."

They were down the ladder in only a moment, leaving Niko to steer their little boat as far from the bad guys as possible. "An enemy ship?" Aryll asked. They sat against large crates together in the middle. "How do you know?"

"No one's out sailing anymore that isn't some variant of moblin or bokoblin. I'm not taking any chances. They might let us pass if they only see Niko rowing. But hopefully we slip by without them seeing anything."

A realization came to Aryll. "You were why I spent over a year in that fortress."

"What?"

"Ganondorf was looking for you. Zelda. That's why he was kidnapping young women all over the Great Sea. He was looking for you."

Tetra brought her head down and pinched her forehead, clearly annoyed. "My name isn't Zelda," Tetra said. "And I didn't order you kidnapped. I saved you, remember? Not sure I've even gotten a thank you yet."

"You're not telling me something," Aryll said. "You know more than you're letting on."

"Look, we've both established we're not all that interested in sharing our personal lives. So maybe we keep it that way?"

"Not if you're withholding information that could explain why we're in danger and why you have a target on your back."

"I'm not withholding anything that concerns you," Tetra said. "Why don't we sit in silence? I've hit my limit for serious conversations today, and I'll be taking a break until further notice. Let me know if you're in the mood for jokes, but otherwise, pretend you're bound and gagged at the bottom of a pirate ship."

Aryll didn't grace Tetra with a response. They opted for silence below deck, as Niko rowed them away from Ganondorf's forces. The boat's creaks were their only company. Aryll felt the numbness threaten to break open into incredible pain. My brother's dead. My friends betrayed me. My Grandma's sick. I killed two moblins. I'm so tired. Everything hurts.

She swallowed it all. The tears would have to wait until she saw Outset Island again.

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