A/N: Welcome to the Wind Waker sequel to "In the Shadow of the Colossus" If you haven't read that go check it out first. This is a spin-off sequel meaning it isn't meant to be canon to the series and is set in an alternate timeline that deviates from the main story.
I don't plan for this to be long maybe ten chapters at the most.
There was very little that could surprise Rasea, her life as captain of the 'Moon Struck' had taught her to always expect the unexpected. So when Gael called down from the crow's nest that there was something bobbing in the waves, Rasea called for Jo to get the nets without so much as a sideways glance.
Rasea however was not expecting a woman to tumble out of the large net as Jo and Finn hauled it over the side of the ship.
The woman didn't appear to be breathing as Rasea and her crew rushed to her side. "Shit someone get Adeline!" Rasea shouted as she rolled the woman onto her back, her black hair was plastered to her face and back falling from the ponytail it had been styled in.
"Boss, I don't think she's breathing," Finn, the ships carpenter bless his soul, hovered over Rasea's shoulder.
"I can see that Finn," Rasea began pressing down on the woman's chest, trying her best to recall what Adeline had taught her about resuscitation.
"Shit are those rubies?" Terrin's deep voice cut through Rasea's thoughts and her gaze drifted to the woman's attire. The black gown was drenched with sea water, but the craftsmanship was still visibly exquisite. "Fuck and that's real gold,"
"Move!" Adeline the ship's doctor pushed past Rasea and pressed her ear to the woman's chest. "She's breathing but barely,"
The rest of the crew sat back and watched as Adeline continued compressions on the woman's chest. After what felt like hours, the woman took in a gasping breath and spit sea water onto the ships deck. She bolted upright her hands flying to Adeline's shoulders, green eyes blown wide.
"Hey, you're ok," Adeline rubbed the woman's back softly. "We got you,"
The woman took several heaving breaths here eyes drifting to each of the present crew members before she suddenly slumped forward onto Adeline, unconscious again.
Rasea ran her hands through the ropy strands of her red hair. "Get her to the med bay," Finn moved to lift the woman carefully into his arms. "Ade let me know when she wakes up, dressed like that some is bound to be missing her,"
The void swallowed her whole, leaving her suspended in her own personal hell. Alone with no sound, not even her own thoughts could pierce the thick inky blackness.
You failed
She spun searching for the sudden outburst of noise.
You tried so hard, but look where it got you
It was as if hundreds of voices were echoing in her mind, taunting her.
Can you feel him? Can you feel his turmoil?
Something deep inside of her twisted violently, sending jolts of pain throughout her being.
Suffer as he has suffered… That is your punishment…
The void swallowed her screams
"I'm telling you there's something strange about her," Rasea rolled her eyes as Adeline wiped the woman's forehead with a wet cloth. "Something about her skin tone, or maybe it's the shape of her face," The woman was still unconscious two days after they had pulled her out of the surf and the whole crew was uneasy.
"It's her ears," Gael pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "Pointed ears are a rarity but hers are different, longer more reactive to stimuli,"
The woman's face twitched violently and her ears mirrored the reaction. It seemed as though she was having constant nightmares.
"N...no," They all jumped back as the woman thrashed violently. "Please,"
Her voice was heavily accented and Rasea scrunched her nose. "I've never heard an accent like that before," She had been all over the Great Sea but never had she heard someone speak with an accent even close to that. "Gael?"
Rasea's sailing master simply shrugged.
"She's been mumbling for hours," Adeline rewet the cloth. "Sometimes in a strange language, unlike anything I've heard before,"
Rasea threw her hands up. "Strange clothes, strange accent, strange language, who the hell is this woman?"
"My name," The crew spun as the woman slowly sat up and let out a raspy breath. "Is Aeris,"
"So let me get this straight you don't remember anything but your name?" Rasea crossed her arms and leaned back against the desk in her quarters.
"Nothing," Aeris was lying of course, if she told the truth the crew of this ship was likely to throw her back over board. There was a bit of the truth there though, there were pieces of her past missing and a dark void that filled most of her mind.
She was unsure of how much time had passed when she first woke up, but one look at the vast ocean that now covered the once green land of Hyrule was enough to make her realize that it had been a very long time.
"So what are we going to do with you?" Rasea the captain of this ship was a strong woman, taller than most with dark brown skin and crimson hair wound into thick locks. Aeris wondered if she had Gerudo blood running through her veins. "You're dressed to fancy to be able to put in real work,"
Aeris looked down at the tattered remains of her dress. "I can change clothes," She smiled softly. "I don't know where else to go, I'm willing to do anything," That was the truth. Aeris had no idea how this new world worked or what to do in it. She needed somewhere safe to figure things out, to figure out how she was out of the void of the dark realm and where Ganondorf was if he had managed to free them somehow, or if it had been Demise.
"It won't be easy work," Rasea arched one of her brows. "You'll start as a grunt, doing the dirty work,"
"That's fine," Aeris smiled as she shook Rasea's hand.
Terrin the ships first mate and quartermaster, who reminded her painfully of Link, showed her around the ship and introduced her to the rest of the crew. It wasn't until he flashed her a crooked smile that guilt reared its ugly head and she realized that it wasn't Link he reminded her of but Kilus. She couldn't think of the knight without a painful stabbing her in the heart making her sick to her stomach.
She had weekly visits to Adeline, the ship's doctor and cook until the woman gave her a clean bill of health. The woman enjoyed having something other than cuts and other minor injuries to attend to, her blue eyes would light up when Aeris would walk into the med bay and she would tie back her black hair ready to try to unlock Aeris' mysteries.
It was during one of these visits that Adeline asked about the zigzag scars littering Aeris abdomen. "Do you remember having children?"
The familiar pain of loss roared in her ears as she smiled and shrugged. "Not really,"
Adeline patted her hand softly and smiled. "It should start coming back to you soon,"
Aeris simply smiled and nodded while trying not to cry.
Once Adeline cleared her to work she spent her first few months either swabbing the deck or working with Jo or Finn. Jo was the ship's gunner, Aeris had never seen anything like the ships cannons before, but she quickly became used to the smell of black powder. She enjoyed Jo's sense of humor and style, her brown hair was cut like a mans and was streaked with blonde from hours in the sun, something Aeris could only dream of pulling off.
Finn was the ships carpenter, he could build anything with a few scraps of wood and a handful of was a broad muscular man with bronze skin and black hair, but he was very sweet. He always tried to make her laugh or smile when she was working with him.
Gael the sailingmaster was interested in Aeris' accent and the "strange" language she sometimes mumbled in. The woman would case after Aeris clutching old scrolls asking a million questions that Aeris couldn't safely answer. She had discreetly asked if any of them had heard of the Gerudo but had been met by blank stares, how was she supposed to tell them she was likely the last person to speak a dead language?
It would be months before she met the final member of the crew, Ryss who she nearly stabbed the first time she saw him. A bird, a man sized bird tapped her lightly on the shoulder while she was swabbing the deck. She screamed which in turn made him scream, which made the rest of the crew come running, thinking that they were under attack.
The Zoras as it turned out no longer existed, they had evolved to take to the skies once the world flooded. Which made no sense to Aeris as Zora's and water were synonymous, but she learned to not question things too much.
Slowly but surely Aeris settled into her new life, but there were nights that Rasea or another member of the crew would find her leaning against the ship's railing staring out into the dark churning waters with a far away look on her face. She would jump or shy away from their hands as they reached out to her, but she would shake it off and smile reassuring them that she was fine.
She enjoyed the crew of the ship, but they were also useful to her.
Gael ever the scholar was more than willing to recant the tale of Hyrule's triumph and eventual downfall, but it made Aeris' blood boil to hear Ganondorf blamed and Link hailed as the conquering hero. There was no mention of her or that she had been the one to bind both Ganondorf and the spirit of Demise so that they could be purged and sealed.
No matter how badly she wanted to scream that the story was wrong she couldn't. Not until she had all the pieces of the puzzle.