AN: This is only a portion of the next chapter, but I wanted to post it as it was originally written four years ago.

Chapter 9

Time moved quickly during the first two days of sailing. The children were too excited to do anything but watch the ocean, while their parents took a couple lessons about proper seafaring knowledge and etiquette. Link and Ashei promised not to be mere passengers while sailing the open seas, but to assist in any tasks necessary on board. To prepare for this, they were given comprehensive lessons on every duty with which they may assist the sailors. The crew, most of which were only vaguely familiar with the deeds of their special envoys, appreciated their willingness to learn their ways.

Reekmaw, though instructed in a similar manner to the others, found it difficult to pay attention. Having fixated his curiosity on the children, he was always trying to get out of his tutelage to hang around Leviah and Esekel. This annoyed Ashei greatly, her worries of his corrupting influence beginning to see fruition, but Link was always able to keep the bulblin in check, thwarting his attempts at escaping his lessons. Because of this, however, Reekmaw continued to take the threat of Ashei trivially. That, too, got under Ashei's skin, but she bided her time, knowing that the little scamp would eventually make a mistake, and allow her to dish out his...discipline. The thought that he just might become good and never incur her wrath never entered her mind.

On the third day, they arrived at the Orion Archipelago. A series of seven small islands, with the largest three lined up in a row with each other. The other four took diagonal positions outwards from the central three, while a large rock stood atop them all. The four islands on the ends were very small, no more than a square mile or so on each. It was the three central ones that were of concern. The westernmost one had lots of rocky cliffs, and even some caves. The central island, only a league away from that one, had a thick tropical forest. And the easternmost one, another two league and a half out, always seemed to be shrouded in a thick fog. Any of the three could be the hiding place of the pirates, which meant that searching them all out would take a great deal of time.

The two zoras, Feru and Pasz, scouted out the western island first. Staying hidden in the water, they scoured for any kind of hidden alcoves for which the pirates may have hidden. While they did find such caves in the waters, they were empty. The two deduced that they could fit the cog ships inside them. They returned to the Puissant Peacemaker, and after explaining their discovery, led the small fleet to the island.

The carrack vessel not be able to come close to the shore, so they weighed anchor and deployed their dinghy. It took a few trips to unload all the soldiers, but once the cogs were safely tucked away, they deployed their own dinghies to assist. After about an hour, there was only one last trip to be made, and after hearing the report that the island had been completely searched, Link was willing to go ashore with the rest of his family.

The trip took some time, and being confined on the boat with Reekmaw and a couple others was a boring activity, even if it was to last for only twenty minutes. The games that Ashei suggested failed to draw their attention.

"What if I told you kids a story?" Link pondered aloud. "These islands remind me of one that involves your mother and I."

"What kind of story?" Leviah asked, leaning towards her father with bated breath.

"Well...it's one where the two of us ran into an interesting creature, and-"

Ashei, abruptly turning a slight shade of red, shook her head. "Oh, no you're not telling them that story!"

With the sudden knowledge that this story was forbidden, both kids were intent on hearing it. "Why not, mommy?"

Link interjected for her. "A certain part of it is rather embarrassing for her, but since it's such a minor detail, I can omit if she'd prefer."

He gave his wife a wink, letting her know that he would not do anything to upset her. Though still hesitant, she nodded, but turned away from her kids, trying to hide her face. Having received her 'blessing,' Link began their tale. "Before your mother and I were married, we were helping King Aric remove some monsters from Silidan. When we had finished, we decided to head up to this little island we'd heard some traders speak of. It wasn't too far from shore, maybe five leagues or so, but it was pretty far north, passing even the land borders between Silidan and Hyrule. Allegedly, it was a nice little tropical island that was a wonderful place for a get away, if you could reach it."

"How did you get there?" Esekel asked.

"Your mother and I built this raft. The sail was the hard part, and the wind was against us. But with the help of these large Korok leaves, we were able to send our little vessel over to the island.

"Upon our arrival, we realized that the rumors were true. It was a beautiful place, with lots of fish in the surrounding waters, and a spring of freshwater, if you could believe that. We put together a little shelter for us, and stayed for a couple days."

"What did you do during that time?" Leviah was genuinely confused by their decision to stay on an island with no monsters.

"Well, mostly we just relaxed. Killing monsters can be awfully tiring if you never take a day off.

"Anyway, late in the evening of our second day there, we decided to go for a swim. While we were out there, I heard this strange singing coming from one of the rocks protruding from the ocean, and I found myself drawn to it. There, on top of the rock, was a beautiful woman."

"That was no woman!" One of the sailors rowing the boat cut him short. "That was a mermaid!"

"What's that?!" Both kids asked in unison, utterly enthralled by the story.

The sailor replied. "They're sea creatures that, from the belly up, look like us, but everything below is like that of a fish."

"Do you mind?" Link reasserted himself, rather annoyed at the man for interrupting. The sailor shrugged his shoulders, refocusing on his job. Before Link could continue, however, Esekel had another question for him.

"How did the mermaid get on top of the rock if it didn't have any feet?"

"Whenever they touch solid ground, their fins turn into legs, and they work just like any hylian's or human's would."

"Does that mean that she was naked?" Leviah inquired next. Link was rather taken aback by her question.

"That's not important to the story, dear." Link evaded, continuing with where he left off. "The mermaid may look beautiful, but they are dangerous creatures. They lure people towards them with their songs, entice them with their beauty, and bring them down into the ocean depths, never to return."

Again, Link was interrupted by his son. "Can they only do that to boys, or does it work on girls too?"

Ashei did everything in her power to hide her increasingly reddening face. Link was more astonished at the strange inquiries his kids were making. "Why are you asking these kinds of questions? Aren't you a little too young to be thinking of such things? That's it. No more questions. We're gonna finish the story.

"Having saw her, I became powerless, and tried to climb up onto the rock she was on, but the surface was a little bit too slippery, and I just couldn't quite make it up. Realizing that I couldn't make it, she came down to me, and that's when her feet turned into a fish's tail. She grabbed hold of me, and I of her, completely entranced by her looks and her voice. But just before she could take me below, your mother came to my rescue, pounding her in the back of the head, knocking the mermaid unconscious, and breaking the spell she had over me.

"We didn't kill it, but we became acutely aware of just how dangerous that creature was. Not sure what to do with the creature, we tied it up and gagged it. Then, when we were ready, we took it back with us to the mainland, and after some reassurance from some of the sailors there that it was safe for us to let it go so long as we each took one of its scales, we let it go. And before you ask why we had to take one of its scales, the reason was that by doing so, the mermaid would not be able to tell us apart from one of its own. You see, they may look like us, but they are really monsters, and don't think or act in the same way that we do.

"Now, do you have any other questions...ones that are appropriate for your ages, I mean?"

AN: That's it. That's as far as I got before I needed to move on. Thanks again for those who encouraged me, but my time has changed. If you want to know how this story would have ended, I updated my profile with a section explaining exactly that.