(edited 6.30.20)


Implicit Death Sentences

The morning after her and Zeric's latest excursion to Ordon Bay, Princess Zelda had been in the royal library looking for answers about the tattoo on the back of her right hand. Her mother had always insisted to her that it was just that: a symbolic tattoo that her grandmother had asked to have put on her hand as an infant. The reason her mother gave never went any deeper than that; as a matter of fact, it seemed as though whenever the young princess had asked about it, her mother had always basically blown her off, every time suddenly coming up with something else that she had to be attending to. As the princess had thought about it there in the library that day, she had realized that the reason her mother gave really didn't make much sense at all.

Digging into the books in the Royal Library, she found one or two ancient books that spoke of something called a Triforce. Of course there were tales that people told their children about an ancient golden power and an evil wizard and a hero and a princess, but those were just myths. In one book she had even found a roughly drawn image of it, and it bore uncanny resemblance to the tattoo on her hand. As she had stared at the golden image in the book, she had remembered vividly how hers had grown warm and had begun to glow, even if it was ever so briefly.

She was still utterly confused as to why it suddenly reacted when it had never done so before. Still, she wasn't even sure that she hadn't just imagined it. After a solid two hours of research, she had still found nothing definitive or detailed enough to warrant any excitement, so she had left the library feeling somewhat morose. She had decided that she would go back to her room in the castle and work on her harp playing to try to forget the bizarre experience and her tattoo in general.

Her path to her quarters, however, took her past a back door to the King's smaller throne room where he took care of the trivial everyday business of running a kingdom. As she passed the door, she nonchalantly looked into the room, and noticed a dark haired navy man bowing before her uncle's throne. In light of what she had witnessed the day before, she had suddenly become very interested, and stopped, hiding just to the side of the doorway, straining to listen to the conversation between Ghirahim and the sailor.

"You may rise, seaman. What is your problem?" the king had asked.

"Your Majesty," the sailor had begun, "yesterday another one of our scouting brigs was sunk by pirates. So far we know of no survivors. It was the HRNS Loftwing this time." The King had practically scoffed.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sailor," the gaunt monarch had stated, insincerity evident in his tone. "Guards, escort this man out of the castle. Who's next?" As the guards had begun to move toward the exit however, the navy man had stood still, his facial expression betraying his anger.

"With all due respect, Highness, do you plan on doing anything about it? It is now the fifth one to go down in the past two weeks! All to the same ship, too. Survivors of past encounters say a man called Captain Zant leads the crew. His ship is a galleon; how hard would it be to send one frigate after him to crush him? I'm sure Admiral Eagus would be more than happy to — "

"You are far too bold, seaman," the king had interrupted, rising from his immaculate seat. "How dare you question my authority! I could have you burned at the stake for such an insult to the crown!" At the King's outburst, the navy man had visibly shrunk back. A sly grin came over the monarch's thin lips. "But today I am feeling quite generous, so I will only sentence you to 18 hours in the pillory." At this, the sailor's — and the hidden Zelda's — jaws had dropped.

"Eighteen hou— "

"SILENCE, you insolent sea rat! Guards, take him to the dungeon for questioning before I change my mind. Oh, and if you insist, I will be even more generous and send a messenger to Admiral Eagus to tell him to send Captain Auru and his crew after this dreaded Captain Zant you speak of."

"Wait! No! Please!" The sailor had begged, but Zelda had heard him being dragged out of the small throne room. After that, she had silently moved on, terrified by the display of tyranny, and locked herself in her quarters, thinking about the young man who had been brought ashore by a zora. A zora!

But that was four days ago now, and she was on one of her secret outings again. This time, however, she was only venturing into Castle Town, but she was still clad in her commoner disguise. She wore a simple cream-colored underdress beneath a long brown skirt and a clearly cheap corset type top with a long cotton cloak draped over it all. She kept the hood up over her head so that it was more difficult for her to be recognized.

She was just leaving the marketplace in Castle Town when she realized something. She backtracked a few meters, then glanced up to her left. On a slightly raised platform, the seaman she saw the other day in the throne room stood rather awkwardly, slouching against the pole of the pillory, hands and neck stuck inside. Confused, she gathered her courage and began to approach the man. Before she drew near to him however, she cast glances in all directions to make sure a guard wouldn't recognize her. Satisfied that there weren't any dangerously near, she stepped forward until she was standing before the platform.

She looked up at the poor man for a couple seconds in silence. His eyes were closed, he reeked of excrement and rotten vegetables, and his lips were severely chapped. Then his eyes snapped open and he stared at her, causing the princess to jump slightly.

"Well, if you're gunna throw something, throw it will ya?" he croaked.

"I—I wasn't going to—" she started, caught off guard by his question, but then, remembering the other day, she asked him what she had meant to ask him. "How long have you been here?"

"Huh? Oh, the guards put me in 'ere… ehhh… three days ago I reckon," he said, his speech slurred.

"Goddesses… Have you had anything to eat at all?"

"Plenty. Rotten tomatoes seem to be the most popular thing on the menu," he stated dryly. She sighed.

"Not what I meant," she muttered. "Real food; have the guards given you sustenance?"

"Them? No. I reckon that bastard king ordered them to leave me for dead. Seems to be his favorite pastime; sending people to their deaths," the sailor said weakly. For a moment, a slight temper rose in the princess when he called the king what he called him, but then her temper rose more when she realized that the "eighteen hour sentence" had turned into four days, whether intentionally or not. "But there was one man," the navy man said after a few moments of silence, "who came and gave me bread and water, even when the guards yelled at him not to. One of them even threatened him yesterday, but he gave it to me anyway. If it weren't for him, I'd be a dead man."

"What is this man's name?" the princess asked.

"Wouldn't tell me," the sailor managed through his parched throat. Then the man seemed to think of something. "Pointy ears," he said, feebly attempting to point at his own head with a finger. Suddenly the young navy man from the other day's face sprung into her mind's eye, blood seeping into his soaked hair and down over his face, mingling with his sparse blonde beard. His sharp jaw line was passing through her mind's eye when the captive spoke up again. "And speakin' of sending folks to their deaths," he paused, his face contorting into a grimace. "He's done it again. That pirate, Captain Zant, he's a ruthless one. They say he sails a hundred gun galleon. Captain Auru, the man who that king is sending to fight Captain Zant, commands an eighty gun galleon. He's sending him and his crew to their deaths, he is. There is no way that old Auru's Divine Wolf, err uh, Beast could take down Captain Zant. Like I say, old Ghirahim is knowingly sending HRNS Divine Beast to its demise. They're leaving tomorrow. Supposedly Captain Zant and his ship, Volvagia, were spotted off the coast of the Faron Peninsula day before yesterday. But I say that HRNS Divine Beast will meet its doom against Volvagia," the exhausted sailor said, repeating himself. He looked up at Zelda again, and recognition flickered in his tired blue eyes. "Say, aren't you Princess… uh…"

"What? No! No I— I'm just…" Zelda stuttered, cutting him off.

The sailor gave a wry grin. "You don't have to lie to me, Your Highness. I won't tell a soul." The princess sighed and her lips curved into an uneasy grin.

"How do you know all this?" Zelda asked, almost revealing that she had been eavesdropping on his "meeting" with King Ghirahim.

"The pointy eared fella. He told me. Says he's goin' with Captain Auru." At this, Zelda's thoughts once again strayed to the man who the zora had rescued. What had the Ordonians said his name was again? Link? Her heart quivered at the idea of him going knowingly to face the pirate who had so easily destroyed HRNS Loftwing. Such courage... Or stupidity. She wasn't entirely sure. "Says he has to avenge HRNS Loftwing and retrieve the... something or other," the ensnared sailor continued, almost drunkenly. "But I says that Auru's ship, HRNS Divine Wolf, is gonna meet the bottom of the sea on her next voyage." Zelda shuddered, feeling pity for her fellow hylian. At least she wanted to believe it was simply pity. Suddenly commoners didn't seem so bad. The Ordonians had taken Link in immediately even before they had realized his identity. This poor man was locked up for hardly any reason other than trying to get his ruler to protect his navy for four days in a pillory. The longest pillory sentence she had ever heard of before this was ten hours. Did Ghirahim truly not care about his subjects?

"What is your name, sailor?" the princess asked, pushing that last question out of her mind.

"Pipit the Brown, Your Highness, at your service," the seaman managed, even attempting some semblance of an awkward bow.

"And how did you know who I was?"

"I seen you around; in ceremonies and the like. Your face is not one I'll soon forget, Princess," he said, grinning shakily in spite of himself.

The princess blushed. "Well Pipit, let me see if I can get you out of here," she said quietly, scanning their surroundings once more. Many people were traversing the marketplace going about their own business, and no one even seemed to notice they existed in their corner of the vast square. There were four guards in the marketplace, one standing at each of the four entrances. None of them were looking even remotely in her direction.

Turning back to the man secured in the pillory, she examined the side where it was locked. Holding the top board and the bottom board together was a padlock. She took hold of it to look at it closely, and as she bent to examine it, her hand began to feel warm. Startled, she turned over her hand, and saw that her triangular tattoo was once again glowing.

"What are you doing?" the soft voice caught Zelda off guard, and she jumped, suddenly releasing the lock. She could practically see the guard behind her, his spear trained on her back. Then she regained her composure and decided that if he demanded it of her, she would reveal herself and then declare that she was setting this man free.

"This seaman has served his time. I am releasing him," she said with conviction.

"For some reason I don't think the guards would agree with you, miss. I would advise that you at least wait until nightfall," the voice said calmly.

Confused, she turned around slowly. Standing before her was not a guard, but a man wearing a white poet shirt under a green leather jerkin, and canvas pants. She looked up ever-so-slightly and her eyes were greeted by a sparse blonde beard upon a well-defined jaw line, above which piercing blue eyes scanned her. She immediately took a slight step backward, her hand still radiating warmth, but fading. Suddenly, she found herself picturing this young man crossing blades with a terrifying mental image of a pirate.

At her hesitance, he gestured for her to move aside so he could give Pipit the half loaf of bread that was in his hand. She hurried to acquiesce and moved, shaking the image out of her head.

"How ya faring today, Pipit?" Link asked.

"Parched," came the weak reply.

"Well, here's some bread at least. Miss, can you feed this to him? I'm going to go fetch some wa—"

"I told you not to feed the convict!" The shout came from their left, just past a shop called Bazaar. Link and Zelda whirled to face the voice, and saw a guard hustling toward them, spear brandished threateningly.

"Stay behind me, miss," Link ordered, stepping out in front of the princess. He then presented his empty hands at shoulder height to show the guard that he was not a threat.

"I told you yesterday that I'd be forced to take action if you tried to feed the malefactor again! Why can't you get it through your thick skull?" he yelled, coming to a stop some feet in front of them. "I guess I'll just have to put it on the end of my spear and stab it through your eye socket and into your puny brain for you, you damn peasant," the guard threatened, glancing down at the hanger belted to Link's hip. Link almost laughed at the soldier's odd insult. Then, to the surprise of both Link and Zelda, the guard actually lunged forward and jabbed the spear at Link's face. Link simply swayed his head to one side however, easily avoiding the attack. The soldier growled, poised for another strike. Then he lunged, but this time it was aimed more at the young man's chest. Again, Link sidestepped it, but this time, as the spearhead passed him he snatched the shaft and spun, yanking the spear from the guard and throwing an elbow at his head. Link's elbow made contact with the man's temple just beneath his helmet, the guard's neck twisted, and he fell like a bag of bricks.

Zelda stood behind him, shocked. "Did you just kill him?!"

"No. I only knocked him unconscious," he said quietly. "We're going to have more company though," he said, gesturing toward two more guards who were running through the square toward them. Due to the crowded nature of the marketplace however, they were having a rough time of it. Swiftly, he stepped forward and bent down to the unconscious guard laying on the floor of the cobblestone square. He reached to the man's hip and tore a large key ring off his belt. "Try these keys and get Pipit free," he ordered, turning and tossing them to the hooded girl.

She caught them and turned to unlock the pillory as Link prepared to face the two oncoming soldiers. One of them wielded a spear like the first, and the other brandished a basic rapier.

The Hyrulean guards wore black knee length leather boots over white canvas pants, belted over a royal blue shirt and protected by a simple iron breastplate. On their heads, they wore morions topped off with blue and green plumage.

The two guards advanced on Link, and he held his newly acquired spear out in defense.

He glanced behind him and saw that the hooded girl was raising the top plank of the pillory, freeing Pipit. Behind them, a small alleyway led back behind the shops from the very corner of the square. Turning to face the soldiers, he called back to the girl. "Take Pipit and run! Get out of here and keep your identity unknown so the soldiers can't track you down! I'll hold them off!" Then the first guard was on him and he sidestepped a rapier thrust.

Zelda cast a glance back over her shoulder as she practically carried the stiff and weak Pipit out of the marketplace, seeing Link engage the guards. He fended them off expertly with the awkward spear, ensuring their escape. She found it odd that he chose not to draw his sword.

The surrounding citizens cleared a sizable space for the little skirmish, excited about the action, and secretly hoping that the underdog would triumph over the tyrant's soldiers. As Zelda helped Pipit around a corner in the alley, she saw Link deliver a powerful blow to the jaw of one of the guards, sending him toppling over.

Internally, she rejoiced at the fact that she had remained anonymous in this, even though she had finally been convinced that her uncle was truly an evil ruler. How could he have changed so much without her noticing? Only the week before, she had still been completely loyal to the throne, but after seeing the destruction of the HRNS Loftwing as well as hearing the desperate plight of the navy regarding Captain Zant and Ghirahim's utter apathy toward their upsetting situation, her confidence in his worthiness to rule was wavering dramatically.

As she helped Pipit over the threshold of the Castle Town Inn far from the marketplace, she remembered what he had told her. Like I say, old Ghirahim is knowingly sending HRNS Divine Beast to its demise, he had said. If Zelda didn't know any better, she would almost think that the king wanted Captain Zant to continue his reported rampage.

The man clearly did not care about the welfare of his navy, if this was true. But how could a man be so evil? No, this sailor was exhausted mentally and physically, and his memory could very possibly be impaired. Most likely, Captain Auru led a ship that could easily do the job, otherwise her uncle wouldn't have sent him to do it. Also, no man in their right mind would willfully join a ship bound for its demise as Link was supposedly doing, would they? And as she had clearly seen, Link was in his right mind.

These questions swirled about in her tired brain as she dropped some green rupees on the counter in order to rent Pipit a room in the back of the inn. To her surprise, however, a large brown hand pushed the currency back across the counter.

"Word gets 'round fast in Castle Town, Mistress. I know what you've done," the vast woman behind the counter said sternly. Zelda's eyes opened wide, suddenly fearing that the innkeeper would turn her and Pipit in to the Hyrulean Guard. But then the woman's lips curved up in an immense grin. "We support any and all resistance to the tyrant here," she said, albeit quietly. "Just don't tell the guards, hmm? They seem to be in old Ghirahim's pocket, every last one of 'em." The woman winked as Zelda's nerves slowly calmed back down. "The name's Telma, darlin'. You and Pipit 'ere can take the back room. No charge, of course. I'll have my barkeep show you to your room and bring him some food and water momentarily, as I'm sure he's dyin' fer some."

Never before had Zelda interacted so closely with commoners. In her past jaunts from the castle, she had only come out to Castle Town to escape the oppressive restrictions of courtly life, and had kept very much to herself.

"Gorman! Show these two to the back room and then fetch them anything they ask of you. Oh, and it's all on the house," she commanded. A scrawny mustachioed man who had been delivering tankards of what appeared to be milk to customers seated at tables hurriedly made his way to the two newcomers, his pointy lip sweater practically bouncing.

"Of course, Telma," he muttered. "This way, Miss." So Zelda followed the pale man, with Pipit leaning heavily on her shoulder; he seemed as though he would collapse at any moment. Shortly, Gorman stopped before a door and depressed the thumb latch above the handle, pulling it open. He swept his hand into the doorway, gesturing for them to enter. Zelda helped Pipit through the door, then he gratefully stumbled to the bed and crashed onto it.

They had ascended one flight of stairs to get to the room and the only window it featured looked down upon the dead end of a back alley. Its shutters were currently ajar, admitting a cool breeze. Gorman left the room to go fetch them food and water, and Zelda sank thankfully into the cushion of a vast chair beside the bed.

"I should get back to the castle, do you think the soldiers will find you here?" Zelda asked, reclining and looking up at the ceiling. After a moment of silence, she glanced at Pipit. He was already asleep, lying on his side. She sighed, her thoughts returning to Link, the young sailor who had somehow survived Volvagia's slaughter of HRNS Loftwing, and now planned on joining Captain Auru's crew in its voyaged purposed to engage that very ship. Pipit must have been mistaken when recalling the size of Captain Auru's ship, mustn't he have? Ghirahim wasn't completely indifferent to his navy's struggles, was he? The princess sighed again, banking on the hope that poor Pipit's thoroughly sleep deprived mind had mixed up Captain Auru's ship with another captain's galleon, and maybe his befuddled mind even felt as though he had been out in the pillory for three days when his sentence had actually only begun the day before. Zelda hoped beyond hope that this was the case, remembering her Uncle Ghirahim as she had known him when she was a small child. She wanted to think that he was a fit ruler, and that he could be trusted with the commonwealth of Hyrule. Her father's older brother had always seemed like he loved her and Zeric, but could it have been that her child's mind had seen what it wanted to see?

She rose from her seat, preparing to go back to the castle. She would tell Telma that she had to go, but she would ask the innkeeper to take care of Pipit until he had recovered.

"Excuse me, Miss."

Zelda stopped in her tracks when she heard the voice. It came from behind her. She knew the voice. It wasn't Pipit. She had heard it the first time earlier today. It was Link. She turned around.

There he was, sitting, straddling the window sill. Set upon his handsome features was a look of relief. Handsome?! No, she wouldn't allow herself to think that way. He was a stranger and a dangerous one at that, she tried to convince herself, remembering the way he had handled the guards in the marketplace.

"How did you know where to find us?" she asked breathlessly as her heart did a little flutter. He cast a glance at Pipit.

"Well, you came this direction, and I knew that if anyone would know, it'd be Telma, so I came here to ask her," he explained calmly.

"And what of the guards?"

"I lost them," he said simply. It was then that she noticed his arm. There was a large, bloody rip in his billowy white sleeve.

"Oh, you're hurt!" she moved to his side in an attempt to get a closer look at his arm. Suddenly, her hand grew hot again.

"It's fine," he said. "Just a scratch. I wanted to make sure you two were safe, but I need to get to the coast. HRNS Divine Beast sets sail at dawn tomorrow. I'll barely make it as it is," he said, moving to swing his leg back over the window sill. Then, remembering something, he stopped and looked at her again. "My Lady, before I go, I wanted to ask your name."

She hesitated, her eyes locking with his. In her mind's eye, she saw HRNS Loftwing's fore mast lurch and then saw the ship sinking. She came to a decision.

"Tetra," she said, almost in a whisper.

"Tetra?" he repeated. She nodded, swallowing. "Miss Tetra, my name is Link Forester, and I hope to see you again," he said, flashing a smile. Then he began to step over the window sill.

"Wait Link!" she called, taking a step forward. He halted abruptly, his bright blue eyes locking with hers again. She was silent for a few seconds. "How many guns does HRNS Divine Beast have?"

He furrowed a brow, confused at her seemingly pointless question. "She is a fifty gun galleon." Slowly, her eyes widened.

"What's wrong, Miss Tetra?" the sailor asked, concern written on his face.

"I just… Pipit said that Volvagia has a hundred cannons. How can you possibly hope to emerge victorious?" Her eyes searched his.

"The number of guns does not win a battle, Miss Tetra."

"Maybe not," she said, "but I would bet that they help." He took a deep breath.

"I will see you again, Tetra." And he swung his second leg over the side of the sill, and let himself down. After a few seconds of silence, Pipit spoke up.

"Really? Tetra?"

She looked at him guiltily. "I couldn't bring myself to reveal my true identity yet… I don't know him," she said sheepishly. "I really must get back to the castle before I am missed." Pipit simply closed his eyes again.

She turned to the door, and strode to it. Then Gorman was in the doorway, and they nearly collided.

"Begging your pardon Miss," he said, embarrassed. "Here is the seaman's food and water." He held up a tray with said provisions on it, and Zelda motioned him by.

"Yes yes," she said distractedly, "leave it there on the table." She gestured to a table beside the bed, and left the room.

\-][- /...to be continued...\ -][-/