Chapter 6: Home Sweet Home

As her consciousness crawled back like a wounded animal, she tried to determine where she was. The sound that entered her ears was warped and distant. A methodic whooshing sound was present, accompanied by a consistent cry that she could only determine to be some kind of clipped, whining laughter. Ah. Ah. Ah. It wasn't human, that much she knew, but if it wasn't human, what did that leave?

Then something in her brain clicked into place, providing her with a single word. Seagulls. She was hearing gulls which could only mean one thing. Elation replaced every other thought in her mind, and suddenly she couldn't get her eyes open fast enough.

Her vision was blurry at first, but that didn't stop her from taking in the sight of gentle waves tasting the shore before retreating and being replaced by new ones. She breathed in through her nose and her nostrils were instantly flooded with the tang of salt. That confirmed it. The water belonged to an ocean. More importantly, it was an ocean she knew.

Tetra reached out and grasped a handful of sand as if she could determine exactly what beach it originated from just by touching it. She let the fine white grains of sand leak from between her fingers, happy that it wasn't dirt or grass. She'd probably never been so pleased to see sand before in her life.

An uncomfortable jab in her side alerted her to the fact that she was laying on top of something, and it wasn't the soft sand in her grasp. Tetra hastily righted herself, opening her closed fist to allow all of the sand to escape. Her new position revealed what had been digging into her side as she'd laid there unconsciousness for who knows how long.

A bronze tile was embedded in the grainy sand. By the looks of it, it had seen better days. The edges that she could see were uneven and cracked, as if it had broken off of a larger piece. Curious, Tetra scraped away some of the sand holding it in place with her hands so she could get a firm grip on one of the uneven sides. It was heavier than she expected, but with some determination, Tetra managed to flip it over. She brushed away the sand marring its surface to find indentations. At first she thought it was damaged, but once she had the entire tile clear of the majority of the clinging sand, her eyes followed the elegant lines that were too neat and precise to be accidental.

And they were intentional. She knew that because she'd seen this before. Somewhere at one point in time, she'd witnessed many of the unusual tiles clean and unbroken. They used to make up a floor.

Leaving the tile where it was, Tetra stood and assessed her surroundings. She was in a small shaded cove constructed naturally by the cliff side above. Something was wrong with it though. Towards the back, the curved rock was broken and chipped, leaving a good sized hole in the cliff. Despite that, it didn't seem to be endangering anything. Tetra touched the mess of rock, checking it for stability. Besides the stray rock she knocked loose by touching the area and some grey powder that dusted her fingers when she pulled her hand away, nothing seemed to be threatening to collapse anytime soon.

That didn't explain what had happened here. All she was left with was the carnage which, in itself, wasn't much. A hole in the side of the cliff and a broken tile. Could it be Ghirahim's doing? Tetra shook her head to discard the thought. It couldn't have been. What did he gain from destroying a hidden passage? Nothing, that's what.

She had more important things to be worrying about at the moment than Ghirahim's recent activity. For one, where was everyone else? She vaguely remembered what had transpired after her counterpart had played Zelda's Lullaby on the sacred instrument. Tetra knew that she'd been holding onto the others, a mix of excitement and nerves in her stomach, when she felt the sudden absence of the princess beside her and squeezed Kid's hand tighter. She must have squeezed too hard though, because the next thing she knew, he was gone as well, and she was alone.

She assumed the same had happened to everyone else. If not, it was very unfortunate for them because she was their source of transportation. Becoming fearful that her crew had left in some foolish panic, Tetra turned towards the ocean to confirm that she wasn't stranded on Windfall Island.

Looking out to sea, Tetra could discern a ship's large hull a respectable distance from the shore. Her ship. It had to be. And if it was still anchored here, that meant her crew was exactly where she'd left them. Maybe it hadn't been as long as she thought. Maybe they'd only been gone for a few minutes. Unfortunately, all rational parts of her, said otherwise which meant that her crew must have got into some kind of trouble while she was away.

Wary of what she'd find, Tetra trudged out of the cove, keeping her eyes open for any sign of the other Triforce bearers. It was possible they were all scattered around the island. In fact, she hoped that was the case. Without the protection of the shade, Tetra could feel exactly how uncomfortable the weather was. The sky was a bright blue dotted with fluffy white clouds, and the blinding sun was nothing but a nuisance as it hung suspended in the center of the sky.

"How long was I asleep?" Tetra muttered to herself, shielding her eyes with her hand as she peered up at the sky to confirm that she hadn't misjudged the trajectory of the sun. She dropped her gaze to wander along the beach and grassy expanse of the island. Not many people were walking around, and with the afternoon so humid Tetra could understand why. It was hot and sticky, but Tetra embraced it for its familiarity. She'd worked worse days in the sun, and this was obviously one of the season's irrational heat waves that not even the most skilled sailor could predict.

Deciding to make sure her crew was on board the ship was first and foremost on her list of priorities, so she made her way up the hill to where the grave was and jumped down onto the upper deck of ship, mindful of the catapult. Once there she sprinted to the door that led below decks, ready to fling it open. Grabbing the worn handle, she pulled. Locked.

Tetra knocked on the wooden door, hoping it was loud enough for her crew to hear. Some of their games could get rowdy. She didn't have to wait long until she heard a voice that was slightly muffled due to the door. "What's the password?" it asked.

At least they had the decency to set up a password that didn't involve a vacuous riddle when she wasn't around. Without having to ask for identification, Tetra said simply, "Niko, it's me. Open up."

There was a loud thud on the other side of the door. When Niko spoke again, his voice trembled, "M-Miss? No way. You're…you're…"

"I'm what?" Tetra urged him to continue.

"A…a ghost!" Niko exclaimed.

"Huh?! No, I'm not!" Tetra argued, whatever patience she might have possessed before gone now that Niko was acting ridiculous as usual, "Open the door!"

"That's exactly what a ghost would say!" Niko refuted fearfully.

"No, a ghost would walk through the door, you moron! Now do as I say or you'll be a ghost!" Tetra threatened. This seemed to convince Niko, or at least redirect his fear, for she heard a click as the lock disengaged and the door was cautiously inched open, so Niko could peer around it.

Tetra rolled her eyes at his cowardice and yanked the door open all the way.

"What's the matter with you?" Tetra demanded, placing her hand on her hip. Niko didn't respond. Instead, he regarded her with suspicion and tentatively reached out to poke her arm. She slapped his hand away.

"Quit it! I'm real!" Tetra proclaimed, "Why do you think I'm not?"

"Because you didn't come back, and then they went out, and I told them not to, but they never listen to me, and then there was the bar and the grave and the bombs and-" Niko rambled nervously.

"Stop," Tetra held up a hand. She couldn't get any information out of him when he was so worked up. She'd have better luck with one of her other crew members. "Where are the others?"

"In town. I think they went to the Cafe Bar," Niko said, beginning to reign in control enough to sound dejected at the fact that he hadn't been allowed to tag along on the excursion.

"Fine. Stay here," Tetra sighed, whirling around on her heel to go.

"Wait! Where were you? Where is Link and his sister and the sages?" Niko wondered, following her as she hurried across the deck and grabbed the rope ladder that someone had neglected to put away.

"It's a long story. I'll fill you in later. For now, hold this steady, so I can get off." Tetra responded, draping the flimsy ladder over the side of the ship and moving aside so Niko could get his hands on it. Once he was holding it in place, she hopped the railing and began to climb down with expertise that only came to those with years of experience.

"Should I stay inside or what?" Niko called down to her.

"Don't care," Tetra declared as she released her hold on the ladder and landed knee deep in the lukewarm water below, courtesy of a rock jutting out from the shore.

She passed through the humble cove and in no time at all was marching through the heat and towards the other side of the island where the Cafe Bar was located. Glancing at the dock, she was content to see a few sailors tending to their ships. At least that was normal. Overall, she didn't notice anything too strange. It was hot, so that was obviously keeping most citizens indoors and, other than Niko's weird behavior and the eerie familiarity of the tile accompanying the damaged cliffside, nothing seemed to be different than usual.

Traveling under the stone gateway that was Windfall's claim to fame, though Tetra didn't understand why a gateway stripped of its gate was so popular, she swept her eyes over the area in hopes that the rest of her crew weren't really where Niko had thought. Before leaving, she'd told them to stay on the ship, but she'd really meant for them to stay away from the bar. There was no doubt in her mind, or theirs, about what she meant, so why did they feel so inclined to disobey?

She stomped past the Chu Jelly Juice Shop, the Auction House, and the Windfall Island Shop where she exchanged a glare with Mila when the insolent girl uttered a rude comment about her lack of an entourage. Tetra was short-tempered as it was, and it seemed that the formerly wealthy could never keep their snide comments to themselves when she was around. Sometimes she was tempted to shove her heritage in Mila's face just to see her reaction. However, she knew that it wouldn't get her anywhere. She could already imagine Mila laughing in her face and accusing her of lying to make herself seem more important than she really was. Which was, truthfully, fine with Tetra. The less snarky people in her new kingdom, the better.

Taking the stairs up to the café two at a time, Tetra almost bumped into a customer as they were exiting the building. She pushed past the person and grabbed the closing door without a single utterance of apology. Once inside, she found it noticeably cooler than outdoors and quickly ascended the steps. Gillian was behind the bar counter, appearing just as disinterested in the antics of her customers as she had since Tetra had first met the woman, and barely looked up as the pirate girl entered. In a span of no more than five seconds, that changed.

A raucous shouting startled her. The source just so happened to be the other five members of her crew who had set eyes on her as soon as she'd made it to the landing of the stairs. Unlike Niko, none of them hesitated in rushing towards her. Even if some of them fell over each other, an overturned stool, or the occasional table, it didn't do so much as slow them down.

Tetra couldn't get past the counter before she was crushed into a semi-hug semi-tackle by her fellow pirates. Some of them were crying, some laughing like maniacs, but all of them were yelling. The combination of their drunken voices, for it was fairly safe to say at this point that they were all impaired by rum or some other type of alcoholic beverage, drowned out Tetra's curt orders for them to settle down.

What had most likely been a despair ridden drinking fest, transformed into a drunken celebration, and Tetra found herself ensnared in the middle of it. One of the larger men, she couldn't discern who amidst all the confusion, picked her up and sat her on his shoulder, much to her chagrin. There weren't many people in the bar, but those that were taking shelter from the heat had no problem about staring. Forget being rude, this was a show that the customers were most likely enjoying. They weren't unknown on the island. Many people knew of them and those that didn't had most certainly heard rumors of a young pirate girl and the crew of full grown men she commanded. If she couldn't control her own crew then what type of captain was she?

"OI!" Tetra screamed, "PUT ME DOWN! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Still no response other than their incoherent babbling. Idiots. She was working with idiots. There was a reason why she never let them come here alone and this was precisely it. If she wasn't here to monitor them, they would drink themselves to infinity. They were going to have nasty hangovers in the morning, but that wasn't going to gain them any sympathy from her. She'd make them work. Of course, she couldn't force them to toil in the sun right now. They were a hazard to themselves. Among other things.

She knew that threatening them wouldn't have any effect so, with a small bout of struggling on her part, Tetra managed to slip off of Gonzo's shoulder and onto the floor. Once there, she pushed through the sweaty bodies that were holding her captive to their overwhelming display of euphoria and began to descend the steps.

"Come on you lot! Get a move on!" Tetra shouted over her shoulder to get their attention. Then, just to see what reaction she'd receive, she added, "Start behaving or I'm docking all of your pay by fifty percent!" Some of them must have been aware enough to comprehend her words, for she immediately gained followers and soon she had them all stumbling after her out of the Cafe Bar and into the humid afternoon for one reason or another.

Now to get them on the ship. Seeing as there was only one of her and five of them, this wasn't going to be easy. Sweeping her eyes over them, she picked out Zuko who seemed to be the most sound of mind out of the entire group.

"Help me get everyone else on the ship. Think you can manage that?" Tetra asked as she pulled him a few steps away from the others.

"Aye, Princess Zelda," Zuko replied, his speech slur free and as respectful as ever which gave her the impression that he wasn't drunk. What a gift that would be if it were true. At the moment, she was too fed up with the others to be irritated by Zuko's first choice of addressing her, so she let it slide and motioned for him to get on the other side of the group of drunken sailors.

Even with two of them working at it diligently, it took at least twenty minutes to get everyone else on the ship and below decks where they could sleep off whatever they consumed. Now it was just her, Niko, and Zuko above decks with the seagulls flying around the ship and the sun beating down its rays to ensure they couldn't be cooled by the ocean breeze that was present.

Leaning back against the railing, Tetra shook loose strands of her blonde hair impatiently out of her face. It was hard enough running a ship properly with six men sober, and now she was expected to do it with only two.

"What has been going on here?" Tetra wanted to know, looking to Zuko for an explanation, "I distinctly remember giving you all the order to stay on the ship."

"Right, but you never returned, and when we attempted to find you, we couldn't," Zuko informed her. Then after a small hesitation he added, "Where were you?"

"Never mind where I was," Tetra dismissed his question with a wave of her hand, "I want to know what you guys were doing here, besides drinking. Did you stop looking for us?"

"Of course not, but after the one accident we didn't think we'd ever see any of you again," Zuko admitted.

"What accident are you talking about?" Tetra wondered, skeptical.

"Don't tell her. She'll be mad," Niko advised Zuko, grabbing his arm as if he could pull his shipmate out of the conversation. Zuko shook the fearful swabbie off and chose to answer anyway.

"Some of us went below the grave to search, but at one point the candle blew out and someone accidentally lit a bomb instead of another candle. The mistake was realized a couple seconds later which threw everyone into a panic. Long story short, the bomb ended up being chucked deeper into the tunnel while we high tailed it out of there," Zuko explained as Tetra gaped at him in disbelief. However dimwitted Zuko's story was, she had to admit that it did provide a plausible explanation for Niko's believing she was a ghost and the broken tile she'd awoken on as well as the damaged cliffside.

"Why did you guys even have a bomb in the first place?" Tetra questioned. She could only yell at them for being idiotic so many times before it didn't have any effect.

"We were thinking that we might have to use it if you guys were stuck in a cave-in that we couldn't dig you out of," Zuko answered. That was ironic since they probably caused some sort of cave-in with that bomb of theirs. As far as she could deduce by Zuko's tale, the resulting explosion demolished the entire room at the end of the cave. Normally, this wouldn't concern her very much. It had been an old room and nothing was in it aside from a song on a wall. But the floor. There was something special about the floor. Engraved for eternity in the bronze tiles, were letters that, when the floor had been unbroken, formed words in Hylian. It wasn't their Hylian, though. It wasn't even Ancient Hylian. It was the written Hylian used in a world alternate to theirs where Hyrule still existed.

"Afterwards, did you guys see any bronze tiles with weird-looking inscriptions on them?" Tetra inquired. Zuko nodded but didn't offer any further information so she gestured for him to elaborate.

"It was just debris. We let the ocean take away most of it," Zuko said, his eyes looking anywhere but her face as if he expected her to start yelling at any second about how stupid they were.

"Most of it?" Tetra wondered, straightening her slouched posture.

"We grabbed a piece because it looked like it could be valuable," he responded, "Is it?"

"Let's find out," Tetra declared, pushing off of the railing and strolling towards the door that led below decks. "Where'd you put it? In the treasury?"

"Aye," Zuko confirmed as Tetra flung open the door and progressed inside. She continued straight to her cabin where she had the two pirates linger outside the door while she attempted to find the key hidden in her dresser. It wasn't in the drawer she usually kept it in, nor was it in the next. Slamming the last drawer closed, she searched the top of the dresser where her mother's jewelry overflowed from a half-shut jewelry box and bottles of perfume, also her mother's, stood gathering dust.

When the key still didn't present itself, she proceeded to check her desk, bed, and the couch cushions. Still nothing. Stomping out of her room, she demanded to know who had taken the key.

"Wasn't me," Niko answered immediately, as if that detracted any of the blame from him. Zuko gave the inquiry a bit more thought, and told her that he believed the culprit was Nudge. As annoyed as she was that he had entered her room and rummaged through her stuff without her permission, Tetra couldn't do so much as reprimand him for it since he wasn't here. Instead, she hurried down the stairs with Niko and Zuko in tow, turning left at the landing to descend another set of steps that creaked underfoot. However, the creaking of the vessel couldn't mask the sounds of banging.

When Tetra entered the next room, she traced the sound directly to the closed hatch of the treasury which was concealed by a large, square blue rug. Tetra rolled back the fabric and kneeled down, rapping the square hatch twice with her knuckles. The banging stopped after that, and Tetra assumed whoever was down there was waiting to hear more before returning the knock.

"Hoy there," Tetra smirked, "With whom do I owe the honor of speaking?"

"Me," said a voice that she could classify as Kid's.

"What are you doing in there, swabbie?" Niko wondered.

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out," Kid replied, "Can you guys get me out of here?"

"If we can find the key, yeah," Tetra answered as she got to her feet and surveyed the room. There wasn't much furniture besides a few chairs and a small table. Drawing closer to the table, her eyes discovered a deck of cards, a few forgotten dice, and, most importantly, a golden key. She grabbed it from the table, rolling her eyes at Nudge's stupidity. The whole point of having a locked treasury was so it wasn't accessible to just anyone who happened by. Leaving the key in plain sight defeated the purpose.

Kneeling down beside the hatch, she inserted the key into the lock and turned. Tetra lifted the hatch and held it open as Kid climbed out using the ladder. Once he was up, she motioned for Zuko to keep the entrance open for her and descended into the treasury where light was scarce.

"What are you doing?" Kid asked, curious.

"Did you wake up on a broken tile?" Tetra wanted to know.

"I have no idea, but whatever it was, it wasn't comfortable," Kid confided. Tetra let her eyes adjust to the feeble lighting before beginning her search. The tile wasn't hard to find since it was the only thing without the protection of a treasure chest or sealed crate. Satisfied, Tetra scaled the ladder and gestured for Zuko to close the hatch, so she could lock it again.

"So are the others here or not?" Kid inquired, tapping the toe of his boot on the floor uneasily.

"What do you think?" Tetra sighed, turning the key and removing it.

"Not," Kid guessed.

"Right you are," Tetra informed him, as she tossed the key up once and then snatched it out of the air, effectively trapping it in her closed fist, "From what I understand, all of us would have arrived exactly where we left if it wasn't for the shenanigans of my crew." She stopped to glower at the two pirates present before continuing, "But that can't be helped now. We'll have to find them, but first I want to retrieve that piece of floor I woke up on. It has writing on it that the others can decipher for us."

"Wait. What happened? What did your crew do while we were away?" Kid wondered, looking to Niko and Zuko with suspicion.

"There was a mishap with a bomb that basically blew apart the entire room at the end of the tunnels. You know, under the grave?" Tetra supplied.

"Where did you guys go?" Niko interjected, "No matter how much we looked we couldn't find you." Niko then gave a small shudder. "I was starting to think Gonzo would have to take over."

"Look, it's a really long and complicated story that we don't have time for," Tetra huffed, heading for the stairs.

"There's always time for stories," Niko disagreed.

"Not when everyone is missing, there's not," Tetra shot back, "Hurry up, you three. I'm going to need help getting this thing on the ship." Kid started up the stairs behind her with Niko in tow pestering him to tell the story while Zuko brought up the rear.

The four of them emerged on deck, the stuffiness of the innards of the ship replaced with the hazy heat above.

"It's hot up here," Kid remarked.

"Yup, it's one of those days," Tetra agreed as she tucked the key away in her wallet and made her way over to the side of the ship. She disembarked with Kid and Zuko as Niko held the rope ladder steady to the best of his capability. Tetra then led her companions to the cove. The tile was too heavy for her to lift, but Kid, aided by his power bracelets, didn't have much of a problem.

"I don't think I can climb that ladder with this," Kid announced, readjusting his grip on the large tile in his arms.

"We could go up to the top of the hill and jump down," Tetra proposed.

"Lead the way," Kid invited. With Tetra and Zuko directing him around obstacles, be it an up-coming turn he couldn't see due to the object he was carrying or a pig running around the island.

"Can I just throw it down?" Kid set the tile down in the grass to catch his breath once they reached the hill.

"No!" Tetra shook her head furiously. "I want it as intact as we can get it."

"Alright," Kid submitted after a brief pause. Tetra watched him as he peered over the side, taking note of the small gap he'd have to jump over to ensure he didn't land in the water, before picking up the broken piece of floor and leaping off. She kept an eye on him as he landed on the deck a few feet below. Kid managed to keep hold of the hard to lift tile despite stumbling upon landing. Tetra let Zuko jump down next before following suit.

She hastily climbed down the ladder that was available and turned back to look up at her best friend who, for whatever reason, seemed to forget he was on a raised section of the deck.

"Wait, don't-" Tetra attempted to warn him. She was a second too late, for her words didn't register in time for Kid to stop. His next step was nothing but air, and Kid slipped off of the upper deck with a surprised yell.

Tetra gasped. "Kid! Is the tile okay?" She crouched down next to Kid's sprawled form and tried to see the condition of the object he was laying on top of.

"I'm sure it's doing better than I am," Kid groaned as he rolled off of it.

"Quit being dramatic," Tetra said, running a hand across the rough surface of the tile, "You've fallen from greater heights than that before." It was true. Of course, she'd had something to do with most of those falls, which she'd eventually apologized for. Most of them, anyway.

With a helping hand from Niko, Kid was back on his feet and reclaiming the bronze tile. Zuko held the door open as Tetra led Kid through it, and, even though there weren't any obstacles, Tetra noticed that he tread more carefully this time and with just a touch of hesitance. Then they came to the stairs which presented an entirely new challenge.

"Uh, are you sure you can't get Nudge to do this?" Kid wondered, fully aware of the new hindrance in his path.

"At the moment, Nudge can barely hold himself up, so I don't think you want his help," Tetra answered with brutal honestly.

"One of the others?" Kid ventured.

"Kid, they're all drunk," Tetra stated, realizing she had to spell it out for him.

"Oh." Kid was quiet for a second for saying, "How did that happen?"

"You really need to ask that?" Tetra tested.

"Good point." Kid nodded pensively.

Being pirates, they were practically born with their sea legs, and, although Kid was technically an islander, he never seemed to have a problem with the constant motion of ships. Tetra could tell that being stuck in the treasury didn't give him time to adjust to the gentle rocking of the vessel since she noticed him trying to be discreet as he clumsily shifted his weight in order to keep his balance.

She inched past him, calling for Niko and Zuko to help. The two pirates hurried to follow her orders and soon the three of them were holding onto one side of the tile, while Kid held firmly onto the other, bearing most of the weight. The four of them then began the painstaking process of descending the stairs step by step. After reaching the landing, they struggled down a second flight of stairs which had Tetra silently cursing the stronger members of her crew for being so irresponsible at the café. They were grown men. One would think that they would be able to keep themselves in check.

Tetra unlocked the hatch and pulled it open. A minor disagreement ensued about the best way to get the tile inside, but it was quickly resolved by Tetra herself when she concluded that the way down to the treasury wasn't much farther than the fall Kid had taken earlier and proceeded to order her friend to toss the tile down. Kid was more than happy to do so since it meant less heavy lifting for him, and swiftly complied. Tetra let the laws of Nayru slam the hatch closed for her before locking it once again. The rug was then pulled back over it, as if putting a definite end to that particular mission of theirs.

"Can we hear the story now?" Niko inquired hopefully, taking a seat on one of the chairs in the room as if the matter was already decided.

"You're not getting a full version until everyone on this ship is sober," Tetra informed him, crossing her arms over her chest in finality.

"I can live with that," Niko replied without a hint of sarcasm. Niko wasn't sarcastic. In fact, Tetra didn't think he was capable of it since she'd lived with him her entire life and never once heard him exercise derision when speaking.

She glanced between both Niko and Zuko to make sure she had their full, undivided attention before summing up their unexpected trip to a parallel world as best as she could, "There happens to be a world that runs parallel to ours and we accidentally went there, awakened an ancient demon guy, met our counterparts, went through a bunch of nonsense that turned out to make the situation worse, lost when we faced off against the demon, and became trapped there while the sages and Link's sister were teleported here. Then we found a way to come back, but our counterparts came with us because the demon lord is here now, and we have to kill him. Thanks to you numbskulls, we need to take the time to track down our counterparts and Medli, Makar, and Aryll. Got all that?"

At first silence reigned over the room, and then an abrupt laugh from Niko made it crumble to nothing. When no one joined him, Niko's laugh sputtered out like a flame. "That…wasn't a joke?" Niko asked timidly.

"It's the complete and honest truth," Kid insisted, backing up her story. Niko looked to Zuko for support. However, from the expression on his face, Zuko didn't seem to know what to think about the explanation of their prolonged absence.

"Are you sure it wasn't a dream?" Niko checked, turning back to Tetra and Kid.

"We were gone for days," Tetra reminded him, knowing that time in both worlds functioned the same way. A minute here, was a minute there, so there wasn't a remote chance that her crew had a different concept of the time they were absent. Knowing Mako, he most likely documented it, but Tetra couldn't ask him exactly how long it had been just yet.

Niko seemed to consider this, but before he could form a response Tetra sighed in irritation, "Listen, it doesn't matter if you don't believe us right now because you will. We have living proof this time."

"Once we find them," Kid added.

"C'mon, let's ship out. We won't find anyone by sitting in one spot," Tetra declared, turning on her heel and marching towards the stairs.

"Are you sure they're not on the island?" Kid wondered, quickly catching up and matching his pace with hers.

"Positive," Tetra confirmed, beginning to climb the stairs. Kid held onto the railing for support since he still hadn't completely adapted to the rocking motion of the ship.

"How are you so sure? Did you look?" Kid queried.

"No, but I know they're not there. They can't be. We both woke up on those tiles," Tetra pointed out, "so there's obviously a connection. If that room hadn't been destroyed, we would have all awoken in there."

"So you're saying the floor corresponded to places in Hyrule, like it was one huge map?" Kid pondered as they reached the landing and started up the second flight of stairs.

"That's my theory, and if it's true, that means the others awoke on top of one of the other pieces," Tetra predicted.

"Are the tiles buoyant?" Kid wondered, sounding worried. That thought hadn't occurred to her, and she looked over her shoulder to see the only other able members of her crew climbing the protesting steps.

"Zuko, did the rest of the debris float away or sink?" Tetra asked, dreading the answer.

"Float," Zuko replied. Kid and Tetra both let out a breath of relief. So the others were out there somewhere, maybe not completely out of harm's way, but at least it was unlikely that either of them were drowned or drowning.

"How are we going to find them? This happened a while ago, right?" Kid turned to Zuko for the answer to his second question as they filed out the door and onto the main deck.

Zuko nodded in confirmation. "A week. Roughly." Tetra wasn't pleased with this new information. The tide could have taken that debris anywhere by now which meant that Link and Princess Zelda could be anywhere. Tetra just hoped that neither of them were unlucky enough to be on a piece of the broken tiles that had been carried past the borders of the Great Sea and into unexplored territory.

She stopped abruptly in the middle of the deck to think. They had no way of contacting them. In hindsight, she should have given one of them the Pirate's Charm that she'd entrusted to Kid just in case something like this happened. Tetra bowed her head in thought, closing her eyes as she oftentimes did when she needed inspiration. It had never failed her before and this time was no different. In the darkness of her closed eyelids, her mind's eye formed a mental image of the Triforce. That was it.

Opening her eyes, she took the fragment of the Triforce of Wisdom that she wore around her neck, into her hands. It felt cold. No warmth flowed through it like it had before when she'd tracked down the Princess of Hyrule in the castle so long ago. Her counterpart seemed to be too far out of range for her their Triforce pieces to react. Abandoning her mission to find the princess for the time being, Tetra turned to Kid and said, "Try to use your Triforce piece to track down Link."

"But he is Link," Niko protested before Kid had a chance to respond..

"My counterpart has the same name as me. He's a bit older though," Kid informed Niko who still seemed lost despite the explanation.

"I don't know how to use the Triforce of Courage though," Kid admitted, addressing Tetra.

"You mean you don't feel anything when Link is close? There's no reaction?" Tetra wondered.

"Well, at first there was but it stopped," Kid said, inspecting the back of his left hand. The Triforce mark wasn't present, and if she didn't know any better, she'd say that it wasn't even there.

"Did you ever try calling on it before?" Tetra queried.

"Not really." Kid shook his head slowly, uncertain where this was leading. "I kinda just let it do whatever it wants."

"Time to change that. You're the owner of it, aren't you? Don't let it decide when it's going to be helpful. Try tapping into it and seeing if you can reach out to the other Triforce of Courage," Tetra commanded, keeping her eyes trained on his hand in expectation. Kid shut his eyes, concentrating. Tetra waited with Niko and Zuko for something to happen. After a minute, nothing did.

"I can't," Kid said finally, opening his eyes.

"Fine, then we'll just have to sail around and hope for the best," Tetra sighed. She hated to do it the hard way, but it didn't seem like they had much of a choice. She took a quick survey of the air before continuing, "An easterly wind is blowing so we might as well see if that gets us anywhere."

"But there's only four of us," Kid pointed out, "Is that enough people to get the ship moving?"

Tetra swept her eyes over her improvised crew to assess what she had to work with. Kid usually changed the wind direction so it worked in their favor, but when he wasn't doing that he did mediocre swabbie work with Niko. Otherwise, he had some experience with sails and sailing in general so she hoped she could count on him for help in hoisting and lowering the sails. Niko was basically useless for anything besides swabbing the deck, doing laundry, and completing small errands around the ship, so he wouldn't be much of a help in making it work. Then there was Zuko, the ever pensive lookout. She couldn't imagine him giving him any other job to do. As captain, she knew how to execute every task there was which meant all the other duties automatically fell to her. Until she regained the other members of her crew, that is.

"We can make it work," Tetra announced, "I'll steer, you two will help me with the sails," Tetra pointed to Kid and Niko who exchanged nervous glances with each other, "and Zuko will be our lookout as usual."

"What am I looking for? Besides the usual?" Zuko wanted to know.

"Look for a guy that basically looks like an older version of him," Tetra said, gesturing to Kid, "He should be wearing a similar outfit, and his hair is darker too. Also keep an eye out for a young woman with brown hair in a braid wearing a long purple dress." Zuko nodded in comprehension before tucking his telescope under his arm and starting up the ladder to the crow's nest. If they couldn't rely on their Triforce pieces for help, Zuko's keen eye was the next best thing. He could spot detail from miles away with nothing but that weathered telescope of his.

"You two, get the portside, I'll get starboard, but don't drop anything until I tell you to!" Tetra called over her shoulder as she ran over to the right side of the ship so she could access the rigging there. Scaling the mix of ropes and cables was second nature to her and in no time at all she was underneath the crow's nest, untying the first knot that kept the sail immobile. Her fingers worked the knots loose with swift expertise no matter how complicated they were. For her, it was merely muscle memory since she'd been tying and untying knots since she was little, as had every other committed sailor or pirate on the Great Sea.

In no time at all, her side of the sail was free, being held up now only by her firm grip on the rough ropes.

"Are you two finished yet?" Tetra asked, craning her neck in an attempt to see past the sturdy mast in her way.

"Almost," came Kid's grunted reply as he warred with a difficult knot. Tetra didn't mind waiting for them to finish as much as she'd thought she would. The cacophony of gulls crying above their heads was somehow soothing, as if they were welcoming her back to where she belonged. This reassurance from nature, from her home, could almost convince her that nothing was wrong. However, she knew better than to be tricked by such false senses of security. Just because she was home, didn't mean that she could rest easy. If she did, it would all be taken away.

"We're ready whenever you are!" Niko shouted, much louder than was necessary in her opinion.

Tetra let her thoughts dissipate into the air with the nonsense of the seagulls above and replied, "On three. Ready?"

At a confirmation from the other two, Tetra began to count. "One. Two…Three!" She released her hold on the ropes that had previously been limiting the mobility of the sail and watched as the large piece of fabric unfurled. Climbing down to the deck, Tetra didn't let their success get her excited. They weren't moving yet, and she had a feeling that once they started it wasn't going to be easy for her to maneuver out of the spot they were anchored in.

"Kid, weigh anchor," Tetra ordered once he stepped onto the deck, "You're probably the only one strong enough to do it at the moment." He gave her a small salute before running off to follow the orders he was given. She rushed to the back of the ship where the helm was located.

"What should I do?" Niko wondered as he trailed after her hesitantly.

"Hold onto something," Tetra advised him as she took the wheel. She could tell exactly when the anchor was raised without looking. It was a slight difference in the way the waves buffered the sides of the ship. It was the feeling of true freedom. She jerked the wheel hard to port, clutching the spokes and planting her feet on the platform to keep her balance. Niko, who had heeded her earlier advice, tightened his grip on the side of the ship.

"Tetra!" Kid yelled from the other side of the deck where he was hugging the railing, "A little warning would've been nice!"

"If we're not anchored to anything you should expect some movement," Tetra shouted back, unsympathetic as she righted the ship so it faced into the wind. Now all she had to do was turn the vessel around so the wind could catch the sail properly and propel them forward.

Tetra eased the ship into the next turn since the immediate danger of hitting the island or the random rocks surrounding it had passed. After completing a wide semi-circle, Tetra straightened the wheel and was satisfied to feel a breeze at her back. Now all she could do was hope that they were able to find Link and Princess Zelda before something, or someone, else did.