Chapter 15: The Old Pirate Base
No sooner than had her feet struck the deck did she whirl around, take a step back, plant her hands on her hips, and tilt her head up towards her companions.
"Hurry up!" Tetra snapped. She wasn't a naturally patient person to begin with, and the prospect of obtaining a chart out of the Great Sea whisked away any patience she might possess.
"Hold your horses," Link returned, carefully stepping over the damaged rail of her ship. She didn't see why he was being gentle with it. It was already broken.
"We don't have horses here," she countered. "Just ships. Now get on this one!"
Tetra honestly wasn't anticipating switching ships to be such a hassle. If she had known it was going to be like this, she would have risked using her ship, but it was too late now. And, in any case, she knew that using Linebeck's ship for this expedition was a wiser decision. Her ship was in need of repairs thanks to that tentacle monster, and getting it back out of the cramped entrance of the Forsaken Fortress once they were in would be problematic due to its bulk. Linebeck's ship was much smaller and easier to maneuver, she'd admit, since it didn't require the aid of the wind. Yes, it was definitely the most sensible option, but it was by no means the fastest.
They'd had to waste two minutes yelling to get Linebeck's attention in order to tell him to turn around, and then they'd had to wait for Gonzo to guide the ship to a stop behind the rock they'd used so long ago to hide it from the prying eyes of the fortress. Of course, the fortress was blind now, but it never hurt to be cautious, especially after last night. Now, to top it all off, her companions were being slow.
Sure, Tetra supposed that they had made good time. It was only mid-morning. But they didn't definitively know whether Jolene was here or not, so every second counted. They had to catch her before she left the Great Sea, because once she did, there was no reaching her unless she decided to return of her own accord, and there was no guaranteeing that.
If they lost Jolene, they would lose the first tangible lead they'd had since beginning their search to find a land to call their own. The rest had been rumors and tall-tales told by bored townsfolk and sailors alike. All had been thoroughly investigated and debunked. But this one was different. This one held promise like no other since they had Linebeck's testimony to it, not to mention that it was a physical object, and if it turned out to be genuine … well, Tetra wasn't so sure she'd be able to restrain herself from following it immediately no matter how her companions felt.
After all, if the Great Sea ever needed the help of outsiders, it was now, when they were on the verge of starving to death. If she couldn't prevent that from happening, she had no right to the royal blood flowing through her veins. These were her people, whether they knew it or not, and failing to preserve them would mean losing the very last vestiges of the true Hyrule.
She wasn't ignorant to the threat Ghirahim posed, but she also knew how to prioritize. At the moment, the Great Sea's crisis was doing a whole lot more than Ghirahim. So far, they'd been the only ones to encounter anything strange, and that in itself wasn't strange since they were the Triforce Bearers. If there was anyone Ghirahim wanted to wipe out, it would be them. They were the only threat to his power, after all, and if they were gone, Ghirahim didn't have to worry his fabulous little head about resistance. Sure, there was the question of how he even knew that they were here in the first place, but maybe he had spies.
Suddenly unnerved, Tetra surveyed her surroundings. There was nothing but the fortress, their two ships, and ocean for miles. There was no place for a spy to hide. A seagull squawked overhead, drawing her attention to it. Seagulls as spies? Now that was ridiculous. They were too dumb, and the only person she'd ever seen the birds listen to was Aryll.
Shaking the silly thoughts out of her head, Tetra focused her attention on her companions. While she'd been lost in thought, Link and Kid had joined her on Linebeck's ship, and the princess was just getting ready to jump down. Tetra couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw Link was standing at the ready to catch Zelda. It wasn't a long fall, just a few feet.
"Miss Tetra?" She redirected her gaze to her crew who were gathered at the damaged railing to see them off.
She was sure that it had been Gonzo that had spoken, so she directed her question at him. "What?"
"Er, well, we were thinking that some of us could come with you, yeah?" Gonzo suggested. "Just because we don't know what's in the old pirate base now."
Personally, Tetra thought it was just a ploy to get off the ship for a while. Nonetheless, she chose to indulge them. She didn't want Kid coming precisely because they didn't know what was there. If it turned out that they had to fight, Kid couldn't. She knew that, no matter what he said. Zelda had explained to her last night about his injury, and she'd agreed, for once, with her counterpart that Kid should rest his arm for a few days so it can heal. It would be beneficial to have a couple more people they could count on for backup if they needed it.
Tetra swept her eyes over her crew for a few seconds before coming to a decision. "Senza. Zuko. Get over here. The rest of you, get to fixing the railings."
Six salutes and a chorus of "Aye, Miss!" followed her orders. Senza and Zuko then hurdled the broken railing and freely fell the few feet to the deck of Linebeck's ship, landing without any trouble. That was another perk of having them tag along; they were quick.
"Weigh anchor," Tetra ordered Linebeck after confirming that everyone was present.
"Givin' me orders on my ship. You're worse than Sparkles," Linebeck grumbled as he pushed off the bridge and disappeared inside. Choosing to ignore the sea captain's comment, Tetra wandered to the bow of the ship and set her sights on the Forsaken Fortress.
The last time she'd been here, she was just a pirate captain on a mission to help an idiot save his sister. It hadn't gone very well for either of them, but they hadn't really known what they were getting themselves into back then. Now it was different. They were stronger and wiser and just a little less stupid. Whatever awaited them at that fortress would not best them this time, she was confident about that much.
Unfortunately, her confidence didn't get them there any faster, so she was left to fidget in anticipation as they drew closer. By the time they were passing through the stone edifice's entrance, Tetra really couldn't contain herself any longer and climbed out to balance precariously on the bowsprit. It didn't reach very far, but it allowed her to see it first. Jolene's ship, moored by the stone steps.
Linebeck guided his ship to a halt beside Jolene's before cutting the engine and strolling out onto the deck.
"Great, the crazy lady's here," Linebeck observed. "Now what?"
"Now," Tetra said, hopping off of the bowsprit and back onto the deck, "we infiltrate her ship and get that chart back."
"That's not against your pirate code?" Link wondered.
"If nothing's locked and there's no one guarding it, we can assume it's abandoned and loot it," Tetra said, shooting him a wicked grin that he didn't return.
"That's nice. Go do that." Linebeck waved a hand in a shooing motion. "I'll wait right here."
"Oh, no you're not," Tetra countered, whirling around to address the sea captain. "We need you."
"For what?"
"You know what the chart looks like, so you can give us confirmation that we have the right chart."
"Uh, yeah, well, someone has to watch my ship, so I can't help you with that," Linebeck replied. "Just … use that pirate sense of yours."
"How about I use one of my pirates?" Tetra suggested. She turned to Zuko. "What do you say about staying here to watch Linebeck's ship for him?"
Zuko saluted. "Aye, Miss."
Tetra looked to Linebeck, crossing her arms over her chest in a challenge she knew he wouldn't be able to overcome. He tried to resist it at first, grappling for an excuse he didn't have, before finally giving up and pointing at Kid. "You're protecting me!" He then jabbed a finger in Link's direction. "You too!"
"Alright," Link agreed with an indifferent shrug.
With that settled, they began the transition to Jolene's ship. It was a bit larger than Linebeck's, so simply jumping over wasn't an option. Instead, they employed a combination of Kid's grappling hook and Link's clawshots to get them all onto the neighboring vessel.
Once aboard, Tetra wasted no time heading for the door that led to the ship's innards. She grasped the golden handle and tried it. Unlocked. Tetra smirked as the door swung open. Jolene was stupider than Tetra gave her credit for.
"This feels so wrong," Link commented from somewhere in the back of the group as they all filed inside, thus urging Linebeck to start carping about how wrong it was for Jolene to hunt him down all the time and wreck his precious ship.
Tetra did her best to tune it all out as she took in her foreign surroundings. Light filtered in through small portholes set into the right-hand and back walls. Just ahead was a curved golden rail protecting a set of wooden stairs that descended farther into the ship. To her left stood a wall and an open doorway.
Tetra marched over to the doorway, putting a hand on the polished doorframe and peering inside. Two large portholes illuminated the area, allowing her to see the metal chest on the right, a control panel directly ahead, and a large steering wheel on the far left. Control room. It had to be.
"Senza, check that chest over there," Tetra ordered as she ventured farther into the room. While Senza complied, she headed for steering wheel, pausing to inspect a framed picture on the wall. It wasn't a picture at all, but a chart. To her dismay, it couldn't possibly be the one she sought, for it was a map of the stars, not the sea.
"No charts," Senza reported, letting the chest bang shut.
"Downstairs then," Tetra said, tearing her eyes away from the map of the constellations. "Come on."
The group of six proceeded down the ladder-like stairs, the headstrong pirate captain in the lead and the more reluctant members of the procession bringing up the rear. It was noticeably dimmer in this new room, but that was to be expected, especially since no one was on the ship besides them. Fortunately, there were a few guarded golden sconces leaping with weak flames here and there, and daylight spilled through miniscule cracks in the paneled wood walls. Together the two meager light sources provided enough luminescence to see by.
However, it turned out that there wasn't much to see in this particular room. Straight ahead was a circular table around which two chairs were situated. Beyond that was nothing but a wall with a narrow opening to either side of it. They had no choice but to go deeper.
"Some of you go look around down that hallway," Tetra commanded, motioning towards the passage on the right while she approached the one on the left. "If you find anything, yell."
Without waiting to see who, if anyone, had followed her orders, Tetra wandered down the cramped passage before her. Almost immediately she came upon a closed door. She reached for the handle, but just as her fingers closed around it, it was wrenched out of her grasp, and she found herself stumbling straight into a tanned woman with bright red hair and almond eyes lined with more makeup than seemed necessary.
They both gasped, recoiling and jumping away from each other, though Tetra was faster and had already swiped her dagger out of its sheath on her hip by the time Jolene's ditzy sister opened her mouth.
"H-How did you get in? Didn't I lock the…?" Joanne paused, her face scrunching into an expression of fierce contemplation as she tried to discern how exactly they'd managed to break in.
Tetra decided to be nice and spare the woman the headache. "Tell us where the chart is, and we won't hurt you."
Joanne eyed her dagger warily. "Uh…"
A shove caught Tetra off guard, and she stumbled to the side, managing to catch herself before she fell. She looked back, daggers in her eyes, to find Kid occupying the place she'd just stood. Tetra opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind but wasn't fast enough in delivering it before Kid began to speak.
"She's joking. We're not going to hurt you at all," Kid reassured the nervous woman. Instantly a smile broke out on Joanne's face.
"Oh! You're the boy that helped me with the old wayfarer!" Joanne exclaimed, causing Tetra to raise an eyebrow. Wayfarer?
Kid nodded shyly in confirmation.
"I didn't know you were a pirate."
"I'm not!" Kid said hurriedly as if being a pirate was a sin. Tetra rolled her eyes. "I just…" He trailed off, searching for words. Finally, he found them. "There's a chart that Jolene stole, and we kind of need it back, so it'd be great if you could tell us where it is."
"What chart are you talking about?" Joanne wondered, tilting her head to the side inquisitively.
"It's a chart out of the Great Sea," Kid explained.
Joanne sighed, leaning on the doorframe as if standing was particularly strenuous. "That chart … well, I don't have it, but even if I did, I couldn't give it to you no matter what you've done for me. It's my sister's."
Kid was silent as he took this in, and Tetra took the opportunity to speak.
"So where's the chart?" Joanne's gaze shot to her, and Tetra could feel the woman's reluctance to offer information. She slid her dagger back into its sheath, hoping that would help coax the answer out of the girl. It didn't.
"Is it on the ship somewhere?" Kid prompted after a few more seconds of pressing silence.
"No," Joanne said, turning back to him and lowering her voice to a whisper as if she were disclosing exclusive information. "Jolene has it."
"Where exactly is she?" Kid asked, lowering his voice to the same confidential whisper.
Joanne shook her head helplessly. "I'm not entirely sure. I know she's somewhere inside the old pirate base. She left with the others saying something about looking for treasure…"
"How long ago did they leave?" Tetra inquired, feeling no need for hushed tones.
"…Not even ten minutes ago," Joanne replied reluctantly, causing Tetra to frown. If they'd been gone longer then they could have just waited for Jolene to return here. Technically, they could still do that, but there was no telling when Jolene and her crew would return considering that they were looking for treasure. Though, if there was any treasure to find in the Forsaken Fortress, Tetra was sure she would've known about it, meaning that Jolene and her equally idiotic posse were probably wandering around aimlessly for nothing. How long would it be before they gave up and realized that there was no treasure to be found?
"Come on, come on, let's go!" Tetra shouted, shooing those gathered single file in the hallway back the way they'd come. "We're not going to find it here!"
"You're not gonna hurt my sister, are you?" Joanne wondered, worry weighing down her words.
"No, we aren't," Kid assured her, shaking his head vehemently.
"Ah, good. Oh! And … don't tell my sister that you got in here. I was supposed to lock the door an-"
"Yeah, yeah, we won't." Tetra waved a hand dismissively in the frazzled girl's direction as she used the other to push Kid back towards the way they'd come. This earned her a glare from the Hero of Winds, but she didn't care. They had new information, and she planned to use it, which meant getting off of this ship and into the fortress. She couldn't do that with him keeping her trapped in the hallway.
It wasn't long before Tetra felt the sea breeze on her face again and was planting her feet on solid stone. All of her companions followed her lead except for one.
"Come on, Linebeck!" she urged the reluctant sea captain who had his arms crossed indignantly, peering down at them from Jolene's ship.
"Why do I still have to come?" Linebeck practically whined.
"Because of the same reason as before!" she replied impatiently. "If she tries to hand us a fake, you can let us know." There was no way Tetra was taking chances with this. Not when they were this close.
Linebeck glanced longingly at his ship where Zuko was stationed with telescope in hand.
"Don't worry, Linebeck," Kid spoke up, drawing the sea captain's attention to him. "I'll protect you."
Linebeck huffed, but jumped down to join them. "Fine, then. If I die, it's on you, short stuff." Kid frowned at the nickname, but otherwise gave no comment.
With everyone, more or less, ready to go, they started up the stairs, their footsteps echoing eerily in the silence shrouding the fortress. If Tetra hadn't known it was abandoned beforehand, she would have classified it as too quiet and remained cautious. But since she did know of its vacancy, she had no problem bounding up the steps and strolling to the middle of the courtyard.
Coming to a halt, Tetra planted her hands on her hips and surveyed the area for any sign of the faux she-pirate and her crew. To her disappointment, though not to her surprise, she found no such thing. Which only left them with one option.
"Let's split up," Tetra declared as her companions joined her in the courtyard's center. "Senza, Zelda, you're with me. Kid, Link, and Linebeck, you're on your own."
"Wait," Link protested as everyone began to shift around into the teams she had just set. "I don't think splitting up is a good idea. It's never worked well for us before."
Tetra waved off Link's paranoia with a nonchalant flick of her wrist. "It's fine. This place is abandoned. There's nothing dangerous here unless you count rats and Keese."
"But what if there's something else here now?" Link persisted. "Something you don't know about?"
Tetra took a moment to consider this before shaking her head. "If that were true, we'd know already, trust me." This place was a fortress. Anything that didn't want them here would have surely noticed their arrival by now and taken advantage of their current conversation out in the open.
"Regardless, how are we to communicate with one another if we're separated?" Princess Zelda interjected.
In answer, Tetra produced her gossip stone and activated it, causing Kid to jump and pull out an identical stone from his belongings. "I'll keep these active the entire time," Tetra said as she slipped the cord over her head to wear the stone like a necklace, "so whoever finds Jolene first can let the other group know."
She looked into each of her companions' faces, searching for any more objections. Upon finding none, she turned to Kid, who had followed her lead and fastened the gossip stone about his neck. "Go search the second floor. We'll search the bottom."
With that, the two groups dispersed, Kid, Link, and Linebeck making for the many stairs to the right while Tetra, Senza, and Zelda continued straight ahead for the massive wooden doors of the fortress.
Senza pushed one of the heavy doors open, allowing them access. Slipping inside, Tetra swept her eyes over the area. Upon finding nothing of interest, her gaze flicked between the open doorway on the left and the closed door on the right.
"Is this a map of the fortress?" Zelda inquired from where she stood in front of an aged piece of parchment displayed on the wall.
"Yeah, but we don't need it," Tetra replied. She knew this place like the back of her hand, as did Senza. Which was why she knew that there were more rooms and passages to the right than there were to the left. That also meant there were more rooms in which to look for nonexistent treasure.
Her mind made up, Tetra marched towards the closed door, her companions in tow.
The tell-tail flutter of leathery wings beating the air alerted her to the presence of Keese, and she whirled around, drawing her dagger and brandishing it at the four winged nuisances that were attempting to dive bomb her. She swiped the first one out of the air easily, then dodged the second. By the time she ended it, Senza had brought about the demise of the other two, and they were ready to move on.
Her counterpart seemed slightly disturbed by the interruption, and Tetra smirked. "Afraid of Keese?"
"Not at all," Princess Zelda replied curtly as they strolled through the door Senza was holding open for them and into a dimly lit corridor.
"There's no shame in admitting it, you know," Tetra said casually as the door banged shut behind them, and they continued walking. "I know you don't like rats, and Keese are basically rats with wings."
"Yes, thank you for that courteous reminder," the princess responded, opening the enchanted satchel at her hip and drawing her sword from it. Tetra watched but said nothing.
They reached the end of the corridor fairly quickly and entered another room. Two Keese were there to greet them, and Zelda swiftly dispatched of one. Tetra didn't know if her counterpart was trying to prove something, but just in case, she made sure to take care of the other one herself.
They continued on, opening another door and walking down a new corridor that was much like the first. The doorway at the end was door-less, so when they reached it, Tetra didn't bother stepping inside. All it took was a quick peek to verify that Jolene and her crew were not present. The only living things in the room were rats scurrying out of a hole at the bottom of the far wall and up to the rafters. And if it was anything like the other rooms, it had Keese lying in wait as well.
Rather than tempt the simple creatures to attack, Tetra, Zelda, and Senza turned around, backtracking through the corridors and rooms until they returned to the entrance.
Now traversing through the left corridor, Tetra prayed that there was something more than Keese waiting for them at the end. Even split up, this was taking far longer than she would have liked.
When they emerged into the next room, Tetra couldn't help but scowl at the emptiness that greeted her. Then she heard it. Footsteps. She glanced down at the glowing blue stone around her neck, thinking she was hearing the footfalls of her companions, but no. These were too loud. Too close.
She picked up the pace then, going farther into the oddly shaped room and rounding the corner. A victorious smile crept onto her face.
"Found her. Docking space," she reported into the gossip stone before letting it fall, dark and cold, against her chest.
"Hello, Jolene," Tetra greeted the she-pirate, placing her hands on her hips confidently as she stared down the faux pirate and her raggedy crew opposite her.
If Jolene was surprised by their presence, she masked it well. "Well, if it isn't little Miss Tetra." The woman's momentary smirk fell into a glower. "You're not here to take the treasure are you?"
"Of course not," she scoffed. "How I can take treasure that doesn't exist?"
"Doesn't exist?!" Jolene exclaimed, rage contorting her made up features. "Of course it exists!"
"It probably existed once," Tetra admitted. "But not anymore. This place was overrun by monsters once, then abandoned. Whatever treasure there was has already been uncovered and taken."
"Then… then…" Jolene stammered, her expression one of extreme loss. Suddenly she shook her head as if discarding the notion of treasure for the time being. "If you're not here for treasure, then why are you here?"
"For you, or more specifically, what you have," Tetra asserted, head held high.
"Oh? And what do I have that you could possibly want?" Jolene wanted to know.
"The chart." It was at that moment that hurried footsteps approached, and Tetra glanced over her shoulder to find Kid, Link, and Linebeck coming to join them, thus evening the odds just a bit. She turned back to Jolene, unprepared for the amount of anger radiating from the woman.
For a second, Jolene was silently seething, her hands fists at her sides. Then she seemed to calm a bit and let out a bitter laugh, putting a hand to her head. Tetra put a wary hand on her dagger. Was she going to attack?
"Oh, I knew it," Jolene said more to herself than anyone, shaking her head with a twisted expression on her face. Her narrowed eyes darted up to find Linebeck. "I knew you'd do something like this! You just can't stand to let me win, can you?" Linebeck gave no response, shrinking farther behind Kid, which was ridiculous really, considering how tall he was compared to the Hero of Winds. He'd have better luck hiding behind the Hero of Twilight.
"What are you talking about?" Tetra interjected.
Jolene's crazed gaze turned to her, and she suddenly regretted attracting it. Yet, Tetra held her ground, her fingers closing around her dagger as a form of reassurance. "Poor, little girl. You can't see when you're being used for a selfish man's ends. Pity, really. Though, I don't blame you. He tricked me once, too."
Tetra shook her head, uncomprehending. Linebeck was right. This girl really was crazy. "Look, all I know is that you stole a very special chart from Linebeck, and we need it back. So, if you don't want to get hurt, hand it over."
"There's no way I'd ever give it to you," Jolene spat. "It's mine!"
"Stealing something doesn't make it yours," Tetra admonished, narrowing her eyes as well and tightening her grip on her dagger.
"Tell that to the sorry excuse for a man cowering behind a child!" Jolene shot back with venom lacing her tone.
That was it. Tetra drew her dagger, but as she did, it clicked. Slowly, she turned around to face the cowardly sea captain. "Linebeck. Did you steal the chart from Jolene first?"
Now all eyes were on the cowering man, the silence suffocating.
"Did you or didn't you?!" Tetra demanded, stomping her foot to express her impatience. It did its job.
"I may or may not have borrowed it without permission…" Linebeck said finally.
Kid was aghast. "Linebeck!"
"What? She wasn't going to use it anyway!" Linebeck defended himself, straightening to his full height.
"Wasn't going to use it?!" Jolene screeched. "Who are you to decide what I am and am not going to use?"
"You said it yourself!" Linebeck accused, jabbing a finger at the seething she-pirate. "You said it was worthless to you!"
"That's because I thought we were trapped in the Realm of the Ocean King forever! That doesn't give you leave to steal my life's work!"
"Life's work?" Kid repeated uncertainly.
"Yes!" Jolene proclaimed, puffing out her chest proudly. "My crew and I made this chart, and it wasn't easy either." Tetra didn't doubt that, considering her own experience with the Great Sea's border, but as Jolene kept ranting about how difficult it was to create such a chart and how insolent it was of Linebeck to steal it from her, Tetra could hardly pay attention.
If all Jolene was saying was true, which judging by Linebeck's reaction, it was, then getting a hold of the chart now was next to impossible. Forcibly taking it from Jolene wasn't an option anymore. Jolene had just been stealing back what was rightfully hers to begin with. Tetra couldn't punish her for that any more than she could punish someone for having things she didn't. It was wrong. And even if she pushed past the morality of it all and found it within herself to fight Jolene for it, she'd never have the backup she needed. Jolene's entire crew were here to back her up, while all she had was Senza. Sure, Kid may back her up considering the reason why they needed the chart, but even if he did, he wouldn't be of much help with the condition he was in. Linebeck, though certainly willing, couldn't fight. The only other ones who could were Link and Zelda, but she knew she had no support there. Their morals were too strong to be broken.
That left two against seven. The odds weren't even close, but then they had to consider how powerful Jolene's men were. They couldn't be that good. Yet, she couldn't ignore Jolene's attachment to the chart. A fight for it would be even more brutal because of it. No. Tetra slid her dagger back into its sheath. She couldn't fight her for it. But she couldn't abandon all hope of getting the chart either. Whether it was Jolene's or not, they needed it to find a new Hyrule. What could Jolene be planning on using it for anyway? Treasure?
Tetra drew in a breath to calm herself. It was at least worth it to ask. "Jolene, what are you using the chart for?"
The question appeared to take the she-pirate off guard, for she paused in her shouting match with Linebeck to contemplate it. "Well, for discovery, I suppose. There's life beyond the Great Sea, and I'd like to find it."
Tetra furrowed her brow. "Why?"
"Because the Great Sea is dull and dangerous, or at least, it was. Now it's slowly dying due to lack of resources. My crew and I just don't plan to go out that way," Jolene explained.
"If that's the case, then why are you still here?" Tetra's stomach twisted itself into knots as the notion popped into her head that Jolene could still be here because she lost the chart. She did have yet to show it, after all.
Jolene looked away then, as if embarrassed. "Lack of funds."
Tetra released a relieved breath. Lack of funds. The words were music to Tetra's pointed ears, and also ironic considering how the she-pirate had turned down her money days ago on the grounds that she had "plenty of her own." "Really? Then how about we make a deal?"
"A deal?" Jolene wondered, her eyes returning to bore into Tetra's. "What kind of deal?"
"We'll fund you. And in return, you'll let us travel with you to wherever that chart leads." It wasn't her preferred option. But it seemed to be the only one she had, so Tetra held her breath, waiting for Jolene to say yes.
"Is he included in that us?" Jolene inquired, skeptical. Tetra didn't even have to look to know who she meant. Still, she had to think about it for a few moments. Did she want Linebeck along when he'd just tried to trick them into doing his dirty work for him? Then again, that was Linebeck's nature … and he'd only been doing it to help them. At least, she hoped so.
"Maybe. If he wants to be. But the point is, without my cooperation that chart of yours is useless." Tetra knew that much was true. So, too, it seemed, did Jolene, for she relented.
"Fine, but I have a few requirements of my own."
Tetra barely kept the grimace off her face. "What are they?"
"The only ones allowed to touch the chart are my crew and me. None of you can touch it, and if you do, the deal is off."
"Fair enough," Tetra conceded. "As long as we get to see it too."
Jolene nodded in agreement. "Second, if that filth is coming, be sure to keep him as far away from me as possible."
"Consider it done."
"Then," Jolene said, stepping forward and holding out her hand for Tetra to take, "I believe we have a deal."
"Yes," Tetra agreed, walking forward to meet the woman in the center. "I believe we do." They grasped each other's hands and shook on it, sealing the mutual agreement. It was a dangerous one, considering they didn't fully trust one another, and yet, there was little choice. They needed one another whether they liked it or not.
"Now then, before we can depart, my crew and I must go to Windfall in order to stock up on supplies, which, of course, you'll pay for as per the deal," Jolene declared as they broke contact. She certainly wasted no time with the new power she gained. But Tetra had power too.
"Only buy the essentials," she ordered. "We're not made of money."
"Oh, of course. I wouldn't dream of taking advantage of this." Jolene's painted lips pulled into a smirk, and Tetra scowled.
"Tetra." She whirled around to face her counterpart, Jolene temporarily forgotten. "May I speak with you for a moment? Privately?"
She knew exactly what this was about, and she had half a mind to deny Zelda's request that wasn't really a request. Yet, she knew if she didn't address it now, she'd only have to hear it when they got back to the ships, so Tetra excused herself and pulled the princess back towards the way they'd entered the docking space. She wasn't entirely surprised either when the rest of her companions followed them.
Now in a group huddle by the door, Princess Zelda laid it out plain and simple. "We cannot follow the chart right now."
Tetra sighed in exasperation. "Look, I'm not as stupid as you think I am. I didn't agree to this without thinking about it first. We need the chart. That's a fact. And I can't force it from Jolene since it's hers, which means the only way to get it is to work with her. I know Ghirahim is a concern for us. We need to defeat him, but we can't right now, even if we knew where he was. Not only are we not strong enough to begin with, but Kid can't fight at all now."
"I can too!" Kid protested indignantly.
Tetra ignored him and continued. "We need time to train and recover, so why not do something productive while we do?"
"That's a good point," Link admitted, mildly shocking Tetra, not only because he was agreeing with her, but because he looked to Zelda as if trying to convince her as well. "A little side-questing never hurt anyone, anyway."
Tetra stared at her counterpart, willing her to agree. Finally, perhaps feeling pressured, the princess sighed. "Alright."
They broke up their huddle then, returning to join Jolene and her crew in the middle of the room.
"Problem?" Jolene wondered.
"No. If you're ready, let's go," Tetra said.
"By all means." And so they exited the docking space in a much larger group than they'd entered it. There was no conversation as they passed through the dark corridor, just footsteps, but Tetra didn't mind. After what seemed like an age of things going awry, something was finally going right. Maybe it wasn't going the exact way she'd pictured it, but it was going in the right direction nonetheless.
As Tetra stepped outside into the warm sunlight, she couldn't help the fantasies of lands filled with rolling green hills that popped into her head. She would've been content to get lost in them forever, or at least until they reached the ships, but a scream rendered that impossible. She jumped, turning to the source just in time to see a purple rat leap out of the princess's bag and scurry away, a pouch that Tetra recognized as Zelda's wallet in its greedy paws.
Fearlessly, Tetra darted after it. If she could get close enough, she could step on its tail and pry the wallet from its paws. Unfortunately, the rat was faster than her, even with its burden.
"Tetra, stop!" She glanced over at Link, grinding to a halt when she saw him poised with a bow and arrow, tracking the rat's path.
Link released the bowstring and the arrow flew, pinging off the ground just a hair away from the rat. It veered left to be safe, but otherwise stayed on course towards the hole in the wall of the fortress. No! It couldn't go in there! If it did, they'd lose all their money!
Mobile once again, Tetra lunged for the rat, her right hand outstretched for whatever she could grab. Her fingers brushed the tip of the tail, and then she was on her stomach, staring into the darkness of the hole the rat had disappeared into. Her hand curled into a fist, and she slammed it down on the ground, cursing.
"Shame." Jolene laughed. "You almost had it."
Tetra shot to her feet and whirled around to face the smirking woman. "I wouldn't be laughing! That rat just stole your funding!" That wiped the smirk off of Jolene's face, and Tetra huffed, turning back to glare at the hole in the base of the wall.
She knew things had been going too well. The rat must have slipped into Zelda's bag while they were distracted at the docking space.
"Move," Kid ordered, stepping up beside her. Without any reason to argue, Tetra complied, taking a step to the left. She watched her best friend crouch down in front of the rat hole, and open his closed fist, sprinkling tiny red orbs on the ground. All-Purpose Bait.
She didn't understand until a rat appeared to stuff the bait into its mouth. It was impossible to tell if it was the same one that had stolen the wallet or not since all the rats looked identical.
"Deeeee-licious!" the rat proclaimed as it finished off the last of the snack.
It straightened to its full height then, its beady eyes on Kid. "Hey! I got somethin' real good I'll sell to ya! For real! So, what'll it be for ya? A Hyoi pear? Some arrows?"
"I don't want to buy anything," Kid said.
"Cheapskate…" the rat muttered.
Kid shook his head as if denying the accusation. "I want that wallet back with all the rupees it had in it."
The rat snickered as if Kid had just cracked a particularly vulgar joke. "No can do, pal. Finders keepers."
"Finding it in someone's bag doesn't count." Kid argued.
"Does if you're a rat!" The rodent turned around, about to duck back into its hole, but Tetra wasn't about to let that happen. She snatched it up by its long tail and held it up in front of her.
"Give us the wallet back!" she commanded the struggling rat.
"Eek!" the rat squeaked in fear. "I-I can't do that. But I'll tell ya what, if you can catch it, it's yours!"
"No deals!" Tetra glowered. "Just give it to back!"
"I already told ya, I can't! It's the pack's now! But if you can get it back, it's yours. Stealers keepers, I swear!"
As if that was its cue, a rat darted out of the hole, Zelda's wallet in hand. It scampered up the wall, and Tetra dropped the rat she was holding, running for the stairs and yelling for everyone to follow her.
Whether it was because they were loyal to her, Zelda, or the riches the rat held, everyone complied, stampeding up the twisting staircase behind her. Tetra's eyes never left the rat as it scaled the wall and scurried up to one of the out of commission watchtowers.
The ramp ahead was the quickest way there, so Tetra hurried up it, coming to a stone walkway that led directly to an out of commission watchtower. Just not the one she wanted.
The one she had her sights on was to her right, protected by unscalable stone. There was, however, a wooden ladder just beyond the block of stone that served as a makeshift barrier. Hefting herself on top of it, Tetra quickly got to her feet, angled herself towards the ladder, and jumped, grabbing a wooden rung to stop her descent. She hastily brought up her other hand and climbed.
As soon as she set foot on the top of the tower, the large rodent decided to move, slinging the wallet over its shoulder like a sack and bolting behind the still spotlight. Tetra ran around from the other side, hoping to cut it off. Instead, she rounded the spotlight just in time to see the rat disappearing over the tower's wall.
Despite the wall being rather low, Tetra's height ensured that getting on top of it wasn't an easy task. However, after a bit of struggling she managed it. Now, crouched on the top of the wall, Tetra cast her gaze out for any sign of the rat. She didn't have to look far, for it was just below her, on the protective overhang for one of the fortress's outdoor passages.
Without any thought but catching the rat, Tetra leapt off the wall and onto the overhang, rolling as she landed and just missing the rat as it scrambled away from her grasping hands.
The wallet thief leapt off of the flat roof, and practically landed on the heads of some of Jolene's crew who had been wandering around below in confusion.
"Grab it!" Tetra shouted, but the men shied away from the rat as if it were diseased. She couldn't believe they were afraid of it! Then again, these were Jolene's men. Thankfully, her own companions weren't far behind, and Senza, Kid, and Link, shot past the squeamish men, after the rat.
By the time Tetra jumped down to rejoin the chase, the boys had reached the last of the stairs, and Jolene's men were just beginning to move, encouraged by an irritated order from the self-proclaimed she-pirate.
Tetra pushed past them all and met up with Zelda halfway down the stairs.
"What's the matter with you?! Use that teleporting spell you do and catch it!" Tetra exclaimed as she ran beside Zelda.
Zelda shook her head. "Impossible. My magic is still depleted from last night."
"Then teach me how to do it!" Tetra demanded. "Hurry!"
"It's not that simple," Zelda returned as they stepped into the courtyard. "And it hardly matters now. Look!"
Wrenching her gaze away from her counterpart, Tetra found the rat at the end of the courtyard, scuttling up the wall with its prize and making for the boarded up waterway.
"Shoot it, Link!" she screamed. If it got away, she no longer had anything to bargain with. Jolene would take the chart, and the Great Sea would waste away.
An arrow flew through the air, then another, and another. But the rat was agile and more alert of its surroundings than anyone had anticipated, and after dodging one final arrow, it was gone.
But hope wasn't. That boarded up passage led straight to the docking space they were in earlier. There was still a chance to catch the rat, but only if they were fast. Tetra veered towards the fortress's doors, leaving everyone else to do as they saw fit.
Kid, it seemed, had the same idea, for he met her at the grand wooden doors. Together, they pushed one of the doors open and slipped inside, immediately running for the left-hand passage. The time it took to clear the hallway felt far too long, and Tetra's heart was in her throat as they opened the door and rushed into the docking space.
Upon rounding the corner, they found the rat holding Zelda's rupee laden wallet triumphantly above its head while its brethren darted in and out of the two holes in the wall in a celebratory manner. As soon as the purple rodents caught sight of them, however, the victory dance was put on hold, and they all scurried for their holes, including the one with the wallet.
There was no time to aim. Tetra simply drew her dagger and flung it towards the rat. The dagger hurtled into the rodent, its gleaming tip snuffing out the animal's life in an instant.
Tetra was stunned, frozen in place. Victory? Had she really just got lucky? Her dagger lay next to Zelda's wallet on the floor. She'd done it!
Grinning, the young pirate captain took a step forward to retrieve her spoils, and as she did so, a spell was broken.
"She killed Jeff!" a rat squeaked. Suddenly, Tetra and Kid found themselves staring in horror as a multitude of hairy, purple bodies began to pour out of the holes in the walls, their beady eyes flashing red.
There was no doubt about it. They'd overstayed their welcome. As swiftly as she could, Tetra scooped up the wallet and dagger from the ground and turned tail.
Link, Senza, and Zelda were just coming into the room but at a hurried, "RUN!" from both her and Kid, they turned around too. Or maybe it was the wave of rats gathering behind them that convinced them that staying was a bad idea. Tetra didn't know, and she didn't much care to turn around to check.
"What happened to stealers keepers?!" Link wanted to know as they tore down the corridor, the sounds of hundreds of pattering paws and enraged squeaks filling their ears.
"I killed one of the rats to get the wallet back," Tetra informed him. "Suffice it to say, that didn't sit well with them!"
"Oh my…" Princess Zelda's faint voice reached her ears over the sound of their pursuers, and Tetra looked ahead to find more rats coming towards them, crawling along the walls, ceiling, and floor.
Gods above! There was another rat hole at the entrance, and it seemed that they'd gotten the memo.
"Miss Tetra-" Senza began, his tone one she recognized well. It was one that said, "This is a bad idea." Bad idea or not, they didn't have a choice.
"It's fine! Kick them, use your dagger, whatever it takes!"
That was easier said than done, though. Rats now littered the floor, weaving and scratching and biting about their ankles in an attempt to topple them. In no time, Tetra found herself stumbling instead of running as the rats' claws bit into her exposed feet and ankles. But she didn't care so much about the pinpricks of pain as she did about the lack of movement. If she couldn't move, then she couldn't get to the exit. The rats would overwhelm her and then-
A violent pull on her left arm sent her crashing into Senza, and she would have fallen if he hadn't hefted her onto his shoulder in the same breath. Normally, she'd be annoyed at him for doing such a thing, especially without warning, but at the moment, she could only feel relief.
Unfortunately, it didn't last very long. She could see Kid struggling in much the same way she had just been for a similar reason. But even though the rest of her companions' footwear was better suited for protection than hers and Kid's, that didn't necessarily make running through the rats any easier. As they began to slow, Tetra cast her gaze around for anything that could help, gripping her dagger tightly in her right hand while cradling Zelda's wallet to her chest with her left.
Rats. Rats. Rats. Besides her struggling companions, that was all she could see in the dark corridor. A gleam of metal caught her eye as Link drew his sword, but she knew it wouldn't do much good. There were too many.
Pain suddenly alighted on her right arm as a rat dug its claws into her flesh. She gasped and swung her arm around wildly in an attempt to dislodge it. She could do nothing more. Her other hand held the wallet, and there was no way she was going to risk losing it by exchanging it with her dagger.
Tetra decided then to keep her arm mobile so that the rat couldn't find the stability to take a bite out of her. It turned out to be easier than she thought, but only because there were more rodents leaping from the rafters in an attempt to land on her and Senza. Between the two of them, they just managed to keep any more rats from landing, but that did nothing about the ones on the floor, which were growing more audacious and beginning to latch onto the Hylians in an effort to weigh them down.
It was working. They weren't moving anymore, and from her peripherals, Tetra could see that Link, Zelda, and Kid had also come to a standstill, overwhelmed by the pests.
No. This wasn't the way they were going to go. Devoured by rats. 'Think,' she ordered herself as she swiped another rat out of the air. 'There has to be something we can do.' There had to be, but she couldn't think of anything. Swords weren't doing any good. They needed something big, something like an explosion to wipe out a good number of them at once. But both Kid and Link were too occupied with trying to get the rats off of them to dig out bombs from their belongings. And even if they weren't, using explosives was a risk. Not only because they were in a cramped hallway, but also because some sea rats had a penchant for throwing bombs, and in that case they'd only succeed in blowing themselves to pieces.
Fire was another idea, but there wasn't a glowing ember in sight, and they'd need more than a tiny flame to scare off the large rodents anyhow. A flamethrower or fireball would be more helpful, but she had no way of making that happen. She could have if her counterpart had bothered to teach her how to shoot fire out of her palms. But of course the only thing Zelda had taught her so far was how to make a shield. Useless!
…Or was it?
Striking one more rat out of the air, Tetra sheathed her dagger and held out her hand, concentrating. She imagined the door that contained her power and wrenched it open. Immediately, she felt untapped power coursing through her veins, but she didn't let the small victory distract her. She still had yet to do anything with it.
Taking note of where everyone was positioned, Tetra dipped into her magic supply and directed it outward and around them, so it encompassed them all. Before she could actually cast the spell, however, a rat landed in her lap, and her concentration skipped away from her reach along with all of the magic she'd just summoned.
Gritting her teeth in frustration, Tetra swatted the purple pest off of her lap, and then tried to call the magic that had retreated back to the surface. It flared to life in her chest, warm and golden-green, but she had no choice but to let it withdraw when she was interrupted yet again. And again. And again. It was no use. She wasn't adept enough to cast a spell in mere seconds. But her counterpart was.
"Zelda, put up a shield, throw fire at these things! Do something!" she shouted at the princess who was just a couple steps ahead of them, taking jabs at the rats with her sword and frantically flinging off any that managed to cling to her.
For a moment, Tetra thought her counterpart was too distracted by the horde of rats to acknowledge her words, but then she turned to face her, and their eyes locked. Icy blue meeting ocean blue.
"You must lend me your power. I don't have enough!" Zelda exclaimed.
"How?" Tetra demanded, shaking off yet another rat.
"Take my hand!" Zelda commanded, cutting through the rats as best as she could so that she could stumble close enough for Tetra to do just that.
Tetra clasped her counterpart's hand in her own. This time when she called forth her magic it was wrenched so brutally away from her that her head spun. For a dizzying moment, she thought she was going to fall, but Senza's grip on her was firm, and she stayed right where she was.
Blue burst across her vision, and suddenly they were all nestled inside a rather large bubble shield. Rats pounded its base, top, and sides, seeking entry but finding none. Tetra was glad. There were already far too many inside of the shield for her liking.
New pain reminded her that there was still a rat attached to her arm, and she loosened her grip on her counterpart to reach for her dagger. Zelda's hold on her, however, tightened.
"Don't," the princess breathed, perspiration beading her brow. She was completely immobile, crushing Tetra's hand in her own and impervious to the rats running around her feet.
Maybe if Tetra had been concentrating on keeping the shield up, she would have been able to push everything else out of her mind too, but she couldn't. Especially when she felt a rat climb onto her head, its claws tangling in her hair.
"Agh! Get it off!" she cried, furiously shaking her head. She felt part of her updo come undone, but she didn't care as long as it got the rat off. Except it didn't.
Almost before she could process it, Senza slipped her off of his shoulder and disposed of the two rats assailing her. But even with the nuisances gone, she didn't feel much better. The rats on the ground had no mercy, and she was defenseless, linked to Zelda like she was.
Senza, however, was now able to move freely, and he began to help Link and Kid eradicate the rats on the floor. They weren't fast enough. Not in her opinion. But they managed it, and soon it was just the five of them encased within the protective barrier, their labored breathing filling the air.
"This is insane," Link said, eyeing the rats throwing themselves at the shield. "How are we supposed to get out?"
"Move with the shield," Tetra proposed.
"Zelda, can you walk?" Link asked, approaching the princess and hovering a cautious hand over her shoulder.
Zelda gave no response, and Tetra looked up at her counterpart. Her face was etched in concentration, just as before. There was no way she was going to take a step. Not without breaking the shield.
Tetra took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking. "Give me half. I'll hold half of it."
A ton of bricks toppled onto her shoulders. At least, that's what it felt like. How could this only be half the weight of the spell?! How could Zelda have kept any more than this up for a fraction of a second?
"This is much more manageable," the princess announced, though she didn't relax completely. Tetra, on the other hand, could hardly breathe. 'A wall, a wall. A brick wall. No, a stone wall. An impenetrable stone wall,' she thought, eyes squeezed shut. 'Hold. Please hold.' Each hit to the shield was a pulse that felt like a punch, and it took all her willpower to not flinch.
Dimly, she heard her companions conversing, but she didn't listen. 'A wall. A stone wall.'
Suddenly, some of the weight lifted, and she opened her eyes, confused.
"Is that … better?" her counterpart inquired, the strain in her voice apparent. "If I take much more … moving-"
Tetra cut her off with a shake of her head. "It's fine. I can … handle this much." She hoped.
"Good. When we move … it must be in sync. If not, the shield … will shatter."
Tetra shook her head. They couldn't do that. They were never in sync!
"Can we help you two somehow?" Link wondered.
"Yes," Zelda said. "Stop talking." The princess then turned to Tetra. "Small steps. I'll count them … out loud."
Tetra's mind screamed no, but she agreed anyway. And then Zelda started to count.
"One." They both took a step forward, and the shield moved with them. At least, she thought it did. It was hard to tell, considering how intensely she was focused on her current task. Walking had never been so difficult.
Despite sustaining less than half the spell, Tetra found herself struggling by the time they reached their sixth step. But they were almost out of the hallway. She couldn't give up now.
"Seven." Crack! Tetra's head shot up to see scars running along the shield. It was breaking.
"Tetra, concentrate." Zelda ordered.
"Trying…" she managed through gritted teeth. Tetra focused on the fractures, willing them to close with an extra burst of magic. Slowly, very slowly, they mended themselves, and the shield was pristine and blue once more. 'Impenetrable.'
"Ready?" Zelda checked.
She nodded. "Eight." They took another step forward, and Tetra heard the small sighs of relief from behind them when the shield held. Neither she, nor Zelda could afford to relax, though. The seventh step had proved that.
Tensely, they moved from the eighth step, to the ninth, to the tenth, to the eleventh, to the twelfth. Each one was excruciating, and they'd only just made it out of the corridor. Now they had to cross the pool of writhing rats to the door.
The door, which was miles away, or might as well been with the way she felt. Nonetheless, she steeled herself. They could make it. It was just a few steps.
But it only took one to jeopardize them.
Fortunately, Tetra and Zelda were able to keep perfect pace. Until, that is, the second to last step that would take them close enough to the door for the boys to push it open.
It was an explosion that took her breath away and drove her to her knees. She felt the hot tension in her chest snap, and instantly cold seeped in to replace it. All of her magic was gone. And the rats were here.
They surrounded her, suffocating her, drowning her with their bodies, and then she was wrenched to her feet by rough hands and stumbling forward towards the doors. She caught Zelda in her peripherals, her situation similar, though it was Link who supported her instead of Senza. Kid was ahead of all of them, cutting through the rats in their way to form a wavering path that closed up almost as soon as it was opened.
Tetra could plainly see the pain each swing caused him, but she didn't yell for him to stop. He couldn't stop. If he did, the rats would have an even easier time of overwhelming them.
Suddenly, her hands were on wood and she was pushing the door open with Senza and Kid, staggering out into warm, salty air. The taste of freedom! Almost.
Rats streamed out of the open door after Link and Zelda, and still more shot out of the holes at the base of the fortress's sturdy walls.
Jolene, who had been loitering in the courtyard with her crew, gasped upon seeing them and their pursuers. "What did you do?!"
"We got the wallet back no thanks to you!" Tetra gasped out as she shot past the she-pirate on her way towards the ships.
"Excuse me for assuming you people had it covered!" Jolene returned as she and her faux pirates joined them in running for their lives, the purple pests in hot pursuit.
When they reached the moored vessels, Tetra only had sights for Linebeck's ship. She scrambled onto the deck with Zuko's aid, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest. Then it stopped as a new thought struck her, and she whirled back around to take stock. Senza. Zelda. Link. Kid. Where was Linebeck?
Her eyes shot to Jolene's men, but he wasn't amongst them either.
"What the-"
She didn't let the familiar voice finish, and swiveled around, fully aware that she probably looked crazed with her hair a mess and scratches decorating her arms and legs. "Linebeck! Get us out of here!" For once, she was grateful for his cowardice, for it had drawn him to the safety of his ship long before now.
With hundreds of rodents threatening them, the sea captain was fresh out of grumbled comments and excuses and followed her orders instantly, disappearing into the bridge.
Tetra rushed forward to help ward off the rats while the last of her companions climbed on board. Despite them being on a ship, that didn't deter the vermin in the slightest. They were intent on getting revenge, and a little water, it seemed, wouldn't stop them.
Just as the last person stepped on deck, the ship lurched, and they were on their way, the rats still trying but not nearly as successful. Not with them, at least. Jolene and her crew were slower to pull out, and Tetra watched anxiously as Jolene and her men scrambled around the deck of the other vessel, shouting and cursing as they fought off the rats while simultaneously trying to ship out.
Only when she was confident that they had gotten away did Tetra tear her gaze away from their new allies and begin to catch her breath. As she looked around, she saw that her companions were doing the same, all save for Zuko, who hadn't done any running, and Linebeck who was steering the ship as fast as he could away from the fortress.
"That … was most unpleasant," Princess Zelda gasped breathlessly, a hand to her chest. Tetra would have made a wisecrack, but she had to agree. When in large packs, rats were quite formidable.
"That was crazy!" Link exclaimed from where he sat cross-legged against one of the posts. "Rats never gave me that much trouble before."
"They shouldn't be allowed to give anyone that much trouble," Tetra declared sourly, as she dropped the wallet in her lap, swept her hair out of its messy bun and began to redo it. "They made me lose all my magic."
"It will recharge," Princess Zelda assured her. "And you did very well."
Tetra frowned at that. It was a lie. She didn't do well at all, and her counterpart knew it. It had been Zelda that did most of it, not her, which, she supposed, only proved that she still had a lot of training to do if such lowly creatures could wipe out her entire magic supply in mere minutes.
Tetra felt it too. It wasn't quite exhaustion, though that was present in her limbs as well. It was more of an emptiness deep inside of her, like something vital was missing.
As if sensing her mood, or perhaps he was just being clueless as usual, Link changed the subject. "By the way, since when do rats steal wallets? What could they possibly gain from that? I'd understand if it was food but … rupees?"
"Sea rats are greedy little buggers," Senza explained before she could. "They just want them to have them and that's it."
"But why?" Link pressed.
"Probably because they're brainless and like shiny things," Tetra chimed in, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. We got the wallet back, so success!" She smirked, holding up the wallet in victory and letting all thoughts of magic dissipate. What was important right now was that they had the money.
"Are all the rupees in it?" Her counterpart's inquiry caught her off guard, and she furrowed her brow, concentrating on the weight of the pouch in her hand. It felt pretty full, but then she didn't know how much had been in it to begin with.
"Here," Zelda said, coming to her side and holding out her hand. "Let me see."
Tetra handed the wallet to her counterpart and watched Zelda sift through its contents, praying to all the gods she knew to let all the money be there. Finally, the princess closed the wallet with a satisfied nod, and Tetra relaxed.
The rest of the ride was a mix of passing around potions and sitting in silence. Tetra was grateful for both activities. The former took care of her wounds and refilled some of her magic, while the latter allowed her to fantasize about foreign seas ripe with treasure and new lands lush with grassy plains as endless as the ocean.
Now, as she began to climb the rope ladder up to her ship, her thoughts were interrupted by a shout.
"See you at Windfall!" Jolene's triumphant voice grated in her ears, and she turned to address the captain of the ship cruising past them.
"You can't buy anything without my money, numbskull!" she called back, but it seemed that she wasn't heard. That, or, more likely, Jolene just ignored her.
"That's my money," Zelda corrected her from below where she waited on the deck of Linebeck's ship.
Tetra waved her hand in the direction of her counterpart in a blasé manner. "Oh, same thing."
Climbing the rest of the way up, Tetra was barely able to take in the sight of the repaired railings before she was bombarded with questions from her crew about what Jolene was talking about and what had transpired in the time she'd been away from them. She yelled at them for it, putting on a stern face and admonishing them for crowding her, but in reality she couldn't be happier because they now had a chance. They had a chance of finding a new Hyrule.
Though the scenery was wrong and there were more people here than before, Tetra felt like they were setting out anew, fresh after the defeat of Ganondorf, and with that feeling came new hope.
A few minutes later, when they set sail for Windfall Island, the winds of fortune filled their sails, and Tetra couldn't help but smile. The impossible had just become possible.
