Chapter 17: In the Past

Kid banged his head on the table. He'd thought he was done with this. Done with remembering. Done with mourning. Done with missing.

But apparently not. Apparently that stuff never went away no matter how much time passed. It just needed a reason to come to the surface. And Link had given it a reason.

Actually, Aryll had too a few days ago, bringing up their parents' deaths the way she had, but he hadn't dreamed about them then. He hadn't dreamed about them in years. In fact, he was convinced that he'd forgotten their faces. Yet they'd looked so real to him just now. So alive that it hurt.

But to hurt him wasn't his subconscious's purpose. At least…not entirely. Not with this. This was a warning. A slap to the face to get him to wake up. And it had worked. In fact, it had worked so well that as soon as he'd awoken, choking back tears, he'd swiftly and quietly extricated himself from the sleeping quarters and relocated to the galley. It was just a room over, barely down the hall, but it was enough to let him get a drink of water and attempt to recollect himself.

But recollecting himself was fairly hard to do when every time he closed his eyes the images of his deceased parents burned, dancing like a candle's flame, behind his eyelids. Though, Kid supposed that was the point. The point of the dream. The point of the remembering. Because he'd forgotten earlier. He'd forgotten all about his theory about why the goddesses took away his parents.

Of course, it was just a theory. He could be wrong. His parents' deaths could have absolutely nothing to do with his destiny. It could've been dumb luck.

But was it also dumb luck that the Hero of Twilight was an orphan? Or that the Hero of Time had been one as well?

Kid wasn't sure, and he didn't know what he needed to be sure. All he knew was that if it was true, if his being a hero really was the reason why his parents were dead, then Link had to stop. Stop caring about him. Stop protecting him. Stop treating him like a younger brother. Because if he didn't, he'd die too.

"Master." Kid raised his head at the sound of Fi's voice. He'd grabbed the Master Sword on his way out of the sleeping quarters, thinking that she could help him somehow. But now that her emotionless voice was ringing in his ears, he knew that was impossible. "I am detecting odd fluctuations in your emotional state. All signs suggest that they are preventing you from obtaining adequate slumber."

'No duh,' Kid thought bitterly, biting his tongue to keep the words from escaping. He didn't want to snap at her. Link had snapped at her earlier, and even if she didn't have emotions, Kid didn't want to treat her that way because whether Fi realized he was being rude or not, he would know.

"Perhaps discussion will correct your emotional state." Kid doubted any discussion with Fi would make him feel better, but he appreciated that she was even trying, seeing as she was an emotionless being and therefore shouldn't have the capability to care. Then again, maybe it wasn't caring. Maybe it was necessity. After all, he couldn't very well play the hero if he was sleep deprived. Still, he decided to let her give it a shot.

"Alright," Kid said, straightening his posture so he was no longer slumped dejectedly on the stool at the island countertop. "Your first master … were his … did he…" Kid expelled the rest of his air and dropped his eyes to his lap, wondering if he really wanted to know. After a few more seconds of fierce contemplation, he decided that what he wanted and didn't want was irrelevant. He needed to know. "Was he an orphan?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation. No exclamation. No breathy whisper. No grandeur at all. It was everything that ever came out of Fi's mouth: raw, unfiltered fact. It turned his theory into truth, which would've been great, if Kid wanted it to be true.

"Do you have any more inquiries, Master?" Fi intoned.

Kid put his head down on the counter and closed his eyes, willing his head to stop spinning, for his thoughts to lie still. "No."

Fi didn't speak again, and he felt her presence dim. Yet he'd been lying. He had more questions for her about the first hero. Had he been happy? Scared? How old was he when he became a hero? How had he dealt with all the pressure? Had he? What happened to him after his adventures? But then, Kid supposed Fi wouldn't know the answer to the last one. Her consciousness had been sealed away after her first master had completed his quest. Only he hadn't finished it because Ghirahim was their problem now.

It was useless getting angry over that, Kid knew, but it didn't stop him from detesting the first hero just a little bit. If he'd done his job right, Kid wouldn't be in this position right now. He wouldn't have to be a hero. He'd be able to act his age. He would be able to dream about fighting evil rather than actually doing it. Because the real thing wasn't half as fun as a game. In a game, no one got hurt. In a game, nothing was real. The monsters were fake and so was the fear. Any peril dissipated as soon as the game was disbanded.

In reality, peril didn't go away when you wanted it to. People got hurt. Killed. Suddenly, Kid knew that he couldn't blame the first hero for messing up because he'd messed up. If he'd been faster Greatfish Isle wouldn't have been destroyed. If he hadn't stopped to feel sorry for himself, or baby every little cut and scrape, or seek comfort from anyone willing to give it to him for any amount of time, or sleep off his despair, he would've made it in time. He would've saved the island and everyone on it.

So there. He was just as bad as the first hero. He was a-

"Kid?" Startled, Kid nearly fell off the stool, but a hand shot out to grab his right arm before he could fall completely. Nonetheless, his feet were on the floor now and he was whirling around to address the last person he wanted to see at the moment. "Link. What are you doing up?"

"Uh, I don't know. Fi woke me up and brought me here, so you tell me," Link invited him, fighting back a yawn.

"She…" Kid trailed off, searching for the sword spirit behind Link but not seeing her. She must have already retreated to the Master Sword. So much for loyalty. "I didn't tell her to do that."

"Well, she did it," Link informed him, his gaze resting momentarily on the Master Sword leaning against the stool before returning to him. "And I'm guessing it's because of you, so … what's wrong?"

"Nothing, go back to bed," Kid ordered. He wasn't ready for this right now. His mind was still a mess, roiling with memories he couldn't forget and possible futures he didn't want to come to pass.

Link frowned. "Fi wouldn't have woken me up for nothing."

"She does weird things," Kid pointed out. "I wouldn't put it past her."

Link just stared at him. Even in the darkness, Kid could make out the that's-a-load-of-crap-and-you-know-it expression on his counterpart's face.

Kid did know it. He knew it with all his heart, but he said nothing and stared back at Link, willing him to go away of his own accord because Kid didn't want to push him away. Truthfully, he'd always wondered what it would've been like to have an older sibling. Sometimes he'd longed for it, just so he didn't have to pretend like he was alright all the time, and now that he had it, he didn't want to let it go. Yet, if he didn't, the goddesses would take it away from him. Which was worse?

"Really. What's wrong?" The concern in Link's voice nearly made Kid sick, and he had to wrench his gaze away from the elder boy to keep the sick feeling from leaping to his throat. "Is it your arm?"

It'd be so easy to lie. And even then it wouldn't be a complete lie. His arm did hurt, but he'd grown used to the way it throbbed with every beat of his heart by now, and anyway, Link couldn't do anything about that. No one could. It had to heal on its own. Plus, lying wouldn't solve anything. Link would continue to care about him, and he couldn't. So Kid gave a barely perceptible shake of his head in response.

"A nightmare?" Link guessed. "You can tell me if it was. I understand. I get them too. Of past adventures, right?"

Kid's eyes widened a little at that. No one understood that, not even Tetra. But then, maybe that's because he'd never told her about it. Or anyone else for that matter. He let everyone else think that he fell asleep in the middle of the day because he was lazy rather than tired because nightmares kept him up at night. He let them think that they couldn't trust him to sleep on the top bunk and not fall because he was clumsy, not because when nightmares gripped his mind they tossed his body around like driftwood in a rough sea.

But Link understood it. He actually understood it because he went through it too! Joy filled him, swelling in his chest and lifting him up like a wave in the ocean. Just before a smile could form, the wave crashed down, taking with it all of his joy and leaving him with nothing. Because nothing was all he could have. No matter what Link did or didn't understand, the fact remained that allowing the older teen to care about him would only lead to his demise. And the Hero of Winds wasn't about to let anyone else die for him.

"Kid? Was it?" Link prompted gently.

Kid had to steady himself by placing a hand on the stool beside him. "No. It wasn't that."

"Then what? Come on, I'm out of guesses. I'm only so smart at two in the morning." It was a joke meant to lighten the mood, but it only made it worse.

Curling his hands into fists, Kid channeled all his anger at the goddesses into his next words, letting them soak in bitterness so they came out soft and low and dangerous and just real enough to be convincing, "I don't want you protecting me anymore."

"What?" Puzzlement and disbelief warred for dominance in his counterpart's tone, and probably on his face too, but Kid wouldn't know. He wasn't looking.

"Stop protecting me," he restated, his voice hard.

"But … you said-"

"That was earlier," Kid snapped, raising his head to meet Link's eye.

"So what changed between now and then?" Link wondered.

"My mind." Kid knew it was cheeky, and it was hardly what Link deserved for choosing to try to help him when returning to bed was a much easier and less stressful task to undertake at this hour. But he needed to be firm with him. Otherwise, there was no way he'd understand. Sure, he'd listen, but he wouldn't understand.

"What changed your mind?" Link asked, seemingly unfazed by Kid's rudeness.

Kid drew in a breath but didn't speak with it. He didn't know how to answer that. Saying it was a dream would only cause his counterpart to dismiss it as nonsense before he had a chance to explain himself. But coming outright and saying it wouldn't work either. Link wasn't even close to figuring it out, so blurting it out now would sound more like a wild notion cooked up by his tired brain than anything.

He decided to go with the only option he saw left. Begging. "Just… you can't protect me anymore, okay? You can't."

"Why can't I?"

"Because," Kid said, dropping his eyes to floor and wishing he had some better way of saying what he had to without sounding like a paranoid little kid, "they'll take you away."

Link's voice was concerned now. "Who?"

"The goddesses," he whispered, as if afraid the golden deities themselves would hear him.

"What makes you say that?"

"They did it before," Kid said. Then, upon noticing Link's lack of comprehension, he added, "My parents. Your parents. The Hero of Time's parents. Even the first hero's. They took them away because they would've stopped us from doing what we had to."

Link was shaking his head even before he'd finished speaking. "Kid, no. That's not true."

"It is!" he insisted, raising his voice and ignoring Link's gesture to lower it. He didn't care if he woke up the whole darn ship. Link needed to listen to him, and if yelling was what it took, so be it. "Why else would both of us be orphans? Why would the hero before us? Or the hero before him?"

"You don't know that the first hero was an orphan," Link refuted.

"Yes, I do! Fi said so." Kid could see the change in Link's eyes as soon as he let this information loose. It was the look of realization, and Kid hoped with all his might that his counterpart had come to the same one as he.

But that wasn't so.

"Just because that's true, doesn't mean what you're proposing is," Link claimed. "Life's complicated. Things hap-"

"Not like that," Kid argued fiercely. Obviously Link wasn't going to convince himself. Kid had to do it for him. "There are no coincidences, and even if there were … four times? You want to tell me that four times is a coincidence? It's not, Link! It's a pattern."

"Okay. Calm down," Link said, his tone rational and nowhere close to panic like it should be as he went to put a hand on Kid's shoulder. Kid took a step back and to the side, decidedly away from his counterpart. Calming down wasn't an option. There was nothing calm about this, except maybe the manner in which the goddesses picked off the hero's loved ones.

Link couldn't see that yet, though. If he did, he would be leaving. He would be agreeing with Kid's verdict and leaving. But he wasn't.

He was talking, and Kid found himself listening against his better judgment. "Pattern or not, it doesn't matter because I'm not going anywhere. The goddesses aren't going to strike me down just because I care about you." Link offered him a small, somewhat-tired smile. "Besides I'm a hero too, you know? I really doubt they'd get rid of me for something like that."

"But if they-"

"They won't," Link assured him. "I'm not stopping you from doing anything. I'm just helping you. What's the harm in that?"

Kid set his jaw. "People who help me get hurt." He hadn't wanted to admit it, but it was true. Tetra had helped him rescue his sister and save the world, and she'd been hurt. King had helped him in his travels, and he'd died in the end. Linebeck had helped him rescue Tetra only to be possessed by Bellum and nearly killed because of Kid's own incompetence. He was supposed to be a hero, yet he couldn't protect those closest to him, so what good was he, really?

"Nothing's going to happen to me," Link said. "I pro-"

"You can't promise that," Kid refuted, his voice strong yet quiet.

"I…" Link sighed heavily, but it was unclear if it was out of exhaustion or resignation. Kid hoped it was the latter. "I guess I can't. But," Kid braced himself for more arguing, "tell me. How many times have you gotten hurt for other people?"

Kid blinked dumbly. "I… That doesn't matter."

"Why not?" Link demanded sternly but not unkindly.

"Because…" Kid trailed off uncertain where his counterpart was going with this. "Because I'm … it's part of what I do. The whole point of it is so others don't get hurt."

"But they do. And that's not always your fault, Kid. Some things just happen and you can't control them no matter how hard you try," Link pointed out. "I would know. I'm in your position too."

He opened his mouth to argue, but his brain didn't give him any words with which to battle with. Because Link was right. He was in the same position.

"Look, I've got your back, and you've got mine, right?" Link asked him.

Kid nodded cautiously.

"So there's nothing to worry about," Link concluded confidently. "I'll be fine, and so will you."

"How do you know that, though?" he wondered.

"Well…I don't," Link admitted. "But I do know that if we're both looking out for each other there's less chance of either of us getting hurt."

"Now you sound like Fi," Kid said wryly.

"No, she'd sound more like this…" Link cleared his throat and then proceeded to speak in a monotone, "Master there is a 95 percent chance that protecting each other will result in less bodily harm."

Kid cracked a smile. "That was pretty good."

"You think so?"

"Mmm hmm." Kid nodded. "But her voice is higher."

"Now you're asking for too much," Link said, feigning annoyance.

"No, I'm not."

"You do it, then," Link challenged him, and Kid immediately shook his head.

"Too tired," he claimed. Though that wasn't entirely true, it did hold some truth. He was tired.

Picking up the sheathed Master Sword, Kid made to return to bed, but Link blocked his path.

"Are you really okay?"

Kid smiled, pleased to find it was genuine. "Yes, Link. I'm really okay." And he was.


Tetra's elbow jabbed painfully into his ribs, and Kid jerked upright. Pay attention. Or at least, that's what Kid interpreted it as. It could've also meant stay awake. But if she wanted that, she should've let him in sleep in more.

Since she was positioned on his left side, Kid's only way of expressing this was kicking her. Unfortunately for him, his best friend had been expecting it and moved her leg so that his foot struck the bar of the stool she was sitting on instead.

He grit his teeth against the flash of pain that resulted, and Tetra smirked at his failed retaliation.

No one else seemed to notice their little scuffle, but that was probably because Jolene and her first mate were too busy gloating about the chart on the table and Gonzo was too busy trying to keep up with what they were saying to bother with watching the two of them.

In all honesty, Kid couldn't keep up, which was why it was getting increasingly difficult to remain conscious. The chart itself was interesting in what it stood for, but Jolene wasn't explaining it like she was supposed to be. Instead of warning them of dangers and explaining what the seemingly random symbols and markings meant, she was chattering pridefully through the whole process of creating the chart.

From what Kid could gather, her crew was comprised of experts in different fields, most notably astrology and cartography, but also monster hunting, sailing, and storm predicting. It was because of them that the chart was even possible, which meant that no one else could have possibly figured it out for themselves no matter how hard they tried.

What Kid didn't understand was why the she-pirate had to rub this in their faces. He only figured it out when Tetra lost her patience a few minutes later.

"Ugh! Enough already!" the young pirate captain exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the table and setting the chart aflutter –thus giving Jolene a mini heart attack as it was safe to say she considered the chart her child. "This meeting's so we know what to expect, not to listen to you gloat about how wonderful you are!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you not want to get out of the Great Sea? Because we can easily leave without you," Jolene returned off-handedly.

"Then why haven't you?" Tetra shot back.

"I was trying to uphold our deal, but if you want to break it then-"

"No!"

Jolene smirked victoriously, and Tetra's glare intensified.

"At least tell us where this is at the border," Tetra demanded finally, gesturing to the chart splayed out on the table for their viewing.

For a minute, Kid thought Jolene wouldn't answer, but she did. "Seven-Star Isles."

"You can't get out any other place because the storms are too strong," Jolene's first mate added. If Kid had to guess, this was the storm expert. Then again, he could just be relaying information from the crew member that was a storm expert…

"So there are storms at the border of Seven-Star Isles too?" Tetra wondered.

"Yes, but they're not strong enough to rip a ship apart. At least, they didn't rip our ship apart," Jolene replied knowingly.

Tetra rapped her fingertips on the edge of the table impatiently. "What else?"

"What makes you think there's anything else to it?" Jolene returned.

Tetra nodded to the chart. "The red line. What's that?" Kid had been wondering that himself. It weaved and looped among what appeared to be a sea of rocks but could have been mini islands as well. It was difficult to tell what the scale was.

"Our path. Follow in our wake and you'll be fine. Don't and either a sea monster or a storm will tear you apart."

"The sea monsters and storms stay away from that area, yeah?" Gonzo inquired.

"For the most part," Jolene confirmed.

"In that case," Tetra said, turning to Kid. "I want you riding with Linebeck." Without a trace of hesitation, he nodded in agreement. He'd been about to suggest the same thing. It was much easier to fight sea monsters with a cannon.

"Ugh." Jolene wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something foul. "Why is that sorry excuse of a man even coming? He's useless."

"His ship has a cannon," Tetra declared.

"And mine has torpedoes," Jolene retorted. "Your point?"

Tetra gritted her teeth. "My point, is that if we get in a bind, Linebeck's ship is the easiest to battle with. Yours can only shoot from the bow, and mine can only launch projectiles after careful preparation. Linebeck's can shoot from any angle at any time, which is exactly why he'll be following in your wake, and we'll be following in his."

"No way!" Jolene cried, slicing her arm through the air and nearly hitting her scrawny first mate. "Those weren't the terms. If he comes, you keep him far away from me. I don't want to see his ugly face, is that clear?!"

"Do you not get that we'll be in trouble if a sea monster comes along?" Tetra shouted back.

"I don't care about you and your crew or that piece of trash docked on the other side of the island," Jolene spat. "My only concern is myself and my crew, and we can handle ourselves." The she-pirate shook her head to regain her composure, setting her ponytail swaying. Her eyes locked with Tetra's, narrow and deadly, torpedoes in their own right. "Now, either keep him away from me, in the back of the formation, or surrender all hope of ever getting out of the Great Sea alive."

Kid's attention shot to Tetra. The young pirate captain had her dagger half drawn, and Kid could see her thinking. He could see her calculating how quickly she could leap out of her seat and shoot across the table to strike Jolene. He could see her weighing the odds of him or Gonzo being smart, or foolish, enough to swipe the chart. How fast it would take the rest of Jolene's men to arrive and apprehend them. If the three of them would be fast enough to escape the innards of Jolene's ship without being stopped, scatter to their own ships and take off. Then Jolene's inevitable pursuit. A torpedo, two, three. However many it took to take down Tetra's ship and sink them so that Jolene could swing in and reclaim her pride and joy. But that wouldn't happen. Tetra was betting on him using the cannon on Linebeck's ship to take Jolene down before then. Except he wouldn't.

And she knew that.

With an aggravated huff, Tetra shoved her dagger back into its plain sheath with a sharp click and hopped out of her seat. "We leave in five," Tetra declared, her voice hard. "C'mon, you two."

With a parting glare, Gonzo got to his feet as well and fell into step beside his captain.

Kid's gaze lingered on Jolene for an extra beat, taking in her made-up features that were curled into a self-satisfied smirk, before he too slid out of his seat and caught up with Tetra.

His best friend all but stomped with every step she took, and suddenly Kid was very glad that he'd be riding with Linebeck. Tetra in a bad mood was a force to be reckoned with at any time of the day, but mornings, Kid had found, were especially brutal as nothing had yet been done, so everything was game as a torture implement. At least on Linebeck's ship, he'd have a better chance of reclaiming some of the sleep that had been scared away by Tetra's promise to get a bucket of sea water and dump it on him if he didn't get up. And he only knew it had been a promise because he'd misinterpreted it as an empty threat twice before in the past.

The warmth of the rising sun on his skin as he emerged outside chased the memory away, and in no time at all Kid found himself on the beach, parting ways with his companions.

"Remember, we leave in five," Tetra reminded him as he turned to head towards the docks. "And don't forget to change the wind direction so it's in our favor."

"I won't," Kid promised, his hand going to the Wind Waker that was tucked in his belt to ensure it was still there. It was.

"You better not," Tetra glowered before turning and striding away towards her own ship, Gonzo at her heels.

Kid hurried to the other side of the island, noting the ships docked there and easily finding Linebeck's sail-less vessel. Unfortunately boarding it wasn't going to be such a simple task since the gangplank wasn't down.

Drawing in a deep breath, Kid called for Linebeck. It took a good minute of yelling before the sea captain came into view, a mug in his hand and irritated look on his face, though that wasn't too unusual.

"What do you want from me?" Linebeck snapped.

"To get on your ship," Kid stated, unfazed by the man's tone. He was more than used to it by now.

"Why? Did your pirate friends kick you out?"

"No, I-"

"Oh! I get it!" Linebeck exclaimed excitedly. "We're blowing them off to go treasure hunting. I knew you'd come through! Climb aboard and let's set sail!"

"Actually-" Kid's words died in his throat as the man rushed away to lower the gangplank.

Only when he returned and ushered Kid onto the ship, did the Hero of Winds get a chance to make his announcement. "We're all leaving in five minutes to follow Jolene's chart, and Tetra wants me to ride with you because I can work your ship's cannon if we need it."

"Bah! I knew it was too good to be true," Linebeck remarked.

"But…we might find treasure," Kid amended.

"Yeah, yeah. Way to make me feel better," Linebeck mumbled, taking a defeated swig of his drink before turning and striding back inside the bridge. Kid rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet before deciding to follow.

Immediately upon entering the ship, Kid's nose was filled with the unmistakable aroma of coffee. It reminded him of mornings in the Realm of the Ocean King, when he'd had fairies flying with varying degrees of energy around his head and Linebeck grumbling his usual "morning." The sea captain always omitted the word "good" from the phrase "good morning" because odds were that he'd jinx it if he didn't. Now that Kid thought about it, it hadn't done them much good.

"Five minutes, you said?"

Kid shook the memories out of his head and turned his attention to the man who was fussing over the control panel, preparing the ship for their departure. "Yes, but it's probably less than that now."

"Gods above! I haven't even finished eating breakfast yet," Linebeck grumbled to himself, his movements becoming even swifter. "Women are crazy."

Kid's hand unconsciously went to his stomach. He felt the same way. At least about the breakfast part.

Linebeck must have seen the gesture, for he glanced over at him and asked, "What? They don't feed you over there?"

"Well, no. I mean… yes! But…not today," Kid stammered. Tetra had been so insistent that they leave right away for the meeting that breakfast hadn't been mentioned once, and Kid's tired mind hadn't even thought to bring it up.

Linebeck harrumphed, not taking his eyes off of his work. "Figures."

Kid watched his old acquaintance for a few more seconds before remembering that he had a job to do too, empty stomach or no, and walked back outside.

Slipping the white baton out of his belt, Kid closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling of the sea breeze brushing its wispy fingers encouragingly through his hair.

Slowly, Kid raised his arms, wincing at the pain that resulted in his left one. Tuning it out as best as he could, Kid began to conduct the Wind's Requiem, letting the wind swirl and eddy around him like water, following and attuning itself to his every movement. The motions were like second nature to him by now, guided by the wind's hand as much as it was his own, and by the time he had completed the song, the wind was singing in his ears, begging for guidance. He gave it, swiftly and politely, the pain in his arm forgotten, and the wind obeyed, buffeting him gently as it passed him by and set his green hat flapping behind him.

Kid lowered the baton and slipped it back in his belt. That took care of that.

Stealing a glance towards the other side of the island, Kid could plainly see that both Tetra's and Jolene's ships were a mass of activity, lowering sails and raising anchors. They were nearly ready to move out, which meant he and Linebeck had to be ready too.

Reentering the bridge, Kid's eyes shot to Linebeck. "Ready?"

"No," Linebeck said curtly, puzzling Kid. Setting sail never took more than a minute before. What was the problem now? Unless…

"Is something wrong with your ship?" Kid wondered, concerned just as much as he was curious.

"Not anymore. I fixed the problem with the engine yesterday, but I had to use a spare part to do it, and it's not as good as the one that got destroyed by one of Jolene's torpedoes. Getting a brand new part would be ideal but…" Linebeck didn't finish the thought, and he didn't have to. Kid understood. The Realm of the Ocean King had a shipping yard. The Great Sea did not. At least, not officially. Getting any kind of replacement parts for a ship as technologically advanced as Linebeck's would be difficult if not impossible.

"Can we sail, though?" Kid asked. Tetra would not be happy if they couldn't.

"Sure in about ten minutes," Linebeck replied. "Any earlier and we'll probably stall again."

Kid bit his lip, debating whether he had enough time to run over to Tetra's ship to update her on this new development or not, but there turned out to be no need. A vibration in his adventure pouch startled him, and he swiftly extricated the glowing blue stone from inside, letting it float above his open palm.

"What's the hold up?" Tetra's voice demanded. Even though he couldn't see her, Kid could imagine her in her usual bossy pose, hands on hips and a scowl on her face.

"Linebeck's ship is still kind of damaged from before. We can sail, but we have to wait a few more minutes," he informed her.

The pirate girl made an exasperated noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a scream. "Just getting to the border is going to take the better part of the day, much less crossing it. We have to leave now."

Kid didn't know what to tell her. Thankfully, Linebeck did. "Then go now, princess."

"Don't call me that!" Tetra protested indignantly.

Linebeck ignored her. "We'll catch up with you. My ship's faster anyway."

"Tch. Whatever." The stone dropped into Kid's palm, abruptly cutting off the conversation.

"Can we really catch up?" Kid wondered, skeptical. He knew Linebeck's ship was fast, but so was Tetra's, especially when a favorable wind was blowing.

"Kid, we can catch up and lap them if we wanted to," Linebeck assured him. Then, as an afterthought, he said, "Do we want to?"

Kid smiled at the prospect of it, picturing Tetra's shocked face as they sailed circles around her, but then Jolene's furious face alighted in his mind's eye, and his smile fell. "Probably not a good idea. Jolene would put another torpedo in your ship."

"Blast that woman!" Linebeck swore. "She's all trouble, I'm telling you."

'And yet, we're following her,' Kid thought. Hopefully that wouldn't prove to be a mistake.


By the time they pulled out of Windfall Island's port, they were fully prepared for the journey ahead. At least, Kid liked to think they were, but maybe that was just his recently filled stomach talking. Either way, they were in their old stations, Kid on lookout duty and Linebeck on steering. Normally, Kid would handle the navigation as well but there was little need for that seeing as they were just going to be following Tetra once they caught up with her. And they caught up with her fairly quickly, just as the sea captain had promised they would.

She didn't so much as acknowledge them, but Kid didn't mind. It was relaxing getting to just stand on the deck of Linebeck's ship with the ocean breeze ruffling his hair and clothes and absolutely no responsibilities. Well, aside from keeping lookout. But other than seagulls milling around the ships, there was nothing to see.

That changed as they drew closer to the border, though, and Kid was forced to be more diligent in his duty as lookout as more and more fins poked out of the water, slicing through it and easily matching their speed. Thanks to the cannon on Linebeck's ship, disposing of the Gyorgs was fairly simple, but from then on Kid was on his toes, hands gripping the cannon's controls in anticipation of another monster attack.

Fortunately, there weren't any more monster sightings until they reached Seven-Star Isles, and even then two Kargarocs weren't much of a threat, especially since they sailed straight past the archipelago.

The border loomed close now, and Kid couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. The prospect of getting out the Great Sea was exciting, sure, but it was also frightening since it had never, to anyone's knowledge, successfully been done. He supposed that Jolene must have done it at one point since she had the chart but what was stopping her from leading them astray now? She had said earlier that she didn't care about what happened to them. Then again, he couldn't really blame her considering how much trouble they'd all caused her, recently and in the past.

"Stay close!" Tetra called, startling Kid out of his worrying. He looked up at the pirate ship, easily finding the shouting girl. "Single file line from here on out."

That could only mean they were drawing even closer to the end of the world as they knew it. Kid cast his gaze to the water below. Would he be able to tell when they crossed, like the edge of one page and the beginning of another? Or would it be seamless with not so much as a ripple to identify the ocean as unexplored?

It turned out to be a little bit of both. The water grew noticeably darker all at once, as if someone had blown out the sun like it was a candle in a dark room. Directing his gaze upward, Kid was rewarded with a drop of water plunking itself onto his nose.

Then came the downpour.

Kid bolted inside the bridge as fast as he could, miraculously not falling on the slick deck.

"Afraid of a little rain, are you?" Linebeck teased him as he entered, dripping wet.

Kid didn't say anything. He didn't have to because a blinding flash of lightning lit up the entire room just then, followed by a sky shattering boom of thunder that shook him to his core.

Without warning, a huge wave slammed into the ship, causing it to list dangerously to port and Linebeck to curse as he wrestled with the wheel. Kid, for his part, was so caught off guard that he fell, shooting out his left hand to catch himself and having it fold underneath him painfully.

By the time he stopped reeling from the fire in his arm, Linebeck had managed to regain control of his ship and was squinting out the window, trying to see through the rivulets of rain and sea spray running down the glass.

"This is the storm that isn't supposed to kill us, right?" Linebeck asked, raising his voice over the cacophony of rain pummeling the deck and thunder shaking the sky.

"Apparently," Kid replied, picking himself up from the floor and leaning against the wall in the hopes that that would provide some stability. It didn't.

Out of all the sea storms Kid had ever been in, this had to be the worst, and he'd been in some pretty fierce ones. The only blessing was that he didn't have to be outside this time.

"Can you see?" Kid wondered, walking cautiously over to where Linebeck was and craning his neck as if that would help him see out the viewing window better.

"Can you see?" Linebeck shot back irritably.

Kid didn't bother replying. He couldn't see. Which meant Linebeck couldn't see. Which meant they were in trouble.

They hadn't hit the pirate ship yet, but if they did then at least it would be comforting to know they were there. At the moment, it was impossible to tell if they were still behind the pirate ship or not and if not, then how could they possibly find their way again?

Kid took out the pirate's charm from his belongings and stared at it, willing it to contact Tetra. Of course nothing happened. She'd never showed him how to activate it. In his hands, it was just a cold, unremarkable stone.

"How long is this storm supposed to last?" Linebeck inquired after at least ten more minutes of rough sailing in which they'd both nearly been thrown to the ground multiple times. It was a wonder they hadn't capsized yet with all the waves battering them from every possible angle.

"No idea." But he wished he did. At least then they'd be able to tell if they'd strayed from their original course.

"You're not much help, are you?" Linebeck grumbled. It was a wonder that Kid could even hear him over the storm raging outside.

Kid shrugged, wincing at the pain in his arm. "Jolene didn't tell us much."

"Then you better start coming up with a plan to get us out of this," Linebeck advised him. "Because at this rate we're sunk. And I don't have another wish to restore this beauty, or us, if that happens."

Kid's grip on the stone tightened. That was his plan. Contact Tetra and have her guide them out of the storm. Or, at the very least, confirm that they were still on course. But that wasn't going to happen as long as the stone remained lifeless. Which it did.

"Come on, treasure dog! Think!" Linebeck urged him.

He could only shake his head. "I'm sorry. I don't know what we can do."

"You can't do anything with that little wand of yours?"

Kid didn't bother correcting him. "No, it only controls the wind. I can summon cyclones but…that's within the Great Sea. I'm not even sure if it'd work here, and even if it did, it would probably damage your ship."

"I can't believe I'm saying this but…damaged is better than sunk! Do it!" Linebeck ordered him.

Without a word, Kid tugged the Wind Waker free of his belt and began to conduct. Only for nothing to happen. The wind couldn't reach him here. He had to do it outside.

"What's wrong?" Linebeck asked, catching his expression of uneasiness.

Kid shook his head helplessly. "It isn't working."

Linebeck swore.

"Maybe if I go outside I-"

"No, don't go outside," Linebeck protested. Lightning split the sky and thunder boomed its bass line, as if in support of the sea captain's words. "You must have some other tool we can use. Got anything that calls off storms?"

Kid shook his head, then realized that Linebeck couldn't see it since he was concentrating on keeping them alive and said, "No."

He didn't have anything. Weapons were useless against a force of nature such as this. Even the Master Sword wasn't powerful enough to repel it…

Wait. The Master Sword.

"Fi!" Kid called.

Ever the dutiful servant, Fi materialized before him, successfully scaring Linebeck to death.

"What the?!"

"I'll explain later," Kid said hurriedly before turning to Fi. "Dowse for Tetra."

Fi stared into space for a beat before announcing, "Master, I have set Tetra as the dowsing target. Be aware that Zelda and Tetra share the same aura so-"

"Yeah, okay," Kid replied, his eyes hardly on the sword spirit anymore. He knew it was rude to cut her off like that, but he didn't have time for her lectures at the moment. He'd apologize to her later.

"Master?" Linebeck echoed.

"I don't ask her to call me that," Kid informed him, eyes on the blade of the Master Sword which he was pointing straight ahead, towards Tetra. Or, rather, where she should have been.

The lack of a steady shine and pulse from the sword in his hand told him that she wasn't there which meant they had definitely drifted off course.

"Watch it!" Linebeck barked at Kid as he swung the blade a little closer to the sea captain and the ship swayed unsteadily.

"Sorry," he apologized, taking a few careful steps back and moving the sword to the right since the left wasn't producing any results.

The faint lavender glow encasing the blade of the Master Sword intensified, and the sword began to pulse in his grip. Almost.

Kid continued to swing the blade farther to the right, producing an even stronger signal until he lost it again and had to reposition the sword. It took some time to find the spot where the strongest reaction was coming from because he had to fight for balance while trying to keep his arm as steady as possible, but he managed it.

"Tetra's that way," he announced, keeping the Master Sword extended in front of him.

Linebeck stole a quick glance back at him before returning his attention to the angry sea. "Directly that way or is there some distance between us?"

"Uh…" Kid studied the sword in his hand, feeling its imaginary heartbeat. It wasn't fast but it wasn't slow either. "There's some distance."

"Good then we have room to turn and not hit anything, right?"

"Right," Kid agreed, lowering the sword. As far as he could tell, there wasn't anything to hit. That had to be good enough.

"Alright then," Linebeck said, tightening his grip on the wheel. "Hold onto something."

Kid sheathed the Master Sword and latched onto Linebeck's arm.

"Not me!" Linebeck cried, shaking him off.

"There's nothing else to hold onto!" Kid protested.

The sea captain cast his gaze around the room, searching for a something to prove otherwise but ultimately discovering that the young hero was right.

"Fine, then help me turn," Linebeck relented with a huff, taking his right hand off the wheel and taking a step back so Kid could slip in between him and the wheel.

Kid had barely placed his hands on two separate spokes before Linebeck wrenched the wheel to starboard, and the ship listed to such a degree that Kid was sure it was about to flip over. By some miracle, it didn't, and as soon as the floor was level enough that Kid felt comfortable moving around without a solid object to support him, he let go of the wheel and ducked under Linebeck's arm.

Swiftly drawing the Master Sword, Kid dowsed for Tetra once more, satisfied to see that the ship's bow was pointing in the correct direction. It was still off by a few inches, though, so Kid ordered Linebeck to turn a little more. The sea captain complied with the usual amount of grumbling as yet another flash of lightning lit up the bridge and the waves continued to push back against Linebeck's adjustments.

Kid continued to use Fi's dowsing ability and Linebeck continued to fight for control over his own ship as the storm attempted to throw them off course again. It never succeeded for very long, and the two of them managed to stay close enough to Tetra's ship without ramming into it. The only concern now was that Tetra had been blown off course as well, in which case all hope was lost.

Just as Kid was seriously considering it a possibility and contemplating what they could do about it, the waves that had been bashing their frothy heads against the ship quickly calmed and the mist-like fog that the torrential downpour had kicked up dissipated, allowing them to clearly see the pirate ship in front of them.

Sheathing the Master Sword, Kid stepped outside onto the deck. A light drizzle and overcast skies were all that remained of the vicious storm, but even they were fading. Light shuffled down in broad curtains from the heavens, highlighting the blueness of the ocean that stretched out all around them.

"Oi!" A shout drew his attention away from the seemingly endless ocean and to the pirate ship, where he found Tetra standing with her usual air of authority at the stern. "Are you two in one piece?"

"Yes!" Kid returned, briefly wondering if he should mention that they'd gotten separated for a while before thinking better of it. What was the point of bringing it up at all? They'd gotten out alright despite their little predicament. If it needed to be mentioned at all, he'd mention it on the return journey. "Is everyone else okay?"

"Link's a little seasick at the moment, but other than that, yes," Tetra replied, swiping a strand of wet hair out of her eyes. "Make sure you stay in our wake. According to Jolene, we're not in the clear yet."

"Is there supposed to be another storm?" Kid wondered, hoping he was wrong.

"No idea, so stay on your toes." Tetra ordered him. "We're past the border now."

'Past the border,' Kid thought, excitement pushing down his anxieties of the unknown because they had actually made it past the border! Tetra didn't seem to share his ecstasy. She probably didn't think it was worth celebrating since they hadn't found anything yet, but just getting out of the Great Sea was an accomplishment worth partying a little over in his opinion.

Nonetheless, he promised Tetra that he'd keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and that seemed to be good enough for her, for she disappeared then, probably to yell at someone else, and he returned to gazing out at the ocean, this time in awe.

The Great Sea was vast, but this…this was vaster than vast. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if this ocean bore fish. Invigorated by this thought, Kid hurried to the bow, leaning over to get a closer look at the water.

Unfortunately, the sea spray and the ripples that trailed behind the pirate ship distorted his line of sight, making it impossible to tell if any creatures swam below the surface.

Repositioning himself at the portside railing, Kid peered into the water once more, searching for any sign of life. To his disappointment, there wasn't any, but that didn't stop him from changing sides every few minutes in the hopes that he'd discover a fish. Not a fishman or a mutated monster fish, but a true, honest to the goddesses, fish.

It kept him busy for a while, but eventually he submitted to the fact that there were no fish to be seen, at least from the surface, and took up his usual sentry position at the bow, soaking up the warm sunlight that had replaced the rain.

This, however, turned out to be just as fruitless as his search for fish because, aside from the seas being a little rougher than usual, nothing perilous presented itself.

By the time they reached the archipelago of rock spires that Jolene had a red line weaving through on her precious map an hour or so later, Kid's exhaustion had returned.

'Just a quick nap,' he promised himself, laying down on the sun-dried deck and folding his right arm behind his head as a makeshift pillow. No sooner had he closed his eyes than did the blare of a horn scream in his ears and startle him into snapping upright, frantically looking left and right for the danger. Linebeck wouldn't have sounded the horn for no reason.

Yet, after a minute or so it became apparent that there was no danger. Just their three ships and rock spires floating in an endless expanse of blue.

Sure that it had just been an accident, Kid laid back down. As soon as he did so, the horn sounded again and he shot upright. That one was a little too convenient to be an accident.

He threw a glance over his shoulder towards the bridge, hoping Linebeck would offer an explanation. When he didn't, Kid turned back around and decided to test it. The last one could have just been a coincidence, after all.

Kid made to lay down on deck for the third time, but he was interrupted by the steam ship's horn before he'd completed the action. Definitely not an accident.

Getting to his feet, Kid marched to the bridge and opened the door. Lingering by the doorway, he requested, "Can you please stop doing that?"

"Sure," Linebeck said casually, his eyes on the ocean. "As soon as you stop sleeping on the job."

"I'm tired," Kid announced, hoping it would earn him some sympathy.

"If you wanted to sleep, you should've stayed with your pirate friends."

'They wouldn't have let me sleep either,' he wanted to say, but didn't because he knew it wouldn't make a difference. Instead, he said, "There's nothing out there anyway."

"For now there isn't, but there can be in ten seconds," Linebeck pointed out. "Actually there could be something out there right now, and we don't know it yet because you're here and not out there."

Kid leaned back against the doorway and stole a glance at the ocean. It was just as blue and boring as the last time he'd looked. "I can see fine from here. There's nothing."

"Keep being smart and I'm going to send you back to those pirates."

"How?"

"With the cannon."

Kid laughed. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, you don't think I would?" the man asked him, causing Kid to shake his head. "You're small enough. It wouldn't be hard for me to stuff you in there, aim, and press a button."

"You'd kill me."

"Nah. If all those monsters and demons and whatever else you've fought haven't killed you by now, I don't have a chance."

Kid was silent for a while and Linebeck must have forgotten he was there because five minutes later, he started. "What are you still doing here?"

Kid gave a half shrug.

"Go out there and do your job."

"How did you survive before without me doing this?"

"I was a very lucky guy," Linebeck declared. Kid didn't think that explained anything.

"Actually," Kid said, letting the door close and wandering closer to the sea captain, "how'd you even get in the Realm of the Ocean King in the first place?"

"What do you think? The Ghost Ship," Linebeck huffed.

"Yeah but… were you looking for it like Tetra was or did it find you?" Kid asked. "And what about before? You are from the Great Sea, right? So were you-"

"Oh no. No no no." Linebeck said, shooing Kid towards the door. "You are not getting a story out of me. Go do your job or I really will launch you out of a cannon."

"But-!"

"No."

"Linebeck, why don't you want to tell me?"

"It's a long story."

"We have time."

"You don't know that."

"We probably have time," he amended.

"See this…this is why I don't like children. All the questions. All the whys and hows," Linebeck grumbled.

Kid frowned. "I'm just curious."

"And that's the problem!" Linebeck exclaimed. "Curiosity killed the cucco as they say."

"Cat," Kid corrected, smiling a little.

"Argh! Smart mouth! That's another reason."

"If you tell me, then I won't fall asleep," Kid promised, his weariness already fading with the prospect of something to do other than stand on deck and search for dangers that didn't exist.

"Hmmph, some deal…" Linebeck mumbled.

Believing that to be the end of it, Kid made to leave, but the sea captain spoke up just as he reached the door. "Fine, then. I'll talk, but you have to stay there in case something does come."

Pleased, Kid nodded, settling down into a sitting position by the door so he'd be more comfortable.

"Okay, so…" Linebeck began, "this might come as a shock to you, but I wasn't always a famous sea captain. Once I was just a humble sailor, sailing the seas for treasure and the like when I could, which… wasn't very often now that I think about it. Life was rough back then. But anyway…I used to spend a lot of my time ferrying supplies from Greatfish over to Windfall with some others."

"Wait, Greatfish Isle?" Kid interrupted, eyes wide in disbelief.

"If you're not going to listen then-"

"No, I am listening!" Kid insisted. "It's just… Greatfish…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what happened to Greatfish, kid," Linebeck assured him, his tone nonchalant as if he wasn't fully aware of the terrible fate that befell the island. "But this was before that happened."

'Before you messed up,' was what Kid heard, but he stayed silent and allowed Linebeck to continue.

"As I was saying, I would use this ship to ferry supplies from Greatfish over to Windfall with some others. It wasn't a steamship back then, just a regular sailing ship, but she got the job done. Anyway, when the island did get destroyed, I was on a delivery along with a few others so…silver linings, you know?

"After that, I took my ship and went treasure hunting. Eventually, I stumbled upon the Ghost Ship. That creepy fog rolled in and when it cleared, I had no idea where I was. My bearings were all skewed, and it was awful. But shortly after that, I saw another ship. Only when I drew closer did I realize it was being attacked by a monster."

"Was it Jolene's ship?" Kid guessed, recalling similar aspects being in a story Linebeck told him and Ciela before.

"Yes, so you know the rest of the story. In my hurry to get away, I accidentally rammed my ship into the monster and saved the day. We traveled around together for a while, then I stole the chart from her, and she's hated my guts ever since," Linebeck concluded matter-of-factly.

"But why?" Kid wondered.

"What do you mean why?" Linebeck demanded. "I think it's pretty obvious why she hates me."

Kid rephrased his question. "No, I meant why did you steal the chart from her in the first place? You two were friends before then, weren't you? Why throw that away over the chart, especially if you weren't even in the Great Sea anymore?" It seemed like a stupid thing to do in his opinion.

"Look, you don't understand," Linebeck told him. "We were traveling together to try to figure out where we were, and once we found out we were in the Realm of the Ocean King, we started searching for a way to return to the Great Sea. We thought that the Ghost Ship would be our ticket out so we tried to get lost in the fog. Of course that didn't work…

"So we continued to sail around and hunt for treasure while we searched for a different answer. Eventually, Jolene and Joanne and the men they had with them gave up on finding a way back because they'd already known they were taking a risk even before they came upon the Ghost Ship."

"So… they were looking for the Ghost Ship?" Kid wondered, confused.

"No, they ran into it accidentally when they were coming back from beyond the border of the Great Sea."

"Oh…"

"The point is that they didn't want to look for a way out anymore and I did," Linebeck continued. "So I left them in the middle of the night and took the chart with me because I thought that if I did find a way back, then at least Jolene's work wouldn't go to waste. I was doing her a favor, really.

"But of course I never did figure out a better way out than the Ghost Ship, and I couldn't even use that because, you know, it was a cursed ship. Monsters and whatnot. I'm not a fighter, so I resigned to my fate and started treasure hunting. I used the profits to enhance my ship little by little and after a year or two she became a steamship," Linebeck finished proudly.

"Wait, a year or two?" Kid repeated, frowning.

"Yeah, it takes time to build a beauty this nice," Linebeck replied.

As Linebeck went on to explain just how he built his boat, Kid fiercely studied the floor, trying to process this new information. Just how long had Linebeck been in the Realm of the Ocean King?

From what Kid understood, that depended on when the sea captain had stumbled into it, and going off of what Linebeck had just told him, it happened sometime after Greatfish Isle got destroyed. Yet it couldn't be directly afterward because he and Tetra had entered the Realm of the Ocean King a couple months after his first adventure ended. Even then, they'd only been gone ten minutes, which translated, roughly, to two weeks of Ocean King time.

So what did two years of Ocean King time translate to?

His head was beginning to hurt, so he gave up on his mental computations and decided to just ask. "Linebeck, how long were you trapped in the Realm of the Ocean King?"

The man took a moment to think and a seed of dread planted itself in Kid's stomach. "Sixteen years, give or take."

Kid couldn't have contained his surprise if he'd tried. "Sixteen years?!"

"Give or take," Linebeck said, as blasé as ever.

For the life of him, Kid couldn't adopt the sea captain's attitude towards it. Sixteen years! That was forever! Well…maybe it wasn't forever, but it was a really long time, especially when one took into account the drastic time difference between the two realms.

The horror must have shown on his face, for Linebeck asked, "What's that look for? I'm fine, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but…" Kid trailed off, too flabbergasted to finish. Linebeck had lost so much time. Except he hadn't. He'd just spent it somewhere else. Which meant... "Tetra and I spent about two weeks in the Realm of the Ocean King," Kid said, dazedly, "so are we really two weeks older than we think we are?"

"Yes, though I can say it doesn't make a difference in your case," Linebeck replied. "You're still short."

The jab at his height didn't faze him. His mind was steel reeling with the knowledge that Linebeck had been stuck in another world for sixteen years and built a life for himself, only to return to his own world to find that little to no time had passed while he'd been gone.

"How are you okay with that?" Kid breathed.

Linebeck shrugged. "I came to terms with it a long time ago and you should too. It's done now, anyway. What's the use in dwelling on it?"

Kid supposed that was true, but couldn't accept it so readily.

"Besides," Linebeck said, catching his expression, "if I'd never gotten stuck there for so long, my ship wouldn't be the best vessel on the seas. It'd still be a boring old sailboat, and it wouldn't feel near as good to brag about. Oh yeah, and we probably wouldn't have met otherwise."

Kid gasped.

"What?" Linebeck wondered, glancing over at him.

"Did you know?" Kid inquired intensely.

"Know what?"

"Who I was?" Kid clarified, leaning forward in his seat on the floor. "Where I was from when you met me?"

"Yes and no," Linebeck admitted. "I had a hunch you were from the Great Sea because of your clothes, but I couldn't be sure because well…I'd heard of you before by way of rumor before I got sucked into the Realm of the Ocean King, and while Jolene and I were still trying to figure out where we were, I brought up that rumor to some people, and no one had any idea what I was talking about…"

"What was the rumor?" Kid wondered, his curiosity pushing away some of the shock from earlier.

"Just that some guy dressed up like the ancient hero was sailing around the sea in a red dragon boat called the King of Red Lions or something," Linebeck explained. "The rumors also said the boat could talk which-"

"Was true," Kid interjected.

"It was?" Linebeck wondered incredulously. "I saw your boat, though. It didn't talk."

"He used to talk," Kid replied wistfully.

"Explain."

"Huh?" He hadn't thought Linebeck was interested in hearing anything that didn't have to do with himself or treasure. The man had certainly never shown any interest in Kid's previous adventures, or life, before so why ask now?

"What?" Linebeck snapped, as if cursing his own curiosity. "You're the only one that can ask to hear people's life stories?"

"Um… no," Kid stammered.

"Then get on with it!" The sea captain ordered, his gaze fixed straight ahead. "I'm not getting any younger here."

And so Kid got on with it. Maybe it was Linebeck's forward demeanor or maybe it was just because he'd explained it once before not too long ago to his counterpart that it hurt less to talk about the deceased king and the boat he'd vacated.

Of course, just talking about the King of Red Lions begged more questions, and for whatever reason, Linebeck was genuinely interested so Kid obliged with the man's new request and summarized his first adventure as well as he could so as not to bore the sea captain with fine details.

When he finished, Linebeck took over, telling him more about his many escapades in the Realm of the Ocean King.

The tales were all entertaining in their own right, and they helped Kid feel just a little bit better about the situation Linebeck was in. Yes, he had been away from the Great Sea for a long time, but in that time he'd discovered a love for engineering, something he wouldn't have found otherwise, and he'd made a name for himself as well. Maybe it hadn't been entirely true, but it had served him well, and he'd been relatively happy despite being stuck in the Realm of the Ocean King.

Kid would have been content to just listen to Linebeck share stories about his life in the Ocean King's world for the rest of the day, but the sea captain eventually got tired of talking and Kid found himself needing to fill in the silence. So he told Linebeck more about Fi and his recent adventures in Hyrule as they continued to sail the day away.

Dusk had long since fallen by the time they dropped anchor, and when Kid emerged on deck into the night air, he was pleased to see an island.

It wasn't very large and its beach was little more than clusters of rock, but it was the first island they'd come across since leaving the Great Sea and that made it interesting.

Kid was so intent on stepping onto the island that he could barely wait until the gangplank was lowered before he disembarked.

"Do you smell treasure here, kid?" Linebeck wondered, misinterpreting the boy's eagerness.

Before he could reply, a shout drew their attention to Tetra, who was just stepping off of her own ship. "There's no treasure here."

"How do you know?" Linebeck shot back testily.

"Jolene said so," Tetra returned.

Personally, Kid didn't recall the she-pirate ever saying such a thing, but then again, he hadn't been the most attentive at their morning meeting. It was entirely possible that Jolene had mentioned this very island and what it did and did not contain, and he had just tuned it out out of a combination of boredom and sleepiness.

Linebeck, though, wasn't convinced. "I don't trust her."

"She got us this far," Tetra countered, coming closer.

"Doesn't matter," Linebeck claimed. "I still don't trust her." He turned to address Kid. "Go on, treasure dog. Get hunting."

"Don't you dare," Tetra glowered, grabbing his arm and pulling him forward, closer to the grove of trees that made up the island's heart. Kid shot her a questioning look and she lowered her voice, giving him one of her signature winks. "Without me."

A smile split his face, and the two of them hurried away from Linebeck's ship. Before they could get too far, a voice stopped them.

"Where are you two going?"

They turned to see the princess regarding them with that icy gaze of hers.

"None of your business," Tetra stated at the same time that Kid said, "Exploring."

"It's much too dark for such things," Princess Zelda remarked.

Tetra activated her pirate's charm in response, casting an instant blue glow around them and causing Kid to jump and pull out his own stone, adding to the ghostly luminescence.

Deciding that the conversation was over, the pirate girl walked on, leaving Kid to catch up with her. Soon the two of them were tromping side by side across the rocks. They were flat and somewhat like steps except they were in disagreement about whether to go up or down so the ground just ended up being uneven, riddled with lips and dips that were bound to trip up the hasty.

Kid and Tetra were careful, though, and it wasn't long before the rock turned to grass beneath their feet and they were entering a copse of trees.

"I thought you said there was no treasure here," Kid commented as they wandered deeper, the blue light making the shadows leap and dance.

"There isn't," Tetra replied, twirling the gossip stone around her wrist so it resembled a bracelet and bounding ahead. "At least not the kind Linebeck would be interested in." She jumped, snagging something from a drooping branch.

Kid moved closer to see what it was and stumbled back when Tetra whirled around and shoved it in his face. He twisted away as it brushed his cheek, and Tetra laughed.

"It's not gonna bite. You bite it," she informed him, holding it out and inviting him to take it.

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Kid took the object out of her hand, taking note of the slightly rough feel of it, and raised it to his mouth. A sweet, nectary smell instantly filled his nose, and he gasped. "Fruit!"

"Uh huh," Tetra said, grabbing another from the tree and biting into it.

Kid followed suit. A burst of juice and sweetness filled his mouth, and he smiled. Fruit was rare. Well, not that rare, but it had become scarce ever since Greatfish Isle got destroyed, and even before then it wasn't all that abundant because it didn't keep well.

Invigorated by that thought, and perhaps also by the fact that he hadn't eaten since lunch, Kid finished off the sweet fruit quickly.

"Come on. Grab as much as you can," Tetra commanded, reaching up to do just that.

"It isn't going to keep," Kid reminded her as he moved to help.

"I know that," Tetra huffed. "This is for now. Later, we'll get more so we can dry it."

He twisted off a piece of fruit from the tree. "Dry it?"

"Wow, and you call yourself an islander," Tetra scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Kid said nothing, and Tetra continued after a while of fruit picking in silence. "If you cut up the fruit and let the sun dry it out, it keeps for longer. Plus it tastes like candy, kind of."

Kid nodded in understanding, his mouth watering as he thought of candy. It'd been so long since he'd had any.

They continued to free the tree of its fruit until they couldn't hold any more.

"We should've brought something to carry this in," Kid observed, looking down at the round fruits piled precariously in his arms.

"I wanted to check it out first to make sure Jolene wasn't lying," Tetra explained. "We'll bring something next time."

The pair made their way back to the ships with their gossip stones wrapped around their wrists, providing a puddle of cerulean light for them to see by.

When they reached the rocky shore, they found that someone had constructed a fire in their absence and now Jolene and her crew were milling around it, along with quite a few of Tetra's men.

"What have you two got?" Gonzo asked.

"Fruit," Tetra replied. "The little forest back there is filled with it."

"Told you," Jolene said as Tetra's crew exclaimed excitedly over the news.

Tetra rolled her eyes. "Excuse me for not believing you."

She began to pass out the fruit gathered in her arms and Kid did likewise, eyeing the food that was being cooked over the fire.

"So, Jolene," Tetra said once they were all settled around the fire in some way or another and enjoying a late dinner, "what's beyond this island?"

Kid turned expectantly to the she-pirate for her answer, as did everyone else.

"How should I know?" Jolene scoffed. "We've never gotten any farther than this."