Disclaimer: *sips tea while sitting on top of the sign...and it suddenly collapses under my weight* Ouch! *snaps fingers* Darn it...*looks over in time to see disclaimer people tip toeing away with a saw* Hey!

A/N: *squeals* Yeee! I got over 40 reviews now! Yay! Yeah I know...I need to get a life . But right now I'm just so glad you people are enjoying it :) Unfortunately though, this chapter is somewhat short...so I'm going to try and get the next chapter up tomorrow. But I hope you like this one anyways :) Enjoy! Yay!

Chapter 10: Dawn of the New Hero

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"Ah I knew it!" Tetra exclaimed.

While Tetra seemed to be the only one who was a little anxious, the rest of the crew got a bad feeling in the pit of their stomachs, once they saw what their captain had seen.

Much to the weariness of the rest of the pirates, they had continued to sail northwest non-stop for hours on end. The sky was now dark with the presence of night and barely any clouds were visible beyond the horizon. Bright stars and constellations lit up the water's surface, with the help of the moon's brilliant beams of light aiding the process.

So what did they see...?

Looming on the horizon about a mile away was the cursed isle they had unintentionally visited about a week ago...

...the Forsaken Fortress...

Tetra got a smug look on her face and walked up to the stern of the ship. Gonzo looked down at her from his position in front of the wheel, wondering if she was actually going to order them to go to the horrible place. She must have sensed his intentions and glared up at him.

"Yes Gonzo, we are going there." she quickly said, much to his
amazement.

Gonzo scratched the back of his head and looked down. When it came to trying to hide stuff from his captain, or anyone else for that matter, he usually wasn't very good at keeping it hidden. He looked back down at her and put on a sorry look.

"Do we really have to-" he began to say before she cut him off.

"How many times must I tell you!" Tetra quickly hollered with annoyance. "We are going there whether you like it or not!"

Gonzo quickly shut his mouth. He may have won the last persuasion at Windfall, but by doing that, he almost guaranteed his next attempts to end in failure. He simply hung his head and went back to sailing the vessel.

Tetra eyed him with her glare.

"When we reach the island..." Tetra said a little calmer this time. "...I want you to slow the ship and wait for further orders. Got that?"

"Yes, Miss Tetra..." Gonzo uttered quietly.

In only a few short minutes, the pirate ship got close enough to the island to see the small beams of light protruding from the spotlights around the fortress. With those scattered along the walls of the fortress, the ship obviously couldn't get close enough to the entrance for swimming distance. And no one was willing to use the method they had used on Link to get over there. They had to think of some other way to get inside...

Tetra squinted in thought as she eyed the dark building, searching for a clue. In her search she happened to spot the all-too-familiar beast that she unwilling held a sour reputation with. The evil, giant bird was perched inside its nest, wings folded back and head dangling in front of its body. It was, to Tetra's liking, asleep.

But Tetra knew it would wake up if they tried to enter the fortress
somehow.

As the ship got a little closer, she got her hands on Zuko's telescope and examined the island up-close. She could see the path of water seeping into the entrance that was way too small for her ship to squeeze through. Inside it, she could barely see the stern end of a boat. A red boat to be precise...

"Just as I thought..." Tetra quietly said to herself. "Link IS here."

She was hoping to confirm this fact as she took her focus off the entrance and searched the inside of the fortress.

Almost instantly, she spotted his green hat sneaking around about halfway up the fortress. At his pace, he looked like he could reach the top in only a few minutes. He was in some rush!

Of course, she couldn't blame him. She would be worried too if she knew a sibling was locked up at an evil fortress for more than a week. For all she knew, the girl could be dead by now...

Tetra lowered the telescope when a thought seeped into her head. If Link got to his sister like he did before, then history would only repeat itself if they didn't do something about the bird!

The young pirate stared off into the vacant distance. They really didn't have much time before Link arrived at the cell door. She had to think of something quick before the bird would wake and snatch him up like it did before.

She tightly shut her eyes, trying to piece together some sort of plan.

"HOY, THERE!"

Tetra jumped at the sound of a voice as it knocked her out of her thoughts, and she angrily lifted her head. Who would dare interrupt her planning without asking permission?!

The entire pirate crew looked to the sky to find the source of the
calling.

Hovering only a few feet above the sail, was the familiar postman, Quill, and flying right next to him was a younger and smaller male Rito, having semi-long white hair and small brown wings to match. His red eyes were wide with curiosity as he observed the ship from stern to helm, gawking at it as if he had never seen one before.

Tetra crossed her arms as she looked up at the two hovering birds, humans, whatever they were. Only Quill would go so far as to disturb a pirate...well...him and Link that is...

Gonzo placed his hands on his hip and tried to sound mean as he called up to them.

"What are YOU doing here, yeah?" He hollered in a goofy-sounding tone.

Quill assumed it was ok to land and slowly hovered onto the main deck, followed by the younger boy. He held up both hands as if he was surrendering and spoke.

"I only wish to know if Link is here." He said. He motioned down to the young Rito next to him. "The young Prince Komali and I want to help him in his quest to free his sister."

Tetra eyed them both, wondering if the two could actually prove useful in keeping the bird off Link's tail long enough so they could get in, do what they needed to, and get out.

Suddenly, an idea hit her.

The young captain casually stepped forward and placed her hands on her hip as a smirk formed on her face.

"Your timing is impeccable, gentlemen."

~ ~ ~

"Ooooooooooh! Why do I always get stuck doing the worst tasks?!" Niko complained. "Why couldn't Mako or Zuko have the job of distracting the giant bird? It's not fair!"

Quill looked down at the small pirate gripping his feet and frowned.

"Quit complaining." he called down to him, a little quietly. "It's not like I had a say in any of this either..."

Niko merely frowned back at him, having no smart comment to say back at his face.

The two flew through the air cautiously as they made there way to where the bird slept. It's head was bobbing up and down with each huge breath that it took, its huge wings folded onto its back. They couldn't tell if its eyes were open, since the creature's huge mask was covering the front of its face. For a second, the two could have sworn they heard the beast snore a little.

Once they were about a good 15 feet away, Quill halted his approach and hovered in place. He looked down to Niko.

"Well go on. Call it."

Niko glared up at him.

"What?! Why me?!"

"Because your captain ordered you to!" Quill retorted. "And be quick about it! We don't have much time."

Niko looked back down at the huge foul sleeping only a few feet away and gulped. He wasn't really the bravest pirate of the ship, but he was specifically ordered by the captain to get the creatures attention. And so...he mustered up all his courage and called down to the beast.

"...um...w-wake up?"

Quill took his gaze off the bird and looked down at Niko with a sorry
look.

"You have to shout louder than that!" he urged.

"Ok, ok!" Niko replied quietly. He looked back down and tightened his grip as he felt his palms start to get sweaty.

"W-wake up!" he shouted, a little louder this time, but not loud enough for the bird to hear. When it didn't stir, Niko added another word, quietly.

"...please?"

Quill rolled his eyes. His previous thought that all pirates were fearless suddenly flew out the window as he glared down at the coward he was holding. They really didn't have time for this.

Without a second thought, Quill immediately started to shake his legs around to try and knock some courage into the pirate.

"Aaaaaaaack! Stop!" Niko yelped. "I can't hold on with you moving!"

Quill didn't halt his movements, much to Niko's dislike. He tightened his grip to keep from falling and kicked his feet to try and keep himself steady.

The small dagger that dangled on Niko's side then suddenly started to slip out of its sheath. With some more flailing from both Quill and Niko, it finally got flung out of its holder and fell toward the birds nest.

As the two continued to struggle in mid-air, the dagger accidentally hit the bird right on the front of its mask. The clank it made along with the slight force of the impact was enough to jar the bird awake from its slumber and it quickly gave a small squawk and shot its head up. Shaking it's huge head with annoyance, it then looked from side to side to see what had hit it.

It didn't search long though when it suddenly heard voices not too far away. It stood up and spread its large, black wings as it's gaze fell upon the two hovering bodies not too far away.

Quill and Niko were oblivious to the birds awakening and continued to argue among themselves. Neither could make out what the other was saying since they both were speaking at the same time and drowning out each others words.

"You stupid birdbrain!" Niko shouted up to the still-flapping Quill. "Are you trying to make me fall or something?!"

Quill sneered back at the pirate.

"How else was I going to get you to speak louder? Did you really think the bird would hear you if you whispered?"

"Hey it was worth a shot!" Niko replied loudly. "I don't want to draw too much attention, ya know?!"

Quill swung his head.

"That wasn't what your captain ordered you to do!" he corrected.

"Oh yeah! Since when were YOU my mentor?!" the pirate shouted back.

They both growled at each other and bared their teeth in angry but
silly manner.

Before either of them could shout another word, they suddenly heard the sound of huge wings flapping not too far away. They both paused at the sound and got a look of slight fear in both of their eyes as they slowly looked back down to the nest.

The giant bird was hovering right in front of them, looking down upon them with its huge yellow eyes with its beak slightly open.

Quill and Niko froze slightly, with the exception of Quill's wings keeping them airborne. The two stared back at the winged creature, not uttering a word, for almost a minute...until...

SCRRREEEEEEEEEECH!

The bird lifted its head and let out a loud, ear-piercing squawk, exposing the inside of its sky blue mouth and tongue as it flapped its black wings faster in anger.

Both Quill and Niko's skin stood on end as they screamed in a high- pitched tone in reply to its call. Without wasting a second, Quill spun around and took off in the opposite direction with a very terrified Niko trying to hurry him along with constant yelps of terror. The bird made haste and flew off after them, squawking the whole way as it chased the two nuisances...away from the fortress.

Tetra got a smirk on her face as she watched her plan get set into
motion.

"Well...now I know what old Niko is good for." she thought, grinning. She obviously wasn't too worried about them. She knew they could take care of themselves.

With phase one of her plan complete, Tetra spun around and shouted up to Nudge, who was at the wheel.

"Ok Nudge! Take her around back as quickly as you can!"

"Aye-aye, captain!" he replied.

As quickly as he could, Nudge steered the ship around the backend of the fortress, where no searchlights or obstacles were present. Next, he coasted the ship close to the fortress near the area below the entrance to the tower, while Tetra, Gonzo, and Senza waited on the side of the main deck, grappling hooks in hand.

Once they got close enough, the trio took the bare end of the rope and gave the hook end to Prince Komali.

As all this was going on, Tetra happened to glance up to where they were trying to reach. She could barely see the bit of green from Link's head as he reached the tower's entrance. She quickly hastened their pace, knowing that the bird could be heading back to the fortress by now.

"You know what to do, kid." Tetra stated to the young Rito as he began to hover above them.

He quickly nodded down to the young captain, then flew on up to the platform with the hooked ropes attached to his feet. Once up there, he quickly unwrapped them from his ankles and latched them onto the inside of the wall.

"Ok!" he called back down to the awaiting pirates.

Tetra turned to Gonzo and Senza.

"You heard him! Let's go!"

"Right!"

With that, the trio climbed up onto the ships railing and gripped their individual ropes. Tetra went first, and with a quick leap, she jumped off the railing and swung partially into the water. Senza and Gonzo quickly followed her lead.

For the most part, they ignored the water and swam up to the towering walls of the outside of fortress. They quickly lessened the slack on their ropes and tightened it until the ropes had no slack at all. With the ropes secured, the two men and their captain literally walked up the side of the walls with the help of their grappling hooks.

Prince Komali waited on the platform, until the three finally made it to the top and climbed over into the walls of the fortress.

"Well, that wasn't so hard." Tetra said, as she brushed a bit of hair out of her eyes. She looked over to the prince. "I want you to wait here until we get back. Ok?"

The young prince blinked.

"But I want to help Link."

Tetra sighed.

"Look, kid. You can help Link by staying out of his way and waiting here for him. Don't worry. We'll be back before you know it."

Prince Komali hung his head.

"Well...ok..." he said, defeated. "...if it will help Link..."

Tetra bobbed her head to him then looked over to Gonzo and Senza, who were observing the inside of the fortress with wide eyes. They didn't think the place was this big, since it looked so small from the sea.

"Enough gawking already!" she called, once she got back their attention. "Now let's get a move on."

"Y-yes, Miss Tetra." They both stuttered, hearing the sternness in her
voice.

Quickly and quietly, the two men followed their captain through the door and into the base of the small tower.

Tetra had to shield her eyes once they entered the tower. The inside was much brighter than the darkness of the outside night, since it was plastered with large, lit candles equally spaced along the walls. A large wooden ramp was squished up against the wall at the far end of the room and spiraled up along the wall to the very tip top of the tower. She didn't pay too much attention to the layout, though. She was too busy looking for the familiar green of Link's outfit.

Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she spotted him at the front of the cell where his sister was being held. She could see his little sister on the other side of the bars with a very relieved smile on her face, obviously very happy to see her big brother.

Link was too busy trying to yank open the locked door to notice the pirate enter behind him.

Tetra rolled her eyes. It was just like Link to come all the way up here without thinking to bring some sort of tool for opening a locked door. Still, for some odd reason, she felt relieved to finally see him in person. She was secretly very happy to see him, much to her own surprise.

Link kept prying at the knob to his sister's prison. The blasted thing wasn't going to budge without a key or something strong. Of course, Link didn't think this...

Tetra finally decided to put him out of his misery.

"The door won't open that easily." she said with a smile.

Link quickly spun around to see who had sneaked up on him without him being aware of it. His dark eyes grew big with surprise when he finally saw her and her two shipmates.

Before she could let him say anything, Tetra quickly spoke up.

"There you go...acting before you think...as usual." She said, placing her hands on her hips.

Link was hoping for a little bit of a nicer greeting, but he knew it was probably impossible to get one out of this particular pirate. Nevertheless, he was a bit relieved to see them here at this particular moment. Perhaps they could get the cell door open for him.

As if to read his mind, Tetra glanced over her shoulder at the two men behind her and motioned for them to open the door.

The two pirates obeyed and walked past both Link and Tetra to get the door open with their strength.

As they walked pasted her, Tetra continued.

"I swear..." she said with a smile. "Do you even realize we had to draw that monster bird off of you?" She jerked her head to get a bang out of her eye as Link turned around to watch the men open the door, his back to her. He didn't pay much attention to what she was saying.

Tetra, however, didn't seem to mind as she continued.

"That stupid beast was about to come flying in here after you again."
She stated.

She was about to add how some of his Rito friends had come to help out, but suddenly stopped herself when her eyes fell upon the weapons that where strapped to his back. He had the same shield...but his sword...

...it didn't look quite the same.

Instead of a having a small, sorry excuse for a weapon, Link had now a bigger blade that was much more decent looking than his previous one. It had, strangely enough, a blue hilt and a small yellow gem at the base of the blade.

Tetra gasped. It looked exactly like the sword that her mother had shown her in her dream!

Link must have heard her loud intake of air and turned around. When he saw the way Tetra was staring at him, he got a funny look on his face, wondering why she was looking at him the way she was.

Now that Tetra accidentally had his attention, she spoke up, all the while keeping her focus completely on Link.

"...that sword!" she said with shock in her voice. Tetra rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things and that her mind was playing tricks on her. But she wasn't fooling herself this time...

Link had in his possession the blade of evil's bane! The Master
Sword!

But how? And why?

Tetra's breath caught in her throat as the truth finally
revealed itself to her.

He was the person she was suppose to be helping all along!

Link was the new hero!