The crowd of sailors mumbling before Tetra and her crew collectively swayed as the young captain motioned for them to be silent. Unfortunately, the majority of them were so thoroughly drunk that it was doubtful if they could even see her, let alone listen. From atop the bar counter, Tetra cleared her throat loudly and began her pitch as a blonde-headed waitress arrived with another round for the boys.
"Well," she said, craning her neck until it cracked, "seeing as this is probably as quiet as it's gonna get, let me begin by thanking you all for taking time from your various drinking games in order to hear my proposition."
From somewhere within the group, a man in a pointy hat slurred, "Oh, it's no trouble at all, Pixie, please continue…"
"Uh, thanks," Tetra looked around for the man and found him tipping the waitress with a hand to her backside, "but are you even a sailor, sir, because you certainly don't look like one."
"And you'd be right, Pixie, I'm no sailor. I'm a wizard who came to this island to buy a bottle of that blue potion, and I waited twelve hours in that blasted line before coming to this bar for a swig of a potion of another kind, if you know what I mean."
The sailors exploded into a bout of "here-here's" and several men toasted the lecherous old wizard before Tetra screamed for silence.
After the mob quieted down to a mumble again, she continued. "Well, I'm sorry sir, but this offer only applies to sailors. I'm afraid you're going to have to leave."
The wizard didn't put up much of a fight and shakily headed for the door, glass in hand. The barkeep sent the leggy blonde after him, all the while screaming, "S—sir? The glass—we need our glass back! Sir?"
Tetra sighed. "I need some men!"
"My, but aren't we a bit too young to be asking for such a thing, lass?" asked another drunken voice.
"For a voyage, you numbskull!"
Gonzo tapped Tetra's shoulder and asked if he should break the guy's legs, to which she replied, "No. Not yet…"
Sensing the futility of her endeavor, Tetra decided to cut it short. "I'm looking to hire some extra hands for a voyage to a new land!" she grimaced at her unintentional rhyme, "I can only offer five thousand up front, but any sailor brave enough to join with us is promised an equal share of any and all treasure we may come upon on our journeys. Are there any takers?"
There was a long silence as the sailors looked at the girl dazedly. The laughter that followed could be heard clear out to sea.
Tetra looked upon the spectacle with quiet fury until a lone voice sprung from the laughter, clear and sober.
"So, let me get this straight," started the voice; Tetra searched for the speaker in the drunken mass to no avail, "you're tellin' me that if I agree to join you on your little 'voyage'—the destination of which is unknown, I gather—and risk life and limb for only Din knows how long, my mates and I can earn a whopping five thousand rupees each, and a potential cut from a treasure and/or treasures that you don't even know to exist? Is that right?"
Tetra straightened her back. "Not quite," she said stiffly, "it's five thousand for the entire group—not each. I'd leave the splitting up to you."
The bar was empty in less than a minute. Tetra sighed in defeat and lowered herself from her pulpit. The bartender tried to console her, "Tough crowd tonight…."
The young captain motioned thanks with her hand as she and her crew took a seat at an abandoned table. Once seated and comfortable, Tetra said dejectedly, "Well, that went about as well as I imagined…."
Senza ordered a round of drinks while Nudge leaned towards his captain. "Miss Tetra, if you knew this was going to happen, then what was the point in all of this? Besides, we have more than enough hands already, why waste rupees on some drunkards when we can use them for more crucial matters—like food, perhaps?"
The spectacled Mako nodded his head in agreement. "I'm afraid I agree with Nudge on this one, Miss Tetra. We've always had an extremely lean crew, even when your mother was in command—just enough to maintain the ship properly, but not to the point that we'd starve to death. Why do you insist on hiring new men, Miss Tetra.?"
The young pirate squared her jaw before responding. The others looked upon her expectantly. "Actually, I didn't have any particular reason for it, really. Well, except for…"
"What?"
Tetra looked up. It was Gonzo, looking genuinely perplexed. It was then that she knew that some explaining was in order; Gonzo was not the type to question orders unless they pertained to food.
Finally she said. "I had a dream a couple of weeks ago in which I was sailing to a place I'd never been to before. In it, I had a bigger crew. That's the only reason why I did all this. I guess I took it as an omen or something…."
Before the others could respond, the bar door swung open and a familiar green figure walked in. Link looked at the downtrodden pirates and smiled. "Uh, Niko told me you guys would be here. Something wrong?"