AUTHOR'S NOTE—It's been a long time, but I'm back with a new chapter. For those still with me, sorry for taking so long—it's been a busy couple of months since the last time I updated. I'll try to be more punctual from now on. And I'll try to try, okay? 'Till next time.
P4Pancho
As they neared their destination, the crew of Tetra's ship began, once again, to simmer with excitement. Following the drama that was the arm-wrestling tourney, a refractory lull descended upon the men as each pirate went about the task of working diligently and productively so as to eek a smidgen of leisure time in the evening to do as they pleased. For most of the men, most of the time, this meant playing cards in the hold; those who did not play, watched from their crate and barrel-perches while whispering (loudly) that so and so was an idiot for doing whatever it was that he did. It was a routine that Tetra's boys knew well—the endless, comforting, boring, stable stasis between lootings. The Zarep brothers, on the other hand, did not, and they made it a point to crack one "So this is a pirate's life" joke per day.
Only Nudge found himself with nothing to do. Having refused even a drop of blue potion from Link on the grounds that the stuff was, "Too valuable to waste on nothing," the pirate awoke the next morning with the searing realization that the "nothing" to which he referred to was, in reality, several pulled muscles in his arms. Nudge now spent his days wandering the ship, arm tightly bound, offering advice to the men lucky enough to be working. In fact, few things brought him more joy than to sit in front of Joe, sandwich in hand (the good one), and instruct him on how to properly lift a barrel.
Link passed the time as best he could. His mornings and early afternoons were reserved for helping Niko with his swabbing duties, which he enjoyed because, whether he knew it or not, Niko was a funny guy. From then until nightfall, Link was free to spend his time as he pleased. Sometimes he would go into the hold to kill a few hours sharpening his sword technique; other times were spent toying around with the Wind Waker in order to discover new melodies and effects. He had unearthed none so far. More and more, the young boy found himself heading to the King of Red Lions for a noontime nap; when he couldn't sleep, he simply laid on the Lions' deck and waited until it was time to go to the hold and work-out with the Zareps. As a rule, when he was not working out, he was bored. And when he wasn't asleep, he missed Tetra.
On the surface, their relationship seemed normal enough. A few days after their argument, Link could glance at Tetra's eyes without seeing glimmers of anger or resentment. If, by chance, they walked past each other in a hall, they would greet one another with a smile before walking by. Although it was true that they no longer spent their afternoons talking to each other—and the pirates did note this, even the Zareps—the adults interpreted this as merely a side-effect of intense boredom. Beneath the surface, however, both Link and Tetra were despairing over the silence.
Bumped into him again today, read a passage in Tetra's journal. He said, "Hey," and walked away. Jerk…
"She says 'Hi' to me like I were a piece of furniture or a dog," Link sighed one night to Gonzo, his only confidant. "Has she said anything about me?" The boy sighed again as the pirate shrugged sympathetically.
On the eve before their arrival at Dragon Roost, however, the fog of boredom and unease was replaced by a pulsing anticipation. Even Tetra and Link found themselves excited despite themselves. But nowhere was the new feeling better felt than in the labido of Cruton Zarep.
"One more day, one more day… one more day…" Cruton half sung, half gasped as he finished his eighth set of push-ups, all voluntary.
Junior, Joe, Flammy and Link watched tiredly as Cruton let himself collapse, all the while repeating, "One more day… one more day… one more—"
"What's up with him?" asked Link, raising the ladel from the water barrel for a drink. They had just finished the night's work-out, but Cruton refused to stop. "Why is he saying that? What's up with all the push-ups?"
Junior laid slumped against the large barrel of water, half-asleep. "That's just what he does when he gets excited, kid."
Link scoffed before taking another ladle-full of cold water. "He must really be looking forward to seeing Dragon Roost…"
Cruton mocked Link by making a muffled scoff. Link turned to a reposed Joe for an explanation. The pirate sat in a corner as he smoked something pungent.
"It's not the island he's excited about, Link," he said, "It's the 'scenery.'"
While Link was looking at Joe, Cruton had snuck up behind the boy quietly. "That's right!" he yelled in Link's ear, sending him flailing. "Rito girls! Rito girls! Rito girls!"
Link struggled to regain his breath. "Wha?"
Cruton laughed evilly as grasped the edges of the water barrel and flipped into a perfect hand stand. Link watched slack-jawed as Cruton's back muscles twitched like a living canyon. There was something sinister about that twitch.
"Rito girls, my dear boy, Rito girls…" grinned Cruton as his head hovered inches from their drinking water. "Hot damn little man, one more day 'till Rito girls!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" said Link, flabbergasted.
Junior piped in from below. "Rito women have the reputation of being the most beautiful women on the Great Sea, Link. But I don't know what he's so happy about—they're damn near unnapproachable. Most people outside the Roost have never even seen one. Shoot, I bet some Rito have never even seen the females of their species."
"Ha!" laughed Cruton from atop the barrel.
"Kind of like Link as of late, huh?" sniped Flammy.
"Double-Ha!"
Link made an obscene hand gesture he had picked up from Cruton.
"Ha! Triple-Haaaa—WHOA!"
The Zareps and Link watched silently as Cruton lost balance and fell to the floor with a muffled thump. He had landed square on his ass.
"I broke it…" was all Cruton was able to croak before falling sideways like an "L."
Instead of laughing like Cruton's brothers, Link stood up and walked to the door.
"Where you going, Link?" asked Junior.
"To get some blue potion," said Link, matter-of-factly.
Junior smiled hugely. "Don't bother. At least this way he'll behave himself tomorrow."