Hm, this is interesting. I meant to post this days ago, but it didn't want to upload correctly. Either way . . . I don't know what to say, really.

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda.

And I ask you once again to read "Defiance," by Whyette-h. Please drop him a review and tell him that you're reading. Thank you

-Nagem

One of Zuko's various sounds woke me from my slumber some time later. I blinked my eyes against another wave of exhaustion-I had not realized that I was so tired!-I swung my legs over the bed and surveyed myself. My clothes were wrinkled, pants pushed up above my hips. Standing, I pulled them down with a hint of annoyance. I straightened the rest of my clothes as I made my way out of my cabin and up the stairs to the main deck.

"Miss Tetra!" Gonzo and Nudge came running to meet me, both yelling my name in unison. As they reached me, Gonzo continued. "You've been in your cabin for hours! When Nudge went down and found you asleep, we were relieved, but. . . . "

"Oh, don't blabber, I'm fine," I snapped, feeling back to my old self now that I had had quite a bit of rest. "If I was in true trouble, I wouldn't be up here, now would I?"

Right, Miss," Nudge said, elbowing Gonzo in the ribs. Gonzo muttered the same words. His face quite a bit brighter, Nudge continued. "Gonzo and I were just coming down to wake you-Zuko said we're here."

"I heard," I grumbled. "That's what woke me up." Nudge and Gonzo grinned nervously, fearing that I was in a bad mood. I wasn't, really. Not that much. "So. Where do we plan to anchor for the night?" I looked around, realizing that it was later than I had thought. The sun was slowly slipping towards the western edge of the sky, and shadows cast by the main mast were growing and creeping across the main deck.

"W-we don't know, Miss," Gonzo stuttered.

I gritted my teeth together, good mood gone. "Why don't you know?"

"We. . . . Weren't sure what would be suitable," Nudge said.

Don't they know anything? I wondered. "I'll do it." Ignoring Nudge and Gonzo's protests, I made my way to the crow's nest where Zuko kept watch. As I reached the ladder, I jumped, my feet hitting three or four rungs above the bottom one. My hands wrapped securely about the rung closest to my face, and I began to climb, one hand over the other. "Zuko!"

The small pirate squeaked and voiced one of his many incomprehensible sounds as he turned and saw me.

"Give me the telescope," I said, holding out a hand. He thrust it at me, then watched with interest as I peered through it. I saw a rock with a cache seeming carved out of it-the cave, I assumed. Near it was another rock standing high out of the water. I turned a dial on the telescope, focusing it and zooming it in on the two rocks, but what I saw wasn't enough. "Drop anchor!" I called. "Man a lifeboat! We're going to see if there's anyplace suitable for hiding." Watchman ships, as pirates called them, often prowled the seas late at night, looking for pirate ships who hadn't hiden themselves. I doubted there would be one way out here, but I wasn't about to take any chances. I walked to the edge of the crow's nest and swung myself down onto the ladder, climbing down a few feet before dropping.

"Miss?" Nudge asked as I walked toward the back of the boat where the lifeboats were kept.

"There's a space between the cave and another rock," I explained curtly, walking quickly, Nudge easily keeping stride. "I don't want to risk bringing the whole ship in, in case it's too shallow, but I think we can spare a lifeboat, correct?"

"Not really miss," Nudge said. "I'd rather we keep the lifeboats if we can."

"We're still taking a lifeboat, you know," I said, slightly miffed at Nudge's open contradiction.

"I know," Nudge said, surpressing a sigh.

All was eeriely quiet as the lifeboat rowed further and further away from the ship. I strained my ears and heard the distant sounds of the men left on board and the louder sound of the oars moving through the water. The niche between the rocks was wider than I expected, which was good. It would be easier to fit the ship in this way. I heard a soft splash as a pirate stuck his hand in the water, testing how deep it was.

"Miss," Nudge's soft voice said. "I can't feel the bottom of the water with my hand."

"All right then, get out the Plumb." The Plumb, known by all sailors, was a stick with measurements on it, used to test the depth of the water. It was most often used in situations like this.

"Um . . . we forgot it, miss," Nudge mumbled, and I whirled.

"How could you forget something like that?" I demanded.

Everyone went still for a moment.

Well, there's only one way to test the depth now, I thought, looking over the edge.

"Miss Tetra?" Senza asked.

"Bombs away!" I shouted, jumping off the lifeboat into the salty water. There were muffled gasps as I went under. As I felt the water trying to push me up with no bottom in sight, I angled my body downwards and kick my legs. I put my hands out in an arrow in front of me, making it easier to move downwards. I had to come up for breath before I could reach the bottom. I surfaced coughing and sputtering, trying to inhale.

"Miss!" the pirates, Nudge, Gonzo, and Senza, cried as one, all trying to pull me into the boat. It was a wonder that in less than a minute, I was seated on the floor of the little dingy and had a shirt wrapped around me that smelled of sweat.

"Whose is this?" I asked, picking at the fabric that they had hoped to dry me with. When no one spoke, I looked around and came to my own conclusions. Senza and Nudge had shirts on-Gonzo didn't. "Nevermind."

"Are you all right, miss?" Nudge asked, wringing his hands. "You were down there forever!"

"There seems to be no bottom here," I said. Usually, we'd be able to find the bottom of the water in a place like this, with two rocks this close together. It would normally go about three or four feet down, and then you'd hit rock. But this place was different. I had no idea what it meant. "And its wide enough, so we can dock here for as long as we need." The three nodded and began rowing back to the ship-but not before I had thrown Gonzo's shirt back to him with a scowl.

As sundown approached, we made preparations to pull in between the two large rocks and dock for the night. I walked among my crew, hearing various snippets of conversation or shouted orders. I myself shouted at Niko once or twice when he ran about the deck senselessly instead of helping the rest. For such a large ship, we had an awfully small crew, which always seemed to bother my mother and I. It took us twice as long as normal ships to unfurl the sails, or to drop the anchor. With this already being a liability, I couldn't let one man run about not doing his work.

"Gonzo!" Senza shouted down to where Gonzo was shouting orders. "I need someone up here to help me tie down these damn sails!"

"Everyone's working!" Gonzo shouted. "And I'm going to help Nudge with the foremast!" he added before Senza could say anything.

"I've got it," I said, darting to the main mast. Gonzo opened his mouth to protest, but glanced up at the struggling Senza and shut it. I arrived at Senza's side in moments, reaching for the thick fabric of the sail he was having trouble with. It came up easily with two of us, and I held it down while Senza tied it down.

"Thanks, miss," he gasped. At that moment a strong wind blew, testing how well we had tied it down. There were yells as Mako and Niko went flying off into the wind, holding onto an untied sail. I covered my eyes with an arm and held on tightly to the ship with one arm and my legs. As the wind died down, I blinked and turned to Senza, who was already on his way to helping Mako and Niko with the runaway sail.

I shimmied back down the main mast to the oddly empty deck. I looked up to see everyone hurriedly tieing down the sails, even Senza, who was doing so as he scolded Mako and Niko for being careless. I couldn't hear the words, but from the sight of Mako and Niko's ashamed faces and Senza's mouth moving in fast, clipped syllables, it was obvious.

"Miss!" Nudge and Gonzo slid down the foremast as I turned. "Everything's tied down!"

"Good," I said. I looked at the passage between the rocks. On the dingy it had seemed to wide, and now it seemed so small. Gonzo came to the railing next to me and set his jaw, looking as grim as I felt. I reached for my bandana, hoping that by fiddling with the fabric I could soothe my senseless nervousness. My hand slipped under the bandana. "Oh no!"

"Miss?" Gonzo asked, looking at me as I ripped the bandana from my neck. "Something wrong?"

"My necklace!" I cried, rubbing a hand about my neck, searching for the thick leather string that usually held it up. "It's gone!" Gonzo's jaw dropped, obviously having some idea of what I was talking about, and Nudge looked horrified.

"Not the one your mother gave you?" Senza cried. I nodded as I fell to my knees, stomach turning to pudding. I prayed it hadn't fallen when I dove into the water-there was no hope of getting it back then.

"Yes," I mumbled. "The one my mother gave me." I felt sick to my stomach-my last gift from my mother, my last momento of the time we spent together, was gone.

"Search the deck!" Gonzo cried as Senza and Nudge helped me to my feet. I stood, swaying slightly as if I were just out to sea. "Find Miss Tetra's item!" Even though I was glad he hadn't said the word "necklace," no one needed to ask. They had known me long enough. They had known my mother. They knew exactly what they were looking for.

Minutes later the crew assembled in front of me, shaking their heads in a silent apology.

"We're sorry, miss," Niko said, ashamed of himself.

"Not your fault," I said. The crew caught each other's eyes and nodded. They knew now just how much the loss of my mother's necklace had upset me-it was a rare day when I let someone off the hook for not doing what he was ordered-not to mention when someone spoke out of turn in a time like this. I looked up-we had made it between the rocks safely, and the last of the sun had just vanished. I looked about. "Bed." I turned and walked to my cabin.

I lay on my bed late that night, not wanting to face the oncoming day even though it had the promise of a new treasure. I just wanted my old treasure back. My hand wandered to my bare neck again, unused to the absense of the necklace now that I was aware of it's vanishing act. My hand touched just above my breats, where the golden triangle would have usually hung. Rolling over, I spotted the picture of the fabled hero, and reached out it, tracing the lines of the picture. I closed my eyes, letting my fingers trail over the picture as they would.

Why was I so careless? I scolded myself as I withdrew my hand. Why didn't I secure my necklace? Why didn't I take a few moments to leave it in my treasure chest? My treasure chest, kept under the bed where my trundle used to be (and actually made out of the old thing, too) held the most precious of my items, things I would cherish for as long as I lived-like the picture of Niko screaming his head off after stealing Mako's glasses, or the one with Gonzo, Senza, and Nudge squirting milk out of their noses as one. I smiled at the thought.

"Miss?" one of the aforementioned pirates, Gonzo, stuck his head in my cabin. "The crew says they're ready to hit that cave this morning."

This morning? I wondered. Was I up all night or did I fall asleep? As I swung my legs over the bed and winced at their stiffness, I decided that I had in fact been asleep, I just wasn't aware of it. "All right, I'm coming." I tried to make my voice sound strong and sure, as if I was over losing the silly old necklace, but I could tell from the look on Gonzo's half-shadowed face that it hadn't worked.

"Are you sure you're up to this?" he asked. "We can delay a day if you wish."

"We're going," I said.

And we were going to get my treasure weather I had that silly old necklace or no.