Holy crap, it's been a long time, hasn't it?

Well, I'm sorry, and this is a rather long chapter to make up for the wait. At least, I hope it is sweatdrops Oh, and a big thank-you goes out to Whyetteh for making me get off my butt and get started on this chap. So . . . thank you!

Anyway, I have my reasons. How's this: school's a bitch that makes me take finals all month.grumbles Yes, well, I think that's it, other than I don't own Zelda . . . so . . . enjoy and please review.

The crew was somber as I stepped out onto the deck that morning. I walked among them, nodding silent approval as they went about their morning tasks. I didn't bother to tell off Niko for missing a spot on the deck, I didn't even care. On the starboard side of the ship a small dingy waited for me. I was to lead myself and a few selected men to the cave, through the cave, and back. I stopped. Suddenly, without my necklace, I felt weak, insecure, unsure of my next actions. I couldn't do this, they couldn't ask me to. . . . My eyes sought Gonzo's, and they must have been pleading, for he opened his mouth to give an order.

"Man the dingy."

No noise came from the crew as Gonzo, Mako, and I stepped into the little boat. There was a jerking motion then the dingy was lowered into the water. I reached out for it-we were close enough to the Forsaken Fortress that maybe I could . . . I didn't know. My hand hit the water, and I heard the sounds of Gonzo untying the boat from the rest of the ship. Within a few moments, there was the sound of the oars hitting the water, and we were slowly pulling away from the ship.

"Are you sure you're up to this, Miss?" Gonzo asked as he rowed. Mako echoed him.

"I'm fine," I said absent-mindedly. "Just . . . give me a few moments of peace and quiet."

No one spoke a word after that.

It was high noon when we reached the cave. There was about five feet of rock before the cave entrance, and as the boat bumped against it, I jumped out, ordering Mako to throw me the rope to tie the dingy down so it wouldn't float away. Mako grumbled something as he did so, and then jumped out of the boat-Gonzo had been right behind me.

"Is the knot secure?"

"I'm not a child anymore, Mako," I snapped as I jerked on the rope to make the knot tighter. "I know how to tie a knot, all right?" He didn't reply, and I jerked harder, nearly unsettling the rope. "Come on. The sooner we get this done, the better."

"Is it just me or does she seem in a mood?"

"Mako. . . . "

"Apologies, Miss!" We entered the cave at that point, Mako and I looking about in the awe that never deserted us while Gonzo lit a torch he carried with him from the ship. "This place is amazing."

"You say that every time," Gonzo grumbled, stepping in front of us and leading the way. "Come on."

"Hey!" I declared, darting up to meet him. "I'm the captain here! I should be leading us!" Gonzo sighed in resignation and handed me the torch, while both he and Mako shook their heads. I could predict what was running through their minds: She's such a child. I frowned and set my jaw. I was not a child! I'd show them, like I did every time. The cave floor began to slope downwards, and I cursed as my foot hit a rock and sent it flying, making clattering bangs all the way down the floor.

"Are you all right, Miss?"

"Fine," I replied as I shook out my foot and continued walking. "If I wasn't fine, then believe me, you'd know it." They nodded, and continued on.

For the most part, the walk was silent. The cave was so large with so many twists and turns I suspected that we were focusing more on remembering our way out rather than idle chatter. I rather enjoyed the silence. It gave me time to think, as I had been the night before and on the dingy ride to the cave. We entered some sort of a chamber that branched out into two tunnels, and I stopped, silently considering which tunnel was our best bet.

"I'm cold!" Mako announced. "And hungry!" Even though I scowled at him, I pulled the torch closer to myself, hoping the fire would warm the chill that had seemed to set into my bones. Gonzo agreed.

"All right, since you two are such wimps, we'll break for midday here," I said, setting myself down on the cold cave floor. "I hope one of you brought something." Mako nodded and reached into the knapsack he had been carrying. He pulled out six biscuits and three slices of meat-probably pork. Out of his knapsack, Gonzo brought out a flask full of water. I was tossed two biscuits, and a slice of meat. Gonzo set the flask down in the middle of the three of us. Mako picked it up and took a drink. "Is it fresh?" I asked in a half-hearted attempt of conversation as I bit into my meat.

"Yeah," Mako said, wiping his mouth and setting the flask back down. "It tastes like whisky."

"There's a little bit of whisky in there," Gonzo said as I picked up the flask and took a swig. The whisky burned going down my throat and I coughed, still unused to drinks.

"I hate whisky!" I declared past my cough."I may be a pirate, but I hate it!"

"Right," Gonzo muttered. "Forgot." Likely he forgot. He was probably hoping I didn't notice the taste. I bit into a biscuit and swallowed, trying to rid my throat of the burning. There were only the sounds of chewing and swallowing until Gonzo asked, "Do you have any idea which way we should go?"

"No clue," I said. "I figure if we go down one and don't find anything, then it must be the other."

"True," Mako admitted. "But who knows how long it would take us to go down one tunnel, let alone both. And think, there might be an ancient trap in the wrong tunnel. We could die."

"Who would bother to put a trap way down here?" Gonzo asked, laughing.

"Someone had to put the treasure down here," I offered, and Mako nodded. "So then someone wanted to protect it."

Mako nodded again. "I think it was an ancient civilization wanting to protect an object they thought had great power," he said. Gonzo blinked and muttered something about Mako being the "brains of the group" while something hit me.

"Like those 'triumph forks' the fish are always talking about," I said with a small giggle. It wasn't as good a joke as I had wanted, but I was rewarded with a few smiles. We all knew that the talking fish seen throughout the Great Sea, who gave lost travelers directions, were crazy when it came to gossip. Honestly, whatever "Triumph Forks" was supposed to mean, surely it couldn't be as powerful as the fish made it seem.

"True," Mako said. "But I doubt something with such a name could really be an object of power."

"It's possible," I argued, more for the sake of cracking a joke than anything else.

Gonzo gave a frustrated sigh. "You two debate ancient civili-jigs all you want," he grunted, getting to his feet. "I'm going to go see if there's anything that can lead us in the right direction." He stalked over to where the tunnel branched off, although it could be said that Mako and I paid him no mind. Mako was trying, in vain, to convince me that the Triumph Forks were not real treasures, while I argued on for the sake of arguing on and finding a new joke.

Mako and I argued for an hour before Gonzo came back over and told us to come see what he had found. Mako and I got to our feet, following Gonzo to where the tunnel split.

"Look at this." He pointed to something inscribed on the wall. They were strange symbols, none I had ever seen before. "I think it's writing, but I have no idea what it means. There's no arrows or anything." He huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall.

"No," I said. "This is great. Mako, can you read this?"

"Perhaps," Mako said slowly. He peered closely at the inscribing on the wall, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "I've seen markings like this before, but I can't place them."

"They look familiar to me, too." I frowned. I had no idea where the statement had come from . . . but it was as if I had seen these markings before. "I think these are the markings on the scrolls that tell of the Hero?" Both Gonzo and Mako blinked slowly at me before nodding. "Then no one can read it." My spirits fell. If we couldn't figure out which tunnel to take, we'd never get the treasure, and I'd never get my mind off my mother's necklace. "Forget it. We'll never figure it out."

"Perhaps we can," Mako said.

"No, it's impossible." I began to walk back the way we had come, and both Gonzo and Mako stared after me.

"Until sundown."

"What?" I turned to see Gonzo staring at me, eyes narrowed.

"I ask that we stay until sundown, spend the night in the cave, and then leave," he said. He seemed to take a minute to gather his courage, and then continue. "If there was something that Miss Kalie, your mama, taught me, it was that a pirate never gives up on treasure this easily. Never. So, unless you want dishonor your mama's spirit, I suggest we keep trying, no matter how hopeless it might seem to you."

"Gonzo," Mako said. "I wouldn't push her . . . she'll dock your food."

"I don't care," Gonzo said. "Let her put me on half rations, I'd rather starve than let her walk away from a treasure without trying to find it." I stood there, stunned, and Gonzo came over, putting his hands on my shoulders and shoving me down onto the rock. "Okay, Mako? Do you have a copy of those scrolls Miss Tetra was talking about?"

"I think so," Mako said.

"In my cabin," I offered, somewhat numbly. "On my desk."

"Go get them," Gonzo ordered, and Mako ran off. As the sound of Mako's footfalls died away, Gonzo caught my eye, and I lowered my head, ashamed that I had thought of giving up on the treasure. Silence echoed around us as I stared at the rock below my feet until Gonzo cleared his through. "I'm sorry, Miss Tetra. I should have waited for your permission on the matter."

"Doesn't matter," I grunted with my head still bowed, trying to keep my tough exterior. "I was. . . . " I broke off. I couldn't say I had been planning the same thing-it had been painfully obvious that I wasn't. What was I doing? I didn't know.

"I know," Gonzo said, smiling. "You don't have to explain to me, Miss."

Do I? I wondered, raising my head to look at him. Sometimes I wondered just how much I had to explain to my crew and how much I could keep my mouth shut about and still have them understand me. "Thank you." At that moment, heavy panting and rapid footfalls announced Mako's arrival.

"What took you so long?" Gonzo demanded, taking the scroll that Mako held. Mako didn't answer, but I'm sure he would have had he the breath. Gonzo unrolled the scroll and stared at it for a few moments before handing it to me. "I think Miss Tetra should decode this, as it is her scroll." He said the words with a smug smile, and I could have killed him right then and there. I settled for a scowl in his direction and walking over to where the inscribing were. I looked over the scroll, with the same odd lettering as the wall, with the legend written as I could read it underneath. My vision alternated between the two as I tried to decode what I could. I eventually read "left" on one of the symbols.

"It says 'left' right here," I said aloud, pointing to the lettering. "But I don't know what 'left' could mean."

"Doesn't it mean we go left?" Gonzo asked.

"It could mean there's a trap in the left," Mako shot in. I glared at the parchment in front of me, willing it to tell me what I was supposed to be reading as the two crewmembers argued.

"I think that because 'left' is the last word in the lettering," I began, walking over to where the left tunnel began to branch off. "And there's only one or two other words, we should probably go left."

"How'd you figure?" Gonzo asked.

I pointed at the lettering. "There's the word 'left' and then that-"I pointed to the lettering in front of the word. "-which I'm not sure about. But it's easier to say 'go left' in two words than it is to warn someone around a trap in two words."

"But if the treasure was set in ancient times," Mako cut in. "Then probably everyone could read it. So it wouldn't make sense to say 'go left' and show invaders right to their treasure."

"So that means we go right?" Gonzo asked. Mako and I looked at each other for a moment, and then nodded. "Then let's hit it!"

So we went right. As we traveled and didn't run into traps, I reasoned that Mako must have been right. There was a downward slope, and we had to brace our muscles so that we didn't trip as we went over the steeper parts. When we had walked for what felt like hours, I stopped and turned to Gonzo and Mako, ready to tell them to quit for the night.

"Is there something wrong?" Mako asked as I turned.

"I think we should stop for the night," I said. "Not give up, just take a rest. There's obviously nothing here, and I think we would be better at looking if we were well rested." When Gonzo and Mako looked unconvinced, I crossed my arms in a huff and turned back, ready to start walking again. "Well fine, have it your wa-AAAAYY!!!" I shrieked as I fell through the floor of the cave.

"Miss!" Both Gonzo and Mako yelled, rushing over to where I had fallen. I couldn't hear anything after that, because my head hit a loose rock, and I was out.

It was dark when I came to, and I laid there for a moment, wondering how the hell I was still alive and where the hell I was. After I was convinced the only way I was going to get any answers was if I were to move, I sat up and put a hand to my head, hoping to quiet the pounding banging within it. I got to my feet, careful to make sure that my legs would support me, and looked about, as if I could see in the dark. But I couldn't, so I drew my dirk from my belt and swung it out in front of me a few times to make sure there was nothing there, and set forward, dirk held in front of me in case I ran into anything. My dirk hit something solid, the shock ringing through my hands. I put the blade down and reached out. My fingers hit stone, and I walked until I could put my whole body against it.

It's not much, but it's something to follow, I thought as I began edging along it. I didn't know why I was pressed up against a wall-perhaps it was to avoid being attacked from the back, or perhaps I was looking for a doorway out of the dark room. What I found was much better. Eventually, I rammed my side into something sticking out of the wall. I froze, knowing that whatever it was, it was probably not a good idea to attack it. I reached out-it was a wooden switch. I pushed on it, and torches suddenly flared to life all about the room, lighting up a bed of moss that I had probably landed on.

"What mortal comes here?" the voice demanded. "State your name."

"Tetra," I said. For some reason I was shaking as I answered.

"I know not the name," the voiced roared. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here by accident," I called back to wherever the voice might be. "I didn't mean to, really."

"Step forward," the voice commanded. I did so, trembling. Never had I been so terrified. There was silence.

"Are you done?" I demanded. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if someone were watching me. "Can I go? I'd really like to get back to my ship and crew, if you don't mind." I rubbed my arms against the goose bumps that were appearing on them.

"Never again," the voice mumbled. It sounded old and tired. The image of an old man appeared before me, clad in a red robe with a crown upon his head. He had white hair and a beard. A smile appeared on his face. "You've lost something."

"What do you mean?"

He held out his hand. "This," he said. It had been he who was talking to me. "Your necklace." A leather cord suddenly hung from his hand, supporting the golden triangle that had been my necklace. I walked up to him and wrapped my hand about the triangle. It felt solid, and weighted my hand down when I took it from the man. "Keep it. You might need it if we meet again."

"Why would we meet again?" But the old man had vanished, the torches had gone out, and everything was dark again.

"Miss! Miss Tetra!"

The voice . . . it was so familiar.

"Miss! Tetra!"

Nudge? Why was he down here in the stupid dark hole with me? Had he jumped? The idiot.

"Miss!"

"I'm fine," I said. "Now tell me why you're here in the dark with me in this stupid hole."

"Miss . . . ? I think you should open your eyes."

"My eyes are open!" I declared, wondering what in the world Nudge was talking about.

"Um . . . Miss? No they aren't." Something snapped, and I realized that my eyes were indeed closed and that I was laying on something soft. Perhaps I was on the moss again? Who knew. I couldn't remember anything since the old man had vanished. I opened my eyes to find that I was on the ship, in my cabin on my bed. I blinked in confusion. "She's awake!" I rolled over onto my side to see Nudge, Gonzo, and Mako standing there.

"What happened?" I asked, confused.

"You fell," Mako said. "Luckily, it wasn't that deep, so we went in to get you."

"Wasn't that deep!?" I shouted. "Are you crazy? I must have fallen forever!! But . . . if you came to get me that means you must have seen the switch that turned on the torches and the old man with the red robe. . . . " I trailed off when I realized that they were staring at me as if I were crazy. "You didn't."

"It was about five feet down, but you hit your head and passed out," Mako said. "You must have hit it harder than we thought."

"Five feet. . . ?" I said in dismay. The whole thing must have been a dream. I never got my necklace back. . . . "The treasure?" I asked somewhat hopefully. Maybe they had the sense to retrieve it. . . .

"There was none," Mako said. "The tunnel caved in about ten feet from where you fell and the other tunnel before that. It was a waste." I frowned. "So . . . "

"Make plans to sail to Windfall to restock," I said. "Then we'll sail wherever we please. For now, just leave me alone." As they left, I heard them talking about how I had lost my necklace for nothing, not even one piece of gold. I swallowed hard against tears. It felt like I had been so close to getting my necklace back. I rolled over to look at the wall, and found my eyes resting on the picture of the hero . . . instinctively, my hand went to my neck, and where I expected to feel nothing except skin in place of my necklace. . . .

I felt a leather cord.