..
A/N: Thanks again for the lovely reviews! You guys made my day!
Also, the bad grammar in this following chapter is entirely intentional! (Me fail English? That's unpossible! lol) It's just because Niko is telling the story now and, as he is a ragtag pirate, I thought spotless syntax might not suit him. He also uses a bit of language, hardly anything major.
Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda. However, I'm willing to take over ownership of the franchise if Nintendo would like.
..
[Niko]
..
By the time I had Miss rowed back ashore Link was already halfway through packing. He had a trunk ready quick as a jiffy, crammed full of things he called "necessary" and I called "backbreaking". I offered to give him a hand, so the two of us clumsily sidestepped together down the incline to the beach, each carrying an end of the trunk.
"Sweet, sufferin' Goddesses! Link, what in hell do you got in there?" I gasped, me legs all atremble from the burden. It took me last scrap of strength to give it that final heave-ho into longboat.
"Yes, you're sure you haven't forgotten anything?" asked Miss Tetra who had strolled leisurely behind us. I hoped she wasn't serious—you never can tell with Miss.
She hopped into the longboat and Link and me gave it a shove into the calm, morning surf. We each took an oar and shared the job of rowing us back to the ship.
"Well…" grunted Link between rows, " I brought two swords…my mirror shield…Aryll's telescope…a change of underwear…the hookshot…cheese…and… the megaton hammer."
"Cheese?"
"Well, it would've gone bad if I left it home."
Miss Tetra threw back her head and laughed.
The Miss had done her own preparations for the voyage the week before. We sailed straight from the Jungle Archipelago where we had stole that pretty, little flute off Cagway to Windfall. I thought we'd gone there to sell the ocarina, but the Captain bought us supplies instead. We loaded barrels of ale and apples, boxes of nonperishables, and caches of arms and explosives into the ship's hold.
"'Tis gonna be a long voyage, isn't it, Capt'n," Gonzo had said.
And the Miss nodded, real solemn-like.
We had a rip-roarin' party that night in Windfall, stopping at our favorite pub. The locals were drove early to bed by our hoots and gallivanting nonsense. The Miss was real quiet the whole time, sipping her drink silently, not even laughing when Nudge did a jig on the table. She hadn't told us much about the coming voyage, only that we were going someplace we'd never been to. Her glowing triumph from stealing the ocarina had faded to long-faced worry. And, 'tis never a good sign when the Captain is worried.
But her sober mood soon faded after Link joined us. It was like old times again. He wasn't aboard five minutes and she was bossing him around. "Link, quit being such an idle toad and swab the deck!" or "Link, quit bothering the crew! And don't think I don't know you're making faces!" or "Link, you're tangling the shrouds! Get down from there!"
It went on like that all day long and they spent next two evenings in her cabin, discussing the coming voyage. We had turned south but she still hadn't told us nothing about her plans. I had taken to listening outside their door, seeing if I could hear anything, but they talked real quiet. So, on the third evening I snuck into the Captain's cabin to finally find out what was going on.
I couldn't find anywhere decent to hide and their footfalls were fast approaching, so I dove into the midst of a coat-rack, hiding behind Miss's trenchcoat. I heard the door open and saw Miss Tetra and Link through a small gap between an itchy sweater sleeve and the flap of a jacket. Link sat down and I couldn't see him no more. Miss Tetra was in plain view, leaning against her desk.
"So how far back in time are we going exactly?" That was Link asking the question.
"Quite far," she says vaguely, glancing out her wide cabin window at the sunset. I think she was avoiding looking at him.
"Look, if I'm going to be going with you on this treasure hunt, you better start giving me some straight answers!"
Tetra's gaze flicked back to him and she gave him a sly smile. "Alright then, I will. Tell me: how familiar are you with the Ocarina Legend?"
"Familiar enough. But what does—"
Miss cut him off. "Tell it to me. As much as you know…from the top. Then I'll answer your question."
I heard Link sigh.
"Fine. Once upon a time, there lived an unsuspecting boy in an enchanted forest. Some huge tree told him to go find Princess Zelda, whom in turn sent him on a quest to protect the Triforce. Unfortunately, the princess wasn't too bright and Ganondorf duped them into opening the door to the Triforce. This kid is too young to fight Ganondorf, so the Goddesses freeze him and the princess flees, letting Hyrule descend into darkness for seven long years…"
"Stop right there!"
My stomach leaped. She'd seen me!
"What? Why?"
The blood-red sun was setting behind her, lengthening her slender shadow until it almost reached the coat-rack. I tried to shrink back further behind her coat, but her mighty gaze had already connected to me own and I knew it was no use. I didn't know what she wanted me to do. The decent thing would've been to stumble out of that stuffy coat-rack, apologize, and accept my punishment for eavesdropping. But a queer glint in her eyes told me to stay put and listen.
"What is it," Link asked again after Tetra had said nothing for awhile. He squirmed around in his chair to have a look at what Miss was starring at. He didn't see me.
Tetra blinked and looked back to Link. "Nothing, Link. Nothing at all."
"Then why did you stop me?"
"Because…because you were at the part where the hero is in enchanted slumber. We're going to steal the treasure sometime during those seven years. I don't know when precisely; time travel isn't exactly a science."
"Hold on. Correct me if I'm wrong, but are the seven years the hero is asleep not the same seven years Ganondorf is at the height of his tyrannical rule?"
"Yes," she said, sounding bewildered that that would bother him.
"Don't you think that's a tad unwise?" Link's voice sounded stretched.
"Well, what's the fun in stealing the treasure if Ganondorf doesn't even know it's gone?"
"What's the fun: us not getting our heads chopped off! Tetra, I don't have the master sword anymore. We'll be defenseless!" he cried.
Wasn't Ganondorf the monster Link and the Captain faced ten years ago? He's the one who started all that trouble with young girls going missing. Why in the world would Miss want to get into another tangle with him?
"We aren't going anywhere near him. And unlikely as it is, if we do, per chance, run into him, he won't have a reason for singling us out. He won't have met us for nearly seven-hundred years!" she says.
"Tetra, you are Princess Zelda! Don't you think that's enough reason for him to single us out?"
Both Miss and Link looked over at the coat-rack, which had jumped and banged against the wall. It was really me, of course, who gave a leap, on the count of that I had no idea that our Miss was a princess—and Princess Zelda to boot!
"Are you sure there's nobody there?' Link asked skeptically, frowning at the coat-rack.
"Yes, positive," snapped Tetra. It was beyond me why the Miss was hiding me. Did she want me to hear all these secrets?
"Link, Ganondorf wouldn't recognize me as a princess. For one, neither of us have a Triforce anymore. Secondly I don't look a thing like a princess and thirdly, the Zelda of the time would only be somewhere in her teens, while I'm twenty-three."
Miss Tetra a princess? Who would of though it! Sure she's beautiful enough and graceful enough, but not in a princessly sort of way. Though, then again, I'd never seen her in a dress with her hair unknotted and down. Really, I would've been less surprised if Link turned out to be a princess instead.
"Alright," sighed Link. "Well, Hyrule's a big place. What's the chance of us running into him, right?"
"Right," smiled Miss Tetra.
Link stood up from his chair and moved toward the Miss. She looked right up at him with her big blue eyes and he looked as if he were about to kiss her. Oh Din! I didn't want to see that! I squeezed me eyes shut.
But she must've shoved him away because he cried out, "Hey! What gives?"
"Sorry, but you'll have to excuse me. I still have some navigational charts to attend to before the night's through. Goodnight, Link," she told him right coldly.
"Goodnight then," he replied tersely.
With my eyes still shut, I heard his heavy footfalls on the wood floor and the sound of the cabin door opening and closing. Only then did I think it safe to look.
"Come on out, Niko."
I fell out of the coat-rack with a thump, which swayed and toppled the damn thing on top of me. Fearing her wrath, I quickly stood it back up, picking up jackets that had fallen off.
"Leave it," she ordered with so much ice in her voice that it froze me. "I'm not going to punish you this time, Niko, but if this happens again, so help me Din, I will tie an anchor to your legs and tow your arse across the seafloor. Understand?"
"Absolutely, Capt'n."
"Do you have any questions?" She looked tired.
"Just the one, Capt'n," I says. "Is this voyage going to be hairy?"
"Yes. Very. But it will be worth it in the end, I promise you. Now, if that's all, please excuse me, but those charts still await."
"Yes, Capt'n. Goodnight, Capt'n."
I though it strange at the time that she didn't forbid me to tell the others about what I had heard. It only occurred to me after that she wanted me to tell them. This way she didn't have to lie to them. It was going to be dangerous, no denying it. I kept the bit about her being a princess to meself; I liked knowing a secret the others didn't.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Well, if you've read this far, you might as well give me a REVIEW. Please!
..
Update soon to follow: Against Link's wishes, Aryll joins the crew next chapter!