"The Destiny Stone"

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Grr.

*****

Author's Note: Exams stink, people. They really really really do. Whoever invented them should have outlawed them while they were at it. Ugh. On the up side, I've still got this to write, though exams are taking first bid. So I might be a little slow for a bit. In the meantime, go read Tyhinolove's (aka Sond's) story, it involves the same characters and is a really really good read. It's all about Sond who needs a break' from the rest of the group; only what she got wasn't really part of the bargain. So, er, Chapter 9, people. Nick's back, and that means my spell check hates me again. Microsoft Word doesn't approve of Nick's accent too much, you see. :P

*****

"The Destiny Stone" – Chapter 9: Underway

Nick grinned again at the confused expression on the Hylian's face. Dismissing his crewmates, Nick shifted position on his chair, one leg hanging haphazardly over the chair's arm. The booted foot twitched impatiently as the crew filed out of the Captain's cabin. After the last had left, the door closed with a small snap.

Nick was wearing a sleeveless orange-red tunic with matching gloves, and his skin was a bit more dark and tanned than Link had remembered. Too many sunny days at sea, perhaps. A black belt held up his Volcanian-styled canvas pants, which were also dyed black. Around the redhead's neck was a very familiar medallion, shiny, and burnished, carved with a dragon emblem.

"S'yore name?" he prompted suddenly, leveling a calculating gaze at his guest.

"Oh, uh, it's Link," the Hylian mumbled.

"Tha'll do then. You'm very lucky Leviathan foun' ye," the redhead said, sheathing his dirk. "Oth'wise you'd be fishbait. Wot appened to ye, were sinkin, from wot I'm tol'"

Link blinked. "Was attacked by one of those giant sea snakes. Then the dragon came and stopped it from destroying the boat."

To Link's surprise, Nick looked concerned. "Snakes? Bu' dey n'er come t' th' surface"

"Look," said Link, "I know you don' believe me-"

"Eey, I never sai' tha', I didn', did I?" Nick cut him off, turning the Destiny Stone in his fingers. Since it had left the Hylian, the Stone had gone completely inert, reverting to its normal clear color. Nick lifted it up to the light and squinted at it, interested. "Odd thin' y'had "

"Um, could I have it back?" Link asked hopefully.

Nick's gaze leveled down at him, a half-raised eyebrow and a smirk playing across his features. "Val'able t' ya, then?" The Captain of the Alicorn laughed quietly, and changed the subject. "Wot were y'doin', way ou' in th' sea wi' such a lil boat, eh?"

Link paused a moment, trying to pick up on Nick's accent. If anything, the Volcanian had gotten even harder to understand. When he finally realized the nature of the question, he shrugged honestly. "Crossing the ocean, trying to get to Termina."

"T'rmina?" Nick looked surprised, twirling the Stone's chain around one finger. "Why y'wanna get ere so badly? I mea', crossin' th' sea inna liddle tub like tha' wi' a single sail an' nobody bu a lobo t'keep y'company"

Link made a face, barely catching half of it. "Well-"

"Y'don' look tat crazy," Nick remarked quietly. "Y'dun wanna go t' T'rmina, trus' me." Nick looked thoughtful, and slightly suspicious. "You en one of Ganondorf's, are ye?"

Link looked dubious. "Are you one of Ganondorf's?"

"Me?!" Nick scoffed, voice rising indignantly. "One of th' tyrant's? Course not! Tcheh, wot d'y think?" The redhead grumbled. "World'll be better off'n that mons'er's gone, tell yeh that'course, things dun' look t'good-"

Link's smile was genuine. "Well, I do believe that we are on the same side, then"

"'Right den." Nick smirked. "Why T'rmina? S'been conque'ed, y'know. Unfrien'ly place."

Link had given up on trying to get anybody to recognize him, so he didn't even bother explaining in full. Instead, he made do with: "I'm on a quest."

Nick laughed. "Aren' we all"

A sudden knock on the cabin door made both their heads turn towards the noise. Nick grumbled. "Aye, go'way!" he yelled irritably backwards.

"But sir" came a gruff voice from behind the door. "Ya tol' me t' tell ya when th' you-know-what woke up-"

"Aye! Now go'way!" Nick roared.

Link heard the exchange, and deftly put two and two together. "What did you do with Timbre?" he demanded quietly, leveling his own glare at Nick.

Nick raised an eyebrow questioningly. "So that what es name is. Ee yore frien', then?"

The Hylian nodded. "He's not dangerous, so I hope you're not planning to throw him overboard or something." Link swallowed, hoping this wasn't the case.

"Dun' worry," Nick said curtly. "I dun' do things like tha', I ha' respec' f'life, een if it is-" he cut himself off, clearing his throat. "B'sides, you two mus' be somewhat alrigh' if Leviathan broug' y'to me."

"Who?"

"Leviathan, big sea dragon tha' res'ued ye?"

"Oh." Dumb question, there.

"Leviathan knew y'were mportant. An' I gree, now."

"What do you mean?" It was Link's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Saw th triangles on y'left hand," Nick said nonchalantly. "Triforce bearer, aren't ye?"

Link self-consciously glanced down at his left hand. As he did so, he felt the eastward pull, as if there were fine wires attached to his hand. "Yeah. That's why I need to get to Termina. There's something very important summoning me there."

"Hmm," Nick mused. "Tha' quest' of yores?"

The Hylian nodded. "I don't suppose your boat's-"

"Ship," the Volcanian corrected. "An' we weren' plannin' on goin' t' T'rmina. Dan'grous territory."

"Do you think you could make an exception?"

"Ah'll think bout it," Nick said in a voice that hinted this particular subject was now closed. There was an uncomfortable pause.

"You still haven't told me what you did with my friend," Link said.

Nick smirked, still trying to figure out the Destiny Stone. "Ee's holed up, nice n' comfy down below deck. Course, I had t'restrain im a bit-yes, I know wot ee is," the redhead looked up, answering Link before he could speak up.

"Then you'd know better than to do that," Link challenged. "He's not just some Wolfos with no brains about him-"

Nick just laughed again. "Ee' migh' be yore friend," the redhead started, "But ee ain' one o' mine. Can' always trust a lobo, mateb'sides, I migh' know wot ee is, but m'crew don't. They'd thin' I'd gon' off m'rocker, lettin' a cre'ture like im be loose wi'out any cons'quence. They mi' do worse t'im.'"

Although Link was slightly exasperated, he could see Nick's point. Sort of. The Captain of the Alicorn stood up. "'Ow bout I gives ye a tour've th' ship?" He started. "Nev' was one t' not be ospitable."

"You still haven't given me back what is mine," Link said darkly.

"All yore stuff's wi' tha' boat've yores," Nick said, chuckling. Taking one last look at the Destiny Stone, he grudgingly tossed it back to Link. "W'salvaged th' wreck a'ter ye arrived. Come on, then."

Without another word, Link followed him outside. The two left the cabin, and Link squinted into the afternoon sun. If he'd arrived at the ship in the early dawn, this must have meant he'd been unconscious for quite a few hours. The deck of the Alicorn was busy with crewmembers going about their daily nautical routines. Link wasn't a huge sailing expert, the only thing he could really remember was that port' was left and starboard' was right. Nick laughed, and led him up some stairs.

The highest deck on a schooner such as the Alicorn is the deck directly above the Captain's cabin, known normally as the poop deck. It was here that Link found the salvaged remains of Ruto's boat. It was upside down, the crack in the hull gaping like an ugly wound. Nick clicked his tongue.

"Migh' sad injury, tha'," he remarked, pointing. "Pity too, she's a nice lil boat."

A sailor with a scruffy half-beard crawled out from underneath the wrecked boat. "There y' are, Cap'n," he said, saluting Nick. "She's been holed pretty badly, but I think she's fixable." The sailor squinted suddenly at Link. "Aye, an' this is th' owner of this liddle tub?"

Link shrugged. "Yeah, guess so."

"Then all've that stuff over yonder'll belong to you, then," the sailor thumbed over his shoulder. From the neat little pile poked Link's shield, both swords, and Timbre's trenchcoat, which was slightly damp but otherwise not too damaged.

Link was glad to find most of their equipment undamaged, although a lot of their food was gone. "At least we didn't lose anything important."

"You a double-bladesman?" the sailor suddenly piped up, still prodding the overturned boat.

"No, why?" Link looked confused.

"Y'got two nice swords there, then again, there's the shield too-"

"Well, the other sword belongs to my friend. So does the trenchcoat."

The sailor gave the Hylian a funny look, and Nick quickly changed the subject. "'Ow bout I show y'th rest've th' ship, Link?"

Link smirked, shouldering his weapon. "That'd be just great."

*****

Koume and Kotake smiled in unison as Chiron's image appeared on the surface of the silver sphere. The two witches nearly touched nose to nose as they eagerly leaned over the relic. Above them, the dome was being repaired yet again, this time by a squad of slightly more capable Poe ghosts. The specters fumbled slightly, trying to juggle lanterns and tools and plaster all at once. But at least they didn't drop things like the Redeads did.

The image of Chiron bowed. "Grandmother, I have completed the task you asked of me."

Kotake hissed in excitement. "Yesss?"

"Those two are fishbait. They tried to run for it in a boat, but they've been disposed of."

"Ooh," Koume smiled. She'd normally cackle gleefully, but she desisted in front of her grandson.' "How did you do it?"

Chiron smirked, the jewel on his forehead glinting as his head inclined secretively. "Snakes. Sea snakes."

"Ooh!" This time Koume did cackle. "Imagine that in your head, Kotake! Eaten alive by serpents. Not a nice way to go, not at all. Excellent"

"Indeed," Kotake closed her eyes, smiling. "Good work, grandssson."

Chiron bowed again. "I am always at your service. Any other task you wish me to complete, Grandmother?"

The Twinrova sisters looked briefly thoughtful, then Koume answered for the both of them. "Maintain normal protocol. Our dear son should be returning in a week or so. Do make sure that everything is in order for his arrival."

"Yes, Grandmother."

"Oh, and one more thing" Kotake added sinuously. "Did you ever find that blacksssmith?"

"No, I didn't," Chiron admitted.

Kotake smiled grimly. "Do find him, grandssson. You know what to do after that. Don't want to leave any loossse endsss, after all. You'll do that for usss, won't you?"

"Of course," Chiron agreed.

"We'll discuss this later. Contact us when you've found him, Chiron."

The image of the dark-haired youth disappeared like a hologram with a casual wave of Koume's hand. The witch sisters glanced at each other.

"Hmm," Koume said shortly. "I do believe our assassin was not entirely honest with us," she remarked, a crease of concern running down her brow. "How does he know the snakes finished the job?"

"Ssea sssnakesss are faithful, yesss, but isss he sssimply assssuming too much? Why did he not presssue them himssself, sssissster? Is our grandssson'sss loyalty waving again?"

"No." Koume said. "He had the right idea. Chiron is, however, getting, shall we say, sloppy?"

"Indeed," Kotake agreed, staring upwards at the working Poes. They were diligent, and doing a good job on the renovation, much to the Ice Witch's approval. "We ssshall have to monitor him closssely on hisss current missssion. If thisss isss a trend, it isss one that we mussst alter, and quickly."

"Mmm." Koume mused. "Do you think the snakes did the job?" she idly wondered. "I mean, if not, those two renegades might be out in the ocean somewhere. Why did they suddenly sail, I wonder"

"Too many quessstions," Kotake chided. "They will have to wait until the repairsss are finissshed, and then we will be able to divinate."

"Could always fly and check the ocean ourselves," Koume grumbled.

"Sssissster, do you realize how big the ocean isss, even on the sssurface? It would take usss monthsss to sssearch, and we might missss them ssstill! Bessst to be patient a few hoursss. We'll be able to find them much fassster, and with much lessss effort. That isss, if they ssstill live"

"Fine, fine," the Fire Witch grumbled. "But what do we do in the meantime?"

"Well, there'sss alwaysss cardsss" Kotake said quietly.

"Alright, but no Poker this time. I might blow my top if you cheat again."

"Me, cheat?" Kotake looked indignant. "I don't need to cheat! I win fair and sssquare!"

"Sure you do," the Fire Witch mumbled, rolling her eyes.

*****

Timbre smiled inwardly as he finally felt the metal bend back slightly. His jaws ached considerably, as he'd spent a large amount of time worrying the silver chain, attempting to bend it. But now those efforts were paying off. Slowly he opened his mouth, and the damaged chain fell to the wooden and hay covered floor with a metallic thud.

Great. Now for the finishing touchTimbre quietly stood up. The chain, as he'd discovered, was only about ten feet long. He had learned he could make it to the door of his prison, although doing so ate up all the chain's slack. He did so now, and the chain was pulled off the floor, as taught as it could go. The wolf slowly leaned his weight on the chain. If all went well, that weakened link would start to warp as the pressure increased. He leaned more, putting most of his weight on the chain-

There! Out of the corner of his eye he could see the silver link start to warp slightly, bending. He strained against the chain, collar digging slightly into his neck. "Grrr"

Just a little morethe wolf took a deep breath, and practically jumped forward, the collar cutting harshly into his furry neck.

There was a sudden sharp metallic Ping! sound, and Timbre caught himself before he hurtled nose over tail as his restraint no longer held. Turning around, he noted with satisfaction that the chain was now broken, and he was no longer tethered. Of course, he still was attached to a small length of the chain that dragged behind him, and was still unable to change form, but at least it was a start.

Wandering over towards the door, Timbre reared up, forepaws propping him up as he stuck his nose out for a proper look around. His head couldn't fit through the bars too well unless he forced it to. This was slightly necessary, he wanted to figure out just where the latch was, and if he could manage to lift it.

Luckily, the latch wasn't unreachable. The stall must have been in use for livestock animals of some sort, and was therefore built for that use in mind. The head of an animal the size of a cow or horse wouldn't be able to fit between these bars. But all he had to do was reach a forepaw through the bars and-

Sudden footsteps made his ears stand up. He tried to pull his head back inside, and suffered a slight surge of panic when he appeared to be stuck. If someone found him like this, they'd know he'd broken out of the chain, and then his escape would be worthless.

Ow ow ow owFinally Timbre braced himself against the door with all four legs, and wrenched his head back between the bars. He tumbled clumsily to the ground, and shook himself off, feeling very undignified.

He felt fortunate as suddenly two men walked by the door. One paused, peering in at him. Both the men were clearly Volcanian, much to Timbre's non-surprise. The man blinked as Timbre stared back at him, slowly standing up and hoping that neither man would notice the broken chain. The first man raised an eyebrow.

"I dunnothat thing's kind of creepy."

"Whaddaya mean?" The second man came back into view and peered inside as well. Timbre tried his best to scowl as he took a step back resolutely, scoffing to himself. Creepy, indeed.

"You see th' way it's starin' back at us?" the man said. "It's got smart eyes, y'know."

The second man smirked. "I think it's all in your head, myself. Looks like a normalthing to me."

But the first man wasn't finished yet. "Well, if I didn' know any better, I'd think it knew more than we think it does. Like maybe it knows what we're saying, eventhat kind of creepy."

The man's companion seemed to reflect on this a moment, then stepped forward. "Sit," he ordered through the bars in a sharp, commanding voice.

Timbre just gave him the most condescending look imaginable. Uh-huh. Right.

The second man scoffed, and started walking away. "See? What'd I tell you? It's all in your head. Let's get goin', Cap'n Nicoli wanted us on deck, and he meant pronto."

The first man followed, though grudgingly. "Didn't you see the way it glared at you? I still think that there's something funny bout that creature"

Their voices faded away with their footsteps. Timbre waited a few tense minutes before approaching the door again. If there was one thing he hated worse than collars, it was people thinking he wasn't intelligent. Well, they were about to be convinced that this clearly wasn't the case.

Standing up again, Timbre reflected, balanced against the door. Cap'n Nicoli? He wondered idly as he stuck his nose between the bars. It couldn't possibly be Nick, could it? Then again, knowing he and his friends' knack for seeming coincidences,' Tim didn't put the idea behind him totally.

Anyhow, I think I'll just let myself out so I can have a look for myself

The wolf carefully stuck out his right forepaw through the barred door, feeling around until he caught the latch. Of course, this wasn't easy. A wolf's shoulders don't rotate like a human's, and don't flex in the same way. But he managed. He'd rather a few twists than being stuck locked up, after all.

After a few tries, he managed to pull up the latch. It unhooked with a small click, and the door unlocked, swinging open a crack. Timbre disentangled himself, gave the door a good shove with his shoulder, and watched in amusement as the door swung slowly and quietly open.

Easy as that, when you know how to do it, he thought. After a second, he reflected that internal monologues were rather unnecessary. Poking his head out hesitantly, he turned his nose in the direction that the two had walked off in, peering around and on the alert. Those two men had said they were going up on deck, and that's where he wanted to go.

Guess it's time for me to pay a little visit to the Cap'n.

Above deck, Nick was still pointing out some of the finer details of his ship to Link. Apparently the Volcanian didn't get to display his prized boat to new people too often, as he seemed to take particular care in showing it off.

Link hid a smile, staring out along the bow as the ship ducked and weaved with the sinuous contours of the ocean. The sea was rather calm today, and there were few clouds to block the blueness of the sky. Ocean stretched out to every horizon, which somewhat disconcerted the Hylian. All non-sailors disliked losing sight of land, after all.

"-an' tha's th' Alicorn," Nick finished, with a grandiose gesture. "So, wot d'ye think?"

"Nice ship you have here," Link said, because he knew that was what the Volcanian wanted to hear. "now about bringing me to Termina"

Nick turned around sharply. "I tol' ye I'd think bout it," he snapped.

Link looked dubious. "Well, I could always give you something for your trouble, or something like that"

"Y'tryin t'bribe me?"

"Consider it payment for transportation."

Nick looked thoughtful. "How bout tha' pretty rock, eh?" He pointed at the Destiny Stone looped around the Hylian's neck. "Tha'd be a fair trade."

Link swallowed. "UhI can't really let go of it, it's important to me-"

"Wot, y'vixae give it to ye?"

"My what?"

"Yer girl. She giv' to ye?"

"Er, no" Link blushed, missing Sond for a brief moment. "I, er, found it. But I need it for my quest."

"Hmmph, wellif y'dun wanna trade" Nick crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

Link shrugged. "Sorry"

"Yeh. Me too," Nick said.

"Well, if you're not going to take me to Termina, could you at least let my friend go so we can get there by ourselves?"

"Wha? But tha' liddle boat've yores won' mak' I' there in its condi'on!"

"Could always fix it first," Link said, shrugging sadly.

"An' as for releasin' y'lobo, there's n'way I'll do tha'!"

"Why not?" Link smirked.

"'Cause!" Nick argued, looking a little wide-eyed and desperate.

"What, are you scared of him or something?" Link challenged. Several sailors looked over at the two at this comment and scowled gruffly. One, a rather lanky fellow, put his hand meaningfully on his cutlass, which was sheathed at his belt.

"Don't you go tauntin' our Cap'n, now, Hylian" he warned. "You shoul' be grateful, he could've dumped you an' th' mutt out to sea, stead of lettin' you stay!"

Link stared back at the sailor, looking slightly admonished. He was right, of course, he'd gone and insulted someone again. "FineI'm just flustered-"

Nick snorted. "Dun' excuse y'selffew man' can' take th' seayore jus' not one of them." The redhead smirked wickedly, and the sailors within hearing range laughed at this comment.

Feeling like the tables had been turned on him once again, Link sighed. "He'll just get out on his own, you know," he argued. "He's smart."

The sailors all raised a collective eyebrow. The sailor with the cutlass smirked disbelievingly.

At nearly that exact instant, some loud commotion occurred below decks, the deck vibrating slightly as if by a large number of footsteps. There were a couple of loud thuds and thumps, and a few muffled shouts, one of which eventually became slightly audible:

"It's escaped!"

The sailors all delved into action almost immediately. Abandoning their work, they jumped down the stairs, amidships, and turned apprehensively towards the downward portal that led to the galley, where the shouts had come from.

Link just smirked as Nick's stare become wide, though the Volcanian made no move. "Told ya," the Hylian said snidely.

"Cripes, ere it comes!"

Immediately after this exclamation, something rather large and furry shot out of the portal, dragging behind him a length of chain that rattled rhythmically as it was dragged over the notched wooden deck. Grasping the end of the chain was a smaller statured sailor, who apparently had been the one yelling. He was yelling now, although it was mostly just yelps of pain as he was dragged forcibly up the stairs.

Timbre whirled, in a bit of a half exhausted panic as he found himself surrounded by sailors. Some were approaching him like they would a stray dog, arms outspread to try and herd him back below decks. The wolf smirked inwardly at the thought, despite the nervous smell of sweat in the air. He was exhausted, and felt ready to collapse, though his brain was still working. It wasn't easy dragging a hundred or so pounds of dead weight around, after all.

Link watched, feeling confident in his friend's evading ability. Nick still hadn't commented. His mouth was opening and closing at random intervals, though no sound came out.

As if on cue, the group of sailors charged the wolf as a single unit. They were obviously expecting him to spook and run back downstairs, however, he chose to take a different course. He crouched, and sprang up into the air, half-dragging the man on the other end of the chain along with him. The throng of sailors, still carried by their momentum, landed on the hapless yeller in a heap. In the confusion, the man lost his grip on the chain, and Timbre leapt away, the loose chain's end clattering noisily. However, this acrobatic stunt had cost dearly, as the wolf was clearly panting heavily now.

Looking to the bow, Timbre spotted Link, the only familiar face he currently recognized. Then his eyes snapped on Nick, who was still standing stock still, though he did look rather pale. Deciding quickly, Timbre leapt up and ran towards them, stumbling up a few stairs on his way.

The lanky cutlass sailor, not quite as battered as the rest, managed to disentangle himself from the heap of his stunned fellows. Seeing the wolf apparently running at his Cap'n, he gave a yell and jumped forward, grabbing at the silver loose chain still dangling and rattling behind Timbre.

He didn't fully get a good grip on it, as it slipped out of his sweaty palm. However, he did manage to trip Timbre's run up, and the tired wolf fell and tumbled nose over tail, landing in a ungainly heap in front of Link and Nick.

Link just made a neutral sound. "About time you showed your face, Timbe," he remarked, though he was glad to see his friend was okay.

Timbre just lay on his side, sides heaving as panted for air. His mouth sagged open and his tongue flopped out.

"Don't do that," Link said, condescendingly. "You look stupid when you do that."

Timbre just glared upwards with baleful green eyes. "Rrrg."

The sailors, now recovering from their fall, were hurrying forwards. "Good grief, that mutt's a slippery one," one of them said, rubbing a bruised chin.

Link paid them no heed, just staring down interestedly at the collar encircling his friend's neck. He knew full well the properties of silver, and recognized the make of the chain and collar. Link clicked his tongue, annoyed. Turning his face towards Nick, he snapped, "Silver. You know what that does to him, don't you?"

But Nick was no longer standing there. He'd backed away as far as he could from the wolf, until his back hit the ship's railing. Any further and he'd fall overboard. The redhead looked rather pale, and his eyes were wide.

Link snorted. "You are afraid of him, then," he said, laughing.

Timbre was slowly regaining his breath. He managed to lift his head, staring over at Nick in recognition. He tried to stand up, succeeding in at least rolling upright. The sailors drew back, ready to make a grab for him if he tried to run off again.

"Don't bother," Link told them. "He's not going to hurt anyone."

The shorter sailor who'd been dragged up the stairs was a mess of bruises. "As if! It broke the chain by bending it, an' then opened is own stall an' let imself out-"

"Idiot! W'y didn' y'block th' door?!" Nick rasped. "I tol' y'to, y'din' listen!"

"Sorry, Cap'n. I didn' think it was trained-"

"He wasn't trained!" Link snapped at the same moment that Timbre growled indignantly.

"What? I thought this thing was your pet!" The lanky cutlass sailor butted in.

Link laughed before Timbre could glare at him. "Hardly"

"Well, it's at least tame, right?" the short sailor looked nervous.

Timbre snorted again, looking slightly outraged. He picked himself up into a sit, with as much dignity as he could muster. "Rrrrm!"

"Of course he's not." Link said, slightly amused at the reaction this got. "He's my friend, that's all." It could've been Link's imagination, but he swore he saw a little bit of a grateful gleam in Timbre's eyes for a second. "Besides, did he actually attack anyone?"

The short sailor blinked. "Well, no'ee were jus' running, really"

"Be that as it may," the lanky sailor said, "I don' think Cap'n Nicoli'll want him runnin' loose. Whad'ya say, Cap'n?"

Nick had recovered somewhat, although he didn't seem to want to move any closer. The Volcanian seemed to be in deep thought over something. Finally, he sighed. "S'no use, ell jus' get out gain," he muttered. He looked over at Link. "Y'win," he said finally. "But th' collar stays on, y'hear me?"

"Mrr!" Timbre exclaimed indignantly.

"Shut it,." Link warned him.

"Look lobo," Nick snapped, and the sailors blinked in confusion at their Cap'n apparently addressing an animal, "Y'can either live wi' th' collar, or go o'verboard wi'out it. Yore choice."

Timbre actually sighed, and nodded resolutely, though he still looked angry. Nick's crew stared. First their Cap'n starts talking to the animals, but when they start responding-

"Then tha's settled. But tha' dun mean I'll tak' either y't T'rmina, unless y' changed yore mind, Link-"

"Actually, I've got a better offer for you," Link said. "Instead of the Stone, I'll give you our boat. Sure it's a bit beat up, but I'm sure you'll have a better use for it than we willwe're done with boats once we get to Termina." As soon as he said this, Link wondered how he'd manage to get back to Hyrule after they'd found the sword piece. Oh well, he thought. Cross that bridge when we come to it.

Nick looked less fearful and more thoughtful. "Well"

Link frowned. "Well, if you don't-"

"Deal!" Nick said quickly, and he held out his hand to shake. He chucked nervously. "Er, do y' min' comin' ov'r ere?" he said quietly. Timbre just rolled his eyes and Link strode forward, shaking the proffered hand.

"Great," the Hylian said. "How long's it gonna take us to get there?"

The answer Link was given was "three days." Since the Alicorn was a good deal larger, and faster than Ruto's boat, it would cut down on their travel time considerably. This was fortunate.

What was unfortunate, at least in Link's point of view, was the fact that Nick immediately put him to work.

"But-"

"No buts!" The Volcanian had cut him off. "Y'on m' ship, I'm th' Cap'n, an' I won' ave idle ands on m'ship. An' that's that."

Unfortunately for Link, work' consisted of washing dirty dishes in the galley, and any other cleaning duties that Nick saw fit for him to perform. Currently, the Hylian was tackling a huge cauldron of an iron pot, caked with greasy residue from that day's dinner. It was actually nighttime now, although this made little difference below deck, save for the fact the small portholes were dark. The grease on the pot was exceptionally stubborn, he'd actually been working at it since the portholes were still light.

That was the other thing. Instead of ship's gruel, like Link would've expected, the Volcanian sailors preferred what was apparently their version of chili. And Nick's specialty, as they called it, called for several dashes of Volcanian Hot Magma' sauce in every bowl. This amounted to quite a spicy meal. The Volcanians were used to it to the point that they didn't bat an eyelid at the spice. Link, however, was not Volcanian.

His spice-sensitive stomach seemed to turn another loop the loop as he stubbornly worked at the huge pot, legs clamped around it so it would stay put. "Stupid Nick," Link grumbled to himself. "Stupid pot. Stupid chili. Stupid everything."

"Rrm?"

Link nearly jumped, but couldn't as he was currently anchored to the pot. He turned around and glared at Timbre, who had padded quietly into the galley during his soliloquy. "What do you want?!" the Hylian snapped irritably. "What've you been up to, anyway?"

The wolf gave a furry shrug, feeling the weight of the collar shift as he did so. Nick had allowed the dragging chain to be removed (it kept getting caught on things), though the silver collar remained. Timbre had resigned himself to being stuck in one form for the time being. It wasn't like he'd go crazy or something if he didn't change form, he just kind of missed having opposable thumbs and being able to speak a human language.

"Well you're no use," Link grumbled, turning back towards the dirty pot. "Now where did that dishrag go to?" He felt around with his free hand, the left one, but couldn't find the rag. The Hylian turned around again. "Where did that stupid-"

"Grrf." Timbre held up the rag clenched in his teeth with a grimace. It tasted kind of nasty and soapy, with a faint spicy aftertaste. The Hylian just snatched it back without a word. Timbre rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Where were you for dinner?" The Hylian said, turning around. "S'not like you to miss a meal."

He got no response from behind him, not that he expected to anyway. Link snickered.

"Yeah, you're not too fond of spicy things, right? And you know better than to touch anything Nick thinks is good." When he's been with the group, Nick had often spiced up' food, even when it wasn't entirely appropriate. There had been a joke among their now-sundered group: it was hard to tell whose cooking was worse, Sond or Nick's.

"Anyhow," Link said, turning around again to look the wolf in the eye. "Aren't you hungry, then?"

Timbre just shook his head, and Link raised an eyebrow.

"You sure?"

Nod nod.

"Who are you and what did you do with Timbe?" Link said, jokingly. "That's not like you at all. It's not like you had chores to do or anything"

Timbre looked indignant, although Link wasn't sure how he'd managed to read that expression. Maybe he was slowly learning the nuances of lupine language.

"Hey, you should consider yourself lucky," Link grated, wiping away the last bit of grease from the pot. "That the great Cap'n Nicoli' hasn't put you to work. There, that's the dishes done." Without another glance, Link shoved the pot back into its normal place so it wouldn't shift when the boat rocked, and exited the galley, Timbre following him. The two wordlessly filed down past the eating area, through a small doorway, and past several kegs of ale and Hot Magma sauce (when one was mistaken for the other, it led to some interesting dinners). Both of them weren't stumbling around as much even though the boat rocked, they'd apparently finally gained their sea legs.

Link didn't stop until he'd made it to the stall where Timbre had originally been held prisoner. He scowled in distaste as a single rat squeaked from the hay, and scampered out a hole in the wall. Since there were no spare beds on the Alicorn, Nick had only the soft straw in the livestock stalls to offer them both. Link slumped down, looking beat. His tunic was a little grimed up from all the work he'd done, and he'd abandoned trying to wear his hat. Instead, he left it folded neatly next to the two swords, his shield, and Timbre's trenchcoat, in the corner of the room. "I'll be so glad when this ride's over," he said, leaning back on the straw.

"Mrr," Timbre agreed, silently noting the hole the rat had escaped from. Unfortunately, growls and the such just weren't very expressive when one was trying to communicate with humans. But Link seemed to figure some sense out some of his exclamations.

Link sighed and stared at his marked left hand. The boat's trajectory had turned due east, and the pull now pointed in the same direction as the Alicorn's bow. "Wonder what Termina's like now" he said quietly.

"Mrr."

"Maybe we'll break the spell on Nick while we're here, do you think?"

"Mrr."

"I wonder how Vulcan is doing."

"Mrr."

"Hope Sond's alright."

"Mrr?"

"'Mrr' yourself. I'm going to sleep. Good night. Besides, you talk too much." The Hylian rolled over so he was facing the wall, shuffled a few times, and then was completely unresponsive.

Timbre just sighed loftily as he collapsed onto his trenchcoat. He circled in place on it three times, then curled up with his tailtip covering his nose. It was going to be a long three days, he thought.

*****

"LIGHTS!" screeched the Fire Witch to the newly restored domed ceiling. In response, the entire huge room was thrown into spooky, echoey darkness. The silver sphere was slowly levitating, and projected again its map of stars across the blackened rounded dome. The Poes had scattered the instant their repairs were finished, but at least they didn't complain and make noise like the Redeads.

The stars' twinkled innocently, and the Twinrova sisters turned their noses directly upwards.

"Sssstarssss," Kotake intoned seriously, "Where are the Heroessss of Time?"

A huge mess of constellations answered her, and she hissed, annoyed.

"You have to be specific," Koume admonished. "You're confusing it."

"Okay" Kotake scowled at the ceiling. "Where are the two rogue Heroesss of Time? You know, the onesss we're trying to sssstop?"

The stars seemed to blink in apology, and responded again.

"Hmmthe Sail. Well, that's obvious enough, as they're on the ocean"

"Ssshouldn't the sssnakes have dessstroyed them by now?" Kotake wondered aloud.

A second constellation lit up the sky, and Kotake hissed.

"What's wrong?" Koume asked.

"It responded with the Alicorn," Kotake murmured.

"The what-"

"Alicorn. Like a unicorn, only it hassss wingsss. A flying unicorn."

"Oh. So this means that"

"I'm not sssure, but the sssnakes have clearly not done their job."

"Curses," muttered the Fire Witch. "Chiron failed us."

"Indeed, twice that he hasss now on the sssame missssionhowever the sssspell remainsss intact. Where are our granssson'sss loyaltiesss?"

The Crown lit up.

"See? He's still loyal to Ganondorf, he's justmessed up." Koume snorted. "He's in for quite a punishment if he can't bring that blacksmith to justice, and quickly."

"Yesss, yesss," The Ice Witch waved off her sister impatiently. "That isn't what mattersss at the moment. We can deal with him later. What we need now isss to properly dessstroy the Heroessss of Timeperhapssss if we contact the sssnakessss again?"

"Yes, but how will they know who to find?"

Three stars, high above them, flared brightly, forming a perfect triangle.

"The Triforce?" Koume screeched. "They have a Triforce?"

The stars seemed to agree, as the constellation of the Warrior joined the Triforce.

"We apparently have underessstimated them, Kotake," Koume sighed.

But Kotake was grinning morbidly. Her face seemed to emulate a dead skull as she cackled icily. "Don't you ssssee though? The Triforcethere are only three of them. And one isss currently locked away in the Sacred Realm. That leavessss only two, and Ganondorf holdsss the other. Without the strength of two combined, no Triforce can oppossse the other!"

Koume sighed. "That means that Ganondorf will not be able to defeat them as well."

"Yessss, but Ganondorf currently hassss alliesss, which tip the balance in our favor." Kotake smirked. "And now we can imprint the ssssnakesss on the Triforcethey'll be drawn to it like a moth to a flame."

"I do hope you're right," Koume said.

Gnarled hand clasped gnarled hand as the two witches closed their bulbous eyes in concentration. Their old minds flew from their entranced bodies, far across the continent, colliding in mid air. With a single shriek, Twinrova plunged deep into the ocean. Unlike Chiron, she was more capable of telepathic suggestion, and could sense the emotions of hundreds of living things in the area.

Invisible bubbles seemed to float about the consciousness of Twinrova as she probed for the sea snakes. Briefly merged, the old Gerudo called out soundlessly into the ocean's depths: "Hear me and obey."

There was a rumbling, and a dozen answers came, rumbling emotions. There were a couple of screeches, hisses, must mostly the overwhelming emotion of hunger. Twinrova smiled. Hunger was usually a driving emotion in any creature, but the sea snakes were clearly more ravenous than she'd expected. This was good, and she smiled inwardly. Chiron had influenced them, it was clear. He'd just given then the wrong kind of motivation.

One of the snakes responded with a mantra: Find boat, destroy boat

"Why haven't you destroyed the boat?" Twinrova asked the single snake curiously. The serpentine mind seemed to rile over this question, as if carefully dissecting it. When it finally did arrive, the answer was brief.

Stopped.

Twinrova cursed the small brief minds of serpents, and asked it why.

Bigger snake.

"What?!"

A leviathan, it clarified.

A sea dragon, Twinrova thought, translating this. She was aware of dragon's high intelligence, and so had never been able to contact or influence one. Ganondorf had, but he'd used the Triforce of Power to do that. Too much intelligence led them to have a kind of draconic sentient conscience that just didn't lend itself to random strangers giving them orders. Curses.

So Twinrova added a suggestion: "Gang up on it, then."

?????

Oh, it didn't understand cooperation. Snakes weren't known for being social creatures, after all. "More than one snake equals more power than a bigger snake. Find others. Attack as one so none will oppose."

Twinrova received a wordless emotion, that of curiosity.

"Yes, find more. Sense for the one with this-" here Twinrova transmitted a kind of echo of the Triforce's aura. "Destroy it," she ordered firmly.

Compliance. The snake's consciousness faded as it moved to find other sea snakes and somehow spread the word.

With a jolt, Koume and Kotake found themselves sitting bolt upright, separate again and back in their old, wizened bodies. Both were breathing heavily.

"Well," said Koume, brushing herself off. "I hope that dumb serpent does its job this time."

"It will" Kotake hissed. "I know it."

*****

The second day dawned slightly overcast, with a slight threat of rain. Link sighed as he bent down on hands and knees, bucket of water close at hand as he scrubbed the deck amidships. Nick had decided that was his job for the day, and Link was running out of bad names to call the Volcanian mentally.

Link glared upwards with baleful blue eyes as Timbre trotted wordlessly past towards the bow, some kind of rolled parchment clenched tightly in his mouth. The Hylian was beginning to wonder about his friend. The wolf had refused last night's chili, and hadn't even turned a nose at breakfast this morning. Timbre didn't appear to be suffering from more seasickness, and his eyes were bright enough. He just hadn't eaten, apparently. Despite this, the wolf appeared to be in a rather cheerful mood.

Link shrugged as the wolf's white tailtip flicked as Timbre disappeared up the stairs. "He's just gloating," Link muttered to himself. "I'm tempted to get that collar off him just so he's stuck swabbing with me."

"I wouldn', if I wa' you," a familiar voice intoned from above him.

Link pulled up into a kneel, glaring up at Nick. "Why's that?" he said rebelliously.

"'Cause I'm th' onl' one wi' th' key, f' one," Nick said stooping down, jangling a small key looped around his pendant. "F'nother, m'crew'd prolly think ee were a demon o' some sort n' ang im. An' for still nother, if y'did steal from me, I'd be obligate' t' ask for some compensat'ion in return," he said, eyeing the Destiny Stone as he did so.

Link just stared at the floor, unable to find a good retort.

"Tha's a goo' sailor, now," Nick said condescendingly as straightened himself. "'Ave fun now, Link!"

The Volcanian chuckled in a good-natured kind of way as he walked towards the bow. Even though he was teasing Link slightly, he really didn't mind the Hylian too much. It was just funny to watch Link's annoyed facial expressions.

"Have you seen Ty recently?" Link said suddenly, looking up.

This was possibly the last thing Nick expected the Hylian to say. He whirled around, glancing at Link with a very serious expression. "'Ow you kno' bout Tyhino?!" he demanded. "One o th' crew tell ye?"

Link snorted. "No. Besides, they don't know about him, do they?"

"No, th' don'," Nick said shortly. "An' t'ain't none of y'business, either."

"Sorry," Link said, shrugging. "Just thought you might know-"

"Why?" Nick asked curiously. "D'you know im?"

The Hylian nodded. "Haven't seen him in about ten years, though."

"Well, I ain' no elp to ye," Nick said. "I aven' seen im in twelve. Where'd y'see im las'?"

"In Hyrule," Link replied.

Nick shrugged, as if not really believing him. "Well I dunno ow you know im, or ow y'know I know im. An' I ain' gonna ask, either." With that the Volcanian turned sharply on his heel and walked towards the bow.

Link just stared after Nick, wondering what in the world had told him to ask about Ty. He didn't care about Monkey Boy one way or another. Then again, they had parted ways on a bit of a sour note. Link wondered idly if part of him was regretting that he hadn't listened to Timbre and apologized.

"Naah" the Hylian went back to work, and soon the confused thoughts were gone from his head again.

The tall sailor with the cutlass, dubbed Lanky' by the other crewmen due to this trait, was staring at the wolf who was currently struggling, trying to hold open a map flat on the deck. The tall sailor had been tying off some ropes when the lupine had trotted in, with the map rolled up carefully and clenched in his teeth. Lanky raised an eyebrow as the wolf stared down frustratedly down at the map, which lay loosely rolled on the wooden deck, refusing to lie flat

No, Lanky corrected himself. It just looked like it was frustrated. It was probably going to start chewing that map up any moment now

But now the wolf did something odd. It spread its forepaws wide, and flattened the map out again, pinning it firmly down at either end. The yellowed corners of the map curled up in response, obscuring the edges of the map even further.

Nick arrived on deck just as the wolf made a frustrated sound, turned tail, and walked down the opposite stairs with a flick of his tail. The Captain of the Alicorn stared down at the map as it slowly rolled itself up, eyebrow raised.

"Weird beast, that," Lanky said to his Captain, saluting. "Dunno wot it's up to."

Nick just rolled his eyes. "Dun' min' im, then," he said.

"Dunno, Cap'n," Lanky said, stretching. "Weird feelings bout lately. Funny things since them two both showed up. Like ave y'noticed tha' rat infestation we ad is gone away? Cook mentioned itthey jus' "

Nick just made a face. "Well, least ees good f' something," he muttered darkly, staring after the way Timbre had gone.

Lanky continued his tirade. "an' that Link fellowwe eard im talking, s'like he knows a lot more bout you than he lets onWot d'you see in that Hylian any'how?"

Nick shrugged, not sure what to tell the man. For some odd reason, he just knew that Link was all right. The same went with the wolf, but Nick wasn't about to admit that. Also, something told the Volcanian that the fate of the Hylian and his companion was very important. The Triforce mark on the youth's hand had only further convinced him. Nick rarely had hunches, but when he did, they were usually right.

"You really gonna take em to Termina?" Lanky cut in, jolting Nick.

"'Course I am. I'm a man o' me word, after all-"

As he spoke, the wolf's head peered back around the stairway at them. Now he had clenched in his jaws what Nick recognized as one of the swords he'd found with the small boat. Nick watched with a slightly nervous grimace as the wolf strode boldly over to the map. He dropped the heavy sheathed sword along one end of the map with a heavy clunk.' He then easily unrolled the rest of the map with a casual sweep of his forepaw, and sunk into a sit, staring down his long nose at the printed map.

Lanky just made a kind of unintelligible noise. "What-"

"Dismissed," Nick said to the sailor, wearily.

"Bu-"

"I sai' dismissed.'"

"Yes Cap'n!" Lanky saluted, and strode down below decks. Probably for a stout drink, Nick thought. Meanwhile, Timbre glanced up at him meaningfully.

"D'you really ave t' creep m'crew out?" Nick said angrily. "I dun' wan' them findin' out any more bout you than' they ave to!"

Timbre snorted, and Nick nervously realized this wasn't a threat. The wolf was laughing at him. He then turned his nose back down to the map that he'd somehow acquired. It was a detailed map of Termina, with Clock Town clearly depicted in the center. Nick himself had been to Clock Town once, although it had been before Ganondorf's rule. The wolf's free paw slowly traveled across from Great Bay, until it rested on top of the Clock Town tower, colorful mural and all. Apparently the wolf was tracing their perspective route.

Surprised at himself, Nick spoke aloud. "Y'know, s'ain' a very saf' town, Clock Town. Fact, none of T'rmina's very safedunno why y'wanna both get there"

"Mrr," the wolf grumbled, looking up at him. Nick took a nervous step back.

Timbre, meanwhile, smirked inwardly for the hundredth time since he'd set paw on this vessel. Now, humans had this funny idea that animals with sensitive noses could smell fear in people. Of course, it wasn't the fear that the animals could smell, it was the nervous sweat that those fearful people tended to break out into. And Timbre could currently smell that nervous sweat emanating from Nick.

He's scared of me, the wolf thought, amused. Honest to goodness terrifiedIf he'd felt overly spiteful, he might have decided to reinforce that fear with a little mock-growl, but at the moment Timbre was feeling too tired for that. So he just looked back down at the map, ignoring the Captain of the Alicorn completely.

Nick shrugged and walked away, trying hard not to look like he was doing so as quickly as he could. Timbre just snickered, which amounted to a funny kind of snort in this form. He studied the map for several more minutes, before knocking off, trotting back below deck with both his sword and the map. On the way below decks, he passed Lanky, who was emerging looking a little cross-eyed.

"Hrm," the sailor mumbled, watching the four-legged lupine thread his way down towards the galley. "Maybe nex' time ee'l be readin' a book"

Had either Timbre or the lanky sailor been staring off into the horizon to the starboard, they would have been witness to an odd sight. Sleek wet loops of rubbery black coils were slowly rising out of the water, intertwining and flipping in on themselves like some huge, horribly tangled black knot. Although miles and miles away, the odd object slowly bobbed forwards. It wasn't incredibly close yet, but it could easily be intercepting the boat not too long after dark at he pace it was headed.

Had either of them witnessed the half-dozen scaly heads staring hungrily at the ship, they might have been slightly alarmed, as the serpents submerged as a single entity, noses pointed directly at the Alicorn.

The sea snakes had arrived.

And they were hungry.

*****

Ooh, nice creepy way to end the chapterAnd hmmI'm apparently drawing this out a little more than I'd originally expected. See, from my original plan, there were going to be only two travel' chapters where they were at sea. Well, the way it's going, it's definitely going to be three. Next chapter, we're going to be checking in down in Kakarikosee how Vulcan's doingand find out what happens when an assassin comes to visitstay tuned! Review and I'll do the same!