Chapter Five—The Red Lion

Tetra stared at the words for a full ten seconds, unable to accept them. This could not be happening. How had the government forces of the Great Sea found out about Zelda? She had been so sure…

Even as she was still reeling from this, another arrow struck mere inches from her left foot. This one, too, came with a small scroll, which she ripped off.

Kidding!

That was all. Utterly lost, Tetra glanced between the two notes, trying to make sense of them.

A third arrow, a third note. Crushing the first two in her first, she took hold of the newest impatiently.

To the Princess of Hyrule, first mate of the Black Pearl, from the Hero of Winds, General of the Felicitovente navy, greetings!

(Translation: Hi, Zelda. From, Link.)

Tetra's eyes could not accept what she was seeing written on this small piece of paper. These were not names she had seen or heard in years, unless she counted the times they had crossed her own thoughts and lips. And right here, right now, they made no sense.

Link

"Miss Tetra!" shouted Michael. "Are we going to fire?"

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" she roared, turning around sharply. "If you fire on that ship, I'll throw you overboard!"

"You—Are those captain's orders?" asked the young man who had just spoken, completely bewildered.

Grinning at him, Tetra couldn't resist saying, "No. That's a royal decree."

He stared at her in confusion, but she ignored him, disentangling a rope from one of the sails and bracing herself to swing across to the deck of the official government ship. Her crew was watching inconspicuously all around her, apparently curious as to what was going on, but unwilling to ask or even appear as though they wanted to do so. Still, there were a few gasps and shouts of surprise when she ran towards the edge of the deck and swung out over the open water, just as the regal ship bearing the name Red Lion across its hull drew up beside the Black Pearl.

She alighted on its deck, and landed near the bow before a blond young man in a formal uniform of red and gold, who was staring at her in wide-eyed shock and nearly fell over when she leapt on him with a stranglehold hug.

'Oof!'

'Link!'

Beaming, she took a step back to really look at her friend and raised her eyes at the sight of his immaculate outfit.

'Well, look at you,' she commented. 'Dressed all—Hey!'

She interrupted herself when Link took hold of her quickly and dragged her away, practically throwing her through the nearest door and slamming it behind her. She heard a key turn in a lock.

'Li—!' she began to shout his name, but cut herself off to listen when she heard voices outside.

'General, what—?' came one she didn't recognize.

'What what?' Link asked sharply. 'Nothing. It's not the right ship. I thought it was, but…it must be her sister ship or something. Spread the word around the crew, we're continuing on our course, ignoring this one.'

'But General, they're pirates! Shouldn't we…?'

'No,' Link insisted quickly. 'They're not in our jurisdiction. We'll leave them alone unless they attack us, which we want to prevent, so let's get moving.'

There was a pause, and then the sailor said uncertainly, 'General…I thought I saw…'

'What?' Link asked; his tone was imposing.

'Nothing,' the other man said, clearly not wanting to irritate his captain further. 'I—Nothing.'

'Good. Go. And I've got some work to do,' he added hurriedly, but in the same domineering tone, 'so tell everyone, I'm not to be disturbed for anything.'

'Oh…Yes, General.'

There were footsteps; presumably the other sailor was leaving to follow Link's orders.

Tetra realized her mouth was hanging open. She closed it and took a step backwards as the lock turned once more, and Link entered the room.

'Link, what the hell are you—?'

'Quiet,' he said in a sharp whisper, flinching as he locked the door behind him again. 'I don't want any of my men to know you're aboard. It's going to be hard enough to convince them that they didn't see you swinging over here.'

Tetra narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms angrily. In a low, deadly voice, she demanded, 'What's going on, General? Are you trying to kidnap me or something?'

'No!'

'Then will you let me go?'

'Well…no.'

'Then what—?'

'Look, let's start at the beginning, okay?' he asked, a pronouncing pleading note in his voice. 'Let's start with… Hi. How's it going?'

'Hi. And it's not going so well since someone I thought was a friend decided to lock me up,' she retorted bitingly.

Link sighed. 'I just told you why…'

'No, you didn't. Why can't anyone see me?'

He stared at her as if he couldn't believe she didn't know the answer to her own question. 'Because…you're you,' he said.

Now it was she who stared. 'Yeah, I know. What's your point?'

'You're a pirate.'

Tetra nodded slowly, a calculating expression in her eyes. 'Oh. I see.'

'What?' Link asked worriedly.

'You don't want any of your men to know you're fraternizing with the likes of someone like me, is that right?' she asked coolly.

'I…Okay, yes, but not for the reason you think,' Link told her quickly. 'I'm a high ranking officer, and if word got around that I was friends with you—'

'You'd lose your prestige?' she demanded instantly.

Link sighed again. 'Why are you mad at me already?'

'Because you're ashamed of me already!'

'No!' he snapped. Crossing the room to take a seat behind his sleek, elegant desk, he added, 'I should have known you would do this, you would take this the wrong way…'

Tetra rolled her eyes and folded her arms. 'Oh, I'm sorry,' she said sarcastically, 'was I supposed to take that as a compliment, or what?'

'No, but it would be nice if you'd sit down and give me five minutes to explain, all right? Don't make me force you to listen.'

He sounded as though he really didn't want to, but would if she gave him no other option. So, being careful to continue to look mutinous, she dropped into the chair opposite his disorganized desk, upon which she propped up her feet as disrespectfully as she could.

'Okay, go,' she instructed him.

He sighed with the weary air of someone about to begin a long story. 'All right, from the beginning. Windfall Island's gone imperial,' he explained.

'Yeah, I heard something about that. How's that going?'

'They've conquered pretty much all the little islands in the Great Sea,' Link told her. 'There's still some trouble with the Ritos, and they had to leave the Forest Haven alone, but basically the whole area is united as a single empire—Felicitovente.'

'That's new,' Tetra commented, admittedly impressed.

'Yes, it is,' Link agreed. 'They've been building up an army, too, to protect themselves and to go out exploring and conquering more lands.'

'And you joined up.'

Link paused. 'Yes.'

'Why?'

'They asked me to. They were scouring their territories, searching for recruits, and they found me. They asked me to become a soldier. I didn't want to, I'd heard rumours about them wanting to destroy the ancient legends of Hyrule, and I knew what they'd think of me… Aryll talked me into it, though. She convinced me that hiding among them would be easier and more effective than hiding from them.'

'She's grown into a smart young woman, apparently.'

'Oh, yeah,' he agreed with a proud smile. Shaking his head shortly to refocus, he continued, 'So I enlisted, and I've been moving up quickly through the ranks. And Felicitovente's flourishing, and they have no reason to suspect I'm anything other than a little boy from Outset with a taste for adventure.' He took a deep breath and let it out in another sigh before he went on.

'Part of the flourishing, though, of course, is the fact that now they want to expand into new lands, like I said. But before they can go establishing colonies further away, they need to ensure that regular safe passage is possible overseas. So they're cracking down on piracy.'

He paused here, but Tetra felt no need to comment; she'd heard a thing or two along these lines already. She simply continued to observe him.

'So,' he spoke up momentarily, 'they've been sending their armed forces out. And they've been putting prices on the heads of all the well-known pirates. And anyone who captures those criminals, dead or alive, stands to cash in big time. The biggest payout of all, of course, would come from bringing in Tetra, Queen of Pirates.'

The woman in question raised her eyebrows, but didn't let on how surprised she was. 'Is that so?' she asked casually. 'So, you're going to clap me in irons and drag me away, then, is that it?'

'No,' Link countered impatiently. 'Actually, I've been tracking you down to tell you about that. That they're offering so much money for you that…I mean, if I were you, I'd consider turning myself in just to get it,' he commented honestly, with a dull laugh.

Tetra gave a humourless snort, accompanied by a matching smirk. 'Well, maybe I should turn myself in, then.' She held out the arms that had been folded across her chest. 'I'm all yours, general.'

Link rolled his eyes. 'Stop that.'

'What do you want me to do, then? Why were you searching for me?'

'Like I said. To tell you about the money—'

'I mean the real reason, Link,' she interrupted swiftly.

He went very still. 'What do you mean?' he asked in a controlled voice.

Tetra pulled her feet down from the desk so that she was sitting normally, and leaned forward with her elbows on the desk. 'You don't hunt a person as hard as you were hunting me just to say, "By the way, the government's looking for you, so I wanted to give you a head's up." If I can get away from you, I can get away from anyone else in Felicitewhatever's army.'

'Felicitovente.'

'Whatever.'

Neither of them spoke. She continued to look at him, her blue eyes determined to see past his professionalism to what he was really thinking. She knew he would crack first, and sure enough, he looked down at the hands he had folded on the dark wood.

'Well…Of course I wanted to see you again, too,' he admitted quietly.

Tetra couldn't help smiling; the meekness in his voice was endearing, and she found it cute how hesitant he was to admit this simple fact.

'Aw, come on,' she said, reaching out her hands to clasp around his, 'did you really think I'd have a problem with that? I've wanted to see you, too, Link. Actually…I was looking for you.'

Surprised, he looked back up at her. 'Really?'

'Sure. This ship I'm on, I joined them so that we could go searching for you. Would've made my life a lot easier if I'd known that you were the one chasing me all this time,' she added with a laugh.

Link smiled in return. 'It's good to see you again,' he said sincerely.

'It's great to see you, too.'

Again he looked nervous. 'I've really missed you.'

'Well, I would hope so,' she replied with a short giggle. 'Are we friends or are we friends?'

'Of course we're friends,' he agreed. 'We're the best.'

She tilted her head curiously, wearing what she hoped was a kindly encouraging smile. 'So why are you so worried, Link?'

He shrugged, looking momentarily like the preadolescent she remembered. 'I dunno. It's just been awhile, I guess. We haven't talked in, what, ten years?'

'Give or take.'

'So I didn't expect things to be exactly the way they used to.'

Tetra was about to answer that his worries were silly, that nothing would ever change between them, but she stopped herself without knowing exactly why. After all, she wanted things to be the same, too. Yes, the world of a pirate was as changeable as the tides, and yes, she liked it that way…but her relationship with Link was supposed to be the definition of stability.

'We're not kids anymore,' was all she could answer. 'We're all grown up.'

He nodded seriously. 'Yeah, we are. Saddled with responsibilities.'

Tetra chuckled. 'I'm never saddled with responsibilities. That's the beauty of being a pirate, General.'

Link apparently didn't find her comment entertaining. 'As long as you have anyone to care about, you have responsibilities.'

Tetra's smile disappeared as she searched for some sign of lightness in his face and found none. 'What's up?' she asked slowly.

'I care about you. I don't want to see anything happen to you.'

'You're sweet,' she told him, her smile returning.

'I'm being serious.'

'So am I,' she said defensively, still grinning.

'Then stop laughing at me.'

She leaned back slightly, struck by these words. He didn't speak again, until she said softly, 'I'm sorry. I didn't… I wasn't trying to…'

'That's okay,' he interjected gently. 'It's okay. I just…' He leaned back, too, looking up at the ceiling and clearly frustrated with himself. 'I don't think you get what I mean. I guess I can't really expect you to, since you haven't been inside my head for the last ten years, but…I think about you all the time. The best time of my life, hands down, was when we were together. All this that I have now, the power and the adventure and everything, and the life that I've got ahead of me—it's nowhere near as great as any five minutes with you.'

She was hearing her own thoughts spoken aloud. Things she had never explained, even to the stars where her mother resided.

'I know what you mean,' she spoke up.

Link dropped his gaze back to her, his expression halfway between hope and bemusement, and so she elaborated.

'I've thought about you every day since the last time I saw you. I've spent so many hours wondering if you were thinking about me, too, or if you ever thought of me. Making myself paranoid that maybe you didn't even remember me anymore. I couldn't tell you how many times I came this close to just giving the order that we were headed back to Outset, so I could find you.' She paused, then finished, 'I missed your smile.'

He showed it to her.

'That's the one,' she grinned.

They both laughed, and he rose from his seat and circled around the desk to sit on the corner of it. 'This is what I wanted,' he said candidly. 'You and me, together again, just like we used to be. Thinking the same way, somehow. Like…'

'Like we had the same destiny.'

'Something like that.' He paused, then admitted, 'All right, exactly like that.'

Neither of them spoke for a moment; they were content just to be in each other's presence.

'It was sweet of you to be worried about me, too,' Tetra spoke up. 'But come on. Did you really think anyone could get their hands on me that easily?'

Link shook his head. 'If you don't want to be caught, there's no catching you.'

He understood her just like that, with such pure simplicity. His presence was like a breath of fresh air that she hadn't realized she had been denied. She felt fully comfortable and relaxed for the first time since…since…

Well, since the last time she'd been with him.

'Goddesses,' she sighed, standing up so that she would be eye-level with Link, 'I can't believe how good this feels. I wish I could stay here with you.'

Link gave a lopsided shrug. 'You could, if you really wanted to,' he offered hopefully.

Tetra shook her head. 'No, I couldn't. The queen of criminals shouldn't associate with the king of law enforcement.'

Link glanced down, and she knew he hadn't really expected any other answer. 'You're right,' he agreed. 'You're always right.'

'Of course I am.'

'But you're not leaving already, are you?' he asked, sitting up straighter; there was an unmistakable tone of disappointment in his voice. 'You just got here.'

'No, I'm not going anywhere yet,' she assured him. She was at a loss, however, for anything else to say. 'Well,' she corrected awkwardly, 'I probably should, though, just quickly. I need to fill in my crew on everything that's happening…' She trailed off, waving her arm in a vague gesture.

'Sure, I understand', Link sighed, shrugging in the same uncertain way. 'You've got commitments and stuff. So do I. We'll have to make plans to meet up somewhere, though, so we can catch up properly. We can't just say goodbye again like this.'

'Oh, of course not,' Tetra agreed. 'We should be hitting land soon, shouldn't we, if we keep to a steady course?'

'I think so…' Link muttered, standing up and consulting several maps that were strewn over his desk; he grabbed one and scanned it quickly. 'Yep, there's an island coming up soon, about a day away. Why don't we head there, lose our crews, and meet up away from them somewhere?'

'Sounds good,' Tetra consented.

'Great.' Link beamed at her.

For a moment, they both stood there uncertainly, neither one entirely sure how to say goodbye. It was stupid, Tetra thought suddenly, if she had gone to all this trouble only to make plans to see him for what would probably be the space of a single conversation, without anyone being allowed to know. Even if that conversation rekindled her soul exactly the way she hoped it would, it still wouldn't be enough. She could drink in his presence for days, and it would never be enough.

She could tell he was thinking the same thing.

'Right now, though… If you've gotta go, you've gotta go,' he said, his tone suddenly becoming businesslike. Adding a grin, however, he extended his arms and asked, 'How 'bout a quick hug first?'

'Absolutely,' she chuckled. She wrapped her arms around him, much more gently than she had done upon her arrival, and he returned the gesture. It was a sweet ending to their conversation, and a perfect memory to part on.

The only problem was that once she was there in his arms, she didn't want to leave.

She couldn't have said when or how she lifted her face to his, but suddenly she was kissing him, and he was kissing her back, and what had been a casual embrace between friends was much more ardent. She was still holding him fiercely as he led her through the door behind his desk which led to his chambers.

Part of her mind demanded to know exactly what she thought she was doing as she pulled him and he pushed her onto his bed—This was Link, for the goddesses' sake, not just some guy she had met in a pub. But that only struck her as all the more reason to continue. And besides, she was in too deep now to pull herself back.

So she just kissed him, and held him tightly against her, and let her instincts take control.


Pacing by the men attending the cannons, peering outside as he passed each one, Jack was alarmed to see what looked like an imperial ship drawing level with the Pearl. Why had Tetra not yet given any orders to fire? Was this the way naval battles were fought where she came from? But such a technique didn't fit with her earlier behaviour, during the previous two battles they had engaged in. Half of his mind was working its way into the closest thing to panic that he was capable of feeling while at sea, but the other half was repeating over and over again that he should trust her.

Unless, of course, she was dishonest. And pirates usually were. And he now knew for a fact that she had been concealing something from him.

It would have been incredibly stupid of him, of course, to trust her with his own life. But she was at risk here, too, and had obviously been living in terror of this ship since she had first lain eyes on it. Therefore he could think of no reason for which she would do anything less than fight to the death to get away from it. He didn't think her fear and rage had been feigned.

But his concerns continued to mount, especially when he paused where he stood to look more closely at the enemy. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he took in a strange detail—the guns of the other ship weren't manned. They were ready to fire, yes, but not in any apparent urgency. It seemed these sailors, soldiers, whoever they were, didn't actually intend to attack.

Had Tetra known that? Had she perhaps lied about the meaning of the flags?

What was going on?

He gave a growl of impatience, deciding once and for all that he never should have trusted her to command this attack. What she was plotting, he couldn't begin to guess, but he would fight it nevertheless.

In frustration, he stormed up onto the deck, shouting, "Tetra! Tetra, where are you, woman?!"

"She's gone," answered Michael faintly.

Jack's eyes widened as he turned slowly to the young sailor. "What do you mean 'gone'?" he asked in a deadly voice.

Michael opened his moth, but apparently could not manage an explanation. Impatient for information, Jack demanded, "Someone answer me!"

At this, Michael found his courage and said hurriedly, "She got a message from the other ship—"

"More flags?"

"No, I mean…someone fired a couple of arrows with messages attached, and she read them—"

"What did they say?"

"I don't know, I didn't see them."

Jack sighed. "Fine. What else?"

"Well, after she read those notes, I asked if we should fire, and she said no."

"No?"

"No. I mean, yes. I mean… She said that if we fired on them, she'd throw us overboard."

Jack swore. "Then what? Where did she go?"

"She…boarded them," Michael finished with a grimace. "Swung over to their ship."

In utter disbelief, Jack stood dumbfounded. How could this have happened?

"What did she do when she got there? Did you see?" he asked, drawing on the most logical question he could think of.

Looking around to his fellow sailors for help, Michael said uncertainly, "Well…I don't really know…We all kind of panicked, we weren't really watching her…"

"I think I saw her talking to someone," another pirate spoke up. "I don't know who it was… Don't think he was too happy to see her, though."

When these words concluded, silence fell over the crew. It was Mr Gibbs who broke it.

"I warned ya captain. Frightful bad luck to have a woman aboard."

Though Jack didn't answer, he had to admit Gibbs' point of view appeared now to have some credence.

He made his decision. That other ship—he could see now that it was called the Red Lion—was still their enemy, and Tetra was as good as a member of its crew. He was going back to living by his own standards, not considering her damn "code of honour;" what reason did he have to trust the so-called honour of a woman who had apparently turned out to be a traitor?

"We'll fight them," he determined. "We'll catch them somehow. And we'll drag her back here for an explanation."

A shrill chirp rang out, followed by, "Blow me down! Squawk!"

Jack looked sharply, and saw that Mr Cotton was right to be alarmed. The Red Lion had turned, and was moving away from them.

"They're taking Tetra!" exclaimed Michael.

"Ah, good riddance, I say," Mr Gibbs replied darkly.

Innocent eyes wide with fear, Michael asked Jack, "You don't really think she's turned on us, do you? She wouldn't. And if the man she was talking to wasn't her friend…Maybe she's negotiating?" he offered hopefully.

This young man, Jack knew, idolized Tetra. He would accept any explanation sooner than the idea that she wasn't the epitome of virtuous piracy as which he always saw her. To judge by the way the other men were exchanging looks, they were all thinking the same thought: Poor, gullible Michael.

But maybe he was the only intelligent one, Jack thought, willing as always to consider a different perspective. After all, Tetra had said one of the flags meant they wanted to talk things out in person; perhaps the notes had invited her to their ship to do so. He didn't see how she could have been stupid enough to accept, considering she was what they wanted, but it was possible.

"You could be right," he concluded, to the obvious surprise of the rest of the crew. "But I doubt it," he added. "Still, I'd like to see what they're going to do. Follow them, but not closely. Out of range. We'll see what she does—We'll give her twelve hours."


That night found Jack lying wide awake in his bunk and staring at the ceiling. Nothing had ever bothered him as much as this turn of events, and he knew just why.

He was confused. Lost. He had no idea whom to trust and whom to attack. Michael, the prisoner turned pirate; the Red Lion, the enemy that retreated; and Tetra, the woman he had considered an ally and was now at a loss to define.

He remembered standing alone on a small, deserted island and watching Captain Barbossa sail away on the Black Pearl. He had immediately vowed that his single shot would find no rest save in the heart of that traitor. It hadn't been a difficult decision; in fact, the sweet satisfaction of resolution had kept him not only motivated but also sane, despite what popular opinion maintained. He had never been a man with complicated alliances. No one ever really knew which side he supported, it was true, but he himself always did. He was always the only one in any conflict who really knew exactly what was going on at any given time, and that gave him the advantage every time.

Tetra, though… She mystified even him. and that would drive him mad if anything did. For that reason, he wouldn't let her win. His personal mission, he vowed, was to understand her.

To do so, he would of course have to get her back first. Upon further questioning of his crew, he had discovered that it seemed to be fact that she had willingly gone over to the Red Lion, but whether or not she was staying there of her own volition was debatable. He'd gotten conflicting stories concerning what they'd seen when Tetra boarded the other ship. All the testimonies claimed she had met up with a young man her own age, but that was the only shared trait. Some said she had greeted him like her long lost brother, while others said he had dragged her off kicking and screaming, while others said he seemed to be her lover, while others said the two of them didn't seem to know each other. Most, however, expounded the kicking and screaming story; Jack wanted to believe this one as well, because it fit in best with everything he thought he knew about Tetra. She was not a traitor, she was a prisoner of her government, and the Red Lion was taking her away to throw her in jail.

Whatever the case, he told himself as he tried to free himself from these doubts in order to sleep, he was going to make her tell him everything.

But the question still haunted him: What was she doing over there right now?