Hello everyone, it's time for Chapter 68! After having infiltrated the marine base, it's time for Link and the group to confront the pirate masters!
"Holy carp, yer sayin' the guards at the side entrance have been taken out?!" shouted a zola pirate in their marine base hideout to his two scouts.
"Yeah, our crew is starting to flounder, and the intruders are on their way to the Admiral!" said one scout saluting to his superior.
"Grrr. I've haddock enough of this! Don't let any of em through!"
"Hey there boys!" called out a voice. The three zola froze up and looked over to see who it was calling out to them.
Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Togau, Reirousa, Kesuta and Zopem were all standing among a pile of unconscious zola guards all around them.
"So do you all just want to run away or do we have to do the obvious?" Nabooru asked with a smirk, tipping her tri-corner pirate hat and tapping her sword against her shoulder.
"Umm..." one of the zola muttered, "Can we have a moment to de-bait about this...?"
"I say we should just gut 'em for that pun alone!" Kesuta shouted, her hand flaring up with fire, which scared the three zola away. As they fled the confrontation, one bumped into something in their way and fell backwards.
"Hey, watch where yer goin'." said a deep menacing voice, which terrified the three zola and they all ran off in another direction. Link and the group all looked to see who it was in between them as the bosses' chambers.
It was a group of zola pirates, all much larger, buffer and tougher then the ones they fought earlier. They were all sporting malicious grins and wielding dangerous weapons.
Standing in front of them though was a shorter, hunched-over zola almost completely covered in green and brown seaweed, and holding a wooden staff covered in seashells and barnacles. He also seemed to have a bottle hung around his neck with something small and red inside of it.
"Just what are you all doing in here, blurb-blurb?" the short one demanded.
"Are you Admiral Krehaul?" Link inquired.
"Blurrb-blurbb-blub, I fish I was the admiral, but no... I'm merely the third-in-command of these pirates. I'm the brine mage 'Ijor the Trench-Dweller' ...now what's your business here?"
"We're here on behalf of King Zora and Princess Ruto for the Smooth Pearl." Link said, brandishing his sword, "Now hand it over and we'll show you all mercy!"
The zola all took a moment to look at each other, before bursting out laughing uncontrollably.
"Ha! They think they can mussel in on our turf?" said a zola pirate.
"Well they're all stuck between a rock and a hard plaice now!" snickered one pirate.
"I say we make him walk the plank-ton for challenging us!" suggested another.
"QUIT WITH THE FISH PUNS!" Nemisa shouted in annoyance.
"Enough, as the bodyguard of the royal zora family, I demand you step down and hand over the Smooth Pearl immediately!" Zopem shouted with his spear ready.
"Blurururb, you think you can take my men on?" Ijor asked, toying with the bottle around his neck. Kesuta's eyes widened as she noticed the small red thing inside the bottle, "You must be squid-ding me if you think you can win."
"Hey, that's Big Momma Octo's kid, isn't it?" Kesuta pointed out the little creature in the bottle, then ignited her fists with flames, "We'll be taking him back too!"
"Bluurb, so that octorok spilled her guts to you then? Guess we should have spilled her guts ourselves." Ijor simply smirked as he turned and shuffled away, snapping his fingers above his head, "Take them to school, boys."
With that, the zola pirates all shouted out and charged at Link and the group, but Aviel, Nemisa, Togau and Zopem all stepped out in front and blocked them off with their own weapons.
"You three go on ahead and take on the bosses!" Reirousa shouted, "We'll deal with these punks!"
"You sure?" Link asked, standing alongside Nabooru and Kesuta.
"Reckon course! Go get the pearl and save Ruto!" Togau said, blocking off a zola with her ax, before smacking him back and slicing him with it.
Link nodded as he and Nabooru darted around the back of the zolas while Kesuta used her broom to fly over their heads, and the three of them went after Ijor through the door.
Upon entering the next room, Link, Nabooru and Kesuta saw Ijor and the second in command of the pirates, Tokir the Rimfire both speaking to each other about the raid on the base.
"Blurb-urb, don't look now Rimfire, but we have company." Ijor muttered.
"Yarrharhar! So you fools actually had the carp-age to raid our base?!" laughed Tokir, thrusting his arms back as the cannons mounted on his back stuck out, "Well ya ain't gonna see Admiral Krehaul without goin' through us first!"
"Listen Link, conserve your strength for the boss, and let us handle these two." Nabooru said narrowing her eyes, gripping the handles of her swords.
"Yeah, I'm gonna roast that old fossil there if I have to!" Kesuta said glaring at Ijor with her fists flaring up.
"Gotcha." Link nodded, sitting himself down and taking a rest.
Nabooru then stepped up to Tokir and pulled her twin scimitars out, "I'm Lady Nabooru of the Gerudo, and your battle is with me, prepare yourself!"
"Yar, alright missy, but ye asked fer it!" Tokir said grinning.
Nabooru sprinted at Tokir with her swords and swung down at Tokir, who brought up his claws and deflected her swings. The Gerudo leader and the zola pirate then clashed against each other back and forth with their blades and claws respectively. Tokir swung his leg out at Nabooru, but she leaped up and kicked him across the face. Tokir then lunged forward with his arm and bashed into Nabooru, sending her backwards.
Tokir then ignited and fired off two cannonballs at Nabooru which she dodged to the side. Tokir fired off another pair of cannonballs and she quickly backflipped away, then managed to smack one toward him with her sword. Tokir was caught off guard and tripped over the ball, giving Nabooru a chance to rush forward and slash the pirate with her blades. He yelped out, but then grinned and fired a close range blast at Nabooru, sending her flying into the air.
"Gaah!" Nabooru shouted as she was launched away, but grabbed onto a pipe hanging overhead in the room.
"Are you okay Nabooru?" Link shouted, about ready to attack Tokir himself.
"I'm fine, I've had worse then that!" Nabooru called out grinning. Tokir fired off a few more rounds of cannonballs at Nabooru, who leaped off the pipes to dodge the first shots, then hopped across the next few pairs of cannonballs towards a very surprised Tokir. She brought down her sword and managed to slash off the mouth of one of Tokir's cannons.
"Wha-?!" How dare you!" Tokir shouted, swinging his fist and punching Nabooru as soon as she landed, she staggered back, but then charged forward. Tokir started firing more cannonballs from the cannon that was still intact. Nabooru flipped through the air to evade the shots being fired at her, then eyed one in particular at came right at her She brought up both her swords and charged forward, swinging them out and actually slashing the ball in half, then swinging out her blades and smacking the halves of the ball forward at Tokir. The zola tried to duck under them, but instead the two halves got stuck into the cannons.
"Hey! Damn you, wench!" Tokir shouted, he thrust his shoulders up and tried to fire the intact cannon, only for it to backfire due to being clogged up and it burst off of his shoulder instead, causing him to yelp, "Yeooow!"
Nabooru then charged at Tokir for another attack, the zola tried to give her a claw swipe, but she managed to slash him across the chest, causing him to shout out in pain. He snarled swung his claw backwards and slashed Nabooru across the side, but she managed to get in one final slash across his chest, dealing a mortal blow to the pirate. He staggered back and his features darkened as he fell to his knees.
"Yarrr... what a load... of pollocks..." Tokir the Rimfire muttered before falling to the ground lifelessly.
"Nice one Nabooru!" Link said with a grin.
"Heh, that went pretty well." Nabooru smirked, spinning her scimitars in her hands and sheathing them back in place. She then took a look around and saw both Kesuta and Ijor were missing, "Now where did those two go off to?"
"That mage managed to escape during the fight and I think Kesuta went after him." Link said, "Don't worry, she's got this. You go on and help the others fight those guards, I'll deal with the admiral."
"Alright then, good luck Link!" nodded Nabooru, running off out of the room as Link headed through the door to where the pirate leader was waiting...
During the time Nabooru was fighting Tokir, Kesuta went running to an outdoor area of the marine base that was still enclosed by the base's building structures. It appeared to be some kind of training ground for the Hylian marines back when the place was running as it was built to be.
"Grrr... I know I saw that guy going this way!" the fire mystic said looking left and right with fire in her eyes.
That was when she felt a strange chilling sensation, and she quickly leaped out of the way as a spray of water burst up from under where she had been originally standing, barely missing it.
"Blu-blurb-blurb..." laughed Ijor, emerging up from a puddle of water, peering at Kesuta from under the seaweed he wore on his head, "You're pretty quick; quick but stupid to come here, because I'll be ending your life now!"
Kesuta then heard the sound of water from behind, and turned to see the way back inside the base was now blocked off by a wall of flowing water.
'Crap, this guy really is a skilled water mage.' Kesuta thought to herself, regretting in that moment not trading places with one of the others, 'I'll have to be careful, salt water's one of me and sis' biggest weaknesses.' she ignited her hand and formed a flame whip to prepare for battle.
"Sure you don't want to just fly out of here like a little coward?" Ijor proposed pointing upwards to the sky.
"Not a chance, I'm taking back Momma Octo's kid!" she said, gesturing to the small octopus in the bottle Ijor had, remembering the promise she made, "We know you're using it to force her to work for you guys!"
"Well then just try and take it, blurb-blurb!" Ijor said, snapping his fingers as more water pools started to form around the area.
Kesuta managed to evade the first burst of water, then started dodging out of the way of the other spouts. She flipped through the air and got on her broom, dodging more of the spouts as they went off. She came at Ijor and lashed at him with her flame whip, but he brought up a stream of water to counter it. She then flew quickly to the side, formed fire in her hands, brought it up and sent a giant fireball down on Ijor. The zola was caught off guard by the attack as it impacted down on him.
Kesuta watched carefully, before a sudden shot of water flew out from the flames and knocked her to the ground. She forced herself up and saw the flames get washed away. Despite a direct attack, the mage seemed no worse for wear.
"B-But how?" Kesuta exclaimed.
"Blu-blurb-blurb, my seaweed robes are moist with ocean brine, making me practically immune to fire, blurb-blurb!" chuckled Ijor. He then snapped his fingers, and Kesuta could see another spout of water forming below her. She flipped backwards to avoid it, but managed to land down right where another one was formed. The water impacted and blasted her high into the air.
"Kyyaaa!" screamed Kesuta, then taking her broom in midair and swooping downwards, avoiding more water shots. Ijor prepared for another fire attack, but rather then using her flames, Kesuta instead did a diving attack with her broom and impacted directly into him.
"Graaah! You pest!" Ijor shouted as he rubbed his stomach, then sent more bursts of water at her.
"This is no good!" Kesuta snarled, dodging more water shots, "This guy's attacks are too strong, I don't think me and Korume could handle this guy even if we fused into Dualsera!"
It was then Kesuta got hit by another blast, sending her falling to the ground.
"Damnit!" Kesuta groaned, "I really can't afford to keep getting hit by those..."
"Blurb-blurb blurb-blurb!..." chuckled Ijor, "My brine powers keep growing, and someday I'll prove my might to that fool Admiral Krehaul, that bastard has no business being our leader! Then I can harness the power of that Smooth Pearl his men fetched for him and use it rule over all the zola!"
"Like hell you are!" snarled Kesuta, trying to force herself up, "We need that pearl to save Ruto!"
"Save? You won't be saving anyone girl, you can't even save yourself!" Ijor said, firing a water shot at her, which she quickly rolled out of the way of, "Now watch as I end you, blurb-blurb blurb-blurb!"
With that, Ijor fired a ball of water into the air. Kesuta looked up curiously at the attack, as it exploded in midair and became a cloud, and it started to rain down on the training yard. Kesuta cringed and fell over as salty rain water started to pour down on her.
"Argh... this is crazy!" Kesuta groaned, "My powers have been getting stronger, but they're absolutely useless against this guy! None of my fire attacks are going to work anymore, the most I can do is create-" she cut herself off as an idea came to her. She took a deep breath, then put her hand on the ground and started to carefully conjure intense fire around her.
"You idiot, that won't do you any good!" Ijor said slowly walking up to her, "Now I'll- huh?"
That was when he saw the rain water pouring down on the fire was starting to turn to steam. Kesuta soon generated enough fire around her that the steam completely engulfed her, clouding Ijor's vision.
"Huh...?!" Igor exclaimed, looking around for her, "Where'd she go?"
It was then Ijor felt a strange warmth and turned behind him to see the fire mystic was now looking much different. Her ponytail was now like a long flame, fire was now covering her chest and waist like fiery light armor. Her arms and legs were coated in flames, with long flaming whips at the end of each arm, and her eyes were a bright orange. She was now in her flaming mode from back when she battled her sister in the Spirit Temple.
"Wha-what the heck?!" Ijor exclaimed, "How are you doing that with my rain coming down?"
"I may not be very smart... and because of that I can take my pranks and words towards my family a bit too far... but one thing I do know is I love them with all my heart, and I'm going to save my sister Ruto!" Kesuta shouted to the zola.
She then went flying right at him. Despite the rain, the flames around her body were burning hotter and hotter, to the point where it was actually vaporizing the water into scalding steam. She then gave Ijor a series of rapid kicks with her flaming legs. He tried to use his staff to block them, but one kick came down and managed to break it in half.
"Argh!" Ijor exclaimed, before getting kicked across the face, the intense steam scalding his face.
"Ruto is my family, and if you mess with my family, my anger gets so hot you can never put it out!" Kesuta shouted, swinging out her two flame whips and smashed them both directly into Ijor.
The impact sent the brine mage flying back and down to the ground. Soon enough after that the rain cloud vaporized away due to the hot aura of Kesuta's fiery body. The bottle the child octorok had been stuck in had burst from the impact of the whip attack and the little one had gone flying into the air, but Kesuta simply caught it.
"Hey there, you okay little guy?" she smiled. The octorok child wasn't even affected by the fiery form of Kesuta, thanks to the control she had over her power. It squealed out, happy to be free and Kesuta giggled. It was a cute little child, and it made her think of the day that someday she'd start having cute children of her own with Link, and she could only hope Ruto would be happy when Link gave her children as well.
Ijor meanwhile slowly got himself up, gasping out as he narrowed his eyes at Kesuta, "Grrr... stupid bitch... I'LL SNUFF YOU OUT!"
The zola mage was about to strike her from behind with a water shot. But without even seeing him, Kesuta simply snapped her fingers and a pillar of flame burst out from under the zola, burning him intensely and causing him to scream out in horrific pain.
Kesuta's body soon changed back to her normal self and she walked out of the training grounds with Big Momma Octo's son, going back to meet up with the others and help them with the attack.
The flame pillar Kesuta made soon died down afterwards, revealing what remained of the brine zola mage Ijjor was a dry, smoldering burnt corpse.
As Nabooru ran off to join Aviel and the others against the guards, Link burst into the room of the Zola pirate leader; Admiral Krehaul. Link stood there and looked around, seeing the great amount of treasure and rupees littered all around the room. He looked at the other end of the room to see a shadowy figure sitting at a commander desk. He was gazing at a picture with one hand and tapping a gauntlet-clad finger on the desk with the other. He then looked up to Link and placed the picture down.
"So you're the Hylian mercenary I was told about?" spoke Admiral Krehaul with a smirk, "You don't look like much."
"I get that a lot." Link said, pulling out and aiming his Fairy Bow and an arrow at Krehaul, "But I'm no mercenary, you can call me Gerudo King Link, and I'm here for that pearl!"
Link gestured to the pearl on Krehaul's desk. The mysterious man looked down at it, before snatching it up and holding it.
"The Gerudo King? Well, can't say I was expecting that... so why is this pearl so important to you then?" Krehaul asked.
"I need it to help my fiance!" Link said, narrowing his eyes as he held his bow, "Just hand it over nice and easy!"
It was then Krehaul stood up and walked out from the shadows of the room, revealing what he looked like to Link. The Hylian's eyes widened and his jaw dropped at the sight of him.
"Wait, you're..."
Admiral Krehaul was a tall fish man whose body was muscular and scarred. His thin scales were a pale blue with black streaks. He wore an open long red coat that showed off his strong form, and on his head was a black feathered tri-corn hat with a picture of a fish head skull on it. He had a scar on his stern face that ran from his forehead down across his nose and to the opposite side of his chin. While on his right arm was an iron gauntlet with sharp claws.
As intimidating as the man came off as though, Link was more astonished by just what he actually was.
"You're... a zora?!" Link exclaimed, "What is a zora doing as the leader of a group of pirate zolas? I thought they were enemies!"
"I used to be part of the zora kingdom you spoke of years ago." Admiral Krehaul said, "I left after suffering a terrible tragedy, then joined with these pirates, and I was easily able to rise up the ranks to be their leader."
"And you're sending them out to attack your own people?" Link asked, "How can you do that?!"
"Just watch." Krehaul said, charging at Link with his claw, as the Hylian sung out his sword, the two started clashing against each other with their weapons. Kehaul manged to bash away Link's sword, but he blocked the prate's next attack with his shield. Link then thrust his shield forward to bash the pirate back, then slashed at him. But Krehaul blocked the sword with his gauntlet before punching Link away, knocking him into the desk in the room, and causing a picture on it to fall to the ground beside Link.
"Wait a second..." Link muttered, picking up the picture that had fallen to the ground, it was of a beautiful zora woman, with blue and purple scales, "This looks kind of familiar..."
"Keep your hands off her!" shouted Krehaul, swiping at Link with his gauntlet, who brought up his shield and blocked it off. He looked again at the picture Krehaul had, seeing the zora woman on it, remembering back when he saw someone just like this, back in the shrine.
"This looks like Ruto's mother, Louruta..." Link pointed out.
"Don't you dare speak her name so casually!" shouted Krehaul, bashing the shield out of the way and punching Link across the room with his gauntlet, then snatching up the picture.
"You... knew the queen?" Link asked, getting himself onto his feet.
"I always admired her since I was a young zora, her authoritative yet noble aura... her beauty, her kindness... she was my inspiration. I worked hard to strengthen myself, and eventually I became a royal guard for Queen Louruta, and vowed that I would protect her at all costs..." muttered Krehaul, "...until that damned cult showed up."
"That... cult?" Link was confused at what Krehaul was speaking about. He contemplated just what he meant by that, then realizing what Zopem mentioned to him about what happened when Ruto's mother was fatally injured...
"You're... you're Sir Titas, aren't you?!" Link asked, "You were the solider that was guarding the zora royal family the day the Order of Reyahm attacked them!"
"So you've heard of the old me." Krehaul scowled, putting the picture in his coat, "I vowed to protect the queen that day, but we were both attacked by an assassin who was working with the Order. It seemed because Louruta refused to help them that they were going to pick a new water goddess, and needed her to be killed so they could use Lophela's blessing for themselves."
Krehaul lowered his head with a sad look in his eyes, "I tried to save her, but I too was poisoned and fell unconscious. When I came out of my coma I learned she had eventually died from the poison herself..."
The zora clenched his fist and continued to speak, "I left after that, and changed my name since I had nothing else to go back to. That was when I met the zola pirates and joined them. Miraculously I survived the poisoning by the assassin that took Queen Louruta's life, and overtime I realized due to the desperate treatment the doctors had attempted on me that the poison remained in my system, and I could actually use it like so..."
Krehaul then clenched his fist, causing purple poisonous ooze to seep out from the small holes of the gauntlet and drip down onto the floor, "This is how I became so feared by the zola and rose to being their leader."
Link paused, somewhat saddened by Titas' guilt in failing to save the Zora queen. He had a faint memory of long ago, of a certain smiling woman closing a door on him for a second, but shook it off.
"I'm sorry that happened to you..." Link spoke sympathetically, "But please listen, Princess Ruto is suffering right now without the Smooth Pearl, I need to get it back to her before she loses herself to her suppressed power!"
"...Princess Ruto ...so her daughter, huh...?" muttered Krehaul, "The daughter she had with that man..."
In that moment, Krehaul thought back to his younger years as a guard, back when he was known as Titas. He would always be gazing at Queen Louruta and her beauty, then came the day he worked up the courage to speak to her on a personal manner. She greeted him pleasantly, but before he could say what he wanted to, a young portly zora man named Hauvir had come up and asked Louruta to dinner. The two went off together, and Titas was devastated.
Then came one day weeks later that Louruta announced Hauvir would become the Zora King and rule beside her, and Titas fell into heartbroken depression. Then the day came when Louruta revealed her child of whom she named Princess Ruto. All Titas could feel was bitterness towards the child she had with the buffoon she chose to marry.
On the day the Order of Reyahm attacked the zoras, he had been placed to protect the king, queen and princess, but in secret he had deliberately allowed the Order an opening in the hopes of them killing King Zora. But instead it was Louruta, taking the blunt of the poison attack to protect her husband. Titas attacked the assassin back out of rage, only to be poisoned himself. After waking up from a coma he found out Louruta died from the poison, and he disappeared shortly after that, taking on the name of Krehaul the pirate.
Back to reality, Krehaul then lifted up the pearl and stared at it, narrowing his eyes.
"If this is what's needed to help her... then this pearl... shall never be hers."
It was then Krehaul dropped the pearl in his mouth and swallowed it whole, looking to Link with a malicious sharp-toothed grin.
Link's eyes widened in complete shock at the brazen act of the pirate, he squeezed the handle of his sword and his teeth clenched, "What... what the hell? Do you realize what you just did?! Ruto will die without that!" he shouted at Krehaul.
"Hmph, as well she should." scowled Krehaul, pointing his gauntlet at Link, "The royal princess and her blessing by Lophela causing her to swell up to bursting is a perfect representation of the bloated regime of the zora."
"rrRRAAAHH!" Link shot right at Krehaul in fury and brought his sword down, but the zora blocked it with his gauntlet, before grabbing the blade with it and throwing Link aside. The pirate walked up to Link as poison started to seep out from it.
"The zora stake their pride as strength, but as proven by that attack by the Order, they are too weak to survive against outside forces. That's why I plan to establish a new regime where the zola will control our society! The only true strength comes from raw power, and while the zola are brutish and stupid, their strength is far superior to that of the zoras. Soon I plan to lead an all-out attack on the zora kingdom, and they will either surrender to be our slaves, or be killed on the spot for defiance. That will be the way of our people!" Krehaul shouted.
Link narrowed his eyes, hearing Krehaul speak of the use of pure power, of overthrowing the zora kingdom... It reminded him too much of a certain red-haired Gerudo man in black armor that he fought before...
"You're just like him..." muttered Link, "I won't let you ever do that!"
Krehaul swung down his poison claw at Link, who rolled out of the way and fired off arrows at the zora to keep his distance, but the pirate brought up his gauntlet to block them. The zora then fired shots of poison sludge at Link, who used his shield to block, then went running off. As Krehaul followed after him and brought up his claw for an attack, Link then suddenly turned and fired his Longshot, causing it to wrap around Krehaul's gauntlet. Link then summoned his strength and swung the Longshot out, taking Krehaul with it, and slamming the zora into a wall. Before Krehaul could even move, Link charged forward and slashed him across the back a few times, making the zora yell out, before the Gerudo King then bashed him in the back with his shield.
"Cough it up!" Link shouted, his eyes shifting between blue and pure white for a second, "Cough up that pearl now!"
"Get... off of me, you brat!" Krehail shouted, releasing a burst of poison that blasted Link backwards. The Hylian coughed out to avoid the poison getting too much into his system, and looked up just in time to see the pirate bash him backwards.
"Heh heh heh... the princess' fate will act as a symbol of just how weak those zora truly are. Unlike me, she can't contain her power on her own." Krehaul chuckled.
"Bastard..." Link gasped out, and looked up to see Krehaul lift up his arm into the air.
"Now behold, I'll show you just what my true power can do!" the zora shouted.
Krehaul then put his hand down on the steel floor, he seemed to focus, and then shouted out in pain, and Link saw poison start to seep out from his arm in great amounts, pouring out over the floor and within seconds, soon perfectly coated the ground. Link quickly jumped up onto the desk to avoid getting too close to the sludge. He took a handkerchief and wrapped it over his mouth to keep from breathing in too much of the toxic fumes.
"Let's see you evade this, boy." smirked Krehaul, not even affected by standing in the poison in the slightest. He then fired off poison shots at Link, who blocked them off with his shield before trying to fire some more arrows, but Krehaul smacked them away and started walking towards Link.
"Crap!" Link exclaimed, looking around for a possible evasive plan. He then looked up and eyed the chandelier hanging over the room and got an idea. Just as Krehaul approached Link and was about to slash him, Link fired his Longshot up at the chandelier, attaching to it. Link then jumped away from the zora's next attack and swung across the room on his Longshot.
"What th-" Krehaul said in surprise as Link swung around the room. He tried to swipe at Link with his claw, but the young man flew out of the way of it, then spinning around and swinging his sword, slashing the zora a few times. By swinging around, Link showed himself to be too evasive for Krehaul to attack.
"You little pest, you must die!" Krehaul shouted, then reached out quickly and grabbed the chain Link was swinging from, causing him to lose his momentum and fall towards the poison. But Link then quickly took Hotaig's Shield and jumped on top of it, using the slickness of the poison sludge to skid across the floor. He brought out his sword, surfing across the purple goop until he came to a stop, then turned to Krehaul.
"Damned brat..." Krehaul muttered, rubbing at the slash mark Link gave him, "You'll pay for what you've done with your life... and your princess will be destro-"
That was when Link fired the Longshot out and the pirate leader shifted his head to the left at the last moment, the pointed end just barely missing his head and impaling itself into the wall behind him.
"What?" Krehaul asked, breaking into a cold sweat at how close it came to hitting him.
"Time to end this." Link said narrowing his eyes, allowing himself to get pulled in by the Longshot.
"Agreed, I'll show you my true power boy, now DIE!" Krehaul shouted running at Link.
The zora tried to slash at Link one last time with his poison claw, while Link came right at him with the Hero's Sword. The two swung and there was a brutal impact, leaving Link on side of the room and Krehaul on the other side.
The two of them stood motionless, nether seeming to have been hit...
That was when Link flinched a bit, as he had been slashed across the arm.
"Heh... simple." smirked Krehaul, but that was when his eyes widened as a surge of pain went through his body, as he realized Link had delivered a much greater slash across his body. The zora groaned out in pain as reddish purple blood flew from his chest, before he collapsed onto the ground.
"Whew... I did it..." Link took a deep breath, pulling the Longshot out from the wall and pocketing it.
Link then took a look out at the room and saw as the poison seemed to naturally start to dissipate off of the floor after a short while. When Link was convinced it was safe to walk, he started slowly walking towards Admiral Krehaul, who was sprawled out on the ground.
"You..." muttered Krehaul, "How... did you... beat me...?"
"Because instead of power, I had something truly worth fighting for..." Link muttered, with his head lowered, and his features darkened by his hair, "Speaking of which, I need to get that pearl back..."
"Heh... it will take too long for this pearl to pass through my system." Krehaul chuckled dementedly, "By then, your precious spoiled princess will be no more..."
That's when Krehual heard words that chilled him to his bone.
"Well then... I'll just have to take it now."
Krehaul's eyes widened as Link slowly looked down at him. The zora could see Link's eyes were completely devoid of the bright blue pupils he once had, and now they were an angry blank white. He then saw the sword Link was holding, and it didn't take long to realize the mistake he made by swallowing the pearl...
The great zola pirate leader Admiral Krehaul, once the former knight of the royal zora army Sir Titas, didn't even have the chance to scream for mercy that night.
Back with Nabooru and the others, they stood triumphantly over the pile of defeated zola that had attacked them. Despite being some of the strongest of the pirate army, the Gerudo, as well as Zopem, had made short work of striking them all down.
"Heh, nice to unwind like that once in a while!" Reirousa grinned flexing her arm.
"Well that's done with, but what about Kesuta and Link...?" Nabooru asked sheathing her scimitars.
"I'm here!" Kesuta said running up to the group, "And I found us a little friend!"
Kesuta held up Big Momma Octo's child, who made little happy squealing sounds as it waved it's small tentacles
"Aww! How cute!" Aviel said with bright eyes, scooping up he little guy and hugging it.
"Nicely done Ms. Kesuta, with our end of the bargain done, that giant octorok will leave our people alone." Zopem nodded.
"So what about Link then?" Kesuta asked.
"Right here Kesuta." Link said, taking some deep breaths as he slowly walked up to the group, closing the doors of the marine captain's room behind him.
"You alright Link?" Nabooru asked curiously as she looked over the odd injuries on his body.
"Yeah... never been better." Link chuckled a little, as he held up the Smooth Pearl, "Because I managed to get it!"
"You did it... King Link, I can't thank you enough for what you've done, you've saved our princess!" sighed Zopem with relief, "So is the zola captain no more?"
Link paused and looked at Zopem, recalling what he had said before about Sir Titas being his role model back when he was a child.
"...yeah, the zola captain is done for." Link nodded, deciding it was for the best Zopem and the zora people didn't know about what became of Titas.
"Well with that done we can get back and save Princess Ruto!" Togau grinned.
"I'll go ahead and let everyone at Zora Coast know." Link said, using his ocarina to make contact with Saria and give her the good news.
"Oh thank goodness you found the pearl!" Saria said, "But you have to get back quick, Korume can't hold Ruto's power back much longer!"
"WOUP! WHOUP!" they could all hear a loud and deep feminine voice call out, which sounded very familiar to Link.
"Ruto! We gotta get back to the shrine now!" Link shouted, before starting to run off ahead of everyone. But it was then his body started to waver a bit, before he fell over on one knee, gasping out.
"Link, what's the matter?" Nemisa exclaimed with worry, running over to him. She was about to help him up when Nabooru stopped her.
"Wait Nemisa!" Nabooru shouted, she went over to Link herself and looked over the injuries on his body, mindful not to touch them, "Don't touch him, these cuts are infected with poison..."
"What?" exclaimed Togau, "When the heck did that happen?"
"Just took a few hits from that pirate leader, but never mind about me." Link groaned, forcing himself up to his feet, "I gotta go help Ru- grk!"
Link instead staggered and fell over to the ground, gasping out.
"No, Link!" Aviel exclaimed with tears in her eyes.
"You cant help anyone when you're in this condition!" Nabooru shouted, "Damnit, we need to do something for him! He needs medical attention!"
"But Dr. Sarami is back at the island!" Togau said, "He might not make the trip!"
"I could try flying him over the ocean, but it might be too dangerous when he's in this condition!" Kesuta said.
"Hey, what's going on here?" shouted a voice, as everyone turned towards the exit out of the base to see a group of zola in bandages, but they looked pretty familiar to the group.
"Oh, it's Jonas!" Aviel realized, recognizing the swabbie zola.
"Ready for round two then?" Reirousa asked, gripping her warhammer, but was stopped by Nabooru.
"I see you've all recovered pretty well." Nabooru simply said.
"Eh, more or less, thanks to Momma Octo." shrugged Jonas, walking over and kneeling down to Link, "What happened to this guy?"
"Not sure, he had just gone to fight that Admiral Krehaul creep! He won, but came back in this condition!" Togau said.
"Yayayayah! So he managed to take down our boss? Never would had dreamed someone could pull that off!" Jonas laughed.
"Yep, and me and Nabooru took down that seaweed man and the cannon guy." Kesuta said.
"I-I can't believe it..." one of the swabbie zola said with his jaw dropped.
One of Jonas' other companions knelt down and examined Link's injuries, "We've had to clean up the corpses of enemy pirates who've attacked the base in this condition before... he must have been poisoned by Admiral Krehaul himself!"
"Do you have any medical staff here?" Nemisa asked.
"Yeah, but none of them know how to treat this weird poison Krehaul uses!" the zola said.
"Well then what do you suggest we do?" Reirousa shouted, getting increasingly upset about Link's condition.
Jonas himself meanwhile paused, looking down at Link's cuts, "Hey, I overheard you say you have a doctor back on the mainland that could help him, is that right?"
"Yes, what of it?" Nabooru asked.
It was then Jonas pushed his zola friend out of the way and leaned down to put his mouth over one of Link's wounds, seeming to be sucking on it.
"Wha- what the hell ya think yer doing?' Togau asked.
"Trying to suck out the poison." Jonas said spitting out some of what he sucked out, "Hopefully it'll be enough until you guys can get him to treatment."
"But what about yourself?" Nemisa asked, "Couldn't that poison be dangerous for you too?"
"Yayayah, I'll be fine. The cruddy food we've been given to eat here is a lot more toxic then this!" chuckled Jonas, before sucking out the poison from another wound.
The group were hesitant to try and stop Jonas, but they allowed him to do so out of concern for Link.
After a while, Jonas stood himself up and sighed out, "I think that's about as much as I could do..." he groaned a little, as his zola companions all caught him.
"Hey, hang in there Jonas!" a zola shouted.
"Ugh, wha... what happened...?" Link then groaned, getting up and rubbing his head.
"He's awake!" Aviel exclaimed.
"Link, thank goodness you're better!" Nemisa said, she was about to hug him, but avoided it due to the injuries.
"Jonas, did you help me out there..?" Link asked, his mind still fuzzy from his fatigue to remember everything, as he put his hand up to one of his cuts.
"Eh, if you wanna call it that..." Jonas shrugged.
"Listen, we're thankful, but we're running short on time, we need to get a move on!" Nabooru said.
"Lady Nabooru, we have bad news!" shouted Ifemi running into the base along with her guards who were watching the ship, "Some of the pirates damaged our ship and sunk it!"
"We managed to kill them, but not before they sunk our ship by making holes in it from below, the cowards." one of the Gerudo guards said in annoyance.
"What?!" exclaimed Nabooru, "Damnit, we don't have time for this, Link needs medical attention, and Ruto needs the pearl!"
"No problem, I can get us there quick now!" Kesuta said, "Link, get on my broomstick, I'll fly us both to Ruto as fast as I can, then you can get properly healed by Dr. Sarami!"
"Alright." Link nodded, the looked to Jonas, "Listen, are you sure you don't need medical attention yourself?"
"Heh, don't worry about me..." Jonas gasped out with a grin, "Go on Mr. Hero, and save... your princess..."
"Jonas..." Link muttered, before nodding, "Okay!" climbing onto Kesuta's broom with her, as she rose up into the air, "We'll meet you all at Zora Coast then!" he took one last look to Jonas, "Just don't die on us, alright? And thank you!"
"Lady Nabooru, please make sure you give Big Momma Octo back her child on your way back!" Kesuta added.
"Very well, good luck to both of you!" Nabooru nodded, as they watched Kesuta and Link shooting off out of the marine base and across the ocean as fast as they could.
"Go for it Link! Go save Ruto!" Aviel called out holding the octorok child in the air, who squealed out as well.
"So much for being scared of the ocean." grinned Togau, recalling what Kesuta said about not even thinking about being afraid when someone she cared about was in danger.
"We better find a way to get back ourselves then." Nabooru said, "You boys positive you don't need any help?" she then asked Jonas.
"Nah, I'll be fine here with the boys." Jonas grinned, "You all get back safely, ya hear?"
"Heh okay, and thank you again for what you did for our king." nodded Nabooru with a smirk, "Everyone, let's see what we can do to salvage the ship!"
With that Nabooru and the Gerudo all ran out of the base, leaving Jonas and zola alone.
"Come on Jonas, let's see what we can do to get you healed up!" one of the zola said desperately.
"Yayayah!" Jonas laughed out loud, "That guy and his friends are something else to make me do something so stupid!"
"You always do stupid stuff Jonas!" grinned one of the zola, "But this time you did something really great to help our friends, and right now it's our turn to help you!"
"Yeah, after all now that the bosses are done for, I think we zola are gonna need a new captain!" said another one.
"Hey, I didn't ask for a job like that guys..." chuckled Jonas as his friends carried him off for treatment.
"...though if I were to become the new captain, I'd start off with one important rule."
"What's that Jonas?"
"No more fish puns."
And with that the chapter is over. With the Smooth Pearl recovered, it's a race to save Ruto from her fate. Can Link and Kesuta save her in time? Find out last week!
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