Hoy! I'm sorry it's taken so long. I had some projects on Ancient
Rome due at school, so don't be surprised if I seem out of practice. There
may very possibly be a short song in this chapter, three lines of which are
deprived from Monty Harper's (I know you don't know him) "Tropeo the
Pirate". Yes, I know it's a little, say, crazy; that's somewhat the point,
but it's proper to acknowledge the artist no matter what. If you read
"Jing, King of Bandits (#2)", you might find one of these scenes similar-to
a certain extent; I was a bit inspired by it. Thank you anyone reading,
because writing for you is divine. ~ A shiver echoed down my spine as a cry
for help echoed through the woods. Tetra?
"It's her." Link said urgently, kicking Epona's sides. Swiss had calmed down somewhat, and I took the freedom of riding up beside him, though Epona ran slightly faster than a normal gallop should be, sensing the seriousness of the air.
"How do you know?" I said, looking at him, though he was more interested in what was in front of him.
"I reckon I've heard her yell a couple of times." He answered, leaning forward. I wondered why it seemed he'd rescued practically the whole crew he traveled with, but I didn't dare ask, not at a time like this. We raced through the woods, which grew darker and darker, and then into a clearing of blinding light. A horse screamed- Risky- and galloped off. Link and I stopped abruptly, and Epona reared, not because she was joking around, but because she was scared.
Towering before us, casting shadows on poor Tetra, who cringed against one of the trees, hunched some sort of enormous purple–and-green- scaled crocodile monster; it heard the horse hooves and swiveled its gargantuan head, immediately losing interest in the pirate.
"Wow, Link. You're two seconds early, and that's saying something for you." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I expected you to come after the stupid thing slobbered all over me. I could get used to this." Swiss backed me cautiously back into the forest, and I jumped off to drag Tetra back into the brush. She fought me for a second, and then realized she'd be better off back there with me. Link had taken a bow from his shirt and nocked an arrow in it, Epona dancing beneath him to avoid the slashing tail. "Idiot." Tetra yelled out. "Don't waste all your arrows! My sword's stuck in that tree over there." She lowered her voice and whispered. "He's better with swords; 'course he doesn't seem to know it. I don't know why I threw the thing though..." Link sighed, lowered his bow, and got Epona to absently dodge the beast's equally careless attacks as he strode her toward the tree Tetra spoke of. He glared at the beast, and in one swift movement, yanked the saber from the tree's trunk and leapt off of his horse. The crocodile seemed amused, and from the look in its yellow eyes it seemed to be thinking: 'He's gotten off his horse! Now he'll be much easier to catch!'
It snapped its jaws at him; they were wide and enormous, certainly enough to swallow a boy of Link's size and stature in one gulp, yet Link had no intention of being eaten, and dodged it by jumping deftly to the side. He shifted Tetra's blade to his left hand, and waited for it to attack him again, standing on his tiptoes as he had when he'd dealt with Epona. It did so quite eagerly, but also quite blindly, and Link launched a series of rapid sword- slashes. It would've been lethal even if he had used a butter knife instead of Tetra's blade; the creature roared in pain and howled like a cowardly dog, miscellaneous cuts all over its snout and maw. Link smirked and stomped on the hook-like tip of the crocodile's tail, and it whined and scuttled off into the brush, its belly scraping noisily against the gritty dirt. "Ha! I've never fought something so cowardly!" He laughed, trying for a moment to shove the curved pirate saber into his sheath- realizing then it was not going to fit. He sighed.
"Ganondorf would crack up if he saw that thing, and that's saying something." Tetra shook her head, stood up, and dusted off the back of her khakis. "Now, give me that sword. From the way you're using it, you might hurt yourself." Link looked her in the eye innocently.
"Why don't you come get it?" He waved it teasingly in the air.
"I hate you."
She stepped forward, looked casually to the side, then pounced upon him, forcing him to the ground, yet he still held it out of reach. Both began laughing madly, and one could've heard them over a pack of barking dogs. Epona nosed me on the shoulder. I stroked her muzzle absently. "It's okay, Epona. We'll be all right even if they aren't."
Soon, Tetra had grabbed the hilt of the saber, but Link wouldn't let go. "Tet- Tetra? TETRA, would you quit it?" He stared, wide-eyed at a spot in the brush. "I should've known. There's never just one..."
Tetra followed his glance into the woods. "You don't mean-" The bushes rustled and three crocodiles of the same variety as the first, if slightly smaller, slunk in malicious curves about the two of them. "Um... I'll take that." While Link was distracted, she yanked the blade from his hand and stood. He jumped up rapidly beside her.
"Hey, what gives?" He complained, half eyeing her and half eyeing the pygmy beasts.
"Didn't your grandma teach you to share? I'll give it back; besides, don't you have a boomerang or something you can use?"
"Um, yeah. I guess so..." He pulled the boomerang, a yellow curve of blade, from his shirt and held it ready behind his head. I'd never seen anyone throw one of those right, much less done so myself, so it shocked me when he threw it and hit one of the gators squarely in the head. This only enraged it, and it dashed, snarling and open-mouthed at him. He laughed sheepishly and ducked so low he was nearly on his belly. The beast first ran over him, and then tried to snap at him, but its snout was so long that its head could not be lowered far enough. It was too stupid to figure this out, however, and continued to do so without a hint of frustration, turning its great ugly head at many different angles. Though Link was in a perfect position to kill the creature, underneath its vulnerable paunch as he was, there was too little space between the monster's hide and the ground to launch an arrow properly- a bit less than two feet.
Meanwhile, Tetra, who'd had the advantage of her sword and needless to say, craftiness, had used a rather more strategic method, using the tree trunks to her benefit as she was evading her crocodile. It would snap indignantly at her, and she would jump against a tree and ricochet herself in any direction she wished, depending on what angle her foot landed. She was rather slower with the sword than Link, but she managed. As you can imagine, she disposed of the behemoth quite quickly. There wasn't much blood, as evil things rarely have enough heart to manipulate such stuff, but she wiped off the sword anyway and turned to hand it to Link. "In quite a pickle, aren't you?" She teased, but he only rolled his eyes and moved his hand out of the reach of the alligator's jaws. "You're lucky that that thing's so stupid. The way you're faring, you'd be down the hatch by now."
"Well, Din, Tetra. I've figured that out by now." He groaned. "Would you just give me it already?" He was somewhat urgent about it this time, for it was quite evident that his creature was catching on. It backed up several steps and tried again, and this time its teeth brushed against the toes of his boots. The dunce of a thing never so much as noticed Tetra. She shrugged and threw the sword at him, and he had to suck in his chest so as not to be hit by it. "THANK you." He grabbed the hilt, swung it up into the monster's belly and killed it instantly. He took his place beside Tetra, handed her back the blade, and stood in silence for a moment.
"....Hey." Tetra said after a while. "Wasn't there three of those things?"
This rather shocked me then. There was a rustling sound behind the horses and I, and the third gator emerged. Swiss screamed and ran to Link's side; she'd seen him use a sword and was sure she would be quite safe. Epona, however, reared and began kicking at it in her crazed sort of way. Trembling, I raised one of my ivory werewolf-hunting guns- it was hard to aim with Epona jumping back and forth in front of me- blinked my right eye, and let fly a bullet with a loud bang. The creature fell. Tetra let out a low whistle and Link just stared.
"When we meet up with the group, you'll have to show those things to Senza. He's into that stuff, y'know? Runs the ballast on my ship," she said, nothing short of impressed. "He's in charge of the catapult sometimes, too." I saw Link cringe.
"He's not that good of an aim, though," he said hastily, obviously wanting to end this conversation quickly. She gave him a sly grin accompanied with a wink, and he shivered and stepped backward.
"He's had... some... bad experiences around that thing. Haven't you, Link?"
"Yeah, you're telling me. Remember that day I met you, and they were shooting it like heck at that giant bird?" He smiled sheepishly.
"Um.... It was on the same day.... It's okay. You can tell her on your own. Wouldn't want to embarrass you." She still had her wily smile on her face, and Link swallowed hard. I looked at him questionably, but he shook his head.
"Uh, let's just say I still have nightmares about it, I never completely trust Tetra when she says she's going to 'help' me, and my head hurts whenever I think of it." With this, he turned and ran to Epona. Tetra rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry. He'll tell you eventually. It took Medli three weeks, but he finally cracked. Anyway, if you think he's uneasy now, you should see him on the boat." She glanced around for Risky, and then sighed. "He always stays two yards away from the old thing. Link? Will Epona mind if I sit behind you?"
"She'll be fine." He patted the spot on Epona's rump. I turned to climb onto Swiss and heard them speaking in undertones: "Man, Tetra, why do you always have to do that?" Link hissed.
"Aww, but Link, that night was the highlight of our... friendship, y'know?" There was a great sigh heaved by the Outset Islander, and if their murmurings continued, it was drowned from my ears with hoof-beats.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We rode through the woods and got to the other side. Hoof-beats resonated from the east side of the valley, and we turned to see the pirates and the Rito coming our way. Medli was still evidently asleep, and the prince and the buccaneers all had huge smiles, for they were singing:
"Tropeo the pirate, the terror of the seas/a turtle bit his legs off, he walks upon his knees!"
"Oh, no!" grimaced Tetra. "Would you stupid people pick a different song, please?" she yelled. Then she realized she'd rhymed, and smacked herself in the forehead. Link grinned, and joined in the last line.
"THE SAILORS ALL TELL TALES ABOUT HOW SWIFT HIS SABER SWINGS!!!"
"Please tell me the point of that song. I thought WE were the pirates here, not some guy without shins."
"Aww, c'mon Tetra, you never have any fun." Sighed Link.
"It's not that I don't have fun." She said. "It's just the fact that you guys always pick the stupidest songs!"
"It's not stupid!"
"Yes it is! What kind of turtle would be able to do that?"
"TETRA! That's not the point!"
Yes, it was annoying, and the lot of us had to put up with it all the way to the Spilled Goblet.
"It's her." Link said urgently, kicking Epona's sides. Swiss had calmed down somewhat, and I took the freedom of riding up beside him, though Epona ran slightly faster than a normal gallop should be, sensing the seriousness of the air.
"How do you know?" I said, looking at him, though he was more interested in what was in front of him.
"I reckon I've heard her yell a couple of times." He answered, leaning forward. I wondered why it seemed he'd rescued practically the whole crew he traveled with, but I didn't dare ask, not at a time like this. We raced through the woods, which grew darker and darker, and then into a clearing of blinding light. A horse screamed- Risky- and galloped off. Link and I stopped abruptly, and Epona reared, not because she was joking around, but because she was scared.
Towering before us, casting shadows on poor Tetra, who cringed against one of the trees, hunched some sort of enormous purple–and-green- scaled crocodile monster; it heard the horse hooves and swiveled its gargantuan head, immediately losing interest in the pirate.
"Wow, Link. You're two seconds early, and that's saying something for you." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I expected you to come after the stupid thing slobbered all over me. I could get used to this." Swiss backed me cautiously back into the forest, and I jumped off to drag Tetra back into the brush. She fought me for a second, and then realized she'd be better off back there with me. Link had taken a bow from his shirt and nocked an arrow in it, Epona dancing beneath him to avoid the slashing tail. "Idiot." Tetra yelled out. "Don't waste all your arrows! My sword's stuck in that tree over there." She lowered her voice and whispered. "He's better with swords; 'course he doesn't seem to know it. I don't know why I threw the thing though..." Link sighed, lowered his bow, and got Epona to absently dodge the beast's equally careless attacks as he strode her toward the tree Tetra spoke of. He glared at the beast, and in one swift movement, yanked the saber from the tree's trunk and leapt off of his horse. The crocodile seemed amused, and from the look in its yellow eyes it seemed to be thinking: 'He's gotten off his horse! Now he'll be much easier to catch!'
It snapped its jaws at him; they were wide and enormous, certainly enough to swallow a boy of Link's size and stature in one gulp, yet Link had no intention of being eaten, and dodged it by jumping deftly to the side. He shifted Tetra's blade to his left hand, and waited for it to attack him again, standing on his tiptoes as he had when he'd dealt with Epona. It did so quite eagerly, but also quite blindly, and Link launched a series of rapid sword- slashes. It would've been lethal even if he had used a butter knife instead of Tetra's blade; the creature roared in pain and howled like a cowardly dog, miscellaneous cuts all over its snout and maw. Link smirked and stomped on the hook-like tip of the crocodile's tail, and it whined and scuttled off into the brush, its belly scraping noisily against the gritty dirt. "Ha! I've never fought something so cowardly!" He laughed, trying for a moment to shove the curved pirate saber into his sheath- realizing then it was not going to fit. He sighed.
"Ganondorf would crack up if he saw that thing, and that's saying something." Tetra shook her head, stood up, and dusted off the back of her khakis. "Now, give me that sword. From the way you're using it, you might hurt yourself." Link looked her in the eye innocently.
"Why don't you come get it?" He waved it teasingly in the air.
"I hate you."
She stepped forward, looked casually to the side, then pounced upon him, forcing him to the ground, yet he still held it out of reach. Both began laughing madly, and one could've heard them over a pack of barking dogs. Epona nosed me on the shoulder. I stroked her muzzle absently. "It's okay, Epona. We'll be all right even if they aren't."
Soon, Tetra had grabbed the hilt of the saber, but Link wouldn't let go. "Tet- Tetra? TETRA, would you quit it?" He stared, wide-eyed at a spot in the brush. "I should've known. There's never just one..."
Tetra followed his glance into the woods. "You don't mean-" The bushes rustled and three crocodiles of the same variety as the first, if slightly smaller, slunk in malicious curves about the two of them. "Um... I'll take that." While Link was distracted, she yanked the blade from his hand and stood. He jumped up rapidly beside her.
"Hey, what gives?" He complained, half eyeing her and half eyeing the pygmy beasts.
"Didn't your grandma teach you to share? I'll give it back; besides, don't you have a boomerang or something you can use?"
"Um, yeah. I guess so..." He pulled the boomerang, a yellow curve of blade, from his shirt and held it ready behind his head. I'd never seen anyone throw one of those right, much less done so myself, so it shocked me when he threw it and hit one of the gators squarely in the head. This only enraged it, and it dashed, snarling and open-mouthed at him. He laughed sheepishly and ducked so low he was nearly on his belly. The beast first ran over him, and then tried to snap at him, but its snout was so long that its head could not be lowered far enough. It was too stupid to figure this out, however, and continued to do so without a hint of frustration, turning its great ugly head at many different angles. Though Link was in a perfect position to kill the creature, underneath its vulnerable paunch as he was, there was too little space between the monster's hide and the ground to launch an arrow properly- a bit less than two feet.
Meanwhile, Tetra, who'd had the advantage of her sword and needless to say, craftiness, had used a rather more strategic method, using the tree trunks to her benefit as she was evading her crocodile. It would snap indignantly at her, and she would jump against a tree and ricochet herself in any direction she wished, depending on what angle her foot landed. She was rather slower with the sword than Link, but she managed. As you can imagine, she disposed of the behemoth quite quickly. There wasn't much blood, as evil things rarely have enough heart to manipulate such stuff, but she wiped off the sword anyway and turned to hand it to Link. "In quite a pickle, aren't you?" She teased, but he only rolled his eyes and moved his hand out of the reach of the alligator's jaws. "You're lucky that that thing's so stupid. The way you're faring, you'd be down the hatch by now."
"Well, Din, Tetra. I've figured that out by now." He groaned. "Would you just give me it already?" He was somewhat urgent about it this time, for it was quite evident that his creature was catching on. It backed up several steps and tried again, and this time its teeth brushed against the toes of his boots. The dunce of a thing never so much as noticed Tetra. She shrugged and threw the sword at him, and he had to suck in his chest so as not to be hit by it. "THANK you." He grabbed the hilt, swung it up into the monster's belly and killed it instantly. He took his place beside Tetra, handed her back the blade, and stood in silence for a moment.
"....Hey." Tetra said after a while. "Wasn't there three of those things?"
This rather shocked me then. There was a rustling sound behind the horses and I, and the third gator emerged. Swiss screamed and ran to Link's side; she'd seen him use a sword and was sure she would be quite safe. Epona, however, reared and began kicking at it in her crazed sort of way. Trembling, I raised one of my ivory werewolf-hunting guns- it was hard to aim with Epona jumping back and forth in front of me- blinked my right eye, and let fly a bullet with a loud bang. The creature fell. Tetra let out a low whistle and Link just stared.
"When we meet up with the group, you'll have to show those things to Senza. He's into that stuff, y'know? Runs the ballast on my ship," she said, nothing short of impressed. "He's in charge of the catapult sometimes, too." I saw Link cringe.
"He's not that good of an aim, though," he said hastily, obviously wanting to end this conversation quickly. She gave him a sly grin accompanied with a wink, and he shivered and stepped backward.
"He's had... some... bad experiences around that thing. Haven't you, Link?"
"Yeah, you're telling me. Remember that day I met you, and they were shooting it like heck at that giant bird?" He smiled sheepishly.
"Um.... It was on the same day.... It's okay. You can tell her on your own. Wouldn't want to embarrass you." She still had her wily smile on her face, and Link swallowed hard. I looked at him questionably, but he shook his head.
"Uh, let's just say I still have nightmares about it, I never completely trust Tetra when she says she's going to 'help' me, and my head hurts whenever I think of it." With this, he turned and ran to Epona. Tetra rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry. He'll tell you eventually. It took Medli three weeks, but he finally cracked. Anyway, if you think he's uneasy now, you should see him on the boat." She glanced around for Risky, and then sighed. "He always stays two yards away from the old thing. Link? Will Epona mind if I sit behind you?"
"She'll be fine." He patted the spot on Epona's rump. I turned to climb onto Swiss and heard them speaking in undertones: "Man, Tetra, why do you always have to do that?" Link hissed.
"Aww, but Link, that night was the highlight of our... friendship, y'know?" There was a great sigh heaved by the Outset Islander, and if their murmurings continued, it was drowned from my ears with hoof-beats.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We rode through the woods and got to the other side. Hoof-beats resonated from the east side of the valley, and we turned to see the pirates and the Rito coming our way. Medli was still evidently asleep, and the prince and the buccaneers all had huge smiles, for they were singing:
"Tropeo the pirate, the terror of the seas/a turtle bit his legs off, he walks upon his knees!"
"Oh, no!" grimaced Tetra. "Would you stupid people pick a different song, please?" she yelled. Then she realized she'd rhymed, and smacked herself in the forehead. Link grinned, and joined in the last line.
"THE SAILORS ALL TELL TALES ABOUT HOW SWIFT HIS SABER SWINGS!!!"
"Please tell me the point of that song. I thought WE were the pirates here, not some guy without shins."
"Aww, c'mon Tetra, you never have any fun." Sighed Link.
"It's not that I don't have fun." She said. "It's just the fact that you guys always pick the stupidest songs!"
"It's not stupid!"
"Yes it is! What kind of turtle would be able to do that?"
"TETRA! That's not the point!"
Yes, it was annoying, and the lot of us had to put up with it all the way to the Spilled Goblet.