Chapter 9. Senseless Destruction, Present and Future

"What time is it?" I asked.

"A little before midnight, I believe," King replied.

"Huh, I wasn't gone as long as I thought. So where're we goin' anyway?"

"Greatfish Island. We are close already."

I felt a drop on my face. This was not unusual, being that we were at sea and all, but then I felt another. And another. Soon it was pouring down rain.

"Where did this come from?"

"Oh... No..."

"King?"

Then I saw it. Greatfish Island. From King's reaction I could only assume that the island had not always looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. And then chucked the pieces around. And made it rain.

"Wh- what is the meaning of this?" King asked, sounding as broken as the island. "The island... It is... We are too late. I knew we had precious little time, but I never suspected how little..."

"King?"

"A great water spirit named Jabun once lived here, but no sign of him remains..."

"I'm gonna get out and look around."

"Be careful." His voice was wooden.

Exploring revealed a lot more evidence that the appearance of the island was not natural. Rain was falling on dirt and rock that had never seen rain before. Not only that, but the whole island just felt...broken, sad, abused. Not the way islands are supposed to feel.

I'd never noticed before, that places could have feelings to them, but I probably should have. This place felt violated.

There was no sign of anything alive, so I headed back to the beach. King's head was almost in the water, it was sunk so low. I was dripping water now, and feeling pretty low myself.

"King?"

"If Ganon has been here, than I fear for Jabun..."

"King..."

"Ho there! Link!"A voice came from the sky.

I looked up and saw Quill, flapping awkwardly in the rain. "Quill!"

He landed on the beach not far from me and wiped the water from his eyes. "So, you're here! I've been looking for you! Are you looking for the great spirit, Jabun?"

"Yeah! Do you know where he is?"

"Not here, that's for sure. Just look at how this place has been torn to pieces... I suppose this, too, is the work of the shadow in Forsaken Fortress." He noticed the look on my face. "But don't worry! Jabun got away before the island was attacked. He is somewhere safe now. Would you like to guess where that is?" he asked, grinning.

"Um...no. Just tell me."

"On the island where you were born. On Outset."

"On... What? Really? Outset? But...but... What the hell's on Outset?"

"Jabun, now. But even if you go to Outset, you won't be able to see him."

"Huh? Why not?"

"He is hiding in a cave at the back of the island, and the entrance is blocked by a massive stone slab. I doubt even the pirates with their mighty ship could get in..." He stopped suddenly, and ruffled the feathers on the back of his head. "I...I'm sorry, Link. I thought if anyone would know where you were, it would be the pirates. I told them about this without so much as a thought for the consequences. I don't know why, exactly, but they immediately set sail for Outset Island and tried to break into the cave. They didn't get in! I don't think they did any damage at all... I heard they were last spotted on Windfall Island, but I don't know what they were doing. If you wish to see Jabun, I think you'd better go to Windfall."

"Sound good King?" I asked.

He nodded.

Quill scanned the island. "What an eerie isle this is... Everywhere else boasts clear skies and calm seas, but this place suffers under dark clouds and rain. Valoo must have been right when he asked me to bring word of Jabun to you... He called this island cursed... I would counsel against staying here longer than you have to. But that's up to you. I've told you of Jabun, so my task is complete. Good luck, Link."

King sighed with relief as Quill flew off. "So Jabun has survived. I feared for a moment that... But it is no matter. The sea spirit has lived through the trials of many long years, he must have caught wind of Ganon's attack beforehand."

"So, off to Windfall then?"

"Yes."

The rain stopped as soon as we were out of sight of Greatfish, but the sky was full of clouds. I'm not sure how long it took to Windfall, but it must have been after one in the morning. Sure enough, the pirate ship was there, moored around at the side of the island farthest from the city. I found myself wondering what the ship's name was, or if it even had one.

Obviously, I needed sleep.

"It is just as the postman told us," King said. "The pirate ship must have stopped here to avoid drawing the attention of the townsfolk. I know not what they are researching, but if they are hoping to get their hands on Jabun's sacred gem I doubt they would tell you anything directly if you were to ask them. Link, I think it would be best if you attempted to find out what the pirates were up to, without them finding out about you."

"Mrrgh..."

"Link?"

"No, no, you're right. I don't like the idea of spying on friends though..."

"Friends? They are pirates, Link. They cannot be trusted."

"Not with treasure or stuff, but I think I'd trust them with my life."

"I only hope you are right."

In order to find out where the pirates were, I had to think like a pirate. Or at least, that's what I wanted to do. In reality, I heard voices coming from the bomb shop and realized, oh duh, bombs.

In playing hide and seek with those crazy bee kids, I had found a path that led behind the bomb shop. I had to press against the wall to get back there, but it was worth it. There were some thick vines growing up the wall, and a small window above that. I squeezed through easily enough, and found myself on a kind of wooden shelf loft thing above the shop. I dropped to my stomach and crawled forward until I could peer over the edge.

Gonzo was tying up the bomb shop owner with far more rope than he needed to. "Look, don't be mad at us," he said, sounding for all the world as though he meant it. "It's not our fault that we absolutely gotta have bombs to get the treasure we're after! How about you just think of it as payback for the nasty little monopoly you've been running here, yeah?"

Mako, the pirate with the glasses and the big thick book, checked Gonzo's knots. "So, I bet you're thinking it was foolhardy to ask pirates to pay such an outrageous price, huh? Yup. I bet you are." He nodded and stepped back, approving the job. "You know, Gonzo," he said. "I still can't get over that bit of fast talking you pulled to get that information out of the postman."

Gonzo blinked. "Huh? Oh! Oh, yeah! That was smooth. I tell you, the minute I set my eyes on that Link, I just knew he was hiding something back at Outset, yeah? So when I saw that postman, I just pretended like I was all worried about the kid and stuff... And presto! He spills the beans."

I was choking up on the loft. This guy was a terrible actor! It was sweet that he had been worried about me, but was anyone actually falling for this?

"Good work, Gonzo! Really! Just top notch! It's funny though, I'm thinking this is maybe the first time you've shown such wit..."

Apparently glasses do not make one smart.

"Such cunning..." Mako said thoughtfully. "You know with your cunning and Miss Tetra's smarts... If you two got married and had a kid, that kid would be the greatest pirate to ever sail the seas! Yup, the greatest!"

I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from growling. The idea of Tetra and that meat-mountain was just offensive! Tetra was too young for him, for starters, and she deserved someone with something actually approaching a brain.

Gonzo was blushing. The bastard was actually blushing.

"You idiot," he said. "Keep your mouth shut, yeah? Don't be so stupid! Miss Tetra," he turned to look at the back corner of the room, near where I hid. "Are you listening to this nitwit? Can't you dock him some pay or something?"

"Quit goofing off, both of you," I heard Tetra say. She was beneath me! She was right beneath me! "Keep your childish jokes to yourselves and get those bombs back to the ship. The second you're done loading them up, we're setting sail for Outset."

"What?" Gonzo exclaimed. "Miss! We have to leave immediately? But it's been so long since we were on shore! We need to fill our bellies with some good eating, yeah? How about we grub tonight and shove off tomorrow morning instead?" He trailed off. I could imagine Tetra giving him a Look. "I mean... Uh, I- I'm fine either way, of course! Whatever you say is fine, Miss, is what I mean to say! It's just... the boys were so excited to come to town, yeah? And I can't help but think it would be awful hard on them to leave so soon without a proper layover. So, what say we sail tomorrow, yeah? What do you say, Miss? That treasure isn't going anywhere! You're with me, right, boys?" He turned to the others. "Who's for a night of fun?"

The other pirates were smart enough to keep their mouths shut.

"You're all fools, do you know that?" Tetra said, sounding really annoyed now. "You saw that demolished island! You saw the senseless destruction. We have to hurry on to Outset, or the same thing could happen there!"

"Huh?" Mako blinked at her. "Not to be disrespectful, but by the sound of things, you're more worried about that island than the treasure, Miss."

"Don't be ridiculous," Tetra exclaimed, a little too quickly in my opinion. "I want, you know... the treasure..."

And then she turned her head, back and up, and her eyes started to slide up in my direction. I scooted back, as fast as I could, but she saw me. I knew it.

I could feel her wink. Feel it in the icy tingle start started in the pit of my stomach and flooded through the rest of my body, sinking deep into the marrow of my bones. Tetra had winked. At me. And I had no idea what that meant.

"All right, fine," Tetra said, her voice was much lighter. "Have it your way! We can leave tomorrow, you big babies. But we're setting sail at first light, so no sleeping in! Understood?"

"Aye-aye!" the pirates chorused.

They all started filing out of the room, carrying big boxes that I assumed were full of bombs, Tetra leading the way. Mako and Gonzo were the last ones out.

"What was today's password, again?"

"Are you kidding? You forgot already? You're so useless. Today's password is chummily, yeah? Remember? You know that Niko won't let you in if you don't say it exactly right!"

"All right, all right, chummily."

They vanished out the door, and it was just me and the tied-up shopkeeper. It was extremely tempting to hop down there and mock him, but I held back. I wiggled back through the hole and peered over the cliff at the pirate ship.

I watched the last of the pirates climb off the ship and head for town, then scrambled down there myself. Chummily. What the hell kind of password is chummily?

I'd seen the pirates coming from below decks, so I figured that was where they'd put the bombs. The door down there was locked, and when I knocked I heard Niko's voice shout some lame joke up at me. I gave the password, and he came up to open the door.

"Link!" he exclaimed. "You're alive?"

I checked. "Yes."

"Everybody said you got done in by that bird monster at the Forsaken Fortress! I thought you... I mean, never mind what I thought!"

I couldn't help but grin, he seemed genuinely happy to see me. "Sorry I made you worry...sir."

"I, uh. Oh, I get it now!" he immediately switched into boss-mode. "You came back because you missed me so much. I had no idea you wanted to be my swabbie so badly!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's it."

"Well you know, after you left, I went back to being the bottom rung on the ladder...which is why I'm stuck here while everyone else is in town having fun and eating and stuff... But...I guess being so worshiped by my swabbie ought to cheer me up!"

He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we both knew how pathetic he was being, but neither of us said anything.

He coughed uncomfortably. "All right! Why don't we set you to your next test, huh?"

"Sure, let's do that."

He led me back down to the hold, where the last "test" had been. There were fewer ropes this time, and I couldn't see the weird flats.

Niko rambled on for a bit about how the test would be harder this time because there were no platforms and I'd have to just jump from rope to rope, but I wasn't worried. I didn't even listen to half of his rant.

"If you get all the way to this side before time runs out, I'll give you the bombs we got in town!"

I perked up. "The bombs?"

"Yeah, you heard me! Give it your best shot, swabbie!"

He scrambled across to the other side of the room, and through the door before the gate slammed shut. Immediately I hopped on the switch and took off swinging.

There were only a couple of moments where I had to slow down and think about what I was doing, for the most part it was all instinctual. No problem.

Niko acted surprised when I made it to the end long before the timer stopped, but he probably expected it. I'd done it last time, after all. He grumbled a bit about me being better than him, then led me to a box in the back of the room.

"Go on, take 'em. Just don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Why Niko, could it be that these bombs are not yours to give away?"

"Do you want them or not?"

"Yes please."

"Then take them and go."

"Niko..."

He paused at the doorway. "You're...the greatest swabbie ever."

I smiled. "Thanks.Sir."

He grunted and left.

The box was full of bombs, but they were pretty big so it didn't look like there were many in there. I lifted it experimentally. Not too bad.

"That's mighty courageous of you, trying to steal treasure from pirates."

I yelped and jumped, then yanked the pirate's charm out of my collar. I had forgotten about that thing.

"I suppose I should be shocked" Tetra's voice said. "But I'm more amazed that you managed to survive after being tossed out of that tower."

"Yeah, well, apparently I'm hard to kill."

"I have to guess you haven't saved your sister yet, huh?"

"Umm..."

"You don't give things much thought, do you?"

"Hey now!"

"You just rush in, never thinking how badly things could go for you. Like just now. The only reason you got what you did was because we left a simple-minded little rat like Niko behind to look after things. No one else would have parted with our treasure so easily, I assure you. And just how do you intend to use those bombs, anyway? Don't tell me you're going after Jabun's treasure, too."

"I'm not- I mean- Not exactly..."

"Right now, Jabun is hiding in a cave at the back of that little island of yours. But the entrance is blocked by a giant stone doorway. You can't get in without breaking down the door."

"Hence the bombs?"

"Hence the bombs."

"So what about you?"

"We're going to relax in town and eat our fill of whatever this town has to offer, but we'll be leaving for Outset first thing in the morning. If you manage to find Jabun tonight, then I guess you win. But if you take too long, we'll come sailing right by you tomorrow morning. And believe me, you didn't get all of our bombs. You'd better be quick, kid!"

"You know, you're not as cool as you think you are."

"Aww, you say the sweetest things."

As soon as the charm stopped vibrating I stuffed it back down my shirt and hefted the box of bombs. I'd show her! I'd get to Outset hours before she did!

Of course... Outset was a long ways away, and the pirate ship was a lot faster than The King of Red Lions. Tetra didn't know how fast or slow my ship was, so she was taking an actual risk here. She had seemed more worried about the island than the treasure, and then there was that wink...

Was it possible, could it be, that Tetra was a good person?

Hmm...

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Notes From the Author

I think this might be a little choppy. And it felt a lot longer when I was writing it... Mrrgh, oh well. Next chapter will be equally short, but hopefully up a lot faster.

I had a bad day, not that any of you want to hear about it. I need a hug. T-T