So guys, we did it. We uploaded a chapter and it didn't take a million f*cking years. Now, while this is a very monumental moment, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. We lost a lot of people on this journey, including my dog (who was like a father to me), my goldfish (who was like a mother to me), the respect of my peers, my self-esteem, and Jerry- actually, nevermind, f*ck Jerry, nobody liked him and I'm happy he's dead. But that's besides the point, cuz right now we have some corpses to honor. Let's all take a moment of silence.

"..."

Okay, that's long enough, NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!

Link yawned as he watched the sea before him, looking for any potential threats, yet coming up with nothing. He had been watching for about four hours now, with no one to accompany him except for his thoughts, and his patience was beginning to wear thin. So much so that he was kind of hoping someone would attack just so he would have something to do.

"Just like grandma always said: 'This peace is what all true warriors strive for.'" He said aloud.

"Why are you talking to yourself." He heard a voice ask.

"GODDESS HYLIA!" He jumped in surprise so badly that he almost fell out of the crow's nest. He turned around, only to be met by a mischievous grin of his new captain.

"What's up, newbie." She greeted him.

He sighed in relief at the familiar sight. "Phew. It's only you."

Tetra narrowed her eyes at the boy. "What do you mean 'it's only me?' Are you saying that I'm not threatening?"

"What? No, I was just-"

"Because that's kind of what I'm hearing from you right now!"

Link started backing up, putting his hands up defensively at his captain's odd behavior. "Hey now-"

"How about I show you just how threatening I can be!" She fumed, raising her fist to him.

"Wha- no, it's just- I thought-" He stuttered, raising his arms up to block his face.

"Pfft-HAHAHA!" The sound of laughter rang through the night air, only confusing Link even further. He opened his eyes to see Tetra keeling over in laughter, all her previous anger fully dissipated.

"I'm just messing with you. Lighten up a bit, won't you?" She said, punching him on the shoulder.

"Uh… yeah." He said, trying to hide the fact that he was shaking. She didn't seem to notice. That or she didn't care.

"So, how's your first day been?" She asked suddenly, trying to spark a conversation. Link seemed to ponder the question for a second, before answering.

"Interesting, to say the least." He responded, not taking his eyes off of the sea.

"You can say that again." She agreed with a grin.

"Yeah, it's not everyday you break out of jail, sneak on a ship, save the captain, then get forced into joining the crew." He said jokingly, much to Tetra's chagrin.

"Just so we're clear, I could've easily broken free without your help." She objected. Link wasn't surprised by it though.

"Gee, you sure are thankful." He muttered, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"I'm just being honest! A rookie like you was lucky to survive a stunt like that." She put her hands up in defense.

"Not lucky. Skilled." He rebuked.

"Pfft, yeah right. I'll believe it when I see it." She laughed sarcastically.

"Believe it, Captain, cuz you already saw it earlier, and you just don't wanna admit it." He responded snidely.

Tetra raised her eyebrow. "Getting a little snippy, aren't we?"

"Not at all, ma'am. I'm just speaking the truth." He said with a smug grin.

"Is that so?" She questioned.

"Yep."

"Huh. Well instead of speaking the truth, why don't you show it?" She challenged, a devious grin stretching across her face.

"What do you have in mind?" He asked, his smug grin unchanged.

Tetra snickered to herself. "Oh nothing, just a friendly little competition."

"Why are you laugh-" Link's question was interrupted when Tetra tossed him one of her swords. He fumbled to catch it before he finally secured his arms around it, having not expected it. He looked to Tetra for answers, only to see she had her other blade drawn and pointed at him, a devious grin adorning her features. It finally dawned on him. Tetra was challenging him to a duel.

Link put his hands up in defense. "Wait a minute!" He pleaded, but it was too late, as she brought her blade down upon him. He blocked the attack, pushing her back.

"I didn't mean we had to fight!" He tried to reason with her, but it continued to fall on deaf ears.

"Quit your whining and fight!" She shouted, before swinging at him again, only for her blade to be met with the mast as he ducked. She tried to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge. Link started inching backwards, only to be met with the edge of the crow's nest. Looking down, he saw a long, treacherous fall down to the deck, and looking forward, he saw his attacker had almost gotten her blade removed from it's wooden prison, muttering obscenities as she did so. Link quickly took advantage of this opportunity and continued in his attempts to reason with her.

"Hey now, let's not get hasty here. What's the point in this fight anyway? Why don't we just get down from here and talk it out." He proposed with a nervous smile. Tetra continued to ignore him, though, as she finally pulled her blade out of the mast, a look of victory donning her face. Tetra wasted no time, taking another swing at the boy. Link stumbled backwards in an attempt to dodge the attack, only to be met with the ledge of the crow's nest. His back went over the ledge as he lost his balance, and before he knew it, he was falling over the side.

"WAAAAAAHHHHH!" He yelled in distress, flapping his arms around like a maniac. His eyes widened in fear as he watched the crow's nest grow smaller and smaller. Turning around, he was met with the ground, which was getting closer and closer. Link shut his eyes as he braced for impact. The goddess seemed to show pity for him, however, as his hand met with a stray rope, allowing him to swing to safety. Link slowly opened his eyes, only to realize he was suspended in the air. He was in pure disbelief at his luck, but at the same time, immeasurably grateful, sighing in relief.

"Phew. That was a close-*SLAM* Link's face met with the side of the ship, putting a quick end to his short victory. Link sunk to the ground before rubbing his nose in pain, groaning all the while. He slowly got up, rubbing his aching head.

'Oh well, at least I'm still alive. That's always a plus.' He groaned to himself. Yet, despite his 'victory', he couldn't help but feel a nagging voice in the back of his head. 'I don't know what it is, but it feels like I'm forgetting something-' "YAAHHHH!" 'There it is!" He quickly remembered the reason he was in this situation in the first place, quickly rolling out of the way of his captain's cutlass. He just barely avoided her blade, the weapon getting so close that it clipped off a few tiny strands of his hair. Tetra grunted in annoyance, although she couldn't deny she was impressed. Not that she would ever tell him, though. In fact, she opted instead to taunt him.

"That was a nice little trick you pulled there, rookie! Especially the part where you hit that oh so dangerous wall!" She laughed, much to Link's embarrassment. Link ignored it, however, opting instead to be the reasonable one.

"This is crazy! I could've died right there, and you still wanna fight?!" He argued.

"Oh, suck it up, Sally! You wouldn't have died, just broken a few bones." She corrected him.

"WOW, THAT'S REALLY REASSURING!" He exclaimed sarcastically.

Tetra had finally had enough, having grown tired of what was supposed to be a duel turning into a game of tag. "Enough! Either fight me, or I will throw you in that 'oh so horrible' cell that you keep whining about!" She threatened.

"But-!"

"I don't wanna hear it! It's time you make up your mind!" She yelled, leaving no room for argument as she brought her blade down upon him. On instinct, the boy brought the blade up, blocking her attack.

"And so the true fight begins!" Tetra exclaimed out of excitement, unable to contain her smile. She threw another attack, which the boy also blocked, although reluctantly.

"Is this really necessary?!" Link questioned.

"Yep!" Tetra shouted, before continuing her onslaught.

Tetra continued to hit him with blow after blow, refusing to let up, as the boy blocked all of her attacks, although begrudgingly. Things finally came to a head as Tetra threw a vertical attack at him, to which he dodged to the left, using the momentum to kick her in the side. Tetra tumbled to her knees, but quickly recovered, grabbing her slightly aching side in the process.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" He apologized. Tetra, however, was too busy beating herself up over it.

'Dammit, Tetra! Are you really gonna let this rookie beat you?!' She scolded herself, before turning her attention back to said rookie.

"Don't worry! It's nothing compared to the beating I'm about to give you!" Tetra challenged, her fury pushing her to fight harder. She charged at the boy, who was now back on the defensive, blocking her rapid attacks, which had gotten even faster now.

They finally met in a blade lock, staring each other dead in the eyes. Tetra grinned, which Link could tell meant bad news. Before he could act on that instinct, though, Tetra spoke up.

"So you can block a few attacks, eh? Why don't you try and block THIS!" She said, bringing her foot down upon his. The boy yelped in pain, reaching for his foot. Tetra took this opportunity to sweep his legs out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground.

Before the boy could even reach for his blade, Tetra had her cutlass raised against his face. "Looks like I win." Tetra boasted.

"That was a dirty move." The boy grunted.

"What do you expect? I'm a pirate after all!" Tetra announced with pride, the boy rolling his eyes in response.

"Mind telling me what the point of all this was." He questioned.

"To prove you just got lucky with the big octo." She explained simply.

Link pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Of course it was. So, how 'lucky' did I get?" He said sarcastically.

"Really lucky. So lucky that I can't even put into words how lucky you were." She teased him. Link opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off. "But. I will admit, you have some skill." She complimented him, something he didn't expect at all.

She continued to surprise him as she plopped herself down next to him, lying her head against the stiff floorboards.

"But you're still nowhere near me." She bragged.

Link sighed, yet grinned despite himself. "Even when you compliment people you insult them." He said.

"It's not insulting, it's constructive criticism." She corrected him matter-of-factly.

"Whatever you say princess."

Things went silent for a while, the only thing to fill the air being their heavy breathing, still exhausted from their recent altercation. In that time, the moon had slowly fallen under the horizon, and with it, the light of day slowly rose up.

The light caught Link's attention as he sat up to watch. Once his eyes met the source of the light, he couldn't take them off, mesmerized by the beautiful sight before him. The mix of purples and oranges blended together perfectly, only to be reflected into the ocean to heighten the spectacle.

"Wow." He whispered in amazement.

"Pretty impressive, isn't it?" Tetra inquired, getting up as well.

"You can say that again. Back in that little cell I could barely get a good look at it, but now I can look at it from every single angle. I've been waiting for this for as long as I can remember." He gushed, not taking his eyes off of the beauty before him.

"Well, enjoy it while you can, because you've got work to do." She said, getting up to walk away. Link gawked in surprise, only to chok on his own saliva and go into a coughing fit. When he finally recovered, he had a few words.

"Wait a minute! I've been up all night! Don't I get to rest!" Link implored, his exhaustion finally settling in.

"Nope! Volunteer work is free of charge and comes with no rewards, don't you know? Maybe you shouldn't have volunteered when it wasn't your shift." She said, before walking off.

Link watched as she walked off, before dropping his head in defeat. He took a long yawn, realizing how long of a day this was going to be.

"That cell is starting to sound pretty good right now." He sighed to himself.