A.N.: Don't hurt me if I get creative with the fortress layout! I've almost completely forgotten what each room was like...TP was easier because it was more recent...

Chapter 5: Caught and Disarmed

It was the second day of sailing since they had left port, and Senza predicted that they were probably going to arrive at the Forsaken Fortress by nightfall because the wind was blowing in their favor. Niko had been kicked back to scrubbing the decks after he had nearly crashed the ship into a coral reef.

Niko was busy, and none of the pirates were willing to talk, so Link decided to go chat with Vaati who was sitting at the bow to pass the time. "Hey, ready to go charge the fortress tonight?"

Vaati was staring intently out towards the horizon. He didn't say anything.

"Whoa, what happened to you? You look really ill…do you still have a hangover?"

The mage glared, and then went back to looking at the horizon. "…It's the damned swaying."

"You're seasick?" Link snickered.

"What is your problem?! Why can't you just leave me alone? You're more sadistic than I am, but they still call you a hero. I don't get it," the mage muttered, but he still kept his eyes on the horizon.

"Why am I sadistic?" the boy asked, amused.

"Your very existence annoys the hell out of me! I thought I could keep away from you as much as I was physically able to, but you choose to drive me crazy by following me!" Vaati finally whirled around to face Link. "And I tell you I want to beat you to a bloody pulp but that doesn't keep you away. If anything, you bother me even more like some twisted demon or a brainless, masochistic one."

"Do you want some water? I have some left over from the previous era we were in. Ordon springs."

"You're doing it again! Stop it!"

Link stopped, confused. "Doing what?"

"By the goddesses, fool, I don't understand why my henchmen couldn't kill you before. You're so freaking nice."

"……Should I be saying thank you?"

"NO!!" Vaati forgot about his seasickness. The conversation with Link was hurting his head more.

Link laughed, "You don't have to make up for your loss of magic by being a furious terror all the time."

"Do you think this is funny?"

"A little," Link admitted, grinning. "But don't worry, I'll be serious when we fight at the end."

"You're mocking me."

"No, I'm serious."

"You are, you stupid boy."

"Nuh uh."

"THAT'S IT. I'm going to make you help Niko do the laundry."

Link ran off laughing. Niko, who had heard his name and the word 'laundry' in the same sentence, caught up to Link. The boy in green slowed as the pirate hurried over.

"Swabbie! What did you do to get the Captain so angry?"

"The usual. It passes the time," Link gasped as he caught his breath.

Niko looked up at him in awe. "Swabbie, you're either really brave or really, really stupid."

"Haha, it's probably both. I think I'm messed up." Link's mouth was still curled up in a smile.

The pirate peeked over at the mage who had resumed looking at the horizon to help his seasickness and Link-sickness. "Is it true the captain used to be an enormous black eye with wings?"

"Yeah."

Niko shook his head in bewilderment. "I don't know why you travel with a monster like that, swabbie."

Link became thoughtful. "You know, when this whole mess began…someone…showed me how we might have misunderstood some monsters."

"Like that?" Niko scrunched his nose in disbelief as he pointed a finger at the captain. He was still bitter about Vaati making him scrub the entire ship by himself as punishment for almost sinking it.

Link let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, like that." Niko shrugged and went back to scrubbing. The Hero of Time watched a flock of seagulls following the ship above them. He didn't bother telling Niko the reason why he had changed his mind about the mage; didn't bother telling him what he had overheard the sorcerer say at the Temple of Time when he had become delusional from weakness and loss of blood.

Link knew it would crush Vaati's pride. A friend wouldn't do that.

XXXXXXXX

Just as Senzo had predicted, they arrived at the Forsaken Fortress after dark. Spotlights scanned the surrounding waters so they couldn't get too close without getting caught, but the darkness helped obscure them as much as possible.

Thick steel walls surrounded the inner structure, with the exception of one section where someone had blown it to bits on a previous adventure. More searchlights guarded this section than any other to reduce the chance of intruders appearing, and turning cannons scanned the waters.

Mako adjusted his glasses to get a better look. "Strange…the searchlights had gone after Ganondorf disappeared the last time."

Vaati snapped his fingers at Link. "Give me the telescope. I want to see something." He took the object from Link and put it up to his eye that wasn't covered by his hair. "The bird's at the top. We came to the right place." The mage turned to the pirates who were watching the fortress nervously. "You stay here and wait until I return with Link."

"How are we going to get past the security?" Link asked.

"Well, we can always use the catapult," Senzo said as he waved a hand over to the ship's contraption. "It's a little risky, though. You lost your sword the last time you used it and you didn't come back to the ship for weeks."

"Oh. Wait, I came here before? And survived? Can't be too bad, then."

Vaati whipped up a wind with the Wind Waker. "I think I can control the cyclone this time. We'll get in using this. If this goes well I can fly us right to the top."

"What if they shoot at us?"

The mage arched his eyebrows. "Who would shoot a cyclone? That doesn't make sense."

The wind picked up speed and sent the two up into the air towards the Forsaken Fortress.

XXXXXXXXXX

The noise of cannons blared through the sky as Link and Vaati hugged the fortress moat's wall quietly. They ducked underwater as a searchlight passed over them, and they quickly swam away to somewhere safer.

"Who in Din's name would shoot a cyclone?" muttered Vaati. "It's a waste of ammunition."

They had been forced to land in the water just on the other side of the steel perimeter when the canons had begun to open fire.

"I warned you," Link said as he tried to gain distance from the place they had landed in. Moblin sentries were starting to gather near their landing point.

Vaati wasn't a good swimmer, so their progress was slow. Their clothes had also soaked up so much water it was beginning to tire them out, and Link had to consider dropping his shield as it was becoming too heavy to continue. They were grateful when they finally arrived at a stone platform with stairs that led to the open court in the middle of the fortress. Vaati quickly dried both of them with the Wind Waker so they wouldn't leave any suspicious puddles.

"Vaati, quick. Under here," Link whispered as he hid himself under one of the barrels that were next to them. Vaati followed suit; in a place like this, it would be best to stay hidden for as long as possible so as not to attract dozens of monsters. As good as Link was at fighting, he wasn't sure the hero could handle that many foes at once by himself.

A moblin stalked over to where they had been with a lantern, found nothing glaringly out of place, and turned away to investigate elsewhere. Once they were out of earshot, Link knocked the side of his barrel to get Vaati's attention.

"Can you see out of your barrel? I have a hole in mine."

Link could just hear Vaati staring at him like he was an idiot. "Yes. Why?"

"Ok, follow me. Carefully."

Link began to walk up the steps still being covered by the barrel. He slowly followed the moblin that was at the top of the stairs. Vaati stood where he was, incredulous. "This is stupid."

The moblin pivoted around when he heard steps behind him and Link abruptly stopped. The firelight from the lantern cast shadows around the barrel that was suddenly at the top of the stairs instead of at the bottom; the moblin didn't seem to notice. Instead, the monster was spooked by disembodied steps and hurried away.

Vaati came up with a barrel next to Link who was sniggering inside. The mage sighed. "That might explain why my monsters could never seem to get rid of you."

"Yup. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself," Link laughed.

"Has it always been like this?"

"I'm still standing, right? You really need to keep tabs on your minions."

Vaati growled, "It appears so."

"And you should also do something about your overconfidence. That's always been your downfall, right?"

Vaati's barrel shifted slightly. "I see. I'll take your advice into account," he said icily.

They continued across the court, stopping whenever a searchlight swooped over them. The moblins had already lost interest in the cyclone incident and had gone indoors, so they didn't need to worry about hiding from them. Vaati became increasingly discouraged about the monsters with every pass of the searchlight that failed to notice anything queer about barrels magically moving on their own.

The searchlights didn't notice, but the two sneaks didn't escape the notice of a pack of miniblins, devilish imps that were armed with pitchforks. Vaati would've been relieved to know that not all the monsters were as dimwitted as the moblins had been if he had realized they were being followed.

The miniblins formed a semi-circle behind the two walking barrels and lowered their pitchforks. One of them hopped towards the main fortress door to fetch some moblin sentries.

A searchlight passed over the barrels again and the two stopped. "This is ridiculous," one of the barrels hissed as they miraculously escaped notice once more.

As soon as the barrel spoke, a moblin set both of them on fire. The miniblins scurried around to form a full circle of pitchforks to close off escape routes.

"What?" Link coughed as he batted flames from his tunic. Vaati had his arms over his eyes and nose to keep the stinging fumes away as he stumbled out of the burning barrel.

Two miniblins sprang onto the two intruders and knocked them out cold.

XXXXXXXX

"Ah, yes. I should do something about my overconfidence, correct? Of course, you don't have any problems with it," Vaati said sourly when Link regained consciousness.

Link looked around and saw that they had been thrown into a jail cell somewhere in the fortress. Three moblins were sitting around a wooden table on the other side of the bars, occupied with something.

The mage continued, voice grim. "That's right. You obviously don't have problems with overconfidence. You have so little problems with it that you'll be able to get us out without any help from weapons."

Link's eyes went wide in horror as he realized what the sorcerer was implying. He patted around his tunic for his inventory bag, and his face lost color when he didn't find it.

Vaati laughed bitterly, "It appears you have underestimated what the monsters were capable of. It heartens me to see that they were not as dull as I had feared." His mouth twitched into a dangerous smile as he watched the moblins going through Link's various weapons and the Wind Waker.

Link ran a lap around the tiny cell, trying to find a way out. There were none – no loose stones, secret passages, nothing. This was not good.

OXXXXXXXO

A.N.: From now on, I'll let Vaati and Link take care of the reviewer's corner. I'm kinda tired, and they look bored. And ask them anything, I don't care; just no obscenities because the two purple and green kiddies can't handle it. I might get rid of this if they start killing each other...

H-bomber: Vaati - Lol? I wonder what that means...

Link - It means "laugh out loud."

Vaati - What a strange way of putting it. I found nothing funny about that squeaky little shrimp screaming on the ship.

Reily96: Vaati - That's what I get? That's what I get?! I had to show those sons of bi-

Link - I think the reviewer has a point. And be nice, we're dealing with the regulars.

Vaati - ...

Peka the Corsair: Vaati - Why thank you. Look Link, I think I might be more popular than you. All these reviews and your name is mentioned zero times.

Link - It could be because you keep making a fool of yourself.

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