Hmm...yeah. Sorry for the wait. I hope this makes it worth your while...


Tetra squinted through the darkness of the new chamber; it seemed several times thicker, hanging around her like a fog in this one room when compared to the rest of the temple.

Her attention snapped to the one source of illumination- save for the meager rays that fell from the ceiling- in the otherwise murky cavern; a small flame, flickering weakly on the far side of the room, casting it's light far enough to reveal the shaft of an arrow attached to it.

The pirate's eyes narrowed further.

Why in Din's name is that here?

She took a few cautious steps forward, glancing about the room. If this is Link's idea of a prank… the mental threat was left to hang ominously in the depths of her mind.

Tetra blinked several times as her eyes began to adjust to the lack of light. Finally, she thought, taking in the room around her and freezing in her tracks.

She had finally found her companion, albeit under very different circumstances than she'd hoped. Come to think of it, she'd expected to find the green-clad hylian completely lost, grinning at her sheepishly, awaiting a scolding; what she found was completely different.

What Tetra had originally assumed to be a stone pillar was a thin arm protruding from the ground, hand clamped around her helpless companion's throat.

There was really only one thing that she could do in that position.

The pirate leapt into action, tugging at the appendage, but to no avail. She could just make out Link's glassy jade gaze, staring listlessly ahead, into the darkness. The only comfort she found was in the slight rise and fall of his chest and the ghost of a breath against her weathered skin.

Just seconds later, she was snatched away by a neighboring limb, caught securely not by the neck but by her forearm which meant she had a first row seat to see the…thing appear.

Pale as death with purple splotches marring the luminescent 'flesh' like the plague, eye sockets empty and foreboding-dark as the chamber itself- it sprung from the ground. Disregarding the six appendages stationed throughout the room, the creature had neither hands nor feet; instead thick, stump-like excuses for arms led down to a single blood-red talon each and a skirt-like base supported it.

It glanced about the room, non-existent eyes taking in the surroundings before it's foul jaws parted, revealing a mouthful of sharp yellowing teeth, displayed in a truly sickening grin. With extreme purpose, the creature made its way toward the original catch, pausing only as Tetra's struggling became more frantic. Slowly, the being turned its head toward the pirate, smirk widening as it tilted aforementioned head, seeming to ask 'If you don't like this, then what are you going to do about it?' There was, of course, nothing that Tetra could do in this position, despite the arm's fragile appearance it was incredibly strong, and nearly impossible to break free of its grip. Broad grin still in place, the thing continued its slow progress, leaning down so it was practically face-to-face with the small hero.

It reached out, the talon doing no more than tapping Link on the forehead, though it had to have done more than that. His previously limp form tensed up before crumpling into the creature's waiting stumps; the pillar-like arm had set its captive free.

Tetra scowled at the thing, but set her gaze on the arrow she still held. This was a creature of darkness, right? Light dispelled the dark, if not for more than a moment; and it wasn't as though she'd never harnessed the magic of light…

Correction- Princess Zelda had been the one to use light arrows in a battle against the corrupt lord, Ganon, once upon a time. She, Tetra- as she was constantly reminding her crew- was not Princess Zelda. But still, it was worth a shot…right?

Almost immediately, the already burning arrow in her hand glowed one thousand times brighter, warm, golden light spilling out from its tip. In the back of her mind, the pirate could hear her green garbed companion cheerfully saying "You're right, you aren't princess Zelda, you're better"; but didn't dwell on the distracting (if not wholly satisfying) thought.

Whatever that thing was, it shrunk back from the pure magic, dropping the seemingly lifeless body it had been holding unceremoniously to the ground in its hurry to get away. The hand that had clamped onto her arm released its grip, disappearing back into the ground; Tetra was free from the beast's clutches. Free to do as she wished with the monster in question.

Her course of action was not as violent as one might expect from a pirate- this one in particular- but she was not 'fighting' to exact revenge, just to drive the thing away. It only took two more steps in its general direction, and the undead creature turned tail and fled back into the grimy brown ground it had sprung from.

She wasted no time, quickly returning to the spot where her green-clad companion had been cast aside. He was still unconscious- not that she expected any different- but Tetra did her best to get him out of the room, finally resorting to carrying him, with the boy slung awkwardly over her shoulder.

As swiftly as possible, she retraced their steps, back out into the main room of the temple and to the entrance hall; which was where a problem presented itself. The pit. She could get herself across just fine; but how to transport an unconscious hylian past it…

Idly, she brushed at something that was poking into her arm uncomfortably, giving it a dirty look once the act didn't do anything. Upon setting sight on it, Tetra's eyes brightened; Link had tucked the Wind Waker into his belt. If memory served, there was a song he'd played several times; a curious melody that allowed the conductor to guide another's body along, like a puppet master and his marionette. But he'd played so many tunes on the blasted baton, how was she supposed to remember which was which? Carefully, the pirate set her comrade down, leaning him against a (solid) nearby wall, and began experimenting with the conductor's baton.

Tetra knew that the first one was wrong the moment she tried it; the tune was familiar, but something about the way it was played was off…

The second was completely off the mark, it had somehow morphed into a lullaby her mother used to sing…

The third went the same way as the second, but was interrupted by a low moan from beside the pirate; who immediately spun around, fearing for the worst. She was surprised to find Link awake, even if he only had one emerald eye cracked open.

"Thank the goddesses" Tetra breathed, "Link, you fool! Do you realize how-"

The pirate cut herself off, she'd be able to chew him out later, right now, they needed to get out of here before the…whatever it was came back.

"Can you stand?" She asked, much more gently.

Link closed his eyes again, and began to speak- only to be caught up in a horrible, hacking coughing fit. Mutely, he shook his head, and got the coughing under control. Tetra turned her gaze to the opposite wall, maybe if he could just hold onto her arm…

"Left, center, right, center" Came a nearly inaudible whisper.

She turned to find the hero watching her with one eye, the other still shut; he had noticed the baton that she held in her hand. The pirate blinked, stunned. From what she'd gathered, having another control one's body was not a pleasant experience. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the wand's very master trusted her with its power.

Link leaned back against the wall, trembling, as Tetra followed his directions; waving the baton first to the left, the center, right and to the center once more. The result was something neither hylian had been expecting; be it because they had never used the Wind Waker, or never had the baton used on them.

Tetra found herself staring at the blank wall across from herself…sort of, she realized with a jolt. The shock of finding that this small (not that she should have been talking…) but powerful body under her complete control was overridden, however, once the splitting pain in her head introduced itself. Not only that…her throat burned, inside and out...everything hurt… And before she knew it, there she was, gazing at the hookshot target across the gap once again.

"What just happened?" The pirate captain snapped, more harshly than she meant to, due to confusion.

Link didn't look like he'd moved at all, even after the minor ordeal. His eyes were still shut, he was learning against the stone wall, still shivering. Weakly, he shook his head.

"Not…supposed to work…like that…." He whispered again, pausing for a moment, presumably to keep from coughing. "Wind Waker...probably won't accept you…"

One hand fell across his wrist, and Link opened his eyes again, setting to work on removing something from said wrists. Curiously, Tetra made her way over to the boy; taken aback as something glinting golden in the feeble light was presented to her.

Needless to say, she was a bit confused upon finding the 'object' to be a pair of bracelets.

"…Power bracelets…help with strength…"

The real shocker came several seconds later, though; as the hero sagged against Tetra's shoulder, asleep once more. Tetra shook her head, putting the bracelets on and picking her comrade up experimentally; stunned when she found the act no more difficult than lifting a cucco...provided said cucco wanted to be picked up...

The pirate captain rolled her eyes at her own wandering thoughts and aimed the hookshot, firing it but a moment later. With only one more room to go, Tetra cautiously maneuvered her way through the darkness, nearly tripping over the pedestal in the center of the room but making it to the temple's entrance without any further mishaps.

The salty breeze that greeted her was a welcome change from the temple's musty air, though Tetra was mildly surprised to find that night had fallen during their...adventure in the Shadow Temple. She sighed, the only thing left to do was head back to the ship, but the day was finally catching up with her and the pirate suddenly found herself becoming light headed...

Just a break, Tetra assured herself, finding shelter in a covered area nearby, I just need to rest my eyes. The captain was sound asleep within moments, hand clamped firmly around her unconcious companion's wrist.

But that night was quite odd, in more than one way...while the stars glowed just as brightly as ever, and the moon shone in the sky, they found rivalry beneath the ruined Kakariko's very own windmill, and far, far away on the open sea. One would find that, leagues away, the subject of many more nightmares bobbed merrily along -despite the fact that its cousin had been vanquished in this very sea.

That night, beneath Hyrule's moon, the true terror of the ocean voyaged, catching sight of a beacon no mortal could hope to see... The beacon that shone from Kakariko's ruins, and drew the apparition with promises of a grand light, unprotected and ready to be snatched away.

That night, the Ghost Ship set sail once more.


I'm worried about this chapter for a whole list of reasons... I won't go into detail right here because that would be boring. (MORE boring, anyway)...In other news- it may take awhile for another update...my apologies. I wish I could come up with something witty to say, but it doesn't seem to be happening today. xD
Here's a question: Had enough of the Shadow Temple quotes yet?