Yes I know but I gotta do something with all this stuff…anyway consider this chapter fully disclaimed. Please note also the translations of TWW prologue I used in this fic was done by Zethar II. Who was nice enough to let me use it here - Thank you again! Atchika

Later

By: Atchika

Tetra sighed and let her head rest on one of the rails. If she had to scrub one more pot, she was sure she'd scream. Of course, she wouldn't be stuck on galley duty for an extra week if she could learn to think before she opened her big mouth. Her gaze wandered over the pier and she watched the workers on the docks scurry about as they loaded supplies on the ship and thought, Boooriing. She was about to get up and leave when she spotted a boy who sat dejected atop some crates. He looked about her age, taller, she guessed, dark and almost handsome. Still if he was ten like her, he sure was a big kid. It was hard to tell though; he looked very upset about something. In fact, she was sure he was crying.

"Well, so much for handsome," she snorted, "what a baby." She watched him a bit longer until a familiar shadow made her look up. She scrambled to her feet, schooled her features and said with a slight bow, "Hoy, Captain."

"Well, Miss, once again I find you shirking."

Tetra bit her tongue to keep a tart reply in check and said, "No Captain," She didn't need to look to know the pirate captain was frowning as she circled her.

"No?" the captain replied as she stopped in front of her. Tetra kept her eyes fixed to the front and looked straight ahead. The captain regarded her with her dark green eyes, which were a stark contrast to her own light blue. Every once in a while, Tetra wondered why she and her mother looked so different. She'd always envied her mother's hair. Such a beautiful dark brown with deep auburn highlights, short, but always neat. Tetra kept her hair long; it was the only concession she ever made to being a girl. The sun bleached blonde tresses were almost always caught up in a messy knot atop her head.

"No Captain, I finished in the galley, and Nudge told me I was on free time for the rest of the afternoon, until dinner of course."

"Of course," the captain gave her a calculating look and said, "Very well, carry on, but after you finish your 'free time' I expect you to finish your lessons before dinner."

"Yes Ma'am." Tetra said and turned to go.

"One other thing, Miss." the captain said.

Tetra suppressed a sigh and turned back around.

"We will be having some special guests with us at dinner tonight. Dress will be formal and," the captain said as she leaned forward, "I expect you to be on your very best behavior Miss."

"Yes, Captain." She did not move this time.

"You're free to go."

Of course, she knew she was not, so she stayed put with her eyes straight ahead until the captain had gone. She sighed and sat back down. She scanned the dock for the boy, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Crap."

With nothing new to look at she got up, wandered over to the bow and sat up on the thick railing. She watched the water and groaned. Special guests? Best behavior? Formal dress? Of course, it would only last until after dinner; 'cause there was no way she was scrubbing pots in a dress.

At least, in the galley nobody cared if you swore, or got messy and that was just the way she liked it. She had spent so much time with Nudge lately she felt like he was that older sister she never had. He always listened to her complaints without telling her the captain was always right.

Dinner was still few hours away, so she went below and opened her lesson. 'Blech,' she thought, more Hylian language lessons. What was the point of learning that dead language anyway? Nobody she knew of spoke it or remembered it for that matter. Well at least the pictures were interesting this time.

Translation was so boring.

Long ago, it was said that there was a country chosen by the God's Flour...

"God's flour?" she laughed, "That can't be right, she studied it for a minute. Ah, she thought "God's Power."

The people who lived in this blessed rich land were called the Hylians, and were said to be able to hear the voices of the gods...

"Yes, to better make bread," she intoned, "with the God's Flour," and giggled.

They, together with the people of the plains, of the mountains, the Goron, the people of the water, the Zora, of the desert, the Gerudo, and the of the forest, the Kokiri, carried out unique lives...

She yawned and stretched as she leaned back in her chair. This was taking forever, bleh. Only one line left to go.

But even in this rich land, the footsteps of destruction began to creep in...

She wondered where this land of Hylians could be for she had never been anywhere that had vast plains. She was Hylian herself and wondered what could have happened to all the others? And why was she being forced to care! Zora, Goron, Gerudo and Kokiri, that seemed like a lot of peoples to misplace. Her mother had never once mentioned any of these names to her.

It wasn't like she needed any of this knowledge to be a pirate. She leaned back, tipped the chair on its two back legs and wondered. She was still lost in her imaginings when her cabin door opened and her mother came in.

"Tetra!"

Startled, Tetra lost her balance, toppled over and bumped her head on to the floor.

"Oh my," her mother said and came over to help her up. "I am sorry I startled you, but if you don't get a move on you're going to be late for dinner."

"Ow, ow, ow," Tetra said, as she rubbed her head. She looked up at her mother and was astounded, "Wow! Captain, you sure clean up nice."

"Very funny Little Miss," she said as she helped her up, "but I think its time you started getting ready for this evening."

Tetra rolled her eyes, "Do I have to? Can't I just skip it?"

"No, you can't," her mother said as she pulled out one of the few dresses Tetra owned, "It's time to get ready."

"Why?" Tetra asked and lifted the dress off the bed, "Who are these people anyway?"

"Friends of the family."

"Whose family?"

"Ours."

"Fine," Tetra said, while she struggled with the dress to get it over her head, "but...why do I have to meet them?" She was stuck.

"You know if this conversation keeps going like this," the captain said as she tugged the dress gently into place, "you'll find yourself knee deep in the laundry."

"Alright," Tetra said sullenly.

Her mother secured the last few buttons she couldn't quite reach and pulled the pins from Tetra's hair. It fell down past her shoulders in a jumbled mess. Her mother smoothed it and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes to help you with your hair."

"What's wrong with my hair?"

The captain smiled and walked out of the room. She picked up the brush and pulled out the worst of the tangles. She set the brush down and began to clear off her desk. Damn dress was itchy and she fidgeted while she put away her papers. When she heard the door open again, she figured it was her mother back to torment her more with that damn brush. So when she turned to see a boy she didn't know in her doorway she immediately threw the object in her hand.

"Wait!" he cried.

Too late... the still open inkwell bonked him on the head, he fell over and it bounced on to the floor. Tetra looked at him more closely, 'That kid looks familiar.' She thought for a moment and realized it was the same boy she'd seen earlier on the dock, "Crap, now I'm in for it," she muttered and rushed over to him to help him up.

"Are you all right?" She bit her lip as sat he up. He wavered a bit and didn't look too steady. Yup, same kid. She pulled off the bright red bandana from his head and dabbed at the ink that ran down his forehead.

"Uh, yeah." He shook his head. "Wow, you really tossed that thing."

"Thanks, I always... hey, don't you know how to knock?" she asked and poked him in the chest. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

She froze when she heard the captain's voice say, "His name is Gonzo. He is the son of good friend of mine, little Miss."

She twisted around and groaned inwardly as she looked past her mother and noticed another person there. The man was tall and thin, but not in a scrawny way and raised a blonde eyebrow as he watched the scene unfold. She saw a smile creep onto his face that made his blue eyes sparkle and Tetra decided she liked this guy. Her attention went back to the captain when she said, "By the way, Gonzo will be sailing with us from now on."

"Great," Tetra said, as she stood. She pushed her hair out of her face, smeared ink on her nose and felt it start to itch. She looked at her mother and said with a weak smile, "This isn't as bad as it looks."

The captain sighed and shook her head while the other laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. Her mother looked back at him with a grin, and shrugged as the other put an arm around her. He wagged a finger at the captain.

"Thank the Goddesses," he said between fits, "you never gave her any knives... "