Disclaimer: Don't own Zelda, making no money. Quote is Mignon McLaughlin, I believe.
Note: Chapter two and we have greed. Wherein Linebeck likes treasure and Tetra just likes being mean.
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We are all born brave, trusting and greedy, and most of us remain greedy.
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On the second day, there is greed.
They land at a small island, where Linebeck can practically smell the gold under the earth and Tetra declares there's a cave marked on the charts that she wants to explore. Link dutifully shoulders his weapons and follows her off the boat, while Linebeck tells them he'll just wait on the boat 'til they get back. Tetra glares at him and mutters 'coward', and Link looks at her. He looks hurt. Tetra catches sight, and tilts her head in a question. Link rolls his shoulders – 'if you can't remember, I guess it doesn't matter'. Then he grins, and any pressure is gone from the situation, and he's jogging down the path leading into the island. Tetra rolls her eyes, and she follows.
Linebeck waits about ten minutes for them to come back, gets bored, and jumps off the boat. Then, he jumps back on the boat, because he's remembered that Link has a shovel and the scent of treasure is driving him mad. It's probably too hot to do any kind of hard labour, and ordinarily Linebeck would use it as an excuse to get out of shifting his weight. But today – today, there's money to be made, and no Link to be doing the digging, so he finds the shovel and hops back onto the island.
It's not long before all the thoughts of the previous day have been driven from his mind.
When Link and Tetra emerge from the veil of trees surround the centre of the island, Linebeck is still digging. He was right about this island – he's already got a mound of stuff: necklaces, rupees, a whole pile of treasure maps he's definitely going to be referring to when they plot their next course...
And he doesn't plan on stopping any time soon. In fact, now the kids are here, they can help! They can dig up this whole damn island if they just work hard enough –
His shirt is clinging to his body. He's drenched with sweat and can't remember the last time he stopped to take a swig of water. He's feeling light-headed from all the treasure he's finding, as he waves and calls out, exuberant, and plunges the shovel into the earth once more –
- and sways, and passes out.
When he comes to, he figures the light-headedness might have been dehydration, too, just a little bit.
Groaning, he sits up. His head feels full of water and made of lead, or full of lead and made of water – something like that. His back aches and – God, he's been digging! Ugh, all that work...the thought of it sends a shudder of displeasure through him. His hands are sore from gripping the shovel, and he thinks maybe this thing he's got about treasure isn't good for him.
Then he notices he's not alone. Almost predictably, he realises, a moment too late, Link is sitting on the floor of the cabin, cross-legged, cleaning his sword. Linebeck realises, through a blurry haze of heat and thirst, that it's the Phantom Sword.
So the kid kept hold of it, huh?
Link glances over at Linebeck's movement, and jumps to his feet. He makes a noise, and Linebeck interprets the unasked question.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Got a bit – ah, well –" He laughs. "You know. Me and treasure."
Link smiles, but it's not his usual smile, full of vivacity and the odd dash of inanity. This smile is different – fond, understanding, and a touch exasperated. Like the way a girl might look at her wayward new husband.
Something flops over in his stomach, and by the time he's noticed it, all the uncertain shivers from yesterday have come flooding back, and he props up his knees.
"So yeah, you just been sitting on that floor?"
Link nods, then shrugs as if to say, he's got nothing else to do.
"I hit the ground pretty hard, I guess."
Another nod, and Linebeck sort of runs out of things to say.
The silence, though, it isn't awkward. It should be, by all rights, especially given what Linebeck's trying to hide under the uncomfortably thin blanket, but it just isn't. It feels like – like contentment.
God, this is weird.
Linebeck doesn't know what it is about Link, he really doesn't. The kid makes him feel like he's not some worthless sea bum, which is a nice feeling, sure, but he still doesn't get why. Yeah, there was that thing with Bellum, and the time they spent travelling together, but...
Link treats him like a friend, Linebeck realises. Like he likes him.
Linebeck's not really all that used to being liked.
It just makes him feel guiltier about the darker thoughts he's been having about the boy, and he can feel heat starting to rise in his cheeks. Link frowns, moves forward, and offers him some water.
Oh yeah. The dehydration-and-fainting thing. Manly.
Sighing, he mutters a thank-you, and takes the water. Link smiles. Linebeck shifts his knees up higher.
He's got a long couple of weeks ahead of him.