REVIEW ANSWERIN' time is brought to you in part by readers like you. Thank you.
lilgreenfox: Aw, don't sell yourself short. I actually thought I might have overdid it with the mushy part. Your comment just reassures me, and I thank you for it.
Ri2: If I made you laugh or be greatly amused by the first part of the chapter, my mission here is done. If I made you "d'aw" in the second part, My mission here is done. Besides, it was high time to kick-start what was (heavily) hinted at through the previous seven chapters, no?
Legend of Zelda
Overlord of the Land
Chapter 9:
Sandstorm
"This is going to be a baaaaaaaaaad day."
Tetra uttered that undoubtedly negative mantra under clenched teeth and narrowed eyes. It was not unwarranted, though, considering she had already fallen from her bed to land on her nose, prickled her eye with her hair brush, bit her tongue while brushing her teeth, and crushed her fingers when she was closing a drawer. And it's only been 15 minutes since she's woken up.
Mako stood beside the door to Tetra's chambers. He had prepared a preliminary report on all those papers they 'borrowed' from Dante's office. It wasn't complete, but it should give her a good idea of that pattern they follow, and he wanted to give it to her first thing in the morning so she could see how hard he was working (a little -ahem- incentive couldn't hurt, either). Suddenly, he heard a high-pitched scream coming from inside Tetra's room that put the smart pirate on point. Before he could even try asking if anything was alright, though, Tetra burst out of the room, nearly flattening Mako in the process. Mako tried to appeal to her, but she did not even look at him, instead walking in a hasty pace towards the mess hall.
Once on the mess hall, Tetra sat on her usual chair and awaited to be served breakfast, as usual, yet she did not raise her gaze to look at anybody that could be in the general vicinity. As she was ferociously eating her oatmeal, though, she put her face too close to the plate, which made her accidentally snort some of the food up her nose. Her face turned colors and her eyes watered as she struggled to even try and take the food off the wrong orifice. Once things calmed down, Tetra stared at her oatmeal, not with hunger, but with increasing rage, until she couldn't take it anymore and threw the whole plate to the wall with a frustrated scream. Even angrier than when she entered, she left the mess hall without turning her gaze to anybody there.
When it looked like the coast was clear, Senza, Nudge and Zuko poked their heads out of the kitchen counter carefully. "What is wrong with her today?" Senza asked, unable to comprehend the sudden outburst
"Do you think..." Nudge said. "it has something to do with yesterday?"
"No..." Zuko stated plainly. "This is different... worse..."
"Care to figure out what's troubling her, then?" Senza taunted Zuko.
"I'm not suicidal..." Zuko snapped back with a none-too-amused stare at his offender.
"Well, whatever it is," Nudge said, "let's hope nobody falls prey to it."
"Now, the best way to double-check if you did a good knot is by putting your weight into it." Gonzo explained to a curious Link, who was watching intently at the Second-in-command's tips for good sea travel. "Now, since I'm heavier than you, I could tell better if a knot will hold, but I think you'll do just fine. You can always apply a little extra pressure if you're not..."
Link wondered why Gonzo would stop in mid-lesson, and why did his eyes widened, looking right over him. When Link decided to turn around, he found Tetra standing right behind him. He smiled and waved to greet her, but as soon as he smiled, his face dropped. Narrowed slit-like eyes, curled up mouth, pressurized fists, and what seemed to be a low snarl... Link hasn't ever seen Tetra act like this. His eyes, widened with terror, would not dare blink or wade away from the captain's utterly scary figure.
"Eh... Miss Tetra?" Gonzo dared to ask. "Is there anything you need?"
For one fleeting second, Link thought it was safe and turned over to Gonzo, but before he could do anything else, he felt his collar being pulled with such strength that it choked him briefly. Without uttering a word, Tetra was dragging Link below deck, going so far as to throw him down the bridge and letting his head bump hard (twice) into the door.
"What happened between them yesterday?" Niko asked as he climbed down the stairs from the crow's nest.
"I don't know..." Gonzo wondered, still shaken by having Such a scary side of Tetra so close to him. "But I think we're gonna need some bandages when she's through with him."
Link did not know when did his nose first started bleeding: when the door slammed on his face on the way in, or when he was thrown head-first into the cargo hold. Either way, he was feeling quite woozy and disoriented as to his immediate surroundings. Then, something came into his mind: the image of a totally beyond scary Tetra, somehow enhanced greatly by Link's sudden burst of imagination, giving him more than enough reason to work through the pain and find the way out. He tried feeling for the ladder that led out, but no matter how much he tried, he could not find it.
"You're not going anywhere." A lower-than-usual, yet still rather feminine voice rang from behind a couple of crates and barrels. Link jumped in surprise at hearing the voice, cranked his head ever so slowly around to try and see where was the voice coming from. As he turned around fully, the frame of a more composed, yet still visibly fuming Tetra came into view. "At least, not yet." She said in an almost inaudible voice. Slowly, she raised her fists until they were in front of her face. "Put up your dukes."
Link was taken aback by all this. Why would Tetra want to fight him? He hasn't done anything wrong... at least, not as far as he's known. He saw Tetra's dead-serious determined look, yet he couldn't bring himself to raise a hand against her.
"Hurry! I'll start anyway!" Tetra warned the young hero. Link stared at her, as though he could wring out any info as to her motivations with his eyes alone. He tried to dissuade her by raising his hands, not in fists, but as if trying to tell her to stop and wait and shaking his head furiously. Tetra did not even consider this, and edged closer to him. "Well... here I go, ready or NOT!"
And with that loud, livid statement, Tetra threw the first jab straight at Link's face... that is, if Link didn't have such good reflexes and missed her punch by mere centimeters. As quickly as he could, Link ran backwards, trying to avoid Tetra's barrage of jabs and hooks.
"Come! Here! And! Fight! Like! A! Man! Coward!" Tetra taunted in a most venomous manner, throwing punches at every word, trying to get Link to respond and fight him. The boy did not want to fight her, and instead spent his time trying to find some cover and checking and double-checking every one of his pockets for at least one thing that could slow her down enough and calm her. Sadly, due to the fact that it was still rather early, he had nothing equipped.
"There you are!" Tetra said as he discovered Link behind a wall of crates. Before Link could move away from her range, Tetra managed to smack an uppercut on his jaw and a jab on his right arm. Link staggered, but didn't stop his escape from imminent danger. "Some hero you are, running like a cuccoo!" Tetra taunted further. "If you don't want to fight, at least let me punch you once or twice or fifty times."
That was the last think Link wanted to do, letting Tetra wail on him for no reason. Those punches hurt, hard. But the alternative, to fight back, was not desirable at all. There had to be a third option, something to stop her cold without either of them getting hurt. Instinctively, he started climbing a pile of barrels to try and gain some altitude over Tetra. The young captain, however, did not relent, and was quickly beginning to climb the barrels as well. Out of desperation, Link kicked an upright barrel, making it wobble wildly until it finally tipped over and started rolling... straight at Tetra's general direction. Tetra had no chance. She let go of the barrels, but the rolling one was too fast and too close to avoid. The barrel hit her first right under her knees, making her fall on her back, and then proceeded to flatten her against the floor. Thankfully for Tetra, the barrel was only half-full with gunpowder.
After all was over, Link jumped down from the stack of barrels and slowly made her way towards a seemingly motionless Tetra. Worried for her health, he began lowering a hand to her throat area. Suddenly, as if full of life again, Tetra popped into a sitting position, and promptly pushed Link back a few feet from her. "FINE!" she yelled, extremely frustrated at that. "Be that way! Stupid day, stupid oatmeal, stupid brush, stupid Link, stupid desert..."
As Tetra muttered on, Link started to approach her with apprehensive curiosity. Careful as he needed to be, this was the moment to understand why was Tetra acting this way today. "Do you know..." Tetra said when Link was close enough (though not bothering to lower her voice), "where we're going today?"
So it looked like the Goddesses' Compass had shown Tetra another location of the missing pages, Link deduced. This could be a potentially good day for adventuring, were it not for the captain's foul mood.
"It's a desert. It's just beyond the dark forest we went earlier. I saw it then." Tetra answered in a whiny tone. "I hate deserts. They're dry and hot and there's no shade and the sand gets in your eyes..." She continued mumbling under her breath, making it impossible for Link to understand her words. Still, he couldn't help but find it ridiculous that Tetra felt so strongly against deserts. Thinking about how much she's traveled and how many places she's been to, it seemed so unreasonable to dislike a simple desert. After all, it was just like a beach... except without the sea... or the palm trees... or the soothing breeze... or nearby vegetation... or anything that resembles a real beach anyways. Despite that, he found no logic in Tetra's hatred -or fear- to deserts, a fact he did not hide from his face.
"You don't understand." Tetra explained, still in her pouty mood swing. "Today's one of those days. I can smell it. Everything I do goes wrong one way or another. Look, even my shirt's on backwards." She then turned around and lifted her scarf to show Link that, just as she said, the cut on the shirt's neck was on her back. "At this rate, I'm only good to lay down and don't do anything at all." And with that, she plopped herself back to the floor.
For all the patience he showed, Link seemed to be running short particularly fast today, especially for Tetra. He sat opposite her, thinking what could he do to fix her state of mind. After giving it some thought, he stood up and, merely shrugging, he walked away to the tipped-over barrel to prop himself out of the cargo hold with it. Tetra followed his movements with her eyes without raising her head, and when there was no more noise, she returned to staring at the ceiling and doing nothing else.
After a while of silence, Tetra began hearing rushed footsteps, the sound of clanging metal and some bellowing orders that could only come out of Gonzo's mouth. It was odd to have such a scramble without her permission, and even if it was an incoming attack, she would've heard the alarm gong ring out. She sighed greatly, knowing that she just HAD to check what they were doing without her, so, with absolutely no drive to even stand up, she made her way above deck.
"Don't forget our supplies, Niko!" Gonzo bellowed out, while he himself carried a bag of stuff to the boat. "And we may need some sheets! Go get those, Mako! Zuko, where's the food?! Link, secure that line like I taught you! Senza and Nudge, go to the cargo hold and bring the weaponry crate!"
The pirates were running everywhere, trying to get everything needed on a timely fashion. It seemed, however, that with the rushing way they were carrying, they didn't even notice Tetra walking among them, trying to get something out of them. Frustrated, she appealed to the first one that ought to answer to her. "Gonzo!" She yelled. "What's all this?"
"Well, Miss Tetra..." Gonzo spoke matter-of-factly, not really bothering to look at his captain while he loaded the supplies to the boat, "It's Link's idea. He thought you were overworked and stuff, and that you just couldn't go on this next search, so we're going on ahead and you'll be able to rest for the day."
"Overworked?" Tetra repeated, as though they were insulting her. "Going on ahead? You... You thought I... You really thought I would let... How do you know where you're going, anyway?"
"Link's got the charts." Gonzo answered. "And he's got that compass, and he's leading us there."
"You know, if you really don't wanna go, you can just stay." Senza commented while carrying a heavy crate with Nudge. "We'll take care of it."
"No, that's not... You guys aren't... It's not like..." Tetra's stammering only got worse, to the point that her frustration reached a fevered pitch. "Oooooooooh! FINE! I'm going!" And with a frustrated grunt, she stomped over to her chambers to get ready.
And from the corner of Link's mouth, a small sly smile curled up.
For the whole of the trip, Tetra remained silent, refused vehemently to carry much more than her own equipment, lagged behind the rest of the group, and sighed in a way that annoyed even Niko. In lieu of this uncooperative air, Link assumed the lead and, Goddesses' Compass in hand, pointed the crew towards their destination. They passed the rather scary forest they had previously explored and proceeded further west. Eventually, the grass under their soles turned to dirt, which in turn transformed to sand. Tetra did her best to remain behind the larger members of the crew, but it mattered little, since she still was the first to get a full blast of sand straight on her face. After dusting her face off, she returned to the small convoy, in search for the next adventure. It did not take long for a long, low cave to appear and expand into a great wall. The cave's entrance was carved roughly, giving indication that some sort of civilization (not too advanced, apparently) once lived there.
"What's that?" Mako pointed out a sign that was a ways off from the way to the cave.
"Don't get us sidetracked, Mako." Gonzo ordered. Mako belayed that, his curiosity piqued by the aged sign. The sign was worn out by time and the attacks of the sand, making the fact that it was still standing a miracle in itself.
"Hmm... interesting..." Mako mused over the sign's faded letters, some nearly unintelligible.
"What's it say?" Niko asked, his curiosity growing.
"Well, it says 'Garo Caverns, home of the sand dwellers. Travelers, beware, for there are monsters around that are beyond our comprehension. If you value your life, you will turn back now.' The usual stuff, really."
The pirates looked at each other nervously. They've been aware that this quest could get dangerous, but to be warned beforehand like that really made them think twice. "Well..." Niko began, swallowing hard before saying something he could not believe was coming out of his lips. "We're here, anyway. So I say we..."
"Well, we tried. Let's go back." Tetra quickly interrupted her buck-toothed subordinate and made to run in the direction they came in... that is, until she felt a tight tug at her neck collar. Link was simply refusing to let her go. Not this time. "Ok, ok, I get it. I'm not leaving." She shrieked while trying to swat Link's hand off her shirt. "I shouldn't have shown you where the neck collar was..."
Thus, the group, knowing the degree of danger they were about to face, and though apprehension had already settled in, decided to move on, and together they entered:
The Garo Caverns
The first thing the group noticed as they entered the cave was that the first room looked like a foreign-style dwelling. Most of the floor, walls and ceiling were covered in wood, and were colored in a mixture of rustic brown and sandy yellow. From the walls hung some scrolls with writing that none of them could decipher. There was a low table off on the side where one had to sit on the floor to use it. And on top of that table there was a tea set, as though it were ready to greet guests.
"Wow." Mako whispered in amazement at every detail he could find. "Some people actually managed making a livable place out of these caverns. Just wondrous. Just... look at the magnificent detail in the wood finish! Why, the way the artificial walls blend with the stone so seamlessly... it might as well be invisible to the untrained eye. And then there's..."
"All right, we get it, 'Professor'. Sheesh." Senza interrupted when he reached his tolerance ceiling.
"Well, sorry for actually appreciating somebody's way of living." Mako retorted.
"We're not here to appreciate, we're here to plunder."Senza explained. "And I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on taking my sweet time in the dunes of dehidration. Now if you'll excuse me..."
"Hello, visitors."
"And what is it with y-- yeeh-- yeeh-- yeeh-- YEARGH!"
Suddenly, all eyes were on the source of Senza's screaming. A man seemingly appearing out of nowhere, completely covered in brown robes, including his face, of which only an eerie green glint of his eyes could be seen, and on top of it, an eerie translucent aura all over him. He sat on the low table, his back to the wall, and began sipping on a teacup.
"Is he... a ghost?" Niko whispered to Link, who was also quite shocked at the surprise encounter. The rest of the crew just maintained a watchful silence as the shrouded man continued enjoying his drink.
"I am of the Garo." The man began. "We were an old clan versed on the ways of the sword. We have traveled far and wide, through land, sea, and even dimensions, and eventually settled upon this rough desert. We lived life in relative peace... until a great, endless night befell upon us. This endless night made all monsters who abhorred the sun and it's intense heat to run around, waiting for an opportunity to strike at us. Though we fought valiantly, the monsters walked in packs, and we were easily overpowered. The sun did not come back until the last of us was exterminated. Truly, the powers that be did not see us as essential."
"So... you ARE a ghost?" Niko asked, this time with a bit more bravery.
"But why are you telling us this?" Tetra wondered. After all, it was mostly irrelevant to their quest.
"I merely wish to warn you." The Garo ghost explained, as he picked his teacup once again. "Though the sun still shines, monsters still prowl around these caverns. They will not hesitate to kill you. Above that, there are traps set by my kind, traps that only my kind knows how to surpass, and we're honor-bound to not speak of them, so don't ask." He said, getting ahead of Nudge's raising hand, who meekly let it limp down. "My advice is that there is no treasure worth dying for inside these caverns, so turn back now, for your own sakes."
"That would be nice-- Leggo of me , Link" Tetra shouted at Link, who made to grab her neck collar again, and addressed the Garo ghost directly. "That would be nice, leaving this place and never coming back. Believe me, I'm not exactly here by sheer joy. But I'm afraid there IS something in there that is worth risking a limb. I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to go on."
"Do you mean..." The Garo ghost raised his gaze from the cup and looked directly at Tetra. "Are you... Do you, by chance, know of the old pages? Pages that speak lore of an ancient and forgotten kingdom."
"We seek them, yes." Tetra answered. "Why?"
"Those pages, much mystic power they hold. I was there when they were entrusted to us by a kind old lady. She told us to keep it safe from harm until the time came that someone would claim them." The whole room stood silent as the Garo stood up and walked around the table to reach the young pirate captain. "Do understand that mere days after these pages were entrusted to us were we cursed with the eternal night. I believe the pages cursed. Do you still wish to seek them?"
This was it, Tetra thought. If she wanted to run and forget about this place, she had the road clear. Even Link wouldn't be capable of reaching her in time. She could be called superstitious, but she's been having a bad day, and proceeding into the caverns would only make it worse. However, she did not move. Above the dangers or the superstition, she knew she had a duty to fulfill, and she just couldn't walk away from it. She felt also that this could be the only time these pages could be available to her.
Her answer came as clear as the bright sun. "Yes."
The Garo's beady green eyes, which were still the only thing they could identify from his face despite the proximity, bore through Tetra's determined face, who only met his back as if she was given a fierce challenge she could not refuse.
"Very well." The Garo said, walking over to the rock formation Mako was swooning over before. He touched a few key places, and the rock began to rumble and move out of the way, until a passageway was uncovered. "You may pass. The pages were hidden deep inside, in our main training room. If you can find them, you could as well become an honorary Garo."
"Wait! I have just one question." Niko interrupted, with a steely determined look making sure everyone stopped and took notice. Niko walked over to the low table, grabbed the teapot and inspected it thoroughly. "I think you're playing us for fools. How come you were sipping on the cup... when this has nothing on it?"
Everybody stared at Niko, pondering his ridiculous accusations with little more than a 'is he serious?' tendency. Before long, an airborne nut knocked some sense into him, partially blinding him as well.
"We'll just take him. He gets like that sometimes, but he's good comedy relief." Nudge commented as he hoisted the wandering Niko up to his shoulder.
And with a courteous bow by the Garo ghost, the crew entered further into the caverns. After going down a few steps, they reached a rather tall and curvaceous room, a total contrast to the small and boxy room before. Considering the warnings given, this room looked rather harmless, unless you were offended with copious amounts of sand and a ridiculously large barrel.
"So much for big, nasty tests." Tetra said as she walked on to inspect the area beyond.
"Eh... not to be a stick in the mud or anything..." Mako spoke sheepishly as Tetra kept walking forward. "But I don't think he said 'test'. It was more like..."
"WHOAUGH!"
The shock going through Mako's body was too much to continue. The blood curdling scream stopped everyone in their tracks as they tried to find its source. Their color, however, kept draining as the realization dawned upon them... Tetra was nowhere to be seen. Link began walking to where she was last seen, being careful at every step, and looking for clues to her disappearance. After a while, he saw something odd coming out of the sand... fingers? He kneeled right in front of them and slowly reached to touch them.
"You tickle me, you die." Tetra's annoyed, labored voice came out through the sand, startling Link and making him fall back. He then tried reaching for the sand around the fingers... but his hand just went right through it like air after a certain point. Intrigued, he went right ahead and plunged his head where his hand went through the sand. As he suspected, the sand was an illusion after a point, and underneath the illusion was a deep area full of spikes, both stationary and moving. A little to his right was Tetra, hanging on to avoid falling into the sharp pitfall.
"If you've stopped looking as dumbstruck as Mako..." Tetra retorted to a curious Link. "I'd like to get back up, if you please." Link acted fast, grabbing Tetra's arm and pulling hard, helping her climb away from certain doom. After the crew apologized profusely about their oversight and hearing about the illusion trap, most likely set by the Garo, they pondered their options.
"We could use rope to make a provisional rope..." Gonzo proposed.
"No. There's no place to tie the rope." Senza said.
"We could try climbing along the walls..." Niko suggested.
"We could... if you can find someplace to grab on." Mako retorted, pointing to the sandy walls.
"How about the barrel?" Nudge pointed out.
"What barrel?" Tetra asked, looking around the area. She saw the barrel sitting right by the entrance to the room. It was large enough to hold every member of the crew... but it also looked old and rickety. It even had some holes and splinters showing its age. "Can that thing hold on against the spikes?"
"It IS our only choice, Miss Tetra." Gonzo said. "It's not like we have much of a choice."
"Hmmph... I don't like this one bit... but we've got no choice." Tetra reasoned. "Bring it over." The entire crew pushed the ridiculously large barrel, careful that it not rolled back right on top of them, and set it close to where Tetra had 'disappeared'. "Ok, everybody into the barrel." She ordered, making sure everybody was lined up properly so the barrel wouldn't move excessively as she herself entered their makeshift vehicle. "Now, on my signal, we start walking. And get ready for an initial shock." Tetra announced and took her position right between Gonzo and Nudge. The crew looked at her and listened carefully, but every time she opened her mouth, Tetra only made to breathe heavily and sigh deeply. One could only guess how disheartened she could be after seeing how bad things looked under the fake sand... and she only got to see part of it. Somehow, though, she found the gusto to shout with all her might. "Move out!"
The pirates didn't take more than three steps before they lost their footing and the barrel started falling through the fake sand, landing unceremoniously in the pit below. Groaning and hazy, but mostly unharmed, the pirates wobbled their way back to their feet and assessed the damages. It seemed like the barrel was sturdier than it looked, as it was quite complete considering the long drop to a pit of spikes. "Status report, Gonzo." Tetra called, with a tinge of alarm to her voice.
"Everybody seems to be alright, Miss Tetra." Gonzo announced.
Tetra let out a sigh of relief in response. "Okay... Let's try this again." She said as she settled in her spot and put a foot forward. "On my mark, we walk." Everybody else readied themselves for the bumpy ride and waited for the signal. "... . GO!"
For being a dangerous curved trek through a bed of spikes that were threatening to barge in through the slightly raised barrel opening, this room wasn't so bad, so long as they remained inside their protective wodden shell and paid attention to the sides to know when to turn. After the second turn, there was a rather joyful murmur going around, some wondering if they were too worried about this place. Then... a thud, loud enough to make everybody stop.
"What was that?" Nudge asked.
"Perhaps a stone fell from the ceiling." Mako reasoned.
"Perhaps..." Tetra wondred, letting the dreadful realization rise upon her again. "Perhaps they're falling spikes." She looked up to where the sound came from, and true enough, there was a miniature spike protruding from the wood. Tetra knew this could only mean more spikes would fall down. Against her better judgment, though, an order was issued. "Men! Double time! Don't stop 'till we reach the end of the room! Move it!"
Now the lot were rolling the barrel like there was no tomorrow. And true to their fears, more spikes started to fall, carving a home on the barrel's shell and sneaking their pointy heads inside, waiting for unlucky feet to graze them. And graze them they did, with many shrieks and yells of pain among the ranks. Still, they did not slow down one bit, instead redoubling their efforts to move even faster and trying to avoid as many falling spikes as possible, even almost missing one crucial sharp left turn. It came to the point that the fatigue and the pain suffered by everyone in the crew was too much to handle when...
[CRASH!]
"We're here?" Senza asked while trying to regain a dignified posture after contorting himself to avoid being skewered by the spikes. "I didn't notice a turn."
"Yes! We're out of the pit!" Niko announced triumphantly.
"Everyone out!" Tetra ordered, which everyone in the party was all-too-happy to obey.
When they inspected the barrel from the outside, it looked like a porcupine defending itself from potential hunters. "These spikes aren't natural." Mako pointed out after inspecting one of them. "They're iron. Man-made. Probably by the Garo."
"Well, we made it, at least." Gonzo said while taking off his boots to see the extent of the spike damage. He had to step on a few spikes to run away from the trap, and it showed: his feet had turned red, and some blood was trickling out. The others were pretty much the same way, so Tetra allowed them to take a small break to tend their wounds before continuing. In the interim, Link decided to try and check on Tetra, who was busy bandaging her feet. He tried to help with the bandaging, when suddenly:
"Drop 'em." Tetra said to Link in a less-than-welcome tone "I can do this on my own. I don't need you." Dejected, Link walked away, leaving the rest to their own mending.
In comparison to the last room, this next room was rather small and neat. He sand looked compact and none of it was an illusion. One could even see the way out of the room to the left of their entrance. There was nothing explicitly wrong with this room... and that's exactly what the pirates felt was wrong.
"This is too empty." Gonzo commented. "There's not a column, or a table, or... not even a barrel."
"This sand... it's odd..." Zuko whispered, his gaze focusing on and apparently trailing an undetermined element among the sand.
Even Link was looking around, wondering how could such an empty room exist. He walked around the walls, seeing and feeling if there was anything odd about them, some strange formation, a carving, a hole... nothing. It was just a plain old sandy room.
"Well, if it's all the same, I want to finish this quickly." Tetra reiterated her wishes as she made her way to the passageway leading to the next room. "So why don't we just move along and..." Suddenly a rock slammed down on the passageway, right in front of Tetra, blocking her way through. Despite the initial surprise, she snapped back, deadpan: "Why did I not see that happening."
Then, out of the sand, a green cone-shaped creature with several razor-sharp teeth adorning a top-mounted mouth emerged. It turned on its own axis as it glided aimlessly around the free sand. "Leever..." Zuko named the creature, and (quite unlike an owner who just named his pet) promptly cut the unsightly beast in half. The leever gave a odd growl before expiring, which was quickly followed by a small earthquake. Eventually, about a dozen leevers emerged at the same time, and noticing their dead comrade, wasted no time in circling their attackers.
"Oh, this just keeps getting better, isn't it?" Tetra said, sarcastically. She then turned her attention fully to Link. "Next time, I'll pick the vacation destination, ok."
"Quick everyone!" Gonzo took to ordering the battle plan. "Diamond formation, two groups! Miss Tetra, It's best if you stay by me." Tetra obliged, knowing the urgency of the battle plan... yet making sure Zuko and Senza were on her group, leaving Link with Niko, Nudge and Mako. They formed their diamond formation (which was simply standing back to back to back to back to avoid blind spots) and concentrated on battling the leevers. These leevers were more battle-oriented than the stray one, roaming in circles, thrusting their razor-sharp teeth at every opportunity and being overall tougher to kill. They also moved in zig-zag patterns, making them hard to even hit.
"Stupid... wormish... things..." Niko wheezed as he struggled to catch one. "Hold still so I can slice you."
"Quit wasting your breath and stab at 'em." Nudge reprimanded, while at the same time showing his blade turned into a leever swish kabob. "Works best for me."
"Is it just me..." Senza wondered as he kept cutting up creatures, "... or do they just keep appearing?"
"There's more." Zuko said, his eyes opened when he raised his gaze to notice how there were at least three times the original amount of leevers surrounding them.
"We'll never get them like this!" Mako whined. And almost as if predicted, the leevers began gaining terrain on the pirates as they swarmed the small room more and more. Eventually, the team had to break formation as they were being pushed into a wall. As bravely as they fought, their space was slowly getting smaller and smaller, soon to be overtaken by the green creatures. "I can't think of anything. What can we do?"
Then, Niko had a sudden weird idea: when you can't think of something yourself, think what would your hero do. He had tried it before, with mixed results: following Gnawbeard's example led the group to a hefty heist once, while trying some antics of Cannonman's (a theater character) made him bedridden for two months and almost cost him his pirate career. This time, however, he had an example he knew he could trust, and he wasn't too far away: Link. He turned to Link, who was busy exterminating raging leevers, and actually being the best one to keep the swarm at bay. Niko saw this as a sign and started to shout: "Look at Link, everybody! Do exactly like Link is doing!"
Before any protests could be uttered, the rest of the pirates took a brief moment to notice Link's expert way of keeping the leevers off. They immediately decided to try and sync up their every move to match Link's exactly, with the same timing. Thus, almost as if they were in a rhythm competition, the pirates copied Link's every sword swing, slash and stab and, just like it worked on the green garbed boy, the leevers were actually retreating from the pirates, to the point that their swords could barely reach the most daring of leevers. "Step forward!" Tetra ordered, prompting everybody to approach the stagnant swarm while keeping to Link's formula. Slowly and steadily, the leevers began decreasing in numbers as the pirates' synchronized slashing made short work of them. Eventually, the room cleared enough so no more than 3 leevers were left. One of the leevers -the bravest, apparently- squeaked oddly as he thrashed around angrily right in front of Tetra.
"Aw, how cute." Tetra said while staring down at the thrashing leever. "It's almost like he's threatening us." And with that, she eliminated the final trio by herself. Immediately after the last one was extinguished, the rock that was blocking the way moved out of the way, letting the pirates enter a long corridor.
"It's getting sunnier." Niko commented as they walked on through the corridor. "I guess these caverns aren't as large as I thought."
"Don't get too confident, swabbie." Gonzo said. "Overconfidence almost killed us before. If anything, I say we're bound to stay underground for a long while..."
"We're out!" Nudge exclaimed as he pointer out the ceiling's end point, accentuated by the glowing sun and the widening corridor.
"Of course, I could be wrong." Gonzo pointed out. He then made to catch up to the exited crew, hoping to have reached the other side and being at arm's reach of the treasure... only to crash on the back of an immobile Senza. "Hey, what's the big..." He then stood as dumbstruck at the rest of the crew, staring at what could be the most normalized abomination they have seen in a good while. What stared back at them, equal parts curious and angered, could simply be described as a huge, overgrown: "... bird."
This gargantuan bird, which could be best explained as a cross between a cuccoo and a vulture, sidestepped lazily around, eying every member of the pirate crew in turn, making them uneasy and afraid to take one more step forward. In an incredible showcase of speed challenging sheer mass, the bird pecked at the dusty ground and raised its head in a flash, making the ground tremble slightly and bringing up a lot of sand towards the fearful crew.
"This does not look good." Niko commented.
"No... way..." Zuko sneered sarcastically.
And there they stood, waiting for some sort of action, waiting for an opening, waiting for a fight... but something was wrong. As much as the bird stared at them with a hungry leer, it did not move an inch forward to attack them. As dangerous as it seemed, Link decided to investigate, so he inched forward, which was greeted by a loud, deafening screech and a more determined stare by the large bird. Despite cries of protest from his comrades, Link walked on, hands raised to try and show the bird he meant no harm, and braved to look somewhere other than the bird's face. He then noticed something strange when he looked at the bird's feet: the feet were chained up, and the small chain gave the bird virtually no room to maneuver. Even if the bird wanted to rip away his arm, it couldn't unless he was foolish enough to get too close.
Link decided to try looking into the bird's thoughts using the Command Melody. He pulled out his Wind Waker baton and, as usual, an odd melody rose from the vicinity. Link closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was seeing through the bird's eyes, and though the birds thoughts were very disorganized, he managed to make out a few things:
"If only I had enough strength to break away from these chains..."
"I'm so very hungry... I'm gonna die here any day now."
"So you want to mock the bird, no? Why don't you come closer and we'll see who's mocking who without a limb!"
"I just hope that purple thing doesn't burst out today."
Link's eyes opened wide and he snapped out of his trance. In that small time, he learned enough to think up a strategy. He dashed over to Senza and motioned to let him seek something in the big food bag. Senza looked at Link apprehensively and tightened the hold on the bag, forcing the young hero to resort to one of his more powerful tools: his big, wide puppy-dog eyes. "Don't look at me like that. You're too old for this, you know." Senza protested. This did not dissuade Link. "It's not gonna work this time. No, no... Don't. I won't let you... You... I... Fine, then. Be quick." Senza relented and lowered the food bag, and Link stuffed his head inside. After scavenging a while he pulled out a smaller bag chock-full of fruit. "Wait, that's for dinner." Senza shouted while Link threw the bag over to the bird, which pecked at the bag until there was nothing in there.
"You mean, that was for dinner." Mako fixed.
"Well, at least he didn't get the... BEEF!" Senza exploded when he saw Link holding a large cut of beef in front of the bird, who looked at it curiously. Link got close enough to be in the bird's reach, but this time, there was no screech, no angry stare, no pecking. Link set the beef down carefully and let the bird peck at it mercilessly. Afterwards, Link felt it was alright to approach the bird and made to pet him, leading to some audible gasps by the audience. The bird was more friendly now, however, and let him touch him without a hint of hostility. Link turned to the pirates and, smiling, gave them a thumbs up.
"Sometimes I wonder about you." Tetra did not delay her reaction, complete with cynicism. Link's smile faded a bit, but quickly mounted his more serious face, as there was still something else to do. He dashed to the bird's feet and inspected the chains holding him. The locks were sturdy, yet surprisingly simple, and they could possibly be outmatched by a couple of swings from his Skull Hammer, he thought. The Skull Hammer was heavy and unwieldy, but so long as the bird made no sudden movements, he had no problems. He took a mighty swing to a lock, and the hammer struck true. He heard how a few springs and joints weakened, but the lock still did not give in, so he swung again. As he hit, the chains were sent flying, and a lot of twisted metal flew short distances. The first lock was broken, and the bird's left leg was freed.
Just then, the ground started shaking, and the bird started screeching fearfully, trying to fly out of the arena, seemingly forgetting that his right leg was still chained up. Link kicked himself mentally and drew out his sword. He almost forgot the part about a purple monster terrorizing the bird. He looked around, trying to figure out where did that monster was about to emerge when:
"Behind you, Link!"
Link quickly jumped out of the way as the sand started kicking up wildly until it revealed a Mega Leever. This mutated version of the creatures they fought just before had purple skin, was even taller than Gonzo and adorning his mouth were a set of odd teeth that looked like they sprouted from other teeth, for a trident effect. "Teeth... on teeth... how does that even work?" Niko asked, rather alarmed at that.
"I think that small leever was threatening you." Mako pointed out to Tetra, who merely nodded in agreement.
The Leever slid around to where the bird had landed so clumsily, its deformed teeth being slowly twisted forwards. Link had no time to lose if he wanted to save the bird: He equipped his Magical Glove and took out his bow and arrow. He then powered an arrow with fire and shot it at the Leever, setting it on fire. The Leever started screaming (or whatever you'd call his odd sounds to be) as it paced around hurriedly trying to extinguish the flames around it. Tetra saw this as an opportunity and whipped out a bomb, tied it to an arrow and shot it at the Leever. The explosion, magnified the the burning flames, was so great that it pushed the Leever to its side, effectively making him immobile.
"Now's our turn!" Gonzo exclaimed as he pulled out his sabre and egged on the others to follow him toward the tipped-over leever. As soon as the first slash made contact with the body, however, the Leever spun around quickly and knocked a few pirates off their feet. "Retreat! Close range attacks won't work." Gonzo quickly shouted as he saw the futility in approaching the monster.
"Just throw it some bombs!" Tetra shouted at them, taking some willpower not to sprinkle 'idiots' at the end of her sentence.
When the Leever got upright again, his body had turned from purple to furious red, and its target had changed from the bird to Link. Link fumbled with his bow as the Leever charged forward,Trying to aim at the red creature without fully setting the arrow in place. Though the monster was closing in on him, Link didn't move, more out of trying to get the bow to work than out of shock.
"Out of the way, you idiot!" Tetra yelled as she pulled him out of the way just in the knick of time. "Try and be more careful!" She reprimanded Link quite sternly before her attention shifted to the monster of the hour. The Leever was making a turn and heading right bag towards Link. "Bombard him! Now!" Tetra ordered her crew, and the lot pulled bombs out of their bags and launched them at the Leever. The chain reaction of explosions caught the Leever in many degrees, and when the smoke cleared, only several charred remains and bones remained put together.
[CLANG!]
With that, the Skull Hammer's job was done. The chains were broken completely, and the bird was finally freed. The bird turned around to Link and cawed at him affectionately, lowering its head to let him pet it. Afterwards, the bird ruffled his feathers energetically, letting out a rather large one from his wing, which floated gently over to Link's feet. When Link picked it up, he felt there was something more to this oversize feather, and decided to hold on to it. Then, with a mighty screech, the bird picked up flight, and after a while, got lost on the deep blue skies above.
At that moment, Tetra emerged from the background, clapping slowly. "Good work, men. We've done our good deed of the day." She said. "Now if you don't mind... Let's get moving! We're lagging behind, and I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."
The crew walked to the exit on the other side of the arena, and entered into a small, partially sunlit room with some half-finished walls, doorways blocked with bars and what looked like the way through was tightly locked under lock and key. Tetra inspected the barred doorways and saw some large mirrors beyond, and on the corner of her eye, a pitch-black crystal. She quickly got the concept of the test (shine up the crystal with sunlight), but there was a small problem: the only source of light was on that small part of the room, and there was no mirror there. "So how are we supposed to redirect the sunlight?" Gonzo wondered. Before they wondered long, Link whistled at them from atop one of the half-finished walls. "How did you get up there, boy?" Gonzo shouted, amazed at seeing the green kid standing there without breaking a sweat. The answer came in form of the large feather Link was waving at them, and demonstrated by jumping back down and landing on his feet perfectly.
"That must be a Roc's Feather." Mako summarized. "Then... the bird we saved was none other than the mystical Roc himself! Boy, what you have there is a rare item that only a few people have claimed to have. Hold on to it, and it'll serve you well."
Link nodded at Mako in thanks and secured the Roc's Feather under his armpit. He then walked over to Tetra and pushed his Mirror Shield onto her arms. "What? Where were you holding this?" Tetra asked, to which Link answered by turning around and showing his shield-less back. Before Tetra could form a word in protest, though, Link leaped through the opening over the unfinished wall and landed on the other side. Tetra sighed and shrugged the whole thing off, instead focusing on redirecting the sunlight at the nearest mirror with Link's Mirror Shield. On the other side, Link began pulling and twisting the mirrors around until it caught the light from the Mirror Shield and redirected it somewhere else.
"Hurry up, Link." Tetra ushered him. "It's tiring to stand still with this thing on."
Link tried several times to set the mirrors until he found a working order to shine the light all across the room to the dark crystal. When the last mirror was set, the crystal turned a bright yellow, and a chest revealed itself near the area where the pirates sat waiting. "It's a key!" Niko said, being the first one to reach the chest. He rushed over to the locked door, which lifted itself as soon as the key was turned. "It's open! Hurry and join us, Link!"
"Does your voice know a tone other than annoying?" Tetra spat out at Niko, walking past him through the opened way.
"It's not just you, then, Link, old buddy." Niko informed Link as soon as he rejoined the team, to which Link shot him an odd quizzical look. "The way she's been putting you down. She's just cranky overall, so don't feel too bad."
The duo walked through the door and caught up with the rest in a fork on the road. "We don't know which way is the right way." Tetra started speaking. "So we'll have to split up again. Mako, Senza and Nudge will come with me. Niko, Zuko and Link with Gonzo. If you find nothing just walk back to the fork and go the other way." And with those instructions, she made to one of the roads... until she was stopped by Link, who was wondering if she had made an error in the splitting. For the briefest of moments, though, Link's eyes locked with Tetra's, and there was an indescribable glint in her eyes, something that told Link that there might be something more than anger motivating her rude actions through the day. Sadness? Fear? Foreboding? He did not know, as Tetra quickly turned back toward the corridor and addressed Link coldly: "Go with your group." She then disappeared into the corridor, followed by the rest in her team.
"I take it back, buddy. It IS just you." Niko corrected himself.
Link sighed sadly. 'A woman's heart is a deep sea of mysteries', a wise old friend once told him, and he was just now feeling the full degree of that. He pulled out something that was hastily wrapped in cloths and, considering the situation, entrusted it to the next best person he could think. "What's that? Is that for me?" Niko wondered as he was given the long item hidden in gray wraps. Link shook his head, and simply gave his friend a ragged piece of paper, stuffing it alongside the wrapped object. Niko sneaked a look at the paper... and quickly closed it, realizing who it was really addressed to.
Tetra's team had little problem in their way. It was a simple measuring puzzle... with a twist. They simply needed to put enough sand in a weight to open the doorway enough to pass through. The only problem was that the weight had a hole, and the sand trickled out, constantly letting the door down, meaning they had little time to rush past the weight and scuttle under the door. Eventually, Senza managed to get just under the door and held it open, helped by Nudge, and Mako and Tetra got past in a flash.
Link's team, however, was not as lucky. A small round room with a stone floor carved to look like a sumo arena was telling enough that there was an enemy nearby... but nowhere to be seen. Niko walked ahead, despite Gonzo's alerts otherwise, and stood behind one of the sumo starting lines wondering if the opponent would appear opposite him. Well... it did appear... only underneath him, grabbing him by the leg and dangling him like live prey.
"Stalfos...!" Zuko exclaimed while taking a few steps back. It seems that not only Tetra had bad luck with these skeletal creatures, Link figured. Niko thrashed about in a vain attempt to break free, but every move only tightened the Stalfos' hold. Link weighted the options, then suggested the best course of action by pulling out a bomb and prompting Gonzo and Zuko to do the same. When Niko found out what they were doing, it was too late: The free trio had already thrown their bombs in tandem towards the Stalfos, having them explode in the skeleton's feet, chest and head.
"[cough cough] Next time, try not to kill me." Niko protested while trying to shoo off the bomb smoke. "And, can someone help me with this hand I have attached to my leg?"
The two groups rejoined, though through separate entrances, to what looked to be the largest, most expansive room in the entire set of caverns. It was also by far the emptiest, and the one with the softest sand, so soft, in fact, that it slowly sucked the pirates in if they did not keep moving around.
"Those who have managed to reach the Garo's Room of Many Secrets." A disembodied voice boomed all across the room. "Speak what do you seek to find in here."
"We are in search of the missing pages of Hyruian Lore." Tetra shouted in answer. "They were brought here by an old lady days before tragedy befell the Garo clan."
For a short while, there was silence. The pirates paced around awkwardly, waiting for some sort of answer... maybe in the form of a trap, by the way things were going. "Very well." The voice spoke again. "The pages you seek are indeed here, and they shall be given to you under two conditions." There was much murmuring among the pirates, with mumbles of 'here we go again' and 'what now'. "First, you shall need to make an offering."
"We have rupees, food, and several items we can barter with you." Tetra announced.
"Those things you mention are unimportant. Your offering must be... life." Everybody's color dropped when the words echoed around the empty room. "Mention the name of six of your comrades for the offering. If you complete your second condition, they will be returned unharmed. If not, they shall stay here until someone else can complete it."
"... And the second?" Tetra wondered, to see if all this was worth it.
"The second condition shall be addressed when the first is fulfilled." the voice said plainly, leaving Tetra in limbo.
"Okay..." She thought for a second, then: "Niko."
"Wha...?" Niko managed to say before he was whisked away to a small cage high above the room.
"Mako... Zuko..." Tetra named, witnessing their surprised expressions just before disappearing, making her feel worse every time. "[gulp] Nugde,... S... Sen... za..."
It came down to two: Link and Gonzo. Tetra eyed both of them intensely. She figured the next 'condition' was a battle, so she could use as much muscle as she could. Also, if she won, then the whole bad mood streak she's had today... the whole feeling things were only going from bad to worse... and that stupid conviction she had of a probable repeat story, all that would be for nothing. Thus, she opened her mouth, breathed in and began speaking. "L..."
"Gonzo!"
Tetra was perplexed. Her second-in-command had uttered his own name before she could even try and explain what she wanted to do. Without a second to spare, Gonzo was whisked away to join his comrades in the cage. Tetra broke into a dash to get as close to the cage as possible. "Why did you do that, Gonzo?!" She shouted at the top of her voice.
"Because you were about to make a mistake, Miss Tetra." Gonzo answered. "I know you. You were second-guessing yourself all day long, and when you do that, you tend to do stupid mistakes." Tetra listened intently, wondering whether or not to interrupt him. "You and Link have faced many challenges that I would probably never attempt. You two are the best for this job, and you know it. I cannot read your mind, so I can't imagine why you've been acting like this all day, but I trust Link, and so should you. Do not let fear or vague superstition deter you. Do not let my willing sacrifice be for nothing. Search inside yourself, and find that daring chemistry you're best known for. Let yourself run wild. Be the wild child I watched grow up."
Tetra smiled earnestly at Gonzo, (though if he could see it was a completely different matter), then turned her gaze at Link, who's face showed a small hint of neglect, and turned away. She somehow could not see him eye-to-eye for more than a second. After all, those recurring dreams had come back in full. She was in a perfect little prairie with Link, just enjoying life and their company, then... disaster. She thought the previous day represented the first part of her dream, and she's been wary all day long. But, perhaps it was just a stupid superstition, like Gonzo said. Perhaps she was thinking too much into it. She just needed to let go of that fear and become herself again. She looked at Link again, this time sporting the biggest smile out there. "Shall we, Link?" She said. Link felt the effort she was putting into this, and smiled back to her.
"The second condition you must fulfill..." The voice boomed again. "Rid the Garo Caverns from its curse. Destroy the monster that rules over the others, and all monsters shall disappear from here."
Suddenly, the sand started shifting around, forcing Link and Tetra to run the opposite way. From underneath the sand, a gargantuan plant-like creature emerged, blue in hue and sporting four claw-like mouths. Even the pirates in the relative safety of their cage quivered in fear when they looked straight at the framework of:
Multi-headed Flora Monster
Manhandla
"Explain me again, Link." Tetra wondered amidst tittering of the teeth. "How are we supposed to tackle THAT?" She extended her arms as far as she could reach to make her point. Manhandla was impossibly big for a plant, being taller than Link and her, and as wide as four of them laying down.
Link decided to try something right away before Manhandla could strike first: He whipped out his Skull Hammer and aimed for the nearest mouth. The sheer force of the attack knocked the mouth clean off the rest of the plant. This garnered loads of cheering from the gate seats. However, with the sideways swing he pulled off, the overgrown plant began spinning around, exposing its other mouths, which opened and closed threateningly. "Link..." Tetra whispered. "Get back here, now." Link started to inch back from Manhandla, whose mouths opened and closed more and more rapidly. Eventually, all three mouths opened wide, and the temperature in the room started rising dangerously. "Link... run!"
Link sprang into a sprint just in time to avoid getting blasted with a fireball. Manhandla started spewing the fiery rain all across the chamber without bothering to aim or check force, instead relying on the sheer amount of fireballs launched. Link and Tetra started running around in zig-zag motions, trying to outsmart the bombardment. Fortunately for them, as soon as the fireballs touched the sand, they were swallowed in, so there was no staying hazard outside of Manhandla itself.
"Well, there goes our melee strategy." Tetra commented to Link. She then searched her item bag and pulled out a couple of bombchus. "Now, I suggest a long-distance brawl." She gave a few of her bombchus to Link and split up, setting the mechanical bombs every now and then. The bombchus, however, seemed attracted to fire and swerved just in time to reach a falling or sinking fireball, exploding senselessly. Eventually, they were down to their last bombchu. "Come on, little guy." Tetra egged the mouse-bomb on. "Rip that ugly plant a new one." And she let it go on the clearest path she could think of. At first, the bombchu began swerving strangely around, putting Tetra on edge, but eventually, its track became clear, and it made a beeline for the nearest mouth. The grandiose explosion of sand, smoke and green goo provided proof enough that there was a direct hit. "Take THAT, you stupid monster plant."
When the smoke cleared, one of Mandhandla's mouths was reduced to a pulpy mess, but in return, the two remaining mouths bit around furiously. In response to the offensive, Manhandla began spinning wildly and moving all around the area at incredibly fast speeds, trying to cover everywhere really fast. Tetra made tracks when she noticed the monster's newfound speed, and tried to find somewhere to hide, but to no avail. Then, Manhandla started spewing fireballs again, increasing the danger factor, and making Tetra's moves increasingly erratic. Tetra did not know where to go, and somehow every move she made attracted Manhandla closer. She needed a plan, and fast.
[BOING!]
Just then, she found herself flying in the air. It was for the briefest of times, though, as Link's Roc's Feather only allowed for jumping, not floating. When they landed, Link handed Tetra a couple of bombs, hinting her at what they could do. Without a moment to lose, he swung her onto his back, and began bouncing around, avoiding Manhandla and its fireballs. As she rode piggyback, Tetra struggled to tie a bomb to an arrow, but when she managed, getting the aim right was almost too easy. "Ok, Link!" She shouted, probably more out of rush than anything else. "Get us closer!" Link bounced around, dodging the stream of fireballs while trying to predict Manhandla's movements to get closer. When they got close enough, Tetra shot her bomb arrow at one of the monster's mouth. Unfortunately, they were too close, and they were on the downswing, meaning they got caught in the smoke and sand, forcing them to land roughly and assess their situation.
"You okay, Link?" Tetra asked upon seeing a green tunic amongst the dust clouds. Link emerged fully to confirm his well being, only to be met by a shocked face. Link turned around to see what was wrong with Tetra, and his face began to match her: Mandahdla's remaining mouth was set upright, and its mouth began spewing a steady stream of fire, which created a dangerous curtain that entrapped them in a rather close quarter and shrank by the second. "We gotta kill that thing NOW!" Tetra's increasingly freaked-out voice echoed around the room as she searched for ways to destroy Manhandla once and for all. "Bombs? No, we're too close. Arrows? No, they're puny. We need something big, and we need it to reach all the way up there, but what can..."He train of thought suddenly took a convenient stop. She looked at Link as if she had found some newborn hope. "Link! Get that mouth with your Skull Hammer. Jump in with the feather and strike it out of the way."
Link's face turned a new level of serious upon given such desperate instructions. He knew he needed to do this just right, lest the fiery curtain reach them both and burn them away. He pulled out his Skull Hammer and equipped the Roc's Feather. The hammer was really heavy, a trait that was magnified as he jumped, but he needed to get over that and give one last mighty swing to survive, to win, and to get one step closer at finishing this quest. After a couple of practice jumps, he grasped the Skull Hammer tightly and raised it above his head. The force of the jump moved the hammer behind him, and at the peak of his jump...
[TWACK!]
[SPLATTER!]
It was almost instantaneous. The fire stopped, the mouth flew to the corner of the room, and what was left of the living Manhandla started thrashing about in deep pain. Tetra, with the biggest smile on her face, aimed a bomb arrow at the pathetic remains of the monster and exploded it into a million pieces, finally putting an end to the nightmarish curse of the Garo's Caverns, and even discovering a Heart Container to boot.
Then, the sand started shifting again. Without a voice to announce anything, a large treasure chest emerged from the sands in the very middle of the chamber atop a stone floor. On top it bore the inscription 'SACRED PAGES'. "What do you know? Treasure." Tetra said jokingly. "Yes, it's times like these when I really feel alive." She then dusted herself off as much sand as she could, and started walking towards the chest, with Link behind her.
...
Then, suddenly, Link shoved Tetra forward with great force.
"[ptooey] Link!" Tetra roared in newfound anger as she tried hard not to swallow sand. "What is wrong with you? I should..." She then turned around to see Link also on the ground, sand covering his whole face, but still sporting a visible apologetic look in it. As soon as he looked up, though, his face began to wince and contort in various painful ways, until he finally let out a prolonged cry of pain. Tetra's face whitened when she realized the reason of his pain: a Wallmaster had gotten hold of Link's legs, and it was tightening its hold more and more. Tetra, still in shock, looked back at Link's pained expression and realized what was happening there: 'That monster was meant for me.'
The Wallmaster freed up two of its fingers and began walking away, dragging Link with him. Link tried his best to counter the Wallmaster's advance, but the sand was too loose and his leg pain was too much for him to handle. He resorted to trying to claw his way forward, but it did little to avoid being dragged on.
Upon seeing this, the pirates started shouting lividly, trying to get the voice to respond and let them out. Some, like Niko, tried prying the bars out in a desperate attempt to escape and help their friend. The futility of their escape attempts did not stop them from trying everything they could imagine in this short amount of time.
Tetra, on her part, snapped out of her shock thanks to the pirates' shouting and noticed how Link was being dragged off. As quickly as she could, she ran towards him and made a daring dive to grab him. She just barely managed to grab his arms, and contorting her legs in ways she did not think possible, Tetra put her feet in front of her and started pulling to the best of her strength. "Don't worry. I gotcha." Tetra said, strained, but trying to reassure a panicking Link. Despite the soft, shifty sand, Tetra looked like she was making progress, and the Wallmaster seemed to be losing grip of the young hero.
Then, as if knowing that the Wallmaster needed help, a Floormaster emerged from under the sand and tightened the hold on Link's legs, making the blonde boy emit a loud cry of pain. The Floormaster then expertly began digging on the sand, slowly carrying the Wallmaster and Link into it, and forcing Tetra to lose her grip on her partner. Tetra's face began to turned helplessly panicked, but she still tried to retain enough control to rescue Link, so she lunged once more to grab hold of Link. This time, however, she could only grab one of Link's arms, and the combined strength of the Wallmaster and the Floormaster was proving too much for her to counter. Link could only emit short, panicked gasps as his lungs began feeling crushed by the pressure of the sand. The only things above the sand were his head and his right arm, the only part that Tetra could grab hold, and it was slipping fast. "Don't you dare... give up on me... Link!" Tetra said in between gasps of air.
She struggled valiantly. However, her grip failed her, and in a last ditch attempt, she grabbed on to the tunic's sleeve, only to have it rip away in her hands. The last she saw of Link was his helpless, desperate eyes clamoring for help, a help that did not come in time.
"Link..." Tetra whispered, staring exactly at the spot where Link had disappeared.
"LINK!" Tetra shouted at the top of her lungs. He face had transformed entirely into the most desperate, panicked, outright insane face she had ever pulled; her breath had become shortened and audible, and her arms began trembling involuntarily. In a fit of desperation, she pulled out her sabre and began using it as a makeshift shovel. "LINK!" Tetra shouted again. "WHERE ARE YOU! LINK!"
"No... no... no... Don't you dare leave me here!"
"No, this can't be happening... Not for real, it can't..."
"Dammit, Link, ANSWER ME!!!"
She shoveled so hard, and she pushed so much sand away with such inhuman strength that her sabre could not handle the intense work and bended out of shape. Frustrated, Tetra chucked the blade away and continued digging with her own hands.
"LINK! Where... where are you, Link... I cannot... I cannot just sit and watch someone I... another... I care about... Link... LIIIIIINK! Li-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ink..."
Tetra clenched her knees with such strength that her white pants got stained with small red splotches. For the first time in who-knows-how-long, warm, bitter tears flowed freely from Tetra's eyes, and as much as she clenched her eyes tightly, she could not help it. She sobbed quietly, through clenched teeth and quivering lips, as he body trembled uncontrollably, and her mind mercilessly replayed those last few moments over and over again. Overhead at the cage, the pirates stared in silence and shock, in complete disbelief of what they had just witnessed. They looked sickly pale, and even though they have seen plenty of bad moments in the past, few really touched so close to home like this.
And the Heart Container that sat not too far away snapped clean in half with a loud crack.
**To be continued**