Overlord of the Land Chapter 12: Cold, Cold Mountain, a legend of zelda fanfic

Vote REVIEW ANSWERIN' time for president 2012!

Inspiration of Imagination: I never did intend for Link to be gone for long. It only took that long because the last two chapters (which were originally to be one) got too long. Also, don't expect many more 4th-wall-breaking moments, even though that one was pretty spot on (both in timing and in truth).

Trickster's Imagination: I'm glad you loved it. I loved writing it as well. And yes, planning ahead is so much fun, and I can refine the parts I want until they're good enough for me.

The Legend of Zelda

Overlord of the Land

Chapter 12:

Cold, Cold Mountain

"Man, I can't take this anymore!" Niko shouted to the sky, making his stance on the situation clear. "I'm gonna freeze to death!"

"Don't go saying that, Niko." Senza scolded the young pirate in an attempt to rise his spirits. "We'll get through this. We just need to go this way, stay together, and eventually we'll... we'll... Oh, who am I kidding? We'll be done for if we don't do something soon. We'll be frozen solid and people in the future will use us to cool their drinks!" He whined, giving in into despair.

"Cold... cold..." Zuko muttered, hugging himself trying to keep what little heat remained in his body. "So very... c-c-c-cold..."

"D-d-d-d-don't give up, men." Tetra admonished her underlings who, one by one, began falling down to their knees and slow to a crawl on the thick, cold snow. "We're not going to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d... to give up the ghost now. We'll make it." Before long, she found herself on her hands and knees as well, barely able to keep her head up as the blistering cold took its toll on her. "J-j-j-j-just a little more... Just a... a little... more... just..."

She tried to not collapse, but Tetra's body could not sustain the freezing temperatures. Before she slipped into unconsciousness, her eyes managed to see the blurry silhouette of a large bird approaching them.

**The Day Before...**

"I LOVE the snow!" Niko shouted in excitement when he saw where they were about to go. It was a completely new, uncharted part of New Hyrule, a land very high up north on the mountain range, the farthest they've been from Waarheid proper while still in the mainland. The ground was lined with soft, pure snow, the trees hid their thick greens in a blanket of white, and the sky looked like it was beautifully adorned with falling crystals. The pirates have donned specialized winter coats, caps and gloves to help them withstand the cold temperatures: While most of them chose a simple viking-style brown fur coat, Tetra was distinguished by wearing a full blue coat and a pink cap that covered her ears, Link found himself a thick green coat with fluffy white edges which had a hood sewn in and made him look strangely like he had no neck when he pulled it up, and Niko somehow got stuck with a tiny red coat with white polka dots.

"I can't believe Beedle would've let us have these for almost nothing." Senza commented.

"You can thank Link for that one." Mako said, pointing at the guy in question. "As soon as you showed him that Complimentary ID, the guy freaked!" this produced loads of laughter from the crew as they remembered Beedle's priceless expression.

"Please don't do anything to me!" Nudge wailed in a mock-attempt at Beedle's plea, complete with some exaggerated reactions, resulting in stronger laughter. "It was just a tiny joke, I swear! I'll do anything! Please don't sink my precious business!"

The laughter and joy continued for a while, but eventually subsided in favor of a more serious, business-type tone. Some of the pirates looked forward and backwards, and noticed how despite they were on a wonderful winter wonderland, it was also the middle of nowhere, and despite their strides forwards, this trip was taking way more time than usual, with the sun already beginning its descent from the sky.

"How much longer, Miss Tetra?" Gonzo asked, a sense of worry starting to permeate his tone of voice. "No offense, but if this keeps up, We'll be forced to sleep in these conditions."

"You think I don't know?" Tetra retorted, shooting him a dirty look in between studies of the Goddesses' Compass. "This compass just keeps going and going. It looks as though we'll travel to the northernmost point on this land."

"That's what worries me." Gonzo said.

Tetra did not want to respond to that. She, too, was starting to get frustrated with this apparent lack of progress. It seemed only Niko could find any sort of enjoyment out of being stuck in the snow for such a long period of time. She looked over at Link, who was busy trying to chart the landmarks in a makeshift map so they wouldn't get lost, and approached him.

"Hey, Link." Tetra whispered to him, as to not catch the attention of anyone else. "Would you happen to know something that might, well, make us move faster, get to our next location sooner?"

Link shook his head slowly, his face looking almost like he was facing a painful truth. It was obvious he had already pondered if there were such methods, only to come up with nothing. The closest thing he could think of was the Roc's Feather, but he could only carry one person at a time while using it, and he didn't even want to imagine trying to carry around someone like Senza like that.

"I kinda knew that." Tetra confirmed. "I just wanted to make sure. Well, we'll keep on walking."

The rest of the long trip was spent in agonizing solitude. At this point, the pirates would've half-expected, or even half-wanted a snow creature to attack them, if only to break the monotony of the walk. Sometimes some light chatter broke out, but it was quickly dissipated and the men eventually fell back into silence. For some of them, the never-ending stream of energy of the overtly excited Niko going on about how he loved the winter environment, and even trying to make quick snowmen ("Look, this is you, Mako. And this is you, Gonzo. And this one with the goofy top is the captain!") was an unlikely oasis for them.

After a couple more hours of travel, Tetra announced excitedly that the compass' needle was starting to go haywire, a clear indication they were getting very close. Feeling rejuvenated, Tetra led the sprint towards their next location, followed closely by Link -who disregarded his chart drawing- and then the rest of the pirates. Before long, the group had arrived at a rather tall, steep mountain covered in snow like it were a cake, and a cave entrance could be made out from the rock formations at base level.

"So... this is it?" Gonzo asked hopefully.

Tetra took a quick glance at the compass, which was moving the needle wildly on its axis. "Yep. I think this is the place." She announced happily, to which there was much loud rejoicing among the group. The rejoicing was cut short, however, when the ground began to shake and a loud rumbling was heard all around. The pirates looked up just in time to see the mountain's white coating detach from it and starting to roll down.

"AVALANCHE!" Gonzo and Senza screamed in unison. Link wasted no time and pulled Tetra by the arm, rushing to enter the cave ahead. The rest of the pirates also made a break for it, deciding to forget most of their supplies in favor of saving their skin. The snow was already dropping right by them, threatening to fall down and flatten them any second. "Run, men! Faster!" Gonzo bellowed, hoping the lot of them were running as hard has he was.

Then, with a desperate final lunge forward, Gonzo pushed Mako into the cave just in time to avoid being crushed by the rushing avalanche. The rumbling continued for at least a minute after they were inside the cave, after which it slowed down to a faint flopping sound.

"Yep, we're stuck." Niko acknowledged after surveying the cave's entrance, completely stuffed with snow.

"All right, not to panic." Tetra began, setting to calm any nervous people. "We will just regroup and find a way out of here. Zuko, bring me a lamp." She outstretched her arm and waited for Zuko to approach her with a lamp ready to be lighted... but Zuko did not appear. "Zuko?" Tetra called again, looking around as to where did the baggy-eyed pirate hid. As much as she and the others looked, though, nobody could find a trace of their comrade. "Where is Zuko?"

"You don't think he's..." Niko said hesitantly, pointing over to where the snow pile that penetrated the cave was. He approached the snow and looked at it worriedly, afraid to even try and dig, considering what he could find there. Then...

[POW!]

Niko stumbled and fell flat on his back, apparently unconscious. The other guys did not care about this, instead focusing on what had made Niko stumble and fall. It was Zuko's arm, which punched its way out of the heavy snow and managed to signal his location. "H... Help me, guys!" Gonzo stuttered for a moment before rushing over to the snow and beginning to move the snow away, helped by Senza and Nudge. Mako and Link decided to retrieve the unconscious Niko and tend to his black eye. Thankfully there was enough cold stuff in there to make a decent makeshift cold bag with a sock and set it on his swelling eye.

"I... demand a rematch..." Niko muttered as he slowly began to join his team.

After Zuko was completely dug out and everybody was accounted for and ready, Tetra got a lamp and lighted it, which revealed just how stark and small the room really was. Fortunately for them, there seemed to be a hole leading up, large enough for everybody to slip in, and a ray of orange sunlight slipping in. "Well, guys, Grab whatever's intact and let's climb on." Tetra announced. Link began to crawl into the hole first and indicated the rest that it was okay. One by one, the pirates slipped into the hole, delving deeper into:

Spectacle Mountain

When Link climbed out of the other end of the hole, He found himself out on a mountain ledge, facing the clear afternoon sky, its sun already halfway down, hiding behind a handful of clouds. The snow was always a nice sight, but at that point the whole snow-covered scenery was nothing short of awe-inspiring. It was enough to lave his mouth agape.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Tetra said as she caught up with the dumbstruck hero. Link slowly turned his head to look at Tetra, and he couldn't help but muse over just how cute that blue and pink combination looked on her. Tetra looked back at him, and for a few brief moments, the wonderful white scenery she was basking on before was as if nothing. For the brief moments where their eyes met, the two could only see each other. The two could only notice each other. The two could only...

"Best close your mouths, or the cold will freeze them in place." Mako warned casually as he walked along, snapping Link and Tetra back into reality and making them look in opposite directions, trying in their own way to hide their reddening factions. Link decided to take one last look at the scenery before continuing, when he noticed a strange blot on the sun that was slowly growing larger and larger. "Wait... What's that?" Mako pointed out, also noticing the blot on the sun.

As the blot got larger, Link and Mako began noticing that it had wings and a feathery tail. "It's a bird. A huge one, and it's coming closer to us." Mako theorized, making the other pirates take notice and follow the bird's moments on their own.

"Maybe it's that large bird we saved before." Nudge said. "What was its name? Ron? Buck? Rush?"

"Roc." Mako reminded them. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all get a feather from him? We'd skip straight to the top of this mountain, for example."

The pirates stood around, looking as the bird approached them. As it got closer, however, the bird did not resemble the enigmatic Roc at all. Instead, the bird resembled a large owl, its feathers were predominantly brown, and its face was starting to look odd, as if the bird was wearing some sort of mask. With a loud thud, the bird perched itself in the lowest part of the ledge, and the pirates were suddenly looking straight in the face of:

Masked-faced Hungry Owl

Kabora

Through its sunken-looking eyes, Kabora began looking at the group, with a intense curiosity about it. It cocked its head slightly and lowered it slowly as to look at the frightened people in front of it closer.

"Link!" Tetra elbowed the green-covered guy to try and get him in a thinking mood. "Communicate with it. Now."

Link got the idea and began searching for his Wind Waker baton while stepping behind the group to buy some time. He found a clear view to Kabora's head and began conducting the Command Melody. Afterwards, he merely blinked before his consciousness jumped into the giant bird. He sought to find any thought that he could use to their advantage... but the only thoughts the owl had went like:

"Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Food."

"Meat. Meat. Meat. Meat. Meat. Meat. Meat."

"I wonder if these insects are made of meat."

Link's eyes shot open with the utmost worry and fear drawn on his face. Tetra turned around to ask him what he saw or heard, but his deathly afraid complexion told her enough to question why were they still stupidly standing in front of this overgrown owl. She turned back to face the owl, which was beginning to take a step forward, and began whispering to her underlings. "Let's just back away slowly. Don't startle it."

The group began walking backwards up the mountain ledge, careful not to make any sudden sounds and hope that Kabora would just stay there and forget about them. The masked owl lowered its head until it almost touched the snow, always looking toward what it looked to it like delicious morsels, wondering why were they moving like that. Then, the owl opened its curved beak with a loud screech and snapped at the air, obviously going for a bite. "No way, man. I'm running for my life!" Niko squealed and turned around to run far away from Kabora. The other pirates followed soon, knowing no other way of dealing with the threat in front of them. As they ran, Kabora began running as well, quickly gaining ground and attempting to bite at them when it got close, missing by mere feet.

Then, Link got an idea. He gave Gonzo and Tetra bombs and pulled one for himself and lighted it. He waited a short while for the fuse to go down before stopping on his tracks, turning around and throwing a bomb towards the overgrown owl. The bomb blew up in midair, scaring the owl into a full stop and buying the group a bit more time. Unfortunately, some snow started to slip off the mountain, making for an additional hazard they did not need. They continued running, avoiding piles of snow and hoping that they weren't followed anymore.

"There! A cave!" Nudge announced as a thin opening in the mountain came into view. The pirates made a great effort to dash for it, when suddenly Kabora appeared right beside them, flying dangerously close to them. The owl got ahead of them and turned in a circle to try and cut them in time, but Tetra had already planned ahead.

"Now, Gonzo!" She ordered her first mate, and both of them lighted the bombs' fuses and aimed it at Kabora. When it was close enough, the duo threw the bombs as far as they could straight towards it. While Tetra's bomb blew in midair, Gonzo's went a bit further and managed to blow up close to one of Kabora's wings, making it cry in pain. "Quick! Everyone inside!" Tetra bellowed as she noticed how, despite the distraction, Kabora was still set to dive-bomb them. Everyone ran and quickly made it in, making it a point to stay as far away from the cave entrance as possible. Then, with a loud crash followed by a slight avalanche, Kabora's beastly beak poked into the cave entrance, enticing much screams from the pirates, and it pecked, snapped and screeched loudly a few times. After its several failed attempts, though, the big owl retired its beak from the small entrance and flew off wearily, as Senza confirmed.

"He's gonna come back, isn't he?" Tetra said, worried for her mental and physical health. She looked at Link, who could merely nod slightly, clearly spent by that whole experience.

After a short time to rest, the group lit up the lamps again and inspected the room. There was another way further inside the cave, and although they were unsure what they'd find, anything was better than being chased by a crazy giant bird.

The inside of this cave room was a lot more elaborate than they expected. It was perfectly circular, with as perfectly a circular wooden platform set up in the center of it all, and a couple of raised platforms close to the ceiling held up by pillars. The pirates wondered what could such a weird construction be doing here... when the entrance got blocked off by a rock. Then, a faint, high pitched taunting sing-song voice was heard, then another, and another, until there were a lot of similar voices coming from all around the room, though the pirates could not find out where it was coming from. Link, however, began getting on point and pulled out his sword and shield and began searching intently. Tetra noticed this shift in Link's behavior and took it as a fair warning, so she pulled out her sabre and ordered the rest to do so as well. "Everyone on the platform. Stand back-to-back."

No sooner had they set themselves properly did the first tiny enemy appear from the raised platforms. It was a black and red imp with big, bulgy eyes and a large head for its small body and odd-looking ragged clothes. On its hand it was holding a crudely made iron spear, wielding it like if were a mere toy.

"Miniblins." Gonzo muttered between his teeth, his factions turning darker. "I hate those guys."

"I know." Nudge concurred. "Tricksters, they are. Best watch out for them."

When the Miniblin saw the pirates on the platform, it turned around and started screeching oddly while flailing its stringy arms about. Before long, a horde of Miniblins started appearing from every raised platform, echoing their taunting sing-song tones, hopping anxiously to come down.

"Don't let your guard down." Tetra warned, while noticing how the Miniblins were crowding on the small raised platforms. Eventually, the Miniblins on the ledges were so many that a group of them were pushed off, most of them landing on their oversize heads. Without skipping a beat, though, the fallen imps stood back up, picked up their weapons and ran to where the pirates were. Mako and Senza were the first to receive them, blocking their lunges and slashing them away to the back of the room. Nudge and Gonzo were a walking, talking yin and tang combination, with Nudge treating the imps more calmly than the furious Gonzo, who was swinging his sabre at the Miniblins with reckless abandon. Zuko felt like he was babysitting Niko, who was flailing his sabre wildly, often missing and getting poked around constantly. Tetra and Link seemed to be the most coordinated pair, Swinging and stabbing in such a fashion that they did not separate for more than a few inches at a time.

The Miniblins came in swarms, poised to press their opponents with sheer numbers alone. They came from all sides, some using their lances as makeshift poles to launch themselves in the thick of it all and surprise the pirates. While it did break their momentum, the group merely sidestepped for a moment to take care of the nuisance before continuing the pummeling. When it looked more and more that sheer number alone was not going to work, fewer and fewer Miniblins braved to jump down and attack the well-prepared group. Eventually, the last few imps made a run for it and clawed their way to the raised platforms, preferring to live humiliated that to die painfully. Soon, the room was cleared of Miniblins, and not a single bit of their taunting sing-song voices could be heard.

"That's it?" Senza wondered, looking at the sudden desolate room. His question was answered when the rocks blocking the entryways slid away.

"I dunno..." Gonzo said, watching the raised platforms carefully. "I don't like this one bit."

"Well, personally, I look like a connect-the-dots game." Niko commented on his 'spotty' appearance, moving towards the exit leading upwards. "So I'm taking this chance to leave."

"Yeah. No use waiting them out here, Gonzo." Nudge said to the still-unmoving pirate. "Let's go."

The band of pirates was now in another mountain ledge, wary to the fact that the ceiling was much lower, making them crouch down while walking, as well as being very attentive to any strange birds around. So far, however, the only challenge was the ever increasing cold, a feat some thought impossible for mother nature to fulfill. The group walked a bit closer to preserve heat in the sight of a sun that was slowly hiding in the horizon, and hurried as much as they could to reach the top of the ledge. Link could see they were already pretty high up the mountain, and a misstep could mean a nasty fall.

Due to his distraction, however, he did not notice the rest of the group stopped cold on their tracks. He bumped right on Tetra's back, who answered the empty-headed move with a mixture of anger and worry. "Link, you idiot." She whispered while holding on to him by his hood. When Link registered the tone of worry in Tetra's voice, he looked in the direction the convoy was walking, only to see an unmistakable row of brown feathers just barely protruding from the corner. Link's eyes bulged open in frightful understanding: That was Kabora, and it was blocking their way forward. "Yeah, now you get it." Tetra scolded Link. "We need a plan to get that bird outta there so we can get through."

"Digging?" Mako suggested, to which he immediately caught his folly. "No, wait. The mountain's all stone. We wouldn't be able to slip through."

"What we need is a distraction." Tetra stated. "Something that will make the owl fly off long enough for us to get past. Any ideas?"

"Well... bombs worked in the past..." Nudge explained casually. "Maybe we could find a way to make the bomb fly off far away and make a spectacular boom so its either scared off or so intrigued it'll fly away from here."

"Come on, that's..." Tetra was about to disregard the suggestion when she saw Link rummaging through his bag. "...Link?"

When Link emerged, he had his green Magical Glove on and a bomb strapped to an arrow. He then pushed around until he had both Gonzo and Senza firmly hold the bow for him while he loaded the arrow on it. He then pulled back as far as the bowstring allowed him, pulling farther than he could normally alone, and tied to set up the best course for the bow. Before letting go, he powered the arrow with fire, something that startled the pirates slightly, then let the bomb fly. As predicted, Kabora saw the flaming arrow and sought to follow it as it went up then slowly began its descent. The pirates took this opportunity to slide past the point where Kabora previously was, and walked along to an opening to another cave in the mountain. When Kabora caught up with the arrow, the bird saw the already-familiar dangerous explosive object, and set to fly away before the bomb could explode too close. It then looked back to where it was laying down, and saw the same people from before crossing the path.

"You think he saw us?" Niko wondered as he approached the cave entrance.

"Yes..." Zuko said while pointing to the sky. The rest of the crew looked at the direction Zuko pointed at, which showed Kabora again trying to dive-bomb the group. This time, however, the overgrown owl was dangerously close to them.

"Inside, everyone!" Tetra bellowed while pulling out her bow. "I'll distract 'im!" She then began throwing arrow after arrow towards the owl, trying to slow it down. It looked like her efforts were not enough, when she noticed there were more arrows flying than what she could throw. Tetra spared a quick glance sideways to see Link armed with his own bow and shooting at Kabora as well. The pair shot arrows as fast as they could, and though Kabora tried to evade them, some bows reached their target, making it screech in pain as the arrowheads pierced through. Eventually, the large bird decided to make a hasty retreat and disappeared from view.

"Whew. That drained me." Tetra said as she took a small breath. She then noticed how her quiver was rattling, and took a look only to see how there were only three arrows left. "And apparently, so has my quiver." Link then showed her his quiver to show that his story was the same: only two arrows left. "That owl has got to be the most stubborn, resilient son-of-a-submariner I've yet to see."

"Guys..." Niko's voice rang out from inside the cave. "I think you should come see this."

Once everyone got inside, the environment they were on was eerily similar. The room was perfectly circular, with as perfectly a circular, albeit quite worn wooden platform set up in the center of it all, and a couple of raised platforms close to the ceiling held up by pillars. The pirates began wondering why would there be two equal constructions in the same mountain.

"This is just creepy." Mako said.

Just then, the entrance in which they entered was blocked off by a large rock. From all round, the all-too-familiar taunting sing-song tones began to sound and chant. Gonzo's muscles began to tense up as he quickly reached for his sabre and looked around intensely. "They're coming. They want more, it seems."

"Gonzo?"

"Quiet, swabbie." Gonzo interrupted Niko while keeping his gaze upward. "I wanna be ready for them."

"But Gonzo, I really think you..."

"I said quiet." Gonzo snarled, yet he did not look down at all.

"Gonzo!"

"What?!" Gonzo finally lowered his gaze, only to see what the rest of the crew was looking at: from the other side of the cave, a tall suit of armor colored in the deepest red, and wielding a long, polished lance and a shield started approaching the middle platform where Gonzo was. Gonzo's feet were frozen in place, as he hesitated whether to battle the strong opponent or not. Next thing he knew, the armored enemy was right in front of him, and before he could react, he was punched squarely in the jaw, making him stumble back a few steps before falling off the platform, completely knocked out.

"Gonzo!" Tetra yelled out. Everybody went over to where the unconscious first mate lay, worried for him.

"He's ok." Mako announced after checking Gonzo's pulse. "He's just out of it. Give him some time."

The group now shifted their focus over to the red menace standing in front of them, looking stoically at the scene on the floor. Around them, the raised platforms began to fill with Miniblins, who jeered and hopped in wild expectation. These Miniblins did not fall down to battle, but instead decided to sit this one down and enjoy the show.

Link and Tetra quickly stood up, followed by the rest of the crew. They were dead set on defeating this shameless combatant. If the armor thought it okay to sucker-punch an opponent, then five-on-one shouldn't be bad, either. Link stepped on the stage first, taking his coat off on the way for better mobility. Tetra followed him...

"Oof!" Tetra felt she was stopped by an invisible force. When she probed, she noticed there was an invisible barrier all around the wooden platform, and it was impossible to get through. "What the...? Link! Get outta there!" She called the young hero, banging on the invisible barrier with her open palm. "We'll think up something else. Just don't risk yourself."

Link took a small moment to look back at Tetra and reached out his left hand towards hers. The barrier, however, did not let him leave at all, much less reach out to her fully. Tetra's face was beginning to become flush with worry, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape in a grimace. Link gave her some sort of incredulous stare, as if he thought she had forgotten who he was, before giving her a sympathetic smile and retiring his hand to arm himself with his sword and shield.

"What does this mean, then?" Niko asked, worry all over his face.

"Most likely, Link is stuck." Mako explained. "And he'll need to battle that Darknut alone."

"Darknut?" Nudge asked.

"Yeah. It's strange though." Mako wondered. "Darknuts are usually only seen wielding swords, but this one has a lance. Link better be careful with this one."

Link faced the Darknut with fierce determination, determined to not lose to this guy. The Darknut began by walking closer to Link, making the green hero sidestep for some space. Then the Darknut stabbed at Link with the lance, but he held fast to his shield and blocked the piercing attack, gathering just enough breather room to recover some space. He tried using his boomerang to stun the big guy, but the armor was too sturdy for the boomerang. Then, the Darknut hopped back and the lance was raised. Link knew this movement too well, and her rolled out of the way before the Darknut pulled his specialty attack: throwing the lance straight forward, which, to the surprise of everybody, pierced through the invisible barrier and got stuck to the wall. It was then that people noticed how the lance was attached to a chain, which the Darknut yanked, making the lance retract to its hand.

Link knew he needed to get on the offensive, and fast. He quickly tried to remember what he did when he faced other Darknuts. He needed to take advantage of his nimble agility to attack the Darknut from behind. Thus, instead of moving constantly, he decided to stay put and wait for an opening. The Darknut saw this and grabbed the lance with both hands, plunging it straight down at Link's general direction. Link, however, took this as a chance to roll out of the way and rush to the Darknut's back, where he saw the glaring flaw in its armor: It was being held together by a couple of red strings. He wasted no time and swung his sword upwards, cutting most of the strings and making the Darknut stumble with a dangling suit of armor. This gave Link the perfect opportunity to wail on the Darknut before it could react. Link threw his boomerang and stunned him, followed closely by planting a bomb right inside the armor and shielding himself as it detonated. The resulting explosion relieved the Darknut of all its armor and weapons as it shattered against the invisible barrier, exposing the creature inside it. The dog-faced creature looked positively angry as it noticed its new weakened condition, and began to make quick strides towards Link, showcasing refined multi-tiered combat tactics.

Link then noticed the Chained Lance sitting right behind the Darknut, and decided to get it and use it against his opponent. The Darknut, however, was ready for this and pushed Link to the barrier with a roundhouse kick and picked up the lance. "Link, get up!" Tetra shouted as she noticed Link was stirring groggily, trying to recover from the blow. When Link registered what was happening, he saw the Darknut aiming the lance straight at him, and he barely had time to dive out of the way before the Darknut threw the lance at him. The Chained Lance went through the barrier and into the wall, just like before, but before the Darknut could reel the lance in again, Link sliced its leg and made it squeal in pain and drop the chain.

"Quick! Pull that chain!" Tetra ordered her underlings, and together they pulled on the lance's chain. After some effort, the pirates outside had control of the Chained Lance, and in turn, gave Link an advantage in the fight. Link, on his part, started using his boomerang liberally, making sure the Darknut could not retaliate, as he had no intention of making this a fair fight. Boomerang, slice, slash. Boomerang, slice, slash. The repeated pattern was being delivered with fierce intensity, and the Darknut could do little else than grunt after each blow. Still, no matter how strong Link wailed on the Darknut, it would not buckle and give up. The increasingly tired look on Link's face did not go unnoticed, and the Miniblins jeered on as they saw how the young hero was being worn down.

"That Darknut..." Senza said, his eyes widening with frightful realization. "It's immortal. It's just waiting for Link to get tired and then..."

"No." Tetra interrupted, her face turning increasingly determined. "There's one thing that defeats that guy. And we have it."

Link kept wailing on the Darknut, unwilling to let it beat him. His exhaustion, however, was starting to slow him down, and he needed to find a way to end this soon. His sword abilities were becoming sluggish, and he sometimes missed with his boomerang. Link eventually packed his boomerang and resorted to throwing some Deku Nuts to stun the Darknut. Just then, a voice bellowed from behind him.

"Link! Get out of the way!"

The urgency in the voice resonated inside him before anything else, and he instinctively dived to the ground. The Darknut snapped back into reality just in time to see its own lance being thrown at him by a golden-blond girl. The taunting jeering for the Miniblins suddenly quieted after witnessing what happened: the Darknut laid flat and unmoving on the floor, its own lance piercing its gut. The barrier had disappeared, but Link did not move away from the platform, for he sat admiring the lance's handiwork with a half-tired, half-smug look upon his face. He then stood up, walked over to where the inert body of the Darknut lay, and claimed the Chained Lance for his own.

The Miniblins finally jumped down from the raised platforms, but did not look for any sort of fight. Instead, they went straight for the Darknut, and in a massive effort, picked the large warrior up and carried it out of the room. Some of the Miniblins looked back at the pirates (especially Link) with a look of utter contempt before leaving with the rest.

"Looks like you're coming around."

Mako welcomed the recovering Gonzo to the world of the conscious, much to the delight of everybody else around him. "Uh... Wha... What happened? Did... did that thing...?"

"Not to worry, Gonzo." Senza began explaining. "Link's already taken care of it."

"Link?" Gonzo questioned while getting to his feet. "Did he really...?"

"What does that tell you?" Tetra said while pointing to Link holding the Chained Lance the Darknut was wielding not too long ago. "With a little help from the crew, of course."

Gonzo took a good look at Link, somewhat incredulous, and still quite groggy from the knockout punch. He could hardly believe that Link could accomplish what he could not. Still, he felt good that someone could avenge him good. "Well done, kid. Now you better explain the details later."

"Well..." Tetra spoke out, trying to return to the task at hand. "Can you stand?"

"We'll see." Gonzo answered while he struggled to his feet. After wobbling a few moments, the large pirate stood steady on his feet, solid enough to walk on his own. "Ah. There we go. I think I can handle it from here on."

After Gonzo's situation improved, the team walked through the cave hole leading further upwards. The hole led them outside on another mountain ledge. This time, however, the ledge did not have a road up, an it looked like the group had reached a dead end. To make matters worse, the sun had pretty much disappeared from view, and the last lingering sun rays were starting to extinguish.

"Zuko, lamps. Mako, status." Tetra ordered quickly, noticing the urgency of the situation.

"There's obviously no easy way up." Mako stated while surveying the location. "It looks like we may be able to climb up, but I'm not sure if we'll even find solid footing up there."

"Ugh... Do we have a choice?" Gonzo asked, still feeling rather woozy over his bad fall.

Mako took a good look all around the visible footing of the ledge, but found nothing else nearby to walk on. "Sadly, no." He said, shaking his head.

Link took a good look at what they had to climb, then his gaze automatically turned to Tetra's right arm. "What?" Tetra wondered, thinking it strangely he was focusing on her arm of all things. She then remembered her previous wound in that very arm. "Oh, that. Don't worry, that won't bother me anymore." She then pulled the same semi-incredulous gaze he previously gave her. "Now I tell you, don't you remember who I am?" Link saw this and returned her sentiment with a sly grin.

"We climb..." Zuko said, starting to point to several areas higher up the mountain. "There's ledges there... there... and there."

"All right, then. We got Link's hookshot, the grappling hooks, rope, and a couple of knives we could use to grab on..." Tetra mused, recounting what they could use, "... and that lance might be useful, too."

No sooner had she said that, though, that a creepy screeching sound was heard from beneath them. "This can't be real." Nudge said, almost laughing at the event. Then, a flurry of brown feathers swooped up into view, and once it settled, an odd, mask-like face was staring back at them. Kabora stared at the pirates, looking as hungry as ever.

Link thought quickly to further the climb and threw the lance toward the rocky mountain wall. The lance latched on securely, allowing him to climb up by retracting the chain. Once he was standing on top of the lance, Link began to pull out a bomb with the intent of scaring the owl off... but Kabora noticed this in time and flapped its wings rapidly, forcing Link to drop the bomb and hang on to the lance. The pirates decided to help Link against Kabora by taking out their flintlocks and unloading their only bullet at the overgrown bird.

"Over here, you big, stupid bird!" Gonzo shouted as he aimed his shot at Kabora. The owl looked down just in time for a bullet to miss just mere inches from its head. This made it furious, and swooped down to where the intrepid pirates were. Taking this chance, the pirates pulled out some spare bombs and began lighting them, but Kabora had turned too smart for bombs and began flapping its large wings again, making the bombs fall from their hands and roll down the mountain. The pirates were starting to look desperate for ideas, when a few falling rocks fell on Kabora's head. The overgrown bird and the pirates looked up to see Link hanging from a ledge by his hookshot and holding the lance on his left hand. Kabora began to swoop back up to where Link was, but Link was waiting just for that, and threw the lance right at the owl when it was close enough. Although Kabora tried to avoid the attack, the lance managed to graze its face, making the owl screech in pain and drop some distance from where the pirates stood, before managing to recover in midair and flying off again.

"I swear that thing's got something against us..." Nudge commented.

"I'm worried about what we'll do it that thing comes along again." Gonzo said. "We're running short on stuff."

After a strenuous, but otherwise uneventful climb, the pirate crew managed to find a ledge that looked like it went all the way to the top of the mountain. Time, however, was not in their favor, as night had already settled in, with the moon reigning over the dark blue skies, and myriad of stars appearing one by one. They eventually found a small cave and settled in for the night. They gathered some spare lumber, and Link used one of his final arrows to light a bonfire.

"All right, men." Tetra spoke. "Set your sleeping bags quickly. I'm gonna call out night-watch shifts."

"Night watch? Why?" Mako questioned.

"Because in case you forgot..." Gonzo interjected, "... there are still some nasty little imps roaming the area, and we can't let them get the jump on us."

"By the way," Tetra regained control of the conversation. "Thanks for volunteering for the first two shifts. Mako, you'll be first. Gonzo, second."

"Wha... I... oh, okay." Mako stuttered, only to agree glumly due to the futility of arguing.

"Good. Zuko, you'll have the final shift." Tetra announced while she walked over to her own sleeping bag. "The rest of us get some sleep, because I expect a tough time tomorrow. Now good night, everyone." And with that, Tetra laid down inside her sleeping bag and stopped paying attention to the crew.

Mako, Gonzo and Zuko looked at each other apprehensively, knowing what all this meant. "Wake me in about two hours." Gonzo said simply while retiring to his sleeping bag.

[About two hours later...]

"Gonzo... Gonzo..." Mako quietly called.

"No... I swear I didn't take the last muffin." Gonzo muttered in his sleep.

"Gonzo, wake up." Mako called, more energetically this time.

"Uh... huh?" Gonzo opened his eyes lazily while looking around to what had disturbed him. "Wha...? Mako?"

"Time to change shifts, Gonzo." Mako told the sleepy pirate. "Come on, get up."

"Uh... oh. Ok, gimme a sec." Gonzo answered while starting to sit up. "All right. I'll take it from here. Good night, Mako."

"Good night, Gonzo." Mako responded in a yawn before walking over to his sleeping corner. Mako fell asleep very soon, leaving Gonzo alone to work his shift. For a few moments Gonzo head tipped slightly in sleep, but he quickly recovered. He decided to try and get some warmth from the fire in the middle of the cave, and feed the lingering flames with some fresh wood in the process. While he sat in front of the flames, he noticed something strange in the cave. He began looking around, but there was nothing out of the ordinary, at least, not that he could see. The air, however, was getting strange. He wasn't sure whether it was the high altitude, his proximity to the flames, or the fact that he was just sleepy, but the air just smelled... funny. He tried to check what was happening, but somehow, his drowsiness was getting the better of him. He tried to stand, but he merely stumbled and wobbled around before falling to his knees. He struggled with himself, but it was just too much. Gonzo dropped, defeated by sleep, right on the cold, hard ground.

Then, a taunting sing-song voice began getting louder and louder. And another sound came out... a snipping sound.

The sunlight filtered through the cave's entrance, lighting the dark room. Link's eyes were the first unfortunate victims of its blinding rays, forcing the young hero to stir and wake up. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he began to make out a golden-blond mane partially covering his view. When he focused more, he saw Tetra holding on to him while on her sleep. Link's expressions turned positively red upon the compromising position he found himself into. Fortunately for him, he was the only one awake, so he was able to separate himself with nobody noticing. No sooner had he done so, though, did Tetra began to stir and groan. Link looked at her... and something was wrong. The mere fact that he could see her fully, her hair, her blue vest, her red sash and her white pants... something was seriously wrong here.

"Uh... Link?" Tetra said as she opened her eyes lazily. She then noticed how Link sported a strange look. "What's wrong?"

Link could not believe what he was seeing. His gaze went from side to side of the room, and what he saw made him worry more and more.

"Link, what is... Hey, where's your coat?" Tetra asked upon noticing Link lacked the essential anti-cold gear. All Link could do is give her an uneasy look while he pointed at her. She then looked at herself and noticed she did not have her own jacket, nor did she have her cap. "Where is MY coat?" Now wide awake, she took a good look around the cave, and her face mimicked Link's: she looked strangely worried as she noticed how every single pirate lacked not only their coats, but also their sleeping bags. Furthermore, the fire and all the spare wood was buried in a pile of snow, rendering it unusable.

"Mako! Gonzo! Zuko!" Tetra yelled in anger, waking up not only the people called, but the rest of the group as well. "Who's responsible for this? Who fell asleep and let this happen?"

"Let what happen?" Mako asked, still not fully awake.

"AAAAAH!" Niko's voice echoed from behind Tetra. "Somebody ripped my coat and stole my sleeping bag! This piece is the only part left!"

"That." Tetra answered.

"Uh... don't look at me." Mako quickly answered. "I did my shift and woke Gonzo before going to sleep."

"I don't remember waking up..." Zuko mentioned.

"Now wait a minute. I was... wait..." Gonzo started to try and remember what happened last night. "I seem to remember a distinct smell last night. It was a funny smell, something I could not quite put my finger on."

Tetra looked at Gonzo with a quasi-incredulous face, but before she went to lash out at him, she got a small whiff of something in the air. "Wait... I smell something funny now." She said. The pirates got the idea and began searching the cave. Zuko then stumbled upon a steel can near the cave's entrance that had a small hole on a side. When he took the can to his face and smelled it, his eyes watered and his eyelids became heavy, then falling down on the floor and sleeping like a baby.

"Sleeping gas." Gonzo said, his face beginning to scowl. "Those imps did it again! When I get my hands on them, I will wring them dry with my bare hands! I will skewer them and make barbecued imp with them! I will knock them into the nether realm where annoying, useless imps are supposed to be! I will..."

"Ok, calm down, Gonzo!" Senza tried to bring his partner's temper down. "Look, we've been had, but there's nothing we can do now."

"Y-yes there is." Niko said, beginning to stammer from the cold. "We could freeze to death..."

"Would you be quiet?" Tetra scolded the poor, buck-tooth pirate. "Look, guys. I know this looks bad, but we have no choice. We have to climb up to the top and retrieve the missing pages. We'll think up something on the way down."

"Well that's nice and all..." Nudge commented, "... but would you climb up on weather like this?" He then pointed to the cave entrance, which served as a window to the severe snowstorm that was happening outside. The pirates looked at the horrendous spectacle, and his morale (as well as his inner temperature) dropped. They all looked at each other, and their unmistakable worry was mirrored in the other men's faces.

Tetra sighed deeply as she meditated about their current situation. "Ok." She said, attempting to remain calm by subduing her voice. "I will not force you to come with me. You can stay here if you want to. You can try and find a way down if you think that's safer. I promise will not think any less of you or charge you for treason or anything, ok? However, I have to do this. I have to recover the missing pages, regardless of how harsh the weather is out there. This is my duty, and I will fulfill it. Now those of us who wish to follow me up... you'd best pick up your stuff quick."

Tetra then silently walked over to where her stuff had miraculously remained untouched and started packing it all on her bag, only leaving her sabre and her grappling hook outside in case she needed them. When she turned to leave, though, the seven guys were standing right by her, bags hanging behind their backs.

"I say we take a vote." Gonzo spoke. "All of those in favor of climbing the rest of the mountain, raise your arm." Then, seven arms were suddenly lifted to the skies. Every one of the pirates looked at each other and though uncertainty still traced their factions, they knew this wasn't something new, and they needed to finally stop all the doubts and uncertainties and run headlong into what needed to be done, if they needed to do so.

Tetra saw this display and decided to give the guys one of her usual sly smiles. "Well, don't just stand there looking stupid. We got a mountain to conquer!" She said, resulting in much cheering from the pirates.

They knew the environment was harsh. They knew they were facing a tough climb. They knew that going on without their protective coats would hinder them. They knew all this, and still, they braved the white storm outside. Still, the pirates did not expect to be so utterly cold so very fast.

"Man, I can't take this anymore!" Niko shouted to the sky, making his stance on the situation clear. "I'm gonna freeze to death!"

"Cold... cold..." Zuko muttered, hugging himself trying to keep what little heat remained in his body. "So very... c-c-c-cold..."

"... Just... a little... more..."

"Hey, I think she's coming to."

"... A little more... Uh? What?" Tetra began mumbling as her vision became less and less blurry. She half-expected a white place (either below the snow storm or in the Spirit Realm again), but the place was a dark blue, with dimmed lighting. In front of her, two faces began to take shape: On her left was Mako, who, considering that she could see the ceiling, was probably tending for her, and on her right was Link, his face halfway going from a worrisome look a relieved smile.

"What happened to...?" Tetra tried to ask, but then her last memory kicked right in. "WAIT! The bird... the owl! It was right in front of me. What...?"

"No, Miss Tetra." Mako corrected his captain. "That was no owl. Look." He then pointed to his right. When Tetra followed Mako's finger, she noticed a large bird just standing there, with no real intent on fighting. The bird seemed like a cross between a cuccoo and a vulture, something Tetra had not seen... at least not since that one day...

"Don't you see?" Mako spoke again. "That's Roc! He found us in the snow and brought us to this cave on the top of the mountain. He's saved us."

"Yeah, that bird is wonderful." Gonzo said, his face showing his extreme happiness. "I'm glad we saved 'im."

"How come you're so happy?" Tetra wondered. Gonzo then pointed to a spot on the ceiling where a net was hanging. Inside the net were a lot of Miniblins writhing and thrashing wildly, but no matter how much they tried, the net was not breaking any time soon.

Already feeling recovered, Tetra stood up and walked over to where Roc was. The gentle bird lowered its head calmly and looked at the pirate captain eye-to-eye. "Roc, thank you." Tetra said while taking a bow. Roc responded by giving out a low, tender chirp and reaching his beak at Tetra's extended arm, who began petting it slowly. "Roc, if I may ask, do you know if there's some sort of chest in this mountain that may contain a few pieces of paper? It's important for me to find them."

Roc raised its head slowly after being asked. The large bird began looking around, as if it was trying to remember the procured object's location. Suddenly, Roc began to walk out to the elongated cave entrance and with a mighty screech flew out and up to the very top.

"I think she scared it." Nudge commented before getting a nasty look by Tetra.

Soon after, Roc returned from the top of the mountain, this time carrying something on its leg. It was the very chest they were seeking, right there in front of them, without the need to risk themselves with another icy trek. Roc dropped the chest in the snowy entrance before landing and entered the cave while shaking off the snow.

At that moment, a large shadow passed just outside. The pirates rushed out only to notice how the recently retrieved chest was gone and how a bundle of brown feathers flew away from the mountain. Everybody just stood slack-jawed at the sudden incident, unwilling to believe such a thing had happened.

Then, Roc emitted a loud screech, echoed by Tetra's angry yell which were both strong enough to shake the mountain off excess snow. "That owl is gonna regret messing with me!" Tetra vented off. "I don't know how yet, but I'm gonna get that owl and I'm gonna get it good!"

Roc cawed at Tetra and lowered its head to the floor and flapped its wing in an inviting form. The pirates noticed what the large bird intended to do, and began to question whether this would work or not.

"Not to offend you, large bird..." Senza spoke, looking around all of the pirates, "... but all of us, on top of you... we're not gonna fit."

"That's all right." Tetra spoke out. "Link and I will go. My problem is more how of will we deal with the cold."

Roc seemed to understand this, as it turned its gaze upwards towards the net full of Miniblins, and screeched loudly at them. The Miniblins, quivering in fear, produced two winter garbs: one blue and one green. Tetra and Link put the cold repelling clothes quickly and mounted Roc without skipping a beat. "All right. Let's get us some bird dinner." Tetra declared.

Roc walked out of the cave with Link and Tetra on tow. Once outside, the cucco-vulture flapped its wings ferociously and took to the skies. Roc flew once around the mountain before setting off to explore the rest of the land. From the sky, Tetra and Link could truly see the expansion of terrain they had covered before: from the part where the snow starts to show up in the ground to the thick, pure white mounds all over the northernmost areas, it was truly an large and amazing sight.

Then, from the sun blinded side of the horizon, the familiar frame of the masked owl came into view. "There!" Tetra shouted. "Let's catch up to him!" Roc then redoubled his efforts and rushed over to where Kabora was flying. As they got closer, Link noticed that Kabora definitely had the chest in tow, and made it known to Tetra.

"Link, give me the lance." Tetra ordered. Link obliged, making sure Tetra handled the large object by the hind area and its chains. Tetra pulled out some of the chain off the lance and aimed the pointy object at the chest. "Nice and easy..." Tetra tried to bring herself to concentrate enough to throw the lance, but just a second before she could, Kabora made a swift turn left and made her miss. "Stupid...! Bird!" Tetra shouted in anger. She then remembered what she was on and made amends. "Eh... not you, Roc."

Roc gave a small screech and swooped down and left, trying to shorten the distance between it and the owl. After the initial attempt, Kabora had begun to fly in erratic movements, making it harder for Tetra to try and get a good shot on the chest. "Roc! I think we better move above the owl!" Tetra suggested. Roc complied and began to gain altitude, eventually flying just above the masked owl. At first, Roc struggled to match Kabora's erratic movements, but eventually, they were swiveling in unison, much to the brown bird's chagrin. Tetra knew it was time to act, and she aimed the Chained Lance again, this time at Kabora's back. "Hold on to the chain as well, Link." She said, and gave Link some of the chain. Tetra concentrated on her aim, and when she felt the time was right, she threw the lance with all of her strength.

Kabora let out a shrill screech in pain as the lance lodged itself in its back. "Now, Link!" Tetra shouted as she began pulling on the chain. Link, holding onto the very end of the chain, activated its retracting ability by pulling with all his might. Slowly, Kabora lost control of its own flight pattern, merely struggling to stay airborne. Eventually, the masked owl was carried very close to Roc. "Now's your turn, Roc!" Tetra bellowed. Roc cawed furiously as it jabbed and pecked Kabora time and again with its beak, taking off precious brown plumage at every peck.

Eventually, though, The retracting effect was too strong to hold and the lance loosened itself from Kabora's back, giving the owl just enough time to fly south. Roc did not miss a beat and gave chase. They crossed the mountain range and let the snow covered land behind, instead looking forward for a fight above the skies of Waarheid. Kabora opted to fly up as fast as its wings could go, but Roc was not intimidated by any sort of scare tactics and followed suit. "Wait. Watch out!" Tetra yelled when she saw Kabora fly right down and try to collide with Roc. The large bird had little time to react, and just barely dodged the kamikaze attack. After the attempted strike, Kabora sort of glided on the sky, giving Tetra the perfect opportunity to try and latch on the bird with the Chained Lance again. As Roc went down, Tetra aimed and threw the lance at Kabora's back, Getting it by the side. "Link, your turn! Go down and don't let go of the lance!" Tetra said. Link slid down to Kabora, who was flapping wildly to try and get the painful lance out of its back, and he almost felt sorry for it... if it didn't try to eat and kill him before. He pulled out his sword and stabbed downwards, piercing the feathers and skin and giving Kabora all the more reason to screech in pain. Link slashed and stabbed in all the places his range allowed, and when he felt the lance was about to give in, he climbed up to hold on to the chains.

Kabora's flight patterns went past erratic and into downright desperate. Fortunately for the masked owl, that meant it was hard to pinpoint a good latching point for Tetra. Kabora flew to the cold region again and began purposely crashing into some of the soft mounds of snow, trying to find a way to soothe the pain on its body. This only allowed Tetra, Link and Roc to have an easier to track red trail towards their target. Link decided to pull out the Deku Nuts and try his luck with them. Roc descended to get near a writhing Kabora, and Link, held on to his feet by Tetra, began lobbing Deku Nuts at the owl. The nuts did not stun Kabora, but they seemed to have a strange calming effect on the brown bird to steady up long enough to be mounted again. Tetra got the idea and launched the Chained Lance again, reeling Kabora up to Roc's sharp beak. Link took over the chains as Tetra joined Roc in giving Kabora a good pummeling.

Before the lance gave in fully, though, Kabora gave out one elongated agonizing screech before going limp. The Chained Lance slipped off its body, and the brown bird fell down to the ground with a loud thud. Roc floated in place for a few seconds before deciding to fly down and check things from up close. Besides the fact that Kabora laid immobile, it happened to land on its belly, leaving the chest below a ton of meat and feathers, leaving Tetra and Link to wonder how they were supposed to move that thing. Before they even tried to get down from Roc and come up with suggestions, though, Kabora gave a sudden jolt and stood on its feet, looking positively furious at its attackers, an effect greatly enhanced by its fresh face scar. With some quick pecks and wing swipes, Kabora began attacking Roc and trying to avoid letting the half-vulture to take flight. Roc's relative freshness, however, let it distance itself enough from Kabora to fly off at high speeds and avoid the vicious attack.

"Oh, no." Tetra whimpered as she took a look back. "Faster, Roc! That owl's right behind us!"

Roc flew incredibly fast, to the only place it knew of safety: Spectacle Mountain. Roc did a formidable job, but Kabora started to gain on them. At this rate, Kabora would knock them off the air before they reached sanctuary. Link decided it was time to act, and outfitted himself to his green Magical Glove and pulled out his bow. He then took out his remaining arrow and, after much deliberation, decided to power it with ice. "Ice?" Tetra questioned. "In case you were wondering, we're above tons of ice. Heck, the owl bathed itself on it! What will that do?"

Still, Link did not waver, and instead waited patiently for the perfect opportunity. Kabora began screeching loudly, opening its curved beak wide as if trying to prove a point. Link took aim and waited until Kabora was closer. He needed to take the perfect shot, for he knew there wasn't room for error here.

Kabora's beak opened, screeched, and closed. Link waited.

Kabora's beak opened, screeched, and closed. Link took aim.

Kabora's beak opened, screeched, and closed. Link let go of the arrow.

Kabora's beak opened... but no sound came out, except for some weak coughs. Kabora felt the icy arrow go inside its throat and lodge itself on its insides. Kabora's insides were turning to ice, cracking and breaking at every involuntary twitch. Before long, Kabora was going on a dive, impulsed forward solely by inertia, and heading straight towards the mountain. With one final loud crack, Kabora crashed right on the mountainside before sliding off into the abyss, but not before relinquishing the chest, which was launched to the skies for a while before Roc caught it in midair. Amid the crash, a Heart Container flew upwards and landed right between Link and Tetra.

"I never get tired of this sight." Nudge commented with a smile on his face as the chest was opened, revealing loads of rupees that shone brightly with the sun. Atop the rupees, a couple of yellowed papers were laying, apparently unharmed by the snow or the constant shuffling around. "Miss Tetra, I believe you would want these." Nudge said while giving the pages to their captain.

"Well, I'm glad we're done here," Senza said, "but the way we are right now, would we survive the cold? We need a better way to get outta this place."

Tetra pondered this problem for a second, then turned her gaze towards the ceiling. Roc seemed to mimmick her motions as their eyes fixated on the Miniblin-filled net. She gave it some thought for a few seconds before looking back at the pirates with a big grin on her face.

"Wait..." Niko pleaded, fearful for what may come. "No. No. No, no, no, no..."

...

"!!!!!"

Soaring the skies above the snowy regions of New Hyrule, Roc advanced south in the company of Link and Tetra, who were mounted on top of the gentle bird. Roc also had its feet securely tightened on two important things: The chest on one, and on the other the net, this time filled with six unruly pirates.

"I feel like bad cargo." Niko complained.

"Don't worry." Senza consoled the poor pirate. "At least things are not worse."

"I'm gonna vom..." Zuko said while covering his mouth with his hands.

"... And now they just got worse." Senza finished apologetically.

The sight of Tetra enjoying the magnificent, once-in-a-lifetime trip through the skies was something that Link seemed to enjoy more than the very trip itself. However, he was not alone in witnessing this. On a darkened chamber, where the only light came out of a purple flame that projected Tetra's current endeavors, two small, sinister figures stood and watched intently at the only source of light, their faces drawn in a malevolent grin.

"Yes, that's right, Princess."

"Keep collecting the missing pages, Princess."

"Keep learning your heritage, Princess."

"You are doing well, Princess."

"In due time, we will meet."

"In due time, you will have no choice."

"You will learn everything."

"You will finally know... the truth."

"Gwee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!"

**To Be Continued**

(A/N: I'll be bold now and call any and all artists who are willing to draw TWW and ZOoL art. Details on my profile.)