Hello folks, time for the next part in the Zora Coast arc. With Ruto's life on the line, our heroes travel to a pirate hideout to retrieve the Smooth Pearl, but what else do they find there...?
"We should be approaching the marine base soon." Zopem said, "It's on an isolated island not far from here."
Zopem along with Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Togau, Reirousa, Kesuta, Ifemi and some extra Gerudo soldiers, were sailing onboard a royal zora ship across the ocean. They were on their way to the marine base where a gang of zola pirates lived. Having stolen a valuable treasure of the Zora people called the Smooth Pearl, which was needed to help Ruto control her power that she obtained during her rite of passage.
Since the pearl was stolen in the middle of the rite, Ruto was in incredible danger, as without it to stabilize her power, she was starting to swell up, and could potentially lose her life from her backed up energy if they didn't get the pearl back in time.
Link stood at the front of the ship, his arms folded as he was glaring out into the open sea, with Ruto's fate weighing heavily on his mind. His thoughts drifted to that time once again in the dark future, where he saw the sad look in Ruto's eyes before they parted ways...
"Ruto please, hang in there..." whispered Link.
"You okay Link?" Nabooru asked, walking up him. Link turned to see Nabooru was still in her bikini, though now she was wearing a black tri-corner hat on her head, and a belt with a skull design on the front, as well as a pair of black boots.
"Y-Yeah, but where you did find those?" Link asked referring to her new clothes.
"Down in the lower deck of the ship. Zopem said they took them from some pirates a while back." she grinned playfully and adjusted her hat. She couldn't help but notice he was blushing a little at how she looked. "Heh, so do you like this on me?"
"It's... uh, nice." Link said looking away, "It actually reminds me of some Gerudo I met back in Termina that were pirates."
"Oh interesting!" Nabooru said in surprise, "Perhaps when this is over you could tell me more about it, and maybe after that you'd be interested to score some pirate booty...?" she spoke suggestively.
"..." Link paused and let out a sigh, looking back out to the sea.
Nabooru saw the look of pain in his eyes and sported a serious expression, "Don't worry, we'll take down those bastards and save Ruto."
"Thanks Nabooru..." Link spoke.
"Hey Ms. Aviel, do you see anything yet?" Zopem shouted out to the bird girl, who was appropriately in the crow's nest of the ship.
"Not yet!" Aviel shouted, using her goggles to scope out the waters ahead of them. She, along with the other girls was still clad in her swimsuits from the beach as well.
"Ugh... is it too late to turn back? I think I'm about to lose my lunch..." Reirousa asked, the muscular Gerudo was clinging to the mast pole of the ship with a queasy look on her face, as she suffered from motion sickness easily.
"Get over it Reirousa, we're not about to let down Ruto!" Nemisa said, practicing her martial arts to prepare for the attack on the pirates.
Kesuta meanwhile was sitting on a bench, nervously fidgeting as she looked out over at the sea.
"Hey Kesuta, you holdin' up alright yerself?" Togau asked walking up to her.
"Fine! I'm fine! Totally not scared of floating on a giant body of water or anything!" Kesuta said gripping at the bench.
"If that's the case then why'd you come along?" Togau asked, "I thought you held up pretty well fighting that water monster at Lake Hylia."
"...I guess that's because of exactly why I flew out over the lake... to save our people from Morpha." Kesuta said, "Back then I wasn't even thinking about being afraid, I didn't have time with them all in danger like that..." she sighed, "But all I can do right now is float on this giant piece of wood and worry about this situation.. and Ruto..."
Togau watched as tears started to form in Kesuta's eyes while she was looking to Link.
"I was in trouble back there, and without me asking to... Ruto saved me from that zola... even after I've teased her so much about her weight before..." Kesuta trembled.
"Well that's cause you're her family Kesuta." Togau said, "Those petty little squabbles ain't nothing compared to the bond we all have together!"
"Y-Yeah..." Kesuta said smiling softly, then looking up with determination, "That's why I need to do my part in saving her!"
"Atta girl, and when this is all over you and Ruto can kiss 'n make up!" Togau grinned.
Just then the boat hit a small wave which splashed some water onto the deck near Kesuta, causing her to freak out and cling to Togau,
"B-Back off you stupid water!" shouted the fire mystic as flames started to brew up around her.
"Guys, help!" Togau said, trying to pull away from Kesuta so as not to get burned.
The day soon turned to night as the group continued to sail along, and their worries about Ruto only worsened as the time past. Link decided he needed to check in on the situation back at the coast. He pulled out his ocarina and played Saria's Song to contact her.
"Link... Link this is Saria, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear Saria, how are things over there?" Link asked while the others crowded around to hear what was going on as well.
"Well I have good news, Ruto seems to be hanging on pretty well for now" Saria said, though with clear concern still in her voice, "Sovan's been cooking up some meals that are satisfying her, and Korume is using her ice magic to help contain Ruto's power. She's still swelling a little, but it's not as bad as earlier."
"I see... that's a relief at least." Link sighed.
"Ooohh sweetie!" shouted a familiar flamboyant voice, startling everyone, "Is that you, Gerudo King? I must say it's amazing that this precious little one can use magic like thiiis! Tell Zopem I said hi!"
"You stay away from Saria." Link said annoyed.
"So what of King Zora?" Zopem asked.
"Uh, looks like Mr. Oton is doing everything he can to keep King Zora from coming to see his daughter until she's saved by you all." Saria said.
"I've convinced the king that she needs to participate in this ritual undisturbed until tomorrow morning due to the pirate attack in order to give you all more time, but I can't guarantee Ruto will make it until then!" Mystic Hemeron said desperately.
"Do not concern yourself with Ruto, my love." they heard Korume said, "I'm doing everything possible to hold her power back."
"Good luck Korume!" Kesuta said.
"You too, my sister." Korume replied.
"Okay everyone, take care!" Link said, as he and Saria cut off the signal.
"Ugh, I know this is probably the least of our problems right now, but this whole circumstance could be bad for our alliance as well if King Zora finds out." Nabooru said.
"Don't worry none Lad Nabooru, we'll get that pearl in no time!" Togau said.
"Everyone, I see something!" Aviel then shouted out, getting the group's attention, "There a big building thing off in the distance, and there's a skull painted on it!"
"That must be the base, it's built over almost the entirety of the island to prevent trespassers." Zopem said, looking into the water to see some strange sparks of electricity, as bulbous looking sea creatures with tentacles were bobbing around releasing sparks into the water, "And those are the Jelectrics I mentioned before."
"I can see why you zoras couldn't do anything to swim through here." Nabooru said, leaning forward on the ship's edge to view the creatures for herself, "You wouldn't stand any chance against those things in the sea."
"Ruto... just hang on a little longer..." Link whispered, thinking about his future wife and the pained look she bore due to her power going berserk, "We're going to save you."
"It's too dangerous for us to disembark near the base," Zopem said peering out at the island, "But our informants have told us there's a small beach area on the side of the island. We'll land there and plan our attack."
The ship eventually docked at a pier beside a secluded beach, and the group piled out of it to go investigating. Nabooru had the backup guards watch over the ship until they all got back.
Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Togau, Reirousa, Kesuta, Zopem and Ifemi all walked slowly down the path beside the beach, careful to keep an eye out for any pirates that might ambush them, but the shore was quiet.
Nabooru paused and sniffed the air, "Hmm... do you all smell something?"
"You mean besides the low tide?" Nemsia asked, waving her hand in front of her nose.
"Irk.." Reirousa groaned, clutching at her stomach, "Don't bring that up..."
"Yo guys, you all see that ahead?" Ifemi asked, pointing out what appeared to be a bonfire lit up in the distance from the tropical plants beside the shore.
"Hmm..." Aviel pulled up her goggles to get a good look, "It's hard to see since it's getting dark, but it looks like there's a bunch of zola over there."
"And that noise..." Togau said, her ears picking up some sounds coming from the distance, "Sounds like... music, and singing?"
The group slowly snuck up as close as they could to the fire without making noise, and listened out to what was going on. It was sure enough a group of zola all sitting around he bonfire, one was playing a small accordion as they were all singing.
'Oooooooh, we scrub the whole deck, they give us all heck,
and then we'll scrub it again!
Fetch 'em the tools, they call us all fools,
The day we get our pay, who knows exactly when!"
"Yo-ho-ho and a barrel of chum,
Rotting fruit and a thimble of rum!
We're treated like dung but we've sure sung,
A jolly shanty with our Zola tongue!"
The group could all hear laughter when the singing was over and they peeked out from the plants to see six Zola. They were all gathered around the bonfire either keeping warm or cooking some less-then-appealing food, and eating it without hesitation.
"Blarg, it tastes like crud!" laughed one of the Zola.
"Only crud? Lucky you! I think I'm gettin' sick from mine!" said another with a big laugh.
"I didn't even know we Zola could get diseases! Ya learn somethin' new everyday!" said a third one.
"Hey all, how about another watered down pint?" the Zola with the accordion said with a big grin, setting aside his instrument and lifting up a mug. He was a tall and lean one compared to the others. He wore sunglasses and his head gill went straight up from his forehead down to the back of his neck, he also wore a red vest.
"Alright! How generous of ya Jonas!" cheered the other zolas as one known as Jonas poured some rum into their own mugs.
"They seem like a... jolly bunch." Link whispered as a sweatdrop went down his head.
"Should we fight them? We got them outnumbered." Reirousa suggested.
"Hmm..." Nabooru pondered, then sported a grin, "Maybe instead we could use them to our advantage. Zopem, Ifemi, you two go back and watch over the ship for now."
"Right Lady Nabooru!" Ifemi said saluting.
"What? Nonsense, I came here to help Princess Ruto!" Zopem shouted in as soft of a voice as possible.
"You will eventually, but we need to formulate a plan of attack." Nabooru said, "If these guys see a zora like you they'll be suspicious about us. Just trust me on this."
"...fine, but be careful, all of you." Zopem said, slowly going off on his way along with Ifemi, who tried a little too had to get close to him, but he pushed her away.
After they left, Nabooru took a moment to clear her throat and stand up from the bushes, calling out to the pirates.
"Good evening boys! How are you all?" Nabooru called out to the pirates, waving to them, as the others all looked bewildered at their leader. She gestured to all of them to stand up as well, so they hesitantly did.
"Huh?" exclaimed a zola looking to them, "A bunch of humans?!"
"They must be intruders!" said another zola, bringing up his claws, "What're ya doin' at Admiral Krehaul's base?!"
"Yeah, this is a pirates island! You better leave or we'll gut you all like... uh, fish!"
"A pirate island you say...? Well that's good news for us then! You see, we're pirates as well!" Nabooru said tipping her tri-corner hat, "The name's Captain 'Devil's Grin' Nabooru!"
"We're... pirates?" Nemisa asked sweatdropping, looking at Nabooru in disbelief
"Course reckon we are!" Togau said, catching onto Nabooru's plan quickly, she put her hands to her hips and grinned widely, "Ya can call me 'Wild Child' Togau!" she then grabbed Link and pulled him close to her, "And this here's our cabin boy-toy Link!"
"Uh... hey." Link said with a small wave.
"You can call me Aviel the Hawkeye!" Aviel said, using her name the archery club back in their town gave her.
"Fine, I'm... umm, 'Shining Jewel' Nemisa." Nemisa said, folding her arms and looking somewhat uneasy about this.
"And you can call me Kesuta the Blaze!" the mystic said, doing a graceful spin.
'How long have these girls been planning to give themselves nicknames?' Link thought to himself.
Everyone then turned to Reirousa who just stood there until she realized they were all waiting for her to say something.
"Um, sup? I'm Reirousa.. the... uh..." she scratched her cheek for a second, "...just Reirousa."
"Huh... never heard of all of you." said a skeptic zola.
"Well, that's why we're all actually looking to join up with your gang!" Nabooru said grinning, "We may not be Zolas, but we're all strong warriors and would like to join your crew! We had a pretty good reputation out in Termina, and want to make a name for ourselves here in Hyrule!"
'Ugh, suddenly I regret mentioning that to her.' Link thought, now realizing that he gave Nabooru the idea to do this.
Jonas meanwhile sat back looking at the group, stroking his chin in thought.
"What do you think Jonas?" asked one zola to the tall one, "Maybe we should alert boss Takir about this?"
"... ...nah, don't worry about it." grinned Jonas, "Nice to meet you all! Name's 'Shark Bait' Jonas! Have a seat and we'll talk!"
"Alright, thanks for your hospitality!" nodded Nabooru, taking a seat down with Link and the others around the campfire.
"You sure about this Nabooru?" Link whispered to the Gerudo leader.
"Yep, I could smell from the air that they're all a bit tipsy from their drinking." Nabooru whispered back with a grin, "They'll be a lot easier to persuade this way."
The two sides proceeded to spend the next hour or so talking among each other. Nabooru told tales of their adventures, though they seemed to be edited versions of some of the accomplishments Link and the group had made over the past year. Jonas and his gang's stories however, were mostly about things they overheard as low-ranking swabbies for Admiral Krehaul's crew.
"Jees, you guys sound like you really have some fun adventures." Jonas said, "We don't really get to do much at all, other then cleaning."
"They hardly ever pay us, if at all." said one zola shurgging.
"We just gotta eat whatever leftovers they throw us." said another, "We're pretty estranged from the rest of the crew."
"Jees, that sounds rough." Kesuta frowned.
"You're treated as outcasts from your own people...?" Aviel asked sadly, thinking about the rebellion they were fighting against, "I guess we can kinda understand what that's like..."
"Guess we see eye-to-fisheye then." grinned Jonas, "Nothing to worry about though, we just laugh and sing it off!"
"Hahaha, yeah! We just smile and laugh to bury away bad thoughts like that!" laughed a zola, and the other fish people laughed as well.
"I dunno about that." Togau said somewhat distantly, confusing Jonas and the other zola, "Nothin' wrong with perkin' yerself up when yer down, but ya shouldn't have ta force yerselves." as she thought about the pain she had to go through back when she was turned into a Lynel, and what Link had told her.
Link smiled slightly and put his arm around Togau's shoulder, holding her close.
"..." Jonas just paused on that note.
"H-Hey comon, how about another shanty Jonas?" a zola asked to try and relieve the awkwardness.
"... yeah, ya know what? Sounds good!" Jonas snapped out of it and grinned, pulling out his accordion, "Wanna sing with us girls?"
Togau grinned a little and nodded, "Reckon course!" she puled out her fiddle, "Hey Link, let em hear your ocarina while yer at it!"
"Alright then!" Link nodded, putting his ocarina up to his mouth, "Why don't you dance for us too Nemisa?"
"Wha-?" Nemisa stammered, "Here and now?"
"Yeah! Let's see ya dance girly!" said a zola.
"Go for it, Shilling Fool!" Aviel cheered out to Nemisa.
"I said my nickname is Shining Jewel!" Nemisa shouted to her partner. She then sighed out and stood up, "Fine then, if it'll get this over with..."
The group then all proceeded to start singing a new pirate shanty song, sung by Jonas and the zola. Link accompanied the accordion with his ocarina while Togau played her fiddle. The others all joined in as the music played.
"Adventures on the sea, is where we wanna be,
Instead we're the lower deck, cleaning the latrine!
Spending all our time, scrubbin' all the grime,
Then drinkin' it all down with a small squirt of lime!"
Nemisa meanwhile got herself caught up in the beat and started dancing. She swayed her hips a bit before starting a more rhythmic toe tapping, doing some quick spins and moving her legs up and down rapidly.
"Yo-hoo-hoo we're all sailin' the seas of blue,
Singing a dumb shanty under the captain's left shoe!
Will we score some cash or made to eat seven day old hash,
We don't know but ya can sign with us too!"
Eventually the music came to an end, and everyone laughed out together.
"Yayayah! That was fun!" laughed Jonas, who looked to Link and Togau, "And you two play great music, you guys are alright!"
"I ain't into humans, but ye be a fine dancing wench, Ms. Shining Jewel!" a zola said to Nemisa.
"Ah.. um... thank you." Nemisa said, surprised at how pleasant the zola turned to be as she sat back down.
"I wish we could hand out some grub to you, but most of it is rotten to the core." said a zola.
"Uh that's cool, thanks anyway." Togau said sweatdropping, looking at one plate that had a half eaten fish thing with it's eye looking up at her. She could have sworn she saw it blink too.
"Well hello boys, you all hungry?" asked one familiar sounding burbling voice.
"Huh? Oh, it's Momma!" grinned Jonas looking out at the sea.
"M-Momma...?" Link asked sweatdropping, along with the other Gerudo.
"Uh oh." Aviel gulped.
Sure enough, emerging out from the ocean water was Big Momma Octo, the sea creature they had fought back at Zora Coast. She had some bandages over various parts of her body from her battle with Link and the others earlier.
"Oh heavens, you all look so famished!" Momma Octo said looking over Jonas and the Zola, "Well now that the others are all enjoying themselves over at the base, I thought I'd pop over here and give you some vitals! I know it's been a long time, you poor things!"
"Yayayah!" laughed Jonas, "Don't worry about it Momma, we've tough enough to handle this slop we've been given! Ya don't have to worry about us! Just get yerself back to the base before they see you're gone!"
"You sure, sweetie?" Momma Octo asked.
Jonas paused on that note, and thought about what Togau had told him a moment ago. He looked over at his crew, one of which was pulling on a piece of moldy food until it snapped and hit a zola sitting by him across the face.
"...actually, guess we could use a good bite or two." he admitted.
"I thought so!" smiled Momma Octo, pulling out a box of food from her head-wrap bandanna along with some cutlery, "I'll get to cooking for you then, dears!"
The zola all cheered out as she got to cooking them all up food. As she hacked up vegetables and meat to put on the fire, she took a glance over at Link and the others who were quickly working to sneak away.
"Oh, did you boys make some new friends since last time?" Momma Octo asked, "Good to meet you all, thanks for taking good care of Jonas an-"
That was when Momma cut herself off, now recognizing who Jonas' new friends were.
"Um..."
It was an awkward pause between Link, Nabooru, the Gerudo and Big Momma Octo. The Gerudo team were conflicted about whether to pull out their weapons or not in that moment.
"...something wrong Momma?" Jonas asked in confusion.
"Uh... nothing! Nothing at all!" Momma Octo said forcing a smile, "Would you all like to join us?" she asked Link and the group.
Nabooru nudged Link and nodded, and they all agreed. Big Momma Octo went ahead and eventually served everyone; Jonas and his gang immediately took to eating, while Link and his group cautiously took nibbles as they watched Momma Octo, who seemed just as uneasy.
"Wooow, this is delicious!" Aviel exclaimed brightly.
"Yeah I'm impressed, Sovan would love to try this for herself!" Kesuta said with wide eyes.
"Gesosososo! Glad you enjoy it!" Big Momma Octo laughed, "I have to cook for pretty much the whole crew. These boys here though are so low rank they only get the two week-old leftovers, so I like to pop by once in a while to give them what I can, though over the past months I've been so busy with work that I haven't been able to."
Link took another bite of the food he was given, it was indeed really good, but he wasn't sure of what to make of this situation. Big Momma Octo caused them a great deal of trouble back at Zora Coast, and she seemed to be associated well enough with one of the leaders, Takir the Rimfire. It made him wonder why she hadn't attacked them or said anything of who they actually were.
"Alright, now that we're full, let's get some training in boys!" Jonas said, pumping his fist up, "You guys want to come?" he asked Link and the others.
"Uh, no. We don't have our land legs yet, you know from being out at sea and all." Nabooru said.
"Yayayah, we knew that was like when we grew legs! Go ahead and relax then, and we'll talk about recruiting you all later!" snickered Jonas, going off with his crew-mates.
As soon as they were all long gone, Link, Nabooru and the other Gerudo immediately went into battle poses against Big Momma Octo, who also brought up her tentacles for battle.
"Hmph, how cheeky of you to invade Admiral Krehaul's island!" Momma said angerly, as a powerful aura formed around her, "I'll teach you all a lesson!"
"Hey Momma Octo, can I have seconds?" Aviel then asked, lifting up her plate.
"Oh, of course honey!" Momma Octo's face suddenly lit up and smiled gleefully as she served the bird girl, causing Link and everyone else to promptly fault over.
As Aviel happily ate the food Momma Octo prepared for her, the group decided to take the temporary truce to speak to her.
"So... uh... Big Momma Octo is it?" Nabooru spoke up, "I was wondering if you'd be willing to tell us why you're working with the zola pirates."
"Yeah, ya seem like a pleasant giant monster octopus." Togau said, "What're ya gettin' outta all this?"
"Um..." Momma Octo muttered, "W-Why do I need a reason? They're my boys, and I take care of them! You saw how Jonas and his gang needed their vitals, and I'm happy to serve em! Simple as that! Gesosososo!" she added a laugh.
"..." Kesuta just looked up at Big Momma Octo and frowned, "Honestly, that's a load of crap, lady."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY YOU LTITLE BRAT?!" Big Momma Octo shouted, towering over Kesuta.
"Shhhh! Watch your mouth Kesuta!" Nemisa shouted, "She could alert the guards!"
"I don't believe what you're saying is true." Kesuta said to Momma Octo, normally she'd be intimidated by the likes of someone like Zopem or the giant octo, but she held her ground, "Believe me, I know what it's like to act like this... to protect something you care about."
"H-Huh?" Momma Octo exclaimed, shocked that Kesuta caught on to it.
"A while back, me and my sister had to do something horrible to try and save our town, I thought it was my only choice, I even went so far as to try and force myself to hate my sister to do it..."
Kesuta grimaced as he thought back when she and Korume attempted to battle each other to the death at the Spirit Temple. When she had delivered the final blow and was about to finish off Korume.
"It was that day though, that I learned how precious life is... that my life, as well as Korume's mattered..." Kesuta said, now smiling warmly as she put her hands to her chest, "...and my husband taught me the value of depending on people to help you in your time of need..."
She recalled when Link barraged through her flame wall to protect Korume, then Nabooru, Aviel and Nemisa all protecting her, then when Kesuta tried to take her own life Link stopped her from doing it and embraced her...
"I-Is that so..." Big Momma Octo said, "W-Well you don't know me! Maybe I just like doing this!"
"Listen, please." Link then spoke up with a serious expression, "Princess Ruto is suffering right now, that pearl that the pirates stole during our battle at the coast is essential to her... we need to get it to save her life..."
A the group were speaking to Momma Octo, some shadowy figures came up, and stopped in their tracks as they overheard the conversation.
"What...? Well what do you care about her anyway?" Momma Octo asked, putting her tentacles on her sides, "It's not like she's one of your pretty human friends here! Who are you anyway?"
"I'm Link, the king of the Gerudo, and Princess Ruto is my future wife." Link simply said, "And we plan to ally together with the Zoras to help our tribes."
"W-What?" Momma Octo paused for a second in surprise, before she burst out laughing, "Gesososo! So that's what it's all about? You're going to marry her for royal matters then, for an alliance with the zoras? I feel sorry for her to be used like that!"
"Hey, you watch yer mouth you giant-" Reirousa was cut off by Link raising his hand.
"No, Ruto was my beloved friend since we were children, back when she gave me her mother's heirloom... to give to the man she chose as her husband." Link explained, "Back then I was a stupid little kid who didn't understand what she meant, though she was so serious about it herself..."
He thought back to the day she gave him the sapphire, then the day he met her again in the dark future as she told him about their upcoming marriage, then when he encountered her in a fountain room and the sad words she spoke... then when he returned to the past and how uplifted he felt when he saw her again.
Then the day came when they met at Lake Hylia and he accepted her marriage proposal, and all happy times the two of them had spent since then...
Link squeezed his knees as tears were starting to form, surprising Big Momma Octo, "I don't care whether the alliance works out or not, either way I intend to marry Ruto, and have children with her that I'll love for the rest of my life... just like I love her."
Big Momma Octo's eyes widened at Link's words, especially the tears she saw falling from his face.
"Ruto isn't just his future wife either," Kesuta said, "She's our beloved sister, and we won't urn our backs on her. Please, if you're suffering as well, tell us what your situation is, and maybe we can help each other."
"..." Big Momma Octo paused, standing there at a loss for words. Her tentacles fidgeted, she knew she should be attacking this group, or at least reporting them to the pirates, but she looked at the stare in both Link and Kesuta's eyes and thought to herself.
"...it's... my son..." Big Momma Octo muttered, "He was taken away from me by that horrible Admiral Krehaul... he told me if I didn't do everything he said, he would kill my little boy and make him into his next meal..."
"I see, so you've been blackmailed this whole time." Nabooru said narrowing her eyes.
"You gotta be kiddin' me..." Togau said in surprise, "What a creep!"
"Well that's all I needed to hear." Reirousa said, standing up, "We're gonna go bust into that base, kick their asses, and get back your kid and Ruto's pearl!"
"What?!" exclaimed Big Momma Octo, "You're out numbered, and the zola are too strong!"
"Heh, after what you saw back at Zora Coast, you don't think we can handle those giant sardines? We got this covered." grinned Nabooru.
"Yeah, just leave this to us." Link nodded.
"Y-You can't be serious..." Momma Octo started to sob.
"Alright everyone, it's time to head out and take on the pirates!" Nabooru said, but then turned towards the bushes nearby, "Speaking of which, you all can come out now."
That was when the bushes shifted, and out came Jonas and his gang.
"Yahaha! Guess the catfish is out of the bag!" laughed Jonas, "Well boys, we're all beat from the training right? Guess we gotta battle em now as well!"
"Hahaha, yeah! We're exhausted!" laughed one of Jonas' friends.
"We'll all probably drop dead in seconds!" laughed another.
"So just what do you intend to do, fight us?" Nabooru asked raising an eyebrow, "We have you outmatched in strength and numbers."
"Momma Octo, can you help us?" one of the zola asked.
"Well... I... I'm sorry, but can't take part in this!" Big Momma Octo said defensively.
"Oh come on, we don't really want to fight you guys! You seem like good zolas!" Aviel said, genuinely worried for them.
"You call us good? After all the crap our crew did to you?" Jonas asked, rubbing the back of his head "Ugh, to think you guys weren't pirates, but royalty working with the zoras... Man, this sucks."
"We're sorry about deceiving you, but we needed to be discreet to attack the base." Nabooru said.
"Yeah? Well if you wanna pass and stay that way, you'll have to get through us first." Jonas said, readying his zola claws.
"Wait," Link said stepping up, "How much of what we said to Momma Octo did you hear just now?"
"Almost all of it really." Jonas said, "I gotta say, I was surprised those rumors about a Hylian marrying the zora princess was true... and that you care about her that much..."
"If that's the case, then you understand we don't want to fight you. We just want to get back the pearl and save Momma Octo's son." Link said, "Just step aside and let us through."
"Sorry, but we can't..." Jonas said, "Even if we're all doomed to lose and die here, this life is all we got, and even if our crew treats us like trash, they're all we have. The zora will never allow us to be a part of their society either... You either need to kill us or we'll stop your rescue mission!"
"Boys..." Big Momma Octo whispered.
Jonas then lunged at Link and swiped his claws, forcing Link to step backwards and avoid the attack.
"Hey, don't do this!" Link shouted, only to be attacked again, forcing him to swing his sword to deflect another attack.
"What should we do...?" Aviel asked sadly with her crossbow out.
"...Sister Ruto's life is in danger... and we enevr turn our backs on our sisters, so we're going to fight." Nabooru said, "Gerudo, to arms!"
"Yayayayah! Time for us all to die then!" the rookie pirate zola 'Shark Bait' Jonas laughed out loud, along with his crew, as they all went into battle against Link and the Gerudo.
Momma Octo could do nothing but watch in worry for both sides.
As the battle broke out, a new mysterious figure was watching them all with a single eerie eye, before it turned and scurried off on all four of it's limbs.
In the head commander's room of the marine base, a shadowy figure was sitting at a chair. Since it had been so long since the original Hylian marine commander was there, the chair was in a satte of disrepair like the rest of the room. The floor itself was made of pure iron and a single long carpet stretched out from the door towards the desk. Littered through the room was various treasures and rupees from various corners of the world, and hanging over the room was a large fancy chandelier.
The figure took a long drag of a cigar in their mouth before blowing smoke out. It was then the door opened, and a short four-limbed creature with one red eye known as a Tektite scuttled in. It's eye gave off an eerie glow as it hissed a bit.
"Greetings Lampent, is something the matter?" the figure asked the Tektite.
"Admiral Krehaul... cod I possibly borrow your attention for a little betta?" muttered the Tektite named Lampent in a creepy high-pitched voice, "We have intruders outside the base. They appear to be a Zora and a group of Gerudo, as well as what looks like a Hylian mercenary with them. They're current-ly battling a small group of our swabbies, but they probably got no chance against those intruders."
"I see... how interesting." chuckled the shadowy figure, now known as the zola pirate leader Admiral Krehaul. He reached out, taking a flower from a vase on his desk with a gauntlet he wore and smelt the small plant lightly. The gauntlet he wore was metal, with spikes lining the backs of it and the knuckles. The fingertips had razor sharp metal claws at the end, and lining the entirety of the gauntlet was very tiny little holes.
"Somehow I have a feeling they're after this right here." Krehaul said, gesturing down at a beautiful round pearl on a small pillow on the desk, it had wavy colors of blue and purple on it, and it gave off a luminescent shine. This was the Smooth Pearl, the sacred treasure of the zora people, and was necessary to help Ruto maintain her power.
"Have our guards greet them at the side entrance. Tonight the Jelectrics will have a fine meal." spoke Admiral Krehaul.
"Shiii-hahaha, sounds brill-iant boss, I'll give the lot of them the o-fish-al word!" the zola said, scurrying off on all fours.
As Lampent skittered out of the room, Krehaul chuckled a little more. The pirate leader then reached out and took a picture that was on his desk, gazing at it. As he did, he dropped the flower out of his other hand, as strange purple spots seemed to form on it.
Before the flower could even hit the floor, it had been reduced to a pile of purple goo that splattered on the ground.
A group of zola guards stood at the back entrance to the marine base, all standing around bored of patrol work.
"Man, guarding this plaice is so boring!" a zola complained.
"No kidding, when I became a pirate I was hoping they'd be moray plundering." muttered one zola.
"Mind if we relieve some of that boredom then, boys?" spoke up a voice, as the zola saw Link, Nabooru and the others all before them, and they were all ready for battle.
"Intruders? Take them down!" shouted a zola, as they all charged forward with their weapons.
One came at Nabooru but she blocked them off with her scimitars, before flipping over him and slashing the zola across the back. Link fired off his Longshot at a wooden club one zola was carrying, and swung it in circles to knock out him and his allies. Kesuta brought out her flame whip and started swing it around, lashing and blasting the pirates with her flames. Zopem swung out his spear and decked a few pirates before jabbing a fourth one to skewer him. Togau threw out her ax, smacking one before it returned and hit another on the way back. Reirousa meanwhile simply swung hr hammer down and smashed it down, sending the rest flying.
With the zola all taken down, Togau snatched up the door keys from the head guard.
"Alright, let's get in there and find us Ruto's pearl and Momma Octo's kid!" Togau said, unlocking the door.
"Uh, hey Link, Lady Nabooru...? Somethin's been botherin' me.." Reirousa brought up, "Are... you sure what we did back there with that Jonas zola guy and his men was right...?"
Link and the group just paused for a second, before Nabooru spoke up, "Let's go everyone, we have a mission to complete."
Everyone just silently nodded and ran inside the marine base.
Meanwhile, back at the beach, Big Momma Octo threw some plant debris onto the bonfire to keep it going. She let out a heavy sigh as she looked down.
"I just don't get it..." muttered the giant octopus, "Why did those Gerudo spare you all? For all they knew you boys could have reported them after you regained your energy."
"Beats me." shrugged Jonas. He and his gang were laying on the beach covered in bandages applied by Big Momma Octo, "I thought the stories that Ms/ Nabooru told us were just a pack of lies to get on our good side... but I dunno, maybe there was some truth to them..."
"You think they'll be alright?" asked one of the other zola.
"I hope so." another zola said, "Especially since they made that promise to Momma."
Momma Octo paused, looking down as she thought back to what the mystic Kesuta told her just before they all ran off for the base.
'If your son is really is in their possession, then as long as you don't interfere, we'll promise to save him! I know it's hard to after we took down these guys, but just have faith in us!'
"Heh, I wouldn't worry about them, they're all really tough, I think they got this!" Jonas laughed.
The giant sea creature took in what Jonas said and looked out at the base. She was worried about her child, yet for some reason when she saw the sharp look in Kesuta's eyes, she obliged with little hesitation. Could that had been trust she felt in them? It was a feeling she knew very little of during her time working with the Zola pirates, the exception being the young zolas that she was treating the injuries of at that very moment.
"Good luck, all of you..." whispered Big Momma Octo.
And that ends the chapter. I have to say I loved writing the little sea shanties, and it was just fun playing with the more jolly side of pirates opposed to just the swashbuckling part of it. Next time, the group take on the leaders of the zola pirates!
As always thank you all for your support, and leave a like, follow or comment at your leisure!