Again, sorry this didn't come out sooner, but I honestly haven't felt inspired to write much lately. I moved, had to search for a new job. The fact that after beating New Vegas, I installed a bunch of mods and started again didn't help.
I'm sure my creative drought will pass, though. I have every intention of making sure this story gets finished, unlike 52. Worst case scenario, I have to wait for Tears of the Kingdom to get the creative juices flowing again.
I think I'll get another chapter up tomorrow, at any rate. This one's a little short because the next one is devoted entirely to a fight.
The pirates arrived right on schedule. Claude had already set everything in place. He had gone through over a dozen ideas before finally coming up with one that would hold water.
He had gone to meet the pirates on the beach. Only Hilda and Raphael went with him. Raphael carrying a chest filled with bits of topaz, Hilda with her axe, watching their backs. Claude himself was not armed, though Hilda was carrying her axe and Raphael was wearing his gauntlets. He didn't think it was a risk. The entire crew wouldn't be disembarking, and those that did come from their ship to collect the topaz wouldn't be numerous enough to best Hilda and Raphael.
A rowboat came from the pirate ship. One in a clearly-stolen naval officer's uniform (probably one of the crew's leaders), five crew members in cheap outfits. The six of them approached Claude.
The officer looked at Claude, then at Hilda. "You might be my new favorite gem."
Hilda's eyes narrowed and she held up her axe. "Don't count on it. I voted to fight back. Having your heads on pikes around the village would make other pirates think twice about attacking Lurelin."
Claude held up his hand. "Hilda, the village made its decision. We might not like it, but we agreed to honor the outcome."
"Smart boy," the officer said. "You brought our tribute?"
Claude snapped his fingers. "Raphael?"
Right on cue, Raphael tripped and spilled the chest.
Claude feigned anger. "Raphael, you clumsy oaf!"
The officer looked at the spilled bits of topaz. "Well, you'd better start putting it back in the chest."
Claude glared at the pirate and crouched down to help Raphael put the topaz crystals back in the chest. However, it wasn't long before they heard a scream from the ship.
Claude and Raphael stood up. "Change of plans," Claude said. "Hilda, Raphael, kill them."
Shortly before, Link and Monica prepared for Link to glide from the precipice to the ship. Monica placed a piece of parchment with a Sheikah symbol on it on him. His entire body appeared sky blue.
Link looked at Monica. "Hey, I'm new at this," Monica said. "Invisibility is a bit beyond me right now."
Link shrugged and deployed his glider.
It didn't take long before he reached the ship. The pirates didn't spot him until he was directly over the ship. With one hand, he closed the glider, and with the other, he grabbed one of the ropes connected to the sail. One rather painful rope-burn later, he had reached the deck.
"That desperate to die?" one of the pirates asked.
Link drew his sword, and started killing.
Once the pirates were dead, it took a few hours before the ship was ready to leave port. But soon, the ship had cast off.
The trip took them through Lanayru and around Central Hyrule, and took a few days.
As they passed by Hyrule Castle, Calamity Ganon's gaze fell on them. Flayn shielded the ship from the power Ganon was bringing to bear against them. Thankfully, Ganon's assault didn't last long; Ganon's attention was soon returned to the castle.
Not long afterward, though, a strange-smelling smoke overtook them.
"Do you smell that?" Flayn asked. She then noticed that the others, both her fellow Rising Sun members and the villagers who were helping them sail the ship, were falling asleep.
"What's happening?" Monica ran up to Flayn.
"We have to stop this ship!" Flayn said. Fortunately, they had furled the sails and were rowing through the river, but they were still approaching the bend in the river far too quickly. The two of them tried dropping the anchor, but it didn't slow them down enough. The ship ran aground.
To their surprise, someone warped to the bow of the ship. It was a man in a suit of scale armor painted black and a blood-red cape, with long, dark hair and a beard. He wore a patch over one eye. The other was red. "Hello, children," the man said. "I've been expecting you."