Sorry for the delay folks! I've been very busy with work IRL lately (and distractions from other things lol) but I'm back with a look at how things have been on Tetra's side of things! Note that this chapter and the next both have time skips at the start, we're jumping ahead into the "present" of the story next time, finally, so that's exciting! With that, I'll leave you to it! Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Scarlet

One Year Later

"Ok, Miss, nice and slow now…"

Tetra draws in a deep breath, accepting Gonzo's advice along with the arms he and Senza are offering her to lean on. She winces against the pain that shoots through her thigh the second she puts any sort of pressure on it, against the unfamiliarity of the wood and metal attached just beneath her knee. But the worst of that pain somehow exists in a limb that isn't even there anymore, a limb that's been lost for only two weeks now.

But to Tetra, it already feels like a lifetime.

She'd been careless, overconfident, downright oblivious, really. When her crew crossed blades with that gang of pirates from some distant ocean to claim the same treasure they were after, she'd thought little of it. Violent brawls with rival crews were all par for the course when it came to the life of a pirate, after all. From the day she could first pick up a cutlass, Tetra led her men into plenty of them, almost always emerging as the victor in the end.

This brawl, however, was different. Life-changingly so.

What stung even more was that they'd had the upper hand when it happened. They'd pushed the other pirates back onto their own ship, disarming the majority of them with ease. While her men kept their foes held up at sword-point, Tetra pursued their captain, a curmudgeonly old crook who was clearly past his prime. Tetra could only imagine just how embarrassed he must have felt when a fifteen year old girl half his size managed to pin him to the deck of his own ship.

As per tradition, she'd demanded his surrender and his crew's retreat. It should have come easily. They should have won. At the very least, she should have seen his ax coming.

But she didn't. Not until it slammed straight into her lower left leg, through flesh and muscle, cutting straight down to the bone.

Her scream echoed across the ocean, sending her entire crew into a panic. Senza managed to catch her just before she could fall to the deck while Gonzo fended the older captain off before he could finish the job. All thoughts of treasure were quickly abandoned as they watched their beloved captain begin to bleed out. They ditched their foes, leaving them to the coveted spoils as they set sail for civilization as swiftly as the winds would take them. At that moment, no amount of riches in the entire world could have mattered to any of them as much as keeping their captain alive did.

The trek to Windfall was a painfully long one. Not that Tetra was even conscious for most of it. Try as they might to keep her stable and comfortable, her crew was ill-equipped to help her. Even Mako, as well read as he was, could only do the bare minimum of wrapping the wound to keep it from bleeding any more. Still, that did nothing to stop the onset of an infection that quickly spread, sending their already suffering captain plunging into agonized illness. She languished in a state of half-dead delirium until they finally made it to Windfall, where her crew desperately called upon the first doctor they could find. But by the time they did, it became clear that it was already too late to save their young captain.

Or at least, it was too late to save all of her.

Tetra had been far too out of it at the time, so Gonzo had been the one to make the final call to go through with the amputation. The crew stayed close during the operation, though a few with weaker stomachs, like Niko and Nudge, eventually had to step out. After several long, anxious hours, the doctor proclaimed that Tetra was finally in the clear; the infection was passing and she'd make a full recovery. The worst was over, or so the crew thought. Because when Tetra finally fully regained consciousness a few days later and discovered nothing more than a bandaged stub where her left leg had been… all hell broke loose.

She flew into a furious rage, accusing her crew of mutiny for agreeing to the operation, even if it had all but saved her life. Her anger kept the tears from coming, but they still did during the rare moments when her crew actually left her alone in her cabin, when the weight of it all fully began to sink in. She'd been maimed, crippled, weakened. How could she lead her crew like this? How could she find a new land to call Hyrule?

How could she follow in her mother's footsteps if she couldn't even walk anymore?

Despite her efforts to hide it, her crew sensed her despondency all too well. And, loyal as ever, they knew what they had to do to help their captain in her hour of need. It took a few days to source the materials and contract a craftsman, but when it was finally finished, they proudly presented the peg leg to Tetra. Rimmed with solid gold and carved from fine chestnut, with a solid foot to keep it from slipping, it was every bit as elegant as it was practical. Even Tetra had to admit she was impressed.

The feeling quickly fades now that she's actually trying the peg out for the first time. Gonzo had tried to advise her against it until her stub was fully healed, but Tetra couldn't bear the thought of being bed-bound for another minute. So here she is, struggling to simply stand on the deck of her own ship, struggling just to feel like herself again. If this isn't the definition of shameful then she doesn't know what is.

Another pained gasp slips out, despite her best efforts to silence it. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Gonzo frowning beside her. "Miss." She already knows what he's about to say and she's not about to hear it. She's already spent the past few weeks being far too weak in front of her men already; she refuses to let that weakness go on for another second.

"I-I'm fine," she hisses through her teeth. She forces herself to distribute her weight evenly between both legs, working against her wobbling peg to steady herself. She holds her arms out, pulling herself away from Gonzo and Senza so she can stand on her own. The rest of her crew watches on from the sidelines, a few of them smiling with excitement when their captain finally manages to fully stand. For just a brief moment, there's hope aboard that ship. Hope that things might just finally go back to the way they used to be, that they can all pick up right where they left off.

Tetra feels that hope rising in her own heart too as she moves to take her first true step in two weeks. But just as quickly as that hope appeared, it's shattered when she puts her peg back down on the deck, sending a searing shot of pain through her still-bandaged stub. A sharp, startled yelp is all she's able to get out before she starts to fall forward, only barely missing the deck when Gonzo steps in to catch her.

"Dammit…" Tetra curses between heavy breaths as Gonzo hoists her up and carries her over to take a seat on a nearby barrel. She avoids making eye contact with any of her men, her stomach churning at the thought of catching any more of their sympathetic glances than she already has. She doesn't want that sympathy, doesn't need it. What she needs is to walk again, and until she can… what good is she to any of them?

"We told you, Miss." She rolls her eyes when Gonzo starts to lecture her again. "You didn't have to try it out right away. You're still healing up, yeah? The peg leg will still be here when you're ready for it-"

"I am ready for it," Tetra snaps back. "I have to be. If we're attacked again-"

"Then you've got to trust us to take care of it, Miss," Nudge says. "Just like you've got to trust us to take care of you."

"I'm not a child anymore," Tetra sneers. "I don't need to be 'taken care of'. I'm the captain, which means it's my job to look out for all of you, not the other way around."

"And you do," Gonzo agrees. "But everybody falls sometimes, yeah? Even your mom did back when she was in charge. And whenever she did, she always had us to fall back onto. And so do you, Miss Tetra."

"Hmph, yeah, well, Mom never lost a leg, did she?" Tetra casts a bitter glare toward the sea.

"No, but her grandmother–your great grandmother–did," Mako points out. "They say she fought just as well with a peg leg as any other pirate could."

"And if she could do it," Gonzo rests a hand on the captain's shoulder. She turns back to him, and to the rest of her crew, each of them sending soft, encouraging smiles her way. Leave it to her men to be probably the most sentimental pack of pirates on the entire Great Sea. "Then so can you, yeah?"

"Heh," she allows herself a laugh, the first really she's had since the accident. "You know it."

She takes the hands Gonzo and Senza offer her and slowly but surely, they help her rise again. And this time, when she stands, she doesn't even think about the pain that still comes along with it. Instead, she thinks only about her crew, about her family, and about what they need her to be. They may be there to catch her when she falls, but it's her job to make sure they won't have to ever again. Whatever it takes to keep herself standing tall and proud in front of her crew, in front of the rest of the world, in front of her family's legacy… she'll gladly do it.

She's more than ready to keep going, but the idea is immediately forgotten when an entirely new voice sounds from the crow's nest above. "Aw, how touching. Who knew pirates could be so sweet?"

As startled as the crew is, they all recognize that voice before he even slides down the ladder to show himself. Almost all of them tense up, and a few of them even reach for the weapons strapped to their belts. They never would have reacted this way to him three years ago, but now, they have every reason to. After all, the Link they used to know is nowhere close to the Link standing before them now.

"What–when did you-" Tetra stops herself when she realizes her legs are shaking. She immediately grounds herself by gripping the edge barrel behind her. The last thing she wants is to appear unsteady in front of him of all people. "How did you get out here? We're in the middle of the ocean!"

"I have my ways," Link shrugs. His nearly-constant smug smirk sparks a flame of frustration in Tetra every time she sees it. That flame is practically an inferno now that he has the gall to show up on her ship unwelcome and unannounced. "Sorry to interrupt," he says, not meaning it in the slightest. "But I heard about what happened and I wanted to come and see how you were doing, Tetra."

"She's doin' just fine," Gonzo growls, glaring at the boy. "Now scram, yeah?"

"Whoa, easy now," Link raises his hands, still smiling, still not taking any of them seriously. "Can't a guy just visit some old friends without getting the cold shoulder?"

"We ain't friends of yours, kid, not anymore," Senza sneers.

"Don't think we haven't heard about what you've been up to lately," Tetra says, fixing him with a distrustful scowl. "First, you just up and left Outset one night without even telling your sister or your grandma where you were going. And now people are saying they've been seeing you running around with monsters? Correct me if I'm wrong, Link, but didn't you used to kill those things on sight like any normal person would?"

"Tch, c'mon, Tetra," Link rolls his eyes. "Don't tell me you actually believe those silly old rumors. I thought you were smarter than that."

A round of appalled gasps sounds from the crew at such a brazen insult. A few of them get ready to fight the boy on sight, but Tetra raises a hand to call them off. Even in her current condition, she's more than capable of standing up for herself.

"With how you've been acting the past few years? It's not exactly hard to believe," she stands a bit taller, ignoring the protesting ache in her stump.

Link lets out an icy, haughty laugh. "Like you're any better, 'captain'. You've all spent years sailing around conning people and stealing from them and you act like I'm the bad guy here?"

"At least we're actually consistent about who we are," Tetra counters, taking a step forward. That step comes with a heavy sting, but she quickly puts it out of her mind when she catches the way Link is looking at her. As if she could be knocked over by a strong gust of wind, as if he wants her to be. And right now, that's probably all it would take, not that she'd ever admit it. "You just… became a completely different person for no real reason at all." She continues approaching him, hands in tight fists at her sides in a meager attempt to ward off the pain. The shocked stares her crew are sending her way aren't lost on her; this is the most she's walked in weeks.

"People used to call you a hero," her peg slams down onto the deck a bit harder than she'd meant it to, but she remains standing all the same. She stares him down with all of the venom she can muster, with all of the disdain she used to have for someone who lost every ounce of her respect. "So what are you supposed to be now?"

She wants the question to cut deep, but it doesn't. Instead, Link's smile deepens as he eyes her like a predator would eye their prey. For just the slightest second, Tetra almost thinks she sees a flash of sinister scarlet in those otherwise forest green eyes. But just as quickly as it appears, it's gone, if it was ever even there at all. "Would you like to find out?" he asks her in a whisper soft enough to stir up a war.

She stiffens, her face suddenly burning with embarrassment and anger alike. How dare he, how dare he. In front of her crew no less! His sheer audacity sickens her, to the point that she's ready to shove him off her ship if she has to. "You-" is all she's able to get out before she falls. Her peg slips, and suddenly, she's sent careening forward-

Straight into Link's arms.

He's still smiling as he catches her, because of course he is. His grip on her arms is tighter than it should be, to the point that she can't immediately pull herself away from him like she wants to. What he has to say to her, however, fuels her with just enough fury to do exactly that.

"Wow, Tetra," he beams down at her, leaning in a bit too close for comfort. His voice is still a whisper, and that red gleam is still shining in his eyes, like a fire burning straight through her soul. "I guess I was right. You really are falling for me after all."

Before another beat can even pass, she rips herself out of his hold, stumbling backward until Gonzo steps in to grab her shoulders. "Fuck off," she hisses the second she's stable. If looks could kill, then the glare she's sending Link's way would have easily been enough to end him in an instant.

"Watch the language there, 'princess'," Link teases, unphased by her rising fury.

"I said fuck off," she repeats, wishing now, more than ever, that she had her cutlass on her. "And get off my ship. Now."

"What are you gonna do if I don't?" Link crosses his arms, playfully, disgustingly smug. "You don't look like you're in any position to be making threats right now, Tetra, no offense."

"How about this?" Gonzo steps forward, leaving Nudge to help Tetra take a seat. "You get off our ship or we'll make you, yeah?"

By now, the rest of the crew have either taken up their weapons or are rolling up their sleeves, surrounding Link on all sides. He isn't intimidated by any of them, clearly, and they're not expecting him to be. If he really wanted to, he could probably take them all easily with just the sword strapped to his back alone. Much to their relief, however, that's not what he does.

"Alright, fine," he concedes much easier than anyone could have anticipated. The others continue watching him warily as he approaches the starboard railing; where exactly he plans to go from there, they have no idea. "I'll get out of your hair. But first…" he stops at the side of the ship, looking back to Tetra with an unreadable look in his eyes. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Ugh, what?" she asks, unsure of why she's even humoring him at this point. She shouldn't, after what he just said to her, after every other unsavory encounter they've had with him before this one.

"I've been thinking about old Hyrule lately, buried all the way under the sea," Link looks out toward the open ocean surrounding them. Something odd enters his tone, something notably different than the insincere, sarcastic edge he's come to carry lately. "Do you think there might still be a way to get down there? And if there is… do you think there's still anything down there to find?"

It's a surprising question, one that unnerves Tetra more than it probably should. "How am I supposed to know?" she plays it off harshly, honestly. "Why are you even asking about that?"

He doesn't give her any real answer, because why would he? Instead, he simply shrugs, turning back to her with that eternally aggravating smirk. "Just curious," he says simply. Tetra doesn't believe him for a second; she's hardly believed anything she's heard out of him for the past three years now. "Here's hoping you have a smooth recovery, 'captain'," he catches the entire crew off guard when he steps up onto the railing. "See you all later."

"Wait!" Tetra shouts, shoving herself to her feet. A few of her men run forward, alarmed, when Link unceremoniously steps off the edge of the ship. Niko and Zuko make it to the railing first, but they don't find any signs of the boy bobbing in the ocean below.

"Huh?" Niko balks, bewildered. "He's… just gone?"

"How in the world did he do that?" Zuko mutters, peering through his spyglass at the sea. "He must have used some kind of magic or… something."

"Who cares?" Tetra settles back into her seat. She unlatches her peg to give her sore stump a much-needed break. "At least he isn't bothering us anymore. Who knows? Maybe this time, he'll actually take the hint and stay away…"

"You ok, Miss?" Senza asks her, probably because of the dissatisfaction written all over her face.

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm fine!" she huffs, annoyed. She quickly simmers down after a moment, running a hand through her bangs. "I just… ugh… I don't understand."

"To be fair," Mako says. "I don't think any of us do, Miss."

"I still can't believe Link would even act like that!" Niko wails, still distraught over his former swabbie. "Are we sure that was really him at all?"

"Don't be a barnacle-brain, Niko," Nudge shoots back. "'Course it was him. Who else would it be?"

Niko proceeds to rattle off a long list of theories and ideas he's cooked up, none of which sound even remotely plausible. Tetra quickly tunes him out, especially as the rest of the crew joins in and it all eventually devolves into a petty argument. Her thoughts wander as she stares at the railing Link leapt off of, half-expecting him to reappear in the same exact spot. It wouldn't exactly be the strangest thing to happen given how sudden and sporadic his appearances have been lately.

"Hm…" she muses softly. Though most of her crew is preoccupied, her second-in-command is still by her side as he notices his captain pondering.

"Miss?" Gonzo asks, curious.

"It's… weird," Tetra lets out a sigh. She's glad the others are distracted; Gonzo is the only one among them that she trusts with what she's about to say. "Part of me still wants to figure out what happened to Link, maybe even help him if I can. But… every other part of me is screaming that maybe… maybe it's not worth it to even try anymore."

"I'd say it isn't," Gonzo quickly concludes. "'Specially after how he just treated you. He better not show his face around here again if he knows what's good for him. If he doesn't… then we'll make sure he gets what he deserves for disrespecting you, Miss."

"I don't care about that," Tetra admits. It's probably the easiest way to say that she doesn't need them to protect her, from Link, of all people. Something she knows not a single one of her men will actually listen to if the past few weeks have been any indication. "What really worries me are all those rumors spreading about him. If he really is out there working with monsters…"

"Then that's not your problem, yeah?" Gonzo picks up when she trails off. "It's his."

"It is my problem if he uses those monsters to hurt innocent people!" Tetra protests. "For all we know, the only reason he's been acting like this is because of what happened to him on that ghost ship, the ghost ship he only went on because of me!"

"Aw, Miss, we're already been over this," Gonzo frowns, sympathetic. "What happened with that ghost ship-"

"Wasn't my fault, I know," Tetra sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. For all the times her crew has told her that, it never gets any easier to actually believe. "But if something bad really does happen… and if Link really is the cause of it…"

She doesn't need to finish for Gonzo to know exactly what she means. To know that she'd bear the guilt for the actions of the monster she's convinced she created. "You know, Miss," he manages a small, comforting smile. "You've got a big heart."

"Ugh," Tetra makes a face. "Don't say that. I've got a reputation to uphold."

"'Course," Gonzo readily agrees. "The toughest captain to ever sail the Great Sea."

"And don't you forget it," Tetra crosses her arms with a grin and a wink. The pair shares a brief, much-needed laugh before Gonzo heads off to break up the rest of the squabbling crew. Tetra stays in her seat, gingerly rubbing her leg as she looks out to the sea. Her thoughts consume her once more, and after everything that's happened today alone, she can't say any of them are particularly pleasant.

Link had asked her about Hyrule, a place they scarcely ever used to speak about back when they were still sailing together, and with good reason. It stirs up all sorts of unsavory memories, about a bloody battle they both barely escaped alive, about a kindly king they were forced to leave behind, about a wicked man who only wanted to destroy everything they'd ever known and loved. Even years later, the scars they'd been left with from that forgotten kingdom still felt so fresh, or at least they did to Tetra. So why would Link come to her asking about it now? Why dig up something buried beyond salvaging at the bottom of the sea? What could he possibly be looking for? And why did it all make Tetra feel so unshakably uneasy?

Really, that's how most of what Link did these days made Tetra feel. Rumors about him mingling with monsters aside, he's scarcely seen around the Great Sea anymore, hardly ever visits his old haunts like Windfall or Dragon Roost or Forest Haven. Aryll and Grandma allegedly haven't even seen him in months. As for where he is spending most of his time… no one really seemed to know and Tetra honestly couldn't care enough to look into it. Just as long as he stayed far away from her.

That still feels like such an odd thought to have, one that never would have crossed her mind three years ago. Back then, Link's smiles had been warm and sincere instead of cold and cunning, his laughter bright and cheerful instead of low and jeering. Back then, they'd tease each other for fun, not out of any sort of malice. Back then, for just a few brief, fleeting months… Tetra thought Link was her friend, her first true friend outside of her crew. A friend who could have comforted her when her leg was lost, who could have supported her through her recovery in a way even her crew couldn't. A friend who might have actually stayed by her side, all the way to the next Hyrule… and perhaps, even beyond.

Except… that's not what happened. Not even close. Because here she is, still yearning for something to fill the empty spaces of her heart. There he is, abandoning everything she thought he used to stand for, everything she thought he used to be.

Here they both are, still standing oceans apart.

Next time, back to the World of the Ocean King to check in on things there! Please leave a REVIEW to let me know your thoughts. Until next time!