Nagori, Saimon and Senkyoku - A Wind Waker Tale

*A/N: For most of us de nile is that river in Africa - For Tetra it's a way of life.

Chapter Ten: The Unseen Dangers of Pie

Gonzo watched the shadow that hovered over the mouth of the cave and felt an odd sense of dread. It was only moment or two, but it felt like hours. No one moved or said a word as everyone seemed to realize that discovery by this shadow would doom them all. When it moved away, there was a collective sigh of relief. That had been close, he thought.

"Gonzo!" a tiny voice called to him from above. He looked up in time to see Tetra start to sag. He pushed past the others and made it to the bottom of the broken ladder barely in time to break her fall to the deck. The others crowded around and whispered in hushed fearful tones.

"Quiet you lot," Gonzo hissed. "Nagori, what happened?"

"The Princess is being pursued by shadow."

"But why is she unconscious?"

"She has returned to the only shelter she believes she has." Nagori floated over and lightly touched the sleeping young woman's face. Tetra flinched and struggled briefly then went completely limp. "She both fears and desires that shelter."

"But it's gone now," Gonzo said looking nervously at the cave mouth. "Isn't it?"

"No." The little fairy looked up at him. "It will pursue her until it finds her. It needs her to complete its task."

"Then we will have to make sure it doesn't find her," he said matter-of-factly. He carefully lifted her while Nagori climbed up on his shoulder.

"You must take the princess to her cabin; the Wind Waker will be here soon."

"Huh?"

Senza nodded. "Go ahead Gonzo, we'll get the mast back up, can't have it lying on the deck."

"Right." He made his way through the crowd of pirates; Niko opened the door and closed it behind him. Tetra's was still open, so he went in, laid her on the bunk and set the fairy down near her head.

"She really is the Princess of Legend."

"Yes."

"My Da used to talk about that. I wish now I had paid better attention. Maybe she wouldn't be laying here hiding from a shadow."

"You have always been a good brother Gonzo. Do not blame yourself for the Princess's current situation. You have kept your oath."

"How did you know about that?" He gave her a sidelong glance. "There were only two other people besides myself who could have known we're related and they're both dead."

"Yes." Nagori said as she turned and patted Tetra face.

"Alright fairy... keep your secret, and I'll keep mine."

-------------------Sanctuary-------------------

Tetra stood on the balcony that overlooked the basement of Hyrule Castle. She hated it here; the place did not hold one pleasant memory for her. It only served to remind her of the weeks she'd spent waiting and alone, while Link figured out how to recharge the Master Sword with the power to repel evil. She hated waiting, so why her head chose it above all the others she'd known, puzzled her.

A dim light filtered through the stained glass windows that lined the walls. Each held a depiction of the sages from Hyrule's past. The legends said there were seven in total, but the images here, only showed six of them. Forest, Water, Fire, Spirit, Shadow and Light. It always made her wonder, who had been the seventh sage. The fabled sage, rumored to be the most powerful and the leader of the group. Time's sage was missing and that seemed odd to her.

In Tetra's time, there were only two; Wind and Earth. So, what happened to the others? Were they lost when Hyrule was buried beneath the waves? Too many unanswerable questions she thought as she slowly came down the staircase. Tetra stopped when something small and fast moving caught her eye. Someone or something was in here with her.

She sped up her pace down the stairs and tried to make as little noise as possible. Tetra hurried across the causeway that led to a dais and glanced at the empty pedestal that once held the Master Sword. A semi-circle of stone carvings of the Guardian Knights of Hyrule surrounded it. Twenty feet high, their outstretched swords crossed above the empty pedestal. Those guardians were another enigma of Hyrule's past. The hero of old was said to be of their line, the line of the chosen. Something that she never felt properly explained.

She moved behind the nearest statue and waited. She leaned a little to the left, but nothing moved. Maybe I'm just seeing things, she thought. When she turned to look the other way, she was startled to find herself staring at herself. A much younger version, still in her princess incarnation.

She backed up slowly and almost fell into the water behind her. She muttered a curse and asked the girl in front of her, "Where did you come from?"

"Over there," the little girl said and pointed near the stairs.

"Cute, that wasn't what I meant and you know it."

"Come on now," the younger girl said sarcastically as she stepped closer to her, "You can't be that deep in denial."

"Wanna make a bet?" Tetra rubbed her forehead and faced the girl. "Do you mind if I call you Zelda? It'll help me through this if I don't feel like I'm talking to myself."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Great, so Zelda," she said as she turned and walked toward the ring of knights, "what brings you here."

"Nothing brings me here," Zelda/Tetra said as she followed her. "I never left." She sat down on the empty pedestal. "I can't leave this place unless you let me. Do you even realize you have been keeping me locked up in this dreary basement for the past seven years?"

"Well, I have been a bad girl."

"I wouldn't say bad so much someone with a distinct inability to deal with her personal relationships."

"Those are some pretty fancy words," Tetra said as she sat down in front of the girl, "for a figment of my imagination."

"I'm no figment Tetra," the little princess said, "and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll solve our problem."

************************************
"Gonzo?" he looked over to see Nudge in the doorway. "How is she?"

"Asleep, I think." Gonzo looked back at her. "Once the mast is up, have everyone meet down in the galley." The other pirate nodded. "I'll be down as soon as I get some things squared away with Nagori."

"It will probably be a least half an hour."

"Right." He turned his attention back to the fairy, "Alright, if I'm going to help Miss Tetra, I'm going to need a little more information." Nagori turned and looked up at him. "What did you mean when you said Link will be here soon, I thought he was outside the trap?"

"He found the ship when he returned to Outset."

"But we only just got here, how could he find the ship?

"The magic is sending you back through time, forcing you to repeat certain events, slowly sapping your life's energy from you."

"But how could we still be getting mail from him?"

"Are you sure you did?"

Gonzo realized that he really wasn't sure. Three of the letters had been blank when he brought them to Tetra, and he only had a fuzzy recollection of receiving them in the first place. "Do you know if he ever got the letter I sent off with Jasper?"

"Jasper has remained unaffected by the magic."

"I'll take that as a yes then," he said and paced uneasily. "If that's all true then it was only a day or two ago that he went home."

"No. You are within the cycle, almost three weeks have passed since then."

"How many cycles have we been through?"

"Seven."

"How many would you say we have left?"

"Four, perhaps less. I do not know for certain."

"And each time the cycle gets shorter," Gonzo said and the fairy nodded. "That doesn't leave us a lot of time and that shadow, what is it?"

"Hitokage."

"That guy from Great Fish?"

"No, that was an agent, it is far more dangerous."

"I told him about Link."

"Yes."

"That's not good." He sat on the edge of the bunk, pulled the bandana off his head, and looked over at Tetra. "They want to use her to get at him. I am such an idiot."

"You cannot blame yourself for this."

"Easy for you to say fairy, but I know the truth of it. If I hadn't been running my mouth, this probably wouldn't have happened."

Nagori did not answer; instead, she turned back toward Tetra and hummed a favorite song.


************************************

"You are so stubborn." The smaller Zelda/Tetra said and threw her hands up in frustration.

"Huge character flaw, I know." Tetra sighed and nodded to herself.

"So what are you going to do?"

"You seem full of ideas and frankly I'm fresh out, what do you suggest?"

"Let me help you. You have to leave here, but don't leave me behind this time."

"I don't know, I've done alright without you so far."

"Really? So is that why you're down here in an imaginary castle hiding from a shadow?"

"Details Princess, I didn't want to come here and what would you know about it, its not like you were there."

"Quit acting like were separate people, we're not." Zelda/Tetra said sounding irritated "I know what you know, just because you've chosen to ignore this aspect of yourself, doesn't mean I'm not paying attention. It's going to get us killed, and probably the others as well. You may think your protecting them by being here, but the longer you stay here, the more likely it is that you'll be just as trapped as you were seven years ago."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Tetra said eyes narrowing.

"Don't I," the little girl stood up and got right in Tetra's face, "I'm you remember? I was here seven years ago and I know who we chose to blame." She sniffed and turned her back on Tetra, "I at least know why we were wrong. You can pretend we're different but you'd better see the truth and soon, little Miss Terror of the Seas or when you do finally act it'll be too late."

"You're starting to get on my nerves," Tetra growled, "Was I really this obnoxious?"

"You know what we gotta do!" the princess whined as she stomped a foot in frustration. "Its right in front of us! Geez you're such a brat."

Tetra ground her teeth with irritation and tugged at her jacket, "Why am I even listening to you?" She rubbed her temples as the little princess began to circle her.

"Must be all the stuff you don't want to hear. You must have realized by now that we're not even what that damn shadow is after. Its him." Tetra winced but remained silent as the princess continued, "I know you haven't forgotten all the history our mother taught us. If it kills Link, it can bring him back and we don't want that now do we? Isn't that why you've been so hell bent on destroying them all? But, of course you never told him why and courage without a purpose is just wasted energy or at least that's how he sees it. Isn't that why he left in the first place?" Tetra glared at the girl who sneered and added, "I know you haven't forgotten what else is needed."

"Is there a point to this?" Tetra snapped.

"It's all the same thing, don't you see? You let that shadow chase you down here and you don't even know what you're running from. We are so screwed."

Tetra shuddered and looked angrily her, "I know exactly what I'm running from and this may shock you Princess but Link is perfectly capable of making responsible decisions on his own. Besides, he's busy with other things right now."

"No! Damn it! Something isn't right!!"

"Oh, grow up will you?"

"Finally." Tetra/Zelda said as she turned back around. The Princess broke into a smile when she saw Tetra's astounded look as the pirate found herself facing the full-grown version of the Princess.

"Neat trick, Princess," Tetra said, "You clean up nice."

"It's no trick, I told you we are the same," she said flatly, "You try being pre-pubescent for seven years and see how touchy you get, but Tetra, there's something else... something you have that you won't or maybe can't share.... even with yourself."

"I thought you said you know what I know."

"What I meant was, I can feel it... but it's like it's walled off and I just can't find the right way to put it into words."

"Well, isn't that convenient."

"I have a feeling I should, but for some reason I can't quite grasp it, what is it your afraid of?"

"My other situation. That's the real reason I'm here. It's the only place left to me that can possibly protect them."

The Princess sat back on the pedestal, "Yes, I see now why you would not wish to leave, but even this place won't be safe if it finds you in the real world." She reached across and gently touched Tetra's face. "You have nothing to fear from me. You are my guardian spirit; you've kept me safe all your young life." She let her hand stray to the long ponytail Tetra had taken a liking to. "I like this style," she said suddenly and began to pull ornaments from her hair. "Remember I'm really only here to make an already good thing even better."

"I'll never be able to pull it off. I may be descended from royalty but I've never felt like a princess, you know? I mean look at me."

"Tetra it's not the dress that makes the princess. It's what's inside that really counts. Those men don't follow your orders because you're descended from royalty, most of them don't even know about it. You're the captain because you know it's your place on this ship. You know how to lead them and they all trust your judgment and your instincts." She pulled her hair back. "Am I doing this right?"

"Not at all."

The Princess frowned and let her hair fall out of her hands. "Well at least I can tell you this," she said and leaned forward again. "Kei is being misled, but without Mei, it's incomplete."

Tetra thought back to Saimon's frantic voice:

(Mei is the key. Kei cannot complete the shadow without his help. Dalkin escaped its influence once, but Kei was not so fortunate. Sen... poor Sen, Dalkin will try to save her again... but its too late, they must come together to destroy the shadow.)

She realized Link was more than just sidetracked; Dalkin was Mei and if that shadow gets its way he may well be again. Link was headed straight into the Shadow's Lair. "Link can take care of himself," she whispered trying to convince herself.

The Princess put a hand on Tetra shoulder. "No, you may try to fool yourself but he needs us, well a clearer thinking us." She smiled and poked Tetra's arm. "Bring me with you, I know I can help."

"Well I've tried everything else," she said and looked back at the Princess and nodded. The floor began to shake with a low rumble, "I guess it's time to leave here," Tetra said and took one last look around. She noticed the Triforce of Wisdom imbedded in her hand glowed very brightly. Tetra held her hand out to the Princess and saw that its twin on the Princess's hand glowed just as brightly. Tetra smiled and did not shy away and with a flash of golden light, Wisdom and her Keeper became one.

Tetra woke up with a start. How did I get in my cabin? She wondered, still feeling a little disoriented she sat up. It was very dark as she started to cross the floor but stopped when she saw Link sitting at her desk asleep. Propped up on two legs of the chair ocarina in his lap he looked so peaceful. She looked at his head near his temple, no cut.

She backed away quickly when without warning he woke up, righted the chair and lit the lamp. He pulled out a book and started reading, all without a sound. Nagori who had taken up residence in Tetra's pocket while she was sleeping poked her head out and said, "He cannot see you Princess."

"I know," she said as sat back on the bed and watched him for a while. Her inability to control her anger with him still made no sense. The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was only Link that inspired it. So where did it come from? Even as she sat here, just looking at him, she could feel it building. "Why?" she whispered.

Break the magic.

Nagori's earlier statement almost made sense as she started to drift back in her memories. When had the trouble between them really started? Link seemed to think it was a year ago. Where the hell was she a year ago around now? Her reflections were interrupted when Link looked up from the book. He cocked his head as if he were listening and looked up then blew out the lamp. He leaned back again, balancing himself on two legs of the chair as he reached for his pack. When his hand came near hers their Triforce Pieces resonated with a dull echo.

Tetra wondered how that was possible since she was still trapped within the time loop's cycle. This Link was outside of it but he must have heard it because his eyes got wide as he became overbalanced on the chair and fell over with a silent crash to the ground.

"You know," Tetra said as she smiled and looked down at him. "I hate when that happens." Nagori giggled and fell backward into her pocket.

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