Nagori, Saimon and Senkyoku - A Wind Waker Tale

Chapter 4: Coffee is Good for You!

"Link?"

He uncovered his eyes when he heard his Grandmother's voice. She and Aryll arrived and as his sister helped his Grandma up the stairs into the kitchen, Link rolled off the bed and stood up. Al started to rise also but Link stopped him and gently pushed him back into the chair.

Link wasn't sure but he thought his Grandma might be shrinking; she smiled when she saw her grandson and hugged him gently. She moved closer to Al, and from the look of curious uncertainty on her face, he would have sworn she recognized the old guy. He was about to ask her when she suddenly rounded on him.

"Link, you really need to be more careful." He took an involuntary step back, "Not everyone is used to the breakneck speeds you sail at." Turning back to Al, his grandma looked Al over quickly and ladled out some of the rich soup that was simmering over the fire. As she handed Al the bowl she added, "I'm Link and Aryll's Grandmother, and your name is?" Al opened his mouth to answer but Link spoke up quickly. He wasn't about to get scolded for rudeness too.

"Sorry, Grandma, Al, this is my Grandmother. Grandma, this is Al." Link said in a rush, "I'll be more careful next time."

"Next time?" Grandma asked, as she handed him his own bowl. "You're not staying then?"

"No, Grandma we have to leave for Great Fish as soon as we can."

"Why are you going there Link?" Aryll asked from her perch on the top bunk. "There hasn't been anyone there in weeks, even the trader left."

"Are you sure?" Link asked surprised. "He was there less than a month ago when I was out that way." Of course, Link thought, if she had that kind of information, it meant only one thing. "How could you know that?"

"Windfall is gossip central you know," Aryll replied as Grandma handed her a bowl. "All the sailors come there and talk about where they've been. Especially that one, umm Candy I think is his name, anyway he is usually there with his buddy Kane."

"Usually where?" Link asked feigning confusion, "On Great Fish?"

"No, silly Windfall, in the coffee bar...." Aryll groaned when she realized what she'd said and shot her brother a look that meant pain was in his future. Link just smiled back and winked at her, happy to have steered her into saying more than she should.

"Aryll, please tell me you haven't been hanging around those dodgy characters again," her Grandma admonished waving her spoon at the girl.

"Grandma, I'm not a child. I'll be seventeen in less than a week. Mila says---"

C R A S H

Everyone turned and looked at Al who had knocked over his now empty glass of juice.

"Sorry, elbow must have caught it."

Link noticed Al had been swatting at his invisible friend and bent over to help him pick up the pieces of broken glass.

"Is something wrong?" Link asked.

"No, but we should get a move on. It's getting late and we have a long journey ahead of us."

"Okay, but finish the soup, you'll feel better if you do." Link was surprised by how jumpy the old man was now.

Al looked down into his bowl it was still mostly full. "All right."

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Link said. He turned and noted his Grandmother continued to chide Aryll about the coffee bar. His sister looked at him with a pained expression that almost made him feel sorry for her. Link made it as far as the door when his Grandma asked, "Where are you going?"

"Supplies, I need to pick up some bait."

"Do me a favor and pick up a few hoi pears and post that letter over on the table for me."

"Alright."

"Leave one of your bottles and I'll fill it with some soup for tomorrow."

Link traded his bottle for the letter on the table, walked out the front door and hopped the rail. As he made his way down the path toward the beach, he could see Beedle's ship anchored just off shore near the dock. When he neared the post box, it began to wiggle and shake.

~ Letter for Link - will you accept? ~

Link accepted the letter from the postbox and was shocked to see it was from Gonzo. He tore it open in a hurry and read through it.


Hoy Link,

Here's hoping this letter finds you well. Being so near the sloop we've been chasing, Miss Tetra is on the warpath. Let's hope we catch it today. I hope so, I don't like being this far out a sea. The real reason for this letter is, there was this strange guy on Great Fish just before we set out. I think he said his name was Hitokranke. I think, well you know I'm no good at remembering names.

Anyway, he asks where are we headed, and well after a few mugs and some pie, I told him. Somehow, the conversation turned to you, and he seemed most fixated with a need for particulars. I hope that was all right.

Uh Oh Miss Tetra wants to shove off. If you write your sister soon, tell her I should be back in a few weeks. I have something I want to tell her. I'll be posting this with one of her gulls (smart birds).

Hope you have calm seas and brisk wind - Gonzo


Link reread the letter a few more times and sighed, then looked back over his shoulder at his house. Carefully he refolded the letter and put it into his pocket. After posting his grandmother's letter, he hurried up the beach and jumped aboard Beedle's shop ship. He purchased the items he needed and made his way up the path to the cliffs. He crossed over the bridge and moved through a small cave into the fairy forest. Upon entering the Great Fairy's Fountain, he was surprised again to find the Ocean Fairy waiting for him.

"Welcome, Wind Waker," she said.

"Hello, Great Fairy," Link answered. "What brings you to the Island?"

"I am on an errand for my mother. Do you still have the Ocarina you showed me the last time we met?"

"Ocarina?" he asked a little confused. He just stared for a moment then it dawned on him what she was talking about "Oh right, the flute."

"Please show it to me."

Link pulled out the instrument and handed it to the Fairy. She examined it closely for as if looking for cracks or something. Apparently satisfied at what she found, or didn't find, she held it up for a moment and a green glow surrounded it for an instant followed by a small flash then she blew into it. The sound was sweet and clear, like a perfect summer day.

When Link looked around it was a perfect summer day…somewhere. A sea of knee-high grass surrounded him; the air was dry and warm on his face. This was just weird since there were no great fields like this…that he knew of. Off to the left was a small house and when the note faded so did the scene.

"Please listen and learn this song." The Great Fairy said and she played a small number of notes that bounced eerily off the fountain walls. As she handed the Ocarina back she said, "This is the song Quickening it will slow those around you who may be moving too quickly to be seen clearly."

Link took the instrument and carefully tried to play back the tune the fairy had played. He flubbed it the first few times, but got it eventually.

"The Princess did not take our advice then?" The Great Fairy asked.

"No. She's too busy chasing shadows." Link said but failed to hide his irritation.

"That is unfortunate." The Great Fairy’s tone sounded quite sad and Link looked back at her when she said, "Do not be too angry Wind Waker. The constant assault she endured during her ordeal with the Evil King, has left an open wound on her heart that is not so easily healed." The Fairy paused and it seemed as if she listened for a far off voice. "Our Mother tells us the Princess has begun to recognize her dilemma."

Link ran his hand through his hair and thought, Full grown and still getting scolded for being an idiot. Tetra was still the Princess, and whether she liked it or not, it was his responsibility to look after her. It certainly didn’t help that he got irritated whenever he thought of her, though. I’m doomed, he thought. "Great Fairy?"

"Yes, Wind Waker?"

"Thank you."

"You are always welcome."

"Do you think I have a chance to find her in time?"

"In time...yes. Be brave, Wind Waker, and all will be well."

Link reached back to put the Ocarina in his pack and turned to find the great fairy had gone. Link knew she would not return so he went to his house after collecting a few health fairies in his spare bottles. He was in a hurry so pulled the Deku Leaf and jumped off the cliff. Letting himself drop a bit, he used it to float to the ground in front of his house.

Inside he dropped off the pears on the table and collected his now full bottle of soup. His Grandmother was sitting in her rocker reading a book so he started collecting the last of his things. He noticed that Al was looking vastly improved; his color had come back and was dramatically telling Aryll a story of something he had done when he was younger. Link was only half listening.

"Ready?" Link asked, after stuffing the last of his things in his pack

Al looked over at him and nodded. Rising he took Aryll's hand and said, "It has been a great pleasure meeting you." She stood up then and gave him a friendly hug then turned to her brother made a quick fist and cracked him hard enough to make him take a step back.

"That," she said jabbing her finger into his chest, "was for tricking me into telling Grandma about the coffee bar. I swear she'll never let me leave Outset again."

"Hey," he said rubbing his arm. "I'm sorry, little Sis. No wait...I'm not sorry." He laughed with a wicked grin. "Oh the look on your face."

She cracked him again this time in the other arm. "You are such a jerk sometimes. It's a wonder Tetra even speaks to you."

"Well you don't need to worry because she's not speaking to me at all. Last time I saw her she tossed me off her ship, literally."

"Serves you right," Aryll said. Her expression turned worried as she tugged on his sleeve and pulled him over to the other side of the room. "I've got something I need to ask you."

"That's going to leave a mark," Link complained rubbing his other arm.

"Any word from Tetra or the others?"

"Not Tetra, but I did just get a letter form Gonzo."

"What did he say?" she asked quickly.

"He wrote to tell me there was someone asking questions about me."

"Pie?” Link nodded, “He'll never learn," Aryll snorted.

"Gets him into trouble every time." Link said.

"You know, Link there was a guy on Windfall asking a lot of questions about you too."

"He didn't look like Al, did he?"

Surprised, Aryll glanced over at Al, "Well yeah a little, but this guy was all thin and pasty looking. Link, he really creeped me out." She shivered, "The weird thing was he never used your name, just kept calling you the Hero. Like he was trying to find out who the hero was."

"Do think he did?"

"Windfall is gossip central and you big brother, are very well known on that Island. Why are you two headed for Great Fish anyway?"

"Al thinks we may be able to get a lead on where Tetra is."

"Didn't you say you just got a letter from Gonzo?"

"Yes, but look at this, Aryll," he said quickly while pulling out the letter. "It's dated for almost two weeks ago."

Aryll read through the letter quickly. "Is her ship still in the cave?"

"Yes and it's still empty."

"Here." She rummaged through her own things for a moment. "Take the telescope, you're probably going to need it."

"Thanks. Does this mean you forgive me for the Coffee Bar?"

"Jerk," she said, as she gave him a shove when he turned back to Al, who was sitting talking quietly with Grandma. She nodded and looked over at Link. Now he was sure his Grandmother had recognized him. He wondered what they were talking about.

"All set?" Al asked, when he noticed Link had finished talking with his sister. Link nodded and the two of them headed out the door and down to the dock. "Didn't you leave your boat on the beach?" Al asked a little confused.

Link smiled and opened the hatch. He pulled out his sword and shield, and fastened them in place. Once Al boarded he pulled on the bit of rigging he had released earlier and the mast settled itself back into place with alarming speed. Link tied it off and turned the boat toward the bay and they sailed north at a much slower speed than before.

"Can we go any faster?"

"You know we can, but your stomach didn't seem to appreciate it."

"I'll be all right now."

"Okay..." Link pulled the Wind Waker out and conducted the Wind's Requiem. Pointing the baton the prevailing wind changed from east to north. He pulled at the rigging again and they were moving at a pretty good pace. He kept an eye on Al, just in case he looked like he was about to lose his lunch.

------------------------------ Step on a crack....


Coming up to the main deck she looked back out the way they had come, nothing but ocean for miles and a lone seagull trying to make headway against a fast blowing southwesterly wind. On the edge of it a melody lingered as if to remind her of something she had forgotten. She realized it was Nagori softly humming just next to her ear. She looked over at her crew and paused, in part because she just did not know how to tell them of her discovery. Mostly though in all the time she'd been chasing down the baddies, she never realized she had lost a part of herself in the process. Link had known it though.

While he traveled with them at first, he’d grown more uncomfortable on the ship; her tongue had gotten usually sharp in the last few months. The first time he suggested she take some time off from her hunting, she just brushed him off. The next time he brought it up, she had gotten down right mean and said more than a few things that were uncalled for. That was probably why he stayed away so much now. The last time, well it was still a little fuzzy but she was sure she must have been down right insulting; she truly was becoming the dreaded pirate queen. "Great Din" she thought, "When did I become such a harpy?" She was still watching the gull when she said quietly "Gonzo?"

"Yes Miss?"

"Was that one of Aryll's gulls?" she asked, watching the bird disappear into a cloudbank.

The big sailor hesitated, "Yes Miss Tetra."

"I missed that chance then." she said sighing to herself, "Are there any others with us?"

"No, Jasper was the last."

"Damn it all," she muttered to herself, "Gonzo have we had any word from Link, or for that matter anyone else lately?"

He hesitated again, "No Miss Tetra."

"I'm sorry Gonzo; I know I told you to burn anything he might happen to send. But I know you two are good friends and," she said looking him in the eye "I'm pretty sure you didn't exactly follow my orders." More silence. She tugged on her jacket in frustration. Nagori giggled when the movement caused her to slip. The sea fairy peeked shyly from behind Tetra's ear. "Well?" she said trying not to laugh herself.

"What is that Miss Tetra?"

"She's not a 'that' or at least I don't think so and I'll explain in a minute," still trying not to laugh. "Has there been anything?"

"Maybe one or uh, two letters." he quickly added, "There may have been more..." he hesitated again.

"More meaning..." she coaxed

"Seven. Well six really one was from Aryll."

"I see." She said quietly, "When was the last one received?"

"Almost a week ago."

"When we're finished here this morning can you please bring them to me?" He nodded. Seeing his worried look she smiled and added, "No, I will not be having any ritual burnings in my cabin."

"Yes, Miss," he said, looking very relieved. He was about to turn away when he stopped and said, "Miss Tetra?"

"Yeah?"

"It's good to see you smile again."

"Has it been that long?" Gonzo just smiled in reply.

"Yes, I suppose it has. I got lost there for a bit, but I'm feeling much better now." She turned her attention back to the ocean. Nagori hummed quietly in her ear. The melody was helping her remain anchored in the here and now, not letting her slip back into the script she had been repeating over and over. She looked through her telescope out over the water at their intended target, just sitting there, not moving at all. So tantalizingly close. She sighed and turned to speak to the crew who had assembled on deck.

"Hoy, men!" When she had everyone's attention, she continued. "We have a bit of a ...situation. We have a visitor with us today and I want you all to meet her." She coaxed Nagori out from behind her ear. "This is Nagori." The tiny fairy waved. The crew just looked with mouths agape for a minute then they started to talk quickly amongst themselves. "Nagori is with us because I have discovered that I have foolishly allowed my anger to guide me..." there was a pause in the conversations. "... And I have led us all into great peril."

They were all listening now. "You all know the last time Link was on the ship; he and I had a minor disagreement..." There was a snicker or two at that, she ignored it and continued. "Truth is Link had come to warn me of an unseen danger of sailing in this area. I chose not to listen and now I've learned that not only are we in hazardous waters, but... our escape route appears to be shrinking a little more everyday. I don't know how much time we have or even where the exit might be, but I feel that if we work together we can overcome any obstacle. You are the best crew any captain could ask for..." she stopped for a brief moment and forced herself to continue "and I want you all to know that I appreciate all the efforts you have made on my behalf." She turned then and said, "Senza, I want you to turn the ship around; we need to head back the way we came. Maybe that's as good a place to start as any."

She turned away but could hear him giving orders to the crew to get things going in the right direction. She waved Gonzo over to her and said, "Gonzo gather up those letters and meet me in my cabin. We need to see if we can get a letter out, let's hope this prison has some cracks." Gonzo headed below; it was then she noticed Niko standing out of the way, looking longingly at the cannon. "Niko is something wrong?"

"No, Miss Tetra, its just...." He looked down at his shoes.

"Don't worry Niko, there will be other Octos to destroy." He was still standing there so she added, "It'll all work out," she said with a confidence she did not feel.

"No... that wasn't it." He was really fidgeting now.

"Well then what did you mean."

"I remember the last few weeks."

"What?" she said utterly astounded. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Niko looked totally dejected. "I tried to tell the others, but they just couldn't see it. I even tried to tell you." He was shifting uneasily from foot to foot."...And when you disappeared that day, I was sure they would remember that. It was the first time anything new had happened in all that time. I mean Gonzo was just beside himself for a whole two days, then the next thing I knew it was morning again and we were preparing to chase down the ship again." he paused, "I should have tried harder"

Tetra sat down on the forward steps. She motioned Niko to sit beside her. "No," she said gently. "You did the best you could with a bunch of crew mates who just couldn't see the obvious." Niko smiled showing off his missing tooth. "You know I've always known there was something special about you." Her mind was racing with possibilities. "I need you to remember something for me," she said, "can you tell me how many days we've been reliving when things started repeating?"

"Only about five days," he said, "but it's only lasting about three days now."

"And how many times would you say we've played out the octo fight."

"Seven maybe eight times I was starting to lose track."

"No wonder your aim is improving." She did some quick mental calculations, "So we're losing a little over four or five hours every day then." That leaves maybe nine or ten days to figure it all out she thought to herself. "Niko I have a job for you. I want you to write down everything that happens today."

"Miss?"

"Everything. I don't care how small it is alright?"

"Yes, Miss."

"There's paper, pens and ink in my cabin. It's in the top drawer of my desk. I'll have another project for you later so make sure you come and see me before you bed down." Niko scurried off to get his supplies and as Tetra watched him disappear below she thought to herself, "I've found my first crack."

Tetra went down to her cabin to meet Gonzo. He was at her door with a small pile of letters. Three had Gonzo's name clearly printed on the envelopes. The other three appeared to be blank. "Were these all blank when they arrived?

He scratched his head, "No, I don't think so, but then it really is kind of fuzzy you know?

"Yeah, I know," she replied. They entered her cabin and he spread them out on the desk. "Well what does Master Link have to say?" Nagori still on Tetra's shoulder pulled at her ear and asked to be set on the table. The tiny sea fairy floated over the desk until she was sitting right on top of one of the blank letters.

"Nothing much, just that he was headed back to Outset for Zill's Birthday."

"That little rug rat with the perpetually runny nose?"

"Yes, he's twelve this year."

"Got himself a fine green suit of Hero's clothes then." Tetra smiled. "I used to wonder how an odd custom like that got started. I suppose it's a good thing that it did." She picked up one of the letters with Gonzo's name on it and hesitated. "Do you mind if I read them?"

He balked for a moment then shook his head. "You can read any of them, except this one." He plucked the letter she was holding out of her hand and shoved it in his jacket pocket. Tetra raised an eyebrow and Gonzo blushed a bit but didn't pull the letter back out.

"Shouldn't there be six more?"

"You burned the first one remember?"

"Oh yeah. That's right. All right which of these came first?" He picked one up and held it out to her. She took it and with more than a little trepidation, she read the first letter. Hastily written, but definitely Link's handwriting.

"Hoy Gonzo!

See if you can hold up at Great fish for a day, I need to talk to Tetra. It's important and I'll be there just as soon as I can. I know it's a long shot but see if you can stall her for another day or two. (just til the full moon passes.)

Link

She picked up the second letter and read it:

Hoy Gonzo!

I'll be leaving Windfall today, heading home for Zill's birthday. I promised to take him out to the Jabun's cave last year, and I know if I don't get there in time, he'll head out on his own. (Abe would probably drop me off a cliff if I let that happen.) Aryll says hoy and hopes to see you when you pull into port. Just what is going on between you and MY LITTLE SISTER????

Just kidding, big guy. She's wanted me to tell you she's going to be sending Jasper in your general direction in a day or two. I hope she makes good time. Let me know when Tetra's cooled off a bit and I will head out from Outset to meet up with you guys. I found something I want to show you.

See ya, Link

"Why, Gonzo, I had no idea. You and Aryll an item?" Gonzo was turning a deeper shade of red than before. "Well, I bet she makes great pie," and from the startled look on his face she was sure of it.

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