Thunder flashed, and Link's hammock threw him out onto the floor. He groaned as the ship did likewise, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.
His vision cleared and he looked up the stairs, seeing The Shrewd Scout sway harshly back and forth. The weather had worsened. For several days now, they'd been caught in a thick fog, and they'd grown more uncertain of their surroundings.
Link looked back at his hammock, and began lying back down in it.
Someone grabbed a fist-full of the back of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. Staggering around for a moment, Link found his balance, and stared Tetra in the face.
"I find it interesting," she remarked, "that the boy who once gazed unwaveringly at death now can hardly keep those eyes open when confronted by sleep."
"This last week has been quite foggy," Link noted.
"Yes," Tetra said, "and because you can't go out starin' at stars it's thrown off your sleep pattern."
"You assume correctly," Link yawned.
"Well," Tetra said, "you got something different. There's a storm raging outside. Make yourself useful and do somethin'."
Link stretched, and walked over with Tetra to the middle of the room where Mako and some other members of the crew were kneeling down, looking at a map.
"So," Mako said, "given our approximate speed and such, we should be somewhat over here."
Mako pointed a few inches off the map's edge.
"Mako," Tetra said, stooping down for a closer look, "that does not help."
"I apologize Miss Tetra," Mako said. "The fog and the rough seas have not helped us navigate. We have not been able to see the slightest hint of star, or even the direction of the rising sun."
"It's unnatural it is," Niko said. "No goddess blessed sea would be so foreboding."
Mako stroked his chin, and seemed to be deep in thought. He pulled another map that was sitting nearby, and overlapped it with the other one.
"It's hard to say where we are," he said. "We honestly could be in this whole area."
He drew an imaginary circle with his finger, over a big section off of the map.
"None of the maps show that place...," Niko whispered.
"Hey," Gonzo said, motioning to that area, "isn't that the area the local islanders were tellin' us about? They said the seas here were protected, yeah?"
"It's that phantom ship," Niko muttered.
"Pfff," Tetra scoffed, ignoring him, "we should just turn around. I'm sick of this impenetrable fog. If it ain't fog it's storms, and if it ain't storms it's fog."
"But this is where the wind waker led us," Link reminded.
"Well," Tetra said, "ask the wind waker to lead us out of here."
"Well," Link said, adjusting his cap, "the wind doesn't usually talk back. And it is hardly something I can just control, even if you may act like it can Tetra."
"Yeah princess," Niko said.
She darted her gaze to him.
"I - told - you - not - to - call - me - princess, or Zelda, or 'your highness'!"
Niko averted his toothy grin. "Of course your grace."
"Regardless," Tetra said, "even though we haven't gotten much obedience out of the wind lately, try again."
Link shrugged, walking over to his hammock, where he unlocked a chest beneath it. He unwrapped a bundle of cloth, and found the ancient relic.
He started up the stairs, and Tetra grabbed the hem of his shirt.
"Link," she warned, "there's a storm out there like Nayru's out for vengeance. Be careful."
He nodded, and went up the stairs, and opened the door, to immediately be hit with a wall of water. Link quickly closed the door again, coughing and wiping the moisture off his face.
"Talk about the goddesses throwing up a wall," Niko remarked from the stairway.
Link took a deep breath, and ran out into the storm.
The ship bucked like a fierce beast on the dark waves. Sheets of rain quickly soaked him to his skin. He ran to the mast and grabbed some rope, nearly falling over.
Tetra, Zuko, and Gonzo walked out into the rain after him, their feet more steady. Niko and Mako however, watched from the doorway, too timid to venture out onto deck. Senza and Nudge meanwhile were hard at work on deck already, the two men seemingly unwavering in the tempest around them.
Nudge shouted something at them.
"What?" Tetra called back.
He shouted again, but it was lost in the roaring rain.
"I said," he came up to the mast, "weren't you saying about a week ago Tetra that you wanted a break from the heat?"
"Oh," Tetra said in a raised voice, "I should've figured it wouldn't've been important."
Nudge paused as a large wave crashed onto the deck and receded, spraying them with more water.
"Beggin' your pardon," he yelled above the storm, "but reminding you of a poorly worded statement, that is now very ironic, is very important."
Tetra coughed. "I'd normally laugh at that, but my lungs are filling up with water. Lets get this done Link, and get back below deck."
"Right," Link said, steadying himself as the ship rocked towards the port side.
Link carefully tread away from the relative safety of the mast, holding the wind waker tight. He lifted the baton above his head, trying to concentrate as he shivered from the cold.
Icy rain bit at his face, as though the wind were mad at his attempt to coerce it. He took deep breaths, struggling to calm himself and obtain the wind's attention.
The ship jolted, and he fell to his knees, sliding slightly toward the ship's starboard side.
Tetra's face was illuminated by a lightning flash as she grasped his wrist.
"Tetra!" he yelled, "I think this is just about the worst possible time to try to ask the wind for a favor!"
She nodded, and helped pull him to his feet. They started walking back to the hold, but Link suddenly felt the rain stop hitting his face.
Then the wind became less intense.
Then the ship ceased heaving on the waves, and everything became still.
"Hylia's Mercy," Tetra cursed, to Link's displeasure. "What in the world?"
Link wiped the water off his face, and wrung it from his cap.
"That was.... unexpected," Mako said, him and Niko coming out onto the deck.
"No doubt about that," Tetra agreed. "Was that the wind waker that did that?"
"No," Link answered. "I would've felt the wind move."
Suddenly the wind chilled. Then it seemed to grow even colder. An unearthly cold, one that seemed to be coming from inside him rather from the outside.
"Something," Link said quietly, "is not right."
Zuko silently walked in front of them, toward the port side. He drew his spyglass, and pointed it out into the fog. The crew stood shivering, even Tetra, as steady as she made herself out to be.
Zuko lowered his spyglass, and the crew watched as a ship came up rapidly, yet silently beside them.
They all rushed to the edge of the deck for a closer view.
It was a ship of charcoal grey wood, rotting along the whole vessel's length. The only thing that appeared to keep it together were rusted metal bands spaced along the hull.
"What in the name of all that is good on the seas is that?" Tetra exclaimed.
"I - it's the ghost ship!" Niko cried out. "The cursed vessel of -"
"Shut it," Tetra silenced him.
The wind had kicked up, and the unnerving ship had now pulled up closer to theirs. Link felt the wind though the wind waker. The wind did not want to reside near this dark vessel, blowing away from it.
"There's no crew," Gonzo said, a touch of nervousness in his voice.
"Like I said!" Niko repeated, "it's the -"
"Shut. It," Tetra said again.
Link was starting to feel very, very disturbed. They needed to get far away from this place.
"Tetra," he said, glancing at her, "what should we do?"
"Rifle its treasure of course," Tetra said unafraid. "Bet it's some pirates masquerading in an attempt to scare people off their territory."
"Tetra," Link began, "I don't think -"
"I'm goin' aboard," Tetra interrupted. "Stay on your guard in case anyone boards us. I'll be back in a bit."
And with that, Tetra jumped onto the other ship.
"Tetra!" Link shouted frantically, "I think this is a bad idea!"
But she had already disappeared into the mist. He heard a loud groan go through the ship's dying hull, and the ship began pulling away from them.
Lightning struck overhead, and he heard Tetra scream, echoing across the sea.
Link stood in a daze for a moment. He turned to Gonzo.
"Take care of this!" he said, planting the wind waker into Gonzo's hand.
He jumped up onto the railing, and then across the gap between the ships.
But as he made his desperate leap, he missed by far. The only thing that caught him was the merciless cold waves.
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