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Link had been spending a lot more time below the ship’s deck than was probably appropriate for the boy who was meant to be charting out their course, but he couldn’t help himself. Every time he found himself idle, he wandered down to stare at Tetra, frozen in lifeless stone.
It wasn’t right, to see her so still. Tetra never stood still.
He was worrying Linebeck and the spirits, he knew, but even as they rapidly approached their goal, he just couldn’t help himself, and on some of their longer voyages he’d spent hours down there, just staring.
Tetra would probably hit him with his own sword if she knew, but Tetra wasn’t here. Not in truth.
Link missed his sister. She’d gotten so good at cheering him up on bad days; he’d been anxious and fretful before he’d ever set foot on a ship deck, but it had gotten significantly worse after he’d faced Ganon. But Aryll could wake him up from a nightmare and have him distracted and busy in minutes.
The three fairy spirits he’d gathered along the way were all settled in his lap, lounging and solemn, and Link took an odd sort of comfort in that.
He didn’t look up when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs; even if Jolene had shown up, Linebeck still would have been down here first, shrieking in panic. Instead, his footsteps were slow, dragging a little as he grumbled to himself about Link’s unreliability.
Link almost smiled, but the thought got lost somewhere on the way to his mouth.
Finally, Linebeck came and sat down by Link, hitting the ground with a couple of grunts and a small thump. There were a couple moments of silence, and then Linebeck finally said, haughty and stilted, “We’ve reached the end of the line, you know. It’s about time you get back on deck and figure out where to next. What the hell was in the middle of the sea that you stopped the course here?”
Link shrugged, and Ciela crawled up his shoulder to scowl accusingly at Linebeck, like Link’s low mood was his fault somehow. Neri stayed in the crook of his knee, and Leaf leaned against Link’s ear on the opposite shoulder from Ciela, watching Tetra in solidarity with Link.
Look for Beedle, Link signed belatedly, slow and deliberate so Linebeck could follow. Coming here. Beedle coming here.
Linebeck grumbled uncomfortably, crossing his arms, and this time Link did smile a little.
Treasure, he added, because that was a sign that Linebeck never had trouble recognizing. Sure enough, the man perked up immediately, leaping to his feet with a sprightliness that was lost on him when wealth wasn’t on the line. Amused, Link gently shuffled the three fairies off of him one at a time and rose to his feet as well, mentally preparing to guide the chest up to the deck.
But before he could turn away from Tetra, he paused, eyes lingering on her face.
“Come on, Link,” Linebeck said, with a gruff and unexpected gentleness. “Not doing any good to sit and stare at the lass. Let’s go get some treasure.”
Link barely reacted, only making a false start towards the stairs before he stopped again. He couldn’t take his attention off Tetra, too many thoughts in his head and feelings in his chest, and not enough people who knew sign to tell them to. The three fairies fluttered and glittered around him, and Leaf even flew over to land on Tetra’s shoulder, as if to reassure Link that she’d be looked after.
Tetra gets into a lot of trouble, Link signed at last, soft and solemn. I’ve always followed her and brought her back safe. But one day… one day I’m not going to be able to. And she won’t even be mad about it. She hates being saved. She hates being Princess Zelda.
He didn’t need to look at Linebeck to know that the man had missed most of that, his sign still too rough to keep up with the sentence structure and vocabulary that Link used when he wasn’t being careful. But his expression had turned serious and weary anyway, when Link finally turned to look at him.
Then he did something odd. He reached out and he ruffled Link’s hair. Affectionately, like a friend. Link blinked up at him.
“We’re almost through with our voyage, kid,” Linebeck said gruffly, looking away. “And then we both get whatever wish we want, remember? So your friend-” Linebeck imitated Tetra’s namesign, the ‘ponytail pirate’ one Link always used. “She’s gonna be just fine.”
Link tried to smile back, and then realized that Linebeck had never heard Tetra’s name aloud; he’d never heard Link speak at all, and no one else here knew Tetra’s name. Not Ciela, not Leaf or Neri or the Ocean King – no one.
He found his voice.
“Tetra,” he said, loud and clear enough for Linebeck to hear, and then scurried away and up the steps while Linebeck gaped at him.
Moving hastily, Link made sure he was lowering the salvage arm by the time Linebeck caught up, meaning he could safely ignore the man’s spluttering and incoherent noises of outrage. By the time the treasure chest was at their feet, the man had calmed down.
“Tetra?” Linebeck asked at last. Without looking up, Link nodded, opened the chest, and put the contents aside with barely a glance. “Huh. You two childhood friends or something?”
Link shook his head, but Ciela and Neri both darted close enough to make him lean back, clearly just as curious, and finally he gave in and signed, Tetra helped me save my sister.
In soft, quick murmurs, Ciela and Neri bounced the signs between them until they untangled his words, and then they cooed in unison.
“Save your sister, huh?” Linebeck mused, tipping his head back. “Younger or older?” Link indicated the former. “So you’re a big brother? I knew it all along.”
Link snorted, knowing damn well he’d had no such clue, and hauled the chest back over the edge and into the sea. He didn’t tell Linebeck about Hyrule, or about his real sword, or Ganondorf or how he’d felt too old for his body even as a very young child, so much so that his grandmother had noticed.
He never did unless someone asked.