Archive of Our Own ^beta

Tetra's boots land on the deck of her ship with a solid thunk.

It's a surreal thing to be back, with the sun and the wind dreamlike against her skin. Niko's voice barely registers when he approaches, trying to ask her something; she only gives him a glance before watching Link clamber up the side of the ship after her. Her head is swimming, struggling to form thoughts again after so much time spent… not.

"You had me worried screaming like that," Niko continues, as she begins processing more of what's around her, "but you look fine." He sounds almost like he means to scold her. "What about the ship? Did you find any treasure?"

"What are you talking about?" Tetra snaps, rounding on him. Link startles down from his perch on the railing.

"That's the first thing you have to say!?" she asks, incredulous. "I almost died on that thing! Where were you? Did you even try to look for us!?" She leans in, and he leans back. "Do you have any idea what Link and I had to go through to get back!?"

Niko stares at her, silent and wide-eyed. When he doesn't answer, Mako calls from the upper deck, "You were only gone for around ten minutes."

Niko nods.

"Ten—" Her stomach drops. "That wasn't ten minutes! We've been gone for—" she stutters, thinking, "it's been weeks, at least!"

"That's impossible," Niko says, braver now that Mako's on his side. "You probably hit your head or something and had a bad dream."

"A bad—listen to me!" she hisses. Gonzo approaches with his hands raised placatingly. "What happened out there was not a dream. That ship—I don't know where it took us, or how it did it—but it's really, really dangerous, and we need to get out of here before it does something like that again!" She jabs a finger at it as she speaks to emphasize her point, and Link gasps.

There's a drawn, heavy pause before Gonzo speaks up. "…The ship's gone."

Tetra stares him down hard, waiting for his face to crack, but it doesn't. He shows no signs of lying. She inhales slowly through her nose before turning to look, and there, out on the ocean she finds…

 Nothing.

She blinks, and the sight doesn't change.

Link lurches straight into action in his disbelief, running and hoisting himself up on the ship's guardrails to whip his head one way then the other. They all hold their breath as he drops back to his feet, but he doesn't turn back to face them. Tetra's shoulders sink.

"The… the ship!" Niko wilts to his knees, horrified. "It vanished! It gave you a cursed nightmare and then vanished!"

Tetra whips around, cutting off his eek with a frustrated, "HEY!"

Niko's hands go up.

"I told you it wasn't a dream!" she seethes. "You never listen to me…" She mostly mutters that second part to herself, though she glowers nonetheless.

Link turns in her peripheral, hurrying to the other side of the deck like he's spotted something. She notes that for later; Niko has a look on his face like he's gearing up to argue again, and she cuts him off before he can. "You didn't see what we saw," she says, self-assured. "You can't tell me none of it was real. What we did and felt, with the Ocean King and—"

"The Ocean King?" Gonzo interrupts, startled.

"The Ocean King!" She yells back, grabbing his shirt with both fists. "Link beat Bellum and set the Ocean King free, and he sent us back home afterwards!"

"Are you sure about Link?" Niko asks.

"What—" Tetra lets go, leaving Gonzo to smooth his shirt out. She inhales deeply, rubbing at her eyes with one hand before turning to Niko. "What are you talking about?" she gusts out.

Niko simply points, and she looks.

Link is still stationed at the other side of the deck, leaning eagerly out and waving at a ship that Tetra doesn't immediately recognize—though it feels familiar. It'd managed to get pretty close without her noticing as Link beckons it over.

Trusting Link not to get them into any trouble, she decides that that's not her problem yet and fixes her glare back on Niko. "Obviously he's busy," she says. "He can help me explain more later. Are you even listening? The Ocean King was there."

"Okay," Niko hedges, still looking suspicious, "what happened, then?"

"We…" She hesitates, biting her tongue. Her memories of everything are fractured at best, and the ones that she does have are difficult to make sense of. "Well, like I said, Link will have to help me fill in the gaps later. I was… Frozen. Sort of. But the long story short is that Bellum cursed me and the Ocean King, and Link fought to save us both. And it took him a lot of work, so don't sit there and tell me that nothing happened! Back me up, Link!"

Link—who she realizes then had been about to dash for the anchor—skips to a stop mid-stride to turn and nod, holding his empty hourglass aloft. He waits for a beat before rushing back off.

"Okay," Niko says again, still skeptical but at least digesting what she's saying now. "I don't really get it, but…"

"That's fine," she sighs. "Like I said, we can explain more later. You two go drop the sails while Link gets us anchored," she adds, noting he'd forgotten that part in his hurry.

There's a brief flurry as Gonzo and Niko scurry away to do just that, and Tetra listens to the distant sounds of them working and occasionally bickering as the two boats come to a slow stop. They've been settled for barely a second when Link's footsteps thunder over to where she waits, just in time for him to see the man that'd helped them stagger hunched out from his boat.

He—Linebeck, she's pretty sure his name is—doesn't seem to be doing well. He's unsteady, doubly so as he tries to walk towards them, stumbling over his own feet and nearly falling flat. He catches himself on the side of his ship and makes a face at them like he's trying to grin.

Tetra jumps to help Link who's at work getting a ramp set up between the two boats, his movements stilted and hurried. Linebeck doesn't react from where he holds himself upright, watching passively as the two of them scramble onto his boat. Link reaches him first.

"Hey kid," Linebeck greets hoarsely, freeing one hand to ruffle his hair, leaning on him afterwards when his balance wavers. Using Link like a cane, he looks to Tetra and adds, "Hey, other kid."

"My name is Tetra. Are you okay?" she asks, eyeing over the sickly sheen of sweat coating him and his grip on Link's skull.

"Never been better," Linebeck bluffs, puffing up, but he doesn't get far before flinching back down with a hiss. Link pries the fingers off his head, clutching Linebeck's hand and shoving right up into his space to peer up in a silent plea. "Bah," Linebeck grunts, covering Link's face with his other hand. "Don't look at me like that. You—Hey!"

Link squirms out of his grip and wriggles under Linebeck's arm, securing it across his shoulders and tugging him towards the ramp.

"Kid, I'm fine," Linebeck grits out, though he's unable to fight back, staggering along as he's dragged.

"Don't be stupid," Tetra says, shoving under his other arm. "Come on," she adds. "If you're hurt we probably have better supplies than you do." She isn't actually sure of that, but says it anyway.

Linebeck mutters something about sparkles and attitude, and she ignores it as they guide him stumbling away. He's panting hard by the time they're across the short bridge, and she's beginning to worry he's starting to pass out or worse when he suddenly stops, planting his heels just a couple steps onto Tetra's ship.

"Hey," he croaks, trying to tug away. "Let me—"

"No," Tetra cuts him off, antsy to get him somewhere else before he keels over. Or maybe she's just antsy to move in general. "Stop being stubborn."

Offended, he starts, "I'm not—"

And then he gags, teeth clicking together over the sound.

"Augh!" Tetra yelps and jumps back, and then forwards again when Linebeck promptly lists over, his hand clapped to his mouth. She tries to turn him back towards the water while he blindly follows. "Get him to the side before—"

He doubles over and vomits.

She cringes back from it and doesn't look, hauling Linebeck away with Link's help and draping him over the rails to groan and heave. Various sounds of disgust float over from her crew behind her, and she turns to tell them to quit it and grow up—but then her eyes land on the thick, tar-looking stuff that Linebeck had thrown up, pitch black against the richly sunlit wood.

As if there wasn't enough going on already.

Linebeck chokes, and she winces. "Alright," she says. "Gonzo, get something to clean this up. Niko, get him something to drink, and a bucket."

The two of them run off and she turns back to where Linebeck still hangs limp, coughing up chunks over the side of the boat. She doesn't even want to know how much of that is stuck to the hull now, let alone what kind of damage it's capable of. Link's gone from patting Linebeck's back to simply pressing his hand against it.

"Is he okay?" she asks.

He looks at her and shrugs, worry bright in his eyes.

"F'ntassic," Linebeck slurs. "I'm… urgh," he gags, and it all starts up again.

She squints at his shaking back. "Is he normally this… delusional?"

Link just sort of grimaces, which isn't a very clear answer. There's no time to dwell on that though as footsteps race up behind her, Niko proudly wielding an empty bucket and a glass bottle.

"Thanks," she says. Since Linebeck seems to be catching his breath for now, she continues, "Hold on to that and follow us. Link and I will get him somewhere he can lay down."

Link nods and together they try to hoist Linebeck up, but they don't make it far. He's weaker than before, slipping through their hands and sprawling awkwardly across the deck with a disgruntled sound.

Tetra finds herself at a loss at that point, but thankfully that's when Gonzo returns, setting the mop he'd brought aside and plucking Linebeck into his arms. "Which way?" he asks.

"My cabin," she answers, grateful.

Linebeck grunts, squinting up at nothing in particular as they start moving.

She ignores him, striding ahead of the group to push her door open and drag an extra cot out. Gonzo lays Linebeck down on it, and Tetra tosses a blanket over him as he stares dizzily at the ceiling, Link at his side. Niko trails in last, passing the bucket and water off to Tetra. She drops them next to Linebeck's head.

"Alright," she says, turning to Gonzo. "Check his ship over when you get back up there, make sure everything's how it should be, and then you're in command for the rest of the night. Thank you, both of you."

Gonzo salutes her briefly. "Feel better, Miss Tetra, Link. Uh…" He glances at Linebeck. "You."

"What he said," Niko adds, and then they both take their leave, a hush settling over the room.

Until Linebeck begins to groan again, that is.

"Shut up," Tetra tells him flatly, "and tell us what's hurt so we can fix it." Link nods alongside her, clutching the bottle of water he'd grabbed at some point to his chest.

Linebeck eyes Link warily. "I told you not to give me that look." Then he crosses his arms and fixes his pathetic glare on Tetra. "And if you think I know what's going on any more than you do, you are mistaken."

"Oh." She hadn't been ready for that answer, left watching Link gently bully the water into Linebeck's face as she processes it.

"Yeah," Linebeck says, gratingly nonplussed. He tries to bat Link's hands away, but Link is insistent, pulling back only to open the bottle and then urge it on him again.

"Off with the coat then," she orders. "We'll look you over ourselves."

"Psh," Linebeck waves her off, and Link fumbles with the water in his effort to dodge around his hand. It splashes on Linebeck's leg and he jumps. "Agh!"

And Tetra is not going to put up with this, now least of all times, so she slips her dagger out of her belt and holds it up between them. "One way or another the coat is coming off."

"Fine, geez!" he hisses, shooing Link off of him. "Put that thing away."

She complies, and he begins to roll his shoulders back before going rigid with a grimace. Link is quicker to react than she is, jumping in to pull his coat off for him. Tetra isn't sure why she hadn't been expecting to see blood, but… there it is, dotted lightly across his chest.

"See?" Linebeck says, trying to sound soothing but the tone not fitting him, "I'm fine. There's barely anything there."

Link doesn't listen to him, crawling halfway onto the cot to peer at Linebeck's back before blanching at the sight of it, scrabbling away in alarm.

"What?" Linebeck asks, to no answer. He looks at Tetra. "What did he see?"

Tetra leans around to take a look for herself, and it takes her a moment to register that the swath of red in front of her is his blood. She clamps down on the impulse to panic, putting authority in her voice. "Shirt off," she says as Link runs back with a potion, once again getting in Linebeck's face with it.

"Kid," he says warningly, "I will hurl on you if you try to make me drink that right now." Link pulls back with a grossed-out sound. "And I still don't know what's going on, by the way!"

"You're bleeding buckets," Tetra tells him. "We need to wrap you up before you run out of the stuff."

He pales, then goes to work at his shirt with shaky fingers. "Yes, okay, buttons…"

Link helps him again, and Tetra strides off to gather whatever bandages they have while hoping it'll be enough. Linebeck's shirt is off when she's back, and Link stands next to him, looking listlessly between the tossed aside garment and the potion in his hands.

"Come on," Tetra says, "we can pour that over the bandages. It'll have to do."

She and Link get ready on either side of him, and she takes the chance to get a good look at the wound before they cover it up again.

It's… bad.

It doesn't look fresh, strangely enough. It's irritated and looks ready to open back up at a moment's notice, but it's also oddly aged, shiny and light around the outside edge like it's been healing for months already. It spans just about all of his upper back, no real shape to it beyond the jagged tendrils here and there. It's like he'd had to grow all of his skin back, and then some.

The heart of it is still scabbed and raw, and she doesn't like the way it pulls on itself when he moves, threatening to crack open. She doesn't want to imagine what it'd looked like fresh; she doesn't think he should feasibly be alive—but then, he shouldn't be this healed up either. One last parting gift, she supposes.

"Does it make me look tough?" Linebeck asks.

"Shut up," Tetra tells him, beginning to sense a pattern forming. "Just hold still."

He actually does, slouching to rest his elbows on his knees while they get to work. Their hands are clumsy with exhaustion, but they're fitting it around him well enough for now, and she isn't eager to drag anyone else in at the moment to stall her with questions. She and Link are probably the only ones with the stomach for this, anyways.

Once they're finished Tetra steps back to give him one last lookover, Linebeck watching her warily. Satisfied with their work, she drops onto her own bed. Linebeck sighs deeply, slouching further and side-eyeing Link who remains next to him.

"What a day, huh?" he says unceremoniously, slinging an arm around Link and giving him a shake.

Link waves him off and pushes Linebeck's arm back down, holding it in place with both hands. His message is clear: Stop moving. Rest.

Linebeck looks like he's tasted something bitter, and hesitates uncomfortably. "Hey," he says, "look, I'm okay. See?" He carefully spreads his arms, but not far. "You saved the day, everybody's fine."

Link only seems to grow more agitated, bullying Linebeck back into the bed.

"Okay fine, laying down, see?" Linebeck grits, leaning on an elbow and slowly lowering. Link switches to supporting Linebeck's weight so he doesn't fall over on his way down. "Laying…" he mutters, deflating. "Yeah… good idea…"

He's out almost as soon as he's flat, and together she and Link poke and prod him into laying on his side so he doesn't choke. Then, finally, Tetra returns to her bed, Link taking a seat next to her.

Across from them, Linebeck begins to snore.

She glances at Link. "…You remember everything too, right?"

He doesn't look at her, but he nods.

"Good." She crosses her arms and musters what energy she has left. "You can help me whack some sense into Niko later then."

Link giggles weakly, drawing half a smile from Tetra. She then sighs and leans into her hand. "We'll need to stop somewhere for more bandages… Tow his ship until he's better. Hopefully the boys are getting everything situated up there…"

There's too much to think about, but without any immediate emergencies to spurn her on the exhaustion is eating her. She doesn't even realize she's closed her eyes until Link starts pushing at her in much the same way he did Linebeck, urging her down.

She gives him a look, unable to let go without some sort of last word. "I take it you volunteer for the first shift?"

Link hops to his feet and plants his fists on his hips.

"Alright," she laughs tiredly. "You better wake me up before you pass out, then."

He puffs up, looking certain, and she flops over. "Thanks, Link."

The first time Linebeck kicks awake is harrowing.

It's on Tetra's watch, and it takes her a groggy second to realize what's happening; it isn't until Linebeck starts grappling for the edge of the cot that she shoots to her feet, grabbing the bucket and thrusting it under him.

She isn't sure if he's actually awake. Link materializes next to her just as he begins to heave, and he makes no acknowledgement of them, or any attempt to put up dramatics. Not that she's talked to him that much, but it still seems out of character for him.

Either way, she's beginning to hold her breath and wonder what she's going to do if he actually chokes when it finally subsides. He ends up hanging halfway off the bed, and Link helps her shove him back into it, standing next to her once they're done.

She takes a steadying breath. There's no point in both of them staying up and fretting. "Lay down," she tells Link. "It's still my shift."

He hesitates, but ultimately listens. She doesn't bother him about not closing his eyes. It's sort of comforting to know he's watching as she sits back down next to him.

That, and she figures it won't take him long to just fall asleep anyways. Beyond that there isn't much for her to think about—at least, not anything that she isn't giving a wide, deliberate berth until the morning hits. Or… whenever it is they all wake up.

For now, her only responsibility is counting the seconds until it's time to shake Link back up.

The night proceeds into something of a routine after that.

Link wakes Tetra, Tetra wakes Link, Linebeck wakes them both with his choking, rinse and repeat and back again. The adrenaline of it all is a little less heart-pounding each time, and a little more of a slog, leaving the night to melt into one long, half-conscious daze.

Linebeck at least seems to recover quicker with each attack, which helps soothe their nerves—though that in turn leaves everything to become more of a delirium the longer they struggle to keep up with it, and they can only hold out so long after everything they've plowed straight through these past few days.

She and Link are out cold by an hour she won't be able to recall, leaving the night to pass them idly by.

Linebeck startles awake out of a dark, suffocating dream.

Then he starts to choke, rolling over on blind instinct and nearly falling off the edge of the bed before he manages to brace himself. He coughs once, hard—and then his throat is clear, eyes cracking open as he catches his breath.

Through his hazy vision he sees the gunk he'd coughed up, inky black on the floor, and just to the left of it is a bucket full of the stuff. His stomach flutters uneasily at the sight of it.

Needing something else to look at, his eyes land on Link and Tetra, dead asleep and sprawled at odd angles over the bed across from him. He has no idea how long they've all been here; the kids look like they could sleep for another full day if left to it.

Beyond that, his only other avenue of distraction is the sound of the boat itself and the water it rests on. Soothing, but it's still only a minute before his gaze strays back down to the bucket, magnetized by morbid curiosity.

The sludge inside it is a deep sort of dark, no light breaking past the surface of it. It's unsettling to look at, too unnaturally shadowed even for the dim room it's in.

There's no way that came out of him, right? How the hell would that have even happened? Sure, he—well—all of that stuff, but…

Well, Link killed that thing!

…While Linebeck was attached to it.

Repressing his brief hysteria at that, he reaches for the water sitting nearby. It takes some effort to grab, and the stretch makes his back sting, but the taste is sweet against the film that's built in his mouth.

Link snorts and rolls over in his sleep, knocking into Tetra who shoves at him, also asleep.

They look a lot younger like this. He already knew Link was a kid, of course; it just gets easy to forget that sometimes when he kills such terrifying creatures with the ease that he does.

…Well, maybe he's not a normal kid, but still.

Deciding to end that line of thought before it returns to more anxiety-inducing places, Linebeck stands, clenching his teeth when the motion sets his skin on fire. His shirt and coat hang next to the door, and he throws them around his shoulders, not bothering with the sleeves and ignoring how his shirt sticks to his bandages.

Tetra might hurt him if he wanders back over to his own ship now, but she can't fault him for taking a walk around hers. Maybe he'll find a snack or something to bring back; there's bound to be something decent lying around, and Tetra can't threaten him if he's feeding her.

…He hopes.

Cracking the door open and stepping outside finds him on the deck. The sky is pale and light, still waiting for the sun to break over the horizon.

He stays close to the walls, slinking along the shadows gathered there—not that he thinks there's any reason for it, but old habits die hard, and ships like this aren't usually his for perusing through.

He peeks into the next room he comes across, finding nobody inside. Satisfied, he steps in and begins sifting through the crates and barrels there in search of something he can easily grab.

He wonders idly what hour of the morning it is as he digs. He'd expected to see or hear at least one other person puttering about—not that he's complaining, of course; he's just curious what happened to the others he recalls seeing before falling unconscious.

Shoving aside a burlap sack, he spots a squid that's been dried into jerky. Deciding that that's an interesting enough find, he grabs it and saunters out, the slightly-more-present sun warming his skin as he lets himself back into the other room.

Link is awake now, looking away from the door to watch Tetra. He turns when the door thunks quietly shut. Linebeck hitches his coat a little more securely around his shoulders, noting the way Link eyes his movements.

His attention is easy enough to divert; as much as they've been through, Link is still himself, and his eyes go straight to the jerky when Linebeck holds it in the air. "Come and get it."

Link slides to his feet and pads over, ripping off a chunk for himself. It quells him for now, knocking his attention down to a subdued side-eye while he gnaws.

Tetra stirs just as Link sits back down, squinting blearily at Linebeck. "…Are you eating my jerky?"

"No." Linebeck holds it out. "We're eating your jerky."

She blinks at him, looking only mildly bewildered before closing her eyes again. "Whatever." She then draws a deep breath and pushes herself up, crossing the room to pluck the squid out of Linebeck's hands. "Give me that." She rips a piece off with her teeth and throws it back at him.

"Hey!" He startles and fumbles to catch it. "What if that went in my eye?"

"Shut up," she says. Link giggles and she looks proud. "You're welcome, by the way. For saving your life and all that."

Linebeck huffs, crossing his arms. "I see how it is. Everybody bully poor, hurt Linebeck. Everybody laugh at—"

"Let me see your back," Tetra interrupts.

"—poor—huh?"

"Your back," she says again. "I know you've been bleeding. It's on the floor."

"What?" he says dumbly, looking down

And sure enough, there it is. It's not much, just a small splatter here and there—but still enough to incriminate him. She hadn't even mentioned the state of his blanket.

"Come on," she continues, "if you lose too much blood you'll—"

"Okay!" he snaps. "I'm turning!"

He doesn't drop his coat and shirt until he's all the way around and comfortable. Link makes a quiet sound of shock, and Tetra is silent for a beat. "Don't move."

It can't be that bad. They'd just looked at it last night, plus he's sure they've seen worse—which is kind of a sour thought, actually. Linebeck elects to keep his mouth shut for once.

He does glance over his shoulder though, spotting Tetra pulling out some kind of sheet, her leftover jerky cast aside. Link's is already gone, likely eaten in one bite to free his hands as he helps Tetra begin to shred the sheet into strips.

"This'll have to do for now," Tetra begins to explain. "It's just an extra bedsheet, but I don't think we have much else, so it'll have to do until we can stop somewhere and get more real bandages. With the potions it… should be fine?"

"Comforting," Linebeck says.

She ignores him. "Start getting those old ones off if you can so we can replace them."

He plucks at the swaths pulled across his chest, searching for an edge to unravel from. He hasn't managed to make any progress by the time Link gets behind him and tries to tug things loose, his touch cringing away when it sticks to Linebeck's skin and he squawks.

It takes time to peel everything away because of that. Link runs off at one point to fetch water and they use it to soak and soften everything up; it's a process, and he's biting down on his tongue for the greater part of it, but there's a question that's still bothering him.

"Are you going to tell me what it looks like yet?" he asks as they tie one of the ribbons off.

Tetra hesitates. "It could be worse."

"That kind of doesn't tell me anything," he informs her, trying to peer over his shoulder, though he can't see anything for himself like that.

"It tells you what you need to know," she snips back. "We need to make sure this gets put on right."

"No," he says, crossing his arms. "Tell me what it looks like."

"You looked like you were going to pass out just when I mentioned blood, I'm not describing this to you."

"So it is bad?" he asks, and then before she can answer he continues, "And that wasn't exactly the only reason I was passing out, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Ugh!" He hears something scrape shortly across the floor. "Fine. But it's not my fault if you throw up again." She and Link start winding a new strip around him. "It's a lot," she starts off. "It takes up most of your back, and it looks like it went… deep. But it isn't fresh. It's healed on the outside, with all these long parts sticking out—" she pokes him under his shoulder "—and the inside of it is all scabby and gooey. You ripped it back open sometime between last night and now, by the way. You need to try not to twist around so much."

Something is shoved aside again, and Link crawls onto the cot next to him to offer a potion. Linebeck shakes his head. "Just do it the same you did last time."

Link makes a frustrated sound but crawls back off.

"He probably got sick like I said he would," Tetra says. "Using it on the bandages looks like it worked well enough, so we can do that again."

"I did not!" he defends himself. "Keep going. How big is it?"

"About as big as if a sailpost went through you," she says. "Now can you be quiet?"

"Pah!" he exclaims. "Fine. Have it your way."

He can almost hear her eyes rolling in the ensuing silence. The potion tickles down his skin under the torn sheets, somewhat soothing his inflamed tissue, and they're done before much longer passes. Linebeck turns gingerly back around, Link crawling onto the cot again to sit and start splitting the remaining jerky into pieces. Tetra crosses her arms and appears to zone out looking at him.

Linebeck waits for her to say something, but she stays lost in silent thought. Link looks between him and Tetra, slowly nibbling the now shredded squid. He waves a hand at her and she finally gives him a flat look.

"Just for the record," he says, in an attempt to make the room feel less suffocating, "I'm not restocking all of your first aid. This was all your idea."

"What?" Tetra asks, face turning to confusion. "That isn't…"

Off the cuff, he continues, "I'll be out of your hair once I'm back on my feet—"

Only to startle when Link shouts his disapproval, jumping to his feet while Tetra gives a louder, even more confused, "What!?"

"Geez, sorry, nevermind!" he cries, hands going up. "If you wanna haul me around that badly then go for it. Yeesh."

"Would you quit acting like that?" Tetra snaps.

"Like what?" he asks. "Like I'm reasonable?"

"Like a baby," she retorts.

Linebeck gapes in offense. "After all I've done to help you!"

"Like what?" Tetra snipes back. "Getting—ah—um…" She hesitates suddenly, sputtering out.

"What?" Linebeck prods, arching a brow. She hesitates still, cringing, and he cautiously adds, "…I didn't mean it. You don't have to mope over it."

"Zip it," she tells him, apprehension vanishing. "I'm just thinking." She sits down on her bed, chin resting on her fist while she appraises Linebeck. Link stares at her and she ignores it. "…How did you and Link run into each other?" she asks.

That wasn't what he'd expected. "Ah, he… lent me a hand in a dungeon. It was a real tough one. Lucky me he showed up when he did and we managed to scrape by." Link sounds his protest, likely clearing the picture up some as Tetra's eyes dart to him and back.

"So you just started sailing him around after that?" she asks.

"Basically," he bluffs mildly, dusting himself off. "Y'know, someone like me doesn't leave a man behind like that."

She rolls her eyes at him. "Okay. So…" She stops, thinking again—always thinking, what is with this kid—before asking, "… How… did you get over there?"

"…Over where?"

"Y'know," she gestures vaguely, "that other place."

"Other…" He blinks. She looks at him like there's nothing to be confused about. "What do you mean other place?"

"The… other world. With the Ocean King?"

He presses his lips into a thin line and clears his throat, trying to think back. How long had he been there? He'd always been there, hadn't he?

…Had he?

He hopes the realization that he has no clue where he came from isn't dawning too visibly over his face. Any memories of a before refuse to surface. "Well, let's not worry about the details, shall we?" he deflects.

Tetra studies him for one more far too thoughtful moment before nodding. "Yeah. I guess it doesn't matter for now." She sits up straight again. "As for me and Link, well… You already know what happened to me. Link got caught up when he boarded the Ghost Ship after me to come help."

Link shifts from foot to foot but nods his agreement. Vague.

"I… don't know exactly everything that happened?" Tetra says with uncertainty. "I was sort of aware sometimes, but everything was pretty far away until the end. But I remember you and Link being there."

"You didn't really miss anything. Most of what we did was sail around and fetch things." Link gives a little hah! and punches the air in front of him. "Oh, yeah. And Link handled the dungeons. So… not much to report."

"You spend a lot of time on the water?"

"Of course! I'm—"

"Does that mean you're familiar with the waters we're on now?" She cuts him off. There's a glint in her eye that says she's already gotten her answer.

Linebeck purses his lips and looks at the wall. Whatever she's implying, he doesn't want to hear it. "Well…"

"Are you?"

"… Depends?"

Her gaze sharpens. "How long were you there?"

He clenches his teeth, hackles rising. He has years under his belt. Years he'd spent on those oceans. "Long enough," he grits.

There's a pause while Tetra absorbs that. "Okay," she says. "All the more reason to stick with us, then."

He almost can't believe it. "That's it?"

"Are you opposed?" she asks.

"No, but I mean—what, you want me to just follow you around?" Link jumps back onto Linebeck's cot with a short shout, posing next to him. "…You want Link and me to just follow you around?"

"Why not? You could use the help charting these waters, and two ships will be good for strategy if we need it."

"Strategy?" Linebeck narrows his eyes at her. "What exactly am I getting into here?"

"Nothing you wouldn't still be facing if you took off by yourself," she says. "Just think about it for a second."

He does.

His boat is the only thing he has—even before all of this, really—and there are much worse things he could think of doing than sticking around Link and his friends. Maybe she'll drag him into things he'd rather not handle, but Link's sure done a lot of that already; the kid usually mans the cannon anyways, so he wouldn't find himself in the line of fire if it comes down to it. He sees no reason to argue.

"Fine," he says. "You've got yourself a deal. I'll be your little pack-mule, or whatever it is you're setting me up for."

"YEAH!" Link shouts, pumping a fist in the air.

Linebeck laughs weakly. "Alright, don't get ahead of yourself. I'm still a downed man at the moment."

Link doesn't seem deterred, jumping down and racing out of the room. To do what, Linebeck has no clue, but he's glad the kid is happy nonetheless. Tetra stands as well. "I'm going to go get some fresh air and make sure he doesn't detonate anything. You… do what you want, just don't open that wound again or you're on bedrest."

"Alright already, I get it," he says, taking the hand she extends when he starts to stand. "It's not like I'm trying to get hurt."

"Coulda fooled me," she says as they leave the room together. "All I've seen you do since I woke up is get beaten up."

"I fed you!" he points out.

"You gave me a piece of jerky," she says. "But thanks."

"Ah, whatever," he gripes as she walks off. "See if I ever help you out again."

She either doesn't hear him or doesn't care to respond. He turns to approach the side of the ship, looking out over the vast, rippling waters. The ocean looks just the same as it did before, waves cresting and beating against the ship just as he's always known them to do. The wind kicks the spray back into his face and it's as familiar a sensation as breathing.

If he came from this world… what does that mean? It doesn't mean he died, does it? Surely he'd remember dying. If he's been gone for that long, what did he leave behind? Did he already have his ship? Did it come from the other world?

Did he come from the other world?

If he did… then why…

A pair of hands grabbing onto his arm distracts him. He looks down to find Link by him, and then over at Tetra who waits a little further.

"We're all going to eat breakfast and discuss our new arrangements," she says. "If you want to have any say in anything, now's the time."

Link bounces on his heels, and Linebeck nods. "Sounds good to me," he says, walking in her direction as Link begins racing circles around him.

He doesn't know if this is his world or not, but wherever he came from, he supposes he's glad to have landed where he did.