A/N

Am I a philistine for watching Moana and thinking "damn, now I want a Wind Waker movie?" Well, the film's pretty good regardless. Drabbled this up at least.

The Sea Calls

Was he a ghost, she wondered?

On the shores of Montanui, Tala looked out into the reef, and the dark, deep ocean beyond. The moon was full, Hina's light shining down upon land and sea. And, most notably, on the boat out in the water. Of the strange man upon the just as strange boat. Its wood was red, its bow bearing the head of a sea serpent, and its sail as white as the stars. He was holding something, she noticed, that looked like the skin of a pig, and some kind of stick alongside it. In his other hand he dropped something into the water, though she couldn't make it out through the gloom.

She wondered what she should do, if anything. This ghost didn't seem like much of a threat, but he was a ghost nonetheless, and spirits were a bad omen. Especially spirits that came from the sea, or at least, so said her father, and his father before him. Montanui wasn't the world, but it might as well have been for its inhabitants. None ventured beyond the reef, for was it not the reef that provided them with all the fish they needed? Was the sea not the realm of death and despair?

The reef provided fish, but they were most certainly not like the one that popped out of the water to meet the ghost. Squinting, Tala's mouth dropped open, as wide as a shark. The fish was dark blue, and had the face of a man, at least in structure. In his mouth, he held a red stick, with what looked like feathers on the end of it. He…or it, she told herself, jumped up in the air, and used the stick to connect with the animal skin. He then swam off, mentioning something about "small fry," leaving the ghost out on his ship, and Tala to ask why he considered the ghost small, and what a "fry" was. She stood there, wondering, and-

…and the ghost looked at her.

She let out a yelp and fell back into the sand, the water reaching the tips of her toes. She scrambled up, and saw the ghost draw out another stick, though this one all pointy and silver. Like a flint knife, she supposed, though with far more elegance than any mere tool. He waved it, and she felt the wind change, blowing towards her, her hair flowing in the breeze. Just like that, and upon the wind came his boat. Right up to the shore. She got up and stood straight, meeting the ghost in the eye, as he waded through the water onto the sand.

"Hello," the ghost said.

He spoke fluent Tuamotuan, but that was the least of Tala's surprises. He wasn't a ghost, she could tell – he was solid, at least, but still…his eyes were blue like the sea, his face as white as the moon. His hair was the colour of sand, and his strange clothes the colour of grass. Upon his head was a strange green bag of some kind. Behind him, sticking up from his back, was some kind of…dagger, she supposed? One that was long, and unlike anything she'd ever seen.

"The fishman told me this island was called Montanui."

Tala's mouth opened and closed like a fish (not fishman, fish) gasping for air. But she managed to nod anyway.

"Good. It's hard to find fishmen in this world. Lots of normal fish though. And the seagulls here are so hard to control, no matter how many hyoi pears I use. I…" He smiled. "Oh, look at me." He stuck out a hand. "My name's Link."

Tala, now holding her breath, shook it gently.

"I know, I know – I talk too much, right? Funny how things change. Used to be Aryll who was the chatterbox, but now Tetra values her quiet time. Course New Hyrule is fine and all, but there's nothing like exploring a new world, or a whole new set of islands. You won't believe how many maps I've dabbled up."

Tala blinked – few of these terms made any sense to her. But there were some that she comprehended. "Islands." "Maps." She knew what they were. She knew that the former existed, and that the people of Montanui held none of the latter. And why would they, her father had said? They'd been here all their lives. Why venture out into the dangerous sea?

Yet this ghost, this…"Link," had apparently done so. Done so and made maps, and had lived to talk about it. Something that her family told her was impossible.

"May I see?" she whispered.

"Hmm? Oh, sure," he said. He handed her one of these maps – its touch was strange to her hands, but she barely noticed. What she did notice were the islands. So many of them. All over the sea, as numerous as the stars themselves. Eyes wide, she looked up at the ghost.

"You made this?" she asked.

"Well, technically the fishmen did, but, yes."

"And you sailed all around them?" she continued, her heart racing. "All by yourself?"

"Well, yes." He raised an eyebrow. "Why? What about your boats?"

"Our boats?"

"Your boats behind the waterfall. I saw them when I came in." He shrugged. "Well, actually it was the seagull who saw them, and I saw them through the seagull."

"I thought-"

"Yes yes, I know, the seagulls of this world are a miserable bunch, but Tupa's a good sort. If you run into him, tell him that I-"

"No, I thought…that we didn't have any boats," Tala whispered.

"No boats?" the ghost asked. "Hmm, shame. Well, back on the Great Sea there weren't many boats either."

"The Great Sea?"

"Oh yes, it's a sea. A big, great…sea." He shrugged. "Doesn't really have another name."

"And this sea?" she asked. "Is it as they say?"

"As who say?"

"Everyone!" Tala exclaimed. "That it's dangerous. That we must never go beyond the reef. That I'm just a child for being drawn to the water. That stingrays are dangerous, and I shouldn't go near them." She grabbed the ghost's hands. "Tell me!"

"I…" The ghost trailed off, then shrugged. "This sea is…well…"

"Maui," she continued. "Te Feti, Te Kā. Is it as they say? Does darkness cover the ocean?"

The ghost remained silent for a moment. His eyes, ever blue, became ever clear. Tala shivered, and not just because of the abnormal breeze.

"This isn't the first ocean I've been to," he said. "I've seen darkness spread over another world. This one is…" He sighed. "There's islands, you know, where everything's dead. No monsters, or anything like that, but…well, dead. Like Bellum himself came along and consumed everything."

Tala remained silent – she didn't know who this "Bellum" was. But she kept listening.

"But also not. It's like…" He shrugged. "Well, some islands are dying, others are still full of life. Way I see it, there's plenty of sea to explore."

"Father won't let me," Tala pouted. "He won't let anyone, or his father, or his father, or-"

"I never knew my father," the ghost said quietly. He glanced out at the sea. "Or my mother. Only my grandmother and sister."

"I'm sorry," Tala murmured – he wasn't a ghost, she knew that, but he was still "the ghost" in her mind. Or was – ghosts weren't meant to miss their parents.

"Anyway," said the…no, Link, she told herself. "I should get going." He drew out his stick again, and in moments, the wind had changed once more. He began to climb into his boat.
"Wait!" Tala cried out, running up to him. "Take me with you."

"I-"

"I don't care how dangerous the sea is!" she yelled. "I…I can't stay on this island a moment longer!"

Link sighed. "I never wanted to leave home," he said. "I only did so because I had to. And when I did, I was younger than even you."

"I'm twelve."

"Like I said, younger," Link said. "The sea is wondrous, but it changes you. It-"

"I know it changes me," Tala said. "It's called to me for as long as I could hear, and I've wanted to be in it for as long as I could see. And no-one on this damn island feels the same way, so I'm called a silly little girl for wondering what's beyond the horizon."

"Then it's there loss, not yours," he said. "I…" He sighed. "Come on. I'll show you the boats." He extended a hand, and without hesitation, Tala took it. But as they began sailing around the island, she murmured, "even if we find them, what then?"

"What then?" Link asked. "I suppose that's up to you."

"Thanks."

"Having a choice is a blessing," the ghost said. "I didn't." He looked at her. "Be grateful."

Tala didn't like being told what to do. But she did like the sound of seeing the boats.

Almost as much as seeing the stingrays swim beside her.