The Departure
by Kaoillanthe

(The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and its characters do not belong to me. They are © Nintendo.)


Everything was quiet that salty morning except for the fresh, southerly breeze of the sea winding its way through the empty houses of Outset Island and continuing on to gently stir the trees of the Forest of Fairies.

All of Outset Island had gathered to see off a very special person on a new journey.

"G'bye, everyone! I promise I'll come back someday!"

Abe chuckled. "You'd better come back, Link, or my grass will take over my yard!"

Link laughed. "You could get up and cut it yourself, you know." He winked.

"Hey! Link!"

He glanced up at the large pirates' ship. "What is it?"

"We're ready to go!" Tetra shouted back.

"Great! Let me just say one more goodbye!"

Tetra sighed and loudly answered, "Fine, but you'd better hurry up!"

Link walked over to Aryll as she looked up at him with a confused expression on her face. "Big Brother, where are you going? Why won't you stay here with us?"

He sighed, trying to focus on anything, anything but his little sister's curious face. "I'm going to go exploring: I'm looking for—well―it's... hard to explain right now, but you can count on this--" He looked his sister straight in the eye. "I will come back someday. I promise."

Suddenly remembering another promise long broken, Link lightheartedly said, "Oh! I think this is yours," and gently pulled out the small red object.

Aryll gasped.

"My telescope! I lent it to you the day I got stolen by the big mean bird." She held the telescope for a second staring at it fondly, then she handed it back to him. "It's O.K., Big Brother; I don't need it back anymore. I think you'll need it more than I do."

"Aryll, I..." Link followed a jewel crab on the beach with his eyes, searching for the words.

"Thank you." He hugged his big sister.

Tetra sighed. "That's it," she muttered. She leaned over the side of the boat again and shouted, "Link! You'd better get to your boat now, before I have to make you!" She shouted from over the side of the ship.

"All right!" Link climbed into his formerly talking boat, the King of Red Lions.

"Miss Tetra! Can we shove off now?" Gonzo interrupted.

"Well, let's see... Link's nearly ready, and Niko's almost done swabbing the decks. After we know Link's ready to go, we'll get going, all right?"

"O.K., Miss!" Gonzo gave a quick salute.

Link sat in his boat. "Alright... I've got the map, the compass..." He looked into his lap. "And the telescope." He cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, "Tetra! I'm ready down here!"

"O.K.: Zuko! Get to the crow's nest! Mako, see if you can find any maps bigger than Link's! Gonzo and Nudge, you two haul up the sail; Senza, you take the helm, and Niko... I want to see those floors shine! I'll be in my room if you need me. It's time to go!" She walked off and gave a dismissing wave of her hand.

"Aye aye, Miss Tetra!" The crew responded in unison.

As the pirate ship slowly started off, gongs ringing, Link followed behind in his boat. He turned his head for a second to look once more at the fellow islanders he had known all his life.

Aryll's eyes betrayed her emotions, but she was still strong enough to wear a smile. As Link passed the watchtower still full of crying seagulls, Aryll ran down to the edge of the dock and waved a tearful, but joyous goodbye.

"I wonder when he'll come back," she thought as Link's boat disappeared over the horizon and faded into the featureless blue waves.


(A/N: Yeah, I know it's a short story, but I don't really care. If there's anything you liked, or didn't like, be sure to take the time to review! I always want to be a better writer!

Edit: Revised March 18, 2006 to be a little more stylistic.)