Okay, so what I did was cut out a few things from chapters 2 and 3 and put in the Sue-Belle part to connect the two and make them one long chapter.

Soon the rest of the island awakens as the blinding gold sun rises from the east. East. That's where the Earth Temple is. I'm sure that place is still crawling with monsters, and now I have the sudden urge to go fight them. Any kind would do; Redead, Chu-Chu's, even Darknauts.

But I discard the idea, because I lack a quick transport and a blade. Seeing as the Master Sword is lodged in Ganondorf's skull beneath the ocean, I can't use that, nor can I use the Hero's Sword because after I got the Master Sword… What happened to it anyway?

It takes the villagers a good half-hour of their daily chores before they notice me. Perhaps it would have been longer if Ayrll wasn't playing on "Ayrll's Lookout". A loud, questioning "Big Brother?" carries across Outset and in an instant I feel the eyes of everyone on the island burning into the back of my skull. Now only the waves dare to make a sound as they lap up onto the shore.

What a sight I must be! A shirtless boy with a mop of blonde hair flecked with blood and grime, complete with a blood soaked shirt wrapped around his right hand, the one that he uses to hold a shield with. In his eyes, a hunger for adventure, and on his left hand, the symbol of the goddesses glows radiantly.

Then, people begin talking to each other, wondering aloud about what happened.

"What in the Great Sea is Link doing here?"

"We saw him leave just this morning!"

"Was he ship-wrecked?"

"Oh, the poor dear!"

Their assumptions, though well intended, don't help my mood very much, so I sit up and make to swim home. But before I can jump into the cool blue water, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around and see Sue-Belle, whose hobby is carrying pots on her head. Worry is etched on her pretty young face.

"Link, what happened? Why are you here and not with the pirates?" she inquires. Even though I'm still trying to figure that out, I know she's genuinely surprised and worried, so I tell her what I know. How I was in the forest. Swearing I saw the boat docked. I save my hand injury for last, because I find it to be no big deal. Unwrapping my hand, I hold it up for her to see. She gasps at it and covers her mouth for a second, looking like she's fighting back vomit. After she catches her breath, she grabs my good hand and leads me off the dock and into her grandpa's home.

"Show the hand to my grandpa. He'll know how to fix it up."

I'm about to tell her that it's not that bad when I look down at it. The cut itself is a dark crimson color, spreading from my thumb to my ring finger, and the area surrounding it has begun to turn green and blue. Nodding, I watch her walk out the door.

I turn my attention to Sturgeon, my frail old neighbor, who's bent over an ancient looking book filled with odd markings that almost look like letters.

I clear my throat and say, "'Hoy Sturgeon."

He gives a small jump at the noise, and looks up at me, a smile creeping across his face.

"So the rumors are true. Young Link, conqueror of Evil, is still on Outset. Good to see you, m'boy!" A puff of dust rises into the air as he shuts the book. "So unfortunate about the crash, though. Those freak storms are a horrible thing to have to deal with. They gave me and my brother quite a bit of trouble when we were younger!"

I don't reply. Most of the storms I've been in, which is a lot, aren't bad at all. But I don't want everyone to know that I was simply left behind like the pirates didn't need me, so I lie.

"Yeah, that storm just came out of nowhere. The boat's merely planks of wood adrift the sea now. I can't believe I made it back unharmed… except for this." Holding up my hand for him to see, I continue. "You see, when the boat crashed, an arrow fell out of my quiver and found my hand an acceptable target."

The old man stands up, leaning on his cane, and hobbles over to me. He grabs my hand tenderly, almost as if afraid, and inspects it.

"Hmm, yes… I see…" he mutters as he turns my hand over and back, runs a finger along the cut, and pokes at the raw flesh.

"Well," he sighs after what be ten minutes, "I don't know what to say. That's quite the injury you've got there. You're not going to like the solution very much…"

Nervously I ask, "What is it?"

"Amputation."

I try to swallow it, but it just can't be. In the Great Sea, if something like this happens to you, you're considered useless, just able to sit around all day because you can't work a boat or the fields. And I'm not cut out for that life. No, I was built for adventure.

"Amp-amputation?" I stutter. "Why? How? The cut doesn't even hurt!"

"Precisely, m'boy. You seem to have hit a major nerve, which will soon render your hand useless, so why keep it? Also, it's infected pretty bad. That always happens when you hit a nerve like this. Without amputation, it will spread to the heart and kill you within about 2 weeks."

Numbness spreads through my body. This can't be happening. First being left by Tetra and her crew, and now amputation? Could this day get any worse?

Sturgeon says something like "can't be helped" and "the only way." Courage suddenly returns to me. I've never given up on anything before, not when it matters.

"No!" I yell. "There's got to be another way!" I push Sturgeon aside and dig through all of his medical books, in the end pulling out two that could prove useful: ''s Book of Injuries Vol. 2, Cuts and Punctures' and 'The Art of Magical Healing'.

I turn to Sturgeon, whose mouth is slightly agape, say a sharp thank you, and leave.

Thanks for reading!