(Once again, Golden Sun and all its characters belong to Camelot, ect. I claim no rights to any of these characters, the game, ect, ect. Do I have to do this every chapter?)

Matthew was first to recover, finding his voice and sprinting to the stairs that led below decks. "Eoleo!" He yelled, a hint of panic in his voice. The Mars adept had been down helping his crew with a breach one of the monsters had cause, but he was up in seconds at Matthew's call, his overly large axe at the ready. His eyes narrowed when he saw that there were no monsters onboard, and opened his mouth to scold the two for bringing him up here for no reason. The words died in his mouth, though, as he followed their gaze to the giant cyclone bearing down on them. "Get below and warn the others!" He shouted, spinning around and sprinting for the wheel, intent on sailing the ship out of the path of the gale.

Meanwhile, Sveta and Matthew shot downstairs, intent on finding their friends. As they passed startled crewmen, they yelled warnings, and soon enough the entire ship was busy with frantic preparations. Everywhere the two looked, someone was tying a barrel down or securing a porthole, making sure that if Eoleo did manage to evade the howling winds, nothing and nobody would be taken by it. At last, the duo reached the cargo hold, the most open space in the entire ship, where the other three members of their party, Amiti, Karis, and Tyrell, were practicing their swordplay, or in Tyrell's case, axeplay. Despite the enormous power behind his swings, though, he was never able to even come close to the other two adepts, whose light blades allowed them to move out of the way with time to spare, so the fighting was mainly between Amiti, with his feather-light Sylph Rapier, and Karis, with the oddly named Kikuichimonji, which possessed more power behind its swings, so the two were equally matched. The moment Matthew and Karis rushed in, though, they stopped, sensing something was wrong.

"So? Why don't we just outrun it?" Tyrell asked, rather oblivious as he was quite often.

"Didn't you hear them? It's faster than us!" Karis yelled, as by now the winds sounded as if they were right on top of them. "Do you think Eoleo can-"

There was a sudden lurch, and suddenly the loud roar ceased, replaced by a gentle whistling that sounded through every plank in the ship. Everyone onboard stopped moving, listening to the strange noise.

"Are . . . did we escape it?" Amiti said quietly, not wanting to ruin the sudden reprieve.

"I'm afraid not." Eoleo said grimly, climbing down the ladder. His usually messy clothes had become even more disheveled, as if he had been sailing through a storm, which, in a way, he had. "The twister was too strong," The captain continued, his eyes clouded. "I was barely able to get inside before it hit us."

There was a moment's silence, then someone spoke the question on all of their minds. "Are . . . are we going to die, then?" Sveta asked, fighting back tears. Was this really the end? Would she never get to avenge her brother's sacrifice, never save the people of her fair Belinsk, never-

Then she saw the look of puzzlement cross the pirate's face. "By all rights, we should, but if that was what was going to happen, we should have already been whirling around outside among the splinters of the boat. No, the ship's still holding together completely. I think, strange as it sounds, we might-"

"Might be safely inside of it?" An elderly voice asked, and Kraden stepped off the ladder, pulling a scroll from his cloak, the twinkle in his eyes that meant he was seeing something that excited him very evident. "That's exactly what's happened, Eoleo. We're inside of the legendary Otka Vortex.

There was silence, during which everyone stared at Kraden. Had Rief been awake, he would have probably been able to explain what on Weyard Kraden was talking about, but since he was asleep, it fell to Himi, who had just climbed down the ladder with Flint on her shoulder, to ask. "The Otka Vortex?"

Kraden sighed. This was exactly like traveling with the warriors of Vale, having to explain every new thing that they came across, not that that was a bad thing, necessarily. He then rolled open the scroll, turning it around to show the group a complicated sketch of the gale that had picked them up, a boat inside of it, and an island. "The Otka Vortex is a strange phenomenon of Weyard, supposedly created by the Jenei. The theory is similar to the Cloudy Passage, that it allows the traveler to reach an inaccessible place, in this case, Otka Island, which is where the Vortex gets its name. The idea is simple. The Vortex picks up the traveler's boat and carries it to the island, which is surrounded on all sides by a group of impassible, jagged rocks jutting out of the water, though no one knows the reason for this natural looking barrier. It passes the island twice a day, where it reduces in speed, allowing the traveler to sail out of the eye and make dock on the island. The island has been rumored to hold an amazing treasure, but all those who were lucky enough to end up on the island saw that the cave in which the treasure is said to be held was impassible."

"In short, we are not going to be suffocated to death? Matthew asked, relieved.

"From the sound of it, this will give us plenty of time for repairs." Eoleo added, sounding satisfied. He nodded to everyone, and then began climbing up. "I'm going to go let the boys know." He hauled himself up the ladder, grinning, and a minute later, a roar of enthusiasm could be heard from the entire crew of pirates.

Karis smiled, relieved as much as the others. "We'd better get prepared. Am I right in thinking we're going to check out this cave?" She asked Matthew, who nodded in reply. Tyrell gave a cheer, excited by the prospect of exploration, and everyone went to their cabins to gather their equipment, with the exception of Matthew and Sveta, already in full gear from the watch.

Matthew finally relaxed, loosening the grip on Sveta's hand he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. But now he noticed, and he pulled his hand away, flushing red. "H-How long was I . . .?" He asked her nervously.

"Since the Vortex lifted the boat." The beastgirl replied, smiling a little, her own cheeks a little pink. "I was as scared as you were, and I needed the company of a friend as much as you."

"Exactly." Matthew quickly agreed, though something in the back of his head protested the idea of a simple friendship. At that moment, the winds started to die down. "I guess we're here." He said, making sure the Gaia blade was strapped to his back.

Sveta nodded, strapping on the Umbra knuckles. Besides the gauntlets, they were the only pieces of the gear they had retrieved so far. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "Matthew?" She asked the Venus adept.

"Yes, Sveta?" Matthew replied, turning to look at her.

"About your story . . . did you ever find out what the song was?" She continued. She didn't know why she asked, it was just something nagging at her.

Matthew thought, and then chuckled. "Dad never told me, now that I think about it. But if I ever find out, you'll be the first to know." He promised, and then gestured to the ladder. "After you."

(It always bothered me that there was a random tornado that picked up your boat without destroying it in the middle of the ocean, so I came up with a name and an explanation. On another note, Karis's blade, that I'm not spelling again, is a pain to type. Please review!)