Summit

I thrashed and tossed myself about, until I heard the snap of a branch. Great, that stupid bird put me in a tree. Anyways, I landed on my butt, sustaining injuries to my pride alone. "Owwwwch." I groaned, hearing footsteps in front of me. I looked up to find some kid dressed in green, probably wondering if I was ok, "Wow. What's with that get-up?"

"Oh, well . . . it's kind of a tradition." He replied in a high voice.

"Well, whatever. Where am I?" I asked, looking around at the forest that wrapped all around me.

"This is Outset Island, that bird dropped you here after a rock hit it, you ok?"

Coming back to the world before the flashback, "Oh that's right! That giant bird came and . . ."

"Miss! Miss Tetra!" an old, familiar voice called from not too far away. Gonzo was hopping from one foot to the other like an idiot, but thankfully I stopped myself from laughing before he got to where I was. "Oh! Oh thank . . ." he panted, rubbing his forehead, "Thank goodness! You're safe! When I saw you get dropped on this summit, I thought for sure you'd . . ." I stopped him about there, "Summit? So that bird dropped me on top of a mountain?" I glared off to the side, this was turning into a bad day quickly, "Well, wasn't that nice of it!" I started heading towards where Gonzo came from, waving him over, "well, don't just stand there! Let's go! Time to repay our debt to that bird in full." As I raced ahead, Gonzo called back to me, "But Miss . . . what about this boy?"

"Don't worry about him, come on!" Gonzo followed me and a bit later, so did the green wonder.

We exited the forest to find a bridge spanning across a huge gorge created by two small islands close to each other, together making Outset. On the other side of it stood a girl, with blond pigtails and a blue flower dress. When the green wonder stepped out as well, she called to him, "'Hoy! Big brother!"

"' Hoy, Aryll!" he called back, smiling as Aryll crossed the bridge towards him. That's when the bird came back; snatching Aryll up before we could really do anything. "ARYLL!" Green wonder yelled, terrified. "Brother!!!" Aryll screeched back, being toted away by the bird. I heard the shing of metal against a sheath, I turned my head to see G.w. holding a sword with a brave (or stupid) look in his eye. He charged at the bird and almost fell off the ledge into the water below, but I caught his hand before he fell, causing Gonzo to catch me as well. G.w thrashed around, trying to get at the bird, "Uhhn! Stupid kid! Get a hold of yourself! She's gone. There's nothing you can do."

As the bird flew away, I heard the green wonder mumble, "But . . . Aryll . . ." as we pulled him up. Yup, this is officially the worst day I've had since the day my mother died.

"Boss, you alright?!" Niko tried to suck-up when we got back to the boat. G.w. gawked at it, stopping his depression for a bit. "Yeah, I'm fine. But we gotta catch that bird!" I started towards the ship, when G.w. called to me, "Hey, I want to come with you!"

"What?!? You want to come with us on our ship?"

"Well, yeah." He nodded, looking oh so sincere, "You're going after that bird anyway."

"Do you understand what you're asking? We're pirates! You know . . . PIRATES! The terror of the seas!"

"I don't care what you are; right now my sister's all I care about." This wasn't going to be easy. "What do we get out of bringing some helpless little kid along with us? I'll tell you what we get . . . a headache."

"Look, I'll even pay for this, if its money you want!" he pulled out about forty rupees, not even close to the amount I would ask normally. "I know how you must feel, with your sister being kidnapped and all . . ." I thought back to my mom for just a second before putting my foot down, "But that doesn't really have anything to do with us, now does it?" I thought I made a good argument, but a third party begged to differ, "And how do you figure that?" asked a Rito postman, a half-bird half human creature. Gonzo came right to my defense, as usual, "Whoa, whoa, whoa there! Just who are you?! Where do you get off butting in on someone else's conversation?!"

"Please! All I mean to say is that if you big bad pirates hadn't come to this quiet little island . . . that poor little girl wouldn't have been snatched away by that bird!" now this was getting confusing, "And just what do you mean by that?"

"Just be quiet for a moment and I'll tell you!" the Rito instructed while we listened to him.

"Now as my work entails delivering letters, I spend much of my time travelling amongst the many different islands. As a result, I hear many things . . . haven't any of you heard word that young girls have been getting kidnapped from all regions of the great sea?" No duh, I thought without actually saying it.

"No matter, whether you've heard it or not, that seems to be the case. Young girls with long ears like yours have been getting kidnapped, never to return again. And unless my eyes fail me, the young girl who was just kidnapped from this island also had long ears, does she not? Much like YOU do, Miss fearsome pirate. My point is that the bird mistook that poor girl for you, and that's why it grabbed her." I knew I was beat, so I didn't say anything. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was young Link here who saved you from the monsters in the forest, wasn't it. Is this true . . ."

"You were unconscious while I was doing it." Green wonder, aka Link added. So he had a name, who knew? "Oh! And while I'm at it . . . I may as well tell you that the bird that kidnapped both you and Link's sister made its foul nest to the north, on the heights of the Forsaken Fortress." Now this was freaking me out, "The Forsaken Fortress?! Isn't that the place where . . ." I started but couldn't finish, what did I get myself into? "So, what are you going to do? Under the circumstances, I don't think it would be unreasonable for you to give Link a little help, now would it?" great, if I didn't do it I'd be badgered by this guy for the rest of my life, "Hmph . . . I don't need you to tell me that!"

"So you'll help me?" Link asked again while I explained it to him, "Even if I were to consider it . . . Lately I've heard nothing but evil rumors about this Forsaken Fortress. You can't possibly mean to go there with nothing but that cheap little sword! That's not brave! It's stupid!" I spoke from experience here, "I mean, come on! Even a simple little island like this must have something you can use as a shield. You know, something to protect yourself with? Anything?"

"Well, I do have something, but I don't know if I can-"

"Tell you what. If you come back with something like that, we'll let you stow away on our ship."

"Alright, thanks Miss Tetra!"

"Oh, and one more thing:" I added before he ran off, "once we leave, we won't be coming back here for a while, so you better go say good-bye to your family while you have the chance. I don't want you getting all weepy-eyed and homesick on me!" he nodded and ran for his house, which was on the far-east side of the island. "You sure about this captain?" Gonzo asked, watching Link as he left. "I guess I just feel generous today. By the way, he's your problem Niko."

"What! Why me?"

"You're the swabbie; therefore you do as I say. Any more questions?"

"No captain."

A few minutes later Link came back with a shield, but a crappy one at that, "Wow, that's a decrepit old shield . . . are you sure you can still use that thing? Are you going to get splinters and cry?"

"I'll be fine." He mumbled looking away from me, "can we go now?"

"Well, whatever . . . if you're ready to go, then let's go! Are you ready?"

"Yes, let's go get that bird!" so with that my men prepared to set sail while me and Link looked back at the island. As Senza banged the ceremonial gong the people of outset gathered to wish Link off and wish him luck in rescuing Aryll. Suddenly while he was waving to them something caught his attention, and he ran to the very edge of the stern. Standing out on the back deck of his house was an old lady, probably his Grandma, watching us sail away sorrowfully. He waved to her with both his arms. This was starting to get annoying, "Ugh . . . how much longer is this going to go on, do you think? Do you have an estimate?" I'll admit, I was a little jealous at how much everyone cared about him here, but I had a schedule to upkeep, "Are you sure you shouldn't quit right now? Seriously, think about it."

"What makes you say that?" he stopped waving while I leaned back, head on my hands, with only one eye open, "I can tell you're just going to get more sentimental from here on out."

"I am not!" he glared at me, irritated. "There's still time, you know. . . Are you sure we shouldn't just turn around and take you back to your island?"

"Sorry, but I'll pass." He stared back at outset, taking in one last glimpse of it before it disappeared from the horizon before joining Niko in the hold. He stayed there for a few days while we sailed to the Forsaken Fortress, following the molted feathers from the dirty bird that got me in this mess.