Returning to the same place she had been the previous morning, she took a seat on the rock where she had left her old blue pencil. Setting the book on her lap, she turned to the page where the picture of the beach had been drawn. It was exactly the same as the day before, everything she had worked so hard on, including her signature at the bottom. Taking the corner of the page between two fingers, she slowly turned the edge to reveal a blank page. Within seconds, the page filled with the same drawing as before. However, this time there was something different in the centre of the ocean, something she had been hoping wouldn't appear. What was left of a great ship floated across the waves, pieces of broken wood littering the water with no trace of life in sight. Slamming the book shut, she looked up to see a pair of sparkling blue eyes far off beneath the ocean. Akimaru had awoken.


"You three can stay here if you want, it's not like I'll need you," Amber told the others as they sat on the grass hill outside the castle.

"Fine with me," Saria mumbled.

"No matter what we say, Zelda won't let us get out of this," Link put his arms behind his head, resting them on the grass. "Although, she might let you off Saria since you're a Sage and all, but you know, it would be lonely without you…"

"Lonely? You'd have me to keep you company- not that I want any of you there!" the Gerudo exclaimed. "Who are you anyway?" she turned to Taj who had been sitting silently to the side.

"I'm Taj, I-"

"Taj huh? You seem familiar, do I know you?" Amber looked the boy up and down.

"I doubt it," he swallowed hard.

"Well, we should get going," Link stood up, stretching his arms. "The quicker we get there, the sooner we can leave."

"You do know that it will take you approximately three days to cross the ocean, don't you?" Zelda's voice rang out over the hills.

"No way! I can't swim that far!" Amber squeaked.

Zelda slapped herself on the forehead.

"I'll have the sailors prepare a ship for you, it will be magically enchanted so you don't have to worry about sailing it yourselves." Taking out some small cards, she started handing them out. "To get through the port gate, you'll need these identity cards. I've taken the time to fill them out for each of you."

"My name is Taj Hyrule?" Taj blinked at the name on his card.

"Yes, you'll be known as a cousin of mine. Link and Saria have been given the same last name since I couldn't-"

"Whoa, you two are related?" Amber glanced at their cards, both had the last name 'Kokiri' after their names.

"Of course not!" Saria almost fainted.

"Ah I see, so you're married?" Amber's expression was serious.

"Do we look old enough to be?" Link asked, looking at the rest of his card. "I did prefer 'Croissant' though."

"Well, I dun-"

"It's made up, okay!" Zelda folded her arms, glad she wasn't going on a journey with this girl.

"Oh, right," Amber read the name on her own card. "Hey, why don't I have a last name… or a first name?"

"Because I wasn't sure what to put. Amber doesn't sound like a typical Gerudo name," the princess watched the girl's expression change into a scowl.

"Well it is my name! My first one, okay? Maybe my mother wanted to be more original than the others!"

"If you say so," Zelda snatched the card to fill in the details. "And what's your last name?"

"Farrenzolinackerishla!"

There was silence.

"Are you serious?" Saria finally said.

"Would this face lie to you?" Amber shot her a big grin.

"That's a rhetorical question, right?" the Kokiri half smiled.

"A what? What are you going on about Saria?" Amber asked, watching Zelda fill out her card with an amused expression on her face. "That name has been passed through generations in my family, it is an honour to have it!"

"Yes, well, here's your card," Zelda handed her the card. "I've arranged some transport that will take you to the docks. It should be arriving shortly."

"I didn't even know Hyrule had docks, where are they?" Link asked, not remembering any docks on his travels of the kingdom.

"They're in the southern area of the kingdom. You've probably never seen them because you were never looking," Zelda explained. Hearing a horse-drawn wagon rolling up the lane, she went to greet it.

"Lucky I carry most of my weapons with me all the time," Link said, trying to see who was in the wagon.

"Yeah because I don't," Saria grinned. "Not that I have many."

"Wait, we won't get time to pack? But I need to go back and get some supplies and other weapons and my pyjamas!" Amber started to panic, she hadn't imagined the shield would be so much trouble.

"Hi everyone!" a familiar, cheerful voice squealed from the lane.

"Hi Malon, what are you doing here?" Saria waved at the ranch girl.

"Well, since you always leave me behind when you go off and save the world, I thought I'd help you get there this time!" she nodded to the wagon she had borrowed from her dad. "And Shinro is here too! He's my bodyguard!"

"We aren't saving the world," Saria pointed out.

"Why do you look at me when you say we leave you behind and not Saria, too?" Link mumbled.

"Because she's only done it once! You've done it… more than once!" Malon huffed and walked back to the wagon. "Now move your butts so we can get going!"

"I like this girl," Amber smiled, skipping towards the wagon. "Having no supplies or clothes might be fun."

"You'll be the one needing a bodyguard from Malon," Link whispered to Shinro who was sitting upfront. Getting in the back of the wagon, he poked his head through the gap connecting to the front seat. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Malon said you were taking a trip to the docks so I thought I'd come along. That part of Hyrule Field can be dangerous too."

"Hi! You have interesting hair," Amber shoved Link out of the way to get a better look at Shinro. "Was your hairdresser on something when they cut it?"

"She sat on a chair yeah," Shinro blinked, not sure what this girl was trying to say.

"A chair? You're funny," Amber grinned. "I'm Amber, pleasure to meet you, jagged-haired boy."

"Hey Shinro?" Link squeezed his head through the hole next to Amber. "If you're here as a 'bodyguard' does that mean you brought your sword?"

"I did. Why're you asking?"

"Just wondering what type you have," he tried to get a peek at the other boy's sword but it was well hidden.

"That would be telling," Shinro shot him a smile. "I don't like to bring it out unless I really need it."

"Your own fists are better anyway!" the Gerudo exclaimed, almost punching Link in the face.

"I like a mixture of both myself," Taj joined the conversation from the back of the wagon.

"Oh? What kind of weapons do you have?" Amber twisted around, suddenly becoming interested in the Sheikah.

Turning his attention to Saria and Zelda talking in front of the castle, Link wondered what they could have been saying. Saria hadn't been herself since that morning, he knew she was still upset over her ocarina but didn't know how to cheer her up. Hopefully seeing all the new sights would take her mind off things.

"I'll watch over the Forest Temple," Zelda reassured Saria. "It will be fun."

"That's nice of you Zelda, but what if you get lost?" Saria asked, the image of the princess being chased by a gang of skull kids through the forest flashing into her mind.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. If I do get lost I can just warp myself to safety, right?" Zelda smiled, pushing Saria towards the wagon. "I've always wanted to be a Kokiri for a day, now I can be one for a week!"

"Shut up Saria, you're going! You have no choice!" a high voice hissed out of nowhere.

"Did you just hear that…?" Saria blinked, looking around for the source of the voice.

"Nope," Zelda shrugged. "Must have been the wind."

"Come on Saria, while we're young!" Malon shouted from the wagon.

"Shh! Be quiet!" another voice whispered a little too loud.

"Must be my imagination," Saria said to herself before getting in the wagon.

"Have a lovely time!" Zelda waved when the wagon took off. "Bring me back something nice!"


"So, tell me about yourself," Amber moved next to Taj whilst the others talked to Malon and Shinro through the gap.

"What do you want to know?" Taj asked, shifting slightly away from the girl.

"I didn't pay much attention in my history classes, but I do know that the Sheikah race was wiped out a long time ago. How did you manage to slip through that?"

"It's a long story that I'd rather not go into," the boy replied, hoping she wouldn't keep asking questions.

"If that's how you want it," Amber sighed, this was so boring! They had been travelling for the best part of the day but it didn't seem to her like they had gotten anywhere. "Are you single?" she finally asked Taj.

"Um, yeah. Why?" he gulped.

"Just wondering," Amber grinned. "I bet you get up to a lot of mischief when no one's looking, eh? Or are you, Saria and Link having some kind of secret threesome?"

"No, of course not!" Taj couldn't believe she would ask such a thing.

"I see, it's the ranch girl instead, isn't it? She's in on their threesome and this angers you because you want to be in her place. It's ok Taj, I'm here for you now." she patted his arm. "Although, you're not really my type. No offence, but I prefer my guys with more meat on them." Her eyes shifted to Link who was pointing towards the Zora River, saying something about multicoloured frogs. "However…" her gaze moved to Saria. "Girls are always more interesting."

"That's, uh, nice for you," Taj started fidgeting with his fingers so he wouldn't have to look directly at her. "I think I'll take a nap," he told her, forcing his eyelids shut to give the impression that he really was sleeping.

"Meh," Amber mumbled, leaning back against the inside of the wagon. "How can anyone sleep at a time like this? He's acting like he gets to go a whole new country everyday." Digging her hands into her pockets, she brought out a small penknife she had stolen from some overweight rich guy in the market. Pulling out the various gadgets, she tried to figure out what some of them actually did.

"What's that?" Saria asked, staring at the unfamiliar object.

"My mom said it's a penknife so I guess that's what it is," Amber replied, surprised that the Kokiri had been paying attention to her.

"You must be close to your mom, to trust her so much." Moving from her spot next to Link, Saria sat by Amber to get a better look at the penknife.

"Depends on the day," the Gerudo smirked. "I bet your mom loves you, the perfect daughter with the perfect boyfriend and the perfect life."

"I wouldn't know, I've never had one. And that's a bold statement to make about someone you've just met."

"Huh?" Amber blinked. "Did your mom pass away or something?"

"Nope, I just never had one. I have a dad though, kind of, if you want to count a tree as one," Saria said casually.

"Right. You'll be telling me you live with fairies next," Amber laughed, this girl had to be making this up to wind her up.

"You know more than you're letting on," Deciding to ignore Amber's sarcasm, Saria sounded impressed.

Amber couldn't think of a reply. Turning back to her penknife, she tried to work out why Saria was even talking to her, if she had been so mad about the wooden thing getting burned.

"Oh, look at the huge flowers!" Malon squealed when they entered the southern field.

"What the hell are they?" Amber jumped up next to Link. To the Gerudo the 'flowers' looked like giant orange buds with long propellers underneath.

"Peahats, they inhabit the vast spaces of Hyrule Field," Shinro explained. "They survive by feeding on the plants that grow here. If you get too close to them, they'll give chase and won't stop until they've sliced you to pieces with their razor sharp blades!"

"You'd make a good fairy," Link smirked, about to reach for his sword. "One of them is bound to start up since there's so many around here."

"Don't be silly Link, my wagon driving skills will get us past these things without a problem!" Malon exclaimed, before crashing the wagon right into the nearest peahat without realising. Rising into the air, the giant plant-like creature summoned its friends who swarmed around the wagon, leaving no path unguarded to escape.

"Stay in the wagon where it's safe girls, we'll deal with these things," Shinro said, grabbing the hilt of his sword.

"Excuse me?" Amber sent a fist into the back of his head. "I don't need to be protected by a bunch of 'men'!" Leaping over the passed out Shinro, she clutched the edges of her shield ready to take out the whole group alone if she had to.

"Would it be surprising if I actually agree with her?" Saria watched the Gerudo slice through one of the peahats with the sharp edges of the shield.

"I'd be more surprised if you didn't agree with her." Link grinned, relaxing his hand and letting the sword slide back into its sheath. "Should we leave her get on with it?"

"Die asshole!" Amber screamed, a shower of green blood spurting from the nearest one as she threw the shield right through it, cutting it in two. Dodging an ambush of smaller peahats, she twisted around catching the shield as it span magically back to her hand.

"She shouldn't get all the fun, and I do need the practice," Taj leapt out of the wagon the same way Amber had, his sword slashing through the first peahat he came to.

"I don't want your help, you sexist pig!" Amber went to punch Taj but got a shock when the boy faded out of her sight, reappearing a few metres behind her.

"What are you on about? It wasn't me who told you to stay in the wagon," he reminded her, back flipping over a peahat sneaking up behind him.

"All guys are the same, although they do have their uses, like keeping our race going," Amber mumbled, ducking under a another of the flying enemies.

"You've met every guy in the world? You must have travelled a lot," the Sheikah finished off two small peahats at once with some throwing stars.

"What would you know about what we think? You're not a Gerudo, or a woman."

"I guess not," Taj replied, not wanting to let on that he had lived under her nose for so long without her knowing.

"Did she just do that to me?" Shinro mumbled, rubbing his sore head. "It's not my fault I was raised to be a gentleman."

"You need to get out of your little bubble a bit more," Link sighed. Looking over at Saria, he watched the girl leaning against the side of the wagon, her eyes half closed looking as if she was about to fall asleep. Reaching into his pocket, he felt the bracelet next to his ocarina but knew it wasn't the right time to give it to her.

"Coming from someone who didn't know what flour was a few years ago," Malon leaned over the back of her seat. "I think the world needs more gentlemen."

"Zelda told you about that?" Link's face turned red.

"Girls do talk, you know?" the ranch girl grinned.

"Zelda makes a good gentleman when she wants to, doesn't she Malon?" Saria joined the conversation, facing the other way to hide her laughter.

"Saria! How did you know?" Malon almost fell out of her seat. No one but her and Zelda were supposed to know about the Sheik 'incident'.

"Like you said, girls talk," the Kokiri smiled.

"Or in both these cases, Zelda talks and the rest of us listen. I didn't think she had such a big mouth," Link shook his head.

"So, did you really become friends with the princess in the way Malon told me?" Shinro asked, putting Link and Saria on the spot.

"Yes," Link replied, confident Malon had given him a believable story.

"Wow, you're slaves she bought in Hyrule Market? You must have had a terrible life before that."

"Yeees," Link grit his teeth, frowning at the back of Malon's head.

"No wonder you're so good with a sword, getting to train in the castle!" the General's son sounded impressed.

"Shinro thinks it's great that you're going to another country just to pick beans for Hyrule," Malon nodded.

"Hah, I knew I could do it!" Amber's voice interrupted them. The peahats had all been destroyed and of course, she was taking full credit for it.

"You had help," Taj muttered, slipping his sword into his belt.

"Help I didn't ask for," she huffed, shoving past him. "Me and this thing are going all the way, we'll enter fighting tournaments and everything! I'll be so rich," she smiled fondly at the shield.

"You're forgetting one thing, it's not yours," the Sheikah said, following the ecstatic girl back to the wagon.

"Oh yeah? Well where did you get that sword from?"

"I uh… found it," Taj replied.

"Ah-ha! What makes it yours then?" Amber smirked, knowing she had him cornered now

"No one has demanded I give it back to them?" he smiled, she wouldn't have anything else to say to that.

"Meh, whatever. It's mine until that time!"

"If Link had fought those things we would have been at the docks by now!" a high voice exclaimed out of nowhere.

"Did your sweater just insult me?" Amber blinked, looking at Saria's pockets.

"The tanned girl is smart, and hot too!" Koda flew out of the pocket, his hands moving straight to his hair to make sure it was still in place.

"What're you doing!" Madi hissed from within the sweater.

"They knew we were there after your screaming!" he yelled. The purple fairy had been getting fed up of sneaking around, and it had been getting too hot in Saria's pocket which wasn't good for his complexion.

"But now they'll send us home!" Madi cried, latching onto Saria's jumper. "Please don't send us home Saria!"

"Balls of light that can talk and scream, this keeps on getting more and more interesting," Amber said, watching Madi clinging to Saria.

"I-it's not up to me," Saria tried to pull the fairy off but it was no good. "Won't you miss your training?"

"This is my training!"

"She didn't even know what a peahat is," Koda snorted.

"I forgot is all!" she sniffed. "Come on Saria, the Deku Sprout won't mind if you say we can come!"

"The who?" Amber blinked, these people were weird.

"I don't have a hat you can hide in anymore though," Link said over Madi's crying.

"I'm sure I can find a new place," she smirked. "Who said I want to be your guardian again anyway? I think I should get Saria this time."

"We never discussed this!" Koda landed on Saria's jumper. "Saria's more used to having a male fairy so I should be it."

"I'm so loved," Link sighed.

"Nuh-uh, girls have to stick together!" Madi replied, still not letting go of Saria.

"Neither of you is guarding anyone, you can fly above like fairies are supposed to!" Saria pulled both of them off her clothing.

"So are you saying we can come?" Madi asked hopefully.

"If you shut up for a second, then yes," Saria closed her eyes. "Not like we had much of a choice."

"Okay so now we have two flying balls of light with us, and one of them called me hot," Amber rubbed her head.

"The correct term is fairy," Koda hovered in front of the Gerudo's face. "You should feel privileged, I don't call many girls hot."

"Yeah, if not many is all the girls you meet," Madi shoved Koda out of the way. "I'm Madi and I know you're Amber, you made Saria sad which makes me sad but I'll learn to get on with you if she can."

"Um, thanks," Amber stared dumbly at the golden fairy. "Nice to have your approval."

"Who exactly are those two?" Shinro whispered to Malon who had been driving the wagon towards the entrance of the docks.

"Some friends of Link and Saria's I guess, they know a lot of strange people," she shrugged. "You get used to it."


The cool sea air woke them up as the wagon rolled through the rusty iron gates of the docks. Rows of vessels sat lined up against the old wooden piers which looked as if they could fall apart at any time. At one end of the docks were the smaller boats owned by local fishermen and sailors who didn't work for the castle. The further they looked along the docks, the grander the ships became with their tall masts and elegant sails blowing gently in the breeze. One of the noticeable differences between the smaller boats and the ships was that the biggest ships had magical spells surrounding them, spells only the Royal Family could create. Link guessed the largest ships at the end must have belonged to Zelda's father, or at least someone high up in the army.

"Identification please," a guard standing at the gate asked in an emotionless voice.

"Right," Malon smiled, digging in her bag for her card. "All of you will have to show him your cards too."

"What if we ate our cards?" Amber leaned over behind Malon.

"Did you do that?" Shinro shot the Gerudo a startled look.

"No, but what if we did!"

"No one would be stupid enough," Taj joined her at the gap to show the guard his card. "These things don't have pictures on so how do they know who we are?"

Taking the boy's card, the guard waved a hand over the blank side where a cross-eyed picture of Taj appeared.

"Nice picture," Link grinned, leaning over the boy's shoulder. "Where did Zelda get them?"

"I guess she took them without us knowing," Taj took his card back from the guard. "It's amazing how that spell works, isn't it?"

"I thought so too the first time I came here," Malon felt good to finally know about something her friends didn't.

"Let me see mine," Link watched the guard put the spell on his card.

"You look dead," Malon laughed at the picture of Link lying on the grass with his eyes closed.

"Must have been when we were in the courtyard," Saria handed the guard hers.

"Haha, that's the best one yet!" Amber cracked up. The card showed Saria falling backwards from the tree in Zelda's courtyard.

"Zelda got it right in mid-air too, she has one good pictobox," Link laughed. "Let's see yours Amber."

"I'm sure mine will be fantastically awesome," the Gerudo insisted.

Uncovering the hidden image, the guard himself almost fell over from laughing. There was Amber, snarling at the pictobox with her finger pointing at it in a threatening manner.

"Eheh, must have caught me off guard when I was dragged into the castle," Amber blushed, snatching the card back.

"Glad I don't need a card," Madi sighed, landing on the floor of the wagon. "I need someone's head to sit on."

"Why don't you need a card?" Amber lay down next to the fairy.

"Because, fairies can pass through the borders of any country without worrying about identification."

"Cool, wish I was one."

"It's scary being that small," Link told her, getting ready to get off the wagon.

"And you'd know, how?" Amber asked, jumping out of the wagon.

"Just a hunch," he smiled, wondering where the ship Zelda had prepared was.

"Are you Link?" a nearby sailor asked, throwing a cloth he had been using to clean one of the ships into a bucket.

"Yeah, that's me." Link answered. He had never seen a sailor up close before, he hoped he would never have to wear their uniform.

"I've never seen the ocean before!" Amber ran to the edge of the platform, nearly tumbling into the water in her excitement. "Can you imagine swimming across it?"

"I can imagine it yes, but wouldn't do it," Taj joined her, his reflection shimmering in the water below.

Further down the way, Malon and Shinro were walking in silence, enjoying the sounds of the waves. Looking at the huge ships at the other end, Malon sighed.

"Something wrong?" Shinro asked.

"Hmm? Not really," she didn't want to bother him with her silly dreams.

"Okay then." he wasn't going to force her to confide in him.

They carried on walking in silence for a few minutes.

"It's just, I've been here loads of times to deliver milk but I've never been on a ship before. Dad said he'd take me someday, I think he forgot though."

"Well, if you want, the next time my parents and I go sailing on our ship you could come too. Only if you want though," Shinro didn't want her to think he was bragging.

"Oh yeah, your family must own a string of ships," she mumbled, feeling she couldn't match up to his lifestyle.

"Nope, only the one. It's not that big either but my parents are happy with it." he could tell she felt intimidated by him.

"Oh, okay. What does your mom do anyway?" Malon changed the subject.

"You'll have to come meet her sometime, I think you'll like her."

"Sure, I'd like that," she nodded, pushing the negative thoughts to the back of her mind.

Back at the other end of the docks, the sailor was taking the spell off one of Zelda's new ships.

"This belongs to the princess herself, I'm surprised she's letting you borrow it since she hasn't even used it herself yet."

"Someone must've been in a good mood," Koda whistled, setting himself on Saria's head so softly that she didn't notice.

"It's probably full of rats or something," Amber chuckled to herself.

"However, there's one thing that needs to be done before you can leave." the sailor explained.

"We have to clean the rats out?" Amber couldn't stop herself.

"It's bad luck to travel in a ship until it's named," he said, ignoring Amber's comment. "The princess has said that she would like you to name it for her."

"She'll regret that," Madi giggled.

"I say we call it-" Amber started.

"I say we each write a suggestion down and put it in the hat, then we let this sailor pull out the winner," Taj suggested before Amber could finish.

"Fine, if we must," Amber grumbled, taking a piece of paper from the sailor.

"Fairies can join in too, right?" Koda asked.

"You're lucky to be here so don't get too pushy," Saria swatted him off her head.

"Haha, pushy!" Madi cackled, fluttering around in a circle.

When all of the ideas had been placed in the hat, the sailor shuffled them about before pulling the winning name out.

"And the name that ship shall be called is…" he read from the paper. "The Golden Amber."

"Yes!" Amber punched the air.

"Oh jeeze," Link tried not to laugh. "I'd love to see Zelda's face when she finds out."

"What was yours then?" the Gerudo leered at him.

"The Chocolate Keesecake."

"Mine was The Sheikah Star," Taj grinned, proud of his idea.

"Am I the only one who had Zelda in mind while thinking of a name?" Saria crossed her arms.

"What was your suggestion?" Koda asked.

"The Lazy Dog."

"That's what you thought of when you think of Zelda?" Link burst out laughing, falling to his knees.

"I didn't know you were like that Saria," Taj said, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Huh? No! Not in that way!" the girl started laughing herself. "She told me that her favourite pet when she was younger was this lazy dog she had, I thought it would be nice."

"If you say so shorty," Amber smiled, putting an arm around Saria's shoulders. "Anyway, the winning name is my choice so we can forget about the rest."

"Yes, I guess we should get on," Link mumbled, pulling Saria away from the Gerudo. "Like I said before, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back."

"The Golden Amber it is!" the sailor smirked, painting the name onto the side of the ship in gold letters. "Her Highness will be most amused indeed."