Alaia Skyhawk: Arkai finally gets off the mainland in this one. All hail the open seas!
I don't own the Zelda series or anything associated with it. I do however own this story and any OCs, so please don't steal them.
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Chapter 14: Red Lion
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"Well, this is where we part ways, Arkai. My job is done; time for me to return to the Temple of Courage."
Navi actually looked a little disappointed as she hovered in the air, above where a path zigzagged down the cliff to a shelf of rock below; a ship was in the water there with three Hyllian men sat on deck waiting.
Regarding the little fairy that had alternately helped him and poked fun at him for five days, Arkai actually looked a little disappointed as well. Despite being annoying at times she'd been good company.
"I guess being the Sage of Courage's partnered fairy isn't the greatest job all of the time. Could you tell him I said thanks for the letter of support, and for sending you to guide me through the forest?"
She smiled brightly.
"Sure, it would be a pleasure. He's been way to tense the last six years since he sealed his temple, and it would be nice to cheer him up with a message. See you around, Arkai, and don't do anything stupid to get yourself splatted before you reach the Temple of Courage." Shook her head in amusement before pointing down at the ship. "Now get your ass down there and get going! You're making everyone wait."
She was laughing now, the potential hero racing down the path towards the ship. She continued to smile as the three men on board spotted him and got up to welcome him, sighing as a voice murmured from the air beside her.
"He's still doubting himself, but he's getting there bit by bit."
She nodded; unfazed by the fact she seemed to be talking to thin air.
"Yeah, but he's got the guts deep down to do it. So how are things in the temple, Link? The Guardians giving you any more trouble?"
There was a faint whisper of laughter.
"They're restless, but with the taint of evil growing stronger throughout the Great Sea it's not surprising... So do you want to fly back here or take the short cut?"
She answered immediately.
"The short cut... That way I can watch Arkai through your little window with you."
A hand emerged from thin air, followed by an arm clad in blue with a white guard extending back from the wrist. Navi perched on that hand, chuckling along with her partner as he pulled her through the 'window' and into the Sacred Chamber of his temple.
"Well you always have been rather nosy, I can't say I'm surprised."
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The sheer cliffs of the forest's edge were slipping away behind him, the sun creeping towards the horizon ahead of him. The three men on the ship had been keen to get moving and catch the tidal current away from the mainland with the setting sun, and so as yet Arkai had gotten nothing more than their names out of them.
He looked from one face to another from where he stood at the ship's rail, feeling a little bit useless as his offer to help get the ship moving had been shrugged off as unneeded and 'besides you're our passenger'. The captain and oldest man on deck was called Ulthan, and he was about forty with amber eyes set into a weathered face beneath dark blond hair... The other two, Lian and Timre, looked to be in their early twenties and were green-eyed blonds. Even if he hadn't been told it would be members of the Courage Line taking him on their ship he'd have figured it out... There wasn't another family anywhere on the Great Sea that would consistently produce members with blond hair and amber or green eyes, and the resemblance between these three men made it blatant they were related.
A last few ropes were checked, Lian moving to the tiller while Timre disappeared below deck taking Arkai's bag with him. It was now that Ulthan finally came over to talk to him, giving Arkai a long look over before he spoke.
"Sorry for the abrupt treatment, but when the tide is going out the current sweeps westward around the southern end of the Forest Peninsula. It'll carry us a fair way before it stops, and a lot faster than if it were just the wind pushing us. We needed to catch it, because with the wind blowing from the east the second leg of this trip will be somewhat slow. Of course the wind is great for this leg, and pretty good for the last. It will be murder for the third leg though, so fingers crossed it changes to a good bearing before we get that far." He leaned against the rail beside Arkai, raising an eyebrow. "And if you don't mind me mentioning, you looked a little put out when we shrugged off your offer of help. Don't take it personally, this ship is hardly Great Sea Standard, and if you don't know which line does what you could end up taking a sail boom to the head very easily."
Looking a little bemused, Arkai sighed.
"I was that easy to read, huh?" He looked sidelong at the man beside him. "Up until I started out on this journey all I've ever wanted was to become a sailor, and this is my first time out on a ship going any real distance. I've been on short loops out of Nae Lanai as a passenger several times since I was little, and this time I was hoping to actually get to do something to sail the ship."
Ulthan laughed.
"So that's it! Well then, my two sons and Iwill just have to do something about that. By the time we get you to Headstone Isle you'll be able to work the rigging of the Red Lion blindfolded."
Arkai froze for a moment in surprise.
"This is the Red Lion? The Sage of Courage's ship?"
Ulthan laughed again.
"Aye lad, it is. This is the fastest ship on the Great Sea, and even by today's standards there are few vessels that can come close to matching her for speed. I suppose we could have brought the Time's Eternal Gale from Outset instead of this one, but this ship was built by the man you're ultimately on your way to see so there's a nice bit of symmetry to it. Of course the Gale is one of the ships that's almost as fast as this one, and was built by Eidan, the Sage of Courage's father, but it just wouldn't have had the same special touch to it."
Arkai fell silent for a moment, thoughtful.
"And once again I end up meeting people and seeing things that make me feel unbelievably small... This ship is five hundred years old and built by a man who is the closest thing a mortal can be to a god, the most powerful of all the Nine Sages. You're all descended from him, and from a god, and I'm just some guy from Nae Lanai thrown into the deep end of all this."
The captain raised his eyebrow again.
"You don't think you have the courage Heroes are supposed to have, don't think you're strong enough, don't you?" Arkai blinked and looked up as Ulthan continued. "Courage isn't about strength, it's about facing your fears in order to do the right thing. The fact that you're scared but still keep going shows that you have courage enough to fill the walls of Hyrule Castle Town. You're strong of heart, Arkai, and that's where it matters because a strong heart will lead one to becoming strong in the physical sense. You've already got everything you need."
Arkai continued to blink before dissolving into a smile of self-depreciation.
"I've heard a few talks like this come to think of it... You'd think I'd have gotten the message by now."
Ulthan slapped him on the back, laughing.
"The fact that you're joking about it says that you just have. Come on, you were learning to be a sailor before all this right? Let's see how much you know."
With that he hauled Arkai away from the rail and began to point to different basic parts of the ship and asking for the name and purpose. No sooner than he confirmed that Arkai already knew all the basics he launched into teaching him how to work the rigging of ships in general and the Red Lion in particular, the lessons getting the potential Hero's unbridled attention until fading light forced them to bed; the two of them up at the crack of dawn the next day to pick up where they left off.
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"The wind is directly behind us! You feel up for it Arkai?"
Four men stood on the deck of the Red Lion with the wind at their backs, grinning at each other as the novice sailor from Nae Lanai nodded and with a leap grabbed one of the ropes of the rigging. With the practice of several days behind him, Arkai detached the lateen sail from the boom and raised it up to join the second previously unused one strapped in place on to the mast, attaching the pulley on the end to a rope anchored there. He then slid down one of the forward lines, opening a hatch in the deck and pulling a number of small metal rings attacked to various rope tags on the edges of the sails inside the hatch. As soon as he was done he joined Ulthan at the tiller and reached for the first of three release ropes, grinning as he pulled it.
With a whine of moving rope and the rustle of canvas the two booms dropped outwards drawing an arch of sail out of the forward hatch, two more ropes bringing out the smaller two arches to spread across smaller spars spread like ribs between mast and booms. Each rope made the ship lurch forward, a whoop of exhilaration coming from all four on board as the Red Lion began to streak across the waves at the speed it was famous for. One more day would see them reach Headstone, and Arkai's first Temple of the Sages of the Master Sword.
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Alaia Skyhawk: Short yeah, but not a lot to say for it really other than the tidbits about Link... He knows what Arkai is doing because he's practically watching from over his shoulder all the time, lol... By the way, did anyone pick up the funny bit I put in the last chapter when Navi was talking about her descendants... Which fairy did she meet and have a spat with in Clock Town, who also has a brother? Hehehehe XD