It seems that most people seem to forget that the little baton in the Wind Waker is two words. The baton itself is called the Wind Waker, using two separate words. The person, as in the waker of the winds, is also called the Wind Waker, also with two words. The game itself, called the Wind Waker, is two words. Some writers use the term "Windwaker" and I'm sorely tempted to join them. Writing Wind Waker as two words is kind of annoying. Yet at the same time, this is coming from the person who intends to keep writing the phrase "King of Red Lions" for the entire story. And somehow I'm not bothered by his name.

Okay, I know that this is a really early update. I actually updated four days after the last, like how I used to! That never happens! But the last chapter pissed me off so badly that I had to cover it up quickly with something I like better. (While the last chapter wasn't something I wanted to include, it was necessary. Gotta do what I gotta do. Other people may have liked it, but my personal opinion isn't very high of happy things. Happy things written by me, anyway.)

Therefore, I present early chapter twenty-nine—a chapter I like much better—in which I pretty much throw the entire story into the deep dark hole of angst.

--

In the end, they didn't make it to Dragon Roost that day. They had to turn back and camp for the night at the island with the hole. Link had no problem with it, enjoying his time on solid ground, but Emit-Link and the kid obviously didn't like the idea. Probably Emit-Link was thinking of Ganondorf, while the kid was thinking of all the time he was wasting when he could be rescuing, or getting closer to, rescuing, his sister. The King of Red Lions didn't like the prospect either, but he was the one who had pointed out that traveling at night was dangerous business.

But either way, they all situated themselves on a separate part of the island and they each weathered alone what was definitely a cold night.

--

Navi woke up exactly at dawn, just like every other day. It was a habit that she really couldn't shake loose, something that had originated way back at the Kokiri Forest, even though the sun was barely visible there. Regardless of what had happened the night before, she would always wake up at dawn. She was actually quite thankful for it, though. It was her morning duty to beat those things.

She shook her head, trying to clear the wisps of fog from her mind, and squinted at the sky. The sky was blue. The clouds were a lighter shade of blue. She looked at the grass. It was turquoise. The rock in the middle of the island was a gray-blue. And behind the rock, the sun was a nasty shade of green so dark it was almost brown. Turning to the figure next to her, a person vast and towering compared to her, she saw Link, his breathing slow and gentle. His blue shirt was simply blue, but his fair skin had a blue film and his hair was green. She wondered what his real hair color was, since the exact shade of blonde was obscured to her and up to her imagination. She'd probably never know.

Her wings already fluttering, lifting her from her spot on the grass, she prepared for the morning struggle. Navi eyed the disgusting green blob in the sky that the Hylians called the sun. It was approximately six in the morning. Navi had automatically recorded the time that Link had fallen asleep yesterday: midnight. He'd been asleep for…six hours. Navi's eyes widened as she realized what this meant and mentally cursed herself. She should have woken up sooner! If he didn't wake up now, then the things would come. They prowled between hours six and nine, although sometimes they came earlier. But if she could help it, they wouldn't ever get him.

"Hey! Get up!" she shrilled in his ear, slightly panicked, and flitted to the left to avoid the hand she knew was coming. She always hoped that the slap that had been intended for her would wake him up when it hit his own ear instead of her, but after all these years, still no luck. "You're so lazy! Let's go! Up! Now!"

"Don't wanna…"

Navi rolled her eyes and slammed her body as hard as she could into his shoulder. He didn't move, and Navi knew that he'd probably barely felt it. So instead, she opted for her usual tactic, perching herself on the edge of his jaw—a rather enjoyable spot now that he was wearing this mask thing day and night—and jabbering away and anything and everything she could think of into his ear: "Listen, back at Windfall, don't you think it was a lot like Kakariko? There was the windmill like in Kakariko, it's a town, and Kakariko's a town. There's more merchants in Windfall, but that's okay. Still pretty similar, yeah? Hey, what do you think happened to that small neighboring place? What was it called? Calatia? Yeah, that was it. And what about Termina? Ooh, never mind Termina, what about that cloud over there? Wow, I sounded a lot like Tatl right there…but still, isn't it pretty? It kind of looks like a donut. And that reminds me! Listen, your earring is really dirty. I think you should clean it sometime. Or maybe take it off. People can get infections from earrings, and you can't get an infection. I won't let you get an infection. And if you don't take it off to give your poor ears a break sometimes, I'll bug you until you do, because that's my job. And aren't earrings really dangerous? They have these long metal sticks that go through your ears…kind of like the stinger of that bee over there, Link. You're gonna get stung if you don't move—oh wait, people don't get stung if they're staying still. And you are very still right now. Well then, I'll get stung, and that would be bad, because that stinger looks like the size of my arm. Hey, it'd be like if a sword stabbed you, you know? It'd be really dangerous for me to get stung by a bee because I'm so small. But maybe I'm not that small. Probably the stinger is only the size of half my arm, or maybe less. But I'm not going to go over there and check, because that would be dangerous. But you do loads of dangerous things all the time, right? Or you used to. Now you just sit on that roof. Sometimes you still do when I bug you enough, but most of the time you're in Castle Town. Listen, someday you're gonna have to give that way of life up and get married, you know? Settle down and all that. In fact, you're nearly old enough to get married. In just a year or two you'll be eligible, not that it would be really surprising if you got married now, because some people do get married at eighteen. When we get back to Hyrule, instead of sitting on that roof all day, I think you should check out some girls. Starting with Malon. She seems nice, you know? You can talk about Epona with her and get to know her that way. Oh, and about Epona? I think you should bail Epona out and go buy her. Nobody else can ride her except you and Malon, so you should probably just go over there, do Epona a favor, and buy her. And use her. It'd be good for both of you—"

"'Kay, 'kay, 'm up," Link mumbled, squeezing his eyes tighter. "Stop…" Then he rolled over onto his face, causing Navi to have to hover again and stare disapprovingly down at him lying facedown in the grass.

"No, I'm not going to stop until you sit up." She was sorely tempted to just yell something like, "Hey Link, look out, it's a Wallmaster!" and watch him snap to attention, but the last time she'd done that, the result had been an awake but slightly sour Link. So Navi took a deep breath and started again: "It'd be good for both of you, you know why? Both of you are kind of cooped up and all. Epona would probably enjoy a chance to stretch her legs out in Hyrule Field, and you hardly ever—"

Link groaned and pushed himself up to a sitting position, eyes closed and looking thoroughly asleep even though he was sitting. Navi nodded approvingly, even though the gesture was obscured by her glow. Talking was very effective, Navi noted with a relieved smile, and it hadn't failed her yet.

After a moment of just sitting in an attempt to get his brain working again, Link opened his eyes blearily and muttered, "Do me a favor and check if that other guy's awake? Er…Reoh? And maybe the kid, too."

"If I leave," Navi warned, "you have to promise not to fall asleep again." She hovered by his face, staring skeptically into his blue eyes. Navi wondered if those eyes were really the shade of blue she saw them as. If they were a little darker or lighter than her own glow, she wouldn't know, because the color would always be influenced by her own light.

"Won't fall 'sleep." He rubbed his eyes and yawned, and Navi smiled again. In the mornings he was always so adorable even though he was so old now. Navi guessed that mothers must feel like this. Oddly enough, Link was older in years than she was.

"You better not." Shrugging, Navi zipped around the island, making her way through buffering winds. On these islands, Navi noticed, the winds were a lot stronger, thus making it harder to fly. Regardless, she found Reoh-Link on the other side. She didn't really care how she approached this new task, so she sucked in a deep breath and shouted, "Hey, wake up!"

Navi squeaked as he sat bolt upright, still half-asleep, yelling, "Fado again!? Just keep the gate—!" Then he opened his eyes and squinted at Navi. "Oh. Never mind."

"You talk weird when you're dazed," Navi said curiously. "Kind of like an accent…" Now that she thought about it, back on the pirate ship and he'd been hallucinating, what she'd assumed was a slur from the sickness was actually this same accent.

"Ordon accent," Reoh-Link sighed, scratching his head grumpily. "I got rid of it, but it still comes out sometimes."

"Good to know…?" Navi shrugged again. That had been way easier than waking her own Link. Besides, she didn't think she had anything more to talk about. She ran out sometimes so she was reduced to repeating the same phrase to literally annoy Link awake. "Anyway, it's time to go! We have to get to the next island!"

"Yaddahyaddah," Reoh-Link mumbled. "Don't worry, I'm up."

Navi wouldn't have insisted on him waking up unless Link told her to get him up. She'd only been told to see if he was awake. She'd gone further than she'd had to because she'd only wanted to be helpful to Link, and "helpful" would probably have been at least taking a stab at getting Reoh-Link awake. If, on the other hand, Link had told her to wake him up, she would have sat here until she was absolutely dead certain that he wasn't going to fall back asleep. So Navi just rolled her eyes and navigated her way through the winds again, really wishing she could find a piece of grass or twine right around now to hold her hair in place. Even though she couldn't see it, she knew it must be a dreadful tangle of knots. And even if she was a fairy, she was still a girl.

Interestingly enough, even after a circuit of the island, she couldn't find the kid. Immediately she guessed that he must be hiding inside the dome. After flying carefully through the tunnel to make sure her wings didn't get clipped, she found the kid sprawled on the ground, snoring quietly. She actually stood with her own two legs this time instead of hovering, peering into his face. She crossed her arms, wondering how to approach this, before just opting for what she'd done with the other two, which was yelling, "Wake up, Link!" Wow, that felt weird. Calling somebody else by Link's name was just…odd.

Navi waited for a second, but when he didn't move, Navi slapped her hand to her head and realized that he was a hard sleeper, too. "Noooo…" she moaned. Doing it once had been enough! "Wake up! Seriously!" she cried in his ear, and he actually opened his eyes a little and lifted his head. He sat up, eyes half-closed, and Navi waited for a reaction. Yet, still nothing happened. He just sat there like a zombie, not even moving. "…Hello?"

He jumped, as if noticing she was there for the first time. "Uh, sorry, Miss Fairy, I usually sleep a lot more than this." He smiled apologetically.

Navi shook out her wings indignantly and took to hovering again. "Huh. How long do you usually sleep?" Navi asked.

"Um… Dunno… Thirteen hours, maybe?"

Navi nearly fell right back out of the air. Thirteen hours?!

"Usually from," he yawned, pausing in the middle of his sentence, "eight at night to nine in the morning. Or ten. Aryll gets up at eight. And then draws things on my face. Or are you talking about the pirate ship? On the ship, I just sleep whenever I can." His eyes blinked a little, showing bright turquoise eyes. They were green in reality, Navi knew.

Kiss those long hours good-bye, Navi thought. Link used to be like you until he realized that getting jumped by Stalchildren wasn't fun. Because of those Stalchildren, it had been hard-wired into Link to get up now if there's an enemy.

"I'll be right out," the kid sighed, stretching like a cat. "Just gotta wake up, y'know?"

Navi cocked her head, disbelieving, but she just shrugged it off again and went immediately back to Link, who thankfully wasn't asleep and appeared only a little tired. "Was Reoh awake?"

"No," she answered, and Link snapped to full awareness. "Why?"

Link shook his head. "Knowing him, he fell asleep past midnight, so around one would be a good guess. It's around six right now, so he got five hours of sleep."

Navi gasped. "T-That's horrible! If that ever happened to you, I'd scold you for staying up so late! It's unhealthy to sleep so little—"

"Nah," Link interrupted. "That's oversleeping. I'm kind of worried he's sleeping too much because his health still isn't all that great."

Navi just kind of stared in shock. Oversleeping?! Was he insane?!

"No matter when he goes to sleep, he will wake up at five without fail," Link sighed. "It doesn't matter how long he sleeps. Kind of like you. Ever since he became an official ranch hand at thirteen, he stays up late until midnight and gets up at five to prep the ranch for the goats. Then he does…just random things, really, between his shifts unless Fado, the guy who runs most of the ranch, messes up and he has to help Fado. Then later, he repeats by staying up late and getting up early." He eyed her, whose wings had stopped in mid-beat, and commented dryly, "I'll assume you're imagining all the horrible side effects lack of sleep could do to a teenager still growing?"

Her nod was rendered useless by her own light, which blocked any movements she made from being seen. It sounded ridiculously motherly to view it this way, but she couldn't help thinking of all the growth, health, and mental problems that could cause. Navi couldn't believe that Reoh-Link wasn't dead yet, whatwith Midna's abuse, the Hero job, and lack of sleep. Reoh-Link should be a wreck by now.

Of course, Navi laughed inwardly, all Heroes are delicate wrecks. It didn't seem possible to not be.

Link stretched a little, gazing off in the direction the next island was. "Remind me to ask a doctor on the next island what's going on," Link said, rubbing his face.

"Uh…sure!" Navi replied cheerfully. Link smiled absently, silently thanking her.

Ah, the feeling of being needed—sweet, poisonous drug.

--

When Quill tried to take his weekly share of letters—a couple dozen or so random letters from the pile in the top-left box, the one with the red swirly sign on it, leaving the rest to the other postmen who had been assigned to taking care of the letters in that box—Koboli shook his head and handed Quill a single letter instead. "Ilari's taking care of your share this week," Koboli explained with a shrug, barely lifting his head from his letter-sorting. "You get the week off. Apparently, the letter has something to do with it."

Quill raised an eyebrow but wordlessly opened the letter, showing no surprise at the fact that it was from the chieftain himself.

Quill,

I would like to see you in my study.

The Chieftain

Quill didn't really notice Pashli until he was right behind him, giving Pashli enough time to read the message. Pashli sympathetically patted Quill's shoulder. "It's an honor, right?" Pashli said with slightly forced cheer. "You should be happy that the chieftain trusts you so much, especially at such a young age."

Nodding, Quill folded the letter as Pashli hurried away to his next errand, ever the busy one. He opted for walking up the ramp instead of flying, because this was the first day of the week, meaning that today was the busiest day. Dozens of postmen rushing through the Rito Hall, on air or on foot, were trying to get to Koboli's counter first to take their assigned amount of letters from the box they were assigned to. Most opted for air—they were Ritos, after all—leaving the walkways slightly less crowded. Past the take-off platforms and the storage rooms, going all the way to the top, in fact, there was a closed door, which Quill stopped at. Everybody knew that this was the chieftain's study, reserved for the chieftain. Quill knocked as quietly as he could, trying not to be heard. What was the point of knocking so quietly that nobody could hear, though? Quill reminded himself of what Pashli had just told him: It was supposed to be an honor.

The door cracked opened anyway, and Skett's beak poked out the small opening. Quill refrained from sighing, knowing that this would take a while if he had to deal with Skett and Akoot. An audible sigh came from behind the door, probably from the chieftain himself. Not even the chieftain could get them to stop their blatant over-protectiveness. "Oh?" Skett blinked in surprise at the unexpected face. He whispered, "This is the chieftain's study, Quill. Not only are you not a counsel member, the only other Ritos allowed here other than the chieftain, the young master, or the great Valoo's attendant, you're not nearly old enough to be a member in the first place. Am I correct or am I correct, Akoot?"

On cue, Akoot's face joined Skett's in the opening, and Akoot breathed, "You are absolutely correct, Skett. You, Quill, are only twenty-three, and is the age minimum not forty or so?"

"I believe it was thirty."

"But you never listen to anything that goes on in the meetings, Skett."

"You must be referring to yourself. I, unlike you, Akoot, am very attentive."

Before Akoot could reply, Quill interrupted, "Really, please just let me in. The chieftain is in there, yes?"

"Depends on who is asking," Skett said airily. "We are to protect the chieftain—"

"I'm asking."

"Quite obviously, Skett. Are you daft?" Akoot hissed softly.

"I absolutely am not. However, yes, he is inside," Skett replied grudgingly. "But unless the chieftain specifically requested that you be here—"

Quill whipped out the letter and unfolded it. Skett and Akoot paused. "That…is the chieftain's handwriting, is it not, Skett?" Akoot said hesitantly.

"I believe it is," Skett confirmed. "Well, I suppose we shall have to let him in, won't we?"

"I suppose we shall." Finally, Akoot opened the door and Quill stepped inside the sparsely decorated room, leaving Skett to close the door behind him.

There was a desk in the middle, at which the chieftain was seated. The desk was bare save a pen, a blank piece of paper, and a framed picture of the young prince, although Quill could see a huge wooden cabinet behind containing vast amounts of paperwork. There was a rug and a small window behind the desk, showing the ocean. That was all. Quill was impressed, just like every other time he'd been in here. The chieftain knew the importance of efficiency, and sustained that belief throughout whatever times there were. Even if there was more paperwork now than ever before.

"Have a seat," the chieftain offered, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk. Quill complied, but he kept to the very edge of the seat. "I am sure," the chieftain said quietly, "you have heard the news of the great Lord Valoo?"

Although it wasn't exactly broadcasted news—on the contrary, the counselors had tried to keep it low-key—Quill had already picked the situation up from Bisht and Basht, who were always frank about such things. They may be the police force, but they had always been so honest and never ones to keep secrets, especially about important things like this that they felt everybody deserved to know. Quill replied smoothly, "Indeed. What of it?"

"Two things, actually." The chieftain rubbed his beak worriedly. "While multiple Ritos are sent daily to the peak of Dragon Roost, I fear they do not conduct proper searches due to the great Valoo's rage. It is rather hard to get close to an angry sky god," the chieftain added wryly. "I ask of you a favor: would you venture to the peak for me?"

Quill nodded readily. "Of course." Quill didn't exactly see the point, because if the attendant, a girl named Medli, couldn't figure it out, then probably nobody could. But Quill wasn't going to say that.

"Thank you," the chieftain said, his relief evident. "Second. Would you give this letter to Medli? It is for Komali." The chieftain's eyes flicked to the picture of the prince and back as he pulled a letter from a drawer in his desk.

With the amount of dealings Quill had with the chieftain—an unusually high amount, not to mention how young Quill was—Quill knew all about the chieftain's rocky relationship with his son. "Pardon my rudeness, chieftain, I don't see why you can't just give it to him yourself."

"I'm the last person he'll listen to now," the chieftain admitted. "Medli has a much better chance than I. If I were to hand this letter to him, he'd probably burn it."

Quill took the letter with amusement and left at the chieftain's dismissal. The prince would do no such thing. The prince would probably scrunch it up into a ball, throw it away, perhaps glare at his father, but as soon as he thought nobody was looking, the young master would probably try to smooth the creases and save it.

--

Late in the afternoon the next day, they finally arrived at Dragon Roost Island. "It's oddly quiet," the King of Red Lions noted aloud, and immediately the tension grew. Kid-Link especially looked nervous, his shoulders stiff and his face almost frozen in a mask of apprehension.

It was just an outrageously tall mountain, Link noticed. A tall mountain with a fancy dragon at the top who insisted on roaring every five minutes. Of course, there were plenty of wooden fixtures way up the mountain, indicating inhabitants, and Link could see faint silhouettes against the sun that looked sort of like birds, but not quite the shape for birds. A long stone path blocked by several boulders wound up towards an entrance, and Link assumed that would be the way to wherever these Ritos were. The stone path was disconnected by a broken bridge, it's marred wooden slats dangling from each end, and underneath the space where the bridge should have been was a tunnel. There was a long beach that rimmed the island, but there wasn't much land other than the beach and the nearby lagoon. Most of the island's business was probably in the massive mountain that must have been as been as great as Goron City. Overall, this place looked like a wonderful place for exploration. Link was definitely in.

Link hopped off and waded to the beach, stretching and feeling the sand between his toes. It felt good to get off the boat and away from all that water, not to mention the crowded cockpit. Link got cramps just from trying to prevent his legs from brushing against the other people's legs. Kid-Link began packing away all the sailing equipment, and both Link and Emit-Link watched carefully, trying to learn, but not really succeeding. Navi, however, already had the rigging down pat from just looking at the ropes during the trip, and was quietly narrating everything the kid was doing to Emit-Link from her spot on her shoulder: "Listen, that part's not that hard. It's only a typical knot, nothing special. Even you can do that kind of knot. That rope over there, though, needs a square knot to secure it, so—" and on it went. Leave it to Navi to figure everything out just by looking at it.

"Mister King of Red Lions, we just have to get this Pearl thing, right?" Kid-Link asked, coiling yet another rope and stuffing it down the hatch.

The King of Red Lion's wooden head bobbed up and down. "Yes. The sky spirit Valoo will most likely have it in his possession."

"So all we have to do is ask the giant dragon up there that's roaring in anger or pain for a jewel and hope not to get incinerated!" Kid-Link chirped. "Easy peasy lemon squeezy!"

"Why is it that your tone is so optimistic, but your words are so negative?" Navi complained from Emit-Link's shoulder. "You're contradicting yourself all the time."

"Anyway," the boat interrupted loudly before they could get sidetracked again, "to ask the Rito on how to get to Valoo would be the best course of action. They would know best."

"Yessir." Kid-Link bounded for the tunnel. "Let's check out that tunnel first!"

"No! There's no time for delays!" the King of Red Lions cried. "Really!"

Kid-Link almost seemed to deflate as he stopped cold and nodded obediently. "Yessir…" It seemed that every time the boat reminded them of their need for haste, Kid-Link would automatically remember his sister because of what had gone on at the last island. The King of Red Lions had gotten himself a pretty handy weapon, a weapon that Link would have to counter. Not that it was particularly hard, since the King of Red Lions was restrained to the water.

"Oh, and Link? I almost forgot something," the King of Red Lions admitted. "Open the hatch for me and look for anything that's not related to sailing equipment. There's only one item, so you'll know what it is when you see it."

So the kid waded back into the water, hauled himself into the cockpit, popped the hatch, and stuck his head clear inside. "Uh, Mr. King of Red Lions…"

"Yes?"

"Can I keep a piece of rope?"

"Whatever for?"

"Just because. I'll give it back, I promise."

"As long as it is not a part of the rigging. It would delay us if you lost a valuable part."

"Thanks." Kid-Link pulled out a skinny piece around the length of his arm and took his time looking for whatever the boat wanted him to look for, much to Emit-Link's agitation. Link had no problems with it, though. Let the kid take as long as he wanted, and let no one tell him otherwise, Link thought, and he smiled to himself. Kid-Link hummed again, the song that he'd been singing last night. Link wondered idly if it had any lyrics.

Finally, something white emerged from the hatch, and Link's eyes snapped and locked onto it almost on their own accord. But just as that happened, Kid-Link screeched remarkably like the monkeys in the Forest Temple and jerked backwards, dropping the stick back down the hole, clutching his hand as if he'd been burned. "It does feel a little weird, doesn't it?" the King of Red Lions chortled, apparently having anticipated Kid-Link's reaction.

"A little?" Kid-Link squeaked. "A little?!"

"What?" Link demanded, worried. "What is it?"

"That… That…" Kid-Link gesticulated frantically, shaking his finger at the open hatch, before gushing, "That's so awesome!"

"Wha…" The kid dove right back into the hatch with enthusiasm and pulled out a thin white stick, his fingers pinching it delicately, and Link's sentence died on his lips. Link just didn't have enough attention left over to pay to what he was saying, since every grain had already gone to the little rod. It was weird, definitely. But not just a little weird. It was like Link couldn't look away from it, and it called all his senses effortlessly.

And suddenly he was waiting for something, something he didn't understand nor know of but it didn't matter because all that mattered was the thing he was waiting for and holding his breath for and that it would come soon, so just wait—

Sharp movement caught Link's attention from the corner of his eye, and Link took advantage. Navi had slammed herself against Emit-Link's head, probably to get him to snap out of it. He jerked, partially from the fairy's pathetic attack and partially from surprise, then quickly covered his eyes, clearly unsettled by it. Pinching his arm to distract himself, he backed away as Navi hovered close around his face, trying to help as a distraction.

"What's going on?" Kid-Link asked, puzzled by their reactions.

"It is harmless. Relax," the King of Red Lions advised upon seeing their reaction. He looked like he was having a hard time concentrating, too, since his words were slow and sometimes hesitated before words. "It is the Wind Waker, the baton that conducts the win—"

"Oh, just put it away," Emit-Link hissed. He was pinching himself so hard it looked like he was going to make himself bleed anytime now. Navi buzzed in agreement.

Kid-Link tried to comply a little too quickly and fumbled with it in his panic, the baton slipping and landing in the water with a splash. "AGH!" he shrieked. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" Link rolled his eyes. He'd dropped it in shallow water, yet he was panicking. It was easily findable.

"Quick, search for it!" the King of Red Lions commanded. "It is invaluable!" Kid-Link was way ahead of the boat, leaping into the water and snatching it with wild sprays of water, then stuffing it into the bag under his shield. Emit-Link breathed a sigh of relief, releasing his vice-like grip on his own skin. Link just rolled his eyes again at the over-the-top reactions. Sure, the baton called the Wind Waker was freaky, but it wasn't that bad…Link hoped.

"That was scary," Kid-Link whispered, comically frozen in the water. "In more than one way."

"As I was saying," the King of Red Lions continued, "that is the Wind Waker, a baton used to conduct the winds."

A brick dropped into Link's stomach, lurching his gut. Conduct? His paranoid imagination whirred into hyperactive mode, utterly spoiling all fascinating aspects that Link might have taken interest in.

The oblivious King of Red Lions continued, "It was used long ago to summon the power of the gods, but I do not know if it still works—"

"Excuse me," Link interrupted slowly, "but did you say it…conducts the winds?"

Say no. Please.

The King of Red Lions replied patiently, "Yes, that's what I said."

Damn.

"As in, control?"

Yeah, he'd said it. Somehow he'd made the connection between conduct and control. It was the paranoia that came with the Hero rig.

Say no, say no, and whatever you do, don't say—

"Yes."

Link sighed. Of course.

"So whoever's holding that baton," Link said slowly, "can make the wind do…stuff."

The King of Red Lions raised an eyebrow, bemused by the constant questions about the exact same thing that he'd already confirmed. "I believe so."

A year ago Link would have thought that was fun. Now…

Link nodded stiffly and didn't say anything more, retreating into an isolated space away from the rest of the group. The King of Red Lions proceeded to spew out a load of musical baloney, and while the kid didn't try to use the baton, it was clear he had no idea how to use it. But Link wasn't really listening. He knew he shouldn't have made such an odd connection, but it still irked him, nagged at him in the back of his mind, so much that the Wind Waker was no longer just something interesting and freaky to him. It might as well be an enemy, just as Emit-Link treated it. The Wind Waker controlled the winds, the very incarnate of freedom, yet here was a baton of the dreaded puppeteer who pulled all strings.

If the wind itself is not free, then what is?