Chapter 60: The Gate is Closing
…
"Giltiyn Dholit, 'inu misafitya'ak My Captain."
Dholit, unaware that Layna had dove over the side, turned around to find Layna offering her a boot. She could only answer with a confused look until she realized that Layna was still holding Link dangling upside down. "Faysolwan," she told Layna. Then, as Layna dropped Link to the deck (which Link at least had anticipated and saved himself from further concussion by catching himself on his hands), Dholit turned around and called toward the bow, "Leynne! We've found My Captain!"
"You what?" Leynne called back. Link looked up to see Leynne walking toward them from somewhere in the middle of the main deck. "You 'found' him? I thought he was still in his cabin."
"Layna said he was not," Dholit replied as Link slowly rose to his feet. Layna noticed him wobbling and carefully braced him under one arm.
"Well, wheah was he?" Leynne asked.
Dholit turned back to Layna. "'Inu misafitya'ak zhal 'athoykwazhtya 'an 'afi'il xudh," Layna replied.
"She said sh—A'," Dholit began to say before stopping and turning back to Layna. "Wanagthya'ak dhol?" she asked Layna. "'Athoykwazhtya?"
"'Afi'il xudh," Layna told her with a nod. Dholit could only answer with a stupefied blink.
"Captain?" Leynne asked, stepping around Dholit.
Link heaved a sigh and brushed his trousers off, having steadied himself enough to stand on his own. "Report," he answered.
"Ah," was all Leynne offered at first. He took a moment to rub his eyes. "We ah… on couhse foh the Sky Line back to the kingdom. We should be encountering the Sky Line soon."
"You didn't wait for me to say anything?" Link asked, mostly out of confusion.
Leynne heaved the kind of resigned sigh a subordinate would breathe when being confronted by a superior. "I… had hoped that the fallen toweh was a reasonable signal to leave," he admitted. "I had not wanted to distuhb you. Ostensibly, the Dreamweaveh has been killed."
Link shook his head. "No."
Leynne and Dholit blinked at him. "No?" Leynne asked.
Link nodded. "The Dreamweaver has been planning this," he explained. "He doesn't wanna bring any more ships here. He's going after Hyrule."
"He what?!" Leynne shouted.
"What?!" Dholit also snapped, her face a mirror of Leynne's shock.
"Are we still going west?" Link asked.
"We ah," Leynne said.
Link glanced up at the rigging. Both mizzen-masts had been stripped of their running rigging and sails. After checking that the other sails were still up, he asked Leynne, "Can we open the sails to full once we're in the Sky Line?"
Leynne glanced up at the port mizzen-mast he was standing under. "It should be less stress on the deck rigging, but ouh ability to tuhn may be hindehed. If we go into battle, we may be at a disadvantage."
"The fighting can be left to me," Link told him. "Rig for full sails as soon as we're in the Sky Line; we've gotta catch up to him."
"Aye, Captain," Leynne replied. "I assume you have a plan?"
"About as best as I can manage," Link said.
"Ah," was all Leynne had to answer with before turning away and striding across the deck.
Link turned to Layna. "Nice catch," he told her. "I appreciate it."
"'Imayn baytha, My Captain," Layna answered with a smile.
"Do you feel the Dreamweaver watching you anymore?"
Layna gave him a confused look. Then she glanced around as if she was looking for something. "'Inu mituxlak rujun, 'itab 'ak rujun nadkwibigak 'iyba dhin."
"What'd she say?" Link asked Dholit.
"She senses eyes, but they ah not the same as befoah," Dholit replied.
Link frowned. That could either mean that the Dreamweaver was still watching them in some smaller capacity than before… or Janni was nearby. He feared the latter possibility; he could only wonder what she might do, as he was sure he had angered her. "Make sure the others keep a good eye on each other," he told Dholit. "I've got a feeling what we're about to do might piss someone off."
"What ah we about to do?" Dholit asked.
"At this point, come very close to repeating our encounter with Cunimincus."
Dholit was silent for a moment. "I see," she said. "We have fallen into one of those situations again."
"Do you know where Irleen is?"
"Yes, down in the galley."
Link nodded. "Okay, you two, rouse the crew; we need all hands on-deck."
He did not wait for an answer (although Layna had already disappeared before he was finished speaking). Instead, he jogged across the deck and descended the port staircase with Dholit a few moments behind him. He passed the hold and stepped off in the galley. Cale was just exiting the personal quarters at the front of the deck. Link saw Irleen, Twali, and Gold sitting at the table closest to the kitchen with Stan delivering a tray of steaming cups to them.
Link strode across the deck. "Irleen, I need you," he told her.
Irleen, with a tired look in her eyes, heaved a sigh and dug into the pocket of her borrowed slacks. She produced her translating gem and offered it to Link. Link took it, so Irleen asked, "What do you need, Link?"
Link pocketed the gem and started to undo his belt. "We've got a problem," he said. "The Dreamweaver is loose, and he's taking the Sky Line back to Hyrule."
This caused Gold and Stan to deliver stunned looks to Link. Irleen grew wide-eyed, appearing more awake in that instant. Twali could only look worried, having not understood their conversation but at least reading their expressions. "Yeh'r kiddin'," Gold told him in a flat voice.
"Captain," Cale spoke up as he approached Link from behind. "Ah we in pahsuit?"
"We are," Link replied. He removed his belt and slid the Dreamweaver's device off. "This belongs to the Dreamweaver," he told Irleen as he held it out to her. "He was controlling the dream world with it. I need to be able to recreate the dream so I can stop him. Do you think you can do it?"
"You're kidding," Irleen told him in the same tone as Gold. She took the device and examined it. Then she held it still and stared at it with a hard glare, almost as if she was trying to set it aflame with her eyes. "Oh, boy…" she finally uttered to herself, the glare fading into a tired look.
"What is it?" Link asked, cinching his belt back in place.
"Well, I get how this is supposed to work," she explained, giving her eyes a quick rub with a free hand. "But we're gonna need the technoworks."
"Because the technoworks are needed to make a dream, right?" Link asked.
"Yeah."
"What about the technoworks in the Conductor?"
Irleen frowned as she thought about it. Then she told him, "It might work as long as they're in good shape."
"Uuuuh…" Link droned.
Irleen immediately put on a worried look. "Oh, please don't tell me…"
"There's a good chance the technoworks are hurt," he explained. "While I was in the dream, I rammed the Conductor into the Dreamweaver's tower. The boat kinda… exploded."
"It what?" Irleen asked as Gold and Stan snorted, Stan quickly looking away to hide his bemused expression.
"Boom!" Link hollered while he used his hands to indicate an explosion. His voice caused Irleen and Twali to jump in surprise. "Exploded. Just like all of Sello's machines when they smash into something."
Irleen growled as she raked one hand through the feathers on her scalp. "This isn't good…" She glanced down at the Dreamweaver's device. "If just one block is okay, we might be able to make it work. Any less than that, we're doomed."
Link nodded. "All right. Gold, Stan, Cale, you're all on-duty." He turned and realized that the person still sitting at the table was Twali. "Twali…" He had to think for a moment. "What's the word? 'Oytok? 'Oytokan."
Twali's drowsiness cleared, and she gave Link an indignant look. "Waba satanilak max, soynwadh?" she asked him. Link was taken aback by her reaction.
"My Capta—"
"Yeow!"
"Yah—Layna!"
"—in yixaylikwak Twali za'aytg 'iyayn xwal," Layna said after appearing from behind Stan, eliciting surprise from both him and Twali.
Stan, having jumped aside upon hearing Layna's voice, turned and snapped at her, "What is wrong with you!?"
Twali rose and told him in an exhausted tone, "Nwoyrotan goybafit zham thib. Moysohak 'imayn osudhun."
"C'mon, we need to hustle," Link told them.
As he turned and started across the deck with his crewmen in tow, Randy and Harley stepped out of the starboard staircase. Upon seeing Link, Randy reached out a hand to stop Harley. "Captain," Randy said as Link headed for the opposite staircase. Link stopped and turned in response as the crew filed up the steps behind him. "We heard you needed everyone up. What's happening?"
"The Dreamweaver is loose, and it's flying to Hyrule," Link replied.
"Ya'r kiddin'," Harley replied in a flat voice.
Link shrugged in irritation at him and asked, "You've been on this ship for two years. Why is this suddenly unusual?"
"Sorry, Cap'n," Harley said with a stupid grin. "Go' used t' the quie'."
"Get down to the engine room," he told them. "If we have to chase him out of the Sky Line, I want all the speed we can get."
"Go' i', Cap'n," Harley said.
As they parted, Link heard Randy ask Harley, "This isn't supposed to be unusual?"
Link hustled up the stairs after his crew. He was joined by Nester, who had packed his bag before rushing out of the berthing deck. On the main deck, Link shifted directions toward the forecastle, where Line and Gold stood, Line at the wheel while Gold was waiting behind him with a hand on the ship's controls. Link glance fore to see them slowly lining up with the Sky Line, a stream of glitter in the last moments of late-morning darkness.
"Gold," Link said above the howl of the wind overhead. Gold started, just now realizing that Link was standing in the corner of his vision. When he turned in response, Link told him, "As soon as we're in the Sky Line, get a duoscope and man the beakhead; we need you to let us know as soon as you see the Dreamweaver."
"Aye aye," Gold said with a nod. Then he put on a confused look and asked, "What am I lookin' fer?"
"The Dreamweaver flew off looking like a giant, black bird," Link said. "I don't know if he'll change, but keep an eye out for anything that doesn't belong."
"Oh, great…" Line growled. Link would have assumed it had been under his breath if it had not been audible over the Sky Line.
Instead of responding, Link turned and stepped back down to the main deck. Leynne was walking toward him, and he immediately said, "Leynne, we're gonna need some of the crew to pull the Conductor back to the deck so we can get to its ballast. We need the technoworks."
"Whoa, wait a moment," Leynne said as Link made to march past him. Link quickly stopped short of having Leynne's hand smack his chest. "We've already secuhed the Conductoh."
Link gave him a confused look. "Really?"
Leynne shrugged and explained, "When we weh making ready foh the retuhn voyage, Misteh Floweh signaled us and showed us the boat deck. We could not depaht without securing the Conductoh; it was causing the hull to grind against the island." He offered another shrug as he added, "Actually, it should have been a sign when you did not respond to thesound. It was ratheh hohrendous."
"Sounds like it saved my life," Link commented. "If you'd been a second faster, I'd've probably jumped straight off the island."
"What's the need foh the technowohks? Ah you intending to use the Conductoh to land on the Dreamweaveh?"
Link shook his head. "I'll explain it in a bit. But we need to check the blocks inside it."
"I wouldn't imagine theh to be much damage."
"Yeah, well, I used it to knock over the tower in the dream. It blew up."
Leynne's eyebrows rose. "Indeed, Sello's predilection foh volatile engineering neveh seems to end…"
"Cap'n," Gold spoke up. Link and Leynne looked up to see him standing closer to the stairs with one hand stretched toward the control panel behind Line. "We're 'bout tae 'it the Sky Line."
"Tell Line to hold," Link said.
"Aye aye."
"Leynne, open all sails. I'm going to check the Conductor."
"Aye, sih." Link immediately started across the deck at a jog while Leynne bellowed, "All hands, man the capstans!"
Part of Link's crew scrambled in the other direction, a couple of them glancing at him as they ran by. Leynne moved to a large lever near the forward capstan as the crew fit handles into the capstan. Once Gold signaled to him, Leynne threw the lever. The crew, having recognized the exercise by now, began turning the capstan. The four masts still adorned with sails began turning outward from the ship's centerline. At the same time, the two smaller capstans that Link passed were also being turned. This caused the outboard spars on either side of the ship to open into fin-like pairs of triangular sails. In another moment, the sails would be locked into place (with the masts re-engaged to the helm so they could still steer the ship), and the Island Symphony would rise into the Sky Line.
Link took the steps to the quarterdeck two at a time to beat the ship's rise into the Sky Line. He paused when he saw someone at the railing on the poop deck above. Flower, sitting in a chair that had been lashed to the railing, glanced down at him. Link could not help the grin on his face; there really was not much that could keep Flower away from the job.
Link reached the door, but he waited until the ship ascended into the Sky Line before opening the boat deck. The ship lurched, and Link nearly toppled as the deck reminded him that it had been nearly a month since they had last traveled like this. Or, at least Link was sure it was a month; his only other measure of the time between trips was a matter of years. He at least knew enough to wait until the Island Symphony was in the Sky Line before opening the door to avoid an unexpected gust knocking the door into him.
Once he had the door shut, he turned to see Irleen standing near the keel of the Conductor. She looked at him and said, "We really should teach you people how to not kill plants for wood."
"Yeah, I know," Link answered. "How are the technoworks?"
"I can't tell from here," she said.
Link heard the boat groan and looked at its nearest support strut. Then he glanced up at the forward mooring line. It was subtle, but the boat was straining to move to the starboard side of the deck. The bulwark was rubbing the rope. Whoever had put the boat back in place had not lowered the ballast to set the keel on the deck; there should not have been any movement under that rope. "Well, let's get up there and check the blocks."
"Okay."
Link walked a little faster to follow Irleen around the transom and up the boarding ladder. As they climbed, Link realized something and glanced up at her shoes. "Can't you just fly up there?"
"Not in an enclosed space, Link. I don't have enough room to lift off."
"Well, the Dreamweaver's a giant bird," Link said as Irleen hauled herself over the transom. Link paused so he could follow. Then he asked her, "Can you enclose him in the dream?"
Irleen shrugged and told him, "Link, I don't know what it'll be like once the dream starts. But if I do, I'll try to remember." She then asked as she glanced around the Conductor's weather deck, "So, where are they?"
Link pointed to the deckhouse and spoke as they rounded the pilot's station. "The aft blocks should be easy to get to, but the fore is a little tough to navigate; it's kinda cramped in there."
"Do you want me to check the fore block?" Irleen asked.
"No, I can take a look at it," he told her before pausing to descend into the deckhouse. He indicated the area behind the stairs, but he had to pause to register the fact that Leynne had not bothered replacing the panel he had removed. "Uh… just… through that hole, I guess. Be careful; I don't think the engine is safe to touch."
"Why not?" Irleen asked just as Link was moving to the hole in the front of the room.
"What, is 'Sello made it' not a good reason around here anymore?" Link half-joked before climbing into the hole.
"Maybe in another year!" Irleen hollered after him.
Link quickly cast aside the exchange and clambered through the boat's interior as before, only with a better understanding of how to navigate. It only took him a moment to find the technoworks block again. His first impression was good because the sides he could see were still healthy. It went against his expectations; he had anticipated that this one would have been completely devastated if not dead from being the first block at the forefront of the impact. He pulled himself around as best as he could to get a better view of the block's other sides. What little he could see was still promising. Heaving a sigh of relief, he started backing his way out of the crawlspace.
Once he was out, he waited for a moment as he listened to Irleen grunt and groan through the rear spaces of the boat. When her head leaned into view, she immediately shook her head. "It's no good with these ones," she told him. "Both of them are beat up bad. The one on the right side is even partially dead. I don't think this boat will ever sail again."
"Fortunately, we don't need it to sail right now." Link told her. He indicated the crawlspace behind him. "This one up front looks almost perfect. I'll have Leynne pull it out to make sure."
"How far out do you think the Dreamweaver is?" Irleen asked. All Link did was shake his head.
…
~~10/10, Expedition Day 55.
~~It feels like this morning was months ago. Janni is the Dreamweaver's daughter, and she let him escape before I could kill him. Now he's on a course for Hyrule using the return line we made. All we can do is chase him, but it's really nerve-racking. I don't know if we'll catch up. And, if the Dreamweaver can fight anymore, we're in trouble. I'm hoping that, as soon as we spot him, we can start the dream and catch him before he has a chance. Irleen can only use that Sorian magical intuition for so much. She doesn't know how this whole thing will work, and pitting her up against the Dreamweaver can't make it any easier. We at least have one technoworks block that hasn't been damaged, and I hope it's enough to pull off what we have to do.
~~And then there's Janni. I think she's still watching; Layna says she can feel eyes watching, but they aren't the same as before. She knows everything; if she was inclined to, she could stop us instantly and force us to go back to Obeeta. I wish there was some way to help her. Maybe she can be released from the shield after we stop the Dreamweaver. I don't know if there's anything else to do for her. She was right; she doesn't deserve to be alone forever.
…
~~Same day, 1200.
~~It's been six hours since we left Obeeta. The crew was getting nervous, so I had some of them rotate off the deck to get some decent rest. It seems to have helped; this is probably the most awake I've seen them since we reached Obeeta. Not that I think sleep is the only thing going on; we're chasing something that's been giving us nightmares, and they're probably about as scared of it as I am.
~~Still nothing from Janni. I've asked Layna three or four times, and she keeps saying the same thing. I don't know if she's being vague on purpose or what, but the fact that Janni i—
Kon kon. "Captain!" Stan hollered through the door before Link could look up to answer. "We found it!"
Link slammed the pen onto the desktop and quickly shoved his chair backwards. Having kept his gear on since returning, all he had to pick up was the Dreamweaver's shield and the Sorian sword he had left in preparation on his footlocker.
Stan quickly stumbled out of the way as Link ripped his door aside. "Where is he?" Link asked.
Stan pointed fore and said, "Off the bow straight ahead. Gold spotted it: a black wing in the Sky Line."
Link set down the shield so he could pull the sword over his head. "Is the rest of the crew getting up?" he asked.
"Chief Twig and Line went below to rouse 'em."
Link picked up the Dreamweaver's shield and fit it to his arm. Then he took in a deep breath to steady himself. "Carry on, Mister Stan," he said.
"Aye, sir," Stan replied with a faint hint of a salute. Then, he turned, moved to the stairs, and began to ascend to the quarterdeck. Link immediately marched across the deck toward the forecastle.
No one seemed to acknowledge Link until he stepped onto the forecastle. "Captain," Leynne spoke up, stepping away from Gold and the helm. "Brandon and Twali both repohted something on the horizon in front of us. Brandon said it looked like a bihd."
Link sighed. "Well, that's what he was the last time I saw him," he replied.
"Ain't that a li'l… convenient?" Gold spoke up. "It only took six hours tae find him."
"I find myself in agreement, Captain," Leynne said. "While I find it quite fohtunate that we may have found the Dreamweaveh, I would have expected a different shape to navigate the Sky Line. A bihd's fohm is fine foh rising on its own wings but hahdly built to be pushed from behind."
"Let's see what we've got first," Link told both of them as he continued forward.
He stepped down into the beakhead. Brandon stood at the end of the bulwark next to the starboard head while Twali lay on the shroud on the port side of the bowsprit. Link's bootsteps alerted both of them, and Brandon removed a duoscope from around his neck. "Captain," he said as he offered Link the duoscope.
Link took the duoscope and ventured out onto the shroud with his free hand holding him steady on the beakhead. He had to adjust his stance until he could see a black dot in the noon sky among the blue shards of the Sky Line around them. He placed the duoscope over his eyes and located the dot again. Leynne was right, the Dreamweaver was still using the shape of a large, black bird to travel.
"Huxwnwak," Link heard Twali say from nearby. "Milikak zhiyc 'adhijbin, 'itab 'indho'anak." Link removed the duoscope to look at her. She was watching him, a resigned expression on her face.
"What'd she say?" Brandon asked over the howl of the Sky Line.
"I don't know," Link admitted, his voice just as loud. "But if she's anxious, she's not the only one." He stepped back onto the beakhead to return the duoscope.
He then rejoined Leynne and Gold on the forecastle. He noticed Irleen had appeared while he had stepped away. He looked at Leynne and said, "He's still in his bird form."
Leynne nodded and replied, "I cannot say I like the sound of that."
"Well, Cunimincus was a giant bird," Irleen pointed out. "Maybe he's playing on our memories of that, trying to cow us."
"I am not so cehtain," Leynne said. "Why even botheh with us at all? I would expect that, as soon as he reaches Hyrule, he knows we will be unable to stop him. He should have changed into something that would fly well with the Sky Line."
"Wait," Gold spoke up. He rested his forearms between the handles so that he could gesture with his hands as he said, "We even sure 'e's still watchin' us?"
Both Link and Leynne glanced at him. Then Leynne said, "Link, youh goggles."
Link was already digging into his trouser pocket for them. He immediately produced them and pulled them over his uncovered head. Once they were in place over his eyes, he looked up at his crew.
Nothing. No pair of large, amber eyes looking over everyone's heads at all. Link turned to check Brandon, close enough for him to see from the forecastle. All he saw was empty air.
"Nothing," Link told Leynne as he took the goggles off. "If he's watching, he isn't being very obvious."
"So, he moves slow enough foh us to catch, but he is not watching us," Leynne said.
"You think he knows we're gonna follow him anyway?" Irleen asked him.
Leynne crossed his arms as he thought. Then he told them, "In spite of the ease with which he escaped Obeeta, he must realize that, no matteh wheh he is, Link is still a threat to him. Pehhaps moh so now that we have his device."
"A trap?" Gold asked.
"Quite likely," Leynne answered.
"Well, what do we do?" Link asked. "Trap or not, I have to reach him."
Leynne glanced at Irleen as he thought, causing her to give him an offended look. "Ihleen, do we have to remain close to the Dreamweaveh to keep him in the dream?" he asked.
Irleen shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I've never done this before. As far as I know, we'll have to stay right on top of him the whole time."
Link grimaced. "That's gonna be kinda difficult," he said. "It's easy to adjust our speed with the engine, but, in the Sky Line, we can't adjust our sails that closely."
"I think we might be able to make changes by raising and lowering the fohwahd sails," Leynne said. "They should catch the most wind, so they will most affect ouh speed."
"That's gonna take some coordination," Link pointed out.
"Given the crew's ability to rest the past few houhs, I believe we can manage foh a time. Since we ah traveling west, he won't be able to spot us approaching from behind."
