Note: How about that BotW sequel teaser? All these new Ganon theories put some wind under my sails to write a bit faster. I imagine Nintendo canonizing Ganon's past would take some thunder out of this AU adaptation (as I have a lot to say about that character!). I'm hoping to maintain a steady balance of writing this fic, editing MM, and submitting original work to journals/agents – we'll see how well that all goes!
As for streaming, I'm changing my username from "HyruleHeathen" to "FakeJakeKyer." If you're interested in other story-heavy RPGs (Mass Effect for now!), I'm anticipating a weekly Wednesday evening stream PDT. Might throw some Mondays in there, too. It was fun hanging with some of you for MM – especially those who schooled me in remembering more details from my novelization than even I do. 😊
I think this chapter works well as a recap, since it's been a while. I'll be alternating chapters between Aryll-Tetra and Link-flashbacks for most of arc II – with, um, something else in mind for the finale! Looking forward to hearing what you all think.
Also, yes, there are two canonical sailors named Candy and Kane in the Wind Waker.
Chapter 11: Windfall Island
The day passed in a ruthless blur. Thankfully, the Café Bar's innkeeper owed Tetra a favor, so they got to spend it indoors. For Din's sake, Gillian had said last night, as she, Aryll, and Niko hobbled up to the counter, did you swim here?
We flew, actually.
Tetra spent her recovery day drinking milk with Niko. The dairy was a bit too heavy for her stomach, but the slight buzz was a godsend. They sat at one of the bar's many tables, taking advantage of the expansive, stone lounge's open windows that overlooked the island. They were the only people there, save for Gillian, who had a book open as she sat behind the counter. Aryll was in their third-floor room, probably still fast asleep. And I don't blame her, Tetra thought. Losing a family member, stabbing your brother, and almost dying multiple times is a lot for one afternoon.
The pirate fiddled with the rim of her near empty bottle. Niko sat across from her with three empty bottles and a blank, dazed expression. His eyes kept threatening to flutter shut from behind those glasses. "Niko," Tetra said.
"Yes?" he said drearily.
"That's your last one. We've got things to do tonight."
"Captain," Niko protested, peeling his eyes open with his fingers. "I still feel like rotten chuchu guts."
"Then I recommend you stop drinking. We still need to find a boat. Unless you've figured out a way to turn that milk mustache into wings."
Niko seemed incapable of processing that joke. "I'm a little upset still," Niko paused, burping before he continued, "that we arrived here on the back of cyclone. Isn't that upsetting? I'm personally very upset. Nothing has ever been more upsetting than that."
"It saved our lives."
"But it was crazy. What if more crazy things happen?"
"Gillian!" Tetra exclaimed, looking off to the left. The blonde, middle-aged woman looked up from her book at the counter. "I'm cutting Niko off. Don't let him have another sip."
"You've got it, ma'am," the innkeeper replied in her gruff monotone, immediately returning to her book.
"Hey!" Niko exclaimed.
"You and I need to be out there looking for leads," Tetra pressed, leaning over the table. "Gummy, Dampa, Kane, Candy. Any one of them might've seen our ship out there."
"Our ship?" Niko moaned. "I thought we'd given up on it."
"Ganondorf's not stupid enough to scrap a thing like that, so it's still out there. And I'll steal it from whoever he's got sailing it." Niko squinted his eyes in either confusion or resignation. Normally, Tetra would be a bit harsher on him for acting so flippant. But yesterday was rough, Tetra thought. I'll give him that.
For now, she enjoyed the slight buzz. It wasn't quite enough to dull her senses, but it did prevent her from panicking. Their situation was awfully hopeless. She'd worked so hard – for months – all to plan Aryll's escape, and she had nothing to show for it. No leads on the map. No way out of the Great Sea before things got even worse. And now not even a fishing boat.
Gillian walked to join them, two bottles of water in hand. She plopped them on the table and withheld a smile as she eyed Tetra. "You know I like you, but I'm not sure your dashing heroics cover more than two free nights."
"Only two?" Tetra bantered. "Candy and Kane would've torn this place apart without me to help."
"Yeah, but I'm tight on rupees and can't be turning customers away. You staying here means I have one less room to sell. I don't get many guests anymore with these raids."
Every time Tetra heard someone mention the raids, it made her skin crawl all over again. "We've got two days before the next one, right?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Then that lines up pretty perfectly with your eviction notice, doesn't it?"
Gillian shook her head, turning away to walk back to her bar. "It's not an eviction notice. If you start paying, you're welcome to stay longer."
Tetra's pockets had been empty for a while now, and the few rupees to her name had been lost in that cyclone craziness. Ganon's ships were expectedly hard to plunder and not worth the effort, and it was difficult to carry loot away without a big ship. She sighed, taking a sip of water and watching as Niko gently twirled his around like a child.
Tetra didn't know how much longer she could sit there. She tapped her feet, eager to do something. But she needed Niko sober and felt obligated to wait a little longer to see if Aryll came down. Even if it was already well into the evening.
The Outset Island native only made her wait a few more minutes. Tetra turned when she heard the wooden steps creak. Aryll entered the café looking surprisingly put together. Her long hair was pulled up behind her head, and she wore one of Gillian's simple, plain tunics. Aryll's eyes were ringed with exhaustion, in an uncanny resemblance to the Wrath's tired eyes. But they weren't red or puffy. So she hadn't been crying.
Aryll spotted the two pirates without reacting, walking over to join them with a blank expression.
"Good morning," Tetra mocked. "Feeling any better?"
Aryll bluntly ignored her greeting. "If you tell me about Zelda, I'll let you know what my Grandma said about the map."
Tetra's mouth immediately went dry. She turned away from Aryll and took another sip of water. A lead? Tetra thought, stifling her excitement. Maybe this wasn't all for nothing. However, Aryll's hostile tone put a damper on that possibility. "Din. You're not gonna butter me up first?"
"No," Aryll replied.
"Wow. And here I thought our midnight scream on the beach was a bonding moment."
Aryll closed her eyes, clearly summoning self-control to respond calmly. "You've saved me a couple of times now. I think more times than you've endangered my life. So, thanks. But we're not playing games anymore, and I need to know everything about you."
Yikes, Tetra thought. She'd drop-kicked people five times her size for less. But Tetra knew what avoiding trauma looked like, and Aryll's oddly stoic expression had 'let's-ignore-my-feelings-and-focus-on-the-next-thing-so-I-don't-have-a-panic-attack-and-fling-myself-out-a-window' written all over it.
But Tetra's pride wouldn't let Aryll completely off the hook. "Of course, Princess. Anything for royalty. Would you like to hear about the other ungrateful damsels in distress I've rescued? Or should I tell you about the ones with mothers who told them how to say thank you properly?"
Aryll's fragile calm immediately gave way to anger. "I said we're not playing anymore games."
"Okay. Fine. But let's go up to the room, because I don't make a habit of giving my life story to everyone." The pirate turned to Gillian. "Can you please make sure Niko doesn't die?"
Gillian was already looking up from her book and smiling at the confrontation between the two women. She nodded.
"Thank you," Tetra said, turning back to Aryll. "See how easy that was, Princess? 'Thank you.'"
She ignored that, heading up the stairs first without waiting for the pirate. Tetra followed quietly, just then realizing the hot, red anger flaring in her own cheeks. Maybe that milk is getting to me more than I thought. She took a deep breath as they went to the third floor. Stop with the stupid jokes. Aryll's right. We're done playing games.
Their room was the second door on the left. It had two small beds, which she and Aryll had shared; Niko's pile of blankets was by the window. A stack of soggy clothes lay in the back corner, among them her belt and daggers. Aryll sat at the edge of the unmade bed as Tetra closed the door.
Aryll tried to start first. "Before you make another smart comment…"
"Stop," Tetra interrupted, hanging her head low as she sighed. "I'll admit, I was being an idiot down there. But you were bringing a lot of animosity." The pirate paused, willing away the buzz that she was no longer grateful for. "And I'm not one for awkward work relationships. We don't have to stick together, you know. But if that awkward, blunt proposal down there was your way of asking if we still can, then I want to be clear about you and me. If you've got issues with pirates, then let's work them out. Or else we can treat this like a business arrangement and keep the small talk to a minimum. I get that making friends isn't ideal when we've been through as much as we have.
"So," Tetra continued, holding out her hand. "In an effort to avoid humiliating each other in a game of never-ending passive aggressive sarcasm – business partners?"
Aryll considered. She eventually held out her hand and shook Tetra's. "Will the jokes stop?"
"Nope. There's no off switch. But I can try to make them less hostile."
Aryll nodded hesitantly. "Then why don't you start? Who is Zelda?"
Tetra looked away from her immediately. Am I really gonna to talk about this? she wondered. Tetra fun facts like that were as privileged as Tetra fun facts came. She's right though, Tetra thought. Aryll needs to know about this. She's caught up in it too now.
"Truth is," Tetra started, "I'd never heard the name Zelda before Ganon called me by it. But my mom…" She stammered, collecting herself before she continued. "My mom was insane, and people looked down on her for it. She loved stories and gods and spiritual mumbo-jumbo." Definitely more than she loved actually being a mother, the pirate left out. Tetra hesitated on what more to add. Business partners, she reminded herself. Don't tell Aryll more than she needs to know.
"Any who, this was the cherry on top of it all." She reached beneath her tunic and pulled out a hidden trinket. It was always around her neck, for reasons Tetra didn't quite understand. The piece of jewelry made her feel safe despite all the emotional baggage it carried. It was a small, unassuming golden triangle; there was nothing else to it. She lifted it so Aryll could see, and the sunlight from the window briefly reflected off it. Then the pirate returned it beneath her shirt.
"Ciela claimed it's been passed down between the women in my family for generations. She built it up to be the center of the universe when I was a kid, and I believed her. Which I grew out of pretty quickly when I saw people making fun of her. Now that I'm even older and she's dead, I'm not sure what to think. But it was Ciela's, and she thought it was really important, so I'm obviously not going to throw it away."
"Is Ciela your mother?" Aryll asked.
Oh, Tetra thought. She hadn't even noticed the switch from 'mom.' "Yeah, it's complicated. She was never 'mommy.' She was Ciela, the cuckoo-bananas mystic. But she obviously wasn't wrong about everything. When the triangle glowed on Ganon's hand, I felt the necklace burning against my skin. Everyone called Ciela delusional for believing people would try to steal it, or that the gods were watching over us, or that we had secret, magical powers. I don't think she really understood what the necklace was either. But turns out…," Tetra paused, still unsure what this all meant to her. "… Maybe she wasn't as delusional as we all thought."
Aryll had listened so patiently. Even then, she met her eyes and offered her undivided attention. Yeah, you're not the only one with mommy issues, Tetra thought.
"You knew that cyclone wouldn't kill us, didn't you?" Aryll asked, surprising Tetra. The pirate hadn't expected her to make that connection.
"Yeah," Tetra continued. "Ciela said she met a wind god named Cyclos when she was a girl, and that he promised to protect her whenever she was in danger on the Great Sea. I never believed her. Anytime I've been in danger and saw a cyclone, I stirred clear of it – like anyone in their right mind would. But… recent events, you know?" Tetra shrugged. "Crazy to think about all the stuff she might've been right about. I mean, that cyclone did save us. And it didn't carry us all the way from Outset to Windfall – that thing teleported us here. With magic. Has Cyclos been trying to help me my entire life? And I just… kept sailing by?"
Aryll still offered no response, merely watching her silently.
"You know," Tetra said, "I've told maybe two people in my entire adult life that. So you owe me some pretty serious info in return."
Aryll eventually nodded. Good, Tetra thought. Another checkmark in her book for trustworthiness.
"You said some concerning things at the beach," Tetra offered as a starting point. "Aside from the stabbings and the stuff about… er, your family… something about killing the 'Din-forsaken gods,' to quote you directly?"
"Yes," Aryll said. "I was hoping you'd know more about that, actually. Do you know anything about what Ganon's up to? Why he's raiding islands?"
Tetra chuckled. "If there was an evil overlord briefing, I missed it. All anyone's been able to figure out is that he kidnaps young girls, steals supplies, and brings everything back to the Forsaken Fortress. It's brand-new information that he's been after me, and probably this trinket. I still don't know if Zelda's supposed to be my ancestor's name or the name of some super powerful spell."
"Well, the Wrath actually shared a lot with me," Aryll began. The Wrath, Tetra noted she'd used. Instead of Link. "I'm not sure why. There was no reason to tell me any of it. Unless he actually believes himself and thought he could convince me, too."
When she didn't elaborate, Tetra pushed her to keep going. "What did he tell you?"
"Apparently, he and Ganon want to kill the Goddesses. They believe that you, or Zelda, or your trinket… maybe all three… will 'free the Gods' from the heavens. Whatever that means. And once they're free, Ganon and the Wrath will kill them."
"Excuse me?" Tetra balked. She searched Aryll's face for a joke. There was none. "Okay, I assumed you were a bit delirious during your adrenaline-filled-screamo-karaoke on the beach. You meant kill the gods literally?"
"That's what Ganon and the Wrath told me," Aryll explained. "The Wrath thinks that Nayru, Farore, and Din destroyed the old world. He also thinks they killed Ganon's people, too. He called them the Gerudo. Killing the Gods almost sounded like an act of revenge."
Tetra continued staring at Aryll with a blank, confused expression. "Teleporting cyclones and magical triangles is one thing. But killing the Gods? What does that even mean? I'm not sure I even believe in the Gods!"
Aryll shook her head, as if similarly perplexed. "I'm not sure what it means either. But it can't be good."
"So, they're just completely delusional, right?" Tetra said. "They're gonna use my trinket, tear a Din-forsaken hole in the sky with magic… to kill Din… but turns out, they're totally crazy and all they accomplish is dooming the Great Sea forever?"
"That's my best guess too."
Tetra considered one word she'd used: delusional. It was a word Ciela had heard every day, but mocking the Wrath and Ganon didn't seem like the right move. Because they were dead serious. "What about other Gods? We might have a god of the Cyclones on our side. Are they caught up in all this too?"
"I have no idea."
Tetra sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "Well, remind me to ask your murdering psychopath brother to define god properly, next time we see him."
Aryll's brow furrowed.
"Right. Boundaries. Working on that. Well, I don't know what to do with that information. Except get off this hellscape before the world goes up in flames. You said something about the map downstairs?"
"I'll tell you," Aryll said. "But only if you promise to take me and my Grandma with you."
Tetra didn't answer immediately. She honestly thinks every deal in the world is on her terms, doesn't she? Tetra had no problem at all with Aryll's demand. But on principle, she couldn't just accept it. "I thought the deal was 'I tell you about Zelda' and 'you tell me where the map is.' Not even counting the original deal, which was 'save you from the Forsaken Fortress.'"
"There's nothing left for me here," Aryll said. "Orca's dead. My brother's dead. My parents are… probably both dead. Ganon and the Wrath will destroy everything else. I just want to save my Grandma and go someplace better."
This girl has no idea how negotiating works, Tetra thought. Somehow, it was working on her though. So maybe she did. A few jokes came to mind, but now wasn't the time. So the pirate simply nodded. "When we get the map, you, me, Niko, and your Grandma can find a boat big enough to take us all out. What about everyone else on your island?"
"They'd never leave," Aryll said matter-of-factly. "I wouldn't have, either. It's hard to leave Outset."
Fair enough, Tetra decided. "Well, it's a deal then. How did you even get information from your Grandma, anyways?"
"She spoke in her sleep. But I think she knew I was there. She said to follow the red lion to the vestige, and that we'd find the map there."
Tetra waited for more, but Aryll held it back for some reason. "And?" she pressed.
"The Wrath said the vestige was a ghost and that the red lion was a traitor."
"Where can we find them?"
"I…," Aryll started, looking away as if embarrassed. "That's all she said."
Tetra scoffed. "What do you mean 'that's all she said?' You just made two pretty intense deals with me. In exchange for… riddles?"
"Technically, the deal was for you to tell me about Zelda. And you still have no idea who that is."
Tetra groaned, turning away in frustration. "I swear to Nayru, you're lucky I don't just leave you behind on this island." She took a deep breath. "Well, enough dramatic moping. We're spending the rest of the day looking for leads on red lions, a ghost named Vestige, and my boat."
Windfall Island was the commercial hub of the Great Sea. Not many acknowledged its dirty secret though: smuggling pirates are what held it together. Which was especially true now that Ganon and his posse of malevolence roamed the entire ocean.
The island sat upon a rather expansive hill, all surrounding a broken windmill-lighthouse hybrid at its highest point. Allegedly, some horrible accident years ago had left the entire thing damaged and one person dead, but Tetra didn't know much about that. A wall fortified with turrets surrounded the heart of the village, within which were many houses, the Café Bar, a school, and a few other businesses. Beyond the walls, a vast stretch of land formed a field that ended at a dock on one end, a final tower on another, and a rocky cliffside on the last. The pirate was surprised to see that most people she remembered – some friends, some enemies, and some nameless faces – were still here.
However, turns out there were absolutely no leads on phantoms with pretentious names and oddly-color felines.
"A red what now? A lion? Are those the really big cats with stripes?"
Tetra sighed. "Close. They're the ones with the big puffy manes." She stood at the docks, clinging to the last bit of sunlight remaining. Two strangers stood off in the background, purposefully ignoring her conversation with a man named Anton. They didn't want to suffer through an annoying interrogation next. Her current interviewee's brown hair was curly and poofy, and he wore an open, green coat over a striped shirt that didn't quite make it all the way down to his pants. Denim, she'd recognized. Fancy clothes like that always reminded Tetra how much better off Windfall was than other islands on the Great Sea.
"Hm," Anton stammered, placing a finger on his chin. "Aren't lions extinct or something? Where even are they?"
"Great question," Tetra said, losing her patience quickly. "It's not like I just tried asking you that exact same thing."
"Isn't red a really weird color for a lion? Does that mean it's sick? Are there any animals in the world that are naturally red?"
"Have you ever left this island before? Or maybe even opened your eyes? If you look in the sky or ocean for more than two minutes, you're bound to see something red and alive."
"Hey!" Anton exclaimed. "Maybe don't insult people if you're asking them for help." He shook his head, leaving her behind by walking off toward the village gate.
Tetra watched him go, thoroughly displeased by that entire interaction. We're running out of people to ask, the pirate thought. She'd already burned through her contacts, all of whom hadn't seen her boat anywhere. The random villagers on the island weren't any help either. One benefit of Ganon being literally the embodiment of evil – rather than, say, a rival pirate gang – meant she didn't need to worry about talking to someone who'd sell her out. But none of that changed how useless these villagers were.
Everyone on the Great Sea had been scared into submission on their respective islands. No one traveled anymore, and therefore, no one knew anything about anyone's business except their own. That was just a fact about Ganon's Great Sea, one that she refused to give into herself. Of course no one knows about lions anymore, Tetra thought. They were never many to begin with, and it's been years since even I've seen one.
Tetra walked to sit at the pier, dangling her feet just over the water. The sun was halfway past the horizon, taking the sky's remaining sapphire blue with it. In the distance, she could make out the silhouettes of smaller islands, but otherwise, calm ocean water soothed her nerves as it lapped against the wooden piles. I'll find a way off this rock, Tetra told herself. And then off this ocean. Gods and monsters and legends be damned.
She heard Aryll approach a few minutes later. Tetra never turned to face her, waiting for the island girl to take a seat beside her. They looked out at the water together, Tetra with her feet dangling and Aryll with her knees drawn.
"No luck?" Tetra asked.
"Nope," Aryll replied. "Doesn't help that no one's seen a lion in… well… ever. Maybe they all died, just like everything else from the old kingdom."
"I've actually seen a family of lions before," Tetra said, smiling at the memory. "About three years ago, on an island south of here the locals called Stone Watcher. They all sat around this giant rock shaped like a human's head, protecting it like it was one of their own."
Aryll returned her smile. "That's incredible. What were they like?"
"Vicious. Regal. Not-red. I admired them from afar. I say if we don't find another lead, we head that way once we get a boat. It's been awhile, so they might all be gone. But you never know."
"I like that plan. And kind of want to see that rock too. We have one almost just like it on Outset."
"The Great Sea's definitely a strange place."
They sat in silence for a moment longer. Tetra only felt a little guilty for forcing them to waste the whole night chasing rumors that'd been deliriously muttered from her grandmother's sleeping mouth. But she's the one who seems to think this information is valuable enough to barter with, Tetra thought. Her ship was the more immediate objective people here might know about.
As they sat there, Aryll said absolutely nothing, so Tetra followed suit. She'd let trauma-addled gal take the lead on talking. I don't mind watching this sunset, Tetra thought. It beat going back to the bar, where Niko had already re-retired. If Tetra was bad at anything, it was staying in one place for too long. The fact that she didn't have a boat irked her, and it would continue to bother her until she knew there was some way off –
Ding! Ding!
An alarm bell cut sharply through the air. Both Tetra and Aryll immediately jumped to their feet. They looked to the tower at the edge of the field, which was hardly a hundred feet away and therefore incredibly loud. The pirate spun back to the horizon and cursed when she realized she hadn't noticed the small dot growing larger.
"Is that a raid?" Aryll asked.
"Yes," Tetra said. She looked to see the island girl's fearful eyes. She doesn't want to be captured again, the pirate knew. She only just got away and hasn't even been out a week. It was hard to keep that in perspective, given everything that'd happened on Outset yesterday.
"What do we do?" Aryll's voice shook, turning to Tetra for strength. "I thought the raids weren't supposed to happen today."
"We go hide in the prison."
"The prison?"
"Yes," Tetra said. "I'm not putting anyone else in danger by hiding in a home. Especially not Gillian's. If they found us in the prison, they'd have no one else to blame."
Aryll nodded. "Okay. Is there time to go back and grab my staff?"
"No," Tetra answered. "I have my daggers. We'll be fine. The prison is usually empty." She didn't waste another second. It was anyone's guess how attentive the moblins were being with their telescopes right now.
The prison was on the cliffside to the north. They ascended a small hill and followed the massive city walls of stone. Along the wall, they found a heavy, wooden door, tucked away from the rest of Windfall right on the edge of a cliff. The door was unlocked, and Tetra led them both inside.
There was only one large cell in the prison. The walls, ceiling, and floor were made of stone, but thick bars of wood separated the latter half from the front. On the other side, spiderwebs, mushrooms, and randomly scattered crates and buckets lay haphazardly. Tetra closed the door behind them quietly as she and Aryll walked to the wooden bars. There were no guards present, and within the cell, there was only one prisoner.
The short, middle-aged man sat on a stool in the corner, head down. He wore a green pointy hat, green onesie, and red tights pulled up closely to a round waist. He had a large nose, a spiky goatee, and a compass around his neck. He looked like he was late for some absurd costume party that Tetra never wanted to know anything about.
"Whoa," Tetra said. "He's almost dressed like your brother."
Aryll took immediate offense to that, but she didn't have time to react before the prisoner did. His head perked up at the pirate's voice, and then he waddled quickly over to the bars. "Your brother?" he said in a cartoonish voice, looking to Aryll. "Dressed like me? Could your brother, by chance, be… a fairy?"
Tetra sighed. "Oh Nayru. Maybe we're better off with the moblins."
"Did your brother sense my telepathy? That's why you're here to save me, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it?" He continued regarding them with wide eyes, as if he'd never seen two people quite like them.
"Stop talking about her brother," Tetra spat, walking to stand in front of Aryll. The island girl remained behind her, watching with an impassive face. "That's a touchy subject I didn't mean to bring up."
"A touchy fairy?"
"Yikes," Tetra said. "Listen, no one sent us here to rescue you with telepathy. I figured this place would be empty. Like it always is. What are you in for?" She could hear the town bells even from within the stone walls. They had a bit more time now that the ships couldn't spot them from afar, but not enough for them to waste much more.
"For longing to be one of the fairy folk!" the odd man exclaimed, throwing his hands up erratically. "They deemed my persistent search for fairies public indecency, and I was mistaken for some dreadful troublemaker!"
"Right," Tetra said, turning to face Aryll. "Do you feel safe hiding in that cell with him?"
Aryll nodded immediately. "We don't have time to look for another place to hide."
"You're coming in here with me?" the man said incredulously. "Instead of rescuing poor Tingle?"
"Tingle!" Tetra exclaimed. "That name is public indecency all on its own."
"How disrespectful!" Tingle said. "Tingle will one day be a well-respected patron of fairy society, so you'd better treat him like one!"
"Shut your mouth. We're coming in." The pirate bent before the lock at the cell door. She pulled small, metal picks from her belt and went to work opening the door.
"You're letting Tingle out?" the fairy man said, changing his tone.
"No. If we let you out, that'll raise suspicion, which'll prompt the moblins to check inside. Can't you hear the town bell?"
"Moblins?" Tingle said. "Oh dear, oh dear. Fairies do not like moblins. Don't come in here if they're looking for you!"
"You don't have a choice," Tetra said, picking the lock and opening the door "We'll break you out once the moblins are gone. That's the deal. They won't hurt you if they don't know we're here."
"Oh dear, oh dear!" Tingle said, grabbing his face in a panic. They entered and closed the door behind them, but Tingle made no move to run away. Too petrified by the moblins, Tetra reasoned. She spotted a crate in the back corner.
"Come on, let's climb in there," Tetra said, gesturing to Aryll, who still hadn't really reacted to the crazy man.
"Oh dear, oh dear…"
Tetra pried open the crate with a dagger to find nothing within it. It was easily big enough for the two of them, and the pirate took the first careful step inside.
"Wait!" Tingle exclaimed, running over to the crate. "Let me hide in there with you! I can't face moblins!"
"No," Tetra said. "They might be expecting to see you in here. Who knows what they'll ask the Windfall guards before they come by. We can't risk anything looking out of place."
"But I can't do it! I'm too scared, too scared!"
The pirate watched Aryll close her eyes in frustration. Tetra sighed, taking her foot out of the crate to do the confronting. "Tingle. You can do this. I believe in you. Just put on a little fairy dance and scare them away. Use your public indecency for good."
"No, I can't! I'm not brave enough!"
Ding! Ding! The bells kept ringing. The moblins were drawing closer.
"Tingle, I will tie you up myself if you don't listen to me. When the moblins come, you can't freak out, and you can't be in the crate with us."
"But moblins eat fairies!"
"Listen, I don't know what traumatic, childhood event trapped you in this deep psychosis, but it is not my problem, and it won't get me killed."
Ding! Ding!
"No! I refuse! No good fairy in their right mind would ever be seen by…"
Aryll unexpectedly walked past Tetra, grabbed Tingle by the collar of his onesie, and threw him up against the wall. "If you don't calm down, I will squeeze the air out of your throat until you're a dead fairy."
Tingle only stared back at Aryll with wide, fearful eyes, stunned into silence. As he trembled against the wall, Aryll never looked away, staring straight into this soul with a threat that even Tetra believed.
"O-okay," Tingle eventually stammered.
Aryll let him go and walked for the crate, climbing in before Tingle could say anything else. Tetra hesitated, deciding against making eye contact with Tingle again. She followed Aryll into the crate and pulled the lid shut. They sat in quiet darkness, no slits to see through and no conversation to occupy them. Even though it was hot and their feet were pressed against each other's, it wasn't too small to be that uncomfortable.
What the Din just happened? Tetra thought. She assumed she'd had Aryll pegged and was slowly getting to know her. But that death threat was a whole new side to her. Is it because of what happened with Link? 'Squeeze the air out of your throat' had been a rather harrowing choice of words, given Orca's fate.
The moblins eventually came. She heard them open the cell door and ungraceful shuffle inside. Tingle half-heartedly exclaimed "Kooloo-limpah" a few times – whatever that meant – his tone caught somewhere between fear and profound sadness. When the moblins threatened to come in anyways, Tingle offered to share his Tingle Tuner with them. Which sounded just horrifying enough to scare the moblins away.
They waited for almost an hour after that, unable to hear how the rest of the island fared. But eventually, the bells rang again and signaled the moblins' departure. And the entire time, Tetra couldn't stop thinking about Aryll's angry eyes. They looked just like her brother's.
They walked back from the prison in silence, not even stopping to see if Tingle followed them out to escape. The two women passed broken front doors and shattered shopping stalls along the wall, but thankfully, they didn't notice any injuries.
The Café Bar's door was still intact, as was the rest of the building. Tetra ascended the stairs first, but Aryll stopped short of following her. "You coming?" the pirate asked.
"No," Aryll said, noting the concern in Tetra's face. She'd been acting strange ever since what happened with Tingle. Which I don't get, Aryll thought. He would've gotten us caught if I hadn't stepped in. And he's free now, anyways. But explaining herself to Tetra didn't matter right now. "I want to ask a few more people about the Red Lion."
"Yeah?" Tetra asked, clearly skeptical. "People might be pretty exhausted after that moblin stuff."
"I don't think I can sleep right now anyways," Aryll said. "So I might as well try some more."
Tetra thought about that for a moment and then shrugged. "Suit yourself." She walked up the stairs and into the bar.
Aryll walked back down the village road. It was nighttime now; a starry, black sky was broken only by the occasional lamplight. She walked until she was outside the town gate, stopping at a man sitting on a bench. Aryll had noticed him on their way from the prison; she and Tetra spoke with him earlier that day when their interrogations reached the lighthouse.
"Kreeb?" Aryll asked.
"Yeah?" the man in the yellow hat turned to face her, orange shirt cut low on his chest. His eyes squinted in the dark and then quickly recognized her. "Oh, it's you. I haven't learned anything new about ghosts, lions, or pirates. Shouldn't you be in bed? Those moblins wrecked my front door this time. I would've let them in if they'd just knocked."
"I want to know about the windmill," Aryll said. She remained standing in front of him rather than taking a seat. "You told Tetra and I that you used to work on it."
He raised an eyebrow curiously. "Yeah, I did. I used to love working on that thing."
"Why did it break?"
Kreeb narrowed his eyes. "How's this going to help you find what you're looking for?"
"It won't," Aryll said. "I'm just want to know more about Windfall."
Kreeb considered that for a moment, but he didn't seem able to find the harm in sharing. "All right. Sure. I love talking about the lighthouse – windmill, whatever you want to call it – but not that part. I lost one of my best friends that day. There was a horrible storm. Didn't even see it coming. No warning at all. He was up at the top cleaning the big torch when it started. Big ol' gust of wind blew the whole torch out from the top – him included. It's why the railing's broken on one side, though you probably can't tell from down here. Some gears got messed up inside too, so the wheel doesn't even turn right anymore.
"No one ever fixed it. Seemed too unsafe to some folks after that. Even though I'm convinced it was a horrible, freak thing that won't ever happen again. The guard tower out at the docks works as a nice double to bring ships in at night, but I miss the windmill. And my friend."
My dad, Aryll thought. Her mouth was suddenly dry. Mila had made it sound like it was an accident, not a storm. "A gust of wind blew him out the top?"
"Sure seemed like it," Kreeb said. "Though it was so unbelievable that a lot of folks think it was his fault. Blew himself up, maybe. That gust of wind and those clouds were so quick, and it didn't destroy anything else in town. But I saw it happen. It was the storm. That horrible, quick storm."
"What about his wife?" Aryll asked.
Kreeb blinked. "Atha? You know about her?"
Aryll felt a deep bubble in her chest start to overwhelm her. "Yes. I have a close friend that's from Windfall."
Kreeb nodded, lost in some memory. "Atha had a little boy and was pregnant with her second when Eca died. She couldn't bear the thought of raising her kids here without him, but luckily another girl… what was her name, Sue-Belle?... was moving down south at that time to be with her grandfather, I think. Atha and the boy hitched a ride with her. I've never heard from them since."
Aryll was stunned speechless. Eventually, she found her voice again. "Thank you."
Kreeb stared at her a moment longer. Then, his eyes went wide. "Wait a minute. Are you…?"
Aryll turned away before he could say more. She went back up the dirt road toward the bar. When she was halfway there, she found it hard to breath. Aryll paused at a city wall, leaning against it as she steadied herself. She looked around to make sure no one was watching.
Swallow it, Aryll thought. Swallow it.
She did. And then she was fine. Aryll walked up to the Café Bar - completely numb again.
Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:
James Birdsong: Thank you! Certainly an eventful four chapters, haha.
