Chapter 80: Stories of Two Sorians and a Batshit Contraption

…

Leynne could have informed the rest of the crew of Link's embarrassment, and Link would not have been surprised or angry. However, since Leynne identified more with the introverted type, he did not mind keeping the details to himself for the time being, only allowing the crew to know that Janni had said something to upset him and that she was not to be mistreated for it because she was not in the wrong to say as much. Any further questions were dispelled when Leynne explained that those who pried without the captain's permission would be volunteering to stand and fan Link's mattress for the rest of the day. With that hanging over their heads, Leynne instructed Irleen to locate Janni and assigned the deck crew and the off-duty engine crew to set Link's bed out to dry. The mattress was left standing on the poop deck while his sheets were strung up with a temporary line connected between the fore-masts.

Link changed into a grey bodysuit under a green shirt and fresh trousers. Leynne took it upon himself to launder his messy clothes himself as his way of accepting responsibility for the crew's "mutiny". It actually felt awkward for Link; the bodysuit was an old one he had not worn for two years, so it fit tight while feeling a little exposed by his lack of tunic. He kept to his promise of holding his crew until the smaller mattress that now occupied his bed was replaced by his regular mattress. A quick stroll onto the deck after all was quiet revealed his crew to be bored. It was not necessarily new to them, but an air of shame and tedium hung over the Island Symphony.

Link was contemplating his log entry for the day when someone knocked on the door. He gave the window behind him a brief glance to determine that it was the early hours of the evening. "Come in," he called to the door.

Irleen opened the door. She stood aside as Janni stepped in. "Heard you were looking for me, Link," Janni said as she moved to the front of his desk.

"Yeah," Link answered. Then, to Irleen, he said, "Thanks, Irleen. That's all I needed."

Irleen heaved a sigh. "Līntána káħál ō, Līnca," she replied. "Àt kátàh kaħòħál ō."

"Luc òdàhbá tanìa~" Janni commented with a grin. She looked over her shoulder at Irleen. "Līnca cùt kakī ahà."

Irleen's response came with an irritated look. "Icut," she told Janni. "Ħàl hōn hì nòt hùncál cùpa."

"Haħ?" was all that Janni could respond with before Irleen shut the door behind her. She turned to Link. "That was weird."

"She'll get over it," Link told her.

"She's not in a hurry to," Janni said. "When she found me, her voice made it sound like I was getting arrested. She wouldn't really tell me anything except that you wanted to see me."

Link shrugged. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't really tell her anything. Leynne sent her."

"For what?"

Link closed his logbook and moved it aside to set his elbows on the desk. "Janni, I, uh… I wanted to ask you what you wanted to do."

"Well, a few minutes ago, I wanted to finish an early dinner."

Link shook his head. "No, I mean… do you wanna stay here with the Sorians? Or would you like to travel with us some more?"

"Oh, is that all?" Janni asked as she crossed her arms, a slight grin on her face. "I thought it would've been obvious by now. I'm going with you guys."

Link's face turned blank. "That's… that's it? You don't want some time to think or anything?"

Janni gave a casual shrug. "I don't really need to think about it, Link. Sure, it's nice to be around Sorians again, but… it's like I said before: I don't know these people. If you're looking for some deeper thought about it, you might wanna ask Irleen."

"Well, I plan to," Link said. "But… I just thought…"

Janni heaved a sigh. "Look, maybe? In the future? I might get tired of hanging around you guys and come back here. Or make it a point to visit every now and then. But Obeeta was where I belonged with my dad. There isn't any point to going back. I'm sure you realize that you guys are the only ones I really know. I've… come to like it here on the Island Symphony."

When Janni smiled at him, Link felt as if he had been smacked with a brick. He could read the sincerity on her face just as well as he had been able to when she was communicating with him in the dreams. Only this morning, that face had borne tears in her eyes when she smiled. He had to wonder yet again if that conversation had really happened.

"Link?"

Link shook his head. "Yeah?"

Janni's reaction was a confused look. "You all right? You looked a little surprised."

"Well… yeah, I guess I kinda was," Link said as he scratched the back of his head. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to stare like that."

"Was that all you wanted to know?"

"Yeah, but… I-I also wanted to tell you something."

"What's that?"

"I'm trying."

Janni waited for a moment. Then she realized that Link was not elaborating as she had expected. "Um… trying what?"

"I'm… I'm gonna try not to act like a captain so much."

Janni frowned. "But… you are a captain, Link," she pointed out. "Isn't that how you're supposed to act?"

"Well, I know it upset you that I… I-I guess I kinda just ignore people's feelings. I'm trying not to do that so much."

This time, she shrugged and said, "I don't think you're ignoring people's feelings. I remember you letting me cry into your lap after—…" She gave the floor near Link's footlocker a depressed look. "After my dad released me."

"Well, when we were talking this morning, it felt like I'd really made you mad. I was… I was hoping you still weren't."

Janni put on a confused look again. "This morning?" she asked. "We saw each other this morning?"

Link's face formed a puzzled frown. "Yeah. You were on the poop deck, and I came up there, and we started talking." As he said this, he indicated the deckhead with a finger.

Janni raised an eyebrow. "Link, I've been in Anlah Takeen for most of the day. I woke up at Elder Ukhool's, and I've been back and forth between the library and a couple of the local eateries. This is the first time I set foot on the Symphony today."

Link's face turned pale as his mouth drooped open.

…

~~11/3

~~I must be losing my mind, and the crew would probably agree with me by now. Just what the hell is going on? I thought I was talking to Janni this morning, but after calling her to my cabin this afternoon, she tells me she hasn't set foot on the Symphony today, let alone talk to me. I feel like an idiot now. Did I just dream what happened this morning? I know I couldn't have, because Leynne was there, and he remembers finding me on the poop deck. Still, Janni doesn't even seem to remember that conversation. I thought bringing it up would make her mad, but it genuinely sounds like it never happened. It reminds me of what Flower had said about nearly stabbing himself. Could I be having similar issues?

~~And here I am, making my crew miserable just because they dumped a barrel of water on me and my bed. I know now they meant well, so I'll probably let them off sooner. I can go without my bed for a night if I need. Plus, it's kinda wrong to punish them for just trying to get me out of bed. I can't even decide if I was right to try to hide anymore since Janni makes me doubt that she said those things this morning.

~~Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a report from Leynne about the repairs to the mizzen-masts. It's probably because he didn't do anything but hang around waiting for me to approve the crew's shore leave. Maybe I need to get off the ship a little more. I think I'll try visiting Elder Ukhool tomorrow. I don't know what I'm gonna do there, but I think I need to get off the Symphony for a bit.

…

"Irleen, what are your plans when the Island Symphony leaves?"

The question was out before Link could even think of it, courtesy of Elder Ukhool.

Not that the question would not have eventually come up, but he had not expected it to be in the air just as Irleen came through the doorway. Link had been recounting his and Irleen's adventure on the surface, something which Ukhool had been curious about since the Sorians had not set foot in the old kingdom of Hyrule before. That eventually led into a few of the events of their travelling about the sky kingdom, including being bestowed honors by the royal family. Ukhool had just been expressing his gratitude in Link's decision to turn away being knighted in order to continue to look for the Sorians as he had promised Irleen. About a comment later, Ukhool and Link heard Irleen enter.

However, Irleen was not immediately prepared for the question, so her initial response was, "Hm?"

"Captain Link has just told me about his desire to return you to us," Ukhool said. "It sounds like you had quite the adventure over the past two years."

Irleen heaved a sigh. "Believe me, I kinda wish that had all been stretched out over two years. After we killed Cunimincus, things became a little mundane." Then she shrugged. "Well… about as mundane as things could get on the Island Symphony…"

"It sounds as if you'd made a home for yourself with these people," Ukhool said. "So, I am a little curious as to what you plan to do now."

Irleen opened her mouth to respond. And then she glanced at Link with a confused expression. "You know… that's a good question, actually," she admitted. "I guess I hadn't really thought about it."

"Janni made it pretty clear that she wanted to go with us," Link said.

"Really?" Irleen asked.

Link shrugged. "Well… she, uh… she already pointed out to me that she doesn't really know the people here. She made it sound like she wanted to go with us because she's a little more comfortable with us."

Irleen crossed her arms. "Yeah, for someone whose big mouth left you trying to hide from your crew…"

Link pinched the bridge of his nose. "Irleen, ple—don't start," he told her. "I'm pretty sure I had it coming anyway; let's just drop it."

"This isn't supposed to be about Janni," Ukhool spoke up. "I'm sure your parents would like to know what you have planned."

"I can't just answer it like that, great-grandfather," Irleen said. "I…" She looked down at the floor. "I guess I need to think about it."

Link took in a deep breath. "Well, I hope it won't take you too long," he said. "Once Leynne's finished repairing the mizzen-masts, we're probably gonna be shipping out. We have to go to the old kingdom to refill our ballast tanks before we return to the sky." He shrugged and added, "I… guess we'll just be going back to the mundane now."

"Yeah, I… I guess we would, wouldn't we…"

"It is not as if this would have to be a lifelong decision," Ukhool pointed out. "Now that the Hylians have found us, I can imagine contact between our two peoples becoming a regular event. You would likely have the opportunity to return to the sky kingdom once more. Some of us may even decide to restore Kuruuk Nehai; there have been talks on the matter."

"Huh," Irleen said, her meaning unclear. "I guess that sounds reasonable enough…"

Ukhool held up a hand. "Uh—not that I would want to discourage you from going back with the Island Symphony," he told her. "Now that you know where we are, you could just as easily return here when you wanted."

Irleen heaved a sigh. "Thanks, great-grandfather, but… it just makes the decision harder. I might need some more time."

"Leynne hasn't given me an idea of how much longer he needs," Link said, "but, if he does, I'll be sure to let you know."

Irleen nodded as she turned around. "Sure…" was all she uttered as she left the room.

Link waited until she was gone for a few moments before scratching his head. "Janni was right; she really would have to think harder about this…"

"Irleen has spent quite some time with the family since you arrived," Ukhool said. "My youngest daughter, her grandmother, is a playwright, and she has been getting ideas from the stories she's told. One that seems to stand out is a dramatic battle in a volcano against a violent machine. I actually had to look up what a 'volcano' was."

Link groaned at the memory of the fight between himself and "Drumstik", a murderous contraption made by Sello (which was an explanation that only answered a few questions). "Yeah, that seems to be one of the highlights…"

"I'm a little curious as to whether you would prefer her to stay or go. You have been together for two years."

Link scratched his head a little and turned to Ukhool. "Well… I really don't know," he replied. "I guess I… I hadn't really thought about what was going to happen once we found you. I know I'll miss her, but… I think she should stay here for now. She's spent a lot of time hoping to come home."

Ukhool breathed a sigh out through his nose, disappointed that Link had not answered.