Nineve's heart skipped a beat as he said this. She looked up and approached the boy cautiously, as though he would stab her any second. She sat down beside him and pulled her knees close to her chest, placing her chin on them. "What?" Nineve asked.

           The boy turned his head slightly and said in a quiet and soothing voice, "I just wanted to know…what is your name?"

           Nineve looked up and made eye contact with him, without really meaning to, then quickly looked back at the ground. "My name? My name is Nineve…what's your name?"

           The boy looked out into the night sky and replied in a quiet voice, "Oh…My name is…Link…"

           "Link…" Nineve repeated, the name sounding so interesting. She realized she shouldn't act so soft, so she pointed to the red thing bobbing up and down beside the dock. "Is that your boat?" She asked in a confident and independent – yet mocking tone.

           "Well, not really mine…well, I guess he is…but…that boat is alive…He saved my life once, and he's been following and helping me around since." Link said, smiling over at the boat.

           Nineve stood up and put her hands on her hips. "A talking boat?" She asked as if he were an adult with a teething toy.

           "Yes, why not?" Link asked.

           Nineve turned her head away from Link and folded her arms. "Huh! Well…I just…thought it was a little odd, that's all. Yes, that's all!!" She walked over to the food and picked up the bottle, and the loaf of bread. "Well, I'm gonna go home…" She said, almost sullenly, then walked towards the hill to retrace her steps from when she went to the safe. 

           "Home?" Link looked at her questioningly.

           "…" Nineve stopped and looked back at him. "Not exactly home…but…" She snapped her head back to the front of her view and snorted. "It doesn't matter! What does it matter to you??" She said, whether or not meaning to sound overly obnoxious, she filled the spot.

           Link looked back up at the sky and said in the same soothing voice, but with a hint of compassion included, "Well, I just thought…maybe…if you didn't have anywhere else to go…" He hesitated. "You could…come with me for a while." He said finally.

           Nineve's eyes widened as she turned back to look at him, something about his eyes…the stars reflected so clearly in them. "'er…I…" She parted her gaze with those beautiful eyes, then added a little sternness to her voice, "Where are you headed?"

           "Oh, I dunno. Like I always say, "Wherever the wind may take me."" He said innocently, still gazing at the stars.

           "I suppose so…but…why? I'm just a poor stranger…I'll be a burden if nothing else." Nineve said, already feeling like she'd placed a load on his chest.

           "No, it's quite alright…I have a feeling you have a completely different side to you, and I'm prepared to try and find it…" He said, finally smiling warmly over at her.

           Nineve was dumbstruck for a short moment, but then got a firm look on her face and folded her arms, "I have completely no idea what you're talking about!! Different side…hmmf!" She said as though he were telling her he knew she had wings and horns.

           Link shook his head, "Well, let's spend the night here. We'll leave in the morning." He said, closing the conversation, not giving Nineve a chance to clearly make up her mind.

           Nineve finally gave in after a short silence and said, "I'd rather not show my face…inside the inn…"

           "What? You haven't stolen something from there too, have you?" Link asked, forcing her to make eye contact, and made Nineve feel as if he were staring deep down into her soul, fishing out her deepest secrets.

           Nineve shook her head quickly, almost too quickly, and said in a wannabe normal voice, "Of course not!!" She searched for yet another excuse. "Going from so rich to so poor is a little embarrassing, if you know what I mean…" She said.

           Link didn't know her past, but hearing this gave him a pretty good idea, also seeing that she had no mother and father, it wasn't hard to put two and two together. "Well, actually, I'd rather stay out here in this beautiful weather." Link said, making her feel more comfortable, even though he knew that her excuse wasn't the truest answer she could've given him.         

           Nineve smiled and sighed, relief washing over her that he didn't question her deeper. "Good! Great!" She said.

           Link stood up and said in a tired voice, "Well, I'm going to go collect some fire wood. You can come if you want, or you can stay here…I don't really care."

           "Firewood from where? The only place you can find firewood is if you buy it from one of the shops or tear a few branches off a tree…there isn't any spare lying around but the driftwood, and that's soaked in water, and would take forever to burn." She said (Slight memories of her dream returning to her of the waterlogged humans), jumping up and taking hold of a branch above her. She swung herself up on top of it and looked down.

           "Oh…I haven't been around here too much. I guess I could go buy some." He suggested.

           Nineve took hold of a nearby branch that looked easy to tear, and began ripping at it. "That stuff is really expensive." She finally got the branch off and tossed it down.  "You could use that, but it'll take a little longer to start burning since it's not pre-dried like the stuff in the shops." She said, tossing another down.

           "Hmm…you seem to be pretty smart." Link remarked, walking around and collecting the wood Nineve had thrown, and placed it into a neat little pile, then started placing large rocks around it from the beach.

           "Well, living in poverty gains you experience; like I said, I think I've become smarter ever since I lost the riches." Nineve said, tearing down one last branch, then she leapt from the tree. She bent her knees to cushion the fall, and landed beside Link, who looked slightly surprised as if it were raining girls.

           Link started the fire, slowly but surely the damp wood dried under the heat and (with a lot of smoke) began to burn happily. He sat down on one side, while Nineve positioned herself opposite him.

        "So do you have a preferred destination for tomorrow?" She asked, yawning. She sat laid herself down and got into a comfortable position.

        "Oh, not really…" Link said, watching Nineve. "Do you need some bedding or something? I have some blankets in the boat."

        "I doubt it. I've gotten used to the ground, plus it should be pretty warm tonight. Not to mention the fire…" Nineve said.

        "Not even a pillow?" Link asked, feeling a little concerned.

        "No, that's alright, but thank you anyway." Nineve turned so her back was visible to Link, then began to wonder why Link seemed so worried.

        "Alright…just wake me up if you need anything, okay?" He told her. "Well…good night."

            Nineve shut her eyes without responding, and fell asleep shortly after.