CHAPTER SIX

The cool breeze of the ocean tickled past my smiling face.

"This is amazing!"

The King of Red Lions laughed. "Haha, watch this!"

I felt movement under me as the boat propelled itself into the air.

"Whoa!"

The jump ended as we splashed back into the water. I wiped the water of my face and laughed.

"That was great!"

The boat smiled...I think.

I could see a speck in the distance.

"What's that?" I thought out loud. I pulled out Aryll's telescope and focused it on the speck. An island!

"Red Lions," I shouted, "an island... over there!"

"Oh, yes, yes, hush I know that," said the boat which, I had discovered.

About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the shore of the rocky island.

"Welcome to Dragon Roost Island..."

"Oops, I forgot," I said, "My name's Link."

"Yes, Link," continued the King of Red Lions, "before you head out, I'd like to give you something that will greatly aid you on your quest."

I noticed Red Lions drop a thin, silver baton onto the shore.

"Wh...what's this?" I asked, picking it up.

"It's called a Wind Waker," explained the boat, "using it, you can control the wind to make music and cause various things to happen."

"Really? Like what"

"Well," said the King of Red Lions, "slowly swing it up, then right then left."

I held the Wind Waker high up above my head. Up, left, right.

"Nothing happened, Red Lions."

"No, no, no," the boat corrected, "it's up, left, right"

Up, left right.

WOOSH!

My eyes followed the sound of the wind as it wooshed in another direction.

"Wow!"

"That's a song called 'The Wind's Requiem.' "

"What else can this thing do?" I asked.

"You'll realize its power later," the King of Red Lions said, "Go on now, you've got much ahead of you."

"All right."

"Oh, and don't forget, you're here to collect the first of three pearls," said the boat, "You shall also understand their significance soon."

I ran up the coast of Dragon Roost Island and through one of its many rocky caves. I reached the edge of a small cliff and noticed three stones, only one of which was intact. I examined the markings on the unbroken stone.

"Maybe they're symbols that give instructions about the Wind Waker," I again thought out loud.

I pulled out the Wind Waker and got ready to play before a frog-like creature riding on a green cloud whizzed my way.

"Wha..."

"Hello," said the cloud toad, "I am Zephos, the wind entity."

I introduced myself to him and we began a conversation. He told me a little about himself and went on to give me a warning.

"One more thing, Link," Zephos said, "beware of my brother Cyclos, who control cyclones. My wayward brother has lost his sense and is very cruel."

I nodded.

"I shall be taking my leave now, good luck."

"Bye!" I called as he sailed away.

I turned around and noticed a huge boulder standing in the way of the only alternate route.

Now what do I do?

My eyes, oh those sly little things, wandered aimlessly and targeted a Bomb Flower. I'd heard much about these things. As my grandma told me, my dad used them very often. I didn't really like Grandma to talk about my parents. Ever since they were killed when I was seven and Aryll was only a newborn, I didn't like to think about them at all. But I couldn't help thinking of my amazing dad as I picked up the hissing plant and threw its bomb at the rock.

BOOOOM!!!

A large cracking sound filled my ears as the huge boulder shattered.

A revealed door led to a small village. I slowly opened the door and walked through, noticing another loud noise, like a roar, emit from above my head.

A whole bunch of bird-like creatures filled the room. They sort of looked like humans with fake bird beaks stuck on, but they were the Real McCoy.

"Yes!" I heard a cry. One of the bird people flew down from a level up from where I stood.

"You must be Link, am I correct?" the bird man said in a deep voice.

I swallowed hard. "Yes sir."

"I've heard much about you," he said, "I am the chieftain of the Rito people."

"Okay..."

The Rito chieftain brought his tone down to a soft whisper. "I knew we just met, but I'd like to ask of your help."

"Mmhmm..."

"You are such a brave young man and I think that your bravery could be very contagious," said the chieftain, "I'd like to ask you to talk to my son in that room over there."

"Why?" I asked, "What's wrong?"

"You see, there is a dragon at the top of the cavern, Valoo, I'm sure you've heard him ranting and raving."

"Oh yeah, I remember hearing a noise," I recalled.

"Yes, well that dragon used to be so friendly, but now it has become horridly furious, ill-tempered and unpredictable."

I kept listening intently.

"In Rito tradition, when a young one makes the transition into manhood, he must go and get a scale from Valoo. But now, my son Komali has become extremely scared and puts himself down, saying he can't do it. It's far past his time to get his scale."

The chieftain reached behind his back and handed me a postal bag.

"Here," said the Rito, "please take the letter in this bag to my son. Maybe it'll make him feel somewhat better."

I nodded and smiled. Turning around I followed the chieftain's finger point toward the kid's room.

I reached the door and pushed it open. Samurai

"Hello?"

I heard a small gasp from the young prince as I entered the room.

"Who's there?"

Prince Komali looked at me. "Who are you?"

"My name's Link," I responded, "I came to give you this letter from your father."

I took the letter from the Delivery Bag.

"Here."

The young prince's eyes danced along the words of the paper.

"Easy for him to say," said Prince Komali, dropping the letter to the ground. "Telling me to be brave and to be strong. He doesn't hafta go up to a big, mean dragon."

"You've got to be strong," I explained, "I had to leave my home and go on a quest to save my little sister and stop evil forces. How's that for scary?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Well, Prince Komali, I'll let you think about it, but remember, your dad only wants the very best for you. Just be brave."

I figured that I'd let the words sink in as I left the room. I eyed the young prince as I left the room, his glossy eyes stuck on the large, orange pearl he held tight in his grasp.

I ran out a door of the small indoor village, not realizing that I exited through a different door than that I'd come through.

My eyes were blinded by the slew of debris that bombarded them. I tried to shield my eyes from the wind. Cough, cough...

I saw something red. Not sure what it was I unshielded my eyes for a while and noticed a girl, probably about my age, just as disgruntled by the wind as I was.

She blew backwards, right into me. I caught her and we both were blown against the wall. The wind howled violently.

"Thank you!" screamed the girl, competing for my ears as were the howls of the wind. "Do you think you could give me a lift?"

"How?"

"Just throw me up to that ledge and...!...and I'll get up there!" screamed the Rito girl, "Just make sure the wind is behind my back!"

A picked her up and put her on my shoulders. The light-as-a-feather girl held on to me tight as I faced her destination and waited until I felt the wind pelt my back.

"UUUUHH!!!" I threw the girl off my shoulders, unsure of how she was going to reach the height.

Almost like magic, the young Rito girl sprouted a small set of wings as she flew up to the ledge.

"THANKS!" she called down, "NOW, CATCH THIS, FILL IT WITH WATER, WATER A BOMB FLOWER AND THROW IT AT THAT ROCK. THEN, SWIM ACROSS THE FLOOD."

A lot of directions...but if I could get this far, I could do that. She threw down a bottle. I clutched it tight in my hands and ran to the small pool of water nearby. Scoop! I corked the top back on to the bottle and climbed a ladder near my entrance and watered one of three severely withered Bomb Flowers. Ploop. The Flower turned back into its normal color.

"NOW THROW IT AT THAT LARGE ROCK!"

Sly one and sly two eyed the huge boulder as my hands reacted just before the Bomb exploded, scoring a direct hit on the rock.

BOOM!!!

The rock disappeared to reveal a small water spout.

"NOW WHAT?!" I shouted across the wind.

Before the Rito girl could answer, the spout exPLOded into a pool of water, flooding the path gap between the girl and me.

"SWIM OVER HERE!" she called.

I did an impressive dive into the water and swam through it at full speed. But hey, no one said it would be that hard to swim against the wind.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSWWWWWWWOOOOOSSSH.........

The wind slowly subsided as I reached the other side.

"Thank you so much," said the girl in a normal volume voice.

"Sure...by the way, I'm Link."

"Medli's the name," Medli said, shaking my hand, pleased to meet you. I've got to go now, but I'm sure we'll be meeting each other again soon."

Medli flew off to a place I couldn't see.

I turned around to a pool of lava. Of course my eyes picked up a hole in a suspicious idol...the same circumference of a bomb...

I tossed a nearby Bomb Flower into the idol.

BANG!

The idol fell, leaving a path for me to cross the lava.

A couple of quick hops got me across the lava pool and to a door on the other side.

I entered Dragon Roost Cavern.