Across the Ocean
By Dominus Princeps
Note to "The Sleeper": I appreciate your criticism. I'd like to add that most writers exaggerate certain parts of stories (and, by that token, life), and that most things were done for plot reasons and/or for things that shall be explained. Having said that, perhaps this was an excuse, but if I could genuinely recreate these characters, my name would be Shigeru Miyamoto. I only do my best, but I appreciate that you took the time to read and critique my work.
A.N., Sorry AGAIN for the long update! I've been so lazy as of late, and this chapter isn't even as long as I usually write, but I hope it's enough for you guys. This time around, I will seriously get this out within the week, as opposed to my previous three- and four-week update times!
Chapter Six
Medli shivered as the adrenaline wore down. Link had conducted a cyclone to take them back to the King of Red Lions.
"I'm not extremely sure about where we'll end up, but I'm pretty confident we'll be near the pirate ship and my boat," Link said sheepishly. Medli gulped and watched the sea below them sweep past. Around twenty seconds later, Tetra pointed.
"Hey, there's the pirate ship! Set us down!" she called over the raging winds. Link concentrated, and the whirlwind suddenly stopped...but the four of them were still almost a half mile up.
"Link!" Medli unfurled her wings and dove for him as he hurtled downwards.
"Grab Goto! I'll get Tetra!" Link called, pulling out a small leaf. To Medli's surprise, the leaf suddenly expanded into a huge parachute. Medli swooped down to Goto.
"Grab my ankles!" she said urgently. The Sage of Shadow obliged. Medli turned and saw Link with Tetra on her ankles.
"I can't glide forever with this leaf, Medli, and I know you can't stay aloft indefinitely with someone holding on, either. Let's drop until we're low enough to stop our fall and hit the water safely," Link suggested. Medli nodded and tucked her wings to her sides as Link shrank his leaf-thing. They dropped quickly.
"Now!" Medli shouted, more familiar with relative altitudes than Link was. Link expanded his leaf, and Medli beat her wings furiously. Her shoulders burned with the effort, but she slowed her fall significantly. Link came to a rest a few yards beneath her. They glided as close to the pirate ship as they could get. Medli was sweating from the effort, and her wingbeats grew weaker and weaker before she gasped and dropped. Goto let go of her ankles and rotated himself so that his feet were facing the water. He pointed his toes and clamped his arms to his sides. Medli, on the other hand, tumbled through the air, exhausted from flying so hard. Link and Tetra hit the water first, then Goto hit, and finally Medli smacked the surface. The impact knocked her unconscious.
ooo
Medli awoke in a hammock in one of the pirate ship's cabins. She blinked the haziness from her eyes and walked up the long flight of stairs to the deck. Tetra was sitting on the rail of the pirate ship, talking to Goto, who was watching her with interest in his eye.
"Hey, where's Link?" Medli asked when Tetra reached a gap in her conversation.
"He's prepping the King of Red Lions for sailing off again. You two are going to go find the Water Temple. We don't have sufficient records here, but Link thinks that the library on Dragon Roost will have the texts," Tetra replied. Medli nodded and stretched her aching shoulders. She peered over the edge of the ship and saw Link packing some things into the ship's compartment on his boat. Medli climbed down the rope ladder on the side of the pirate ship and glided over to Link and the King of Red Lions.
"Good to see you awake," Link smiled, pushing the wet hair plastered to her face behind her ear. Medli smiled back and kissed his cheek.
"So...we're off to Dragon Roost Island, my home?" she asked. Link nodded as he finished his preparations.
"Yep. You guys have that famous royal library. While I would've preferred the library in Hyrule Castle, yours is the best on this side of the ocean, so..." he replied. Medli nodded and sat down on the side of the boat.
"Don't leave me behind like you did last time, you meanies!" an irritated squeak came from the deck of the pirate ship. Medli and Link looked up and shared a grin as they watched Makar hop off the side of the pirate ship and glide down to the King of Red Lions using his leaf-helicopter. He touched down and wiggled back and forth with apparent indignation.
"You guys left suddenly and I had no idea where you were and I was scared and I couldn't find you, and now you come back and you had a great adventure and you left me behind like a bunch of meanies!" Makar pouted. Link patted him on the head.
"Sorry, Makar. It happened all so suddenly, we clean forgot about you. Can you forgive us?" Link grinned. Makar appeared to think about it for a short time.
"Okay. But only if I get to go with you this time!" the Korok said. Link smiled.
"Sure. With that, let's go!" he said, pulling out the Wind Waker. Medli held onto the mast as the boat was lifted into the cyclone.
"If you think that putting me through this a lot will make me like it, you're wrong!" Medli shouted to Link over the din of the cyclone.
"Sorry, babe, but it's the fastest way around here!" Link shouted back. Makar was clamped onto Medli's leg again, as he had been the last time they all traveled together in a cyclone. A minute or so later, they touched down right next to the small sand beach on Dragon Roost Island. Link and Medli hopped out; Makar flew over the water and waited for them on the beach. Medli took Link's hand in hers as they walked up the stone ramps toward the Rito aerie set into the mountain.
"You fixed the big gap here, eh?" Link remarked as they walked across a wooden bridge that spanned a gap.
"Yeah...how did you get across that the first time?" Medli asked.
"I had to sidle carefully along a small ledge. No fun," Link snorted. Makar rode on Medli's head so that he didn't have to run after the two of them. They climbed the steeper ramp that led directly into the aerie. As their eyes adjusted to the dimmer light inside the Ritos' ancestral home, Medli was suddenly aware that every Rito had his or her eye upon the trio.
"Medli? Is that you?" the king of the Rito gasped. Medli blushed and scuffed her feet.
"Uh...yeah," she replied.
"You've been gone for a little while...three weeks, maybe?" the king frowned. His face brightened.
"But it's so good to see you. And Link, hello! How have you fared these days?" the king turned to Link with twinkling eyes. Link grinned.
"Not so bad. I mean, Ganon was no fun, but I won, so that's what matters," he replied.
"Hmm...you've changed a lot from the scrawny boy who came here asking for Din's Pearl a year and a half ago. You're taller, certainly, and you look more muscular," the king ruffled Link's already messy hair.
"So, to what do we owe this visit?" the king asked.
"Well...there's a problem. When I fought Ganondorf, I sealed him in stone. However, I overlooked one of his swords. There's a sorcerer-warrior who calls himself the Black Knuckle who somehow got a hold of that sword. We took it from him the last time we fought him, and now we're trying to seal it back with Ganondorf. However, to reenter Hyrule, we need the Two Medallions, along with the blessings of Zelda and the Sages of Shadow and Water. We've already awakened the Sage of Shadow, so we need to locate the Water Temple for its awakening song. We thought your royal library might have some info we could use," Link explained. The Rito king looked rather intrigued.
"Well. That's quite a problem you've got on your hands. But, for you, Link, who saved our people, well...use of our library is a petty favor. Here's the key; Medli can show you where it is," the king smiled warmly, pressing a gilt key into Link's free hand. Link smiled back.
"Thanks. Let's go, Medli," he said. Medli led him by the hand up the ramp from the first floor to the second.
"Wait, Medli...what is that hanging onto your ponytail?" the king asked. Medli grinned.
"That's a Korok. His name's Makar. He's an excellent cellist," she responded. The king nodded, and Medli began leading Link again. They reached the library on the top floor, and Link fitted the gilt key into the lock on the door. Medli pushed it open, and the three of them gasped as they gazed upon the massive library set into the wall of the mountain.
"This is unbelievable," Link breathed. Medli and Makar nodded in agreement. The shelves and shelves of books reached the ceiling...which was twenty feet high. A desk was visible at the center of the room. Medli and Link jogged over to the desk. A Rito attendant was sitting in a chair, reading a book.
"Um...we're looking for any texts on the Water Temple," Link said as the attendant looked up from her book.
"Right. Okay, ah...this way," she said, motioning for them to follow. After a short walk, the attendant spread her wings and flew up a few rows and hovered at one row.
"Hmm...Wind Temple...Wind Gods...ah, here we go, Water Temple. I'll take these two, and you can peruse them," the attendant said. She plucked the two books from the shelf with her feet and stretched her feet out as she dropped so that Link and Medli could grab the books. After they had taken the books, the attendant landed and walked over to her desk.
"There are some tables and chairs over there," she pointed toward a few tables and chairs. Link sat down and opened his book immediately. Makar climbed on top of Medli's head from where he had been perched on her ponytail so that she could sit down comfortably. Medli flipped through the pages of her book and frowned in concentration.
"Aha!" Link said suddenly. Medli looked up at him.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It says the Water Temple rested at the bottom of Lake Hylia. So all we need to do is find where Lake Hylia is...or was," Link said, trailing off at the end. Medli nodded and turned back to her book. Link got up and walked over to the library attendant. He walked off with her and came back soon with a large text tucked under his arm.
"It's an atlas of old Hyrule. I'm surprised they had it here, but I bet this'll have the answer," Link remarked cheerily.
"Huh. Wouldn't something like that have been lost in the flood?" Medli asked. Link shrugged.
"Ask the attendant. I'm not too well-read on the subject; I just know all this stuff from the King of Red Lions," he replied. Medli nodded and turned back to her book.
"Hmm...it says you need the 'chain-spear' and the 'heavy feet' just to enter the temple...what do you think that means?" she frowned, looking up at Link. Link scratched his unkempt hair and grinned.
"Well, the 'chain-spear' sounds like the Hookshot. And heavy feet...I'd say the Iron Boots. They are pretty heavy," Link said. He flipped through several pages and studied the maps. Medli turned a couple pages in the book that didn't apply to what they were looking for.
"Hey, here it is! Lake Hylia...I wish there was a landmark I could compare with the modern world!" Link grumbled, frustrated. He peered at the map more closely.
"Wait..." Link said, taking out his sea chart. He laid it next to the atlas of the entire kingdom and grinned.
"Hmm...Dragon Roost Island and Death Mountain are in almost the exact same location, as are the Gerudo Fortress and the Forsaken Fortress...Windfall must be the marketplace of Hyrule. Outset is near the Kokiri Woods, which means...Lake Hylia is near that secret spot that Tetra showed us! No wonder her password was 'Hylia'!" he smiled as it all fit together. Medli smiled with him. Link closed the atlas with a satisfied look on his face.
"Shall we go?" he asked. Medli nodded.
"Yeah, we've got a Sage to awaken!" she grinned. They returned their books and walked from the library. Medli heard light snoring and plucked Makar from her head to find that he had fallen asleep.
"And he wanted to come along for the ride..." she shook her head, amused.
ooo
Tetra sighed as she watched the water lap the sides of her pirate ship as it rested at the dock at the pirates' secret island.
"Gonzo!" she yelled, standing up straight. The first mate sprinted to her side.
"Yes, ma'am!" Gonzo saluted.
"Haul anchor, you scrawny sea rat! We're setting sail!" Tetra snapped. Gonzo looked at her eagerly.
"Really? Where to?" he asked.
"None of your business, you pathetic excuse for a pirate! Now get moving!" Tetra replied, standing on her tiptoes to cuff him on the back of the head. Submissively, Gonzo jogged over to where the mechanism that reeled in the anchor rested. He cranked it until something clicked.
"Anchor hauled, ma'am!" Gonzo called.
"Mako! Niko!" Tetra yelled. The two shorter pirates scampered over to Tetra.
"Unfurl the sails! Now!" she ordered. They nodded and scrambled up the rope ladders that led up the mainmast. When the sail fell to its full length, Tetra ran to the ship's wheel. The sail billowed in the wind, and the ship slowly began accelerating. Soon enough, the big pirate ship was making good speed northwest.
"Lucky the wind is good...I'd give us around three, maybe four days till we get there..." Tetra muttered to herself. Link...I've gotta tell you, even if you don't feel like I do. I can't let it stew inside me.
ooo
"Hey, why are you guys here?" Link and Medli turned at the sound of a familiar voice. Komali was leaning in the archway that led out of the Rito aerie.
"Oh, h-hey, Komali. We came for...for some information about the Water Temple," Medli replied, more than a little uncomfortable about talking with the Rito prince.
"Gotcha. How'd the Shadow Temple go?" he asked. Link shrugged.
"Not so bad. Pretty creepy place," the blond boy answered.
"Can I go with you guys to the, ah, Water Temple, was it?" Komali requested eagerly. Medli turned to Link and shrugged.
"He seems better...maybe it was just the heat of the moment," she whispered.
"Well...alright. Never know how it might help," he whispered back.
"Sure, you can come. Got everything you need?" Link smiled. Komali held up a finger.
"Hold on. Let me go get my sword, okay?" the Rito prince said. He jogged off past them to his room.
"Wait—how did he know about the Shadow Temple?" Medli asked, turning to Link. Link blinked.
"Hey, you're right...he was on the pirate ship, and couldn't have known where we were going!" he frowned. At that moment, Komali walked out, a short sword fastened at his waist.
"Well? Are we going?" he smiled eagerly. Medli and Link shared a look before walking off to where the King of Red Lions was anchored and resting. Link hopped in and helped Medli into the boat. Komali leaped nimbly in like Link had. Link hauled anchor and pulled out the Wind Waker. He conducted the winds west, then summoned a cyclone to carry them to Outset Island. Within a few minutes, Medli saw the twin peaks of Outset rushing toward them. Link set them down and unfurled the sail with Medli's help. The King of Red Lions accelerated quickly and was soon moving at a good speed toward Tetra's "secret spot". Komali dipped a hand in the water rushing by and laughed at the feeling. Medli smiled at him from where she sat on the edge of the King of Red Lions.
"Seems like he's better..." she murmured to Link. Link turned to her.
"Yeah...I kinda feel bad for punching him...something came over me; it wasn't just that I was angry at him for saying that junk to you. It was some weird, insidious feeling..." Link said from where he was standing at the tiller. "Well, anyway, we'll be at that secret island soon, so we'll have to be on the lookout for the Water Temple's entrance."
"Right," Medli replied.
"Hey, what is that?" Komali pointed to where Makar was sleeping on the deck. The sudden noise woke the slumbering Korok.
"Abandon ship!" Makar yelled, terrified. Medli grabbed him before he could follow through with his statement.
"This is Makar. He's a Korok," she explained, cradling the stubby, rounded Makar. Komali tilted his head.
"Oh, cool. I've never seen a real Korok. How come he's traveling with us?" the Rito prince asked.
"Because Link and Medli left me behind for the Shadow Temple, now I get a slice of the action!" the Korok replied, shaking in Medli's arms. She set him down, and the stocky Makar waddled over to the prow of the King of Red Lions, where he somehow managed to climb up to the head of the boat.
"I see land, Link! We're not too far!" Makar cried back to Link, who nodded and adjusted the tiller slightly.
"We made pretty good time," Link remarked. As they neared the island, Medli tilted her head.
"That roaring sound...what is it?" she said to herself. Her eyes widened with realization at the very moment that the King of Red Lions was sucked underwater.
ooo
Tetra pulled out her Gossip Stone on a sudden thought.
"I wonder how Link's doing..." she remarked aloud. She peered into the Gossip Stone and saw water raging. The scene seemed oddly familiar. Tetra searched the image and saw Medli, Komali, and Makar clinging to the mast of the King of Red Lions as the water raged around them. Her eyes widened.
"They're in the whirlpool defenses of my secret spot!" she gasped. There was no way for anyone to say "Hylia", however, because they were all underwater. Tetra thought frantically for a way to save the four of them and suddenly remembered that whatever she said into her Gossip Stone would be repeated through the one Link had.
"Hylia!" she shouted. The water raging around Link and his crew stopped, and the King of Red Lions shot for the surface. It broke into the air, and Link and his group began gasping, taking in the precious air.
"Close one, there," Tetra said into her Gossip Stone. Link pulled his out and spat out some water.
"Nice save," he said between deep breaths. She shrugged.
"Always here when you need it. Damn, Link, you're lucky I was wondering how you were!" Tetra grinned.
"No kidding. So, what's up?" he shook his head, spraying water from his soaked hair. Tetra sighed.
"Not much. Say...why are you heading to my secret spot?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"We think, based on what we found, that the Water Temple is located at your secret spot...where Lake Hylia once was. Wish us luck!" the blond boy smiled.
"Good luck...and bring me back a souvenir," Tetra smirked.
"Don't worry about that. By the way, where are you, anyhow?" Link asked.
"Ah...just sailing, trying to find something on those 'Two Medallions'. See you around sometime!" she replied. He pocketed his Gossip Stone, canceling their link.
"Damn...I meant to tell him, I had to tell him, but he was surrounded by his friends, and I didn't have the courage...Link, the next time, I will tell you, I promise," Tetra scowled. She pounded the rail of the ship.
ooo
Link guided the King of Red Lions into the natural harbor at Tetra's "secret spot", and Medli dropped anchor. Komali looked around.
"Wow...this place isn't on any of the maps I know," he said, taking in the sights.
"Strange that even the Rito wouldn't know of this island...there must be something deeper than whirlpools protecting this," Link remarked. Komali nodded in assent.
"You're right. That is strange," he said.
"Well, shall we check out the island and see if we can find the entrance?" Medli suggested. Link shrugged.
"Sure. You and Makar go left, and me and Komali will check right, alright?" Link nodded. Medli nodded in agreement and picked up Makar from where he was standing on the deck. The Korok held onto her ponytail as she hopped out of the boat.
"Here, take this Gossip Stone so we can communicate if we find something," Link handed her a blue stone wrapped with a piece of strong twine. He put a hand on her shoulder.
"Be careful," he said. There was command in his voice.
"Don't worry! Between my amazing Wind powers and Medli's cool skeleton guy, we'll be fine!" Makar squeaked zealously. Link laughed.
"I'll hold you to it. C'mon, Komali, let's go," he grinned. He and the Rito prince walked off down the beach. Medli sighed.
"Alright, Makar, we're off!" she said. She hiked up a tall, rocky hill and entered a wooded region at the top of the hill. Medli pushed a branch out of her way and walked through the cool, shaded woods. Makar looked around from his perch on top of her head.
"This is a strange woods...I'm getting a strange feeling from the trees," he commented.
"Like what?" Medli asked.
"I can't speak to them like most trees...it's like there's a curse over them or something, that's the way it feels, at least," the Korok shivered.
"Weird..." she shook her head. Makar suddenly began shaking.
"Medli...the trees are speaking now! They say that there are evil monsters in these woods and that they're afraid the monsters will cut them down if we don't help! We gotta help them!" Makar screeched. Medli winced at his high pitch and frowned.
"Ask them where the monsters are," she prompted. Makar made a prolonged, trilled whispering noise that was just on the edge of Medli's hearing. She heard a kind of rustling in the trees' leaves, but nothing more.
"Medli...they say...duck!" Makar squeaked. Medli dropped to the ground as a claw slashed the air where she had been not five seconds ago. Medli scrambled to her feet and faced a pair of wolves with glowing yellow eyes. They howled with delight and circled her.
"Take...this!" Makar squeaked, throwing his hands to the air for drama. A Mothula appeared, fluttering its wings and causing flickering orange dust to scatter over the ground. The two wolves were distracted for a split-second...just long enough for the Mothula to swoop down and knock them both flat. Medli called a Stalfos to their aid. The skeleton berserker hefted its mace and swung it at one of the wolves. To Medli's surprise, the wolf nimbly backflipped and then jumped at the Stalfos. Its replying strike was blocked by the Stalfos' mace, but barely. The foe was quick. A howl made Medli jump and whirl to face the other wolf, but Makar's Mothula struck it flat again. The giant moth chittered with apparent amusement and flapped orange dust at the wolf circling the Stalfos. The wolf was once more distracted by the dust, and for its mistake, received a fifty-pound spiked club to the face. It whimpered with pain, then disappeared in a burst of smoke. Makar's Mothula was in the process of finishing off the other wolf. The Stalfos hurled its mace at the wolf and struck it in the chest, killing that one, too. The Mothula chirped angrily at the Stalfos before they both disappeared.
"Good teamwork, Makar," Medli grinned.
"Well, I am the Sage of Wind!" Makar puffed himself up. Medli shook her head and sighed.
"Let's keep going," she said.
"The trees say there are more monsters, and they're not just possessed wolves. They say that there are bears, too, and other such creatures...along with a huge one with an axe. What could that mean?" Makar pondered.
"Axe...?" Medli's eyes widened.
"There must be an evil sorcerer with an axe who's enchanting these creatures! What a meanie!" Makar said angrily.
"Ask the trees if he's wearing black!" Medli instructed. Makar made the barely audible whispering noise again.
"They said yes," he frowned, "What does that mean?"
"It means that the Black Knuckle has been following us somehow..." Medli remarked, horrified.
"The Black...Knuckle?" Makar gasped.
"We'd better tell Link!" Medli said.
"No chance of that, little Sages," a sinister voice said. Medli turned and was struck in the cheek with an armored backhand. Her vision exploded into multi-colored sparks before her consciousness fled.
ooo
"I wonder how Medli and Makar are doing," Link sighed as he and Komali slid down a dusty hill.
"I dunno. I'm sure they're fine, though. Medli's clever, and I hear that Koroks are powerful when they're in the forest," Komali shrugged.
"Who said anything about a forest?" Link frowned. Komali bit his lip.
"Uh...didn't you see it? It was at the top of that hill where we landed," the Rito prince struggled.
"How do you know they went in there?" Link asked, by his tone only mildly suspicious.
"I just kinda guessed. I mean, why would a temple be on the beach?" Komali shrugged.
"Point. But it is the Water Temple," Link remarked. Komali sighed with relief. Link still hadn't found out.
"So, what was the Shadow Temple like?" Komali asked, curious.
"Not so bad. Really creepy, though. Shadows and skeletons and damp stone everywhere. The puzzles were weird, too, at least for me. I fought two ghost swordsmen, and for the boss of the temple I had to fight some strange shadow of myself. Needless to say, it was weird," Link replied. The Rito prince nodded.
"Huh," he said.
"By the way, Link..." Komali grinned, "I have something I meant to give you."
"Oh, yeah? What would that be?" Link was mildly intrigued, and turned to face Komali as they strode through the rocky paths. Komali reached in his pocket and pulled out a purple jar.
"Know what this is?" the Rito prince asked. Link frowned as they stopped to look at the purple jar in Komali's hands.
"I have no idea," Link said. He took the bottle from Komali.
"It's a bottle dyed purple," Komali smirked. Link blinked, then looked up. Komali's blade was headed right for his chest. With barely enough space to spare, Link dropped to the ground and swept Komali's feet from under him.
"What are you doing, you crazy kid?" Link back-handsprung away from the Rito prince and unsheathed his sword and pulled his shield from his back. Komali's eyes flashed yellow.
"What I've been wanting to do since I saw you hold Medli's hand!" his voice was somehow different from the cheery voice Link was familiar with. But before Link could think about it, the Rito was pressing the attack. Link deflected the blow with his shield and slapped Komali with the flat of the Prism Sword. Ice leaped from the blade and encased Komali's left arm. With effort, the Rito broke the icy burden, but, having taken his eyes from Link, was completely off guard when Link spin-kicked him in the face. Komali spun to the ground. Link stepped on his sword arm and his chest.
"What are you doing? Why are you fighting me?" the blond boy asked, searching Komali's eyes. They flashed yellow again, and this time Link was sure he had seen the flash. Komali grinned.
"Fool...Link, you're such an idiot. You never sit back and think about what goes on in this world; it's always about running around and swinging your sword, isn't it?" the boy's voice was vicious and cruel...nothing like what Link had heard. It was then that Link realized where he had heard this voice before...when Komali had taunted Medli about her heritage on Tetra's ship.
"You'll thank me for this later, kid," Link sighed. He stepped on Komali's throat. The Rito prince's eyes widened. He made a sucking noise that halted suddenly as the air didn't make it past where Link was standing. When the boy's eyes rolled back in his head, Link stepped off, put away his sword and shield, sheathed Komali's sword, and slung the Rito over his shoulders in the fireman's carry.
"You can't escape us this time," Link whirled at a voice and gasped as he felt an arrow pierce his back. The pain was numbing...no, there was some paralyzing agent in the arrow!
"What's..." Link struggled to speak as he fell to his knees. Komali fell from his shoulders. Link's last vision was of a beautiful woman with a bow standing in front of him. Then, his face hit the dirt.