Chapter 10. Endless Night

It was dark, cold, and unpleasant. I had expected as much, but it was still annoying. And now I had to get all the way to Outset in one night? Not likely.

But there wasn't a lot I could do about it, so I just kept sailing on. The moon seemed stuck in the sky, where I could see it through the clouds. I had no idea how much time had passed before I broke the silence.

"Hey King, do you really think we can make it?"

"You are asking a talking boat if the impossible is possible?"

I laughed. "Good point. Thanks man."

On we went. There were quite a few creatures that decided to follow us and try to kill me, but I only got knocked out of the boat once. Not fun, for the record.

As we kept going, I started to wonder. Something seemed wrong. We'd been sailing for a long time. A really long time. Longer than we should have been. Even without a watch, or the moon moving, I could tell.

"King..."

"I have noticed as well. Morning has not broken since we arrived at Greatfish Isle. It is as if time itself is frozen."

"But why?"

"Perhaps this is the curse that Valoo spoke of?"

"Eternal night? That's kind of a sucky curse."

"Whatever the reason, if this night does not end, then we need not worry about the pirates overtaking us."

"So...we win?"

"We win."

"Whoo!"

I was so cheered by this fact that I forgot to pay attention to where we were sailing. There was a barrel floating out in the water, randomly, and I had to swerve quickly to avoid it.

"Where did that come from?" I exclaimed.

"From that, I am assuming."

I looked where he was looking and saw a floating wooden platform, with a little shack in the middle. "What kind of boat is that?"

"It is a submarine."

"Really? Cool! I've never seen one before! You think they'd let me look around?"

"Unlikely. I believe that particular submarine is under the control of the pirates that once inhabited the Forsaken Fortress."

"Meh, I get along good with pirates. Besides, Tetra said these guys were small-time."

"These are not the pirates you got along with. I do not think this is the best idea."

"I'll be fine! I've got all night!"

"Link, you are rushing in without thinking. You should not-"

I ignored him and dived into the water. King didn't seem to grasp the awesomeness of being trapped in time. No matter what I did, I still won! I would have loved to see Tetra's face if she knew that.

Actually, I kind of just wanted to see Tetra's face.

What was wrong with me?

The submarine looked sort of junky up close. Judging from the green slime on the sides, it had been floating there for days.

I rapped on the door, not really expecting an answer. "Hellooooo! Anybody home?"

Sure enough, silence. The door was stuck shut, probably warped, but it popped open with a couple of good kicks.

It was dark and damp-smelling inside. The lamps were still burning, and the walls were badly smoke-stained. Even though the place looked uninhabited (uninhabitable, actually) it didn't feel empty. There was something alive in here...somewhere.

I headed down the ladder into the open area. For a submarine, this place didn't have much in it. I always figured a submarine would be all, like, cramped. With the beds and the other essentials being in such close quarters. But there was nothing but empty space and lanterns in here.

There was a door across the room, which hopefully had something more interesting beyond it, but before I got halfway there something creaked behind me and I whirled around.

Half a dozen Bokoblins had appeared out of nowhere, and were moving toward me menacingly. Though...pretty much everything those guys did was menacing. I drew my sword and went to battle.

I was really getting the hang of this whole "defeating-monsters-that-have-me-hopelessly-outnumbered" thing. The key was to run around all crazy-like avoiding most of them and taking them out one at a time. Okay, so it wasn't graceful, but it kept me alive.

More Bokoblins kept coming out of the woodwork, literally it seemed like. I had no idea why there were all there, but they wanted to kill me. Things always want to kill me.

Battle seems exciting when it's happening, but afterward it's kind of hard to explain. It's all very fast, and confused, and you can't hear anything above your own breathing. It can be exhilarating, but the fear of death usually quashes any good feelings.

When the last Bokoblin exploded into smoke, I sheathed my sword and slumped against the closest wall to catch my breath. Whatever was in that room had better be worth it.

It wasn't. Just some supplies, food, fresh water, sacking. I did find a nice empty bottle though. It even looked clean! I took what I could carry, including the bottle, and stuck it all in a barrel to push over to King.

"I see you found something."

"Yeah, well..."

"You are bleeding."

I winced. "I know. I got salt water in it."

"Link..."

"I know, I know, you told me so. Let's just go."

It took what felt like a couple more hours to get to Outset, but could have been more, or less, for all I know.

"Look, we are getting close."

I peered around King's head. "Yeah...wow. It feels like months since I've been home."

"You know, with time frozen the way it is, we do not need to rush."

"So?"

"So you may take your time, visiting your home."

"You...you sure?"

"It might not be a bad idea, after such a long time away. We can speak with Jabun afterward."

"Thanks King..."

Outset looked like it was just as I'd left it. It was night, so everyone was indoors, but the buildings were all where they belonged and the waves were lapping the shore with their usual passive rhythm.

I told King to wait for me at the dock, despite the fact that I knew he wouldn't go anywhere anyway, and waded to shore. And there I found out that Outset was not just as I'd left it.

A chuchu popped up and attacked me as soon as I set foot on the beach. I figured it would be easier to just avoid it and run to my house, but the thing followed me! And picked up a few friends on the way.

They didn't follow me up onto the porch though, for which I was grateful. I tapped on the door before pushing it open.

"Grandma!" I called. "I'm back for a visit! It's kind of complicated!"

There was a dim glow from the kitchen, but no other signs of life. "Grandma?"

I wandered into the kitchen to check it out. Sure enough, there was a fire in the grate, and Grandma was asleep in her chair. "Grandma..." I said softly. "Wake up?"

She didn't even move. As I got closer, I saw that she was frowning in her sleep. No, it was more like her face was screwed up in pain. "Grandma?" I put my hand on her shoulder, and she moaned.

She was burning up. "Grandma! Grandma, wake up!" It was no good. She just moaned again and mumbled something unintelligible.

I pulled the blanket that was on her lap up around her shoulders and went back outside. Chuchus and Grandma getting sick? She was old, but she was healthy as a horse! I couldn't remember her ever being sick. Something was very wrong.

I started down to the dock to talk to King, but I remembered something. There was supposed to be a fairy living in the forest at the top of the mountain, the one where I'd found Tetra. I'd always thought it was just a story, but then, I'd thought a lot of things were just stories until recently... If there really was a fairy up there, she could heal Grandma!

The path was a bit creepier at night. Those stupid naknaks almost got the jump on me, would have too if they didn't make so much noise. But I killed the ones I had to and outran the rest.

When I got to the top of the path I planned on just running across the bridge, but remembered that there were planks missing and that it was dark. Bad idea. So I slowed down and watched my step.

Good thing too, since the bridge was gone. I mean gone, no traces of it even. And without the bridge, there was no way to get across to the forest. Not without wings anyway.

Or a magic leaf.

I climbed up on one of the posts that had held up the bridge and switched the wind, to give myself a better chance of not falling into the ocean. It was really dark, but I was pretty sure I remembered how far away the other side was, and could make it.

I took a deep breath and leapt. It was still a bit frightening, jumping from huge heights. I knew I wouldn't fall, but there all that empty air beneath my feet was...unsettling.

Still, the leaf did right by me and carried me safely to the forest. The darkness was still worrying, but all I had to do was find a fairy, and I thought I knew where she might be.

It was a big rock in what looked like a dry pond, tucked away in a corner of the forest. There was a sign next to it, labeling it as a "Fairy Fountain."

Now, to get rid of the rock. That was easy, since I'd brought some bombs with me, but I didn't expect it to go off so quickly. I thanked the gods I'd brought my shield.

Instead of a spring, there was a hole. Hardly fountain-like, but beggars can't be choosers. I lowered myself down as far as I could into the hole, then dropped the rest of the way.

A small dark tunnel, with a light at the end. That was spooky for a second, until I remembered I was pretty sure I wasn't dead. Then again, there are all those stories about ghosts who don't know they've died...

Okay, that's enough of that.

At then end of the tunnel I found...a fountain! Marble, glimmering lights, and weird echoes that almost sounded like music. Which would be weird..

I approached the fountain cautiously. I couldn't see any fairies, but maybe they were hiding. Which would also be weird.

Man, the last few days had been nothing but solid weird.

As I got closer to the fountain I thought I heard something... Laughter, from very far away. As soon as I set foot on the step up to the water, the laughter got louder and a weird purple being burst from the water.

She had four arms, no legs, purple skin, and was dressed in white. I would have turned and ran, if I wasn't pretty sure she was a fairy.

Weird!

"Young waker of the winds," she greeted me, in a voice like a flute. "You have freed me, and for that I thank you. Allow me to ease you of your weariness."

She put two of her hands together then parted them, revealing a lotus flower. She blew on the flower and it burst into petals, which drifted down on me and vanished into motes of light.

And, suddenly, I felt awesome! I hadn't even realized how worn out I was until I wasn't any more. This was better than coffee!

While I was reveling in my newfound energy, the fairy was bidding me farewell. She spun around and vanished back into the water, and half a dozen little fairies took her place. I scooped one up in the bottle I'd gotten from that crazy submarine and high-tailed it back to Grandma.

"All right little thingie," I said to the fairy in the bottle. "I want you to heal my grandma. Not me, my grandma. You got that?"

The little fairy looked at me curiously. I took that as a yes, but pointed the bottle toward Grandma as I opened it, just in case.

The little thing flew out and swirled around Grandma's chair. I watched it for a moment...then realized I really didn't want to talk to her just then. I hadn't saved Aryll, I was putting myself in insane amounts of danger, and I had a talking boat. Too much explanation, not enough time.

Well...not enough patience anyway.

So as her eyelids fluttered and her breathing became more regular, I ran for it. I don't know if she saw me, or heard the door slam, but I didn't care. I just couldn't handle talking to her right then.

"Are you ready?" King asked me, down at the dock.

"As I'll ever be. Let's do this thing."

zzz

A short chapter, that took MUCH longer than it should have to write. I'm sorry. ; I don't know what's wrong with me. It seems like I can never just sit down and WRITE. Maybe I'm tired from working full-time. I don't know.

Am I implying a relationship between Link and Tetra? Oh my! Would I do such a thing? ... Look at the title of the story. I couldn't just ignore it!

Anyways... I've started work on another story, that I might work on simultaneously with this one. It's not even CLOSE to an original idea, but it makes me happy. Probably because it's got Sheik in it. I like Shiek, okay? The whole cross-dressing princess thing...the just never ceases to entertain me. So, yeah, keep your eyes open.

Next chapter will hopefully not take so long and not be nearly as choppy. Hopefully.

Shouldn't I be getting bBETTER at this over time?