A.N.: Okay, listen up! School has started, and it sucks. Well, not really, it's kinda fun...but it'll mean I won't be updating for a while until I get my sched settled. The next one could be as fast as a couple of days, or as long as a couple of months. Hm. I'm not the type to abandon stories, so don't worry about that! Thank you for your patience!

Chapter 12: The Great Valoo

"So, swabbie, why are we going to Dragon Roost Island?" Niko asked Link a little nervously. He wasn't sure whether the captain had forgiven him or not, but seeing he was still on the ship and was in possession of both his eyes, he figured he might have done something useful for once.

Link shrugged. "I'm not sure. Vaati didn't say much about what happened with Tingle but he seems to know what he's doing."

Niko nodded. "I wonder if that means I actually did something useful about the map." He looked up and smiled brightly. "Do you think I'm on the captain's good side now?"

"Don't count on it. I don't think anyone's on his 'good side,' if he even has one."

"Oh." The little pirate fell into gloom. He had been hoping the captain's incessant bullying would eventually stop someday. Miss Tetra had also picked on him occasionally, but the new captain was just plain scary.

Link and Niko watched the waves roll by as they waited to arrive at Dragon Roost Island. Something caught the blond boy's eye as he scanned the sea. "Hey Niko, look at all those seagulls over there. I've never seen so many flying in one spot."

Niko tensed as he tried to get a better look at where Link was pointing. "Are you sure, swabbie?"

"Yeah. Just right over there. It's a little hard to see with the sun's glare."

"Are you SURE?"

Link turned to Niko who was beginning to panic. He wondered if Niko was scared of seagulls. "Um, I think so. What's so bad about seagulls?"

"Swabbie, it's not the seagulls that are bad. It's what's under the seagulls that's bad," Niko muttered. Link realized how serious the pirate was when he saw him run straight for Vaati. He doubted the pirate would have done that if the mass of seagulls didn't signify something worse than the mage.

Link saw Niko exchange a few words with Vaati. Niko kept bobbing his head as Vaati glared in annoyance, and Link would've gone to help the pirate if he didn't become interested in something odd in the horizon.

Just for a second, he imagined he had seen a splash of water just below the seagulls. His imagination was confirmed when he noticed a large dark shadow making its way towards the ship. "…Hey Vaati? You might want to check this out," he said as a white tentacle as thick as a tree trunk slithered out from the water. Vaati and the rest of the pirates ran to the edge where Link was standing to take a look.

"That's a Big Octo, Captain," Mako informed, fidgeting with his glasses. "All these monsters these days. First the Forsaken Fortress is revived and now we have Big Octos on the loose again. It's worrying."

The ship lurched and the crew struggled to stay on their feet as the ship became caught in a whirlpool. A titanic, twelve-eyed squid emerged from the center of the whirlpool and began to suck the ship closer. Vaati, without apparent concern, waved a hand at Senza. "Shoot it with some cannons."

The pirate nodded and went below deck to ready the cannons. A few minutes later, a few shots were sent towards the squid. After the smoke cleared, the crew saw the squid flailing from the loss of two of its eyes. The whirlpool disappeared as the squid retreated underwater.

"Hmph, pathetic," the mage snorted. "If I had been the squid I wouldn't have wasted time with whirlpools. I'd have just gone and slammed the ship to splinters."

There was a sickening crunch of breaking wood and the pirates were thrown off their feet. The ship groaned as it began to tilt, and its crew felt it sink a little as tentacles hooked themselves off the side of the ship.

"…Thanks for the great advice, Vaati," mumbled Link as he tried to steady himself. The Big Octo had gone beneath the ship to sink it so it wouldn't be in range of its cannons. The monster had agreed with the mage in that whirlpools were a waste of time.

"Everyone start hacking its arms!" Vaati roared as the creaking sounds increased. The mage poked a tentacle with his Wind Waker, but he knew the baton's limited wind magic couldn't hit a submerged foe. He felt so useless. Suddenly, the tentacle he had poked jerked sideways away from the ship as something hit it across its side.

"Travelers of the sea, we have come to your assistance!"

Vaati put a hand over his eyes to block the sun and made out a silhouette of a person with wings. There were several more surrounding the ship and each one dove and hit the Big Octo's tentacles that threatened to sink the ship.

"It's the Rito!" Gonzo beamed. "Good thing they realized we needed help."

In less than half an hour, several of the flying Rito were able to encourage the Big Octo to follow them away from the ship. One of them circled above Link and landed in front of the boy.

"Link! It's nice to see you again, though I would've preferred to meet you in a much more safer situation." Link could see a smile on the man's face even though half his features were full of sharp beak. Vaati rolled his eyes; he was getting tired of having to explain how Link didn't know a thing about the present future.

"Gonzo, explain to him what's wrong with Link," he said and got the pirate to start explaining. In a few minutes, the smile on the man's face fell and turned into a look of disappointment.

"Link, I hope you recover. The great Sky Spirit Valoo has requested an audience with you and that was why we were sent to your ship. Something strange is happening around the sea," the Rito cocked his head towards where the Big Octo had been, "but Valoo isn't telling us anything – not even Medli. I wonder if your memory loss has anything to do with it…"

More than you know, Link thought glumly.

"Strange? Like a reappearance of monsters?" Vaati asked. The feathered man's head turned to look at the mage.

"Yes. We even heard the Helmaroc King had returned, though I hope that was only a nasty rumor. Can I ask who you might be? I'm Quill. I work as a postman from Dragon Roost Island."

"I'm the current captain of this ship, Vaati."

Quill rubbed the tip of his beak with a winged hand. "Current captain? What happened to the pointy-eared girl who used to run the ship? Was her name Tetra?" He glanced at Gonzo who had begun to sniffle. The pirate had the embarrassing tendency to break into tears with panic if something happened to Miss Tetra.

Vaati waved a hand towards Mako who came running up with a salute. "Mako, explain everything to this man here because Gonzo isn't capable right now."

Quill put up his hands. "No need to explain now, you'll have to do plenty of that for the chieftain later. You should all get some rest, and we'll take your ship to Dragon Roost Island where we'll repair the damages on your ship. Link, you're also going to have to go visit Valoo when you arrive, and it's a long hike up the mountain so take it easy."

Link thanked the Rito and followed the pirates back to the cabin to rest. Vaati gave a curt nod before he watched the winged people steer the ship towards a steep mountain island in the distance. Valoo bothered the mage. Of course, he never took a liking to spirits, but the fact that this one expected their arrival made him all the more uneasy.

XXXXXXXX

Blah blah blah blah, how boring. Vaati twiddled the Wind Waker between his thumbs as he heard Link explain to the chief of the Ritos how he had lost his memory. It was the same thing again; a collective sigh, a look of pity, a head shaking slowly in regret and disappointment, and finally a comment about a hope to recovery. The whole thing was becoming tedious. Finally, the Rito chief signaled a cute young Rito to come forward.

"Valoo has requested that you meet him immediately. Medli here will be your translator."

Medli squirmed shyly and talked with her eyes on the floor. "Um. Hi Link. Nice to meet you, I guess? But that's not right, because you used to know me and…oops, sorry. I mean, nice to meet you."

The prince of the Ritos, Komali, gave Medli a gentle nudge. "Come on, Medli. Valoo's waiting for Link."

The Rito girl looked up sharply, surprising the prince. "Actually, I'm not sure if it's Link Valoo wants to see anymore. He said he urgently needed to see the Waker of Winds, and that title belonged to Link but…" she glanced uncertainly at the Wind Waker in Vaati's hand, "Valoo can be a bit vague at times."

Vaati's ears pricked as he noticed the girl looking at his Wind Waker. His sense of foreboding increased when he saw everyone looking at him. "What?"

The chief stepped forward and put a hand on Medli's shoulders. "Perhaps this gentleman should go see the great Valoo with Link." Link nodded in agreement, along with the pirates. The pirates were eager to spend some time away from the captain. "It's settled then. Medli, lead them safely to Valoo." The number of people left standing in the stone hall dwindled as they went to attend their own business. Link was talking to Medli if she'd ever heard of Death Mountain and the Gorons, asking if the Rito's island was what had been left of Death Mountain. The girl appeared confused. In normal circumstances, Vaati would've gone and given Link a verbal lashing for being carelessly stupid about revealing information that could give away their true identities, but he was too preoccupied thinking about the Sky Spirit. Well, Valoo. Did you figure out who I am?

XXXXXXXXX

Medli led them outside so they could see where they were going to go. They stood on a wooden balcony and looked up the mountain crag. "The top of the mountain is obscured by clouds, but Valoo is up there. It would be a bit faster if you were able to fly, but because you can't, we're going to have to climb."

Link blanched. "Wow. Quill wasn't kidding when he said we're going to have a long climb."

There was a huff, and Medli and Link turned their heads to the mage who had his arms crossed indignantly. "We won't have to climb." He flicked the Wind Waker and a cyclone started. They went up in the air as the whirlwind picked up speed.

Link let go of his hat when they reached the top of the mountain and wondered why Vaati's hat always managed to stay on his head even in the most extreme winds. Medli was gaping at Vaati, flabbergasted, as she'd never seen Link do anything like what the mage had done when he had commanded the Wind Waker. Vaati was trying to gauge if he thought Medli was attractive or not. The various thoughts of the threesome were interrupted by a rumbling growl.

"O Hero of Time, O Waker of Winds, I have summoned you." A great dragon twisted its slender red neck to face them. Link thought it was rather overweight to be the great Sky Spirit, but he kept these opinions to himself. Vaati sounded agitated when he addressed Valoo.

"Did you summon Link or did you summon me? If you have no business with me I'm going to leave."

Medli gasped, "You can understand him…?" No one was supposed to know the ancient language besides her and the spirits.

"Not so fast, O sorcerer of the ages. I summoned you both, but it is more important that I speak to you than to the Hero." A puff of smoke rose from between the dragon's jaws and it snarled. "Vaati, Sorcerer of Winds, you have disappeared from the histories of the people, but the spirits will never forget the crimes you have committed. Do not think you will get away with your evil so easily."

"So is that it? Is that why you wanted to see me, to smite me down for something that happened a couple thousand years ago?" Vaati's smirk hid his inner panic. Damn.

OXXXXXXXO

Ok, I'm forced to kick Link and Vaati out of here; the reason will make sense once we enter the later chapters. Say bye!

Reily96: I wonder how Nintendo expected the customers to react to seeing Tingle through an entire game (Tingle's rosy rupee land or whatever it was called).

Peka the Corsair: When I first saw Tingle's new game...I was like "no, just no."

Diablo1123: Tingle being annoying is an understatement! He's scary! Ahh! And about the update thing; I was doing a good job seeing I had a daily schedule. Come on, I'm committed. But now, I probably won't show up again for days or months. Bear with me.

H-bomber: Creepy people are scarier than people who try to be scary. It's true. I've had experience...

Rune Caster: Tingle vs. Ganondorf. I'd bet everything I have that Tingle would win. That man doesn't die and he doesn't even have the Triforce!

bleu-blizzard: Link and Vaati are both from Four Sword Adventures. Vaati was turned Hylian because of Opal (see chap 1 cursed sorcerer). The Temple of Time is from Twilight Princess (they were warped there thanks to Ganondorf and Opal - see chap 5 cursed sorcerer). They are currently in the era of the Wind Waker (see final chapter of cursed sorcerer).
As for what Vaati said at the Temple of Time...only Link knows ;). That's a surprise, but I've put hints here and there.