The hero, the broken, the saviour

Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapters from here on out…

In the last chapter, I introduced Shadow, the other main character of the story. And now that both characters have been introduced to you all, I think it's time to go back and see how Rufus is getting on amongst the pirates, don't you?

Thoughts in italics and : single colons :. Visions or dreams are in italics.

Rufus: Mission Impossible

I'd been on the pirate ship for almost a week, and most of that time I'd spent avoiding Tetra. If I'd thought she was bossy when she was on land, it was nothing to how she was on the ship! Even though she couldn't have been much older than me, all of the pirates on the ship would jump to do whatever she told them, and never ever argued with her. :However, it's completely understandable…she is kind of scary…: I thought as I watched her give Mako a lecture because he hadn't secured the canons properly, and one of them had broken loose during a storm the night before, and gone overboard, leaving a large hole in the side railings of the ship.

"I'd keep out of her way today," Niko whispered to me as he went past, carrying a bucket and mop back down below, as we'd finished swabbing the deck of all the water from the storm the night before. I just nodded, and looked at Tetra from the corner of my eye, noting just how red her cheeks were after shouting at Mako. Noticing my gaze, she glared at me, and then pushed roughly past me to also go down below.

I picked my own mop up, and rung out the bottom part into my bucket – it was already half full with swept up water, and the deck was now (at last) dry. Taking the bucket over to the railings, I threw the dirty water into the sea below, which was still bucking in great swells. Whilst the storm had passed, the weather was still quite rough, and I felt glad that I was working up on deck, as opposed to below. Seasickness is always worse below…(as I'd found out in my short time on board.)

Sighing, I leant on the side railings, and stared blankly at the vast expanse of water all around – on the distant horizon, I could see islands doted about, but near to, there wasn't a scrap of land. :I wonder if Aryll's OK: I thought, watching a couple of seagulls whirling about in the air currents high above. :I hope so… I'm coming to save you Aryll, so hang on…: I sighed again, and rose up from my leaning position; it probably wasn't a good idea to laze around when Tetra was in such a foul mood.

Since I'd finished the task I'd been given, and there was no one else on the main deck, I decided to make my way up the ladder to the crow's nest. I'd only been up there once during the trip, and had almost fallen off of the ladder again when the watchman yelled at me to get lost. But, he wasn't up there either, so…

I grinned mischievously, and leant my bucket and mop against the mast itself, before making my way over to the sturdy wooden ladder. After another look around to check for any of the pirates, I put both hands onto the fifth rung of the ladder, followed by my feet on the first rung, and began to climb up.

:This is so much further than it looks: I realised, when, after a minute, I pulled myself up onto the small flat platform of the crow's nest. The wind up here was a lot stronger, and managed to whip my hat off my head – quickly, I snatched out my hand, and managed to catch it before the wind took it away. Holding it balled in my left hand, I took Aryll's telescope from my belt, and held it up to my eye. Now, the islands on the horizon were a lot clearer, and I could see a menacing place with tall, dark towers, to the northwest.

"Hey kid!" I jumped, and turned around rapidly. "What do you think you're dong up here? Miss Tetra wants to speak to you down below right away! Get moving!" It was Mako, who seemed to be taking out his own anger on everyone else, after being told off by Tetra. I walked around him to get to the ladder, and started to climb down. His annoyed muttering was carried down to me by the breeze, "Stupid kid. Don't see why we're even helping him anyway." I felt my ears burn angrily, and made my way down the ladder even faster than I had been.

"Finally! Took your time, didn't you kid?" Tetra was waiting for me at the bottom of the ladder.

"What do you want?" I asked, trying to keep my voice civil, but failing.

"I don't want anything," she snapped. "I'm ordering you to help Niko and Gonzo to fix that hole in the side of my ship. I would get Mako to do it," she raised her voice and looked up to the crow's nest, "but he'd probably only make it worse!" Looking up, I saw Mako scowling down at me, and I pulled a face back at him. "Hey, pay attention!" Tetra grabbed me by the collar, and yanked me towards the hole in the railings. "You, wait here. Niko and Gonzo will be along with the wood and nails and stuff in a minute."

With that, she stormed off, and I took great pleasure in making a very rude hand gesture to her retreating back. Almost as if sensing my parting gesture, Tetra looked back at me over her shoulder, just before dropping through the open cargo trapdoor and down into the hold. :I really hope she didn't see that: I thought, chewing my lip nervously.

Glancing around, I managed to spot those seagulls I'd been watching earlier, and again my thoughts drifted to Aryll. :Stay safe sis.: I wasn't left alone to angst for long though, as Niko and Gonzo soon arrived with the wood and nails with which to fix the ship. Niko smiled broadly when he saw me,

"Hey swabbie!"

"Hey Niko!" I returned the greeting, and alleviated him of some of his pieces of wood. Gonzo didn't say anything, instead using actions to convey what he wanted. His first action was to drop his own load of wood, take a hammer from his belt, and withdraw nails from a bucket he'd carried up. I took this is a sign to start working. "So, do you want Niko and me to hold the wood, and you hammer it in?" I asked the silent Gonzo, who grunted. "Is that a yes?" Another grunt. "OK."

"Here, we need this bit first swabbie," Niko directed, pointing to the longest piece of wood. Only now did I realise that they were all slightly curved, so that they'd sit properly against the hull. I moved to one end of the piece of wood, and Niko took the other – we picked it up (or, I picked it up, and Niko made a pretty good impression of helping) and then dragged it over to the gaping hole in the ship's side.

I dropped it, and then began lining up my end with the line of the rest of the ship. After five minutes, Gonzo made an annoyed tut, and pushed me out of the way. "Look kid, it don't matter if it don't look right. We just need to be seaworthy; not like this thing's ever going to win any pageants." He held a large nail in place over the wood, and then bought the hammer down – in that one blow, the nail was driven in right to the head. "Right, next bit, and hurry it up will you? Look's like another storm's on its way."

It wasn't until late afternoon that we finished patching up the hole, and I was once more allowed to rest with my own thoughts. I made my way down below, and threaded in between dozens of chests and crates until I reached the hammock that Niko had erected for me in between a vat of red wine and a crate of cannonballs. I swung up into the hammock, and after a precarious few seconds of swaying from side to side, was able to sit up again.

I raised my arms and crossed them behind my head to form some sort of pillow, and stared blankly at the wood of the wine vat in front of me, not really seeing it at all.

"Open your eyes – happy birthday!" I opened my eyes, and looked down amazed.

"Your telescope! Are you sure Aryll? I mean, it's your favourite thing since – well, ever!" She just giggled.

"Of course I'm sure! You're my big brother after all, so you get to borrow my special gift – just promise to be careful with it!" As soon as she said this, I pretended to drop it, and she scowled, and tapped her foot on the wood of the platform. "Don't be silly big brother! Now, why don't you try it out? I'll tell you how to work it and zoom in and things!"

I sighed, and slid down in the hammock so that I lay stretched out full length on it. Now, I was looking up at the main deck of the pirate ship, and slanting rays of the late afternoon sun came through the cracks in between each of the boards. When we went over a particularly large wave, one of them fell directly into my eyes, dazzling me. :Ow: I rubbed the sun-dazzled eye with my left hand, trying to get rid of the spots that were dancing across my vision.

"Hey, kid," I was so shocked by the sudden appearance of this voice that I turned over, and fell straight out of the hammock. "Smooth, real smooth," it was Tetra, and she laughed at me as I stood up.

"What?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head, which was sore after connecting with the floor so violently.

"I just thought you might like to know we'll be at the Forsaken Fortress in a few hours if this wind keeps up."

"We will?" I said in a whisper. "Seriously?" She nodded, raising an eyebrow at the grin spreading over my face. "Great!"

"Yes… 'Great', whatever. All you land-folk are the same – stark raving mad… But, anyway, I thought I'd best tell you, because you'll need some sleep if you're going to go in tonight."

"Of course I'm going in tonight, I have to get Aryll out!" I looked at her like she was mad (which, well, she probably is…)

"As I said, whatever. I'll come and get you when we get there." She turned around to leave, and I grabbed her by the shoulder. "Hey!" She reeled around to glare at me.

"Don't," I cut in before she could, "say anything." She scowled, but kept quiet. "I just wanted to say thank you, if that's not too 'nice' and 'sappy' for you of course." She blinked, and then nodded. I thought I saw faint colour coming into her cheeks, but it was so dark down here that I couldn't tell.

"Right…uh…I'll come and get you later then," she said, stumbling over her words. Then, before I could say anything else, she'd gone. Carefully, I got back into my hammock, and then forced myself to try and go to sleep.

Many sleepless hours later, I heard footsteps coming down the ladder into my area of the hold. "Swabbie – hey, swabbie, get up!"

"Niko?" I peered through the gloom, and managed to pick out the white horizontal stripes on his shirt. "What is it?"

"Miss Tetra sent me to get you. We're here." At those words, I leapt out of the hammock, and managed to land quite gracefully (for once). Then, I ran past Niko, and literally shot up the ladder. Then, of course, I realised that I didn't actually know where on the ship Tetra was… "Oi, wait up!" Niko appeared next to me.

"Where's Tetra?" I asked desperately.

"Up in the crow's nest." If he said anything else after that, I didn't hear, because I immediately went over to the ladder up to the crow's nest and began to climb.

"Tetra?" I called softly as soon as I reached the top, and she beckoned me forwards with a wave of her hand behind her back. I paused to get my breath back, and then went to stand next to her. In front of us was the island I'd seen through Aryll's telescope earlier. Now that night had fallen, lights were roving all over the island, and the sea all around it – I could see a wreck of a ship very much like the one I was standing on, next to some large wooden gates that were bolted shut. The whole Fortress exuded a threatening dread, and I stared at it in apprehension. "That's where she is, isn't it?"

"Yep," Tetra nodded, fixated by the searchlights – I saw her follow one of them with her eyes.

"How do I get in?"

"Good question. The whole place in under really tight guard. This won't work… We'd be spotted before we got anywhere near landing there…" She looked up at me with a frown. "Any ideas kid?"

"Nope. Not unless you know anything else about this place – could I swim in maybe?"

"Don't be stupid! You'd be bombed out of the water before you even got within a hundred yards of the outside wall!" She returned her eyes to the Fortress, and I studied her furrowed brow. For the first time, I saw a scrap of caring show through, but it was gone quite quickly. "All I can tell you about this place, is that it used to be the hideout of a no-good group of pirates we used to compete with… But they were just small time. Now, the place looks like it's pretty dratted dangerous."

"You don't say…" I muttered dryly. She punched me on the arm, and though I'd never admit it to her, it hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes.

"Shut up you, I'm thinking."

"Don't strain yourself."

"You're just asking for another punch, you know that?" I stayed quiet. "Ah, look!" She pointed upwards towards one of the towers. I strained my eyes, and could just make out a few birds flapping around a lit window. "Have you ever seen so many seagulls flock like that before? That must be where they're keeping your sister locked up. Now, we just need to figure out a way to get you there… Here, give me that telescope." She turned around and snatched it from my belt.

"Hey!"

"I'll give it back, don't worry kid." She used it to quickly look over the whole fortress, and then handed it back to me. "I have an idea – follow me." She went over to the ladder, and looking down, I saw her take her feet off of the rungs, and slide down, holding onto the sides with her hands. "Well? Come on then!" I swung over the side, and tried to copy the movement – I managed to cling on, and got to the bottom in one piece, but my hands were covered with friction burns and full of splinters.

Tetra placed a hand to her forehead, and stifled a laugh. "Idiot. You should only ever do that if your hands are used to it. Here, give me your hands." I didn't move, so she instead grabbed my throbbing hands, and then held both my wrists with her left hand. With her right hand, she reached into her pocket, and took out a bottle of some red stuff. "This might sting a little, but at least you'll be able to use your hands properly…" She uncorked the bottle with her teeth, and then splashed the contents over my hands.

"Gods!" I exclaimed and yanked my hands from her grasp. Looking at them, I saw that all the wounds were healing up. "Ouch," I winced, as I clenched and unclenched them. "What was that stuff?"

"Red potion. Comes in handy when you don't have the time to spare to wait for wounds to heal," she winked at me. "You'll probably need some. Here," she took out another bottle and gave it to me. "You can keep the bottle and reuse it if you like."

"…thanks…"

"Just don't expect me to give you anything else for free kid!" she suddenly reverted to her normal self when Gonzo appeared. "Ah, Gonzo," he bent down so that his ear was on her level, and they had a quick whispered conversation. Every so often, one of them would glance at me, and I played with the cork of the bottle of red potion nervously. "Got that?" Tetra asked, winking at him, and Gonzo nodded, before wandering off. "Kid?"

"Yeah?"

"Come here, I just need to check your hands." I held out both my hands to her, and she took them both in her left like she had before. Then, before I knew what was happening, she'd pushed me over, and then hit me hard on the head. The last thing I remember was being picked up roughly, and carried somewhere.

When I woke up, it was to find a raging headache dancing around my cranium. "Oh…what happened?" I groaned, opening my eyes. Tetra's face swam into focus in front of me. Looking down, I registered the fact that I was in a barrel…which was standing on top of a catapult. And I was strapped into the barrel. Understandably, I panicked, and started trying to undo the ropes that held me in place.

"Hey, look, don't struggle. If you really want to get into a dangerous place like that, this is the only way to do it. Trust me. We pirates do this all the time. Don't worry about it! It'll be a piece of cake." She turned around and looked at her crew. "Is everyone ready?" Then, she called to me over her shoulder, "Never you fear, kid, we're pros! We're going to launch you good." When I realised that there was no way I'd be able to get out of the barrel in time, I started praying to the Gods that I wouldn't get turned into a big pile of mushy Hylian during this…

"Three". I shuddered, and grit my teeth together. "Two." I decided I'd rather not see my doom, and closed my eyes. "One." I crossed my fingers, and squeezed my eyes even more tightly shut. "Launch!"

"Argh!" was the only phrase I could think of, but it seemed to suit the occasion well. I risked a peek, but promptly shut my eyes again, when I saw that I was fast approaching a very solid looking grey stone wall.

I groaned, and rolled over, raking a hand through my hair. :My hat? Where is it: I groped around, not opening my eyes in case it made my headache any worse. I came across a scrap of fabric, and jammed it onto my head – the fact that it fit told me it was indeed my hat. "You sword landed all the way up there? Shoot! I'm sorry, I do apologize – seems my aim was off a little bit." I jumped and opened my eyes, looking around for Tetra. I saw a glowing green stone lying on the ground next to me, and grabbed it.

"Heh… Heh… You should have seen the look on your face when you were in that barrel…simply priceless! Oh, yes, and that stone you're holding – I slipped it into that spoils bag Niko gave you just before we fired you over there. It's no ordinary stone kid; I can see what you're doing through this stone, so I might be able to help you out some. So, if you feel this thing moving, you'd best get it out and talk to me sharpish, got that?"

"Yeah," I murmured, still slightly dazed.

"Good. But, hey, listen. I need this back after you're done saving your sister, so don't go losing it, all right?"

"I won't," I promised, bringing the stone closer to my face.

"Gross, don't do that, I can see right up your nose!" she exclaimed, and I quickly bought the stone away from my face, flushing. "That's better – yuck, don't do that again. Now, go ahead and have a look around – look for some steps – you're sister's high up, so you need to make your way up, right?" I nodded. "I'll speak to you later – use the string on this to put it round your neck kid, then I can help."

"OK." I sat up, and experienced a weird feeling as all the blood rushed to my head. "Whoa…" I used the string on the stone to tie it around my neck, and then stood up. I reached around for my sword, and then stopped – of course, it'd fallen off (that's what Tetra had said). :What do I do without a weapon: I thought worriedly. Looking around, I spotted some steps, and remembering Tetra's advice, I went over to them, and started to climb up.

About halfway up the steps, a large courtyard area came into view – searchlights roved all over it, and more steps were all the way on the other side of it. I watched the patterns of the searchlights, and wondered just how I was supposed to get across there… "Hey!" I jumped at hearing Tetra's voice again so soon. "Check those barrels – there might be an empty one you can hide under. That's what we used to do when we did raids here."

"Right…" I carried on up the steps until reaching the two barrels, and tapped on the sides of them. The first one made a dull thudding noise, which told me it was empty, but the second one sounded hollow. So, lifted it up, and, sure enough, there was a hole in the bottom. Carefully, so that I wasn't seen, I tipped the barrel over, and crawled underneath it. Now, I just had the slight problem of not being able to see. Luckily, when I turned around and stood up inside the barrel, I found a small hole in the wood, which was just at my eye level. :That's handy: I smiled, placing my eye against it.

When there was a gap between the two searchlights, I went forwards, and then stopped just before the light went over me. When it was dark again, I carried on, and then stopped at the next searchlight. :This is easy: I thought, stifling a laugh at the terrible security here. Then, I banged into something. There was a loud roar, and then the barrel was knocked over, exposing me. "You're on your own kid!" Tetra yelped. I looked up at a huge pig-like monster towering over me with a long spear, its huge tusks looking ready to gore me.

It picked me up by my outstretched right leg, and carried me upside down up the stairs I'd been aiming for. "At least you're going up," Tetra whispered quietly. :Yeah, because this is just the right way to save my sister, isn't it Rufus old boy: I thought angrily, as the huge creature swung me from side to side like a rag-doll. I was beginning to feel sick…

The thing carrying me turned abruptly to the right, and a door crash open in front of us. "Found an intruder," it grunted, twisting the words and spitting them out like they were some foreign taste in its mouth. "Put it in." I was handed over to another creature; this one was smaller and smelt worse…it dragged me along the floor by my leg – which wasn't at all comfortable, to say the least.

I was thrown through another door, and before I could get up, it was slammed behind me. Peering through the sudden gloom, I could make out a door made up of wooden bars in the flickering torchlight. :I'm in a jail cell: I thought, being amused by the irony of an island that used to belong to pirates having a jail in it… I stood up shakily, and went over to the bars of the cell. Whatever creature had carried me in had gone again, and all I could see was a bare hallway in front of me, littered with a few clay jars and not much else.

"Hey! Hey, kid, are you OK?" Tetra's voice made me jump, and I swiftly whipped the stone off over my head and held it in my hand. "Oh – phew. Thank the Gods for that. Are you all right?"

"OK I guess. Apart from the fact that I'm stuck here."

"Nah, don't be stupid." I could almost hear the mischievous wink in her voice. "There's a hole in that cell somewhere – there're always holes in cells. Like weak-spots, in case people lock themselves in."

"Can I take it that you know a lot about jail cells from experience?"

"No need to get personal," she tutted. "Just look around – it'll be a loose bar or stone or something. Or maybe there are some vents you can crawl through."

"Vents?" I echoed, wrinkling my nose in disgust at the idea.

"Hey, if it'll get you out, it'll do; just look dummy." I rolled my eyes and put the stone back around my neck. :Dummy? That's not exactly very nice…: I walked along the wooden bars to the end of the cell, and then, one by one, tugged on them to see if any would come loose. None of them would even budge, so I knew it wasn't the bars that would be my way out. "Look around for a different coloured stone or something," Tetra suggested, quiet again.

"The whole walls are the same colour," I hissed back. "It's all hewn out of the rock, not built."

"Seriously?" she sounded surprised. "Hrm…I didn't expect that…"

"Look, I'm not getting anywhere like this!" I exclaimed in annoyance, thudding heavily against the bookcase in the cell. The jar that had been standing on top of it shuddered and then fell off, making a loud crash as it broke into thousands of pieces. "Oops." I looked fearfully at the front of the cell, but nobody came to check out what the noise had been.

"What did you do?"

"Broke something."

"I kinda guessed that – what did you break stupid?"

"Hey, don't call me stupid!"

"I'll call you whatever I please, you bloody-" there was a sudden silence, and then a muffled yell of indignation.

"Hey swabbie."

"Niko?"

"Yep, that's my name. That jar you knocked off – there's a vent entrance behind it."

"How do you know that?" Tetra had broken free of whoever had been gagging her (or whatever had happened.)

"Well, remember when I got caught once…" Niko explained. "Well, anyway swabbie, you can use that to get out of your cell. And, we're going to watch out for you using the stone, but we won't talk, because it might draw guards after you, OK?"

"Yeah – sure. Thanks Niko."

"Don't mention it." The stone stopped glowing, and I patted it gratefully. Then, I scaled the bookcase, glad that the shelves of it were empty, because they provided great footholds for me. Once at the top, I spied the promised vent entrance, and after a second's hesitation as I noticed the cobwebs all over it :I hate spiders: I bit my lip and crawled in, balling up all of my resolve. :After all, what are a few spiders to saving Aryll: She was my little sister, and yeah, she annoyed me sometimes, but right now, I wanted nothing more than to get her out of this place.

As I rounded a corner in the vents, which, like the cell, were hewn directly into the rock, I began to worry. :Where exactly does this thing end? What if it branches and I take a wrong turn and get lost: Just before full-panic could explode in my head, I turned another corner and saw the end of the vent, opening out into the room that was just on the other side of the bars to my cell. I stopped at the opening, and leant out slowly, ready to duck back in at any time. Straining my ears, I couldn't pick up any sounds nearby, and guessed (hoped) that nothing and no one would be around to spot me.

Then, carefully, and with much difficulty, I managed to turn around so that my legs exited the vent first – I held onto the floor of it with my hands, and lowered myself down. I let go, and it was still a fair drop to the floor; when I landed, I rolled over sideways in order to stop from hurting my legs. Then, I was up again, and my shield was on my right arm, just in case something had been lurking quietly just for this moment. When nothing attacked me, I relaxed slightly, and let my shield down.

There was only one way to go, and that was down a slope to the left – when the floor changed to wood beneath my feet, I was terrified that my loud footsteps would alert every single person and creature in the Fortress to my presence. Desperately, I tried to make my footsteps as light as possible, but my new boots made it pretty difficult. :Stupid boots…: I briefly wondered whether I should take them off, but a sudden change in light caught my attention, and I quickly raised my shield. There was a loud thudding noise, and, quivering in fright, I peered around it.

:Nothing: I looked around, trying desperately to find the source of the sound – my eyes fell onto a swinging lantern, which, as I watched, was blown by a strong gust of wind, and smacked into the wall. :Phew…: I let out a breath that I hadn't realised I'd been holding, and put my shield away – it was becoming more hindrance than help.

Another look around didn't turn up anything all that promising – there was a door on the other side of the room, across quite a large gap between two wooden platforms. It reminded me very much of the pirate test Niko had given me… :That's it: I watched the swaying lantern, readied myself, and then ran forwards, launched myself into the air, and by some stroke of luck, latched onto the rope that supported the lantern. Then, using my body as a pendulum, I threw myself forwards, which set the rope swaying.

When it came close enough to the other side, I let go, and dropped onto the second wooden platform. Now that I was closer to the door, I noticed that there was a slip of paper pasted onto the back of it. I walked over to have a look, and found it to be a map. A map of the Forsaken Fortress itself. :Well, that's handy: I thought, prising a pin out from the top of it, and then bringing it closer to my face to study it. :I may as well take this with me: I decided, and then I opened the door.

A chilly blast of nighttime air hit me full in the face, and I gasped with shock as it bit right through my clothes to my skin. It had started to rain again, and a few spatters were swept to me from the balconies to either side by the wind, adding to the cold I felt. "Finally, you're outside," Tetra whispered to me, and, seemingly out of habit now, I clutched the gem she'd given me. "You'll need to take out those searchlights if you want to get anywhere near your sister – all the routes up are covered by lights."

"And how do you propose I do that without a weapon?" I asked, unable to keep the bitter edge out of my voice.

"Uh…improvise!" she stuttered, and then abruptly left.

"Really helpful," I muttered, looking down at the map I held in my hands (slightly damp from the rain). :Well, the first searchlight is up a ladder to the left. So I guess that's where I'm going then…: I rolled the map up, and, lacking anything better to put it in, I stuffed it into the brightly coloured spoils bag Niko had given me.

I made my way to the left, and started climbing up the steep pathway, towards the ladder that I knew was there, though I could barely make it out through the darkness and gathering mist. The rain had eased off to leave only these tiny droplets hanging in the air, not substantial enough to fall, but large enough to blur my vision. At one point, I nearly found myself stumbling over the edge of the pathway I walked, and was only saved by my quick reactions. After that, I ran one hand along the wall to make sure I didn't do it again…

When the wall gave way, I knew I was on the large stretch of ground where the ladder was. I advanced, guessing the position of the tower by looking for the place where the night sky was blocked out. The tower was the place where no stars were – it wasn't that hard to get there really. It wasn't hard to find the ladder either, because I walked straight into it! The rungs were slightly slippery, but I managed to scale it all right.

At the top, I stopped, and peered over before climbing onto the tower top. The creature working the light was a bokoblin, so I at least knew I could defeat it. :Mind you, you did have a sword for that one: I told myself. Oh well, I'd just have to cope without a sword! It hadn't noticed me yet, so, quietly, I completed my ascent, and then crouching low and holding my shield in front of me, I crept closer to the light.

It perked its head when I'd gotten within ten feet of it, and looked around – immediately, it spotted me, and with a screech, launched itself at me. I raised my shield, and wondered exactly how I was supposed to kill it. It whacked my shield with its stick, now (mercifully) silent apart from its loud breathing in the otherwise silent night. :What do I do, what do I do: I jumped backwards to try and collect myself, and something clanged onto the floor. :Aryll's telescope – oh no:

I dodged around the bokoblin and scooped it up from the floor. :I hope I haven't broken it! Aryll will kill me…: The bokoblin came at me again, and reflexively, I swung my left arm at it. The left arm which was still grasping the telescope. It hit the creature squarely between the eyes, and it fell, dazed, letting go of its stick. This was the opportunity I'd been waiting for! I grabbed the stick, and then used the sharpened pointy end to stab the bokoblin. It disappeared, and I crumpled onto the ground, breathing heavily.

"Well, that was fun," I panted, smiling slightly, and checking that the telescope was OK. I held it up to my eye, and played with the zoom. It all seemed to be working all right, so it put it back into my belt, and stood up again. Remembering the whole reason for the fight, I went over to the searchlights, and pulled the lever that the bokoblin had been standing next to – they arced upwards so that both of them shot light into the endless sky. :Perfect:. I looked for the positions of the other two sets of searchlights, and then checked the map to see how to get there. :One down – two to go.:

I took the stick that the bokoblin had dropped with me – after all, I couldn't rely on Aryll's telescope to fight against them with. It might have come through one fight unscathed, but I didn't want to risk breaking it!

I reached the second searchlight tower easily, after swinging across a couple of rooms using the ropes on which lanterns were hung to get there. It was tricky to get up the ladder with the stick I'd picked up in tow, but I just about managed to do it. Again, I paused before getting to the very top, and peered over to check where the bokoblin was. As I had suspected, it stood much how the first one had. One of its scaly hands was on the lever that controlled the searchlights, and in the other hand, I saw that it held a glass bottle of some dark liquid.

As I watched, it hiccupped, and then looked around guiltily, before taking a swig from the bottle. Then, it burped, and leant heavily on the wooden shelf it had taken the bottle from. I could see at least two more bottles of the same colour liquid from where I stood – the creature threw away the one it had been holding, because the last swig had drained it, and picked up another one. It took its hand away from the lever and uncorked the bottle, replaced its hand and took a swig from the new container.

Whilst it did this, I got right up onto the top of the tower, and ran forwards, stick raised to fight the creature. It squeaked when it saw me, and dropped the bottle, which shattered. It fumbled around and grabbed a stick much like the one I held. Waveringly, it prowled towards me, muttering something under its breath.

Because of its inebriation, the bokoblin moved very slowly, and I made short work of it – it disappeared, and again I went and made the searchlights point up into the sky. Checking the shelf, I found that there were four bottles left. Curiously, I picked one of them up, uncorked it, and smelt was what inside. The smell wasn't as unpleasant as I had feared. It was a sort of spicy, musky scent, with a hint of flowers in it. I'd tried mead before, and not really liked it much – however, I did know that it warmed you up a lot.

:Grandma always said a good tot of mead warmed you up good when it was cold: I remembered fondly. And, on remembering my dear Grandma's advice, I pinched my nose, and took a big gulp of the stuff. It burnt as it went down my throat, and immediately set my fingers and toes tingling as it warmed me from the inside out. It tasted absolutely foul…but at least I wasn't shivering anymore!

I coughed a couple of times to try and get the burning feeling out my throat (and failed miserably). "Hey kid, a week with pirates and already you're learning!" Tetra called in an amused voice. "Bravo – though, maybe you're a little young to be drinking?"

"Shut up. I'm nothing like you and your pirates!"

"Hey, no need to sound so offended kid. What's so bad about being a pirate?"

"You steal stuff, and you hurt people, and make everyone afraid. I think that's all bad enough."

"It's just a way to make a living kid – like any other job."

"Oh, stop calling me 'kid' will you? We're almost the same age as each other, so just stop it!" She didn't answer, and I guessed I'd offended her. "Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it ki- Rufus. It's just a habit… You, just carry on and get your sister so we can get out of here, all right? This place gives me the creeps…"

"You're not the only one," I muttered, drawing the conversation to a close. Looking around, I caught sight of the third searchlight all the way at the other end of the Fortress from where I currently stood. :Joy of joys: I though cynically. Again, I took out the map, which had become decidedly limp from the moisture of the air, and pored over it to plan my route to the next searchlight. When I was sure of the way I had to go, I put the map away again, and made my way back to the ladder.

Once at the bottom of the ladder, I headed over to the door that was opposite the one I'd come out of to get to the searchlight, and heaved it open. There was a loud snuffling sound, and then a loud roar, which reminded me of the pig creature's roar. The door slammed closed in my face, and then rocketed open again, bouncing back from the force of the blow against it. Looking up, I found myself face to face with another of the pig creatures.

It looked at me in surprise, and I took the opportunity to duck underneath it, and into the room beyond. There was another roar as it registered just what it had seen, and I sprinted down the long hallway I'd entered to the door at the other end. This, I threw open without any worry for what was on the other side, and then slammed it shut behind me, before carrying on in my flee. I could hear the thundering steps of the pig-creature behind me. :It's called a moblin: my mind offered for a name, and I accepted it as correct.

Well, the moblin was still thundering after me, and since the only way out of this room seemed to be up, up I went. I scaled the ladders with an almost monkey-like ease, and then careered through one of the doors at the top, out onto a high plateau of the fortress. Pressing my ear to the door, I listened intently. The moblin was no longer running, and, warily, I opened the door a crack, and looked through.

The moblin was standing still in the middle of the room, and, being unable to see me in front of it, it turned around and exited. I remembered reading somewhere that moblin's attention spans were really short…which was really lucky for me at that moment. Breathing heavily after my run, I shut the door, and then leant hard on the wood. :I don't think I've ever moved quite so fast: I thought with an exhausted grin. Then, using the stick I'd stolen from that first bokoblin, I pulled myself into a standing position.

Looking up, I almost whooped when I saw that I was only about fifty yards away from the ladder that led up to the last of the searchlights. Refraining, I instead skulked forwards, stick in hand. Now that I was so used to climbing up and down ladders, this was an easy task, and I was at the top in under ten seconds. I didn't even bother to be so cautious this time, just choosing to advance straight away.

This bokoblin was sober, so moved a lot quicker than the last one – however, it still moved pretty slowly, and I was able to down it swiftly. :If only Orca could see me – I bet he'd be really proud: I swung my stick in an arc around my head, and then headed over to set up the searchlights so that they pointed straight up into the sky just like the other two.

"Well done!" Tetra said. "Now, you just need o get to your sister. And, I think that your sword landed on the pathway up to where she is, so you can get that on the way."

"Really? Great!"

"Yeah…good luck. I need to go and make sure the rowboat will be ready to come and pick you up when you've got her."

"What?" I was shocked – I thought she'd just wait out in the deep water and wait for us to come to her.

"Well, we've helped you this much…I just thought…you know…we may as well get you back to the boat as well. And, we'll drop you off at Windfall Isle – you'll be on your own from there though."

"I…thanks Tetra."

"Don't mention it. And I mean don't mention it. I don't want my reputation ruined!" she laughed softly.

"All right. I'll keep it under my hat."

"Aye, there's enough room under it," she laughed again, and then her voice became serious. "Go on, go and get your sister, all right?"

"All right. I'll see you soon."

"Be careful."

"Yes mother," I sighed, once again taking out the map to plan my route. To my horror, I saw that I would need to go back into that corridor where the moblin had been. :Don't worry, it will have forgotten you even exist by now: I assured myself…but…all the same… Moblins are very big, and very scary…

I walked forwards, peering through a handy knothole in the barrel I was hiding under, and stopped when the moblin rounded the corner. I'd repeated this action of walk, stop, hide, and move again at least four times – another moblin had joined the first one, so there was only about five seconds between the first one's patrol, and the second one's patrol. Which really didn't leave me much time to move about in. I'd gotten about fifty yards, and there was still at least twice that distance between me and the door that would lead up to the level that Aryll was on.

:Stupid moblins…: I grumbled internally, waiting for this one to go back around the corner. I brushed right past my barrel, pushing it to the side slightly, and I had to contain a yelp as I hit my head on the top of the barrel. The moblin paused and tilted its head to side, before carrying on. :Drat! Now there won't be any time between their patrols: I cursed, as the other one came around the corner just before the other one went out of sight.

:Oh…hang on…this means the next gap will be bigger though.: So, there was an upside to it after all! As soon as the second moblin went back around the corner, I almost sprinted forwards, ignoring the throbbing in my head to make sure I covered as much ground as possible. When I set down again just before the two moblins came around the corner together ten seconds later, I was only forty yards away from the door.

After the next sprint, I was just before the corner turn in the corridor…the next move would be the hardest one, because, if the moblins turned and saw me before I got through the door, they might charge. :I read that they did that.: And the spears they were carrying looked mighty painful… So, I surreptitiously turned the barrel around so that the knot faced backwards – that way, I'd know when the moblins were far away enough for me to run, and I would be able to see how long it took before they turned around for each round.

I sat and waited for a couple of patrols, and then guessed that I probably had about ten seconds in total, after they reached the third pillar along, in which to get to the door. Which would (should) be plenty.

On the next patrol, I tensed my leg muscles, and then, as soon as they were far enough away, climbed out from under the barrel, and ran to the door – I shoved it open with my shoulder, being thankful that it didn't squeak, and was outside. And the fact that nothing was roaring or chasing after me, they hadn't noticed. :Yes: I celebrated silently, and then carried on upwards.

There were no more creatures around, and, after sidling across a few thin ledges, I saw the window around which all the seagulls were flocking. :That's where Aryll is: I thought, and that thought stiffened my resolve to get her out. I shimmied across another thin ledge, and then found myself in a large courtyard area – there were some peculiar looking round holes in the floor, which I hopped over.

I caught sight of the Hero's sword glinting on the ground, and I rushed over to pick it up. As soon as my left hand touched the hilt, there was a funny sound of metal grating against metal. Looking around, I saw that huge silver spikes had come up from those strange holes in the floor, trapping me in this courtyard area. "What the-?" I asked out loud, but I didn't get to finish.

A large moblin just appeared. Appeared right out nowhere, and stood in front of the door, waving its spear at me. :You have to be kidding me…: I thought, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. However, looking down at the Hero's sword, I knew I could do it. Something just sort of clicked, and I went into that weird quiet world that I always went into when I had to fight. I knew the moblin must be roaring, because its mouth was open, showing a row of filed and pointed black teeth, but I couldn't hear anything.

The wind died away, and I slipped my shield off of my back, and raised the Hero's sword. Doing a backflip, I came out of the range of the moblin's staff, and by using my superior speed, I was able to slash at the back of its legs a couple of times, which made it fall over forwards. It was all so easy, so natural to me… I slashed the beast a couple more times, and it disappeared…

As with the last time the battle silence had descended, the sound slowly came back; the loudest one was my heart pounding in my chest, and my ragged breathing. :Gods, I'm really out of shape: I scolded myself, and laughed. Stepping carefully over the staff the moblin had dropped, I stood in front of the large wooden doors that led to where Aryll was. After taking a deep breath and preparing myself for anything, be it an attack, or that Aryll might have been hurt, I nudged the door open with my foot.

A large amount of light assaulted my eyes, and I had to blink really quickly in order to adjust my eyes to the light. I had my sword and shield both held up, and was ready to brace against an attack. However, when I heard a voice I knew really well call my name, I knew that it was OK. "Big brother? Rufus? Is that you?"

"Who else did you think it was?" I called back to her, grinning and putting away my sword and shield. "I've come to get you out of here – do you know if there's a key anywhere?" I looked at the bars of her cell, and then noticed that she wasn't alone. There were two other girls as well – one in a really tatty dress and with brown hair sticking out at odd angles around her face, and another one in a really fancy dress, and her hair perfectly in place. The second girl looked sort of like Tetra, only much, much prettier.

"Big brother, are you listening?" Aryll called, and I stopped staring at the blonde girl and shook my head, blushing guiltily.

"What was that, sorry?"

"I said I don't know where the key is, but maybe you should look over – OH NO! Rufus, watch out!" I didn't have any time to react before the huge black bird that had kidnapped Aryll landed in front of me. I made to get out my weapons, but it flapped, throwing me back against the wall. Aryll screamed, and then I felt huge claws digging into me.

My stomach lurched as the creature took off, and the world turned upside down – I managed to catch a glimpse of Aryll's face, and saw that she was crying. "No…" I groaned, dazed from hitting the wall and feeling sick. "Aryll!" I struggled, but the bird's grip was like iron, and I couldn't get free.

Suddenly, the bird stopped, and hovered in front of a balcony/platform thing made out of wood. Twisting around, I was able to see that it was in fact half of a ship, turned upside down and sitting at the very top of the Fortress. :Weird: I thought bemusedly, not really registering it when a man wearing a large black cloak came out. It was only when he spoke that I really noticed him.

My eyes darted to him, but they may as well not have done. He was surrounded by an aura of complete mystery, and his face was hidden in shadows that, by all accounts, shouldn't really have been there. All I saw were his hands, which looked strong and tanned, and a flash of bright red hair. The man surveyed me for a few seconds, and with each flap of the giant bird's wings, I moved up and down by about three feet.

The man then nodded. "Throw him." I didn't understand what he meant, and was about to speak to him when the bird threw me up into the air, and caught me in its beak.

"Argh! What are you-?" I didn't get to finish, because the bird flicked its head violently to the side, and let go of me. With a scream, I went spiralling through the air. I was so high up that I felt I could almost touch the stars…but my arc had to start going down sometime. As soon as it started to, I blacked out. :Aryll…: was my last thought.

I felt strong hands pulling me out of some cold water, and then dropping me onto some wooden boards. "Is he OK?" a male voice asked.

"I think so," a woman replied. I was so tired and cold that I couldn't even find the strength to open my eyes. All I could manage was a tired moan, and to roll over. "Hey, shush. Don't strain yourself, all right?" I didn't respond, as tendrils of sleep were wrapping around my mind, and, as hard as I tried to fight them off, they were winning. I made a last ditch attempt, and managed to open my eyes a tiny crack. I could make out a shadowy figure bending over me, and a flash of pink in their light hair. It looked like a flower… "How far to Windfall?"

The answer sounded muffled, and I realised that I was falling unconscious again. :No…get up. Save Aryll. Get…up…: But my body wouldn't comply, and I knew I'd lost the battle. And that meant I'd probably lost Aryll too…

American spelling of 'jail' I know, as opposed to the British 'gaol'. :Sigh:. The majority of people on ffnet are of the American persuasion, so I thought I'd be nice and concede on that! The word colour, however, is keeping the 'u'. :Smirk:. Difficult, aren't I? Oh, and Rufus having a tot of mead amused me no end :giggle.:

Rufus: The world's gone all blurry

Oh, and again I've been using a game-script to help me with this, since I haven't played Wind waker recently (have been getting to grips with OoT Master Quest instead.) But, have used me artistic license in places, so is all good.

:Poke: Review!

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