The hero, the broken, the saviour

In the last chapter, I managed to get some kind of interesting action (hurrah!) And now Shadow finally knows what her quest is, and just who the new 'Hero' will be. Rufus, however…the poor dear boy…is currently lying unconscious in the keel of a talking boat. It's certainly going to be an interesting day for him when he wakes up. :Pokes him: move, you lazy Hylian lump!

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

Rufus: Many meetings

Aryll – no. She was holding her hands out to me, straining against the bars of her cell, and I reached out, tried to get her… Missed her fingertips by mere centimetres. Tried again – missed. Useless, useless! I can't even reach her fingers; can't even save her.

I'm such a useless big brother. I can't even save my little sister…

I'm trying Aryll, I am. Just hold on a little longer, I'm stretching as much as I can. Just have to get your hand and we can go home, and this will all be over.

Stretch. Just a little bit more…

"Rufus… Rufus… Wake up Rufus! Pull yourself together lad!" I started, and opened my eyes. :Where am I: was my first thought. Then, I frantically looked around for the person who'd woken me up. :It must be that man from…before I fainted.: I was still inside the boat that I'd been dragged into, and I wondered where exactly the two of them were. :There were two of them…I'm sure there were…: The boat was bright red, and I had to blink briskly to adjust my eyes to the sudden assault of bright colours.

"Well? Have you come to your senses yet? You are surprisingly dull-witted…though I suppose you have only just woken up." Suddenly, the prow of the boat had turned around to stare me in the face, and its mouth was even moving in time with the words! I scooted backwards in shock, and hit my head on the edge of the boat. I scanned the area for someone who could somehow be working the boat to make it do that – but I couldn't see anyone.

"Did I startle you?" the dragonhead asked with a slight chuckle. "I suppose that's only natural. As wide as the world is, I'm the only boat upon it that can speak the words of men. I am the King of the Red Lions, and don't look so worried lad, you have nothing to fear from me. I'm not your enemy." Carefully, I hoisted myself into a sitting position, but still kept my distance. "Rufus – I have been watching you since you went to the Forsaken Fortress to rescue your sister.

"I understand how the desire to save her could have given you the courage to fearlessly stand up to anything… However, such a bold attempt was foolhardy!" I was about to cut in and object, but he fixed me with a glare that told me it wouldn't be a good idea. "I suppose you saw him? The shadow that commands that monstrous bird?" I nodded. "His name is Ganon. He is the very same man who you have heard of in your legends; the one who attempted to cover the land in darkness and was ultimately sealed away. I don't know why the seal has broken. Now that he's returned, he will try to spread his evil over all of the world.

"So tell me, Rufus… Do you still wish to save your sister?"

"Of course I do!" I answered stoutly, nodding my head again.

"Will you do anything to save her?"

"Of course!"

"I see… Well, in that case, I shall act as your guide as we go forward in order to do this. I can advise you on what to do, and where to go. As Ganon cannot be defeated by human hands, let alone by the small strength you hold, you must be ready for great toil and hardship. Only after many trials will you be able to hold the power to defeat Ganon once and for all. Do you understand?"

"I…I think I do… Yes, I understand." I had to refrain from looking confused, because that would have betrayed the fact that this was a blatant lie. :Anything to make sure I can save Aryll more quickly:

"In that case, we shall depart – at least, as soon as you can get me something I need… Alas… It's a little embarrassing to have to admit this, but, even though I have the power of speech… I do not possess a sail. I have bought you to an island where you may be able to purchase one. This is Windfall island."

"Windfall?" I echoed, amazed. I'd always wanted to come to Windfall, and now, here I was!

"Indeed. And I believe that if you search hard enough, you will find a suitable thing to be used as a sail here. I don't want you to feel limited to only a sail though…you may also buy anything else that you will need, but do not tarry too long. There is no time for idle playing, so you must come back immediately as soon as all your errands are done."

"I will, I promise!" I hopped out of the boat, and was about to make my way off, when I realised what I was missing. "Uh…Sir…"

"Yes Rufus?"

"I don't actually have any money…" I looked down at the azure water that was washing over my brown boots – seemed like they were watertight after all!

"Oh! Right. Look by the rudder, and there should be some money there, in a brown wallet." I looked where he said, and soon found the wallet lying there. "I think there should be enough in there. Will you check how much there is for me?" I opened the wallet, and gasped when I saw two silver rupees glowing up at me. "Well? How much is there?"

"F-f-four hundred rupees," I whispered, closing the wallet before the shiny-ness made me swoon. The dragonhead nodded his understanding.

"Good, that sounds about right… Now, go on, and hurry!" I turned around, and had splashed forwards a couple of steps before another thought hit me.

"Where's the lady?"

"Hmm? What lady?" he seemed perplexed.

"The one who pulled me out of the water."

"I think the amount of seawater you swallowed may have muddled you…you're my only passenger."

"Oh…right… Well, I'll go look for a sail then. Bye!"

"Bye!"

:I could have sworn that there was a woman there! I don't know… Maybe he's right; maybe I did swallow too much seawater.: Wondering at the complete odd nature of the past week (give or take a few days), I climbed out of the natural cove area the boat was in, and onto the sun-drenched sands of Windfall Island's beach. I took in a deep breath of the sea air, and then detected something that made my stomach growl. :Food: I knew I shouldn't really sidetrack quite so early on, but, I reasoned, wouldn't it be easier to search if my stomach wasn't growling all the time?

With that sound reasoning in mind, and the smell of various foods pervading my nostrils, I forged ahead, up the shallow incline that seemed to lead towards the main town. Two young girls were playing in the long grass of this sand-duned area, and they stopped to stare at me with wide eyes. I smiled tightly, noticing that one of them was wearing the same colour of dress that Aryll always wore… They giggled, and ran off, holding hands as they whispered to each other, and glanced over at me every so often.

:Interesting…: They followed me (at a distance) as I trekked over the sand dunes, and then finally came onto what appeared to be the main road. "Hey! Watch where you're stepping kid!" someone yelled, and I had to jump backwards off of the road to let a laden horse and cart go thundering by. "Stupid kid!" the man driving it shook his fist at me, and I stuck my tongue out at him. More giggling told me that those girls were still following me. :That was rude:

I peered up and down the length of the road, to check that nothing was coming, and then crossed over onto a grassy verge at the other side. From here, I could see right down to the docks, and saw that there were dozens of merchant ships in the port, as well as a few smaller racing boats. As well as all the vessels, there were many, many people around the docks, heckling for fish and other goods that had just come in on the boats.

Now I could see what people meant when they said Windfall was a busy place! Wary of the fact that more carts would probably be coming along the road, I kept to the verge, and made my way up along side the road, to the gates of the town. It was on the very summit of the island, and even from this distance, I could hear the hum of many voices, and, now that I was closer, I could distinguish all the different types of food smells. There was fish, meat, bread, fruits and vegetables, as well as roasting chestnuts and I could even detect the smell of potions being made.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the two girls had tired of following me, and had returned to playing on the dunes. I was grateful for that; I didn't want that one in the blue dress around to remind me of Aryll…

I had the feeling that I was being watched again, and I turned around to tell those two girls to go away. However, as I did this, a young lady with a mask over her face brushed past me, murmuring a whispered, "Oh, sorry, do excuse me," as she did so. I blinked, and by the time I'd formulated an answer to her words, she was too far ahead of me for me to say them. I watched her as she hurried up to the town, and wondered just why she was in such a hurry.

Then, I sighed, because there was no way I was going to find that out, so what was the point of worrying about it? So, instead, I just picked up my own pace a little, spurred on by the rumbling of my stomach. I was now close enough to the gates that I could see through them into the town, and what I saw amazed me. It was a great kaleidoscope of colours, from every part of the rainbow and more, and there were stalls all over the place, just dotted randomly along the sides of the streets, and even some that were moved about on wheeled carts by street-sellers. The four hundred rupees in the wallet within my pocket begged to be spent.

:Mind you, I don't know how much a sail will cost. Maybe I should get that first, or I might spend too much on other stuff to afford it.: With the chances of getting food in the foreseeable future quashed, my stomach gave an incredibly loud grumble. "Shut up," I told it in aggravation, and, to my surprise, it did.

I was walking past a cluster of trees just outside the gate, when someone caught my arm. "Huh?" I looked around, and had half-reached to get my sword when I realised that it was only a middle-aged man who'd latched onto me. "Yes? Can I help you?" I asked stiffly, forcing myself to drop my arm – after all, it wasn't like there'd be any monsters here!

"You, you look like a brave lad. My daughter, Maggie – she was taken away by a great bird. No one will believe me, no one will listen, but you boy, you stopped!" he gabbled frantically, his grip on my arm becoming tighter. However, when he mentioned 'a great bird', I immediately began to pay attention.

"I'm listening…go on."

"Well, we were out walking, and then this great black bird just swooped down, and, and…" he let go of my arm, and wiped his hand across his eyes. He then sniffed loudly and carried on, "I'd give what little I have just to get my Maggie back. Could you – would you – if you manage to find that bird, get my Maggie back for me? I know it's a long shot, but I see you have weapons, and you look like a brave, strong lad."

"I – well, of course, if I get the chance, I shall try!" I assured him.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands in front of him and bowing in gratitude.

"If I find your daughter, I'll bring her back to you," I said, and then I turned away to the town. When I looked over my shoulder, the man had moved over to slump heavily against the trunk of one of the trees. He looked so sad that I thought I should go back and talk to him some more, but then he started to walk off, and I decided I probably shouldn't waste any more time than I already had done.

Half an hour later, I was frustrated beyond belief, and, on top of that, my stomach had started to protest again. :You'd think that a town like this one might have at least one stall that sells sails: I thought exasperatedly. I walked past a stall that was selling all different types of fabrics, and looked at the merchandise hopefully; however, it was mostly things like velvet and taffeta, which wouldn't be any use for a sail.

Full of exasperation, I decided that I'd ask someone. Stopping someone was going to be a task in itself however; everyone was bustling around, bartering and going about their shopping with such rigour, that I wondered if anyone would even notice me if I tried to talk to them. Casting my eyes around, I managed to spot a large stall, which was completely devoid of any customers. A man dressed in blue, and with fur all around his collar, stood behind the counter, smiling and waving to people as they passed by. No one waved back, but that didn't seem to dampen his spirit at all.

:Well, he at least seems friendly: I reasoned, and I pushed through the shopping crowds in order to get to the stall. When he saw me approach, his smile got even wider – something I hadn't thought would be possible. "Good morning young man – and how can I help you this fine morning?"

"I was just wondering if you happened to know where I could buy a sail?" I asked, now feeling a bit guilty. However, he only beamed still more, and reached beneath the counter.

"The people of this town don't seem to understand the usefulness of these things. I mean, it'd help them to travel around the seas, and to explore – but I see that you, young man, can see the value of such a thing." He came back up from where he had crouched behind the counter, and was holding a white and green piece of cloth in his hands. "Here we are – this is all that's left of my own ship after a storm on the way to this place."

"Great! How much do you want for it?"

"Oh…yes, a price. Well, my position here is very difficult. My shop is not doing very well, for I haven't got the finances in order to start up the business. It's only a small sum I'm asking for, in the long run – how does eighty rupees sound?" I was surprised – I'd thought he was going to ask for an awful lot more than that!

"That sounds fine – sure, I'll buy it." I fished out the wallet, and handed over one of the silver rupees to him. He took it, and then gave me two purple rupees, and two yellow ones back. Then, he handed me the sail also, which I had to juggle with slightly, before I settled it in a comfortable position over my shoulder. "Thanks!"

"Wait young man," he called. "I just want to thank you for your funds to help me set up my business. I will not forget this! Perhaps in the future, I will able to repay you. Thank you, thank you kindly!"

"Your welcome," I smiled back at him, and then wandered back out into the shopping crowds. Now that I had a sail, I felt that I could relax a little bit. And, I could get some food. My stomach agreed with me that this would be a very good idea, and I stopped at the first food vendor I came across, and bought a still warm half-loaf of bread and cheese to go with it for only ten rupees.

I munched my food as I walked along, and looked around at all the many stalls. :What else might I need: I thought, pondering just what adventures I might be about to have. :I do have two hundred and ten rupees left, so I guess I could get some supplies or something…: I remembered that I'd past a potions shop on my way in, next to which had been a stall which sold re-useable glass bottles…quite cleverly placed together, when you thought about it!

I made my way back towards the gate that I'd entered by, and hurried down the steps to the lower square where the shop and stall were. As I went, I was jostled by the crowd, and consequently, I bumped into someone. "Oh, goodness, I'm so sorry!" I gabbled, bending down to help them pick up their things. When I looked up to hand the food and cloth back to the person, I was surprised to find myself looking at the same young woman who'd brushed past me earlier.

"No harm done, and thank you for helping me with these," she said softly, looking at me with bright red eyes. Then, we both stood up, and yet again, before I could think of something else to say, she had breezed off into the crowd, and I lost sight of her. Which was strange, because someone with clothes that distinctive shouldn't be so easy to lose… Feeling inquisitive (and completely forgetting what I was meant to be doing before I bumped into her), I went back up the steps, and tried to find her again. Looking around, I managed to catch a glimpse of indigo, and then I caught sight of that white-blonde hair.

She'd just come out of the crowd at the other end of this main square area, and was ascending steps into a third level of the busy market-town. As quickly as I possibly could (taking into account how many people there were, and the fact that I'm still a good head shorter than most adults), I made my way to where she'd been standing. Of course, by the time I got there, she'd disappeared again, and I wasn't able to catch sight of her once more. :Damn: I cursed, deciding that a stronger swear-word was needed to grace the occasion.

:How could I manage to lose someone so easily: Slightly putout that I'd lost my quarry, I turned my attention to the shops up on this level instead. There weren't as many up here, and the further I walked, the more I left the crowds behind.

Soon, I realised that I'd left the market altogether, and I was now walking in the residential area of the town. Flowers were trailing from hanging baskets, and well-kept window boxes were bursting with colour. It reminded me of home; even the smell of the air was almost the same, and I closed my eyes and breathed in wistfully. I took a couple more great puffs of air in, letting each of them out slowly and silently through my mouth.

Someone jabbed me in the ribs, and I opened my eyes with a start. "What the-?" I looked around, and didn't see anyone. The jab came again, harder this time, and I looked down. A bunch of boys, around eight or nine years old, were circling me, and another one of them tried to poke me in the back. Angrily, I hurried off forwards, but they followed me. "What do you want?" I yelled, wheeling around to face them.

"You're new here, aren't you kid?" a cocky boy with a flat-cap on his head asked me.

:Oh Gods, yet another one who's going to call me 'kid': I thought exasperatedly. "Yeah, I am. If that's all, I'll be going."

"Who said that was all?" another of them piped up – this boy had a squashed nose that made him look unfortunately similar to a pig. He put his small fists up, and I had to stifle a laugh.

"Yeah, who said, huh, who said?" the shortest of the group joined in as well, leaving only a blue-black haired kid standing a little way off, watching with a disconcertingly adult smirk.

"No one. However, in case you hadn't noticed, I have this thing called a sword," as I said 'sword', I pulled the said weapon out. The three who were circling me stopped, and all took a step back. They gasped, and I noticed the fourth one's eyes widen in my peripheral vision. "So, it's probably not wise to pick a fight with me."

"Wow, cool!" the one with the hat said, his face breaking into a smile. "Hey, buddy, we didn't mean no harm – did we boys?" he turned to the other three, who muttered that 'no, we didn't mean any harm'. As if trying to save face, he carried on, "We just wanted to check to see that you weren't planning to do anything nasty to no one with that there weapon. Because, if you was, we'd have to tell, and then it'd be confiscated y'see."

"I see…" I cautiously slipped my sword back into the scabbard.

"But, since you don't seem like hurting nobody, why don't you allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Jim," he pointed a thumb at his chest. "This here's Mako," he pointed to the one with the pig-nose. "This is-"

"Hey, look out, here comes Mrs. Marie," hissed the one with the blueish hair. "Better scram!" All four of them ran off, and I saw a woman with shocking pink hair walking down the road. She smiled mildly at me, and then carried on walking. Intrigued, I followed her path with my eyes, and saw her turn into a door, above which was a large sign daubed with pink letters. Straining to see from this far away, I read what it said.

'Mrs. Marie's school of Joy – where learning and fun become the same thing.'

:School! I bet those boys are all skipping school: I thought, and then wondered what exactly was so bad about school. It was just a building as far as I could see… Nothing special about it at all, so why would those boys want to get out of it? "Is she gone?" a voice hissed.

"Yeah, I think so."

"What do you mean 'you think so?' She either is or she isn't!"

"Well, why don't you go out and check?"

"Why don't you?"

"Hey, don't push!" Suddenly, all four of them exploded back onto the scene from behind a large pile of crates and lobster pots that had been leaning against the wall of a narrow alleyway off to the left of the street. They tumbled to the ground in a rabble, and I stepped back to avoid being knocked over myself. :Kids that age are just…: I wasn't able to find a word that quite seemed to fit the end of that phrase, so I just coughed loudly instead.

"STOP!" Jim screeched, and immediately, they came to a dead standstill. "Heya fella. Sorry you had to see that, but, you see, we just don't want to go to school. So, we can't let Mrs. Marie see us." The shortest one mumbled something, "What you say?"

"I said; can you get off me please? My legs are going numb!"

"Oh, right." Haphazardly, all four of them managed to stand up, and dusted themselves off a little, before returning their attention to me. "So, what's your name then?"

"Rufus."

"Rufus? Weird name…" the one with the blue-black hair murmured, and I realised that the introduction had never been finished. Before I could say anything though, all four of them dived back behind the pile of crates and lobster pots.

"Excuse me lad, but shouldn't you be in school?" a tall man clapped his hand on my shoulder, and wheeled me around. "Oh!" he started, and his hand flew away from my shoulder. "I am sorry, I thought you were one of the local children." He looked me up and down, and I silently dared him to say anything about my outfit – he didn't. "You haven't seen a group of four boys around yay high wandering about, have you?"

From the corner of my eye, I could see Jim mouthing 'No!' at me. "No sir. Why?"

"Oh, they're just skipping school I'm afraid. And, it's quite upset their teacher Mrs. Marie." He ran a hand over his balding head, and blushed faintly. "It's not right to worry someone so pretty, so I thought I should come and try to find the scoundrels… Oh well, if you see them, can you tell them to get back to class for me?"

"Of course sir," I nodded, smiling, and ushering him away as quickly as I dared.

"Thank you lad – good day."

"Good day."

As soon as the man had turned the corner, the four boys were back out again. "No one orders the Killer Bees back to school," Jim growled, smacking a fist into his open palm.

"The Killer Bees?" I echoed, raising my eyebrow.

"Yeah, the Killer Bees. That's us. And anybody who messes with us gets into real trouble!"

"Sure… Well, I really need to get going." :Mad, stark raving bonkers, the whole lot of them:

"Oh, OK. Well, thanks for covering for us. You ever need any favours, come see us!"

"Yeah, I will!" I called over my shoulder, as I hurried off back the way I'd come. :When I'm in need of four, probably insane, definitely inane, nine year olds, I'll come tearing back up here to get you…:

Now that I was back in the main market-place of the town, I remembered what I'd been doing before all the stupid business with following that girl around had started. So, resolve hardened after my first failed attempt, I made my way down the steps that led onto the level just inside the gate, and meandered through the crowd to get to the stall that was selling bottles. Now that I was closer, I realised that the bottles weren't actually empty, but were filled with loads of different things, from bugs to water to sand, of all things.

"Come and get your decorative bottles, all the rage with the rich young things! Filled with anything you can imagine, and all at special low, low prices!" the man behind the stall bellowed, startling the band of shoppers already at his stall, and attracting a large amount more. Using my smaller size, I was able to barge my way through, ducking under outstretched arms and weaving in between large ladies clutching shopping baskets, in order to get to the front.

The tide of people around the stall made it nearly impossible to stay in one place for long, because, as soon as one person had bought something, the whole line of people at the front shunted along, letting another person in at the end. I managed to get to the end of the line, and was then able to survey exactly what was on the table. The thing that caught my eye was a bottle in which a fairy had been caught – it would periodically bang its little fists against the glass, and I felt the need to go on a mission of mercy…

Until I saw the price that was…

He was asking for five hundred rupees! No wonder no one had bought it yet. As I looked on, the fairy open her mouth and screamed – however, the glass of the bottle stopped all the sound, so it was a fruitless crusade the fairy was fighting. Feeling sorry for her, I had to turn away anyway, and try to find something more within my price range… My eyes feel on empty bottles – of which there were very few left. Forty rupees each – not great, but not too bad a price either. I decided to get two, because who knew when I'd get another chance to get some?

"Yes young sir?"

"Two empty bottles please," I pointed to the ones I wanted.

"I saw you eyeing the fairy sir – can I interest you at all?"

:Not at that price you can't: "No, I was just browsing."

"Very well – here you are – eighty altogether." I handed over my money, and he gave me my change. "Thank you – have a nice day."

"Thank you!" I clutched my new purchases, and sidled my way out of the crowd. It was tough, because so many more people were flocking over to the table now. Perhaps because it was the afternoon, and all the stalls would be closing soon, or something. I wasn't sure. However, I knew that I still had to get myself some food for the trip, and some potions. A hundred and thirty rupees were left in the wallet the King of Red Lions had give me, and I wondered with a sudden sense of dread whether he had meant me to spend quite so much of it.

:Oh well…it's too late now I suppose…: I told myself, and I headed into the potions shop, which was mercifully quiet in comparison to the outside. Only three or four people browsed the counters, and the man behind the counter was chatting idly with a customer, whilst weighing out ingredients on a set of silver scales. When the door shut behind me, it made a tinkling sound, and everyone in the shop looked up to see who'd just come in.

The man behind the counter threw a beaming grin at me, and beckoned me forwards. "What can I do for you today?"

"Urm…well, I'm going on this journey, and I'm going to need some potions for along the way."

"What sort of potions are you after?" he asked, and launched into his sales pitch before I could decide. "We have everything here, ranging from love potions to potions to make your hair grow. Potions to replenish health or magic, ones that can make you see in the dark – I'm even starting work on one that could make you fly…though I can't get a few of the ingredients I need for a while yet. But, we have the best potions in town, I assure you!"

The customer at the desk sniggered, and she looked down at me, "Yeah, that's only because it's the only potions shop in town dummy!" I started when a flare from whatever the man behind the counter was doing threw the woman's face into relief. She had forest-green hair, which was cut to her shoulders and haloed her face in a mess that somewhat resembled a crow's nest. Her deeply tanned face was framed by bangs of bright white, which she absent-mindedly tucked behind her ears (which were pointed).

But, that wasn't what I found strange about her – what was strange was the fact that her right eye was covered with an eye patch! The eye patch even had a design on it that made it look like an eye as well. When I swiftly looked her over, I saw that she was kitted out with pirate's gear, complete with a cutlass at her waist.

"You know what Marie, you're really not that great for business – look at the poor lad, you're scaring him!"

"Hey, can I help it if I strike fear into the hearts of people who are still sane, oh wondrous Doctor Bandum?" she jibed, and the people around the shop snickered. "Sorry if I did startle you lad – I have that effect on people. If you're wondering what the ol' patch is for, that's from when I got into a tussle with a kargorok years back."

"Yeah, and you're lucky I was on the boat with you, or else you could have died from that wound!" Doctor Bandum said sulkily, leaning on the counter and leaving his experiment alone.

"I know, I know. Gods only know how many times you've told me that my dear!" she reached up and tweaked his cheek. "Anyway, I need to be off – there's a girl that needs to see me about Flo."

"Flo? Is that what you called the new boat?"

"Aye – what's wrong with it?" she sighed exasperatedly, and tapped her foot.

"Oh, nothing," the man behind the counter answered, with a roguish glint in his eye.

"If you want another fight Doc, I'm more than ready," she let her hand hover over the end of her cutlass, and I backed up a couple of steps.

"Nah, you know how much I adore you, why would I want to kill you?" he mewed, taking the hand that was still on the counter. She laughed, as did the people already in the shop, and I managed a smile. "But, all right – off you go I suppose. With half my heart of course!"

"And I leave half of mine here," she sobbed melodramatically, and then hurried off to the door, winking at me as she did so.

"Every single time she comes in here," one of the other customers sighed, shaking his head and obviously forcing himself not to laugh. "Why don't you two just get married?"

"Oh, John, you know I couldn't. I'm married to my research, and she to the sea. It could never work!" He looked wistfully at the door, and then returned his attention to me. "Ah – sorry you had to witness that – we didn't waste too much of your time I hope?"

"Oh, no, not at all," I assured him, and he grinned.

"Thank the Gods for that. Now, without further interruption," he looked around at the shop, "that means you lot need to be quiet!" they all made sounds of understanding, "How may I help you, potions wise?"

"Well, I was really looking for red and green potion…"

"For health and magic you mean?" I nodded. "Well, since I had to keep you waiting for so long, I think you deserve some compensation… Hrm… Well, for the same price as those two potions would cost (ten rupees a pop), I'll give you two servings of blue potion – restores health and magic all at once."

"Really? I've never heard of it before…" I said dubiously.

"Don't worry lad, the Doc brewed it himself – and, since I, the test-subject, haven't dropped down dead yet, I'd say it was safe," the same man who'd suggested marriage told me, dropping a bag of shredded petals onto the counter, along with five green rupees. "Thanks Doc – see you soon."

"Bye!" the Doc nodded to the man who'd just left, and then smiled at me. "How does that sound then?"

"Sounds great!" I said, taking out my two new bottles and handing them to him. He examined them, and tutted. "What? What's wrong?"

"Did you get these from the stall outside?" I nodded, and then watched in horror as he threw them onto the floor. "Here's some advice – never, ever trust wandering sales-men. That guy's a crook if ever I met one, and I can't even move him on from in front of my shop, because he has the mayor's permission to be there. Look, here, I've got some proper bottles down here, already filled." He plonked two glass bottles, which were obviously of much better quality, and full of blue potion, onto the counter. "Here you are – and don't worry about the bottles, since I did smash yours."

"I – thanks!" I stuttered, taking twenty rupees and paying him. Then, on the spur of the moment, I dropped another five into his outstretched hand.

"Hey, I think you'll want this back," he tried to hand it back to me.

"No, keep it – it's a thank you of sorts. And," I grinned slightly as I said it, "maybe you could buy that lady something nice to get in her good books…?" The whole shop broke into guffaws, and I chuckled as well. The Doctor leant over the counter and gave me a good-hearted pat on the shoulder.

"Looks like we've got another member of the potions club!" he beamed. "You ever want somewhere to hang out and just talk, just come right back here. Once we figure out we like a person here, we like them for life – even the ones like Marie." There was a wolf-whistle, to which he good-heartedly protested, "Ah, shut up you!" I picked up the bottles from the counter, and carefully deposited them in my pack. "Anything else you need?"

"No thanks – and I'd best be off."

"Come back whenever you like lad – oh, hang on, what's your name?" I turned around to see he'd clapped a hand to his forehead. "My, I am getting forgetful…"

"It's Rufus."

"Rufus…OK, I'll try and remember that. Well, anyway, drop in anytime."

"Thanks, I will!" I yanked open the door of the shop, and stepped back outside into the waning daylight. A smile was still on my face, and I looked back at the slowly closing door fondly. :I'm definitely going back there again: My eyes fell onto the stall, which was now closed up for the day, though all of the merchandise still stood on the stand. The man was lugging boxes into a small side-storage area, and there weren't that many people on the street…

Quick as a flash, I darted over, and looked around for the fairy in a bottle I'd seen earlier. She was still there, though now she'd fallen asleep, and was curled up at the bottom of the container. Silently, and making sure that no one saw, I scooped the bottle up, and stuffed it down the front of my top. :OK, technically, this is stealing. But, I'm only doing it so I can let this fairy go, so it balances it out…: If only Grandma could have seen me then, she would have been mortified.

:Mission of mercy. Mission of mercy: I repeated over and over in my head in order to get rid of the guilt coursing through me. :No one noticed anyway…: I rounded a bend in the street, and came across a small green area, in which there was a bench that was half hidden by the winnowing fronds of a willow tree. I immediately went over to this, trying not to jostle the fairy, who was probably now scared out of her wits after what had just happened in the past sixty seconds.

I sat down on the bench, putting my pack down gently on the floor next to me, and then pulled the bottled fairy out from the front of my top. She looked out at me with startled eyes, and I took a moment to study her more closely than I'd been able to the first time around. She was wearing a long white dress that swirled around her small feet, and had hair of the same brilliant white cascading around her shoulders. Her eyes were pale grey, and filled with tears a couple of seconds after I took her out.

:I can understand why people would want to keep her in a bottle…: I thought, in awe of the simple beauty of the thing. However, if I didn't let her go, then I would have stolen it, and that would be wrong! So, I dug my finger nails into the groove between bottle and the stopper, and pulled upwards – the stopper came flying off, and the fairy, dazed, was sitting at the bottom of the bottle, her arms above her head for protection. "Hey, its OK, I won't hurt you. I'm just letting you out," I coaxed softly, looking down at her.

She peered up at me through the gap between her arms, and flinched when I smiled, before daring to actually drop her arms altogether. "Why?" she asked, voice tinkling in a bell-like way.

"Because I didn't think it was fair for you to be in a bottle. I know I wouldn't much like it," I said, laughing and trying to make her feel more comfortable. "I'm Rufus," I introduced myself, and gave my best 'I'm the nicest person you could ever meet' smile. She nodded her understanding. "And you are…?"

"Oh – my name's Luna," she stammered, standing up in the bottle, and testing out her wings. "Would you mind if I just…went…? I need to get back home; I've been trapped in here for weeks."

"Weeks? How awful," I said, genuinely sorry for her. "Of course – go on, you go home!"

"Thank you." She flew up and hovered in front of my face. "If you're ever in a tight spot and you need help, don't hesitate to call on the fairies for assistance." She performed a small curtsey, and then disappeared in a cloud of sparkling dust. I watched it fall to the ground, and then dropped the bottle onto the sparkling grass. I didn't want it. The Doctor Bandum from the potions shop was right – the guy on the stall was a crook!

"Rufus? Rufus, have you managed to find a sail yet?" I looked around, startled to hear the King of Red Lion's voice, when I was right in the middle of the land. "Rufus, the gemstone – take it out lad!" I fumbled around and managed to get the green stone out – it was glowing, just how it had when Tetra had spoken to me through it. "Good. Now, have you managed to find a sail?"

"Yup," I nodded proudly, hoisting the said sail up on my shoulder so that it didn't slip off completely.

"And have you everything else that you'll need?"

"Urm…I think so, yes…I was just going to stop at this really nice café and have some dinner before we left, so-"

"I'm sorry Rufus, but I'll have to ask you not to. We really need to get going again I'm afraid…"

"Oh…OK then. I'll be right back."

"Hang on. I've just thought of something I'd like you to do on your way back."

"It's not dangerous is it?" I asked warily, not sure if I was really ready for any more danger quite yet.

"No, no," he chuckled. "Not dangerous. Rather…another mission of mercy, shall we say?" I gasped. "Don't worry, I saw how you set that fairy free. That was very brave of you, and, even though you didn't realise it, very clever. Having the fairies on your side is a great asset!" He paused, and collected his thoughts before continuing. "Now, there's a man named Tingle who I would like you to set free."

"Set free…what did he do wrong?" I demanded, not fancying the idea of letting out some sort of criminal.

"He hasn't done anything – he has however been accused of a crime he didn't commit. Now, listen, and I'll tell you the directions to where he's being held…"

I walked into the dingy building in which the King of Red Lions had told me Tingle was being kept prisoner. The smell of damp inside almost made me want to gag, and I couldn't see any further than about a foot in front of me. I stuck out my hand to make sure I didn't walk into anything, intending to run it along the side wall. "Eurgh!" I exclaimed, when my hand made contact with someone slimy.

"What? Wh-who's there? I'm warning you, don't come any closer!" a panicked voice came, and, as it was a man's voice, I guessed it must be 'Tingle.'

"Don't worry, the King of Red Lions sent me to get you out," I said, cursing my bad luck.

"The King of- Oh, joy, oh rapture! I'm to be let out of this dreadful place! The keys are on the wall by the door there. Do hurry, I want to be outside again!" I turned around and fumbled in the dark for the keys he'd said were there. It was only the work of a few seconds to find them, and I held them tightly as I advanced into the complete murk of the room.

Thud. "OW!" I had walked slap bang into something, and I could already feel a bruise beginning to form on my knee.

"Not so loud!" a voice hissed into my ear, and I realised that what I'd just walked into were the actual bars of his cell. "Look, hurry up, for all I know, you've gone and alerted the guard."

"There's a guard?" I whispered, dumbstruck. :And he said it wouldn't be dangerous – grr:

"Of course there's a guard! This is a prison you know!" Tingle sighed heavily. "Look, move along the bars to the right – the door's right at the end next to the wall. And hurry up!" I pulled myself along using the bars, until I came to a dead stop next to the wall. More scuffling about found me the keyhole of the cell, and then it was just a matter of which key fit. There were an awful lot of keys on the ring…

Click.

"Finally!" He waited for me to open the door, and then stumbled across the small hallway to the door to the outside. "Well, come on, are we going to go outside or what?"

"Hang on," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "The least you could do is to say thank you." I was very annoyed by his rudeness!

"Right, whatever, 'thank you', now can we go?" I growled something unintelligible under my breath, and kicked the door open before storming out in front of him. When I turned around to glare at him, he'd already gone. I caught a glimpse of a figure in green and red hurrying off up the hill to the right of the door (as you came out of it), and made a rude gesture to its back.

"Did you manage to get him out?" It was the King of Red Lions again.

"Yeah, I did, and he sure didn't seem very grateful," I said back bitterly. "He was very rude, actually."

"Yes, well… That does sound like Tingle. He doesn't much like people to be honest. Not unless they want him to decipher a sea-chart, then he's all over them… But that's only because of the extortionate prices he can charge, what with being the only chart decipherer within a hundred miles of Windfall."

"I see…" :It seems a lot of merchants are crooks. And I thought pirates were bad…:

"Come on, you may as well come back now. I still have to show you how to attach and use that sail after all!"

"Good point. I'll be right there." I ensured that the door was firmly shut behind me, and then set off down the hill, towards the sand dunes that I'd trekked over that morning. There was about an hour left until dusk, but the island was already quite quiet, and I enjoyed the peaceful walk down to the cove immensely.

"…now you need to tie that bottom cord onto the boom using a double hitch knot." The King of Red Lions had been giving me orders on what to do with the sail for the last ten minutes, and this was the last straw.

"I don't even know what a hitch knot is, let alone what a double one is! Look, I'm just going to tie it on, and if it comes off, I'll hold it in place!" I yelled, scowling at the back of the prow. He fell silent, and I made shoddy work of the knots. The silence became thicker with each passing moment that he didn't talk, and I began to feel really awkward. Not able to stand it any longer, I apologised, "Look, I'm sorry for yelling… It's just that I don't really know all that much about boats, so yelling jargon at me won't help."

"Yes…I'm sorry my boy. I'm just so used to the people who do know about boats that I sometimes take their knowledge for granted. But, don't worry – you're going to end up picking up a lot of jargon yourself during the time your travelling with me."

"That'd be great. I could confuse everyone back home so much!"

"Indeed!" he laughed. "How's the sail coming along?"

"Well, it's up and attached. I think all we're lacking is some wind, which we'll get when we push off."

"I suppose we may as well just be off then. Now, are you sure that you've got everything you think you'll need with you? Because, I don't want to leave without anything important."

"Yeah, I've got everything," I said after a brief pause for thought. "Where are we going to go then?"

"Take that map," a map suddenly appeared on top of the rudder. "See the island marked with an 'x'?"

"Yep." A tiny speck was marked with a shaky red 'x' on the map.

"Well, press it." Feeling decidedly odd doing so, I pressed down on the 'x', and the drawing of the island suddenly grew to fill the whole page. "That's Dragon Roost island – the Rito live there; I believe you've already met one of them?"

"Yeah – a guy called Quill."

"Yes. I know him very well; he's a good man."

"So, why do we need to go to this Dragon Roost place anyway?"

"In order to collect something that will help with your quest to save your sister. There's a dragon that sits atop the highest mountain of the island (which was how it got it's name). His name is Valoo, and he's very great and very wise. When we get there, you will need to ask the chieftan of the Rito tribe for an audience of Valoo, where you will ask him for an ancient artifact called 'Din's Pearl'."

"I'm not sure I'm going to be able to remember all that," I said with worry.

"Oh, don't you worry about that, I'll tell you again when we get there. Now, you should push us out so that we can get going. The wind's blowing from the west, so we should go whilst it is in our favour to carry us east."

"All right then, off we go!" I took out my sword and used it to push us away from the rock of the back of the cove. Then, slowly, we drifted forwards, and I used the rudder to take us out of the easternmost opening of the cove. As soon as the wind hit us, it filled the new sail, and sent us flying forwards – I was lucky that I managed to miss a small jetty that was sticking out into the water on this side of the island, and I clung on for dear life as we came up against a couple of large waves.

Soon, however, I got used to the speed of the boat, and settled back for the journey – I still had the sunset to look forward to, and that always looked spectacular from land, so it would probably look doubly so if I was out to sea! "How long will it take us to get there?" I called over the loud wind.

"Not more than about twelve hours – we should be there by morning," he called back, and then turned his attention to the direction we were going in.

I looked around at the sea that surrounded us – on the pirate ship, I'd never really been able to experience just what it was like to sail properly. But, on the King of Red Lions, I realised just why so many people liked sailing so much – the water this close up looked wonderful, and it was so exhilarating to be going so fast, and without anyone there to tell you to slow down.

I glimpsed another small boat like my own hurrying along with the wind about two miles behind and to the left of me. It was so far away that I couldn't make out how many people were in it, and, I was going too fast for it to be able to catch up anyway, so I doubted I'd ever find out how many people were aboard. So, I faced back up front, and watched as the sky began to deepen from light blue to dark blue.

:Blinks.: I don't know how I managed it…but I've just made buying a sail and getting a few supplies last for about eight thousand words. Eight thousand words where sod all happens… I suppose that's pretty impressive in a weird way.

Soda