I rushed into the nearest building. The old man there was busy analyzing a few spears for sharpness. He turned around at my entrance.
"Is it true, Link?" He asked.
"Yes, Orca. It's all too true." I replied in a grim tone. I'd seen the ship myself; Huge, with a Jolly Roger flying atop it. Skulls and crossbones printed on the sails, and a dragon design upon the prow. Now is the time, Orca. The time I've been training for."
"Yes, it is." He replied. There was a slowness that irritated me in his fetching the item we'd agreed on. "It's your twelfth birthday today? How… appropriate." He finally Found the parcel he'd been looking for. He slowly handed it to me. I removed the wrapping… And held in my hands a brown Scabbard. "This sword… It hasn't been used in decades, Link. The last user… well, legends say he was the one who first wore those clothes you wear now, Link. May that hero lend you strength now, in this fight against those pirates. What happened seven years ago won't happen again."
"Not on my watch." I said solemnly. I charged out of the house, and headed for my own home. There was little time, I was sure, before the landing party would arrive. No time to wonder about the bird. As I entered, Grandma walked up to me. She'd already fetched the family shield from the wall.
"Link. I know what you're going to do, and I'm not going to stop you. You… you make your old grandma so proud." She then passed me the shield. "Your father… when he comes back, He'll be so proud. Do the family well. And another thing…" she leaned in, closer to me. "A family secret… we're not actually from Oceana. Me and my poor husband, Karlok, actually moved here from another land… a land, not an island, Link. Remember that…"
"Grans, I'll always make the family proud, no matter where we come from." I whispered, eager to go before the Pirate warriors came.
As I emerged from the house, I heard a familiar voice.
"Geared up for a fight, Link?" Aryll asked sadly. I spun to face her. She was standing by the crawlspace. She was being smart; every house on outset had a secret crawlspace under the porch, leading to a cellar where we stored emergency funds. Children, in case of attack, were to go to the cellars. Even if the houses were burnt down, they would emerge alive and with a decent amount of rupees. Last time this happened, I was there with Aryll. Now, she'd be alone. But this time, she'd come back up to laughs and victory shouts; I was determined to kill every pirate that dared to cross me.
As I walked over to the beach, I saw a strange sight; the pirates had a large catapult upon the prow, and were firing huge rocks at the bird. I had come just in time to see one boulder nail it upon the head. Out of shock, the bird dropped the human in it's grip, who dropped unto Outset Summit! My rage against the pirates forgotten, I ran across the island to the slope. As I began to ascend Mt. Outset, I heard strange sounds. When I finally reached the summit, breathing hard, I saw a sight that made my blood run cold; Horrible, Man-sized monsters with Blue skin and big sticks. They were searching the trees and grass for something. Monsters? Not on My Island! I drew the sword. Now, this was foolhardy. I'd been practicing sword fighting for a year, and wasn't very good at it. But these beast-man compelled me to fight. I rushed forward. I found myself not entirely in control of my own limbs as I swung, slashed and stabbed at the beasts. When I was done, I was surrounded by blue, bloodied bodies. Suddenly, the bodies disappeared in large purple puffs of smoke. I whipped my sword in the grass, and then carried on. As I passed a large tree, something compelled me to glance into its branches. I saw the girl just in time, as she was falling. I ran and caught her, which only made it so both of us were on the ground, slightly dazed. She got up first. She was rather pretty, with her blonde hair up in a strange curl. Her bluish-black eyes glanced dully at me, then at the forest around her.
"Where am I?" She asked curtly. All I could do was stare, for a moment. "Oh-Kay, you're an idiot." She said, almost to herself.
"Hey!" I said, ticked. "I just saved you!"
"Oh, yeah. Nice save. You didn't do a thing but get landed on."
"Not true." Said a deep voice. I whirled around to face a large man, dressed in green. A portion of his massive, muscled chest was exposed, reveling blue swirl-like patterns tattooed there. "This boy just did some of the most amazing swordplay I've ever seen." He said, his black, beady eyes staring at me in awe. "If not for him, you'd be Boko fodder."
"Hmm. That's interesting, Gonzo. Really. Now will someone tell me where I am, or am I gonna have to gut someone?" I stared at her short, curved sword and suddenly decided it was time to explain.
"You're at the summit of Mt. Outset." I muttered quickly. Seeing that there was no more danger, I sheathed my sword and shield. She stared at me for a second. "On a mountain…" I began.
"On Outset Island. Yeah, I figured that. I was just noticing your, err, Strange get-up." She said. I glanced down, once again, at my thick, green clothes and sighed. Oddly, she reminded me a little of a girl I once met named Mila. Both had the same haughty attitude, but Mila had been nice to me, unlike this girl.
"Miss Tetra, I think we should set sail soon… the townsfolk don't seem to take too kindly to pirates." Gonzo said. I glared accusingly at the girl I now knew was Tetra.
"You're pirates, aren't you!" She only rolled her eyes.
"Figured that bit out for yourself, Eh?" She said. She then turned distastefully away and began to walk out of the forest.
"Um… the exit is that way." I muttered, pointing the opposite way that she was walking. With a huff, she changed direction. Gonzo shrugged at me, and then turned to follow her. I quietly followed suit.
When we emerged, we stared at the rickety old rope bridge between the summit and the trail. As if on cue, Aryll ran out from the trail over to the bridge.
"Big brother!" She shouted, overjoyed. "The pirates aren't going to be mean! Isn't that great?" I had a strange feeling in my gut as I remembered why the pirates had come here in the first place.
"Hey." I said, turning to tetra. "What did you do to enrage that bird?" She got a fierce expression on her face.
"I have no idea. All I know is, one minute we're sailing, clean as can be, and the next…" I heard a scream that made my heart stop. I turned just in time to see the bird swooping down, capturing Aryll in its claws and flying off. I felt a familiar rush as I ran forward, sword drawn. I could feel a strange tingling in my blood. I was going to make this bird pay… Suddenly, there was no earth beneath my feet. Only then did I remember we were on the summit of Mt. Outset. As I fell, I felt an oddly familiar hand grabbing mine, and pulling me up. I heard Tetra's yelling distantly in my head, but it was like a voice whispering from far away; all too easy to Ignore.
I awoke in my house, and I could hear grandma arguing with someone outside. I grabbed my sword and shield and followed the sound of her voice. I could see she was in a heated argument with Orca's brother about something or other, so I quietly slipped around her. On the beach was Tetra, Gonzo and some other pirate boy, about my age, standing on the sand. They, too, were arguing; but it was with our postman, Quill. As I approached, The new boy spoke.
"Yeah, well who says we care, eh?" he had a high, annoying voice and two buck teeth that stuck out beyond the rest. He wore a blue cap over his dirty blonde hair.
"It's not a matter of caring." Quill said. "It's a matter of what you must do. A consequence."
"Well, we pirates don't listen to Rito consequences, so just deal with it. Rito." The way Tetra put sneering emphasis upon the word Rito made me think it had something to do with Quill. Then I remembered that when we first met, he had called himself a "Rito postman".
"Hey, leave him alone. What did he ever do to you?" I told them with a fierce a voice as I could muster. Quill turned to me.
"Ah, Link. You're awake. You saw what happened to Aryll, right?" I nodded.
"I'll avenge her. I will, one day."
"Why not today?" Quill asked. "Oh, but wait, you're not saying… you think she's dead?"
"You think she's not?" I asked, amazed he would be so optimistic, even now.
"I know she's not… but where she's been taken, I'd almost wish she were." He said solemnly.
"Why?" I asked. "Where is she?" Quill sighed. In an ominous tone, he said three simple words that would change my life forever.
"The Forsaken Fortress."