Link makes his first appearance this chapter! …If you haven't been waiting for this, I don't know why you're in this fandom.

Following Blondie

Chapter Four: World of White

Aryll stood up shakily, holding her arms out to both sides.

"Are you s-sure this is s-safe?" Aryll questioned of the little Korok beside her. He was sitting quite comfortably in the very large leaf they were going to be using as a boat, while Aryll could hardly sit down in it and felt like any second it was going to cave in and sink.

"Sure," Makar replied. "Why not? Link used the Deku leaf to get around. This leaf should support our weight much like that one supported his."

Aryll was not convinced, as she teetered from side to side. "Uhh…th-this is going to sound really stupid, especially coming from someone who lives on an island, but…I can't swim."

Makar froze.

"You can't swim? At all?"

Aryll shook her head wordlessly.

"Oh…" Makar stared at Aryll. "That's a bit of a problem…for now, at least. If we can get to Gale Isle you'll be safe. Fado can probably make everything steady seas for you…I…" He looked at the ground, then back at Aryll. "I'm not…I can't do that."

Aryll gulped. "So…umm…where's Gale Isle, anyway?"

Makar sucked in an audible breath. "Northwest of Windfall."

Neither of them said anything. Aryll went white.

Then Makar spoke. "Are you sure want to do this?" he asked with a voice full of trepidation.

Aryll closed her eyes, thought of Link, and nodded.

"No, you useless idiot! He's blond! B-L-O-N-D! What part of that sounds like green?"

The man Tetra was screaming at shrugged nonchalantly. "Look, I haven't seen this kid, and no else has either. Give it up. No one remembers a kid they saw once a couple of years ago unless he had, like, horns sprouting out of his ears."

Tetra growled, mumbling, "Thanks for your time," angrily under her breath. Stupid townspeople.

She hopped off her chair and stomped out of the café. A couple of middle-aged ladies stared at her as she slammed the door and started down the street. Tetra didn't care. She'd drilled those two earlier, and they'd proven themselves to be filled with useless gossip, nothing more.

"Aargh!" she vented, "What does a person have to do to get some decent information around here?"

"Information?" said a voice directly to Tetra's left.

She turned around. Perched atop the Windfall mailbox was Quill, the Rito postman. Mentally thanking whatever deities had taken pity on her, Tetra wasted no time explaining what had happened.

"Link is missing." she said, blunt and to-the-point. "I'm asking around if anyone's seen him, but it's no use. He was last seen two years ago, on Outset…"

"I'm assuming you went there," Quill said.

"Of course," Tetra confirmed, "But it was really strange…his own sister didn't know anything about it. She thought he was with us. Also, I guess you've had to deal with this disgusting weather flying around delivering mail and all… Outset Island seems to be the only place in all of the Great Sea that has perfect weather."

Quill frowned. "That is strange, but perhaps you should not waste your time questioning plain folk any longer…you should seek out help from those beings that helped Link on his quest."

"Like who?" asked Tetra, who had never actually known about Link's adventures past rescuing his sister and defeating Ganondorf in the final battle.

"Do you remember the great treasure you believed to be held on Outset Island? Beyond that stone wall was Jabun, a water spirit who aided Link by giving him Nayru's Pearl. The Great Deku Tree and Valoo would also be ideal for questioning, as they gave him the other two pearls."

Tetra had only a fleeting regret that she had not retrieved the pearl before Link. She dispelled that thought quickly, reminding herself that while the pearl was jewelry, it also ended up being a magical device that was extremely important for her own survival.

"Jabun, though, you might have some trouble finding…he is at liberty to swim the entire ocean, after all. And while Valoo is situated primarily on Dragon's Roost, he takes to the air to explore from time to time. I am not sure even this weather would daunt him. Also, he only speaks Hyrulian, as does Jabun. I would suggest the Great Deku Tree. Not only is he firmly rooted in Forest Haven, but speaks your language quite fluently."

Tetra nodded. "Thanks, you've been a real help." She begrudgingly rummaged around in her pockets for some rupees. She pulled out a purple one.

"Here, take it," she said, holding the sparkling bit of money out to him.

Quill tilted his head to the side, as if considering the value of the jewel. "Gladly," he then said, reaching out a feathered arm and pocketing the rupee. He jumped into the air, then swooped off without even a backwards glance, heading due east.

Tetra scowled after him. "Huh," she murmured, "I always thought the good guys were supposed to be too noble to accept money."

Link walked through a thick, white fog. He felt an overwhelming sense of fury not his own. Something was wrong, something was out of place. Something had not gone according to plan.

Link felt a flash of familiarity tug at his heartstrings. The sense equated with the familiar feeling was, for him, happiness. Yet still anger flooded over him, infiltrating every crevice of his mind…and for the life of him he couldn't understand why he felt that way.

And the fog just kept getting thicker and thicker as he walked...until, eventually, it was like he was treading through piles and piles of feathers, then flour, and finally, glue.

It got to the point where he couldn't take even one more step. He struggled for a bit, then stilled. An indistinguishable figure approached him, and Link wondered absently why it wasn't getting trapped in the smog.

The dark blotch shifted a bit, and the feelings of anger subsided a bit…there was a new plan. A light began gathering before the blob.

Link watched, transfixed, as the light condensed into a ball and hurled itself at him. He didn't even look away. It smashed into him with the force of a charging horse, but Link only felt slightly winded, not hurt in the least.

He thought it a little odd that as he drifted off into a place of decreasing brightness, he was sure that he'd heard the slight reverberations of muffled laughter.

"What is this nonsense?" Tetra cried in frustration as she leaned over the edge of her ship. There really wasn't any need, as the thing she was peering at so intently was a dense fog that had settled over the sea.

"I can't imagine, Miss Tetra," said a large, bearded man at her right. "Fog isn't usually this thick this time of year…or time of day, for that matter."

"Yeah, well, it's only to be expected," Tetra snapped back, irritated. "The weather lately has been the most atrocious thing I've ever seen!"

She kicked a pulley, causing a rope to uncoil and slacken. A large beam came undone from its bindings and swung down at Tetra a moment later, and Gonzo, a burly, red-nosed pirate, had to dive on top of her to save the young captain from what could have been a fatal blow to the back of her head.

Tetra quickly grumbled for him to get off, as the beam went sailing harmlessly past, and then stalked off to her previous position leaning over the side of the ship.

The crew set about repairing the small amount of damage Tetra's fit had caused as she stared glumly out at the ocean for a few minutes.

Tetra's grip tightened and her hands, clamped on the edge of the ship, dug her nails into the wood until it hurt. Then she pushed herself toward the sea, unexpectedly screaming out, "You stupid idiot! WHERE DID YOU GO?"

She paused, as if to hear a nonexistent echo. Then the pirate captain quieted, not caring that her crew had all stopped what they were doing to witness the scene she'd just made.

A minute passed, and Tetra's gaze remained blank. She didn't even yell at the men to resume their stations. She wore the blank stare of helpless acceptance.

"Where did you go…?" she whispered to the vast, empty whiteness.

OH, LINK! WHERE, OH WHERE, COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE GONE? Har dee har har. I shall update if you shall all review. Then you, too, shall know what most of you have probably already guessed…