Chapter 19: The Ghost Ship

Author's note: Sorry about the delay; I've been having internet problems.

One of my readers (who hasn't reviewed my latest chapter… boo) requested that I focus a bit less on the temples. As a result, this chapter will be in two parts; one that focuses on what's happening with Red and Medli (who won't be in the temple) and the other that focuses on what happens in the temple. Please review to let me know if you'd prefer the original temple style, or if you like this one better.

And now, as always, thanks to Rider of the Whales, Base Guardian, and Silverwing365 for your continued support!

Red looked out of the balloon to see Lake Hylia, remembering the last time they'd been there. In many ways, it felt like it had been just a few hours ago. However, so much had changed for them, so much had become different for the three heroes! Feelings had evolved, sometimes not in very pleasant ways (Red was thinking of Link's problem with Shadow Link). They'd been dragged into an adventure that Red was sure would affect the course of Hyrule's destiny. Yet it seemed, in a way, that despite all of the changes, everything was physically the same about the lake.

Medli peered over the side and pointed to the only thing that had physically changed in the five thousand years.

A monstrous black ship was floating right in the center of the lake. It was extremely weather-beaten looking, as if it had spent many a summer on the sea; the sail was raggedy, the wood was grey, the ropes were ratty-looking, and the wood was creaking so loudly that Red could hear it from where he was. In many ways, it looked like the mere ghost of a ship.

"Welcome to the Ghost Ship," Medli said quietly. "This is the ancient terror that roamed a tiny, magically sealed-off portion of the great sea. In a previous lifetime, it was you, Red, who ended its reign of terror."

Red turned to look at her in shock.

"You mean, I dared to fight this ship?" he asked. "I sent it packing? I'm not that powerful! And how do you know this?"

Medli pointed to the Wind Waker.

"I am guessing that you are the Hero of Winds and Phantoms," she replied. "Except you don't remember."

"Nope," Red turned pink.

"No, it's okay," Medli quickly added.

"Medli, you're as pink as he is!" Blue laughed.

"Besides, I go to school. I have heard of the great deeds of the heroes named Link," she continued. Indeed, Red noticed that she was rather pink.

"As did we all, Miss Medli," said Link. "Only I was aware of it. The other two were parts of me at the time."

With that, Red deftly landed their balloon on the top deck of the Ghost Ship. The other two looked around apprehensively, but Red shook his head.
"No enemies in sight," he said quietly. "Weird."

"I don't like it," Link said nervously. "Anjean told me that these dungeons would be extremely dangerous."

"Well, Link, it seems that you don't like a lot of things," Red mumbled under his breath. Medli turned to look at him in surprise for a moment, having been the only one who heard him, before leaping down onto the deck from the basket of the balloon. Red hopped out after her, followed by Blue, followed by Link.

"Let's do this, heroes!" shouted Link. "Alright, I'm leading the charge down into the depths of the Ghost Ship. Blue is going to follow me!"

"Some charge," Red muttered under his breath.

"I heard that, Red!" Link replied. "Anyway, you're staying on the top deck with Medli to act as lookout."

"Hey, Link?" asked Red. "Remember what the Sages said about power and all?"

"I do," Link nodded.

"What if it's their power that is causing the enemies to not be on this level?"

"I doubt that. This lack of monsters is foreboding. As if they're here, watching us or something." With that, Link and Blue walked towards the hatch.

"Good luck," Medli said quietly. Red nodded his assent as Blue yanked open the hatch and leapt in, Link close behind. He couldn't help but feel a little worried. Medli seemed to sense this, because all of a sudden, he felt a slender hand slip into his own. He turned to face her to see that she was looking off into the distance as if trying to avoid his eyes. Out of shyness?

"Worried about them?" she asked.

"You bet," Red replied wholeheartedly.

"Mind if I hold your hand?" she asked after an awkward silence. "I'm nervous, too."

"Go ahead," Red replied. "I mean, you are already." She smiled in response.

The two stood in silence for several minutes, straining their ears to hear Link and Blue, while in the mean time keeping their eyes out for any monsters. Red noticed that the Rito girl's hand and his were gripped so tightly that the hand was losing color and feeling. No one had ever held his hand that way. After all, he'd only existed by himself for a short time. He had the vague idea that Zelda had held Link's hand in that way when they were just a bit younger.

Red wondered why he was so at ease around her. They'd just known one another for a matter of minutes, and yet, Red felt almost as if a piece of a puzzle that had been missing had been put back in place. He'd known her before, he knew it. And she seemed to know it, too. Or maybe she was just really friendly. She certainly seemed that way. She certainly seemed beautiful, too-

Red nearly jumped out of his skin. Where had that thought come from? Yeah, Medli was pretty-from an objective point of view! How could she not be? Her long, reddish hair was glossy and thick-like many Rito girls, probably, Red thought. Her wings were pearly and white, very becoming, what with her pretty dress. And her eyes? Just beautiful-oh, Farore, what am I thinking? Thought Red. No, she's not pretty. Well, she is; from an objective point of view, of course!

Little did he know that Medli's though process was nearly identical to his. At least, until she turned her head to the left.

"Red!" she cried. He turned around to see that from another hatch, a handful of monsters had appeared. They were all very large spiders, something both Red and Medli disliked and had mild fear of. However, that didn't stop them. Medli unfurled her wings and rushed at the first spider, which was probably as big as she was. Red, meanwhile, felt around for his sword. However, his hand instead made contact with the Flame Wand. He pulled it out, hand shaking, and prepared to seriously use his item for the first time.

Medli, meanwhile, made sudden contact with the massive spider. She was thrown backward and knocked senseless, but the spider exploded. Red had to fight the urge to run to her as he aimed the wand at the next spider, hoping that it would work of it's own accord. However, it didn't for several moments (they felt like hours to Red, but it was probably just a few seconds or so), until at last, a jet of fire shot out from it and consumed the large spider and the one behind it in flame. He held it just a little differently, however, and ice shot out of it to hit the last two spiders.

Then, he wasted no time in running to Medli.

"Medli? Medli! Are you okay?" he asked nervously as she stirred sleepily.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Red," she smiled at him gently. "Did you get those spiders? Sorry that I couldn't be of much help."

"Don't worry," Red replied. "Now, let's get back to our jobs. That is, if you can stand." With that, he offered his hand to Medli, who quickly pulled herself up using it.

"I wonder how the others are doing?" she asked. "They've been down there for quite awhile."
"Time moves differently in dungeons," Red replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if several days pass before they venture out again!"

Medli shivered slightly at the thought. Or maybe it was the cold.

"Well, we might as well get to know each other better," she replied after a moment and sat down. Red flopped down next to her, careful not to hit her wing. The two just sat in silence for a moment before Red began to tell her about his adventure thus far, and about what he was meant to do. He was very pleased that Medli seemed to share his pity for Shadow Link.

"So that explains what you said earlier!" she cried softly. "Poor Vio. Poor Dark Link!"

"I know," Red replied. "Now, tell me about yourself."

Medli began to tell him of her childhood on Kolhirat Mountain, a mountain very similar to Death Mountain, except that it wasn't a volcano. It was right next to Zora's Domain (the Rito were distantly related to the Zora), and as a result, the Rito and Zora were good friends. Medli had been training to become the assistant to the Rito's protecting dragon, Valoo, instead of being a normal delivery Rito like the others. The only one who had fully supported her was her best friend, the prince of Rito, Komali. The two were very similar; they'd both been named for heroes from the time of the Great Flood (Author's note: in this story, the timelines have somehow merged once again, so there will be influence from both sides of the timeline), they both loved to fly, and they were both also great friends with the Zora prince, Ralis, who'd also been named for a great hero (though he from the time of Twilight). The three had spent much of their childhoods together, sharing stories of times past and talking about their futures.

"I wonder if they're unfrozen," Red said quietly.
"I hope so, though I doubt that that's the case," Medli replied. "I think that even though the freeze is a time of darkness, it's kind of pretty. I wish I could share that beauty with Ralis and Komali."

Red smiled at Medli. She saw beauty in things that others did not, very similar to the way that Red could see emotions more clearly.

All through the talking, he wondered how Link and Blue were doing. He hoped they were okay. Even though he disliked Link's hatred of Shadow Link, he cared about Link. And Blue? He like the way Blue had offered to support Shadow Link.

"Yah!" shouted Blue as he killed yet another rat.

The Ghost Ship had been incredibly easy for them thus far. They'd only been in for a few seconds, yes, but it was nothing compared to what they'd come to expect. Link had been thinking that they'd be lucky if they fought just one dodongo at a time, but they hadn't even seen anything other than rats. The only thing that was bothering him was how quiet everything was. Were they on the wrong Ghost Ship?

"Well done, hero," came a voice behind them. Suddenly, Ruto's face appeared behind them, like a projected image onto the smoke. She giggled for a moment, then seemed to turn serious and just smiled at them.

"I've been able to protect you thus far. As a result, all the serious creatures got turned into rats!" she continued. Link nodded in understanding and thanks. Blue just turned away and killed yet another rat.

"Why are you protecting us?" Link asked.

"Linebeck is Guardian of Oceans," Ruto replied. "Very similar to me. And Lake Hylia is sacred to the Zora, so I have an obligation to try to help you get rid of this foul thing floating on its surface."
"Thanks, Ruto!" Link bowed. "Oh. How's Zelda?"
She smiled and shook her head gently.

"Oh, Link," she said. "You've been gone for a matter of five hours! She's awake right now, but she's not crying or anything. Oh, do you know a place with lots of milk, when she gets hungry?"
"Lon Lon Ranch," Blue told her. "Malon works there. You'll have to wake her up, but it'll be worth it. Malon's got a way with cows. That milk is addictive, I hear. It's probably because I've heard it's delicious. I didn't have a bottle, but I won't be able to drink any other type with a clear conscience until I try hers!"

"Or is it because you think Malon's hot?" Link asked, smirking. Blue turned red and punched him. Link just smirked, remembering the way Blue had seemingly been charmed by Malon.

Ruto just smiled and disappeared. She'd have to tell the others to wake up Malon while she kept protecting the hero. This way, two birds could be killed with just one stone. Zelda would now have a good source of food.

The other bird? Blue would be happy. Ruto was pretty sure of his feelings for Malon. She'd also heard all of the subtle hints that Blue wanted Malon to be awoken. And Ruto felt that the Guardians owed Blue. After all, he was the Hero of Time, was he not?

He wasn't acting very hero-of-time-ish at the moment, however. He continued glaring at Link as the two continued in the dungeon. On the other hand, he seemed to have learned a little since the temples, and ceased trying to make bets to Link. Link seemed rather happy about that as well, for in this dungeon, there could be no distractions.

Even on the next floor, the dungeon became exponentially harder. The minute Link and Blue stepped off the staircase, they noticed that there was a weird liquid on the floor. It was shining brightly, emitting a soft glow that just barely illuminated their surroundings. That wasn't out of the ordinary. What was, however, was the fact that when Link turned to face Blue, there was no Blue.

"Blue!" Link shouted in fear.

"Link?" came Blue's voice. "Where are you?"
"Where are you?" Link asked in reply and clutched at the empty space where the voice was coming. Suddenly, he felt a hand grasp his own.

"Listen, it's not as if I want to hold your hand, but that appears the only way," came Blue's voice.

"I wonder why we're invisible?" asked Link, strangely taking comfort in the hand that he was holding. If he weren't holding Blue's hand, he'd feel as though he were the only one on the deck.

"Maybe to protect us from those," Blue pointed to a black shadow that suddenly passed their haven. "For some reason, Ruto hasn't changed the creatures down here. And whatever that reason may be, it can't be good."

Just then, the black shadow turned around to face them. It couldn't see them, but even so, both Link and Blue tensed up.

The creature was just so scary. It's rotting face just made Link's skin crawl. Why was it holding that blood-stained scythe? It looked like the stereotypical Grim Reaper. It's death shroud reminded Blue of a mourner. But what were these things mourning? Their own deaths?

I let my crew die, came a voice in their heads. The voice sounded furious with itself. I was a coward and ran away. Hardly becoming for a Guardian! Well, I wasn't one yet, but still.

Link and Blue gasped identically, and Link ran out of the safe zone to follow wherever the voice was coming from. He'd forgotten totally about the Grim Reaper thing as he heard the voice again, this time in a specific direction. Link gasped and picked up speed. Little did he realize he was being followed until all of a sudden, he felt a gust of wind on his back. He whirled around to see that the thing was raising it's blade to strike him.

It was all over.

"What was that?" asked Medli nervously.

Red picked up his flame wand and stood back-to-back with her. Though she had no particular skill in fighting, she could flap her wings and distract the monsters, something Red had discovered just a few minutes ago. They'd been keeping watch for about three hours now (not counting when Red had played the Song of Passing), but Link and Blue still weren't out. Red wasn't too worried about that, but he was worried about the increasing monster activity on the deck. It appeared that they'd been discovered.

"There it is again!" Medli cried, breaking out of the stance and pulling herself into Red's arms, a gesture Red wasn't used to. What was he supposed to do, exactly? He heard the low growl coming from inside the hatch, and supposed that that was the reason that Medli's head was now buried in his chest, her arms wrapped in a death grip around his shoulders. Of course she was scared. He was as well.

"It'll be alright," he began, soothingly pulling his own arms around her. "What's the worst that can happen?"

Just then, the hatch banged open to reveal a massive, hulking creature. It was easily twice as tall and several times as wide as Byrne and Impa put together, though Red suspected that the thick armor and the helmet with the horns added a bit of size to the figure. It was wielding a sword that was easily the size of Blue, if not bigger. Not a pleasant thought.

"Okay, that's probably right up there with 'the worst that could happen.' Not meaning to scare you, Medli."

"It's alright, Red, I was thinking that already."

"The heroes are in danger."

Shadow Link felt like talking to someone, anyone, and had ended up going to Zant. After all, Zant could stand to get near him. Since he could vaguely feel what was going on with his counterparts, he decided to tell Zant about them. Maybe Zant would be interested.

Turns out, he was very interested.

"What do you mean?" Zant asked.

"I mean, they foolishly have tried to rescue Linebeck, Guardian of Oceans," Shadow Link smirked. "Link and Blue actually went downwards to look for Linebeck, but as I speak, the Guardian himself, veiled to Bellum, is attacking Red and his girlfriend."
"Why did they even run into trouble in the dungeon in the first place?" Zant grinned. "All they have to do is to rescue those girls and those crewmembers, and activate the Light Switch. Then Linebeck's power will be restored. Anjean said how difficult these dungeons were, but didn't count on the fact that someone interfered and cleaned up the first few floors of the dungeon, making it much easer."

Zant turned away from a rather confused-looking Shadow Link and walked down the hall, smirking.

"Zant?" Shadow Link asked. "What's that?"

Oh no, he's seen it.

"Nothing, Zant replied, tucking the lyre more deeply into his small pack. No one could see his lyre. Though Shadow Link didn't know what it stood for, if he told Bellum or Ganondorf, Zant could kiss life goodbye.

They'd been thwarted by the meaning of the lyre too many times to count.

Author's note: wow, I've written a lot of these in this chapter, haven't I? Well, anyway, I'll say now for those of you a who don't know a little background information on the Ghost Ship. The Ghost Ship is from Phantom Hourglass. Tetra went exploring aboard it and was captured, causing Link (Link who was the Hero of Winds, who if you didn't know already has been reincarnated as Red) to chase after her and get taken to a different Great Sea than from Wind Waker. With the help of Linebeck, a sailor (and Guardian of Oceans in this story), Link managed to rescue Tetra and defeat Bellum. The 'girls' referred to are the Cubus sisters, girls in the game who challenged Link to a very dangerous game in which he must reflect their energy orbs with his sword and hit them with the orbs. "I let my crew die" refers to the Phantom Hourglass manga, in which it is said that Linebeck and his crew were exploring aboard the Ghost Ship. During that time, Linebeck noticed that his crewmembers were turning into reaplings (or those Grim Reaper characters on the Ghost Ship), and instead of rescuing them, he abandoned them to their fate and saved himself, a decision that haunted him throughout his days.

Sorry, that was a bit much info. But isn't the chapter a bit easier to understand now?