Chapter 8: The escape

The next morning, the only light in the cabin was the lantern's flame and the sunlight that came through the tiny opening on the door. Quill and Link had both fallen asleep on each other's shoulders, but Quill woke up before Link. He stood up, stretched, checked on Link, and walked over to the door to peer out the window.

Looking out the window, he saw the deck of the ship they were on. It appeared that the pirate crew was larger than Tetra's, and it was the same with the ship. With the taste of the air filtering between the bars, he knew they weren't near Feather Flats anymore.

"'Hoy, Link... Are you awake?" an unfamiliar voice came from behind Quill, Quill turned around a looked for the source of the noise, but there was none to be seen. Then, he spotted something blue glowing in Link's pocket. He cautiously pulled the gossip stone out by the string.

"Hey, you're not Link," Tetra's voice said from the stone. "But at least you're awake."

"Hello, miss scary pirate," Quill said. "Would you like me to wake up Link? He is a bit of a heavy sleeper..."

"Ah, no, not yet. I wanted to make sure Link and his sis were okay. Forsaken Fortress and my ship was attacked yesterday by another pirate crew- that was scary, even for me. Luckily, the King of Red Lions got out in time; the place was absolute havoc. They got the Golden Talon..."

"I happen to know that already," Quill replied. "Link, Aryll, my daughter, and I are being held captive on the pirate ship."

"That's right, you were supposed to be missing for a while."

"I'm alive."

"So, what happened?"

"The pirates invaded Feather Flats - new name for Forsaken Fortress - and took the Talon and the three kids. You told me some of that."

"I knew all that info already. Jeez, I wonder why I asked anyway. Is Link still asleep?"

"Yes."

"Wake him up for me. Oh, and thanks for answering." Quill nodded, and still holding the stone in one hand, he shook Link awake.

"Herm-wha?"

"Link, your gossip stone..."

"Who?"

"The stone."

"Who on the st..st..." He yawned. "Never mind." He took the stone from Quill and stared into its watery depths.

"Hullo?"

"Snap outta it already. Honestly, you wake up so slowly. Heh heh. King of Red Lions-" Link was suddenly awake and alert- "is still okay." He relaxed.

"The pirates have attacked my ship."

"Is it still intact?"

"Well, it isn't seriously harmed. But they certainly outnumbered my crew."

"They certainly did," Quill said from his usual position at the door. He was peering out the window again. "They're all scrambling around like ants on deck."

"Anyway, wanted to make sure you're alive and fine. Oh yeah, and we're watching the pirate ship from a distance right now. Turns out that the wind has changed course to the north... and 'Feather Flats' - as your post-man bud said - well, the ship and my ship had just passed it. It was on the left. I am assuming we're not in the Great Sea anymore. We're in the Northern Seas. Yeah, cheesy name. Well, whadya have to say about that?"

"...You're watching the ship?"

"Okay, maybe I talked a little too much."

"I knew this would happen," Quill said quietly. "How the pirates could take us to some foreign land. These are no ordinary pirates. They're scary."

"Hey, we're supposed to be scary!" Tetra shot back.

"Cool it," Link said. "Or I'm going to put the stone back in my pocket." Then he heard Tetra grumble something about staring at fibers.

"Well, I will contact you later, meanwhile you'll have to find some way to get out of there. I had a feeling that the pirates took all your good weapons, but I sure they left something. See ya."

"Alright." he replied, and the stone fell dark in his hand. He slipped the stone back in he pocket, just as Quill left his position and crouched next to Link, right up close so his nose was about 6 inches from Link's face.

"Listen," He whispered. "I have a bit of a plan..."

All morning and day until just after sunset, they were talking about how they would escape, and making Quill's plan better and better until it was almost fool-proof. When the sun finally went down, they took a short nap, and when it was completely dark, the flurry they had been hearing on deck was quiet. Then, they got to work.

As Link unraveled the rope for his grappling hook, Quill (who was taller) took the lantern from its rope, where it had been hanging from the ceiling. He then carried it over to the door, and set it down. It would serve as extra lighting for sneaking around deck.

Link pushed the claws of the grappling hook between the bars on the window on the door, and let some slack on the rope. The claws were now hanging down from the window, but on the other side. When he was sure that the claws were about level with the lock on the door, he handed the rope to Quill, and stepped aside. Quill stuck his hand through the window and grabbed the section of the rope that was hanging on the other side, and made it swing.

Back and forth, back and forth, until it abruptly stopped on the far right. Quill gave a thumbs-up with one hand to show that the claws had indeed gotten hooked onto the lock, and then using both hands, grabbed the rope that was on his side of the door and pulled.

The lock would not budge. Link added his own strength, and suddenly they heard the sound they were listening for - click! - and the lock turned, sending them off balance when the hook came undone. Link turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Quill and Link gave a silent cheer, picked up the lantern and grappling hook, then proceeded.

It was quiet on deck, with no one in sight except for themselves. The deck layout was similar to Tetra's ship, much to Link's surprise. There was another door next to the one that they had just came from that was very similar, with a similar lock. Link approached the lock and turned the little bar the unlock it. It swung open by itself. Suddenly, two girls were hugging him so hard that he almost couldn't breathe.

"Thank you Link," Aryll whispered. Link could only nod. They let go and studied their surroundings while Link and Quill had spotted another door and were busy trying to open it. There was something different about this door - for one thing, someone had scratched "Treasure" above the doorknob. Even though Link was turning the doorknob, the door wouldn't budge. Aryll noticed and nudged him aside, then turned the doorknob in a different direction. The door swung open. Link felt himself going red, and Natasha let out a small stifled giggle.

As soon as the four had entered the large room, the lantern light had caught the glimmer of gold on the floor. In fact, the whole room was filled with treasure! Jewels of all different kinds were all piled in one corner, and various other things filled up another part of the room. Gold took up the rest of the space. However, this made the situation very difficult. Natasha spotted Link and Aryll's things nearby.

"If you step on any of the things lying on the floor," she whispered to the two, "you could knock something over and cause a racket." Aryll, being the smallest, tip-toed between the treasures lying on the floor, picked up as much as she could of her and Link's weapons, and tip-toed back. Then she did it again, this time picking up the things she didn't take last time. Link silently thanked her as she and him equipped themselves, and looked up at Quill.

He was holding the lantern at arm's length and was scanning the room. Natasha spotted a scale nearby, and picked it up. Quill gently took it from her and hugged her, with a smile on his face, and then slipped it into a pouch on his belt. Everyone was ready to go. Except...

"Link, how are we going to get off the ship?" Aryll asked quietly once they were outside.

"There should be a sort of a rowboat on board," Link whispered back. "Look, there it is." He pointed, and the other three followed his gaze to a boat about 20 feet away.

As silently as they could, they walked over there. The rowboat could be lowered to the water by a sort of a rope-pulley-wrench system, but it could only be lowered by someone who would stay on deck. The team of four realized at the same time that fact, and a silent argument in just hand gestures broke out. Link wanted to stay because he has jumped heights farther than from the railing to the water, but finally Natasha won.

The other three reluctantly climbed into the boat, and Natasha pulled the lever, making the gears turn and the boat was lowered to the water at a medium speed. Then she stepped onto the railing and jumped down. She was falling faster than the boat, so she opened her wings to slow her down. Even though she wasn't an adult, her wings were large enough for her to stay in the air for as long as she could handle it.

A little bit after the boat was halfway down to the water, she landed in the boat. It made it rock slightly. Link and Aryll finally let their breath out (they had been holding it ever since Natasha opened her wings) and Quill gave his daughter a pat on the back. The boat finally touched the water, and Quill pulled out a small knife to cut the ropes. Then, they took out the oars and put them in the holders - Quill and Aryll on one oar, Natasha and Link on the other- and they started to row away from the ship.

When they were a good distance away, they took a break and finally dared to speak out loud. The first thing that was said was:

"Gosh, those pirates are sound sleepers." Nervous laughter broke out throughout the group.

"I mean, I'm sure we had made a lot of noise, but we didn't think about it!" Natasha continued.

"Well, you never know," Aryll said. "We could have made a little bit of noise." Link scanned the horizon for Tetra's ship.

"Hey, I think I see Tetra's ship." Sure enough, the majestic ship was off in the distance, much farther away than the ship they had come off of. It appeared to be heading straight for them, but he was not sure. Then, Link noticed the name of the ship they had just left. In fancy lettering on the side of the ship, it said:

~SHIPSEEKER~

"That's a dumb name," Link mumbled.