Author's note:

I wrote this fic before I reached the end of Wind Waker, so I didn't know that the King of Red Lions shouldn't be able to talk anymore.

Chapter 12: Meet the King!

Andrew walked through a maze of alleys to reach a small lone cabin. From the outside, it looked abandoned, but Andrew lived there. The cabin had a small plaque by the doorframe; if someone was able to read ancient Hylian language, they would know it said "Termina Residence".

He put his hand over the doorknob, not touching it, whispered something, and the lock clicked. He opened the door and walked inside.

The cabin was larger than it looked like from the outside; it had a fireplace at the end of the room, three beds along the wall, a table and four chairs, a sofa in front of the fireplace, wooden floors (except for a rug under the sofa) and a few lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

"'Oy, Andrew!" A man that looked very much like Andrew's twin said from the table. He seemed to be studying a Sea Chart. "What have you been up to?"

"Not much," Andrew said. He took his coat off and hung in on a hook next to the fire, even though it wasn't wet. "I was caught in our rain. Hey Mark, where's Daniel?" Mark gestured toward the sofa.

"Up to something. I dunno what he's doing."

Andrew walked over to the sofa and looked over the back of it. A man that seemed to be Mark's twin was reading a book, one hand over the pages. Well, that is what it would look like from an outsider's view- there was a window in the book, and it seemed to be a little movie showing the point of view from a fly buzzing around. It showed Andrew, standing at the sofa. Daniel slowly looked up at Andrew with stern, green eyes.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"I know!" Andrew said as he plopped down on the sofa next to Daniel. "I couldn't help it."

"That's alright!" Mark called over from the table. "We should always have a sort of a challenge when we're reviving a lost world."

"Okay, you'll get off this time," Daniel said to Andrew, looking a little frustrated. Andrew gave a sad, crooked smile and made a sound that sounded like "Ehehehe." Then he looked at the book that Daniel was focused at.

"Created a new contraption?" he asked, and Daniel relaxed and nodded. He gently moved his finger on the hand that was over the pages, and the screen's view suddenly whipped from looking at Mark's map, to Daniel's hand, and a small gnat landed on Daniel's finger. Andrew whistled.

"Very cool. Very cool. How on earth did you do it?"

"Well, I caught this gnat and put a control spell on it, and also a security spell. I did it last night; that's why I slept in really late this morning."

"Yeah, you woke up, like, three hours ago," Mark chortled, and Andrew sent a little spark from his hand that flew over and landed on the back of Mark's hand.

"Ouch," Mark said, and slapped the spark. "Well, I'd better be going to bed now. I'm getting up early tomorrow morning."

"Okay," Daniel said, Andrew nodded, and Mark rolled up his map and stuck it in a drawer. Then he crawled into one of the beds and pulled the covers over his head. Several minutes later, there was a snoring sound from his direction, and the two other triplets got ready for bed also.

"Yawn..." Aryll yawned as she stretched, and stood. The sleeping bag that Link had been in was empty, and so was Quill's. Natasha was still sleeping, and Tetra was just starting to stir. Aryll changed from the oversized tee to her old shirt and pants from yesterday, and ventured out into the front room, which was the main cafe.

The rain was still hammering down as hard as last night, but there was no thunder or lightning. She looked over at the table in the corner, where Link and Quill (whose set of wings were nearly grown in) were chatting. They had fixed themselves a breakfast consisting of fried eggs, toast, and milk.

Aryll walked right over, sat in a chair at the table, and snatched up a piece of toast from Link's plate.

"Hey!" Link exclaimed, then quickly said, "I was about to put my plate away."

"Sibling-hood," Quill chuckled.

"How'd you get breakfast fixed, anyway?" Aryll asked, and the other two looked at each other for a second.

"Raided... the kitchen?" Link said.

"Link has experience with fire," Quill said, and Link shot him a dirty look. Just then, Tetra came into the room. She was sleepy-eyed, had a drag in the step and her hair wasn't in a bun anymore.

"Somethin' smelling good?" Tetra said lazily. "I smell eggs..." Quill stood and went into the kitchen to fix her a plate, and while Link was looking the other way, Aryll slid his plate to the spot in front of her.

Tetra looked longingly out at the street from the window. The rain had decreased a little, but it was still raining hard enough to keep everyone inside. She sighed heavily. Would there ever be a chance to go back on the sea again? Then, she saw a hooded figure walking down the street, toward the cafe. She turned around and put her hands on her hips. Everyone in the room looked up.

"We're going to have a visitor!" she announced, and just then, the door opened. The figure walked inside, pulling his hood off, to reveal brown hair...

"Andrew?" Aryll said, and Natasha's mouth hung open.

"Huh?" the man turned around and surveyed Aryll, Tetra, Link, Quill, and Natasha, along with the pirate crew. "Do I know you?"

"Yeah! You were here just last night," Natasha said. The man cocked his head, thinking.

"Um... yeah," he said, and went to the bar to request from the waitress a coffee to go, except the waitress wasn't there. He looked back into the room, which was still watching him.

"What's up? I'm not dangerous," he said kindly, and everyone turned to talking again. He sneaked into the kitchen, past the swinging door.

"I can't believe I would go through all of this trouble just to get three cups of coffee," Mark muttered to himself as he found a pot of cold coffee. "I wonder why they called me... Of course, it's Andrew. He must have been in here yesterday."

He studied the pot of coffee with his blue eyes. Deciding on something, he picked it up and found three cups. He poured coffee into them, pulled out a pencil and found a piece of paper. He hastily scribbled a little note on it, rolled it into a tube, and stuck it into the handle of one of the cups. Then he stepped a few feet away from the counter, and held up his fists in front of him, and muttered something under his breath as he opened his fingers.

There was a little popping sound, and the cups and note were gone. A little gnat that had been perched on his shoulder started buzzing off into the other room. Mark went into the lavatory, flushed the toilet without using it, and went back into the main cafe. Without anyone noticing, he put his hood back on and walked out the front door.

The rain that was falling from the sky grew a little denser for a minute, and slowly started to wear down in the time lapse of half an hour. The lightning and thunder had stopped long ago. And then, altogether, it suddenly stopped. It was pouring for a second, and it all suddenly vanished. The clouds broke away gradually, with there first being a patch of sunlight at Link's feet when he went outside.

"Rain's stopped!" he exclaimed. "Can you believe it? And the clouds are starting to retreat! Look, there's a little patch up there..." He pointed at the sky as Aryll and Natasha stepped outside.

"Wow..." Natasha cooed. "I thought it was never going to stop..."

"Now we can go home!" Aryll said, and saw the expression on Link's face. "What's wrong?"

"I... have a confession..." he said, and started cracking up into a fit of laughter. "I forgot to tell ya... we forgot the Golden Talon!"

"What? What the? !" Aryll yelled and tackled Link into a tickling match. Natasha watched them with a grin on her face.

Everyone, relieved to be outside again in the sunshine, skipped and ran down to the dock. Tetra arrived there before anyone else, and gave a shout when she saw the familiar red boat at the dock...

Link spotted her and ran up.

"What's wrong?" he panted, and then he saw what she was looking at.

"King of Red Lions!" he cried, and ran forward to the boat. The King stayed still, not moving, as Link ran up and sat on the dock beside it.

"I want to surprise your sister," the dragon head muttered.

"You sound refreshed," Link commented. The King chuckled.

"I haven't been caught in a storm for years, and it felt good... here comes your sister now."

He turned around and saw his sister, who had a curious look on her face.

"That boat is cool!" Aryll said. "But I swear that I heard you talking to someone, Link..."

"Yeah, I was talking to someone," her brother replied with a grin.

"Can I sit in that boat?" she asked. Link glanced at the King, who was doing his best not to move. But of course, the King winked.

"Yeah, sure." Link replied, and Aryll carefully stepped in. The King smiled a little and said a low voice, quietly:

"So you must be Link's little sister." Puzzled, Aryll glanced around.

"Aye, don't be afraid..." the voice continued. Aryll cried out.

"I'm hearing voices!"

"You are not." the King finished, and craned his neck around to look at Aryll. She screamed and hopped back onto the dock, so fast it looked like she might have tried to sit on a porcupine!

The King laughed loudly, and so did Link. Aryll, who had been hiding behind Link, soon enough joined in.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"The King of Red Lions," the King replied. "The only boat on the seas that can speak the words of men."

"You're the King of Red Lions?" Aryll gaped, mouth hanging open. The boat nodded.

"I have decided to come here to look for you and the others, as I saw that they had been taken north," the boat explained to the siblings. "I said I would look after you, but because of those pirates, it had never happened. My apologies."

"It's okay, King," Link said. "I haven't seen you for quite a while, though."

"It has been over 300 days..." the King replied, and looked out to sea. A gentle breeze fluttered across the dock, with a smell of salt on it. He looked back.

"I haven't had a human sail me ever since you," the boat said with a smile. "Perhaps you would like to sail to Feather Flats and back?"

"Would I ever!" Link cried, and Aryll jumped up.

"What about me?" she asked.

"There's room for two!" the King exclaimed, suddenly eager to get out on the waves again. "I do not have a sail, however- Link, did you bring it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Unfold it now, and lets get sailing!"

"But I'll need to tell Tetra and the others first."

"Go, quickly!"

Link ran off to where Natasha, Quill, and Tetra were waiting, and Aryll busied herself with unfolding the sail. Her brother soon came back with a happy glint in his eyes, and they both jumped in.

"Wow!" Aryll exclaimed as she looked out ahead, clinging to the King of Red Lions's neck. The boat rocked as the wind filled the sail completely, and Feather Flats was on the horizon. Waves crashed against the bow, sending up white spray. Link smiled. It was satisfying to be sailing again.

"It's good to see that you are alright, Link," the Chieftain said warmly, spreading his wings, as he was in Crowhen form. "Ever since that ruckus with the pirates- well, I'm just glad that they didn't do you any harm."

"Uh, thanks, Wollf," Link said, face pink, and Aryll nodded. "Um, I wanted to tell you something... we don't have the Golden Talon. The pirates have it now."

"Very well then." The Chieftain said, and looked a little forlorn. "I would advise that you try to find out where they are now, and confront them..."

"Yes, Wollf."

"Any news on Quill?"

"Huh- yes! Yes, we've found him!" Link realized. Wollf's eyes lit up.

"Where is he now?"

"Back at Fisher's Cove, north of here."

"He knows that you're here?"

"Yes."

"I expect that he'd be here any minute."

"Huh?"

Just then, there was a knock on the door behind them, and much to their surprise, Quill was there, with a full set of wings! Wollf gasped.

"Quill... I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Brother!" Quill cried, and ran forward. The Chieftain shapechanged back into Rito form, and the two brothers embraced. Link and Aryll smiled.

"It's a pictobox moment," Link muttered under his breath to Aryll.

"Are you going to be going back with Link and Aryll?"

"Yes- my daughter Natasha is still back there."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for a cup of tea?"

"Well- that would be nice."

"Follow me." The chieftain beckoned to them all to follow him to the dining room, and he requested tea. Soon the four were sitting down and discussing events. Quill explained the whole ordeal, while Link and Aryll were chatting to each other. Soon enough, they decided it was time to go back, and they boarded on the King of Red Lions. Link pulled out the Windwaker and changed the direction of the wind, and the two set off north-east, back to Fisher's Cove, with Quill flapping behind them.

"Tonight's the night, boys," Mark announced, making Daniel and Andrew look up from their work.

"What's going on tonight?" Daniel asked in a cool voice.

"Tonight, we shall awaken Termina!"

"Do you know where the location of it is?" Andrew asked, raising his hand like a school child, and Mark held up a map. He flipped it open and read:

"Termina lies underwater 35 degrees latitude and 45 degrees longitude. We happen to be at 35 by 49, so we're only a couple of islands away." Daniel nodded in approval, and Andrew raised his hand again.

"How will we get there?" he asked. "It's too far for our magic to send us there, and we'll need to set up the exact coordinates for where we appear."

"You've got a point," Mark said, and gestured toward the small window, one that prevented outsiders from seeing in. "But I already have that figured out."

The trio walked toward the window and looked out toward the dock. Next to Tetra's pirate ship was yet another ship, but this one had the lettering ~SHIPSEEKER~ on its side. Mark's brothers gasped.

"How did you...?" Daniel muttered, and Andrew rubbed his eyes. Mark smiled a sly smile.

"I asked my good friend Doris the pirate to lend me his ship. A fisherman's boat is way too slow for a journey this far."

"But what if the kids see it?" Andrew questioned.

"They won't. If I'm correct, they're still out at Feather Flats. I'll put up the rain spell again, so they won't be able to see it; if they do, they won't investigate until I take it down. And by then we would have already raised Termina!"

They all stared at the boat for a few moments, but then Daniel crossed his arms and put on a solemn expression.

"Mark, Andrew... if we raise Termina... won't we raise Hyrule, too?"

"Of course not. We possibly couldn't," Mark replied.

"But really! Termina is connected to Hyrule by these woods, and we can't break the warp path- we would have to split the land in two! Underwater! It would totally displace all the water, and this island would be washed over by the seas-"

"I don't think we're going to get killed just by raising a little bit of land, Dan!" Mark shot back. "We've gotten this far and we're not going to stop!"

"I have my doubts, that's all!"

"You don't need to be a smartass right now, right here-"

"FINE!" Daniel yelled in his brother's face, and stormed out of the cabin, slamming the door so hard that sheets of paper fell off his desk on the other side of the room, one sailing right into the flames of the fireplace.

After an awkward silence, Andrew turned to his brother.

"It's not going to be tonight then, eh?"