Chapter 17: A maze with no end

Footsteps!

Link nudged Tetra, who was examining her torn red bandanna, and held his hand up to his ear. The others listened hard.

Footsteps, walking down the street, and they were getting louder. Could it be Andrew?

The group shrank back into the shadows, and held their breath. The person was coming close...

It was only a villager. Natasha and Aryll had to hold back Tetra from leaping forward and attacking the man. After a moment, she calmed down enough to talk.

"That's the 5th villager we've seen in an hour!" she snarled.

"In 10 minutes," Link corrected.

If there was somebody walking by the alley at that moment, they would have heard the sounds of a teenage girl yelling ineligible words and something like an iron pipe repeatedly hitting a shield, and a boy's voice yelling over and over, "Tetra stop it or else we're not gonna see him at all!"

A couple of minutes passed by; they had settled down again, and Tetra had gotten rid of her iron pipe. Yet another villager passed by, and Tetra had to be restrained again.

"We're back to square one for the third time today," Natasha groaned as she held on tightly to the pirate's arm.

Just then, Andrew happened to pass by. He heard movement to his left, and peered into the alley. Link looked up from where he was struggling to push Tetra's hands away from this throat, and saw Andrew.

"H-hi, Andrew!" he stammered, when Tetra suddenly stopped trying to wring Link's neck, and Aryll let go of her arm. Natasha, however, forgot that she was still hanging on.

"What's going on?" Andrew said in a cheerful voice. "Are you playing some alley game or something? It looked like you were having fun."

Link stared with his mouth hanging open. This couldn't be the same Andrew who came out this morning!

"Er- yeah, we were playing," Aryll spoke up. "What are you doing?"

"I went to get lunch for me and- er, me."

"Oh, okay," Aryll said, and smiled in such a way that it looked like she could change Ganon's plans for the destruction of the world with it. Andrew's cheeks turned red and he looked away, and walked into the cafe.

After a moment of silence, Link, Aryll, and Natasha broke out into loud laughter. Tetra fumed.

"Why are you laughing? There was nothing funny about what just happened! Now c'mon, let's get ready for when he comes out!"

The others fell silent, and tensed for when Andrew would pass by again.

Sure enough, three minutes later, he walked past them, a small bag in his hand.

"Wait for it..." Link whispered. He peeked out of the alley and saw Andrew walking up the street. The farther away he was, the less likely they would be caught...

"Now!"

They dashed to the other side of the street and pretended to be going up to the town square, while keeping a close watch on Andrew. Suddenly, he turned into a side street, and disappeared. The group ran back to the left side and looked for Andrew. No luck- he had somehow vanished in this maze of streets.

"Break up," Tetra ordered, and they split up to go in the four cardinal directions.

He knew he was being followed. And it really bothered him.

If they found out where he lived, he would be doomed.

Their plans to raise Termina would be completely, utterly, and horribly ruined by a couple of kids.

He had to find a way to lead them off.

He walked into the general area where the cabin was, and kept walking. He would take the longest possible way home. They would continue following him until they saw him go into a building. But with this plan, they would be lost and lose him before he got even half-way through this maze.

How convenient.

He laughed, but quickly stopped for fear that they might hear him, and kept walking.

Now, there was the sound of footsteps, far behind him. That doesn't matter, he thought. Soon enough, I won't hear them anymore.

He turned into another alley, when he suddenly bumped into someone.

"Whoa, what's going on here-" that somebody said, as he stepped back. He had accidentally ran into Link!

"Hi Andrew!" Link said after he regained his senses. No use running away now. He had to keep up his I'm-a-good-boy personality.

"Hi Link," Andrew said. "Weren't you in that alley with the others a little while ago?"

"Uh... yeah," Link replied. "But we came here because..."

"Because?"

"...we're exploring this island! Again!" Link added, with a sudden burst of confidence. "See, the crew and I only got here about three days ago, you know? But we still haven't explored everywhere, so that's why I'm here!"

"Ah, okay. Well, I had better be on my way now."

"Oh... okay then."

"See ya." Andrew briskly walked in the other direction, and around a couple more alleys, before stopping and weighing this situation. Link now had an idea of where he lived in this maze. What to do, what to do...

Aryll had found Andrew, and was following him when she saw him bump into Link. She ducked into another alley way and watched them talk, and then Andrew walked off somewhere. She followed him.

As she was about to turn into the alley where she saw him go, someone tugged on her shirt from behind, and she fell back.

"I know where Andrew lives!" Tetra's voice whispered into her ear.

Aryll was dragged by the hand to a small cabin in the middle of a clearing.

"This can't be it," she said in a small voice. "It looks abandoned, and I can't even read that plaque."

"Well, I can!" Tetra said, with an air of triumph in her voice. "It says... uh... hold on, give me a minute..." Tetra walked over and stood in front of the house, closely studying the small panel of carved wood that was set next to the doorframe.

"It's written in ancient Hyrulian!" she announced. Aryll rolled her eyes in response. A couple more minutes passed by, when Natasha stumbled into the clearing.

"Whoa!" Natasha cried. "Where'd you come from?"

"We both came from the Great Sea," Aryll replied in a bored voice. "C'mon Tetra, tell us what the sign says!"

"I've got it!" Tetra yelled. Natasha and Aryll cheered and hugged each other in happiness.

"Tell us, tell us!" Natasha begged. Tetra smiled.

"I can't read it because it's ancient Hyrulian," Tetra said, a smile on her face, her hands on her hips.

One minute later, Aryll and Natasha had dragged Tetra away from the house to yell at her, and how leading them like that was such a rip-off.

While they were doing this, Andrew had slipped into the house.

Meanwhile, Link was following Andrew, when he saw him slip into the cabin stealthily as a fox. He heard talking inside, when suddenly it was overridden by two girls yelling. Link ran toward the voices to see his little sister and a Rito girl (with her wings completely out) yelling at the female pirate.

"What's going on here?" Link barked at the three. They stopped yelling and looked up. Natasha hid her wings.

Aryll explained the situation, and they found their way out from the alleyways to go back to the ship. They now knew- in a way- where Andrew lived. What now? They didn't know what to do next.