Chapter 4: Burning Ship
As the sun set, Medli and Komali flew up to the ledge one last time. Shadow Link eyed them cynically as the two of them landed.
"I hope you're ready to go. Unless you want everyone to die, we'd better hurry."
"You're the one who didn't want to go till nightfall!" Komali growled.
"Enough of that," Medli sighed. "Valoo is coming, and we've packed supplies. It shouldn't take more than an hour to reach Forest Haven, but we don't know what we'll find when we get there. We'd better be prepared."
"You don't need to tell me that."
A heavy beating sound made them look up. Valoo, the large red dragon who lived on top of Dragonroost Island, was descending from the sky. He hovered in front of the ledge where The Rito, fairies, and Shadow Link were waiting.
Shadow Link raised his eyebrows. "Not as impressive as Volvagia."
"Valoo's more impressive than anything you got!" Komali snapped.
Valoo rumbled something in a strange foreign language. Medli understood and nodded.
"Barring the rude comment he made about you," Medli translated, "He says we're ready to go."
"Need help getting on his back?" Komali said, with a hint of sarcasm to his voice.
Shadow Link smirked. As Valoo's back drew level with the ledge, Shadow Link leapt lightly onto the dragon's shoulders.
Valoo rumbled something again as Shadow Link settled himself at the base of the dragon's neck.
Medli cocked her head. Valoo had said that Shadow Link weighed almost nothing. Well, he was a shadow.
Medli fluttered her wings and in a moment was seated behind Shadow Link. The fairies settled themselves in the wrap around Medli's shoulders.
The other Rito were lined up on the walkway below the ledge. They and Komali waved solemnly as Valoo beat away from the island across the open ocean.
Medli waved to her tribe as the night swallowed them out. She didn't know when she would see them next. Something told her that it wouldn't be a simple journey to Forest Haven to pick up Makar.
Medli watched as Dragonroost island grew smaller and smaller behind them. She heaved a deep sigh as it disappeared at last.
Only the moon illuminated their way. The gentle pulse of the waves whispered below them. An occasional small island drifted past. Of these, Fire Island was the most visible with its peak spewing out occasional bursts of flame.
Shadow Link remained silent. The fairies dozed on Medli's shoulder. Valoo beat further onwards. The minutes flew past. They would be there very soon.
"Ah!" Medli exclaimed suddenly, pointing to the west.
There was a small bright speck in the vast ocean.
"It's fire!" Medli cried. "Something's on fire!"
"It's a ship," Valoo said in his ancient language.
"They must be in trouble!" Medli exclaimed. "Valoo, fly down to them!"
"Hey!" Shadow Link snapped. "We're already going out of our way to find this other guy at the forest place. We don't need any more distractions!"
"We're going to help them!" Medli said firmly. "If you don't want Valoo's help, then jump off and swim to the nearest land!"
"I don't want any of you help!" Shadow Link snarled. "I need a sword!"
"I can help you get one if you stop being such an idiot!"
Valoo banked steeply down and west towards the burning ship. Shadow Link remained silent, fuming. He clenched his fist tightly.
As they drew nearer, they saw that the mast of the ship was blossoming in bright flames that reflected in the ocean.
"I know that ship!" Medli exclaimed. "That's the ship that the pirates have! The pirates that Link and Zelda were sailing with when they left! They might be there now!"
"Link and Zelda were sailing with pirates?" Shadow Link muttered. "That seems pretty low."
"Be quiet! Valoo, we have to help them! I wonder if they have Link and Zelda…"
Valoo dropped lower so that his talons skimmed the tops of the waves. He drew alongside the pirate ship.
One of jumped up on the railing of the ship, waving his arms to get their attetion. It was Gonzo.
"Hey! Help!"
"Valoo, Outset Island is the nearest island with a port, even if it is small. We can try to help them dock there. But is there any way we can put out that fire?"
"I'm a fire-breather myself," Valoo replied in the ancient tongue. "But I might be able to do something. Hold on."
He lowered his head into the ocean and gathered a mouthful of sea water. He flew up above the ship and released the spray of water over the flaming mast. The flames hissed and diminished slightly. Water cascaded down onto the crew, but they didn't complain.
Medli craned her neck over Valoo's shoulders, trying to see if she could see Link or Tetra on the deck. But they weren't there. Where were they?
Valoo repeated his fire-fighting maneuver several more times until the last embers sputtered and died. Then with great caution, the dragon lowered himself behind the boat and gripped the ship's stern with his fore claws. Very slowly he began to flap forwards. The ship began to move in the direction of Outset Island.
It was slow going. It took them about half an hour before they caught sight of Outset Island. But finally they reached the dock and the pirates stepped onto solid land.
Valoo landed on the beach and Medli dropped to the ground. Shadow Link remained stubbornly seated on the dragon's back.
"Are you okay?" Medli asked. "Where are Link and Tetra? I thought they were with you!"
"We were attacked by a big flying monster," Niko wailed.
"We were on our way back from the Ghost Ship when it happened."
"They took Miss Tetra," Gonzo sobbed.
"And Link," Niko added.
"We got most of the way back before the fire spread over our mast."
"It must have been smoldering in the timbers."
"Wait! Stop!" Medli cried in response to the flood of voices. "Link and Tetra are gone? Who attacked you? Where did they go?"
"I don't know," Gonzo moaned. "It was last night when everything was dark. Some creature flew down on us from above. As we were trying to fight it off, there was a struggle on deck and before we realized it, they were gone."
"So you have no idea what happened?" Medli asked.
They all shook their heads as one.
Medli groaneed. "Well, that doesn't give us much to go on."
"Wait," Gonzo said suddenly. "I got a glimpse of the thing that was breathing fire. It was really long and snake-like. It must have been a dragon."
Shadow Link tensed at these words.
"I saw something like that," Niko admitted. "It was hard to see the shapes in the dark . And it did breath fire. But I don't think its fire ever hit the ship. I saw something else shoot fire at us. And then there was ice somehow too. Part of the deck got frosted over. I know because I slipped on it when I was trying to help Link out. By the time I got back up, they were gone."
Medli looked confused. "OK. Thanks for telling us. I wish we could stay to help you, but we have to get moving. We're in a hurry. I'm sure the people here will help you with your ship."
There was the sound of a door being flung open. All of them looked up towards Link's house near the beach. A small form had come from the front door and was running towards them. Aryll.
She waved excitedly to the pirates. She knew them all from when she'd sailed with them.
As she reached the beach, she saw Valoo and her eyes grew very round.
"Ooh! A dragon! That's so cool! Hi everyone! You're back! Is big brother with you? Hi Medli!"
Medli knelt to look face-to-face with Aryll.
"Listen, Aryll. We're going to find your big brother. Don't you worry. We'll bring him back."
"Is big brother lost again?"
Medli smiled and nodded. "Yes."
"Well, tell him when you find him that he should stop getting lost. Someone as big as him shouldn't lose their way."
Medli forced a smile. "I will. Aryll, make sure that these guys are okay. Their ship needs some help too. We need to go find Link."
"Okay! I'll take care of it!"
"Thank you, Aryll."
Medli flew up to land on Valoo's back again. Then Aryll saw Shadow Link. She stared at him, mystified.
Medli was trembling. Link and Zelda were gone. Could they have been captured by Ganon? But Ganon was dead! He had to be…
"See," she muttered, "We learned something valuable there after all. Link and Zelda have vanished."
Shadow Link shrugged. "I'm not surprised. Ganon wants to do things thoroughly this time. If he really can travel through time, or at least send his minion's through time, then I'd bet that all of the Zeldas and Links are in the same danger."
"Then we have to get a move on! Valoo, let's take off!"
"I keep trying to tell you! Ganon's not a pushover. He's tougher now than he should be. And he doesn't want to risk losing again. I need a sword! The Master Sword!"
"We need to rescue the real Link."
Shadow Link was about to respond when Valoo launched off of the beach, spraying sand up around his wings. Only when they were airborne did they notice that the damage to the ship was not limited to the burnt mast. They had been so focused on the fire that they didn't see the large crack in the hull and a large hole smashed in the side.
"What could have done that?" Medli whispered.
Shadow Link was silent for a moment, and then he replied almost inaudibly, "Volvagia."