"!" the Eds trademark scream of terror pierced the moonlit night until they hit the inner wall hard, sending their sword flying. The three dropped like rocks into the small harbor of the Fortress. They swam to the steps of the castle and gathered their senses.

"Why, if I ever see Tetra Again I'll-" Eddy fumed

"You'll what?" a muffled voice challenged. Something crawling in Double d's pocket made him jump.

"ED!" he accused.

"It wasn't me!" he testified

Double d searched his pockets until he pulled out a green crystal, about as large as the palm of his hand and bound in a thin hemp cord. Through some magic the stone began to glow and levitate.

"Tell me, Eddy," Tetra's voice carried through the stone. "What are you so eager to do when we meet next?"

"Uh, nothing…" he lied.

"I slipped this in your pocket when you were unconscious, it's no ordinary stone either."

"No duh." Eddy agreed.

"Oh, I want a pretty magic stone, too!" Ed complained.

"Sorry Ed, but Double d's pockets are the kind I prefer my stuff in… the clean kind! And I wouldn't trust Eddy to hold a normal rock, so-"

"Well, THAT'S good to know!" Eddy sarcastically replied

"I can see anything you're doing through this stone, and you can hear me through it. I'll try and help when I can, so don't lose it!"

"I wont." Double d promised as he hung the cord that secured the stone around his neck.

"Good, now be careful, without you sword, you'll have to rely on stealth." Tetra warned

"OUR SWORD'S GONE!" the three just noticed.

"Wow, you guys are hopeless," Tetra sighed. "For now, just try to survive." The stone's light faded and the Eds were left to plan their next move alone.

"Well, we should probably find a disguise to sneak around in," Double d surveyed the area with his telescope and spotted several searchlights surveying the ground.

"Hey guys!" Ed called from inside a barrel, "I AM THE BANSHEE OF THE BARREL! RAWR!"

"Why, Ed!" Double d replied with a spark of hope, "THAT'S GENIUS!"

"You call THAT genius!" Eddy grimaced at Ed's playing.

"No Eddy, we'll travel via barrel to the inner Fortress."

The three filled one barrel perfectly. Tiny holes from insects provided eyeholes "I'll navigate from these holes," Double d instructed, "Eddy, you stay alert and tell us if the searchlights are panning back."

"Whatever." Eddy limply responded.

"And Ed, you'll lift and move the Barrel."

"I can do that, Double d!" Ed confirmed. The three seemed to be doing well, Until Eddy spotted something that would jeopardize the whole mission.

"RUPEES!" He cheered as he saw them lying on the center of a concrete courtyard where the searchlights crossed diligently.

"Ed, go that way!" Eddy demanded as Ed whinnied like a horse and changed direction.

"NO, EDDY! IT'S WAY TOO DANGEROUS!" Double d warned, but it was too late. The searchlights focused on the moving barrel; alarms echoed off the stone walls and guards were drawn to the canned prisoners.

The three were thrown into a wooden prison cell at the end of a hallway. "This is your fault!" Eddy blamed Double d.

"MY FAULT! Everything was going fine until you told Ed to go after those Rupees!"

"STOP ARGUING!" the stone around Double d's neck levitated to Eddy's eye level and Tetra shouted through it.

"You'll never make it out alive if you focus solely on money, and yes I realize I just questioned your reason to live."

"Tetra, would you by chance know a way out of here?" Double d asked.

"Nope, but you should be able to find some way outta there. Just keep looking!" the stone lost power and went limp.

"Well, you heard her," Double d announced, "Let's start looking." The Eds searched the cell for a long time without finding anything, until Eddy got frustrated.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" he raged as he threw plates and stools against the wooden bars of the front wall, when he picked up a vase sitting on a shelf near one of the stone walls, they found it.

"Eddy, a tunnel!" Double d pointed to a hole that the vase just covered. "I bet you could crawl through it and open this cell!"

"Hey, YEAH!" Eddy agreed. He climbed into the hole and reemerged on the other side.

"Piece of cake," he boasted as he opened the door for his friends. The three walked down the hallway to the second level of a medium sized room, where a gap separated them from a door; another light fixture hung between the gap. The Eds swung across with ease and made their way outside through the door.

"Good work!" Tetra commended from the stone, "I think I see a path to the room with Sarah in it, but you'll have to take out the searchlights first."

"But how? Without our sword, we are helpless!" Ed pointed out.

"Double d, do you still have that shield?" she asked

"Yes, along with most of my supplies."

"If you can act as a sort of decoy while using it, maybe Ed and Eddy can sneak up on the searchlight operator and take him out."

"I-I don't know," Double d stuttered thinking about his scar "That . . . That really sounds dangerous…"

"Trust me, it's the only way to save Sarah." Then the stone went silent.

The three climbed the stone ramp that led to the first searchlight. Ed, even without his sword, was excited about fighting a monster and saving his sister. Double d, on the other hand, was mortified. As they climbed the ladder that led to the watchtower Eddy tried to give him confidence. "Don't worry, sockhead. After all, you've fought these guys before!"

"You know what? You're right Eddy!" Double d recollected. Ed and Eddy circled around the searchlight operator while Double d readied his shield. He threw a rock at the bokoblin, hitting it squarely in the head and shouted "HEY, uh . . . Eh-UGLY! Over here!" his knees began to shake as the creature neared him. The beast sized up the young challenger and prepared to attack . . . and promptly fell unconscious to the side.

"Thanks fellows." Double d sighed as the monster exploded into a pile of dust. Eddy and Ed stood over the heap, each holding the boko sticks they had used to vanquish said beast. "T'weren't nothing!" Ed responded as he stirred the ashes and knocked something hard across the concrete platform. "Whazzat?" Eddy asked as he followed the shining object in hopes that it would be a rupee. It turned out to be a necklace adorned with pearls, and in the center was a pink and yellow butterfly with a huge blue pearl in the center. "A girly necklace? WEAK!" Eddy shouted as he tossed the pendant over his shoulder in annoyance, he had his heart set on money. "That's actually a joy pendant," Double d corrected as he gathered up the feminine treasure "and if shown to the right person it's well worth finding."

"I bet you just want to give it to Tetra, right?" Eddy teased.

"Eddy, W-what on earth would give you that idea?" Double d burned a bright crimson. In truth he HAD thought about rewarding her somehow for all the help she'd been, but this seemed a tad out of place for a pirate captain.

"Who cares, let's just keep going. The sooner we save that brat, the sooner I can strike it rich!"

"I'm coming baby sister…" Ed silently promised as the others left the watchtower.

The three boys spent hours sneaking through the fortress; gathering things like maps and the occasional rupee and destroying other searchlight towers until they came to a room unlike all the others. It was a long, horseshoe-shaped hallway surrounding a drop-off. Between one end of the hallway and the other was a large door, which according to the map and Tetra's instructions, would lead to the room where Sarah would be. But getting there would not be easy, for spear wielding, half pig creatures known as moblins wandered the hall, snuffing the planks that the walkways comprise of occasionally to pick up the scent of intruders. "Great, now what?" Eddy moped as Ed slipped another barrel over his head. "I suppose that the only real way we can ever hope to survive this." Double d consented as he slipped into the wooden tube next to Ed and Eddy following suit. "Now this time, listen to my plan, ok Eddy,"

"Yeah, sure . . ."

"And Ed, I know how eager you are to save Sarah, but you must be very careful when sneaking around these creatures, or else all will be lost."

"I can do that, Double d" and with that the Eds slowly made their way across the hall. Despite Ed's putrid odor and the few times a moblin almost caught them moving, the boys made it across to the door, thanks to teamwork and patience. "Ok, where to next, sockhead?" Eddy asked as he threw the barrel off their shoulders and the three made their way outside. "Well, looks like we've got another guard to cross via barrel-"

"You've gotta be kiddin' me!" Eddy groaned but nonetheless climbed into the nearest barrel. The more they snuck around in these, it seemed, the better they became at doing so.

"Now what?" Eddy asked exhaustedly

"From here it appears we have to sidle along that ridge." Double d answered, pointing to a thin groove that jutted out enough for their feet to stand on. Double d took the lead, showing them the way he had taught himself back home, "Just don't look down . . ." things went well until Ed broke Double d's main rule and looked down. Beneath him was an unending pool of water, about three stories down. Needless to say, Ed panicked and jumped onto Eddy's head. "Ed You lummox!" Eddy staggered as Ed's weight threatened to throw them both off the ledge, "LET GO!!!" Double d grabbed the half Ed-Half Eddy monstrosity and somehow tugged it to safety on the other side. Double d leaned against a stonewall and panted over the strain of hoisting his friends away from possible doom. Eddy untangled himself from Ed and shot him a death-glare. And then the three did something they hadn't done since the pirates had come to Outset. They laughed. Not just a group chuckle or giggle, but a full-blown laugh fest that continued (and probably would've continued all night) until Tetra reminded them why they were here. Just like old times.

"Hey, it's our sword!" Eddy raced out to where the metal weapon lies in wait for its masters. He didn't notice the green bokoblin guarding the door. But the others did, "Ed-d-d-dy" Double d stammered as spikes larger than him sprung up between Eddy and his friends. "What the-" Eddy was nearly sliced in half by the bokoblin's sword. Eddy grabbed his own sword and slashed wildly at the beast, doing well for his first real fight. "Way to go, Eddy!" Double d commended as the spikes fell. Ed took the sword and ran into the door the bokoblin was guarding, "big brother is here, baby sister!"

"Ed, wait!" Double d and Eddy followed Ed's lead.

The door led into a large room, where a large wooden cage sat at one end and a ramp ran up the walls. In the cage sat three girls and an older woman. The woman looked to be about thirty and wore a sky-blue dress and sat in a corner of the cage shivering, possibly crying. Two of the girls looked like complete opposites, one appeared lavishly rich while the other was humble and poor. And the final girl was recognizable; she was dressed in pink and had her usual scowl on while trying to chew through the bars. "SARAH!" Ed shouted with joy as he ran to the cage. "Ed? What're you guys doing here?"

"We're here to save your sorry butt!" Eddy answered as Ed tried to pull the door open. That's when the flapping started, "Eddy," Double d began "Do you hear that?"

"What?" that's when the Helmroc King appeared! Before

Any of the Eds could react; the three were in its giant beak. "Hey, hey!" Eddy objected, "Put me down! I hate birds…"

The giant bird carried the boys to the largest parapet on the fortress, which was topped by half of a ship. Standing on a sort of deck was a tall, stocky man. His skin was an unhealthy gray, and his hair and beard burned a light scarlet. He was dressed in the darkest and most horrible clothes possible. This was presumably the bird's master and the ringleader of the fortress. He gestured to the Helmroc king with a sidelong nod, and the bird tossed the Eds into the night.