Chapter 8: Zelda's Task

…

Link did not go to the hold right away; in all of the excitement of the afternoon, he had to make a quick stop to the drop box in the starboard compartment of the aftcastle to relieve himself. When he stepped back outside, the airship was still slowly crossing over the backside of Castle Island. He walked to the port side and saw Hyrule Castle slowly disappearing around the stern, so he called up to Line, "Helm, hold steady!"

"Aye, sir, holding steady!" Line called back.

Link crossed the deck to the hatch and untied the rope to the grate. After pulling the rope to open the grate, he secured it again and stepped down the two flights of stairs into the hold. He paused on the last step to take a breath and try to determine his next few actions. He found his choices very limited, so he decided to at least take them to his cabin so that they could talk comfortably.

Both crates sat in the exact same place as they had before, but neither stowaway had bothered to put their tops back on. He sighed and asked, "Uh… Princess Zelda?"

The owner of the name immediately stood up in her crate so that her head protruded from the top. "Yes, Captain?" she asked.

Link swallowed hard. "Could—could you just call me 'Link'?" he requested. Zelda tilted her head in confusion, and he explained, "Uh, technically, I'm a skipper and a lieutenant, not a captain."

She nodded. "Okay."

Link took a quick look over his shoulder and up the stairs before continuing, "We should be entering the Northwest Line any moment," he explained to them. "I thought you might be more comfortable in my cabin for the duration."

"Would we ever!" came a female exclamation that startled both Link and Zelda. Zelda's companion (Link thought he had heard the princess call her Rireen) stood up and stretched out, her incredible height offering her a chance to touch the deckhead above her if she would stand straight. "Anything to get out of this box."

"Do you need help getting out?" Link asked Zelda.

"Nope," Rireen replied. Link stepped to one side to watch the curious creature get out of the crate. She slung a leg onto the edge, and then she used the leg to pull her body up and out. She stepped up beside Zelda's crate and spread her arms out in a display of her solo accomplishment.

The first thing that stood out about Rireen were the white feathers. They hung draped from her thin arms as if they were sleeves, and what Link had first took to be hair on her head was actually a smooth mane of brilliant, crimson plumage. Strangely enough, though, she also had bare skin. Her face, arms, and feet sported milky-white flesh. She had no ears, at least none that Link could make out thanks to the plumage which formed her "hair" being so thick. As she turned to help Zelda out of her crate, she revealed that her red feathers stopped at about her shoulders. From there, the white feathers covered her whole back in a flat mat (with exceptions; a few feathers here and there looked to have been a tad ruffled from travel) and extended down her arms and, from what Link could tell, her legs. She wore a small, teal top which was tied around her neck, stretched across her chest, and wrapped around her waist and a pair of white breeches buttoned at her ankles with a blue, t-shaped skirt draped over the front. Her eyes were quite large and gleamed amber when angled with the sparse light just right. Her face sported very little nose, and her upper lip overlapped her lower lip with a point in the middle like a bird's beak. Link found himself taken aback by this creature and started wondering where she had come from.

When Zelda touched the floor, it was with a pair of heavy-looking boots. She had traded her dress for a pastel blue undersuit with a pink tunic, a belt with a circular buckle, a knee-length skirt, and a blue apron bearing the same triangle-and-wings ensemble he had seen around Hyrule Castle. Her long, blond hair had been tied back and decorated with what appeared to be a couple of Rireen's white feathers, and two gold pins, each decorated with a single ruby, held back the golden strands which dangled in front of her ears. Link was quite surprised by her appearance; although a little more practical and perhaps not as formal as her previous attire, he had nonetheless expected her to still be wearing the dress she had worn almost two hours ago. Somehow, it felt like a break in tradition, although he could not be sure of what tradition.

Link turned to leave, but quickly halted himself when he saw Rireen pull herself onto the edge of Zelda's crate and balanced herself on her stomach so that she could reach inside. Then she jumped out with a blue lacquer box, long and slender, with a pair of silver spirals on the top. She offered this to Zelda, who took it and cradled it in one arm.

Zelda then turned to Link and said, "Lead on, if you will."

Link nodded and said, "This way, Your Highness." He started up the stairs and heard both of them fall into step behind him, although he could not be sure of Rireen. Only the soft rustle of feathers told that she followed.

At the top of the stairs, Link held up a hand to them. "Wait here for a moment," he told them as he stepped onto the deck. Flower and Albert were setting the gaffs for the sails, and he looked over his shoulder towards the bow to find that they were close to the Sky Line north of Castle Island. They had not fallen directly underneath it yet, but from their current position, he could just make out the deep whistle of the Sky Line now that the deck was not in his way.

Flower looked down and spotted Link. "Skipper on deck!" he bellowed. However, he continued to tug on the control stay instead of drop his work to salute, something which an airman was expected to do when handling a ship's rigging.

Link nodded an acknowledgement to Flower and turned to the bow. "Airman Leonard!" he called.

Leonard, who had been lying in the netting on the bowsprit, immediately flipped over and sat up. He scrambled to his feet and ran to the railing of the forecastle as Link motioned for Zelda and Rireen to step up to the deck. "Skipper!" he responded, standing stiff.

"Prepare to deploy both jibs when we're directly under the Sky Line," Link ordered in an even voice. But he immediately saw that Leonard had not paid attention. He glanced to the side to follow Leonard's gaze and noticed that he appeared to be staring at their new passengers. "Airman Leonard!"

The older man jumped and nearly clobbered himself with a salute. "Aye, sir!" he replied in a crisp tone. Link dismissed his salute, but Leonard lingered for a second or two before turning to carry out the order.

"Oh, Wind, my friend!" Rireen declared, raising her arms again.

Link jumped in surprise when Rireen's arms did something he had not expected. It looked as if blades of a sort sprang out of her forearms and extended their overall length. Her feathers looked as if they had unfurled themselves like a sail being set at high speed. They were not regular arms anymore, or even to begin with for that matter. They were a pair of wings which spanned almost twice her head height.

"Ho, shit," Albert, still on the starboard side with the control stay in his hands, declared.

"Hey, hey!" Flower shouted at him, jerking hard on his side of the stay. The pull heaved hard on Albert's arms, and his shoulder whacked his ear. "Pay attention, you idiot! Ogle later!"

Link gave a relieved nod in Flower's direction and addressed Zelda. "Your Highness," he said, "my cabin is over here."

"A moment please," she requested, her brilliant sapphires glittering with the blue-and-white jets of wind skirting the edges of the Sky Line as she stared at it in awe. "I would like to witness our entrance into it."

Link glanced up at the Sky Line, then back to Zelda. "Yes, Your Highness," he replied with a nod.

She smiled, but did not turn away from the Sky Line. "You might find it more convenient to simply call me 'Zelda'," she commented. "If we disembark, referring to me by title may be somewhat problematic."

Link attempted to swallow the rock in his throat. "Y-yes, Your Highness," he answered.

At this, she gave him a quick look. "You do not have to at the present, but you may want to start practicing." Then she started forward, allowing distance so that Link could give an exhausted sigh and an expression that said "oh, boy" with a weak grin. He glanced over to find that Rireen was following her, so he busied himself closing the hatch.

After he had finished, the ship had stopped directly under the Sky Line. "Secure for travel, Chief!" Albert called up to the bridge.

"Brace for entry!" Line cried across the deck.

Link looked forward and saw that Princess Zelda had wrapped her arms around the banister at the foot of the forecastle, although it seemed more like she was bracing herself against excitement rather than the potential for kissing the deck boards. Rireen did not appear worried at all, giving the Sky Line a particularly curious look. Link himself was not concerned with the havoc of entering a Sky Line. Like his crew around him, he had practice at standing still while—

WHAM!

Link was seeing stars for a moment after his legs suddenly cut from underneath him and his head slammed into the deck. He had only been given a split second to acknowledge the approach of the planks he had been standing on, and it had not been enough time for him to catch himself. Standing, he wondered what he had done wrong to earn the intense pain all over the left side of his face; he normally could take the force dealt to a ship entering a Sky Line. He came up with two reasons. Number one: the Island Sonata was smaller than the Grand Sails, where he had usually sailed and where the Sky Line was less prone to shoving the stern up when its winds hit the sails. Number two: he probably should not have been showing so much concern for the princess. Glancing around to see if anyone had noticed, he dusted himself off. In the process, he discovered that the deck was particularly dirty and confirmed it by sweeping his foot before him, forming a clean line with his boot.

"Airman Flower, sweep down the deck!" he shouted as the airman stepped away from the bulwark. Then he saw Albert and ordered, "Airman Albert, relieve Leonard at lookout in half an hour."

"Aye, sir!" both of them replied, saluting. Link returned it, and they set to work.

"Truly astounding," Zelda commented as she approached Link, her eyes scanning the sails above. "I am glad to be aboard, Link."

She smiled at him, and his face became hot. "Th-th-the pleasure is ours, Your Highness," he stuttered. He cleared his throat and indicated the door to his cabin with a hand. "This way, please."

He led them across the deck and opened the cabin door for them. After they entered, he glanced around the deck for a moment before closing the door behind him. Rireen fell into his hammock and reclined with her arms and legs dangling over the sides in what appeared to be a very uncomfortable position. Zelda stepped over to the frosted windows and leaned close to one pane, trying to look outside. Link tugged the collar of his undersuit, stepping over to his desk.

Zelda turned to him after he settled into the chair. "I suppose that you are curious as to why we have plotted this elaborate setup," she commented.

Link shrugged at her. "It has crossed my mind a few times," he admitted, giving her a helpless frown.

She nodded. "You must understand that leaving the castle also means neglecting my duties as the temporary leader of the kingdom. It would not reflect too well if I simply walked out the door and boarded the first ship I saw. Especially with our intended destination."

"I understood that much," Link replied. "But I can't help wondering why you chose my ship."

"It was rather arbitrary," she admitted. "The decision fell mostly to Governor Lore. She is the only other person who is aware that I have left. The rest of the staff believes that I have fallen ill."

"Don't worry, Cap'n," Rireen spoke up. "I told her she could've found a less suspicious excuse. Like she had accidentally swallowed a sword and had to be locked in her room in case she spat it out." Link attempted to chuckle, but it came out as a weak croak.

"I want to assure you that we are not simply traveling on a whim, Link," Zelda told him, turning so she could lean on the rear wall. "There is indeed a purpose for this… task."

"I had no doubt of that," Link assured her. "But I am somewhat concerned."

"If it's the storm, I've got that one taken care of," Rireen said, indicating the lacquer box Zelda had placed on the map table.

"Our task is to take Rireen to Forelight Island," Zelda told him.

Link leaned on one armrest with his thumb and forefinger hooked to his chin. "Is that so?" Link asked, his voice betraying curiosity.

Zelda nodded. "Rireen is a member of the Sorians, a race of creatures which formerly lived among these islands.

"Over two hundred years ago, there was a war between the Demon King Malladus and the spirits of good who resided in the young lands of Hyrule. The Demon King was sealed beneath what our history calls the Tower of the Spirits, bound by the power of the Spirit Tracks. But no one knows that, while the lands below were being conquered by Malladus, his close friend, a demonic general known as Cunimincus, waged war with the Sorians as they retreated into the skies with their lands. He followed them and broke apart their lands into the islands as we now know them. When the fighting ceased, the remnants of the Sorians retreated to Forelight Island and used their magic talents to protect themselves from danger.

"Rireen is one of a few who remained to warn the Sorians if danger ever returned. Since her parents' deaths, she has been all alone here. She has been in my parents' care for some time, and I promised to return her to Forelight Island when my parents went to the new islands calling themselves Termina. I am afraid that it has taken me this long to fulfill my promise."

Link, who had fallen silent with his jaw drooped open, sat up straight and asked, "So, if you are taking her to Forelight Island, does it mean that Hyrule is in danger?"

Zelda quickly shook her head. "No, not at all," she replied in a reassuring tone. "Rireen is lonely without others like her. Taking her back to the Sorians is merely for her sake."

Link gave a relieved sigh. "I suppose that's reasonable enough," he said. Then he looked over at Rireen. "But how do you intend to clear our way through the Undying Storm?"

"Eeeeh, I can't talk about it," she replied, using the wall next to her to start rocking. "My parents swore me to secrecy of our existence before they died. Only the royal family is supposed to know."

"What about the governor?" Link asked.

"Governor Lore will be managing my appointments in my absence," Zelda answered. She gave a helpless look and shrugged a shoulder. "I will probably be very busy when I return."

"The life of a celebrity," Rireen sighed, although Link was unsure of the sentiment she was attempting to comment on.

"So, our course then," Zelda said. "How long until we arrive?"

"About two hours," Link answered. "We have to switch to the Dawn Line once we reach Turtle Island. When we depart from Forelight Island, it may be about a day to return to Castle Island."

Zelda nodded. "I had suspected as much. In fact, I told Governor Lore to not expect me for perhaps two or three days." She gave a slight bow. "We leave our care to you."

Link nodded his head in response. Then, as she turned to examine the map table, he slouched in his chair and covered his face with a hand.