Chapter 35: Budget Adventuring

…

~~Day 12

~~I think we got an early start on the day. I can't be sure; Luggard is the only one with a watch. It's just into the afternoon – I think – as I sit and write this. We're back on the Seventeen on our way to Diggerton, a large town on the west side of the Lost Woods.

~~I don't really know if I can sum up everything that happened this morning. We found the crypt when Cale fell into it almost three floors. It's nothing but luck that he didn't die when he hit the third floor. I had about the same amount of luck when I fell in after him, but at least I stopped before I fell too far. The first floor was okay, but I got attacked by tiles on the second floor. Tiles! I guess I should be glad it wasn't giant blades flying out of the walls or an endless pit falling into the ground. And the third floor—Spinuts and Blastworms, that's all there is to say. Then, when we got back to the surface, we got attacked by a huge bug! I must have been out of my mind to try finding clues in such a stupid place. My clothes are covered in three different kinds of remains and dust. I could use a bath.

~~And some sleep. Cale's sleeping right now, and I thought I'd drop into a bunk just like him. But those nightmares I had—I can't seem to shake them. Even now, I feel a little sick, but I think I might also be a little fatigued. And I don't think the packaged rations Luggard brought along are settling in my stomach right. And there's the motion of the train—~~

~~I'm glad there's a can nearby.

…

Link poured out the bucket over the edge of the platform. The resulting splat against the ground brought up his nausea again, and he quickly turned away.

"Ya okay there, Link?" Luggard called across the platform.

Link groaned, not feeling well. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You look like you're about to throw up again," Irleen said as she hovered out of Link's arm reach.

He swallowed and croaked, "I'm trying not to. I think it was the motion that did it."

"I told you that biscuit looked a little green."

He glanced up at the sky. Although the sun was about as visible on this side of the forest as it was on the other side, Link guessed that it had to be about mid-afternoon. He sighed. "Well, what do you think? I'm guessing we can ask around town today, see if anyone knows whether Ryain actually lived near here."

Irleen bobbed to one side. "Sounds good to me."

They crossed the platform back to the Seventeen's cab, where Cale leaned against the running board and Luggard performed a task inside the cab which Link could not see. Cale pushed away from the locomotive. "So, what's the plan?" he asked.

"Stick around," Irleen said. "Ask questions."

"What do you know about this place?" Link asked.

"Well, it's mostly a mining town," Cale said. "A numbeh of the materials used around this realm come from heah. It's… been soht of a requiahment since the Fiah Realm became inaccessible by train."

"How come?" Link asked.

Cale shrugged. "It's frozen."

Irleen and Link exchanged looks. "Isn't that kind of… contradictory?" Irleen asked.

Cale nodded. "It is, in a way. Only a small supply of goods runs into oh out of the Fiah Realm in a day. And the local population, namely the Gorons, have taken measuahs to protect themselves from the cold."

Luggard leaned over the edge of the cab's wall. His voice attracted the attention of the other three when he said, "Trains is the only way to ge' in or ou'. Forge' walkin'; ya'd freeze yarself t' death b'fore ya reach far. No' even draf' animals can survive in those temp'ratures." He grinned at Link. "Though. I 'magine by the time we ge' somewhere with this venture, ya is gonna wanna go there, is ya?"

Link gave a sigh. "I hope not. At least not too far in."

Luggard gave a dismissive wave. "Bu' tha's the future. We go' a prob'm now."

"What is it?" Cale asked.

"Well, if ya two'll notice tha' this is the only train platform Diggerton has…" Luggard said, pointing a finger along the length of the train with a swinging motion.

Cale blinked, his glance switching between both ends of the track. "I… I don't undehstand."

"Diggerton's only go' the one platform," Luggard explained. "And unlike the Fire Realm, trains pass through Diggerton all the time. I can' leave the Seventeen here. If no one crashes in'a 'er, they's gonna start the boiler, throw the brakes, 'n le' 'er disappear down the track somewhere."

Link glanced down at the platform and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "So… what do we do, then?"

"Well, I checked me schedule book. Mos' o' the tracks 'roun' 'ere is gonna be busy, so I can' jus' 'ang 'roun'. I might kill time a' the Rabbitlan' Station, bu' I's no' gonna be able to ge' back 'ere 'til late in the day, probably a' nigh'. Even if I can make it back then, I's still gonna be blockin' the rails."

"So we'll have to make otheh arrangements," Cale concluded. "Is theah nowheah neahby you could leave the train?"

Luggard wrinkled his nose as he thought. "I thin' there's an ol' service rail up north o' 'ere, bu' then I's go'a ge' back t' town."

"If theah is, theah should be a road to Diggehton," Cale told him. "I-I might have just enough to affohd a caht. Do we want to stay with the train, oh do we want to stay in town?"

"Do we have enough money to stay in town?" Link asked. "I only have twenty-nine rupees, and that's just leftovers from when Madame Seilon sponsored me."

"I go' 'bou' thirty-five lef' after the prep I 'ad t' make b'fore we lef' Library Town," Luggard said. "Cale?"

Cale patted himself down for a moment. Then he dug a hand into one of his trouser pockets. "Um… I-I think I've only about… seven rupees left… I-I-I was suah I had moah…"

"So that's…" Link said, trying to add the figures in his head.

"What… fffff—no, sixty-four between Link and Luggard," Irleen said. "Aaaaand seventy-one with Cale."

Luggard bore his teeth in a nervous grin. "No' much t' work with."

"Enough foh dinneh, maybe," Cale said with a nod. "A caht ride may be out of the question. But then… what do we do about accommodations?"

Luggard gave a mixture of a sigh and a growl. "Too bad the grass 'roun' 'ere ain' growin'." He gestured at Link. "Ya could use yar sword 'n see if anyone needs their lawn cu'."

Link managed a weak smile. "Funny."

"What do we do, then?" Cale asked.

"Well, Luggard still has supplies if we need them," Link said. "And, if nothing else, I suppose we could spend another night in the office car."

"So we'd only have to spend money on a caht," Cale said. "Unless the sehvice rails ah close, I suppose."

"I'll say wha', then," Luggard said, standing. "I's gonna 'ead t' the Rabbitlan' Station 'n wai' for a chance t' work through the rail traffic. Then I'll see if I can fin' a service track. If it's close, I'll meet you two back 'ere b'fore nightfall. If ya don' see me, fin' a rail map 'n see if there's a dea' end somewhere north o' 'ere. Now, if ya can' fin' one 'n ge' a cart up tha' way, I'll duck back t' the Rabbitlan' Station 'n mee' ya both back 'ere in the mornin'."

"Wheah ah we to stay if you don't retahn?" Cale asked.

Luggard put a hand into a pocket on his waistcoat. Then he dropped a wallet down to Cale. "Fin' yarselves a place t' stay. Should be a few taverns near the platform."

"Take care, Luggard," Link said with a nod. Luggard held up his hand with two fingers extended into a blade and gave them a farewell salute before turning to the train's instrument panel. After tinkering, he gave his whistle a single blast that caused both Cale and Link to jump backwards from the locomotive. They stepped further back as the train began to chug. It lugged itself into motion, and then it began moving down the track faster. All three watched the train take a turn further ahead and continued to watch as the train doubled back and slowly shrank in the distance.

Cale and Link turned to walk across the platform with Irleen hovering in between them. "Are you sure about those leaves you found?" she asked.

"Quite suah," Cale said with a nod. "I know it may be an obsehd revelation, but I am somewhat familiah with the tree fohms in this realm."

"Well, that's kind of my point," Irleen said. "I thought there hasn't been any green growth in this realm for years. How is it that we just happen to find leaves in a crypt?"

Cale's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water for a moment. "Wha-ah-ah-ah… W-well, it's possible that the-the leaves precede the mist's effects on the plant life heah."

"Yeah?" Irleen said in a challenging tone. "And when did that happen?"

"Wha-uuh… f-fifty-fifty yeahs… about…"

"So you see why I have a problem with this. How is it that we just happened to find twigs and leaves fifty years old when they should've been dust by now?"

"Well, you saw that blanket and sleeping mat," Link said. "They might have helped preserved the leaves."

"That's a little too lucky for my comfort…"

They descended the stairs off the platform into a pit encompassing the entire town. Instead of dead grass or slabs of stone, the whole town looked to have been built on the same red rock that lined the edges of the pit behind them. Beds of gravel lined by grey bricks provided the route through town. Most of the nearby buildings looked to have been made from smooth, black cobble combined with large flagstones at the exterior corners and the foundation. Further down, Link could see smaller buildings (houses, he assumed) composed of sandy fieldstone. Very few things nearby seemed to be made using any other material: wooden draft carts and signage, metal tools like hammers or knives, glass windows… Other than those, almost everything appeared to be made of stone. And he began to find the name Diggerton much more appropriate.

"They use stone for everything here?" he asked Cale.

"The mines they use run deep into the eahth," Cale explained. "They ah suppose to be quite extensive. Fah as the Great Sea to the south and tunneling into the Snow Realm to the nohth, as I undehstood. As I said, a numbeh of the minerals used about the realms comes from heah. They take theih jobs quite seriously. Some of theih fihst structuahs weah composed of the materials mined from this very pit." He pointed out the wall of bare stone behind them. "That must have been done generations ago."

"That's not something you could pull off in the sky," Irleen commented.

"Land is at a premium," Link agreed. "You couldn't simply mine an island like this unless it was uninhabited."

"Right, well," Cale said. He took a deep breath. "Wheah should we staht?"

Link's eyes followed a young couple walking across the street stretching before them. He saw that the woman held a basket which appeared to be full of fruit. That gave him an idea, and he told Cale, "Grocers. If someone still lives nearby, they probably come to Diggerton to buy food and supplies."

"I think that might be a mahket street theah," Cale replied, pointing to a street parallel to the one before them. Link turned his head to see an open-air vegetable stand just around the corner. "I think I'll check with the local smiths. It's possible that, if someone does live outside of town, they have a requiahment foh tools and such."

"We're new in town," Irleen pointed out while Cale set out. "What makes you think they'll talk to us?"

Link shrugged. "We'll just have to be friendly."

"And how should we explain why we're looking for someone living to the south?"

Link opened one corner of his mouth in a show of nervousness. He had not considered that aspect of the search. At first, the truth seemed sane enough; he was an airship captain from the sky kingdom, and he needed to find the Architects to help him build another ship. However, now that he considered it… what part of that truth sounded sane? Especially since he was carrying a shield and a sword, looking more like a junior swordsman than an airship captain. His clothes… well, they might help; he appeared to be the only one wearing long sleeves on a warm evening, and, while the hat was not a piece of his original clothing, it seemed to be at least rare among the people of Diggerton.

His clothes… he just remembered that Skulltula and Blastworm remains had turned the front of his tunic and the knees of his trousers an ugly spatter of green. In addition, the dried remains had hardened the cloth of his tunic. He took a handful of it and squeezed, causing flecks to fall off but not improving his overall appearance.

"Yeah, this is going to be interesting," Irleen commented.

"Maybe… I won't have to explain anything?" Link said with a nervous grin. "I mean… well, I'm only trying to find someone that might live nearby. How suspicious can that be?"

"You're covered in monster guts. You're also carrying weapons. And it's a good thing you're wearing a hat, because you have a large knot on the top of your head."

Link put a hand up and felt around the edge of his hat near the back of his head. "Oh. I thought I just had a small headache."

"You do. Under that egg-sized lump on your head. Also, keep in mind that you're talking to a fairy, and you're beginning to attract attention."

Link started. Looking around, he discovered that, suddenly, a lot of people going about their daily business were shifting their eyes away from him. He wrinkled his mouth and said, "I blame that one on you."

"We need some kind of cover."

"You mean 'lie'."

"Naaah, I get the impression you suck at lying." Link glared at her. "Hey, don't give me that look. It just means you're an honest guy."

"So what's our 'cover', then?"

"Well, our little adventure has been funded by the Library."

Link patted the wallet in his pocket. "For what I have left."

"Granted. But since the Library gave us the money, they probably expect information out of our excursion. Thereforrrrrrre…" She paused, expecting Link to finish the statement. When he continued to stare at her, she said, "It means that we were hired by the Library to do research."

Link gestured at his outfit. "And… all of this?"

"What, you think researchers don't get dirty?"

"With dirt, maybe."

"You'd rather try telling them that you're a ship-less airship captain?"

The question stung, and Link looked down at his boots with a dejected expression. "Right…" he mumbled.

Irleen dropped back into his vision. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that, Link," she said. "It's just that, well…"

Link shook his head. "No, don't worry about it. Come on, let's ask some questions."

"Right." With that, Irleen ducked into Link's hat.

Link stepped to the market street and looked down the length of the road. While he initially had the impression that this was a major street, very few people were actually shopping. Probably justified, as it was likely later into the evening than Link realized. Some of the outdoor shops had already closed for the evening, covering their produce with sackcloth to protect it from bugs. Indoor shops had posted "closed" signs in the window, although Link noticed that some shops still had lights lit on the second story. He noticed one man in the middle of covering his produce and quickly stepped over to him.

"Ah, excuse me!" he called out, raising a hand to get the balding man's attention. "Sir?"

The man glanced over his shoulder with narrowed eyes. "I'm closed, kid," he said in a gruff voice.

"Y-yeah, I know," Link replied, cowed by the man's attitude. "I just wanted to ask a couple questions."

"I ain't in much mood fer talkin' either. I gotta get home."

"Please, just two questions."

"Bah! Go away!" With that, he plucked out a sigh advertising snow cabbage at five rupees a head and spun to walk down the street.

Link was about to pursue, thought better of it, and just stood in place. "That didn't go too well…"

"Yeah, I noticed," Irleen said from under the hat.

"Tsst, tsst." Link could hear someone trying to signal with their tongue and looked around. One man in a nearby doorway leaned out with one arm swinging, trying to sign to Link to come over. Link poked his chin with a finger, and the lanky man nodded. After a glance at the bald man's back, Link walked over to the doorway. "Hey, kid," the man said with a greeting nod. "Couldn't help overhearin' Gavin shoutin' at ye."

"'Gavin'?"

"Big guy you was talkin' te." He pointed down the street. "Ain't much point tryin' te talk te him; his sales've been low fer a while, and it's makin' him all colors a' cranky."

"Oh, I see," Link said. "Five rupees for a head of cabbage?"

"Part a' his problem," the man said with a grin. "Mangy fool don't realize no one wants te pay five rupees for a head of cabbage, let alone 'snow' cabbage."

"It's different from other cabbage?"

"It's grown in the Snow Realm. Not many people like it since it's bland beat all hell, but it keeps well after it's been harvested."

"Oh."

"Ye had some questions ye wanted te ask, don't ye?"

"Uh, yeah. I wanted to ask about the area south of here."

"Ye mean the forest? Whad ye wanna know?"

"Well, I was wondering w-how to contact anyone living in the forest." Link had actually meant to ask whether anyone lived in the forest, but his mind had accidently shifted directions mid-sentence with the idea that he had to be convinced that someone already lived in the forest.

The man scratched at his sandy-blond hair. "Well… I can't really say. I'm sure someone lives out there, but other than goin' out 'n lookin' fer 'em, I can't really guess."

"Link," Irleen whispered. "Ask if there are any roads."

Link drew himself out of a contemplative look to ask, "Are there any roads through the forest?"

"Wagon trail and train tracks cuttin' all way through te the South Bay," the man answered. "Imagine there's branches off 'em somewhere, but I don't think I've met anyone that actually lives in the forest."

"Ask him about strangers to town," Irleen whispered, excitedly tugging a lock of hair.

"Ow," Link grumbled. The man gave him a confused look. "Sorry. Have you… well, have you noticed anyone new to town?"

"Got train crews comin' through all the time," he answered. "No one particularly new, except you."

"Okay," Link said with a nod. He paused, waiting for another prompt from Irleen. When she did not speak up, he said, "Thank you. Sorry for taking your time."

"No problem," the man said with another grin. "Next time, ye might invite yer fairy friend out te chat." With a polite nod, he closed the door and flipped the sign in the window.

Irleen jumped out of Link's hat and –puh— bounced off the glass window. "Ow!"

"You okay?" Link asked, covering his mouth so she could not see him smiling.

"How did he know?" she asked.

"He probably heard you whispering through my hat."

"Wa—Why didn't he say so sooner?!"

Link let a hiccup of a laugh escape. "W-well, you have to admit… it-it probably looked a little funny."

Irleen danced a few angry circles around Link's head. "Whatever. So we know that someone might be living to the south. What now?"

"Well…" Link trailed off as he thought. "Luggard said to find a rail map. There might be one back at the platform; most ports in the sky usually have one of the Sky Lines on display to the public. If we're lucky, it might also show the trails he was talking about."

"Let's go find one, then."

Link took a look down the empty street. Then he walked back towards the platform. Now that he was facing the wall from this angle, Link saw that the area under the platform actually opened into a small cavity. He crossed the road, stepping into what looked like a public terminal at a dock. Two rows of chairs occupied the center of the terminal. The wall opposite the opening appeared to advertize different spots of interest around the kingdom, most of them nailed haphazardly to a cork board. To his left, a window had been cut into the middle of the wall, revealing a large work area complete with charts and timetables. To his right, the entire wall was covered in a large map of the kingdom, supplemented with more detailed maps of the areas around Library Town and two other spots on the east side of the kingdom. He approached the map and squinted in the dim light from outside, trying to read some of the location names.

"Hey, Irleen. I need some light."

She bounded in front of his face, her voice oozing irritation when she said, "And, naturally, I'm the one to provide it."

Link sighed. "Please? I can't read this in the dark."

"Nnn… Okay, what do you need to see?"

He put his hand on the map. "I know we're right about here, so I need to see the forest below it." Irleen hovered beneath his hand and moved forward so that her light illuminated the map. Link used a finger to trace one of the colored lines falling from the spot labeled "Diggerton". "Okay, this looks like the line going through to the southern bay. And this might be the wagon trail."

"It looks like it branches in a few places," Irleen observed.

"We've got a few places to look. With Luggard and the Seventeen, we'll probably manage most of them in a day. Move up now; we have to see if there's a service track nearby."

"Do you think there'll be one close enough?"

Link gave his head an uncertain jerk. "I'd prefer staying on the train instead of spending Luggard's money on a room. As uncomfortable as it is, you never know when we might need the money for something important."

"Like a bath, right?"

Link gave a half-grin. "And some clean laundry. Wait, hold it there."

"Find one?"

Link marked the dead end track he had found with one hand and traced a line back to Diggerton. "I think so. It looks like it's in walking distance, but we'll have to wait until Luggard gets back here before we know."

"Well, it's only been a few minutes since he left. If he has to pass by Diggerton on the way north, we might be able to flag him down and tell him about the track."

Link nodded. "Good idea. Let's go wait for him."

…

~~I'm feeling better now that we've stopped in Diggerton. I'm waiting on the platform with Cale for Luggard to pass again so I can tell him about the track further down. He wasn't joking about the trains passing by; I've counted three other trains stopping at the platform, one having to wait for another to depart before it could stop. Like the ones in Whittleton, these ones stop, unload supplies, load minerals, and depart. They don't appear to need as much as Whittleton, though. I can't help wondering how things are going back there. How she's doing.

…

"Hey, Link. Look."

Both Link and Cale glanced up at the sound of Irleen's voice. Then they stood when they saw a shadow traveling along the barely visible rails. It was early into the evening, with the sky dyed a dull purple slowly fading into black. Figures on the ground were harder to identify, especially since most of the nearby light was lamps focused on the streets of Diggerton. Still, some light strayed into the field around the platform, and after a few minutes, the shadow faded into Luggard's familiar form. He raised a hand and greeted the two with a call of, "Oi, fellas!"

"Hey, Luggard!" Link called back. "Did you find that track?"

"Yeah, jus' as ya said," Luggard answered in a normal voice as he stopped at the side of the platform. "I 'ad t' run 'er t' the end o' the track t' be sure no one'd 'it 'er turnin' 'roun'. So wha's the story, then?"

"Did you have to walk fah?" Cale asked.

"No' very. Li'l farther than I 'spected, bu' I can take the walk. You fellas find anythin'?"

"Enough to have a clue," Link said. He waved Luggard along. "Come on, let's get something to eat. We'll explain it to you."

"Nothin' 'spensive, righ'?"

"I found a pub close by," Cale said. "The owneh said that theah won't be much business today, so it shouldn't be very rowdy. He promised to only chahge us fifteen rupees a pehson."

"Wha's on the menu?" Luggard asked before dropping into the pit below.

Cale shrugged as he and Link descended from the stairs. "Local items as fah as I know. Crisp potatoes, half-steaks, and slaw."

Luggard let his tongue roll out of his mouth in disgust. "Hate slaw."

"It's good for you," Irleen said. Then she turned to Link. "Right?"

"I guess so," Link said. "I'd just be glad we're getting food."

"I's the same stuff ya feed t' pigs!" Luggard complained. "And I don' like wha' it does t' me stomach!"

"It's oveh heah, Luggahd," Cale told him, pointing in the opposite direction from where Luggard had started.

"It's not like you have to eat it," Irleen said.

"Jus' it bein' on me plate bothers me," Luggard replied, jumping in front of Cale and Link. As he walked backwards, he used a hand to pull his left eye open wider. "It looks a' ya while ya's eatin', like it knows ya won' ea' it."

"Now you're just sounding crazy."

Cale led them to the pub down one of the side roads just removed from the train platform. The interior sported a number of rock pillars to hold up a wooden ceiling. The tables and chairs around them were also wood, although the bar was what appeared to be a large, polished slab of rust-red granite on top of grey flagstone. The atmosphere inside was choked with silence and a strange, fragrant smoke which formed a cloud barely above Luggard's head. Cale left them to find a table, and when he returned later, it was with a young waitress carrying their food along with cups and a pitcher of… something they would agree later was fruit juice. Both Luggard and Link paid for their part of the bill, but Link also paid for Cale when the student discovered that his pockets only held six rupees. They ate in silence for some time, Irleen merely hovering over their heads. Although she occasionally groaned about not being able to eat.

About halfway through the meal, Link remarked, "This sauce is good." He dunked the piece of steak on his fork into a shallow bowl sitting in the middle of their table. "What do you think is in it?"

"Axle grease," Luggard answered in an uninterested tone.

Cale, who had just taken a bite of steak he had coated in the sauce, immediately spat it out to one side. "Phzzzzzzzzttt! Kuhh! Kuhh! L-Luggahd!"

"Wha-tha's wha' I though'!" Luggard defended while he dipped a piece of steak.

"You're eating it, too!" Irleen accused him.

"I didn' say it wasn' good!"

Link took a drink of his fruit juice. He could definitely taste the alcohol in it; it was only a little stronger than the Boiler Soup back in Library Town. The rest… he was not sure how to describe. Tangy? Sharp? It had to be some kind of fruit, but Link was at a loss as to what. After a sigh, he said to Luggard, "I think we have a lead on a nearby Architect."

"Mya do' soun' doo sure," Luggard said through a full mouth.

"We know that someone lives to the south."

"Indeed," Cale added after a swig of juice. However, in his rush to clean the sauce out of his mouth, he had forgotten about the juice's alcohol content. His eyes rolled up, and he flopped onto the floor with a thump and the clatter of his cup on stone.

Link sighed and continued in Cale's place. "One of the local smiths provides custom-order parts. He says that many of his orders are picked up by a young man whom he knows to live in the forest south of here."

"Custom-order? Wha's 'e buildin' ou' there?"

"Not sure. But we know what we need to look for. According to Cale and the smith, he bought and picked up a furnace about a month ago."

"'Ow does tha' help us?"

"A furnace puts out smoke. And since we'll be using the tracks in that area, all we have to do is look for smoke above the treetops."

Luggard touched the blunt end of his fork to his chin. "Hmm… no' a bad idea. I don' think anyone uses the tracks between 'ere 'n South Bay; mos' people goin' t' South Bay prefer t' go through Aboda on the southern shore."

Link grinned. "I was hoping it would be a little more convenient."

"So we've got that much," Irleen said. "But how are we supposed to get this Architect to come with us? It's not like we can pay him; we're barely scraping along as it is."

"She's go' a poin'," Luggard said, indicating Irleen with the end of his fork.

"Yeah, I know," Link said. "We'll just have to talk to him and see, I guess." Both glanced at Cale's empty seat. "Think we should try waking him?"

Luggard shook his head. "Nah."

…

~~Our destination is set for the forest south of Diggerton tomorrow. With any luck, we'll find an Architect living out there; from what Cale told me, it's certainly worth a shot. Even without an actual Architect, whoever lives in the forest sounds like the kind of guy we might need.

~~I've been having problems getting to sleep. It feels like the moment my head meets the pillow, I can't help thinking I'll have another one just like it. I wish I could do something about it.

…

A shiver. He had felt it before, when he had first entered the storm. He should have expected it, having to go back through, but… they had already entered the storm minutes before. Why had he not felt it back then?

"Are you all right?"

The voice startled him from his thoughts, and he quickly spun around to find Captain Koroul's tall form before him. "Captain," he said with a relieved sigh. "I apologize. I was… rather lost in thought."

The captain nodded. "You are uneasy because of the storm."

He was about to ask how the captain knew, but he stopped himself. Instead, he nodded. "You are quite perceptive."

"A captain has to know how to read crewmen from a distance," he said. "You are not the only one who finds the storm so off-putting. My crew knows of the origins of this storm. They do not want to underestimate its ability to destroy us."

"What are the origins of this storm? I find myself curious about it."

The captain nodded again. "We call this the Storm of Purgatory. Hundreds of years ago, there was a war with the demons below and the Sorians. I cannot recall many of the details, but I know that it is believed that this storm was made to imprison the leader of the demon army."

"Cunimincus?"

Koroul appeared to think about the question for a moment. "Yes, I suppose that may have been their leader. With him and his vessel imprisoned, the rest of the demons fled back to the surface. After that, well… we Sorians simply don't know. Being trapped in this storm has left us without word from the outside world for some time. You and your escorts are the first non-Sorians we have seen since then."

"And yet. Rireen and her parents were left on the outside world to eventually bring word that the world was in duress."

The captain sighed and crossed his arms. "I am afraid that it is a part of events which I cannot comment on. It is generally believed that there were some Sorians stranded on the other islands when the demon army broke apart our land. If they were, it was likely that they were either too young to fly or stayed behind to protect those that could not fly. The Wind Trails, the… 'Sky Lines' as you call them, were meant as roads for other Sorians to eventually find their way home. But your friend Rireen appears to be the first and only to come back."

He felt his heart sink at the revelation. He could only imagine what it would be like to watch his home merely float away with no means of reaching it, like a baby bird stranded in the nest. Suddenly, his perception of Rireen's circumstances had changed. He did not know how long Sorians lived for, but… the horror her parents or grandparents must have felt watching as the other Sorians were slowly pulled away… What if… what if Rireen's purpose was not to return to the Sorians in time of need? What if… she had simply been stranded with her family?

"I-I see," he told the captain. He sniffed and added, "Excuse me."

The captain gave a grim nod. "Of course."

He crossed the weatherdeck and into the first door in his blurry vision. He had walked into the captain's empty cabin. He wandered toward the glass windows in the rear and glanced at the essence of the Sky Line swirling behind the vessel. As his thoughts sailed back towards Forelight Island, he could not help grieving for his friend. For those Sorians left behind. One tear. Then two. The soft sound of sobbing came after.

"Līnca? Līnca!" Link's eyes opened slowly, conscious of Irleen's voice nearby. "Līnca!"

Bum! Ban! "Aughhh…" Luggard growled from above, accompanied by Cale's pained moan from below. "Now wha'?!"

"Līnca," Irleen said. "Katùphu kōwì?"

Link blinked at her for a moment, not completely sure what she had said. Then he noticed something warm across his eyes and used a finger to wipe. Although he could not see it, he could tell that there were trails of tears on his face.