Chapter 40: Rain-Soaked and Bad Doggies

…

Rain pelted the office car hard. Link had never heard such a racket before, let alone one which seemed to last for so long. Somehow, he found the sound a little more comforting than he expected. For what must have been hours, he lay in the middle berth and listened with his mind drifting between the sound of the rain and whatever thoughts it seemed to bring up. At one point, he had fallen asleep, but he woke up not long after, feeling a little more refreshed than he had for what seemed like a long while. He could not believe the quiet atmosphere in the car, especially since the chatty Valley sat at the desk nearby. She had fallen into silence when the train had gotten into motion once more, writing in her assignment journal for most of the time. Irleen stood on the desk near her, quiet as well. Link could picture her relaxing just like him, lulled into a half-sleep by the sound around them.

Then, a subtle shift in the train around him caught his attention. He propped himself up on an arm as he felt the car slow, brakes giving a light squeal under the rain's pounding. Valley, also aware that the train was stopping, closed her journal and glanced out the window. Irleen hopped into the air and pressed against the window.

Link, once the train stopped, slid to the edge of the berth. "We must be there," he commented.

"I don't see any mountains," Irleen told him. "A lot of trees, though. If you can call those 'trees'."

"Dere noes has been much sunlight here," Valley said, her tone sounding curiously indifferent to Link's ears. "Trees needs sun, too."

Link pushed off the edge of the berth and landed on his feet. "I don't mean any offense, but this is a pretty strange place you guys live in."

Valley offered him an amused grin followed by a shrug. "It's home."

"I guess the skies just aren't sunny everywhere," Irleen said, hovering over Link as he put his boots on.

Someone knocked on the car door hard, and Valley immediately stood and stepped over. She had to wrench the handle hard, but she pulled the door aside to allow Leynne to clamber in. "You's wet, Leynne," Valley said.

"I've noticed," Leynne grumbled, brushing the rainwater off his bare arms. He held out the selected pictograph to her. "What do you think?"

Link, finished pulling his boots on with his trousers tucked in to ensure their snug fit, crossed the car to look at the pictograph with Valley. After a good look, they leaned forward to look out the door. The Iyuk Mountains loomed overhead like giants with their heads pushed above the rainclouds. From where they stood, the sides of the door were framed by two larger mountains with four peaks arranged in the middle. Despite the difference in angle, the scene before them looked exactly like the pictograph.

"It looks good," Link told him. "Which one do you think the ship landed on?"

"Hahd to say," Leynne said as he opened one of the packs. "The closest possibility is the mountain on the left side of the pictograph. The problem is, without any reference, I can't be entihely cehtain how close it is. I'm hoping that it struck hahd enough that we might find debris at ground level befoh having to climb. I guarantee that won't be a lot of fun, especially with all of this rain."

"So what's your solution to all the rain, then?" Irleen asked.

"Well, I can't say I found something foh youh protection, Ihleen," Leynne said as he pulled out a large sheet of black leather. He handed it to Link. "Link and I have these."

"What is it?" Link asked, finding a diamond-shaped slot in the middle of the sheet.

"Accohding to the stoh owneh I bought them from, it's a poncho made of cow leatheh," Leynne said, now digging through the other pack. "It's been treated with oils foh watehproofing, so they'h pehfect foh rain. I tried to find one appropriate to youh size. What do you think?"

Link allowed the poncho to fall open, curious about the square-shaped piece of clothing. "How do you put it on?"

"One moment." Leynne went back to the first pack and pulled a hunter-green shirt out of it. He tossed it to Link, who caught it on his right elbow. "Put that on fihst; the collah will protect youh neck."

Link took both pieces of clothing to the berths and dumped them into the bottom berth. He took off his hat and his tunic, and then he put the shirt on over his undersuit. He picked up the poncho and turned as Valley pulled her own poncho over her head, revealing a strip of the leather dyed blue in a square, swirling pattern at about chest height. Link pulled the poncho over his head as he had seen her do and adjusted it so that the slit was visible from the front. The leather begrudging folded around his shoulders, but the overall look made Link appeared a little wider than he really was.

"How does it fit?" Leynne asked him.

"It's a little… weird," Link confessed.

"I tried to get it in a size that lets you carry youh swohd with you," Leynne said. "If you need, you might be able to hold it closeh with the belt from youh tunic."

"No, I think this'll be okay," Link said as he grabbed his sword sitting next to the desk. Strapping it on was a little awkward, but he fit the belt comfortably around his waist. He drew the sword and held it out so his arm protruded from under the poncho. "It'll be a little difficult, but I think I can make this work."

"I just realizes dat I noes has a sword or anything," Valley said.

"Neitheh do I," Leynne said. "I've a knife and a hunting daggeh. Do you want one?"

"The knife." Link turned just as Leynne handed a small, leather sheath to Valley. She examined it for a moment, and then she hooked it to her belt.

"What kind of wildlife is out here?" Link asked.

"Well, otheh than the potentially angry Yook when they realize we'h in theih tehritory," Leynne said, trying to pull out a poncho for himself, "we have the Wolfos."

"Dat's right," Valley said. "Dey stuck around after da rain started. Dey's tricky. Deir fur changes color."

"Their fur changes color?" Irleen asked.

"It's an adaptation," Leynne said just before wrenching the poncho free of the pack caused him to lose his balance. He stumbled into the wall behind him, bracing himself on the desk to keep on his feet. He gave the poncho an annoyed look before dropping it on top of the desk. "Much of the wildlife out heh used to use the snow foh protection and camouflage. Since the rains, though, what didn't leave slowly adapted. Dahkeh fuh, coveh undeh trees… I remembeh one man in Diggehton telling me how rabbits in this area take pieces of bahk to coveh theih buhrows. Suhvival."

"So what does that do for us?" Irleen asked.

Leynne started digging into the pack again. "The ponchos make us a little moh discreet. You might have to hide, though."

"Under the hat it is, then."

"Link, you'll have to leave youh shield," Leynne said as he pulled a blue, long-sleeve shirt. He started pulling it over his head as he continued, "You'll need to cahry youh own pack, and you can't do it well with a shield on youh back. Unless you intend to cahry it on youh ahm the whole time."

Link held up a hand, although Leynne could not see it with the shirt over his head, as he picked up the boomerang. "It's okay," he said. "I understand. Besides, all the rain would probably ruin the wood; we've lost deckboards on the Grand Sails because someone dropped their flask or something." As he affixed the boomerang to the back of his sword belt, he decided to omit the fact that some of those incidents on the Grand Sails had been his fault. "Leynne, would it be safe if I put my journal in the pack?"

"It should; they'h meant to be watehproof."

"Here's a thought," Valley said, tucking her braided hair into the crown of the poufy hat she had donned. "It's always raining here. Da debris moves with the rain? What we's gonna do?"

"We have to trust that whateveh we find hasn't moved much foh the past two days. It was cleah two days ago, so whateveh we find can't have moved fah from its spot."

"Some of the heavier pieces should be better indicators of where the rest of the ship is," Link said, pulling his hat on. "The masts and the rudder should definitely help. Maybe even some of the metal pieces like part of the engine." Then he frowned and looked up at Irleen. "Sorian airships do use engines, right?"

"I'm not sure," Irleen said, circling the lantern in the middle of the ceiling. "But there should be some heavy parts on the inside. I don't know enough about airships, Sorian or otherwise."

"Heh," Leynne said, hefting one pack towards Link. It landed with a soft thud, causing Link to cast a confused look to Leynne. "It has rations foh fouh days and some extra clothing. If we go high enough, we'll need wahmeh clothing." Link nodded his understand, grabbed his tunic, and stuffed it into the pack.

"I's wishing I thought of dat," Valley groaned, pulling the cord on her pack tight to close the top.

"My tunic's made for the cold winds we see when we're traveling through the Sky Lines," Link told her, stuffing his journal under his tunic. "So I might let you borrow some of mine." He leaned over to draw the main pocket of his pack closed with the cord.

When he looked up, Valley had moved close enough to almost touch his nose with hers. "Really?" she asked, wearing a mad grin on her face. "I cans wears dat tunic?"

"Uh… n-no, that's mine?"

Valley scrunched her face for a moment. Then she shrugged. "Okay." Link exchanged a shrug with Leynne before securing the flap on top of his pack with a pair of metal clasps which snapped into place. Then he shouldered it, finding it a little heavier than the thump against the floor had indicated.

The whistle blew, and Leynne, having just put his head through his poncho, cast the front of the car an irritated glance. "We should get moving; I asked Luggahd to wait foh us at that junction fuhtheh back. The one we found befoh we left Library Town?"

Link nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"I noes does," Valley said, shouldering her pack.

"There's a small piece of canceled rail construction to the… east, right?" Leynne nodded. "It's just big enough to keep the Seventeen off the rails in case someone else comes through."

"If we get separated, Luggahd will have a steady bit of steam blowing from the smokestack," Leynne explained. He paused to put his pack on. "If you can find youh way south, he can't be hahd to find. Do eitheh of you need a compass?"

Valley shook her head. "I brought one."

Link put his hand to his chest. Then he realized that what he was looking for was missing. "No…" he murmured.

Leynne unshouldered the pack to place it on the desk. He searched the pockets for a moment, then he threw something to Link. Surprised, Link bumped into the berths behind him with his pack trying to catch it. He felt the metal case in his left hand, but he found that a thin, silver chain was dangling from between his fingers. Confused, he opened up his hand.

—To Link

—Happy 12th birthday

That was scratched into the blue coat of paint on the back side of a metal disk. Link, shock forming on his face, turned it over to find that the device was not just any compass.

It was his.

"Then it is youhs." Link nodded, eyes still fixed on the compass. "I found it on a shop table last night. The owneh I bought it from told me that the Bulblin tradehs brought it in a few days prioh; they scavenged it from a bizahhe incident some time ago. He said they said a ship fell from the sky. They found that digging through some of the remains. From theh, well… I couldn't think of many othehs who go by the name 'Link'."

Valley craned her head forward. "It special?"

Link nodded as he put it in his pocket. "Captain Alfonzo, the captain who got me promoted, gave it to me for my twelfth birthday. He… he said my mother wanted me to have it."

"I thought you said you didn't know your mother," Irleen said.

Link shook his head. "I'll explain it all later. We should get moving."

Valley, eager to start, tripped on her way out the door. Link and Leynne heard a great splat among the thrumming of rain on metal and moved to look out the door. She had missed the ballast at the base of the track and landed face-first into the track's muddy foundation. The landing had produced a large slide mark, and she picked herself up at the base of the foundation. She spun and, astounding both of them, waved at them. "I's okay!" She spat and wiped her face with her bare forearm.

"That was an incredible fall," Leynne said to Link. "Do you think she felt it?"

Link watched Valley run for the hill ahead of them. "I… don't think she did…"

"We had betteh catch up befoh she finds a different way to huht hehself."

Link quickly latched onto Leynne's arm as the older man prepared to step down. "Hey, Leynne. Thanks. For everything."

Leynne nodded at him. "Sheah luck we happen to be going the same way, but you'h welcome." Link released him, and Leynne used the handrail near the door to carefully put his feet on the ballast underneath.

"Ready to go, Irleen?" Link asked, looking back into the car.

"Am now!" Irleen said as she dove into Link's hat.

The sudden rush surprised him, and his foot slipped from the edge of the car. Leynne barely dodged out of the way, and Link swung forward to meet the mud. His and Irleen's cries of surprise met a sudden stop when Link's face smacked into the track's muddy foundation. Leynne reached back up to pull and lock the car door.

Then he dropped down and pulled Link up by his collar. "Ah you still alive?" he asked, trying not to smile.

Link spat mud out of his mouth and used the blade of his hand to wipe more mud off his face. "I hate gravity."

…

Fortunately for both Link and Valley, a few minutes without their hats let the rain wash their faces. Leynne pressed them on up the side of the hill near the tracks. Then he stopped and used a hand wave to signal Luggard, who blew his whistle before starting the Seventeen forward. From there, they crossed a slippery hill onto the base of the first mountain.

The lands in between the mountains were particularly hellish swamps sporting massive, twisting, thorn-covered vines which appeared to be made of rock. Some of the flatter areas required the trio to wade through pools that reached above Link's knees. Spiny grass took up residence in patches away from the pools and brooks, and they quickly discovered not to tread on these; one of the many flies swarming the swamps wandered into a patch, and all three watched as the grass suddenly snapped up around the fly. Although the flytrap had been small, Leynne noted that some of the nearby patches looked far too large to chance walking through. Bugs were aplenty, the local dragonflies being the most noticeable as they hovered through the air. And bit. The trio found out that they liked flesh and had to take to swatting at them to keep them from landing. The area felt muggy, and the fact that they were wet made the warm air all the more uncomfortable.

Then there were the hang-ups.

"Hey, guys?"

Valley sounded exhausted, and that in turn exhausted Leynne and Link as they turned around to see what had happened. Since entering the swampy area, Valley had found it easy to get a single, awkward strap on one side of her pack snagged on whatever twisted protrusion she happened to walk past. They had just descended a small slope, but Valley's pack had been caught on one of the large vines near the top. Valley hung by the pack's straps halfway down the slope, her arms straight out to keep her from falling to the pebble-covered ground below.

"You okay?" Link asked.

"Yeah, just a sec," Valley replied. She dug her boots into the slope until the ground packed enough for her to stand straight. Then she pulled her arms from the straps and turned around to start tugging on the pack. Leynne and Link tried to look interested, but the first four times left them weary of her mishaps. They watched her jerk the pack free of the tree and drop it down the slope. She slid down after it and picked it up. "Okay!"

"What did you say that strap was foh?" Leynne asked as she shouldered the pack.

"It's for hanging pans," she said.

"It's hanging you."

Valley shrugged. "It has to hang something."

Leynne put a hand over his face. "Let's just go."

"Okay!"

As Link and Leynne turned around, Leynne asked in a quiet voice, "Does youh comrade in the Library realize the chaos this gihl comes with?"

Link gave him a nervous grin. "I like to believe Madame Seilon didn't have a choice. We couldn't bring Cale, after all."

"Hey, guys!" Valley called.

Leynne groaned as they stopped. "What now?" he asked, turning around.

But they found her staring across the pool of water to their left. They tried to follow her gaze, but all their eyes met at first was a pool edged by dull, green scum. So Link asked, "What is it?"

"Look," Valley said, pointing across the pool. "Dat. What is dat?"

Link passed his eyes over the opposite edge of the water. "I don't see anything."

"It's right dere, on da edge."

Link exchanged a shrug with Leynne before stepping into the water. "Where?"

"Keep going." Link crossed the water, finding that it rose almost to the top of his boots at about the center. "Right, to your right." Link turned. "Noes, your other right."

"That's my left," Link called back.

"Okay, your left den. Dere, it's in front of you." Link still could not see anything out of the ordinary, so he swept a hand across the water in search of Valley's illusion. He found water, algae, something which resembled a wet sock…

And a board. Link would not have noticed it if his fingertips had not met the smooth, flat surface under the water. He traced the board's surface to the edge and curled his fingers underneath. When he lifted, he saw that the board was covered in a thick layer of algae. He also saw that the board was long enough that it protruded on the shore. It amazed him that Valley had seen it across the pool; she must have had a better angle to see it from. He had to step aside when he realized that he was standing over one end. When he lifted the end in the water, he guessed the board to be about as tall as him. The end in the water was splintered. The board itself looked a little warped from the water, so Link could not tell what part of the ship it might have broken from. But considering that the board was probably some distance from the rest of the wreck, he was willing to guess that it was part of the hull.

"Did you find something?" Leynne called over the rain.

"Yeah," Link replied. He lifted the board higher so Leynne could see it. "It's a piece of wood."

"From the ship?"

Leynne's question made Link think about his assessment. It did not occur to him that it might not be a piece of the ship. So he answered, "I'm not sure. I think it might be."

"Link," Irleen said from her perch under his hat. "Look back at the wood."

"Why?"

"Just do it." Link glanced back down at the board. "I need to see the surface of the wood."

Link dunked the end of the board back into the water, then he picked it back up and brushed off the surface. "How's that?"

"Hold it still for a moment." Link waited for a moment. Just as he was about to say something, she spoke up, "Yeah, that's Sorian wood."

"How can you tell?" Link asked.

"I can see the life flow in the grains," Irleen said. "The wood's been damaged, but it's still there."

Link glanced up at his brow, then angled his head to examine the board. "You mean this wood's alive?"

"It used to be. It's dead now; it's probably been dying for the past few days, around when the ship was sighted."

Link gave a gentle nod. He realized with a sigh that this was the first evidence that the Horizon's Eye was the crashed ship. He let the board drop back into the water and crossed back to the other side of the pool. "Irleen says it's the kind of wood the Sorians use. In all likelihood, the airship we're looking for is Sorian."

"The ship you mentioned?" Leynne asked.

Link's acknowledging nod was slow and grim. "Yeah, probably."

Leynne nodded and asked, "Ah you all right?"

"I'll be fine."

"Soooooo…" Valley droned, her eyes jumping between them. "What we has?"

"Did it feel heavy?" Leynne asked.

"Uh…" Link said, stretching his fingers as he tried to remember what it was like to pick it up. "Not too much. About what you would expect from a piece of wood. All the water and the algae probably makes it heavier than it really is."

Leynne's eyes passed around the gully they were in. He pointed in the direction they had been traveling and said, "I'm willing to believe that it came from that direction. So fah, we've been traveling higheh, so any rainwateh will flow from ahead of us."

"But dere isn't any flowing," Valley said, moving aside so Link could step out of the water.

Leynne nodded. "Not now, anyway. But this area might still have been flooded befoh; the ship fell on a relatively cleah day. That boahd probably floated down to this spot befoh the wateh level around heh dropped. So we'h likely moving in the cohrect direction."

"Then we should keep going," Link said. He looked up the steep slopes on either side of the gully, using a hand to shield his eyes from the rain. "Unless you think we're closer than that."

"No, we would see lahgeh wreckage from heh. We definitely have to move on; that boahd could have traveled quite fah in a single day, provided the nohmal conditions in this area."

"Yes! More walking!" Valley declared, drawing confused looks from Leynne and Link.

They continued out of the gully and across a large plain of mud which Leynne explained as probably the base of a (relatively) dried-up rivulet. This widened a bit before narrowing again as they approached a pair of peaks. Leynne led them up the side of one peak for a while.

Because they were soon stopped by a river crossing the path they had previously been on. The trio looked down as the water flowed before them, looking quite fast and dangerous. They stood atop a plateau with two vertical surfaces on one side and a steep, rising slope on the third, the way back a steady slope which they had just used.

Leynne slid a foot across the wet rock beneath them. "We should stop heh and eat," he told Link and Valley.

"Okay," Link said, sliding his pack off.

Valley wandered to the rising slope to their left and sat down on a flat boulder. "Whew! I's thinking we weren't gonna stop for a while. You thinks we's close?"

Leynne shook his head and dropped his pack. "We might be spending an evening out heh. That boahd we found, if I have an accurate undehstanding of the land, was probably brought down that fah by this riveh."

"But it isn't flowing that way now," Valley pointed out, slipping her arms out of her pack's straps.

"Do you see that mud?" Leynne asked, pointing to a slope of mud blocking the river into its current path. Link glanced over as well, seeing that the slope blocked off the trench they would have been in if Leynne had not led them out. "That was probably the result of a recent landslide. It's the closest fohm of flow we've encountehed, and everything else around us flows downhill."

"So," Link said, pointing with the same hand holding a cloth ration packet, "we need to get to the other side of this river and follow it to its source?"

"At least until we find moh paht of the aihship," Leynne said. He jerked the cord from the top of a ration packet and dug into it. "We can cross at the landslide."

Link, with a hard biscuit between his teeth, glanced back at the landslide. Then he took biscuit out of his mouth to say, "The landslide? Are you sure it's safe?"

Leynne held up a hand while he chewed and swallowed a slice of crisped carrot. He made a face before replying, "The landslide is still theh. If it wasn't stable, the riveh would have washed it away." He flicked his tongue. "Ah these cahrots supposed to be so salty?"

"I thinks the guys who makes dese has weird tastes," Valley said, peering into her packet. "Dese potatoes tastes like dey was pickled before they was chopped and dried."

Link shrugged, picking through the nuts at the bottom of his packet while he allowed his saliva to soften the biscuit in his mouth. After a bite, he said, "I'm used to it. I had to make a living on rations like these when I was traveling on the Grand Sails."

"I suppose I cannot complain myself," Leynne sighed before eating another piece of carrot. "I've had to cook foh myself foh quite a few yeahs. While I can go to lengths about spring enehgy and motion transfeh between control points inside a machine, I've found my culinary skills to be ratheh lacking. When I hadn't the occasion to stop foh a meal in Diggehton, I had to put togetheh my meals from the soup stocks, vegetables, and fruits which I retuhned with. I was hunting rabbits when I saw the Seventeen's smoke." He scrunched his face for a moment. "Link? What do you expect me to do to help you build an aihship?"

"Well…" Link said, sitting on the ground with his pack behind him. "You build all kinds of machines, don't you?"

"Granted," Leynne said with a nod. "But I don't know much about structural oh locomotive engineering. Oh aerodynamics. The best I might do is put togetheh a trap dooh foh the ship's toilet."

"You're a navigator," Link said. "And, from what I can tell, you're good with mechanics, at least when it comes to simple machines. If I can get a ship started, I'll need someone to put together its flight controls. My first ship, the Island Sonata, used her sails to steer, and it had a control wheel on the bridge. I don't know how to get those to control each other. I'm hoping you will, though."

"Wait, what kind of control ah we looking at?" Leynne asked.

Link, after setting his ration packet on the ground next to him, held up his hands like he was at the helm. "One wheel controls how all three of the booms on the masts move to adjust how the ship turns. All at the same time."

Leynne, with an intrigued look, gave a nod. "Uh huh."

"I also need someone to design controls so that the ship's engine can be controlled by the same person manning the helm. And I need someone to design the safety devices so we know when the engine or something has a problem."

Leynne chuckled and shook his head. "Link, have you eveh sold masks to children?"

Link put on a confused look. "Uh… no."

"I've a feeling you missed a careeh oppohtunity."

…

After their meal, the trio started on their way by crossing the landslide redirecting the river. They followed the bank along the hillside until the hill's muddy slope became steep enough to force them to climb further up the hill. The mud became the rock face of a vertical cliff which they occasionally had to peer over in order to see that they still followed the river. On this cliff, they found that while there was still spiny grass hiding flytrap-like plants, the massive, thorn-covered vines did not reach as high. Instead, bushes dotted the cliff, most of them with spines which tended to break off after attaching themselves to one of the travelers' trousers. The rain had let up to a light drizzle, but the path ahead of them looked a little darker from heavier rainfall. Or perhaps the sun was setting. Link could not tell, realizing that the rainclouds above them were acting similar to the mist which had covered the Forest Realm.

The path they took narrowed at one point. To the left, the distant river in the ravine below. To the right, a large bowl of a pit with muddy slopes. The trio had to narrow themselves into single file in order to have enough room to continue.

"We might have a clearing ahead," Leynne called back to Link and Valley. "If it's safe, we can camp foh the night."

"What are we going to use for shelter?" Link asked.

"Link, you and I have collapsible tents with us."

"I noes has anything," Valley spoke up.

After scratching his thick hair for a moment, Leynne replied, "Link and I might be able to shah tents. We can figuh out accommodations in a—"

"Wah—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"Valley!" Link spun just in time to watch Valley tumble into the pit. She rolled down the slope, flinging mud everywhere as she was coated in it. The pack tore loose and rolled ahead of her. When she stopped, she slowly stood and began wiping mud from her exposed skin.

Irleen, her light barely visible through Link's cap, commented, "You seem to be surrounded by a bunch of klutzes."

"Ah you all right?" Leynne called to Valley.

"I's fine!" Valley replied. "I's gonna be back up in a sec."

"Are you sure?" Link called down as Leynne rushed towards the clearing on the other side. "It looks pretty steep."

Valley picked up her pack and slung it onto her shoulders. "Yyyyyep! It noes looks dat steep!"

Link watched her start a run in the same direction Leynne was moving. However, the first step at the base of the pit appeared to trip her up, as she immediately planted her body into the mud. Link cringed at the way she had landed, her arms open wide as if trying to put comedic effect into her escape. The area she ran towards was definitely too steep for her to climb; it was only her luck that mud covered the slope. Valley pushed herself out of the mud and wiped her face off. Then she turned and gave a wave to Link as if nothing had happened.

"Valley, just wait there!" Link called out. "I think Leynne has an idea!"

"Ooooooookay!" Valley replied.

"Uh… L-Link?" Irleen said. Link looked up to find her hovering above his head. "What are—what are those?"

"Huh?" Link glanced into the direction she appeared to be looking. He could not see anything distinct at first. The far side of the pit was a narrow opening, and Link considered pointing it out to Valley as a way out.

Until he saw something moving along the edges of the opening. Link squinted and used the back of his hand to wipe rain off his face. What he saw next caused him to call down, "Valley.

"Turn around slowly and don't move."

Confused, Valley turned towards the opening.

A pack of four-legged creatures, black fur matted to their slender bodies, stalked forward from the opening. Link counted six of them, which meant six pairs of almond-shaped, red eyes locked on Valley. The largest stood at the lead of an arrowhead formation, baring its teeth in what appeared to be a sinister grin.

"Wolfos…" Irleen breathed.

"Another monster you fought in your games?" Link asked.

"Actually, any time we encountered a pack of them, we all got killed." Link gave her an incredulous look which mixed with his horror. "The rules made it hard to win against a pack, okay?"

"Anything useful you'd like to tell me?" Link said, walking in Leynne's direction.

"They used to be able to stand on their hind legs," Irleen said, "but these modern ones are just so different. Sharp teeth and claws… kind of like a butcher's knife collection come to life."

Link reached a part of the trail wide enough to move around and took his pack off. "Any weaknesses?"

"Anything that didn't evolve to kill things. Which, considering that everything about a Wolfos is meant to kill you, might as well be its tail."

"What is it, Link?" Leynne, who was digging through his own pack, said when he noticed how tense Link looked.

"Wolfos," Link replied, nodding into the pit. "They've got Valley trapped."

Leynne glanced into the pit. "Shit," he breathed, immediately pulling things out of his pack. "I've fohgotten my crossbow on the train."

"How about rope so we can pull her out?"

"I've rope, but I can't find anything to tie it to."

"Find something quick. I don't think I'll be able to hold them for long."

Leynne looked up from the pack. "What?"

"What!?" Irleen sounded a little more hysteric.

But then, she may have been reacting to the fact that Link had just jumped into the pit. Link landed on the muddy slope and held his balance so that he slid into the bowl standing. When he reached the bottom, he moved to stand between the Wolfos and Valley. The Wolfos stopped at about the middle of the bowl, still some distance from their prey, and started growling.

"Are you okay?" Link asked Valley over his shoulder.

"Um… s-scared, really," she replied in a small voice.

"Take off your pack."

"Why?"

Link drew his sword, and the Wolfos' growling became louder as their fur suddenly stood up from their bodies. "Because, if you have to run, it'll slow you down."

"I thinks you's making them mad," Valley said, carefully removing her pack.

"I'd like to point out that you've lost your mind," Irleen said.

Link followed the sound of her voice to find her hovering to his right. "I just thought they might chase her if Leynne started pulling her out," he said.

"Yeah, well, now they've got two Hylians to feast on!"

"Leynne!?" Link called as his eyes swung to the Wolfos again.

"Theh's nothing to tie to!" Leynne shouted. "Just… wait a moment! I've an idea!"

Link watched the Wolfos' formation widen and stalk a little closer, forming a semi-circle which made a trap with the edges of the pit. "So do they! Hurry!"

The Wolfos' heads suddenly glanced up the side of the pit. When Link heard something hit the ground behind him, he turned. A thick rope had been thrown from above and landed next to Valley's feet. "Valley," Link said, "get going."

Valley snatched up her pack again. Then she wrapped the rope around the end of her arm and grasped it with both hand. "Leynne!"

"Okay, staht walking up the side," Leynne called down.

Link heard growling close in fast and whipped his head around just in time to see that one of the Wolfos had left the pack. Caught off-guard, he swung his sword with an awkward upswing and clocked the Wolfos with the flat of the blade as it jumped at him. The Wolfos lost the viciousness in its leap, but its body was heavy, and it collided with Link. Both hit the ground, and Link lost his sword. The Wolfos landed in between him and the others, but he could see two more charging for him. Without any indication of where his sword went, he rolled away from them. He used his momentum to get on one knee and ripped his boomerang out. There was no time for him to wind up and throw it; the closer Wolfos would be on top of him in moments. So when Link triggered the boomerang open, he swung his arm forward to bash the next Wolfos in the side of the head. The Wolfos reeled to one side until it collapsed in the mud.

Link did not have time to strike the other one, so he rolled out of the way as it snapped for him. Upon recovering, he saw that the Wolfos had already turned for another strike. When it came in range, however, Link swung the boomerang into its jaw. The Wolfos stopped in its tracks, dazed by the hit. Link took the opportunity to smash the metal base of the boomerang in between the Wolfos' eyes. The Wolfos' head reeled skyward, and it slumped into the mud beneath it.

Behind it, next to the second Wolfos, Link caught sight of his sword. Then his peripheral vision alerted him to movement to his left, where the other Wolfos stood. He jerked his head to see that the next two were stalking closer to him, evidently cautious of what he would do next. The large one, however, stood in place. Link needed a distraction so that he could make a run for his sword. He looked to his right, up the slope. Valley had only made it halfway up, probably making Leynne's job difficult by carrying her pack with her.

So he threw his boomerang at the large one as hard as he could. Then he tore across the ground. Throwing the boomerang caused the two smaller Wolfos to pause to watch, caught off-guard by the sight of a yellow object sailing across the air. When it bashed into the larger Wolfos' face, they immediately turned and gave chase. The first one jumped over its fallen brethren to catch Link.

Link picked up his sword and, in the same motion, swung the blade back-handed into the Wolfos' face. The sword gratefully slid into the Wolfos' flesh, opening a cut across one eye. The Wolfos gave a yelp of pain and backed away. Link then jumped out of the way as the second one tried to get a jaw around his left foot. He tensed the muscles in his left arm and swung it down on top of the Wolfos. A sickening crack, like the sound someone breaking open a melon with a rock, sounded from the Wolfos' skull when the blade landed between the Wolfos' pointed ears. Link slid the sword out and sliced open the shoulder of the previous Wolfos as it reached for his right thigh. It retreated again with another yelp.

"Link! Come on!" Link glanced over at the area where he had last seen Valley. Only the rope remained, and he looked up to find Valley watching eagerly.

"Link, go!" Irleen urged as she flew back up the side of the pit.

But Link cast his eyes across the pit. The three Wolfos that had attacked earlier were starting to move again. The large one remained in a motionless heap in the middle of the pit. Link spotted his boomerang to the right of the large one, apparently having bounced a considerable distance off its target's skull. Link ran to the boomerang as fast as he could.

"Link, huhry up!" Leynne shouted, aggravation flavoring his voice.

Link stopped next to the boomerang, switching his sword to his right hand. He picked up the boomerang and used his thumb to close it.

"Watch out!" Irleen hollered.

"Link!" Valley screamed at the same time. Link turned as he put the boomerang back in its holster.

His eyes only had a second to identify the large Wolfos charging at him.

Link leaped to one side, narrowly avoiding the Wolfos' jaw as it reached for the hand holding the sword. He recovered and swung for the Wolfos as it jerked to a stop in the mud. The Wolfos ducked the blow and snapped forward.

"Gah!" Link breathed as he felt the Wolfos' teeth pierce his boots. The Wolfos jerked backwards, trying to drop Link to the ground. But Link maintained his balance, so the Wolfos tried to shake his leg. "Hk—gakh!" The teeth dug deeper, and it felt as if the Wolfos would tear his knee apart. So Link swung the sword at its head, tearing open a clean cut across the bottom of its jaw. But the Wolfos did not relent, unfazed by Link's horrible strike. Link tried to jerk his leg free, but the Wolfos' jaw only clamped down harder.

Link inverted his grip on the sword. Then he thrust it down into the Wolfos' neck, exposed as it was due to turning so that the Wolfos could rip his leg off.

The Wolfos suddenly stopped moving, its visible eye wide with surprise. Link pulled the sword out with an equally violent motion, and red blood spattered the front of his poncho. He felt the pain in his leg lighten when the Wolfos' bite let up, and he wrench his leg from the dead creature's teeth. The Wolfos collapsed to the ground as if it had been using Link to stand in those final moments.

"Link!" Leynne snapped. "Behind you!" Link spun. He saw that three of the unconscious Wolfos, in addition to the wounded one from earlier, had watched the fight.

And they looked about as unpleasant as when Link first drew his sword. There was no more fooling around for them, evident when they all charged.

"HAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Link charged back, waving his sword over his head. He swung it, and the three Wolfos that had met unconsciousness jumped aside with wild energy. But Link continued to charge, running straight for the edge of the pit.

For the rope. The Wolfos took a moment to realize what was going on. The wounded one charged from one side, but Link was already close enough to the rope that he grabbed it with a sweep of his left hand.

"Go!" Link screamed. "Pull me up!"

"Dammit!" Leynne, who had suddenly felt Link's weight on the rope, hollered. "Valley, help me!"

Link spotted the wounded Wolfos coming closer and took a swing with his sword. The tip of the blade slashed across its other eye, and it quickly retreated. He saw the other Wolfos closing in on him and started pressing his feet into the mud to help Leynne and Valley pull him up.

"Hurry, hurry!" Irleen urged from above.

"Shut up!" Leynne shouted.

Link was only halfway up the side, and the Wolfos did not seem to have a problem with running up the shallow curve at the base of the pit. He turned and swung his sword to stave off their advance. The lead Wolfos pulled to a sudden stop, and it fell backwards onto the Wolfos behind it. The third one, not even bothered by its brethren's fall, reached forward and snapped at Link. Link swung his sword back the other way and sliced into its shiny nose. Then he lost his footing, causing Leynne to swear an oath to the Goddesses he had never heard before nor could really stop to think of what it meant. But when his feet came down, one boot smashed into the Wolfos nose, and it howled in pain as it rolled back down the pit.

In the next moment, Link got his arms onto the ground above the pit. The rope fell slack, but Valley and Leynne were beside him in a split second, hauling him out of the pit. All three collapsed to the ground, Valley and Link caked in mud. Link thought he felt sweat on his face, but he realized that it was still raining, so it could have easily been that. His heart raced, and he took in a few deep breaths in hope to slow it down. He crawled to the edge of the pit to see the four remaining Wolfos glowering at him. Then they turned and walked to the opening in the far side of the pit, their stride sulky.

Link sighed and turned to Leynne and Valley. "Thanks, you two."

"I'll have to remembeh that you've some soht of idiotic hero complex," Leynne replied.

Link glanced down at the rope and saw that Leynne had tied it to himself. "Looks like we both do."

"Yeah," Irleen sighed as she dropped to hover in the middle of all three. "It's starting to be a problem."

Valley grinned at her. "I thinks I cans lives with dat."