Chapter 49: Miner Difficulty

…

Kang! Kang! Kang! "Ge' off me train, ya rock-'eaded bastard!"

Luggard stood on top of the water tank at the end of the locomotive's tender, swinging his coal shovel. The flat end made contact with a Malgyorg that had decided to latch onto the wrecked coupler and gnaw on it. Under normal circumstances, this would not have bothered him, but after the Seventeen had arrived elsewhere in the Sand Realm, Luggard had become noticeably short-fused. For the past hour as the locomotive attempted to travel on a reduced ration of coal, smaller Malgyorgs had started jumping from the surrounding desert and bashing against the locomotive. Of course, the locomotive was in no danger due to its weight and iron hulk. However, Luggard had had enough. He swore at the Malgyorgs using such a thick vernacular that neither Link nor Cale could be certain that he was using comprehensible language anymore. When Cale had noticed a peculiar sound from the rear of the locomotive, Luggard shoved Link into the engineer's position and began a counterattack against the Malgyorg chewing on the coupler.

Irleen, watching Luggard's shards of sanity slowly floating away, gave a sigh. "You know he's gonna blame us for this," she told Link.

Link gave a helpless smile and shrugged. "Yeah, but he did guess that we'd be going to the Fire Realm at one point."

"I thought he was just joking."

"Red light!" Sello shouted before taking a swig from his flask.

"Shut up, Sello," Irleen snapped.

Cale, sitting on the bench at the front of the cab, glanced over his shoulder at the setting sun. "Ah theah any ideas foh this evening?" he asked. "Oh pehhaps dinneh?"

"That's right," Link said with a glum tone. "All our rations were on the office car."

"Well, at least they were eaten instead of wasted," Irleen joked. She looked between Cale and Link, expectant of at least a smile. Their looks only served to show her the poor nature of her joke. "Right. Sorry, guys. Bad joke."

"I would appreciate the irony if it hadn't the dreadful remindeh that we currently have nothing to eat," Cale told her with an apologetic look.

"I'll just… keep quiet for a bit," she said, drifting to her hiding spot on top of the instrument panel.

"Do you remember if there was a settlement near here?" Link asked Cale.

"It would help if I knew wheah we weah. My best guess says we've found the eastehn expanse, but I doubt if theah was a settlement neahby."

Kang! Kang! Kang! "I said ge' off!" Luggard's last strike came from one side, dislodging the Malgyorg from the coupler. It fell onto the tracks and flopped about until it managed to dig itself into the nearby sand. Then it disappeared as fast as possible. "If I see ya 'gain, I's gonna tie ya t' the tracks 'n jus' run yar miserable ass over!"

"Did you get it off?" Link asked as Luggard stepped down into the cab.

"Yeah, bu' 'e made a mess o' me coupler," Luggard said, throwing the shovel on their dwindling coal pile. "Know where we's a' ye'?"

"Well, the good news is we're heading north," Link said, double-checking the compass.

"Yeah, okay. Wha's the bad news?"

"We don't know what might be up theah?" Cale suggested.

"Can' be worse'n wha' we seen a'ready," Luggard said.

"Heh-right," Sello spoke up. "Like a tumbleweed."

"Shu' up."

"The fact that the Fiah Realm is covehed in ice may still be a problem," Cale said. "It would mean that, as we approach, the weatheh is moah likely to become very cold. Without shelteh, we could easily freeze to death."

"Ain' ya jus' a ray o' ligh'," Luggard told him, crossing his arms and drawing up into a towering stance.

Cale shrugged himself into his shirt. "I-I don't mean to sound so."

"Take it easy, Luggard," Link said as he stepped away from the instrument panel, one hand held up. "It's not like the track we're on leads to nowhere. I'm sure we'll find something if we keep following it. For now, we just need to keep calm."

Luggard gave a sigh and let his shoulders sag. "I know. Jus' no' very fond o' no' knowin' where I's goin'."

"I-if…" Cale began, but he trailed off.

"What is it, Cale?" Link asked.

After eying Luggard, Cale said, "I-I was just thinking… if we escaped the sandstohm and that… that creatuah by using the previous gateway, it may be possible that we've ended up fah east. Othehwise, we would still be in the stohm, and that thing might still be chasing us."

"Good poin'," Luggard said with an impressed nod.

Link looked around the cab until he spotted the duoscope in the corner behind him. He stepped to it and picked it up. "Oh, no," he groaned after examining it.

"Wha?" Luggard asked.

Link held the duoscope up to show him. "Its other lens broke. Probably after we arrived here."

"No' like we go'a look far," Luggard said. Link had to agree with him. Although the tracks behind them had disappeared in the distance, they could see cliffs surrounding them on three sides. The one they were heading toward bore a hole some distance away. The waning light made it difficult to see any other formations around them, but it all appeared to be bare cliffs. "Nothin' in sigh'."

"I know," Link said. "And it's a little…"

"Weihd," Cale finished.

"Weird," Link agreed. "I know this is all desert, but… I've never known land to be unused like this."

"No' like ya can use useless land," Luggard said as he stepped up to the instrument panel.

"I guess I'm just not use to seeing useless land," Link said. "Up in the sky, we use all the land we can."

"Of couhse," Cale realized with a subtle nod. "Being up in the sky, land must be at a premium."

"Not so much, I think," Link said. "Up there, the Royal Family designates land for different uses. Some farms, ranches, docks, private land… I… can't be sure how they decide it all, but no one buys the land or the right to use it. It's just… given to them, I guess. Even the Skyriders Company had its land given to them. Land that could be important to the kingdom shouldn't be fought over or repurposed by someone else's will."

Cale rubbed his chin. "Wow. I suppose I'd neveh considehed it that well."

Luggard grumbled and kicked the metal panel near the firebox. "Stupid machine…"

"What's wrong?" Link asked.

"I ain' gettin' a response from me 'eadligh'," Luggard said. He turned his head to glare at Sello. "Prob'ly go' t' do with someone bustin' ou' the ligh'."

Sello gave him a confused look. "Who did dat?"

"Wha—ya did, ya stupid drunk!" Luggard shouted, turning to Sello as if to throw a punch. "Ya took me steam turbine 'n broke out the ligh'!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-uh!"

"Nuh-un."

"Yeah-uh!"

"Nuh-un."

"Ya-gada—AGH!" Luggard spun around and delivered a harder kick to the instrument panel.

"Hey!" Irleen shouted. "I'm still up here!"

Sello stepped forward to look at the panel. "Ya forgodda turn it on."

"Excuse me?" Luggard said. "Ya see this switch?" Luggard started toggling a switch on the panel. "See 'ow it don' do anythin'?"

Sello gave him a dopey grin. "Huh-yeah. Das cuz it dunnit work anymore."

Luggard glared at Sello for a moment. Then he held out a hand to Link. "Gimme one o' yar swords. I's gonna kill 'im now."

Link held up his hands, a nervous look on his face. "Now just try to take it easy, Luggard…"

Sello leaned forward, placing his ear to the panel. His empty left hand hovered over the surface, as if looking for the problem area. Then he made a fist and struck the panel. "Hey!" Irleen shouted. "Gah!" A light above the instrument panel flickered on, prompting Irleen to fly out of her hiding space.

Luggard looked up. "Wha's tha'?" he asked.

"The bane of my eyesight," Irleen whined, circling above Link's head.

"I pud a light in," Sello told him with a grin. "And if dis one's on, so's the front."

"Really?" Luggard stepped to the side of the cab and glanced out. After seeing a light illuminating the tracks just ahead of the locomotive, he glanced back in. "When'd ya do tha'?"

Sello shrugged. "I dunno. I was drunk."

Luggard's face was one of confusion at the confession. "Bu'… ain' ya drunk now?"

"Hah-yep!" Sello held his flask up. "An' geddin drunker!"

"So…" Link said, "all those things you did to the locomotive… they were improvements?"

Sello belched. Then he put a thumb to his chest. "I know ma engines." Then he frowned and scratched his head. "At leas'… I think I do."

"Even the po' on me steam dome?" Luggard asked.

"Uh… actually… I forgot whud I did with the original lid. So I found dat."

Link looked back to Luggard. He noticed the utter shock on his face and asked, "Are… are you… gonna be okay?"

"I don' know whether I should 'ug 'im or shove 'is 'ead in the firebox," Luggard replied. "I ju—" Luggard suddenly cut off when darkness engulfed them from nowhere. By the light from above the instrument panel, they could see that they had entered a tunnel. "Wow. Tha' came on fas'."

"That's a little creepy," Irleen commented. "With everything we've encountered, we should keep our eyes open."

"Agreed," Cale said. "No one has used this cave recently, assuming no one hasn't known about it to begin with."

"Someone had to if it was on the map," Link said. "But yeah. I agree."

…

Much to their surprise, though, nothing inside the tunnel bothered them. They encountered a colony of Keese about halfway through, but they had been frightened by the noise of the Seventeen echoing off the tunnel walls and chose to fly away from the locomotive instead of bothering its passengers. A few other creatures seemed to scurry in response to the train, but nothing any one of the riders could see in the dark. When the locomotive reached a straight line of track, Luggard had to fill the firebox.

Scraping sounded from the back of the Seventeen's tender. When Luggard strode back into the light cast into the cab from the instrument panel, he held two fragments of coal in his hand. "Well," he said before tossing the fragments into the firebox. "Tha's the las' o' our fuel." He used the head of his shovel to close the firebox.

"We've been in this tunnel foh almost an houh, I believe," Cale said. "We must be reaching an exit soon."

"We go'a 'ope," Luggard said, giving the instrument panel a solemn look. "Then we go'a 'ope tha' there's a se'lemen' nearby, like ya said b'fore."

"Sounds like all we have to do is wait," Link said, crossing the cab behind Luggard. He glanced at the bench to see Sello had fallen asleep on it and decided to sit near his feet in the empty space between him and Cale.

"This feels so wrong," Irleen said. "It's like when Link and I tried to follow the Horizon's Eye. Remember that?" Link nodded, his eyes on the floor before him. "I couldn't stand that. It made me antsy. It was like… like we were just waiting for something bad to happen."

Luggard turned away from the instrument panel to lean a shoulder against it and cross his arms. "And tha's when ya go' sho' down?" he asked.

Irleen, hovering nearby, bobbed up and down as if to nod. "That was scary, but I think the ride through the Sky Line was even scarier. I don't know about you, Link, but I was worried something bad would happen."

Link nodded again. "Yeah. Me, too. I just… didn't think it would happen to us." He shook his head. "But we can't think about that right now." He looked around at his friends and sighed. "We'll be fine."

"Sure we will," Luggard said with a grin. "We been through worse'n this. 'Sides, we'd look stupid if we died b'cause we ran ou'a fuel."

Cale leaned backward. "I see some light ahead."

Link turned in his seat so his knees were on the bench. He leaned further out of the cab. His heart beat in his ears from the excitement. "Luggard, it's an exit!"

"Easy," Luggard said as he turned to use the controls. "Don' le' yar 'ead explode."

The train emerged into dark blue on one side of the train and almost black on the other with a few stars visible. The surrounding terrain had been rendered black by the lack of light. But Link's eyes immediately found a few lights near the tunnel exit as well as soft wisps of black smoke floating high into the air.

"Luggard, we found a settlement," Link told him. "It's right ahead of us, on our left."

"We go'a switch?" Luggard asked as he slowed the train.

Link looked out again. "No, it looks like the track curves."

Cale shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. "Has it… gotten coldeh?"

"Li'l," Luggard said, lightly applying the brakes. "I go'a come in slow. When I stop, tha's it. I go'a le' the steam ou', 'n we can' go anywhere else 'til we ge' more coal."

"Cale," Link said as the Seventeen started into its turn. "If we're on the east side of the realm, what can we expect to find?"

Cale licked his lips for a moment. "Mining communities, I believe. Only one, maybe two, can be reached by train. All othehs must be reached by foot oh caht; the land neahby is too icy foh rails to be constructed."

Link turned to Luggard. "Sounds promising enough. We might have enough to afford fuel back to the Forest Realm."

"Maybe," Luggard said with a nod. He tugged on the brakes again and looked over the side of the cab. Link waited for a moment before standing and crossing the cab. Luggard pulled the locomotive to the side of a platform Link could barely see if not for the single lamp sitting in the middle of it. Luggard grunted as the locomotive squealed, and Link turned to see him fighting with the brake lever. The locomotive stopped with a powerful jerk, and Luggard locked the brakes in place. Then he reached for a lever on the instrument panel and gave it a powerful tug. The boiler hissed as steam poured from the front, sending up a cloud. "Tha's it," he told them, cracking a lever on the instrument panel. He watched as the light in the firebox died out. "We's stuck 'ere."

Link nodded and opened the cab door. "Then we'd better do what we can."

"What about Sello?" Cale asked as he rose.

Luggard gave the drunk a dismissive wave. "Le' 'im sleep; it'll keep 'im ou'a trouble." He watched as the light in the cab faded out. "We'd be'er find a place t' sleep."

"I don't think a mining settlement will have a tavehn," Cale said as Luggard stepped out.

"Ain' i' the truth." Link whirled toward the single lamp in surprise. "Easy, boe. Ain' nuffin' t' 'urt cha ou' 'ere." Link's eyes fell on a large, overweight man wearing a long coat made of wool. His head was covered in thick, curly, black hair, exposing only a small forehead, eyes, and a bulbous nose. One furry hand held up a lantern to better look at the Seventeen's riders. "Weird hour t' be visi'in', ain' it?"

"Sorry for the intrusion," Link said.

"Beh!" the man said. "No' a prob'em. Ya guys bringin' in supplies? We need 'em."

"You'h the leadeh of this settlement?" Cale asked, arms wrapped so tight around his body that Link took pity on him and closed the door behind him. Irleen was the last off the locomotive, ducking into Link's cap immediately.

"Ah'm the owner o' the mines 'ere," he said. "Name's Roland. Welcome t' the Dark Ore Station."

Luggard pointed a thumb at his chest. "Luggard." Then he indicated the locomotive. "And me beau'y, the Seventeen."

"The Seventeen?" Roland asked. He held out the lantern to look around. "No' much o' a train."

Luggard gave an embarrassed grin. "We 'ad an office car, bu' it go' ea'en." He turned to indicate Link and Cale. "Me pals, Link 'n Cale."

Roland frowned at them. "A mercenary 'n a… wha', an apprentice?"

"Actually, an airship cap'n 'n a bookworm." Roland cocked an eyebrow at the response.

"I-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-if y-y-you d-d-d-d-don't m-m-m-m-mind, s-s-s-s-saah," Cale tried to speak. "It's-it's… r-r-r-r-ratheh c-c-c-cold."

"Yeah, c'mon down," Roland said, swinging an arm to indicate to follow him. "Luggard, righ'?"

"Yeah."

"Go'a admi', we's ge'in' a li'l worried there. Las' train we saw wen' four days 'go. Somefin' 'appen?"

"Tide wa'ers in the Ocean Realm wen' up," Luggard explained as they descended into a deep pit. There was a large, open area lined all the way around by lit and unlit windows. Unfortunately, those were the only details Link could make out; there were not any street lamps or torches like in Library Town, and Roland's lamp did not cast enough light to see the surrounding homes. If they were homes.

Roland turned at the bottom of the stairs. In his lantern light, Link saw that, like Diggerton, there was a station underneath the train platform. Roland strode to the far end of the platform. "Train no' makin' i' through?" he asked.

"The Shoreliner Comp'ny los' two o' their trains," Luggard said. "Three more been missin' for almos' a week."

"Number Twen'y-four was the las' one 'ere," Roland said. He stopped at a door just past the platform and started fishing through a pocket. "Make i' back?"

Luggard shook his head. "Them, the Number Three, 'n the Number Fifteen are missin'."

Roland paused with a ring of keys in his hand. "All them stopped 'ere," he mumbled, frowning at the keys. Then he picked one out and put it into the door lock. "Damn…"

He opened the door and stepped into the middle of the room. Link heard a click, and then an electric lightbulb cast more light in the room. Link determined this to be an office. To the door's right was a desk with a series of papers stuck to a board mounted to a flat, rock wall. Two metal-framed chairs sat in front of the desk, one with holes worn in the leather upholstery until the cotton stuffing was hanging out the side. An iron stove sat in the far corner from the door. Roland went to this, placed the lantern on top, and set to work loading coal into the front. Luggard and Cale moved into the office, allowing Link to see metal cabinets against the wall on the other side of the door. One of the drawers had been left open, and Link saw that it was filled with documents.

Roland grumbled to himself as he tried to light the stove. Then he stepped over to the desk and sat in the chair behind it. "So. If yarn' 'ere t' supply us," he said.

"We were 'opin' t' find a way t' the Goron town," Luggard said, taking the worn chair.

Roland gave a grunt. "Ya 'n everyone else. Gorons been cu' off fer a month. Go' a couple been 'ere since then. Tracks goin' tha' way's been iced over; we go' no way t' open 'em up."

Cale, having moved close to the oven to get warm, turned around. "I read that engineehs yeahs ago would salt the tracks to remove ice," he said. "It was pahticulahly helpful in the Snow Realm befoah the weatheh changed."

Roland shook his head. "Los' access t' our source o' sal' weeks 'go. Ice fin'ly caved in tha' shaf'. No' tha' a train could ge' up there too well; slope's pre'y steep."

"Wai', the ice did it?" Luggard asked.

Roland nodded. "One o' the reasons this realm's good fer minin' is cuz the air's s'pose t' be dry. 'Asn' been tha' story fer years. Moisture builds, freezes, 'n starts spreadin' ice. I' gets in a tunnel or a shaf', moves rock 'round, 'n causes the structures t' weaken 'n fall. Hea' from our engines stops the air freezin', bu' we can' run 'em all the time. We eventually go'a close these mines down, or they's gonna fall on top o' us." He shrugged. "Sorry, boys. Looks like ya came fer nuffin'."

Luggard gave a small chuckle. "You's righ'," he said. "It does sound a li'l 'opeless."

"More'n tha'," Roland said. "We go' a'mos' a 'undred fellas ou' 'ere, freezin' their popular parts off. We can keep warm well 'nough long as we go' the coal mines. Bu' they been waitin' t' go 'ome fer a while. We don' ge' trains in, Ah go' a revol' on ma 'ands. No' t' mention some o' our engines is beginnin' t' break down. We can' ge' replacemen' parts wifou' the trains."

"You don't have smitheries heah?" Cale asked.

"Up north," Roland answered. "Bu' they can' solve all our prob'ems. 'Alf o' our engines was made in Diggerton. Broken parts is 'ard t' make when all ya go' is tha' broken par'. We ge' by, bu' no' well 'nough."

Luggard glanced over at Link. Both of them, having developed an idea at the same time, grinned at each other. "Ya thinkin' wha' I's thinkin'?" he asked.

"That this realm seriously needs a new name?" Irleen responded from under Link's hat.

"B'sides tha'," Luggard said.

"If we can get Sello to work," Link said. "Where are the salt mines?"

"Se'lemen' 'bou' an hour's walk north, ten minutes ou' from there," Roland answered, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

"We ge' Sello juiced up 'nough, 'e might mel' the ice in those mines 'imself," Luggard said. "Bu' I like the 'repairin' the engines' idea be'er. We's gonna need couple thin's, though."

"Like wha?" Roland asked, fingers steepled together to show his interest.

"Tools," Luggard said.

"Maybe access to a kitchen," Irleen added.

"Pehhaps a quick explanation of how a cehtain engine operates," Cale suggested.

"Some open workspace," Link said.

"And, mos' importan' o' all," Luggard said. "Alcohol."

Roland raised an eyebrow. "Ya wanna ge' a drunk t' fix ma machines?"

"Wai' 'til mornin'," Luggard told him with a grin. "Ya'll see wha' we mean."

"Where's this 'Sello' fella?"

"Asleep on the train," Cale replied.

Link put on a concerned look. "We probably shouldn't leave him out all night."

"Yeah," Irleen chuckled. "There's no telling what happens when you leave a Sello out like that."

Roland pointed a hand at Luggard. "Ya said ya boys wanna ge' t' the Gorons. 'Ow come?"

"We believe that an engineering specialist may be living among the Gorons," Cale said. "We weah hoping to ask this specialist's assistance in building an aihship."

Roland frowned as he thought. Then he looked at Link. "Tha' where ya come in, cap'n?" he asked.

"Yeah, kinda," Link replied. "Irleen?" Irleen emerged from his hat and hovered above his head. "We're trying to get back to the sky kingdom."

"'Ome," Roland reasoned with a nod. "Sounds like a complicated plan."

"It hasn't been very easy so far," Link agreed.

Roland gave a sigh. "Tell ya boys wha'. If ya can ge' some o' ma machines fixed so we can dig, Ah'll 'ave me boys sal' down the slope so ya can ge' t' the Gorons' town."

"We go' a prob'm, though," Luggard said. "We ran ou'a coal ge'in' 'ere."

Roland stroked his beard for a moment. "We go' some friends in the Gorons' town," he told them. "They run some stores there. If ya boys ge' t' the town, brin' us back some o' those supplies, we'll call i' even. 'Ow's tha' sound?"

"What about retuhning to the Forest Realm?" Cale asked. "You'll only give us enough fuel to reach the Goron town, right?"

"I's makin' a leap o' faith there," Roland said with a half-grin. "Brin' us those supplies, 'n we'll talk more."

"Whacha thin', Link?" Luggard asked.

Link nodded. "Sounds fair enough."

Roland stood. "Ah'll ge' ya boys some bunks. Go ge' yer drunk 'n mee' me back 'ere."

…

He watched as the Sorian weaved through the sails in the sky above. He had seen pictures of airships before, a few years ago. The sails of this ship, their design… he still found it strange. He had expected the large, billowing sails of a grand galleon. These were not even perpendicular to the ship, nor were they as numerous as expected. The ship had a slight list and rocked a bit, but he found that he could keep his footing well enough. He had wandered toward the bow. The airman that had been up here had been amazingly kind, even offering to let him take lookout while he attended to something else. The air was cool, caressing his left cheek.

He looked around at the foremost structure. The amount of ropes attached to the large spar before him… he could not remember what it was called. But seeing all of those ropes made him wonder if the masts were actually more fragile than they looked. He held up a hand to feel the wind pressing into the small sails in front. But he could not feel anything on his hand except the wind from behind the ship. After looking at the structure around the base of the spar, he wrapped a hand around one of the ropes and stepped onto the net on top of the spar. His heartbeat picked up as his eyes found the sky beneath him. Looking over a balcony was one thing; here, he realized, he could fall quite easily. His other hand quickly wrapped around one of the lines attached to the closest sail as he let the first rope go.

There. He could feel the change in the wind as it reflected off the sail. It gave him the impression of being caught in a whirlwind. He was sure to keep his feet on something solid. One on the spar beneath him, the other on a knot in the net. He stared out at the sky, caught up in the sensation of floating caused by the feel of the wind around him. His voice felt like it began resonating on its own. Then his lips parted, his voice a series of soft breaths that recited a lullaby that his father sang to him when he was little.

"You have a beautiful voice, Princess."

He let his voice trail off before turning to the boy who had addressed him.

Then the response he had plotted disappeared from his mind. Standing with an awed look, the captain's eyes were locked on his face. He knew exactly what the captain was thinking.

Because it was him.

Link was looking at himself.

He blinked. When his eyes opened, they fell on a dark ceiling illuminated red by a nearby coal pit. He slowly sat up, allowing the thick blankets to fall off his body. His mind buzzed with new information, and it was taking some time for him to figure out what it all meant through the exhausted feeling left by a confusing lack of sleep. When he reached a final conclusion, he sat stunned in the bunk for what must have been hours.

He could see Princess Zelda's dreams.