Chapter 61: Because I Couldn't Find a Two-By-Four

…

—3/27

—Had a meeting with the company. Discovered that our regular route isn't the only thing missing. The home office has sent out messengers to our branch offices to find other vessels and tell them to hold at port until a solution can be determined. Ordered the men some free time on the island. If we ship out, there's no telling when we'll next see leave.

—3/28

—Noticed a bunch of strange sounds last night. Woke up this morning and saw guns being mounted to a schooner docked near us. Seemed innocuous at first, but then I noticed later this afternoon that the schooner wasn't the only one. It looks like a number of non-combat ships are arming themselves. Two things about this concern me. First, all of those guns would cost a lot of money, so someone is either giving them the guns or someone has recently hit a big payoff that has drained half of the kingdom of its wealth. Second. I thought I was imagining it at first, but after I spoke with a couple of my airmen, I find it safe to conclude that the vessels being armed are all vessels of the Skyriders company. I can't be sure what's going on, but I think the executives at the Skyriders company have lost their minds.

—3/29

—Spoke with Captain Nolien of the Sky Trails, a Zephyr Sails cargo schooner. He told me that he noticed the Hyrulean Knights had taken an interest in the Skyriders; a number of them were seen guarding vessels all over the port. I can only imagine that the Royal Family might be involved somehow. It's not hard to connect them to the Skyriders since all of their highly-paid servants wear those green tunics. The Castle Island Police look like they've stepped up patrols, too. I can't be sure why, but it certainly feels like something bad is about to happen.

—3/30

—Airmen Samson and Jared were arrested by the police this afternoon, along with three airmen from another Airliners vessel. I've spoken with the bureau chief. Turns out they wandered into a "restricted" zone on the southeast side of the port. The chief told me that the area was deemed off-limits by the Hyrulean Knights, but he won't say why. All I know is no one has ever limited the port like that. I've told my crew to pass the word around to stay away from that area, but part of my problem is that the warehouses in that area used to hold some of the company's replacement parts and supplies. I doubt if the home office is happy about our warehouses being taken over by the knights.

—4/1

—Set sail for Turtle Island this afternoon, expecting arrival in the early evening. The company is ordering us out to Turtle Island, chasing rumors that the Skyriders have vessels on guard out there.

—4/1 Supplemental

—Ordered to heave-to and prepare to be boarded by the Skyrider vessel Dazzling Storm. Almost told them to stuff it until I heard the captain order his men to the guns. They boarded and searched for half an hour, then the captain apologized, saying that they believe someone dangerous has been wandering around and commenting that they lost a ship in the area. Told him that we were ordered here by the company; fortunately, I didn't have to explain why. I imagine he wouldn't have taken too kindly to knowing that the Airliners were spying on them. We set into port, and I told my men to keep their ears open for anything interesting.

—4/2

—Heard from a local that an old cargo schooner passed through here last month. He couldn't tell me what ship it was since the ship never docked. He thought it was strange that the ship was sailing towards the Undying Storm, but no one could set out in time to stop it. He thinks it was either a Skyrider or a Fair Traveler. If the attitude of some of the local Skyrider airmen is any indication, it was probably one of their vessels. It apparently wasn't a regular vessel; up until a week ago, all of the regular vessels were accounted for. I sent a message back to the home office, but I haven't quite figured out why the Skyriders are lurking about the island.

—4/3

—Had my ship vandalized. Evidentially, we've been mistaken for a Skyrider ship; someone painted "Skyriders are devils" on the stern. Considering the general consensus on the island, it might be justified. Three bar fights broke out last night between my crew and other Airliners and some of the Skyrider airmen from the local vessels. The island's sheriff explained that this has been happening since the Dazzling Storm, the Guns of Lightning, and the Nayru's Messenger started guarding the Dawn Line. The Skyriders are hiding something.

—4/4

—Had a meeting with the captains of the Clear Skies and the Golden Horizon. We're agreed that there's something suspicious going on with the Skyriders, and that we should have a look at what they're up to. Even my own airmen agree that the Skyriders aren't up to any good. We'll be coordinating our maneuvers tonight so that the Skyriders won't suspect us coming.

The following page was blank.

Having free time since the trip to Rosaline's Island would be about two hours, Link had decided to sit down with Captain Gale's logbook. As he figured dates in his head and compared them to his journal, he calculated that the Cloud Moon had been sunk two nights before the S.E.S. Goddess's Tides found them. It made him feel even sorrier for Airman Jared, who had probably been slowly dying long before he was rescued. It amazed him that the airman had survived for that long, especially when he did not appear to have had the same luck to be able to secure himself like Link and Irleen had.

He flipped through and reread some of the passages. Unfortunately, before the entry when Captain Gale described his regular route as "missing", everything looks like business as usual. In fact, it wasn't until that occurred when he had started making daily entries; before then, he only made entries every few days.

"Anything interesting?" Irleen asked.

Link looked up to find her, Dholit, Cale, and Linebeck hovering over him. They were below deck at the bow of Linebeck's boat. At the other end of the deck was the boat's engine, a boiler with pipes appearing to vanish into the hull. Against Link's expectations, the boat only had the one large deck between the weather deck and the bilge, able to access the weather deck or the bridge by ladders at either end. Link sat on an empty crate fore of the ladder to the weather deck, an area where Linebeck seemed to favor throwing supplies and whatever else he seemed to find.

"Yeah, kinda," Link replied. "The Cloud Moon must have fallen about two days before we found it. It looks like they were trying to find out what the Skyriders were doing around Turtle Island."

"Tuhtle Island?" Cale asked. "Why Tuhtle Island?"

Link cast him an annoyed glare. "Because it looks like a turtle."

"N-no, I-I mean what weh the Skyridehs doing?"

"Oh. Well, it looks like some of our ships were guarding the Sky Line which leads to the Undying Storm."

"Is that normal?" Irleen asked.

Link shook his head. "Not really. No sane captain or crew would go near the Undying Storm; placing airships on guard at that Sky Line is pointless."

"Suspicious is moah like it," Dholit said. "If you think about it, posting aihships around a location which no one goes to anyway is much likeliah to attract attention. It's a wondeh why the Cloud Moon is the only vessel we've discovehed."

"Is theah anything of value in the Undying Stohm?" Cale asked.

"Just my home, really," Irleen said. "Nothing of any real importance."

"Well…" Link said. "Considering that there's a new way to Forelight Island, I suppose it's possible that some kind of trade can develop. But, as far as I know, the Skyriders have never tried to cut off any other company from business like this. And the fact that our ships are being armed seems to make me think something else is going on."

"A coup d'état, pehhaps?" Cale suggested.

"A what?" Irleen asked.

"A coup d'état. An uprising. Pehhaps youh company decided a… hos…" Cale trailed off at the glare Link was giving him. "Pehhaps not?"

"If you're talking about rebellion, the answer's no," Link told him. "Captains of the Skyrider Company are loyal to the kingdom; each captain is officially recognized—" He jerked on the front of his tunic to demonstrate. "—by a member of the royal family. If anything, the Skyriders are likely to rise up against such a threat."

"Then maybe that's the reason," Dholit said. "Maybe theah is a threat to the kingdom, and shooting down the Cloud Moon was just a disastrous misundehstanding."

"I suppose that could be the case," Link said. Then he snapped his fingers. "No, that has to be the case."

"You sound sure," Linebeck said.

Irleen, Cale, and Dholit turned their heads to stare at him. "Why don't you go pilot like you'h suppose to?" Dholit told him. Linebeck scrunched his face in annoyance before walking away.

"No, it makes sense," Link continued. "Irleen, remember when I disappeared at the top of the Tower of Spirits?"

"I remember diving for the ground to make sure you hadn't slipped and killed yourself in some stupid way," she told him.

Link paused to give her an irritated look. "Right. Anyway, I met a spirit up there. One of the Lokomo, I think he said. He told me that 'evil' is emerging from the sky, and he pointed out the Undying Storm to me."

Irleen bobbed in the air as if she was nodding. "Cunimincus," she said. "But… I think that, if he escaped, we would see ships dropping left and right."

"Sohry, who?" Cale asked.

"Cunimincus," Irleen said. "If it helps, he was once a general of Malladus."

Cale's eyes widened. "Oh, deah."

"Maybe the Skyriders know he's trying to escape," Link suggested.

"Youh diary mentioned that youh friend… what was his name… Line?" Dholit said.

"Yeah."

"Youh diary said that you believe he's still alive. Could he have brought wohd back to the kingdom? Afteh all, you weh carrying a princess who was kidnapped."

Link's face turned to a look of shock. "Yeah, that's right," he said. "She snuck out of the castle. And if her parents got back…"

"And youh friend brought news back to the kingdom…" Dholit said.

"The king and queen recruited the Skyriders!" Link shouted. "They're trying to get her back!"

"Which means the ships which shot down the Cloud Moon might not have been guahding the Sky Line," Cale said.

"If Cunimincus still has a crew," Irleen said, "it's possible that they came back on the Horizon's Eye with Line."

"Which Line could've told others about," Link reasoned. "So the Skyriders were trying to prevent Cunimincus' crew from returning."

Dholit nodded. "It doesn't mean much foh the crew of the Cloud Moon, but it at least explains a few things."

"Especially if no one explained to the otheh companies what was happening," Cale said.

There was a pause as they all took in the new information. Then Dholit said, "Wow. You'h right, Link. Things ah insane up theah."

Link glared at her. "Have you been reading my journal again?"

"I read it this mohning while you weh eating breakfast."

"Wow," Irleen said. "Things just keep on getting more complicated, don't they?"

Dholit turned to her. "Ah you all right? You sound a little depressed."

"Yeah, yeah, I ju—… This is crazy." She looked around for a moment. "And this is all happening while we're down here. It's like—like reading a novel."

Cale shook his head. "I think I need some aih," he told them. "I'll be on the deck above."

"I think I'll join you," Irleen said.

"Do you want your gem?" Link asked, already reaching for his pocket.

"No, that's fine," she told him. "I just… I'll just—I just wanna collect my thoughts for a bit."

"Okay," Link said, watching her lead Cale up the ladder.

Dholit waited until they closed the hatch before saying, "Poah gihl. Whatevah must be happening up theah, it sounds as if heh home is right in the middle."

Link nodded. "Yeah."

She glanced down at him. "How about you? Ah you feeling bettah?"

"I suppose. It still hurts that the Cloud Moon was shot down and her entire crew died. Even knowing the reason… it just doesn't seem fair."

She sat down next to him. "I wish I could tell you it was justified, but I feel the same way. Pehhaps they weh, but theah was no way foh youh ships to know any bettah."

Link nodded. He closed the book and set it aside. "I guess something good did come out of me losing my ship."

"What do you mean?"

"Captain Gale, the captain of the Cloud Moon, said that people on Turtle Island saw the Island Sonata sailing towards the storm. It lends credibility if Line told anyone what happened to us."

"Oh. Oh, that's good. Although…" She giggled. "I can imagine what will happen to that credibility when you get back."

Link opened his mouth to correct the statement with the word "if", but he decided against it. Instead, he smiled and said, "Yeah." He sighed and stood up. He was not sure what he thought about this new information. The fact that the Skyriders had sunk the Cloud Moon still disturbed him, but since it seemed that it might have been for a cause (albeit mistaken), the weight of Airman Jared's death as well as the death of the ship's crew felt a little lighter. At least it was not for malicious purposes.

Something caught Link's eye as he looked around the deck. He turned and started looking through a pile of junk as Linebeck descended from the bridge.

"'Scuse me," he said as he approached Dholit. "I jus' wanted to clear up a few thin's."

"Is that so, Mistah Linebeck?" Dholit asked, picking up her legs and leaning backwards a bit.

"Firs', it's 'Captain'," he told her. "Humble as it may be, this is still a sea vessel."

Dholit jerked a thumb at Link. "His is biggah."

Bam! "Ow," Link grunted after hitting his hand on a nearby box.

Linebeck glanced between her and him. "Wha', the runt?"

"That 'runt' is fohmehly the captain of an aihship," Dholit said. "And I'm quite cehtain that whatevah the product of this ventuah, his vessel will be much moah impressive."

Linebeck gave her a disbelieving look. "Wha'ever. Secon'. You four caugh' me off-guard. I'm holdin' you responsible if I ge' in trouble for all this."

"If you'h wohried that theah will be repehcussions that will souh youh relationship with youh gihlfriend, I should tell you that I am quite adept at soothing men and women. So I have absolutely no qualms about taking responsibility if youh gihlfriend sees fit."

"Fine. Thir'. I should ge' somethin' in return for this. Bad 'nough tha' you're gonna play with my life like this."

"Yes, I believe I did mention payment," Dholit said. "So how much do you expect to be paid?"

Linebeck's eyes wandered about as he seemed to figure out what should be paid for. "Hmm… well, it costs me 'bou' fifty rupees' worth of fuel for a round trip. How's sixty sound?"

"Link?"

Link paused from pulling a large piece of leather from underneath a pile of junk. "Huh?"

"Ouh wheelman, Captain Linebeck, sees it fit to chahge us sixty rupees foh ouh hijacking of his vessel."

Link frowned at her. "Hijacking? Is that what we're calling what you did?"

She gave him a smile before shrugging. "I suppose."

He shrugged and pulled his wallet from his pocket. "Sounds fine," he said as he tossed the wallet to her. Then he pointed down. "Hey, are you using these boots?"

"Hm? What boots?" Linebeck asked.

Link held up one of the boots he had retrieved. "These. You've got a pair here."

"Oh," Linebeck said, starting when Dholit tried to place rupees in his waiting hand. "Yeah, tha's fine. They don' fi' me anyway." He then turned to Dholit and indicated Link with a side-nod. "Why's he sound like a pirate, bu' you don'."

"We'h twins separated at bihth," she replied.

Linebeck frowned as he glanced between them. Then he gave them a dismissive shrug and walked away, counting the rupees in his hand.

…

~~We've (kinda) secured passage to one of the outlying islands in the Ocean Realm. Whoever this Rosaline girl is, I can only hope she is who we think she is.

…

Linebeck jumped from the deck onto the small, T-shaped pier with his single mooring line in hand. Link figured it was his mooring line since the loop at the end did not look like it had been untied from its knot for months. He did not even try tightening it after sliding it over the single bollard on the pier. Link was glad that the waters were calm; in any other condition, the boat would probably float away.

Linebeck spread out his arms and said, "We're here!"

Link, Dholit, Cale, and Irleen looked toward the island itself. Indeed, it was quite small. A single, white house sat in the middle of the island, simple and humble with only one window looking across the pier. Surrounding it were fresh rows of dug-up earth. Only about a quarter of the island's surface was still grass. All in all, Link found it an appealing idea. It made him wonder if he could achieve the same thing on an island in the sky.

"Nice place," Irleen said.

"Quaint," Cale agreed.

"I can see you in a house like this in a few yeahs," Dholit told Link.

"Really?" Link asked.

"With me."

Link shot her an annoyed look. "Right."

Cale was the first to turn to the pier. But he looked down to find Linebeck just standing there, looking over the damage to the hull. "Um… h-how do we get down?" he asked.

"Jus' jump," Linebeck told him.

Cale blinked at him. "Just… jump…" he repeated.

"It isn' hard," Linebeck told him.

"Yipe!" Cale suddenly hollered when Dholit grabbed his left buttock.

Irleen snorted. "Well," she said, trying to suppress her laughter, "he knows how to jump."

"That wasn't funny," Cale said, his hands protecting his rear from Dholit even though he was turned toward her.

"No, but it was fun," she told him. She examined her hand, flexing it. "You don't appeah to eat well, but at least you have some cushioning down theah."

Cale's face turned scarlet. "Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha…"

Link sighed. "Can we just go?"

"Do you need some help oveh?" Dholit asked Cale.

Cale decided not to say anything else to her. Instead, he turned, stepped up to the edge of the deck, and jumped down to the pier. His landing was a little awkward, but he regained his composure and turned to face the boat again. He backed away as Dholit jumped down and made sure to keep his distance while she teased him by merely looking in his direction. Link and Irleen followed her down. Link was glad to have another pair of boots, scuffed as they may be; attempting to jump down with his old pair might have torn them even more.

They walked up the pier and through the garden, Cale strolling behind Dholit with his hands covering his butt. Linebeck led the way and, when they stopped in front of the house, gave the front door a gentle knock.

"C'mon in!" a voice called from beyond. It was a young woman's voice, and it had traces of the Kakucha Island accent the group had heard all day.

Linebeck shrugged. "So far, so good," he told the group. He grasped the doorknob and turned. Instead of walking in, he slowly pushed open the door as if checking for safety. "Rosaline?"

"I be in heah, Linebeck."

"Sounds pleasant enough," Cale commented.

PANG-nnnnnnnnnn… The metallic slam caused the four of them to turn attention to Linebeck, who dropped to the floor like a broken puppet. Where his head had been was now occupied by a hovering, iron pan. The handle was hidden by a doorway, but Link and Dholit could see the tip of the holder's thumb.

Then a woman stepped into view and looked down at Linebeck. She had a soft, round figure which barely reached higher than Link's own stature. Her skin was only slightly tanned, and she wore a navy-blue shirt and black slacks, looking like a blend of casual and formal which Link had never encountered before. Her hair was just a shade lighter than black and sat on her shoulders in a comfortable manner. Link guessed her to be in her mid-twenties.

"Yeh don't be listenin' to nottin' I say, Linebeck," she told him in a calm voice, her tone sweet despite having just struck Linebeck. "Nottin' at all."

Dholit crossed her arms and clicked her tongue at Linebeck. "He doesn't appeah to have much luck with women, does he?" she asked Irleen.

"If he did, do you think he'd be sleeping in a boat back at the port?" Irleen replied.

"Dot be de only way to keep him busy," the young woman told them.

Link carefully stepped around Linebeck and started, "Hello. I'm—"

"I know who yeh be," the woman told him as she stepped into the room. But then she walked toward the back of the house.

"Y-you do?" Link asked.

"Poachahs."

Link had just planted his first step to follow her when he froze. "Wha?" he asked.

"What'd she say?" Irleen asked.

"Poachahs," Dholit offered.

"Yeah, that doesn't help," Irleen said.

"Poacha—Poachers? Poachers?" Link asked.

"That makes about as much sense," Irleen said.

"Poachers…" Link pondered. Then he called to the back of the house, "Poachers?"

"Dot's right," the young woman said as she entered the room again, carrying a basket of clothes in front of her. "Poachahs."

"What ah we supposed to be poaching?" Cale asked as he closed the front door.

"Yeh be tellin' me yeh don't be afteh me island?" she asked.

Link glanced around before saying, "No."

She set the basket down on a low table in the middle of the room and turned to them. "Salesmen, then?" she asked.

"Do we look like we'h cahrying any wahes?" Dholit asked, spreading out her arms to show that they were empty.

"Okay, so I didn't tink dot one t'rough." She pulled a sheet out of the basket and began to fold it. "So what do yeh be wantin'?"

"You're Rosaline, right?" Link asked. "Granddaughter of Ben and Lorie?"

She nodded. "Dey be de ones dot gave me dis island. Me faddah built dis house."

"What about you?" Link asked. "Do you do any building?"

"I help Linebeck fix his boat," she told them. "And I occasionally like to go to de odeh islands and build tings. Houses, boats, docks… Hey, yeh don't be from around dis place, do yeh?"

"Do we look like it?" Irleen asked, flying a large circle around the group.

Rosaline gave them a smile. "No, I suppose yeh don't."

"Easy," Link told Irleen. "We have a project that we could use some help on."

"Sohry," Rosaline told them, placing the folded sheet on the armchair behind her. "I don't be travelin' out o' de realm."

"Why not?" Cale asked.

"I don't be interested in problems in de odeh realms," she said. "Too complicated. Dese people heah, dey be simple and fun. I grew up heah, and I don't want to go."

"That's a frightfully introvehted view," Dholit said. She stepped past Link. "Mind if I sit?"

"Please," Rosaline replied, indicating the armchair behind Dholit. "All of yeh, don't feel yeh have to stand."

"What about Linebeck?" Cale asked as Link stepped past Dholit and settled on the edge of the couch in front of the low table.

Rosaline gave him a quick glance. "He be fine. He be pretendin'."

Cale pointed at him. "But… he's unconscious."

"Nah, I'm fine," Linebeck replied, his voice partially muffled by the floor. "I'm jus' nappin' off a headache."

"I spent yeahs bashin' him oveh de head," Rosaline said. "It usually be a boahd. Today, I just be havin' de pan to hit him wit. He has a thick skull."

Dholit grinned. "Noted."

"I don't understand," Link said. "Why won't you leave? You're not afraid someone's gonna take your island, are you?"

"No," Rosaline answered. "I know dot Linebeck will be sellin' me island de moment I leave."

"Oh, c'mon," Linebeck groaned. He lifted and turned his head to look at her. "Haven' I earned any kinda trus'?"

"Oh, I trust yeh to sell me island when I leave." Linebeck moaned in response as he turned his head back.

"There must be some way to convince you," Irleen said.

"I built houses, bridges, docks, wahhouses, boats, ships…" Rosaline told them. She shook her head as she finished the second sheet she had started folding. "I built many tings. I don't be touchin' trains, t'ough. Dose tings change so much, and dey still don't do deih job."

"I've noticed a touch of Hovela in youh accent," Dholit said. "Ah you suah you've nevah traveled out of the realm?"

"Dot be from me grandmoddah. I liked de way she talked." Dholit nodded her understanding.

"I'm from Dockton," Linebeck offered.

"No one cares," Dholit, Rosaline, and Irleen all chimed together. Linebeck blew a short raspberry in response and starting feeling for wounds on his head with one hand.

"Please." All eyes, even Linebeck's, turned to Link. "We need your help."

Rosaline's eyebrows rose. "Yeh be tryin' to put me on de spot?" she asked.

Link shook his head. "No, I really mean it. Irleen and I—" He pointed to Irleen as she settled to a hover over his head. "—we're trying to get back home."

Rosaline paused folding the dress in her arms. For a moment, Link thought he had gotten through to her. She gave a sigh. And then she asked, "If I helped yeh, what good would it do me?"

"Are you kidding?" Irleen snapped.

"It's a valid question, Ihleen," Dholit said. "You've been lucky up to this point. Leynne seems to be in on this foh the challenge, Sello, well… I would imagine he would strip naked and let anyone use him to clean the inside of an engine foh some alcohol."

"Assuming the end result doesn't kill you fihst," Cale added.

"Lidago doesn't seem to have any otheh engagements," Dholit continued. "And Dubbl, well…" She gave him a brief, irritated look. "You requested heh."

"What was that look for?" Irleen asked. Dholit gave a shrug and suddenly took an interest in the ceiling.

"No, she's right, Irleen," Link said. "We really don't have anything to offer. I don't have much money left. And there's really nothing to my name down here."

Rosaline's face formed a confused scowl. "'Down heah'?"

"We fell out of the sky. We need help building an airship so Irleen and I can return."

Rosaline dropped the pants she was folding, a shocked look on her face. The look alarmed Link, who thought she might fall over or pass out in the next moment. Instead, she moved toward Link, causing him to quickly rise to his feet. He braced himself, wondering if he might get hit.

"Mahry me."

Silence filled the house for a moment.

"Oh, Link," Dholit said with a grin, shaking her head.

"Huh?" Link replied.

"What!?" Irleen and Linebeck shouted.

"Oh, deah," Cale replied, shuffling toward the empty space near the back of the room.

"Why you li'l—!" Linebeck started as he hauled himself up from the floor.

Link jerked in response, and Rosaline started when she realized what she had just said. She turned to Linebeck. "Linebeck, don't!" she cried.

But Linebeck's advance was halted by Dholit placing one leg on the edge of the low table and, pushing herself out of the chair, pivoting on that leg to swing her other leg in a kick that landed across Linebeck's nose. Linebeck reeled, but he did not go down as easily as when Rosaline had struck him with the pan. Dholit pushed herself towards him and wrapped her feet around one of his legs. Linebeck stumbled and fell onto his butt, striking his head against the wall behind him. Dholit was on her feet in the next moment and planted the bottom of one foot against his throat.

Dholit's breathing was the only sound for a moment. She gained control of her breaths and said, "I believe that you've misintehpreted Rosaline's intentions, Linebeck. I recommend listening befoah making any rash actions. Ah we cleah?"

"Yeah," Linebeck croaked out through Dholit's foot slowly crushing his windpipe. "Sure. Oka-hhk!"

"I a'most fohgot he was heah," Rosaline said, offering him a pitying look. Then she turned back to Link and offered an apologetic smile. "Sohry. I suppose yeh be wantin' an explanation."

"Yeah, that'd be nice," Irleen said, dropping until she was between her and Link.

"Well, yeh see… I nevah built an aihship befoah." She offered a nervous giggle. "It be de only ting dot I would like to build."

"Well, this is… strangely convenient," Cale commented.

"Indeed," Dholit agreed.

"Damnes' thin'," Linebeck rasped.

"How come you haven't before?" Irleen asked.

Rosaline spread her arms wide. "Who heah be needin' an aihship?"

"Ah," Irleen replied, floating off to one side. "Point taken."

"How fah did yeh staht?" Rosaline asked.

"Oh, well…" Link responded. "I-I don't think we've started yet. Uh… well, last we knew, the other Architects were looking at sailing ships in Hovela. That was…" He turned to Dholit. "What, two days ago?" Dholit nodded. "I mean, there's not much chance they've even laid down a keel yet."

"Oh!" Rosaline said, jumping. "We bettah get goin' then! Linebeck, yer boat."

Linebeck, now released from Dholit's foot, rubbed one hand on his neck. "You're serious? You've never lef' the Ocean Realm."

"I don't be a recluse, Linebeck," she told him. She clapped her hands at him. "C'mon, c'mon." Linebeck hauled himself to his feet and started toward the door.

"And huhry!" Dholit declared, winding her arm.

"Yeouch!" Linebeck shouted, leaping forward after Dholit delivered a smack to his rear. "Okay, I'm goin'! Geez! Wha' is it with you an' butts!?"

"Just feeling a little frisky," she told his back. She cast a grin in Link's direction. "Lack of anything bettah to do."

"Why am I suddenly glad I don't have a butt?" Irleen asked.

"Probably the same reason I wanna strap a plate to my butt," Link said.

"I be gettin' some o' me tings togeddah," Rosaline said. "Meet yeh at de boat."