Chapter 63: One Clear Morning

…

At the end of the day, everyone had tired of the cheering done in response to not only watching Link destroy the massive creature which had stranded them in the realm, but watching as the creature's hold on the water faltered, returning the local waters to their original level. After the creature had sunk, its tentacles simply melted off everything it had covered, which included probably every Spirit Track and island north and west of Kakucha Island. This relief revealed that, before the creature had appeared, there was enough height between the water's surface and the Spirit Tracks that even a large steamship like the S.E.S. Goddess's Tides would be able to navigate the rest of the realm without a problem. Even a taller craft like Rosaline's cutter would fit, but, in their gratuity, the miners and the train engineers offered to drag up and secure the cutter to the flatcar at the back of the train. The process had not gone quite according to plan, and the craft's mast snapped off when it had turned vertical for a moment, but it was still intact. Rosaline had not expressed any anger; she had said that she would fix it once it was ready to be used again. Rosaline, Dholit, and Irleen rode in the cab while Link settled in the rear freight car (despite the miners' insistence that Link have a seat in the passenger car; Link was just not interested) and Cale relaxed in a passenger car. Leaf, the engineer, had told them that he would be bringing the train around so that they could return to the Forest Realm as Link's group had planned. Rosaline had decided to share the rations they had bought and stowed on the cutter, much to the relief of the miners who had not wanted to eat any more fish. It had been well into the night when the train had started moving again. All but Link had passed out in the rear freight car. Link could not sleep due to something weighing on his mind.

Irleen was not talking to him, and he was afraid he knew why.

There had been a lot of excitement when both the train and the cutter had reached the island. But the passengers on the cutter had been unable to join in on the cheering due to the island being too high for the passengers to disembark. Irleen had brought this to Link's attention, and one of the miners had unloaded an emergency rope ladder so that the group could climb up (which had then been used to fit ropes around the cutter's hull so it could be hauled up). Rosaline and Cale had offered their congratulations to Link in the midst of the boisterous miners. But Dholit…

Dholit had kissed him.

Link had never been kissed before. So when Dholit had dragged him back to his feet after he had dropped to the ground in exhaustion, he had had no warning that it had been coming. It had been long, and it had been pure passion, or what Link had assumed was passion. He had fallen after she had released him, and the smile he had seen on her face had said that she was just playing with him again. Link had not thought anything about it, not that he had been in the state of mind to think at all. Running with the boots had left his legs sore, wobbly, and feeling like a loose sail. In fact, he had been concerned for a while that he had completely lost the ability to move around on his own. He had not been able to eat when Rosaline had passed out the rations for fear that he might vomit.

He had asked for Irleen later, as the whole group was boarding the train. Dholit had gone looking in Link's place since he had had to be dragged into the freight car. Dholit had found her, but she had told Link that Irleen had sounded like she had been crying; it had been difficult for Dholit to know exactly what Irleen had been saying due to Irleen's native Sorian.

Now, though, Link sat in one corner of the freight car pondering if Irleen might have been mad at him because of Dholit's kiss while being surrounded by ten, dirty, sleeping miners. It was not Link's ideal place to consider things, but he was in no mood to fight it or anything else. His small ration bag sat next to his leg, opened because he finally had the stomach to eat. His mind was less than involved in the process, leaving Link's hand to idly dig out whatever was in the bag and put it in his mouth. He did not know what to do. He had seen Irleen acting a little defensive of him lately, and he was beginning to wonder if all of the romance banter between her and Dholit might be an indication of something more personal than Link was giving credit for.

He kept thinking back to the kiss. And he thought he could find a way to spin the event in some kind of harmless way, like maybe Dholit had just been up to her usual antics. But Link just could not come to accept it himself. Every time he replayed Dholit's smile in his head, it became less playful and more sincere. He knew that Dholit had been responsible for romancing him back at the Gelto camp, but he never believed until now that she was still trying to do it even after he was no longer a prisoner. Not to mention that, up until now, she had never had such intimate contact with him. Or, at least, while he had been conscious; she had confessed to taking his clothes off after his fight with the giant Malgyorg. It was a bad angle to work with. He thought about telling Irleen that it was her being caught up in the moment, that she would have kissed any man who had just taken on a gigantic sea monster. But, to him, it just sounded dumb. He considered explaining that Dholit might have just been overwhelmed by the moment and had to do something. Unfortunately, the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to cheapen Dholit's feelings. In the end, he settled for wishing that she had not done it in the first place. In fact, he began hoping that it had not been the kiss that upset Irleen.

He did not want to believe that any girl could be attracted to him. Even though he was not paying attention to it, he knew how bad his hand was shaking as he fed himself. It was shaking from fear, the fear that had overwhelmed him in those final moments before he was recovered from the island. It was only those final moments he could remember clearly; from the monster's first attack to his last arrow, it all seemed like a blur. But after it fell… Link had never experienced that before. It had been a fear based entirely on instinct, something he could not describe even to himself. The armored beetle in the Lost Woods, the armored worm under the mines, the homicidal machine Sello so whimsically called "Drumstik", the gargantuan Malgyorg traveling the desert… They had all been creatures he had come face-to-face with and defeated without so much as a thought. But this latest monster had brought him closer to fear than Link had ever faced.

Closer to death. And, for reasons unknown to Link, jumping into a pit with Wolfos or potentially dying of thirst in a desert had not been enough to spark this sudden notion that Link was mortal. No, this creature had. He tried to think and came to the realization that he had always been in control, been able to defend himself in those situations. When the ocean monster died, Link was left helpless as he sank into its dead clutches. There had been no way to save himself if those tentacles had been any thicker. It must have been the only time Link felt afraid of what was happening, which sounded completely insane to him. He could not even step foot onto an airship if he was that afraid.

He was angry and embarrassed. He had faced his own mortality long before he even set foot on the surface. He should have died when the Island Sonata was shot down, and maybe dozens of other times before then! Why was this bothering him now? Just what kind of sick game was his head playing?

His fingers lost track of his food, and he attempted to pull more out of his ration bag. But it was empty; he had finished it. He let his hand fall on top of the bag to crush it.

Just what kind of captain was he shaping up to be, anyway?

…

Link had gone to sleep early in the morning, kept awake for a while by both the car's rattling and his own thoughts. A sharp bump jarred Link out of his sleep. Groggy, he looked around at all of the miners. They had already awakened and were chatting with each other. Link could hear a tumult of voices and accents, but he was far too drowsy to comprehend any of them. Sello's hammer hurt his thigh, and he tried to flip to his other side only to have his bow press against the floor and tighten the quiver's belt against his ribs. He gave up when he tried to flip back over and had the bow fall out of the quiver. So he sat up, exchanging greetings with the miners.

A few minutes later, the train's whistle blew. One of the miners opened up a door. It was still early in the morning, but Link could see the purple dawn outside. The brakes started squealing, and Link saw the edge of Hovela come into view.

Even with his mind clearing, he had not come up with what he would say to either Dholit or Irleen. By the time the station came into view, he decided to just talk to them. If anything, maybe one of them would bring the subject up. In which case, he would appropriately stumble around an explanation.

His legs wobbled as he walked, and he hoped that it was just fatigue. After shaking a few hands, he carefully lowered himself out of the freight car. He saw a few of the miners disembark from other cars, and he followed them towards the walkways connecting the platforms to the station.

Cale nearly stumbled out of a passenger car. He took in a deep breath as if he had not in a long time. When he spotted Link, he said, "I would like to believe that theah ah laws against these kinds of conditions."

Link stopped and asked, "What conditions?"

"The entiah cah smells of outhouse waste," Cale said. He paused to stick his tongue out as if trying to relieve himself of a bad taste. "It was not pleasant."

"These men have been trapped on this train for days. They probably couldn't help it."

Cale kept in stride with Link as he started up the platform again. "Pehhaps. It was still disgusting."

"Well, at the rate we… were…" Link trailed off when he saw Dholit descending from the locomotive. He forgot what he was talking about as his memories of the previous evening returned.

Dholit turned around. Then she crossed her arms and gave him her usual smirk. "So," she said. "Have you finally realized that I'm a woman?"

Link's face turned into an angry glare. "Where's Irleen?"

Dholit's grin faded into confusion. "She's-she's still on the locomotive."

But Link already saw Irleen fluttering above the cab. He stepped to one side and called out, "Irleen!"

Irleen dropped to eye-level in front of Link. "Link," she told him, "hand the gem over to Dholit." Link was surprised; her voice sounded about as harsh as his words to Dholit. He fished the translator gem from his pocket and put it in Dholit's waiting hand.

Irleen then turned to Dholit. "Ha'alw wabin falix dhol?"

Both Link and Dholit were caught off-guard by the question, Link the venomous tone Irleen took and Dholit for the question itself. Dholit replied with a confused, "Dhol? Irliyn, waba naygothak Gilto 'Anik max?"

"Wabilunak dhol?" Irleen spat back. "Ha'alw wabilunak waliyxomot dhol? Wadoyfasitak zacuxt 'imayn siylwub max? Wadoyfasitak zajriyb Liynk 'immu min max?"

Dholit shook her head, her shock preventing her from speaking for a moment. "N-na'! Nadda na', Irliyn!"

"Nwaki dhol, Dholit!?"

"Dhol?"

"Nwiy cussib. Wacasbya'ak Liynk."

Dholit shrugged. "Taf dhol? 'Incasbya'ak zhal. 'Inu addu caysobak zhal 'idus. Nwaki nadkonafak nayfsik."

"Nwaki layxomak 'immu tic!" With that, Irleen turned and flew across the train platforms toward the station.

Link felt Dholit hastily put the gem back in his hand. He looked down at it, and then he gave her a questioning look. She rolled her eyes. "'Inakwint, yitayzikan 'inoy."

Then she delivered a smack to the side of Link's head, knocking his hat off. "What's wrong with you, you idiot!?" she snapped at him. "Go afteh heh!"

Link stumbled around, confused for a moment as he tried to understand what was happening. Before he knew it, he hopped from the platform onto the tracks. He was about to run for the station, but then he decided to zip down to the end of the next platform and run around it, his boots kicking up dirt in his accelerated wake. He found a ramp leading onto the platform directly connected to the station. From there, he transitioned from stone to slick marble.

Which he tripped on. Still traveling fast, his boots slipped, and he fell forward. His head hit the floor, and the floor burned the skin on his face as he slid, creating an undignified, high-pitched squeal that filled the quiet train station. All eyes turned to him, including Irleen.

And Irleen approached him. "Link!" she shouted. "Link, are you okay!?"

Link pushed himself to his knees and felt the tender skin on the left side of his face. When he looked up at her, he revealed a patch of red covering his cheek from his eye to his jaw. "Yeah," he said. "I'm okay."

"What were you doing!?" she snapped at him. "Are you trying to peel your face off!?"

Link glanced down at the floor. "I just… wanted to know why you're mad," he told her in a quiet voice. "I… I didn't know I'd screwed up."

"Oh," she replied. "You don't think watching Dholit kiss you would bother me? Here's news for you, Link; it does!"

He settled down with his rear on the floor. He watched his lap as he said, "I… I didn't know you felt that way…"

"Felt what way?" Irleen asked. Link was silent, unsure of how to articulate his meaning. But Irleen picked up on his unspoken words. "You mean… Ah—

"No! No, Link! That's not it at all!" She dropped so that she could at least see his face. "What is wrong with you? You thought I was mad because I was in love with you!? And that-that kiss made me jealous or something!?"

Link opened his mouth to respond, but his words jerked to a stop in his throat. He brought his hands up and scratched furiously at his scalp, tossing around his thick, messy hair. "I didn't know what to think!" he cried out. "How am I supposed to know what's gonna make you mad? You wouldn't say a word to me after all that!"

"Geez, Link!" she said, bobbing in the air. "I was mad because you're letting yourself get distracted!"

Link finally looked up. "Huh?"

"Ever since we came down here, you've had girls all around you," she explained, her voice calming a bit. "I've been worried this whole time that you're just going to give up on going back because you fell in love with one or something stupid like that."

Link looked down at his lap, dropping his arms to his sides. "I never gave up… I promised…"

Irleen let out a sigh. "I know," she said. "I ju—… Between what Dholit said and watching her kiss you… I thought for certain you'd give up."

They remained in silence for a moment. Then, for no particular reason, Irleen chuckled. Soft at first, and then it became a light laugh that Link found himself joining. "Wow, Link," she told him. "We must be a couple of idiots, huh?"

"Yeah," Link replied. He looked up again, his face serious but soft. "Irleen, I'd never—"

"I know," she interrupted him. "I mean… I should've known better. I'm sorry, Link."

"I'm sorry, too," he told her.

"I always enjoy when friends reconcile." Link looked over his shoulder and saw Rosaline, Cale, and Dholit standing nearby. Dholit was grinning again. "Especially when one of them is in such a… compromising position." She pointed to her left cheek. "The redness makes it look like she slapped you."

Irleen flew a circle around Link's head. "Okay, we're done being sappy," she said. "Back to business."

"Actually," Link said, "I could use a hand. I-I can't move my legs again."

"Heah," Cale said as he strode forward. He leaned over so Link could sling his right arm across his shoulders. Then Cale picked Link up. He stumbled when Link put all his weight on him. "Whoa…"

"Sorry," Link said.

"Excuse me," a man's voice said from nearby. "Captain Link?"

Link, Cale, and Irleen looked over to find a middle-aged man standing nearby. Judging from the rich, blue uniform he wore, he was one of the station's attendants. Link blinked at him for a moment. "Uh… Lieutenant Link, actually."

The station attendant looked down at the envelope in his hands. "Yes, of coahse," he said. Then he looked back up at Link. "I have a message foh you from Masteh Leynne."

"Who?" Rosaline asked as she and Dholit stepped up behind Link and Cale.

"He's one of the designehs," Cale explained. "The fihst one we found."

"Where are they?" Link asked.

"Masteh Leynne sends his regrets, Lieutenant," the attendant said. "He left foh Fishington three days ago."

"That… would have been the day afteh we encountehed the Cloud Moon," Cale said.

"Hard to believe that wasn't too long ago," Link commented. "Feels like a month at least."

"He's made arrangements with the station, Lieutenant," the attendant said. "You have rooms available if you feel the need to stay the night; expenses for meals have already been paid. He has also arranged tickets to Fishington when you ah ready."

"Dis 'Leynne' guy sounds like he be havin' de money," Rosaline said in an impressed tone.

"I remember my ticket to Library Town costing quite a bit, though," Link said.

The attendant nodded. "Indeed, it does, saah. Howevah, Masteh Leynne provided cehtain sehvices foh both the station and the hotel, quite elaborate and… inventive… sehvices. The station owneh paid him quite handsomely foh these sehvices, howevah Masteh Leynne requested his payment be put on account so that you and youh fellow travelehs might use it to relax befoah joining them in Fishington."

"That must have been some service," Irleen remarked.

"And profitable foh the station in the long run," the attendant said.

"What do you think, Link?" Cale asked.

Link glanced at him for a moment. "When does the next train to Fishington arrive?" he asked the attendant.

"Not until lateh this mohning. The Twenty-Foah train out of Library Town."

Link nodded. "Yeah, I'd say we rest here for a bit. We'll take the Twenty-Four when it gets here."

"Undehstood, saah," the attendant said. He handed the envelope to Link. "If you'll follow, I'll take you to youh rooms."

…

"'—Link.

"'—By now, I assume that we have already moved on to Fishington. As I write this, it is only the fihst night afteh youh depahtuah.

"'—Afteh you left, we spent the day looking oveh a numbeh of vessels. I've also found drawings of different sail plans, so I have a faih idea of what youh fohmeh vessel, the Island Sonata, may have looked like. I've already spoken to Sello, Lidago, and Dubbl, and we'h in agreement that we can put togetheh a feasible plan foh construction. I undehstand that ouh choice of Fishington is an odd location foh the construction of a vessel, but I believe that ouh use of a dry dock in Fishington, as opposed to a moah appropriate venue such as Hovela or Aboda, will help us keep down whatevah costs we may incah foh the materials we will requiah. Having materials sent to Fishington is cheapah. Besides, it isn't as if it needs to be built close to the wateh anyway.' … 'Ha ha.

"'—Theah have been some recent developments outside of the realm which you might find interesting. Afteh you left, we found out that snow has retahned to ouh neighboh in the nohth. And just this evening, I had an encounteh heah in the train station with a conductoh who was seahching foh the trains that went missing afteh the Ocean Realm was deemed off-limits. Evidently, he had just gotten back from the Fiah Realm afteh the Snow Realm had retahned to nohmal. He said that, although the tracks in the Fiah Realm ah still icy, theah have been signs that the weatheh had been growing wahmeh. I shall neglect jumping to conclusions on these mattehs, but I would point out that you, Ihleen, and Luggahd had visited those two places not long ago. Make of that what you will.

"'—We will be waiting in Fishington. With luck, we may have the framewohk set up by the time you retahn.'

"Signed 'Leynne'," Cale finished. He glanced up at the others in the room. Link lay on the closer of two beds with his feet toward Cale. Dholit sat at the foot of the other bed, listening to Cale read the letter left to them by the station attendant. Rosaline sat at the desk against the opposite wall from the beds, and Irleen hovered over her. The room itself was a brilliant shade of white which caused the room to brighten as the sun rose into the window. A small basket of candy and chocolates had been left on the desk, and Rosaline had already eaten three of them and left their paper wrappings on the desktop.

Dholit wrinkled her nose and asked, "Wait, is he implying that youh being in the Snow and Fiah Realms befoah has something to do with theih recent retahn to nohmal?"

"He said he wasn't jumping to any conclusions," Link answered, still feeling worn out from his run across the station.

"I wouldn't either," Irleen said, "but it's a pretty big coincidence."

"We can't say what he did in de Ocean Realm was a coincidence," Rosaline said. "De way de ocean be goin' back to normal afteh killin' dot ting?"

"And that made five," Irleen said. "We should celebrate."

"Five?" Dholit asked. "Five what?"

"Big bad things. Kind of like bosses in a book game."

"A book game?" Cale asked. "Like a role-playing game? Pencils and papeh?"

"You play, too?"

"I try," Cale answered with a shrug. "Really, I think my friends only let me play because my charactehs make good sacrifices."

"Can we retahn to the topic?" Dholit asked.

"Five bosses," Irleen said. "You know, the big things always holding a princess hostage or hiding treasure."

"Oh?" Rosaline asked. "And what have dese 'bosses' been hidin'?"

Irleen flew circles in the air above her. "Five Architects and a boomerang."

"A boomerang?" Dholit asked. Link rolled a bit to pull out the boomerang. He held it up and pushed to trigger it open. "Oh. Interesting."

"Ahchitects?" Rosaline asked as Link replaced the boomerang.

Cale nodded. "We found you through youh grandparents," he explained. "They helped build the fihs—"

"I know," Rosaline said. "I just… nevah be hearin' dot wohd befoah."

"What, Ahchitects?" Cale asked. Rosaline nodded.

"You haven't?" Irleen asked. "I thought everyone down here knew who they were. Meilont knew who they were."

Cale shrugged. "She seems to have been the only one. I hadn't heahd of them until Madame Seilon mentioned it. Not to mention none of the texts I've read evah call them by the name 'Ahchitect'. Afteh we found Ryain, I've mostly had to rely on his associations with the othehs. Not that it's been easy."

"No one said it would be," Link groaned as Dholit moved to the edge of the bed he lay on.

"Don't be soundin' like it's been easy at all," Rosaline said. She stood up and stretched. "Ah, well. I be feelin' a need to walk. Who wants to come?"

"Sorry," Link said. "I kinda need the rest right now."

"I think I shall decline as well," Dholit answered.

"Ihleen?" Rosaline asked.

"Link?" Irleen said. Link dug into his pocket and produced Irleen's translator gem.

Rosaline reached over and took the gem from Link's outstretched hand. "Cale?" she asked.

"Actually, I, um… the-theah's anotheh matteh I would like to attend to befoah we depaht," Cale said as he set Leynne's letter on the desk. "Uh… I-I'll be back foh the train."

Link lifted his outstretched arm straight up in the air and waved his hand. "Have fun," he said.

Cale gave a small cringe. "Actually, I hahdly expect it to be fun, but I'll try."

Rosaline waited until Cale closed the door before asking, "What was dot about?"

"I tink we all be tiahd of all dis," Irleen replied, her new accent causing Link to give a silent chuckle. "Let's go."

"We shouldn't be gone long," Rosaline told Dholit and Link. Dholit responded with a wave as they stepped out of the room.

She set her hand down with a light slap against her thigh. "So the otheh three ah taken caah of," she told Link. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Link groaned in response.

"I thought youh mood would improve afteh you reconciled with Ihleen. Somehow, I feel like I was wrong."

Link rolled onto his side, facing away from her. "Just a lot on my mind right now."

The bed shook as Dholit shifted closer to him and lay down on her back. "You'h not upset that Ihleen wasn't in love with you, ah you?"

Link frowned at the headboard. "No. I mean… I feel like an idiot now, but I'm glad she's not upset with me anymore."

"She's a gihl, Link," Dholit laughed. "She'll always be upset with you."

He glanced over his shoulder. "Do you think she's mad at me still?"

She sighed. "Oh, Link, you'h so hopeless. But at least you try."

He frowned at her and decided not to follow a conversation he had already lost track of. "It's… it's all that stuff Irleen was talking about. Those… 'bosses', or whatever she called them."

"What about them?"

"I was just thinking… it's-it's been weird for me. I know I've fought with these… these huge things, but it just doesn't feel real. It's kinda like how Irleen described things in the sky. It feels as if someone else fought those creatures instead of me." He looked back over his shoulder. "Doesn't that sound strange?"

"Almost as if you know what the fight looked like, but it feels as if someone else weh in youh boots?"

Link nodded. "Yeah."

She sat up. "Well, I cehtainly have cause to feel jealous."

"What do you mean?"

"Why Link. Ah you not awaah that you've developed a wahrioh's spirit?"

Link rolled onto his back so he did not have to look over his shoulder at her. "A what? A 'warrior's spirit'?"

She nodded. "That feeling you have when you realize that everything's open foh the taking and you need to protect it all. When you stop thinking and meahly staht doing. When all oppohtunities to foul up ah no longeh options you'h willing to live with. When even the most insane idea is preferable to the altehnative."

He considered it for a moment. He had not thought of it in those terms, but now that she had put them into words, it almost sounded like the kind of situations he had been in. "How… how does one get a warrior's spirit?"

"Every being, from the most humble plant to the greatest of gods, ah capable of having a wahrioh's spirit. As a Gilto, I believe that the wahrioh's spirit manifests itself when a being feels the most vulnerable."

Link gave a disbelieving shake of his head. "I don't feel like that."

"Not now, maybe. But think about it. All youh wohries, all youh feahs…

"You weh vulnerable when you and Ihleen fell out of the sky."

He felt stung by his memories of lying in Meilont's bed, unable to move or do anything. Being beaten by Gwait and his gang when he had tried to stop their bullying. Being sent with the children, wounded, and elderly when the Bulblins attacked the town. Dholit was right; those days spent living with Meilont and Talein had been the most vulnerable he had felt in his entire life, in spite of every horrible thing that had happened to him as an airman.

"What does it mean, though?" he asked her. "Am I… crazy?"

Dholit smiled at him, a warm smile far from the usual smirk she would give when she was playing with him. "Would you think any less of youhself if you had lost youh mind?"

He focused on the sky past the ceiling above him. "Maybe not, but that's not my problem. If I'm insane… I see my tour as an airship captain being short-lived."

"Oh? Is that the root of youh dedication to youh image?" She leaned into his view, forcing his eyes to focus on her. "If that's the attitude you intend to present, youh touh as an aihship captain may be even shohteh than you can imagine. The wahrioh's spirit is something to be embraced, Link. Besides, you probably would not be heah to discuss it if it had not been foh the spirit."

Link chuckled and covered his eyes with a hand. "I-I believe you, I ju—…" He took his hand away and gave the ceiling a sigh. "I just wanted to go home."

"I feah foh whatevah creatuah that decides to stand in youh way next," Dholit told him with a laugh.