Chapter 66: The Sum of Gratitude
…
~~So. Somehow, we survived an ambush by Wolfos, and I'm still confused why. It doesn't make any sense. Leynne and Luggard first said that the white Wolfos were hunting on the same grounds as the black Wolfos, and they didn't like it. And as much as they probably didn't like us, either, they were too beaten from killing the white Wolfos. When I told them that I think the black Wolfos with the scars was one of the Wolfos that I fought with weeks ago, they just kind of gave up. Irleen had her own theory. Apparently, there's some kind of "pack dynamic" with the Wolfos, where they're organized in a kind of hierarchy. She thinks that, when I killed a couple of the Wolfos weeks ago, I killed their leader and left the pack open to fighting. She remembered the same Wolfos as the one that would back off when I struck it and said that it must have been the weakest in the group. So when the leader died and the pack started fighting, the weakest one either gained control of the pack or broke away and formed a new pack. It still remembered me and showed its gratitude by defending us from the white Wolfos, but that was probably the only time it was going to do that. Luggard challenged her by asking how she knew so much about Wolfos, and she answered by telling him it all came from one of her "game books". So I guess the explanation is still up in the air. Personally, I had the impression that the black Wolfos knew who I was. It had its minions take out the white Wolfos because they were easy kills due to dealing with us. Then it recognized me and decided to avoid fighting us because it knew me. It doesn't really matter what explanation is true; I'm just glad we survived. The Wolfos had their reasons, and I'm grateful that those reasons haven't led to another attack. Yet.
~~We used the remaining daylight to figure out what we had to work with. We found that most of the materials for putting together tanks was still here. Fuel for the furnace, molds for making cast-iron tanks. And, most important, plans. Leynne says that we'll need to put together five tanks: four for the ship, and a large one for holding Loft Steam. And we did find Loft Steam. The well on the grounds is still active, so we have a source that we can take back with us. We've experimented with the materials we have available, and, unfortunately, we wound up wasting some of it trying to make a tank. But Leynne believes he has the general concept down. His experience with this equipment is paying off, and he actually seems to be enjoying it. Well, up until Lidago accidentally hit him in the head with one of the molds. Then he was a little cranky for the rest of the evening.
~~We found that the stoves in the barracks still worked, so we're staying the night in them instead of the train. I found that someone had left a usable pen and ink here, so I sat down to write. And I think I'm done writing now because I can't focus anymore.
…
~~Day 32.
~~We've finished the smaller tanks. They'll have to be assembled once we get back to Fishington since we don't have the smaller parts to put them together with. One thing I never realized was that all the tanks were connected together. I guess it makes sense because the only way to heat up the Loft Steam has always been a control stove in the back of a ship.
~~Tomorrow, we'll be working on a large storage tank to put Loft Steam in for transport back to the Forest Realm. Leynne's predicting problems, so we decided that we should make a tank we can fit into the freight car. It's gonna be tricky; we have to find a way to fit enough Loft Steam into a large, iron tank that we'll have to fit into a car that doesn't really have much of a door. Leynne thinks we'll have to use all of the iron we have left, so we need to pray we have this whole casting thing down. We found a mold for a much larger tank, large enough that we should be able to fill the small tanks we put together. We also found a hose, so we can fill and then seal the tanks from there.
…
"Leynne?"
"Yeah."
"This is a problem."
"Yeah. Yeah, I agree."
By the end of morning of the third day, they had completed a large, pill-shaped tank capable of holding more Loft Steam than the tanks to be used on the ship would need. After checking that the small shack next to the workshop did indeed sit above a Loft Steam well, they had connected the large tank and filled it. Using the hooks and ropes under the roof of the workshop, they had made sure the tank was secure while they filled it, which eventually caused it to float up until it touched the roof.
But when they had used the crane to extract the tank and move it to the Seventeen, they had encountered a problem. The tank had only been secured to the crane at one corner while Lidago, Leynne, and Luggard had held down the back corners with spare ropes. Their weight had hardly been enough to keep the tank from floating further once the roof was out of the way and even proved too light for the crane to hold and stay on the track. The tank's rear end had begun to rise, and all three of them in addition to Link tackled the crane just to keep it from getting away.
Now, Lidago and Luggard were holding onto the crane's frame while Link and Leynne each had hopped onto one of the large crank wheels.
"Now wha'?" Luggard asked, hanging from the under the crane's arm with his arms and legs wrapped around a large, horizontal bar.
"Can't say," Leynne replied. "This is ratheh a fihst foh me. Link?"
"I don't know," Link said. "I've never had to worry about a ballast tank floating away from me…"
"Dooh," Lidago whimpered.
"It'll be okay," Leynne told him. "Ouh main problem is figuring out how to weigh this down so we can get off."
"Yeah, well," Irleen said as she hovered near the arm of the crane, "I hate to point out the obvious, but all four of you are stuck holding it down. If one of you gets off, the other three are gonna be waving bye-bye."
"Unfohtunately, Lidago weighs the most of us," Leynne said. "If we need to put moh weight on, it will have to be smalleh weights. Link, do you think you can use those boots to run back into the wohkshop and find something to weigh the crane down so we can move it?"
"I probably could," Link said, "but how are we going to put more weight on it? We don't have any rope, and I'm afraid, by the time I find something light enough for me to carry, you guys might already be gone."
"'E's go' a poin'," Luggard said. He looked to one side and asked, "Link. Wha' 'bou' those trees? Can ya reach 'em?"
Link glanced over his shoulder at the nearby woods. "Yeah, maybe," he said as he wrapped an arm around the frame of his wheel. He used his right hand to unbutton his whip and found the handle. "If I can, then what?"
"Draw us towahd the shop," Leynne said. "We should be able to get paht of the crane undeh that extended roof. If we can do that, then we can shift to one side and let someone off to find some weight. We may even be able to hook it to the building."
Link positioned his hand at the base of the handle so that he could grip the area of the whip which controlled the mouth. Then he swung his arm, trying to force the head into the trees with an underhanded throw. The first two times, he barely made it into the trees, knocking loose snow off the leaves. The next throw made it into the leaves, but when he pinched the whip's end between his thumb and forefinger, he discovered that the Rope's head had missed catching anything.
The next throw caught a branch, and Link tugged a few times to make sure. "I got something," he told the others.
"Can you pull us?" Leynne asked.
Link gave a tug and quickly stopped. He realized that he could not let go of his grip on the section of the whip he was holding, otherwise the Rope's head would release. "It's gonna be hard," he said. "I need my other hand."
"Link," Luggard grunted. Link glanced through the crane's structure at him. He kicked a vertical bar near his foot. "Ya see this bar? See if ya can fi' yar leg through 'n lock 'roun' it. Then you can use yar other 'and."
"Okay." Link put his left leg through the wheel and wrapped his leg around the bar. Then, he stretched and hooked his foot around an adjacent horizontal bar. He used his left hand to then grab the whip. "I got it. Thanks."
"Go slow, Link," Leynne warned. "It's hahd to say what youh whip is attached to."
"This 'as gotta be the stranges' position I ever been in," Luggard commented as Link started pulling.
"One thing's foh cehtain," Leynne said. "We'll have to secuh the aihship befoh we fill the ballast. Othehwise, we'll be adding anotheh aihship to all those lost somewheh above."
"Lidago not like high," Lidago said.
"You ain' 'lone," Luggard said. "Hey, Leynne? How's we s'pose t' pu' the tank on me train?"
"I've been considering that. If we had some spah rope, we might be able to tie this crane to paht of the train. The train's weight will supplant ouh weight so we won't have to ride it."
"Aren't you guys going in the wrong direction for that?" Irleen asked.
"We need materials to secuh the crane with fihst," Leynne told her. "How ah you doing, Link?"
Link released the whip from the tree. "Okay," he answered. "I need to catch another tree."
"Assumin' we do ge' it on me train," Luggard said, "'ow's we s'pose t' ge' back t' the Forest Realm? We can' take the tunnel with the tank this 'igh."
"I'm thinking," Leynne said. "Ihleen, can you fly about and find anymoh buildings?"
"Sure thing," Irleen said before fluttering away.
"Damn," Leynne growled, releasing his right hand from the frame.
"Ya okay?" Luggard asked.
"My ahm," Leynne groaned. "I could use some painkillehs; this cold is making it wohse."
"'Ow's the wrappin'?"
"It's holding."
Link released the whip again. "Just about there, Leynne," he said over his shoulder.
"Is theh anything you can grab with that whip?" Leynne asked.
Link's eyes wandered the network of ropes and hooks under the roof. He was at eye-level with the roof itself, so he underhanded the whip again. He closed the fangs around a knot where two ropes met and started pulling. He pulled until his proximity to the roof made it difficult to move anymore. "Okay, now what?" he asked.
"If we shifted weight, is theh any paht that would… that would hook undeh the roof?" Leynne asked.
Link glanced down. "These handles I'm standing on might work; they're casted to this wheel."
"Just the same as these handles," Leynne said. "Luggahd, can you slide in my direction?"
"Yeah, bu' me arms is gettin' sore," Luggard said. The crane rocked as Luggard moved, and Link had to hunch low to avoid the roof.
"How does it look, Link?" Leynne asked.
"Maybe a little more," Link said.
"I can' move anymore," Luggard said.
"Lidago, place youh hand about heh," Leynne said, patting the outer frame of the wheel he held. Lidago reached a timid hand over and grabbed the wheel. "Now lean towahd me."
"Goron?" Lidago asked.
"What?"
"That's the Goron language," Link said. "I think he's confused."
"By sayin' 'Goron'?" Luggard asked.
"I guess."
Leynne shook his head. "Ligado, come heh," he said in a careful voice. Lidago, after taking a look at the ground, moved in Leynne's direction, causing Link's side of the crane to rise more. The handles above Link's head made contact with the steel beam under the roof's edge. "How about now?"
"Yeah," Link said.
"Okay, drop down," Leynne told him. "The roof should hold us."
"And if it don', I's bailin'," Luggard said.
Link slipped between the handles and slowly lowered himself. When he was hanging by just his hands, he dropped to find the ground much closer than he thought. He quickly looked up to find that the crane still hung above him, but well out of his reach. He gave a relieved sigh. "Well," he said. "It worked."
"Hey, Link!" Irleen hollered as she rounded the back corner of the workshop. "There's a small shed back here. I bet you can use something out of it."
"Huhry," Leynne said when Link looked up at them. "We'll be tihed soon."
"Come on, Link," Irleen urged as she started back around the corner.
Link jogged after her. When he rounded the corner, true to Irleen's word, there was a small, wooden shed with a corrugated metal roof sitting against the back of the workshop, its odd construction indicating that its addition to the workshop might have been an afterthought. He hustled to it, unbolted it, and opened the door. To his surprise, there were large coils of rope inside, in addition to a number of metal parts which were probably replacements for the small machines inside as well as for the crane. He even found a few extra blocks and hoses for the Loft Steam tanks.
"Hey, those'll come in handy," Link said, pointing at the hoses.
"Yeah, well, let's focus on getting them off the crane first," Irleen told him.
Link reached for the nearest coil of rope and lifted. But it did not budge, and he could see why. The rope was not only frozen together in a large mass, but frozen to the floor, which appeared to be bare ground. Link tugged a couple more times before using a boot to try breaking the ice apart.
"Link, there's no time for this," Irleen said.
"I know, I know," Link said as he stepped into the shed. He tried a few more coils before finding one that was not frozen together. So he pulled some of the coils up onto his shoulder and started wrapping the rest of the rope.
"Do you have one?" Irleen asked from the door.
"Yeah, hang on," Link told her.
"Link." Link shook his head and ignored the voice. He was in a hurry. "Link!"
"What!?" he shouted, turning to look at Irleen.
Irleen jerked. "What?"
"What do you want?"
"Huh? Nothing."
"Then why do you keep saying my name?"
"I wasn't!"
Link used his right arm to scoop up the rest of the rope. "Yes you were," he accused her as he stepped out of the shed. "You said it twice."
"I just told you we don't have time, and that was it," Irleen argued.
"Whatever," Link groaned. "Come on."
He jogged back around the corner, finding that the crane was still there. The first word he heard came from Luggard. "And the conductor said, 'Sir, if ya don' ge' off this damn car, ya's gonna be singin' 'igher notes'."
Link stepped up under the crane just in time to hear Lidago said, "Lidago not get."
"He fohgot to mention that the passengeh the conductoh was shouting at was a singeh," Leynne said.
"Did I?"
"You guys doing all right?" Link asked.
"Tired," Luggard replied.
"Did you find anything?" Leynne asked.
"Yeah, I have some rope," Link said.
"Okay, good," Leynne said. "Tie it around the crane and then the roof. Preferably as many times as you can. And to any of the metal structuh; that should hold betteh."
Link started by throwing one end of the rope through part of the crane and tied a taut-line hitch, the only kind of hitch he could manage while on the ground. Then, using the vertical support closest to the crane, he wound the rope between the crane and the support eight times before tying a boom hitch around the support. Just when he was tightening the boom hitch—
Fwump. Luggard fell off the crane.
…
The rest of the fiasco involving the crane and the absurdly buoyant iron tank concluded with the group tying two lengths of rope between the Seventeen's coupler between the freight car and the flatcar and the crane and slowly moving the crane to the train by manipulating all three ropes (including the rope Link had used to tie it to the workshop) in stages. Leynne said that it had to go around the coupler because the weight between the two cars would be more than enough to ensure that the tank could not lift the flatcar from the tracks or destroy the freight car. As soon as they were able, Leynne, on top of the freight car, threw ropes around the arm of the crane for further strengthening. They had to hope that the block and tackle of the crane's hook would be enough to hold the tank until they could find some way of hauling the tank closer. As they had it, though, they had managed to pull the tank close enough that the Seventeen had clearance for the tunnel they needed to take back to Fishington.
Not that they did not make sure of this before trying. Link and Leynne sat on top of the passenger car and freight car, respectively, and observed the tank as Luggard slowly pulled the train into the tunnel. After Leynne signaled that the tank was clear, they kept an eye on it just in case the top of the tunnel was lower at any point.
By the time they reached the Forest Realm, evening was setting in fast, so Link, Luggard, and Leynne agreed that they should stop at Library Town for the night. Lidago, having slept in the freight car, volunteered to watch the tank in case something happened to it. Because Leynne still had a lease on the studio he had been using, they decided to spend the night there. Unfortunately, since Leynne had moved all of his tools to Fishington, Link was disappointed that he could not write in his journal.
…
The next morning saw the group get up early. Leynne had to delay while he had the engine filled with water, but they left soon after breakfast. Link found himself in a bit of a mood as they traveled. Even though they now had a means of making the vessel float, there was still the trouble with their lack of resources. Little wood to build a hull, no kind of forge to build parts for an engine… he felt they would be lucky if they could use bed sheets to make sails. Not only that, but it would take months to put together a vessel capable of tolerating the intense winds of the Sky Lines. He hoped that the plans Leynne, Dubble, Sello, Lidago, and Rosaline had produced already anticipated that (especially since Link had already made mention of it to Leynne), but the fear was already there.
Luggard was approaching the town from the north so Link, Lidago, and Leynne did not have to cross the tracks to the platform. He kept poking his head out over the side in his usual manner.
Then he said as most of the town was in sight, "Oy, Link. Wha' would ya say's the bigges' thin' south o' Fishington?"
"Are you kidding?" Irleen asked from her perch above the instrument panel.
"That's all just houses, isn't it?" Link said. He looked up from his lap to Luggard.
And he saw Luggard grinning from ear to ear. "No' anymore."
Link frowned at him and stood up. Luggard was slowing the train as he stepped to the opposite side and looked out at the town. His jaw dropped when his eyes locked on the large structure on the south side of town. Standing perhaps three stories high and much wider than it was tall, Link could felt his heart suddenly pound at the familiar sight of a ship's hull. He simply could not believe that so much progress had been made since they had left for the Snow Realm. He had never seen a vessel built so quickly, not even by a professional shipbuilding company. At first, he considered that they had taken a vessel from the nearby Fishington Lake, but a quick glance in that direction revealed that not even the biggest boats compared in size. The fact that masts had not been up and rigged indicated that the ship had to have been built in-place.
His knees buckled, and he had to hold onto the cab's wall to keep from hitting the floor. "Link, ya all righ'?" Luggard asked, giving him a glance before braking for the platform ahead.
"I-I—" Link stammered. "Irleen, come on!"
"What?" Irleen asked as the train jerked to a stop.
"Hurry!" Link said, pulling on his hat.
"Okay, okay," she said, diving inside.
Link scrambled to open the door. Then he jogged to the edge of the platform, although every nerve in his body told him to run as fast as possible. His boots gave him the speed he wanted the moment he touched foot to the ground, and he sped away from the platform with Luggard's unanswered call failing to reach him.
He followed the road to the workshop/house they had been using. First, he slowed to a jog. He finally stopped in the grass. It was a towering structure, much larger and more imposing that the Island Sonata had ever been. All over the hull, wandering a thin network of scaffolds along the ship's length, were a myriad of people he thought he would never see again. He recognized the men of Whittleton by their earthen-colored clothes, which consisted mostly of their trousers and thick belts weighed down with tools. On the ground, miners from the Fire Realm, revealed by the black ash and dirt which never seemed to wash off their muscular frames, worked a series of ovens and forges set on bare dirt. Bouncing between both groups were Gelto from the Sand Realm, having taken the act of weather-proofing the hull and passing planks up to the higher workers and turned it into an acrobatic exhibition as they flipped and cartwheeled about the scaffolds. A couple of Gorons were handling some of the larger furnaces under the bow, and a pair of Yook offered out drinks to workers who had sat to rest.
Irleen emerged from Link's hat and stared up in shock for a while before saying anything. "Oh, my… Link… wha… what are they doing?"
Link's eyes welled, and his knees finally gave out. The sound of hammers banging out steel forms and locking planks together… of water quenching hot metal… of voices shouting out a song to help them form some sort of rhythm… It completely overwhelmed him. Irleen had the right question: what were they doing? The Whittleton lumberjacks, they could not be working here. With the hardship their town was facing, all that lumber should have gone for supplies they could use to keep themselves on the map. And why were the miners there, ignoring their professions and working the materials they had harvested into useable parts? Would the mines be shut down without them? The Yook… Link knew the Yook could not stand the higher temperature of this environment, so why would they chance coming here? And what brought the Gorons with them? Their regular food source was far too scarce around here; Lidago proved that by having to disappear looking for it. And what possible motivation could the Gelto have for showing up, having wanted to steal Hylian husbands from the miners? How could those two groups possibly be working together?
Link's throat choked. Tears started falling from his eyes. He could not understand it all. All of these people had faced so much hardship from their own homes and, most of the time, did not seem to have much to offer others just to put food on the table for their families. But here they all were, building an airship.
An airship to send him home. Even if none of them had said it, he could feel the sentiment in the determination they put into their work, the sweat glistening of their skin and making them look like some kind of divine beings. They wanted to help. They wanted to help so bad that they set aside their own troubles and brought themselves together to simply will a ship into existence.
"Link!" He heard the familiar voice call out to him from behind, and he glanced over his shoulder. Valley, ever so energetic and wearing a set of brown overalls over a bright green shirt, was jogging up behind him from the town, Leynne and Luggard close behind her. He carefully got to his feet and watched her for a moment.
"Captain!"
"Link!"
"Hey, Link!"
Link spun back in surprise as the workers slowly put a hold to their work when they realized he was standing there. Then forges were abandoned, planks were dropped, and paintbrushes were left in the grass as they climbed off the scaffolds while those on the ground charged him. Link felt frightened and took a step back. But the miners encircled him first and drowned his hearing in words of praise and delight. The white sleeves of his bodysuit, already stained from working with the equipment they had found for the ballast tanks, were steel-grey by the time the Whittleton men broke them apart to offer their own appreciation. One Goron ploughed through the crowd and wrapped up Link in a hug which he caused his spine to snap. When the Goron dropped him, a large hand touched his back to keep him from falling over.
When he followed the large, white-furred arm to a yellow-toothed grin, his jaw dropped open again at the sight of that familiar face. "K-Kohg!?" he cried above the voices around him.
"Hello, Captain!" he bellowed. "Captain be well?"
"Holy crap!" Irleen shouted, flying circles above Link's head.
Link sniffled and placed a hand on Kohg's wrist. "Better than ever!"
Kohg nodded. "Kohg bring friends. Help Captain. Like Valley say."
"Wha—Valley!?" Link asked.
"Link!" Link turned next to find a strong hand on his shoulder. "Yeh look be'er than the firs' time I saw yeh!"
"T-Talein!?" Link said. "Wha-what are you doing here!?"
"Meilont told me 'bout yer prob'm!" Talein shouted over the crowd. "I go' some wood fer yeh, an', well… a bunch o' us felt like we still owed yeh fer wha' yeh did fer us back in Whittleton!"
"But—but all this wood!" Link said. "What about the town? Won't they need it!?"
Talein let out a bellowing laugh. "O' course we do! Tha's wha' yeh mean tae us!"
"Liiiiiiink~!" Link was unprepared for the tackle he received and was mowed over by the person calling his name, landing on his shoulder. "Did you miss me?"
Link glanced down at the bronze arms holding him and said in an irate tone, "Not. Really."
"Awwww," Dholit said as she released him. They both stood up, and Dholit indicated the hull behind him. "What do you think? Amazing, right?"
"Dholit, what are the Gelto doing here?" he asked. "I thought your people had other priorities!"
"Wohd reached the Queen back in the Realm," she answered. "She asked foh volunteehs to come heh with the minehs and help build the ship."
"They came with the miners? Why were the miners coming here?"
"The same reason the Gilto came! Youh friend Valley!"
"Hey, Link!" Dholit stepped aside as Valley emerged from the crowd. "Is you all right? You fall?"
"Valley?" Link asked. "Why are you here?"
"I came with da miners and da Gelto," she said. "I followed where you went to get information. Dey asks about you? I tells dem you's still building an airship. Da miners wanted to help. Dey wanted to dank you for bringing Sello and fixing deir digging machine. And da Gorons said da same ding!"
"And-and you brought the Yook, too?"
"Dey was already here!"
"And some of dem be comin' from dot train we found in de Ocean Realm," Rosaline said as she emerged from the crowd to Link's left. Then she nodded at Dholit.
Dholit produced a large, short-barreled pistol from behind her waist. For a moment, Link thought she was going to shoot someone. But she pointed it in the air and fired. A burst of flame whistled high into the air, startling the people around them into silence. "Okay, yeh bunch!" Rosaline declared as the whistle died out. "He be heah, so it's time to show him just what he be meanin' to yeh!"
"Can ah ge' a 'hoo-rah'!" Talein shouted.
"HOO-RAH!" the crowd bellowed with such force that Link was sure people as far as Hovela could hear.
"Le's go!" Talein shouted. And, just as suddenly as they had surrounded him, the workers ran back to the ship and simply returned to their jobs.
…
"I really can't say when dey started showing up," Rosaline said as she handed Link a cup of hot tea. "It must have been about noon de day yeh guys left."
Link settled his back against the couch and looked down into the tea cup. "I-I never thought…"
"It was quite a suhprise to us as well," Dholit said as she lay an arm across the couch behind him. "I knew how well-traveled you weh, Link, but no amount of reading prepahed us foh the sudden sight of fifty lumbahjacks on the horizon."
"O-on the…" Link started.
"She be imbellishin'," Rosaline said. "Dey came by train."
"Afteh the minehs appeahed," Dholit continued, "we stahted passing around papeh so we could get all of theih names."
"Which be much easieh when dey went to sleep," Rosaline said with a giggle.
"I can't believe the progress you've made," Leynne said as he looked at the plans on the table. "And afteh only… three days?"
Rosaline turned to him and crossed her arms. "Well, I do be havin' de experience with building ships," she told him.
"Even so, when did we even agree on the scale?" Leynne asked. "I had guessed these measuhments from a schooneh I'd seen in Hovela. You've built a craft almost fifty pehcent lahgeh."
"Room to spah," Rosaline said with a shrug.
"And various miscommunications," Dholit added with a grin.
"De big question be if yeh found ballast tanks," Rosaline told him.
"Found 'em, nah," Luggard, leaning in the open doorway with a mug of coffee in his hand, spoke up. "We 'ad t' make 'em."
"We found blueprints and layout plans at Alfred's wohkshop," Leynne said. "We left them on the train. We weh fohtunate enough to have the materials on-hand, but I suspect that we may need moh Loft Steam to float this ship. Right, Link?"
"Probably," Link said with a nod. "But now that we know what kind of trouble we can expect from it, we should be better prepared for it."
"We'll need some pipes to connect the tanks togetheh," Leynne continued. "We found out that all of the tanks ah connected so that heat used to help a vessel rise can distribute to the rest of the tanks. It eliminates the need to install individual heatehs, like we expected."
"I like it," Rosaline said. "Dubbl an' I talked. I got some friends bringin' some o' de best sails on de suhface. An' dey be bringin' de ropes, too."
Leynne nodded. "Good. You know, I almost regret missing this."
"'Ow's we gonna put in the ballas' tanks?" Luggard asked. "It's floatin' in the air. And attached t' a crane. Tha' we 'ad t' tie t' me train."
"Huh?" Rosaline asked, looking to Leynne for an answer.
"We had a small incident with the Loft Steam itself," he told her. "It's so buoyant that it tried to float off with the crane we weh supposed to use to load the tank onto the train. We had to use the train cahs to anchoh it down."
"We can look at it in de mornin'," Rosaline said. "Between de Yook an' all de men, I be bettin' we can do somethin' about dot."
"Sounds like a plan," Luggard said. "Soon as we ge' the tank off, we 'ead back 'n ge' more."
"As soon as we have an empty tank," Leynne corrected him. "And if we can find more hoses like what we found at the wohkshop, we can leave the tank strapped to the flatcah. We shouldn't have to fill it up too much. Which reminds me. When we do install the ballast tanks, we need to make suh the whole vessel is secuh. Othehwise, it'll staht floating without a crew."
"Got it," Rosaline said. "Actually, if we can wait until Sello finishes de engine, we might be able to use de big tank to put it in de ship."
"Where is Sello?" Link asked.
"You probably didn't see him," Dholit said. "He's on the otheh side of the ship, assembling an engine."
"Witout plans," Rosaline added. "I just told him what we needed it to do, an' he went on his way."
"Sobeh?" Leynne asked.
"I t'ought about it," Rosaline said. "But it would be easieh if he be drunk."
"He's been drinking foh so long," Dholit said, "we weh concehned that he would have a debilitating hangovah. This wouldn't do, not at the present."
Leynne frowned. "You know, I hadn't considehed that possibility. Afteh what happened in Hovela, I was detehmined to sobeh him up."
"What happened in Hovela?" Link asked.
"We lost track of him," Leynne said. "When we found him again, we discovehed that he had been modifying the steam engine aboahd a wooden ship. It depahted and tuhned on its engine, and the entih crew decided to abandon it when smoke stahted billowing from the reah."
"He-he blew up an engine!?"
"No, it wohked fine," Leynne said. "And then it went behsehk. A lot of people on the dock watched the ship teah itself apaht befoh disappearing on the horizon. If one had been so inclined, it was possible to follow the ship's path by following the line of debris."
Disturbed faces passed between the people in the room. "I guess it's good 'e don' modify me locomotive anymore," Luggard said.
"I bettah be havin' a talk wit him," Rosaline said before she left through the front door in a hurry.
The room was quiet for a moment. Then Dholit asked, "Wheah's Ihleen?"
"She wanted to look at the ship some more," Link said. "She's excited that we're finally seeing one built."
"And you?" Leynne asked.
"O-of course," Link said. "I just… It was just such a surprise to see it. But… what am I going to do once it's done?"
"Whacha mean?" Luggard asked.
"Well…" Link said. "All of these people here… do you know how scarce some of this stuff is? All the wood and metal? How can I repay any of that?"
"By taking command," Leynne said.
Link opened his mouth to speak, but Dholit said, "He's right, Link. And if you don't like that, allow me to break it down foh you." She stood up and gestured to herself. "We Gilto ah grateful to you foh the slaying of the giant Malgyohg. And we have respect foh a wahrioh. If you do not accept ouh contribution to this vessel, we will enslave you and use you until you die." All three men audibly gulped. "If we decide not to slay you on the spot, of couhse."
"I think you've solved the problem right theh," Leynne said.
"I know, but I'd ratheh not leave him with the impression that ouh kindness is the only thing keeping him alive," she replied. "As that man Talein explained it, the people of Whittleton ah still grateful foh youh contribution to the defense of theih town. From my undehstanding, you weh sevehely injuahed at the time."
Link nodded. "It was just after I landed. My body was spent for days. I couldn't even move."
"And it's the same story foh the minehs we found on the train in the Ocean Realm. Without ouh arrival, who knows if they would have retahned home oh not. And youh slaying of that giant creatuah went a long way to youh integrity. Afteh all, you could have just as easily run away."
Link lowered his head. "I didn't even think about running away…"
"The Yook just happen to like you," Leynne spoke up. "Especially Kohg. I think he thought quite high of you when you went and lamented the loss of youh aihman."
"But he's the only one that showed up," Link pointed out.
"He brought a few moah men from the Yook settlement," Dholit said. "They've been at wohk on the inside of the vessel, in the shade as they put the decks togetheh."
"Oh."
"And we know those miners like ya for showin' up with Sello," Luggard added. "I even mentioned t' Roland a couple times tha' if it 'adn't been for ya, they'd still be starvin'."
"You see, Link," Dholit said, "what it comes down to is you've helped out the people down heah in what have been the wohst yeahs this realm has faced. These people weh miserable, lonely, and slowly dying. If you would tell them to leave and use theih 'scahce' resouhces foh themselves, they would see you as nothing but an ungrateful brat."
Link sat in shamed silence for a moment, his eyes on his cold tea. "S-sorry…"
"It's a point you can't ahgue, Link," Leynne said. Then he chuckled. "You'll be commanding this ship whetheh you like it oh not."
"Maybe," Link said. "But that depends on what kind of crew I can find."
"We'll concehn ouhselves with that lateh," Leynne said. Then something occurred to him as he looked at the couch Link sat on. So he looked up at Dholit and asked, "Wheh'd that couch come from?"
Dholit just turned and grinned at him.