Chapter 94: Are We There Yet?

…

~~Day 79 (Command, Day 42)

~~I'm beginning to think the universe as a whole is conspiring to make me look like I'm crazy. It probably doesn't help that things keep happening to me which I can't explain without sounding like a lunatic. Today, I had to get around explaining that I now hear Princess Zelda's voice in my head even when I'm awake. I was just trying to find out what Sello did with his couch, and she spontaneously laughed at the whole thing. It's a good thing we have Irleen aboard; I would've never been able to give a decent explanation. If I have to explain one more weird thing to my crew, I think I'm just going to let them think I'm nuts. I think I've already gone insane anyway.

~~On a less rant-y note, we're still sailing under the power of the technoworks. I can't really say for how much longer. The wind had shown a little promise this morning, but it just didn't work out. At this point, I'm mainly just glad we're still moving. We were slowed a bit by the rocks; they seemed a little thicker today. By my best guess, we're about four or five days away from South Sand Island.

…

"Link?"

"Yeah?" Link replied to the princess's voice as he glanced out over the main deck from atop the quarterdeck.

"Who is that by the front wheel? The person wearing orange?"

Link had to focus on the middle of the deck, trying to find Sello. He thought she was talking about the helm, and that made him overlook the forward capstan for a moment. He saw Sello's form leaning on the capstan and replied, "That's Sello, my chief engineer."

"The inebriated man from yesterday, correct?" she asked.

Link sighed. "Yeah…" After a quick conversation with her this morning (which took place on the quarterdeck to decrease the chance that someone would overhear him), Link had decided to introduce his crew one by one. This had been done as Link spotted each member of the deck crew; he had already told her about Cale, Leynne, Gold, Biluf, Dholit (kind of anyway; he found that her usual behavior toward him was beyond explanation, particularly since he did not have any), Twali, and Lilly. He had been expecting to have to describe the members of the engineering crew.

"He…" She had to spend a moment giggling. "He certainly seems to have a… a unique personality among your crew. Not to belittle the rest of the crew, but he does stick out."

"I guess," Link said, sounding a little bored. "I never really considered constant drunkenness a personality."

"Has he always imbibed alcoholic beverages?"

Link shrugged. "Ever since Irleen and I met him in a volcano."

"A-a volcano?" Zelda paused for a moment. "What was he doing there?"

"His father and a bunch of others had built a facility in the volcano. But… I think, after a while, he just… kinda lived there. He'd used a distillery to make his own alcohol, although… something tells me that doing that hasn't really done him much good."

"Did he not have family?"

Link scratched the back of his head. "Well… we think they all might've… died. He told us that his father had died in a… a really complicated accident. I-I don't remember all the details, but I remember that it sounded pretty gruesome."

"Oh, dear. I suppose that would explain the alcohol."

"Yeah, well… when Irleen and I went into the facility with one other person, we… well, we kinda… we flooded the facility with lava and probably destroyed it. Probably."

Zelda gave a shocked sound. "Link!" she complained.

Link placed a hand over his eyes. "Look, I was having a bad week, okay? But, with everything that had happened, we did make some progress. We found out that my old crew had brought the Horizon's Eye back to the kingdom; we'd found the wreckage on the surface. And…" He held out his hands to indicate Sello. "Well, I found an engineer!"

She giggled at him. "It sounds to me as if he had no other place to go."

Link shrugged. "I don't think he even noticed. He seems to think that the facility is still there." Then he sighed and moved to the stairs. "I'd better get him off the deck before he does something crazy. It's a long way down."

"Something which I imagine very few really appreciate."

Link held back his grimace and crossed the weather deck. Lilly, not being assigned to watch the bow due to not feeling comfortable standing on the bulwark, had, during her patrol around the main deck, finally decided to approach Sello. She was prodding his shoulder with a finger when Link stepped up next to her.

She turned to him and said, "He's sleeping."

The mundane nature of the statement was beaten to a pulp by the fact that, despite all appearances, Sello had actually fallen asleep. The gentle rock was not enough to dislodge Sello from the capstan. Although he seemed to have been simply propped against it, his wide stance helped ensure that most of Sello's weight rested against capstan, pinning his rear to this element of the deck. How Sello had managed to keep his arms crossed and his back straight while he was unconscious was anybody's guess. The most disturbing of all was that Sello had fallen asleep with his eyes open, which Link used to test Sello's current state by waving a hand in front of his face. It was eerie, especially when the breeze running across the ship should have made his eyes unbearably dry. The only true indication that Sello was asleep was the sound of him snorting air in and out through his nose. Zelda seemed to realize this faster than Link, as she was already giggling by the time Link could fully grasp the fact that it was possible for someone to sleep with his eyes open.

Link pointed an idle finger and told Lilly, "Go ahead and continue your rounds."

"Yessir," she replied, unable to control her amused tone or her smile as she walked away.

He glanced around a moment to make sure no one else was within earshot. Then he muttered to Zelda, "It's not that funny…" Zelda broke into a louder, fuller laugh. This left Link astounded for two reasons. First, her voice somehow became even more beautiful as she laughed. The sound of her openly laughing at him rang every bit as enchanting as when he had discovered her singing to herself. Second, the fact that she could laugh so strong in spite of her plight amazed Link. Only three days ago, she had been every bit the emotional train wreck Link had been ever since the surface, maybe even more so since she was locked in a dark place Link had only had a glimpse of. But yesterday, she had acted as if none of it had ever happened. She sounded like she was really part of his crew, as if she had been here on the Island Symphony from the beginning. He could not be sure if this was a good or bad sign. He hoped it was good, and he leaned further toward that opinion when she finally calmed down of her own accord.

"Will you be removing him from the deck?" she asked him.

Link leaned closer and was rewarded with a whiff of stale alcohol from Sello's clothes. He immediately snapped backwards and shared a disgusted sound with the princess. "Yeah, I'm not touching him," Link told her.

"Do you suppose he will return below if you wake him?"

Link shrugged. "It's worth a shot." He put his hand in front of Sello's face and snapped his fingers. "Hey. Hey, Sello? Wake up." Sello snorted louder and wrinkled his nose, but he simply fell back into his unresponsive state. "Sello!" Link said louder. "Wake up!" He waved a hand in front of Sello's face. "Helloooooo!"

"I, uh…" Zelda giggled. "I think you will have to change your mind about touching him."

Link groaned. "Yeah, I know." He put a hand on Sello's shoulder and gently shook him. "Sello?" When that had not worked, he shook harder. "Selloooooo…"

At first, Link thought Sello had finally stirred. But when he backed off, he discovered that his shaking had disturbed Sello's position. Sello's left leg shifted, and Sello fell to the deck with a painful thud.

Zelda at least had the grace to try to stifle her laughter this time. Link sighed and said more to himself than her, "Great. Now I gotta drag him."

…

~~Day 80 (Command, Day 43)

~~I wish we would get there faster.

…

~~Day 81 (Command, Day 44)

~~I've been talking with Princess Zelda for the past couple of days. For someone trapped in the brig of a demons' airship, she's actually been pretty level-headed. I hope it means that I was right, that it would be better for us to keep in contact. I would sure feel stupid if this whole situation really does drive us both crazy.

~~Today marks the second day that we've found Sello sleeping in a strange place. Well, stranger than usual anyway. Yesterday, he fell asleep leaning on the capstan while his eyes were still open. Today, Cale complained that he had done something similar in the berth deck, leaning against the interior of Cale's berth. According to Lawrence, Sello scared the hell out of Cale doing that, and Lawrence took Sello down to the engine room when he went on duty. We discovered that Sello's stock of alcohol is dwindling; it was something that both Leynne and I hadn't really thought about before leaving Might Island. I've since added it to the list of supplies we'll be needing once we find an island, whether it's South Sand Island or Bold Island.

~~The way we're traveling, though, makes me wish we would be at Bold Island right away. The wind hasn't helped for the past two days, and I'm thinking it just might be the same once we get to either island. At least we have the supplies if we happened to overshoot South Sand Island (aside from the aforementioned lack of fuel for Sello), but—Now I'm not sure where I wanna end up. With the way the wind has been, Bold Island would be better, but stopping at South Sand Island would give us some time to set up before going to Bold Island.

~~And I've just discovered how hard my desktop is. I'll be going to sleep with a concussion tonight.

…

Link stared on in anticipation at the sky ahead. This was a moment all his crew had been anticipating for some time. It was early in the evening with the sun on the western horizon, casting half the sky golden. Dubbl and Lwamm hung onto the lines, not worrying about standing on the bulwark this time. Link glanced to one side at Gold, who had a scowl drawn across his face as he ground the handles of the wheel in his hands. Link could feel his tension, although he wondered why Gold was acting that way. This moment felt as if it was going to drag on for another day. Link half-considered ordering the engine engaged, and his mulling it over made the moment last longer. In the end, he decided not to. The deck shifts had just changed, meaning there were a bunch of people walking around doing their own things; turning the engine on would knock them over and likely gift Link with their ire. So far this week, he had managed to avoid doing anything that made them think he was crazy.

Eyes shifted from port to starboard and back as they watched the large rocks approach. Then everyone released a sigh of relief as the Island Symphony crossed the invisible boundary encircling the large region of rocky air.

"We're through," Link said to himself.

"'Uzzah!" Gold spat. He turned and flung a disdainful gesture toward the bow. "Good ri'ance and f—…" Link had been grinning at his helmsman's reaction, anticipating the curse words to fly as much as they had while Gold had piloted during the night shift for the past week. So when Gold had cut himself off, Link turned to see what he was doing. Gold wore a look of utter shock. Before Link could ask what was wrong, Gold asked, "Cap'n… I think… I think we're burnin'."

Link finally decided to follow Gold's line of sight. What he saw actually caused more confusion than actual panic, and he remained surprisingly calm about it. The boat deck, for whatever reason, was spewing an incredible amount of smoke. Most if it came from the opening in the poop deck, but thin clouds of it also seeped through the doors to the quarterdeck. The aft half of the poop deck was completely obscured. Normally, a sight such as this should be a source of horror for an airship captain and crew.

If the smoke was something other than bright purple.

Link really had no idea how he should respond to this sight. It took him a moment to remember what regularly took place and turned around to gesture to Dubbl. "Dubbl," he said once she was within speaking distance. "Uh… where-where's Biluf?"

"Afte' duty, she go to do… uh…" Link turned to find her trying to gesture, but even that appeared to be a bit of a struggle. "She… makes… zings…"

Link held up a hand. "It's okay, Dubbl, I think I get it. Let's go over there and make sure she's all right."

"Okay."

Although there did not seem to be any obvious need for urgency, Link and Dubbl crossed the main deck with a brisk pace. Link then started to wonder if anyone was on the poop deck when this started. This did cause him to become concerned since anyone up there could mistakenly fall into the boat deck or down the stairs to the quarterdeck. And if Cale was still up there… Well, Link reasoned that even if it was Cale, falling did not seem to harm him as much as it should.

Link and Dubbl were just reaching the quarterdeck when the doors to the boat deck burst open. As expected, Biluf came crawling out of a plume of floral-scented purple smoke (the scent being something Link and Dubbl had not been expecting). She was coughing hard as she crossed the quarterdeck and sat up against the rail across from the doors.

"Check if she's all right," Link told Dubbl as he made for the stairs up to the poop deck.

Then more coughing sounded, and Link paused at the base of the stairs. He looked back into the boat deck as two more figures crawled out and joined Biluf. Predictably enough, one of them was Cale. The other was Twali, probably having just come on duty before the smoke appeared.

Dubbl was staring at them for a moment, although Link could not quite tell what her reaction to them was. "Wabun xwicikak max?" she asked them.

Biluf was coughing too much to answer, but she nodded her head. "'Inan xwicikak," Twali said before succumbing to another coughing fit.

"You guys okay?" Link asked as he stepped over to them.

"I'm okay," Cale replied.

"Zey okay, too," Dubbl told Link.

Link indicated the smoke behind him. "What about that?" he asked. "We're not on fire, are we?"

"Biluf, 'ak 'afi'il roycathitak max?" Dubbl asked, leaning closer to Biluf.

Biluf waved one hand in dismissal of the idea. "Na', na'," she told Dubbl. "'Olwu sariyk. 'Inu nadkulwfya'ak rayss."

"Waba bisixak max?" Dubbl asked.

"Ay'a."

Dubbl turned to Link. "Only smoke, Kyabtin. No fi'e."

"No fire?" Link asked, unsure if he had understood that.

"Yes, Kyabtin."

Cale smelled himself. He coughed and said, "What is that… smell?"

"Flowers?" Link asked, glancing back at the boat deck.

"Flowahs?" Cale repeated. "From smoke?"

Link tapped Dubbl's shoulder. Then he jerked a thumb at the smoke. "This isn't gonna hurt us, is it?"

"'Ak sariyk manokak max?" Dubbl asked Biluf.

"Saaaaaaa…" Biluf breathed as she looked at the smoke. "Na'."

"No?" Link asked.

"Ze smoke, not dangedous," Dubbl said with a nod.

"Salya, waba nadsakalwithak 'anw sariyk," Biluf continued. "'Itab… 'ak sariyk nayx sifunak."

"We not want to… bleaze smoke," Dubbl said. "Ze smoke will go away."

"Okay, good," Link said. "Did she say what she was doing in there?"

"Biluf, waba liyxomtya'ak dhol?" Dubbl asked.

Biluf then launched into a long-winded explanation which Link found he could not follow even if he did understand Geltoan. So while Dubbl listened, Link stepped around them and leaned over to check on Twali and Cale. "What happened?" he asked. "Why were you two in the boat deck?"

"Ah, well…" Cale said. "When-when the, uh… when the smoke stahted rising from the boat deck, I wasn't suah if I should get you oh not. But befoah I knew it, the smoke was just so blinding that… well… I fell into the boat deck trying to find the staihs."

Link could not hold back a grin. "Somehow I figured."

"Giyroxwan," Twali spat at him, giving his arm a light smack.

"Ah, what?" Cale replied, surprised but quiet with his tone.

"Foltab waba samxya' 'inoy, 'inu yadhibya'ak," she told him. She then crossed her arms and appeared to sulk.

"What'd you do?" Link asked with a grin.

"Well…" Cale said, his head tilting to indicate his discomfort. "I… I might have… grabbed heh shiht befoah I fell."

Link chuckled and shook his head. "Cale…" he started. But he stopped when he realized that he was not sure what to tell Cale. Everything that came to mind seemed to be a joke at his horrible tendency to fall into something. So he said while holding back the urge to laugh, "I-I don't know what to tell you." Then he noticed that Biluf had stopped talking and turned to Dubbl. "What'd she say?"

"Uh…" Dubbl droned as she seemed to be thinking through what she had just learned. "I not unde'stand," she admitted. "She say she made mo'e… byu-bullets?"

"Bullets?" Link asked. "You mean shells for the flare guns?"

"Yes," she said, nodding. "But… she made mistake… and I not unde'stand. I not unde'stand in Gilto language, eithe'."

Link sighed. "That's okay," he said. "Just as long as no one was hurt, it's all right. Tell her she can return to her work or clean up as soon as this smoke clears, whichever she prefers. And… well, maybe avoid doing it again."

…

~~Day 82 (Command, Day 45)

~~We're finally out of the rocky area of the sky between West Iron and South Sand Islands. With this, we should be able to maintain a straight course due south. Whether it'll be a steady course I think will rely more on the wind. Which hasn't been any more cooperative today. Earlier today, we'd been getting hints that the wind might actually shift northeast instead of northwest. It would be good if we needed to move east, but it really wasn't that strong anyway. So we've been moving with the technoworks again. I checked on them, and I was surprised to find that there wasn't any dirt on the outsides. I asked Irleen about this just a minute or so ago. She says that, since we're moving, it's possible the breeze from the wind and the ship is blowing the dirt off as the cubes excrete it. (Man, that sounds weird.) I guess it makes sense since dirt doesn't seem to grip onto the technoworks too well anyway.

~~We found Sello sleeping under the forecastle today. Probably the only reason we noticed was because he nearly lost his foot in the steering mechanism. I've asked the engine crew to tie him down if he tries to leave the room again; I really don't want him to wander the ship like this. It's a little scary.

~~Biluf gave us an interesting evening. She flooded the boat deck with purple smoke. She hadn't set the ship on fire, and I didn't really believe she actually had. You know, again. I mean, how does burning wood produce bright, purple smoke that smells like flowers? She was a little hard to understand, even when she was speaking Geltoan with Dubbl. But, from what I gathered, she's making more shells for our flare guns. Now that I'm thinking about it, if she's making shells which use smoke instead of the bright flares which we've been using, those might actually be pretty useful. It's hard to see flares in the day sometimes, so making shells that produce smoke would be great.

~~I haven't heard anything from Princess Zelda today. I don't know if she was just being quiet or if something might've happened back on Cunimincus' ship. Or she probably just couldn't make contact today. It's been happening so frequently lately that I already miss talking to her.

…

~~Day 83 (Command, Day 46)

~~Saw a pair of ships heading north this morning, though we were too far east to hail them. Saw one more ship this afternoon, too. It's gotta be a good sign; those should be miner ships traveling into the rocky region behind us. We've gotta be close to South Sand Island. After the third ship, Leynne suggested changing our course so that we would sail in their wake and come closer to South Sand Island.

~~We found Sello sleeping on the countertop in the galley, though it wasn't for lack of trying; he somehow brought up one of his empty crates with him. No one really noticed him until Lwamm came running onto the deck declaring that something was making a crate in the galley float. It turned out that Sello was sleeping on the counter with one of the crates tied to his back. We moved him back down to the engine room and filled one of his bottles with grog. Maybe it will keep him in the engine room until we can reach the South Sand Island.

~~I still haven't heard anything from Princess Zelda. I'm getting a little worried.

…

"Link? Can you hear me?"

Link snapped out of his daze to realize he was standing on the quarterdeck of the Island Symphony. He had been leaning on the waist-high rail overlooking the main deck. He shook his head and turned to see who was talking to him.

He was more than a little surprised to find himself looking at Princess Zelda. He had to shake his head and look again to make sure he was not seeing things. "Princess?"

She smiled at him. "I'm sorry, Link," she said. "Are you all right?"

"I'm-I'm…" Link replied as he glanced over the main deck. He found it to be the middle of the day, but no one was making rounds on the deck nor standing at the wheel. The sails were open and set to be driven by the engine. In spite of that, the breeze across the deck came from starboard. He could hear the subtle creak of the ship's timbers as it rocked. The atmosphere, despite all appearances of a calm afternoon, felt very eerie to him. "I'm… I'm confused."

"You're in a dream again," she told him with a giggle.

"Oh," Link said with a slow nod. "I-I was hoping my crew still… existed… somewhere." He glanced up toward the poop deck. "How are you doing this?"

"All I have seen of the ship and all you have told me of your crew have been on my mind for the past two days, Link," she explained. Link thought he could hear a sad tone in her voice as she continued, "For the past two days, I… I have somehow relived those days during which we spoke. Though it may have been little compared to the feeling of eternity I have spent on this timeless purgatory, I feel as though I have walked these decks myself. So I endeavored to bring the both of us here. My memories of the Island Sonata have felt distant lately; it has become difficult for me to remember any place in which both you and I have stood." She looked down at her boots. "You… you must think it silly."

"Well…" Link said, giving her an uncomfortable look, "with all that's happening, I really can't say it's all that silly. I mean, I've spent the past four days finding my half-drunk chief engineer sleeping in weird places. This is…" He shrugged. "I guess it's just normal."

"I find communicating with dreams to be quite abnormal, actually," she told him, her tone sounding a little heated.

"Wha—I just mean that I'm used to it," Link replied, raising his hands in defense.

"Ah, no, I'm sorry, Link. I…" Zelda started scratching her head, caught herself, and quickly placed her hands behind her back. "I misunderstood you. I suppose I should realize that, with the time you've had since our parting, you have had some truly unique experiences." She then sighed and stepped closer to the rail. She leaned her rear against it, looking up at the sky with what looked to Link to be tired eyes. "I, however, have been held within a cage since then."

"We're doing our best," Link told her.

"I know, Link. I just wish… I wish you would be here sooner. As much as it has helped to meet your crew, I cannot forget that I still exist here." She gave her head a gentle shake. "But that is a discussion that we could have a million times and reach no satisfying conclusion. And I find myself unwilling to continue it." She gave him a smile and asked, "Has your engineer, Mister Sello, still been finding strange places to sleep?"

Link snorted and pressed a hand to his eyes. "Oh, man," he said with a shake of his head. "He's worse than Line. Line, I could count on to just flop to the deck wherever he is. But Sello… well, I've found socks in saner places. Yesterday, he nearly got squeezed into a pulp because he was asleep under the forecastle near the steering mechanisms. Today, he was asleep in the galley with a crate strapped to his back."

Zelda placed a hand over her mouth, but Link could see the laughter in her eyes. "Oh, dear," she said as she struggled to keep her laughing in check. "What is to be done with him?"

Link shrugged. "Well, we filled a bottle with grog and left it with him. It'll probably be weak compared to what he usually drinks, but we're hoping it'll keep him out of trouble."

"One can on—"

"Kyabtin?" The second female voice caused Link to blink in confusion.

And then Link was in his bed again. He mentally cursed his luck and yawned.

"My Kyabtin?" Through his hazy mind, he could make out the distinct sound of a Geltoan accent and rolled onto his back. In the darkness of his cabin, he could just barely see Dubbl's silhouette against the only subtly brighter far wall.

Link sighed and rubbed his eyes. "What is it?" he asked.

"We saw island," she replied.

Link felt his exhaustion get pushed aside by a spark of alertness. "Okay," he told her. "Thank you."

"Yes, My Kyabtin," Dubbl replied.

But she did not leave as he expected, so he added in an irritated tone, "Dismissed."

"Ah, yes, My Kyabtin," she replied. She quickly shot him a salute, but she was out the door before Link had the presence of mind to answer it.

Link was dressed and standing on the forecastle a few minutes later. Without a watch, he could not quite tell the time, but he was under the impression that it must have been close to midnight by now. Gold had already raised the ship above the level of the island to help mask their approach. However, their running lights were still on. Link was not worried by this; it only meant that people could see a ship approach, which would save them from ramming the Island Symphony. He had only ever been to South Sand Island a handful of times, but he knew what island it was because he knew Bold Island better.

This was not Bold Island. But that probably made it better than he had dared to hope. This was a start.