Chapter 97: Is There Anything That Doesn't Wanna Kill Me?

…

"Ahoy there!"

Leynne glanced to port as a four-masted schooner slowly crept alongside the Island Symphony. He crossed the quarterdeck to meet a thick-set man wearing a white duster over a sky-blue shirt and black slacks. Leynne winced at the spot of sunlight that reflected off his smooth head. Then he looked down the deck of the schooner to see just a few men wandering about, probably on their regular watch. He was amazed to find how drastic a difference there was between an actual vessel's crew and the Island Symphony's meager crew; the deck crew alone outnumbered everyone on the Island Symphony.

Not that he was worried; Leynne was certain just one on the current shift could kill them all in an instant.

Leynne raised his hand and hollered back, "Hello theh!"

The man on the aftcastle of the other ship spoke a word to a husky man manning the helm before he approached the bulwark. "You folks all right?" he called to Leynne.

"Yeah," Leynne replied. "Yeah, we'h all fine."

"You in charge?"

Leynne was cautious to glance down with just his eyes at Link, who was hidden behind the bulwark right in front of him. Link gave him a thumb-up gesture, and Leynne responded, "Yeah."

"You guys didn't run outta fuel or anything, did you?" the other captain asked.

Leynne shook his head. "No. I just… lost myself in a moment of deliberation. We could use the supply, though. Ah ships allowed to dock heh?"

The captain turned his head in a gesture of uncertainty. "Well, that kinda remains to be seen." He leaned on the bulwark of his ship. "We're trying to keep our eyes out for troublemakers; there's been quite an outbreak of them. Most of the port area's been abandoned anyway; you probably won't find your branch office out here."

Leynne pointed beyond the schooner. "We undehstand that theh's anotheh island neahby. What about docking theh?"

The other captain gave him a confused look and glanced over his shoulder. Then he grinned at Leynne and said, "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Well, if it should come up, I'm actually from the Forest Realm."

"The Forest Realm? You mean the surface?"

"Yes."

The other captain bowed and shook his head for a moment. When he looked back up, he was still grinning. "Sorry you had to come all this way."

Leynne's eyes flickered down to Link before he replied in a confused tone, "Ah you?"

"You probably picked the worst time to visit the sky here. But I don't wanna bore you with details…"

Leynne raised an inviting hand. "Boh away."

The other captain paused as one of his airmen approached him and spoke. The captain nodded at him before returning to addressing Leynne. "Well, there's been some big mistake made with one of the airship companies up here. Now they're going around hunting people. I'm sure you've bumped into them once or twice. Black flag, black uniforms?"

Leynne nodded. "I believe theh weh some people dressed like that back on Might Island. Who ah they looking foh?"

"Damned if we know anymore. Something about a kid wearing green, I think. That started over a month ago; I'm sure they've realized searching around for a kid wearing green is one of the dumbest things they could be looking for."

"It does seem to be an unfohtunate description."

"He's supposed to be crew on an airship up here, but we've probably seen three or four of them in and out of here by now."

Leynne nodded toward Bold Island. "And the blockade?"

"We don't much like the guys in black or anyone who represents them. Mostly, they've been taking things that don't belong to them. We may not have many guns out there, but the princess is going to have to blow all of us out of the sky if they want to set foot out here. I know it sounds kinda stupid, but it's all we've got to work with right now."

"I'm cehtain drastic measuhs had to be taken," Leynne said with a nod. "How about this vessel? Will you allow us to dock?"

"I can't really allow it," the captain said with an apologetic tone. "Look, I'm sure you and your crew are some really nice folks. But one of the problems we've been having is with stowaways. If you've been out as far as Might Island, I'm really not sure I should let you dock. No offense."

"That would be my luck…" Link groaned to himself.

Leynne took in a breath to steel himself against laughing. "What about the otheh island?"

The captain glanced over his shoulder. "That's Remnant Island. I'm afraid you aren't going to find anything over there unless you're a nature lover. No one lives there, and most of it is covered in trees. There isn't even a dock. You'd probably have to tie up to a tree." The remark earned an annoyed sigh from Link, and Leynne could not avoid giving him a brief glance. "Sorry you had to come all this way, but we really don't wanna chance it."

Leynne scrunched up his face to feign thinking. "We have a launch aboahd," he called back. "Would you pehmit us to retrieve supplies with that?"

"You got the fuel for it?"

"We should."

The captain shrugged. "Okay, have at it. Just don't bring your ship too close; some of these guys are a little too eager to blow someone out of the sky."

"Noted. Thank you. We might be around foh the night."

"That's fine as long as we know where you are." He held up a hand. "Take care, Captain."

Leynne mirrored the gesture and replied, "You as well."

The captain returned to the helmsman and spoke to him. Leynne watched as the ship started forward and lowered altitude to return to its blockade position around Bold Island. Careful to make it look like he was still observing the vessel, he leaned on the bulwark and said to Link, "How was that?"

"Are you sure you don't wanna be second-in-command?" Link replied with a grin.

Leynne maintained a straight face as he replied, "I'd like to command as much as I'd like to place a live Bari in my trousehs." He looked over the island and commented, "It looks as if they have ships positioned to stop vessels from a direct approach. But theh ah very few vessels directly oveh the island."

"I imagine the population wouldn't like airship crews cleaning their heads over the island," Link commented.

"Yes, of couhse." Leynne craned his neck until the other ship had opened enough distance to lose sight of the Island Symphony's weather deck. Then he stepped back and looked directly at Link. "So you will be taking the launch afteh all."

Link sat up and nodded. "Good thing you guys got it finished before we got here," he said. "I'd hate to have to go around, especially since we definitely know Cunimincus' men are here."

"They seemed to have greatly affected the island this time," Leynne said, nodding in agreement. "It's a wondeh it's still floating."

"And we need to do something while it's still floating," Link said as he stood up.

"You do realize that, if we ahn't allowed to approach the island, theh won't be any quick escape."

"I'm not worried. If people wearing green are a Rupee each out here, no one's gonna care if another one shows up." He paused to take in a deep breath. "I'm gonna check on the Conductor's supplies. Could you have Cale and Lilly join me?"

"Of couhse." Leynne turned to go, and then he stopped in the middle of his first step and turned back to Link. "And Layna?"

"Hmm? What about her?"

"I thought she was youh protection on these excuhsions. Do you want me to retrieve heh as well?"

"You don't need to," Link replied. He pointed to the nearer of the two staircases leading up to the poop deck and explained, "She's hiding behind those stairs; it was probably the best place to spy on me from, if not up on the poop deck. Watch." Both of them turned to the staircase, and Link said to it, "Layna. You can come on out now." But they noticed a distinct lack of movement. Leynne even leaned aside to peer around the stairs. "Layna?" Link asked.

"I don't think she's theh," Leynne commented.

Link spoke as he turned, "Maybe she st—YIKES!"

…

After checking that the Conductor had the appropriate lines and inspected the mast, he returned to his cabin to change into his new tunic and gather his equipment. When he returned with Irleen under his hat, Leynne was waiting in the boat deck with Cale and Lilly. Link had to call Layna (and subsequently yell in surprise) to make sure she got on the boat with them. He checked the wheel and found that Leynne and Dubbl had connected the running rigging of a short, lateen-rigged sail which almost spanned the length of the boat to the wheel. The arrangement limited the angle that the sail could turn, but Leynne explained that, since the boat would probably use the engine more, he and Dubbl had decided to fit it with a basic steering mechanism and put together a more appropriate mast and sail arrangement when Sello was not hoarding the materials.

"Okay," Link said to the crew gathered on the deck. "Anyone not going to Bold Island had better get off here."

"Good luck, you fouh," Leynne said as he started down the ladder. "Remembeh, if you get into trouble, we'll have eyes on the island."

"I'm… still not suah I undahstand why I'm coming along," Cale told Link.

"Not that you're complainin', right?" Lilly teased him.

"I-I-I-I-I—"

"I prefer both of you to work together," Link explained. "Both of you are good with finding things, and, if you're together, you can keep an eye on each other."

"Along with a few other things," Irleen said, peeking out from under Link's cap.

Lilly shot her a smug look. "Well, as long as we're tryin'na keep each other safe," she said, causing Cale's face to flush, "we should keep any part of our anatomy on each other, right?"

Link glared at her, and then he turned his look up at his brow. "What, are you two taking notes from Dholit now?" he asked.

"Who are you kidding?" Irleen asked. "You can't tell she's being smutty even if she took all her clothes off."

"Ah you suh you don't want someone oldeh around?" Leynne, with his head still above the transom, asked.

"We'll be fine," Link said, giving him a dismissive wave. Leynne shrugged to himself and descended the ladder. "Cale, I want you to go to the bow and keep an eye on it. Make sure we don't get it caught under the deck. Lilly, I need you to do the same along the transom here."

"Okay," Lilly replied while Cale started across the deck.

Link stepped into the pilot's position and started to slowly tug back on the ballast control. If all had gone right, the technoworks cubes should still respond to the lever's motion. Link pulled it back past the halfway point and held his breath. Then the boat rocked as it lifted from its supports, and Layna, standing just in front of the pilot's station, decided to round the wheel so she could stand closer to Link. Link looked up at the deckhead around the boat and carefully put more into the ballast control until they were nearly out.

"Captain, we're aboudda hit back here," Lilly spoke up.

Link glanced over his shoulder. "Just push us forward a little," he told her.

She turned to give him a confused look. "Push us?"

"Yeah, just put your hand out and push. The ship's so light that even Irleen could push us."

"Wow," she said to him. "Now there's an image."

Lilly gave the deck a little push, and the Conductor shifted forward a bit. Then the Conductor released a thunk when the bow struck the deck in front of it. "Yikes!" Cale shouted, pulling one of his hands away from the hull despite not being in any sort of danger. The bow, being lighter, had already protruded from Island Symphony's poop deck. Twali, standing at watch, gave the boat a quick wave before she went back to watching the horizon with the duoscope.

"Come on back, Cale," Link called. Then he said over his shoulder, "Lilly, I want you and Cale right in front of me here, behind the deckhouse. I don't know what this engine is going to do."

"Okay, Captain," Lilly replied. "Layna?" She waved an inviting hand to Layna, who stepped around Link to join them behind the deckhouse.

Link then remembered his hat and pulled it off. "What are you doing?" Irleen asked as Link tucked the hat into one of his belts.

"I don't want to run the engine with my hat on," Link told her. "I might lose it." He patted his chest. "Why don't you duck into my tunic for now? Just so we don't have to worry about losing you, too."

"Okay," Irleen replied. She dove into the neckline of his tunic, and he could feel her crawl onto his shoulder. "Ready."

Link sighed and put his hand on the engine control in the side of the small pit they had fitted for the boat's pilot. "Here we go," he told himself. He depressed the button on the top and eased the control forward. He found the control to be a little light compared to other throttle levers he had used before, and he questioned whether it was actually connected or not. He glanced around for a moment, but being above the Island Symphony did not give him a clear idea if they were moving or not. About then was when he noticed an odd member on the control handle; it felt like a small, thick plate had been placed right where his knuckles were. He squeezed this protrusion, wondering if maybe he had forgotten a step to using this engine. It would make sense; Sello had not offered any sort of instruction.

The deck planks under his boots gave a shudder unlike Link had ever felt out of a vessel. Then there was a rumble, like an explosion that, for some reason, was traveling in slow motion. Link was not the only one to hear it; all three of his crew were looking down at the deck in confusion. The sound continued to get louder.

"Link, what's going on?" Irleen called out.

"I, uh… I don't know," Link replied.

And then he felt wind on his face. And it became stronger. And stronger. Link closed off some of the ballast and looked over his shoulder to see the Island Symphony shrinking.

"Uh… L-Link!?" Cale's call prompted Link to return his eyes forward. And he saw the problem. They were approaching Bold Island and the crowd of ships blockading it.

And the Conductor was still accelerating.

Link soon found both of his hands locked in desperation on the wheel. Cale, Layna, and Lilly were hunched lower to the deck as the rush of oncoming air threatened to lift them off the boat. Link tried to angle his elbow so that he could knock back the throttle control to a safer level, but he could not move it without something pressing down on the control's lock button. So he hooked his right foot on the ballast control and tugged it forward a bit, hoping to put them at a safer altitude.

To their utter horror, this succeeded in dropping them into a collision course with a galleon wandering the air some distance away from the island.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Link's own voice was lost to the sound of three screaming girls (one of which had to have been Irleen due to the ear-splitting sound). He planted his feet as best as he could into the deck and turned to starboard. The boat responded quite well, and the Conductor soared past the galleon's prow so close that Link thought he could hear the airmen on board shouting.

"Cale!" Link attempted to shout over the wind. He turned the boat back toward the island. "Cale!" It was no use. The wind was too strong, and Cale was pressed flat against the deck with Lilly and Layna. Worse, because Link was still standing, the wind was trying to push him backwards despite the wall in front of the wheel. His boots slid against the deck. He had to adjust his stance. His eyes were on the wheel in front of him; any attempt to look up caused his eyes to itch horribly, and his brow was the only thing keeping him from tearing up.

The speed became great enough that the bow rose, blocking the wind for Link. But this left Link unable to see and in a very likely position to slip and fall over the transom. He did not dare let go of the wheel like this. So he decided to give the wheel a sharp turn to starboard in the hope that it would kill some speed and buy him a moment to grab for the engine control.

This was, perhaps, a dumb idea. The bow shifted hard to starboard, and Link's feet slipped from under him when he attempted to save himself from bashing against the port wall of the pilot's station. He cried out, thinking he was going straight over the stern. Fortunately, this provided him with the motivation to keep a death grip on the wheel's spokes. His knees hit the deck, and then his feet were pinned to the port due to the boat being locked in a starboard turn. Awkward though it was, Link saw an opportunity and, looking down at the wall, started kicking his feet around in order to get at the throttle control.

"What's going on!?" Irleen screamed from inside Link's tunic.

Link could not respond; he was too busy trying to twist his foot and get his right calf on top of the control handle. He succeeded, and, by virtue of skinny legs, pressed down on the locking button. Then, after shifting his weight to his left leg, he brought up his right leg and stomped on the control.

The boat's speed almost immediately dropped, and the hull fell level again. The effect was pronounced enough that Link was flung into the wheel's pedestal face-first before he was allowed to fall to the deck.

"Link!?" Irleen shouted. "Link!" Link managed a groan as he kept himself perfectly still. "Link, are you all right!?"

"I really hope not…" Link answered.

"What the hell happened!?"

"Mmmm… Sello…"

"Link!" Cale shouted, his voice sounding more high-pitched than his usual tone. Link could hear and feel Cale run up to the pilot's station. "Ah you all right!?"

"Yeah, sure…" Link said. He turned his face to one side so that he could wipe one hand under his nose. He found his nose was bleeding, but he just placed his hand back on the deck. "I'm… I'm just going to lie here for a moment…"

"Captain," Lilly spoke up. "There's a ship movin' toward us."

"Oh, no," Cale uttered. Then he asked Link, "What should we do?"

"Tell them the truth," Link answered. "We were trying to use an engine made by a drunken lunatic." Then, after he thought for a moment, he added, "And it almost killed us."

"Could we ask foh a lift to the island?" Cale asked in a timid voice. "I… I don't think we ought to be riding this boat anymoah."

"I think I know what went wrong," Link said. "Hey, Lilly? Could you go check the deckhouse? I need something for this nosebleed."

"Aye aye," Lilly replied.

"Ahoy there!" someone hollered. "You fellas okay?"

Link slowly climbed back to his feet, using the wheel's pedestal to keep himself steady. When his head was finally above the walls around the pilot's station, he saw that a small schooner had heaved-to next to them. The person addressing them was a man standing on the main deck. Cale, standing nearby, stammered silently and glanced over at Link for help. Link sighed and called back, "We're okay." He immediately regretted it, as the shouting made his head pound.

"What the hell you boys got under that thing?" the man asked, sounding on the verge of laughing. "You were just flying away!"

"Cale," Link said in a low voice, crossing his arms and leaning them on top of the wall. "Tell them it's an experimental engine; I-I can't stand to shout right now."

"Right," Cale said with a nod. Then he hollered to the ship, "It's a—It's an experimental engine."

"No kidding?" the man replied. "That's some engine. It's a wonder your boat's still intact! You look like you got a busted nose there, son. You need a medic or something?"

"Tell him I'll be fine," Link said.

"He will be fine," Cale repeated to the schooner.

"You boys want a tow or anything?" the man asked.

"That sounds like a good idea," Cale told Link.

"Well, how far are we from the island?" Link asked.

"We, uh… we—" Cale started looking around, suddenly aware that the island was nowhere in sight. So he called out, "Excuse me, but wheah is the island?"

"Son, you're right above it, on the northern edge," the man replied, pointing down with his thumb.

"The northern edge?" Link asked. He stumbled out of the pilot's station and over to the transom. He looked over the edge to find that there were buildings underneath the Conductor. After he had his bearings again, he glanced up and to port to see a lone vessel floating outside the blockading airships. "Oh… whoa…"

"Captain?" Lilly asked. Link turned to find her handing over a brown towel. "I'm sorry, it's all I could find."

"That's fine," Link said as he accepted the towel. "That'll do." He unfolded part of the towel and pressed it under his nose. "Is Layna all right? Are you two all right?"

"We're okay," Lilly said with a nod. "But… I-I think the trip scared Layna; she won't come out of the deckhouse."

Link nodded, stepped back to the pilot's station, and told Cale, "Tell them we'll be moving on our own, but we'll signal if we need help."

…

Link spent a few minutes waiting for his nosebleed to stop. Then he cleaned up his blood as best as he could and got the Conductor moving again. This second attempt saw much more success now that Link knew that the odd control built into the handle of the throttle was probably some sort of switch to start the engine, a type of control he had never encountered before. He could not get the engine to start without moving the throttle, but he found that, if he only placed a bit of power into the engine, the engine would start and softly coast the boat the way he wanted it to. The Conductor still wanted to move at a pace faster than Link had ever handled before, so he still had to provide some quick input to the controls to keep them from crashing into the docks as he pulled the boat in.

After they moored the boat, Link told Lilly and Cale to go do what the needed to find the king and queen and return to the Conductor once they had what they needed. Meanwhile, Link planned to take Irleen and Layna and look around the island for the entrance into the technoworks. Since it might take him longer to carry out repairs to the technoworks, he told Lilly and Cale to stay with the Conductor and wait for him.

Link's first destination was a patch of bare earth on the south side of the island just behind the port area. He knew that it at one time had been a park, and he explained as much to Irleen. There was no grass on the ground, and the couple of trees in the middle of the park were bare of leaves or any sort of green. Irleen took a moment to fly around.

When she returned, Link asked, "So, what do you think?"

"I'm not sure what to say," she answered, hovering at eye-level with him. "It's nothing I've ever seen before."

"You mentioned that the technoworks provides soil as a part of their feeding," he said. "Could this all be because the technoworks aren't feeding anymore?"

"If the technoworks stopped feeding, they would either be dormant or dead. Either way, this island wouldn't be here anymore. It seems more like the technoworks just won't let anything grow."

"Any idea what would cause that?"

Irleen sighed. "Not really. I mean, sure, someone's been messing with the technoworks, but I can't decide what or how they're doing it. As far as we've seen, Cunimincus' men just like to break things. If there are Geozards here, they must have someone smart with them."

Link nodded. "Okay, so… where do you think we should start looking?"

"For the technoworks? Probably in a similar area to where we found the Sagacity Technoworks."

"Weeell…" Link replied, looking uncomfortable. "You see, I don't think it's going to work out the same. The east side of the island is actually kinda flat. At best, maybe a few hills. The only rivers here run through the town. Their sources are somewhere in the center of the island, and a lot of the town is built around it."

"Okay, so we won't be finding the technoworks that way. Then we ask around. Geozards have to eat, too."

Link sighed and looked down at the ground as memories of the bone room back on Might Island surfaced. "Right…"

"Look, Link, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If I recall right, Geozards shouldn't be as carnivorous as the Lizalfos. And stupid, remember? The Hylians living here would be more likely to catch and fry one of them instead of a Geozard eating a Hylian."

"I hope you're right," Link said as he looked around. "I think I know a place we can check: a tavern just this side of the port."

"What is it with you talking to people at taverns?"

"This way," Link told her as he started walking. "Airmen and dockers are some of the best people to talk to. They're good for getting some quick news, and sometimes they'll notice things other people wouldn't even think about. And they like to talk over alcohol. If you try to catch them anywhere else, they'll either ignore you or threaten to snap your neck."

"Wooow," Irleen droned. "What wonderful people…"

Link could not remember the name of the Drop Anchor until he found it a few minutes later. Irleen decided to duck under Link's hat before Link went in and sat down at the bar. He had chosen a stool directly in front of the open doorway, figuring that Layna had a clear line of sight if trouble started. True to a tavern in the middle of the afternoon, only a couple of dockers and an airman were nursing drinks, none of them sitting anywhere near each other. Link noticed that someone had set up a cot along the wall to his right, but the occupant was hidden under some very thick blankets. Link thought it was strange that someone staying at a tavern was sleeping in the bar when the beds upstairs should have been much more comfortable. But he decided to let it go, seeing it as just a small inconsistency in the middle of a larger problem.

"What can I get for you, young man?" the bartender, a heavy-set woman wearing a simple shirt and trousers under an apron, asked him.

"Got anything without alcohol?" Link asked.

"Our stock in milk and juice is low this week," she responded. "The best I can get you is a watered-down beer."

"Well, you can keep the beer, and I'll have the water," Link said. "I'm mostly thirsty."

"I'm surprised you didn't ask what happened to the stock," she commented as she produced a glass and a pitcher.

Link shrugged. "Well, between the Sky Lines and the way the island looks, I can imagine that you just ran out."

She gave him a half-grin. "Clever boy," she said. "So what's your deal? Bounty hunter? Sword-for-hire?"

"Uh… something like that," Link replied after taking a drink. "I'm… kind of a wanderer right now."

"A little young for that sort of thing, aren't you?"

Link gave her a confused look. "Uh… how old should I be?"

"You should at least be fourteen."

Link paused to think about it. "Uuuh… but I am fourteen."

"Are you?" She leaned on the bar to look down on Link. "A little short for fourteen, aren't you?" This prompted an annoyed look from Link, and she chuckled at him. "I'm kidding, boy. Where are you coming from?"

"A two-week trip from West Iron Island."

"West Iron, huh? What were you doing there?"

"Following something. Which reminds me. I don't suppose you've heard anything about a group of crates coming up this way."

The bartender shrugged. "There're so few ships docking lately that the dockers have to complain about something."

"It would have been a shipment of four crates. With so many warning labels on it that it's hard to tell what's really supposed to be in them."

She scrunched her lips as she thought. "No, it doesn't sound familiar. Why are you looking for them?"

"The, uh, dockmaster on Autumn Island noticed the shipment was missing without any orders, so we're trying to find out where all the crates went."

She gave him a skeptical look. "This is what a sword-for-hire does nowadays?"

Link shrugged. "It's a living."

"Kind of a lousy one," she pointed out as she turned to rearrange bottles on the shelves behind her. "What about the Sky Lines? Doesn't having them gone make it a difficult process?"

"I get by. Just because the Sky Lines are gone doesn't mean that ships don't travel from port to port."

"Maybe, but around here, it just doesn't happen."

"Yeah, I noticed the blockade. When did that go up?"

"Not long after the Sky Lines disappeared. Things were fine around here until the Skyriders started enforcing the princess's new shipping rules with cannons."

This news alarmed Link, and he blurted out, "They wouldn't blow another ship out of the sky!"

The bartender held up a hand to calm him. "Take it easy. Believe it or not, it is possible to fire on a ship without sinking it. They did just that to a pair of Zephyr Sails ships. They didn't kill anyone, but since then, both the Zephyr Sails and the Fair Travelers companies have been keeping the port protected."

Link realized something and commented, "That's why we haven't seen either of their vessels around."

"Bold Island is the base of both companies. So when the Skyriders started bullying them, they fought back. Kinda."

Link bumped his nose with the rim of his glass as he went to take another drink. The touch sent a fresh bite of pain through his nose, but he shook it off and took another drink. Then he asked, "'Kinda'?"

"Well, not having the same resources as the Skyriders, the best they could do is threaten to shoot back at the Skyriders with the intention of sinking them. The ships armed with guns are mingled with the rest of the vessels around the island, so the Skyriders have no way of knowing whether they're being surrounded by ships with guns or just a big bluff."

"What about the rest of shipping? The ship I was on had to send me in a launch."

"I guess there's no telling when the Skyriders might try sneaking by. The dockers keep an eye on anyone who arrives in a launch, and I'm sure there are people watching you even in here."

"Uh oh," Irleen uttered under Link's hat.

Link glanced over his shoulder at the other patrons to find that the dockers were staring at him, their drinks forgotten. He turned back and said, "Right, I see what you mean."

"Can't be too careful lately," the bartender told him. She turned back to him and started. "Hey, are you all right?"

"Uh… a little surprised," Link confessed. "Why?"

"Because your nose is bleeding."

"Huh?"

She pointed at him. "Your nose is bleeding."

"My nose?" Link touched a finger under his nose and found a fresh drop of blood. "Oh, man, not again. Where's your washroom at?"

She nodded to the left. "Just at the end of the bar. Make sure you throw the towel in the basket when you're done."

"Yes, ma'am," Link replied as he slid off the stool. He hurried to the left side of the bar while the bartender turned to holler something at the person in the cot. Link did not catch anything else as he rounded a couple of corners and found the washroom. It was little more than a room with a tap into a large water barrel on the far side and a table set up against one wall. Link checked that there was water in the basin sitting on top of the table before he splashed water around his mouth. Then he picked up a small towel next to the basin and pressed it against his nose.

"Not really learning anything new, Link," Irleen said to him in a low voice. Link gave a slightly bemused chuckle and checked his nose. It seemed to have stopped quicker this time, so Link washed his face again and dried off with the clean half of the towel. He tossed the towel into the tall basket in the back corner as he had been asked, then he stepped over to it to take another towel from a nearby table. However, in lifting the towel off the pile, he accidentally pulled another towel off the stack and dropped it on the floor. Groaning, he bent over to pick it up.

Clcka. Link felt his heart pound on his ribcage upon realizing that someone behind him had just pulled back on the hammer of a pistol. Even worse, he felt the barrel press up against his back just as he stood up straight again. "Don't move." Link blinked, part of his fear set aside by confusion at the sound of the voice. It sounded like a young man (probably around his own age) trying to make his voice sound deeper. "Drop the towels."

"Okay," Link replied, letting both towels fall to the floor. "Okay, just take it easy…"

"Shut up," the young man responded, his voice cracking from his angry tone. "Do you think no one realizes that the Skyriders used to wear those tunics? Are you seriously that dumb?"

"I happen to like this color," Link replied, a little offended.

"You slimy, disgusting, son of a shitbox," he seethed, forgetting to disguise his voice. "How dare you wear that tunic."

Something in Link's mind clicked. He could not believe it, but he actually found that he recognized that voice. It had been part of the excitement of his life as an airman for seven years. Keeping his hands up so that his captor did not feel the need to shot him, he turned around.

Line's face, covered in dirt and grime from who knew what, mirrored the look of astonishment on Link's own face.

"L-Link!?"