Chapter 119: Where Legends Hunt

…

Link stirred and made to press a hand against his eyes to rub his tiredness out. But he found that his arm was restrained at the elbow. He managed to open one, heavy eye and looked down at his chest. A pair of long, thin, brown arms held him wrapped in a strong embrace. His first coherent thought was that they had very nice hands. The second thought was that they looked like a woman's hands.

As soon as the name "Dholit" popped into his head, Link's brain spurred into action. He immediately swung the arm he was not lying on top of to break her grip and reached out for the edge of the bed. He cried out in surprise as he fell to the floor with a loud thump and cradled his head for a moment as he fought his way through sleepiness and a mean headache.

Then he stood up. He had to lean on the nearby bulkhead for a moment because standing had made him a little dizzy. Then he glanced over at the Gelto who was just waking up herself. "Don't you have anything better to do?" he asked in an irate tone.

Dholit gave a soft yawn and stretched her arms out. "My Captain, you don't seem to wake up too well in the mohning," she told him, grinning as she propped her head up on one arm. "The incredible stress of pehfohming such fohceful movements just afteh waking cannot be healthy foh you."

"You cause it!" Link shouted. "What are you doing in my bed!?"

"Seeing to it that you remained comfohtable throughout the night," she answered. "Although I expected the effects of Layna's needles would allow a smooth transition to sleep, we felt it would b—"

"Needle!?" Link snapped. He felt around his neck. "You had Layna stab me!?"

"She has the precision of a suhgeon. Naturally, the poison isn't hahmful."

"Poison!?"

Dholit gave a small giggle. "You get so excited ovah the smallest of things, My Captain. I wondah if it contributes to youh drive." She pointed down at the bed.

Link took this as an indication that he should looked down at the bed as well. But he did not see anything unusual until his eyes were aimed at his bare shoulder. Then he looked down at the rest of his body. In the next moment, he swiped a bedsheet and wrapped it around his waist. "Wha—wha—Why am I naked!?"

Dholit laughed. "My Captain, does paradise need an explanation?" She tugged at the blanket wrapped around her chest.

Link's eyes followed the blanket down her body. It ended at about the middle of her thigh, and he felt his face heat up at the sight of her shapely legs. He pressed a hand over his face. "Oh, c'mon, Dholit!" he shouted. "What is wrong with you!?"

"Well, knowing how shy you ah concehning my advances, I felt the blanket would be the best way to keep from frightening you away."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it!" he replied, pointing a finger at her. "Why are you naked!? Why am I naked!?"

"Because Layna undressed you."

"Ye—wha—" Link's mind completely blanked at the revelation. "Layna?"

"She insisted that I not touch you afteh you weh put to sleep," Dholit told him. She gave a disappointed sigh. "Even if she feahs me, it seems as if she has moah respect foh you. She was really no fun at all."

"So where are m—YIKES!" Link suddenly leapt sideways into the bulkhead upon realizing that Layna was standing just over his shoulder. He released his breath and took two deeper breaths before he said, "What… what is she doing in here?"

"Pehfohming heh duty," Dholit replied. "Leynne suggested that you remain undistuhbed in youh cabin until you awoke on youh own. She has ohdahs to kill anyone who attempts to wake you."

"Isn't that a little over-the-top?" Link asked.

"It was Line's suggestion."

Link stammered in silence for a moment. "Nobody takes suggestions from Line!" he shouted, indicating the door. "I learned that a long time ago!" He paused to bury his face in his free hand. Then he said, "You still haven't told me why you're naked."

"Oh, this?" she asked, tugging on the blanket again. "Well, I only thought it faih that I was naked as well. Not that I was opposed to activities not requiring immediate sleep."

"Please stop making dirty comments…"

"Pehhaps I can interest you in a clean comment? Involving My Captain and myself in a bath tub?"

"Where are your clothes!?" Link snapped.

"I left them strewn about so it would appeah as if we had a pass—"

"Take them and get out!"

Dholit's smile faded as she sat up. "Link," she said. "As much as I tease you, you must realize that even I play a role in Gilto society. I and my twelve sistahs have had ouh destinies given to us since we weh bohn. I have been given the honoh of ensuring the suhvival of ouh race by procreating with othah humans. My life has been a long study of humans in the most magical of subjects, and I find that, even afteh using all I know on you, you still won't allow me to fulfill my duty."

Link dropped his hand down to one side and lowered his gaze to the floor, feeling a little ashamed. He could understand duty, even if hers was a little strange to him. It would be like him trying to command a crew that will not listen to him, making him miss out on whatever task given the vessel. "I'm-I'm sorry, Dholit," he said. "I… I didn't know it was like that."

"Ouh relationship, as it is, wasn't supposed to last so long," she continued. She paused to move to the edge of the bed. "My task would have been simple if I hadn't fallen on that cahpet. But I had read of youh hahdships since you'd ahrived to the camp, and, afteh you ran away, I found myself reflecting on youh writings. I thought that, if someone so young could live through such tribulation as to be separated from home and family with the desiah to retahn so… powahful, so unyielding… I felt ashamed that you had gotten away from me befoah my duty could be completed."

Link latched his hand to the back of his neck. "I-I didn't know…"

"I couldn't expect you to," Dholit told him, turning to hide her face. "We come from neahly two different wohlds. I know I come across as strong and a little mad, but even I can tolerate only so much rejection. Would it huht to oblige me just once?"

"Dholit… I-I…"

Dholit stood up, using one hand to hold the blanket to her body. She reached the other hand out to Link and placed it on his back. "I don't ask you to do much, Link," she said as she pulled him closer. Layna stepped away from them, and Link suddenly felt more exposed than before. He felt blood rushing to his face as Dholit continued. "Just… let me…"

Link could feel his heart pound in his chest as she leaned closer to him. He thought his head might explode from the tension in the room. Dholit's hand slid down, down, down…

"Oh," she uttered after her hand slipped underneath the sheet Link was still holding. She gave Link's right butt cheek a couple of playful squeezes. "There's less there than I thought."

Link swatted her arm away from him and took a step back. "Dholit!" he snapped.

"Shall I assume I've lost in my attempt at pity sex?" she asked, giving her usual grin.

Link pointed at the door. "Get out!"

"Well, that's anothah angle that won't wohk," she commented as she started for the door. "But at least I got a rise out of you." She stopped to find Layna, standing next to the door, giving her an angry glare with her arms crossed. Dholit looked her up and down as if confused by her attitude. She glanced back at Link. "Pehhaps I should give you two something moah to think about befoah I retahn to duty. The both of you ah fah too tense." She turned back to Layna. Then she loosened her grip on the blanket she covered herself with and halfway dropped it to expose her chest to Layna. Layna recoiled in surprise, and Link thought he could see crimson tint her cheeks as she stared at Dholit.

Link felt his own cheeks heat up as he imagined what Layna was seeing. He shook his head to get rid of the images and shouted at her, "Out!" Dholit covered herself again and gave a taunting laugh before hustling through the door. Link gave a relieved sigh and leaned on the nearby bedpost. "That… Dholit is out of her mind," he told Layna. Layna still stood stunned, her mouth halfway open. "I'd go over there and push your jaw closed if I knew you wouldn't take my hand off." The comment seemed to snap Layna to her senses. She glanced at Link, and then she immediately spun around. Link heaved another sigh. "What a bunch of… we—…" Link's mind jerked into action again when Dholit's last statement echoed in his head. "Duty!?"

Link immediate turned to look at the window. He realized that it must have been noon due to the sunlight barely showing on the deck. The events of the past two days rose to the surface of his mind as he scrambled about, looking for the body suit he had been wearing last night. When he failed, he pulled a clean one from his wardrobe. He found his tunic stuffed under his desk, and his trousers had been closed in his footlocker. One of his boots had been shoved in between the bed and the bulkhead; the other, he only found after remembering he only had one bottle on his wine rack. The rest of his gear was in his footlocker, but he only put on his compass and his flare gun. Layna had disappeared during the search, and Link realized that Irleen was also missing.

He stepped out onto the main deck moments later, and the first thing that struck him was the draft crossing the front of his cabin. He looked about to find that the Island Symphony was in a Sky Line. He pulled his compass from under his tunic to look at it. The needle swung about for a moment, and then Link turned it to read it. The ship's current course was taking them west. He hustled across the deck, attracting concerned looks from Biluf and Layna.

Leynne turned around when he heard Link stomp up the steps. He took the mug away from his mouth to say, "Ah. Good mohn—"

"Report!" Link snapped.

Leynne gave him a confused look. "I'm sohry?"

"Report!"

Leynne looked over at Line. "I take that to be some soht of command," he commented.

Line nodded, unable to control the large grin on his face. "Basic heading, location, crew disposition, and anything weird that happened while he was out cold."

"Aaaaah," Leynne replied with a nod. He turned back to Link and glanced down at the contents of his mug. "Well, we ah cuhrently on ouh way southwest, we ah about half an houh due foh the modified Dawn Line, and the crew is happy to know that theih captain has finally gotten himself a decent night's rest." At that last remark, he raised his head with a slight grin on his face. "Can I get you a cup of coffee, sih?"

"Are you even aware that I woke up with Dholit in my bed?" Link asked.

Thud! "Ohf!" Line cried out, cradling his jaw from the impact with the wheel.

"I'm afraid that I was not privy to that paht of the plan," Leynne said. "Dholit only mentioned that she had Layna put you to sleep so that you would actually get some sleep."

"What time is it?" Link asked.

Leynne pulled his watch from his pocket to consult it. "Ah. Neah to noon. Lateh than I expected. Coffee?"

Link looked at the mug he gestured with. "That stuff'll kill you."

"You'll have to fohgive me at least one cup, sih; I had a long night last night. It takes effoht to talk ownehs out of theih half-finished vessels."

"I—" Link cut himself off. "You got the ships?"

"It wasn't easy," Leynne told him. He pointed at the stern. "You might examine them youhself from the poop deck."

Link glanced aft and realized that flags were being flown on the hoist. "I… think I will…" Without further word, Link turned to walk to the poop deck.

The walk gave him a moment to reflect on his crew. It annoyed him that they conspired to make him go to bed. He tried to go through the airman's behavioral manual in his head to see if that fell into the definition of mutiny. Not that he was plotting to actually turn them in for it. First off, since they were still not part of the Skyriders company, it would be very difficult for Link to bring the issue up to the fleet captains and have them punished. Second, he found himself to be a little grateful for the relief. If he went without sleep for another day, he probably would have gone mad.

Third. They had the ships. Link stepped onto the poop deck and crossed until he was standing in front of the transom. Behind the Island Symphony, sailing at a slightly lower altitude so that they were visible, was a line of four ships tied together with thick ropes. Link thought he recognized one of the galleons from the Bold Island drydock as the ship directly behind them. It appeared that they had also gotten a pair of cargo schooners, but Link could not tell what the final vessel was. Behind them, Link saw that the Moon's Shadow and the Grand Sails were sailing side by side with their own haul of vessels following.

"Not bad, huh, Captain," Flower commented as he stepped up beside Link. "I don't know where you found your second at, but he's got a way with people."

Link glanced at him. "Did he rent them?" he asked as he stared at the vessels.

"He bought them," Flower replied. He indicated the other ships. "These hulls are empty."

"Empty?"

"Yep. Leynne talked to the night manager at both drydocks. Two of these ships were being cannibalized for their value as wood; most of the decks below and part of their hulls are gone. The galleon was found abandoned without its engine or rigging parts, and it was about to be dismantled to make room for another ship due for serious repairs. Leynne said he used all the money he had to buy them, and that was after talking the selling prices of the ships down. He really came through for us."

"Leynne's out of money?" Link asked, giving Flower a concerned look.

Flower shrugged. "He said it wasn't a big deal.

Link sighed and looked out at the ships again with his hand on the back of his head. "I gotta get this crew paid. Have you seen Irleen anywhere?"

"She slept down below with Lilly. Probably still down there, too."

Link nodded. "Did you know what they were gonna do to me?"

Flower gave a half-smile and suppressed a chuckle. "No, but I heard it about it. You're not mad, are you?"

"No, not really. Thanks."

Link stepped down from the poop deck with a new respect for his crew. It amazed him that they could work so well together in spite of the difficulties they had had before. Not to mention they had made it clear that they would take care of Link one way or another. He had not thought that they would react to his restlessness like that. Now, though, he found that it might be a good thing. He hardly expected them to have to do it often, but at least they knew how to take care of him if he would not take care of himself. He would have to watch himself, though; the next time they would have to drug him, Dholit might decide to mess with him in his sleep. It was about that time when Link got it into his head that she might actually have messed with him, and he stood stunned at the top of the portside staircase. He had no way of being sure, but he was certain that Dholit would not tell him anything if she had.

He stepped into the galley to find that a pair of tables and benches had been set up in the middle of the room. Twali and Lwamm, sitting at one table, were enjoying lunch and chatter together. Lilly was laying out a couple more plates on the table while Irleen trailed behind, watching her.

Then she saw Link. "Hey, Link," she greeted him.

Lilly looked up. "Oh. Good mornin', Captain," she said. Then she said, "Oh, well, it's almost noon now, isn't it?"

"Just about," Link replied.

"Did you just get up?" Irleen asked.

"Something like that," Link said.

Lilly picked up a plate and held it out to him. "Some lunch?"

"Uh… sure." He crossed the deck and sat at the place Lilly had just put together. He looked down at the plate. "This looks a lot nicer than rations," he commented.

"Mister Leynne bought me some ingredientzza work with. Try it."

Link picked up a fork and cut of a piece of… some type of meat he could not readily identify. He sniffed it, then he ate it. He recognized it from its texture, but its flavor was completely unexpected. It was sweet, like it had been soaking in fruit juice before it had been cooked. He looked up at Lilly and pointed at his mouth. "Is this canned ham?" he asked through a full mouth. Lilly made an affirmative noise and nodded. "Why does it taste so good? Canned ham never tastes good."

"I cooked it."

Link gave his head a tilt as he prepared to eat another bite. "Don't think anyone's ever tried that."

…

~~Day 98 (Command, Day 61)

~~We're only an hour away from where Leynne decided we should deploy the ships for our fake convoy. Amazingly, the crew has been responding well despite the fact that we're about to take on a fully-armed battleship crewed by homicidal lunatics. In fact, I've never seen them more normal, if normal could ever be applied to the way my crew behaves. So far, Dholit has tried to seduce me again, Cale fell down the stairs into the galley, Line busted his chin on the helm (I'm not sure why), Layna's snuck up behind me three times, and Sello showed up on deck trying to bowl with a set of eleven empty bottles and a fish bowl. The bowling thing failed because drafts all over the deck kept knocking his bottles over.

~~I'm glad that my crew made me go to sleep. I don't think I've ever felt so refreshed before. Then again, compared to the way things have gone in the past couple of months, today has felt pretty normal. Again, if the word "normal" could ever be applied to my crew. I've even been dwelling on the fact that I'm about to jump on a ship full of things that'll wanna kill me, and I just go with it like it's nothing. I'm beginning to wonder if I might actually be losing my own mind.

…

As the evening progressed, the Island Symphony arrived at an area far removed from any visible civilization and dropped out of the Sky Line with the Moon's Shadow and the Grand Sails. Line ported the other two captains to the Island Symphony using the Conductor. It was mostly because Link did not want to risk having any of the ships they were towing to crash together, but Link also wanted Line to get a bit of practice piloting the Conductor so he was used to the controls. The result looked good, although Alfonzo and North appeared a little ill as they boarded the ship.

They gathered in Link's cabin, where Leynne started explaining the plan to them around the map table. The map was covered in markings and numbers, many of which completely eluded Link. All he knew was it was a map of the central area of the kingdom with the closest islands, Jar and Tabletop Islands, cut off at opposing edges of the map.

"From ouh position, the Undying Stohm should be upon us tomorrow mohning. That should give us about eight houhs to deploy these vessels and hide ouh own ships among them."

"Why so early?" Alfonzo asked.

"If I have this planned cohrectly," Leynne said, "the combination of cloud coveh and faint light will help with ouh disguise. They should have a difficult time seeing that the ships ah empty. In ohdeh to complete the illusion, each crew will also have to be concealed beneath the deck."

"If we're all below," North asked, "how will we tell when the Island Symphony has Captain Link back?"

Leynne sighed. "Unfohtunately, it is a difficulty I have not quite resolved. Ideally, Cunimincus' vessel would strike the ship closest to the Sky Line. That would make it easy to spy activity through a window oh peeking out from behind a dooh. But I'm afraid that we may have to play this by eah."

All three captains gave him confused looks. "What?" Alfonzo asked.

"Listening," Leynne explained. "Assuming most visual processes ah impeded by the general shape of youh vessels, theh will still be an incredible amount of noise, the main souhce of which will likely be the Conductoh's engine."

"If we have to, we can have Line go past the Moon's Shadow and the Grand Sails to be sure you know when the trap has been sprung," Link said. "Then he'll retreat to the Island Symphony."

"I've taken note of the prevailing winds in this area," Leynne continued. "We should position the vessels in a nohth-eastehly direction on the west side of the new Sky Line." He indicated the map for clarity.

Which only confused Alfonzo and North. "Isn't that the east side of the Sky Line?" Alfonzo asked.

"What?" Leynne asked, looking down at the map. "No, that's the west."

"No, I'm sure that's the east."

"Leynne," Link spoke up. "Directions backwards, remember?"

"Oh, foh f—" Leynne cut himself off. He rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, we should place the vessels on a south-westehly direction on the east side of the Sky Line. Betteh?"

"Yes," North replied.

"Makes more sense," Alfonzo told him.

"Anyway," Leynne continued. "The wind will provide some movement to the vessels."

"But the ships won't experience the same movement," Alfonzo pointed out. "They'll move out of formation eventually."

Leynne nodded. "Yes, I felt that would happen. So when we fihst ohganize the vessels, we should place them togetheh so that, as they drift apaht, it might still look like a natural fohmation." Alfonzo nodded along with the logic.

"What kind of signals will you be using?" North asked.

"Flares," Link answered.

"We've agreed that green will be the signal that Link has removed the prisonehs from Cunimincus' ship," Leynne said. "Blue will indicate that eitheh the prisonehs oh Link is still aboahd the ship, so use caution and try to boahd. Red will be used when we ah in definite trouble."

"What counts as 'definite trouble'?" Alfonzo asked.

"Mostly, the kind we haven't been able to account foh. Which could be anything. Unless the wind shifts drastically, it should remain blowing strongest to the west. Should a red flah go up, then it's the captain's discretion whetheh the vessel remains oh not."

"We won't run," North said.

"Neither will we," Alfonzo agreed.

"Be that as it may," Leynne said, "at least one vessel should make a dash foh Might Island. If anything, the citizens theh should be wahned of the coming dangeh."

"I've already sent correspondence to Captain Luke," North said. "Should we not make contact with him by noon tomorrow, he'll do what he can to organize the people of Might Island." Leynne nodded his understanding.

"If we do board," Alfonzo said, "what'll we be dealing with?"

"The same creatures we fought on Autumn Island," Link said. "Lizalfos, Stalarmors, Darknuts… that weird bird thing…"

"Link's already explained that, upon exposuh to salt wateh, the metal creatuhs will rust and become immobile," Leynne said. "We ah cuhrently above a lahge stretch of ocean. Ouh goal should be to ensuh that the ship is sent to the suhface to dispose of any Stalahmohs oh Dahknuts."

"I sent the Royal Air Corps on to Center Island to clear out any of Cunimincus' men who may be occupying the island," North said. "They've been told that, if they encounter any of these metal things, clear out and let us know. Assuming we make it back."

"We will," Link said. "It all feels right."

"I don't share the kid's enthusiasm," Alfonzo said, "but, as far as plans go, this feels pretty thought out. I wouldn't get cocky about it, though; you never know what's waiting for us on that ship."

"That's fine," North said. "These things won't know what's waiting for them, either.

"Gentlemen. Let's get to work."