Chapter 133: In Search of Hope

…

~~We set off from Hovela bound for the wreckage of the Horizon's Eye in the Iyuk Mountains. Gold made arrangements with a tavern owner near Hovela's port to put up any of the engine room crew that returns looking for the ship.

~~I'm hoping that we'll find some technoworks so we can try Irleen's compass again. But we may have a problem. Leynne pointed out earlier today that, since the Horizon's Eye was scuttled, there's a chance that the technoworks on the ship might not be usable. He may be right, he may not be. The technoworks might have gone into nekroses, either from one of the Sorians Cunimincus sent with his crew or they decided to just bash the technoworks to death. Then again, the Sorians might've simply made the technoworks dormant. The anticipation's made me nervous; I've been awake for a good bit of the night.

~~I think Irleen might be feeling worse, though. She hasn't said a whole lot since I got back this afternoon, and she's spent the rest of the day lying in her bed. I'm not sure if I should try talking to her or not. I don't even know what to say. Maybe she'll feel better once we find the ship. Then again, maybe not. I suppose we'll find out tomorrow morning.

…

~~Day 105 (Command, Day 68)

~~Leynne won't admit it, but I think we're lost.

…

Leynne, in a fit of frustration, threw the bundle of parchment over his shoulder so that the wind would catch it and scatter it across the forecastle and the main deck. "All right!" he declared as he turned and stepped back to the helm. "We'h lost!"

"Not the kinda thing an airman likes to hear from the boss, Lieutenant," Line told him.

Leynne glanced over at Link, who stood next to the wheel. "Is it bad fohm to shove the helmsman's head through the ship's wheel?" Leynne asked him while glaring at Line.

"Yep," Link replied as he retrieved a page that was caught on his boot.

"What're you getting mad at me for?" Line whined.

"You ah ouh helmsman!" Leynne shouted at him. "Wheh the hell ah we!?"

"How should I know?!"

"Did you follow my couhse at all?"

"Yes, I did," Line replied, leaning forward to attempt to bring his face closer to Leynne's. However, the width of the helm made it hard for him to get close, which would probably save him should Leynne decide to strangle him. "Off-north all the way! No more than five degrees! The needle's been kissing the north mark the whole way!"

"This whole landscape is wrong!" Leynne said, indicating the sky around him. "Kissing, my right buttock! You've brought us too fah to the west!"

Line's hostility disappeared in a bout of confusion. Then he uttered as the situation dawned on him, "Uh oh."

"What?" Leynne asked.

"Uh…" Line glanced down at the compass. "Were we… supposed to be going west?"

"Yes!" Leynne replied, his fists pounding on air as he spoke. "Off-nohth to the west!"

"Hold up, hold on a sec," Link said as he held up hands to both of them. "Line, which way have you been going?"

"Uh… east," Line replied with a nervous expression.

"East!?" Leynne hollered. "What in the hell!"

"So I got a little confused when I came up!" Line shouted back. "I thought we were going east!"

"You little—" Leynne began.

"All right, hold it!" Link shouted, placing a hand on Leynne's chest to keep him at bay. "Listen, Leynne. We're still in the Iyuk Mountains. We could only be just a few minutes from the wreck if we turn now."

Leynne sighed and straightened out his shirt as he stood up straight. "Yes, of couhse," he said with an air of dignity. "Line, would you tuhn us to poht? I think ninety degrees to due west shall do."

Line rolled his eyes. "Aye, Lieutenant," he groaned as he turned the wheel. "Port to due west."

"We've only been moving west foh a few houhs," Leynne told Link in an exhausted tone, one hand scratching his head. "We couldn't be fah off."

Link nodded. "That's what I figured."

"You know," Line spoke up, "I never thought I'd be looking for that ship again. It's kinda weird."

"I find myself in a similah position," Leynne said. Then he asked Link, "What of Ihleen? Has she said anything lately?"

Link shook his head. "Not really. I mean, I asked if it was possible that the technoworks could survive a fall down here, but she just grunted at me."

"I don't mean about the ship, Link. Has she said anything to you? At all?"

"Uh… not-not since yesterday," Link replied, confused.

"Oh," Leynne replied, looking down at the deck.

"What is it?" Line asked as he turned the wheel back.

"Well, I had hoped that it was momentary," Leynne explained to the boys, "but I feel that Ihleen may be getting a little depressed."

Link gave a sigh. "I… guess I didn't notice."

"It would've been difficult, I suppose. Afteh all, it isn't as if we've a face to put heh feelings to. Suhely, you've noticed heh behavioh befoh."

"I-I guess," Link replied, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, uh…"

"So she's a little down in the gutter," Line spoke up. "Once we find the Horizon's Eye, she'll get back to normal."

"I don't think it's so simple, Line," Leynne warned. "Ihleen knows moh about the technowohks than any of us. If she's convinced that heh final hope is gone, it'll take some live blocks to tuhn heh around. I'm afraid we don't have very favorable odds."

"Think I should try to talk to her again?" Link asked.

"If you think it's prudent," Leynne said. "Of the entih crew, you've known heh the longest. You youhself spent some time separated from the people you knew. You might have an idea oh two."

Link bit his lower lip as he thought. Then he nodded and told them, "I think I'll give it a try. Leynne, you have the deck."

"Yes, Captain."

Link then turned around and marched across the deck back to his cabin. His head buzzed with different ways he could try to start a conversation, something mentioning that he knew what Irleen was going through.

Then he entered his cabin. As soon as the door was closed, his mind blanked. Irleen was still in her bed, her presence given away by her faint glow against the deckhead. Link did not know what had happened. Every thing, every word he had thought up suddenly disappeared with one startling revelation.

Link had always known where his home was.

He stepped over to his bed with the intention of at least calling attention to himself, hoping that Irleen might actually rise. He did not know how long he stood there, feeling like an idiot for not even uttering a grunt in her direction. Irleen made no attempt to stir. The only sound around him was the creak of the ship's timbers; he wished someone was working on the Conductor above. Instead of trying to relieve her depression, Link found himself getting caught up in it. He moved over to the desk and fell into the chair. After an eternity of staring at his journal, he leaned forward and picked up a pen. The overhead light was not on, leaving him with only the waning light of the late morning sun to look through the journal for today's page.

~~I just tried to have a conversation with Irleen. I must be some kind of idiot.

~~I realize now that I can't just talk to Irleen like I've been through the same thing. I haven't. It's one thing for your home to turn against you; it's different when it disappears completely. I just don't have any words for her. I

Link started when someone knocked on the door to his cabin. He glanced up, and then glanced down at the stroke that was about to be a new sentence. Realizing that he had forgotten what he was about to write, he replaced the pen and stood up. He eyed Irleen's bed as he walked past.

When he opened the door, he found Leynne standing on the other side. "What is it?" Link asked, squinting at the daylight behind his second-in-command.

"Floweh's spotted wreckage off to poht," Leynne replied. "It's the Horizon's Eye. I have Line bringing us above the wreckage now."

Link glanced back at Irleen. He waited to see if she would get out of her bed. Then he turned back to Leynne. "Okay," he said with a sigh. "Let's go."

Link immediately moved to the port bulwark once he was outside instead of following Leynne to the forecastle. Looking down below reminded Link of all those years of watching the haze that used to exist above the surface. The sea of clouds beneath the Island Symphony slowly flowed around the peaks of the Iyuk Mountains, reminding Link of the froth of a spilled beer finding its way across a bar floor. Link could see and feel the ship approaching one large peak almost underneath the hull. It was difficult to see at first, but he was able to finally make out the wrecked airship underneath a blanket of snow.

"My Captain~." Link glanced up to find that Dholit had stepped up to him with Layna in tow. Link could see where this conversation might go (besides overboard) because Layna had changed back into her black, multi-pocketed suit. Dholit gave him a wide grin and said, "Layna would like to know whethah she shall be accompanying you to the wreckage."

"She can accompany me," Link replied, "but she won't need to watch me. We're looking for the technoworks that should be on that ship. She can help with the search."

"Techno…wohks?" Dholit repeated, looking confused. "I'm… not suah how I should translate that wohd; I've nevah heahd it befoah."

"She'll know what it is," Link said as he dug a hand into his pocket. He pulled out the blues harp. "Layna." He pointed at the blues harp, watching Layna to be sure she was paying attention. Then he turned and indicated the wreckage on the other side of the bulwark. Layna stepped up to the bulwark to look where Link was pointing. Their eyes met, and Layna gave him a nod. Link stood up and turned to Dholit. "See?" he asked, placing the blues harp back in his pocket. "She gets it."

"Wellll…" Dholit droned as she watched something happening behind his back. "Theah ah times when I wondah…"

Shoom. Link almost did not notice the gust against his back. He turned around to see if there was a source.

And out of the corner of his eye, he saw something black falling towards the mountain. His hands hit the bulwark in surprise, and he cried out, "LAYNA!" He watched in horror as she shrunk away from the Island Symphony. He wanted to jump after her, but he knew he'd never survive the fall. All he could do was watch as she fell to her doom.

Then Layna, reduced to little more than a black dot from Link's point of view, suddenly swung out of the dive and seemed to just dance around the collapsed mast draped over the Horizon's Eye's hull. Somehow, she had avoided landing on the deck and just flew about like a bird.

Link sighed and collapsed against the bulwark. "She couldn't wait until we got there?" he asked the open air.

"It is a pleasuah to know that you and Layna have opened a cleah line of communication," Dholit said with a giggle tingeing her voice.

"Shut up and go away."

Ten minutes later, Line had brought the Island Symphony to the side of the cliff Link, Leynne, and Valley had climbed. Since they did not have a boarding plank or a place to secure the ship's mooring lines, they opened the cargo doors onto the cliff. Leynne set to securing the ship using spare mooring lines anchored somewhere inside the cargo deck. Link decided to look around the Horizon's Eye while Leynne worked, hoping to find the technoworks quickly. He climbed onto the deck using the rope they had left months before.

Stepping back onto the deck sent a shiver up his spine. The layer of snow on the deck and the fallen and broken mast made the ship feel more haunted than the first time they had found it. It was probably for the better; the snow at least covered the blood-stained deck. He went below and searched around for a bit before he heard someone else's footsteps on the main deck.

His search brought him to a hallway that he recognized from their first excursion to the ship. He even found a hole in the deck, presumably the one he had fallen through back then. He carefully stepped around this, weary of the sounds the deck planks made as he moved. He found doors further on, each one in a state of disrepair. As he advanced further into the large ship, he started poking his head into them.

"May Kyabtin."

"YIKES!" Link cried out, leaping into the air. Bam! He smacked his head on the deckhead and fell onto his stomach. "Oooooooow…" he moaned, cradling his head. He propped himself up on a knee and turned to look at Layna. "You know, sometimes, I think you do that because you think it's funny." Layna, having been startled by Link's reaction, kept her mouth hidden behind her hands. He stood up and brushed himself off. "Well, you made me jump into the deckhead. Did you find something?" Layna waited a moment. Then she pointed in the direction that Link had been moving, toward the stern.

Link continued down the narrow hallway until he found himself standing in a room similar in size to the Island Symphony's engine room. However, instead of an engine, Link discovered that the room's floor was covered in metal parts and black rock. He descended a nearby ladder. The bottom of the deck expanded back toward the bow, and Link realized that this extension of the room was the same one that he had fallen through out into the snow. There was more of the black rock piled up against the starboard side mostly. Link picked up a rock the size of his fist and looked at it.

"Link?" Leynne called from above. "Link, ah you down heh?"

"Yeah," Link replied. He heard grunting as Leynne descended. Link turned the rock and found that one face was a flat surface. However, the surface was not entirely even. Link used a finger to feel into the triangular cuts that had been made in the rock's face. The lack of light made it hard to tell, but he managed to angle the rock until he had a clear view courtesy of a hole further into the room which allowed sunlight in. Just as he had feared, the cuts were Sorian script.

"Any sign of the technowohks in heh?" Leynne asked.

Link turned to find Leynne standing just over his shoulder. He gave the rock a grim look before passing it to Leynne. "Yeah," he replied as Leynne took it. "A whole room full. But it doesn't matter. The technoworks here are completely dead."

Leynne looked up from the rock. His eyes wandered the line of dead technoworks down to the opening in the hull. "All of it?" he asked.

Link gave a nod. "They probably caused it to undergo necrosis to make the ship fall," he explained. "I guess… they never expected to recover the ship."

Leynne dropped the rock to the floor. "Anotheh dead end. And, I suppose now would be a good time to bring up a backup plan."

"A backup plan?" Link asked, confused.

Leynne nodded. "As you seem to have not considehed the prospect, I will go ahead and remind you that, if technowohks ah in demand, we still have a small supply on boahd the Island Symphony."

Link only needed a second to comprehend him. "The Conductor."

"I only mention it now because it would have been betteh to find technowohks heh. As this is cleahly no longeh an option…"

Link nodded. "You're right." He heaved a sigh so that he had a moment to hesitate. He did not like the prospect of disassembling the Conductor's ballast, especially since the launch had been a truly useful craft for the things that they had done. It would be like losing a member of the crew.

Which was why Link had to detach himself from the notion. Between saving a boat and getting Irleen back home, he decided that Irleen deserved happiness. "Okay," he told Leynne. "Let's do it."