The sound of softly rolling waves flowed through the air.
Link heard their slow rhythm slowly fade into his mind as he came awake.
He felt moist grainy sand under his back. His clothes were partially damp.
The sunlight above him turned the inside of his eyelids were a warm red, and when he finally blinked his eyes open, he squinted as the noonday sun hung right above him.
"You're awake!"
Link had been sitting up when the unfamiliar voice startled him. He sat up fully, then spun around, finding that he was on a beach.
What...
"Hi!"
Link darted his gaze around again, and finally found the source of the voice.
It was... a fairy. It floated in front of his face, giving off a faint white glow.
"I'm Ciela!" the fairy said in a young, chipper voice, "what's your name?"
"Um, Link."
"Huh," she said, placing her hands on her hips, "that's a funny name."
"I...." Link was at a loss for words. He was very... confused. He hurt all over, and was having a difficult time thinking straight.
"I was really worried when I saw you wash up on the beach," her tone becoming a bit more calm. "You looked pretty roughed up."
Link stood up, watching curiously as the fairy flitted around him.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"Mercay island," she answered.
Link looked into the island's interior. It was covered in green forests, wrapping around a high ridge in the middle.
"I've never heard of it," Link said, spying some modest houses on a nearby hillside.
"What are you talking about?" Ciela laughed. "Everyone knows about this island. It's only the largest island in the sea!"
Link highly doubted that. Outset rivaled its size, and Windfall especially was far larger.
"Do you need help?" Ciela asked. "You look like you need to rest."
"Rest?" Link said, "I don't have any time to rest. My friend Tetra is in danger. We lost sight of her when she boarded a mysterious dark ship."
The fairy gasped. "You aren't talking about the ghost ship are you?! No one who's gone aboard has ever returned!"
"Well," Link said, "that is going to change."
"You're going to actually try to find it?!"
"Yes," Link said flatly. "Can you help me find it, or find someone who can?"
"Well...," Ciela said folding her arms, "Grandpa might be able to help you. I'll take you to him."
Ciela suddenly took off, and Link ran after her.
A trail of light, like a string of sparkling dew drops followed after her.
Link had seen fairies several times, but this one was strange. Most fairies were not nearly so talkative, and were very reclusive. She seemed more like the fairies from the ancient hero's day.
Link felt a burning frustration as he followed the fairy. He needed to find Tetra, and he had nothing. He didn't have his sword, he didn't have the windwaker, and he didn't have any rupees either.
But he wasn't going to let himself be beaten by a ship. He'd defeated Ganondorf, the embodiment of evil to the Hylian people. Even if this ghost ship was actually cursed, he'd confronted far worse.
Link and the fairy reached a small cottage, with an old looking thatch roof. An old man sat under an awning in front of it.
"Grandpa," Ciela spoke quickly, "I found this boy washed up on the beach and he needs help!"
The man angled his gaze upward at Link. He had grey, reflective eyes, peering through a thick full beard that wreathed his face.
"What is your name boy?" the old man asked with a surprisingly strong baritone voice.
"Link," he answered.
The man stared. He rested both his hands on a staff, red in color and topped with a conch-like shell.
"Where do you come from Link?" he asked.
"Outset Island, southwest of Windfall."
"Hm. Yes, I know something of the place. You are troubled with something. What?"
"A girl I was traveling with," he explained," named Tetra, went aboard this ghost ship, and when I tried to go after her, I fell into the ocean, and woke up here."
"And now you intend to rescue her," the man guessed.
Link nodded.
The man struck the bottom of his staff against the ground. "Foolish child. Young people do not learn until they are no longer young. The ghost ship is far more dangerous than you believe. Your friend is lost."
Link flinched at the bold statement.
"But grandpa!" Ciela protested, flying practically up into the man's beard, "how can you say that? What if there's a chance of him succeeding?"
"He is stepping into matters he does not understand," the man answered. "He is but an overexcited youth."
Annoyance began to boil inside Link. He was not the child he once had been. Still, he breathed deeply, and tried not to release his anger.
"I think, sir, that maybe you are jumping to conclusions. I have seen a lot in my years. I'm an accomplished swordsman, and I have experience with the supernatural."
"You're determined to do this aren't you?" the old man asked.
"Yes."
The man rose from his woven chair, and opened the door to the cottage.
"Let us continue this discussion inside. I'm sure you could use something to eat."
"You never mentioned your name," Link said as he walked inside.
The man walked to a cooking pot and ladled stew into a bowl. "I have no reason to give my name to strangers."
"His name is Oshus," Ciela divulged, "and he is the kind man who's taken care of me my whole life."
Oshus shook his head, then directed Link to sit at a small low table, placing the bowl of stew down. Link was careful in his eating, trying to disguise his ravenous hunger.
"Despite your claims," Oshus said, "the very gait you walk with betrays the fact that you are but a boy."
Link consumed a spoonful of stew. "I'm fifteen. I am a young man, who is quite capable of defending himself."
"That may be," Oshus said, "but for your supposed skill, you are foolishly chasing a cursed ship."
"I prefer the term 'brave' to foolish," Link said.
"You say you are skilled with a sword," Oshus said. "But having a sparring match with a friend is hardly the mark of a seasoned warrior."
Link closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, then breathed out slowly. "Like I said, I am more than just a novice with a sword. I've practiced with a sword for several years now."
"But what have you done with that skill, my young friend?"
Link gripped the edge of the bench he was sitting on. "My sister was kidnapped by monsters. I rescued her."
"Surely," the old man smiled, "that is clearly preparation to step onto an otherworldly ship from which no fool has returned."
"Please help him grandpa!" Ciela pleaded, settling down on the table. "He just wants to help his friend!"
Oshus sighed. His fingers twisted the fringes of his beard. "Though I cannot be much help to you, I know of someone even more brash than you are who can."
"Oh!" Ciela said, "is it that one funny sailor in the blue coat?"
"Yes, Ciela," he said patiently. "His name is Linebeck, and of all people, I'd venture he's the most likely to sail for certain doom."
"And I'll happily do so alongside him," Link said.
An amused expression briefly appeared on Oshus's face, only to vanish into his bottomless beard.
Ciela flew up into the air, and landed on Link's shoulder. "I can help him find Linebeck!"
"Ciela," Oshus said in a concerned tone, "leave this poor boy free of your bothering."
"I don't mind if she helps me find him," Link said.
Oshus, obviously frustrated, closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
"Alright. Be careful. Very careful."
Oshus got up from the table, and walked to the other side of the room.
"It is not much, but I can offer you this. I can use it no longer."
Oshus placed a sword scabbard in his hands. Link held it for a moment, feeling its weight, then drew it. Though not as well balanced as his family's sword, it was adequate. It appeared old, but also appeared to have been well maintained.
"Thank you," He said, re-inserting it into the scabbard.
"Are you off then?" Oshus asked.
"No time like the present," Link replied.
Link put on the scabbard's strap, then walked through the front entrance.
"Thank you for your help," Link said as Oshus remained in the doorway.
"Don't do anything stupid."
"Which of us are you talking to?" Ciela laughed.
"If I could," Oshus said, "I would that I could say that to every youth in the world."
And abruptly, Oshus turned around, and returned inside. Link stood quietly for a moment, then began walking away.
"Which way?" he asked.
"East to get to the port," Ciela answered, sitting down and dangling her legs over the edge of Link's shoulder.
He walked for a few seconds, and then Ciela flew ahead of him.
"Is he always like that?" Link asked.
Ciela giggled. "Trust me, if he didn't like you, he wouldn't have let you in."
Hovering in front of him, she flew backwards. She made a big grin.
"Besides, I would've worn him down eventually."
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