The Wind Waker

A Sneak Peek at - The Phantom Hourglass

Chapter 1

Thunder flashed, and Link's hammock threw him out onto the floor.

He groaned as the ship did likewise, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

His vision cleared, he looked up the stairs, seeing the ship sway harshly back and forth. The weather had worsened. For several days now, they'd been caught in a thick fog, and they'd groan more uncertain of their surroundings.

Link looked back at his hammock, and started sliding back in.

Someone grabbed a fistfull of the back of his shirt and pulled him upright.

Staggering around for a moment, Link found his balance, and stared Tetra in the face.

"I find it interesting," she remarked, "that the boy who once gazed unwaveringly at death now can hardly keep those eyes open when confronted by sleep."

"These last few days have been very foggy," Link noted.
"Yes," Tetra said, "and because you can't go out starin' at stars it's thrown off your sleep pattern."
"You guessed it," Link yawned.

"Well," Tetra said, "do somethin'."

Link watched Tetra walk over to the middle of the room where Mako and some other members of the crew were kneeling down, looking at a map.
"So," Mako said, "given our approximate speed and such, we should be somewhat over here."
Mako pointed a few inches off the map's edge.

"Mako," Tetra said, stooping down for a closer look, "that does not help."

"Hey," Gonzo said, motioning to that area, "isn't that the area the local islanders were tellin' us about? They said the seas here were protected, yeah?"
"Yeah," Niko piped in, "the ghost ship."
"Pfff," Tetra scoffed, ignoring him, "we should just turn around. I'm sick of this impenetrable fog."
"But this is where the windwaker led us," Link reminded.
"Well," Tetra said, "ask the windwaker where to go from here."
"Well," Link said, adjusting his cap, "the wind doesn't usually talk back."

"Yeah princess Zelda," Niko teased.
She darted her gaze to him.
"I - told - you - not - to - call - me - Zelda!"

Niko averted his toothy grin.

"Regardless," Tetra said, "even though we haven't gotten much activity out of the wind lately, try again."
Link shrugged, and opened a chest beneath his hammock. He unwrapped a bundle of cloth, and found the ancient relic.

He started up the stairs, and Tetra grabbed the hem of his shirt.

"Link," she warned, "they're a storm out there like Nayru's out for vengeance. Be careful."

He nodded, and went up the stairs, and opened the door, to immediately be hit with a wall of water.

He quickly closed the door again, coughing and wiping the moisture off his face.

"Talk about the goddesses throwing up a wall," Niko remarked from the stairway.

Link took a deep breath, ran out into the storm.

The ship bucked like a fierce beast on the dark waves. Sheets of rain quickly soaked him to his skin.

He ran to the mast and grabbed some rope, nearly falling over.

Tetra, Zuko, and Gonzo walked out into the rain after him, their feet more steady. Niko and Mako however, watched from the doorway, too timid to venture out onto deck.

Senza and Nudge meanwhile were hard at work on deck already, the two men seemingly unwavering in the tempest around them.

Nudge shouted something at them.