The Wind Waker

VI

THE MAST of The Shrewd Scout swayed back and forth in the cool night air. Link tried with all his hardest not to think about the height, but he would gladly embrace the danger in pursuit of science!

The increased height of the crow's nest gave him a clear vantage point to be able to see. His view of the sky was completely unobstructed, even more than at the lookout tower on Outset.

He held Aryll's telescope tightly. He felt like if he got too close to the edge it would jump out of his hands spontaneously. It was all he had left of...

He extinguished the thought before it seared his emotions.

Link had decided not to take The Stargazer's Guide with him for fear that it would be too difficult to climb, though he had a hard enough time even without it. The swaying of the ship made climbing the rigging very different than the rope ladder at Outset.

He resumed his studies of Din's Fire. Link theorized that perhaps there was a connection between it and the Celestial River. The Celestial River was a very bright stream of stars, with much of the faded diffused light that was reminiscent of Din's Fire.

After studying the Celestial River at length, however, he determined that Din's Fire was different. The faded light in the Celestial River was simply the glare from all the clustered stars. Din's Fire on the other hand, was far off by itself.

Though he was higher up than usual, the moon was brighter tonight, and lessened the light of the stars.
He slid the telescope in his belt.
He could climb back down.
Or...

Link dropped down into sleep. He may have one more night before they reached their destination. He had one more night...

* * * *

Link slept soundly, until of course, Tetra gave him a swift kick in the gut.

"Augh!"

Tetra yanked him up to his feet.

"What," Link spat out, "in the name of all that is good on the Great Sea... was that for?!"

"It was effective wasn't it?" Tetra said. "We're here."

"Okay," Link groaned, his stomach aching. They'd arrived quicker than he'd expected. Link looked over the dark ocean. It was still night-time.

A worn, ruined, stone fortress stood out of the water, light from within its walls draped against the cobbled towers.

It was so big! How was he ever going to find Aryll in that labyrinth?

"C'mon," Tetra said, climbing down from the lookout.

He followed her down the rigging, as scrambled down it with well-honed skill. Link was... less skillful.

Tetra ran up to the ship's wheel, where Nudge was carefully guiding the ship.

"So," Tetra said, "how are we gonna get the kid over the wall?"

"Thinking..." Nudge said.

Gonzo had woken up as well, and watched the light emanating from the fort.

"The fort is rather...active," Gonzo remarked.

"I thought you said it was vacant," Nudge said to Tetra.

"It appeared to be," Tetra said.

"We're gonna run up against some rock soon if we don't change course," Nudge pointed out.

Tetra paused, thinking for a moment.

"Go fetch a compass," she said.
Nudge steered the ship sharply to the right.