The Wind Waker

VIII

THE SAIL flapped in the wind as he saw Dragon Roost island in the distance. It had taken two days to get there. Link had anchored near two small isles on the way, not confident enough to simply drop the anchor and sleep on the turbulent ocean.

Before him was the map he had acquired in Windfall, and a compass he'd found in a storage locker on the King of Red Lions.

Link was now very thankful for both. Without his notes from stargazing, he had lost a lot of his reference for where he was. He had made it though, and he began to feel the hull of the boat come into more shallow waters.

Dragon Roost island was a large island, perhaps larger than Outset. It was dominated by a tall volcano, which breathed out a plume of smoke rising high into the air.

The ancient hero's travels around ancient death mountain came to mind. Perhaps, given that the remains of Hyrule were far beneath them, this was a remnant of death mountain.

As he thought about this, he remembered the hero of time's battle against the dragon Volvagia. Being called Dragon Roost Island, Link felt a bit nervous. Fighting a dragon was not something he particularly felt like doing.

He dropped the anchor just close enough to shore that he wasn't beaching the hull of the boat.

"Well," Link said.

"You will have to find the emblem yourself," the King of Red Lions said.

"Yes," Link pursed his lips in annoyance, "yes. I am aware. Can you tell me anything about Dragon Roost Island?"

"It is the home island of the Rito people."

Now Link remembered where he'd heard of the island. The Rito were a bird-like race of people, capable of flying. Many of them delivered mail around the Great Sea.

He stepped out into the water, it going up just barely above his boots.
"I wish you good fortune Link," the King of Red Lions said.

"Thanks," Link said, turning away from the red and white boat, and wading to the shore.

Link became glad for his boots. This island had a lot of sharp objects in the sand, which crunched under his feet. Many appeared to be volcanic rocks. It was very different from the smooth pale sand of Outset.

The island was extremely tall. Link had read about ancient mountains, but this was the closest he'd ever come to seeing them. Steep grey cliff-faces stretched up to the top of the volcano crater.

So..., he thought. He'd found the island. Now to find the Rito.

Finding a path, he began to climb high up the island. The island didn't have anything like the large forest on Outset. It was, for the most part, volcanic rock.

After hiking for only a few minutes, Link looked back and found that he had gotten as high as the plateaus on Outset. Wow, he thought. This was high, and much of the island was still a great amount higher.

To accommodate for the sharp increases of elevation, the path switched back and forth zig-zagging to get up the cliff face.

The trail flattened out, and several wooden bridges hugged the cliff face ahead. They were anchored to the side of the cliff, hanging hundreds of feet above the crashing waves.

Okay. That looked exciting. Not nearly as exciting though as clinging to nothing but cool cobblestones and climbing along a wall with no protection of any kind. At least there were railings on these.

As he was about to start walking on the first wooden platform, he heard something.

It was music. Notes mingled with the high rushing wind. He cautiously walked backward, off the path, going down a small hill. He eventually found the source.