Yes, days like this were made for taking naps. Not that Anna would mind, especially, if she did happen to get the chance to become a hero of legend and do feats of courage. But naps are good too.

Zzz.

"Sister!"

Aryll runs across the beach, past huts and gardens, the tall peak holding the Forest of Fairies behind her.

"SISTER!"

Anna's probably at the lookout tower. It's a good place for napping, and this seems like a nap day.

She climbs up and pokes Anna with her telescope before tip-toeing around her.

Mmmnnope, not getting up just yet. Not even for an adorable little sister.

Unconvincingly-faked zzz.

Aryll patiently waits behind Anna, looking to surprise her when she does get up.

...For about fifteen seconds before getting impatient and nudging her shoulder.

"Nooooo, I don't wanna get up!"

"I knew you'd be up here. It's the best spot for naps or playing with the gulls on the whole island. But, you have to get up! Don't you remember what day it is today?"

"Um, refresh my memory?"

"It's your birthday, silly! Your most important birthday too. That's why grandma's waiting for you back at the house."

"Birthday... birthday. Nope, not ringing any bells. Well, back to sleep then."

Aryll runs up and pushes Anna, moving her precisely nowhere.

"You'll make Grandma keep waiting!"

"All right, all right. You win. Let's go!"

Anna gets up and climbs down from the watchtower.

"I'll stay here and watch clouds." She unfolds her telescope and peers at the horizon.

Outset island, her home, unfolds before her. Of course, her grandma's house is all the way on the opposite side of the island from the watch tower.

The walk is part of the fun!

A little kid interrupts her walk along the bridge. "Aaaanna! You're big! My mean brother threw my treasures all the way over over there!" He points along a path of raised rocks that are too far for a small child to jump. The 'treasures' appear to be various brightly colored shells.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?"

Hop hop hop shells retrieved!

"Thanks!" He gathers up his shells, leaving Anna with a small yellow gem that was also in the pile for some reason. A yellow rupee, worth ten green rupees.

Nice. She pockets it, then continues her walk.

Another person interrupts her. "I got a very nice gift for you since it's an important day." A red rupee! Worth twenty. "Don't spend it all in one place and happy birthday! I'm looking forward to the ceremony tonight."

She gets more happy birthdays but no more gifts.

The professor guy interrupts her walk though. "HEY! Anna! Now that you're old enough I would be willing to share some wisdom with you! Just come up to my room later if you want to learn valuable wisdom!"

"I will! But Grandma's waiting for me now, so I'll see you later!"

Here's grandma's house!

"I've been waiting for you, Anna. Here... Try these on. Time flies so fast. I can't believe you're already old enough to wear these..."

She presents a bundle of... Green clothes. They'll probably look a little funny, and they seem like they'd be too warm for this weather...

But they're green!! That means she's a grown-up now! Yay!

"Thank you, Grandma!"

"Oh, do try them on for me. I want to see if I need to make alterations."

On they go.

They fit surprisingly well! Grandma fusses over her for a while more and tells some of the traditions to her, again, like the family shield up on the wall. Apparently Orca said he'd teach her swordplay once she's the same age as the hero of legend was. And she promises Anna's favorite soups tonight.

Eventually, "Could you go get Aryll for me? She has to get ready too. She's probably up on that watchtower. I know you just came over here, but these bones are a little old to climb ladders..."

"Yeah, sure. Be right back!"

Nobody interrupts her back on the way to the lookout.

"Aaarrryyylllll!"

"Aaaaanna! I have a present for you!"

"Ooh, a present!"

Aryll waits for her to finish climbing. "...Wow those clothes look really warm. I guess they're neat though. Grandma made them I guess?"

"Yep."

Anna preens, a little bit. She is proud of her new clothes.

"Anyway, here is your present! Not only did I made you this ribbon but also you can use my telescope for today! Make sure to take good care of it." She holds out the items in question. The ribbon has a slightly crude picture of Anna, Aryll, and Grandma all holding hands sewn into it. The telescope has seagulls painted on its side.

"Aww, thanks. Best sister!" Hug time!

Hugs!

"Let me show you how to use the telescope! You look into it and point the big end where you want to see, of course, and then you can slide this piece to zoom in. Oh, the post is here! Look at the mailbox down there!"

There is a bird-person delivering mail to said mailbox.

"There's a delivery!"

The postman sees something, looks alarmed, and flies away.

"AAAHH! Anna! Look up! Look up!"

"KRAAAAAA!"

That... Is a monster bird carrying someone in its claws!

And an honest to god pirate ship chasing after, flinging cannonballs at it!

AAAHHH!

"Aryll stay down!" Anna takes off running after the bird.

The giant bird drops the girl it was carrying after getting smacked in the face by one of the cannonballs. She falls into the forest at the peak of Outset Island.

Then Anna will go up after her.

No she won't. There's thick brambles blocking the way. A knife or sword of some kind, or even a torch, would make quick work of them...

Doesn't Orca, the old guy who promised to teach her to fight, have a sword?

Hmm. All right. Orca's first, then she'll go after the girl.

Orca is hitting things with a wooden stick in his room. Which is right below Sturgeon's and attracts complaints of a racket from him.

"...What's wrong, young one? That expression is far too serious for such a day as this."

The words trip out of her in a great rush. "There was a pirate ship chasing a giant bird and the bird had a girl but it dropped her at the top of the peak and I want to go make sure she's okay but I can't get there because the brambles are in the way. So can I borrow a sword?"

"I see! This is a matter of great import! However, it would not do to simply let you borrow a sword without knowing how to use it. I will let you have it after I teach you to fight." He sees her expression. "Quickly teach you, that is."

"Right. Okay, let's go."

He gives her a wooden practice stick and takes up his bigger stick and has her bow in the correct way despite her impatience. 

He shows her various combinations of moves and asks her to repeat them to his satisfaction, using him as a target. "Do not fear that you will hurt me."

She's a quick study with the blade. She gets all the moves in one or two tries.

He makes her practice each a couple dozen times, expanding the repetoire to include showy things like a spin attack and a jump slash.

"Good! You are good at this. Now I will show you the most important part of fighting. The parry! Focus on me and push your surroundings aside. Then, wait for me to attack. As soon as I move, dodge and counterattack! This technique will be invaluable to you if you ever need to truly fight."

He backs up and waits five seconds then comes at her with a "Kyaah!"

She darts away at the last instant, and swings her stick around to thwap his back.

"Good! You have spirit! For a while now I have sensed a certain anxiousness in the Hero's Sword... An eagerness that wishes to go beyond being displayed or even a mere desire to be wielded on the fields of battle... I do not know what is to happen, but I have faith in you. Somehow I know you are bound on a great adventure and will not misuse it. Take the blade, I give it freely." He presents the sheathed sword to her solemnly. "This sword has a power to it. A power to strike at evil far harder than any mere piece of steel. It is infused with the desire to become strong and righteous. Even if you only mean to clear the way, it knows you will need to fight soon. When that time comes, do not falter."

Ana nods solemnly. "I'll take good care of it, I promise. Okaythanksbye!" Annnd she's off.

The brambles split and fall easily, almost too easily, before the power of the Hero's Sword. So does the tall grass that blocks her view. (She finds three green rupees on her way up.)

And then she's at the bridge. It's... Old. And missing a panel near the middle. The gap isn't any wider than those rocks she jumped earlier, but she's really high up now...

No time to worry about that, that girl could be hurt!

Jump!

And then she's over the gap and running towards, then through, the Fairy Forest. A worn sign helpfully informs her of the old legend that that giant rock over there is actually hiding a Fairy Fountain, and the wind god used carry heroes to it so they could be healed of their wounds after battle.

That doesn't have anything to do with the nasty-looking thing that a smaller version of the giant bird drops in here. It starts sniffing around, hunting for the girl?

She approaches warily. Is it hostile?

It doesn't seem to notice her until she's rather close to it. Then it makes an animalistic noise and starts stalking toward her, waving its big club thing menacingly.

Okay club-guy, she's got a sword. You wanna dance? Let's dance.

It's not very smart. Or it doesn't have much practice at fighting. Or both.

Either way, she dispatches it easily. When she hits it it doesn't bleed, just keens in pain. After about five blows it dissolves into puffs of evil-looking smoke that fade away over time. And drops a couple of rupees.

Is that weird? That seems like it might be weird.

Eh, whatever. She'll take the rupees then keep looking for the girl. Anna's pretty sure she was around here somewhere.

She's over there! So are two more evil-maybe-ghostly-goblin-things!

Okay, hostility has been confirmed, so she doesn't feel bad about sneaking up and attacking them right away.

One of them does manage to whack her while she's fighting the other one. It hurts.

That girl is hanging from a tree branch, slowly waking up and groaning slightly.

Ow. But more importantly: "Hey, are you okay?"

"Who are-" SNAP. Goodbye tree branch.

THUMP. Girl meets ground. "...I'm okay. Wow, what's with that getup? Nevermind, whatever, where am I?"

"Outset Island. I'm Anna, who are you?"

"I'm-"

"TETRA! CAPTAIN TETRA! Oh, thank goodness you're safe! When that giant bird dropped you off on the peak we thought you were done for!"

"So it dropped me off at the top of a mountain? Well, wasn't that nice of it. Come on, let's go pay that bird's debt back, in full."

"Miss Tetra, what about this girl?"

"Don't worry about her, come on, we've got a bird to fry." She starts jogging out of the forest.

"Hey, wait up!"

"Humph. What do you want, kid?"

"I want to go with you. And I'm not a kid!"

"What do we get out of bringing you along? A headache, that's what. And... Oh, who's that?"

They've reached the bridge. Aryll's waiting just on the other side of the missing piece, she waves at them.

Until the bird monster swoops down and snatches her up before flying off.

"That was my sister! I have to go save her!"

"Not my problem. What is my problem is it's getting away! Leo, hurry!"

"No point, boss, it's going upwind now, we won't catch it."

"Ugh. Look, you, do you even know what you're asking? We're pirates. You know, pirates, the scourge of the seas. It won't exactly be a luxury vacation."

"Whatever! She's my sister, I have to bring her back!"

"No." Tetra walks off, only to be blocked by the post-bird.

"I'm afraid you do have a debt of sorts. If you big, bad pirates hadn't come to this quiet little island that girl would still be safe. Haven't you heard the rumors?"

Huh?

"Now, as I deliver letters for a living, I spend much of my time flying between all the islands of the Great Sea. As you might imagine I hear a great many interesting things. One of those things is that young girls with pointed ears are being kidnapped from all corners of the archipelago and taken to the cursed place known as the Forsaken Fortress. Young girls like you, Miss Fearsome Pirate, or unless my eyes fail me her sister as well. My point is that the bird mistook the poor girl for you and that's why it grabbed her. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was Anna here who slew the monsters hunting for you in the forest and not your vaunted crew. So, what are you going to do?"

Tetra... Looks uncomfortable. "Under the circumstances... Even if I were to consider it, lately I've heard nothing but evil rumors about this Forsaken Fortress. You can't possibly mean to go there with nothing but that sword. That's not brave, it's outright stupid! There has to be something on this island you can use to defend yourself with."

"There's a shield at my Grandma's house. I can grab it and be right back."

"Fine, come back with that shield and we'll let you stow away on our ship. Maybe visit that fool's boat-shop, as far as I can tell all he's got is bait and those weird bird-controlling pears, but those can be surprisingly useful. We can fish with the bait if nothing else. Oh, and one more thing, you won't be coming back here for a while. So say goodbye to all your friends and family. I don't want you getting all weepy-eyed and homesick on me."

"Don't leave without me."

First stop, Grandma's house.

"Oh, my, dearie, why are you carrying a dangerous thing like that Orca's sword around?"

"Aryll got kidnapped by some giant bird monster and I have to go rescue her. Can I borrow the shield?"

Grandma gasps. "Oh, so it's true... I thought that boy Sam was playing a mean joke on me again." She looks fairly crushed. "...What kind of mosnter would take sweet little children? You'd go anyway if I asked you not to. I know how you feel about adventure, and your sister. Take the shield, dear, don't die, bring Aryll back."

"I will, thanks Grandma. Can you let everyone know I've gone?"

"I will. Here, wait a moment..."

She goes to a lockbox. "I don't want you to go adventuring without an allowance. Take this with you in case you need it on your travels." Fifty rupees.

"Thank you. I'll come back soon, I promise."

"I'll make a giant pot of your and Aryll's favorite soup when you do. Oh, it's oddly appropriate that this happened on the same day you turn as old as the Hero of Legend... Good luck! Be brave! Go before I start crying!"

Okay, off she goes. She's not crying you're crying.

Um. Next stop. Boat shop.

"...Woah, are you okay? Oh, welcome to Beedle's Boat Shop."

"Yeah, I, um, I'm fine. I'm going on a boat trip soon, what do you have?"

"I have bait! The finest bait you will find on the Great Sea. Need to distract a wild critter, or lure one toward or away from something? Bait! Need to get some fish to the surface if'n you're hungry? Bait! I even have Hyoi Pears if you feel like flying. Seagulls love them, and once one eats one you can use its senses and tell it where to fly for a few minutes or until it gets whacked or scared. Good for grabbing stuff from hard to reach places!"

"Okay. I have, um." How many rupees does she have?

Eighty seven.

"Oh, and you need a bait bag unless you already have one? Bait is a mere ten per portion, pears're ten too, the bag is twenty."

"Okay, I'll take one bait bag, four portions of bait and two of the pears."

"THANK YOU! And you know what, I feel like I'll be seeing you again. I'll make a shop membership card just for you! Every time you buy something I'll give you apoint and when you get thirty something good will happen. You have five points now!"

He hands over the items as soon as she gives him the money. "BYE!!"

"Uh, thanks. Bye."

Was that everything? Anna thinks that was everything. Time to find whatsername, Tetra.

"Wow, you're really gonna use that? Whatever, I guess it still counts as a shield. If you're ready to be gone for a good while, let's get to sailing."

"Yeah. Let's go."

They board. The one called Niko seems really happy to have someone with less seniority to him, to boss around.

The islanders are all gathered on the beach, waving and shouting goodbyes as the pirate ship starts to sail off.

Bye, everyone.

"How long are you gonna keep waving at them, you think? Got an estimate?" She leans back over the railing, smug and sarcastic. "Sure you shouldn't go back right now? There's still time, you know. You could swim back from here..."

"I'm not going back."

"Whatever you say. One trip to the Forsaken Fortress, a sister to rescue, all in good fun. We'll probably get to the Fortress tomorrow... But we'll have to wait for night to think about doing anything without getting blown out of the water."

"Fine. I can wait."

She nods and backflips off the railing onto the deck below before going up to the helm and talking to someone else.

Huh. Show-off.

This isn't quite the adventure she had been picturing. Sure, rescuing people from the clutches of evil. But it wasn't supposed to be personal. It wasn't supposed to be her sister. And the captain's condescension! Ugh. Just because she's spent her whole life on Outset Island and not running some pirate crew. Whatever. She could be just as cool if she had the opportunity.

The boat progresses swiftly. The wind blows. The sea salt smells deeper, somehow, out here on the open sea.

It's near sunset, she's probably getting hungry?

Hmm, yeah. Ships have a, what is it, a galley? Can she find the galley?

The galley is not immediately in evidence.

Niko finds her. "You! New swabbie! Except for Captain Tetra rank on this ship goes by seniority. Yes! I'm not the bottom rung on the pirate ladder anymore! Don't worry, being a low level swabbie isn't actually that much work though. You are going to help me cook and do laundry and maybe other things if Miss Tetra or Mudge say so."

"Uh, okay?"

"Hehehe... But first you have to pass the acrobatics test all new pirates must do! It'll probably take you at least a week. In fact, it's so hard if you do it in less than an hour I'll even let you have a piece of treasure. Follow me!"

...That explains the backflip.

Follow follow.

He swaggers down to the cargo hold, full of various probably stolen things like vases, crates of food, boxes of furniture.

There's also a system of platforms and swinging ropes and climbing nets along one side.

"Hit the switch and it lowers the last rope! You need to get to the other side before the buzzer sounds and it goes back up." He demonstrates the whole course, reasonably acrobatically.

"Why do I need to do this?"

"Because I said so! Also, it's good practice for climbing things and running around. If you really plan on going into the Forsaken Fortress all alone... You'll be glad you practiced!"

"All right..." Just like the rocks back home. No problem.

She hits the switch and starts the course. But she doesn't make it to the rope before it goes up.

Niko looks smug. "Try again as much as you want! I don't think you'll make it before the time limit!"

Yeah? Just watch, wise guy.

Switch, jump to first platform, hook the rope with right hand, swing to the net... This time she makes it.

"HEY! You took a shortcut!"

"You didn't say anything about what path I had to follow."

"Grr! It's still cheating! ...I suppose cheating is part of the pirate frame of mind though. Okay, you pass."

"So you're going to give me a piece of treasure, right?"

"I hoped you forgot about that..."

"Fine, fine! A promise is a promise. I probably won't get in trouble if Tetra doesn't find out..."

He rummages around in one of the crates. "Here! It's one of our Spoils Bags. It's a magic bag that holds lots more stuff than it ought to... But only if the stuff counts as 'loot'. I'm still not sure how it decides that..."

"Neat."

Will it hold her rupees?

Nope. She'll have to keep using pockets for those, for now.

"Hm, now that you have seen that the great and kind Niko keeps his word, it's time for us to do something more boring like chores..."

"What chores?"

"Cooking, then a break to eat, then washing things for about an hour, and then you can do whatever you like until breakfast time tomorrow." He starts walking to the galley.

Oh good. Food. To the galley, then.

Niko does not observe particularly hygenic cooking habits. He also snacks while cooking, and encourages Anna to do so as well.

She's going to pass on the snacks. She's also going to wash her hands.

Oh really, with what fresh water?  Her drinking ration? Fresh water's precious on a ship, dont'cha know.

A quick rinse in the salt and then dry them off.

Yeah, sure, Niko will do that too.

Cooking result: Mystery Stew. Niko has Anna help him haul it up onto the open deck and all the pirates except the helmsman sit around with wooden bowls and... Highly variable table manners. Boasting at each other or sharing tall tales.

Yum, stew. Anna doesn't have any tales to share.

They ask her what the monsters she slew were like. "Goblins, I think they're called. They're made of smoke and evil magic."

"Yeah. They sort of poofed away when I killed them. Kinda dumb, though."

"That just means it'll be easier to fight 'em!"

"Don't get overconfident. There are a lot of them out there, and stupid monsters with bombs still have bombs."

"The ones I fought didn't have any bombs."

"Well, some of them do. Mostly in watchtowers. I know there's a lot of cannons around the Fortress, which is why we'll be waiting for nightfall to send you in once we get there."

"You're not coming? I thought you also had a grudge against the bird."

"I'm not stupid enough to try to go after it while it's in the middle of that place. It's called the Forsaken Fortress for a reason. I plan to lie in wait for it to go out to kidnap someone else and try to get it then. If you want to rescue whoever it's already got, though, you need to actually get in. I have a few... Ideas for that."

"Like what?"

"Fufufu... Depends on what kind of risk you feel like taking, and if we can tell where your sister is from the outside."

"Are we likely to be able to?"

"I noticed that seagulls really seem to like her. They were all over that bridge and they tried to follow the Helmaroc King when it took her. If we see lots of gulls around somewhere, that place has either got food or your sister."

"All right. So what do these ideas look like?"

"Dangerous. Sneak you in on a little boat under cover of night, or fling you in with the catapult. With a parachute of course."

"With a catapult? Really?"

"Yes, really. If there's really thousands of goblins there your chances of getting in on the surface will be slim at best. Aerial delivery could work in that case."

Well on the one hand that sounds really fun and on the other "Have you ever done that before?"

Niko winces.

Tetra responds before he can speak up. "Yes! Don't worry about it, we do things like this all the time! And this time it's not even a moving target!"

"What happened last time you tried it?"

"Niko took a bath and our target got away, that's all."

"I hope your aim's improved since."

"Yup, we got lots of practice shooting at that stupid bird, don't worry about it, if we need to do it that way you'll be fine."

"Your confidence is inspiring."

"Um, in her defense, it was really windy... And they dodged. Islands don't dodge."

"Yeah but if you do miss anyway I'm gonna go splat."

"That's what the parachute is for. I'll even show you it works by jumping from the mast if you like."

"I'd like to see that."

"Tomorrow sometime. It's been a long day, what with being carried around by an overgrown chicken and dropped into a forest." She stretches. "Looks like everyone's about done, good food today you two."

"Thanks."

Clean-up time?

Yep. Niko leads the way. Soon after they're done it's proper night.

And therefore bedtime. What are the sleeping accommodations?

Hammocks tucked into various out-of-the-way places. Worn pillows, slightly ratty blankets.

Not as good as home, but better than nothing.

Zzz.

Her wakeup call is Niko poking her with a wooden cooking spoon. "Ten minutes to wake up and wash or whatever and then I expect you to come to the galley. By the way, I really don't recommend washing your hair or face in saltwater."

And he's off somewhere.

Oof. Okay.

She's in the galley before ten minutes are up.

They cook and breakfast runs much the same as last night's dinner. And then Tetra asks if she'd like to spar.

"Yeah, sure."

"A new challenger! Sparring with the same guys gets old and fighting for real is too risky to do for fun. I don't wanna hurt you too much since you might have a shot at that bird - however slim that chance is - so no dirty tricks and the fight ends if anything other than either of our feet and hands touch the deck. Sound good?"

"Works for me. I could probably use the practice anyway."

"Mudge! Practice sticks!" Mudge provides.

Tetra settles into a low, one-handed pose quite unlike the fighting style Orca demonstrated to her. "First move is yours, be my guest."

Anna tests the balance of her stick, finds a comfortable grip, then rushes in, aiming her attack high.

Tetra is much faster than a goblin.

She backsteps at the last second, forcing Anna to either abandon the hit or overextend before lashing out, aiming at Anna's elbow.

Whoops okay finish the follow through without overextending then tuck the elbow- ouch. Not quick enough.

Anna backs up a few steps.

Tetra grins at her.

And then she rushes forward and feints like she's going for Anna's legs with the stick, before turning the movement into a sort of tackle-thing.

Anna sees it coming just in time to brace. She takes the impact then digs her feet into the deck, pushing forward and up.

She hooks Anna's leg with her foot and pulls, but relents and jumps back when it feels like might cause her to fall over instead. "You're not half bad!"

She shuts up, getting into the flow of the fight's strike and dodge and feint. Tetra likes grappling, she likes feinting, and she likes leaving deceptive openings for parries that are actually traps to get Anna in a bad position.

Anna has been using a sword for a day, she is not as tricksy as Tetra. She does manage to hold her own, for the most part, and starts learning how to tell traps from genuine openings.

This is fun!

It is fun!

It may become apparent that Tetra was going easy on her when she starts looking bored, and Anna suddenly finds herself on her back with her stick flying to the far end of the ship.

What.

She bounces back up. "Teach me how to do that!"

Smug. Smug smug smug. "Whatever we have time for before getting to your incredibly dangerous rescue mission. And when we both don't need to do other stuff. How about I show you the parachute first, grab a little time to think about how to pass on a fighting style?"

"Okay!"

Tetra demonstrates the operation of the parachute with both of them crowded into the cramped, swaying crow's nest.

It's barely controllable, and doesn't slow her fall down to a gentle landing, but at least to a safe enough one.

"I still find myself hoping you have good aim."

"Our aim is fine. You can choose whether to go in by boat or by air when we get there."

"Right."

Hey, she still has that telescope, right? Can she see the place through it?

There is a vague, indistinct outline barely visible above the waves, but in the correct direction, that could be it.

Guess she'll have to wait a bit longer, then.

Tetra tries to teach her fighting moves for about half an hour. She's not a teacher and mostly does so by doing them on Mudge slowly, step by step.

Eventually Niko prods her to do some more boring chores.

Bah. Fighting practice is much better than boring chores.

She can do some more of that later. Tetra is doing something involving charts right now, how about two versus one against the big but easygoing Mudge and the eager but small Niko?

Sounds good.

Mudge is very tough and fights defensively. Niko is surprisingly quick but is knocked around fairly easily. He proceeds to mostly hide behind Mudge unless an opportunity is spotted.

Then she'll whack at Niko whenever he appears, but otherwise concentrate on Mudge.

This is not as good practice as Tetra was.

Soon, the Forsaken Fortress is visible through the telescope. That giant bird is nesting near the top. Tetra stops the ship while it's still distant.

"...You see all the searchlights? I guarantee you there's cannons too. No way are you getting in on a boat."

"Yeah, somehow I had a bad feeling it would turn out like this."

"D'you wanna rescue your sister or not?"

"I'm still going to do it."

"Well, I figure three hours after sunset, so twilight has time to fade and they can't see you coming in from above. Practice fighting until sunset, then rest up. Sound good?"

"That works."

So Tetra fights her some more. Anna's getting better already. The greatest gains are in developing a sort of tactical thinking, not technique or reflexes.

And then here's a nice hearty meal, and now you'd better nap so you're alert when it's time.

Nom nom zzz zzz

The catapult's loaded. You have everything? How much do you weigh, can Mudge lift you and estimate?

This guy called Mako has an abacus and is doing some kind of math. That's... Probably reassuring, even if his handwriting is mostly scribble with a few crossed out items?

It's not like she really has a choice at this point.

Let's just get this over with.

"Remember, based on the seagulls she's in that high tower. Try not to get spotted, and best of luck!"

THWOMPH!

Anna is flying! The aim seems pretty good, until she's most of the way there.

Wheee- ohshitohshit she tries to pull the cord to correct her course-

So close. She catches one foot on the edge of the stone balcony they were aiming for, but momentum carries her still-full-ish parachute sharply to the side.

She slides along and down sheer stone and near-plummets toward water, a sort of inner moat.

Oh no hopefully it's deep enough and there aren't any rocks-

She wasn't falling fast enough to be really injured upon hitting the water.

She is now very very wet. Soaked, even. There's a spot she can climb out onto over thataway...

Brr. First, she has to get rid of this parachute, useless as it was. (Okay, no, it wasn't really, but she needs to blame something and it is convenient.) That done, she swims over to the spot gets out.

...Where's her sword? Just. You know, double checking.

On her back, strapped underneath her shield. Isn't it?

Yep.

Well, sort of. 

Actually, no. The shield is floating in the water and her sword is nowhere to be seen.

Okay, well first rescue the shield. Did the sword fall into the water? Can she see it?

She cannot see her sword.

Her pocket is glowing blue and saying, "Hey can you hear me?" In Tetra's voice.

"Yes but why?"

"This is a calling stone. I slipped it into your pocket before the launch. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, it looks like your sword landed on a top balcony."

"Yeah but it would also have been cool if you told me. Uh, which balcony?"

"Look to the right- little more- that one!"

"How can you tell which way I'm looking?"

"I can see through it, this end is a big old crystal ball."

"Handy."

Any likely looking doors?

"Sorry about missing, by the way! Damn, we were so close this time..."

There's a set of stairs leading up, no doors are obvious yet.

Then she can go up the stairs.

"Yes, yes, but maybe keep it down a bit? There are presumably bad guys here."

No response from the calling stone.

Speaking of bad guys, here is a wide open courtyard with searchlights playing across it that she has to walk through to get to the door on the other side. There's a big door on the other side.

Any guards?

Not down here. Something's probably watching the place though, no reason to have searchlights.

"Psst... Those barrels are empty... And goblins are really stupid. They might not notice that one's moving on its own if you sit still when the searchlight's on you."

...Well, it's not like she has a better idea. She overturns a barrel and turtles up inside, then starts crossing. Whenever she sees light at her feet she stops until it goes away.

This works! ...She finds two red rupees halfway across. Is this going to be normal, finding money just laying around? Maybe goblins make them somehow?

That would be weird, but hey, free money. She won't complain.

Opening the door from inside the barrel is probably going to be somewhat tricky.

Luckily for her, the spotlights don't traverse the area right up next to the big door.

That makes it easy, then. Discard the barrel, open the door, step inside, close the door. Scan around.

Some sort of storage room. Lots of barrels stacked high, hallways to the left and right, no monsters in sight, a crude map on the wall showing a semicircle of five rooms with her in the second one. There's a second floor platform above, but no ladders or stairs.

Let's see if we can find some stairs. Start with the hallway to the left.

It leads to a dead end and what looks like a sort of bunkroom. There's a treasure chest inside a barred area. Probably something valuable.

Oooh, treasure chest!

Wait, no, she's needs her sword first. Treasure later, not dying to monsters because she has no sword first. If there's no stairs here she'll go down the other hallway and look.

Nope, no stairs. The other direction of that hallway leads to a kitchen.

There's a ladder to her left. A crowd of tiny monsters crop up seemingly out of nowhere around her and chatter at each other, waving spears that are big to them but only the size of her arm. Still sharp though.

Great. She still has a shield, she can sort of bash at them?

Bashing works, poof, poof. And they're hesitant to fight back, circling at a distance. But there's a heck of a lot of them! Might be better to run. Or climb.

Yyyep. Clear a little bit of room and then it's up the ladder with her.

They can't or won't climb.

There's another treasure chest here, though this one's much more plain, could almost count as plain old furniture. And a door on the other side of the platform.

Is the chest locked?

It is not.

It contains... A compass. The compass is pretty clearly not pointing to true north. It shifts around to a new direction once every couple of seconds. One of the directions is back towards that more ornate treasure chest.

"Ooooh! Magic compass. I might buy that off of you."

"We can talk about it when I get out of here."

Does the compass fit in her loot bag?

Nope. Good thing this outfit has so very many pockets...

It is handy like that. Now for the door.

It leads to a wide stone walkway, outside.

"The first searchlight platform is on the right. Think you can make the goblin running it drop his weapon by blocking, then whack him with it?"

"Depends how dumb he is."

Let's try.

Not quite that dumb.

There's more unwieldy clubs in a pot in the corner though, she can just smash it and grab one of those.

All right, cool, bash that, grab a club, then go make short work of that goblin.

The club doesn't kill goblins nearly as easy as the Hero's Sword, but soon that's one spotlight-operator dead.

Getting to the other two spotlights involves swinging on ropes over fairly big gaps in the destroyed flooring.

Okay, apparently that acrobatics practice will come in handy.

She encounters another treasure chest. This one contains a more thorough map of the Forsaken Fortress, showing her exactly where she needs to go to get to that high balcony. She needs to shut down the other two spotlights first still, though.

Okay here she goes. Running start, grab the rope, jump-

Mistime your jump slightly, grab the ledge!!

Fingers, don't fail her now.

She pulls herself up with a grunt of effort.

Oh look, a rupee.

She dispatches the other two searchlights without incident and now has to sneak past a bigger, meaner version of the goblins to get to where it fell.

Sneak sneak sneak. Look at her, being all quiet and such.

Nobody would suspect such a humble and unassuming barrel.

The sword is lying on the floor of an empty balcony.

Finally! She goes and gets it.

The room where her sister probably is is right up there as well, will she go up now or go back for the treasure she skipped?

Sisters are more important than treasures.

There is a large circular room, ramp ascending in corkscrews along the edge, with three prisoners in a wooden cage in the corner. Aryll included.

"ANNA!"

"ARYLL! Are you okay?"

"Yeah-"

Rich-looking girl interrupts. "SHH! Talk later! Get us out of here, green person, that stupid bird is gonna come back with you two making such a racket."

"Stand back."

Sword beats wooden cage. She's very careful not to hurt anyone.

The cage is surprisingly resilient.

Also: "KRAAAAA!"

Why. Why this bird.

Who knows.

It snatches her up and flies out the top of the tower, ignores all attempts to pry herself loose or hit it with the sword, and circles around to the half a wrecked pirate ship on top of the place.

Maybe this creepy guy knows.

Oooor maybe she can just hit him with the sword. How about that.

He effortlessly blocks, then knocks her back off the platform where the bird catches her.

"Those clothes... You think you're a hero, don't you?"

"What's it to you, tough guy?"

He makes a sharp motion.

The Helmaroc King carries her higher and higher, far away from the fortress. Eventually it... Drops her.

She falls. Like she has a choice about it. She has no parachute. She has a shield, a sword, some rupees, a telescope, a compass, a map, a bag of holding, a bag of bait and a couple of Hyoi pears.

Might as well try. She fumbles out the pears.

The Hyoi Pear fails to attract seagulls in time.

SMACK.

...She comes to in a moderate amount of pain, sitting in some sort of small boat.

Ow. Ow.

What.

She's in a small cave, or perhaps just an overhang, protected from the sun and sea wind.

"Are you alright, young hero?" Asks a voice with no obvious owner.

"Ugghhh... What happened?"

"I called in an old favor with Zephos to save you from your fall, then fished you out of the sea."

Still no obvious owner of the voice, but it's coming from in front of her somewhere?

"Who's Zephos? ...Who're you?"

The boat's head twists around and gives her a wide grin. "You may call me the King of Red Lions!"

"A... boat? That talks?"

It gives a hearty laugh. "I suppose I can't blame you for being surprised. As wide as the world is, I am the only boat upon its seas who can speak."

"Uh, well, thanks for saving me, I guess. Where are we?"

"This is Windfall Island, where a great many merchants trade in a great many things. But tell me, was someone you know taken by that beast? Someone with long ears?"

"Yeah. My sister."

"And I suppose you saw the dark master of that foul place. His name is Ganon."

"Yeah."

"Ganon has stolen the power of a God. He cannot be defeated by mortal hands, let alone what little strength you possess. I do not know how he escaped the gods' seal... But doing so is what released all the evil creatures into this land. And me as well. The good news is that the return of magic means there is potentially a method to seal him away once more."

"If it gets my sister back, I'll do it."

"Even if it is a great hardship? If it will take many days,  put you at risk of injury or worse? For there is an artifact that could defeat him, though retrieving it will be a rather arduous task."

"I'm not going to give up. She's my sister."

"Good! A heroic spirit! Off to the East we sail! Except... Though it pains me to admit, while I am a boat that can speak, I possess no sail. We cannot exactly make good speed without one. I'm afraid I have to ask you to search this island for a merchant who will sell you a sail."

"Okay."

Time to go merchant hunting. She still has all her things, right?

"Good luck. If you are short on rupees when you find one, I would suggest finding some tall grass and cutting it. People drop all sorts of things in grass."

"Right. Done that myself once or twice."

What's the island outside the cave look like?

It's a cheerful little place. Gentle slopes, lots of somewhat old-looking houses and shops, people wandering about amiably. The first part of the island has a few little kids, an old man, and a couple of strong-looking types wandering about. There's also a postbox, and a lone shop separate from the rest of the town off to the left.

Neat. She'll check out the shops in the main part of town first.

The first shop she tries appears to be an apothecary of some sort... Dimly lit, weird smells, racks of herbs and chemistry-looking equipment in the back.

Kinda cool, but not really what she's looking for. She needs a sail for the magic talking boat so she can find the thing and save her sister. She should probably get more details about the thing. But first, a sail!

Wait come back won't you listen bring him chu-chu jelly from dead chu-chu monsters and he can make you healing potions!

...What is a chu-chu monster?

This thing that he has a picture of. They're relatively well-known pests, pretty common, just apparently not on Outset Island.

If she runs across any, she'll keep his offer in mind.

The next shop she sees while walking along is an auction house that announces itself closed until nightfall. After that is an outdoor stall run by some sort of eskimo. Someone wearing even more unseasonably warm clothes than her, anyway. Except, he doesn't actually have anything displayed on the counter and looks pretty depressed. After that is a combination coffee shop and bookstore.

She stops by the sad eskimo guy.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh. Not particularly. My story is a strange one, and a bit long, though..."

Well now that she's gone and actually talked to the guy she's got to follow through.

"Tell me."

"I came from a land far, far to the north, where it's much colder. Have you heard of snow? We have storms of frozen water falling from the sky. I came because of this town, Windfall. It was said to be the greatest gathering of merchants in the world. But as we grew near, the winds became vicious and evil creatures plied the seas and skies. My ship was torn apart and I washed up here... But I was not alone, and this is the terrible part, my only true friend was thrown in jail by the locals simply because he looks somewhat suspicious and behaves strangely! And I just know he's locked up somewhere. Needless to say, I'm worried about him."

"I'm more local than you, I could ask and see if I can find him?"

"If you could find him and free him I would be very, very grateful."

"I'll see what I can do."

Moving on, except now she's for a jail or town hall in addition to a sail shop.

Camera shop. Schoolhouse. Bakery. Some sort of monument out on a jutting spar of rock that is over where her talking boat's cave is..

The biggest, most important-looking building in this place is that auction place that apparently doubles as a rich guy's house.

Okay... How about that shop that's separate from the rest of the town?

It's a bomb shop! With prices that are entirely out of her range. Ridiculously high, really. And the proprietor is rude and haughty. "Think a kid like you can afford anything in here, eh?"

Well all right then. She doesn't have to shop at the bomb shop. But now she knows why it was off by itself. Dangerous sort of place to have right in the middle of town.

She goes back to check out the auction place again.

The auction house has an obviously rich guy lounging around on the upper floor and lots of shiny decorations everywhere.

Anna goes up to the obviously rich guy.

"Hi! What sort of things do you auction here?"

"Everything and anything that is rare, unique, or one of a kind! And some mundane things once in a while too, just to mix it up. Though... I can't seem to find the passion to run any auctions since that damn bird took my daughter..."

"I, uh. I think I saw your daughter. In the Forsaken Fortress."

"OH! You visited that foul place and escaped with your life? Or so you say... Listen, if you rescue her I will reward you handsomely! A whole fortune if you wish, whatever it takes, if you manage to free her and get her back to me alive. Do you understand? It's not as if I'm an adventurer... But if you are somehow capable of rescuing my Mila and my money motivates you to greater effort, it will have been well spent!"

"I was planning on going back,actually. But I need a sail for a boat. I don't suppose you have one or know where I could find one?"

"You should ask the sailors down by the docks, I suppose. If anyone would have a sail, it would be them."

"Thanks."

Dockwards!

The dock has a lot of small to medium ships, none as big as Tetra's was, and a fair number of strong looking types ranging from busy to grumpy to bored.

She picks one of the bored-looking ones and goes up to them.

"Hi, do you know where I could find a sail?"

"Hm... Afraid I don't, actually. I got mine from my parents. There used to be a weaver on this island, but I hear they left to look after their family on  some place far to the east."

"Well, that's kind of awkard for me, then."

"Kid, awkward doesn't start to describe what it would be if I sold you my sail... I'd have to learn another trade if I can't go fishing. My whole livelihood is on the sea."

"Yeah and if I can't find a sail at least three girls including my sister are going to die or worse, stuck in the Forsaken Fortress."

"Pfah, like a kid can rescue them if they're even still alive."

Fine, whatever. Moving on.

Any likely prospects here?

Nope, no, nada, nope, go home kid, nope.

...Didn't that eskimo guy say his ship was destroyed? Maybe the sail survived.

Hmm, that's right. Back to the eskimo guy to ask him about that, then.

He's still there, still looking rather sad. Guarding his pile of stuff and sweeping out the little outdoor stall as busywork.

"Hi again, this is kind of a weird question but did your sail wash up with you?"

"Yes. Well, one of them... That and some shattered timbers, and a couple of crates from the hold are all I have left of my precious ship."

"Uh, can I buy it?"

"Buy it! Well... I suppose if I'm stuck here anyway, I might as well start a shop of my own. And I don't have much use for a sail anymore except sentiment. But first tell me, have you found my friend?"

"Sorry, no."

"Well I can hardly move on with my life without knowing he's alright, can I?"

"So you want me to find him before you'll give me the sail?"

"Before I will sell you the sail," he sniffs.

"Right."

Let's see, if she was holding a weird eskimo person prisoner in this town, where would she keep him? Shops, auction house, coffeeshop, docks...

...Unmarked building out on the edge by an old monument of some kind, which is not easily accessible or even noticeable from the main roads?

Ooh, promising. She'll go take a closer look. Casual-like.

There's a guy in a jumpsuit dancing in front of the monument. He keeps deciding to start the routine over five to ten seconds in. A little kid runs past, then another. A game of tag, apparently. None of these people object to her approaching that unmarked door.

Cool. It's probably locked?

Nope! Some jail, huh?

If it is a jail.

She'll go inside, then.

Well, there's a cell.

And a weird guy in it, muttering quietly while facing toward a corner.

"Are you the other northerner?"

"OH!" He turns around and jumps up and down. "Indeed I am! Hmmmm... I see the same green clothes and the same green hat. By the look of you, ma'am, would you by chance be... A fairy? Oh my, did you feel my telepathy? That's why you came to save me, isn't it!"

"...If I say yes, will you be quiet enough to not draw attention while I get you out of here?"

"Oh my, certainly! Tingle is my name and I will now patiently wait for your gracious assistance to bear fruit, kind fairy!"

Great.

It's probably too much to hope that the cell door is also unlocked.

It's not.

There's a torch on the wall, a chair outside the cell, and a bunch of clutter in the corner that might be hiding something.

Maybe there's a key in there somewhere. She checks.

No key. Yes switch, which when pressed swings the door open.

"Excellent work! Here is Tingle's heartfelt gift of thanks!" He does a little dance and produces confetti from somewhere. "Behold, the Tingle Tuner! Once I have consoled dear Zunari of his undoubtedly great but utterly unnecessary worries over me and moved on with my life as traveling merchant, you can use it to contact me at any time. I will offer a staggering variety of services in the future, with you as a special preferred customer of course. In fact, once I am united with my magic items you can purchase things at any time! I can receive rupees and send items through the tuner. How's that for convenience, Miss Fairy? Isn't it splendid?"

"Yeah. It is. Let's get you back to Zunari now."

"By all means, lead the way. I believe I will pretend to be a small creature of some sort, to deter suspicion..."

With a puff of green smoke, Tingle now appears to be a green rabbit.

Nice trick. Back to Zunari they go, then.

He doesn't recognize the rabbit until Tingle hops behind the stall and untransforms in a semi-hidden nook.

"Oh, my friend, you are alright!" 

They have a huddled conversation, and a tearful goodbye. Tingle hands Anna a sea chart that will apparently lead to "Tingle Tower," and runs off as a bunny again.

And then Zunari tells Anna, "Thank you very much for your assistance. I would sell you my sail now. Normally I would like to ask 200 rupees for it... But since you have done me such a favor, a discount is in order. How does 80 rupees sound?"

(She has more than enough, accumulated from where she keeps finding them randomly, and the goblins dropping them and so on)

"Okay!"

Here's some money.

"Oh, surely you have saved me today. Treasure it dearly! I am sure this is the finest sail in the world, please treat it as such!"

Here is: A boat sail, neatly folded, with an elegant swirly pattern printed on it.

"I will thanks a lot!"

Yaayyyy back to the talking boat now!

The talking boat appears to be sleeping.

"Hey wake up I found a sail for you!"

"Huh- What? Oh, fine work. Hm, what do you know about sailing? With my help it will not be terribly difficult, but I wonder how much I should explain."

"...I have set foot on a boat before in my life."

"...Yes this calls for a fair amount of lecturing." And he explains the basic process of sailing, using the difference between the wind and ocean current to get somewhere, and then to the actual physical process of doing so.

"I suspect you will become skilled at it sooner or later, and I will be able to assist somewhat."

"Okay good so do we leave now or...?"

"You may wish to pack some food and fresh water. Barring that, yes."

"Right. That."

She'll just run back to town and get some supplies of that nature.

Zunari is already energetically and cheerfully bartering the lone surviving crate of stuff from his ship. All the books are ruined, of course, but he has interesting ceramics, jewelry, and so on.

Food and so on are easily acquired. One of the fishermen she asked for a sail earlier give her advice on what would be good to pack.

Great, then she can return to the magic boat well provisioned for her imminent voyage.

Eastwards toward Dragon Roost Island! It will take a few hours.

The boat gives her more lectures on sailing as he drifts out of his little cove. Reading the wind is critically important apparently, Zephos and Cyclos's whims punish or reward sailors as they please.

Anna does her best to get it all down!

The high peak of Dragon Roost Isle is clearly visible even from this distance. It's a nice day for sailing, clear sky and strong consistent wind. There are some barrels bobbing around here and there which she could approach if she likes. She comes across a tower jutting out of the sea and sporting a pirate flag after about half an hour.

Is there anything interesting in the barrels?

Ruined, soaked books. Torn clothes. Shattered glass. A few rupees here and there. One tightly sealed barrel seems to be slowly seeping some kind of oil.