Naomi stepped out of the glowing save point, looking around at the newest world she had found herself in.  She stood on some sort of very large stone platform.  Ahead of her, and all around, was simply a massive area of sand.  The closest approximation she could think of was an ocean, just made out of sand.  Like that one time in Avatar.  The only things situated on the sand all around her were the platform she currently stood on and a few rock formations, though she noticed one had rails going all around it like some crazy roller coaster.  Far to her left, she could see the 'shore', meaning solid land instead of the shifting sands.  Glancing up at the glaring sun overhead, she pulled out her triangular shades.

"Great, now I'm gonna get sunburned.  Wish I'd brought some effing sunblock."

Turning around, she noticed the structure behind her.  Stairs led up to a second level of sorts, atop of which was what looked like a giant mechanical monster, its gigantic mouth closed on top of the stones, teeth like stalactites (stalagmites?  Whatever) ground into the stone.

"Cooool."

She wondered if this was some sort of boss monster, and if she'd get to fight it.

-----------------

A desert. Of all the places he had to end up in, it had to be a desert. Not only that, but it seemed like the sand around him looked like it would swallow him.

Kalas sighed. "Great. Just what I needed." It hadn't been that long since he'd left that one superhero world and obtained the last of his lost abilities. He knew he needed practice with them, as well as the fact that the White Winged Darkness was still a problem, so he continued his adventures. But now it looked like his luck was turning downhill. Again.

Nonetheless, he took a look around on the platform he stood on. There were other rock formations and rails going all around. Shouldn't be any problem with his wings, he thought, unless they failed him. Reminded him to get something in the case that did happen.

Of course, when he turned to his side, he found that his luck went further down. Standing right there was that crazy girl he met back in that equally crazy world.

"Great. My day's already turning sour with you here."

-----------------

As she walked her first steps outside of the manifesting Save Point, she was disreputably greeted by the heating sun on her face. Quickly putting her hand above her sight, shading her view slightly, at least enough to see the strange setting that surrounded her.

Sand. As far as the eye could go, and probably unwise to even step on. An entire ocean of sand...where has she seen this sight before? Did she /ever/ see such a sight before? This kind of questions weren't something new to young Rozalin's mind. In fact, it has been the center of her entire thinking ever since she woke up in this strange universe of games come to life.

The purple-haired girl semmed unsure of what actions to take next. She had no idea why, how and what to do in here. Her thoughts constantly flashing back to that dreadful night at Castle Oblivion. That broken memory, that mysterious reflection of her, Thorns....that blood stain...

She tried her best to shake that memory away as she suddenly noticed something. A pair of individuals stood not so far ahead of her. One seemed somewhat normal while the other was...quite odd-looking, to say the least. With a gasp, the shy Rozalin quickly made her way behind one of the tall pillars that stood upward around the platform and took refuge.

-----------------

The amateur swordswoman had been about to insult Kalas right back, when suddenly there was a great rumbling beneath their feet.  Naomi looked to find the source, and saw the upper jaw of the massive beast lifting upwards.  She drew her sword, preparing for the mouth to reveal that it was just part of a larger head and body sitting beneath the sand.  The upper jaw lifted high on its hinges, finally slowed, and eventually stopped.

And after that... nothing.  The rumbling stopped, and the only thing revealed within the thing's mouth was a bridge that led to the back of its mouth, the masts and sails of ships sitting in the sand beneath.

"What a rip!"  Naomi yelled.  "I was hoping I'd get to fight some giant robot, but it's just a goofy-looking building!"

The door at the very back of the building's 'throat' opened, and out stepped a young man, about Kalas' age.  He wore all green, except for his brown pants, including an oddly shaped hat.  A purple and blue figure popped out from behind, said something, and disappeared again.  He then drew his sword from behind his back, pointing it around like some kind of idiot.

For her part, Naomi started walking up the stairs, past the pillar the unnoticed Interference was hiding behind, and towards the guy in green.  Looking back, she yelled to Kalas.

"Hey, looks like we finally found someone with fashion sense as bad as yours!"

-----------------

The rumbling almost knocked Kalas off his feet, had he not summoned his wings for balance. He too brought his weapons out of their Magnus state to prepare for a possible fight with whatever this giant head was. When it turned out that wasn't the case, that this was just a hold for some ships, he was quick to dismiss his wings and his blades, rolling his eyes at the swordswoman's complaining.

"Oh shut up, there's gonna be fighting here, I'm sure."

And then came the young man stepping out of the building. The one-winged hero had to frown, though it didn't seem like this was the enemy. With luck, this was probably the protagonist. At Naomi's insult, he just rolled his eyes and chose to ignore it. He already had enough people mocking his grab, he didn't need this right now. Granted, he had been thinking of getting a change...

Shaking the thought out of his mind for now, Kalas was also about to make his way over, when he noticed something from behind one of the pillars. Turning around, he rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, whoever's hiding there, come on out. It's not like we're gonna bite or anything... Well, unless you're that illusionist bastard or masked freak. Then you better not come out before I tear you to shreds."

-----------------

His attitude just made the girl release a short shriek as she hopelessly tried to his herself behind the pillar more. Not having other choice, she slowly started to step away of it, all while her Chroma Blade materialized.

"I-if you're an enemy, s-stay back!" Rozalin exclaimed at the young man, her blade aiming at his chest as she backed up for distance. By her nervous face and the small shakes of her arm as it gripped the crystal sword, the Divine Child could easily notice this was an inexperienced Interference, or at least a very shy one...

-----------------

Naomi looked back at Kalas, and then at the girl he had found.  Judging by the way she dressed in comparison to the Keebler Elf over there, she was probably an Interference like them.  And then that idiot had to go and freak her out.  Walking back towards them, she punched Kalas in the shoulder.

"Smooth move, idiot.  The scared little girl is totally a villain in disguise, right?"

She looked back at Rozalin, noticing how she was shaking and holding her sword.  She snorted.  The girl clearly had no idea what she was doing with it.

"Listen up, kid!  If we wanted you dead, we'dve done it already!  Got it?!"

She drew her blade and easily sunk it into the stone between them for effect.

"Now quit your shakin'!  If you wanna come with us, fine, but if you're too scared then go home!"

Unnoticed by her, all her shouting had caught the attention of the green-capped protagonist, who made his way towards the strange new arrivals.  He didn't see any second boat for them to have arrived her on, and though he had met no other people like him in his travels on the surface, they definitely weren't from Skyloft.  Looking confused, he walked over to them, waving.

-----------------

The minute the girl stepped out in hiding, Kalas couldn't help but to wince even before Naomi punched him in the shoulder. Indeed, he could tell she was either inexperienced or really shy, and he was already kicking himself for freaking her out that way. Before he could try and apologize for the attitude, the swordswoman punched him, making him cringe and grab his arm in pain.

"Look, I was trying to make sure! It's not like I could've known it was a little girl!"

And then she went about trying to help her. The Divine Child almost wanted to facepalm and punch the girl himself, but he held back, instead turning to the young man in green approaching them. Figuring that it was because of Naomi's constant loudness, he decided to speak up in her defense, "Don't mind the crazy girl. She's always like that."

Once she was done with that, he gave a 'one moment' gesture to the young man and turned back to the purple-haired girl that he inadvertently frightened, knowing that Naomi's 'reassurance' wouldn't have helped at all. In just a short minute, he set his annoyances aside and softened his demeanor, gently holding his hand out to the girl.

"Hey...I'm sorry, alright?" he said in a gentle tone. "I just have a bad experience with some people in the worlds. I didn't mean to scare ya."

-----------------------------

Rozalin yelped once more with Naomi's loud attempt to sooth her down. Ended up causing the opposite reaction, and she quickly moved behind the green-clothed man that recently approached them and took refuge. Her shy shrieking and her hands slightly trembling were almost adorable, if it weren't so sad.

That's when the blue-haired boy extended his hand at her, much more calm. While rough at first, he seemed nice so she allowed herself to trust him. Slowly moving away from the man of the green tunic and towards Kalas, she spoke. "I-I'm sorry. I'm still having a hard time getting used to this..."

Silence. At least for a couple of seconds. She tried her best to break off the tension, as difficult as it was for her. "Um...M-My name is Rozalin. What's yours?"

-----------------------------

Link was surprised when the purple-haired girl hid behind him, and turned a little to get a better look at her.  He did feel sorry for her, and had been about to try and comfort her himself when Kalas spoke.  His words reassured her enough, so he was at least glad that she wasn't clinging to him anymore.  The loud girl spoke again.

"Name's Naomi, the best fighter you'll see on any world!"  She easily tore her sword from the ground, balancing it on her shoulder.  It glowed with red Soulflame, but the flickering fire didn't seem to affect her.  Link wondered if it was like the flames he had to find to temper the Goddess Sword.  He opened his mouth to ask, but at that moment his partner Fi appeared, floating out of the Goddess Sword on his back and landing right next to Rozalin.

"Master, a report: I detect a ninety-percent chance that these beings are what are known as 'Interferences'.  They are beings from distant lands, who are known for placing themselves in the course of events.  I would suggest enlisting their help in finding Nayru's Flame."

The chosen hero nodded, and Fi disappeared once again.  He looked to them, awaiting their answers.

"I dunno what this flame whatsit is,"  Naomi said.  "But if I get to fight monsters, then I'll come along."

-----------------------------

"It's Kalas," the one-winged hero introduced himself, giving a small smile to the girl. That was easily lost, however, when Naomi made her braggy introduction, causing another roll of the eyes from the hero. "Like I said, just ignore her, and you'll be fine."

And then came the appearance of the blue and purple woman, explaining who they were. Well, that saved them enough time and trouble, especially since she left out the whole 'video games' deal. When she disappeared, Kalas gave a nod towards the young man.

"Yeah, I'll come along, too. Been wanting to test something out." He then pointed to the spot Fi was and asked, "By the way, that woman...is she always like that?"

Link merely responded with a small nod.

"...Don't talk much, do ya?"

----------------------------

"O-okay...but, um...where are we suppose to go?" Rozalin asked as she looked around the area.  There didn't seem to be much around this gigantic ocean of sand.

Link just started walking, the movement of his hand signalizing the others to follow, which Rozalin instantly did. Soon enough she noticed a small boat floating near an edge of the platform. It didn't look like much, but what really caught her attention was the strange aura it emitted. It somehow made the edge of the dock look like it was brand-new and, most importantly, the sand it was standing on into clear water.

"So my ship wasn't here either, vrrm..."

The rookie Interference turned her sights off the strange boat and to an strange-looking robot wearing what it looked like a captain's hat. Its was short and stubby, with his hands floating around him and connected through streams of electricity.

Rozalin was so distracted to take notice of Link speaking with said robotic sailor, until catching up much later. "Zrrt? Vweeeeet?  You found a clue?" the little robot exclaimed. Rozalin contained a giggle. The captain automaton was almost adorable. "You know the place through some kind of thing called "dowsing", vrrm? That's amazing, phoo-weep!"

"This time we'll definetly find me ship, voo-whoot!" It was then when the robot, in his excitement, took noticed of the rest of the group. He started to float around them, at least as much as the magical aura that his boat emitted could allow, looking up them up and down. "So who are these? Friends of yours, vrrm?"

Link simply responded with a nod. "They seem good enough. Besides, the more there are the easier it will be to find my ship, whoo-vrrt! Just hope you don't mind being a lil' cramped, vrrm".

----------------------------

Naomi was surprised when she saw that, unlike the rest of the old and decrepit structures she saw, the area around the boat was brand new, and it even floated on a large circle of water.

"How the hell does that even work?"  She asked.  Though if this was all some crazy coma dream like she suspected, then logic probably didn't matter much.  Still, it seemed the weird robot/captain had an answer for her.

"It's the Timeshift Stone in this boat, phoo-wheet!"  It hopped, giving an indication that it was apparently safe to be within the glowing blue line that separated the new and the old.  "They make the area around them go back in time, vrrt."

"Uh, right, whatever."  Naomi didn't try to question it.  Instead, she hung back a little as Link also stepped onto the boat.  She had expected that it was some sort of sand boat, one that didn't need water.  On the other hand, not getting on the boat would make her look weak.  So, glaring at the boat and especially the water surrounding it, and unconsciously taking a deep breath, she stepped on to the craft.  It wobbled a bit as she did, but she gritted her teeth, taking the next step to be fully within the boat.  She then drew her sword, sat down in the exact center of the boat, drew her knees up to her chest, and gripped the blade like some kind of security blanket.

She turned her glare to Kalas and Rozalin.  "Hurry up, will ya!"

----------------------------

Kalas did have to blink at the sight of the boat, in good shape unlike the rest of the area, as well as sitting on top of a circle of water in the sea of sand. The little robot didn't really surprise him, since he was familiar with similar technology from the Empire in his world. At least it was a friendly one in that case. With that said and done, he just rolled his eyes as Naomi shouted for them to hurry it up, making his way over. "I'm coming already, sheesh."

Though he did take notice of Naomi's actions, something he was sure to hold over her head a little later, he did have to wonder about the explanation the robot captain gave about the Timeshift Stone. If this sent the area around it back in time, and this one little area had a puddle of water in comparison to the sand around them...was there a lost ocean in this world too? And if that was the case...

The Divine Child looked to Link as he prepared to get on the boat and asked, "You wouldn't happen to live in the sky, would you?"

Link looked at him and blinked in surprise. As usual, he nodded in response, though was still taken aback by the accurate guess.

Kalas just had to frown. "Small world, then..." Although the islands of his world had returned to the Earth, the Mighty Ocean restored with it, the similarities were almost disconcerting. Granted, this land didn't seem to be tainted, just aged. As well as one other fact that he stated, "Though I don't suppose you have wings, either."

Before anyone could ask, Kalas summoned his wings, the green-clad hero giving a take to this. The one-winged boy said nothing about this, just flying on the boat and landing next to the cannon. He kept his wings out for balance, and brought his sword out of its Magnus. Unlike Naomi, it wasn't out of any unknown fear but rather in preparation for any enemies they came across.

Getting over the shock for now, Link also got on the boat, though did look a little concerned for Naomi. Once everyone got on the boat, the robot captain hopped on next. "Anchors aweigh, zrrm!"

And with that, they sailed out.

----------------------------

Rozalin was just trying to get comfortable on her little space of the boat when Kalas manifested his wings for everyone to see. She would have fall backwards on her seat if she wouldn't be holding the side of the boat.

"W-w-wings!?" She exclaimed. Strange sights was something she have already seen, but she just couldn't help it. She just didn't understand what was normal and what wasn't anymore.

As the boat started to move and leave the previous area behind, all while creating its own water to sail on, she stood curled to herself, hugging her legs for a while. Gathering enough bravery, however, she then asked the blue-haired young man about said set of wings, "Um...I-I don't wanna be rude, but...what happened to that other wing? W-why is it all mechanic?"

Said bravery quickly reverted into full embarrassment as she immediately started to apologize, "I-I'm so s-sorry. I-I just wanted to know and...um...d-don't think it looks bad on you or s-something. Y-you look nice and...um..." the poor girl continued to stutter to the point it was hard to even understand her.

----------------------------

"He just likes to show off,"  Naomi muttered.  She didn't look at the small moving ocean around them, and she certainly did not notice how the boat was rocking in a way that made her feel like she could fall off any second.  Not at all.

At the front of the boat, the robot, who introduced itself as Skipper, began speaking to Link.

"How are we going to search this whole huge sea, vrrm?  I have no choice but to ask you to do it for me, brrzrrt!  So get cracking, vweep!  There is a high probability that the ship is currently hidden from our view, phoo-weep!  But if we attack it, then we might catch a glimpse of it, zrrt!"

Nodding, Link unsheathed his blade.  It glowed faintly as he pointed around, but then its pulsations rapidly increased on a certain spot ahead.  Indicating this to Skipper, they piloted the boat towards it, changing direction every now and then as they narrowed down it's exact location.  Finally, Link pointed right exactly to their left, and Skipper fired off a shot from the cannon that sat on the front of the ship.

The explosion caused the boat to rock back, and Naomi clenched her eyes shut.  She didn't see the massive ship that flickered into visibility for a moment next to them, and it was still moving away.

"Did you see that?!"  Skipper yelled, pointing in the direction the ship had gone.  "That's my ship, vrrt!  We must pursue, bzzt!  And keep pounding it with that cannon, zrrt!"

What followed was a quick chase, as Link used a combination of his dowsing and firing the cannon to track down the ship.  It only took a few more shots (though it felt like forever to Naomi) when the ship fully shifted into the visible spectrum, crackled with electricity, and slide onto the sand where it stopped for good.  Skipper steered the boat up to the larger ship, where Naomi shoved Link out of the to be the first onto the ladder that led upwards, scurrying up and onto the deck of the decrepit ghost ship.

----------------------------

Before the chase happened, Kalas looked at Rozalin as she addressed his wings. Not like it bothered him; he was usually asked this back in his world. It was just that most people in the other worlds set it aside, got surprised that he even had wings at all, or just didn't bother to ask after everything else they've already seen. After all this time, no one has ever asked about his winglet.

Ignoring Naomi's comment, Kalas held up his hand when the girl started apologizing and stuttering. "Hey, don't worry about it. I used to get asked a lot about it." As Link went about searching for the ship, the one-winged boy began to explain, putting a hand over the shoulder that had the winglet equipped, "It's not like I had any accident or anything like that. See, back where I'm from, we're all born with wings." He left out that everyone back home had now given up their wings, and that he got his back through an Awakening. "I was just born with one wing. It's usually seen as a bad omen, but I won't bore you with the details on how it is for me. My...adopted grandfather was an engineer, and he crafted this winglet for me to help me get around places and whatnot."

He finished this off with a shrug. "It doesn't really bother me anymore, though. If people think I'm a freak because I have one wing, then screw 'em. I can't help how I was born, but it doesn't make me any less human than anyone else around. It's just how I am."

With that said, Kalas turned his attention as the cannon was fired, keeping balance as the boat was rocked in the following explosion. Unlike Naomi, he saw the large ship flicker into visibility that moment before it disappeared as it moved away. He blinked, but said nothing else as they began to chase after it. During that, the Canon-Internal finally turned to Naomi, noting her reaction, and could barely hold back a smirk. He could already tell what the problem was.

[i]She's totally scared of the water.[/i]

As they finally caught up to the ship, now in full visibility after the shots given, he just had to laugh as the swordswoman scurried her way up. As Link shook his head and began to climb up the ladder himself, Kalas just flew up to the deck of the ship, dismissing his wings as his feet landed. He looked around at the decrepit ship, and couldn't help but to frown.

"Huh. We don't have ships like this back in my world..." Or at least, that's what he thought. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't help but find this familiar somehow...

-------------------------

"Oh I see..." Rozalin replied after Kalas told her his story. "Its nice to see you don't mind. I-I wish I could be that confident...if only I could re-"

She stopped halfway, as Kalas was still standing in front og her-"Um...nevermind. I-I'm not going to bother you".

Rozalin shoved her sadness to the back of her mind once the cannon started to fire. The abandoned sandship making itself visible made the young girl open her eyes wide in surprise, "Woah, its so big..."

Her sight shifted towards a unsettled Naomi as she shoved Link aside to exit the boat up the ladder as fast as possible. Curious indeed considering the girl's previous attitude.

Rozalin felt asking her would be more problematic than with Kalas so she kept silent as she climbed up into the ship's deck. It seemed completely deserted.

"So, um, where do we begin?"

-------------------------

The deck of the ancient ship was covered in sand from the centuries of sitting on the former ocean, its sails were torn, and even a few bones littered the deck here and there.  On the top of the main mast sat an oddly shaped crow's nest.  In fact, it looked less like a crow's nest, and more like it was meant to contain some large object, judging by the bars that surrounded it.  Ladders on either end of the deck led up to the higher levels, as well as one connected to a mast, but these were blocked by large gates of barbed wire, impossible to traverse by anyone who didn't want to lose their hands.

Naomi shrugged at Rozalin's question, but Link motioned for them to follow him, having spotted the only available door on the back end of the deck.  With it being their only route (well, not for Kalas with his wings, but judging by how video games worked, they'd most likely not be able to do anything if they cheated to get up there anyways), she followed the green-clad hero into the interior of the ship.  The room inside was covered in dust, decorated only with a oddly glowing statue in the shape of a bird, and a simple wooden stool.  There was another door in front of them, but Link seemed to have an odd instinct about these things, and instead chose to go down the stairs to their left, still motioning for them to follow.

Naomi grumbled.  "I was expecting more monsters to fight.  This is lame!"  Evidently, her usual attitude had returned immediately upon getting out of the smaller boat.  Though Link wasn't sure what to think about her... enthusiasm, he did have to agree that this place was oddly devoid of the usual creatures he encountered.  Still, he wasn't about to look a gift Loftwing in the mouth, and only shrugged in response.

-------------------------

Even if Kalas could fly up to the crow's nest, he already pushed the thought aside. Not just because of how the video game worlds worked, but more on the fact that he was aiming to conserve his power for now. After having his wings out for the duration of the boat ride, he didn't want to waste on it and end up lagging behind.

So with that, he just followed Link as they made their way inside of the ship. At first, the Divine Child had been about to walk to the door ahead of them, but with the fellow hero motioning for them to go down the stairs instead, he sighed and did such, rolling his eyes at Naomi's attitude.

"I'd rather have some monsters to kill too, but you don't have to keep whining about it."

With that, the group made their way down to a fairly sizable section of the ship. There was a small pile of sand before them, to which Link pulled out the Gust Bellows to blow it away, revealing a small scorpion-like monster that was also blown away by the wind. Since it barely held up a fight, Link just took it out with a slash of his sword. There were two small corridors for them to take, with some butterflies fluttering about near the left side. However, Link ignored them for now, instead taking the narrow hall on the right. At the end was a door to their left, along with a flock of bat enemies coming down from the ceiling. Just before they could swarm the heroes, Link once again used the Gust Bellows to throw them off in the air in a daze.

Kalas just let out a sigh as he took out one of the bats. "Well that's pointless. Maybe we'll find something a little more challenging up ahead." With that, he walked through the door to the next section.

--------------------------------------

"Why would you two even be angry about that?"

Rozalin turned towards the two Interferences with an upset look, soon shifting back to shyness. "I-I'm glad there are no b-big monsters around. We can just get to that flame and get out of here..." Her face showed worry and concern, and her legs were pretty much close to shaking. She was obviously afraid or whatever else could lurk inside the abandoned cruiser.

Link opened the big wooden door to his left, motioning to the others to follow, as usual. Inside was a more open room with two ways. One had its door frame covered in barbed wire blocking in possible access for now, the other was a hallway that was over a shifting sandpit as well as guarded by some strange sand-dwelling frog creature. The green-clothed young man quickly dispatched it of the way with the use of a bomb, which he rolled over the fiend before exploding.

Rozalin was surprised. "He seems to be able to handle this pretty well," she said just as Link ran across the sandpit. The girl soon followed quick, before her feet where dragged into the depths. In the hallway, there appeared to be another set of inaccessible doors, this time protected with unmoving iron bars, but at the end lied another set of stairs that lead lower into the ship and at the end, another door.

However, Rozalin was no pleased for what was found on the other side. A entire family of those same scorpion monsters were crawling all across the floors, walls and ceiling. She was disgusted, but knew it was the only way through the other side. Without thinking it twice, and before Link or any of the others could make a move, she charged forward, eyes closed, as she materialized her Chroma Blade and started to slash her way through the hallway, destroying every insect that approached her. Once at the end, the girl opened her eyes and gave a sigh of relief.

--------------------------------------

Naomi, for her part, mostly just tuned out what Kalas and Rozalin.  It's not like it was her fault this place was so boring.  She just grumbled at the bats that Link dispatched of easily, since they weren't worth her time.  She casually strolled over the quicksand pit, her Soulflame keeping her aloft.  It was a lot less annoying than water, since you didn't sink in it nearly as fast, anyways.

However, she had to admit she was both surprised and impressed by how Rozalin took down the hallway full of scorpions.  Sure, they didn't look tough, but a whole bunch of them could be annoying, and running through them like that took more guts than Naomi thought the other girl had.  Walking up to her, she slapped Rozalin roughly on the back, grinning.

"That's how you do it!  Don't hesitate, just charge right through 'em!"

Link just gave her a pat on the shoulder and a smile.

At the end of the hall was another square room, containing several piles of dust (which Link quickly blew away, revealing several multicolored gems that he pocketed), a weird pile of junk, and a very large door, covered with the same kind of barbed wire from earlier.  Link walked up to it, trying to get a good look at it through the wire.  It was without any doorknob or handle, but had a large circle with an oddly shaped hole in the center.  At that moment, the same woman from before popped out of the Goddess Sword on Link's back.

"Master, look.  This large door here is sealed shut.  "This door must lead to an important room in the ship."

Naomi rolled her eyes.  "Gee, thanks for that useful information."  Fi either didn't hear her, or just ignored her, once again flipping and disappearing into the sword.

Link looked again at the door, but knowing he was unable to do anything about it now, decided to move on, heading towards another door.  Naomi followed (taking a good note of the treasure chests she could see through a row of windows on the back wall) and into the next room.  In it, the floor on the left and back was slightly raised, with the middle covered in sand.  The center was cut off by a short wall, and then rows of iron bars, splitting the room into two.  However, a small door in the wall led to the other side.  The back wall had a door in it, but it was kept closed by a strange lock, a blue circle split into four buttons in each corner.  Link had seen it before in other dungeons: one had to strike the buttons in the correct order to unlock the door.  But how were they supposed to find out what the combination was?

As Link examined the lock, Naomi kicked around some of the sand, and discovered a mark on the floor beneath,  It was in the shape of the steering wheel ships had, but one half was colored red, and the other was colored blue.  A blue triangle inside the wheel pointed to the left.

"What's up with these things?"

Link looked at the wheel Naomi indicated, and immediately set to work with blowing the rest of the sound away with the vacuum-like Gust Belows, revealing three more of the wheels.  Checking them against the door, he saw that similar wheels hung on the wall next to the door.  Running back to the other wheels, Link checked them all quickly, and then ran back to the lock, quickly inputting the combination.  The lock spun one more time, and disappeared in burst of light.  Naomi just looked at the wheels, then at the door that Link entered.

"How the hell did he figure that out so quickly?"

--------------------------------------

Kalas, of course, flew over the pit of quicksand to avoid getting sunk in. This was why he always conserved his wings' power. With that, he followed the group, though, taking notice of Rozalin's fear, began to grow a little bit concerned for her. That concern was shown when she blindly charged across the hall filled with scorpions, taking them all out in her rush. Normally, he'd be as impressed as Naomi and Link were, but having taken note of her reaction and overall personality, it just made him more worried.

"Hey, be careful when you do that next time, alright?" he said gently, placing a hand on her other shoulder.

Nothing else was said as they moved on, though he did have to roll his eyes at Fi's pointing out the obvious on the locked door. Again, he had to wonder if she was always like that, but didn't press on it, instead following the hero to the next room (also taking note of those treasure chests). He frowned as he looked around the area, trying to figure out what to do by examining the puzzle. Before he could figure out the solution, Link was already one step ahead of that, inputting the combination on the lock and walking through the door after it disappeared. Though he was also surprised by how quickly that was done, he just shrugged.

"Maybe Miss Point-out-the-obvious is his Guardian Spirit and telling him the solution when she's not popping out like that. Or he's got game protagonist intuition, or something like that."

Link walked out after the comment was made, having not heard it and therefore not questioning what he meant by that. He showed the three the key that he obtained from the chest inside before motioning them to follow once more.

~*~

Backtracking back to the first room they entered on the ship, Kalas could see why they didn't enter the door ahead. Chains held by a padlock had blocked the path, though that was solved as Link used the key on it.

Of course, the one-winged hero had to quip at this, "I don't see why we couldn't have just broken the lock with our weapons, but whatever."

Link just shook his head with a sigh before walking through the door. The group would find themselves outside, a narrow path sticking out before them. At the end of the plank ahead stood a tall figure facing away from them.

---------------------------

As Naomi and Link congratulated her in her act of courage, Rozalin couldn't hold a warm smile as she felt a bit mroe proud of herself. Then Kalas spoke, concerned about her well-being, which made her respond, "I know. I-I...well, I just want to finish this soon. I'm s-still having a hard time getting used to this because...um, its a long story.." However, she didn't spoke beyond that, her more cheerful face now reverted to her previous look of shy and concern.

She stood quiet the rest of the way, just following Link's natural sense of exploration and ingenuity as the group progressed through and back of the sandship until arriving at an outside area where a figure stoof at the end of a plank. It seemed to be gazing at the big sand ocean below as it old and dirty cape flew with the wind.

"Its...not moving" Rozalin finally spoke again, a bit confused. "Is it ok?"

Link walked towards it when suddenly, right behind our heroes, a blockage of iron and spikes manifested behind them. The unmoving figure then shifted its body back at the group, its legs soon following. It was a robot, a pirate robot at that. Its right hand was composed of a strange blade-like weapon, glowing with blue electricity as the automaton roared, while on its right it had nothing but a big metallic hook.

Link let his sword out of his seath, ready to engage in a one-on-one swordfight. But to his surprise, Rozalin inmediatly moved past him with a sudden push (which was hard not to considering the few space the group had to move around) and charged at the robotic pirate. She just wanted this done, over. She wanted this mechanical fiend out of her sight!. With ehr Chroma blade in hand she slashed at the robot right on the chest, which pushed him a few feet back through the plank. Before it could even react back, the young girl rose her hand at it, as a strange red aura started to glow around her.

"Hyaaa!!" She growled as the aura moved out of herself and into the air, right before transforming into a rain of ruby-crafted spears. As some of the spear got impaled into the robot's chest, it send it even further away or her and the others, as well as closer to the enge of the ship.

---------------------------

Kalas grunted as he saw the gate rose behind them, blocking their path. Granted, it was once again not a problem for him, but while he could try and get out of this, the others wouldn't be able to unless he dragged them out of it. Plus, he wasn't about to back out of a fight like this.

Just before he could act, Rozalin once again charged head on, surrounded by a red aura. While instinct told him to try and get the girl out of the way, he watched as the aura turned into a rain of spears on the robot pirate, sending it back further. An impressive display, but once again, the one-winged boy grew more concerned rather than cheered by it. He kept it back, however, gesturing for Link to go ahead.

With a nod, the chosen hero ran ahead after Rozalin was finished with her attack. While the robot was dazed from the spears impaled in it, Link jumped and, with a battle cry, brought his sword down in a downward slash. The robot barely had enough time to block with its sword, the impact giving a loud clang and sending its weapon flying into the sand sea below. However, it was quick to whip out a second sword, Link barely dodging as it slashed out at him. The gate behind the heroes closed in further, narrowing the space between them and the pirate.

While Link continued to fight off the automation, dodging its electrified attacks whenever he could, Kalas stayed back, focusing on his power. With a dark aura surrounding him, he gave a smirk and brought out his sword. "I pity you for bumpin' into me..." Then, with a slash of his sword, a murder of ravens flew out of the dimensional rift and swarmed the pirate captain. It roared and slashed both its weapon and hook at the flock of dark birds, Link taking the distraction and pushing it back with his own attacks.

But Kalas wasn't done there. Summoning his wings once more, he flew ahead, a teal aura surrounding him and his sword this time. "Get ready for the fireworks!" he shouted as, nearing the automation, he slashed at the ground below it, summoning a small whirlwind right under its feet, sending it flying back. Combined with another slash by Link, the attacks were enough to blow off the arm that was holding the sword. The pirate looked at where its arm was in shock, and then with rage as it slashed its hook at them, hard enough to send its torso spinning. Link dodged with a backflip, while Kalas flew back, looking back to see the gate close in even further.

"Oh, he's pissed off now."

---------------------------

As Rozalin, Link, and Kalas attacked the robot pirate, Naomi was fast behind.  She had been surprised by Rozalin's sudden initiative, and it had lasted long enough for Link and Kalas to attack before her.  She actually didn't have many problems with this as, while she was well aware that she could have taken the strange machine on her own, this allowed her to get the easiest and flashiest finish.  As soon as Kalas and Link finished their attacks and the robot pirate was left with only its hook hand, Naomi seized her chance, sprinting across the plank that made up the bow of the ship and leaping right over Link's head as Kalas flew back from the enemy.

Though it might've been easier for Link, she knew her sword was too large to use reasonably in this tight space.  Instead, deep crimson flames surrounded her arms and legs as she charged the robot, forming the shape of the gauntlets and greaves that were Beowulf.  With the Devil Arm equipped, she slid, her momentum causing her to slide as she pulled her arm back, flames erupting from the gauntlet as its power increased the longer she held it back.

"Take this!"

She belted the robot captain with an uppercut, knocking it back and off balance.  She then spun, and barraged it with an incredibly fast set of kicks, several on one leg than spinning around to her other.  As she did, flames burst from her arm again, reaching a level higher than before as she kicked.  When she finished her rapid attacks, she ducked out of the kick, and right into an even stronger uppercut, with the same crimson fire surrounding her fist as she leaped up.

"My burning hands will [i]tear you apart![/i]"

Her fist impacted robot pirate's chin, but she still kept going, spinning in helix of flame up into the air and carrying the robot with her.  Finally she lost momentum, falling back safely to the wood beneath.

The robot wasn't so lucky.  It was blasted off of the end, screaming, and fell the long fall to the shifting sands below, where it exploded upon impact.

Naomi pounded her fists together as Beowulf.

"That's how you do it!"

To her surprise, a large chest appeared on the end of the bow.  After that, Fi once again appeared from Link's sword.

"Master, that synthetic life-form... There is a ninety-nine percent chance that it was the pirate described by the captain.  I can't help but admire the tenacity it has displayed in staying alive and functional all these years."  Though her voice was emotionless as usual, there was an odd sense of pride in it.

Link nodded, and ran over to the chest.  After a moment of rummaging around in it, he pulled out a bow and quiver full of arrows, holding them up in triumph.

After that... odd display, Naomi had to comment on the item.  "That's how these things work, right?  You find a weapon somewhere in these places, and you have to use-"

Fi popped out of the sword again.  "Master, a report about this bow you have just obtained..."

Naomi threw her hands in the air.