THE HULL of the King of Red Lions thudded against the choppy waves. Link's grip on the tiller was tight. He looked overhead, wary of the pitch dark clouds above him.

Link was fairly sure that he was going to get caught in the rain, it was only a matter of when.

He charted his course for Greatfish Isle, where the King of Red Lions said the final triforce emblem could be found, Nayru's Pearl. After his success at Dragon Roost Island and the Forest Haven, he felt a renewed sense of vigor. He was going to save Aryll.

He still had placed a mental wall however, trying not to remember what he would have to do after. Though he figured he'd have an easier time getting to Aryll with the assistance of a weapon, unlike before, he knew that wouldn't be the end.

The words of the King of Red Lions rang in his ears. Then Ganondorf will come after you.

The sky became even darker, and he soon heard the cracking of an electrical storm in the distance. Drops soon began coming down steadily.

He considered using his bedroll as an improvised rain shelter, but decided he didn't want to get it wet, or risk it blowing away in the wind.

He bent down, trying to cover his map. They were getting near Greatfish Isle, but the weather was making it difficult to navigate. With the help of the windwaker, Link had been able to chart his course straight for the island. However, the wind had become a tad unruly as he came into the storm. The darkened skies also hid the sun, so he couldn't tell which way was west. He really should've gotten a compass.

"Who holds Nayru's Pearl on the Isle?" Link asked the King.

"Jabun," the King of Red Lions answered. "He is a creature similar to my age that I've spoken to in times past. He should be willing to impart the pearl to you."

Link searched the horizon, and saw no sign of his destination as the rain continued to fall. There was a single small bucket in the locker of the boat, which Link was now very grateful for.

As the rain grew to a steady thick downpour, he alternated between bailing out the water and searching for the island.

"This is a fletching strong storm!" Link exclaimed.

"Ganondorf realizes you are getting nearer," he responded. "He does not want you to succeed."

"Ganondorf can control the weather!?" Link asked in shock. He suddenly felt a teeth-gritting shudder scrape the hull of the boat.

"My word!" The King bellowed, "mind your course Link!"

"Sorry!" Link apologized.

He dropped the anchor, and they soon slowed to a stop.

He looked around him. Large crags of rugged stone stretched out of the water. It was not the look of a normal formation of ocean rock.

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In other piles of broken rock, he saw soil, and fallen trees. The whole area was on an atoll of sorts, piles of sand scattered about.

"Greatfish Island," the King uttered. "It is destroyed."

"What?" Link said in disbelief, "No! That can't be!"

"I'm sorry Link," the King of Red Lions said, "but Ganondorf got to Jabun first. He either fled, or has perished. Regardless, the pearl is gone."

The realization of all this came to his mind. He had gotten the two other pearls. But now the last was out of reach. Despite his best efforts, he had failed.

He had failed again.

"No!" Link cried out, clenching his fists. "I was so close!"

He began sobbing, completely breaking down. He'd tried as hard as he could. Yet after building up hope, after doing what he'd never thought himself capable of, the goddesses had let it all come crashing down once again.

They'd abandoned him.

Ganondorf had stopped him, and unlike the Hero of Time, he hadn't even gotten to confront his sister's captor. He slumped onto the soaked deck of the boat, indifferent to the rainstorm around him.

"Link," the King of Red Lions said, "I am sure that -"

"No!" Link yelled in anger, standing back up, "I'm not going to find another way! I've wasted my time, and my sister is probably long dead at Ganondorf's hands! I'm finished!"

He yanked the anchor up into the boat, and grabbed the tiller, and began sailing northeast.

"Where are you going?" the King of Red Lions asked.

"I'm going to Windfall," Link fumed. "I'm not going to spend the night in this fletching rain."

Link's blood pumped hotly as the cold water peppered his clothing. As they came into the open sea, Link's anger boiled over once again.

"If the goddesses actually cared about me," he cried out, "why was my sister taken from us? Why have all my attempts to save her completely failed?!"

"Link!" the King rebuked in a deep booming voice, "the goddesses did none of those things. You are blaming the benevolent beings who created you and the world upon which you live for the actions that were caused by a wicked man."

"No!" Link talked back, "if they truly cared about us, they wouldn't have allowed Ganondorf to kidnap my sister. They wouldn't have allowed him to destroy ancient Hyrule. At the very least, they would've given me some help. Instead, I've failed every, single, time I've tried to do what's right."

The King of Red Lions did not reply. Link simply sat at the tiller, head burning as he angrily wiped the rain from forehead to keep it from dripping into his eyes.

As he got his course steady, he snatched off his dripping wet cap, wringing the water out, and stuffing it in the locker. He wasn't going to be wearing that thing soaking wet. He felt silly anyway wearing such a ridiculous costume.

His parents didn't think it was ridiculous.

He forced the thought out of his mind. At one time he'd thought that too, but now Link felt different. He was just a stupid, ignorant child, mindlessly wandering around the great sea alone.

He'd sometimes gotten lucky, but at the end of the day, he was just as much a weak, foolish kid as he'd been the day before he turned fourteen.

He was done. There was no saving Aryll.

He gripped the tiller harder, his knuckles turning white. It was difficult to accept, but it was true. As much as he scrounged for some source of hope, it was... not... there.

There was no magical hero of time to come solve the problem for him. He had only himself to blame. He had forever disgraced everything his family believed in.

He could not go back to Outset Island. He could not face his parents. Dad would probably end up going himself, and in one easy try, bring Aryll back. Or even worse, get himself killed too. Then Link would be to blame for the deaths of two family members.

He had promised the day he'd turned fourteen that he would honor the legacy of the ancient hero. In his failure to be anything like the hero of time, he had likely ignited the wrath of the goddesses.

He was a walking imposter of the hero. He wore the same clothing. Was the same age. He even had the same name. A name he had utterly ruined. He claimed to do the things the hero did, but he had just been extremely lucky.

Until now of course. Now his luck had run dry.

He thought for a moment that he should change his name, but his stupid mind was so used to what his parents had called him, he couldn't think of himself as being anything other than Link.