THE NIGHT was still. All that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the ocean waves. The only thing illuminating the room were the pale streams of moonlight shining through the window.

The light was suddenly obscured as a shape traveled across the room. Soft footsteps fell on the cobbled stone floor. They moved with the rhythm of someone who was trying too much to be silent.

He reached out his hand, feeling for a certain object on the nightstand. His blind touch finally caught hold of a cylindrical shape, and he crept back away from the table.

Quarry obtained, he quietly walked across the room, slipped out the door and went out into the night.

The moon, no longer veiled by timber and thatch, shone upon the figure.

The light revealed a young boy wearing a blue tunic, and faded tan britches.

The breeze ruffled the boy's unkempt straw hair, and his deep green eyes looked to the cosmos.

His gaze searched the velvet sky, and he finally found it, a star with a red hue.

Yes! He'd correctly predicted the appearance of Din's Fire, just like the book had described! Link grinned and began running across the sand.

He ran across the bridge that joined the two halves of the island, the boards clapping softly beneath the soles of his feet. Cool summer air flew past him as he ran down the length of the island.

Finally arriving at the pier, he ran to the lookout tower, and began to climb the rope ladder. Making his way up the ladder, he paused halfway, and clung tightly to the log rungs. Was it swaying more than usual?

Link extended his finger out to check the wind. A cool easterly wind blew against his finger.

Odd. There hadn't been a northerly wind in several months, and it was unusually fierce. A good astronomer would not let some wind get in his way though.

Link resumed climbing until he reached the top. He carefully hoisted himself up, feeling a touch of vertigo as he pulled himself up onto the platform. Resting at the top of the tower, Link finally afforded a look back at the island.

Outset Island was dark against the starry lit backdrop. The full moon looked down from high above on the sleeping landscape, going about its usual business of floating across the sky.

Outset was a larger island, with a high ridge of dark grey stone running its whole length. The island was divided in two by a strait of water, with several bridges spanning the gap.

Link turned his attention back to the heavens. He searched the sky until he found Din's Fire again.

Once he found it, he reached to the center of the lookout tower, trying to find his book while attempting to keep his eyes on the star should he lose the star's placement.

He grabbed "The Stargazer's Guide," then brought it into better light. Feverishly turning pages, he came to the page on the Goron's Ruby constellation, then reoriented his gaze to match the diagram in the book.

Link took Aryll's telescope out of his pocket, and aimed it back at the constellation. Goron's Ruby was made of some six or seven stars, but Din's Fire near the center was the most interesting.

As his view through the telescope lens came into focus, Link became puzzled. Aided with the telescope, Din's Fire proved to be not as concentrated as most stars.

He turned the lens, but it went blurry. He checked the other stars in Goron's Ruby, but nothing was wrong with the telescope. Link had only seen this once before, in The Fairy Jar constellation.

He turned to the back of the book and looked at his notes on the end-pages, crowded with writing. He then began comparing Din's Fire with the strange object in The Fairy Jar.

The Stargazer's Guide listed his point of interest in that constellation as the bright star Ciela, but he knew this could not be a star.

After a good while of observation and making notes, his arm ached and he took a rest. He needed to make a stand of some kind for the telescope to be able to to do long periods of star gazing.

Link laid down on the deck and relaxed. He didn't strain his eyes on the tiny details, but took in the whole vast tapestry of the sky.

There was a great view of the Celestial River tonight. Link had tried to count the stars in it once when he was very little. Now he knew there could well be ten million stars in it.

So many things to study, and he could hardly stay awake long enough...