The first floor of cave leading east covers the very basics of dungeoneering: some simple combat, using keys to unlock doors, an easy puzzle, and how things like pushing blocks and pulling levers works with the stylus controls. The second floor brings it all together; Link needs to get a key from a rat who scurries between two holes in the wall too fast for him to catch, so he blocks off one of the holes with a block, waits for the rat to come out of the other hole, stands between the rat and the hole, and catches the rat for the key.
As Link and Ciela emerge from the cave, Ciela says she’s not a big fan of Linebeck, whom she all hat, no cattle. But he’s possibly the only lead they’ve got for the Ghost Ship, so they head down to the docks to find him. Instead, they find another man admiring Linebeck’s ship. When he hears that Link’s looking for Linebeck, he points him to the local milk bar where Linebeck’s known to hang out, but he hasn’t been seen for a few days. The bartender says that Linebeck decided to explore a nearby temple devoted to the Ocean King, and then he and a patron begin trying to talk Link out of going there, saying that the temple has become cursed to drain the life out of any visitors. Still, they point out the temple’s location, because surely Link’s got enough sense to heed their warnings and stay clear.
On the way to the temple, Link takes the time to visit the tree he was pointed to and knocks a big green rupee (100) out. When they arrive, Ciela repeats the same information from the milk bar: built to honor the Ocean King, fallen into disrepair, cursed. Unlike them, however, she has no intentions of encouraging Link from abandoning the quest – heck, she’s been the one pushing for it all along. It’s like Link’s finally found the perfect fairy companion. Inside she’s a bit creeped out by the skeletons of those who failed to explore the temple. The skeletons can still talk, referring to the dangers inside. One refers to monsters Link won’t encounter, and another mentions making notes to help him when he comes back. So, the Temple of the Ocean King is apparently the dungeon Link’s coming back to.
As Link and Ciela enter the temple proper, someone calls to them. It turns out to be Linebeck, asking Link to help him. Ciela is annoyed by how rude Linebeck’s being even as he asks for help. Linebeck says he’s trapped, and can’t free himself because he sprained his ankle. When Link agrees to help, Linebeck explains the mechanics: the temple drains the life out of explorers, but areas shaded in purple are safe. After some quick exploration, Link finds a switch that lowers the spikes that are blocking Linebeck from the exit, and Linebeck runs for it. Link heads back to the entrance.
Ciela accuses Linebeck of faking, but he dismisses her and addresses Link. He asks what brought Link to the temple, and when Link apparently mentions the Ghost Ship, asks if Link is looking for the treasure. Ciela pipes up that they don’t know anything about treasure, but are trying to save Zelda, which causes Linebeck to change his tune: he’s willing to help. Linebeck’s looking for the ship too (for whatever treasure there is, no doubt), but hurt his ankle and… well, now they’re caught up. After making a display of how much his ankle hurts when Ciela doubts him again, he grabs Link and shakes him, telling him to explore the temple and find a clue to the Ghost Ship’s location. When Ciela accuses him of being scared, he says he’s letting Link have the glory instead, and gives him a key… while Link’s still woozy from being shaken (he stumbles around with swirly eyes doing the item get thing, and the jingle is off-key, heh) [1].
Exploring the rest of the room involves hitting two switches to disable spike traps, then grabbing a central treasure chest. The chest contains a sea map that uncovers the southwest portion of Link’s chart. The help text mentions showing it to Linebeck, only by time they get to the entrance, Linebeck’s ankle’s recovered enough that he’s gone outside. Linebeck takes a look at the map, and decides he’s got what he wants so he doesn’t have to play nice and runs off with it.
When Link and Ciela catch up to him at the dock, Oshus is there, having crossed the now-repaired bridge and come to see how things are going. Oshus is impressed by Link’s accomplishments, and with Linebeck unable to figure out anything useful from the map, takes it and gives it to Link to uncover the secret. Near the southeast corner of the map, Link discovers that parts of it can be flaked off to reveal a mark not unlike Din’s pearl on the Isle of Ember. There’s a fortune teller there who might be able to help locate the ship, so Link and Linebeck prepare to set sail together to find out what she knows. Oshus encourages Ciela to tag along, too, and she’s excited about it aside from having to put up with Linebeck. And one last thing: Link takes the money he’s found and goes to the island shop to buy a shield.
Next: I didn’t even know the DS had a microphone.
[1] The item get thing gets another poke if Link finds the chest Linebeck emptied for the key. He goes into the pose, only to reveal he got nothing.
