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  Dragon Roost Island loomed on the horizon as The King of Red Lions sailed along the Great Sea. The waves broke against the proud ship's bow, and sea foam sprayed high, over the tall sail and the small young man beneath. Link's mind was focused on his younger sister, the innocent little Aryll, and his quest to save her. The King had assured him that in order to defeat the evil man that had captured her, Link would have to obtain three sacred orbs, and one of them was held here amongst the Rito people.
  Link lowered the ship's sail as it drew near to the island, and the King looked up at the dark cloud atop the isle's peak with a grim expression.
  “Link, you see that cloud? It appears Ganondorf's evil presence has taken Valoo, the god of the Rito. Be wary – I fear this presence may be affecting the people here too.”
  Link nodded, and docked the King at a beach on the island. He climbed out, splashing into the shallow waters.
  “Link, wait,” called the King of Red Lions.
  Link turned and looked at the boat. It was holding a strange white object in its mouth.
  “Take this, Link.”
  A wave of doubt suddenly crossed Link's mind, and he hesitated. The King rested patiently as the surf washed past it, but it seemed confused. “What are you waiting for, Link?”
  Another sudden, powerful wave of doubt hit Link again. It felt like a shadow creeping up his back; a terrifying chill that made Link recoil from the boat. The King quickly became frightened – Ganondorf's influence here must have been greater than he had thought, and it was affecting the young boy's mind. As Link turned and ran away from the King, the boat realised that bringing him here had probably doomed the world to the Evil King's reign.
  Link thought very little as he sprinted up a rocky hill and across a wooden bridge, only knowing that he could no longer trust the King of Red Lions. He barely took notice of his surroundings until he suddenly ran head-first into a person, and letters flew everywhere. Link fell on his back, and after rubbing himself down found himself looking up into the very angry face of a Rito.
  “Watch where you're going, young man!” the Rito squawked at him. “You can help pick these up while you're down there on the ground!”
  All thoughts Link had about the King of Red Lions evaporated. In embarrassment, Link apologised, then propped himself to his knees and started collecting up the letters. He found himself peeking at the addresses sometimes, curious as to where they were headed and who they might be for. Link's mind wandered, but he was brought back to reality with a sharp screech.
  “You're not even helping! Your manners are disgusting!” the Rito man cried. Link jumped and started picking up the papers as fast as he possibly could while the Rito stood over him, arms folded. Link picked up the last letter and held them all up for the Rito, whose eyes narrowed at the boy.
  “You know how much a delayed letter costs, hm?”
  Link didn't think that a couple of minutes would be that much of a delay, but he shook his head nonetheless. The Rito snorted contemptuously.
  “It costs a LOT, I assure you. How do you expect to pay for that lost time?”
  Link smiled and reached into his wallet, only to pull out a single green Rupee. He'd spent nearly all his savings on a sail on Windfall Island. The Rito seemed very unimpressed. Link reached in once again and grabbed the last Rupee in there – a Red Rupee, then held it up too. The Rito raised an eyebrow and took both Rupees, then inspected them carefully, while keeping a cautious eye on Link.
“Hrm... I don't think this will be enough. Come! You'll work back your debt.”
  Link's jaw dropped. Working back the debt? But that would delay his quest...
  Hold on a second... What was the quest again?
  Link struggled to think of what he was meant to be doing as the Rito pulled him up towards a cave entrance. His mind was muddy, and things were getting mixed up. He even thought that his ears were tingling, and they felt a little wet, oddly. He ignored it as he was led into the large main hall and up the circular ramp around the outside of the room. In the center was stood a Rito he recognised – Quill, the man who delivered mail to Link's home island of... somewhere – and a tall important-looking figure wearing a large red robe. Both of them were talking with serious expressions. Oddly, as Link ascended the circular ramp, it seemed that his hearing became sharper, and he could make out what the two Rito below were saying.
  “...scales of Lord Valoo.”
  “What about them?”
  “They appear less dense, and more... fluid than before.”
  “Strange, but I see no reason to fear-”
  Link jumped again as the Rito leading him in shouted in his ear. “Boy! This is your new life, so get used to it!”
  Link snapped around and looked at where the Rito was pointing. A tall mail desk, behind which sat a bored-looking Rito, and with a pile of letters beside him. The angry Rito pushed Link behind the desk and folded his arms. “Ilari! New intern. He'll be here for a while, get him trained up. And STOP SLACKING!”
  The bored-looking Rito shrugged and looked Link up and down. “Gotcha, boss,” he groaned, and the angry Rito turned away, then started off outside again. Link watched him go, then turned and looked at the bored-looking Rito.
  “Hey, kid. Name's Ilari. Yours?”
  Link stood silently. He couldn't remember his name too well.
  “Not much of a talker, huh? That's alright. Don't mind Koboli, he's cranky all the time – just gotta live with it. Anyway, he tell you what you're meant to do?”
  Link shook his head. Ilari sighed.
  “Got ya. Well, a good place to start is with one of these.”
  Ilari reached below the desk and pulled up a Delivery Bag, then held it out to Link. Link grabbed it and spun around, then threw his hand in the air with a grin. The Delivery Bag flew up into the air then came down with a smack onto Link's face. Odd, he thought. It didn't usually fall down like that.
  Ilari watched Link with a confused expression, and the boy opened the Delivery Bag and pulled out something from inside. It was red and slimy. Ilari noticed and leant over to grab it, then saw the gooey substance dripping off it.
  “That's one of Lord Valoo's scales, I forgot I put that in there. Not really sure if I want it any more, though...” he mumbled, then sat back in his chair. Link turned the scale over in his fingers and looked at it closely as the oily red liquid dripped off his fingers and onto his feet. It was an oddly mesmerising substance that twinkled in the light and completely coated his small hands.
  “You might wanna go wash that stuff off before you start sorting these letters, kid. Koboli won't like marks on the letters,” Ilari advised. Link nodded at him and put the scale back into the Delivery Bag, left it on the side, then went outside to rinse off his hands in the sea. He thought he slightly recognised a red wooden boat further down the beach, but thought nothing of it. As he walked back into the homely cave, he noticed his hands were a shade darker than his arms. Again, he thought nothing of it.
  Getting to grips with the mail sorting was very easy. Link had a natural talent for throwing, it seemed, and that helped cut sorting times immensely. Ilari had remarked that he certainly had the fingers of a Rito to sort through letters as quickly as he could, and once the day was done, Ilari led Link down to the communal sleeping quarters, below the main cave.
  The room was large and well-lit, filled with elegantly-designed wooden beds with plump and comfortable mattresses. Link took an empty bed next to Ilari's, and curled up warmly to sleep. As he lay with his eyes shut, he kept thinking of the scale of Lord Valoo, and the sticky liquid that came from it. He waited for most of the Ritos in the room with him to fall asleep, then slid out of bed and upstairs to the mail desk.
  The Delivery Bag was lying on the desk, as he had left it, and inside still was the scale. Link pulled it out and held it up, staring at it with starry eyes and a blank mind. All he could think about was the beauty of the scale, and the warmth of the liquid that dripped down his arm and over his tunic. The feeling was so intense and pleasurable that Link couldn't even remember what he was doing yesterday before he came to the employment of Koboli.
  A sudden urge came upon Link, as the goo rolled up to his shoulder and started sagging beneath his arm, and Link put the scale in his mouth. It didn't take long for him to pull it out again, as the goo tasted extremely sweet, but the sensation of the slime running down the insides of his throat and down to his stomach make him shiver with excitement. It did stick a little in his mouth and at the back of his throat, but he barely noticed. His arms were now coated in the red liquid, now turning paler, and his tunic was looking a little bleached.
  His attention was drawn down to his feet, where the drops of goop that had fallen from his arms had collected into a puddle. He hadn't put on his boots to come up here in the middle of the night – they would have made too much noise – and his bare feet were surrounded by the warm, wet substance. Link watched as more liquid dripped onto his feet, starting to coat them, and as that familiar shadow ran up his back he realised that it was a good, comfy feeling. He closed his eyes and imagined the perfection of the scale, how it must have been fate that he found it in the Delivery Bag he'd soon be using.
  His toes wiggled and stretched, the goo pressing them together and clamping hard around the feet to solidify as tough yellow scales, and the ends of his toes sharpening into firm, pointed talons. His heel pushed out and hardened into a spur, and the goo just kept travelling up his legs. It gripped his lower leg and swarmed up, faster than ever, covering his pants and turning them shiny, yellow and ringed. Link's eyes opened and he looked down at his legs with a loving, welcoming smile.
  He was meant to be this way.
  Ilari woke Link up with a couple of cautious prods on the arm. Link yawned and stretched out his arms and legs, and opened his eyes to see Ilari's concerned face. “Mornin', kid. Can't help but notice you got some... new tights or somethin'?” he pointed out, slightly worriedly.
  “They're my legs,” Link responded, with a grin. Ilari stepped back in shock.
  “You talk now?! Are you sure you're the same kid as yesterday?” he exclaimed.
  Link laughed.
  Work was, as usual, quick and easy. Ilari seemed to be observing him closely, Link noticed, and Link proudly showed off his new wings, draped under his arms where his tunic sleeves once were. “It's that scale from Lord Valoo,” Link insisted. “The Rito get their wings when they get a scale, so why shouldn't I?”
  Ilari shrugged. “It's not so much the wings I'm interested in. It's your feet – of all things, they don't change when a Rito gets a scale.”
Link was made to lie on the mail desk while Ilari inspected Link's feet up close. They weren't fake, that was for sure, and they were as solid as his own talons. Each toe was long, thick and strong, and the skin was tough but smooth, with each foot pointed off as sharp as any Rito's. Ilari seemed dissatisfied.
  “Maybe you could try some scale goop of your own, Ilari?” Link suggested. Ilari laughed and shook his head.
  Later, Koboli arrived with a heavy sack full of mail, and dumped it onto the mail desk. Ilari groaned.
  “Mind your manners, Ilari, and stop slacking! You too, boy, get to work!” he snapped, pointing at Link, before he turned and strutted away. Ilari appeared flabbergasted.
  “I can't believe he didn't notice your feet and wings. I mean, he must have noticed, right?” Ilari said. Link looked around at Ilari, and the Rito noticed he had red irises now. “Jeez, you're straight up becoming a Rito, kid.”
  “I'm already a Rito, Ilari! Always have been. And, er, is Kid my name? I forgot.”
  It was night again soon, and Kid crept upstairs once more to admire Lord Valoo's scale in privacy. He knew what he needed to do, and he was never more ready to accept the final changes. He held the scale to his chest and felt the warm, comforting liquid ooze out onto his tunic and slide down around his waist. The tunic changed hue once more, turning pale and clean, and the goo stuck to his body, leaving it slightly shiny and smooth. The slime crept up his neck, warmly clasping it and darkening his skin to a beautiful tan brown with a thousand tiny ticks of sensation.
  Finally, the liquid reached his chin and moved up across his face, into his open mouth and along his nose. He felt his nose pressing forward and the nostrils slowly, smoothly realigning themselves along the side of his bright yellow beak. The substance at last moved over his eyes and hair, covering his hat, before finally dripping off onto the floor and sinking away forever.

  Two weeks later, Kid could barely contain his excitement as Koboli finally asked him to perform his first delivery. The traders of Windfall Island relied on their mail being on time, he was told, and even a seconds' delay could cost the company. Kid understood entirely – on the Great Sea, letters were the fastest method of communication. Koboli then handed Kid a handful of flyers.
  “And these are just as important,” Koboli said sternly. “The Great Ganondorf needs to get his messages out to the people, so I'm placing my faith in you to spread his good word by putting these in all the most public places. Windfall, Outset, even Forest Haven – make sure everyone sees these and I'll consider your debt to me finally repaid.”
  Kid appeared confused. “What debt?”
  Koboli smiled and patted Kid on the shoulder. “That's the kind of attitude I like. Now go deliver some mail, kid.”

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

  Dragon Roost Island loomed on the horizon as The King of Red Lions sailed along the Great Sea. The waves broke against the proud ship's bow, and sea foam sprayed high, over the tall sail and the small young man beneath. Link's mind was focused on his younger sister, the innocent little Aryll, and his quest to save her. The King had assured him that in order to defeat the evil man that had captured her, Link would have to obtain three sacred orbs, and one of them was held here amongst the Rito people.
  Link lowered the ship's sail as it drew near to the island, and the King looked up at the dark cloud atop the isle's peak with a grim expression.
  “Link, you see that cloud? It appears Ganondorf's evil presence has taken Valoo, the god of the Rito. Be wary – I fear this presence may be affecting the people here too.”
  Link nodded, and docked the King at a beach on the island. He climbed out, splashing into the shallow waters.
  “Link, wait,” called the King of Red Lions.
  Link turned and looked at the boat. It was holding a strange white object in its mouth.
  “Take this, Link.”
  A wave of doubt suddenly crossed Link's mind, and he hesitated. The King rested patiently as the surf washed past it, but it seemed confused. “What are you waiting for, Link?”
  Another sudden, powerful wave of doubt hit Link again. It felt like a shadow creeping up his back; a terrifying chill that made Link recoil from the boat. The King quickly became frightened – Ganondorf's influence here must have been greater than he had thought, and it was affecting the young boy's mind. As Link turned and ran away from the King, the boat realised that bringing him here had probably doomed the world to the Evil King's reign.
  Link thought very little as he sprinted up a rocky hill and across a wooden bridge, only knowing that he could no longer trust the King of Red Lions. He barely took notice of his surroundings until he suddenly ran head-first into a person, and letters flew everywhere. Link fell on his back, and after rubbing himself down found himself looking up into the very angry face of a Rito.
  “Watch where you're going, young man!” the Rito squawked at him. “You can help pick these up while you're down there on the ground!”
  All thoughts Link had about the King of Red Lions evaporated. In embarrassment, Link apologised, then propped himself to his knees and started collecting up the letters. He found himself peeking at the addresses sometimes, curious as to where they were headed and who they might be for. Link's mind wandered, but he was brought back to reality with a sharp screech.
  “You're not even helping! Your manners are disgusting!” the Rito man cried. Link jumped and started picking up the papers as fast as he possibly could while the Rito stood over him, arms folded. Link picked up the last letter and held them all up for the Rito, whose eyes narrowed at the boy.
  “You know how much a delayed letter costs, hm?”
  Link didn't think that a couple of minutes would be that much of a delay, but he shook his head nonetheless. The Rito snorted contemptuously.
  “It costs a LOT, I assure you. How do you expect to pay for that lost time?”
  Link smiled and reached into his wallet, only to pull out a single green Rupee. He'd spent nearly all his savings on a sail on Windfall Island. The Rito seemed very unimpressed. Link reached in once again and grabbed the last Rupee in there – a Red Rupee, then held it up too. The Rito raised an eyebrow and took both Rupees, then inspected them carefully, while keeping a cautious eye on Link.
“Hrm... I don't think this will be enough. Come! You'll work back your debt.”
  Link's jaw dropped. Working back the debt? But that would delay his quest...
  Hold on a second... What was the quest again?
  Link struggled to think of what he was meant to be doing as the Rito pulled him up towards a cave entrance. His mind was muddy, and things were getting mixed up. He even thought that his ears were tingling, and they felt a little wet, oddly. He ignored it as he was led into the large main hall and up the circular ramp around the outside of the room. In the center was stood a Rito he recognised – Quill, the man who delivered mail to Link's home island of... somewhere – and a tall important-looking figure wearing a large red robe. Both of them were talking with serious expressions. Oddly, as Link ascended the circular ramp, it seemed that his hearing became sharper, and he could make out what the two Rito below were saying.
  “...scales of Lord Valoo.”
  “What about them?”
  “They appear less dense, and more... fluid than before.”
  “Strange, but I see no reason to fear-”
  Link jumped again as the Rito leading him in shouted in his ear. “Boy! This is your new life, so get used to it!”
  Link snapped around and looked at where the Rito was pointing. A tall mail desk, behind which sat a bored-looking Rito, and with a pile of letters beside him. The angry Rito pushed Link behind the desk and folded his arms. “Ilari! New intern. He'll be here for a while, get him trained up. And STOP SLACKING!”
  The bored-looking Rito shrugged and looked Link up and down. “Gotcha, boss,” he groaned, and the angry Rito turned away, then started off outside again. Link watched him go, then turned and looked at the bored-looking Rito.
  “Hey, kid. Name's Ilari. Yours?”
  Link stood silently. He couldn't remember his name too well.
  “Not much of a talker, huh? That's alright. Don't mind Koboli, he's cranky all the time – just gotta live with it. Anyway, he tell you what you're meant to do?”
  Link shook his head. Ilari sighed.
  “Got ya. Well, a good place to start is with one of these.”
  Ilari reached below the desk and pulled up a Delivery Bag, then held it out to Link. Link grabbed it and spun around, then threw his hand in the air with a grin. The Delivery Bag flew up into the air then came down with a smack onto Link's face. Odd, he thought. It didn't usually fall down like that.
  Ilari watched Link with a confused expression, and the boy opened the Delivery Bag and pulled out something from inside. It was red and slimy. Ilari noticed and leant over to grab it, then saw the gooey substance dripping off it.
  “That's one of Lord Valoo's scales, I forgot I put that in there. Not really sure if I want it any more, though...” he mumbled, then sat back in his chair. Link turned the scale over in his fingers and looked at it closely as the oily red liquid dripped off his fingers and onto his feet. It was an oddly mesmerising substance that twinkled in the light and completely coated his small hands.
  “You might wanna go wash that stuff off before you start sorting these letters, kid. Koboli won't like marks on the letters,” Ilari advised. Link nodded at him and put the scale back into the Delivery Bag, left it on the side, then went outside to rinse off his hands in the sea. He thought he slightly recognised a red wooden boat further down the beach, but thought nothing of it. As he walked back into the homely cave, he noticed his hands were a shade darker than his arms. Again, he thought nothing of it.
  Getting to grips with the mail sorting was very easy. Link had a natural talent for throwing, it seemed, and that helped cut sorting times immensely. Ilari had remarked that he certainly had the fingers of a Rito to sort through letters as quickly as he could, and once the day was done, Ilari led Link down to the communal sleeping quarters, below the main cave.
  The room was large and well-lit, filled with elegantly-designed wooden beds with plump and comfortable mattresses. Link took an empty bed next to Ilari's, and curled up warmly to sleep. As he lay with his eyes shut, he kept thinking of the scale of Lord Valoo, and the sticky liquid that came from it. He waited for most of the Ritos in the room with him to fall asleep, then slid out of bed and upstairs to the mail desk.
  The Delivery Bag was lying on the desk, as he had left it, and inside still was the scale. Link pulled it out and held it up, staring at it with starry eyes and a blank mind. All he could think about was the beauty of the scale, and the warmth of the liquid that dripped down his arm and over his tunic. The feeling was so intense and pleasurable that Link couldn't even remember what he was doing yesterday before he came to the employment of Koboli.
  A sudden urge came upon Link, as the goo rolled up to his shoulder and started sagging beneath his arm, and Link put the scale in his mouth. It didn't take long for him to pull it out again, as the goo tasted extremely sweet, but the sensation of the slime running down the insides of his throat and down to his stomach make him shiver with excitement. It did stick a little in his mouth and at the back of his throat, but he barely noticed. His arms were now coated in the red liquid, now turning paler, and his tunic was looking a little bleached.
  His attention was drawn down to his feet, where the drops of goop that had fallen from his arms had collected into a puddle. He hadn't put on his boots to come up here in the middle of the night – they would have made too much noise – and his bare feet were surrounded by the warm, wet substance. Link watched as more liquid dripped onto his feet, starting to coat them, and as that familiar shadow ran up his back he realised that it was a good, comfy feeling. He closed his eyes and imagined the perfection of the scale, how it must have been fate that he found it in the Delivery Bag he'd soon be using.
  His toes wiggled and stretched, the goo pressing them together and clamping hard around the feet to solidify as tough yellow scales, and the ends of his toes sharpening into firm, pointed talons. His heel pushed out and hardened into a spur, and the goo just kept travelling up his legs. It gripped his lower leg and swarmed up, faster than ever, covering his pants and turning them shiny, yellow and ringed. Link's eyes opened and he looked down at his legs with a loving, welcoming smile.
  He was meant to be this way.
  Ilari woke Link up with a couple of cautious prods on the arm. Link yawned and stretched out his arms and legs, and opened his eyes to see Ilari's concerned face. “Mornin', kid. Can't help but notice you got some... new tights or somethin'?” he pointed out, slightly worriedly.
  “They're my legs,” Link responded, with a grin. Ilari stepped back in shock.
  “You talk now?! Are you sure you're the same kid as yesterday?” he exclaimed.
  Link laughed.
  Work was, as usual, quick and easy. Ilari seemed to be observing him closely, Link noticed, and Link proudly showed off his new wings, draped under his arms where his tunic sleeves once were. “It's that scale from Lord Valoo,” Link insisted. “The Rito get their wings when they get a scale, so why shouldn't I?”
  Ilari shrugged. “It's not so much the wings I'm interested in. It's your feet – of all things, they don't change when a Rito gets a scale.”
Link was made to lie on the mail desk while Ilari inspected Link's feet up close. They weren't fake, that was for sure, and they were as solid as his own talons. Each toe was long, thick and strong, and the skin was tough but smooth, with each foot pointed off as sharp as any Rito's. Ilari seemed dissatisfied.
  “Maybe you could try some scale goop of your own, Ilari?” Link suggested. Ilari laughed and shook his head.
  Later, Koboli arrived with a heavy sack full of mail, and dumped it onto the mail desk. Ilari groaned.
  “Mind your manners, Ilari, and stop slacking! You too, boy, get to work!” he snapped, pointing at Link, before he turned and strutted away. Ilari appeared flabbergasted.
  “I can't believe he didn't notice your feet and wings. I mean, he must have noticed, right?” Ilari said. Link looked around at Ilari, and the Rito noticed he had red irises now. “Jeez, you're straight up becoming a Rito, kid.”
  “I'm already a Rito, Ilari! Always have been. And, er, is Kid my name? I forgot.”
  It was night again soon, and Kid crept upstairs once more to admire Lord Valoo's scale in privacy. He knew what he needed to do, and he was never more ready to accept the final changes. He held the scale to his chest and felt the warm, comforting liquid ooze out onto his tunic and slide down around his waist. The tunic changed hue once more, turning pale and clean, and the goo stuck to his body, leaving it slightly shiny and smooth. The slime crept up his neck, warmly clasping it and darkening his skin to a beautiful tan brown with a thousand tiny ticks of sensation.
  Finally, the liquid reached his chin and moved up across his face, into his open mouth and along his nose. He felt his nose pressing forward and the nostrils slowly, smoothly realigning themselves along the side of his bright yellow beak. The substance at last moved over his eyes and hair, covering his hat, before finally dripping off onto the floor and sinking away forever.

  Two weeks later, Kid could barely contain his excitement as Koboli finally asked him to perform his first delivery. The traders of Windfall Island relied on their mail being on time, he was told, and even a seconds' delay could cost the company. Kid understood entirely – on the Great Sea, letters were the fastest method of communication. Koboli then handed Kid a handful of flyers.
  “And these are just as important,” Koboli said sternly. “The Great Ganondorf needs to get his messages out to the people, so I'm placing my faith in you to spread his good word by putting these in all the most public places. Windfall, Outset, even Forest Haven – make sure everyone sees these and I'll consider your debt to me finally repaid.”
  Kid appeared confused. “What debt?”
  Koboli smiled and patted Kid on the shoulder. “That's the kind of attitude I like. Now go deliver some mail, kid.”