To build a home

by Somteul

Summary:

The people of Skyloft have been noticing Link's strange behavior. Ever since Zelda disappeared, he's been gone more and more. But even the knights of Skyloft haven't seen him on his patrols, so where has he been? And why does he keep coming back injured?

Or: Skyloft loves their little orphan boy Link and worries over where he's gone.
(This is more of a character study of the Skyloft NPCs than it is Link-centric. Please be warned.)

Chapter 1: Luv

Summary:

For those who forgot, Luv is the potion lady (:

Link has always been a strange boy, a boy who arrived on Skyloft carried by a crimson loftwing, a kind believed to be extinct. He was special, a blessing from the goddess as people liked to believe. For a while, he was even called a fledgling, until he grew too old for the name, which couldn't be shortened to fledge because of the older boy, well, Fledge. But he was also known for another thing, getting injured. 

Running a potion shop, Luv had seen her fair share of worried parents buying heart potions for their children after they got injured, most often from loftwing talons whenever they pulled too hard on the poor bird's tails, but she had never had such as regular as Gaeporea for Link. Link was too young to buy potions, but the boy would come in weekly for a new red potion after he got injured jumping off of his loftwing. His loftwing who was still unnamed. When she had asked him while waiting for Gaepora to pay, he said that the bird hadn't told him yet. 

"Loftwings can't speak." She had said, confused, but Link just smiled and shook his head. 

"You just need to listen!" He put his hands on his hips, a proud smile, "My loftwing said he'll tell me the minute I turn twelve!" Luv laughed, giving the boy a small smile. 

"Well, you just gotta tell me when that happens, okay? I don't want to offend your loftwing by calling him 'Link's loftwing' when he's said his name, okay?" The boy laughed and nodded, giving her a blinding smile. Gaepora handed her the rupees and handed Link the bottle, watching as he chugged it in one go, wiping the excess onto his sleeve. Gaeporea sighed, thanked her, and led Link away from the Bazaar. She watched as the boy grew, his injuries fading from loftwing tumbles to sword mishaps, to whatever was happening to the boy now.

Zelda was missing, she had been in the crowd when that tornado appeared and Link's loftwing, Avis, had carried the unconscious boy back to Skyloft. What had to be only a few hours later, did Link come into the Bazaar, gathering the attention of the shoppers. He had marched right up to Rupin's shields and bought a wooden one, and she could see some sort of sword on his back. One that she had never seen before. It wasn't a training sword, no, it looked much more ancient than that. He turned around and walked up to her. 

"My bottles all smashed during the fall." He admits, scratching the back of his head, "But-"

"I don't do this, but take it." She hands him an empty bottle, "You're going to search the skies?" Link hesitantly nods, and looks down at the potions. He passes her the rupees before scooping up a heart potion, takes a final look at the Bazaar, and leaves. He never ended up coming back that week. Or the next week after that. During her breaks, she'd walk around, calling over knights to look for him, and yet they'd come back empty-handed. It wasn't until a red light appeared in the sky that Link returned for more potions. This time, having another bottle. He marched back to Rupin, bought the metal shield, and then marched right over to her to purchase a heart potion and a revitalizing potion as well. He had a bruise on his face, like he was slammed into something but he was gone before she could ask. She could see small tears in his new uniform, and small red stains on the back of his tunic that didn't go unnoticed by the men conversing at the small food court. They eyed it, exchanged a look, and began to whisper to each other. 

So she waits, he comes back quicker this time, covered in scorch marks that make her wonder if he had been too close to an exploding stove, and simply walks over to the scrap shop and hands some materials to Gondo, as he works, he walks up to her again and fills two bottles up, the same as the last. She looks down to see a bottle in his pouch, "Do you need that one filled up too?" 

"Ah, no." He looks down at his feet, "I'm going to go to the Lumpy Pumpkin and get something there." He gently places the bottles into the larger-than-usual adventure pouch and tilts his head as if he's listening to something, "It, it was great seeing you, Luv." He quickly leaves her alone, and she watches, unable to follow after him. She decides to make a trip to the Lumpy Pumpkin during her break. When she walks in, the atmosphere is quiet, it's not like the loud music that plays throughout the Bazaar. 

"Luv!" Pumm calls, waving her over, "It's been a while since I've seen you!" She can't help but smile back at him. 

"Pumm, has Link been here at all?" The man pauses to think, putting down the dishes to scratch his beard, "Last I saw him was a week before the Wing Ceremony, after that tornado. How's he been?"

"Zelda's missing, Link's been looking for her." Luv slides into a seat and Pumm passes her a bottle of pumpkin soup, "But Link's, he's been getting injured more often, I'm worried about him. Last week he came in with scorch marks and before that, blood. I don't know how he's getting so injured, but I hope he isn't harming himself. The poor boy probably blames himself for Zelda's disappearance." Pumm frowns and nods.

"I'll keep an eye open for him." Pumm smiles, "Always a good thing when that boy comes in, a true blessing, you know what I mean?" 

"He keeps your pockets full." She laughs, "He said he was going to come here today, so, send me a letter if he comes." Pumm nods, taking the empty bottle back from her. She passes him ten rupees and turns to leave. Her shift felt longer than ever after her break, and Link hadn't appeared. She suspected so, but it still made her gut churn uneasily, as she walked home that night, the remlits hissed and pounced at her. She frowned as she picked up her pace, running into her home to lie in bed. Even the remlits were acting strange. 

In the end, she never did get that letter. 

Yet still, Link would return, week after week, until it turned to months, and he would continue to purchase heart potions, no longer trying to hide cleaned blood stains off of his clothes, and sometimes he would tilt his head to the side as if he was listening to someone and then simply walks over to buy a guardian potion. Her eyebrows raise as she watches as he hands off two hundred rupees like it was nothing to him and puts it carefully into his pouch. He gives Luv one last look before walking back. It was a sad look like he was taking a final look at her before he vanished from the bazaar. 

By the time a yellow light floods the sky, she hears of a mysterious figure who, enshrouded by darkness, holds up a sword that glows in the night sky before vanishing into the graveyard and disappearing. She's almost confident it's a ghost, but she's even more confident it's Link, and the people of Skyloft all seem to agree with her. She watches as he returns from the sky, a somber look on his face, but under it, is relief and determination. She's sitting by the lighthouse drinking some of Pumm's pumpkin soup as she watches as he grapples with some strange device before tucking it (somehow) into that tiny pouch of his. Link doesn't even wait for Avis to fly off, he starts running to the knight's academy. He sprints past Parrow, who yelps in surprise at the sheer speed, and the two watch as he sprints up the stairs without stopping and vanishes behind the gate. 

"I didn't know he had that much stamina." Parrow laughs and he looks over to face her, "I swear I felt a breeze pass me by." Luv smirks at him, but her attention goes back to the building. 

"He's been missing for a while." She admits, slurping down the rest of her soup. She looks back at the Bazaar and shrugs. She can wait a few more minutes. Parrow makes a face, hand on his chin as he thinks. 

"You're right, the last time I spoke to him was well... when he rescued my sister and her loftwing." He admits, "I don't think I've seen him other than that... it's strange now that you mention it because there's no way that I wouldn't have seen him on Skyloft and you can't fly at night, so where has he been?" 

Maybe that's where it all truly began. 

Notes:

Do I plan to write this with nearly all the npcs I can find? Yes.
Also Avis is Latin for bird. I'm not creative at all with names, it was Avis or Avian. I went Avis.
ALSO SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT )): I DON'T EVER REALLY GO TO THE BAZAAR IN SKYWARD SWORD (the music gives me a headache)

Chapter 2: Fledge

– Basing parts of this chapter on my own playthrough – 

 

He had been watching from the sidelines, he craved to be up in the clouds with them, but he didn’t cut. He never would. Fledge watched as a familiar red loftwing shot ahead of everyone else at such striking speed that he could only see a red blur, shooting past Groose’s loftwing to grab the statue in the sky. Cheers erupted and he thought he heard Pipit and Zelda shout the loudest. When he looks over, Zelda has a red flush as she stares down at the beautifully made sailcloth. Ah he realizes, she really wanted to give it to Link. 

The ceremony continued like normal, Link and Zelda holding hands on the top of the goddess statue before soaring into the clouds. Fledge watched with a soft smile as Link and Zelda’s loftwings drifted into the distance. He really deserved this win. Especially with Groose’s gang’s actions during the ceremony. Even more so with his kind and loving behavior, helping Fledge before the ceremony, finding Mia (from what he heard), and from playing with the children whenever they pestered him, Link deserved nothing but the best. And this was that. 

But the wind seemed to pick up, whistling loudly and terribly as a large wind tornado appeared in the distance, it didn’t even look like a tornado either, not like the usual light ones surrounding the strange, never-moving clouds, but it was black and moved with fast speeds. He could barely make out two colors attempting to fly away before the tornado seemed to vanish, and with it, the two shades of red and blue. For a striking moment, everyone had gone silent, until the cry of two loftwings echoed throughout the sky and they appeared from the clouds. Only Link had returned, unconscious, despite the amount of shaking done by Gaepora and Pipit, he had not awoken. Fledge had felt so useless as he was rushed into the Knight’s academy and all he could do was watch Link’s arm dangle lifelessly in Gaepora’s arm. 

He’s wandering the halls when he sees Link again, running out of the Knight’s Academy before he can say anything. Running back with a new sword, just… running. Running better than him, but he watches as he struggles with the stairs, seeming to run out of stamina as he goes halfway up. It’s the last time he sees Link for a while. It’s strange, being in his room and waiting for Link to come back, not speaking to Link through the walls, and not hearing the familiar light snores that come from his side of the room. He doesn’t hear the usual sounds of wood carving or the scribbles on paper of a last-minute enrichment. It’s quiet, it’s wrong, he misses Link. Sometimes, he’ll go inside just to sit in his room and wait for him to come back, but it doesn’t seem like he is. 

“Link’s searching the skies.” Pipit tells him one day, “I haven’t seen him since.” They’re sitting on the docks, legs dangling above the clouds, Pipit is staring at his hands and Fledge looks up at the sky. 

“Link’s smart.” Pipit snorts, “Maybe not as smart as you, but he’s got self-preservation, he’ll be back soon.” 

“But it’s been a week.” Pipit responds, “I haven’t seen him in a week, the sky isn’t that big, it can take only a day to get to the furthest islands, and I doubt Link would go further.” Fledge wants to retaliate, for Zelda, Link would probably go to the end of the world.

“Link’s good with a sword, he’s strong, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Fledge whispers back, and with a moment of silence, he realizes that he too, wants to be strong. He wants to be like Link, strong, courageous, and kind. He’s not strong, he’s not brave, but he certainly is kind. He thinks of where he can start. He can start with push-ups. He’s not good at them, but it’s a good place to start. But he can’t practice during the day, no, what if Link comes back? He has to wait for him. So at night. He’ll practice at night. He’ll be ready to help Link in his search for Zelda. Pipit stands with a grunt and Fledge looks up. There’s some awkward silence between the two, normally Link is the one that speaks between them, but Pipit finally lets out a small chuckle. 

“Link will come back soon, trust me Fledge.” And then he’s gone. He can see Pipit’s hands clenching into fists in frustration and he can’t blame him. He’s worried about Link too. 

Push-ups are hard. That’s the first thing that Fledge notices, he can’t keep a plank and his body keeps going into a downward dog position as he attempts to push himself down and up with shaking arms. Well, the down part is kind of easy, until he has to bend his arms and stay there, but pushing himself up just leads to him falling to the floor. He holds himself at a plank (or tries to) because he comes crashing to the ground a few seconds later and finds himself grateful for being on the bottom floor. He tries again, then again, and again until his arms are shaking and he’s so exhausted he could fall asleep on the floor right there, but he crawls into bed and thinks about how Link is probably asleep on an island in the cold with only Avis to keep him warm. 

Avis is a warm bird, he’s sure, but maybe not comfortable to sleep in, especially with the loud winds outside his window. He wonders if Link is safe if he’s flying at night in a desperate search for Zelda, abandoning all safety preservations he has for himself to find her. It’s hard to fall asleep that night, and it’s only the idea that Link has found Zelda and they’re holding hands on a small, remote island that brings him peace of mind.

It’s an entire week until Link finally returns. The green uniform is unmistakable. The ancient sword is strange, it’s not a training sword but he has no idea where it could have come from. Perhaps the fact that the Goddess Statue has been off-limits since Link’s disappearance has something to do with that. Gaepora says it’s due to the statue being damaged and a hazard, Fledge finds it ridiculous, it’s obviously an entranceway, but he accepts Gaepora’s statement as it is. He can’t argue with Skyloft’s leader, can he? 

Fledge takes another look at Link, there’s a bruise on his face, something that a red potion should have healed but it was clear Link didn’t have one. He only sees Link in passing, just enough to see the small red stains on his tunic, he wants to follow, but Link is marching into the Bazaar before he can blink. Clearly, he’s gotten faster, making him wonder, just where has he been? Skyloft is the largest island in the sky, and the next largest is maybe… that one island that clown is building on. There’s no way Link would have gotten that fast in a mere two weeks. 

“Link!” He calls out, but the teen doesn’t hear, simply sprinting to a dock and taking off into the clouds. Fledge finds himself at the edge by the time Link’s loftwing picks him up and they soar into the sky. He has to be faster next time, so he can catch Link. Maybe he can take a night shift… no, he has to build his endurance first. He trains harder that night, managing to hold a plank for just a few more seconds than usual. He trains until he wakes up on the floor of his dorm, afternoon light shedding through the window. He waits for Link at the docks near the lighthouse, Parrow paces there at times too. He doesn’t seem worried, in fact, he doesn’t think it’s clicked that Link is missing, gone, he doesn’t think there’s a word that describes Link’s vanishing. He thinks he should make one up. 

Sometimes Gully will run up and talk to him about Beedle’s shop, sometimes Parrow will ask if he’s getting enough sleep, but he doesn’t listen to them, he keeps waiting for Link until it’s sundown and the remlits start to act strange. Instead of sleeping, they growl at him as he passes by. He speeds back to the dorms and trains. It’s another week until he sees Link again, the male has burn marks over his body and he watches as he opens his dorm’s door and closes it gently, as if wanting no one to know he’s back. He only knows because he hears the familiar snores. When he trains that night, he tries to get to ten push-ups when the door opens. He looks up to see Link. 

“Link!” He whisper-shouts, “You’re…” He takes a good look. Despite the dim lighting in the dorm, he can see the eyebags and scorch marks on Link’s clothes and face, he smells like smoke and gives Fledge a small smile. He waves, not saying anything, “I’m sorry if I woke you up, I- what am I doing? I’m training!” Link gives him a confused look and he doesn’t want to say the true reason he’s training so he thinks fast. 

“I can’t even lift a barrel… pathetic, I know! I want to get stronger. I’m a bit embarrassed about it, though. So I do it at night when no one’s around to laugh at me… but it’s not going so well, I’m just too tired. I was actually about ready to throw in the towel…” He almost slaps himself, Groose has been in his room this whole time and his goons haven’t even looked at him. But Link doesn’t know that and he holds out a stamina potion, “Oh! Link, thank you! I owe you one.” Link puts his hand on Fledge’s shoulder and gives him another exhausted smile. He leaves before Fledge can continue talking to him, he can hear Link fall back asleep and Fledge downs the potion as quickly as he can, leaving the bottle at Link’s door before he goes back to training. This time, he reaches ten. 

Link is gone in the morning, but he feels relieved that Link is close enough to come back home. Pipit is at Fledge’s door in the morning, he’s panting and holding himself against the door frame, he must have run from home, “Link was here?” He asks, “Did I miss him?” 

“He left this morning. I was still sleeping when he left, Karane told me since she saw him in the morning.” Pipit looks destroyed, eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide, almost like he’s about to cry. Fledge leads him to his bed and Pipit sights.

“Did you see him last night?” 

“I did.” Fledge confirms, “He was covered in scorch marks and smelled like smoke.” He admits, “But he was okay. I think that’s what’s important.”
“Should we go looking for him?” Pipit speaks up, “I mean, classes have been held off since Gaepora has been stressed and both Zelda and Link are gone, it’s a big deal, the knights could use some extra help! We’re training! This could be practice!” 

“Pipit, I think it’s best to let the knights do their job, we should be here if, when Link comes back.” Pipit puts his face into his hands and sighs. 

“I wish I could just live with you all. In the dorms.” Fledge knows that money is hard to come across in Skyloft, and that some people fly to other islands and search the grass to find some, he knows Pipit struggles with money and he wishes he could do something, but he can’t pay his friend’s rent.

“I’m sure you’ll see Link again soon.” Fledge smiles and Pipt gives a weak, but sure smile back. It’s almost enough to make him feel good. 

One night, when Fledge is about to sleep, someone knocks lightly on his door, it’s rapid, but light. He opens the door and he looks up at Pipit, his face is one of awe but has a strange look of disbelief on his face like he saw something that shouldn’t exist, but it’s the best thing ever. He grabs Fledge’s shoulder leads him down the window and points, he doesn’t let his hand drop for a long time and Fledge lets out a sigh. 

“Pipit-”
“Shhh!” He finally lets his hand drop, “You’ve got to see what Link can do!” 

“Link’s back?” 

“Yes, okay, listen, I was on night watch-”

“You’re on night watch?” 

“Yes, nevermind, not important, listen, and the remlits began to start attacking me, and I saw this figure get absolutely engulfed in blue light and swing their blade and the whole night became day for a moment and the remlits let out this hiss before running away. Then I watched a figure chase them, they went by fast, so much faster than a normal person can run, but I saw the green on their glowing sword. Name one person who wears green on Skyloft, name them!” Fledge stares for a moment longer. 

“Link?”

“Yes! It was Link! It had to have been him, I’ve never seen another person with an unknown sword but Link, I’ve never seen someone as athletic as Link’s become, I’ve-”

“Never seen a person like Link before?” Fledge finishes with a tired noise, “Pipit, I’m really sorry but I’m not completely sure if I can believe you- that sounds crazy.” 

“Just watch, another few minutes, please!” He begs and Fledge yawns but leans against his window to watch. He’s halfway through a blink- a mid sleep?- that he notices that there’s a light blue light coming from Skyloft and a small beam of energy seems to light up the sky. He blinks, rubs his eyes, then watches as a figure with an unmistakable form runs past, in the dim lanterns of Skyloft, he can make out a tiny blur of green. The same green as Link’s tunic. 

“I’m dreaming.” He mumbles and Pipit shakes his head. 

“You’re not.” 

“I’m totally dreaming.” And he falls asleep. When he’s outside the docks the next morning, he takes a solid good look at Link. The sword on his back is glowing a faint blue, he also notices that he’s climbing up the lighthouse for some reason. He’s further back than some other people, so he can see them pause to see Link climbing but then shrug and continue walking. He really needs to start looking around more often if this is starting to become a new normal. By the time he finishes yawning, Link’s diving off the lighthouse and lands with his sailcloth with too much accuracy for someone who only needs it to soften a land from their loftwing. He opens it with too much accuracy. He lets himself land with a roll before he runs back up to the Knight’s Academy, and yep, much faster than any resident. Fledge thinks he needs more sleep. 

When Link runs back, Fledge finds himself determined to catch up. He grabs Link’s arm before he can jump off the dock again and Link whirls around to face him, his hair smacking his face in the wind, “Fledge?” 

“Link, where have you been?” 

“Searching the skies. Where else would I be?” He asks back in a rush, backing up to the edge of the docks, “Listen Fledge, it’s great to speak with you, but I need to-” He pauses, looks over his shoulder, and then nods as if someone spoke to him. He almost wants to gape at how worried he is over this, Link’s clearly not well, he’s hallucinating and thinking of going searching.

“Can’t- I hate to say it, but Link, you clearly aren’t doing well, you, who are you even speaking to? Please, rest, Zelda can wait.” Link chuckles and shakes his head. 

“I know she can.” He says, looking almost relieved but heartbroken, the admission shocks Fledge, causing his grip on Link’s arm to loosen, “But I can’t!” He takes that moment to run and jump off, soaring back into the sky. Fledge can only watch as Link’s red loftwing vanishes from his sight, heading down to another island. He stands at the edge to see him fly to where that clown is building his paradise, if he remembers, there’s a small chest on the bottom of that island. It’s not like Link can open it, right? 

Wrong. He stares at the open chest on the island and screams into his hands, it feels like he’s going in circles, he’s stressed and worried about Link, and now unexplainable things are happening, it’s all connected and that sword has to do something with it. Well, it probably started with that tornado then the sword. But either way, that sword has something to do about it. There’s a reason why no one can go to the goddess statue anymore, there’s a reason that the remlits have mysteriously become aggressive, why Groose hasn’t left his room in months, and why Karane and Pipit have suddenly become closer than ever. There’s a reason for everything, so there’s a reason for Link’s vanishing and a reason for his strange behavior. He’s going to figure out what, make sure that his friend’s okay, and then he’s going to confront Link once and for all. He’ll be strong enough to go with Link to search, if he’s even still searching, he seems heartbroken, but almost relieved when he told Fledge that Zelda could wait. Maybe he should ask about that first. 

With a whistle, he jumps off his island and flies back to Skyloft. He’s going to buy a stamina potion, train, and then, the minute he sees Link again, he’s going to make him take an incredibly long nap, and he won’t be able to stop him. 

Notes:

Ya'll I realized I could have named Avis Avin and now I need to stand in a corner and reevaluate my life choices. Anyways, I've only given Fledge a stamina potion like once, so his dialogue is based on that interaction. Fledge is an observant boy who really just needs three things, strength, sleep, and his best friend back.

Chapter 3: Cawlin

Summary:

I feel like this was more of a character study but quickly whipped up a chapter before bed. Believe it or not, this chapter has no dialogue.

Cawlin was born on a miserable night, that’s what his mother told him, that he was born on a miserable, rainy night, with heavy winds and terrible skies. That she sometimes wondered if it made him such a miserable person today. His twin, born just a few minutes before, was born before the storm had hit. In his crib, his mother says. A blessed butterfly landed on his head and died on his own. It was considered a bad omen on Skyloft, that that child would never be blessed by the goddess and live a life full of misery and disappointment, that they would never have children, or that they’d fall into the cloud barrier and never return.
She also tells him, that when Link arrived on the island, he was a mere seven years old. He arrived on that red loftwing just days after he met his own. Link had arrived with sticks in his hair and a torn shirt covering his legs without pants. He had looked lost and scared and Cawlin had taken his small hand to Gaepora, who fussed over him and ushered Cawlin out of the room. When Cawlin had told his mom of his kind deed, she ignored it to gush over Link. She called him a miracle, a blessing, perfect. She had said that she would gladly take in Link for another blessed child, perhaps they’d bring twice the luck. Cawlin had stood there and felt his world collapse. All because a butterfly died on his head.
Later that day, Link had gone to talk to him, but he stuttered over his words until Cawlin became frustrated and left. Link continued to try and talk to him until Cawlin screamed at him that he shouldn’t have ever helped him in the first place. The boy looked confused, he opened his mouth again, but Cawlin continued his verbal assault until Link backed off, a surprising distance before running away. It brought him some sort of sick satisfaction, that a person who caused him pain felt the same.
The thing is, Link arrived on a beautiful sunny day, loftwings pecked at him curiously, blessed butterflies swarmed him, and the light shone on him like the goddess’ blessing. He was everything that he should have been, his mother says, kind, responsible, and blessed. He was none of those things, and he lived up to those names. As the years grew, he became colder, forced Stritch to bully other kids with him, and forced him to stray away from bugs to knighthood. He met Groose when he turned nine, with Groose proudly saying he was simply a week older, and should be the leader of their little trio. Groose, despite being barely older, felt like the role model that Cawlin needed. He was everything Cawlin wanted to be, and he would follow Groose to the end of the world if it meant that.
As Groose grew older, the boy got into designing his hair, he got into working out, he got into flying, and he was good at all of it. He was the ideal man in Cawlin’s eyes. But he also grew more insulting, his targets grew, instead of just Link, it expanded to some other kids, not that Cawlin paid any mind. He saw how Groose was a man who could get attention if he wanted it, and Cawlin needed that as well.
So he became crueler. He started to bully Fledge, Link, and Pipit, but never would he insult Zelda or Karane. Karane. He could never insult her. He remembers the first time that she walked by him in the hallways, smiling at him in their first meeting, that lovely gaze turned sour a few hours later as he threw a paper ball at Fledge’s head. It bounced off and the boy had shrunken into his seat, Karane had left hers to comfort him, and she had become a side companion to their group and not his.
Maybe it’s also because she’s so close to Zelda that she doesn’t talk to him either. He once heard Zelda and Karane giggling about tearing a hole in their wall so they could talk every night and pass things back and forth together. At his meager seventeen years, he’s sure they’ve done it and are sharing gossip every day. But at the young ten years, he had decided that enough was enough and had screamed at Zelda for stealing everything from him. Cawlin grew up bitter and resented, he only saw the opposite in Link, he grew up extroverted and blindly positive. It only grew worse when he took Loftwing Body Language, a course to know his Loftwing better. Link’s loftwing never once showed signs of discomfort when Link would pull at his tail feathers, whining about going to the sky, unlike his who would snap at him if he even touched his feathers wrong, no, Link’s loftwing would muzzle him, and gently take him up to the sky before recklessly soaring higher and higher, performing maneuvers that would give Gaepora a heart attack if he saw it.
The other thing was how other loftwings acted around him. They all loved him, almost as much as their riders. When Link was injured, they’d squawk at him and he’d simply laugh and wave them off as if he knew what they’d said. Like a freak. A bird-speaking freak that Cawlin wishes he could be.
He found joy in Link’s failures, his injuries, and scrapes because it showed that Link couldn’t be some blessing, he was just a boy and a stupid one at that. By the time he and Groose surpassed friendship and reached best friends, Strich had almost fallen from his mind, the boy stuck around to make dumb comments, stuck to Cawlin’s side. Groose had a fat crush on Zelda, he loved her so much and Cawlin helped him plan ways to get her love, but her eyes were only on Link. When the Wing Ceremony finally happened, it wasn’t a surprise that Link had won, no, but he felt anger burning in his chest.
Of course, Link won, of course, he was with Zelda, of course. Of fucking course. So when that tornado came and only one returned, Cawlin hoped it was Zelda and that Link would be gone. Maybe then, Link wouldn’t be the center of everything (even if Stritch says that no one pays attention to Link as much as Groose and he does). But Link’s the one to come back, and the one determined to rescue her. He yells at Link the second he comes out of his dorm when he wakes up, he glares at him in the halls with some new sword, he glares at the green tunic, he hates him. He hates him so, so much.
So why does that hate dwindle when he’s not there?
As Link’s journey spans over months, Cawlin almost forgets he hates the boy, almost forgets he’s gone, walking through the halls without scowls, he stares at Karane and she smiles softly at him. She looks sad, almost, and his heart swells for her. He loves her in a way that cannot be put into words. But he tries. For weeks, he writes letters and carefully practices confessing his love to his pillow when Stritch is gone. Groose hasn’t come out of his room, he doesn’t even talk to him when he knocks every hour. He’s moping. It’s starting to feel like a long time. By the time a red light is now in Skyloft’s sky, Cawlin is ready to confess. He’s trained for this! He has the letter in his hands, he’s practically bouncing in his steps with a smile on his face that hasn’t been seen in almost his whole life. Just as he’s about to enter the classroom, he bumps into Link and looks up.
He almost forgot how Link looked, but he was sure that those eyebags weren’t as prominent and his face wasn’t covered in former bruises and soot. His tunic looks worn down, like a tunic that’s been used for years. It looked like, for once, the goddess hadn’t blessed him and the skies were rough. That he was caught in some dangerous storm or some fire that ruined his prideful uniform. Seeing Link almost removes all the courage that he has to ask Karane to go on a date with him. He sucks it up and asks Link to deliver the letter instead. It takes Link a full day to do it, he feels like he should have delivered it himself. But finally, his moment is here, Cawliln is about to confess his love for Karane when Pipit, Pipit interrupts them, confessing as well. And she chooses him, Pipit, not Cawlin.
It hurts more than anything. Link apologizes when he sees Cawlin, but he’s too angry to even accept it, telling Link it’s his fault. But as he sits in Groose’s bed (just when did he leave?) he begins to regret it. Link was nothing but kind, even after all those years. He must have some kind of regret for Zelda, right? He shakes those thoughts out, he’s not going to be soft with Link of all people. No, he’s pissed. But, Link delivered that letter even though he could. He’s busy searching and he’s moping. He continues to mope as yellow light floods the sky, he doesn’t leave Groose’s room. He refuses. Even with Stritch knocking, telling him that he wants to go visit Mom or eat food, he remains in the room. He hasn’t locked it for when Groose comes back, but Stritch knows that Cawlin can be a hell of a grouch if he so desires. And he desires it.
So Stritch begins to sit by the door and speak to him. He tells him that there are rumors that Link has gotten stronger, faster, and even more skilled with a sword in a timespan that shouldn’t be possible. That there was a figure at night that lit up the sky with a sword. That yellow light now broke through the clouds of Skyloft. Stritch throws the even more crazy idea that the surface may be a real place and not some legend lost in time. He hears that Link walks around with strange gears, and that Link and Stritch are trading bugs, which seems to slip out of his mouth mid-ramble about Link’s changes. Cawlin, can’t find himself to care too much, but he’s a little worried, if Zelda hasn’t been found, then where is she? Groose loves Zelda, so is he also searching? Is he in danger too? But Link’s the one coming back injured, so is Groose dead?
Groose can’t be dead. Link would protect Groose if he saw him. If he saw him. He grits his teeth together when he hears Stritch talk about how amazing of a person Link is. That he feels like he can be himself.
Stritch is his twin, but Cawlin never let Stritch be a person, it was always his twin, his copy, his clone, despite Stritch being older, Stritch bent to his needs. Maybe, he’s a terrible person. Much worse than he thought he was. Perhaps that’s why Karane rejected him because he’s just that nasty. But is he really? Is he that bad of a person? It’s not like he’s pushed someone off the cloud barrier, but he feels like he has the blood of some people on his hands. Maybe it’s Fledge and the person he could have become, Pipit and not stealing his money, or Stritch, and letting him be free.
Stritch ends their one-sided conversation about Groose, and that maybe all three would come back together. It brings anger flooding back into Cawlin because Groose is gone, looking for Zelda, whom Link had lost. Cawlin snaps at Stritch that it’s still Link’s fault, that Zelda is gone and it wouldn’t have happened if he let Groose win. That the love of his life would have agreed if he had given the letter and not Link. That everything would be better if Link had never shown up on Skyloft at all. It’s always his fault every problem leads back to him.
It’s all Link’s fault, so why does he still feel guilty? Maybe, in some other universe, that butterfly would have waited another few minutes before dying in the sky, rather than on his head.

Notes:

I truly believe that Cawlin is jealous of Link, which fueled his behavior, but that jealousy would have had to originate from somewhere, and I believe it all began with the idea that he (Link) was seen as a blessing. [In this fic] So I made up a thing about blessed butterflies, simply because they're everywhere and live everywhere.

Chapter 4: Gaepora

Gaepora missed his daughter dearly. He misses her smile, her laugh, her fiery fierceness, but mainly her joy. He hasn’t felt much of it at all, he hasn’t gotten to take breakfast up to his daughter in months, and more so, he hasn’t heard the cries of her loftwing in the air when she goes out flying. He hasn’t heard her laughter when she tells him all about her day, about Mia, about her flying, the fun islands she’s found. He misses it when she’d come back with Pumm’s pumpkin soup and talk to him as they sip it during the sunsets. He misses it when she rambled about the things Link did, whether it was sword fighting, being tardy, or racing the sun with his loftwing.

He misses Link just as dearly. The boy is such a key component in his life. Although, he’d consider him more Eagus’ boy than anything. He had mastered swordsmanship far faster than anyone he’s met and Link continued to shine. Eagus would boast proudly about the boy whenever he could. He’d refer to Link as his boy, his son, the one that he never had, especially after his wife’s loftwing had suffered a muscle spasm when flying and plummeted to her death. He doesn’t think he’s seen Eagus on a loftwing since. He hasn’t seen Eagus’ loftwing much either. Once a year, on the anniversary of her death, Eagus will stand by the goddess statue and whisper to his loftwing, in the same manner Link did when he came. His loftwing with greying wings, his loftwing, who was mates with his wife’s loftwing. 

He wonder’s if that is how Zelda fell to the surface. If, in the hurricane, when she was falling, her loftwing, Amare, had suffered a spasm and couldn’t recover in time to catch her. That Avis had recovered quicker and caught the boy in his beak before flying off.

Gaepora regrets sending Link down to the surface to find his daughter. He knows his people need a leader, so he serves as one, but he wishes that he had gone down to look instead of holding it into the sixteen, just nearly seventeen, year old’s hands. But that sword… he had seen the spirit for a moment, but then she had vanished into thin air. It was clear Link had some destiny and some role in that situation. He’s heard of it before. Maybe it’s also the fact that the hero had worn green and Link looked like the stories told. Like he was born for those colors. In ancient scrolls, there are small sketches of a man who looks similar to Link, just with longer ears and a much more stern face. He wasn’t sure, but what he does know, is that ever since Link started his journey, he hasn’t spoken to him since until today. 

“Professor Gaepora?” Link’s voice echoes in the study and he turns around to face him. Link looks different than what he remembers. Almost older, but at the same time, so young. He has deeper eyebags, a more muscular build, and eyes haunted in a way he’s only seen with rescue knights, but it’s still Link. The goddess sword on his back looks like it’s glowing. He’s holding Zelda’s harp in one hand and he’s clenching the side of his pants in the other. 

“Did you find her?” He rushes out, almost immediately, not even bothering to ask if Link’s alright. He looks alright, that should be enough for him, right?

“No- I, ah… was wondering if you knew about the lighthouse.” Gaepora pauses, he doesn’t know how the lighthouse will find Zelda, but he listens to Link’s request. He thankfully doesn’t have to sing, but Link leaves just as quickly as he came, only having the simple news that his daughter was with someone safe and was out of danger. Out of danger… His child had been in some sort of harm, and he could do nothing but trust Link to find her. It didn’t feel right at all, but he relents and goes back to reading his books on the surface world. He hears from Horwell that light has emerged from the lighthouse and that it points into a cloud barrier none have been able to pass before. The Thunderhead is open. It’s the first time he’s left the Academy since his daughter vanished. 

The light is a pale yellow, passing through the cloud barrier, in the distance, he can see a smudge of red vanish into the clouds. It seems like he isn’t the only one, because Parrow is staring out in shock at what he sees. His mouth opens and he turns around to look at Gaepora. 

“I didn’t know the lighthouse did that!” He exclaims, almost looking giddy, “ Ah… I guess that’s why it’s called a lighthouse, but that could be so helpful for the knights during night patrol!” Gaepora secretly agrees, but he keeps a steady face as he continues to stare at the barrier in front of him. It hasn’t fallen, not at all, but he’s suddenly filled with a youth-like curiosity to know what’s inside. 

“Did you see Link’s loftwing-”

“Avis?” Parrow cuts off, “Yes, they went in together! Oh, what courage!” Parrow smiles. Gaepora frowns, watching the loftwing fade into the cloud barrier. He turns around and returns to his study. He gets his updates from Horwell the most, the man’s usually outside all day, unless teaching, but that’s been held off for so long that he’d assume that everyone has forgotten what acaulescent means. Or even what a pepo is. But he’ll keep holding them off until Zelda comes, the only class still in motion is Eagus’ class. He’s been insisting that students need to learn how to sword fight, in case Link needs their help. Or to take more night watches, from what he’s heard, even Cawlin has begun to train for night watches in case Link returns. As headmaster, he takes it up to head down and watch the training, giving out pointers to students who need it. During lunch periods, he too, begins to train with Eagus for Link’s eventual return. And he returns quicker than ever this time. One of the rescue knights had landed in a hurry, not even opening their sailcloth when they spotted him on the roof, shouting that Link had returned. That, for once, they were able to catch up with him. That he seemed… exhausted. No wounds, none that they could see, but he almost seemed in a haze. Shaken. 

He watches as Link leaps off of his loftwing above him to land by him, opening his sailcloth a little too late and stumbling with his fall. He laughed, almost in shock, but sounding drunk, before looking up at him and the knight, Hauk, he believed. Gaepora already has his hands on his shoulders, looking up at him. There’s no way the boy is drunk, his eyes are focused, and he looks like he’s been flying too fast for too long, “Link, are you alright?” 

“I-” He takes in a deep breath, “never want to do that again.” He shudders, hand on his abdomen. Hauk gives Link a concerned look and Link looks up at him and points, “You’re that knight who tells me I won’t make it to knighthood if I keep falling off the island!” Hauk’s eyes widen. 

“You… could tell that’s me?” Gaepora chuckles at the man’s blubbering, clearly not expecting Link to recognize him through his uniform. 

“Link has eyes like his loftwing.” Gaepora stares down at Link’s abdomen, “You aren’t hurt, right?” 

“No- no. Not bleeding.” He smiles, and Gaepora’s eyebrows furrow. That’s not right, even a bruise should call for some kind of medical care. 

“Are you bruised?” 

“I don’t know. I didn’t really bother to check.” Link admits, scratching the back of his head and giving a nervous laugh, “I kinda forgot that the potions-” he looked over at Hauk, “I forgot I had them.” 

“Alright… let’s get you inside then.” As he leads him away, Link quickly whirls around to face Hauk, pointing at him with a slightly annoyed expression. 

“I already am a knight.” He whirled around and walked away, Gaepora watched as Hauk crouched onto the ground and seemed to bury his face in his hands in embarrassment. Gaepora quickly ushers Link into his study, letting him sit down on the desk as he slowly removes Link’s pouches, placing them onto his desk as Link struggles with his tunic and chainmail. Around his neck is a small blue… something. He’s not completely sure, but he lowers his attention to a massive bruise around Link’s stomach, it looks like he was hit by a small tree. Link’s words echo in his head, “I kinda forgot that the potions…” Did he forget that potions healed bruises? What was he sending his student into?

“Link… how did this happen?” He pushes on the bruise lightly, causing Link to hiss in pain. 

“I- uh, well…” He stutters over his words, “It’s from a club?” He shrugs his shoulders, “Big monster on the surface. Really fast, couldn’t outrun them the first time.” He shrugged. 

“And this blue stone?” He pointed at the stone around Link’s neck as the teen grabbed it and chuckled. 

“This? It’s a scale. Headmaster Gaepora, I’m okay, just a little bruised.” 

“A little?!” He gestures to Link’s stomach, “Link, if this is what searching for Zelda is causing you, then please take a break. Please tell me what I can do to help you.” Link looks down, and then away. 

“There’s nothing much you can do.” He shrugs, “But where Zelda is, she’s safe for now, but I want to finish with a task given to me, just to soothe my mind. I didn’t even come here for any medical care, I came here to get another potion.” He shows an empty bottle, with purple residue left behind in it. Gaeporea immediately walks to his desk to take out an emergency red potion, one saved just for Link in case of loftwing accidents, and pushes it into his hands. Link stares at it and huffs, popping the cap open with a quick movement, downing it immediately. The way he does it is almost alarmingly quick, the entire drink being consumed in one large gulp. The potion works quickly, the bruising fading into yellow before disappearing completely. 

“Link, please return more often. You’ve been gone for longer periods, some people have gotten worried. Fledge is even training hard, I believe it’s to help you.” Link looks away, clenching the bottle in a fisted hand. 

“You can’t do anything. It’s my mission, my destiny… or whatever she said.” Link grumbled, “Headmaster, I truly appreciate the offer, but I’m not going to stop until I find Zelda. I’m almost there, it’s like… at my fingertips.”

“You believe that you’ve almost found her?”
“I’ll get her back soon! Maybe… maybe next month, or-”

“Link, listen to me.” Gaepora placed his hands on Link’s shoulders, making him look up at his expression, “As important as my daughter is to me, and you, it shouldn’t cost you your life. I know you didn’t come to me bleeding and dying, but you look almost a step closer to death. Eagus views you like a son, and I see you as my son-in-law. Zelda would never forgive herself if she found out you died to find her. She loves you Link, and I think that you know it. Don’t deny it, I know you and Zelda are closer than you appear, but I can’t bother to see you hurt if I know she’s safe.” 

“I- I’m sorry, but I really need to leave.” Link mutters, pulling on his chainmail and tunic before rushing out the door. Gaepora almost follows, but he pauses and turns back to his bookshelf. Link was always a determined boy, and now, he just hoped it didn’t get him killed. 

Notes:

This is unfortunately, ultimately, and utterly shorter than I wanted it to be ):
But hope you enjoyed this chapter, I honestly see Gaepora as such an interesting character at the moment, I keep thinking about how he lost his daughter, Link's on the surface looking for her, and how responsible he must feel for both of them because it's obvious he's so fond of them.

Chapter 5: Parrow

Parrow was the second to last person on Skyloft to learn of Link’s disappearance. He had been wishing his sister good luck on her flight down to some further islands before the Wing Ceremony. Sure, he had plans to watch it, but he’d seen it so many times before he’d rather see his sister fly off safely. So, he watched and waited for her to return. He could hear the cheers from the audience and assumed that the winner had grabbed the trophy. He also assumed that that person was Link. Link was a fantastic flier, having an incredibly fast loftwing and also the perfect competitive attitude when it came to racing. Plus, if anyone deserved to win the Wing Ceremony, it was him. 

With a hum, he turned back to his home and walked inside to prepare some lunch for Orielle when she returned. It was a simple lunch really, just a sandwich and some water, but he hoped that it would quench her thirst. But a day had passed and he was out on the plaza, by the Bazaar, waiting for Orielle’s return. He saw Link, now in his green knight’s uniform, running past him. He wanted to ask how the ceremony went, but the boy looked so torn up. Not physically, but mentally. He looked like he was on the verge of tears and he had his hands in fists, an ancient sword on his back. He entered the Bazaar and exited quickly, Parrow watched him fly off into a green light that he hadn’t noticed before. No, a green light that hadn’t existed before. Just what had happened at the Wing Ceremony?

He didn’t see Link for a long time. Well, maybe not a long, long time, but it was long enough that Parrow had begun to wonder where the boy had even gone off to. That was also when he learned about what happened during the Wing Ceremony. A giant blank tornado had appeared and taken Zelda away, swiping her off her loftwing, that it was a miracle that Link was even able to survive, that Avis had even managed to catch him. That he was brought back unconscious, thankfully, uninjured. But no one knew where Zelda was. 

It made him worry for his sister, who may have been caught in the strong wings. His sister was a talented flier yes, but not as good as the knights. And even for Parrow himself, he was deathly afraid of heights and never saw his loftwing. He was always grounded, which made it increasingly difficult to get the attention of the rescue knights. He went around asking other citizens if they could help him look, but they also hadn’t seen their loftwings or were too busy with their lives. He wouldn’t dare ask any of the students, putting them at risk for his sister didn’t sit right with him. He would whistle out on the docks by the lighthouse and try to see if his loftwing would come, but it never would. When he finally had gotten the attention of one of the rescue knights, she informed him that priority was looking for Zelda and that he should check the neighboring islands. Parrow frowned and looked out towards some of the other islands. He truly hoped that Orielle was safe. 

It rubbed him the wrong way when he had to get Link to help him. The boy was just freshly knighted and probably was also looking for Zelda, but he was so caught up in his worry that he had just asked. Link grabbed his shoulders and nodded, flying off with Avis before disappearing into the clouds. He returned just an hour later, reporting that Orielle was fine, her loftwing was hurt, and needed spores. He always had a pack on him and passed Link the bottle, telling him to keep it when it was used. Link gratefully nodded and flew off. Just an hour later, Orielle was flying back to him. She came off her loftwing and Parrow ran at her, crushing her in a hug and holding her head. She hugged him back, the two standing with each other as the sun began to set. Heading back to their home, Parrow listened to Orielle speak about how scared she was on the island. 

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” Parrow smiled softly and Orielle nodded her head, a small smile on her lips, “I was so worried, I couldn’t get a rescue knight and everyone was so busy. When I saw Link, I just had to ask him.” 

“I was so grateful to see him, no one really goes off of Skyloft unless it’s to get some pumpkin soup.” She chuckled, “There was that new island, but it didn’t even look complete. Just plain and bare.” Parrow watched Orielle carefully, she didn’t go off the island and chose to hang out at the Bazaar the most, Parrow felt relieved every time she stepped inside their home. His sister was safe, he hoped Zelda was too. Orielle didn’t seem ready to talk about the heavy winds that stranded her on the island, and Parrow didn’t ask. But he did wonder if she was even aware of what had happened. 

But now he wondered about Link, when Parrow had asked Link to assist with finding Orielle, he was given nods and reassuring pats instead of verbal responses. Sure, Link didn’t always speak a lot, but when he did speak, there was always a lot to say. Even more so, Link looked exhausted. Like he hadn’t slept in days, and Parrow, who often saw Link napping against the lighthouse, knew that that was never a good sign. He knows how Link works himself to death for finals, hoping to pass his classes. Parrow remembers his days at the academy, but he dropped out in his early years, choosing to make his own living at home. He helped raise his sister with his parents and when they passed from old age, he took sole responsibility for Orielle’s schooling. 

Orielle had also dropped out of school, she was worried about what he’d say, but Parrow just smiled and told her it was okay. She expressed the sleepless nights and how she’d rather fly freely in the skies instead of staying in study hall all day long. He wondered if Link was feeling the same, exhausted, sleepless nights, all for a single purpose. 

But seeing Link so exhausted, more than he had seen Orielle, had him wondering, how long had he been searching for Zelda ? So, Parrow finally chose to leave his house and let Orielle fly off into the skies, he waited for Link. He stood by the lighthouse every day, watching the skies or talking with Gully, who would ramble over and over again about bugs. Sometimes the kid would come up with a handful and talk about how he had caught all those bugs. He’d listen half-heartedly and sometimes give an absent-minded response. 

“You’re looking for Link?” Gully asked one day and Parrow sort of froze. He wasn’t expecting Gully, of all people, to know what he was thinking, “Me too! He bought this net from Beedle and was going to teach me about bug catching! But he hasn’t come in a while so I’ve been asking another student for help! Is he also going to teach you how to catch bugs?” 

“No, I’ve just been wanting to thank him for helping my sister.” 

“You have a sister?” Parrow looked down at Gully and sighed, “Orielle?” 

“Oh!” He snapped his fingers, “I know her! You’re her brother?” For a kid, Gully could be very unaware of his surroundings, but the kid was good at reading people, he’d give him that. Gully gave him a blinding smile and ran off. Parrow sighed and looked back up at the sky, wanting to see that familiar red color again. 

The next time he saw Link was when the kid ran across the plaza after a terrible landing and nearly collided with him. He had wanted to call out but watched as he ran past. It was almost like the wind had moved with him. He noticed Luv in the corner, and the two made eye contact before Parrow laughed, "I didn't know he had that much stamina. I swear I felt a breeze pass me by." Luv smirked, watching the boy run off. 

“He’s been missing for a while.” She admitted and Parrow found himself looking back at the building as Luv finished her pumpkin soup. 

"You're right, the last time I spoke to him was well... when he rescued my sister and her loftwing. I don't think I've seen him other than that... it's strange now that you mention it because there's no way that I wouldn't have seen him on Skyloft and you can't fly at night, so where has he been?" Luv gives him a sad and worried look before she stands and heads back to the Bazaar. Parrow almost calls out to her but he continues to stand at the plaza. Link comes running back after a few minutes, heading to the docks and Parrow doesn’t even realize that Fledge is also there. Fledge grabs him, it looks like he’s trying to bargain with Link, but the boy manages to jump off in a moment of surprise. Fledge seems to debate following him but then jumps off the docks as well. Parrow watches as Fledge circles around Skyloft, seeming to watch Link before going the opposite way, wrapping around Sktloft before heading in the same direction. He watches as both of their loftwings vanish into the clouds. He desperately wants to follow, but he doesn’t dare step close to the docks. 

Link returns just as quickly, he’s climbing up the lighthouse and Parrow can hear music coming from the top. It sounds awfully familiar but the thought is forgotten when a large light comes from the top of the lighthouse. It shoots into the thunderhead and Link is quick to run off. He jumps down from the top and jumps off the dock before anyone can stop him. By the time he vanishes into the clouds, Fledge returns and looks at Parrow,

“Have you seen Link?” His face is one of worry and Parrow answers truthfully, he doesn’t think he can lie to someone like Fledge. 

“He just flew into the thunderhead.” Fledge turns to look and Parrow notes that the boy looks stronger than usual. He didn’t seem out of breath after a flight, his arms looked stronger, and his clothes seemed to wrap around the muscle better. It caught him off guard. He scowls and storms into the Bazaar, muttering something about becoming stronger. Had Fledge started working out? What did being stronger have to do with Link’s vanishing? Parrow begins to debate that too. Link clearly hasn’t been well. From Fledge’s reaction, something bigger is going on. He doesn’t know what, but he’s going to stand at the plaza every day until he manages to figure out where Zelda has gone, where Link’s been searching, and make sure that he has a good week’s sleep. 

But then he thinks back to the music. Maybe Link does know where Zelda is. That music, it’s from a harp that he’s heard her play when she’s been practicing for the Wing Ceremony. Clearly, Link has also gotten exceptionally good at it, and it also allowed the lighthouse to form… light. So, if Link knows where Zelda is, then something must be preventing him from bringing her back. He knows that Link wouldn’t hesitate to bring Zelda back, so what’s stopping him? Maybe… her loftwing is unable to fly? He hadn’t seen Zelda’s loftwing since her disappearance. He wondered if her loftwing was also searching the skies too. Something big is going on, and Parrow wants to know what. But at the same time, what could he do? What could any of them do? They were watching Link seem to crumble slowly, and no one seemed to know how to help.

Notes:

Anyways... Parrows always at the plaza, so I figured he'd see quite a bit.

Chapter 6: Bertie

Bertie lives his days in the potion shop with his wife. He loves his wife so much, her infectious cheer, her extroverted personality, and her loud voice. He loves every little thing about her, absolutely in love with her. At first, he was infatuated with her, but that grew from a short passion to growing love. They’re one of the only families with a child on Skyloft. He helps make the potions while Luv advertises them, so he’s seen Link grow up. That boy is always injured in some way, it’s almost endearing to Bertie. He wonders if their baby will be as curious as Link is. Just, doesn’t get as injured all the time. But the thing about Link is that he’s a kind and polite boy, just like Zelda. Unlike the children like Groose and Cawlin, Link doesn’t have that rowdy, yet boyish attitude. Bertie remembers those days and wishes that he could erase them from his existence. 

Those days were embarrassing when Bertie had teamed up with a bunch of boys in an attempt to fit in, so whenever he sees Groose and his gang messing around, he shakes his head and walks away. Boys will be boys, they’ll grow out of it eventually. He knows that they will because he’s seen their faces drop when Link turns away from them, his posture more tense than usual. Groose pushes his lips back, Cawlin shuffles his feet before screaming something rude back, and Strich looks like he’d rather bury himself into a hole than continue standing there. So he knows that their years of bullying are slowly coming to an end. 

Link has always presented himself well, a smile on his face and a kind composure, it’s always pleased Bertie. So, when the Wing Ceremony happens and Link comes in quiet and almost ashamed, something in his fatherly head alerts him that something is wrong. Link’s bottles had been smashed in a crash, a crash that his wife informed him of. A crash that makes him worry about the boy’s head. But he feels like he doesn’t have the right to ask if Gaepora is letting him up and about, he’s sure that Link’s fine. So, Link grabbed his potions and Bertie tried to pay it no mind, but he watched him on the way out. His baby started crying a few minutes later. 

That night, Bertie makes his… millionth attempt at trying to find his baby’s rattle as Luv shushes their child. Again, they don’t find it, Bertie tries to settle for a makeshift one with a stick and an old egg filled with seeds, but it doesn’t work as their baby pushes it away from him and screams. Bertie sighs and prepares for another sleepless night. It takes a while for Link to show up again, and he gives Bertie this look. Bertie doesn’t have the heart to tell Link, who looks as exhausted as he feels, what’s going on. He doesn’t want to add more onto Link’s plate, seeing how injured the boy is. It’s alarming as he thinks back to his flying days, the most injured he’s ever gotten were bruises from a sky octorock. But he’s never dealt with a torn tunic and bloody stains. He wonders where Link is going, and how safe he is. However, it’s abundantly clear that Link is nowhere safe, that he’s doing something dangerous and Bertie can’t stop him. 

Eventually, the sleepless nights begin to grow too much for Bertie, his wife and him begin to alternate sleeping schedules. Bertie takes four days and Luv takes three. She’s been insisting she takes more but Bertie knows that Luv is struggling to advertise from their sleep loss. He himself has been struggling to produce as many potions as usual. It’s clear that it’s injuring their business as well. It’s hard enough to make a living on Skyloft, Rupin’s prices are ridiculous as they grow. The only person who even seems to be able to afford it is Gaepora, obviously, and more surprisingly, Link. One day, when Bertie was on his break, eating a sandwich, he noticed Link heading into the back room of the Bazaar, where some old chest lay. He remembered the first time he saw it and tried to open it but had no avail. He goes back to his sandwich when a bright light makes him close his eyes and when he looks back at Link, he almost drops his lunch in shock. Link had opened that damn chest and then walked up to Luv to buy more potions and leave. He was really doing that often. That night, Bertie decided that if Link could do the impossible, then he was going to ask him for help. Link was supposed to be a being of miracles, so maybe, just maybe, he’d find the rattle. 

When he sees Link again, he’s in such a hurry that it makes him pause, but then he comes in one more time. Bertie manages to get Link’s attention and cowards out. Asking him to come visit him at night. When Link visits that night, the baby is screaming, crying, and kicking with Bertie trying to distract their baby. So, when Link taps him and he turns around, the words come spilling out, “The baby just goes on and on like this all night. I haven't slept a wink in... Ahhh... I don't even know how long. The baby usually sleeps like a sack of rocks. But that was before we lost the you know what... The baby's rattle.” He looks down at his feet, embarrassed. Link seems to understand and gives him a smile. 

“I’ll find it for you.”
“I’m not expecting you to, but you managed to do the impossible recently, with that chest. I mean, you’re a miracle worker, so I thought-” Link puts his hand on Bertie’s shoulder. 

“I’ll find it for you.” It’s said with such certainty that Bertie believes him, and the next day, Link comes in for a potion and hands Bertie the rattle. Bertie hands it to the baby who finally stops crying. Bertie smiles gratefully at Link and almost wants to break into tears. But instead, he breathes a sigh of relief. 

"Whew. The baby seems to have settled down nicely. I bet the baby will sleep well tonight.” Sleep well tonight… Bertie finally realizes, his sleepless nights are over, “Oh! That means I'll finally get a good night's sleep too! Thank you so much! I won't forget what you did for me." Link smiles and nods his head, waving as he leaves the Bazaar. He’s grateful for all Link has done, even if it’s that one little thing. That night, he’s able to sleep soundly with his wife, curled up in the silence of their home. After that, Bertie gathers up his rupees and buys a new shield for Link. it’s like spending his life’s savings, at least, just a bit of it, but it’s the least he can do to thank him. When Link returned that rattle, Bertie saw the condition his metal shield was in. Ready to gift it to him, he decided to wait. 

And wait. 

And… wait. 

It felt like Link was just as missing as Zelda was. For some reason, Bertie wasn’t as concerned for Zelda, maybe it was because half of Skyloft was looking for her, or that he saw the condition Link came in every day. But he hoped that Zelda wasn’t as hurt as Link was. Thinking back to the first time he saw that bloody tunic, he prayed to Hylia that Link wasn’t dying out in the skies. The only problem is that Bertie wants to ask Link’s friends about this. He knows Link is friends with Karane, Pipit, and Fledge, and he wants to ask them about Link, but he hates socializing. He’s awful at it and can’t start a conversation for his life, so he tries to watch them from the sidelines, but they all seem fine. There’s worry on their faces, but there’s worry on everyone’s faces. Pipit takes up night watch, Bertie knows it’s for money, he’s seen Pipit’s mom, but he also thinks it’s for Link, in case he comes home at night. Fledge seems stronger, he goes on runs around Skyloft early in the morning. Karane hasn’t been seen around Skyloft, but he overheard Pipit say something about how proud he was of his girlfriend for getting sparring lessons. Considering how close Karane and Pipit have gotten, he can’t be anything but surprised when he connects the dots. Maybe it’s because they acted so similar when Bertie and Luv started dating, just Luv was the same as Pipit and Bertie was the same as Karane. 

One night, Luv tells him about a landing on the plaza and Link sprinting faster than she’s ever seen. She tells him about a mysterious figure who had a sword that engulfed the night sky. She tells him how Link’s gotten faster, stronger, and more determined. He’s been missing for longer, coming back more injured and with a vast amount of rupees. She asks if he thinks that there are other people in the sky, bad people who’ve taken Zelda. Bertie reassures her to say no, there can’t be. There can’t be because Beedle would have seen them. After all, the rescue knights would have seen them. After all, Zelda’s loftwing would have found her. She has to be somewhere else. But where? He and his wife have that conversation every night, where could Zelda be? They don’t even want to touch the topic, the idea, that Zelda had fallen below the cloud barrier. No one comes back from the cloud barrier, you can dive into it, but never below it, the air gets too thick, and you suffocate. That’s what the legends say. 

What Bertie doesn’t tell his wife, however, is that he does believe that Zelda has fallen beneath the cloud barrier. It feels like they’ve searched the whole sky, but at the same time, none of it at all. Maybe the tornado took Zelda far away, maybe she was in the thunderhead by some miracle, but everything seemed unlikely. It had been months since Zelda had gone missing and the worry around Skyloft had only grown. Zelda would be the youngest victim of the cloud barrier, taken in the most brutal way. It felt unusually cruel, that Hylia herself would take a child of the skies. He wants to search for her too, find any kind of reason that she is still alive, and ironically, it comes from the lighthouse. 

Bertie was on his walk when he saw the light from the lighthouse. Parrow is standing at the docks, and for a man terrified of heights, is closer than usual. So he approaches, “Parrow, when did this light come?” 

“When Link used Zelda’s harp.” Parrow says back, “He played some music and the light appeared out of nowhere!” Bertie furrowed his eyebrows. 

“When Link played Zelda’s harp?” Would that mean that she’s alive and she gave it to Link? But then where would she be? Parrow looks down at him and examines his face for a long moment. 

“Yeah, I wonder where she is too. It feels strange, that Link has come back time and time again with mysterious injuries. He’s come back with Zelda’s harp this time, but that means that he would have had to found her, right?” 

“He could have found it anywhere, it could have been caught in the wind.” Bertie replies back, “But it’s a lovely thought.” Parrow looks down at him and Bertie looks up, “I’m not saying all hope is lost, but I don’t want to be too optimistic.” 

“I understand that, but Zelda, she doesn’t deserve this. Link’s working himself to death… all for what?” I don’t know how to help him.” Bertie doesn’t reply, he wants to help Link too, but the only thing that he can do is wait, hold onto the shield, sell more potions, and hope that the boy comes back safe. 

Chapter 7: Sparrot

Notes:

So... with the average playthrough of Skyward Sword being 38 hours (assuming that's a no-error playthrough, I'm going to bump it by 10), and using the mean of Majora's Mask, BOTW, and Ocarina of Time's day cycles (in order: 18.2 minutes, 24 minutes, and 2.5 minutes) lead me to 14.9 minutes, which I bumped up to 15, and I did some math to get a total of 192 days or just about 6.3 months for Link's journey in Skyward Sword! I'll put the actual math into the bottom note so feel free to skip it.

– Based on my own gameplay (I didn’t talk to Sparrot at all) –

 

Growing up, Sparrot had no intentions of being a knight, despite it being the only form of schooling, he wanted to do something else, so when he was forced to sit through boring lectures about herbology and mathematics, he chose to doodle on his papers. However, one elective that caught his eye, taught by an elderly man, Gondo’s grandfather and his teacher, held a class known as clairvoyance. He adopted the teacher's attributes, speaking in nonsensical words strung together in a riddle, even wearing a cloak and styling his hair into a bun. He was gifted a crystal ball when he graduated and got straight to work, advertising his fortune telling to the people wandering the Bazaar. His costs were as cheap as he could make them, simply ten rupees, and he’d let children be entertained by his fortunes. His fortunes, which were always correct. 

Although, for every child that he would give fortunes to, there were a total of three children he never had the chance to give them to. Link, Zelda, and Pipit. He knows that Pipit can’t afford his fortunes, and he can’t give them for free, he doesn’t have frequent visitors and needs to make a living, he knows that Pipit’s mother doesn’t work, and therefore makes no money. Gaepora doesn’t believe in clairvoyance, and therefore, doesn’t allow Zelda to go to him either. But Link’s a different story. Link, he knows, is a frequent visitor of Luv’s potion stop and a downright joy to be surrounded by, he always smiled and laughed despite his nasty injuries. But he never seemed to find interest in his fortune telling, always talking about his dreams to his friends as they passed by. 

Sparrot knew that the wing ceremony was going to go horribly wrong, he brought it up to whoever he could find, yet no one would listen. He knew it was no use, as he was the strange hermit who believed in ‘children's games’ on Skyloft. So, when the newly appointed knight came up to him, he knew something was terribly wrong, he quickly paid the cost to listen to his fortunes. Later, he heard from Luv that this large black tornado had appeared and swept Zelda away, and that Link was going on a journey to find her. He wanted to learn more about Link’s journey, but his ability as a prognosticator took him nowhere. He waited for Link to return instead. But in his growing days of shouting out his fortunes to watching people pass him by, he couldn’t help but wonder if Link would stop by for another fortune. Another clue for his journey.

But by the time the knight had returned to the Bazaar, he didn’t spare Sparrot a single glance, just running to Luv, then going to Rupin, and then leaving. If anything, he felt almost offended that Link would go to Rupin, who sold overly priced knight’s gear that was utterly useless to wanna-be knights or knights desperate to get a better standing in their spars. In that quick glance that he had gotten of Link, he knew things weren’t looking well, he tried peering further into the future for the boy when he returned, but the efforts seemed futile as Link never came back to him. Even as he sat on the benches of Skyloft, eating his lunch when a strange light flooded the sky, he never saw the blond, and he was never able to see him through his ball. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was some divine intervention that was preventing him from helping Link, if, by some crazy reality, this was a mission from Hylia herself that he would have to complete without assistance. And Parrow, believing that his sightseeing gifts were from Hylia herself, prayed by his bedside. 

“Hylia, goddess who’s blessed the clouds, if you can hear my prayer, then I beg of you, to keep our blessing safe, to keep the boy who was blessed by your light and the girl who was blessed by your spirit safe in their journey through turmoil. Allow their souls to remain strong, mind sharp, and body swift, and please bring them home safe.” He looks up to the ceiling but then pauses, it feels wrong for his next prayer to be inside, so he opens the door and walks into the graveyard, looking up at the sky, hands put together, “And please keep my teacher safe in your embrace as he flies with the loftwings in the bright sky, and sleeps with them at night, keeps him from being sucked into the tornadoes until he’s willing to pass on and repeat his cycle of life.” His teacher, how he wished to ask so many questions, but was unable to, his mentor, who had passed in his bed weeks before his twentieth birthday. Just a week before Link’s arrival on Skyloft. He still remembered the words that were spoken to him that day, “My dear boy, with eyes clearer than the sky, all-seeing and knowing, do not let them be clouded by the storms that will approach, focus on a new light that will rain on this island. A new journey awaits you, one that I cannot join you with.” He remembers how a shaking, warm hand was on top of his as Sparrot begged the man not to leave, but as he begged, the man slowly faded until the very hand that rested on his was cold. He wants to ask why he can’t help Link, why he can’t see past the clouds, and why his visions are no longer working as well as they should. He knows he will get no answer, but he wishes to hear his voice one last time. He’s caught by Pipit patroling, who guides him back home. 

“It’s been hard for all of us, but let’s be strong, alright?” The teen smiles at him, it’s tired but genuine. Sparrot only can nod as he shuts the door behind him.

When the yellow light had been in the sky long enough, he hadn’t seen the boy in ages, by that, he hadn’t spoken to him. He only got brief glances, he only listened to people whisper about him as they passed his booth, refusing to look at him. It was the price of a fortune teller on such a small island, he was good for children, an island that was slowly running out of them. One day, he hears Jakamar speak about how Link had recovered a pinwheel from below the sky with the help of Gondo’s new robot pal, a robot who was so agitating to Sparrot that he refused to acknowledge him. The robot was rude and truly seemed to like Gondo the most out of all Skyloft civilians, and some woman named Fi. The thing is that… Sparrot knows there’s no person in all of Skyloft named Fi, the name is only associated with Link. It’s only brought up when Link is standing there, he’s called ‘Mister Shortpants’ by the robot before he looks over to some blank space and calls the air ‘Fi’ and he can’t help but wonder why Link plays along with it. A few months later, his crystal ball shatters. When it does, it feels like his entire world begins to collapse, he’s in the Bazaar, shaking and trying not to cry, the same crystal ball his mentor gave him is gone, and Link has finally approached him again. 

He can’t help but blubber out, “My crystal ball has shattered, and without it, my eyes can no longer gaze deeply into the future... It's almost as though these exquisite, all-seeing eyes of mine have begun to dull and cloud over with sadness now that my crystal ball is gone. If only... If only I had a new crystal ball to gaze into…” He looks up at Link, who shuffles awkwardly in his spot, and boy does the kid look awful. Bruised and exhausted, eyes clouded over like a storm’s but his concern is pushed away when he remembers something, “Is it not true that you recovered a piece of the windmill from beneath the clouds recently, young man? This shattered crystal ball was salvaged from below by Gondo's ancestor long before it found its way into my delicate hands. There may still be others like it where it came from, yes, yes! Would you search for a new one for me?” Link stares down at the shattered ball and his face is twisted into one with compressed lips and a slightly annoyed look on his face, but he nods and turns around swiftly to leave. He sees that robot wave to air again on the way out. 

“Hey Mister Shortpants!” He hears the robot loudly exclaim, he’s not the only one because the two regulars at the cafe start watching, “I’m only doing this for Miss Fi.” He watches as Link smiles and laughs, a lovely sound to hear after all that misery, and waves him off, leaving the Bazaar with a small smile that he barely notices as his head turns away from him. After a few minutes, this cheer arises from the two men, Croo and Dovos, something about getting a laugh out of Link. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t heard Link laugh in nearly four months. 

He wonders if time had truly passed that quickly, that it had been that long since the lighthouse lit up and Link’s visits to Skyloft became less and less common, that time had extended far. Link returns only a few hours later, holding a new crystal ball in his hands. He gently hands it over. 

“Here, I found one.” He whispers, his voice raspy, like he’s run around Skyloft numerous times without water, but he graciously takes it, in both hands and cradles it like Bertie cradles his baby. 

“...Oh! What do my eyes behold!?” He examines it on all ends, looking for any impurities, satisfied when he can’t find any, “This...this is it! You found it! This is exactly the same as the crystal ball I used before! Fates and fortunes! My eyes are wide with the thrill of possibility and damp with tears of gratitude! I'll be able to start gazing into the future and making predictions at once! Please come by the bazaar again, and I'll tell your fortune for a special price!” He looks up at Link who looks slightly frazzled, maybe a little alarmed as he nods slowly, digesting all that information. He gives a small thumbs-up before vanishing into the Bazaar. He does suppose that his attitude was far too enthusiastic, but it also confirms a long-term theory that he’s had. 

That theory is the surface. The surface has to be real for Link to recover items that had fallen below the cloud barrier, and maybe that’s where Link is headed. Sparrot once again prays by his bedside and hopes Link is safe. But then his thoughts drift to Zelda and her holy presence. The very embodiment of evil had swept her away, that black tornado, the storms that raged against his home at night, it was like Hylia herself had given up on them, that her presence was no longer there. Skyloft’s mood had dampened and problems began to arise. For some reason, her name was brought up in whispers and not shouts, wonders on where she was and what Link was doing, but it became less common as time went on, as if she had already plummeted into the cloud barrier below to her doom. He wonders if everyone’s worry for Link has pushed her away, so he holds up his hands. Even a child who’s trained in knighthood needs protection, and Zelda’s in need of it most, a girl who can’t return home no matter how hard she tries, “Oh Hylia, please protect the girl, Zelda, who stays enshrouded in holy light even in the darkest of nights and heaviest of storms, make her journey easy, allow her to be brought to no harm, and bring her home safe… bring her home with Link, please.” 

Notes:

Here's the math incase any nerds wanted to know.
The mean of the day cycles is about 15 minutes, 48 hours to minutes is 2880, so you divide the 2880 by 15, basically taking the total time and dividing it by the total time in a day to get 192, convert this into months, you get 6.3.

The reason why I bring this up is due to the large time gaps between seeing Link on Skyloft, you don't need to land on the main plaza to put in the stone tablets, you can land at the statue so you aren't seen, plus fairies are better than spending rupees. Adding on, I assume that each section (location) took about a month to accomplish by this standard, excluding time travel because you return where you started, so yep! 6.3 months of being missing :0

Chapter 8: Croo

Being as old as he is, Croo hasn’t bothered to see anything past the opening act of the Wing Ceremony in years, his grandson, Hauk, is the only reason why he even bothers to go. His grandson in his flashy blue uniform wasn’t in the middle of the opening act this year, but rather on the right, which disappointed him because he remembers Hauk bringing up the desire for that middle role again. He supposes it’s fair though, as his grandson had the middle row last year. If he remembers correctly, the students who were participating in the Wing Ceremony were Groose, Cawlin, Stritch, and Link. A strange bundle of students that didn’t sit right in his stomach. He had seen Groose’s gang push Link around, but he never interfered since Zelda was quite the powerful young lady, and Groose’s massive crush on her probably didn’t support his cause either. 

When his grandson came back with haunted eyes and a tear-stained face, worry immediately flooded him as he cupped his grandson’s face, “Zelda’s gone dad, she fell beneath the barrier. I’ve never lost anyone like that before, I take the day shifts, this isn’t supposed to happen.” Croo himself was a knight, back in his younger days, and knows that trauma, especially with such an important figure. He sat his grandson down handed him a cup of hot tea and told him to take the day off, but he refused, waking up at the crack of dawn to start patrol, not missing the five-minute gap between ship rotations- where most people fall off the island. 

Since Zelda’s disappearance and Link’s prolonged days of absence, Croo has seen how much the skies have changed, with three colors breaking through the cloud barrier and fading far into the sky. He almost wants to go out and touch the colors, see how far up they go, but he doesn’t think his body can handle it anymore. A fourth light has emerged from the old lighthouse, something he never thought he would see. He remembers that he and Gondo’s grandfather used to speak about it, make jokes about the surface, and more importantly, talk about the island itself. Both Gondo’s grandfather and he had agreed that the surface was real, that the island had been raised by the Goddess Hylia, and the surface below was peaceful. That a new life was guaranteed for them. But of course, that was all considered a fool’s tale now, so there was no one to tell it to. No one believed in the story, so there was really no point in sharing it. Croo never bothered to interact with any of the children when they were growing up, instead, choosing to remain in the cafe, sipping his drink and waiting for the Bazaar to close with his friend, Dovos. Dovos is a young man, in his early forties, who never bothered becoming a knight, and never bothered to finish school, but is an eager man to listen to his old tales It makes him forget about his old age and remember the good old days when he’d flirt with his wife and tell her stories of his heroic saves. He was too late to grab her hand. 

So, on the days he walks back home from the cafe, he pauses to see the knights soaring above him, he knows Link won the Wing Ceremony, now a newly knighted knight of Skyloft, and if he’s right, one of the youngest. Being sixteen, it’s easy to be held behind until the next Wing Ceremony for knighthood, Hauk was held back twice until he beat Kyte. He remembers when his grandson ran back home to show him his new uniform, he wonders if Link even had that opportunity before looking for Zelda. The other thing that’s been nagging him in the back of his head, are the injuries that Link had been walking around with. Link, while injury-prone, is not a careless person, he doesn’t go around getting injured for the laughs about it, he never pushes himself too far, in fact, the boy just naturally is clumsy. Whenever he sees Link out of the academy, he’s napping by the rivers, sometimes dangerously close where his feet nearly touch the edge of the waterfall and the dangerous current. He knows better than to wake him, as Link has a habit of startling awake and tipping to one side as if rolling out of a bed. 

Maybe that’s why seeing him so exhausted sends him warning signs all over his body, maybe that’s why he pulls him aside one day when Link asks him about stamina potions again, how much he can take at once, “Stop by and chat with me once in a while, you hear? I may be old, but I'm not boring.” He pats Link’s chest twice and doesn’t answer the question. Just what is this kid doing?

It’s even more surprising when Fledge comes up to him and fiddles with his fingers, hesitantly stammering out, “Mr. Croo, can I ask you a question?” Croo’s more than surprised at the request, Fledge is a nervous boy and doesn’t like asking questions, yet to his surprise, the boy has also built up some muscle and seems more confident. 

“What is it?” He asks, taking another sip of his drink. 

“Link… he said that Zelda is safe and he still won’t rest, I haven’t seen him since last month and I’m getting really worried… but has he been seeming more positive lately?” Croo thinks back to the last time he saw Link, it was in passing, the boy running off the docks and jumping into the sky on is way to the Bazaar, but he thinks that yes, the boy did have a smile on his face rather than the determined look, so he nods. Fledge gulps, “You’ve worked with the rescue knights after failure to save another knight… you mentioned in a guest talk once that some knights feel so much guilt that they’ll…” 

“Jump?” Croo finishes, “Yes, do you think Link’s happiness is a sign of guilt over not being able to bring her back?” Fledge nods. 

“Me, Pipit, and Karane were talking about it last night, we joined him for night patrol and we started chatting about him, we’re worried. He’s been more reckless, I mean, last month, he barely opened his sailcloth in time to catch himself.” Croo frowns and shakes his head. 

“I’m…” He pauses, “I’m not sure.” 

“What?” 

“Link’s incredibly injury-prone, I haven’t interacted with him enough to know… but the next time you see him, try and talk to him. See if you can figure out what’s going on.” He hopes the advice is enough as Fledge leaves. Dovos looks over at him and shakes his head. He has a worried expression on his face and sighs. 

“I don’t even remember the last time I saw the kid laugh.” Croo doesn’t think he knows either. 

–

When Sparrot breaks his magic ball or whatever it’s called, the man is practically inconsolable, he understands why though. It belonged to Gondo’s grandfather, so his heart feels like it’s shattered just like the ball, fixable, but never perfect. Sparrot refuses to through it away, staring down at the crack with shaking hands. He keeps muttering about how his eyes, still sunny enough to see, can see Link finding something for him. That Jakamar had gotten something from the surface. He hears Dovos laugh the statement off, along with everyone else sending pitying looks, he can’t see Gondo’s face, but he figures it’s like his own. One of curiosity and pride, the surface is real. He knows it is. That robot that follows Gondo around everywhere is proof of it, even if it can be super annoying. It makes Gondo happy, so it’s all that matters to Croo. 

Link returns into the Bazaar and Sparrot begins to blubber out his pleas for help. Link turns his head to the side and accepts the quest, the robot calls out to him to say that ‘he’s only doing it for Fi’, and Link just laughs and waves him off, it’s the most beautiful sound he’s heard all month. He can’t help but let out a cheer with Dovos because they’ve finally heard Link laugh, but something about that also swirls in his gut as he thinks about his conversation with Fledge. He clinks his glass against Dovos’ and tries to push it to the back of his mind. But he can’t. 

Hauk has noticed his change in mood, that he just goes silent when he returns home, “What’s wrong, dad?” 

“Just worried son, don’t worry about my problems.” Hauk eyes his father and shakes his head, sitting down with him. 

“That’s not it, this is about Link, isn’t it?” Croo chuckles softly. 

“I’ve taught you well, haven’t I? How did you know?” 

“Your attitude only got like this after Link left the island.” Hauk pauses to take a bite out of a stamina fruit before his night shift, “You’re worried about him.” Croo sighs and shakes his head back. 

“Remember when I told you about guilt, that everyone is going to fail at their job, especially as a knight?” Hauk nods his head, “I want you to focus on Link, he’s been… reckless to say the least. Fledge mentioned that he seemed incredibly happy despite the unfortunate circumstances he’s facing, in my eyes, it sounds like mania.” 

“You think that he’s going to…” Hauk can’t finish his words and he hears his grandson inhale deeply, “I- Link’s almost seventeen, he’s too young to be thinking about that. I’ll keep an eye out for him, sharp as a loftwing, promise.” Croo gives his grandson a gentle smile and puts his hand on top of his grandson’s. 

“That’s all I can ask for.” Hauk remains silent for a long moment, he’s staring down at the table and bites his lip, a nervous tick his grandson has when he’s too nervous to ask a question. He doesn’t press and waits for him to swallow then opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it again, and speaks quietly. 

“Just… when you see him again, maybe you can talk to him? I know you’re retired, but you’ve helped so many knights deal with their guilt after their first loss, you helped me with mine when it came down to Zelda. Link’s probably dealing with so much guilt, he just won the ceremony, he just reached knighthood and it was all stripped from him from a force he couldn’t fight, please, just let him know it’s not his fault.” Hauk stands up and readjusts his belt, “I’ll be home near midnight, I have an early morning tomorrow.” He swallows the rest of the stamina fruit and snags a potion off the counter, all Croo can think about is Link asking him about the amount that’s safe. 

“Hauk, remember that you should only take two of those, okay?” Hauk turns around to face him with a confused look but gives his dad a smile, gentle and understanding. It’s clear that the message has been received, please don’t be reckless and please be safe with your life.

“I will dad, I’ll be back soon. Get some sleep.” The door is silently closed behind him and he sits at his dining room table alone. He looks at an old painting of him and his wife, their skins made from pumpkin and their hair drawn with dirt, his favorite detail his the red on his wife’s dress from red berries, then he looks up at the ceiling where he imagines the sky to be. Croo isn’t the most religious, he doesn’t pray to Hylia, but to his wife, because even in death, she is always there for him.  

“Carrie, please watch over Hauk on his patrol tonight, please give him your strength, a strength I cannot provide him.” He stands with a groan, his age making every step feel like a mile, and gets into his bed, “Please watch over my grandson.” 

Notes:

Croo sees Link as a student, not a grandson, he sees Link through the eyes of a modern-day therapist and worries over his mental condition more than his physical. Anyways, Croo says that his grandson is a knight because Albot is a female and the only other named knight is Hauk (in cannon and not in the Wiki or concept art) I just assumed his grandson was Hauk.

Anyways, fun fact, Carrie's (Croo's wife) name is based on the word "Carrion" as in a Carrion Crow, it's word play since Croo's name is basically Crow. Carrion crows mate for life, I thought it was a fun little detail, although a bit sad in these conditions.

Chapter 9: Orielle

Her loftwing squawked in pain, that was the second thing she could focus on, the first was the large black tornado that had just taken two people down into the cloud barrier. The winds were strong as her loftwing wrapped her wings closer to her. She watched as the tornado seemed to spit one person out, sending them flying into the sky and she saw a loftwing, a familiar and striking red and she almost screamed Link’s name. She could see the loftwing catch him and fly back to the island, she couldn’t see the other person. She felt relief for a split second before it turned to dread as the other person didn’t come back. Their loftwing not going after them, as if they knew something that she didn’t. She grabbed at her open pockets and kept them shut as the wind began to die down. She watched and watched until her loftwing pulled her wings away.

“Oh, baby…” She cooed as her loftwing screeched in pain, “Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry.” She cuddled her loftwing as dread settled into her stomach, it sank like a rock in her stomach. How long was she going to be on this island? The rescue knights would come for her, but how long would she have to wait? She stared up at the sky and opened up her pockets, pulling out the snacks she had brought for her trip. A pouch of berries, a few bars, and two bottles of water. She gulped, looking at the rations. She then looked around her, there were a few flowers and some grass. She breathed in and grabbed a flower, peeling at the petals and slowly raised it to her loftwing’s mouth, who bit it and chewed slowly. She was grateful that the berries she had were those incredibly large red ones, the ones that were shaped like hearts.

She grabbed a small stamina fruit from her pocket and placed it down on the ground. She stared at it before tucking it back away, planning out a ration system over the next few days, maybe weeks. What if it was months? What if the rescue knights were so worried about the tornado that Skyloft had been shut down? What if they thought she was taken too? Sure, Orielle knew that she was better on a loftwing than most, spending her time after dropping out of the knight’s academy to fly, but she wasn’t an expert.

At first, she was upset that the rescue knights weren’t coming for her, screaming until her voice was hoarse that she was there, waving her arms around and jumping until she fell exhausted, but then she came to peace with it on the third day. She had rationed enough, she had chewed on berries, saved the pits, and attempted to grow them without water. She fed her loftwing petals and whispered stories to her when the night got cold. On the fourth day, she stared out into the green light, a light that, despite its clear appearance, she hadn’t noticed before. She buried her head into her knees and sobbed. She missed her brother, it had been four days and she knew that she had told her brother never to send the students out looking for her if she went missing. She knew he was wrangling with that guilt.

On day five, she finally saw the familiar red loftwing in the sky, flying towards her and she couldn’t help but rub her eyes and blink, but the figure didn’t go away. He landed by her side and she saw dried scars on his hand and worry swirling in his eyes as she begged for some mushroom spores for her loftwing. He was quick to leave, jumping off the small island and vanishing into the clouds before he was back in the air. He returned no later than thirty minutes, holding the glass in his hand and she thanked him and tore the cap off before she could think. Her loftwing chirped happily beside her and she watched him look away at the praise and he gestured for her to fly away. He didn’t say anything, he just gestured for her to leave. She hopped on her loftwing, sent Link one more look, and flew away. He didn’t follow after her and Orielle thought the whole interaction was strange.

But it was all forgotten when Parrow was there to hug her and cup her face to search for injuries as she babbled on about how terrified she was, stuck on that island with no way to get help. Parrow just hugged her tighter and said, “I’m just glad you’re okay. I was so worried, I couldn’t get a rescue knight and everyone was so busy. When I saw Link, I just had to ask him.”

“I was so grateful to see him, no one really goes off of Skyloft unless it’s to get some pumpkin soup. There was that new island, but it didn’t even look complete. Just plain and bare.” She hadn’t even realized that Link hadn’t spoken a word to her that entire interaction until late at night. That’s what had been so strange throughout the interaction, Link hadn’t spoken, and for such a talkative kid, it rubbed her wrong. 

Parrow was insistent that she rest and she agreed that the rest was needed, but she didn’t know if she wanted to go back into the sky just yet. So, she headed to the Bazaar to seek out Croo, asking if she could just pay him to listen to her experience but the man patted the seat next to him and let her talk. She would stay there until she was ready to leave and whenever the day got too bad for her, she would just head back there. She couldn’t stand to see Parrow’s relieved face whenever she returned home but appreciated his fussing nonetheless. But she had noticed something when she took her walks, she hadn’t seen Zelda. No one was even talking about her and she couldn’t muster up the guts to ask anyone about where she was. Maybe she was out flying with Link, but that didn’t seem right either because in the following weeks, she hadn’t been with him at all. Had they gotten into a fight? Was Zelda just cramming herself into the academy, if that were the case, then why did everyone seem so down? The mood was killing her, she had so many questions. 

She had managed to catch Link just a few months later, he was walking around the Bazaar, as if doing a patrol before she stopped him to ask where Zelda was if they had gotten into a fight, which Link had awkwardly looked away and slowly backed up. To her, if confirmed her suspicions and she went back home to ask Parrow just why Link and Zelda had gotten into a fight, and why everyone was keeping it a secret. Parrow on the other hand stood there even more awkwardly than Link had before he replied slowly, “Zelda was swept away by that tornado.” She froze, “Link’s been searching for her.” 

“Why isn’t he talking?” Parrow sighed and put down a cup he was cleaning. 

“I don’t know, I’m worried about him.” He looked up at her, “If you see him by the Bazaar, just tell me if he sees okay, Link is like a remlit, you get too close, and there’s a chance you’ll scare him off.” 

Link somehow managed to avoid her eyes for weeks, maybe even months by the time she had gone to the Lofty Pumpkin to pick up some soup and heard that the boy had just taken a giant pot of soup into the Thunderhead to offer it to some being named Levias. She was not sure why someone would need that much soup, even if it was delicious, and walked out of the tavern. She called out for her loftwing as she jumped off the island with her package and landed on the docks near Parrow, who was sitting by the lighthouse. She handed him his portion as they sat together and drank slowly, staring at the Thunderhead with only one goal in mind, make sure that Link came back safe. Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long, as half and hour later, Link returned, dripping in some slimy substance that had an awful smell to it, like something shriveled up and died before being dumped on top of him. Link just limped on towards the academy and Orielle watched as he stumbled forward, nearly collapsing before he regained his strength and limped on forwards. 

“Huh,” Parrow whispered beside her and she looked over at him. 

“What is it?” 

“His sword is different.” Is all Parrow provided, he’s silent a moment longer then elaborated, “Some people have been whispering about where he must have gotten his sword because it’s so ancient looking, now it has a blue hilt.” He finished his soup and wiped his mouth. Orielle took a final sip of the cold pumpkin and placed it back in her pocket.

“We’re not going to get any answers out of him.” Orielle stood slowly and stretched her back, “If I smelled that bad, I’d be taking a shower for hours.” She watched as Parrow looked back at the academy and sighed, “We’ll come back tomorrow. It’s like you said, Link’s a remlit, we can’t scare him off.” 

“If he’s injured?” 

“You seem like you’ve lost all hope.” Orielle took a peek at her usually optimistic brother, but found his face filled with guilt as he walked forward, “Have you?” 

“It’s like we’re watching him crumble away in front of us, and there’s nothing we can do. He won’t accept help, you know how Link is. I haven’t lost hope on him, but I don’t want to pressure him.” Orielle bit her lip but gave her brother a slight shove. 

“Don’t say that!” She can’t help it, but she snaps at her brother, “He’s breaking apart because he doesn’t have a system! You were there for me when I came back, why are none of you doing the same for him?” 

“Have you tried to catch him?” Parrow asked, he didn’t sound angry, but rather solemn, “Have you tried to ask him anything?” 

“He’s hard to catch.” She stormed forward, “But if no one is going to do anything, then I’ll be the one to make sure he’s okay. I’ll approach him with caution” Parrow sighed but walked behind her. 

“I want to help him.” Parrow looked up towards the sky, “But whatever he’s getting himself into is dangerous, and there’s a moment in life where you need to stop and think about if it’s worth doing.” His eyes traveled to hers and he put his hand on her shoulder, “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt, and if the best thing to do is be there when we can, then that’s what we’ll do. I was your system because you were willing to accept help, we need to wait until Link is ready to accept it from us. He’s used to fending for himself and only relying on Gaepora and Eagus, I’m sure that they know what’s going on.” Orielle can’t help but sigh but she agreed with her brother. The teachers probably knew how to help Link out, she’d even heard Croo talk about him under his breath, so maybe there is a system beginning to form, she just hadn’t noticed. 

“We’re all trying to help however we can, huh?” She chuckled and looked behind her to see a familiar green tunic jump off the docks, “We just need to be ready for when he needs help.” 

She swears on it, she swears to Hylia that she’ll help him in any way she can, she’ll repay the favor of saving her life by helping him whenever possible. She’s not going to let such a positive person fall from the pressure of whatever he was doing or die from wherever he was going. 

Notes:

Orielle being the only person to understand how bad the tornado was is becoming so important to me in this fic. I mean, no wonder she's kinda upset, she had a system, so why can't Link? But Link lowkey doesn't want it.

Chapter 10: Piper

Piper is not the best cook, she’s just a mother who works in the Bazaar. She makes her meals with as much love as possible, her job requires passion and time. So much time. Her home has become covered in spices that make her sneeze when she walks inside. She loves cooking meals, whenever she can, she gives them out to other neighbors. However, the way Gully complains about how long it takes her to cook always fills her with a little bit of guilt. Gully is always complaining, so normally, she lets him run around outside the Bazaar, getting all interested in bugs, sometimes, he’ll even bring them home. She often tries to stop him, but there’s no use. He’s grown obsessed with Beedle’s net. 

Piper tries not to stick herself into any kind of drama, she just wants to cook. Meals are the way to a person’s heart and she wants to make sure everyone knows how much she appreciates them. Even if it does get her many complaints. There’s a total of three people who don’t complain when she makes food, Zelda, Fledge, and Link. She thinks that Fledge would complain if he had the courage, Zelda is patient and always kind, chatting away with other people until her food is ready. Link just naps until the food is ready, so maybe they’re all complaining in their own ways.

Zelda goes missing, and then Link goes missing. He’s apparently been returning to Skyloft in the past couple of days, but she hasn’t seen him, most likely because he doesn’t go to the cafe to rest. Or maybe she’s just too busy cooking. She’s not too concerned, Link is a strong boy, he’s always been prepared for instances. She supposes if there’s one thing that worries her, then it’s the fact that he hasn’t stopped by the cafe for any meals. A growing boy like Link needs to eat a lot, but he clearly hasn’t. All of his rupees, as Rupin proudly boasted, have been going to weapons that he’s designed. He gives her that eerie grin as he bids her goodnight. She picks up one of the many insects that Gully has spread across the table and grabs a stone to crush it, starting a new meal idea. One with plenty of protein. 

She hears the door open and looks at Gully, he has a cheeky grin on his face and looks around the house wildly, “Mommy! I’m hungry!” He complains, throwing his body to the floor, “How long is it going to take?” 

“As long as it needs to.” She smiles back and Gully groans, rolling on the floor and opening the door. 

“Okay! I’ll be back soon!” Piper looks over to see that nightfall has overtaken Skyloft and shakes her head. 

“It’s dark outside, you know it’s not safe. I don’t want to have the knights come and bring you back.” Gully stomps his foot repeatedly on the ground, clearly about to throw a temper tantrum, “Now Gully-” 

“You’re taking forever to make food!” He screams, the walls are thin and she tries to shush him, “You always take forever! I’m hungry!” She’s heard this complaint from nearly everyone, but she grabs Gully’s shoulders and gives him a stern look. 

“Food is the way to a person’s heart, you should know that.” He looks so close to tears and she shakes her head, “Wait a few minutes, and it’ll be ready.” Gully crosses his arm, and for a boy no older than ten, he stomps away like an angry teenager. 

“More like hours.” He plops onto his bed and pouts, kicking his feet against his bed frame as Piper goes back to cooking. She hears the door open behind her and she turns to see Link. He looks exhausted and he blinks a few times. 

“Ah- I’m sorry, I meant to go to Peatrice’s house.” He rubbed the back of his head. 

“Nonsense, how about you stay for dinner?” Link looks apprehensive but Gully grabs his sleeve. 

“Please?” Link looks down and sighs, sitting down next to him as Gully starts asking him questions, the one that catches her ear, however, is “So, why were you going to Peatrice’s house? I thought you and Zelda were dating!” 

“Oh, um, Zelda and I aren’t dating… but Peatrice wanted to talk to me tonight, I told her I’d be there.” He fumbles with his hands a bit, she can hear the fabric rubbing together, “So, I’ll be back. I wouldn’t miss dinner, now would I?” 

“Okay, but come back with food. Mom takes forever to cook!” Gully whispers, but in the small confinement of their home, Piper can hear it loud as day. Link makes a noise that sounds like it’s approving and he leaves. Piper lets the soup simmer as she gives Gully a look. He looks away as she goes back to the pot. It would take her another hour to finish her soup, he would need to be patient. Link comes back only three minutes later and she can see Pumm’s soup in his hands, it’s cold by now, but Gully downs it like his last meal. Her stomach churns and wonders if all that love she’s pouring into her food should go somewhere else. Link patiently sits beside Gully, his stomach growls every few minutes which makes Gully snicker, Link flush, and Piper worried. She was worried that he wasn’t eating enough, but this just seemed to confirm it. It was rare for anyone’s stomach to grumble on Skyloft, especially with all the berries around that were often plucked from her yard. So it all but confirmed that Link wasn’t eating.
The soup simmered again and she turned to face the two boys, “Link, you should take some soup on your journey.” 

“No thank you.” Link holds up his hands, “It’ll go cold.” 

“Can’t you heat it up?” She asks, tilting her head, “Even a small fire will do.” Link tilts his head to the side and considers it, but then he shakes his head. 

“I wouldn’t want to set an island on fire.” He laughs, “I’m not the best at starting them.” Piper hums, nodding her head in understanding, “But thank you for the offer.”

“Well, you come to me when you need a good meal.” Link looks a little hesitant as he nods his head. Piper can’t promise she’ll be quick with her meals, but he needs to eat something. 

“If I have the time.” 

“That’s all I can ask for.” Piper grabs her spoon and gives the pot a quick mix, pouring in the crushed insect parts, and letting them dissolve in the bubbling soup. She should have asked Pumm for more pumpkins, but she had forgotten. Gully starts talking to Link about different bugs and she hears him gasp and start asking all about the kind that Link is, supposedly, holding in his hands. Link’s always been a sucker with children, he whispers to Gully and based on the description she’s hearing, it seems like Link’s reciting information that he shouldn’t know. She hasn’t heard of most of these insects. Maybe it has to do with that mystery person that everyone says Link is talking to, some spirit. 

She does wonder, however, if those insects would be good in some soup. She pours in the rest of the insect and lets the wooden spoon rest on top of the pot. It’s a long process of waiting for the flavor to ripen before she adds anything else, the leftovers will end up going to the Knight’s Academy. She listens to Gully ramble on about his day, the same conversation that she heard yesterday, that he ran around looking for bugs but only found blessed butterflies. How he wished he had a net. Beside him, Link yawns and Piper takes a peek at his appearance. 

Link does look awful. His tunic is torn in some places, his eyebags are deep and his hands have a slight shake to them. She wonders what’s been happening to make him look like that, but one thing is true. He does need sleep and Gully seems to notice too, “You should sleep.” He pipes up, “You can visit us tomorrow!” 

“Just come here if you’re ever hungry.” Piper pipes up, “It’s always important to eat something, even if you don’t think you need to.” Link smiles softly and stands up, waving goodbye to them as the door closes. The pot’s still simmering by the time Gully falls asleep on his bed. 

Notes:

Hey!! I have no excuse for such a late update other than the fact that I've been obsessing over the Hyrule Historia. There's so much Skyward Sword information in there. Also, I don't believe that Piper's a bad person, I just think that she forgets that mouths can't wait forever to be fed. If she doesn't seem too worried about Link in this chapter, just know that she's regarded as a food researcher, so her attention is there, not Link.

Chapter 11: Pipit

If anyone was Link’s best friend, it would be Pipit. Sure, Zelda and him were close, but Link always proclaimed Pipit as his best friend. It’s a title that he holds with pride after all, despite being Link’s senior, it still makes him glad to see that his age has no difference in their interactions. He’s grateful to Link, the boy really is a blessing in disguise. Pipit admires many things about him, his swordsmanship is incredible and one of the reasons that Pipit became a knight as quickly as he had, he never asked why Pipit still lived at home rather than the dorms, and he still showed concern on the days he was back on Skyloft. 

Despite his exhausted appearance and the apparent appearance of Levias, something that he was sure Link had to do with, he still ran errands for the people of Skyloft, he listened to their worries and would abandon the search for Zelda completely until the task was completed. He sometimes saw Link limping past him at night, not noticing his presence and disappearing inside the academy before being outside as the sun rose. Pipit’s concern only grew when he watched Link sit at the edge of a dock for a solid twenty minutes, not seeming to move before he slid off and whistled loudly. Despite Link not being allowed outside at night, that’s where Pipit began to see him the most, despite them always on opposite routes of the island, he could always see the faint blue glue of Link’s strange sword. Sometimes it would flicker and Link’s movements would stop, the glow would vanish and then reappear minutes later. Link’s movement would always start again afterward.

If Link’s protectiveness of his sword was one thing, then whatever happened on his journey weeks ago made it worse, because Link’s hand was always on the hilt of his sword, no matter what. Even when he should be doing two-handed tasks, he’d manage to do it with one, Pipit knew this because he’d seen Link put a cork into a potion bottle with one hand, the bottle had to be tilted at an awkward angle to do so, but nothing was spilled. Luv saw the look that he was giving her and simply shrugged her shoulders, giving him a look that said don’t ask me either .

Pipit wondered what had happened to the boy that he knew and loved, cherished like a brother, because all the traits that he associated with Link, the sleepiness, the clumsiness, the bright smiles that he would give anyone in the hallways or on the streets, were all vanishing in front of his eyes. He thinks he’s the only one who’s noticed his friend turning to stone in front of him, the expressionless behavior and startling robotic movements, he almost seems like that robot Gondo repaired rather than an actual person. He doesn’t bring it up to anyone, he doesn’t want to seem crazy. Gossip has spread from Gully’s mother that he was discovering new bugs that were believed to be extinct, which was unlike the woman, so his concern only grew in the coming days. 

Link returned to Skyloft on a windy afternoon, his cap seeming to be stuck on his head as he adjusted his tunic, which was torn and ruined. But that had become a usual occurrence and while some people looked, none walked up to ask if he was okay. Link had moved quickly through the crowd of people rushing to their home and Pipit hesitantly followed him, watching as Link stormed up the stairs to the Goddess Statue, he called after him but his voice was lost in the wind. He waits at the bottom of the steps for a few minutes before shaking his head and rushing up the stairs to see a massive hole in the bottom of the statue. Pipit shakes his head again because it’s not a hole, but an entrance. He carefully enters inside where Link has his sword on the ground, kneeling and looking down.

He must be praying, and it’s rude to interrupt such an action, so he exits the room carefully, sitting by the entrance until Link comes out. It’s windy and he wants to make sure his friend is okay. He waits for what feels like hours, the sun’s setting by the time Link emerges, his body shaking and for once, his right hand isn’t on the hilt of his sword. He jolts when Pipit grabs his leg, and he finds himself at the receiving edge of a blade. It glows in his hand and Link stares at him, his usual warm eyes cold and terrified. He stares at Pipit a moment longer before his sword goes to his back and he shakily helps him up, “Link-” 

I’m so sorry. He signs and Pipt furrows his eyebrows. 

“You’re okay.” Link’s brows furrow in confusion and he points to his ears. 

I can’t hear you. Pipt freezes and grabs at Link’s face, turning his head to the side to see bits of dried blood still covering his ears. 

“What caused this?” He asks but then pushes Link back to sign the same question. Their sign language isn’t well developed, in fact, it’s weak, they’ve been trying to develop a language for a while now, but it hasn’t been working out. 

B-O-O-M. Link signs out but opens his mouth, “It’s a long story.” His voice sounds slurred and Pipit grabs his shoulder, leading him down the stairs. His grip is harsh on Link’s body, but it’s the only thing that’s keeping him from shaking in rage because his best friend is losing his hearing because of some explosion, and he’s still hurt. He leads Link back to his dorm and plops onto the bed with him. Link opens his mouth to speak but closes it immediately. Instead, he removes his sword and places it on the ground, and sighs. 

“Link,” Pipit says after a moment, his voice louder than usual and the boy looks over, Pipit’s shoulders sage with relief, “What have you been doing to yourself?” 

“I can’t tell you.” He mumbles back, “Zelda’s…” He sighs. His entire posture screams defeated and Pipit freezes, “She’s not dead.”

His body does a weird unfreeze but frozen jolt and he blinks in confusion, “What?” 

“She’s okay, at least I think so, it’s just, there’s so much you don’t know.” 

“Can’t know, or something’s preventing you from speaking?” 

“Can’t. Not until I get her back.” Link looks over at him, a small smile on his face, but it just makes him look eternally older, “Although, you’d probably figure out if you asked anyone who’s lost something under the clouds.” 

“The surface? Is it real?” Pipit asks and Link flops onto the bed, his back sliding off the bed before it stops midway through the journey. 

“It feels so good just to say that.” He laughs and Pipt feels himself want to scream, his lungs constricting and he wonders how long Link has been keeping this a secret for. How long it’s been eating him up? 

“You need to sleep. This is going to kill you if you keep going at the rate you’re going at.” Link simply laughs and shakes his head, “Link.” 

“I can’t do that Pipit, every time I sleep, I just see him. I hear her. I can’t sleep.” He confesses, looking out towards the window and Pipit sees tears that threaten to leak from his eyes, “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.” 

“I’m your best friend.” Pipit protests, “You know why I can’t afford to stay in the dorms, you’ve kept it secret, I can keep yours, please .” It’s rare for him to beg, Pipit tries to be as independent as possible, so he’s only had to beg once, and that was to be on night shift so he wouldn’t be at home all the time. Link’s expression softens a bit and he sighs. 

“Maybe another time, can we just lay here together?” Pipit sighs and plops down next to Link, his hand resting against his arm, holding a tight grip. 

“Tell me about your journey.” 

“It hasn’t been fun. At least these portions, it was fun at first.” 

“Why?” 

“Because it wasn’t too bad, I was met with a friendly species and was able to explore, then… it all fell apart.” 

“That’s not the Link I know, think positively. What was fun at first, don’t think about the negatives.” 

“I suppose, there’s these vines I can swing on, there’s the ground beneath my feet and lakes larger than the island itself.” Pipit can imagine what Link’s saying, “It’s so green, everything is healthy and lush and there’s so many new species there. Hornets, Kikwis, and even new kinds of food.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, there’s these red fruits growing from trees and… I don’t even know how to describe the colors on the cacti.” 

“Cacti?” 

“These… spiky plants that don’t need water to survive.” Link’s hands move around as he speaks and Pipit allows his grip to loosen and listen to Link’s words, they’re calming and it lulls him to fall asleep. After a few minutes, Link’s voice trails off, “I don’t know anything good after that.” 

“I can talk to you about my knight duties, but I’m afraid they’ll bore you.” He trails off in a teasing tone and Link smacks him. 

“Never.” Pipit opens his mouth to start rambling about training with other students, he ignores the part where they agreed it would be to assist Link, he talks about his nightly routine until he hears the soft snores come from Link’s mouth and he smiles, readjusting his friend to he’s snuggly tucked into bed. He plops down onto the uncomfortable wooden seat and watches him. He’ll stay awake if Link has any nightmares. He’s done enough nightly patrols to spend days without sleep, so this should be nothing. But at the same time, his eyelids feel so heavy and he regrets not sleeping the night before. His blinks become slower and he shakes his head, taking his sword out to try and polish it, but his hands move slowly across the blade and he feels like he’s about to knick himself. 

He thinks back to what Link had told him, about the surface and tries to imagine it. Forests spread across the land, a lake to the southeast larger than the island itself, and a beautiful white bridge that crosses it halfway. Creatures that cross the land, although their shape keeps changing in his mind, a land of sand that spreads across the land, it’s humid, worse than the summer on the island, covered in tried twigs and green cacti, small fruits sticking on the top of it, ancient structures scattered across it. It all sounds beautiful, and he can’t figure out why it would be so bad, although, Link hadn’t mentioned any threats. It makes him shudder as he thinks of a large monster in the sand that could kill instantly, of vines that could grab and attack, falling boulders pushed from monsters across the land. Link is clearly not telling him the whole story, and that’s okay with Pipit because he’s always been a good secret keeper. Link needs someone to hold his stories and Pipit is glad to be that person. Link’s his little brother, and he’d be damned if someone messes with him. 

But it doesn’t stop Pipit from falling asleep as the sun rises, and for Link to be gone by the time Pipit wakes up, a small gold rupee sitting on the bed is a thank-you gift that Pipit doesn’t deserve. Sprawled across a sheet of paper is a small note. 

I’ve been cleaning your mother’s home. Please take this in apologies. Pipit huffs and holds the rupee in his hand and looks out to Skyloft. Link is too good for Skyloft and he’d be happy to repay Link for everything he’s done for Skyloft however he can. 

Chapter 12: Dodoh

He’s always been a bit of an oddball on Skyloft. People found his enthusiasm strange, not something that would fit onto their little island. He gets it, kind of, that people need time away from happiness, that sometimes, there’s a time for mourning and a time for laughing, yet he just can’t separate the two. There’s always joy in the most terrible moments, so why can’t people just see that? He never graduated from Knight school; he never even attended, just learned how to ride his loftwing and ask Gondo how to make small devices in his free time. That’s when he came to his decision that he was going to make a place for people to be happy, no misery, no anger, just a place that his wacky enthusiasm could fit. It’s his main goal, ever since he got that island a few months ago.
Of course, he had to fail that goal in the last week of his project, when his party wheel fell off the side of the island. For the first time in his life, he understood why people separated grief and happiness, because what could he do now that his piece was missing? It took months to create the party wheel, which was time he couldn’t get back with everything he’s planned. He truly isn’t sure how long he stood over the edge, staring down into the clouds, until a caw rang out above him. With a glance, a fierce red shot past him, and he threw his hands up, waving rapidly. He could see Link jump off his loftwing, letting himself fall at a startling speed before yanking open his sailcloth a few feet above the ground. He stares at Dodoh for a long time, his face completely blank. He looked confused and slightly disturbed all at once.
“Dodoh?” He blinks a few times, rubbing his eyes, and Dodoh can understand why. His new look is quite unexpected: “You… okay?” Confusion, the expression on his face is most definitely confusion. Not that it’s anything against Link, he had gotten his new outfit just a few weeks ago, all to tie his fun island together.
"Urrrrrghhh... What am I going to do?! It's no use! It's all over... You see, the party wheel that I pinned to my back flew off the island and fell down somewhere below the clouds.” Link’s entire body shifts to something that screams resigned compliance, shoulders falling and body slightly slouched, “Without my party wheel. there's just no way that I can make this island a place where people come to have fun! What can I do? It fell down below the clouds, so I guess I should just give up on it. How am I supposed to get something that fell below the clouds? That's impossible!" He practically wails as Link awkwardly stands beside him, then he sighs. Dodoh looks up at him, a small hope flickering in his chest, because Link has always been some kind of miracle worker. Of course, it may be because Link seems to have been blessed by Hylia since birth. He’s seen Link, when he was much younger, pull off impossible feats in the sky, taking tumbles that would break bones but walk away with a bruise, and find things that everyone thought they lost. Maybe, there’s some hope for him after all.
“Give me a day.” He mumbles, his hand on his face, the whispers, “How many of you keep dropping stuff into the cloud. I swear it wasn’t like this a few months ago.” He lets out a whistle as he falls over the island's edge, grasping onto his loftwing as they fly off towards Skyloft. So he waits, and he waits. It feels like more than a day, but as night falls, cool wind swirling around the island, perfect weather for falling, he wonders if Link truly is a miracle worker, falling through those small lights in the clouds. He’s not sure how long they’ve been there, but perhaps that black tornado brought them there. As the sun rises, he hears the caw of Link’s loftwing and looks up. Something is trailing behind him, and he glides back down to the ground, a familiar object in that floating piece of metal’s hands.
"IS THIS...?! IS THIS...?!?! IT IS! IT IS! YAHOOOOOOOEY! My party wheel! Thank you SO MUCH! Now I can realize my dream of opening Fun Fun Island! WOOOYAH! I'M SO HAPPY! And I'll let you be my first customer, young man! Thank you so much! It's going to be so much FUN!" He practically rips the party wheel from the thing’s hands as it mutters something towards Link and flies off. Link, on the other hand, stands with a small smirk, arms crossed, “Your first customer?”
As he rambles through the instructions, Link gives a grin, big and cocky, “It’ll be 20 rupees, what do you say?” Link hands him the money without a single thought, “RIGHTO! There's a brave little guy! Once you're ready, hop into the cannon in the center of the island and plug your ears! I'll prepare the cannon!” Link stares down at the cannon, the cocky expression on his face fading, but jumps in nonetheless. He beats the game quickly, a little too quickly, landing expertly onto the 50 rupee space, a multiplier of 10. He hands over the 500, realizing he’ll need to make another run, before, with a small huff, smiles as Link flies off. That boy is truly a miracle. He holds onto his party wheel with a growing grin. It does make him wonder, however, how Link has gone below the cloud barrier, because he knows that his party wheel had fallen. He watched it, and yet, Link had found it in his greatest moment of despair. How many other people had dealt with the same consequences and relied on Link to get their stuff back.
The surface is real; it’s such a simple thought, yet it sends him into a spiral. He wonders what else is below the clouds, what kind of joy he can bring to other people, what joy he can bring to Link in return.

Notes:

This is a very short chapter, unfortunately I don't speak to Dodoh (I lost my rupees) and his character is something I'm not sure how to expand upon.

Chapter 13: Batreaux

For as long as he could remember, he’s had one dream, and that dream was to be able to live with people. He’s always wanted to experience what Hylians did, the way they spoke to each other, the way that they lived, and the emotions that they shared. But, being a demon stripped him of that ability; he remembers the first time he tried, the people screamed and turned him into a story for children, a reminder not to go outside with the other monsters. But he craved friendship, he wanted it more than anything, yet found himself isolated on the island, waiting for someone to come and befriend him. Years later, it was Kukiel, who didn’t care that he was a demon, but just wanted a screaming buddy. Children, having some of the purest souls that Batreaux knew, were grateful that she didn’t scream in fear of him, but wanted to scream with him, over frustration, over anger, sadness, whatever emotion they could bond over, which was why he was originally scared of Link. 

Yet Link didn’t seem to care much for the fact that he was a demon, despite his heavy guard, he lowered it quickly as he looked at Kukiel, sending her off to her mom, and staring at him. Batreaux took that silence as his opportunity to ask for humanity, to give him gratitude crystals for a bigger wallet, to let him live with the people. Link’s mouth opened slightly before offering the crystals up at his request, “I was wondering what they were. I don’t think anyone else can see them.” He chuckles, “They look at me funny sometimes.” Batreaux is quick to upgrade his wallet, to tell him he eagerly awaits more crystals, and Link doesn’t disappoint. He comes whenever he has the required amount, and Batreaux fantasises about his Hylian appearance. What he will look like, how he’ll introduce himself, and befriend everyone on Skyloft. He’ll live longer than them, see Kukiel grow old while he barely ages, and experience grief like the rest of them. 

Yet, Batreaux sometimes finds himself worried about Link; there are days when the boy doesn’t respond to him as quickly as others. There are days were his tunic is bloody and times when he looks like he just needs to scream. Today was one of those days. His green tunic is covered in blood, torn up, and the chain mail looks destroyed, and he stares up at Batreaux, “I don’t have any gratitude crystals.” He rasps, the sword on his back flashes, and he looks to his side, “I don’t need water, I’m fine.” 

“You look like you need to scream.” He finally offers, Link looks up at him, and gives out a shaky laugh, “We can scream together.” 

“I think that I’d embarrass myself.”
“Don’t be, Kukiel comes here to scream, I scream.” He shrugs, “It’s a fun little game.” Link is quiet for a few moments before nodding his head. 

“I want to, this entire journey has just been so frustrating.” He mutters, his face pressed into his face. 

“Then scream.” He turns around, “I won’t look.” It takes a long time of waiting before he hears a frustrated scream, it’s loud and raw, it’s not like Kukiel’s tantrums, there’s something raw about Link’s scream. As if he’s been holding it in for weeks. For months, even, he hears it again before it seems to break off into sobbing. He doesn’t turn around; he’s not experienced enough with Hylian emotions. Finally, the screaming stops, and all that’s left are just quiet sniffles and a few rough coughs. 

“...You were right.” He hears Link mutter, and he turns around to face him. The tension in Link’s shoulders seemed to be gone, his body lax, and he gave Batreaux a small smile, “Thank you, I may come back to do that again.” His voice is raspy and Batreaux nods his head. 

“It’s a fun game sometimes, on who can scream the loudest, maybe I’ll join you.” Link nods his head and turns to leave. Batreaux watches as the door shuts and frowns, thinking back to those raw, open screams. He wonders what Link has seen on his journey so far, how much he must be holding in to have screams like that. He wonders if Link has even confided in anyone about this journey, about the possible things that he’s seen. If Link is even being treated for his injuries, there seem to be too many questions for him to answer, and he finds himself desperately wishing to be a Hylian just to watch over him on Skyloft. 

Link visits almost every few weeks, coming in with wounds or gratitude crystals, but doesn’t scream. The tension is still in his shoulders, the wounds are still fresh, and sometimes he looks like he rolled out of bed to just come and see him. He’s not sure if he should feel flattered or not. But Link lingers, sometimes he’ll take a bit longer to hand him the crystals, rather than in a bunch, he’ll do it one by one, other times he’ll stand by the door until their silence grows awkward, and sometimes he’ll just sit by the wall, staring at nothing and keep his legs tucked close. 

“You can stay as long as you’d like.” He tells him, watching as Link downs a red potion, “You don’t need to leave. I enjoy having people here, I don’t ever see people.”
“It’s going to take me some time to get more gratitude crystals, it’s only with these big tasks.” 

“That’s okay, you’ve done more for me than for anyone else I know.” Link nods his head, still staring at the wall, his eyes seem to trace movement despite no one else being there. 

“I can really stay?” He finally asks, “Sometimes, I’m too scared to go back to the Knight’s Academy because I don’t want anyone to see me like this?”
“In need of help?”

“Yes! I was this really happy, clumsy kid, if they see what I am now, especially for a long time, I’m scared of what they’ll say.” 

“I… don’t know Hylian emotions very well.” He admits, “But I think that you should let them try to help you.” Link looks away, finally standing up, and heads towards the door.
“Not yet, not when I still need to be strong, I can’t let my morale affect Skyloft.” Batreaux doesn’t stop him from leaving, but before the door closes, Link calls out to him, “I’ll come back for a screaming session again one day.” 

“I’ll wait for you!” He calls back as the door closes, and he sighs, staring down at the spot where Link sat. He wonders how long Link will be gone this time. If he’s injured and has more baggage or if, maybe, his journey will end, and he can scream in joy. Until then, Batreaux will keep his door open, both to become Hylian and have another person to scream with. Maybe when he’s human, he can bring up Link’s pain to those around Skyloft and allow him to release all that stress instead of bundling it up. He only hopes that it can be soon, before Link shuts himself away from everyone else. 

Notes:

we're so back

Chapter 14: Goselle

Summary:

A mother and son discuss
First chapter without a major Link cameo D: (It's low-key kinda hard to write a chapter about a character you got no side quest for and can only be found inside the house, so this chapter is DIALOGUE HEAVY, sorry ya'll)

Goselle treasures three things in life: her son, Rupin, her antiques, and the cleanliness of her house. She prides herself in it, unlike Mallara, whose home was always covered in filth. Although the last time she was over, the house was remarkably clean, the dust all gone, and Mallara had proudly announced that she had paid Link to clean her house, which caused her eyebrows to shoot up. His name had been circulating on the island for the past few months, with people whispering about wounds and him helping them with small tasks around the island. She hears most of his name from Rupin. He’s always talking about the fact that Link has become his biggest customer, coming to him the second most, compared to everyone else.
“He came back today!” Her son was smiling, dropping his wallet onto the table to let a handful of rupees spill out, “He bought my sacred shield. Of course, he’s always buying gear from me; if this keeps going, we can be rich.” She can’t help but smile at the idea, especially when glancing at her antique shelf.
“He’s your biggest customer, isn’t he?” She leans on the table, fidgeting with some of the rupees on the table.
“Yep, he’s gone most of the time, but it’s not like when people kept buying potions from Luv; now he’s buying from me as well. A bunch of supplies, whatever I have.” He walks over to his bed, picking up a separate wallet from under his pillow. He laughs slightly, “Besides, I saw him earlier today. He was heading to the academy, so he may come and sell me some items.”
“Hmm, as long as you split your portion with me. I hear that Gondo has some new antiques he’s found.” She sighs dreamily at the thought of adding to her collection, “But if you must, buy whatever Link has.” She doesn’t expect him to show up, it’s late, and she’d rather get some sleep than listen to Rupin plan how he’s going to charge tonight. It’s not for another 2 hours of waiting that she decides it isn’t worth sticking around for Link to visit. Although it does seem a bit worrying to her, as all the other times Link’s been on the island, he’s come to sell things to her son. “Do you know where Link’s been?” She asks after a moment, “He always comes back with strange materials that you give to Gondo for more things to sell.”
“I don’t know.” Rupin shrugs, glancing up from his notebook, “Although… he does visit Luv more frequently. You know how he used to buy stamina potions because he struggled to keep up with the physical activity?”
“Mhm.” She grabbed a rag and began to polish one of her vases.
“Well, it’s just been red potion after red potion. It’s like every bottle is red. One time it was blue, but he’s always had breathing problems.” Rupin taps his pencil to his mouth, “It’s always these materials that shouldn’t be on Skyloft, and they’re too rare to find on most islands. Along with Zelda’s disappearance, I don’t know what he’s doing.”
“Hmm? Zelda disappeared?” She looks up, and Rupin gives her a strange look. A look that screams, “Where have you been all this time?”
“Yeah.” He scoffs, “She got blown off her loftwing by this giant tornado. I’m pretty sure that Link’s been looking for her since they’re in love.” Distantly, she thanks Hylia that her antics weren’t ruined by the house shaking, but she shakes her head.
“Poor boy… but that still doesn’t explain those materials. Or those possible injuries.” Rupin looks down, then sighs. It’s so unlike her son that she has to do a double take.
“I’ve seen those injuries through his tunic. They’re really bad. He keeps buying new shields because they keep breaking; he has to go to Gondo before he even leaves the Bazaar because he seems to know that they’ll break. I have no idea why he bought the sacred shield; you need to parry perfectly for there to be no damage.” He taps his finger on the table repeatedly, “When he came in today, he just had these massive eyebags. I mean, Link always has eyebags; that kid can’t get good sleep for the life of him. At least, that’s what Gaepora said once, a few years ago, when they were getting some soup. But, he just looked so done, Mom.”
“You sound like you care.” She puts down one of the pots to put down another.
“He’s my main customer.” He huffs, “He’s the only person who doesn’t seem to care that I drop my whole ‘happy salesman’ persona. It’s like a mask, and only he can see through it. Of course, I’d live without him, but he’s bringing in income.” He scribbles some more things into his notebook as she puts down the next pot, “I mean, I just don’t understand how someone can get so injured!” He slams the pencil down.
“Oh?” She braces herself for the rant.
“He just, he comes injured, buys more supplies that are going to injure him further, then leaves! I mean, I’m nice, I’m polite, he’s stopped showing that he’s interested in conversation, and he’s going to lose all those rupees if he keeps buying from Luv.” There’s a loud exhale from behind her, and she knows that he’s covering his face, “He’s my number one customer, sometimes he’s my only customer, and I need to keep it that way.” She chuckles.
“You’re concerned.”
“So what if I am?”
“It’s interesting.” She chuckles, “I haven’t seen you this concerned since we landed ourselves into financial struggle.” Rupin rolls his eyes and goes back to planning in his notebook, but Goselle lets her mind trail off to Link. She rarely sees her son concerned about anyone; he’s always taken after her, self-centered, and desperate for rupees.
Her eyes trail down to the couch; ever since she bought it, it’s remained unused and untouched, and that was years ago. When Rupin was a kid, she’d let him sit on it as long as it didn’t get dirty. But, hearing the pencil scratch behind her, she realizes how quiet the household is. This may have been the first conversation in years that wasn’t completely about finances, that wasn’t about her antiques and the amount of rupees spent, that wasn’t about Rupin’s purchases of materials to expand the shop. She finds herself thinking that it’s nice, because when was the last time she had asked her son how he was doing?
When she turns around to ask, Rupin is slumped over his desk, sleeping, and she looks back down at the couch. Red, slightly dusty, and the cushions still firm. She sighs; despite her hatred for housekeeping, she would much rather her items remain pristine. So, she quietly dusts off her couch. I wonder if this would be comfortable. She stares at it. Rubin used to talk about how he could take long naps on that couch, but she would send him to bed. Maybe it could be comfortable, and she quickly sits down on the couch. The cushions practically sink under her, and she’s surrounded in warmth; the couch is as comfortable as she’s dreamed of it being, and it would work well as a bed.
The sound of their door creaking has her turning her head. She stands up quickly, dusting the nonexistent dust off of her apron as Link steps in. His eyes fall to Rupin sleeping and then to Goselle, “I-” He stutters out, “I’ll take my leave.” He blinks sleepily, yawning quietly before Goselle holds up her hand. He pauses, looks to his side, then tries to take another step back.
“Come inside.” She knows Link isn’t the best with authority; the few times she is outside, she’s seen him shrink under every adult’s glance, but that was years ago. However, it seems like it hasn’t changed much because he closes the door behind him and stands awkwardly, leaning close to the doorframe. “You look exhausted.”
“It’s been a long week.” He mumbles back, “I was trying to sell Rupin some things. I was going to come back earlier, but I fell asleep.” He scratches the back of his head before yawning again.
“There are monsters outside. It’s dangerous to go alone.” She waves him over, “Don’t you need sleep?”
“I can just go back to the dorms.” He responds, waving his hands, yet walks closer anyway. She gestures towards the couch.
“Sleep. Whatever you’re in such a hurry for can wait till the morning.” He stares down at it.
“Are you sure?” She’s not, but she nods her head anyway.
“Yes, I’m sure. You look a few seconds away from passing out.” And she’s not wrong, she can see the eyebags and the way that he sways when he stands. She doesn’t even know why he’s walking around in the middle of the night. The knight uniform is there, but she knows that he couldn’t be at that level yet; he would need at least a year of training, and she hears green is the color for the new knights that year. “You’ll only get hurt if you walk around at night.”
He chuckles, “Yeah, I don’t think walking around at night is much of a threat anymore.” Then, he lets himself plop onto the couch, his gear still on his back, but she can tell he’s already asleep. She doesn’t touch his sword or shield; it’s dirty, and it could wake him up. But she does watch him sleep. He looks far older than he should; his exhausted face is almost like Rupin’s after his long shifts, and she brushes his hair out of his face. She hates seeing that tired expression on her son’s face, so she can’t help but hate seeing it on someone else’s. She didn’t let Rupin work until he began selling things in their house late at night when she was sleeping, and she would never work a young child to the point that they looked like Link.
She can’t help but wonder where he’s been or what he’s been doing that’s led to this condition. Even if he were searching for Zelda, she feels like he’d have the decency to do it after a good sleep.
“Oh, honey…” She sighs, “This couch will be open for you, but only you, so don’t go sharing those secrets, okay?”

Notes:

GUYS I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE MUCH LONGER <<3 I DIDN'T WANNA STRETCH A CHAPTER OUT SO LONG THAT IT WOULD BE BORINGGG (The next character is more of a major skyloft character)
Also, Link's cameo is short because Fi recommends staying far away from her ("Her name is Goselle, and she is a bit of a demanding lady. She is the mother of the gear peddler, Rupin. She hates housecleaning but adores antiques. I recommend keeping a safe distance from her.")

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of SKYWARD SWORD !!