A new installment to the LxP series ^^ Which I have finally decided to call the "Head in the Clouds" series…cause really, they're sky children and Link seems to be the daydreaming type, lol. And the fact that this is a series about a developing relationship and relationships usually make people a bit…spacey. Happy spacey.
Disclaimer: Not mine :[
Please enjoy and happy reading!
Pipit didn't tolerate tardiness very well. He was very punctual; always on time for class, patrol, miscellaneous assignments that had been set for him. He felt that it was the responsibility of a good Knight to always show up on time, early would be even better, and that it was a good habit for anyone to have. A Knight couldn't be late for an emergency, could he? Absolutely not. Time equated to the safety of others.
Tonight he was assigned to patrol as he did most nights, but aside from his usual routine, he was going to have a small addition to his typically solo party. Tonight was his turn to be the mentor to one of his underclassmen and to show him or her (he hadn't been informed who) the ropes of patrolling; to get them used to what they would be doing in the future. This was his first time being a mentor and he admittedly was a bit nervous about messing something up, but his urge to be successful was overpowering and boosted his confidence.
He sighed and leaned back against the wall.
Professor Owlan stood a few feet away from Pipit, looking unfazed and calm as always. He flashed Pipit a small smile that seemed like it could be full of amusement or perhaps a secret. Pipit looked away, unsure if he actually wanted to know what his professor was thinking. Owlan's presence was a bit overwhelming and very annoying but since the man was in charge of all of the Knights, Pipit would have to deal. He'd much rather leave the tardy underclassmen to find an empty meeting place as punishment for making them wait.
Suddenly the entrance door to the academy burst open, nearly slamming into the wall of the building had Pipit not put his hand out to save himself and the structure. Certainly not a way to brighten his mood.
"Ah, Link," Professor Owlan spoke, "you're finally here."
Pipit moved closer to the other two and looked at Link, finding him to look disheveled and a bit frazzled. 'Probably forgot…'
"Sorry, Professor." Link spoke. He scratched his check sheepishly and finished, "I seemed to have forgotten. Zelda actually came and reminded me. In a not-so-nice way." The boy rubbed the right side of his head, which Pipit took to symbolize the area of the punishment the headmaster's daughter dealt.
"No worries, Link. We weren't waiting long."
'Twenty minutes is a long time…'
"The important thing is that you're here now. Let's hurry up so you and Pipit can move out."
The boy seemed to finally take notice to Pipit. His eyes grew a bit. It was dark, but Pipit was certain there was a faint stain of red coming over his cheeks. He simply frowned disapprovingly at the boy. Perhaps they have gotten along in their past run-ins, but he simply couldn't forgive someone who made him wait all too easily. Link was quick to lower his eyes, like a child being scolded.
"Now Link, if you expect to be placed on patrol duty, please remember that punctuality is key for all Knights." The boy nodded his head, still looking at the ground. Pipit personally didn't believe Owlan was a tough as he should be, but the man was a bit of a softie in the first place. "At the beginning of each patrol, you are to check in with me in case there are specific details you need to know. This is essential," the professor remarked. Link seemed to finally feel comfortable enough to look up and nodded yet again to his teacher. "Good. Once you are debriefed on what is happening and your duties, then you are to set out, just as you will be now." Patting the boy's shoulder gently Owlan nodded towards Pipit, again with that secretive smile.
When Professor Owlan disappeared back inside the academy, Pipit finally sighed. "Twenty minutes, Link?" he questioned. The boy's body stiffened, probably not expecting the older Knight to scold him. He winced.
"I'm sorry. I…fell asleep." His voice grew small with his confession, like he was hoping Pipit wouldn't hear it. "Can we just get this done?"
Pipit rolled his eyes and led them away. 'Probably wants to go back to sleep.'
After suiting up with training swords from the Sparring Hall, Pipit led Link down the stairs away from the academy and down the rickety skywalk toward the pond. "We'll make a few stops so you can see the other Knights. Anyway, foot patrol isn't too bad. The number of monsters you'll see varies on where you're stationed. Like, say you're stationed at the school. Not too many monsters go up there. But if you're patrolling by the waterfall, you're pretty much in for an eventful night. Normally two Knights are positioned up there." And that's exactly where Pipit was taking Link. They reached the pond and Pipit was careful as he walked up to the crossing stones that led to the waterfall entrance. Lanterns were placed in the area so one wouldn't misstep and fall into the water. "Watch your step!" he called back to Link. He certainly didn't need his charge falling over the side of the waterfall (again). He wouldn't be there to rescue him and the Rescue Knights weren't as quick during the night as they were during the day.
The familiar screech of a Keese assaulted Pipit's ears just as he reached the other side of the pond. He looked up to see several bat-shaped silhouettes in the light of the lantern and cursed his horrible luck. As he drew his sword to cut the small flyers down, he realized that Link was still jumping across the stones. "Dear Goddess," he groaned. He managed to slice one Keese in half while several of its mates flew to the slightly unbalanced Link. "Hold on!" he called.
Link already had his sword drawn and was standing in a position that offered him optimal balance on the stone he occupied. Though looking a bit wobbly, he managed to take two of the Keese down while another flew in circles over his head. He did his best to keep his feet steady on the slippery rock but the damn flyer was making his head spin. "Whoa!" He came close to the edge of the stone without realizing it. A hand seemed to shoot out of nowhere and grasped his shoulder, drawing him back upright and he thudded against Pipit's chest. The blush returned.
"I seem to always be catching you," Pipit laughed and he steadied Link. The boy chose not to answer, undoubtedly embarrassed, and from that moment Pipit felt any residual annoyance he held toward the kid vanish. Suddenly he went from the tardy student into the adorable klutz and the faint blush, barely visible in the flickering light of the nearest lantern, was too cute for Pipit to stay tweaked. Did he blush this much around anyone else, Pipit pondered as he leapt back across the stones, or was it something about him?
The damp ground was soft beneath their feet and Pipit held tightly to his sword as he approached the Knights in charge of guarding the entrance to the waterfall. He glanced back over his shoulder to find Link glancing about, most likely waiting for the next attack from a monster. Pipit enlightened the boy with telling him that monsters around the island weren't as common as they were out in the sky. A stray band of Keese here or there, as they experienced, some ChuChus that liked to pop up and the Remlits that turned aggressive at night were the common offenders and nothing that couldn't be handled easily. A suprising amount of Skylofians did walk about at night, like the Bazaar merchants, so giving them safe passage was always a knightly duty.
"This is your first time fighting real monsters, right?" Pipit questioned. He had met his first monster- a particularly large ChuChu- when he did his mentorship. Though nerve-wracking at first, his mentor told him he handled that monster well and showed great potential.
"Uh, yeah," Link replied. He pushed his legs up the small incline toward the waterfall entrance. "I've never had a target that small."
Pipit smirked over his shoulder. "And you did a mighty fine job of landing your blows. Sliced them clean through. Thrilling, huh?"
Link smiled at the compliment, turning his eyes away as he swelled with a bit of pride.
"Hey, Pipit. Taking care of our territory, huh?" The laugh came from the waterfall entrance and Pipit frowned when he reached his fellow Knights.
"Funny, Micah, but I figured you'd have been doing your job." Pipit received a light punch to the shoulder which he shrugged off. "Where's Alec?" True enough, the other Knight wasn't around the entrance.
Micah jerked his head back. "He went into the cave a bit. It's been unusually quiet tonight. Until you showed up, of course. We should stick you up here. You're like a monster magnet." Micah gave a teasing smirk before his gray eyes landed on Link who was a few steps back from Pipit. "Noob, eh? I saw you down there on the rocks. Not bad for your first night out."
Link couldn't find it within himself to speak up. "This is Link," Pipit spoke up and moved so the underclassmen was in better view. Link didn't seem to appreciate Pipit's move and he gave a nervous smile while rubbing the back of his neck.
"Obviously the name's Micah," the Knight said and stuck his gloved hand out. Link reached forward to grab it and shook his hand. "Stuck with Pipit, huh? Poor kid, don't let him run you into the ground. And don't think you have to be the perfect Knight. This guy has let his Knighthood go to his head a little." Micah's words were ended with a round of good hearted laughter and Link couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Pipit, however, remained unamused. He grabbed Link by the shoulders and steered the poor boy away.
"We're going to go talk to some sensible Knights, okay? Don't let your lack of humor kill you tonight."
Pipit was sure that Link would handle patrol duty without a problem. The kid seemed capable enough. Pipit had taken Link to some hot-spot areas where monsters roamed and allowed him to get used to fighting the real things instead of a stationary target like they did in class. The boy moved fluidly and seemed aware of his surroundings. He didn't trip once in the pumpkin patch and showed the footwork of a Knight who had had a few years of fieldwork under his belt. His swordsmanship was clean and Pipit could understand why Link was top in his class.
He had shaken off some of his nervousness with the other Knights he introduced Link to and Pipit found that the blond was bound to get along well with the others. He was glad to have good things to report back to Owlan, though Link could do with some work on being on time.
After spending much of the night on their feet, Pipit suggested they head up to the Light Tower and rest while they wait for the shift to end with the rising of the sun. They sat next to each other looking out over the town, their legs hanging off the edge of the Tower.
"Think you can handle patrol?" Pipit inquired. He glanced sideways to his trainee who was staring out at the Goddess Statue across the island.
Link shrugged his shoulders eventually. "It doesn't seem like anything I can't handle. And everyone seems nice, so that's good. I just don't like the idea of having to stay up all night. Do we get to sleep at all?"
Pipit couldn't say he was shocked to hear such a question. He hardly knew the kid but the one thing he was certain of was that Link liked to sleep. He'd come to witness two accounts now of the teen sleeping in. "You'll get to sleep after class before patrol. And if you patrol, it's normally scheduled for a night when you don't have morning classes to follow. You're safe."
Link let out a relieved breath. Pipit couldn't help the chuckle that left him and he was glad to hear Link's own laugh join him. The blond fell back onto the flat surface behind him, stretching out on his back and resting his head on his arms. "So you're a strict Knight, eh?" he asked.
"I wouldn't go that far," Pipit replied and pursed his lips. Micah was a joker, but he joked in an honest sort of way. Pipit wouldn't call himself strict per say; more like highly motivated or determined. Besides that, he had himself and his mother to support so he had no choice but to work extra hard. "I work hard, that's it."
Link closed his eyes. "I heard some of the upperclassmen say you do patrol every night. Isn't that a bit much? You must get so drained."
Pipit frowned, disappointed to hear that people talked about him. Unfortunately he couldn't determine, from how Link worded it, if what they were saying was good or bad. Was it a bad thing to patrol every night? It wasn't his fault his mother was too spacey, too lazy, too greedy to do anything to help him. After his father had passed and his mother had stepped back from being more active, he knew he had to do something. Taking on some extra work was his only solution, especially since he had tuition to pay. If Pipit couldn't stay in school, he was sure he'd go crazy.
Answering Link, Pipit said, "I've learned to manage it." And he had learned. Patrol at night, a quick nap in the morning followed by getting his school work finished. He'd then rush off to his classes before allowing himself a second nap then running off to patrol. It was a rough circle, but manageable. He had days were he felt he would crash and burn, but the thought of the consequences he'd face always pushed him to keep going.
Link sat up suddenly looking Pipit straight in the face, his own marred with what seemed to be confusion. Or was it worry?
"How can you possibly manage so much? Classes, patrol, everything at your home? Do you even sleep?"
Confused by the sudden change in Link, Pipit asked, "What's with the concern? I told you I've learned to manage it, haven't I?"
"But you've always looked like you're ready to collapse!"
This seemed to be a comment Pipit could easily brush off with a simple "I'm fine," but the implementations it held didn't allow him to let it go. Link looked shocked by his own words as he turned his face quickly, instantly focusing intently elsewhere and carefully avoiding Pipit's look.
"What do you mean 'always'?" Pipit asked.
Link didn't respond, instead swallowing uneasily. Pipit watched him, noting that he could probably stare forever and Link wouldn't give anything away. From the sounds of it, Link implied he'd been watching him for a bit but he couldn't be sure. He and Link hadn't known each other for long at all; they'd only met for the first time a few weeks ago.
"The sun's up. We should go in. I really wanna go to bed." Link didn't even wait for Pipit to answer him and stood up, heading for the ladder and climbing down. Pipit just watched him go, feeling curious if nothing else and not tired at all. He figured he'd wait a bit longer until it grew lighter outside and take his Loftwing for a morning ride before reporting back to Owlan. Something curious was up with Link and he needed to think of a way to get some answers.
This took forever to write xP I like the direction these oneshots are going, though. Reviews are very much welcome and appreciated!