The moon was well into the sky when Pipit began to make his nightly rounds. He had overslept, again. The endless night watches were beginning to get to him, making him so tired that he had to fight to keep his eyes open as he hurriedly stumbled out of his home and made his way towards the Knight Academy.
It was cold out tonight; the air nipped at his skin, causing the hair on his arms and neck to rise. Pipit quickened his pace in hopes of getting his blood flowing. As he walked towards the wooden stairs that led to the Academy, Pipit couldn't help but form a frustrated scowl on his face. If his mother hadn't lost her job as the item check clerk at the local bazaar Pipit wouldn't have had to take up so many extra night shifts to keep both him and his mother barely above being broke. 'She can't help being such a messy person! She didn't mean to misplace all of her client's things!' a tiny voice whispered in Pipit's head as he reached into his pocket to grasp a tiny metal key. With numb fingers he opened the giant oak door that led into the warm and dimly lit hallway of Knight Academy. As he shut the door quietly behind him, Pipit shook his head to himself. "No, of course she didn't. She also didn't mean to give all of my hard-earned money to Link for cleaning the house…for doing something she could have easily done herself." He mumbled through gritted teeth.
He didn't have anything against Link; on the contrary, he and Link were really good friends, even though Pipit was in senior classes and Link was accepted into the Knight Academy just last year. Link would often accompany him home from school, stopping at the bazaar to eye up the new and mysterious looking gadgets and potions that they'd never be able to afford, and joking to each about the fortune teller's unworldly appearance and his creepily accurate ability to see into the future. When Link became accepted into the Academy, Pipit made it his job to help him out so that he wouldn't fail on account of his laziness and obvious daydreaming habits; they practiced their fencing and Loftwing flying, and when they were too worn out to continue, they'd return to Pipit's place to study their class notes before Link headed back to his dorm for the night. Pipit could always trust Link to bring a smile to his face, whether it was due to his trademark laziness, clumsiness, or simply intentionally trying to be funny. But ever since Zelda had inexplicably vanished one day, Link suddenly became incredibly serious in his knighthood training, and even began a quest to save her! He was becoming so popular among Skyloft that whenever he did manage to return for a night or two, Pipit never got to see him; Link was either practicing his flying skills (without inviting Pipit—at first this discovery hurt him, but eventually the emotional wound calloused over till it was an ugly scar), or he was off on other sorts of adventures among the surrounding islands of Skyloft. By the time he'd return to his home island, he'd go to sleep before Pipit could make it back to the Academy to meet him. In a matter of weeks, what was one of Pipit's dearest friends slowly drifted into nothing more than a stranger, and Pipit couldn't shake the feelings of sorrow and emptiness each time he passed Link's room during his night shifts, whether or not Link was in there or not.
The building was wonderfully quiet, and Pipit closed his eyes momentarily to enjoy the warm and calm that surrounded him. The sound of snoring to his left jolted him to his senses, and with a sideway's glance Pipit took in the sight of a fellow classmate's doorway. The name 'GROOSE' was engraved unevenly and with poor marksmanship into the door, and though this site usually brought a smile to his face, Pipit couldn't get rid of the resentful feeling that molded his face into a look of anger. Why should they all get to sleep while he had to stay up all night? On top of having to work, Pipit was expected to attend school each day and keep his grade above average in order to secure his location as a senior knight student. And because he couldn't afford to live in a dorm room at the Academy, Pipit only had enough time to rush home and grab his school supplies, having to forget about breakfast and getting an ounce of sleep. In fact, the only time he was able to sleep was after he was done his homework, as well as done helping his mother around the house (performing odd chores that she was unable to do), and preparing for another night shift. On a good day, Pipit maybe got 4 hours of sleep. On a bad day, Pipit got none. Lately he was having more bad days than good, and he was feeling the effects.
Pipit stuffed his hands in his pockets and shook his head once more, trying to expel such self-pity thoughts. As he made his way through the Academy, Pipit would stop at each door and listen for danger. When the coast was clear, he would move on and repeat the process until there were no more doors to check. The last door he checked belonged to Link, and Pipit stopped there momentarily to listen for any sound of life. With his trained ears he could hear the light breathing as Link slept peacefully, as well as the soft rustle of blankets as he moved from side to side, trying to get comfortable. Rather than continuing onward, Pipit stayed put and placed a hand lightly on the door, wishing that he could rest his drained body in a bed as well. He was so tired. But not just physically tired, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. He wanted to be done, done with working without rest, with studying, with training for something that always seemed to be out of his reach. But most of all, he was done with not having Link in his life anymore; he wanted his friend back. He wanted Link to come back to Skyloft for good, so that things could return to normal; their friendship could rekindle to what it once was, and Pipit would be able to express all of his pent-up frustrations that he's been holding in for so long, ever since Link left him alone. Pipit could feel tears fill his eyes, and he couldn't determine if they were from anger, sadness, or guilt. He was sad, sad that the Link that slept peacefully in his bed only meters away, was now considered a stranger. He was angry at Link for leaving in the first place. Why couldn't someone else save that helpless girl? And he felt such an incredible guilt for wanting Link to stay simply for his own needs that it made his stomach hurt. Pipit closed his eyes, letting the tears glide over his freckled face, and whispered, "Please come back home Link; come back to me." Without thinking, Pipit rested his head on Link's door, creating a small thud that seemed to echo loudly off the walls in the dead silent hallway.
It was nearly inaudible, but Pipit could hear a slight groan from the other side of the door as Link shifted into wakefulness. "Hello?" A groggy voice called out quietly from Link's room.