The day was particularly nice. The sea was mostly calm, and a few feathery clouds wisped like pale brushstrokes across the sky.
Squawking seagulls glided through the wide expanse of blue, and from the deck of the S.S Linebeck, Link squinted uo at those white specks and wondered what it would be like to fly. He swung his legs back and forth as he sat on the edge of the boat. Hanging onto the stiff rope railing as he watched them swoop and soar in the blue, blue sky, those birds with their white wings and fluttery feathers.
"Hey Ciela. What's it like to fly?" He asked the fairy perched on his shoulder.
"To fly?" She rose into the air and flew a gentle circle around his head, sparkles trailing behind her as bright as the sunshine. "I guess...I guess it's a little like...swimming in the air?"
Link tilted his head back and closed his eyes, trying to picture it. The sunlight was warm, and melted into his skin. Waves slapped against the side of the boat, and Link blinked as the salt spray misted his face.
"Weren't there...in the old stories, weren't there humans who could fly?" He asked, peering at Ciela as she lighted softly back on his shoulder.
"Humans?" Her wings fluttered, tickling his ear.
"Mmm-hmm." Link nodded earnestly. "Humans with...white wings. White wings and white feathers. They flew around in the sky. Like birds, I think."
Ciela was silent for a moment, and then her glow brightened. "Oh!" She suddenly said. "Do you mean angels?"
"Yes, that's what they were called!"
"In the stories...the angels watched over the humans, didn't they?" Ciela said thoughtfully. "But I don't think they were human themselves…" She sighed in frustration. "I bet I used to know more about them back when I had the rest of my memories."
"Well…" Link looked over his shoulder and squinted at the sunlight reflecting off the large window of the engine room. "Linebeck's been all over the sea, hasn't he? More places than us. Maybe he knows about angels. Maybe he knows if humans can fly."
"Link," Ciela's voice wavered as Link grabbed the rope railing and used it to pull himself up. "He'll probably just get annoyed at you again." She sounded worried, but eventually followed after Link as he went below decks and trotted down the hallway. He hesitated outside the engine room for the briefest moment before pushing the big door open a crack and peering inside.
Linebeck was sitting on a crate and staring boredly out the window, his arms resting on the helm and his head resting on his arms. He yawned, and Link grinned. Linebeck wasn't busy; Link had clearly picked the perfect time to ask Linebeck all of his questions.
"Hey Linebeck!" Link pushed the door all the way open. His bare feet padded on the floor as he ran up to the wheel.
Linebeck jolted, almost falling off his crate. "Gah! W-what is it, kid?" He spluttered. Link almost giggled when he saw just how much he had caught Linebeck off guard.
"Linebeck? What do you think it's like to fly?"
"To fly?" Linebeck narrowed his eyes, as if wondering whether Link was messing around.
"To fly." Link nodded. "You know, like a bird." He spread his arms, mimicking the slight motions of the birds he had seen outside. "Or Ciela." He looked over at the door, where the fairy was hovering nervously. "Or...an angel." He looked back at Linebeck. "Angels could fly."
"Angels?" Linebeck crossed his arms, still appearing somewhat startled.
"They had white wings. And they might have even been human!' Link began to run around the room in little circles to show Linebeck how he thought angels would fly.
Linebeck stared.
Link eventually slowed down and lowered his arms. "Do you know about angels? Do you think that there's some way that humans could fly too?" He asked, returning to Linebeck's side. "Huh? Linebeck?" He pulled on the sleeve of Linebeck's blue jacket. "Linebeck?"
"Kid," Linebeck said finally, and Link looked up at him eagerly, waiting for an answer. "You really ask the stupidest questions sometimes."
Link froze.
"I have no idea what angels are, and of course humans can't fly!" Linebeck scoffed. "If humans were meant to fly, we'd be born with wings!" He pulled his sleeve away from Link and turned, hunching over the wheel again. Link stared at Linebeck's back, hurt, but more disappointed at this unexpected outburst. After a moment, he turned and left the room, Ciela following closely behind him.
"That jerk," she huffed softly so that only Link could hear. "Just because he doesn't know all the answers to everything doesn't mean he needs to react like that." Link wordlessly pulled the door shut behind him, slamming it with enough force that Linebeck was sure to realize just how mean he had been.
He then paused outside of the engine room and gazed down at his boots for a moment, then started a little ways down the short, narrow hallway. He stopped in front of Linebeck's room.
Ciela flew in front of his face in alarm as he reached out and grasped at the doorknob. "Link, what are you doing!?"
"If angels and birds and fairies can fly, then there has to be a way that humans can fly." Link replied. "There has to be."
"I don't think this is such a good idea," Ciela mumbled nervously, following Link back up to the deck moments later. The wind had picked up, almost as if it knew that was what Link needed. It tugged at his hat playfully, whispering through his hair in a way that made him feel confident about his idea.
With the help of the wind, he would fly, and he would prove Linebeck wrong. Link smiled. It was a great idea. He began to trot towards the front of the ship, dragging the sheet from Linebeck's bed behind him.
"Link, why don't you wait until we get back to Mercay Island and ask Oshus if there's any way for humans to fly?" Ciela pleaded. "This seems sort of...dangerous, don't you think?"
Link climbed up onto the prow, gathering the fabric and holding it tightly in both of his hands. Monsters were dangerous. Exploring an uncharted island was dangerous. Linebeck when he was in a particularly bad mood was dangerous. But the wind wasn't dangerous. The wind wouldn't hurt him.
"It's okay Ciela," He told her, before turning to look through the engine room window and narrowing his eyes. Linebeck glanced up a moment later, almost as if Link's glaring gaze was something that could be felt. Rather than scowling back, like Link would have assumed, his eyes widened, almost as if he was alarmed by what Link was about to do.
Convinced now that he had Linebeck's attention, Link turned, and with the wind blowing above and the sea glittering below, he jumped. He brought both arms up behind him the moment his feet left the deck, and the fabric in his hands billowed upwards promisingly. The wind caught and lifted him, just like he had hoped it would, and suddenly he was floating on the air, just like a bird, just like Ciela, just like an angel. Link laughed out loud at the feeling and swung his legs in the emptiness.
"Link!" Ciela streaked upwards from the deck of the ship.
"Look Ciela! I'm flying, just like you!"
"Link…" Ciela hesitated. "Linebeck...Linebeck, he…"
Link felt his smile fade.
"Linebeck is really mad!" She burst out finally. "I think you should come back to the ship now, before he starts really freaking out."
Link felt the small bubble of happiness grow very small and hard within him. He sighed heavily, and cringed at the thought of Linebeck yelling again.
"If you can get back to the ship." Ciela added. Link looked up. The wind had died down, and he was floating gently towards the boat now. No, not the boat, he realized. THe sea. He was going to hit the sea…
His toes brushed the crest of a wave, and then suddenly, his knees were wet. The water was cold, and Link gasped as it pulled at his arms, his legs, his clothes. A wave slapped him in the face and he coughed and sputtered, struggling to free his arms of the wet fabric. The sheet had grown overwhelmingly heavy and was trapping him against the water. He began to thrash about in a panic, dimly aware of Ciela's frantic shouting. And then, the waves pulled him under and a rushing in his ears replaced the sound of her voice.
The sunlight sliced through the waves in watery rays that danced before Link's eyes. He struggled to kick upwards, but his legs were entangled in the very fabric that had brought him so close to freedom. He tried to scream, and the air escaped his aching lungs in a stream of bubbles that sparkled like tears.
His vision began to grow fuzzy and grey around the edges. The salt stung his eyes and his nose, and his chest burned. It hurt. It hurt so bad. Link felt his eyelids flutter shut as he lost feeling in his limbs and sank deeper, still deeper. The last of the stale air left his lungs in a sigh.
And he drifted…
Until something grasped at the front of his tunic and pulled.
Pulling him upwards, and back to life.
Link coughed and choked when he broke the surface of the water. Hands grasped around his chest, pulling him up and out of the waves as he gasped, struggling to draw air into his lungs and just breathe.
His head hit something hard, and suddenly he was lying on his back, on something solid, and the hands were ripping the tangled, wet sheet off of him. Voices were shouting, but they sounded distant and warbled, and Link couldn't understand what they were saying. His head hurt too much, and-
"Kid!"
Link blinked open his eyes. The figure shaking him roughly was blurry and framed in white light.
"Kid!"
The angel was shouting at him now, sounding less like an angel and more like-
"Link, wake up!"
Link stiffened, and managed to roll onto his side before heaving up what seemed like an impossible amount of seawater. He dropped his head afterwards, completely spent. As his vision grew clearer, the figure in front of his face grew less and less fuzzy, until Link realized it wasn't an angel holding him.
"What were you thinking?!" Linebeck demanded. His hair was plastered to his face and fell into his eyes. His clothes were wet, the sleeves of his shirt dripping. His coat was dry, but lay crumpled on the deck. "You really are stupid, you know that? What if I hadn't been there? What would you have done then?" Linebeck shook him again, tightening his grip on Link's arms. "You would have drowned, that's what!"
As Link stared up at him, the choking lump in his throat began to grow bigger, harder to ignore. To his horror, he felt tears prickling at his eyes. No. He would not cry. He would especially not cry in front of Linebeck.
"Kid…"
Link turned his head away as Linebeck started to say something, and blinked as Ciela flew up to him, hovering in his face. "Link, are you okay?" She asked, her wings fluttering wildly.
Afraid he would start crying if he tried to speak, Link instead lifted his arm. Ciela landed on his hand, spreading warmth through his shaking fingers. "Oh Link, we thought you were…"
"It's alright Ciela. I'm okay." Link told her. He tried to smile.
"No! It's not alright! That was really dumb, Link!" She said, angry now. "You could have died!"
"But...but I didn't." Link said softly.
"Only because Linebeck saved you!" Ciela's wings drooped and she almost seemed to deflate. "You really scared me, you know." She sniffed.
Link felt her small tears, wet on his wrist. He hung his head and sniffled, desperately trying to keep the tears at bay but ultimately failing. "I...I'm sorry…" He whispered as tears started pouring freely from his eyes.
Linebeck had been right. Of course humans couldn't fly! It had been silly and childish of him to think so. Knowing that he had actually believed otherwise made him feel all the more stupid.
"Stop." Linebeck finally said, shaking him again. "Stop your blubbering, kid. You're fine."
"You stop it, Linebeck!" Ciela flew out of Link's hand, her glow taking on a slightly reddish hue. "Leave him alone! He's obviously not fine!"
"What would you have me do, Sparkles?" Linebeck snapped back at her. "He should know better, and you both know that!"
"Start being more sensitive, you idiot!" Ciela retorted. "Think about what you say, especially before you go and call Link stupid! You do that a lot, you know."
Linebeck was silent for a moment. "Kid...I worry about you." He finally said to Link. "You...you're different, you know that?" His voice softened a bit. "Most kids wouldn't sit and stare at the sky for hours and talk about weird stuff like angels." His chuckle was harsh, humorless. "And most kids know that jumping off a boat is no way to fly."
Link turned his face away and wiped his eyes with the palms of his hands, deliberately refusing to respond. Linebeck stared at him, then let go of his arms and stood up. "Go dry off. Before you get sick." He muttered as Link slumped to the deck with a dull thump. "And stay away from the railings.
Ciela circled Link's head and lit on his shoulder comfortingly as Linebeck hesitated, before walking below decks without a second glance. Feeling himself began to shiver, Link rolled over onto his back and watched the birds swoop and soar in the blue, blue sky overhead.
They could fly. It wouldn't hurt them as much to be called stupid, because they could just spread their wings and let the wind carry them away from whoever was hurting them.
Link closed his eyes, trying to picture it. The sunlight was on his skin as the salt spray misted his face. The waves gently rocked the boat, but his chest still ached, still burned. The memory of Linebeck's scathing voice was what added most of the pain to his heart. Lying there, shivering in his wet clothes, Link let the tears slip sideways and roll across the bridge of his nose, across his temple, and down into his hair.