Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda and no profit is being made from this story. But I sure do love to write this stuff. Hoo ha! Nerdfighters!
AN: Just for clarification, I will always use the same backstory of Link's parents and such for any Skyward Sword stuff I write. Unless I say otherwise. Mwahaha.
A Loftwing's Idea of Flight School
Bang bang bang.
"Lily? Noah? Are you in there?" a muffled voice came through the wood of the door.
"Link, honey, could you get the door?" Link's mother called, her hands coated in soapy dish bubbles.
Bobbing over from his seat at breakfast, the little boy opened the door.
"Oh, Link. Are your parents home? My son, Egret, he's had a fall and—"
Link's eyes went wide at the teenager held in the arms of a knight—his eyes were lolling, his lips slightly parted as he let out a barely audible moan.
Link's mother quickly arrived at the door. "Here, here, bring him in," she ushered, gently pulling Link out of the way, "Link, honey, why don't you run along and play? Daddy will come get you when he can," she turned to the knight and the mother, "What happened?"
"He forgot to use his sailcloth," the knight picked up, "Cracked skull—"
But Link had already ducked behind them and out the door.
The door of his own house shut behind him as he took a deep breath, a deep breath of warm, sunlit air. Beetle's propeller thrummed the air gently as his airshop passed over head. Breathe, Link thought. Breathe. He'd never taken very well to the blood of his mother's patients, especially the pain, the horror, the accidents that he himself was one wrong move from himself.
There was a rush of wings as Link's red bird landed beside him. He squawked obnoxiously at Link.
"Oh, hi, Crimson," Link said to his loftwing as the bird nudged the boy with his giant beak.
What up? Crimson asked.
"Oh, Mom just needs me out of the house for a bit, she's got another patient."
You now scared to fly, the bird pointed out, expertly identifying his partner's anxiety.
"Of course not!"
Right. Crimson wasn't buying any of it. He knew the boy too well. Hylians could be so easy to read, he swore. So much fear. Fear of him, too. He was a big bird, blood-red, they had thought he was extinct. He could read it on all their faces. They worried about his kid, so young with a bird so wild. What, as if Crimson couldn't take care of a fledgling hylian. And the boy had proven himself. He had gut…when he applied himself. Not right now, though. Right now he was scared. Scared by the blood of a cracked skull. Huh. Crimson knew what to do.
We fly. Crimson cocked his head at his kid, who was taken aback. Link swallowed, weighing his options. If he said no Crimson would think him a scaredy-cat and never trust him. If he said yes he'd be labelled a pushover and Crimson would walk all over him, then leaving him when he'd had his fun, flying of and never returning. The chance of Link getting another loftwing after Crimson was slim to none.
The Instructors at the Academy always said that bonding with a loftwing went two ways. You taught the bird and the bird taught you. But with a Crimson, things got tricky. Very tricky. Crimsons were bright, and not just in their feathers.
"Crimson," Link began, "I know what you're doing."
Oh?
"Yes. Don't think you can get anything past me."
The lofting tipped his bill back and half-spread his wings in a laugh. Such a silly hylian.
"I mean it. We do things on my terms, got it?"
Again the Crimson shook his head. The boy was trying to assert himself with words. No, no, Crimson would show him how it was done. Link had to prove himself. And for Link to prove himself, Crimson had to set up the right situation. And today seemed like just the day for that. Today was a day for…a little good-hearted fun.
Link could've sworn the way his bird's beak was shaped it looked like he was smirking. It always looked like that, though, so Link tried to shrug it off, albeit with difficulty.
Crimson hopped up and down excitedly.
"What?"
FLY. Crimson sent the notion right at Link's brain, giving the illusion of capital letters or a raised voice.
"You're a fly, you mean, with how annoying you are."
Crimson gave another appreciative laugh. He then bopped Link on the head with his bill.
"Hey!"
Again he bopped the boy.
"Crim, stop it."
Bonk.
"CRIMSON!" Link wheeled around and caught his loftwing by the nostril holes. As playful as the bird seemed, Link knew there was something devious behind the shape of his beak. Even if he'd been hatched that way.
The two locked eyes. Yes. Crimson had been waiting for this. He stared the boy down, and Link hardened the soft blue of his gaze. He wasn't going to be bossed around by a bird.
Smart kid, Crimson thought, backing off. He's made of some tough stuff. But to ride me he can't fear crashes.
The bird was patient, following Link around on the ground as the kid mulled about by the banks of the river, kicked pebbles across the plaza. It was never really interesting, waiting for your dad to come and fetch you so you could go home again. Link didn't really know where Zelda was, but he felt mopey enough to do nothing with nobody and not get horribly bored.
Crimson ditched the waiting and took off. As he flew higher into the stronger winds of the upper sky, he could feel Link watching him. Yes, he thought. Yes.
Link made up his mind and made his way to the nearest sky dock. Shoving away the fear of the boy with the broken skull, running and jumping off, watching his scarlet blur approach before he even whistled, catching him easily.
"Good boy, Crimson!" Link yelled against the wind.
Crimson rolled his eyes. Good, huh? He's show Link how 'good' he was.
Just as the loftwing had expected, Link didn't point him in a specific direction, but aimed to simply glide around and enjoy the view. Crimson feinted obliging. And then he dove at the bazaar.
He couldn't have a rider afraid of crashes now, could he?
Flying low above the purple tent, Crimson did a spiral charge, a maneuver only highly trained flyers used and that both caught Link off guard and sent the boy flying.
If worst comes to worst, Crimson figured, his mom's a doctor.
Link screamed and clutched at the air, to no avail. In a moment he collided with the thick pink of the bazaar roof. It didn't hold him. With a creak of wood and fabric the roof gave, and all came crashing down on the heads of the various shopkeepers who set up there.
The fortuneteller screamed, the Item Check Sisters couldn't believe something interesting was actually happening, Gondo and his father looked up in shock, Rupin frowned heavily, Bertie and Luv were interrupted from their eye-goggling contest over their potion cauldrons. And Link's head spun. It took him a few moments to collect himself, but, amazingly, he wasn't hurt.
But he soon would be, based upon the extreme rage on the fortuneteller's face. It was a pudgy sort of tomato red.
"WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"
"I, uh, I'm sorry,"
"Is he okay?" One of the Item Check Sisters asked.
Gondo's father rounded the pile of fabric. "Yeah, he seems fine. You okay, kid?"
"Y-yeah."
"No!" the fortuneteller snapped. "He is clearly not okay if he fell through the roof! What is wrong with you, boy?"
"I, uh, I'm fine."
"See, Sparrot, he's fine."
"HE JUST FELL OUT OF THE SKY!"
"I just fell off my loftwing!" Link cried, and then winced heavily as all eyes turned to him. People didn't just fall off their loftwings. And loftwings didn't just dump and leave you to crash-land into the roof of the bazaar.
"I knew it!" Sparrot exclaimed, "I knew it the moment I set eyes on that scarlet bird, you wouldn't be able to handle him, boy!"
"I—I'm sorry!"
Crimson picked exactly that moment to pop his head in one of the entrances and squawk worriedly.
Link glared at him. Maybe his face wasn't a pudgy sort of tomato red but his eyes were a livid shade of death.
"Oh, hon, he wants to know if you're okay," cooed Luv, as if Link didn't know better. "Are you sure you're quite alright, dear?" she asked.
Link's eyes narrowed to slits, as if that kept him from seeing red. Red. Red. Red bird. Dead bird. Crimson was so dead.
"Just dandy," he said through gritted teeth, and stood from the pile of fabric and splinters. His parents were going to have his head, and Sparrot was going to make sure every fortune he ever had again was dark, ominous, and ludicrously vague. His bird deserved whatever he deemed a fair share of consequence.
"You're coming with me," he growled to Crimson, whose eyes betrayed a sheen of pleasure that laid the whole thing in front of Link. The stupid, idiot bird had planned this.
Fury building and butt throbbing, Link snagged his loftwing by the nostrils again and force him outside.
"No," he said in a low voice.
Yes, Crimson interrupted.
LISTEN, Link shot back, unfazed. He pulled his rage together until it was tangible before his bird. I HAVE NO USE FOR A BIRD THAT'S GOING TO THROW ME OFF BECAUSE HE'S BORED.
Crimson flinched at the sharpness of Link's voice in his head. He narrowed his eyes to match Link's. AND I HAVE NO USE FOR A BOY WHO'S AFRAID OF CRASHES.
WELL IT'S A GOOD THING I'M NOT THEN, ISN'T IT?
Crimson jerked and tried to pull out of Link's grip. But the boy hung on all the firmer, staring down the bird that much harder.
ARE WE CLEAR?
The loftwing looked down and to the side. Defeat.
Link released Crimson and the bird flew off without another glance at his boy. Still a little angry, Link trudged back to the wrecked bazaar, where Gondo and his father, along with everybody but Sparrot, had set to repairs. Link joined them without a word.
High above, in the sky, Crimson did his own moping and musing. Slowly, the winds stripped away his anger until he reached a conclusion: Link deserved the respect of the Crimosn Loftwing. As young as he was, there was promise. He hadn't backed down, hadn't been subdued even when faced with the source of his fear.
Crimson's eyes shaped to match the devious smile of his beak. He liked this kid. Well, most of him. He was still all shrimpy-looking.
AN: I really wanted to name this "Bizarre Bazaar"...but I've already done that to another oneshot...so, loftwings now have ideas of flight school. There are tons of different depictions of the hylian-loftwing bond, and I really love all that I've read, this is just how I've done mine, it's arguably not ideal because of the italics. If you have any ideas for improved formatting for the telepathy, or if you think it works fine, please tell me. (Because this isn't the only LOZ telepathic thing I want to write.) And thanks so much for reading! There's more stuff on my profile if you'd like to procrastinate on whatever you're currently putting off!
Ninja out.