Chapter 1

The sun was slowly creeping up on Skyloft to meet the dawn of a new day once more. A gentle stream of sunlight slowly trickled in through my window, alighting itself on my face. The warm, gentle caress of the still weak sunshine prodded me awake. The fresh air coming from my window flooded my lungs, and whispered promises to my heart about the hopes of a new day.

Slowly I rolled onto my back and stretched my limbs before letting out a hearty yawn. Flinging back the covers on my bed, I swung my legs out and let my feet graze the cool, stone floor. After letting out a sigh of contentment, I got up and made my bed. Once finished, I removed my daily attire from my dresser and draped my clothing over my arm. I exited my room and turned left towards the next door.

Upon reaching the door, I knocked three times, already knowing full well that nobody was up to use the bathing room yet, as it was still very early in the day. I opened the door and walked in, promptly shutting and locking door tightly behind. No one had ever woken up and tried to use the bathing room while I was still in here, but it was better safe than sorry. It would be just my luck that one day I decide to leave the door unlocked and someone walks in here while I'm bathing.

What if someone saw me naked? What if Strich-

I blushed profusely at the thought and vigorously shook my head to rid myself of the mental image. It wouldn't be good to have such thoughts at the moment... Those kind of thoughts were best saved for night, and even then I always felt a little guilty having them anyways.

Still red in the face, I commenced my usual bathing routine. I stripped away my pajamas, slowly stepped into the bath, relaxed for a minute, and then washed away all the dirt and grime. Once I felt thoroughly cleaned, I got out and dried myself. I combed through my hair and reached out for my attire. One by one, I pulled on my under garments, my under shirt, my lightly tanned pants, the usual chain mail and my dark purple tunic. The rest of my outfit was waiting for me in my room still, so I hung up the wet towel and picked up my pajamas.

Once back in my own room, I tossed aside my pajamas to deal with later. I slipped into my socks and boots, buckled on my belt and pouches, pulled on my leather gauntlets and topped it all off with my round hat that matched my tunic.

There, I thought to myself, all done!

I exited my room once more and headed downstairs, stomach already rumbling at the mere thought of breakfast. As soon as I reached the academy's kitchen, I sat down and immediately piled food onto my plate.

As always, I was the only one at the table. I was always the first student to wake up. I didn't mind, though, I liked not having to watch others shovel food down their throats like a pack of ravenous wolves. It was only ever Groose, Cawlin and occasionally Link who actually did that, though, and I haven't even seen much of any of them.

Link is rarely here, but he pops in every now and then. Sometimes he'll just go to the bazaar for a few minutes and then takes off again. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Groose around for awhile either. He had kept to himself in his room for awhile, moping about Zelda missing (such a tragedy that she hasn't come back yet), but now I haven't even seen him at all lately. And now Cawlin is doing pretty much the same thing, he never leaves Groose's room unless he has to and he always looks so upset when I do see him (I think he confessed to Karane, but she rejected him and went out with Pipit instead, poor fellow).

I attempted to take another bite of food, only to discover that my plate was empty. Time sure does fly when you are absorbed in your own thoughts. I got up and washed my dishes in the basin over by the oven.

After cleaning up, I proceeded towards the front door. There were no classes today (there were actually less classes going on then usual since Zelda hadn't been found yet) so I planned on enjoying the outdoors today. I had just grasped the door knob and was about to leave when I heard someone call out to me, making my heart flutter...