Darkness Lost

By: Spirit the Fire Dragon

O' wicked owl, perfidious fowl, most foul malignant wraith,

Symbolic, bleak purveyor of the rift in righteous faith,

Thy virtue shed like dew from wings in predatory flight,

Thy feathers void of dark to taunt the anguish of the night…

Darkness Lost by Robert G. Shubinski


There was no moon in the sky that night.

The night the world changed, there was no moon. The sky was a thick, all-consuming black, swallowing the stars and the sapping the wind dry; even the imposing, protective statue watching over the small airborne town could not pierce the veil of the malignant night.

The hero of legend's destiny was beginning to unravel, as was that of the spirit maiden, who had been born mere hours before sunset. No one could predict the outcome of that dark night, or even how it would impact the oh-so carefully laid plans that had been put into motion centuries before.

For on that dark night, the one without a moon, there was a flash of pale white light before the watchful statue's feet and slowly dissipated like wisps of a snuffed flame; this tiny light, which no one noticed, changed the course of history and the destinies of so many.

Beneath the statue, a tiny bundle lay swathed in soft white blankets. The tiny bundle barely moved throughout the imposing night. But that night could not live eternally, as the sun—the mightiest of the heaven's warriors—rose and vanquishes the moonless night, and shed light upon the quiet town and on the alien bundle. A young resident of the town took a stroll up to pray at the feet of the statue the next morning and spotted the stark white bundle. As she stole towards it, thinking it her roaming Remlit, she stopped short as she noticed the blankets.

The young woman knelt and shifted the blankets and gasped at what she found. Two tiny fists, a tiny pale nose, and two, wide black eyes stared up at her, unwavering. The face was too angled, too sharp, to be a true babe's face. She lifted up the tiny child and stroked her finger over the tiny black diamond imprinted on his cheek and twisted her fingers through the head full of stark white hair.

She pulled down the blankets that were tucked firmly around his tiny body and gasped at the fresh red cuts that left droplets of scarlet blood stained on the blanket. The cuts were brutal but superficial, slashed across his breast, but the tiny child seemed unfazed.

It was then the young woman noticed a tiny slip of parchment that was pinned to the soft cloth. She gently tugged the paper off and read the inscribed words with care.

My name is Ghirahim. I am in need of a safe home. I have no family to raise me.

Far away, on a lush floating rock, a cold, lifeless black egg that had lain there for several centuries started to shake and twitch. The shell broke into several pieces and a slimy, black feathered bird flopped to the ground and squalled loudly. Another bird, who had hatched a mere day before, stumbled over to the chick and snuggled close, its fluffed downy crimson feathers warming and cleaning the tiny black bird.

Another piece of a destiny unknown to the Goddess fit itself into a nearly complete puzzle that night. A wild card played into a finished game.

And the people of Skyloft, even that young woman who found the tiny Ghirahim, never knew how that baby appeared or even why. Ghirahim became the mystery of Skyloft, an impossible child.

But Ghirahim wouldn't be alone in a room in the Academy, without parents to care for him. Link, a healthy boy, was left without parents when his father was struck down by a mysterious illness and his mother in childbirth. The two boys, who were assumed to be the same age, were placed together to support each other in their journey through life without any parents of their own.

And so the destiny that was planned for centuries was altered and refined at the last moment. Ghirahim forced himself into the destiny in a completely different path than the one planned for him.


"LINK! LINK, WAKE UP!" The shout was shockingly close to his ear and Link was in the throes of a nightmare including a giant black monster with a gaping mouth that devoured his friend, Zelda. He shouted and jerked upwards and found himself staring at the annoyed face of his friend.

Ghirahim did not look pleased, but then again, he rarely ever did.

"What?" Link gasped, rubbing his ringing ear.

"You slept in, stupid!" Ghirahim snapped. "The Wing Ceremony is in twenty minutes and I know She commanded you to see her beforehand."

She was obviously Zelda. Ghirahim didn't like her—he didn't like much of anyone besides Link, and even then it was on a good day/bad day basis—in fact, he only tolerated her because of her close friendship to Link.

Link's eyes brightened. "Oh, that's right!"

Ghirahim rolled his eyes and tossed a pair of clean pants at his face. "Get dressed," he ordered. "You don't have time to doddle this morning. Even if you didn't have to meet Her, you'd still have a hard time getting ready in time for the Ceremony."

Link just smiled and pulled off his pajama pants without hesitation and pulled on the clean pair Ghirahim had thrown at him. Neither felt embarrassed as he stripped. What was changing their clothes in front of the other when they had shared baths when they were little, splashing and laughing and washing the other's hair?

Link hopped on one foot as he pulled his boot on and grinned a bit at his stony faced friend. Ghirahim was tall for his age, much taller than Link, even taller than Groose, with his white hair pinned away from his face to bare the black diamond under his left eye. His shirt was loose and low cut, tied off with strips of red cloth below his elbows and the sleeves slightly puffed. His pants were baggy and tied with similar red strips of cloth at the knees so that his calves were bare. He walked barefoot with only cloth tied around the balls of his feet and his heels.

"Want to come with?" Link asked, a bit breathlessly, as he tied the red cloth around his middle.

Ghirahim sneered. "And see Her willingly? No thanks, I'll practice."

Link smiled, not at all stung by his snarky tone. "Like you even need to practice, Ghira."

Ghirahim was probably the most accomplished flyer Skyloft had ever seen. He rode with ease, though it had taken him years and years to gather the courage to even ride his bird; he had had a strange phobia of flying before Link bargained for his friend to fly with him on his own bird so he could at least see the joy of flying. Now, in his teens, Ghirahim had practiced through many nights (and got caught on several occasions) to build his confidence and his expertise, and now he was thought to be one of the most intricate and skillful fliers in the sky. His professors could teach him nothing on the technique to ride a Loftwing. Even Link on his Crimson Loftwing couldn't beat Ghirahim on his Black Loftwing when they were racing. Ghirahim's talent could have been his ticket to knighthood two years ago, but for one reason or the other he bailed on the Wing Ceremonies or got disqualified.

Ghirahim grinned but didn't respond.

Link straightened and headed towards his door. "Come on, Ghira."

The two left, and didn't notice when a blue Loftwing stuck its head through the tiny window in his room and spat a letter onto his bed.

It would lay there, unopened, for many hours.


They parted at the Bazaar, and Ghirahim sauntered off towards a platform so he could fly around a bit before the Wing Ceremony. The other people of Skyloft glanced at the tall teenager and gave him a wide berth; Ghirahim was now better known for his volatile temper than for the mystery surrounding his existence.

Link hurried up towards the Statue of the Goddess, pausing when he heard Zelda's voice raised in song, a pretty, haunting melody that he recognized as her favorite. He listened for a while before Zelda noticed him, and she excitedly showed him her new outfit—she had actually made it herself!—and her instrument, which turned out to be a harp. Link more or less zoned out after that, feeling a bit puzzled at the missing presence of his Loftwing.

"That's just it, father," Zelda was saying to the Headmaster, who had arrived moments before. "I don't think Link is prepared for the Wing Ceremony! He's barely practiced and when he is, he's just lazily flying around, like he's in a day dream!"

Link winced and felt his cheeks flush when he heard that.

"Now, now, Zelda," the Headmaster soothed. "You should have confidence in Link, I've never seen a connection like Link and his bird." He paused, and then amended, "Besides Ghirahim and his bird, but then again, Ghirahim has made many exceptions. Trust him, Zelda, dear. He will do fine."

Link wasn't listening, however, and in hindsight he really should have been, seeing as it was an argument about how he rarely listened, but he was staring up at the sky, looking for both a black bird and his own crimson Loftwing. He saw neither, and that worried him.

"Well, Link's going to squeeze in some extra practice before the ceremony!" Zelda declared, and Link gasped as he was dragged off by the elbow towards the nearby platform. "You promised, Link!"

Link stumbled to the edge, throwing out his arms and turning rapidly around to try and tell Zelda that he couldn't sense his bird—

"Uh huh," Zelda said, not believing a word of his rapid explanation. "You can't "sense your bird", huh? You just don't want to practice. You're not getting out of it this time!" And with that, Link felt her push his shoulders hard and he cried out as he went flying off the platform.

The wind stole the breath from his lungs, and he tumbled over before sticking in his fingers in his mouth and whistling with the little air he had left. He looked around, his heart beating fast, hoping desperately that he was wrong, that his Loftwing would swoop under him—

Link knew after a dreadful few seconds after the whistle that his bird was not coming. His heart rate doubled, tripled even, and he let loose a scream. He threw his arms out and felt himself turn and tumble in mid air, trying to slow himself down, hoping that if he looked like he was flailing that the rescue knights would see it fit to rescue him before he plunged to his death.

He thought he glimpsed Zelda's blue Loftwing diving towards him, but they weren't close enough to catch him before he fell below the cloud barrier. He sucked in his breath and felt tears streak randomly across his face from the stinging wind hitting his wide open eyes. He gasped and felt fear.

Link opened his eyes at the sound of a shout, and then his body was slammed into another's with the force of a diving Loftwing. His limbs no longer felt weightless; they felt more like thick pieces of iron pipes. He felt an arm wrap firmly around him as the bird beneath him turned upwards and began an easy ascent with the remaining speed from the dive.

"I've got you," a deep, gruff voice said in Link's ear, over the wind.

Link would have thanked him, if he could talk. He actually didn't think he could walk at the moment, if he had the chance. His breathing was quick, dangerously slow, tearing at his throat and making his chest burn.

"Stupid girl," the voice continued, mumbling more to itself than to him, but Link didn't care and he clung to his friend's body with all he had in him. He was in an awkward position, kind of riding sidesaddle on the black Loftwing and nearly sitting on Ghirahim's lap, with his arms around his neck and Ghirahim's arm tightly wrapped around his chest.

Ghirahim squeezed his knees and his bird eased over Skyloft, where Link had fallen, and banked to his right before spiraling lazily down to the ground, where the Headmaster stood. Link tightened his hold as Ghirahim's bird landed, and only released it when Ghirahim helped him down to the ground. Link tried to take a step away from his friend's Loftwing, so the other could get off, but the moment his hand left the cold black feathers his knees gave out and he fell to the ground like a ragdoll, on his hands and knees.

His breaths came in ragged gasps as he tried to slow his heart. His arms were shaking and the fear was still racing through his veins. He felt a firm hand press between his shoulder blades and start rubbing circles there in a very comforting gesture. Link would have smiled up at Ghirahim if he wasn't shaking so badly.

"Link!" Zelda's cry rang over the small courtyard as her Loftwing landed. She had obviously tried to fly to his rescue, but Ghirahim had gotten there first. "Link, oh Goddess, are you alright?"

She obviously tried to rush over to him, but Ghirahim's sharp, "Stay back, you stupid girl!" halted her in her tracks, and for once, Link was grateful. He didn't want Zelda fussing over him in that moment—he had felt absolute fear from his fall, and he didn't think he could have tolerated her hands all over him.

"Do you realize what you've done?" Ghirahim continued ruthlessly. "Link could have died! How could you have been so foolish as to push him? Haven't you learned anything in the Academy? Is this how you treat all of your friends? Pushing them off the damn platforms? How dare—"

"Ghirahim." Link's voice was soft in volume but firm in tone, and it cut Ghirahim off. The ranting Skyloftian glared at the girl who was nearly in tears before him but didn't continue, no matter how badly he wanted to. He had learned to trust Link when it came to social situations like this; when his temper got too out of hand Link was the only one who could reel him back in.

"Look, I'm fine," Link continued as he straightened up and rocked back on his heels. He smiled tiredly at both of his friends. "I just had a bit of a fright, that's all."

Ghirahim glared and almost retorted, but Zelda cut him off. "I'm so sorry! I should have believed you when you said you didn't sense your bird! Link, I'm so sorry!"

Link waved her off, not rudely, but obviously trying to stem her apologies that were unneeded in his opinion. "Zelda," he said firmly, "I'm fine." He stood up, and mumbled thanks when Ghirahim offered his arm to use as leverage to get to his feet.

"This is unheard of," the Headmaster said softly. "A bird not coming to its master's call? I've never heard of this occurring before, Link…"

"He must be hurt," Ghirahim said, still holding onto Link's arm, almost protectively. "Or trapped somewhere. There's no other explanation."

The Headmaster nodded. "Yes, I agree. We must set out for a search party right away."

"I'll go," Zelda offered immediately. "I can fly around and see if I can spot him on the other islands too."

The Headmaster nodded. "I'll tell Professor Owlan to delay the ceremony if needs be."

Link nodded thankfully, both to the Headmaster and a bit because the feeling was returning to his legs. He offered Ghirahim a small smile and said, "Come on, Ghira," and started towards the stairs to bring him to the bazaar. Ghirahim sent off his bird with soft pat, glared once more at Zelda and jogged after Link.

They started off their search by asking a few people in the bazaar, but they found little success there. Ghirahim and Link then went off to the Academy, where they enlisted Pipit to help their search and found Fledge's stuttering rather suspicious. Before Ghirahim could threaten the poor teenager, Link pulled him bodily away and they started towards the plaza in hopes of better findings.

Ghirahim sulked as they walked, but stopped Link by tugging on his arm when they saw two familiar cronies and a ridiculous red hairdo.

"…bad that we couldn't catch that black one," Groose was saying as they approached. "Wouldn't get close enough, that damn thing. But at least we got the Crimson one, eh, boys?"

"He really did put up a fight," agreed Cawlin.

Groose laughed stupidly. "Yeah, but he was nothing compared to me," he said.

"Care to explain what we just heard?" Link interrupted, rather politely considering his situation.

Groose jumped around and his cronies backed off fearfully at the sight of the tall, white haired boy standing at Link's side. Groose's face had an equal combination of fear and anger on his face. The fear was mostly directed towards Ghirahim, the anger towards Link.

"Explain what?" Groose scoffed loudly, his bulbous eyes glaring at Link but straying to Ghirahim's stony face. He continued off the topic, "Word around town is that your bird got lost. His tiny brain probably couldn't handle the amount of clouds out today. Got lost on the way here, dontcha think?"

"Just tell me where he is," Link said firmly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Groose lied, scoffing at the same time.

Ghirahim looked bored as he examined his nails and finally spoke up. "Just because you think you're the toughest guy around here doesn't mean it's actually true, and it certainly doesn't mean we believe the lies you spew from your mouth like vomit."

Groose gaped unbelievingly at the taller boy and retorted, "Shut it, diamond boy!"

"Original," Ghirahim said sarcastically. His face became angrier as he let the façade drop. "Tell where you hid Link's Loftwing and I won't have to make you regret ever setting eyes on Crimson."

Groose looked uneasy but continued in a gruff voice, "and how do you plan to do that, huh? Go crying to mom about how I'm so mean?" His face broke out in a sadistic grin. "Oh, that's right, you don't have one! Where is she, anyways? Leave you here and jump off the edge?"

Link had to physically restrain Ghirahim from tearing Groose apart right then and there, and even when he did Ghirahim was able to take two full steps towards his adversary with his fists clenched and eyes alight with fury. Groose yelped and threw himself back.

"Ghirahim, it's not worth it!" Link cried. "Ghirahim, seriously! You can't get disqualified today!"

Ghirahim practically hissed Groose, his narrow black eyes never leaving his frightened face as he made some ridiculous comeback and jumped off the platform and flew away.

Link didn't dare release him even then, because he knew Ghirahim could call his bird and chase after them in an instant if he gave him the chance. "Come on, Ghira," he said softly. "Let's go back up to the Statue and see where we can go from there."

Ghirahim let himself be pulled away, glowering and his fists still clenched even as they walked. Though he had had his fair share of violence and bullying throughout his life, whenever someone brought up the topic of his nonexistent family was when the worst would come out of him. It was his weakness, though he tried to hide it, but it was impossible when it was one of the things he was known for. Link was the only person he would ever discuss his family with, and it was vice versa for Link as well.

"Link, Ghirahim!" Both of them turned to see Pipit waving them towards him, where he had Fledge cornered against the Sparring Hall. "Come over here!"

Ghirahim glanced at Link, still glowering, but his face said "I told you so" before he nimbly jumped over the edge of the walkway they were on and landed in the courtyard below. Link sighed and followed, having to roll when he landed. Ghirahim was already advancing on Fledge, who looked like he might wet himself.

Link hurried up to them and he heard Pipit explain to Ghirahim, "I asked Fledge here if he knew anything about Link's Loftwing, and he started acting weird." Pipit turned to Fledge and said, rather firmly, "Tell them what you told me."

Fledge looked pleadingly at Link and fearfully at Ghirahim, who looked rather murderous. Well, more so than usual.

"I'm sorry, Link," he said. "I didn't want to lie to you, but Groose said if I told you he'd make sure I could never ride a bird again! I'm just not brave like you."

Link just said, "It's fine, Fledge. What do you know?"

Fledge wrung his hands. "I was cleaning the dining hall when Groose and his buddies came in, and they started talking about how they were planning to capture Ghirahim's and your Loftwing and hide them near a waterfall. I tried to sneak away, I really did, but they grabbed me and threatened me. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you right away."

Ghirahim said, rather sharply, "You're just lucky you told."

Fledge paled and actually started to shake. Link sighed and patted him on the shoulder. "Ignore him, Fledge. Thanks for your help; we wouldn't know even where to look if you didn't tell us."

The words seemed to help a little bit. Perhaps Fledge's hero worship of Link overpowered his fear of Ghirahim.

"Come on, Ghira," Link said. "There's only one waterfall, and there's a cave near there…maybe Groose hid him in there."

Ghirahim rolled his eyes and said, "That cave's infested with monsters, Link. There's no way you're going in there and coming out unharmed. Come on, we need to get swords from the Commander."

Pipit looked uneasy. "There's no chance he'll let you take a sword out of the Sparring Hall, Ghirahim. Not after last time."

Ghirahim scowled. "That wasn't my fault! That Remlit was rabid! Why does no one believe me?"

Link shifted and Pipit rubbed the back of his neck while looking skyward, and an uneasy silence fell over the group. Ghirahim scowled again and stomped towards the Sparring Hall. Pipit still looked awkward and slightly frightened. Link laughed at his expression and shook his head.

"He's harmless," Link said.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Pipit murmured. "Along with the time he gave Groose a broken arm and that fifth year Knight Student two black eyes and that bite that didn't heal for a few weeks."

Link looked contemplative. "It did ooze," he agreed. He turned after a moment and ran after Ghirahim, who had already gone into the Sparring Hall. He found him wandering in front of the rack of swords while the Knight Commander looked like he was about to tear his hair out.

Link went up to the Knight Commander to explain Ghirahim's suspicious behavior. "My Loftwing was taken, sir. We found that a few guys that hid him behind the waterfall, and we need to go through the cave to get there. There are too many monsters to go through unarmed. Is it alright if we take the swords to make sure we get through safely?"

The Knight Commander seemed to calm at his words. "Oh, that's what this is, eh? I suppose I can allow it…but you can't go whacking around causing chaos, you hear? I don't want to get in trouble over this." He jerked his thumb towards Ghirahim, who was slashing a short, stubby sword through the air. "Make sure that one doesn't do anything stupid."

Link smiled. "I'll do my best," he said before going over to the sword rack and choosing his favorite almost subconsciously. He slid the strap that held the sword over his head and sheathed his sword with practiced ease. Ghirahim chose a long, thin saber and twirled the tip through the air for a few moments before clipping the sheath to his belt. He held the sword to his side.

"Let's go," Ghirahim said, striding out without so much as a nod towards the Knight Commander. Link smiled apologetically and thanked him before hurrying after his friend.

The waterfall cave was hidden by a row of thin, tall trees that fell under a few well placed slices from Ghirahim's sword. Link, with his sword at his side, ran into the cave before his friend. He could hear a far off screech of his panicking Loftwing.

The cave was dark, dank and wet. The air was musty, a sharp contrast to the warm and breezy air just outside the cave mouth. Bats were flying around the roof off the cave and dove at them when they got too close, but their attacks didn't last long. Link turned away from the carcasses of the bats that were lying on the ground. Killing the protective animals seemed too extreme, cruel even, but Ghirahim plowed on and gave no mercy.

Link sprinted up the steep slope and saw an exit in front of him. He smiled as Ghirahim came up next to him, his sword dripping blood silently onto the cave floor. Link started forward only to stop when a giant, gooey creature popped up from the ground and condensed into a strange, shapeless blob. Link hesitated.

"What is it?" he asked Ghirahim as the creature stalked back and forth, its…goo giggling strangely.

Ghirahim cocked his head. "I don't know," he said. A beat passed. "It looks harmless."

Link stepped forward and the creature suddenly charged at him and encased his legs with its strange body. Link gasped and tried to free his legs, but only managed to aggravate the creature—he cried out when he felt fangs bite into his calf. He managed to kick it off and Ghirahim lunged forward to slice it into two small halves that sunk back into the ground.

Ghirahim turned to Link as he bent down to roll up his pants and inspect his wound. It was small, with two ragged teeth marks where the creature had apparently bit into him. It was weeping lightly, and Link swiped the blood away and stood up with a crooked smile to Ghirahim. "Harmless," Link agreed cheekily.

Ghirahim scowled and followed Link out of the cave. The light initially blinded them and Link blinked rapidly as he saw Zelda fly down towards them and land easily on the grass before them.

"I heard that you two went into the cave to look for Link's Loftwing," she explained hurriedly, noticing Ghirahim's displeased expression. "I thought I could help."

"Not likely," Ghirahim muttered, not even bothering to keep his voice down. Link shot him a dark look and Ghirahim merely shrugged; he wasn't going to censor his thoughts just to spare her feelings. He didn't do that for much of anyone.

"Come on, then," Link said and they started down the slope to their left. Ghirahim loped easily next to Link, making sure to keep Link at a faster pace as to leave Zelda behind. Link stopped suddenly when he saw his beloved Crimson Loftwing in a makeshift pen before them, flapping his wings ad screeching in panic.

Link rushed forward, faster than Ghirahim expected, and immediately stuck his hand through the crisscrossed boards to calm his bird. His Loftwing calmed instantly and nudged his beak against Link's hand. Link smiled, more to himself than either of his friends, and pulled back so he could unsheathe his sword.

He went to strike the boards of wood, but Ghirahim stopped him with, "Stop! You could hurt him that way. Slice the ropes, the boards will fall."

Link nodded, seeing the logic, and quickly went to slicing the ropes holding up the boards that held his Loftwing in. Ghirahim started on the other side, making quick progress. Zelda watched, realizing that she couldn't do much of anything at the moment besides stand there.

The last board dropped and the Crimson Loftwing hesitantly came forward, and immediately stretched his wings when he had the space. Link laughed and reached up to stroke his ruffled feathers on his side. "There you are," he said, softly.

Ghirahim smiled as the Loftwing cawed loudly and took off, and he watched as Link's eyes followed him and as he ran to the edge trying to keep his eyes on him. A delighted grin was making his way onto the blonde boy's face, and Ghirahim liked it.

"He looks unharmed," Zelda said, rather suddenly. She was about to continue but then stopped, as if listening, and cocked her head towards the sky. After a few moments, she said, hesitantly, "Did either of you just hear something?"

Ghirahim turned to look at her, scowling slightly. Link tore his eyes away from the sky long enough to look at her. "No, why?" he asked, puzzled.

"I…just heard something," Zelda confessed. "I have the strangest feeling that I'm being called…summoned almost. I don't know where, but…one does wonder what lies beneath the cloud barrier, no?"

Link cocked his head, like a confused puppy. "I guess," he said. "Are you okay, though?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Zelda hurried to assure him. "I guess it's just me then, no worries. But Link, we better hurry back to the town to let them know we found your Loftwing. We can start to ceremony then!"

Ghirahim rolled his eyes and watched as Link dove off the platform and called his bird, Zelda following soon after. Ghirahim stood on the edge of the platform and whistled, then jumped up and slightly off the platform. Before he even began his descent, a black bird sped up from beneath him and caught him. Ghirahim grabbed onto his Loftwing as it soared upwards and then dove down to meet with Link and Zelda.

Link turned and waved to him, Ghirahim just smirked. Link looked so at home in the sky, on his bird, like he had been designed and born to fly. Though Ghirahim was no stranger to the sky himself, he could never match the natural grace and ease that Link flew with. Though he was a spectacular flyer in his own right, Link was meant to fly.

Ghirahim watched as Link flew through the basic maneuvers, making sure his Loftwing was unharmed. The bird was beautiful and in top condition, not even frazzled by the abduction. Ghirahim smiled and squeezed his knees, signaling his Loftwing to bank to the right with the others to go back to town.

The three of them landed in the plaza before their birds flew off, spiraling lazily around. Professor Owlan and Headmaster Gaepora were delighted at the news that Link's Loftwing was alright and unharmed. The ceremony began immediately.


Link, Ghirahim, Groose, Cawlin and Stritch lined up in front of Headmaster Gaepora and Professor Owlan. A yellow bird sat next to Owlan.

"Now we may begin the Wing Ceremony," he began. "I was worried that we may have had to start without Link, but luckily this is not the case. To complete this ceremony, you must chase this golden bird and grab the bird statue that I have attached to its leg. As it is the twenty fifth anniversary of our fine establishment, whoever wins this ceremony will complete the ritual atop the statue of the Goddess, with the young lady who was chosen to play the role of the Goddess.

"As I have heard, this young lady has crafted the gift to bestow upon the winner herself. As some of you already know, the young lady who is playing the Goddess is none other than the lovely Zelda."

Groose laughed stupidly into his hand and Ghirahim rolled his eyes, leaning on one leg and crossing his arms.

"Now, I want clean flying out there," Owlan warned, eyes trained on both Groose and Ghirahim. "No trickery. Anyone who resorts to dirty flying will have to answer to me."

"That goes double for you two!" Gaepora boomed at Ghirahim and Groose. Groose jumped backwards, alarmed, but Ghirahim rolled his eyes and sighed loudly.

"When I say so, run off this platform and mount your birds," Owlan instructed as the boys began to line up before the wide platform. He released the bird, who sped up into the sky and darted away. Owlan counted down from ten and then called, "Begin!"

Link and Groose were instantly sprinting to the edge, while Cawlin and Stritch were left to lumber after them. Ghirahim waited a few moments, amused, before taking six long strides forward and whistling before he had jumped.

His bird sped up towards him, weaving between the diving Skyloftians and caught him just as he jumped up. He was the first to mount his bird, just before Link. Ghirahim dove downwards and the race began.

As expected, Groose, Cawlin and Stritch did not play clean. Cawlin and Stritch attacked Link with eggs whenever they happened to be close enough, and Groose steered his bird into Link's whenever he got close to the free flying bird.

Ghirahim was gliding in lazy circles high above the other competitors, watching them fight for glory with a small sneer; he had no intentions of trying to win the ceremony, since he didn't really care about being knighted (it was a superfluous title, in his opinion). But when Link's victory was snatched right out from his fingers by Groose ramming his friend and making Crimson falter, he had enough of observing.

Ghirahim squeezed his knees and his Loftwing dove with almost painful speed, directed towards Groose's deep blue Loftwing. Groose didn't see the attack coming until Ghirahim was right on top of him (quite literally), buzzing slow close that the black Loftwing's feet grazed the other's pompadour. Groose cried out, nearly falling off his staggering bird—the buffeting wind from the incredible dive and thrown it off—but Ghirahim wasn't done with him yet, since Link hadn't caught the bird yet; Ghirahim banked steeply, and rushed at Groose again, this time with less speed but no less anger. This time, Ghirahim pulled his bird at just the last moment so he was parallel with Groose's, and the two birds rammed into each other. Ghirahim felt his leg get crushed momentarily, but the terrified look on the other's face was worth it.

As the black Loftwing let himself drop and level out again, Link was circling victoriously with statue in hand. Ghirahim couldn't help but smile.


The next time he would see Link, it would be falling amidst a storm wracked sky, unconscious and alone.


Just a side-project between Bloodstained rewrites. Hope you guys enjoy, reviews are appreciated greatly! :) Apologies for any cliches, misspellings or inconsistencies, I wrote this ages ago so it was pretty far off from my current writing style. I had to revise it quite a bit, but I may have missed somethings.

Thanks for reading! Take my love,

-Spirit