The Legend Of Zelda

The Age Of Water

Chapter 1; Skyloft's Annual Wing Ceremony

After dismounting her Crimson Loftwing, Alixa and her best friend, Zane, walked forward, their eyes gleaming. Alixa's brown gaze met her friend's blue stare, and they nodded. Today was the annual Wing Ceremony.

Headmaster Pipit signaled all of Skyloft's residents to begin the ceremony. His daughter, Eswan, an image of beauty, walked forward, her brunette hair and blue eyes matching her pale and tidy complexion. "My daughter, Eswan, will be the goddess of this century's ceremony. To become promoted to senior class," the air became deathly still as the minors listened in on how to become a major, "Eswan will take this statue, an offering to the Goddess, and set it off into the clouds, tied to a Sky Bird, which will fly around Skyloft's neighboring floating islands." he paused to make sure everyone was still listening, then continued on, "as the Sky Bird flies, the freshmen must try to obtain the statue. The first freshman to reach the statue will be promoted to senior class!" Everyone cheered after Pipit said this, and he smiled and motioned for everyone to settle down.

"Not only will they be promoted, but they will also fly to the Goddess Statue's platform, where they will place the offering on the pedestal and Eswan will then give her handmade sailcloth to the senior-to-be, and they must jump into the center of the Goddess's Circle, and will officially be a senior Knight-In-Training!"

As everyone cheered at this, Alixa looked over at her Loftwing, and began to softly stroke the side of his face, causing him to caw softly and rub against her fingers. When she looked back up, Pipit had the orange Sky Bird perched on his arm, and opened his mouth to speak one last time.

"Now I want a nice, clean," Pipit glared at the son of Peatrice and Groose, and his name was Duckan, and he ducked at this as Pipit continued, "Ceremony. Now … let the Ceremony … BEGIN!" He released the Sky Bird as everyone raced off the diving platforms and whistled for their Loftwings.

Duckan landed on his yellow Loftwing, while his two buddies Scree and Pluma landed on their greenish-gray Loftwings. Alixa landed on her rare Crimson Loftwing, hatched directly from her father and mother's Loftwings. She looked over to her friend, and smiled as Zane waved at her from his violet Loftwing, and Alixa brushed the red hair from her face as she looked to the side and saw her father waving. Alixa felt a rush of determination when their gazes met, since he had traveled all the way from the Surface to Skyloft just to see her compete made her want to prove herself, even if Link was okay with his daughter losing. Squinting her eyes, Alixa focused in on the statue, honing in all of her attention to that one object … KERSPLAT!

Alixa shook her head, as the essence of egg fell from her hair and into the clouds below. Looking up, Alixa yelped as she violently swerved to keep from getting hit in the face by another raw egg. Growling under her breath, Alixa flew forward and then, when she was under the statue, she grabbed it at the same time another pair of fingers did. As the bird let go, Alixa turned her head to see the surprised gaze of Zane, who shrugged and smiled, saying, "We'll stick together no matter what roomie!" causing her to laugh as they landed on the platform.

Eswan was already waiting their arrival, but glared at Alixa. "Look, Ginger," she snapped, using her evil nickname for Alixa, "ya gotta go so Zane and I can be left alone." Zane backed away is slight disgust as Eswan stepped towards him, fluttering her her eyelashes and giggling. Alixa found this somewhat flustering for some odd reason, and growled rather loudly, but gritted her teeth and glared at Eswan, holding up the statue that Zane's hand was still attached to.

"In case you haven't noticed, Brunette, Zane and I both obtained the statue." Alixa said, a slight snarl in her throat. Looking somewhat embarrassed, Eswan looked away and stammered, "O-of course, I'll give you the …" then trailed off and looked exasperated. "I have only one sailcloth!" She cried and handed it to Zane who looked Eswan up and down rather fiercely, causing her to giggle flirtatiously, causing rage to boil in Alixa's chest for an odd reason.

Suddenly, Zane snapped his head back up to meet Eswan's gaze, and said, "Give me your shawl please." And Eswan handed it to him, saying, "Anything for you, Zane." and giggled, but then it dawned on her that the sailcloth and shawl were exactly alike, and Zane handed the shawl to Alixa, who took it gratefully, and the two leapt forward and off the side of the platform at the same time, leaving a rather sad, embarrassed, and flustered Eswan behind.

Tilting their bodies, Zane and Alixa laughed as they successfully landed in the center of the Circle, and gave each other high fives. After catching their breath, Alixa watched Zane and didn't notice she began to stare until he began to stare straight back. Her cheeks burning Alixa looked away as Zane started whistling innocently, and the two walked to the Knight Academy, where everyone was waiting for them at the entrance, Headmaster Pipit was the first to greet them, giving Zane a rough pat on the back.

"I knew you could do it, m' boy!" he bellowed, and then patted Alixa on the head, saying, "Great display of talent, just like your father." before handing them their new clothes. "Hey … I thought only one color was displayed each year, not two!" Alixa wondered aloud as she looked at her light red outfit, and then at Zane's dark red one.

"We don't." Instructor Owlan said, while Instructor Horwell stepped beside Owlan. "They're both the same colors, just not completely alike because the lighter one is more … erm … feminine." He had a slight sweat drop at this, and Alixa nodded, laughing. "Okay, I get it now. I'll … uh … go get dressed now." she said, and walked forward, searching the crowd for her father, only to be slightly disappointed when he wasn't there. Duckin shot her and Zane an angry glare, his amber eyes and spiked blue hair and screwy expression made Alixa laugh as she walked inside the empty building, and Zane burst into laughter too, his eyes watering as they both doubled over, and Alixa sighed. "Well, I guess we gotta go get dressed … roomie." Zane said, and headed for the restroom while Alixa nodded and walked towards the bathroom.

Sighing, Alixa took off her regular clothes and got into her Knight's outfit. While straightening her beret, Alixa wondered why Link wasn't there, and sighed, pushing the door open with her head down, but was surprised when she was embraced in a big hug and a male voice whispered into her ear, saying, "I knew you could do it."

Surprised, Alixa looked up into the blue gaze of Link. "Dad! I thought you left!" she said, while Link laughed himself. "Of course not! I wouldn't miss watching my daughter beat the son of Groose!" he laughed, and so did Alixa. Zane walked over, and his eyes widened as he saw Link. Bowing rather untidily, he uttered the word "Highness." before standing next to Alixa. Link and Zelda had become rulers of the Surface, and their Kingdom was made up of humans, Kikwis, Gorons, and many other races that left the shadows and stepped into the light of the new land named Hyrule, built about two years after the birth of Alixa, who is now sixteen.

Link shook Zane's hand, and Alixa laughed when Link's strength caused Zane to teeter back and forth until he was let go of. Link then seemed to stare at Alixa and Zane, but didn't say anything. "Well, I have to fly. Maybe you could visit us now that you're a senior." Link finally said while walking to the entrance of the Academy. Alixa's ears pricked when he said this, and she nodded rather happily, knowing he was right about that. Zane grabbed Alixa's hand, causing her head to shoot up. Looking over at him, she blushed when he landed a kiss straight on her lips.

After pulling back, Zane looked at her and smiled rather bashfully. "I've … always wanted to do that." he said, brushing his sleepy dirty blonde hair from his blue eyes. Alixa laughed and said, "Of course I'll be your girlfriend." before walking towards the entrance herself.

"Where are you going?" Zane asked, his ears perked in curiosity. Alixa smiled, and said softly, causing Zane to catch her words by barely, "Somewhere I haven't been in

twelve years." And she went out the door, her father already off in the sky, everyone waving after him like a posse of idiots. Alixa raced through the crowd, everyone watching her as she cried, "DAD, WAIT!" and caused him to jerk back, searching for her, his Crimson Loftwing squawking in surprise. Jumping of the ledge, everyone let out a gasp of tension as Alixa fell unevenly when Zane hollered, "Alixa! WAIT UP!" surprising her.

Twisting herself as she hurtled towards the cloud barrier at a sickening pace, Alixa whistled for her Loftwing. Seeing a shadow cross over her, blocking out the sunset, Alixa held her breath, hoping it was her Loftwing. Suddenly, she felt herself compact with another force, and let out a yelp, thinking it was the cloud barrier, but was indeed somewhat surprised that it was only her Loftwing.

Hearing everyone cheering from Skyloft, Alixa smiled as Zane aligned with her left, and Link with her right. Shouting over the rush of the wind, Link shouted, "Are you crazy! You almost got killed! What are you doing!" before the green light of the passage to the surface came into view. "I'm coming home dad!" she cried, and Link smiled happily. "Ahem, your Highness, I-" but Zane was cut off when Link said, "I know, it was an accident. It's okay … in fact, I would rather you stay around Alixa at all times, you know her the best since you were the first child she met at Skyloft, and I know you know her well. I trust you around her." at which Link tilted his head slightly, then looked back at them, "In fact, you two remind me of a couple of crazy young adults when I was your age." he smiled, and laughed when Alixa and Zane said simultaneously, "Who?"

"Why, Zelda and I, of course!" Link chuckled as the two looked at each other, blushing as they did so. "Well, let's go!" Link shouted, and suddenly rushed into a kill-dive, along with Alixa, and finally Zane. Raising her hands, Alixa shouted, "WHOO!" as she held a death grip upon the saddle with her legs, and Link did the same, while Zane laughed as he sped ahead of them, forming a race between the three.

Once they reached the entrance, Alixa suddenly pulled back and stared down, the surface only a few moments away from her. "Alixa, it's okay." Link said, and went first to show her how simple it was, but Zane stayed and watched her. "You don't have to go if you don't want to." he said, gazing at her gently. "But Zane, I just have to, I want to see Gigi, Gigs, and Gugi, I wanna see how the sun, clouds moon, and stars look from the real ground. I want to swim without limited space, I want to run without fear of falling, I wanna speak with Kokoro and Kiki, and, most of all, I miss my mom." she said, but her face showed she'd rather turn and fly back to her room at the academy.

As Alixa prepared to turn around, Zane grabbed her hand, and she smiled at his comforting touch. "If you can't do it alone, you'll have to do it with me." he said softly, smiling as she nodded in slight shyness, but sat sidesaddle, ready to slip off when he was. Keeping a firm grip on Alixa's trembling hand, Zane said, "You okay? You seem afraid." and Alixa looked at him. "I am afraid, but I'm also so excited. I feel like … like I could fly from the sun and back within seconds!" Zane laughed, and looked back at her smiling.

"So, you're ready then?" he asked, and Alixa nodded, steadying herself so she could dive properly. "Okay. One … two … three … JUMP!" and the two dove from their Loftwings, who headed back towards Skyloft. Alixa began to laugh as she saw the many bird statues, and Zane said, "Let's head for that one!", pointing towards a purple statue that was near an area that had a beautiful castle in the center of it, many small beings walking around. Alixa tilted her body in sync with Zane, and they headed for the statue, which was behind a barrier of trees that would hide them from view. Zane silently counted down from three to one, and they let go, landing behind a fat and twisty tree, gently floating down by their sailcloths.

Looking in from the shadows, Alixa felt like the four-year-old she was before she had been sent from this place to learn her defenses. Seeing all of the people, she felt like running and shouting 'Hi!' to everyone, yet she felt like puking her guts out and hiding for the rest of her life.

Taking a deep breath, Alixa and Zane walked towards and stood at the Hyrule Gates, and then looked at each other, nodded, and walked forward.