Ok, my first try at a LOZ fanfiction, in honour of Skyward Sword. Please be gentle with your reviews if you don't like!
This basically covers the race at the beginning to when the tornado appeared in the game. Except in this oneshot, there's no tornado, because there's no evil Ghirahim going around trying to do... Whatever it is he's got in mind.
Hey, I haven't gotten up to the 'reveal' part of the game yet, ok? I've yet to actually set foot inside Eldin Volcano. But yeah, no tornado here, 'cause that SERIOUSLY pissed me off! Zelda was THIS CLOSE to, I swear, saying that she loved Link! GRAH!
Anyway, if you've gone exploring the sky at all, you should have come across circular floating islands that give you a speed boost. In this story they're referred to as 'wind tunnels'. I don't know what any of you call 'em, but that's what I call 'em.
You probably want to get to reading now, so...
Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda franchise in any way aside from purchased copies of various released games in the franchise.
Enjoy!
"Come on, Link, you can do it," she whispered under her breath. "You almost had it earlier, you just need to be a bit faster, that's all..." A deep, quiet chuckle from behind made her spin around.
"You know Zelda, as the Goddess for today's ceremony you really shouldn't be showing any favouritism."
She raised her eyebrows sceptically. "Are you honestly saying that you'd rather that goose- I mean Groose, won instead?"
"Did I say that?" Gaepora's eyebrows mimicked Zelda's.
Zelda had barely opened her mouth to reply when a collective gasp from the other spectators drew her attention back to the sky. In the short while she had been distracted Link had somehow managed to greatly narrow the gap between himself and Horwell's Loftwing.
"How'd he do that?" Zelda cried out in shock.
"He used his head, that's how."
"Oh, hello there, Pipit," rumbled Gaepora.
"Headmaster," replied Pipit, inclining his head respectfully.
"What do you mean by 'he used his head' Pipit?" asked Zelda curiously, this time keep her eyes on the sky, wincing as Link fell back, having apparently run into something.
"Well," Pipit started. "No one's ever said that you weren't allowed to use the wind tunnels in the race, have they? He just waited until Horwell's Loftwing was more or less right in front of one and then used it."
It was so obvious the Zelda felt a brief urge to slap her own forehead. "I feel like an idiot," she murmured. Thankfully, no one heard her. Link would have never let her hear the end of it if he knew she said that.
The race for the statuette had already been going for about ten minutes, and it didn't seem like it would end soon. Groose simply lacked the necessary talent to close the gap between the Loftwing and himself, while Link seemed to be having difficulties steering his Loft wing.
Zelda let out a small gasp as Link suddenly turned his Loftwing skyward, gaining altitude so quickly that he was several dozen metres above the other competitors in virtually no time at all.
Odd, she thought. He doesn't seem to be having steering problems anymore. I wonder why that i- Is he CRAZY!
Link had suddenly lowered his loftwing into a steep dive directed straight at one of the many wind tunnel dotting the skyscape, and he showed every sign of planning to go right through it at top speed.
"That's the way Link!" Pipit cheered next to her. "Go on! You show that egotistical jerk who he's messing with!"
Zelda's heart soared as she realised that the golden Loftwing was headed on a path that would take it right in front of the wind tunnel Link was aiming for. If her could time it just right, there was no way he could miss it!
"Come on Link! Go!" Zelda cried out. "You can make it!" Her practiced eye flickered between the Loftwing and Link, measuring the distance, judging their speed, her heart rate only increasing as she quickly figured that Link had timed his dive perfectly.
Link neared the wind tunnel, pulled his Loftwing up sharply and urged it into a charge- straight into the wind tunnel! Zelda cheered as he shot out of it, almost colliding with the other Loftwing, his natural agility serving him well as his arm flicked upwards, and grabbed the small statuette from the Loftwing's claws.
He'd done it!
As he came closer to Skyloft, drifting along well underneath the islands, Zelda cried out "Link!" as loud as she could manage, before backing up a few steps and hurling herself off Skyloft. She didn't close her eyes, nor did she bother to call Azure, her Loftwing. She knew Link would never let her fall.
She wasn't disappointed. She watched as he quickly changed the angle of his flight to intercept her fall, and she quickly span, wanting to land face up.
The jolt as they collided, Link's steady arms encircling her as gently as they could afford to, cause Link's Loftwing to suddenly drop, and the sensation of having left her stomach behind caused Zelda to briefly lose focus. Link's worried tone broke through her daze, and she snapped her head up, strengthening her hold on the harp she carried. The last thing they needed was to lose that!
"Don't worry- I'm fine!" she quickly said. She couldn't have him worrying about her more than he already did. "That was brilliant flying Link! Congratulations!"
He laughed briefly. "Thanks Zellie, but do you think that next time you can just call your Loftwing? I mean, first you tried to kill me earlier, now you're trying to kill yourself!"
There was a familiar twinkle in his eyes that told her he wasn't serious.
"Oh come on Link! I knew you'd catch me! You wouldn't be able to bear letting something bad happen to me!"
He gave a quick laugh again. "I guess you're right. I'd probably hate myself if I did."
She continued smiling at him. "Come on," she said happily. "We'd better finish off the ritual!"
Zelda couldn't help but let out a small sigh as she finished playing the harp. The Ballad (That was the only name the music was given) was a very sad piece of music in her opinion, and she had the feeling that hearing it would always make her feel just a bit melancholic.
She turned around to face Link, stretching out her hand. Wordlessly, Link placed his own on top of it and knelt.
"Great Goddess, guiding light and protector of our people," she recited solemnly. "Grant us your blessing and mercy as I act in your stead during this ceremony. Valiant youth who grasped victory at the celebration of the bird folk: In accordance with the old ways, I now bestow the blessings of the Goddess upon you."
She relinquished Link's hand and reached behind her back, her hands searching for the knot that kept the Sailcloth tied around her shoulders. Two small pulls unravelled it, and she brought her hands up to her shoulders to ease the fabric off of her shoulders and fold it into a small square with the Goddess Eagle in its middle.
Link's head came back up just as she stretched her hands out once more, continuing to recite her part of the ritual. "The blessings of the Goddess descend from the heavens aloft a sail, which I now pass on to you."
Link brought his own hands up to receive it, silently tucking it into the broad sash around his waist, smiling at her again as he looked up. "Thanks Zellie," he said quietly.
She giggled slightly, and said "You know, they say that the Goddess gave her own Sailcloth to her chosen Hero, long ago. Of course," She giggled slightly again, "this isn't the same one. But I've been working hard to make it as much like hers as possible, so I could give something worthy to today's champion."
"It shows," Link responded, smiling his usual gentle smile.
"I'm really glad I got to give it to you Link," Zelda whispered, barely loud enough to hear. If one were to look closely at her cheeks, they might have found a hint of redness that hadn't been there a second ago. "Make sure you take good care of it, ok Link?"
"I will," he said, nodding.
Zelda hesitated briefly before continuing, the slight redness on her cheeks becoming more noticeable. "Thanks for making it up here to do this with me today like you promised, Link."
"As if I'd just stand by and let Goose beat me," he replied, smirking. Zelda simply giggled in reply.
"We really should finish up this ritual you know," she said as she took a few steps forward, keeping her head averted from Link. "You... do know how it ends, don't you?"
"Uh, not really," Link replied, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Zelda sighed.
"Well, you haven't ever been part of the ceremony before, so I suppose that's understandable," she admitted. But large grin that suddenly appeared on her face had Link very worried about what was about to happen.
Zelda quickly stepped forward, so that the gap between the two of them was suddenly only a few centimetres. Before he could utter a word, Zelda had grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around, cheerfully saying, "You have to jump off the statue! You might wanna get that Sailcloth beck out by the way! Otherwise the landing will probably kill you."
Although she showed no signs of it, Zelda's heartbeat picked up rather rapidly at the mere idea.
"All you need to do is land in the centre of the circle design down there, see?"
Link nodded, too far gone for words, merely holding the Sailcloth tight with both hands. He wasn't looking forward to this. Not. One. Bit.
"Are you ready?" Zelda asked from behind him. The slight nod he gave in reply was all she needed.
"Then off you go!" she cried out happily, whacking his shoulders with both of her hands, putting him off balance enough that-
"AAHHH!"
She looked out over the edge, certain that he'd recover in time to use the Sailcloth. After all, he already had it in his hands. She smiled as he managed to place himself above the centre design and flick the Sailcloth up so that the wind caught it and opened it up fully, arresting his fall almost completely.
She nodded, proud of both him and her work on the Sailcloth. She launched herself into the air, Azure catching her almost before she started to fall, and circling the Goddess Statue to bring her down to Link.
The instant Azure was low enough; Zelda jumped off and ran straight for Link, happily crying out, "That was perfectly done! You're amazing, Link!"
He blushed as he mumbled a quiet 'thanks Zel'.
Zelda began to blush herself as she clasped her hands together in front of her.
Do I really want to do this? She thought. I mean... what if... No! I can't think like that! Better to try and fail, than to never try and never know.
"Hey Link..." she said quietly, feeling the blush on her cheeks growing brighter by the second. "Seeing as how you won... and, what with the weather being so nice and all... um... Do... Do you..." She jerked her head off to the side. "Well, would you mind going flying with me for a bit?"
A silent second passed, and then Zelda felt his hand take hers.
"Come on then," he smiled at her.
Zelda laughed, for once completely carefree, as she and Link levelled their Loftwings out. It had been far too long since they'd gotten to fly like this. She'd certainly missed it. She glanced at the boy flying slightly ahead of her.
"Link," she called out. When he didn't seem to hear her, she tried again. "Hey, Link!" He turned around, a look of curiosity on his face.
"Just so you know, today was amazing," she said, a wide smile seemingly stuck on her face. "Watching you win the race and performing the ritual with you... I'll never forget this! It really was wonderful."
He smiled back brightly and nodded his head.
They kept flying for a few seconds, Zelda's smile slowly becoming a bit more wan with each passing moment.
"You know, Link," she called out, causing him to turn around again. This time though, when he caught sight of her serious expression, he lessened his Loftwing's speed, pulling back to fly evenly with her.
"There's... um... There's something I've been meaning to tell you lately..." Link's curious look almost overcame her self control, and she quickly looked away, for fear that she might lose her nerve. "I, uh... I think... I think I've fallen in love with you."
She kept her face looking away from him. She didn't know how he would react, but she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to see it.
A few quiet seconds passed, and then, to her utter surprise, she heard a whistle from below her. She quickly looked over Azure's side to see Link looking up at her, his arms outstretched. She leapt off Azure without any hesitation. She knew that no matter what happened between them, Link would always be there and ready to catch her when she needed him.
Like before, the sudden increase in weight caused Link's Loftwing to lose altitude. But this time, Zelda kept her face down. She still wasn't sure if she wanted to see Link's reaction.
"You know what Zelda?" came Link's voice. "I think I've fallen in love with you too."
Zelda pulled her head up just in time for Link's lips to meet her own.
Fluffy oneshot is fluffy? Yes? No?
I realise that the stunt I had Link pull probably wouldn't actually work to win the race, if only because I'm not sure you can actually USE any of the wind tunnels at that early stage. There's also the fact the they're all completely horizontal, which would make the G-forces involved in stopping quickly enough to charge into one of them utterly horrendous. But hey, this is my story and I'll write what I want to!
As Link actually speaks in this, Zelda's dialogue has been altered, chiefly so that it wouldn't sound completely retarded.
Feel free to criticise, as long as you have something useful to say about it. If you just want to flame, get lost. Flames will be used to toast marshmallows if necessary.
I hope you all enjoyed!
-Eidorian999