DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Legend of Zelda series. That's what Nintendo's for!

s—t—a—r—t—f—i—c—t—i —o—n—

"C'mon, Link!" The sing-song tone of his companion rang in his ears as a chase ensued, unrestricted giggles erupting from each of them as the boy tried and failed to catch his target. The wind danced lazily around them, assailing their noses with the various smells of their home; freshly-baked bread from one side of town, the enigmatic odor of Luv's potions from the other, and of course the very feeling of the breeze on one's exposed skin. A benevolently cloudy blue sky above them contained the warm sun that sprinkled down upon them light and warmth. The colors of the town were so bright and carefree they were mesmerizing to those caught off-guard. It was a beautiful day in Skyloft, for sure.

"Okay, okay!" he called, wheezing as he slowed his pace way down so he could double over to pant. "You're way too fast for me, Zelda!"

The blonde girl in front of him, dressed in a cute pink dress that reached her shins, slowed herself and turned around, hands on her hips and a grin on her pretty face. "Awh, geez, Link," she sighed, shaking her head playfully. "I've barely even got sweat on my forehead and you look like you're gonna pass out."

Link ran a hand through his golden hair, standing up to allow himself to pout at her. "You know I'm no good at running."

Zelda giggled, approaching her friend and patting him on the back, ruffling the material of his super-big white cotton shirt. "Then we should work on it, silly! That way, you get better!"

"You could at least go easy on me..." Link trailed off, dusting his baggy green pants off. Looking around, he realized that they'd run all the way from the Knights Academy to the plaza, and that they weren't alone; two other kids, a boy and a girl, stood off to the side a little ways, playing a game that involved locking their hands together. Link didn't know them, as he usually either kept to himself or played with Zelda.

The blonde followed his gaze, gasping in happy realization when she spotted the two. "Oh! Thumb wars! I wanna play!" she exclaimed. Without warning she grabbed Link's unaware hand and dragged him off with her, approaching the foreign pair with as rapid of strides as an eight-year-old could muster.

"Z-Zelda!" Link half-heartedly protested, giving the two weary glances. Truth be told, the boy was rather shy and easily intimidated. "They're so much bigger than we are!"

Zelda laughed. "Oh, c'mon. They're only two years older than we are," she assured, showing no hesitance herself. "Hey guys!"

The girl met her eyes for a fraction of a second, and suddenly their hands jerked. Her attention snapped back to their connected palms and she gasped, struggling hard against the boy. "Errgh! No, that isn't fair!"

The boy merely laughed as he counted. "One...two...three!" he let go of her hand on the last number, still chuckling as he glanced back. "Thanks for the win, Zelda." The girl glared poison daggers at her companion before giving the blonde a little wave as well.

Zelda couldn't help but giggle. "Oops, did I mess you up? Sorry, Karane. Anyway, we wanna know if we can play!"

Karane, who had her red hair tied off into little pigtails, didn't look all that pleased with the idea, but the boy gave them both a fierce smile. "Of course. The more, the merrier! I'll play with you, Zelda, and..." he paused, looking down at Link questioningly. The boy was over a head taller than Link, and it took noticeable effort to look up at him. Link realized he was wordlessly asking for his name.

"Link," he said his own name calmly.

He held a finger in the air. "Right! Karane and Link can duke it out. The winner of both will face each other, and the winner of that gets the title of Super Mega Awesome Thumb Champion!" He chuckled at himself before giving Link another glance. "My name's Pipit, by the way."

Link nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Okay then, here we go!" Pipit exclaimed, grabbing Zelda's hand. Karane followed suit and took one of Link's hands into hers, positioning them accordingly.

Everyone made sure to stick their thumbs up before they all began to chant in unison. "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!"

Karane made the mistake of lunging for Link's ever so slightly lowered thumb, thinking she could fell him with an impressively quick time. Link was surprisingly sharp for his age; he quickly lifted the thumb up as she went to trap it, smashing down on top of hers instead.

Karane flailed around, trying desperately to undo her course of action. "No! Not already!"

But Link's grip was firm. "One...two...three," he counted, releasing her as soon as the last word was uttered. She staggered back, giving the golden-haired boy a shrewd look.

"Hah!" Zelda voiced her emotions triumphantly from beside them. The previous two looked over to observe the ongoing battle beside them to find Zelda's thumb pressed almost daintily to the top of Pipit's.

The boy looked a little flustered. "Nghh!"

"One! Two! Three!" she counted (a little fast, mind you), releasing the captive thumb as she spun around in a mini victory dance. "Woo! I win!"

Pipit laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "Well to be honest, I was going easy on you. Guess I underestimated you. You're good at this!"

She rolled her eyes at his excuse. "Yeah, yeah, I've heard that one before." She turned to Link. "So you won against Karane?"

Said girl huffed. "A cheap shot is what it was."

Pipit chuckled at his friend's pouting. "It looks like we both underestimated the little guys, eh, Karane?"

Zelda ignored their little exchange, instead pulling one of Link's hands toward her. "Alright then. Let's see which of us is the Super Mega Awesome Thumb Champion!"

Right before the two could initiate the round, however, a deep voice suddenly interrupted their antics. "Zelda, my dear, so this is where you've been!"

The blonde turned around immediately to face her father, the headmaster of the Knights Academy itself. Gaepora's huge stomach made him come across as a light-hearted, kind fellow, and for the most part he was. His hands rested behind his back, and his long, billowing orange robes fluttered in the wind. "Father! Yes, I just came to play for a little while."

He nodded his head. "That is well and good, dear daughter, but your tutor has been waiting for almost ten minutes now! Where was your mind, child?"

Zelda winced and looked down. "Oh...I guess I must have lost track of time," she noted, clasping her hands together.

Gaepora nodded his head in understanding. "I know. It's alright; the important thing now is that we get back quickly. Come, Zelda," he beckoned, a long arm extending to his right.

"Yes, Father," Zelda agreed, obliging her father. The two began to walk away, and as they did so, Zelda turned her head to look back and offer her companions a quick goodbye. "Bye Link, Pipit, and Karane!"

As the two walked up to and around the bazaar, Pipit blinked. "Huh. Well, that means she can't compete for the Super Mega Awesome Thumb Champion title. Does that mean you win it by default?"

Karane frowned, crossing her arms. "I want a rematch!"

The older boy raised an eyebrow at her. "Karane, you had your chance. I wanna have a go now," he said, winking at Link. "Won't go easy on you though, buddy."

Link was beginning to feel at ease with this Pipit fellow. He smiled rather mischievously. "Neither will I."

Pipit threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, buddy, it is on!" he declared, snatching Link's left hand up with his right. "Now let's do this. One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!"

Pipit didn't fall for Link's tricky tactic like Karane had. He flexed his thumb almost lazily as he waited for some sign of weakness. Link saw him do the same thing he had and resisted the urge to laugh. After a solid minute of next to nothing happening, their gazes met. The honey-haired boy found Pipit's cerulean eyes to be rather...mesmerizing, somehow. Something told him Pipit was in the same boat, his expression nearly blank. But Link was never one to pass up an opportunity.

He mashed his thumb down on top of his opponent's.

That managed to bring Pipit out of his reverie. His gaze shot back down to the makeshift arena. "Aw, shoot," he said almost sheepishly, doing his best to pull his thumb away.

Link's grip was deadly. "One...two...three." He paused after he counted, not bothering to pull his hand away but loosening up his hold to where Pipit could pull away if he so chose. The older boy didn't bother, instead regarding Link with a weird look.

"See? He's full of cheap tricks," Karane observed, laughing despite herself at Pipit's blatant loss.

Pipit ignored her. "Your grip..." he began, letting his hand fall to his side. "Did you want to join in the Knights Academy when you get old enough?"

Link was taken aback by the sudden question, but Pipit's expectant expression elicited a serious response. "I...well, uhm, yeah," Link muttered, unsure of where Pipit was going with this.

The other boy gave him a winning smile. "I bet you'd do great with the sword training!"

Link was still for a moment before he began grinning like a fool, too.

But before he could voice his thanks, Pipit looked like he'd had an epiphany. "Speaking of swords...Karane!" he turned to her excitedly. "I bet the seniors are practicing right about now outside the Sparring Hall!"

Karane's face lit up. "You're right," she agreed, also grinning. "Let's go watch!"

As the two raced off in the direction of said hall, Link watched Pipit's reddish-brown hair go farther and farther away. He shook the slight feeling of loneliness away. Of course they wouldn't want some little kid hanging around them; who would? Link decided he would climb up to the Light Tower and watch the patrolmen and women fly about on their loftwings.

But just as he made to walk toward it, Pipit's voice stopped him. "Hey, Link!" The addressed boy looked their way again. The two stood near the bazaar, waving at him. "Aren't you coming?"

Link blinked a few times before he smiled, laughing at how pessimistic he'd been a few moments ago. "Yeah, coming!" he replied, running after his new friends.

e—n—d—c—h—a—p—t—e—r—

A/N: So, first LoZ fic. Yay! I hope it wasn't too shabby.

Just so you know, this is going to eventually become Link/Pipit non-platonic, but it'll probably be so light it could go either way.

So, that's about it. Leave a review telling me whatcha liked, didn't like, things I can improve on, etc. etc. It makes me happy!

Thanks for reading~ C: