Seagulls in the Wind

…

If anyone asked Aryll what she loved most in the world, she would say two things. First, her big brother. He'd always been there for her, and she was never alone in anything. Second, Aryll loved seagulls. They were with her for nearly as long as her brother, bouncing about everywhere she walked.

Aryll had always loved to watch the seagull fly, to watch them soar over the great blue ocean, often wishing she could fly among them. Sometimes, they would tell her about the places they'd been, as Aryll was not able to fly with them. They would tell her how dangerous the sea was, and that they wished it could be more kind sometimes.

The Outset seagulls always loved to mingle with those that drifted in on the occasional ship that visited their island. They would fly and squawk with each other, the island gulls exploring the ship, the sea birds wandering the island. But at the end of the day, they always came back to Aryll. The seagulls were a part of her.

Aryll had always loved to play with big brother, to ride on his back while he ran about the island or chased the pigs. Sometimes, he would tell her stories about their parents, as Aryll was too young to remember them. He would talk about how kind they were, and how he wished they were still with them sometimes.

Link always loved to watch the occasional ship that visited the island. He would sigh and say how much he wanted to sail the seas, finding whatever adventure came his way. He would talk to the sailors and help them on their ships, but at the end of the day, he always came back to Aryll. Link was a part of her.

The seagulls were not there the day she was kidnapped. They all fled the monstrous bird as it took her away from her home.

Her big brother had been there the day she was kidnapped. She remembered the look of absolute horror on his face as he tried to stop the great beast from taking her away from her home.

…

She sat in the lonely cell, too afraid to talk to the two other girls in the room with her. After hours of sitting in silence, she heard the instantly recognizable call of seagulls. They were not her seagulls, but that didn't matter to the small girl.

Aryll remembered the day she was released from the Forsaken Fortress. Both of her greatest loves were with her again once more. She'd thought she'd lost her brother forever when the bird had taken him away, and yet he was there—alive. She wanted to ask him how'd he'd gotten there, how had he gotten away from the masked beast, so many questions.

As the pirates opened the door, she caught sight of her big brother's eyes. She remembered them being brighter than that, full of life just like a seagull's, not filled with wisdom the sort that he shouldn't have yet. She remembered the big pirate taking her away. Away from her brother, away from her seagulls, away from her heart. Link had waved, his old eyes masked by the smile on his face, telling her that everything would be alright.

She believed him.

For what seemed like years, Aryll sailed with the captain-less pirates, with her seagulls, but without her brother. She heard stories, though. She heard tales of him venturing into volcanoes and forests, traveling the Great Sea with the wind at his command. She could hardly believe half of the things she was told, but she noticed that he was doing what he'd always wanted to as a child all those years ago.

Finally, finally, she came back home, and she had both her loves in one place once more. For the few days he was on Outset, Link had looked out at the sea longingly from his small boat. He'd pat the figurehead and murmured that he would find 'it'.

The seagulls swarmed her the instant she returned to her old lookout, squawking with worry, curiosity and glee. They dove through the air, twisting their white bodies with ease. It was then, among one of her loves, that she watched another prepare to leave her.

He'd be back, he said, he promised he would come back, and things would go back to the way they had been before. He said he had to fulfill a promise he had made to a friend. That was why he was leaving Aryll again.

…

The whole town was there when Link left.

They waved and shouted how much they would miss him along with other various blessings. Aryll couldn't say anything. She watched her big brother sail away, waving as he left. Link never turned back.

The few months Aryll had gone without her brother were nothing compared to the four years she had to endure while he searched for something that may not even exist. She would sit on the dock, her seagulls flitting around her, waiting for the pirate's ship to return. After a year of waiting for nothing, Aryll decided to practice with Orca so she could have something else to do with Link when he returned.

Aryll was on the beach, going through the drills Orca had taught her, her gulls watching from a safe distance when she finally saw Tetra's ship on the horizon. Almost an hour after Aryll had told everyone else on the island that her big brother was finally home, the boat moored at the dock. Grandma had stayed on the porch, smiling like always as Aryll ran to become whole again.

Her brother wasn't there.

The seagulls settled on the dock as Tetra came off the ship. She'd gotten older, of course, but her hair still held the shape of some whimsical dessert. As she slowly walked towards Aryll, the gulls skittered to the side to avoid being stepped on, but did not fly away.

Aryll asked the older girl about her brother urgently, not wanting to wait any longer. Tetra looked down at the planks at her feet and whispered something that made Aryll's blood run cold.

The ship had been caught in a terrible storm on the way back to Outset. Aryll's brother had been washed overboard, and the crew hadn't been able to bring him back up.

…

Aryll didn't go to the funeral the villagers and pirates held. They were only burying an empty box, anyway. She sat at her lookout, not even watching the seagulls fluttering around her. Her eyes looked only at the brilliant blue waters that surrounded her home; the water her brother had loved, the water that had taken him sway.

On the inside, she wanted to cry. She wanted to curl up and mourn so badly… But the strange wall of numbness that surrounded her wouldn't allow it. The sun was just reaching the caressing embrace of the ocean when Aryll heard someone climbing up the ladder behind her. She remembered how many times her brother had climbed up to sit with her, to watch the gulls flying…

"I noticed you weren't there for the burial." Aryll looked up to see Tetra gazing out at the sunset.

"Why would I have been there? Was a pointless thing, anyway." She turned back to the west.

"I… I'm sorry," Tetra sat down next to Aryll, "I've never had any siblings, so I don't know what it's like to lose one."

Aryll sighed but said nothing.

"I have something for you," the pirate reached into one of her pockets slowly; "It's the only thing of his left."

She held out a necklace of braided twine, a small charm in the shape of a flying seagull swinging at the end. Aryll carefully took the trinket from Tetra and examined the wooden gull closely.

"Link carved that," Tetra explained, a hint of a smile in her voice, "The whole time he was working on it, he would talk about you and how much you loved those birds. He said that as soon as we got back, he would give it to you. Since… Since he can't do that now, I'm giving it to you for him."

Aryll was silent for a while before she spoke, "Thank you," she whispered, rubbing the seagull's wings, feeling each feather that her brother had brought out of the wood so carefully.

Tetra smiled and stood silently, climbing back down the ladder and leaving Aryll alone. Once the sun disappeared behind the horizon and the stars came out, Aryll went to her brother's grave, a few seagulls following. She knelt at the edge of the upturned soil, her seagull necklace in her hand.

She smiled and went to slip the twine over her head when one of her gulls suddenly squawked and pulled it from her grip. With an angry cry, Aryll stood and shouted at the seagull flying in lazy circles above her head, the wooden one spiraling wildly in the wind.

"Please!" she begged, tears finally swelling in her eyes, "Please give it back! My… My big brother made it for me…"

The bird tilted its head, turned and vanished over Orca's house. Aryll sank to the ground once more, sobbing quietly. Her brother was gone, and now the only thing she had to remember him by was too. One of her loves had been taken by the other.

The girl fell asleep slowly, curling up on the hard ground next to her brother's grave. Her mind swirled with memories of how it had been like before she had been kidnapped so long ago. She dreamed her brother was with her, smiling and laughing and telling her stories like he always used to…

Morning came abruptly, and aryl woke to the calls of gulls floating around her head. She groaned, sat up and went to shoo the birds away when she noticed one in particular, staring at her with big black eyes and a tilted head.

Around its beck was Aryll's necklace.

The twine had been twisted in such a way that it seemed impossible for the gull to have done it itself. Gently, Aryll reached forward and took her gift back. The wooden seagull on the string spun in small circles as she slowly slipped the necklace on.

She smirked at the blinking bird and ran her fingers along its wing, the feathers smooth to her touch. With a soft squawk the gull flapped up on to Link's grave marker, its orange feet scrabbling on the rough stone. It looked up at her with one dark eye and its beak seemed to curve up into a smile.

Suddenly, the seagull was gone, and in its place sat her big brother. He was older though, with his unkempt hair longer than before, nearly covering his closed eyes sitting over his familiar grin.

Aryll stood slowly and took a step towards the apparition. As quickly as it had appeared, the vision of her brother disappeared, leaving a confused gull in its place. The bird spread its wings and took off, calling to the other seagulls as it went.

…

If anyone asked Aryll what she loved most in the world, she would always mention the seagulls that soared effortlessly in the ocean air. She would talk about how she loved to watch them, and imagine that she was flying along with them. She would also mention her big brother. She would say that even though he was gone, that he had died doing what he loved, that he was still with her. He was still there, watching over her as he always had before. His spirit lived on forever, soaring like a seagull in the wind.