Groose didn't like it.

Didn't like what, you ask?

Groose didn't know. But he didn't like it.

The last time he had seen Link, the pipsqueak had stolen his thunder again. He could easily have fought off that Imprisoned thing on his own, had he been given the chance. But Link had to come along, all high-and-heroic, and hadn't even given Groose the time to swoop in and save the day. Once again, it was Link's fault that Groose felt bad about himself. Yeah, this was Link's fault. Not his.

Yeah. It was Link's fault.

...

Groose sighed.

No, it wasn't. Link wasn't the one who caused the cold feeling that set itself in Groose's stomach the second that monster showed up. It wasn't Link that made every hair on Groose's muscular arms stand on edge. Link didn't paralyze Groose's legs so he couldn't move so much as a step.

It wasn't Link's fault that Groose was scared.

You know, if this were yesterday's Groose, he would have gotten angry, like he always did. The Groose from yesterday's sunny afternoon would have probably hit Link for making him feel these unknown feelings, and then he would have returned to his day-to-day life of lazing around and picking on the other students. But the Groose of today couldn't do that. Not after what he had seen.

He was shaken.

This wasn't like him. Why couldn't he just get angry? Why couldn't he laugh it off and try and find a way back to Skyloft? Why did he feel so useless?

He sighed again, and rested his chin on his hand, his legs dangling over the sheer drop outside the Sealed Temple. He had calmed down a little since Link had left, but he still felt weird. And not a good weird. Still, though, it was a nice day out, and that somewhat distracted him from his woes. The tiny birds were hopping around and making these weird tweeting noises.

Grooseland was really jarring to Groose. One of the main reasons being the tiny birds. Why were they so small? They'd probably be squished if Groose tried to sit on them, and they didn't caw, like the Loftwings. They seemed to like him, though. They had kept sitting in his pompadour all afternoon. He waved them off, though.

Another thing that really weirded him out was how much space there was. He'd climbed to the top of a tree to see if there were any ladders back to the sky, and had almost fallen out of it due to the sheer amount of space there was. There were trees that stretched on for ages. You could probably fit twenty Skylofts down here and there would be room for more. Also, the air was really weird, too. It smelt weird and earthy, and was way thicker than in Skyloft, making it feel more like he was eating it than breathing it. There wasn't any wind, either. Well, there was, but it was nowhere near as strong as it was at home. In Skyloft, you were in danger of being blown right off the town at any given moment. Down here, the wind barely rustled Groose's majestic pompadour.

All of those things combined to make Groose feel completely out of his depth.

He kind of wanted to cry. Between being so far from home in a place he had never seen before and Link's bravery making him feel completely inadequate, he sort of wanted to break down and wail like a baby. He couldn't do that, though. He'd never cried a day in his life, and he wasn't going to start now.

Link had already left. The old lady was back inside the temple, leaving Groose to his own devices. He didn't have anyone to talk to or pick on or order around like he did at home. His Loftwing wasn't around, so he couldn't even get back to Skyloft to tell everyone about what was going on.

He sighed yet again. So, what could he do?

"Groose," came a creaky voice from behind him, breaking through his cloud of gloom.

Sulkily, Groose angled his head so he could look at the old lady out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" he asked sullenly.

"I came to see if you were all right," she said.

He huffily turned back around and firmly dropped his chin on his hand. "Oh, yeah. I'm great. What are you doing out here? Don't you got stuff to do? What do you need me for?"

He could hear her smiling.

"You are upset," she said, amused.

"Me? No, I'm just wondering. You guys got it all figured out. You don't even need me for anything. I should just go home." He glared grumpily at the seal at the bottom of the hole.

"You cannot go home."

"Huh." He huffed through his nostrils.

The old lady hobbled over to him until she was standing next to him.

"Groose," she told him, "what I said in the temple was in truth. You also have a role to play."

He looked up at her. "No, I don't. I'm just the academy beefcake. All I do is screw up and be a jerk and get yelled at. How could I help?"

"You are pure of heart."

Groose had no idea what that meant. Pure of heart? As in, he had a clean heart? Was that supposed to mean he was a good guy?

"I'm not! At home, I'm just a jerk! I push people around and goof up. If Link's the hero, then I'm the bad guy." He sighed and slouched over some more.

"Do you wish to atone for your past behaviour?"

Okay, he really had no idea what that meant. He didn't want her to know that, though, and pretended to stare deeply into the Sealed Grounds hole.

"If you wish to change your ways and become a part of this story, you must first accept that you have a role in it."

"I dunno what you mean about roles, Granny, but I don't think I could help out. I couldn't be useful. I'm just a big lug," he replied gloomily.

"Not if you continue to think like that. The most important part of beginning a journey is finding the confidence to do so," the old lady told him sternly.

"I got plenty of confidence. I just don't have a way to be useful. You don't need me here."

"Zelda needs you."

Groose quickly looked up at her at the mention of Zelda's name and opened his mouth.

She didn't allow him to speak, however, and quickly continued. "If we are to survive any further attacks by the Imprisoned, we must be prepared to defend ourselves should Link not get here in time. Perhaps we would need a weapon of some sort."

Groose shut his mouth and thought for a moment. "You mean... like a giant sword or somethin'?"

"Perhaps not. Maybe a projectile weapon. We would need someone strong to build it, however."

Groose failed to get the hint. "Huh. Yeah, I guess you would. Link would be useless for that, though. He's pretty scrawny."

The old lady smiled. "If only we had a tall, muscular individual."

"Yeah..." Groose looked pensive.

"One with a stubborn, determined attitude."

"That would be pretty useful."

"One who wears green and has a red pompadour."

"Yeah, I... wait. What would their hair and clothes have to do with it?" Groose asked, confused.

The old lady smiled at him again and made her way back towards the temple without another word, leaving a dumbfounded Groose sitting by the hole.

"Huh," he said to himself.

What did she mean by all that? Well, it didn't matter. He had to focus on finding something to do.