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Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo!
Learning to fly
Chapter 2: The first lesson
Zelda sat at her desk. It was her first day sitting in loftwing training. The instructor, Mr. Horwell, was covering the basics. The things you needed to know before starting the first flying lesson. There were only a handful of kids in the class. Link was one of them. Groose, Cawlin, and Stitch as well as a few other kids.
The class was made up of different levels of students put together. Instructor Horwell explained to the class, mostly Zelda since was really the only new student, that each of them were to be trained separately for the first couple days. One on one training for their loftwing lessons. The in-class lessons were for everyone together.
"Your loftwing is connected to you through a spiritual bond. When you first met your loftwing as a child, that bond was made. Through the years you all have become close to your loftwings. Now you will be taking that bond to the next step. Flying with your loyal bird will of course, bring the two of you together even more."
Zelda thought that the instructor was making it sound like your loftwing was your soulmate. Well, she guessed in a way your soul is connected to your bird. Starry, like everyone's loftwing, grew up with Zelda. Like a best friend or family member your bird loved you. Zelda knew she loved Starry. Life without her bird would suck. Of course the same basic logic applied.
Class ended for the and Mr. Horwell had Zelda stay for a moment. He explained that her first lesson would be next day at one pm and they would meet in at Skyloft main square.
The first lesson Zelda was instructed to fly around the island, but only above the floating land. Until she got the hang of it with solid land beneath her. Before starting, Mr. Horwell had her approach her bird and put her hand on its beak.
"You have to give Starry your full confidence in him. He's used to flying on his own, but now he's going to have to learn to carry you as well."
"I trust you, friend. We can do this together." Zelda said to her bird. Starry whistled back and lowered his head to her and Zelda put her hand on his soft feathers.
"Let's get Starry ready for training." Mr. Horwell said.
Starry, Zelda and the professor walked up to the goddess statue, where the loftwings hung around when they weren't flying. When they got there, Mr. Horwell opened a door that was a small closet on the back of the giant statue. The loftwings were free to come and go as they wished, goddess island being a safe place to rest. From the supply closet, the professor pulled out a gold loop of circular rings, and another smaller one identical to it. He handed the smaller to Zelda.
"It's a matching belt for you and your bird. It's traditional that master and loftwing wear them."
Zelda put it on over her brown belt. It felt comfortably loose and it was really pretty. Zelda was about to whistle for Starry before she saw him already descending to land before her. Mr. Horwell handed her the other gold loop.
"This one is for your loftwing. Place it over his head and rest it at the bottom of his neck. There's a small leather handle on it that should be closest to his back. Make sure he is comfortable."
Zelda slowly placed it over Starry's head and slid it down his neck. The bird moved around a bit and grumbled with his bird noises. Zelda made sure it wasn't too tight and that it wasn't digging into his feathers.
"It's okay Starry, I have one too." The majestic bird shook his neck repeatedly. "There, there, it's okay." She said taking the loftwing's head in her hands, putting her head to his. Starry settled down after a couple moments.
"Very good, Zelda. You can effectively soothe your loftwing. That will be very important for both of you when you are in the air. Let's go down to center square."
Zelda guided Starry down to the wooden planked square in the middle of Skyloft. Mr. Horwell explained how best to mount her bird while on land. Loftwings usually caught their masters in midair, after they dived off of a platform or small island, but since it was Zelda's first time she wouldn't be doing that.
She gently climbed onto Starry's back and the loftwing held still as she hoped. She had sat on her companion's back before but this time was different; They were going to fly.
"Now Zelda. Before you tell him to lift up, remember that you need to stay calm. Since you've never flown together before you need to keep a level head so that your bird doesn't stress out. As I said in class, you and your loftwing have a connection. He can feel your emotions, so relax and enjoy the ride. Trust your bird, let it know that you trust it. The more you fly, the better your relationship will be."
"Okay." Zelda said, a determined look on her face. She could do this. She believed in Starry.
"When you're ready, pull the handle on his collar gently and coax him to lift up."
Closing her eyes for a couple of seconds, Zelda cleared her mind. She needed to focus. She'd been so scared of flying lately but now she had to be brave. Opening her eyes, she leaned forward placing a hand on the soft feathers of his neck and spoke to her bird.
"Okay Starry. We are going to fly now. Let's go."
Sitting back, Zelda gently pulled on the handle as Mr. Horwell had said. Starry opened his beautiful majestic blue wings and raised them powerfully up and down. The wind it created blew Zelda's long hair back. After running a few steps forward Starry left the ground, rising steadily into the air. Zelda sucked in a deep breath. She remembered some of the words from yesterday's class lecture.
"To steer your loftwing you need to lean left and right, up and down. Speaking to your loftwing while doing this is also helpful."
Zelda took a breath and leaned to the right, as if on cue, so did Starry, changing direction. She continued to lean that way until they had made a half circle in the sky, then she sat straight again. Zelda smiled. She decided to lean forward then, and Starry began to descend back to the ground. Before they reached it, she leant backwards and then to the left bringing them up and then over.
Zelda didn't let Starry fly too close to the edge of Skyloft, she was also wary of going too high. She spoke to her bird as she flew.
"It's okay, I just don't feel comfortable with that yet. I trust you Starry, but we are just learning today. I know, you're a professional at this, so just bear with me a while longer."
The loftwing whistled and rose and spun a circle in the air without her telling him to. Zelda's heart jumped in her chest and then she remembered "stay calm." She relaxed on the bird's back and let him fly her a little.
"Not too far please."
Just as they were reaching the edge of the island once again Zelda pulled back on the handle and leaned right to guide him to turn around.
"Back we go, Starry." She said. The loftwing obeyed her making a circle back to the center of the island. She guided her loftwing to the ground. The landing was a bit rough, but they'd just have to work on that. Or maybe not, since you were supposed to land with your sailcloth.
Zelda brought Starry to a stop near Mr. Horwell and climbed down.
"That was great!" She said running around to front of her bird, smiling ecstatically. Starry danced around and rubbed his head against her chest and she hugged him.
"Very well done. You two certainly have a strong bond. I think that's enough training for today."
"Thank you for the lesson today, professor. It was so much fun."
Zelda walked off with Starry close behind her. The bird tried to pick her up and put her back on its back, tugging at her dress with his beak and knocking her off balance. Zelda spun around.
"Hey! That's not cool you silly bird. Don't worry, we'll fly again soon."
The next morning in class, everyone was talking about Zelda. Apparently many of the boys had seen her flying yesterday. She took a seat at her desk and Link walked over and sat down next to her. They had a few more minutes till class started.
"Nice flying. Not many people do that well the first time. I've watched the instructors have to save people many times."
"It's supposed to be hard?"
Link laughed. "For most people, it is hard for them control their birds the first time. You seem to be-"
Then he was interrupted.
"Hey Zelda. You want to go flying later? I know a great spot where we can fly in peace."
Groose was now standing next to her desk. His hair looked extra pointy on top of his head that morning. He had one hand on her desk and was leaning slightly forward. Zelda thought he was a bit too much in her bubble. She leaned away from him and faked a smile.
Zelda had only flown once, she wasn't sure she was ready to mess around. She still needed a lot of practice.
"I'm sorry, Groose. I can't today."
The look on the red haired boy's face dropped slightly. His eyes drifted to the boy sitting next to her. Zelda couldn't read what he was thinking, but his eyes were fierce. As she looked at Link, he was facing the front of the classroom, either oblivious or ignoring Groose's stare.
When Zelda looked back at Groose, broke his glare on Link and grinned at her. Zelda raised her eyebrow.
"See you around." He said before walking back to his friends.
What had that been about? Zelda wondered.
Zelda took her schoolbook out. And opened to a page with illustrations of the surface: The land that was far below the clouds. The painting she looked at showed a forest of trees with several flowers growing randomly in the grass. Sunlight shone through the tree leaves. It was a beautiful picture. There were trees and grass on Skyloft, sure, but nothing like a "forest."
From her history lessons she had learned that the land had been destroyed many years ago. The ancestors of the people of Skyloft had escaped that land and traveled into the sky. It was told that the Goddess Hylia actually saved the survivors from destruction and broke off a piece of the land and sent it to sky. That was how Skyloft came to be. She wondered about the world below the clouds. Was it beautiful now? Or was it destroyed like some of the older books said? She wanted to see the forest in her book in real life, how amazing that would be.
Mr. Horwell came in and started class. Ten minutes before the end of the lesson he announced that they would be paired up in groups of two. He let the students pick their partners. Groose walked over and asked Zelda, she thought of the looks he was giving Link earlier and the way he interrupted their conversation.
"I'm sorry but Link and I already paired up." She lied, putting a apologetic smile on. She felt awful for lying. She usually never did, but she just didn't want to be his partner after the looks he'd been giving her best friend. Although, she didn't know what had happened between them, if anything.
She looked to Link sitting next to her and gave him a slightly pleading look. He nodded. When Groose walked away Zelda turned to Link. He gave her a questioning look.
"I'm sorry. I just…I saw him glaring at you earlier and I thought it was rude how he cut in when you were talking."
Link shrugged. "It's fine. I don't mind being your partner, I was actually about to ask you."
Mr. Horwell spoke as soon as everyone had finished pairing up. "You will be flying in groups of two in next Tuesday's lesson."
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