Nobody quite knew what happened.
The whole town was in chaos. Such a joyous day had turned into one of the darkest in Skyloft's history; a beloved young girl lost to the clouds, the new knight left unconscious from a blow to his head…for such a peaceful place, this day was an incredible blotch on its contentedness.
Ghirahim was unsure how to feel. His initial and primal instinct was fury; his instincts urged him to rage and storm and scream and maybe hit Groose in the gut for good measure. But Link was unconscious and he was the only one able to reel him in from doing such actions, and what good would screaming do when his only friend on this damned floating rock was hurt?
He was the one that had seen Link fall. He had, briefly, seen Zelda get pulled from her bird but she had fallen into the tornado before he could even think to react. But he had seen Link get tossed up and fall lifelessly through the black sky. Owlan and Horwell had acted as runners to urge everyone into their homes or the Knight Academy when the sky had begun to blacken, but naturally, Ghirahim did not listen; he found thunderstorms calming. He whistled for Shade, his Loftwing, and jumped off the edge, barely falling for a second before Shade shot between his legs and hefted him up into the sky.
The winds were sharp and buffeting and some of the worst skies that Ghirahim has ever flown in. But that did not deter him or his Loftwing, the latter of which pulled his wings tight in and dove towards Link's falling form. Crimson was diving similarly, but without Link actively trying to mount his bird, it would take a miracle for Crimson to even manage to get Link onto his back. Ghirahim reached out for his friend as they approached, and he nearly had to tip Shade on his side to fully grab onto Link and haul him onto his lap. With Link saddled precariously on his stomach over Ghirahim's legs, dead weight and insensible, Ghirahim squeezed his knees and urged Shade upwards and to their left, towards Skyloft's buffeted silhouette. Both Crimson and Azure (Link and Zelda's Loftwings, respectively) followed behind; two pinpricks of color against the black sky that blended Shade's feathers into its murky, dark background.
Ghirahim knew landing would be the most difficult in these incredible winds. He had no chance of jumping and allowing Shade to find his own sanctuary, since Link was dead weight in his arms. Moisture from his reddening eyes began to streak down his face, as the sharp wind struck his eyes and stung his cheeks. He needed to land. Now.
Shade began a shaky descent towards the plaza, but he was shaking and jerking under the wind's power, which would let him descend only a few feet before it jerked him up twice as high. Ghirahim's legs were beginning to hurt form the strength he needed to grip his bird's ribs in order to simply stay put on his back. Shade began another attempt to land, while Azure was folding in her wings laboriously nearby, her talons on the plaza stone. Crimson was struggling just as much as Shade, but hurriedly folding his wings to plummet to the ground, to huddle and wait out this storm.
Ghirahim, through the whiplash of dirt and dark wind, saw Owlan, Horwell, and Parrow rush towards the landing Loftwings, Parrow towards Crimson to help fold the bird's wings and the former two towards Ghirahim, their robes lashing and spitting but their hands stretched out to help guide the bird to the ground. They were shouting something over the wind but Ghirahim couldn't hear over the pounding of Shade's wings.
Shade began to tuck in his wings several feet above the ground, while Owlan—the taller of the two instructors—was urging the bird to fold them in completely against the wind as he got closer to the ground. Horwell began the same process on the left wing, and with much struggle, the two instructors managed to successfully fold Shade's wings and allow the bird to hunch down and put his back to the wind on the ground.
Horwell was on the side that Link was already sliding off from, so he reached up and pulled him into his arms, carrying him bridle style as Ghirahim also slid off and briefly squeezed Shade's neck in thanks. He then rushed to Crimson's side, who was struggling heartily against the wind and smacking Owlan and Parrow in the face with his feathers as he tried to land. Ghirahim jumped up to wrap his arms around the bird's neck, adding a burden to the nearly weightless Loftwing to help him land. With his extra effort and Owlan's urging, Crimson also landed and immediately huddled down like the two other birds to wait out the storm.
With the Loftwings safe, Owlan, Ghirahim, Horwell—who carried Link in his arms—all began to rush to the Knight Academy, while Parrow ran to his home. On the ground the winds were easily as strong but easier to maneuver in, even if it kicked up dust in their eyes. Once safely in the Knight Academy, the door slamming shut behind all of them, the silence seemed incredibly and awfully deafening, while outside the wind shrieked and howled.
The rest of the students and some of the villagers stood in the foyer of the Academy, watching with wide eyes and shivering from the wind as Horwell rushed up the stairs towards Link's dormitory, the boy still in his arms. Gaepora, who was instructing the people to find a seat in the kitchens, and the students to their rooms, followed soon after Owlan and Ghirahim.
Though Owlan would look over Link and try to wake him, he would lay, unresponsive, on his bed for many hours. Ghirahim would sit at his side for those hours, as the winds howled through the night but eventually died to silence, and only after the moon rose would he fall asleep there. Ghirahim would not wake when Gaepora carried him from Link's side, fast asleep, to his own bed the next room over. He would not wake when Link woke and journeyed to the Goddess Statue to follow a strange, floating girl that inhibited a beautiful, sacred sword. He woke, instead, at the first peak of light, to find Link gone from his room and his honorary Knight clothes gone.
Link was bargaining for a lower price for a bottle full of Luv's heart potion when he was roughly turned around, hit in the stomach, and harshly embraced by a familiar white haired boy. He gasped for air from both the blow and the hug, which similarly knocked the wind from him, but he smiled nonetheless and patted his friend on the back. "Why'd you hit me?" Link complained as his friend pulled back, his face set in a harsh glare.
Ghirahim poked Link directly in the center of his chest, and despite the chainmail he wore, it was a painful prod. "Why did I hit you? Oh, maybe because you nearly died, then ran off in the middle of the night after being unconscious for several hours! Oh, and then, and then, I get told by Gaepora—Gaepora!—that you're going to be gone for some time and that I shouldn't worry! Damn it, Link, you should be wondering why I didn't hit you more!"
Link stood in silence for a moment, blinking, before he slowly smiled and said, "Sorry 'bout that, Ghira. It's just…I have something I need to do. Gaepora's right, I need to leave…and I…I have to do this alone. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was okay, but I was kinda pressed for time."
Ghirahim frowned heavily, before he crossed his arms and said, "As if you're going alone! I don't care if the Goddess herself gave you a mission, I'm not letting you go alone, and that's final."
Link rubbed the back of his neck, excused himself from Luv's stand and led Ghirahim over closer to the edge of the bazaar to speak in an undertone to his friend. "Uh, Ghirahim…the Goddess sort of did give me a mission."
Ghirahim stared. A beat passed. He burst out laughing.
"No, seriously!" Link hushed. He looked around, then said even quieter than before, "I'm the Goddess' Chosen Hero! I'm supposed to journey down beneath the clouds to rescue Zelda and complete whatever quest She set for me down there."
Ghirahim was still grinning his feral smile as Link spoke, but it slowly faded when Link didn't retract his explanation. He raised his brow and gaped after a moment. "You're being serious, aren't you?"
Link nodded and looked furtively around.
Ghirahim seemed to think this over before he nodded to himself, saying, "Like I said, I'm coming with you." Link was about to protest when Ghirahim cut him off, continuing, "I did say even if you had a mission from the Goddess I wouldn't not go with you. So this is me going with you. Link! Look, even if you bind me somewhere in chains I'll find a way to follow you and help. You can fight me all you want, I'm not changing my mind."
Link looked like he was going to argue before he threw up his hands and sighed. He seemed to pause for a moment and Ghirahim was sure he had heard a faint sound of tinkling bells, but he couldn't quite place it. Soon after Link shrugged helplessly and sighed, "Fine! Fine. Come on, you need a sword and some supplies if you're coming with me. Just…Ghirahim, you've got to be careful, okay? I won't forgive myself if you and Zelda both get hurt."
Ghirahim was unsure to be offended that he was grouped with Zelda or touched because Link cared for him enough to not forgive himself should Ghirahim be hurt. He settled for smug and sauntered over the Luv's stall to buy a bottle of heart potion.
"So that beam of light over there broke through the cloud barrier, to wherever Zelda is. She gave me this sailcloth that I can use to float down without having to land Crimson completely. We need to get you one, 'cause I doubt it'll do anything for the both of us. Maybe Eagus or Gaepora will give you theirs…or maybe we can fashion you one. When you get a sword, ask nicely for Eagus' sailcloth, would you?"
Ghirahim rolled his eyes before nimbly running off to the Sparring Hall. He had little hope that the instructor would lend him his sailcloth, knowing all the bad blood between them. But he would try, at least.
And try he did, and eventually, through no small amount of bribery, Eagus loaned him his personal sailcloth and a rather impressive sword and chainmail. He found Link by the plaza and waved the cloth victoriously as he approached. His friend rolled his eyes at his cocky smile as he tucked the cloth in his red belt that lay over his visible chainmail, saying, "Come on, let's go, Ghira." At once, the two Skyloft boys jumped from the platform, arms spread and whistles ringing. Their respective birds swung underneath them and carried them through the now crystal clear sky, towards the tower of green light.
As one, the two jumped from their steeds and fell through the clouds, down to the strange, unknown place below.
Ghirahim, as he fell, arms outstretched, couldn't help but feel like he was going home.
Here's where we get to the good stuff. Who will rule the surface now that Ghirahim's been gone, all this time? How did he end up on Skyloft? Does he remember anything of his life before?
Ehehehe…
Now I'll be starting on Bloodstained. Hopefully both will be updated by tonight, if not, Bloodstained tomorrow. I'll try to set up a normal updating schedule now. Thank you for the review, Robin 1992, I'll do my best.
Take my love,
-Spirit
