Chapter 1

Visitors in the Night

The silence in the darkened hallway was almost eerie. It was enough to bring about that odd yet pleasant buzz in one's ears which accompanied a place completely devoid of sound. The only noise to be heard was the patter of a young man's feet as he stepped lithely down a carpeted staircase.

Link gave a hefty sigh, trailing his fingers through his hair as he made his way to the first floor of residential building eleven. As his foot left the final stair, he slid in front of the door to his dorm. He stood still for a moment, grateful to be alone, and to finally be able to retire to his own private sanctuary. He was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open…

His chin dropped as he looked down, realizing that he was still donning the same brown sparring tunic that he'd been wearing all day. His fingertip traced the emblem which stretched its proud wings across his chest. How his outfit had stayed clean after so many hours of wear was beyond him. Between a sweaty sparring session, flight class and a bit of practice for the Wing Ceremony, he certainly didn't smell very good. He reeked of loftwing. His little powwow with his friend had sucked up his entire evening. He supposed that a bath was out of the question at this point. It sounded really good, though…

It had been an exceptionally busy Thursday. Pressure from the rapidly approaching final exams was mounting. Assignments needed doing. Essays needed writing. Flying techniques needed polishing. Musical instruments needed playing. Best friends needed consoling until three o'clock in the morning…

He loved Zelda to pieces. She was his lifelong best friend, after all. But she had really been wearing him out lately.

Looking up at the ceiling, Link plunged his hand into his right pocket. He bit his tongue, pushing nonessential objects aside in order to locate his room key. He grimaced as his skin picked up moisture from the handkerchief that Zelda had been sobbing into for the past five hours.

Should'a just let her keep it… he thought. Finally, a soft jingle told him that he had struck gold. Or brass.

He inserted the key into the lock, and twisted. Oddly, it didn't click like it normally would. He quickly concluded that he must have forgotten to hit the lock when he stepped out to go to his first morning class. Shrugging to himself, he gave the rounded wooden door a shove.

As it swung inward, Link went to take a step, but abruptly stopped. The small, lone oil lantern which sat faithfully on his bedside table was alight. It shouldn't have been.

In the dim, flickering light, Link saw that his bed was occupied. Not occupied by just anyone, either. Squinting his eyes, his weak, blurry gaze rested upon a familiar silhouette. Almost unable to distinguish the color in the feeble light, he looked upon a mustard-hued knight's tunic. The young man who wore it sat upright, comfortably propped up by pillows. Fixated on the wall, he was busy making shadow puppets.

Oh gods… Link thought, shaking his head dejectedly. Tempted to turn tail and run, he reconsidered visiting the bathroom.

"Geez, finally," the young man said disapprovingly, studying his dancing, handmade works of art with tenacity. Link gawked at him.

"Finally?" Link repeated. "Pipit, what are you doing here? Don't you know what time it is?"

"I'm not the one here who's time challenged, Mister can't-get-up-on-time-for-nothin'," Pipit quipped. Link's hands hung down as he gaped at his seemingly oblivious friend.

"I'll reiterate," Link said, growing slightly frustrated. "What are you doing here? At three in the morning? It can't be for anything good. Your room infested with something again?"

"Well, I worked late," Pipit explained, lowering his hands to his lap. He turned his head toward his irritated friend. "I patrolled 'til about a half-hour ago. Hence my outfit." He gestured to himself and made a face which screamed, 'Duh'. Link rolled his eyes. "And no. I'm not here for anything good. 'Cause you're up to no good." Ticked off and confused, Link looked at the wall for a few seconds.

"I what?" he asked.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about," Pipit said, sitting up. Crossing his brawny forearms, he leaned forward and tilted his head down, offering his best Pipit stare. Looking up, Link shut his eyes.

"Pip, what-"

"Disappearing off into a girl's room for hours into the night?" Pipit interjected. "It's obvious. I really hope you're being careful." Still in the doorway, Link held out his hands. His jaw dropped.

"Huh?" he asked. "You waited here to tell me that? Do you even know what girl I was visiting?"

"Of course," Pipit said, swinging his feet to the floor.

"So…why would you assume such a thing?" Shrugging one shoulder, Pipit gave a wry grin.

"I dunno," he said. "It's not like we're kids anymore. I mean, you're about to turn twenty-one…"

"Yeah? And you're about to turn twenty-two," Link told him. "What's your point?" Reaching behind him, he pushed his door shut with a quiet click. The last thing he wanted to do was wake an ornery instructor, or, worse yet, the Headmaster, who resided upstairs.

"My point is," Pipit emphasized, "that I've seen the way you guys look at each other these days. And…" He shrugged again. "One can naturally assume that something might be going on there, know what I mean?" Taking a seat on his spare bed on the right side of the room, Link shook his head.

"Actually, no, Pipit, I don't know what you mean," Link replied. "Zelda's my friend. When I'm in a friend's room, there is nothing going on which I would have to be careful about. Okay?" He took a moment to shake his head again. "Goodness, you've known us both forever. You know we don't do that. Get your mind out of the gutter." He leaned across his legs and pulled his brown, knee-high leather boots off of his sore feet. Kicking his legs up, he flopped onto his bed. "Don't get on my case over something that appears to be what it's not." Link narrowed his eyes. Pipit looked suspiciously at his blonde buddy, thoroughly unconvinced.

"Yeah? Then why's your hair all messed up?" Grabbing his head, Link looked for a mirror, but remembered that the only one in the room was stashed in his cupboard.

"'Cause I spent a good three hours practicing for the Wing Ceremony today before the sun went down. Aren't I allowed to have windblown hair? Plus it's the middle of the night! What do I need to look all tidy for?"

"For the strapping, handsome visitors who unexpectedly show up in your room, of course." Pipit shot a sarcastic, flirty look at him.

"Uuuuuuugh, Pip, knock it off, man, it is way too late," Link groaned tiredly.

"And why's your face all red?" he asked, pointing accusingly. Link stared at him again, scoffing in amazement.

"'Cause you just scared the heck out of me, Pip! What the…" Link was almost at a loss for words. "And that last outlandish comment you just made isn't helping either… Why are you in here anyway? Shouldn't you be, I dunno, sleeping?"

"Not when I have such urgent issues on my mind that need immediate attention. I need to make sure my buddy here either keeps it in the barn, or saddles it up first." Link paused for a good long while.

"Pipit…you didn't just say that."

"Oh, I did," Pipit assured him. "Seriously, I'm not trying to be gratuitously crude. I really am concerned. I don't wanna see you making any mistakes." Believing his friend to be either hard of hearing or just plain nuts, Link sat up and pulled his tunic, chainmail and linen shirt over his head. Trying to shake off the tiredness, he stretched his arms, happy to be free of the weighty armor.

"Number one: no mistakes are being made here," Link insisted, laying back down and secretly relishing the sensation of the comforter against his bare skin. "Number two: you're always gratuitously crude. And number three: you're crazy, Pip. But then again, that's a conclusion that I already came to a long, long time ago."

"Hey," Pipit said incredulously, "that may be your conclusion, but it's a foregone one."

"Right, well I don't need to get into everyinappropriate thing that you've ever said or done." Link pondered briefly. "But, just for the sake of proving I'm right, how about what happened last month? When I let you stay in my room for a week when Jakamar was replacing the floor in your dorm? That was an adventure." Pipit shot an innocent glance at him. Now it was Link's turn to point.

"No. Don't act like you have no idea what I'm referring to," Link said, closing his eyes. "I slept in this bed and you slept in mine. I let you have my bed 'cause it's the most comfortable. And for reasons known only to the Goddess, you decided it was a good idea to bring Karane into my bed.…" Lacing his fingers behind his head, he shifted to view Pipit's nonchalant expression. "Um, with me fifteen feet from you guys?" Link continued, fishing for his friend's understanding. All he obtained was indifference.

"Hey, at least we were subtle about it," Pipit stated, looking away.

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" Link retorted, closing his eyes again. "I, for one, can vouch with one-hundred percent certainty that you guys were not subtle. Nor did you even care that I was here. I mean, did you forget whose room you were in or something?" He looked at Pipit who simply shrugged. Link huffed. "Well, after it got old to asphyxiate myself with my pillow in a futile attempt to drown you guys out, I got up and left."

"Hey, not my fault," Pipit said guiltlessly. "You could'a just said something…"

"But it gets better!" Link went on. "Everyone knew that you were staying in my room, but no one knew that Karane was in here. Everyone within a half-mile radius, I'm sure, was treated to the entertaining sounds of thrashing, banging and who knows what else coming from my room, which supposedly had two guys in it. Seriously, Pipit. People looked at me funny the next day." Link kept his eyes on the wall to his left, refusing to look upon his friend's naive face any longer.

"I whittled away the wee hours of the morning by pacing the corridor and sleeping on one of the tables in the breakfast hall. That was fun." Hearing Pipit start to chuckle a little bit, Link's mouth reluctantly broke into a small smile. "Can you even comprehend in your mind how strange it is to wake up to Henya poking you and asking you why you're sleeping there…?" They both couldn't help but chortle together for a moment. "You are crazy, case closed," Link blurted out.

"I'm not crazy," Pipit stated in an attempt to defend himself. Both friends tried to fend off the giggles.

"Pipit, the pure nescience that's emanating from you right now could choke a Skyloftian moose," Link objurgated. "Some days I honestly think that you are positively certifiable." His gaze settled on the ceiling as he watched the shadows sway. "Especially at the Lumpy Pumpkin on free-drink-Mondays."

"Well, you hang around me often enough. I guess that makes you crazy by association," Pipit said, bouncing his dark eyebrow.

"Hey, not you too," Link complained. "I already have enough people to wrongfully accuse me of things."

"Oh, stop your whining. It's not that bad," Pipit said unsympathetically. "I know the instructors pretty well by now, and they just expect a lot more from you than from everyone else. I mean it, too. They're hard on you 'cause they recognize your potential. Is it really such a bad thing that they expect all A's from you, or get on your back if you're lazy in the sparring ring? At least they coax you into excelling. They don't do that for just anybody. Consider your harsh treatment a privilege."

"Pssh. If this is a privilege then I'd hate to attend a school where they just plain don't like me." Link peered at him. "And I should've told Henya about you. She would've reported you, just like you deserve." Pipit snickered.

"If you'd reported me, then I would've reported you. I highly doubt the instructors, especially Zelda's dear daddy, would be terrible keen on the idea of you being in her dorm all hours of the night."

"Fine," Link said. "Then we would sit in the detention hall, exchanging wise-cracks for hours. And don't forget that Karane and Zelda would be there, too. And they would not be happy with us." Pipit laughed at Link's remark. "Or we could just duke it out in the sparring hall," he suggested, "and put an end to it right then and there."

"Well, I don't need to tell you that an underclassman can't challenge an upperclassman," Pipit pointed out confidently.

"Right, but an upperclassman can challenge an underclassman, and then it's left to the underclassman's discretion, now isn't it? Therefore, you can challenge me." Pipit laughed some more.

"Whatever. Can I sleep here tonight? It's so dang late at this point that I don't even wanna move," Pipit said lazily.

"Sure. As long as you don't bring any girls into my bed," Link said with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. The weariness caused by a long, grueling day was beginning to tug at him.

"Why not?" Pipit jeered. "It's the only action your bed ever sees."

"Shut uuuuup," Link said flatly.

"It's true," Pipit continued.

"So what."

"You could have any girl on this campus." Half-asleep, Link grumbled to himself. "Scratch that. You could have any girl on the Main Island and beyond. I'm talking any university or village anywhere. They're falling all over themselves for you. Don't you see 'em?" Link grumbled again. "I can think of a dozen of 'em off the top of my head."

"I'm sure you could," Link murmured, unimpressed.

"How about Drayka from building fifteen? She's beautiful, and I know she wants you based on what her friends tell me."

"Mmmhmm," Link mumbled.

"Then there's Lahrk and Kori from building fifteen, and Gallah, Lory and Kea from building six. They're all gorgeous! Then, there's Linette, Ioras and Petrel who all share one of those huge, luxurious dorms in the grad-student building. They're in the same room! You could probably walk yourself over there right now, knock on their door and be ripped off your feet as they drag you inside like maniacs!" Pipit nearly fell off of the bed. Link finally opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Yeah, and get stopped for sneaking out by who knows how many night guards who are patrolling out there right now. Too bad you aren't patrolling right now. Then I could actually get some sleep! And more importantly Pip, not interestedAnd, I also find it ludicrous how well you have every girl's building number memorized. You know all their dorm room numbers too? How about their favorite colors? And you know what, now that you are a grad student, why don't you go move yourself into one of those luxurious buildings, and leave me in peace in humble little building eleven?"

"Well, I for one can't understand why you and Zelda are so committed to each other when you aren't even dating," Pipit said, ignoring every one of his friend's words. "It's like you guys are together, but you're not. You guys, like, unwittingly sabotage each other's chances at finding love." Pipit batted his eyes sardonically once more, gleaning an irritated stare from his friend. "I don't get it. I think I need to knock some sense into you."

"Can you do it tomorrow please…it's past three AM?" Link breathed.

"Ha. Not a chance, chump." Springing from Link's bed like a crazed monkey, Pipit crashed his heavy body onto his unsuspecting friend.

Both young men were medium built, solid, muscular and fit from hours of intense training; however, Pipit was six inches taller than Link, making him a good deal heavier.

Catching Link completely off-guard, Pipit knocked the wind out of him. They rolled onto the floor with a loud, violent thump, shaking the entire building. As Link lay on his back trying to catch his breath, Pipit straddled him, attempting to flip him on his stomach to secure him in an arm grapple.

Pinned down, but well aware of Pipit's intentions, Link wriggled out from underneath him. Refusing to be subdued, he kicked Pipit in the chest, knocking him onto his back. Capitalizing on his friend's prone position, Link grabbed Pipit's wrists. As he leaned down to pin them to the floor, Pipit brought his knee up, administering a harsh jab to his friend's stomach. Grunting against the force of it, Link fell back, allowing Pipit to break free.

"That was a dirty move..!" Link muttered, folding over.

"And kicking me in the chest wasn't?" Pipit shouted. As his hurting friend clutched his midsection, Pipit reached up. Pulling Link into a headlock, he yanked him to the floor, smashing his face into the hard, unforgiving wood.

With his opponent on all fours, Pipit jumped onto his back, bearing his weight down as vigorously as he could. With a surprised grunt, Link dropped onto his chest.

As the red-faced pair rolled around the room, several pieces of furniture toppled over. They hollered at one other, struggling to gain dominance.

Link was in no mood for a wrestling match at this time of day, yet, an insuperable scrap had sucked him in. He couldn't believe that Pipit insisted on fooling around like this at three-something in the morning. He was exhausted from the day's usual draining activities. He was already short on sleep. He had been up every night with Zelda…

With one final roll, Link ended up on his face. As Pipit pushed him into the floor, he grimaced, unable to breathe. Pipit made another valiant attempt to claim his friend's arms, focusing on his stronger right.

"I'm making sure my door is locked next time!" Link yelled up at him, flailing his hands.

"It was locked. I still had a key from when I was staying here," Pipit said, almost completely out of breath from trying to truss his friend's wrists. Grumbling and groaning from exertion, Link thrashed beneath him. As he felt his right arm seized, his eyes flung open. He gasped sharply.

As his arm was bent across his back, he arched up. His forehead dropped to the floor.

"I swear I'm gonna get you good in flight class. You are toast, my friend!" Link promised, twisting to break free from the hold which threatened to pull his shoulder out of its socket.

"Give up?" Pipit asked softly in Link's ear as he leaned down, still bending his arm. "I think you need to brush up on your bare-hand combat skills, bud, 'cause this is just pitiful. You may be undefeated in the sparring ring, but it's onlybecause it entails swordplay, and not wrestling!"

"Uuuugh...Pipiiiiiiit," Link growled with his face in the floor. "Good gods. I am so tired. Just gimme a break!"

Not knowing what else to do, Link decided to apply a most lowdown and brutal move. Feeling a little bit guilty, but not nearly enough to avoid doing it, Link brought his foot up behind Pipit and gave him a swift kick in the junk. Pipit immediately fell and doubled. Link pushed himself up from the floor, eyed Pipit for a moment and plopped down next to him. He almostfelt bad about the pitiful sounds coming from his friend.

As Pipit moaned and writhed on the floor, the two looked at one another, feeling pretty silly. After Pipit managed to choke back the tears that were pooling in his eyes, he started laughing.

"I'm really sorry I had to do that, Pip," Link told him with just a touch of sympathy. Pipit laughed and gasped simultaneously.

"You're sorry? Tell that to my groin," he whined. Link couldn't help but silently crack up at the poor guy.

Suddenly, there came a knock on Link's door. He and Pipit froze in place, staring at each other in horror.

"Oh crap," Pipit grumbled under his breath. Link flew to his feet, walked directly to his door and opened it. As the door slowly opened, he looked up. He came face to face with Instructor Owlan.

He looked mad. Very, very mad.

Link quickly glanced at his instructor, realizing that he had dressed in his formal teacher's uniform just to pay him a visit. His long, thin blue stole hung over his broad shoulders as he held his hands behind his back. He gave the young man a vacant expression. Link gulped.

"Um," he stammered, trying to keep his voice from breaking, but failing. "Evening, Instructor Owlan." He bowed his head reverently, as was custom at the academy. He looked down at his feet for a moment, knowing full well what was coming. Owlan stepped softly into the room. The light from the oil lantern reflected off of his long white hair. He broke his gaze with Link to peer down at Pipit, who was lying on the floor. The young knight stared up at him with a bewildered look on his face. Owlan's eyes turned toward Link once more.

"Young men, what in the world is going on here?" he asked in his usual deep, intimidating voice. Link's eyes darted around the room as he tried to come up with a legitimate - and believable - excuse.

"Well," he began uneasily. Then, Pipit spoke up.

"It's my fault, sir," Pipit admitted. He grabbed the end of the bed with his hand and pulled himself to his feet. His knees practically buckled from the lingering pain. "It's not Link's fault, really. He shouldn't have to be punished because of me." Disinterested in asking questions regarding the strewn about furniture, Owlan just glared.

"Detention. Tomorrow after classes are out. Both of you." With that, he looked each of them sternly in the eyes before turning to leave. Link and Pipit stood motionless for a few seconds as their instructor made a brisk exit.

Immediately after, two heads simultaneously peeked out of Link's door. They watched as their instructor walked down the hall. His arms were still behind his back.

"Maybe he keeps his hands clasped behind him to avoid beating the living daylights out of us when he's really mad," Pipit said. They both turned their heads and looked at each other.

"Pipit, we just got ourselves detention on a Friday night. Actually, you just got us detention on a Friday night, with your little demonstration. So much for arriving punctually at the Lumpy Pumpkin tomorrow night." He reached up and grasped Pipit's shoulder, shoving him backward. "I'm supposed to be playing at the party, too. I don't even know what time we're supposed to be starting. Good going."

Link walked away from him and headed back toward his bed. Standing next to it, he sprung off of his feet and landed on his back with a bounce. He stared up at the ceiling with his arms stretched out to the sides. "Aaaaaaand I wasn't even wearing a shirt. When an instructor came into my room." He shook his head. Pipit gathered himself up.

"Well, at least we'll be in detention together. We'll get the chance to exchange those wise cracks you mentioned earlier." He grinned innocently at his friend. "And that party's gonna go on all night. I'm sure we can get you there on time to play your precious violin, so chill out. We can go together right after detention."

"Yeah, sure," Link replied dryly. "Goodnight, Pipit." Link shot him a sideways glance which told him to get out. Pipit took a hasty step back.

"Night, man," he said, exiting through the door as he shut it. As soon as he was gone, Link looked up at the ceiling and mumbled through gritted teeth. "Well, this is sure to ruin tomorrow night."