The wind whistled in Link's ears, whipping his hair in his face, obscuring his view for a few moments. Zelda shot past him, a purple blur. She called to him over her shoulder, but her words were lost in the wind. Link circled the meadow, a light breeze still ruffling his hair. He squinted in the harsh sunlight, searching for the small statue attached to the small agile bird. He circled higher and higher, his eyes keen to any quick movements. Feeling restless he started a sweep across the meadow again. His fingers just brushed the bottoms of the clouds. From the corner of his eye he saw a glint and a purple flash. Zelda had must've seen the small gray bird they were searching for, because she and her loftwing had tucked in and shot towards the ground. Link followed in suit, urging his loftwing forwards to catch up. He and Zelda dove to reach the statue first. Both birds tucked their wings in diving towards the ground, flashes of crimson and violet streaked earthwards. Link reached out his hand towards the statue, Zelda mirroring his movements. He urged his loftwing forwards, giving it a final burst of speed, leaving Zelda behind and out of his vision. He closed his hand around the statue closing it in his fist. He pulled out of his dive, fist over his head, he pumped his fist in victory. His victory was short lived. The sky plunged into twilight again, just like the day Zelda had fainted.
"Link" screamed Zelda, her voice shrill with fear.
Link whipped around to see arms creeping out of the shadows, wrapped around Zelda. He squinted, trying to make out where Zelda was as the shadows engulfed her, his eyes still not adjusted to the darkness. Suddenly the sky flared up, the twilight being banished momentarily with a huge flash of gold. Link saw Zelda, struggling against what turned out not to be arms but huge wings. Her hands held above her hands, a golden ball of swirling energy shrouding her in a halo of light. There was just enough light for Link to make out the shape of a huge beast. Dark as night, with huge midnight blue spikes running down it's back, it's bright red pupils glared at Link.
Zelda called to Link, but her words were lost in the wind again. She threw the ball of light at Link. Time seemed to bend, the ball of light making a slow deliberate path towards him. Voices seemed to sing around him. He reached out to touch it, when it hit him square in the chest knocking him off his Loftwing. The last thing he remembered was falling, to the ground, the look of terror on Zelda's face imprinted on the inside of his eyelids.
Link blearily opened his eyes, blinking away the grit in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes, when something licked his cheek. He sat up like a shot, causing a searing pain in his skull. He looked around and noticed a small eevee sitting next to him. The small brown pokemon stared up at him in concern.
"Eevee" he cried. The tiny fox jumped into his arms as he gave it a hug.
"Nice to see you too Link" said voice from the corner the smile evident in her voice.
Link turned to see a girl with bright green hair. Her arm resting lightly on a pale ocarina. She was wearing traditional green Kokiri grab and tall green boots.
Link blushed and grunted, trying to regain some of his manly composure after having squealed over his partner pokemon.
"Are you all right? You took a pretty bad fall after falling off your loftwing"
"My head hurts a bit but that's all. How long have I been out for?"
"About a day" she paused, obviously collecting her thoughts. "Link what happened out there?"
Link thought about this, trying to put what happened into words that didn't sound completely implausible.
And he explained the huge shadow bird and Zelda being kidnapped. He left out the bit about the golden ball. It sounded ridiculous to be knocked off a bird by some light. He reached up and scratched his head, noticing a darker splotch on the back of his hand. But he said nothing, wanting to examine it in private later.
"Do you know where Zelda's been taken Saria?"
Saria shook her head. She could see the gears turning in Link's head as he worked out what he was going to do next.
"Whatever your planning Link, don't you dare leave me out"
Saria and Link had been friends since before Link even met Zelda. They had spent their entire childhood together. But when Zelda had moved to Skyloft when they were 8, Link had forgotten about Saria.
Placing the hand with the odd mark behind his back, he crossed his fingers.
"Leave you out Saria? Never."
