AN: Okay, chapter two! Sorry for the wait and everything, but there's not really much you can do about it.:) This chapter was so much fun to write! There were so many allusions and so much foreshadowing, it made my head spin! Hahahaha! Ah, well, read on.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda.

"Kespel!"

The shout rang out on the floating rock in the sky. A young boy no older than ten with a shock of white hair was frantically racing towards his friend, a girl about his age. The girl with brown hair swaying in the wind and green eyes wide with fright was teetering on the edge of a diving platform. The boy raced toward her, but just as he reached out to grab her hand she fell over the edge. Heart pounding, he hurriedly looked over the platform to see...nothing. The girl called Kespel was gone.

"Owlan!"

He jumped about a mile in the air, clutching his chest. Spinning around, he was shocked to see his best friend, Kespel, grinning and hovering in the air on her Loftwing, a bird she had named Juncan. She had given him the name in order to "give him a distinguishing feature that set him apart from the others", as she had put it. But right now, Owlan didn't care about distinguishing features of Loftwings, or the fact that his friend was alright. Because she was most definitely not going to be alright when he strangled her for scaring the wits out of him.

Owlan glared at Kespel, still clutching his chest and breathing heavily as he walked over to her. She jumped off her Loftwing, giving his beak a loving pat and turning to her best friend. She grinned again. "Got you good, didn't I? That's the third time this month! You really should try to be less gullible, Owlan."

Still breathing heavily, he scowled, and reached out shaking hands to her. He didn't know whether to strangle her or hug her. He settled for in between, gripping the back of her neck and wrapping his other arm around her middle, pulling her towards him. She laughed, and hugged him back fully.

"You...You..." He seemed at a loss for words at first, but finally managed to spit some out. "You scared me...again." He tugged her closer.

Pulling back, she frowned. "It was only a joke. I do it at least once a month, and you still haven't learned." She sighed, but then smiled half-heartedly, shrugging. "Sorry. But at least it keeps you on your toes, eh?"

He sighed, golden eyes staring at the ground. "But I'm afraid that one day you'll fall off...for real."

Kespel watched him worriedly. Biting her lip, she took him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Look," she said, "I'll stop, okay? I'm sorry I worried you." She chewed on her lip and released him. She scuffed the ground up with her toe, dragging it through the dirt. "Besides, I just wanted to see if you would actually care if something happened to me."

Owlan snorted. "Of course I would care. You mean the world to me. You didn't have to pretend to fall off Skyloft to prove that." They began to walk together towards the Knight Academy, strolling up the stairs. Kespel began to think about something that had been haunting her for a while. She began to think about her feelings, feelings for Owlan that were changing, morphing into forbidden feelings that were taboo when you were best friends.

She glanced up from her musings, giving him a small smile. "You sound as if you like me."

"Of course I like you. You're my best friend."

She laughed quietly. "I meant as more than a friend."

He snapped his head towards her so fast she was surprised he didn't break his neck. Owlan had a look on his face she rarely ever got to see; shock. "W-What?" he stammered, narrowing his golden eyes that sent her heart thumping. "Why do you say that?"

Swallowing and thinking at the speed Loftwings, she hastily replied, "Nothing! I was just thinking, since you always seem ready to catch me if I fall off of Skyloft. And," she continued quietly, glancing up at him to watch his reaction, "I know you would catch me. Always."

He stared at her with an unreadable expression for such a long time, Kespel was afraid he thought she went crazy. By now they had stopped at the Academy doors, standing stock still in front of them, not moving an inch. She hardly dared to breath, waiting for his answer, hoping she could decipher something from it. Finally, he gave it. Kespel held her breath.

"That's ridiculous," he said quietly, turning his head away from her. "What a silly notion. How in Skyloft could I like you? That would ruin our whole friendship. You're my best friend. Nothing more." And he quickly opened the doors, ducking through them and closing them so fast one would think Kespel had punched him in the gut and he was trying to get away from her.

Too bad the feeling was the other way around.

Darkness fell upon Skyloft, blanketing it in shadows and giving peace to all but one creature; a small figure currently climbing out of bed and inching towards the door to her room. Opening it silently and darting it's eyes quickly down both ends of the hallway, it hastily snuck out of the doorway, closing it and hurrying down the hall. The figure was just about to open the double doors that led outside when a voice interrupted it, startling it so badly it jerked it's hand away from the door handle, twirling around.

Kespel gazed guiltily at Horwell, who, although she knew was probably irritated at her, was still smiling.

"What are you doing? You know we're not allowed out at night," he admonished her, still smiling. Kespel knew Horwell always smiled, except when he was very worried or very angry. She was used to it, but sometimes it just gave her the creeps.

She stared down at her clothes, which she hadn't bothered changing out of; knee length dark red pants, and a white shirt with a v-neck and sleeves that came down to her fingertips, billowing out at the end. She also had a dark red sash tied around her waist, and brown leather boots adorned her feet. Sighing quietly, she brought her gaze back up to her friend. "I just," she started, eyebrows furrowing, "I just...needed some time to think. I was going to take a walk." When he looked like he was about to argue, she clasped her hands in front of her. "Please don't tell!" she begged. "I promise I'll be careful! There's nothing dangerous out there, you know that. All I'd have to worry about is falling off, and I won't do that!"

Horwell stood there silently as she begged, and finally relented. "Alright," he sighed, and was quite amused when she cheered quietly. "But be careful. And try to sort out your feelings."

She promised many times to be careful, and finally left through the doorway, sneaking a last peek of Horwell leaving to go back to his room before she shut the heavy wooden door. Breathing the crisp night air once, twice, three times, she made her way down towards the pond that formed from the waterfall's everlasting flow. Carefully she walked there, and finally she sat near the water's edge, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them.

'How could Owlan be so stupid?' she thought furiously. 'You would think he would realize that I like him! Of course, then you would think he would realize I wouldn't fall off Skyloft, too.' She scoffed. 'As if that would ever happen! The day I fall off Skyloft is the day all of our descendants are so bonded with their Loftwings, they become a combination of Skyloftian and bird!' Although she knew it was a ridiculous thought, an ominous shiver ran down her spine; she chose to ignore it.

Kespel instead watched the water, quietly thinking of the day's events, wondering how she could be so stupid. 'How could I think Owlan would ever like me?' she thought bitterly, green eyes hardening until they looked like emeralds. 'He could never like me. Ever.' Gazing at her reflection in the water, she was suddenly overcome by an overwhelming emotion, one she couldn't describe but she hated it. Slapping the water and dispelling her reflection into ripples, she scooted back from the edge of the pond. 'What's wrong with me?' she thought. 'I shouldn't have to deal with these kinds of things! I'm nine years old! Almost ten!'

She wondered where things went wrong. Perhaps it was the very first day she befriended Owlan, or maybe it was when they would always go out and pick flowers, or examine plants. Well, Owlan examined plants; Kespel examined Owlan. Maybe it was his long white hair, or his radiant smile when he found a plant he liked and he turned to show it to her, to her, or maybe it was his golden eyes that lit up in delight when he thought no one was looking, but she was, she was... Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Kespel held it in between her hands. 'Stop it!' she screamed in her head. 'He doesn't like you!'

'How in Skyloft could I like you?'

His words rang in her head, mocking her.

'What a silly notion.'

Still gripping her head, she turned her helpless gaze to the moon, drowning in it's bright light. It was nearly full, and she had always enjoyed looking at it. Just staring at it now was calming her, stilling her nerves. She continued to watch it, reveling in it's beau-What was that?

Kespel leapt up from her spot on the ground, staring hard at what she saw. There was something, some kind of dark shape that was contrasted against the moon's light. It was big, it was dark, and it was human-looking.

'But it has wings!' she thought furiously, staring in disbelief. 'And...and horns!' Kespel raced across the stepping stones that led towards the other side of the pond, being careful not to slip. Once on the other side, she dashed towards the diving platform there, past the strange bird statue that was always missing one eye. Shielding her eyes, she stared harder, trying to see if she was hallucinating or not.

She wasn't. It was definitely there, and there was something else; another dark mass was following behind it, not exactly a defined shape. It was constantly moving, so she couldn't quite see what it was. It turns out she didn't need to, because a part of that big, black, moving something broke off from the rest of it. Three small shapes came flying towards her. She edged out to get a closer look when they came nearer towards her, and suddenly wished she hadn't.

Hideous, ugly looking creatures, things she had never seen before, approached with mean, glowing red eyes. Their wings were so abnormal, leathery things, like her boots, not feathered like Loftwings. Disturbing little faces gazed out at her menacingly, with noses that looked as if someone had took them around their necks and smashed their faces into the ground relentlessly. Kespel stood frozen in shock and confusion, and then they surrounded her.

A cry tore from her throat, and she shut her eyes and batted at the air, hoping and not hoping she would hit one. As much as she wanted them away from her, she didn't want to have to touch them.

A furious beating of wings reached her ears, and someone shouted. She opened her eyes, and, to her enormous relief, spotted a knight racing towards her on his Loftwing. She was going to be alright, she was going to be saved!

Then, relief was replaced by horror when the Loftwing the knight was riding reared back and gave off a cry of surprise and confusion at the ugly little flying things surrounding her. She watched in terror and fascination as one wing went up, one wing went down, tail feathers twisted to the right, both feet went up, and both the knight and the Loftwing spiraled down, heading straight for her.

Everything exploded in feathers, marring her sight, and she closed her eyes. For one terrible second, she felt weightless. And then nothing, except a furious wind. She snapped her eyes open, and watched Skyloft quickly growing smaller. Kespel was confused for a second, until she knew. And then she was whistling furiously for her Loftwing, she was whistling for her Juncan. But he wasn't coming, for Loftwings didn't fly at night unless it was with experienced knights.

And so she fell, and fell, and fell some more, all the while having two thoughts run through her mind.

One was an extremely long and drawn out curse word that was not part of a suitable vocabulary for a ten year old, and the other...well...

The other was the thought that all Skyloftian descendants were going to become bird people one day.

Damn.

AN: Woo! Okay, another chapter down, about a lot more to go. Okay, leave your thoughts or don't leave 'em, whatever suits you. Thanks for reading!