This chapter was fun to write and hopefully just as fun to read. I'm glad I'm doing this as I've had these ideas for stories for a long while and never did anything about it until I finally decided I may as well give it a go, and this chapter I hope will really set the gears in motion. So after reading feel free to leave a review, any kind is welcome and enjoy the story.


Link circled the island a few times, looking down at it. He'd never seen it before, but then, other than well trained knights, Skyloftians don't travel this far out he thought. The island was a fairly large one, it looked like it had recently broken off a larger part of an island, Link noted the jagged edge of one side. It had running water and a small lake near the middle of it, and to the left side of the island was a large stone building of some sorts that looked very old and run down. Looking down from above he noticed a fairly large bird statue outside the building, it was the same bird as his and everyone else's Loftwing. Link was looking for more clues as to what this place could be when the entity he was following seemed to dissipate, it seemed to slowly be going back into the old building. By now it was getting late and Link looked to the sun which told him he only had a few hours of daylight left. He should be getting back, he thought, he had things to do and his father might be worried, and he had a busy day tomorrow so he needed to rest up for it.

Link trained his eyes back to the island below him. Gone were the days he could do whatever he wanted and put his own needs in front of his royal duties. Now there were people constantly telling him what to do and when to do it without putting him first. Being a prince made him feel like he was taking orders from those he felt he should surely be above. Well screw them, he thought, I can still do what the hell I want, he tutted as he brought his bird down in for a safe landing next to the bird-like statue.

Dismounting from his crimson Loftwing he took the time to look at the statue some more. It was just the head of a Loftwing and had its large beak agape like it was in the middle of making a sound. Walking towards it some more he noticed its right eye had a large jewel encrusted in it, the left one seemed to be missing. There were statues similar to this one back in Skyloft, but this one was larger and seemed much older. There was moss growing over it in most places and looked like it had seen better days. Link then took his eyes off the bird statue and looked at the old building it was standing in front of. It was huge and seemed to take up most of the island, Link noted the strange patterns dotted around the front of it, most were too covered in plantation and moss to see. A moment ago Link had been all too eager to delve on to this place but it now seemed to lost and forlorn, he had to take a step back to look at the building as something caught his eye. Looking up he saw it had an unusual shape, it seemed a little wide at the bottom but got a little curved the further up it went. At the very top was what looked to be the remains of a stone hand, and a rather large one, from this angle it became clear to Link that this wasn't an old building but the remains of another statue. Looking more closely he could see the moss covering old carvings, brushing what he could off from the side he could make out one word, "Hylia." Taking a step back Link realised he had discovered the long lost statue of the Goddess, which was rumoured to have broken apart from the rest of the island. He started walking around it, eyes scanning the rest of it for more evidence when they fell upon an odd triangle shape near the top, he had never seen this symbol before and couldn't tell what it meant, it seemed to be breaking off into three pieces. He took a few more steps towards it when he noticed the symbol was engraved above what used to be an arch or some kind of doorway, it looked like it had been an entrance into the statue long ago, but now it was bricked up. Link looked at it for a few seconds before feeling the same presence emanating from behind the archway, it seemed to be disappearing further into the statue, looking around him Link didn't know what to do, there was no way he could break in there. He stepped right in front of the archway and tried brushing off the moss, when as soon as he touched it, a light suddenly appeared from behind the bricks. Gasping and taking a step back Link watched in amazement as the bricks disappeared as though they were never there, leaving the entrance open. He could see steps leading down deeper into the statue, where it looked very dark and uninviting yet he could feel an unexplained urge to want to go down there, like there was something waiting for him at the bottom and that this was the chance he was waiting for. Throwing all caution into the wind he went down the steps without looking back.

Link could no longer feel the presence that was coaxing him to follow it, and with each step he took it seemed to get darker, this seemed to be getting dangerous now. He seemed to have been walking down here forever, he didn't know what was at the bottom, much less if he would be able to see it, there had been no available light source at the time. Anxiety grew in the pit of his stomach as he continued walking, he thought how insane he must be, there was no real reason for him to continue, he could just turn and head back up. Yet somehow his feet refused to let him turn back, he began to sweat a little and decided to draw his sword from its hilt, nothing wrong with being a little cautious, after all there was no telling what was down here, it could be a trap and he was letting himself walk right into it.

His feet where clapping on the stone steps, and he could hear the faint dripping of water. His ears where his best option now, since he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. He slowly decended a few more steps when he reached the bottom, he could tell because right in front of him was a large wooden door. Hoping it wasn't locked he tried the handle, it swung open with ease, with sword in left hand he looked around the room he now found himself in. It was a room no bigger than his own bedroom and it was somehow lighter in here than he was expecting, like outside the walls were slightly damp and covered in moss, and were also covered in markings, Link had gathered to be before his time. He scanned the room before entering but couldn't see a single soul, no sign of whatever had brought him here. What did catch his attention was what was in the middle of the room. Standing in stone was a sword, it seemed to shine brightly as he walked towards it, he put his own sword away not sensing any danger and looked at this new sword. It was a brilliant white with purple cross-guard and looked slightly dusty. Link reached out a hand to touch it but stopped himself, was he really alone? He quickly looked around the room but there was no one there. Had he simply imagined the entity? No, too much of a coincidence following it here and finding this. What if it was a trap? And if so, who would set it up? Well, he knew the royal house had a few disagreements with some of those higher up than normal Skyloftians, yet nothing serious enough for them to want to do away with the prince. Then was this a joke? A pretty elaborate one if it was, even for Pipit. Link turned back to look at the sword, there didn't seem to be any traps around it, none he could see anyway. He circled it a few times, guessing that whatever was going to surprise him could've done it by now anyways and stood with his legs far apart with his front to the door he came through and placed both hands on the grip of the sword, he held his breath and pulled. To his surprise it came out rather easily and wasn't as heavy as he expected. He placed it in both hands to judge the weight; it was lighter than his other one by far. Gripping the top end he brought it eye level and held it horizontally and ran his fingers lightly over the edge and to the point, it was very sharp, but he could tell that just by looking. He proceeded to take a few practice swings with it and was happy with the way it felt in his hands, this was a good sword. Could he just take it? He looked down at it for a minute, it wasn't really his, yet there was no sign of an owner or if there ever was one. It was just wasting away down here not doing anything, a good sword like this should see the light of day, he concluded. Plus it was free. He ran back up the steps and was soon out in the open again where he could hear his bird, walking over to the bird statue he saw it grooming itself, hearing him coming it looked up only to look away again and continued grooming. Link smiled and half ran over to the Loftwing and patted him on the side. He knew it was just how their relationship worked, kinda like most marriages, he imagined. He tucked his new sword into a pouch that was on his Loftwing and looked up, the stars were beginning to come out. Cursing, he quickly got onto his bird and flew up and off into what he hoped was the direction of Skyloft. He'd be in for it when he got back, his father would be in fits, worrying about his one and only heir to the throne, Link gave a soft chuckle when he thought about it, he didn't like to make people worry but seeing the image of his father with a red face pacing around the room while Mia sat on the throne behind him presumably not caring one bit where the young prince had gone and only worrying about where next to cough up a furball behind him made him laugh. He looked up towards the sky and could make out constellations that were beginning to appear in the reddening sky, he recognised a few and used that to navigate his way home. After a while he began to think about what excuses to give his father when he got back, should he tell him about the sword? Perhaps he may know something about the statue and the markings as Link recalled him once telling him a story when he was younger about the Goddess and the writings of old. He was sure he had seen a book about it in the library once...

Link was in the middle of thought when something hard hit him from behind, it fell hard on his left shoulder and before he could react another one hit him, this time dead in the center of his back causing him and his bird to fall. Without enough time to right themselves Link knew his only option was to emergency crash on a small island below them. He steered the Loftwing sideways and braced for impact. The force hit him on the side as he tried to roll, but then he was flown forward and made a painful landing a few feet from his bird, groaning in pain he tried to get up when he heard the flapping of wings behind him and a foot in his back. He tried to struggle and reach round to grab his sword but the foot kicked him forcing him back to the ground. He felt blood flow from his nose where he had landed with his Loftwing and pain in his back. Looking up he tried to look at his attackers.

"Haha nice dismount, you landed right on his back!" Said one horribly familiar voice.

"Of course I did! He was what I was aiming for!" Said another painfully familiar one, bragging to the other.

"G-Groose?" Link tried saying before a foot came down hard at the back of his head, causing lights to pop in front of his eyes and more pain.

"Shut up, Prince." Said the gruff voice of Groose, whose foot had not left the back of Link's head.

"Come on Groose...let's get this over with," said Strich, he sounded nervous.

"No, I've been waiting ages to do this, so I'm gonna take my time." Replied Groose as he began pushing down harder at the back of Link's head.

"B-but he said to do it quickly so as to lower suspicion"

"Quiet!" Yelled Groose.

Link's mind began to race, he needed to think of an escape route before it became too late. Suddenly he was pushed over on his back and he could see the Cawlin, Strich and Groose surrounding him, blocking any attempts of escape. And he couldn't see his bird anywhere.

"What's going on?" Link demanded, his face turned into a snarl. "Where's my Loftwing?"

"Don't concern yourself with that, you'll have bigger things to worry about in a minute," said Cawlin, with folded arms, he looked sideways at Groose who had begun cracking his knuckles. "And your Loftwing is being disposed of as we speak."

"What!?" Yelled Link, he started to get up before Groose kicked his feet out from under him. Back on the floor and grunting, Link was in a better position to see Strich walking over to his unconscious bird with a long sword in hand.

"No! Don't!" Link cried with one arm outstretched. But Strich was already at the bird, Link watched as he swung his sword down and struck it, he watched helplessly as blood started pouring down the side and onto the grass beneath. It took a few seconds before his mind could make sense of it all. He slowly looked back up at Groose, who was looking down at him with an evil grin on his face.

"You fucking bastard!" Link screamed. In a blind rage he stood up and threw a punch at Groose, who managed to block it and strike Link in the face with a well aimed punch. Link felt blood appear in the back of his mouth as he staggered backwards, just as Groose kicked Links groin. This time Link fell to the floor, beaten. He coughed up more blood and spat it onto the grass, he didn't remember Groose being this powerful, or this good at fighting.

"And I'm just getting started, Prince." Groose sneered, his voice was low but seemed to only just about conceal the excitement hidden in the back of it.

"Hey, these pouches are heavy," exclaimed Cawlin, who was now over by the lifeless body of the crimson Loftwing.

"Good, you two can take them with you," Groose said, not taking his eyes off Link, "we take any evidence with us."

"You're... fucking... dead," Link breathed heavily, that kick had knocked all the wind out of him.

"I'm not the one who's dead," Groose knelt down in front of Link and looked at him with cold eyes. "Too long have I had to stand back and let you take all the glory, the pride and attention. But now I can change that." He suddenly smiled a sickening grin. "Now, I can finally get rid of you, and he can take over."

"Who's he?" Link spat.

"Never mind that, he's gonna make this place great again, once we help him find the missing pieces, and you're in his way." He looked at Links confused face and laughed, "Oh, but I'm sure you're wondering why I'm telling you all this." He stood back up and smoothed back his hair with his hands before staring down at Link again, who by now was beginning to let fear sink in.

Cawlin and Strich were now stood behind on either side of Groose, who had brought out a mallet. He knelt down once again and grabbed Link by the collar, forcing him to look eye to eye.

"Because," Groose said, "You're dead." The next thing Link knew, he was in darkness.

"I know that, but why do we have to do this? Won't they be wondering where we are too?"

"Groose has already gone back, he says the others won't suspect anything because us two don't go anywhere without him. They'll suspect us to not be far behind."

"Yeah, but still...I don't like the task he's given us, the bird was one thing, but this is on a whole new level. Groose just isn't the same since we met that guy..."

Link's head was pounding, he felt like he got whacked over the head by Karane after she was having a go at him. He couldn't remember why he felt in such pain, he couldn't tell where he was, but it felt uncomfortable. Home? No, he didn't remember home being this bumpy, he felt like he was moving. He slowly opened his eyes but that didn't help, everything was dark, dark and claustrophobic. He blinked a couple of times and tried moving, but something was keeping his hands behind his back, he tried tugging but there was no give. It was slowly coming back to him, he had been flying home when he got ambushed by Groose and his cronies, he furrowed his brow and tried to think...he remembered Groose hitting him over the head, that would explain the headache. And his Loftwing...the memory struck him suddenly and he felt pain that had nothing to do with the bruises over his body. His Loftwing...he had failed to protect one of the things he loved most. The thought made him angry, and he kicked out only to find his foot connecting to metal. Grunting, he tried to let his anger go, his father always warned him it was the emotion that led to failure, letting it go would help him out of a situation. Link gave his eyes a minute to get adjusted to the dark surroundings he found himself in, he could feel movement around him and knew he must be travelling somewhere. He could hear soft voices coming from outside, they sounded uneasy, and listening for a while told him they were Cawlin and Strich.

"Groose didn't want to stick around for the very end then," Link thought to himself.

He sat and thought and then came to the conclusion he was inside a type of chest, a rather large one that was being carried by a Loftwing, hence the up and down movement he could feel. Suddenly he felt a wave of fear and helplessness wash over him, he was tied up inside a large box with no way out, only to then meet his death. They had set this up, they had planned this and he didn't see it coming. No one would know where he had gone, his Loftwing had died and soon he would follow. He felt his eyes swell up with tears, he hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye to his Loftwing or anyone, and he wouldn't even know why. He blinked the tears back and decided there was nothing he could do now except wait, he tried getting in a more comfortable position which was hard with hands tied behind his back and in a chest that barely had enough room for his legs. Once he was fairly comfortable he listened to the outside. The voices had stopped now, all that he could hear was the quiet flapping of large wings.

Link felt his head pound, the rest of him ached too and was sure he was covered in bruises. Looking down he saw his necklace glowing a faint blue, its radiance soothed him and made the throbbing in his head calm down, it wasn't enough to heal him entirely however, he knew he hadn't charged it up fully enough for that. Cursing himself and his negligence, he willed the stone to stop healing him, thinking if there was a chance later, he could use it then.

After what seemed like hours, there was a bump in the ground, and the voices had started again. Something told Link they had landed.

"This is it ,Strich. Get the key." Came the voice of Cawlin.

Link waited in anticipation as he heard the jingling of keys and a turn in the lock, the lid had opened and then a sudden force from the side of the chest forced Link to come tumbling out onto the ground. Then a pair of hands grabbed him from behind, forcing him to stand.

"Man, you look like shit," Cawlin said, who was standing in front of him.

Link said nothing as Strich pushed him from behind towards Cawlin. They were on another island, but what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, this one looked desolate and barren, with hardly any grass and just rocks dotting the place. Looking up Link could see the stars shining brightly in the night sky, the full moon was also out and illuminated the sky, giving them enough light to see.

They walked until they came across a rather large rock formation and Link was pushed to his knees, hands still tied behind his back he looked up to see Cawlin draw out another sword who had a look of disgust on his face.

"Why didn't you just kill me back there with my Loftwing?" Link asked.

"This is the island of ruin, a place where long ago a battle was lost to a king, also one of your ancestors." Cawlin said while looking down, "this is also the furthest place we could go and still get back to Skyloft in time."

"I don't understand."

"Look, I-I'm just doing what I was told."

"By who? Groose?"

Cawlin shut his eyes and looked as though he was in a great amount of pain. He held up his sword to Links chin.

"No," He replied. The sword glinted in the moonlight, Link tried pushing his chin back as far as it would go but Strich came from behind.
"Cawlin," he said quietly, "Please, let's just get this over with, he'll kill us if we don't."

Cawlin looked at his friend and gave a slight nod, and raised his sword into the air. Link could only watch at what was about to happen, he wondered if it would be quick and painless, perhaps the Goddess would grant him that at least. Then behind him, one of the Loftwings that had carried him here started screeching, turning around he saw it start to flap its wings in panic as small projectiles were being thrown at it, causing it to become hysterical. Before Link could see what was hitting the birds, Cawlin gave a shout in pain and fall sideways onto the ground, Link saw a rock had been thrown at him.
"Cawlin!" Shouted Strich, running over to help his friend. Suddenly there were rocks flying about everywhere, rolling over to dodge an incoming projectile Link saw what was attacking them, it was huge and settled into the rock formation above them shooting more rocks out of its mouth. They had landed on an Octorok nest. Behind, the two Loftwings were starting to lose it, one dropped a large pouch that fell to the ground with a cling, glancing back Link saw the gleaming white and purple sword fall out. Quickly staggering to his feet he saw his chance to get to the sword. Thank the Goddess. He was halfway there when another large Octorok appeared next to the one shooting at the Loftwings and began firing at him. Ducking caused Link to roll over and found himself dangerously close to the edge, but he was so close to the sword. He got back up on his knees as one Loftwing started kicking out in fear, its feet too close to the sword, sensing what what about to happen, Link lunged forward but it was too late. The bird had kicked it off the edge. Link's heart sank as he watched it fall beneath the clouds and out of sight.

"Hey! Grab him!" He looked behind him to see Cawlin and Strich dodging the rocks being shot at them as they stumbled towards him. Standing up Link stepped backwards and looked around to see what he could do. He heard a loud squawk and saw the large brown bird nearest to him get hit squarely in the chest causing it to fall backwards, before he could react, one wing knocked him in the face. Reeling from the hit, he lost balance and plummeted off the edge, he observed the island get smaller and smaller before he slipped out of consciousness.

Don't feel too bad about Links Loftwing I thought that would spice up the story a bit. I love his bird too so please don't start crying just yet! Anyway, I'm hoping I can make the next chapter super interesting and exciting, the hardest part will probably not making it too confusing, but I'll give it my best shot. Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your day!