Chapter 3-Dropping In

"We may encounter many defeats, but we cannot be defeated."-Maya Angelou

It was as if my brain had jammed. I'd seen Link pulled down to the Surface with my own eyes. How could've he returned? Yet here he was, except he was wearing the green Knight uniform that we should have received this morning.

"Link, how...but...thank goodness you're safe," I said, starting to run towards him, intending to hug him. I'd never let him go, never.

"Zelda, I'm not safe," he said, sadness permeating his misty-blue eyes.

I halted about a stone's throw away from him at these words; how could he be not safe, he's standing right in front of me!

"What do you mean by 'I'm not safe', you're standing right in..."

He began flickering; parts of him disappearing then reappearing, coming in and out of focus. Sometimes, I could the Bazaar right through him. What is going on?!

"Zelda, you need to hurry to the Surface," he said. "I'm in danger, we all are."

"We?" I repeated, confused.

"Things aren't as they are supposed to be, or happened as they should," he said. "But..." Suddenly he vanished, replaced by the second most ugly looking being I'd ever seen, in both reality and my dreams. I recognized him; he looked like one of the demons described in Father's ancient texts. His body was black and white, and covered with diamond-shaped patterns, everywhere, all over his body. He even had diamond-shaped earrings!

He wore a belt that had a red ruby on it, holding in place a red cape embroidered with...more black diamond patterns (seriously, does he have any fashion sense?). The last of his ugly features was his white hair that covered one of his eyes. The demon produced a jagged black blade similar to the one that I'd seen in my dreams, execpt that it was smaller, but still looked as deadly. Link reappeared with a sword of his own, and they went at it, their blades clashing. I just stared at them transfixed; my feet refused to move. The demon shattered Link's blade into thousands of silver shards. He then swiped Link across the stomach...

"NOOOOOOOO!" escaped from me.

Next thing I knew I was charging at the demon, sword drawn. I plunged it into him; my eyes widened in shock as I saw it go cleanly through without causing any damage. The demon turned and fixed me with his beady black eyes; they screamed hatred, and his face had a look of hunger that unnerved me.

"Ghirahim," rolled off my tongue, my voice dripping with venom, surprising myself. Where'd that come from? I've never known a 'Ghirahim' before.

Ghirahim let out a laugh that sent chills down my spine, before vanishing, leaving me alone again. What the...LINK!

This was getting out of hand; nothing was making sense anymore. Panic shot up into my chest and before I knew it, I sprinted (is it just me, or are these sandals better than any other footwear I've ever worn?) towards the nearest platform in the Plaza and jumped off of it, putting my hands in my mouth, and whistled for my Loftwing.

With a caw that warmed my heart, Vella swooped down out of the sky caught me gently on her soft back. I locked eyes with my beloved partner. Vella, head for the green beam of light in the clouds. She cawed in response and set out at top speed for the hole, her magnificent purple wings blowing a strong breeze through my blonde hair. Vella and I have always shared some sort of connection by which she can read my thoughts. I've never been able to figure how it works, but it makes flying at breeze; I can think what I want Vella to do, instead of pulling on the string that is tied around her neck.

We had reached the hole by now and I had Vella circle it, allowing me to peer down. Beneath several layers of misty clouds, green vegetation was visible, or what looked like to be the tops of trees. Not the tiny ones that dotted the land of Skyloft, but monster-size. There appeared to be thousands of them. I just stared them, in awe, not believing my eyes. They were huge!

I'd never imagined anything like this, even in my wildest daydreams. I pulled my right leg to the side of Vella that was circling the hole, so that both of my feet were dangling off of Vella's left side. I closed my eyes and mentally prepared myself for what I was going to do next; break every rule my father has ever taught me about flying a Loftwing.

"Okay Zelda, three, two, one," I said, out loud, trying to be brave.

Nothing happened. My body refused to respond, paralyzed by a case of the nerves. Seriously!

I closed my eyes and mustered up every ounce of willpower I possessed. "Come on Zelda, you can do this...AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Vella had done something I'd never seen a Loftwing do before; she turned upside down and dumped me off. I fell, on my back, screaming at the top of my lungs, down towards the hole.

"My Mistress," said Fi's voice. "Now is the time to use your Sailcloth. By doing so in the next seven seconds, I calculate a 100% chance it'll prevent major bodily injury." Apparantly she can calculate the amount of time to impact. What else can she do?

Sailcloth? Silently I cursed myself; I'd hadn't thought to grab one before I'd left. Great, I'm going to die, and my quest has just barely begun.

As I started to sink into the depths of despair, I noticed a cloth, attached to my newly-acquired dress, flapping in the breeze. I recognized it immediately; tearing it off, I held it above my head. It inflated and I went from free fall to floating lazily downward, drifting slightly in the wind. The view was amazing; I was so caught up seeing this new world, that I didn't look down to see where I was going to land until I heard the sounds of swords clashing together. Glancing down, I saw a massive white structure, which must have been glorious in it's heyday, now a run down ruin. It's magificant twin white doors, constructed of some sort of stone, were in horrible shape, no doubt worn down by the ravages of time or something else.

Chunks of the roof had fallen in, giving the edifice a sad look. Outside it's massive front doors was, what my instructors had called a crater, or a massive hole in the ground, outlined by a winding path that started near the run-down structure, and ran the entire length of the crater, ending at the bottom. Directly below me, where two figures duking it out. I instantly recognized both; there was no mistaking that sandy-blonde hair, or the smooth fighting moves that I'd envied heavily many years ago. The other being made my heart sink; it was Ghirahim.

The two of them had their blades, and were blocking and parrying each other's blows at a speed that made my head spin. Was what I saw a vision of the future...maybe I can prevent it...zikes!

Panic seized me again when I realized what a predicament I was in; I was drifting down right on top of them, about to drop right into the middle of their sword fight. I wanted to shout a warning or something to grab their attention, but it seemed to become lodged in my throat. There was nothing I could do, except hope for the best.

Please Hylia, spare my life so that I can save Link...

A massive gust of wind tore the Sailcloth from my hand. I went into free fall again, about six feet above the combatants...

Part 2 will be up soon. In the meantime, please leave a review as you go. They are greatly appreciated.