Chapter 4

Link's POV

"Keep up now!" shouted Pipit over the rush of the wind.

I twisted my fingers into the feathers of my crimson Loftwing and urged it faster. We raced through the bright blue skies, seated dangerously loosely on our birds. Pipit zoomed around me, then darted forward.

"Hiyah!" I directed myself down and up to gain speed. When I was right under my friend's bird, my Loftwing flapped its wings upwards and crashed into Pipit.

The world spun and my protective goggles flew off my head. When my Loftwing righted itself, I saw Pipit hanging from the feet of his, screaming his head off. But not it fear, in glee. "Land on the island!" I shouted to him.

A nice, relaxing island where Orielle had once crashed was not far from us. Someone appeared to already be sitting on it, but there was room.

I tumbled onto the warm green grass, panting.

Pipit splayed out next to me, pulling his goggles off of his tousled brown hair. "Let's… let's never do that again," he gasped.

"Agreed," I laughed.

A shadow leaned over me. "Hello there," said a vaguely familiar voice.

I stood up slowly and met the young man's eyes. "Hello Cassidy," I said, "We were just taking a quick break. How are you?"

The breeze rippled through his light green hair. "I'm just fine, thank you. I was doing a bit of writing in the peace and quiet."

"Wow," said Pipit, almost sarcastically, "When you say peace and quiet…you really mean it."

I never heard Pipit as sardonic as he was when Cassidy was around.

Pipit and I laughed, but Cassidy's expression was deadpan. "I heard about the sick man, Soren," he said, turning to me.

My laughter was immediately stifled. "Did you?"

"I did. How is he?"

"Well, um…." I considered what I should say next. "He's alright, I suppose. Isn't your father Calandra's old master?"

He shrugged. "He's the old scientist-doctor of Skyloft if that's what you mean. And Cal once was his apprentice."

"How is he? And your sister? How are they?"

"Fine and fine," Cassidy replied boredly, "You two seemed to have a good time with your racing."

It was my turn to shrug. "We almost died, but sure. We had a good time."

He sighed, pushing his glasses up, then looked back at Skyloft. "I should check on her. Never know what sort of trouble she's gotten herself into." He turned his eyes back to us. "May I finish that race with you two?"

I looked at Pipit and we both shrugged. "Sure," I replied.

He nodded. "Alright. Three two one go!" he said quickly, then leapt off the island.

Pipit pitched backwards off the edge.

My mind slowly processed what was going on, as Pipit's Loftwing rose into the air.

I whistled, then stumbled off the edge after him, forgetting what order everything went in. My Loftwing's bright red feathers were under me and soon I was soaring through the air once more.

I stopped short when I noticed that Pipit was no longer racing. He was sitting in one spot, looking frantically around the skies.

I flew next to him. "Do you see him?" he asked, "Do you see Cassidy anywhere?"

I searched with him, but the boy and his black Loftwing were nowhere to be seen. Pipit darted to the spot where Cassidy jumped and dove down. I followed.

The further down we went, the more anxious our birds became. "Cassidy!" I yelled into the hazy gloom.

A black spot appeared in the distance, slowly approaching. The spot grew and grew, wings forming, then a head, feet, a rider….

Cassidy's bird collided with mine, sending me spinning out of control.

As the green-haired boy disappeared through the mist, I heard him shout, "Run!"

I panted as I finally regained control of my Loftwing.

Pipit was waiting for me, staring confusedly into the gloom. "Did he just say run?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"From what?"

A loud screeching roar reached our ears. Both of our Loftwings started flapping their wings and shrieking crazily.

"It's the Albino," I yelled over the birds. A white beak snapped between the two Loftwings.

"Hiyah!" We both urged our birds away and up. My feet hit my bird's sides repeatedly.

I could hear the monster bird's beak snapping just behind me. My Loftwing suddenly screamed very loudly. I looked back.

Big red eyes met mine, a thin bleach colored body struggled and flailed, a pure white beak was closed around my Loftwing's tail. It was going to eat us both.

I drew my sword and swung back, but I couldn't reach the monster's beak. My legs could not reach it when I kicked either.

All the sounds around me blurred out, like I was underwater.

I was pulled back further; I was going to be eaten.

Another bird flew by me and its rider hacked at the Albino's head. The white bird screeched, releasing my bird. My Loftwing quickly realized its chance and flapped upwards, away from the bleach-colored creature. The Albino shrieked in rage as I rose through the mist with Pipit just ahead of me, sheathing his sword.

As I steady got higher, with my poor Loftwing fluttering awkwardly and squawking in pain, I heard a piercing whisper run through my ear, "No. We were wrong. It is not you."

I grunted and put a hand to my head.

"Are you alright?" called Pipit.

"I will be," I replied, "But I'm afraid my Loftwing won't be."

We broke through the thick clouds. Cassidy was waiting for us, but was now accompanied by his sister. "Are you two alright?" she asked.

"What took you so long?" Cassidy asked, flipping through his book once more.

I glared at him briefly, before replying to his sister, "We're fine, Pipa. But my Loftwing may need some help."

She nodded, looking extremely nervous, as she patted her turquoise Loftwing's head. "Take him to our house and I'll help him."

All four of us turned our birds towards Skyloft and flew away.

Pipa and Cassidy's house was rather small for three people to share, but it was nice.

I was splayed out on the sofa, trying to relax my racing heart. Pipit was sitting in a nearby chair bandaging his shoulder which had been clipped by the Albino's beak. Cassidy was lounging in a plush chair, still boredly flipping through his book.

"Is Pipa still outside?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied, "She offered to bandage my Loftwing's tail. He got a few feathers torn out."

He winced without sympathy. "You're lucky you weren't killed. You knights are always going off on crazy adventures."

"WE go on crazy adventures?!" exclaimed Pipit, "What about you, dropping below the cloud line? Were you trying to get yourself killed? What if your Loftwing didn't come for you?"

Cassidy sat up straighter. "Hey, I know what I'm doing. That's why I'm alive, because I KNOW. You two are alive thanks to pure luck. When I say fly, I'm not kidding. FLY. Don't just sit there with your mouths hanging open like a pack of dimwits."

"Hold up now, hold up," said Pipit, "If you hadn't dropped below the cloud line, we wouldn't have come to get you. Hell, if I wasn't a knight I'd have left you to get eaten by the Albino."

Cassidy put his book down on the table. "I didn't know the Albino was there. I wasn't trying to-"

"You didn't know? I thought you knew everything!"

He became flustered. "I know MOST things, but I do not know the whereabouts of the Albino at every moment of the day."

"Maybe it was safe to assume that he was already down there."

"Maybe next time you should keep your mouth shut!"

The front door swung open and Pipa walked in, smiling. Her smile quickly faded. "Are you two arguing…again?"

Her brother scowled.

If ever there were two siblings who were less alike, it was Pipa and Cassidy.

Cassidy was seventeen, tall, and wore glasses. He loved to study and learn new things and he was always focused on reality. He had short lime green hair and stormy gray eyes.

His sister was almost the opposite. Pipa was fifteen. She was shorter, with long purple hair and pretty green eyes, although everyone always insisted they were hazel. Pipa had a broad imagination, always seeing what could be. Her mind was filled with new worlds and strange happenstances. She loved to write, but she didn't allow anyone to read her work.

Cassidy glared at her. Granted he loved his sister very much, but the two of them never got along.

Pipa crossed the room and sat. "How are you doing?" she asked Pipit.

It was always strange to us that their names were so close, and yet they were so different.

He shrugged, tying off the bandage. "It's just a little cut. I'll live."

There was a brief moment of silence. My heart rate had slowed and everyone was finally relaxing.

The door to the hut slammed open. Zelda stood in the doorway, looking like she was going to burst from terror.

I knew what was wrong before she even spoke. I had been preparing myself for a while.

"Link, Pipit," she said, breathlessly, "There's a situation. Come quickly!"

Everyone simultaneously rose from their seats and followed Zelda out the door.

The only thought that ran through my mind as we hurried down the hill was, "He's going to die this time, isn't he?"

We stumbled all the way down the hill and onto the dirt path. Luckily, we weren't far.

Zelda threw open the door to Pipit's house and all five of us ran inside.

Mallara was frantically dabbing Soren's brow with a rag and Calandra had her ear pressed against his chest. Her face was covered in blood and so was Soren's body.

It finally hit me what was wrong.

All of the wounds on Soren's body, which had long since turned into scabs, were wide open and he was bleeding heavily.

"We need help," said Zelda, "Get rags and water and-"

"No." Calandra soot up and wiped her eyes. "No," she said again, "There's no point. He's dead."

"What? But we've just gotten here!" Pipit exclaimed.

Zelda quietly sobbed and grabbed my hand. Pipa gasped and put her hands over her face.

Cassidy's reaction was much different. He quickly walked over to the bedside. "Excuse me," he said, very very gently moving Cal aside. He examined Soren's body, then held out a hand. "Water," he said, "I need water."

We shuffled around slightly. Did he not understand?

"Water!" Cassidy shouted.

Mallara shoved a bowl into his hands, then backed away.

He poured the water over the body, knelt down, and raised his hands. The language he spoke, I did not understand.

"Deus succurro is vir. Vigoratus suus vulnus quod repleo suus lataseris per aer. Permissum non suus peccata causa suus vita finio, tamen erigo him ut novus vita per vestry misericordia."

I didn't know what was going on; I couldn't even tell what sort of language he was speaking. No one dared move or breathe.

What was going on? Couldn't it be respected that he was dead?

Zelda's quiet whimpers were the only sounds in the room.

Cal put a hand on Cassidy's shoulder. "Cas," she said.

"Just hang on," he replied, "It's going to happen."

"I hate to tell you, Cassidy," I said, "But once a guy's heart stops, that's it. No take backs."

He turned his head to me, probably to make a snarky remark, but was interrupted.

Soren groaned. His wounds had stopped bleeding.

My jaw dropped.

How was that possible? Once you're dead, you're dead. No one could control life and death.

Soren's eyes flew open. He mutter shouted incomprehensible words.

I caught a few: "He's here." "Help me." "Get away."

Then he passed out again.

"He'll be alright," Cassidy said.

"How did you do that?" I exclaimed, "You can't just bring a man back to life!"

"I didn't. He wasn't dead."

Cal raised her hand. "Um, yeah he was. I can vouch for that."

"He was mostly dead. I simply forced his heart to pump again," Cassidy finished, "I learned a bit of healing stuff from my old man."

"That a-hole never taught me any magic," Cal muttered.

The room was silent as everyone slowed their racing hearts and Zelda dried her eyes. I could hear her whispering, "I knew it. I knew he'd make it."

"Well that's it people," Cassidy said, "Go home. Show's over."

The girls made for the exit, but I stopped them. "Hold up," I said, "If everyone would stay here for just a moment. There's something I'd like to discuss with you all."

Everyone turned to look at me.

"I want to start off by saying, a few weeks ago, when Soren was close to death, someone poisoned his water."

Pipa gasped in horror.

"I have not previously divulged this information to anyone. But someone poisoned an innocent man right under our noses and I forced it down his throat."

"Who would do that?" Pipa asked, "Who would poison a helpless man?"

"That's where it gets personal," I continued, "To explain, I'm going to have to start from the beginning." I started to pace around the house. "A month and a half ago, almost two months now, I found this man out in the dark, dying. In that moment, only I knew about him. Then Pipit came along and helped me carry him to his mother's house, to heal him. At that point, three people knew about him.

"Eventually, you figured that we would need an extra person to help us take care of him. I got my most trusted friend, Zelda to help us. Four people.

"Over time, Soren's condition got worse and worse. He should've been healing within two weeks, but instead he was dying. We had to spread the word about him to get more medicine. I don't know how many people knew by that point. Probably half the town, but no one came in, until I told Cal. She insisted on coming in to check on him. Five people.

"It was that very day when we discovered the poison. Now you two are here. Does anyone want to correct my statement?"

Cassidy raised his hand. "Yes. I knew," he said.

"What?"

He sighed heavily. "A month and a half ago, I sat on top of the Light Tower, copying down the ancient scripts into my notebook. I don't often do that, but it helps me to relax. Later that night, I realized I had left my notebook up there. When I went to retrieve it, I saw him lying there."

I waited, but he didn't continue. "That's it?" I asked.

"Yes."

"You didn't tell anyone?"

"I didn't think it important."

"Not important?!" I exclaimed, "Let me tell you something pal-"

"Save your irrational objections," Cassidy interrupted, "No one in this room honestly cares. Least of all, me. And before you say anything of my character, know that I would never hurt a helpless man."

Before anyone could speak up, he began talking again. "It's sundown. Pipa and I have to go." He seized his sister's arm.

"Wait," she said, "What do you mean? How come you did even tell me?!"

"It doesn't matter. We're going home."

Despite her protests, he dragged her out the door and slammed it shut.

I ran my fingers through my blonde hair. "There's certainly more to this man than meets the eye," I said aloud.

Zelda laced her fingers through mine. "And we'll figure it out….together," she replied.

I smiled and nodded.

But why had Cassidy told me his secret if he knew it would only make us suspicious of him? Had he seen something that I hadn't? Was there another secret that he kept? And why had he been copying down the ancient scriptures? It was so very unlike Cassidy to read them, much less write them down in his precious notebook.

Maybe it was time for me to look into them myself…