Eeep. Re-uploading this chapter again because in the last one, I uploaded a rough draft with errors by accident. ^-^;;;
Also going to go back and revise the last few chapters thoroughly. About well time I did!
12/30/2014 EDIT: Haha, I lied. It's not until now that I went back to really revise them. It's nice to see how my writing has grown since then.
Instructor Horwell, the younger of the two brothers who served as the Knight Academy's primary teachers, was a brown-haired man with warm, cheerful eyes whose love of animals was well known. It came as no surprise that when he was absent one day, Gaepora was bombarded with questions from concerned Knights and students. He told them the same excuse Horwell had given him: The instructor was feeling tired and could not properly teach that day.
However, when Horwell was missing in action for more than a couple of days, Gaepora began to worry that it was something more serious. Speaking to Owlan, he found Horwell had come up with a slight fever and had remained bedridden because he was too tired to move.
It was unusual for sickness in Skyloft.
Being high up in the clouds, the air was fresh and clean of contaminants; highly breathable and a blessing of the Goddess. Such a foreign thing as sickness was alien. And the rare cases who did somehow become ill never truly recovered because they were so unused to it.
Gaepora was in Horwell's room at the foot of his bed where he lay half conscious, watching his brother Owlan tend to him. A thought struck him. As clean as the Surface appeared to be, it was ancient and deserted. There must have been some things down there that would not be quite so pure. Various students had been working up their courage to visit the place down there in supervised visits by his daughter. Was it possible that what ailed Horwell was from the Surface?
It was just a thought to keep in mind as possible cause. It wasn't too plausible as this hadn't happened to anyone else yet though.
There was a knock at the door. Gaepora glanced at Owlan with a quick question in his eyes. Owlan shook his head and went back to laying a wet cloth atop Horwell's head. The Headmaster sighed. He turned back to the door and opened it a crack, his bigger form blocking the room from the sight of the students on the other side. Karane and Zelda were there.
"Yes?"
"We just wanted to see if Instructor Horwell was doing any better?" asked Karane.
Zelda nodded, trying to peek over Gaepora's shoulder with an awkward little jump. Everyone had only been informed that Horwell wasn't feeling well.
"He's asleep right now," Gaepora avoided.
"Oh," both girls said.
"Is he...going to be alright?" Karane ventured. "It's been a few days and we haven't seen him."
"We've been worried," Zelda said dully.
"I know you have, my dears. We all have been. But I can assure you, the Instructor will get better soon. Right now, he needs rest and quiet though."
Karane sighed. "We'll be off then. Sorry sir, we won't bother again." They both disappeared down the stairs to his left.
Gaepora had only closed the door when there was another knock. Exasperated, he expected to see the two girls again but this time it was Link and Fledge.
Without waiting for the boys to speak, the Headmaster relayed the same things he had told the girls and was about to shoo them off before Horwell's voice came from inside the room.
"Oh, do let them come in! I don't mind!" His voice was a little weak.
Gaepora hesitated. "Are you sure?" he called back. "You need res-"
"It's quite alright! I'm feeling better already!"
With a little reluctancy, he let them pass. Fledge let out a gasp of relief when he saw Horwell sitting up in bed and smiling. "Thank the Goddess! We were becoming really worried!" He rushed to the Instructor's side while Link stayed at the foot of the bed.
"I am only tired. I'll be better soon." He did not look so good though. He was paler than usual and his smile didn't have the same cheerfulness.
"What happened?" Link asked quietly.
"He's been working himself too hard," Owlan interjected quickly. "I've heard him stay up later than usual in the night lately. It's been working a toll on his health. It's only that."
Link didn't seemed convinced but Fledge started tearing up for some reason. "I'm so glad! Groose said you were going to die!"
"Did he now?" said an amused Horwell.
Gaepora shook his head disapprovingly. "I'll have words with the boy later. That's no subject to joke about!"
"Whoa whoa!" said a voice behind them. "You know me! I wouldn't joke about that! I'm all changed now!"
They all turned to look at the redhead, along with Zelda and Karane who had entered unbidden when they weren't looking. Zelda was holding a tray with a pitcher and a cup.
"He only said that he thought the Instructor could die," Zelda couldn't help but defend Groose. He was actually very worried, specially after Impa's passing. "He's just rather blunt about things."
"Fledge hasn't been taking it so well," said Karane. "And it doesn't help you've all been so vague as to what's happening!"
"He's been making us all worried," Link finally finished for all of them.
"I see. Forgive me, everyone," said Horwell. "I promise I'll be back in shape tomorrow!"
"Horwell..." Owlan began to protest.
"I really am feeling better!"
The Headmaster took this moment to usher everyone out of the room.
"Wait! Henya wanted us to bring him some tea." Zelda passed the tray to Owlan and Horwell called a thanks.
Again the Headmaster insisted they leave. "If he is to be teaching tomorrow, he needs to rest and gather strength. You are all impeding that. Go on. Out! " The teens obliged.
They saw a blur of fur rush by their feet and enter the room before the door shut. Even with the closed door, they could still hear Instructor Horwell exclaim with joy.
"Mia!"
~xxx~
Horwell had indeed been better the next day. In fact, he seemed so normal the next few days it was as if nothing had ever befallen him. He seemed to have recovered fast.
"What do you think it was?" Link grunted to Zelda as he rolled a giant boulder with Groose's help. The three of them were back on the Surface, working on the cabin Zelda wanted. He looked back and winced at the trail of uprooted grass they had made while moving the lump of a rock.
"You mean Horwell?" she asked. He nodded affirmation and she shrugged. "It could have been anything really. It was probably just like Instructor Owlan said, he was just tired from work."
"That'd be something Owlan was more like to do actually. Compared to him, Horwell's always been a little lazy in his method sometimes," he replied.
"Ya know? That's what I was thinking!" Groose shoved a distracted Link and rolled the rock the rest of the way himself. "Hey, and am I the only one who feels bad for Oolo? Owlan keeps that poor Kikwi locked up in his room the whole time among his collection of plants!"
"I've told Owlan many times that Oolo isn't a plant but a living creature! I don't think he gets it yet." Link laughed awkwardly,
"I'll talk to him. The poor thing needs some more freedom," Zelda said.
"So anyways, you guys care to show me those old ruins you mentioned you went to the night of Zelda's birthday?"
Link and Zelda exchanged a glance. "Why not?" she said. "You want to go now?"
"Yeah! That'd be great."
"Why don't we show him the actual castle and not the ruins?" Link asked casually.
Zelda tactfully ignored him. "It's this way, at the end of the forest to the North, farther into the plains. "
But Groose had heard. "What castle? It's a castle?"
"Was." Link corrected. He remembered the magnificent black fortress perfectly. "It was giant! There wer-" A glare from Zelda stopped him.
" 'Were?' There were what?" Groose asked, his interest piqued now. "How do you know what it used to look like? "
When none of the two answered, he asked "Why'd you two suddenly go quiet?" He had begun to become excited. "What's happening? I think I'm confused."
"It's nothing," Link said, still a little startled by Zelda's glare.
Groose looked back and forth between the two of them. "I feel left out," he declared sullenly.
"Alright!" Despite herself, Zelda was amused by Groose's curiosity. Besides, he already knew who she and Link really were. She trusted him completely and there wasn't any need to hide anything from him. "Link found a way to summon back the Gate of Time in the temple. He had a little adventure thousands of years ago. He saw this forest like it was before Demise began taking over."
"Wait...what'd you just say?"
"Time traveling, Groose!" Link laughed.
"Yeah! I got that! I'm not dumb," Groose said indignantly. "But I thought Granny closed up the Gate!"
"She did," Zelda said flatly. "That's why it should remain closed."
From her tone, even Groose got the hint and didn't inquire further.
When they reached the plains, Groose was speechless much like he was the day he followed Link to the Surface. He had begun to get accustomed to the forest with its looming canopy of leaves and branches above and a tree always in sight. But the plain...it was a completely different world. It was a vast uneven sea of tall grass that stretched for as long as the eye could see. A magnificent open sky lay above. Ruins dotted the hills here and there, and it was all empty, vacant and unexplored.
One look at Groose's amazed face and Link knew what was coming.
"This place needs a name!" Groose proclaimed. "One fitting for this wide expanse of vast, unexplored terrain!"
"Here it comes," Link muttered.
"GROOSEFIELD!" His arms swept forward in front of him dramatically.
Zelda stared at him oddly.
"...What?" he asked, paused in his gesture.
She shook her head before breaking out into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.
Groose cocked his head. "What's so funny?"
"You want to...seriously...name...Groosefield!" She leaned on Link, breath quickly leaving her as she began to laugh hysterically. Soon enough, Link joined her as well.
"Are you two okay?" Groose asked cautiously.
Zelda's laughter defeated her and she was on the ground, pulling Link with her.
"I don't get the joke," said a puzzled Groose. "Guys?"
Link waved him off from on the ground, affected by an uncontrollable case of giggles and unable to get coherent words out.
"Well then, uh," Groose started, a little bit spooked. " I'll go check out those ruins now." He would return when his friends regained their composures.
Their laughter faded as he hurried away and entered the old ruins ahead. Eons had passed, and rubble only remained of what had once been a proud and stoic castle. The dark rock was beaten and worn, yet it still stood strongly stout.
He could imagine it now. Walking backwards to see the whole ruins...it was just like the illustrations of old stories in books! A majestic castle of black stone defending the entrance to a sacred forest! It had wide soaring turrets, red flags waving in the wind, it was a half a mile tall and-
"AGH!" He tripped on something and fall backwards, landing on the rather soft thing that had caused him to fall. He looked back and saw it was a large brown bag, almost as big as him. "What the-?"
"OH!" A voice boomed. "Hello there!"
Groose saw Gorko the Goron behind him with a scroll in his hands. He waved. Gorko helped him up and lifted the giant bag back on his bag with seemingly no effort.
"What are you doing here?" Groose asked.
"What do you mean, what am I doing here, goro? Isn't it fairly obvious! I have been checking out these great ruins! Aren't they amazing? To be here for thousands of centuries and still exist? Why, there are still places filled to the brim with mysteries and secrets waiting to be explored! If I had known these ruins were here, I would have studied them much earlier!" In his excitement, the Goron was waving his arms in hyper gestures. "Archaeological evidence suggests this place was a fortress used in the Great War! Do you believe that, bud? The Goddess herself may have fought close by!"
Before Groose could respond, the Goron had launched into another round of praise for the ruins, remarking on how the excellent masonry and architecture had survived for so long.
"Gorko!"
Both Groose and the Goron turned to see Link sliding off a piece of smooth rock and coming closer, Zelda close by.
'"OH!" Gorko exclaimed in excitement again. "Bud, have you not seen these ruins yet? They are amazing! The sheer size- "
"Yes, yes! I've explored some of it already." Link laughed. "They're amazing aren't they?"
"Indeed!" Gorko was bouncing up and down now, a feat for the heavy Goron. "And you won't believe what I found when I moved a rock! I found a secret chamber in the ground!"
"Really?"
"Come! Come!" urged the Goron. He pocketed his scroll and moved to a part of a crumpled wall. He grabbed a giant boulder leaning against the stone and placed it out of the way as if it weighed like a feather. Groose widened his eyes in shock at this action.
"It's too dark too see though," Gorko said, disappointed as Zelda and Link joined him at his side. They peered into the wide staircase leading down. The steps were broken and the entrance was crumbling. Nothing was visible after the outside light faded a few feet in.
Link stepped forward to examine the opening closer. After a moment's hesitation he took a few steps down the stairs, and before Zelda had the chance to utter a cry of both warning and protest, he fell down a hidden hole a ways in. The sound of breaking debris could be heard as he yelped.
"Link!"
He poked his head above the hole he had fallen in and everyone let out the breath they hadn't noticed they were holding. "I'm okay!"
Reckless boy! Zelda thought. "What do you think you're doing? What if that hole had been deeper?" He and Zelda exchanged glances and a silent argument ensued. After a few seconds, Link won out and Zelda sighed. He climbed out quickly and dusted himself off. "I don't suppose you have has a torch we could light?" he asked Gorko.
Gorko shook his head sadly. "I've run out."
Zelda stepped closer to the entrance and lifted her hand. A small fire burst to life on her open palm, illuminating the dark tunnel.
"GORO!" Gorko exclaimed. "How...how are you doing that!?"
She grinned mischievously. "Magic."
Groose whistled. "Mind teaching me a few tricks later?"
"You'd have to have a natural talent to learn magic. And even if you did, your big muscles would block the flow," said Link.
Groose objected but Zelda shushed them both before they could start fighting. "The whole stone stairway is decayed and crumbled! As far as I can see, anyway. It's unsafe to even think about exploring further." She retreated from the entrance and the floating flame above her hand disappeared. "There could be even bigger holes leading to only Goddesses knows what below."
Something in her words brought a flashback to Link about what lay in the earth's depths beneath the bright and peaceful Ancient Cistern. He shuddered. Maybe it was just as well that the stairs were impassable. He did not want a repeat.
"That's a disappointment," Gorko said sullenly. "Imagine what we could have found down there! Perhaps ancient artifacts! Treasure! Maybe even-"
"Living dead and ponds of poisonous monster goo?" Link suggested innocently.
Gorko looked genuinely disturbed.
"Well this was pointless fun and all, but I have to be getting back to Skyloft," said Groose with a look to the bright orb of a sun above. "It's noon and I'm stuck with scrubbing duty for something I offended Miss Henya with." He shrugged after a second. "I still don't even know what it was!"
"It was probably that mess of mud you made in her kitchen," said Zelda.
"That wasn't me! It was that flower pot that fell from the shelf! Darn pot decided to fall right in the water bucket and I tripped over the bucket! All of it spilled. I could have killed myself!"
"And who was responsible for the falling pot, musclehead?" Link sniggered and Groose glared.
"You'll have to call your Loftwing from the statues back in the forest. They don't respond from here, " Zelda interjected quickly.
Groose stomped off and Link couldn't resist following to torment his former bully further.
Zelda shook her head and turned back to Gorko. "Will you be staying here or returning with us?"
"I shall stay here! I have not fully studied these ruins."
Zelda nodded. "We'd appreciate it if you'd share your findings with us later."
"Of course!" Gorko grinned.
Zelda turned to leave but Gorko stopped her. "Wait, I do have one question pending that I'm sure you can answer." Zelda turned and found Gorko's face scrunched up in what could only be called suspicion.
"Yes?"
"What is this 'Skyloft' you've all been mentioning so much?"
"It...it is our home."
"In the...sky?"
Zelda hesitated briefly before nodding.
"OHHH!" Gorko exclaimed. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!" He began bouncing up and down again. "Goro! The fabled Isle of the Goddess! I had begun to have my suspicions when more of your kind began showing up on big birds!" He suddenly leaned closer to her. "How is it like living up there? Do pristine rivers of of the cleanest water really flow? Do bountiful trees with endless fruits-"
Zelda held up a hand to hold the barrage of questions she knew were to follow. "No, no! Those are all stories. Skyloft is just like here! Nothing out of the ordinary except that it's floating in...well, in the sky."
Gorko didn't seem satisfied. "But...what of the old legends? It was a heavenly haven created by the Goddess just for her people!"
"They are just that. Legends. In fact, the Surface is much more fascinating!"
Gorko was quiet. Zelda began to feel bad about bursting his bubble, but his praise for Skyloft was making her guilty.
"Are you sure...?"
"Why, of course I'm sure! I live up there!" she laughed awkwardly.
"I would like to see this Skyloft someday."
She studied his heavy rock build and felt even guiltier. There was no way he could fit on a Loftwing or be carried by Scrapper. But maybe there was a way?
"Perhaps one day I'll be able to show you."
~xxx~
"So it's really possible?" Zelda asked as the trio went through the Academy's doors.
"'Course! How could you ever doubt my capabilities?" Groose said. "I built a fine baby! It was really only a prototype, but how far do you think it would go if I built a completely new and improved one?"
"He really did make one while you were...asleep." Link corroborated.
Zelda was incredulous. "And it actually worked?"
"Yeah! You should have seen it!" Groose gestured with his hands. They were right in front of the dining hall. "It launched Link right across Faron Woods! Though I'm not sure how the landing was, you have to admit it was one mighty contraption. I call it the Groosenator - hey!"
"Aaah!" Someone bumped into Groose. "Sorry! Sorry!" A very pale looking Fledge appeared behind Groose. He bent down with shaking hands to pick up the small towels he had dropped but ended up dropping them again.
Link bent down to help pick up the towels. He found they were warmly soaked with water. "Fledge, what's wrong?"
"I-It's it's Instructor H-Horwell! Miss Henya asked me to soak these for him! H-he passed out in the middle of class!"
~xxx~
It was late into the night, past the bedtimes of most people and definitely past the Academy curfew. Most of the teachers and students should have been asleep at this time. However, there was light shining from the gap below Instructor Owlan's door. In the dark hallway just outside his room were two graduated students.
Link and Zelda exchanged a glance. Zelda nodded and Link rapped gently on the Instructor's door, making minimal noise so as to not disturb anyone in the other rooms. A few moments later, a shadow overtook the light coming from the door's bottom gap and the door opened.
"You two should be in bed."
"We know, sir," Zelda said calmly. "We just wanted to talk to you for a bit."
Instructor Owlan looked weary in the dim light but he let them in. "No doubt this is about my brother, isn't it?" Horwell was resting in his room next door.
Zelda nodded as she entered the cozy room. It was filled with various exotic plants. Vines covered the entirety of the farthest wall. There were a few pots with colorful flowers on the instructor's desk, along with various books and scrolls. Most of the flowers' buds were closed. They didn't look quite cheery at all, matching Owlan's mood.
"Kwi..." mumbled Oolo as he tried to camouflage in between two plants in a corner.
Owlan sat on his bed with a small sigh. He gestured towards the chair at his desk and another close by. "Thank you sir," Zelda said as she sat at the desk. Link went to the other one.
"Well?" Owlan asked.
"We...we sense that what's ailing Instructor Horwell is not a simple fever or cold. Otherwise it would have been gone already. We want to know what's wrong with him. Surely you know already? You are Skyloft's best healer and herbalist."
Owlan was quiet.
"Please don't keep anything from us," Link said quietly. "We're not children."
Owlan sighed again as he came to a decision. "It is true. What ails Horwell is not a simple ailment but perhaps a bigger illness. I have been doing some research into the Academy's more ancients texts and have found something similar."
Zelda now realized that the instructor's desk behind her was indeed more cluttered than usual with books.
Owlan's eyes seemed to have lost their focus. He placed a hand on his chin as if he were thinking profusely about something. "It is rare. We haven't had a case like it in years. I don't believe it to be contagious, but its cause is still a complete mystery. However, I remember treating another person with similar symptoms. I fear the same illness has resurfaced with Horwell." Owlan looked grim as he said this. He looked to Link and his eyes softened considerably with some unknown sentiment. "The one with this illness, she was one of the Academy's best Knights. One of the most fit and healthiest as well as accomplished. Her sudden ailment left me baffled at the time because I had never seen anything like it. She became sick with a slight fever and then recuperated only to fall into a worse state." He paused.
"She didn't make it. That is the fact that worries me the most."
He let that sink in, Link looked away.
"There is no remedy that worked?" Zelda asked slowly.
The instructor shook his head. "I could not save her. I'm afraid the same fate will soon befall Horwell."
"Don't say that!" Link said suddenly. He got up with so much force that he almost knocked his chair back. "You said you were researching the illness in older tomes, correct? You have to find something! We can't do nothing but watch Horwell fade slowly!"
Owlan didn't seem surprised at all by Link's sudden change of demeanor but Zelda was. "Link!" she scolded.
Owlan stood up and headed to his desk. "Indeed, there is something. It is an ancient sea plant." He pointed to an illustration on an opened tome beside Zelda. "It seems in the distant past when the Surface was still populated, this disease was treated with such a flower."
Though the page was yellowed and the paint was faded, there was a blue flower depicted in the illustration the Instructor was pointing to. The flower's center was yellow and white lined the edges of its blue petals. The bottom of its stem was red. The instructor began to talk again. "This flower could be found on the shores of the Lanayru Sea." There seemed to be something hopeful in his voice.
Zelda gasped. "That means we can head down to the surface right now! If we search for it, we can find it!"
Link hung his head. "There's no real life in Lanayru Province," he said simply.
"What do you mean?" asked Zelda. "I know most of it has become desert, but surely the sea-"
"Sand covers every single inch of Lanayru now. The sea no longer exists. It's barren and desolate. I know because I was there too."
"What? It...it can't be!" Zelda was shocked.
Owlan sighed, his last hope shattered. "I suppose that's it then." He sat back down on the bed sullenly. "It has been a tiring day for everyone, you two. Would you mind returning to your rooms now? Rest assured, I will try to find some other plausible thing in those books." He didn't sound too hopeful. At that moment, the silver of his hair in the dim light made him seem older than he really was.
Link nodded. He took Zelda's arm and pulled her out of the room gently. He closed the door behind them.
"All of Lanayru!? Dried up!?" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper. "I won't believe it!"
"You've been out of commission for quite a time, Goddess," he said it quietly as they stopped at the top of the stairs, ready to separate ways for the night since their rooms were on different floors.
"It's just! All of Lanayru?"
"It's all desert now," he said. "Everything."
"What's the Thunder Dragon been doing?!" Zelda said angrily, and Link sensed it wasn't really his friend talking there. "What has Lanayru done to prevent the withering of his province?"
"Lanayru got sick and died remember? Now that he's back though, I don't think that even all of his power is enough to restore the region."
She was quiet. "What...what about using Timeshift stones then?" Zelda began, much calmer and obviously not ready to give up on the flower subject at all. "Didn't you say you found a plant whose sap worked like oil to the ancient robots? You were able to get Scrapper running again with it! What if-"
"I just stumbled into that while I was looking for an entrance to the Temple of Time!" he interrupted. "It was only a coincidence that it turned out to be useful later."
"Nothing in this world is coincidence, Link." Zelda said. " I thought you would have learned that by now."
He shook his head. "Even so, I only saw that plant because it used to grow plentiful in Lanayru. This other flower, it's different. It only grows on the shores of the sea. Those parts are destroyed and impassable. The Timeshift stones can't reverse something so big if its remains aren't there anymore." Link sighed. "All that's left is a port. And the only reason that has survived is because most of its structures are metal."
"There has to be some way..." said Zelda.
They were both silent. Link began going down a few steps of the stairs after a few moments. "You know the only way."
"Link, I already told you that is out of the question."
"You would really let Instructor Horwell die just because of that!?" Again, his mood seemed to have changed rapidly.
Zelda tried to choose her words carefully, hoping not to anger her friend further. "It's dangerous, Link. Disturbing the Past can have serious-"
"Zelda! Do you know who that woman was that Owlan was talking about?"
She looked confused.
"My mother, Zelda! My mother." He shut his eyes and turned away from her.
Zelda's eyes widened. "Link, I'm...I'm sorry."
"I'm not about to let another person die from the same thing knowing I could have done something about it!" He continued walking down the stairs, leaving Zelda in shocked silence.
~xxx~
"Commander!" The soldier, no more than a boy, came running. The men in the group parted ways to allow him into the circle.
"Commander!" The young soldier repeated, out of breath from running. "The scouts...they send word that the village in Faron has been destroyed!"
Collective murmurs ran across the circle of men. "Our troops at the Fort guarding the forest path have fallen!?" asked one man.
The boy nodded grimly. "They say the Demon King himself was there. All of Faron is ablaze in fire."
The armed men fell silent, contemplating this huge loss.
One of them blurted out suddenly. "Perhaps if we had strengthened our forces in-"
"Faron was fated to fall, there was nothing any of you could have done," came a voice from behind them, feminine and ethereal.
Everyone turned and noticed the silent spectator. Her white robes flowed freely around her, she did not seem to be touching the ground. A dazzling luminescence surrounded the whole of her, making her seem completely out of place in the dark battlefield. Without question, almost all of the people present in the group went to their knees.
Her words had struck the army's commander, who had not spoken until now, as harsh. He was the only one not to have knelt. "You don't understand, Goddess. That village was a peaceful one. If the Demon King himself went, he must have delighted in making it a massacre." His blue eyes showed with pain. "That village was the one of my birth. I had not visited it in more than four years."
"It is true. I cannot truly say I comprehend the despair you all feel now." Her Grace looked to the distance, in Faron's direction. "Yet let this loss not hinder you, but fuel your desire for justice. Demise must be stopped, or the fate that befell Faron will be the one of this whole world."
~xxx~
Zelda awoke before dawn despite the last night's late sleep. She could not fall back to sleep after that dream. Why were so many memories returning to her lately?
She thought about the commander of her forces in the Past and the pain she had seen in his eyes in that moment. She remembered seeing a similar look in Link's eyes often.
Why must he always have such a tragic history in every life? She felt guilty, subconsciously knowing that in some depth, it was always her fault. A sudden thought occurred to her and she got up to dress with haste.
It seemed no one was awake yet as she hurried down to the lower floor. A quick glance in the direction of Link's room was all she needed to sense that he wasn't in there anymore.
"Headstrong stubborn silly fool," she muttered as she quietly headed to the Dining Hall. There she packed two bags with provisions and headed back to both their rooms to search for clothing to add. When she was done, she headed back to the Dining Hall and scribbled down a note. She left it on a table, knowing Henya would come in and find it later. Wouldn't do to come back and receive a scolding from Father. She took the upper doors to go outside, knowing the main ones would still be locked.
"Zelda..."
Her hand was on the doorknob. Instructor Owlan was a few feet behind her.
Zelda turned and closed the door. "Yes, sir?"
The instructor eyed her bags. "So Link went ahead?"
She nodded. She hoped he wouldn't detain her for long, she needed to catch up to him before he rushed off into the Past without her. Even a few seconds of difference could mean weeks or even months where he had gone.
He handed her a small piece of rolled up parchment. "When you find that plant, bring it to me. I have faith that you two will find it. You are after all, the best in the Academy. However, judging from your bags, you plan it to be a long journey?"
Zelda shrugged. "Not quite," she lied. "But it never hurts to be prepared!"
"I understand how dangerous the Surface is beyond the Faron Province, but I wish to warn you that Horwell doesn't have much time."
She would have laughed if only his statement hadn't been so scary. Time? It was good he didn't have to worry about that anymore.
"Be careful. Don't do things that might endanger your lives. I will inform Headmaster Gaepora to prevent him from worrying."
"Thank you, sir."
The instructor nodded. The worry he had displayed yesterday betraying his now customarily serious expression. "Good luck."
~xxx~
"Alight there." Link pointed to the Sealed Temple's entrance and his crimson Loftwing complied in a downward flutter of wings. He slipped off quickly and waved a goodbye. The crimson bird squawked softly in reply and flew off.
As he pushed open the Temple's stone doors, Link wondered briefly if it were possible that Zelda could seal these doors with a spell like the ancient Impa had done. She would have done so already in an effort to keep him away from the Gate though.
Swiftly heading up the stairs to stand in front of the Master Sword, he pulled out the blue ocarina and played the mysterious tune of the Song of Time. His old sword began to glow.
His hand was only mere inches away from the Master Sword's hilt when a familiar voice stopped him.
"Where do you think you're going?" came a sharp shout from behind.
He was crestfallen immediately. There was no way she would let him go now.
He heard her footsteps on the stairs behind him and a soft hand alighted on his shoulder. "Or should I say...where are you going without me?"
He turned to look at her, surprised. She smiled one of her elusive smiles and shoved a bag into his arms. "You can't just go off unprepared like that. It'll be a long journey to Lanayru on foot and back. Our Loftwings don't exist in the Past yet."
"Zelda..."
"I bet you didn't even bring food!" she continued.
"Zelda."
"And I can't just let you go off alone. You need someone to keep you away from trouble."
"Zelda!" he said loudly to get her attention.
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
She scoffed lightly. "Don't mention it. Now are we going or not?"
He nodded, readjusted his hold on the bag and gripped the Master Sword's indigo hilt. She placed her hand on top of his.
Soon, a blinding cerulean light consumed them both.
~xxx~
Yay, it's been a while! Dec 30,2014 EDIT: IT'S BEEN EVEN LONGER NOW! The concert was in 2012, eh...
I went to the Symphony of the Goddess concert at the Chicago Theatre on October 25 recently with my best friend! I got a giant poster and an epic shirt as well! I got to enjoy the orchestra performance. My favorite was the Wind Waker symphony, the conductor pulled out a Wind Waker replica. Not going to lie, I shed a few tears. ;') There were some epic cosplayers as well! Did anyone go to any Symphony of the Goddess orchestra? Just curious, give me a shout out if you did. :D
Okay, back to the story. This is the biggest chapter so far. And I dunno, Horwell and Owlan are so similar I made them brothers. The main story has finally picked up! XD As always, hope you enjoyed and review please!
