"Well screw that." I thought angrily, looking slightly up at Skyloft. Red had flown me to a little island between the roulette island and Skyloft, where I intended to wait until nightfall. Owlan hadn't exactly declared me crazy, but the overly careful way that he and Keet had treated me with had been SO annoying! Yes, I know, I semi-passed out to a noise they were convinced was in my head. Great luck.

Groaning I leaned back, lying unshielded under the open sky. What was wrong with me? Why did I hear these… Things? Nobody else seemed to be able to hear them, except for the birds. And, well, I was also hearing the birds talk, so yeah, I was a bit of a nutcase, wasn't I.

I lay there, simply listening to the sounds for a while. But then I got bored and began daydreaming of… well, Link. In my dream, we where side by side on this little island. It was night, so he was trapped here with me. We fondled each other and laughed and in the end, we cuddled together and fell asleep. Then we'd sleep in late and wouldn't rise till well after Midday. It was an innocent, childish dream. But it kept me occupied enough to forget the world around me until the sun had set.

The moment he cawed out to me, I was on my feet whistling loudly and waving my arms.

It was a weird, foggy nightfall, we couldn't see each other. I couldn't even see the clouds. But I felt him coming toward me and before I could stop myself, I had jumped off the ledge, falling free, and was caught out of the air gracefully. I think I cried happily. We flew through the skies for ages, talking about what had happened. He told me that that god on the other side was very worried about stuff going on below. I told him about what I had witnessed last night. We flew over the hole in the clouds a few times and at some point I told him, how much I'd missed him.

So what now? he asked while we were heading home, Do you want to continue like this?

"Well, I can't really." I frowned, "Things are changing. Two of our people have disappeared from the sky and both of them are alive. That is not normal. If someone leaves the sky, it means he is dead. But now things have changed."

You're sounding like you have put some thought into this.

My frown melted into a crooked smile: "I think… I think I need to talk to Owlan."

Why?

"I think Zelda is right. Gondo… crafting is not my thing. But I am very good with animals and birds and maybe I could learn some things from Owlan."

So you want to change. It wasn't a question.

I nodded: "Maybe."

The next few days passed without any big new happenings. Dad was shocked, mom delighted and Groose unfazed by the fact, that I was actually going to the Academy every day for a few hours, sitting through every lesson on animal care and biology I could get into. The headmaster had been stunned enough to let me into the senior classes as well, so now I was mildly busy. The only thing that made people give me weird side-glances, was the fact, that my bird refused to stay out. If I attended class. He would sit next to my desk, watching me take notes and occasionally rustle his feathers. But he kept surprising even the professors with the fact, that he didn't make a single sound.

Even though it was not my doing, I couldn't help but feel a little proud.

It was almost a week after his departure, my bird and me, we were walking/waddling out of the Academy into a light drizzle of rain. I had been planning to attempt to break through the cloud barrier today and see this "god" with my own eyes. But when we saw him, we froze to the spot. A certain young man with cerulean eyes was standing right before us.

And he was bleeding like hell!

"For the love of Hylia! Link!" I screeched and dropped my notebook on the floor, breaking into a run. He looked horrible. There was an array of something that looks terribly like sword wounds and slashes, that had torn his uniform. A particularly large stain of blood was on his right flank. I decided to ask questions later and skip to the more important part: "How much pain are you in!"

"Not much…" he mumbled, a little smirk on his lips, "I took a potion. Most of my wounds are scabbed already."

"Well, thank the goddess!" I frowned, "And don't you dare give me the: "Stop worrying about me, you're being annoying" BS, I've had it! You come into Skyloft pale as a ghost, your clothes ragged and stained with blood, anybody will go crazy!"

To my surprise, he held up a hand: "Medowlaria, I'm sorry, about saying that! And you should know that!"

"I… what?" I was too dumbfounded to do anything but stutter.

"Look, it's been the worst week of my life, I'm tired and my clothes have blood stains on them. But I still am honest enough to say, that I'm sorry, okay?"

I was a bit hurt, but my worry overtook that in the end: "To hell with that! Get inside and take a long, hot bath! Now give me that tunic and I'll wash it up and sew the holes."

"What are you talking about? I was going to give them to Mallara, she…" he began, laughing a bit. But I was not in the mood for jokes: "Give. me. those. clothes. now!"

I thought about what I had just said and quickly corrected myself: "Err, after you've changed into… something… else."

"It's okay, I got the message!"

So yeah, that's how I ended up washing and mending Links clothing (let me repeat: I WAS HOLDING HIS TUNIC WITH HIS SMELL, ON MY LAP!) He even allowed me to sit in his room for the sewing part while he first took a bath, then talked to the headmaster and then walked through the whole of Skyloft to tell everybody what Zelda was okay.

By the way, I still didn't know what had actually happened down there. But some things I could tell just from his clothing: They where covered in something that looked like pollen at first. But after a while I'd gathered, that they were spores! Also there were some cuts, that looked almost as though a wild animal had bitten into his clothes. Like when Mia bites someone, just is super big. Also there were really gross, green stains everywhere. I was very curious, what had caused that.

Maybe I could ask him. Maybe he could tell me, what was going on with Zelda.

Just after I had sewn the last holes, he entered. He was wearing his super-comfy looking sweat shirt again. When I smiled at him, he even smiled back: "Almost done?"

"Just finished." I replied.

He sat down on his bed (I was sitting at his desk, you perverts) and unbuckled his sword. At the sight of it I felt a little tingle on the back of my neck and gave him a slightly lopsided smile: "Link, that sword… Is there something… magical about it?"

He nodded: "In a way. Fi is the guardian of the blade and has been, um, following me around since I got the sword."

"Following you… That sounds a bit weird when you say it that way." I thought but managed to hold my tongue, "Can everybody see that… guardian of yours?"

He shrugged: "Think so. One moment: Fi?"

I looked at the sword expectantly. A gleaming orb of light blinded me for a mere moment, darting out of the hilt. But then, after it had died down, there was nothing there.

"What… what am I looking for?" I asked cautiously, obviously there was something there!

Link looked startled: "But… Medowlaria, Fi is right here! She's right next to me!"

In that moment, a voice started speaking. For a second I panicked, trying to figure out where it was coming from. The weird thing was, I didn't understand a thing it was saying!

My heart skipped a beat: I couldn't see or understand this guardian!

Wow, I'd never felt quite this stupid before!

After the unnaturally loud, intense and extremely monotone voice had silenced, the light orb reappeared and darted back into the sword. I gaped: "Okay, wow! That was one of the weirdest things I've seen all week!" And that included androgynous Tornado-man!

After probably a few hours Link had told me exactly what had happened, from beginning to end. Well, almost end. He was just telling me how he had finally found the puzzle key and was opening the oversized door to get through to Zelda. Apart from Fi, the old lady, the Kikwi and the "monsters", the surface was like a fascinating book to me: Filled with surprises and endless detail, just waiting to be explored. I briefly wondered, what sounds where down there, if there where more, or if some where louder. I refused to believe, that I was just imagining sounds where there were none. If the birds told me something, it was always correct. If someone was missing, I usually could tell, where they were. So, at the very least, I was not imagining everything that I heard!

"And behind that door was the weirdest guy I've ever seen, including your brother." we both grinned at that, "He is extremely dangerous and seems to be the guy who created that tornado."

I froze: "A guy in tights, red cloak, white appearance and make up? And he was babbling about needing Zelda for something?"

His expression was priceless: "How… you've met him?"

"'fraid so." I continued without thinking, "He was on one of the islands up here when he cast that tornado. I was right behind him but ran for it the moment I saw you guys fall. He stared at me, but I turned my back on him and flew off to get you out of the sky and…"

Crap.

I think I turned either a very deep shade of red or a very pale shade of white. But Link seemed unfazed. It took me a few moments to realize, that Gaepora had probably told him anyway.

Link told me about the spring and Fi's song. I was fascinated and made him tell me all about the fish in the water, the insects (I suggested he showed some from his collection to Strich, he'd love them) the gigantic tree and the teeny tiny birds (I'd been wrong about that speculation).

After he ran out of things to say, I asked very quietly: "Link, Zelda is going to be alright, correct?"

"And if I have to fight myself through the forests of Farore a thousand times to get her back, I will."

I stared at him, a fake smile plastered on my face. Why did I dare hope, that he might like me? Zelda was our friend, I shouldn't think such thoughts.

We talked a little bit about what had been going on in Skyloft. He even thought it was cool, that I was doing something for my education. But at some point he got tired and I left his room, wishing him sweet dreams.

Just outside the door, I ran into Fledge. He had obviously been flying, his hair was very ruffled.

"Oh, Medowlaria! Is… Link really back?" he asked excitedly.

I nodded grinning: "Yes. But he wanted to get some sleep now, so we'll have to wait till tomorrow to ask any more questions."

"Alright, th-thanks." he looked a bit flustered. I gave him a kind smile: "Has the rain cleared up?"

"Yes. Perfect flying weather. It's j-just a bit dark now." he explained, stuttering over a few words.

"Sounds fine to me." I stretched a bit, "If someone asks, I'm out flying."

He nodded: "Alright. But, um, Medowlaria?"

"Yeah?"

"Professor Owlan was looking for you. I think he wants to talk to you!"

-X-

That went faster than I had feared!

Next chapter might be a while, but for that, we will be meeting some bigass Whales! Please review!