PART 2 - CHAPTER 3

"Come on, Blizzard!" Roc had spotted his parents and their loftwings. "I'll introduce you to your new family!" He took off running, with Blizzard following close behind him.

Blaze and Dart immediately began preening the new arrival. "They're acting like they already know each other!" Groose commented. "Almost like she's their hatchling. How ironic would that be?"

"I actually wouldn't be surprised. It wouldn't be the first time loftwings have paired up because their humans did the same."

"Cass, you're blowing my mind right now." Groose's eyes were like dinner plates. Loftwings never raised their young in human territory. Every once in awhile someone would find eggs or chicks, but they were usually very good at hiding their nests. It had been that way in the sky, and it was still that way on the surface. There was little evidence to support Cass' claim, but oftentimes, the birds would also act like a couple if their masters were.

"Wouldn't be the first time that happened either, big guy. Or at least I'm hoping." Cass chuckled and nudged Groose affectionately, causing Roc to groan and roll his eyes. Why did parents always insist on acting like that in public? It was lame and embarrassing.

Fletcher was already flying. "Wanna race to the lake?" He hovered in front of Roc, a big grin on his face.

"Hang on a second." Cass stepped between Roc and Blizzard, preventing him from climbing on. "No going that far out of town by yourself until you've practiced for at least...a week or so. Stay here for today."

"But Mom-"

"No buts. You may fly around within the borders of town, maybe tomorrow we can all go to the Great Tree and back."

Roc sighed. "Well that's better than nothing." He got onto Blizzard's back and turned to Fletcher. "First to complete three laps wins? Does anyone else want to come along?"

"Sure. And I don't know. Allan and Orion are just flying around randomly. Amaya seems more interested in playing hide and seek with Raiden and Estelle. Girls are weird, right?"

"Yeah. She doesn't know what she's missing." Roc pulled gently on Blizzard's reins. They had all gotten the saddles for the loftwings before the ceremony. Blizzard instinctively spread her wings and rose into the air, and they were off.

At the sound of footsteps behind him, Groose turned around. He gave his old rival a slight bow. "The ceremony went well. You handled yourself...like a true leader."

"Your son," Cass added, "Thinks girls are weird. Watch out, he's gonna be a heartbreaker."

Zelda burst out laughing at that. "I believe it! All he'll have to do is bat those icy blues of his. I still wonder how they got that specific shade."

"And then he'll break up by calling the girl weird."

"That's enough, ladies. I really don't want to think about that right now. I'm still raising kids. I don't want to think about grandkids yet."

"Who said anything about grandkids?" Cass laughed. "But I suppose I get your point..."

"Yeah." Link shrugged. "Let's not go there."

Since all the kids were occupied, the parents decided to gather in the castle courtyard, after informing the kids of course. They chatted and reminisced as they ate lunch, with only one interruption. Pipit and Karane's twin eight year olds wandered away from their big sister and got caught throwing rocks at a group of kikwis. The little forest critters usually kept to themselves, but they were friendly neighbors to the humans. Luckily, none of the kikwis were seriously injured, and they accepted the apologies.

There was a bit of alcohol involved. Talor had wanted to toast the kingdom and how it had prospered. Nobody got too out of control. But even buzzed, the king noticed something wasn't right.

"Anybody seen Grenn?" Link asked before everyone went their separate ways. "I don't think I saw him at the ceremony."

"Ren whata?" Groose hiccuped. "I don't know no Ren..."

"Go home and sober up. You're drunk." Cass rolled her eyes. "This is why I tried to tell you having five drinks wasn't a good idea."

"I didn't have five I had...hell I don't know. Big whoop who's Ren..."

"I said GRENN!" Link snapped. "Now...go. You're no help when you're drunk as a skunk."

"I'll escort him..." Cass sighed. "If I don't he'll probably try flying or something else that won't end well."

Talor watched them leave. "I shouldn't have brought in those drinks. My bad..."

"Not your fault. Your sister just needs to tighten the leash on her man." Karane's comment caused Pipit to blink and stare blankly for a second.

But he decided to let the subject drop. "Grenn was there for a little bit, but I haven't seen him since. Once the ceremony started, I watched that..."

"It's probably no big deal." Talor said. "He never has been very social. He's probably off by himself somewhere."

A man on a gray loftwing soared above Lake Floria. Faron the water dragon waved at him when she saw him, but he didn't notice. He wasn't feeling like chatting anyway, not to people, not to anything else that was smart enough to speak.

Twelve years ago, he had lost an eye and gained a nasty looking scar where the eye should be. Many of his fellow knights had found love since then, as evidenced by all the children. But himself? Not a chance. The ladies took one look at his disfigured face and acted like they were afraid of him. Although he wasn't exactly sure about whether or not he wanted romance in his life anyway, he couldn't help feeling jealous.

He remembered his own bond ceremony. Oh, how it had filled him with joy when Graywind flew and ate the treat. But he couldn't seem to be happy for the little brats that weren't his.

He had been the first in his class to master the spiral charge maneuver. Even the great chosen hero king had needed to practice it in a controlled environment. But noone seemed to care. They all looked past Link's obvious flaws such as laziness and practically worshiped him. And Zelda...a reborn GODDESS? Seriously? Honestly, he didn't see how all this was even possible.

And then there were those two blond haired blue eyed rugrats, both born with silver spoons in their mouths. It must be nice to have parents that can cough up just about any amount of rupees for a toy or whatever at the drop of a hat. Link hoarded treasure like a greedy dragon. The shopkeeper Rupin hoarded rupees. Whenever either one of his precious offspring wanted something expensive, Link could just sell something to Rupin. It worked every time.

His wandering flight brought him to Ancient Cistern. He landed on the roof of the old structure, then noticed something flitting through the trees in front of him. At first he thought it was one of the other knights. That was until he looked closer and saw that while it looked human, it wasn't riding a giant bird, it had wings of its own. It could only be one thing...

"Show yourself, fiend!" He yelled at the demon and grabbed his sword.

The demon perched on a nearby sturdy branch, folding his leathery wings smugly. "A one eyed human. Now I've seen everything..." He looked at Grenn's sword with mild interest. "You humans and your fancy weapons. It must be terrible to have to rely on them because you have no sharp claws and you can't snap bones with your bare hands."

"Get any closer and I'll rip you apart! This blade can cut just as well as, if not better than, your claws!"

"Keep your shorts on, human. For both of our sakes." The demon's piercing yellow eyes glowed softly as he chuckled. "I'm not ready to start another war so soon after my kind lost the last one." He growled softly, shaking his head. "The human king...we took him for granted. Now we know his victory over Lord Demise wasn't just luck. He means business. Lady Melantha learned that the hard way. Now if you excuse me, I must be going. I'm getting hungry and the last demon who tried to eat a human ended up dead. The human, however, got away with a few minor injuries. I'll find a fat juicy rabbit or something that can't fight back." He spread his wings and prepared to fly off.

"Wait." Grenn lowered his sword.

The demon stopped in midair and turned around and landed again. He tilted his head, confused. "You'd think a human would be glad to see a demon leave. You sure are a strange one."

"...I'll let you in on a little secret."