Helloooooo my friends and welcome back to Remnants! which now has 100 reviews *dies*
(The dead urge you to read on!)
As they darted to the back door of the library, shrieks of Bokoblins echoing in their ears, Kindel scampered up onto Link's shoulder. Twiglike hands clutched Link's hair and tugged as a sign to go faster. Wincing at Kindel's painful pulls, Link restrained himself from throwing the Korok to the fast-approaching Bokoblins and simply ran on.
"You know," Kindel noted as he bobbed up and down on Link's shoulder, "I was wondering... Are all librarians this nice?"
"Are you kidding? They're like saints." Link replied, ducking under a leaning ladder caked with dust from age.
"I bet they have some subversive secret society that helps rebels in their quests against Gangstadorf." Kindel climbed to his feet and wrenched a handful of Link's hair to the side. "Bokoblins are coming!"
"Funny, I didn't notice." Link growled as an arrow whizzed by and embedded itself in a dictionary taller than Kindel himself.
"Anyways, back to my conspiracy theory. I noticed the librarian in Kasuto Town also has some interests that don't exactly align with everyone's favorite dictator, you know?"
Link turned his head to get a good look at Kindel, nearly slamming into a book trolley in the process. "When did you get to go to Kasuto?"
Kindel's features twisted into an expression of polite disdain. "I bet you think I'm just your average Korok, don't you? Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from such a simple-minded..."
Link scowled and slammed his shoulder into the exit door, causing Kindel to nearly topple from his perch as the door swung open to a wide alley behind the library. "Get on with it, will you?"
"Sorry, just got carried away there." Kindel flashed him a wicked grin. "I've been scoping out Hyrule for hundreds of years, watching as the word changes. You get to know a thing or two from being Alder's top scout."
Link held up a hand and slowed to a stop, ducking behind a pile of trash bags reeking of waste. "Hold up just a second. Hundreds of years? And you're Alder's top scout? Are there any other secrets I need to know about His Highness? Are you the real Hero or something?"
"I think Hyrule would be better off if I were." Kindel replied crisply, jumping from Link's shoulder to the top of a dumpster. Link bristled and clenched his fists, wishing for nothing more than to teach the insolent Korok a lesson.
"On your questions – yes, I've been alive for hundreds of years. It's not a big deal, only two hundred and fifty or so. Don't give me that look, I'm still young in Korok years. The Deku Tree lived for eons before he finally passed away."
Link crossed his arms but couldn't keep a small smile from his face. "Okay, old-timer, whatever you say. How does a senile fellow like you end up as Alder's top scout?"
Kindel shook his head. "Walked right into that one. I'm Alder's top scout because I'm the best. I have the uncanny talent of going about unnoticed, which you witnessed firsthand. Or rather, you didn't."
"You wouldn't be hard to miss, seeing as you're about as tall as my knee." Link retaliated and the Korok scowled, pointing a finger at Link.
"I'm not short! I'm... Vertically challenged!"
Raising his eyebrows, Link shrugged. "Whatever you want to call it, man."
The all-too-familiar sounds of Bokoblins echoed in the depths of the alley and Kindel leaped onto Link's shoulder again. "Onward, my steed!"
Biting back some choice words to call Kindel, Link ducked out of their hiding place and onto the street, which was just as busy. A few passersby gave them strange looks as they barreled onto the sidewalk, breathless and wild-eyed, but soon their attention was drawn to other things and they looked away.
"We need to get out of Skyloft. Too many eyes, too many spies." Kindel muttered. "How poetic."
"Yeah, great." Link spun in a circle, trying to get his bearings. This part of the city was unfamiliar, with looming buildings, crowds of people and all varieties of other creatures pressing in at all sides. Kindel held tightly to Link's head to keep from falling off in the swift movement of the masses.
"We need to get back to the surface!" Kindel hollered over the steady buzz of activity, voice nearly drowned out in a fanfare of car horns.
"Aren't you a right genius? Any ideas on how to do that?"
Kindel stamped his feet on Link's shoulder. "Do I look like a taxi service?"
Link spun again, trying to look Kindel in the eye. "You don't look like a master spy, either. Why don't you just fly us out of here? I have my Deku Leaf with me."
The Korok snorted and Link was sure he was rolling his eyes. "Thought of that already. There's not enough wind, and I can't summon anything without being seen."
"Summon..." Link's eyes widened and he ran to the curb, then released the shrillest, loudest taxicab whistle he could.
"Jeez, if you wanted to deafen me – oh my Hylia –"
In a flash of crimson a Loftwing darted down from the sky, wings beating furiously as she slowed her descent onto the street. The smothering crowds were buffeted by the force of her wingbeats, cars honking as she landed in the middle of traffic. Scar tilted her head to observe Link with one eye, then butted her beak against his hand in a sign of affection.
"You didn't tell me you had a Din-forsaken Loftwing!" Kindel screeched, and Scar screeched right back, causing Kindel to topple from his perch and onto the ground.
"Nice one." Link muttered to the Loftwing as Kindel scrambled to his feet, groaning and cursing. Scar ruffled her feathers and snorted shortly.
"There is no way I'm getting onto that thing." The Korok ordered, crossing his sticklike arms definitively.
Link smirked and snatched Kindel at the waist, tossing him onto the back of the Loftwing and climbing on himself. "Unfortunately that's not your choice to make, old man. All right, Scar, we're going to the surface."
Stretching her powerful wings above her, Scar took off in a flurry of feathers. Kindel's panicked screaming mixed with the rushing of the wind as Scar climbed higher and higher, darting through the sky like an arrow. An easy grin spread across Link's face as they flew, carefully guiding Scar to the edge of Skyloft. After a near miss with a helicopter they had reached the end of the floating city.
Turning around, Link nudged the petrified Kindel with his boot. "You might want to hold onto something. We're going to dive."
"Oh no you don't!" Kindel retorted. "There is no way I am riding this thing to the surface! No earthly –"
"Let's go down, Scar." Link ordered, and the Loftwing tucked her wings to her sides, perpendicular to the ground as the plummeted to the surface. Kindel clutched the back of Link's shirt and wailed like a child as they fell, Scar's powerful body aiming perfectly their descent.
"Make it stop!" Kindel pounded on Link's arm with his hand.
Link turned around and shrugged. "Sorry, there's a Loftwing, I can't hear you!"
"I'm going to kill you for this!" Kindel roared, but the threat of his statement was undermined by his high-pitched screams when Scar increased speed.
The flight to the surface was exhilarating, wind tearing at Link's hair and clothes, Scar's wings angling perfectly to control their descent. It ended all too soon, though, and soon the Loftwing extended her wings and slowed to a gradual stop only fifty yards from the ferry boarding station. The power of her wingbeats bent the grass in a circle around them. Link slid down from Scar's back and looked up at Kindel, who lay trembling and silent, which was very unlike him.
"Hey super spy, we have a beach to comb, remember?" Link angled his head to the side, where Epona was thankfully still parked. "Don't worry, it'll be land travel from here."
"Have I ever mentioned how much I despise you?" Kindel moaned weakly, rolling over and tottering down from Scar's back with trembling steps.
"Every second of the day." Link murmured, then turned back to Scar. "Can I call you if I ever need you again?"
The Loftwing bowed her head in an uncannily close representation of nodding. Link patted her beak and she rocketed into the sky, a bullet of sinewy strength. In seconds she was only a red dot in the clear blue sky, then she vanished entirely from sight.
"I hate flying." Kindel grumbled, weaving his way over to Link with a dazed expression on his face.
"Why? I saw you flying just fine in the Forest Village." Link noted, and the Korok shook his head vigorously.
"That kind of flying isn't the problem. Flying on a giant bird that you can't control as it free-falls from the sky?" Kindel shuddered. "Not my kind of flying."
Link shrugged, feeling the strap of the Master Sword dig into his shoulder. "At least you can fly, sans leaf and giant bird."
The Korok smirked slightly, the ghost of his usual smug confidence. "Well, what would you do if you could fly?"
Link shrugged again, pondering. "Probably rob a bank or something."
Kindel groaned again. "And here's our mighty, righteous Hero. Bow down before him! You are unfit to lick the soles of his boots!"
Frowning, Link turned to Kindel and pulled his leg back. "You're about to know firsthand what the soles of my boot taste like, old-timer. Or should I call Scar back down again?"
"Y-you don't have to do that!" Kindel waved his arms in an effort to keep Link from summoning the Loftwing.
Soon they had boarded Epona, albeit with some difficulty. Kindel straddled the front mudguard, keeping his stumpy legs clear of the wheel, and didn't look happy about it. Link had to be careful about sharp turns so that the small Korok wouldn't go flying off of the wheel and into a nearby ditch.
The journey to the coast was relatively direct to the south, so Link didn't have to focus too much on navigation. This was a welcome benefit, since Zelda had been the GPS for the majority of his journey. The ferry stop for Skyloft wasn't too far from the coast, either, so Link only had to stand a few hours of Kindel's constant complaining.
"Why can't I just sit on the saddle with you?"
"I think you're aiming for the potholes."
And the infamous, "Are we there yet?"
As they drove on Link detected a noticeable shift in the air, the very atmosphere of the terrain. The air took on a salty tang that was foreign to him, and the ground gave way from rough hills and grassland to sandy, shifting soil. Soon the road he was on gave out altogether into a strange offroad path twisting between dunelike hills of sand. He was reminded of the Sandsea, although the coast lacked the pounding heat and vicious sandstorms the desert had so kindly presented.
Kindel seemed to perk up as they drew closer to the sea, standing up on the mudguard occasionally to peek over the sand dunes and see if they had reached their destination. Link had no idea what to expect but he too felt a stirring of excitement within him, mixed with dread. The librarian hadn't exactly been a comfort when she spoke about the silent realms, and he didn't like to go into a challenge blind.
Just as Link was about to call for a break Kindel leaped to his feet, pointing vigorously at the horizon.
"Look! Look! We're there!"
Twisting to the side, Link brought Epona to a halt and ran after Kindel who was frantically scrambling up a particularly daunting dune. He caught up with the Korok, who was half-buried in sand, and pulled him to the top of the sandy hill to see the stretch of the ocean before him.
The view was breathtaking, glistening blue as far as the eye could see. Every fathomable color was woven into the waves, from deep greens to the red of sunset glancing off of foaming crests. The beach was painted with yellow strokes of dampened sand, and the brilliant blue of the ocean shifted and intertwined with other shades like a canvas.
Link stared until Kindel nudged him sharply in the shin. "Hey, are you dead or something? Let's get a move on."
Waving him off, Link kept his eyes fixed on the horizon. "No, just a minute."
The Korok laughed shortly, although it wasn't derogatory. "Let me guess, you've never seen the sea before. How poetic again."
Link slowly sat down on the sand dune, watching as the sun sank to the horizon, a crown of red and golden light. "I'd never left Castle Town before this crazy Hero adventure."
"Crazy's for sure." Kindel sat beside him, squinting into the sunset.
They sat in silence for a few minutes longer before Kindel drew Link's attention to a dilapidated pile of wood near the end of the rolling dunes. The planks were stained and rotten, but deep scoured marks were still visible on the wood's surface. Kindel pointed one spindly finger at the strange marks.
"See that? Ancient Hylian."
"You can read it?" Link's brow furrowed and he glanced at Kindel, who was nodding assertively.
"Of course I can. The Deku Tree spoke Ancient Hylian, all Koroks have to learn at least a little to get by. As Alder's scout I know the language pretty well. That sign says 'Great Bay.'"
"So you could read that scroll Orielle showed us?" Link frowned as Kindel nodded again.
"Easily. I could read the language better than her when I was born." The Korok boasted, puffing out his wooden chest. "She got the main point across, what with the ocean and water, whatever. But she missed the part about going into the water where the spirits would claim you."
"Claim me? Sounds pleasant."
"I don't see why they would want to claim such a –"
Link placed a hand none too gently across Kindel's mouth. "I'll just cut you off there."
Slowly he stood, brushing the sand from his trousers, and started to walk to the water's edge. Kindel muttered something unintelligible behind him and scampered in his footsteps, slipping and sliding down the slope until he reached the firmer sand.
Link's boots left deep prints in the wet sand as he walked forward, watching as the sun slowly slipped below the horizon and painted the waves deep navy hues and dark purple. The crashing of the water echoed in his ears, deeply lulling and strangely familiar. A sharp burning spread across his left hand and he glanced down to see a low golden light emanating from the leather.
"Kindel... You know what Orielle said about a calling?" Link shouted back to the Korok. His feet seemed to know where they was going, a direct course to the surf.
"Where are you going?" Kindel barked, chasing after Link as fast as his short legs would carry him. "We need to think this through!"
"Think fast!" Link yelped as the water curled around his ankles and crept towards his knees. A memory of the flooded room in Din's temple came to mind and he pushed down the growing panic in his stomach.
"Well, do I just wait for your spirit to get cleansed or something?" Kindel yelled from behind him. The water had climbed to Link's knees now, and he continued to walk with no indication of stopping.
"The golden goddesses seem to have a soft spot for drowning." He cursed as the water lapped up to his thighs.
Kindel's voice was nearly drowned out in the roar of the waves. "This is a strange goodbye..."
"No kidding!" Link yelled back, lower half of his body numbing with cold as the water rose higher. The frigid waves climbed up to his stomach, filling his boots with water and soaking his clothes. "Just wait here, okay?"
"Have fun getting your spirit tested!" Kindel shouted after him. Steadily the water rose higher and higher. Taking in a deep breath, Link's head was submerged and he dove under the waves.
"There's a tank, I can't hear you!" ~ Luis, Ant-Man
Reviews, favorites and follows go to the Silent Realm Scholarship, where young scholars can study and may actually learn something about these ambiguous silent realms. Anyone who's played Skyward Sword is internally screaming right now... These things were creepy.
OKAY SO both Remnants and TTC hit 100 reviews this week which has been my goal since I made an account I'm actually screaming THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! *throws confetti and released partyparrots*
Until next time!