Author's note: Been a long time, hasn't it? A whole month without posting anything. I blame school. It's hard to find time to actually settle down and write, especially when you just don't want to, and you'd rather sleep 'cause you're so tired from late night classes and early morning teaching. Still, this idea has been rolling around in my head, and has only just decided it will come on out after I finished the City in the Sky (again) and hung around in Skyloft for a bit. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review, please!


Theme 56 – Fire
SS/TP

It was a beautiful sight. The sky was blue above, and the clouds covered the scenery below. It was a good thing, too. As much as Link liked heights, he didn't want to peer over the edge and see Lake Hylia, Hyrule Castle, Death Mountain, and Ordon all at once as if they were a tiny replica of the Kingdom of Hyrule. Thousands of miles below.

Still, it was very nice up here in the City in the Sky, now that the dragon was dead by his hand. Midna had insisted on going back down to Hyrule and getting into the Twilight Realm, but Link wanted to look around at places he didn't get a chance to see yet. Connected to the sky cannon's platform on the other side was a set of old stone stairs – previously out of view – that lead to a large, yet empty place, floating above the earth by its own power. There weren't any propellers like there were in the rest of the city. This area, he realized, was in ruin, cobbled paths and a few overgrown trees the only things left of what once was clearly a town.

Yet, despite the ancient and ruined state of the buildings, there still was a sense of familiarity, as if he had been here before. Which was nonsense. This was obviously Link's first time here.

"You are back?" a voice at his feet asked. Link looked down and saw the most ancient Ooccoo he had seen yet. It was wrinkled and gray, hobbling on its two feet. It even had a long, gray beard.

"I've never been here," Link replied, confused. The Ooccoo flapped his arthritic wings and hopped up onto a fallen piece of masonry, peering at the Hero's face. "Ah, yes, I got you confused with the other green one. Forged and carried the same sword you have strapped on your back. Same hat, too. Sorry. My old mind gets confused.

"Oh, yes, it's been thousands and thousands of years since I last saw a Hylian here. They all left, you know, to go back to the Surface. I hear there's a grand civilization down there now. Have you been there? You must have, seeing as you're a Hylian."

"What is this place?" Link asked, looking around the cobble-stoned plaza he was standing in.

"Alas, it has been many years since this town had a name. It's now a part of the City in the Sky. You've been there, no? You were the one who slayed the dragon?"

Link nodded.

"Yes, thank you for you deeds. Anyway, this place, when it was filled with life and Loftwings and Hylians, used to be called Skyloft. Great place until the green one and Her Grace moved down to the Surface and had the rest follow. We Oocca took over, built more structures when these crumbled from age and some nasty storms, eventually we moved the center of the city. Then the dragon came, chased away the remaining Loftwings, and ate some, too, the poor things. I guess they still haven't realized the danger is passed." The old, bird-like creature made a movement that looked like it was shrugging.

"What's that dot of fire in the distance?" Midna asked Link from his shadow. Link repeated the question to the Ooccoo, who squinted.

"My, it looks like you'll get to see a sight that no other Hylian has seen since the move to the Surface so long ago."

"What do you mean?"

"The Loftwings, dear Hero. They are returning."

The dot of fire Midna had spotted grew until it took the shape of a bird that flew overhead. Link had a hard time gauging how high the bird was. It looked like it was flying high, but the size seemed to defy that theory. This bird wasn't the small ones he knew that lived below the clouds.

As if to prove itself to Link, the bird carved a turn and started to land. When it finally did, Link was astounded. It was a bird of magnificent size, taller than Link, large enough to be ridden. It squawked at the Hero and looked at him, first with one eye, than with the other.

"Ah, a Crimson," the ancient Ooccoo said wistfully, watching the bird take a few steps closer. "The green one was paired with a Crimson Loftwing. I wonder if he likes you as much as his ancestor liked the green one."

"What do you mean?" Link asked. He held his hand out to the Loftwing, waiting for it to come closer.

"I mean what I mean."

"Then can you elaborate?"

The giant bird took another step closer. The Ooccoo sighed impatiently.

"Your predecessor as Hero many millennia ago once had a bird exactly like this as a steed."

"Oh."

The Loftwing's large beak made contact with Link's hand, and the Hero felt something akin to a spark fly up his arm, leaving his fingers and hand tingling. The bird looked up as more Loftwings gathered. They were of all different colors: green, black, blue, brown, yellow and more. They landed in a large circle, looking at the first Hylian to make contact with the Loftwings since before the dawn of Hyrule Kingdom.

Flashes of memory were flying through Link's mind: he saw himself riding this majestic flame-colored bird, soaring through the clouds as if riding a bird like this was the most natural thing in the world.

We could be partners, you and I, the bird seemed to be saying with its wise eyes.

Link had a steed already, his faithful mare Epona, who was down on the Surface, waiting for him.

The bird cocked its head, as if understanding Link's thoughts. We could soar through the skies, bound by nothing, slaying the monsters that threaten to kill the peace, as my spirit and your spirit once did.

"I am not a Sky Child anymore," Link replied in a soft voice, not really understanding what he was saying. "Maybe one day, I'll come back."

The bird trilled and flapped its wings, taking off and soaring away. Others took flight to roosts around the floating chunk of land.

"Can we please get going now?" Midna hissed in Link's ear.

"Fine." Link started back toward the cannon, but glanced once more at the Crimson Loftwing, that bird of fire.

Yes, one day, when the fate of Hyrule no longer rested on his shoulders, when he had more free time, he would come back and ride the fiery bird into the freedom of flight.