Hello all, sorry for the long wait, I had some major school projects that had to get done. I know all of you have been clamoring for Link to use his magic and skills, so in this chapter you'll get your wish! And not only that, but you get an extra long chapter to make up for the last one's shortness! But enough of my rambling, enjoy the chapter!

Legal stuff: The Legend of Zelda and its characters belong to Nintendo, not to me. Self-made characters however, do belong to me, so no copying.

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  An hour after they had started flying the group reached the edge on the village. Link stared around in wonder, the puffs he had seen in the distance were the Light Soarans homes, not the normal wood or stone ones would expect from the homes made below, these were made entirely of clouds. Lecan trees were planted here and there, and most of the Light Soarans he saw were busy with errands and other things.

  "Sillis!"

  Link turned his head, a female Light Soaran wearing silvery blue was flying toward them. "Hurry up Gailkim!" she called over her shoulder to the green pyre lizard struggling to keep up with her.

  "Evitje, what's wrong?"

  The Light Soaran landed lightly and faced Sillis, she was breathing heavily. "A search update, and bad news. We still haven't found Zyte, but while we've been searching several of our groups have been attacked by Dark Soarans."

  This seemed to upset Sillis greatly, he immediately reached forward to hold her shoulders, "is everyone alright?" he asked rather forcefully.

  Evitje lowered her gaze, shaking her head. "Harukai has lost one of his arms up to the elbow, Lantz's left wing is now basically dead weight, and others have gotten various wounds that aren't too serious." Her head dropped farther, "and we've lost Jinyo, Mefyl, and Iryna."

  Sillis cursed, "why won't Arcaddian realize that their numbers are growing by the day? Doddering old fool."

  "Don't let anyone hear you say that! You know how easily he could have you banished or killed because of that!"

  Sillis hung his head. "You're right, I am sorry my dear. But you would think that the increasing number of recent transformations and deaths would have brought him to his senses. Their ranks are swelling while ours are dwindling."

  "Sillis, if you'll excuse me, but it sounds like I have wounded to attend to, and Wen will not be able to handle all of this on her own," Ksumber piped in.

  "Yes, you are right Ksumber, may the wind fill your wings and speed you on your way."

  Ksumber turned to Zyte, "make sure you stop by later, I'll get Wen to make something for your arm." With that being said, Ksumber took off.

  Sillis face took on a slight smile, "well, at least there is some good news."

  Evitje looked skeptical, "on a day like this I highly doubt that."

  "Oh really? Then try this, I've found Zyte."

  "What?!"

  Sillis glanced back over his shoulder, following his gaze, Evitje's eyes landed on Zyte.

  "Zyte?"

  Evitje suddenly rushed forward, smothering Zyte in a hug, a few tears leaked out of her eyes. "Zyte, we've been so worried about you, when you didn't show up for the ceremony, and then Leyann showed up looking for you… Thank the goddesses you're safe."

  It was evident that Zyte wasn't use to this kind of attention, as she looked extremely uncomfortable.

  "Calm down Evitje, you're going to suffocate her if you're not careful."

  "Yes yes, you're right, I'm sorry." She released Zyte from her grip and stood back, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  Sillis then turned to look at Link. "And of course we can't forget her rescuer. Evitje, this is Link, apparently he's from a village quite a ways from here, he's the one that saved Zyte."

  Evitje turned to look at Link, her eyes looking him up and down. She finally gave a small smile and bowed, "thank you for rescuing Zyte." She then turned back to Sillis, "alright, I'll go tell the search parties we've found Zyte, then I'm heading back to the school," her eyes darted to Zyte for a quick moment, "I expect you to be back soon." With that, she spread her wings and flew into the air above them.

  Sillis watched her for a moment before turning back to them. "Alright, Zyte I expect you must be tired from this ordeal, so you'll probably want to go home and rest, but before you do I want you to go get something for your arm and then come to the school, I'll be waiting for you with Leyann, but be careful on your way there."

  Zyte bowed, "don't worry Master Sillis, I'll get there in one piece."

  Sillis gave her a grin and spread his wings. He then whispered to Link, "if you don't mind putting off your search for the answers of that vision for a bit, could you see to it that she does get there in one piece? I'd really appreciate it."

  "Don't worry, I'll get her there."

  He smiled, "good, I'll see both of you there then." Sillis flapped his wings and was gone.

  "What was Sillis whispering to you?" Zyte asked accusingly.

  Link's face took on a sly smile. "Oh nothing really, he just asked me to get you to the school in one piece."

  Zyte sighed, her good hand going to her forehead in dismay, "nothing like getting attacked by a Dark Soaran to really boost people's confidence in you. Anyway, we might as well head over to Ksumber's, then we can head over to the school. Ksumber lives toward the middle of the village, so we might as well get going."

  They both took off for the center of the village, trying to ignore some of the strange looks Link was given. When he inquired about this, Zyte simply shrugged her shoulders.

  "Like I said before, I'm considered to be a bit weird, for wearing green and other things, the word that I'm back and safe must have gotten out, but everyone's not exactly accustomed to seeing two people wearing green. At least Akkao isn't around, or he'd be tailing me closer than a guardian follows its partner." She gave an immense scowl after saying this, so Link didn't press the subject.

  They soon reached Ksumber's residence. After walking through a thin cloud that served as a door, they entered a large and spacious room.

  "Zyte!"

  A Light Soaran a few years younger than Zyte had hurled herself at her, smothering her in a hug. "You're okay!! I'm so glad, who else would there be to cheer me up if you were gone," she squeaked out, her face buried in Zyte's shoulder.

  "Can't… breathe…" Zyte looked pleadingly at Link, asking for help against the girl's vice-like grip.

  Link, though not sure if he could really help or not, had started to move forward when the girl suddenly released her grip and turned to look at him.

  "And you must be the one saved Zyte, thank you so much too!!"

  And before Link could even back up, she had seized both his hands and started twirling the both of them around in a circle, bouncing slightly as she did so.

  "WEN!!"

  Wen stopped suddenly, releasing a very dizzy Link.

  "Yes Master Ksumber?" she asked, looking very abashed.

  Link's head stopped spinning long enough to see a fuming Ksumber, his hands on his hips, staring at Wen with barely suppressed fury.

  "You really must learn to control yourself, these people need calm and quiet. Ah, Zyte, you are here. I believe I asked Wen to mix something up for your arm."

  "Oh yeah, let me go get it!" Wen hurried out the room, looking glad to be away from an angry Ksumber.

  Ksumber watched her go, shaking his head in dismay. "That girl, an excellent memory and a talent for healing, but that attitude of hers is enough to drive you crazy."

  Zyte made a noncommittal noise, clearly not wanting to incite something. "Will everyone who was injured by the Dark Soarans be okay?"

  "What? Oh, yes yes, everyone will be fine, but I really must get back to my patients, Axia has come down with a rather bad cold and I told her I'd mix something up to get rid of the symptoms. I'll see you later Zyte." With that, he walked toward the door, barely missing Wen, who had come hurrying out with a bottle in her hand.

  "Here you go Zyte, this'll make your arm all better, it'll take till sundown to work though, sorry I couldn't make it sooner, but we're out of velarus leaves. And make sure you drink all of it, I still have more potions to mix up, so I'll see you around sometime" she said, handing Zyte the bottle of pale red liquid and heading back out of the room.

  Zyte eyed the potion with obvious skepticism, she looked up at Link, "well, I'm betting it's going to taste horrible, but I don't exactly have a choice, do I?"

  Link shook his head, "nope, drink it before I have to make you."

  Zyte sighed, giving the potion one last look before downing it in one gulp, making a face at the taste. "Urgh, remind me never to get hit by a lightning bolt again," she said, setting the bottle down on a table, "let's just hurry up and get to the school."

  Leaving the building, Link and Zyte hurriedly took off into the air, not noticing the eyes that followed them.

  An hour later they reached the training school, a large building that had several lecan trees and various other plants and bushes planted around it.

  "Good thing there aren't any classes today," Zyte muttered, starting for the door, "I was starting to get really annoyed with some of those people, always trying to sneak in a sword strike whenever my back was turned."

  Upon entering the room, a bright blue light suddenly whizzed right for Zyte and started bobbing excitedly around her head. It took Link a few seconds to get a proper look at it, noticing the fine gossamer wings that sprouted from its back, this must have been Zyte's guardian Leyann.

  "Zyte! You're okay! I was so worried, why didn't you wake me up! Don't you ever, ever, ever do that again!" Leyann squeaked out, continuing to dip up and down around Zyte's head.

  "Now aren't you glad I don't act like that," Navi whispered in his ear.

  Link shot her a warning look as Zyte reached out her good hand to halt Leyann's excited bouncing. "It's good to see you too Leyann, I missed you. But if you'll stop bouncing for a moment I'd like to introduce someone to you." Her eyes flickered toward Link before going back to Leyann. "This is Link and his guardian Navi, he's the one that saved me."

  Leyann turned and flickered over to Link. Floating in front of his face for only a moment, she quickly flew back over to Zyte and seemed to be whispering something in her ear.

  Zyte smiled, "of course I know he's from below the clouds, where else do you think I would have landed after being knocked out cold?"

  "But, but he's…"

  "Shh," Zyte suddenly said, putting a finger to her lips, "someone's coming."

  Light footfalls were heard and Sillis entered the room, his yellow kytel wandering around his feet.

  "Good, I thought I heard you Zyte, now will both of you please come with me?" They both nodded. "Good, now please follow me." Sillis turned and went back into the adjoining room.

  "Remember Leyann, not a word about Link, I'll explain later when we get home."

  Both of them followed Sillis out to the back of the school. Several plants and flowering bushes were planted around a small shrine, a sword resting on it's alter. Sillis bent down a picked up the sword, his hand momentarily caressing its shiny surface. He turned toward them.

  "Zyte, by presenting you with this sword I fully recognize you as a master swordsman. And with Link as a witness I proclaim you a master," he held the sword out to Zyte, "may the winds blow gently across your wings."

  Zyte sank into a deep bow, "thank you Master Sillis, I will treasure this blade always." Taking the sword from his hands, Zyte gave it an experimental swing, watching its blade swing through the air with ease.

  Sillis smiled, "I know that a dual swordsman such as yourself would normally be presented with two swords, but I also know that you still have your father's blade, and I am sure that no blade I could give you could match that sword."

  "You are right Master Sillis, I will carry his blade to honor his memory."

  "And now I want you to go home and rest, I am sure-"

  "Aha! I knew I'd find you here!"

  The three of them quickly turned, one could easily see Zyte's expression of joy melt away into one of disgust. A male Light Soaran was standing just beyond the doorway, a dark red Gerahk hovering near his head, its wings beating slowly.

  "Akkao? What are you doing here?" Sillis asked, a confused look on his face.

  Ignoring Sillis, the youth march over to Zyte. A few feet away from her he stopped, "I challenge you Zyte, to a dual."

  Sillis crossed his arms in dismay, "Again? Akkao be reasonable, Zyte has just gotten back, she needs her rest. Besides, you can't expect it to be a fair fight when one of her arms is numb."

  Akkao raised a hand and clenched it into a fist. "I don't care, once a challenge has been made it has to be met."

  Sillis and Akkao continued to bicker, Link eyes went to each one as they tried to get the last word in, each trying to get the other to back down.

  *Geez, this is how he talks to his teacher…* He glanced over at Zyte, he could easily see that she was quickly growing tired of this, and could almost see the thoughts going between her eyes.

  A sudden increase of noise told him that Akkao had started yelling, Sillis was practically red in the face trying to keep his temper under control. Zyte looked about ready just to fight him and get it over with, but he was not about to let her fight when she was at an obvious disadvantage.

  Link decided that did not like this Light Soaran, he acted like a bully, a very stubborn bully at that, refusing to back down. There was only one way to deal with people like that.

  "Fine, then I'll fight you," Link said, crossing his arms.

  This statement caused everyone to look over at him.

  "What? I'm not going to fight you, I challenged Zyte."

  "Is there any rule that says someone else can fight the challenger if the challenged is unable to?"

  Sillis nodded, "there is."

  "Then I'll fight in Zyte's place, she's in no condition to be sword fighting."

  Akkao looked extremely sullen, "fine."

  The group went back inside, where both he and Akkao were given the dulled practice swords.

  "Now then," Sillis began, "I'll be judging this match, and I will stop it when there is a clear victor. And remember, though these practice swords are dulled they can still cause blindness, so no aiming for the face," he looked pointedly at Akkao after saying this, "now begin!"

  Akkao charged at Link, his sword held high. Link readied his sword, griping the hilt with both hands. As Akkao neared him, he jumped into the air, using his wings to continue toward him, bringing his sword down. Link stood his ground and intercepted the attack, his arms shaking slightly as he held back Akkao's sword.

  "Give up?"

  "Not a chance."

  Link suddenly pulled his sword back and stepped to the side, causing Akkao to lose his balance and fall forward. Link took this opportunity to score a quick hit to his shoulder. He could have sworn that out of the corner of his eye that he had seen Zyte stifle a laugh.

  Link quickly stabbed his sword forward again, hoping to land another hit. But Akkao twisted and dodged, turning his sudden change of direction into a slash at Link's arm. Link quickly tucked in his arms and rolled forward under his attack. Ending up behind Akkao, he swiveled and struck his legs with one of his own, knocking him to the floor, Link quickly scrambled to his feet and immediately back flipped away, as Akkao had struck out while still on the floor, trying to score a hit.

  When Link had landed he found that Akkao had quickly recovered and was coming toward him, trying to get him before he had regained his footing from the jump. Link barely got his sword up in time as Akkao launched a flurry of attacks. Blocking what he could and dodging what he couldn't, Link tried to make some leeway where he could attack. But Akkao was clearly trying to force him toward the wall where he wouldn't be able to dodge, he was not about to let this happen. Link suddenly jumped forward. Using his own wings to gain some extra height, he spun over Akkao's head and nailed him on his back. As Akkao spun around to face Link he hit him again in his side with enough force to send him backward several feet. Link quickly crouched and started gathering power into his sword.

  *This might be my only chance to use this, so I have to make it count.*

  Akkao, as if sensing victory, lunged forward, a wild look in his eyes. Link released the energy he had been storing into a powerful spin attack, the resulting force hurling Akkao across the floor. Akkao staggered to his feet and held up his sword.

  Sillis suddenly stepped forward. "I have seen enough, Link is clearly the winner."

  Link relaxed his stance, breathing heavily. Akkao wasn't bad, but he tended to rush in, not thinking about what might happen.

  Akkao looked furious. "But, he used attacks I've never seen before, it's not fair," he whined.

  "I'm sorry Akkao, but Link won fair and square, you have to expect unknown moves in a sword battle."

  "I refuse to lose without scoring a single hit!" Akkao suddenly lunged forward, the wild look still in his eyes. As he neared, Link merely stepped to the side. Caught of guard, Akkao went streaming past him, but not before Link had grabbed his wrists and flipped him onto his back.

  "There, now not only have you been beaten but now you've been humiliated as well," Link told him.

  Akkao's eyes glaring daggers at both Link and Zyte, he hoisted himself off the ground and stomped out of the room.

  "I must apologize for Akkao, he is a very stubborn lad," Sillis said.

  "No need to apologize, I just get a little sick of bullies."

  Sillis seemed to take this into consideration. "Yes, I can see that. I must say though, that was a most impressive display, using Akkao's power against him, and that spinning attack, most impressive indeed."

  Link smiled, "thank you, we should probably be going now though, I promised Zyte I would get her home safely while her arm is still numb."

  "Yes yes, go on ahead, and I wish you luck with your search."

  As they left the school, they heard someone call out Zyte's name. Turning to see who it was, they didn't see anyone, not until her name was called again did they see a nervous looking Light Soaran hiding in the shadows behind a pillar.

  Beckoning them closer, he spoke directly to Zyte. "Um, Zyte, I heard Akkao mumbling about what happened, he seemed pretty mad, I just wanted to warn you."

  Zyte gave the Light Soaran an odd look. "Why are you telling me this Dhreik? Won't Akkao get even angrier at you for telling me this?"

  He lowered his head, "yes, but he seemed really mad this time, he might do something drastic, and I just wanted to warn you. Oh yeah, and congrats on becoming a master." With this being said, Dhreik took off, looking around carefully in case Akkao had seen him.

  "Who was that?"

  "That was Dhreik, one of Akkao's friends, but I honestly don't think he's friends with Akkao because he's nice to him. Poor Dhreik is one of Akkao's punching bags, that's why he's so nervous all the time."

  "Akkao seems like a real jerk to me."

  Spreading her wings, Zyte nodded, "I've fought him so many times there's no longer a challenge in it, he uses the same strategy every time," she gave a small smile, "still, you did very well against him, I'm impressed, especially with that spinning sword technique."

  "Zyte, you said you would explain to me why he's up here," Leyann suddenly piped in.

  She looked up at Leyann, "I did, didn't I? Well, we have a couple hours till we reach my home, so now's as good a time as any."

  A few hours later in Zyte's home, Leyann was still bursting with questions about what had happened.

  "Leyann, you've asked me that question five times already, and five times I've given the same answer," Link said, rubbing his forehead in a vain attempt to keep a growing headache at bay.

  "Yeah, but-"

  "Leyann, really, that's enough, we only have an hour till dark, and I want to make sure I'm not forgetting anything for when we go to the Twilight Temple," Zyte suddenly snapped. She was holding a pouch she had just finished filling with several shock, dew, and pyre crystals, and was clearly annoyed with Leyann as well. Both the sword Sillis had given her earlier and her father's sword were strapped to her back along with a small metal shield. Her bow and quiver sat off to the side in a chair, Zyte had taken the liberty of filling both her and Link's quiver with arrows. Putting the first pouch down onto the table, she picked up a second and put several bottles filled with pale purple liquid inside.

  Looking over at Link's raised eyebrow, she answered the question already in his mind. "Self-made healing potions, just pour a few drops on any cut or wound and they'll heal within seconds."

  "And why haven't you told Ksumber about this?"

  Zyte grimaced, "for it to work properly every bottle has to have a few drops of Dark Soaran blood in it, needless to say, I don't want him finding out how I discovered it."

  Oblivious to the stunned look on Link's face, she started looking around the room. "Now I know I'm missing something, but what could it be…" She started mumbling under her breath, naming what she already had. "Ah! Of course, now how could I forget that?" She hurried over to her bed and reached under the pillow, bringing out a silvery ocarina with a slight bluish tint.

  Brought out of his shocked state of mind, Link eyed the ocarina with obvious enthusiasm. "What's that made of?" he asked, noting how that ocarina seemed to changed color ever so slightly when Zyte turned it.

  "Moonstone, my father made it for me," Zyte said, clutching the ocarina to her chest, "I miss him, this ocarina reminds me him." Link could have sworn he saw a tear form in Zyte's eye, but when she blinked it was gone. She carefully put it into a small bag and attached it to her belt.

  "Well we might as well get going, it'd be nice even to have even a little bit of light when we reach the temple. And you haven't seen a sunset until you've seen it above the clouds," she said, giving Link a warm smile.

*******

 "Stupid Zyte," Akkao said moodily as he flung himself onto his bed. "And her stupid friend, humiliating me like that in front of Master Sillis."

  "Well you did challenge her, and the rules do say that if the challenged is unable to battle that someone else may take their place," his guardian told him.

  "Shut it Neogra, I don't need you stuffing that in my face too."

  Neogra sighed, Akkao was so stubborn sometimes, maybe a lecan fruit would cheer him up. With this thought in mind, Neogra turned and flapped out the open window, looking for a lecan tree with ripe fruit.

  Staring up at the ceiling, Akkao sighed, if only he was stronger, then he'd show them. At least the class wasn't there this time, like the first time, he could remember it like it was yesterday.

  The first week of sword class, Master Sillis had given each of them a certain number of techniques to learn, which they were then supposed to show in a practice battle that was to be closely monitored by Master Sillis, to make sure of no cheating or recklessness. Akkao, considering himself above the other students, had learned only a few of the ones assigned, and only the simplest ones at that. He was going to show the entire class how good he was, he almost felt sorry for whoever he was paired against. Of course he had told the entire class this, all of which had believed him, all but that stupid girl in green. She had warned him that he was going to be in for a rude awakening. But what did she know, he would have any opponent begging for mercy, and the rest of the class agreed with him, showing it by constantly by whispering threats to her as they passed, or trying to trip her up as she practiced.

  Then the day of reckoning had arrived, and who had he been paired up with but the girl in green. Sure that he was going to beat her, Akkao had charged forward, not bothering with any of the techniques he had learned, how good could a girl be anyway? He had been flung across the floor with the girl's first maneuver, who had apparently not only perfected the techniques given to her, but every technique the whole class had been assigned. Then, hearing the laughter that had echoed around the room, he had charged again, only to be flung to the floor again. Stopped from charging a third time by Master Sillis, he had angrily attacked his teacher, who merely caught the sword in his hand as Akkao swung it and wrenched it from his grip. The girl he had been paired up with that day had been Zyte.

  Akkao had been reprimanded severely by both Master Sillis and his own father because of this. Though he was allowed to continue to keep studying swordsmanship, he was always watched closer than all of the other students. That memory burned his blood at the mere thought of it. Though he had convinced the other students on how good he was by defeating them one by one, no matter how many times he fought Zyte, he would always lose. He had vowed that he would one day defeat Zyte and show how good he was, he would not give up. But every time he increased his skills it had seemed like Zyte had increased hers four times as much, and even more in the last two years. He would be more powerful then her one day, he just had to figure out how to get it.

  "If it is power you wish, then I can give you it," a voice whispered.

  Akkao sat bolt upright. "Who's there?"

  "Do you wish power? Power to defeat Zyte and any other that stands in your way? I can give you that."

  Akkao stood up, looking for the source of the voice. "Who's there? Why can't I see you?"

  "There is no need to see me. All I want to do is help you."

  "Yeah right, if that's the answer you're going to give me then I'm leaving."

  Akkao turned and started for the door of his room. But he had barely walked two steps when tendrils suddenly burst out of the floor and wrapped around his legs. Stopping his movement, the tendrils continued to climb up his body, binding his arms and wings before encircling his neck, threatening to choke him.

  "You will listen to me."

  "Alright, fine, I'm listening."

  The tendrils around his neck relaxed ever so slightly.

  "I can give you power, all the power you have ever wanted."

  "What's the catch?"

  "If you agree to my offer, you must bring me Zyte alive, I need her."

  "So if I promise to bring you Zyte, you'll give me the power to defeat her?"

  "Yes."

  "Then you have a deal."

  The tendrils suddenly vanished like smoke, Akkao felt his wings losing their feathers and turn leathery. His fingers sprouted long claws while a long tail sprouted out of his back. He turned to look in his mirror, his eyes had turned from his usual light hazel to a bright blood red. He flexed his new claws, he had never felt so powerful in his entire life, he could feel it coursing through his very blood.

  "Hey Akkao! I brought you a lecan fruit, I hope you-" Neogra stopped in mid-sentence. "Wha- What happened to you?"

  Akkao grinned, showing off a pair of sharp, pointed fangs. "Hello Neogra," he said, his voice much deeper and darker sounding than before.

  "Akkao, what happened to you? What have you done?"

  He laughed, "what have I done? I now have power!"

  In one quick movement he was across the room. As Neogra raised his wings to get away, he lashed out with his claws. Neogra was flung across the room, dead before he hit the ground.

  "Zyte and her friend are currently heading to the Temple of Twilight, I suggest you go now if you want to beat them there."

  Akkao raised his hand to stare at the blood dripping down his claws.

  "Remember," the voice told him, "I want Zyte alive, but it doesn't have to be very alive."

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Post them in a review or an e-mail to me and I'll see what I can do.