Hello readers, it's time for Chapter 85, and this time we're finally taking a look into Aviel's mysterious past...
"You're... not the chosen one?" Link asked Aviel as they sat Mayor Nymnalo's house with Nemisa, Saria, Korume and V the first night of the Sky Guardian festival.
"Y-Yeah, I think Korume is right, something about hearing the full Melody of Sky gave me back my memories of what happened." Aviel said sadly, "And cause of that, now I know I'm not the chosen one after all..."
"Maybe it'd be better if you just told us what you remember?" Saria suggested.
"O-Okay..." Aviel nodded.
Flashback - About ten years ago
"Wooow!" spoke an eight year old Aviel. She was sitting on the shoulders of someone as she was looking out at the land in front of her. As far as she could see there was pure white snow, green pine trees and large mountains.
"Like it kiddo?" grinned the man she was sitting on the shoulders of, "It's called snow, check it out for yourself!"
The man set Aviel down onto the ground and she looked at how her legs sunk into the snow. After seeing how tricky it was to move her legs through it, she started doing high stomps to walk around.
Beside the man was a Gerudo woman watching Aviel closely, "Dear, are you sure about bringing her out to a place like Snowpeak? I've heard it can be pretty rough around here, there's even rumors of Migoui in the mountains."
"Yeah I know, but there's nothing wrong with taking her out here at least!" grinned the man.
These two were Aviel's parents, a beautiful Gerudo woman named Amala... and a rugged Hylian man known as Kozun.
The two of them were adventurers; Kozun had run into Amala in Gerudo Valley while she was doing an mission on behalf of the Gerudo King Ganondorf. A battle between the two broke out due to a misunderstanding, but when they were suddenly attacked by a Molderm, they sought shelter from it together in a cave.
By Amala's reluctant advice, they stayed in that cave for a few days to make sure the Molderm didn't return. One thing led to another, before the isolation-induced hostility and arguing between the two ended up with them instead making out with each other. Amala decided she wanted to stay with him, and the two went out into the world adventuring together.
Time passed, and their love grew deeper, which led to them eventually having a child a few years later that they named Aviel. She had been named after her grandmother on her mother's side, General Aveil, a high ranking Gerudo officer. It was partially due to neither Kozun or Amala being very good at naming things, at one point her father suggesting the name 'Bob'.
After taking a three year break for Aviel to properly grow up some, the three of them went on a journey to travel to various locations throughout the lands of Hyrule and Fargent. They had spent five years together on the road, and went to many places and saw many people. Aviel was enthralled by it all, and this was her first time in the snow.
"Papa, this snow stuff is really cold!" Aviel said running back up to her father and mother with snow still on her face, "And now my nose is cold!"
"Hahaha, you're just the cutest little thing Aviel!" Kozun grinned widely as he took Aviel's cheeks and squeezed her face.
"Hey, stop it papa!" Aviel said in frustration, as her mother Amala giggled.
"As for your cold nose, try this on for size..." Kozun took from his pack a scarf and started wrapping it around Aviel's neck and face until it covered half of her head, "That outta keep you warm!"
"Mmph mmph!" Aviel said with her mouth covered, she reached up and felt at the scarf, before she gave her father a warm hug and thanks before going right back to the snow, hopping around in it until she fell over again.
"She's really enjoying this." chuckled Amala.
"Yeah, I want her to see as much of this great big world as she can." Kozun grinned.
"I'm still just curious why you choose here of all places." Amala said with concern.
"Well, it's because of this." Dagan said, pulling out a strange orb. It was colored purple and black with mysterious markings on it.
"That...!" Aviel's mother gasped, "So that's why you insisted on coming out here..."
"Yeah, sorry... I just can't stop thinking about that poor woman..." muttered Kozun with a sad look in his eyes, "...and what she did in order to give this to me..."
Flashback - Five months ago
"Hey lady, what's the matter?" Kozun asked a woman that had fallen before him.
He had been out to buy some supplies out in a town while Amala was taking care of their daughter at their campsite. As he was going down the road to the town though he had been encountered by a strange woman rubbing up to him wearing a brown robe.
"Please, you have to take this! Just get it away from them before they can use it!" a woman shouted, holding up the purple orb.
"Wha- but who are you talking about, and why?" he asked.
"Please, the fate of not just Hyrule and Fargent, but the world is at stake! You have to leave with this now!" pleaded the woman, coughing out.
"But what about you?!" Kozun asked.
"It's too late for me..." sobbed the woman, pulling open her robe and showing she was losing a great amount of blood from a brutal stab wound.
"Woah, hey! Hang in there!" exclaimed Kozun frantically, "I'm on my way to town, I can get you to a doctor soon!"
"Never mind that, please... you have to get this to Dhaijialoft... they will know what to do with it! You must... before the Ord... the Orde..." the woman gasped out, coughing out some blood, before she collapsed on the ground.
"Hey lady? Lady!" shouted Kozun desperately, only to see she was dead.
End Flashback
"Took a while of investigating, but if there really is a place called Dhaijialoft, it would be here in Snowpeak." Kozun spoke, "That woman lost her life trying to get this orb there, and trusted me to do it in her place. I have to do this for her."
"That's very compassionate of you my husband." Amala said smiling softly, giving him a kiss on the cheek before hugging him, "It's one of those qualities that made me fall in love with you."
"Heeeeeee..." Kozun said with a big dopey grin as he relished in his wife's embrace.
"Hey Momma! Papa! Come play with me!" Aviel cheered out, waving her arms.
"Wanna play in the snow huh? Okay kiddo, you asked for it!" Kozun grinned, taking and making a snowball and throwing it at his daughter.
"What th- wait, you can throw this stuff?" Aviel said with astonishment.
"Yep, in fact, here comes some more!" laughed out Kozun, grabbing and throwing more snowballs at lightning speed. Aviel brought up her arms defensively to block them, and Kozun laughed out before he got hit a snowball as well from the side. He turned and looked to see his wife Amala, sporting a wide, toothy grin.
"You're not the only one that can adapt to snow warfare!" Amala said.
It was then the two of them both got hit in very quick succession by two swift snowballs, and they turned to see Aviel grinning as she held two more. The three of them started having an all-out snowball fight. This was one of the many joys they experienced from their travels together, just enjoying life as it came.
"That's it Aviel, keep rolling it." Kozun said as Aviel was pushing a ball against the snow.
"But it's getting too big to throw now." Aviel pointed out.
"That's cause we're not making a snowball, but a snowman instead!" Kozun said as he instructed her on the next steps.
"Hey you two, will we be leaving soon? We should probably make more progress before sunset," called out Amala, who was wielding an archer's bow and practicing shooting arrows into a target on a tree.
"Yeah sure, just give us a sec to finish up here!" called out Kozun.
"So where we going again?" Aviel asked as her father lifted her up to put a stick into the center of the head of the snowman, giving it a long pointy nose.
"We're going to a mystical place called Dhaijialoft, I'm sure you'll make all sorts of great friends there!" Kozun said grinning as he set down his daughter.
"Yay! Let's go then!" Aviel cheered out, running ahead of the two only to fall over on her face.
"She gets that from you." Kozun snickered to his wife.
"Oh that's not tru-" started Amala, only to trip over her feet and fall face-first into snow, "Gack!"
"What was that you were going to say?" laughed Kozun
"I was about to say 'shut up'." muttered Amala from the snow as Aviel was now siting on her back, under the impression that her mother was offering her a ride.
The three of them continued up the mountain, Kozun pointing all the sights and things around them to Aviel as she rode on his shoulders. Amala smiled softly looking at her child and man-child husband looking out at the world around them, but there was something on her mind.
"Husband, I was wondering about something. When we're done here with the orb, I think we should seriously sit and talk about the idea of settling down somewhere." Amala said.
"Aw come on, not this again!" said Kozun, rolling his eyes, "There's still so much more of the world we haven't seen! Besides, last time you said that we went to check out that Vividel place only to find out it had been destroyed a while ago!"
"Hm, yes... I still wonder what it was that caused that much destruction..." Amala pondered to herself.
"Well no matter, it's way more fun to travel the world anyway, right Aviel?" grinned Kozun.
"That's right Papa!" giggled Aviel.
"Come on, I'm talking with Aviel's best interests in mind here." Amala said, "She's still young, so I want her to have a safe and peaceful childhood, I don't want her ending up having to live in a harsh place like Gerudo Valley where I grew up."
"Ugh... I guess that's a good point." sighed Kozun, "I think I'd miss what we do now though..."
As Aviel sat on her father's shoulders, she had listened closely to what he said.
But then the two parents felt a strange sensation, and they looked around cautiously. They heard a loud screeching sound that echoed out across the mountain.
Aviel looked around in confusion from the sound, "W-Was that your stomach Papa?"
"Kozun, do you feel that...?" Amala asked, looking around.
"..." Kozun remained quiet, then looked up to see something distant in the sky.
He could see two flying things overhead, but he had a hard time making out the details of them due to the distance and the sun's position. One of the creatures had long wings and flew out at the other, while the other attacked with what looked like multiple limbs. The winged one rose up and flapped powerfully to send the multi-limbed creature backwards, but it countered by firing some strange energy beam out. The winged creature dodged it and went in for a close up attack.
"What the hell are those things?" Amala asked, putting a hand to her forehead and squinting her eyes at the two creatures.
The multi-limbed creature swung out a tail that smacked into the winged one, knocking it downwards. The creature floated there for a second, before starting to fly towards the top of the hill.
In that moment though, Kozun had a strange feeling, as he reached into his pack and pulled out the purple orb the woman in the robe had given him. It was giving off a strange light he had never seen it make before.
"What th-" Kozun muttered, but was cut off by Amala suddenly tackling him and their daughter to the snow-covered ground as something impacted close to them.
"Owie..." Aviel groaned with spinning eyes as the three of them looked up to see what had landed. Aviel's eyes sunk in as she saw was it was for herself.
"I can sense it..." boomed a loud and powerful voice that sounded like eight people talking at once, "It's been too long since I've felt it's presence, but I won't allow it to happen... I'll destroy it before they can even try!"
Before them was a truly horrifying sight; it was a purple and black scaled dragon with not one, not two, not even four, but eight hideous heads, all shifting and looking around, until all eight looked down at Aviel, Kozun and Amala. The center head sported a wide creepy smile and the other seven grinned as well.
"W-What the hell is that thing?" Amala exclaimed.
"I think it's a Gleeok." observed Kozun, "But I've never seen one with eight heads before."
"It's scary!" sobbed Aviel, burying her face in her father's back, "Really really scary!"
"Who are you, and just what is it you want from us?" Kozun shouted out to the monster.
"Know my name and quake with fear humans, for I am the mighty Geelorokhi, master of lightning and storms, and feared by mortals throughout this land!" boomed the dragon's eight heads, as a crash of lightning shot out from his form, "I've come to this mountain to seek a newly chosen Great Fairy that resides in a temple here, but just as I came close, I was attacked by a small pest."
The dragon lurched it's center head forward, making the three back up a bit, as the dragon sniffed them.
"And now I sense you mortals possess the orb crafted by that fool from many centuries ago... I'll be taking it from you, by force if I must!"
Kozun narrowed his eyes and handed Aviel over to Amala. He took a step forward and unsheathed his sword, "Not a chance buddy. Someone lost their life to give it to me, and I'm not about to let her death be for nothing!"
"Agreed." Amala said, putting Aviel on her back and aiming her bow and arrow at the dragon, "If it's something a monster like you wishes to possess, it can't be good for this world."
"Hmph... so be it..." growled the Geelorokhi, he roared out as lighting struck down in the area around them, "Then die for it yourselves!"
Kozun came at the dragon, swinging out his sword. One of the heads lunged out and snapped at him, but he rolled out of the way and slashed it across it's face, making the dragon roar out in pain. Amala meanwhile had Aviel on her back, keeping her distance and firing arrow after arrow at the monster. Aviel was in awe at her mother's skill in archery, she always would watch her when she practiced, and seeing her in actual combat was even more exciting.
"Remember Aviel, like I always told you." Amala said as she aimed her bow, "A steady hand and a steady eye, a proper balance to pierce through the sky."
Amala fired off another arrow, distracting Geelorokhi long enough for Kozun to get in another attack. One of the dragon heads snapped at Kozun, who jumped up and landed on one of the dragon's heads, taking that opportunity to slice at it with his sword. As he fought it though, one of the dragon heads thrust forward and impacted into Kozun, knocking him backwards and to his wife and daughter's side.
"Damn, this thing's tough. Think we need to retreat for now and come up with a plan..." Kozun said and Amala nodded in response, Kozun took to carrying Aviel on his shoulders instead as Amala distracted Geelorokhi with some more arrows.
"Papa, I'm scared!" Aviel said in tears, hugging her father tightly. She looked back at the giant dragon and got even more frightened, burying her face in his shoulder.
"It's okay Aviel, we'll make sure you're safe!" Kozun said.
The three of them hurried down the path they had come from, hoping to lose the dragon. But as they reached a narrow canyon that the dragon wouldn't be able to fit in, a powerful beam blasted into a cliff above them, causing a rock to come down on the path.
"Grehehheh..." laughed Geelorokhi moving towards them, "There's nowhere safe from me, the mighty lord of lightning."
"Shit!" Amala said, before she noticed another path that went along the side of the mountain, "Kozun, this way!"
The path was barely ten feet wide, overlooking a vast valley thousands of feet below with a thick fog obscuring anything down there. Despite how steep it was, the two of them have braved many perilous adventures, and they didn't even hesitate to keep going.
But then another beam of lighting shot out and blew up the side of the mountain. Kozun grabbed Amala and pulled her back into his arms just as the beam blasted into the rocky mountain, causing an avalanche of snow and rock mere feet away in front of them.
"Double shit!" Amala exclaimed.
"Amala, you remember what we said about swearing in front of Aviel?" Kozun pointed out.
They then looked up to see Geelorokhi was floating there before them, each of it's eight heads looking at the three.
"Triple shit!" exclaimed Kozun, causing Amala to fault over a bit.
"Greheheh... thought you three could run?" the dragon spoke.
"Just how the hell are you flying anyway?" Amala asked, "You don't even have wings or anything!"
"This is the magic only the strongest of all Gleeok possess, I am a mighty all-powerful god to you mere mortals, and I shall have that orb!"
Geelorokhi then started to charge up another electric beam from his center head's mouth, aiming right at them. But before it could fire, a powerful screech went off across the mountain, as a giant winged creature came down and gripped it's talons on the center head of Geelorokhi's neck, causing him to gag out. The winged one yanked the dragon's head to the side, causing it to fire the beam elsewhere in the far distance harmlessly.
"What the heck?" Amala exclaimed.
Before them now was a giant red bird creature with a curved beak and a majestic wingspan. It's feathers were colored red with yellow tips at the wings and tail. It's tail feathers were long and curved, waving behind it in the mountain wind.
"I can't believe it, I've heard of this creature," Kozun said in shock, "It's a Loftwing! I thought they went extinct ages ago!"
"Woah..." Aviel said with wide eyes, staring at the bird creature.
Geelorokhi shook off it's opponent's attack and growled out, leering at the giant bird.
"You again, do you not give up?!" Geelorokhi shouted, lunging out at the Loftwing with it's teeth.
The bird let out a powerful screech as it came right at Geelorokhi beak first, it manged to dodge each head that attacked it, before bashing into the dragon's body, sending it crashing into the side of the mountain.
"...are you land-dwellers okay?" the Loftwing asked the three humans before it.
"Yes, thank you!" Amala said, astonished that it could talk.
"Very good, now get on my back, and I'll help you all escape." the bird said, flying with it's back to them. The couple decided to go with it, and jumped onto the bird's back. Once they were secure, the Loftwing started to fly them off.
"Thanks for the help buddy!" Kozun exclaimed, "What's your name?"
"... ...you may simply just call me 'Roc'." the Loftwing said after a moment of hesitation.
"Sock?" Kozun asked in confusion.
"He said Roc, honey." Amala said flatly.
"Wow..." Aviel said with wide eyes, as she peeked out from her father's grip out at the vast landscape of Snowpeak below them.
Amala just then saw some kind of light out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see Geelorokhi had just fired a beam from it's mouth right at them.
"Look out!" shouted Amala.
The beam shot through the air, but despite Roc attempting to dodge it at the last moment, the attack managed to graze his wing just enough to electrocute it. Roc shouted out in pain, and the four of them went falling down into the depths of the mountain below.
"Hang on everyone!" shouted Kozun, clinging to Roc tightly as Amala and Aviel clung to him tightly.
But as they were falling, Aviel's grip on her father loosened, and she went flying off of Roc in another direction.
"KYYYAAA!" screamed out Aviel.
"AVIEL!" Kozun and Amala both screamed out, helpless to do anything as they and Roc plummeted downwards, disappearing into the fog below...
Meanwhile, floating in the air was Geelorokhi, it's eight heads looked around the area.
"Curses... I need to find that orb... even if I harness the power of the Great Fairy, it would mean nothing if it's not destroyed... But I can't sense it anymore, the fog is throwing me off..." Geelorokhi muttered, as he swooped down into the fog below in search of the orb.
"I might have to get her help for this, I hope she's not being crabby again what with her condition..."
"Ooh... what happened...?" muttered Aviel. She opened her eyes and realized after a few seconds that she was laying in a tree, her fall having been cushioned by the thin branches and snow.
Suddenly the branches broke, and Aviel went tumbling down through branch after branch until she impacted onto the ground. She slowly started to get up, only for more snow from the tree to drop down on top of her in a pile.
"Owie..." Aviel groaned, climbing out of the snow. She was pretty strong for her age thanks to her travels with her parents, so she was able to shrug off the fall pretty well. She took that moment to look around, seeing she was in the middle of a field, with powerful snow and wind blowing all around her.
"Momma? Papa?" Aviel called out. She pulled her coat over her and started walking through the snow, taking time to call out to her parents every so often, "Momma! Papa! Where are yooou?!"
As she walked along, her foot bumped into something. Out of curiosity, she reached down and picked it up, expecting it to be a rock, but instead saw it was the weird purple orb her father had been holding before. She looked at it curiously, wondering why it was so important to that dragon that it attacked them for it. She pocketed the orb in her coat and looked around, calling out for her parents again. The small child was getting more and more upset and desperate each time she didn't hear a response.
"Where did you go...?" Aviel asked, her body trembled from not just the cold but the increasing despair she was feeling.
Aviel then saw a silhouette in the distance. She couldn't quite make it out due to the wind blowing all around her, but she remained cautious, thinking it might be the dragon that attacked them. She picked up a stick nearby and held it up nervously in defense.
But as the figure walked closer, her eyes widened to see it was the Loftwing that had helped them earlier. It was staggering and woozy, and it looked like one of it's wings was injured, but she was just happy to see a friendly face. Aviel dropped the stick and ran right up to Roc.
"Mr. Sock! It's you!" Aviel said, hugging him around his leg.
"Oh, you're that child..." Roc muttered, "I see you're okay after all..."
"Mr. Sock, have you seen my parents?" Aviel pleaded.
Roc stared down at Aviel, not saying anything for the longest time, before he scowled and turned his head away.
"This blizzard is too dangerous to be in, we should find shelter immediately." Roc muttered.
"But, what about Momma and Papa?!" Aviel asked.
Roc glared back down at the girl wordlessly.
"...don't concern yourself with them, let's just go." Roc said, reaching down and grabbing Aviel by her coat with his beak, picking her up and carrying her off into the blizzard.
"Hey, leggo!" Aviel said squirming around.
The two of them soon arrived at a large ice cavern at the foot of one of the many mountains of Snowpeak. Roc carried Aviel inside, making sure they were deep enough that they were completely out of the wind and sleet of the blizzard, before he set Aviel down on the ground, though a bit too roughly for her.
"We should be safe here until the blizzard subsides." Roc said.
Aviel looked around for a while in confusion, "I still don't get what's going on, are Momma and Papa okay?!"
Roc simply stood there, staring out at the blizzard. He narrowed his eyes coldly.
"...your parents aren't here anymore." Roc spoke.
Aviel stood there for a few seconds, before her eyes widened and she screamed out,
"What?!"
"They left a while ago, and they have no intention of coming back." Roc simply spoke.
"Y-You're lying!" Aviel shouted, her body trembling as tears were forming in her eyes, "There's no way Momma and Papa would leave me behind!"
"I've said the truth, now accept it." Roc simply said.
Aviel looked downwards, her body trembling, before she clenched her fists and ran up, starting to punch and pummel Roc's leg.
"Wha-?" Roc looked down, confused at what Aviel was doing.
"You're a liar! They would never do that to me!"Aviel shouted, "You're just an old lying grumpy sock bird!"
"My name is Roc, stop calling me a sock!" shouted Roc.
"Sock bird, sock bird, sock bird!" Aviel shouted, sticking her tongue out and turning away from him.
"Damn brat..." scowled Roc, turning away as well.
The two remained like that for some time. Aviel sat there with her arms folded and pouting. As she started to think more about her parents though she got teary eyed once again. She sniffled and wiped a tear from face.
"So... how long are we gonna be here?" Aviel asked after a while of silence.
"At the moment we just need to survive in here until the weather clears up." Roc spoke.
"Can't you just fly out, or did you get too old?" Aviel asked.
"Of course not! That cowardly dragon's attack injured my wing, and the fall didn't help either." Roc said gesturing to his broken wing, "I have basic healing ability, but it will take about a day for me to recover."
"O-Oh..." Aviel said sadly, realizing that attack from before must have hurt him badly, and yet he took the time to help her when she was lost in the snow. Aviel frowned and looked out of the cave at the raging blizzard outside.
"Momma... Papa..." she said, dwelling on Roc's harsh words from before...
More time past and the two sat there, waiting for the blizzard to die down.
Aviel being a child however, lacked the patience to just sit around, and she started taking time to look around the cavern. As she did, her eyes lit up, seeing something interesting. She ran off as Roc was too busy looking outside to notice.
"Hm, still no sign of the Geelorokhi," muttered Roc to himself, "I pray he's not heading for Dhaijialoft..."
"Hey Mr. Old Sock, I found a nice warm bed!" called out Aviel.
"What on earth are you talking about child? Where could you possibly find a warm bed in here?" spoke Roc in a grumpy voice, looking to see what Aviel could possibly be doing.
Aviel was laying on her stomach on top of a large creature covered in black fur that was curled up in a ball, and its movement seemed to suggest it was breathing deeply as it was sleeping.
"Heeee, it's so fuzzy and waaaaarm!" Aviel said snuggling against it.
"THAT'S A BLACK BEAR YOU IDIOT!" Roc shouted in exasperation with his eyes bugged out.
Unfortunately, this got the bear to wake up and roar out in a grumpy fit. It looked down at Aviel, but Roc stomped down and towered over the bear with a angry stare, causing it to freak out and run out of the cave in a panic. Roc scowled as he spoke out to Aviel,
"You need to be more careful about things like that, you child! You could have been killed!" he turned and scolded her, "Didn't your parents ever teach you any means of survival?"
Roc then realized Aviel had just ran off further into the cave, seemingly not even shaken by the encounter with the bear.
"Hey, get back here you brat!" exclaimed Roc, following after her.
"Hey Mr. Sock, lookie what I found!" Aviel called out, pointing to a destroyed caravan wagon, and there was numerous things in there; a few bowls and utensils, a bag of well preserved lime fruit, and even a rusted crossbow with about seven arrows attached to it, "A whole bunch of useful stuff!"
"I said before my name is Roc." the bird clarified in annoyance as he examined the wreckage, "Looks like this was abandoned not too long ago. At least we can probably find a use for these things."
"Yep, and I know just what to do with it!" Aviel took some of the smaller pieces of wood and put them into a pile, then using a stick she started rubbing it against the wood.
"What are you doing?" Roc asked curiously.
"Trying to make a campfire..." Aviel said.
Roc was rather surprised at how quickly she took to doing it. Aviel tried rubbing harder and harder, until a small spark formed, and the fire started up. She also placed some dry cloth rags from the wagon onto the fire to help it burn easier.
"You're pretty good at that." Roc commented, genuinely impressed.
"I learned it from Papa and Momma." Aviel explained, "We travel everywhere and they taught me a bunch of useful stuff!"
"I see..." Roc muttered.
The two sat there as the blizzard continued to blow, and the campfire crackled to keep Aviel warm. Roc himself was a bit too big too really get much from the fire, but his feathers provided him with enough warmth.
The afternoon shifted to night, and Aviel was having a harder time keeping the campfire going. Unfortunately the wind shifted a bit, and started to blow more into the cavern. Despite Aviel's attempts to keep it going, the wind soon blew out the fire.
"Oh no..." Aviel hugged her knees and starting to shiver, "I wish Momma was here... she'd keep me warm whenever it was too cold for me..."
She reached up to her neck, realizing the scarf her father had given her earlier was gone. It must have fallen off when she crash landed back outside.
"It's so cold..." she whispered sadly.
Roc looked down and saw tears in her eyes, which only served to make her feel colder as the wind blew against her. After a moment of hesitation, Roc sighed out and unfurled his good wing.
"Here child, why don't you keep warm with me?" Roc suggested with a bit of reluctance.
"O-Okay!" Aviel nodded, running over to Roc and huddling up in his wings. He wrapped them around her in order to block off the wind, "Are you going to be okay though? What about your bad wing?"
"It'll be fine." Roc said, his tone softened at her concern, "Just try and rest."
Aviel nodded and stayed curled up. The warmth coming from Roc and his feathers was soothing, she sighed out blissfully and leaned against his body. Roc just stared down at her and lowered his head to block off the wind more.
Time continued to past as the two stayed in the cave. Just about the time Roc was starting to get tired he felt a poking sensation, he looked down at Aviel still being wrapped up in his wings, "What's the matter young one?"
"Mr. Roc... I'm getting really hot inside here..." Aviel spoke out.
"Hot? In this weather?" Roc asked, looking back under his wing to see she was indeed sweating, "Hm, I suppose it might be a little too warm with my feathers... typically baby chicks require much more body heat then a normal person would be able to handle..."
"Ughhh... but I'm not a baby chick..." Aviel groaned, wiping her brow.
"Hmph, humans are such fragile little creatures..." muttered Roc, looking around and pondering a way to help cool her down a little without directly exposing her to the elements. He eyed the cave walls and noticed one covered with a thick sheet of ice.
Roc had an idea, he used his foot to pick up a bowl from the ones Aviel got from the abandoned wagon and placed it by the wall, then used his foot's sharp talon to scrape some of the ice off the wall. The ice particles fell into the bowl until it was full, then he slid it under his wings for Aviel.
"Here, eating this should help cool you down." Roc told her.
"Oh, this could work!" Aviel said, using a spoon and taking a bite of the ice, letting out a sigh of satisfaction, "Aaahh... it's really nice, it's cooling down my throat!"
"Glad to see you take to it so well. It's shaved ice." Roc said.
"How neat! But it needs a little something..." Aviel said getting an idea of her own. She took one of the limes from the wagon bag and squeezed the juice out from it onto the shaved ice. When it was coated with lime juice, she took another bite, "Mmmm... now it's both cold and yummy!"
"Huh, that was clever of you." Roc said impressed.
Aviel grinned and held up a spoon full of the lime-covered shaved ice up to Roc, "Here, you have some too Grandpa Roc!"
"Grandpa?" Roc asked baffled, "Since when am I your grandpa?"
"Hee hee, cause you got an old man voice, and you gave me a nice treat!" Aviel smiled.
'That's all I need to be a grandpa?' Roc thought to himself as he blushed lightly. He somewhat reluctantly took a bite of the ice Aviel offered. He had to admit the lime did made it taste pretty good.
Aviel soon finished the shaved ice and held up the empty bowl, "Can I have a second helping?"
"If you insist." Roc said, scrapping more ice from the wall to give to Aviel.
"Yay, thanks!" grinned Aviel, taking a huge bite of the ice. She sat there for a few seconds with a blank expression on her face.
"Child... is something wrong?" Roc asked with concern.
"...KYYYAAA! My head hurts!" Aviel exclaimed, bursting out from Roc's wings and running around wildly, clutching at her head, "I think my brain is frozen!"
"Poor thing." Roc spoke with a sweatdrop going down his head.
More time past, and the two continued to remain huddled together. Roc stared outside at the raging wind and snow blowing by. He could have sworn for a second he heard a powerful roar, and his concerns grew, causing him to hold Aviel closer.
He looked between his wings to see Aviel was now sleeping, and he was thankful to see her relaxing now. He vowed to keep her warm with his wings so she didn't freeze overnight.
"Momma... Papa..."
He heard Aviel sniffle a little again, which told Roc she was worried about her parents again. He decided he needed to do something to help calm her so she could rest. So he started making a soft noise from his beak.
"Koo koo koo, koo-kooo ko ko koooo..."
Aviel sighed happily as she snuggled against Roc, encouraging him to hold her closer and continue to sing the soothing melody.
"Kooo-ko-ko... ko-ko-ko, Ko-ko ko-koko-ko koooooooo..."
It was the Melody of Sky, the song he had been taught by the Great Fairy Goddess Venus, it's purpose was for one born from sky and earth to open the way to the Great Fairy of Balance. Not even he knew exactly who it was, but all he could do respect Venus' request and continue to protect the Sky Temple until that day. For now though he was concentrating on protecting this young girl.
"Koo koo koo, koo-kooo ko ko koooo..."
"Kooo-ko-ko... ko-ko-ko, Ko-ko ko-koko-ko koooooooo..."
Roc finished the song and he stared down at the sleeping little girl. He could feel the anger and annoyance he had with her before start to melt more away. As Roc started to drift off to sleep himself, he could have sworn he heard Aviel's voice sing softly.
"La la la, la-laa la la laaaa..."
It was the next morning in Snowpeak, and the Sky Guardian Roc slowly woke up, looking outside to see the blizzard was gone and the weather was clear. He checked his injured wing and sure enough it had healed pretty well. He looked down to see Aviel was sleeping soundly, cuddling herself in his wings. Roc softened a little more at the blissful look on Aviel's face, but decided she needed to wake up and nudged her with his beak.
"Aaaaahhh..." Aviel said stretching out, "Morning Momma! What's for breakfast?" she opened her eyes and looked around, realizing her situation and frowned, "Oh yeah..."
Roc sighed sadly for her, "Come along child."
The two of them went out of the ice cavern, taking a look around the area. The snow was fresh and clean, and there were animals already hopping around the area trying to find some food.
"Momma! Papa!" Aviel called out, only to not get a reply.
'Question is... what do I do with her now?' Roc pondered to himself, he looked up at the top of one mountain in particular, 'If I were to take her to the Dhaijialoft village, she would be in a safer place, but they aren't very trusting of land-dwellers, and it would carry the risk of her bringing outsiders there...'
As much as he was concerned for Aviel, he was the Sky Guardian of Dhaijialoft and the sleeping Great Fairy of Balance first and foremost, and couldn't bring about the risk of dangerous intruders coming into their sacred land. He stared down at the small girl for the longest time. He looked to his injured wing from before, and deciding it was in good enough condition, he spoke out to her.
"Get on my back little one." Roc said.
"Huh?" Aviel asked, looking up at him.
"Wheeee!" squealed out Aviel, as she rode on the back of her Loftwing friend.
Roc had taken to flying her into the sky to get her to a safe place back in the grassy areas of Hyrule. He swooped across the snow-covered plains, past the vast mountains, and over the green pine trees. Aviel looked out at all there was to see in the area, including all the mountains and valleys in the distance in Hyrule.
"Enjoying yourself Aviel?" Roc spoke as he swooped through the sky.
"Yeah, I feel so free! Go higher! Higher!" Aviel cheered out.
Roc smirked and took up higher into the air, giving Aviel a view of some more of the lands around them. At one point Roc suddenly dove downwards, causing Aviel to go flying off of him.
"Woooaaah, Grandpa!" screamed out Aviel, but Roc swooped back in a loop and caught her effortlessly. When Aviel recovered, she grinned even wider and shouted, "Tha... that was so fun!"
"Glad you're enjoying this!" Roc said, turning to his side and swooping into a narrow gap between two mountains, before shooting out the other side with a spin.
"I'm so jealous that you can fly like this! Can you teach me to fly too?" Aviel asked.
"Uh, that's kind of hard considering you don't have wings." Roc said sweatdropping.
"Awww, no fair!" Aviel said, laying on the Loftwing's back and pouted.
The normally serious and cynical Roc now found himself laughing out loud as they flew through the sky, but was unaware that a mysterious figure was watching them from behind a mountain.
Aviel laid back, watching the clouds fly past them, feeling a sense of comfort in knowing her Grandpa Roc was taking care of her. It made her think of her parents, and was left wondering just what happened to them...
She then felt a strange sensation. Aviel sat up and saw what appeared to be a strange light in the distance. Her pupils sunk in and recalled something like that before from yesterday.
"Grandpa Roc, look out!" Aviel shouted.
Roc turned to Aviel, "Would you stop calling me Grand-" but he then saw a beam of electric energy coming right at them, and he just barely flew out of the way of it.
"Greheheheh... you got lucky that time." chuckled a familiar voice, as Roc turned around and flapped his arms to stay in place and glare at the one who attacked him.
"Geelorokhi." Roc scowled, "What do you want now?"
"Don't play games with me Roc, I can sense it on you, the orb." Geelorokhi hissed, "I want it immediately."
"The orb?" Roc exclaimed in shock, "I don't know what you're talking about, that orb has been lost for many centuries, otherwise I would had used it to deal with you sooner!"
"The orb...?" Aviel parroted in thought, before she pulled out the purple orb she found before from her travel bag, "You mean this one?"
"Wha-?!" exclaimed Roc in shock at the sight of it.
"Ha! That's it!" Geelorokhi said, lunging at them, but Roc quickly flew out of the way in time.
"What are you doing with that Aviel?!" Roc asked.
"I found it, my Papa holding it before, why?" Aviel said.
Roc's eyes widened at Aviel's words, coming to a shocking realization. He paused and looked to see Geelorokhi charging up another attack, and nodded to himself.
"So that's why he was attacking you all..." Roc muttered, "Aviel, I apologize for how I treated you before... But now thanks to you and your parents I can finally put an end to this!"
"My parents...?" Aviel said with wide eyes.
"I just have to weaken him long enough to get the chance..." Roc muttered to himself. He quickly turned and flew away from Geelorokhi.
"Get back here you coward!" Geelorokhi shouted, chasing after the two, and firing more electric beams.
"Grandpa, there's a beam coming from the left!" Aviel shouted.
"My left or your left?" Roc shouted.
"Oh yeah... um... my left!" Aviel said.
Roc quickly moved to his right just in time to avoid a powerful beam. As they flew through the air, Aviel instructed Roc on which way to fly, and Roc swiftly maneuvered up, down, and to the side to dodge each beam that came at them. Geelorokhi gasped out in exhaustion from firing so many beams, and the distance between him and Roc was widening.
"Ha, he can't keep up with us!" grinned Aviel.
But then out of nowhere a large fireball came right at them, forcing Roc to quickly fly upright and flap his wings with great power to block the attack. The two took a good look at what had attacked them; a serpentine dragon that unlike Geelorokhi only had one head, it's body was surging with flames, had long curved horns, piercing yellow eyes and orange hair hanging from it's head and tail.
"Wha- what is that?" Aviel asked, peeking out from behind Roc's shoulder.
"I've heard of this monster... it's the fire dragon Volvagia of Death Mountain..." Roc muttered, "Just what is it doing here of all places?"
"Greheheheh, she's with me." Geelorokhi said after having caught up with them, "I've defeated her in battle some time ago and claimed her as my mate."
"Ewww..." Aviel said, sticking her tongue out.
"This is bad..." Roc muttered, "Geelorokhi was bad enough alone, but the Death Mountain dragon is here too...?"
Roc knew he couldn't allow either of them to get into Dhaijialoft or reach the Great Fairy of Balance as she slept in the Wind Temple. Her untapped power could be harnessed by Geelorokhi in very dangerous ways. Thankfully, Roc had a trump card to play in the form of the orb his little friend Aviel had on hand. Geelorokhi was clearly scared of what it was capable of, and for good reason.
"Now, hand the orb over bird." Geelorokhi hissed with a fiendish grin.
Roc disregarded the dragon's command and flew off away from them. The dragons pursued him for a while before he suddenly and quickly dived downwards, startling them. Roc swooped down to the ground and set Aviel on the snow just outside of the ice cave they had stayed at last night.
"Grandpa Roc?" Aviel asked.
"Aviel, get into the cave with the orb and hide by the caravan wreckage." Roc said.
"But what about you?" Aviel asked.
"I'll handle them, now go hide already!" Roc told her, spreading his wings and flying off into the air at Geelorokhi and Volvagia.
"Greheheheh... you dare challenge us both?" Geelorokhi asked upon seeing Roc flying up at them.
"I will never allow you to take the Great Fairy of Balance's power, have at you!" Roc shouted, flying at the lightning dragon with his beak aimed at him.
Volvagia roared and lunged out at Roc, about to bite him, but Roc quickly stopped in his tracks and grabbed the fire dragon with his talon. Volvagia breathed fire out at Roc, backing him off as Geelorokhi headbutted the bird away. He recovered and with a powerful flap of his wings, fired off powerful blades of wind at the two. One blade impacted into Volvagia, knocking her away, as another blade smacked into Geelorokhi, stunning him for a second. Roc swooped at the dragon, dodging his many heads before plowing right into his body.
"Graaah!" Geelorokhi roared out, before biting down on Roc's body.
"Gack!" Roc struggled to break free, but Geelorokhi fired out a burst of lightning from the mouth of another head, sending Roc crashing into the side of a mountain.
"Ugh, damnit..." Roc groaned out. He opened an eye to see Volvagia dive down at him, so he broke out from the wall and flew out of the way in time. He took to the sky and flew upwards, with Geelorokhi and Volvagia both flying up in pursuit.
Aviel peeked out from the cave and looked up at Roc battling it out with Geelorokhi and Volvagia. Roc swiped his talons across one of Geelorokhi's heads, before grabbing onto his neck to straggle it, but another head came down and snapped at him, forcing Roc to fly back and keep his distance. Geelorokhi fired a beam of electricity out, but Roc swooped out of the way of it, before firing off some blades of wind at the dragon. Volvagia however lunged down and slashed Roc across his back, making him shout out.
"I gotta do something for Grandpa!" Aviel said. She pondered to herself desperately of just what she could possibly do for him, until a thought occurred to her and she ran off back inside the cavern.
Roc continued to battle it out with Geelorokhi, smacking one of the dragon's heads with his beak, while flying loops around it's many necks to avoid it's attacks. But Volvagia came up and managed to get another back attack with her flames, knocking Roc downwards, before Geelorokhi blasted him with electricity on his way down.
The Sky Guardian Roc impacted into the snow and Geelorokhi landed down near him. All eight heads leered down at the bird and grinned menacingly. Volvagia floated in the air to make sure Roc didn't try to escape again.
"Greheheheh... you foolish bird... once we're done with you we'll go after the child, and the orb shall be mine, along with the power of the Great Fairy!"
"I... won't allow it..." scowled Roc, spreading his wings and resuming the fight.
Meanwhile Aviel climbed up onto a hill overlooking the battle. She was carrying with her the rusty crossbow and arrows that she had found at the caravan wagon earlier. She hid behind a large stone to avoid being seen by Volvagia, and started trying to figure out how the crossbow worked. She clicked the trigger, causing the bow part to thrust forward, surprising her. She reset it and started working on trying to get an arrow loaded into it, but had trouble figuring out how.
Roc and Geelorokhi continued to battle it out, but the dragon had the upper hand, smacking Roc backwards to the ground.
Aviel tried putting an arrow into the crossbow, waiting for Volvagia to be distracted by the fight, and aimed it at Geelorokhi. She pulled the trigger, but because the arrow wasn't in right it was crushed and broke into pieces.
"Darn it!" Aviel exclaimed, only to quickly hide behind the stone when Volvagia turned to see what had just spoke. After a moment the fire dragon turned back to observe the battle, and Aviel took that chance to try again, this time she loaded and fired the arrow, but it only flew a few feet away.
Aviel loaded another arrow and tried to fire it again, only this time, the arrow flew up into the air by accident and grazed Volvagia's tail.
The dragon growled and quickly looked downwards, breathing fire down at the edge of the cliff, only to see nothing was there, and went back to watching the fight. Aviel peeked out from behind the stone, gulping as she loaded another arrow.
'Darn it, what am I doing wrong?' Aviel thought to herself, she thought back to the words of her mother as she once showed Aviel how to fire an arrow...
'A steady hand and a steady eye, a proper balance to pierce through the sky.' her mother would often tell her in their lessons together.
"Steady hand... steady eye..." Aviel repeated to herself, "To pierce through the sky..."
She fired another arrow, and while this time it went forward, it flew off the side of the cliff and into the snow below. Aviel nervously loaded her next arrow and fired it at the dragon, but still missed.
Meanwhile Roc was sent flying backwards and bashed into a cliffside by Geelorokhi. He groaned out as he saw the lightning dragon slowly moving towards him.
"You've fought valiantly Sky Guardian, but it's time to end this," Geelorokhi said, all eight of his heads grinning maliciously, "Me and my mate shall have a fine dinner of bird and human tonight..."
Roc narrowed his eyes, trying to get back into a fighting position, but flinched from the pain. Geelorokhi grinned as all eight of his heads started to charge up energy, starting to form a combined electrical blast.
But before he could fire the attack at Roc, Aviel quickly got up onto the rock she was hiding behind, and aimed out her crossbow at the monster. She thought about her loving parents and how they took her to see the world, only to be separated from them by this monster. She thought about the giant bird who treated her badly at first, but cared for her when she was all alone, then allowed her to soar through the sky and feel as free as she did with her parents once again. She narrowed her eyes and shouted out loud.
"GET AWAY FROM MY GRANDPA!"
With that, she fired the arrow which went sailing through the air with incredible speed, soaring down right at Geelorokhi. Just before the dragon could do a finishing blow to Roc, the arrow managed to strike him directly into the right eye of his center head.
'G-GRWOOOOWRR!" shouted out Geelorokhi, throwing it's central head back in pain, as the other heads all screeched out as well, "MY EYE! WHO DARES STRIKE ME?"
"Aviel?!" Roc exclaimed looking up at the girl.
"You!" Geelorokhi shouted out, as all eight heads turned to see Aviel on top of the cliff.
"Hey you big loser!" Aviel shouted out, pulling out the purple orb, "You want your stupid orb?! Try and take it!" before running off.
"There it is! Volvagia, take it from her!" Geelorokhi shouted, as Roc lunged out and bit his beak down on the dragon's neck before slamming him to the ground.
Aviel tried to escape from the cliff, but Volvagia swooped down in front of her path, causing her to freeze up. Aviel gulped nervously seeing the eerie green eyes staring down at him. She turned and ran the other way but Geelorokhi came down on the other end. Aviel stepped back, finding herself caught between them. She looked over the edge of the cliff only to see it was far too much of a steep drop to escape that way.
"Oooh... I wish I could fly like Grandpa..." Aviel said worriedly.
Volvagia opened her mouth and charged up a powerful fireball at Aviel, but before it could fire the attack Roc came down and stomped his powerful talons down on the dragon, making it gag out until it collapsed.
"Aviel, are you okay?" Roc asked.
"Grandpa! Yeah, I'm fine!" Aviel said brightly.
"You, I'll destroy both of you here and now!" shouted Geelorokhi, charging up a beam of lighting, but flinched due to some sudden pain from the arrow lodged in his right eye, giving Roc a chance to shoot forward and bash his beak into him. Roc started bashing and swiping at the dragon to hurt it further, but the other seven heads lunged at him and bit down on the bird's body all at once.
"Gacck!" Roc shouted out in pain, blood flying out from his mouth.
"Grandpaaa!" screamed Aviel in tears.
"Greheheheh... it's over for you Sky Guardian..." Geelorokhi grinned.
Roc cringed from the painful injuries he had received, and it was clear Geelorokhi wasn't going to release him. He looked over painfully at Aviel as she trembled in fear and worry. Roc then closed his eyes and spoke out.
"...perhaps you're right dragon... but the same could be said for you." the bird shouted, "Aviel, the orb!"
"Um... oh, right!" Aviel said, pulling out the purple orb, causing Geelorokhi's eyes to widen. Aviel took a deep breath, recalling her mother's advice once more, and threw the orb into the air. Geelorokhi was about to try and grab it, but remembered all his heads were too busy holding his enemy. This allowed Roc to catch the orb in his beak.
"NO!" shouted Geelorokhi in horror.
Roc rose his head into the air, seeming to be harnessing the power of the strange purple orb, as a powerful aura formed around it, Roc and Geelorokhi.
"NO!" repeated Geelorokhi, trying to pull himself away, but realized his attempt to finish off Roc had ironically trapped him as well, "THIS CAN'T HAPPEN!"
As the purple orb floated above the two, Roc slowly looked down to Aviel, as she stood there with wide eyes.
"Aviel..." spoke Roc.
"Grandpa Roc? What's going on?" Aviel asked.
"Thank you for helping me... and I'm sorry about what I said to you before..." Roc spoke out weakly, "Now I must do what I need to put an end to all this..."
"I don't get it, what do you mean...?" Aviel asked in confusion as more tears started to form in her eyes.
"...you're a good girl Aviel, and stronger then you think." Roc spoke calmly, "Someday you'll meet people that you'll want to protect, and when that time comes, I think you'll do magnificently..."
"Grandpa..." Aviel whispered.
"And to help you with that, I give you this gift." Roc spoke, "To fight for those most important to you..."
"Grk... what do you think you're doing...?!" Geelorokhi roared out, feeling a strange sensation.
Roc concentrated as many feathers started to float off his wings, flying down at Aviel and spinning around her arms, surprising her as they started to gather together more and more around her.
"Huh?" Aviel exclaimed looking at the sleeves.
"Remember Aviel, I'll always be watching over you..." Roc spoke softly.
"Grandpa..." Aviel whispered as she looked up at him.
Meanwhile, Volvagia got up from her daze, and saw her mate in trouble. She growled, and lunged out at Roc as he was focusing on using the strange magic.
"Grandpa, look out!" shouted Aviel.
As Volvagia tried to strike at Roc, the orb released a powerful burst of energy, engulfing everyone.
"Kyyyyaaaaaa!"
"Uuuggh..."
"Hey, I think the poor thing's coming out of it!"
"Oh thank the goddesses!"
Aviel slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times as her vision came into focus. Her body felt much warmer then before, and she realized she was in a cottage. She then saw an unfamiliar Hylian man and woman looking down at her.
"Hey there honey, welcome back to the living!" said the somewhat portly woman, putting her hands to her sides and smiling brightly.
"Ugh... was I dead?" Aviel groaned out.
"Well not literally, but you were definitely out for a while." chuckled the bearded man, "Some travelers found you just outside of the foot of the mountains and brought you here!"
"I don't know what you were doing out there, but we're glad you're okay!" smiled the woman, "What's your name little one?"
"My name...? It's... Aviel." the young girl simply said after a moment of thought.
"Oh that's a perfect and cute name for you!" she said happily clapping her hands together, "I'm Sophe and this my husband Jigon."
"Say, you're a Gerudo right? Just what were you doing out there anyway?" Jigon asked rubbing his chin.
"What I was doing...?" Aviel asked, she looked up out the window, seeing the clear day outside, and some birds flying by.
"Ms. Aviel?" Sophe asked.
Aviel blinked a few times, as she tried to think. She reflected on everything she could, but in the end, she realized she could only remember everything up until she and her parents started to head to Snowpeak. She couldn't even remember where they had been going, why they were going there, or where her parents were now...
"I... don't really know." Aviel spoke, "I can't remember anything... I don't even know where my parents are..."
"Sounds like you got a case of amnesia. That sounds rough." Jigon frowned.
"You lost your memory and your family? Oh you poor dear!" Sophe said, putting a hand to Aviel's forehead, "Well you can just stay here as long as you like, little darling!"
"Oh... thank you!" Aviel said nodding.
"By the way, where did you get those sleeves you're wearing?" Sophe asked.
"Uh... I dunno." Aviel said, looking at the red and yellow feathers wrapped around her arms, "I don't remember my parents giving me these."
"Hm, those feathers kind of remind me of a story a strange traveler told me some time ago, something about a creature called a Roc." Jigon said deep in thought.
"A... rock? You mean like those hard things buildings are made of?" Aviel asked tilting her head.
"No, a Roc. A legendary creature that's said to watch over the sky, at least that's what I heard of." the man clarified, "And it had majestic wings of red and yellow, much like what you have there."
Aviel stared down at the sleeves, running her hands along them, deep in thought of what they could be, and just where they came from...
"The Roc's Wing, huh...?" Aviel whispered.
End Flashback
"That was ten years ago..." Aviel spoke to Link, Nemisa, Saria, Korume and V in Mayor Nymnalo's home, "While I was staying in that village I learned how the Roc's Wing worked and how to fly with them. That nice couple let me stay with them until after the war, and when the stupid banishment law went into effect I went to Gerudo Fortress with some others who got deported...Then after that Lady Nabooru proposed we go to a new place, so I went with her to Gerudo Town, where I became a lookout guard."
"By the goddess Aifet..." gasped Korume, "You knew not just the Roc, but encountered the Geelorokhi and Volvagia as well?"
"So that explains just about everything..." Nemisa spoke with wide eyes, "Not just the wings, but a lot about you really. Now I understand why V scared you so much back at Goron Mines. After what you went through with the two dragons, anyone would feel that way."
"Oh Aviel, you poor thing..." Saria spoke sadly, giving her a tight hug.
Link meanwhile was just in shock to find out about everything Aviel had went through, and at an age younger then even he was when he set off on his quest. Confronting Volvagia in the Fire Temple was a horrifying experience for him in the dark future even with his strength at that time, and it must have felt even worse for Aviel being so small and defenseless.
"So the orb in that drawing Professor Bradson made, it was used to destroy the Geelorokhi, and the Roc must have perished along with it... how sad." Korume realized.
"He really was the Sky Guardian after all." Nemisa muttered.
"So now you know why I'm not the chosen priestess of Grandpa Roc. My papa was a Hylian, and I only got these wings from Roc as a last-minute gift, not because I was chosen to use them..." Aviel said with tears in her eyes, "I'm not a priestess or sky guardian or anything..."
She gulped and spoke the words bothering her so much since she heard the song that made her remember everything.
"I'm just... a big fake."
"Hey, don't say that!" Saria exclaimed to Aviel, "You've done a whole lot for everyone here! You've brought them hope and happiness, especially to Pecoli!"
"But it doesn't matter if I can't awaken the Great Fairy!" Aviel pointed out, "The ceremony was the whole reason I was able to do all of that! What am I going to do if they find out everything was a big fat lie?"
There was an awkward silence, as everyone was at a loss for words of what to say or do anymore.
"I hate to say this, but maybe we should try to sneak out of town after all." Nemisa sighed.
"It is quite an awkward situation." Korume said.
"But... I can't just leave everyone like that..." Aviel said "I hate lying to them all, but they all put their faith into me to do this. If I leave then I'll be letting everyone down... I'll be letting Pecoli down..."
"Aviel..." Saria spoke, she placed her hand on Aviel's, "I think the best thing for you, is just do what your heart tells you to." she simply said, recalling what she herself once went through as being Kokiri Village's protector before deciding to go to Gerudo Town with Link.
"My heart, huh...?" Aviel whispered in deep thought.
Link meanwhile looked over and saw Korume who was thinking deeply, "What's up Korume?"
"Well I just thought of something," Korume said, "According to Geelorokhi, Volvagia was his mate... and you mentioned before there happened to be a red and yellow feather like Aviel's wings at the nest we found in Goron Mines..."
Everyone gasped out in unison at this.
"That's right! It even powered up Aviel's wings when she touched it!" Saria exclaimed, "It must have been a feather from the Sky Guardian that Volvagia had on it!"
"Then... it's very likely that Geelorokhi could actually be V's father!" Link stated.
Everyone turned to V to see his reaction to all this, only to see him just sitting there with his legs folded, looking down. His eyes were wide and he was squeezing at his ankles.
"So... father is dead too, huh? ...I guess some kids are just meant to be alone..." sighed V, as he got up and started to walk outside.
"Hey, where are you going?" Nemisa asked.
"...just goin' out for a while." V said, "Got some thinking to do..." and before anyone could say anything in return, he left out the door.
"The poor thing, left behind by both of his parents..." Korume said sadly.
Aviel paused, reflecting on the words V and Korume said, and looked downcast, thinking of her own parents in that moment...
Meanwhile, a mysterious figure was standing at the door to the mayor's house, having heard everything, then having seen V walking out from the estate.
"So he was right in his guess, and now I know the priestess' greatest secret... kwaahahahaha..." chuckled Barrank, going off on his way.
That night, the clouds were continuing to gather around the area, coming together and growing darker and darker above the land of Dhaijialoft. There was a slight rumble of thunder around the area as well.
In the mayor's house, Aviel, Link and the others had gotten to sleep early so as to be ready for her ceremony training the next morning. Aviel herself was sleeping on her futon, rolling around as more images went through her head about her past; the horrifying dragons she confronted at Snowpeak, her Grandpa Roc's sacrifice, the Rito's enthusiasm about the Great Fairy of Balance being awoken by her, and little Pecoli who had taken to Aviel like a sister...
Then a crash of thunder went off outside, scaring Aviel into the air. She gasped out in surprise, and looked out a window to see the dark clouds.
'On top of everything else, thunder... great.' Aviel thought glumly.
The young Gerudo got herself up and changed into a robe. She slowly and silently went through the halls of the home until she arrived at one particular guest room. She slowly opened the door and peeked inside.
In there was Link, sleeping on his own futon. Nemisa, Saria and Korume were sleeping in other rooms since the previous night the Mayor had informed them of a rule of no guests doing 'hanky-panky' as he put it, in his estate. Link was laying back with one hand on his stomach while his other arm was sticking out from the half-open robe.
Aviel slowly walked up to Link and stared down at his sleeping form. His head shifted to the side and his bleach blonde locks of hair fell around his face. Aviel admired how he could always sleep so soundly despite all the energy he had and the conditions around him. Maybe he was used to it with all the traveling he did as a teenager before coming to Gerudo Town?
She knelled down and looked Link's face over. He had gentle lines to his face, clean and without a hint of hair stubble to blemish it. He commented once he wasn't good at growing facial hair, which she didn't mind at all.
"Mmm..." muttered Link, startling Aviel a bit, as he licked his lips a bit in his sleep and muttered, "-ove you..."
Aviel blushed slightly at his words, even knowing that it wasn't her he was directly taking to. She recalled what Nemisa talked to her about earlier that night at the festival. She had came to realization that she loved Link, and Nemisa assured her that he loved her back.
She gazed down at Link's lips; she recalled back on the day after they first met, when she took Link on that guided tour through Gerudo Town, and the chat they had about him becoming the king. She thought about the kiss she had given him on the cheek, the first time she had ever kissed anyone before. She hadn't known what exactly compelled her to do something like that to him at that time...
She wondered in that moment what it felt like to kiss him on the lips...
But a nagging thought entered her mind, as she recalled something her Grandpa Roc told her,
"Someday you'll meet people that you'll want to protect, and when that time comes, I think you'll do magnificently..."
She sighed out, and was about to turn and go back to her room to try and ignore the thunder outside, when another loud bang went off, scaring Aviel so badly she went flying up high into the air to the point where she impacted into the ceiling, making an audible crashing noise.
"Ugh... what was that?" Link muttered in a groggy voice.
"Kyyyaaa!"
That was when Aviel came right back down and impacted right on top of Link.
Once Link and Aviel had regained their senses from the impact, Aviel was sitting on Link's futon with him. She had a pouty face and several bumps on her head, while Link was stretching his back out.
"Feeling any better Aviel?" Link asked.
"I dunno," Aviel sighed, "This whole priestess thing is keeping me up."
"Guess I couldn't blame you." Link muttered in thought, then he spoke up to her, "Hey, you remember when I decided to become the king of the Gerudo? I remember being worried about what the Gerudo would think of me when I confessed about my involvement in the war."
"Yeah, but you were really brave when you told everyone!" Aviel nodded at the fond memory.
"Well to be complete honest with you, I was afraid of what the people would think, especially you and all of our friends. I thought they'd hate me, or worse... But that didn't happen, the people accepted me, and I'm sure the Rito will for you as well." Link nodded.
"You really think so?" Aviel asked.
"Yeah," Link spoke, "I know you can do this. Me, Nemisa, Saria and Korume, we all have your back!"
Aviel smiled more, Link always had a way with words, their friends told her before about the encouraging words he'd give them all as well, and she felt her spirits uplift.
"Yeah..." Aviel looked to Link and sported a bigger smile, "You know what? Yeah! I'm going to go ahead and give this priestess thing my all! I'm going to master the song and dance, and perform before the Great Fairy Fountain door! And then, no matter what happens, afterwards I'm going to tell everyone the truth about myself! I don't care what they do or say, I'm not going to run away from them!"
"That's the Aviel I know!" grinned Link, rubbing her head, "I know you're going to do just fine! Now get some rest, you'll need it!"
"Alright!" Aviel nodded. She was about to hug Link, but after a moment of thought, she gave Link a light kiss on the cheek, "Little something for good luck tomorrow!" she grinned before plopping down on the futon.
Link's face flushed lightly at the Gerudo girl's affection. He looked down at Aviel who was now already sleeping soundly. He stared at her face, and how blissful she was next to him. He put a hand down on her head, and she smiled warmly, cuddling up to him. It felt completely natural for the two of them to be like this.
Aviel was always such a bright ray of hope and happiness for him, ever since the day they met in Gerudo Town. Link knew she was kidding herself when she thought she couldn't protect him, she was always there for him, and he would always be there for her...
There was no way Link could deny his feelings towards Aviel, he was in love with her. He loved her energy, her enthusiasm, her kindness... and she was a beautiful girl with her own great qualities that separated her from the other girls.
But now wasn't the time for that, at least not until they dealt with the situation here with the Rito. When the time was right though, he swore he'd confess his feelings to Aviel and ask to make her his fiance and queen. And when she was ready, he make her feel pleasure and love like she never had before.
Link leaned down and gave the sleeping girl a kiss on the forehead as he whispered, "A little good luck from me too."
The young king heard another loud rumble of thunder outside, but as he looked to Aviel he saw she didn't so much as flinch or cower from it. He smiled and patted her on the head on last time, before looking out the window and seeing the dark clouds.
"Seems like there's a big storm coming in..." Link muttered to himself, before laying down and drifting back to sleep.
Back at the festival, the night had long ended, and the workers were finishing up on deconstructing and putting away everything that wasn't going to be used tomorrow or the next day.
"Nice work tonight everyone! Have a good night!" called out a Rito.
"Just think, tomorrow the priestess will awaken the Great Fairy!" said another.
"What a prosperous time to be had!" cheered another.
As one lady Rito was carrying some boxes, she tripped a bit and almost dropped them only to be stopped by a large bird foot sticking upwards and stopping them from hitting the ground.
"Hey there, you got that alright Maam?" spoke a voice, as the Ruto saw it to be surprisingly enough Mr. Barrank.
"Oh, uh... thanks Mr. Barrank?" the Rito woman asked, confused that he would do something like that to help her. She wondered if he was going to try and talk her into becoming a maid of his.
"Not a problem, Miss!" Barrank instead said tipping his hat, "After all, I'm sworn to protect you all!"
"Um... yes...?" the Rito said, recalling it was his ice magic that was keeping the town safe from intruders with the blizzard circling their mountain.
"But speaking of which, there is something that's been bothering me quite a bit." Barrank said, lifting some boxes for the woman, "Namely I'm worried about the priestess."
"Eh? What about her?" the Rito woman asked; Barrank's small act of kindness made her slightly more open to talking with him.
"I dunno, I overheard something about her not being sure of herself to pull off the ceremony tomorrow. Maybe there's something bothering her." Barrank shrugged, putting the boxes down at where the woman asked him, "Well, have a good night, dearie." he said tipping his hat and strolling off, leaving the Rito woman confused.
"Was that Mr. Barrank? What was he squawking about?" asked another Rito woman coming up to the one he had just helped.
"Well, you see..." the Rito woman started talking about what Barrank had mentioned, and the two started going more and more about it...
"Hey, thanks for the hand Mr. Barrank!" a male Rito chef said as they were dismantling a food stand, "Didn't have you pegged as someone who gets his wings dirty!"
"Kwaahahaha! I get that a lot!" Barrank laughed out, "So I take it you sold out for the night?"
"Yeah, it helped that the priestess and her friends got my place so much attention!" laughed the Rito, "And that little red head kid could really eat a lot of Octorok!"
"Ah yes, that boy..." Barrank spoke, with a sinister grin, "Tell me something, you sure he's just as we see him?"
"How do you mean?" the Ruto chef spoke.
"Well in my work as a wizard, I've read about how beasts can use magic to give themselves the appearance of humans... and something about him kind of bothers me, just a hunch mind you." Barrank said.
The Rito chef looked in confusion as Barrank finished up his part of the work and bid him good bye. Shortly after that, the Rito started talking with another of his workers, and the conversation started turning to be about the child named V.
Later as Barrank was leaving the festival grounds, he overheard some other Rito he hadn't even been talking to gossiping about Aviel and V in particular, about who they were and where they came from...
The Rito nobleman and wizard snickered to himself as he went back home...
As that was going on, the young dragonic child V was walking down the streets of the town. He looked to see a house with it's lights still on, and he could hear some Rito inside chattering. Out of curiosity, V slowly crept up to an open window and peered inside.
He saw two adult Ritos with two child ones, who judging from their attire had probably just gotten home from the festival. The mother and father both worked to undress their children from their robes and they both cheered out, running freely around the house. The mother Rito tried to get them to calm down but the dad laughed out, scooping up one of the children in his arms.
V looked to see the kids and how much fun they were having with their parents, and how well the parents treated them.
Being the child of Volvagia, he was born in Death Mountain. Throughout his early childhood V was trained in his dragonic techniques by his mother; how to hunt, battle, breathe fire, that sort of thing. Over time though she started growing more distant from him, until she eventually left. He tried to follow after her but she smacked him with her tail before leaving to the Fire Temple.
V frowned as he left and continued down the road. After Volvagia abandoned him he wasn't too upset to find out she had been slain by the Goron Chief Darunia, but he still felt a sense of loneliness. He hoped by leaving Death Mountain he could find a new home. He spent some time in Gerudo Valley, but really didn't find it to his liking. He went along with Link and the others hoping to find some answers of his own, but the answers he got just made him feel even more alone...
"Could the Geelorokhi really had been my father...?" V trailed off, recalling Aviel's story and the guess made by Korume.
V then felt his stomach growl, he was in the mood for some Octorok. Maybe he could find a food stand still open and see if they'd let him have some leftovers.
As he walked past two houses though, he was suddenly grabbed and muffled, before being yanked between the buildings. He struggled a bit until he broke free and took a step back.
"Hey, what the heck do you wan-" V's words were cut off in shock as he looked up at the person staring down at him.
"So, we finally meet boy." chuckled a mysterious gruff man in a hood and silver robe...
And that ends the chapter, with Aviel having gotten over her self-doubt, tomorrow will be the big day for her to awaken the Great Fairy! But will it all go as planned, or will they be facing a new storm soon? Find out next time!
One thing I wanted to point out was how I recently came to learn the name of the Gerudo woman that gave Link the membership pass in OoT actually has a name, Aveil. By coincidence her name is very similar to Aviel's, so I decided to make her Aviel's grandmother. I might decide to do something with this later, but probably not anything heavily impactful on the plot.
Thanks as always for your comments everyone! Leave a like, follow or comment if you choose to, and see you next week!