The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Pkmnacezelda
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The green tunic fits him like a second skin. Despite the heavy chainmail, it was comfortable and unlike anything he had worn before.
Ivory colored shirt and pants, chainmail, leather fingerless gloves, boots, bracers, his academy pouch with a hundred rupees in a wallet (all of his savings, by the way) and Zelda's Sailcloth folded neatly inside it, belt, sword in scabbard... And last but not least, a green hat.
Yes, it all seemed to be in place.
Link finishes strapping on his boots and gets up. He adjusts the belt that held the tunic against his lower torso and adjusted his gloves, making sure they were placed correctly. He makes sure he has his earrings on his ears and straightens up.
He looks at Gaepora, who looks at him in aprovement.
"That green uniform is what our knights will be wearing this year. To be honest, I've had my doubts about the color. But oddly enough, I can't imagine a more fitting color for you. It's a though you were born to wear it." Link looks at himself for a moment. He agrees with the man. Wearing yellow, like Pipit, wouldn't fit him at all. He raises his head to the man. "Take care on your journey, and be sure to stop by some of the shops at the bazaar to equip yourself properly for the travels ahead. I will return to my quarters and see if I can glean more useful information from the ancient texts."
"Ok."
"Oh, and you are always welcome to stop by if you need anything. You and Zelda shall be in my prayers. May the goddess watch over and guide you both."
Link nods. "I'll be on my way, then." Just as he was about to exit his room, he turns around. "And... thank you. I promise I'll bring her back."
He sees the man nodding before closing the door behind him.
"Link!" He hears. Fledge was standing in front of him, holding a brown pouch in his hands.
"Hey. You alright?" He asks. The boy nods, and Link looks at the object between the boy's hands. "What's that?" He points out.
"Yeah, I'm fine." His eyes bore into him with a surprised look on his face. "That green uniform looks so... adventurous! You sure look like a knight now." Link smiles. "The headmaster said you're heading out to look for Zelda."
"Yeah... I need to." Link says, lowering his gaze. It still was hard to talk about it.
"You're really something else. I could never imagine myself doing what you're about to do." Believe me, I still can't believe this is happening myself, either. "I wanted to do something useful to help you. I put a lot of work into making this. You should take it with you."
Fledge hands him a pouch. But not just any pouch. An adventure pouch. This ones were bigger than the classic student pouch. The space of these was ten times bigger.
"Oh, Fledge... you didn't have to..." Link takes the pouch and replaces it with the student pouch, taking the things out of the old one and putting them into the new one.
"But I want to help you. Friends help each other, right?"
Link sighs in defeat. "Yes. Yes they do." He admits.
"Well then. I just know you'll find Zelda and bring her back." He smiles at him encouragingly.
"Yeah. So do I." They smile at each other.
They share a manly hug for a brief moment, then pull away. They say their goodbyes and Link starts to walk toward the door so he could have a quick visit at the bazaar.
But before he gets out, one of Groose's friends stops him in his tracks. The blue haired one, Cawlin.
"Hey, I just saw the news. Out of all of us, how come only you got promoted to senior class? Talk about stupid calls!" He complains.
"But... those were the rules of the race. I just tried my best." Link gulps. He didn't want to start a fight.
"Yeah, well... Oh, and on top of all that, Groose won't come out of his room and Zelda's missing. It's all your fault! Way to go there, buddy! Some senior-class guy you are!" And with that, the boy turns toward the door of his room and gets inside, shutting the door with a little too much aggressiveness.
Link shruggs his shoulders. It really wasn't his fault. Well, he was one to blame for Zelda's sudden disappearance. If only he had been stronger, she would be laughing at Cawlin's tantrum with him.
He shakes his head. He had no time to think about that.
He steps outside and greets Instructor Owlan.
"I heard the news, Link!" The white haired man sighs. "Zelda's fallen throught the clouds, and you're going to look for her. Is that right?"
"Yes, sir." He nods.
"By the way... the headmaster told me there's a land beneath the clouds... Do you know anything about that?"
"Ummm... I dunno. But might as well try to find out."
"Mmm... I see. If you do find something like that, let me know." The man looks at the handle of the Goddess Sword. "Ah. So that's the famous sword... But it won't do you much good if you don't have a shield to protect yourself with! I think I might have a wooden shield in my room." Before he can say anything, the man goes inside the building and returns after five minutes with a wooden shield in hand. "Here—take this shield with you!"
Link takes the shield and straps it to his back. "Oh, you really didn't have to. But thank you!"
"Your welcome, Link. Just keep in mind that it's very vulnerable. It's the weakest of the shields we have here."
"Yeah, I know. I'll buy a new one at the bazaar if it breaks. Or try to fix it with some Revitalizing Potion."
They both say their farewells.
Before going down the stairs that led to the plaza, Fi comes out of the sword, making Link jump.
"Fi! Don't scare me like that!"
The girl bows. "My apologies, Master Link. I just wanted to share some information regarding the stone tablet and the resulting column of light it created."
Link sighs. "Then go ahead."
Fi nods. "A column of light has appeared to the south of our location, and signs indicate that it has created an opening in the cloud barrier to the land below. Before going there, I advise you to buy some Potions at the bazaar."
"Thanks, Fi. I'm going to do that now." He nods.
"Another subject to discuss, Master..." Link turns around, for he had already started descending the stairs. "You should buy another shield in case the one you are wearing now breaks and you are not able to fix it with a Revitalizing Potion."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Fi." The girl bows again and fades into the handle of sword.
Link runs toward the bazaar and get inside. He feels the sweet smell of new products invading his nostrils. He looks around. His first stop is the potion shop.
Before getting there, a voice at his left startles him.
"What's this? What is it that my eyes behold?!" There, looking at him inside a little tent, with a cristal ball in front of him, was the man with the strangest face he'd ever seen. Big turquoise eyes, minuscule hands... What the hell? "Oh, young man, what calamitous visions appear before me..." The little man sighs dramatically. "You may choose not to believe me," he says when he sees Link raising an eyebrow. "but my eyes foresee a hazardous, thorny road ahead of you... But I can see what will befall you, for I am a fortune-teller! Trust my piercing eyes... Listen to my pure and innocent voice. I will do you no harm. Gaze deeply into my eyes and come closer!"
Link starts to sweat. That man was too weird for his liking. He didn't have time for that.
"Umm... sorry. I think I'll pass." He says, gulping right afterwards.
Before the man could say anything, Link goes to the potion shop.
There, he starts looking to the potions.
Red potion, orange potion, blue potion and purple potion. Painkiller, Drowsiness Potion, the Revitalizing Potion and the Antidote Potion, respectively.
He greets the woman at the counter.
"Hello, there Link!" She smiles. "So, you passed to senior class, huh?"
"Yeah. But I won't stay here for long now. I have to go somewhere dangerous and... well, I think I might need one of your potions."
"Mmm... I see... Well, do you know which one are you going to purchase?"
"The red one." He says without thinking. He was going to get injured for sure.
"Oh, dear. I forgot to ask you if you have an empty bottle on you..."
"Ummm... no." He scratches the back of his head.
"Well, don't you worry about a thing. I have one spare bottle here." She takes an empty bottle from behind the counter, takes the ladle that was sitting inside the red potion container and scoops some of it inside the bottle. "It's 20 rupees."
He takes his wallet and pays the right amount.
"And have these 10 rupees, too. For the bottle." The woman refuses, but finally accepts the money.
He turns around and looks at the gear shop.
I don't think I'll be needing another shield, he thinks. He shakes his head and exits the bazaar.
He heads to the plaza. He looks at the sky from the wooden ledge.
"Master, the column of light is visible from here." Link jumps slightly.
"Fi! Again?"
The girl cocks her head sideways.
"My apologies for scaring you yet again, Master Link." She bows.
"No need to apologize. I'm the one that gets startled. I'll get used to it. What was it, again?"
Fi nods. "The column of light, Master. It is visible from here. I recommend you call your Loftwing from here, where you can see it clearly. It is time for you to set out on your search for Zelda." Fi fades inside the handle of the sword.
"Yeah. You're right." He whistles for Ace.
After some seconds, the red bird appears and lands at his master's side. He screeches loudly and rubs his head against Link's chest.
"Hey, buddy. I'm alright. Missed you too." He hugs his companions neck for some time before pulling away. "You OK?" The bird screeches, as of saying yes. "Well, I need to set out and search for Zelda. I'm sure you already miss her, too." The bird screeches again. "Ok, let's go, then."
Link climbs on Ace's back and they fly off.
Link eyes look at the green column of light in front of him. After flying for some minutes, Fi appears.
Link reduces the Loftwing's speed and flies in the same place.
"Master Link... Observe. This column of light is where you can descend to the land below. You'll be able to reach the surface by passing through the portal in the clouds at the column's base."
Fi dissapears into the handle yet again and Link is left alone with Ace.
"Hey, Ace." The bird caws, signaling that he is listening. "I'm gonna need to descend there. I'll be back, so don't worry, OK?" The bird screeches in understanding.
They approach the base of the column. Link pats the bird's back and jumps off.
The wind blows against his face. It wasn't unpleasant at all. While diving off, he observes, with some struggle to keep his eyes open, what was below. Trees and grass everywhere.
A big circle of land in the middle. Trees and more trees everywhere.
He waits for some time until just a couple of meters separates him from the ground to pull the Sailcloth.
He lands smoothly on the grassy floor. He looks around. He could smell the scent of the trees around him and feel a warm breeze grazing his skin. It wasn't what he had expected. It was peaceful. Very peaceful. Even more so than Skyloft.
"Master Link, we have arrived." Says Fi at his side. He didn't flinch this time. "This is the fabled surface that has long been part of Skyloft's legend. By my calculations, you are currently positioned in a location known as the Sealed Grounds." He nears the railing and looks at his sides. "Please proceed with caution, Master."
She dissapears again and seeing as how the railing prevented him from going to his left, he goes to his right.
He takes his sword when a strange plant with fangs emerges from the floor at some distance from him.
It tries to bite him, but he dodges and kills it with an horizontal swing of his sword.
"That was... a Deku Baba." He whispers to himself. He remembered seeing those creatures in his text books of ancient creatures. He never would have thought he'd seen one alive with his very own eyes.
Another one appears in front of him, but this one opens its mouth vertically. He swings his sword vertically and kills it.
He sheathes his sword and chuckles. He never would have guessed that there were two types.
He continues on and another couple of those Deku Babas appear again, one of each type. He kills them with ease and continues. He jumps down and lands safely a couple of meters below.
He walks toward the edge of the center of the circle and looks down. There, in the middle, meters below, was a stone of a strange cylindrical and triangular shape floating some inches above the floor, with a strange black aura pouring out from underneath, like that of his first nightmare on the day of the ceremony.
Suddenly, a black aura rushes against him like a gust of wind. He covers his eyes, and what he finds once he uncovers them is a black void surrounding him. He feels like he is floating. He looks down an a massive black circle appears. From inside, the black scaled monster that he had seen in both mightmares appears.
Suddenly, his head starts to pound furiously. It was as if his head had been smashed against a rock a thousand times. It was no ordinary headache. He grabs his head with his hands and closes his eyes, waiting for the pain to subside.
Once it does, he looks at the monster above him. His right hand flies instantly toward the handle of the sword. But before he unheated it, the monsters starts to fall over him, as if trying to smash him. He covers his face with his forearms.
When he uncovers his face, he meets the kind breeze and calm surroundings. What was that? A vision, perhaps? Or another nightmare? It felt more like a vision, for he was awake.
He looks at the pit and sees the stone again. Nothing had happened.
A breeze graces blows his sandy blond hair back and it carries some leaves. Link looks at them, and turns around.
There was a building standing before him. A really old building. On the doors, a symbol of an eye and some chains shines in orange.
He walks toward them and tries pushing them open, but to no avail.
He then feels the need to go inspect the stone at the center of the pit.
He jumps off and lands on the path below softly, after using the Sailcloth. He jumps again and again until he arrives at the pit. It was way faster doing that than walking down the path.
He approaches the floating stone an then hears a voice, which was nothing more but a whisper.
"... Young one..." It calls. It seemed to be a feminine voice, but he wasn't sure. "Child of destiny descended from the sky... Raise the sword of the goddess skyward... Take aim at the evil aura and unleash its power..."
He does as commanded. He unsheaths his sword and performs a Skyward Strike against the stone.
The evil aura vanishes and some air currents start to blow from the various places.
He looks around. Fi exits the sword.
"Master Link, I'm sensing a change I the area that was triggered by your Skyward Strike. I have also detected an aura that correlates closely to your Sailcloth. I surmise this aura belongs to Zelda. I can lead you in the direction of this aura through a process known as dowsing. Would you like me to explain this process, Master?"
"Nah. I think I can manage." He smiles.
"Understood, Master. Just call me if you want me to track down Zelda's aura." She vanishes.
Link takes out the sword. "Ok. Fi, track down Zelda's aura, please." The sword starts to shine lightly and to light down at slow intervals. He turns around and manages to discover the direction of the aura. It was the doors from before. He knew because the sword started to light up and down slightly faster.
He ascends the pit using the wind currents that he had triggered.
He walks toward the doors and watches as the symbol disappears.
He pushes one of the doors and gets inside, closing it behind him. He looks around. It was an old temple.
He sees a figure clad in red at the end of the room, seated in front of two massive stone doors. He approaches the figure.
"Ah... The traveler descended from the clouds above. I welcome you, child of fate." It was an elderly woman. Most likely, the one he heard before. "Tell me, what is your name?"
"Link." He answers.
"Ah, Link. Good, very good." She murmurs."I sense you have already gained control over the Sacred power power that fills your sword when pointed skyward-"
"Skyward Strike?" He tries, not sure if he should have spoken before the lady and finished speaking herself.
"Exactly. It is proof that you are fit to bear the blade you carry, the Goddess Sword. I have sat here for many years, awaiting your arrival." Many years? Link raises his eyesbrows. That was... a lot. "All so that I could fulfill my purpose as your guide."
They share an awkward silence for some moments, before the lady starts talking again. "You stand under the roof of the Sealed Temple, a place built by the goddess an eternity ago. Your arrival here was predestined many, many years ago. The spirit maiden you seek arrived here shortly before you, descending to this land in a shower of light-"
"Is she alright?" He asks, his heart starting to pound furiously.
"Calm down, young one. She is alright. There's no doubting it. The gears of fate have begun to turn. Yet all is not as it should be. The spirit maiden was not meant to reach this land in the manner she did."
"What do you mean? Is it about that tornado?" He asks, slowly.
The woman nods. "I feel an evil power working in the shadows. It moves to warp the destiny of which you two are a part. So, being concerned for the spirit maiden as you are, seeking her whereabouts right now is your priority, yes?" He nods. "... That is understandable. But, for now, you must focus on moving forward. That girl has her own purpose she must pursue, as do you. She set out for Faron Woods to discover that destiny for herself, and you must follow. Leave the temple through those doors."
The woman points toward the door at Link right, behind him.
"Ok..." He sighs.
"Go now. You must head into Faron Woods and chase after the spirit maiden... the one you call Zelda. I wish you sage travel. Know that all the questions you have now will be answered in time. For now, go bravely!"
He nods and walks toward the door. He sighs and breathes in the pure air around him.
He felt like he was getting closer to Zelda. And he surely was.
He just hoped she was really safe and sound.
He walks up the stairs in front of him and continues on, with his gaze looking forward.
