The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Pkmnacezelda
~•~
"Master Link."
He grunts, opening his eyes. He looks around, blinking to shake off his sleepiness.
Fi hovers next to him.
"Fi... Is something wrong?" He rubs his eyes.
"It has been already an hour, Master."
Link groans. "Oh..." He slowly stretches, wincing when his wounds start to throb lightly. At least the bleeding had stopped yet again.
He slowly gathers his things and straps on his belts, getting out of the room.
The Beetle had proved its utility right away; he had been able to drop a wooden cage that was hanging with some spider thread, which was filled with 75 rupees. And also managed to hit another one of those jewel-like switches, opening a door in front of him.
Inside that room, he found another door at the very end. He didn't get surprised when he found himself moving his sword like crazy to kill three of these eyes. It was fun to do.
He found another key inside a chest behind the bars that were lifted after dispatching off the eyes.
He returns to the room from before and uses the Beetle to strike another switch that was on the upper level of the room, and water pours from somewhere below, unknown to him. That helps him to go up some stairs that had been unreachable at his side, being either time or an accident that made the step fall into pieces.
The cool water made him shiver, but it was better for his injuries.
He kills one of those big spiders, burying his sword into its midsection. He had found out a little passageway on the upper level, and had to crouch and slide like a worm inside the passageway.
He didn't know where he was anymore, but after crossing the little passage, he fell in front of a door that led him into the same, big, round room he'd been to before fighting... whatever that big skeleton was.
He found another door closed with a keyhole, and to reach it, he had to cross a rope. Again... Before doing so, he used the Beetle to cut the stems of multiple Deku Babas on the ceiling. He didn't want to have more accidents and injuries that could kill him. At least, if he fell, he would be safe; in pain, but safe. The floor was just three meters below. But he didn't want to risk breaking a leg.
The next room had a creature with three heads, masked with... craniums of snakes, and it had a body of a snake. The thing scared the creep out of him, but he managed to kill the three heads all at once with an horizontal slash.
The next room had another giant chasm.
"Oh, goddess help me... another one?" He sighs as he kills a bokoblin by pushing it down with his shield, making it fall down.
Link didn't expect to hear it crashing against the floor, so he continued, using his Beetle to drop a spider in front of him toward the chasm below. He dashes toward the other side, and his middle collides against the stone, sending a wave of pain toward his injuries. He pushes himself up, and puts a hand to his hip with a pained expression plastered on his face.
Time passed by, and at eight in the morning (from what Fi had told him) he had managed to find a strange golden piece covered with mysterious patterns after almost NOT dying while crossing the chasm by swinging himself using vines hanging from somewhere above him. Fi had told him that it was a key to unlock the huge golden doors at the end, by crossing the chasm on another rope. What was the name of the thing, key or whatever that was again...? Golden Carving?
He returns to the golden doors and tries to insert the key, but he notices that it had a specific hole. He turned the piece around in his hands and only when he found the right way to insert the key, he opened the doors.
Those doors led him to a circular room. It was empty and a golden door, not as big as the ones he had just crossed, was in front of him.
The giant doors had closed behind him, but he hadn't noticed. He felt like that room was the last one, and he could hear water from the other side easily, seeing as the room and the whole place was quiet.
But suddenly, a blinding light makes him cover his eyes with his forearms, and when the light dies down, he uncovers his eyes.
There, in front of him, just a step from the door, was a man clad in white with a red cape, holding a black, thin sword behind him, which dissapears in minuscule black particles.
"Look who it is..." He sighs, in a whisper. He turns around, unamused. His white hair falls down his left eye. He had strange eyes that looked like black olives with purple khol underlining his eyes. He had a blue earring hanging from his right ear. The man's skin was pale, almost as white as his hair. "I thought that tornado I stirred up would have tossed and torn you apart, yet here you are. Not in pieces." His voice was provocative and mocking. Much to Link's liking.
What caught his attention the most was that the man openly admitted he had, in fact, stirred up that black tornado that had took Zelda away from him.
"So it was you... " He says, with an angry mutter.
"Oh, and what if I was? Anyway, you're here and in one piece..." He said, annoyingly. "Not that your life or death has any consequence." He scoffed as he turned his head to look at the door at his left. "It's just the girl that matters now, and I can sense her here... just beyond this door."
"What?" Link looks at the individual, a confused expression plastered on his young features. The girl... he was referring to Zelda! Goddesses... if he dared to touch her...
"Yes, we plucked Her Majesty from her perch in the clouds, and now she's ours." 'Her Majesty'? 'Ours'!? Link starts to doubt that they were talking about the same person.
"Oh, but listen to me. I'm being positively uncivil." He said suddenly, with a dark, mocking, amused chuckle. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Demon Lord who presides over this land you look down upon, this world you call the surface. You may call me Ghirahim." After some seconds of hesitation, Ghirahim speaks up again. "In truth, I very much prefer to be indulged with my full title: LORD Ghirahim..." He said, too overconfident of his social status. "But I'm not fussy." He added in a whisper.
Link had no doubts now: Ghirahim was his enemy. And he wouldn't let him touch a single hair from Zelda's head.
He unsheaths his blade, ready to attack.
"Did you really just draw your sword? Foolish boy." Ghirahim chuckles dryly. He turns around and extends his hands to his sides. "By all rights, the girl should have fallen into our hands already." His expression darkens and he looks at his hands. His hair covers his face, so he can't see his expression, but he was sure that he was irritated. And he was proved right with what he said next. "She was nearly ours when that loathsome servant of the goddess snatched her away. Do you have ANY IDEA how that made me feel inside?"
Ghirahim suddenly balls his hands into fists and starts moving his arms like a kid in rage. "Furious! Outraged! Sick with anger!"
As he said the last word, he disappeared into orange and yellow particles. He was still in that room, but nowhere to be seen.
Link stands down, still with his hand grasping the sword's handle tightly, should the man try to attack him.
Suddenly, he jumps.
"This turn of events has left me with a strong appetite for bloodshed." His voice could be heard inside the whole room, which made it impossible for Link to locate him.
Out of nowhere, he feels a warm breath on his left ear, and he holds in his breath without moving a muscle. A wrong move, and the man would choke him to death from his position behind him.
"Still..." He whispered. "it hardly seems fair, being of my position, to take all of my anger out on you. Which is why I promise up front not to murder you... No, I'll just beat you within an inch of your life!" He suddenly spat, taking out his long tongue.
Link is fast and walks away from Ghirahim, gasping and breathing heavily, trying to regain the breath he had forgot he was holding.
Ghirahim laughs in front of him and extends dramatically his arms, the red cape dissapearing into particles. He looks at him while licking his lips.
Link was starting to freak out. The guy was disgusting.
Knowing what came next, he started to round Ghirahim in circles, both of them rounding the room as if they were dancing.
Link decides to make a move. He let Ghirahim approach him and noticed that his gloved hand was extended to him, with a red aura emanating from it. He slashes at his hand and his enemy steps back.
When Link slashes again, Ghirahim stops him, holding the tip of the sword with his fingers. His grip was strong, and he stole the sword from Link's hand.
"What?" Link furrows his brow while muttering. How dare he steal his sword in the middle of a battle? It was unfair. Unarmed, he steps away from Ghirahim and puts his wooden shield in front of him.
"Quite a sword that you have here..." Ghirahim takes the sword by the handle and swings it at Link. The young boy dodges, and the man before him suddenly tosses the sword toward him. He is quick to dodge, but the sword just barely grazes his cheek. He feels some blood scurring down his face and wipes it with his forearm.
He walks backwards and kneels, eyes focused on Ghirahim, who was slowly approaching him. He takes the handle and gets up, waiting for the demon to get closer. After he did, Link moves his sword to show the man that he was about to swing it in a specific direction, but in a quick move, he changes the blade's direction and swings it upwards. This caught Ghirahim by surprise, and it made him step back, away from Link, while clutching his injured hand.
He looks at Link threateningly while licking his hand, which was making the blond one nervous and nauseous. The guy was more and more disgusting as time passed.
He puts his shield in front of him while looking at Ghirahim, who had summoned his black blade. He sends some spiky floating orbs at him, and Link gets a little cut on his right biceps.
Taking to his advantage that Link was distracted, the white haired man starts running at a breakneck pace and the blond boy bashes his shield against the sword, parrying his attack, and making the demon unstable on his feet. He took it as an opportunity and swang his sword toward him, cutting him on the arm.
Ghirahim suddenly stabilizes himself and kicks Link's stomach, earning a grunt of pain from him. The sandy blond haired boy puts a hand against his hip, gritting his teeth.
What Ghirahim didn't know was that he was still paying attention and looking at him, but the boy's hair didn't give him a view of his face. So, just as he was about to swing his sword at him, Link bashes the shield against his face and swings the sword at him.
Ghirahim growls, angry, and steps back, putting a hand to his nose, which was bleeding after having suffered a smack with Link's beaten shield.
He spits some blood to the floor and points the tip of his sword to the boy, with a relaxed stance. "Well... You put up more of a fight than I would have thought possible out of such a soft boy. But don't clap for yourself quite yet. That sword of yours is the only reason you still live." Link looks at the sword in his hand for a brief moment and returns to look at Ghirahim. "I fear I spent far too long teasing and toying with you. The girl's presence has all but faded from this place, which means there's no reason to linger here. Good-bye, sky child. Run and play this time. Get in my way again, though, and you're dead."
With that, Ghirahim raises his sword and fades into particles. The room suddenly shines brighter and symbols at the edges and carvings that resembled wings in the center of the golden door start to shine in blue. He sheaths his sword and wipes his sweaty forehead.
He walks to the door slowly, limping slightly because of his hip, and goes through. He walks up some stairs and enters a peaceful place. The relaxing sounds of the forest and the water running reach his ears instantly, and a gentle breeze graces his sandy blond locks.
He sighs, while looking around the place, which was filled with stone pillars. He crosses another flight of stairs and reaches a place that looked sacred. A smaller replica of the statue of the Goddess sat at the end of the spring, and at its base, there was a crest like the one he activated inside the Chamber of the Sword.
He walks to the platform in front of him and unsheaths his sword, performing a Skyward Strike against the crest right afterwards.
As soon as the crest lights up and whirls in place, Link sheaths his sword and Fi makes her appearance beside it, levitating above the water.
"Master, I have a message written in the language of the gods of old. Allow me to translate for you..." Fi starts dancing gracefully above the water, as she translates. "From the edge of time I guide you, the one chosen to carry out the goddess's mission." She continues dancing and passes by Link's left. "The spirit maiden who descended from the clouds must travel to two sacred places to purify her body. You stand in one of these places: Skyview Spring. The other is known as Earth Spring." She stands again in front of Link, and whirls around herself in a fast motion. "This second spring is hidden away deep within the scorched earth of Eldin. The spirit maiden, ever mindful of the heavy task entrusted to her, has set out for this second sacred place."
A light appears over the hands of the statue, and it slowly floats over to Link. He extends his hands and inspects it. It was like the tablet that Fi had gave him, but this one had a red jewel instead of a green one.
He stuffs the stone tablet inside his pouch, knowing where he needed to place it.
He turns around and Fi bows before him. "Master, as I just translated, it would appear that Zelda purified herself in the waters of this spring. I calculate a 97% chance that she has already set out for Eldin, where another great spring exists. However, it is not clear what method of travel Zelda used to move from here to her next destination. My analysis suggests that using the stone tablet you have just received should open a new column of light on the surface, allowing you to descend to another area and continue your search for Zelda." Link nods, almost unconsciously, as he felt his wounds throbbing and the toll taken on his body for the lack of sleep and food the past two days. Noticing his current state, Fi decides to encourage him. "Let's return to the sky once more before continuing with our search. The bird statue at the entrance of the temple can take us back up."
Link nods again, sighing.
Returning to the entrance of the temple had been a torture. After his adrenaline had worn out, his wounds had started to throbb non-stop, and it was making him dizzy.
Before going to the statue, a Kikwi had walked toward him.
"Hey! It's me, kwee! Did you find the girl?"
"Machi?" The little Kikwi nods. "No, I didn't... But I know where I can find her."
The little Kikwi looks down, sad. "Oh, that's too bad. At least you know where to search next, kwee. That's something good, right?"
Despite the constant throbb of his injuries, Link finds himself smiling at the creature's innocence. "Yeah."
"Kwee, that's good! I'm so happy to be reunited with my fellow Kikwi friends, and it all thanks to you, kwee!" Machi jumps with his little feet and walks as fast as he can to envelope Link's leg in a hug. Link kneels and hugs the little one, smiling.
"Well, with any luck, hopefully you'll find that girl you've been searching for real soon, kwee! Take care, OK?" The little one turns around and walks toward Faron Woods. Link can't help but smile at the little creature while it goes back to the elder.
Link gets up and walks toward the statue, placing his hand against the cold stone.
"Take me back to Skyloft..." He whispers to himself. As soon as he says that, a strong wind current pushes him up and he takes his Sailcloth as fast as he can.
As soon as he trespasses the cloud barrier, he stores the piece of cloth inside his pouch and whistles for his bird.
Not even a second later, his lifelong friend catches him, answering to his call without fail.
Sensing that his companion was injured and not feeling well, Ace flies as fast as his wings could take him to the main isle.
Meanwhile, Link rests himself against Ace's crimson plumage, looking around with unfocused eyes as everything passed in a blur at his side.
After a couple of minutes, he feels that his Loftwing starts reducing the speed and starts to fly down.
They land in front of the academy's door, on the first floor. Link carefully tries to dismount, but a wave of pain strikes his middle and he stumbles over.
"Link?!" He can hear the voice of Instructor Owlan calling to him. But his eyes close as soon as he touches the ground.
The white-haired man kneels at his student's side and turns him over carefully. His green tunic was stained with blood at the hip, and the boy was breathing heavily.
Owlan looks at Ace, who had already taken off, and noticed that there was a part of the red plumage on his back that was darker than usual. That meant that Link wounds had been bleeding, and he didn't know how long.
"Headmaster! Horwell! Come here right now!" As soon as he says that, both Gaepora and the other instructor appear at his sides, looking at Link with a horrified expression. With all the commotion, some students had been attracted to see. Pipit, Karane, Fledge and Orielle were Link and Zelda's friends, and they were absolutely horrified as they looked at the big patch of blood on the tunic. The wounds had reopened again when Link was pushed up above the clouds, and the girls were almost fainting as they saw blood slowly staining the grass.
Groose and his friends were looking too, stunned. Suddenly, Zelda goes missing, and two days after loosing sight of Link, he returns like this? Groose was confused. He didn't know if Link was acting, but by the way his hair was damp with his own sweat and the pained expression plastered on his face while he was unconcious, he couldn't believe that.
Both Horwell and Owlan lift Link up and go to the student's room, with everyone following right behind.
They place Link on the bed and Horwell pulls the chair inside the room and places it at the side of the bed.
"Owlan, bring me bandages, alcohol, thread and a needle from the nursery! Pipit, bring me a red potion and an orange potion from the bazaar. Tell the lady that I'll pay later. Hurry up!" Both of them do as was told.
Gaepora helps Horwell to undress Link, leaving him in his bloodied traveling pants. Horwell inspects the wound. The puncture wounds had gotten a deep and dark color, most likely because they had been opening constantly and had probably gotten infected. The brown haired man was worried.
Owlan arrives with the medical equipment and Horwell starts cleaning Link's wounds. The burning sensation of the cleaning wakes up Link, and he grunts in pain.
"Ow..." He mutters.
"Link, my boy! What happened to you?" Asks Gaepora, worried, after having waved off the students.
"Headmaster..." Link grips the sheets with his hands. Pipit arrives at that moment with the potions.
Horwell signals at Owlan to take the red potion, and the white haired man takes it, giving it to Link, who doesn't doubt for a second and gulps it down in an instant. The pain was excruciating, and he had never felt something like it before. He was almost unable to talk.
After some seconds, he sighs, feeling a little bit of the pain going away.
"I was... down there... and... a Deku Baba... a yellow Deku Baba injured me..." Link gulps, closing his eyes. "And I didn't... find Zelda... I'm sorry..." Horwell starts to stitch the wounds and Link bites his tongue so he didn't scream. The painkiller wasn't enough, and Horwell felt bad, seeing his student in such pain. It only took him 10 minutes, but Link had felt like it had been ages. He relaxes against the cot, and he's slowly lifted up by his Headmaster, so that Horwell could bandage him properly.
It was difficult, but in less than 5 minutes, they place Link on the sheets carefully.
"Don't worry, boy... I know that you did what you could." The headmaster says, as Horwell puts a piece of cloth on Link's biceps and cheek. "We will talk later, after you rest, OK?" Link nods.
"Link, you will need to rest for some time before you run around again. I'll estimate that you'll need almost a week to recover, but you will be fine in two days, with the proper amount of rest. So don't try running away, alright?" Link nods at Horwell. "Owlan, bring him something to eat, will you?" The man at his side nods and 5 minutes later, he brings Link some pumpkin soup from last night.
Link gulps it down, famished, and thanks his instructors. Both instructors and the Headmaster head out of Link's room as soon as his eyes start to flutter shut, and not even a minute later, he's out like a light.
A pitter-patter against the wood of his window wakes him up in the middle of the night. He sits up slowly, looking down at his bandaged hip. The white bandages where slightly stained with some speckles of blood. He rubs his eyes and gets up slowly, opening the window without making any noise.
On the other side, Ace looks at him, and brings his face to brush his forehead on his master's shoulder. Link smiles and strokes his Loftwing's beack lovingly.
"I'm fine, buddy. I missed you too." He looks at his bird and hugs his neck, separating afterwards and pushing his left shoulder against the wall, so as to relax the muscles of his middle.
Ace stretches his neck and closes his eyes, happy that his master was better.
Link rubs his bird's cheek, looking at the creature. He tries to remember the moment when they parted ways. He didn't remember sending the bird off. He had fell unconscious while dismounting.
"Hey, Ace." The bird caws softly, so as to not wake anyone. "I'm sorry that I worried you. I just couldn't stay awake anymore. You understand, right?" The bird rubs his head against Link's shirtless chest, and Link hugs Ace's head.
After some time, he pulls away and sits down on the bed, so that he could relax his muscles.
"I'm gonna sleep a little bit more, OK?" Ace understands, and prepares himself to take off, but Link calls for him. "By the way, where's Labrynna? Do you know if she's OK?" The bird simply nods and takes off. "Well, I'll take that as a yes..." He yawns and lays down, covering himself and closing his eyes.
The last thought that appears in his mind is about Zelda. He wondered if she was OK... He surely hoped that was the case.
He opens his eyes as he feels the warm sunlight bathing his face. He had left the window open after Ace left, and he would've gotten up and close if his hip wasn't as sore as it was.
A knock on the door startles him.
"Hey, Link!" He hears.
"Pipit? Come in!" He clears his throat while he looks at his friend opening the door, followed by Horwell, who had new bandages on his hands. "Good morning, Instructor Horwell."
"Good morning to you too, Link." Horwell sits beside the bed and Link lifts the sheets, uncovering his torso so that his instructor could change the bandages. "You know? You really gave us a scare yesterday. You disappeared for two days, and then you return to us like this. The girls were almost fainting."
"I'm sorry..." He says, as he lifts himself up so that the man at his side could replace the bandages. "I just got a little careless and got bit by a yellow Deku Baba. But I'm fine now. Just a little sore."
Both brown haired men nod. Pipit sits at the end of the bed. "So, did you find her?"
Link sighs. "No, but I got a pretty good idea of where she must be." Pipit smiles and watches in silence as Horwell finishes with Link's bandages and he gets up, stuffing the stained cloth inside the bin of Link's bedroom.
"Well, if you feel good enough to stand and have some breakfast, be my guest, but don't push yourself too much." Horwell gives a hand to Link and he sits up. Pipit passes him his white shirt, which had been cleaned and stitched, most likely by the girls and the women in the eastern part of Skyloft, and puts it on. They had really made a great job. It was as good as new.
He gets up with a little help from his friend and his instructor and tries to stand on his own, which was not as difficult as he'd imagine.
He looks down at himself.
"Huh, I shouldn't go around with these bloodied pants. Pipit, can you grab me another pair from the wardrove?"
Pipit picks the first pair of pants he finds in Link's wardrove and passes the piece of clothing to his friend.
After a little bit of struggle, Link sighs, looking at his travel pants. He hands them to Pipit, who smiles at him and assures him that he'd give it to the women of Eastern Skyloft so that they could give it a good washing at the river and stitch it up for him.
He parts ways with them and both Horwell and Link head to the kitchen.
The girls and Fledge were wating for them, and both Orielle and Karane stand up and rush to Link.
"You're OK! What a relieve!" The two give him a hug, much to his surprise. Zelda would've laughed at his face, probably saying 'Uh, why are you so embarrased?' or 'Why the long face? Be grateful!'. He smiles and sits down carefully on the bench.
The girls sit down, too, and Fledge pats Link's shoulder, smiling at him.
"You really gave us a scare, uh?"
"Yeah, sorry about that..." He scratches the back of his neck, and looks at his side. Groose and his friends were looking at him with bored and angry expressions. Groose looked at him in the eye, and he decided to look away and take a piece of bread.
"Well, I see that you have already started without me, huh?" Pipit claps Link's back and sits between the blond boy and Fledge.
"Well, how are things up here? Any news?" Link looks at the girls.
Orielle drinks some orange juice and sighs. "Not much... The only thing worth sharing is that Kukiel has gone missing after you flew... wherever you flew to so you could find Zel."
"Kukiel has gone missing? How so? Does anyone have any clues?"
"Well, no one's got a clue." Pipit sighs. "She was playing near the graveyard the night when you set out to search for Zelda, and bum! She dissapeared out of thin air. She didn't come back. Her parents are worried sick..."
Link looks at his cup, still filled to the brim with orange juice. How could a child dissapear in such circumstances?
"Have you looked around the graveyard?" He tries.
"Yeah, and still nothing..." Karane takes a piece of toasted bread and plays with it, turning it around with her fingers.
They continue eating in silence, only looking around when Groose and his friends get out.
"Hey." They look at Orielle. "What about Zelda? Any luck?"
"Oh..." Link drinks the hole cup and buries his fingers into his hair. "I know as much as you do. The only difference is that I know that she's below the clouds, and that I have a pretty good idea where."
"Oh, oh, oh! Can you tell us how everything looks down there?" Karane looks at him with dreamy eyes. He looks at Pipit, and the boy shruggs his shoulders, turning to look at Karane with shining eyes.
Link proceeds to explain what he had seen, omiting the part of the Ghirahim inside the temple. He didn't want to talk about him, not yet. The girl nodded their heads, listening intently at Link's bried explanation.
"The thing is, I got these from a yellow Deku Baba. We only knew about the normal Deku Baba, the one with the horizontal mouth. You should talk to the headmaster and to instructor Owlan about it. That way, we can learn more and students from lower grades can learn this sooner. It's great!" Link smiles at them.
They keep talking about unimportant things, and after a while, Link huffs, putting a hand to his abdomen.
"Guys, I wanna lay down a bit. Sitting like this after a while hurts. You don't mind, do you?" They shake their heads, and Pipit offers himself to help him into his room.
They get inside and before laying down in bed, Link smirks at Pipit, who only gives him a confused look.
"What's that smirk for?" Link chuckles.
"How are things going with Karane?" He asks, laughing.
"Wha-? Things are fine. Why wouldn't they be?"
Link sighs. "Nothing... It's just that I saw that a certain someone was looking at her with a sparkling look in his eyes..." Pipit's cheeks start to get fire up, and Link contains the urge to laugh.
"Umm... You're just imagining things..."
"Hmm... Nah... I don't think so. Wanna talk about it?" Link lifts the covers of his bed, which were stained with some blood from the day before, and lays down with a content sigh.
"Well, maybe I have a little, tiny crush on her."
"Well, that's good. Are you planning to tell her someday?" Pipit shruggs his shoulders.
"Dunno... I'll see how things go, and then I'll decide. And before you go to sleep..." Pipit smiles mischievously at him. "Zelda?"
"Zelda what?"
"You know... You tease me about my situation with Karane, I do the same. How do you feel about her?"
Link looks at the ceiling. She was just his best friend, wasn't she? Unless he felt something more.
"Honestly, I just feel like she's my best friend. I don't feel anything... special toward her." Link sighs.
"Well, think about it for a bit if you want. Just try to get some rest so that I can stop helping you getting up." They laugh and Pipit goes out, closing the door behind him.
Link sighs, closing his eyes.
Ok, from now on, I'll write comments or so. Yay!
