Link walked through the cave towards Groose's old hangout. Even though he preferred to hang out below nowadays, Link knew he could be there sometimes. Today however, he wasn't.
Probably back below.
He saw the dug-out - once housing his trapped Loftwing - now turned into more of a safe space, with a proper door and walls and books and anything to get away. Wanting to do just that after all the festivities, this was the place they least expected him to be, which made it quite perfect. He scratched his head, the flower crown on it starting to itch after a while. Pulling on his shirt, he tried to make it more comfortable, but he just couldn't get used to this particular fabric.
"Link!"
He heard his name being called. A somewhat familiar face met his as he turned around. He saw a girl stop right before him, wheezing a bit while grabbing her side.
A knight... Did she run all the way here? I thought no one was following me.
"I'm sorry to disturb you here."
He shook his head. I wasn't doing anything anyway.
"I just wanted to ask... Do you recognise me?"
He looked up and down. She had dark, round eyes, her skin a few tones lighter but definitely tanned, and her black hair fell to just above her shoulders; quite a typical look for a knight. Her head was adorned with a flower crown, just like him. Looking down, he saw she had a loose shirt on, with the usual knight wear underneath.
It sure wasn't a knight he'd seen at the academy over the years. He pulled his shirt a bit while shaking his head. "Sorry."
She smiled, a bit saddened. "That's okay... I didn't really expect you to." She put her hand in her pocket and searched around, finally grabbing what she wanted and took it out, showing a small picture to him.
He took it from her and held it in the light. The background was easy to place. The big Light Tower he'd heard Fi sing on for the first time wasn't hard to miss; it was the prime feature of the square plaza. Looking at the centre he saw himself, his beautiful red Loftwing standing behind him, proudly presenting its feathers. To the left he saw a little girl, a small bird behind her. It was half the height of his own bird, and seemed more shy than his own. Both Link and the girl looked in awe at the small bird, completely surprised at its presence.
Who are you...? You're so familiar somehow...
He closed his eyes to think of the memory again.
Such a shame I have to go back already.
The rough winds of Lanayru had finally started to grow on him.
His pockets were full of all kinds of materials, wanting to finally get all his items tinkered with, as Gondo had promised him. Walking past the great stone walls, he placed his hand on them, the jagged surface softly scratching his hand as he trailed it along.
The bird statue in the distance started glowing brighter as he came nearer.
Tapping it lightly as he reached it, strong winds suddenly blew around him and shot him upwards towards the clouds. He called his bird and flew towards Skyloft. The winds seemed to be the same up here, rough and harsh, blasting his bird sideways as he tried to make out his surroundings. Somehow, he always seemed to come out from a different opening in the clouds, making him a bit disorientated at first. In the distance was Fun Fun Island, floating neatly in the sky.
Right.
He turned his bird, fleetingly seeing a massive clustered cloud with no possible way to get in. He remembered there used to be islands there and wondered if the people were okay, closed off from the rest of the world. When Skyloft came into view he stopped turning, and asked the bird to climb higher.
Passing an island, his eye caught something. Someone seemed to be stranded on there. He turned back towards it and dove down, jumping off his Loftwing when he was above the little island, and used his Sailcloth to land softly on the grass.
A girl was turned towards a brown Loftwing that was breathing heavily. She turned around when she heard him coming closer. It was Orielle, one of the night watchers.
"Link!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're here."
He looked questioningly at the bird; it seemed injured.
"We had a crash landing here, and I have no clue how to help him."
He looked closer at the bird. It's his wings, they're bruised.
"Oh, Parrow must be so worried about me, I've been gone for hours," she muttered under her breath.
"Can I help?" He turned towards her again.
"If you're not busy I'd be so glad. If I'm not mistaken, Parrow - my brother - should still have some bird medicine. He's usually at the square plaza, so you'll be most likely to find him there."
He nodded and set off towards Skyloft.
Arriving at the square, he saw someone pacing around the platforms. He walked towards them and recognised Parrow. He tapped him on the shoulder and told him about Orielle. Parrow scratched his head after he had finished. "Doesn't sound like her. I guess it can't be helped, it happens to the best of us." He gestured for Link to wait there while Parrow got the medicine.
He turned towards some commotion on the plaza. It was a big group of kids making a lot of ruckus. The kids were surrounding a small girl, about the age of 10. "Leave me alone!" the girl screamed. She seemed to be cornered by the other ones.
The kids tried to calm her down to make sure the adults wouldn't come to check, but the girl in the middle tried to get away from them somehow. "Where are you going to go?" A big kid pulled the much smaller girl back in. "You can't call your bird anyway."
She pushed them, trying to make an opening to get away. The big kid pushed her back, then the other ones continued, pushing her back and forth.
Link started towards the group.
The kids continued pushing her, getting closer to the edge each time.
Stop that - you're hurting her.
They all started laughing as she was trembling in fear by the edge. They stopped now as she had nowhere else to go. One of them didn't stop and pushed her one more time, making her lose her balance and fall off the island, screaming.
He ran for it, jumping right after her, leaving the scared kids alone on Skyloft. Seeing her falling a bit away from him, he placed his fingers in his mouth, wanting to call for his Loftwing. Then, he remembered the kids saying the girl couldn't call a bird.
She should be able to; she's old enough.
He kept falling down, slowly moving further towards her. The winds rushed past his ears, his hat flailing behind him like some floppy fish. Link saw her place her own fingers in her mouth and blow. No sound came out of them, or sometimes a faint whistle that could hardly be heard. She tried more and more, less sound coming out from her mouth. She kept looking at her chest, blowing as hard as she could, knowing birds couldn't hear screaming, only the whistles.
She's never been taught?
Calling for his own Loftwing, he started getting closer to her. The sound had startled her for a moment, before she saw him flying towards her. He heard his bird getting closer, and just as he grabbed the girls hand he felt his bird supporting him. Pulling her close he tried to calm her down, her breathing slowing as they gained altitude again.
Only when they landed on the island did she dare to speak, a small thank you as she got off the bird. He smiled at her as he came off the bird too. The kids apparently had left. Only a big figure stood waiting for them.
"Cassidy!" Parrow made his way over to them, clutching the little girl tight. The man looked up at Link after a few seconds of holding her and nodded. He nodded back. "I'm so glad you're safe."
She let go of Parrow and went towards him, past him and to his bird, softly stroking its feathers on its neck. "You did great." He heard her whisper.
Parrow came to him and grabbed his hand, shaking it. "Thank you so much for saving her." Link nodded. "For Orielle." He handed Link a bottle, the powder inside the colour of sunsets, then stood beside the girl for a moment as she continued petting his bird. Parrow placed a hand on her shoulder and led her away. She turned around to look at Link again before they left.
His Loftwing stood up and flew away, leaving him alone on the square. He turned around towards the big yellow pillar in the sky. Link still had a job to do.
Back in the air, he travelled to Orielle, who was waiting eagerly for him.
"Thank you," she said as she grabbed the bottle from Link.
He nodded towards her, but she couldn't see as she immediately turned around and started applying the weird substance onto the wing of her bird.
He took the time to look around the skies. Every time he did, he could discover something new on the horizon. Whether they were brightly-coloured pillars in the sky - green, red, yellow - or tiny new islands he'd never really noticed before, just like this one. One of the clouds way in the distance seemed to have something on it, but he couldn't quite see what it was.
Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned around and was handed a bottle from Orielle. "I'm done here, can you give this back to Parrow?"
He nodded towards her and wanted to set off, but Orielle had grabbed his arm to hold him back.
"You're good at whistling right?"
He nodded.
"Can you maybe teach my little sister? I've been worried about her since she doesn't seem to get the hang of it."
He nodded again. I'd love to.
When he got back to Skyloft, he watched a little figure get closer to him as he fell from the sky. Using his Sailcloth to land safely, he was approached by the little girl, her brother trailing behind her. Link handed back the bottle to him.
Her eyes seemed to glisten with amazement at his Loftwing. She got close to him and reached out her hand. He shook it.
"I wanted to thank you again, sir."
It made him laugh. Sir? "Link," he said.
"Link..." She looked at him in thought before speaking again. "My name's Cas."
"You don't know how to whistle."
Her face turned red. She backed away a bit, putting her hands behind her back.
Too direct?
"Y-yeah," she said. "Can you help me?"
"Yes."
In the following hours, he taught her how to move her mouth in just the right position to make a sound. They were right before the cave, letting the sounds echo through it.
Tongue against your palate and tip of your finger, teeth biting one or two fingers, but not too hard as you can bruise them. Then you let the air flow past them, trying to make a sound very carefully, then working up to make it louder.
"Try it," he said.
Cas took all the steps carefully and a sweet tune played through her fingers.
Excitedly she jumped in the air, a smile plastered to her face.
They waited a bit. Not hard enough?
She tried again, the tune loud and clear this time. No bird seemed to show up.
Her smile didn't falter. She tried again and again, eventually making a continuous tune. Link joined in with his own, and soon after his Loftwing landed a bit away from them.
She wasn't disappointed, however. "It might not be ready."
Leaving the next day felt hard, but he had to continue his quest.
Right when he was about to leave, Cas came to him again. "Here, I hope this helps." She handed him a bottle. "People say you use these way more than the average person. We have enough at home, anyway."
He took the present from her and whistled. She did the same. Both his bird and another appeared.
He opened his eyes.
"That's me," the girl said while pointing at the smaller girl in the picture.
"Cassidy," he whispered.
"It's Cas, actually, but yeah, that's me." She laughed awkwardly at him, reaching for the picture to put it away.
"And that was your bird?"
"Yep! Not to boast but I've been told I'm the best knight of the academy, though I could never top the hero of the skies. Certainly not his flying abilities." They both chuckled at the last comment, remembering the size of her bird.
Is that what they were calling me...? Quite intriguing.
He nodded.
She started talking about the stories she'd heard about him.
"I don't want to interrupt you, but where is your Loftwing?" he asked. She stopped in the middle of her sentence, processing his words before smiling. "She's doing great, been waiting for you."
For me?
She stuck one finger in her mouth and whistled. The tone was loud and clear, but still sounded familiar to the last time he heard that tune.
A few moments later a magnificent violet bird appeared, landing on the little patch of grass with a clumsy approach. It didn't seem old at all, like it still had to get used to its wings. When it finally regained its balance, it walked over to its master, nudging its head in her side to show some affection.
I know you.
The bird now turned its attention to him.
You know me too?
He smiled at the bird as it came closer. Link reached out his hand and felt the hard beak push against it, sliding more towards him until it stopped right when he touched the feathers of its head.
So small for someone her age.
"She was born too late, and therefore couldn't come to me at the right time. She still has a lot to learn, but we make a great team," Cas said, as if she had read his thoughts.
He nodded while reaching down, scratching behind its neck feathers, the place his own loved the most. It leaned into the scratch, crying a bit out of enjoyment. Link smiled at the bird.
You've grown so much, however.
"She's amazing, isn't she?" Cas said as she got close and started petting the Loftwing as well.
Link nodded as the bird shook him off, wanting to seek the skies again.
"Yeah, she doesn't like to sit still." Cas chuckled.
They watched as both birds took off, his own - a bit irritated for not getting as much attention - letting out a high-pitched scream. He laughed at his Loftwing's jealousy. They'd been alone together for so long while searching the skies, but it still hadn't shaken off that little layer of envy.
"Am I needed?" Link asked, remembering that there was actually a festival going on for his sake.
"No, not at all."
He turned towards the cave.
A bit of talking won't hurt.
"Let's go," he said as he walked back.
Cas nodded and went after him. "Oh, and by the way, I'm going to be on the newest team to explore below the clouds." Cas walked on ahead, a small smile on her lips as she did.
Edited by lovely VeloxVoid (check out their work (mainly on ao3 by the same name))