Chapter Eight
Going Cucco and Beedle's Pricy Lift
By the time Link and Zelph had reached Kokiri nearly all of the snow had melted apart from the odd snowman here and there that Mya had taught the Kokiri how to make but they were all missing parts now.
"Do you like them?" Mya asked Link, "I took pictures...did you know that it never snows here, even in the winter time?"
"Why would it? It's a different world, sharing its space with the one we grew up in" Link told her, "Is Zane around?"
Zane appeared behind Link and tapped him on the shoulder,
Link turned around and found Zane holding a Cucco,
"Your next game" Zane told him
"Involves Cucco'?" Link asked with trepidation
"Not afraid of Cucco's are you Link?" Zelph asked
"No" Link lied, thinking about all the times he smacked them with a sword in the game version, only to be pecked to death for the cheek, "The eyes...he knows what I did"
"What did you do?" Zelph asked
Link mumbled his confession,
"You what?" Mya asked
The Cucco flapped in Zane' arms to be put down and Link ran away.
"Right, so where are we going?" Zelph asked as Link continually looked over his shoulder, "Link! They didn't come after you the last year they're not going to come after you now, they have no connection to the Cucco' in the game...why did you hit them with the sword anyway?"
"Come on, we've all done it" Link said trying not to laugh,
"That's not what I asked" Zelph said huffily,
"I'd just been beaten by the boss of a temple for the umpteenth time and it was annoying me so I was smashing pots and boxes and trees and the Cucco kept getting in my lie of fire, next thing I know I have a thousand Cucco' swarming me like Bees and a Game Over above my head" Link told her, "You never hit a Cucco?"
"No comment" Zelph said looking embarrassed, "Where are we going?"
"Back to Kakoriko Village, the farmland I shot Pumpkins for the last miniture statue, remember the game on the Ranch, we have to find 5 unique Cucco' in a set time" Link told her
"Uh oh...pick up the wrong one more than three times...we'll have a real life Cucco protest on our hands" Zelph said biting her lip
Link laughed at the wording more so than the senario.
The farmer looked up at Link and Zelph with a frown on his face as they ventured onto his land once more,
He was sitting in the middle of a coop,
"First my pumpkins and now my Cucco', I should have known"
"I was tired, he ran out of Rupees, you got the Pumpkins back didn't you?" Link said
"Not the point" The farmer huffed
"Who started this game?" Zelph asked
"I did but I didn't expect the King to deliver a statue for you, anyone else I wouldn't mind"
"Thanks!" Zelph huffed
"We house your stupid statues we're targets for Sheika" The farmer said
"Oh...I didn't know that" Zelph said
"It is kind of obvious" Link said, not helping the situation one bit, "So how many rounds are there to this game?"
The farmer stood up and grinned, his whole attitude altered in a way that would suggest he was delighted to have the custom and had never met Link or Princess Zelda in his life,
"There are three rounds to this game, three rounds Sir" The farmer said, "Round 1, locate five of my best Cucco' with the unique marking on the feathers of their backs in two minutes, if you can do that you'll go on to round 2. For this round you will be in the pen and the Cucco' will be chasing you for the treats attached to your backs, both of you, if either of you get hit more than three times you're out and that statue will be sold to the highest bidder"
"You can't do that!" Zelph screeched
"Show me a contract proving otherwise" The farmer said, "Round 3 pick a Cucco and race with me one lap around Kakoriko Village and the statue is yours"
"You're going to be minted by the end of the week" Link said with a hint of admiration
"I know...so, think you can take me on?" The farmer asked
"Uh huh!" Link nodded
Round 1 began the second Link put a foot on the ground of the coop,
The farmer even had the music from the Ranch playing full blast to panic and distract him, it made things so much harder for him,
He found the first Cucco, this had 4 odd feathers, after he found one with 5 feathers it was much easier, he found the next with 10 seconds left, the forth with 5 seconds left and the last Cucco, with only one unique feather on it with half a second to spare.
Zelph fell into the hay, relieved as the whistle was blown to signal that Link had won that round.
"How!?" The farmer yelled, "You were supposed to lose...I mean you were sure to lose"
"Once I realised your Cucco' were numbered it was easy" Link laughed
"I...I'm sure I don't know what you mean" The farmer said
"Ready for round 2?" Link asked
"Ready for round 2, you're sure to lose this one" The farmer replied
"Why do you want us to lose so bad?" Zelph asked
"I have to give you back the Rupees you spent if you win, I make money from the losses" The farmer told her
Round 2 began, with wicka baskets of grain attached to the backs of both Link and Zelph. The Cucco' were called but Link and Zelph were ready for them. Zelph used Link' grain, quickly grabbing and tossing all of it into the corner of the pen,
Link did the same for her when some of the Cucco', who couldn't get grain started to roud on her. Zelph jumped out of the way a few times until Link had all the grain on the other side of the pen.
The whistle was blown with no grain left.
"Impressed?" Zelph asked
"You got lucky" The farmer said unsportingly
Round 3, the farmer thought he really had one over on them now,
"Pick a Cucoo and start from the top of the viewing tower" He said
"While you do what?" Link asked suspicious
"Race you around the village" The farmer said innocently
"You mean, while we fly, which would make us slower than the average man, you run around the village and meet us back at this pen" Link said
"Uh..." Came his reply
"Pick a Cucco" Link said
The farmer sighed,
"How do you propose we get it up there to the top of the viewing tower?"
"We use my Whirlwind and boomerang" Link said with a grin
"Oh" The farmer said,
"Afraid of heights aren't you?" Zelph teased
"No...the Cucco's, no one ever flew one before" The farmer said
"So we jump from a not so drastic height first, one ledge to another" Link said
The three of them picked a Cucco each, climbed the steps to one ledge and jumped. To Link' great surprise the Cucco' were able to hold their weight as they glided across to the ledge on the other side of them. Link had, had his eyes opened to a lot of new things since the days of Shanklin' order but of this he was certain could not be true,
"Is there really a need for a third round?" Zelph asked
"I suppose it could be deemed a little dangerous" The farmer said
"Does that mean we can have the mini statue?" Link asked
The farmer sighed and went off to get the mini statue for them.
With the mini statue in hand they took it back to Hi-Range to be viewed by Zane. Zane placed it on the map and the mini statue floated off the table,
"Another unexplored area...or maybe not, it's from Skyward' era" Zane told Link and Zelph
"But that's perfect" Link said, "If we can find something of the orginial "Surface" then perhaps we'll find something the settlers left behind in their quest to return to Skyloft or the Oocoo"
"I don't know" Zane said doubtfully
"We know someone, who would know" Zelph said, "Fi!"
"Hello" Zane said
"Not you, Fi, the tour guide from Skyloft, she works in Pompii" Zelph said
"Oh...they named someone in Skyloft after me?" Zane said in question with a smile
Not wanting to waste any valuable time the three ventured back to Pompii, it was dark by the time they reached the place so Link used the song of light to bring about the start of a new day. As the crowds started to arrive on coaches Link, Zelph and Zane went off in search of Fi,
Fi was working in the gift shop right now and was more than happy to give them a guided tour. Fi told them they could talk shop just as soon as the tour was over, they couldn't miss this for anything. It was nice for Link and Zelph, for Zane even to just be a tourest for a few minutes. They took in the paintings on the walls, some of which had been restored using paints used back then, in the buildings still standing after all this time. They were told about the jobs they knew certain people had based on the research they had conducted and the casts of the people of Pompii.
They aslo saw what was left of their Gladiator arena, which thrilled Link and Zelph equally.
Finally they sat on a viewing bench overlooking the city and Link explained everything to Fi,
"So the Great Fairy is in Skyloft" Fi said summerising, they showed her a picture of where the mini statue had placed itself, "Yes I see, Hyrule was established in Faron. Then after a number of Earthquakes Hyrule sank, leaving this ancient, walled city known to some as The Great Platow" Fi told Link
The Platow now made sense to Link, the entire time he had played BOTW he couldn't work out how, where, why or when the very area his computer self started came to be,
"How do we get up to Skyloft?" Zelph asked
"How many Rupees do you have?" Fi asked
"Why?" Link asked suspicious
"He won't let you ride for free" Fi said
"Beedle!" Link exclaimed, "Beedle is real!"
"He gets his business from the Rito these days, and the Deku Scrubs" Fi told them
"Where can we find him? How can we get his attention?" Zelph asked
"Ordon is a personal favourite for him, he sleeps on a ledge on the stream there on occasion and talks to the owl, that sits and waits patiently for a call" Fi told them, "The Lost Woods too"
Link looked at Zane,
"Zelph is the daughter of the King of Hyrule we have the Rupees for Beedle" Zane told him,
"Alright, let's go and find Beedle...how do we get him to land though?" Link said in question
"You need to make friends with a Deku Scrub"
Finding Deku Scrubs wasn't the issue, befriending one on the other hand...
"What do you really want with Beedle?" A Deku Scrub asked for the hundreth time
"I told you, we just want a lift to Skyloft" Link said losing his paitence
"What if he's selling something we want?" The Deku Scrub asked
"Then we'll sell it back to you" Link suggested
"Hmm...at a third of the cost?" The Deku Scrub asked
Link looked up, Beedle was peddling over the Lost Wood for the fifth time since they'd found this latest Deku Scrub,
"Deal, now please call Beedle down" Link pleaded
The little Deku Scrub blew a big pink bubble and sent it up into the air towards a bell at the bottom of Beedle' air shop.
The bell rang and Beedle lowered a ladder that Link, Zelph and Zane grabbed ahold of,
Beedle then flew off with them still on the ladder,
"Oh! Who do you think you are hitching a ride on my ladder!" Came Beedle' voice from somewhere above, enphasising the "Oh!" exactly as his character did in the game
"Customers, we're customers and we didn't know how else to call you!" Zelph called up
"Oh! Well come aboard!" Came his voice and the ladder rose. Once inside they found Beedle peddling a bike that was attached to a mechanism, attached to two giant wings either side of the shop.
As Link expected the items in the shop were either useless and expensive or useful but no price tag attached, "What can I do for you?" He asked
"Well we'd like you to take us to Skyloft please and to...buy this" Link began, picking up a ring, "We would like to buy this!"
"Link! I can't marry a knight" Zelph said though entranced by the ring
"Shut up" Link said,
"That's a warp map" Zane said inspecting it, then to Beedle he added, "How did you get this?"
"Buy it and I'll tell you" Beedle said,
"How much? There's no price" Link said
"10,000 Rupees" Beedle said
"Never!" Link snapped
Beedle reached for a lever,
"Wait, wait wait! We have the money!" Zane said
"Bargin for it! I never paid that much for anything in any Zelda game!" Link exclaimed astonished
"Oh very well...what would you pay for it?" Beedle asked
"I...I don't know, this wasn't in the game, what does it do?"
"It allows you to track your enemy and in the event warp ahead to stop them, it shouldn't even be on the shelf, give it back" Beedle said
"Who sold it to you?" Zane asked
"Some knight, had a name like a pillar" Beedle said
"Colin?" Link asked
"That's it" Beedle said
"He clearly wanted Link to have this, how much did you pay him?"
"5,000 Rupees...I sell it with an interest" Beedle said, "10,000 plus something on the shelf that is for sale and I'll get you to Skyloft"
"You're cheaper in the games!" Link exclaimed, then as Beedle reached for the lever he said, "Alright! 10,000 for the ring and information! Pluss 20 Deku Seeds"
"You don't have the purse" Beedle said
"Fine the purse too but that's it! How much is it?" Link asked
"400 Rupees"
"Lower" Zane said
"Sure!" Beedle said, flying down and sending all but the items on the shelf flying
"Higher!" Zelph yelled
"600 Rupees and 10 Rupees for every mile between here and Skyloft" Beedle beamed
In the end they had to fold and as Beedle dropped them on the floating ruins of Skyloft he took away a grand total of 1811 Rupees for the ring, a purse and 20 Decku Seeds they were certain they'd never need and another 2011 Rupees for his knowledge, which was nothing, and the lift to Skyloft,
As Beedle cried an enphasised "Thank you!" Link jumped up and down on the spot,
"Link, it's not your money" Zelph pointed out
"No...don't you get it? The Skyward Sword game was released on the 18th November 2011, 1811 for the items and 2011 for the Skyward lift! Man is a genius...I hate him" Link exclaimed
"What's all this about with Colin?" Zelph asked
"It's more to do with his family, Colin wouldn't play us...would he?" Link said suddenly uncertain
"We don't know him that well" Zelph said
"Well...I know it's a long shot but why don't we see if there's a connection between him, his family and the Colin of Skyloft while we're here?" Link suggested
Link, Zelph and Zane could see the school from where they were standing, getting to it however was aother matter for there was a gap between the second to last step and the lawn in front of the building.
Zane shrunk down to fairy size and flew across the gap to the lawn, where he then returned to his human size and wedged a light but sturdy box between the gap so Link and Zelph could simply step across.
"Thanks...I can't actually believe that worked" Link said
At this moment the box broke,
"We'll find another way back" Zane said
The door needed a little pursuading but they got it open eventually and ventured into the training school.
It looked just like it did in the game only darker, and as no pictures from it's hay day existed they summerised that a developer of the game had to have come up here in the early stages. The names of all the students were on the doors as expected,
"How did they manage to get Skyloft airbourne again?" Zelph asked
"That's a good point" Link said
"The three Godnesses reclaimed the land in case of a flood but as you know the flood only takes place in the adult Link time line but they didn't know that then" Zane told them
"So does that make this Outset Island?" Link asked
"No, this is Windfall Island" Zane told him
Link realised they were standing in front of Groose' room and a wicked thought came into his mind,
"Toilet ghost" Link grined
"You gave it the letter didn't you?!" Zelph exclaimed, "You can be really mean at times Link"
They turned when a door creeked open and a ghost head poked out,
"Link? That you?"
It was ghost Colin from Skyward Sword' era,
"Yes" Came a reply
Skyward Link walked out of Link' Master Sword and walked up to him,
"I failed Link" Colin said
"You didn't really want to be a knight did you?" Skyward Link asked
"No but mum and dad did" Colin wept, "Oh Link you have to help me"
"Colin" Skyward Link said sensitively
"My future is at risk" Colin told him,
Link shivered,
Colin lead Skyward Link into his room,
With a look from Skyward Link, Link, Zelph and Zane followed,
What was Colin' secret?