Chapter 06: first flight

"Okay…" Red interrupted the awkward moment by speaking. "As you may know, we're supposed to have weapons. Great weapons."

Link nodded.

"Well, do you have any idea where these weapons are?" asked Red. Link shook his head.

"I do," Vaati spoke up. "Each weapon is in a temple dedicated to each of you."

"We each have our own temple? Sweet!" Blue seemed excited.

"As a matter of fact, there is a whole tribe that reveres the hero Link. When the four great Links came along, a group of Hylians saw their greatness, and were so impressed that they formed a tribe dedicated totally to reverence of these heroes. Even today, that tribe flourishes. They built each Link a great temple, dedicated just to them. When the four Links finally left Hyrule, the tribe enshrined their sacred weapons within these temples."

"You're really smart," Red commented admiringly.

"I trained under the greatest sorcerer of the Minish, my master, Ezlo," Vaati replied humbly. "Besides, having no wicked part of me left (excepting when called 'cute), I have no inclination to withhold information."

"Great, great," Blue interrupted. He seemed pumped about their own temples, but now looked a little frustrated. "Now which temple do we visit first? And how do we get there quickly?"

"Your first destination would be…" Vaati seemed to concentrate for a moment before his eyes flashed. "Ah, yes. I remember now. As Link clothed in green is your leader, you ought to visit his temple first."

"No fair!" Blue shouted. Link held a hand up to silence him, however. And Blue listened.

"Your first destination is known simply as 'the temple of spinning air,'" Vaati finished before Blue could interject.

"Spinning air, huh?" Link asked. "Now how do we get there?"

"I'll answer that one," came a voice behind them.

Luda, leading the Ordonian children, was standing there. Behind them was a hot air balloon.

"Feel free to help yourselves to our toy," Talo smiled graciously.

"You mean the reason that I haven't been getting the money my power suit business makes for myself, instead forcing me to spend it on a little project," Malo said quietly. Beth rolled her eyes and extended a small set of steps.

"Welcome aboard," she smiled as well.

"Promise me you'll have fun?" Colin, over by Renado, asked.

Link nodded and waved farewell to him as he entered the balloon. Red patted Beth on the head, and smiled excitedly as he stepped aboard. Blue, meanwhile, cuffed Talo, apparently attempting to be gentle. However, Talo was knocked flat. He laughed, however, and got up.

Blue untied the stakes, and their first flight began.

Everyone was smiling as the balloon rose, watching it fly off into the sky. The Links waved as hard as they could to their friends on the ground. However, one wasn't smiling.

Zelda was just standing there, a tear on her cheek. It was obvious that she'd wanted to say goodbye, though she hadn't. Parting with Link was obviously a strain. And no one could read her thoughts.

She was thinking of what the Glowing Red Eyes had told her. If darkness was indeed enveloping Hyrule, and if she was really going to bear the brunt, and if Link was really the hero…

Would she ever see him again?

Link, for his part, noticed her tear. His smile faded and his arm dropped. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he could see how sad she was.

"Come home, Link. Please? I don't know what I'd do if you didn't," she whispered, though he couldn't hear her.

Red was laughing and pointing to many different landmarks.

They'd been flying for awhile now, and Link had forgotten his earlier sadness. The joy of the wind whistling against their cheeks was a truly invigorating experience. Occasionally, Red would take out a his baton (called the wind waker, Link later found out) and jokingly conduct the wind. It actually responded once in a while. Link sometimes wondered if Red was truly him. Red seemed younger than the other two, for some reason. He felt as though Red were a younger sibling.

"He's actually the personification of our playful, innocent, and loyal side," Link turned to face Blue, who'd spoken.

"Where did that rare flash of reason come from?" Link asked.

"No clue, but I feel as if… something's wrong," Blue replied.

"Don't focus on that too much," Link replied. He didn't notice that Red seemed to be positioning them for landing. "If Red's the playful side, what are you?"

"I'm the short-fused, angry side," Blue explained. "The side that takes control of you whenever you face Mido."

"But when you're not angry, you seem to be pretty smart," Link smiled.

All of a sudden, a light seemed to turn off in Blue's eyes and he blinked.

"Something was just possessing me—wait, where are we?" Blue sounded more like himself now.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Link asked, not frightened, but intrigued.

"Malon, and declaring she was pretty," Blue replied brattishly.

"So, perhaps, we can take on the personality of another of us," Link mused. "But who was doing that to Blue? Shadow Link? No, Shadow Link's angry a lot too. Who was that?"

Red's playful smack across his cheek with his wind waker brought him back to reality.
"Wake up, lazy," he laughed. "We've landed!"