VOLUME I: The Red Thread of Fate
)) Chapter 2: Swayed By The Winds ((
Graveyard, Skyloft, 7am, First Day
After using the mighty steed Argorok, a dragon whose power was to blend with the shadow, the group of Sheikah considering of Mazhar Davul, Gwen and Thorne promptly reached the wonderful city of Skyloft, constituted by several scattered landmasses suspended in the sky above the Surface, home of Hylia's children, the sacred bird known as Loftwings… and, as some of the higher ranking Sheikah knew, another rare race which was said to have a lot of ties with the Goddesses, even superior to the Shadow Folks' themselves.
Either way, the group first landed at the Graveyard, the closest locations where Poes could be. It was a quick and rather swift inspection of the place, they discovered that, first of all, by pushing a gravestone, they opened a Secret passage to the underside of the island, the rather unremarkable presence of some green ChuChus and rupees by touching some graves, and overall nothing worth notice, except the fact that the graves were being, for some reason, heavily decorated. The raven haired second in command herself raised a brow in puzzlement at such
Mazhar further studied the area with the Eye to be sure they had done a perfect examination of the place. As the results proved positive, they moved in the city, using their skills as Sheikah to hide in the shadows and look over every person which might have looked suspicious. As they crawled through the shades, they realized the atmosphere of the place was very … feisty and light hearted. They knew that since the Hero of Legend had defeated the Demon King, peace had been prospering, but no doubt there had to be some further reasons for this.
As they reached the first inhabited area they had targeted, the Knight Academy, they realized why the whole Skyloft seemed to be so joyous. The coming of the Hero of Legend had, indeed, overshadowed a minor event in Skyloft's history: the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Academy. As seventy-five year had passed, it meant that the Academy was about to celebrate its first century, quite an achievement. The new headmaster, a former friend of the Hero, was quite proud to have successfully lived through this all, and had decided to personally supervise the event in question.
Nonetheless to say, dozen of students were already practicing all over the Academy for the event: some were fighting in the sparring hall, others were looking over their Loftwings and train them for the main trial, the Wing Ceremony, where they would have proved their worth to become Knights and get a tunic that, while the first times used to be of a different color each year, since that unique twenty-fifth year, it had remained permanently of a dark green color, in a clear reference at the greatest figure in all history of Skyloft.
Thorne and Gwen remained…. Utterly shocked at seeing that world unfolding before them, such grandness displayed in a colorful realm invaded by light, to the point that reality, they would have gladly stopped by to join, weren't Mazhar present. So they quickly snapped back to reality and walked over the halls, easily sliding through the shadow of every careless student all of them, as the Eye revealed no sign of possession
The trio of Shadow Folks just kept walking over as they reached a possible place where Poes could have been hiding: the library. Filled with dirt and spider webs, big and humid, people rarely went there, full of paintings to hide in, close to a place full of people… what better place for a Poe to live in? Also, there was supposedly at that time no soul around.
And instead, to the trio's amusement, there was the single soul, and not a librarian. It was a student with a lithe frame and a small height, inferior to most average girls of his age, shoulder length straight black hair, blue robes covering a black jumpsuit which somehow clashed with the red scarf around his neck, and his round face, slightly covered with and hat, had soft and thin features, the most notables bright and big hazel colored eyes which shifted left and right quickly as he was reading a book about the right equipment and tips to ride safely a Loftwing, his thin finger running through the paper, fond to discover everything about this. On his face was plastered a wide smirk, greedy of knowledge, enough not to notice a girl walking close to him.
What was most drawing of that fawn-haired girl, who as her white dress implied was going to be the student to represent Hylia that year, was the white veil-like cloth on head that reached the floor, and the white bandages over eyes and neck, indicating her blindess, and a wide, some would say even eerie, ear to ear grin. Taking a deep breath, she quickly recognized her companion's scent and smiling even wider, spoke to him with a loud tone, with an intention, clear to the Sheikah observing this, to startle the boy, easily succeeding
"My my, Ankoku,what are you doing here?", the girl mused with a cheerful and somber tone, going behind Ankoku and leaning her hands on his shoulders to avoid him to run away immediately.
Ankoku turned and, recognizing her answered with a … rather unique speech pattern: "Indeed, my my, Alannah, such a surprise to cross our path here. What coincidence or fate has brought you to the library?"
Alannah looked around and froze as bit as she could swore to be able to perceive some weird noise. The Sheikah, figuring out what she did, quickly stood still, so she was not able to trace them anymore and shift back to her schoolmate and answered.
"Really? Are we in the library?", she asked in genuine surprise, her blindness forbidding her to know the truth, a thing Mazhar was somehow... understanding of.
Ankoku nodded and further confirmed with enthusiasm: "We are, I have been further implementing my knowledge about riding my Loftwing. Dodo is excited as much as I am for the Wings ceremony, we will pass it, no doubt"
Alannah clapped at him: "Bravo, good Ankoku, then we will make the ritual at the Statue together, uh? It will be fun"
Ankoku's eyes widened in clear terror at this as his fingers trembled and stated: "No pressure, uh?"
Such statement made Thorne wonder what line of thought had flown through the youngster's mind. Instead, Gwen wondered how well she would have fit Hylia's dress had she replaced Alannah.
A lot of people would end up falling down off the island hee hee, she thought holding her mouth with an hand to muffle a giggle which might have blown their cover.
As the two spoke for a bit, the bell rung, meaning the lessons were about to start. Just as if a trained Rescue Knight, Ankoku stood up and said: "Well, such conversation was fun. Might we cross out path once more soon, Alannah"
Laughing at her schoomate's speech, the girl answered with an energetic pat on his back before walking away: "It was fufufu…see ya, Ankoku, might Hylia protect you"
The boy in blue, remembering the dream, smiled sofly at this, and bowed at the fawn haired Hylia impersonator in a sign of gratitude as he took his leave from the library, positive feelings filling his young and immature mind. Mazhar, who had stood silent and had even let her two teammates slack off and watch the show as she analyzed the room and discovered that, once more, there was no Poe, could not help but glance at the leaving student and empathize as the two younger Sheikah slapped their forehead with their palms as Ankoku had not noticed that Alannah had placed on his back a 'Kick Me' sign. Before they could go away and explore another area of Skyloft, the Bazaar, they heard the sound of a kick and a lightly loud pained sound.
Repeatedly.
Bazaar, Skyloft, 1:30 pm, First Day -
The group had been seeking for over six hours for any Poe or ghastly entity, and, so far, the report was fruitless. Not even a glimpse of undead energy, no people turned into gold, not even the Collector was there to give clues.
Gwen and Thorne were pretty much convinced that Vina's assumption was (thankfully) wrong, after this. Mazhar, instead, remaining silent, was still determined to look for any possible Poe, although not now that the sun was at its peak, it was pretty much assured that no ghost would have showed up, so she was allowing once more his subordinates to relax and enjoy from afar the preparations of the festival, all while looking down with the Eye of Truth for any possible contingency.
The two younger Sheikah, jumping up the roof of the Academy, looked down and watched amazed the festival. It was amazing, far bigger than they could have thought, and the Ballad of the music they had heard that morning had gone up to a glorious crescendo. Both of them silently thought to ask Vina for a day off to watch the Ceremony.
The first sight that amazed them was the apparently endless number of Loftwings. Those birds were a joy to the Shaodw Folks, mostly because their steeds, the Argoroks, were so dull colored and aggressive compared to those magnificently colored and so friendly looking animals.
And how many colors. Blue was the most common, yet they could see yellow, green, orange, brown, they could swear to see even someone deep red. And, surprisingly, they saw even the young boy from before, Ankoku, if their memories were correct, who was bringing with him his Loftwing up to the Bazaar, periodically caressing it. It was a very fine beast, looking perfectly healthy and fine, with a fluffy blue-colored plumage and, weirdly enough, some white stripes at the side of its wings and down its beak, following its spine. It somehow resembled the color scheme of Ankoku's clothes. How it was possible, nobody knew, not even Ankoku himself. Although it was said that some Loftwings who have deep bonds with their masters ended up mimicking their appearance. At least, this was the most common explanation as to why the Loftwing of the Headmaster seemed to have a pompadour-like hairdo atop its head.
"Have no fear Dodo" –Ankoku's voice finally spoke caressing his Loftwing's head – "look around, be amazed by such beauty and festivity. Isn't this place wonderful? Don't be shy, we shall be here here tomorrow for the Ceremony we have been training so much for. I have even bought thise special iron-soled boots to improve our balance. Why do you make a such a face? Please, tell me not you are getting afraid. Oh, here here"
At this Ankoku wrapped his arms around Dodo's neck and whispered things which seemed to calm it down. Gwen giggled at how cute they seemed together… but quickly joined Thorne in sighing, as they both were seeing that the young boy had still the 'Kick Me' sign on his back. They could not help but carefully aim aneedle which swept away the paper, although lightly started Ankoku as he felt something passing on his back. As the duo quickly hid in shadows though, he was unable to spot them and resumed petting Dodo, and carefully place his scarf around him, as if it was its reins, and kept walking him to the Bazaar, unknowingly followed by the two Sheikah.
A few minutes later, Dodo made a pigeon-like sound as it spotted Ankoku's schoolmates and their Loftwings, which responded in turn, making their masters turn at each other.
"Lord Allard! Lady Alannah! Lady Ai! Lord Kody, I once more give you my greetings and wish you a good afternoon. Do you feel enthusiast enough for the upcoming celebration?", Ankoku cheered with his usual overflowing tone, which made everyone, even the Sheikah and the Loftwings, roll their eyes.
"Not bad", Allard, a tall and muscled youth in his late teens with green eyes, brown hair and tattoos over his body, said coldly, but without hostility, as he was preparing his own Loftwing, a dark brown and fiercer version of them, one of the only two Skyloftian to posses such kind. Kody, a smaller (shorter than Ankoku himself, actually) blonde with a worryingly thin figure, shrugged, his yellow steed mimicking her, while the Alannah answering with a chuckle alongside her curiously purple eyed bird with fluttering eyelashes, as if to underline its jockey nature.
Ai, an averagely fit girl with mid-back length blond hair dressed in dark blue, looked up at her schoolmate and gave him a warmer smile.
"There you have come Ankoku" – she stated while petting her turquoise steed – "seems this time will be competing. I warn you Saro will give your Dodo a tough time at the Wing Ceremony tomorrow"
Ankoku gave her a thumb up at this, amazed by the festival as he gave another look around, still in awe and giving out a small cheer.
"My My Ankoku" – Alannah said with a laugh – "quite cheerful these days. Seems not even being kicked to the ground can keep you down today"
The young Skyloftian miserably failed to notice the excessively specific statement and laughed at this shaking his head: "No way I shall despair today, even if I get an inexplicably high number of people connecting their feet with my bum as, weirdly enough, has happened today... Regardless, I feel pumped enough to be going up for three days in a row without falling asleep"
At this, Allard, the most mature of the group, looked at Alannah, easily putting to and two together and shook his head as the fawn-haired impersonator of Hylia, which was pulling off a wide ear to ear grin at her successful prank.
Kody in the meanwhile was looking down at Ankoku's shoes, having noticed they looked heavier than usual and , knowing that Ankoku's mother was a teacher, picked up the opportunity and asked: "Excuse me, Ankoku but… am I wrong or you have made iron your shoes?"
The student in blue looked down at his feet and nodded to his companion: "You picked up correctly, Lord Kody, I have modified by shoes for this occasion. By ironing them, you get a better footing on the Loftwing and, in case you possess a light frame like mine, you get a superior stability while riding"
"I have heard of a similar technique used by the knights themselves on occasions" – the tattooed older teen stated – "I suppose your mother was who told you about"
Ankoku thought for a bit, exchanging look with his steed for a bit before answering with a laughter and correcting him: "Actually, my mother just ordered me not to fail this time"
The group actually fell silent at this, as they knew his mother's rather… straightforward strategy of training, he was telling the truth. Even the Ballad of the Goddesses seemed to have diminished in volume. Thorne could not help but raise a brow at how Ankoku seemed to be so light on such harsh treating. Gwen simply wondered why everyone was getting so silent, not making too many comments. Only Alannah kept her smirk on and broke the tension with her laughter, her Loftwing imitating her quickly.
And so she finally mused with an hand before her mouth: "Fu fu fu… sounds rather sweet, Ankoku"
Dodo answered with a gulp, but Ankoku patted it and with a light bow quipped back: "I know, and I am waiting for this day since I have been learnt to read and stumbled upon… that legend of Zelda, and of her mighty warrior"
Ankoku had been fascinated with that hero in green every time he read of him. He always imagined him swinging his blade and mowing down enemies with ease in the name of the Golden Goddesses and all good in the world, A dream come true. Little had he noticed a man who was walking by with a plate of freshly made Bombchus.
The youth's eyes lit up of a bright color as if they were reflecting the sun, hands brought together as in a sign of prayer.
"If I succeed today… It will be a step closer to my dream I will become like"– Ankoku said taking a deep breath as he let out his last word –"Link!"
Somehow, such word was said so loudly that even a few Keeses perceived it. The students backed away in surprise with their steeds and Alannah was forced to cover her over-sensitive ears from that high frequency more akin to a bat than a common person; same for the still hidden, but very eager to listen, Thorne and Gwen. But more notably, the unlucky man carrying the Bombchus was so startled that dropped all of the robotic weapons, which, upon activation due to having been set down on the ground, caused ruckus. It was all a matter of few seconds, but all these sounds of explosions sent Dodo on a freak out, and with a loud shriek, took flight as the other aspiring riders were taming their steeds and flew off Skyloft in a frenzy.
All the group of younglings was bewildered, to say the least, by how a simple action had brought such a cascade of disasters, and yet it was Ankoku's expression the most shocked, enough that Ai, as soon as she saw his shrunken eyes and paler than usual skin tone, quickly went up to assure him that everything worked out. And yet, the trembling small boy, while panicking, simply looked at the now small blur in the sky which was his Loftwing, not having lost track of it not even for a second.
He knew that his bird was shy and maybe would have come back later, after an hour or two, maybe hidden somewhere in the farthest islands… this time it had his scarf with him. And Ankoku had promised to himself NEVER to lose… that scarf.
"Worry not, guys, keep having fun" – he said with the brightest smile and the most determined eyes he could gather lifting his finger to feel the wind– "I will get Dodo back. The winds are on my favor!"
The two Sheikah were actually about to try and help him themselves, hating to see such fate befall on somebody but Mazhar, appearing out of nowhere, had already stopped them by placing herself between them and the young student. After all, they were acting on impulse and, at the moment, with the Argorok left at the graveyard… what could they actually do? Not to say it could have blown their cover. Luckily, such moved stopped them from making any rushed action. Indeed, they had to learn soon a thing about humans. While they were a mediocre race in terms of strength or intelligence, they seemed to possess a surprising amount of willpower which exploded in the most creative resourcefulness.
And indeed, Thorne could not help but state now that they were back from a safe position: "Is he… taking off his robes?"
"He is … uh…" – Gwen said tilting his head at Ankoku only in his black jumpsuit – "he seems to be also… zipping them back and. NO WAY, he is turning them into a sailcloth?"
Mazhar, who had figured out immediately what the young man was doing, nodded at the two other subordinates and made them both a gesture. Break was over, it was time to resume their job and see if any Poe was still around.
"Worry not" – Ankoku stated to his classmates observing him as he was done and was running towards the edge of Skyloft – "Unless there is going to be any big contingency, I shall successfully catch Dodo at my first try. It's not the first time he panics, I know how to deal with it"
Nodding and wishing him good luck, the students looked over and saw Ankoku transported with the handmade sailcloth by the winds , somehow catching up to the scared bird. As Kody was about to ask Allard whether Ankoku would have succeeded, a weird… verse of an ancient and powerful animal echoed… or maybe not an animal… a Deity.
Alannah was the first to pick up and yelped a bit at the sound, only to realize what it meant and mused once more: "How big is that of a contingency?"
"Quite", Allard's monosyllabically answered.
Even Ankoku slowly turned at the verse. He was not prepared the view, his eyes widened and took all his will power not to drop his jaw. A giant shade of a dark color, big as in comparable in size to a rather large building, was flowating towards him.
From a bit afar, and getting closer, there was seemed to be a giant fish… no, incorrect, more like a whale. A giant dark blue wave with what seemed a dark blue color and a sort of giant… mustaches made of clouds? Yes, that face was somehow human like with those detailed eyes and that mustache. And it was clear that it was not just old, but ancient, so much that dark grey protuberances were growing on his sides, a plate hiding his forehead. On the fins rudimentary fingers with long bones at the hand to mimic an hybrid between claws and nails completed the figure of the deity before Ankoku. And the youth was frozen in shock, as could swear that such appearance was not unfamiliar. Sure, he had never seen live just like he was doing, but on the countless books he had been reading. That picture… yes….
'He must be one of the fabled God of the Seas, the Leviathans. Oh my… by the Wise Nayru … He must be the Wind Fish Levias' – Ankoku thought in awe, quickly switching to terror while realizing what was happening – 'And those…. Giant fins which …. creates small scale hurricanes every time they are waving around… and he is heading towards me and Dodo… Oh my…. no…'
What could Ankoku have said while looking at the Diety who hadn't even noticed him, just a few moments before a wave of those winds scattered across the heavens his loftwing, his scarf and himself with his sailcloth?
Just a resigned: "This is quite a big contingency! Ms. Fiona shall not be pleased with such news"
And by the unfortunate coincidence shaped by the power of Levias' fins, Ankoku was dragged away from Skyloft by the winds, soon going to be landing upon a land of myths and mysteries, first explored by a Skyloftian whose name had become legend, fabled earth promised to people by Hylia herself, battlefield of the War of Creations, home of past, present and future mysteries filled with magic, treasures, monsters and a legend built upon a thin thread of fate connecting everything.
No matter Ankoku's will…. he soon was going to see with his very immature and unready eyes that one land which had been named by the Knight Academy Headmaster a long time ago… GROOSELAND.
DISCLAIMER:
The hystory of Zelda, Skyloft, Hyrule and Termina, alongside its characters and setting are (c) Nintendo
VinaDorenaz and Ai Lang are (c) Super-Zelda-Fanatic
Alannah is (c) Maanga
Kody is (c) ZeldaDreamsEndCreator
Allard is (c) RobotOwl
Fiona is (c) Mamading
Thorne is (c) LuvIsAThing
Gwen is (c) Kitoma Foxx
Ankoku Yami and the story are all (c) Xantospoc
Thanks you all for having read this fic, read and review please. See ya for the next chapter :)