Chapter 7: Abandoned Knight Academy
Once they were inside the Knight Academy, Karoline stopped running and Link was able to catch his breath. The interior made the building seem a lot bigger than the outside, with wide spaces and large wooden staircases but it was dusty and silent. Then from upstairs, Link heard footsteps and instinctively moved one hand to the hilt of his sword which was still wrapped in the cloth Madame Starling gave him.
"What's the password?" asked a voice that belonged to a very muscular person whose outline was visible from the top of the stairs.
"Lumpy Pumpkin," Karoline said.
"All right, you can come up," replied the voice.
Karoline then ascended the stairs with Link behind her. Once they were near the top, Link could clearly see the person who spoke. He was a tall young man with a pompadour of red hair that was the same color as Karoline's, wearing a dark green short-sleeved shirt, tan colored breeches, and short leather fingerless gloves. Karoline briefly nodded as she walked past him, but when he spotted Link the tall young man blocked him.
"Who said you could come up here?" the young man asked with his arms folded.
"He's with me, Grody," Karoline said looking back.
"But he didn't say the password," the young man said firmly.
"Isn't it 'Lumpy Pumpkin'?" Link said.
"That doesn't count," the young man known as Grody said glaring at Link. "You heard Karoline say it first, so now you'll have to guess what the new password is."
"Give it a rest, Grody," Karoline said.
"I'm just being cautious, Sis," Grody responded. "For all we know, he could be a spy."
"What's going on here?" Another young man suddenly appeared behind Karoline. He had short brown hair underneath a yellow cap and wore a matching yellow shirt with loose white pants.
"Oh, Pip," Karoline said nervously. "Thank goodness you're here."
"I just caught a spy trying to break into our little club," Grody said, picking Link up by the collar of his shirt. "Shall I toss him out?"
"Grody!" Karoline exclaimed.
Quickly, Link unrolled his right sleeve revealing the Talon Clasp underneath. Everyone looked at it, including Grody.
"Where did you get that?" The other young man known as Pip asked.
"At Beakon's Airshop," Link answered.
"You know Talon Clasps are illegal for uses other than construction work, right?" Pip said.
"Yeah, I'm aware of that."
Pip didn't speak for several minutes and then he said, "Let him go, Grody. He doesn't sound like a spy to me."
"Are you serious?" Grody said with a confused expression.
"I mean it," Pip said and turned away with Karoline following behind him.
Grody grumbled and set Link down reluctantly. "I don't know what you did to convince Pip, but I'm not convinced. So from now on, I'm going to keep my eye on you."
Link followed Pip and Karoline, but he could feel Grody's eyes staring daggers into his back. They eventually came to a small dorm-room with a round table where three other boys were seated. One was short and pudgy with black hair, the second was tall and lanky with a mop of blond hair, while the third was average-sized but slightly chubby with sandy blond hair. As soon as they saw Pip enter the room, they stood up and saluted.
"At ease," Pip said to each of them as they sat back down. Behind him Karoline stood while Link and Grody followed in.
"Who's that?" the dark-haired kid asked pointing at Link.
"This is a new recruit to our club, Crow," Karoline responded, and looked back at Link. "Go ahead and introduce yourself."
"My name's Link."
The boy known as Crow raised an eyebrow. "Link? What kind of a name is that?"
"Did your mom give you that name?" the lanky boy said mockingly.
"Good one, Stitch," Crow giggled.
"Leave him alone, guys," the sandy-haired kid said. "He just got here."
"Calm down, Fletch," Pip said and then he asked, "So where are you from, Link?"
Hesitantly, Link said, "I can't tell you."
"Why not?" Crow insisted.
"If I told you, it could get me and you guys arrested," Link answered.
"How bad can it be?" Grody asked stroking his pompadour proudly. "We're the Rail Riders, so we're used to almost getting arrested."
"The Rail Riders?" Link wondered.
"That's the name of our club," Karoline said. "We formed it right after Ganon recalled the recreational Talon Clasps seven years ago, and all we do is ride the Skyloft Rails while no one's looking."
Outside the dorm-room window, Link could see the Skyloft Rails more clearly in the distance. They were higher up than he previously thought and some were dangling over the open air. "It looks kind of dangerous."
"But it's also really fun," Pip said. "That is why you have a Talon Clasp, right?"
"Actually, I was hoping to learn how to use it for something else," Link responded adjusting the pocket in his shirt where Proxi was hiding the whole time.
"Such as?"
"Rescuing someone, from a really tall place."
"Like the Goddess Statue?" Grody said, causing Link to look at him with wide eyes.
"How did you-
"No need to be shy about it," Grody responded while his cheeks flushed red. "You've got the hots for Zelda too, right?"
"Not exactly," Link corrected. "Someone told me to rescue her, because the fate of the world depends on it."
"Sounds like the person who sent you to rescue Zelda was either a big fan or a nut-job," Karoline said.
"Or it could've been the False Hero," Crow said. "I heard rumors that he was spotted in the Plaza where Priestess Cia was giving one of her sermons."
"Yeah, I heard that too," Stitch added.
"They say he's originally from the land below," Crow said as he eyed Link carefully. "Maybe he had help."
Link paused and then he said, "If I told you I was the False Hero, would you tell the authorities?"
Everyone looked at Pip, who shook his head. "No, we wouldn't. In fact, we'd be more than willing to help you succeed in rescuing Zelda from the Goddess Statue."
Surprised by Pip's answer, Link asked, "Um, why?"
"Because pissing off Ganon is what we do best," Karoline answered cheerfully.
"So you're originally from the land below?" Pip asked.
"Yes," Link said.
"I see," Pip remarked. "No wonder you were hesitant to talk about it."
"But don't worry, Link," Karoline said patting Link in the back. "Your secret is safe with us. Now let's teach you how to use the Talon Clasp so you can rescue Zelda before the day ends."
To be continued…