The alcove was lit by two bowls of fire, both having the great statues of birds standing at attention as wards over themIn the stillness of the room it truly had the feel of a holy place; Cana felt just a little profane just for the act of approaching it, kicking up dust that should have been allowed to rest for the ages. The ancient steps, old and cracked, felt as though they would chip beneath his feet as he drew closer to the crest with Fi bobbing silently next to him. Even his breathing seemed unnatural; the lay out of the room leading it to repeat each breath time and time again.
"Master," Fi relieved his growing tension, her magnified as it echoed throughout the chamber; like a herald declaring the arrival of her great lord. "Take the sword and raise it skyward."
Cana stood at rigged attention at the cue, his attention refocusing on the hilt in his hand. He glanced at the blade, then at Fi, then back at the blade. "Alright..." He whispered to himself finally risking a word as he tried to give the moment the gravity it deserved. In that moment, Fi slid to the air until she stood directly in front of him; her face was hard to read with its blank eyes and unchanging mouth, but by resting her fingertips on the bottom of the blade and giving it a light press up she could still express her encouragement. Slowly, untrained wrists struggling to keep the movement fluid and steady, Cana shifted the hilt in his hand. The point scraping the floor before passing first between his eyes then straight up into the air, forming a delicate arc with the weapon's spirit as it mirrored the movements of its body.
For a moment Cana felt almost as if he were in a sort of prayer, Fi's fingertip giving him just the bit of support he needed to lock the blade in a perfect verticle stillness. The serenity of the moment was quickly broken however by a warmth blood down his arm, lavender light flowing down the blade to add to thefirelight and Fi's glow. Cana let out a shocked and surprised grunt; the sudden force on his arm causing it to flex and buckle. Yet The sword seemed as though it were growing lighter in his hand, his muscles flexing with a new heroic vigor.
"This is the power known as the Skyward Strike Master," Fi instructed, drawn slightly closer to the sword that's light now stood latent. "My Creator forged it into this blade with permission from the Goddess herself. You need only raise my vessel up to the heavens and my body will naturally draw what residual essence Her Grace has left to this energy stored within will not be released until the next time you swing the blade in the traditional fashion." Being very careful to keep the blade straight, Cana lowed the weapon to eye level and examined the pulsing metal, the power radiating off of it crackling and humid. "Please release this energy at the crest, Master, so that I might guide you towards your destination."
"Alright," Cana stated absentmindedly, his attention tied up in the sword, feeling the weight and taking a slow, steady pull back. Concentrate, he thought, his sword arm moving slow and fitting in a few short swings to make sure he was aiming properly; his complete lack of training painfully obvious if anybody had been watching. Eyes narrowed, muscles taunt, he finally made his attempt at a horizontal cut, but the sword swinging higher up then he'd anticipated. The power spun off the sword along the arc of that cut, barely nicking the upper tip of the left wing as it shot past like a gust of wind. Despite that, the point of contact seemed to blade the lively color over the dead grey metal, creating the illusion of a blending whirlwind as the force of the blow send the emblem spinning on its bottom point.
Taking in a deep breath, Cana watched as the whirling motion subsided; crest now an almost opaque shade. Fi had taken a position just behind and to the right of him in silent anticipation open; the air in front of him still twinges with the smell of ozone. The alien oder had a holiness about it; like the smell of Leviath's stormclouds, Cana feeling the sudden urge to breath a prayer to Hylia, or anybody who would listen. Somebody to forgive him, to bring on a driving rain to cleanse him and this place of the stink of death. There was a funny thing about prayer though; not matter how many times he spoke to the Goddess, she never bothered to answer him. Until today... he took a deep breath of the blessed air before it could fade away.
The silence did not last. Instead it was replaced by an even stranger sound, the grinding of stone against stone starting to rumble from below him. He took a step back, the still crest starting to vibrate as the ground beneath is slowly rose, a pillar rising to meet its brothers on either side. Yet, there was something else about it; a lovingly crafted square spare naturally pulling in the eye. "Master," Fi placed herself directly to the right of the pillar, cloak lifting up as her own light seemed to brighten, overpowering the torch glow to for a translucent sphere around here. "Place the object I will present to you into the unoccupied space." It seemed as though she was easing him into his new responsibilities slowly, guiding him along in this turbulent moment, and for that Cana was deeply greatful. Her voice, though flat, was steady and unquestioning confident even in the face of death, and just hearing it seemed to drive doubt from the mind. The energy around the spirit settled into a distinct shape, barely solidifying before floating forward to Cana. The young man the sword slid the sword between his greatshirt and the belt which held it in place, opening his hands to grab at the light before it fell like a leaf into his hand. The the object was warm and hard, the aura surrounding it dissipating to reveal a great slab of rock beneath underneath, embedded with a green gemstone that glinted in new light. The weight pressed down on his arms, but unlike the sword was balanced and much easier to managed. Cana turned the artifact over in his hands a contemplative look on his face as he examined it. He could feel the age of it, the wear and tear it had gone through, whispering to himself this thing has to be ancient. Maybe older then any building in Skyloft. Still, remembering what he had been told, he slid it into the lower left hand side of the opening, the crude renderings of trees and waters becoming just visible under the dim light.
"Alright Fi," his attention turned back to the intelligence, her eyes darting quickly away as he did so, returning to a kind of uninterestedness. "There we go... is that everything?" He almost hated to ask her, but she diden't seem to have an answer; Cana wondering weather it was because she had no more instructions to give give. After giving her a few moments to speak, he moved his eyes over to the fire bowl and drew the sword once again: making a mental note to pick up a scabbard at the earliest oppritunity. "Well, in that case," He felt his lips form into a small smirk. "This is your chance. Don't screw it up." His feet hit the ground half-running across the stone floor, neither Fi nor the echo being far from his side as he confidently
The night air was again there to greet him, Fi's cloak blowing up slightly and brushing against his arm. It was almost nice, the clean scent filling his nose much better than the stale and ashed air of the chamber. He took long, deep breaths through the nose, whistling slightly as the air came back out, walking as he finally started to get himself back to normal, not fear or awe or confusion, but normal.
It was impossible not to see it; sticking out like a sore thumb as it pierced the clouds just beyond the plaza. A constant green light, the color of stamina fruit created a hole in the supposed impenetrable cloud barrier. But that's impossible... isen't it? Cana wondered. Enraptured by his curiosity he couldn't help but approach, sword tight in his grip as he jogged down the pathway. Thankfully, the Keese and the Chu Chu never got this close to the Academy ,so by passing over that way, jolting himself only slightly as he leaped down from the roof to the ground, he was able to go in peace.
However, as he entered the plaza; the sound of celebration now significantly sillier as people really started to get into their drink, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching. Slowing down and perking his ears, the young man listened for something nearby, the background noise hardly making it easy. Still, he was aware enough that when the Remlit dashed at him from the side, its hiss revealing is approach, he was able to swing the Goddess sword fairly well to intercept it. The blade cut shallow but hard , leaving a llarge gash down its feline's side and sending it scurrying awa with its tail between its legs. Looking on at the creature, Canafelt a certain amount of pride in himself. Though it was only a small victory, he'd actually managed to use this sword properly. Maybe, maybe, he had a hope of pulling this hero thing off after all.
"Did you see that Fi?" He asked, turning around to look the girl in the eye, only to see her looking slightly lower than eye level, roughly onto his back. "Is something the matter? You feeling alright?" He asked, jubilance leading him not to give the situation as much thought as it merited.
"My mental state is irrelevant, Master." She responded simply, distancing herself from him slight. "I was simply taking notes on your physical condition to provide better advice in the future" With that, she returned to sullen silence, the cricket's chirping and the drunken laughs filling the empty air between them. It seemed that there was nothing left to say.
"Well then," Cana joked out of a mixture of glee and exhaustion before letting out a deep yawn, weight of the day finally resting on his mind and eyelids as the adrenaline faded from his system. "I'm glad you're admiring it. Now, let's get some sleep."
AN: Considering this was a shorter chapter, I thought I'd chime in to give a few modern notes to my older story.
Firstly , I was recently given a shout-out by insertname13 in his latest fic. The two of us are in a very similar situation, rewriting our first stories after many years, so I just wanted to give him a Beedle-like "Thank You!" For his support.
Secondly, thanks YOU reader for putting up with this fic so far. Looking back, I certainly did introduce everything a little slow, but I still feel the introduction is nessicery to give Link's death the full weight it deserves and lay the groundwork of Cana as a character. Actual plot starts next chapter, so if you have any comments on the Skyloft arc or critique's of how I wrote Cana's core character (Too self-indulgent? Not fleshed out enough?), now would be a great time to give them so I have the opportunity to correct course.
Third and finally, give one of your friends a hug today. They deserve it.
-With all due respect,
DarkGlass01