Chapter Ten
Link and I sit talking for another hour or so. It's nice.
When I mention how nice it is not having to worry about homework he asks me what exactly homework is, and we start talking about school. I tell him about my favorite classes and my friends and my teachers. My eyelids get heavy, and it gets harder to keep focused. Soon my head is resting on his shoulder and I can barely open my eyes.
"Nicole?"
"Link, I think we're good enough friends that you can just call me Nicky." I mumble.
He smiles. "Nicky. I like that. Well, Nicky, I think it's time for you to get some sleep."
"What? No, I'm fine." Of course I have to yawn as I say that. "You're the one who needs sleep." In spite of myself I feel myself drifting off.
He gets up and picks me up against my protests, setting me down on a patch of dry, soft grass. He drapes the scratchy blanket across me again. I give in to sleep.
"Good night, Link." I yawn.
Just as I feel myself slipping away, I hear him whisper, "Good night, Nicky. I promise I won't let anything hurt you."
~X~
When I wake up the first thing I hear is Navi scolding the two boys, both of whom are laughing uncontrollably.
"You idiots!" She yells. She's dripping wet, with an expression that could cut through glass. "I can't believe you would even think of doing that! You knew I was in that hat! I should go right back to Kokiri Forest and leave you alone to die!"
"Oh, come on Navi." Sheik says through his laughter. "Can't you take a joke?"
"Not when it involves me getting soaking wet and freezing!" She shrieks back.
"Okay, okay, we're sorry Navi. It was a mean joke." Link says, trying to keep a straight face. "Forgive us?"
"Go drown in Lake Hylia!" Navi screams and stalks off into the forest.
I get up and walk over to them. "What was that about?"
"Sorry about that," Link says. "Sheik thought it'd be funny to fill up my hat with water while Navi was still sleeping in it since she refused to wake up. She got pretty mad, as you saw."
Sheik grins. "Not my most brilliant plan ever, but it was still pretty hilarious."
"What was your most brilliant plan?" I ask him.
He thinks for a moment. "Probably when I tricked my friend Brandon into drinking a potion that makes your tongue swell up. He was talking to this one girl he liked when it kicked in. Priceless!"
"Or when you tricked the palace guards into chasing after cuccos and we slipped inside," Link smiles. "They looked so stupid chasing them around Castletown."
"Especially that one that dove into a barrel trying to catch one!" Sheik laughs. Then he gets a faraway look on his face. "That was the day I met her."
"Zelda?" I ask.
He nods. "Yeah. She was wearing this beautiful purple dress and her hair looked like gold. She was reading a book in the garden, and this probably sounds a little corny, but the second I saw her it was like the whole world got sunnier and warmer. When she saw us she was startled for a second, but relaxed when she recognized Link. They'd known each other for a while because of Alac doing a lot of business with the King. She scolded him for sneaking in and harassing the guards, and then she looked at me. I swear, her eyes were like sapphires. Thank goodness I had my scarf on because I'm sure I looked like an idiot. After that we spent more and more time with each other and then we got engaged." He suddenly looks angry. "But then Ganondorf came, put all of Hyrule into complete chaos, and decided to hold the Royal Family hostage. If I'd been there–"
"You would've gotten captured too." Link interrupts. "If you'd been there it would've only made things worse. At least now you have a chance of getting them out of there." Sheik still looks worried. "She'll be okay Sheik, you know that."
Sheik takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah, I know. But that doesn't make me worry any less." He then turns to me and smiles. "You remind me a lot of her. Pretty, brave, smart. You'd be friends."
I smile back. "I'd like to meet her. I've always wanted to, she's amazing. I hope she's more like the Skyward Sword version, she's my favorite. But since she's with you I bet she's more like Twilight Princess, even though that version is more of a brunette, or Ocarina Of Time."
"Zelda as a brunette? I can't imagine that" Sheik laughs.
"Why is she being with Sheik a difference between the versions?" Link asks as he walks over to the stream and uses a cup to get some water.
"Well, if she's attracted to Sheik than she obviously wouldn't be Skyward Sword Zelda."
"Why not?" Sheik asks.
Then I realize I haven't told them about the whole Zelink thing. Whoops. "Oh, I didn't tell you huh?"
"Tell us what? That Sheik's also Zelda's brother?" Link asks.
"Oh please no," Sheik looks slightly panicked. "No, I don't think I can handle that."
"Uh, no, it's worse than that."
"He's her father, isn't he?" Link asks while taking a drink of his water.
"No. Link, this may come as a shock, again, but you and Zelda end up together in that one."
Link chokes on his water and Sheiks eyebrows go up. "I what?" Link manages to fit in between his coughing.
"Yeah, sorry I didn't mention that earlier. Didn't think of it. A lot of people think that you guys end up together in other ones too, but Skyward Sword is the only one that really depicts the relationship. In some other ones there are girls that a lot of people think you should end up with, like Malon and Iila and Midna. I don't know if I agree with the Midna one though since she shattered the Mirror and cut herself off from Hyrule–"
"My best friend and the girl I'm engaged to get together in a different life?" Sheik asks, obviously confused. Link shakes his head, looking horrified.
"Well if you think about it, it makes sense," I say. "Since that Link and Zelda were the first ones it only fits that they end up together, and they're so cute. Besides, that Link went down to a world that was filled with monsters by himself to save her, how could they not be together?"
"Me and Zelda?" Link looks just as confused as Sheik. "That's the last thing I wanted to happen. And that just happened to slip your mind?"
"Hey, you try talking to someone who shouldn't be real and remembering to tell him all about his past lives that two weeks ago you thought were non-existent!" I say defensively.
"Sorry, it's just a lot to absorb," Link says rubbing his head. "Is there anything else about our other selves we should know?"
I think for a minute. "The first Zelda was actually the goddess Hylia. And the first Link battled the first bad guy named Demise, who got reincarnated as Ganondorf. You have a sister in the Wind Waker, but in a lot of games you don't have any family. You can turn into a wolf in Twilight Princess. Sometimes you're depicted as a kid and sometimes an adult. That's about it, but if I think of anything else I'll be sure to tell you."
Link nods and stands up. "Alrighty then, that's nice to know."
Sheik nods too. "It fits that Zelda would be a reincarnation of a goddess." He points a finger at Link. "Don't go trying to make moves on my girl, you hear me Hero?"
Suddenly Navi flies in, looking excited. "Link! I found it, I found it!"
"Found what?" Sheik asks.
"The next temple! It's right over here!" She points off into the forest.
Link looks surprised. "I didn't think we were so close."
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Link." Sheik says as he starts to gather things up. "We just cut two days off. Just be thankful we don't have to go to sleep tonight with Navi out for our blood."
~X~
The Forest Temple is beautiful. It looks ancient, which I'm sure it is since it looks exactly like the Skyview Temple in Skyward Sword. It's made of a white stone, vines with big pink flowers climb up the walls. But there's something wrong with the temple. When we walk up the steps and start looking for the entrance, it's sealed. There's writing on the stone that seems to have once been the entrance.
Hero
Hero of old
Hero of new
No longer doth this temple hold meaning
No longer is this temple what it once was
But do not let down thy guard
Still is there a trial thou must face
In the sky
High in the sky
The bird shall fly thee
"Kinda cheesy, isn't it." Navi says after reading it.
"I don't get it," Sheik says.
"I think this may be the first temple that Skyward Sword Link went through," I tell them. "Apparently it's not in use anymore."
"There's a temple in the sky?" Link asks as he studies the inscription.
"There's a Sky Temple in Twilight Princess. Maybe that's what it's talking about that. But to get there that Link has to have a canon repaired and then he's shot into the sky. I don't see any canons available for our immediate use."
"I refuse to be shot out of a canon," Link says.
Navi flutters over to the inscription again. "What does 'the bird shall fly thee' mean?"
That's when it hits me. I wonder...
I run over to a patch of grass by a huge tree next to the temple. I start searching through the grass.
"Nicole?" Link calls out. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for something that can tell us how to get to the temple." I tell him. Where is it? That is, if it's even here...
There it is! An ancient stone tablet stands encased by grass and moss. The ancient stub of a Deku Baba lies a few feet from it. I remember killing that.
I peel away the moss enough to read the inscription:
He who descended from above:
look to the star that the bird
rising heavenward gazes upon,
and aim your shot there
This is the Skyview Temple! "Found it!" I yell.
Link walks over to me. "This is even more confusing than the other one."
"That's because this one isn't directed at you. It's talking to the first Link, the one that went through this temple. I remember seeing it when I was playing the game."
"Oh," Link says. "So, do I have to shoot something at a star with a bird?"
I shake my head. "No, that was for the other Link, it was telling him how to enter the temple. But since the temple is out of business now it's no use to us."
"So why is it so important?"
"Because if this is still here, than the bird statue should still be here too. And I'm pretty sure that the bird statue is what the writing on the temple is referring to." I run off in the direction of where I remember it being.
"Bird statue?" Link asks.
I reach the front of the temple. I think I remember it stood off to the left of it. When I walk in that direction a tall thing covered in vines captures my eye. Could that be it?
"Hey, Sheik," I yell as I try to tug the vines off. "Can I borrow a knife or something?"
He comes over and hands me a large sharp knife. I hack at the vines until I can pull them off, and there it is. Faded and old, yes, but it's the bird statue.
Link removes the remaining vines. "What is this?"
"It helped Skyward Sword Link get to the ground and back up to Skyloft. They were left all over the ground and in all the temples for Link by Hylia. It also served as a saving point in the games, which was a little annoying because you had to find one each time you wanted to save. And in temples when you found one you could get out of the temple instantly. I bet that the next temple is somewhere up in the sky near where Skyloft was and we need to use the bird statue to get up there." That would be so cool!
Sheik studies it. "It looks like a regular wooden statue."
I bite my lip. He's right, it looks like it's been deactivated. Maybe it was when the original Link died. Will it even work?
It was activated when the first Link touched it. So maybe...
"Touch it Link."
"Huh?"
"The original Link touched it and it activated itself along with all the rest of them. Maybe if you do the same it'll happen again."
Link shrugs. "Might as well give it a shot," He places his hand on top of it. The reaction is instant. The statue glows and shoots an orange beam of light in the air.
"Woah," Sheik gapes.
"So, how did that Link tell the statue that he wanted to go home?" Link asks staring up at the sky.
I pause. "I... I don't really know. In the game it gives you choices and you just click on them. But I don't know how to do it in real life."
"Maybe you touch it and tell it to take you to the sky." Sheik suggests.
"Why not?" Link touches it again. "Take us to the sky."
The bird glows brighter. Suddenly we're sucked up in the orange beam of light and spit out skyward.