Howdy everyone, I know it's been quite a while, but I've finally completed Aviel's story arc! As promised, I'm going to upload the entire arc all at once. I'm sorry for the massive delay, as this story had a lot of rewrites over the past month or so. Honestly I was really frustrated with getting it all together. I've condensed down the size of the story to 8 chapters so it's not so overly tedious.
I also have some good news in a new special announcement that will be at the end of the story arc! Enjoy!
It was a dark and stormy night, as a loud crash of thunder roared across Gerudo Valley. Storm clouds had formed overhead and lightning was striking down across the desert. Travelers and adventurers trekking across the sand were forced to find shelter in caves, while monsters retreated into the sands. Storms like these were an uncommon occurrence in Gerudo Valley, but it was still treated cautiously by the inhabitants.
In Gerudo Town, the buildings were constructed mostly with hardened sandstone, made that way by the power of Nabooru wielding the Sand Rod. Because of their design, the Gerudo didn't have much to worry about in regards to lightning storms, but as a a precaution by Nabooru she had tall metal rods set up on the cliffs near the town to attract lightning and absorb any possible nearby strikes.
However, this didn't protect against one thing that thunder and lightning can still cause, fear.
"KYAAA!" screamed out a young Gerudo woman in her bed at the sound of a loud rumble, as lightning came down and struck one of the poles outside.
This is Aviel; an apprentice of the head of the town's archery club, and a former lookout for Gerudo Town, before being promoted to the bodyguard of her close friend and king, Link.
"Stupid lightning..."
Aviel pouted as she hugged her legs with her arms. She wanted to go over and put on her feathery Roc's Wing sleeves for comfort, but was too scared to even get out of bed at that moment.
The Roc's Wing was a treasure she had for years now, they gave her the power to turn her body into that of a half-bird creature. When she first found herself with them they could only turn into arms into wings, and her flying ability was limited and clumsy. But after a situation in Death Mountain involving a young dragon and a strange feather though, the form she took with the Roc's Wing magically changed, giving her more wing span, tail feathers, and even bird legs to increase her abilities, including being able to use her crossbow in the sky using her talons.
Right now though, no amount of flying ability could help Aviel deal with the storm outside. Another rumble of thunder went off, making her squeal in terror and hide completely under her silk bed sheets. She peeked out for a brief second, only to see a flash of lightning and she went right back to hiding.
When the loud noise and flashing finally died down just a little, Aviel gulped and climbed out of bed, dragging her bed sheets wrapped around her shoulders as she hurried out of her room.
In Link's bedroom, the young king was sleeping on his bed of pillows, along with Saria. The two of them had spent the night making passionate love together and had fallen asleep in each other's arms. The Kokiri snuggled against Link in her sleep and sighed out blissfully.
Saria then felt someone nudging her, causing her to stir and slowly open her eyes. She blinked sleepily and looked up to see Aviel standing over the two. The Gerudo had her blanket on top of her head and had small tears in her eyes. Saria nudged Link a bit, making him yawn out and open his eyes a little.
"What'd you want Aviel?" Link muttered.
"Link, Saria, the storm's scaring me, can I sleep with you guys...?" Aviel asked timidly.
Link and Saria looked to each other for a moment, before Link sighed and said, "Uh, I guess Aviel... just give me a sec to change into my pan-"
"Yaaay! Thank you!" Aviel cheered out in relief, jumping forward and falling in between the two and covering herself, Link and Saria with her blanket.
"Um, Aviel? I think it'd be a really good idea if you waited for me to-" Link realized Aviel was out like a light. She was nuzzling her face into the pillows that made up the bed, while her arms were over Link and Saria's bodies, making it tricky to get up without waking her.
The two decided to just go along with the situation as they were too tired to protest, and drifted off to sleep themselves.
The next morning, Aviel was the first to wake up. Her bright golden eyes opened and she smiled happily, it had been a while since she had slept that good, but for some reason her bed felt different.
"Huh...?"
She realized her arms were wrapped around someone's body, who she quickly identified as Link, and she was in his bedroom. While it wasn't out of the ordinary for her to hug Link or be in his bedroom, this case was far different, namely that he was hugging her back closely, and he was completely nude.
"Um... Link?" Aviel asked blushing.
"Mmm..." Link muttered in his sleep, holding Aviel closer, her head was pressed against his chest. She struggled a little to get out from his grip, but he just held her tightly in his arms.
'He's gotten so much stronger then back when I first met him...' Aviel thought to herself.
Link had been spending time weight training with Reirousa to strengthen his body so as to not only fight against the threat of the rebels, but also to increase his endurance for when he was making love to his fiances and the new child-bearers Nabooru was starting to throw at him, so it wasn't surprising he was so strong, and yet the way he held her was so gentle...
Aviel then realized there was a strange feeling of something pressing against her leg.
"What is that, a cucumber?"
The Gerudo girl squirmed out Link's grip, sat up, and lifted up the sheets to see what was poking at her. She laid there staring at it for a short while. She didn't even blink as she looked at it.
The girl slowly lowered the sheet to cover Link, and gulped a bit. Moments after that Saria woke up, she stretched and yawned out.
"Mmm... g'morning Aviel..." Saria said in a groggy voice.
"M-Morning Saria." Aviel said sitting there motionlessly.
"Hey you guys, get up already!" Nemisa shouted from outside, "Lady Nabooru has a meeting for us today!"
"Ugh, alright..." Saria sighed, reaching past Aviel and nudging her fiance, "Link, get up. Lady Nabooru wants to talk to us."
"Mmph, come on Saria, five more minutes." Link buried his face in the pillow, reaching out and grabbing Aviel, pulling her close to him again.
"Eep!" Aviel squeaked out.
"Huh...?" Saria rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked down to see Link was snuggling against Aviel, "Uh, Link...?"
"Hey Saria... wanna have another go?" Link muttered in his sleep. He was unknowingly feeling around Aviel's body, and the young woman was breaking out in a sweat as his hands were running up her legs, stroking her rear end, up her back, and then feeling at her large round breasts before-
"Wait, you're not Saria!" Link exclaimed, jolting awake instantly at the realization.
"That's what tipped you off?!" Saria shouted in frustration.
"That was you Aviel?!" Link stated, quickly bowing his head in apology, "I forgot you were sleeping with us last night, I'm so sorry!"
"It's... it's okay Link..." Aviel said, getting herself up and starting to walk, but staggering around as she did so with her eyes spiraling, "Let's just go... go to the meeting and-"
Link and Saria watched as Aviel walked right into the door frame, bonking her head on it, before falling over in a daze.
"Let's... go help her out." Link said.
"Yeah..." Saria agreed.
"Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a good sleep." Nabooru said, with her assistant the half-Hylian and book enthusiast Halei sitting to her right.
"I slept just fine." nodded Nemisa.
Link and Saria looked awkwardly over to Aviel who was sitting there with a bandage on her forehead, with small tears in her eyes and sporting a pout from her headache.
"Did something happen this morning Aviel?" Nabooru asked with concern.
"I... um..." Aviel groaned, rubbing at the sides of her head, "I dunno, the storm last night was scary so I went to sleep with Link and Saria... I can't remember anything besides that."
"Do you two have any idea what happened?" Nabooru asked Link and Saria.
"Nope!" "Nothing!" the two said smiling way too innocently for their own good.
"Uh huuuh..." Nabooru said sweatdropping, "Fine, I'll just leave it at that."
"So what do you have to report today Lady Nabooru?" Nemisa asked.
"Well you'll be happy to know that the final preparations are being made for our meeting with the Hylian Parliament! We'll be going to meet with them three months from now!" Nabooru said proudly.
"It took a lot of paperwork, but we're finally going to Hyrule Castle!" Halei said cheerfully.
"That's great to hear!" Link said, "It's finally time for us to speak out on behalf of the Gerudo people!"
"We've also arranged to meet with some of our allies from the neighboring tribes about one month from now so we can discuss what we plan to present to the Parliament." Nabooru said, "It'll include Chief Darunia, Queen Ruto, Lady Impa and a representative of the Kokiri to act as their diplomat."
"Huh, a nice little social gathering." Nemisa said grinning.
"So you're not going to be the diplomat after all Saria?" Aviel asked.
"I was originally, but we recently learned about a law that basically says since I'm engaged to Link it disqualifies me as a diplomat due to a technical conflict of interest. Ruto is fine since she was already born into royalty." Saria said, "As for us, I'm speaking to Mido about who can represent the Kokiri in the Parliament, and they'll be meeting with us that day."
"So have you decided which of us are going to Hyrule when the time comes Lady Nabooru?" Nemisa asked.
Nabooru answered, "Well naturally me, Link, Saria and Halei will all go. Both you and Aviel will come as Link's bodyguards. Aside from some extra guards for protection, I thought it would be helpful if we also brought others who could help promote things we could do to benefit Hyrule as a whole; like agriculture, medical knowledge, war training and the mystic arts, so I was planning to bring along Togau, Sarami, Reirousa, Kesuta and Korume as well."
"...so basically we're bringing the whole gang then." Link said with a grin, "Sounds great, I think they deserve this chance to get out there and see Hyrule."
"Yaaay! Road trip to Hyrule Castle!" Aviel cheered out.
"I can't wait to get to meet Princess Zelda, I heard she's such a wonderful person!" Saria said, "You said you were friends together as kids, right Link?"
"Yeah, I worked with her to stop Ganondorf, then I spent a number of months training with Impa for my journey, and I spent a lot of time with Ze- Princess Zelda too." Link nodded, "We used to play and even spar together."
"That's so sweet, a young commoner and a kind princess growing up as children... and though they were separated by their social status, they hold a precious and spirited bond together..." Halei said with a blissful look in her eyes, "It's so romantic!"
"Ehhh... I wouldn't have called it romantic Halei..." Link said sweatdropping, "Besides, she recently married the Fargent prince."
"Oh wooow..." Halei said with her eyes sparkling even more then before, "Torn apart by an arranged marriage, but remain loyal to each other, until the day the handsome young rogue sweeps the beautiful princess off her feet, and true love will prevail!"
"Halei's been reading a lot of romance novels lately." Nabooru clarified.
Link couldn't help but blush lightly at Halei's words as he thought back to his days with Zelda. The reality was that he and Zelda shared a closer connection then Halei or any of them could possibly know... but as for calling it romantic...?
"Leaving in three months then, huh?" Aviel spoke as a thought occurred to her, "Um, Lady Nabooru, actually there's something really important I need to ask you."
"What's that?" Nabooru asked.
Aviel took a deep breath and spoke out, "I want to ask to take a temporary leave, so I can travel to the mountain of Snowpeak."
"What...? Why there of all places?" Nabooru asked.
Aviel explained herself, "When we ran into Professor Brad at that robot lady's hideout, he told me that the creature I got my wings from may have come from a place up there."
Everyone was pretty shocked by this, aside from Nemisa who had been there when Professor Bradson told her.
"So you want to meet this creature I assume, but why now?" Nabooru asked curiously, "We don't have much longer before we go to Hyrule Castle, and there's a lot to do before then like the meeting with our allies. There's also the matter that you need to be protecting Link, especially since the rebels have been causing us more trouble as of late."
Aviel straightened herself out and cleared her throat, before looking to Nabooru sharply, which surprised the Gerudo leader,
"...because I want to know where my treasure came from... and by doing that hopefully figure out where my family is."
"Huh?" everyone exclaimed aside from Saria, who Aviel had told her past to previously back at the hot springs.
Aviel explained further, "Before I came to live here in Gerudo Town, I was with my Momma and Papa. They were travelers and the three of us went to all kinds of places. One day I was knocked out, and when I woke up I was separated from them, and I had these on me." she gestured to the feathered sleeves on her arms, "The people who found me said the feathers came from some kind of bird creature called a 'Roc'."
"So that's why you call them the Roc's Wings?" Link asked.
"Yep. They're my most important treasure, because they're the only thing I had after I lost my parents..." Aviel said sadly.
Having heard her confession, the others felt a great deal of sympathy towards Aviel; Halei in particular since she was separated from her father due to the banishment law, and she reached up and rubbed the fuzzy ears of her bunny hood, his gift to her in comfort.
"But why go now of all times?" Nabooru asked.
"Because I don't know what's going to happen with the royal meeting and the banishment law, for all I know this could be my only chance to get the answers I need. I just want to know what happened to my momma and papa!" Aviel said.
Nabooru sat there, staring at Aviel. She wasn't nervous or shaking, her eyes didn't shift, and her breathing was steady. It was clear to Nabooru how serious Aviel was about this.
"I... understand your situation Aviel, but like I said we still have much to do here to prepare for the meeting..." Nabooru said,
Aviel hung her head down slightly, "Oh..."
"...so I'll give you one week to find the answers you're looking for." Nabooru spoke with a smirk.
Aviel's eyes lit up at Nabooru's words and she nodded eagerly.
"Thank you Lady Nabooru!" Aviel said, "I can use the warp point to get to Zora's Domain real quick, and go from there to Snowpeak!"
"But will you be okay going alone?" Halei asked worriedly.
"Well..." Aviel muttered, trailing off.
Link looked to Aviel, he closed his eyes and nodded, before speaking up to Nabooru, "I'll go along with Aviel and support her."
Aviel looked to Link with wide eyes and smiled, a light blush forming on her cheeks, though she wasn't sure about this new warm feeling she had...
"I'll come along too, she is my partner after all." Nemisa said with a smirk.
"So will I!" Saria agreed.
Nabooru chuckled at the words of Link, Nemisa and Saria, "Heh, I figured you all would. Well I guess I wont stop you, but just be back as soon as possible. Aviel may be searching for her past, but we still have our future to build!"
"Right!" everyone said, and with that they all got up and went off to prepare for the journey to Snowpeak.
"Do you think she'll find the answers she's after?" Halei asked after the group had left.
"Who knows for certain? One thing I do know, it'll be a fine bonding exercise for all of them." Nabooru said with a grin,
"And knowing Link, it might lead to answers to questions she never considered until now..."
Some time later after getting some supplies together, Link and Aviel were heading down the palace hallway to meet up with Nemisa and Saria so they could head off on their journey.
"Ever been to a snowy mountain before Link?" Aviel asked.
"Not Snowpeak itself, but I've seen the snow a few times on my journey." Link said, "Like back when I was in Termina I went to a mountain called Snowhead where Gorons lived."
"Ah yeah, that's right! And you got a mask that turned you into a Goron right?" Aviel asked anxiously, hopping around him as she spoke, "I would had loved to see that! Did try eating rocks in that form? How'd they taste?"
"It was certainly a different experience, that's for sure." Link chuckled, "I didn't bother trying to eat rocks, but I admit I kinda miss using the mask, I used to use it to roll all around Termina in a Goron ball."
"That sounds so cool! You always have such fun adventures to tell us about!" grinned Aviel.
"Well now you got an adventure ahead of you to tell your friends at the archery club!" Link nodded.
"Hee hee, that's right!" Aviel said nodding.
"..."
Link stopped in his tracks, confusing the archer. He glanced behind his back as he saw someone duck behind a corner. The young king sported a small smile and called out to the person.
"Hey Korume, something the matter?"
"Kukuku... you're quite sharp, my love." the ice elemental mystic said, walking out and strolling up to the two, "I overheard about all of you going out to the mountain of Snowpeak, and I thought perhaps you'd like my assistance."
"Have you been out there before Korume?" Link asked, at this point not surprised Korume had been ease-dropping on them.
"No, but if you'll have me, my ice power could provide some assistance to you." Korume explained, "Plus I've been reading into some of the neighboring tribes around Hyrule in preparation for the meeting with those bloated swines in the Parliament, and I've heard something about a mystic power high up in Snowpeak."
"Well that's a good sign there might be something of interest up there." Link said.
"What about Kesuta? She interested in going to?" Aviel asked.
"Kesuta wouldn't want to go because the extreme temperature would be too much for her. A pity, as it would be fun to see her shiver like a fragile little leaf..." Korume giggled darkly.
"Well thanks Korume, it means a lot having you come along with us!" Aviel said, giving the ice mystic a small hug with her wings.
Korume was startled by Aviel's affection, "O-Of course, little birdbrain." In that moment, Korume thought about something she had overheard from Aviel a long time ago and frowned a little.
"Now let me go before you make me melt with those hot wings of yours."
"Wooow... look at all this!" Saria gasped out.
Link, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria and Korume all stood at the foot of the mountain of Snowpeak. It wasn't too far from Zora Domain, and thanks to their alliance with the Zoras, they were granted permission to travel the route there. There was snow everywhere they could see, with green pine trees lightly coated in it as well. Some white furred rabbits hopped through the slush to keep their distance from the group.
"It's beautiful." Nemisa spoke softly.
"Have you not seen snow before?" Link asked.
"I've never had the chance," Nemisa said looking around, "But it looks so wondrous..."
"It is really cold though." Saria said, rubbing her hands together to generate warmth.
The group were all properly dressed for the trip in coats, gloves, hats and boots. It was a huge contrast from the skimpy desert wear they were used to. Korume though just went in her usual mystic garments, as she wasn't affected by the cold due to being an ice elementialist.
"I am so jealous of you right now." Nemisa said glaring at Korume, as she rubbed at her coat arms to keep warm, while Korume just giggled in response.
"We made it..." Aviel said with wide eyes, she smiled brightly and hopped up and down, "Well come on, let's get going!"
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Saria asked.
"Well according to Brad's notes, there's this place with a big door somewhere in Snowpeak where the Roc should be." Aviel said, pulling out the picture Bradson gave her and showed it to the others. It had picture of a girl with bird wings, and next to that was a picture of a giant door with some kind of humanoid figure with wings that were more insect-like drawn on the center of it, as well as some sort of lined box with five small blacks dots and a three 'x's drawn below it.
There was also a sketch of a large majestic looking bird with it's wings curled downwards, seeming to be wrapped around a small circle with a strange symbol on it. There was also some writing under the bird sketch that Bradson said translated to "Roc".
"Hm... now what could that circle under the bird represent...?" Korume muttered.
Link stared at the picture of the figure on the door. He rubbed his chin slightly seeing the insect-like wings on it, thinking to himself, 'The wings on that thing almost remind me of a...'
"Well I don't see anything resembling these drawings around here, let's get going." Nemisa said.
The group soon came across a dirt trail and started traveling along it. While the weather was cold, the area was quite calm. The pine trees were covered in snow, some small rodents were scurrying through the slush and grabbing at whatever plants and nuts were laying around. Saria inhaled deeply and took in the pleasant alpine scent coming from the plants around them.
"Gee, I wouldn't have a house here or anything, but this place is really peaceful." Saria said.
"It's definitely nicer then most snow mountains I've been to, usually there's blizzards and monsters everywhere." Link said.
As they went down the trail, Korume's eyes widened as she felt a presence nearby. She turned to see some bushes rustling.
"Everyone..." Korume said, "Be on your guard."
"Huh?" Saria asked.
That was when emerging out from the bushes was a large creature; it's stature was tall but thin, and covered in white hair, it had a rather scary face not unlike a baboon with red eyes. The creature roared out, showing off sharp teeth as it beat it's chest.
"What is that?" Nemisa exclaimed.
"I've read about them, it's a Migoui, a large snow ape that inhabits mountainous places." Korume said, "Strange though, they're usually supposed to stay in high elevated areas..."
"Ugh, so much for this place being nice..." Saria gulped.
"Either way, looks like we're in for a fight." Link sighed, puling out his sword and shield. Aviel armed her crossbow, Nemisa went into a fighting stance, Saria drew out her Deku Staff, and Korume conjured up two ice spears.
The Migoui roared out and the group went into battle. Nemisa dashed at the Migoui and swung up her leg to kick it, and while her leg impacted into the creature, it simply grinned and knocked her away. Aviel tried firing an arrow at it's chest, but the arrow was deflected away, surprising her.
Saria used her Deku Staff to shoot out vines to snare the creature by it's legs, but the Migoui just paused and pulled on them, snapping the vines apart, before rushing at her and swinging out it's fist. Link stepped out in front of Saria and swung his sword but the creature brought up it's arm and actually managed to block the blade with it. This startled Link and allowed the creature to knock him and Saria backwards.
"What the heck?" Link exclaimed, "It even withstood my sword?"
"What's with this thing?" Saria asked, trying to fend it off with Deku Seeds.
"I've been told that the Migoui's fur is extremely durable." Korume said, she launched an ice spear at the Migoui but it didn't have any effect, "It's like soft padded armor to them."
"Swell." Link muttered, he pulled out his Fairy Bow and fired off some shots at the Migoui, only for it to swat the arrows away and come at Link with it's fist. Korume countered this by creating a shield of ice in front of the Migoui which surprised it. The Migoui threw another punch which shattered the shield but saw the three of them weren't there. Korume was airborne, flying Link into the sky. This caught the beast off guard and gave Link the chance to strike it in the face with an arrow, sending it staggering back.
"That's it! It's body is tough, but it's face is vulnerable!" Link said.
"Okay then, everyone do what you can to subdue this beast!" Korume said, blowing icy wind at the creature to try and slow it down.
Saria ran in with her Deku Staff and swung vines around it's legs to bind it again. Aviel took to the sky and fired a bomb arrow to blast it in the face before Nemisa delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to knock it to the ground. Link then jumped into the air off Korume's broom and brought his sword down right into the face of the Migoui, causing it to screech out and burst into purple mist.
"We did it!" Aviel said with relief, landing to the ground.
"Well now with that over we can-" Link started, but was cut off by a loud sound.
"Graaaah!"
"Now what?' Nemisa asked annoyed.
The ground rumbled a little as more Migoui creatures like the one they destroyed emerged out from the trees, knocking some over in the process. They saw some white hair on the ground; remains of their fallen comrade, and roared out in anger.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Link said, "What's with all of these things, and why are they so aggressive?"
"No clue." Korume muttered, "I wish my dear sister could have been here, her fire could make short work of these things..."
The group stood ready to fight as the Migoui started to lurch forward at them, but that was when a new loud roar could be heard. Everyone stopped and looked around in confusion.
"What was that now?" Nemisa asked.
"I don't know..." Aviel's face paled a little, "But it sounds real scary..."
Suddenly a shadowy figure flew through the air and released a giant blast of flames down at the Migoui. The lead one was entirely engulfed in the flames, causing it to fall to the ground in a smoldering heap. The Migoui looked up in panic to see another stream of flame come down at them, burning many of them to crisp and forcing the others to retreat in fear.
"What th- fire?" Aviel exclaimed.
"Is Kesuta here after all?" Saria asked looking around.
"No, I don't sense my dear sister's energy, but it is something quite powerful..." Korume said, looking up and spotting something flying overhead, "What...?"
The shadowy being flew downwards to the ground, and turned to the group. It was a large red and orange scaled dragon with a flaming forehead. It looked with eerie green eyes down at them and roared out. Korume's eyes widened as she huddled closely to Link for protection.
"W-What is that monster... and what is this power I'm sensing...?!" Korume spoke.
"It's you!" Link realized, seeing the dragon before them.
The dragon's body erupted into flames, and when the fire went away there then stood a small child-like creature. He had long, wild orange hair that hung down over his left eye, and he had a small fang sticking up from his mouth. He was also wearing a dark orange light armor.
"Uh, hi guys." the small child said with a casual wave.
"Oh, it's V!" Aviel realized, she sighed out in relief now seeing it was friendly.
"V, thanks for the help!" Link said, "But what're you doing all the way out here?"
"Arriving just in time apparently." V said, "Those things seemed pretty strong, but they sure don't like fire."
"Link, just what is this thing...?" Korume asked.
"Oh right, you and Kesuta didn't go with us to Goron City." Link recalled, "Korume this is V, he's a dragon we met in the Goron Mines, he's the son of the fire dragon Volvagia."
"Uh, hi." V said, giving a timid wave.
"..." Korume paused, peeking out from behind Link. She walked up to the child and stared at him for a moment. Her cold stare was starting to unnerve V for a bit, before Korume suddenly scooped up and hugged him.
"He's so precious... may we adopt him, my husband...?" Korume asked as she pressed him against her chest.
"L-Let go of me lady!" V shouted, scrambling around while blushing brightly.
"Wow, she took a shine to him quick." Saria commented.
"Maybe we should set up camp and talk." Nemisa said.
"Kukuku..." Korume just giggled, hugging the squirming V closely.
Link, Aviel and the group decided to take a rest for lunch. The six of them all sat around the campfire cooking up some meat while explaining to Korume who V exactly was.
"Are you guys sure I can have these?" V asked looking down at a plate of grilled meat slices marinated in a rich hickory sauce.
"Eat up V, you earned it for helping us out." Link said with his mouth full, while Saria giggled and took a moment to wipe off some sauce from his face.
"Okay then." the young dragon nodded, taking a bite of his meal and his eyes sparkled, "Ah, it's good!" he then started scarfing it down.
"Kukuku, he's so cute..." Korume giggled, "So you all befriended him back at Goron City?"
"Yes, at first we thought of him to be an enemy, but Link decided to show him mercy, he even returned the favor by helping us battle a dangerous rock monster in the Goron Mines." Nemisa said.
"That's just like you, my darling husband..." Korume said smiling softly, "I can't wait for the day we can have cute little ones of our own..."
Link chuckled lightly with a small blush, before asking the little dragon, "So what exactly are you doing out here anyway V?"
"I've been hanging around your valley for a while. The octoroks are tasty enough that I could sustain myself." V explained, "This morning I overheard two Gerudo ladies watching your front gate and talking about you all going to Snowpeak, so I came over to see what you were doing."
"So that explains why the Octorok infestation has been going down. Reirousa was thankful for that." Nemisa smirked.
"As for us, we came here looking for a large bird called a Roc, I think it's where my wings came from." said Aviel as she pulled out the drawing Bradson had made for her and unfolded it, "Have you ever heard of it?"
"A... Roc?" V asked, tilting his head, "That's weird, I could have sworn I overheard Mother once talk about something like that..."
"Come to think of it, Aviel said her wings transformed when she and Darunia's son found a red feather in your nest V, do you think it could be connected?" Link asked.
"Maybe... I don't know what interest Mother would have had with a bird creature like that. She and I never cared for poultry..." V spoke, he tried thinking deeply to himself for an answer to their question, "Uh... um... just gimmie a minute to think about it..."
"H-Hey, don't burn yourself out doing that." Nemisa said worried.
"Ugh... I thought too hard..." V groaned, looking like smoke was starting to come out from his ears.
"Wait you literally burned yourself out?" Nemisa exclaimed.
"Maybe I could cool off his head?" Korume giggled darkly, spinning ice around her finger.
"Please don't." Link said sweatdropping, "You'll give him a head cold instead."
"Oh wait, I got an idea!" Aviel said, she took two bowls from her supplies and ran over to the snowy field, scooping up some fresh snow into them. She went back over to her travel pack and pulled out a small bottle of cherry syrup juice. She poured it out on the two bowls of snow and handed one to V, "There you go, eat up!"
"Uh, what's this?" V asked.
"It's shaved ice, my favorite treat!" Aviel grinned, "I thought it might help cool your head!" she turned to the others, "You guys want me to make you some too?"
"No way, it's freezing out here!" Nemisa pointed out hugging herself to keep warm, "How the hell can you stand eating snow in a cold place like this?"
"Fav-or-ite treat." repeated Aviel with a big grin, before taking a bite.
"Oh, so it's a treat...?" V muttered, he took a spoonful covered in the red liquid and tasted it, "Huh, it's pretty sweet and tart, what creature did you get blood like this from?"
"It's cherry juice." Nemisa clarified with a grossed out expression.
Link meanwhile smiled at Aviel treating V to shaved ice, recalling way back when she introduced himself to it when she was getting him acquainted with Gerudo Town. It was one of the many fond memories he had made with her over the past two years.
"Saria, what are you looking at?" Korume asked.
"Just the drawings on the sheet Aviel's professor friend gave her." Saria said, looking particularly at the box with the dots and 'x'es, before showing it to Link, "I was just thinking, doesn't this kind of look like a music score to you?"
"Now that you mention it, it does." Link realized, "But what song could it be for?"
"Hm... let me try to play it." Saria said, pulling out her ocarina and putting it to her lips, playing notes as she saw on the box.
'Fluoo FLUOO fluo, fluoo-FLUoo fluoo fluoo FLUOO...'
"Huh..." Link muttered, "Never heard of that song before."
"I'm not positive, but it sounds incomplete." Saria said studying the score, "That must be what the straight line of 'x'es represent."
"La LA la, la-LAaa la la LAAaa!"
"Who did that?" Link asked, looking out at everyone.
"It was... Aviel." Nemisa said in surprise as they all looked over to the young Gerudo girl, who was sitting there with her eyes closed, seeming to be in complete bliss as she sang the little tune again, waving her shaved ice spoon around in tune to her singing.
"La LA la, la-LAaa la la LAAaa!"
"Aviel, I never knew you liked singing!" Saria gasped, "You're pretty good at it!"
"I do...?" Aviel asked, seeming to snap out of it, "I don't know, I've never really sang before... but when I heard that tune, it made me feel really happy!"
"She does sing it rather cutely..." Korume giggled.
"Yeah, but I wonder what it could mean...?" Link pondered, "And what connection does it have to this Roc bird?"
"Say, why are you looking for this Roc anyway?" V asked taking another bite of his shaved ice, "You going to make a huge roast bird feast for your family tonight?"
"Does everything make you think about food?" Nemisa asked sweatdropping.
"We're here to find my parents." Aviel admitted, "I was separated from them when I was little, and the last thing I remember after that was getting my wings. I think if I can find the 'Roc' creature that my wings came from, then it might help me find out what happened to them."
"Oh, you lost your folks too? That really sucks..." V said sympathetically.
Aviel could see a sad look in V's eyes. She recalled what happened back at Goron Mines, where he mentioned he was abandoned by Volvagia and never knew his father...
She closed her eyes and nodded to herself, before putting on a big smile. She went over to V and took him by his wrist, "Hey, have you ever been to a snowy place like this before V?"
"Snowy... no, I lived in Death Mountain my whole life, why?" V asked in confusion.
Aviel yanked V forward over to the snow and fell onto it, taking V with her, and Aviel took to rolling around in the slush.
"Hey, what was that for?!" V shouted, only to get answered by a snowball to the face. When he wiped it off, he saw that Aviel was missing, "Huh?"
Aviel popped out of a small pile of snow grinning widely, "Hee hee! Come on V, let's have some fun in the snow!"
"Have fun...?" V asked in confusion.
"Yep! Come on and join us Saria!" Aviel called out to the Kokiri.
"Oh, sure!" Saria said smiling, catching on to what Aviel proposed. She ran over and jumped into the snow herself.
"Hey, you're all going to catch cold doing that!" Nemisa warned to the three.
"Don't worry, we're just fine!" Aviel said, getting up and running around as fast she could in the snow, with Saria joining her.
"Eh, I say let them. Looks like they're doing just fine Nemisa." Link grinned.
The two girls were giggling out as they ran around the field, V moved his head left and right trying to follow their movements, before he got frustrated and started following them around too. Aviel reached down and started gathered up some snow, before she turned and threw it at V, getting snow on his face.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" V quickly dodged two more snowballs thrown by Aviel and Saria. The little dragon snarled and started spitting out small fireballs at them.
"Eek!" the girls screamed out in shock, but they protected by Link instinctively stepping out in front of them and blocking the attack with Hotaig's Shield.
"What do you think you're doing V?!" Link shouted in anger.
"Yeah, don't go spewing fire like that V!" Aviel exclaimed as she was hugging Saria defensively.
"Seriously, that's going way too far!" Nemisa shouted, coming up behind V and bashed him upside the head with a kick.
"B-But you were attacking me." V pointed out, now with a bump on his head and small tears in his eyes from being yelled at by everyone.
Aviel saw the confusion in his eyes and ran over to him, gathering up some snow into a ball and handing it to V.
"Its not a battle, it's a game!"Aviel said, "Try using these instead!"
"A game, huh...?" V asked, staring down at the ball, "Weren't we just eating this earlier?"
"Yeah, but now you throw it at us! It's a way to have fun in the snow!" Aviel nodded with a pleasant grin once again.
"Oh... okay..." V said.
He then brought up his arm and threw it at Saria, who quickly turned so it hit her side instead. Aviel and Saria both laughed out and returned with snowballs of their own, and the three started having a little snowball fight.
"Well I guess he got the hang of it." Link said, as he and Nemisa had both sat down again by Korume, "Ugh, that got kind of dangerous for a second."
"Yes, that child really needs to watch his power." Nemisa sighed.
That was when one stray snowball flew through the air and hit the ground by Nemisa, making her start to turn towards the three shouting, "Hey, watch where you're thro-!"
Then yet another snowball hit Nemisa right in the face. Everyone paused for a few seconds as Nemisa sat there, until Aviel, Saria and Link all burst out laughing uncontrollably, even Korume started giggling to herself.
"Okay, which one of you threw that?!" Nemisa shouted fuming in anger.
"She did." both Aviel and Saria both said, pointing at each other.
"Why you little brats!" Nemisa shouted.
"Uh oh, Nemisa's angry again! Retreat!" Aviel shouted.
Link laughed out loud as Nemisa chased around Aviel, Saria and V while they retaliated with snowballs. He enjoying seeing Aviel's attempt to lighten the mood and cheer V up, she always had a knack for doing that sort of thing, it was one of the things he admired so much about her.
"Well while they're freezing each other, that leaves us alone, my love..." Korume said, scooting over beside Link, and nuzzling him softly. While her body was cold, Link decided to endure it for her sake, putting an arm around her. The two of them watched as Aviel, Saria and V were playing in the snow, even Nemisa seemed to end up enjoying it as she started throwing snowballs at them as well.
Eventually the snowball fight came to an end, and Aviel next took to rolling a snowball with V, showing him how to build a snowman. Link watched the scene as he spoke up to Korume,
"It's really sweet to see Aviel take to V so well. She used to be scared to death of him back when we were at Death Mountain. But now she's opening up, she's being like a big sister to him."
"My sister would absolutely dread being in a place like this," Korume giggled, "...but I think even Aviel could help convince her to try to have some fun in it."
"Yeah, Aviel seems to love being here." Link nodded, "It's almost like she's at home."
"Hm, about that Link..." Korume spoke after some thought, "Maybe it's not my place to say this, but a while back, around the time you were crowned the king of the Gerudo, I overheard something peculiar Aviel said in her sleep."
"You were ease-dropping on her in her sleep?" Link asked raising an eyebrow.
"Of course not. I was merely just trying to wake her up that time." Korume said defensively.
"'That time'?" Link parroted with annoyed look on his face.
"Anyway," coughed Korume awkwardly, "I was using my ice to try and wake her up..."
Flashback - The day of Link's inauguration as the Gerudo King
"Korume, quit teasing Aviel and get her up!" Link said as he rushed out the door. He had overslept and was almost late for his coronation as king. Aviel had been sent to wake him up, but instead fallen asleep slept beside him. Korume had been exhaling her icy breath on Aviel to tease her.
"Fine, fine." Korume said, taking Aviel by her shoulder and shaking her, "Get up already, little birdbrain."
Korume then saw Aviel was shaking from the cold feeling Korume had been giving her with her ice breath. Korume had saw faint tears in Aviel's eyes, as she spoke out in her sleep.
"Ooohhh... it's so cold..." Aviel muttered in an upset tone, "Can you please keep me warm again... Grandpa...?"
End Flashback
"Grandpa...?" Link asked in confusion, "She said she was looking for her mom and dad, but never mentioned a grandpa."
"I think it may be something she's not even aware of..." Korume said, "When me and sister were learning of hypnosis magic for interrogating the rebels, we researched the human subconscious, and based on what I've read about it, I beginning to think she may be unknowingly suppressing her memories of this grandfather of hers..."
Link thought to himself, could it have anything to do with her knack for singing that song on the paper Bradson made for her? He looked out at Aviel pointing V to the head of the snowman, and he stuck a stick into it to make it look like a nose.
"It was one thing for me to be an orphan and never knowing my parents." Link spoke solemnly, "But for Aviel who lost them at such a young age, that might very well be even worse for her..."
Link stared out at Aviel, who blocked a snowball thrown at her by Saria, she was laughing happily with such a bright smile as they went back to their snowball fight with V and Nemisa once again.
"And she always puts on such a strong face too..." he whispered. Korume saw the look in Link's eyes and put a hand to his shoulder.
"Perhaps my love, that it's time you tell her something..." Korume spoke.
"You mean...?" Link trailed off.
"We can all tell how you feel about her Link." Korume nodded, "She may be a birdbrain, but I admire her determination and kindness towards you and everyone, and I see how happy she makes you. I'd be glad if she married you alongside all of us."
Link looked to Korume, who was nuzzling his shoulder affectionately. He leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and causing her to giggle softly, before turning to look back at Aviel running around with V and Saria.
"Alright," Link nodded, "I'll tell her when the time is right then, thanks Korume."
"Kukuku... not a problem, just watch out for that." Korume said.
"Watch out for wha-?"
That was when a snowball went flying through the air and whacked Link in the face.
"Hey, what the heck?" Link exclaimed, only to get pelted by three more snowballs.
"Bullseye!" Aviel grinned widely, as she, Saria and Nemisa all high-fived at once at their victory.
V looked down at his own hands curiously, before slapping them together, "Am I doing this right?"
"Nah, you do it like this!" Aviel grinned, taking V's wrist so he opened up his hand, and she slapped her hand against his, "It's a high-five!"
"I see..." V said in astonishment, "Is this more of that 'fun' you mentioned?"
"That's right!" Aviel nodded.
"You two are relaxing so much you're sucking out all the fun out of the area." Nemisa called out to Link.
Link grinned at his future bride, she had changed so much since the day the two met, and he knew it wasn't just because of him, but Aviel as well, the three of them having stuck by each other for so long, it was only natural a little bit of each of them would rub off on each other.
The young king quickly gathered up some snow to make into snowballs and started tossing them back at Nemisa, Aviel, Saria and V, everyone laughing all the while as Korume watched with a pleasant smile on her face.
Sometime later after the game, the group packed up their things and continued down the road. Despite their rumble with the Migoui earlier, they didn't run into any real trouble beyond that.
As they continued along, Aviel heard some light peeping sounds, she looked up at a tree and saw a mother bird landing down into it with a bug she caught, and the peeping settled down. The young Gerudo sported a faint smile on her lips, before bumping into Nemisa who had stopped.
"Ugh, is it just me or did everything suddenly get colder?" Nemisa asked pulling her coat closed, hugging herself to keep warm.
"Now that you mention it, it is getting a lot more chilly..." Link said, peering out at the area.
"Oof, I need to warm up more." Aviel said, turning her arms into bird wings and using them to hug herself. She looked over at Saria and put her arms around him to help keep her warm too.
"We don't feel a thing." both Korume and V said, the ice mystic and fire dragon walking along without even flinching.
"Don't rub it in!" Nemisa snapped at the two.
As the group reached the top of an incline, they saw something out in the distance; there was a great blizzard going by at a rapid pace.
"Yikes, that looks dangerous." Link peered out at it.
"Maybe we should go in a different direction?" Saria suggested looking around.
"Doesn't look like there's another way besides back though." Nemisa said, seeing the tall, steep mountains on both sides of the path.
"Can you do something with your ice magic to drive away this blizzard Korume?" Link asked.
"Let me see..." Korume muttered, she held up her hand and focused. After a second she let out a small breath, "How strange, I can't manipulate it at all. This blizzard doesn't feel natural..."
"How do you mean?" Nemisa asked.
"I think there's some sort of magic being used to control this blizzard... It's not moving towards or away from this area like a natural one would either..." she muttered.
"So we wouldn't be able to just wait it out? How weird." Link said, "Aviel, you're leading this expedition, what do you think we should do?"
Aviel let go of Saria and walked slowly up to Link's side, still in her bird form. She stared out at the blizzard, and Link noticed a pained look in her eyes.
"I... don't know..." Aviel said, "I want to find the Roc, but it does look really dangerous. Maybe we should just..."
Everyone then felt a powerful cold wind blow against them from behind.
"Great, there's a cross breeze being generated by this accursed blizzard..." Korume said, "Let's get out of this befor-"
But it was then the wind picked up Aviel by her bird wings, and sent her small frame up and flying forward towards the blizzard.
"Kyaaa!" screamed Aviel as she was blown inside of the raging blizzard, completely disappearing into it.
"AVIEL!" Link shouted, impulsively rushing into the blizzard himself.
"Link wait!" Nemisa shouted running at the icy storm as well, only to be pulled back by Korume and Saria.
"Stop, or you'll get caught too!" Saria shouted to her.
Nemisa, Korume, Saria and V all just helplessly looked to the blizzard, worried for Link and Aviel...
Inside the storm, Link forced himself through the freezing wind, looking around frantically for Aviel.
"Aviel, where are you?! Aviel!" Link shouted out.
"Ooooh..."
He turned and spotted the girl having changed back to her normal self, but was laying face-first in the snow. Link did what he could to fight the wind, and managed to get just close enough to Aviel that he could grab and lift her up tightly in his arms. He tried to walk, but couldn't figure out which way was out from the raging, blinding blizzard.
He then spotted an old tree off in the distance, and used his Longshot to fire out at it. The Longshot latched to the wood and pulled the two over to the tree where Link quickly hid himself and Aviel behind to try and avoid the wind.
"Aviel, are you okay?" Link shouted to Aviel over the wind.
"P-Please help me..." Aviel sobbed out, burying her face in Link's chest, "Please help me Grandpa!"
"Grandpa...?" Link muttered, remembering what Korume said earlier. He spotted another tree in the distance and fired his Longshot at it, pulling him and Aviel forward like before. He kept identifying trees which he could use to pull himself and Aviel through the blizzard, hoping to find a way back outside of it. He did notice that the more trees he came to, the weaker the blizzard wind felt, so he figured he was getting closer and closer to escaping.
Link pulled himself and Aviel to one last tree which sent the two flying out of the raging blizzard and into a much calmer area. The wind was still blowing, and their vision was still limited, but at least it wasn't as brutal. He looked around seeing they were nowhere near the path they were on before, then looked down to Aviel who was still clinging to him,
"You okay there Aviel?"
She didn't say anything, but snuggled against Link and sighed out a little, showing she was a little more relaxed now. Link was relieved for that, though she was still shaking from the cold. Deciding they didn't have much other options, Link went ahead with carrying Aviel through the snow. He wasn't sure where they were in Snowpeak, but just kept walking forward, doing what he did back on his seven year journey whenever he felt lost. All he could do was hope for the best at that point...
That hope seemed to come through thankfully, as he saw in the distance two giant cliffs with a large red open gate in between them. Realizing this could mean civilization, he trudged forward through the snow to get to the gate.
For a brief second, Aviel's eyes slowly opened, as she looked up to Link carrying her. She snuggled more against him, her eyes grew heavy again as she dozed off.
Link went through the gate and saw it led to a long road, and the wind wasn't able to get through that way due to the cliffs. The young king went ahead and pulled out his ocarina to contact Saria using her song and let the others know they were safe, but he didn't know where they were exactly. He did make sure to tell them about the trees he followed to get to where he was, as well as the red gate he discovered, before continuing on.
The path ended up sloping uphill, so Link continued walking along passing through more of the red gates. With each gate he passed, he noticed something in the air, a strange melody was playing in the distance. When Link went through the last gate where the cliffs ended, the sun beamed down, and there was a wondrous sight before him.
There was a winding trial led up to the top of a mountain, and a large red gate like the ones they had traveled through before, and beyond it was a long staircase that led up to a great number of houses on multiple hills overlooking the horizon. The music he heard before was clearer then ever, it was a rather beautiful melody, and assured him that there was people up there that could potentially help them.
As Link went up the hill to the giant gate, he felt the young lady in his arms start to stir, and her eyes slowly opened.
"Ahhh... I want a cheese omelet and bacon this morning... with some toast..." Aviel said with some drool leaking out from her mouth.
"Aviel!" Link said with relief, stopping in his tracks and hugging her, "I'm glad you're awake!"
"Ahyayaya!" Aviel exclaimed with dizzy eyes from being hugged by Link. The young king set Aviel down on her feet and she regained her balance in the snow, "Hey, what happened...? Where is everyone?"
"You got carried away in the blizzard." Link explained what had happened and where they had ended up.
"Ugh... I'm so sorry Link, this is all my fault." Aviel pouted, she lunged forward and hugged him tightly, "Thank you for saving me, even though I'm the one that's supposed to be your bodyguard..."
"Heh, no problem Aviel, we just watch out for each other, right?" Link sported a goofy grin.
"Yeah, I... I guess..." Aviel said, she turned and saw the place they had arrived at.
The two of them continued up through the giant gate and up the staircase. They took the time to look around at the area, seeing tall red buildings on the hills with long bridges and staircases linking everything together. Mist was flowing through the area, but rather than obscuring their vision of the area, it was faint, and actually seemed to add to the tranquil beauty of the place.
They also noted the peculiar inhabitants of the town, they were tall humanoid creatures who were covered in feathers and had beaks like birds. They wore robes that were sleeveless, and they had large arms that resembled wings. Their feathers were all varied and colorful. Some of the people where even flying around the mountain town flapping their strange arms.
"Just what is this place...?" Aviel spoke looking around.
"And what are those bird creatures?" Link asked, "Could this be the place Professor Bradson was talking about?"
"You mean we actually found it?!" Aviel said with excitement, "Wow, this might really be the place the Roc came from then!"
"Yeah, guess that bit of misfortune with the blizzard turned out to be lucky for us after all!" Link said with astonishment, "Well, let's go find the owners of this plac-"
"Halt, intruders!" shouted a voice. Link and Aviel saw three of the bird people in unusual light armor flying down from above, they landed down and held weapons up to them. Two were holding spears up at the two of them, while one in the distance was holding a long pipe with an inflated sac at the end, "What are you land-dwellers doing in our sacred home?"
"Hey, we don't want any trouble, we can explain!" Link said, as one of the bird knights pointed their spear at him.
"You can explain yourselves in prison, intruder!" the knight said.
"Wait, we're not bad people!" Aviel said holding up her hands, "We came all the way out here to find a giant bird called Roc!"
"What th- What do you know about the Sky Guardian?! How dare you speak of it's name!" another bird knight said angerly, pointing his spear at Aviel.
"The... sky guardian...?" Aviel asked, tilting her head.
"Enough of this, you're coming with us." the bird knight said, grabbing Aviel's wrist.
"Hey, let go of her!" Link demanded, about to reach for his sword.
Thankfully before the situation could escalate any further, a voice called out.
"Eh? What is going on here, piou?"
The group all turned and saw another bird man slowly shuffle up to them. Compared to the slim knights, he was a short and wide one, with a blue head, a large yellow bill with two long feathers hanging off the sides of it and some ruffled feathers below it. He was wearing a black and jade colored robe, and a hat with straps hanging off the sides of it, and was carrying a gold staff.
"Mayor, we've caught these land-dwellers intruding on our sacred grounds!" one of the knights said saluting.
"I'll be the judge of that, piou." the large bird said coming up to Link and Aviel, looking them both over, "And just who are you two?"
"Um," Link snapped out of his anger and cleared his throat,standing upright, "I'm Link, and this is my friend Aviel!"
"P-Pleased to meet you!" Aviel said, doing a polite bow, but bowing her head so low she lost balance and bonked her forehead against the stone ground.
"Hey, be careful there Aviel." Link said helping her up. As he did, her coat sleeves rolled up, exposing the Roc's Wing sleeves she wore on her arms, which caught the mayor's attention.
"Excuse me miss..." the mayor said, looking intently at Aviel's feathered sleeves, "Just what are those...?"
"These? This is my treasure, the Roc's Wing! They let me fly as free as a birdie!" Aviel grinned, demonstrating by unfurling her sleeves, transforming her arms into wings, her human legs into long bird legs, tail feathers coming out from behind her, and her hair lengthened and stuck up behind her.
At the sight of this, the Rito all collectively gasped out in shock.
"It's... it's the wings of..." one of the Rito knights spoke, dropping his spear.
"I... I can't believe it... so it's finally come to pass!" the mayor exclaimed.
The bird people all fell to their knees and bowed down at Aviel. The young archer as well as her friend just looked down at them in confusion.
"What the heck?!" Link asked.
"Did... one of them drop their glasses?" Aviel asked looking around, "Should we look too?"
"No, I... I'm not exactly sure..." Link pondered, "...but I think they're worshiping you Aviel."
"HUH?" Aviel exclaimed with wide eyes.
And that ends the chapter. Link and Aviel have reached a strange new place, and have encountered a strange new circumstance! Just what was Aviel chosen for, and what wonders and danger could possible be here? Find out next time!