Chapter 18: Broken Things

Link glanced back at Orielle, who nodded once, soberly. In the recovery pen, a lavender-feathered loftwing paced back and forth, broad wings not quite fully folded, held awkwardly and yet still occasionally, flinchingly, the bird would make an abortive move to unfurl them as if she might fly. Whichever way she turned, her eyes remained fixed on the sky through the far side of the pen; she hadn't even noticed Link.

"Hey," he called softly, gently, as he reached the bars, the loftwing's evident distress almost a pain in his own chest. Zelda was gone, and unlike him, her loftwing couldn't even search for her. He could only imagine how it must feel, the poor bird's heart all but breaking. Out in the sky somewhere, he felt his own bird's concern-sympathy-sorrow, and gave a little mental push to remind him to stay away. Orielle had warned him that if she saw his loftwing, Zelda's would almost certainly try with all her might to follow him into the sky.

She stopped in her tracks, turning her wide-beaked head towards him, bright, intelligent amber eyes despairing and desperate and pained. Link reached out a hand through the bars, offering it to her.

The bird came closer, steps almost wary. She didn't want to be a prisoner, Link could see: injured or not, she wanted to be free, to be seeking the young woman who was her counterpart and the heart of her existence. He could see in the bob of her head the little hope: will friend-of-Zelda free me? She squawked softly, almost mourning, and lowered her head to his hand.

Link petted her, and wished that anyone other than the bird's own rider could really, truly communicate with a loftwing. Smart they might be, but they didn't entirely understand speech, or not clearly. Why would any bird need to, when their rider was right there to already know what it meant?

"It's going to be okay," he said aloud, as gently as he knew how. "I think I know where Zelda is going."

The bird squawked loudly at her rider's name, drawing her head up and looking down at him, demanding, questioning.

"I've almost found her once already. I'm going to find her, I promise. She's okay, and I'm going to find her." Link stretched to stroke the short, soft neck feathers, lying smooth and sleek under his touch. "You have to stay here and get better so you're okay when she gets back. She'd be mad if she found out you were trying to fly while you were still hurt. Remember how angry she was at me that time?"

The warmth of the memory struck him with a sudden pang of grief and worry. It was just another day, another of the thousand little events in their lives; he'd almost forgotten it, had forgotten it until memory had thrown it up when he needed it. It had been last winter: he'd done something to his right arm earlier in the week, recently enough that it still hurt, and Zelda had caught him about to go flying and berated him all the way back into the Academy. It hadn't even been a class day.

Afterwards, she'd relented, and they'd gone around the Skyloft market together, once she'd made him promise not to fly until he could close the Academy's heavy doors with his off hand without wincing.

Link raised that same off hand to his eyes, wiping away the sudden pricking suspicion of unshed tears. Zelda's loftwing cooed at him deep in her throat, and ducked her head beneath his left hand so that his fingers landed on the base of her proud crest, its long feathers sleeked almost flat to her head in her misery.

"I promise," Link said softly, scratching the bird's head through the layer of downy fluff beneath the smooth and water-resistant head and crest feathers. "I promise I'll bring her back. So you look after yourself until I do, all right?"

The loftwing cooed again, deeper. It wasn't a negative, although he didn't take it for agreement, either. Then again, even if the bird had understood every word he'd said in perfect clarity, would he have willingly agreed in her place?

"That's it," he said encouragingly. "It won't be long, I hope. I'm going out to look for her again as soon as I have more supplies. We'll bring her back safely."

Link withdrew his hand slowly, the loftwing drawing her head back up, standing at her full height to watch him go. He could almost see something halfway between a command and plea to bring Zelda back safely hovering in her bird's amber eyes.

Turning from the pen, he walked back to Orielle, who set her hand on his arm with a sad smile.

"That's the calmest she's been since she was brought here. Thanks, Link. You seem to have really helped."

Link managed a small, sad smile of his own. "She knows I'll be searching as hard as she would." She's counting on me… "I'll set out again as soon as Knight Commander Eagus has got the equipment he's giving me, so I'm glad I came down here. I'm glad it helped."

"It definitely did," Orielle said, nodding. "You take care of yourself out there, Link – and your own loftwing, too. I believe you can find Zelda, but don't do anything stupid. Parrow and I don't need another patient."

"I'll do my best. Fair winds, Orielle."

Orielle smiled as he turned away. "Fair winds and the goddess' blessings, Link."

Link left the recovery pens with the purpose in his step renewed, heading for the chamber beneath the goddess' statue. Placing the heavy, engraved stone was the last thing he could do before he was ready to leave, waiting on only whatever the Knight Commander could find. The gap in the clouds that he needed would be waiting for him…

His mind filled with partial plans and with uncertain guesses at what a real volcano might look like, he managed to cross the network of bridges to the Isle of the Goddess without meeting more than a couple of people, both of whom thankfully took his distracted passing greetings as a clear sign that he was in too much of a hurry to talk. The half-dome at the gate, ancient and crumbling, almost reminded him of something… or was it simply that he'd seen it at least once a week ever since he'd arrived at the Academy? The brief flicker of something familiar turned strange twisted in his heart as he stepped through the open gates and into the peaceful courtyard beyond, the serene statue of the goddess gazing down upon him with her warm expression and empty stone eyes – and an archway where there had been only solid stone before at her feet, leading down into darkness. Perhaps it was the body that had lain down there that made it feel more like the open mouth of a tomb than the sacred place Fi had led him to, where he had found and taken up the sword. His mind almost seemed to slip away from the memory of that departure like a bird in a contrary crosswind, and as he approached the opening, Link took a deep breath.

For all that he felt it, he let no hesitation enter his stride as he passed through the doorway and walked down the short flight of stairs. As before, the very air itself seemed to brighten as he reached the bottom, first in the centre, then splitting into four balls like torch flames that hovered without support, casting a gentle light throughout the room. Despite himself, Link glanced to his right: there was a deeper darkness in the shadow, a stain upon floor and wall… but no slumped figure, identity lost to the decay of ages. Relief and gratitude to Headmaster Gaepora, who had to have arranged for the body to have been taken away for a decent burial, mingled with an odd, strange pang of something he couldn't quite name, as if disturbing even that were tantamount to a kind of sacrilege.

Link crossed the room, avoiding the pedestal from which he had drawn the sword and halting before the altar in its alcove. Reaching into his pouch, he drew out the broken stone tablet, heavy in his hands. It was the first time he'd really looked at it properly, noted more than just the red gem set into it: it seemed to portray mountains, a great cloud rising from the truncated peak of one. Was that the volcano?

He supposed he'd find out soon enough, hefting the tablet and sliding it carefully into place atop its fellow, prevented from falling mainly by the way it fit into the frame. Just as the green one had and still did, the red gem set into it glowed with an inner light, followed moments later by a rush of power he could feel around him, flowing up into the statue above before fading away.

Fi sprang from the sword, hovering somewhat to his left.

"Master, I am able to confirm the location of a second opening in the cloud barrier. It is in the skies to the northeast, above the Eldin region. I will be able to guide you to it when your preparations are complete."

"Thanks, Fi." Link glanced over his shoulder, back towards the entrance and the shadows. Was there something that he wanted to ask? He wasn't sure that he did, or that he even knew how. "I guess we should go to the market. I might be able to find something useful there." Since I need to wait for Knight Commander Eagus anyway…

Fi nodded, impassive. "Any additional preparations you are able to make will increase your probability of success."

Link turned away from the altar and began to walk back across the room, Fi drifting at his shoulder. "What do you think that probability is right now, Fi?"

Fi seemed to consider for a moment, rapidly analysing, evaluating. Link wasn't entirely sure why he thought that was what she was doing, since her expression had barely changed, but he was fairly certain of it all the same.

"On the assumption that Knight Commander Eagus is able to procure a fully plated shield and a means of providing you with protection against the heat of the area, I calculate that your chances of successfully navigating the terrain near to Eldin Volcano without sufficient hindrance to cause significant delay are approximately 75%. The probability rises with any further assistance you receive and decreases if the Knight Commander is unable to find one or both items, or if my extrapolation of the likely demonic presence proves to be a significant underestimate."

"Sounds fair," Link said, starting up the stairs to emerge into the welcome familiarity of the daylight. "Do you think-" He paused, frozen, and Fi leant forward slightly in her hover. Had he heard something – someone shouting?

"Master, I detect a female voice calling at the far end of this island. Analysis of her tone indicates moderate distress."

"-Right!"

Fi returned to the sword as Link sped to a run, dashing along the timeworn stones of the path towards the bridge. He heard the call again as he passed the halfway mark, loud and worried, searching.

"Kukiel!"

Link vaguely recognised the name: of all the children of Skyloft, Kukiel was said to be the most adventurous, or at least the most troublesome. She was Jakamar and Wryna's daughter, wasn't she?

The latter was at least proven when he dashed through the gates and almost ran into Wryna going the other way, hands cupped around her mouth to shout again. She yelped, instead, as Link skidded to a stop.

"Oh! Oh, you startled me! Have you seen Kukiel?"

"Sorry, Wryna," Link said, a little shamefaced. "I haven't seen her. What's wrong?"

"Oh, Kukiel… She's been missing since you arrived this morning! I haven't seen her all day!" Wryna clasped her hands. "I know she's always doing this, but I'm really worried this time. She usually at least comes back for lunch… unless she's got stranded on someone's roof again… oh, Kukiel." Her fingers pressed white-knuckled against one another. "I've been all over town already, and nobody's sure when they last saw her. Little Coranne said she saw my Kukiel playing with 'someone with a scary face', she said she didn't know who it was. I don't know who on this island has a scary face! Strange things have been happening recently, and I… I'm really worried about her this time. Kukiel is too trusting! What if someone could have kidnapped her?"

Wryna's fear suddenly seemed all too realistic to Link. Another day, any other day under bright sun and fair winds he'd have reassured her she was worrying over nothing and offered to help, certain the missing girl would turn up on a rooftop, or in the caves the children were banned from playing in, or up one of Skyloft's treasured handful of trees. But her concern struck all too clear a chord, and at the thought of a stranger with a scary face, Link's mind snapped back to the demon lord, Ghirahim. Laughing, mocking, taunting, evil. He couldn't have, could he? He'd been chasing Zelda; he couldn't possibly have gone up into the sky just to prey on the venturesome children of Skyloft? But what if, vindictive, he'd set something else to do so, something Link hadn't yet seen, something that could cross the wide skies? He'd claimed to be the one who caused the tornado, claimed to have known enough about their lives high above to call it up and snatch her from the sky. Link's heartbeat seemed to echo in his ears as he directed a thought to his sword.

Fi? Do – you don't think something could have followed us up here, do you?

The moment's pause as Fi considered seemed far, far too long.

I cannot determine that at this time, Master.

"What?"

"What?" Wryna echoed, confused. "What do you mean, what? You're Link, aren't you? You know more about what's been happening than I do!"

"No, no, Wryna, I…" Link raised his hands in appeal and apology. "I was talking to my sword – asking her what she thinks. You know, like a loftwing. Uh, Fi, this is Wryna; Wryna, this is Fi. She's the spirit of the sword. I'm sorry."

Wryna stared open-mouthed as Fi obligingly emerged from the sword with the familiar chime more felt than heard, her blank eyes focused on the Skyloft woman.

"Your surprise is an expected reaction," Fi informed her calmly, emotionlessly. "However, Master Link requested that I appear to you."

"Er… ah… …a pleasure… to meet you?" Wryna ventured, hesitantly. Regarding her impassively, Fi said nothing.

"I was asking Fi what she thought, that's all," Link explained. "She knows a lot more than I do. Maybe more than Headmaster Gaepora, even. Listen, we'll help you look for Kukiel, all right? You should try the rest of the Isle of the Goddess. I just came from under the statue, so I know she's not in the chamber down there, but I haven't been around the courtyard." He hoped Wryna couldn't hear the effort it took to keep the tension at the back of his throat from his voice. "Fi and I will ask at the Academy, then head over to Skyloft and check the caves and wherever else we can think of. If we get near her, or anywhere she's been recently, Fi might be able to sense where she is." You can do that, right? You helped me track Zelda. "One of us has got to find her."

Wryna's tight-clasped hands relaxed, relieved and grateful. "Oh, thank you – thank you so much, um, both of you." She offered Fi a bow, not entirely sure how much respect the strange, young-looking spirit was owed. "Goddess bless you both, thank you. I'll search the courtyard!" She hurried past them, calling out again. "Kukiel? Kukiel!"

Link glanced back at her, then hastened back across the bridge, feeling its familiar creak and gentle sway beneath his feet. "Fi, what did you mean, you can't determine that? What's happened? Have the demons followed us back here?!"

"I cannot determine that at this time, Master Link," Fi repeated. "The cloud barrier was created to be impervious to the powers of the demons below. However, there is now a passable opening in it, and it is apparent that Ghirahim possessed the power to weaken it sufficiently to cause the tornado that claimed the spirit maiden, your friend Zelda. There is now a low but non-zero probability that a demon capable of flight could pass through the same gap and enter this realm of the sky. Additionally, there exists a faint, weak demonic aura in this region."

Link felt the blood drain from his face. "What?!" Why hadn't she told him the moment they landed?!

"Master Link, you do not yet possess full information. The aura to which I refer is very weak, and has been present for over a century. It does not appear to have altered in the days in which we have been absent from the island, indicating that no demon of significant power has recently arrived. However, it is both relevant and potentially significant in this situation."

He forced himself to take a deep, slow breath. "Okay. So there's something bad on Skyloft… but it's not, not something that directly followed us here. Probably. Nothing powerful. So it's not Ghirahim. Right?"

"That is correct, Master Link. Ghirahim's presence in this vicinity would be impossible to conceal, and I would inform you immediately."

"Thanks." Link said it with a wash of relief. "I thought you would have. I just…"

"Your concern for the missing child combined with the circumstances in which you find yourself led to fear of the worst event you could plausibly conceive of, causing you to extrapolate the necessary requirements for that event to have occurred. I understand, Master Link."

"I'm still sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you." Fi's calm acceptance somehow made him feel worse. Of course she'd have told him about anything she thought was important; it seemed like she'd been doing that ever since they met. If whatever she felt had been there for over a lifetime, and it hadn't even changed, why would she have stopped him in the middle of the most important thing he might ever do in his life to tell him it hadn't changed? "I guess… like you said, I'm afraid. But it isn't fair to assume you wouldn't even tell me something like that" He sighed. "Okay. So… we'll go to the Academy like I told Wryna we would, and get help there. Then, if we go across to Skyloft, can you follow Kukiel's trail?"

"The population density of Skyloft and the lower strength of most humans' auras in comparison with the spirit maiden's render this a more difficult task than previously. However, if you are able to locate an item or place sufficiently imbued with Kukiel's aura, I will be able to match that aura to other locations that she has recently occupied."

Link nodded. "Got it. All right – let's go."

No rest for the valiant, huh?

Hi again, Mimi! Thanks so much, and glad you're still enjoying! Sorry for the long delay - I really needed to finish Out of Time before getting too much further here...

Patch Notes

- Loftwing vets added.
- Reason provided for Wryna to be so worried by island's awareness of recent events.
- Link now joins search entire island is carrying out due to legitimate fears rather than abandoning search only he can carry out for search literally everyone present can help with.
- Skyloft population size remains realistic; not all locals know one another intimately.
- Proto-Blade of Evil's Bane continues to correctly detect evil.