Short notes today, sorry; I almost forgot to upload the chapter and have to hurry! It's lovely to hear from you all as always, though - very nice to hear all my character descriptions are enjoyed, even the very minor characters like Luv!
Chapter 58: Caring
Leaving the market at last, Link turned downhill, glancing at the sun, which was now low enough to wash the entire island in golden light and deep shadow. It wouldn't be long before he had to head back to the Academy, but if he hurried, he might have time to check up on Kukiel. He was fairly sure Batreaux was no danger to her, and besides, by now all of the knights stationed on or around Skyloft would know about him, and if anything bad had happened he would have heard about it in the marketplace or from the Headmaster… yet even so, he wanted to be sure.
The streets were beginning to empty as he made his way down to the river, Skyloft's residents finishing their business and hastening home at the first hint of oncoming night. The master builder's house was already in shadow by the time he reached it, only a little light making its way low enough over the top of the hill to paint the chimney and the thin plume of smoke wisping up from it golden.
Taking a deep breath, Link knocked. There was an instant response from inside the house: footsteps, then the click of the latch and the door swinging open, Jakamar's voice ringing out the instant one of his eyes was visible.
"Link, lad! How good to see you back safely! Come in, come in, it's almost night."
A younger, higher-pitched voice from somewhere beyond Jakamar shrieked "Link!", and moments later Kukiel had dodged around her father to grab Link's legs in a firm hug. Surprised, Link wobbled, gripping the doorframe for support.
"You're back! Me an' Mister Bats were worried about you!" She let go and stepped back, bumping into her father. "Where did you go? On the surface?"
"Uh-huh." Responding to Jakamar's beckoning, Link finally stepped inside, closing the door behind himself. "But I should report to the Headmaster – and the Knight Commander and the Mayor – before I talk about it."
"Was it very scary?" Kukiel asked regardless, scurrying back to some dolls that were lying on the floor in the main room. "Did you have to fight any rats? Did you find your friend? Oh! And hello, sword-lady!" She waved at the hilt half-visible over Link's shoulder, and he felt Fi's attention turn to her.
Greetings, Kukiel.
A broad grin split Kukiel's face from ear to ear as Wryna came through from another room Link guessed was the kitchen, wiping her hands on a cloth.
"Welcome, Link, welcome! It's good to see you back. After what you've done for us…! Can I fetch you anything? Something to drink? Eat?"
Shaking his head, Link smiled. "No thank you. I should get back to the Academy before sunset. I just came to check everything was all right."
Wryna and Jakamar both smiled.
"Yes, all thanks to you. And the knights have been keeping an eye on things as well. The Knight Commander has been so kind to us." Wryna took a slightly deeper breath, clasping both hands about the cloth. "Jak and I both went to see Mr. Batreaux, with an escort, and he does seem to be a very kind person, despite his appearance. We've agreed that we will all keep meeting up and get to know each other. But, oh, his little home is… Well, not everyone can be a master builder! So we thought that perhaps Jak might be able to do something about it."
"With a few of the gang and a spot of rigging, I'm sure we could have the place windfast in no time!" Jakamar agreed, as Link blinked in surprise and second-hand gratitude at the generous offer. Batreaux couldn't pay them – where would he get money? – and from what he'd seen the one time he'd met him, he doubted Batreaux would burden them by asking for their help.
"Only, because he does look… well, monstrous…" Wryna continued, "we'd have to introduce everybody, and with everything that's happened recently, everyone is so on edge…"
Link nodded, understanding. With Kukiel determinedly standing up for him, Link, Wryna, and Jakamar had been able to meet Batreaux as a person, not just the deadly monster he appeared to be. But with strange happenings in the sky: with Zelda's disappearance; with the mysterious room suddenly appearing beneath the ancient, familiar Goddess Statue; with whatever versions of his own reports Mayor Herrene had announced around the island… With all of that added on top, introducing anyone to Batreaux would be fraught at best.
"It's a very kind thought," he said quietly. "I'm sure he'd be incredibly grateful that you thought of it at all." Perhaps, if a few other people met him first… if gossip became that Batreaux was friendly and everyone had met him…
The Skyloft Monster is real? A real monster? Karane's disbelief and curiosity, leaning from the back of her loftwing four days ago, resurfaced in his mind. Everything he knew about her said Karane was solid as a good clean wind; trained as a knight – better than Link himself was, with at least an extra year of Academy training – not just to fight, but to think; to control a situation; to help others. If they could introduce her… well, it would at least be a start.
"Maybe we can make a start when people have calmed down a bit," Jakamar said optimistically. "But you know how things are… In any case, most plans take a while to fledge."
"Yeah." Link glanced at the window, the street beyond a slowly deepening shadow, and Wryna saw the motion.
"Oh, but you have to get back to the Academy, don't you? And it's halfway across the island… Are you sure you don't want to stop here?"
Link shook his head. "I have to write down everything that happened for the Headmaster and the Knight Commander, and Mayor Herrene. Thank you, though."
"You're very welcome, Link! Do stop by again whenever you like. You'll always be welcome in our house!"
"Yeah!" Kukiel added enthusiastically, and Link smiled.
"Thank you very much. Fair winds, all of you."
The heartfelt chorus of 'fair winds' and 'clear skies' from behind him as he let himself back out and gently closed the door warmed his heart. The sky was still golden-blue around him, but the eastern side of Skyloft was completely in shadow, maybe even the whole upper surface, and he began jogging back towards the Academy at a brisk pace. There was almost no-one left out on the streets now, and the two people he did see were moving as quickly as he was, racing the setting sun back to their homes before the dangers of true night.
Hurrying off the bridge to the Academy, Link was brought up short by a figure calling to him out of the deepening darkness, voice familiar but unexpectedly stern.
"What are you doing out at this hour, student?"
"Pipit?"
The older student's tone relaxed, and he approached as he spoke. "Oh, Link, it's you. Welcome back! I'm sorry; there have been a few juniors sneaking out in the late evening recently. I thought you were another one!"
Link almost laughed. "No, sorry. I was out to buy supplies. I still need to visit the Airshop tomorrow, but by the time I'd left the market Beedle had already flown away for the night."
Pipit's determined face flickered with a hundred questions, but when he spoke, Link heard none of them: he was still keeping his promise to wait for whatever was officially announced. "Well, it's good you made it back in time. I can only patrol the Academy grounds, so once you're out of here… I don't know if it's really true or not, but people have been talking about there being dangerous creatures and even monsters a lot more than usual. I haven't seen anything different up here… but the Knight Commander has ordered two knights stationed in the graveyard. He wouldn't do that if there wasn't something wrong."
Link didn't know whether to sigh or feel relieved. "There's nothing wrong, exactly. There's a sky spirit down there who's… kind of messed up, but he's friendly. He wouldn't hurt anyone. I'm trying to find a way to help him."
"Oh? Well, that's good of you, Link." Pipit paused. "Is that what all the fuss over the 'Skyloft Monster' is about?"
Link nodded.
"...Wow." Yet more questions flew beneath Pipit's angled brows. "If it was anyone but you, I wouldn't believe it. So the monster is…"
"His name's Batreaux. He really just seems lonely. He, uh, looks pretty scary… but he seems kind." Link would prefer to wake up to Batreaux's hideous face a thousand times than to be on the same island as the evil Ghirahim in all his deadly elegance for even a minute.
"The Skyloft Monster… kind." Pipit shook his head. "Well, Link, you know a knight should never judge by appearances! I'm glad you've learnt that; a lot of people don't, you know." It was an imperfect cover for all the things he wanted to say or ask, an awkward internal struggle with his idealised image of the perfect knight, and Link just nodded again.
"Well, don't let me keep you from your rest. I'm sure you have a lot to do."
Another nod. "I have to write a report for the Headmaster and the Knight Commander… and the Mayor…"
"Duty, then! More important than rest; I won't stand in your way." True to his word, Pipit stepped aside, though he hadn't particularly been blocking Link's path to begin with.
"Thanks, Pipit. I hope your patrol is quiet. And…"
"And?"
"…If you ever do meet Batreaux, you'll be kind to him, won't you?"
"Of course I will," Pipit said determinedly. "It's no less than a knight's duty to behave honourably to all people, whoever or whatever they may be. I know you understand that too, Link."
"Thanks."
Leaving Pipit to his patrol, Link hurried thankfully inside, easing the great doors closed behind him. Candles burnt at intervals in the wall sconces: the sun had only just set, and the final night rounds and locking up wouldn't be completed for some time yet. Making his way quietly to his room, he got out some fresh paper and sat at his desk, picking up a red quill – like most people, Link's usual pens were made from the smaller shed feathers of his own loftwing. Without the complicated internal reservoir of his flight pen, he just needed to dip it in the inkwell and, after a moment's thought, begin.
'On descending to the surface, I discovered a'
Link paused, listening.
Fi, did you hear that?
I did, Master, Fi confirmed. I detect sounds of physical exertion and distress. They appear to originate in the room adjacent to your own.
"That's what I thought…" Link hastily wiped the nib of his pen and set it down, the strained and irregular gasps seeming all the louder now that he was focusing on them. It was coming from Fledge's side; he couldn't imagine what could be making the younger student make a sound like that. Opening his own door quietly, he walked the few paces along to Fledge's, gently knocking.
There was no answer.
All Link's fears crowded around him as he tried the handle, almost throwing the door open, none of them making any sense and yet none he could quite fully deny. The room was well-lit, several candles burning, and he could see Fledge try to lift himself from the floor only for his trembling arms to give out, dropping him back to the ground with a stifled sob.
"Fledge!"
Fledge twisted his head awkwardly to try and look over his shoulder as Link knelt beside him. There was no-one else in the room, and Fledge at least didn't look hurt, but…
"Link?!" he gasped.
"Are you okay?"
Fledge winced. "I'm training…"
"Training?"
"I feel so pathetic… I always get pushed around, and I can't – even lift Henya's barrels in the kitchen."
Training. Another wave of relief washed through Link, and he had to try hard not to smile with it in case Fledge thought he was laughing at him.
"I really want to get stronger," Fledge continued, oblivious, still gasping for breath every few words. "But I… I'm too embarrassed – to do extra training – where everyone can see me. I know they'll laugh at me even more."
Link couldn't argue that point. Groose and his two sidekicks picked on Fledge almost as mercilessly as they did on him, and Fledge was a much softer target: it really got to him.
"So since the Wing Ceremony, I've been – trying to do extra training at night… But I'm just so tired… I can't even manage these push-ups…" He sighed, disconsolate, almost ready to cry. "I don't know if I'll ever be a knight, Link…"
"Of course you will," Link said encouragingly. "Listen… just don't give up, all right? Even when you feel like you're too tired to move. Do everything you can tonight, and tomorrow night, do a little bit more. Even if it's just one more push-up, it's still better."
"I guess…" Fledge slowly levered himself up onto his elbows, looking at his shaking hands. "I feel like if I know what it felt like even once to actually be able to do it, it would be easier. I'd have something to aspire to… you know? If I had any money left, I'd… I'd buy that Second Wind medicine from the market… but I only just paid the Lumpy Pumpkin again…" He sighed, dropping his head back onto the rug. "I guess I just… have to keep trying…"
Link hesitated, conflicted. He had that exact elixir still in his bag, and he could simply give it to Fledge right now. If Fledge had paid what he could for the month, presumably Link's own payment was overdue, but he'd been saving up for it. He could give Fledge the elixir, buy a new one the next day with his own money, and save up a bit more for… well, whenever he was next able to get out to the Lumpy Pumpkin. It wasn't as if he'd be going any time soon. On the other hand, he did owe the Pumpkin for their chandelier, and he couldn't justify spending the Academy's money on Fledge's late-night exercise.
Another look at Fledge's dejected face, and he'd made his decision. He'd just have to find some way to earn the rupees back as and when he could so that the Pumpkin didn't lose out.
"I got one at the market today while I was buying my supplies. I haven't had time to pay the Lumpy Pumpkin, so I can afford to get another." He pulled the potion out, offering it to Fledge, vivid green colour clear through the thick glass of the bottle. "Here, you take it."
"Wow, Link, really?" Fledge's spirits perked right up, although his recalcitrant body clearly didn't as he struggled valiantly to sit up. "Are you sure?"
Link nodded, carefully depositing the bottle into the younger student's shaky hands. "I'll earn back the money I owe them. I won't have time to fly over there for a while anyway."
"Thank you!" Fledge exclaimed. "I owe you one again, Link!" He struggled so badly to pull the cork out that Link almost offered to help him, succeeding only moments before he would have opened his mouth. The green liquid vanished in a few swift gulps, and Fledge gasped.
"Wow… my muscles feel better already!" He handed the bottle back. "Thanks, Link! Now I'll know what it feels like to succeed at my training! I'll be able to do it again once I've done it once, I'm sure!"
"That's the spirit," Link said encouragingly. "You'll get stronger in no time. I've got to go write up a report, but you'll be okay now, right?"
Fledge nodded enthusiastically. "I feel like I just woke up! I'm going to get so much training done tonight. Thanks again! Goodnight!"
"Goodnight, Fledge."
Dropping to the rug as Link let himself out, Fledge began another series of push-ups, counting them off between puffs of breath.
"One – two – three – four…"
The sound, muffled through the dividing wall, continued through most of the time Link spent writing his report. Only when he finally blew out the candles and lay down to sleep did he realise that he'd stopped hearing his younger friend's counting at last. Drifting off almost as fast as he closed his eyes, he wondered briefly how many push-ups Fledge had managed before sleep claimed him.
Almost forgot to post! Aaaahhh!
Patch Notes
- Wryna doesn't spend the entire rest of the game saying every day that she really must meet Bats and thank him, and instead actually meets Bats and thanks him.
- Fledge now has a reason he can't just go and buy his own damn potions.
- Lumpy Pumpkin plot thread continues to be woven in. Stay tuned for the full chandelier-crashing backstory in later chapters!
- Gratitude Crystals replaced with interleaving kindness and generosity plots.
