Chapter 7
"Normal Text": Reactions
"Italic Text": Astra Stories
I do not own The Legend of Zelda. All rights go to Nintendo*
SXSXSXSXSXSXSXSXSXSXSX
Link woke up before the sun had risen and made his way to the training yard hoping to get some early training in. He had spoken with Impa the previous night asking her to wake the princess and guide her to breakfast this morning. He went early to avoid the stares he got from the other knights. While he absolutely loathed waking up early it was the only way he could train in peace since only Impa would wake up this early. Link walked into the training pit and was surprised to see someone else already there slashing at the training dummies.
Link watched as The Ancient Hero slashed the head off one dummy before doing a backflip over a second landing into the center of several dummy's doing a quick spin with a strange blue energy that spread out from the practice blade cutting all of them down, even the ones that were outside of the blades reach.
"Whoa." Link breathed out in awe of such a technique. His quiet exclamation was louder than he thought and caused The Ancient Hero to tense up and quickly turn around pointing his blade at Link. Link raised his hands in a surrendering gesture.
"Ah Link, it's just you," The Ancient Hero said in relief and sheathed his blade. "I apologize, I'm still used to being out in the wilds where you could be attacked at any time so I'm a bit jumpy."
"It's fine," Link said. "I apologize for sneaking up on you."
Link shifted uncomfortably while he stood silently. He was still unsure how to act around The Ancient Hero. A part of him still worried that The Ancient Hero would say he was unworthy of the title of Hero. How could he measure up to the legends that the man had traveled with in the past?
"Would you like to spar with me?" The Ancient Hero asked, startling Link out of his self-deprecating thoughts.
"Yes, if it's not too much of a bother." Link nodded, excited at the prospect of a spar that would actually be a challenge.
Link and The Ancient Hero entered the middle of the ring drawing their weapons and got into combat stances.
HTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHT
Zelda was awoken by Impa and followed her to breakfast. She stifled a yawn as they walked. She hadn't gotten to sleep till the early hours of the morning. She saw that several people were missing from the breakfast table. The leaders of both Rito and the Zora were missing as well as Robbie and Purah. The Knight and Astra were also missing which worried her much more than the missing leaders.
She looked towards her father and the other four Champions who were all having a whispered conversation. Zelda was just about to ask her father when the doors pushed open. The Knight and Astra walked in together both looking slightly roughed up but laughing and talking. Well Astra was laughing and talking, The Knight was walking beside him with a small smile and nodding along. She was shocked at the small smile on The Knights face.
"Where have you two been?" King Rhoam demanded from the two, causing the Knight to stop and take a knee in front of his king. Astra looked over at the Knight but unlike him he didn't kneel much to Rhoams annoyance.
"Ah sorry we were just having a sparring match and got a bit into it." Astra looked around and noticed the missing people. "Where is everyone else?"
"The Leaders of the Rito and Zora have returned back to their domains to start preparing troops to travel and Robbie and my sister had work to do on the Guardian's." Impa answered when Astra looked towards her.
"Well then it will just be us today for the telling." Astra nodded and sat down next to the open seat beside Impa and began filling up a plate. The Knight has stood up and was standing behind Zelda face blank. The meal was finished quickly after and everyone headed towards the drawing room.
HTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHT
Impa sat next to Zelda as she watched everyone else settle in to hear some more of the First Hero's journey. She watched as all the Champions sat on the couches next to one another. The King sat in the ornate chair in the center of the room while the court poet sat in a corner away from the rest of the group. Link sat behind Zelda as usual.
She watched as Astra one again began to weave the signs for the ancient Sheikah technique and pulled out the small nut. She made a mental note to ask him about teaching her the technique at a later date as the world around her changed.
Link and Astra started to walk towards the waterfall when Pipit spoke up behind them once again.
"Wait if you two are going towards the waterfall you'll need to get some sword from the sparring hall." Pipit said to the pair. "I'm sure that if you explain the circumstances to Eagus will let you borrow one Link."
"Good idea actually." Astra nodded and turned around heading towards the large building the four boys had been standing outside. Link walked up behind him nodding at both Pipit and Fledge. The two walked into the building. The room was filled with large wooden posts in various positions with targets painted on them. They walked past them and towards a large man standing near the back of the room.
"Ah Link, Astra, what can I do for the two of you?" The large man asked the two approaching boys.
"I came to get my sword and see if Link could borrow one for a bit." Astra said to his instructor going to the back room to grab their blades.
"Ah wait ya know that only knights can carry their blades openly on Skyloft without supervision and Link aint no knight yet." Eagus called after Astra who had already left.
"Ah actually I was hoping you could make an exception for once." Link asked the sword instructor. "My Loftwing is missing and I think she's near the Waterfall. I have to go check but the cave leading there might have monsters."
"What? Your Loftwing is missing?" Eagus looked surprised at Link's admission.
"Yeah we plan to go look for her." Astra said walking out and tossing a small sheathed sword to Link and he adjusted the one over his back.
"Well I suppose I could make an exception just this once." Eagus scratched his chin as he looked at the two boys. "As long as you stay with Astra seeing as he is a full fledged knight and remember that Skyloft is a peaceful place."
"He really just let a student walk out with a sword without any issue?" The Royal guard captain asked in horror.
"Well Link was one of the best swordsmen of his year and was accompanied by a Knight. It was sorta something akin to the squires you have now. He also wasn't technically unsupervised." Astra just shrugged.
Link and Astra nodded and walked out the door. They waved to Pipit and Fledge and began heading back towards the center of town. They walked up to the river where there were stones creating a path to the other side.
The two jumped across the stones and headed up a hill towards a cave that was blocked off with wooden stakes planted at the entrance. A sign sat outside the cave. Link suddenly gasped as he stumbled.
"You all right?" Astra asked him, looking over at him in concern.
"Yeah I just felt Epona nearby. She's panicking and feels trapped." Link scowled and an angry edge creeped into his voice. He walked towards the stakes and in one swift motion cut them down allowing access into the cave.
"Wait, how can he feel Epona's emotions?" Zelda asked excitedly. "I know earlier he mentioned not being able to sense her but I assumed that one could only sense proximity."
"It's as I said Princess, your Loftwing is your other half." Astra smiled. "They are as much a part of you just as your hand is. You know your hand hurts when something happens don't you even if you can't see it?"
Zelda nodded and Veigo was jotting notes down excitedly. This was just another example of forgotten knowledge that was being recorded by him and him alone. His name would be remembered for ages as a great poet.
"It's a similar concept. Once you meet your Loftwing they become a part of you so deeply intertwined with one another that you often feel your one being." Astra explained to the princess.
Zelda was disappointed that Loftwings no longer existed. She would give anything to have someone who understood the pressures she felt and help her carry that burden.
The two entered into the dark cave. The cave was dimly lit. The light illuminated a wide path that sloped downward and curved to the right. The two walked into an area where light shone through a large hole that the waterfall ran past in silence until a loud screech rang out.
"Shit Keese." Astra said drawing his sword as Link did the same as the two jumped away from one another. Four small black bat creatures with glowing yellow eyes swooped down from the ceiling and flew at the pair. Astra quickly slashed horizontally at the first one causing it to explode into a purplish-black smoke and using his momentum to do a full spin, slashing his sword through the second Keese.
Link did a quick upwards slash bisecting one of the Keese but was a bit too slow bringing his sword back in time causing the second Keese to ram into his shoulder and claw at him. He stumbled but quickly regained his footing and spun around to see the Keese flying in for a second time. He quickly thrust his sword forward and impaled the monster. He watched as it dissipated in smoke.
"How bad is the cut?" Astra asked Link, looking over at him, pulling out a white cloth from his pouch at his side. Link looked at the three claw marks on his shoulder and shook his head at Astra.
"The cuts aren't too deep, just a few small scratches." Link sighed."I shouldn't have even got hit. I was stupid swinging that much force and overextending so I couldn't block in time."
"Ah don't beat yourself up." Astra put his hand on Link's other shoulder. "You aren't a knight yet." Link smiled gratefully at his friend and the two began walking down the path again. They hopped down a small ledge and took care of a couple small chu-chu's and went through a winding path. They found some red rubies laying around that they both pocketed. Astra took care of most of the monster they faced but one of the Keese Link killed dissipated and left behind a small claw. Link held it up before putting it in his pouch. The two came to a ledge which Astra helped Link up by throwing him over and Link pulling him up. They walked towards the exit of the cave and stepped outside to a grassy path that sloped downwards that dropped off to the fluffy white clouds below.
"Link, Astra!" A familiar voice shouted out to the two as they started walking down the path. The two looked up to see Zelda flying towards them on her Loftwing.
"I was hoping I would find you two here." Zelda said, jumping off her Loftwing to join the two boys. "I heard for Fledge you two had come to the waterfall to look for Epona, so I thought I'd fly around and help you look. Have you found him?"
"No, but I know she is near here somewhere." Link shook his head.
"Well, there is a place nearby that Groose and his gang like to hang around up ahead." Zelda looked thoughtful as she said. "Maybe we'll find something there!"
Astra and Link nodded to Zelda and began to walk ahead when they realized Zelda wasn't following them. The two turned around to see her staring over the edge in the cloud filled below.
"Who… Who's that?" Zelda spoke softly." Who's calling for me?"
"Uh Zel, you alright?" Astra asked, sharing a concerned look with Link. When she didn't answer, Link walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. This shook Zelda out of her stupor as she jumped and looked at Link.
"Oh, sorry Link." Zelda said, shaking her head. "I got distracted for a moment. Let's go!"
The two boys shared a look before following after their female companion as she walked down the path. They continued in silence for a few minutes before hearing a loud squawking from up ahead. The trio burst into a sprint as they rounded a wall in the rock to see a beautiful red Loftwing flapping and squawking in a small alcove with boards tied up to keep him from escaping.
"Epona!" Link shouted out as he sped up to get to his faithful companion.
"They locked her up in such a small space?" Impa asked in outrage.
"They are truly cruel." Zelda couldn't hide the disdain in her voice as she saw how the Loftwing was restrained. Link didn't say anything but narrowed his eyes at the scene in front of him. He knows he wouldn't have any mercy if someone did something like this to his Epona.
"Groose was always a bit of an ass back then but even he wouldn't purposely hurt Epona." Astra sighed as he looked at the scene with mixed feelings. They had such simple problems and had no idea how soon that would all change.
That answer did very little to make everyone feel better at seeing what happened to Epona but they didn't say anything more on the subject.
Link and Astra both walked up to both sides of the boards and cut the rope causing the boards to fall. Eponastepped out of her prison and spread her wings before nuzzling with Link. Link laughed and began to rub Eponas beak. She stepped back and began flapping her wings taking off into the sky as the trio watched he squeak in excitement of finally being free.
SXSXSXSXSXSXSXSXSXSXSX
(A/N): Epona is finally free so next chapter will be the Ceremony. Apparently we are actually given a gender for Links Loftwing during the bit where Zelda shows up and he is a male. I totally forgot about that bit until I was replaying it. I thought about changing it in the story to match but since in all honesty it fits better with later games and stuff I plan to explore Epona will stay female. Also I am hyped for echoes of wisdom to come out. I may add some elements of it to this story or make it become sorta like what I'm doing with the ancient hero and hero of man and elude to it but not have Astra be apart of it for reason that will be explained later one in the story. We will have to see where it fits in the LoZ timeline.
S.D Signing Out
