Cole was nearly drooling at the smell of the cloud cakes wafting from the oven.
"Ugh, the waiting is torture," Cole moaned, peeking past the wooden pillar for a glimpse of Henya removing the sweet, fluffy cakes from the oven. Cloud cakes were the best thing about ceremonies.
"You've only got to wait a few hours," Jay reminded him. "I don't know how you're thinking about your stomach right now." The other boy bit his lip anxiously. "It's a lot less stressful when you aren't racing yourself, but I still feel nervous for Nya and Lloyd."
Cole shrugged. "I'm not worried, they're both top tier fliers." Morro did have Cole a bit worried, but he was still confident Lloyd would win in the end. He sighed. "Let's just head to our spots now that we're done moving things. Hanging around here will just taunt me with cakey goodness."
"Sure," Jay agreed, not really hiding his amusement. Jerk. Reveling in Cole's agony.
They headed out of the kitchen and back into the hallway. Fledge was still standing by the empty barrels.
"Hey, Fledge," Cole called out, intending to invite the lower classman to walk to the plaza with them. The kid jumped nearly a foot in the air at hearing Cole's voice. Odd. Fledge was always a little jumpy, but that was an extreme reaction, even for him. Especially when it was just Cole.
"Everything okay, Fledge?" Jay asked.
"Y-yeah," Fledge stammered, face paling. "G-good. F-fine. Great. I'm, um-"
"You don't seem fine," Cole observed. His eyes narrowed. "Groose didn't bother you on his way out, did he?" He had seen Groose and his cronies, minus Morro, pass by a couple of minutes ago. And Fledge was their second favorite target for bullying, behind Lloyd. Fledge was kind of a blonde stick with a soft-hearted nature who lacked the confidence to stand up for himself so he was easy pickings for the larger, and much dumber, Groose.
Fledge's eyes widened, and he fidgeted in a way that made it clear, yes, that was what had happened. But why lie about it? The kid knew Cole and Jay would stick up for him.
"What'd he say?" Jay asked suspiciously, having come to the same conclusion as Cole.
"Nothing, it's nothing," Fledge assured unconvincingly. "I have to- go get ready for the race." What did that even mean? Fledge wasn't one of the racers. But Fledge ran out the door before Cole could ask any questions.
Cole and Jay exchanged glances.
"That was weird," Jay noted.
"Yeah," Cole agreed, then shrugged. "But there's nothing we can do if he doesn't tell us. Groose was probably just throwing a fit about his soon-to-be defeat. He'll lose a lot of his bluster when he loses. If we're lucky, he'll shut up for at least a month."
"I guess…" Jay sighed, starting after Fledge sympathetically. Groose used to bully Jay a lot too. He still did, but way less often and with much less success than when they were kids. Jay was a lot tougher these days.
They started to head towards the academy's front door. "I hope Wu's bird doesn't fly too far out," Cole chatted idily. "I want a good view of the action. Good thing Lloyd's bird stands out so much, he'll be easy to track." Those bright green feathers were the only ones of their kind and they were easy to see against the blue and white sky.
Jay nodded. "They're putting the border at Azure Island."
"That's good," Cole said. Just from that he could guess where the rest of the borders were. It would be a good area for the racers to work with. Nothing dangerous but not just open sky either.
They'd only taken a few steps outside when Karane, one of their classmates, rushed up to them, her red hair up in their usual pigtails and her light green uniform was in perfect condition. She was on the shorter side, Cole always had to look down to meet her eyes. She seemed surprised to see them for some reason. "What are you two doing here?"
"Um, we were helping Henya move cooking supplies," Cole answered, sneaking a glance at Jay, but he seemed confused too. Had they volunteered to help with something else and forgotten? They weren't on the aerial performance team. They weren't on the decorating team. What else would they have been expected to do?
Karane's eyes widened. "Wait, have you guys not heard yet?!"
"Heard what?" Jay asked, tilting his head.
"Lloyd's bird is missing," she told them grimly.
"Lloyd is missing?!" Cole startled. "But the race is about to start! He didn't sleep in, we saw him earlier."
"No," Karane shook her head. "Lloyd's not missing. His bird is. Just his bird."
Cole's eyebrows furrowed, brain trying to process what she was saying. Lloyd… couldn't find his Loftwing? It sounded outlandish; he'd never heard of a bird not coming when called. And Lloyd in particular had an extra strong bond with his bird.
"How can his bird be missing?" Jay spluttered.
"That's what people are trying to figure out," Karane shrugged, expression serious. "Lloyd hasn't seen him since last night. When he jumped from the goddess statue platform, his bird didn't come. He was seconds from going through the cloud barrier-" Cole's heart constricted with terror. Lloyd had almost died?! "-but Zelda managed to catch him." Thank the goddess. "It was a close call."
"So no one's seen his bird?" Cole asked, trying to wrap his mind around such a thing.
"Apparently," Karane nodded, crossing her arms. "Obviously, it's extremely concerning. There are no leads so far either. And there were no storms or sightings of Chen's cultists, so it doesn't seem likely he's stuck injured somewhere. They're postponing the race to give Lloyd a chance to search for his bird. If he isn't found in a couple hours though, they'll probably have to do the race without them."
The race? Who would care about the race when- wait…
"This is… very convenient timing for someone who wants Lloyd out of the race," Cole observed slowly. It was. But would Groose really stoop that low?
Karane frowned. "You suspect Groose? I mean, yeah, he'd definitely benefit from it. But messing with someone's bird? What could he even have done? Even if his own bird had helped him, Loftwings don't go down easily."
"That's for sure," Cole agreed, mind racing. His feet were itching to run and check on Lloyd. Even if he hadn't been physically hurt, the trauma of almost falling to your death… Just the idea of it gave Cole secondhand anxiety. That wasn't even factoring in how worried Lloyd must be for his bird. The kid must be freaking out. First though…
"Jay," Cole prodded. "We have to find, Fledge." His behavior had been very shady. Cole didn't think Fledge had done anything himself, but maybe he'd seen or heard something.
"Fledge?" Jay and Karane repeated in unison, both equally confused.
"Yeah, I-" Cole didn't want to throw Fledge into the whirlwind when he might not have done anything wrong. "He said something earlier that I didn't think much of at the time, but hearing about this…"
"Oh, oh, that," Jay realized. "Yeah, we should probably ask about that."
"Well, okay," Karane shrugged. She turned to look out at the sky past the school. "I guess I'll leave that to you then. I'm going to search near the Thunderhead with Pippin. If you find anything out, make sure to let everyone know."
"Will do," Cole promised, then dragged Jay back inside. "Where do you think he ran off to?"
"I don't know," Jay said, flustered. "He didn't seem to be heading for his room. Do you really think he knows anything?"
"He must know something," Cole reasoned. "He panicked when he saw us and booked it out of there. Groose probably threatened him to keep his mouth shut." That guy- if Groose really was behind this, he'd officially be worse than Morro.
They began to walk through the hallway, glancing into rooms for any sign of either Fledge or Groose as they went. "Ugh, why is this happening?" Jay moaned loudly. "This was supposed to be a fun day. Kind of stressful, but mostly fun. And now Lloyd almost died, his bird is missing, he might not even get to race, we might get Groose or Morro in our class- Do you know what they'd do to me, Cole? And the rest of us too, but you know they'll go after me first. I almost can't believe Groose would go after someone's bird, but I can believe it. Because he's the worst. What was he thinking? What if Lloyd had fallen through the barrier? I never thought Groose wanted Lloyd dead."
"Groose isn't that bright," Cole reminded him drily. No sign of Fledge or Groose on this floor, but the chances of that had been low anyways. "I doubt he wanted to cause any real harm. He probably assumed someone would catch him. Or Lloyd would sense his bird wasn't nearby and wouldn't jump at all." Lloyd's unusual ability wasn't a secret. That didn't even start to excuse Groose's actions though.
Jay scowled. "Him having the brain of a chuchu isn't an excuse! If he did this, he is not going to get away with it."
"No, he isn't," Cole agreed. They ascended the staircase quickly. "But we need to keep a level head if we're going to fix this."
"I have a level head!" Jay rebutted, words rushing out of his mouth. "It is so level. It is beyond level. Under these circumstances, screaming into one's pillow and writing a list of everything that could have or will go horribly wrong and what consequences you'll now have to deal with so you can start planning on how to deal with it would be expected. I'm not doing that. Because I am so rational and calm."
Hm, they did need to be more rational about this. "We're wasting time looking everywhere," Cole decided. "We need to narrow things down. If Fledge was trying to hide, where would he go?"
"Uh," Jay considered. "His room is way too obvious. That would be one of the first places anyone would look. I doubt he's left Skyloft, he'd be scared someone would see him, especially since people are out searching for Lloyd's bird. He'd want to bunker down somewhere nearby. Not the bazaar, probably not someone else's house or dorm, nowhere around the plaza, somewhere no one would be right now…"
"The Sparring Hall!" Cole exclaimed. No one would be there now. There were no classes today and today's ceremony was all about flying, not combat. The building would be empty.
"Oh yeah!" Jay gasped. "That would be the perfect spot right now!"
"Let's go!" Cole declared. They backtracked to the first floor's back door and zipped across the school grounds. When they burst into the Sparring Hall, they spotted Fledge right away, he was gloomily staring at the weapon's rack. The kid spun around when he heard the door slam open.
"Fledge!" Jay shouted. "What do you know?" Maybe a bit too aggressively forward.
"Wha-a-about what?" Fledge asked nervously, cowering away from them. He did look very guilty.
"Lloyd's loftwing is missing," Cole informed him more calmly, though this likely wasn't news to him. "Groose let something slip, didn't he? We won't be mad, but we need to know what you know."
"I-um," Fledge stuttered, gaze darting around. Cole waited; arms crossed.
It took Fledge only about thirty seconds to crack.
"I'm sorry!" Fledge blurted. "I wanted to tell Lloyd. I wanted to tell you. But if Groose found out I told…"
"Don't worry about him," Jay demanded. "We'll deal with him. Spill the info. Groose can't get away with this! Lloyd practically fell through the barrier when his bird didn't come." Jay's voice wavered a little at the end. Like knowing how close they'd come to losing Lloyd was still sinking in.
Fledge's face paled and his eyes widened with horror. "R-really?"
"This is serious, Fledge," Cole pressed. "Even if the bird is fine and Groose plans to give it back after the race, he can't get away with doing something like this."
"I-I, when I was in the hallway," Fledge confessed. "I was behind a stack of crates when Groose and his gang came in. They didn't see me, so I hunkered down to try to avoid them. Then Morro bursts in and he and Groose start arguing about Groose having hid Lloyd's bird, and, well, I couldn't believe it at first, I thought I was misunderstanding something. But when Groose said 'they'll never find it behind the waterfall' I realized they really had done it. Morro didn't seem happy about it, he was actually really mad. Said that the hiding place wasn't the issue and they shouldn't have done it at all. It sounded like Groose had done it without telling Morro."
"Really?" Jay questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Morro was against it?"
"I'm not surprised," Cole shrugged. "As awful as Morro is, he wouldn't want to beat Lloyd like this. He didn't delay taking the test just to win because Lloyd couldn't even race. We might even be able to get him to tell us where Groose hid the loftwing. There aren't too many waterfalls in Skyloft, but the quicker we find Lloyd's bird the better."
Fledge wrung his hands together, wilting further. "I was going to try to sneak away and warn Lloyd, but I'm such a clutz… Groose grabbed me and told me I better keep my mouth shut if I ever want to ride a bird again…"
Scowling, Jay shook his head angrily. "He's even stupider than I thought, which is impressive because I already thought he was an idiot." To Cole he said, "Let's go tell, Lloyd."
Cole nodded. "You come too, Fledge," he ordered. That way they'd be able to protect him from Groose and give Lloyd a firsthand account of what had happened.
"Alright," Fledge agreed quietly.
They were only halfway across the grounds when Lloyd and Zane came hurrying over the walkway bridge that led to the school's second floor door. Perfect, that saved loads of time.
"Lloyd!" Cole called out. "Down here!" Lloyd and Zane paused, coming up to the railing. "We've found out something about your bird!"
Lloyd's eyes lit up. "Really?" Instead of going through the school to get down to them or even using the crates stacked up by the wall as makeshift stairs, Lloyd vaulted over the side of the bridge, hanging off with one arm for a second before dropping the rest of the way down. Kai was largely to blame for Lloyd's more… adventurous way of getting around. Not that Cole could really complain, they all did it sometimes. Kai and Lloyd just did it the most, they both got bored easily.
Zane used the crates to hop down like a more sensible person.
"What did you find out?" Lloyd asked, rushing up to them.
"Fledge overheard Groose talking about your bird," Cole explained, nodding towards Lloyd's classmate. Lloyd's lips thinned. "Groose threatened him to keep quiet about it. He's definitely taken your bird. Tell him, Fledge."
"I'm so sorry," Fledge apologized, eyes squeezing shut. "I really wanted to tell you but if Groose found out I told you…" His eyes opened and flitted towards the school. "Just a little while ago, when I was helping Henya move supplies to the dining hall, Groose and his buddies came in. They didn't notice I was there and started talking about their plan to hide your loftwing." He met Lloyd's eyes guilitily. "I wanted to warn you, Lloyd. But just as I tried to sneak away…" He gulped fearfully. "Groose and his gang grabbed me. They said that if I told you, they'd make sure I would never be able to ride a bird again."
Lloyd let out an aggravated huff that was not directed at Fledge.
"It sounds like Groose hid your loftwing behind a waterfall," Cole added.
"How fortunate," Zane noted. "We were unable to get him to disclose the loftwing's location."
"Wait, you've already talked to him?" Jay asked.
"Yeah," Lloyd nodded, frustrated. "He was the number one suspect from the start. And Groose has never been sneaky. We literally overheard him bragging about it to Cawlin and Stritch when we walked up. He still denied it when we accused him though. He wouldn't even tell Zelda. I thought Kai was going to strangle him and chuck him off the island."
"He was quite irate," Zane agreed. Oh, Cole could imagine.
"Have you asked Morro yet?" Cole suggested. The chances that Morro would tell were pretty high.
"He wasn't talking either," Lloyd sighed. "He definitely knows, but he refused to snitch on his friends. Honestly, I'm kind of glad crushing me isn't his top priority." Well, that was a bright side of it, Cole supposed. "We should be fine though. If you heard Groose say behind a waterfall that doesn't leave a lot of options."
"Reviewing the waterfalls on Skyloft," Zane analyzed. "The logical hiding spot would be the caves under the Source. It is a place no one goes due to the monsters and there is ample room for a loftwing."
"Makes sense," Lloyd nodded. To Fledge, he said, "Don't worry, Fledge. Groose slipped up on his own, he doesn't have a reason to blame you for anything."
Cole frowned. "The monster population has increased recently, right? Wasn't the entrance sealed off?"
"That isn't hard for a human to get around," Lloyd said, "It's just to keep the monsters in. The cave's our best bet. It shouldn't take long to search."
"But- what about the monsters?" Jay cautioned.
"It's just keese and chuchus," Lloyd shrugged, unconcerned. "I'll just take my sword with me. My uncle will understand." They weren't supposed to be running around town with their weapons, they were still in training. Lloyd didn't seem at all worried about the rule breaking. Perks of being the headmaster's son and the lead sensi's nephew.
"We'll go with you," Cole volunteered. Jay and Cole nodded in support.
"I don't think we need four people for that," Lloyd pointed out. Which, yeah, true, Lloyd would be fine by himself but Cole didn't want to be stuck not doing anything.
"Then I shall update the headmaster on the situation," Zane offered, "and make sure they do not begin the race. Fledge, you can accompany me."
"Great, thanks," Lloyd nodded. He turned to the Sparring Hall. "Let's go grab our weapons."