Good to hear from you all as always! Birdie, I'll have you know your command to invade Groose's room made me laugh! XD

We'll find out more about Mallara next time we're back up on Skyloft... but first! I may just see if I can write the next chapter from Groose's perspective! I don't know if I can pull that off, though, so you'll have to see how it turns out – no promises!

Chapter 60: Collision

It felt good to be flying again, his bird's strong red wings bearing them steadily towards the hole in the clouds, the wind whipping through his hair, his destination known and the journey straightforward. He was as prepared as he knew how to be, Zelda's harp secure in its case, the various elixirs he'd bought arranged at his waist, Fi calm and silent on his back beneath his shield. For the first time in days that felt like months, he was flying into the known, and all he didn't know was what Mahra Impa would be able to tell him.

The gap in the clouds opened up below him, cloud dissipating at one edge; swirling into and reforming at the other. Link gazed down into the shadowy green below, a sense of dread creeping into his heart. Knowing about the great and terrible seal down there, it now seemed only natural: he had to be almost directly over it. Setting the feeling aside, he gripped his sailcloth firmly, then swung his leg over the back of his loftwing and jumped, the bird only squawking grumpily, this time, before veering into a lazy circle to watch him drop away.

Arms and legs outstretched to catch the wind, Link plummeted down towards the gap in the clouds, angling himself through the air as he aimed for the dark, treeless patch between the vast trees, and the pale stone temple beside it. He'd land as close to the crumbling temple as he could without risking landing on it. If he could get over the clearing at the side, rather than the distant yawning horror of the seal…

The clouds shot past on either side of him, and all of a sudden the sideways elements of his fall stopped: there was almost no wind beneath the clouds that day, it seemed. Link sideslipped, backed a little; found himself on the perfect line, and finally, gripping its loops, flung the sailcloth free. It billowed open above him with the usual snapping jolt, slowing his fall almost instantly to a comfortable drift with plenty of room to spare.

Somewhere up above, his loftwing's distant sense of curiosity, a curiosity Link had half-felt since shortly after his jump – another bird in the near skies – suddenly changed to alarm, and an echo of another bird's panicked cry. Link's head snapped up, staring upwards fruitlessly: all he could see was the huge expanse of canopy of his sailcloth, sewn and embroidered by Zelda.

"Fi, my loftwing thinks something's happening. Can you see what's going on up there?"

I detect another individual dropping through the clouds above you, Master. The individual appears to be attempting to match your flight path.

"What?!" Who would – well, maybe anyone with a sense of adventure might, but how – how did they find the hole? Had they followed him? What would happen to them?!

The individual has adopted a posture minimising air resistance, and is approaching rapidly. Master, I detect that this individual is one of your fellow students at the Knight Academy. He matches your mental description of Groose.

"Groose?!"

There was a shadow on Link's sailcloth suddenly: a wide shadow, another sailcloth above, as Groose – Groose?! – flung open his own sailcloth to slow his descent. It grew wider, darker: Groose was still decelerating – then Link heard yelling; saw the dents of two feet sinking into his own sailcloth! Groose was right on top of him, the one thing all their instructions in preparation for the upper class – they would all get their own; Link's was just the only ornate, ceremonial one, given to him a few or so before the others would have got theirs with their new uniforms – told them not to do; the upper sailcloth would-

The dent of Groose's feet grew deeper, and slid sideways; Groose was yelling the entire time, filling the air with shouts for help interspersed with the occasional obscenity; Link's own sailcloth was pulling sideways, airflow completely changed by the distortion of Groose 'standing' – now more lying and kicking – on it and his half-deflated sailcloth tugging out to one side. Even as Link watched, unable to do anything other than shout back at Groose, the bigger student slid all the way off the edge of Link's sailcloth, screaming in panic as his own clearly no longer gave him any lift at all, grabbing frantically at the fabric of Link's and-

"Groose, NO!"

-releasing his own in the process, sliding fast down the arcing fabric towards the strapping locked around Link's arms, legs flailing frantically, only his strong grip keeping him from falling to his death. They were dropping fast now, too fast, spilling air from one side as Groose's weight tugged the other down, carrying more than twice the weight the sailcloth was meant to; Link tried to pull down on the other side – Groose came sliding into him still yelling, flailing so frantically he kicked Link in the ribs before his hands reached Link's arm – there was a sudden, horrible jolt as the sailcloth caught on something, and then they were hanging in the air, swinging back and forth, the ground still an uncomfortably long fall away as Link's right hand slipped, leaving him and Groose hanging solely by his left hand, Groose hanging on with a death grip!

Link tried valiantly to swing his right hand up and grasp the last remaining strap, but the inevitable happened before he could: the strapping was slipping through his left hand, the loop riding up painfully around his wrist – a moment later it had slipped, and he was holding it only by his fingertips – and then they fell. Groose let go as they did, in the few moments before they hit the ground, his and Link's voice alike rising in a brief scream.

Both Link and Groose landed hard, lying dazed on the forest floor for several long, silent moments until the sounds of the forest started again around them: the fluting, chirruping songs of the little birds; the rustles and calls of the animals.

"Ugh…"

His head spinning, the voice clashed unpleasantly with Link's expectations. It should have been Fi, prompting him to move with her silently musical Master; instead he could hear Groose, groaning.

"Rough landing… I think I might'a broke something…"

Link opened his eyes to the unwelcome sight of the Academy bully lying spread-eagled on his back not two paces away. What was Groose doing here?

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to land? You know, without crash-" Groose had slowly sat up as he spoke, and as he finally took in his surroundings, he fell utterly silent for a few moments, his mouth hanging open, before finding his voice again.

"WHOA!"

Link began to push himself up, glancing quickly the other way to check for danger, then turning his head back towards Groose. He ached, but nothing was broken – any more than Groose seemed to have actually broken anything, which Link found he was mildly glad of – and he could still move.

"Wh-what… what IS this?" Groose's head turned slowly, looking at the forest around them as though he couldn't comprehend it. "B-birds?! TINY birds?! Wh-what… ARE they?! H-how… Wha-what…" He'd got to his knees by that point, and seemed incapable of rising further. "Where am I?!"

Carefully standing, relieved not to have sprained anything and dismissing the bruises he could feel he'd have, Link found himself feeling almost sympathetic to Groose. This region of the surface was nothing like the scare stories… at least, not unless some bokoblins or worse heard Groose's shouting. His eyes darted from side to side again, searching for danger in the trees immediately surrounding the small clearing they'd landed in, confirming what the forest noises, the song – and presence on several nearby branches – of the little birds, and Fi's quiescence had already told him. They were safe.

"This is the surface," he said quietly, walking over to Groose. The calm, familiar voice seemed to snap him out of his paralysis, as all of a sudden Groose was on his feet, gripping Link's shoulders and shaking him back and forth.

"What's going on here?" Groose demanded. "Ever since Zelda vanished, there've been all these crazy stories, and you've been flying off on some special mission – I figured if I tailed you, then-" The shaking had slowed down, and, thankfully, stopped. "Those stories sounded dumb, but this is… so wild. Seriously, what ARE those tiny things?" He pointed up at the birds, which were ignoring him. "And what's with all these trees? There are so many!"

Link had thought that, too: so many, and so huge- and then Groose was shaking him again, before he could even begin to find the words.

"Just give it to me straight! I can take it. Where are we? Is Zelda here?"

"Groose-"

"What's the deal with this place?! There's supposed to be nothin' below the clouds, so what's all this?"

Despite himself, Link found himself smiling, just a little. Just a few days ago, he'd felt the same way, wonder alternating with his fear for Zelda. If Groose really cared about her enough that he'd risk tailing Link out here; that he'd leap towards a hole in the clouds that had to terrify his loftwing as much as anyone else's on the strength of having seen Link do it… He clapped Groose gently on the arm, a gesture unexpected enough that the big student looked down at Link's hand, then slowly back into his eyes.

Disentangling Groose's hands from his shoulders, Link repeated himself calmly. "This is the surface. Almost everything about it has been forgotten in the sky. We're in a great forest that fills this region, near a place called the Sealed Grounds…" As he explained, he almost wondered if Fi felt something like this. Different, and in her own strange way, without the emotions he felt – and he was certainly no Groose – and yet…

Wonder of wonders, Groose listened to him, silent, gaping.

"...Whoa…" he said finally, when Link had finished. "You're kind of imploding my mind right now… But I think I get what you're saying…" His expression – despite his habit of squinting – was so hopeful, so pleading, that Link found himself feeling almost sympathetic.

"If I've got this right," Groose continued, "Zelda is down here somewhere, and she's… OK?"

Link nodded. At least, I think so.

"She's… she's okay," Groose repeated, as if he was only slowly beginning to believe it. "Oh, wow! That's so great!" He laughed, the same somewhat gormless laugh Link had heard at his own expense far too many times, but for once there was nothing malicious about it: it was a sound of pure relief and joy. "Hearing that is such a… huge weight off my mind." He wiped his eyes on the back of his glove, grinning, and sniffed before slowly looking around, wide-eyed, but this time taking it all in, his eyes lighting on the little birds again.

"You know, Link… It's sort of all right down here."

Slowly, he turned, still gazing all around him. "This place needs a name."

Link opened his mouth to remind him that the region was called Faron, according to Fi and to the Sheikah who lived here, but Groose was still talking.

"Yeah… a name fitting for this rugged, adventurous wilderness. From now on, we'll call it… Grooseland!"

Link actually took half a step back. He wasn't serious… was he?

"You're not serious about that, are you?"

"Look, I discovered it, so I get to name it. That's the rule!"

But I- Link sighed. It would be easier and simpler to just ignore him.

"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'but Groose, didn't I get here first?' Well, maybe you technically did , but you didn't name it when you had the chance, so now the decision falls to me! Just like it should have."

That's because it already has a name… Link thought. And even if it didn't, I wouldn't call it something like that.

"So," Groose continued, changing the subject as if there was nothing more to say, "lemme see if I've got this right. You said the old lady living in some temple down that way knows where Zelda is?"

"Yes," Link said, slowly.

"I see…" Groose folded his arms, the way he always seemed to when he made some pronouncement or other to his sidekicks. "Right, Link. Thanks for getting me here. You've done a good job. You can head home."

What?!

"Big Groose will handle the search for Zelda from here."

He's treating me like Strich or Cawlin! Link didn't know whether to be amused or appalled at the notion. What made Groose think Link would even want to be his little minion? He'd picked on him for years! He'd imprisoned his loftwing!

"Yup," Groose mumbled, his usual manner fully reasserting itself. "I'll track her down, save her, and then give her a lift back to Skyloft…"

She doesn't want saving, Groose. She's doing something really important down here. She won't come back for any of us. Not until it's over. Groose was grinning to himself, far away, and Link knew there was no point saying anything to him.

"Then when we get back, I'll ask her if she wants to make our whole going-out thing official,"

Zelda wanted you thrown out of the Academy! You've never had a 'going-out thing' with her! You just don't listen when she tells you to go away!

"and then the two of us will get some quality time together," Groose continued, oblivious.

Link grimaced, and he must have made some sort of disgusted or disbelieving noise, because Groose refocused on him as if suddenly remembering someone else was still there.

"Anyway, the point is your work here is done. I got it covered from here!"

"Groose, you-"

"Now, it's off to find that old lady you were talking about," Groose announced, purposefully cutting him off. "Catch you later, Link!"

He turned and ran in the general direction Link had pointed, leaving Link gazing after him.

"Groose, your sailcloth!"

There was no response. Link looked down at the path, then up at the two sailcloths spread pathetically across the side of one of the immense trees that bordered the clearing.

If he didn't take care of his equipment, he would die. If Groose didn't take care of his equipment, he would die. Whatever he had done to Link in the past, Link didn't want the bully's death on his conscience.

"Fi, can you sense any bokoblins around here?"

No, Master. I detect that the evil emanating from the Sealed Grounds has increased in strength, however. The seal that you reinforced eight days ago has weakened significantly during that time.

Link cast another worried glance in the direction Groose had run, towards the temple. "Do you know if the old lady is still in there?"

I cannot detect her. Her aura was previously undetectable except at close range, due to the Sheikah arts of concealment. There is a 98% probability that she remains on guard within the temple.

"She should stop Groose from doing anything too stupid… right?"

There is an 85% probability that he will stop to engage her in conversation.

"So he'll probably be okay for a couple of minutes."

Fi didn't contradict him, and that, Link thought as he began scrambling up into the tree, would have to be good enough. Even if he didn't fold either – he could do his own in the temple, and Groose's was his responsibility – he had to at least get the two sailcloths down before they ripped any worse than they might already have.

For this chapter Ardil read about what happens if you stack two round parachutes too close above one another, which seemed to me intuitively like an aerodynamically bad idea. Surprise, surprise: it turns out it can indeed go badly, as – from what I read – the descending turbulent air immediately above the lower parachute causes the upper parachute to partially deflate! (People who know more about parachuting than me are very welcome to give me better information. I just searched a bunch of aviation and parachuting sites and forums and the like as I couldn't find a really authoritative source with an answer. Turns out most parachutes in use these days by non-military types are the rectangular steerable sorts rather than the round(ish) ones like Link here is using, so info on simple round parachutes was hard to come by.)

Patch Notes
- Groose no longer stupid enough to be suicidal. (Imagine if he'd missed his tiny, probably less than 1.7 by 0.5 metre, target and pancaked!)
- But still a bit stupid.
- Skydiving equipment kept standard Academy issue in the upper class by issuing plain sailcloths to all students.
- Gorko moved so that he no longer just ignores two people dropping from the sky right in front of him! Don't you think he'd be all over that like lichen on a boulder?!
- Non-tame birds that have experience of predators no longer perch on people.
- Reason provided for Groose to somehow get to the temple several minutes ahead of Link even though only the latter actually knows where he is going.