Glad you're still here and enjoying it! =D

Chapter 69: Setbacks

Despite his tiredness, Link's sleep had been broken and fitful, haunted by a looming shadow that was all too real. He woke to the early morning sun, getting out of bed with a resigned haste, and dressed with his back turned to the Goddess Sword, which he'd placed across his desk. Cleaned and oiled, his armour lay beside the bed, but he left it aside for the time being: he wouldn't be going anywhere but Skyloft until he found out what the Light Tower had to show him. Whether or not to take Fi, of course, wasn't even a decision, and he left his room still fastening the last buckle, the sword resting across his back.

To his relief, the corridors were relatively quiet, the morning bell as yet unrung. Descending the stairs, Link passed a couple of tired-looking students who glanced at him and then hastily turned back to their previous conversation. Instructor Owlan's rebuke had clearly made an impact – and Link was nothing but grateful for it.

"...swear, it must have gone on most of the night."

"Who do you think it was?"

"I dunno, one of the younger students, maybe? I just wish…"

The half-heard conversation dwindled behind him as he hurried to the dining hall. Breakfast was still being prepared, steaming hot and only half-ready, but Henya beckoned him into the kitchen to take as much as he wanted from the things that were, only allowing him to leave when he'd stacked almost more than he thought he could eat onto his tray – and with a promise that his lunch would be packed and waiting for him soon.

Picking a seat by the wall, Link settled down to eat. He was hungrier than he'd quite realised, but even focusing on the fresh, hot meal, he found himself still aware of the double handful of other students in the room, sitting and eating or walking in – and one of them, in particular, coming closer, walking up behind him.

Link twisted around in his chair to see Cawlin just a couple of steps away. The short, chubby student's expression flickered for a moment as if taken aback, but Link didn't have time to wonder why, as it settled back into Cawlin's usual expression of slightly sneering superiority. Or constipation, Zelda had once whispered, and Link had completely failed to stifle his laugh.

"Hey, you. I just checked Groose's room, and the guy is gone. You got any idea where he went? Huh?"

Link shook his head, uncomfortable. There was no way he could tell Cawlin that Groose was on the surface, probably still stuck there, hopefully at least safe in the temple with Mahra Impa. If he and Strich went down there as well, they would all be in danger, and even if the Sheikah appeared to help them as they had Link, it would still put the Sheikah themselves in more danger even assuming Groose, Cawlin, and Strich even listened to them. Link's heart twisted as he remembered he'd forgotten to ask after Davar, the horror he'd faced overwhelming enough to crush even concern for the man who had possibly given up his life to save Link's.

"Yeah… that's what I thought. Nothing." Cawlin blew out a breath, completely oblivious to the reasons for Link's silence, and turned away while still talking, maybe to Link or maybe just to himself, his tone growing increasingly snide. "He really hasn't been himself lately, and it's pathetic. Maybe he had to run away because of his broken heart? What a tough guy. Heh heh…"

Link had heard that same snigger directed at him as often as not, usually after Groose had mocked him or shoved him or whatever else he chose to do. Even so, for a moment he almost felt a little sorry for Groose that his so-called friend would dismiss and mock him so readily. Then again, it wasn't as if Groose himself wasn't exactly the same.

With an internal shrug, Link went back to his breakfast. The bullies weren't enough of a problem for him to care about any more, not when he had the monstrosity on the surface, finding out how to open the Gate of Time and reach Zelda, the unpredictable threat of Ghirahim, and Davar to worry about. He finished the last mouthfuls as a gaggle of students came in the door, all talking animatedly, and hastily dropped off his tray and fled the Academy before anyone else could start questioning him.

The wind outside was fickle and contrary, eddying now one way, now another, and the red loftwing following him from above was forced to beat his wings for every bit of distance, rather than soaring as the big birds loved to do on warm, sunny days. Link sympathised with his bird's frustration, feeling every buffeting gust at only a slight remove, echoed in turn by the unpredictable impact of the wind on him every time he turned a corner or passed a side street. It wasn't strong enough to blow him around – only the very worst storms could be that strong – but it was still enough to be mildly annoying: now directly in his face; now suddenly from the side; or even falling briefly still only to catch him off-guard in the next step. Hats fluttered on their owners' heads, held securely on with well-tied laces or buckled straps as a matter of course, and Link made an instinctive grab as an old lady's shawl escaped her shoulders and blew twisting past him. Almost to his own surprise, his hand closed on the softly woven fabric, and he bundled it up quickly, walking up to her and offering it back.

"Thank you! My, I thought I'd lost it this time for sure. The pin comes loose, you see…" Plump, wrinkled hands closed on the shawl and took it from him to hold it possessively close, while faded brown eyes peered at him. "But it's the one my girl made for me, so I don't like to use another. Well, thank you very much, young man… young Knight, isn't it? One of the Academy students? You're all always so well-mannered. Well, don't let me keep you; I expect you have training to be getting on with, eh? Goddess bless you and all you do today."

"And you," Link said quietly, smiling a little as he went on his way.

The rest of the trip across Skyloft was without incident, although he paused briefly on the bridge to feel the wind streaming past him, every bit as strongly as it could while flying. He wasn't the only person to think so, either: a child too small to have yet met their loftwing was leaning against the parapet, squinting into the wind and leaning from side to side as if riding an imaginary bird. It felt like so long ago that Link had done the same, back home on Spindrift, holding a fence as if it were a loftwing's flight harness and imagining the day he would have a bird of his own.

He felt a wave of fondness from the red bird above, affection he fully returned as he carried on, down the far side of the bridge to climb the second, steeper of Skyloft's two hills. Like most students, he'd been at the Academy for two years when his tenth birthday came, and with it the ceremony that would see him meet his loftwing. He, and everyone else on Skyloft who was the same age, had waited on the Isle of the Goddess. The first bird had arrived, delightedly crooning at a black-haired boy whose name Link couldn't remember and who he'd never seen again. The second and third, close together, splitting up to find their lifelong partners in the small line of excited children. The red loftwing had been almost last to appear, and when he did everyone gasped, even Headmaster Gaepora staring in surprise: crimson was a vanishingly rare colour amongst loftwings, and while several of them sported it in the bands or tips of their feathers, a fully crimson bird hadn't been seen in over a generation.

Rare or otherwise, it had meant nothing to Link from the moment their eyes met, and something sparked to life inside his mind that he hadn't known he could miss until that instant. It felt like a dream as he patted the soft plumage, aware of both the feel of them under his hands and the comforting sense of contact that both he and the bird felt. Excitement – the boy's loftwing had arrived and instantly bonded with him – and triumph – the bird had found his human after the first true long flight of his life – filled them both to such a degree that Link, laughing in wonder, had scrambled up onto the young bird's back and the two had leapt into the sky unprompted, flying around by the island for the sheer joy of it, feeling perfectly safe in the sure and certain knowledge that neither of them would ever let the other down.

Link walked up the hill still thinking as much of the loftwing flying above him as the road he was walking on. For the moment, the red bird was semi-contented: things were closer to how they ought to be, with Link in the sky where he and his loftwing belonged and heading purposefully towards finding their lost flockmate, however contrary the winds of the day were.

Almost before he knew it, he had climbed the eastern hill, a steep rise ending in a cliff at the island's edge, with terraces of housing cut into its sloping side and nestled into it away from the wind, each one with its own roof garden growing fruits, vegetables, flowers. The open space at the top was something of a small park, the edge of the island protected by a sturdy fence to keep children from falling from it, and, set only slightly aside from the highest point of the hill, the second windmill turned as smoothly and near-silently as its southern sibling.

Expecting it would be the same as the other one, Link walked up to it, looking at the hatch in its side.

"Fi, would you open the hatch, please?"

There was a click just like the one he'd heard before, and he slid his fingers into the recess, pulling upwards. Just as the other one had, the hatch slid upwards into the windmill, revealing a cramped, dark space decorated with its own set of notes on string. Link's loftwing landed in the strip of parkland behind him, watching curiously as he scrambled inside.

Other than the different notes, the layout was identical to the one he'd been inside yesterday. Link found the hidden catch down the right-hand side of the left-hand control panel, lifted it, and looked in to see the same circular mechanism that he had before, the only difference being that the compass rose, oriented north, was at a different angle compared to everything else due to the different angle of the windmill. He reached in and pressed the 'LOCK./UNLOCK' button… but nothing happened.

Master Link, I detect that this board is not receiving power. Analysing the power flows within this windmill, I have discovered a fault in the power conversion unit located beneath and to the right of the board. Although I can guide you through the process of accessing and removing it, it will not be repairable using technology available on Skyloft. It will be necessary to locate a replacement.

Link grimaced, frustrated. He was so close – so close, only to be thwarted at the last step. "But where would we…" He trailed off. "The desert?"

I calculate a 90% probability that suitable components will be available in that location, Fi agreed. The city of Cronellon, through which you passed on your way to the Gate of Time, will host a large number of such converters. The primary difficulty will be in finding one of the correct rating which has not been rendered inoperable by the passage of time.

"Is that what you think happened to this one?"

He felt Fi's attention shift, directed searchingly at something he couldn't see but could still, somehow, have pointed directly at through his sense of her. No, Master. It appears that this power conversion unit has been partially melted, presumably due to a power surge of some kind. Failsafes activated and contained it, preventing the damage from spreading. The rest of the mechanism is intact.

"That's a relief. I wonder what happened?"

Even as he reached the end of his sentence, Link's words were overlapped by a shout from outside. "Link? Is that you in there?"

At the sound of an unexpected voice calling to him, Link jumped so badly he almost hit his head on the ceiling of the cramped space inside the windmill, twisting frantically to look out and see – Jakamar? Still some distance away, near enough that Link's loftwing had registered him but too far off to be a threat, he was hurrying in Link's direction. Link shut the panel and squirmed out, standing up just as Jakamar reached him.

"Uh, Master Builder…"

"I saw that red bird and thought it might be you. What are you doing in the windmill, lad? How did you get the key? I had a letter from Mayor Herrene and Headmaster Gaepora saying you might be needing to look in the windmills, so I got it out for you, but here you are."

Link felt his face heat in chagrin. He'd only intended to take a look at the western windmill, but with Fi's help, getting inside it and doing what he needed to had been so easy he hadn't really thought about it. Apart from the moveable 'shield', the windmill had been left exactly as it was when he'd entered; Fi would have told him if he'd done anything to damage it. But he should have found someone to ask, at least before coming up here, only it hadn't even occurred to him.

"I'm sorry," he said, glancing down at his boots. "I don't have much time, and Fi can just unlock the hatches. She says they can use a key, or a signal she can give them." He took a slightly deeper breath. "I didn't think to ask you, and I should have. I'm sorry."

"Well, as long as there's no harm done. There is no harm done, right, Link?"

"I don't think so. Fi would have told me if I damaged anything. But something in this tower is broken-"

"What?!"

Fi chose that moment to emerge, hovering beside Link in her usual elegant pose, wind-ruffled yet still, making Jakamar's query become almost as much of a surprised yelp.

"My assessment of the damage indicates that it occurred between twenty and thirty years ago. These windmills possess a secondary function related to Link's quest, involving the transmission of information. This function does not interfere with their primary purpose of power generation. However, a key component necessary for activation of the secondary function has failed. The current technology of Skyloft is insufficient to create a replacement."

"Well…"

"Jakamar," Link said quickly, seeing the Master Builder still rather stunned, "this is Fi, the spirit of the sword. Fi, this is Jakamar." I know you've already met him, but he doesn't really know that.

"Well, I… I'm pleased to meet you, Fi. Kukiel had a lot to say about you! But how do you know so much about the windmill?"

"I possess senses not commonly available to humans," Fi replied. "In addition, I was given as much knowledge as possible in my creation in order to better assist my wielder. At this close range, I am capable of fully perceiving the entire internal structure of the windmill, and identifying its individual components. The component in question is a modulated multi-way transformer that permits the secondary functions of the windmill to be powered using the electricity generated within the windmill. The two systems operate under significantly different voltage regimes, and it is not possible to directly connect them to one another without causing severe and immediate damage."

"...You should meet Minga," Jakamar said, a little slowly. "She's the chief electrician – she has the main key to the windmills. At first I wondered if you had hers, but she would have told me if she'd given you it. Anyway, that… so what are you gonna do about that? If we can't make another part, what can we do to make it work?"

"There's a place on the surface where I should be able to find parts like that," Link explained. "I'm going to have to go back down there and hope I can find one that's still in good shape."

"On the surface…" Jakamar blew out a breath. "I don't suppose I can help you there, lad. I always thought it was children's tales, all that about something under the clouds. Never thought I'd see days like these, that's all I can say." He scratched his head. "You've got a good heart, bringing Kukiel home for us the way you did. I'll tell Minga everything Fi here said about the windmill. She'll probably want to be up here waiting for you when you get back. If she's not, come find me first and I'll send someone to fetch her. All right?"

Link nodded, relieved and grateful. "I will, I promise. Thank you." He turned around and shut the hatch, and both he and Jakamar heard the click of Fi locking it behind him. "It might be a few days, but I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Fair winds, Link." Jakamar grimaced as a gust buffeted them both. "Fairer than these, for sure."

Link smiled. "Thank you."

According to my ongoing count, this is the 11th day.

Despite what films may depict, maybe to make characters look cool or maybe to avoid confusing the audience with costume changes, one doesn't generally wear armour all the time everywhere. Although chainmail is quite comfy and easy to move around in,* you will still know you're wearing it as you carry extra weight around all day. And it gets some amount of oily grime (if well-kept) or rusty grime (if not) on pretty much everything it touches.
* Your experience may differ, but I find it quite a cosy form of armour to wear when belted properly to settle the weight onto your hips. Belted improperly it's a real drag on the shoulders, but properly it barely feels to weigh anything.

Patch Notes
- Story of Link meeting his loftwing now organic rather than "As you know, Zelda…" exposition.
- Problem that could be fixed by hand-cranking replaced with problem actually unfixable using only Skyloftian equipment.
- Special rotation mechanism still not operable by everyday Skyloft phenomenon. (I know I wrote this one last time, but come on, a wind-operated "secret" mechanism on a windmill?) (I also know Jakamar knows it's for rotating the windmill, but come on, at some point in the last thousand years the wind would have been blowing from the direction of the Light Tower and one of the windmills would have lit up, and then everyone would be checking them out and pointing them different ways to see what happened. So the mechanism Link interacts with must be both secret and separate from the regular windmill mechanism.)
- Locals now notice and react to Link messing about with their windmills.

The more I think about it, the more the pointless windmills annoy me. Windmills aren't typically there to look cute. They do a job and they do it really very well, providing a large amount of force for things that, for an unaided human, would be pretty backbreaking labour. In order to get use out of a mill (wind or water powered), you have to be able to get inside it, place whatever you want crushed, cut, etc., and have space for collection of the end product (flour, cut wood, etc. – the more I look into this, the more uses I find for mills; there are absolutely tons of them and various corresponding configurations of the drive system!). As I wrote last time, rather than make these ones much wider and more full of people, I opted to have them generate electricity instead.