As Karane walked along, figuring that she was probably making Pipit’s exhaustion even worse, she tripped over a Kikwi. Those things had a nasty habit of hiding from the Knight Patrol, making it even harder to keep track of them!
“Kwiii!” it squealed while Karane went stumbling into a tree.
Her face made immediate contact with the bark, very ungracefully, might I add, as she yelped in surprise at having been tripped by what was previously a bush.
“Kwiii!” the Kikwi jumped, frightened. It scurried over to her, not noticing the pursuing Pipit. “Oh no! Are you ok, kwi?!”
Karane spat out a leaf. “Yeah… peachy,” she muttered, a marvelous scratch now on her chin. She silently decided to lie to her fellow officers and tell them she had been attacked by one of those little devils that spat rocks at you. It sounded better than being tripped by a Kikwi.
[[Sorry guys, buying time until Zelda is online with her new comp. She should be soon. ]]
She tripped over a Kikwi. Pipit, even in his tired state, hadn’t done that. At first, when she went reeling into the tree and face planted, the brunette felt mild concern. He waited until she stepped back.
She spoke to the Kikwi, and appeared to be alright. She had a scratch on her chin, and was bleeding slightly, but… it wasn’t severe. It was relieving to see she hadn’t hurt herself, after all, so Pipit sighed quietly and stopped walking.
And then a tiny smile came across his lips. It started out as just a little smirk, but quickly broke into a grin. He was too tired to have better judgement. He hadn’t slept in something like eighteen hours—and even then it had only been two hours of sleep.
The grin slowly spread up to his ears before finally he let out an ungraceful snort, turned around to face a tree, rested his hand against it to support himself, and then burst into laughter.
He was certain the Kikwi would be frightened by his laughter—especially if it had been unaware of his presence. He couldn’t find room to care. Karane had just ran into a tree. Head on. Plain sight—that tree. Couldn’t be missed. She didn’t put her hands up, she didn’t dodge like a knight. She just fell… right into the tree.
His laughter shook him senseless—he was sure he would have fallen to the ground and rolled in laughter if not for the tree that was currently supporting him. He knew it wasn’t that funny. He knew his exhaustion was making it seem far more hysterical than it actually was. He also knew that the chances of Karane laughing with him were slim. She was far more likely to a) run off and go mope about it, or b) hit him.
But he laughed himself into tears anyway.
Instead of teasing the hero at his shock, Groose shook his head, grinning sheepishly. “I know, right?! It’s still kinda hard for me to believe, too, duh huh!” He shrugged, hiding his embarrassment for a few minutes by focusing on chopping up the last piece of the trunk. “Thanks, man! I just figured… if I was gonna tell anyone first, it should probably be you… or Zelda… but since she’s not here right now, well… huh huh,” he admitted, that stupid grin still on his face. “I’m kinda scared, ‘cause I sorta just… fell into this, y’know? But it’s really cool, too! I’m really, really excited, to be honest.“
Putting down the axe, he started gathering logs into his arms, before pausing to snort a laugh. “Duh huh huh! I don’t think my girl’s too excited, though. I think she just wants to get the whole thing over with.” He looked furtively after where Karane and Pipit had gone, then to Link, and cupped a hand over his mouth as he whispered, beaming, “But her boobs have gotten even bigger ‘cause of this baby thing, duh huh huh! It’s awesome!”
“Oh, I bet it is!” Link replied after a pretty hard laugh. It was great to see that Groose wasn’t a total mess or anything, and still capable of cracking hilarious jokes. Actually, now that he though of it, Groose would probably make an alright dad. Link giggled at the thought of the big ol’ Groose man taking care of a baby, holding it, and changing it, but at the same time the picture in his head looked fitting.
“Well I’m definitely happy for you, Groose.” Link propped his axe against a tree that he hadn’t been cutting and turned to him. “I’m sure your lady will come around soon.” He added, though certainly it was a different experience entirely for the lady involved, after all she was the one giving birth to the child, surely some anxiety would be absolutely understandable.
He went over to pick up some more logs, grabbing a few, (definitely not as many as Groose could hold) and started to walk. “So I’m the only one who knows, huh?” Link imagined some of the others getting pretty freaked out over news like this. Though surely they’d come around eventually, just like he did. “When were you planning on telling the others?”
Hearing that Pipit’s guilt had gotten the better of him faster than expected, Karane snickered to herself and kept walking before he could catch up with her, beginning to legitimately start her patrol and attempt finding the Goddess-incarnate that they all knew so well.
She hopped up on one of those huge trees roots, holding out her arms to balance as she walked across it. Karane’s trained eyes scoured the Faron landscape, keeping her eyes wide open for any sign of her blonde friend. According to Link’s concern, Zelda might have actually been gone for a while, and this might be cause for concern.
While it was uncommon, it was not impossible for some stray bokoblins to find their way into the forest, so Zelda might be in actual danger.
Plus, doing her job was a great way to tease Pipit and string him along until her amusement ran out. It was a little funny how well Karane was able to make him feel guilty, sometimes she regretted abusing that power. But only sometimes.
He was strung along like a puppy dog. He kept his distance at first, even though he could see her. Walking with her arms out, balancing on that log as if she didn’t know she was the most attractive thing in the world to him. And he followed behind her suit, walking in the path she took.
He wondered at what point, exactly, would she turn around and acknowledge that he was there. She was too smart of a girl, too strong of a knight, not to know he was walking behind her. He wasn’t all quiet. He was ungraceful, and clumsy, in his tired state. He tripped on rocks and stumbled over leaves.
She was giving him a silent treatment. He wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, actually. He knew he hadn’t exactly agreed with her, and he’d chosen not to go to bed mostly out of spite, but that didn’t seem like such a severe crime that it deserved ignorance. He picked up his pace to make sure he didn’t lose track of her.
He was slowly convincing himself that he had done something wrong.
At least the two lovebirds weren’t still here to shove their… loveydoveyness in their faces, Groose supposed. And even if Pipit wasn’t here, he still had another able pair of hands in Link—who was pretty much the closest a guy could get to having a best bud, excluding Cawlin and Strich. (They weren’t really on the same level as Groose was anymore, besides—somethin’ about goin’ through all that he had with Link and Zelda kinda changed a guy. Made him… smarter, n’ stuff.)
Groose nodded at the hero, trying to fight the frown from his expression. “Huh huh, yeah… I’m sure she’s fine,” he repeated, nodding vigorously before chopping out another slice of log. “Probably just… communin’ with nature, or somethin’, duh huh huh! You know how she is.” A few moments passed in silence, on his part, save for the occasional swipe of his axe hitting the felled tree; his thoughts turned towards… other things. Secret things, things he hadn’t exactly shared with anyone from back home just yet, but…
…Now would be as good a time as any to start, right? And Link was kind of a sleepy dope most of the time, but he could be trusted. Yeah… “Sooo…” Groose started awkwardly, grinning stupidly to himself and smoothing a hand reflexively over his pompadour. “…I kinda met this one pirate chick while I was out exploring a couple of months ago… And we kinda… have a thing goin’ on…” Man, he still couldn’t believe it himself! “…So ‘cause of this… thing we have… it looks like I might be the king of this huge harem of hot pirate chicks, duh huh huh!” He blinked, then his stupid grin got bigger and stupider; his face nearly turned red as his hair with embarrassed pride as he added, “…And she’s havin’ my kid! Duh huh!”
At first, Link kept chopping as he listened to Groose talk. It was nice to see him get excited over a girl that wasn’t Zelda. Not to say she was Link’s property or anything! Though that was beside the point…
As the Groose-man’s story got more—bizarre, Link could no longer focus on his chopping, to say the least. “W-what!? Leader of a—what?” he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Surely it was a joke. Groose always had a way pulling Link’s leg. That’s what it was, surely… Right?
Though, judging by the way he spoke, Link didn’t really pick up that kind of vibe from him, and before Link could gather his words, Groose mentioned one more thing. “A baby!? You’re gonna have a baby!?” He couldn’t even believe what he was hearing. At first he felt shocked, then he regained himself a bit. He had no idea such news about Groose would affect him in such a way. “I-I’m sorry, I mean congratulations!” he said in a completely different tone of voice than before. “You must be pretty excited, huh?”
Stupid allergies.
Luckily it only came around during the first few days of spring, but that didn’t stop those few days from being an outright miserable, itchy horrid mess.
There were few things that the young lad Link could say he truly hated, but if there were a list for such things, springtime allergies would surely be on it, it might even be the top thing, even. He was constantly sneezing, blowing his nose, he couldn’t even see straight because his eyes itched something horrid.
Everyone at class made fun of him, especially certain large pompadoured folk. He couldn’t help having to get up all the time to blow his nose! It seemed he couldn’t escape it wherever he went. It seemed he’d just have to wait til it passed.
He supposed he could manage until then, and who knows, maybe he’d grow out of it someday. Though that was probably just wishful thinking… For now, he just sighed in defeat.
“Master, it appears your health has significantly decreased.” The sword spirit’s voice rang out, echoing an air of concern. She would continue to recommend that Link seek out means of restoring himself at the earliest opportunity.
If only it was as easy as her comforting voice made it sound.
Link could hardly walk, his wounds were deep, and every step drove a shock of pain through his body. Earlier a few bokoblins had ambushed him. He was surprised, and defeating them came as more of a challenge than usual. Needless to say he wasn’t exactly in top condition afterwards.
Even though the danger was gone for now, he had to find something to help him feel better or else he would surely collapse from exhaustion. “Think you could help, Fi?” He managed to mutter, beginning to feel himself buckle under his own weight.
“I’d be glad too, master.” She answered promptly, before immediately pointing him in the direction of a few heart plants in the distance. “Oh goddesses you’re a life saver!” Link shouted before running over to them as fast as he could.
“You know, you almost sounded concerned, there.” Link teased as he healed himself.
“I am merely here to assist, master.” She answered him after a brief pause.
“Sure thing.” He laughed, and leaned back. A few minutes rest wouldn’t hurt anything.
For a moment, Groose was distracted from bothering their fellow knights by Link’s question. “Duh huh, if Zelda had passed by, she’d still be with me!” he boasted in part jest, though a worried frown soon took hold of his expression and he hesitated with his axe. “…When’d ya last see her? Duh huh huh, but I bet she’s fine! Probably just doin’… Goddess things, or whatever,” Groose added, more to reassure himself than anyone else. Surely Zelda was okay… but worry crept in, nonetheless. He still had strong feelings for her, after all—but more than that, she was a good friend, and the Goddess, besides. She needed to be protected, no matter what.
And then for all of a minute or two—distracting him yet again—it seemed that whole ‘brofest’ thing really was going to happen, but just as Karane had left them to themselves, Pipit was chasing after his girlfriend. Groose gave a mighty roll of his eyes at the knight’s farewell, sticking out his tongue and blowing a raspberry after him. “Duh huh, fine, go make out with your mooom, Pipsqueak! We’ll be here when you get back!” Snorting, he shook his head at Link as if to say, can you believe that guy?, and picked up his axe again, going back to work.
As Pipit went off after Karane, Link made sure to remind them to let him know if they saw Zelda anywhere before continuing his concentrated slices at the tree he had been working on. Then he turned to Groose, letting out a slight laugh at the look he had given him.
“Oh, to answer your question,” He began, shaking his head. How silly of him to forget he’d been asked something! “The last time I saw her was last night, we were walking through the woods here and decided to camp out for the night.” He looked a bit lost in thought, as if it were difficult to remember.
“I don’t remember well, but all I know is that this morning, she wasn’t there, so I figured she wandered off somewhere.” He finished, looking down at the handle of his axe. Then he shrugged and picked up the axe and started at the tree once again.
(Source: gingerofskyloft)
It had been a few hours now. Link had been enjoying one of his all time favorite past-times. Which of course, was flying around aimlessly on his loftwing. Sure, some people might find this sort of activity boring, or even lame, but not Link.
No, Link could spend hours out there. He’d land on floating isles all around Skyloft, some he’d never seen before, and some he’d frequented many times. Only for a short while however, perhaps just to give his bird a break, or to get a drink, but soon enough he would always take back to the sky, where he felt most comfortable.
Normally he’d be back by sunset, as the knights always told him about how dangerous it was at night, and how he was’t allowed…
But today was different. Link had seen the sunset tons of times feom sitting on a deck on Skyloft, but today he wanted to watch the majestic body of light dive beneath the cloud barrier from a new point of view, form the sky. Sure, he might get in trouble, but he figured it was worth it.
And he was right, it was almost the most amazing thing he’d ever seen. Almost.
It was quiet in here, nobody from the academy was here. There were no studies to be had, no one to see, nothing but Link, strolling through waterfall cave after a long, long day.
He liked coming here to unwind every once and a while. It seemed like his entire life was at the academy. And though Skyloft wasn’t exactly huge, there still were places to escape to without having to literally fly off somewhere.
Although that was definitely nice too.
Lately he couldn’t help the feeling that something strange was going to happen, something that might alter his life forever. Though he didn’t quell on those thoughts for too long. For now, there was peace and quiet, and the soft roar of running water in the distance.
He could swear that the temperature rose 10 degrees every time he hit one of those time-shift stones off on the distance. He definitely found Lanayru’s past environment to be more comfortable. Though he didn’t really have the luxury of avoiding the sun and sand right about now.
He sighed before continuing through the many daunting puzzles that this land provided for him to deal with, which proved time-consuming, dangerous and difficult as anything else he’d faced thus far.
Soon enough he found himself at the Temple of Time. From the outside, it looked as if it had been long overlooked for years. Buried in sand, almost. Though it had a certain elegance to it, something Link felt deep inside his soul, almost as it this place would be very important to him someday. Though it felt a little different than that.
He wondered deeply where this feeling came from, and what other mysteries that this land kept hidden under it’s endless blanket of sand.
It had been too long.
Too long since Zelda had began her sleep. Link knew she had to be. it was her destiny, she had to protect herself and everyone else. But why’d it have to be her? His dear friend, his Zelda. Though he had to shake such thoughts from his head, didn’t he? She served a greater purpose now, just like he did, and it wasn’t fair to put such a personal investment in all of this.
Though all of that didn’t matter right now, now it was time for her to awaken. She was just beyond the stone door of the Temple of Hylia. For him it has been days, maybe a week. But for her, it had been countless years, frozen inside that prison. He couldn’t help but just feel happy for her regaining her freedom.
It was time to fulfill his promise, to wake her up, and without wasting a second or a breath, he did just that. Her prison was broken. She must have been so weak after so long in there, she just collapsed. Though, of course Link was there to catch her.
After so much he had done, after everything. She was just there, not just beyond his reach, and he wasn’t too late. Even though there was more to be done. At least for now, she was there.
“I’ve got you.”
So much for the brofest. Karane just had to ruin everything, didn’t she? Groose snorted and stopped in his swinging to watch her and Pipit, a (brow-less) brow raised as the knight in yellow tried to fend off his girlfriend. “Duh huh, yeah, Karane, don’t you have patrol?” he interjected, nodding smugly. “But, huh huh, I dunno—maybe bein’ a mother hen to your booooyfrieeeend is apart of knight duty! I musta missed that class… duh huh huh!“
…so maybe she was right, and Pipit did look kinda tired, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t safely help them chop up some wood! Link had pretty much fought a big ol’ battle practically asleep, after all, the big snoozehead—the Pipsqueak could totally handle this, in comparison. With another heavy swing, his axe split cleanly through the wood, slicing off a more manageable third of its trunk. “So, Pippy, ya gonna help?” Groose snickered as he looked at him, his smirk a challenge. “Or ya gonna go off to bed like a good li’l boy? Duh huh huh!“
Link couldn’t help but giggle in the background. Though he could tell Karane was concerned about Pipit, obviously. He was yawning mid-sentence, and if anyone knew what tiredness looked and/or sounded like, then it surely would be Link. “You know you do seem kinda tired.” Link quietly spoke up. Though Groose’s teasing sure wouldn’t help convince him. “A few hours of rest never did me anything but good!” He added, hoping his reasoning would help convince him.
Though Link supposed he wasn’t being completely truthful, because surely he felt better before the sleep he’d recently had rather than after. His head still pounded, but that pain was slowly beginning to fade, Zelda, however was still nowhere to be found.
“Oh, by the way, have any of you seen Zelda this morning?” He figured he should ask, seeing as she wasn’t with him, or with this crowd. She was probably fine, off doing her own thing for the moment, but Link couldn’t help but be slightly concerned. After all, things did have a way of getting out of hand when she went missing.
(Source: gingerofskyloft)