Chapter Text
Grandpa used to tell him stories about the world.
At first it was to explain where Father had gone; all the incredible adventures that knights went on in service to the kingdom. Those stories were what got Link training so hard! He wanted to be just like a real knight. Just like Father.
That wasn't to say Link didn't enjoy other stories! Fairy tales of islands in the sky and giant sacred birds and the little people who lived in the grass. Picori were always Zelda's favorite tale.
Link knew he should probably be scared. Grandpa always said little creatures like mice and songbirds hid when big things came around, because it was safest for them. Link was pretty little after all, even when he wasn't on the other side of a Minish portal.
Adventuring could be pretty scary sometimes! There were evil things like monsters, yeah, but they were just one part of a world full of so much cool stuff. As he stared up at the veiled Falls, he couldn't feel anything but excited. Just one more element to find, and then he could kick Vaati's butt.
Link was going to save Zelda, and then he was gonna see it all.
Link had a headache.
The last thing he remembered was fighting that giant sky fish with Ezlo. Their adventure had let him ignore the growing fuzziness in his head and the black spots dancing in his eyes. Link had all but collapsed when they'd won.
He groaned, grabbing fistfuls of hair as the world—the bed, how had he gotten home?—spun around him. Wait, hair? "Ezlo?" Link asked, his voice pathetically babyish.
Cool hands covered his own. "Easy, dear." Said an old lady's voice. "Can you open your eyes?"
Link frowned. He didn't feel good at all. He wanted to go back to sleep. Hands free now, he grabbed at the blanket covering him in order to do just that.
The old lady sighed. "Come now, you're all right." Link heard her shuffle back and forth, footsteps curiously light. She chanted something Link couldn't understand before a soft wind began to blow. It left cool sparkles across Link's skin even through the blanket. As they sunk into him the pain began to fade. Even Link's energy rapidly grew.
Link shot up so fast he almost fell over. A healer! He'd never met a person who could do magic like this. His dizziness wasn't quite gone yet, but that didn't matter. He grinned at the red haired old lady standing over him. "Are you a fairy?"
The old woman laughed. She looked like a Hylian at first glance. Her pale red hair was tied up in a bun, showing of a face full of wrinkles. A vivid red and gold coat consumed her hunched form. "No, little one. I am Siroc, chieftain of the Wind Tribe."
Cool! This was perfect! Link had been worried him and Ezlo would have to find their way up all over again. "How'd I get here? Are we still in the sky?"
"Indeed you are. You're in the Palace of Winds, child. My people sensed your battle and came to investigate. It takes a fair bit of time to adjust to the air up here." Siroc gestured to a window behind the bed Link sat in. The sky was a brighter blue than he'd ever seen, and all he could see through it were wisps of cloud.
Link took a second to observe the room. Reddish sandstone bricks made up the walls and floor. Potion bottles and charms lined the surface of a small chest next to his bed, across from which was a dark wooden cabinet. A squat, thick door sat in the far wall, set with more than a few weird-looking locks. Are those fastened…from outside? Their usual infirmary patients must have terrible manners.
Siroc's voice distracted Link from his inspection. "We get surface dwelling visitors rarely, but we've developed a few methods to make things more comfortable for you. That necklace is one of them."
"But I'm not wearing any—" Link's voice trailed off as he looked down. A pendant hung from his neck, a diamond-white feather hanging on a simple leather cord.
"A gift for you. Imbued with magic to make things more comfortable while you're here with us." Siroc smiled, and for half a second Link was reminded of his Granny. He didn't have many memories of her, but she'd always taken care of him. "Could you tell me about yourself, dear? We don't get many Hylians around here."
And so Link began spinning his tale. He started with the Picori Festival, took her through Vaati's attack and Zelda's curse, and tried to make his search for the elements sound half as cool as Grandpa's old stories. He must have been doing something right, because Siroc's eyes went wide when he talked about his friendship with Zelda and the danger she was in.
Siroc hummed when he was done. There was a strange look in her eye—excitement, maybe, Link's adventure was pretty cool after all—when she spoke up. "You aren't the first hero to chase after a girl called Zelda, young one. Tell me, have you ever heard of Hylia's Chosen?"
Link resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was only his favorite story ever.Zelda's dad had actually told it to them a couple years ago. The Princess had snuck out so she could go exploring and got lost along the way. Link was the one to find her near favorite hideout in the woods, unable to make it home with a twisted ankle. Link had refused to leave her side after. The King told them about another Hero, the first ever King, who had helped Zelda the First to found Hyrule a bajillion years ago. "King Nohansen said I could be like him someday." Link hoped he could be half that cool.
"But surely you must know how dangerous the First Hero's quest was? He barely made it though with the Goddess herself on his side."
"I need to save Zelda!" Link declared. "I don't care if it's hard. The only way to defeat the mage who cursed her is to reforge the Picori Sword, and Melari said to do that I've got to find the four elements so I've been travelling all over and Ezlo said the wind—wait, where is Ezlo? Is he okay?" Stupid Link! Zelda is important, but Ezlo is your friend too! The old coot would never let him hear the end of it if he found out it took Link this long to ask after him.
"Patience, patience. Your friend is being cared for." Siroc smiled. She reached for a gnarled walking stick and offered a hand to Link. "I think we can be of help. How about I show you around? We have some rather incredible views here in Cloud Tops."
Link's heart settled with her words. All the people on this adventure had been so kind to him. Even Ezlo's rudeness didn't seem to matter. Grandpa always says I need to be polite when I'm a guest. A little tour wouldn't hurt, right? It was a town in the clouds! Link may never see anything this cool again.
Siroc tapped her staff on the door and it opened, revealing a hallway lined with tapestries and carvings of ancient-looking folks. "This way, dear."
Siroc led him up a couple flights of stairs, chattering on about how the Wind Tribe had records even older than Hyrule. That sounded cool to Link, but he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to all his stuff. He and Grandpa had worked hard on his sword, after all! And the Roc's Cape had saved his life in the last fight. Had they ended up wherever Ezlo was? Link knew better than to interrupt an old lady when she got goin on history lessons, he'd gotten more than enough slaps on the hand from his teachers.
Siroc eventually led him through an arched doorway and Link couldn't help but be thourougly distracted at the sight outside. He rushed towards the edge of a large terrace and caught himself on the railing. Below was a sea of bright white clouds, with people walking right on them! Cool winds pulled at his hair and clothing like playful hands. One young woman cruised by on a magic carpet, for goodness sake! "This place is amazing!"
Siroc chuckled from behind him. It wasn't a happy sound. "Beautiful, maybe, but we are far from what we used to be."
Her sadness made Link take a closer look. There were a few small cottages scattered around the fantastical landscape, built from the same red-gold sandstone as the Palace of Winds. Most of the landscape was beautifully sculpted cloud.
No farms, Link noticed. No livestock. And his arrival seemed to be an occasion just because he was Hylian. How do they support themselves?Grandpa always said farmers were the bones of Hyrule Town.
"Did you know we are descended from the Goddess's chosen people?" Siroc asked, coming up to stand beside Link. She spoke in the same tone of voice Grandpa used when he told Link fairy tales by the fire. He had to bite his lip to keep from interrupting. Old folks told the best stories when they got in a mood like this. She placed a hand on his and gestured behind them.
"This," Siroc gestured to the back wall of the palace, "is our history."
Link gaped. The entire wall of the palace was decorated in a shining mural. It had to be taller than Grandpa's whole house! It must have taken a million years to make something like this. The colors shimmered brighter than Father's armor. Half a dozen massive birds soared past glittering islands upwards on a sky blue background, all of them with riders wearing pointed caps. The riders reached upwards, towards a set of glowing triangles. "The Light Force?" Link asked, stepping up to touch the cool stone.
Siroc's gaze seemed far away as she gazed at the mural. "It was known as the Triforce, in days gone by."
Link cocked his head. Grandpa told him a lof different stories, but it sounded familiar. Something about magic birds and the Goddeses who made Hyrule?
"Long, long before Hyrule began, before the First Hero and the Goddess's Scion began the royal line, the goddess Hylia raised her people into the sky to save them from a great evil. It was a sanctuary free of strife, as close to the Sacred Realm as mortals ever got. An archipelago above the clouds.
"To watch over them, She sent mighty steeds the people of Skyloft could ride through the air. They were bound to the people's very souls, each not complete without the other. The Goddess herself walked among them as a mortal with her own partner. These were the loftwings. A living link to the Sacred Realm's paradise."
Was that why the Wind Tribe seemed to be fading away? The breeze blew right through Link, chilling the crystal pendant he wore. "Where did they go?"
"In time, the great evil stole the Goddess's avatar away from Her sanctuary. The first Hero followed her down. It was a mistake to leave. The loftwings started disappearing as soon as children were born on the surface." Siroc's words were sad, but her fists clenched tight at her sides. Something about the look in her eye gave Link goosebumps. "The Wind Tribe are us few who refused to abandon her blessings, but in time even our ancestors' partners disappeared. We've tried our best to keep the Goddess's realm alive, but our culture will die if we cannot reach the heavens and beseech her for aid."
Well, that just won't do. Maybe Link could do something about it? He'd helped a lot of people already! "Is there a way to get there?"
Siroc grinned with a bit too much of her teeth showing. Link wondered again where his sword had gone. "You said you wanted to be like the First Hero, did you not?"
Link would feel a whole lot braver if he had Ezlo and his sword with him. Still, he couldn't afford to falter! If he offended Siroc he might never get the wind element. He flashed a smile even though things were starting to feel really weird. "If it'll help me protect my friend!"
When Siroc smiled again, it didn't reach her eyes. "There may be no loftwings anymore, but my people have carefully collected the relics they left behind. We will reach the heavens again, and you will help us do it."
That didn't sound like a request. Link shivered. The cold was beginning to sting his skin. "H-how about we go inside and talk? I c-can help you and you can give me the wind element." That was how his other little quests had gone. Everyone just needed a hand.
"Oh, my dear, you're already being a big help." Link's heartbeat picked up. When Siroc smiled like that…she looked a bit like Vaati. "You might even be the first one to survive."
Siroc raised one hand, glowing green with magic. In response the pendant she gave him glowed the same sickly hue. Screams erupted from Link's throat as the stinging pain consumed him.
In all Link's excitement for the world and its adventures, he'd forgotten a lesson both Grandpa and Father had taught him time and time again, a lesson that every kid in every culture around the world had to learn before stepping out the door:
Don't trust strangers.