Chapter Text
The first time Link shares a dream with one of the others, he is just a child and doesn't understand what is happening. He can feel the other boy's presence, his soul, embracing his own. The other's presence feels like breathless laughter during a game of hard play and the swell of pride and satisfaction of a job well done.
He cannot see the other boy because in the dream he is the boy. They are in a strange house that Link has never seen on Skyloft and in front of him (them?) are four tiny furry creatures with feathered tails and clothes made of flower petals and leaves. Their voices are high and squeaky and their words completely foreign.
He doesn't know what they're saying, except he does. Link is confused for several long seconds before he realizes that while he doesn't understand what the small creatures are saying the boy does. It is through him that Link is understanding them. They explain the rules for a game of hide and seek and Link startles when they address the other boy by his name.
The other boy can't be Link because he's Link. Again, he finds himself confused before he decides that the dream is replacing the other's name with his own. Link doesn't like it but he can't do anything about it either. The boy is the one in control. Link is only able to experience this through him.
The boy covers his eyes, and after counting down from thirty aloud, the game begins. They look in cupboards and drawers, behind books on the shelves and picture frames, under cushions, in vases full of cut flowers, and in every nook and cranny. The tiny creatures are fantastic at hiding, but the boy is clever and sharp-eyed, and the creatures play fair.
When he gets too far off course for too long, they give quiet little squeaks until he comes closer again. When he finds one, it chitters in delight before climbing the sleeve of his shirt, its tiny claws a ticklish feeling through the fabric. It tucks itself into the crook of his neck, holding onto the collar, and rides there for the rest of the search. As they are looking for the last one, an older man enters the house.
“What are you looking for?” he asks.
“I'm playing with the Minish.”
Minish? Is that what the creatures are called?
The man laughs good naturedly. “Alright, just don't get so caught up in your games that you forget your responsibilities my boy.”
“I won't, Grandpa,” he says as the man leaves through a different door leading deeper into the house.
Link never does find out where the last Minish was hiding. He wakes before they find it.
He doesn't dream of just the one boy, there are several of them. Each one's soul entwines with his own in a different way, and each one feels as unique as the individual. Link looks for them around Skyloft, but he already knows that they aren't there. Still, he can't resist eventually asking Gaepora about other sky islands where people live. He's left disappointed at the end of the conversation, despite it ending how he expected it would.
Months pass, and Link doesn't tell anyone about the people he dreams with. He doesn't know why it's a secret, but he knows that it is. Slowly, as he learns more about them, Link gives each boy a name.
Minish is the first that he remembers dreaming with. The next that he names is Orchard, for the apple trees that he and his uncle so diligently care for. Then there is Sea and his little sister, Gull. Her name is actually Aryll, but he nicknames her after the little birds the siblings love so much, just so they have matching names. Oh, did Link wish that he could hug Gull himself. Never has he wished he had siblings more than when he met her. And their island! It floats on water instead of being in the sky. How does it not sink?
Link finds himself somewhat exasperated with the dream logic when he meets his next friend because he also has a little sister named Aryll. It's night, and the boy is holding his little sister's hand, which is still pudgy with a toddler’s baby fat. He is leading her out of their house on quiet, sneaking feet. A short distance from their door, they drop to crawl through the high grass until they reach the edge of a pond. There, across the water, head lowered to drink, is a small glowing blue and pale gold creature.
“Look Aryll, a Blupee,” he whispers directly into her tiny ear while pointing.
The girl gasps dramatically, little hands coming together in uncoordinated claps. The Blupee startles, its head snapping in their direction. It watches them for a tense moment before warily settling when they don't move. A flash of light reflects off the water's surface and the boy points at the sky.
“Shooting star, Aryll, quick, make a wish.”
The girl squeals and scrunches her eyes closed hard and her brother laughs, heart warm and full to bursting.
“Tonight's full of magic, huh?”
And that's how Link names the boy Blupee and his sister Wish after a night and a dream full of glowing magic.
Next is Fairy. Link has never seen a fairy before, but the boy’s mom is apparently a great one, and he has dozens of super tiny sister fairies, none of whom are named Aryll, much to his confusion. Link doesn't understand how any of this works, but he decides this is just how it is for Fairy’s family and goes with it. They don't have a house because apparently fairies live in fountains, which are often hidden in caves that are often hidden in forests.
Skyloft doesn't have any forests, but it does have a somewhat hidden cave. While there definitely aren't any fairies hiding in it, there are starry fireflies in there sometimes, and from a distance, they almost look like fairies. The more Link thinks about it, the more certain he is that none of Fairy's many sisters would appreciate the comparison. But maybe it might make his friend laugh.
Then there is Ordon, whom he almost named Goat, after the animals he is so fond of. He lives with a married couple, Rusl and Uli, but they aren't his parents. They aren't even related to him. Link understands that so much it hurts. It's obvious that they care about him, and Link can feel how much Ordon loves them back. But the loss still aches deeply in both of them.
Link lives on an island floating above a sea of clouds. Sea and Gull lived on an island floating on an ocean. Kiri, shortened from Kokiri, seems to live in a sea of trees. Even all the homes are hollowed-out trees. And there aren't any adults there, just other children and a huge talking tree that tells fairytales like they are history lessons.
Mido is a bully and a jerk and nobody should listen to him. If they all stopped, he just wouldn't be in charge anymore. Saria is great, though. The way she tells Mido off reminds Link of how Zelda handles Groose. Zelda would like her. Zelda would like all of his friends' sisters.
Last is Brother, who has four sisters. It's fewer than Fairy has, but Brother's are all full-sized, and they need him a lot more. Also, none of Brother's sisters are named Aryll either, though he has a twin named Linkle. Link is starting to think he is never going to understand how dream names work.
Brother spends a lot of time helping his mother take care of his siblings. When he isn't doing that, he's out picking up odd jobs and things that don't belong to him to help support his family. Most nights he ends up dragging his stepfather home from the bar. The large man's stumbling gait nearly tripping him up while he's already struggling under his oppressive weight leaning on too-small shoulders.
Link’s heart aches for Brother, but despite his hardships, Link can feel his love for his family and how it brings him joy. It's there in all their little interactions. Brother holding a blanket stretched out wide and sweeping up a little sister in it. Swaddling her up, and blowing a raspberry on a chubby little cheek as she squeaks then laughs in surprise.
Braiding Linkle's hair and the beaming smile she gives him when he finishes. Helping his mother around the house, whether it be cooking, cleaning, or fixing broken things, and the grateful smiles she gives him. Each small act brings them all simple joys and happiness. Each makes Brother's heart glow with love and pride.
Life continues like this for a while, but it doesn't take long before he stops thinking of the others as friends and starts considering them all brothers. It seems impossible to think of them as anything less when he loves them so much. How could he not when he knows their hearts and souls so deeply? When he knows that they know him just as well?
Link is sitting on the edge of Skyloft, watching the sky knights practice their aerial skills, when something occurs to him. They don't have Loftwings. He's never seen a Loftwing in any of his shared dreams.
Sea's island is floating in an ocean and he has never seen an edge to any of his other brothers' lands. Link knows that his brothers aren't on Skyloft. He knows that they aren't anywhere up here at all, but he's just now realizing that if they aren't in the sky then they have to be somewhere else. But the only other place doesn't exist anymore.
The instructors teach that below the cloud barrier it's an empty, barren place, or even that there's nothing at all down below. The thing is, no one's ever been down below the clouds to see for themselves, Loftwings can't fly through the barrier. But his brothers exist somewhere and if they aren't in the sky then they have to be below it.
He doesn't know what to do with this new understanding. He hasn't met his Loftwing yet and even if he had he doesn't know how to get below the clouds and find his brothers. Link bites his lip considering it all, and doesn't like his conclusions. For now, he'll just have to keep thinking about it. In the meantime he looks forward to each night, and maybe one of his brothers will have an idea. Even if they don't he can still be there for them.
He isn't with them every night, though. Some nights he dreams and lives one of his brothers’ memories. On others he dreams a memory of his own and can feel one of the others there living it as he originally did. But most nights his sleep remains normal with nonsensical dreams or even no dreams at all.
Link forgot something important though.
Nightmares are dreams too.
Link is dreaming with Orchard. He can feel his soul curling warmly around his own, like a Loftwing tucking a chick into the fold of its wing. Orchard feels like golden sunlight shining through tree leaves, the growth of plants, the blooming of flowers, and the gentle, caring hands that tend them.
“Help me…”
“Please help me…”
Link mentally jolts, and that is all, because he is only here to witness. He has no body of his own here to flinch or scramble to help. Everything around them is dark, their body is heavy, but the voice is loud and clear. It's a young girl and she sounds so scared and desperate. He wants to get up, he wants to run to her and fix whatever is making her sound like that and Link can feel Orchard perfectly mirroring the same helpless desires.
“I'm a prisoner in the dungeon of the castle. My name is Zelda.”
What?
No, Zelda doesn't sound like this girl, she's safe. This is stupid and ridiculous dream logic again and if he could, Link would throw hands right now.
“The wizard, Agahnim, has done… something to the other missing girls. Now only I remain. Agahnim has seized control of the castle and is now trying to open the Seven Sages' seal.”
“I am in the dungeon of the castle. Please help me.”
It isn't until the voice pulls away and disappears that Link realizes there had been some kind of connection there. Not with him, but between the girl and Orchard alone. It was both a much shallower bond and completely different from the ones he shares with his brothers, but it was indisputably there.
Light and vision finally flood their dream, pulling Link back into the present. They get up to go find their uncle, only to see him in the main room, dressed despite the late hour. More alarmingly, he has his sword and shield strapped on. Uncle is supposed to be fully retired from his duties as a knight, but he is also a good and caring man. He's an honorable man. Maybe he heard the girl’s call and he is going to help.
“Link, I'm going out for a while,” he says before Orchard has a chance to speak. “I'll be back by morning. Don't leave the house, go back to sleep.” His tone is firm and no-nonsense, nearly to the point of sharpness. It's something Link hasn't heard from the kind and patient man before now.
Then, in an obvious rush, Uncle is out the door and gone before Orchard has had a chance to tell him anything.
Overhead, there's a flash followed by a booming crash so loud and powerful that the windowpanes shake in their frames. Water— no, rain, is falling from the dark sky in a torrent, beating against the house like it's trying to rip it apart. Their stomach churns sickeningly with anxiety, fear, and the burning need to help, to do something.
For all that Link shares Orchard's senses and feels his emotions, the other boy's mind remains his own and private. There is nothing Link can do but stew as he waits to see what his brother will do now. And wait he does, a small eternity passes as Orchard seems to wrestle with himself as he just stands there.
All at once, like a spell has been released, Orchard is running. He goes back to his room and nearly rips his nightshirt off in his haste to change into his green tunic. As he half runs, half hops while trying to pull his boots on and get back to the main room at the same time, he almost face-plants. Lastly, Orchard pulls a cloak on and grabs a red lantern off the side table.
The rain is freezing and coming down so hard it actually stings where it hits bare skin. It also makes it nearly impossible to see, even with the lantern. The churning in their stomach gets worse and worse as they stumble forwards regardless. As bad as the twisting mess is, the raw need to help, to fix, or heal, or something, anything, is so much stronger. Anything is better than the idleness of just waiting.
Finally they reach the gate and two men in full metal armor are standing guard there. They run up to them, surely they can help. Maybe they even saw uncle and could tell them where he is now.
“Hey hey! You're not allowed in the castle!” One of them yells as soon as they approach.
“Go home, son,” says the other.
When they try to get closer, the first guard steps forward and shoves them back harshly. "Scram," he shouts.
With the downpour making everything muddy and slick, Orchard is pushed right off his feet. When he gets back up, he turns and leaves, but not in the direction of home. They aren't done, not even close, not yet.
“Please hear me. I'm in the dungeon of the castle. There is a hidden path from outside of the castle to the inner courtyard. You'll find it hidden among the hedges along the eastern wall under the old oak.”
Orchard takes off at a sprint, following the wall until they find a large tree that he can only guess is an oak. Since Orchard raises trees, Link trusts his brother to know. They search and dig around the bushes until their fingers find metal. A bit more investigating, and they figure out how to open the hatch. The door won't stay open, and there is no ladder to climb down, so it takes a frustrating moment to figure out how to jump down without being caught by the door swinging shut on them.
Luckily, the drop isn't far, and they land on their feet easily enough. The slam of the hatch door closing above them is nearly deafening and echoes down the stone tunnel, announcing their presence to anyone down here or nearby. The tunnel is damp and as black as pitch. The lantern seems to struggle to push back the darkness far enough to see even a few steps ahead.
So when a darker form starts to take shape among the shadows, they are already nearly on top of it. Link’s stomach drops and his gorge rises. He chokes on it, his throat impossibly tight.
It's a person.
It's Uncle.
He's bleeding. He's covered in blood. He's drenched in it.
It's covering the wall in thick, dripping smears. It's pooling around where he sits on the ground. They're standing in his blood, it's covering their boots—
They can't breathe.
They move anyway, falling to Uncle's side, hands removing their cloak, finding the wound, and pressing the balled-up fabric to the deep gash hacked into the man.
Their hands are too small, they can't cover the whole thing, and dark red blood gushes out around them, bubbling out between his fingers, running over his hands in warm red rivulets, covering him too.
They shake. They're trembling, and a painful sob breaks free from their steel-trapped lungs.
“Unnh…” Uncle's head clumsily, weakly, bobs up. His glazed eyes slowly finding them. “Link, I didn't want you involved in this. I told you not to leave the house.”
“Uncle. Uncle, I don't know what to do,” Orchard cries, panic thick in his voice.
“Take my sword and shield and listen. You must save the Princess.”
“What? Uncle, you need help. You need—”
Uncle cuts him off, voice weak but somehow still firm. “We are knights of Hylia. It is our honor and sworn duty to protect and serve her line.” He struggles to take in a short, ragged breath. “Link, you can do it. Save the Princess. Zelda is your…”
He never finishes.
His last, labored breath escapes him and he doesn't draw another. His chest is still and the pumping blood has stopped running over his hands.
He shakes. He can't move but he is shaking so hard. His mind is numb, he can't think.
The blood on his hands is getting sticky.
He swallows hard and he thinks he can taste it.
There is a sword in his hand and he doesn't know how it got there. It's so heavy. The handle is too big and his fingers struggle to grip it properly. It's awkward in his grasp.
His hands are covered in blood.
A shield is strapped to his arm. It's nearly the same size as him. It's hard to handle both the shield and the sword but they'll manage. Uncle told him to take both.
They make it out of the tunnels and to the courtyard. They manage to dodge and sneak past the knights guarding the castle. Until they don't.
Link knows they aren't supposed to be here. He doesn't expect the knight to attack them when they spot them. They're knights, they are supposed to protect people, not attack kids. They- they aren't supposed to be like this.
The fight is a blur. He doesn't know what happens but their sword is stabbed into a gap in the knight's armor. He falls and red gushes out and pools. They grab their sword and run.
They run looking for stairs leading down. That's where the dungeons will be. They run and sneak and when they are forced to, they fight. And more warm, wet red runs over their trembling hands. And then they run again.
It hurts.
Please, it hurts.
They descend another stairway, turn a corner, and the cells are right in front of them. For just a moment, they feel a single sliver of relief. Then a spiked ball slams into the wall directly by their head.
They move, no thoughts, just movement. They can't think or feel right now. They have to move, fight, and save the Princess.
They rush forward, if they get in close, then the knight's greater reach is useless. They are smaller and weaker, so they have to be faster and more agile. If they're hit, they're dead.
In the end, the fight isn't as bad as it could have been. The ball and chain has an incredible reach, and the knight has a powerful and fast throw, but it takes too long to pull it back in and wind it up for the next throw. Against a larger, slower opponent, it would be devastatingly effective; against a small, desperate child, it's practically a liability. What's more, the knight isn't the only one with a long-distance weapon.
As they close the distance, the knight drops the chain, realizing the futility of the effort. That's the moment they throw their boomerang. It smacks the knight in the face, doing little damage but stunning the man for those last few needed seconds. They lunge forward, thrusting their sword up into the gap where the collar of the suit of armor doesn't come high enough to protect the upper portion of the neck.
The knight makes a choked gurgling sound as they pull the blade free. Red pours out in thick gushes and bubbles out his mouth, spilling down his chin. He falls to the floor and it pools. Blood always acts the same, no matter whose it is.
Trembling legs carry them forward. They have to find the keys, the cells will be locked. They don't want to touch him, this man they have killed, but they do because they have to. They find the key ring easily enough, the jangle of the metal as they unclip it from the knight's belt obscene and nerve-wracking in the silence of the aftermath.
They find her in the last cell on the left. She's sitting on the ground near the back, and even in this dirty and dank cell, she looks regal. Her head high, her back straight, and her expression calm and controlled. Their eyes meet through the bars.
“Are you the one who called for me?” Orchard asks even as he is already searching for the right key to open the door.
“Are you the one who answered my call?” she asks in return, violet eyes softening as she looks at them.
“I'm Link. Princess, why are you in here? What's happening?”
“I was taken to be the seventh sacrifice by the black wizard Agahnim. He has slain the King and enspelled all the knights and guards. I was placed in this cell, and since then, I've called out for someone who could hear me.” For the first time she looks away from them. Her eyes dropping as fear and sadness fills them. “I feared no one would come.”
The key turns in the lock, they swing the door open and step inside, offering the Princess a hand up.
“You're not alone. I heard you, I'm here now.” Whether she hears it or not, understands it or not, it's a promise all the same.
Her eyes come back to meet theirs again, the hope and overwhelming gratitude there tells him she understands. Zelda takes their hand, and red spreads from them to stain her fair skin. It's too late when they realize what they've done. It feels as wrong as anything else they have done tonight, but when coupled with a lack of an immediate threat, it makes their eyes burn. All they can do is stare at the blood, a mix of Uncle's and the knights’, as it dirties a clean hand.
Zelda's other hand rises to cup around the back of the one she's still holding and they make a wordless sound of protest.
“You are not alone either. I'm here.”
That's a promise too.
Link wakes in the dark and immediately rolls to the side. He rolls out of bed, and his bare feet land on wooden floorboards. It's dark, but he realizes that it isn't the pitch black of the tunnel, this is softer.
He's on Skyloft, this is his room, he isn't underground soaked in his family's blood or fighting his way through a castle.
He isn't.
But he was.
His brother was.
Link bolts from his room, sprints down the hall, and bounds up the staircase (up, not down), taking the stairs two at a time before he bursts through Zelda's door. She sits up in bed at the noise and that's perfect because it makes it easier for Link to tackle her in a rib cracking hug. She hits the mattress with an oof and Link buries his face in her shoulder as he cries all the heartrending tears he couldn't before. Somewhere behind him Link hears other people and one part of himself screams danger while another says safe and it makes him shake and cry all the harder.
A conversation happens around him but he only catches small snippets of what Zelda says. She's the truest thing in the world. The only one he can cling to and know her to be safe and real.
“...A nightmare I think…I'll come get you if we need help.”
The other voices leave and the door clicks shut. Then fingers are combing through his hair.
“Link, can you tell me what happened? You don't have to tell me about it yet if you don't want to, but can you tell me if something is wrong?”
Her voice is soft, her tone caring and gentle and it makes him cry harder. He can't get any words out around his sobs and can't even breathe properly.
“Shh,” Zelda soothes, the hand that isn't stroking his hair wraps around him in a hug just as fierce as his own. “It's okay, take your time. When you feel ready we'll talk.”
She begins to hum, and that's how the next small eternity is spent. In his best friend's arms as she wordlessly sings for him. When his tears finally slow and he isn't choking on his sobs anymore, Link tells her everything.
He explains the shared dreams and their rules as he understands them, and the unexplainable certainty that he is supposed to be keeping everything secret. Then he tells her all about his brothers, how amazing each one is, how much he's come to love them, and his belief that they must be below the cloud barrier. He talks and rambles, and he's sure he makes a complete mess of his explanation, but Zelda listens without interruption.
He talks until there is only one thing left to tell her. Link hides his face in the crook of her neck, and with a shuddering breath and a quivering voice, he tells her about a plea for help, about dark nights and rainstorms, a tunnel filled with blood, the weight of a sword and shield, a castle full of false knights, horrors, and so much death, and finally, a princess with pristine hands that didn't hesitate to grasp and hold blood-stained ones.
When he's done, they lie there in silence. Zelda is still stroking his hair and all he can think is that he understands why the dream named the princess after her. His Zelda's father may not be a king but he is the headmaster of the academy and is in charge of Skyloft, and the look in the Princess's eyes, the sure and unwavering emotion in her voice, the unflinching way she took their hand, in that moment she was so much like Zelda that it makes his heart burn.
“I would do it for you,” Link confesses. “I would come for you. I'll always come for you.”
And that's a promise too.
“I believe you,” she whispers into the night and turns her head to nuzzle into his hair. “I believe you about all of it.”
That startles him a little bit. It has never once occurred to him that she wouldn't believe him. Not Zelda, the only person he has ever wanted to tell everything to.
“Link, there isn't anything we can do. Not yet at least, but father has books in his study about the Surface, the place under the cloud barrier. I'll learn everything I can and we'll find your brothers.”
It hurts.
It hurts because it's true.
There isn't anything he can do now. He can witness his brothers' pain and do nothing about it. That doesn't mean he can do nothing at all though.
“I'm going to train and become the best knight ever. I'm going to be everything they were supposed to be. I'm going to be strong and skilled, and I'm going to be gentle and kind. I'm never going to hurt the people who look to me for help and protection. My brothers will never fear me, and I'll show them and everyone what a real knight is supposed to be.”
Link doesn't fall back asleep that night. Zelda does eventually, but his mind won't stop turning as he makes plans. In the early hours of the morning, long before any of the students are expected to be up, Link is dressed and waiting outside the Sparring Hall for Eagus, the Knight Commander and the academy's swords instructor.
The man is visibly surprised when he sees him. Then, something like a sad understanding passes over his face and Link knows that the instructors spoke about what happened last night. At the very least instructor Eagus doesn't question him about his sudden request for extra sword lessons.
Once inside, Eagus selects two blades from the weapons racks for them. When the knight commander offers Link the sword his stomach rolls.
‘Take my sword…’
Link can feel the slick leather and metal in his hands. The heavy weight and unwieldy size, the painful jar that traveled all the way up to his shoulders when he caught a blow with it or struck thick armor.
The feeling of flesh and muscle giving under its edge.
Link blinks hard like that will make the memories vanish and takes the sword.
The stark difference strikes him instantly. It's too light. It isn't a real blade at all. Just a wooden practice sword his hand can easily wrap around the hilt of. It was made for a trainee to learn with, not to be taken into battle. It's practically a toy.
Link has to bite back the hysterical need to laugh and demand a real weapon. What is he supposed to do with a wooden sword? He can't fight with this. He can't defend himself or anyone else with it.
People will die.
Zelda will die.
It's like a protective cloud barrier in his mind lifts. Link remembers in sickening, vivid detail every fight they had as they searched for a way into the castle dungeon. Moments that seemed forgotten, or as unreal as a dream should be, crash into him with hyper-clarity.
Breathe, he has to breathe. He's in Skyloft, and he has a mission and a plan and it starts with getting better, stronger.
He knew he wouldn't be given a real sword. He's used the practice swords almost every day since he started at the academy. He knows that only graduated knights are allowed real weapons.
And he is going to earn his.
Link learns to fake a smile. The instructors, students, and the majority of Skyloft alike seemed concerned, if not outright alarmed, by the changes that night inspired in him. So he teaches himself to smile, and not just with his lips. He figures out pretty quickly that if he really wants to convince people, he has to lie with his entire body. He becomes incredible at it. Though, it is always the smile that seals it.
Not to say that every smile is fake, but sometimes it is needed.
After that night, it's like a gate has opened. It's become obvious that the dreams were working around certain things, hiding them. Like with Minish, he also has a Princess Zelda, and it's obvious that they have been friends forever, just like Link with his own Zelda. Yet, he is only just now learning about her.
Fairy's land outside the influence of his mother is poisoned and monster infested.
Kiri had a dream last night, and it was so bizarre to have a dream within a dream, but they did. In it, they are outside a castle gate. It's night, and of course, it's storming. The gate opens with a crash, and a woman with a girl rides by on a white beast, a horse. The girl looks right at them, and they turn to keep her in sight as she flees. She looks terrified, and Link knows in an instant that she is Kiri's Princess Zelda.
They turn back around at the bellow of another horse. It's a giant black beast, but its rider is infinitely more monstrous, though it guises itself as a man. He raises his hand, palm facing them, and black power swells, weighing down the air. That's where the dream ended. Link woke with his heart pounding and calmly went to find Zelda.
She has been helping him keep a journal just for the shared nightmares. Though he now tells her mostly everything, he is keeping a separate journal for each of his brothers, documenting every dream. It's made it clearer than ever how out of order the dreams are. They aren't happening chronologically. If he had paid attention to the dreams he has been sharing with them, he probably would have picked up on that sooner, but this had been so safe and lighthearted before. He hadn't been dissecting every little thing looking for even scraps of clues before.
Sleeping, Link learns, is a skill. When he isn't training or with Zelda, he takes to finding a place to nap. If he's sleeping, then there's a chance he'll see his brothers. Within a couple of months, Link teaches himself to fall asleep anywhere at the drop of a hat. This does not go unnoticed or uncommented on by most people. Unlike his resolve to increase his training, though, this is taken with good humor and, in a positive turn of events, makes getting even more training even easier. Double win.
Zelda is going to yell at him. He is supposed to be meeting up with her and some of their classmates to hang out. Instead, he is in Gaepora's study flipping through a book whose writing is so archaic it makes his head hurt. The throbbing in his temples and behind his eyes is a counterpoint to the ache in his muscles from Instructor Eagus's extra training sessions. He tries to focus on the page six inches from his nose, but he is physically struggling to keep his eyes open now that he is finally sitting down.
The study door opens, and Link reflexively looks up with a beaming smile fit to outshine the sun. It immediately withers to something far more sheepish and apologetic (something entirely real) when he sees Zelda standing in the doorway, hands on her hips and an angry flush already rising on her cheeks. Link preemptively winces, waiting for the tongue-lashing sure to follow.
Instead, she lets out a long, slow sigh and quietly closes the door behind her. She walks over to him and reaches out, flipping the old, heavy book he has been trying to decipher closed, her hands gentle but firm. He makes a strangled, wordless sound of protest at the action. He hadn't marked his place, and he thinks he was close to finding something about the Surface.
Before he can respond, she's already speaking, “You're exhausting yourself.”
“I sleep all the time,” he snorts. “And I'm just reading. I have to be ready, Zelda. If there's a way down there—”
“Stop,” she interrupts, keeping her voice incredibly gentle. "Tell me something. When your brothers share your dreams, when your souls are entangled, what do they feel from you?”
Link stares at her, completely caught off guard.
“All you do is work and worry. You've even turned sleep into a duty.”
When he tries to protest, Zelda presses a finger to his lips to stall him.
“Something can be an honor and an act of service of love and still be a burden. One doesn't exclude the other. Link, your brothers feel what you feel,” Zelda continues, reaching out to take his hand the same way the Princess had in his nightmare. “If you are constantly aching, stressed, and running yourself ragged, that is what you are giving them. Orchard is already living through a nightmare. Brother is already carrying the weight of supporting his family. Don't make them carry your exhaustion, too.”
Link swallows hard. He hasn't thought about it like that. He has been so focused on finding a way to them, to being ready to protect them, that he forgot he can also be their sanctuary. If he wants to be a comfort to them, he needs to experience joy, warmth, and rest so he can reflect those positive moments back to them.
“They need a safe place, Link,” Zelda says, easily reading him. “They need to feel the warmth of the sun here on Skyloft. They need to feel even just a moment of safety, the comforting taste of hot soup, the feeling of just being a kid. If you want to help them right now, you have to make good memories for them to retreat into. Let them find their rest in you.”
“Zelda, are you trying to emotionally blackmail me into good self-care habits?”
“...Is it working?”
Link isn't sure if the sound that escapes him is a laugh or a sob as he pulls her into a hug. “Yeah it is.”
They're in Link’s dream tonight. Or as Zelda has started phrasing it, Link is hosting tonight's dream. He can feel Fairy here with him. Like he's pressed up against his side, offering and taking comfort in equal measures. He's the sensation of when you have discovered something new and wonderful, of raw potential where anything can happen, and of peaceful still mornings where mist hangs heavy in the air and secrets and mysteries thrive.
Being the host is similar to being the visitor, but with a few differences. Right now, Fairy is with dream him, experiencing this with him as if it's just now happening. Meanwhile, Link feels like he is existing just outside his body, present but unattached. He can still feel Fairy; he knows how his brother is emotionally reacting to what he is experiencing, but Fairy, caught up in the dream of the past, can't feel current him.
They're in the Sparring Hall with the Knight Commander. He is running Dream Link through a set of drills that are steadily increasing in difficulty. Fairy is paying rapt attention. The privacy of the mind is preserved, but Link swears that he can feel his brothers actively trying to memorize the forms. It's not a great way to learn swordsmanship, sadly, though not impossible.
He's done the same when Blupee and Minish's fathers pull them into training. It's possible to do it, but only with a lot of practice. The mind can memorize the movements, but the body has to learn the muscle memory from actually doing it. The biggest problem comes from not having an experienced instructor there to make sure you aren't teaching yourself the forms incorrectly.
It's a great way to learn tons of other things, though. He doesn't even know where to begin when it comes to the things his brothers have taught him, not when they have shown him a completely different world.
As the memory plays out, Link keeps his focus on his brother, wishing he could reach out to him. Wishing he could cross this divide and have a real conversation, or at the very least send some encouragement to let him feel how proud he is.
When training ends, the scene shifts. It's unusual for them to have more than a single continuous memory, but it's not unprecedented. Link cringes as the heavy oak door of Gaepora's study materializes. He groans internally. This is so unfair. He shouldn't have to get this lecture twice in one night.
But as the memory plays out, Link feels an undercurrent of worry building in Fairy. It hits him with a wave of guilt. His brother is currently suffering the throbbing pains and bone-deep exhaustion that Link had tried to deny. Facing the proof of his own short-sightedness hurts.
Then, Zelda makes her appearance in the memory. Instantly, relief and soft affection bloom through the bond. Link preens like a proud Loftwing. Zelda is the best, and the fact that his brothers know it as well and love her in return is everything.
When her face reddens in the memory, wary amusement joins Fairy's affection. As his conversation with Zelda echoes in the background, Fairy's attention sharpens into profound realization. Apparently, Link wasn't the only one who needed to hear this.
Link's heart swells with so much love his soul aches with it. It tempers his resolve to be more for his brothers. He can and will be a source of safety and comfort for them. They are all in this together, and they will be stronger for leaning on one another.
The end of the conversation is accompanied by a bright spark of delighted humor that brings a smile to him. As the dream gives way to wakefulness, Link is already planning a day of fun relaxation with his dearest friend. He'll enjoy telling Zelda that she helped one of his brothers as well.
It's loud. All of Skyloft is packed into the Goddess's courtyard. Their whispered comments and conversations hiss in the wind. The headmaster is talking, telling the history of Skyloft, Loftwings, and the ceremony. It's the same speech he gives every year, and nobody is actually listening to it. Around him, the other students are vibrating with nervous energy and excitement. Zelda stands next to him, holding his hand, and neither of them is any better.
On the other side of the class, Groose is loudly boasting about how he is going to get the biggest, strongest bird because he is the biggest and strongest of all of them. Headmaster Gaepora, Goddess bless him, keeps the obligatory speech as short as always and signals the class. All together, they raise their fingers to their mouths and whistle as loud and full as they can. It's an enormous cacophony that reverberates off the stone walls and leaves their ears ringing.
It's echoed by a thunderous chorus of cries from above. As if birthed from the sun itself, one silhouette after another spirals down towards them. The first to come into focus is a light shade of purple. Despite being only half-grown, she is all elegance and grace, both in form and flight, especially when compared to the more gangly birds that follow after her.
They circle down, landing with various finesse and attitude. Personalities as varied as the colors and shades of the feathers surrounding them already shining through. The elegant purple Loftwing lands softly in front of Zelda, who reaches out with both hands to stroke her face tenderly. The bird croons and leans into the affection.
As the Loftwings meet their matches and everyone begins to settle, Link keeps his eyes to the sky, waiting. He isn't worried. Like a second heartbeat in his chest, he can feel him. Another cry pierces the air, drawing all attention upwards again. Where the other Loftwings descended in an easy spiral, this one slices through the sky in a sharp dive. As the distance between the Loftwing and the ground vanishes at an alarming rate, everyone other than himself and Zelda begins to murmur worriedly, then some begin to panic.
At the last possible second, immense crimson wings expand, and with a powerful flap, the momentum is expelled, and the Loftwing lands with a gentle clack of talons on stone. He's big compared to the others, not just in size but in build. His muscles are more filled out and defined. He could be mistaken for being older than the rest if not for the obvious signs of his youth.
Their eyes lock and Link feels the bond between them sing. It's different from the ones he shares with his brothers, unique and special in its own right, but no more or less for it. He takes a minute to let this moment build, to just feel the unbridled joy, excitement, and awe of this occasion. To memorize it all so that maybe he can share it with his brothers.
Then his control breaks, and he is flinging himself onto his Loftwing’s back, sans harness or anything else. They aren't supposed to fly yet. They're supposed to wait for instructions from the teachers and for the sky knights to be ready and spread out just in case.
He doesn't care one whit. They need to fly. They're both ready. Link has barely thrown his leg over before the Loftwing is propelling them into the sky, powerful wingbeats taking them higher and further out. The wind rushes around them, whipping his hair about and tugging at his clothes. Link feels the muscles beneath him flex and notices the subtle tilt of wings, taking his cue, he lowers closer to the bird's back and leans his weight to assist in banking a hard right.
His Loftwing tosses his head and shrieks out his joy, and Link joins in, adding his own whoop. Through their bond, he feels something like mischief bubble up, and Link grins. Then they're diving. The longer they dive, the more speed they gain, and the more it feels like the force is trying to rip him away.
He holds on tightly with both his hands and legs, laughing and shouting with the adrenaline rush and exuberance of it all. Then, just as with his appearance at the ceremony, he snaps his wings open all at once. This time, though, they don't go in for a landing. Instead, they shift into a smooth, weightless glide.
He has never felt so utterly free.