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"Bye Grandpa! I'll be home soon!" Link called exiting his house into a bright and sunny day. He smiled as he heard Grandpa call back a 'G'bye!' and a 'Be careful!' even as he pulled his ocarina out of his bag. Link put the little instrument to his lips and played, feeling the smallest pull against his magic as the notes drifted into the skies.
A shrill cry echoed as Link finished the song, and before long a bright blue bird was swooping down out of the clouds towards him.
"Zeffa!" Link called out as she landed in front of him, hands already coming up to pet her head. She was a beautiful bird, and Link had thanked the Wind Tribe elders immensely for letting him keep the ocarina after he had sealed Vaati away. Siroc had just laughed at him.
"Zeffa was destined to be yours, Hero." She had told him, her voice thick with emotions that Link still didn't understand. "I would never dream of taking her away from you."
"Want to go flying?" Link asked as Zeffa butted her head against his hands, enjoying the gentle pets to her head. Smith had been wary of her the first time he saw her; she was a massive bird compared to every other bird in Hyrule, standing at just over Link's own height. Link had to stretch to reach the top of her head, where her feathers curled up delicately similarly to her tail feathers.
Zeffa shook her head, her bill clattering loudly as she gave a soft warble. She spread her wings out wide, allowing Link to get close to her body and scramble up on her back. It was much more comfortable for him to actually ride her like this than for her to carry him in her talons like she had during his quest.
"Let's go!" He called, throwing his arms around her neck. He could feel her muscles tensing underneath him as she flapped once, twice, and then they were in the air, soaring away. Link smiled even as the wind tugged at him; he'd learned from Gale and Hailey how to secure his hat in a way that even the fierce winds of a tornado couldn't pull it from his head.
Finally Zeffa leveled off, allowing Link to sit back a little and enjoy the view.
It was so peaceful here, above the clouds. He could see the Wind Tribe's home off in the distance, but he didn't really want to go visit his friends there today. He just... wanted to fly.
He leaned to his right -just enough for Zeffa to feel- and she followed, banking right gracefully. She seemed to know what he wanted her to do, picking up on the subtle shifts in his body language as they traveled. It had taken them a little while to get this in sync; their first few times flying were nowhere near as smooth as they were now.
He breathed deeply as he relaxed, letting Zeffa fly with him just to fly. It was comforting... and settled something deep in his chest. He always felt more at ease after flying for a few hours with Zeffa, and the way she acted made it clear to Link that she felt the same.
Link wished he had a way to saddle her like the horses he's seen. If he had a way to hold onto her better, they could really push how fast Zeffa could fly with him. As it stood, she couldn't build up a ton of speed on her dives or Link would slip off her back.
That had been terrifying and amazing the first time he slipped. Terrifying because that was the ground rushing up to meet him and that would hurt immensely before killing him. Amazing because something resonated in his soul, instincts flaring that he didn't know he'd had before that moment.
Link had snapped his arms and legs out wide to control his fall and slow his descent. Zeffa had rolled in midair sharply to turn around, aligning herself underneath him neatly. He managed to land back on her back, though that part had been decidedly less graceful, but he didn't die so Link counted that as a win.
"Take us wherever you want." Link told her, leaning in close to wrap his arms back around her neck. Zeffa let out a piercing cry before taking off, jostling Link a little before climbing higher into the skies.
Link watched as the ground got smaller and smaller as Zeffa climbed, taking them higher than she had ever dared before. He could see all of Hyrule, and much of the surrounding kingdoms, from here. They were even above the highest point of the Palace of Winds.
It was... breathtaking.
Zeffa glided in a large circle, so high above the ground that it felt like they were barely moving. Link threw caution to the wind, literally, and sat back up. He flung his arms out to his sides, echoing Zeffa's outstretched wings as he sat on her back. Zeffa made a happy trilling noise at that, and Link couldn't help but smile.
For one brief moment, he considered jumping from her back to fall for a little while. He knew she would catch him before they could even get close to the ground, but Link wasn't that much of a daredevil. He was content here.
Years later, Link would look back at that moment and smile.
He would go on to save Hyrule twice more before a portal would appear in front of him and drop him in front of eight others. He wouldn't really think about why Zeffa was so different from every other bird in Hyrule until the portals dropped them onto a small floating island.
"Someone's happy..." Link, now Four, groaned as he fought back the nausea that always turned his stomach from portal travel. He watched as Sky practically danced at the edge of the island.
"Welcome to Skyloft!" Sky called out, turning his back on the edge of the island as he threw his hands out to his sides, as if presenting something amazing instead of the empty air behind him. Far, far, below the empty air was a layer of thick fluffy clouds unlike any Four had ever seen before.
"Ah, no wonder he's so happy." Legend grumbled from beside Four, though there was a softness to the veteran's words that betrayed his grumpy exterior.
"You'll finally get to meet my Zelda!" Sky's smile was so carefree it was infectious. "I'll go get some of the knights and we'll get you to Skyloft. It's only a half hour flight from here."
Wait...
"Did you say flight?" Four wasn't sure who all asked, the voices of his brothers overlapping in their alarm.
"Of course!" Sky just kept smiling, proving yet again that every single one of their gremlin tendencies originated from him. He spun back around to face the empty air, stepping closer to the edge. Putting his fingers up to his face, he let out a very sharp -and very loud- whistle. Four was just glad he wasn't the only one to flinch harshly.
He gave it a few seconds before he whistled again, even louder this time. It was clear even from behind that Sky was listening or waiting for something. Four thought he heard a cry echoing across the empty air, but that went out the window when Sky decided to just leap straight off the island.
"SKY!" Four was one of the few to actually get close enough to the edge to see over it. Sky whistled again before throwing his arms and legs out straight out from his body. A distinct loud cry startled everyone, though fortunately Four startled away from the edge of the island. Falling onto his backside wasn't the best or most graceful move, but it was a sight better than Wind hiding behind Time and Twilight restraining Wild with some difficulty.
A bright red blur shot back up from the edge of the island, and Four could hear Sky's bright laughter even as the group was suddenly buffeted around by a blast of wind.
"Did I worry you guys?" Sky asked from atop the biggest bird Four had ever seen.
"Woah!"
"Not cool, Sky!"
"Why?!?" The chain of Links all reacted very differently to the sudden appearance by the bird.
"This is Crim; she's my loftwing." Sky said as he jumped from the bird's back to the island. The bird nuzzled her head against Sky's shoulder in the same way Zeffa did when she wanted pets. Sky just smiled at her before he started running his hands across her head, fingers deftly fixing any misplaced feathers as he did so. "I told you guys about her before."
"Is she friendly?" Twilight asked as he and Wild both restrained themselves from rushing the unknown animal.
"Of course!" Sky called out, waving the group to step closer.
Four faded a little into the background as Sky took the lead of the group. Something about the way Crim looked was familiar to him, though he wasn't sure what. She was a massive bird, easily three of Four stacked on top of each other, and when her bright red feathers caught the sunlight just right she looked like she was on fire.
She was beautiful.
After answering several of the chain's questions, Sky mounted Crim with the same ease that Twilight and Time mounted their Eponas.
"I'll be back soon!" He called out before Crim spread her wings and flung them both off the island. Four watched as she dove a bit before flapping her massive wings to gain the height back. Sky sat poised on her back, moving perfectly in sync with her. Every little tilt of his body translated to a movement from Crim, and Four found himself immensely jealous and also longing for Zeffa.
She would probably love the sky up here, he thought wistfully.
Something stirred, deep within his soul.
A chime echoed across the little island, silencing every conversation between the rest of the chain. Four whipped around, glancing in shock as all eyes turned toward him.
"Four?"
"Did your sword just chime?"
"...That wasn't one of yours?" Four asked, mouth suddenly dry. Seven other heads shook negatively. With a shaking hand, Four drew his sword, carefully keeping the blade pointed down. No need to add to the chaos of the day by splitting. Holding the blade by the handle firmly, Four tapped gently on the stone in the very bottom of the handle. He suppressed a shiver as his senses got muddled, the ghost of the touch echoing across to his forehead.
Another chime rang out, much more delicate and slow than his usual ones. The gem flashed bright blue. That... That wasn't Blue; his color was much darker than that. This was closer to a bright sky blue... Like Zeffa's feathers.
'Hello?' Four called out in his mind, focusing on that unusual shade of blue. A sleepy warble echoed back across his mind, in time as the sword chimed again. A very familiar warble.
"Zeffa?" Four couldn't help but ask out loud. Confusion echoed in his mind before it solidified into joy. The gem flashed bright blue again before a small white light surrounded it. Something tugged at his soul, similar but not to how it felt to split, and a small piece splintered off. The light flew away from the hilt of his sword before materializing into Zeffa, curled up on the ground in front of him with her head tucked under her wing.
Four stared at her, mouth agape. He could feel the rest of the Chain's eyes on him, but he steadfastly ignored them.
"Zeffa?" Four whispered, and he watched as she slowly opened her eyes. She untucked her head from her wings before stretching them out to her sides. She cooed at him before shaking her head, her beak making her usual rat-tat-tat sound. She clambered to her feet, her wings flapping slightly to balance herself. "...How?" He asked even as she chirped at him and started headbutting him in the chest, demanding pets.
"...Um... Four?" He heard one of his brothers ask, but he couldn't be bothered.
'Hug her hug her hugherhugher!' Four fell out of sync slightly as Red's emotions bled into their thoughts. Throwing their arms around her neck, they buried their head into her feathers.
"I never thought I'd see you again..." Four whispered as Zeffa nuzzled her beak lovingly against their back. They shook with the effort to contain their tears. After everything with the botched sealing spell, they never thought they'd see anyone from their era again. A deep shuddering breath escaped their lips as they felt Red slip back down, satisfied now that they knew Zeffa was really here. A squawk from Zeffa made Four pull back enough to wipe his eyes with the heel of his palm before glancing up to see Wild frozen several paces away. "Wild?"
"Are you okay?" Wild asked, his signs quick and choppy, showing his concern and agitation clearly.
"...I'm okay now." Four answered as he turned to face the rest of the chain, a hand still resting on Zeffa's neck. She stared at Wild for a moment longer before she ignored him, turning her head to start preening her wings. "Um... This is Zeffa. She helped me travel quickly across my Hyrule on my first and second journeys. I really don't know how she got here."
"She came out of the sword." Legend said, an unreadable expression on his face. Legend very rarely locked down his face enough to confuse Four. Something about that set off a warning bell in the back of his head, and they felt Vio latch onto it, but Four shoved him back down. Later, Vio.
"I don't know how she did that, either." Four kept his voice as neutral as he could. Time stepped forward, a neutral look on his face.
"Is she dangerous?" He asked. Four had to bite back a laugh as Zeffa squawked at him, making Time raise an eyebrow at her even as several others of the chain visibly startled.
"She's a giant bird. Of course she's dangerous." Four answered, petting her neck gently. He could tell she was pleased with the reactions she got out of the chain. "But she's never hurt me or anyone else I introduced her to either."
Wild took that as permission to approach before Twilight could snag him back. Zeffa watched him closely, but permitted him to stroke her neck. The others approached in differing levels of enthusiasm. Wind refused to get any closer, choosing to sit in the middle of the island to wait for Sky to return.
Everyone else eventually settled around him, content to rest for the time being with no fear of being ambushed. Four settled near the edge of the island to give Wind space, Zeffa sitting next to him with her head laid on his shoulder. He absently petted her on the head as Vio surfaced, theories running wild across their mind as they waited for Sky to return.
After a little over an hour, a loud cry echoed across the empty skies. Wind pulled out his telescope and spotted Sky and Crim returning, with several other birds carrying people flying at her side. Zeffa stayed relaxed at Four's side, though she did turn to watch them. Four could feel her curiosity prickling against his thoughts the same way his Colors did.
"Sorry it took so long!" Sky apologized after landing from Crim's back, the bird having slowed just enough for him to hop off onto the island before flying back up into the sky to circle overhead in big lazy circles. "I had to track down several other Knights to come with me."
Four watched as the rest of the birds started to swoop around the island, a dazzling dance of colors in the skies. The loftwings were all different colors, yellow and blue and purple and green, but Crim stood out effortlessly with her bright red plumage. They darted near each other without any hesitation; these riders and birds were used to flying close quarters to each other even though they had all the space in the world to spread out.
"Um..." Sky was staring at Four and Zeffa. "Did you guys kidnap a baby loftwing while I was gone?" Several of the chain snorted or outright laughed at that, which Four pointedly ignored as he stood up and brushed himself off lightly. Zeffa followed in his steps as he approached Sky.
"She's not a baby." Four said with a small glare at Sky. "Her name is Zeffa and she was a companion on my journeys years ago. She just kinda... appeared... from the Four Sword as you were flying away."
"Huh." Sky looked Zeffa over carefully before approaching her slowly. He held up a hand for her, and she shoved her head into it forcefully. He raked his fingers through her feathers like he had done for Crim earlier as he thought. "Four, are you from Skyloft?" He asked after several moments.
"What? No!" Four answered back hastily, caught off-guard by the question. "I've never even heard of it before we met."
"Hmm..." Sky hummed a little, a frown forming on his face. He glanced up to the sky overhead, to Crim, before waving up at the circling flock. Two loftwings split off, a bright light blue-purple one and a darker navy-purple one. "We'll talk once we get to Skyloft. This isn't the time."
"Hello!" The girl riding the lighter blue loftwing called out to the group as she dismounted. Sky smiled at her, and Four knew this was his Zelda. "We'll do proper introductions once everyone's settled on Skyloft, but I'm Zelda!" She said, smiling wide.
"Who's going first?" The large man still on top of his darker loftwing asked, getting several strange looks from the chain.
"That's Groose, my best friend." Sky called with a laugh as he approached where the rest of the chain was standing. "We brought harnesses for anyone afraid of falling off, too."
Four let the others debate on who was going when, content to sit back with Zeffa. Wind went first with Groose because he was the most nervous of the group about being around the loftwings. There was some trauma there, but Four would be the absolute last person to dig at that. He might point Twilight in his direction once they got settled in for the night, or maybe Legend. They were good with Wind without being overbearing most of the time.
The flight to Skyloft was uneventful as one could expect with nine incarnations of the Hero traveling together. Wild managed to land on the giant floating island of Skyloft, at least. Sky was able to corral their chaos somewhat by splitting them into groups after proper introductions were made.
"We'll all meet back here before sunset." Sky said, gesturing to the tree they were currently standing under. "Try not to fall off the islands, the Knights are stretched a little thin. Also, don't go near the remlits after dark!" He instructed before sending them all on their way. Hyrule, Wild, and Twilight were going to explore with Groose; Legend, Time, Wind, and Eras were going with Zelda to the bazaar; leaving Sky and Four to visit the loftwing caretakers.
"So... You've never heard of Skyloft in your era?" Sky started as he and Four walked side by side around the Knight's academy.
"No." Four shook his head. "There is the Wind Tribe, though. They live above the clouds in a place called the Palace of Winds."
"Does anyone in the wind tribe have a loftwing?" Sky asked, gesturing to Zeffa where she was walking behind Four.
"...No?" Four answered hesitantly before thinking back. It had been so long since he'd seen the Palace... Hadn't there been other birds at the Ruins though? Red and yellow ones sitting on the broken pillars as he picked up the ocarina. "...There were other birds like Zeffa though. They all took off after I played the ocarina the first time and Zeffa answered. I never saw them again."
"And what were you thinking about right before Zeffa appeared on the island?" Sky asked, voice soft as he slowed to a stop, watching Zeffa looking around curiously.
"How nice it would be to fly with her like you and Crim." Four's voice was small as he stared at the ground in front of them. "Whenever we flew at home, she always liked to go up as high as possible. We never could make it this high from the ground, though. I'd get too tired or the wind would blow me off. But I could tell she was always disappointed." Four jumped slightly as Zeffa rubbed her beak against his arm soothingly.
"I can help with that." Sky said brightly, causing Four to snap his eyes up to look at the other hero.
"Really?"
"Of course!" Sky smiled before pointing out across the skies in front of them. A little ways away on a much smaller floating island was a huge round-ish building. There were dozens of loftwings wheeling around it, entering and exiting through large openings all over the building. "That's the aviary. Want to learn to make her a saddle?"
"Yes!" Four found himself excited, and Zeffa echoed that back with a squawk. Sky smiled before running off the edge of the island and whistling. Crim swooped down past the ledge seconds after Sky, catching him and bringing him back up level with the top of the island.
"Come on then!" Sky called before Crim took off towards the aviary. Four barely had enough time to settle onto Zeffa's back before she was taking off after Sky and Crim, cawing out loudly towards the pair as she caught up quickly.
Sky and Four spent the next several hours in the aviary, Sky teaching Four anything and everything he could think of about caring for loftwings. He even showed Four how to size and forge the thin rings that counted as a loftwing saddle, and how to customize it without hampering Zeffa's flying abilities. Sky also gave him a training harness. It was something newly bonded fledglings used to get used to riding their loftwings, until their bonds could settle and both Skyloftian and Loftwing could understand each other.
"Bond?" Four asked at that, somewhat confused as he watched Sky demonstrate proper preening techniques.
"Your soul bond with your loftwing." Sky answered, not even looking up. "It takes time and practice to develop once you've met. Your's and Zeffa's connection is very strong already, so I figured you'd want a harness to practice tricks with instead." Four breathed in for four counts before holding his breath for eight. He breathed out in a quick huff, trying to keep calm.
"Sky... I'm going to need you to elaborate that again." The seriousness in Four's voice made Sky pause and look up at the smithy.
"Oh!" Sky hesitated for a moment. "The goddess Hylia sent the loftwings to her people to help us navigate the skies when she saved us from the Surface. Skyloftians are only one half of a pair; our loftwings being the other half of our soul." Sky petted Crim on her beak.
'That actually makes sense.' Vio's thoughts separated out just enough for Four to hear them clearly. 'It would also explain how she ended up in the sword with us.'
"...I was the last person my age to meet my loftwing, but once I did our bond was the strongest anyone's ever seen." Sky had continued on, completely unaware of Four's inattention.
"You think we have a soul bond with Zeffa?" Four asked, interrupting Sky. They needed to get answers to that right now.
"Of course you do. I felt it when I landed on the island with you guys." At Four's raised eyebrow, Sky just beckoned him over to Crim. Sky motioned for Four to pet Crim, who had already lowered her head to be in range of the much shorter hero. Four ran a hand delicately through Crim's fur-like feathers on her head, marveling at how soft and fluffy they were. He felt something rub up against his mind before it turned away. "Feel it?" Sky asked after a moment. "I get that from Zeffa; it's why I didn't question you more before coming here. I could feel her bond, and it was obvious she was yours."
"Does that mean you can't ride someone else's loftwing?"
"If I wanted to let you ride Crim, and she agreed, you'd be able to fly with her." Sky answered after a moment. "It's... uncomfortable though. Unless you're romantically involved."
"Oh, so like you and Zelda?" Four teased immediately, causing the older hero to blush as bright as Crim's feathers. Sky sputtered a bit.
"Shut up!" He managed to get out before taking the higher road and choosing to ignore Four. "Zeffa needs to get used to flying with her saddle; come on."
Four just laughed as Sky led them back out of the aviary, glancing quickly at where the sun was in the skies.
"We'll take it nice and slow around Skyloft until you both get used to it, then we can grab Wild and head over to the Lumpy Pumpkin and pick up food for everyone."
"Sounds like a plan." Sky and Crim took off quickly followed by Four and Zeffa, flying leisurely above Skyloft several times. Now that he was paying attention, Four could feel the pure joy and contentment radiating through his mind from Zeffa. It was separate from the trains of thoughts the colors had when they split, but it occupied the same general area of his mind.
Zeffa banked hard to the right, and Four found himself leaning into the motion without a thought, hand firmly holding the ring of the saddle. He could feel her slight agitation as the metal shifted against her feathers, but there wasn't any pain. It would just take some getting used to.
"So," Four spoke out loud to Zeffa, knowing that Sky wouldn't be able to overhear him as far ahead as he was. "You've just been inside the Four Sword this whole time?" A gentle coo was Four's response. "Can you go back inside the sword?" An unsure noise, and what Four could only think was a 'maybe?' answered him across their mind. "We should test it later on. As much trouble as the portals give me, I don't want you to try coming through them outside of the sword." A loud caw echoed agreement.
"Hey Wild!" Sky called from up ahead, Crim hovering near a smaller island floating above the main island of Skyloft. Wild was standing next to the start of the waterfall, with the rest of his exploring party below at the bottom of the waterfall. Four wasn't even surprised at this point. "Want to come with us to get supper?"
"Yes!" Wild called out excitedly before leaping off the island. Crim squawked loudly before diving for the insane hero. Wild was unrepentant, whooping loudly as Crim swooped over the other half of the chain. Four laughed at the sight of Twilight swearing in sign at the boy while Hyrule looked disappointed that he couldn't come too. As Four and Zeffa pushed to catch up to Crim, he sent a mental apology to the traveler as they flew away from Skyloft. He'd tell Sky to take Hyrule somewhere tomorrow.
Looking off to the horizon, Four smiled as a sense of peace settled over him. Throwing both his hands out to echo Zeffa's wings, Four reveled in the feeling of the winds pulling against him, Zeffa's strong body beneath him. Zeffa trilled at him, and he heard Crim echoing the noise from somewhere ahead of them.
He knew now that if he were to jump off Zeffa's back, she'd catch him without a doubt. He still wasn't that much of a daredevil though. He was good right here.
Tomorrow they'd have to start looking for the black blooded monsters Hylia had pulled them through time and space to hunt.
But that was something tomorrow's Four would have to worry about.
Today, Four was flying with Zeffa in Sky's homelands, about to get a delicious meal to sit down and eat with his brothers.
He was content.