7 - Fish

The floating island of Skyloft was usually graced with beautiful sunny rays, however, on the morning of the Knight Academy fishing tourney, the residences had not been so lucky. The prussian sky was littered with grey pregnant clouds. Horwell, a tall slender elf was busy overseeing the preparations for the tourney, ushering several of the local fishermen in the setup for the event. Rows of colorful bunting were strung up on the fixtures with strings. The elven man hoped they would last for the opening ceremony of the tourney, at least, but even he couldn't subside the pessimistic thought.

Over at the Knight Academy, the students began gathering in the dining hall. The long wooden tables had been pushed to one corner of the room, the chairs stacked neatly beside them. Headmaster Gaepora stood proudly in the doorway, admiring his students. To his left side stood his beautiful daughter Zelda, wearing a white silk ceremony gown, resembling the Goddess Hylia herself. Her wrists were adorned by crystal bracelets in the shape of the academy crest, and her side bangs were wrapped with matching shimmer organza ribbons.

To the headmaster's right side stood the hero, Link. He had gained Gaepora's favor after saving his daughter from the clutches of the demon spirit Ghirahim and his master Demise. The young boy was wearing his issued knight's uniform, a tunic dyed forest green, paired with a light tan linen trousers and brown leather boots. His hands were covered with matching brown hide gloves, and on top of his blonde head sat his trademark green hat.

The three of them stood at the head of the crowd, each student in front of them was clutching tight of their fishing rods. This also included Link, who had been roped into the fishing tourney by the headmaster himself after hearing about the boy's luck when he fished some salmon for Zelda. Zelda placed her hands in front of her, interlocking her fingers.

"Welcome my children to our quarterly fishing tourney," the headmaster welcome the group. The crowd mumbled back at him in a chorus, "Sadly the weather has decided against us today, but please do not let this deter you! For you will not be able to compete if you are feeling a little yellow-bellied." He began eyeing up his students, knowing a handful had already dropped due to the poor weather conditions.

"Those of you who are competing will have a chance at securing the prize," Gaepora continued his speech, "For the prize is, a gift from our very own Hylia incarnated, my lovely Zelda." He outstretched a hand to his daughter.

Zelda turned to her father in disbelief. A soft pink hue grew on her cheeks, she disapproved of her father's decision. "Father, please," she pleaded, reluctantly taking his hand to curtsy at the crowd. Gaepora looked down at his daughter and gave her a reassuring smile.

Link stood to attention, he himself feeling rather uneasy. He kept himself facing the crowd, noticing the school jock, Groose, and his minions cackling at the back of the hall. The hero let out a growl, he could not allow the redhead to beat him. He would be one to secure a gift from his companion, protecting her at all costs.

Gaepora ignored his daughter's pleas, turning back to readdress his crowd, "Make haste my children to the tourney area. For the fishing, tourney begins in exactly ten minutes." He dismissed the pupils, each of them rushed out of the hall. Link walked behind the pack, brushing his companion's shoulder with his glove. He smiled to reassure her, determination fixed in his eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered, lifting her head to smile. Zelda knew he could win this tourney, besides there was no one she'd rather give her gift to, than to him. The hero hurried to catch up with the other students, hoping he could still nab a decent spot by the river.

♡

The students of Skyloft Knight Academy had gathered themselves in a huddle on the wooden bridge. Horwell had been waiting to greet them all, thankful his bunting had survived long enough for them to see. The residents of Skyloft had lined themselves up close to the riverbank, eager to watch the tourney. Link hurried as fast as his boots could carry him to catch up with the rest of his class. He arrived no sooner than Horwell had begun addressing the students. The hero skidded to a halt, taking short sharp breaths to recover.

"Welcome students. It is my honor to introduce you to our setting this autumn," he addressed the crowd. The elven man looked up at the sky and frowned, noticing a grey cloud hovered above their heads, "I hope we can all wrap this up before it begins to rain." he sighed.

Gaepora joined him at the front of the class, clutching a silver whistle in his right hand, "Is everyone ready?" he asked the crowd. His students responded again as a chorus, mumbling their replies, "On my mark." The headmaster brought the whistle close to his lips. The students lined themselves up along the wooden bridge in two equal lines of eight. Each of them preparing themselves to dart in their preferred direction.

Link had his sapphire-dyed eyes locked onto a particular spot. It was close to the cave entrance where Groose had hidden his crimson loftwing a couple of years back. This was where he would spend his time, sitting upon a little rock under a blooming tree, out of sight and of mind. He was brought out of his daydream by the school jock. Groose had made his way to Link's side, nudging him off-guard in the process.

"Don't mind me," the jock grunted at the blonde. The hero grumbled under his breath, cursing him for his ignorance. His minions, Cawlin and Strich were bundled up by his side. Link knew full well of what Groose had planned. He would let the boys do all the work for him, yet he would be the one to reap the reward, or he would if Link wasn't standing firmly in his way.

"Three," the headmaster called.

Groose turned to his rival, "Guess I'll be seeing you after I collect the prize from the lovely Zelda herself," he teased, a sinister grin plastered across his face. Link felt his heckles rise in anger, he shot a glare at the jock as a warning. He was serious about this competition, he would protect his best friend at any cost. The hero had never approved of Groose's behavior towards Zelda.

"Two," Horwell yelled. He couldn't resist the urge to join in.

"One," Gaepora called, blowing hard on the whistle, initiating the start of the fishing tourney.

The crowd pushed against each other, some of the students losing their balance, tripping over their peers. Strich and Cawlin were amongst the unlikely ones to be caught up in the tousle. The pair of them knocking into one another and diving headfirst into the river. Link couldn't help but chuckle when he noticed Groose's grin fade.

The other students rushed off in every direction, off of the wooden bridge and along the river bank, each trying to find their perfect spot. The hero pushed ahead of the pack, sprinting towards his sacred spot. Luckily, he had reached the area before anyone else could. The majority of his peers had chosen to stay closer toward the center of the tourney area, probably for their own safety. Groose was amongst them with the now drenched pair of minions at his side.

Link set himself steady upon the mossy rock before opening up his tackle and bait box. Inside sat a beautiful coral earring, studded with emeralds and curved into a hook shape. He took his wooden fishing rod in his gloves, fastening the earring to the end. The hero fiddled with the contents of the tackle box once more, producing a single orange jewel beetle. It was a sand cicada he had caught on one of his adventures within the Eldin Province. Link hooked the beetle onto the coral earring and cast his line into the river. He sat back against the bark of the tree, keeping his rod steady as he relaxed a little.

Several minutes had passed since Link had set up his fishing station, in the distance, he could hear cheering as a couple of his peers caught small fry gobies. The hero smiled, he was generally pleased for them, it was nice to see his fellow classmates tackle activities he had spent the last few years tackling on his own. Link caught something out the corner of his eye, his rod vibrating in his gloves. He finally had a bite. The hero gripped tight of the shaft, pulling the rod towards him and he reeled in the line. A medium-sized pink salmon flew out of the river, hooked on his rod, flapping about. Link quickly unhooked the fish before placing inside a bucket of water.

He decided to cast his reel again after replenishing the bait, in hope for a bigger catch. Link decided to continue using the same lure and bait as his previous catch, another one of his trademarks. He continued to catch more salmon, not on purpose. Link groaned each time another pink fish was drawn from the water, after his fifth catch, he decided to start returning the fish back to the river. He sighed, having another rummage in his tackle box for a different bait. The hero pulled out a single light blue insect, a goddess butterfly. This was his last-ditch effort. Link cast his line before taking a seat upon the rock once more.

He glanced over to his classmates, noticing a few more of them now had full buckets. Link rested his blonde head against the tree, resisting the urge to doze off while he waited for another bite. The hero had only just got comfortable when he felt the rod vibrate against his leg. He clutched hold of the rod, gently yanked it close to his body. Link tried to reel in his line but the fish fought bad. He furrowed his brow and pulled it tighter, reeling the line in quickly. A large crimson fish flew out of the water, wagging itself at the end of the rod. The hero carefully placed the fish inside the bucket along with the various salmon. He examined the fish, taking a closer look at his new catch. Link had never seen a fish like this before. Maybe that will work in my favor, he thought, removing the smaller fish from the bucket.

In the distance, the Hylian heard the sharp call of the headmaster's whistle. The fishing tourney had come to a close, it was now time to be judged. Link began packing up his tackle box, returning his treasured coral earring back into the box before grabbing hold of his equipment and his fishing bucket. The students of Skyloft academy were ushered to line up, on the wooden bridge above the river, once more. Gaepora stood in front of the class, with both his advisor, Horwell and his daughter, Zelda, at his side. The young girl was holding a small packaged, wrapped in brown paper and tied multiple times with twine. Each student took it in turns to present their fishing bucket to the judges, the three of them keeping a mental note of the contents. By the riverbank, the local fishermen had been roped into measuring each fish and recording their findings. It process took an hour to complete and by this point, many of the students had grown tired.

"We have now determined the winners of the tourney," Gaeopora called, holding a slip of parchment in his hands, "Sorry to keep you, my children." He took a breath and cleared his throat before delivering his announcement.

"In third place," Horwell called out to the crowd, "Pipit, with his eight-point three-inch salmon." The crowd began to clap as a brunette boy in a mustard knights uniform walked forward. He bowed in front of the judges, thanking them. The headmaster shook the boy's hand before he returned to the crowd. Link smiled at his classmate, giving him a quick thumbs up when the school jock shoved him to one side. The hero grunted at the redhead.

"Oh, sorry squirt. Didn't see you there," he began to chuckle, his soggy minions close to his side. Link brushed him off, turning back to the judges but the jock pestered him again, "Let the best man win, yeah?" Groose winked at him, but the hero couldn't help but agree.

"Now the next two were very close. Please don't be disheartened." Gaepora called, reading from his parchment, "In second place is Groose, with his nine-inch Hylian loach." The jock's face fell, his jaw hitting the floor, he had missed out yet again. Link nudged the redhead from the crowd. Groose turned to glare at the hero, but he just smiled in reply. The jock begrudging walked up to the judges and accepted his handshake.

"Quite rare to see a Hylian Loach in these waters, my boy," the headmaster shook his hand, "Well done." Groose forced a smile and returned to his minions, shoving Link with his shoulder as he walked away from the crowd.

"Now to announce our winner," Gaepora continued, turning to his daughter, "Zelda will now do the honors." He smiled proudly, ushering his daughter to take his spot.

Zelda held tightly to her package, glancing at her piece of parchment, "The winner of the Skyloft Knight Academy autumn fishing tourney is," she paused to take a deep breath before opening the piece of parchment. The blonde smiled when she saw the winner's name, "Is Link, who caught a twelve-inch reekfish."

The crowd roared, cheering on the hero. Link scratched the back of his awkwardly, his goofy smile appearing on his lips. Pipit gave his classmate a gentle nudge, nodding his head towards Zelda. The hero walked up to his companion and bowed before her.

"It is my honor to present you with this gift. May the Goddess be with you," Zelda bestowed her package to Link, bowing her head in respect. The hero took the package from her gentle hands, taking to his feet once more. His companion wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, "Well done, mister hero," she whispered in his ear, making his heart skip a beat. She released him, allowing him to return to his classmates to celebrate.

♡

Later that evening, Link met Zelda at their shared favorite spot. The ancient Goddess statue that sat at the top of the floating island of Skyloft. The hero still hadn't opened the gift his companion gave him earlier in the day.

"Open it silly," Zelda began to tease, giving the boy a gentle nudge. Link sighed, he had no choice but to open it now. He pulled at the brown paper, stripping the contents bare. Inside sat a hand-knitted scarf, in cerulean blue wool with crimson fringing at either end. On the bottom edges featured the Skyloft crest which hand-embroidered. A goofy smile appeared on Link's face, it was beautiful. Zelda had dedicated a lot of time and effort into creating this accessory. The hero wrapped his arms around his companion's waist, planting a soft kiss on her lips. She melted into his embrace, resting her arms around his neck.

She broke away momentarily, "May I?" Zelda pointed to the scarf. Link nodded, handing her the accessory. She wrapped it carefully around his neck, allowing the excess knit to cascade down his back, "It suits you," she said, admiring her hero. Her companion smiled, taking her hand in his. Zelda rested her blonde head against his arm as the two of them took a slow walk back to Skyloft academy together.