(no subject)

[sky_child]

Characters: Sleepyhead and youuuu!
Setting: Floor 10
Format: I'm writing action but you can write whatever.
Summary: He's spacing out, looking at the fish. Or is he?
Warnings: None at the mo.

There are many practical things Link of Skyloft could be doing at the moment:

• practicing his swordplay (but when does he ever).


• practicing his archery (has a limited supply of arrows, though, so that might be "impractical").


• searching for a way out of here

And maybe he is doing that last thing.

Or maybe he's just staring at the fish in the water. And the water itself. And the lack of a barrier or any visible thing to contain it.

Sometimes it's hard to tell what's running through this kid's mind. Now would be one of those times.

Comments

[ocariness]

[ And then there was another Hero beside you. ]

... Fascinating, is it not, the way they have managed to keep them in here? I would be careful, though, your predecessor lost an arm to these fish.

[ A small, teasing smile here. 'Sup ancestor? ]

[sky_child]

The sudden appearance of who causes Link to jump out of his skin*.

"That's...unfortunate..."

Yes, Link. Losing one's arm is unfortunate.

* Figuratively, not literally. Such a distinction must be made in a horror game.

[ocariness]

... Oh whoops sorry about that, Sky! Looks like they're beginning to pick up tips from Sheik or something about how to be mysterious and scare people.

"... Sorry, did I frighten you? That was not my intent."

It's okay, really. Er, so they hope. Maybe they can begin establishing a relationship again... Link honestly wants to know more about the other hero, anyway.

[sky_child]

"Oh, no. I was just...thinking." He scratches the back of his head. "What did you mean by my predecessor?"

[ocariness]

... Oh no, quick Ocarina think of something intelligent to say--

"... Ah."

... That's not intelligent try again!!

"Another hero, I mean. He lost his arm to one of these fish. He is not here anymore, and I was just reminded of it, really."

Yes okay that works. We're walking on eggshells here, okay? Don't confuse the poor guy too badly. Just take it easy. It's obviously not the one you knew. ... This was going to be so weird. Like it wasn't before, though?

[sky_child]

'Ah' is as intelligent as Link can get sometimes.

"Another...hero? You mean another person named Link?"

He supposes the title 'hero' is fitting, but it sounds so...impersonal. As if they gave up their identities the moment they became a hero. Or maybe they never had an identity, if they were chosen like him. Nothing but a nameless hero...

[ocariness]

... Just have a slow nod here, Sky. Ocarina doesn't want to make you feel weird or anything, to be honest. They actually look pretty nervous now, whoops. There were a lot of them apparently?

"There... appears to be more than a few of us," they concede. "Heroes, that is."

Though whether or not Ocarina here considers themself worthy of that title is another topic of discussion they won't even get into.

[sky_child]

"Just heroes..." he mutters under his breath. Then, louder, with a wry expression: "You make it sound like we're the only heroes in this tower. Unless every single last one of them's named Link."

[ocariness]

... Ah... if only you knew. They just give a sheepish smile.

"... Maybe they are all secretly named Link and I was not aware." It's a poor attempt at humor, mostly. For Ocarina's part, they will just try to stealthily dodge the subject.

"You can play the harp, I hear?"

A little fairy told them.

[sky_child]

Link raises an eyebrow, but says nothing more about the subject of heroes.

"Sort of," he replies.

Downplaying his abilities as usual.

[ocariness]

Sky, you are so modest. It's why you rock.

"I can play the Ocarina, among many other instruments. But I... I would like to hear you play sometime. ... Someone... very close to me also plays the harp. I suppose I am... curious."

... Sheik. Zelda. Both, really. She was good at it, too.

[sky_child]

"An Ocarina? What's that?" asks the boy from the town with people who didn't even know what a damn harp was.

As for his modesty, he's just compensating for being so awesome at so many things without having to work for it. That makes him feel guilty.

[ocariness]

OH BOY OH BOY LET OCARINA HERE

TELL YOU ABOUT OCARINAS.

Link looks very excited when Sky asks, pulling the Ocarina of Time out of their little bag attached to their belt.

"This is an Ocarina. It is an instrument where one uses wind and covers different holes to make different notes. The Kokiri... we usually make our own instruments. It is tradition to be able to play, and make things. Though mine was gifted to me."

Can you see the stars in their eyes, Sky? Can you?

[alephbet]

I've never seen most of these kinds of fish.

[Aleph is peering closely at one of the columns, but not too closely.]

[sky_child]

There's a hint of anxiety on Link's face as he observes Aleph peering at the water. He, too, has been tempted to dip his fingers in there, but something's telling him not to. And Aleph is standing too close to the water for his comfort.

"I'm...still kind of new to fish," he says.

[alephbet]

"Really? Same here," Aleph admits. "I haven't been fishing before, since I was always too busy to relax."

[sky_child]

"Fishing...? Is that, like, swimming?"

[alephbet]

"It's catching fish so you can eat them."

He really meant it when he said he was new to fish, huh.

[sky_child]

"Oh. Are they...good?"

And do hey belong to anyone because that would be pretty awful if you eating someone's pet.

[alephbet]

"I'll eat whatever's in front of me in a food shortage like this. You might have to ask someone a little pickier."

But those nutrition bars, ugh.

[sky_child]

"Food shortage? But they feed us in the cafeteria..."

Hi my name is Link I ask stupid questions

[alephbet]

"They change the menu every month. This month it's nothing but nutrition bars and water. No real food," Aleph explains.

[sky_child]

"What's a nutrition bar?"

LINK STOP

[alephbet]

"All the parts of food that are good for you and none of the parts that are actually tasty."

[sky_child]

"Oh... What's so bad about that?"

He can kind of understand why one wouldn't like them since they aren't "tasty", but if they're good for you, then they're ultimately worth eating, right?

[alephbet]

"Do you want to eat the exact same thing for a month and have it not taste good?"

[sky_child]

"...not really, no."

[alephbet]

"There you go. That's what we're facing."

Not the most fearsome challenge, but still something.

[sky_child]

"...still, if that's all there is to eat.. I guess I'll take it."

[alephbet]

"As long as it's not poisonous. We had poisoned food when I first got here."

That wasn't a fun month.

[sky_child]

"Aren't they supposed to be helping us?"

Not that he believes that.

[alephbet]

"Supposedly." Not really.

[songofsoaring]

[Well.

This was interesting. Another person that looked like his older self. There were some differences, of course, he wasn't blind enough not to see them and think this man was another one of him. But the resemblances were very much there.

Swimming on the side of the aquarium that happened to be behind the new person gave Link some time to study him before he leisurely swam around to float in the water in front of him. His Zora form being equal in height to the other let him have a semblance of his old self as he stared through the water at the man. Still studying him, learning the differences.

Link had his other four masks, shield, sword, and ocarina on him, strapped to him by strips of the white jumpsuit he'd arrived in. It made swimming more difficult, but he wasn't about to leave any of the few belongings he still had where others could get their hands on them.]

[sky_child]

This man fish seems to be staring at him.

...Link's not sure what to do, or even say. Do man fish speak?

[songofsoaring]

[Some do. And this one did after a few more moments, sticking his head out of the water so his voice would be clear.]

Who are you?

[sky_child]

...the manfish speaks!!!

"..."

But the manchild doesn't.

Wait. Just one second...

"...Link."

[songofsoaring]

[The man fish blinks and pulls back his head. Then he swims back a little bit, flips over and swims to one side so he can more easily leave the aquarium without crowding the other. In his Zora form, he stands about 5 1/2 feet tall.]

Where are you from?

[sky_child]

Of course. Of course the manfish would be taller than him.

"...Skyloft. Why? Where are you from?"

[songofsoaring]

[He tilted his head, not recognizing the name given. It wasn't in Hryule or Termina as far as Link was aware. Was this other Link from a third mirror world? It would explain the similarities. While Link had never met a counterpart of himself in Termina, he had no doubt that one existed somewhere.

As for where he was from... that was complicated.]

I was born in Hyrule.

[He wasn't sure if he counted as being 'from' there anymore, but giving where he was born was probably the easiest answer for now.]

[sky_child]

"Hyrule? Isn't that where Zelda's from? The other..."

No, just Zelda. Nobody here knows the other Zelda.

[songofsoaring]

The other Link? Yes. He's from Hyrule, too.

[That's the only 'other' that Link could think this third Link would be thinking of. say that three times fast]

I'm not used to meeting so many people who look similar and share the same name.

[derping]

There were also a lot of practical things, very much of the same nature, that Sora could have been doing right now. Instead, though, he found himself in a restless mood, which led to him wandering around. Somehow or another, he had ended up here.

Really, though, this floor was hard for Sora to ignore. He still wondered how in the world a place like this could be possible. It was like some kind of magic or something was keeping the water in place...and maybe that was exactly what was happening. He could only guess. Questions aside, though, he liked it here. The fish reminded him of the ocean, and of his own home.

But he wasn't one to just sit around quietly when there are other people around, so Link being there catches his attention.

"What are you up to?" he asked, moving to stand next to him.

[sky_child]

He wasn't that deep into his thoughts at that particular moment, so he doesn't jump when he hears Sora's voice. Instead, he turns and regards the other boy with a somewhat dazed expression.

"...nothing."

sorry for the wait! computer issues happened.

[derping]

"Nothing?"

Well, that didn't sound like very much fun at all. Obviously, whoever this was, he needed something better to do than that. So Sora decides to hang around...because hey, maybe he'll want to talk a bit.

"This place is pretty neat, huh?" he commented, looking again at the water and the fish.

[sky_child]

"Um, yeah..."

He almost sounds like he's waking up. In a way, he is: rousing from his thoughts, slowly getting in contact with the outside world. As much as he's in contact with the outside world when he's not focused on doing something.

So: in contact enough with the outside world to function but still kinda up there in Cloud Worl.

But at least he's...slowly...coming to realize that he's being too distant to be polite.

"It's...different..."