Still Standing

Chapter 1: Another Day of Sun

"Lonan! Lonan, wake up! C'mon, don't you know what day it is?"

I groan and rest my arm over my eyes, trying to block out the sunlight and go back to sleep. A few moments of silence pass before hands rest on my shoulders and begin shaking me relentlessly.

"Lonan! Wake up, you big slacker!"

I yelp and my eyes snap open. I jolt upright in my hammock, frantically trying to find out what's going on, before my gaze lands on the person who interrupted my sleep--my little sister, Elina. She puts a fist on her hip and cocks it, staring at me with an accusatory glare.

"What do you want, Elina?" I grumble in the middle of a yawn, stretching and rubbing my eyes. "It's too early for this..."

She rolls her eyes, sighing. "Did you really forget?"

I stare blankly at her.

"Oh wow...really?" She groans exaggeratedly, face palming. "I think you'd forget that you could fly if you didn't have wings!"

"At least I don't try to play with a bow and arrows before you even start learning how to use them," I say, snickering. "You're lucky that Cayden kid found you before you could get yourself hurt. Really, though, why do I have to wake up so early again?"

"I was getting to that! I don't know what the ceremony-thingie is called, but today's the day when you get sorted into--"

"The Categorization Ceremony!" I interrupt, suddenly wide awake. "How did I forget that?!"

Elina shakes her head in disbelief. "That's what I was thinking! It's in two hours, and you haven't even gotten up yet!"

I jump out of my hammock, nearly falling flat on my face. "I-I gotta get ready! Where's Mom?" I ask as I begin digging through the clothing hamper for something to wear. I know where Dad is; in the mornings, he always goes to the Flight Range to warm up for the day. Dad's super tough and strong--he's really good at beating people up. Mom tells me that he's never beaten anyone up, that he instead just fights monsters, but I like to think he teaches bad people a well-deserved lesson.

"She went down to that weird shrine-thing. I think it was to talk to Kass or something." She watches me, obviously finding my panic funny. Of course she does. I slept in on the most important day of my life, for Hylia's sake! I find my nice pair of pants and nearly throw them on my hammock.

"Okay, okay... Can you go see her? I kinda need to get ready, and I don't want a certain annoying sister that wakes me up bothering me while I do it."

I hear her huff. "Fine. But you're gonna have to...give me your dessert at dinner! Deal?"

"Ugh, deal."

In the corner of my eye, I can see her skipping out of our hut happily, humming loudly. I shake my head and grin. While Elina can get...exasperating sometimes, I have to say it: I really do love her. Though if anyone told her that, I'd have to chase after them with my lute.

Speaking of my lute...

I pull out my dressy shirt and carelessly put it next to the pants before glancing down at my most prized possession. I've been playing the lute for a year and a half now--I'm not too good at it. I always get the notes wrong and I always go too fast than I'm supposed to, but it's still fun. I guess that's why I still do it.

I smile down at it before I pull on my clothes. I know that the shirt messes up my head feathers, but I can always fix that later.

Oh, wait.

I almost forgot.

I don't have time for "later"!

I carefully strap my lute on my back before grabbing a comb, rushing it through my feathers until I'm satisfied. Normally I wouldn't really care how I look, but since today's the most important day of my life, I should at least look nice for it. Everything's gonna change after this. My days of laziness are over, starting today. And I'm sorta sad about that, but this is just one step closer to becoming a grown-up!