The Girl Who Fell (The Story of Aya)

Chapter 1

(This is just a general introduction to Aya)

Aya's POV

"Ugh..... Pipit. Please, don't make me go to sword practice! I seriously suck at swordfighting, you know that." I groaned at my close friend and fellow senior knight, Pipit.

"Aya, you know it's required.... C'mon, Link said he'd help you! I know you like Link~." He teased as we walked towards the training grounds. I blushed. "Oh, don't say that. Have you seen the way he looks at Zelda? It's obvious to literally everyone but him that he's crushing on her." I replied.

"Plus, I'm not really interested in dating...." I added. "You know, hopefully he gets his act together and wins the Wing Ceremony.... So he can move up a rank. With Zelda acting as the Goddess this year, it's an added bonus~." I told Pipit with a mischievous tone.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Groose, Cawlin and Stritch huddled together. I wonder what those three are up to... Whatever it is, it can't be good. I thought to myself.

I was jolted out of my thoughts by Pipit snapping his fingers in my face. "Hello, Aya! Come on! Let's hurry and get this training over with." He said, impatiently tapping his foot.

I nodded and pushed open the doors to the training building and gulped at the setup. Ever since I had first started at the Knight Academy, I had been hopeless with a sword. I often coached defensive classes, being that I was better at defense. Although, I secretly trained with daggers and knives at night, so I wasn't completely helpless when it comes to offense.

Pipit and I sparred a few times. I didn't do too horrible, but I still did bad. He tsked at me and I shook my head in defeat. "See, I'm hopeless." I whimpered.

As we walked back to the Academy, I turned to Pipit. "Hey, isn't tomorrow the Wing Ceremony?" I asked him. He nodded. "Yeah, but didn't Link seem really sloppy and out of sorts today? He got hit more than once today. He never gets hit... He seems dopey, but he's usually really serious about sword training." He remarks, changing the subject, which was understandable. It was no fun to talk about the Wing Ceremony if you weren't participating in it.

"He seemed like he had his mind elsewhere.... I don't know what's been up with him lately. Maybe Groose's annoying jabs and taunts have finally gotten underneath his skin, I don't know." I said, shrugging.

I looked at the sky and smiled as I saw the younger "knights-in-training" practicing for the ceremony. "Brings back memories, huh?" I say, turning to look at Pipit, who had also been staring at the sky. He nodded.

"I remember when I won the ceremony, haha. You were so mad. We were both within a foot of each other too, but I managed to grab the statuette before you. But because we were literally both there, we ended up moving up a rank together." I said, snickering at the memory of Pipit pouting. "That was years ago.... I hope Link wins, because then he'll be a higher rank than Groose. That'll be rich~." I said, elbowing Pipit playfully. He laughed half-heartedly.
I pursed my lips. "Is something wrong?" I asked. He shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Best get started on the evening patrol. It's your turn to patrol the village, and I'm at the academy as usual." He said. I nodded and veered back off in the direction of Central Skyloft.
                                  ***
I had just finished my rounds of Skyloft, forced everyone back inside, the usual.  A Remlet ran up to me and began to hiss, but stopped when it saw my identity. It smoothed its fur and rubbed against my legs. I sat on a bench and stared at the sky, the Remlet hopping into my lap and purring. I stroked it as I thought about everything.

Tomorrow was the Wing Ceremony and a huge anniversary for the academy. I had been a senior knight for almost 3 years, having been promoted to the senior rank a year earlier than Pipit.