#and usnavi's is called dulces taken from the name of his cat in intheheightsandfluff's fic

[pika-ace]

ITH Skyward Sword AU Sneak Peek

Just wanted to give you guys a taste of one of the MANY AUs I’m working on (and ITH Zelda AU is still the best AU, sorry it’s fact X3) 

A few notes to point out that for this AU, Usnavi and Vanessa actually grew up together and are childhood friends, since they live on a small island in the sky with not many people around. They’re not as close as, say, Usnavi and Benny would be, but they’re good friends, and their age gap has been reduced from five years to about two or three years apart. This change was made for chemistry purposes and I wanted to give it a try, but it doesn’t make Usnavi any less flustered around her XD. (Also, for those who don’t know Zelda lore, Loftwings are giant birds you can ride) ((Also also, there’s a bit of Dadnavi and Momnessa in here for Sonny X3))

Summary: After learning that some bullies hid Sonny’s Loftwing away, the reckless boy goes off to look for it in the Waterfall Cave, the only forbidden place in Skyloft. Worried for his safety, Vanessa decides to take up a sword and go after him before he can get into more trouble.

Vanessa hurried off towards her destination, the sword she got from Carla in the Sparring Hall on her back in its sheath. She spied Usnavi flying around on his blue Loftwing, Dulces, but it looked like he didn't have any luck. 

Guess that meant only one thing. Vanessa sighed and leapt across the river; Usnavi was definitely gonna kill him. Vanessa approached the proper path and the familiar sign that stood a few feet before the cave. 

‘Waterfall Cave ahead. Beware of blood-sucking monsters! No kids allowed.’

Vanessa ran up the hill and spotted something shining in the grass, right in front of the wooden spikes preventing her entry. She picked it up and found that it was Sonny’s metal pin bearing the Deity crest. Kid must’ve squeezed through the gate and it fell off. He was a tiny little thing for his age.

Guess the sign didn't turn him around; stupid, brave, kid. 

Vanessa hacked and slashed at the wooden gate until she could step through; they would replace the gate later. And most kids knew better than to come in here. 

The cave was quite dark, but thanks to the reflection of water from deep within, Vanessa could still see. 

Vanessa jogged down the path when a few piles of goo appeared at her feet. They slithered towards her, deformed monsters faces on the front of them. “Ugh…” She groaned, drawing her sword. These things were fucking disgusting. 

She swiftly stabbed them, even going as far as stomping on them to finish them off, leaving thin puddles of goo behind before they vanished in a small puff of purple smoke. 

Vanessa went on her way and eventually reached the window the cave where the waterfall could be seen. Vanessa climbed down a few landings and kept following the path, keeping an ear out for any more monsters. She even found a few Rupees on her way; definitely good to keep around just in case. But there was still no sign of Sonny. Maybe Sonny actually got lucky and made it through without running into anythin- 

A loud scream suddenly cut through the air. Vanessa silently cursed and ran down the path, leaping down from another landing. She could hear the tiny flapping of wings and through the dim light of the cave, she spied the culprits.

A bunch of bats were swarming an area near the ground, and as she drew closer she could see arms flailing desperately to shoo them away. 

“Get away from me!” Sonny was completely surrounded by the little monsters as they pulled at his clothes and scratched at his skin. 

Vanessa ran forward, sword at the ready and easily slashed down the bat closest to her. The rest of the bats scattered away from Sonny, who was now curled into a ball and covering his head with his arms, and darted towards Vanessa.

The bats were child’s play, as Vanessa easily swatted them down with a few good quick strikes, making them fly into the wall and explode in a puff of purple smoke. ‘Why do they do that?’ Vanessa absently wondered, before turning her attention to the boy in front of her. 

Vanessa lowered her sword and Sonny peeked up at her as she glared at him. “What part of ‘blood-sucking monsters’ did you not understand?”

“I wasn’t just gonna abandon my Loftwing!” Sonny shot back, his frame shivering from the assault. 

Vanessa leaned towards him, a flat look on her face, “Blood-sucking monsters.” She repeated with more emphasis. 

“You would’ve done the same thing!” Sonny protested.

“Yeah, but I have a sword,” Vanessa said, giving the weapon a little wave. “You don’t even have a stick.” 

Sonny crossed his arms and pouted, his shivering still apparent, “Whatever…” 

Vanessa sighed and offered him a hand. Sonny took it and Vanessa gave him a quick once over. His clothes were slightly torn in places and there were many cuts on his arms and hands that broke the skin. She also noticed some scrapes on his palms; that was probably when he fell during the attack. 

“You okay?” She asked.

“Yeah…” Sonny nodded. 

Vanessa raised her sword and turned back towards the path, “Stay close, okay?” 

Sonny silently nodded and followed Vanessa down the path. A couple more bats came their way, but they were easy pickings. Eventually, the end of the tunnel came into view and the pair found themselves behind the waterfall. 

“Do you sense your Loftwing?” Vanessa asked. 

Sonny glanced around before nodding, “Yeah, he’s real close, I know it.” 

“Vanessa! Sonny!” The two looked up to see Usnavi flying towards them on Dulces. 

Sonny looked at Vanessa, utter betrayal in his eyes, “You told on me?!”

“He wasn’t the only one worried about you, you little idiot,” Vanessa sniped, giving his shoulder a smack.

Usnavi leapt off Dulces once the ground was near, letting the Loftwing fly away and he bolted over to Sonny. 

“Oh, thank the Deity!” Usnavi exclaimed as he pulled Sonny into a spine crushing hug. “You scared me to death, tu chico estupido! What part of ‘blood-sucking monsters’ did you not understand?!” 

“That’s what I said.” Vanessa couldn’t help but remark, shooting Sonny a look. 

Sonny started to turn red from both embarrassment and annoyance, and Usnavi pulled away to grasp his face and look him over, “Are you hurt anywhere? No bites or cuts? Nothing broken?” 

“Geez, Navi, they were just bats,” Sonny said bitterly. 

“Bats that almost ate you.” Vanessa said, grabbing Sonny’s arm to reveal the slightly torn clothing and the tiny red scratches from the monsters’ claws. 

Usnavi’s eyes grew wide and he easily found the other scrapes on Sonny’s body from where he fell. “Oh gods…” 

“It’s just cuts, Usnavi,” Sonny said as his older cousin rummaged through his pockets. “Seriously, they don’t even hurt.” 

“Yeah, well you can never be too careful,” Usnavi responded, pulling out a small glass vial of red potion. “Drink this.” 

Sonny sighed irritably, but did as he was told, making his cuts slowly vanish. Ever since Sonny fell and scraped his knee when he was two, Usnavi always made a point to carry red potion on his person. 

Usnavi sighed, “You’re going to give me a heart attack one day.” 

“Don’t worry,” Vanessa gave Sonny a nudge, “Once he turns eighteen, he can take up swordplay with me.”

“Absolutely not,” Usnavi answered instantly (ignoring Sonny’s groan, “Aw c’mon, cuz!”). “He’s reckless enough on his Loftwing, I’m not gonna-” 

Usnavi stopped suddenly and blinked. “What?” Usnavi turned away and stared off the edge of the land they were on, “...Who is that?” 

“Usnavi?” Vanessa asked, a frown on her face. “You okay?” 

Usnavi was silent for a moment, then shook his head, “Uh, it’s nothing,” He said. “Anyway, Sonny, is your Loftwing nearby?” 

“Yeah.” Sonny nodded, pointing to the path ahead, “I’m pretty sure I can feel him; he’s this way.” The three hiked up the grassy hill until they spied a cave up ahead that was boarded up. And flapping madly about inside, was a yellow Loftwing. 

“Chip!” Sonny exclaimed. He ran up to the wooden boards, nearly slamming against them. The yellow Loftwing screeched loudly, jumping around and flapping his wings, pleading for freedom. 

Sonny pulled against the boards trapping his Loftwing, but they stuck tight. The boards were sturdy and held tightly against the mouth of the cave with thick ropes tied between pairs of iron bolts. 

“Hang on, Chip, we’ll get you out of there!” Sonny reassured. 

Vanessa drew her sword, “I got this; stand back, Sonny.” With a few good, clean swipes, the ropes were sliced and the boards fell away from the cave. 

Chip walked out of the cave and stretched his wings with a happy squawk before turning to his young rider. Chip lowered his head and Sonny threw his arms around the bird’s neck, allowing the creature to nuzzle him. 

“I missed you too, buddy.” Sonny said softly. 

Usnavi gave the bird a once over, “He doesn’t look hurt; he was probably really spooked though.” 

Chip let out a soft cry and Vanessa gave him a pat. “You poor thing,” Vanessa cooed. “You must’ve freaked out when Sonny called you and you couldn’t come.” 

Chip gave Sonny one more nudge before flapping its wings. Usnavi, Vanessa and Sonny all stepped back as the Loftwing took off into the sky where it quickly met up with Vanessa’s red Loftwing, Pepe, and Dulces. 

“Well, that’s a load off my shoulders,” Vanessa remarked with a small stretch. “Now I can ace that Wing Ceremony without worrying about Sonny falling to his death.” 

Sonny shot her a look, but eventually looked at the ground sheepishly, wringing his hands, “Thanks, Van…” He said softly. “You know, for before-” he gestured to the cave, “and for, catching me earlier.” 

Vanessa smiled and ruffled Sonny’s hair affectionately. 

“Well, we better tell Abuela that the Wing Ceremony can go on now,” Usnavi said, heading towards the platform that was nearby, “We can fly there.” 

The three headed to the edge of the platform, when Usnavi paused in the same manner as before. After a beat of silence, he spoke, “Vanessa?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I...I heard a voice just now; did you hear it?” 

Vanessa shook her head, “I didn’t hear anything.” 

Sonny went to his cousin’s side and touched his arm, “Was it the same voice from before?” He asked softly. 

Usnavi nodded, sharing a look with him, and Vanessa frowned, “What are you talking about?” She never appreciated it when they had their ‘secret cousin communication’ in front of her and not clue her in.

 “Well, lately I’ve been hearing this voice calling out to me,” Usnavi explained, a touch of uneasiness in his voice. “I don’t know who it is, but...I have the weirdest feeling that it’s coming from below the clouds.” 

Vanessa started, “But...there’s nothing below the clouds.”

“That’s what they say but, some of Abuela’s old stories say that there’s a whole world down there, even bigger than Skyloft.” 

Vanessa stared at the endless sea of clouds below them; a world beyond Skyloft. Wouldn’t that be a sight to behold? For so long, Vanessa always felt like she wanted to be somewhere out of Skyloft, or just out of the sky in general. If there was a whole world down there, Vanessa now ached to see it. 

Usnavi eventually blinked like he was snapping out of a daze, “We should get going,” He said. He gave Sonny a pat on the back, “It looks like Chip is waiting for you.” 

Sonny and Vanessa nodded, and they got ready. The three leapt off the platform and whistled one at a time in tandem. 

At the same time, the three Loftwings caught their respective Masters, and took off into the sky. 

Sonny gripped Chip’s feathers and the Loftwing swayed and zoomed through the air, ecstatic to be free. 

They spent a little time in the sky, simply flying over Skyloft and enjoying the feeling of flight that they all had grown to love so dearly, when they finally decided to split up. 

Usnavi and Sonny flew back to the academy to tell Abuela the good news and Vanessa headed to the plaza, but not before telling Sonny to give Abuela the names of the brats who stole his Loftwing.