“You know, Link, seeing as how you won today… You think maybe you’d like to, you know, go fly around the clouds together?”
The wind whistles through the air, rustling the feathers of the blue and red Loftwings gliding through the sky. Link flies ahead concentrating on the flight, oblivious to Zelda’s gaze from behind, the soft smile upon her lips, and the knowing look in her eyes.
“… Link? Hey, Link!”
Link perks up and looks back, a moment of worry flashing across his features as he checks on Zelda. Then he sees that smile and his friend by his side as she recounts how much she enjoyed their time together today. She says she’ll always remember this day and Link will too. It makes him smile and although he may not say many words, his expression says he feels the same.
Zelda wanted to say something to him that day, before fate had other plans, but for that brief moment there was peace. A peace of two friends gliding amongst the clouds with dreams pulsing in their hearts.
The bond between Link and Zelda in Skyward Sword is unlike any other in the Legend of Zelda series. Before Zelda was whisked away by destiny and Link drew the Goddess Sword from deep within Hylia’s temple, they were friends. Two friends living on an island in the sky where in their spare time they could take to the clouds and lay back and chat while the wind swirls around them. Alexis Young (Leaniro), a digital artist based in Toronto, captured the bond between Link, Zelda and their Loftwings against the backdrop of a twilight sky.
Link rides higher, much like the cutscene in the game. Red feathers trail behind him and a whisk of white lines mark their path and give movement to the great bird. Zelda is not far below captured in her own trail of blue feathers and wisping lines. Both her and her Loftwing look up at their friend. While their expressions are small and simple, the composition of their bodies speak of adoration and friendship and maybe the start of something beginning to bloom into something more.
While the cutscene of Link and Zelda flying in the sky that we see in game happens in broad daylight, this piece reflects the colors that would be seen in the hours of the evening. A few sparkling stars are sprinkled through the clouds and bring a magical quality to the moment. The edges darken, breaking the soft colours and setting the time of day as when night starts to capture the sky. Even before Link and Zelda began their mission, Skyloft was not the most friendly of places during the night.
Link and Zelda riding on their Loftwings take up a small part of the whole piece. They both sit on the bottom half of the artwork with plenty of clouds around them. The choice to zoom out and capture the sky shows how expansive the Sea of Clouds truly is but also gives a dreamy quality to the art. The cloud and sky has been drawn with soft pinks and purples with touches of white here and there. Perhaps showing a dream of what Link and Zelda might have done if they got to continue their flight or a past memory before the Knight Ceremony. Do you think, when Zelda went to sleep, did she dream of her time in the sky? Was this the image that she kept with her as she sacrificed her life for all of the Goddess’s creations?
“Before all this, I was happy just spending my days hanging around with you in Skyloft. I wanted that feeling to last forever. While it’s true that I am Hylia reborn, I’m still my father’s daughter and your friend… I’m still your Zelda.”
