Chapter Text
Sunlight streamed through the window, but Laniy ignored it. The comfort of her pillows outweighed the obligations of the day. Unfortunately for her, the red-head standing over her had other plans.
"Laniy, time to get up," Karane said in a singsong voice, but the sleepy girl ignored her. "You'd better get up, or I'll dump this bucket of water on you."
"Go away," she whined giving Karane all the permission she needed to keep her word. Almost dropping the bucket in the process, she splashed it over her dozing friend. "What the hell?!" Laniy screached, water dripping from her pale face and dark hair.
"I did warn you." Karen set down the bucket and looked at her best friend with a smirk. "Now get up. It's a big day."
"Yeah, sure. Seriously, what's your deal, waking me up on the weekend. You let me sleep through classes."
"Did you forget what today is?" Laniy only raised an eyebrow at her while kicking away the soaked bedsheets. "You cannot be serious. Who forgets their eighteenth birthday?"
"Someone who was just rudely awakened by her so called best friend." She groaned. "Whatever, I'm up. Now, shoo!"
The redhead laughed. "I'm gone, but you better hurry up or I just might start chattin' up a certain professor."
"Don't you dare." She glared pointedly at Karane, who chuckled as she finally left the room.
The blanket was pulled from the bed and draped over her desk chair. She had had this happen to her before and knew how annoying having to sleep in a soaked bed was. Laniy then set to dressing, putting on a casual pair of trousers and a yellow tunic she wore loose about her. Her hair was always a bit of a chore. The brown locks hung past her knees and had a tendency to tangle if her brushing was anything less than meticulous. Once brushed, she pulled it back with a bandana and checked herself in the mirror.
The young woman didn't think highly of her appearance, with her strange pink eyes and rounded ears. She looked completely different from anyone on any of the sky islands as far as she had seen. With a frown she turned away and left her room, heading for the dining hall.
"Happy birthday!" her classmates called out as she entered the room. The teachers and even some people from around the island had come to wish her well. She smiled and walked in to greet everyone who came by, thanking them, before Karane put an arm over her shoulder.
"Glad you could make it," she said. "I was worried I'd have to fill another bucket."
"Funny. Did you set all this up?" She gestured to the people in the room and tilted her head to Karane. She wasn't especially close to anyone else, having only a few friends, so the crowded room was a surprise.
The younger girl just shrugged. "I thought it would be fun, and everyone was nice enough to help. Now come on, birthday girl. You got some mingling to do." The younger girl gently pushed her friend forward into the crowd.
"Happy birthday, Laniy," said a familiar voice beside her. She turned to smile at her favorite teacher. "Thanks, Professor. It sure was nice of everyone to put this together."
"We all wanted to wish you luck," Horwell smiled. "With the Wing Ceremony right around the corner, we're all very excited. So just enjoy yourself; you only get to be eighteen once."
"Yeah. Still not sure what I'm gonna do about that, though." She laughed and shrugged her shoulders."I may be competing in the Ceremony, but I don't think I could beat Link. I swear, he's got to have his own wings for how good he is."
"Don't be so hard on yourself." Horwell placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, which Laniy could feel acutely. Reminding herself that this was Horwell and that he was affectionate with everyone did nothing to fade the red from her cheeks.
She shrugged, silently mourning the loss of the warm hand on her shoulder. "It's true though. I barely scraped into the race as it is."
" I'm certain you can surprise everyone. You only need to have some faith in yourself."
"I guess I'm just worried. This is the last year I get to try. If I don't graduate to become a knight, then what am I supposed to do?"
He nodded, accepting her worry, before taking on a thoughtful expression. "I believe something can be worked out should you need it."
"Well, I wouldn't turn into a layabout or something. I just never gave enough thought to failing to come up with a back-up plan."
"How would you like teaching?" Horwell grinned. "I believe you coyld have a knack for it, if you'd like to try."
"Teaching?" She considered it. "Never thought about it before. It would be a career I could take pride in though."
"I'm glad to hear it. Perhaps you can sit in on a lesson or two of mine and see how you feel about it."
She gave a grateful smile. "That sounds great!"
"How does tomorrow sound? I understand you have some free time in the afternoon?"
"Yeah, I can be there right after lunch!"
Laniy felt a hand on her shoulder as Karane chose to cut in. "Sorry to interrupt," she said, facing Horwell, "but I'm gonna have to steal your conversation partner for a bit. Chef made cloud cakes and she has to have one before I can!"
"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Laniy asked as she was pulled away. Horwell nodded and smiled.
"Hold up," Karen paused as they approached the table. "See him for what?" She gave a knowing grin.
"Not like that," Laniy sighed. "He offered to have me as his assistant."
"Awww, how sweet!" She clapped her hands. "Before you know it, you'll have more babies than you can count!"
Laniy gave her friend a punch in the shoulder. They had reached the tray of pastries and Laniy took one, letting everyone sing a song of blessings for the year to come before she bit into it, savoring the warm confection. As she chewed, she couldn't help but feel that something was going to change soon and a feeling of quiet anticipation settled in her gut.