After getting the Ruby Tablet from the Skyview Temple, you can do various tasks before moving on to Eldin Volcano.

Open Goddess Cube Chests

When you first return to the sky after unlocking a Goddess Cube, Fi will tell you about the Goddess Cube locations. You can see the unlocked treasure chests on your map. You can use the map to place a beacon at one of these locations, then fly your Loftwing to it. (Sometimes the chest will be indoors or in a place that you can't access yet, though.)

Check the Goddess Cube Locations page for more details.

Get a Heart Container

While at the Pumpkin Landing, you can go into the Lumpy Pumpkin if you didn't get the Heart Container before, or if you just want to buy Pumpkin Soup, which becomes cold (and will heal less health) after five minutes.

If you didn't get the Heart Container from the chandelier here earlier, you can do so now. If you already got it, skip to Unlock the Red Column below. To get the Heart Container, go upstairs and do a roll attack into the railing (be sure to hit the railing that is closest to the chandelier) until the chandelier falls down and breaks. After it breaks, go downstairs and get the Piece of Heart and the rupees that fell.

Then talk to Pumm, the guy behind the counter, after you break the chandelier in the Lumpy Pumpkin. He will say that you need to do work for him so he can afford to buy a new chandelier. His first task for you is to deliver some hot pumpkin soup to Eagus, who is the guy who let you borrow the practice sword from the sparring hall. You need an empty bottle to do this task.

The soup becomes cold after five minutes. Just run off of the edge of the pumpkin landing, whistle to call your bird, then fly toward Skyloft. Fly up to the circular rock with the glowing spot inside. Fly through it to get a speed boost. Then land on Skyloft near the Sparring Hall. Run in and talk to Eagus to give him the soup. Pumm doesn't have any more chores for you yet, so you'll have to come back later.

Unlock the Red Column

Back in Skyloft, go to the room under the Goddess Statue and check on the altar to put the new map piece there. A red column of light will appear in the sky that you can use to visit Eldin. However, there are more things you can do in the Sky before you go down below.

Find Kukiel

When you go outside and go south, you find Kukiel's mother Wryna, who says that Kukiel has gone missing and was last seen with someone who has a scary face. If you talk to Fledge a couple of times (he is outside of the second floor of the Knight Academy) he mentions the kid in the plaza. Go to the plaza and talk to the kid, and he'll say that Kukiel playing near the graveyard, so go toward the graveyard, which is in the southeast of Skyloft. Before you reach the graveyard, talk to the pigtailed girl, Orielle. Say that you think a monster may have taken Kukiel, and she tells you to ask the old man at the Lumpy Pumpkin who tells tales about monsters.

Fly over to the Lumpy Pumpkin and talk to the old man who is sitting at the table on the lower floor, and ask to hear his tale. He'll say that he saw the demon at the graveyard at night. It hit the gravestone closest to the tree, which made the gravestone glow, then he pushed the gravestone, which made the storage shed door open.

Go to Skyloft and sleep in any bed until night. Then go to the graveyard at night. Be careful of monsters. There are also wandering Remlits, the cat-like creatures who become evil at night. Just hit them twice with your sword to make them leave you alone.

Now go to the graveyard, hit the gravestone closest to the tree, and push it. Then climb down the ladder in the shed.

Make your way along the wooden planks to find a scary-looking house. You will hear a scream. Go inside. You will find a terrifying monster. Kukiel is off to the side, seemingly not scared at all. Swing your sword at the monster, and there will be a cutscene where you meet Batreaux.

Gratitude for Batreaux

Batreaux asks you to gather Gratitude Crystals for him. Say yes. You can find Gratitude Crystals in parts of the Sky at night, and you can also get them from helping people. To find people who can give you Gratitude Crystals, just look for people who have speech bubbles over their heads. They might have a task that you can do for them.

There are 10 Gratitude Crystals that you can get now in Skyloft at night.

1. Go to the tree in the northern part of the residential area (south of the lake) and look behind it to find a Gratitude Crystal.
2. Go through the Waterfall Cave that you went through to find your Loftwing. There is a Gratitude Crystal just past the exit.
3. Go to the place where your Loftwing was trapped behind the wooden boards to find another Gratitude Crystal.
4. Go to the Light Tower (south of the plaza) and go around its lower level to find a Gratitude Crystal.
5. Go north of the Bazaar, and go to the lower level in that area, between two narrow wooden bridges, to find a Gratitude Crystal.
6. Go to the ledge southwest of the Bazaar that you can reach by climbing down some vines. There is a Gratitude Crystal there.
7. After you climb back up the vines from the previous Gratitude Crystal, go into the house near the vines. This is Orielle and Parrow's house. There is a Gratitude Crystal near the window and the fireplace.
8. Go into the Sparring Hall and use the Beetle to fly up to the rafters and get the Gratitude Crystal there.
9. Go into the Knight Academy (use the upper door to get into the building at night). Look to the left to see a Gratitude Crystal in the flowerpot.
10. Go to your room in the Knight Academy and check on your desk to find a Gratitude Crystal.

Then use your bed to sleep until morning.

Find Kukiel's house just east of the Bazaar. It has flowers and a sun over the door. Go in and talk to Kukiel's mother. You will get five Gratitude Crystals. Take them to Batreaux (you can visit him any time of day) to get a reward. If you got the ten crystals listed above, in addition to the five from Wryna, you will get a Medium Wallet and a Piece of Heart.

Rescue Orielle

You can now get more Gratitude Crystals. Talk to Parrow, who is pacing around the plaza. He will say that his sister Orielle went missing after she went to look for the new colorful island in the southwest. You can see this island on your map, so create a beacon there if you wish, and fly toward it, but before you reach it, you'll see a small flat island with a Loftwing lying on it. Land there and talk to Orielle, who is next to the Loftwing.

Her bird is injured, and she asks you to get bird medicine from her brother. Go back to the Plaza on Skyloft and talk to Parrow again. He will give you a jar of mushroom spores. Take it back to Orielle and she will heal her bird. You'll get five Gratitude Crystals from her before she flies back to Skyloft, and you get to keep the empty bottle that the spores were in. Go back and talk to Parrow to get another five Gratitude Crystals. If you didn't already get the reward from Batreaux for 15 total crystals, take them to Batreaux (you can visit him any time of day) to get a Piece of Heart. He will have another reward for you when you have 30 Gratitude Crystals.

More Gratitude Crystals

If you go into Beedle's Airshop and sleep in the bed under the window until night, you will end up on Beedle's island. Go outside and you can use the Beetle here to get a Gratitude Crystal above one of the propellers of the Airshop. Then go back into the Airshop and sleep in the bed until morning to return to Skyloft.

Next, fly to the Lumpy Pumpkin and sleep in one of the beds on the first floor until night. Go upstairs to see a Gratitude Crystal on a shelf. Then go outside and go to the east side of the Pumpkin Landing. There is a ramp that leads down to a storage shed. There is a Gratitude Crystal on the shelves there. Then go back into the Lumpy Pumpkin and sleep in a bed until morning.

Continue to Eldin Volcano

Before you continue on, you should buy an Iron Shield in the Skyloft Bazaar and put your Wooden Shield into the Item Check there, because the Wooden Shield is vulnerable to the fire-based monsters that you will encounter soon. Be sure to equip the Iron Shield after you buy it. When you are ready, fly to the red column to reach Eldin Volcano.