AN: Alright just so you all know, this is a rewrite for my other story; 'The White Wolf'. I felt as if that story could have turned out better, so what I decided to do. I feel this story would apply more to those who are into a deeper plot, and lucky for you, a deep plot is exactly what this story has. I'll admit the beginning is a bit slow, but it gradually picks up.
Just for clarification, this story is a AU, so don't be surprised is someone is a bit out of character. This world is also something I would like to call a Tri-Fold, which just means one part of the world is more 'primitive' and uses magic and other mystic elements. The second which has abandoned those ways completely so they are more modern. And the 'middle ground' which is a mixture of the two. The Queen's Blade realm is a mix of the two.
There are lemons in this story, but they will come at a later time, and there will be plenty of them.
The full moon shined full and bright as midnight approached. Beneath it was a large forest seated at the bottom of a chain of snow-capped mountains. The sound of an owl hooting could be heard all over the forest as other nocturnal creatures stirred after resting during the day. Everything just seemed perfect in the forest.
Except for one thing.
In a clearing right in the heart of the forest itself, lay a figure. It didn't move, it didn't even twitch as moths started to fly around it. Upon closer inspection, one could tell that the figure had fur, and was of the lupine sort. A wolf basically.
"Ah." The wolf's body finally moved as it rolled over. "What happened?"
The wolf caught his feet and shook his body, making the insects accumulated on his fur disperse. Afterwards the wolf took a look around.
While the wolf was no stranger to forests, this one wasn't familiar. By how tall the trees were this forest was massive, even by the standards he was used to. He lived in a tree for goodness' sake.
"Where am I?" he wondered. "This isn't were I went to sleep, and this definitely isn't a part of Hyrule. Why am I a wolf again? There's something wrong here."
Lifting his head, the wolf looked up at the glowing moon. The silver light gleamed off of the wolf's cerulean blue eyes. The result of silver meeting blue produced an alluring, unnatural spark in the wolf's eyes.
"But the question is, if I'm not in Hyrule, where am I?" he wondered before trying to remember what happened last night.
It was all a blur. All he could even muster was what Zelda told him right before...this happened.
(Flashback)
"My coronation is in a few months," she said.
"And?"
Giggling, Zelda placed a hand on Link's shoulder. "I want you to be there, and to be my personal bodyguard when I actually become queen."
(Flashback End)
Sitting on his hind legs, Link's brow furrowed in concentration. That was the last thing he remembered before this happened; after that moment, he remembered just going to bed. There was something very wrong here...but what?
"I need to get back to Hyrule," Link thought dutifully, before sighing. "The only question is where is it?"
Getting to his feet, Link began to walk through the dark forest. The limbs of the trees seemed to become twisted apparitions in the darkness. They floated through the air, laughing at those brave or stupid enough to walk through a forest at night. The sound of an owl hooting just added to the already high scare factor this place had. Any normal person would have fled by now. Link, however, wasn't a normal person. He fearlessly walked through the forest, completely disregarding the creepy tree branches and the hooting of the owl.
"Pfft!" Link rolled his eyes, "I've faced giant spiders, armies of evil soldiers, walking skeletons, sand worms, a monstrous, carnivorous two-headed plant, a flaming giant, a gargantuan eel-plant-cyclops thing, and Din as my witness, countless other things. A dark forest doesn't scare me."
Link continued to walk through the forest until his ears perked up. His sense of hearing was superior in his wolf form. He could hear the bugs inside the trees moving around; it sounded disgusting. Although, the owl hooting was distracting.
Growling, Link snapped, "Will you shut up!"
The owl stopped hooting, and a few seconds later a brown owl appeared out of a hole in a nearby tree. He looked down at the wolf.
"Okay, okay, no need to get testy."
Link continued towards the source of the sound. The noise got louder and louder. Link's wolf ears perked up, he could hear the sound clearly now. It sounded like panting and footsteps, like someone was running. Link arched an eyebrow before noticing that the panting was getting closer and closer almost like...it was coming straight for him!
"Well...damn." the wolf cursed before sprinting to met the source of the noise face-to-face.
"This might be a bad idea," he mused, "But if I can find a person, maybe I can follow them around so I can eventually get back to Hyrule."
The wolf's dark body mixed with the shadows until he disappeared from sight completely.
The scenery of the forest went past in a blur as a figure ran through the twisted foliage. The figure didn't dare look behind it in fear of seeing its pursuers. The figure panted heavily, its lungs screaming for air. Although the figure didn't look back, it could tell that its pursuers were getting closer. It could hear their shouts.
"Stop where you are!" one shouted.
"Stop! In the name of the Queen!" another shouted.
Turning back, the face of the figure caught moonlight, revealing an attractive young woman with long, slick pink hair cascading down her back, dark red eyes, and pale skin. She was a lovely lady, on the outside, but on the inside she was something much different.
"Never! Haven't you ever heard my legend? I was never captured by the Navy, fellow pirates, or any kind of pursuer. What makes you think you can catch me?" the figure shouted back, smirking triumphantly.
It was clear now who this woman was. She was the legendary pirate Liliana, who was supposed to have died when she met the Kraken. But apparently, the rumors of her death were highly exaggerated since she was standing—running away from them. Liliana turned back to see where she was going. She could see a clearing.
Gritting her teeth the pirate cursed. "Damn it! Well I guess it can't be helped. I guess I'll just have to fight my way out."
The pirate burst through the tree line and into the forest. She ran to the middle as the moonlight shined on her entire body. She wore a black hat, one a pirate would wear only with pink frills, and a red bow; a white collar with a bow that had a hexagonal green gem in the middle; a red bustier with a long black overcoat with pink frills; and a black skirt held up with a brown belt and knee-length black boots.
Liliana also had a large black case in one hand, and her rapier in the other hand.
"Alright, now or never," she said dropping the case and raising her rapier.
A few moments later a group of woman came running into the the clearing. They were all wearing the same uniform: a red set of armor. Each wielded a mix of different weapons ranging from swords to axes. They would look like soldiers to any normal person.
"Nowhere to run. We've got you now." The soldiers approached. "Hand over the case, it is property of the Queen."
Liliana did her signature dreadful laugh, making the soldiers cringe at the mere sound of it. She raised her rapier and smirked, making the soldiers raise their weapons as well. Giving in was not part of her Pirate Honor. She'd rather die! But if she was going down she wasn't going down without a fight.
"Sorry ladies," she said, pointing her rapier at them, "but if you want this case you'll have to pry it from my hands. My...employer would be most unpleasant with me if I allow the case to fall into your hands."
The soldiers snarled and advanced towards the pink haired pirate, "Have it your way."
The soldiers only took a few steps before a howl echoed through the air. A wolf howl. Wolves weren't uncommon here so hearing one howl wasn't strange. But this one was different, it sounded very close, so close in fact it sounded like it was in the clearing with them.
Liliana arched an eyebrow,
"A wolf? This close? It must have been separated from its pack or..." Her thought when unfinished when the sound of snarling caught her ears.
Everyone turned to the side, where the noise was emanating from, and gasped. Near the forest line was a wolf prowling out of a bush. The wolf's mouth was twisted in a snarl, its lips curled up to reveal its white fangs. Its body was in a low crouching position signaling it was about to attack. Its eyes were blue, and were as wide as plates filled with hunger. The moonlight played on its dark fur with sinister intent as the hungry beast approached its prey.
Liliana tilted her head to the side as the wolf approached. There was something about this wolf that was off. Normally wolves around these parts were grey, black or white depending on the season. This wolf, however, was a dark brown color with a white underbelly. It also had a spot on the side that looked like a scar.
"Hmm."
The soldiers quaked with fear as the beast approached. Normally they wouldn't be quaking in fear like this because of a wolf, especially after the training they received. But...but this was different, the wolf seemed like it was meaning to attack and had some reason for doing so other than hunger, almost like it was a person.
One of the braver soldiers raised her spear and aimed it at the wolf.
"Quit being such wimps!" she barked, "Its just a stupid wolf."
The soldier threw the spear at the wolf, intent on killing it. The wolf, however, had other plans. The wolf moved out of the way of the spear and jumped up towards it, easily reaching the spear as it came down. The soldiers watched in horror, while Liliana watched with interest as the wolf bit down on the spear snapping it in too.
"What the?" the soldier reeled back as the wolf continued its approach.
The wolf growled and entered it's crouching position again. This time the soldiers didn't cower, they fled. They turned tail and ran away from the monstrous wolf as fast as they could, completely disregarding that they were sent after Liliana.
The pirate captain smirked and bowed her head, as the wolf stopped snarling and sat on its hind legs a few feet away from her.
"Interesting. This obviously isn't a normal wolf. No wolf I've ever seen has been able to snap a spear in half, not like I ever tested to see if they could or not."
The looked up to see that the wolf was sitting on its hind legs only a few feet away from her, giving her a peaceful look compared to the one it gave to the soldiers. Liliana narrowed her eyes.
"You're a majestic creature aren't you?" she asked, like she wanted to start a null conversation with the animal in front of her,
To her surprise and shock the wolf nodded. Not only was this wolf strong it was smart too. It could make a perfect companion. Liliana scratched her chin as she examined the wolf. It seemed to be healthy, it didn't have any injuries nor did it look sick.
"Alright, maybe I do need a companion. My skeleton crew, with all due respect, is as drawl as talking to a rum barrel. God I hate rum."
The wolf watched as Liliana pondered her next move. He couldn't tell what she was thinking about, but it appeared to be something big judging by how her face was scrunching up.
"I wonder what she is thinking about." Wolf-Link thought, "I hope she is planning on taking me with her since I have no idea where I'm going or where I'm at."
He mentally sighed and bowed his head so that he was looming at the ground.
"Then again, who would to travel with a wild wolf, or what she something like it? Hmm, guess I didn't think of that."
"Wolf," the pirate captain called.
Link looked up to see the pink haired pirate smiling at him. It appeared that she had finally reached a verdict on whatever she was thinking about. Whatever that was. Liliana knelt down to his level and held her hand out, palm on top, to let Link know that she wasn't going to hurt it and that she wasn't a treat.
"How about you come with me?" she offered, "Its been a while since I had a pet, in fact, I don't even remember my last pet."
Link strolled towards her hand, looking into the captain's eyes, and licked her palm. Liliana closed her eyes and smiled. She used her other hand to stroke Link's dark coat firmly.
"I take it that you want to come with me." She said, "That's fine, but we need to get you a name since you probably won't like me calling you 'No Name' the entire time we're together."
Link rolled his eyes mentally while on the outside he barked and wagged is tail, like a normal dog would. He needed to play the part as both a loyal companion and a fearsome beast at the same time in order to survive, especially around pirates, creature who weren't famous for their loyalty.
"Hmm," Liliana tapped her chin and pondered on what to name her new pet wolf. A few moments went back before she snapped.
"I got it! I'll call you Edward." she proclaimed proudly.
Link deadpanned on both the outside and the inside. Edward, really? He had never heard such a name before, but it was already in his distaste. Liliana noticed this and placed her hands on her hips, and adopted pout on her face.
"Well, if you can think of anything better than I'd be happy to hear it." she seethed.
The wolf snorted and began to paw at the ground. The pout on Liliana's face shifted into one of wonder as the wolf pawned at he ground, and actually seemed to be marking the ground in someway. Liliana watched patiently until the wolf was finished. She was flabbergasted to see the world 'Link' carved into the ground.
"So, your names Link then?" A nod said yes. "I take it that you're not a normal wolf. I've seen a wolf that could snap a spear in two with their bite, or that could understand human speech."
Link mentally gulped and tensed. Had she figured it out already? Could she know that this wasn't his true form? If she could, that left questions open to why no one in Hyrule could recognize in his wolf form other than Epona and Zelda. The wolf groaned just thinking about it.
"Jeez, what a drag."
The pink haired pirate snapped her fingers gaining the wolf's attention.
"You're one of those specters that started showing up her a few months ago, right?"
Link blinked at her, but slowly nodded.
"Just smile and nod."
Liliana smiled and began to laugh, making Link cringe at the sound of it. Her already terrible laugh was amplified to sickening proportions thanks to Link's enhanced hearing. Her laugh was like nails on a chalkboard to him right now, maybe even worse.
"What this? Is she laughing or does she have something stuck in her throat?"
The pirate smirked as she bowed and tipped her hat.
"Well, welcome to the crew Link. I'll be you're captain. I am Great Pirate Captain Liliana. A pleasure to work with you."
The wolf beat down the urge to groan at that statement. "She forgot, the modest part. Liliana the Great Modest Pirate Captain."
The great and modest pirate captain turned to pick up the black case she had set down earlier. Link watched as she did this and found it nearly impossible to remove his eyes from the black case. It was pulling him in like sailors to a siren song. Liliana noticed his staring and lifted up the large black case and smirked.
"Ah, I see the mysterious black case has caught your attention," she stated teasingly, "I bet you're wondering what's inside the case, am I right?"
The wolf nodded causing Liliana's smirk to get bigger.
"You want to know what's in the case, correct?"
Another nod.
"Yes please."
The pink haired pirate captain laughed. "Well you can't. Truth be told, I don't even know what's in the case. I can't get it to open, and Welveria told me specifically not to open it. She said it was something ambiguous."
Narrowing his eyes Link looked at the case suspiciously. Maybe it held the key to returning to Hyrule, or maybe it something that could at least reassure him that everyone was alright. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if they weren't. Of course, there was always the chance that the case didn't have anything to do with Hyrule and he was just getting his hopes up for certain failure, but it never hurt to have hope.
"Hmm, I wonder who this Welveria character is."
Liliana smiled and started to walk away. Link watched with a confused look on her face before she stopped and gestured for him to follow.
"Well are you coming or not?"
Link narrowed his eyes and watched as she swung the case in her hand.
"Yeah, I'm coming. Hyrule is going to have to wait...at least for now."
There you have it, the mystery as begun. Now, if you've ever watched Queen's Blade Rebellion you would know how Liliana's laugh sounds like. To me her laugh sounded fake, and horrible. That was just my opinion of course.
Updates to this story will come later, when I find the time to work on them.
Remember to read and review this story and help it get a good start.