Bones snap and grind, twisting and morphing the man into a beast. Link cries out at the pain, still excruciating no matter how many times she drags him into the twilight. Human screams turn to a tortured howl, the sound of it ripping through the eerie silence hanging in the air around them.
Midna watches as he stumbles, then falls to the dirt as the howl breaks off with a whine.
Why does he do it? Link knows the torture that comes with stepping into the shrouded lands. She has seen his joints rip from their sockets, his teeth puncture lips to hold back the pain, his fingers claw at his head while his skull groans and fractures, those same fingers turning to paws tipped in sharp points that leave jagged cuts in his skin. And at first she looked for the moment when his blue eyes would snap with anger and resentment, when he would refuse to endure another bout of suffering. But she has since learned that there are no limits to his reckless heroism. If it means sparing another pain, he gladly takes it in their stead and more.
Link collapses, his breath labored. Dark fur trembles as every muscle spasms from the ordeal. Gently, she takes his large head, lifts it onto her lap.
"You big baby," she mumbles though his eyes have already closed. Her tiny fingers stroke his muzzle, his temple, his ears. And because she knows he is practically dead to the world, her arms slip around his head, cradle it protectively against her chest.
But she doesn't deserve to pretend to protect him, does she? If not for her, Link would never feel such pain, never have to risk his life again and again to right a wrong he had no part in creating.
Midna's eyes stray to the chain still dangling from his leg. Perhaps one day he can truly be free.
A hero of legend. So busy saving others, she is terrified he might forget to save himself.
