So, it turns out I cannot resist listening to some of my terrible ideas at times. Yes, I wrote a part II. However, instead of Link failing to find Midna, he succeeds in his mission. This is what would happen to him if that was the case. This actually ended up being longer than the original one by a couple of hundred words, maybe because I enjoyed writing this one a little bit too much... XD I hope you enjoy this. :D
Lets get going!
Warnings: This is pretty much the least canon story you're going to get on here. Definite OOC, some moments of sadness? Again, non obvious time skips. Pretty much the same as last time.
NB- editing in section breaks on an iPad is not a fun task. :(
Link slowly opened his eyes, seeing nothing but brown earth in front of him. He assumed that he was lying down on the ground, but why? He shut his eyes again, and memories of defeating Ganondorf and saving the Twilight Realm flooded his mind.
And then he had left the Twilight Realm with Princess Zelda... So, he should be somewhere in Hyrule... But where?
Link opened his eyes again, before he decided that he would try and stand up. However, he found that he couldn't quite find his balance. It seemed as if he had too many feet and not enough hands. He looked down, and instead of seeing hands he saw dark grey paws...
Link tried to speak, to ask what was going on, but instead a series of growls escaped from his mouth. Why had he lost the ability to speak? He couldn't be... He couldn't be stuck in his Wolf form, could he? How?
He was faced with a sudden realisation. If he was in his Wolf form, then he wasn't in Hyrule after all.. But how? How had he gotten stuck in the Twilight Realm? And would he be able to go back to Hyrule? Would he be able to regain his Hylian body in the process?He needed to talk to Midna. He needed to see if there was a way back. If there was a way of restoring his humanoid form.
Eventually, Link decided to get up. Despite the fact that his sense of balance wasn't that great on all fours, he began to run (well, stumble) to the castle. After all, the quicker he got to Midna's castle, the quicker she could find a way of getting him back to Hyrule.
Link slowly crept up on a small Twili town, hoping that there would be something to eat. Having gone an entire day without food, Link was desperately hungry.
Suddenly, he saw something. A small creature resembling a bunny rabbit was hopping around, completely oblivious to the fact that a Wolf...no, Link, was staring right at him.
Link's stomach growled. He needed to eat... He nearly turned around, and he nearly decided to hunt down that bunny rabbit-like creature...But he couldn't. He didn't want to kill an innocent creature. He just couldn't.
So he decided to go into the town, hoping that a kind Twili would see him and hopefully recognise Link's plight and give him something to eat.
Instead he was greeted by terrified screams and pitchforks.
Of course, it was no small suprise. All of the Twili villagers probably thought that he was out to get them, to eat them and destroy the village. Link was not welcome here. Link would be offered no food here.
Link ran away from a small Twili town, still looking for something to eat.
Link stared at his reflection in a small pond. It was nighttime, and Link was trying to get to sleep on the cold hard ground. His stomach growled again. He still couldn't...
Suddenly, Link saw something by the water. A carcass of some creature native to the Twilight Realm. From where Link was lying down, it smelt good. Link could feel his mouth water at the smell. He needed to eat that carcass, and quickly.
Link quickly got up, and hurried to the carcass as fast as his four paws could carry him. After all, he didn't want to give another creature the opportunity to eat this carcass. His dinner.
Insects had started to gather around the carcass. Whilst Link was slightly hesitant to eat the carcass at first, due to fears of the meat being rotten, his hunger won out.
Link wagged his tail happily as he wolfed down the carcass as fast as he could, allowing little to go to waste. When he finally finished the carcass, he slowly walked back to where he had been previously, feeling satisfied.
Needless to say, Link slept very well that night.
Two days later, Link finally approached a wooden sign in the middle of a large open field. The sign was written in the Twili language. Whilst Link didn't claim to be fluent in the Twili language, he had been taught some of the language by Midna on their travels. Mainly on how to interpret signs such as this one.
What Link saw made him howl with joy. Twilight Castle was a three day walk away from here! Finally, he would be able to go back home, to Hyrule (if that were possible). If not, he could try and at least get his Hylian body back (hopefully. Link dreaded the possibility that he'd be stuck in Wolf form for the rest of his life).
Link immediatly headed northwards towards the castle, with renewed hope and a spring in his step.
Finally, he would be able to find a solution to his problem. Finally, he would no longer be stuck in his wolf body, and feared by the Twili in the Twilight Realm.
Link had made it.
Whilst the three day walk had been exhausting, he was finally at the Castle. Midna's Castle. He'd be able to find a solution here, a way for him to get back home, or at least get his Hylian body back.
Link walked briskly to the front gates, hoping that he'd be able to get inside. Hoping that he'd be able to see Midna.
Suddenly, Link saw the guards gesture at him. Had they spotted him? Link saw one of the guards talk to the other guard, before the two guards unschethed their blades and began to walk towards him.
As Link stared at he guards who wanted to kill him, the thought of fleeing crossed his mind. Yes, that was a sensible idea. He wasn't welcome here after all. Link should run away, before the guards engaged him in a fight, and certainly before any blood was spilled.
"Stop!" A female voice said loudly. Link's ears perked up. It was Midna. Midna had come to rescue him.
One of the guards gestured towards Link, saying "But, Lady Midna, this wolf..."
"Is a friend." Midna said in response, before walking up to Link, "And he's the one who saved the Twilight Realm from Zant and Ganondorf. Let him into the Castle."
The guards slowly put down their weapons, allowing Midna to bring Link into the castle.
"I'm sorry, there isn't much that I can do." Midna sadly said, several hours later, "I can't get you back to Hyrule. I also cannot get you your Hylian body back. You're stuck in your Wolf body, with me, for the rest of your life."
Link's tail dropped, and he looked down at the ground. Despite the fact that he knew that was Midna was going to say, it still hurt. Whilst being a wolf was fun, he much preferred being a Hylian. He preferred the ability to speak, to have hands, to... Well, there was a lot of things. He would never be able to do any of those things a gain
"If it helps, Link." Midna interrupted Link's thoughts, "We can keep you comfortable here. We will give you three meals of meat a day, we can provide you a warm place to sleep and we can provide all of the company that you want."
Link looked up, and nodded, wagging his tail at Midna.
"I guess it's settled." Midna smiled, before heading of to the kitchens in order to tell the cooks to prepare Link a bowl of meat for dinner.
A month had passed since Link had arrived at Midna's Castle, and he was already settling into a routine.
Firstly, he wasn't allowed to sleep on any of the beds, sadly. Despite the fact that Midna wanted to give him a bed, the servants and the guests of the palace wouldn't tolerate sharing a bed with Link, even though he was in his Wolf body. Plus, after that incident, Link also wasn't allowed in the Royal Chamber. Instead Link slept on a blanket in a small chamber near the Royal chambers, near a fire place. Whilst it was nice, it wasn't as comfortable as sleeping in a bed.
Secondly, he was fed a bowl of raw meat three times a day. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening. However occasionally Midna also smuggled him treats, which were mostly small scraps of meat or the occasional bone. Again, whilst this was nice, the food wasn't as good as the food back home.
Thirdly, Midna did try and walk him twice a day. However, due to the fact that Midna was now a Queen, she was often too busy to go out for walks with him. Most of the time, Link stayed in the small chamber, either sitting near the fire place or pacing up and down the room. And here lay the biggest issue.
Link was bored. He was bored of just staying in this small chamber, doing nothing. He wanted to explore, and run about the palace. But again, the Royal court didn't want him to disturb their meetings, and Midna agreed with them for the most part. However, she would still sneak him out into the Royal Gardens during the evening, so that he least had something to do.
However, anything was better than being left in the wild forests surrounding Twilight Castle. Anything was better than being forced to hunt innocent wildlife, and sleep on the cold earth alone.
Link had quickly lost track of the time, as his routine caused the days to slowly blur into one. How long had it been since he had entered the palace? 6 months? A year? Maybe more than that?
This confused, and slightly worried Link at the same time. How had he lost track in the first place? Would he be able to regain track of how long he had spent in the palace? If he could forget something as simple as keeping track of the time, what else could he forget? Would he forget that he used to be from Hyrule? Would he forget words? Would he...
Just then, Midna walked into the room, ready to take Link out for his evening walk. It was the first time she was able to do so in... A couple of days? Weeks?
Link bounded up to Midna, barking at her continuously. Hopefully, she could provide Link with the answer that he wanted.
"My, you seem especially keen on going for a walk today." Midna said with a small smile on her face.
Link continued to bark at her. "No" Link thought, "I need you to tell me how long I've been..."
"Ok, then! Let's go!" Midna continued, before heading down the corridor. Link paused for a moment, before following her down the corridor and towards the Royal Gardens.
All the while, he was thinking about how Midna couldn't understand what he was trying to say. He was never going to find out how long it had been since he had entered the castle. If that was the case, then Link dreaded what else he would possibly forget during the rest of his Wolf life.
Link stretched his limbs as he got off of his blanket. He had slept really well last night. In fact, he would probably say that was the best sleep that he ever had. In fact, he didn't even want to get up.
Link could smell the waft of food drifting past his nose. It smelt delicious. Link's mouth began to water. He must eat, and quickly. Link slowly got up, and walked towards his food bowl. Once he got there, he bent down and wolfed down his meal as quickly as he could. When he finished moments later, he walked back to his blanket, and curled up in front of the fireplace feeling satisfied. That was probably the best meal he had ever had.
Now, what was he going to do today? Sleep? Walk around the room? Maybe Midna would come and take him out for a walk. That would be nice. He would like that. But for now, sleeping sounded really good...
As he was about to shut his eyes, he saw Midna open the door of the room. He quickly looked up, before getting off his blanket and charging towards Midna. Midna smiled, and bent down, allowing Link to lick her face.
"Shall we go out for a walk, Link?" Midna said, with a smile on her face.
Link wagged his tail and barked happily at Midna. Midna nodded, before letting Link out of the room and leading him towards the Royal Gardens. Whilst they were walking, Midna would talk to Link about the Royal Court and other issues related to Palace life.
Today, the main issue was that the Council wanted her to get married, and have an heir. However, she didn't like any of the suitors they had chosen. Instead, she preferred a young male Twili who was the only a minor noble, which the Royal Court didn't like. Link, whilst not fully understanding the situation, barked when Midna asked him if she should marry this minor noble instead.
Midna smiled.
After the short walk around the gardens, Midna returned Link back to the small chamber that he was currently residing in. Link immediately headed back to his blanket, curled up, and shut his eyes.
As he drifted off to sleep, he smiled. Best. Day. Ever.
Today was the day that Link was going to meet that minor noble Midna had told him about. Link was confused on whether to feel excited or threatened. On the one hand, Link was excited, because there was a new Twili to play with, a new Twili to fuss and take care of him. On the other hand, he felt threatened because he would be taking Midna away from Link.
The door opened, and Midna walked in with a male Twili who was significantly shorter than her. Link couldn't remember this Twili's name, despite the fact that Midna had told him a couple of times. Vasni? Vashnai? All he remembered was that it began with a V.
"So, this is your pet dog?" The male Twili asked, whilst slowly walking towards Link. Link began to growl at the male Twili. He was not a dog. He was a wolf. There was a difference.
Midna chuckled slightly, before saying, "This is Link, my pet wolf. Link, this is Vanlas, my boyfriend. I hope that you two get along."
Vanlas smiled, before getting out a small bone and gingerly giving it to Link. Link immediately snatched the bone, and lay down on the ground before starting to chew the bone. On second thoughts, Vanlas didn't seem to be a bad guy.
He could stay.
Link was in another room, as the small chamber, his bedroom, was being slightly renovated. He slowly walked around the room, exploring every single nook and cranny. He was so excited to be in new surroundings that he couldn't help himself. Suddenly, in the corner of the room, he spotted a mirror. He immediately decided to walk up to it and look at himself.
He looked so pampered. He looked clean, well fed and nicely groomed. After all, Midna and quite a few Royal servants had spent a fair bit of time making Link look his best. After all, Midna liked seeing Link look clean and pristine, maybe because she felt guilty that she couldn't return Link to his Hylian form (not that Link minded. He was enjoying his life at the palace, and the thought of returning home rarely crossed his mind nowadays.) As well as this, the occasional guest wanted to see Midna's pet dog, and therefore he would have to look his best for the occasion.
Midna had also taken Link's...earrings out of his ears (was that the correct word, Link wondered). She didn't want to risk Link getting them caught on something and causing severe damage to his ears. Link understood though, and he didn't really mind.
However, Link was starting to look slightly chubby. He had definitely gained a small amount of weight recently. It was probably because the food the castle gave him was just so good, albeit they gave him a lot of food and the food they did was calorie-heavy. However, Link also recognised the fact that he didn't exercise enough in the palace to burn off the vast amount of calories he consumed each day.
What ever was causing it, it was has a serious impact on his body. His legs were starting to hurt when he ran around the palace gardens in the evening. He was beginning to tire more easily, which caused him to just curl up and sleep near the fire place and get even less exercise. He was finding it harder to squeeze into smaller places, which was a problem whenever Midna or her new husband accidentally threw a ball behind a piece of furniture. He should probably try to exercise more, or try and eat less. Before it became impossible to lose any weight at all.
However, the smell of meat distracted from his thoughts as his mouth began to water. That food smelt good. He needed to eat. After that, he would need to explore this room some more, before they returned him to his bedroom.
Link heard the door open slightly.
He looked up.
Midna and Valnas were looking at him.
Did they want to take him out for a walk?
Link felt tired. He just wanted to sleep some more.
He decided to go anyway.
Link got up and slowly walked towards them.
Midna and Valnas smiled. Both of them quickly walked down the corridor.
Presumably to the Garden.
Link tried to hurry behind them. But he couldn't.
He was carrying too much weight on his body. His legs hurt. He was finding it difficult to breathe.
In the end, Link decided to slowly walk behind them.
He would catch up eventually.
Link was rarely allowed into the Royal Chambers, so the fact that he was allowed in today confused him.
He slowly walked into the room, his ever increasing weight making it more difficult for him to run.
Inside he saw Vanlas standing next to Midna, looking at something Midna was carrying.
Link tried to jump up on the bed, but he found that he was unable to. With a small chuckle, Midna moved towards Link.
"This is Zelda." Midna said quietly, "My daughter. Will you protect her?"
Link barked, before licking little Zelda's face.
"I guess that's a yes?" Vanlas asked, with a small smile on his face.
"Doggie, sit." Zelda ordered. Link looked up at her quickly.
Why should he want to sit?
Link himself didn't feel up to it.
Just then, Zelda pulled out a small scrap of meat.
Link stared at it.
Link sat down.
Zelda gave him the meat, whilst calling him a good boy.
Link wagged his tail.
This was fun.
Link sometimes thought that being a two legs must be the dullest thing ever.
They seemed to have no free time. They ran around the palace doing boring tasks.
They seemed unhappy at times.
Meanwhile, he got to play in the Royal gardens. He got to play with Zelda. He got to eat good meals. He got to sleep near the fire place.
In short, everything was perfect.
And it was so much better than being a two legs.
Link saw a flat object in the corner of the room.
He slowly walked towards it.
Link could see another dog standing opposite him.
Link wagged his tail. The other dog wagged his.
The other dog wanted to play.
Link slowly walked towards the flat object.
Link pressed his nose against the flat object. The flat object fell to the ground.
Link tilted his head. Link was confused.
Where was the other dog?
Link quickly ignored this. Zelda had entered the room.
She wanted to play.
Link sat by the fire. He felt warm and content.
He heard Zelda call his name. She wanted to play with him.
Link slowly got up and waddled closer to Zelda.
"Link, sit!" She said happily.
Link obliged. She would give him food if he sat.
Zelda gave him a scrap of food. She then got out a ball.
Link stared at the ball. His tail wagged. He wanted to play.
"Fetch!" She said cheerfully.
She threw the ball. Link waddled towards the ball as fast as he could.
Midna watched an older, overweight Link play with her daughter, a sad smile on her face. Yes, Link was happy as a wolf. But... She felt like she had lost her friend, in a sense. Link probably didn't remember much of his Hylian life now, and he might have lost a lot of his humanity in the process.
Just then, Link noticed Midna standing there, and he waddled up to her, wagging his tail happily at her. Midna bent down, and stroked the top of Link's head. Link immediately sat down, and was obviously enjoying the attention. Midna weakly smiled at Link.
"I'm sorry, Link. I'm sorry that I couldn't get you back to Hyrule. Or at least get your old body back." She muttered quietly in Link's ear.
It was at this point that Zelda called out Link's name and mentioned something about dressing Link up as a Princess. Link's ears perked up, before he waddled over towards Zelda, eager to be involved in what she was planning.
So, the ending author notes:
1) Yes, the beginning of Part I and Part II were the same- This is because Wolf!Link is still making the same decisions at the beginning- it's just that one event changes the course of Link's history.
2) Yeah, I also made a domesticated Wolf!Link chubby. Again, you could argue that it's technically canon, because Link at the beginning of any Legend of Zelda game is kinda lazy? I dunno. Plus, I couldn't resist the idea of a Chubby Wolf!Link. XD
3) In this one, Link remembered his name and in a way lost less of his humanity, because he was in contact with Midna and the other Twili of the palace.
4) Which one is sadder? Link in the cold forests with his Wolf Pack? Or Link in Twilight Castle surrounded by Midna and her family? I dunno actually. I'm leaving that up for you to decide.
5) Yeah, for obvious reasons, Midna's first daughter is named Zelda. :)
6) Please, please can someone draw me an image of a Chubby Wolf!Link dressed up as a Princess please? :)