Props to imnotraven16 and Nintelda for reviewing and following, and wholockedlife and apples in the rain for following! I'm really grateful, guys! Navi's not quite as composed as Link is when she's in the spotlight, I feel. They're both going to have to get used to this situation pretty quickly, though.
Disclaimer: I do not pretend to know how to wield swords, or own Zelda.
Kakariko Village was not far off when the Hylian and fairy were set upon by another problem: a Wolfos, to be precise. Link immediately reached for his sword, his hand gripping thin air while Navi stared at it in shock. It raised its back and started circling around the two until Link shouted at his partner to grab her sword, now, if she didn't want to be dog food.
"B-b-but Link, I can't fight! I've never even held a knife before, never mind something t-this big and sharp! I can't even remember its weakness anymore." Navi's voice was almost trembling as much as her body.
"Wolfos are easy, just keep the Master Sword between it and you," said Link, before adding, "and keep your eyes open. This is basic stuff, Navi, weren't you watching when I dropped five of them?"
"I didn't expect you to turn into a fairy! This is still all your fault, Hero! Just tell me how to kill it, it's in the way!"
Suddenly the Wolfos joined the conversation with a loud howl. The ex-fairy jumped and gripped her blade even tighter than before, but Link knew what this meant. He also knew that if they didn't book it into the village very soon, there would be no hope. He flew towards the monster, keeping track of its movements.
"Navi!" he yelled. "He's calling his pack, we need to get out of here, stat! Run him through or we'll be sitting ducks!.. He's preparing to jump! Ready the Master Sword, and get ready to crouch down as well! We'll only have one chance to do this, OK?"
The nervous girl nodded. Her stance was a bit poor, to be honest, and she didn't have a shield out to make this move easier, but there was no time to correct that. The Wolfos leaped – "Stab up!" – and was clunkily impaled on the sword, as Navi lay in the dirt, having fallen onto her back. Blood mingled with Navi's tunic as its corpse slid down the blade, pinning her until she was able to deflect it off to her side. Feeling slightly dizzy, Navi could only just hear Link tell her to run to the gates of the village before any more turned up.
Flying is much easier than running, and he didn't have to fight a monster out of the blue, so the tiny Hero of Time wasn't particularly tired once inside the village. This allowed him to think of the team's next plan of action. The first problem to be addressed was the location of the inn, but while Navi showed promise with Link's holy sword, her freezing up in battle needed to be solved before they could leave the village.
On the other hand, Navi was still out of breath from running on her new legs. She was starting to understand why Link didn't talk much during battle. She was hunched over, supporting her arms with her knees, letting her stress out from the fight. Fatigued as she was, even Navi realised that this was going to be a normal occurrence until they found the old hag again. The thought did not exactly thrill her.
It was still before dawn before Link and Navi woke up. This routine felt normal, at least. Link had insisted that he train the soon-to-be swordswoman at least four times a day, but assured his protégée that she would find it easier to train as time went on. Posture was the most important thing to begin with. As it turned out, Link became his most serious when swordplay was concerned.
"Right, so I'll teach you the four stances, and you need to practice them as much as possible. It's too dangerous in Hyrule Field for us to go out until you've at least mastered these, so we'll probably have to stay here for at least a week," said the Hero when they were both up and dressed. Navi had chosen to don the more versatile and comfortable Kokiri Tunic, her short brown hair reaching down her back to just past the collar. Link himself had managed to find some ragged fairy clothes, but wasn't bothered by their quality, as long as he didn't have to wear nothing but a loincloth. That had raised the eyes of the innkeeper when he booked a room.
"We can't do that, Link. You know as well as I do that Ganondorf has eyes everywhere, and if we don't keep moving, he'll send monsters to hunt us down. Kakariko doesn't deserve this. We can train today, but we're leaving tomorrow." The balance of size now favoured Navi, and while Link wasn't convinced, he couldn't exactly stop her.
He prayed to Din not to have any encounters out in the Field.