A lone candle placed on a nightstand provided impudent light to the rest of the room. A few corners escaped the weak light. Dusty cobwebs hung in the corners like bad memories as the light desperately tried to reach them. The rest of the room, however, as clear for everyone to see. But there wasn't anything to see other than a bed and nightstand.

Lying on the bed was Link, with his injured on the paws towards the ceiling. He had a face of pure indifference on his head. He found himself wearing that look a lot these days. It was strange, however, his blood boiled over when faced with hardship. It was like he almost enjoyed it.

"What is going on with me?" He wondered. "I'm can feel myself. . .changing, almost constantly."

His eyes narrowed sharply as he thought about the acts he committed as the change progressed: snapping the spear in half, surviving a high drop, and now healing at a high rate. He had always been a fast healer, but not this fast. This speed was unnatural.

"Am I becoming. . .a monster. Is this what it has all led up to? I become the very thing I sought to destroy. What an ironic fate."

The wolf mentally sighed as he thought about the possibility of becoming a monster. As he thought about, flashes of slaying Ganondorf's minions appeared in his head. He flinched every time his blade sliced through them. As he watched his blade cut down hordes of those creatures, Link felt a familiar feeling welling up inside of him. Excitement.

"Why is that every time I see a battle or fight I get excited? This has never happened before," Link mentally sighed before rolling onto his back.

"You aren't a monster,"a foreign yet familiar voice said. "I've see monsters and you aren't one of them."

Startled, Link shot up from his lying position on the bed, and looked all around. The room was as empty as it was when he first arrived. A few moments later he realized the voice was coming from inside of his head.

"Father?"

"Yep."

"What do you want?"

"Can't a father just stop by and say hello? If not, that cuts deep son."

"Something tells me that isn't the only reason you stopped by."

Link's father went silent. Now Link wasn't almost certain that his previous statement was the truth. Typically, a person never paused when they had something good to say. That was typically a trait attributed solely to bad news.

"Your has blood begun to boil, hasn't it?" He asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you get excited when it comes to fighting or something dangerous? Do you find yourself smirking with faced with a fight? Does it bring you. . .joy to fight or experience danger?"

Link paused and thought about it. Even though he hadn't been a real battle since he woke up, he did have dreams about fighting. And every time he found himself getting excited in a strange way. In fact, he got excited when he snapped that spear in half.

Link nodded, "I suppose."

"Then it's started."

"What has started?"

Seemingly, ignoring his comment Link's father said, "How old are you?"

"18."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. That was when I started as well."

Link arched an mentally eyebrow.

"When you started what?"

"No time!" Link's father shouted, "Just remember, I'm always with you."

With that Link's father disappeared, leaving a very confused Link behind to ponder what his father said. As much as he wanted to trust his father, he couldn't help but feel a little doubtful. He had the Triforce of Courage, not the Triforce of Hope. Of course, in order for courage to be truly effective one needed hope as well.

"You are destined to walk a difficult path. Enjoy yourself while you can."

Elina Vance was happy. Her older sister, Claudette, had just given her a important mission. A mission to capture a strange wolf that a group of soldiers said they encountered. She didn't really know what Claudette could want with a wolf, especially a wild one. It couldn't be for the fur since that would be no reason to send the duce of the Assassins of Fang. No, it had to be something bigger than that. Something important.

The blonde walked down the hallway towards the stable since the wolf was last spotted going north of Roarhaven.

"Leina didn't come back today." She thought as she passed a portrait of her other sister, Leina. "But at least I still have Claudette."

Elina's lips twitched into a smile as she started to have her daily sister delusions. But continued walking regardless. As she pushed to door open to the courtyard, she instantly noticed a familiar figure standing in the clearing against the mid-day sunlight. The figure was female was a slender female who stood about 5'5. The woman had mid-back length, light brown hair and green eyes. Her skin was fair and supple showing how healthy it was. She wore the blue headdress and white collar of a traditional nun. She also wore a open, frilled, white dress, with a blue jacket embroiled with elegant designs and armbands. On her lower body she wore white garters with tight-high metal boots over them.

Elina narrowed her eyes, "Sigui."

Sigui narrowed her eyes as well. "Elina."

The blonde folded her arms and took a few steps towards the devout woman. "Well, you seem to be a foul mood today." She commented, "Why are you here Sigui?"

"I was requested to join you. A request given by Ymir herself. She seemed rather adamant that I'd join you." She stated. "She told me that a demonic presence was felt in Roarhaven at the same time the wolf was spotted.

"And? I've handled demons before." Elina said sardonically.

Sigui shook her head and folded her arms as she walked in a circle. Elina narrowed her eyes at this and watched the inquisition officer. Elina always had mixed feelings about the officer, usually negatives feelings actually. She always felt as if the officer was trying to get one up on her.

"Be that as it may, but have you actually been successful against a demon?" Sigui commented. "I've heard of your frequent run ins with The Beast from the East, and every single time it ended with a defeat, and with him escaping." She stated bluntly.

Elina growled. "All flukes! I can fight him equally, but when that goddamn speed, I can't keep up with him."

"Don't use God's name in such a manner!"

"Or what!?" Elina challenged.

"You know 'or what'." Sigui countered with a glare.

The blonde glared back at the inquisitor. She did know exactly what 'or what' was and it would be for the better to completely avoid it. Although, she was up for challenging it since her good mood was already ruined and now she was pissed.

"Fine." Elina said with annoyance clear in her voice before giving the inquisitor a questioning look.

"But, something tells me that being ordered by Ymir is not the only reason that decided to join." She added. "Am I correct?"

Sigui sighed in exasperation but nodded anyways. The fire in her eyes told Elina that it had something else to do with the church other than the demon. No, this seemed to be something a lot more personal than a random demon slaying.

"Perhaps, but that isn't important right now is it?" Sigui said as she walked away towards an awaiting carriage. "We're going now."

Elina narrowed her eyes sharply but followed her regardless. As she walked towards the carriage she couldn't help but wonder.

"This is about the Witch isn't, Sigui?"

Sighing, Elina climbed into the carriage, sat down next to Sigui, and looked out the window as the carriage started to move down the road.

There was a gentle breeze in the air as Liliana's flying ship moved towards the next artifact that Welveria wanted her to collect. The captain stood at the prow of the ship and looked down at ground as the ship passed over it. Despite the problems it had the Queen's Continent was a beautiful place. She could see all the farms, houses, wells, forests, lakes, and rivers that dotted the continent's surface. Despite this, Liliana seemed to be focused on something else.

With half-lidded eyes, Liliana gazed down on the world below her. She felt like a bird flying over the country. Her mind was in a haze and she felt sick. She couldn't focus on anything today, not even the task Welveria had given her. There was just something about today that didn't feel right.

"A mask, a large black case, a pendent, and lastly. . .what?" Liliana recalled. "What could possibly be next?"

The pirate captain sighed, folded her arms, and looked up at the sky above. Although, there wasn't too much to see due to it being a cloudy day. The mass of grey clouds covered the once blue sky like a wool blanket, that darkened the day.

Liliana frowned, "That doesn't look good."

Suddenly the pirate captain heard a noise. She spun and her head an looked from side to side, but didn't see a thing. Arching an eyebrow, Liliana was just about to turn back around before she heard a bark. Looking down, she was met with the sight of Link sitting on his hind legs, looking at her with his blue eyes.

"Oh, it's you," she breathed.

Link rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that is something everyone wants to hear."

"I see that you're up on your feet again," Liliana noted. "Hopefully you can stay that way."

Link mentally laughed and shook his head. His legs still hurt, but at least he could stand again. He collapsed shortly after Liliana retrieved that strange pendent and had been in bed ever since. But, now his legs were much better and now he could stand with little pain.

"I hope so." Link stated.

Liliana turned her back to the wolf and went back to looking down at the land as they passed over it. Link arched an eyebrow until he heard her sigh. He could tell by her tone that she was a depressed and actually sounded like she was sick. If was in his human form he would have asked her what was the matter, but he couldn't.

"I don't think I can take it much longer," she rasped. "I-I don't know how much further I can go."

To say Link was shocked was an understatement. When she turned around to face him; he noticed that she was sickly pale and there were bags underneath her eyes. Her hair was a bit messy and her body slopped like an old man's shoulders. She looked like death.

"Liliana, there is something wrong with you, isn't there?" Link mentally asked.

Liliana stumbled a bit and started to wheeze uncomfortably. Link's eyes widened when she suddenly collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Instinctively, Link to her side and nudged her to make sure that she was okay. He could still hear her breathing, and her heart was still beating. But her body was cold and she looked sickly.

"Oh, shit." Link cursed as he began to circle around her unconscious form. "What do I do? What do I do?"

He was honestly starting to panic now. He was circling around Liliana's body frantically as he tried to think of what to do. Since he was in his wolf form he didn't have any access to any of his potions which severely hindered his usefulness.

Suddenly an idea hit him. Link began to howl loudly. He made his howls as loud and long as possible Doing so reminded him of howling to the stone to made the golden wolf appear. The golden wolf was a mysterious warrior that came to Link and taught him one of the seven skills each time he appeared. Link had since learned and mastered them all, but he missed the wolf dearly. After a few moments of howling members of the crew. The instantly noticed their fallen captain and went to her side, picked her up, and carried her to what Link presumed was her room.

"I really hope they can help you Liliana." Link thought with a sigh.

The wolf went to go follow them, but stopped when he felt his foot touch something. He looked down to see a tattered piece of parchment lying on for floor. Liliana must have dropped it when the skeletons picked her up. His interest piped, Link took his foot off of the parchment and looked down at the writing. It appeared to be a list, but some of the crossed off so he couldn't read it. Although he could still see some of it. His eyes slowly drifted to the side to see a opened bag filled with gold coins.

Mask, the first word was cross off

The Case

Blue Pendent

Nidum Animas, it's a book Liliana

Sighed,

Welveria

Link sighed and looked up into the sky. The mass of grey clouds still blocked the vision of the blue sky and the sun. The wolf shook his head.

"I have a feeling I'm going to have to go after this book. There is no way that I'm going to be able to walk away from this." He thought before realizing the ship had stopped. He turned around to see mountains covering them and that they had reached their next stop.

Whenever Liliana wanted to hide her ship she usually used mountains or tall trees to conceal it. A flying ship looked very suspicious after all. Link sighed as he looked over the side to see a chain being lowered to the ground below.

"Yep I'm gonna have to go get that book." Link glowered as he went below the deck.

The sun still wasn't out as Link walked down the street of the town, looking from side to side for the book store. He had been searching for a good thirty minutes and didn't didn't find a trace of the store anywhere. Even getting off of the ship didn't take as much time as this was. All he needed to do was walk past, get on the anchor, and ride it to the bottom. Link figured with a name like 'Nidum Animas' that it wouldn't be in a bookstore, but apparently it was here somewhere since Liliana wouldn't have stopped here if it wasn't.

"Seriously, where is this place? This feels like traveling through the Gerudo Desert, aimless." Link glowered before spotting something. With his interest piped her turned to look at it directly and mentally leaped for joy when he realized it was the book store. "Finally!"

Link pushed to door open with the side of his body and strolled into the store. Once inside he was greeted with sight of bookcases lining the walls with a few reading areas set up near them. The room was dimly lit but held a sophisticated atmosphere. There was also a counter with a middle-aged, bald man standing behind it. The man smiled.

"Hello, and welcome to Vergo's Bookstore. How may I. . ." He noticed that no one was standing there. ". . .help you?"

Vergo groaned and slammed his hands on the desk.

"Those damn kids! When I get my hands on them I gonna-"

Link interrupted the mans rant by barking. Vergo blinked and looked over his desk to see what that was. His look turned sour when he saw Link sitting in front of his desk. Link could telly by the look in his eye that he wasn't impressed by what he say.

"I don't suppose you're hear to buy anything, right?" Vergo asked.

"Yep." Link nodded.

Vergo looked at wolf with surprise. He didn't expect the wolf to actually reply to him in someway. So, in other words, either this wolf wasn't a normal wolf, or Vergo was losing his mind.

"Say are you one of those familiars that those mages can summon?" Vergo asked, curiously.

Link titled his head to the side in a confused manner, "A what? What is a mage?"

The shopkeeper sighed, "I guess not. Anyways, what can I do for you?"

The wolf reached behind himself for a pouch that had been secured to his back. He used his teeth to pull at the string which caused a piece of paper to fall out. Vergo arched an eyebrow and walked from behind the desk, knelt down, and picked up the piece of paper. His eyes widened at what it said.

"Nidum Animas?" Vergo asked, his voice shaky.

The man suddenly smiled. "The good new for you is that I happen have that book, but it isn't cheap."

Link rolled his eyes, "I figured it wouldn't be."

The shopkeeper went behind the counter and pulled out a book. He walked around the counter and showed it to Link. The wolf noticed these sinister appearance of the book. The book's cover was solid black and had a red binding. The letters of the book were inscribed with slanted silver letters. And if the book didn't look creepy enough, a skull was plastered on the cover as well.

Link frowned mentally, "That looks terrifying."

Vergo smiled slyly. "That will be 300 gold."

Link's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Three hundred gold? For a book? You could buy a house with that money—a small, shabby house—but a house regardless. But now wasn't the time to gripe. Link could tell that the shopkeeper was growing impatient. Grumbling the entire time, Link reached for the sack and pulled the string causing dozens of gold coins to spill out onto the floor.

"I think that's three hundred. I didn't really count it, not that I could even if I tried." Link said while looking at the mess on the ground. He turned back to see Vergo had a twinkle in his eyes.

"Um, he doesn't look too good."

Vergo knelt to Link's level and shoved the book into the wolf's mouth, earning a growl as a response. He practically threw Link out of the store before he began to count his gold coins. The wolf shook his head and snarled before turning to glare at the shop.

"How rude."

The wolf's body tensed and his eyes narrowed. He could feel a pair of malicious eyes staring at him. He hadn't felt anything like this since he went on his journey. He felt this malicious intent from Ganon's minions, but none of the compared to this. This aura was one of a much higher determination and intelligence.

"Well, finding you was easier than I thought it would be." Said a shrill female voice from behind.

Link spun on his heels and went into a defensive crouch. His eyes were met with the sight of two figures standing there. The first one was a blonde woman who stood about 5'6, that had cold blue eyes. She wore a black breast-plate with rubies on it and a black cape. She wore a cat-eared, face-guard on her face, obviously. On her left arm she wore a full-length, arm-guard with a sapphire in the shoulder, and on her other arm she wore a metal wristband. On her legs she wore a black tong with a ruby and thigh-high metal boots. She looked dangerous.

His eyes drifted to the other figure and luckily she didn't look as threatening as the one did. In his opinion she was more attractive than the blond woman. She also gave off an aura that suggested she was virtuous, and her outfit helped confirmed this since she looked like a religious figure.

"I like her better." Link noted.

The blonde woman folded her arms and snorted. "It's about time we found you, filthy mutt," she spat.

Link growled despite the book in his mouth and narrowed his eyes. He already didn't like this blonde woman. She had a very condescending way of talking, it was like she thought she was better than everyone else. He couldn't stand people like that. He always found that arrogant people would always have a long and hard downfall. The other woman, the brunette, blinked at him curiously.

"Elina," she said, her voice stern, "I think he can understood you."

The blonde woman, now identified as Elina, waved her off concern. Link growled again when she pointed at him with her arm-guard.

"Don't be ridiculous! He can't understand me." She stated, as jabbed a finger towards him. "He's just a stupid dog."

At that comment Link's blood began to boil. While he was never one to anger so quickly, Link wasn't exactly himself. He found himself a lot more hot-blooded and prone to acting without thinking. He was just about literally, jump on her when a new voice resonated.

"One step closer to the wolf, and I disembowel you. . .with a stick."

The duo spun on their heels to come face to face with two more figures. A really tall one and a very short one. The taller one stood almost a complete foot taller than the shorter one. Link looked at the newcomers curiously. They didn't seem to have the same intention two women before him, but it never hurt to be careful. He looked back at the two women to see looks of anger on their faces.

Elina pointed at the taller figure with a malicious intent.

"You asshole! Your mischief in the Claudette's castle, caused me to miss my beauty sleep for an entire week!" She shouted.

The taller figure laughed a cold, yet entertained laugh, "I really hate it when people say their need 'beauty sleep', cause bitch you need to hibernate."

The blonde hissed and drew her sword. She pointed it at the two figures threateningly, "If you want this wolf, you're going to have to go through me first."

"Huh, when you say it like that, it sounds like a threat."


Alright, I tried to keep new things out of this chapter. I was somewhat successful since the only real thing is the Nidum Animas. Yes, Nidum Animas does mean something.

Wondering why I put Link at 18 years old? Well, in the Twilight Princess, he looks like he's in his late teens to early twenties. I just chose 18 because it would fit this story best.

I also made the relationship between Sigui and Elina strained. But hey, let's be honest here, no one who doesn't have to get along with Elina, won't. I think this is especially true for Sigui since she is virtuous, but inflexible while Elina is arrogant, cruel, and condescending. I know some people might say that Elina is easy to pick on, and that is true. In the series, Elina never really got her just deserts, and that is my take on that.

Putting that rant aside. You can probably figure out the identity of the hooded figure that talks in bolds.

*He's very fast

*He's foul mouthed

*He's a demon

*He isn't Dante