Link looked at his paws again and breathed out a little sigh. He was still a wolf. Lear, however, stretched comfortably and yawned as Midna's voice surrounded them.
"Find yourself a shield and sword, Mr. Hero. Then we'll talk business! Why don't you take this opportunity to explore your dear little village in this form?" Link growled.
"I don't want to be in this form!" He turned and began to run towards Ordon village, leaving Lear to follow with a glum expression.
"Y'know," She said, catching up to him, "It's really not that bad. I kind of like this more than being a human." When he shot her a look, her ears went back and she shut her jaws. As they neared Link's house outside the village, a strange smell drifted to their noses. Lear snarled. "That's the smell of those creatures that attacked you!"
Link skidded to a stop and scrutinized her. "Attacked me, how did you know about that?" Navi flew in between their muzzles.
"It's a Boblin warrior! Defeat them, you two, and then we can enter the village!" Lear wasted no time in turning towards the monsters and sprinted at them full speed. She hoped Link was following, as there was more than one Boblin walking amongst the trees. She leaped at the nearest one and snapped her jaws back and forth, making short work of the monster.
The taste of the Boblin in her mouth was foul. Her wolf instinct had taken over, and she ripped and bit at her enemy. When it finally went down, she looked over at Link. He too, fought just as she did. She smiled; he didn't realize it, but he still had his fighting spirit from so long ago! Navi praised them when they had defeated the group of boblins.
"Great work you guys! It looks like you're getting the hang of fighting as wolves!" Link only snorted in reply. He turned his head over his shoulder to look at Lear.
"...follow me. But keep quiet! If we get caught, the villagers will kill us..." He started forward in a trot, leading the way towards his village. The village was dark, and it had the air of sadness shrouded over it.
A squeaky voice made Lear turn around and call to Link. A squirrel sat staring at them, a wide grin across his chubby cheeks.
"Thanks for taking care of those bad guys! A little hint; use your senses in the village to find your way into the human den's, they almost all contain good food and something interesting. But don't get caught!" At this, he nodded his little head and took off running. They turned back towards the village as Lear turned to Link.
"So, I guess we can talk to all animals this way, huh? This could get interesting..." Link had a thought in his mind.
"You...you weren't always a wolf, were you?" This caught Lear off guard and she tripped over her paws.
"Um...no, actually...I'm human." she said as she regained her footing. Link pondered this for a few moments. The marking on her forehead was the same as the marking the girl had in his dreams...'Could she be that girl?' he thought to himself. However, he brushed the thought aside as they approached one of the homes. Lear looked at their surroundings, she had no idea where they could find a sword and shield! She would just have to rely on Link...
"So...do you have any idea which houses we're supposed to sneak into?" she asked hesitantly.
He furrowed his brows the best he could as a wolf. "Hmm...let's take a look around. Hey! There's a cucco over there, he might know something of use." Navi plopped back down as they sneakily made their way over to the bird. It cocked it's head and clucked at them.
"So you're not going to eat me then? Oh wonderful. I had hoped that I wouldn't become a meal today." It began to walk in the opposite direction when Link stopped it.
"Wait! Do you know of where-" The cucco interrupted him, looking at him sideways.
"-Of where you could find the human children? They've been stolen. There was a ruckus with some monsters...and the humans fought...but the monsters took the children away in the end. Good thing too, because I was getting bored of them throwing rocks at me all the time."
Hearing such a thing created worry for both wolves. Even though Lear didn't know the children, she wanted to help all she could to save them. After all, Link had helped her with her sister in the past; this would be Lear's chance to help him in return!
"Link, we should hurry! I want to help you find them!" she said. Link looked at her with gratitude.
"Thank you...now, let's find that sword and shield!" with that, he started towards a bridge, crossing it slowly so as to not draw attention to himself. Some villagers were speaking in hushed voices, and so Link and Lear crept close, using their enhanced hearing to hear them speak.
The men Jaggle and Mayor Bo were speaking about the sword and shield.
"You know where they're at, right Jaggle?" The mayor looked concerned.
"Yes, of course. The shield here, and the sword in Rusl's house, correct? If any more monsters come around, we'll be ready to defend ourselves!" At that moment, the two men spotted the wolves and let out a yell of surprise. They ran into the house and locked the door, leaving the two canines to themselves. Link seemed upset at the villagers treating him like this, and Lear wanted to comfort him. She opened her mouth to say something when Midna's voice sounded from the shadows.
"What a pack of idiots! Well, now that we know where the items are, go find them! Hop to it!"
Lear rolled her eyes when she heard Midna's voice. 'humph! If she knows sooo much, then she should just get them herself!' Lear thought to herself, very annoyed. Link looked around, noticing an open window to a house they were supposed to enter.
"C'mon, follow me!" he said to Lear as he began to trot over to the watermill. Suddenly, a light was lit up on a ledge. A scrawny man with a torch and a hawk on his arm looked at them angrily.
"Y-you fiends! Bring back the children!" he yelled. The two wolves snarled at him.
"Link, I'll distract him! You go scare him off!" Lear said as she ran from the hawk that was now attacking her.
Link doubled back away from the angry hawk and growling Lear. He ran towards Sera's store, and ran straight into her cat. The cat gave him a disapproving look, but told him of the ledges he could jump to sneak up and scare Hanch. Link jumped up several rock ledges and leaped full speed at Hanch with an angry howl. The terrified villager fell backwards into the water below, and Lear watched in relief as the hawk abandoned her. Hanch smacked the water with his hands in frustration as Link looked down at him. Midna then appeared next to him.
"Don't get sentimental on me, little wolf. Follow my lead to jump up on the mill so we can enter that window." Link did as he was told, though with ears back and growl in his throat, and found himself inside Jaggle and Pergie's house.
Link scanned the room with his eyes until they fell upon the shield. It was an unfinished wooden shield, and it hung on the wall in the upper part of the home. Using the strength in his hind legs, he jumped up and onto the upper floor. Of course, the shield was much too high on the wall for him to reach, so he rammed the wall until it fell. Midna's voice rang in the house as he picked it up.
"Now, get yourself out of there and find that sword! The sooner the better, little wolf!" Link growled in annoyance and climbed out of the window. Lear stood up from her haunches when she saw Link make his way towards her. He only nodded to her and took the lead, carefully guiding the way towards Rusl's home.
As they approached the house, Navi rang out a warning. "There's two humans there! We can't enter from the front door..." Link nodded.
"Rusl and Uri...c'mon, let's go around the house. I remember they have a patch of soft ground somewhere near here." Lear followed and once again waited outside as he used his claws to dig himself into the house. He looked around the small home and found what he was looking for on the sofa. Picking up the sword with his jaws, he muttered through a full mouth to Midna.
"Okay, I've got everything. What now?" She appeared and cackled at him.
"Good dog! But next time, be faster! Let's make our way back to the spring." As Link dug himself out of the hut, he was shocked to find Lear snarling and barking at Rusl.
"Foul beast! Bring me back my children!!" He swung the torch and hit her square on the muzzle, causing her to yelp and run in the opposite direction. Rusl turned around and then spotted Link, and he raised his sword to the startled wolf.
Link dodged the sword as Rusl swung at him, running fast enough to catch up to Lear. They both ran as fast as their legs could carry them out of the village and to the spring. When they finally made it, they slowed to a stop and lay on the ground, panting for breath. Link looked over at Lear, who seemed to be in a little pain from the hit she took. Her muzzle had a small mark from the torch.
"Hey...Lear? I saw Rusl hit you...are you okay?" Lear rubbed her muzzle against her arm and looked back at Link.
"Yeah...I'm okay." Link opened his mouth to speak when Midna's voice spoke from the shadows.
"Oh good! The little wolf isn't complaining about getting herself hurt! Good dog! Now, you see that wall of Twilight? Your next task is to get through that wall."
They reluctantly picked themselves up and headed for the dark wall that lay before them. A large hand came through the wall and grabbed each wolf and pulled them through. Once on the other side, they found themselves face to face with Midna once again.
"Congratulations! You made it!" she mocked. She then promptly sat on Link's back. She put the shield on her face and swung the sword around, almost hitting Lear's face in the process. "What useless things!" Midna spat, "I'll just hold on to these for you." she said as she snapped her fingers. The weapons disappeared into twilight particles. As they started forward, a voice beckoned them to come to the spring. It was a guardian of light, barely surviving in the twilight that shrouded it.
A vessel of light materialized in front of their eyes as they turned away. It looked very delicate, and so Lear held it by the handle in her mouth. They ran towards the woods, killing each and every one of the large bugs that carried the tears of light. These small tears of light created a beautiful light in the twilight. It shown enough to almost blind them, and when they opened their eyes, they stood in the spring of the Faron Woods, its guardian floating before them.
"Well done, dear heroes. You have restored my light!" The spirit of Faron Woods looked like a giant monkey, and it swung around an orb of light as it talked to them. "As such, you too have been restored to your original forms. The tunics you wear once belonged to the ancient heroes of old, who vanquished the evil that spread across Old Hyrule. Now the clothes belong to you once again!" It spun again as Link and Lear looked down at themselves in awe. They were human again, and each wore the green tunic of the heroes of old.
"Lend us your courage once again! Find the other spirits and restore light to Hyrule!" Here the spirit disappeared in a flash of light and the group stood silent in the spring.
Link stood there, holding his head in his hand. Memories were flooding through his mind, letting him remember all the people he met on his adventures. He remembered Lear...and his love for her. To this day, he still loved her, and now he was restored to his former self. He turned to Lear. So much emotion was in his eyes as he approached her.
"...Lear..." he said quietly. No more words were needed, for Lear knew that his memories were restored. He looked upon her as he did so long ago, that familiar look in his eyes brought comfort. Tears trickled down Lear's cheeks as he hugged her. They were finally reunited; their real adventure would begin.
A/N: Yay! Link has finally regained his memories!! What shall happen now? XD
Dare Deville: Thanks so much for your reviews!
Dragon of Twilight: Well, your questions have now been answered! Except for the part about Midna, of course. XD
Thanks for reading!!