A Gathering of Sacrifices

THE SEVENTH TALE:

Beast's Eyes

Link of Ordon was the Hero of his village, his kingdom and his world. He was known far and wide in what became known as "Old" Hyrule as the very embodiment of courage.

It was his "cowardice," however, that kept most of his people safe for many years.


"Ouch! Hey! What was that for, Link?"

"I don't want to ever hear you say that again!"

It was the first time he'd ever hit his young friend, Colin, at least in a way that was meant to hurt. Playful jabs at the shoulders as adoptive brothers and careless whaps to the sides and legs with wooden swords in training-sessions were one thing. A hard smack upside the younger boy's head was another and Link had been very serious about it.

"Why won't you go, then? You can raise your hand and volunteer!" Colin protested - My, had the kid grown some vigor after the incident with King Bulbin and Beth – "You can reach Smash City and get rid of Ganondorf!"

"It's not that easy…"

"You fought him before, and you won! What's happened to you, Link?"

The elder boy glared at him, hard. "I don't want to EVER hear you say you'll volunteer for a Brawl!" he growled. "I will not have you throw your life away!"

"I think I'm strong enough!"

"Kid, saving Beth was one thing. Going into a staged-event with who-knows-what kind of people from all across the worlds…" Link sighed heavily. "Ever since our world was forced into this, I've been dreading hearing one of you kids called. If you're called, I'll take your place."

"Maybe we'd both be called, and can fight together…"

"NO, Colin! The Brawls… they aren't just about fighting. They're about fighting and killing innocent people. Ganondorf's people never choose just villains. I don't want to see you bloody, Colin…with your own blood or that of others."

"There has to be a way to stop him!"

"I know, I know," Link said, sitting on a log at the edge of Faron Spring, where he had the boy had been practicing mock-fighting. I just… haven't figured it out yet."

"But… you're the Hero… you're my-"

"Enough. Don't remind me. I thought I'd killed him. He just… pops up, pretty as you please, in that other world. I failed Lady Zelda and here we are." He turned to Colin and put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Look, I'm sorry I hit you. It's just… I don't want anyone from our kingdom to ever volunteer for a Brawl. Why should we make ourselves look like willing slaves? As my friend, Shad, tells me, wisdom is needed before courage. We need to know how to fight before we can fight…"

"Like finding the weak spot on a monster?"

"Exactly. Once we find a weak spot in the system, we can strike. Maybe then, I'll even volunteer. For now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to look like a coward."

"I'll be one right along with you," Colin said with a smile. "I'm an expert at being a wimp!"

"Oh, don't say that. Just, next time you get itchin' to go off and fight, think of your little sister. She needs a big brother."

"Right!"


As the years progressed, no one in the entire kingdom of Old Hyrule was a volunteer. From what the people knew of rumor, their land as not seen as a land of cowards, but as a land of defiance. Every chosen fighter for Ganondorf's Brawls of Honor went unwillingly, but they also went with their heads held high. If their Link was unwilling to submit, so were they.

The year Shad was selected, the former liberation Group of which he was a part sent him off with cheers and whistles. They figured on him being doomed, but that became the tradition. He held himself with dignity (although Link could see the fear in his eyes), and ultimately was able to perform a little sabotage from within. He'd found a chink in the armor, a small weak-spot on the Boss, and had paid for it with a cruel death.

Link had caught a few glimpses of the Hero of Time on the televised broadcast that Smash City technology had brought into the kingdom. He thought it strange, how time-displaced everything was. In the history of the Hyrule that he knew, the Hero of Time was long-dead. He'd even met the spirit of said ancestor during his journey. The Hero of Time, according to the combined Nation of Ninten, was alive and had lost his spark as a Hero. Link of Ordon had learned of his Brawl, which had occurred some years before his own "Old" Hyrule had been overtaken and grafted into the program. Link didn't consider the man swigging a bottle on the screen to be the same person as the venerable ancestral spirit that he'd known. It was like a man's soul had been split, becoming separate people.

Time had been fairly screwed-up in his world, too. He noticed; year-to-year, how the seasons changed and how some of the youngest children aged a little – changing from babies to toddlers, but nobody grew up. He remained perpetually seventeen. Colin didn't seem to physically grow. Was whatever obscure magic Ganondorf was using to conquer the multiverse keeping them all in stasis so he could pick them all off as he'd known them? - It certainly would not be unlike a man possessed of such evil.

The year the long-distant Twilight Realm became involved was the year that broke Link's spirit. He screamed aloud at all the public screenings of the Brawl then. He had to explain to Ordon Village just who this "Midna" person was and why she was so important to him. His mentor, Rusl, had picked up quickly that she was Link's beloved, that "person he'd lost on his journey" that everybody thought was a friend that had died that they'd never known.

"Yeah… that's Midna," he'd told a shocked Rusl and Uli when they'd seen her perform murder with magic on-screen, with swiftness but without pity. "She does what she has to in order to survive. I know the method is shocking, but she was attacked first! She was always instinctual… and brought out the instinct in me."

Link's adoptive family, Colin included, looked at each other puzzled. Rusl gave him a sly "You dog!" look. He didn't know how true it was. Link had never told him about his transformation into the form of a wolf.

Link put up his hands. "We… never got to the point of doin' stuff that leads to children," he said, blushing. "But, yeah. I know she seems 'dark,' but she's a good person. Trust me."


Another Brawl happened. Ordon Village lost a pair of people that they didn't know that even the well-traveled Link had barely gotten to know. Link preformed a funeral rite for the Zora warrior when he fell – He was not King Ralis, but someone Link knew Ralis would mourn. Purlo's tricks had not saved him. Another year around and the selection process rested upon the single person that everyone had both dreaded and secretly hoped would enter the Brawl.

Link. He gave his surname as 'd Ordon," which meant "of Ordon."

Sheik, a denizen of Castle Town, had also been chosen. That person was a mysterious being who was known to be Lady Zelda's personal bodyguard and nothing more.

Before he was to be taken away, Link was allowed to say his goodbyes to his family and friends. This was more than many fighters got – their treatment being dependent upon their reaction. Link was calm and gave Ganondorf's attendant minions a beast-eyed glare.

Rusl patted him in the shoulder. "Whatever you have to do, do it with honor," he said. Link just about crushed Uli in a hug of the kind only a son who'd been chosen and grafted into the family could give someone who'd served as a mother.

Ilia gave him the hug of a very best friend. She knew that she had "lost" at being something other for good when she'd seen, first hand, Link's reaction to Midna in the Brawl. He butted his forehead against hers and brushed a tear from her cheek. "Take care of Epona for me," he said. "I expect her to be washed and curried up for me when I come home."

"Link… you know what coming home means for you, right?" Mayor Bo asked.

Link gave him a nod – a silent communication that hinted that the young man was thinking of doing something stupid, but, perhaps, the kind of stupid the world needed someone to try. "I'll stun the worlds," he said.

He turned to Colin as he was grabbed, stripped of his sword and shield and led to the large boar he was to be carried to "The Station" on. "Remember what I said," he told the boy, "Take care of sis. Mom and Dad, too."

Colin gave him a Hylian Guard's salute. Everyone else in Ordon Village did the same.


Some fighters were taken via a direct portal to Smash City in the heart of Ninten. Far-flung worlds like Old Hyrule used various transport technologies, not that going through portals were not involved with those, as well. The fact that a transport was used for his people only meant that Link 'd Ordon was in for a long ride, allowing him a bit of adjustment to what was going on.

He'd just never expected a hovering train etched in the symbols of the Twilight Realm. He saw Sheik escorted into the car behind the one he was taken to. After he was prodded into his car and finally left to his privacy, he discovered another surprise. A tall person stepped into his car just before it got moving. Even cloaked in long black robes, Link knew immediately who it was.

"Midna?"

In response, Midna parted the veil that was over her face and let her outer cloak slip, revealing herself in her "empress" attire – the same clothes Link had seen her in when she'd gone back to her kingdom. She strode over to Link, grabbed him by his tunic-collar and fiercely kissed his lips. He reciprocated, snaking his arms around her waist, overcome with a sense of hunger and need. When one of his hands started trailing south, toward her hindquarters, she broke off and pushed him back.

"Enough…" she said hesitantly. "I apologize for that."

"No need for apology!" Link exclaimed. "I missed you… This is a… very late 'later."

Midna stroked the tip of one of his ears. "I missed you more, Fuzzbutt."

"I'm not sure that's possible…" he said, gripping her hands. He loved her long, slender fingers. "I suppose… if there is any good to come from the Brawl of Honor, it's this…"

"Link," Midna said, pushing his chest. "Sit down." He fell heavily onto the couch along one wall of the passenger car. "We have preparations. We have a limited time for training. We must use it well."

"I'm strong enough to affect a win," Link said. "You know that. I've kept up my training between our quest and now. I am not sure what to do about Sheik. I have met her a few times at the castle, but I do not know her fighting technique."

Midna whipped around and glared at him. "I do not doubt your strength, I doubt your heart. I don't know if you will be willing to do what needs done."

"All I really want to do is to make it to Smash City," Link replied. He looked at his shaking hands. "I don't know how yet, but…"

"Eyes of Ganon are everywhere!" Midna hissed. "Ears, too! You're already in more danger than other fighters because of who you are! I do not know why he's waited this long for you."

"I thought the selection process was mostly random."

"Mostly." She sat down next to him and leaned in, speaking in a low, seductive whisper to his ear. "My room at the hotel where everyone meets is a little more private. We will have some time to ourselves before all of the other fighters arrive."


Time "to themselves" hadn't been, entirely, what Link had been hoping for. Midna insisted on time to herself to speak with some of the other veterans and had insisted that Link stay in their quarters – where a bed had been set up just for him next to another in a room he'd share with Sheik. He sat in the main room across from the Sheikah, watching video of the other selected fighters for the year's Brawl.

"The ape should be easy if he fails to bring weapons," Sheik commented. "The dragon with the spiked-shell looks powerful, but dumb. We should be able to outwit him easily."

"What's with the 'we?" Link asked.

"We are to be allies, are we not?" Sheik replied. "It is not mandatory for those of the same world to form pacts, but it usually occurs. Besides, Lady Zelda ordered me to protect you. This means that if you fail to agree to work with me, I will simply shadow you and you will not know that I am there, I assure you."

"Lady Zelda told you to protect me?"

Sheik nodded. "She believes in you as the Hero."

Link sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. He didn't need this. He was to enter a fight to the death with someone who seemed perfectly capable of doing the job, but who might not put up a fight if it came down to the two of them. Link couldn't fight someone who refused to, at least when they were a thinking person and not an invasive monster. It went against everything a hero was supposed to do.

He stared at the screen. He felt sorry for the winged boy. The kid was clearly a knight who was volunteering to protect his lady. Listening to the commentary, he learned that the chained woman was a goddess and the young man was the chief of her servants. He was in this on his own, apparently, with no one to protect but her.

"An angel," Sheik commented, "A messenger of gods. A holy creature. He looks young, but may be immortal."

"So don't feel bad about killing him? Is that what you're saying, Sheik?"

Zelda's bodyguard nodded. "I do not look forward to it. To destroy anything holy, even something not of our own world, surely carries a terrible curse. Clipping the wings may be in order."

"Ugh," Link said, shaking his head. "He's just a kid. I don't want to think about it. Perhaps an arena-danger will take him. That poor green-haired woman…"

"He's just a servant," Sheik said, "like me."

"I am certain that Zelda values you," Link responded. "And look how she is calling after him. She looks as distraught as I would be if the Brawl had taken my little brother, Colin."

By the time the footage finished on the fighter from New Hyrule, Link had gone livid. He watched as he saw a young boy take the selection in lieu of his younger sister. He got a good look at the child and saw that he was nothing more and nothing less than his "Legendary Hero" counterpart from that split-off world. Link Outsetter was nothing more than a boy – a round-faced, small, young Hero who had barely yet begun to live a heroic life.

Sheik said nothing. She stared at the screen as stunned as Link 'd Ordon was. Link, for his part, had risen from his seat and started wrecking havoc on every piece of pottery in their quarters. He did not have a sword on him, for his weapons were being held by the Brawl-staff. He picked up pots and vases and threw them against the walls. Sheik said nothing, letting the sound of breaking ceramic soothe her homeland's Hero.

Midna entered. "Now, Link, remember that time in Kakariko Village when you were doing this and you found the full chamber-pot?"

Link stared at her and gently dropped the small clay pot that he was carrying by the lip in one of his hands. It landed on the carpet with a dull thud.

Midna laughed. "Oh, don't worry, no one around here has used any of them for that. Silly wolf. I had these brought in for you. I watched the selection earlier on the live-feed and anticipated that you would need something to break when you got to see it. I'll have services clean everything up after you've gotten it out of your system."

Link sat down again, but eyed her desperately. "Kids," he almost squeaked.

Midna put a hand on his shoulder. "Yes…" she said. "If you remember my ordeal, some very young people were there, too."

"The… the other Hero… but he's a little kid…"

"Easy, Link."

Midna let him hug her. She wrapped her cloak and her arms around him. "Plans are being made," she said, sending up a beam of Twilight magic to target and cloak the small cameras and recording devices that were in the room. Midna had long found and memorized where they were and none of the staff seemed the wiser. Her enchantment made it appear as if everything was normal and their voices were quiet background noise, as if from the television. She'd heard rumors that most of the rooms weren't even being watched anymore due to certain "private activities" that some of the veterans were wont to do even in the sitting areas of their own quarters. "Toki," according to the legends, proudly walked around starkers in his sometimes and, as nice a body as he'd once had, apparently did not go out of his way to make himself attractive.

Link picked up on what was happening. "I'm going to ram my sword through Ganondorf's gut – again!" he growled.

"Well, if all goes right in the world," Midna said. "But there is a time for everything and a way to go about it. Sheik, if you can hold down the quarters tonight… later tonight, Link and I are going to be going out to dinner."

"What?" Link asked.

"Think of it as a last romantic date to celebrate those who are about to die."


The midnight meeting at Geno's gave Link a clear mission. He met with old legends and Sheik even managed to sneak her way in. Link learned that Midna had only told her to "hold down the fort" as a formality and knew that she would be there. On one hand, the plan was very good. Play lovey-dovey with Midna – as if that were hard – get an in to Ganondorf's presidential palace, sneak off within its halls, find the Triforce and then wish Ganondorf's system away. Support was to be expected from a team that was being assembled from the outer worlds should the shadow-mission turn into a full-scale military-style assault.

While the leadership of Mario was welcomed, Link wished that the brains of the operation wasn't a fat yellow rodent. His time spent as a wolf allowed Link an inherent understanding of many animals – and pokemon, as it would seem – so Pikachu's language had been easy for him to pick up on. It still seemed incongruous that "the smart guy" looked like something that should have been spending most of its time licking peanut-butter off its whiskers and running on a metal wheel.

Of course, the part Link liked least of the plan was the fact that he was to go through with the Brawl of Honor and was to win by any means necessary. Any fighters that were not killed by arena-dangers or slain by other fighters would have to fall by his hands or Sheik's. Sheik had resigned herself to being taken by his hand. Samus Aran, of course, was in on the plan and she would, in the best-case scenario, be spared though an event that they were going to stage.

He played it out in his mind how he was going to do it all. If he was going to be left with the memories of this world, it was better for him to have a bloodstained soul than that little version of him from New Hyrule. It would be better for him to bear the sin than a holy angel. He knew what was going on with the ways of the Triforce, unlike the other swordsmen. Beasts and half-beasts were incapable of knowing. He would be quick and merciful, though, perhaps, he would make it look brutal for the Smash City audience. Of course, even before he entered the grand game, he had to make the world believe that he had fallen as a Hero.

The young man wondered what his village would think of him and worried over it. Then, again, he had confided in Rusl the feeling of putting his sword to Shadow Beasts whom he knew had once been innocent people whose bodies had been warped into those terrible, destructive shapes. Link 'd Ordon was already a Hero with a taint of gray in a world that expected him to be a white knight in a world of black and white.

His animal alter-ego was not a gentle, timid rabbit, after all. His form was one with sharp fangs and a taste for meat - a huge, strong wolf.

In training, he was given his Master Sword – though something about it had been hobbled. It retained most of its light, but safeguards were in place to keep anything that could harm Smash City's "loveable" dictator in check. It was strong enough to divide light from darkness, however, in that he could use it to shift back into human form after Midna had presented him his "stage token." Said token was the shadow-magic stone that enabled his "werewolf" ability. This was an ability he used to full-effect to show off for his keepers – mostly by intimidating the doomed.

Link did not feel proud of this. It needed to be done… he needed to make them afraid in order to convince everyone that he had fallen. Most of all, he needed to convince Ganondorf. He and Midna had met with him briefly. It had to appear as though he did not care about being a Hero anymore. It had to appear as though his love for Midna had driven him mad. The truth was… it had a little.

In the hall, he caught a glimpse of people's eyes as he passed them.

"The angel has eyes like mine," he confided to Midna back in their quarters. They rested against each other in Midna's bed as Sheik slept in the other room. Midna idly stroked Link's bare back, feeling some of his raised scars. They both remembered how he'd earned them.

"Do you think so? The flash from his arrows hurts me. He's also overconfident and obnoxious."

"Light-magic. They would be painful for you. Don't worry. You know the rules. If he shoots you in the training hall, he'll be executed."

"About his eyes?"

"I don't think he's as innocent as everyone thinks," Link began. "They're big and pretty, but there's an edge to them. He's seen combat before. There's something in his eyes that tells me he's fought his way through Hell. I can't explain it. Call it my animal-senses. I think I should not underestimate him."

"That is wise," Midna said, stroking his hair. "If he gives you that kind an impression, you may wish to kill him first."

Link whimpered slightly, like a wolf, although he was a Hylian at the moment. "I want to get to dispatching the other Link as quickly as possible." He winced. "His eyes actually are innocent. Tough, though. He's as brave as our kind are meant to be. I think that it's for the best if he goes quickly before witnessing anything terrible or being driven by the survival-urge to do anything terrible. One of us, at least, should remain a hero."

"Silly beast. You think you can preserve his honor by killing him?"

Link sat up. "Have you got a better plan?"

"No. It's just that I haven't seen Toki this lively. He knows what's likely to happen, but he has… hope. The little one has given him a touch of his honor back."

"Toki…" Link trailed off. "He's…" he shook his head. "The Hero of Time."

"Ex-Hero of Time," Midna said with an emphasis on the "ex" part. "He's not the same as the Shade. The ghost you met was what he once was and could have been. In this world, he's a wreck. Pay him no mind."

"His eyes were the most desperate set of eyes I've ever seen."

"He has chosen his gin-soaked path," Midna explained. "Only he can save himself."

"Could I become like him?"

"It is possible," Midna said matter-of-factly. "Upon the completion of our mission, you will be left with the memories of this plane. Surely, you will have regrets. It will be up to you how deep those regrets will go and what you will do with them. See Toki as a cautionary tale."

"If we succeed… and I see a better world, I'll know that it wasn't for nothing." He turned and looked at Midna. "And I will find you again. I don't care how long it takes."

"First obtain the victory," Midna said.


Link and Sheik were let off in the arena randomly and had to find each other. Between their mutual tracking abilities, they did so quickly. They found fresh water and spoke of good places to camp when they needed to rest. Link knew these woods. They were deep in Faron – the area obviously having been cordoned off for the Brawl event or at least a place that mimicked the area enough to fool Link into thinking he recognized landmarks. Food would be fairly simple to find, as both Link and Sheik were familiar with foraging and Link could hunt… especially when he used his "token" and transformed.

"I think I should get to know you, Sheik," Link said as they sat around what looked like the remains of ruins. "You work for Zelda, but … for how long? She could have used a bodyguard during the Twilight Invasion."

"I was with her then," Sheik said in a hoarse whisper.

"How come I did not see you? Midna did not see you, either."

"I was… inside her mind," Sheik tried to explain. "I am…essentially, an alter-ego of Lady Zelda."

Link nearly panicked. "Zelda? No, you cannot be here! Hyrule needs you!"

"Lady Zelda is safe," Sheik assured. "I was once a part of her, body and soul, but she used her skills in magic to give me a separate existence. It happened not long ago. I am grateful. It is that gratitude toward her that drives me to take care of you, Hero. We both have the utmost respect for you. The success of your mission will assure the safety, peace and happiness of Hyrule."

"So you are quite the dedicated soldier."

Sheik nodded. "I will do what needs to be done to see you through."

"I'd say, right now, we should look to the basics," Link said. "Exposure, thirst, starvation and poisoning by elements in the environment are things more likely to kill us than any of the other fighters. In fact, I don't think most of them wanted to be here."

"Do we?" Sheik asked coyly.

"There is no honor in this kind of a brawl," Link agreed. "I just don't want our Hyrule to be sent into oblivion."


The first battle for the Hero and his shadow was the kind of fight he wasn't un-accustomed to. Link had fought dragons before, though in different contexts. Charizard came lumbering out of the woods. Immediately, Sheik threw a handful of steel needles into its neck. It roared and lumbered after her. Technically, fighters were to enter the Brawl-arena with one weapon and she was not supposed to have those needles in addition to her short-sword. Sheik had smuggled them in, anyway.

Charizard caught Link as he tried to sneak up on it. Immediately, Link's Hylian Shield was on his arm, repelling the flames. Link could pick up on some of its roaring, though its poke-speak was not as articulate as Pikachu's. "Keep him distracted!" Link ordered Sheik, who had skittered up upon a shelf of rock. "Get his attention off of me! He's acting on instinct. He's a trained-pokemon and doesn't know what to do without a trainer!"

The creature grew tired of using its Flamethrower breath on Link, immediately trying to unseat Sheik from her rocky refuge with a Rock Smash, slamming its head into the shelf. She whipped a chain she carried around the dragon's tail. Link leveled his sword and rushed in, leaping for the center of Charizard's chest. The tip of the blade split bone like butter. With a howling roar, the fire-pokemon went down. Link made haste to get out of the way.

The dragon-slayer caught his breath as he cleaned his sword on a patch of grass. The blood came from Charizard in a spreading grim pool that formed little streamlets in the dirt. Sheik patted the pokemon under the horn and around the neck. "A clean kill," she said. "You show your experience."

"Yeah," Link said, putting his sword back in its scabbard. He wondered how the Master Sword, itself, felt about being tainted. It wasn't a true taint as his act wasn't one of pure corruption. Charizard had come after them, first, so what he'd done had been self-defense against an unreasoning and destructive animal. He still felt his heart sink, just a bit. He hoped that Pikachu had seen how clean he had done the job. He knew that the rodent couldn't be happy, but this had been planned from the start and he wanted the rat to know that his friend had experienced a minimum of suffering. Sheik pointed to a camera she spied high in a tree. Link climbed up over Charizard's head and struck a "manly" pose – something of a combination of a hunter showing off his trophy and the most psychotic smile he could muster. Sheik took Charizard's shoulder and planted a foot triumphantly upon his neck.

After flexing for the city full of viewers, the two Old Hyruleans made haste to get away from the pokemon's carcass so that they did not become victims of the cleanup detail.


The days of the Brawl of Honor wore on. Sheik fell into a little "garden" of Deku Babas and Link cut them to pieces to save her from being eaten alive. She was not hurt badly and was able to shake what little venom had gotten into her system out of it with a good sweat.

The two separated for an evening – Link kept a camp while Sheik wandered off, moving with the night-shadows. When she returns, she brings news that the plan for Samus' liberation must go down that night. He gets up and follows Sheik to Samus' camp, where she is pretending to be asleep.

"We are being watched," Sheik informs. "We must put on a good show. I will do what I can to obscure what we need kept in the dark."

Having agreed upon it ahead of time, they stage a battle. Link could smell the heat from Samus' weaponry as she cut a little too close to him. He dodged and danced while Sheik took to the trees. Soon, he is upon the intergalactic bounty hunter and has his sword to her neck as they exchange insults.

"There are no heroes here!"

Link tries not to let that comment sting. It is the perfect comment.

Samus couldn't have picked a more perfect spot for their "struggle." He and she both are sinking in mud. Link hears a shattering sound and a whistle from Sheik. Hastily, he jumps off of Samus and helps her out of her "armor." Link holds her helmet in his hands as she shimmies out of the body-armor like a cicada shedding its outer skin. Samus gets herself out of the mud and stands upon the firm ground beside it, rubbing out her shoulders. She is clad skin-tight.

"Don't stare too long at my technology," she scolds Link. Everyone speaks in low whispers so as not to be picked up on audio.

"Pikachu really worked up a good dummy for you," Link commented, watching the shed armor disappear into the mud. "It's almost a shame to watch it go."

"As long as it fools the old king," Samus replied. "Good luck, Hero of Hyrule."

"Time is running thin," Sheik reminded them both. "Good luck to you, Aran."

With that, Samus sprints through the forest, using the shadows for cover.

"There's another camera over this way," Sheik said, pointing and walking the other way. "Be sure to show off the helmet. Let us brag about our 'kill."

"I think we both almost got killed."

"Trust me, Link, if she had wanted to go through with it and become a winner herself, we would both be dead right now."


A wolf's life in the Arena Faron was a strange life. Link used the shadow-magic stone to wander the fields and bring back fat rabbits and native Hylian chipmunk-squirrels. Sheik had to risk building small fires for his catches while Link, in wolf-form, could consume them raw. He could gulp down much more meat at a time as a wolf, which kept his energy up.

The day after they'd "killed" Samus Aran, the two split up. Link decided to hunt in animal-form. They are both actively pursing other fighters now that the plan to evacuate the other who was in on their plans had proven successful. Link 'd Ordon did not know that the scent of feathers his sensitive canine nose had caught on the wind would lead him to his biggest regrets in this ordeal – as well as to a significant injury.

He hung low in the bushes upon catching the distinctive sea-salt scent of the younger Hylian. Even far from his home, the smell of the ocean was on him, at least, according to Wolf Link's quasi-spiritual animal senses. Link Outsetter's partner, on the other hand, had the distinct scent of feathers. Link 'd Ordon knew that smell from raising cuccoos and training hawks. It was a subtle scent – the oil in a bird's feathers that kept them from getting disheveled by the elements. The angel smelled slightly of incense, too… the kind familiar to 'd Ordon from his time spent fighting through corrupted temples.

When the wolf sighted Pit standing atop the rock formation, keeping watch, he knew that he had to be taken out first. Link had much experience dealing with sentries. If the most watchful member of a troupe of bulbins wasn't dealt with first, it would sound the alarm for the rest. In this case, the "rest" was just little Link Outsetter, who would be likely be alerted by a scuffle, anyway – but with the sentry gone and unable to warn the kid to his location, 'd Ordon knew that he could slip around and take him from the back end.

Link 'd Ordon coiled up his shoulders and readied his hindquarters. If he did this right, Pit wouldn't even get out a squeak before he was able to move in like a lighting flash. Two young throats, two clipped veins and it would all be over. He shuddered. The beast did not like this at all, even as he was in beast-form. He was about to take innocent lives – young lives. Link Outsetter reminded him of Colin. He kept focusing on the idea of his victims as young rabbits, or perhaps, in Pit's case, a young bird - to rush in and deal with them humanely. He kept tense and remembered that it was better for them not to carry the guilt. He did not think either of the kids had made a kill so far.

He watched the angel tense. He twitched his wings and looked directly toward the bushes Link 'd Ordon was hiding behind. An arrow of light formed on his bow. Pit had sighted him, or had heard his movements. Dindammit! He had no moment to spare. In an instant, he sprang, focusing on his victim's neck.

Pit twitched, moved and apparently tried to use his weapon. The wolf tasted a mouth full of fluff as his jaws clenched onto feathers and his teeth sank down into flesh, hitting bone. Link tasted the iron-flavor of blood and felt bones beneath flesh shift in his maw. The momentum of his body went one way and Pit's went another. Link's wolf-ears caught a wet-sounding pop and a crunch. The beast had only a moment to witness a bewildered and bloodied Pit on the ground before he felt a sharp impact on the top of his head.

Outsetter is yelling at him and throwing rocks. His rage a-bristle, he turns to the fight, forgetting his former victim. Link lunges for little Link, only to be countered by a small shield. Electric pain shoots through his skull as his teeth make contact with the metal. 'D Ordon shifts, avoiding sword-blows and catching a few with his mouth. The shooting agony of fang on metal does not deter him, nor do the cuts to his lip and muzzle.

If only you knew, kid, the wolf thought, Maybe you'd let me take you.

He decided he probably wouldn't. Being a "Link," he'd want to take over his mission if he could. He couldn't so he had to go down. Save for the wind in the trees, the background was silent. Had he killed the angel, at least?

A scream destroyed that theory.

'D Ordon finds an opening and leaps up, pinning the younger Link. Said younger Link, already having proved himself to be no slouch in battle, gave him a sharp kick in the gut. The sword flashes in the wolf' periphery and a ramrod of pain slams up its spine. The wolf would become ashamed of this later, once he'd become a man again, but his instincts took over, screaming at him to run and lick his wounds. This, he did.

Link found his running wobbly. His paws slip on wet leaves, sending him crashing to his side into the ground. He pulls himself up and takes to a walk. He thinks he hears the kids yelling in the background – not at him, just lost in their own pain and confusion.

He'd failed. The pulsing pain in his rear – a sharp feeling that went all the way up his spine as he moved – told him that he could not go back and finish things at the moment. His animal senses urged him to find someplace to hide and to heal.

He found Sheik crouched up in a tree. She descended before him and he whimpered at her.

"By Nayru's knickers, what happened to you?" she asked dryly. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and patched. You can tell me all about it when you're ready to be yourself again."

The wolf followed her.


Later that evening, the pair risked a campfire. Link became a man again and reluctantly pulled down his pants for Sheik to examine his wound.

Sheik sighed. "Clipped your tailbone. It's not as bad an injury for you in human form as it is in animal form."

"It still hurts like fire!" Link complained. "And this is degrading. I'm glad Midna isn't here."

"She's probably watching," Sheik said with a wry smile. "Yeah, you're still oozing blood. I'm going to have to pitch-seal this."

She turned to a pot she had on the fire. She'd been lucky enough to find a simple iron pot, not knowing if it was a gift from the Smash City sponsors or if it was something someone discarded in the forest long ago. The Sheikah had gathered some pine sap and had been boiling it into something she thought could salve Link's injuries.

"Have there been any death-announcements?" Link asked, wincing in preparation of medical attention. "I lost my attention with the… you know… blinding pain."

"Not since this morning," Sheik answered.

"I know I didn't get little Link. He fought…very well! I mean, I'm actually proud of him! But…."

"No, from what I caught a glimpse of, he's still healthy."

"I know I injured Pit. There was a lot of blood. I was off my aim, though. I was kind of hoping he bled out quick regardless."

"No such luck," Sheik answered.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Sorry. It's pretty hot. You're going to want to rest on your belly tonight. No sitting. It's going to be hard for you for a while. In fact, you're going to want the doctors take care of you after this is all over."

"I'm gonna be walking funny for the rest of my life!"

"Relax, Hero. I didn't get your danglies."

"Close enough!"

"I have to be able to get back in there," Link sighed.

"They're both on alert," Sheik cautioned. "They'll put up too much of a fight. You'll probably hurt them worse. I don't even think I can get in there…"

"Don't," Link said, gingerly pulling his trousers up and carefully settling himself down on one side. "Outsetter, at least, should be my kill. We are two sides of the spirit of the Legendary Hero."

"As you wish."

"It should be mine to finish the job on his ally, too. I should finish what I started – unless you can sneak in. I wonder how bad I got him. I know the angel looked bad, but all I saw as red and feathers before Outsetter attacked me."

"From what I could see, you tore one of his wings off."

"Oh, no…" Link groaned. "That poor kid! If there was no announcement about him…"

"There was none. I am sorry. However, he probably will not last long. He's suffered blood loss and a lot of general trauma. That' s a limb-loss. The kid will probably die in the night."

Link shivered. "I didn't want to sow that kind of suffering. Everything was supposed to be quick!"

"Rest. Recover. Use your stone as needed. I'm going on a Fox-hunt tomorrow. I'll meet back with you as soon as I can.


Days pass and Link 'd Ordon spends most of his time nursing his wound and just surviving. He forages and not only subsists, but feasts – since he'd grown up in these woods – as altered as they'd become for Ganondorf's games – and knew exactly what berries, leaves and roots were good to eat. He roasted fish on sticks – catching Ordon catfish and greengill with his hands in the absence of a proper rod. He even found a few wild pumpkins, growing from seeds that must have blown in from one of the more farmed areas that the area was currently separated from.

When his trail found Sheik's, he was unprepared for what he saw. In a little woodland grotto she lay, bloody and covered in white feathers. Link – as a man – crept around the trees cautiously, wondering if Pit had caught up to her. A low, slow clucking sound in the shadows told him differently. He tensed and brought out his sword. Red eyes glared at him from under bushes and rocks.

He thought that his era had bred out all of their vicious tendencies… Then again, this was Ganondorf's Brawl – the cuccoos here had probably been "enhanced" in some way. From the tracks and the blood trails that he saw, Link guessed that the main flock had moved off. He remained wary of the feathery lumps in the shade. The Hero knelt down by the Sheikah. Her chest and neck were torn. The bandaging on her arms was in tatters, evidence that she'd tried to shield herself.

Link picked her head up gently. "Sheik," he whispered.

She was unresponsive. He found no pulse. "Sheik?" he asked forlornly. He shook his head before setting her down. He took one of her hands in his own and kissed it. He scrambled up and left the area upon hearing the distinctive robotic sounds of the approaching cleanup-crew.


Link 'd Ordon is more alone than he has ever been. The game is winding down. He wanders back toward the camp he knew that Link Outsetter and Pit Icarus were keeping. He slipped into his wolf's skin. As night gave way to dawn, he heard howling in the hills. That is when they came for him.

Wolfos – the most enormous pack he had ever seen. He tries to fight them off, fang against fang, knowing that there is no space for him to transform and take out his sword. Link likes the battle this way. It is primal. However, they just keep coming. As his jaws drip and his back bristles, he sees a golden creature emerge from the center of the pack.

No…. No!

Link breathes heavily. It cannot be! That's not HIM…is it?

The golden-furred wolf, more than the wolfos surrounding him, fills Link with an utter terror. The image of his mentor reminds him of his loss of honor and of his failures. He runs, wobbly on his ungainly legs after the loss of his tail. Wolf Link bursts upon the camp of his would-be victims. He is cornered against the rocks they stand upon. Bowser lies dead nearby. The golden wolf approaches him again. It does not speak with the ancient voice of the Hero of Time. It, in fact, is silent and simply glares at him.

"I'm sorry, Old Man!" Link barked. "You don't understand! They made me do it!" Images of Midna ran through his mind, of Sheik, of Mario, Pikachu, Samus, and, of course, President Ganondorf. He caught a glimpse of the pair on the rock above him. Pit had one wing unfurled and looked chalk-pale and terribly sick. Link Outsetter looked afraid. He had blood-spatter on his front and his leg was bleeding.

Link knows that he has to survive. He has to finish the job. He has to reach the Triforce. He has to save everyone.

The golden wolf's red eye burns into his spirit. He'd killed the innocent and had let good people die. He'd made people suffer. Pit was dying. He could smell it on the boy – a deep infection and the internal rot of impending death wafted in the air. With his wolf-senses, 'd Ordon could even see it on him. The angel's soul had a touch of blue on it, which was how he saw the dying. Outsetter had lost his innocence. None of the plan had gone well… failure… everything was a failure…

He wanted to fight, but could not bring himself to attack the golden wolf…how could he stand up against Truth? That is when the golden wolf dove in, seizing him by the shoulder. The rest of the wolfos follow suit. Link yelps and paws the air helplessly, feeling his fur torn from his body along with strips of skin. Fangs scrape bone.

He looks up for a moment to see the fading angel aim an arrow of light upon him. He wants to whisper his thanks, but feels blood burbling up in his throat. He feels the arrow's burning impact in his chest as he looks skyward.

He makes a final plea to the heavens, and to everyone. "I'm sorry."