It said, "Please don't hurt me, good sir."
Link had never heard a wolfos talk before, and it took him by surprise. He did not sheathe his sword, but he held it at his side. Shaking his head, Link regained his composure and talked to the creature. "What kind of trick are you playing?" he asked suspiciously.
Confused, the creature said, "I'm not playing any tricks on you. I don't want to die, nor do I want you to kill me."
"But, you're a wolfos. You're a vicious, manipulative creature that wants to kill and eat me."
With that, he put its paw up to his forehead. It said, "I think I know what's going on here. You assume that, just because I'm a wolfos, I'll attack and hurt you."
Link nodded, slightly tightening the grip on his sword.
"Well, that's simply not true. You must have me confused with another breed of wolfos. We don't kill anything. Instead, we wait for the sun to heat our trees and cook anything that wanders into our forest. That is how we survive."
"Who is this 'we' that you speak of?" Link asked, more suspicious than before.
"Why, I mean the pack of wolfos that lives here in this forest."
As if on cue, a number of wolfos suddenly appeared behind the first one. Overwhelmed, Link gripped his sword even tighter. His knuckles turned white. However, he did not strike; he could not. The Master Sword fell out of his hands.
Once the blade fell to the ground, the first wolfos ran over to Link and gently held his left hand. Link had no time to react before he said "My, your hand looks burnt. Did you rest it on one of the trees?"
Again, Link nodded.
"Well," the wolfos began, "we've got to do something about that." He started leading Link into the trees. "This is a common problem, especially among the younger wolfos. We've got just the thing for you a little further back."
Link had little choice but to follow. The wolfos had a strong grip on the Hylian's hand, though he hardly felt it. Besides, without a sword for defense, Link was basically useless. Trees followed little pattern along their route; no person would find this path, except by the most random chance.
Deep in the forest, Link's wolfos led him to a hollowed-out tree. Inside, cauldrons and pots bubbled, carrying a variety of colored liquids. A single wolfos sat inside, watching the concoctions. This one was far more distinctive than the others, clearly older than the rest. Her fur was greyer than the other wolfos and, in several small patches, it did not exist.
She sharply noticed the approaching group. Link's tread was too heavy to avoid detection. She growled for a moment, hearing and smelling the intruder. Seeing Link led by the hand, her face softened. She recognized that he was not here for malicious purposes. Rather, he was around for care.
She too rushed over to Link and grabbed his other hand, his good hand. Her grip was much stronger than he expected. She thought that Link was right-handed, and she wanted to take no chances with the traveler. In what little light there was, she noticed the shield and recognized that he had a warrior's build. The hood confused her, but she did not question it.
Gruffly, she said "That will be enough, my child. I will take him from here."
The other wolfos released Link's left hand and bowed. Respectfully, he said, "As you wish, my lady."
She led Link into the tree, and it seemed bigger on the inside. Despite being composed of metal, it was deceptively cool inside this tree. Even with fires burning, none of the wolfos felt hot. This one was no exception. The tree had two chairs, and she sat Link down in one of them, while still holding fast to his hand.
Questioningly, she asked, "So, what brings you here?"
Link responded simply, "My hand is burnt, and one of you dragged me here."
She rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, that one grabbed you without a second thought? He's utterly useless as a guardian. I swear that he'd bring anything back here, no matter how dangerous it is."
Link nodded and said, "I understand. He didn't even give me time to grab my sword again."
Quickly, her eyes narrowed. Fiercely, she questioned, "Sword? What do you mean 'grab your sword?' Are you trying to kill us, boy?"
Link recognized his mistake. He quickly said, "No, no, no. I'm not here to harm any of you. I didn't even know that you were here. I'm trying to take care of a cloaked figure that just came into the forest."
She knew what he was talking about and asked, incredulously, "You mean to say that you're looking to fight with Statua?"
"I don't know if that's his name, but I want to stop him from hurting this forest. I come from a forest myself, and I don't want to see anything bad happen to this one."
Reseptica had no other forests, at least anymore, so the wolfos knew that something was awry. Eyes still suspicious, she asked, "Where do you come from?"
Link said, "I come from the land of Hyrule, to the south. More specifically, I come from the woods in its southeast corner, Kokiri Forest."
While the wolfos didn't know what Link was talking about, she knew that he was telling the truth. Still interested, she asked, "What brings you to our land, Hylian?"
Link bowed his head in shame for a moment. He said, "I let a great threat escape my land, and he said that he was coming to this land. I think that this Statua is working for him too, since he was talking with another cloaked figure, a really slimy one too."
She knew exactly who Link was talking about, but she decided not to tell him. If he came to fight against Statua and failed, then there would be no chance for him against the other one. She paused for a moment and said, "I don't know who this threat you talk about is, but I must warn you that Statua is a very powerful foe in his own right."
He did not want to be overconfident, so Link asked, "What makes him so strong?"
"As his name might imply, he is a living statue."
Link momentarily froze, thinking that she was referring to that unnamed statue from the cave. Cautiously, he asked, "Is he triangular in nature?"
The wolfos looked at Link rather confusedly. She responded, "No. Statua isn't triangular at all. Instead, he's very square. Hardly any of him is anything but rectangular."
Link nodded. He knew very little about this opponent, and now he recognized that his own sword would not be very useful against him. With an air of desperation, Link asked, "Does he have any soft spot, where I could use my sword?"
She did not want to respond to Link for a moment. If he was able to topple Statua, then he was a dangerous threat to the other wolfos. He could systematically destroy them. Reliant on the trees for camouflage and food, they had no real combat experience. Diplomatically, she looked at Link and said, "Promise me something."
Taken aback, Link asked, "What do you mean?"
"I would like a little reassurance. Consider this a failsafe, young man."
"What am I promising?"
"It's simple really. If you fight Statua, you mustn't mention any of our secrets. Also, if you do manage to defeat him, you will leave this forest immediately."
"Why do you want me to do that?"
"Child, I don't trust anybody not a part of my clan, and I would like to see us live to see another day in peace."
Link swallowed and took a deep breath. "If those are your demands, then I accept your terms. Now, tell me, what is this creature's weakness?"
She nodded. "Very well," she said, "The only weakness this thing has is its face. The rest of its body is covered in stone armor, but its face is left bare and is subject to attack. I do not know if it is soft enough for your sword to do damage against, but it is your one hope."
Link bowed slightly and said, "Thank you very much, err…madam. Can you do me one other favor, while we're here?"
"I suppose that you want me to heal your wounded hand, don't you?"
Link nodded, saying, "I would indeed. That's my sword-hand, after all."
Now the wolfos was taken aback. She asked, "You're left-handed?"
Confused, Link said, "Yeah. Why's that a big deal?"
"Boy, you could have used that hand to strike at me."
Link paused and then said, "I guess I could have, but why would I? You've all been so nice to me."
She was struck with Link's demeanor and choice of words. Still, she refused to let her guard down. She changed the subject and said, "You know, it was a foolish decision to touch one of the trees with your dominant hand. It's always better to try and do something like that with your off-hand."
He nodded and said, "I know. I guess I wasn't thinking when I did that."
"That, child, is a bit of an understatement."
Link could not argue with that assessment. Instead, he tried to get help for his hand again. He said, "So, is there anything you can do to help me with this burn?"
She said, "We have a twofold cure. First, we submerge it in this potion." As she spoke, she pointed to one of the bubbling pots. A sickly green liquid filled this one. "Then, we put one of these around your hand." She pointed to a series of bandages hanging from a hook.
He smiled and said, "Well, let's take care of my hand then."
She looked him squarely in the eye and said, "Very well, child. Still, this will be very painful."
Link nodded and said nothing. He was ready to heal, no matter how painful it was. If he couldn't grasp his sword, then he was completely useless in combat. The only other object he had was a shield, and it was not going to be enough to chip away at a man made of stone.
The healing process was very precise, but it hurt. Link nearly cried out in agony a few times, but he managed to hold himself together. He wanted this process to go as quickly as it could, and saying that he hurt would only slow it down.
Several hours later, the sun was beginning to rise, and Link was finishing up the healing process. His left hand was tightly bound in wrappings. The old wolfos was wrapping it up. However, she knew that Link would be trying to fight shortly and the bandages would shortly fall off.
She told Link to stay put while she went to another tree secluded away. As she searched, Link sat patiently. Whatever this wolfos was doing, he trusted her. After all, she had come to trust Link in the healing process. She admired his inner fortitude during the painful healing practice. She chose the much faster but more painful course, and he did no more than grit his teeth in complaint.
After several minutes, she returned and tossed something in Link's lap. She muttered, "Put these on. They'll keep your bandages on." He examined them and noticed that they were gloves. Brown leather and slightly worn, they resembled a pair of fingerless gauntlets he wore before. The fingers were the most damaged part of the gloves, and they would be the first part to fray. Still, they were a fine pair of gloves.
Link put them on and smiled. They fit perfectly. Still curious, Link asked, "Where did you get these from? These aren't the kind of thing that you would wear."
She chuckled and sighed for a moment. "Many moons ago," she began, "There was a Reseptican man who came here. I was just a little pup at the time, but he was friendly. He would play with us in the forest after dark, when it cooled down.
"One day, he tried to show me what his world was like, world outside of this metallic forest. So, we went and he even took me to the other side of the field, the less wild part. I was intrigued, and so I followed him, staying close to him all the time.
"Before too long, we reached his village and he tried to show me to his family. They chased me away, and saw where I was going. I wanted nothing to do with him after that, but he kept coming back to the forest. Very slowly, he won back my trust.
"Then, some years later, he was later than usual, and so I got a little worried. I heard the sound of footsteps like his, and I ran to see him. However, I could tell that something was wrong. He told me that I had to be careful and that there was going to be trouble. Though he kept trying to get me to leave, I didn't. Shortly after his last warning, I saw why.
"A band of other Resepticans came towards the forest. Some carried torches and others carried swords. They had come to try and attack us. That man had run ahead to try and defend us. I could see that he was outmatched and outmanned. So, I ran to gather a few other wolfos, and we tried to even the odds.
"I fought alongside them, and I wanted to do everything I could to protect my friend. In the attack, I suffered a few burns, and that's why I'm missing fur in these places. They've never healed. Fighting bravely, we managed to push the crowd backwards.
"For one moment, I let my guard down, and one of the other men tried to attack me. Had he struck me, I would surely have died. However, my friend threw himself in front of the attack. It wounded him severely, and that infuriated me. In my rage, I nearly tore the head off of that man, and he fled.
"Recognizing victory, I tried to tend to my friend, but I was unable to successfully save him. He died in my arms that night, bleeding heavily. That is why I turned to studying potions and healing, so nothing like that would happen to my fellow wolfos. Those gloves, they were his, the ones he died in. I guess you could say that you remind me of him, because he was so friendly to me and never once cried out in pain, no matter how badly I hurt him that night."
By this point, she was nearly in tears and had gone to all-fours in order to stabilize herself. Genuinely moved by this story, Link started to tear up. He carried the spirit of another warrior with him in his gloves, and he would be glad to try and defend this forest. Still, Link knew that he had to do something to express his deep appreciation for that story.
He lunged towards the old wolfos and wrapped his arms around her. He whispered a simple phrase into her ears: "Thank you." The words hardly came out of his throat, but they were all that needed to be said. They expressed a gratitude that could not be expressed in words. Alongside that gratitude was the desire to fight alongside that fallen man to defend the forest again.
She looked up at Link and smiled slightly. "You know," she started, "That's exactly what he would have done." After a moment, she regained her composure and looked over at her pots again. She said, "Sit down, because I've got another surprise for you."
Suddenly, they could hear someone knocking at the tree. She smiled and said, "That must be our little friend right now. Come in."
The first wolfos came to the front of the tree. Walking on his hind legs, he was clearly hiding something behind his back. He bowed his head slightly before softly saying, "I come bearing gifts for the young adventurer."
The potion wolfos responded, "Thank you, Martin. You may give it to him."
Martin bowed more fully and said, "As you wish, my lady." Then, he turned to Link and said, "You dropped this, dear traveler." Presenting him with the Master Sword, Martin continued, "You ought to be more careful with this. It is a fine blade, having an air of light magic surrounding it. It would be a pity if it fell into the wrong hands."
Link grasped the sword and stood up for a moment. Making sure that he was far enough away from the two wolfos, he gripped it tightly and swung the blade several times. He was simply testing his hand out, but the others saw a taste of the skill Link possessed. Confident in his hand's strength, Link turned to the two wolfos. Seeing their shocked faces, he asked, "What did I do?"
Again, the elder wolfos spoke and said, "Child, you are quite skilled with that blade. Maybe you do stand a chance against Statua, after all."
Blushing slightly, Link sheathed his sword and started to rub the back of his neck with his left hand. He did not know how he wanted to respond, so he just said nothing. He knew that he was skilled, but he still wanted to maintain an air of modesty. That was a defense Link used to keep himself humble.
"Child, rumor has spread this way of a swordsman of great skill. I was curious to know if that might be you. What is your name?"
Surprised, he answered, "My name? My name is Link, if that means anything."
She paused for a moment and collected her thoughts. Muttering slightly, she said, "I thought that it was something else, but that sounds close enough. If you are this swordsman and you live up to the hype, you stand a chance against Statua. Still, I would give him an edge, because he is far craftier than he appears. Though he is slow-witted, he is a very capable fighter. Be careful when you fight against him, understand?"
Link nodded and said, "I certainly will. You can count on me, Martin and, err…what is your name?"
The wolfos was surprised and said, "Child, you should be careful. If I hadn't gotten to know you by now, I would have slapped you for your lack of manners. Still, my name is Maria."
Link reaffirmed what he was saying. "Maria, Martin, you two can count on me. I'll be careful when I fight against this Statua guy, whoever he is."
Maria knew that there was nothing that she could do to dissuade Link. Like all adventurers, he would at least promise to be careful. She could tell that his type would throw itself in front of harm's way in order to protect new friends. He was not just a warrior; he was also a hero.
