Icarus and the Wolf

By: Aya Anderson

Storyline

If this was the way life was going to be, then one would have to adjust accordingly. Not that anyone had any trouble adjusting, but being a loner had it's disadvantages. Perhaps they could be swayed with a new acquaintance, not that he has any intention of making a friend.

…

Before You Read

Last chapter, Link got an idea. This chapter, progress!

On with the story!

…

Acid Test

When Pit woke up, he was surprised to open his eyes in the living room.

It took a few moments to remember what had happened the previous night, and while he failed to remember the movie, he did remember watching it with Link, but the wolf was nowhere in sight. "Hey?" he began, looking around. He didn't call for Link's name, in case someone was around and heard him.

He stood up and began out the living room. He looked up the hall. He spotted Fox and Captain Falcon down the hall from the living room, talking about something Pit couldn't quite pick up. Then, he heard a thud and he spun around.

At first, he found nothing out of place, until he heard a loud bark. He looked down and spotted Link – and the Palutena's Bow. "I forgot about that," he admitted quietly. Again, Link barked loudly but he didn't stop this time. He spun around in a circling, barking as loud as he could. "Hey, hey, be quiet!"

The wolf didn't stop so Pit picked up the Bow. "What? What do you want, Li-, eh..." He looked over his shoulder. Fox and Captain Falcon had stopped their conversation and were staring at the boy and the dog. "Hey, will you be quiet?" Pit snapped after a moment. The more Link barked, the more people appeared into the hall to examine the commotion. "What? Do you want me to follow you?"

Link stopped barking and then ran to the door, rearing on his hind legs excitedly. For a dog that was once human, he certainly knew his doggy body language. Pit sighed and then walked to the door. "So long as you shut up," he grumbled as he opened the door and Link bolted out.

Pit stayed at the door, thinking maybe Link just needed to go outside to use the bathroom, but when the wolf realized Pit had stayed behind, he threw his head back and howled a different tune. Pit hadn't heard this tune before, but he didn't want to wait for someone to yell at him to quiet his apparent 'pet'. "I'm coming!" he yelled and ran after Link.

…

Pit couldn't understand for the life of him what Link was doing, aside from embarrassing him, until they arrived at the archery training center. Pit looked at the sky and blinked. This would be about the time Link would come to practice his archery.

"You couldn't want me to..." he began, looking back at the wolf. He barked once and then sat down. Pit looked at the target, then back at Link, who perked his ears. The wingless angel sighed, then took his position at a line he had drawn once to help him learn to practice distance archery.

There was a moment of awkwardness as Pit glanced at Link then at the target. He got to one knee and raised his Palutena's Bow. He drew back his hand as though he was drawing an arrow, and the celestial arrow almost appeared on it's own. He aimed it and released the arrow. It flew through the air and injected itself a little below the bullseye.

That was odd. A celestial arrow almost always flew straight. Perhaps he was aiming it further down this time. At least the arrow appeared, meaning he was still drawing power from Palutena. They weren't cut off the completely.

The arrow dissipated and Pit lowered his bow, looking to Link. He barked once. Pit lifted his bow again and began his practice again.

…

A crowd had formed around the archery center by the tenth arrow Pit had fired. Perhaps they were all interested in why the dog was being disruptive. Maybe they thought Pit was approachable now.

Pit had yet to hit the bullseye as he struggled to find what it was he was doing wrong. His balance was far off, and he tipped backwards and forwards. His wings were a key aspect to Pit's uncanny balance, but they were no longer there and thus resulted in Pit's swaying when he tried to fire an arrow.

After some time, he lowered his arrow and rested for a moment. He looked at Link, who looked like he was about to do nothing. Pit exhaled and looked at everyone else who had gathered. "What?" he asked, leaning back on his knee to take the pressure of his front ankle.

No one said anything coherently and backed off, returning to what it was they were supposed to be doing. Everyone had their own schedule, just like Link and Pit once did. Now it seemed like no one kept it anymore. Certainly not Icarus. Certainly not the wolf.

…

Every morning Pit woke up to, Link would always have his bow on hand and would lead him outside to the training areas. Maybe that's what he thought would cheer up Pit. Maybe Link thought getting back into the motion of things would return him to his natural state.

But Pit was clumsy. He was off-balance. Without his wings, his center of gravity had moved. It must have taken days to get used to. It took too long, Pit thought. The things he could do when he was a mere toddler he could hardly perform now.

Link thought he'd get it eventually. Link believed he could.

As the sun rose to greet the morning and settled to welcome the night, and with each passing day, he slowly grew to better wield his weapon. Not like he could before, but he could fight again. He even had the confidence to face off Zero in battle. (At Link's request. It was Zelda who translated the wolf's odd behavior.)

Pit didn't win, but he sure as hell did some damage. He was sure of it.

Snake taught him how to throw a right cross (just for the hell of it. It was a conversation that lead one thing to another) and Zero even jumped in with a few pointers of her own.

Only once was Pit ever reminded of his limb loss, and that was when he could reach something high above his head. It was just a box of crackers that Captain Falcon had been eating and left up on the top shelf so no one else would reach it. Really, Peach bought it for everyone and that was that. Pit was going to have some.

There was no counter under this shelf. Still, Pit tried. He jumped and reached, with no avail. He once tried to get on the kitchen table and leap for the box of crackers, attempting to cross a two foot jump from the table to the cabinet. Instead, he crashed into the shelves and nearly broke them.

"Dammit!" In a bout of anger, he picked up a nearby glass and threw it across the room. It shattered against the wall and the pieces fell to the ground like crystal. Just like his wings did, when he fell from the sky.

Pit was quiet for a moment, then realized what he had done. He ran to the shards and began to gather up the pieces in his hands, careful not to cut himself. When Ike came running in, with Peach and the Ice Climbers behind him, Pit looked up and smiled nervously. "I tripped," he lied.

He didn't know he was capable of lying. Maybe because he never had to.

…

Link thought Pit was ready. The boy knew how to fight again, and he could handle off like he could before. This time, instead of leading Pit to the training areas, he lead him out to the front gate. The wingless angel stopped at the gate and Link turned around, almost knowing Pit would question his intentions.

Instead of asking where Link was leading him, Pit asked, "So, we're going to look for your sword now, right?" The wolf almost looked surprise, a nearly human look on his face, but instead, he turned and started out the gate. "Just you and me? Zelda won't be accompanying us?"

Link turned and snorted, then continued down past the gate. Pit gripped Palutena's Bow just a little tighter, then started out after Link. Did he even have a lead? Did Link even know where he was going? Pit didn't question Link's authority. It didn't matter to him one way or another.

If they ever got lost, they could always come back. The Kargarok could not be so far with the sword. Where else would it go? To another nest?

Pit shook his head. That damn bird. It was weird to remember his falling and the burning of his wings, yet the image of the Kargarok was blurry and he could hardly recall what it looked like. He couldn't even remember the colour of the designs on Link's sheath. Were they white, or yellow? Or maybe brown?

The former angel stepped after the wolf. Link had to know where they were going, otherwise he wouldn't be leading him right? Why did he even need Pit's help? Perhaps because Zelda would not be joining them.

Maybe this was why Link had been having him train so hard. To help him on his quest. Was that all Link cared about? That damn sword? Turning himself back into a human?

Pit wasn't sure what to think, or even feel, anymore. His wings were gone and he found it hard to talk to anyone like he used to. And the dog. The damn dog. Unreadable. Cold and indifferent, like he didn't care about anyone. Link never really did seem to care about anything.

But why did that bother him now?

But Icarus said nothing as he proceeded after the wolf.

…

After Notes

Cooleo! This chapter is done! I would love to thank you all for your wonderful reviews. Really, I do appreciate them so much. It's truly great to hear such wonderful things. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far.

Love it? Hate it? Wanna read it again? Let me know! The review box is right there!