Alaia Skyhawk: (Singing) Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?! Big bad wolf! Big bad wolf! Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?! Arkai's gonna freak out! XD

I don't own the Zelda series or anything associated with it. I do however own this story and any OCs, so please don't steal them.

-

Chapter 21: Lord of the Forest Realm

-

Two pairs of eyes, hazel and grey, peered carefully over the edge of the tree hollow in which their owners sat. Down on the forest floor some twenty feet below, a steady stream of wolverines were slipping away into the surrounding forest. Even as they watched they saw the creatures form up into hunting parties, a number of slightly smaller wolverines, this year's cubs, falling in behind.

As the flow thinned out and then stopped, Kir'iran turned to the Hyrulian man with him, his expression grave.

"You must go now. Remember you have perhaps two hours at best before they come back; so be careful but also quick. Don't dawdle out of fear once you enter his lair."

Arkai looked at that close, huge thicket; any number of things passing through his mind not least the sudden sense of terror in his gut. Sitting here waiting for the time had been one thing, but now that the time was here the urge to run away was near overwhelming... Then again with the forest outside this area now full of wolverines, running probably wouldn't be a very good idea.

Getting up in preparation for climbing down, he took a deep breath.

"Here's to hoping I don't mess up..."

As he put a shaking foot over the edge of the hollow and found his first foothold, he paused when his guide spoke.

Kir'iran gave him the tiniest of smiles.

"Think about the people you are doing this for, and how much they believe in you; like Riana... Trust me, it helps. I speak from experience."

The image of a little wide-eyed girl, mop of brown curls arrayed around her innocent smile, came to the forefront of Arkai's mind. Almost immediately he felt a little better; well he stopped shaking at least. Giving Kir'iran a nod of thanks Arkai descended the tree trunk, unhooking his bow ready to use before slowly edging towards the thicket.

The forest was deathly silent, with not a trace of birdsong to be heard among the boughs overhead. The forest floor was utterly still, no sign of animals, nothing but the occasion wind-stirred motion of a leaf. It seemed as though he could almost have been the only living creature in the world, with nothing but his own pounding heart for company. Creeping towards the thicket he began to run through the possibilities in his mind for fighting the leader of the Wolverines. Kir'iran had said he knew Orphus was bigger than the rest of his kind, and that he could speak, but that didn't give him anything more to go by than use his bow and dodge up trees as was his current plan.

He reached the edge of the thicket, pausing to glance back at the tree where Kir'iran waited. He could only hope now that what he was about to attempt didn't get the both of them, and the people of the village, killed. Taking a deep breath Arkai ducked under a low branch and eased between the bushes that edged the thicket, doing his best to remain as quiet as possible while slowly delving deeper into the glade within. The glade seemed almost idyllically peaceful, faint rays from the setting sun glistening off motes of dust and tiny insects in the air. A gently bubbling stream chuckled within its bed; the moist scent of wet earth rising from its banks to tickle his nose beneath the smell of the bushes that was hopefully still obscuring him from detection. The calm within the thicket almost made him drop his guard, almost but not quite, and it was just as well given what happened next.

He continued through the glade, eyes scanning his surroundings in search of any sign of his target. It seemed strangely empty, especially since he was now certain he must be close to its centre. He'd just began to cross the central clearing, towards what looked like a large nest of leaves, when a disgusted snort from behind him made him freeze.

"It would appear I have an unexpected visitor in my lair... How irritating, I do so hate uninvited guests..." Arkai began to turn with agonising slowness, a huge canine snout visible poking out of a large corpse of undergrowth; a snout that was easily big enough to swallow him whole. It was then a second snout appear and spoke in the exact same voice as the first. "Who sent this pup to face me? I am Orphus: leave now and I will let you live, although I cannot vouch for what my pack will do to you for your trespass here should they find you."

As Arkai watched wide-eyed, two heads emerged followed by a single canine body. The creature towered over him, as high as a three-storey house; amber eye amid golden brown fur glittering with amusement.

Arkai, who at this point was suffering from knee shaking terror, pulled an arrow from his quiver and took aim at one of the two huge noses.

"I-I am Arkai, and I'm here to tell you to leave these woods and never return!"

One head came down to eye level and regarded him.

"...Or what?"

Arkai kept the bow aimed at that head, shaking so much his arms were trembling.

"O-Or I'll d-destroy you!"

Both of Orphus' two heads reeled back with laughter.

"So you would try and hurt me? I am the Lord of the Forest Realm! That pin won't even make it through my fur to scratch my hide!"

As the wolverine continued to laugh at him, Arkai, despite his fear, felt a deep sense of anger welling up from inside. So what if he was so scared he was practically crapping himself? He came here to protect the villagers, and so should have at least been taken seriously and not treated as a joke.

Arkai adjusted his aim, eyes narrowing as he fed that anger into banishing fear, arms becoming rock steady as he prepared to shoot.

"Well then, my arrows will just have to get rid of it!"

His eyes narrowed as he release an arrow that blazed into a fiery comet to streak through the air, blasting a sizable patch of fur off Orphus' nose while the arrow itself sank deep into the beast's flesh. Orphus' laughed was suddenly choked off into a howl of anger, the immense wolverine flying into a rage and lunging towards the Hyllian.

Seeing the twin gaping sets of fangs heading straight for him, Arkai reacted out of pure instinct and grabbed something from his belt. Seconds later two muzzles ploughed deep gouges into the soil of the forest floor, while clinging to the side of a nearby tree using the clawshot in his right hand, Arkai then dropped to the branch below him and readied another arrow. He fired again, the next fire arrow, followed by two more, taking Orphus in the shoulder.

With a snarl Orphus charged at the tree, his heads level with where Arkai stood. The Hyllian quickly dodged behind the trunk and along a far branch, the entire thing shaking as two set of jaws took hold of it. Again Arkai clawshotted out of range, looking back just in time to see Orphus rip the other tree from the ground and hurl it towards him. He jumped clear of his current tree, letting off three more fire arrows before once again using his clawshot to get out of the way of the enraged beast.

This time Orphus simply threw himself into the truck to try and cause Arkai to fall, the tree the young man had picked this time being much thicker than the first, too thick for the wolverine to tear down. Arkai continued to pepper him with fire arrows, several striking close to the beast's eyes causing him to wince backwards before returning.

Sweat starting to pour from his forehead from the effort, Arkai went to send off another fire arrow, blinking in shock when a plain shaft thudded off of Orphus' fur to drop to the forest floor... He was out of magic...

Orphus, seeing this, spoke in a voice full of bloodlust.

"You precious magic has failed you, while I still stand barely harmed. You have now lost what little advantage you may have had over me, but now with nothing but simple strength to serve you, you are doomed!" Jaws darted outwards, screaming. "Prepare to die, mortal!"

In the barest heartbeat Arkai saw those fangs racing towards him, the arrow peppered face and it's glaring amber eyes drawing his gaze at the last moment. In seconds an idea came to him, one that later he'd wonder at himself being crazy enough to even try. He dodged to the left, just enough so that Orphus' right head seized the branch beside him. The next moment that head was in the air shaking madly trying to dislodge the Hyllian clinging to the side of it just below the head's right eye.

Arkai gripped his arrow-handhold tightly, feet wedged against the bases of other arrows below him where they protruded from scotched flesh. When he saw his moment, when the head's movement wouldn't throw him off, he drew his sword and jammed it deep into the eye just above him. The head shrieked in agony, the other wailing in shock. Ripping his sword free, Arkai dropped to the ground and raced out of reach of the convulsing head before turning to watch. The thrashing weakened swiftly, until finally Orphus' right head hung limp... dead.

He stared, barely believing that his crazy stunt had actually worked. Orphus now had only one head left with which to attack, and the other now useless head was slowing him down. Flipping his sword in his left hand, Arkai regarded the injured wolverine.

"Not so cocky now, huh? Who needs magic when they have courage and determination on their side?! I'll finish you off, without my magic. If you think your strength is so great then why don't you prove it?!"

Taking hold of his sword with both hands, Arkai charged towards the forest lord with a yell; Orphus dragging himself round to face him with his single remaining head snarling. That head darted at the Hyllian when he came into range, slamming sideways after him when he rolled clear. Fangs bearing down on Arkai as he ran at a tree, the jaws slammed into the trunk as surprised amber eyes watched the Hyllian man springboard off the same trunk to launch himself right at Orphus' most vulnerable point... his remaining eyes.

Arkai was flung through the air to slam into the forest floor, tumbling through fallen leaves and bushes before rolling to a stop as a heavy thud and a mournful howl filled the air. A strange shiver seemed to rush outwards, silence falling as the potential hero dragged himself out of the bushes where he'd ended up. Orphus lay at the edge of the clearing, utterly still, Arkai's sword still jammed into one of the left head's eyes. The undamaged eye was dull, lifeless... The Lord of the Forest Realm was dead...

Panting from both magical and physical exhaustion, wincing at the innumerable scraped and bruises he'd picked up during the fight, Arkai stumbled over to retrieve his sword and what usable arrows he could. He then left the clearing as the last of the day's light faded, heading through the darkness to where his guide would still be waiting for him.

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

"I knew it! I knew you were the Legendary Hero!!"

Arkai bit back a gasp of pain, wincing as a brown haired little girl slammed into him. It was now mid-morning, the day after he and Kir'iran had headed for Orphus' lair. Having spent most of the night in the tree hollow, with the local man treating the Hyrulian's injuries, the two had made a slow trek back through a forest devoid of any sign of the rest of the Wolverines... It would seem that with their master's death the creatures had vanished, the strange shiver that had passed with the creature's death being the likely cause of the disappearance. Here and now, back in the village, the only thing he had to deal with now was a rather boisterous little girl.

Seeing Arkai's wince, Kir'iran stepped in and lifted the girl away from him, setting her down beside her mother.

"Riana, don't be rough. He got hurt quite a bit during his fight with Orphus, so go easy on him. I've tended his injuries, but he'll still need to rest a bit."

Riana looked up at him piteously.

"But... but..."

She held up a rather limp necklace made of little white flowers, it being clear she'd wanted to give them to Arkai. Smiling, Kir'iran lifted them from her grasp before heading over to a surprised Arkai and dropping the necklace over his head.

Looking down at the string of flowers hanging down the front of his tunic, Arkai smiled at her.

"Thanks, Riana, it's very nice of you to make this for me."

She beamed at him, held where she was by her mother's hand on her shoulder.

"I'll make some more for you tomorrow! I can get the pretty flowers in the forest now, since the nasty Wolverines are gone!"

A faint chime caused everyone to pause, a ripple in the air nearby turning into a stone doorway filled with swirling light. When he saw the expression on Arkai's face at seeing it, Kir'iran knew the Hyrulian man recognised it.

"It would seem it is time for you to go, friend... Your own lands call you home now that you have saved ours. It would appear you have passed your first trial."

Arkai looked at the door, swallowing, not from nerves, but from the lump in his throat... He only been here three days, but already he would miss this place and these people; people he would likely never see again.

He sighed, walking over to the now tearful little girl and crouching down to her level.

"I guess this is goodbye, Riana. You be good for your mother, and help look after everyone for me, ok?"

Tears welling up in her eyes, Riana sniffled before replying.

"...Ok... You take care too!"

Ruffling her hair one last time and pausing to shake Kir'iran's offered hand, Arkai walked to the doorway as the villagers began to call out their farewells, stopping to wave one last time before he stepped through and the door vanished...

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

Alaia Skyhawk: Aww, cute ending. On a side note one reviewer asked if Arkai would do stunts in fights, the springboard off the tree trunk was my idea in response to that. I hope you liked it :D

Also, for a picture of Orphus just check out my fanartcentral gallery. I posted a picture of him at the same time as this chapter :)