Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. Any and all OCs and original locations belong to me unless specifically stated to belong to someone else.


The Hunt
Chapter 50


Erd smiled to himself as he walked away from the infirmary, not believing for a second that Sheik had been asked to relieve him of watch duties. The boy was painfully transparent sometimes, but Erd didn't have the heart to tell him that. Of course he'd want to spend as much time with his partner (in all senses of the word) as possible. Whatever they got up to while he was away...well, it wasn't his business.

Paranoia didn't come easily to Erd. He'd seen the physical changes Link was going through, but so far he had yet to see a difference in personality or anything that would make Erd consider him a danger, either to himself or others. The restraints, in his opinion, were unnecessary, but they seemed to be the only thing stopping Impa and the other senior hunters from putting a bullet in his skull, so they would stay on for now. In the meantime, he was perfectly willing to give the two some privacy. Anyway, he had some cultures to see to anyway, so it was as good a time as any to have a look.

He was brought out of his musings by movement ahead, and a hunter came into the hall, heading the opposite way. The hunter paused, glancing up at him...and grinned. Erd did not.

When did this clown get back? he wondered, continuing on his way and hoping to the fates that the other human wouldn't—

"Good evening, Erd," Iteos said, standing directly in his way and refusing to move, even when Erd made efforts to bypass him. "Strange to see you out and about at this hour. You're usually in the lab this late, aren't you?"

"I was on my way there now, Mister Iteos," Erd said politely. "Good evening to you."

"Now, now, no need to be so formal, Erd," Iteos said, putting a much unwelcome hand on his shoulder. "We rarely get any time to speak. I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for looking at the schematics I submitted last spring. I heard they weren't exactly what you were looking for?"

Erd glared at the hand, but Iteos refused to take it away. The hunter was taller than him by half a head, and definitely outweighed him in terms of muscle, but... "Yes, I'm afraid your nerve agent was a bit more...pain-inducing than what we had in mind. We're trying to ease suffering, after all, not increase it."

Iteos chuckled. "Well, I can only apologise for that. Remnant of my past, you know. Sometimes we were called upon to...make things rather painful before finishing our targets. Something of my own design, that agent, but I'm sure you can find some use for it at some point. After all, at some point we can't worry too much about the beasts' suffering either, can we?"

"I do not involve myself in the business of hunters," Erd said, trying to pull away, only to find Iteos gripping his shoulder a little harder than necessary. His heart was starting to beat harder and harder. "I only help design and build your tools."

"Which we very much appreciate," Iteos said, leaning closer so he could look directly into Erd's eyes. "In fact, I'd like to show you my...appreciation...in a more personal manner, if you understand?"

Erd fought the urge to roll his eyes at the older man. Tact, subtlety, and knowing your target were clearly not key disciplines in whatever miserable little assassination school had churned out this pathetic specimen. "Thanks, but no thanks," he said, finally succeeding in shaking the hand off his shoulder, missing the slight glint of annoyance in Iteos' eyes as he did so. "But I'm not particularly interested in that sort of thing, least of all with you. Good night, Mister Iteos."

He tried to step around Iteos once more, and the world lurched. He grunted as his back slammed into the stone wall behind him, Iteos' forearm braced against his throat, the other human's face inches from his own.

"I tried to be nice," Iteos growled. His breath stank of strong spirits, almost making Erd gag. "But I have just spent several weeks stuck in that miserable tower, and I'm not going to take no for an answer. You and I are going to have a good time, understand?"

Erd thought back to his childhood. The years spent in misery travelling from village to village in Lumina, reviled for the intellect he and his brother possessed. Treated like monsters just for being smarter than the average... Iteos' threats, while unpleasant, were far from the worst Erd had gotten...or lived through. He was only glad it wasn't his brother Iteos had run into—Erd would do anything to spare Ard more of this. He gave Iteos a slight grin, and let his hand ghost slightly over the rapidly forming bulge between Iteos' legs.

Good gods, he thought. He actually gets off on this sort of thing...

"That's it," Iteos said, eyes half-lidded. "Good boy..." He eased the pressure off Erd's throat a little, which was exactly what Erd needed.

"Not really," he told Iteos, and grabbed him...and squeezed.

Iteos didn't even make a sound. His face went white, eyes bulging, breath hissing out of his throat like a whistle as he let Erd go. The scientist pushed away from the wall, let go of the hunter's crotch, and delivered a knee to the site instead. The hunter went down like a sack of potatoes, whimpering and holding his damaged pride.

Erd rubbed his throat. There'd be bruises, he knew. And that meant a worried Ard, which was just about the worst thing in the world next to a sad Ard. Crouching next to Iteos, he waited until the man was looking back at him, at which he delivered the best death-stare he could muster, and said quietly:

"You're drunk, so I'm willing to let this go. But if I hear about anything like this involving you again, I'll be forced to tell Impa. We both know how she feels about rapists, don't we? So, I think it's in your best interest to go to your cell, and sleep this off." He went to leave, thought of something, and spoke once more. "Oh, and stay the hell away from my brother. Understand?"

To his credit, Iteos had the intelligence to nod at that. Erd smiled and patted his shoulder. "Good boy."

He whistled happily all the way back to the lab, wondering if he could fashion some sort of skin-cream to hide the forming bruises.


Alpha

The word was scrawled on the blackboard in the dungeon. Impa looked at it thoughtfully before replacing the chalk in its holder, turning to the gathered hunters.

"As good a name as any, I'd say," she told them, nodding to the remains of the beast's skull, placed in the middle of the table.

A giant hole in the back of it told the tale of the monster's death. The smell of the carcass had gotten so bad along with its decomposition that they'd burned the thing before it spread some sort of sickness on top of whatever Link was suffering through. Kaura and the twins had gotten about as much information as they needed from it anyway, and had composed an elaborate series of sketches of its anatomy.

"Alpha," Ayla said, as if tasting the word. "I like it. Makes it clear what it is." She paused. "Er...what is it, anyway?"

Impa nodded to Erd, who stepped forward. He rubbed at his throat, clearing it. from beneath his high collar, the edge of a bruise could be seen. She frowned, and made a note to ask him about it later.

"From what my brother, Doctor Kaura, and myself have been able to deduce based on our tests and comparisons with blood samples taken from Brother Hunter Link and the lycanthrope Bob, currently housed in our dungeons, we are looking at the original source of the lycanthrope infection." He pointed at the skull with his pen. "More precisely, the infection is in its saliva, transferred with a bite."

Kafei hummed. "So, all this time trying to find its vector has been—"

"An utter waste, yes," Erd said, nodding. "Turns out that these things that are the ones keeping you lot employed."

Mana sighed loudly. "So...Link is going to turn into a lycan, then? It bit him—"

"Not quite," Kaura said, also stepping forward. She had three pieces of paper, on which she'd sketched a series of different-looking circles in seemingly nonsensical patterns. Some were empty, others half-filled, while the rest were completely filled. "Now, I have tried to simplify this as much as I can without compromising the meaning, so please bear with me."

She pointed to the first paper, with the empty circles. "Consider these the cells of a completely average Hylian, untouched by chronic disease and such. Unless he contracts some sort of illness that does permanent damage to his body's chemistry, they will remain like this until they slowly lose the ability to replicate themselves, and he ages, and dies."

She pointed to the next paper, with the completely filled circles. "These are a lycanthrope's cells, samples thoughtfully provided by Bob in the dungeons—and speaking of whom, I hope you are planning to put him out of his misery at some point in the near future—"

"We will," Impa assured her, not willing to endure another tongue-lashing for the highly unethical experiments she was ordering. She had scheduled for Bob to be terminated within the next two weeks, after the last of his cultures could be analysed.

"Good—now, as I said, these are the cells of a lycanthrope after a full transformation following the initial infection, delivered by a bite, as Erd pointed out. I do not know for certain how long this transformation takes as I have not witnessed it in person, but according to several accounts by old hunters taken from your archives, it takes little longer than a week or two for it to occur. And it is easy to tell something is wrong due to the way this disease twists and contorts the sufferer's body to the wolf-like facsimile that most of you have spent your lives killing." She let her gaze sweep across the gathered hunters, waiting for their agreement, which came in small nods.

Hafthor made a sound. "Link was bitten over two weeks ago..."

"And has yet to turn into something that even resembles Bob," Erd said. "True, some...features have appeared. His seemingly miraculous healing ability, for one. His entire neck, save for his vocal chords, regenerated in a matter of days. His teeth, as well, have become more appropriate for a carnivore than an omnivore. His eyes have changed colour, and his hair has grown a little thicker."

"He has also," Kaura continued, "admitted to gaining an enhanced sense of smell, hearing, and night vision, to the point where it rivals and even exceeds that of a Sheikah. He also appears to have become slightly near-sighted, but not by much."

"So, he's changing...but by how much?" Elenwe looked impatient, glaring at the two of them. "Are you ever going to get to the point?"

"My point," Kaura said firmly as she pointed to the last piece of paper, with the half-filled circles, "is this. This is the current state of his body—from the illustration, you can see that it is different from that of a lycanthrope like Bob."

"But that can change, can't it?" Kiro asked. He had an uneasy frown on his face, looking between the papers and the Alpha's skull. "Or is there something unique about it?"

"Good question," Kaura said, nodding. "There is, actually, something different at play. Because this illustration?" She pointed at the half-circles. "It could also be used to describe the Alpha."

All eyes in the room landed on the skull at that moment, some in disbelief, some in horror, some in vague interest.

"With one key difference, of course," Kaura continued. "For one, this Alpha used to be a human. Apart from that...they're mostly identical."

"So Link...is becoming...that?" Kafei asked, gesturing to the skull. "How?"

"We've tried to come up with a reason, and the best we've found is: blood." Erd pointed at the hole in the skull, its edges bent outward by the exit of Link's bullet. "Link shot it in the head, after which it collapsed on top of him. The Alpha's blood intermingled with his, entering his system. It seems to have immediately granted him the healing abilities, and eliminating the lycanthrope infection, before it began to heal his neck." He shook his head. "A flimsy hypothesis, I admit, but I am not sure what else it could be. What I am sure of, however, is that he will not turn into a lycanthrope. The timeframe for that has already come and gone, and he remains, mostly, Hylian."

"He will, of course, be kept under close observation for the time being," Kaura took over. "But I will also protest strongly against his restraints. He has shown no signs of being a danger either to himself or others, and while he won't say it himself, it is incredibly damaging psychologically to be locked up like he is."

"If you are asking me to just let him come and go through the Studio as he pleases—"Impa began, but Kaura cut her off with a glare.

"Of course not," she said. "Gods know what else will happen in the coming days, but I'm saying that he should at least be allowed to roam around a room at will, rather than be chained to the bed like the poor bastards in the asylums." She tapped the sketch with a finger, frowning. "Put him one of your hunter's cells, even. From what I can tell those things are rather sturdy. It would certainly free up some workspace for me again—the infirmary is far too crowded these days."

Impa remained quiet for a moment, leaning on her cane. There were too many uncertainties about the situation for her to be even remotely comfortable with the idea of letting Link walk around unchained. She felt for the boy, she really did. He hadn't asked for this, hadn't meant to be infected...but he still was. And now something was happening to him that no amount of experience or consulting the journals and tomes of her predecessors and ancestors could help clear up. She glanced at the Alpha skull. "Mana, Kafei," she said, drawing their attention to her. "How intelligent would you say this thing was, when you hunted it?"

"Smarter than anything else I've hunted," Mana said immediately. "It used the wolf pack to draw us in, and laid an ambush. It divided us, prevented us from presenting a united front against it. If Link hadn't lured it away and shot it...we'd all be dead by now, and you'd have no idea what happened." She nodded to herself. "Very intelligent."

"Could it have communicated, do you think?"

"Hard to say," Kafei said. "It was more interested in killing us, but...maybe?"

"Hmph," Impa grunted, glaring at the skull. "Has Brother Link shown any signs of...losing himself? A decrease in reason, in intelligence?"

They all glanced at her for calling Link a Brother Hunter, but Kaura quickly spoke again.

"His mental faculties remain the same—he is learning Tao's sign language to express himself, and writes down what he can't say with it. Surprisingly shrewd when it comes to seeing through a physician's lies, I must say." She met Impa's gaze steadily. "He is not devolving, if that is what you are asking."

"I'm just concerned," Impa said. She paced back and forth a little, thinking. She stopped. Sighed. "Fine, we will prepare one of the cells for him. He's earned as much. However, he is not to leave it until we can be absolutely certain he won't become...that." The skull seemed to grin back at her, empty eye sockets staring into her soul. "As long as he remains in control...I will agree to that."

Hafthor and Ayla exchanged doubtful glances. "Are you sure about that, master?" Ayla asked. "What if he turns—"

"I am sure the good doctor will inform me as soon as she notices a change in his behaviour," Impa interrupted her. "And, if necessary, put him down before he becomes a problem. Am I right, doctor?"

Kaura looked ready to throttle the master hunter, but nodded. "Yes," she said. "I will assume responsibility for him."

Impa nodded, suddenly feeling her age catching up to her, and wishing for nothing more than to go to bed and will all this away, to pretend it was all a nightmare and that her nephew wasn't romantically involved with some sort of super-lycanthrope. She paused at that thought. She'd have to make sure there wasn't any biting involved in...whatever they got up to. Her face went grey.

Oh sister, she thought. How I wish you were alive right now.

There were some more protests from Hafthor and Ayla, but they accepted the arrangement soon enough, and as the hunters began filing out of the dungeon, she noticed that Kiro remained behind, holding a leather-wrapped bundle in his arms. He touched Erd's shoulder as he went to leave as well.

"Will you and the doctor please compile all the information you have gathered on the Alpha into a single tome for me?" she asked. "I would like to study it on my own."

"Of course, master," Erd said, nodding.

"And," she said, stepping closer and lowering her voice to a whisper, "we will be discussing those bruises on your neck later. Understood?"

He blanched, but nodded once more. "Of course."

"Good, off you go." She watched him leave before turning to Kiro. "I assume you have something to show me?" she asked.

"I do," Kiro said, placing the bundle on the table, well away from the skull. "I've finished the repeater." He uncovered the device, and Impa could do little but marvel at the piece of engineering Kiro had managed to put back together. She hadn't seen one of these since she was a child! "I finished it this morning. I wanted to present it to Link, but with all that's happened lately...should I?"

Impa ran a finger along the delicate brass-and-wood framework, marvelling at the restoration job the younger Sheikah had done. "It works?" she asked.

Kiro demonstrated by cocking the weapon. It sounded exactly as it should, and she could see the mechanism moving within, pulling at the string. "Just need to make some quarrels, and it's good to go," he said. "I've already commissioned the tips from Roy, and the shafts are almost ready."

Impa took a long moment to consider it, and finally nodded. "You can give it to him, but keep the ammunition away for now."

Kiro smiled broadly at that, and nodded. "As you wish. Thank you, master." He wrapped the repeater back up and headed for the door, stopping just shy of it. "And for the record, I don't think Link will ever turn on us. Besides, consider what sort of advantage having someone like him as a hunter could give us."

As he left, Impa sighed, muttering, "Nothing would make me happier than knowing that for certain, Kiro..."

The trip back to her study was long and ponderous, and she could feel a headache coming on. The next meeting, while dull, would hopefully be short. After all, the digging crews had only had one job the past week...and honestly, how difficult could mounting a gate be, anyway?


"Not here either—vamp's been through all of it."

Nikal kept her eyes on the staircase outside the boss' office, making sure no one could sneak up on them as they tried to find any sort of information that could help them contact the hunters outside Hyrule. So far, they'd found nothing. The vampire's goons had turned over the entire office earlier, and destroyed anything they didn't take. It was a wonder they hadn't burned down the whole building, just to spite what was left of the network.

"Try the corner of the desk," she said. "Towards the window. Knocked my foot against it once, felt hollow."

Eren did as she said, ducking behind the desk, muttering under his breath. "Stupid...why couldn't the boss just hide something normally?"

Nikal didn't answer. It was raining outside, the temperature just above freezing. They'd have to find somewhere warmer than their previous shelter for the night, if they ever got out of this place. If she were a little braver, she'd suggest that they spend the night here, but knowing their luck the vampire's men would show up at some point, and the last thing she wanted was to be cornered here.

They'd delivered the noble's letter anonymously to the main Watch station, but so far nothing had come of it. Known agents of the vampire were left alone by the constables, and the agents' pursuit of what was left of Sheik's little spies had only intensified. She growled at the thought. She'd bet the noble had sold them out—she hadn't read the letter before delivering it. Stupid. She'd been so damn stupid, so...relieved to finally find someone on their side in this fucking city, and just done as he'd said...and now his manor had been locked down so tight they'd have no chance of ever getting close to him again. Should have slit his throat when she'd had the chance...

"Hostage my arse," she muttered. "Bet he's in on it, all of it."

"Huh?"

"Keep looking," she barked, peeking out the door and down the staircase. The bloodstains of the man she'd killed that night were still there. Felt like an eternity ago, just barely a month had passed. She'd been a mess the first couple of days, both from the act, as well as the mild concussion she suspected she'd gotten.

There was the sound of splintering wood, and she glanced back inside the office, where Eren made a triumphant sound, pulling something out of the boss' now ruined desk. "A key," Eren announced, holding it out to her. "An old one, by the looks of it."

"Matches the locks in the basement," Nikal said. "Might be something down there."

They doused the lamps in the office and brought a lantern with them downstairs, into the basement of the old building. The air stank of mould and mildew, of rotting wood. The foundations down here were cracked, letting water seep in during heavy rains. Water froze, making the cracks bigger. The building wasn't far from collapse, and only the boss' tenancy kept the owner from demolishing it...

There were a series of filing cabinets, old and rusted, lined up against a wall. Old and disused, left down there by previous tenants. Unlocked and contents spilling onto the floor. Old paper long since dissolved and congealed into a blob, stinking of rot. All but one...which was closed, locked. It lay on its side, seemingly exactly the same as the others...save for the shinier lock.

The vamp's men weren't the brightest lot, apparently, if they'd missed that. Eren had zeroed in on it as well, and she nodded. "Open it."

He did, pulling out the top drawer. "Empty," he said, opening the next. "Also empty." There were only three drawers, and from what Nikal could see, it was much the same. She sighed—so much for hope, then. Boss would come back, if he survived the other vampire, and find his entire network dismantled and the city under control by a damn monster...

There was a click, and Eren grinned. "Concealed bottom," he said, lifting the metal plate. "There's a book."

A journal, from the looks of it. Summarised accounts of hunts undertaken by the boss...and a list of names, and addresses. Ciphered, of course, but the boss had taught them this one for just an occasion like this. If only he'd been as forthcoming with the actual location of this damn thing...but right now Nikal could have kissed him. She did kiss Eren on the cheek, prompting a loud "Hey!" from him, but she didn't care.

"Finally," she muttered. "Progress."

"Just have to decide where to send the letter, and find a courier to deliver it," Eren said. "But...maybe we should read it first, in case the bastard wrote something else."

She agreed with that, and was about to say as much, when she heard them. Footsteps. Many. Voices whispering. The building's main doors opened, letting the cold in...as well as the riffraff. Eren pulled her up against the wall, dousing their lantern as well, trying to hide from the light the intruders brought as they spread through the building.

"Spread out," a female voice announced. "Cover all exits, on all floors."

The voice was loud, and filled with nothing but malice. Nikal shivered, and she was pretty sure it wasn't from the cold. Behind her, she felt Eren shifting as he drew his knife. She did the same. There were no windows down here, no convenient sewer entrances...no way out. They heard boots on the stairs to the basement, a slight pause in the steps.

Fuck, Nikal thought. Tracks.

The dust down here was so thick; they were bound to leave tracks wherever they walked.

"Mistress," a gruff voice called, and a lighter set of footsteps approached. "There."

"Well done, Avi," the woman said with a purr. "You two, down there," she announced. "I know it was you, at the manor last week. I don't take lightly to intruders, especially not little rats working for bloodeyes. Come on out, and I might be inclined to show you mercy."

Nikal shook her head. She refused to answer. Eren was shaking, and she put her hand on his. She was afraid too. There was no such thing as mercy here—they'd known since the moment they'd seen Tinn get stabbed in the street, his throat cut and left to bleed out. Whatever she'd planned for them, who'd caused her so much trouble, would undoubtedly be worse.

"You have five seconds to show yourselves," the woman announced. "Or we're coming down. Five...four..."

"Hide the journal," Eren whispered, and Nikal stuffed it into the nearest cabinet as quietly as possible. "Nik, it's been fun." He gave her a wide grin, which she returned.

"Nice knowing you, Er," she replied.

"...one...all right, you asked for it. Avi?"

What happened next was a blur, as the footsteps thundered down the stairs, and Eren and Nikal rushed forward, directly into the dark shapes. Nikal had sharpened her knives specifically for this, and she felt the blades easily cutting through the enemies' clothes and flesh, making them scream and bleed all over her. She cut, twisted, jumped, slashed, refusing to stay still long enough to present a target. Someone tried to grab her from behind, but she twisted out of their grip and went for their throat, her teeth sinking into and tearing at the vulnerable skin. It broke, filling her mouth with blood, and her ear with screams.

She lost track of Eren, who disappeared among the dark bodies. She kicked out, hooking her blade around, and then into the heel of someone's boots, severing the vulnerable tendon within. A fist clubbed her around the ears, and she stumbled, disoriented. Someone grabbed her arm, she sank her knife's blade into their wrist, but lost her grip on the handle as they pulled away.

She drew her stiletto, still dizzy. Something struck her heavily in the stomach, knocking the air out of her. She fell to her knees, spotted a foot in front of her. She stabbed her stiletto right into it, to the hilt. The man fell, writhing. Behind him, Eren was on the floor, bleeding from the head. She wanted to scream, but it only came out as a croak.

Her arms were wrenched behind her back, so hard one nearly popped out of its socket. She whimpered, and a fist clipped her on the head again. Her vision swam, the floor tiles blurring, coming in and out of focus.

Her scalp burned as someone grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, looking up as a woman stepped into view. Her face was unclear, but Nikal could see her grinning mouth...and the pair of canines far too long for a normal person. The vampire herself.

"So, I finally found you," she said, crouching down to look Nikal in the eyes. Her eyes were cold and dead, like the rest of her face, pale and cruel. "Little rats, scurrying from hole to hole. You've killed quite a few of my men, you know. Visited horrible things upon them. I have to admit, I was impressed by the cruelty some had been shown. Tell me, did your master teach you the trick with the fingernails, or did you figure it out on your own?"

"Go...to hell..." Nikal wheezed, unable to conceal her glances towards Eren's limp body.

The woman noticed, and laughed. "Avi, dear, how is the boy? Still alive?"

"Still breathing, mistress," a man Nikal assumed to be Avi replied.

"Good, good," the vampire said, nodding. "Means he can still be of use to us. I wonder if our dear lord has small enough shackles...?"

"Can easily be arranged," Avi replied, his voice as even and blank as his face.

"Excellent," the vampire announced, rising. "I reckon there is much these two can tell us...not to mention the entertainment they'll provide us all with." She glanced back down at Nikal, meeting her gaze evenly. "Oh yes," she said. "We'll have a lot of fun, the three of us."

Something slammed into the back of Nikal's head, and all she knew was darkness.

To be continued…


God damn it, Dehl...