YOUR TRUE SELF

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Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo

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Genre(s): Hurt/Comfort

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Warning(s): Typo is my most loyal fan, spelling mistakes because English is not my mother language, Possibly OOC. NO BETA, so beware of grammar mistakes

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Summary: Can be confusing when you have another one of them

(Or, It didn't count as an identity fraud if you chose to wear it in the first place)

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Time's hatred towards Hylia was evident from the very first day. He won't come near the Master Sword from within three to five meters if he could, being passive-aggressive whenever the Goddesses' name was uttered, and just plain, old scoffing when he was in a bad mood. Of course, he tried to never reach that level when he was around the other Links, especially Sky. However, whether he showed his disdain discreetly or blatantly for the world to see, everyone knew Time hated Hylia.

And that feeling was cemented rather permanently when they were forced to fight right after they just woke up.

He cursed and ducked, piercing the body of the Poe yet to no avail. What the hell is wrong with this enemy? Poe was usually easy to dispose of, they weren't particularly a tough cookie to crack nor a mid-boss of a dungeon. They've been fighting these hordes of mischievous ghosts for half an hour, but they still couldn't defeat them. In fact, they've cornered the heroes from all sides. Left, right, top to bottom. Giggling and cackling, while his teammates panted in exhaustion. What should he do? Was the reason why this kind of Poe existed because of an anomaly produced by the Shadow? Or was it the usual, normal creatures? A norm, for this new world they, unfortunately, landed themselves in. Physical attack won't connect, magic attack passed right through. Warriors screamed about Hyrule's condition, who was on the verge of unconsciousness and Time was frustrated beyond reason.

When he thought 'This is it. This is where I die', hope diminished as the second ticked by, a threatening howl suddenly reverberated. Every single being that was present tensed, body turned rigid. From the edge of the lush forest and into the plain meadow where this unfair fight ensued, a black and white wolf pounced. With a ferocity known only to a wild animal, it snapped his jaw shut to the nearest Poe.

And somehow, it…worked.

Time didn't know how and why, but this beast could kill the untouchable ghosts just fine. It jumped and lept. Gnawed and tore. The Heroes of Courage could only gape in astonishment while the dog did all the job. Twenty or more Poes that seemed endless just a moment ago was long gone, leaving dying screeches and wisp of black smoke, trailing to the sunset.

(Well...at least Hylia was nice enough to send them a reinforcement.)

Everything went silent. The leaves didn't rustle, the wind decided to keep quiet. It almost like the world was waiting for the inevitable to happen and apprehension started to build up at every inch of the Links' pores. Now that their imminent death was nowhere to be seen, another realization dawned upon them all. This thing, is a wolf. A carnivorous wolf that'll eat any meat who stood on its way. With no monsters for him to shred nor opponent to play with, will it turn its back and finally attack every single one of them? If it comes to that, however, he'll put the animal down, Time unconsciously tightened the grip on his sword's handle. He was a bad leader just a moment ago, not knowing what to do with the unexpected appearance of weird opponents and, rather than trying to keep the spirit up, chose to run around in panic like a cucco without its feather.

Sometimes, he wondered why the rest of the group didn't point Warriors as their main leader, instead of a sub. He's a captain, flirt and unnecessary charm asides. He was the first one to realize when Hyrule staggered on his own feet, recognizing the sign of nausea almost immediately. He kept a clear mind and still shouting out detailed order as a follow-up from Time's advice; who kept getting shorter and shorter. Clearly, the younger man was a perfect person to lead over the heroes rather than a kid who was forced to mature a little bit too early.

Anyway, Time digressed. He won't let the wolf touch a single hair of his friends if he turned out to be an enemy. It wasn't a Poe. It was all flesh and bone and he was pretty sure normal attack will strike him down, unlike those unnatural specters. Wolf shifted its attention onto them, the Old Man crouched slightly, gaze trained onto the dog's own blues, ready to throw himself into the ring at any moment notice.

Then he stuttered to a halt when the big dog plopped to the ground, a pained whimper escaped from its' half-opened maw.

Wild instantly moved closer, followed by Sky and Wind. The rest sedately followed. Some were too tired to move—Four, Legend and Hyrule—or completely suspicious—Warriors and Time, "it hurt its leg," their cook informed, prodding the open wound on its hind legs, "and it wasn't recent too. It'd been fighting those Poes with an open injury, poor thing…"

"Let…let me," Hyrule stepped forward. Or rather, staggered forward, "let me…heal him…"

"Oh no, you don't," Warriors rejected, fists on his waist and both eyebrows furrowed, "you're on your last leg, kid. Another burst of magic and you're going to put yourself into a coma."

"B-But it helped us…"

"Then we'll help him back. Manually," Time crouched down, every gesture were purposely exaggerated as to not agitated the ill wolf. He rummaged through his bag, pulling out a red potion and a roll of white bandages, "set up the camp, I'll handle this. Malon will kill me if she knows I abandon an animal in need."

The other nodded and proceeded to do so. Time poured a good amount of the medicine to his handkerchief, carefully dabbed it onto the injured leg. Wolf winced and whined, but he didn't squirm. Maybe because the armor wearer exuded a friendly aura after living half his life as a rancher, maybe the wolf is a smart animal, maybe a bit of both. Whatever the reason, he was just glad it didn't refuse his aid like most wary animals tended to do.

The night had fallen and the dinner was cooked when Time finally finished his field treatment. Wind and Sky crowded the sick beast almost immediately when their leader leaned back, petting the rather docile carnivore while rhetorically asked if it was really okay, it'll heal soon, right? and thank you for the save, you are our Hero. Wild gave it a slab of pork meat to eat, seasoned with rock salt and pepper, Time himself felt his mouth water; fortunately, he had his own dinner—delicious cream soup and fluffy bakery—so he didn't have to resort on stealing someone else's meal, even if that someone is a Wolf. He chuckled as the kids watched the dog attacked its food viciously with rapt attention, eating their soup in auto-pilot, too busy making sure their savior has a full belly. Completely attached, huh? Time was glad the wolf wasn't hostile. He didn't know what will happen to the 'animal lovers' if he had to put it down. Devastated, pretty sure.

He then had an amicable conversation with Captain, discussing about what they should do and where should they go next. New Hyrule means new Link. They better be searching for the nearest villages and asked for him so they could start on their investigation regarding this adventure everyone was forced to embark. Then again, where to? This field they stayed in was vast. Not to mention, that forest looked intimidating. Should they go east? Or West? They will delve into the thick woods no matter what, of course, but—

"Woof"

"Hm?"

Time slightly jumped when Wolf was already standing beside him, peering over his shoulder as if it wanted to join in on their meeting as well. That scared him. Didn't know a big dog such as this beast could be so silent. He 'woof'ed once more, head tilted to the side of a forest he came out from. It took a while for them to understand its gesture, one of Time's eyebrows rose.

"You want us to go over there?"

A nod.

"Is there a village over there?"

Another nod.

"That is one smart wolf," Warriors hummed. Contemplation, sprinkled with a dose of distrust, emanated, "do you think it's actually someone else's pet?"

Most probably. It was too intelligent for it to be a wild animal. After agreeing to follow the kind creature in the next morning—hopefully, Hyrule was healthy enough to heal the wolf magically and they could depart from this place right away—everyone went to their respectful bed. Time volunteered for a first watch and Wolf decided to do the same. As it sniffed the air, spun in place, before it laid his entire body near the older man's feet, keen eyes roamed across the field.

"You know you should rest, right? You'll be our guide tomorrow, we don't' want you to faint in the middle of the road because you used too much energy to stay awake" Time whispered, fingers cradling between the soft fur.

Wolf hummed in acknowledgment yet it didn't seem to want to follow his instruction through.

The night passed on uneventfully and the day of the new dawn arrived.

Ordon Village was a quaint village, a total contrast from the situation of the overworld out there. Yes. On their way around here, they got ambushed by another batch of Poes, as expected. Coupled with a bunch of Stalfos and Keeses this time around. The human took care of the tangible enemies, while their impromptu friend slash guide went for the ethereal one. And sure, those fights inflicted a new set of wounds to the party members and Wolf's injury opened up along the way. But it was kind of worth it when a warm atmosphere and friendly smiles greeted them. Civilians milling about, farmers did their job, rancher herd the goat. The kids were running around the place and all in all, a nice place to live in.

The sight of a Wolf in the midst of normal, hardworking Hylians didn't make anyone bat an eye, causing Warriors' quip about the beast being someone else's pet yesterday night appeared to the forefront of his mind. That may turn out to be true, as a couple of brave children went forward and pet its head. The said wolf itself was trailing near the back of the group, gaze still stuck in its alert state even though they were in a controlled environment already. It also tensed once when the Links asked about, well, a person named Link to the citizen available, suddenly looking apprehensive and weirdly…lost. Its ears flattened, snout wiggled. It even whimpered when the Heroes arrived at this world's Link's residence, a girl with short hair was seen taking care of a beautiful mare near the bottom stair of the treehouse.

"Oh, a guest?" she smiled, fixing her messy locks, courtesy of the horse playful prank, "welcome to our village. My name's Ilia. What can I do for you?"

"We're searching for someone name Link," Time spoke, aware of the fact that Ilia's shoulders jerked when that statement was uttered, she instantly stiffened. What was that reaction supposed to be? "we won't harm him. We just want to ask some questions."

"I know that. If you are bad people, he won't be journeying around with you," huh? The girl then stepped forward and approached the weirdly despondent Wolf, squatting in front of it with a downcast expression. She tried to smile. Wobbly and distressed and certainly a fail, "hey. How are you doing? It's been three months since I last saw you. Are you okay? Do you want to—"

Wolf shook its head vehemently.

"But the kid missed you. Epona missed you. See? She kept asking me when you'll be back."

Still shaking its head.

"Link!" Ilia snapped and everyone else gasped, Time's eyes widened. Did she just—, "please! Don't torture yourself any more than this! Ramon never blamed you! It wasn't your fault that his chi—"

Wolf growled.

So sudden and full of sorrow, their breath hitched.

It—he moved his paw. Frantically, furiously. He wrote what he wanted to convey on the dirt, not caring if other people besides his friend could see it. Each letter, each word struck the old man's spirit bit by bit, until Time felt his own heart cracked—

'It IS my fault' he wrote, 'how many times do I have to say it for you to understand? it is MY fault that Ramon's daughter is not in this world anymore!'

'I saw the monster. From the top of the hill. I could just change into a wolf and save her. I could just CHANGE into a wolf and protect her!'

'Yet, I was too afraid. Afraid that my memories with her will consumed me. Afraid that, if I used a power blessed by her realm, the reality of her, never coming back, will forever crush me'

'But it doesn't matter, right? It NEVER matters. Ramon's daughter is DEAD and you all should've blamed me because STUPID LINK! Can't fucking move on from your first crush! Now you have to bear another LIFE on your already bloody shoulders!'

'I won't change back, Ilia. I won't change back to a human any longer' tears cascaded from Wo—no—Link's closed eyes, a painful whine echoed throughout the somber air. Time turned his attention away, fist clenched and teeth gritted as Ilia hugged the crying dog, 'not when I can save everyone in this form. Not when—'

'Not when all of this is My. Fault!'

(A/N): Only Illia know that Twilight can change into a wolf. So she could tell the other not to worry about him when he didn't come back for, well, three months apparently. The reason why nobody is afraid of Wolfie anymore was because he'd been helping everyone using this form. Even tho' they didn't know Wolfie is a shapeshifter, they at least knew that he is a nice beast.

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BONUS:

Time: "Never a day did I forget the moment I couldn't save him"

Wolfie: *ears perked up*

Time: "His name is Mikau. He was a Zora, trying to save the baby of his friend from the clutch of the evil Gerudo. I was right there when I saw their confrontation happened. When I saw him stabbed through a stomach."

Time: "I was 10, when I met Mikau. 10, as I tried to bring him to the shore. Tried to stop the bleeding yet to no avail. 10…when he died on my hand."

Time: "Do you know the reason why I was called 'the Hero of Time'? It's because I literally traveled through time. Forced to adapt to my 17 years old body to save the world. I always hated that form. So clunky and awkward. But at that time, when I met Mikau, I hoped…I was a little taller. A little bit bigger. Maybe, just maybe, if I have that form—"

Time: "Maybe I could finally save him"

Wolfie: "…"

Time: "I know you can't force someone to stop mourning. I know how hard it is to drag yourself out of the hole of despair and darkness. But, please Link. You have to remember."

Time: "Your happiness matter too…"

(It took another month of traveling together. When they woke up and saw a man clad in a green tunic, wolf pelt snuggled his neck close, and familiar blue orbs were hesitantly peeking from under the light brown hair, everyone breathed out a sigh of relief. Time smiled with arms wide open, saying, "welcome to the group, Link")

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The series has finally end~

With a sprinkle of angst too! Because, who hated angst? Definitely me. And I kinda hated myself for hurting a couple of boys in this series but eeeh.

Btw, don't go away just yet, guys. I have another hero to join in on this rooster of one-shot fanfic. I already drew his design and I need to write the story now, but when it comes out, I hope u'll like it :D