.

.

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We had been traveling for days, at that point.

At first, when the two of us had just begun to travel through the forest, I had assumed it would eventually get boring- after all, walking through endless trees while getting harassed by bugs and scratched by underbrush did not sound fun.

But surprisingly, it never got tedious.

At least, it never got tedious for me. Aly was a different story.

The boy simply didn't have as much stamina as me, and as such we had to stop regularly for breaks even when I felt like I could keep going for hundreds of miles more.

This new body of mine really was superhuman, and that was even more obvious when I could compare myself to a normal kid.

However, those days spent walking through the forest, scavenging for supplies and easily dealing with any more goblins or ogres we encountered were quite fun, for me.

After living in the city for most of my life, and never having the passion to leave my apartment for anything besides errands, I had never been exposed to the natural world.

Forests, rivers, lakes, and anything untouched by human hands… it was all alien to me.

But somehow, after waking up here inside this strange body, I couldn't help but stare.

It was all so beautiful.

I felt unbelievably stupid for never taking the time to go outside and experience this world for myself. -With my old body, I would probably be too unhealthy for any real exertion, but it still would've been wonderful.

But maybe that was just those new instincts talking.

After all, I had been transplanted into the body of the "Hero of the Wild" so it made sense I would think of nature as beautiful.

I nearly frowned, but out of habit I kept my blank composure.

The idea that my inner thoughts and feelings were being warped was an unpleasant one, but I had no idea how to stop it, and even if I could, would I really want to?

Link was, overall, a much better person than me. Shouldn't I be trying to become more like him?

It was a question I couldn't answer, but it stuck in my mind, even as the hours passed and we continued traveling through the forest.

When we became hungry, I took out small snacks from the Inventory, and Aly could use magic to create drinking water, even though it was slightly bitter.

And as the days passed and I became even more in tune with the instincts and emotions of this new body, I felt more comfortable in my skin.

Those native and alien feelings were also things I thought deeply about- how I could stop them, and if I even wanted to.

When the day darkened and we set up our camp, I continued to train Aly. The boy was already in decent shape, presumably from living in this fantasy world and surviving in the wilderness by himself for a time. It made the basics of swordplay much easier to teach, although I had to note how his young and small body complicated things greatly.

We shared meals over the fire, his voice filling the silence of the night, and I soaked up any information I could gather from him.

The next time we encountered a group of goblins, this time only three members large, I had Aly fight, instead of defeating them instantly.

I supported him from behind with my Phrenic Bow, but only shooting when a goblin was about to knock him down.

It seemed like these small fights, where we ran into a group of monsters, happened less and less over time. Either we were moving out of their territory, or they were smart enough to avoid us.

But it was clear the constant movement, travel, and combat had begun to show their marks on Aly, and even myself as well.

After four days had passed since I woke up in the forest and encountered him, we had been changed.

I was now much more comfortable inside this new body, the instincts within it not as distracting, and already easily moving through the forest with light steps and soundless travel, as if I had lived there my whole life.

Aly had grown by one level as the days passed, and a Lvl 6 now hovered above his head whenever I looked directly at him. His Traveler's Shortsword was sheathed cleanly by his side and his eyes constantly moved from shadow to shadow- a firmness was in his posture that had been absent before.

Although his fingers were clumsy and his body was weak, he had improved greatly over the past few days.

"Hey, Link, are you going to teach me how to shoot?"

Aly asked me suddenly, a few minutes after we had finished dealing with a group of goblins. These ones had tried to ambush us from the trees, but due to my enhanced senses I was able to detect them.

During the fight, Aly once again took the lead and fought with his sword while I stood back and used my bow. It seemed he had noticed how accurate I was in combat.

But I shook my head.

"What? Why not?"

I didn't respond, merely focusing on walking.

Archery was, I felt, something one could get decent at with relative speed.

If the shooter had a good anchor point and good technique, they would be able to get up to an average level after just a small amount of real hard work.

However, we were facing one major problem that I couldn't overlook.

This problem was something I wasn't equipped to deal with, or solve on my own.

Aly was a young boy, around thirteen or fourteen, though he never told me exactly. But it was clear he was still not done with puberty, and hadn't grown into a deeper voice or taller frame.

He was also quite small for his age.

In fact, he was very small for his age.

Link was quite short. As the days passed by and I became more used to the new body, I estimated him to be around five-foot-four (162 cm). Which was quite a bit below the average adult height for men- and I had a very good feeling that Link was eighteen years old.

But looking at Aly, he was a good foot shorter than me! He couldn't have been taller than four feet, four inches (132 cm).

The problem with his height, related to archery, was pretty simple.

I just didn't have any bows that were small enough for him, and his muscles weren't developed enough to pull any of them.

It would take a good amount of time for him to grow into enough strength and size to properly use a bow, and I wasn't planning on traveling with him forever.

So in response to his question, I just shrugged and continued walking.

Aly sighed but didn't complain.

He had become used to my constant silence over the past few days, which was something I appreciated.

But even through all of the discoveries and training, we continued moving south.

Never stopping for long, we traveled through the forest.

I was optimistic about eventually getting out and reaching the plains that Aly spoke about; by regularly using Revali's Gale and reading the wind currents, as well as using my enhanced senses, I could somewhat estimate where the forest was beginning to thin.

We might even reach the exit by tomorrow!

...

-I shouldn't have jinxed us.

...

It had started off like a normal day.

The two of us traveled through the forest, making our way south.

Based on the wind currents and the surrounding animals, we were a couple hours from the end of the forest, and the trees were beginning to thin.

Aly was talking about the factions ruling over the kingdom, how there were six 'great' nobles who owned most of the land, each one more corrupt than the last.

Our pace was slower than it had been when we started, after the constant exertion had begun to wear down Aly. I would need to keep that in mind for later; I didn't want to hurt the kid or anything.

But in the very next second, I was broken out of my thoughts.

A crash echoed through the forest, and my sword was immediately in hand, Aly just a second behind me.

An enormous creature moved through the forest at speeds faster than anything I had seen before, and had already arrived before us.

Although I could make out its large frame and size, as well as a glimmer of silver fur, the rest of the creature was hidden in shadow, as it crouched inside the underbrush.

The large trees above us cast deep shadows down to the forest ground, lowering visibility to the point where even with my enhanced vision, our surroundings were obscure.

The only things I could easily make out were the words, hovering slightly above the creature.

Lvl 33

...

I remained motionless, my eyes locked onto the area where the creature lay, and slowly moved Aly behind me, shrugging the Knight's Shield off my back and onto my left arm.

Although we had only been together for a few days, he realized, without me saying anything, that this situation wasn't something he was prepared for.

The boy stayed behind me.

A voice, deep and resonating yet still holding a lightness, emanated throughout the forest.

"Who is't art thee, intruder, upon this one's demesne, and dares trespass so thoughtlessly?"

The monster was… speaking.

A wave of confusion suddenly filled my body, as if I was just faced with an impossible situation.

Monsters couldn't talk. They were murderous creatures who's only goals in life were to kill and conquer in the name of Ganon. Although monsters could have the intelligence to build defenses and weapons, they weren't smart enough to talk, or solve complicated problems.

I came to a conclusion.

This creature couldn't be a monster, because it was talking.

I heard a gasp, from behind me, and Aly hurriedly whispered to me.

"That's- I feel terrified, just by standing near that thing! It must be the Wise King of the Forest, it's one of the three monsters I told you about! This one's considered the strongest!"

Well, maybe people had a different definition of monsters around here. Because anything that talks would not be considered one in Hyrule.

As I stood silently, the creature waited for an answer, and Aly shakily spoke up.

"Ah, please, Wise King of the Forest! We didn't mean any disrespect, we were just trying to leave and get to the plains! We never intended to trespass on your land!"

Silence filled the area as Aly answered, and I could barely make out a shift in the King's posture.

I quietly took deep breaths to calm myself, keeping my back firm and hands loose on my weapons.

This could escalate quickly, and looking at that level, it was clear this monster could become my most dangerous foe yet.

Although the goblins and ogres were hardly dangerous, they were all less than level 15 at the highest, while this creature was more than double that.

I still had no idea how the levels curved, so I needed to be on my guard. It was entirely possible that I would be overwhelmed here, especially since this was such a revered and legendary entity.

The King spoke once again, it's voice echoing deeply.

"...Be that as it may, thine intruders must be punished. Prepare thyselves! This one will strike next - in penance of thy sullying mine own domain!"

It attacked.

A snake-like object, long and powerful, flew out from the shadows and tore the wind. It aimed for my head.

My Knight's Shield whipped upwards, and the long object crashed into my defense, sending sparks flying with the sound of metal on metal.

The impact was strong- stronger than anything I had felt so far.

But that was in comparison to the goblins and ogres I had fought in the days previous.

...In reality, the strike was weak.

I stood high, my shield up, as I deflected what must have been the creature's tail.

Forcing my shield forwards, I pushed the tail away and into the air, before stepping back in a protective motion, staying next to Aly.

My mind flashed through ideas, each one processed and considered at impossible speeds.

What could I do in order to defeat this creature?

I did not know how strong it was- although I could defend against its tail easily, it was likely that the tail was not its main attack, simply a diversionary tactic or ranged option.

I did not know if the creature could overwhelm me through speed or power.

I had no reference as to how strong it was, just the Lvl 33 hanging above it's head.

One of my options was to rush forward, attacking the enemy directly like I had with the Ogres and Goblins. Deciding on that action might give me the opportunity to win.

But it was too risky.

Since I didn't know how physically powerful it was, I didn't know if it could overpower me in close quarters.

But the worst scenario was a simple one.

I would be abandoning Aly and leaving him defenseless to an attack from the tail.

My attacks might be able to distract the creature enough to not target Aly, but I couldn't take that chance. Aly could not die. I would not take any action that put him into a dangerous situation.

There was a single win condition here, which was to get out with both me and Aly alive.

In order to accomplish that, there were two possibilities; defeating the King of the Forest, or running away.

One of those options was monumentally easier and less risky.

I knew what I had to do.

Pushing down that burning emotion in my chest, telling me to fight and challenge myself against this powerful enemy, I squared my shoulders and dematerialized my sword.

I wrapped my now-empty arm around Aly's shoulders, grabbing him tight before crouching down and mentally activating one of the four Champion Abilities.

Before the King could react to my actions, I took control of the winds.

I pushed the air currents around our feet for a single moment, gathering the potential energy I needed before releasing it in an explosion of wind with Revali's Gale.

We flew.

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*Author's Note*

I went camping!

It was pretty fun. I haven't been able to go very often ever since the pandemic began but I was able to leave for a week-long trip this time and it was great. I thought a lot about this fic while I was out and finished a lot of my planning for the near future, so everything is much more organized on my side.

Also, I'd just like to thank everybody who decided to give this a read! This already has so many follows and favorites and reviews and it's wonderful to see this little fic growing.

I think that the fight scene with Hamsuke went well. It might have seemed anticlimactic, but I feel like it makes a lot of sense. SILink came across an unknown enemy who he heard was very strong, and he didn't want to endanger the kid he was with. If he was by himself, he might have chosen differently, but your priorities are going to change when protecting someone else in a fight.

Also, I think it's pretty funny that Link just unironically ran away from a giant hamster.