Me, looking at the comments from the previous chapter: *chuckles nervously* "I'm in danger."

Twilight closed his eyes and sniffed the air. Pushing away the others' receding scents, he focused on what is missing among them. He tried to find it – Hylian, the smell of the fresh earth after a rain, and the fragrance of a wildflower that he has finally recognized. A Silent Princess. He searched for it among the stagnancy of the dungeon and the rancid scents of scuttling and crawling monsters that call this place their home. He tilted his head to the side, searching for their missing member, and…there! Right there! Right in front of him, coming from the northeastern pathway choked with the strongest of monsters, was the scent he is looking for. It was faint, but it is definitely him.

It felt like déjà vu – him looking for Link. He has done this before, back in the kid's Hyrule, and has done it a few times prior to that. While he could not remember it fully, the kid has a knack for exploring alone and missing for who-knows-how-long. He barely recalled fake sulking (or as much as a wolf could act to) to teach the kid not to go off alone without at least letting him know. It miraculously worked! His Cub may be a handful, but the kid knows when he already stepped past the line. Most of the time.

His paws immediately sprung to a full sprint as his heart raced at the thought of the kid fighting the monsters here by himself. They have seen him fight earlier – unconventional and unpredictable his fighting style may be, it is what saved Warriors and Sky. There was no order in the kid's fighting pattern, and instead, he shifted from one fighting style to another or mixed them whenever the situation calls for it. He recognized the fluid motion of the Zora with how easily he falls into the rhythm of his enemy's movements, the steadiness of his form just like the Goron, and the grace and strength of the Gerudo as he rends his sword against his opponent's flesh at lightning speed. If one would look close enough, one could see the stealth of the Sheikah tribe with how featherlight his footwork is, and Twilight would have never realized how eerily silent the kid's footsteps had been if he did not witness that fight.

But even so, fighting a multitude of monsters that the kid might have never encountered in his Hyrule is suicide. No matter how incredible of a swordsman or how clever of a tactician a person is, there are fights that can never be won alone. Link lacks number, and it may become his undoing.

Twilight urged himself to go faster. He did not count how many hallways he has passed through already, but the kid's scent is getting stronger, and that is what matters. He kept going and going until he skidded to a stop before a grated gate of wrought iron. Rust had eaten most of the gate, giving easy access to the next area. He peered cautiously inside and saw the eroding benches of an indoor coliseum and the red of the kid's tunic beneath a black hood on the arena below. Burning remains of small Skulltulas littered the sandy floor, illuminating the darkness of the structure like nightmarish torches. Twilight caught more emerging from the cracks on the wall to join the fray, but Link seemed focused on whatever is in front of him. He could not see what the kid is fighting at his current angle, but his nose caught the most fetid scent he has ever smelled, and he could not stop himself from gagging.

An ear-splitting cry rumbled inside the cavernous structure, and a long-clawed leg swung sideways toward Link. The kid jumped, narrowly dodging by an inch. He landed delicately and ducked down just in time as another went for his head. He swung his Royal Broadsword to a high arc, and the ground shook as the leg fell to the ground with a reverberating THUD! Link has not a second to celebrate when the creature retaliated with one of its still attached limbs. He swung his sword once again - one sharpened edge biting and slicing cleanly through the flesh - when the unexpected happened.

There was a cracking sound, and before Twilight knew it, the blade of Link's Royal Broadsword shattered into blue glowing fragments as another spindly leg went in for an attack. The kid raised his shield a split-second too late and flew to the walled side of the arena. Dust and fragments of stone exploded from the impact, and when the earthen materials settled down, Link was sprawled unconscious on the ground. A red-orange crystalline dome broke into pieces around him and dispersed into pinpricks of green light. The kid has lost his shield somewhere and has nothing to defend himself from any incoming attacks. Twilight could smell blood – Hylian blood – and the small Skulltulas that were waiting moments ago on the benches have begun crawling toward Link.

White-hot anger flared in Twilight's chest, and a growl rumbled in his throat. He squeezed through the gate and weaved past the benches toward Link. A small Skulltula has gotten close to the kid, hovering with its chelicerae poised right above his face. It thrust down, only to find itself flying mid-air with canine fangs embedded deep on its abdomen. It shrieked, its two pedipalps trying to claw at Twilight's face, but the hero whirled around and chucked the dying monster to its brethren. He positioned himself protectively above Link, snarling a threat that meant a thousand deaths.

Some of the monsters wisely back down but many more accepted the challenge. Two launched at him, and he closed the distance. He flung his body upward and snatched one mid-air, its guts spilling out to his muzzle as his fangs ripped its underside. The other got caught with his claws and skidded on the ground. Twilight immediately sank his fangs on its abdomen and tossed it to the others, bowling some with a force to reckon. More approached, and Twilight made quick work out of them, undeterred by the pungent taste of monster blood on his tongue and the guts staining his snout.

Little by little, the Skulltulas dwindled in number until only a handful remained. Twilight lashed his tail and bared his fangs, warning the monsters to back out now or face the same fate as their kin. One braved to step forward, and Twilight did the same when the piercing cry from earlier shook the coliseum. The Rancher made a mistake to turn around, and the Skulltula pounced on him, sinking its chelicerae on his back.

Twilight yowled in pain and twisted around. He grabbed the monster by its spinnerets and ripped it off his body before throwing it to its brethren. He wasted no time to tear through the remaining monsters, leaving nothing but their dismembered bodies to rot in the darkness. He staggered toward Link, only to freeze at the sight of a humongous figure looming above them.

A Skulltula, the largest he has ever seen, almost framed the entirety of the arena. Its form shined like polished gold, the skull on its abdomen staring down on them with empty sockets. Its legs were striped with gold and black – the hooks of each leg scraping chunks of rock off the walls. All of its remaining eyes bore down on them in crimson red, and its chelicerae dripped off of venom that ate away a portion of the floor. It has lost four of its legs, presumably Link's work, and half of its eyes were stabbed shut, oozing with black blood. Extensive burn marks pocketed parts of its abdomen and thorax, most likely due to bomb and fire arrows. If the two of them were not in imminent danger, Twilight would have questioned Link's dangerous affinity to bombs and fires.

By the goddesses, what is THIS? They know that the infected blood makes the monsters far stronger than they usually are, but this? THIS IS INSANE! How did something grow to such size? The Skulltulas they have fought before were nowhere near to this beast's size. Twilight felt his blood ran cold as the monster let out another screech and swung one leg toward him. He barely managed to dodge while dragging Link by the collar of his tunic. Another sweep of that spindly leg and a hook scraped him by his side. Twilight hissed in pain and nearly flung Link away from the fight. He hauled the kid to a safer place before darting away. He has the monster's attention now, which is both good and bad.

The Skulltula slammed one leg toward him, and Twilight reacted just in time to jump back. He rushed forward with his maw wide open and tore the tibia off from the femur. He spat the wriggling limb and snarled at the monster. The Rancher braced himself for another attack and darted closer to the walls, narrowly dodging another one, before severing another from the body.

The monster floundered at losing six of its legs, but it did not let up. The hooks of its legs swept in a wide arc, scraping the upper portions of the benches. Twilight has to change tactics and go for a frontal attack. He climbed the monster's extended limb, weaving past the hooks and up to its face. He swiped two of its eyes with his claws and clung to its exoskeleton as the Skulltula tried to shake him off. He was too focused on not falling off to his death that he did not see a clawed leg aiming for him.

Pain, sharp as a blow to the head and searing like the fires of Death Mountain, exploded to his side as the tip of the leg buried itself on his flesh and tossed him away like a ragdoll. He slammed against the benches, his ribs cracking at the impact. Dust rained down on his furry hide like a flurry of snow, and for a moment, he blacked out. He could not see, could not hear, could not feel anything but the deafening ring on his ears and the feeling of pain pain pain in his entire being. His tongue tasted metallic, and he swore he had coughed blood.

When his sight finally returned to him, the humongous Skulltula was already looming over him with something resembling a sneer on its face. Twilight wanted to wipe that triumphant expression off its face, but everything is so painful, and he thinks and feels too slow and…Well, shit. He is envenomated. FUCK! He is a dumbass of the highest degree, and a dumbass like him is going to die at the chelicerae of an oversized Skulltula while forgetting he is envenomated before he could even fight his would-be killer.

The Rancher wanted to laugh and cry at how absurd his thoughts are going. He does not want to die. He still wants to see Colin, Rusl, and everyone else in Ordon Village back in his Hyrule. Ilia would give him the lecture of the lifetime (or the afterlife) at his grave if he dies. Dusk…Zelda would probably hold the fanciest funeral for him, and that will leave a bad taste on his ghostly tongue. Midna would be mocking him for dying because you're a hero, Link, why did you succumb to such weak Skulltula venom of all things? His reincarnations would be really, really sad if he leaves them now, and Time's disappointed face will be forever etched on his epitaph.

If he dies, he will be missed. If he dies right now, he will never get to reveal the truth to Link, and he will never get to discover the truth himself. His heart clenched at the hazy thought of the kid never seeing Wolfie again, of never seeing the only person (or wolf) he considered to be his precious friend. Really, fuck Death because he is not going to die right now!

Twilight staggered upward on broken and limping paws as he faced his nemesis right at its two remaining eyes. He is not going to die here. The only one who is going to die is that goddess-damned spider or so help him. He is going to storm the gates of the afterlife and demand Hylia to bring him back. He is not going to let her off the hook with playing favorites. Nuh-uh! Same spirit, same privileges. The kid is not the only one who gets to come back to life. Twilight still has some unfinished business, and that includes mauling this Skulltula into a new one.

For a moment, he was standing on a field of lush green untamed for one hundred years and ruins of a civilization that persisted beyond his years until its inevitable fall. Suffocating smoke filled his nose as large patches of grass burned around them. Hot air drafts blew upwards, ruffling his fur into an unkempt and bloodied mess. Clicking and whirring sounds cut through the fiery chaos as a mechanical monstrosity scuttled toward him. A single blue eye bore down on him, and the snaking magenta lines on their enemy's ancient body pulsated. A red target honed on his head, and the Guardian Stalker lifted itself on three remaining legs and began producing a series of beeping sounds that prelude an attack. A pained cough reached his ears, and a hand tried to grip his furry hide but slipped.

"R-Run…" A weak voice pleaded. "Run, Wolfie…please. Save…save yourself…."

Twilight turned his head and met those teary blue eyes. His only companion in a Hyrule that is not his, his best friend, and his Cub…Link stared at him with a frightened look of a child, and his heart twisted like it did when Ilia and Colin were kidnapped and when Midna severed the only existing connection between his world and the Twilight Realm. He knew deep in his heart that he would not let this kid die. He loves this kid like a precious friend and a family, and he will not lose him or anyone he loves ever again.

The Rancher looked back to the Guardian Stalker; his head lifted high and indignant. The beeping sound has become urgent now, and his hackles raised to their peak. The single blue eye melted into two red ones, and he let out a roar of challenge that reverberated across the cavernous space. The Skulltula answered with a screech of its own and raised one of the last middle limbs it has. Twilight braced himself for the impact as the clawed leg fell toward him and…

…It stopped. There was the clanking sound of chains, and the Skulltula's leg stopped mid-air. No, the whole Skulltula ceased all movements as if it was frozen in time. The creature was more golden than before – a brighter sheen of liquid gold swirling on the surface of its form. A beeping sound resounded from the monster, barely heard over the series of bangs and explosions coming from somewhere beside the beast. Twilight could not see, but he swore he saw a black silhouette moving purposefully behind the thin curtain of dirt and dust. Sparks fly at every strike, and an arrow superimposed on the monster's body grew longer and longer at each hit. The beeping sound had gotten faster and more urgent, and the golden luster turned to orange and then to an ominous red.

Like a spell that was broken, glowing red chains shattered into pieces, and the enormous Skulltula immediately hurtled to air like a ragdoll. The overside of its abdomen broke and splattered against the wall as jagged stones pierced and ripped through its belly. It happened so fast that Twilight could only watch as the monster screeched in pain and tried to wriggle itself off to no avail. Its last four limbs dangled limply from both sides of its body, and the benches below it were drenched in venom, black blood, and monster guts.

The Rancher's ears pricked up at the faintest sound of footsteps, and he whirled around. From the storm of dust and dirt, a loose nest of honey-blond hair and ripped red tunic emerged. Link looked more bruised than wounded as he strode to the middle of the arena. His blue eyes gleamed against the burning corpses like that of a hunter and an apex predator. Where the stone-faced soldier was earlier that night, now lies something feral and ancient. A chill ran through Twilight's spine and a part of him, a terrified part of him, wanted to run away right now and never look back.

On Link's hands, the bowstring of his Ancient Bow glowed dimly against the wispy neon blue of the Ancient Arrow nocked on it. The kid raised his bow, pulled the bowstring back, and let it loose. The Ancient Arrow zipped through the air without so much a sound and sank deep on the monster's underbelly. Not a second later, a massive blue light pooled and twisted like a whirlpool, swallowing the monster's form completely. When it finally faded, the Skulltula was gone - no head, no abdomen, and not even a leg. The monster simply ceased to be, erased from existence. If Four is here to witness the Ancient Sheikah weapon in action, he would have lost his mind.

Link lowered his bow and surveyed his surroundings, wary for enemies that lingered in anticipation for the first sign of weakness. He nearly jumped and reached for another arrow when Twilight barked. The latter descended from the spectators' area, gritting his teeth amidst the pain as he limped toward the younger hero. His chest heaved from the effort of keeping himself steady as black spots danced before his eyes.

"W-Wolfie…?"

Twilight barked again, weaker than the first. He tried to move another step, but he was swaying dangerously, and before he knew it, he had already fallen to the ground. He did not feel his body collided with the floor – he felt numb, his ears ringing so bad that he wants to block them forever, and…and...are those footsteps?

He tried to lift his head, tried to see through the haze, and to see the red fabric, the orange and blue of a strange 'nonmagical' item, and the honey-blond hair and blue eyes from his dreams and resurfacing memories. A person…Link, Link was trying to tell him something, but he could not hear, and there is panic written all over the kid's face.

Twilight tried to reach for the Shadow Crystal embedded deep within his being and will it to transform him back…back to Hylian. The kid…Cub…His Cub has the right to know, has the right to the truth that Wolfie is more than just an intelligent wolf he came across and formed a strong bond in his journey. He tried to reach for it, failing and trying again, as darkness began to consume his sight. Whether it was because of the Shadow Crystal's magic or his consciousness failing him, he did not know. His grip on the waking world blinked in and out as everything churned in dim colors.

"C...Cub..."

Words spilled from his lips, but his voice sounded hollow and far away, and words from another floated like fragile leaves that his mind barely comprehended and etched in memory. The last things he remembered were scarred hands cradling his head, the feeling of wetness on his face, and a desperate voice crying words that broke his dying heart to pieces.

"Please…please don't leave me…."

Also me: *plotting which character to hurt next* "Hehehe!"