The Lone Wolf
Chapter 13: All the facts laid out.
As Link finished telling the story of what had happened, with Zelda telepathically
transmitting the translation to the other sages, Rose awoke in the bedroom Link had put
her in.
Rose went over to the doorway to the hall where the Sages were talking, she listened to
Link finish talking. Then there was silence.
* * * *
As Link finished, all the sages stood there, silent.
Right before Ruto started screaming.
"HE SLEPT WITH THE FILTHY BEAST! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I'M
BETROTHED TO HIM! AND HE GOES OFF AND DOES IT WITH A WEREWOLF
WOMAN! THAT'S LIKE HIM GOING OFF AND SLEEPING WITH NABOORU!"
Nabooru shot back at Ruto with her own scream. "WHAT? I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW
I'M NOT THAT BAD IN BED RUTO, UNLIKE YOU! YOU'RE A FISH FOR
CRYING OUT LOUD! COLD BLOODED! LINK'S A MAMMAL, HE'LL NEVER
SLEEP WITH YOU!" she retorted.
The others stood there, looking back and forth at the two of them scream insults at each
other until Darunia got dizzy. The Goron shook his head to clear it, then walked over and
slammed them both on the head, just enough to knock them unconscious.
"Thanks Darunia." Saria said.
"No problem." He replied.
Zelda looked at Link, who was leaning against the wall.
Before anybody could say anything else, the door to Rose's room opened.
"Rose..." Link said looking over at her.
"Well Link, I'm sorry I ever got involved with you." She said angrily looking at the two
unconscious sages. "If I knew that these two had their claws in you already I would have
left you there to freeze to death after you got beat up by that bear!"
"Rose, please..." Link tried to say, but she cut him off.
"If I'd known that you value that Fish princess, that desert tramp, and that Princess that
you'll never be able to marry anyway, over a person that really cares about you, then
fine! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" she yelled and dashed past them all
before they could react.
"And I buried your blasted ocarina under that tiny stone bridge near your castle!" She
yelled back as she ran out of the Temple.
Link, Zelda, Saria and Impa stared after her. Link was about to follow her, but a small
hand grasped his huge paw. He looked down to see Saria standing there.
"Let me do it Link, she's mad at you, not me, and I don't need Zelda's telepathy." She
said and disappeared in a small flash of green.
Link sighed.
* * * *
Rose dashed out the front hall of the temple, her eyes streaming stinging tears, and she
ran off toward the oasis pool. As she rounded it, she tripped over the outcrop of rock on
the opposite side, and tumbled in the sand.
She sat up and rubbed the sand out of her eyes, and started to cry louder, and sobbed.
"I tried everything, and still I lost him! Why do I always loose them? WHY?" she
screamed, and started bawled.
Rose sat there crying, not noticing the green ball of light that formed into Saria, who
stood only a few feet from Rose.
"Rose..." She said quietly, but Rose didn't hear her.
"Rose." Saria said again a little louder so as that she could hear her.
Rose looked up at Saria. "Please leave me alone..."
Saria shook her head. "Sorry Rose, I can't do that."
Rose looked up at Saria stunned. She'd forgotten that civilized creatures couldn't
understand her language.
"You can understand me?" she said.
Saria nodded. "Yes, I can, I am the sage of the forest you know."
Rose looked down. "Another one of Link's friends no doubt."
Saria nodded. "I am one of his friends, the best in fact, but not the way you mean."
Rose looked up at her. "Huh?"
Saria sighed. "First off, I'm a Kokiri and we Kokiri do not age past childhood. Second,
I've known Link since he was a child, and let me tell you a few things about him."
Rose wiped a tear from her muzzle. "I don't want to hear it." she said.
Saria sighed. "Link is a great person Rose, he's a hero to our people, and during his
quest, a few, odd things, happened. One of them was to get a magical stone from Ruto in
there, the fish girl." Saria said. Rose nodded weakly.
Saria nodded as well. "Well, Ruto didn't realize what she was doing at the time,
because her mother told her that the stone was an engagement gift, and she thought that
was why Link wanted it, so she gave it to him."
Rose looked up at Saria. "So Link never loved her?" she asked.
Saria shook her head. "No, he didn't. but she thought he did, Link still has no Romantic
feelings toward her either. Zelda, Link loves, but it's not a romantic love, its like a
family love, like one loves a sister." Saria said.
Rose's eyes widened, she hadn't known that.
"What about that other girl... Nabooru?" she asked.
Saria sighed. "Nabooru has had a crush on Link ever since he saved her from a pair of
witches. But still, Link has no real Feeling's toward in that sense. And link's not the
kind of guy to go sleeping around with other women, although I wonder why he slept
with you that night, when he wasn't married." Saria explained.
Tears returned to Rose's eyes. "The Festival he told you about, it's not a normal
festival.
This confused Saria. "Then what is it?"
Rose brushed a tear from her eye. "It's a fertility festival."
"A fertility festival?" Saria asked.
Rose nodded. "The first generation to be changed in the past was so disgusted by their
form that they refused to breed, our people would have dies out in a single generation if it
wasn't for that. So when the normal festival rolled around, they did their best to get it up
again, they managed to get all the people there, and when the final banquet came, all the
children below breeding age were put to bed early with an herbal sleeping draught. The
wine they serve there is mixed with an extremely powerful aphrodisiac, on that night, all
the adults lost their dislike for the form and bred. This kept our people going. After that
night, they kept doing that to keep us from being celibate all our lives and not adding new
pups to the population. Most don't need that encouragement anymore, but it's a tradition.
I didn't tell Link because I forgot about it completely!"
Saria was wide eyed. "Oh goodness. That's why Link's been so distraught about you.
But still Link can't just up and leave to go with you." Saria sighed. "Rose, Link's been a
Hylian all his life. Oh sure, he has been able to transform into the other races, but that's
only ever been temporary. If he stays as a wolf man, he'll never be able to talk to another
normal Hylian, or Zora, or Goron, or Gerudo, ever! He'd be cut off from the world he
grew up in, imagine if you were turned into a Hylian, you'd never see your family
again!" Saria explained.
Rose was taken aback, she'd never thought about the feelings Link might have had
about all this. After a moment, she started to cry again, even louder.
Saria laid a hand on Rose's shoulder. "Rose, what's wrong now?" She asked.
"I tried to do something to Link that's as bad as exile to my people! How could I have
been so blind? Oh gods, now what do I do?" She said, and grabbed Saria and held her
like a teddy bear.
Saria didn't even so much as flinch, she just freed one arm and stroked Rose on the head
and shoulders.
"It's ok, I know what was going through your head."
Rose looked at Saria. "How?" she asked.
"Sages can tell a lot about a person. I know that another guy left you before Link came
along, but that doesn't mean that you have to grab him and keep him chained to you like
a slave. Rose, listen, everything will be alright now, but I don't think you want to have
your last memory of Link being a Hylian." Saria finished.
Rose nodded. "You're right, I don't, at this point I want to get back to my cave and try
to forget all of this mess... But how do I get home? We're in a desert that I've never seen
before!"
Saria took Rose's paw. "I'll take you as far as the Forest border Rose."
Rose shook her head. "No, wait. I took some of Link's equipment that I have to return
to him, otherwise, he'll never get it back." She said, sighing.
"Where is it then?" she asked.
"Near my cave. I hid it near my normal cave, not the one I took Link to, but I want you
to take it back to him, please." Rose asked.
Saria nodded. "Then think of where it is, I'll transport us there."
* * * *
Meanwhile, Impa returned to the Spirit temple, where Ruto and Nabooru were waking
up with splitting headaches.
"Here, I found it exactly where she said it would be." She handed it to Zelda.
Zelda looked at Link. "So, ready to take off the mask?" she said, trying to be cheerful,
but Link didn't smile.
He took the Ocarina, and held it for a second before it changed into another instrument,
a Pan's pipe.
"So now I become my old self again... Somehow, I feel guilty doing this." he said, and
put it to his lips, and was about to play the Song of healing when Saria reappeared, with
the mirror shield strapped across her back and the Gilded sword and it's sheath and belt
in her arms.
"I took Rose home, and she gave me these. Told me to return them to you Link." She
said.
Link looked at the items, and went over to remove them from Saria's back, still having
not changed back to his true form.
After Saria wasn't bearing all that weight, Link again tried to play the song of healing,
but yet another sage appeared in a flash…
The sage of light, Rauru.
"HALT RIGHT THERE HERO!" the old Hylian ordered.
Link stopped, the instrument almost at his lips.
"What is it Rauru?" Impa asked. "Link was about to change back."
"I know. I just want him to make an informed decision." He said.
Everybody, including Ruto and Nabooru (who's minds were fogged with pain) looked
at the old Hylian questioningly.
"What do you mean Rauru?" Zelda asked.
Rauru looked at Zelda. "For the goddess' sake Zelda, take off the disguise already!"
Zelda blushed and removed her disguise with the Triforce's power.
"Ok, now will you tell us why you interrupted us here?" Zelda asked.
"There's something I must show Link before he decides whether or not to play that
song." He said.
"What?" everybody asked.
Rauru sighed. "Come with me to the temple of light, only there can I show you." He
said.
Link looked at Zelda quizzically, and she shrugged.
"It's best not to argue and see what he's talking about most of the time. His knowledge
is only second to the great Deku tree, or the sprout." Zelda explained.
"Of course, Rauru knows a few things the tree didn't, and the tree knew some things
that he didn't." Saria added.
"HARUMPH!" Rauru cleared his throat loudly.
Zelda shrugged, and touched Link on the shoulder and disappeared, along with all the
other sages.
* * * *
In what seemed to be only a moment, they all appeared in the temple of light. However,
the room that they were all in wasn't the chamber of sages. The room they were in was a
massive, gold walled circular chamber with an extremely high ceiling. And in the center
of the room was a raised platform that was something like the pedestal of time. Around
the walls were carved runes and pictures like the hieroglyphs in a pyramid.
"Rauru, where are we?" Saria asked.
"The hall of heroes." Rauru answered.
"The what?" everyone asked.
Rauru walked down the steps before him to the ground floor.
"It is here in this room that the tale of all the Heroes of Hyrule are foretold. Here that
the Quests of the heroes are detailed."
Everybody looked around the massive chamber in awe. But Impa wasn't taken aback
like the others.
"Well Rauru, what is the purpose of taking us here?" she asked.
Rauru looked back at them all. He pointed to a single piece of the wall that had a motif
in it.
"This inscription tells of all the quests Link shall have in his lifetime. This wall is what
Link must see before he decides to play that ocarina!" he exclaimed.
Link looked at the wall and walked down to it. On the wall was what looked like the
design on the pedestal of time, the symbols of the sages and their temples around the
Triforce, and the gold designs of the spiritual stones below it. Around it was images of
Link himself, battling the monsters that ruled the dungeons before Link had defeated
them. And lastly was the image of Ganon's face with a single piece of the Triforce,
surrounded by the Sage symbols.
"Look to the right Link." Rauru said.
Link did as he was told. To the right was an image of Majora's mask tilted to the left,
next to it was an image of the fierce deity's mask tilted to the right, and around it was an
image of the crescent moon.
"The first is of your fight with Ganondorf. The second is your adventure In Termina.
But beyond that, there is nothing telling of a third quest." Rauru said.
Link looked back at Rauru.
"What that means its that the world is now safe Hero, your quests are finished for this
lifetime. If you so wish, you may leave and live out your life with the black wolf woman,
or you may change back to a Hylian and remain here in Hyrule as a Defender, but before
you decide to play that tune, know this. If you do remain here, you will never have to
fight at all. There will be no threats to Hyrule or anyone inside of it. You will be a
defender, to a land that does not need one."
Link looked at the Motif again, off to the right of the Motif of Majora's mask, there was
an image of half of his face, blurred in the middle and mirrored on the other side by a
Lupine face.
"It is your choice Link. But you had to know the whole story." Rauru explained.
Link looked at the instrument in his paw, and started shaking.
Chapter 13: All the facts laid out.
As Link finished telling the story of what had happened, with Zelda telepathically
transmitting the translation to the other sages, Rose awoke in the bedroom Link had put
her in.
Rose went over to the doorway to the hall where the Sages were talking, she listened to
Link finish talking. Then there was silence.
* * * *
As Link finished, all the sages stood there, silent.
Right before Ruto started screaming.
"HE SLEPT WITH THE FILTHY BEAST! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I'M
BETROTHED TO HIM! AND HE GOES OFF AND DOES IT WITH A WEREWOLF
WOMAN! THAT'S LIKE HIM GOING OFF AND SLEEPING WITH NABOORU!"
Nabooru shot back at Ruto with her own scream. "WHAT? I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW
I'M NOT THAT BAD IN BED RUTO, UNLIKE YOU! YOU'RE A FISH FOR
CRYING OUT LOUD! COLD BLOODED! LINK'S A MAMMAL, HE'LL NEVER
SLEEP WITH YOU!" she retorted.
The others stood there, looking back and forth at the two of them scream insults at each
other until Darunia got dizzy. The Goron shook his head to clear it, then walked over and
slammed them both on the head, just enough to knock them unconscious.
"Thanks Darunia." Saria said.
"No problem." He replied.
Zelda looked at Link, who was leaning against the wall.
Before anybody could say anything else, the door to Rose's room opened.
"Rose..." Link said looking over at her.
"Well Link, I'm sorry I ever got involved with you." She said angrily looking at the two
unconscious sages. "If I knew that these two had their claws in you already I would have
left you there to freeze to death after you got beat up by that bear!"
"Rose, please..." Link tried to say, but she cut him off.
"If I'd known that you value that Fish princess, that desert tramp, and that Princess that
you'll never be able to marry anyway, over a person that really cares about you, then
fine! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" she yelled and dashed past them all
before they could react.
"And I buried your blasted ocarina under that tiny stone bridge near your castle!" She
yelled back as she ran out of the Temple.
Link, Zelda, Saria and Impa stared after her. Link was about to follow her, but a small
hand grasped his huge paw. He looked down to see Saria standing there.
"Let me do it Link, she's mad at you, not me, and I don't need Zelda's telepathy." She
said and disappeared in a small flash of green.
Link sighed.
* * * *
Rose dashed out the front hall of the temple, her eyes streaming stinging tears, and she
ran off toward the oasis pool. As she rounded it, she tripped over the outcrop of rock on
the opposite side, and tumbled in the sand.
She sat up and rubbed the sand out of her eyes, and started to cry louder, and sobbed.
"I tried everything, and still I lost him! Why do I always loose them? WHY?" she
screamed, and started bawled.
Rose sat there crying, not noticing the green ball of light that formed into Saria, who
stood only a few feet from Rose.
"Rose..." She said quietly, but Rose didn't hear her.
"Rose." Saria said again a little louder so as that she could hear her.
Rose looked up at Saria. "Please leave me alone..."
Saria shook her head. "Sorry Rose, I can't do that."
Rose looked up at Saria stunned. She'd forgotten that civilized creatures couldn't
understand her language.
"You can understand me?" she said.
Saria nodded. "Yes, I can, I am the sage of the forest you know."
Rose looked down. "Another one of Link's friends no doubt."
Saria nodded. "I am one of his friends, the best in fact, but not the way you mean."
Rose looked up at her. "Huh?"
Saria sighed. "First off, I'm a Kokiri and we Kokiri do not age past childhood. Second,
I've known Link since he was a child, and let me tell you a few things about him."
Rose wiped a tear from her muzzle. "I don't want to hear it." she said.
Saria sighed. "Link is a great person Rose, he's a hero to our people, and during his
quest, a few, odd things, happened. One of them was to get a magical stone from Ruto in
there, the fish girl." Saria said. Rose nodded weakly.
Saria nodded as well. "Well, Ruto didn't realize what she was doing at the time,
because her mother told her that the stone was an engagement gift, and she thought that
was why Link wanted it, so she gave it to him."
Rose looked up at Saria. "So Link never loved her?" she asked.
Saria shook her head. "No, he didn't. but she thought he did, Link still has no Romantic
feelings toward her either. Zelda, Link loves, but it's not a romantic love, its like a
family love, like one loves a sister." Saria said.
Rose's eyes widened, she hadn't known that.
"What about that other girl... Nabooru?" she asked.
Saria sighed. "Nabooru has had a crush on Link ever since he saved her from a pair of
witches. But still, Link has no real Feeling's toward in that sense. And link's not the
kind of guy to go sleeping around with other women, although I wonder why he slept
with you that night, when he wasn't married." Saria explained.
Tears returned to Rose's eyes. "The Festival he told you about, it's not a normal
festival.
This confused Saria. "Then what is it?"
Rose brushed a tear from her eye. "It's a fertility festival."
"A fertility festival?" Saria asked.
Rose nodded. "The first generation to be changed in the past was so disgusted by their
form that they refused to breed, our people would have dies out in a single generation if it
wasn't for that. So when the normal festival rolled around, they did their best to get it up
again, they managed to get all the people there, and when the final banquet came, all the
children below breeding age were put to bed early with an herbal sleeping draught. The
wine they serve there is mixed with an extremely powerful aphrodisiac, on that night, all
the adults lost their dislike for the form and bred. This kept our people going. After that
night, they kept doing that to keep us from being celibate all our lives and not adding new
pups to the population. Most don't need that encouragement anymore, but it's a tradition.
I didn't tell Link because I forgot about it completely!"
Saria was wide eyed. "Oh goodness. That's why Link's been so distraught about you.
But still Link can't just up and leave to go with you." Saria sighed. "Rose, Link's been a
Hylian all his life. Oh sure, he has been able to transform into the other races, but that's
only ever been temporary. If he stays as a wolf man, he'll never be able to talk to another
normal Hylian, or Zora, or Goron, or Gerudo, ever! He'd be cut off from the world he
grew up in, imagine if you were turned into a Hylian, you'd never see your family
again!" Saria explained.
Rose was taken aback, she'd never thought about the feelings Link might have had
about all this. After a moment, she started to cry again, even louder.
Saria laid a hand on Rose's shoulder. "Rose, what's wrong now?" She asked.
"I tried to do something to Link that's as bad as exile to my people! How could I have
been so blind? Oh gods, now what do I do?" She said, and grabbed Saria and held her
like a teddy bear.
Saria didn't even so much as flinch, she just freed one arm and stroked Rose on the head
and shoulders.
"It's ok, I know what was going through your head."
Rose looked at Saria. "How?" she asked.
"Sages can tell a lot about a person. I know that another guy left you before Link came
along, but that doesn't mean that you have to grab him and keep him chained to you like
a slave. Rose, listen, everything will be alright now, but I don't think you want to have
your last memory of Link being a Hylian." Saria finished.
Rose nodded. "You're right, I don't, at this point I want to get back to my cave and try
to forget all of this mess... But how do I get home? We're in a desert that I've never seen
before!"
Saria took Rose's paw. "I'll take you as far as the Forest border Rose."
Rose shook her head. "No, wait. I took some of Link's equipment that I have to return
to him, otherwise, he'll never get it back." She said, sighing.
"Where is it then?" she asked.
"Near my cave. I hid it near my normal cave, not the one I took Link to, but I want you
to take it back to him, please." Rose asked.
Saria nodded. "Then think of where it is, I'll transport us there."
* * * *
Meanwhile, Impa returned to the Spirit temple, where Ruto and Nabooru were waking
up with splitting headaches.
"Here, I found it exactly where she said it would be." She handed it to Zelda.
Zelda looked at Link. "So, ready to take off the mask?" she said, trying to be cheerful,
but Link didn't smile.
He took the Ocarina, and held it for a second before it changed into another instrument,
a Pan's pipe.
"So now I become my old self again... Somehow, I feel guilty doing this." he said, and
put it to his lips, and was about to play the Song of healing when Saria reappeared, with
the mirror shield strapped across her back and the Gilded sword and it's sheath and belt
in her arms.
"I took Rose home, and she gave me these. Told me to return them to you Link." She
said.
Link looked at the items, and went over to remove them from Saria's back, still having
not changed back to his true form.
After Saria wasn't bearing all that weight, Link again tried to play the song of healing,
but yet another sage appeared in a flash…
The sage of light, Rauru.
"HALT RIGHT THERE HERO!" the old Hylian ordered.
Link stopped, the instrument almost at his lips.
"What is it Rauru?" Impa asked. "Link was about to change back."
"I know. I just want him to make an informed decision." He said.
Everybody, including Ruto and Nabooru (who's minds were fogged with pain) looked
at the old Hylian questioningly.
"What do you mean Rauru?" Zelda asked.
Rauru looked at Zelda. "For the goddess' sake Zelda, take off the disguise already!"
Zelda blushed and removed her disguise with the Triforce's power.
"Ok, now will you tell us why you interrupted us here?" Zelda asked.
"There's something I must show Link before he decides whether or not to play that
song." He said.
"What?" everybody asked.
Rauru sighed. "Come with me to the temple of light, only there can I show you." He
said.
Link looked at Zelda quizzically, and she shrugged.
"It's best not to argue and see what he's talking about most of the time. His knowledge
is only second to the great Deku tree, or the sprout." Zelda explained.
"Of course, Rauru knows a few things the tree didn't, and the tree knew some things
that he didn't." Saria added.
"HARUMPH!" Rauru cleared his throat loudly.
Zelda shrugged, and touched Link on the shoulder and disappeared, along with all the
other sages.
* * * *
In what seemed to be only a moment, they all appeared in the temple of light. However,
the room that they were all in wasn't the chamber of sages. The room they were in was a
massive, gold walled circular chamber with an extremely high ceiling. And in the center
of the room was a raised platform that was something like the pedestal of time. Around
the walls were carved runes and pictures like the hieroglyphs in a pyramid.
"Rauru, where are we?" Saria asked.
"The hall of heroes." Rauru answered.
"The what?" everyone asked.
Rauru walked down the steps before him to the ground floor.
"It is here in this room that the tale of all the Heroes of Hyrule are foretold. Here that
the Quests of the heroes are detailed."
Everybody looked around the massive chamber in awe. But Impa wasn't taken aback
like the others.
"Well Rauru, what is the purpose of taking us here?" she asked.
Rauru looked back at them all. He pointed to a single piece of the wall that had a motif
in it.
"This inscription tells of all the quests Link shall have in his lifetime. This wall is what
Link must see before he decides to play that ocarina!" he exclaimed.
Link looked at the wall and walked down to it. On the wall was what looked like the
design on the pedestal of time, the symbols of the sages and their temples around the
Triforce, and the gold designs of the spiritual stones below it. Around it was images of
Link himself, battling the monsters that ruled the dungeons before Link had defeated
them. And lastly was the image of Ganon's face with a single piece of the Triforce,
surrounded by the Sage symbols.
"Look to the right Link." Rauru said.
Link did as he was told. To the right was an image of Majora's mask tilted to the left,
next to it was an image of the fierce deity's mask tilted to the right, and around it was an
image of the crescent moon.
"The first is of your fight with Ganondorf. The second is your adventure In Termina.
But beyond that, there is nothing telling of a third quest." Rauru said.
Link looked back at Rauru.
"What that means its that the world is now safe Hero, your quests are finished for this
lifetime. If you so wish, you may leave and live out your life with the black wolf woman,
or you may change back to a Hylian and remain here in Hyrule as a Defender, but before
you decide to play that tune, know this. If you do remain here, you will never have to
fight at all. There will be no threats to Hyrule or anyone inside of it. You will be a
defender, to a land that does not need one."
Link looked at the Motif again, off to the right of the Motif of Majora's mask, there was
an image of half of his face, blurred in the middle and mirrored on the other side by a
Lupine face.
"It is your choice Link. But you had to know the whole story." Rauru explained.
Link looked at the instrument in his paw, and started shaking.