The Wolf With Steel Fangs

This is a fanfic I came up with after playing the GCN version of Soul Calibur 2 for ten hours straight. There's just something fun about kicking the crap out of your favorite character that just feels so good after a stressful day at school (sorry Link!).

Warnings: murder, violence, torture, drugs, etc, etc.

The "wolf" in this fic is my original character, and I need a name. After reading this, I would appreciate any help in naming "The wolf with steel fangs."

But I've rambled on long enough. Without further ado...I present The Wolf With Steel Fangs.

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The Wolf With Steel Fangs

The Cry of the Dark Spirit

It's been far too long, we've known all along
This was going on, can't seem to respond to anything, so, we carry on
With our lives, we rewind, we can't find, we deny
The simple fact that we haven't done anything
Doesn't mean that we can't start offering
Why do we feel so far? It's like we're seeing stars
Why does it seem so hard to wake up now and see who we really are?

Assassination.

That was the only word that could describe the scene laid out before Link on the bloody courtyard inside the castle. Zelda was not the victim, no, quite the contrary. The fish-princess, Ruto, had been murdered...no...assassinated on a diplomatic visit to the castle. But something had gone horridly wrong, or Link wouldn't have urged Epona into the rebuilt market and to the castle. Zelda seemed shaken, her eyes streaming tears like rivers. Secretly, Link wondered, but he said nothing as he looked at the corpse.

There were two marks, stabbed into her heart...

(Like teeth marks)

...like something ran at her, hit her full-force.

There was nothing Link could do. He could not bring the dead back, and he slipped away before Zelda could go to him. It wasn't that he hated her, no. He didn't like certain things about her. Since she had taken the throne, there was a certain...pride? No. It was greed. Link was certain of it. It seemed that she would take it all away and promise things that never were given. This had happened before. There was a reason that no one went up to Death Mountain ever again, that reason being old and dried blood splattered all over everything—rocks, old weapons, bones—everything was dead.

Link shuddered at the thought as Epona beat a rather fast retreat. She seemed to not enjoy this city atmosphere any more than Link could. And they had made it just in time. Link knew it, Zelda had changed since everything had happened. Link shuddered when he thought about it, tracing his finger over his clothes, where an off-colored scar marred his skin. The world never saw it, ever.

Back home, his real home, Link flopped down on his bed, thinking more and more about what he had seen. He wasn't a detective. There was only so much that he could do. And there were limits on that as well. The two stab wounds he had seen looked so much like a bite mark, like a large animal had attacked. But that was impossible...right?

"Link?"

He looked over at the door, where a timid and uncertain-looking Saria was standing. Link sat up, rubbed his eyes and sighed. She entered, cautiously. Link smiled. They were still best of friends, even though Link was twice her height. She hopped onto the bed next to him, fixating her eyes on an interesting spot on the floor.

"Something wrong?" She asked after a minute or two.

"No." Link said, glancing away.

"You're lying." She replied.

She hopped off the bed and turned his head towards her, so their eyes were locked. She was worried, that was evident. Link sighed again, knowing that this was one person he couldn't lie to. Another name to the list.

"The Sage of Water was murdered." He said flatly.

Saria fell silent for a moment.

"Then there's only three of us left." She said softly, almost like she was going to cry.

She ran from the house as fast as her legs could carry her. Link sighed once more. This was a strange thing indeed. Shadow, Forest, and Spirit were the only ones still alive. Perhaps this went back to Zelda. Maybe it was her.

Link quickly shook the thoughts from his head, cursing himself for even thinking it. He closed the door to his house and pulled open his tunic and white shirt. The great scar traced from his left shoulder, over his heart, to his right hip. That was a careless mistake. One that almost got him killed. It was one hell of a deep scar as well, and the slightest change in pressure, be it a feather or a fist, caused pain. But pain reminded Link that he was still alive.

A full moon night descended. Link glanced outside once more, at Saria's house. The candle in her window had gone out, meaning she was asleep. Link put out his own candle and looked out at the village in the moonlight. There was an unusual quiet surrounding the night. An unnatural silence had descended, like a blanket to muffle the noise. Link looked back at the shadows cast on his own quarters. They almost felt comforting, if not for the fact that Link knew that he could not be the only one. He felt something else.

Link reached for his sword, glaring into the shadows. What was lying there? Beyond his vision and sitting in the wretched black that threatened to consume him?

A cold hand clapped itself over Link's mouth. He struggled, pulling from the attacker's hold and whirling. The shadowy form was perched on his windowsill. Link drew his sword. The form jumped at him, one curved knife in each hand. Metal hit metal as the knives and sword connected, sparks flying from the steel. Link forced the attacker back, into the stray ray of moonlight. The attacker growled, like a dog or a wolf, and covered her eyes.

She had black hair, hacked mercilessly short either by force or of own free will. Her clothes were almost like that of Sheik, skintight but all black. There were no sleeves, and a high collar. The toes had been removed, allowing her to grasp things without the hindrance of fabric. But when she covered her eyes, Link saw countless deep and vile-looking scars on her one hand. He also noticed her ears, and a twitch hurried up his spine.

Her Hylian ears had been so ripped and mangled that they resembled torn cloth.

Link twitched as she moved, crawling back into the shadow like a dog. Once in the darkness, she was completely invisible, and silent. Link's heart began to pound. He tightened his grip around his sword. He whirled, thinking he heard something. No. his ears were hearing things.

He was hit, tackled from behind. He gasped in surprise when he hit the floor, hard. One finger hooked into one of his earrings and pulled, hard. Link cried out in pain, his body arching back in an attempt to keep his earring attached to his ear. A cold blade was pressed to his neck and he froze. The girl growled, pulling harder on the earring. Link bit his lip to keep from screaming as the pain grew and grew and grew. The blade pressed harder to his skin, threatening to slit his throat. Link could just feel the assassin grin.

White-hot pain exploded in his ear, coursing through Link as the girl ripped his earring from his left ear. Link cried out, and the assassin released him. His hand flew to his ear, which was bleeding. There was a definite tear, a bleeding and limp strip of flesh that was once attached. He watched as the assassin crawled over to his bed and then vanished, jumping through the window and into the night.

"Link?"

Saria was at the door, complete with candle. Link couldn't speak, the pain shooting through him from his ear was enough to make him mute for the time being. Saria cried out and set her candle on the nearest table. She pulled some bandages from Link's bag and tried to bandage his ear. She continued to ask questions, but Link could not answer them. There were so many questions that he had for that assassin girl.

But it wasn't until after Saria left, well into the daytime hours, did Link see what the assassin left behind.

Written on the wall over his bed, in dripping red blood, was a single sentence, anger and pain radiating from every word as both a warning and a challenge from the assassin.

"How can you call yourself a hero when you couldn't even save the people in front of you?"

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Chapter one—end!

Again, names for the girl would be greatly appreciated.

I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you in the next chapter.