CHAPTER SEVEN

Heyo Heyo, lovely and loyal readers!

Thank you so much for your reviews! It seriously means a lot to me to know what you guys think, and I know it's been awhile since I've last updated, so I appreciate you all being so patient with me.

Anyways, enough of my rambling… ON WITH THE STORY!

X-X-X

"Wake up, Link! Wake up!"

Link groaned, his blue eyes slowly opening as he clutched his throbbing head. "Navi? W-what's going on?" He asked groggily, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Wolfos!"

Link bolted upright at the bad news a little too quickly and winced immediately as a sharp pain pounded against his skull.

"Great," He thought bitterly. "A concussion is just what I needed."

Link sighed, gently rubbing the back of his head. Ignoring the ringing in his ears, he tried to scan his surroundings, only to end up dizzy as the world swirled around him in a blurry haze.

He looked up to search for the bright silver moon, desperately hoping that it would give him a bit of moonlight to cope with, but there was nothing.

The black sky was completely empty. Not even the stars were shining, for they were covered by dark stormclouds with heavy rain pouring down on his face.

Link felt his heart sink when he realized how bad his situation was. Link scrambled to his feet, staggering slightly as he stood. "Where, and how many?" He questioned and glanced around, despite the fact that it made him nauseous. He had to stay fully alert, using his other senses to help him.

"Not far from here, and there's a whole pack of them!" Navi panted as she flew frantically about.

Link rolled his eyes at the fairy. "Relax, Navi," His voice held a trace of annoyance as he scanned the ground for his weapon. "You're acting like I've never fought off a couple of Wolfos before." He sighed, frustrated that he still couldn't find his sword and the throbbing migraine wasn't helping.

"Yeah, but this time you have a concussion, stupid!" Navi glared at him, obviously hearing the annoyance in his tone.

"How'd you know I had a concussion?" Link asked, confused.

"Because you said it outloud," She laughed as Link continued to stare at her. Her laugh was cut short as a long and eerie howl echoed through the dark forest. Navi squeaked in fear as several more howls followed shortly afterward.

"Come on! Find that dumb sword already!" Navi panicked.

"Well, it's kinda hard to look for something in the dark with blurred vision, plus the fact that I can barely walk! It almost seems impossible right now… it'd also be easier if you'd helped me!"

"Just find it already!"

"I'm looking, okay?"

"Honestly! If I didn't know better, I'd say that you actually want to fight them with your bare hands!"

There was on response.

"Link?" Navi asked, turning towards him, seeing that he had his fist up and was signalling for her to be quiet. Confused, she slowly followed his line of sight… only to stare into a pair of bright yellow eyes, glowing behind the tall grass.

"Navi," Link spoke with a surprisingly calm voice, not even taking his eyes off the threat. "Do you see my sword?"

Navi's eyes widened as she stammered, still staring at the glowing eyes, "U-Uh... J-just a second!"

"Navi..." Link repeated, a little more urgently.

"I'm looking, I'm looking!"

"Navi!"

"Oh, wait! I think I see it in the mu-"

Navi came to a halt when she suddenly heard Link cry out in pain behind her, followed by a loud thud. She quickly spun around and screamed at the gruesome sight before her.

The fear-stricken fairy watched in horror as Link tried to wrestle a heavy gray wolfo off of his chest, which had unfortunately gotten a strong grip on his right forearm with its fangs. He grunted as he grabbed the Wolfo by the snout and tried prying it off of him, causing the beast to claw at his face and leave long scratches down his forehead. "Find the sword!" He shouted to his fairy companion, who immediately flew over to where she had thought she'd seen the weapon.

"Found it!" She shouted triumphantly with a grin as she flew to the shimmering blade. She clutched the hilt with her tiny hands and began to lift, but stopped when she realized that someone her size couldn't possibly pick up a sword ten times larger than herself. She looked over her shoulder as a loud yelp was heard, seeing that the wolfo had been thrown off of her friend's body.

"Hey! We have a problem!"

"What is it?" He asked, jumping up to his feet when he finally had the chance. He winced as he gripped his bleeding arm. "Of course," He thought to himself in frustration. "The one time I leave my shield back at my post, this happens."

"I can't pick it up!" She cried in frustration, still struggling to lift the handle up. "You'll have to get it yourself!"

Although he could barely stand without slipping in the wet mud, Link quickly turned around and began to sprint towards Navi, only to have a foot suddenly snatched by a second wolfo that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Link! Watch out!"

His hands slammed against the messy soil, catching himself from fully colliding with the unforgiving ground. Swiftly kicking the wolfo off with the heel of his boot, he stumbled backwards and his eyes widened as he saw just how many of the horrible creatures had shown up.

Navi was right. There was an entire pack of them.

A quiet sigh filled the warm atmosphere of the treehouse as Sheik sat down at the foot of her bed, which Mary was occupying as she softly snored through her sleep. Sheik smiled down at the child's peaceful face before pulling the blankets over her small body.

Sheik stood and walked over to her doorway as she whispered to herself, "No matter how hard I try, I just cannot stop thinking about him..."

She shook her head as she opened the wooden door, stepping out onto the balcony. "For two years, I have been able to keep my emotions in check… wouldn't flinch the least bit at a petty threat, take minor injuries without showing distress, control my anger, dust off a lie as if it meant nothing… but somehow, all of that flew out the window when I saw Link's face."

Sheik furrowed her eyebrows as she placed her elbows on the vine covered railing of the balcony, staring off into the darkness while the rain continued to pour down. She had felt horrible for leaving him in the forest like that, unconscious and defenseless until he woke up.

"I shouldn't have left him there. He most likely received a head injury from the hilt of my dagger." She ran her fingers through her bangs and sighed, "I'm so sorry, Link."

A long howl echoed in the distance, causing her to snap out of her thoughts and look towards the place it came from… which was in the same direction Link was.

Sheik's red eyes widened, "Oh no."

The Sheikah immediately ran into her home to grab her throwing knifes and wasted no time leaping over the railing, gracefully planting her feet on the ground before rushing off into the trees.

X-X-X

Link got back on his feet and looked over just how many wolfos had shown up. Unfortunately, their alpha pack leader was a humongous white wolfo with blood-red eyes, surrounded by several smaller grey ones.

"Great," Link mused bitterly as he inched backwards towards his sword. "This is just great! I find Sheik really quickly, only to lose her just as fast as I found her! Then I fall unconscious for who knows how long, and when I wake up, wolfos everywhere!"

A low growl brought Link out of his thoughts and back to the present, alerting him to prepare for whatever his enemy would do.

With a harsh bark from the alpha, two wolfos bolted at the knight with gnashing teeth. Due to Link's fast reflexes, he quickly sidestepped and dodged the attack, although he fumbled while doing so.

"Link!" Navi called loudly. "The sword's right here! Grab it before you become a chew toy!"

The young man looked over his shoulder and saw that his weapon was indeed a couple of feet away. He stared into Alpha's red eyes with determination as it glared back. "Okay, this is pretty risky," Link mused. "But I have to at least try."

The knight spun on his heel and darted for his weapon behind him, hearing barks and growls following his person closely. Link clasped his hand around the handle of the sword in the mud, but suddenly fell forward as a heavy body pounced upon his back.

Navi gasped as she watched the horrifying display before her.

Link grunted in discomfort, bringing his sword up to strike his enemy, yet froze almost immediately in surprise at the feeling of thick, warm liquid traveling down his neck. A chill rush up his spine as he realized the liquid was his own blood.

Alpha had clamped its deadly jaws tightly on the back of Link's throat, growling in his ear before biting down even harder.

Link sprang back into action by slamming the end of his sword's hilt against the wolfo's face, satisfied by the howl of pain as it leapt backwards.

However, his triumph didn't last very long, for the entire pack surrounded and charged at Link. He cried out in agony as he felt sharp claws and fangs rip at his flesh from every side, causing him to become dizzy from the pain and blood loss.

"Link! Try spinning out with your sword!" Navi yelled.

Link spun around with all of his strength and brought two dogs down in an instant, followed by three more. He panted harshly as he dropped to one knee while his remaining enemies circled around his tired and bleeding form.

The white wolfo slowly stalked towards the knight with an almost smug look in his eyes before baring his teeth, almost as if it was grinning.

"This isn't how I'm supposed to die!" Link thought angrily. "I'm supposed to die from fighting on the battlefield, protecting my homeland and loved ones… not from being mauled by these stupid dogs!" The knight looked up at the storm clouds as raindrops fell on his face.

Link grimaced when he felt his body collide with the hard ground as Alpha lunged onto his back once more.

The knight could barely register the voice of his fairy companion calling him frantically. Instead, he chose to close his eyes and allow memories of a beautiful princess to occupy his mind.

"I guess this is it," Link sighed. "At least my last thoughts will be of Princess Zelda…"

Suddenly, he felt the weight lifted off of his body followed by a high-pitched whizzing noise and then a loud thud. The sounds of howls and what seemed like the creatures fighting confused Link immensely, and he would have opened his eyes to see what was happening around him, but he was just too exhausted.

He sighed as he finally accepted the wave of fatigue, silently thanking whoever had come to his aid.

X-X-X

OHMIGOSH, THIS TOOK FOREVER. Writing, editing, editing again... Phew!

Okay, I know what you guys are thinking… "What a cliffhanger! How dare she leave us hanging like that!"

Don't worry, I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as possible. I'm not saying it'll be done in a week, I'm not saying it'll be a month… I'm saying it'll be done when I get the chance to write it! I'm just really busy, ya know?

ANYWAYS, I hope you will leave me a lovely review or a favorite!

Thanks in advance! I LOVE YOU ALL!