Volink Week 2018

Disclaimer: I don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: To be honest, this one was a challenge to come up with something. When I first read the prompt, I wasn't really sure what it meant, and even after looking it up, no ideas immediately sprang to mind. I went through a few scenarios in my head, but it took a while before I found a direction I thought I could go for this prompt. Even so, Volga still approaches the situation like himself and doesn't really consider how Link would approach matters much.

As always, thanks for reading.

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Day 5: Role Reversal

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"Kill the dragon!" the mob chanted.

"It's a runt. We can take 'im!" And the mob cheered.

"Yea, no need to call on Her Majesty's men. Let's skewer it ourselves!" And the mob cheered.

Wearing the Hero's golden gauntlets, Volga summoned a stone pillar and slammed it down in between the angry villagers and Link, blinded by beastly instinct and trapped in the form of a dragon. What he should have done was drop the pillar on the mob, but for once in his life, Volga was going to attempt to be 'diplomatic' in his approach like Link would, though he really did not know how and setting everything on fire was a hell of a lot more easier in his opinion.

Volga leaped and landed on top of the stone pillar. First looking to see if Link was all right and he was, Volga then turned and faced the angry mob. "Chip off a scale on the Hero, and I will join him in incinerating your entire village and slaughtering all of you."

"What the hell! Aren't you with Her Majesty?" a horse-faced man at the front of the mob shouted.

"I do not serve your princess. I follow the boy, the Hero the lot of you are so eager to rid yourself of," Volga said, pointing behind him at the young green dragon snarling and bearing its fangs to all those that dared to approach him. Link was unable to distinguish friend from foe. Truth be told, there were very few humans that would be on Link's side in this form. "This foul beast is your sacred Hero. He is merely cursed in this form, as you would put it, though I would not. Do you still wish for his head?"

Usually in these situations, it was Link standing between Volga and an angry mob wielding pitchforks and torches but not in this case. An unforeseen misdirection of magic had caused Volga to be depowered into a human and granted Link the birthright of a dragon. What the spell had not granted Link was, among other things, emotional and mental control in his dragon form.

"That ain't the Hero!" Horse Face's shorter, pumpkin-headed brother replied, though to be fair Volga assumed that all humans were related to one another. "He's ten-feet tall, sturdier than a mountain, eats fire for breakfast, and he crushes moblin heads in his bare hands. You're lying!"

Clearly, no one who had ever met Link ever knew that he was the Hero. If Link and the Hyrulean forces had indulged in a little more publicity and fanfare for the Hero, none of those ridiculous claims would exist. Though perhaps, Volga speculated, villagers had made up these claims on purpose because they had met the Hero and had been greatly disappointed by the truth. These villagers were in for a pedestal-breaking shock that their demigod Hero actually wasn't able to reach most top cabinets without a stool, adored cuddling small animals, misused bombs for his own amusement, and only ate fire once because he had not known that the insides of an ember seed spontaneously combusted when exposed to air.

"Believe me or die," Volga said in a tone that made it clear that those were the only options allowed. "Leave. I will deal with the boy."

"You aren't stealing the kill from us—" Volga's glare silenced the human gadfly. Whether he was done speaking or not, Volga did not care. Saving the boy from their angry mob was more important to him. How quick they are to turn on him…

Volga hopped down from the stone pillar and slowly made his way up to Link. "Boy, listen to me. I don't wish to say this at all so do not make me repeat myself," he said. "You must not harm these humans. They are your countrymen and, despite their unworthiness, you have sworn to protect them." Dragon Link lashed his tail at Volga, who endured the blow to his side and seized hold of Link's tail.

With his tail was trapped, Link turned around and lunged at Volga's throat. Knowing well what was coming, Volga grabbed Link's neck, and with help from the boy's gauntlets, he wrestled Dragon Link down to the ground and pinned him flat with his full body weight. It was a bit of a scramble but Volga managed to grab and hold his jaws closed with one hand.

Thankfully, Link's transformation did not increase his size very much as a dragon. It seemed that the birthright did not know how to properly convert his human years to dragon years, and his dragon form was only the size of a yearling. Volga had often called Link a 'little dragon' as a private term of endearment, but the fact that Link was indeed a little dragon frankly amused Volga.

"Link, I know you are not lost in there. You are overwhelmed. The world you are experiencing is more than you have ever known, and the birthright urges you to obey its commands. It is all too much. Return to humanity," Volga said, as Link snorted loudly and stared at Volga, all the while fighting to break his grip and chomp down on his hands. Volga wasn't positive that Link actually recognized him at all—when the time came to let him go, Volga was going to have to take a chance and get out of the way.

The angry mob stood and watched in perplexed silence as Volga gradually calmed Link down and began guiding him through how to change back into a human. Truth be told, the dragon knight wasn't sure if his advice would work for Link, as their true forms were different. There could be a difference in the magic and method between a dragon changing back from a human and a human changing back from a dragon. For Link's safety, Volga hoped there was not a big difference.

Link's body began to glow with a green aura and grew hot, too hot for Volga to remain on top of him. Much earlier in the day, Fi had located a suitable ore of rupoor that Volga could fashion into a sinkstone for Link until the spell could be lifted. As Link's form destabilized and shifted, Volga pressed the rupoor against Link's neck. The pale green glow surrounded the black rupee too as the rupoor siphoned off the magic dragon shifters used to switch between forms. Bit by bit, the brilliant light became less intense until it was just a flicker and Link returned to his true self. The mob gasped and chattered aloud about how Volga was right, that the beast was human, and all other sort of nonsense the dragon knight cared not to pay any attention to.

Carefully, Volga rolled Link onto his back. The young Hero lay catching his breath and in time opened his eyes. Despite his exhaustion, he tried to say something but Link could barely hold his shaking hands up, much less sign words. Volga gently pushed Link's hands back down and shushed him.

Volga showed Link the green sinkstone the rupoor had been transformed into. "Keep this on you always," he said, placing the gem in Link's pocket. "I shall forge a chain and set it for you when we return to base."

With Link clearly done for the day and Volga having no desire to be in the mob's presence a second longer, Volga picked up Link, cradled him in his arms, and hastened back to the allied base. Along the way, Link softly smiled at Volga in thanks for not only coming to his aid but for restoring him to humanity, though the dragon's birthright remained inside him for now. Volga told him to go to sleep.