HUGE THANKS to ultima-owner for reviewing both this and my Pokémon/Harry Potter crossover! And no, Death Mountain's not a good place to vacation at all. Unless, of course, you're a goron. Or immune to falling rocks and lava. Or some crazy hard-core Hot Springs enthusiast, I don't know.
Edit 1-20-15: Added some lines, switched up a couple phrases, minor edits. Also, altered the way I censor swearing. Asterisks look better than the Sunday Comics versions, I think.
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
"Oh c***. This ain't good. Why the h*** did that creature have to choose now of all times to break free?!" I yelped, dodging a swipe from one massive flaming hand. Of course the stupid thing had to be on fire, too. Of course. What was next, a giant wave of flames?
Apparently, the answer to that question was yes. A wave of firebursts exploded outwards, and a few of them passed so close I could feel my fur ripple as they rushed past.
"Keep it still so I can hit it!" Link yelled, an arrow notched in his bow and ready to fire. However, when I looked at him I couldn't help but see the image of a young boy in a purple tunic flash across my vision, along with the name Vio. These visions had been happening rather frequently for some reason, especially whenever I saw Link with his bow or any floating platform on the lava. Actually, just about everything in these stupid mines triggered some sort of flashback.
And I could never figure out why, even though I'd never seen the people or the images that came to me before in my life. For example, one moment a floating rock gave me the image of two boys fighting on a platform, green against violet. Then Link holding his bow triggered that purple-tunic boy again. Actually, now that I think about it, that boy with the yellow bow and purple tunic popped up a lot. I knew the boys' names, and his was Vio, but I couldn't figure out exactly who he was. He seemed important, though.
"Shadow! Pay attention!" Dark yelped, flying past my nose. I blinked and dodged a swipe, mentally scolding myself. I couldn't afford to get distracted now, of all times. Not when there was a very large, very angry, very much on holy-f***ing-Din fire giant rampaging around.
"RRRROAAARHHGGG!" Fyrus roared in pain as an arrow pierced the pinkish jewel on his forehead with pinpoint accuracy, shaking his head from side to side and thrashing around. Link hastily put away his bow and ran towards the monster's back, where heavy chains trailed from its ankles. I saw Midna pop out of Link's shadow and say something, then hand over the iron boots.
Once we realized what Link was doing, the three of us flew down and grabbed the other chain in our jaws, pulling as far back as we could. At the moment I was cursing my wolf form for not having opposable thumbs and hoped that my teeth wouldn't get pulled out by the strain. Then something cracked faintly against the screech of metal against stone, and the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth.
Goddesses-d***it.
Dismissing the injury as a minor loss, considering the circumstances, I instead adjusted my grip a bit to relief stress on that part of my mouth. We all leaned back on our heels, trying to fell the colossus, then-
The giant creature toppled to the floor, and Link quickly unsheathed his sword. Then he began hacking at the jewel, which was probably the monster's weak point- much like Diababa's eye. Soon, Fyrus got back up and the cycle was repeated two more times. Shoot the jewel, pull the chain, and then hit the jewel some more. It was rather simple, actually. I think Diababa was more difficult, simply because of the acid spraying all over the place. At least the flames were easily put out with Vaati's windstorms. And no other teeth were lost, thank Farore.
After the third time of hacking at the jewel, Fyrus roared and stood frozen, blackening and shrinking down until he was once again a normal goron. The Fused Shadow that popped out was taken by Midna, and I wondered what she wanted with those things. We already had two out of three, and they must have been powerful if she wanted them this badly.
A while later we were back at Kakariko, being treated for burns and recuperating from various wounds. Some of the marks would leave scars, but personally I thought that they looked kind of cool. Vaati thought they looked ugly, but that was only because his coat wasn't perfect and unmarked anymore. That guy was probably the vainest street kid I ever had or ever would meet.
Link was talking to Renado, who was telling him about the mysterious black barrier that enclosed the entire Lanayru region. From his description of the strange golden markings it was probably another wall of twilight, hopefully the last one in the kingdom. Well, at least now we knew where we'd be headed next. And hopefully my brothers and I could finally get our hylian forms back. Ah, to once again have the use of opposable thumbs...
Once Link had purchased healing potions, bombs, arrows, and something called a hawkeye, we were ready to enter the twilight for the third and hopefully last time. Once we stood at the great black wall before us, Midna popped out and started talking.
"Ah, we're finally here. There's only one Fused Shadow left...So this is the last of the twilight you'll see, I guess. Whether or not you accomplish your final task and survive is up to you... Eee hee! So what will you do? Want me to let you into the twilight?"
Link answered in an affirmative.
"All right then, I guess I'll have to help you! But what a shame that this is the last of the twilight... I had become so fond of seeing it covering this world... Or... is it really the last you'll see? Eee hee! So, shall we get going?"
Then she floated in and grabbed us all with a giant glowing hand, pulling us back into the twilight.
This time, Link's transformation didn't look painful. Instead, he simply fell on all fours and just changed. He looked a bit confused for a second, then coughed as Midna plopped onto his back and kicked her heels into his side. He turned and growled at her for a minute, then huffed as he heard the three of us laughing at him.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing. She's got you completely whipped, ya know that?"
"Wha- she does not!"
"Hey! Do you want to save that girl or not! Come on, let's get going!" Midna yelled, cutting into the argument. Link just flicked his ears and turned forwards, trotting down the path. I snickered and followed.
"Oh yeah, she's got him totally whipped," Vaati snickered.
A minute later Link was sniffing at a small pouch that lay on the ground, ears thrust forward and blue eyes dark and intense.
"You smell the girl, don't you? I can tell by the look on your face. Well, good. It's another clue, then. But this scent could be quite old... I wonder if she is still alright? Eee hee!" Midna said rather nastily. Link growled and put his nose to the ground, breaking into a fast sprint. How he managed to see where he was going with his eyes pointed downwards, though, I have no idea. The three of us really had no choice but to follow.
We crossed the field in front of Castle Town and came to the east gate, where Link didn't even slow down as he ran across the wooden drawbridge. I couldn't help but let out a happy bark at coming back home, even if it was covered in twilight. Once I turned on my senses, I could see that the residents weren't even affected by the twilight and were rushing around as usual. Of course. Ah, it's wonderful to be back.
"Hey, Shadow, do ya think Telma's missed us?" Vaati asked as he walked through a spirit. I shrugged and poked a paw through a kid's stomach.
"Eh, I dunno. It'll depend on how busy she's been and whether the Resistance's had any meetings. But we have been gone for a few weeks now, so she might be wondering why we haven't shown up for food yet."
"Or maybe she thinks we finally got offed by disease or something. Wasn't there some sort of sickness going around at the time we left?" Dark asked. Vaati nodded.
"Oh yeah, I remember that. Bunch of people died, right? I wonder why we never caught it, though."
"Maybe the same reason we didn't turn into spirits like everyone else. Which, by the way, we still don't know the answer to."
By this time, we'd followed Link all over town while he'd tracked the scent and were now standing at the door to Telma's Bar.
"We need to go inside. Do you guys know what place this is?" Link asked us, the first time we'd been addressed since entering the town.
"Yeah, this is Telma's Bar. She lets us have free food every once in a while. She's pretty nice, actually. I think she's the only shopkeeper we don't steal from," Dark replied. Link glanced wide-eyed at us before replying, "Steal from? But stealing is bad! You guys... steal?"
"Yeah, of course we steal. You forgot that we're street kids, didn't 'ya?"
"Um... well..."
"Listen, Link. You may not know it, but you're incredibly lucky. You grew up with a roof over your head and people that cared for you. You could pretty much count on having at least one good meal every day and a fire to warm up by. But for us, we didn't have that. For us, we'd be lucky to get a loaf of bread to share between us for breakfast. So just don't start looking down on us because we have distinctly looser morals than other people, 'kay?" Vaati muttered. Link sighed and looked slightly disapproving, but dropped the subject.
"Well, on a happier note, let's see if Telma missed us!" I announced, nosing open the door and stepping in.
The bar seemed almost exactly the same as when we'd left it, but with a group of soldiers clustered in the back area where the Resistance usually met. Telma was also standing next to a girl that I presumed was Link's friend, who was sitting in front of an unconscious zora boy.
Upon seeing her, Link immediately started wagging his tail and started towards the girl before they began to talk.
"This boy... Can you save him?!" the girl asked.
"All right, little lady, try to settle down, okay?! I just now sent for the doctor! But this is strange... A child of the Zoras... I wonder if this is at all related to the incident the soldiers were talking about in back..." she replied.
Midna spoke up then, grinning widely. "Aw, what an emotional reunion! Yes, a girl and her wolf! Eee hee! Sorry, but you know how it goes! These folks can't see you, either... Eee hee hee!"
The girl sadly turned back to the zora boy. "This boy I still so young, so innocent... To see him suffering like this..."
"He'll be all right, little lady. Someone's already gone for the doctor. I'll tell you, though, from what those soldiers in back were talking about...to everything else... There sure has been a rash of trouble lately..." Telma replied consolingly.
I almost didn't catch the muttered remark under her breath as we turned our attention to the soldiers, but what she said warmed my heart. It was nice to know that somebody cared.
"Dark, Vaati, Shadow... Goddesses, I hope you three are alright, wherever you are. They never found your bodies, so I hope it wasn't the sickness. Take care of yourselves, boys."
"Ah c***, tar! The bridge is on fire!" I howled, glancing from side to side. Link growled and saw a box near the railing. Pushing it so that it was flush against the side, he jumped on top and peered over the edge of the bridge.
"Link, are you serious?! You're the only one who can't fly!" I barked.
"Yes, but how else do you expect to get out of here? Besides, I can see water below. It'll soften the landing."
"Not from this high up!"
"No, it's okay. I can slow his fall," Vaati mewed. Dark hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"We don't have a choice," he growled. Then he turned ghostly and sank through the floor. I flattened my ears but leap upwards, followed by Vaati on his tornado. Link jumped off the edge, falling hundreds of feet towards the ground. We dove after him, Vaati creating a small tornado underneath to slow his descent.
The green wolf hit the water with a huge splash, but seemed unharmed when his head popped up and he swam to shore. We landed on the bank just as he clambered out and shook himself off, spraying water everywhere.
"Whoa, what the heck happened to all the water? The lake used to be a lot fuller."
"Oh boy, more bug hunting. Hopefully this is the last time." Vaati shuddered at the thought. He absolutely hated those stupid electrified bugs.
"Holy s***, those zoras are frozen. Are they even alive?"
"No offense, but even if that worked, what in the name of Farore possessed us to think that sending a giant fiery rock into a frozen pool of zoras and hoping that by some miracle none of them are crushed or injured was a good idea?"
"Uh... I dunno..."
"Holy f*** that's a huge bug!"
"Goddesses, I'm going have nightmares about this, I just know it."
"Ewww, it's spraying gross liquid from it's leg stumps!"
"Ugh, s***, that tastes awful."
"Finally. Oh, that was terrible. I think I'm scarred for life."
"From what, that vision or the giant bug?"
"Both. And the sight of Dark in Link's clothes dyed black with black skin and clones of himself that are apparently completely and utterly evil."
"Shadow, Vaati, do me a favor. If for some reason I ever become like that, you have my full permission to either run away screaming or beat some sense into me. I won't hold it against you."
"Will do."
"Y'know, even though there are a lot of advantages to being a wolf, I think I like being hylian better. Ah, to walk on two legs again!" I said, stretching my arms above my head and reveling in the feeling of actually being able to wiggle my fingers and toes once more. Or even having fingers and toes, really. Mostly fingers. Those were much more useful.
"Ya got that right. Oh, it'll be so much easier to cast spells with actual hands instead of paws now!" Vaati sighed happily, leaning against to rail of the wooden bridge. Dark laughed and ruffled my hair.
"Hehe, now I can do this again! And of course, I'm still taller than you, no matter which form. Heh, I can fight with a sword instead of claws!" he said happily. Link chuckled.
"You know, I almost forgot what you guys look like, since I'm so used to seeing you in your animal forms. Though I do think that Vaati looked less girly as a panther," he teased.
"Wha- I do not look like a girl!"
"Yes you do!"
"No I don't!"
"Yes you- wait a minute, is that my wallet?"
I grinned as I bounced Link's wallet up and down in my hand. "Uh huh. Looks like those weeks of being a wolf haven't dulled my pickpocketing skills. Then again, you're not a particularly difficult victim. You didn't even have the sense to keep it somewhere hidden, and not in plain sight like that!"
"Hey, give that back!"
And thus, a game of keep-the-wallet-away-from-Link was started, and ended when I simply hovered just above Link's reach and dangled it teasingly as he jumped for it.
"Sooo... how're we gonna get back up?"
"Well, there's always Fyer's Cannon. It's a bit scary for first-time users, but it gets the job done."
"No. No way am I getting into a cannon and shooting myself out."
"Or we could carry you, but it might be slightly awkward since it's hardly common to see two flying people supporting a guy between them in the air. And there's no guarantee that we won't drop you. You're not exactly light, y'know."
"I'll take my chances with the cannon."
