HUGE THANKS to ultima-owner and Kerriss-Singer-of-Light for reviewing!

On a completely unrelated note, would you guys like me to bring in the Four Sword Links or OoT Links at any point? 'Cause yesterday I had this weird mental image of the FS manga Links falling from the sky and landing on our group, then Red glomps Shadow yelling, "YOU'RE ALIVE!" and everyone is all confused while Vio tries to work out a logical explanation, Blue acts tough, and Green is attempting to get some semblance of order out of the chaos. Might lead to some awkward tension when Vaati mentions that he is no longer, in fact, and insane eyeball monster and all the Links realize that holy crud he's the guy that they had to fight. Awkward. Vio would also get the opportunity to finally sit down and have a talk with Shadow about what happened in Death Mountain, which is kind of angsty but resolves well in the end. Also more stuff, probably. Yeah, my mind is weird.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight Princess, because if I did there would be a sequel and a manga and this fic would be canon.

Edit 7-7-15: Reworked the entire first paragraph, added a disclaimer, and spent ten minutes wincing at how bad my early writing was. Other than that, no major changes.


There was no time for words as we dashed towards Castle Town. Rain was pounding down upon us, blurring vision and soaking right through to the bone. Mud squelched beneath our paws, splattering our coats as we went as fast as we could without slipping. My tongue lolled out as I panted, gasping for air as we sprinted.

Bolting across the drawbridge, the sounds of the townspeople screaming and running away in fear were ignored in favor of getting to the castle as fast as possible. I nearly skidded out on the cobblestone while turning a corner, shoulder banging painfully into a wall. Adrenaline quickly washed away the pain, numbing it so I could keep on running. Unfortunately, when we got to the castle, the doors were closed and we lacked the opposable thumbs necessary to open them.

"S***! Now how're we supposed to get in?" Link cursed angrily. I raised an eyebrow, mildly surprised at the sound of the usually somewhat mild-mannered country boy cursing. It seemed like Midna's condition was affecting him more than I'd thought it was.

"Wait, don't worry. We'll just have to use the one in the Bar," Dark said quickly.

Vaati growled slightly and lashed his tail from side to side in annoyance. "Dark, that passage literally goes right over the main room! How the heck are we supposed to get there if we look like this?! I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure Telma wouldn't take kindly to three wolves and a panther just waltzing in," he pointed out. I nodded in agreement.

Just then, Midna wheezed, hoarsely whispering, "Zelda…"

"Midna doesn't have much time. We have to use the passage," Dark insisted. Taking a look at the imp's pale, shivering form, I had to concede. As Vaati dipped his head in submission, Dark took the lead as we raced to Telma's Bar.

Once there, Dark didn't even bother trying to get in, instead going straight for the open window set in the wall. Link, Vaati, and I all followed, Link careful not to jostle his passenger too much. By now we were all soaked to the bone and freezing cold, the wet rain only augmented by the buffeting winds.

Telma's cat, Louise, looked up at us in surprise, probably having scented our entrance. Then she saw Midna on Link's back and nodded in understanding, promptly going back to her spot next to the bar.

"Alright. Link, the passage is on the other side, over there. Us three can fly, but you'll have to walk across those ropes to the platforms. We'll try to keep the pots out of your way, and we'll catch you if you fall," Dark whispered hastily.

I immediately began picking up the heavy clay pots in my jaws and pushing them to the side, making as clear of a path as possible for the larger wolf. Looking down, I saw that a goron was standing beneath us, probably as security- seeing as we were otherwise occupied. More incentive not to get caught; getting hit by a goron was like getting hit by a solid stone wall.

A second later Link was all but running along the thick ropes, placing his paws in a perfectly straight line so as not to fall off. Dark and I were on either side, while Vaati glided an inch above the ropes behind him.

Unfortunately, we were still soaked from the rain and were still dripping all over the place. Due to the fact that all of our attention was on Midna and making sure she and Link didn't fall, we failed to notice this. The people below us, however, did not.

"Hey, Telma, the roof is leaking. Wasn't it just fixed?" asked Bucket Head suddenly. By this time we were about halfway across the first rope, within full view of anyone who cared to look upwards. At the man's words all four of us froze, trying to remain as still as possible. A jolt of fear ran down my spine as I heard Telma answer, responding that it had been fixed just last week.

Then they looked up.

"Oh, Farore!" Link snarled, quickly traversing the rest of the distance to the wooden platform as fast as he could. But by then the damage was already done. Stealth was no longer an option at this point as the Resistance and the goron all clustered into the center of the room, peering up at us. Bucket Head's hand was on his sword, ready to pull it out if necessary, while Ashei had a throwing knife out and ready to send flying if we so much as twitched wrong.

Farore, this is not good. This is not good at all, I thought to myself.

"What on earth-? How did-" here Telma stopped, squinted, and quickly counted how many of us there were "-three wolves and a panther get in here?"

Bucket Head leaned forward and scrutinized us, then shook his head and muttered, "No, it can't be…" before taking off his helmet and looking more carefully. I heard Link gasp sharply beside me, as Bucket Head turned out to be his old teacher- the one we'd stolen a sword from almost two months ago. He probably recognized us from when I snuck into his house, and the rest of us from when we escaped from the village together.

Oh, Goddesses, I just hoped that they weren't smart enough to put two and two together. If they realized our real identities, that could completely destroy their trust in us. After all, who would want to work with a kid that turns into a wolf? If we got kicked out of Telma's good graces, it would just be that much harder to find food and shelter to survive.

"What's more, how did they get up there? I've never seen wolves that can fly, and they seem to do it using the same methods as Dark, Shadow, and Vaati. And most wolves don't have the balance required to walk across those ropes. Curious…" Shad said quietly, brow furrowed in his "thinking face."

I swallowed nervously.

"Honey, is it just me, or is does that wolf green? And that has a purple mane, the black one was red eyes, and… the panther… is… purple?" Telma asked hesitantly.

Rauru nodded slowly. "Yes, if anything, the remind me very much of Dark, Shadow, Vaati, and Link especially the panther… right down to the black eye markings. Strange."

Vaati flattened his ears and tried to shrink back against the wall, but to no avail. The platform just wasn't big enough for very much movement. As it was we were already pressed flank-to-flank against each other.

"If they stay still like that, I bet I could hit at least one with my knives. Want me to get rid of them?" Ashei offered, removing several other wickedly sharp throwing knives from where they were strapped to her thighs. The blades glinted ominously in the torchlight, the flames reflected in the polished steel.

Link shuddered slightly, and I could smell the fear scent that suddenly rolled off of him in waves. Midna twitched, pressing her face into the other male's fur.

Without warning a silver blur suddenly flashed past Vaati's muzzle, the throwing knife embedding itself in the wall no more than an inch from where his cheek had been. Letting out a startled yowl of surprise as it took a half inch off his right whiskers, the panther instinctively jerked to the side. Seeing as he was perched on the edge of a small wooden platform, however, this meant that "to the side" translated to "off the platform, into the air."

A second later the Wind Mage was hovering ten feet off the ground in a swirling tornado of wind, his fur fluffed out so that he looked nearly twice his natural size. The bipeds in the room stared in shock as the torchlight nicely illuminated his… ah, unusual coloration, as well as the red eyes and trademark black marks under his eyes. Slowly Vaati rose up and settled back on the platform, now pressing himself as far away from the edge as possible.

Oh, f***. If they hadn't figured it out yet, I'm sure they have now, I thought to myself. At that point, I'm not sure who was more surprised- us or them. Then Midna stirred and coughed slightly, snapping us out of our hypnotized stare-down.

"She needs treatment, fast. Deal with them later, if we move now we can get away before they start throwing more knives. Worst case we fight," Dark woofed quietly. Link nodded and turned away, practically bounding across the next two ropes. No longer caring about stealth, pots fell and shattered like rain. By the time the Resistance realized what was happening, the last of us was already through the tunnel.

But as we left, I heard Bucket Head whisper, "...Link?"


As a glowing golden diamond appeared around the castle, Midna gazed mournfully at the back of her left hand before turning and giving Link her customary kick, a signal to head towards the resting place of the Blade of Evil's Bane- the Master Sword.

Of course, we'd all heard the stories about it. Wielded by the famous Hero of Time, the Blade of Evil's Bane was said to have the ability to defeat any evil, to banish any darkness.

...Somehow, I doubted it was going to like my brothers and I. But what choice did we have? It was either the sword or we'd be stuck as animals forever. On the plus side, though, we were working with the Chosen Hero. Maybe that would get us some brownie points; hopefully enough so that the sword wouldn't destroy us on sight.

Getting to Faron was easy, now that Midna had enough power to warp us. Of course, the moment we got there we ended up having to save a monkey from demented puppets, but at this point I'd realized that such acts had become normal for us and accepted it as part of my life. Still, though, those things were creepy!

The expression on Link's face when he was informed that he would have to traverse that giant chasm, however… that was priceless. Have I mentioned how much I love being able to fly?


It was official: I hated Skull Kid. He was the most annoying creature in all of Hyrule without a doubt. Though I will admit, smashing his face into a tree was immensely satisfying.

I wonder if that was my "Inner Demon" (as Dark calls it) speaking or my complete and utter frustration/annoyance with the little puppet master making itself known. At this point, I'm not sure I want to know.

Yet another reason I don't think the Master Sword will like my brothers and I very much. If anything, Dark is even more vicious than I am, bordering on sadistic at times. And Vaati can be surprisingly cold-blooded when he wants (or needs) to be.


A puzzle. Really? A puzzle? Good thing I've always been good at those. It's easy, once you've got a bird's eye view of everything.


Some sort of deep-seated instinct warned the three of us to stay far, far, back as Link approached the sword. Even from the other end of the small courtyard I could already feel the holy power emanating from the sword, and it gave me a feeling of deep unease. I don't know why, it just did.

Then there was a blinding light, and suddenly, Link was hylian again, pulling out the Master Sword and holding it aloft. The backlash of pure magical energy sent of literal wave of dust and wind towards us, knocking us flat on our backs.

When we got back up, we were hylian again. Though for some odd reason there was now what felt like a solid gemstone embedded in that little dip in my collarbone between the base of my neck and the top of my chest, the area usually covered by the clasp of my cloak.

Looking around, I saw that Vaati had something similar embedded in his skin as well, though instead of being circular his was a blood red oval. Dark had one as well, pitch black with a dark red tint. It was a little strange to have it right there, but as far as I could tell, it was completely fused to my skin. Over by the pedestal Midna was talking to Link while holding some sort of weird orange and black fungus thing, though I had no idea of what it was.

"What the- what the h*** is this thing?!" Vaati yelped as he discovered the new addition to his body. Dark frowned as he craned his neck to try and look at his. I rubbed my fingers over mine and grabbed a small dirty mirror out of a pocket that I'd once found on the ground to see what mine looked like. It was perfectly circular with a diameter of about a centimeter, colored the same shade of purple as my hair. Though for some strange reason, there seemed to be a strange mixture of red, blue, green, and violet tinting it slightly as well.

As I concentrated harder on the odd gemstone, I slowly began to realize that I could feel the magic in it- slightly different from mine, but similar enough that my body seemed to accept it. I could feel a hint of what I'd come to associate as Midna's magic, which was a bit like a purer version of the cursed twilight.

I probed it with my own magic, then gasped as a flurry of black squares filled my vision and I was suddenly back on four paws again- only this time with the gemstone in the same place. Acting on a hunch I pushed magic towards it again, sighing in relief when I was returned to hylian form. Then I tried it again… and again… and again until I was dizzy from switching forms so quickly.

However, I'd now added a new trick to my arsenal- the ability to shapeshift between wolf and hylian forms at will. My brothers, quickly catching on, had done the same experiment, so by the time Link and Midna finished their short conversation we were already somewhat proficient at working with our new power.

"Hey, what are those things in your necks?" Link asked as he walked over. I looked at him with newfound respect. He now had an aura of power that he hadn't before, and with the Master Sword slung across his back, he suddenly looked much more the part of the Hero he was supposed to be. Of course, I didn't tell him that, but I knew that Vaati and Dark were probably thinking something similar.

"Ah, as far as we can tell, they let us shift forms as will. It's pretty cool, actually, except for the part where they seem to be permanently embedded in our bodies," Dark said nonchalantly. Link stopped dead in his tracks, gaping as he did an excellent impression of a landed fish.

"Wait, embedded into- what in the name of Farore? How is that possible?" he stuttered out. Midna popped out of his shadow, now able to take a corporeal form in the Light World because of Zelda's sacrifice. Flying over, she checked Dark's gem for a few seconds before doing the same of mine and Vaati's.

"Well, it seems like the curse was purified somehow so it wouldn't corrupt you, then it melded with your natural magic. Those gemstones are the physical manifestation of the purified curse. That's why when you use your magic on them, you transform," Midna summarized. I listened carefully, able to understand most of that. She was good. I wondered if she'd specialized in studying magic before or something.

Then Link pulled out the Master Sword and began examining it, testing the blade to see if it needed sharpening or if it was rusty. I don't think he really expected it to be, though- given that it was a magical sword, chances were it was probably enchanted.

The four of us then made our way all the way back to the edge of the deep chasm that overlooked the area next to the Forest Temple. It was then that we realized that Link had no way of getting back. Of course, once the blond voiced this, Midna came out and started telling him that he now had the ability to transform, so we could just warp.

Well, that certainly made things easier.

We appeared in front of the drawbridge to Castle Town, shifting to hylian form, as soon as we were fully formed. Then we all stopped and looked at each other.

"So, what now?" Vaati asked.

"Well, since we're here, I think we should go talk to the Resistance. I think they'll be wanting answers," I replied. Link nodded, muttering something about "Rusl," whoever he was. Maybe Bucket Head?

Just before we were about to enter the gates, however, Link suddenly stopped and rushed back, telling us to wait there. About twenty minutes later he came back, looking very pleased with himself. When we asked, he just said that the Golden Wolf taught him a new move. The subject was dropped after that- the Golden Wolf kind of creeped me out. I didn't know why, but he didn't seem to like us very much, especially Dark.

The four of us dragged our heels and pretty tried to put off going to the Bar as long as possible, none of us really wanting to confirm that they'd found out about our animal forms. But, eventually, we couldn't put it off any longer and clustered in the small entrance area in front of the door.

For some reason I was incredibly nervous. Rubbing the gem absentmindedly, I wondered whether it would be better to just lay low for a while and hope they forgot about it. Somehow, though, knowing Telma, they weren't just going to let it go.

Luckily for us, they were the only ones in the Bar at the time, so there was no danger of strangers overhearing us. Taking a deep breath, I steeled my nerves and walked in, dropping my pace slightly so that I was next to Vaati but behind Dark and Link.

As we entered Louise hopped down from one of the bar stools and trotted up to us, purring and rubbing her head against our legs. I chuckled and pet her behind the ears, glad for a distraction. By now the Resistance were openly staring at us, though I wasn't sure whether it was in anger, fear, or something else.

Surprisingly, Shad was the first to break the awkward silence that had fallen.

"So," he said slowly. "Werewolves, eh? Never would have thought, old chap. Though I've never heard of a werepanther, before. Quite curious, really. How did it happen?"

A good two hours later, we had relayed all of our adventures thus far, introduced Midna, given a demonstration of Link's new items and the shapeshifting, and were now planning our next move. Apparently we would be heading to the Gerudo Desert next.

Oh boy. Sandstorms, bulblin territory, a haunted prison, and an insane amount of light. I was so looking forward to it.

Dark just rolled his eyes and said that I was only getting more and more sarcastic as I got older. Naturally, I didn't know what he was talking about.