Chapter 6

Outside the Twili/Grashta Cave

"He turned, into a wolf?," said Gaius.

"Zelda did say he could before, but Link said he couldn't do it anymore," said Gerome.

"Can someone pull that damn knife out?" uttered Lon'qu, as he pulled the knife out of Wolf Link's back. "What kind of knife is this?"

"Hey can I see," said Robin, as Lon'qu handed him the knife. "It has some form of dark magic on it. Kind of like how my Levin Sword conducts lightning."

As they conversed over what to do, Wolf Link opened his eyes, and stood back up. He was confused as to why everyone was suddenly taller, and why he was on four limbs. Then he looked at his legs, and instantly realized what happened. The knife must have turned him into a wolf. He looked up. He didn't bark or howl, since he knew that only animals could understand him.

"Link... we uh, tried to heal you, but it didn't work. Noth Grateau threw this knife at you," said Robin. He showed Link the knife. The blade was dark in color, appearing even darker with the black fog emitting a centimeter off the blade.

"Did his stuff transform with him?" said Gerome.

"It did. It was there when he was still a human," answered Lucina.

"How exactly do we reverse this?" asked Ashei.

"I still have that book from Grateau. It might say something in here," said Shad. He started looking through the book.

"We should bring him back to Zelda," said Frederick.

Wolf Link nodded his head yes to Frederick.

"How exactly do we bring a wolf through Castle Town?" questioned Lon'qu.

"It can't be that bad. I don't think the citizens will really notice," said Gaius. "I mean, they didn't notice us beating up the thief."

Unfortunately for them, brining a wolf through the crowded Castle Town wasn't going to be easy.

Castle Town, Afternoon

The Ylisse shepherds formed a tight perimeter around Link, which made him hard to see, when taking their armor into account. The residents of Castle Town were inattentive to the shepherds walking through in an elliptical formation. They made it past to the Castle Entrance. They were halted by the guards.

"What is your business in the Castle?" questioned the guard.

"We're reporting back from the investigation of the cave at the river," said Robin.

"We have six of our soldiers protecting Zelda right now," said Chrom.

"We can't let you through, without some proper identification," said the guard.

"We're allies of Link!" exclaimed Lucina.

"Heh, that isn't the first time someone tried to pull that card," replied the guard.

Link realized that he wasn't with them, as a human at least. The guards let Link pass through with whoever, since they figured that if they're with Link, he trusts them. Since they weren't going to get into the castle anytime soon, he pulled one incredibly daring move. He howled, loud enough to be heard from the top of the castle. Then he maneuvered his way out of the perimeter of shepherds that enclosed him away. The guards took one look at him. It didn't take long for them to scream in fear.

"Wolf! Stand back!" one of them yelled.

The guards stood back, pointing their spears at Link. Reluctantly and out of fear, they let them through the entrance.

The Castle Entrance

Zelda met with the shepherds outside of the castle.

"I heard the howl. Link's howl," she said. She crouched town towards Wolf Link. "How did he turn into a wolf?"

"He had some help," said Robin. "The leader of the Twili Risen threw this knife at him."

Robin handed Zelda the knife.

"The knife, it looks like it is made out of shadow crystals. Zant once lodged a shadow crystal into Link, and it turned him into a wolf," said Zelda.

"How did he turn back to a human?" asked Chrom.

"He searched for the Master Sword. It casted the shadow crystal out of his body. With the help of Midna, his companion at the time, he was able to shift through the two forms at will," answered Zelda.

"Well, his stuff transformed with him," said Lucina.

"Then...I don't know how to turn him back to normal. There must be a shadow crystal in his body," said Zelda.

"What about his Midna person?" asked Gaius.

"She can't be reached. She's in another realm," said Zelda. "I wish there was more I could do to help."

Link looked down, with a soft howl of despair.

Later that Night, Castle Town

The shepherds struggled to figure out how to turn Link back into a human. Robin suggested that they see if Henry or Tharja could take the shard out in Ylisse, but they realized that without Link's Master Sword, they couldn't open a portal. Lon'qu said that they could try to cut it out, and then have Sumia heal him. Link immediately shook his head no, as well as Chrom.

Their one miniscule sliver of hope was that something was written in Grateau's book. They (Chrom, Sumia, Robin, Morgan, and Lucina) went to Shad at the castle.

"Is there anything in that book?" asked Robin.

"Just one thing that's noteworthy," said Shad. "You said that the villagers of Ordon were all taken, right?"

"Yeah," answered Robin.

"You're not going to like what I'm about to read. This chapter is called 'The Transformation.' First, participants are taken and they kneel against the alter. Then, one by one, enlightenment dashes through them by edge of Twilight. Through their backs, and into their hearts," read Shad.

"I'm not liking where this is going," said Lucina.

"Then the transformation begins. Day by day, the more and more Twilight that flows through them. Part by part, they shift into a sublime black. Finally, they become the divine image of Zant. Beings of Twilight," continued Shad. "This may or may not have happened to the villagers."

"They transform through some edge of Twilight? Is that a sword or something?" said Morgan.

"I think a knife is a better definition. Since it was a knife that turned Link into a wolf," said Robin.

"If the knife works on anyone, we could all turn into Twilight beings," said Shad.

Outside of the Throne Room

When he was a wolf during the Shadow Invasion, Link would often howl to summon a hawk, Epona, or to summon the Hero's Shade. Here, he would howl because he couldn't do anything else. They were the songs of the howling stones. Gaius, Gregor, and Cordelia were up at the outside of the Throne Room, under the dark sky and the crescent moon.

"Despite the rough situation that you are in, your howls are quite soothing," said Cordelia, as she petted Link's head.

"Uh, does he like getting petted like that? I mean, he is still a human, but trapped in a wolf's body," said Gaius.

"Link does not mind, it appears," said Gregor.

Link was lying down, with his head rested on Cordelia's lap.

"It was too bad that we couldn't bring the pegasi through the tear. It'd be nice to fly around Hyrule at night. You know Gaius, just you and me," said Cordelia.

"That would be nice... Is there any more room on your lap for my head?" said Gaius.

"Come over here," Cordelia replied.

"I hope you don't plan on falling asleep out here. 'Tis chilly out," said Gregor.

"This armor is warmer than you think," responded Cordelia.

"When you get sick, don't say I didn't warn you," said Gregor.

Gregor walked down the staircase, to find a comfortable place to sleep. There were only two guest rooms, that were taken by Chrom and Sumia, in one, and Lucina and Morgan in the other (the other was offered to Link, but he declined). Everyone else had to find a different place to sleep, although they didn't mind. Gregor went into the mess hall, were he found Lon'qu asleep. He tried hard to not wake him up, and he quietly lied down, and fell asleep.

Telma's Bar

Robin, Gerome, Shad, and Ashei met with Auru at the bar. They went to show Auru the Noth Grashta's book.

"I see you brought another man. What's your name?" Auru asked.

"Robin," he answered.

"That sounds foreign," said Auru. "Where's Link?"

"Uh, this may sounds farfetched, but-" said Robin, as he was cut off by Gerome.

"He got stabbed by a hexed knife and turned into a wolf," Gerome said. "There was some cult in the cave, called the Noth Grashta or something like that."

"Shad stole one of their books, about how they worship Zant," said Ashei.

"Yeah, here, take a look at page 109," said Shad. He handed Auru the book.

Page 109 was the Transformation story. Auru read it, and was ridden with shock.

"That's repulsing," said Auru.

"We think that happened to the Ordanian villagers," said Shad. "Although it takes a year for the process to complete, so they aren't Twilight Beasts right now.

"Let's not forget that they're probably planning their revenge attack as we speak," said Gerome.

"Well, I'm sure their forces aren't that large," said Robin.

"Even then, we came here with 18 people. I'm not sure how large the Hylian Army is, but I've had to fight them. Even without my axe, I could take on three guards at once," replied Gerome.

"We have magic, they don't," said Robin.

"Still, I wish I could have brought Minerva along..." muttered Gerome.

Outside of the Castle, sometime during the night

Link fell asleep in front of the castle. He had walked all the way down to the front entrance of the castle. His fur kept him warm. One of the plus sides of being a wolf. He also had his enhanced senses, although when he used them, they limited his line of sight to just a few feet around him. While he was awake, he kept thinking, how am I supposed to turn back?

Later during the night, while he was asleep at the front yard of the castle, he woke up involuntarily. He heard a voice in his head, saying to 'come a little closer.' A few steps forward, and he looked up. A feint black circle, darker than the much bluer tone of the night sky. Then, outlines of green appeared on the circle. Link instantly knew what it was: a Twilight Portal, which he used to travel to other places in Hyrule. Without any hesitation, he waited under the portal, and he dissolved into dozens of black squares. They flew up into the portal, to wherever the portal lead to.

The Mirror Chamber

Link was taken to the Mirror Chamber, and a Twilight Portal was there. He appeared in, square by square, to see things that he could have swore were just part of a dream. The completed Twilight Mirror, and standing in front of it were Midna and three tall men in black armor.

"I must say, when I envisioned us meeting again, I certainly wasn't expecting a wolf," said Midna. "Let me fix that for you."

Midna walked up to Link, and phased her hand through his back. She pulled out the shadow crystal, and Link shifted back into a human. He took a brief look at himself, looking at his hands, the Master Sword, and looked at Midna, to see that they were at the same height.

"Sorry to bring you here at this hour. In the Twilight Realm the entrance to the Light Realm opened, and I had to go through. Of course, we encountered these creatures," said Midna.

Link looked around, and saw almost a dozen dead bodies of Noth Grashtas.

"..." (Link). Noth Grashtas. That's what they were called.

"I thought Zant had killed his first line of test subjects," Midna said. "I didn't know he sent them here."

"...?!" (Link). He was shocked at the fact that she knew what they were. He told her that they've been attacking Hyrule.

"I'm telling you, nothing good comes out of him," she responded.

"..." Link asked what the armored men were.

"They're the real Twilight Realm Guard. Intimidating, right?" she said.

"..." (Link). He said he guessed so.

"What was that about these Noth Gratas attacking Hyrule?"

"..." (Link). They attacked Ordon Village and kidnapped all of the villagers. They tracked them to a cave by the Zora River, and they found out that they're a cult that worships Zant.

Midna responded by smashing a collapsed pillar into pebbles, using a large fist that she faintly outlined her own arm. After she calmed down, the black fist faded away.

"..." (Link). He then continued to explain that he's met people from another kingdom, who are heroes or their own, and that they were helping him and Zelda.

"Another kingdom? I never knew that there were others beyond Hyrule and the Twilight Realm," Midna replied.

"..." (Link). The were busy trying to figure out how to turn Link back, he said.

"Problem solved. Although, there's still the question of who repaired the mirror. I shattered it for a reason."

"..." (Link). At the moment, they thought that the Noth Grashta had repaired the mirror.

"Regardless of that... it's great to see you again," said Midna. "I should take you back to Hyrule Castle then, yes?"

Hyrule Castle

Link appeared in front of the castle after the Twilight portal released the squares which formed into him. Link only saw himself appear, and he didn't see Midna or the Twilight Guard. Oddly enough, it was also morning, and not the deep night that Link remembered.

"A bit confused, eh?" said Midna. "Well, I tried putting you into the Twilight portal, but you went unconscious. I guess from not being exposed to Twilight for so long. I thought we should let you sleep."

Link aimlessly looked around, and did not see where her voice was coming from.

"We're inside your sword. Fortunately it isn't dispelling us since we're not pure evil," said one of the guards.

"Now that we have that sorted out, I think we should pay Zelda a visit. I haven't seen her in for almost a year now," said Midna.

Haven't posted for a while. Been busy with school.

-Kaz