Alright then! Here is Chapter 7! I have come to realize that in Radiant Dawn, Volug barely a sentence that one can understand. This makes it hard to write dialogue for him. Fortunately, thanks to a very nice and helpful reviewer, I have come across a translation of Volug's speech, making it much easier to write dialogue for him. Thanks, BeckyLynn!
Anyway, I must also thank my new Beta-reader, Bizz-Chan for fixing any errors and what-not in this chapter, and earlier chapters.
Chapter 7: Transformation
As the flap of his tent fell closed, Link could not help but smile. Mia was a strange woman, yet Link could not help but be attracted to her. Link sighed as he remembered Zelda. She would have wanted him to move on, but Link couldn't help but feel guilty. Link also remembered Sealth whom Link always admired when he was nothing more than a farm boy. When Link moved into the castle, Sealth warmed up to him right away, helping Link to improve his fighting skills in every way- not to mention giving very helpful advice. Link hoped that Sealth was all right; he wasn't sure if his mentor even stood a chance against Zelguis.
Link sighed again and set his sword next to his cot, and had just begun to sit down when he heard shouting outside. Before Link had time to wonder what was going on, Mia rushed inside the tent. Link noticed that she had wrapped part of her rupee in string and had it hanging around her neck. She was panting as she was tying her headband around the top of her hair.
"Link, something's happened!" the girl said breathlessly. "Rolf is missing!" Seeing Link's blank look, Mia sighed and came further inside the tent, still struggling with her hair. "Boyd and Oscar's brother?" No response. "The little boy with green hair!" Mia shouted, releasing her frustration at the piece of fabric.
Mia sighed and took a deep breath before sitting on the bed beside Link and continuing her explanation. "Anyway, Rolf went into the woods a few hours ago, and hasn't come back yet. Oscar went to look for him and instead found a note from the surviving bandits that had been attacking that village. They're threatening to kill Rolf if we don't hand over all of our supplies and money." Mia said, finally winning her battle with the hair band.
"Do you need my help?" Link asked.
"We need all the help we can get. We don't actually know where the bandits are, but their deadline is dawn, so we have to find them before then." Mia said, standing again.
Link strapped his sword to his back and followed Mia to the edge of the camp where a large crown had gathered. Ike was standing on a small boulder above the group with Soren standing next to him, along with a small woman with flowing silver hair and a strange man with dark, wild hair and tattoos along his bare arms and chest. He had a pair of wolf-like ears poking off of his head and a long, bushy tail waving gently behind him. Mia led Link up to the rock where Ike and the strange wolf-man were talking.
"Were you able to find Lethe or Mordecai?" Ike asked.
The wolf shook his head and whispered something. "He says they're out hunting and it would take too long to go and find them." the woman translated.
Ike noticed Link approaching and turned to greet him. "Thank you for helping, we need as many people as we can get." The wolf-man took a step forward. "Link, this is Volug." Ike said motioning to the man. "He is going to help us find Rolf by following his scent."
Ike nodded and Volug growled faintly. Fur spread across his body from Volug's head and tail as he slid gracefully onto four legs, melting into the sleek limbs of a wolf. Volug shook himself gently to loosen his fur once the transformation was complete. Link did not know it, but everyone present was watching Link carefully, wanting to see how he reacted to a Laguz transformation. They never expected Link to smile slightly as his tunic spread across his body and sprouted black fur. Link sprouted a tail, his face grew into a long snout and ears unfolded from the top of his head as Link sank to the ground. Link rose and shook himself gently just as Volug had when his transformation was complete and sat. Link's black and white wolf form was much smaller than Volug's brown and tan one. Volug loped slowly over to Link and sniffed him curiously. Mia walked up behind him and reached out nervously.
"Link, is...is that you?" she asked, hesitantly resting her hand on Link's head.
Soren leaned over and whispered something to Ike, "I did not know he was a Laguz."
Link's canine ears were able to hear what he had said as if he had been speaking to him directly. Link wondered what a Laguz was; even though he was sure it wasn't anything terrible, he was still curious. Looking past the main group of people, Link noticed two dark forms in the distance. With his highly sensitive eyesight, Link could make out the two shadows easily. The taller of the two was sitting droopily on a tree stump while the other was kneeling beside him. Both men had short, green hair, but the kneeling one's was much darker than his brother's. Link could just make out snipped of their whispered conversation through the mumbling crowd surrounding him.
"...never let him...too dangerous...should have..." the older brother said softly, his dark green armor reflecting the moonlight in the darkness.
The younger carefully rested his hand on his brother's shaking shoulder. "...be fine...Rolf... stronger than you think...
The darker haired one had little armor protecting his body, save for a small plate for each shoulder. The dark brown band pushing the hair from his eyes appeared black in the dim light and cleverly hid his shining eyes. The older brother looked up slowly, a defeated look in his eyes. He slowly pulled himself off the stump and began to make his way to the large group waiting for them. Link noticed that he was shaking slightly as he carefully pulled a piece of dark green fabric from a small bag at his side. The two brothers carefully walked up to the group, apparently surprised to find two wolves instead of the expected one.
"Can you track?" Oscar asked softly.
Boyd stood behind his older brother with his arms crossed, looking in the nearby forest.
Link nodded his head and followed Volug over to the Oscar.
"Here," He said, holding out a piece of fabric.
Volug and Link took turns inhaling the scent. As Link sniffed, he could picture the boy it belonged to—small, with short green hair like his brothers. Link walked away and began searching for the scent while Volug did the same both going in separate directions to cover more ground. There were many smells in this camp, from many people. It was difficult to sift through all of them to find the one he was looking for. After wandering aimlessly through the camp, Link caught hold of Rolf's scent near the outskirts of the forest. He barked loudly to alert the others, and afterwards waited patiently for the small army to reach him. Volug ran up and Link began running alongside him, both with their noses pressed to the ground, following the missing boy's trail. As they wound their way through a rough path through the green of the dense forest surrounding them, the branches reached out and brushed against their bodies, as if to make sure that they were real.
"You have experience." Volug growled beside Link.
Link wagged his tail slightly in response. "How can you tell?"
"Mmm. I've been practicing near my whole life and still have a little trouble following Beorc scents"
"Beorc?" Another word Link did not recognize.
Volug paused for a moment. "Michiah mentioned that you were the one who washed up a few days ago. Where did you come from?"
"A land from across the desert." Link responded simply.
Volug paused again. "Really? I come from a country near the edge of the desert. That didn't really answer your question did it? A Beorc is the respectful term we use to refer to humans."
The two wolves ran in silence for a few minutes before stopping to allow their followers to catch up.
"You do not smell like a Laguz." Volug growled.
There was that word again. "I am unsure as to what a Laguz is..." Link panted.
Volug looked at him and walked over slowly. "One who is blessed with the ability to shift into the form of a beast."
"My power is not a blessing, it is a curse."
"You believe you power is a curse?" Volug barked angrily, leaping on top of Link.
Link sank low to the ground quickly. "No, I was locked into this form as a curse. I have since gained the ability to transform at will." Link whined submissively, not about to challenge the larger animal to a fight.
"Mmm. Very well" Volug growled quietly, walking away slowly.
Link pulled himself up slowly as Volug sat down several feet away. Soon after that, everyone caught up with the wolves, and Link and Volug continued to track Rolf. Suddenly, both dogs came to a sudden halt and Ike—who was right behind them when it happened—nearly tripped over Link.
"What is it?" he asked, quickly regaining his balance.
"The trail splits." Volug growled loudly.
Ike turned to a man behind him. He was wearing long, flowing white robes that matched the great white feathered wings behind him and long blonde hair that shone in the moonlight.
"Rafiel, what did he say?"
Rafiel stepped forward slowly. "He says the trail splits in two here."
"What do you mean, 'splits'?" Ike asked, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.
"He says that both trails smell of the boy and others." Rafiel said in a smooth, calm voice.
"We have not enough time to follow both trails." Soren said. "We will have to divide our forces in two."
Ike sighed again. "I would prefer not to—especially not in the dark."
"What other choice to we have?" an unknown voice called from behind Rafiel's white wings.
Link growled deeply when he saw that it was Sothe, the man who had threatened to kill him. Sothe looked down at Link with an even greater hatred.
"We must hurry; the sun will rise in a few hours." Soren said.
"Fine." Ike said. "Link, follow one path, Volug the other. We will split in half and follow both of them."
Ike quickly completed the task of dividing up the soldiers before motioning for the wolves to continue. Link continued along the Rolf's trail with a small growl, noticing that Sothe had been ordered to follow him. As he ran through the forest, Link realized the scent was getting stronger. When Link barked sharply and took off in a sprint, even the soldiers on horseback had trouble keeping up with the black wolf as he sped along the well worn path in the forest.
Link again came to an abrupt halt when he could smell fire in the air. He didn't need his nose to tell him that they had found the bandits; their loud shouting in cheering could be heard even by human ears. Link silently slipped back into human form while he waited for the others to catch up. Ike was the first to reach him, panting heavily as he walked up beside Link and bent over.
"You could have slowed down a little bit!" Ike gasped, looking up at Link with a smile. "You're not even worn out at all are you?"
Link smirked and shook his head before motioning for Ike to listen. The rest of the company caught up as Ike and Link listened to the nearby bandits.
"Did you find them?" Oscar asked, riding up on his horse.
"This way." Link said, pointing in the direction of the noise.
"How far?" Ike asked.
Link thought for a moment. "Less than a mile."
"Good, we'll reach them with plenty of time," Ike said, rubbing his hands together in the cold.
"Shall we continue?" Soren said, walking past Ike and Link quickly.
The two cast a glance at each other before following the dark-haired mage, reaching the bandit's camp in only a few minutes. They stood on a small ledge overlooking the camp where they could see not only the entire layout of the base, but the locations of all the rebels inside of it. In the center of the camp was a great fire, and next to it, tied up on a large pole, was Rolf.
Oscar looked down at this and gasped. He nearly went charging down the steep slope on his own, forcing several men—including his brother—to hold him back. Ike went over and pulled a shaking Oscar aside.
"Listen." Ike whispered softly, "I understand you're anxious to get down there, but you would accomplish nothing, and you know that."
Oscar said nothing, but merely stared blankly at the ground.
"Do you want to sit this out? I wouldn't have a problem if—" Ike started.
"No." Oscar said gently, "No, I...I can—I'll be fine."
Oscar stood silent for a few seconds before carefully climbing back onto his horse. Ike watched Oscar carefully for a few moments before coming back to link and Soren, who was surveying the field like a red-eyed hawk.
"What do you think?" Ike asked.
"There are more men than we had anticipated." Soren answered after a pause.
"How much more?" Ike asked slowly as he watched a bandit gnawing violently on a piece of meat.
"Hmm." Soren paused. "I would say several dozen."
"Do you think we have enough here?"
Before Soren could answer, a loud howl broke the silence and the bandits below nervously stopped their activities to listen to the night. Link recognized Volug's voice, but he couldn't understand what he was saying so he quickly changed to a wolf and howled back: "What was that?"
"I see you have found the camp as well." Volug's howl was far away.
"What is it?" Ike asked.
Link shifted enough for his human mouth to speak.
"The others have found the camp, too." Another howl broke the silence. "They are on the other side." Link translated. "What would you like them to do?"
"Tell them to wait." Ike said.
Link nodded, shifted all the way into a wolf, and howled out Ike's command. Volug answered in understanding and the forest was silent again. Link morphed back into a human and walked over to the patch of dirt where Soren was bent over, scratching symbols and lines in the dust.
"We have more than enough to handle them now." Soren muttered to himself as he cast another glance at the camp below before continuing his tracing.
"You have a plan?" Ike asked, kneeling to get a better look at the tactician's drawings.
Soren nodded as he apparently finished his quick sketch of the battlefield in the dirt. Ike motioned for Titania to come over. Once everyone was present, Soren explained his strategy in careful detail then left Link to explain the plan the other half of the army. The large group slowly and silently surrounded the small encampment, waiting patently for the signal to surge from the darkness, catching the drunken bandits off guard.
Just the other day, I got 5 reviews in a 24 hour period, which is only odd because I hadn't updated this story for nearly a week, and it was at the bottom of the 'pile' as some call it. Anyway, I hoped you liked it! And please, if and when you review, don't just tell me that it was good, tell me how I can make it better! Please?
So this is the last chapter that needs revisions. I've written the second half of the next chapter, but can't seem to get a beginning that I like. I really hope to get it done soon though! I promise!