Disclaimer: GrimGrave does not own any of the characters featured; they belong to their respective franchises of Nintendo and Shouzou Kaga, Namco Bandai and Arc System Works. GrimGrave does not make money for writing fiction.

To Hunt Down a Hylian

Chapter 15

An Old Friend from the Woods

Noel let out a quiet groan. Her emerald eyes focused yet again on the young man sitting across the campsite for what felt like the hundredth-or-so time, observing – studying – him, and heat rushed her otherwise milky pale cheeks. Talking to boys wasn't something she was used to do back home; she only ever got along with girls since boys made her nervous.

Then again, boys only ever spoke to the "cute" girls while mistaking Noel as one of them, infuriatingly enough.

…

So why couldn't she stop thinking about Link? He was guilty of the same crime, and yet he was different in a way Noel couldn't quite put her finger on.

He was easy on the eyes; she was willing to admit that much. He was reliable and kind (as she had found out throughout their time together) and didn't seem like a bad person.

Noel wanted to talk to him. Her courage on that matter, however, was practically non-existent.

But she wanted his attention – try to strike up a conversation with Link – and simply talk. That's what boys and girls did, right? They talk and become friends.

…Perhaps go out on a date?

The thought was quickly perished and the gunslinger buried her face in her hands. What was she thinking?!

x.X.x

Link glanced over at the girl; she was burying her head in her hands. Was she crying? It had been a rough day, not to mention that the poor girl was far away from home.

He pitied Noel. Having lived a long life without a fixed abode, Link knew how to take care of himself and survive. Noel, though? He knew nothing about her, but, from the looks of it, she didn't seem to handle the situation. It was up to him to support Noel and help her find her way home.

He spoke softly, "How are you holding up, Noel?" The girl startled and looked at him with wide eyes as if he had caught the gunslinger stealing. He chuckled. "Don't worry; we will find and defeat the warlock, and return you home safe and sound."

The girl stared at him in silence. Her expression didn't change and, just when Link thought he had perhaps wronged her, Noel hid her face and whispered back, "I-I-I'm j-j-just f-fine…"

"Are you sure? It's alright if you're homesick; I know that feeling, Noel. I used to long for my home as a child, without a way to return. Everything felt hopeless."

The girl looked back at him, still quiet. He smiled at her.

"But I endured, because there's always a way back. The question is, how much are you willing to fight in order to find it? We are in this together, Noel. You can confide in me."

The gunslinger stared wide-eyed at the Hylian and let out a short, high-pitched sound as she hid her face in the sleeves of her coat.

"W-What's wrong?!" Link exclaimed. "A-Are you hurt?"

The girl merely hurriedly waved him off, still hiding her face and squirmed in her seat. While not convinced, Link decided to not press the subject any further.

Ignoring Noel for now, his mind wandered elsewhere; the curse of the forest and their fate.

Nothing had happened to them yet, but who knew how long the process of getting lost and turn into a Stalfos was? Then again, were they even vulnerable for such a curse and, if so, what were the first symptoms, if any?

There had to be a way out of here but Link couldn't tell when everything looked the same. They had, however, encountered one landmark so they should be in the right direction at least.

But what if Noel had been struck with the curse and was in fact feeling the first symptoms? He had to help her out of here, and quick! For better or worse, they were comrades, and Link vowed to not let anyone die.

´Be strong, Noel. We will get out of here.´

x.X.x

´I wonder what he's thinking about,´ the gunslinger pondered, observing the young man. Her heart wouldn't slow down its quick beat, nor would the heat in her cheeks cool down. She was happy – happy that Link had talked to her! He was even worried about her, too!

She squirmed in her seat. The corners of her lips tugged upwards as she studied Link further.

x.X.x

Little sunlight filtered through the trees the next day. Link stirred and cracked an eye open: the campfire still had a few embers left and the smoke rose up to the trees. A few birds chirped in the distance. The morning mist hadn't settled yet (then again, did it ever settle in these woods?)

He got up, stretching limbs with audible ´cracks´ and ´pops´ as he did. Noel slept soundly opposite him, her coat keeping her warm. Her sleeping face was cute and Link found himself staring perhaps a moment longer than he had meant to.

Especially when his gaze trailed down to her soft lips and his mind immediately turned to when –

He quickly looked around. No animals in sight, nor had there been any signs of them the moment they had ended up in this forest. His stomach growled. He didn't have any rations on him, and if there was nothing to hunt…

Their situation looked bleak. At least they hadn't been attacked by wolfos' during the night.

The gunslinger stirred and let out a yawn (what an adorable sound she made!) as she blinked, adjusting to the light. Link chuckled.

"Good morning," he said. "I wish I could offer you breakfast, but unfortunately we're not that lucky."

Noel eyed him, still tired and yawned again. Then she came to, and looked away as if ashamed, but nodded at him. She struck Link as the quiet type who was constantly shy… Then again, she had her moments when she was like a complete different person. What was it with this girl? It was an interesting observation nonetheless.

"Are you feeling better today?" he inquired. "You're not in pain, are you?"

The gunslinger refused to meet his eyes but managed a soft-spoken reply, "N-No… I'm f-f-fine…"

He smiled at her. "Good to hear. Let's rest a little bit longer before we continue. We have a lot of ground to cover."

Noel nodded at him. Link took another look around to no avail. The birds could satisfy their hunger, if they were in sight; the trees made it impossible to spot anything.

"Uhm…" Link turned towards his companion. She was staring directly at the ground, struggling to speak. "Th-Th-Thank you… f-f-for w-w-worrying…"

The Hylian chuckled. "Don't mention it, Noel."

Unbeknownst to him, Noel smiled back at him.

x.X.x.X.x

Rikku screamed and shielded herself with her twin blades, praying that whatever monster that had jumped down from the treetops wouldn't go after her.

And it didn't. Neither Rikku nor Taki moved to attack, nor did the creature; it simply stood there out of reach, looking at them curiously.

It was accompanied by two glowing orbs that hovered around it. The creature was small – smaller than the thief would've guessed – and wore clothes of unknown design. It inspected the two, seemingly harmless, but as soon as it took a small step forward, the kunoichi changed her stance and intimidated the creature to back away.

"W-What is that?" the blonde asked. "It looks like a child…"

"We don't know where we are or what kinds of beings inhabit these lands," Taki replied. "We don't know what it's capable of, so stay close to me, Rikku."

"Hey!" someone called out, startling the two. "That thing you threw could've hit us, you know! What gives with that?!"

"Who is there?" Taki exclaimed. Was there more of these things? Were they surrounded? But the voice seemed to come from –

"I'm right here!" one of the orb-like beings replied. It was small, glowed a muted purple, and flew straight up towards the brunette. "And I'm telling you that you could've hit us with that thing you threw!"

The older woman was taken aback but poised to strike. "What is this? What are you?"

The other little orb – this one's glow a more yellowish – flew straight at the ninja, hovering around her with a distinctive chime. "We are fairies, thank you very much! And don't you dare hurt my brother!"

The girls exchanged a baffled glance.

"Fairies?" said Taki. "How do we know that you aren't enemies?"

"T-Taki, I don't think they look like monsters…"

"I agree," she replied. "But looks can deceive and we can't afford to let our guard down in these lands. They could be servants of the warlock for all we know."

"Hey!" the yellow-glowing fairy chided. "We're no servants and we don't know about any warlocks! Honestly, Skull Kid, why did we even approach these brutes?"

The Skull Kid – the small, child-like creature – took a step forward and giggled. "I thought I caught the scent of someone else… I don't think I'm wrong, but these two…" His voice trailed off. "No, the one with yellow hair! I'm sure of it!"

"W-W-What?! Me?!"

"Stay back, Rikku!" Taki exclaimed. "We don't know what this creature might try!"

The Skull Kid laughed. "There's no mistake of it. She smells just like that forest kid, even though it's faint…"

"She smells like Link?!" the yellow-glowing fairy exclaimed. "Hey, blondie! How do you know him?!"

"L-Link?" Rikku turned towards her companion. "That's –!"

"I believe we should be asking you that, fairy," Taki stated. "Who are you and what connection do you have with Link?"

x.X.x.X.x

Link clutched at his abdomen. The pang of hunger was starting to affect him; he was unfocused and growing weaker. His movements were getting sluggish and he was practically dragging his feet by this point.

Noel wasn't fairing any better with her pace having slowed down to the point that the Hylian had to wait for her in order to catch up. Hungry and worn out from battles, Link prayed to the Three Goddesses that they would find a way out of here soon.

Even a grassy knoll was getting exhausting to walk up on. Link extended his hand towards his partner and smiled. "Here, take my hand."

Noel stared at him, as surprised and baffled as she always had looked like so far. There was hesitation in her eyes – did she not trust him? – but she slowly reached out, withdrew repeatedly until, finally, she placed her hand in Link's. "Th-Thank you…"

He pulled her up as he walked, helping her over the knoll. Downhill was a small clearing but didn't seem to jog Link's memory. He sighed.

"Let's continue for a little while longer, Noel," he said. "We need to cover as much ground as possible. Think you can manage?"

The gunslinger nodded at him.

"Okay," said Link. "Then let's not waste any time. If we can just –"

A faint, howl echoed just then and the pair spun around. It came from the west – where they had come from – and the howl was followed by a couple more.

"L-Link…!"

"Noel," the Hylian interrupted. "Run."

x.X.x.X.x

A scream of fury echoed violently throughout the cavernous lair, the sheer volume of the booming voice sending shivers down the monsters' spines.

Old, veiny, hands balled up into fists and slammed down on the wide stone altar, the scream now a string of profanities spoken under a vile breath as the warlock seethed with anger.

"Damnation upon damnation!" he spat, mad and furious. "The ritual is so close to completion; everything had gone according to my carefully laid out plan… only for me to find out that it's all useless – !"

"Massster…" the big, vile Lizalfos spoke. "What isss the sssource to your dissstresss?"

"Silence, cretin!" the warlock shouted. "The ritual cannot yet be complete; the one hundred souls, the earthly remains of our King, the shadow-infused emblems, all of it are useless! We need the blood of the accursed Hero! And I missed my chance!"

Mau ran his hand through over his bald head, the glimpse in his mad eyes bloodshot and stirring. "How could I have missed something so obvious? This setback will cost me dearly, and if there's one thing I CANNOT afford, it is setbacks!"

His bodyguards laughed and he spun around, his face distorted with disapproval. "Don't look at us like that, old man."

"Then hold your tongues!" he retorted. "Or else I'll send you to the gap between dimensions."

They sneered at him. "Then who's going to guard you? The lizards?"

Tch.

"You know what, whelps?" Mau began. His mind, though filled with rage, was already working, constantly scheming and planning. If he needed the Hero's blood – if his whelps wanted something to do – then who was he to postpone his plans? "If you want to stretch your legs a bit, perhaps I can send you out on an errand and, if you behave, I might even send you home afterwards. What do you say to that?"

Their voices had been lowered to that of a whisper for a moment or two before one of them replied, "What is it you need done? It best involves fighting – this new world might harbour a warrior worth fighting!"

The warlock grinned and gestured to a blank parchment the lizalfos brought to him. "You are to bring me the one known as `Link´ - he's garbed in green and has pointy ears. Give me but a moment and I'll tell you where to go…"

With a hand over the blank parchment and the utterance of words in an unknown tongue, the warlock worked his magic as the parchment began to show what looked like a map.

As more of it was filled out, Mau's face twisted with puzzlement. "The Lost Woods? Why did he not end up in another world?" He gazed upon his bone-like hands. "My magic…It's getting weaker. I must rest after this, but at least the Hero will be brought here nice and quick."

He turned to his bodyguards. "The one I need is in the woods, far to the east. This parchment will take you to him. Now, GO!"

Taking the parchment, his bodyguards let out guffaw as they hurried out. They were pawns, a means to an end, but at least they would be useful.

When the King of Darkness finally arrived, they – along with anyone else – would be of little threat.

x.X.x.X.x

The next day, Taki and Rikku resumed their journey. The ninja had kept rations on her person and, although they had a horrible taste, it allowed the two to keep their strength up.

"We're lucky that you found us when you did, Tatl!" the thief exclaimed. "I was getting worried that we'd never find a way out of here!"

´And we'll find Link again.´ The thought of being together with the young man again made her heart skip a happy little beat, seeing how he was such a nice person.

The fairy – Tatl – replied, "You are lucky indeed. Skull Kid usually doesn't like grownups, but if you're friends of Link…" Her voice trailed off for a moment. "Well, we will be happy to help you, though I don't understand how you two managed to end up so deep in this forest."

"That would be because of the warlock we mentioned," Taki answered. "We don't know what happened to Link or where he ended up, but getting out of here is our first priority. You said that we will return to Hyrule if we follow you?"

Tael, the other fairy, seemingly nodded. "Skull Kid knows these woods like the back of his hand. You should be out of here in no time."

The kunoichi glared. "Let's hope for your sake that he does."

"S-Sis…!"

"T-Taki!" Rikku said. "Don't be so mean!"

"I do not fully trust them," the brunette commented. "I sense no ill will from you, but I will remain prepared nonetheless."

"Hmph, Just be grateful that we even decided to help you," Tatl responded. "I just want to meet him again…"

The blonde thief chirped. "You told us that you used to be his companion, right?"

"That was many years ago." The fairy paused for a second. "I doubt he even remembers me. He was just a child at the time."

"We will find out once we find him," Taki said. "Are you certain that we will meet up with him?"

"His scent is vague," the Skull Kid responded. "But I can smell it."

Rikku giggled. "This is great! The others might have found him too! We'll be united again!"

Taki glance over at her companion. "Yes… That would be nice."

´Cassandra…´

Her expression became somber. Cassandra – was she safe? She was a strong girl; she knew how to take care of herself, but if anything had happened –

The ninja shook her head and perished the thought. There was no point in worrying just yet. For the time being her mind needed to focus on their current objective: finding Link and whoever he was with him. If this ´Skull Kid´ and his fairies were as trustworthy as they claimed, then the two of them would finally get out of here.

´Wait for me just a little longer, Cassandra…I'll find you and protect you. I will not break my promise. As for Link…´

That's right – Link. Cassandra trusted him, and it was clear as day that the girl harboured feelings for the young man, though the kunoichi couldn't really understand why.

…

Then again, he did have some redeeming qualities.

"Is something wrong, Taki?" The brunette peered over at her companion who was looking at her, clearly worried. "You look rather… well, sad, to be honest."

Mildly reprimanding herself for letting her emotions show, Taki shook her head. "Do not worry about me, Rikku. I'm fine."

It didn't seem to have convinced the thief, but she nodded. "Okay… Just know that, you can talk to me, if you want. I mean, you let me confide in you, so… Yeah."

The kunoichi managed a smile; the girl was kind, a valuable trait. "Thank you for letting me know, girl."

The group suddenly came to a halt. "What happened here?" the Skull kid said.

The girls looked around, shocked. The meadow was a disaster: big chunks of some of trees were missing, the ground was trampled and large craters littered it.

"I-Is this a common sight here…?"

"No," Tatl replied the blonde. "This is very… odd."

Taki kneeled down, inspecting the ground. "A battle took place here. There are footprints everywhere, not to mention paw prints."

The Skull Kid laughed. "It smells like the forest child…"

Tatl beamed. "Link?! Let's follow those footprints, and quickly! Those paw prints most likely belong to Wolfos'! If they are hunting Link –!"

"Let's not waste any time, then," Taki interrupted. "With his scent and tracks, we'll catch up to him in no time!"

x.X.x.X.x

Explosive sounds broke the silence of the woods along with the echoed howls and yelps.

"How many of them are there?!" Noel shouted over the sound of her explosive bullets, hitting her mark without missing a beat. The Wolfos' scattered and just as quickly regrouped and attempted in vain to pounce on the girl. It felt like they had run and fought these monsters for hours, but it was impossible to tell.

"I've never seen such a huge pack!" Link replied and took the full brunt of claw-swipes with his shield. A quick spinattack slayed two of the monsters while few more yelped in pain, jumping out of reach. "I never knew the Lost Woods were home to these creatures! I've only ever seen them alone!"

Explosive rounds tore holes in the monster's bodies, scattering their limbs before they dissipated into flames. Even as the wolfos' were slain left and right, they appeared just as many as before.

Link, between defending himself and fending off his attackers, peered around; they were outnumbered and tired with nowhere to run.

A sudden pain spiked through the Hylian's left shoulder and with a scream fell to the ground. A weight kept him pinned down; the menacing growls so close to his ear revealing that one of the creatures had attacked from a blind-spot.

"LINK!" Noel screamed and took aim –

Nothing happened. The girl screamed again and from the corner of his eye, Link saw as to why; a Wolfos was biting her arm and had the gunslinger pinned down as well, a few more circling around them.

The pack howled in unison. They watched the two with hungry eyes, licking their chops and barking threateningly as to savour the moment.

His heart sank within his chest. Had the Goddesses forsaken them? Link had always imagined himself dying heroically, or perhaps even by old age.

´Not like this…!´

The Wolfos' began to gather around them. Their eyes glowed in the dark, fixated on their caught prey. They poised themselves –

The sickening noise of steel embedding itself in flesh suddenly drowned out everything. Something snapped, followed by the gurgling cry of the beast and the ´thud´ of two more bodies hitting the ground.

The monsters howled and leapt at whoever was attacking them – Link couldn't see anything one wolfos after another perishing in blue flames. Death-cry after death-cry filled the air for what seemed like minutes until it finally quieted down.

Link was shifted so he lay on his back, his eyes meeting hazel orbs.

His heart skipped with relief. "T-Taki…"

"Don't speak," the ninja stated. "You've lost quite a bit of blood, and we must disinfect the wound. Rikku is tending to Noel."

Blink. Rikku was here, too? The Hylian glanced over to the gunslinger; the bubbly thief was already tending to her wounds.

"I'll be alright," he said, shifting uncomfortably – the pain in his shoulder was gruesome. "There's… There's potions in my bag…"

"I know about that," Taki interrupted. "You're better off saving it for later. For now, let me treat this wound. Can you sit up?"

He nodded. As the kunoichi began to treat his wound, Link looked around. "Are the others with you?"

"I-It was just the two of us!" Rikku replied. "We had hoped they would be with you…"

"Other than Noel, I haven't come across anyone." He sighed. "How did you two even find us?"

The thief beamed. "Oh, it was super easy! We had the help of –" She went silent. "Huh? Where did they go?"

"Who's gone?"

"We were approached by someone called Skull Kid." The Hylian turned towards the ninja a tad bit too quick, wincing from the pain in his shoulder. "He apparently knows you and caught your scent. That's how he found Rikku."

"I hugged you that one time, so I guess that's why… hehe."

"Y-You met Skull Kid?" Link asked. "Did he have fairies with him?"

Taki eyed him. "Yes, a pair of them. One of them seemed to know you."

´Tatl…´ Link chuckled. What a stroke of luck. "I see. I don't know about the Tatl and her brother, but Skull Kids usually stay away from adults. Still, I'm grateful all the same."

"And we are grateful that we found you!" Rikku exclaimed and, without warning, hugged the Hylian despite causing his shoulder some pain. "We may not have found the others, but at least we found some of you!"

The female ninja was already on her. "Let go of him, Rikku! You're re-opening the wound!"

"I-I'm g-g-glad, t-too…" added, though it went unheard and as a result, she pouted.

A chiming sound was heard and wondering what it was, the thief was bopped in the face. The group turned –

"You…" Taki said.

Link stared, his mouth ajar and eyes welling up at the sight of the familiar glowing creature. "Tatl…"

"Even now, years later, you need my help, huh?" the fairy replied, trying to sound cocky. "…It's good to see you again, Link."

"My sentiments exactly," he replied and held out his hand. The fairy promptly landed in his palm. "I'm glad to see you safe, Tatl. And Skull Kid…?"

"He's a bit shy."

"I see…And, your brother, is he –"

"He's well," she responded. "You needed help getting out of here, right? As soon as you've healed up, I'll show you the way," said Tatl. "It's the least I can do."

"I cannot thank you enough, Tatl."

Meanwhile, Taki silently observed. Link did indeed have redeeming qualities, but what most stood out right now was –

´He's kind,´ she thought to herself. Was that what tugged Cassandra's heartstrings? It was probably more than met the eye, but seeing Link as the humble and caring person that he was made the ninja smile a little.

But unknowingly to the group, they were not quite out of the woods just yet, as the cries of forest children were barely heard from the east.