A Zelda: Twilight Princess collection
Disclaimer: I don't own TP (except a copy of it), and I don't own Zelda.
Chapter Two: Boar-walk
"I don't think this is a good idea."
"Oh, come on Midna, where's your sense of adventure?"
Midna felt her hackles rise at the irritatingly charming grin Link was giving her; not at all dissuaded from his plan despite the fact it was utterly insane.
"You," Midna emphasized with a sharp poke of her finger in his direction, "are going to ride that?"
'That' turned out to be the largest boar Midna had ever seen. It was well over a foot taller than Link himself was, and easily closing in on four times as wide, twice as long. It snorted at her in the heavy desert heat, beady, shifting little red eyes narrowing and widening upon her floating form.
She regarded it neutrally where it stood placidly beside Link, the elf in question stroking the God-ugly thing on the side as if it were a cute little pet; despite the tusks growing up from under its lips that were as thick as he was, or the razor-sharp hooves that pawed nervously at the sand, kicking it up in waves.
"Of course," Link went on, that annoyingly charming grin of his growing more and more innocent, his eyes beaming more brightly at the thought of it. He continued his stroking, careful not to rub its short hair the wrong way. "I'm sure the big guy won't mind. Would you?" He added sweetly, smiling at the boar as he rubbed it behind the ear.
Midna curled her nose in disgust; catching faint whiffs of the creature's foul stench from even this far away. She didn't know how he could stand it…But then again Link reeked just as much as the boar did, having sweated through fur during their trek into the Desert, as he had been unwilling to put his steed through the heat. The sweat dyed his hair a darker color, plastering it to his forehead. He had long since taken off his hat, and his unruly hair, though sticky and dampened down with sweat, stuck up at odd angles from the static of the hat. He had killed the boar's original rider, a moblin, and its blood was still smeared across his chest and up his arms. It did nothing but add to the overall odor.
Midna waved a dainty black and green hand before her button nose, her eyes narrowing in response to both the smell and the sun.
"Twilight, you stink as much as that thing does." She eyed it up and down: noting its nervous disposition and the very sharp, very long, very thick tusks that curved out and over its head. She gulped just at the sight of it, and couldn't help but think her wolf suicidal. "That thing would kill you. Look at those things!"
She pointed at the tusks in question but Link simply waved her off; that innocent and fun-loving smile of his beaming out at her, undaunted.
"He's harmless, I swear. Come on, just come over and pet him, you'll see. He's as gentle as a lamb."
Midna eyes the beast dubiously, ill inclined to approach for several rather obvious reasons. Not only that, but the fact that Link referred to the thing as male put her off slightly. She wondered how he knew, but that would inevitably bring around more information than she'd prefer hearing.
She declined the…invitation and instead floated further away, making sure to put as much distance as she could between her and the suicidal idiot she had the great misfortune of traveling with. Even if he was a charming idiot…
Link watched her float off with a disappointed frown but shrugged it off. He pulled himself high off the ground: as far as his lanky, farm-strengthened arms could haul his weight, and he just barely managed to catch his toes into the saddle's stirrups. He pulled himself all the way onto the worn, hard leather, kicking his foot into the stirrup on the other side of the boar. He had to stretch a bit to make it but he managed, and with a childish, giddy glee he took up the reins. Link gently tugged on the thin oiled leather, guiding his mount to face the tall outposts stationed thickly around the area. He had already cleared out all the moblins, so there wouldn't be any danger of riding through there. Besides, it was a far more preferable method of travel than running through the desert on blistered paws.
He turned as much as his stretched lower frame would allow, and shouted once more through the crook of his hand at Midna, twenty meters away.
"Are you sure you don't want to go for a ride?"
However small she might have been, and however far away she was the violent shaking of her head was perfectly clear to him. His face fell, but he turned back to the task at hand, determined to stay enthusiastic despite Midna's dampening nature.
He licked his lips and tightened his grips on the reins. He would start slow: no good running the poor guy through his paces in the hot desert sun, with a strange rider. He gently nudged the beast in the sides with the heels of his boots; feeling this would be enough to get the boar going in a slow trot.
No such luck. The beast reared suddenly, a keeling, distinctly pig-like squeal cutting through the air to shake Link's ears. He scrambled for a tighter grip on the reins as the beast went vertical, the ground rushing up to meet him in a dizzying burst of vertigo. His eyes widened, thinking something might be wrong; he might have nudged too hard, and the boar was trying to buck him off—
The beast's hooves came crashing into the sand with a sickening lurch forward, tossing its head and charging up for a run. Link hardly had enough time to yank his own body against the powerful momentum, and he was forced to flatten against the saddle ten inches from the boar's tusks; gripping for dear life. He thought he heard a cry of surprise and concern from somewhere, but the elf was far too focused on staying on to pay attention to it.
The boar bounded forward, its immense bulk not slowing it at all, nor the sand making its footwork clumsy. It charged through the desert towards the moblin camp with a surprising amount of dexterity, and with impossible speed. The air cutting past them tore at Link's clothes and face, and he felt a sudden, strange surge of gratitude that he wasn't wearing his hat.
The camp was coming closer. Fifty feet, thirty feet—Link forced his face off the leather beneath him and pulled at the reins, digging his boots into the stirrups in a vain attempt to slow the boar down. When it showed no sign of slowing he pulled even harder on the reins, wrenching them to the right; to the left when the right didn't work, and the beast slowly, slowly started to turn.
Not quickly enough, though. Link was forced to press his face into the saddle once again as the boar crashed through the tall wooden outpost, wood chips and splinters flying by and scratching at his cheek, the exposed ends of his fingers…
The boar continued running even through the shock of impact, and Link clung onto its back with all his strength. It went on in a straight line; mad with some unknown frenzy. Breath billowed out like fog from between its lips; a heaving bumping Link up and down with its movements, its rapid heartbeat pounding against Link's feet.
It eventually began to calm; its frantic pace growing less and less, and when at last it had run out of energy it slid to a stop, breathing hard and crashing to its knees. Link took a few minutes to catch his own breath, eyes bug wide. His hands were cramped around the reins, and with a few moments of agonizing prying he pulled them free, slipping from the creature's back to collapse on the sand in shock.
He wallowed there for a few minutes, enjoying the steady earth beneath him when he felt, more than saw, Midna fly up beside him.
"What the hell were you thinking?" She hissed, clawed fingers shooting out and tugging harshly on his ear, eyes slit and fangs bore. "I told you that thing could—would—kill you, but you didn't listen! Gods!"
She gave his abused left ear one last cruel tug before collapsing on the sand beside him, heaving with the effort of restraining her anger. Or worry? Link couldn't tell at this point.
They lay there for a few moments, but eventually Link gathered enough energy to flip onto his side, facing her. He tried to summon up the gall to give her one of his charming smiles, but that attempt failed miserably. Instead he offered her an apologetic expression; hoping she wouldn't get too mad at him.
She was silent for a long time, but finally she spoke, eyes affixed firmly on the clear skies ahead; eyes narrowed to keep out the blinding sunlight.
"You're lucky," She said darkly, and Link shrunk back a bit, feeling dread at the thought of the rage that was sure to come. "That I'm not pissed off at you. Just…Never ride one of those things again. Especially when I'm in your shadow."
Link offered her a tentative grin and, though sick of the light pouring into his eyes, didn't bother with moving from his spot on the sand, not at all bothered by the sand clotting his hair. "Promise."
A/N: Here's the second promised chapter to Twilit Days, this one Midna/Link centric. You can all thank my brother for this chapter. We were talking over lunch (or, more specifically I was yakking at him) about the end of 'Not So Obedient' and the potential for another story. I don't know how it was brought up, but somehow we got around to joking, laughing and acting out the potential scene where Link first rode one of the boars. Well…it spawned this. :P
Anyhow, I really do have a very, very, very, very, very, very, very vague idea for another TP story, but it's still in the early stages of the works, so it probably won't be seen for awhile.
Oh, and forgive the pun that is the title chapter. I thought it might be appropriate.