A Wolf's Love Howl
Chapter 7
The Trail Left Behind
"Wow Link, that was amazing!" Zelda exclaimed running up to her Hero drawing him in for a hug. "Yeah kid, pretty impressive maneuver there." Link felt guilt in his heart at Snake's words. "You sacrificed yourself for me. You shouldn't have, it was my fault for being reckless. I should have waited for the smoke to clear a little before rushing to a spot I knew Ganon wouldn't be at." Link solemnly looked down at his cut hand that still had a few thorns stuck in it. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over it. You didn't know that they had something planned. The good guys won in the end. That's all that matters." Snake grasped Link's shoulder and gave a light squeeze before taking his leave for the chow hall. "That's the problem. I should have known. This is Ganondorf we're talking about, I should know more than anyone to expect something like that."
An arm wrapping around his lower back pulled him from his thoughts momentarily. He knew who it was by just the weight and because he was the only one to do such a gesture to the Hylian. "Looks like my work is cut out for me. Let's get you patched up." Ike led Link towards the infirmary with Zelda in tow. "Zelda, I didn't see Yoshi or Sonic." "I noticed it too. We'll talk about it more in a safer area." Both of the Hylians shared understanding glances and Zelda left the two alone outside the large double doors that were marked with a red cross.
Ike looked at Link confused and thought best not to press right now. Since Link had fought last, everyone else had cleared out of the room by now. Ike rummaged through the cabinets finding peroxide, alcohol, and gauze wrap. Ike pulled out a stool from under the doctor's work station, "Sit." Link obeyed, still thinking of the way the battle transpired. Ike looked down at Link's hand, carefully pulling out the thorns, "It really isn't your fault Link. If you hadn't ran into one trap, surely they would have had another one planned. I've seen corrupted men like Ganondorf and they always have a thing or two up their sleeve." Link took solace in this fact and let out a shaky breath.
Ike poured the burning liquids over Link's hand drawing a small hiss from him. Wiping the excess fluid away, Ike began to wrap the smaller hand. "Thank you, Ike." Link couldn't help but think of every time Ike had bandaged his wounds, his hand, wiping the blood away from his face, and the suave over his chest. There may have only been three of those incidents, but that's quite a lot in such a short time frame for him. Link chuckled, "I always seem to be getting myself injured around you, maybe you're bad luck." Ike snorted in response looking back up at Link. "I guess I'll just have to craft you a new good luck charm. One without thorns." Link and Ike shared the laughter. When the laughter had settled down, Ike kissed Link's bandaged hand gently, "Let's go get something to eat. I'm sure you're hungry by now." As if on cue, a loud rumbling came from the Hero's stomach, "Perhaps a little bit."
As Ike and Link made their way to the dining room, they saw Mario looking frantically into each room and under tables in the hall. "Mario, what are you doing?" Link asked, bending under the table to assist the short man in his search, but found nothing. "It's the princess! I can't find Peach!" Although this wasn't anything unusual, Peach liked to roam freely around the mansion, the feeling did not sit well with Link. "Where was the last place you saw her?" Ike asked, also not liking how many people are apparently disappearing. "She was getting ready for dinner in her room. I left for only a moment to get something when I heard a loud noise. When I came back, her door was open and there was a shattered bottle of her perfume on the floor." Ike and Link shared an unsettling look at each other and nodded. "Please don't touch anything in her room. I'll go talk to Zelda and see what our next course of action is. We'll meet up back in the garden in an hour. In the meantime try asking everyone if they saw or heard anything suspicious." Mario obviously didn't like having to wait an hour for something to be put into action, but knew that finding out more information was critical and went on his way to hopefully find more answers.
Link started booking it down the hallway when Ike finally caught his arm, "where are you going?" "I'm going to meet Zelda in the garden. I feel like all these disappearances are connected and possibly also Ganon." "I'm coming with you." Link tried to reject, but Ike was steadfast and persistent with following Link through areas of the garden he had never trekked before. Finally they came upon a clearing with a large weeping willow tree, underneath sat Princess Zelda.
"Link! Oh and.. Ike?" "I was very persistent." Ike said clearing Link out of any trouble he may have been in with Zelda if he wasn't supposed to be here. "We just ran into Mario and he said that Princess Peach is missing now. Her door was open and her bottle of perfume was broken on the floor." Zelda closed her eyes in thought, holding her wisdom marked hand as if was going to answer. "We should check her room. Link do you think you could possibly… follow her trail?" Zelda emphasized the last words as if they meant something special between the two and Ike wanted to find out what. Link hesitantly nodded and Zelda got up, brushing the dirt and grass off of her royal gown. "Then it's settled, let's gather the others and go."
~*~
Ike, Marth, Mario, Snake, Link, and Zelda scoured the room for any evidence, no fallen hairs, no blood, nothing out of place, nothing taken, no sign of anything transpiring. "I don't see anything. Are you sure she didn't just walk off and could be eating dinner right now?" Snake asked, closing Peach's closet door, his stomach growling at the thought of a morsel of food. "Luigi and I checked the whole castle. It's like she just vanished though I did hear Roy say he saw her running towards the west wing." Link looked towards Marth, setting the young woman's trinkets down, "Marth, you're one of the only ones allowed by the master to go there, what lies beyond those doors?" Marth looked off to the side trying to remember anything of importance. "Mostly trophies of previous champions, some artifacts, and case files on every contestant."
"She can't be hurt or else Master Hand would have found out and punished anyone responsible. So we must have faith she's okay and keep searching. For now we will take a break, we are no good to Princess Peach if we are all too tired and stressed to find clues when they do appear. Marth, we need you to speak with Master Hand about the disappearances." Zelda took charge snapping everyone out of their melancholy attitudes. Snake didn't have to be told twice that he could leave and took off for the dining room. Mario was obviously worried and went to go ask everyone the same questions again to see if their answers would change or in case anyone remembered anything more since earlier. Zelda took Ike's arm and started leading him out of the room leaving Link behind as the Hero examined the perfume bottle in his hands, "Let's go Ike, Link has some work to do privately." Ike looked behind his shoulder to the adventurer who only nodded his head reassuringly. "I'll see you guys in a bit."
Once Link was sure everyone had left he went down on all fours once more. His body contortng and reshaping from the inside out was never a great experience, but at least it was mostly painless. All the smells came flooding into his sensitive nostrils, assaulting his senses, "Focus." He separated the smell of Peach's rosy perfume from the rest like he had countless other times while tracking something or someone in his twilight form. The pink aroma highlighted a trail leading out the door and down the hallway. He padded his way through the twisting corridors making sure to duck for cover when another human made its presence known.
Link was stopped by a large iron door separating the rest of the scent and the hallway. "It seems to need a key of some sort. I must find Marth and the key." Link knew Marth had gone inside some time ago and all he would have to do is wait. Link hid in the shadows of the corridor when he heard footsteps coming from beyond the door. Marth opened the heavy door and turned to lock the door behind him when Link decided it was best to move now. "Grrrrrr!" Marth jumped spotting the large snarling wolf slowly creeping closer to him. His hand that was locking the door immediately left to grab his sword's hilt only to realize he had left it back in the room. Marth always left it behind because fighting was against the rules, so he felt that if he didn't have his weapon he'd be less likely to ever break the rule. "My damn diplomacy is about to get me killed! How the hell did a wild animal get in here?" Marth began slowly backing down the hallway, the wolf following in tow. Marth just needed to get to the next set of doors and he'd be home free, "just a little further."
As soon as he made it past the archway, Marth took off in a sprint towards the hall to the dining room. "At least if the monster pounces on me, the rest may hear me scream and kill this beast. At worst, find my body and escape." The wolf never followed Marth, but he didn't know that or bother looking over his shoulder. He'd rather not see his own death coming with nothing to stop it. When he made it to the dining room, everyone looked at him astonished by his frantic state. The usually calm and collected prince was now wide eyed, shaking, and sweating. He could only yell out a single sentence between sucking oxygen into his lungs, "A WOLF IS IN THE CASTLE!"
~*~
"Lucky me." Link thought as he sniffed the key still in the lock of the iron door. Using most of his strength he opened the door only to be welcomed by a dark corridor. Black velvet carpet ran down the center and multiple rooms adorned each side. The pink trail ran further into the darkness and around a corner. Link felt uneasy, like he was about to trespass into the familiar foreboding feeling he got in the Twilight Realm. He rounded the corner to see a large mahogany door that had dark smoke radiating from underneath, seeping into the hallway. "What the hell?" Link sniffed at the inky clouds, "smells like sulfur and rot." He pawed at the door hesitantly and instantly regretted it. Link was blown into the wall behind him, cracking the sheetrock with an electric static. It felt to him like he was struck by lightning and he started feeling woozy.
Hobbling back from whence he came he heard what sounded like a stampede coming from up the hall. This was the last door on this hall and whatever was coming up was blocking his only way out. Link thought about hiding under a table, but knew he would be spotted. He frantically scratched at the doors hoping one would be unlocked. At the third door he stopped, "there it is!" Marth pointed at Link, who now had the majority of the other participants with him. All armed. "Just my luck. I have only one other way out, but man will this hurt." As the mob started coming towards him, he took a running leap out the second floor window, shattering it to pieces with a sharp CRASH sound.
Link rolled when he felt the ground's impact to distribute the force equally through his body, lessening his possible internal injuries. The wolf whimpered when he finally stopped rolling. He could faintly hear Marth yelling something above the ringing in his ears. "No doubt telling the others my location.. I need to get up." With the remainder of his strength he willed his legs to work as he scampered into the garden to a place he knew was hidden from most everyone here. Link was unaware of a set of deep sapphire eyes watching him.
~*~
When Marth had told the cafeteria that there was an aggressive wild animal on the grounds, people started rallying up in search parties to find the beast. "Marth, what did the wolf look like?" Roy asked. "Really strange. It was larger than regular ones I've ever seen with white markings on its head and a chain on one of its legs. Might have escaped from somewhere and wandered in through an open door." When Ike heard the description he knew exactly which wolf it was. "He's not aggressive and he's exceedingly smart, he must have been spooked by Marth or was hungry and scared. If I was a wolf I'd go back out the way I came." Ike picked up the half eaten turkey leg from his plate and went outside looking for the creature. "Come here boy, I got something yummy for you!" He called out to the woods shaking the leg around, hopefully spreading the scent of the meat out.
The sound of shattering glass made Ike jump and run towards the sound. He saw the wolf had plunged itself out the window and rolled along the ground. Ike winced for the animal and slowly followed behind the limping wolf thinking it's best to let sleeping dogs lie for now. The last thing he needed was to stress the wolf out even more. When he started seeing familiar foliage tracks that he had taken earlier in the week he started to feel like something was amiss. He stayed back behind some brush as the animal came to the willow tree and collapsed for a breather. Ike and Link heard the rustling of twigs snapping and crispy leaves crunching before Zelda made her way through, throwing herself towards the wolf. The dog laid its head back down as she knelt down at its side and started using her magic to heal him.
"Everything's alright now. You can change back, there's not much damage left other than some sore joints now." The wolf slowly sat back up and started illuminating a brilliant golden color. Ike looked away as it burned his eyes like looking directly at the sun. When he cast his eyes back to where the wolf was, the pointed eared hero was in its place clutching his wrist. Ike came out of his hiding spot bewildered, "Link?" Both the possessors of the triforce looked at each other in shock and Zelda drew a breath, "Ike, come here. I suppose you need an explanation."
~*~
Zelda told Ike everything from the goddesses, the powers of the triforce, Ganondorf's origins, the Twilight Realm, Midna, to the mirror shattering. "If the mirror was shattered then why are there twilight monsters, why is Ganondorf still alive, and why can Link still turn into a wolf?" Ike asked, hoping it wasn't a dumb question. "We don't know for sure, but I suspect that any Twilight tainted being that was still in our realm stayed and fragments of the Twilight still linger in the areas that started the outbreak." "But that still doesn't explain Ganon still being here." The hero finally chimed in with his own thoughts that's been flooding his mind since he saw the monster in the dining hall.
"It seems like no matter how many times Link defeats him he still shows up, especially here. We can't explain it and we're not allowed to ask." Ike thought of the possibilities silently when they were interrupted by the sounds of voices yelling to each other in the garden. "It might've gone this way!" One indistinct voice called. "We should head back to avoid suspicion," Link muttered, getting to his wobbly feet. Ike braced him under his arm, holding him up. "Let's go around them through the trees so they don't see you in this state. It may draw questions we don't want to answer." Link nodded at Ike's surprisingly good plan.
As the two trudged through the forest, Ike became increasingly worried about the Hero. His breath shortened and he started to wheeze. Ike stopped to look down at his companion to find a pale husk of what he was earlier this morning. He looked white as a sheet, cold to the touch even through his tunic, and a dark spot over his chest. "Link, did you take a shard of glass to your chest?" Link could barely keep his eyes open let alone speak. "Link?" Ike felt Link's knees buckle underneath him and pulled Link into his chest. "Link!" Ike called to the unconscious boy trying to rouse him. Ike swept Link up in his arms and quickly made his way stealthily to his room.
In the light Ike could see the spot of blood slowly consuming Link's tunic. Carefully Ike stripped off the clothing and the shirt underneath. "What the fuck is this?!" The culprit of this atrocity was a large agitated open wound on Link's chest, black tar like puss seeping out, and black veins stretching from it as if it were overtaking Link's body. Ike tried to shake Link awake, but his head fell limply to the side, "Stay here while I go get Zelda. Please… please don't leave me." Ike said, resting his forehead on Link's barely louder than a whisper. Ike kissed the corner of Link's eye and hurried to the door only to stop for a second to look back at the comatose hero. "We'll be right back. Just hold on."