A/N: Hi guys! Yes I know that this chapter is pretty short and I apologize, but it is the best that I could do this week. I have not been feeling too well and am currently sleeping in my backyard in a tent while my family's floors get fixed from water damage. (it is already pretty cold outside too D: )On top of that, I have a ton of school work in preparation for quarter finals. So anyway I hope that all of your weeks have been a tad bit better than mine XP And I am sure you came here to read the chapter not listen to my lousy excuses, so without further ado, chapter 8 :D Thank you to everyone who read and everyone who reviewed.

xXx skytale xXx- Thank you for all the lovely reviews, they totally made me smile!

Storm Dragon Wolf Princess- yes I agree with you. And your guess almost spot on! I never thought about that but I suppose a fairy's light is almost the same color XP Thanks!

Generala- Yes, I did it XP. I am working on them and will fix them asap. I agree :D

Silverheartlugia2000- Thanks again :)

Gojira Geek- yeah it's a rather hard one. I think you may be right though.

Yami no Nokutan- Wow, am I that easy to see through? I thought I had hid my evilness pretty well XP yeah me neither, they don't seem very nice ;D you shall see what happens to her in this chapter. Yes they do, go girl power! Good answer, and I may or may not pay attention to the hint :)

The Mark of Wisdom

Zelda stood on all fours looking down at what used to be her hands through a dizzy haze. They were now sleek golden furred paws. She collapsed on the ground, completely overwhelmed by what had just happened.

Twilight magic always had an effect on light dwellers. Normally, the presence of twilight was enough to turn most people into spirits. The last time the land had been invaded, she had warded off that change for herself through the use of an old Sheka cloak, which diminished the effect of the magic, and through her own triforce. Without that protection, she had felt herself shifting in to spirit form, which, although unpleasant and terrifying, was not really unexpected. Then something had happened and the triforce had stopped that change to shield her, but it had protected her in a different way than it had before. Her mind whirled as much as the world around her seemed to be doing. Link had used this shard to become a wolf, but she knew that that was not what she had become.

Her paws had retractable claws and she had long slender flexible tail. She was a mountain lion. As she tried to shake off the dizziness and initial shock, she found that she could now see quite well in the dark. She could make out the surrounding landscape and could now see what had attacked her. Her cat eyes focused on the tiny hunched form that had been the cause of this recent turn of events and then widened in surprise.

It was a small dragon; a baby dragon by the look of it. It was huddled against the far side of the woven nest staring at her with wide terrified eyes. Next to her lay her satchel and the master sword, which must have fallen of her sometime during the fight with the dragon. For the first time since her transformation, sense began to creep inside her muddled brain and along with it a feeling of relief. This was not permanent. She knew from her experiences with Link that all she had to do to shift back to normal was touch the master sword. For the briefest moments she felt a twinge of pity for Link. When he had first been turned into a wolf by twilight magic he had not known whether he could ever shift back to his normal form and regain what he had lost. Or if there was a way, he would have had no idea how to accomplish it. He must have been terrified. She quickly shoved the thought away.

There was no time for this now, she knew she needed to touch the sword and get away fast. She had no idea how much longer the little dragon would stay terrified of her. She could feel some of the stinging scratches on her neck and arms, or rather forelegs now, and if the baby could do that much damage she and no desire to meet the mother.

She padded softly over to Link's sword intending to unwrap and touch the blade, when something caught her eye. It was a familiar eerie blue light that was headed her way. She felt her already wildly beating heart lurch even faster. She was faced with a ferocious tiny dragon on one side and a murdering poe on the other. This time though, she could actually see the spirit itself, or rather, sense where it was and what it looked like.

It and two of its companions had found her and she knew that they would not give up hunting her until morning. She could try to outrun the apparitions until the sun rose, since she knew the grisly spirits could not stand the light of the sun. Or, she could try and fight back.

'Very well,' she thought to herself, 'I won't run, because now I can see you and the fighting field is even.'

With an inhuman roar she charged at the creature and she knew just where to strike it. She could sense, almost see the week spot at its chest. Before long she had taken down all three with her savage claws and teeth, alternating between attacking and dodging swipe after swipe of the poes' scythes. They lay there for a few moments before fading away.

Stalking over to the master sword, she unwrapped its covering and lightly touched the blade with her paw. For a moment she was worried that it was not going to work, but then she felt her shape shifting back to normal with only a little bit of pain. But there was still no time to breathe and hardly any time to think. She came to the decision to travel elsewhere before the dragon's mother returned to the nest. The tiny beast still seemed to be in shock and now posed no threat to her, but Zelda knew better than to stay anywhere near it.

She wrapped up the twilight shard in her spare shirt and put it at the bottom of the satchel. She slung that, and the rewrapped master sword, over her shoulder and went on her way. The night was nearly half over and she decided to walk through what was left of it.

After she had plodded along warily for about an hour, and no other dangers presented themselves, she felt the life saving adrenaline that had coursed through her body begin to abate. It left in its wake only a bone chilling fatigue. As tired as her body was, she dared not risk resting. For a long while she could hear no sound except for her own weary footfalls, but then she picked up an odd scampering flapping noise.

Desperatly, she looked for some cover. Spying a large chamisa bush, she dashed around behind it and waited. She peered through the feathery branches but could make out nothing because of the shadowed night.

'Bearer of the mark of wisdom indeed,' she thought to herself resentfully. Sometimes she wondered if there had been a mistake, Ganon bore the mark of power and there was no contesting his strength and power. Link was born with the mark of courage and there was no doubting his bravery. She, however, constantly questioned her decisions. She had lost her kingdom not once but twice, and if Ganon had his way it losing it for a third time would almost certainly be eminent. A ruler who failed to keep her own kingdom would seem to be more foolish than wise. She was clever and rather knowledgeable because of her studies, but there was a big difference between knowledge and wisdom. She was not sure that what she was doing now was wise. She had left her kingdom to the rule of others in a time of turmoil to go gallivanting off on a quest. On the other hand, it was about time that did what she knew to be right. It was about time that she returned Link's favors. About time, and in all actuality a bit late,' she thought bitterly.

The noise she had been hearing ceased abruptly and her breathing relaxed. Whatever she had been hearing was gone now. She gave a sigh as eased back from the bush. She almost screamed with terror as she jumped. She scurried away backwards as fast as she could on her hands and feet. Something had touched her. Peering in the dark to see what new threat assailed her this time, she could make out the outline of a familiar shape, right down to the glowing yellow-green eyes. It was the baby dragon. This time however, it made no move to attack her. Instead, it crawled slowly towards her, its little nose set in a finely shaped head sniffing the air. Its eyes were wide and it looked for all the word like a puppy begging for treats. It crawled slowly forward until it was a hairsbreadth away from where she sat and lay down.

Zelda moved herself a few feet away, skittering backwards through the soft desert sand of the plateau. She was intending to make a gradual escape but, as soon as she halted her stealthy motion, the dragon got up and moved towards her again, once more lying down at her feet. She tried this maneuver several more times with the same result, before she gave that tact up.

"So you like me now?" She asked the dragon suspiciously. Perhaps it was grateful to her for getting rid of the poes, that is, if dragons could indeed feel gratitude. She was not sure on that account. "Look, I think you're kind of cute but I have no interest in being killed by your mother so I want you to go."

The little dragon perked up its head, cocking it to one side in curiosity at the sound of her voice. Unfortunately, it did not move a muscle. She tried coxing it gently to leave a few times to no avail. Finally she lost her temper.

"Go on, get out of here!" she yelled in frustration at the hapless creature.

Nothing could have surprised her more when the small dragon jumped onto her. It stood on its hind legs and placed its front ones on her chest as it opened its little mouth and shouted back at her.

"Go-on, out ov ere!"

It then sat back expectantly, almost trembling with excitement as if it was highly pleased with itself and was looking for approval. Its eyes glowed large with pleasure. Zelda's mouth dropped open. She had heard legends of an ancient breed of dragon that could mimic, understand, and even speak the tongues of men but had never before seen one for herself. She had thought that they were a myth. There was also a legend of four dragons that had guarded the land before the kingdom of Hyrule was formed but the only dragons in Hyrule these days were the vicious non talking kind. They were more closely related to the karagork than an actual dragon.

For a dragon, the little one before her was adorably cute and she gingerly reached out a hand towards it. It did not even flinch as she lightly stoked its smooth tiny jagged back-plates. It had a gently chiseled muzzle, almost a cross in its shape between a horse and a dog, but more elegant. It was slimmer, shorter and softly scaled. Its body was almost the shape of a cat's but longer and more reptilian.

'Perhaps it would be rather nice to have some company on this trip,' she thought. Besides, she did not think she could get rid herself of the reptile even if she wanted to. The dragon curled into a sleeping ball in her lap, just like the way a cat might. The small creature produced almost as much heat as a warming pan, she thought as she tentatively stroked it's scales. Despite her resolve to stay awake, the comforting heat of the dragon and her own weariness soon settled the matter.

She woke to a rather painful scratch on her arm. The sun was blazing down on the mesa top of the canyon and the little dragon was pawing her. She rolled over, not wanting to get up. She was thoroughly sore from last night's overexertion. She had never before in her life run so many miles at an all out sprint, and the soreness of her muscles painfully reminded her why she had not. The little dragon, however, was not deterred and it scampered around to her head and set something down in front of her before sticking its little dragon face right near her own and shouting, "Go, out of here!" as loud as it could in its high pitched dragon voice.

Zelda sat up stiffly moaning, "Why could I not have found myself a quieter traveling companion?"

"Why quieter panion," it echoed prancing about in a joyful circle.

Zelda sighed at the happy creature. It had brought her a dead desert mouse for a present and it looked towards her expectantly. The dragon was a deep bluish green that faded to an obsidian black at its limbs. She did not know how she knew this, but she was almost positive the dragon was a female. Her new companion had to have a name, so she settled on Jade because of her color.

Zelda looked down at herself. The scratches she had received the night before were already scabbing over, and in the daylight it was obvious they were superficial. They still ached though, she thought shooting the reptile a glare before surveying the land around her to get her bearings. As she looked over the mesa, she saw that the plateau she was currently on top of, ended abruptly in about a mile to reveal more mesa like plains. Those plains eventually headed straight for two mountains. The mountain on the right was defiantly the backside of Snowpeak. She knew Ganon had not gone that way and it was unlikely that he would have gone west where there lay a desert as far as the eye could see. He had either gone to the mountain on the left or through the pass between them.

She would have to climb down from the canyon in the hope that when she reached ground level she might be able to find tracks. She headed towards the edge at a rapid walk, hoping to make up some if the time she lost by sleeping. The little dragon followed eagerly in her footsteps like a devoted hunting hound. "Well, onwards and downwards I suppose," she commented dryly as she reached the cliff-like ridge and looked at the daunting task of free climbing down.

"Downwards," Jade echoed, staring down the rock face. Then she leaped off and flapped crookedly down to land joyfully triumphant on the ground.

"Glad somebody finds this easy," she muttered as she slowly followed.

A/N, I thought Zelda could use a traveling partner. Almost all the Links have XP And I have a few plans for her too. SO next week will be in Link's perspective again. The two of them will get about equal screen time but I don't think I will change perspectives every chapter. I guess I shall just see how it goes XP. Thank you all for reading!

Question: if you could create a companion for Link, who or what would it be and why?