fleets: HURRAH early update! You have no idea how much I wanted to get to this chapter. XD

Chapter 16: A Vanished Hero – Rumors of the Gold Wolf

The trio had managed to find a modest place to stay some blocks away from the train station. It had taken some time, but after some pantomiming for a taxi driver they had managed to get the driver to take them some place to spend the night.

Currently, they were sitting tiredly inside the cabin of yet another train that was headed for the village of Fujikawaguchiko. It was nine fifteen – they had left early in the morning because none of them felt comfortable sticking around in Tokyo where Dugal was lurking. They felt antsy about the fact that nothing had happened last night, since all of them had expected Dugal to do something. Zelda and Gale had ditched their Harajuku outfits; Gale had returned to his old hoodie, while Zelda had quickly bought a cheap pair of jeans because she'd felt a skirt would be inappropriate for adventuring.

They had already travelled for an hour on the Azusa bullet train back towards the direction they had been running away from. It made little sense to Gale to approach the Avilux I facility, but unfortunately the forest they needed to go to was located in that general direction. They only needed an hour more of travel on this cutesy yellow train to reach their destination.

His stomach growled.

"It might be a good idea to eat a little more," Link said, looking up from the box lunch he had bought earlier in the other train. He picked up a piece of sesame fish with a pair of chopsticks that he was using surprisingly well. Zelda, sitting next to him, appeared to be struggling with hers as she tried to pick up a piece of something that looked like a type of seaweed. Gale made a face.

"That stuff looks gross."

Link shrugged. "When you're out on the road you learn to be less picky. I've eaten stuff worse than this when I was out trying to stop Ganon before."

"This doesn't taste that bad either," Zelda pitched in. "Though I agree it does look pretty nasty."

"I tell you I'm fine! Besides, it's not like I'm not eating anything." To demonstrate, Gale defiantly munched on the end of a chocolate Pockey stick. Link raised his eyebrows at the multiple boxes of Pockey that was piled in the empty seat next to Gale.

"Is that seriously going to be your breakfast?"

"It tastes a heck of a lot better than the stuff you're eating."

"…You are such a child."

Gale glared. If he hated to be compared to anything it was a little kid. However, he didn't let his temper fly and instead scoffed, "I simply refuse to eat something so unrefined as… what is that… a fish head."

The minutes went by as the train chugged onwards. The city buildings had all but disappeared and had been replaced by rice paddies in farming communities. Occasionally the train would be flooded in darkness as it went through a tunnel under a mountain, and all they would hear would be the train's rhythmic clunking. At last, they reached their destination. At ten o'clock, the sky was a crisp blue and the lakeside winter breeze was nippy. The three walked out of the train station slowly, enjoying the nice day but at the same time wondering what they were going to do next.

The thin layer of snow on the ground made slushing noises as they walked. Link stopped a person on the street and asked for directions to Aokigahara, to which he got a strange look. The other person didn't say why because his English was limited, but was able to direct them to the bus stop. Each time Link asked a passerby about the forest, the same weird expression was returned. Link cocked his head. "Hmm, I wonder why people act funny when I mention Aokigahara."

Gale stepped after Zelda onto the bus that had arrived. "Maybe because that's a forest people generally avoid. Don't you remember what that doctor said about it? People disappear in there."

"Perhaps we should stop asking around about it to avoid appearing suspicious," Zelda said.

The bus took them farther away from the main town area and into a quieter community. There was less traffic, and the main road narrowed as they entered a more rural place. Instead of commercial buildings, the roads became lined with small houses instead, and the scenery became more beautiful; the village was a scenic tourist area.

"Wow, look at that." Zelda pointed at the towering mountain that loomed just above the lake they were driving by. It was monstrous and majestic, and everything became insignificant in its shadow. It was Mt. Fuji – the iconic mountain of Japan. The Sea of Trees was supposedly located right at the base of the humongous mountain. The bus's intercom pinged, signaling the approach of a bus stop.

"Shuuten desu. Arigatou gozaimashita." The English translation followed soon after. "This is the last stop. Thank you."

The other passengers stood up even as the bus was still moving to prepare getting off. The trio followed the small crowd, and they took a moment to view the scenery in awe. Neither Zelda nor Gale had seen anything like the view of the mountain back from where they had come from, and even Link, who had done his share of travelling during his last quest, was stricken by how it loomed over everything. After a moment of appreciating their surroundings, Gale stretched out his arms in front of him to loosen them up. "All right. Now what?"

Link turned to face him. "Ah, we're going to have to – " he trailed off.

"What is it?" Zelda asked, and then noticed the group of kids, who had been playing in the sidewalk, running up to them.

Zelda and Gale stepped to the side, eyes wide, when the kids pushed towards the surprised blond boy. Link looked like he didn't know what to do when the kids started yammering at him in rapid Japanese, and one boy who looked to be around eleven jumped and tackled him happily.

"Uhh, haha, sorry I don't know Japanese," Link laughed, trying to figure out what was going on. The kids paused when he spoke, and then went back to laughing and tugging. They occasionally pointed and said "koitsu," and "gaijin dana!" which Zelda recognized as "this guy," and "such a foreigner!" They said it endearingly, which seemed to make them know Link in one way or another, but that was strange since there was no way Link had been in this part of Japan before. Well, unless he was hiding other things, but from his expression Link appeared confused as well. After a while, one of the kids shouted loudly while waving his phone around, and the group gathered around to look at the time on the display screen. Then, just as soon as they had come, they ran off laughing and screaming, occasionally waving goodbye to Link before they disappeared around the corner.

Gale coughed. "That was weird."

"Yeah…" Link brushed himself off.

Zelda tilted her head. "I've heard of foreigners being really popular in Japan, but those kids acted like they know you, Link."

"Yeah." Gale agreed. "And I'm pretty sure this was my non-Japanese ears picking up random phrases, but I swear I heard them saying 'gold wolf.' Probably not what they were really saying though."

"Gold wolf?" Link scrunched his brows. Before he could say anything more, he was interrupted yet again. This time, however, the shove on his shoulder wasn't very friendly and Link automatically brought his guard up. Turning around, he was confronted by a group of Japanese who were a little older than they were. They were a group of six, and from the looks of it they were part of a gang. They walked with an unruly swagger and the guy at the front of the small group flicked his cigarette off to the side.

"Heh." The guy exuded the smell of cigarette smoke, and his black hair was spiked in the current popular Asian fashion. He said something to his comrades and they laughed in a way that didn't sound too nice. Gale and Zelda took an unconscious step back away from Link when the gang group rounded on him. "Sonna kakko de moddotte kurunante ii shinkei shite iruna, gold wolf." (You've got a lot of nerve coming back looking like that, gold wolf.)

Link stood his ground. "Gold wolf?" he repeated his question from earlier when he picked up the English words between the Japanese.

"Ha? Koitsu tobokete yagaru." (Ha? This guy's playing dumb.) Smokey spat on the ground. He took a tired sigh, and the trio was surprised when he switched to a slightly accented English. "What, you're too good to speak Japanese now? Found yourself some gaijin friends, it seems."

Link was taken aback. "Do I know you? I'm pretty sure you have the wrong person."

"What? Man, just talking to you gets on my nerves." Smoker sounded irritated. "That gold blond hair, dark green trench coat, those annoying blue eyes; you're that stuck up little twit who thought he could go around parading as this village's 'hero.' Are you still going to deny it, gold wolf?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know who the gold wolf is, and I don't know who you're talking about."

There was a brief commotion within the gang with Link's comment, and Smoker cracked his knuckles. "Like I said, you've got some nerve coming back here dressed like the gold wolf again. The gold wolf wasn't supposed to come back." He popped his fists together. "I'll give you one chance. We'll forgive you if you dye your hair back to black, and get rid of that outfit. The gold wolf is dead, and he stays dead you understand me?"

Link blinked. Gale noticed him shift his stance slightly and knew that fists were going to fly. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"Konoyaro-! That's it, you little shit! Get him!"

The small gang rushed forwards towards Link. Zelda hopped out of the way with a worried look, but Gale had a nasty smile. He'd had first hand experience of Link's fighting abilities, and he knew those thugs weren't going to expect what was coming for them. He watched Link sidestep out of the various punches being thrown, and snickered when the group members injured themselves by hitting the wrong target. When the gang was temporarily disoriented from injuring each other, Link did a quick roll through and knocked out Smoker from behind. Cracking his knuckles, Link tossed the dead weight of the unconscious guy over to the remaining five. "Next?"

One of the members, a tomboyish girl, ran forward and hitched Smoker on her back. "Let's go," she told the others. The rest glanced at their limp leader, and then Link. When Gale laughed maliciously at their reaction, they decided it would be best to retreat. While running away, one of them turned around and gave one last sour call.

"Don't think this is over! When Harrier finds out, you're done for. He'll come after you, Link Petrov!"

The gang disappeared around the corner, and once again the three were left alone. All three of them wore a stricken expression.

"He knew your name," Zelda whispered.

Link just nodded, not being able to find his voice. Gale narrowed his eyes.

"Link, are you sure you've never been here before?"

"I… I'm pretty certain." Link stammered. "I'm really confused. I could believe they were mistaking me for someone else, but they knew my name."

"What about Harrier? Should we be worried about him?" Zelda asked.

"I can probably handle him, whoever he is. I'm curious about the story behind this gold wolf, though."

"We are NOT going to get sidetracked," Gale said flatly. He began to walk down the road that led towards Mt. Fuji. "Aokigahara is at the base of that mountain," he waved in the direction of the looming mountain, "which means there's a long walk ahead of us unless we grab a taxi. Since your problems have nothing to do with me, and since I don't freaking care about you, we are not going to waste time figuring out why people around here seem to know you. Start walking."

Zelda and Link looked after the white haired teen stomping off away from them. Zelda bit her lip. "I've been meaning to ask this for a while but, you two aren't friends, are you?"

Link shrugged. "Not really. It's more of a forced alliance."

"Just checking."

"Mm."

With that, the other two followed Gale in the direction of their destination.

XXXXXXX

Right around that time, a teenager was lazily stepping out of the Seven-Eleven convenience store in Fujikawaguchiko. His hair was jet black, and he wore a black skullcap with the logo of the company "Detona" with the picture of a bomb. His one hand was stuffed in the pocket of his black denim trench coat, while his other was carrying a bottle of water he'd bought at the store. He looked suspiciously like Link, and even had eyes blue enough to rival the blond's. He sulked off with his shoulders hunched over.

The other people on the sidewalk avoided him when he walked by, slightly frightened by him. Some dared to glance over their backs to see where the gloomy teen was heading, but most chose to hurry away. The teen pretended to ignore them, with his cold eyes staring straight ahead with a sort of desolate emptiness.

A group of kids no older than ten were rendezvousing some feet away in a snow-covered playground. Right as the teen was about to pass them, they became eerily quiet when all chatter disappeared. One of them gave a shout.

"Wolf!"

The teen stopped. He hadn't heard that name in a while. It brought back bad memories, and his eyes narrowed slightly. Without saying anything, he turned his head slowly towards the group of kids.

The boy who'd called out hesitated. Then, plucking up courage, he spoke in Japanese. "Nene, wolf mata modotte kitan janaino? Nande mata kaminoke ga kuroino?" (Hey, wolf, I thought you came back? Why is your hair black again?)

The black haired teen scowled. "Wolf wa shinda. Modotte kuruwake naidaro?" (Wolf is dead. There's no way he's coming back, alright?)

"Demo…" (But…)

"Hanashi wa soredake ka? Omaera nanka to shabbettetara kibun ga warukunaruze." (Is that all? Talking to you makes me annoyed.) He turned his heel and was about to leave when the boy gave another shout, undeterred by the harsh comments.

"Demo sakki wolf wo mitandayo! Kinpatsu de, mukashi mitaini warratteitayo! Nande wolf wa kienakya ikenakattano?" (But we saw wolf earlier! He had gold hair, and he was smiling, just like the old days! Why did wolf have to disappear?)

The black haired teen grit his teeth. "Uruse-! Gaki wa damattero!" (Shut your trap! Shut up you brats!) The kids ducked behind the monkey bars at his outburst. Then, the teen took a deep breath and looked down his nose at them coolly. "Wolf wo mita to iu youna uso wa, omoshiroku naizo." (Saying wolf came back; lies like that aren't funny.)

A different boy stepped forward bravely. "Uso janai! Bokutachi mitanda! Sakki gold wolf wa acchi de aruite itayo!" (It's not a lie! We saw him! Just a while ago the gold wolf was walking down the street over there!) He looked worried when the dark teen glared at them. "Honto datte ba…" (It's true…)

The teen took a step forward, his fists clenched. "Dareka wolf no mane wo shite iru to iu no ka?" (Are you saying there's an imposter wolf?)

The kids exchanged glances, and after some minutes of hurried whispering they came to a conclusion that yes, they had indeed seen the gold wolf. "Un. Bokutachi minna mitandayo." (Yeah. We all saw him.)

"Souka." (I see.) The black haired teen whipped around. "…Doko de mita?" (…Where did you see him?)

"Bus-tei no atari de, shiroi kami no nii-chan to kiiroi kami no ne-chan to hanashite itayo." (He was talking to a white haired guy and yellow haired girl by the bus stop.)

"Bakana yatsume. Omoishirasete yaru." (The idiot. I'll make him see his mistake.) He sneered. "Wolf wo nanoru yatsu wa orega yurusan." (Those who call themselves wolf will have to deal with me first.)

With that, the cold teen stalked off in the direction of the bus stop the kids had pointed him towards. The kids watched him leave until he disappeared from sight before they deserted the playground. None of them wanted to stick around lest the teen returned unhappy. Some of them chattered to each other, wondering who had been pretending to be the gold wolf earlier. They could have sworn he had returned, but now they began to think that they had seen a fake. The gold wolf wasn't going to come back. The black haired teen had said so.

Some time ago, the people of Fujikawaguchiko had liked the dark haired teen. He'd been especially popular with the kids, since he had always been friendly and would sometimes play with them and buy them small things from the street-side shops. The only trouble he'd caused was when he'd taught the local kids how to use a slingshot, and the parents had complained about the kids shooting things everywhere. Some time ago, the dark haired teen had been a caring, warm person.

Now he was callous and cold. No one really knew what had happened, but something had changed and the only smile he ever showed was a bitter one. The kids who had once liked him now feared him.

His nickname had once been the gold wolf.

Now they gave him a new name; the dark wolf.

Travel Log:

Fujikawaguchiko - The place looks like it came right out of a postcard. The most impressive thing in this place is Mt. Fuji. Dear Din it takes up the entire landscape and demands attention. It's one huge mountain. I can't stress that enough, and you'll only get what I mean until you actually see it in real life. The village itself is a little boring. It's nothing compared to the city, and hardly any of the buildings are taller than three stories (compare that with all the twenty floored skyscrapers in Tokyo and you'll understand why this place seems pathetically boring). Also, there's snow here! No, I'm not talking about the two centimeters of snow over at Tokyo; here, they get the real stuff. Well, I guess it still doesn't compare to the snow in New Jersey though.

fleets: Whoa boy. I hope I know what I'm getting myself into because this is getting more complicated haha. I didn't name the dude in the last segment, but I should think it's fairly obvious. And for those of you who were puzzled by my earlier devArt submission, I hope this chapter made it slightly less puzzling :P

Also as you've no doubt noticed, there's Japanese in this chapter. A lot of it was also Japanese you wouldn't want to use if you wanted to make friends, so I wouldn't suggest using them on people you like lol. The direct translation of it to English was difficult. I tried my best, but I had to change a few phrases because some of the direct translations sounded funny.

Midna Hytwilian: Sorry to hear that! Hmm, we'll never know, but it was probably both Vaati and Gale lol. Whoa, what language is that? Looks neat!

jioplip: Harrier - we don't know much about him do we? The stalfos speculations seem to be popping up; it's the Lost Woods we're talking about here after all ;)

Shadow Blues: Haha, I'm the same, don't worry (looks sheepishly at the stories that have been read but not reviewed yet). Gale and Zelda haven't noticed Link's scab because of two reasons: 1.) Link's coat has a high neck, so it's harder to see 2.) The chip is very small since it was initially made for migratory insects. Dugal did a good job hiding it.
It won't be fair if the good guys always had their way lol

Reily96: Yes, yes he is. At the same time, I don't think Ganon would be very surprised if he found out.

henslight: The Vaati and Gale dilemma is coming soonish (I think). We'll see :) As for the suicide rant... I'd just gone through a bad time with a suicide experience. Not someone I knew directly, but it affected me all the same in a way I didn't think could happen... I'm fine now. I just wanted to emphasize its stupidity though :)

marium: Yes... the last person on earth I would think would call it quits ended it all a few months ago. It was stupid, and I don't want anyone to ever experience suicide in any scope. Ever. Ahhh the Lost Woods! I can't wait to get to that chapter since it's been mentioned for such a long time. Hopefully I'll get there soonish!

Darkwind: Psycho/villain/jerk characters are my favorite! Somehow they seem more real than hero roles. I don't know why though, since I don't know anyone who's absolutely evil (not personally, anyway).

i-wish-a7x: Same here with Gale - I started off wanting to erase him completely with Vaati, but now I'm not so sure. Once you write about a character long enough that seems impossible to do. Getting to that part should be... interesting. Lol, Dugal is turning way creepier than I had originally intended to. I think I like him better this way (though I'm sure people would disagree). Wow, thank you for the kind review! :D

Temyx Mew Mew Haerts: Hmhmhm, not much info about what Dugal's up to in this chapter. We'll see. But yes, it is the Lost Woods for a reason and there're those rumors on Aokigahara. Yep, Zelda looks like Sheik (she ditched her colored contacts though, since they were bugging her eyes. They were red for the duration of the Harajuku scene though). Actually, the police probably wouldn't see anything wrong with Harajuku-ites in that area. Shibuya is very close to Harajuku itself, and the fashion isn't actually "cosplay" but very eye-popping fashion statements. They're not treated so differently from people wearing a nice dress for going out (okay, maybe a little differently since they stand out more, but not too much). You can occasionally see Harajuku fashion in subways in places other than Harajuku, although the frequency of sighting crazy fashion decreases. :)

At worst, the police would probably have seen them as wild teens.