Chapter 15- Most Loyal of Partners
Link is the hero. Zelda is the princess. Ruto is also a princess, but to the warriors, she's the snooty one. Most just consider Darunia the burly, leader dude. The remaining warriors consider him the "big brother". Lana is the perky one. Fi is the one that everybody goes to for boring statistics. And so on and so forth.
Midna qualifies for many roles. She's sarcastic. She puts on a tough act, but once you get to know her, an entirely new light shines upon her. Your relationship with Midna is determined by few factors, most of which nobody really knows. Midna has her mysterious motives for trusting one person, but not trusting another. She's a formidable foe and a beloved princess at the same time.
Speaking of Midna, she is also a pet-owner. One of the most popular pets in the Twilight Realm is the Twilight Wolf. They became popular pets for Twili after their realm was saved by the hero of their era, whom first appeared in the form of a wolf. Midna loves every one of her Twilight Wolves; all three of them. Eclipse and Umbra are special, but not quite as special as Shade. Eclipse and Umbra are the two wolves Lana refers to as the "true fighters". They are the two that Midna uses against enemies; they physically get into the action. Shade is considered the "princess's loyal stead". Shade is the wolf all the warriors are familiar with; the wolf that Midna gallantly rides into battle on.
Some sense that there is some favoritism between Midna and her wolves, despite Midna's claims otherwise. At least, she wants to believe there is no favoritism. Not even she knows why she spends more time brushing Shade's fur than the other two. Eclipse and Umbra work just as hard as Shade, perhaps even harder, and yet, Midna still feels closer to Shade than the other two, as if their hearts are one.
Alas, this dispute is for another time. At Twilight Field, a battle starts to brew. Midna sits idle on Shade's back, obviously in deep contemplation.
"Midna! The battle has started!" Lana screams.
Midna is awoken from her daze. She looks at Lana, wide-eyed with alert. "Oh, sorry. I wasn't listening. That mysterious voice was speaking of us again."
"I didn't hear it."
"It was speaking specifically of me," Midna explains. "The voice seems to know everything, and I hate it. My personal thoughts are for me and me only."
Lana flips through her spell book. She says, "I would love to sit down and talk about this, but maybe we can do that another time. Right now, we've got something bigger to attend to."
Midna nods. "Right." She leans in close to Shade's ear. "Alright, buddy, you ready for this?" she asks. Shade gives a reassuring grimace, pleasing Midna. She sits back up and charges into battle.
…
The end of fall approached all too fast. Nothing much happens in the winter, when the crisp, autumn breeze becomes too nippy for comfort. The sky is no longer blue, but a deep gray that appears to never end. Midna and Zant have always been mesmerized by snow. The Twilight Realm has pretty much one season, so the idea of winter is unheard of. It rains, but never snows. Zant uses snow as a good reason to shroud Hyrule in twilight; he says that changing weather is just so confusing and bad. But Midna doesn't think the same way. Sure, the twilight is home, but there are many wonders of Hyrule and the light world that have a mystifying beauty. The first time Midna and Zant saw a fresh blanket of snow, they had very different reactions. Zant desperately started searching for familiar ground, but Midna only awed at the endless white. She had never seen so much white in her entire life. Zant didn't care much for the white, and got really scared really fast when he couldn't find anything that was a dark color. Sure, he was wearing black, but that didn't seem to satisfy him.
This winter, the first snowflakes fall in late November when everyone is asleep. Midna had stayed up to see the twilight in Hyrule, but then fell asleep under a lone tree on a hillside. Eager to see his mistress, Shade managed to find a way to get from the Twilight Palace to Hyrule. From there, he had no trouble seeking out the whereabouts of his mistress. Though under the protection of the fall leaves on the tree, the snowflakes still find a way to gently blow onto the sleeping princess. This makes her pull her legs in close to the rest of her body, unconsciously attempting to keep herself warm. Her faithful wolf makes his way to her side, and with his fur, shields his mistress from the cold. For an unknown reason (perhaps metabolism), he has been getting fatter. The extra fat helps generate warmth as well.
Perhaps the true bond between Midna and her wolf was what kept Midna warmer that night than those who were actually in beds under a roof.
…
"My fault?! How is this my fault?!" Ghirahim screams to his co-minion.
Through an unseen set of circumstances, Volga is especially cranky and managed to tie Ghirahim and Zant to a pole out in the middle of nowhere. This nowhere may be Lon Lon Ranch, but nobody can tell for sure. It is also noteworthy that Volga managed to get the two tied to the pole upside down. Despite having all the blood rush to their brains, neither of them has thought of any way to get out of their predicament.
That's when Midna comes to the scene. Like expected, Shade followed along. Midna, being the perfect height, walks over to Zant and peers down at his face, as if trying to look up his nose. It doesn't work regardless because he's wearing a mask.
"What are you doing?"
Midna shrugs, steps back, and smiles. "I didn't expect to see this today. I mean, I heard something happened here, but never, ever would I have guessed I'd come and find this."
Midna wasn't the only one who heard news of commotion in this area. Wizzro was sent to investigate what Volga had done here. He knew whatever it was Volga did here must have been odd, but this is ridiculous.
Midna peers around the pole, seeing the wizard. She gestures to the pole and asks, "Did you ever expect to see this?" She stands with attitude, leaning to one side with a hand on her hip.
Wizzro wickedly grins. "I've got an idea. Let's finish what Volga started. We can get some firewood and start a magnificent bonfire." And Ghirahim thought his mind was twisted.
Midna looks appalled. "No! That would be horrid." Relief washes over Zant and Ghirahim.
Then Midna finishes her thought; "We'll turn them right-side up first. Then we can get a fire started." Wizzro and Midna have never been friends, but Wizzro can't help but love Midna's dark wit.
Shade nudges Midna's side with his nose. Midna turns her attention to her wolf. Shade gives a confused expression, tilting his head and lowering one ear. Midna just smiles and pats Shade's head lovingly.
She turns her attention back to Ghirahim and Zant. "But seriously, I suppose we should get them down."
"I wouldn't. Volga will come to his senses and release them later. If not," Wizzro shrugs. "We could always come back and burn them before they starve to death. Put them out of their misery."
Midna rolls her eyes. "Do you have any sense of humanity?"
Wizzro laughs. "No."
Shade, eager to get this dispute over with so his mistress will pay attention to what's really important, makes his way to the poll. With one fell jump, he jumps high and grabs the ropes with his teeth, cutting the ropes. Ghirahim manages to do an impressive hand stand and hop onto his feet from that position. Zant's landing isn't so impressive. His helmet is the perfect cone shape; acting like the point of a knife.
Wizzro frowns. "Talk about anti-climactic," he complains.
Shade returns to his mistress's side. Midna gives him a loving rub. They both know that what he did was the right thing to do.
Ghirahim has to grab Zant's flailing legs and pull to get the Twili unstuck. Once Zant is free from the grasps of the ground, he scrambles to his feet, knocking Ghirahim onto his rear end. This humors Midna, but not enough to make her laugh aloud.
A large roar fills each of the warrior's eardrums, shaking their cores. Once the defining roar ceases, Ghirahim turns to Zant and asks, "Did you summon Argorok?" Zant only shakes his head in response.
The source of the roar appears in a fiery inferno in the sky. The great dragon form of the warrior Volga soars into the scene. He seems to have sensed that his victims have been released. Despite this, the cause of his fury is unknown.
The instinct of the warriors is to flee. Wizzro is the first to make himself scarce, disappearing under the ground. As a defensive measure, Zant starts recklessly spinning around Ghirahim, creating a pitch-black tornado of sorts. Both Zant and Ghirahim are able to hide in the center, where it is calm and where they are shrouded from the dragon's vision. They seem to disappear along with the whirlwind.
Volga inhales as deeply as possible, fueling a massive orb of flames inside of him. Midna is frozen by the dragon's magnificence. Heroically, Shade reaches up and grabs one of the arms of the Fused Shadow upon Midna's head, pulling her out of harm's way. If he hadn't both he and Midna would have been engulfed in Volga's orb of flames. Lifting Midna onto his back, Shade dashes as quickly as possible away from the massive creature.
To summarized, everyone who encountered Volga and his beastly rage escaped unharmed. Shade retreats to the safety of the Twilight. In Twilight Fields, one of the keeps is shielded from the light and surrounded by twilight. When Shade stops running, Midna takes a few moments to process what she just witnessed and how she escaped from it.
Her thought process is disrupted when Shade falls onto his side, exhausted. Midna is tossed onto the ground. She hastily gets up, powered by concern for her companion. Shade was once a pup; but no longer. His appetite has grown, and he has gained weight. Midna assumes that is the reason for his exhaustion. Now that they have a moment of peace, Midna takes a special pet hairbrush out from the mysterious hammer space she possesses, crawls to Shade's side, and starts brushing his fur. The quiet settled in, and by late evening, it was like nothing had ever happened.
…
Link builds a snowman in front of the castle.
"Link!" Midna hurries across the snow-barren ground to get to Link. For once in a very long time, she actually uses her feet. She trips about halfway to the hero, but she doesn't let that stop her. "Link, I can't find Shade," she cries.
Link holds up his index finger, requesting the princess give him a minute to concentrate on his snowman. This leaves Midna at a standstill. Very carefully, Link places a top hat on the snowman. Once the top hat is positioned perfectly, Link gives a satisfied grunt and turns his attention to Midna.
Midna takes a deep, staggered inhale, obviously upset. She says, "I can't find Shade. You know, my Twilight wolf; I can't find him. Usually he's at the palace in the mornings, but he wasn't there this morning. I checked the entire palace. I don't know where else to look. You have to help me find him."
The wind blows the snowman's top hat off. The top hat is carried with the breeze. Link desperately chases after it. Midna watches, and she is appalled that Link is more concerned with the well-being of his snowman than her.
Very carefully, Link places the top hat back on the snowman, emitting another satisfied grunt after he's finished. Distressed and irritated, Midna winds up and forcefully punches the snowman into oblivion. She even adds a battle cry; the one where she just screams at the top of her lungs. The rebound is successful, and Midna returns to her original position.
"She's a snowman murderer!" Proxi yells, "Quick, Link, we've got to protect the snow-person village! Think of the snow-children!" With that, Link starts to trudge his way through the snow. The snow is only a few inches or so high, but it is difficult to walk through, nonetheless.
Midna uses her hair to grab Link and turn him around. She frowns. "This is serious, Link," she says. Her bottom lip starts to quiver. "I can't find Shade. I need help."
…
Within about thirty minutes, Link and Midna managed to gather a large group of warriors. Zelda, Impa, Lana, Fi, Agitha, Darunia, and Ruto have all been gathered. Midna explains the scenario then and there. She adds all the details; Shade's description, the past few days, etc.
"HM, that's odd," Darunia talks aloud to himself.
Midna nods. "I don't know whether it was something I did, or if-,"
"I didn't know you actually cared about that thing," Darunia interrupts.
Midna flinches. "Wait, what?"
Ruto backs Darunia up. "Yeah, I can totally see where you're coming from. On the battlefield she's throwing those things like people through confetti at parties."
"HEY! Listen!" screams Zelda. Everybody is silenced.
When the awkward silence moment has passed, Fi says, "Perhaps I have some valuable information."
Without a second thought, Midna flies up into Fi's face and asks with enthusiasm, "You know where Shade is?!"
Fi says no.
Midna is no longer excited. She turns to Link and asks when they should start a search party.
Fi continues to talk- "I have observed that Shade is actually a female. I believe this fact could possibly shed some light on the whereabouts of your animal companion."
It takes a minute, but once Fi's information sinks in, the all of the facts suddenly makes sense, like finding the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. "Great Hylia," Midna whispers, "I know where Shade is."
"So, you mean to tell us," Darunia asks, "that you knew where your pet wolf was this entire time?" Before he can get an answer, Midna floats away, assumingly headed to where she believes Shade is. Her fellow warriors follow her.
…
The warriors find Shade leaning against a warm rock in Twilight Field, just as Midna suspected. Another one of Midna's wolves, Umbra, is there as well. According to Fi, they had just missed the delivery of Shade's four pups.
"Well I'll be a Zora's old man," Darunia says upon glimpsing at Shade's new family. "It looks like you're going to have your hands full for a while, Midna."
As thrilling as it is to see puppies, Midna is more relieved to see that her faithful companion is well.
Agitha starts jumping up and down. "Let's name them! Let's name the puppies!"
While most of the group starts brainstorming names, Fi brings Link's attention to the footprints in the light coat of snow on the ground. The footprints are fresh. They appear to be shoe prints, but then suddenly change to dragon-like footprints. Link is aware of a particular lore about Twilight animals; at the birth of most wild Twilight mammals, birds, and reptiles, a dragon comes to witness and give its blessing to the offspring. The question- who did the boot footprints belong to?
"Name one of them 'Link'!" All of the warriors agree on that one. Midna considers this, but then decides amongst herself that there is only one Link. She tells the group that she will consider all the possibilities and then decide what names will mean the most.
"Very well said, Princess Midna," Impa compliments. Gradually, everyone starts to leave to continue their day-to-day lives. Naturally, Midna stays the longest. She refuses to leave Shade's side until Shade is ready to continue life as usual (with the exception of a new family to look after).
It took a long time, but eventually, a couple of the pups were given a name. There are two girls and two boys, at least, according to Fi. One of the baby girls bounded in the snow very playfully. Midna settled on naming that one Snowy. For the remaining baby girl, Midna remembered how Link pointed out how its eyes glittered in the light. Midna named that one Sparkle. Names for the boy pups are very difficult to come up with. Midna played around with a few ideas. In honor of one of her enemies, Midna put his name on the list of possible candidates for one of the pups. She could love on Wizzro the puppy, which would leave her enough time to despise the original Wizzro. Other possible names Midna is considering are Ruffles, Moon, Termina (after she thought of 'Moon', this one just randomly came to mind, and she doesn't even know what it means), Winter Wind (WW for short), Hyrule (in honor of Zelda), and Chips (Midna really likes chips; so salty and delicious). She decides to sleep on it. Perhaps more names will come to her.
Now that she's got the names figured out, she can figure out another potential issue- how is she going to keep Zant away from the pups?
Author's Notes- Since I don't have chapter 16 done yet, I just decided to post chapter 15 all by itself. So, I have a few questions for my readers. First, if I were to mention Shade's puppies again, what should the names of the two boy puppies be? It could be one from the story, or something you come up with. Since there are two puppies to be named, I'll name one of them the name from the story most voted on, and the other one a new name that one of you guys suggest. That sounds logical.
Secondly, I am conflicted. Do I give equal attention to all of the warriors? If I don't, is that ok? I suppose the real question here is this- what one or two warriors do you guys want to see in chapter 16?
Ok, this is the final question. I hope to take the results of the current poll and use them for something special. When I reach chapter 20, should I use the results to create a sequel to the winning chapter in the poll? If you have any other ideas of what to do with the poll results, please share. I would love to hear them. With that said, if you haven't voted yet, please do that. Don't let the results end in a tie. Otherwise I'll really be lost about what to do with the results.