Ayo, double feature! You guys should feel privileged; I've never done a double update before. I actually started writing this one as chapter eleven, but then I realized that I jumped into Link liking Malon without giving it any buildup after the whole Lost Woods incident. Then I was just going to update it when the next regular update would be, but I figured I already had it done so I might as well post it too.

Make sure you've read chapter eleven in case you didn't realize that I updated with two chapters!

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

Scramble

Orange and red faded into a deep violet hue across the skies over Hyrule Field. The top portion of the sun just barely managed to peek over the edge of the horizon, and it would disappear completely within the next few minutes. A breeze drifted along the plains, sweeping the grass and other flora in a wavelike pattern.

Link sighed as the wind rushed past him. Sitting in the tree he had used to occasionally scare Talon, the sight of yellow and brown leaves falling around him made it only more apparent that summer was over. He had arrived here in the late spring, so the change of season hadn't set in during that time; however, because he had been here for all of the summer, this seasonal shift made him realize just how long he had been here.

The blond caught a lazily drifting leaf in his palm and pressed it between his fingers. How long would it be before he finally decided to leave? Would he share a tearful farewell with the ranchers before walking away from this temporary home, or would he simply leave with the hope that not telling them would be the easiest way to transition back to their old ways of life? No matter what he settled on, he knew, and had always known, that the longer he waited the harder it would be on all three of them.

This thought bothered him though, as he knew that deep in his heart he no longer wanted to leave. As Talon had told him time and again, there was no longer any debt to repay, and they were not troubled by the addition of a third person in their household so long as he did his part to help around the ranch. With the property owners expressing their contentedness with him being there, why did he still feel the need to leave?

It was a question that Link often pondered these days. This easygoing lifestyle, these caring people, and this place in general were the perfect place for him to settle down. When Koholint had been real, he planned to settle there, and this place he was in now was not so different from there, other than its locale.

But that may have been the very reason he could not bring himself to stay. He accepted Koholint as nothing more than something dreamt up and he accepted that the people living on it were also make-believe. It mattered not that his dreams continued to conjure up images of the island, because it only solidified his acceptance of its nonexistence. The scar on his face would argue against that, but the logical explanation would be that he had simply scratched his face that night he had fallen asleep in the bath. He was strong enough that his nails could probably do that amount of damage.

The sound of Malon's singing permeated his ears, and he turned his head towards the open window of the kitchen. His chest seemed to squeeze tightly as the pleasing melody floated towards him. The hero could not deny the fact that it was this girl that both kept and prevented him from staying as well.

Ever since that day she had saved him, his feelings for the redheaded rancher had transformed into a feeling he thought he had locked away. Being around her made him uneasy, yet there was a comforting sensation to her presence. The way she talked, laughed, smiled, did anything normal made his insides churn and his head spin. These feelings hit him so hard and unexpectedly that he had to question if he had been hiding them within his closed-off heart until the shattered fragments of what remained could no longer contain the feelings that had accumulated for Malon. He wanted nothing more than to stay here, if only to be with her. She fascinated and captivated him, and this aching feeling within his body made it hard to breathe. With the sudden onset of these feelings, it had certainly been an interesting few months at the ranch and he was fairly certain that she was going through similar symptoms.

It hurt, though. Having these feelings caused him pain, not just because it was uncomfortable to cope with them, but because they made him remember.

The last time Link had experienced such euphoric feelings for another person was Marin. He was willing to give up everything he had to be with her before, abandoning the adventure in his heart to be with the woman he loved. She cared for him unconditionally, and the bond they had formed was still unmatched, even by his current newfound feelings for Malon. Because of this love, the pain he experienced from her being gone was more than he thought he could bear.

He could not decide if what he was experiencing was guilt or sorrowful nostalgia, as it could be either of the two or something completely different. He had locked away his heart with the hope that he could go through the rest of his days without getting attached to anything. Marin had disappeared, and so too did the large chunk of his heart that he had given to her. For these feelings to suddenly return with the life and vigor they had when he still felt whole…it was indescribably amazing and agonizing at the same time.

It came down to a single question now: whom did he care about more? Was it Marin, the literal girl of his dreams, or Malon, girl that restored his heart and gave his life new meaning? Even if he knew the answer, Link still had no idea what that outcome would lead him to from there.

"You look mighty well flustered up there," Talon's voice said from somewhere below. Link looked down to see the man leaning against the base of the tree.

"Usually I'd deny it, but you hit the nail on the head this time," Link sighed as he hopped down to the ground. "My head's all kinds of screwed up right now."

"Heh, don't need to tell me twice, kid," Talon chuckled. "Don't think I haven't noticed the way you've been eyein' my Mal lately. I don't know what happened, but it seems like you finally noticed that she's a real woman."

"You know, it's a little weird to hear her dad saying stuff like that about her."

Talon ignored the remark and continued in a slightly more serious tone. "Listen here, Link. I know I used to joke about the two o' you havin' some kind of kiddie crushes on each other, but now that there's obviously somethin' there I think it's time I got a little more serious."

Link's eyebrow immediately raised itself. "Oh? What exactly does a serious Talon entail?"

Talon did not seem to be joking, however, as he continued on in a more fatherly tone. "I'll say it clearly because I don't want you to think I'm just messing around. Don't go hurting her, Link. If you're really serious about my daughter, then I won't stop you, but I swear if you lead her along on a wild goose chase, I will personally see to it that you don't stay here a second longer. I'm reluctantly taking a step back so that you two don't have to worry about anything getting in the way of whatever you've got going on between you."

The blond blinked in surprise when Talon finished speaking. There was never any doubt that the man cared about his daughter, but to have it all laid out in such a manner was somewhat intimidating. Link had to avert his eyes, unable to match the intensity that Talon looked up at him with.

"I…" he began slowly. "I…don't want to make you mad at me, but the thing is that I don't even know what my own feelings are right now."

"Hah, that's a weak joke, boy!"

"N-No, really, I mean…it must be pretty obvious that I care a lot about Malon, but…"

"But what?"

Link gulped silently and tried to meet Talon's intense gaze. "I'm afraid. The closer I get to her, the more my past starts to resurface. I…don't really want to go into detail, but it's because of that that I don't think I'll be able to stay if things keep developing."

Talon hummed and went deep into thought. Link could only let out a weak sigh as he briefly glanced at the kitchen window again.

"I don't have any advice for you, kid," Talon sighed after a short while. "You've gotta sort out those kinds o' things on your own if you can't tell anyone about them."

"I know, I'm sorry." Link ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I'll do what I can not to lead her on. If you so much as suspect that she's going to get hurt, I'll completely understand if you kick me out."

Talon scratched his bald head and let out another sigh. "You know I don't want to do that, Link. Just do what you can before things get out of control."

Patting the taller man on the shoulder, Talon slowly bumbled towards the entrance of the house and went inside. Not wanting to immediately follow him in, Link clambered back up into the tree, watching as a great number of leaves cascaded down from the ruckus he had caused.

Because the window was open, Link could hear Talon call Malon, saying he wanted to talk to her for a bit. It wasn't too hard to guess what her father wanted to discuss, and luckily Malon closed the window so that he wouldn't be able to hear what they were saying. Even if he was curious to know what they might say, it probably wasn't stuff he should hear, and it might even include things that he didn't particularly want to hear either.

A chill breeze blew by, rustling the leaves and sending shivers down Link's spine. He was glad that he was wearing a long-sleeve shirt under his short-sleeve today, as the temperature had taken a somewhat drastic drop since last week. Up until then, the only signs that the season had changed were the increased amount of rainfall and leaf colours. It was almost like the seasons were adjusting to match the changes in his emotions.

He snorted at the very thought. Maybe something like that would happen in his dreams, but not here in the real world. When he thought about it, Koholint was a tropical island, so seasonal changes probably wouldn't be as noticeable as they were here. In fact, he hadn't paid much attention to the climate in his dreams. Why would he? He was too preoccupied with Marin and his ever-growing feelings for Malon to worry about the fictional weather in a dreamt-up world.

Something glinted in the distance, forcing Link to strain his eyes as he tried to spot the source. It seemed odd that something might shine now that the sun had set beyond the horizon. After scanning the plains back and forth a few times, he simply shrugged and relaxed his gaze. It wasn't even a full minute before he noticed the glint again, and this time he had a good idea of where it had shone, but when he looked around the general area it should have been in, nothing appeared. Was it possible he had imagined it twice?

Slowly leaning against the tree, Link kept his focus on the fields but allowed his vision to relax enough that he could make out everything within his peripheral vision. A few leaves floated gracefully in front of him, as if beckoning to break his concentration momentarily. The hero remained stoic as he ignored any sort of distraction. As the skies quickly began to darken, he sighed and decided that it must have been his imagination. However…

While he was midair from jumping down, a golden glint caught his eye, and he was fast enough to see exactly where it was this time. It didn't disappear like it had the other two times, and he quickly ran to the fence to get as close as he could. Unfortunately, it was too far away to see it as anything more than a golden shape on a distant hill, and the horses were already back in their stables for the evening.

He squinted hard to make out some kind of shape for whatever it was, but it was difficult to tell from the way it seemed to emit light, especially as the darkness was quickly setting in. Was it some kind of creature? A giant firefly perhaps? No, not only was that ridiculous, but it wouldn't even be the right time of year for it to be out.

After watching it for a few minutes, the golden thing started to descend the hill it was standing on, moving closer in his direction. It was definitely an animal or monster of some sort, but Link had never seen anything like this…

No, that wasn't true. He recalled seeing something gold running along the fields at night in the summer. It had only happened once, but because it was during a somewhat memorable time – the time he had stayed awake for three days to avoid facing Marin – it still remained in his head. Back then, he had assumed he was simply imagining it, but this time he was surely seeing this golden being heading towards him.

"Link, are you still out here?" Malon called from somewhere behind him.

He almost turned to look at her, but stopped when he realized he might lose sight of this creature again. He was tempted to call back to her as well, but something told him that making any sort of noise might cause the golden thing to disappear. Even if he told Malon to come over and look, he didn't want it to vanish like it had before.

"Link? Hey, Dad, did Link come inside already?"

"Didn't hear 'im if he did."

The creature was close enough that he could now make out its general shape, but he still couldn't see what it was exactly. It also seemed to be wary of the ranchers' voices, as it stopped each time they said something. That further convinced him that saying anything would make it disappear.

"Oh, there you are, Link! Didn't you hear me calling for you?"

Link cursed quietly as the golden creature stopped again. It didn't look like it was going to start moving, and just as he was about to tell her to look out at the fields, an earsplitting wolf's howl attacked his eardrums.

"A-Ah! What the…" Link cried, slapping his palms onto his ears. It did not help, however, as the sound still seemed to break past the barrier he had created.

The loudness of the sound was actually hurting his head, and as hard as he tried to keep his eyes on the creature, he was forced to squeeze his eyes tightly in pain. The howling continued to pierce through his hands, and he eventually crumbled to his knees as his head began to throb. What was this howling? Could a regular wolf really create such a sound? How did it manage to pierce through to his eardrums even with his hands firmly blocking any sound from cutting through?

Just as suddenly as it had began, the sound stopped out of nowhere, leaving an uncomfortable ringing in his ears. Link slowly opened his eyes, unsurprisingly met with the view of a darkened field and no golden creature to be seen. He hadn't noticed at first, but as he stood up he could feel Malon's hands on his shoulders. Slowly removing his hands from his ears, he turned around to meet her worried look.

"L-Let's get you inside," she said in a manner that matched her expression. From the way she was talking, she must have been saying things to him while the wolf was howling, but he wasn't able to hear her at all, despite how close she had been to him.

"You…didn't hear it?" Link asked, finding that the volume of his voice was quiet by comparison to what he had just experienced.

"Hear what, the wolf?" Malon asked, surprising him over the fact that she seemed undeterred by it. "It's not all that uncommon to hear them at nighttime. Didn't you notice them during the summer?"

He gave her a questioning look, receiving an equally puzzled face in return. "Well, of course I heard them during the summer, but none of them were loud enough to make me feel like my head was splitting in two."

The redhead's expression did not change, which confused him even further. "Huh? But it didn't seem any louder than usual," she said flatly. "I was standing right behind you, so there's no way it could have been because you were closer. I doubt a wolf could even howl that loud if you were standing right next to it."

He was about to object, but there wasn't an argument he could come with against that. It was true, after all; even if a wolf had stood right next to him and howled, the only way it could be anywhere near as loud as that had been was if he stuck his ear right against its mouth, and that would still only account for one ear. There was no possible way anything that loud could have directed its sound only at him and at a distance where he wasn't able to see it.

"N-Never mind the howling." He tried to play off the situation before she grew more concerned. "Did you see that golden thing out on the hill?"

She leaned to the side for a moment to glance behind him, but shook her head as she stood straight again. "Is that what you were looking at? I've never heard of any golden animals or monsters before."

He sighed in disappointment, knowing that it had probably vanished before she had a chance to see it. Besides, when he collapsed to his knees she was probably too worried about him to notice anything out on the fields, let alone look out there in the first place. Why was it that these strange things seemed to keep happening to him?

"Let's get back inside," she said sweetly, giving him a pretty smile. "Dinner's almost ready and you seem okay now. Maybe a bug flew into your ears and bit your eardrums right when the wolf started howling. That would make you more sensitive to sounds, right?"

Link couldn't help a smirk from forming on his face as he thought about that possibility. "I'm pretty sure that would just stop me from being able to hear. My ears also wouldn't heal up as soon as the wolf stopped howling, either."

Malon laughed and ran ahead to make sure that the food she had been preparing wasn't getting burnt or overcooked. Glancing over his shoulder at the fields, Link wondered if the golden creature had somehow done that to him. If that were the case, he could be in danger if it tried to approach the ranch again. With no defense against a sonic attack of that caliber, he would have to be prepared to take it down quickly. As he wiped his boots at the doormat, Link fully expected that this would not be the last time he would see that creature.

He was correct.

∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆

"Achoo! Ah, confound it!"

"Dad, stop trying to get up; you need to rest."

"In all my years o' bein' around animals and wilderness, I've never let a darn cold get me d–…duh…duh…D'ACHOO!"

Link had to cover his mouth to hide his smirk at the sight of Malon holding a red-nosed Talon down to his bed. The old man certainly had spirit, but after he teetered around yesterday and nearly collapsed into the side of the shed, Malon was not going to let him convince her that he was fine.

Turning away from the scene, Link looked out the window, gazing at the frost-covered fields that seemed to shine under the clouded, late afternoon sky. Winter was approaching much faster than he'd anticipated, and it was surprising that none of them had gotten sick up until this point. Then again, there wasn't as much work to do since the animals tended to stay under cover now, which meant that they didn't have to go out into the cold as often.

He accompanied Malon as she headed back downstairs. From the window in the kitchen, he could see the hill where the golden creature had appeared. In fact, not only had it showed up once, it had been at least three times that Link had spotted its golden glow in the exact spot he had seen it the first time. Thankfully, it never let out its monstrous howl, but, try as he might to show Malon or Talon what he was talking about, it would always disappear when they came to look.

He felt Malon rest her head on his shoulder, causing him to look at her. A lump formed in his throat as his chest squeezed again, but he had grown used to this feeling, having experienced it many times over this past season.

There wasn't exactly a label for what Link and Malon's relationship had evolved into. They were certainly not lovers, and it even seemed like too much to think of her as his girlfriend, but they had passed the point of friendship long ago. Such a simple act like leaning her head on his shoulder was still rather uncommon, mostly because there was the fear that Talon would catch them, but he cherished these small moments when they could be somewhat affectionate with each other.

Marin inevitably crept into his mind as he thought about Malon, leaving the hero with a sense of unease. This relationship he shared with Malon still paled in comparison to the island girl, yet the girl in his dreams was nothing more than that. The only thing he could use to think of her as real was the scar on his cheek, but he was still convinced that that was nothing more than a coincidence.

His relaxed expression fell into a frown as he touched the scar. Since that dream, Marin had taken on Malon's appearance almost every time he fell asleep. Most of the time, it was just in short bursts, where she would look like Malon for a few seconds, he would blink, and she would be back to her regular self. There had been a few times when the image persisted, but he had learned to control his emotions and had never panicked when it happened. He seemed to be the only one who ever noticed that it was Malon instead of Marin, so to freak out again would only lead to trouble.

Unfortunately, this image swapping seemed to have an affect on him in the waking world as well. Malon never took on Marin's appearance, but anytime she ever wore something blue or put a flower in her hair, his mind would instantly draw the connection to Marin, and he could feel the same tension in his body that occurred whenever the opposite happened in his sleep. Perhaps this was the guilt associated with cheating, but considering how the situation was, Link's conscience did not seem to think of this as cheating.

Sometimes he wondered, though, not that he tried to imagine lewd situations with Malon: would getting to the same stage in his relationship with Malon that he was in with Marin help him cut ties with the imaginary island? As much as he still cared for Marin and wanted to keep seeing that place, it was damaging his psyche and taking a huge toll on his mental stability. Living two lives like this would cause anyone trouble, and Link really wasn't sure that he could keep it up.

It proved a problem, as choosing one world over the other would determine whether he stayed at Lon Lon Ranch or not. Over these past few months, Link had seriously considered staying at the ranch instead of going off on yet another journey. His feelings for Malon and this relaxing lifestyle were something he had grown used to, and it was a very comfortable way to live. However, if he could not give up on these dreams, then staying would be next to impossible. If he left on another adventure, there would be little to worry about during the day and he could continue having his pretend relationship with the girl in his dreams. It sounded rather pathetic, but his feelings for Marin were strong enough that this was an equally considerable plan.

His right shoulder suddenly felt cold, and he stopped thinking so hard for a moment so that he could see what had caused it.

"Mal? What are you doing?" he asked, watching as she gently rolled the fabric covering his shoulder down.

"I…wanted to check how your arms are doing," she said quietly. "Helping Dad made me remember that you had that weird thing going on with your arms. Last time I saw, you only had a few on your upper arm and now… Hey, look at that, they're all gone."

"What, really?"

"Oh, I mean the ones on your right side are gone." She rolled the fabric back up and did the same thing on the left side. "Yeah, everything on this side is still clear as day."

"Ah, I figured as much," he deadpanned and scratched his head. "The last few markings on my right arm were taking forever to disappear. I wonder if it'll take this long for these ones to go away too."

"Mm, well, as long as they aren't hurting you, I'm happy. Actually, I think they make you look kind of tough, like some sort of battle-hardened warrior with tribal tattoos!"

"Heh, you realize that I actually am a battle-hardened warrior, right?"

Malon giggled and went over to stir the stew she had been cooking for Talon. "Heehee, and now you're just the assistant helper at a ranch. Seems like you've been demoted, Mr. Warrior."

Link could only chuckle, having no comeback to such a statement. Malon turned off the stove and filled a bowl before heading back up the stairs to where Talon was resting. Left alone with his thoughts again, the blond gazed back out at the frost-covered scenery. It would be dark somewhat soon, only further proving just how quickly time had gone by.

His eyes were quick to spot the golden creature as it suddenly appeared on the distant hill. He hardly reacted upon noticing it, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it. While it was uncommon to see the creature appear during the daytime, it would not be the first time it had happened, and it was fairly close to nighttime anyway. Link watched as it slowly made its way closer to the ranch as it always did. Perhaps if he waited long enough without trying to inform anyone, it might actually make it all the way here. …Then again, did he want such a beast to make it here?

It became easier to see as his eyes adjusted and the sky began to darken. It left no trail in the frost behind it, and it moved at a rather slow pace, especially when Link considered how quickly it had run across the fields back in the summer. Was the cold slowing it down? If that were the case, it shouldn't have been hanging around the open plains at nighttime.

After watching it slowly approach for ten or fifteen minutes, Link grew weary of watching and instead filled a bowl of stew for himself. The day was pretty much over, and he figured that Malon would probably spend a good deal of tonight making sure that Talon didn't overexert himself. Knowing that, this large pot was probably all the food she would be able to make.

The sound of wolves howling outside made him tense as he ate, but they were all of a reasonable volume. He still hadn't fully recovered from that time the golden one had howled, as the mere thought of how it pierced his eardrums still caused some pain. He was also still speculating the fact that it had been the golden creature, as he had no way of confirming whether that thing was special or not.

Well, it was definitely special, considering he was the only one that could see it, but that didn't mean it was what caused that noise from before.

Link glanced up from his bowl as the stairs creaked. Malon stepped to the ground floor and gave him a tired-looking smile.

"Sorry to leave you by yourself but Dad's being pretty fussy. I'm going to try and get him to take some medicine but it could be a struggle."

"Don't worry about it." He gave her a reassuring smile as she refilled Talon's bowl. "You should probably eat and go to sleep too once he's settled down. It'd be bad if both of you got sick and I had to take care of everything."

"Hehe, that's for sure."

Joking aside, she sent him a thankful look before heading back upstairs. Link chuckled as he tried to imagine how difficult it would be to make Talon take some medicine. The old man's immune system was his pride, and the idea of having it assisted by a countertop remedy might kill him before the actual illness could.

He could hear the sounds of them arguing about the medicine upstairs, and though he knew he should probably help, Link was fairly certain that getting involved would only make it worse. Talon seemed to get more stubborn whenever he was part of it, so Malon had a better shot at getting the job done without him there.

Once he was done eating, Link stood up to put his bowl in the sink but nearly dropped it as he jumped in shock.

Through the kitchen window, he was met with the sight of the golden creature, now recognizable as a golden, red-eyed wolf, standing at the edge of the fence. Link clenched his teeth tightly, his muscles automatically kicking into battle mode. It had been a long time since he'd had to fight, and he didn't even have a weapon to battle with, but he had to do this regardless. It would be terrible if it attacked the animals, and even worse if it managed to get into the house.

He reached for the largest kitchen knife he could find and quickly made his way outside. The wolf did not move, nor did it even seem to react when he slowly began to close the distance with it. Link kept his breathing normal, though his pounding heart got him ready to make quick movements in case the beast suddenly pounced at him. Oddly enough, he felt no hostility from the creature, but that could have been due to its rather relaxed sitting position.

"Come."

The hero hopped back slightly as the voice sounded in his head. Was that his imagination? He had never heard a voice like that before, so it couldn't have been. But where had it come from?

"Your questions will be answered. Follow me."

Before he had a chance to question it again, the golden wolf stood, turned around, and suddenly leaped over the fence. Link gasped and ran up to the fence, peering down to see that it was now sitting down there and gazing up at him.

"Your time is growing short. Make haste."

Once again, it turned around and began running off into the distance.

"H-Hold on!"

There was too much going on for him to stop and ask questions now. Without a second thought, Link hopped the corral's fence and burst into the stables. As hastily as he could, he led Epona out and hopped on top of her. He didn't have a second to waste, so he immediately spurred her to run, hopping over the corral's fence and speeding out the entrance to the ranch. He would have to think of something to tell Malon later, but right now his goal was to follow that wolf.

The brisk air bit at him as he rushed through it. He hadn't had any time to change into warmer clothes, so it took a great deal of willpower to ignore the cold that bit at his exposed bits of skin. Regardless, the wolf was just a speck in the distance now, so he continued to spur on Epona, knowing full well that it would be colder the faster he traveled.

The wolf always remained in his field of vision, but they didn't seem to be making any ground on it. From what he could tell, it was heading in the direction of Lake Hylia. As expected, it ran towards the descending hills that led to the lake and hopped the fence before disappearing into the canyon-like entrance.

"Come on, girl, we can't lose that thing!" he said as he spurred Epona on again.

The air became even cooler as they got closer to the water, and Link had to slow Epona's pace after they'd jumped the fence leading into the canyon. Passing between the high cliffs, they trotted through until the lake came into view. He used this opportunity to scan the area, but the wolf was nowhere to be seen. Could they have lost it? The only way it could have escaped was if it managed to swim against the river's current, but that didn't seem very likely.

They stopped at the edge of the water and Link hopped off the horse. The moment his feet hit the ground, a strong gust of wind blew the thick clouds away with ease, revealing a bright full moon in the sky. The pale light lit the area up, creating a perfect reflection on the eerily still lake water. Link got into another battle stance as he spotted the golden wolf standing on the moons reflection. This creature was definitely not natural, as the lake's surface was not frozen, and it should have been rippling, especially after that wind gust.

Epona trotted off somewhere, apparently not noticing the wolf as it began stepping towards them. The water's surface remained still with each step that the wolf took, and its brilliant golden radiance reflected on the surface of the water like a mirror. Link tightened his grip on the knife, hoping that he need only incapacitate the creature, as killing such an incredible creature would leave a bad taste in his mouth.

Now only a few metres away from him, the wolf stopped where it was and took on a more aggressive stance. Its fur stood on end, and it looked like it might pounce at him. Taking an attack from a wolf would be bad, so he readied himself to dodge to the side if it did so. It took only a few moments before the beast did exactly that.

However, as its paws left the surface of the undisturbed water, Link's ears were assaulted by the creature's earsplitting howl. Unable to withstand the loudness of the sound, he dropped the knife and crumbled to his knees just as he had before.

"I can't…" he grunted, watching hopelessly as the wolf began to descend upon him. "I can't…fight…back…"

Link's mind suddenly blacked out as the wolf collided with his body, the howling still resonating in his ears as he collapsed to the ground.

∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆V∆

A stagnant air filled his lungs as Link gasped and coughed uncontrollably. When he managed to settle down, he fully expected to find himself inside Marin's home in Mabe Village. Instead, the hero was stunned to find that he was in some kind of misty place. The air made it look like he was inside a cloud, and he could make out silhouettes of some sort in the distance, but none were clear enough to distinguish.

The sound of clanking metal, armour specifically, caught his attention, and Link whirled around to see a person's silhouette approaching from a distance. It was hard to judge how far away it was in this fog, but as the image became clearer, he instinctively reached for the knife.

The knife, however, was no longer there. In fact, as he looked at the clothing he was wearing, it looked like he was in his travelling clothes again. He could feel the weight of the chainmail beneath his green tunic, and his trusty cap hung lazily down his back. As he patted the hat, the handle of a blade tapped his wrist, and it was like he had reverted back to how he had been before losing most of his gear to the ocean.

Something was very wrong about this dream.

"You have arrived."

It was the same voice that spoke to him earlier. Was it the wolf? Link glanced around, but the wolf was nowhere to be seen. It was still just that person approaching him in his full set of armour.

"Who are you?" he called out aimlessly, unable to pinpoint the direction of the voice.

"Fear not, young Link, for I shall cause you no harm."

Again, despite the only other person here being the approaching silhouette, the source of the voice seemed to echo from all around. Link frantically looked around but was forced to stop when the contours of the armoured man's body started to become clearer.

"Where am I? What do you want with me?"

"Want? I want nothing, for I need nothing. I neither exist nor lack existence. I am here simply because it is where I am able to be."

"Stop with this cryptic nonsense! Show yourself!"

Link regretted his words and shrank back as the fog suddenly cleared. Standing before him was a skeletal warrior, a single red eye in its skull, just like the golden wolf. It wore a thick suit of armour that covered everywhere but the warrior's face. If not for its skinless face, Link would have easily thought this was a regular man in armour. Without hesitation, he drew his sword and shield, readying for the worst.

The warrior made no unnecessary movements and simply raised its sword to point at Link. Its very presence was intimidating, and though its mouth did not move, the voice that echoed around them clearly resonated from him. With an unfaltering proclamation, the warrior spoke again, sending an icy chill towards Link's heart.

"I am known as the Hero's Shade, and you, Link, are almost out of time."

FINALLY! I have wanted to write that last bit for so freaking long that I practically exploded when I got to do it.

Yes, there was one more character reveal I had to include and that was the Hero's Shade from Twilight Princess. His reason for being here will all be explained in the next chapter, so if you're wondering what the hell he's doing here, worry not, you'll find out soon enough. Things are going to get better from here as well (I hope), as crazier elements get thrown in with the explanation of the Hero's Shade. For now, just anticipate a lot of questions being answered in the next chapter. I don't really want to spoil anything accidentally, so I'll stop here and let you ponder what will happen for yourselves.

Thanks for reading and please review!

–GengaJupite