A.N.: As said, I promised to update as soon as possible, so here we go! Though I should be anywhere else than on the computer (mostly like writing the goddamn essay) I'm still gonna write now before I lost my inspiration once again.

Remember to leave a review if you like (or just want to review) aaand you can always PM me if you have something to ask! ^_^

Italics are thinking or animal's/spirit's talking.

Chapter 8

Link speeded up as she drew near the end of the path; the trees watched her running way too quietly, there was no wind to move their long branches, which was unusual. She could almost feel the danger still linger in the air. As she ran past the last tree growing down in the path and got to the clearing, she knew she had been right; one of two monsters wandering in front of her house noticed her and started approaching, but Link had been faster. Before it had even started to run towards her, she had leapt and tore out its wind pipe. The other of the two soon followed its fellow, and both of them exploded and left behind a cloud of black ash.
Link turned to leave for the main village, as a voice stopped her.

"Wait!"

Link immediately dropped in the fighting stance, ready to attack in case the voice's owner was an enemy.

"Thank you for taking care of those bad guys! They made both the village and the forest a mess.."

She turned around just to see a small squirrel sitting on top of her house's ladder, waving his long and furry tail lightly. She relaxed.

"They kidnapped the village children... But I know... you're not one of them. I can tell because you smell like the trees of Ordon..."

The wolf was kind of amazed she could understand animal's talking, but then again, of course she would, she was an animal herself. She turned again to leave, but apparently the little guy forgot to say something, as he again told her to wait.

"Almost forgot... But if you run into any trouble, try talking to the animals. We animals understand one another, so you'll be all right!"

After saying it, he sprinted away in such a speed Link's eyes couldn't follow the movement. Now she finally got to continue to the village.

Colin didn't know how long he had been running, since there wasn't such a thing as sun or moon in Twilight, though through the thick net of tree branches he was unable to actually see the sky. If he would see, he would notice the before dirty yellow and pink sky was now painted with the colours of deep purple and sallow grey, the same black clouds of twilight still sailing across the sky.

He deeply regretted he had left Epona on her own. He should be there, fighting for the mare. But what could a little boy like him do? What could he do against the mysterious, powerful man? The answer was right under his tongue as he ran; simply nothing. He would have been killed as easily as he would kill an ant by accidentally stepping on it.
But then it hit him. Why didn't the man kill them right away? Why would he keep them alive for so long? It just didn't make any sense. He would have done it if he had wanted to.

And then, Colin remembered those old-looking birdcage things, there had been two of them, the other slightly bigger than the other. He remembered how when the man had opened the other, something golden that reminded him of a cloud of fog that covered the woods during the sunrise, had been sucked from Epona into the cage. He had seen how the mare's lines and colours had faded away along the golden mist.
What he hadn't seen, was what would have happened when all of the mist would've been sucked out of her body and stored in the cage. What if Epona is dead now? Even thinking about it terrified Colin. How could he ever tell Link what happened if the mare was dead? Or Ilia? They would kill him instantly, not even hesitating.

Colin slid to a halt. He had to go back, and he had to help Epona. He turned on his heel to run back, but suddenly froze. Huge, old oaks rose from the ground, surrounding him from every direction. The ground wasn't soft and dried grass anymore; it was hard, dull stone, reminding the floor of an old castle. The stone floor was barely visible through all the dust and died leaves of the oaks. There was a tuft of grass growing from the cracks of the stone tiles, and there were several tile piles on the ground on the places where those gigantic trees had pushed themselves through. It was certain that those oaks had been here already centuries ago. The woods was absolutely undisturbed, and it frightened the boy. There would be no one to help him.

He was hopelessly lost.

A loud crackling of electricity. A white figure lying on the cold ground, its fur glowing bright in the darkness. The yellow eyes of Shadow Keese lurking hungrily in a nearby tree. The figure rising, lifting itself on the trembling, slender legs. Beautiful, greenish-blue eyes glancing around with trepidation. Another crackle of the wall. The long tail dropped between the hind legs. Crouching, it plunged behind one of the rocks in the area. The movement was clumsy; the form was unfamiliar, new.
The owner of the white fur and slender image was a mountain wolf, more specifically a female. Silver markings swirled around her forelegs and eyes, and formed a circular design on her forehead. They pulsed along the black wall's orange designs, by the force of electricity, warming the skin under them.
The Keese above flapped its wings loudly, getting the wolf wince once, and then leaping on the edge which divided the woods from the clearing she had been in. With a quick glance back to the clearing and at the wall, she disappeared in the woods.

The village seemed so different, so changed as Link arrived. Night had fallen, torches been lit. Several mots had gathered around the flickering flames of those torches, afraid of the silent darkness surrounding them.
Link first noticed Hanch standing on top of the nearest earth pillar, gazing up at the sky. She could him mumbling quietly;

"Ohhh... How did it come to this? The children... Please say nothing's happened..."

There was a pause, the wolf could hear him sighing deeply, worried. His shoulders slumped, the gaze falling down.

"Please forgive your good-for-nothing father..."

She felt pity for him, the man looked all broken.

Link gnarled. She had things to do, she couldn't just stand there and pity everyone. She had to proceed. She slunk forward in the shadows, crouching across the wooden bridge and hiding among the yellowish grass. Now she was near the watermill house, trying to listen to Jaggle and Bo talking next to one of the torches.

"So... About the shield...-" Bo started, but was cut off by Jaggle. They needed to be quiet. Link slunk closer, moving as quietly as she could.

"So, that shield is still in your house, right?" the mayor asked, almost whispering.

"Yeah, it should be in our storage loft"

"Good! Go grab it, quick as you can! Rusl wounded pretty bad, so he can't go search for the kids. I'll take over for him."

Link gasped. Rusl is wounded? She needed to know what happened.

"But Rusl had a sword, Mayor! And he still got hurt! If you're unarmed, you're done for!"

Jaggle's voice was agitated, he was worried for the mayor.

"I'll be fine. The sword we were goin' to present to the royal family should still be at Rusl's house."

"Oh yeah? All right, I understand, Mayor. I'll hurry up and get that shield. You just wait here..."

Wait, I need to get that shield before them... Link thought, silently snarling. What should she do to stop Jaggle from getting it before her? A quick moment of thinking revealed that the best thing to do was to scare them away, though it would cause some problems later, maybe.
Link stood up from the crouching position, a deep growling was audible. The two man winced, backed away a step.

"No good! Run!"

Link didn't recognize which one said that, but was relieved that they were gone. Immediately Midna popped out of her shadow, Link looked at her with curiosity.

"That's not a bad bit of information you heard, huh?" she viewed to a small flat area on the roof of Jaggle's house and sighed.

"Ugh... Look at that open window. This village is full of idiots."

Link snarled and glared at the imp, but she ignored her.

"So..." the imp turned around, clearly looking for something. It didn't take long for Link to get what she was seeking.

"We should jump up there... but from where? Eehee!" the imp nodded towards the water wheel, then sliding back into the wolf's shadow.
Just as Link was about to leave the yard, Talo's and Malo's puppy, Rem, came up to her. Before Link could say anything, he started talking.

"Nighttime walks are so nice, aren't they?! I hope I find something good buried today! I love digging holes and looking for treasure! Do you like digging, too?" and without waiting for Link's answer, he continued;

"You should try it sometimes! The ground smell a bit odd when you're close to a good digging place, if you find anything cool, come and show me too! I bet you'll dig up something extra super cool with those giant paws of yours!" Link nodded and smile-grinned, getting Rem swing his tail, excited. She then turned away and ran off.

As soon as she crossed the bridge, a light of a torch revealed her from shadows, and a voice with horrified tone yelled;

"Mon-MONSTER!"

Link viewed up, just to see Hanch shaking in fear, still up on the pillar.

"You've returned for more, haven't you?! My... My daughter... Return her! And take this!" he pulled out a leaf of hawk grass, and blew. Link snarled, gritting her teeth as the familiar hawk landed on his arm. As he sent the bird towards her, she dashed off and behind the shop. There she met Sera's cat.

"Oh nice weather isn't it?" she said without even looking at Link.

"My name is Umi, nice to meet you...?" the cat tilted her head.

"Link" she was actually surprised of the fact that she could also talk to animals, not just understand them. Though the words came out as a mess of growls and barks, she knew what she had said.

"Link... What a funny coincidence that I know an Ordonian girl who has the same name... She once caught me two fish from the flow over there..."

Link chuckled in her mind, and almost opened her mouth to say the truth, but something forced her to close it right away. It isn't the right time yet, she thought.

"Were you attacked by that hawk? You're no match for him... I'm sorry! That person calling the hawk is my master's husband... You could sneak up from behind and scare him!" as said, Umi positioned herself comfortably on the ground and laid down.

Diagonally behind Umi was a flat rock, the same rock Link used to sit on and think when she was a child. She smiled at the memories of the old good times, when the world was in peace. Midna once again popped out of Link's shadow without her even realizing it, and glanced at her with hopelessly.

"Wake up, doggie! We have no time for thinking!" she yelled in the wolf's ear, getting Link to jump sideways and almost fall down. She glared Midna and snarled.

"I told you about using 'doggie' you little-"

"I'm not an animal! I can't understand your mindless barking!"

Link shifted backwards, ears flattened against her thick mane. Midna hadn't yelled at her like that before.

"I told you to do as I say, remember? This is not a very good time to start protesting!"

Link quickly nodded regretful, and Midna chuckled.

"C'mon, let's get up on the roof from here and scare that guy. Look at him... posing like he's all important... Wait until he sees us! Eeeheehee!" and with that, the imp floated through the air and stopped above the lower part of the shop's roof. Her orange hair-hand appeared above her head, waiting for Link to jump.

Link still didn't like the way Midna spoke of the villagers.

She leapt on the upper roof with Midna's help, and from there onto the pillar where grew hawk grass. As she leapt for the pillar Hanch was standing on, she growled a warning. With a gasp the man turned around, just to turn back and jump down into the water below as he saw Link. The hawk flew a round, coming up to Link.

"I'm sorry for attacking you, my friend... But I think you understand... It's in my genes to obey anyone who blows a reed." the hawk apologized, flapping his wide wings to stay still.

Link nodded and smiled.

"If you ever need something, just howl with the melody of the grass, and I'll fly to you. The name's Fyol, and yours is Link, I assume..?"

Link almost gasped, how could he recognize her? Link could see Fyol's bright yellow eyes smile as he explained.

"I know a lot of things, Link, you should know that. Not many things can avoid the eye of a hawk."

Link looked puzzled, but curious at the same time as the hawk rose up towards the sky and then glided away. There could be many interesting and useful things the hawk knew. And Link was sure that after some time, he would also share them with her. Maybe.

Midna again departed from her shadow, floating towards the water wheel. Without hesitation, the wolf jumped over the flow and after an another jump she found herself standing on the roof of Jaggle & Pergie's house.

"You've wasted too much time already! C'mon and hurry up, through the open window!"

As I wouldn't know it, idiot.

The wolf rolled her sky-blue eyes and took a quick look around, then jumping down in the house. She landed on the big, wooden bunk bed's upper level, where was nothing more but a blue blanket and a couple of dolls which had lied up there since Beth left them there almost a half a year ago.

Link leapt down and right away climbed on the table in the middle of the one-roomed house. She knew exactly where the shield was; hanging on the wall in the loft, just as Rusl had told Bo moments earlier.

"Eeehee! Found it, we found it!" Midna rejoiced, and helped Link to get in the loft. She picked up speed before jumping and gently taking the shield between her sharp fangs. When landed from the jump, she dropped the shield and took a closer look. It was beautifully designed, wooden shield with thicker edges and a shape between rounded and triangular. On the front side was painted a head of an ordon goat with black paint, pictured from the front. Link was almost ashamed to steal it like this. She attached it on her back and turned around to leave the house, as Midna once again popped out, complaining about how the shield looked 'kind of cheap'. Link rolled her eyes. Ignoring the eye-rolling, Midna urged to keep ut the fast pace and get the sword. The wolf noticed an another open window on one of the loft's walls, deciding to exit that way.

Now she needed to find a sword somewhere.

A.N.: Gotta say I liked to write this chapter a lot, though I'm kinda sorry for only getting to get the shield in this chap... But well, there's kinda lot and also not so much happening there. Some of you may recognize the white wolf (imagine Midna's laughter here)
The next update probably after two weeks, I'm not quite sure if I have time to write anything next week sooo... See ya then!