EDIT: I was alerted (by a reader that goes by AMaeJay - thank you so much for letting me know!) that this chapter was in shambles, and that the html coding had messed up when saving and saved it all as text (it sometimes happens when you edit it to add line breaks) - this has now been fixed :) Sorry for the wait, and thanks for being patient!
A/N: Hey again! I'm still on schedule! Yay! Although I did start this one a little late - it's just turned 10pm. I apologise for the fact that I still haven't rewritten those last two 'UNEDITED' chapters - I've been a little busy this past week with practicing for my school drama assessment. I also apologise in advance if this chapter is a tad messy/boring/has any spelling or grammar errors - I haven't proofread it this time. If you see any, please feel free to point them out. Anyway, I hope you like, because I just spent the last two hours of my life slaving over my laptop to get this one to you. Enjoy!
Link sat near the fire, nestled against Epona. He glanced through the flames at the small girl huddled across the clearing, sleeping fitfully. He didn't know whether to wake her or leave her sleeping – her expression was not one of peace but at the same time, she had looked like she needed as much sleep as she could get. He knew from personal experience, being unconscious did not equate to proper rest and really tired ones-self out.
Deciding to let her be, he tugged his blanket closer with a sigh. Who even was she? He remembered back to the previous night, when he had found her.
Link trotted through the rain at a leisurely pace, pausing to stretch and yawn, licking his muzzle. The weight of the imp on his back no longer bothered him, as after many months spent with her, he was used to it. At first he had hated the imp, the way that she had controlled him and bossed him around, but over time, he had grown quite attached to her, and he was sure that she felt the same connection as he, not that she would ever admit it.
The night was cool and the moon high in the sky, sending a rush of energy through his lupine body; fur tingling and prickling with adrenaline as he burst into a run across the field. His tongue lolled to the side as his feet pounded against the earth; he felt as light as a bird now that he had the master sword by his side, and could transform freely. He was enjoying his run so immensely that he almost didn't notice the smell of blood on the air. Almost. Link skidded to a halt, head raised to get a whiff of the scent once more.
"What is it?" His companion questioned, "You better have a good reason for stopping, I'm not enjoying getting soaked nearly as much as you seem to be." 'Blood,' he thought loudly, passing the message telepathically, 'I can smell blood, and I don't like it. I'm going to check it out, It's not too far out of our way,' he whined worriedly. The imp sighed, "I guess I can't really stop you. Just don't take too long, wolf boy!"
Link took another minute to sniff around, before taking off in the direction of the smell. It wasn't long before the sounds of yelps and growls entered his furred ears. He growled as he crossed The Great Bridge of Hylia at the ghostly howls that rose in the air – the vicious pack song of stalhounds that had cornered their prey. He would know it anywhere.
The scent of blood was much thicker now, it smelled vaguely human… but at the same time it smelled different. Part human, and part something else that he did not know. The rain was coming down much harder now, making it difficult to distinguish scents. Creeping forward, he watched as the pack skeletal wolfos circled a pale something on the ground, there must have been at least eight or nine of them.
He could handle nine stalhounds. It wouldn't be too much trouble for him by this point. He crouched down, waiting for the perfect moment. He watched as two from near the centre of the circle re-joined the outer ring, only to be replaced by the largest stalhound, most likely the alpha of the pack. He heard a small scream of pain from the pale being in the middle of the circle and took it as his cue to step in. With a battle-howl, he darted forward, smashing through two of the hounds in the process, shattering them to pieces. Snarling, he turned to face the leader. The other wolves yelped and shrieked, leaping into the fray as he darted towards the alpha and sunk his teeth into its ribcage, kicking at it furiously. He grappled with it for a moment, using his weight to roll over on top of it and crunch down on its skull. He took a moment to watch the light fade from its eyes, before he turned to the others and growled a warning. With whimpers, they skittered off into the distance.
He trotted over to the small figure huddled in on itself, a small girl with white hair and pale skin, dressed in foreign clothing. He nudged her gently with his muzzle, but she seemed to be unconscious and did not respond. He breathed in her scent, beneath the blood she smelled like something sweet and flower like, kind of like moon lilies or gardenias. He wasn't good with flowers, but recognised some of the scents from the ones his foster mother grew in her garden at Ordon. The girl looked no older than fifteen summers, and even then she was very small - and currently covered in blood and scratches.
Link stepped back, mentally calling to Midna, the imp, to turn him back into his Hylian form. She changed him back without complaint, and he winced as his bones cracked back into place. Walking over to pluck a string of horse grass from a nearby patch, he blew into it, forming the notes of the song his beloved mare always responded to. Hearing the tell tale sound of hooves hitting earth, Link rushed back to the girl, looking her over. He turned as his horse, Epona, nudged his back, petting her lightly on the nose as he opened her saddlebags and pulled out his last roll of bandages. Damn, he was down to only one? He brushed the thought aside as he crouched by the figure on the ground, assessing her ankle - which seemed to be the worst of her injuries. There were deep gashes in the flesh of her ankle where teeth had crunched down, and it was bleeding a lot, as well as bruising (already? That couldn't be good). Link bandaged her ankle as best as he could, but the job was still rudimentary and would have to be done better later.
He scooped the girl up in his arms carefully as not to disturb her, sitting her on Epona before climbing onto her back himself. He looped his arms under hers so he could support her as well as steering his mare. Not that Epona really needed much guidance – she usually knew exactly where he wanted to go. Link clicked his tongue, pushing her into a gallop, back over the bridge, and through the grotto.
The sun was had long since risen (as night had actually been very early morning, before the sun had risen), and was beginning it's journey back down to the horizon by the time Link decided to stop for the day. He guided Epona into a small forested area near the trail to Kakariko gorge, dismounting in a clearing that he had used many a time to set up camp and took the girl from Epona's back, settling her on the grass against a log. Instructing Midna to stay in the girl's shadow to watch over her while he was gone (which she begrudgingly complied to, grumbling all the while about something to do with not being a babysitter), he took his mare to collect firewood, knowing that could carry much more fuel should he take her with him. The trip had been slow, as he had not wanted to jostle the injured female too much, and he was afraid that if they travelled for too long, her injuries would get worse. They could afford to set up camp for one night and then travel to Kakariko the next day to drop the girl off to Renado who could hopefully treat her properly. Link knew that Renado would do his best to care for the girl, he had certainly helped Link in many-a-fix.
After he had gathered a sufficient amount of firewood, he returned to the clearing with Epona, just in time to see the girl he had rescued awaken.
Link sighed, glancing down at his shadow. "I know you wanted to go to the desert as soon as we could, and I'm sorry for making you wait, but you know…" he murmured.
"You couldn't leave her there, I know," came a quiet feminine voice from his shadow, "You always help others. Me, the people of Hyrule, that girl… You go out of your way to look out for everyone. Why do you have to be so selfless, you idiot wolf?"
Link grinned, "It's who I am. I can't help it. And I haven't really done all that much…"
Midna sighed, "Don't kid yourself, wolf boy. Plus, maybe it's a good thing that you have more time to rest up so you don't go drown in quicksand or something equally as stupid, it seems to be becoming your kind of thing," She smirked. "Aww, does little Midna care about me? I'm flattered!" Link smiled slyly, feeling the embarrassment and anger radiate through his shadow from the imp that currently rested there. "Shut it, stupid wolf. You're an idiot if you think that," She snorted, but he knew she was just trying to cover for herself. With that, she went quiet, refusing to talk to him any longer. He chuckled softly to himself, leaning back against Epona's warm side with a sigh. He couldn't sleep while he had to keep watch, but just sitting there by the fire was enough.
The next morning, Link did not comment as he saw Aries furiously wipe tears from her eyes, knowing better than to say anything on the subject. From the way she was acting, it did not look like something that she wanted to discuss. Link walked over to the fire, stamping it out. He greeted Aries cheerily, apologising for the lack of morning meal, and proceeded to pack the blankets back into Epona's saddlebags. He shook out his hair, tying it back into a loose ponytail before pulling on his hat. Link strode over to Aries, offering her a hand which she begrudgingly took – as there was no other way she could have stood up with her injured ankle – plus, he had helped her so much, she wasn't about to show rudeness. Using him as a human crutch, she hobbled over to Epona, and with Link's help, Aries mounted the mare. Link gave the clearing another once over, and once he was sure that nothing had been left behind, he climbed onto Epona with ease, patting her rump with a grin. "Now that you're actually awake, we can travel faster – I don't have to worry about you falling off as much. We'll be at Kakariko in no time," Link smiled, kicking his mare into a trot, and the four started down the trail connecting the Faron Hyrule Field to Lower Eldin Hyrule Field.
A/N: Hope you liked it! As usual, if you have the time, please drop a review telling me what you liked or didn't like about this chapter - or the whole story so far - I love hearing from you guys and every little bit of feedback helps! See you next Thursday!