Chapter 5

Hang on Hero

~Link~

After the door shut, the boss started walking, Akio and Ira following behind, Akio still carrying Link on his shoulder. They climbed up the mountain and then climbed down the other side. Once through all the ice and snow. They entered Zora's domain. They followed the river. They spotted Iza's boat ride house and walked over. The door was locked so Ira kicked the door down. They went inside and sat in the boat. Ira paddled, while Akio still held onto Link. The boss was sitting at the bow. The boat ride was rough, they hit a lot of edges and debris, they nearly capsized. They made it to the end though, somehow. He paddled over to more land so they wouldn't have to swim. They got off the boat and got to dry land.

"That was very rough, Ira! You could have killed us." Ira bowed his head as if to say sorry. "It's alright. It won't matter, we're here and alive. Now we need to find a good place to hide."

"Sure, when he is silent, he gets an apology. When I'm silent, I get beat up." Link thought.

"Kid, you know this place pretty well, right? Where can we hide?" Link looked around. He pointed in the direction of a cave he knew. He didn't want to follow the guy's orders, but he doesn't want to be hurt either. "Still being silent huh?" Link put a hand to his throat. "Whatever, be with the silent twins if you must. Lead us." Link nodded. He led them across the bridge and over to a ladder. The boss climbed up first, then Link, then Akio, and finally Ira. The boss spotted the cave. They walked in. Akio held onto the back of Link's shirt as they walked. There were still torches lit. They got as far as they could go. "This seems perfect. Tie him up and put him in one of the alcoves nearby. He may be too weak to go anywhere, but I don't want to take any chances. Akio held Link's wrists while Ira tied them. Both of them left the cove and went to another. They stopped and made Link sit down. They both knelt down in front of him.

"We're sorry we had to take you from your family." They both said. Link was surprised they even spoke. "The boss is an evil dictator over us. Our cousin is in danger of losing her life if we don't follow his orders. We promise to help you get back home." They brushed the bangs out of Link's face and left. Link lightly smiled and fell asleep.

~Raven~

Raven left Zora's domain. As he passed the cart, he felt a sharp pain go up his spine. Then it spread all throughout. He fell down to his hands and knees. He felt weird.

"Wh-what's happening to me?" Raven could barely speak. He fell down and scrunched up into a ball. He tried to hold back his screams of pain. He was sweating badly. Navi flew up

"Raven, what's wrong?" He didn't answer, if he opened his mouth, a scream was sure to escape passed his throat. The pain got worse and worse. He could have sworn he heard bones breaking. Soon the pain was too unbearable and he couldn't hold back the pain filled screams. Then the pain calmed down, he was panting heavily. It didn't sound like his normal panting though. "Raven, what happened to you?" He got up and shook his head. Everything lacked color.

"What?!" He looked down at his hands and saw they were paws with gold fur. "I'm a wolf again?! What happened? I thought…"

"Hello, Mr. Hero!" A familiar voice rang through the sky. Raven looked up and saw Farore.

"Farore, what happened?" Raven asked.

"Oh, probably should have warned you. We turned you back. It'll be impossible for you to find Link if you don't know where to look. With your keen sense of smell, you can follow the Hero of Light's scent." Farore explained.

"What about turning back? I can't very well carry Link on my back."

"Calm yourself wolfy. You can turn back at any time. It's kind of like how your Shade form was."

"Ok. Thank you for your help. And please a little warning next time. That pain was brutal." Raven said.

"Beggars can't be choosers, you know? I'll be off." She flew away. Raven turned back to human.

"Ah, jeez, I haven't felt pain like that in years." He raised his arms over his head and stretched out.

"Are you going to be ok?" Navi said.

"I'll be fine. Now, I can track Link's scent. Better stay close Navi." Raven grabbed Link's hat and set it down on the ground. He transformed back into a wolf, luckily there was no pain in that transformation. He smelled Link's hat and got familiar with the scent. He picked it up in his mouth and set it back in the wagon. He sniffed the air and started to follow the scent. He started running back to Zora's domain. That's where the scent was leading him. Once inside, he looked over the domain and could smell the trail going down. He jumped from the top and landed in the water below. Navi held on tight to his fur. Raven was swimming to the edge.

"Link, that was really reckless!" Navi yelled.

"I doubt you can understand me, Navi, but if you can, let me tell you something. I am always reckless, that much never changed. The only thing that has is that my name is Raven!" Raven mentally yelled. Navi seemed to understand him.

"Jeez, calm down."

"Then don't call me Link."

"Fine then, don't call me Navi. Now, I'm Mouse."

"Ha, ha, very funny."

"Hehe, I missed you."

"I missed you too, Navi." Raven climbed up onto solid ground and shook his fur of as much water as possible, almost making Navi fly off. He started running again, following the scent. It was going down a path and led to a small house looking building. He transformed back to human and walked up to it. There was a woman inside, she was sitting on the steps and looked angered.

"Miss, is something the matter?" She looked up.

"Yes, while I was talking with my sister, my place was broken into and my boat was stolen. The nerve of some people… My employee is looking for it. No customers today, sir." She sounded bitter.

"Do you think I could pay to swim down the river?" She looked at him weird.

"You wanna swim down the river? Are you crazy?"

"Yes, in many ways. Listen, there's someone I need to find and I'm pretty sure I can find him at the river's end."

"You've got guts sir. This person must be important to you." Iza stood up.

"Very."

"Alright. It's ten rupees to pass."

"Ok." Raven grabbed his wallet and pulled out a small yellow rupee. He found it in the snow on his way back.

"Thank you. Have a fun swim." Raven nodded. Iza opened the door to the river. Raven jumped in and started swimming. The current mainly carried him down the river. He would get pulled under from time to time. Navi lost her grip on Raven's hair and was pulled away.

"N-Navi!" He desperately swam to her and grabbed onto her. He held her tight in his hands as he kept bobbing in and out of the water. It got to the end with the steep slope of water. He was stuck under water. He quickly swam to the surface and to solid ground. He was breathing heavily. It had approached the time of Twilight by now. The sky was a deep orangish red. He smiled, it reminded him of Link. He opened his hand. "Navi, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Is all the swimming over now?"

"I'm not sure, but I think the worst of it is. Take it easy, don't force yourself to fly. Let your wings dry off a bit."

"Ok." He placed her on his head where she held on. He transformed into a wolf again to track Link's scent. He wasn't sure how much longer he had to go, but he hoped he was close. He was soon back on track.

~Link~

Link opened his eyes to the dim light from the torch across from him. He felt a bit better after getting some rest. He could still feel the sickness within him though. There were footsteps approaching suddenly. He looked up. It was their boss.

"Kid, you ready to talk now?" The boss asked. Link shook his head. He couldn't speak still despite the rest. "I see." He turned to Akio. "Teach him a lesson." Akio nodded and walked over to Link. He pulled out a knife and stabbed it into Link's lower leg. He cringed as it moved back and forth, just as last time when Ryo stabbed his arm. He started to cry. He couldn't hold back tears any more, he didn't have the strength. Akio looked disheartened to have to hurt such an innocent child. He pulled the knife out quickly. "What about n-" There were feint footsteps approaching that cut him off. "Grab him quickly. No time to lose." The boss whispered. Akio lifted Link up and got him on his shoulder. "Let's go, I know a short cut out of here. Ira will deal with the man." Akio looked a little worried,

"If it was the same man who was searching for the kid, he must have killed Ryo. Ira wouldn't stand a chance. I'm so sorry little brother. I'll protect our cousin for both of us." Akio thought. He and the boss started moving out of there and toward the short cut where Ira was waiting in silence.

"Ira, that man is most likely here. Stall him." Ira nodded. Akio put a hand on Ira's shoulder and he smiled. Nobody probably would have believed they were only in their early 20's. Akio and the boss went for the exit with Link and left Ira behind. Ira was ready. It wasn't long until Raven came through the darkness.

"So, I take it you're stalling me like that one man before." Ira nodded.

"Before we fight, I just want to say, please forgive us for harming the one you loved. We wanted to protect our cousin. She's only a little girl. The boss will kill her if we don't follow orders. So that's the reason why I stand here to fight." Ira said. Raven's eyes widened a little bit.

"I can't kill him. He's just an innocent man wanting to protect the ones he loves. I understand. I won't fight you then. If you tell me where your boss is headed with Link, I'll say I killed you. From one man to another. A promise." Ira couldn't believe his ears.

"You'd really do that for me?"

"I know it wasn't on purpose."

"Thank you, you're very kind. They went over there." He pointed to a beam of light. "They shouldn't be too far. My older brother, Akio, is carrying Link. The boss will be right beside him. They won't get far, there's no way out of Lake Hylia except by cannon."

"Thank you for the information. I'll be sure to tell your brother." Ira smiled. Raven didn't want to kill anyone, but he knew he would if he had to. He especially didn't want to kill a young man who was scarcely older than his own grandson. Raven walked over to the beam of light and made it out. Once out, he looked around and spotted the two. He transformed into a wolf and took off after them with insane speed.

There's the end of the chapter. Raven is finally going after the boss, hopefully he will finally be able to get Link back.

See ya,

Hero of Twili :D