The Hyrulian Valhalla Saga
By Queenie Z

Please Conserve Farore's Majestic Wildlife

Twilight's grin widened as he watched his new long-eared friend inspect the lettuce leaf he'd offered it. Curiously, the grass rabbit sniffed at the leaf, causing Twilight to stifle back a chuckle at the cute way its nose twitched. Once the creature had determined it to be safe to eat, it began to nibble on the leaf, enjoying itself as it chewed happily.

At this,Twilight could no longer hold back his laughter, and he giggled like a small child. "Aww, look at him," he cooed, reaching over to gently scratch behind the rabbit's ears. "I knew rabbits were cute, but I had no idea they were this cute!"

"Me either!" laughed Time as he continued to pet the rabbit that had made itself at home in his lap. "They're a lot fluffier than I thought they'd be... and they're friendly, too!"

"Aren't they?" Engie said with a bright smile as he adjusted his hold the rabbits he held in each arm. "I wasn't particularly fond of them at first, but the little guys managed to grow on me during mine and Zelda's journey. guess that's why they showed up here with me!" Suddenly, the rabbit in his right arm squirmed, and it leaped out of its grip to go run around some more. "Whoa!"

With another laugh, Twilight watched as the rabbit joined its kin to frolic about in the grass. "I can see why you like them so much!" Feeling another one brush up against his leg, he reached down and picked it up, holding it out in front of him as he began speaking in a babyish tone. "Just lookit those big ol' ears and that fluffy tail and that cute widdle nose... how could anyone ever hate them?"

Engie snickered. "Looks like someone's enjoying himself!"

"That's Twilight for you," said Time, nudging Engie playfully with his elbow, "always the animal nut."

"I'm just surprised that neither of you have seen an actual rabbit until now," continued Engie as he cradled his remaining rabbit in both arms. "Did they not have them in the old kingdom or something?"

Time shook his head. "Nuh-uh," he said, "at least, not while we were around. They'd already been hunted to extinction by that time, though I guess they were still around on the new continent."

Upon hearing the words "hunted to extinction", Twilight immediately fell silent, his face falling into a horrified expression. "...Extinction?" he turned to Time in a slight panic, "They were all killed!? That's why we never saw any in our time!?"

Surprised at his reaction, Time and Engie glanced at each other in confusion. By the time they opened their mouths to respond, however, Twilight had already lowered the rabbit he was holding, scowling dejectedly towards the ground.

"How horrible," he said somberly, "what kind of monsters would do such a thing!? It's too cruel... it's..."

The other Heroes recoiled in surprise as Twilight began to sniffle slightly. "...Twilight," said Time, "are you... crying?"

"No I ain't cryin'!" spat Twilight as he shot his elder a glare, though there was clearly a slight tearful shimmer in his eyes. "I-I just... I just think it's awful, the way we treat Farore's creations sometimes..."

"Y-Yeah," said Engie, clearly uncomfortable with seeing the proud Hero of Twilight in such a state, "it is pretty sad, isn't it?"

His face softening into a more tender expression, he took the rabbit in his arms and held it close. "It's all right," he assured it sweetly, "nobody's gonna hurt you here... not if I have anything to say about it."

Time simply sighed to himself, his lips curled into a slightly amused half smile. "Like I said," he said, "that's Twilight for you." He returned his attention to his rabbit, which closed its eyes contentedly at his touch.