Chapter 2- The Journey
He had been walking for several hours. He also knew that he had been leaving a trial of blood for some time, but he couldn't do anything about that. Not yet, at least.
As he walked among the trees, memories continued to come to him. At this time, he supposed he had remembered about half of what he should have known. It was frustrating.
Soon, he had other problems to worry about. Food. He needed to eat something. But what? And could he even keep anything down in his state?
Link bent down and picked up a rock that lay at his feet. He hefted it in his paw, testing its weight. ...I think this will work. He looked around him for something to throw the rock at. It didn't take long.
A ground squirrel lay at his feet, its eyes glazed over by death. He stood over it, complicating how he should eat the meat. ...Should I even eat right now? His hunger got the best of him.
He ate his catch raw, standing there in the trees. Afterwards, he moved the leaves around to hide the blood and began walking again.
A short time later, he had a new problem. He felt ill. For a few seconds, he wondered if it was that he had eaten raw meat. Then he wondered if it was his wounds. Then he wondered if it was something else.
Unbeknownst to him, at this exact moment, a Wolf was following his trial of blood. A few minutes later, the Wolf smelled something else. "...What..." Then his eyes widened. "...The Sickness..." He then heard what sounded like a beast roaring from pain. Whimpering himself, the Wolf ran in the direction of the roar.
Someone was supporting him. He knew that much. He caught a glimpse of amber eyes. Ones that showed concern for him. "You're going to be okay, kid, just let me help you." All he could do was nod before he was sick again.
Much later, he noticed that he felt better. He wasn't sick anymore. Or, if he was, it was almost gone. He was lying against a tree, staring up into its branches. He cautiously sat up, only to realize that he wasn't wearing anything. At all. ...Thank the Goddesses that I have fur...His gaze moved from the tree beneath him to across the clearing, where a Wolf was making a fire. "...Who are you?" The Wolf looked over in his direction, put down a stick, got up, and ran over to him. The Wolf then bent down and just looked at him. "You put me through a lot of trouble, kid." All Link could do was nod. The Wolf sighed and looked away from him. "What do they call you?" The Wolf looked back at him. "They call me Wilhurt. Don't worry about a thing. I had the same thing you had. But that was a long time ago." Wilhurt stood up and walked back over to the fire and began tending to it. "You've been dead for a long time, kid. A long time." "I have a name." Wilhurt put down his stick and turned to the Lion with a grin on his face. "Do you now? Well, tell me." "...It's Link." Wilhurt nodded. "...Link...yeah, I figured as much. Do you know that Laval died too?" Link nodded. "Yes. But when I woke up, he wasn't there." Wilhurt thought about this. "...I see...well, Worriz said that he had found him...course, he's worse off than you, kid can't even remember what happened. Let alone who Worriz is-you know right?" "Yeah." Wilhurt nodded again. "How much do you remember?" "...More than Laval does." At this, Wilhurt's gaze softened. "...You've been through a lot, huh?" "You could say that."
A few hours later, Wilhurt deemed that Link was well enough to travel. The Wolf had found spare clothing for him, and the Lion had accepted the wares gratefully. "Those are rare. Old, too. They were your dad's when he was younger." At this, Link turned to face the black wolf. "...Is he alright?" Thankfully, Wilhurt seemed to understand what he was asking. "...He doesn't know that the two of you are alive. Truth is, I was sent out by him to check on you, to make sure that you were safe." The Wolf was grinning now. " And low and behold, one of you is standing before me, alive." Wilhurt grew serious again. "As for your brother...I heard that Worriz had found him and took him to our camp, which is in the Outlands. Don't tell anyone where it is, okay?" Link nodded. "You can trust me." "Good."
They set off the next morning. Wilhurt led Link through the forest, always on the look out for other Chimaeans. Sure enough, they found some.
"Worriz!" A gray Wolf with amber eyes turned at the sound of Wilhurt's bark. When he saw his friend, his eyes lit up. "Wilhurt!" Then Worriz noticed Link. "...Is that..." He actually took a step backwards. Then he walked up to Link. "...Link?" He nodded. "...How did you..." Link shook his head. "Tell the truth, I wish I knew." When he looked back up, the Wolf was smiling at him. "Well, at least one of you is sane." "...What do you mean?" Both Wilhurt and Worriz looked uneasy. "...Well...you obviously remember me. He doesn't. Plus, he's more wounded than you." Link unconsciously reached up and ran his paw down his scar. "Yes. I noticed that. You're lucky you didn't lose an eye." Link nodded. "Where is he?" Worriz took a deep breath. "I left him with some others. Come on, I'll take him to you." And with this, the former leader of the Wolf Tribe took Link further into the forest.