Wild sometimes wonders what his life could have been if he had not been the Hero. If the Sword had chosen someone else instead of little Link, who wasn't strong or big enough to hold the sword correctly in those first few years. Would he have lived a normal childhood? Would he have become a knight through normal means once he was old enough to officially start training? Would he live through the Calamity?
Would the Other Hero not fail, as he did?
He knew it was pointless to think of this, to think of his failures as a Hero. Pointless to think of the what-ifs of a time long passed. A hundred years had passed while he slept and recovered in the Shrine, while Hyrule suffered yet slowly recovered, even with the Malice in the air.
While his brain continued to run circles through the usual cycle of Disappointment-Anger-Guilt, a new thought reared its head.
What if he had never continued? If he woke up from that Shrine, practically a newborn, and never learned of his Hero status? If he took to living in the woods like a feral cryptic, never seeing another hylian for as long as he lived? Logically, and though he doesn't enjoy thinking about it, he knows that Zelda would have not held much longer in keeping the Calamity trapped and at bay in the castle; yet, he can't help but wonder what his life would have looked like living feral at top of the plateau.
Looking at the semi-feral boy being comforted by Time, he thinks he has an idea of what it would have looked like. Granted, the kid still seems to know how to converse and act human, so he probably didn't grow up with just the wolves he calls family. With the city nearby, he had probably run into other hylians and humans, and learned from them as he grew, while Wild would have only had the animals and monsters to keep him company (it brings a sudden mental image of Wild being raised as a bokoblin and he has to viciously stamp it out so he doesn't start audibly laughing).
Still, though the kid looks and somewhat acts like a person, there's also part of him that is undeniably animal in nature. His hair, long, wild, and untamed looked haphazardly brushed as if only to make sure it wouldn't mat, his body littered with scratches and scars both new and old, dirt caked on his boots and staining his clothes. The sharpness to his eyes even when relaxed, his slightly hunched stance, how his shoulders and body screamed uncomfortable, confused, lonely, where's pack? Not forgetting the way he quietly fought Twilight with body language and minimal words when he thought his pack would be in danger from Twilight's.
Speaking of body language, Time had shifted to rubbing up and down the kid's back and Razor looked so visibly confused at the action Wild had to hold back a snort.
"I think the kid's fine already, Old Man," he said, and he actually snorted when Time blinked and tilted his head to look back at the kid, who was in his blind spot, as if he hadn't noticed he was still doing it.
While he pulled his hand away, Four (he was so glad he woke up, he was starting to get worried) spoke up, "So, Warriors already filled me in on what we know, which isn't much. Do you think he knows?" he asked, nodding at Razor who blinked at being addressed again.
"Know?" he tilted his head in question.
"Ah, right," Time piped up, turning again to face Razor straight-on, "Do you know where we are? We're travelers, and I'm afraid we've gotten lost." Well, that wasn't a complete lie, they were travelers and they had gotten lost. Just. On a whole different era, 's all.
Razor paused before squinting in — what Wild could guess was — thought. Wild thought he looked frustrated, and he was proven right when he grunted and shook his head. "Sorry… Not, ah… not good with… names…"
"It's alright," Wild soothed; he knew what it was like to struggle to find the words to communicate with others after his awakening.
"Do you think you could guide us to the city?" Sky asked. "We saw it on the way here but we're not sure how to get there."
Immediately Razor looked uncomfortable, shifting on his feet. "I am not city human," he started, his gaze sliding towards the rest of the forest, "And… I have to hunt… Have to help, or Lupical go hungry…"
"We can help!" Wind piped up, a grin on his face. "Some of us are excellent hunters."
"Not including Sky," Legend snarked, offended sputtering from Sky following suit.
Razor shook his head hurriedly, "No, when humans try to help, wolves go hungry… Explosion scared off prey, anyway. Have to go far to hunt."
Wild winced as Razor stared straight at him with no subtlety, and though his gaze didn't look judging he felt like melting onto the floor.
"You… need meat, right?" He asked, unclipping his slate from his hip and turning it to the food tab. At his questioning look, Wild continued, "It's the least I can do for scaring off your food."
"And like this, you can guide us to the city," Hyrule added, which he nodded his head to.
"That too."
Under the gazes of his brothers, Razor stared back in uncertainty. While Wild and the rest of the Chain could easily find the city themselves, he did feel bad for practically starving a family for the day. Even if the kid didn't guide them he'd still shove the meat into his arms, dammit. Wild was lean, but this kid was toeing the line between lean and underfed.
Finally, his shoulders dropped and he turned around, cupping his hands around his mouth. Wild was confused for all of a second before a piercing howl filled the small clearing they were in. It had the same pitch and cadence one would hear from an actual wolf, with the hint of it coming from something that did not have the vocal cords for it.
Where are you? Where are you?
"What the fuck," he heard Legend whisper when the howl faded and Razor lowered his hands to wait for a response; Twilight snorted.
"See? I told you all that Wild and I weren't the only hylians to howl," He laughed quietly.
"You literally turn into a wolf."
The conversation was cut off when a second howl filled the air from farther away, quite clearly from an actual wolf.
I'm here, I'm here. Come here.
Razor cups his hands again to respond.
Humans. Have food. Yes?
'Ah, he's asking first.' It makes sense. Bringing a group of nine hylians into a wolf pack unannounced would not have gone over well.
There's a momentary quiet before the wolf responds with an affirmative, and Razor hums in response. "Come, follow," and then he bolts into the forest, startling the group into following or being left behind.
As he runs after him, he hears Sky yelp "Wait up!", the pounding of boots and the clinks of armor behind him. Hylia, this kid is fast. Wild is the fastest among their group in a forest, and even he is having trouble keeping up with Razor as he weaves and hops over roots, his footsteps sure as he has lived in this forest all his life.
It doesn't take very long before Razor is suddenly skidding to a halt near a break in the trees and bushes, and Wild has to stop himself before he bowls him over. Turning around he sees Wind first, followed up by the rest of the Chain. Sky had taken to bending over with his hands on his knees and wheezing once he stopped, and even Time looked somewhat winded, expected due to the pounds of armor he wears on his body daily.
"Wait here," he hears Razor say, followed by the rustle of bushes.
"My lung is collapsing…" Sky wheezes as he stands straight once more.
"If it was, you wouldn't be standing," Legend snarks even as he pants.
Twilight was shifting and fidgeting, and Wild saw how he was trying to make himself seem smaller and less like a threat.
"Nervous?" he quipped and snorted when Twilight looked over at him dryly.
"Shut up," he said halfheartedly and with the bite of a teething puppy, "We're going to meet a wolf pack without it trying to kill us first, and I was already singled out as a possible threat to the pack by Razor; I am not about to put us at risk by looking like a challenger to the actual pack leader."
"See that you don't," Time sighed as he laid a hand over the rancher's shoulder.
"I won't. You should let me handle this one though, Time," Twilight stated, brushing a hand through his hair. "There's gonna be a lot of wolf language, and while Razor is a human, I don't think they'll take or even understand your mannerisms."
"I was already planning on leaving it to you, pup," he said, giving Twilight a little shake. "I was already pretty lost on the intricacies of what was happening between you and Razor, I won't do any better with actual wolves. I'm counting on you."
Oh, Hylia, Twilight looked at Time as if he hung the moon.
Before he could interject with a 'Hey, I also speak wolf, count on me too', Razor leaned over the bushes with a "Come now."
With final glances towards each other, everyone filed into the clearing one by one, with Twilight at the front and Wild behind him. The first thought he had when going into the clearing was 'Wow those wolves are big.' And they were; they easily reached Razor's hip at the shoulder. Taking a closer look he saw how they were almost the same gray as Razor's hair, with darker and lighter fur around the ears, undersides, and tails. The second thing he noticed was that they were a fairly large pack, sporting ten wolves including the smaller juveniles and not including Razor.
It occurred to him he hadn't seen a wolf pack without it trying to kill him.
Snapping back into the presence after examining the pack, he shifted his attention to Twilight, who was starting the conversation with a slump of his shoulders that he would back.
Hello.
Nice and simple. Greet the pack and distance yourself from appearing like an invader by being polite. Do… Do wolves know how to be polite? Either way, he followed it with his own greeting, silent and avoiding eye contact.
The largest wolf, a male with scars on his snout, stepped forward with a huff. What he would assume to be the lead wolf was watching them closely, his body talking for him.
Hello, humans, not welcome, dangerous, confused, food?
At that, Wild was the one who shuffled forward to bring attention to himself. It was honestly just a little embarrassing to explain himself to a legitimate wolf — Twilight doesn't count, he's a hylian who lived on a ranch and turned into a wolf.
Guilt, embarrassment, noise, prey away, sorry sorry, my fault.
Oh Goddess he can feel his brothers staring holes into his back at the borderline complete silence of the conversation. Razor had taken to flopping on the ground near his pack, probably as a show of trust towards them, even if the leader barely glanced at him. Some of the wolves had taken to standing or lying near him; the ones with no care lying around him were the juveniles. He was so occupied examining Razor's dynamic with his family that he nearly missed Twilight's next 'line'.
Guilt, sorry sorry, have food, share food?
Wild took that as his cue to open his slate as the leader looked at him warily, and he pressed to make a chunk of raw meat appear in ribbons of blue light; belatedly, he remembered that this was something none of them had seen. The wolves and even Razor had leaned and reared back, shuffling away from the lights with their hackles raised. When the light show finished, Razor was the one that stepped, or more accurately crawled, forward to grab the meat. He gave it a cursory sniff before, under the watchful eye of the alpha, taking a bite out of it.
He could hear the dumbfounded looks going the poor kids' way. They reacted the same when he absentmindedly bit into his bloody raw fish before remembering he was supposed to cook it. Granted, some fish can be eaten raw, so he was perfectly in his rights to take a bite out of it while hunched over in the cave they were taking refuge in like a caveman.
Ah, memories of the time he ate a raw squirrel after watching another animal hunt come to mind. He spent that night in the worst pain he ever felt at that point. Note to self: hylians can't eat raw meat.
Razor apparently hadn't gotten the memo, or he gained a tolerance for it, because he chewed on the piece he had taken thoughtfully.
"Do you uh… Do you not cook it?" he heard Warriors ask, bewildered. Razor simply shrugged and swallowed.
"Sometimes." Turning to the leader he placed the meat on the grass in front of him, a silent good good in his body language, before turning back to Wild. "More meat? We get 5 or 6 boars every day."
"That's a lot of meat…" he started, looking down at the numbers in his slate. "We have enough for all of us today, hylian and wolf, but we'll have to ration the meat afterward until we can do our own hunting."
"That's fine," Time acquiesced.
So with that glowing acceptance, he shuffled closer to the pack and kneeled on the ground. He picked the meat icon, turned his slate upside down, and started smacking it. Unlike the light show of the first piece, these ones simply popped into existence and fell onto the grass. It took a couple of seconds, but soon enough there was a pile full of enough meat to feed the pack in front of them. That done, he stood back up and went over to the other side of the clearing, giving the pack enough space as he started to build a fire for them(him) to cook in, his brothers following him.
Once he got the fire going and he was pulling out his cooking equipment, he turned enough to call out, "Hey, Razor!"
Said teen turned towards him with a piece of meat halfway to his mouth.
"Do you want to join us? I can cook something for you too."
He perked up and put down the meat in the pile his pack was tearing into before standing up and walking towards the Chain. Weaving through his brothers, who had laid down and started taking off their heavier armor, he kneeled next to Wild curiously.
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
"You like meat, right?" It was a stupid question, he knew. He was raised by wolves and ate a chunk of raw meat, of course, he would enjoy it, and he proved him right by nodding eagerly. "Well, I was thinking of a meat and seafood fry," he continued, pulling out the necessary food and items for the dish before beginning to cook as his brothers conversed in the background; he noticed Time motioning Legend to follow as they slipped back into the trees.
He noticed that while he cooked Razor always looked enraptured by the process, letting out a little excited noise whenever he flipped the pan. At some point, he had pulled out a spatula and started coaching the younger teen on how to flip the meat, and he did so with determination and stubbornness.
His first few attempts at flipping were… not good. More than a few fell into the fire, and he looked absolutely devastated when it happened. But with Wild's encouragement and a few tries, he cheered up when the next few attempts didn't fall into the fire.
He resolved to take those pieces himself, even if a little burnt and strangely shaped from the failed flip.
He's eaten rocks, he can handle lightly burnt meat.
He'll never forget when Razor finally did a flip with no issues, though. He got so excited he knocked Wild's shoulder with his head in a nuzzle and he could feel his soul attempting to leave his body.
He now understands why Time looked like he wanted to wrap the kid in blankets and keep him.