Chapter 4

Link tightened his grip on Zelda's hand as the swirling magic tried to rip them apart. Through his helmet he struggled to see her but the orange and black that made up the portal blocked his vision. A pain attacked Link's feet, getting him to reach over his shoulder to try and grip his sword. His muscles spasmed, forcing out a cry of pain as Zelda's hand was torn out of his.

What felt like ice burning away at his flesh with frostbite froze his muscles and took away his breath. He couldn't tell the difference between the black magic of the portal or the black dots threatening to overtake his vision as more appeared to block out any orange light.

A part of his mind worried for Zelda and what the dark magic might be doing to her, but the majority of his mind was struggling just to survive. The swirling magic was all he could hear as all he wanted to do was cry out in pain. He believed his skin was no more, sure his appendages had been cut off, when total darkness over took his vision.

Ground appeared beneath what he assumed was still his feet as the magic left. His body crumpled in a heap to the ground, his breath coming in gasps as he found he could breathe again. The smell of charred remains entered his nose, but he couldn't force his muscles to move yet. His body felt like he had been in a fight for his life with sword and spear and had lost with only his life left.

"Zelda?" Link forced out, worry for the girl giving him the strength to move his beat up body. His voice sounded horse to his own ears, getting him to repeat the name. He pushed himself up to his knees and elbows, his breathing ragged as he struggled to get a lungful of air. He opened his eyes and looked down at the black dirt beneath his head as he felt like he couldn't raise his neck any higher.

"Link?" Zelda's voice asked with a cough.

Link turned his head at the sound of her, his head regretting the fast movement, as he called out, "Zelda?" He closed his eyes a moment, hoping the world would stop swaying. Opening his eyes again he took in the twilight sky over charred tree remains, the forest they were dropped off in looking to have just gone through a fire. His eyes couldn't find Zelda but panic coursed through his tired limbs at the sight of a cougar laying just to his left. Hoping to not make any sudden movements, Link quietly called out Zelda's name again, hoping to locate the girl before the mountain lion did.

Instead the large female cat turned her head, red eyes looking straight at Link. Its eyes grew wide as it opened its mouth. "Link?" the cougar asked in a familiar voice.

"Zelda?" Link asked, confused why Zelda's voice would be coming from the sand colored cat.

"This has got to be a strange dream," Zelda's voice said as the cougar laid her head between her front paws.

"You're the one that jumped through the portal," Link pointed out, accepting the large cat to be Zelda. He looked back at the ground and struggled to get himself to his hands and knees only to stare in horror at the hooves he saw instead of his hands. "Zelda?!" he called out in a panic. He froze feeling like he was on his hands and knees, his back side lower than it should be, staring at the two brown arms that led to hooves in front of him. "What do I look like to you?" Hearing no response he turned his head back to the lioness to see her staring at him.

Shaking her head she said almost quiet enough Link didn't hear, "This can't be a dream." She turned her head to look at him as she rose to her paws in a stiff movement. Walking over to stand in front of him, she sat with the royalty all cats possess and put a paw on Link's hoof. Looking up she said, "Link, calm down. You're a horse."

Link straightened out his legs and looked around. Finding a river a few steps away he walked over to it, finding four feet strange to control. Stopping on the river bank he looked down and grimaced at the black rainbow reflected off the surface. Looking passed the state the liquid was in, he focused on his reflection to see a brown work horse with a blonde mane. Turning to try and take his new body in on the liquid's surface, he swished his blonde tail only to take notice of something between his legs to cause him embarrassment.

"I wonder why we turned into these animals," Zelda asked as she stepped over to stand beside him. She looked down at her reflection and passed a paw over her ear.

Link flicked his tail over to try and cover himself, moving so only his front half was reflected in the river. "Well, cats are normally considered regal and leaders," Link said, turning his head to see if his tail was doing any good only to let out a sigh as the long hair flopped back to covering his butt. "I would've rathered any other animal; rabbit, frog, wolf," Link listed off as he turned back to look down at Zelda.

Zelda turned away from the liquid and wrapped her tail around her paws as she sat to look up at him. "I don't know. I always see horses as strong and courageous. You're defiantly that."

"I'm sure other animals cover that," Link mumbled, self-conscious of where her eyes fell as she looked him over. A purr coming from her caught him off guard, eyeing the cat's red eyes.

Zelda put a paw to her mouth, surprise on her face as she stared up at Link's eyes, a look he took as embarrassment on her features.

"Okay, I'm carrying you," Link determined, lowering himself down front half first. He looked her eye to eye, his muzzle almost touching her nose as the purr continued. The girl unmoving from her spot, just lowering her paw. Link added, "You don't have to keep me embarrassed as a way to try and keep me alive this time."

"You Hylians do get embarrassed about your body quiet easily," Zelda said with the purr in her voice as she rose to her feet. She strolled around Link's shoulder as he followed her movements until she was climbing onto his back.

"It's not even my body," Link pointed out, flinching as her claws dug into his hide as she found a way to balance bare back.

"Sorry," Zelda offered, her voice free of the purr as she removed her claws from his back and laid down. "And true, it's not your body. Sorry about letting my mind wonder. Blame Lady Impa and her persistence of my having an heir."

Link rose to his feet, careful to keep his back straight for her, and let out a whinny of a laugh. "She really is a double edged sword. Won't let us spend time together alone but she's even run me down about wanting you to have a child." He turned his head to try and look at her, only able to see her tail trailing his flank. "What do you want?"

"If we're gonna talk, you're gonna walk," Zelda said, her tail tip twitching.

Link turned his eyes to the sky, looking through the strange twilight world they stood in. "Which way than?" Link asked, looking for the dragon.

"It looks like a town or at least what might be left of one to the left," Zelda said, turning Link in that direction. "Maybe we should start there."

"Alright, to the left," Link said, turning to walk away from the river. After walking a moment in silence he said, "You didn't answer my question."

"I don't know," Zelda said. She let out an audible sigh and added, "You're a man, you've never had to think about the whole thing."

"Sure, but I still know the basics," Link offered, hoping Zelda trusted him enough to talk to him about things of this topic.

"You're getting your pay back from all the times I've embarrassed you, aren't you?" Zelda asked.

"Not intentionally," Link said, a smile pulling on his long face. A part of him was happy to finally have found something that embarrassed the girl.

A paw traced his shoulder blades as he walked before she admitted, "I just don't think I could be a good mother. The idea of a living being growing inside of me like a tiny parasite is creepy in itself. And I've had to help a midwife once, I don't think I could go through all of that." The paw stopped moving as she continued in a small voice, "Sorry. I know you want a child."

"Don't be sorry," Link chastised, ducking his head under a low lying branch in the way. "This is why I've wanted to talk about this," Link said, raising his head high as he continued towards what looked to be town ruins. "I've never thought of a woman being with child as the child as a parasite but I guess it is. And being a guy, I've never had to help a midwife so I only know about the process from what I heard when the twins were born. Grandfather had taken me outside, but I remember hearing Mother from the barn. But why don't you think you'd make a good mother?"

"Cause I've never had a good mother as a role model," Zelda admitted, her voice sounding like she was at the back of his neck. "I now know why they abandoned me, and sure Mom and me are trying to repair the damage but…" her voice fell away, leaving Link to walk in silence for a moment before she continued. "For so many years I hated them. From when I was eight to just recently both of my parents were dead to me. I've seen how you and your mother are, how close you two are, and I just don't understand how anyone can be that close to a parent."

"I don't know if this will add more to your parent problems, but Mother's already told me she wants you to call her that. Same with Father." Link almost missed a step, realizing how the words had come out. "I mean, Father-"

"I understand," Zelda said, cutting him off. "It'll be a while before I feel comfortable doing so, but your mother's already told me."

"For what it's worth, I think you'd make a great mother," Link offered. "But I want it to be on your terms."

"Thanks, Link," Zelda said. "Sometimes I do wish I had been born a boy."

"What, give up blood once a month and child bearing once a lifetime for it to always be noticeable when you're thinking certain things?" Link asked, wishing he could see her on his back as he turned his head to steal a glimpse of her sand fur.

"It's not always noticeable," Zelda said, confusion in her voice. A purr sounded from her as she added, "The idea's kinda cute though."

Link was certain if he could he would be blushing. Paying more attention to the path before him, he tried to push down the ideas trying to form. He noticed what looked to have been a type of stone under his hooves, getting him to look around at the remnants of a town that trees and vines had overtaken before the fire did. "Hey, I think we've found that town."

Zelda sat up, placing paws on Link's head to prop herself up and look as Link took them through the village remains. "You haven't noticed other animals or monsters since we got here, have you?" she asked.

"No," Link said, careful of his head to prevent her from falling off. "Not even a bug."

"It's like the whole world got burnt to a crisp," Zelda added.

"You sure you felt the dragon's master was here?" Link asked, wondering about this dead world.

"I was sure," Zelda said, her voice holding her uncertainty.

"Huh?" Link stopped, motion towards his right catching his attention. "Is someone there?" he called out.

"Did you see someone?" Zelda asked in a whisper, repositioning her paws between Link's ears.

Link looked over the ruins of buildings, all that remained of some being the foundation as a short wall here or there survived. "I thought I did," Link said, keeping his eyes unfocused to notice any movement in the decrepit village. A small blob, about the size of Link's hoof, caught his eye as two eyes peered around a ruin wall. "There," Link said in a whisper as he slightly nosed in the direction of the creature.

He felt Zelda turn in that direction only for the little creature to dive back into hiding.

"Hey! Wait up!" Zelda called out, jumping off Link's back. She padded up to where the creature had last been seen as she added, "We won't hurt you. We just want to know what happened."

Link carefully stepped behind Zelda, looking over the wall to see the pink blob pushing itself up against the wall it hid behind. Making out its chest rising and falling in panicked rapid movement, Link lowered his head and whispered, "Follow me."

Zelda turned to him, confusion evident on her face, with her mouth open to ask a question.

Raising his head back up he said in a normal voice, "Oh well, I guess it ran off. Let's go." He eyed Zelda and motioned with his head back to what at once time might have been the main road through the village.

Zelda pointed a paw towards the hidden creature just on the other side of the wall before looking up at the sky, her teeth barred. "Fine. I guess we'll never find any help here." She walked around Link, her tail showing her annoyance as it swiped the air.

Link threw one last look down at the creature's head, the pink blob still pressed against the wall, before following Zelda a few paces away. Silently he lowered his head to nose her back, getting her to stop and turn to look up at him. Nodding his head back to the spot, he turned and looked where he knew the creature was still hiding. "I'm getting tired. Maybe we'll hunker down here since it seems to be deserted," Link said, projecting his voice a bit to make sure the creature could hear.

Zelda let out a sigh as she sat down, wrapping her tail around her paws. She looked back at the wall the creature had hid behind, staring in wait.

Link lowered himself down, letting his hooves sit to the side of him as he leaned towards Zelda. He was sure if he had to stay like this for a while he neck was going to start hurting but he wanted to keep some of his dignity.

"So we're just gonna wait here on this one creature?" Zelda asked in a low voice.

"It's the only living thing we've come across," Link pointed out, keeping an eye forward towards the creature's hiding spot. "If you want to keep moving and hope we stumble across someone else who might know where the dragon and its master is, just let me know."

Zelda was silent a moment, tempting Link to look over at her, until she said, "Alright. For a little while we'll wait."

"What are you?" a small high pitched voice asked as something poked Link in the leg.

Ripping his head around, his eyes went wide as a smaller pink blob poked its little arm nublet at Link's knee. "Um, hi?" Link asked, wishing he could move away from this creature.

"Kili, come back here this instant!" an older woman's voice ordered.

Link turned his eyes towards the voice, seeing another pink blob daring to come closer.

"Mama! What are they?" Kili asked, looking up at Link.

"Ma'am, please," Zelda said, walking around Link's flank to stand a few steps from the child. "Can you tell us what's happened here?"

The mother turned to look at Zelda, surprise in her large eyes. She reached a nublet of a hand out and grabbed hold of Kili's before saying, "You two really are some strange creatures. Where have you been for the past four years?"

"Misha! Get back here!" an elderly voice ordered.

"Shut up," Misha yelled, turning her body to aim her words behind her. "If they were malicious, they would've already killed Auru."

Link stifled a laugh at the woman's brashness as she turned back to the two.

"Sorry, everyone got warry of strangers after this all started," Misha said, looking the two over.

Link pulled his leg over more, hoping to do his best to stay modest as he looked back at the conversation.

"Could you tell us what happened?" Zelda asked.

"Yes, but not here," Misha offered, turning around with her daughter in tow. "Come with me. We shouldn't be out in the open like this."

Link pushed himself to his hooves and turned around to follow behind Zelda as they walked over to some more decrepit buildings.

"Misha, what are you doing?" a new male voice asked as a blob a little more on the brown side appeared beside a haggard looking blob.

"Hanch, take Kili home," Misha ordered, stopping in front of the two. "Charlo, you wish to join us?"

The elder blob looked up at the two Hylians, his wrinkles making it hard to read his face, before he nodded his body. He turned back to Misha and said, "Yes."

Kili planted a kiss on Misha's cheek before grabbing hold of Hanch's nublet hand. Hanch gave his spouse a look Link recognized even on the unfamiliar creatures before the blob turned to waddle away with his daughter in tow.

Misha looked up at the two and said, "This way. There's a part of the forest that still has some tree coverage we can use."

Link let the three go before him as he brought up the rear, keeping an eye on the surrounding chard woods. If the locals were worried about being out in the open, what more could be in store for them in this world?