Born a Weapon
A Twilight Princess Fan story
Chapter 9
Armaments and Information
"Bulbin."
"What?" Midna asked.
"There's a bulbin over there."
Midna hopped out of Link's shadow and looked in the direction he was facing, trying to see what he was talking about.
"I think my eyes are starting to adjust, but I still can't see very far!"
Midna turned to face Link, but he seemed to have disappeared.
"Hey!" Midna said in a whispered voice so as not to alert the bulbin, "Where'd you go?!"
"Over here!" Link said.
"Over where?! I can't follow your voice if it's telepathic!"
"Behind the tree to your right!"
Midna quickly floated over to the tree to find Link crouched low behind its trunk. Link's eyes darted back and forth over the bulbin Midna could not see, trying to find a way to sneak past it.
"I don't think we can sneak past that guy, he's right in the middle of the path, and I don't see another way around."
"What exactly are we up against?" Midna asked.
"One bulbin."
"Yeah, I got that! But what the hell is a bulbin?"
"It's a monster about the size of me when I'm not a wolf, usually outfitted with leather armor and a weapon. In this case, a bulbin with leather armor and a wooden club."
Midna raised her eyebrows at Link.
"You an expert on monsters or something?"
Link thought for a minute. He did just state that bulbins usually wear leather armor and are armed with weapons. He did remember hearing from Coro that bulbins use weapons, but he never mentioned anything about armor.
Now that Link thought about it, he did recognize the bulbins when they barged into the spring. In fact, he felt like he could recognize all the monsters he had already seen. Even the ones Coro described, he felt he could recognize them without his description. Thinking back to the monsters he had fought, he realized in order of their appearance; he had fought Vermin, Keese, and Kargarocs in Hyrule castle.
"Helloo?"
Midna waved her hand in front of Link's face.
"What? I'm thinking?" Link responded in a slightly irritated tone.
When Link turned to face Midna, he noticed the small cliffs that formed the narrow passageway the bulbin was blocking and got an idea.
"Hey, Midna, help me jump up on that cliff," Link said as he motioned towards the cliff behind him\.
Midna looked to where Link gestured and realized what he was thinking.
"Why not just kill the "bulbin"?
"Because I want to avoid combat if possible, there is no reason to fight if it can be avoided." Link answered.
"What about on the way back?"
"I'll jump up to the cliff aga-"
Link stopped his sentence short and thought for a minute.
"Shit… the villagers…" He said
"What about them?" Midna asked.
"If they come this way, they'll run into that bulbin… fine… we'll do it your way."
"Look, I don't want to kill it! I'm just trying to consider every scenario!"
Link noticed Midna seemed very angry, and she seemed to be struggling not to scream at him. He was silently thankful for that. He wanted the element of surprise on his side for what came next.
"Did I… insult you?" Link asked
"You're talking like I want you to kill monsters! I don't want any of this!"
Link glanced over to the bulbin to check if he heard the argument and was relieved when it was still in the same position. However, it was looking in the direction Link had come from now.
"All right, I'm sorry."
Midna was still angry, but she hovered over to the top of the small cliff and used her magic to help Link jump on top of it. Link slowly crawled to the space right above the bulbin and took a deep breath as he coiled his legs.
Link collided with the bulbin's back and tackled it onto the floor. It gave out a cry of alarm, but Link swiftly closed his fangs around its neck and bit as hard and he could. Midna used her hair hand to help hold it down so it wouldn't escape from Link, but she made the mistake of looking into its eyes. Midna watched in horror as the bulbin flailed around, attempting to dislodge the wolf biting into its flesh but was unsuccessful due to Midna pinning it, and the life slowly left it.
Link released his grip and raised his head. He looked down at his victim and saw in gruesome detail what he had done. Several holes lined the bulbin's neck, each of them bleeding profusely, its eyes were glazed over, and its face was contorted in a panicked expression.
Link could bear to look no longer and turned away.
"All right…" Link said unsteadily, "It's dead…"
"Yeah…" came Midna's shaky voice. Link looked behind him on the left to see Midna using her right arm to support herself on the wall as she stood on the ground rather than levitating, and her left arm was wrapped around her stomach. When Link circled around to see her face, she surprised Link by having an even paler color on her face.
"I can-" Midna made a grunting noise as she quickly moved her left hand to cover her mouth, but she was unsuccessful, and vomit forced its way out as she collapsed to her knees.
Link turned his head to look once again at his work. He stared at the blood pouring out of the thing's neck, and he could definitely see why Midna couldn't hold her stomach's contents.
Link turned back to see Midna still crouching with her right hand still on the wall, but she was done throwing up. He gently placed his right paw on her back and asked, "You ok?"
Midna slowly faced Link, and she could see that although he was handling what he did better than she was, he was still very upset about what he had done.
"I…" Midna began, "I… saw the look in its eyes… That wasn't the look of some mindless beast like the ones we fought in Hyrule castle… That thing was-" she gagged again but managed to hold down the bile.
"I know…" Link said comfortingly. For some reason, a question tore at his mind. It was a ridiculous question to ask someone, but he asked it anyway. "Is this… the first time you've seen someone die?"
"…No… Zant… took over my realm and… I saw lots of people die because of him." Midna fought to keep vomit down again and was mostly successful, but some slipped out. "But… they died because of Zant… I had nothing to do with it. That thing… I helped… I helped you-" Another wave of vomit left Midna's body, and Link patiently waited for her to finish.
"Just… try not to think about it, ok?" Midna turned to face Link again. "I'm the one who killed the bulbin, not you." Midna's eyes began to dart over to the corpse, but Link saw this and gently turned her with his paw. "Don't look."
Midna obliged his request, but looking at her vomit wasn't comfortable either, so she simply closed her eyes.
"Midna, listen, if you didn't help me, one of us still would have ended up dead. Things would have been worse if you didn't help me. And that's all you did, just help. What happened wasn't your fault. It's entirely mine, ok?"
Slowly, Midna nodded, though it was clear she didn't believe him.
"Let's… just get out of here," she said.
Midna tried to stand and almost fell onto her vomit, but Link moved quickly and caught her with his head before she did.
"I'm gonna… ride on your back… until we get to the village, ok?"
"Ok." Link said as she shakily levitated onto his back, and once she was seated, he continued heading to the village.
Midna prayed that she would never see another bulbin for as long as she lived.
"Why don't we just snag a few things from the storehouse while we're here?"
"Because we were told not to touch anything, you freaking idiot! Just scout!"
Link quickly darted behind another tree while Midna dove back into his shadow. Link and Midna peeked around the tree to see two bulbins arguing outside the storage building Link had slept in.
"Why do the goddesses hate me?" Midna mumbled.
"Shit, this is definitely not good." Link added, "There are two of them… what are we going to do?"
"We aren't going to do anything!" Midna said as she exited Link's shadow in her solid form. "I am not helping you kill another one of those things!"
"Are you kidding me?!"
"If you can't handle two enemies, how do you expect to save the people from the village?!"
Link heard the bulbins shift slightly
"Midna… shut up!"
"You don't get to tell me that!" Midna responded.
"What the hell is that?!"
Midna looked at the bulbins to see them both staring right at her.
"Oh, shit…" Midna said.
"Whatever it is, it looks rare! Let's grab it!" said one of the bulbins as it slowly moved towards Midna with its weapon ready.
"I did just tell you we aren't supposed to take anything… but I don't think that will still be here later!"
Midna looked to Link and saw he had mysteriously vanished.
"I told you to shut up," came Link's disembodied voice inside her head.
"Where did you go?!" Midna cried.
"Who's it talking to?"
"It must have a friend! Watch ou-"
Link interrupted the bulbin by pouncing it and biting down on its neck.
"Midna! Stop talking!"
Link had to stop biting the bulbin before it was dead because its friend had moved in to attack Link, and he had to move out of range. Growling, Link waited for an opportunity to strike again. The bulbin swung its club at Link, and he sidestepped before pouncing his opponent and digging his fangs into its neck. Link had to let go and twist around to avoid being struck by the bulbin he was biting and pounced the other one who had gotten back up, ending it. With only one bulbin left, Link dodged its next blow, which was clumsy because of its injuries, and bit the back of its neck and ended it as well.
With them dead, Link glanced to Midna, whose single visible eye was wide.
"For Hylia's sake, Link! When did you get so good at fighting?!"
"I kind of had to be! I had to fight two bulbins by myself!" Link chastised, adding a bark as he tried to yell.
"I am not going to help you kill!" Midna shouted.
"Oh no, I noticed that! You just give away that I'm here! Completely ruining any chance of surprising them! This isn't even the first time you did this! You kept screaming back in Hyrule castle and alerting everything where I was!"
Midna's hand met Link's face at high speed, leaving a slight stinging sensation behind, but it was pitiful compared to the cut from the Kargaroc at Hyrule castle. Link slowly turned his head to face Midna while a low growl emanated from his throat. Midna inwardly cursed herself for flinching, but considering she was being stared down by a wolf slightly bigger than she was, it was understandable why she did.
"Excuse me!"
Link turned to see where the small, high-pitched voice had come from, but all he saw was the storage building he had slept in with a squirrel sitting at the top of the ladder.
"Thank you for taking care of those bad guys!"
Link slightly jumped back in surprise. The squirrel was talking! However, Midna was left wondering if a tiny squirrel had managed to scare Link. She felt really stupid for flinching now.
"They made both the village and the forest a mess… They kidnapped the village children…"
Wait, they kidnapped the children? As in plural? Link knew Ilia and Colin were abducted, but Colin was the only kid out of the two of them.
"But I know… you're not one of them, I can tell because your scent is different, and you fought them."
If the squirrel could talk to Link, could he talk to the squirrel?
"How many children were taken?" He tried to ask. Link noticed that although back in the cell when he tried to talk, all he heard was barking, this time, he heard his voice.
"Three of them were taken away," the squirrel answered, "the adult humans tried to save them, but they could not fight so many of the bad guys."
"Thank you for telling me," Link said.
"There are more animals in the human's village, if you have more questions try talking to them. I have to go, goodbye!" The squirrel darted off to Link's right as soon as it finished its sentence.
Link turned around to see Midna with her arms crossed.
"You were complaining about me making noise, and then you and a squirrel bark and squeak at each other?"
"I got some valuable information from the barking and squeaking," Link retorted.
"And now, you've gone insane… wonderful."
Link rolled his eyes before continuing towards the village.
"Animals can talk to each other… apparently. I just found out that the rest of the children were kidnapped," Link informed Midna.
Disbelief filled Midna's eyes
"You've seen someone turn into a wolf," Link said, "how is this crazier?"
"Sure, whatever, Mr. Crazy," Midna said as she reentered Link's shadow.
First Wolfie, and now Mr. Crazy. What is it with this girl and nicknames? As Link headed into Ordon, he did his best to remain unseen and slowly walked along the side of the path in the shadows in a low crouch. He didn't want any of the villagers to see a giant wolf and freak out.
"Ohhh… How did it come to this?"
Link looked up to where he had climbed the vines to meet Jaggle when he told Link about the grass that could be whistled into to summon a hawk to see Hanch staring up into the sky.
"The children… Please say nothing's happened…" his gaze dropped to the floor, "Please forgive your good-for-nothing father…"
Sadness struck Link. He was hoping that Midna was right and he was crazy, and the children were safe, leaving only Ilia and Colin in danger. Unfortunately, he was right, or technically the squirrel was.
"Oh! About the shield…"
Link surprised himself by hearing Jaggle's voice all the way from his house.
"Hey! Not so loud!"
The second voice was much quieter, but Link thought it was Mayor Bo. Moving slowly, Link crossed the small bridge over the shallow river and inched closer to the conversation.
"So, that shield is still in your house, right?" Bo asked.
"Uh, yeah, it should be in our storage loft," Jaggle replied.
Link saw Mayor Bo and Jaggle right outside the door to Jaggle's house, illuminated by two torches on the left side of the path leading to the door. Link moved closer, using a large patch of grass on the left to remain unseen.
"Good! Go grab it, quick as you can! Rusl got wounded pretty bad, so he can't go search for the kids. I'll take over for him"
"But Rusl had a sword, Mayor! And he still got hurt! If you're unarmed, you're done for!"
More worry struck Link. How badly was Rusl hurt? Hopefully, the spring water was helping his recovery.
"I'll be fine. The sword we were goin' to present to the royal family should be at Rusl's house.
"Oh yeah? All right, I understand, Mayor. I'll hurry up and grab that shield. You just wait here…"
Oh crap. Link thought. This is what he was afraid of. The villagers were going to do something dangerous and get hurt or killed. Although he didn't know too much about the villagers, he knew Rusl was an experienced swordsman; the mayor wasn't. If Rusl was hurt, Bo would likely get himself killed. So, Link decided he was going to do something dangerous.
He stood in front of the door.
Bo and Jaggle jumped back with shouts at the sudden appearance of a large wolf standing in front of Jaggle's door. Although Link didn't make any threatening movements, Bo and Jaggle were still smart enough to not try to get through the wolf.
"No good!" Bo shouted, "Run!"
Bo and Jaggle turned around and ran down the path Link had come from, away from Jaggle's house.
"That's not a bad bit of information you heard, huh?" Midna said as she appeared next to Link in her shadow form and hovered right beside one of the torches.
"Nope, and you need to find a new nickname. Because as you can see, the children are unfortunately missing," Link said.
"All right, fine, I'll just use Wolfie again! Eee hee hee!"
"How about Link?" Link said as he rolled his eyes and scanned the house for an entrance. He was determined to take the sword and shield so the villagers wouldn't do something reckless and get themselves killed, even though they wouldn't even be able to get into the woods, according to Midna.
"Hey… do you feel something… weird?" Midna inquired.
Link turned to look at Midna and worried her when his eyes widened in surprise.
"What? What is it?!" she demanded as she examined her shadowy body. Something seemed off, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was.
"Your face!" Link said.
"What's wrong with my face?!" Midna said as she felt her face.
Link tried to make sense of what he was seeing and put it into words.
"I think… my shadow is coming off you!"
"What?!"
Midna floated over to the small river to see her reflection. Her face seemed to have some of its color back. In fact, looking now, her entire body seemed to, but her face was the most obvious. The color was most apparent on her face but seemed to fade away at a steady pace farther down her body. As Link appeared next to Midna, he noticed something weird underneath him.
"Hey, my shadow seems to be back!"
Midna turned her attention to the ground underneath Link to see his shadow. It wasn't as dark as it should be, but it was still there.
"I think whatever came off you is back with me," Link deduced.
"Why the hell didn't anyone tell me this could happen?!" Midna demanded.
"Did anyone know?"
Midna was about to give a speech about how he doesn't know anything, but then she remembered what Zelda had said about him. If he had so much magical energy, maybe he knew something she didn't?
"Maybe not…" she mumbled.
"You seem to be fine over here…" Link glanced back to where they were before. He noticed there were two torches right beside where Midna was before. "Do you think those torches did this?"
Midna eyed them suspiciously before floating closer to them and slowly extending her hand toward one. When her hand was only slightly away from touching the flame itself, she felt the strange feeling again, and her hand seemed to regain its color slowly. Midna flinched back and stayed far from the fire.
"It is the torches…" she said in a hushed tone.
"I guess you better stay away from them during the day," Link added.
"Yeah…" Midna said as she slowly turned around to find Link right next to her, making her jump and yelp in fright. How was he so quiet?!
A small dog walked up to Link and looked between him and Midna, who didn't notice the animal in time to hide from it; although a dog likely wouldn't freak out like a person would upon seeing her, so she released the rest of Link's shadow back to him.
"Nighttime walks are so nice, aren't they?! You're lucky! I wish my master would walk with me tonight!"
"What?!" Link said to the dog as he glanced at Midna, earning a confused expression from her. "She is not my master!"
"Oh! I'm sorry!" the dog said, "Is your master ok? They weren't hurt by those green guys, were they?"
"I do not have a master!" Link informed the dog.
"But all the animals without masters seem to be afraid of people. You seem so calm, so I assumed you had one," The dog said.
Link realized that might be an accurate description. Wild animals tended not to like people.
"Wait…" the dog said as it suddenly approached and sniffed Link.
"I guess it doesn't know what personal space is," Midna added quietly.
"Are you Link?" the dog asked.
"What?!" Link said, shocked. "How… how did you know that?!"
"Your scent! I recognize it from when you were here before. I don't know how you managed to turn into a wolf, though, but everyone has been worried about you!"
Midna placed her hand on Link and shook him. "Are you done wasting time?!" she chastised him.
Link gently nudged her off but decided he should move before anyone came back.
"Listen," he said to the dog, "The people here are going to do something reckless and might get hurt or worse." The dog seemed to become concerned. "If I can get into your master's house, I might be able to make sure they don't get hurt. Do you know any way I could get inside?"
"I get in through the door. Could you get in that way?"
Link looked to Midna, "Midna, can you check if the door is unlocked?" Link doubted it was, but it was a possibility. Since Jaggle was right outside, he might not have felt the need to lock it. Midna rattled the handle and tried to open the door, but it did not budge.
"Locked," she said.
"Could you slip under in a shadow or something?"
"Uhm…" she mumbled, "I don't know, there isn't even a shadow here to try anyway, and I might crush myself or something! Find some other way inside!"
Link let out a sigh and examined the house. He began to circle around the right of the house, and Midna was going to follow him, but she heard soft footsteps that drew her attention to the dog that had approached her. It looked into her eyes while wagging its tail.
For Din's sake, Midna thought, that thing is adorable.
Link had found two windows on the house, one behind the water wheel and one on the roof. The one behind the water wheel was smaller, but Link could probably fit inside. Assuming it wasn't locked. Both windows were closed. Link had to head back around the house again because the waterwheel stopped him from fully circling the building. When Link emerged back at the front of the house, he saw Midna, unaware he was back, petting a small ecstatic dog. She moved from rubbing its head to scratching behind its ears before she realized Link was back.
"Why can't you be more like this dog?" Midna asked with an evil grin, "It seems quite happy being someone's pet!"
"I know I must be irresistibly adorable," Link said sarcastically, "but I am a person, not a dog!"
"Don't you want to get your ears scratched, Wolfie?" Midna said mockingly as she placed her hands on her hips, much to the dog's disappointment.
"I found a window," Link said as he began to turn around to head back to it, "come check if it's locked."
"You're not answering the question!" Midna said in a sing-song voice.
"I won't grace that question with an answer," Link replied.
Midna hovered after Link until he stopped next to the water wheel, and Midna saw the window he was talking about. It was small with shutters closing it. She hovered up to it and tried pushing it, and when that didn't work, she slipped her fingers underneath the shutters and pulled them open.
"Ugh… look at this," Midna said, "this village is full of idiots."
"Jaggle was just here," Link informed her, "He probably didn't lock it because he was inside and just stepped outside to talk to the mayor and forgot about it."
"Who the hell is Jaggle?" Midna asked as she helped Link jump into the window.
"The guy who didn't want to let the other guy run off unarmed."
"I guess he isn't a complete idiot then," Midna said.
Link glanced around the inside of Jaggle's house. It was a small home with a table and fireplace that Link could see and a small ledge that led up to the larger window above the water wheel. Link was standing on a larger ledge that had boxes and a few shelves with some items on them. On the wall hung a wooden shield with what seemed to be a goat drawn on it, though its horns appeared to be the center of the art, forming a full circle.
"Eee hee hee! Found it! Found it!" Midna exclaimed as she glanced at the shield.
"I also found it," Link added.
Midna smiled evilly.
"You're right! You fetched the shield! Good boy!" Mind quickly scratched behind Link's ear before he pushed her away with his head while growling. Giggling, Midna floated up to the shield and examined it.
"It looks… kind of cheap…"
"It's wood," Link said with anger in his voice.
Midna raised her right hand and snapped her fingers, but the snapped seemed to echo and was accompanied by a noise that sounded strangely like sizzling. The shield exploded into dozens of tiny black squares, outlined in a blue that matched the markings on Midna's body, which hovered in the air for a moment before disappearing.
"All right, then… next is a sword. You said you know where one is, so hurry up and get it!"
"So," Link said, "we go through a crazy amount of trouble to find a shield, and you disintegrate it…"
"Wha… No! I didn't disintegrate it, you stupid wolf!" She snapped her fingers again, and in a puff of black particles, the shield appeared on the floor in front of Link.
Link stared at the shield for several seconds and poked it with his paw to be sure it was real.
"Ok… magic, got it…"
Midna was seriously wondering what has wrong with Link. Zelda said he had a lot of magical energy, and he managed to guess why his shadow was coming off her, but he didn't even know what she did to the shield.
Did he know magic or not?
Midna made the shield disappear again and followed Link out the window as he gently dropped down onto the grass before circling back around the house.
"Did you do it?"
Link turned to see the dog sitting in front of the door to the house.
"I did," Link said and saw the glee in the dog's eyes, "but there's one more thing I have to do to make absolutely sure no one does anything reckless."
"Please do it," The dog requested.
"I will," Link said and headed back down the path he came from. Link slowly headed through the water in the river instead of over the bridge because Hanch was now facing in that direction and Link wanted to remain unseen.
Link quietly moved towards Rusl's house. So quietly that it amazed Midna. She was in his shadow, which was on the floor, and he was placing his feet on the floor to walk, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hear any footsteps.
As Link approached Rusl's house, he saw Rusl, Uli, Bo and Jaggle gathered outside.
"Rusl! You're too hurt to be goin' after it! Let me do it!" Bo said.
"Bo, you don't know how to use a sword! I do!" Rusl responded.
"Darling, please… listen to them!" Uli begged.
"Is a sword even goin' to scare a wolf?" Jaggle inquired, "cause if they don't scare normal wolves, there's no way one that big will be afraid!"
Link ignored the fact that the four people were planning to go after him and circled around to the left side of the house before they took the sword he was after to use against him. There didn't seem to be any way in other than the door that everyone was blocking. Midna hopped out of his shadow and examined the building with haste. She was well aware that the sword they were planning to use was likely the same one Link was going after and wanted to get it first.
"Fado has experience with animals," Uli stated, "should we ask him to help?"
"He's busy makin' sure nothin' happens to the goats," Bo said, "besides, he has enough trouble keeping them under control. I always worry when he's up there that some calamity or other's gonna happen…"
So that's where he is, Link thought. He had met Fado when he was wandering around the village before and was wondering where he was now.
As Midna became more frantic, Link used his senses to probe the house. As he sniffed around the house, the scent of dirt reminded him of how he escaped the cell in Hyrule castle and gave him an idea. Link quietly dug up the ground, gaining Midna's attention, and she reentered his shadow when she realized what he was planning. After some time, Link managed to tunnel into the house through an area with no floorboards.
On the same couch Link had rested on sat the sword Link spotted in the corner of the house when he awoke after he was healed.
"Got the sword," Link said as he stood next to the couch.
Midna came out of Link's shadow and snapped her fingers again, transporting the sword to whatever place she kept the shield with a strange sound.
"All right…" she whispered, "now we got a sword. Looks like you can actually be useful when you concentrate!"
"Because fighting my way out of a castle doesn't count," Link said sarcastically.
"Ok, no more detours," Midna said with a serious expression, "I'm going to take you back into the Twilight. Go back to the woods where you first transformed into a wolf!"
Link quickly departed the house through the hole he dug so he wouldn't be there when someone went inside and quietly snuck around the gathering at the front door and headed for the village's exit.
"What the-?!"
Link had reached the middle of Ordon before he heard Hanch scream. He looked to his right to see Hanch fall from his ledge. He had been climbing down when he spotted the giant wolf, and it surprised him so much that he fell. And he was going to land on his head. He could break his neck!
Link dashed as fast as he could and slammed into Hanch before he landed, turning him so he would not land on his neck. Hanch's chest smashed into Link, flattening him onto the floor.
"Hanch, what happened?" Bo yelled as he ran over, though Link was too disoriented to tell who spoke.
As Hanch climbed off the wolf and the villagers gathered around, Midna inwardly cursed at Link for being so stupid. Why did the hell did he do that? she wondered. He should have just let him fall and ran.
Link tried to stand, but once he was on his feet, he wobbled and fell. Hanch was heavier than he thought, and that fall knocked the wind out of him.
"It… it caught me… I fell, and it caught me!"
Link couldn't tell who was speaking, but common sense told him it was Hanch. He forced his eyes open and saw Bo, Hanch, Jaggle, Rusl, and Uli all looking at him.
"Is it… friendly? Can a wolf be friendly?" Jaggle asked.
"It seems so," Rusl said.
Link noticed Rusl had a sword in his right hand and shifted in fright.
"Darling, put your sword away! You're frightening it!"
Rusl looked at Uli for a few seconds before obliging, slowly, so as not to startle the wolf. Link visibly relaxed once the weapon was sheathed.
"I didn' think a wolf would know what a sword is…" Bo said.
"Look! On its paw!" Uli cried.
All eyes fell on the remains of the shackle on Link's left paw.
"Uli!" Rusl shouted as Uli moved forward and hugged Link's head.
"You poor thing…" she said comfortingly, and she gently stroked Link's fur.
Link was slightly annoyed that another person was trying to pet him but realized that he might scare the villagers if he pulled away. So, he endured it.
"Uli!" Rusl continued, "Let go of it! You don't know what it will do!"
"If it was chained, that means someone imprisoned it!" Uli said back with a scowl, "no one should have to go through that!"
The air became thick as all present were reminded of the Ordonian children, held captive somewhere by bulbins.
"It's ok…" Uli said to Link as she continued to pet the wolf in her arms, "I don't know what you've been through, but you're safe here."
Link thought of everything he had been through. He lost his memory, got attacked by bulbins, turned into a wolf, got captured, had to break out of Hyrule castle, and had been tormented constantly by an imp he knew nothing about other than her name and that she could use magic.
He felt like he could really use a hug.
Link gently pressed his head against Uli as tears began to escape his eyes.
For a while, Link just stayed there. In the time Uli was hugging him, Fado came down to see what the noise was, the villagers all discussed how large the wolf was and how reckless Uli was being, and Midna became restless. Midna poked her hand out of Link's shadow, which was luckily behind him and out of sight, and pulled on his fur hard enough to move his entire body slightly.
The sudden movement made Uli think the wolf was getting up to leave, so she released it from her grasp.
"Be careful," she said, "I would hate for such a kind creature to get hurt."
Link got onto his feet without wobbling and looked at all the villagers. All but Uli seemed very nervous, but Rusl more than anyone else. Link could tell he was ready to draw his sword at the first sign of hostility.
Link turned and headed out of the village, and when he reached the storehouse, Midna emerged from his shadow.
"So you get pissed off when I pet you, but you don't care when that lady does?" She asked.
"If I did something about it, I would probably freak everyone out and might get attacked," Link replied.
Link was going to continue onward, but a low grumbling stopped him, and he turned to see Midna with her right hand over her stomach.
"You couldn't have made big puppy dog eyes and got them to give you some food?" She asked.
Food… when was the last time Link ate? It was before everything went to hell, but how long ago was that? He couldn't be sure because he spent some unknown amount of time unconscious. Link could ask Midna how long it was since she saw him before he passed out, but she didn't seem to be the most cooperative, and it didn't really matter now. Link looked at the storage building, there would probably be some food in there, but it wasn't his.
…
He would apologize later.
"Help me up there," Link said, nodding towards the treehouse.
"Link… I am really not in the mood for you to waste more time," Midna said as her stomach grumbled again.
"Don't you want food?" Link said in a mocking tone, glad to finally be on this side of it.
Midna's gaze locked onto Link's for several seconds before her stomach growled louder than any other time. She then looked to the building inside a tree. Could it hold her salvation?
Without a word, Midna helped Link up the small cliff and eagerly opened the door, and Link noticed the door seemed like it had been forced open before.
Midna eagerly looked around to see boxes thrown about. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't this.
"What happened to this place?" She asked.
"It must have been ransacked," Link replied, "I hope they didn't take anything."
From the number of boxes, Midna assumed the building was used to store supplies.
"How are we supposed to find any food in this mess?!" she said over her stomach.
"Because I'm awesome," Link said as he focused his senses and was able to smell apples close by. He followed it to a box about as tall as he was in wolf form and was as wide and nudged the box with his nose "open this."
Midna practically tore the lid off the box and picked up one of the items inside.
"What the hell is this?" she asked as Link grabbed one in his mouth.
"It's an apple."
"This is an apple?" Midna turned the apple around in her hands, "it's… very colorful."
"Are your apples different?" Link asked.
"They don't have as much color," Midna said before she bit into the fruit. Link raised an eyebrow at Midna's wide eye. "This thing is freaking amazing!"
Midna devoured the apple with gusto that surprised Link.
"It probably tastes so good because your so hungry," Link suggested.
Midna only gave him a grunt as she depleted the red orb. Link turned his attention to his apple and began to eat it. He was slightly worried because he somehow knew that a wolf's body was designed to eat raw meat and even some fur from whatever animal the meat came from, but he also somehow knew he would be fine.
"Stupid fang…" Midna mumbled as the long tooth gave her trouble while she tried to eat, which Link noticed was odd because she should be used to eating with it. Fangs don't just appear overnight. It had to have been there for a while. So, why was it giving her trouble…
Link was pulled from his thoughts by Midna coughing.
"You ok?" Link asked as Midna cursed under her breath.
"I'm fine, just swallowed one of the seeds," she said.
"Careful," Link said calmly as Midna resumed eating but slower, "apple seeds have cyanide in them."
A coughing fit assaulted Midna's lungs for a full five seconds.
"WHAT?!" she screamed before throwing the apple away from her. "shit shit shit shit!"
Midna floated up to Link and grabbed his head, forcing him to look at her. "Use that nose of yours and find me an antidote! NOW!" She demanded.
"Midna…" Link said as he rolled his eyes.
"NOW!" she screamed again, shaking Link violently.
Link freed himself from her grasp before speaking again, "It's not enough to kill you, Midna!"
"How can you be so sure?!"
"Well, I don't know about your species, or if your smaller size would matter," Midna would have yelled, but she was too worried, "but someone from my species would have to eat two hundred apple seeds to kill them."
"Then why did you make such a big deal out of it?!"
"So, a big deal is calmly telling you?"
Midna grabbed Link's face again and stared him down.
"The next time food has any poison in it, you tell me before I eat it!"
"Well, apples won't kill you unless you eat two hundred of their seeds, but watch out for wild berries."
"Why is there so much poison in your world?!" Midna asked as she stared at the apples in the box, waging an internal war before her stomach won, and she grabbed another.
"Is there none in yours?"
"No! At least not naturally."
They ate in silence, giving Midna a chance to calm down, until Midna noticed a pile of blankets laying off to the side. A smile spread across her face.
"I'll take those!" she said as she placed them in the storage she was using for the sword and shield.
"It's not nice to steal someone's bed, Midna."
"Bed?" Midna chuckled, "that was a pile of blankets! Who the hell would sleep on a bunch of blankets in here?"
"Me."
"You?" Midna looked at the wolf calmly eating, "Why would you sleep in here?"
"Because I didn't want to sleep in any of the houses with people I just met."
"You mentioned that you stumbled in here," Midna said, "Why?"
Link stopped eating and was silent for a moment. Midna noticed his silence and was going to ask again, but Link spoke up.
"I got hurt," he said.
"How'd that happen?"
"Bad stuff happened."
Midna rolled her eyes.
"No shit," she said sarcastically, "what bad stuff?"
"Stuff I don't want to talk about."
"Sounds interesting!" she said with an evil smile.
"Maybe it is," Link said as he finished eating his final apple. "You done eating?"
"Yeah," Midna said, although a yawn escaped her lips right after.
"Tired?" Link asked Midna, who gave a positive grunt in response. "Well, we better not sleep here. I don't want to wake up to a burning Midna."
Midna looked at him with confused worry but then noticed behind him there was a window next to a small platform three stories up.
"Yeah… that won't be a pleasant wake-up call…"
Link pushed open the door with his head as Midna made some apples vanish into her magical storage and closed it after she passed through. After he jumped down from the ledge, he felt Midna lay on his back with her head next to his ear.
"I'll get that story out of you eventually," she said with a mischievous smile.
That is actually impossible, Link thought to himself, taking unnecessary care to make sure he didn't telepathically say that. He did not want Midna to know about his amnesia.
Soon the bridge Link crossed twice before came into view. Beyond it, he could see a wall of blackness stretch as far as he could see. Link took a deep breath and headed for it.
"Wait…"
Link stopped when he heard a strange voice. He looked to Midna to see her searching around the area.
"Did you hear that?" she asked.
"Yeah…" Link focused his senses again, specifically his hearing, and listened.
"Come… to my spring…" the voice said.
Link looked at the spring that was the only reason he was alive at this moment, then slowly headed into it.
"You have… been transformed… by the power… of shadow…"
Link and Midna searched the spring for the source of the voice, but the words "my spring" gave Link an idea of who said it, even if he couldn't believe it.
"Come… to me…"
"That voice is so creepy!" Midna said, then pulled Link's fur in the direction of the exit, "Let's get out of here! I don't like this…"
Loud crashes rang in Link's ears as large stone pillars fell from the sky suddenly. Almost immediately, carved lines in the pillars glowed red and identical colored lines with a design that resembled the portal above the spring appeared between them before fading away. Where the lines in the air once were, the air seemed hazy; Link compared the sight to looking through glass that slightly warped the view of anything beyond it.
"Beware… A Shadow Beast approaches."
Midna became stiff on Link's back as a loud gasp came from her.
"No…" she said shakily.
Link heard a strange noise and looked up to see the portal glowing red, just as he had seen when the bulbins left him in the spring. A large black mass dropped out of the hole in the middle, and the portal faded from sight.
The mass landed with a splash in the water and stood a few feet taller than Link. Link recognized the creature as the same monster that had pulled him into the twilight, where he turned into a wolf.
The Shadow Beast swung its hand at Link, who jumped back out of range just before it could hit him. The jump startled Midna from the stupor she had been in, and she stared at the creature before her.
"No… no, I can't…"
Midna suddenly flew from Link's back and fell to her knees on a grassy ledge outside of the ring the strange pillars formed. Because of Link's enhanced hearing, he could hear sobs as he dodged more attacks from his opponent.
When the beast pulled its arm back to strike again, Link pounced it and bit furiously into its neck. Blood filled his mouth, but he didn't let up until the beast reached for him again, and he jumped off before it could hit him. He tried to circle the thing, but it kept him in its line of sight. At least Link thought he was in its line of sight. The thing's face seemed like a slab of artistically carved stone with no visible eyes.
When the thing struck again, Link dodged around to its back and pounced like before, and continued to bite. However, Link underestimated its reach and let out panicked barks as he was lifted off its back. Link's face met dirt as he was slammed into the floor repeatedly with terrible force. Link had been smashed four times within three seconds, and Link was thankful he was being slammed into healing water. He was then thrown towards the entrance to the spring and bounced off the invisible barrier formed by the pillars. In the short time Link had been in contact with it, the barrier sent a shock through his body, and he convulsed for a few seconds after hitting the ground.
The Shadow Beast rushed Link while he was down, but just before two large fists could smash him, Link jumped out of the way. When dodging, Link had jumped straight towards a wall, so he coiled his legs again and pushed off, landing right onto the beast's back and again dug his fangs into its flesh.
This time, the Shadow Beast could not take the punishment, and after flailing around, fell dead. The Shadow Beast's body suddenly exploded into black particles identical to the ones the sword and shield disappeared with, but much larger. The black squares floated into the sky and gathered into a mess of black squares where the portal was, but no lines or hole appeared in it.
"Midna…"
Midna looked into the spring, and Link could see her visible eye puffy was puffy from crying and tears stained her cheeks. She was creeped out that the disembodied voice knew her name.
"Take… the portal…"
Midna looked up to the mess of black squares.
"Why? I d-don't even know how…" Midna said through hiccups.
"Reach out to it… try to use it…"
A look of concentration appeared on Midna's face through the sadness, and blue lines and a hole appeared in the squares.
Midna looked at it with confusion before the voice spoke again.
"Hide in the shadows…"
Midna looked around again, trying to determine where the voice had come from but hovered down to Link, who gave him a look of concern, and melted into his shadow.
The lines on the rocks in the back of the spring began to glow a bright green that then turned into a golden color that seemed to seep into the water itself, making it glow as well. Water splashed near the rocks as if something had been dropped into it, and then a glowing golden ball with moving circular designs floated out of the spot.
Link watched in awe as the ball floated to the height of the water wheel in Ordon village, but his real surprise came when a circle seemed to form around it. It was golden as well, but not as bright as the ball. The golden glow seeped out to create a large body of an animal glowing gold that towered over Link with circular designs adorning its body identical to the shining sphere within what Link realized were its horns. A thin tail that expanded into a tall but not wide design was the final piece that formed before Link. As Link looked at the being before him, he realized that the design on the shield was depicting this being's face, just without the glowing ball.
"O brave youth…" the being spoke. "I am one of four light spirits that protect Hyrule at the behest of the gods. I am Ordona."
Link's eyes widened in shock. He was standing before the light spirit whose blessing had saved his life.
"Ordona…" Link tried to speak, hoping since Ordona resembled a goat, it would understand him, "thank you for saving my life with your spring."
"Your thanks are not required, brave one," Ordona replied. The spirit's voice took on a darker tone as it spoke again, "The black beast you slew was a shadow being. It had come to seize the power of light I wield."
Ordona turned its gaze to the large black wall Link was heading to.
"My brethren in Hyrule have already had their light stolen by these fell beasts. The entire world has been reduced to a netherworld ruled by the cursed power of darkness."
Link heard Midna scoff as she emerged in shadow form, but she quickly retreated back into Link's shadow with a yelp when Link's shadow began to melt off her immediately.
"You and your prejudice! It's not our fault that this is happening!" She said with venom dripping off every word.
"I am aware," Ordona replied in a calm tone, without any hint of emotion, "Your realm has been cursed. That is why the cursed forces of darkness are invading."
Midna turned away and mumbled, "yeah, that's true…"
Link was sure Ordona had heard her, but the light spirit merely turned its attention back to Link.
"The blight will not stop with Hyrule." Ordona said, "Before long, the entire world of light will fall into the hands of the false king who rules the twilight."
Link looked to the menacing black wall on his right.
"To save this land from the king of twilight,"
"False king!" Midna interrupted.
"The lost light must be recovered," Ordona continued, ignoring Midna. "The three light spirits who have lost their light must be revived. There is but one who can revive them and redeem this land…"
Link was really hoping Ordona wasn't about to say what he thought it was.
"You."
Although Midna could not understand Link because he was a wolf, and all words he tried to say sounded like barking to her, she could tell he was stammering in his reply.
"But-why- how am I supposed to-"
"You still have not discovered your true power… Those transformed by twilight usually cannot recover their original forms… but… If you were to return to Faron Woods where you were first transformed and revive the light spirit, Faron. There, by the power of the light spirit, you may find the means to regain your other state of being."
"Hold on," Midna said with a suspicious glare tone, "If Faron can fix him, why can't you?"
"I could," Ordona replied, "but he would merely change back into his current form once he entered the twilight."
Link was ecstatic to learn there was a chance to change back into his normal self, but he was still doubtful of his abilities to save the entire land of Hyrule.
"But… how can I do anything if I can't even remember anything more than my own name?"
"I am aware of your condition," Ordona said to Link, "But given time, I am sure you will find a way to deal with your predicament."
In a bright flash of light that took several seconds to fade, Ordona vanished, and the spring returned to normal.
Link took a minute to try and process the information he just received. He was alright with chasing after the children, sure it was still incredibly stupid and likely to get him killed, but he was willing to do it. But… all of Hyrule? Link didn't want that kind of responsibility. If he failed, what would happen to the countless innocent people who inhabited the land?
"Condition?"
Midna snapped Link from his thoughts and stared him down with an expression of anger and irritation.
"I don't want to talk about it," Link said as he turned to head out of the spring, but Midna floated in front of him.
"All right, stop right there. First, you have some shady past you won't tell me about, and now you have some mysterious condition? I have some questions you're going to answer!"
Link gave a growl of irritation, "and why should I? I just met you! I don't see you offering to tell me your life story! Why should I?"
"If you have some condition that's going to interfere with what we're doing, you're going to tell me about it!" Midna demanded.
"I'll be sure to do that once I get one," Link said as he walked out the spring's exit and headed over the bridge.
Midna's curiosity as to who Link was tripled. He got hurt bad enough to need help, had some strange condition, and was able to fight surprisingly well, considering he has only been a wolf for a short time. His refusal to tell Midna anything infuriated her and only made his past more of a mystery, but she was almost positive of one thing. Link had killed before. She never really knew how killing affected people, but she knew Link was way too calm and collected after he killed the bulbins. She knew nothing about him other than he had killed before. That scared her… no matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise.
Midna was so lost in thought that she didn't realize she and Link were crossing a giant drop on a bridge. She stopped to look over the side of it, and Link continued.
"That's a big drop," Midna said to herself.
"That's what I said when I crossed this bridge for the first time."
Midna jumped a little at Link's reply, who was now at the end of the bridge and waiting for her. How did he hear that? Oh, right… enhanced senses. Midna rejoined Link, and together they reached the ominous black wall.
Link noticed how the wall was blank at first, but as he got right up next to it, the strange golden designs slowly faded onto the wall, and at the same time, the world around him seemed to get darker; as if the moon had quickly set and only a small amount of light was peeking over the horizon… almost like it was twilight.
"Hey… look…" Midna said to Link, "the Faron Woods you know so well…"
Not actually that well, Link thought to himself.
"They're now covered in twilight," Midna continued. "You might not be able to come back here, but… do you still want to go?"
Link was honestly surprised. She was actually asking him if he wanted to go? He expected she would just take him in without giving him a choice so she could get… Actually… why was she helping him? What did she get out of this? Was she hoping Link would save her world as well since he has already had the responsibility of one thrust onto him? Midna was a mystery to him. The only things he really knew about her was that she was from another dimension which a usurper had taken over, and she could use magic.
Actually, why was Link going along with this so easily? He wasn't a hero. Surely there was someone much better suited to save Hyrule than him. But everyone else turned into a spirit, so there was no one else. If he didn't do anything, all of Hyrule would be doomed.
Link didn't really know Hyrule or any of the people in it, but when he thought of all the innocent people in danger…
He had to do this.
During Link's internal rambling, Midna had done her best to figure out what he was feeling, but his face didn't betray what was going on inside.
"Yes," Link said, "I have to… innocent people are counting on me."
Midna expected that response from someone chosen by what seemed to be a divine being, but she was still slightly nervous he would say no, and she would have to drag him along so he could get her what she wanted, no, what she needed.
Midna flew towards the wall and passed through it like it was liquid, leaving behind ripples in the spot she entered. Link stared at the spot for a few seconds before the ripples suddenly got much bigger, and a second after they did, Midna's giant hand came flying through the wall and grabbed Link and pulled him through, much like the Shadow Beast had before.
Link was unceremoniously dropped onto the floor inside the twilight-infested Faron Woods. Midna didn't even wait for him to get up before landing on his back, making no effort to be gentle. Midna summoned the sword and shield and tried to figure out how to use them.
"Hmm! So, these are the weapons you use in your world?" she inquired, sounding unimpressed.
"Are yours different?" asked Link as he turned his head to face Midna.
"Not really, I guess," Midna replied.
Midna somehow managed to attach the shield to her face and gently held the sword upside down by the blade in her left hand. Strange sounds, somewhat like laughter came from Link, and Midna removed the shield from her face to look at him.
"What are you laughing at?!"
"You look ridiculous with the shield on your face!" Link answered.
Midna dropped the shield onto Link's face as payback.
"You don't exactly make it work either! Eee hee hee!" she giggled.
Link shook his head to dislodge the shield and looked back with an annoyed expression to see Midna gingerly turning the sword so she could grasp the hilt with her right hand. Once she did, however, she began carelessly swinging it about, nearly decapitating Link, who ducked under the blade. Before Midna could swing a third time, Link tucked his left foot in, so the extremely high amount of force Midna used to swing the blade with one hand a third time sent her tumbling off him with the sword landing harmlessly with its blade in the dirt allowing it to stand up.
"What the hell, Link?!" Midna said with anger.
"What the hell yourself! Are you insane?! Don't just go swinging a sword around randomly! You nearly cut off my head!" Link retorted.
"Maybe I should have, then you wouldn't be around to annoy me anymore!" Midna said as she walked over to the sword embedded in the grass.
"That's rich coming from you."
Midna shot Link a glare before pulling the sword out of the ground with both her hands and examining the blade.
She scoffed, unimpressed.
"In my world, weapons have enchantments on them to make them better. This thing has nothing! You really think this thing can slay the creatures of twilight?!"
"If I can kill them with my teeth, I'm pretty sure a sword can too," Link said.
"Good point…" Midna admitted as she dropped the sword to the ground. "Well, I won't use these, but I'll hang onto them for you!" Midna snapped her fingers, and the sword and shield disappeared again.
Link looked at the path ahead of him, and Midna let out a loud yawn.
"I think we need to stop for now. You look like you'll fall asleep any second."
"Fine," Midna said as she rubbed her eyes, then hopped back onto Link's back again. "Let's find somewhere to rest."
Link began walking forward as Midna's head began to droop. Midna quickly snapped back to attention and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes, then focused them forward to keep herself awake. Then her head began to droop again, and she only realized it once it had landed on Link's back. Link looked at Midna as she furiously tried to stay awake, only to lean forward and lay on his back and not sit up again.
Link found three trees, two on the right and one large one on the left that happened to be the largest and closest of them, and after checking for any monsters nearby, decided it was a good spot.
"All right, I found a spot."
A grunt was his only response.
"Come on, get off my back so you don't fall off it while asleep," Link said as he gently shook Midna.
"Ok, ok… fine…" she mumbles as she slowly lowered herself to the ground.
Link tried his best to lay comfortably in his strange new body, and Midna placed her helmet into her magical storage and retrieved the blankets from it. She put a few on the ground and on Link, who thanked her for the makeshift bed, before using the rest to make herself a bed as well.
It wasn't long before the lack of a pillow began to irritate Midna. The ground was uneven and annoyed her to no end. If only she had a real bed! With a real pillow! A soft and fluffy pillow… She would do just about anything for something soft to lay on right now.
Wait a minute…
Midna looked at Link. At his soft fur, practically inviting her to lay against it.
She got up and did so.
The sudden contact surprised Link, who looked in surprise at the girl lying against him.
"What?" Midna said to Link, "You're soft. And this isn't much different than riding on your back anyway."
"I guess that's true…" Link was a little uncomfortable but didn't want to force her to sleep on dirt.
In an instant, Midna was asleep. Link looked around at his surroundings once again, wondering how he was going to save the light spirit in these woods.
Oh, well. I'll worry about that tomorrow. Link thought as he closed his eyes.
"Be quiet, Link! I'm trying to sleep!"
Whoops! He said that telepathically.