Author's Note

Forgot about this, glad to continue it.

Uploaded

01/29/3025

LEGEND BELOW

"Today marks the dawn of a new generation." = Normal speech.

Chapter 3

Lost in a storm

Rated-M

M rating for mature themes, nudity, romance, violence, depression and drama.

Music of the day

Calm Shores - Travels of a snowflake

The bitter cold snapped at his sharp features, nipping at his exposed flesh harshly, but he paid it no mind. His wounds throbbed dully, the pain fading as they began to heal however slowly. His long cape whipped violently in the wind, white cold winter clouding his vision as he chased after her.

Arendel felt as if it was far away now, sent falling into a frozen desolate winter the likes of which few had ever seen. The trail of footsteps had vanished in the snow, the appearance of a heavy snow front having wiped away any traces of the kingdom's missing queen.

With every step he took he felt more and more exhausted, but he wasn't going to sit still while Elsa was out here, alone and far from the protection she needed.

The protection he was going to give her.

The protection someone else had refused from him, the protection he'd been so willing to offer, but had ultimately been unable to.

This time he wasn't going to let them turn their backs to him, this time he was taking fate into his own hands, goddesses try and stop him.

But now the tracks had gone cold.

He found himself stopped in the middle of the winter wilderness, breathing heavily as he looked around every which way. Faint images of trees teetered on the edge of his vision, the forests thick and obscured by the dense snowstorm, the cold biting his exposed skin like the bite from a wolf.

Now he was truly lost.

He cursed his luck.

He glanced around, but no one was there. And, even if they were, he found himself uncaring of the fallout that could occur. Closing his eyes, he focused on that dark power hidden within himself, and grabbed hold of it. A forbidden energy swirled around him, and then his form was changed. His view of the world shifted, and before he knew it he had dawned his wolf form once more.

It had been a long time since he'd done so, a very, very long time. The last time he'd changed, he still had that little imp riding his back to accompany him. But now he was alone.

His hind legs bulged with muscles hidden beneath a sheen of beautiful black and grey fur, the white on his paws blending in with the snow beneath him. Sharp fangs glinted in the little light available to him, a handsome wolfish maw staring sternly ahead, black lips pulled into a terse worried frown.

Sharp blue eyes snapped to attention, nose sniffing the air to try and track down any trace of the missing queen. At the very least his fur covered body would be more adequate for surviving the freezing wilderness then his human form could ever hope to achieve, his coat having grown thicker in the time since his journey across Hyrule. Perhaps it was a sign of growing older, letting the past fade away as he focused on the future ahead of him.

Well…

At least that's what Zelda had hypothesized anyway.

Time stretched onward as he trailed after a hint of the woman, her scent on the edge of his senses. Two days passed with little rest, chasing the hint of her scent floating on the winds with little success.

Where?

Where had she gone?

How had she vanished from him so quickly, so fast?

Was she even out here, she too lost in the raging inferno that threatened to consume the land in a world of ice and darkness?

Where had she gone?

Why didn't she just listen? Stay by his side so he could help her?

Why couldn't she have stayed…

Try as he might, even expert use of his beastly form found great difficulty in tracking her through the intensity of the storm, her scent being scattered everywhere. He wasn't ever one to give up, but it was growing more apparent as time moved on that tracking her by scent may prove to be impossible to achieve…

Then he froze.

His eyes widened when he found himself surrounded by a pack of wolves, the creatures all snarling and snapping at him wildly. He didn't panic, straightening up a bit as he leveled a look at the wild beasts that more than gave them all a little pause.

He was not afraid of them, not even in the slightest, and they knew it. The pack leader, a decidedly female beast stared at him with a growl, a growl that slowly shifted into a whine the longer he stared her down with an aura she couldn't ignore. Her ears folded back against the fluff of her winter white coat, averting her eyes as he won the battle of dominance without even lifting a paw.

Seeing their pack leader back down moved the others into submission as well, the wolves backing away as Link turned to continue forward through their territory, chasing the hint of Elsa's scent on the wind. He had little time to be wasting here with these wolves. His heart ached knowing that she was out there somewhere without protection, without anyone by her side, in a terrible, terrible state of mind.

Maybe he could've done something different, gotten to her a bit quicker before she could run away, stop her from freaking out.

She'd spilled her heart to him, telling him of her curse and what it does to anyone who got to close, afraid that she'd hurt even him too. But he was her strength, the shield that defended her from what she felt she couldn't handle herself. With him by her side she felt as if she could do anything, the fear of being chased away from her people curbed as she held his hand.

And then he let her go, and everything spiraled out of control so fast after that he couldn't stop it.

''Weakling…'' He thought to himself bitterly, cursing his own inadequacies that had led up to this moment. If he hadn't hesitated to go after her she began to breakdown, then maybe…?

Then maybe he'd still be holding her in his arms right now, one arm around her back while the other cradled her head to his chest.

But…

It was too late to change that now. All that mattered now was finding her and making sure she was safe.

''Elsa… Please don't do anything rash…'' His heart ached, paws leaving a trail in the snow as he chased her up the mountain.

It was getting dark out now…

His teeth chattered in his maw, the cold reaching his wolfish body through his thick coat as the sun set, bathing him in a dreadful darkness. He blinked the ice that had accumulated on his eyelids away, his left eye blurred no matter what he did.

He was so cold…

He couldn't think straight, couldn't see for more than a few feet in front of him.

Everything hurt.

What was he doing? Thinking that he could have forced his way through that storm in his condition, ignoring the ache in his bones, the bleeding from his chest?

''Damn it…'' He struggled to move forward anymore, the storm only growing more and more violent the further up he went. He couldn't turn back now, run back with his tail tucked between his legs in defeat. He had to get to her, had to reach her, before…

Before…

Before he never got the chance to see her again. He'd already lost someone before, someone so precious to him that she'd taken a part of his heart with her. He wasn't about to lose Elsa too, not when he could do something about it.

He collapsed to his belly, breathing heavily as the cold assaulted his weary body. In a swirl of dark magic he'd returned to his human form, leaning against the shade of an old tree for support.

Try as he might he knew he needed to rest, if only for a moment. Regain his strength, and carry forward as he'd always done.

It's all he knew…

"Oh Goddesses…" He breathed heavily, words muffled by the winds. "Please don't abandon her… Don't let her go…" He begged with a throaty whisper, looking up to the skies above and for a sign.

But all he could hear were the howling winds and the distant barking of wild wolves.

He stopped suddenly, looking up as the glow of a torch in the distance caught his attention. His one good eye narrowed to focus, making out the shape of a small cabin not too far ahead. Struggling, he pushed him forward with all his strength, parting the door open.

The jingling of a bell sounded out as the door burst open, the winds slamming it aside the moment he shifted the lock.

"Hurry, hurry, get inside!" A jolly voice shouted out to him in worry, ushering him inside and out of the cold. He gazed up as a plump red haired man rushed from around a corner, shutting the door behind him before throwing a blanket around his shoulders.

Link stumbled forward, struggling to catch his breath as the temperature inside the shack began to warm him up.

He couldn't even feel his fingers, ice building up on his long elvish ears.

"By the stars! What were you doing out in that storm!? Yer gonna get yerself killed lad!" The big man exclaimed, pulling the frozen hero aside to a crackling fireplace. "Here, warm yerself up while I go fetch you something hot, yeah?"

Link didn't even register the man as he found himself sitting by the fire, his gaze distant, lost.

How?

How had he lost her?

Two days of searching had come up with nothing, the woman vanishing off the face of the world without a trace.

And now?

Now he cold, so very cold.

He just…

Wanted to lay down for a…

For a moment…

She felt like she'd held her breath since she saw him rush headlong into the darkness, the image of his red cloak fluttering in the violent winds as he disappeared still present in her mind. Two whole days had passed since he'd vanished into the storm in pursuit of Elsa, and she hadn't seen nor heard of either of them since.

She was worried, as any woman in her position was within the right to be. Worried about Elsa, yes. But, she was also worried about Link, if not more-so than the girl he'd run after. It had been a long time since she'd seen that sort of resolve in his eyes, that determination to accomplish what he felt he needed to do.

The soul had simply left him after Midna abandoned him on the pedestal, and she'd been there to see his heart shattering and there had been nothing she could do to help it heal. Perhaps as embarrassing as it was to admit, she'd offered the young man her body if it had the chance to pull him from that cold dark place he'd been dropped into since that day.

That night she shared with him had certainly helped a little, and he'd finally started talking again, but save for getting him to stand by her side he rarely left the castle walls. Day in and day out he was simply acting as a knight, the one she trusted most, the one who had saved her life twice over.

But that's not what she wanted for him. She wanted him to be happy, to smile because he wanted to, to feel like he had a reason to live. And, while she knew he held some sort of affection for her, she knew that they probably wouldn't ever become anything more.

It hurt yes, but she understood him enough to know that it wasn't her that was at fault, it was his heart. That night he met Elsa was the first time she'd seen him even smile in a year, and she'd almost squealed at the sight! She'd finally found someone that had pulled his attention, a woman who might be able to help him free from his darkness.

Perhaps that's why he had been attracted to her, sensing the darkness dwelling inside her just below the surface, a darkness he felt that he could do something about. And then suddenly he was fully invested in her, not even leaving her side for the entire coronation party.

Then it all fell apart before anyone had the chance to stop it, and now the small quaint kingdom had been tossed into a quiet wave of fear.

Arendelle was a close kingdom to Hyrule, the closest in fact. Shortly after the metaphorical dust settled she had sent a letter to Hyrule requesting assistance from her soldiers, requesting both food and manpower. She had no idea how long this magical winter was going to last, but Elsa's people needed to be reassured that help was on the way.

There was a power imbalance now in the absence of the Queen, with Anna technically being the only remaining member of royalty inside the castle. But the girl was nowhere near prepared to lead a kingdom, that much was made apparent by her desire to marry the first man she'd met at Elsa's coronation ceremony.

If she didn't step in to render assistance in the absence of a leader, then who would?

She couldn't trust the nobles to make the right decisions in this situation, especially with their view of their missing Ice Queen.

"Link… please come back safe…" She whispered quietly, gaze lost in the thick white forest far outside the castle walls. All was quiet for a moment before the silence was broken by a knock on her door, the wooden frame creaking slightly as a familiar redhead stepped inside. Zelda's eyes widened slightly.

"Anna…" She breathed in surprise, her gaze softening at the tear stained look that had taken up residence over the young girl's face.

"L-Lady Zelda…" Anna murmured quietly, hands clasped together nervously. She looked as if she'd been crying for some time before coming to see her.

The Queen's gaze softened. The poor girl was probably frightened of her sister now, as was much of the people who'd been at the coronation when everything occurred. Many had already come to her to request that she do something about the Ice Witch as Elsa had been so unlovingly nicknamed, but she turned them all away.

Elsa wasn't a demon sent to destroy Arendelle, she was its Queen.

Elsa was-

"M-My sister's not a monster!" The shout had come so suddenly that the Queen of Hyrule couldn't help but flinch at her outburst, blinking in surprise when she found Anna taking her hand with her own, clasping it tightly as if to beg the older woman. "I-I know everyone's scared right now, calling her a monster, a-a-a witch, a demon… B-But she's not!" She told herself that she wasn't going to cry, that she was going to be a big girl in front of the Queen of Hyrule.

But…

When she started talking, the tears started falling.

And there was nothing she could do to stop them.

"I-I don't know what's going on, but please…" She whispered bitterly, on the verge of hysterics. "P-Please don't kill my sister!"

Zelda had to hold back the choked sound of surprise that threatened to slip past her lips at the younger princess's words, a wave of horror washing over her. The words had shaken her so much that it took her a moment longer then usual to kneel down and comfort the girl who'd fallen to her knees, bawling her eyes out as she clutched at the fringes of her dress, pleading.

"I-I already lost my mother and my father… I don't want to lose Elsa too…" No matter how much she wiped at her eyes the tears didn't stop, a sobbing mess in front of the older woman. She wanted to say more, but the thought of what was going to become to Elsa became too much to bear as she broke down into an inconsolable mess.

The blonde was quick to react, silently wrapping the younger girl up in a hug. Anna cried loudly as the older Queen held her head to her bosom, giving her that outlet as she cried out all her pain.

She was mortified at the idea of harming the woman in question and or why Anna had even thought that was even a possibility, but then she realized. Many were aware of her calling for assistance from Hyrule, and now she was afraid that some of the nobles had passed around the idea that she was calling reinforcements for a witch hunt.

And this poor girl had been the one fooled into believing such lies.

"I'm so sorry, Anna…" Zelda whispered quietly, heart going out to the girl. "I have no intention of bringing your sister any harm, perish the thought." She confessed firmly, grip tightening on the girl. "I'll get to the bottom of this, I promise you. Link will bring her back, make things right." She knew her words would take some time to finally calm the girl down, so she didn't rush her.

But…

Once she was, she was going straight to those nobles and setting them straight.

Her way.

For if there was one thing that the Queen of Hyrule was, it was a woman that was not to be trifled with…

Chapter

3

End