Chapter Text
There is a wolf in the woods.
Link can hear it. He hasn't really seen a wolf before, what with the wilds being so overrun with monsters that most animals have long since fled the lands, but he knows what they're supposed to look and sound like. That howl, one he once heard a passing castle guard mimicking to her fellows, is impossible to mistake.
There's an odd smell in the air as well, like magic soaked in earth and petrichor — not necessarily unpleasant, but very unfamiliar. Link isn't sure if this bodes well or not, but purely based on everything he's been encountering in those woods up 'til this point, he's somewhat hesitant to say that the howls are a good sign for him. The Eyes of Ganon lurk in every corner, after all, and how is he to know this isn't one more trap meant to coax him into their waiting claws?
But at his core, Link is an unfortunately curious being, and he's never really been good at not sticking his nose into things. Against his better judgement, he knows he's going into those woods.
He can hear the sounds of tektites scuttling in the distance, but up ahead, it's drowned out by what seems to be a battle echoing through the trees. Link already has his bow out, arrow nocked and ready to fly, but first he needs to get a better look at what he's dealing with. Through the greenery he can see a handful of moblins and darknuts in various colours, all dashing about after some large greyish creature evading their every move on four legs, and at the very opposite end of the clearing, a pair of wizzrobes in red and blue are chanting in unison. That grey beast must be the wolf — it's enormous, much bigger than he was expecting it to be, but the way it's moving doesn't look quite right. Is it injured?
Link inches closer, careful to stay concealed in the branches as he observes the scene laid out before him. It's a lot of enemies, but nothing he hasn't faced before — though, it may be difficult to avoid any injury when up against so many foes, and Link knows he can't afford to shed a single drop of blood. The Eyes of Ganon are always watching.
A whimper, one that sounds almost involuntary and is choked off less than a moment after it begins, draws Link's attention to the wolf as it staggers away from a particularly lucky darknut. Before Link even knows it, a silver arrow is flying from his bow to bury itself right in the darknut's chest, making it drop the sword it was about to bring down on the poor wolf's neck.
But now, he's revealed his position to the enemies. Now, it's time to fight.
Link bursts out of the trees and lets three more arrows fly in quick succession, knocking back the moblins who had attempted to rush him. One takes the arrow straight to the skull and goes crumpling to the ground, body beginning to disintegrate into black dust like the rest of his corrupted fellows will in just a few minutes.
He's tempted to use Fire or Thunder to just wipe out as many of these enemies as he can, but with the trees overhead, he's a little worried about causing collateral damage. Hyrule's damaged lands can't take a spreading forest fire, and Link certainly wouldn't want to be caught in the middle of said forest while it burns. His own magic will only catch onto his targets, of course, but if it doesn't kill them immediately then the flames on their bodies are liable to spread and catch without Link's permission.
Drawing his sword, Link hacks and slashes at the approaching enemies, trying to clear a path to the wizzrobes whilst still keeping the battered shield hooked onto his arm up and ready to block. One little nick, one scrape, and—
No. It won't happen. Link refuses to let it.
Another moblin falls to his blade, leaving behind a little wisp of life energy that bolster's Link's own. He can already feel his innate magic getting to work at keeping his body in top shape, easing the ache and strain from blocking such heavy blows, even if none so far have actually manages to damage him.
A sound from behind pricks his ears, and he whips around just in time to see a blue darknut right behind him, ready to swing its sword right into his shoulder. Link is raising his shield already, but he's not fast enough, it's going to hit him and he can't do a single thing, he doesn't have time to dodge or block or—
Link jolts back as a grey blur rockets up from the ground and bodily knocks the darknut back, giving him just enough time to scrabble for his sword and plunge it into the monster's chest. It begins to disintegrate with a final dying wail, and Link pauses for just long enough to fix the wolf with a wide-eyed, startled stare. It… helped him. It might've saved his life, in fact, because if that darknut had gotten his sword arm, he really might have been screwed.
But there's no time to dwell on that now. Most of the darknuts and moblins have fallen, but the two wizzrobes are cooking up something nasty, and Link stows his sword for just a moment so he can draw his bow and nock a silver arrow.
At his side, the wolf lets out a long, low growl, predatory gaze fixed on the two enemies. The thing nearly comes up to his elbow with its head down in a fighting stance like this — just how tall would it be if it fully straightened up?
Link dodges the two wizzrobes' beams as he shoots arrow after arrow at them, already feeling the pang of his quickly depleting supply. Some of these, he should be able to reuse at least, but he won't get to that point at all if he doesn't hurry up and kill these things. He didn't come all this way and go through everything Ganon and his followers threw at him just to die here to a pair of wizzrobes.
With the wolf at his side, Link draws his sword once more, hoisting his shield to protect his vital organs as he charges toward the wizzrobes. Their attacks are wide-ranged and unpredictable, but Link is an expert at dodging, and the wolf weaves past the beams with surprising grace. It seems oddly in sync with him, covering his blind spots and even letting out a sharp huff to let him know one of the wizzrobes is about to teleport.
It doesn't get the chance to finish its casting, though, not when Link wills his magic to lift him high into the air, his Jump spell bringing him high enough to cleave the blue wizzrobe in two.
The red wizzrobe shrieks with rage, but without its fellow guarding its back, it's no match for Link and the wolf. Before long, its body falls to the ground, disintegrating into black ash as Link staggers back. His grip on his sword is still iron, ready for another wave of enemies to appear from the trees to surround him and bleed him dry, but there's nothing left in these woods but him… and the beast watching him with wary, hesitant eyes.
Link stares at the wolf, waiting for it to run, attack, anything, but all the wolf does is stare back.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the wolf takes a few steps forward and lowers itself to the ground, body flat against the brownish moss as it looks up at Link with eyes far too intelligent for a mere animal. Now that it's still and up close, Link can see the dark blood matting the fur of its left front leg and shoulder, oozing sluggishly from a deep slice that narrowly missed its throat.
"You're not going to hurt me," Link whispers, barely audible. His words rarely are anymore, not when it's so easy to be overheard in the wilds of Hyrule. He can't afford to draw any attention that might lead the Eyes of Ganon to him. "If I come closer, you won't bite."
The wolf stares at him for a moment longer, and then, its head shifts minutely in what could only be an affirmative nod.
Link inches closer, then a few steps more, and suddenly he's right in front of the wolf, near enough to lay his hand on its head. It does look soft, but he refrains, unwilling to push his luck and lose a finger for his troubles. Instead, he moves 'round the side to take a look at the creature's wound, hands hovering hesitantly as he inspects it. It's difficult to tell if any bones are broken without… well, sticking his hands around the injured area and possibly risking a chomp, but at the least, he knows this cut is going to need some extra help to heal without infection.
"I can help you, but we need to leave this place," Link tells the wolf, watching as it shifts its head to watch him. "It's not safe to stay out in the open. If you can follow me, I can lead the way to somewhere safer."
The wolf raises itself to its full height, notably avoiding putting too much weight on that front leg. It's just as big as he thought it was, nearly reaching his shoulder with its head held high up. Once it realises just how tall it is compared to him, though, the wolf surreptitiously lowers its head further down again, clearly trying to seem as harmless and nonthreatening as possible.
Link glances at its front leg for just a moment, but it seems to be able to walk fairly well despite the wound. With that in mind, he begins to lead the way to a nearby cave, keeping his pace far more measured than usual to take the wolf's injury into account. Normally, he would bolt through these woods in moments, too aware of exactly how many monsters lurk and what he might face if they caught him off-guard, but he doesn't want to risk exacerbating his companion's injuries, much less leaving it behind because it couldn't keep up.
oOoOo
Link has no fucking clue where he is right now.
Last he checked, he was running through the Faron Woods in wolf form, taking the rare chance to stretch his legs without terrifying the townsfolk. Then he'd seen that portal, so similar to what had once led him to Midna's realm, and…
Well. This is not the Twilight Realm, and Link has no idea how he's going to get back home again.
What he does know is that the little boy with bow is probably his best bet at figuring out what's going on, not to mention his best option for an ally right now. The kid's obviously wary, but Link is really doing his best not to scare him. It doesn't help that Link's wolf form is enormous, and this kid is upsettingly wispy.
The boy leads him into a nearby cave for safety, which is… a choice. Link has never known caves to be safe, but then, this kid is clearly more familiar with this area than he is. Maybe he's already cleared out all of the monsters in the cave today, or maybe this place doesn't even have cave monsters. It's not like Link knows either way. Of course, it's also possible that he's about to walk into a trap, but for some reason that just feels unlikely.
Maybe it's the kid's fighting spirit, or the hesitant, quiet way he offered Link safety in return for not being hurt, but Link finds himself strangely inclined to trust this boy. If that trust turns out to be misplaced… well, he'll deal with that if and when the time comes.
The remains of a campfire, long since done smoldering, rest in the middle of the cave. The boy takes a handful of broken branch pieces from a small pile hidden against the crags of the cave wall and arranges them on it, hunching over it for a moment before straightening up to reveal a low-burning fire that brings light and warmth into the dank cave. Link looks up at the ceiling, wondering about the smoke, but much to his surprise, there's a thin draft coming in through the cave's small opening that carries the smoke toward the back.
The boy notices him looking, and bobs his head toward the drifting smoke. "There's a gap at the back of the cave that the smoke blows through. Keeps the air clearer and makes it harder to find the entrance."
Link nods in understanding. Now that he looks closer, it's pretty clear that this cave has been used as a home base before. Aside from the firewood, there seem to be a few supply boxes tucked away in the corners as well, arranged in a way that makes them blend in fairly well with the cave wall.
As Link watches, the boy rifles through one of the boxes until he finds a small jar of water and a wad of cloth, creeping tentatively over to Link's wounded shoulder.
"'M gonna clean the wound with this, and then I can heal you," the boy mumbles. That's one other thing that hasn't escaped Link's notice — the kid never speaks louder than a murmur, though he's enunciating carefully like he's worried about his words being misheard. Did he have issues with speaking to people in the past, or is he just so used to staying perfectly silent that he's somewhat forgotten how an ordinary townsperson would talk?
Link, deciding to try and make this as easy for the boy as possible, presses his whole body flat against the ground and folds his ears back for good measure. Not that he thinks the kid's going to pour water over his head and get it in his ears, of course, but one can never been too careful. Besides, it's something of a show of trust as well — Link, at this point, feels like he can trust this strange little traveller enough to dampen his senses a little. He may not know why he feels that way, but his instincts have rarely led him wrong before.
The boy kneels beside him and uncaps the jar, wetting the cloth and ever so carefully beginning to clean off the flaking blood that had just begun to dry on Link's fur. He's almost impossibly gentle, and if Link didn't know any better, he'd barely even know the kid was there. Once he's cleaned the splotchiest bits to his satisfaction, the boy takes the jar and trickles just enough water out of it to dampen the wound, turning the cloth to a clean edge so he can wipe off the cut itself. Link holds back a wince as the motion tugs at stinging flesh, but it's really nothing compared to when he cleans his own wounds out.
"Red blood, not black," the boy mumbles to himself, barely audible if not for Link's enhanced hearing in his wolven form. His tone raises infinitesimally as he continues, nowhere near a normal speaking volume, but now loud enough that he clearly wants Link to hear him. "I'm going to heal you now, 'kay? Please try to hold still."
Link does his best to hold still as the boy raises both hands to the wound, palms glowing with a soft green light as the muscle and skin begins to knit itself back together. It's kind of uncomfortable, the sensation more than a little weird, but it doesn't hurt. When Link raises his head to get a look at his shoulder, the cut is completely sealed, leaving nothing more than a thin white line that disappears beneath his fur the moment he flexes his leg.
"There," the boy whispers. "That feels better, right?"
It does. It also confirms that this boy is not a normal traveller, because Link has never met another person capable of doing magic like that just out and about on the road, and this kid literally appeared out of the woods like some kind of divine blessing.
He stands up fully, moving his front leg a bit to test out the range of mobility. Even the bruising further down is healed now, like it never even happened in the first place.
Link wants to talk to this boy. He wants to thank him properly, with Hylian words and not wolfish nods and barks, and offer his assistance with anything the boy might need. He had no reason to help Link, after all. The only thing driving him was selfless courage, and that is something Link hates to see go unrewarded — even if it's kind of the whole point that no reward is expected. The kid clearly doesn't expect anything more, but, well, Link is pretty confident that he deserves some kind of compensation for sticking his neck out like that.
"Do you… want me to get that, too?" The boy asks quietly.
Link pauses, cocking his head in confusion. Get what? He doesn't have any more wounds, or at least, he didn't think he did.
The little traveller, seeming to notice his confusion, points at his back ankle. "You must have been imprisoned somewhere. That can't be comfortable, so… do you want me to try and take it off?"
He's… offering to remove the shackle. The one that had chained him in that dungeon so long ago, back when he'd first met Midna, back when he understood so little of the world. Link had never been able to do anything about it, what with wolves not having hands, and Midna didn't seem to register it as an issue since Link never complained about it. After a while, he'd gotten used to the thing. It was just… always there.
And now it could be gone. Just like that.
Link steps forward hesitantly, then lays down again, this time on his side and looking up at the boy. The little traveller moves to his chained back leg, inspecting it carefully, though he pointedly avoids touching the metal itself. From somewhere in his pack, he takes out a few small pins and sticks them into the tiny keyhole, fiddling with it for a few moments that seem to stretch on for eternity before Link hears a resounding click.
The shackle falls to the floor with a loud clatter, making both of them jump. It's… off. It's finally gone.
He has to thank the boy, how could he not? Link barely even thinks about it before he's shifting back into his Hylian form, sitting up to face the wide-eyed little traveller that had freed him of his final inescapable burden.
"Thank you," Link begins, pouring every ounce of sincerity into his words. "You have no idea how grateful I am for your help, little traveller."
The kid's staring at him like a startled deer, looking moments away from bolting. Oh, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Link isn't trying to scare him, really! What could he possibly say to calm the kid down? A bit of an explanation would be good, right?
"I'm sorry for startling you," Link continues, figuring that's a good place to start, "but, ah, I didn't want to keep making you think I was just a normal forest animal. It's just harder to shift back if I'm injured. Um… my name is Link, from Ordon Village. I don't really know how I got here, actually, I'm kind of lost… but I got caught up with those monsters when I was trying to find my way home, so you really saved me back there."
"Your name is Link," the boy repeats.
Link nods. "I, um, I know it doesn't really make much sense, the wolf thing, but I promise I'm not gonna hurt ya. I just wanted to thank you for helping me."
The little traveller is on his feet now, whole body tense and ready to run. Link doesn't understand — what did he say to freak the poor kid out so badly?
"Is there… anything I can do to help you in return, since you kinda saved me?" Link offers. "I could help you get home, maybe?"
He steps forward, hand outstretched in what's meant to be a placating gesture, but the kid gasps and jolts back like Link just tried to strike him. Before Link can even retract his hand, much less apologise, the little traveller bolts.
One moment he's there, and the next, vanished into the wind. Link has lost his little saviour already.
Well, shit.
oOoOo
The wolf is a man.
The wolf turned into a man. Link can't believe it — normally, he'd be berating himself for being so stupid as to let his guard down, but how was he to know that wolves could do that?!
But more than that… it's what the man had said. He'd claimed his name was Link, that he'd come from a village not on Hyrule's map and had gotten lost. He'd stumbled over his words and offered his assistance so awkwardly, so genuinely, and Link—
Link couldn't tell if he was lying.
Whatever dark magics it was that had let him transform from wolf to man, they didn't play nicely with Link's fae lineage. Normally, any passerby's words could ring with truth or deceit, but from this strange being, there was nothing.
He can't trust a word out of this stranger's mouth. Transforming from a creature to a man, and somehow avoiding Link's innate sense for deception — how can he be sure this man isn't something like an Ache, trying to worm his way past the Hero's defenses to lead him into a trap? It wouldn't be the first time it happened, even if this being's transformative magic is unlike any he's ever seen. No, Link can't trust him, no matter how sincere and genuine he may have seemed on the surface.
He gets a fair bit of the way into the woods before he finally slows to a stop, pressed against the trunk of a hardy oak as his ears twitch and strain, trying desperately to hear if anyone is pursuing him. All he picks up are the sounds of the surrounding forest, though, and after a few minutes of waiting, he finally allows some of the tension to seep from his shoulders as he slides down to sit on the ground. Luckily, he'd never put down most of his things when he'd entered the cave, so he still has almost all of his supplies. He won't be able to go back to that base, though, not for a long time, unless he wants to take the risk of the wolven stranger having laid a trap for him to stumble into.
Stupid and naive — how could he have thought for even a second that getting involved in some strange beast's business would end well for him? His bleeding heart always gets him into trouble, and yet, he still can't bear the thought of just leaving someone to suffer when he knows there's something he can do about it.
But then… the Aches always present themselves to him in a Hylian form first. Why would this shapeshifter show himself in a wolven form first? And for that matter, the monsters attacking him had no way of knowing that Link would be in the area, much less that he would notice the wolf getting attacked and decide to step in. It could have been staged to get Link out of hiding, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from getting involved, but it just doesn't make sense for the stranger to have ended up properly injured before Link even arrived in that case.
Nothing about this is adding up. Link doesn't know what to think, what to believe — should he treat the man as an enemy, or assume that he was telling the truth? And if he was trying to get Link's guard down, why introduce himself with Link's own name and claim he came from a village that doesn't exist?
The idea of someone else using his name is so foreign to Link. Perhaps it's the fae in him, but it just doesn't feel right, to have his own name shared by a stranger in any capacity.
…Hm.
He needs to observe this odd man more, but he doesn't want to be noticed. Running around in Hylian form is usually better if he gets into a fight, but it's not always the stealthiest, especially in open areas where there are no trees to climb up or duck behind. But… if he were even smaller, small enough to hide in the brownish moss and weeds, small enough to go unnoticed where any Hylian would stick out like a sore thumb, he'd be able to follow that man until he could be absolutely sure whether or not he could be trusted.
In moments, the Hylian form behind the oak is gone, replaced with the miniscule figure of a fairy sitting on the ground. Link's wings flutter as he brushes himself off, making sure he's got all of his things before he takes flight. It won't take him too long to get back to the cave, but now, he can keep watch unnoticed and see this man's true intentions.
If he proves he can be trusted, then perhaps Link will return to his Hylian form and reveal himself once more — and if not, well. If he could win against Ganon, this shapeshifter will be no match for his sword.