He slipped the nut inside of his hat, which he was using as a makeshift bag. Equipped with only his shield, he had nothing else to carry these nuts that Truett had spotted in a small, dry clearing and immediately snapped at him to collect. Now his hat was nearly full and he picked up another, looking for any flaws, though he had not found any thus far.
“Don’t try to eat them, Link,” Truett said, fluttering overhead.
He shot a frown at her, but shook his head and hurriedly put the nut in his hat. “You said these are magic, aren’t they?”
“Yes. They sort of work like small bombs. If you throw them at a Hylian or animal, it will stun them, though it won’t hurt them very much. It’s more effective on Wolfos and other monsters.” She flew down closer to him. “They won’t help much if these people you’re trying to save try to kill you again.”
Not answering her, he finished stuffing his hat and then stood up, his shield on his right arm while using his left to hold his hat securely, but not too tightly.
Truett took off flying through the dark Forbidden Woods. The tree-covered mountain was now very steep, with rocks that were still frozen over from the previous night. The clouds seeped in among the trees, covering the woods in wispy, cold, white wetness. But Truett continued flying onwards confidently, her fairy light guiding the way. Brushing past a tree with particularly low-hanging black, bare branches sheeted with ice, Link noticed the closer they got to the summit of the mountain of the woods, the more gnarled and older the trees got.
Now it was nearly night, but as they were now on level with the clouds, the fog blocked any light the setting sun had to offer. Although he did not consider it by any means his most valuable item, Link found himself wishing for his magical lantern that always gave him as much light as he needed for the situation. Guided now by only Truett’s pale light, he had to catch himself many times from falling and tripping.
Suddenly, she stopped flying, and hissed at him, “Stop! Stop now!”
He skidded to a halt, sliding just a little on some ice. A cold wind smacked him in the face and he lifted his shield up against it, shivering. Lowering it down as the wind passed, the clouds began to part.
They were on the edge of a small cliff, with a sheer drop below. Several high stones shot up like fat, sharp spears, and the rest of the gully was covered with crusty ice and snow that had been blasted against the cliff’s face. Beneath the drop he could see a small clearing, lined by trees. In the clearing were the figures of five men, two larger than the rest and holding swords. It was the researchers and their guards. They had lit four large campfires in a tightly knit circle, and did not have their tents out.
“Waiting for the Wolfos in a clearing with fire, idiots,” Truett muttered. “The fire will help them for a while, but they’ve trapped themselves, the monsters aren’t…”
She trailed off. Link looked around with his eyes, his body instinctively still and ready to spring, frowning at the darkness and the clouds ahead and the forest. It had gone quiet. Up until that moment, the Wolfos had continued to howl occasionally, though as it grew louder as they had drawn nearer, it had grown sparser and sparser. Now, both the woods and the monsters were completely silent.
“They’re moving in for the kill,” Truett hissed, darting down near Link’s shoulder. “Look!”
There were loud, furious shouts as Link looked back down at the clearing below. The researchers and the armed guards began to pick up torches and wave them around in wide circles. Among the dark trees were the inhuman reflections of bright red eyes.
Creeping out of the woods were the dark shapes of the Wolfos, their white teeth bared in a noiseless snarl. They looked much like white-grey wolves, but were much larger than wolves, their front bodies as stocky as bears with slimmer back hips and legs—they were certainly bigger than any of the men below. They did not growl, but slowly stalked noiselessly into the clearing, only hesitating when the men dashed the fire out towards them and shouted with volume that was only possible due to the stress of the situation.
Link’s senses were brought back by Truett whispering, “Are you sure you just don’t want to let the Wolfos eat them all? They won’t harm any of your stuff that those jerks have with them.”
Glaring at her, Link quickly switched hands with the hat-ful of nuts and used his free hand to secure his shield tighter onto his arm. Afterwards he grabbed his hat, closing it, asking, “What’s the fastest way down?”
“I guess you could rush down the cliff, but you’d die. Follow me.” She took off along the cliff top, heading towards the trees. He had to run to keep up with her as she took him along a makeshift path that sloped downwards. From the distance, he could hear the shouts of the men turning high pitched and panicked. There was a faint rumbling, like the earth shifting in the distance. Soon he realized it was the Wolfos’ growling.
There was a horrible cry and the Wolfos were snarling and barking freely, loudly, like the dreadful trumpeting of a furious bear about to lay its claws on its prey. Leaping over a fallen log, firelight shone at him through the trees ahead. He sprinted past Truett for the light, his vision tunneling, all the noises around him dimming as he concentrated on trying to get his feet to move as fast as possible.
He broke into the clearing. Three Wolfos were gathered in the side of the clearing, tearing into something hidden by their massive fore-bodies and front legs. Three others were snapping at Vinn, the guard, and the three researchers. The oldest researcher, Faron, had his crossbow out, but he was as pale as a sheet, his body and hands rigid, frozen. Gutoh, the middle-aged researcher, still had his torch in hand and was still shouting impressively along with Vinn while Roe, the youngest researcher, was cowering back, his eyes darting around madly—looking as though he might bolt at any moment.
A Wolfos trotted back from Gutoh’s torch and then sped up, taking a sharp turn, lunging for the men, its teeth flashing. Grabbing a nut out of his hat, Link threw it at the monster, hitting it midair, squarely in its head. There was a loud bang and a flash of light. The Wolfos fell to the ground with a loud thump as the rest of the monsters dashed or leapt away from the source, howling in surprise. The men were shouting in confusion, some swearing horribly. Black dots in his eyes from the flash and his ears ringing, Link saw that the Wolfos the nut had hit was stunned—lying on the ground, its legs were stiff, its body rigid; it almost seemed to have turned into stone.
“Now! Kill it now!” Link shouted at Vinn and Faron as he hurried to stand near them and the fires. Vinn was unsteady on his feet, shaken by the flash and noise of the Deku nut, rubbing his eyes incessantly, but Faron raised his crossbow and unleashed a quarrel that went straight into the Wolfos’ skull.
The other monsters were still recovering, grunting and whining, though a couple began to growl, running straight for them. Faron, who now had his wits about him, reloaded his crossbow and fired another bolt while Link threw a nut at each of the monsters. When they were stunned, Vinn ran forward with a yell and clumsily cut at them with his sword, screaming with each stroke until he finally dealt a lethal blow.
The Wolfos were drawing back to the edge of the clearing, crowding around one area, still growling. They were reaching down to the ground, biting and pulling at something hidden by their bodies. Link saw a trail of blood following them.
“That’s Narif!” Vinn’s voice was a hoarse scream. “That’s Narif they’ve got!”
Before the guard could rush forward foolishly, Link pulled out another large nut and threw it at the monsters, just barely missing them. He closed his eyes in time for the flash of light, and reopened to see the monsters hurrying away, yelping and barking, choking, furious. As they ran away, they began to howl again.
Left behind in their wake was the large, white body of the guard Narif. Vinn ran towards it, finally silent, but stopped midway. The researchers walked forward hesitantly, also quiet—all of them holding their breaths.
Link knew better than to look and hung back. He did glance once, just enough to see that the guard’s body was covered in blood, torn up like plowed dirt, and that he was missing his legs and arms. The Wolfos must have taken them with him, Link guessed.
The sound of retching ripped out in the air as Roe, the young researcher, turned away from the corpse and vomited. Vinn was muttering out an endless stream of curse words as Gutoh and Faron retreated back towards the fires. Gutoh promptly fell onto his knees and grabbed his head, shaking it. Link could barely hear him mumble, “Nothing was supposed to happen. Nothing would happen, that’s what Talno said…”
Link took a step towards the center of the flames, but his foot nearly slipped out from underneath him. His head spinning, he took a breath and put his hands on his knees, leaning forward towards the ground, facing away from the flames. Slowly he breathed the cold, clear night air as his vision stopped swimming and the murkiness in his vision vanished. For the first time in his life, he glad his stomach was empty from a day without food.
The Legend of Zelda and characters copyright Nintendo
"The Legend of Zelda: Deluge" writing and original concepts and characters copyright Mahira / Mahira-chan
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