The Wolf and The Bird

[Illidan Stormrage]

Link stepped gingerly into the forest. Dried sticks and withered leaves threatened to crunch underfoot and alert whatever menace lay within if he didn't watch his path. Dappled sunlight shone through the shadow of the trees, clots of brightness swaying with the branches in the wind. He skulked around the thick trunks, peering out behind them, using them as cover. The flap of wings heralded the presence of his summoned bird overhead, hidden by the forest canopy, although Link couldn't fathom what it was doing. He didn't order it to come closer ... did he?

As he ventured further into the forest, he realised that the woman's cry had stopped. He swallowed hard. Was he too late? He increased his pace, trying to estimate as best he could the direction that her loud plea last sounded from. A thought in the back of his mind wondered where the Hero's Shade ended up, but he quickly ignored it and pressed on.

"Help me! Anyone!"

Link swung to the left. She was close. He darted through the trees that blocked his view and stumbled into a small clearing, the leafy ceiling blocking the sky. A woman hung by a rope from her ankles, her arms dangling. She was a lithe woman, built of lean muscle. She rotated slowly as she dangled, putting Link in mind of a pig on a spit. Her face turned and her brown eyes widened at the sight of him.

"You! Yes, please get me down from here!"

Link's eyes quested for a threat. He expected some sort of outlaw to reveal themselves from the tree line, ready to take their captive. Nothing happened.

The Hero of Time craned his neck. The rope was tied high up in the tree. Even though nothing threatened them in an immediate sense, Link knew someone would return for their prize. Any time wasted gave the woman's captors another chance to interrupt his rescue attempt.

"Hold on!" Link shouted back, resheathing his sword and shield. He grasped the bow on his back and notched it. "I'll get you down in a second. Just don't squirm."

"Hey! Don't shoot me!" she yelled.

Link pulled the bowstring taut. "Then stop squirming and I won't miss."

The woman grimaced and shrunk into a ball as much as the rope allowed. Link focused and pictured a small flame in his mind. Through the magic of the Hero's Bow, that flame transferred into reality, sprouting to life over the head of the arrow. It burned contently, contained on the steel, never changing. Link lined up the fire arrow, aimed, and loosed.

A thin line of smoke trailed in the arrow's wake. The shot hit its mark, the hot steel slicing through the rope. The woman screamed and fell. Link threw the bow down and sprinted forward, arms outstretched. She hit Link hard, buckling his knees, but the catch was successful. Link lowered her to her feet and dusted himself off.

"Thank you," the woman said, brushing the fringe from her eyes. She ran long fingers through short cropped hair. "If I was up there much longer I would've passed out."

Link collected his bow. "What happened to you? Why were you strung up like that?"

"Hunting rabbits," she said. A faded sliver of a scar ran down her cheek as if she once cried a molten tear. "I was chasing one of the little buggers and didn't see the snare. So up I went." She pointed to the base of a nearby tree. "There was the shot I made as the rope lifted me up."

An arrow dug into the exposed root of the tree. Link looked back to her. "Is someone else hunting game here too? It wasn't your snare, was it?"

The woman frowned. "Of course not. I don't know who's it is."

The branches above ruffled. Link instinctively withdrew his weapon and shield and snapped his neck up. Someone was already falling, clad in forest greens, two short blades in hand.

Link shoved his shield forward. The figure planted his feet on the curved surface and pushed off into a backflip. He landed in a crouch, looking at the ground, a cowl concealing his face.

It was a trap. Who would want to capture someone in the middle of a forest? Link thrust the Master Sword into the air. A moment later, a bolt of blue light struck the steel and infused into it, coursing up and down its length like water. The Skyward Strike burned for release; Link could feel it tingling through his grip.

"Stand down, thief," he warned.

He laughed so unexpectedly that Link almost dropped his shield. The sound cut the silence of the forest, throaty and deep. He flicked his face up, but the shade of his cowl hid all but his mouth. "Nice sword. A Prime, are you? No one but them ever have the good stuff like glowing swords. And you're altruistic to boot. You'll make a fine prize."

Link grimaced. One thing he learned from Ganondorf was to never telegraph an attack by adding a one line retort to the self indulgent muttering of your foe. He slashed down and a bolt of spinning energy raced forth. The thief dodged. The bolt buzzed into the tree behind him, biting a thick chunk from the base.

The thief showed a well practiced smile. "Do you know how to use a sword, or just throw pretty light from it?"

Link surged forward. He swung with the Master Sword, but the thief caught it with both knives. He was deceptively strong. They struggled for a moment before the thief pushed back, separating them. Link pressed him, the silver of the blade flashing with borrowed sunlight. The thief moved swiftly, catching and deflecting each strike midst splashes of sparks. Link swept through his midsection, but the thief hopped back, hurling a knife forward. The Hylian shield rose too slowly and the blade thudded into Link's shoulder. A dam of sharp, slick pain burst inside his skin, blood streaming, darkening the green of his tunic. Link grabbed the hilt and jerked it free. The red rivers' flow thickened.

"You're short a knife," Link said, tossing it high into the trees, vanishing behind the rustle of the canopy.

"And your shield arm is weaker," the thief said. "You're in pain. You're more prone to make a mistake."

Link leaped forward, sword poised overhead. The thief hopped back. Just want he wanted. Link swung down, letting the blade hit the grass, and in the same fluid motion, hurled the shield from his arm like a frisbee. The wound in his shoulder flared and burned in protest, and he knew he forfeited the strength in his right arm to do it, but he aimed it true. As nimble and wry as the thief was, he didn't foresee Link's action. He rose his forearms in defense but the collision was too much. The shield clanged noisily on impact and the thief fell hard on his back.

In two short strides, Link stood over him and pinned his throat with the point of the Master Sword. "Surrender."

The thief propped himself on elbows and grinned arrogantly. "I don't think so."

A thin cool edge pressed against Link's neck. Another sharp point rested firmly over his stomach. "Drop the sword." A female voice. The woman he saved.

Link looked out of the edge of his eyes. "This was a trap."

"Perceptive," she whispered into his ear. "Now drop the sword and I won't open you up like the rabbit I pretended to hunt."