Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.

Arctic Wolf

Chapter 9

In Which the Author Got Lost in the Wild

The goddesses were mocking her.

Or at least it felt that way. Her existence as of late seemed to be an unending series of sick jokes, and this latest development was just the next step in what was likely divine punishment for some transgression she was not aware of. It all started when Shad, dear sweet, gullible, and socially inept Shad, had the gall to court and marry that farm girl, Ilia, when he barely even knew her. Granted, the young woman was sweet, but she took Ashei's only close friend when she married him, and so Ashei could not find it within herself to like her. It wasn't the marriage that had pissed her off; no, she wanted Shad to be happy. It had been the fact that Shad decided to relocate to Ordon that really got her.

She didn't venture that far from the mountain ranges nowadays, and though she heard that the Ordonia province was beautiful, she was often too busy with her own work to head that far away from the mountains for anything other than to update Auru on the state of things. Once she had a day's rest at Telma's, off she'd go to continue her patrols. On occasion the old man would have something special for her, from investigating monster sightings and the possibility of dark magics, to looking into reports of poachers or destructive behavior within the kingdom's lands, and sometimes just to search for a missing person, be they wayward subjects or outlaws on the run.

She was one of the few rangers that traveled all over the mountainous borders of Hyrule, checking in with the other rangers and making sure things were being done right, along with her own separate duties. Although in truth, the nomadic nature of her job stemmed from not being able to get along with almost any of the rangers for more than a few hours time. It wasn't her fault that the knights and former guards of Hyrule were spineless cowards, maybe if they would shape up and grow a backbone she could go more than five minutes in their presence without having to fight the urge to deck them.

The day she found a place where the other locals didn't infuriate her would be the day she might consider taking up a more permanent position. Maybe…

As of yet though, no such luck. The last so-called ranger she'd been stuck around had been a knight of the kingdom, and she managed to last a week before his arrogant, asinine behavior forced her to knock his lights out. Although… sometimes she wondered if perhaps it wasn't so much him as it was her. Yes, he had been a pompous fool, but at the same time, Shad had been one of the very few people who could temper her attitude and make her—dare she admit it—affable to some degree. With him gone all the way to Ordon, though, her mood soured even around Auru and Telma to a noticeable degree.

Her presence on Snowpeak was as much of her own choosing as it was a less-than-subtle suggestion from Auru that she needed to get some air and cool off. She'd backhandedly insulted Ilia when the young woman had expressed her hope to find her childhood friend, Link, but Ashei didn't care how rude she'd been. It had been Ilia's fault that the young hero had disappeared, and to only now try to find him because she missed him? She should have thought about that before she agreed to Shad's proposal. It was obvious that she was the main reason Link had gone through so much trouble during the crisis, and then to turn around and marry someone else? Who wouldn't want to get away?

But regardless, Auru felt that she had been out of line. And Shad had looked so hurt from her outburst that Ashei couldn't help but try to make it up to him, even if it was technically for Ilia in the end. And so off she'd gone, checking in with the few sparse rangers that were willing to look over the frigid region for signs of Link, eventually to meet up with them to aid in the search. She'd just have to resist the urge to kick the foolish girl into a snowbank in the meantime. And nothing would make her take back her words. Starry-eyed Ilia could not have the world as she wanted it. She already took Shad, so she had no right—in Ashei's opinion—to want her best friend back as well when it was obvious why he left.

Besides, it wasn't like she had anything else to do. This was her life. She wasn't like other women, and she didn't know the first thing about being a housewife, nor did she want to. She'd rather die on a battlefield in glory than live out her days taking care of someone else.

Unfortunately, it seemed the world was all too willing to oblige her with irony and give her neither. Things continued to go downhill as she reached Snowpeak, with no one having heard or seen anything about Link, to a blizzard that seemed to come out of nowhere, getting attacked by a bear, and ending with her bleeding out, shivering with hypothermia, and passing out from blood loss after witnessing a giant white wolf rip the throat of a bear out. As far as endings went, hers was summing up to be downright pathetic.

So she was understandably surprised when she woke up, slightly feverish, but alive and in a warm bed in a cozy, dim room.

Though Ashei had been reasonably confused at the time, it didn't stop her instincts from taking over. She took in her surroundings with the keen observation skills honed over years and years of surviving on her own. Whoever lived here was a builder or tinkerer, but also clearly well versed with weapons. Many tables were dotted around the room, cluttered with tools and half finished projects. A few even held weapons, from bows, quivers, a half-assembled crossbow, and even a few pieces of stray armor that had been haphazardly left around. Some things had even spilled over onto the clearly hand-crafted sofas and chairs, accompanied by discarded books and wayward scrolls worn with use.

A few dressers and wardrobes stood against the walls, and there was even a vanity with a bowl and pitcher meant for washing up in one corner. The other corners seemed dominated by abandoned cushions, pillows, furs, and blankets, as if to make makeshift bedding. As for the bed she was carefully tucked into, it had been clearly layered with care, with the ones directly against her being soft to the touch, while the upper layers were thick and intended to keep in the warmth. Even the pillows were admittedly rather nice, being firm but supple, and not flat as some tended to be when filled with down.

It was definitely someone's home, and seeing as the windows were covered with thick, heavy drapes, and she could hear the wind howling outside, there was no doubt she was still in Snowpeak. Interestingly, there were only windows on one side of the room, suggesting that the house continued on in at least three directions. And from the sheer amount of space, it was probably a sizable location. So the question was where?

She could tell that whoever lived here wasn't use to guests, seeing as the furniture normally meant for resting on were piled with things and making them unsuitable for use without first significant effort to clear them. Only a few exceptions could be seen, where the owner clearly spent most of their time when in the room.

As for herself… Ashei pulled off some of the blankets to check where she'd been injured, and was surprised to find herself stripped of her bloodied clothes and her wounds properly cared for. The bandages were tinged pink and yellow from where her wounds were probably still oozing a bit, but it wasn't as bad as she thought they should have been. In fact, by all reason she shouldn't have survived. Which led to the question: how was she still alive?

Despite efforts of the lit fireplace to stave off the cold, the shill in the air drove Ashei to replace the blankets as she fought of a shiver and tried to think of how she ended up here, and where here was.

Well, she tried. There was nothing at all between the encounter with the wolf and her waking up here. Unwilling to lay around in ignorance in an unknown location, Ashei was about to get up and search for answers when she heard the footsteps.

Although footsteps was perhaps too soft of a term. Each step was heavy, and as they grew louder, Ashei realized that it was the sound of someone climbing stairs, and growing steadily louder. Two story building, then.

Her gear was nearby—she'd seen it as she checked out the room—but there wasn't enough time to don it before the person arrived. Not to mention that meeting someone unarmed and very much naked was not an appealing idea. No, for now her best bet would be to wait and learn what she could about them first.

With one last longing look at her gear, Ashei quickly tried to arrange the blankets to how they were initially, then laid back, closed her eyes, and feigned sleep.

Only a few moments later the door opened, and she could feel the change in the air as the person walked in. As the steps drew closer to the bed, a low hum gave her her first bit of information: it was a man. He stood there, probably only a few strides away, most likely observing her for a moment before wandering off to another part of the room. From memory she could roughly guess he was headed in the direction of the vanity. Now that she thought about it, it was a rather strange thing to have in a room where he seemingly worked on other projects. In fact…

A sudden realization hit her: this was his room. The mounds in the corners weren't like a makeshift bed, they were a makeshift bed. He had placed her in his bed to recover.

The sound of pouring water pulled Ashei out of her thoughts and to the moment. The vanity had no mirror and faced mostly towards her, meaning he wouldn't be paying her any attention as he washed his face. It was the perfect opportunity to get a look at him and figure out what kind of situation she was in.

Except that he wasn't just washing his face. Ashei's eyes went wide at the sight that greeted her. Oh how wrong she had been in that assumption. Maybe she had been too deep in thought at her realization, or perhaps it had been the heavy sounds of each footfall that unintentionally covered up the other noises, but he was definitely not just washing his face.

He—thank whatever power watched over her—still had his pants securely on, with the upper part of his longjohns slightly sticking out over the top, but she still saw more than she actually wanted to. It wasn't that she hadn't seen a man before. Men of all ages and body types ran around Hyrule and its surrounding territories without shirts on a regular basis. But this man… it felt like an invasion of privacy with what should have been hidden underneath his clothes.

The man was covered in scars. They littered his chest and arms, like some macabre patchwork quilt of skin. Many of them crossed over each other, showing where new wounds had been inflicted upon older ones, but most of them looked to be at a few years old at least. Faded to nothing more than pale stripes in his skin. But some… it looked as if there had been holes in his body. Large patches of discolored skin where something had tried its best to take a chunk out of him. And a few of them, especially one on his hip that peeked out from under his pants, were definitely old burn scars.

It looked as if he'd walked through hell.

And given his physique, he probably could have. His chest was wide, and not like the chubby, barrel-chested soldiers that waddled around Castle Town toting weapons they could barely use, nor like the scrawny ones that boasted about their strength but in the end couldn't hold up in a fight. This man was built like a rock and probably as strong as an ox. If there was fat on his body, she couldn't see it.

And he was tall. Taller than Auru or Rusl, and undeniably taller than her. It had taken her a moment to realize it, too. Everything in the room been built with his height and build in mind, meaning that to her she would probably look like a kid standing next to it.

As much as she hated to admit it, he was built like a warrior should be. And if he wasn't friendly… Ashei didn't want to think about how that would turn out.

Curiously, he wore an odd choker… no, not a choker she realized after a moment of studying it. A collar, like someone would put on a dog. But why? It appeared to be padded in design, perhaps accommodate the fact that a human wore it. The leather was dark, a shade of black perhaps, with something—metal, or some kind of stone?—seemingly plated to the outside. Something about it drew her eye, but she didn't have time to think about it right now. No, right now there were more important issues to deal with. Namely working out what her plan would be.

As her mind raced, the man began pulling off his boots, leaning against a wardrobe as he tried to set his foot down without stepping on a cat she hadn't noticed before. Then it hit her. Ashei filled with dread as she realized what he was about to do next. She really didn't want to see any more of him than she already had. But what could she do? Okay, close her eyes, yes. But she didn't want to be in the same room as a naked man she knew nothing about.

She didn't have any options. She had to give up what little advantage she had. She tried to say something, anything, but words caught in her throat and all that came out was a forced cough. But it was enough.

His head jerked her way at the sound and froze. Was he surprised? Angry? He wasn't moving, but that didn't tell her anything about what kind of situation she was now in. If he turned hostile, it wouldn't end well for her. She needed to do something else.

"Well… I suppose it isn't the worst sight I've woken up to…" Are you serious? A joke? She'd have to roll with it, and hope it worked.

After a moment of silence the man chuckled as a smirk broke out on his face. "Considering what wanders in and out of Telma's, I'm not surprised." He paused, the smirk growing as he seemed to think about something. "That's not why you frequent there, is it?"

Ashei's eyes went wide in shock. How dare he! "Excuse me? No. Hell no. I have standards and they are not low." The man laughed at her words, his posture taking on a more relaxed stance. Ashei let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. So far, so good. "So…"—Might as well keep it going, she reasoned.—"Does this show come with room service, yeah?" Oh gods, kill me now, it sounds like I'm flirting with him.

The man grinned, and Ashei got a good look at his eyes finally. They were blue, something she didn't see too often, and seemed kind. "I think something can be arranged, although… I might have to charge you. I think 500 rupees sounds sounds about right, wouldn't you say?"

Ashei sputtered at his price. "A bit steep, yeah? You sure we're talking about the same bed here?" Keep him going. Just have to keep him going. She didn't like it, but if nothing else she might be able to get his guard down and figure out if she was in any real danger.

"Let's see. Large, firm, but still soft enough that you sink into it like a hug, covered in cozy blankets with the best pillows I could find? Sound about right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Still, I'm sure there are more comfortable ones out there somewhere…" Maybe in the palace? "Point is, I'm starving, and at the moment I am woefully under dressed at the moment, yeah? And I'd rather not think about that latter detail, if you understand what I mean."

He laughed again and moved—Ashei tensed at first, until she realized he was heading for a wardrobe—and produced a set of clothes that looked like they were far too large for her. But at the moment she didn't have much of a choice. Pulling the covers tighter as he walked close, the man dropped them on the foot of the bed and turned to leave. "I'll be just outside. Let me know when you're ready and I'll see about that room service."

She waited a moment after the latched closed, and then some more in case he was going to come back in. Once she was satisfied he wasn't about to barge in, she quickly climbed out of the bed and grabbed the clothes.

They were huge on her. Fortunately he seemed to have the foresight in this and had grabbed a pair of shorts instead of pants, although she had to use a belt from her gear to keep them on. Someone like Shad would swimming in them—she definitely was.

And the shirt. It might as well have been a dress, really. Although a short one. The long sleeves went clear past her hands and made her look like a child. Fortunately the neck was still narrow enough that it stayed on her without much trouble.

She thought about calling out to him, but hesitated. She still didn't know who he was. He may have been nice so far, but that didn't mean anything. There were too many instances of people in the past who acted nice and caught their prey unaware. She wasn't about to be one of them. Rummaging through her gear, Ashei was relieved to find that all of her weapons were present. A sword would be too obvious, but the knives would do. With a bit of leather from one of the tables, she quickly tied the sheath to the forearm. The sleeves hid them perfectly.

With a few shakes to ensure they wouldn't come loose, Ashei steeled herself for whatever was to come. Taking one last breath, she faced the door with confidence. "Okay."

She hadn't asked his name. How stupid of her. And then there was his comment earlier. She hadn't really thought of it at the time, but now, as she followed the stranger through the house—which was now beginning to look awfully like a manor—she realized something important.

He knew about Telma's. She was sure she hadn't met this man before. True, her memory was not flawless, but someone like this would have been pounced on by Auru the moment he stepped in the door… if Telma didn't get to him first.

As they reached a door on what she assumed was the bottom floor, the man paused and seemed hesitant. After a moment and looked at her and grinned sheepishly. "Wait here a moment, okay? I need to… check on something. I'll be right back."

"Wait a moment!" The words had left her mouth before she realized what she was doing, but it was too late to back out now. He had his hand on the door but was looking at her expectantly. "What is your name? You never told me."

He twitched at that. Was he hiding something? He smiled, but it looked forced. After a few seconds of silence he finally answered. "You can call me… Fado." She didn't recognize it, but before she could question his hesitation he ducked through the door with a "Wait here."

And she waited. But on her terms. She took the opportunity to check out the hall, trying to get a gauge on the building and the mysterious Fado. It looked old. But there were signs of repairs that were likely of his own doing. An inheritance, maybe? A part of her wanted to flee immediately, but she still had no idea where she was on Snowpeak, and by the time she had her gear on he'd probably already know and be after her. Besides, she needed to eat, and she could smell something good on the other side of the door.

A few minutes later Fado returned looking… relieved? He made a noticeable effort to close the door behind him without letting her see inside. With his back to the door, he smile at her and said, "Okay, so food has been arranged for. But I need you to do something for me. When you go in there, you are going to meet someone named Yeta. She's… kind and caring, so don't be alarmed. I don't think you'll have too much of a problem but… I want you to be ready."

Okay, that did not inspire confidence in her. But her stomach was growling, and at this point she didn't care if it was a monkey on the other side of the door, so long as she got fed. Except… "Are you not joining me?"

He glanced back in the direction of his room, then at down at himself, and grinned at her. "You're not the only one who prefers clothing, you know. I have a few things to take care of, so no. Not right now. But rest assured, Yeta will take good care of you. Now, if you'll excuse me…?"

With an eyebrow arched questionably at him, Ashei nodded, stepped to the side, and watched as the man took off back towards his room. Maybe he wasn't a threat? He didn't strike her as one, but his actions were far too suspicious for her likings. Once he was out of sight, Ashei pushed open the door and stepped through to the smell of waiting food.

"Little human better, uh! Come, eat!"

Ah. Now she understood the warning…

A/N:You know what? Forget my vow of weekly, it just killed my muse... or did the fact that Breath of the Wild coming out do that? Well, anyways, I have returned (sort of) with a new chapter (of which was pretty much heavily co-written by my pre-reader) filled with all that awkwardness I cliff hung you all on. On a side note (Spoilers of some level children, look away if you need to) I beat Breath of the Wild... and I may have caught the easter egg horse that Ganondorf once rode in Ocarina of Time... and named it... um... okay, I didn't know it was an easter egg of Ganondorf's horse, so, it being huge, black, with an orange mane... I confess I named it Ganondorf... And guess what, I beat the final form of the boss on the back of Ganondorf. IRONY ABOUNDS because that was never my intention XD. (Spoilers over). Beautiful game. Wonderful game. WHY DID IT HAVE TO FALL INTO THE CHILD TIMELINE?! Ugh. Nintendo has released its place in the timeline, luckily because people were going rabid over it. I will try to make it work, but I personally liked it in the Great Sea timeline. Okay. Enough rambling. I have played the game and if any of you would like details about the game for stories, private message me, I would be happy to help you as much as I can.

A special thanks to Nohm the Inexorable for pre-reading the chapter (and co-writing a large portion of my messy draft of this chapter) and saving me from his critics after I posted! That and he just made everything flow better. He may eventually post a off shoot of some of the aspects I've written about in this chapter. I personally would not be upset if he does because its just comedy gold!

So, for those that wrote me a wonderful, muse-filling review:

ChangelingRin: I don't even know how hot off the press this chapter was, but you reviewed first! I really thought Nohm would beat you all, but nope, Rin for the surprise win! Also, yes, you got it. Navi. I might as well say it now because so many people reviewed just to tell me 'OMG NAVI'. As awkward as this has been for Link, I assure you, Ashei had a hard time with it too, as you can see! XD

niacdoial: Thank you so much for your review, I am glad that you liked as she tried to stomp. I hope you enjoyed this one as well!

Nohm the Inexorable: Haha, in my defense, it didn't take a month this time... almost, but not quite there. And that's all I will say because I think you and I already know everything else there is to say about the rest of your review. XD

Lost Child of the Kokiri: Thank you very much! And you're not dumb for not figuring it out. I was being rather obtuse with the details, but sometimes things like that fly over my own head easily as well. I also feel bad about breaking Yeto's pots. That's why last play through I only broke the one with Ooccoo in it! XD

Purrloin77: ...Hmmm~? Darn it. I thought I was being clever. You got it. But you will have to wait to rejoice in your rightness until way later when the plot brings said person into this whole mess with the rest of them XD

FoxsoulRedux: Ding ding ding~ Navi indeed. I think I might actually acknowledge her name in the next one, so many of you got it!

Luzi22: Thank you so much! I am really glad that the Yetis are everyone's favorites part. I really was unsure as to what people would think of them and how much I used them, but it seems like people really like my vision of them~!

Glaceon Mage: I did use the opening lines of OoT just because I wanted to make it as obvious as I could get and see if people would catch on to the fact that its nearly a direct quote. As for the typo, I will try to get around to fixing it as soon as I can, thanks for pointing it out!

Endsong: Lol, yes, Navi. And yes, as you can see, he pretty much did. Next one won't be free thought ;P

2ndUzukage: I will check into those oopsies, but I hear that Fanfiction does that itself from time to time. But I will double check any mistakes at a later date. Thank you so much for enjoying my work though! I love character development and I find myself focusing more on the characters than I do plot development, which is why I decided to just write about AFTER the crisis is over and not write an actual story with a crisis involved. If anything, I hope to strengthen the sight people have on the characters. Also, yes, the more I write, the better I become at writing. Most of my skills are self taught and I have built myself up from a rather shameful level from when I first began in 5ht grade. I was not adept at first, but with practice comes mastery.

Namesake: Thank you always for your kind words. Every bit of encouragement helps feed my muse and my surprisingly poor self-esteem. This whole story has fed me more reviews and boosted my esteem which was nearly shot by the point that I had begun to write it. I hope not to let you all down. As you can read, she doesn't recognize him and he's going to misuse that :D It'd be boring if she just recognizes someone she's met a handful of times when he's changed so vastly. Yes, poor, poor Navi. We hardly knew the new you, except that you were chatty and then Link goes and sacrifices you to Yeta XD.

ARSLOTHES: I hope this was hilarious enough for you XD

To all my Guests: Lazy, I know, but you all pretty much can be conglomerated into one. I hope you don't find it rude, but if you don't like it, please, give me a name to address you as. Yes, it is Navi! And thank you so much for loving my story! And I am glad you all like the hints I pepper throughout my story~!

See you in the next chapter.

~Lore

Rose Colored Philosophies