Twilit Antics

The heat of the midday sun beat down upon Hyrule Field and every single being currently located within its borders. Large or small, loved or despised, honored or feared, all fell prey to the uncomfortable heat.

In the southern regions of the Field there hung a stillness that was almost unnerving. Creatures of all sizes had either chosen that very moment to fall deathly silent or had either fled the area all together; both of those were very real possibilities.

No one in their right mind would want to be found by the inhumane beasts of the Twilight realm, after all.

A soft breeze suddenly flitted through the vast expanse of grassy land, rustling the leaves of trees and bushes alike as it went, breaking the awkward silence that had previously gripped the field.

As if a switch had been flipped or a call signaled, the wildlife made themselves known again. Birds sung from tree branches and squirrels chattered mindlessly while they went about hording food for winter.

It was peaceful, something that was very rare with all the twisted inhabitants of the Twilight realm running about freely, killing anyone they came across.

A bark abruptly sounded from the southern end of the Fields, immediately causing the wildlife to fall silent once again. The area went completely still once more, waiting for whatever had disturbed their peace to pass.

A distant voice slowly came to be audible, growing louder with each passing second as it approached the southern border of Hyrule Field.

"-behind! You and your stupid-"

Another bark followed by a series of quieter growls and yips interrupted the feminine voice before it could finish.

"You know full well I can't understand a word you say in this form dog breath! That's another thing, why do you insist on traveling in this form if you don't even want to warp!?"

Another bark, though this time the source was clearly visible. A great wolf was running at a full sprint into Hyrule Field, the impressive pace at which it ran was apparently easy for it to keep up. Its fur was pitch black but for the ends of its legs and underbelly, which were a startlingly bright white color. It had a streak of white fur running down both its sides as well, curving around the powerful shoulder and hip muscles it possessed before trailing off into black fur once more. An odd marking lay upon its forehead, just between its piercing blue eyes.

It was no normal wolf, that much was easy to tell. The fur on the back of its neck stood tall, almost like a lion's mane, and both of its ears were pierced with a simple blue loop on each. There was a shackle on its left front paw with a small length of chain running off of it, evidently from a time when it had been a prisoner.

If the wolf itself wasn't enough to convince a passerby of its abnormality, then the thing on its back would. It was an imp, for lack of a better word. She had fierce crimson eyes and a minute amount of fur covering her entire body. She, like the wolf, had mostly black fur, with the exception of the white fur covering the bottom half of her face, her lower right leg and her chest. Green markings, not unlike tribal tattoos, covered the lower halves of her black limbs as well as her long, pointed ears. She wore a piece of headgear that bore a striking resemblance to stone on her head; carved into it were all sorts of strange symbols and markings and it dipped just low enough over her face to cover her left eye.

The imp's face was currently twisted into a scowl, a single fang visible on the left side of her mouth.

"You're such a stupid human! What happened to my obedient servant?! Now all you want to do is run around like this and explore the most random corners of the land!"

The great wolf huffed and put on a burst of speed, nearly dislodging the imp from his back. She yelped as her lower half was lifted off his back and her hands immediately wrapped as far around the wolf's neck as they could reach.

Once the pair had slowed to a more manageable pace, the imp pulled herself back up into a sitting position.

"Is this the thanks I get for all my help?!" she fumed, a slight red tint staining her cheeks. She huffed and then reached out to grab one of the wolf's ears.

To anyone, or anything, that might've been watching the pair, they would have been treated to the rather amusing sight of the imp twisting the wolf's ear. The wolf yelped and jerked away, tripping over its own feet in the process.

The end result: the wolf – Link – and the imp – Midna – went sprawling head-over-heels to the ground; sliding a good distance before finally coming to a stop.

The wolf was immediately on its feet and growling at the imp, an intimidating sight for sure, due to the fact that the beast was at least three feet at the shoulder.

Midna paid the growling no mind though, instead she pushed herself back onto her feet and floated back toward Link. Once she was within arms reach of the still-growling animal, she abruptly lashed out and whacked it on the nose.

The wolf stumbled and shook its head, blinking its vision back into focus in a very human-like manner. He huffed in what could only be resignation when he felt a familiar presence land on his back.

Midna, now grinning like a fool, kicked her feet into his sides. "Comon! You've wasted enough time today as it is, we don't have time for your antics anymore! Let's go!"

Link huffed again, though this time it was in disbelief, and took off running again.

The imp correctly interpreted the wolf's thoughts this time though, likely due to the fact that Link had thrown an exasperated glare over his shoulder.

"Don't look at me that way," she snapped. "You have more important things to do with our time than waste it dog breath!"

The wolf growled again, causing the imp to scowl.

"I think you need a lesson in respect for your betters," she said as she leaned forward again.

Before Link knew what was going on, Midna had grabbed the furred skin of one of his cheeks and stretched it out to the side with all her strength. He immediately started to turn in that direction without thinking about it while the imp on his back made a nuisance of herself with his cheek.

He shook his head, a futile attempt to stop the blasted imp from further stretching the skin around his mouth out.

Of course, preoccupied as he was with Midna and her endless quest to do anything and everything to annoy him, he failed to notice just where he was running.

It came as a great surprise when he collided head first with a tree.

Midna immediately fell off his back, clutching at her sides as she broke down laughing uproariously. She rolled around on the grass, her crimson eyes eventually becoming wet with hysterical tears.

Link shook his head and sat back on his haunches. He was seeing stars and his balance was absolutely horrid from the impact with the sturdy tree trunk. He attempted to force himself back on his feet, an action he immediately regretted.

The wolf stumbled and tripped over its own feet as it backpedaled, flipping onto its back.

Midna's howling laughter only increased.

Link sighed as well as he could in his current form and resolved to wait until he could see straight to get back at the imp.

He ended up only having to wait about a half minute before he was capable of moving without risk of injury to himself again, his head was pounding though...

Midna was still screeching a few feet away from him too...

The edges of his mouth curled upward into a grin, an expression that was certainly interesting to see on the face of a wolf.

Link barked a few times to get Midna's attention and then growled menacingly at he approached her.

The imp only grinned up at him, wiping the last of the moisture from her eyes.

"You... You..." she tried, only to trail off into giggling fits. She forced herself to take in a deep breath of air. "That was... the funniest thing I've ever seen you do, dog breath."

She grinned even as Link came to stand over her. He placed a paw on her stomach, holding her to the ground for the time being, both knew she could get away if she tried, but she made no effort to move.

"You don't scare me, dog breath," she said, clearly amused.

The wolf bent down further, his face now just a mere inch or two away from the imp's. His glared at her through his growling.

"Ohhh," Midna mocked as she threw her hands up in the air. "Da big scawy wolf is gonna eat me!" she cooed.

The pair stared at each other for a long moment after that, a silent battle taking place in the middle of the southern Hyrule Fields.

Finally, Link huffed and glanced away.

Midna grinned.

She opened her mouth to say something, likely another insult, but the wolf holding her down suddenly turned back towards her, a glint in his eye that she certainly didn't like the look of.

Midna was caught completely off guard when Link let his long, canine tongue fall out of his mouth to give her a good lick, straight up the middle of her face.

She froze for a moment, her eyes wide and incredulous at they looked up at the wolf, and then:

"EWWW!"

She scrambled away from Link, spitting and sputtering on the ground while her arms frantically wiped at the dog slobber that currently coated her fur.

"Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! EW!" she chanted under her breath, like a mantra, as she started to rub the side of her face on the grass.

Her mouth had been open too...

Midna grimaced, suddenly becoming aware of the guffawing that Link was doing, the closest he could come to a laugh in his current form.

She spun to face him, her face red and a heavy scowl on her mouth.

"You think this is funny!?"

She'd meant it to be intimidating, but with blades of grass stuck to the side of her face and the current shade of red she'd taken on, it only served to fuel Link's amusement.

"I should kill you for that! Leave you to die in the Twilight somewhere!" she ranted as she furiously wiped away the grass. Link was paying her no mind, instead rolling around in the grass in what could only be the throes of laughter.

Midna huffed and turned away from the wolf. She plopped down on the grass and took off her helmet to get at the mess Link had made of her face earlier.

In truth, most of the spit and grass was gone now, but she wasn't about to let him know that.

Midna rubbed at her face roughly at first, but eventually stopped to idly pick at the blades of grass still tangled in her fur.

The relationship she and Link shared was strange. They could be at each other's throats one minute and then have a tender moment the next. Link wasn't much of a talker and he certainly didn't anger easily, but her goading had made him snap enough times that she knew when he was kidding and when he wasn't now. She'd even gotten good enough at reading his face that they could communicate in complete silence at times.

Midna let her hands fall to the grass between her legs as she heaved a sigh and looked up at the sun.

It was really the only thing keeping them sane in this war, their relationship.

She was a princess with an entire world to look after. Her people were currently transformed into mindless creatures by the usurper king Zant and her world was actually in serious danger of collapsing all together. When she'd first been forced into this world, she'd been a complete wreck.

Without Link, there was no doubt in her mind that she'd still be a complete wreck too.

A tiny smile graced her lips as her thoughts drifted to the green-clad hero-in-the-making. He, like her, had an entire world full of people depending on him in this war. Not only that, but he'd grown up in a small community of people that all cared for each other, a small community of people that doubtlessly meant more to him that the people of the world itself.

He never even showed it though, what having so many depending on him did to his mind. It was almost like he exuded confidence sometimes, completely sure of the fact that he would save his people, no matter what.

He never backed down. He never faltered. He was a pillar of strength for anyone who needed it.

He was her pillar.

Midna's ears twitched as she heard Link start to whine softly behind her. She could clearly hear his massive form pad up to her position on the grass.

The imp sighed and started to rub at her eyes with the heels of her hands. She couldn't completely fight off her smile when Link gently nudged her back with his nose though. He was incredibly endearing when he wanted to be, but she'd never tell him that.

She reached out and grabbed her helmet, placing it back on her head as she turned around. She was shorter than him in his wolf form too, she noticed with no small amount of annoyance.

Midna pushed those thoughts aside and reached out to grab Link by his bottom jaw. She jerked his head down and glared at him, ready to give him the rant of his life, but stopped short.

His eyes, his damned eyes! She'd went and done it again!

The blue depths were currently filled with regret and guilt, making for an appearance that she couldn't get mad at.

"Whatever," she muttered eventually, defeated, and hopped up on his back once again. "S'just get going, alright dog breath?"

The yip he'd given her in response drew a smile from her, just as it always did.

Break

A/N: I don't really know what drove me to write this in one sitting, about five minutes after I'd thought up the idea, but here it is. I've got a whole hell of a lot of other things to do too, I should really learn how to sort out my priorities better...

Ah well. I'm happy with the way this turned out, so I suppose my homework can wait for another day.

I don't own The Legend of Zelda, Link or Midna.