[center][h1][color=darkgreen]Linkle[/color][/h1][/center]
[center][h3][color=red][b]Merge Rate:[/b][/color] 20%[/h3][/center]

[center][color=darkgreen]Location[/color]: Frozen Highlands - Dragonspine Mountain [/center]

[center][color=darkgreen][b]Level 8[/b][/color] - (59/80) + 3 [/center]

[Center]Word Count: 2020  [/center]

[hr]

Linkle was surprised. Maybe it was just her circumstances, but what she had expected was a frost-blasted wasteland. Ice, rocks, maybe a few scattered piles of bone. Instead there were trees and animals and rivers babbling along through the snowy landscape. Frozen, and yet alive nonetheless. There was something comforting in that.

Her eyes were drawn to the sounds made by a gargantuan beast stomping around the distant ice field and the warm columns of smoke that signaled a village farther off behind it. That was even better! A village meant people. People meant information. They could tell her where she was, point her in the directions she needed to go. Maybe they even had a way to get in contact with Alcamoth. Of course, she would have to get past the big monster. If that thing was at all aggressive there was no way she could cross the ice field without it seeing her. She had dealt with big monsters before, though, and that one didn't seem as big as King Dodongo anyway.

"Yosh." she said, pointing out across the icy plains toward the village. He first stop should definitely be there. She turned around and headed back off the cliff, to find a way down this mountain.

She found a steep, snow laden path that lead down onto the tundra and inadvertently slid down half of it in a way she would have found thrilling under better circumstances. Standing and brushing herself off she wondered if she could still catch cold from doing things like that. Her grandma had always been worried sick about her catching her death simply from staying out too late on a cold night. Sure, she didn't mind the cold but did that mean she couldn't freeze out here?

Walking the rest of the way down she pulled her hood down as far as she could and made sure to wrap herself in her cloak, just in case, before making her way across the tundra in the direction she was sure she had seen those smoke trails. She crunched across the snow and the dead leaves that had fallen from the trees around here until she reached one of the many icy streams and wandered alongside it for a bit until she came upon one of those cute mouse like animals crouching on the rocky bank to drink. It suddenly perked up and looked her way as she approached and she stopped short in front of it. The thing was much bigger than it had looked from way up high, coming up almost to her shoulders, and looked tensed up to run as it stared her down.

She put up her hands appeasingly. "Whoa, it's okay. Um, are you a people?" She figured she may as well ask. This thing was about as cute as Tora, for all she knew this was the local population. In answer the thing tilted its head and let out a series of short, quick "ooks." That seemed like a no. "Are you a pokemon?" She asked, reaching slowly to her pouch. The thing made the noise again, eyes wide, and quickly dashed away down the riverbank. "Wait, does that mean you are?" She said, starting after it before she heard the real reason that the creature had run off. A distant howl resounded across the tundra.

You would think that the first thing that would come to Linkle's mind, hearing this, was the Legend of the Twilight Princess and the hero transformed by magic into a noble wolf. This wasn't the case. The howl blew past the heroic dreamer in her and spoke directly to the farmgirl portion of her psyche. She spun around, sweeping the area, and spotted them. Not wolfos, but they elicited the same scowl. A group of wolves ran across the snow toward her, evidently thinking her to be easier prey than the large horned animals she had seen from the cliff. Four of them, wooly coated and [b]BIG[/b]. Like the rodent they much bigger than she had anticipated, each at least the size of a small horse with the lead wolf slightly bigger than that. 

There was no way to outrun them. She glanced back at the stream behind her momentarily. It looked like she could ford it, and if she could so could they. Nothing to do but draw her crossbows and fight. "Imani!" The sniper appeared in her cloud of smoke and Linkle breathed a sigh of relief. She was so glad the woman wasn't a skeleton. "The big one."

Imani was already lining up her shot, her instincts telling her exactly which target was the most important. With a cool exhale she let loose her bolt. It crossed the distance between the groups in an instant, burying itself in the eye of the lead wolf and punching through directly into the brain. The creature died mid run, its legs falling under it as flipped forward onto its head and settled in a heap on its back. They had both hoped the the death of their leader would drive the rest to abandon their attack, but there was no such luck. The rest of the pack pressed onward, one leaping the body of the fallen to press the attack.

Imani lowered her bow. "Damn. All you, love." She said as she dissolved into smoke. Linkle stepped forward into the space she had left. The lead two wolves were speeding up, running together, probably indenting to split up and surround her once they got close while the one behind them attacked directly. As they came into range she threw out her bows and unleased a pair of bomb arrows right between them. One wolf was slightly more keen than the other one and broke of early with only a singed coat for its trouble as it circled around to her left. It's slightly slower partner, however, caught the resulting explosion with its entire side. The wolf tumbled over, its left size significantly charred but still alive.

The last wolf ran around the fallen and stuck to the plan, leaping at Linkle with a snarl. Linkle ran literally toward the jaws of danger, dropping at the last second and sliding like a baseball star underneath the beast. She stopped her skid, rose, and spun to face both wolves in one smooth motion just as the one that attacked her landed. Right there, in the moment it was slightly off balance from landing, Linkle spotted her opportunity. She shot forward with an electric kick right at the back of the creatures knee, breaking its balance and guard completely. She ran forward, kicked off the wolf, and launched two more bombs that engulfed it and launched it into the river where it dissolved.

As she landed she looked at the last one that hesitantly pawed around trying to find an angle of attack. Behind her she could hear its partner whimpering as it tried to drag itself off the ground. In any other scenario they would have probably stopped fighting, but the red in their eyes drove them far past the point where they would normally break. Finding weakness, another predator pounced.

[color=red][i]Battles to the death are just par for the course in this world. You don't have to feel bad.[/i][/color]

"You're not going to make me feel guilty for [i]this[/i]!" 

[color=red][i]I'm not making you feel anything.[/i][/color]

"Shut up."

The wolf charged forward and Linkle placed her hands on the ground. Long shoots of ice exploded from under the animal, catching it one after the other and lifting it into the air. It was pierced over and over as it was carried away from her, until Linkle lifted her hands up and the wolf was dropped in a bloody heap on the back. It began to dissolves almost immediately. She turned around to check the last wolf, but all that was left was a spirit floating in a pile of soot.

[color=red][i]Magnificent. You see how simple things can be when you surrender to your nature? Why worry about them?[/i][/color]

"I don't." She replied a little to quickly, walking down to collect the spirit of burnt wolf.

[color=red][i]Is it because you know you could have let the last one go? Is it because chose not to?[/i][/color]

"It was a monster. It attacked me as soon as it saw me. If I let it go it would have eaten a goat, or somebodies pet, or a kid." She replied, taking the spirit left behind by the spiked wolf.

[i][color=red]Then why feel bad about it? After all, it wasn't worth saving.[/color][/i]

"Because it had had no choice but to keep fighting." She replied, searching the bank for the wolf she had thrown into the stream. "Because it wasn't fair or natural. Even though she had done the same thing a hundred times before Galeem always had to throw a wrench into something...

[color=red][i]Simple?[/i][/color]

Linkle stopped.

[color=red][i]Galeem did nothing. You complicated things. You think to much. Though if you really feel so terrible, you could correct this tragedy. You could bring it back. This entire foolish pack could ride again, at your command.[/i][/color]

Linkle looked down at the collection of spirits in her hand, and scoffed. "That's what you're doing? Trying to guilt me into using you again?"

[color=red][i]Just making you aware of your options.[/i][/color]

Linkle got the uncomfortable feeling that someone was giving her a patronizing smile, so tried to ignore it as she approached the furry form lying a ways off in the snow and focus on a new mystery. The lead wolf was still lying here, tough the bolt Imani had used to slay it had vanished with the striker. What was this body still doing here? After a few exploratory prods with her foot she watched the thing dissolve like the others. Shrugging, she collected the last spirit deposited all four in one of her bottles. She didn't want to end up like she was in the End again if Peach wasn't around to fix it, and she had no clue what things this big would turn into once she crushed them. They would keep for a while in the bottle, in case she needed them.

[hr]

The latter leg of her journey was uneventful. Linkle did her best to ignore the hollow feeling in her chest and the occasional interjections of the Skull Heart. Instead she focused on more pleasant things. The feeling of the ground under her feet. The taste on the salty breeze. The low, pleasant rumble of the ocean. She had hit the beach after following the river for a while, and the surprise had almost delighted her. She had never been to a beach before, and the dour look of the water did little to dispel the wonder she experienced on seeing the open ocean for the first time. She'd wondered what the ones that had gone to the Blue must be doing right now. They were probably having a lot of fun, if he stories she had heard about beaches were of any indication. Sun, surf, pirates and buried treasure, otters that ran carnival games. The Blue probably had it all.

She had been walking for a little while when suddenly a thought occurred to her. She looked suddenly out over the black water. "Wait a minute." She started, putting her hand on her chin. "If the ocean is over here, then..." Her eyes went wide, and she slammed her fist down into her palm. "They're probably a fishing village! I'll bet they can run a boat to the Blue!"

It was just her luck, too, because she could already see a landmark poking its way up over the trees. [url=https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/448483925741273341/DAFBE7A70BC7C49EFC0F49EEC69E742DBD0894AB/?imw=1024&imh=576&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=true]It was some kind of tower, one that must have been enormous given the general size of the trees dotting the coastline, and a ways to the side of it a light shot high into the sky.[/url] It was funny, she hadn't seen anything like that on the way to the village but maybe it had been hidden by some kind of snow mirage. Linkle redoubled her efforts, headed right for it.