//------------------------------// // Chapter 8ight // Story: Whither Must I Wander // by thelegendarytoothpaste //------------------------------// Link was in awe. This was the largest rabbit he had ever seen. It easily came up to his waist in terms of size, and that was without the ears! He had never seen anything like it! At least, not in the last few days. He knew. If he killed it, he would eat like a king. A king with only one option when it came to food for the next few days, but a king nonetheless. He wouldn't let anything go to waste either. No Kokiri would ever dare defile nature by leaving something to rot. Not even bones. And that coat! That snow white coat! It would fetch a fortune at a shop! He certainly had no intention of letting the creature suffer, either. It was why he had his arrow nocked and aiming at the rabbit's heart. He had successfully cornered it against a large cliff face, and it had water on one side and a large pile of brush and sticks on the other. The only way out was through Link himself. He scowled a bit. He had a clear shot at the rabbit only minutes into his hunt, but it was not a clean shot. Essentially, if he had taken it, the rabbit would be wounded, but not killed. He would have to finish it, which would not be easy if it fled. Link prided himself on his hunting record. Every time he killed an animal for consumption, it was a quick and painless death. He would sooner go hungry than allow a creature to suffer at his hands, bloody though they already were. When he first spotted this rabbit, he wondered if it was some kind of trick, or some sort of monster he had never seen before. However, it hopped like a rabbit and looked like a rabbit, so as far as his childhood logic dictated, it most certainly was a rabbit. He stalked it for mere minutes before he managed to corner it, which impressed him. He had to track animals for far longer with far less meat on their bones before. One shot, five seconds. That was all it would take if he got his aim right. Link kept telling himself that he would not let it suffer. It was going to sustain him, and he owed it a painless demise at the very least. Something brought him pause. Instead of the rabbit hopping back and forth, or stomping its rear legs to try and ward him off, this rabbit seemed to be... groveling. Now that he watched it more, it totally was! The rabbit was alternating between holding its fore paws together and shaking its head repeatedly at him, and bowing down to him as if he were royalty. It would be something he found funny if he wasn't alarmed. Link squinted his eyes, and the rabbit curled away from him in mute horror. The shot never came. Link instead retired the arrow to his quiver, and he lowered the bow. The rabbit just demonstrated sapience, or at least something damn close to it. Link had no intention of killing something with such mental capacities. He couldn't do it. Not again. He would just have to find something else to eat. When the rabbit looked back at him, wondering why death had not claimed it yet, it was stunned to see that the strange biped was no longer preparing to kill him. At least, in no way that it could see. As if to accentuate the point, the biped jerked its head towards one shoulder, which could be universally translated to "Beat it." The bunny didn't need to be told twice. It grinned- grinned at Link and bowed once more before beginning to slowly trot off past him. Link snorted. Malon would never believe this. Ultimately, however, the rabbit stopped just beside him. Again it seemed to freeze up. Link felt a feeling of foreboding begin to creep down his spine, and he turned slowly. Any available path for them was blocked by the wooden wolves. Though he betrayed no fear, Link gulped to himself. He always hated the feeling of being hunted. It was something he experienced many a time in his travels, typically by wild animals or monsters. Constantly feeling eyes on you, knowing that no matter how fast you are, you've got a tail close behind you... it drove many a creature insane. It was the sad truth of a hunt: If you were not quiet enough or quick enough, your prey could take note of your presence somewhere in the vicinity, but it might not know just where you specifically are. Link hated it. Whenever he hunted he did his best to either do so quickly, or with as much caution as he could. He wished never to cause more stress to any living being than he ever had to. It cost him game before, and even cost him a few hunting contests he and his fellow Kokiri would occasionally hold. Link was especially disturbed by the chant Mido had come up with for their annual culling of the pigs. One could recognize the brat by his repeated chants of "Kill the pig, spill her blood, bash her in!" Like any other Kokiri, at least, Mido, in spite of his morbid gore obsession, still killed only when he had to eat, and would do so as quick and painlessly as he could. It was said that a Kokiri who failed to respect the woods properly by the torture of animals would be cursed by them into the form of the animal he or she had tormented. It was a fate none of them could prove as having occurred, but it was widely accepted as true. He returned his thoughts to the situation at hand and scowled. He knew it. He just knew he was being stalked all this time. Everywhere he looked came up empty, however. He had no proof; just the bad feeling. Now his proof was staring at him and the rabbit. The wooden beasts advanced one menacing step as the rabbit and Link simultaneously took a step back. Link felt sweat begin to sting his eyes, and he spared a look at the small scratches on his arms he managed to get away with after slaying the first wooden wolf that attacked him. He knew he wasn't going to be so lucky this time around. He wondered what would have happened if he had only entered the hut he saw in the woods. Would they have managed to get to him anyway? There only seemed to be a single window to the building if he recalled correctly and he did not believe the wooden beasts would be able to fit into it to attack him. Then he might have been able to funnel them and slow down the attack, allowing him to fight more efficiently. He sighed. It made little sense to think of such strategies now. He was not in the hut. He was in the middle of nowhere with cliffs towering behind him and wooden menaces before him. Link's brain scrambled over just what it could do. He had a hard time putting down only one of these creatures and was largely uninjured only due to it being one on one with a dramatic size difference. With what must have been at least seven of these creatures before him? He had no chance. Link, in spite of what his past accomplishments might tell you, was not a miracle worker. He squeezed the hilt of his blade with one hand. He wasn't going to be getting out of this any other way. He spared a look at the rabbit next to him. Suddenly Link found himself in its shoes. His prize. His coat. His energy. His meal. Somewhere, off in the distance, a wolf howled. End of Chapter