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It was a normal day in the Faron Woods. Link and Midna relaxed in the forest and took a break after having saved both the World of Light and the Twilight Realm from Zant and Ganondorf’s evil plans. Link, however, felt a strange desire to look at the Shadow Crystal, the evil, dark shard that cursed him and left him trapped as a wolf.
Instead of destroying the Mirror of Twilight and cutting off the Twilight Realm, Midna instead bridged the gap between the two worlds. She had returned to the Light to visit Link, in her true form.
Midna kept ownership of the Shadow Crystal. She could hide it in her personal pocket dimension, where it would not be able to curse anyone. Link could not touch the Crystal at all, or else it’d bury into his soul and transform him into a wolf. But this one time, he just wanted to examine it a little more.
“Can I look at the Shadow Crystal? I want to talk about something.” Link said.
“Why? You want to become a wolf again?” Midna said.
“Just show it to me, please. I want to examine it a little more closely.” Link said.
Midna snapped her fingers, and a black shard materialized before her. The Shadow Crystal floated above her hand and Link stared at it. He admired its glossy black surface and eerie orange glowing markings.
“It’s incredible. Zant created this diabolical shard to trap me as a wolf, Just looking at it, you wouldn’t think it was so powerful or dangerous. I can’t even touch it! And yet… I accept the fact that its curse is a part of me. If only it wasn’t so evil or painful.” Link said.
Midna smiled at Link “I understand. Curses can have benefits. I’ve always felt like your wolf form suited you more, hehe.” Link crouched and leaned towards the Shadow Crystal, mesmerized by it. “I can feel its incredible dark energy, what a wild curse.
However, as Link got too close to the Shadow Crystal, a bolt of dark energy shot out from the shard and struck him in his head! “AAH! Ow.” Link said. He flinched and fell back, pressing his hand against his forehead from the pain. “What did it do? Curse that crystal!” He said.”
“It zapped you with dark energy. That’s strange, I’ve never seen it do that before. Are you alright” Midna said,
“Maybe? My head hurts a little, but I think I’m fine. Scared that this’ll curse me again.” Suddenly, Link felt an odd continuous tingling on his forehead. It was a strange, itchy sensation.
“Link! Look at your face!” Link ran towards the pond and looked at his reflection. He could see it, a strange familiar mark appearing his forehead. A diamond shape formed on his forehead, with a dot in its center. He could see pointed, angular lines spread out from the corners. A streak ran down from the bottom of the mark, between his eyes, to the base of his nose.
“Wha? That mark…” Link said. “That’s your wolf mark, that symbol on your forehead when you’re in your wolf form.” Midna said. Link scratched at the wolf mark, only to see it emit a strange, green glow. “It’s glowing?” Link said.
Midna tried to put away the Shadow Crystal, but its devious magic had one more evil trick up its sleeve. It suddenly flew into her chest and pierced her. “AAH! Ow. HELP!” She said, afraid.
In the 6 months since the two met, the Shadow Crystal had never affected Midna. Zant created it to hurt her, it was never meant to curse Link. But its cursed magic had fused into Link’s soul instead, forming an intrinsic link between Link and the dark.
Link saw the Shadow Crystal lodged in Midna’s chest and ran to help her. “Don’t panic! Let me help!” Link tried to pull the shard out, but it sank deeper into her chest. It felt like a burning fire pressed into her. It made a strange whirring sound as it slipped away in an orange glow. Soon, the Shadow Crystal was completely gone. It left no wound or scar, but Midna could still feel an odd sense of dread. Midna also felt a strange tickling on her face as the Wolf Link symbol emblazoned itself onto her forehead.
Link was distracted by a strange itching sensation beneath his clothes. It was the same sensation he felt when he was transforming into a wolf! But this felt different somehow… “I feel fur growing. I’m turning into a wolf again!” Link said. As the patches of fur grew in, Link watched as his hands swelled into paw pads. The dark green fur spread across him as he watched a snout grow out.
Midna was freaking out as she saw black and white fur spread across her body. Her ears grew soft and fuzzy, her hands morphed into paws. Midna could feel a pressure behind her as a nub of orange fur sprouted out the base of her spine. She too, was turning into a wolf! Midna had never experienced the transformation herself before, and was clearly frightened by how powerful this curse was.
As the dark flecks faded from their bodies, Link realized that was still on two legs. His entire body was covered in fur, from head to toe, and yet he was still humanoid in appearance. His clothes still fit him. Perhaps the Shadow Crystal merely turned him half-wolf?
Midna was also an anthropomorphic wolf. The black and white patterns of fur were the exact same as the markings on her original Twili form, only more muscular. Her new tail was the same orange as her hair, and she could sense it flowing with the same magical prehensile shapeshifting powers of her hair when she was an imp.
“What? Am I half-wolf? I can still walk, I… I can talk! This is strange!” Link looked down at himself and touched the fur in surprise. “I’m a wolf too…” Midna said.
“The transformation appears to only be only half complete. Are you alright, MIdna?” Link said. “I’m fine. It stings a little. I am not in serious pain, I think I’ll be fine.” Midna said.
Link turned to Midna and gave her a wolf-y smile. “Now you know what it’s like when I turn into a wolf!” Link said.
“Yeah, it’s not very pleasant or comfortable.” Midna said. She ran her new paws through the black and white fur on her chest. “Buuuuuut…. It is pretty soft.” Midna said. “Being a wolf does have its advantages.” Link said.
The two examined their new fuzzy coats of fur. Their senses were so much sharper, everything felt almost TOO clear now.
Link suddenly realized something important, despite wielding the Master Sword behind his back, Link was still half-wolf! It was as if its power to turn him back into a Hylian wasn’t working anymore. Would he be stuck like this forever?
“How are we supposed to break the curse and turn back to normal? I still have the master sword and it isn’t turning me back.” Link said.
“Oh, that’s a problem… Maybe the curse is stronger than ever now.” Midna said. “Something feels funny…” Link said.
The dark magic of Twilight flowed through Link’s body, and he could feel the powers of shadow building inside him. With a gentle tingling sensation, glowing green runes of Twilight covered his body and shone through his fur. The shimmering runes were a lot like Midna’s.
“Link? Why do you have Twili markings?” Midna said. “Oh. That’s new… Must be part of the Shadow Crystal’s curse.”
Link could feel a new dark power tingling through his body as strange dark magic powers built up inside him. “Wait! I can feel a strange energy inside me.” Link said.
Suddenly, Link managed to summon a red blob of Shadow Magic in front of his chest, just like Midna could. Had the transformation gave him Twili powers?
“You can wield Twili magic now?” Midna said. “This could be helpful in the future, I think you’ll have to teach me how to properly use it.” Link said. “Hehe, glad to see you no longer have any fear of the dark!” Midna said with her trademark smirk.
Link moved his paws around, letting the flecks of Twilight dance around him. Red purple and orange particles flickered around his paws. Somehow these new powers came naturally to him, as if the Shadow Crystal gave him new Twili instincts. Perhaps Shadow Magic wasn’t as dangerous or scary as he thought?
“Would you mind if I came with you, to the Twilight Realm? Teach me how to use Twili Magic? Maybe they could help me find a way to turn us back to normal.” Link said.
“I’d be willing to to that, but my subjects can’t see me as a wolf. Maybe Zelda could help? Afterwards, I’d be willing to let you visit the Twilight Realm.” Midna said.
Midna looked towards Link. “You know, I never really understood how soft your fur was as a wolf until now. There’s not a lot of furry creatures in the Twilight. Being half-wolf like this is actually kinda nice!” Midna said. “Well, just like how you need to teach me how to use Twili magic, I’ll have to teach you how to be a wolf! Deal?” Link said, handing out a paw to Midna. “Deal!” Midna said.
The two anthropomorphic wolves held hands and hugged each other, signaling a new adventure.
THE END