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skyward-floored · 1 month

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The cat’s out of the bag chapter 3

Surprise, I finished it! It’s a pi day miracle lol. Yet more adventures of Wind as a cat.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52017334/chapters/137983660

Chapter 2 | Next (coming soon)

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The last bits of light were gone from the sky, revealing stars speckled all across the dark expanse it had become. The moon had risen as well, a thin claw of white partially obscured by the branches of the forest, and Twilight glanced at it once, before looking back at the heroes who were gathered around him.

“So...”

Warriors’ voice seemed loud in the quiet that had fallen over the group, and the captain crossed his arms, giving Twilight an intense look that felt like it burned straight through him.

“Wind touched an item of yours he shouldn’t have, it turned him into a cat, and the only sure-fire way to fix him is with the Master Sword. Am I correct?” he asked in a surprisingly level voice, and Twilight nodded.

“Yes.”

“Hm.”

Warriors raised an eyebrow, but nodded and didn’t push for any further information, to Twilight’s surprise.

...and relief.

He’d just finished his explanation of how Wind had become a feline, and Warriors had seemed... extremely skeptical of the tale. It was true Twilight had tiptoed around the fact that he was Wolfie, and the item that had turned Wind was what he used to do it, but he hadn’t lied at all in his story.

...sidestepped the truth a little, but hadn’t lied.

Time had given Twilight several looks during his explanation of events, as had Wild, but neither of them interjected, and nobody else who knew about Wolfie had said anything either.

And maybe it would have been better just to explain everything, since Warriors and Hyrule were the only two heroes beside Sky who weren’t aware of his wolf-form. But truth be told, Twilight just wasn’t in the mood to face the whole ‘by the way I’m Wolfie’ conversation. He’d already had to explain it all to Wind today, the others could wait a bit longer.

Though, with the faces Warriors was making... it probably wouldn’t be long before he figured it out.

If he hadn’t already.

“So it’s a magic item then,” Hyrule said thoughtfully, then frowned a little. “One that isn’t easy to control... I thought you didn’t like magic, Rancher?”

Twilight shrugged. “I have a few artifacts. That one is just...” He hesitated. “...tricky.”

“That’s one word for it,” Legend snorted under his breath.

“Is the Master Sword really the only way to restore him?” Warriors asked again, and Twilight nodded.

“The only one available to us. Another source of strong, pure light magic might be able to fix him, like the light spirits in my Hyrule, but I’m certain these aren’t my lands. The sword is our best bet.”

“Well that’s unfortunate with Sky missing,” Four frowned. He looked at Wind, and the thoughtfulness in his eyes quickly turned soft. “...Is he asleep already?”

Twilight paused at Four’s hushed question, and looked down at the ball of fluff curled up on his lap, little breathy noises coming from within. Wind’s tail was tucked over his nose, leaving only the top of his face visible, and his eyes were closed, the tension his body had been holding all afternoon finally relaxed.

“I think so,” Twilight whispered back, and Time sighed from next to him.

“Good. He needs the rest. He was barely standing,” he said softly, and Twilight nodded, resisting the urge to cuddle Wind up to his chest.

He would never admit it while the sailor was awake, but he was cute, soft creamy fur with faint windy swirls of a darker pattern on his feet, face, and tail, and big blue-green eyes with a little pink nose. He wasn’t even a completely full-grown cat yet, which only made him more adorable, but Twilight was sure he’d get a bite on the hand if he voiced it.

But... he really was cute.

And exhausted because of you, his brain hissed, and the guilt constricted in Twilight’s middle again. You should have warned him sooner about touching the crystal.

“Poor kid. He’s totally exhausted, huh?” Legend asked, and Twilight checked back into the discussion, nodding.

“The transformation wore him out. It’s a lot of magic all at once, and he wasn’t expecting it at all,” Twilight said quietly, running a gentle hand over Wind’s fur.

“But he’ll be okay, right?” Wild asked, fiddling with his tunic as he looked at the sailor, and Twilight nodded.

“Yeah. The first time is always the worst.”

Warriors narrowed his eyes at that, and Hyrule had a suspicious look on his face as he glanced between Wind and Twilight. Twilight swallowed, and averted his gaze from the two, trying not to fidget.

Okay, maybe I should just come out with it already, this is a bit ridiculous.

Twilight couldn’t quite get his mouth to open, though.

He shifted a little awkwardly on his seat, and Wind suddenly raised his head with a soft mrrp?, looking around sleepily. Everyone immediately quieted down, and they all looked at Wind, who barely seemed awake.

“Sorry Wind, it’s okay. You can go back to sleep,” the rancher whispered, and Wind flicked an ear, then closed his eyes, tucking his paws back underneath him. He let out a breathy little sigh as he curled back up, and was asleep within moments.

Twilight heard a soft click, and looked over to see Wild taking a picture on his slate, a grin on his face.

“It’s for posterity,” he defended when Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t want future generations to miss out on this cuteness, would you Twi? Or his sister? She’ll be so sad if she hears that this happened and she didn’t get to see.”

Twilight waved a hand in defeat. “I take no responsibility for this if Wind asks.”

“He might not appreciate pictures,” Time mentioned with an eyebrow raised similar to Twilight’s, but Wild just took another picture.

“If it happened to me he would be taking pictures too. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” he said cheerily.

Twilight shrugged. He knew Wind had at least one picture of Wild his protégé wouldn’t want getting out. This was just evening the score.

“So... what are we going to do about Sky?” Four asked, trying to get back on track, and Warriors hummed.

“Going out and looking for him now wouldn’t be very productive, it’s too dark,” he said with a look up at the sky. “My suggestion would be that we leave someone up to watch for Sky, do an occasional loop around camp, maybe call now and then. If he hasn’t come around by tomorrow, we can look for him in earnest.”

He glanced at Twilight, and Twilight met his gaze with a level look.

“That sounds fine,” Time said before either of them could say anything, and placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “But now we should all get some rest, you especially rancher.”

Twilight turned towards his ancestor with a confused look. “I’m fine old man, that red potion did the trick.”

“Those don’t fix blood loss though,” Hyrule pointed out helpfully. “At least not all the way. And you still look pale.”

“Our Traveler is correct. Get some sleep, Rancher,” Time said firmly, and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “You’ll be able to help Wind better if you’re well rested.”

Twilight hesitated, then let out a sigh. “Fine.”

He had wanted to stay up for at least one shift of keeping an eye out for Sky, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen. Not with everyone watching me like I’m going to suddenly collapse.

Though to be fair, he did still feel a tad dizzy.

Twilight slouched more against the log he was sitting against, unwilling to further disturb Wind from his peaceful slumber by properly lying down, and closed his eyes, beyond tired from the day’s events.

He just hoped they would find Sky quickly.

(...)

Wind stretched himself out with a big yawn, extending his toes and claws into the sunshine, and raising his back up in the air.

He shook himself once he’d finished, and watched the rest of the heroes finish packing up camp. Wind had slept straight through the night and woken up early, but had been sorely disappointed to discover that Sky hadn’t joined them in the middle of the night.

Waking up and remembering he was a cat also wasn’t so fun, but at least he was starting to get used to it.

A spot on his head itched, and Wind huffed, sitting down and attempting to scratch at it with one of his paws. He didn’t have any luck though, merely bonking it once and nearly falling over, and Wind growled in frustration. Oh come on!

“Try your back leg.”

Wind lowered his front paw, and looked over at Wild, who had obviously been watching him.

“Your back leg,” Wild repeated, and pointed to one. “Raise it up and tilt your head, you’ll be able to reach any itches on your head or neck.”

That sounds fake, but okay, Wind thought, then tried to do what Wild said. To his surprise, his foot went right where he wanted it to, and he was able to relieve the itching with barely a thought. Well whaddya know?

Wind gave Wild a grateful look, and the cook shot him a grin.

“No problem, Sailor. I’ve spent enough time around Wolfie and stable dogs to know a few of their tricks,” he said, and Legend snorted from nearby, standing up as he strapped his sword on.

“You’re wild enough without needing to take tips from dogs and wolves, Champ.”

“Hey now, the stable dogs are very civilized,” Wild said, and earned a flick on the ear from Twilight as he walked by. “Hey!”

Wind let out a little mewl of laughter at Wild’s offended look, and Twilight kneeled down next to him, extending an arm. Wind blinked at him, then realized Twilight must want him to climb up and sit on his shoulder again while they walked.

“I know, I would rather walk if it were me too,” Twilight apologized when Wind let out a grumpy little huff. “But we need to figure out what happened to Sky, and we’ll make better ground if I carry you.”

Wind lashed his tail and stood up, walking around in a little circle and concentrating on where he placed every paw. He managed to make it all the way around Twilight without falling over, and gave him a hopeful look.

“See? I’ll be fine!” Wind meowed pointedly, blinking up at Twilight.

Twilight sighed. “Sailor...”

“I think he could walk with us for at least a little while,” Four piped up from nearby, looking down at Wind. “He seems a lot stronger than he did yesterday.”

“Yeah, and he can always just hitch a ride if he gets tired,” Wild added, and Twilight looked between him and Four, then back at Wind.

“You’re sure you can handle walking?” he asked seriously, and Wind nodded, his tail sticking up. Twilight studied him a moment, then sighed, giving him a nod. “...Then I’m okay with it. As long as you let us know the minute you need a break, and let someone carry you.”

Wind scrunched his face up at the addition, but meowed in agreement, willing to put up with it so long as he got to walk by himself.

He felt plenty rested from sleeping, and had practiced walking around a bit while everyone else had woken up and packed up their things. Wind felt much more confident in his paws, even if he was still tripping regularly, and he was eager to walk around more.

Besides, I bet we’ll find Sky really quickly and I won’t even need to walk that long.

“So which way should we go?”

Wind looked up at who’d spoken, Four gesturing to the woods around them. Everyone was packed and ready to go, and they stood ready to begin walking.

...As soon as they figured out where to go.

“...huh. Good question,” Twilight said, looking around the trees as well. “What’s the mostly likely direction for Sky to have ended up in?”

“Well, if we came out over there, and you guys came out over there, then it stands to reason that Sky probably came out in a different direction,” Wild said, studying the woods and pointing in a seemingly random direction. The birch trees he was gesturing to made the forest seem strangely bright, and Wind had to squint a little. “So we should try over here.”

“Why there specifically?” Warriors asked.

Wild shrugged. “The ground slopes up, it’ll probably lead to a good vantage point if nothing else. If Sky isn’t there, we might be able to at least see where he actually is.”

“But what if Sky came out the other direction?” Hyrule asked. “Then we’ll be going away from each other.”

“That might be a risk we have to take,” Time said thoughtfully.

“We might waste a lot of time though,” Warriors cut in, “Sky might need our help, and if he really did come out a different direction...”

They all began to argue about where to go, and Wind rolled his eyes and stopped listening, looking around a minute, then trotting towards a rock nearby that was covered in moss. It smelled pretty interesting, much more interesting then a discussion he couldn’t contribute to, and Wind gave it a curious sniff as he walked around to the other side, out of view of the arguing Links.

The moss looked soft too, and Wind raised a paw, pressing against it and letting out a little purr when he realized he’d been right. It was really soft!

Wind nuzzled up to it, rubbing his face along the moss, then pulled back when a bug nearly crawled on his nose. He sniffed at it, poking it with a paw, then flattened his ears and backed away as a smell hit him, thick and unpleasant. That must be one of those stink bugs Hyrule was talking about.

Wind shook his head in disgust and sniffed around some more, trying to get the bad smell out of his nose by smelling other things. He wandered into the woods a little, smelling pine needles and sunshine, and sat down on a small stone, curling his tail around him as he took in the forest.

As annoying as being stuck as a cat was, it really was kinda cool how heightened his senses were. He could smell all sorts of things about the woods, flowers and animals, and faint traces of the ocean somewhere. He could smell the other heroes from behind him too, each with their own unique scents. Wind could even hear them talking if he swiveled his ears around, though not the exact words.

He could tell they were still arguing though.

Wind shook his head in exasperation, and stood up again, trotting a little deeper into the woods. If they were going to just stand around and argue, he’d look around for Sky himself. He could smell things so well right now, he’d be one of the most likely to find him, right?

Easy-peasy.

A chirp interrupted his thoughts, and Wind looked over to see a little white bird land on a log nearby.

It chirped and hopped along the wood, and Wind couldn’t help staring at it, his tail twitching. Something about it was almost mesmerizing, drawing his focus, and he crept a bit closer, staying low to the ground so the bird wouldn’t see him. It chirped on, oblivious to his presence, and Wind hid behind a stump, poking his head out and watching the bird.

I wonder what would happen if I pounced on it? he thought as it chirped again, then blinked. ...I wonder where that thought came from.

Wind watched the bird again, pecking at the wood below it and trying to get some bugs to eat. His tail gave a big twitch, and Wind began to creep out from the cover of the stump, zeroing in on the bird.

I’ll just jump on it to see if I can, he thought to himself, sneaking closer. Aryll would kill me if she knew I hurt a bird, so I’ll just pounce on it and let it go—

“Wind!”

The bird squawked and flew away, and Wind felt a hand scoop him up by the scruff, startling a mrreow out of him.

“Don’t wander off!” Twilight’s voice scolded, and turned Wind around so he could look at his face. Wind let out a cross hiss at him. “Oh don’t give me that, you’ve been gone ten minutes, we thought you’d gotten lost or something!”

Just because I’m a cat doesn’t mean I suddenly can’t handle myself! Wind thought with an growl, and he and Twilight glared at each other a minute before Twilight sighed, and set him down.

Wind sat down and crossly licked his shoulder, ears flat with annoyance.

“Look, Wind... you’re vulnerable at the moment,” Twilight said, his face creased. “I know it might not feel that way to you, but the truth of it is you are. You’re not used to this form, and you can’t easily defend yourself. You need to be careful.”

“I was being careful!” Wind meowed back, wishing he could actually speak his mind. “I was listening and smelling for danger! And I was looking for Sky! Unlike you all who were just arguing!”

Twilight sighed. “I don’t have any idea what you said, Sailor, I’m sorry. But we figured out where we’re going, so come on back so we can get a move on.”

Wind let out a muttered growl of agreement, and walked along at Twilight’s heels when he turned back towards the others, Wind’s ears still flat.

Great. We’d finally started to get past treating me as a useless kid, and now we’re back to square one! Being a cat doesn’t not make me a hero!

Wind kicked at some pine needles, and tripped, just barely catching himself. Twilight gave him a look, but Wind ignored it, righting himself and looking grumpily at the paws he kept stumbling over.

Sky... please be somewhere close by.

I miss being me.

#kind of filler but next time we’ll get to the good stuff #linkeduniverse #linked universe #lu wind #lu twilight #lu chain #all the links #minus sky #linked universe fanfic #kitty wind #ao3 link #writing from the floor #inspiration struck and I was able to finish this earlier wahoo #hope you all enjoy

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