A few years after the twilight that blanketed Hyrule finally receded, Link disappeared one day.

No one had really thought much of it at first. The young hero sometimes rode away to visit the castle or check in on his friends and allies in Kakariko or Zora’s Domain, and everyone knew he could take care of himself. Even the fact that he hadn’t taken Epona this time didn’t worry them too much.

But as days passed into weeks without any sign of reappearance, mutters grew around Ordon, wondering if Link had met the inevitable end that waited for those who lived by the sword. They were careful not to mention a thing around Ilia, whom the young man had begun courting before his disappearance.

They needn’t have bothered. She heard the whispers anyway.

As weeks became months and there was no sign of Link’s return, no word from the castle or the Zora or anyone else that they knew what had befallen him, Ilia never stopped making the daily journey to the house at the edge of the village. She would feed Epona, dust the interior, sometimes thatch part of the roof that had fallen into disrepair. Every day she walked with her head held high, hoping to finally see that warm smile and flash of green, and was disappointed. She knew the way people talked about her—how she needed to move on, to let go.

But Link had rescued her from monsters, had even brought her memory back. She couldn’t abandon him so casually.

She couldn’t.

One night she was kept awake by her heartache, so she decided to wander under the stars. They spooled across the sky like pearls on a seabed, bathing her with their brilliance. She hadn’t really meant for any particular destination; she was simply content to wander. Yet inevitably, the young woman found herself making her way to the house at the edge of town.

Except this time, there was activity.

Scarcely daring to believe, Ilia raced ahead, only to stop dead. That was no man, barely visible in the pearly light of the moon and stars. It was a dog—no, a wolf. A wolf had come to town.

Yet something was unusual. Epona should have been terrified around such a predator, but the horse was nickering and swishing her tail easily. The wolf panted and yipped, almost like they were… conversing. Like they were friends.

Ilia was no fool. She knew there was magic in the world. Hadn’t her past adventure proven enough of that? She peered closer, hoping to catch what was at play.

A branch snapped, and the wolf’s head snapped to look at her. She locked eyes with it, was stunned by their color—a vivid, inviting blue; like azurite. Like the sea.

Like Link’s.

Their gazes couldn’t have held for more than a few seconds but it felt like an eternity, and then the wolf loped away into the darkness. Ilia felt strangely unafraid. She knew intrinsically the creature meant her no harm.

“Epona, girl,” she said, approaching the mare and gently stroking her muzzle. “What—who—was that? That blue-eyed beast…”

The horse shook her head and fixed Ilia with a look of gentle sadness, and not for the first time, the girl found herself wishing that beasts could talk, just a bit.

Life continued in the village, and Ilia never abated her daily task. She kept an eye out for the wolf, but she did not see it—yet she almost thought she sensed its presence. A shadow lurking in the trees, out of the corner of her eyes… yet not feeling like a predator, but a sentinel. A protector.

Eventually, she worked up the courage to ask the others about it.

“Yeah, I saw that beast!” young Talo told her, waving a stick for emphasis. “The wolf! I was doing the rounds past the village, ‘cuz Link’s not here to—I, I m-mean—”

“It’s alright, Talo,” Ilia said with a sigh. “Really. But you know—you shouldn’t go out alone!”

He kicked at the dirt. “I know. There were monsters there, and one of them tried to get me… but then that wolf lunged at it, and had it down like that! I thought it would go after me next, but it just disappeared into the trees…”

She’d nodded and asked around some more.

“Yes, I saw the beast—a few years back, during the twilight crisis,” Rusl told her. “Back when I was scoping out the forbidden part of the forest… the wolf was there. It was unaggressive, yet obviously fierce, and more intelligent than you would expect of such a creature.” The smith shrugged. “I never expected to see it again. You know, Ilia, I haven’t told many of the others, but as I’ve ranged out into the forest, I’ve found evidence that something has been keeping the monsters at bay. The crisis might be over, but there will always be monsters… at first we could rely on Link to drive them off, but, well.” He glanced at her apologetically. “It seems this noble beast has chosen to safeguard us in his stead.”

“I see,” she replied. That night, she laid wide awake, wondering… wondering.

The beast had a rapport with Epona. It was protecting the village. Rusl had seen it during the twilight crisis.

…and those eyes…

“No,” she whispered to herself. “It can’t be.”

But she couldn’t get the idea out of her head.

---

Weeks marched on and Ilia increasingly found she could spot the wolf with practice. A flash of grey-green fur at dusk, footprints in the riverbank… by now the whole town was aware they had a new protector, and everyone knew to leave the wolf alone.

Everyone except Ilia.

Fruitlessly, she chased after it when she saw it, pleaded for it to come back. She had to know. She was growing increasingly certain. Sometimes, at night, she spent time with Epona, for she had continued to see the wolf with the mare. But though the horse looked at her with sympathy, the noble animal never appeared when she was there.

Finally, Ilia decided to take matters into her own hands.

She slipped out of the village at dusk, scarcely believing what she was doing. Nobody looked twice as she left; they thought she was simply visiting Link’s abode again. Epona nickered in alarm as Ilia strode past her into the untamed forest, but the horse’s cries went unheeded. Soon, Ilia was alone in the Ordon Woods.

Calls and noises sounded around her. She swallowed dryly. The woods were not nearly as bad as they had been during the crisis, but they could still be a dangerous place, especially at night. But then, that’s what she was counting on.

I have to know if it’s him.

She raced through the forest, cogent of the failing light, of things stirring in the shadows. Eventually, a collective of scuttling creatures emerged—Skulltulas. Ilia screamed for help and backed away. The creatures drew closer. And closer.

And even closer.

Oh, spirits, I miscalculated. He can’t be everywhere at once.

Certain she was about to die, the young woman picked a branch and swung it. The dog-sized spider took the blow and hissed. It darted sideways and lunged at her, and at that exact moment, a furred shape blasted out of the growth, ripping into the creatures with ferocity and fury that Ilia could have never thought possible. Moments later, it was over as soon as it began.

And he was there in front of her. The wolf.

Seeing him clearly for the first time since that night, having him close and with the fading light of sunset illuminating him, Ilia’s breath left her.