Apothecary

Chapter 6

Three days after my encounter with the Hero, there was a wolf sighting reported near the West Bridge. As soon as I heard, I dropped everything, closed the shop early, and ran over to West Road like my life depended on it. I'm not really sure what I was expecting. There was no clamoring crowd, or panicked residents screaming for the guards. Just the normal inhabitants of West Road going about their business.

Still, that didn't make it any less momentous. The wolf could be back! If he had returned, maybe he had remembered me somehow! At least, that's what I hoped...Don't be silly, Y/N. What reason would the wolf have to care if you offered to help? It's an animal. It's a wolf, actually. They don't call them "lone wolves" for no reason--"Young lady, are you looking for someone?" A voice speaking to me snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Charlo, the old man who waited patiently by the stables for donations, addressing me. "Y-yes sir. I heard that someone actually saw a wolf here?" "Ah, yes. I saw it walking the length of the bridge. In fact, there it is now!" He pointed through the open door of the gate, where a lupine figure could briefly be seen. My mood brightened instantly and I raced towards the doorway without thinking. "Thank you, sir!" I called behind me and ran off, ignoring his warnings. "Wait, young miss! That wolf could be dangerous!" But I didn't care. If the wolf was back, I wanted to see how he was doing. At the very least he'd add some sort of companionship to my day.

I raced out onto West Bridge and was pleased to see that the wolf was indeed there on the other side. It was nearing twilight, and the wolf had its back towards me, sitting on the ground near the gates of the bridge. He appeared to be howling something. As I moved closer he seemed to sense my approach and sat up. He turned around, growling, and then stopped when he realized who it was. The wolf began to walk towards me, even wagging his tail as he did so. Then suddenly his eyes fixed on something above me, and he growled and dropped into a battle stance, baring his fangs.

I looked behind me and yelped as a cawing Kargarok swooped overhead and nearly took my face off with its claws. Luckily I ducked and the attack left the beast flying low to the ground. Its claws slashed at the wolf's back and it circled back for another pass. When it got low enough the wolf launched itself up and seized the bird by one of its wings. The pair of them fell back to earth ground, the wolf dashing the beast against the ground as he did so. The bird remained unmoving on the bridge's boards after it landed, apparently stunned. The wolf quickly righted itself and used the monster's mishap to strike the final blow. Defeated, the Kargorok quickly turned black and then exploded, leaving behind a blue Rupee. The wolf then turned back towards me and ran over, seemingly checking if I was alright. I bent down to meet his eyes. "I'm okay, wolfy. It's nice to see you again." I was happy to see him, but I was also inwardly, I was disturbed about my lack of awareness of my surroundings. Two years and I still had no idea how to defend myself. I could have been killed by a stupid Kargorok! What if the wolf wasn't here to protect me? I refocused to learn that the wolf had not taken his eyes off of me the entire time, still apparently wondering if I were alright. If he were human, I would swear he would be saying ,"Are you sure you're okay?" If he were human... I glanced again at the wolf's concerned, vaguely familiar eyes. You know, for a wild wolf, he seems pretty concerned about a Hylian's wellbeing... I shook off the random thought and noticed that the wolf had several scratches on his back from the Kargorok's claws. "Well, wolfy, judging from the cuts on your back, it seems like you'll need my help today after all. What do you say?" He only cocked his head to the side, and when I stepped forward as if to go back into town, he followed close behind. Glad that he decided to accept my help once again, I turned and led the wolf back into town.

To minimize the attention drawn from parading a wolf through town I used as many side roads as possible to get back to East Road. There was minor upheaval on South Road by a few sharp-eyed tourists, but we evaded any guard activity. I was beginning to think that I would make it through alright, until--

"Hey, Y/N! I was wondering where you were!"

I inwardly groaned. Eliza Loftwin, my best friend and a frequent customer, was there standing right in front of my shop window. Normally I would be happy to see her, as her visits usually meant a fun conversation and a lot of purchases, but now might have been the worst possible time. "How have you been, Y/N? I haven't seen you in ages, so I planned to pop over for a quick visit, but then I got here and the shop was closed early. Why did you--" She stopped short and stared when she realized just who my company was. Her face shifted from a smile to a look of pure horror.

She remained staring for about twenty more seconds, apparently in shock, until what was happening finally clicked in her brain and she opened her mouth to scream. If I wasn't paranoid that the guards would show up and kill the wolf the situation would have been comical. Before she could actually scream I ran over and clapped my hands over her mouth. "DON'T freak out!" She nodded, eyes still wide, and I took my hands away. She took a deep breath and then attempted to make sense of the situation by plastering on a forced smile and acting like I didn't have eyes and ears. "Y/N, you--you do realize that there's a wild wolf behind you, right?"

"Yeah. I--I actually brought him in."

"On purpose?"

"Yes."

"Wh--why? Why would you do that? Are you crazy?"

"It's okay. I've done this before, he just--he just needs my help. I've done this before. It's fine."

"I'm sorry, you've let a wild wolf into town unsupervised before?! How is that supposed to reassure me?" She was nearly shouting now, and the commotion was causing a few guards to leave their posts.

"Eliza! Listen, I know you're concerned, but I'll explain everything later, just--" I glanced paranoidly at the approaching guards. "Just keep quiet for now, okay?!" I unlocked the door and dashed inside, leaving my confused friend outside to wave hello to the oblivious guards. She shot me one last strange look through the window, but left without another word.

Crisis averted, I slumped against the door in relief. I then turned back to my patient, who sat down obediently to be examined. Getting a closer look at him, I realized that in addition to the claw marks on his back, he was also covered in older scrapes and wounds. What seemed to be Skulltula venom was seeping from a leg cut, and was even infecting a gash on his neck. "Farore, wolf. What lost woods were you running around in? I'm surprised you didn't seek me out sooner." Another strange thought struck me as I stood to find the bandages. "That reminds me...the Hero said he was heading to the forests, didn't he? I wonder what he was looking for? What do you think, wolfy?" I turned back to see that he was pointedly looking away from me. "I see. Well, no matter." I prepared the potion-soaked bandages as usual. When they were ready, I treated all afflicted areas carefully, then looked for anything I may have missed. Then I took a large, dark green bottle down from a top shelf and poured the contents into a bowl for the beast to drink. "This'll help with the Skulltula venom. Honestly, I don't know how you survived that many bites..." The wolf ignored my stellar vote of confidence and drank the potion without protest. It was really amazing, the way this wild animal trusted me.

Once he was all fixed up he left to sleep by the fireplace as usual.  This time I had brought him blankets, so he settled in immediately and was soon dozing. It was a rather hectic day (what with all the angry fangirls demanding their money back for the "love potions") and the whole wolf situation didn't help things. After I made sure my guest was comfortable, and that I had the next day's wares ready and waiting to sell, I settled into bed as well and fell asleep.

(A/N: I am so late and I'm so sorry but this chapter refused to be worded properly.)