Canine Cold [Closed]

Jayden might have been pleased with Autumn's shot, but the Guardian was less that amused at the lack of substantial damage it had dealt to the monster. However, the Hylian Knight had more firepower and broke the Freezzard into three smaller creatures. "Jayden. Move out of my path." Autumn removed three arrows from her quiver and notched them all at the same time.

It was a tricky shot. It always was. But she'd done it before, and she'd do it again. If she pulled this off, her home would be free of snow and ice... For that, she held her breath and released all three arrows. Each of them buried itself in the red, glowing eye of one of the mini creatures that had come out of the large monster. They shot backwards across the snow, crashing into three separate trees and scattering.

Autumn put away her bow with a little sigh. "That should take care of things."

*****

She could not have been more mistaken. From its lair, the Wolfos growled. So that girl thought she had already won..? Well, she and her friend were sorely mistaken, then. The beast turned around and kicked a small ball of snow off the cliff.

As the ball rolled down, it gained size and mass... and it was headed straight for the two Hylians.

Jayden laughed as Autumn took down all three. “Nice!” He put his sword away, walking over to the huntress. While she was distracted, now with all tension gone, he picked up a snowball, packing it tight. When she turned back, he casually tossed the snowball at Autumn. He didn’t fully realize if it hit or not though, as a rumbling behind him made him jump and turn. He was shocked to see the massive snowball coming down to them, and thinking quickly, Jayden took out Korteklauw, putting it into the ground. He held it securely and started using his Pegasus boots.

Gradually, a hole was opening beneath them as Jayden kicked up more and more snow. Eventually, the hole was big enough to get in, so Jayden motioned for Autumn. “Get in! Hurry!” The three jumped into the hole, and just in time, as the massive snowball passed over just seconds later. It covered them in a thick blanket of snow, but they were certainly alive. Jayden sat up, expecting to be out of the snow when he raised above the surface, but he was just pelted with more snow. “Great, another blizzard…” He said, an annoyed tinge to his voice. In the distance, he heard a long, air piercing howl. “Autumn, we still have more work to do.”

She had been mistaken, she realized as the avalanche hit. Autumn had assumed the monster they had just defeated had been the cause of the blizzard, but that had not been the case. Their enemy still lived, and was not amused at their victory. The archer struggled free from the snow prison, digging out Wolfos, and looked up, covering her face. "It looks like the wind is coming from there..." She pointed in one direction, but as she did so, the wind turned.

However, when it did, Wolfos barked and ran off in a direction. Autumn didn't know what went on in the beast's head- but it was probably something good, as Wolfos was set on survival. Maybe he'd found a hiding spot, or something to point them towards the foe... "After him," Autumn said to Jayden, pointing at the beast. "Whatever he's found, it must be good."

---

It took them a good while. The monster made sure to turn the wind at regular intervals so that its smaller, weaker kin would lose its scent, to slow them down. However, Wolfos had sharp noses... it knew that well. It was a matter of time before they found it... and it was ready for them.

The woman's voice shouted "There! That has to be it!" and a small volley of arrows was launched at it. It set its paws far apart and roared loudly, an immense gust of wind knocking all arrows off course and sending them back at their shooters. The woman ducked out of the way, her pet following her example, and she looked up at the beast in front of her.

The White Wolfos, standing at easily twenty feet tall and glaring down at her and her companions with eyes the color of the icy sea, bared its fangs and inhaled, getting ready to breathe a wave of hail at its attackers.

Jayden rushed up, sword in hand as he prepared to fight the white wolfos. He ran in, but was immediately staggered by a blast of hail and cold wind. Shards of ice ripped past him as he covered his face with his arms. He was about to use his Pegasus boots, but once he moved his arns he dodged just in time to evade a lunge from a smaller wolfos. It was still white and ferocious looking, but much smaller than it's master. Jayden then noticed that there were actually about five of them, a full pack of the creatures. Jayden lashed out with a wide swing, the wolfos dodging back as the White Wilfos prepared yet another massive breath attack.

The hail was even harsher up close, and it confirmed for Autumn that this time they were, in fact, facing the source of the snowstorms. Jayden was pushed back by it, and Autumn could tell her arrows were going to be of absolutely no use against a monster that controlled wind.

When Jayden seemed to want to go into plan B and nullify the winds by using his Pegasus Boots, the White Wolfos' eyes seemed to glow brightly and several normal-sized White Wolfoses crawled out from under the snow. As soon as they were on the surface, they attacked the two Hylians.

Autumn switched to her sword, lashing out at a White Wolfos that lunged at her. It made a backflip, much like a normal one would have. Autumn flew off-balance when her sword missed and the large one unleashed a hailstorm. The White Wolfos she had tried to attack, leapt at her, fangs bared. Autumn barely managed to roll over in time and bolck its shining fangs with her sword.

When Jayden saw the head white wolfos begin breathing out hail again, he quickly used his pegasus boots, running to the side to avoid it's breath. The other wolfoses almost seemed immune to the ice and wind, which certainly didn't help the situation. Once Jayden heard the hailstorm behind him stop, he immediately turned around and slashed in the same motion, knowing there'd be a smaller wolfos there. He caught it in the middle of a lunge attack, slashing into it's mouth and through the torso, killing the beast.

Now wit a split second to act, Jayden drew Heko Pesaga, and notched an arrow, taking a shot at the largest enemy. The shot embedded itself in the creature's shoulder, but Jayden didn't get so much as a yelp for satisfaction. Instead, it dashed forward snarling, slashing wide with it's claws. Rolling under it's legs, Jayden was about to stab it in the back of the leg, but it kicked back, launching Jayden onto his back. He quickly rolled up though, as he didn't want to be caught in a disadvantageous position.

When the hail died down, Autumn quickly landed her foot in the White Wolfos' stomach, sending it tumbling, its fangs on her sword a wheeling point, and the beast was the one landing on its back. She then quickly took her sword back, leapt up and stuck it in the beast's stomach, the white fur coloring red as blood spilled from the wound.

She didn't get a lot of time to revel in her victory as two of the remaining White Wolfoses leapt at her from opposite directions, leaving her no choice but to roll forward and dodge them. They slammed into each other, but it seemed to have little effect on them other than cancelling out each other's momentum and them both landing on their four paws. Autumn quickly got back to her feet, considering breaking out her boomerang or her bow to attack them from afar while the winds were down.

However, the largest White Wolfos roared, throwing up something akin to a tornado around itself, both to keep Jayden away from itself and to resume its pelting both enemies with hail. Autumn took a hit to the back of her head from a hailstone the size of a small baseball, and was left dizzy and without sight for a few precious seconds.

Seconds her attackers used to leap at her simultaneously.

Jayden tried to get away from the White Wolfos' tornado attack, but he felt himself being pulled. When he saw Autumn get hit by a massive hail chunk and get attacked by two smaller wolfoses, he thought quickly, fearing for if he missed this attack. Turning towards the three, he lobbed Korteklauw at about a 45 degree angle away from the combat, counting on the wind to drag it where he wanted it to be, while at the same time activating his Pegasus boots.

Just as the sword slammed into the first wolfos, Jayden arrived at the two remaining combatants, drawing the blade from the dead wolfos, pulling his foot forward and tripping Autumn down to the soft snow below. Once she was low enough, he quickly let loose a spin attack, slicing the second wolfos in half. As his attack finished, a massive piece of hail smashed into Jayden's chest, sending him to the ground. It was then that the final remaining wolfos lunged onto the knight, biting his arms as he tried to block.

Autumn blinked when she suddenly found herself in the snow, but quickly recovered from the shock and picked her sword up from where it had fallen, leaping forward and thrusting it into the final White Wolfos' back.

Wolfoses and White Wolfoses were extremely vulnerable in their backs. The monster howled loudly when her sword penetrated its backs and tore through its spine, and Autumn pulled it over her back and tossed it into the snow behind them, helping Jayden get back up.

Their main enemy didn't seem pleased at them killing its brethren- and so quickly, too. "Don't worry," Autumn shouted to Jayden, "I deal with Wolfoses all the time! I can tell when it's going to- AAHH!" The White Wolfos had pounced forward without any sort of indication whatsoever, slamming both front paws into her chest, pounding all air out of her lungs and dragging her several yards away from Jayden before pushing her into the snow.

With the claws in her chest, Autumn found breathing near impossible. She'd dropped her sword when the beast had slammed into her, and was currently wondering what the heck had just happened. The beast growled and drooled above her, and as if her protesting lungs weren't making life hard enough on her yet, she felt her chest freezing despite the claws being furred.

Jayden picked up Autumn's sword as the girl was dragged off, starting to panic when it began freezing her. The knight was trained to keep calm in tough situations, so he thought quickly, using his Pegasus boots to dash at the white wolfos' back, leaping onto it while plunging both swords into it's shoulders. 

The beast reared back, getting off of Autumn to try to swat at the knight on it's back. Eventually it clutched his arm, ripping him and the swords off it's back an into the ground. The wolfos reared his hand back, impaling Jayden through his left arm with it's claws. The swordsman yelled out in pain, though this time the wolfos kept an eye on his other opponent, avoiding a similar situation.

Autumn needed a good amount of time to recover even after Jayden had lured the White Wolfos off of her, And with shaking hands, tried to get an arrow into the Wolfos' back. However, the beast howled once and her arrow was shot right back at her, getting her in her left shoulder.

The wind didn't stop, and while Autumn clutched her shoulder, she wondered if there was any way to beat this beast. It had now let go of Jayden and came over to her, getting on its rear legs and swiping one claw towards Autumn. Between her numbness and the pain in her shoulder, dodging was impossible. Autumn took the punch to the face and it sent her reeling, the wind only accelerating her flight towards the edge of the cliff.

She tried to get back to her feet, but the wind wouldn't let her. The Wolfos had turned back to Jayden now, trusting its incredible hailstorm to take care of Autumn while it would rip Jayden limb from limb with its powerful claws and jaws.

Picking up Autumn's sword once again,Jayden's heart raced. It was unavoidable: he'd have to engage the White Wolfos in melee combat. He had both his and Autumn's swords, spinning them formidably. He didn't know why he did it... Maybe he thought it would scare it? It was unlikely though. 

The beast was the first to react, leaping forward to try to pounce on Jayden, but he managed to evade it, slicing up the White Wolfos' arm. It then grabbed for the knight, but Jayden crossed the blades, blocking the creatire's hand and thrusting back against it with all his strength.

The White Wolfos grunted when Jayden resisted it, needing a good portion of its strength to push through the Hylian's defense. It opted to turn the wind again, which helped it in its struggle with the man, but took the pressure off of Autumn's shoulders. The Guardian of the Lost Woods crawled back to her feet, looking around in case the beast had summoned allies again.

She then took her bow to hand, as well as an arrow. The arm with which she held her bow hurt tremendously, and it shook lightly. However, she knew that it was now or never, as with the wind and its enormous strength in its favor, the White Wolfos was about to break through Jayden's effort.

She released her arrow, praying that the shaking of her arm hadn't put it off too much. The winds blowing at the Wolfos' back proved to be a mistake of the beast, as Autumn's shot lodged itself comfortably between the monster's shoulder blades, where Jayden had stabbed it before as well.

The White Wolfos jumped forward slightly, giving Jayden just the opening he needed. He lunged forward, doing a cross-slash on the beast's throat. Blood spilled out onto the knight, but when Jayden was slashed with a powerful stroke across his face, he knew it wouldn't be enough. 

Dashing underneath it, Jayden cut the back's of both legs, slicing the Achilles tendons. Now with the beast immobilized, Jayden sped in front of the wolfos with his Pegasus boots, using his blade and the speed to embed a sword right into it's chest, piercing the heart. 

Unfortunately, this left Jayden vulnerable as the beast fell over, right on top of him. Good thing he'd been wearing the armor or he'd have been crushed.

Jayden somehow managed to kill the monster, and slowly but surely the snowstorm died down. Autumn walked over to the two, pushing the enormous beast off of him.

"This thing is incredible." She ran her hand over the pelt, pulling out her arrow. "Could you see if it has a hoard or something? We deserve some sort of reward for this." Then ignoring Jayden, she unsheathed her sword and started skinning the White Wolfos. Beasts like it were often more magical in nature than organic. She cut the pelt down to size, ensuring to keep the skin from the head intact. She could probably stuff it later.

If she was lucky, she thought, some of the beast's abilities would be preserved in its skin. If they were not, then the cape might at least make a good trophy as well as a warning to anything else that tried to defy her by freezing the Woods.

Either way, nothing ventured nothing gained.

------

Jayden let out a sigh of relief as Autumn got the beast off of him, and then was immediately ordered by her to search the area. “Okay, no rest for the knight in shining armor. It’s cool.” He got up, looking towards a nearby cave. As he passed a tree on his way there, Wolfos shook snow off of himself before barking at Jayden, wagging his tail. He patted the friendly monster on the head. “Your master is over there. Hey Autumn! Found your buddy!”

He then walked into the small cave, finding a chest. How the hell did she know it was hoarding stuff? He opened it, finding a total of 90 rupees. This made the knight pause. Seriously. Why was the wildlife richer than he was? Jayden walked back out with the chest in hand. “I found a ton of rupees. Want to go 45 and 45?”

--------

Jayden called out that he'd found Wolfos, and soon returned with his hands full of rupees. He asked to split it equally, but Autumn pointed to the skin she was working on. "I don't need that much. You take it."

Once she had cut the pelt down to size, she folded it so that she could carry it, Wolfos sniffing at it. "I'll do the rest at home." Autumn didn't have the illusion this place, per se, was getting warmer. But if there wasn't any other creature freezing the world over, then in due time, the Lost Woods would return to normal...

"I don't know about you, sir Knight, but my work here is done... I will return to where I belong now."

--------

Jayden nodded, handing her fifteen rupees. "At the very least take that." He put the rest into his pockets, walking over to the white wolfos. He leaned down to it's mouth, seeing the snarl it had while in its final moments. Reaching down, the knight tugged hard on one of it's fangs, ripping it from the terror's mouth. It was about the size of his middle finger, so it would surely make a good momento. After placing it in his pocket next to the rupees he turned back to Autumn, a smile on his face.

"I doubt I could have taken that down myself. Thank you Autumn." She then began walking away, with her pup in tow. 'What a mysterious woman...' He thought. But he soon banished such thoughts from his mind. He had plenty of time to think on his way home. She was a warrior for sure, trained for a long time. But she said she was from the lost woods, which was interesting. Just from looking back over his shoulder at her walking away, he could tell this wasn't the last he'd see of Autumn; guardian of the lost woods.

She was pretty too...

The End.