Forest Origin

Chapter 1

A lone thief ran through the streets of Hyrule, tightly clutching onto the stolen goods in his bag. Maybe at this point, it was safe to say that he had rotten luck. A quick glance over his shoulder and he saw his two pursuers getting closer.

Of course, he had to be the one who was caught stealing by the two apprentice heroes. It couldn't have been any other measly soldier that he could easily outrun.

Ghost couldn't help but grin when she saw the poor sap dart into an alleyway. "He's got nowhere to go."

Wolf nodded, feeling more at ease about this whole chase. A small but confident smile also formed on her face. "Let's end this."

Just as they had expected, they caught up to the thief who was looking hopelessly up at a dead end. His eyes darted in every direction, looking for some type of escape. But there seemed to be only one way out. It was a slim chance but he couldn't just sit here and let all his hard work go to waste.

The thief glanced over at Wolf and Ghost, his panicked glance turning into a glare.

"Damn you.... Don't you underestimate me!"

He threw a knife at them. Ghost stepped forward with her spellbook and instantly, a ray of frost shot forward to meet the knife. The now frozen weapon dropped to the ground with a thunk, now helpless at the apprentices' feet.

Once the immediate threat was dealt with, Wolf ran towards the thief, unsheathing her sword. In response to that, the thief pulled out another knife, ready to swing. With ease, the knight apprentice parried the smaller blade, knocking it out of their target's hand.

"How did you-" the remaining words died in his throat when he felt Wolf's sword pressed against his chest.

Wolf glanced over at her friend. Taking the cue, Ghost snapped her fingers and the stones from beneath their feet began to form into a chain, trapping the thief's wrists together. Another mission done for the day. Knowing that their target was harmless by now, Wolf and Ghost each took an arm and began to bring him to the castle, where the knights of Hyrule would handle the rest.

Wolf couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when they made it to their destination without a problem.

"Well, well, look at you two." a voice mused behind them. One all too familiar, especially for Ghost. Wolf and Ghost looked over their shoulders to see their mentors, Green and Shadow, approaching them. "Starting to become real threats to the troublemakers around here, huh?"

Green nodded in agreement. "The two of you have come a long way after a year. You should be proud of yourselves."

Ghost shrugged. "Not like we were going to stay novices forever."

It was then that Princess Zelda came forward with a pouch of reward money in her hand. Something that she tried to do from time to time on her less busy days. "Well either way we appreciate all the hard work you put towards the kingdom. So thank you."

As Ghost took the reward money, Wolf couldn't help but think back to the incident in Miniel. The little disaster that she caused. "Well... at least nothing out of the ordinary happened this time."

"You know you're not alone in finding an answer to that right?" Ghost reminded her friend. "We're all here here to help you get a hold of your powers."

Wolf nodded. That was the only small relief that she had. Her friends being here with her as she tried to figure everything out.

"There hasn't been a time where a memory came back to you Wolf?" Zelda asked.

Wolf shook her head. "No. Nothing outside of Hyrule looks familiar to me."

"Wonder if that blow to the head caused some permanent damage." Shadow thought aloud. "All this time passed and still nothing? Memories of your old life are probably gone forever."

"Or she just hasn't encountered anything to trigger a memory yet." Green suggested before looking at his apprentice. "Either way, you shouldn't worry about it too much. Not all the answers are going to come overnight."

"He's right." Zelda said. "Take your time with this. At least for the sake for your health."

"Alright. I'll try not to worry about it too much." Wolf promised.

Green smiled. "Good. Now you two head home. You've earned some extra time off after everything you've done today."

With that dismissal, Wolf and Ghost returned to their small house. The little rental space that they called home.

"Alright." Ghost said as she stretched her arms, immediately heading for the kitchen. "My turn to cook this time."

While her roommate was getting started with dinner, Wolf made her way to her bedroom to place her stuff down. She passed her dresser where the butterfly hairpin lay on the top. She hadn't worn it since she was found. From the looks of it, the pin could break easily and with this new job she had it was better if she didn't wear it.

But an idea came to mind. Wolf took the pin in her hand and then returned to the kitchen where her friend was.

"Hey, you remember that spell you did to summon the former chief of your home village right?" Wolf asked. "Do you think you can use it on this?"

Ghost glanced at the hairpin in Wolf's hand. "I remember it but I doubt it would work." she answered. "I need the name of the deceased owner. Even if that wasn't yours, getting a name for the spell to activate it would be impossible."

"Oh... forgot about that."

Ghost couldn't help but laugh. "You promised Green and Zelda that you wouldn't worry and the moment you get home you start worrying."

"I said I'd try." Wolf countered with a pout.

"Well not too hard if you broke so quickly."

Wolf sighed, knowing her friend had a point. Still, this was the only possible hint that she had regarding her past and there was nothing that she could do for any leads.

"Hey take it easy will ya?" Ghost said. "The brain is a fragile part of your body. Yours has already been through hell when it lost all those old memories. There's no point in tormenting it more by trying to regain it all."

"Guess you're right about that." Wolf said as she put the pin down.

Ghost sent a reassuring smile her way. "Hey if it's meant to be, you'll get them back. If not then you made a decent life for yourself here. Either way you're in good hands."

Wolf nodded with a smile of her own. Only one thing she could think of to get her mind off things. "Here let me help with dinner."

The rest of the night, Wolf never thought about her forgotten past.