The sun was dipping low over Hyrule Field, painting the grass in a soft amber glow. Link adjusted the strap of his shield on his back, his boots crunching softly against the dirt path that wound toward the distant silhouette of Hyrule Castle. It had been a long day—clearing out another cluster of Stalchildren from the edges of Lon Lon Ranch—and he was looking forward to some quiet in Castle Town before the next leg of his journey.

But he wasn’t alone.

He hadn’t been for a while now.

Link’s blue eyes shifted to his left, scanning the treeline just beyond the path. He didn’t stop walking—no, he’d learned that stopping made it skittish—but he kept his gaze sharp. There it was again. A flicker of movement between two thick trunks.

It wasn’t big—whatever it was. A creature about the size of a pup, maybe smaller. He’d caught glimpses of it over the past few days: a tuft of dark, fur-like texture, small limbs that moved with a surprising amount of speed, and... a pair of eyes. Bright, glowing eyes that seemed to shimmer in the dusk whenever it thought he wasn’t looking.

Link’s lips pressed into a thin line. He wasn’t one to shy away from the strange—he lived it, after all—but this thing was different. It didn’t attack him, didn’t make a sound. It just… followed. And every time he turned to catch it, it darted behind a tree, a boulder, or anything else that could shield its tiny form.

The weirdest part? It scared the monsters.

Link’s brow furrowed as he glanced to the right now, where a group of Bokoblins had been lingering near a hill earlier in the day. They’d scattered before he’d even unsheathed his sword, their guttural grunts rising into yelps as they bolted into the underbrush.

This was pure terror.

He let out a soft breath, his fingers instinctively brushing the hilt of the Master Sword. Not to draw it—at least not yet—but to remind himself it was there. He turned his head slightly, just enough to catch the faintest shuffle of leaves from behind a large rock to his left.

He waited. Silent.