Bear with Me, He's A Friend

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/35232634.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Fandom: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, Linked Universe (Legend of
Zelda) - Fandom
Relationship: Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Character: Wild (Linked Universe), Twilight (Linked Universe), Time (Linked
Universe), Legend (Linked Universe), Hyrule (Linked Universe),
Warriors (Linked Universe), Four (Linked Universe), Wind (Linked
Universe), Sky (Linked Universe)
Additional Tags: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Bears, Gore, basically some
mauling happens but not to any of our friends
Language: English
Collections: 2021 Linked Universe Artist Appreciation Collection, My Favourite
Fanfics
Stats: Published: 2021-11-20 Words: 4067

Bear with Me, He's A Friend

by LettersByTheLake

Summary

“He’s a bear,” said Legend forcefully, as if Wild was an idiot.

“And?” Wild argued. “Just because he’s a bear doesn’t mean he doesn’t have feelings,
Legend.”

Based on this animation by Bread Slice

Notes

This fic was based on this very awesome animation by Bread !

Go check out the rest of their art if you're not familiar with it!!

See the end of the work for more notes

Wild was restless. After an unforgiving battle early that morning, Time had declared they all take
the rest of the day off to recuperate in time for tomorrow’s travel. Most of the Links had been
overjoyed at the prospect—after all, breaks for them were far and few between these days. But
Wild had never been one to sit still for too long.
He itched to be active, to do something other than simply watching as Twilight took care of Epona.
But the landscape in which they had set up camp was frustratingly void of entertainment. It was
quite beautiful, he supposed, the rolling hills and rocky crags, the wildflowers that speckled the
grass like someone had flicked a paintbrush at the view with all kinds of colours.

But there were no trees to climb, no snow to surf on and the small cliffs were loose and crumbling
enough that even he wouldn’t risk the likelihood of landslides by trying to climb them.

Twilight seemed to be content enough, humming a catchy tune as he brushed Epona. Wild had
offered to help, but he had politely declined, a kind way of letting him know he didn’t trust anyone
to groom her other than himself. So Wild sat on the ground and watched, chin in his hand, letting
out an occasional bored sigh to make sure Twilight knew just how miserable he was.

“You fancy sparring for a bit?” he asked, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

“Sorry, Cub. This might be the last chance I get to groom Epona properly for a few days. I bet
someone else would, though, if you asked.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll take the hint,” he said, though it was light-hearted, and Twilight smiled
apologetically.

“I know you’re restless, but why don’t you try and relax? I suspect it’ll be a long time before we
get a good break like this again.”

Wild shrugged. “Sparring is how I relax,” he admitted, “but you’re right, I’ll go and ask the others
if they’d like to join me.”

“I’ll see you later then. Make sure to be careful, especially if you’re fighting Sky. That guy doesn’t
hold back any hits.”

“Aren’t I always?” he asked innocently, leaving before Twilight could get in a reply save for an
exasperated eye roll.

The others were sitting around an unlit campfire, the afternoon still young enough yet that they had
no need to light it. None of them seemed to be having the same issue as he was; they were a picture
of comfort, unarmoured and sprawled across logs and, in Warriors’ and Wind’s case, each other.
Sky was immersed in the details of the small wooden loftwing he was carving, Warriors in his
notebook and Four in the sword he was running a careful eye over in his lap. The others chatted
amongst themselves, their conversation light and unassuming.

“Hey, Wild,” Hyrule said cheerfully when he spotted him approaching.

“Hey. I was, er—I was wondering if anyone would like to spar with me?”

Hyrule winced and looked briefly at Legend who gave him a look sharp enough to cut steel.
“Sorry, I’m not allowed. I have to let my shoulder heal for a while.” He lifted his left arm slightly
which was bundled up in a sling after he had dislocated it that morning.

“Oh, yeah. Anyone else?” He looked hopefully around at them, but they all seemed uninterested,
shaking their heads apologetically. Warriors simply motioned at his notebook without looking up.
“Wind?” he tried.

“Sorry, Wild. I’m so tired, I just want to chill, you know?”

“Legend?”
“No.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to.”

Right… that was fair enough, he supposed.

He looked over to Time, the only other person not engrossed in a task, but quickly decided against
asking him after the look he gave him.

“You probably shouldn’t be sparring, anyway,” Four pointed out, “you break enough swords as it
is.”

“Sometimes I practice by myself,” Warriors suggested, finally looking up from what he was
writing, “you know, like footwork drills and stuff. You wouldn’t break any swords doing that,
either.”

Wild wrinkled his nose. That sounded brain-numbingly boring to him.

“It’s okay. I think I’ll just take a walk or something.”

He stayed a moment longer, just in case anyone decided to change their mind last minute—they
didn’t—then glumly set off up the hill. He didn’t really like walking without purpose, he wasn’t
like Hyrule who could be content wandering aimlessly for the sake of exploring, and the open
landscape provided little in the way of interesting exploration. But it was better than sitting around
doing nothing, he guessed.

He scuffed the ground with his feet as he went, kicking loose stones and sidestepping flowers. As
he neared one of the shallow cliffs, the ground became littered with small boulders where the
hillside had been eroded, and he had to concentrate not to step carelessly and twist his ankle. In
fact, he was so concentrated on where he was putting his feet that, as he emerged over the top of
the hill, he didn’t look up right away.

Which was why the bear took him completely by surprise.

He immediately ducked out of view, his heart fluttering in his chest as he went from bored out of
his mind to ‘ oh, shit… I might get mauled by a bear.’ He crouched there for a few moments,
hidden by the curve of the hillside, weighing his options. He was aware he should probably get out
of there and leave the bear to a peaceful afternoon. But then again, his day had just become a
whole lot more interesting and he had no desire to go back to stewing in his own boredom.

He slowly peered over the top of the hill again. The bear looked calm enough, sitting and eating
what looked like a handful of grass and leaves. He wondered if the bear was bored too. He couldn’t
stand staying a single day in this place, let alone living here.

Maybe he should provide some entertainment…

An idea formed in his mind then, and the thing was, he knew it was stupid. He knew if the others
found out about it, particularly Twilight, they would chew him out for it. And yet, he found he
inexplicably had an inability to walk away from this bear.

In fact, he quite suddenly found himself walking towards it, instead.

___

“Has anyone seen Wild? I’m getting hungry.”

Wind was having a very enjoyable day. The sun was out, he was with his friends, and just this
once, there wasn’t anything immediately on the horizon to worry about. He was feeling as
perfectly content as a cat basking in a sunbeam. The only thing that could possibly make him even
happier was one of Wild’s meat skewers.

Hyrule shrugged. “I haven’t seen him since he said he was going for a walk.”

“Oh.” Well, he supposed he could do without the meat skewers for a little longer. He relaxed
against the log at his back and closed his eyes, simply enjoying this rare moment of peace. He
dozed for a while, soothed by the scratching of Warriors’ pen and the quiet chatter of the others.

It was perhaps half an hour later, and Wild still hadn’t returned, that Wind began to feel a little
worried.

“Do you think he’s lost?” he asked no one in particular.

“What?” asked Sky, looking up from his woodcarving, “Who?”

“Wild. Do you think he’s lost? He’s been gone an awfully long time.”

“I’m sure he’s fine, Sailor. He’s got a pretty good sense of direction; he only gets lost if he’s with
Hyrule.”

“Hey!”

“What, it’s true…”

Wind frowned. If he wasn’t lost, maybe something had happened to him. He was one of the more
reckless of them, after all, and he was always getting himself into trouble.

Besides, he really was getting quite hungry now.

“I’m going to look for him,” he announced, standing up and brushing the dry dirt from his tunic.

“I’ll join you,” said Warriors as he closed his notebook and followed suit. “I need to stretch my
legs.”

Wind fought the urge to fondly roll his eyes. He was certain his desire to go with him had less to do
with stretching his legs than his ever constant and overbearing need to watch over him. Not that he
minded the company.

“I’ll go too,” said Four, “I want to check if he’s being careful enough with that new sword of his.”

So the three of them set off up the hill in the direction in which Wild had left over three hours ago.
Despite the vague, nagging worry in the back of Wind’s mind that Wild could have gotten himself
into trouble, it was a leisurely stroll, the trio enjoying the fact they didn’t have to hurry to be
anywhere for once. They scanned the landscape as they went, the open highlands making their job
ten times easier.

It wasn’t long before they spotted Wild. As they wandered over the top of a hill, they stopped,
squinting at the shapes of two moving figures a little distance away. One was undoubtedly Wild,
his tunic a vibrant blue against the green of the countryside, and the other…

“Is that a… oh Hylia, is that a bear?!” Warriors exclaimed.

It was indeed a bear. And it looked from here as if Wild was locked in some pretty serious combat
with it.

“I’m going to get Twilight,” Four muttered before running back down the hill. The other two
simply watched as Wild pulled a series of very impressive moves to avoid the huge, swiping claws
of his opponent.

“Do you think we should help him?” Wind asked after a moment.

“He doesn’t look like he’s in distress,” Warriors noted without moving his eyes from the scene in
front of them. He tilted his head slightly in apparent contemplation. “In fact, he doesn’t look like
he’s fighting back properly at all. It’s almost like… oh .” His shoulders sagged as he came to a
sudden realisation.

“What?”

“Do you remember what Wild asked us earlier?”

“Yeah, he wanted a sparring partner… oh .”

“Yep. It looks like he found one.”

It was then that a large green blur shot past them, and they watched as Twilight careened towards
Wild at top speeds, a frantic look in his eyes.

“WILD!” he bellowed. “GET. AWAY. FROM THAT BEAR!”

Warriors turned to Wind and gave him a look that was somewhere between amusement and
exasperation.

“There’s never a dull moment, is there?”

Wind giggled.

___

Ever since Twilight was first cursed at the beginning of his adventure, he had noticed some
changes to his Hylian form. It was almost as if some of the wolf had leaked into it. He could see
for miles further than he had ever been able to before and his sense of smell was better than any
Hylian’s had a right to be. He was more observant, could pick out every single beetle and ant on
the ground beneath his feet without even thinking about it.

There were downsides to this, of course. He would occasionally get crippling migraines where any
small amount of light would feel like knives through his skull and each infinitesimal noise would
send him reeling. But mostly, it had been exceedingly helpful, and had probably saved his life on
more than one occasion.
At first, he had been wary of it; these heightened senses were the result of a curse after all. But
gradually he had become reliant on them, trusting his instincts over even his mind.

Which was why, when the hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle uncomfortably and he
became aware of a general feeling of unease throughout his body, he started to search his
surroundings for potential threats.

“I think we’re being followed,” he told Time, his voice low enough that the words were only
between them.

Time’s entire form visibly tensed as he put up his guard. “How long?”

“A couple of miles, at least.”

Time nodded and discreetly gestured down the path where the ground sloped upwards to what
looked like the highest point in their vicinity. “We’ll stop there. Take stock of our surroundings.”

Twilight hummed his agreement, knowing they would do better with the advantage of high ground.
His heart was fluttering in his chest, the disquiet he had been feeling for the past half hour or so
reaching its peak.

They trudged up the hill, the others blissfully unaware of their looming situation as they continued
to chatter amongst themselves. Once they neared the top, Twilight glanced inconspicuously to the
direction they had just come from, his trained eyes narrowing in search of any flitting movement of
an enemy trying to stay hidden.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. A great dark blot on the horizon, its figure hulking and
massive, its movement slow and languid.

“There!” he hissed, throwing his arm to catch Time in his stride. Time startled and looked to where
he was pointing.

“Everyone, behind those trees,” he said, loudly enough now that all eight heroes could hear. They
were seasoned enough within the group that they didn’t hesitate to follow his orders, knowing by
the tone of Time’s voice that there was danger close by.

“What is it?” Warriors asked.

“We’re being followed,” Twilight replied, “I noticed it a while back. Whatever it is—it’s just down
there to the right.”

“Can you see it from here?” asked Sky. The others watched with bated breaths as Twilight shuffled
closer to the path and cautiously peeked his head out from their hiding place. Sure enough, there it
was, just over the curve of the hill—that huge, hulking shape.

“I see it.”

“What is it?” asked Legend.

“I don’t know, it’s… it’s not any monster I have where I come from, but—hang on…” He
narrowed his eyes, straining to see whatever it was in more detail, calling on his heightened senses
to help him make it out. He turned his nose to the air slightly, breathing in its vaguely familiar
scent more deeply. “That's no monster,” he realised, suddenly realising what it was.

“What?”
“It’s a bear.”

There was a silence as the others took in the unexpected revelation.

“Are you sure that’s what was following us, Pup?” asked Time. Twilight nodded confusedly as he
continued to watch the animal. He couldn’t sense anything else out there that might have been the
cause of his increasing discomfort.

“Do you think it’s the same bear Wild fought yesterday?” Wind asked.

Four shook his head. “No way, we’ve walked miles since then. Why would it follow us?”

“Wait,” interrupted Twilight in bewilderment, “it’s eating something… I— I think that’s a bowl of
Wild’s stew.” Very slowly, eight pairs of eyes turned to Wild who sat hunched in on himself,
looking extraordinarily guilty.

“What is the meaning of this?” asked Time, well on the way to a full disappointed glare. Wild
began to turn a shade of deep red.

“Before you say anything, I made sure to be really careful. We were never in any danger.”

“What did you do, Cub?” Twilight asked with a weary sigh.

“I-I just—” he looked around at each of them, perhaps searching for any more forgiving faces. He
clearly failed, because he finally rested his gaze down towards his knees dejectedly. “I’ve been
leaving food for him,” he admitted quietly.

“ Why?”

“Because… because he was hungry. There was hardly anything to eat on that hillside, no fruit trees
or rivers to catch fish in.” He looked up, his jaw set, the guilt in his eyes giving way to something
more determined. “And he was lonely. He was sad and I felt bad for him. I was just being nice.”

“He’s a bear,” said Legend forcefully, as if Wild was an idiot. And actually, at this moment,
Twilight had to agree.

“ And?” Wild argued. “Just because he’s a bear doesn’t mean he doesn’t have feelings, Legend.”

“ Alright ,” Time said loudly as Legend spluttered disbelievingly. “Wild, I can’t believe I’m having
to tell you this, but bears are highly dangerous animals. You can’t go around leaving them food
like that. You’re going to have to leave it here.”

“But—”

“ No. There are plenty of trees and small animals around here for it to eat. It’ll be fine.”

Wild frowned but didn’t argue any further.

“It’s going to keep following us,” Four pointed out, “It expects food from us now and if we don’t
lose it by tonight, it might attack our camp.”

There were a few groans as they realised fully what this meant.

“What are we going to do?!” asked Wind.

Hyrule glared at Wild. “This is why you don’t make friends with bears.”
“Oh, as if you wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

“Wild,” said Time, exceedingly calmly considering the ridiculousness of the situation, “how
frequently have you been feeding it?”

“Once an hour, maybe?”

Twilight facepalmed.

“What!” Wild said defensively, “He’s huge and we have a lot of spare food.”

“Okay, I think if we just don’t feed it for the rest of the afternoon it should lose interest.”

“And if it doesn’t?” asked Warriors.

Time pinched his nose tiredly. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

One by one, they emerged from the trees and set foot on the path once more. Twilight noticed how
mostly everyone was treading more lightly now, occasionally sending wary glances back at where
the bear still roamed at the bottom of the hill.

As they set off yet again, Wild tailed the group sullenly, his arms crossed and his mouth in a
petulant half-pout. Twilight slowed to walk beside him, partly for moral support and partly to make
sure he wasn’t leaving any more food behind.

Wild watched him reproachfully, clearly expecting to be reprimanded further, but his expression
morphed into one of surprise as Twilight let out a chuckle.

“That was a little insane even for you, Cub.”

Wild shrugged. “Maybe. At least he got a few good meals today. I’m going to miss him.”

Twilight shook his head fondly. There was no denying Wild’s heart was in the right place, even if
he lacked a bit of common sense sometimes.

“I’m sure the bear appreciates it.”

“I wish he could come with us. I— I know that’s kind of stupid; I know he’s just a bear, but—”

Wild never got to finish his sentence. Instead, there was a familiar, small pop followed by a peal of
teeth-grating laughter and they both tensed, drawing their swords without a moment’s hesitation.
Wild’s expression moved from melancholy to guarded in a split second.

“Yiga!” Wild called to the rest of the group, all of whom were too far ahead by now to be much
help, though they started to hurry towards them when they saw the two figures looming over their
friends.

One was a footsoldier, the likes of which they saw pretty often during their travels through Wild’s
Hyrule. They were a nuisance more than anything else, an obstacle to slow them down. But the
other was a Blademaster, and when one of those crossed their path, they knew they were in for a
proper fight.

Wild launched himself at the Blademaster before Twilight could act, leaving him to engage with
the smaller one. He wasted no time, blocking the first swipe of their vicious sickle with his sword,
knowing the faster he defeated this opponent, the sooner he could help Wild.
The footsoldier was relentless in their attack, their blade a blur as they swiped it left to right with
brutal speed. But there was little strategy to it and Twilight avoided each hit with ease. A well-
timed swing of his own sword sent the sickle flying into the trees at the side of the path. He
brought his blade up once more to give the final blow, and—

The footsoldier burst into a pile of paper notes with another cackling laugh, appearing a few metres
further down the path. Twilight cursed as he followed at a sprint, furthering away from Wild and
the others. He came at it again without slowing his speed, raising his sword for the second time.
When he brought it down this time, he felt it connect with flesh for a few seconds, burying into the
Yiga’s stomach. But before he could do any real damage, his opponent vanished once more.

He turned in a circle, frantically searching for where the Yiga had appeared again. There was
nothing; it looked as if they had retreated to lick their wounds. Wild was still engaged in combat
with the Blademaster, though, and to Twilight’s horror, he didn’t look like he was winning. He was
slowly being backed towards a tree by the force of his opponent’s blows.

He was on the defensive, the blademaster having gained the upper hand, and Twilight started to
sprint towards them in panic. He was only halfway there when Wild’s back hit the tree trunk, his
sword locked with the Yiga’s, his mouth a grimace as he put all his strength into stopping the blade
from carving into his skull.

Twilight pushed himself to go faster, his heart fluttering as he wondered whether he was going to
make it in time as the huge windcleaver inched ever closer to Wild’s face. The others were still
metres away and there was no way they were going to get there before him.

Suddenly, a hulking mass of movement emerged from the trees and Twilight audibly gasped as it
barrelled straight into the blademaster. The Yiga flew through the air from the force of the hit and
Twilight swore he could hear the crunch of bones as they slammed into the ground. He was sure he
could hear some of his bones crunching as they were crushed.

He stopped mid-pace, utterly bewildered as he watched the bear – Wild’s bear – maul the
blademaster to a gruesome death. It was loud and grisly and even he, who had done a few maulings
of his own in his time, had to look away for the sick feeling it brought to the pit of his stomach.

He looked at Wild who stood with his back still pressed against the tree, his mouth open in
surprise, and then at the others who had also halted and were staring at the scene in shock.

“Pup,” Time said in a hushed, urgent tone, barely audible above the fading gurgling screams of the
Yiga. Twilight’s eyes snapped to his, and he was concerned to see the beginnings of fear in his
expression. He realised then what was the problem. The bear was blocking the path between him
and the others, and if he didn’t want the bear to turn to him next, he was going to have to move
fast. “Walk around the bear very carefully. Don’t move too fast and don’t turn your back.”

He nodded and started to creep around the huge animal as fast as he could without drawing its
attention from its recent kill. Sweat dripped down the side of his face as he was suddenly very
aware of every small noise his body made— the slight clang of his unsheathed sword on the metal
of his belt, the scuffling of his shoes on the dry dirt.

The others watched with wide eyes and bated breaths and the bear continued to feast on the Yiga,
unaware of the tenseness surrounding it.

When Twilight reached the side of the path on which the others stood, he backed away, keeping
his eyes trained on the bear until he eventually felt Time’s hand on his shoulder.
 “Well done,” he whispered, before motioning to the others to retreat just as slowly. Once they were
out of sight, they moved a bit faster, letting out relieved sighs at getting away unscathed.

“You okay, Wild?” asked Four once it was safe enough to speak in normal tones.

Wild nodded. “Thanks to the bear.” He didn’t outright say ‘ I told you so, ’ but he may as well
have.

“I suppose we might have been a little harsh on your friend,” admitted Sky.

Wild lit up hopefully. “Does this mean we can keep him?”

“NO!” shouted several people at once.

End Notes

Thank you Bread for sharing your marvellous art!!

And an addiitonal thanks to Gintrinsic for helping me with this fic <3

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