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It had been two weeks since Tidal had joined the Chain. She quite liked them. Wasn't a fan of the portals: they left her feeling nauseous. Four seemed to have the same problem. As it was, they had just gone through a portal, getting dumped in a forest. She and Four both laid on the ground. Tidal gave a queasy burp, and Four was promptly sick. Wild sighed softly, coming over and gently patting the Smithy's back.
“That was foul… Tidal, you okay?”
That was Time. She whined, squeezing her eyes shut as another wave of nausea hit. Poor Four groaned along with her in their shared misery. Time patted her nose kindly.
“I know… It's rough…”
Tidal whined again, pouting. After several minutes of laying still, she finally felt better. Well enough to sit up. She gave Four a gentle nudge with her wingtip, and he too sat up.
“Feeling better?” Wild asked them both. Tidal didn't understand the question, but Four answered with a “yes”, so she did too. She sat up sharply when she heard a commotion up ahead. Ears pricked. Hyrule came up beside her, ears also pricked.
“You hear something?”
“Dangerrrrrrr.”
Tidal stiffened when she heard what sounded like… A woman… In distress. And… Moblins! She took off at top speed, using her wings as forelegs to lengthen her strides. Tidal burst through the trees, and saw a woman with long red hair brandishing a pitchfork. Two Moblins were trying to get at her! Tidal charged onward, and took the first Moblin off his feet with a headbutt. It was one of Wild's Moblins. The second one… She wasn't sure. It was fat, pink, stinky and ugly. Tidal yanked that one away, then she stood over the stunned woman in a defensive stance.
The dragon snarled savagely. Then she heard her companions charging out of the trees. Time saw the woman, and got very aggressive with attacking the first Moblin she had knocked down. “MALON! MALON, RUN!” Time bellowed. Malon? Oh! The woman underneath her looked worried. “Link!” Tidal kicked the pink Moblin as it tried to attack them again. She pushed Malon towards the barn a little ways away. “The dragon is a friend! Go!” Time called out again. The woman finally turned and ran to the barn. Tidal guarded the barn fiercely. Time knew this woman.
The fight didn't last much longer after that, especially when Time started sweeping his frankly large sword through the monsters. After a few minutes of silence, Malon poked her head out of the barn, then ran to Time.
“Link, Link are you okay?!”
“I'm alright. But I could ask you the same thing, dear.”
“Oh just a few scrapes here an’ there. What about the boys?”
Warriors was slightly scuffed up, but was okay. Four had a small cut on his arm, nothing serious. Twilight and Sky had bruises. Wind was panting, but unscathed. Wild had a sprained ankle. Hyrule, however… Had a very broken leg.
Tidal scooped him up, carefully. “Easy easy easy… Does anyone have a fairy?” Hyrule rasped. Tidal looked at his left leg and grimaced. Yeah that… Oof. Tidal knew his leg would have to be straightened before healing. She grasped the leg with her other hand, and gave Hyrule a look. He blanched, but nodded. Warriors groaned, but he'd shown her how to do it. On himself once, but that was another story.
“Oh this is going to suck… Um, hi Malo–”
CRUNCH
“HOLY SHIT–”
Malon had come over with a fairy, and the fairy healed the injured leg. Hyrule still swearing worse than Wind. Time patted Hyrule's head consolingly, then gave Malon a hug. “Let's get them to the house.”
At the house, everyone got patched up. Tidal looked around the property, curious of it. Horses she was familiar with. Epona. But there were small, white birds that she was not familiar with. She bent down to look closer, and apparently these birds didn't like that. For she found herself getting bombarded by them! She yelped, then hid her face in her wings.
“Oi! Come now, little birds, that ain't no way to treat a friend!”
Tidal peeked out of her wings to see Malon calming the birds, shooing them away from her and scattering… Something on the ground that they seemed to like. Time was there with her. Tidal lowered her wings, wiggling her horns in a friendly greeting. “Eyo!” she chirped. Time gave a soft snort. “Come now, Tidal, I know you can say ‘hello’ properly~” he laughed.
__
Well this was… New.
Link had brought a dragon home this time.
Malon smiled fondly as her husband tried to get Tidal to say “hello”.
“Hello.”
“Yallo.”
“Hello.”
“Ello.”
“Hello!”
“Eyo~”
“Tidal–”
Malon burst out laughing. Bright and cheery. Link pouted at her. Tidal smiled. And then, looking so very pleased with herself: “Hello~” Link's jaw dropped. Then he gave a bark of laughter. “Oh I see how it is, you'll say hello for her~”
Malon stepped closer to Tidal. The dragon's big sapphire eyes shifted to her. The nose wiggled, much like a rabbit's. “Hello, Tidal. Thank you for helpin’ me~ I sure do appreciate it.” Tidal made an adorable squeaking noise. A big blue nose lightly touched her shoulder. “She’s a Tidewing from Wild's era. They're not sentient as people are. They're animals, but they are VERY smart. We're not sure who taught her to talk, but somebody did.” Link explained.
The farmgirl lifted a hand, and patted Tidal's nose. “Well she's an absolute darlin’, she is. How long has she been with you and the boys?”
“About two weeks now. She rescued Hyrule from a Moblin. As I understand it, she actually tried to feed him seaweed.”
Malon gave an amused bark at that. Then her heart melted. How sweet… Tidal seemed to be a very caring beast! She gave a surprised noise when a giant paw wrapped around her, and lifted. Tidal was quick to support her legs with her opposite hand. And she was very gentle.
Link sputtered. “Tidal! Put her down!”
“Link, it's alright~ She's not hurtin’ me.”
Malon was beaming as Tidal snuffled at her hair. Tidal shifted her paws so she was sitting in one cupped palm. And the other was petting her hair. “You like my hair?” she cooed. Her new friend smiled at her, eyes crinkling in delight. Link sighed down below.
__
Tidal was thoroughly enjoying the attention Malon was giving. Her hair was pretty… She'd never seen a Hylian with hair that color before. Tidal carefully set Malon back on her feet before flopping on the ground. Purring.
Malon scratched under her chin, and Tidal sighed. Eyes fluttering as Malon got all the good spots. Time chuckled. “You're going to spoil her.” Malon gave one last scratch, then stepped back. Tidal rolled into her belly. Tail swishing softly side to side. Time pulled Malon into a hug, and kissed her on the mouth. Oh. Oh! Oh she'd seen Hylians do this before! Bonded pairs kissed each other like that! Time and Malon were mates! Her horns wiggled happily. Good… Time deserved a mate… He was a good man. Very good.
Hyrule came limping outside, followed by Twilight and Warriors. “Hi Malon!” Hyrule greeted. Tidal listened closely as Warriors mirrored Hyrule's greeting. Watching his lips as he said Malon's name. Tidal licked her own lips before making an attempt. “Mala? Malo…” No, no that wasn't right…
“Malon. Mal. On.” Warriors repeated, having realized her intentions. He said it again, slowly. Speaking clearly. Tidal tried again.
“Malllllon… Malon!”
The Tidewing squealed happily as she realized she got it right! Hyrule laughed a little when she hopped up in place. All wiggly and excited. Malon was beaming. “And what a fast learner she is!”
Tidal barked cheerfully. Then, to show off:
“Legend Wild Four! Hyrule Sky Warriors! Twilight! Time! Wind Malon Eeeeeeepona!”
Malon looked delighted. Tidal looked back at Hyrule, who was smiling.
“She knows some commands, too~ Tidal, sit!”
She sat where she was, eyes on Hyrule.
“Flash.”
She made her throat and belly glow bright for a moment.
“Tail lob!”
Tidal first looked back to make sure nothing was behind her before slamming her tail against the ground.
“Stand up~”
Tidal hopped to her feet, whiskers twitching eagerly.
“Speak~”
“Cheeky shit–”
“TIDAL–”
Malon was cackling, at least. “Gah, she picked that up from Wind and Legend…” Hyrule grumbled. Then he grinned. “She can do some other things on demand, too. Hey, Tidal, do this!” Hyrule stuck his tongue out at her. She did the same. He blew a raspberry. And so did she. “She's like a parrot!” Malon laughed. Tidal, encouraged by Malon's laughter, copied that laughter. Twilight snorted, and she copied that too. Except copying that particular sound made her sneeze. “Hrkk–TCHOO!” Her neck fins puffed up, and her whiskers went ramrod straight.
“Oh my goodness! Bless you!” Malon giggled, giving her a pat on her foreleg. She then held something up to her. Palm held flat. “Go on!” Malon coaxed. Tidal sniffed at what looked like a white cube. It smelled sweet. She carefully slurped it up, and oh… Oh. It was very sweet. It was delicious! Tidal nuzzled Malon in thanks. “You're very welcome~” Malon gave her a final pat, then along with Time, they began doing some things. ‘Work’, Twilight called it. Tidal observed her companions. She noticed Four having trouble with some horses. They didn't want to come to him.
Tidal gave a good whinny, and the horses responded. “Oh, thank you!” Four said through a relieved smile. Tidal chirped in acknowledgement. Then she started helping where she could. She helped Wind move bags of something earthy smelling. Then she herded some cuccos (the white feathered fiends) with Sky. Legend and Wild got her help with rolling hay bales. Finally, as the sun went down…
Tidal flopped down by the barn. Twilight had draped himself across the top of her head, and she was too tired to move him. He rolled off her head, landing in front of her nose. “Hoo… Well that was fun… Thanks for your help, Tidal!” She lapped the Rancher's face, earning a sputtering laugh. Malon approached next, and she could smell the sugar cubes. Tidal opened her mouth, and Malon tossed them in with a chuckle. “Yes, thank you for your help. You're such a good friend to the boys and my husband.”
Twilight sat up, then stood up. “I reckon it's about time to turn in. Tidal eats fish and plants. She don't take much from one spot, she may go around the whole place.” Tidal rumbled softly. She was a little hungry, but she didn't want to overburden the ranch. She could pester Wild a later. She munched on a bit of hay on the ground, ears flicking up at the taste. It was on the sweet side. Malon seemed to notice her reaction. “We have bales of sweetgrass hay to spare. She seems to like that~”
__
Malon and Twilight rolled a few bales over to Tidal. The Tidewing thanked them with a friendly poke of the nose before eating.
Dinner was had, and everyone was getting ready for bed. Malon noticed Hyrule dragging blankets outside. What was he up to? Her heart melted as she saw him snuggle up to Tidal.
The dragon lifted a wing to let him in, and let it fold lightly over him. Tidal fell asleep very quickly. Malon stepped outside, and left a lantern for Hyrule. Tidal cracked an eye open, gave her a sleepy blink, and went back to sleep. She turned to see Link watching from the porch of the house. Smiling. “She's quite cuddly. Hyrule usually sleeps either next to her or on top of her.” he told her. Malon returned to the house, and headed off to bed with her husband.
Link and the boys had made a very good friend in Tidal. Very good indeed.