Chapter One

The howling increased both in frequency and in number as the days passed. They echoed throughout the whole of Central Command, bouncing off walls and straight into the hearts of the employees. "They've gotta put him down, poor thing," some whispered, sorrow in their eyes while they sipped black coffee. "He's in so much pain."

Others were in favor of testing. "How you gonna run tests on a dead body?" They demanded, turning up their noses at the words 'human' and 'compassion.' "It's a freaking chimera," they said. "Not some kid."

Scientists were wary of testing on 00Z. He wasn't exactly a chimera, they didn't think. He wasn't a mess of bones and flesh. But on the other hand, he wasn't exactly human either. His seemingly preferred form was human, but he kept bouncing back and forth from beast to boy. It was a field day for researchers.

If only he didn't whimper when anyone got too close.

The..beast had trust issues. It started one day when he had a one of his more heart-wrenching transformations, the howling uncontrollable and shrill.

"Can we give him anything for the pain, doc?" asked Mustang quietly, who ran down the hall to see what was the matter when the howl-screams began. He had taken a deep interest in 00Z, much to his and everyone else's surprise.

"He looks like something born from shadow and sent from light," he said to Hawkeye once, when she'd asked why he stayed late to pour over information on the chimera. He had shrugged, his usual smirk absent. "I can't explain.."

The lead doctor on the case sighed. "I'm no expert on this. I guess we could administer morphine, although-"

"Give it to him, for the love of God," one of the orderlies begged, annoyance running deep in his tired face. "Before my head implodes."

The doctor sighed again. "I wish we knew what to do with you, buddy," he said in the most calm voice he could manage, preparing an IV. "Here goes."

What happened next was a nightmare.

The transformation was rough, Link pushing against the wolf form with all he had. One arm was a paw, he had half a tail, and a snout-while the rest of him lingered in limbo, pallid and sweating with effort. It seemed human Link had the upper hand for a moment- his right arm grew fingers- and then the morphine kicked in.

He stopped shaking. He stopped everything.

It was like he was stuck in a vat of boiling liquid with no way to the surface.

The thing that kept the transformations somewhat bearable was his ability to focus his mind on fighting them. Now, stuck in a silent state of a slowed-down paralysis, he felt every little tendon snap and break and reshape into something animal. He felt his bones mold into paws and claws. He felt his organs stretching and reshaping themselves to fit an animal's body.

And couldn't even scream.

That had been three days ago. The wolf's body quivered, and his tattoo lit up the color of an alchemical reaction, but he swallowed down each transformation with all his might. He mostly laid still in the bed, whimpering pitifully anytime someone touched him or even walked too close.

"Should we move him to a lab?" One of the researches asked, gently touching 00Z's ear and receiving a whine. "He doesn't seem to be changing states anymore."

"We haven't got the proper materials to care for a human in the laboratory if he should happen to change," argued one of the older scientists. "And he is still part human. We can't just ignore that."

So there Link stayed, a wolf in the military infirmary.

Link exercised great caution to keep his front left paw hidden at all times. They knew it glowed and gave a faint musical hum whenever he was about to change, but the only glimpses they had of it was when he was flailing and transforming. They wished to know more about the curious triangle there, the one that looked like an alchemical reaction.

"Alchemy changes thing's states," one of the researchers observed during a previous transformation. "00Z's left hand/paw perhaps acts as an alchemical reaction, thus causing him to change states and be under immense pain during said process."

"I don't even see how you could use alchemy to rig it like that, though," questioned one of the other researchers, her brow furrowed. "And he seems to fight it, like he normally has control over the transformations."

They were only able to get one X-Ray, which showed some sort of foreign object lodged in his skull. He bit Leighannah, the part-time veterinarian, hard enough to break a finger. They haven't really tried much testing since.

"Poor thing," Hawkeye whispered to Link on one of her visits, gently stroking his head and causing him to whine loudly and shut his eyes in terror. "You don't even know what you are, let alone what to do."

In the depths of the night, Link had the solitude he craved. His body was limp and hard to control, still majorly broken from the hellish transformation. It hurt to inhale deeply, or to shift over in the bed. But he couldn't take lying still another minute while men with harsh tongues poked and prodded his sensitive body. He couldn't take another minute of gut-splitting fear when any doctor walked near. He couldn't take the hoping that Midna would come and help him.

Zant, he growled, his adrenaline rushing at the thought of Midna being held captive by him. I'll paint my sword with your blood.

His memories slid and melted away the longer he stayed wolf. Rogue thoughts of hunting and escape flitted more through his mind, taking away his necessary brain space to remember things like home and Midna and sweet-smelling shadow.

With a flash of stored energy, Link reached into his mind to find his last memory of Hyrule. It was short, and emotion clouded- Midna? Midna hurt? Midna? He remembered lunging, teeth bared, at Zant and his dark power. He remembered a flash of blinding light and then he remembered falling and falling and falling, with Midna's screams for him burying him into deeper darkness.

And then it cut short, his mind filling with static instinct like an old film out of reel.

I have to get out of here while I still remember what 'here' means, Link realized with a sinking stomach. I have to save Hyrule..

He knew, from about two weeks of experience, that the highest security he was under was a locked door.

"He's not a danger," Leighannah reassured them. "He's just..fiesty," she said weakly, gesturing to her finger. "But he doesn't need to be locked up in a cage."

I didn't collect three Fused Shadows to be outsmarted by a door, he told himself, scanning the dark room. Maybe if I jump..

He staggered to his feet and with a yelp of surprise fell back down again. When he could hold human form for long enough, they would take him outside so he could exercise. The sunlight would burn harshly into his eyes; half of his nature was a creature of the night.

The exercise sessions stopped when he had a transformation in the sunlight and tried to run away.

The ghost of a chronic ache plagued his body. Accustomed to constant pain, his body was so free of pain it burned like fire down his legs and he yelped softly again.

Gotta…get out…

He readied himself for the jump. By eyeing the lock, he figured he could jostle it if he put it under enough force.

He took a deep breath, and jumped off the bed, sending it scooting backward.

He slammed into the lock with his chest, smashing it open with a loud crash as he fell to the floor, gasping.

It felt like he had impaled his lungs straight through to the other side.

It gave him an adrenaline rush.

He liked it.

Wasting no time, Link struggled to his paws once more, panting loudly with his tongue lolling out. He ran, feeling more fire shoot up his legs from being inactive so long, and the seductive promise of shadowy freedom. He ran, feeling more alive since he had fallen through the universe, tearing off down the linoleum hallway at impossible speeds.

Spotting the door up ahead, he kicked it into the next gear, his body a blur of black and grey and blue as his paws scrabbled the tile for a foothold. He ran.

Like a wolf should.

Straight into the waiting, white-gloved hands of Colonel Roy Mustang.