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"What. Is. That?" Wild's eyes followed the chosen hero's pointed finger to a tail wagging, tongue rolling, mixed colored retriever, happily staring at the pair. His eyebrows creased together in confusion.
"...a dog?" But turning to see the pure and amazed look on Sky's face, Wild quickly figured out just what was going on.
After all, he was the king of not knowing what common things were.
Getting his bearings back, Wild got behind the slightly taller hero and pushed. A smirk played on his lips at the stammering noises Sky choked out.
"Go on, he won't bite." Sky's feet were dragging as they got closer. And as they got closer so did the dog, whose tail picked up speed at their approach.
"I-B-but wait, I-" A bark silenced him. Sky's eyes grew big. Wide and pure and innocent type of big that did a great impression of their youngest hero when he showed his youth. Stars nearly danced in his eyes.
Abandoning all previous hesitations, Sky practically fell to the ground. Wild's hands found his hips as he stood and watched.
The dog barked happily and flung itself to the chosen hero who giggled in return, eyes closed with a smile as big as it would go covering his face. Trembling hands, either from excitement or nervousness, Wild couldn't tell, settled themselves on the fluffy fur of the doggo and further when they ruffled and rubbed all over.
The dog in turn was loving the attention, barking and jumping up to get licks here and there on Sky's cheeks. Wagging his tail so hard his whole body started to shake with him.
Wild shook his head. Here they were on a supply run to the nearest stable in his Hyrule, probably time sensitive, and he just lost his partner.
He couldn't even be mad about it.
A tap on the head made Sky crane his neck up to Wild.
"I'm gonna get the things we need, you keep the dog company, kay?"
A furious nod of the head answered him and Wild was off, confident Sky wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
-
Beedle wasn't hard to find.
Straight at the back of the stable, table out in front of him as he carefully wrote something on scraps of paper and wood. Wild had seen him do this before, watched him for a while once too, and found it enjoyable...relaxing. The excitable beetle collecting merchant was always so energetic, and the calm way he made those...whatever they were, was a treat to see.
Wild was almost sad to interrupt him. ...almost.
"Ah!" He called. Beedle's head instantly shot up and a wide and full grin replaced the measured focus on his face.
"Yaha! It's you!" Wild was already smiling back. "I was just thinking about yo-"
The cut off was hard but Wild saw it coming.
"Yaya!" Saw that too. "Is that an electric rhino beetle?! They're extremely rare! Would you consider giv-"
"Yes." He cut him off in what might be considered rude, but the red tint to his cheeks spoke of his real intention. Wild might be known in the group for his strange elixirs but one thing he never used in them were beetles.
Beedle was the reason why.
He shyly smiled as he handed the bug over, the merchant's face overjoyed at the exchange. A mighty elixir for a strange beetle. It hardly seemed fair to Wild. That smile was worth way more than just a silly ol' beetle.
"So So," The merchant continued, oblivious to the bright blush on Wild's cheeks. "What can I get for you? Or do you have something to sell?"
Wild shook his head, his hands already moving to say 'buy'. Beedle nodded again and brought his wares out.
After buying all the arrows he had, a couple lizards and all the food he could, Wild was down a couple hundred rupees but up a bunch of sorely needed supplies.
It wasn't much but it would last their hero group at least until they got to Hateno.
"Say..." Beedle's slow words of confusion caught Wild's interest. "I don't think I've ever seen that guy before..."
He turned to see but it was only Sky, who was now criss cross on the ground, dog practically a puddle in his lap.
Wild let himself smile with pride.
"Friend." He quickly signed. At Beedle's still slightly confused look, he keep going. "Never met a dog before."
"Huh, you don't say." The merchant quipped back. A shrug of his shoulders and the curiosity faded. "Must be from a far off place." Wild could only nod with a smirk. A very far off place.
"Come back soon!" Beedle called after him as he waved goodbye. His smile was genuine, as was the not yet receded tint of red on his cheeks.
He always did have a soft spot for that guy.
The excitement from before was faded, but still Sky was petting that new friend of his. Slowly and deliberately, scratching at his ears while squishing those fluffy cheeks together and staring into those wide eyes as the doggo's tail thump thump thumped on the ground.
Wild briefly wondered if Sky had ever got when him and the others said Wind had killer puppy dog eyes, or if he ignored it in favor of the time difference between them all. He shrugged. Guess it didn't matter if he'd get the reference now.
Without even thinking about it, Wild took a picture. The motion was so ingrained in him from hours spent gathering pictures for the hyrule compendium, that he didn't register the snap until the sound went off.
"Oh!" It broke the dog's spell over Sky. The chosen hero's face lit up with a wild consuming blush Wild only saw him get when he talked about his Zelda in detail. He chuckled warmly, offering a hand. Reluctantly, Sky took it.
"Good to go?" He asked, fully prepared to sit there all day and night and get yelled at if Sky wanted to stay. He'd take any lengthy lectures for this.
But Sky nodded his head, sad but with a smile on his lips.
He squatted down one last time.
"Goodbye my friend. I hope you live the longest life possible." Wild interrupted with a cough. Sky looked to see a couple wildberries in his outstretched hand.
Both the dog and Sky were ecstatic and Wild felt better for saving those berries.
On the way back, Sky was still smiling, arms full of some wood that they had started to pick up along their way as the tints of oranges, reds and yellows filled the sky telling them the sun was sleeping soon. Wild mirrored him, brightened by the pure joy he saw that day.
"A dog, huh?" He whispered, almost too quiet for Wild to hear.
"Yea." He answered just as quiet.
"I think..." Sky met his eyes, a warmth to them, reflecting the sunset's glow with something else mixed in there too, some pure sense of discovery still etched into him. "I really like dogs."