Two

As I stated, I am bonded to my Light Spirits, in many cases more magic than mortal. Usually, this is a benefit to me, as it gives me access to more magical strength than I can really ever use up. And their presence helps small pockets of magic remain alive in the world. Not necessarily good ones, but... at this point, the only one who handles magic with any sort of regularity beyond myself is Princess Zelda.

Mn. Queen Zelda, now.

The downside to this, however, is that when I lose that power... well...

When Lanayru fell to the Twilight, I was unprepared. I was in my province, Eldin, in Kakariko to be specific, speaking with Renado the shaman about... well, I forget now. To be honest, the sudden strike of pain that assaulted me, the scream that rang through my head and my ears both, completely obliterated any hope of that memory.

The pain... it was searing. Every nerve of my body was on fire, all the fine hairs standing on end. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't think. I dimly remember collapsing, and Renado's alarm...I wish I could have avoided scaring him.

The abrupt end to the pain was almost as bad as its sudden onset. I trembled with reaction, my ears ringing, my breath rasping in my throat.

Lanayru! The other three spirits cried.

Lanaryu...

My wise water dragon, did not answer the mental call.

"Lady Raiha," Renado's worried voice broke into my thoughts. "Lady?"

"I'm...I'm okay," I replied, struggling back to my feet. "Stay here. Something's... something's gone wrong."

I can't tell you from where I gathered the energy to sprint to the exit of the village, but I managed it, even jumping over a young Goron who reflexively rolled into a ball as I did so. Just beyond the village was a view I had often admired... and now there seemed to be a wall of golden twilight blanketing it,separating it off from the rest of Hyrule. It stretched far, farther than I could see on the ground, but I didn't want to waste time or breath climbing to a vantage point.

Part of me wanted to run directly into that wall. To discover directly, just what had happened to my spirit, my Lanayru. Were I younger, more hasty, I probably would have done so. But I am older now, and paranoia is not so much a watchword as it is a way of life.

Instead,I ran back into the village, stopping first at the Goron I had almost tripped over.

"Run to your Elders. Trouble is coming, and their strength may be needed to defend Kakariko," I informed him. "And tell them to keep an eye on their ancient treasure. Do not touch it. Remind them of this."

Gorons, at the least, were made of hardy stuff. He nodded briskly and rolled away quickly, hurrying in the direction of Death Mountain; I could only hope the Gorons would heed me; Darbus was not Darunia, and while I was a Sworn Sibling of the tribe, sometimes, they and the Zora both forgot that I was not as young as I appeared.

Next, I found Renado.

"Danger approaches," I told him firmly, before he could say anything. "It approaches swiftly, likely on the hooves of war beasts. Whatever just happened, Hyrule Castle has fallen."

He looked down at me, then nodded.

"What would you have us do, Lady."

"Protect the Spirit Spring if you can. But not at the cost of your own lives."

The pain had ebbed enough by then for me to keenly sense the loss of a quarter of my extra power. I had gone so long with their abilities supporting my own that I had long forgotten how it felt to not have the power there.

"If the enemy is too strong, protect yourselves first," I continued, sparing only a glance at Eldin's spring. "I know where to find help, but it will not come with any great swiftness. I'm sorry."

"We will do all we can. And with Goron aid, we will, hopefully, prevail. Be safe, please."

Safe... If I could have promised him that, I would have; I had not raised Renado, but I had seen that his gifts had received what training they could. I counted him as a friend, one of the few I had made in this particular generation.

"I will try," was all I said.

He bowed, and went to collect the villagers, who were milling about mostly due to my unexpected behavior. Like Ordonian goats they were, except less prone to headbutting. Slightly.

I turned to Eldin's spring.

Stay hidden, I told the spirit. No matter what comes, do not let it draw you out.

My mother, I hear.

The spirit was not typically visible to ordinary eyes, not without specific summoning. The water of the spring carried healing properties while it resided there, and was the greatest source of the village's strength, next to their connection with the Gorons. I could only hope that they would agree to help their long-time allies.

I left at as quick a pace as I could manage; I admit, I was rattled enough to forget that I could summon a horse until I was far beyond a point to turn back. I thought about doing it on the run, Ocarina in my mouth, then decided against it; I was going to need the breath and the energy before too much longer.

It normally took four days at a brisk walk to cross the Kakariko Plains, with taking breaks and resting at night. I did it in two, with only a few brief breaks to rest my weary body. I wanted to reach the Hero first, needed to get to him before anything else could happen.

As I entered the Southern Hylian Plains, I heard Eldin scream.

I tumbled ass over teakettle as the pain hit, biting my lip until it bled to keep from echoing that cry. The bow on my back cracked into pieces, robbing me of a necessary weapon just when I needed it most. For when the pain ebbed, and I discovered myself at only half strength, I saw them.

I'm not entirely sure it could be called an army; bulbins are generally disorganized into groups smaller than the tiniest of Gerudo tribes, usually too busy intimidating the random unexpectent traveler to actually band into something greater. But this was a small hoard; at least four dozen, riding the battle boars of the desert, and led by the largest bulbin I had seen in over a century.

What was worse was that they were charging straight for the wood.

Practically speaking, what I did next was foolish; I should have conserved my strength, climbed hills and trees to avoid this oncoming mob to protect myself. What I did instead was charge up the strongest fireball I could manage, and sent it winging across the plain.

My fireball impacted their line, knocking bulbins from their pigs, spreading fire and death... and certainly got their attention. Only too late did I realize that the only weapon I had outside my magic was my sword. They had bows.

It was decidedly not my smartest move; I was reacting to the situation, instead of acting upon it, which generally does not go well for me. I work better when I have a plan, even a loose idea of what to do is better than simply reacting to the situations as they appear. And while normally I could have magically decimated their entire battle group, being down half my additional strength meant husbanding what power I did have. The loss of their support did not just affect my magic abilities, but my physical ones as well...

A third of the line shifted in my direction, ordered by a blast from the leader's horn. Swearing, I cast Nayru's Love about myself to protect me from the arrows, stuck two fingers in my mouth, and sharply whistled the notes of the horse-calling song.

The song had never failed me before, but it was still several long, tense moments before the magic deposited the horse on the plain from wherever the mare had been. She was bare of saddle, reins, or anything that might help me, which meant that she was not one I'd raised. But she was a horse, and that was all I needed.

I vaulted onto her back, and we took off across the plain. I didn't care so much about the minions as I did the leader; usually taking out the leader would result in absolute chaos, not matter the race. The mare was not battle trained, but she responded well to the shifts of weight and the pressure of my knees and feet, turning where I wanted her, charging ahead as rapidly as she could.

I drew my sword, and aimed a swipe, not at the leader, but at his battle boar. The gilded blade scored deeply into the metal of the boar's protective face armoring, throwing sparks and screeching harshly. The boar reared back in reaction, almost dumping its heavily armored rider, but before it could try and retaliate with either tusks or cloven hooves, the horse and I were out of range.

I felt arrows ping off the shield I had wrapped around me, and belatedly extended the spell to cover the horse as well, energy drain or not.

Faron! Take the spell over!

I could have held it, probably, but by allowing Faron to hold the spell, I was better able to concentrate on both riding, and fighting, without having to worry about my defense. I lit up another fireball in my other hand, drawing on my power and Ordana's as I launched it at the line again. If I could keep them out of the wood...

Most of them were upon me rapidly, and when the arrows did not work, they broke out the clubs. While the clubs couldn't hurt me, they were capable of separating me from my horse, and on foot, I lost what little advantage my surprise attack had garnered. The horse, far wiser than I, cut and run. Without a rider, she made it away safely.

I was not so lucky.

Athletic, I am, strong and quick. But being piled on by over a dozen, club-wielding bulbin does not make for a winnable fight. Too late I realized that the large leader had only been briefly halted by my attack. The shield spell kept me from injury, but the transmitted force still applied. I could, did, go down under the clubs.

What I should have done from the start was teleport to the Lost Woods. To the relative safety of the ancient, derelict Temple of Time. It would have been difficult to get out of, but better that than what actually happened.

They scattered bare seconds before my shield was shattered, and Faron's scream rang through my head. The twilight dropped over Faron province like a lead weight, smothering and tepid. I felt the change that warped the land, that wrapped around me, and fought it. Fought with everything I had, resisting the change to spirit... but causing a different change instead.

When the pain faded, I attempted to sit up. At first I thought I was only halfway until I registered some... paramount differences. Scent, most notably, had been enhanced. I could hear a far different strata of sound.

I had remained conscious through sheer force of will, and when I looked down, I saw paws instead of hands. Twisting to glance over my shoulder, I saw a long back, and a delicate tail. One paw reaching up found the too-large ears, brushed past the whiskers.

The power of Twilight had remanded me into a cat form. Specifically, I was a desert cat, a sand cat. Better than an unknowing spirit, at the least, but in the moment, it was heavily disorienting.

The bulbin had not escaped transformation, and within moments I heard them begin to converge upon me again. In this form, I could not access any magic, and the only weapons I had were the natural ones of any predator; claws and teeth.

I tried, I really did, to reach for any sort of magic, any spell that might help me. In the end, pursued by the twilight-transformed bulbin, I ran like hell. It was, perhaps, the most prudent decision I had made yet. On four feet I was faster than the stubby-legged shadow bulbin.

Several still managed to catch me with arrows, just before I made it to the trees. I yowled. Tumbled. And managed to land in a nook that the creatures could not reach or find. Panting and trembling, I laid still, listening hard for the continued pursuit, and praying with everything in me that whatever had happened did not reach Ordana; while I doubt I would have become a spirit, the loss of the whole of Hyrule would have been as demoralizing to me as watching the palace burn was to the guards.

The bulbin were neither silent, nor stealthy. They crashed among the trees, and I was easily able to mark their passage, though I couldn't tell I they sought to capture or kill me. Given the number of arrows, and their placement, death was the most probable. I cannot say with any certainty that they would have failed either; in my body, I am armored against such things. The goddess mandate requires me to be alive, my memory to be... mostly intact, and my abilities to be well-honed.

In the feline body, I did know if those protections would hold. So I laid in the brush, feeling the arrows that pierce my back and my legs, and was, for the first time in a long while, afraid for my life.

In my fear, I called for Ordana; not to come too me—Faron province was not her territory, and she could not step beyond the bounds of her lake anyways—but for reassurance.

Ordana, do you yet remain?

My mother, I am not harmed. But I am afraid.

Well, that made two of us.

I am coming.

I was trying, at least. At the time I didn't realize that my protections were still in place, regardless of my body; I just thanked Din that my tumble had managed to break the long shafts without driving the arrows deeper into my body. I could move cautiously, low to the ground, through the brush without catching on things and aggravating the injuries.

It was exhausting. Pain is exhausting.

Taking the long route through the trees, as opposed to the easier forest floor path allowed me to see the moment everything went all to hell.

I had stopped to nurse my wounds and catch my breath just inside the province, near the lantern oil seller's home when the bulbin leader came crashing back through. He had a young woman slung over the front of his saddle, clearly unconscious—for which the poor thing could probably be grateful, bulbin reek—and was followed by two smaller bulbin and an extra battle boar. Both boars carried more unconscious forms; children, looking between the ages of three at the youngest, to eleven, maybe twelve at the oldest. All were bound with ropes, and unconscious.

Part of me wanted to be grateful that Link was not among them, but bulbin taking prisoners was unheard of. They raided for food, for water, for shelter... but prisoners? No. It made no sense.

Fortunately, concealed as I was, they completely missed seeing me.

Ordana!

My mother, the beasts have taken the children of the village. The Hero pursues!

What? No! Stop him!

If I could have sworn aloud, I would have. As the boars thundered past, what came out was a series of hisses and spits, and I dug my claws into the ground, wanting very badly to leap upon them. In this, my sense prevailed, and I remained where I was until they had passed. Then, regardless of arrows, pain and injuries, I loped through as fast as I could.

I still was not in time.

I felt the surge of power from his Triforce even as I made it to that final clearing that separated Faron province from Ordon province, and heard a shriek of fear and pain from the shadow being that had drawn him across into this twilight-pervaded area. I saw, for a brief moment, the Hero on his hands and knees before the Triforce flared once more. Link cried out in pain, and midway turned from man to wolf.

I will not repeat the litany of curses that ran through my head, though they were many. Judging by his collapse after transforming, it had come with unexpected pain. I cannot say if mine had, given that it was lost in my reaction to Faron's decimation, but then, I am also used to suffering through great pain and still clinging to consciousness. This Hero was young yet, barely seventeen if he was a day, and had lived a peaceful life thus far; his collapse could hardly be unexpected.

The shadow beast returned after several long minutes, and proceeded to grab the wolf by one back leg, then drag him towards me. I backed away, seeking further cover, and settled in to wait until it walked past.

Something about the shadow beast was pure anathema to me. My fur stood on end, my lips drew back in a snarl, and my claws dug into the damp earth. I was ready to pounce, to use fangs and claws to tear the creature to shreds and send it back to the realm from which it came; I could not change what had happened, but I would be damned if they took away the best chance of saving Hyrule from me.

As it passed I tensed. Prepared to pounce to fight, attack, do something!

I missed.

I don't know if it sensed me, or if I made some noise, but the creature teleported away, taking the Hero with it. My landing was less than graceful, and several arrows dug their way deeper into my body.

To call it a very bad day would have been something of an understatement, really. I had to force myself to sit there until the pain subsided, then carefully, slowly, made my way to the place where Link had come through.

To my complete disgust, the wall was not permeable; I could not slide through it to reach lands untouched by the unnatural twilight the way I had hoped. Resigned and annoyed, I limped back to Faron's pool, and set about getting as many of the arrows out as I could, with as much care as possible.

"Oh, well don't you look all battered and beat up, little... furry thing," came a voice that was both unexpected, and mildly mocking. "Do you need some help?"

I was on my feet in an instant, all my fur fluffed out in angry challenge, and came face to face with a Twili being.

Midna.

Oh, I did not learn her name then and there, but the fact that she was a Twili was impossible to miss. I knew what the people set upon me had become. I had seen how the twilight realm had changed them to live there.

I knew the crown she wore. The fused Shadows that had been born from strangers from beyond the desert, strangely kin to both Gerudo and Sheikah magic. It tossed me into a whirl of clouded memories, where I had needed the help of my spirits to seal away three of the four pieces, and the fourth, like the people who had produced it, had been sent through the Mirror of Twilight, into the world beyond.

I had to force myself to maintain a threatening stance; there had to be a reason she had been there. Had she been watching? How long? Spying? Was she the enemy, or was she a potential ally? I could not afford to allow my shock, my knowledge of who she must be, to show.

"Oh ho, you're a fierce furry thing, is that it? I just thought those arrows you can't reach looked pretty painful, so maybe you wanted some help... but if not, I'll just be on my way."

As far as manipulation attempts went, it was painfully blatant. I admit, I was under-impressed, though I mostly backed down from the threatening stance; in truth, I couldn't reach the arrows, and they did hurt. She grinned, displaying small fangs, and floated on over until she was above me. Both the instincts of the cat, and my own paranoia didn't like having her behind me, so I twisted my head around as much as I could to watch her.

I will say this much; she was surprisingly gentle in getting the arrows out. It hurt, nothing could change that fact, but having them out meant that the magic still sustaining me could speed the healing of the wounds. If Faron had been in the pond, the water would have helped as well, but without the power of a Light Spirit, the water was simply that again.

When she was done, I started to wash the blood away,though I kept a wary ear and eye on the Twilight Princess. She, in turn, regarded me narrowly through one visible eye.

"You're too small to be of much use," she finally said dismissively. "That wolf-boy would be more to my liking."

She was baiting me again. I ignored it, and kept washing.

"What, no longer interested in me, now that you're all better? But you owe me now."

That much was true enough. I still ignored her until I could no longer taste blood in my fur, and only then did I stare at her as steadily as she was staring at me. It wasn't hard to guess that she wanted my help for whatever reason.

"Your small size is no good for riding on," Midna grumbled a little. "I suppose I will have to go get the other one. Then I'll have two servants. Come on then~!"

I yawned a little, deliberately, then padded over to sit in close proximity. If she was going to try and wind me up, I could easily do the same by feigning little to no interest. But instinct told me that staying close to this little imp was in my best interest.

Being teleported is not necessarily pleasant when you have no control over it. I was dragged along with Midna in darkness and silence until we came out in a place I almost didn't recognize. It had been a very long time since I'd been to the castle, and I almost never went into the dungeons. But there was a sense about the castle, especially when a princess with Wisdom is born, that is impossible to not know for me.

Annoyingly enough, my right paw began to tingle. It was how I knew when a true Triforce wielder had been born, but it was never a comfortable, or pleasant sensation. As my senses cleared, I saw the bars that separated me from Link, and strangely enough, Midna had elected to appear in the cell with him.

I cannot say if he heard or smells us first, but he dropped the chain he'd been worrying at, and turned to face Midna, first going low to the ground, and then growling.

"I can't seem to find anyone pleasant today," she sighed in complaint, easily vaulting over the head of the wolf. "This one snarls and growls too, and here I was planning on being helpful... if you were nice, that is."

While I couldn't exactly see her face, I could guess from her body language that she was giving him a sly look. But the idea of help, especially when one is chained up, is hard to ignore; Link's wary defensiveness vanished almost immediately. Inwardly, I sighed; this was going to just get ridiculous in a hurry, wasn't it?

"There we go. Obedient humans are so helpful," she giggled. "Oh, wait, you're not a human right now, are you? You're a beast!"

And she patted upwards, hitting the underside of his jaw twice. Link snapped at her, even as she dodged back, giggling again.

"Oh, don't be so touchy. No need to bite, just be a good boy, and I'll get that chain off you."

Just let her, I sighed mentally. It'll make this go much faster.

He looked beyond her, to me, as Midna cast her spell, but if he was about to say something, it was cut short as the links of the chain holding him snapped neatly. It made him jump, and I admit, surprised me as well; while I could have eventually done the same thing, it would have taken more effort to get the energy within the twilight.

He stared at her, then at me.

"What's going on?" he asked, his voice trailing up into a whine of confusion.

It was my turn to stare; I hadn't realized that I could speak to someone else trapped like this as I was. Midna's laugh precluded my answer.

"You look surprised! I bet you're wondering where you are, hmm?~" and she phased herself outside the bars until she was standing next to me. "Well, if you can get out here, I'll tell you?~"

I made a faintly annoyed sound as Link shifted from one paw to the other in uncertain anxiety.

"Look, these boxes here are blocking a hole in the bars," I 'said' after a moment. "If you can break them, you can get out. Also, be wary; she pretty much means to treat you like a mount."

"These boxes?"

He pawed uncertainly at the crates that blocked the way.

"Those boxes, yes. Are there any others?"

I say we spoke but it's not quite the same as human speech; Midna couldn't hear us at all, and as we were soon to discover, only other animals could speak with us when we were in cat and wolf forms. Not that it stopped Midna from talking at us...

Of course, even with this knowledge, I didn't know what to say to him. Of all the ways I had anticipated, planned for, this? This was definitely not one of them. Perhaps fortunately,Link was not so constrained, and spoke to me first.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked plaintively.

"Yes. We're in Hyrule Castle. But I don't know what this imp means to do with us... Only that she plainly wants our help with something. So hurry up and get out of there so we can find out what that is."

I was, undoubtedly, not as polite as I could have been. Should have been. Fortunately, Link is good-hearted, and quick to forgive, and after studying the wooden crates for a few minutes, he charged headlong into them. They shuddered under the impact, then broke when he hit them again, falling away from the broken bars and the damaged stonework beneath.

I winced a little; the crates had come apart reluctantly, and attacking them had certainly looked more than painful enough. But Link's wolf form was far more sturdy than my sand cat, and as he dug his way out,I realized that Midna had vanished. Her laughter echoed around us both, and Link's ears flattened uneasily as he looked around.

I shouldn't have been surprised that she landed on his back. I really shouldn't have; she had said as much. He tried to toss her off for several minutes, but she clung, much like a burr, until he stopped, panting with the exertion.

"Well, I guess you're not completely stupid," she sighed, leaning forward over his shoulder to look into his face. "Listen, I think I like you, so I'll help you get out of here~ But in return..." she reached up and grabbed his ear, yanking it back. He yelped, and I growled at her in warning. "You both have to do exactly as I say."

"This hurts!"

"What do you want me to do about it?" I asked irritably. "She's got us both where she wants us right now. We don't really have a lot of choice."

He whined a little then yelped again as she released his ear, only to kick his sides as though he was a horse. I sighed, and moved closer, to be nose to nose with him.

"Relax. I don't think she actually means any harm. I can lead you through the palace, though out is going to take some doing..."

"Who are you?"

"Raiha. Now keep up, pup. We have a ways to go."

I turned away from him then, to the next cell where I knew there was a not-so-secret passage to the sewers that ran under the palace. The chain to open it was over my head, but cats are naturally adept jumpers. Problem was, it took more than my meager weight to drag it down; it plainly hadn't been tended to in some time, and rust—among other things, blocked the gears from turning.

"Jump up there and grab it would you?" I asked as I dropped back to the dungeon floor. "I'm not heavy enough."

Link looked at me, then at the chain. After a moment, he sprang up and grabbed the iron loop in his jaws, and his weight did what mine could not. The rust and grime showered down from the overhead mechanism, and the iron grating tucked into the corner of the derelict cell opened up.

"Couldn't we have gotten her to just open the door?" he asked a little plaintively.

"How? She doesn't seem to hear us speaking like this, and I have no patience for pantomime. Come on."

He heaved a sigh, but followed obediently enough. It wasn't perfect, but at the moment, it would do.

The tunnel ended in the more open environment of the palace's underground waterway; it was not a place people put in the dungeons could escape from easily, if ever. While there weren't typically guards there, I certainly saw the ghostly outline of a Hylian guardsman, clinging to his spear and shaking.

Cautiously, fearing a trap of some sort, I approached, and placed my paw against the guard's knee; he was solid enough that I didn't go through, but at the same time he didn't seem to see me. Or even feel my touch. Instead he kept glancing around in something of a panic, mumbling repeatedly about the noises he could hear, and to stay back.

To say the hair on the back of my neck rose... well, that would be an understatement; this was not a dead person, an angry Poe seeking revenge or closure. This Hylian was still alive. And yet he was somehow a spirit. My entire body fluffed up without provocation, causing Midna to giggle.

"Is this your first time seeing a spirit of the other world?" she teased. "Don't worry, they can't see or hear you. You're both perfectly fine."

I hissed at her, ears flat to my head, and strode off down the stone walkway, tail lashing, and Link following behind. I glanced briefly back at the Hero; his lupine tail was tucked low as well, not quite between his legs, but it wasn't hard to see that this place was creeping him right the hell out.

It wasn't making me feel very good either.

We encountered several strange black creatures, mostly tentacles around one large eye; somewhere between rats and jellyfish for intelligence. Killing them was a matter of letting the instincts of the bodies we wore take over. And they tasted terrible, like blood and ink and ash.

Don't ask how I know what that tastes like.

A webwork of spikes proves little hindrance to me, but the larger form of Link could not pass so easily. I looked from him, to the spikes, then jumped up onto the stone walkway again.

"Go back that way, directly behind you; there should be the controls for the water level back there."

"What about you?"

"Boy, I'm already across. I don't look forward to being wet. Just do it quickly so you can cross, because I am not going to leave without you."

Again, not as polite as I should have been, but the twilight, the weight of it, and the worry over what might happen if Ordana was taken as well, were all pressing upon my mind. I told myself that later—if we got a later—I would apologize for my temperament. As it was, I didn't want to wait any longer than I had to, to get out of the waterway.

Fortunately or un, Link was indeed very obedient. He traversed the path back, and I heard the firm clunk of the waterway being opened. The water rose quickly, and the instincts of the cat proclaimed, very vehemently, that the water lapping over my paws was highly unpleasant, and needed to be escaped with all due speed.

Link came swimming cheerfully in my direction, and I quickly pointed him down the path that would lower the water back down to where it had been; four shadow vermin later, and the clunk echoed through again. Fastidiously, I shook my paws, and led the way towards the cistern, where stone and metal bars blocked our path once more. Midna, with a grin and snicker, abandoned Link and phased through the bars.

"Well now, if you can find a way over here, you'll really be smarter than you look," she said cheekily.

I could have slipped easily through the bars... but I could not, even now, abandon the Hero. Especially not when he looked like a half-drowned, kicked puppy.

Fortunately, the hole in the wall was hardly difficult to miss. He followed behind me without much fuss once I pointed it out, and though we bypassed another spirit—all of them had been dressed as guards, though with their terrified demeanor, I couldn't help but feel like they hadn't done more than pretend fight against one another, if that—we did not stop to listen.

Upon reached the upper level, Midna regained her position on Link's back, and smiled slyly at me.

"All the spirits in here seem to be wearing some sort of uniform," she said in her lilting voice. "I wonder where we could be."

I gave her an irritated look, and proceeded up the cistern stairs. The cistern, I knew, wouldn't necessarily get us out of the castle, but it would get us up to the roof, and from there I could figure out which wing we were in. Some memories I allowed to fade; others, like the placement of the secret passages in and around Hyrule castle, I did not.

It was not easy going; the cistern itself had never been easy to get to, so a good portion of the stairs had fallen, and the gaps were surmounted by only singly strung ropes. Heights and I have never gotten along, but I can usually handle them.

Here, my light weight was a good thing, and Link's heavier frame resulted in a stair crumbling under him, knocking him back down into the water, to Midna's clear disgust.

"Really?" she sighed. "What are you doing? Keep up with the kitty!"

"Are you okay?" I asked, peering carefully down at him.

"She could float herself up," he grumbled a little.

"Probably. Come on."

The gap, when he approached it, proved to be too far for him to jump. Midna's disgusted sigh rang out again.

"I have to do everything," she said. "Okay, fine,I'll go over first and then you jump. I'll make sure you make it."

It didn't necessarily sound comforting, and I saw the uncertain look Link cast in my direction... but there was no other recourse, and once he nodded, Midna did exactly as she promised; his jumps were, with magic, enhanced to be more like cat jumps. Very neat and precise. He kept up with me easily as we made it to the top, where we paused briefly to catch our breath.

"Finally," Midna stretched in an exaggerated sigh of her own. "We made it to the top! Now we just need to get out that door up there, and you'll be able to find out where we are!"

She smiled a little smugly, and I just gave her a disdainful look that only cats can really master.

"I was supposed to go to Hyrule Castle," Link said dubiously. "But definitely not like this."

"We're going to be coming out on a rooftop; stay low and prepare to brace for a pretty stiff wind," I told him. "We'll have to cross the rooftop to get to another tower, and from there I should be able to find a way to get down to ground level again."

"What then?"

"...I think...we may need to go meet the princess. She'll know what happened... and maybe how to fix things."

I hated not knowing the scope of the situation. I needed more information than I currently had. That meant a detour, that meant Zelda. I could feel her Triforce piece, which meant she was still alive and well, and as luck would have it, once we were up onto the roof, I knew exactly where we were.