Leyla slowed Storm to a walk once they reached Faron Woods. Leyla looked around at her peaceful surroundings. "Why is it that when you have to leave somewhere, that place becomes more beautiful than anything?" Leyla muttered. She admired the way the sun shone through the leaves, leaving ever changing patterns on the grassy forest floor. The birds seemed to dance as they looked for food on the ground and in the trees, and the butterflies flitted about, kissing the bobbing flowers every now and then. A sudden gust of wind caused the leaves in the trees to move, almost as if they were beckoning for her to stay.

Leyla hadn't noticed it, but she had brought Storm to a halt. The grey stallion grabbed at the reins hanging loosely over his strong neck and pulled impatiently. Leyla jumped in surprise, brutally woken from her reverie as the reins were jerked from her left hand.

"Ok, ok!" she said as she gathered up her reins again. "We'll go, Mr. Bossy!" Storm snorted at her, and she let him walk again. They passed Faron Spring as they went, its waters gurgling cheerfully in the sunlight.

Leyla frowned as they came closer to the gate. "I wish I had stayed," she admitted. Storm snorted again, and Leyla rolled her eyes. If there was anyone who could get her to finish what she started, it was her horse. They finally crossed the threshold that took them out to Hyrule Field. Leyla looked around at the majestic landscape and felt a shiver trickle down her spine.

"Well," Leyla said, gathering her reins and readjusting her seat in the saddle, "full speed ahead." Storm gave a short rear and bolted forward like an arrow. Leyla couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about Hyrule felt… odd.

It wasn't long before Leyla and Storm had come to Lanayru Province, right in front of the Castle Town. Storm ran up the pavement, his hooves chiming like bells. He jumped over the steps leading to Castle Town, something which he and Leyla had decided to learn on a whim, and thudded across the draw bridge, slowing when he reached the town.

Several people recognized her. Well, almost everyone recognized her. They pointed her out to children and friends, greeted her, and tried to catch her attention in various ways. Leyla ignored most of them, saying nothing else but "hello," here and there.

Leyla reached the castle gates later than she would have liked, but there wasn't much that she could do about the throng of the town short of running them down. When she approached the guards, they told the townspeople to go about their own business, and, little by little, the crowd of people thinned and disappeared. The gates opened for Leyla, but before entering, Leyla dismounted and, holding Storm's reins tightly, asked one of the guards if anything strange had happened recently. She wasn't sure, but she wanted to know if anyone else could tell that a strange aura seemed to have descended upon Hyrule.

The guard she asked, who sounded like an elderly man ready for retirement, answered with, "Well, now that I think of it, there was a young man, 'bout your age, I'm guessing, who passed through here for an interview with the Princess, not long ago." The old man scratched his helmeted head. "Odd thing is, he wore a cloak with the hood up, in broad daylight! Couldn't see his face at all." The old man hesitated, before lowering his voice, "He also made my old bones feel more tired than usual, until he was a few feet away, then I was all back to normal."

"So, you just let him in?" Leyla asked incredulously.

"Well, he had an invitation, so I'm assuming that he was invited," the old man answered defensively. "I may be old, but I'm not insane!"

Leyla nodded and thanked the old man. She mounted Storm again, and trotted up to the castle. When she reached the court yard, a guard came up to take Storm's reins. Leyla dismounted, and as soon as she did, Storm stood stock still, his ears laced back. The guard decided against reaching for the reins as the stallion gave him a fierce stare.

When Leyla entered the castle, she felt a small tingling of what might have been nausea. She squashed it down, however, and followed the escort through the castle. Leyla couldn't help but remember the first time they had come to castle. It was all in Twilight then, and she was a wolf, as was Link. His brother, Jav, had turned into a Javelin, most likely due to the odd, metallic point on his head. That was the first time they met Midna, an odd imp at the time with a large mask covering only half of her face, and who apparently was truly the Twilight Princess.

Leyla felt slightly depressed by as she remembered how Midna broke the Mirror of Twilight, ceasing contact between the two worlds.

"Wait here." Leyla jumped in surprise as the escort spoke. The escort raised an eyebrow at her and continued, "The Princess is currently dealing with a visitor. If you wouldn't mind." He bowed and left.

Leyla leaned against a wall as she waited for her audience with Princess Zelda. The two guards posted at the door stood as still as stone, making it seem as though it was two show pieces of armor that had been left to guard the Princess.

After a few moments, Leyla heard what sounded like Zelda, yelling at whoever was in there with her. "No! For the thousandth time, no!" There was the strong feeling of magic being used, and Zelda said, "Be gone, demon!"

The second voice belonged to a man. Was this a lover's quarrel? Jav certainly wouldn't like that. "It would have been better if you had just done as I said in the first place!" Leyla felt a strong wave of nausea as some other kind of magic was used.

"What in the name of-?" Leyla looked at the two, unmoving guards. She reached her hand out, and tapped one on the shoulder. At her touch, the guard fell over, and the helmet fell off, revealing an empty suit of armor. Leyla gasped and jumped back into the other suit of armor, sending it crashing to the ground.

There was a pause of silence in the other room, and then the man said, "It would appear that we have a visitor." The doors suddenly opened, revealing a man with skin darker than a starless sky and glowing eyes redder than hot coals. His clothes were just a shade lighter than his skin, and they looked oddly familiar.

The young man grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room. Leyla's knees gave way, and her whole body shook with weakness. The young man forced her to stand, walked over to the middle of the room, and tossed her down in front of him. Leyla tried to get up, but her muscles refused to budge.

"How lovely." The young man said, his voice full of darkness, "I have two princesses with me, now!" He knelt down in front of Leyla and forced her to look at him. "And such a pretty newcomer, to boot," he added under his breath. There something about his face that reminded Leyla of Link.

"Now, Zelda." The young man dropped Leyla's face. "The secret?" He unsheathed a long sword out of the thin air, and Leyla suddenly felt even weaker. The man held the tip of the sword to Leyla's throat. "She will die, sooner or later, anyways. When that happens is up to you, princess." He looked back down at Leyla. "Too bad there's no one else around to use, a pretty little thing like her should be allowed to live a longer life, don't you think?" The man smirked, then shrugged, the sword tip becoming dangerously close to breaking skin on Leyla's throat. "Ah, well. Whatever happens, happens. All to the goddesses design and such trash that you humans say."

Zelda face reddened, and her grip tightened on her sword. She looked from Leyla to the man and back again.

Suddenly, Leyla eyes felt red hot. The man screeched and backed away from her, clutching his face, his sword dissipated into thin air.

Zelda ran over to Leyla and helped her up. She took her to the opposite end of the room, and set her down. Zelda spoke a few words in a language that Leyla didn't recognize, and silver barrier formed around Leyla, making her feel a lot better.

The dark man turned back to the two girls, revealing what looked like burnt marks on his face. He growled at them and said, "I will get that secret, Zelda. One way, or another. You aren't the only one who knows it!" The man took a step back, then snapped his fingers, turning into a wisp of smoke that fled through a window.

"Wh-who-? What was?" Leyla shook her head. She felt dizzy. "What just happened?"

Zelda took down the barrier protecting Leyla. "It was a Shade, a dark copy of a person, made from their blood. It retains all the feelings of evil that person ever had, and amplifies them. It will even share somewhat emotional connections to that person, or to whatever that person had strong feelings for." Zelda checked Leyla's forehead. "A slight fever…." she muttered.

"Who is he a copy of?" Leyla asked. Her head still felt dizzy, but she was feeling better. Just a little thirsty.

Zelda looked into Leyla's eyes, and said, "He called himself Dark Link."

Leyla was confused. That thing was an evil copy of Link? She grimaced. She was glad Link wasn't anything like that, she would have killed him.

"Dark Link…." Leyla muttered without realizing.

"Yes." Zelda said. She helped Leyla up, and walked her to the door. From there, Leyla walked on her own. "I'll send for the doctor." Zelda offered.

"No," Leyla said, shaking her head, "I'll go to Telma's bar."

Zelda looked at her in surprise. "Why would you want to go there?" Her voice was suspicious.

"I trust her more. And I don't need a doctor, really. I'm fine," Leyla assured the Princess.

Zelda shrugged, and lead Leyla down several flights of stairs, through long corridors, and out to the court yard. Zelda ordered a carriage to be prepared, insisting that Leyla shouldn't be riding in her current condition. Leyla had no choice but to accept, especially seeing as several men had already run off to prepare the said carriage. Storm whinnied and trotted over to his master. Leyla stroked his nose and used him to hold herself up. Maybe a carriage ride won't be so bad.

It wasn't long before the carriage was ready. It was pulled by two pure snow-white horses. Leyla entered the carriage, and Zelda followed. As they started moving, Zelda asked, "Was there some reason why you wanted to see me?"

"Oh, yeah!" Leyla said excitedly. She had completely forgotten about why she was even in the castle when she saw Dark Link. "It's bit of a long story, but, here goes." Leyla then told Zelda all about her dreams, how she felt that they were visions, what the woman said, and what Link had suggested.

Zelda's brow furrowed as she thought about what Leyla had told her, but after a few seconds, she looked back up and said, "I would suggest that you bring a companion with you, just in case."

"But-!" Leyla protested, but Zelda held up her hand.

"Leyla, you don't know who this woman is, you don't know what she wants. You should take someone with you who can be discreet. Unseen. Someone who can be a shadow."

"So, you're saying I should find someone like Midna?" Leyla said, her arms crossed.

"Or find Midna, herself." Zelda answered calmly.

"Midna broke the Mirror of Twilight!" Leyla fumed. "You saw her do it! There's no way she can come back!"

Zelda waited until Leyla had calmed down, cool serenity never straying from her face. "There are more ways than one to reach the realm of Twilight," she said.

The carriage lurched to a stop. The footman opened the carriage door, and Leyla stepped out. The door closed behind her, but the carriage waited. Leyla guessed that they would be there once she got back, just in case. Leyla walked down the short flight of steps that lead her to a small area often used to toss out anyone who had overstayed their welcome unseen. Leyla opened the door to Telma's bar, and stepped inside. A man played a fiddle in the corner, his music lively. In the back room, Leyla could see the resistance group, which had started calling themselves the Guardians of Hyrule after Ganondorf was defeated. Telma caught sight of Leyla from her place behind the counter, and immediately called out to her.

"Hey, there, honey! By Nayru, what's happened to you?" Telma came out from behind the bar and felt Leyla's forehead. "You're burnin' up! Come over here, and I'll get a glass of something." She escorted Leyla to the table where group was sitting.

Ashei looked Leyla up and down, saying, "Got bested in a fight, did you?" she asked.

Shad shook his head, saying, "Of course not! She must be sick!" He looked at Leyla, who had just sat down and asked, "Is it a flu? A cold? Rabies?"

Auru burst out laughing. "Rabies? Where did you get that idea, lad?" he asked.

Shad tightened his grip on the book he had been reading. It seemed to be a book about various diseases.

Leyla waited until they were all quiet. Telma set a steaming cup of milk in front of her, and sat down. Leyla took a deep breath, and explained what had happened in Hyrule Castle, leaving out the part where she found out who the shade was a copy of.

Everyone was silent for a few seconds, then Auru said, "I saw that guy on the street, earlier. I knew there was something about him that made me feel sick. Literally."

Leyla nodded, then took a sip of the milk, and immediately gagged. "What?" she exclaimed, looking at the cup.

"Oh!" Telma said, jumping up, "I had put some herbs in there. Just to help with the fever." Telma took the cup from Leyla and sniffed it. She brought away from her face, a look of disgust on it. "Perhaps those herbs were not meant to be put into a glass of milk." Telma took the cup behind the counter to clean it out. Leyla followed her and pulled up a seat behind the counter.

"Telma," Leyla said, and Telma turned around, dropping the cup in her sink carelessly. "Can I tell you something important? Something a bit secretive?" Leyla asked.

Telma leaned forward and asked, "How small do you want the circle?"

"Well, right now, it's just me, Zelda, and Link. But, I want to hear your opinion, too." Leyla then told her about the dreams, then skipped over to Zelda's advice, not mentioning Midna. Louise, Telma's cat, hopped up in middle of Leyla's explanation, and curled down in front of Leyla, who started stroking her soft fur.

"What did the woman look like, again?" Telma asked.

"Blonde hair, sorta high cheek bones, I guess. Her eyes were all white, but I think there was some blue in there, a blue green." Leyla said. "Why?"

"Oh, it just sounds like someone I know." Telma sat down on the stool she kept behind the counter. "Let me think." Telma stared at the counter top. Then her eyes flickered to Leyla's face, and she gasped. "By the Tri-Force." She grabbed Leyla's shoulders and examined the girls face closely. Louise, who had gotten caught in the middle, meowled and jumped off the counter, hissing at Telma.

"I know who it is!" Telma shouted out excitedly. The group in the backroom looked over at them in surprise. "Go about your own business!" Telma barked.

"Who?" Leyla asked, releasing herself from the bar lady's grasp.

"Her name was Malia. She was the High Princess of the Wood-Elven kingdom," Telma answered dramatically.

"A Wood-Elf?" Leyla asked incredulously. "A royal Wood-Elf?"

"Yup," Telma answered, nodding. "She would visit Hyrule with her father every now and then. I met her when she was around your age." Telma smiled at the memories. "She eventually started coming to me for advice on all sorts of things."

"Like what?" Leyla asked.

"Well, one of her problems was that she was engaged to someone against her will. He was another royal Wood-Elf. Thallmas was his name; he was prince of one of the Lesser Kingdoms."

"Lesser kingdoms?" Leyla asked, confused.

Telma sighed in exasperation, and then said, "There are three lesser kingdoms, and the main kingdom. Much like our provinces. Only, in each of the Lesser Kingdoms, there is a small royal family to keep an eye on things. The Wood-Elf lands are large, you know. But anyways, Malia was the Princess of the Main Kingdom, and Thallmas was Prince of one of the Lesser Kingdoms." Louise jumped back up onto the counter. "Now, Malia was upset over her engagement, but after talking to me about it, her rant seemed to turn into praise!" Telma laughed, scaring Louise away again.

"Oh," Leyla said. She found it to be quite the revelation that Telma, the owner of a bar, had been friends with one of the most important Princesses of the Wood-Elf kingdom!

Telma looked at Leyla's face, examining her features carefully. "You know," she said, rubbing her chin, "you look a bit like her. In fact, you are the perfect example if Thallmas and Malia ever had a child." Telma thought for a moment, then asked, "How old are you?"

"16," Leyla answered, feeling confused.

"Do you know your parents?" Telma pressed. She seemed intent on drawing out every bit of information about the matter that she could.

"No, I don't. Rusl told me that he had found me in Hyrule Field, on Storm. He said that I looked knocked out, probably because of bandits. That was around 13 years ago." Leyla explained. "He and his wife, Uli, raised me until I was 9, then they needed more space for Colin, so I was offered a room by Link's uncle."

"13 years ago." Telma repeated. "That was around the time that the Wood-Elves suddenly disappeared." Telma tapped her chin, then said, "Maybe you're one? Maybe you're the one that got away?"

"What?" Leyla nearly fell off her stool. "Me? A Wood-Elf? Isn't that stretching it just a bit? I mean, yeah, I have powers, but I also have part of the Triforce of Courage. Maybe that gave me the powers?"

"Why you and not the other two?" Telma asked. She walked over to where she kept her kitchen utensils and grabbed a slim knife. Leyla was expecting her to grab some vegetables or something as well. "It's worth a test at least, right?"

"What kind of test?" Leyla asked, eyeing the knife when Telma didn't make a move towards her food cabinet.

"Well, a friend of mine once told me that a way to tell whether or not you have Wood-Elf blood is to check your blood. You see, Wood-Elves have what looks like a gold tint to their blood." Telma held the knife out to Leyla.

"What?" Leyla exclaimed. "That's crazy!"

"Do you want to find out or not?" Telma asked, putting the knife on the counter. "It's clean," she added.

Leyla looked at the knife, took her glove off her left hand, and picked the knife up. She used the tip to give herself a prick on the finger. A small stream of blood trickled down and dripped onto the counter top. Leyla and Telma both bent over her hand to examine it. The blood was red without a hint of anything else.

"Well," Telma shrugged, grabbing a rag to wipe up what fell on the counter.

"Worth a try," Leyla quoted. She stood up and focused power into the tiny wound, healing it. She then put her glove back on and, after saying good-bye, left the bar.

Zelda was waiting outside the door, apparently ready to enter the bar. "Any better?" she asked. Leyla nodded. "Good." She started to walk back to the carriage, making sure that Leyla was following. "Before you leave, I want to tell you something."

"Ok, shoot." Leyla said. Zelda looked back at her, a quizzical expression on her face. "What's up?" Leyla said. She knew that Zelda was familiar with several expressions used in Ordon. Apparently, 'shoot,' wasn't among them.

"Well," Zelda said, motioning for her to be in the carriage. Leyla entered, and Zelda closed the door and made sure the windows were sealed and covered by the curtains. "There is a Darkness threatening to overtake Hyrule again. It's like a rebound from when we defeated Ganondorf. The Shade, dark Link, he was merely a messenger of ill-will. I have a feeling that he is on a quest to bring Ganondorf back to life."

"Is that possible?" Leyla asked. She knew of some powerful magic, but she didn't know whether anyone was strong enough with magic to bring someone back from the dead.

"Yes. It hasn't been explained much in schools, but Ganondorf has made several reappearances throughout time. Now, he is making another return. Leyla, we must not let anyone else know about this, except for the few involved. This includes Jav, Link, and the group in Telma's bar." Zelda bright blue eyes blazed with determination. Leyla nodded in understanding.

"All right," Leyla answered, "I'll keep it quiet, then." Leyla was about to exit the carriage, when a question popped into her head. "Earlier you said to find Midna. How am I supposed to do that?"

Zelda smiled. "We have always been connected to the Twilight Realm. The Mirror of Twilight was simply a focus point; a key that could be used to open the door even when night and day had not met."

Leyla exited the carriage. She mounted Storm, who had followed the carriage closely, and exited to Hyrule Field. She rubbed the big stallion's neck and said, "Guess what, Storm? After we go tell Link what happened, we're going to one of the biggest tourist attractions Hyrule has to offer, The Great Bridge of Hylia."