Thanks for all the reviews I've gotten-- to the people who offered me suggestions, thanks so much, but I've got the general story (beginning-middle-end) totally planned out and have since I first started writing it. I may need help with the fine details, though. Um. Was that a hint?

Chapter Four-- Following the Scent

In which the heroes are transformed and continue to look for their friends.

"...This is very interesting."

Sora heard Midna's voice from far away, but for a moment it didn't register with him. Then he remembered what had happened and sat up quickly, looking around. For some reason his upper body wasn't responding correctly–

At first, he thought his eyes had stopped working. They were still in Hyrule Field, but now the sky seemed to be dark and cloudy– seemed to be, because it gave off a non-light that made everything glow yellow. Visible particles of darkness swirled up, lingered for an instant, and disappeared in the nearest breath of wind. Everywhere, there was a gloom, an aura pressing against them, like they had fallen into fog.

He was in the Twilight.

"Finally awake, Sora?" Link called from behind him, and Sora turned around to find himself face-to-face with a wolf.

"Don't panic yet," the wolf told him calmly in Link's voice. "This is a side effect from entering the Twilight. Sorry for not telling you earlier. By the way, you may want to take a look at yourself."

Blinking, Sora did. He was unsurprised to see paws and fur instead of hands and skin. Once again, he had become a lion.

"This is pretty cool. Is there a reason we turn into animals?"

"Midna said it was because regular humans can't survive here, so they either turn into spirits or sacred beasts... like us. You're, um, taking this pretty well."

"Yep! I've been a lion before. It's pretty fun!" Link stared, and Sora laughed. "Donald turned me into a lion once. He's a magician. So I'm assuming we turn back once we get rid of the Twilight, right?"

"That's right." Midna floated into view, and now Sora was surprised. No longer did the Twili exist only in Link's shadow; she was larger, not transparent, with black and gray skin and shockingly red hair still partly covered by the intricate helm. Light blue designs similar to the ones on the Twilight door shimmered across her arms and long, pointed ears. Her uncovered eye, large and expressive in her face, stared curiously at Sora.

Link padded over to her. He was a big wolf, dark gray, with lighter fur on his legs and face which glowed strangely under the Twilight sky. Sora noted the remains of a shackle on his back leg.

Without warning, Midna hopped onto Link's back, digging her legs into his sides. "All right, cuties, enough staring. You saw those Heartless in Eldin– we don't have much time, and Castle Town is pretty far away." She sighed happily, flopping onto Link's neck. "Ah, how beautiful the skies of Twilight look today! I've missed them so."

Link seemed to take Midna using him as a pony in stride. "Let's get going."

"...It really shouldn't be surviving in the first place."

"Don't remind me. I got attacked by a whole gang of them after I got out of the castle dungeon."

"Scared you to death, huh?"

"It was a good thing I met Midna, otherwise I might have decided to stay in my cell."

The two heroes-turned-beasts were staring at what was, quite clearly, a headless demonic Twilight bat. From its open neck it emitted several soft, high-pitched shrieks and without warning swooped at them.

Link jumped out of the way of the thrashing wings and lunged, grabbing the bat by the neck and shaking it furiously to make sure it was dead. Sora sensed more approaching from behind and quickly summoned the Keyblade, cutting them in half before Link had dropped the first.

"You can still use the Keyblade?" Link somehow managed to grin at the sight of the giant key clenched firmly between Sora's teeth.

"Very interesting," Midna giggled. "Maybe we can do the same thing with your sword, Link. If you don't mind a little friendly fire, of course."

Sora laughed at the mental image, but Link wasn't listening. Suddenly he crouched forward, furiously sniffing the ground. Curious, Sora sniffed as well. Hyrule Field in the Twilight smelled strange anyway, but...

"Perfume," Link growled, trotting forward to nudge at something half-buried in the dust. "Look."

It was a small, hand-stitched purse, the kind a girl would carry. The faint perfume scent was coming from it, but there was another smell– horses, maybe?– and an unfamiliar human scent.

"Ilia." Link's voice shook as Midna picked up the purse. "She's been here."

Later, Sora was ready to scream.

They had been running down the faint path for what seemed like hours– it was impossible to tell the passage of time when the sky always looked the same. The scenery continued to be plains, plains, and more plains, with some giant boulders or small groves of trees thrown in for good measure. Ilia's scent continued to have no source, and the monotonous run and the very presence of Twilight in the air was overwhelming, giving Sora a dull, throbbing headache. They had met no one on the road, and there was no sound save for the padding of their paws in the dust and the occasional keening of more headless bats.

Link hadn't said a word since they had picked up the scent, but he was exhausted. Sora could see the waning hope in his eyes as they went on and on, plodding doggedly forward, sometimes losing the scent but always finding it nearby, sometimes stumbling but never falling. As a lion, Sora had none of the endurance of a wolf, and if Link was tired, Sora's paws felt like they were going to fall off.

Midna was the only member of their group who seemed to be in good spirits. She had changed the moment she entered the Twilight; the more unlivable to the Light Dwellers, the more she loved it. Now she sat lightly on Link's back, resting her chin on his neck as she gazed with rapt delight at the scenery. Occasionally she would lean forward to whisper to Link, but though his ears always flicked back, he never answered.

Finally, Link skidded to a halt, nearly throwing Midna, and flopped to the ground, tongue lolling. Grateful for the break, Sora slumped beside him, for once too tired to speak.

"We're stopping here," Link told Midna flatly as she slid off his back and scowled at him. "Just give us a few minutes."

"Tired already?" Midna patted his head, but there was surprisingly little mocking in her tone. "You're doing all right. You too, Lion Boy–it can be hard to keep up with Mr. Hero here."

Sora and Link exchanged glances. From the expression on Link's face, the cutsey nicknames were going to be common. Oh well. At least there was no Donald quivering with righteous anger.

"Hey, Link?" The wolf blinked at him in surprise. "How exactly do we get rid of the Twilight here?"

Link groaned. Midna snickered. "Tell him, Link. You've only done it twice, so it shouldn't be too hard."

"First, we have to find the Light Spirit here." Link stretched, licking a paw. "Then we have to restore it to its full power. Basically, it's a wild goose chase through Lanayru looking for invisible bugs."

"Like finding six hundred gold medallions scattered throughout an island swarming with pirates or something?"

"...Something like that, yeah."

Pause.

"What kind of analogy is that?"

"Well, I'm guessing this will be just as annoying..."

"Trouble," Midna said suddenly, scanning the twilight around them. "Monsters coming. You guys had better get to work."

Slowly, the two pulled themselves to their feet, Sora wincing as his leg cramped.

"We'll talk later." Link told him quietly as he hurried off after Midna. Feeling slightly ill at ease, Sora followed.

By the time they reached Hyrule Castle Town, both Link and Sora were extremely tired, grumpy and sore. Their moods did not improve when they saw that the town was a huge walled area with a very deep gorge around it. Luckily, the west drawbridge was down, and the gate was even open enough for them to squeeze through.

Inside it looked like any other medieval-style town that Sora had seen-- stone walkway, town square with a fountain in the center, people and animals going about their business...

"What happened?" Sora whispered in horror. "They're... are they all ghosts?"

"They're spirits. This is what happens when a normal human enters the Twilight." Link made his way into the square, still following Ilia's scent. It was faded now from hundreds of feet trampling the ground where she had walked, but he could still smell it. "Hurry, Sora. She has to be in here."

Sora followed Link, but he couldn't shake off the feeling of unease. The spirits walked around him as though he didn't even exist, although a few bumped into him and looked around in confusion. A transparent, ghostly watchdog chained to a fencepost caught his scent and started to bark, scanning the area frantically, but was hushed by his spirit owner.

"They can't see us at all," Sora murmured, jumping out of the way of a Goron running past with a basket of goods. "Can they even see the Twilight?"

Link shook his head. "The people in Kakariko just knew it was dark and there were monsters everywhere. Afterwards, Talo said it was like-- like a nightmare. They were trapped in this darkness and they couldn't wake up. Look... is she in here?"

Sora shivered. Brushing aside old memories he knew would only hinder him here, he looked up at where the scent seemed to end-- a clinic. The door was locked, and Link sniffed around for a few moments before abruptly turning south. "She was here, but she left. Come on, I think we're close."

They continued south into the marketplace, dodging vendors and customers alike. Ilia's scent turned into an alleyway, down some stairs, and ended in a small shop at the end of the road. The sign hanging next to the door proclaimed the place to be 'Telma's Bar-- Open at all hours'.

The door was ajar. Carefully, Link tapped it with his paw, forcing it open. "Hurry, before they notice something's wrong-- Sora?"

Inside, someone was complaining that he wasn't a doctor and could someone tell him where he is yet? Sora's ears had gone up. That voice was unmistakable. He shot past Link and through the door.

"Sora, wait!"

"What was that?" someone inside asked.

"Draft. Shut the door, will ya?"

Link sprang through the door just as the first speaker, a Hylian knight, wandered over and slammed it shut. A small band of knights--probably off-duty-- were lounging around a table in the back of the bar, looking tired and a bit discouraged. Link's gaze wandered briefly over them, but more interesting things were happening near the front, where a group of people were gathered around a bench. A strange, rasping sound seemed to permeate the room, and he shook himself, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Sora's yell made him jump.

"Link, it's my friends! Donald and Goofy!" Sora was standing next to the two very strange-looking... people? No, exactly what Sora had said-- a duck and a dog. Well, a spirit duck and dog. They paid no attention to Sora, even when he shouted again.

"I thought he was kidding!" Midna whispered from Link's back, looking shocked. Replying was the last thing on Link's mind when he saw the girl next to them, bending over a still form on the bench.

"Ilia..."

She looked just as her remembered her, the day she had been kidnapped. Of course, her clothes were dirty and torn, and her hair could use a washing, and her eyes were red-rimmed, as though she'd been crying. That didn't matter-- none of it did. She was here, and safe, and he had never been so relieved in his life.

"The doctor wouldn't listen to me!" Her voice was choked, and it looked for a moment that she would burst into tears. "He wouldn't listen to anything I said... please, please help him!"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" The duck asked impatiently in a strange, quacking accent. "My magic's all screwed up in this place, so stop asking!"

"Donald, you could at least figure out what's wrong with him," his friend replied more gently, placing a white-gloved hand on Ilia's shoulder as she started to cry.

"Link." Sora appeared next to him, his shoulders slumped. "They won't listen... they don't see me, or hear me... I was expecting this, but..."

Sora was looking so dejected that Link felt a rush of sympathy for the younger boy. He had experienced this before, when he encountered the children in Kakariko, but Sora...

Sora looked back at them. "Is that Ilia? Your friend?"

"Yeah." Ilia had stopped crying, but her face was still buried in her hands. The dog-- Goofy-- stepped aside to answer a question from one of the knights, and then Link and Sora could see the bench more clearly.

It was then when Link realized what the rasping sound was coming from.

It was a child-- clearly not human, but a child nonetheless. He was lying on the bench, deathly still save for the tortured rise and fall of his chest. The gills at his sides were pale around the edges, contrasting with his blue-violet, scaly skin, and they desperately rasped for breath even as Ilia gently wiped his face and neck with a wet towel.

"What is it?" Sora whispered, a worried edge coming into his voice. "It looks..."

"It's a Zora," Link replied slowly, remembering a picture he had seen in a book. Webbed feet, pointed heads... yes. "They're... fish-people, I guess, and they live in the Lanaryu area. I'm not sure what's wrong with this one, but I think it's pretty bad."

"Donald couldn't help him. Said his magic was all screwed up in the Twilight."

"Stop crying, honey." The bartender, an auburn-haired, middle-aged woman, brushed past Donald and Goofy and knelt next to Ilia, her eyes on the Zora boy's prone form. "He's pretty sick, but I'm sure the doctor here can help."

"I--I tried going there.." Ilia sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "He wouldn't let me in when I told him I didn't have any money--"

The woman snorted. "Damn him, I shouldn't have put it past him to do something like that." She pulled a small leather pouch from her pocket and pointed to Donald and Goofy. "You two!"

The two gulped simultaneously. "Y-yes, ma'am?"

"You were the ones who found these two, right?" Both nodded. "Then you know where the clinic on the East Side is. Take this to the doctor-- it's a bit of an incentive for him to get over here."

Donald looked like he was going to protest, but the woman scowled so darkly that he shut up, saluted, and zoomed out of the bar with Goofy at his heels and pouch in hand. With a long-suffering sigh, Sora picked himself up from the floor where the duck had trampled him.

"I'll know if you open it, duck!" The bartender called as the door slammed shut. "And believe me, you'll end up on my dinner table if you do!"

Ilia, who had been watching the exchange with wide eyes, stammered her thanks, but the woman shook her head, he eyes crinkling as she smiled. "Relax, honey. No one's dying in my bar anytime soon."

"Do you think the Zora's sick because something's wrong with Lake Hylia?" Sora asked , walking over to join Link. The wolf blinked at him.

"What? When did you find that out?"

"Those knights over there were telling Goofy that everything started going weird when the town fountain dried up. All their water sources are almost gone, and there's been no contact with the Zora in the lake. So... I was thinking that the spirit's spring is probably there, since there's the source of all the troubles."

Link groaned. "Does that mean we have to walk all the way to Lake Hylia? And leave Ilia behind?"

"Don't think your job's over just because you found her," Midna warned, swooping into Link's face and forcing him to meet her eyes. "You're still a wolf, remember? This isn't exactly a fairytale reunion, y'know."

A growl came unbidden to Link's throat. "I started this stupid quest so I could rescue her!"

Midna smiled grimly. "I'm sure Princess Zelda doesn't see it that way."

Link stiffened. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sora frown. That's right, he hadn't mentioned Zelda, had he? Damn.

"Zelda placed her trust in you for a reason. You're the only one who can do this--"

Link looked away. "Sora could. He could do it better than me, too."

I knew, the moment I saw him fight. He can take care of himself. And he seems to have more experience than I do. How can I keep going, when I don't even know what to do anymore?

There was a long silence. Midna's eyes narrowed, while Sora looked startled, and... worried?

"I can't," he said rapidly. "No, stop," he added as Midna started to speak. "There's... something I haven't told you. I can't change the fate of this place because-- because I'm from another world."

If he had expected gasps of horror or disbelief, he got none. Midna gave a terrifying grin that could vaguely be defined as triumphant, and poked Link in the ribs. "Told you so."

Link's shoulders slumped. He turned away, defeated and angry.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier," Sora burst out, seeing Link's face and recognizing the discouragement there. "Me, Donald, and Goofy travel from world to world. We're trying to stop the Heartless from getting in, so we look for the Keyhole to stop the connection between worlds. I'm helping you out only because the Keyhole won't appear until the Twilight is gone. I'm... sorry."

"Is that all?" Link still wasn't looking at him. Midna was shaking her head, her eyes dark with rage. For an instant, Sora feared that she would attack him, but the rage seemed to be directed toward Link instead.

"Stupid!" She snarled, landing on his back with a thump. "Get up! Get up and keep moving. Sora can help us, but he can't save the world for us; he can only get rid of the Heartless! Get your wolfy butt up, get out of this bar, and get rid of the Twilight."

Sora was even more confused. "You're not mad at me?"

"I'm mad at you for not telling us right away," she shot back. "I was worried that we were gonna have to get rid of you, that you were one of Zant's guys."

"I'm sorry," he repeated, awkwardly.

"So am I." Link's tail tucked in involuntarily as he turned to face Sora. "Thanks, Sora, for helping me. Even if it isn't your main reason for being here."

Sora relaxed abruptly, grinning like a dog being given a treat. "No problem! I'm happy to travel with you, Link. It's always fun to go to new places and make new friends. "

"Could we save the soppy make-up for later?" Midna had also reverted to her former self. "Let's... find a way to open the door here."

"I'm glad you care about him too, Midna," Sora grinned at her. She scoffed, but he hadn't missed the softness in her eyes as she looked at her partner. The boy-turned-wolf in question wasn't paying attention, instead focusing on the knights, who hadn't seen or heard the nearby argument.

"The spirit's spring is right here." The leader of the knights made a mark on the map on the table. "So a group of us is going to the lake to find out exactly what the hell's going on--"

"Meow."

Sora and Link jumped and whirled. A large, fluffy white cat with a pink collar was staring at them, her eyes narrowed. She sniffed the air, looked around in confusion, and meowed again.

"What is it, Louise?" The bartender called from the counter, where she was wiping some glasses.

"Meowww."

"You want out again? You just came back ten minutes ago." The woman scowled at her cat. "Honey, could you open the door? I'm a bit busy here."

Ilia nodded, her eyes lighting up as she walked to the cat and leaned over to stroke it. "C'mon, Louise."

Louise nodded towards Link and Sora as Ilia opened the door. "I know you're there, even though I can't see you. Hurry if you want to go out."

"Thank you!" Sora called to the cat as they hurried out, even though she couldn't hear them. She followed them out of the alleyway and turned down the main road. "See you later."

"Let's go," Link told Sora quietly, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Ilia would be fine. Now he had bigger things to do.

"Wait, where's Midna?"

The little Twili appeared seconds later, landed on Link's back, and made no answer to their inquiries to her whereabouts.

Inside Telma's Bar, a group of knights collectively threw up their hands in frustration. Their carefully marked-up map had disappeared without a trace.

End notes: Yay, done. As another heads-up, I'll be leaving in August for about the whole month to a place with limited internet, and then school will be starting again. Double yay. What that means is, of course, no updates for a long while. Sorry about that.

Also, no one betaed this chapter for me, so please point out anything I didn't catch. I really appreciate good proofreaders.