The forest was the same. A strange, peaceful contrast to where we'd just been. I walked slowly through the woods, back towards town. The love the villagers had been showing me... that would all be gone now. They wouldn't want anything to do with me any more. A beast.

Midna explained to me her requirements. The sword and shield. Yeah, yeah, I know. Time to be sneaky. I entered the village, padding on quiet paws.

Everyone around was so unhappy. There was air of desperation and mourning over the entire place, almost like a physical force. Hanch was on his knees, praying for the sake of the children. Rusl badly injured. Everyone frightened, unhappy – angry, too.

From roof to roof. Keep quiet. I moved in stealth easily, despite my size. I jumped to the watermill, then was able to make my way into the house where I knew the shield to be. Midna took it and carried it for me. I supposed she would, naturally, be the secret to carrying the hoards and hoards of items I was sure to get.

Next, the sword. These were their only items of defense. Did I really need them more than the Ordonians did?

I didn't have a choice.

Sneaking around poor, injured Rusl, I dug my way into the house. The sword was sitting, unguarded, on the chair right near my entrance. Midna took this too and we made away with them.

We started to return to the wall of twilight, coming upon my home on the way. I stopped there and looked to Midna. There might be things in there we need.

There was a wooden sword there I had forgotten. So much for doing things 'differently'. I had stolen an item I had no need to steal.

Midna seemed to understand me, for the most part, and helped me up into my home, laughing at my 'homesickness'.

Let's see. Food provisions. Water skins. Bandages? Might as well. Flint and tinder. A knife. Twine. Fishing rod. Wooden sword. That was about it. I brought the items to Midna one by one.

"Really?" She asked, "I'm not your pack mule, you know. That's you. Eee hee!" She giggled, but took the items anyway.

I was very hungry, speaking of. But that could wait.

We walked to the spring, where the weak voice of Ordona called me. I was wary. Didn't fully want to go, because I knew what would happen once I stepped inside.

Pillars, glowing in a mad red, made their drop from the sky as I knew they would, an inescapable red field forming between them. A shadow beast dropped from the sky.

There was only one at this event. I'd have to face many more eventually. There was no choice here, I had to defeat this creature too, just as I'd worked with all the others.

He was heavy and strange, his body low to the ground. No face, no nose, but it moved like a prowling beast, sniffing the ground, searching for me. I ran to it quickly and leaped – it's face and neck were obscured to me by the stone mask on its head, so I directed my teeth to dig into its shoulder.

It made such an angry, alien noise and started to shake immediately. I was a bull dog in this fight: I held on, biting as deeply into its flesh and I could and keeping my hold there. My jaw ached, but I held on as it thrashed, wounding itself and letting me dig my teeth farther into it. I was eventually knocked off, maybe when it came to its senses and swiped at me.

The creature was still very much alive. His injury was terrible, however, and he had lost use of the arm I'd attacked. He moved towards me, quickly, limping and jumping along the ground, his inky blood pouring into the spring, tainting it.

I flew again at it, waiting until I was closer this time to strike, going for the throat.

He fell quickly once his jugular had been torn open, blood loss too devastating a blow.

My jaw hurt terribly and I had a gash on my shoulder from where it had batted me off of its shoulder. I was bleeding too, a red mixing with the black in the water.

Ordona emerged from the spring, taking form. Her body was so bright, I could hardly look at her properly. She and the entire spring glowed brightly.

"O brave youth..." She said, "I am one of four light spirits that protect Hyrule at the behest of the gods. I am Ordona.

"The black beast you slayed was a shadow being. It had come to seize the power of light I wield.

"My brethren in Hyrule have already had their light stolen by these fell beasts. The entire kingdom has been reduced to a netherworld ruled by the cursed powers of darkness.

"The blight will not stop with Hyrule. Before long, the entire world of light will fall into the hands of the king who rules the twilight. To save this land from the king of twilight, the lost light must be recovered. The three light spirits who have lost their light must be revived. There is but one who can revive them and redeem this land... you.

"You still have not discovered your true power... those transformed by twilight usually cannot recover their original forms... Unless... if you were to return to Faron Woods where you first transformed... If you were to revive the light spirit...

"There, by the power of the light spirit, you may find the means to regain your other state of being..."

I nodded. I knew this all already. The spirit Faron who ruled over those woods. I would traverse the entirety of the woods, finding and killing the dark insects keeping the tears.

We left the spring, moving back towards Faron woods and the wall of twilight.

"Hey... look..." Midna said to me, "The Faron Woods that you know so well... they're now covered in twilight. You might not be able to come back here, but... do you still want to go?"

I nodded to her. What other choice did I have? There was nothing here for me any more.

Midna left me, entering the twilight. I braced myself for the pull inside. Indeed, she grabbed me roughly with her giant hand, pulling me inside and dropping me roughly there. My injury stung at the treatment.

Midna, as expected, played around with the sword and shield once we got inside. I didn't feel like humoring her, so I didn't stop my walking.

"Hey!" She said, "Listen! This is important. In exchange for my help, I need you to gather some things for me. I can't tell you all the details now, but it'll be easy, trust me. Hear that? The lamentation of the spirit that had its light stolen... you know where it is? All right, get going. Eee hee!"

Ahead of me would be another event with the shadow beasts. There would be three this time instead of just one. Would I actually need to defeat them all first before I could get Midna to assist me in putting them down for good? Holding 'B' for an 'energy field' wasn't exactly going to work anyway.

My imp companion was irritated when the fence dropped down, to her unexpectedly.

"Aww... we're penned in again! Pffft! Who do they think they're dealing with? No need to take these little pests on one at a time, right? You can take them all at once! So... you can handle this by yourself, can't you? Good luck! Bye!"

Well, Midna, I certainly appreciate your confidence in me, but no, I can't handle them all by myself and I wasn't actually going to try, either.

I made my way to Midna without alerting the creatures to my presence – their eyesight seemed pretty terrible. I sat in front of her, where she had chosen to watch from the sidelines, and barked at her.

She was further irritated by me.

"What's the holdup? Don't you know what you're doing yet? Ugh, I have to do everything for you, don't I? Fine, whatever. If you leave one alive, it'll just revive the others with a angry shriek. You have to kill the last two in the same moment. One neck, then the other, got it?"

Got it? That was it? No... magic leaping power to send me in a super rush from one to the next, killing them all in quick succession? Things had been easy in game. How was I supposed to do this?

That first enemy had been difficult. What could I have done wrong?

Maybe the key to these lumber some beasts was to be quick. I couldn't overpower them, that was unlikely. Trying to take the last one down by strength had probably been my mistake.

I braced myself, getting ready for battle. My teeth were sharp enough, my jaws powerful enough. I would rush in, very close to the beast, so I could get under the mask it wore to its exposed neck. A weak point, I could do those. Rip it out and run away before it could begin its death flails, possibly hurting me.

No better time than the present. Run!

I dashed forward to the closest target, instinct driving me over my fears of getting too close. I was right up beneath it, so at this distance, the protective mask was useless. No hesitation, I jumped, biting into the creature's neck and allowing gravity to drag me down, so that my teeth ripped through the flesh there. I didn't wait to see how my attack affected it, but moved on to the next immediately. The other two had both seen my attack and were moving fast as they were able towards me.

I repeated the gruesome process. One, then the other, never pausing between any of them. It seemed to me a very painful way to die.

A large difference between real life and video games, movies, all kinds of media, was the speed at which a thing perished. It wasn't instant. Even bullets wouldn't be an instant 'KO'. Blood loss rapidly diminished the creatures energy. It's breath sped up, it's movements were awkward and struggling, and the pain kept it on the ground. Eventually, it was lack of oxygen to the brain that killed it – not enough blood in the body to deliver it.

With all three dead, the wall fell away.

We'd be able to teleport here later – the portal they'd been sent in through was still in the sky.

I spat. There was an awful taste in my mouth. But if I ever wanted to be human again, there'd be a lot more of the same ahead of me. I continued north to Faron Spring.

The form of the light spirit was visible, but very vague. The tiny, faded ball of light spoke to me, it's voice weak.

"...please... be careful... these woods... have changed...

"The dark clouds of dusk cover this land..."

Faron told me about what the twilight was, all over again, about the tears of light and the dark insects.

I didn't even have to focus to find the first insect. I could sense them – more than just smell or see, I knew where it was.

It was a large, ugly thing, looking like a dust mite enlarged under microscope. It died easily. I pounced, bit into it with a terrible crunch and dropped the crumpled, ruined body of the thing on the ground. I followed with the second, the third, and onward.

I entered Coro's home through the window, relying on Midna's guidance again.

The lantern salesman, a frightened spirit, was trapped in his home, terrified of the insects he couldn't see, but could hear and see the effects of. There were two dark insects in his home. I dispatched both of them quickly and left, unable to speak with the man and reassure him he was safe.

The gate that would allow me deeper into the woods was locked. I had to dig my way beneath it, at a spot of softer earth.

The mist that made Faron Woods so otherworldly and beautiful had been replaced by a dense purple fog. The land was truly tainted, in a horrible state. Twilight wasn't beautiful at all – it was like a sickness. Zant had truly brought a plague on to the land.

We continued moving about the wood, defeating insects and at one point battling another group of shadow beasts.

I had been tired before, now I was exhausted. I wondered how long I'd been awake, running almost constantly and battling creatures sometimes several times my size. My whole body ached, and the few injuries I had sustained burned like fire. I was hungry, thirsty, and filthy.

For now, I'd keep going, but after Faron was restored, I would have no choice but to rest.

I defeated every insect, filling the vessel of light, allowing the area to be cleansed. When I returned to the spring, Faron emerged from it, a shining, full form.

Without even a feeling of transformation, I was human again. It felt strangely unnatural, for a moment, to be standing on two feet, but after that moment passed, I was relieved. My body could move in ways I was used to. I was clothed again, in the green tunic of heroes. Sword, shield, and chain were all at my disposal now.

The speech Faron gave told me about how I was the chosen one. Once again, I felt like a fraud.

"...your name is Link. You are the hero chosen by the gods..."

Such an impersonator. I was only a city girl. There wasn't much of a choice any more, though, was there. I'd already messed things up. I had no clue if any of this was 'real'. Illusion, creation. It didn't really matter. There wasn't exactly another path available to me and I couldn't let the denizens of this place suffer if I could help it. I wasn't a hero, but at least I had my knowledge of this world. I could work things out.

When Faron faded, I spoke first, before Midna's usual diatribe.

"Well, I can finally speak to you. One of those perks of being human, I suppose."

I flexed my fingers, examining my hands.

"Don't ask why," I said, "But I've got a mighty strong feeling that power sealed in the forest temple is one of those items you're looking for."

"Wow, you're all business, aren't you, Mr. Important Hero! Eee hee! Well... I guess I can't say that you're wrong. You sure are taking this whole thing in stride."

I nodded, already moving out of the spring. "I don't think we really have time not to. On the other hand, I'm exhausted. I'm not going to be able to fight or think this way. Poor fragile human bodies need rest. You too?"

Midna nodded, for once not giggling manically. "Yes, I could rest. Are you heading back to your little home? Could take half an hour to walk there."

"Better that than rest here. I can stock up on supplies, too – no idea how long we'll be gone. 'Items' not 'item'. Oh, and Midna?"

"What?"

I smiled at her, about as disarming as I get, "Thanks for getting me out of there."

Midna seemed a little surprised. She laughed at me and disappeared into my shadow.

I reached Ordon soon enough. I certainly planned to tell the villagers what I knew, but couldn't help myself, and slipped away into dreamland as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke well rested, but starving. I still had wheels of Ordonian cheese stored in the larder, so I ate my fill and called Midna, who once again grumbled about carrying my stuff, but did it anyway. I took the fifty rupee piece stored in Link's cellar, along with any other bits of coin I could dredge up around the place, and left.

"Hey, Midna." I said as we walked towards main Ordon, "I could use a bit of advice, I think."

"Oh?" She said, giggling, "I thought you knew exactly what you were doing, Link."

"In some ways yes, in many, many ways, very no. Anyway, I've got the sword and shield stolen from my friends here. I need them, obviously. Different clothing, been missing quite a while. Should I be forward in everything?"

"Should you talk to them at all?" Midna asked, pursing her lips somewhat.

I stopped walking. "What do you mean?"

"We don't really have time to loiter with your mates, Link. They'll be SO worried, and they'll try to keep you here, or keep your stuff, they'll just get in the way. You're the chosen one, remember?"

"Not about to forget it." I said, "But even if I have a bigger duty, that doesn't make the small ones disappear. Everyone will be worried about what happened to the children."

"And you'll fix that how? You can return later. Let's go already."

I supposed that I couldn't really do anything about it. Not yet, anyway. After the forest temple, I'd be heading to Eldin. Once that area was cleansed, news could make its way back to Ordon about the children. I couldn't seem to tell anyone about what I knew from the real world. Until I knew it based on inside information, I doubted I'd be able to tell them about the children either.

"You're right," I said, turning around, "Let's go."

"Really?" She said, surprised. "You don't want to see them at all?"

"I don't need to. Let's go cleanse a temple now, shall we? I've got a feeling you and I have a long road to walk here."

Midna smirked at me, "Maybe." She giggled, yet again, then was gone from my sight.

We were stopped by the locked gate, the one I'd had to dig under as a wolf.

I moved to the Eastern path immediately.

"Ey, Coro!" I called out, "Do you know anything about this gate being locked?"

I seemed to have startled him, as he jumped an spilled some of the stew he was making. In the same pot he used for oil? Gross.

"Uh, yeah." He said, "You're, uh, the Ordonian, aren't you? The clothes threw me for a second. Um, listen... things have been a little rough around here lately. There are so many monsters now... I kinda got scared and closed off the path to the temple. But... you, guy. You looking to go back there?"

"Yes," I said, "I kind of really need to, actually."

"Right." Coro said, nodding, "You sure do look geared up for it, so I guess I can't stop you. Let me get that gate for you."

Coro stood from his spot over his small pile and we walked together to the gate.

"The woods on the other side of the cave are covered in some really thick fog, so be careful with your lantern fuel, okay?"

"Got it." I said, "You happen to sell bottles of oil, by any chance?"

Upon leaving the cave and entering to greater Faron area, I kept my lantern close to my heart. I had no intention of wasting time with the lantern-thieving monkey on this play-through. She didn't seem around at the moment anyway, it appeared.

I dispersed the twilight fog with the lantern as I went along, moving northward. It was extremely difficult to navigate, as I could hardly see at all. I did get there in the end, and quickly made my way through the open gate and towards the forest temple.

This time, I stopped at Trill's shop and purchased a bottle's worth of red potion. No idea what the effects of it might be – magic cure-all for injuries? A simple health drink?

Before entering the temple, I spotted the hero's shade, waiting for me near the entrance. I'd nearly forgotten about him being there.

This was certain to be a strange experience.

My sword and shield drawn, I approached the golden-colored wolf slowly. He jumped at me, reaching me very quickly and the feeling gained when things shifted was something out of this world.