Just outside to the palace's entrance proper a bright jade green light began to glow and change shape till it resembled one of the twili's portals and from this portal came a rather large canine, the shackle bound to its front right ankle rattling as it dragged against the cold stone ground. At the wolf's side was a tall slender woman, dressed in twili robes but these were not her normal garbs, her usual clothes had been changed to help her and the wolf escape. One of the guards stationed at the palace entrance exterior glanced at the light and murmured "probably another noble coming to show off" before turning his gaze back out of the great open palace courtyard. On the other side of the path his partner commented on the courtyard "it hasn't been the same since the sols were taken, and then the great big portal disappeared makes this place real dark. Kinda depressing" the first guard nodded, then the pair stood straight up as they heard someone approaching. "How do you suppose we get out of this mess?" the tall slender woman asked her companion. The dog just barked back at her. "No I don't think that will work, any other ideas puppy?" the canine just shook his head before drooping his tail between his legs as the pair passed the stationed guards. The guard to the left of the pair piped up as he saw the pup's shackle. "Hey, where would you two be going? Wouldn't want to be letting that dog go free, Word is he is something special." The woman stammered as she tried to find the words to explain what was going on without being chucked back in the cold, dank and smelly cells. "Uh he's getting a transfer. The cells hear aren't strong enough to hold him, they um even had to put this power suppression collar on him to keep me safe as I move him." Link looked up at Adele and marvelled at how well she was able to come up with something so clever on the spot. The guard looked into the Wolf's eyes, "he don't seem so dangerous to me" Link snapped his jaw shut, scaring the guard. "uh maybe he is, carry on then." When Adele and Link had made it half way across the courtyard and out of ear shot of the guards they laughed and headed towards a signpost, in hopes of finding some idea of where to go to find the aurora stone. "We should head towards the farm lands, fewer guards would be there and they won't recognise us" Adele offered, Link shook his canine head and looked down a track that led to a twili temple. "how is going to a sacred twili place a good idea?" Link just looked at her with a look that said "trust me" before he ran down the track towards the temple and where he hoped the aurora stone was. Adele just sighed "boys" and then ran after the oversized dog. A pair of twili men approached Link as he ran down the track to the temple, Adele raced to catch up with Link but her two legs couldn't run as fast as his four so all she could do was run after him as the two twili men carried him into the temple. "please don't tell me they are going to sacrifice him, it was lonely enough before him but losing him now would really hurt" As father and son rode through the dense forest and back towards civilisation, the older of the two questioned his son about the battle. "Were you scared son?" Rusl asked "as you fought that, girl?" Colin just shook his head. Before today Rusl wouldn't have believed his son, not they Colin would lie but he wasn't very brave but something had changed him, he wasn't sure if it was the battle or the knife and that worried him. After a few minutes of silent riding Colin questioned his father on something that he never wondered before, "dad when you have your sword with you do you feel stronger? I mean braver?" Rusl took a moment to think before he answered, but he wasn't thinking about what he was going to say, it was about what his son had said. Stronger, why would he say that? Is the knife doing something to him? "Well sure son, I feel braver. I feel like I can protect the ones I care about when I have it with me but I feel almost as brave without it, I just need to think of others ways to look after my friends and family." Colin nodded thoughtfully, before looking up and realising that hyrule castle was in sight, "the trip out seems a lot shorter than the trip in, don't you think so dad?" Rusl grunted in response, lost in thoughts of his own, "must be the fog" Colin shrugged, "hey do you mind if I ride ahead? I'll wait for you in telma's bar just want to get something to eat" Rusl shook his head, "better if we stay together, we can eat after we inform the princess. If you wait I'll pay for your meal" Colin grinned until they arrived at the castle gates, "isn't the stable on the far side of town though? What will we do about the horses" Rusl chuckled," they have people at each entrance in case of this, helps them earn the money they need" Colin nodded showing he understood as he handed the reins over to a stable hand, before dismounting, The twilight knife hanging from his right hip, with Rusl eyeing it off warily as he paid for their horses to be taken care of. "Come on lets head up to the castle" The pair pushed their way through the bustling ground to arrive before a pair of massive iron gates and a pair of sleepy guards. Rusl approached one of the guards. "hey, can you open the gates? We need to see the princess" The guard opened one eye, looked Rusl up and down before shrugging "sorry mate, no one is allowed in the castle without official business." Rusl sighed, this was going nowhere fast, and just as he was about to speak up Colin stepped forward "we have very important information for the princess, we have acquired a rather rare and valuable artefact" The guard donned a smug grin "if its so valuable why would she said a kid like you out to find it instead of trained guards like me?" Colin rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath "maybe cause I can stay awake on the job?" At this the other guard walked over "what did you say, squirt?" the guard said the last part as if trying to enforce that he was superior to Colin. Rusl stepped in before Colin started a fight, which was the last thing they needed, "he was just commenting on what a wonderful job you too are doing, weren't you?" Colin nodded slowly, almost as if it was a task of great strain. The guards laughed to each other, "good boy" Colin piped up then, "so can we get through yet or do you want to torture us some more?" The guards looked at each other, not used to getting such arrogance from citizens, they were about to beat Colin and Rusl up or at least tell then to get lost when the princess' chancellor came down. "there you two are, the princess has been waiting" the chancellor said with an upturned nose. One of the guards pointed to himself and then to his partner, "you mean us?" The chancellor sighed, "no, she wants to see the country men. I believe that is what she called them." The guards just went wide eyed, "you don't honestly mean her highness wants to see these layabouts" The chancellor started walking back towards the castle, "she does and it would be better for you if you didn't keep her guests from her any longer" the guards slumped their shoulders and grumbled as they dragged open the large iron gates, sparks flying as the steel dragged across the stone pavement. Rusl grinned at Colin who only returned a blank face, his son was changing and it was happening fast. The father-son duo then followed the path the chancellor had taken as he entered the castle. "Straight to the princess no detours" Colin told his father without even so much as a sidelong glance. Rusl nodded as the two walked into the throne room, through a large set of oaken doors that were opened for them as they approached. Princess Zelda arose off her throne as the pair approached, "ah my honoured guests, I assume you return triumphantly" Colin and Rusl bowed, "yes your majesty, we found the artefact, slayed its guardian" at this Colin coughed, "ah well my son slayed the guardian and we have returned with the artefact as you requested of us. "ah good good" the princess said with a giggle and an energetic clap, before remembering where she was and returning to her regal stature. "my scholars have been hard at work trying to find out how to use the knife but we have found no leads, perhaps you found something?" Rusl shook his head, "alas we found nothing of the sort." Before the princess could speak again Colin piped in, "this may be a wild guess but what if it is to be used where the mirror was? Both have ties to both worlds, so it would make sense they work in the same place, would it not?" Zelda nodded, "it seems like it could work but we cant get near the arbiter's grounds." Rusl, looked confused, "didn't you organise for the road to the desert to be cleared?" The princess nodded "that I did and its done, but that's not the issue. The issue is a tribe of bokoblins who have made their home in front of the old prison." Colin cracked his knuckles on his left hand, "I can take care of them" The Princess shook her head. "as noble as that is, we wish to remain at peace with them, they look up to link and refuse to let anyone but him pass. They Midna and I pass for we were with him but without him we cant get past." Rusl stroked his beard for a moment, "what if we informed them that we were going up there to help link? Perhaps that would change their minds" Zelda nodded, "maybe. I wish you the best of luck, and if you wish please feel free to equip yourself in our armoury." Colin nodded before walking off. Rusl turned to Zelda, "thank you your majesty, we will do our best to bring him home." And with that he followed after his son