As we walked along the path to the Lost Woods, I spotted a woman crying on the side of the road. "Link! Look! We should go help her!" I whispered, so I didn't scare her. He seemed wary, but finally agreed. We walked up to her. She stared up at us and wiped her eyes.

"Excuse me, miss, are you alright?" I said.

"Well, I'm just sad that I can't get any recruits." She sniffed and stood up.

"Recruits for what?" Link looked up at me skeptically, but I ignored him.

"You two look promising. Have you heard of the Yiga clan?" Link gasped and started to back away. I glanced at him, but continued talking.

"No, I haven't," I replied. Link drew his spear.

"Well, it is a wonderful cause. Young man, what are you doing?" Link glared at her. "Get away from us!" He growled. "How dare you look at me like that! You disrespect my master!" She pulled a spiky curved blade and crouched, looking just like a tiger ready to pounce. "I will take your life!" She screeched. I heard a bang, and she had transformed into a tall figure with a mask and red outfit. I stepped back and shouted to Link. He lunged and stabbed her with his spear. She swung at him, but he dodged and stabbed again. He kept on like this until she was dead. Her body evaporated, leaving behind money and bananas. I'm sure I had a disgusted look on my face, because Link grabbed my arm.

"Chiya, there are people all over that are good. But there are also the Yiga Clan. Those people are terrible, and will stop at nothing to end my life. You must be careful." He let go of me and continued walking. I followed him, leaving the items from the woman behind.


The road to the woods was long, but we covered it in a matter of days. We stopped when we came to a large expanse of trees and fog.

"We're here." Link looked me in the eyes. "Don't lose yourself."

"Same with you." I placed my hands in his. "We have to stay together." We walked to the entrance, hand in hand. A small plaque read,

Entrance to the Lost Woods

Creepy afforest

A fatal, delusion lose

after the lost woods

~the ancient one

Link lit a fire near it and grabbed his torch while I puzzled over the strange words.

"This will help us see each other. If one of us gets lost, we need a signal." He lifted his hands to his lips and whistled a short tune. I quickly memorized it and copied his motion, whistling the same tune. "Alright. Here we go." He stepped into the forest, and I followed him.


About ten minutes after we had started walking, I heard laughter. I turned around, and saw Link standing behind me. His voice was airy and light, beckoning me to come to him.

"Chiya, come on! I found a shrine. Let's go!" He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

"Aren't we supposed to find the sword?" I giggled, happiness surrounding me. I started to walk towards him, but I felt a cold hand latch onto my arm. I screamed and whirled around, only to find Link staring at me with fear in his eyes. All illusion of happiness faded and the other Link disappeared.

"Chiya! Did you see someone?" He looked terrified. "You can't let go of me." I suddenly realized that the other Link was a delusion.

"This is worse than I thought. It seemed so real," I shuddered. "I won't let go. I promise." He stopped abruptly.

"See those torches ahead?" He gestured to a small flickering flame. I nodded, still shaky. "If you get separated from me, look for the torches straight ahead. I'll be waiting. And if something happens to one of us… The other one leaves the forest right away, okay?" I nodded again, and we kept walking towards the torches.


Link could feel it before I could. The cold chill of untruth seeped through me long after Link squeezed my arm.

"Chiya, it's coming for me." He shuddered.

"Link, look at me." I pulled him toward me so he could look into my eyes. "I will not lose you. I won't let anything take you. I promise." He gasped and clenched his teeth. As we turned around, I saw a copy of me standing there with my hand on his shoulder. "Link, look at me!" I shouted. He started shaking and stared at me.

"I'm okay. It's fine. I know that you're real." He said, burying his face in my shoulder. The delusion reached out her hand and place it on his back. I could feel him wince. I swiped my hand towards her, and to my surprise, it went right through her face. She moved her hand and placed it onto his head. I knew she was creating another illusion of happiness because that was what the forest had done to me. I could feel him relax as he moved away from me and turned to the delusion. I grabbed his arm, whirled him around, and slapped him across his face. His eyes, which were cloudy before, immediately cleared into their normal clear blue self. He glanced at the delusion, then at me. I stepped towards him, still holding his arm, when he stopped me.

"How do I know that you're not fake?" He said, trembling.

"You don't. But sometimes you have to trust in order to succeed. That's something a friend once told me long ago. And Link, that friend was you." I took a deep breath. "We need to protect each other and trust one another in order to survive. Do you hear me?" I shouted over the wind. It was growing in speed, but plummeting in temperature.

"Chiya." He said, nervously. Both the delusion and I nodded. "I don't know which one is which. Please, someone, give me a sign. Please!" He put his hands on his head and looked completely lost. I sighed and remembered Impa's words. Before I could open my mouth, the delusion spoke.

"Oh Link, we both know that I'm real. Look at me. I'm much more beautiful than that… ugly delusion." Her voice sounded like bells, and the truth was, she actually did look much more beautiful than me. I knew I couldn't compete with her, and I started crying. I knew I would lose him. But I had to take one last chance.

"Do you want to know what Impa said? When she made you leave?" I said. I knew this was my last chance to convince him, so I chose my words carefully. He nodded slowly. "She said I had to protect you. And that if I lost you, she would kill me. Link, please stay with me. Please." The delusion started to grab his other arm, but suddenly Link yelled at her to stay back. He looked into my eyes.

"Are you sure it's you?" He held out his hand.

"Yes!" I cried. The delusion screamed and clawed his arm. He threw her back and ran to me. When he reached me, we hugged.

"I knew it was you! I knew it!" He shouted, crying. He spun me around until I was dizzy, and when he put me down, I saw that the delusion had gone. We were both a mess, and yet we still embraced.

"I thought I had lost you!" I could barely speak because of my tears. He just shook his head and smiled.