Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda.

The inspiration for this chapter came from Jester of Smiles. A round of applause.

I'm loving my head-cannon for this fic.


Link sighed as he headed into the Rayless Forest for the second time. This time would be different, he promised himself, he had his sword and he knew what to expect.

Zeldane had been kind enough to give him a map and mark his route. He had to head into the darkest part of the forest and continue until he found a shrine. The shrine was supposed to be in the center of the forest so he figured he'd just wander until he found it. He had to go inside the shrine and descend into the tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel he'd see a tower. Head toward it and he'd see a maze. In the maze he'd find an item that would help him through the maze and at the end he'd finally find the Trinity's brother.


The forest was dark and unnerving, but he'd expected that. He was at home in his woods but these woods were eerie, and no matter how much he looked, he felt like someone was following him but saw nobody. In fact, he hadn't seen any monsters in a while either. That should have tipped him off long ago.

He continued warily with the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He was not comfortable beneath these dark canopies and he'd prefer to complete this part of his journey as soon as possible. He wandered for a while before looking at his map. Zeldane said that there should be some sort of lake roughly this far in. He didn't see water. He didn't smell water. He didn't hear water. The ground didn't feel like there was any water nearby.

He was lost. He sighed and buried his head in his hands.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Link spun. Behind him, where he was certain there had been no one, stood a man. He was tall and thin, with an unreasonably large rucksack on his back. The man wore bright colours, had neat red hair and a wide grin and his eyes were closed.

Link was instantly on edge. "What do you mean?"

The man stepped forward and Link held his ground while discretely making sure that the man wouldn't back him into a corner or a tree if he had to move. "Lost on an important journey, where time is of the essence, loved ones depending on you, while you struggle due to inexperience."

Nobody knew about the curse except Ganondorf, himself, Zeldane, and the Trinity. And how did this man learn about his journey. "Who are you?"

"Who I am in not important. Indeed, I have little importance in the works of fate. Important is a small bit of information I can offer you. It may help." The man's eyes opened a mere slit. They were red.

Link, unnerved, struggled with himself. He had no idea who this man was and he was suspicious. Why was he conveniently here in in the Rayless Forest, and why did he know about Link's secret journey? On the other hand, time was not on his side and he could spend hours trying to get back on track in this forest. Accepting the man's help would only benefit him.

"What is this information?" He closed his eyes and rubbed them tiredly. He trusted his instincts enough to dodge on a whim if the man tried anything.

The man's head tilted to the side. "The way to the shrine is a journey on it's own. Passed the darkest part of the forest is where you will find a tower of light. Be wary on your journey. The eyes are easily deceived. The ears hear only what they wish. The nose only smells the roses. When you hear the light, you are there."

"What?" He looked up and the man was gone. Not only was the man gone, but also Link was standing before a small lake. Had the lake been there all along? Had something addled his senses? And that man… Who was he? He had knowledge of things he should not, he was someplace he should not have been, he told Link information masked with riddles, and now he was simply gone. He felt that he couldn't trust the man, but he had no other option. He glanced at his map and continued his previous pace, headed around the lake.

Not more than two hours later, night fell. With the darkness came a thick fog. He quietly unsheathed his sword. He couldn't see, sound was dampened so it was hard to hear, and all he could smell was water. He'd be depending on touch and his instincts for the night then. Wonderful.

He jumped to the side and swung. He sliced through something and heard a yelp. He rolled forward and heard a thunderous boom directly behind him. He didn't dare look back as he felt tomething skim his shoulder. That felt like an arrow. Something tackled his legs and in his distraction, the next arrow hit. He went down.

A kick in the ribs, a hoof stomped on his face, growls echoed in the air, a bite on his sword arm, a sword missed his face but sliced some of his hair in his thrashing to get his assailants off of him. He paled when he felt the vibrations in the ground. He managed to roll away right before the boom sounded and was thrown away from his assailants. He saw a hazy outline of some sort of tentacle-esque thing with a ball at the end. He struggled to his feet at he felt the vibrations again. This time he did a quick sidestep to dodge the blow but then leapt at the tentacle. He secured his footing as it began to retract smoothly. It was headed up, and he understood why as soon as he was above the fog. The monster was a four-headed carnivorous plant with what seemed to be a long, hard tongue in each head to attack. Speaking of which, this particular head's teeth were fast approaching. His eyes darted around for an escape.

There! He waited until the last second, where the distance he had to leap would be at it's smallest. He leapt up. Hanging over the head of the plant was a vine. He missed.

With a yell, he fell. Before he could hit the ground, he hit another tongue and was thrown. Link tried to grab something, anything. He felt a vine near his hand and scrambled for it. He slid down before stopping, safe. He was never so grateful for his gloves.

He appraised the situation before kicking off a tree to launch himself at the plant. With a mighty yell, he landed on one of it's heads and sank his sword into it. It screamed and thrashed in a last attempt to throw him, but failed. He stayed even as the head plummeted toward the forest floor. A savage grin appeared on his face as several crunches were heard under the plant's massive weight. With swift, but careful, steps he climbed to the apex of the four steps. One of Din's more complicated but quick spells would work. With his hand outstretched and fingers splayed, he intoned, "Din's Fire."

The blast spread in a semi-sphere with him at the center and burned the plants as it progressed. He continued to siphon magic into the spell until the plant was naught but ash.

At the center, panting and drained, stood Link, victorious. Catching his breath, a smile lifted his face as the fog lifted and a rooster crowed. He knew that the night had not been long enough, and there were no roosters in this forest. Still, morning. Was this the sound of light? Was he there?


Link looked up at the shrine in shock. Who would have thought that something like this was in the middle of the forest? He wasn't expecting it to be so big. He'd been expecting a relatively small building in a state of disrepair. The man had spoken of a tower of light but he'd been expecting actual light, not this.

He had not been expecting a large statue with an entrance at its feet. It was a large man made of a white precious stone. He honestly had no idea what it was, Din or Zeldane would know. The man was powerfully built, with a fearsome look on his face. He had some sort of lines on his face, but Link wasn't sure of their meaning. On the man's forehead was a golden triforce with a diamond inverse triangle filling the empty center.

This was definitely the place.

He warily headed toward the opening at the man's feet and found that he had to crouch to get in. Once inside, he marveled at the beauty, although the small rectangle room inside was somewhat dim. There was an excess of white but the influence of the Trinity was apparent in the various objects coloured red, blue and green; a vase here, a painting there. It was equally as beautiful as the Palace of the Trinity, but different. It was more masculine.

It wasn't hard to find the hidden entrance to the tunnel once he started looking. There was a painting of the Trinity on an empty stretch of wall. They all looked younger; as if they were all still immature Goddesses. Din was basking in the sun, Nayru was playing in a stream and Farore was sitting content on the grassy riverbank. In the sky above them, a man watched over them protectively.

He couldn't help bit shake his head at the obvious hiding spot. He began stepping on different areas of the floor in front of the painting. When that didn't work, he tried to move the painting. It would not move to either side and he could not remove it from the wall. It was purposely secured. On the top of the ornate frame – barely in his reach – were a ruby, sapphire, emerald, and diamond triforce. He pushed on it and heard a grinding sound as the wall moved outward and then slid to the side. He'd found the tunnel.


Any thoughts the forest, the man, Link, anything? Don't be afraid to ask. I can't guarantee an answer but I read every review and PM. Sometimes they even impact the plot :)