"You… don't?" Leyla stammered.

Zelda looked at her apologetically. "I wish I could help you, but I can't. Dark Link came here for the secret, which I couldn't give to him." Zelda lowered her voice, as if speaking aloud to herself, "It seemed as though he believes I know it."

Midna walked over to Zelda, visibly trying to not roll her eyes. "Who does know, then? Who?" She grabbed the Princess's shoulders and shook her slightly, making the guards near the door grip their weapons and take a few menacing steps closer.

Zelda took Midna's hands from her shoulders and gently pushed them away, then raised a hand for the guards to stand down. "I'm not sure. I think Tam might, though. He lives in the forest, after all."

"The forest?" Leyla asked. When she had first met Tam a year ago, the tall, dirt-covered boy had told them he had been living in Lake Hylia. Perhaps he moved?

Zelda nodded. "Yes, he has… visited… recently." Zelda seemed to cringe at some unpleasant memory, but she shook herself and continued as though nothing had happened. "He said he is living in Faron Woods, as it is a lovely place close to members of his family."

"Oh," Leyla didn't want to think of why Zelda, who was usually so calm and composed about everything, would twitch at a memory of Tam. Then again Tam did have Mink, and Mink could be rather hyper. Leyla shuddered at the thought of Tam, mud-crusted Tam, chasing after the even dirtier Mink through the castle halls, and understood why Zelda would as well. "So," Leyla said, ridding herself of the horrific thoughts, "we need to find Tam."

"But," Midna interjected, "the forest is all overgrown and freaky! How will we find him in that?" She placed her fists on her hips, looking from Leyla to Zelda and back again, a single, thin eyebrow raised.

"Well," Leyla shrugged, "we'll think of something, I'm sure."

The double doors at the end of the throne room crashed open, and two guards, one tall and lean, the other short and stout, entered the room at a jog.

"What is it?" Zelda asked, queenly regal-ness filling her voice.

"Townspeople… they… they…" the stout guard puffed. He leaned over, panting.

"They're trying to come in, saying little Blondie here," he jerked a thumb at Leyla, "is a little witch or something."

Zelda raised an eyebrow at the tall guard; she obviously did not approve of the guard speaking so rudely about her friend. But it was Leyla's death glare that made the guard gulp and feel more than sorry for what he said.

"Who started this rumor?" Midna asked. The guard stared at Midna, and began wondering if she was a witch.

"Who?" Leyla demanded, the same darkness she was showing on her face dripping from her voice.

The stout guard spoke up, straitening himself, "Some weird guy seems to be at the root of it. Red eyes was the most common description we got."

"Dark Link," the three girls muttered at the same time. Zelda looked up to Leyla and asked, "Will you need help getting away?"

Leyla smiled a mischievous grin to rival Midna's. "Hardly." She transformed into a gryphon, the form she seemed to be using the most of late, and let Midna climb on. "You may want to open a window," she said, her voice made slightly gruff by the Gryphon's body. The two guards opened one of the biggest windows in the room, and stood back. Leyla launched herself from the ground, landed on the sill, then dived down the side of the tower. Before she hit the stones of a bridged that connected this tower to another one, she snapped open her wings, and was carried up into the clear blue sky.

"You okay back there?" she called back. Midna let out a tiny squeak of terror before reburying her face in Leyla's thick fur. Leyla let out an eagle's caw of laughter. She flew away from the castle, and glided to a landing in the middle of Eldin Province. Midna dismounted, and Leyla returned to her normal form and sat down. "Today has been tiring," she said, stretching her arms.

Midna sat down next to her, panting. "Don't you ever do that again!" she growled.

Leyla helped her hands defensively. "No promises!" she said. Midna rolled her eyes. Leyla suddenly sat up, looking off to the side. She could hear someone approaching, fast.

"What is that?" Midna asked, not bothering to even look up.

The skinny man running towards them waved and called out, "Ms. Leyla, WAIT!" He ran right up to her, and announced, "I have a letter for you!" He whipped the letter out of his pouch, humming a little fanfare as he handed it to her. Then, without waiting for her thanks, he turned and ran off, saying, "My work here is done! ONWARD TO MAIL!"

Leyla could feel her eyebrows attempting to crawl under her hair. The Postman never failed to make himself seem odd, and he seemed to get weirder with each letter he delivered.

"Well," Midna said, clearing her throat and shaking herself, "that was certainly… something."

"Indeed," Leyla said, turning to her friend. She sat down and opened the letter, and read it:

Leyla,

You must hurry to the bar! I have made quite an amazing discovery, and I am sure you will be interested! You must get here quickly!

-Telma

Leyla folded the letter and stood up. "It was from Telma, she wants me to get to her bar," she informed Midna.

"Don't we have to find Tam?" Midna asked.

"Yeah, but, we can put that off for a bit," Leyla said hesitantly.

Midna let out an exaggerated sigh and stood up muttering something in her native language. She gave Leyla a look that accused her of making her move.

"We'll go by horse this time," Leyla said. She had found that transforming too much in a day made her rather dizzy, and she wasn't about to press herself too much.

"What about the townspeople? They think you're a witch," Midna asked as she very slowly, very deliberately brushed herself off.

"Well," Leyla said, thinking. She looked down at herself; her current outfit was a dead giveaway to who she was. "Perhaps I could use a change of clothes?"

"Yeah, and you're going to have to go through the overgrown forest, aren't you?" Midna said unenthusiastically.

"I can see if someone in Kakariko has something for me," Leyla suggested. Leyla turned at the sound of hooves behind her. Storm was approaching at a trot, his mane a mess of tangles and his saddle slightly askew. Leyla's eyes widened, and she hurried to her beloved horse, making corrections to his equipment and checking to make sure that was the worst of the damage, which, thankfully, it was. "Sorry, buddy! I forgot I left you out here!" Leyla whispered to the horse, stroking his strong neck. Storm snorted and gently nuzzled her arm as if to say, "I forgive you."

"So, Kakariko?" Midna said. "I can hide in your shadow, still," she added.

"All righty, then." Leyla answered, swinging up into the saddle. Midna nodded, and dissolved into Leyla's shadow, and Leyla turned Storm in the direction of the village, and spurred him forward, the stallion leaping into a gallop from the start.

It wasn't long before they reached the rundown-yet-upbeat village of Kakariko. The village was devoid of vegetation save a few scraggly bushes here and there. The Eldin Spring flowed from its waterfall into an ankle-deep to knee-deep basin, where several horse shoe reeds grew. Most of the houses were abandoned and falling apart from neglect and previous monster attacks, yet at least four buildings stood strong: Renado the Shaman's house, Barnes the bomb-maker's house, the general store, which had been turned into a Malo Mart, and the Inn.

On the other end of town, there was a tall tower up on a cliff, accessible only by going through Barnes bomb shop. The tower was high up enough that one could see everything in village. Just past this tower was the path that led up to Death Mountain, home of the proud Gorons, a race born from rock.

Leyla stopped Storm at Renado's house. She dismounted and knocked on his door. His daughter, Luda, opened it, her large brown eyes shining with a wise light despite her young age. She smiled up at Leyla and let her in. Leyla gave her a kind smile and accepted the admittance. Renado looked over at Leyla, then turned back to his Goron visitors; obviously, something important was going on.

"The Gorons and my father are trying to find out how best to fix up the old houses, so that we can gain new residents," Luda whispered quietly. "I think some of the Gorons want to try living here, too." She shifted her booted feet. "I wish he'd hurry," she added, "he told me he was going to take me to Castle Town today." She smiled up at Leyla, "I've been saving up for new boots, and some new pants."

"Sounds fun!" Leyla answered. Then, a thought occurred to her, "Hey, Luda, do you think there is anything your dad might have for me? I need to get to Telma's bar, but I need a change of clothes first."

"Why?" Luda asked, her puzzlement showing clearly on her face.

"Well, people in town don't exactly like me anymore," Leyla said. "They think I'm a witch."

Luda's eyes grew wide. "Oh, I think I might have something for you. Hold on!" Luda ran out of the house, and reappeared after a few minutes, holding something under her arm. She held up a shawl with a blue, red, and brown diamond pattern, a pair of soft leather pants, and a plain white cotton shirt. "These might work!" She passed them to Leyla, adding, "Here, you go change at the inn, and I'll explain everything to my father!"

"Right. Thank you!" Leyla said before leaving the building.

AAAA

Later in the day, a man drove his cart into the Castle Town. He had deeply tanned skin, a strong nose, and wore a white robe with a leather apron consisting of several shapes and designs. He parked his wagon near the stairs leading down to Telma's bar. From his wagon, two girls emerged. One had short black hair, and wise dark eyes, her outfit consisting of a blue vest with leather fringes, a green skirt and above the knee boots. The other girl wore a white cotton shirt with a shawl that had diamond patterns on it, leather pants, and leather boots. Of the three, she was the only one with golden hair, and bright emerald eyes. No one took notice of the trio. They were familiar to them.

The man and the dark-haired girl talked to the bright haired girl, then walked away. The bright-haired girl went down into Telma's Bar.

The girl sat down at the bar, and asked for Telma. The red haired woman looked over at the girl, arched an eyebrow, and asked, "Aren't you a little young, missy?"

"Telma! It's me!" Leyla hissed.

Telma's eyes widened, and then she said, "Ooh, deary! Have I got a surprise for you!" She giggled like school girl does when thinking of a favored boy. "You see," she said, whipping out a bloody handkerchief from a hole in the wall, "your blood here, it had no shine when we looked at it last, remember?"

Leyla nodded. It meant that she wasn't a Wood-Elf. Or, at least, that she didn't have enough Wood-Elf in her for it to show, not that that notion made much sense.

"Well, I was about to clean it out, when the light caught it, and, look!" Telma held the kerchief under the candle. The dried blood glittered gold in the light.

"Telma," Leyla said shakily, "that could be anything, like… dust… or something…." Leyla herself wasn't very convinced of that, though.

"Well, how about we try again?" Telma suggested, producing another clean knife to her.

Leyla stared warily at the knife, before slowly taking it. She pricked her finger again, and this time, neither she nor Telma leaned over to look closer. Instead, Telma held the candle closer to the blood that had bubbled up.

In the red of the blood, gold glittered as the light shone over it.

Leyla felt her breath quickening. How was this possible? She was a Wood-Elf? Of course, it made sense, where else could she have gotten her powers. Was she a half elf? Or were her powers too strong for that?

So many emotions and thoughts were cramming their ways into Leyla's head, that she barely heard Telma asking her to sit down, and she hardly felt it when her knees gave way….