The Legend of Midna: Shadow Falls
Chapter Ten
"Link!" Midna shouted. "Link! Wake up! Something terrible has happened!" Link opened his eyes, but everything was blurry. He had had the most bizarre dream; that he and Midna were getting married but then Ganondorf had shown up and ruined everything. This had better be good, he thought. I was sleeping. He made to ask her what she wanted, but found that he could no longer speak. Just then his vision came back into focus and he jumped with the shock of what he saw.
"Yes, I thought that's how you might react. I'll bet you thought that was a dream, didn't you? Well, it wasn't, it was real. Our wedding…it's all ruined. It's all ruined, and on top of everything else, look at us!" It was Midna, but not the Midna he had just been about to marry. Before him stood the Midna he had fallen in love with to begin with, a diminutive little imp. This time, though, she did not look mischievous in the least, rather panicked and very much unlike herself.
"That's right, I'm an ugly little imp again. So guess what that means. That's right, you're a wolf again. Link, what are we going to do? I don't have the Fused Shadows anymore. Those are locked in the vaults of the Palace of Twilight. You're a wolf, so you can't speak, and Zelda's nowhere to be found. We've got to find a way to change back, but I don't know how. I don't even know where we are!"
Don't worry, he thought (since that was all he could do). Everything will be alright. We'll figure it out. He nuzzled her to convey the message, and she seemed to understand.
"I wish I could turn into a wolf," she said as she petted him, moving to scratch behind his ears. "At least then we could both be wolves together."
"There is a way," said a voice from somewhere nearby. It sounded strangely familiar. "We must hurry though, if we're going to escape. The guard will be by any minute." The voice's owner stepped into the light to reveal a man in a tight-fitting leather body suit, with the Sheikah symbol of the Eye of Truth on the front. He also wore a cowl that showed only his eyes and several locks of blond hair that stuck out the front.
"Um…who are you supposed to be?" Midna asked in a snarky, very Midna-esque way. She wasn't in a very trusting mood, and judging by Link's growl, neither was he.
"I am Sheik, one of the last surviving members of the Sheikah. I can help you achieve that which you desire, Twilight Princess. You and the Hero wish to regain your true forms, and I can help you do that, but you must swear that once it has been done you will help me destroy Ganondorf and bring peace to Hyrule once again."
"Well of course. Hyrule is my home now, too, so of course I'll do everything I can."
"Excellent," replied Sheik. "Now we just have to get out of here. That window will make a fine escape route."
"Yes it will," said Midna. "I'm not sure why they thought locking us in a tower would be better than the actual jail cells…I guess because where I broke Link out last time, they assumed it was tight enough security. Oh well, let's go." With that, she mounted Link for the first time in a very long time, and together Sheik and the wolf and rider duo jumped out of the open window, skidded down the sloping roof, and finally landed in the western courtyard.
"Come on," said Sheik. "We don't have much time before they realize we're gone. Telma's bar is the safest place for us right now. I'll explain things there." They set off for Castle Town, but Midna stopped them.
"Wait," she said. "Won't people be frightened if there's a wolf traipsing through the city?"
"No one will know," answered Sheik. "People are too afraid to leave their homes. They'll never know anyone was on the streets at all today. Let's go, hurry."
Once at Telma's bar, they were able to think. Telma knew that Link could turn into a wolf, so she only jumped a little at the sight of him when they came in the door. Being the welcoming and comforting woman she was, Telma provided them with a meal free of charge.
"I'm just glad I could help," she said as she brought out a bowl of steaming hot soup for Sheik and Midna each. "There aren't enough people in the world like you who'll step up when things get bad. I'm so sorry about what happened to you, honey," she said, addressing Midna. "You'll get turned back, though, I know it. So will you," she said to Link. "And once you do, Ganondorf had better watch his step. Here you go, honey. You ought to feel lucky, though. I don't ever let that go for free." Next to Midna's seat she set a plate of meat on the floor, which Link accepted. I'm not human anymore, he thought, so I don't have to worry about manners. Hehehehe….and so, he began to eat vehemently
"Now, what do we do?" Midna said to Sheik, who had just taken a spoonful of his soup.
"Onions…not too bad…" he said to his spoon.
"Are you listening to me?" she snapped. "I said –"
"I know what you said," interrupted Sheik. "I'm trying to think of the best course of action, and I think I know what we'll have to do. Link has been transformed by darkness, so what we need is light. Not just any light, though. It has to be focused, infused with magic, sort of like your Fused Shadows."
"Alright, well where do we find fused light?" asked Midna. If Sheik knew a way to turn them back, the sooner they got started on their quest, the better.
"Do you know the story of the Hero of Time?" asked Sheik. What this had to do with the task at hand, Midna could never have guessed, but knowing no better course of action, she decided to go along with it.
"No, I haven't. Enlighten me."
"Somewhere around a hundred years ago, when the Hero of Time quested to save Hyrule from Ganondorf, he was tasked with awakening the seven Sages. Together they would use their powers to seal Ganondorf in the void. Each time he would awaken a Sage, he would receive a medallion. These medallions housed the power of their respective Sage, and each would add their power to the Hero. These medallions still survive today, although not in their original forms. Hyrule was once a much smaller world than it is now, but the Fire Medallion became the rest of the world you see around you. The Forest Medallion became the life that inhabits that world. The Water Medallion and the Shadow Medallion were used in tandem to create your world, the Twilight Realm. The Spirit Medallion became the sense of order that filled the worlds, and finally the Light Medallion became the Light Spirits of Hyrule. In order to restore Link to his proper form, I'm afraid we will have to recover the Light Medallion."
"Well that shouldn't be too hard, should it?" said Midna eagerly. "All we'd have to do is visit each of the Light Spirits and then they'd give Link some of their power!"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," said Sheik gravely. "We will have to reassemble the Light Medallion, and to do that we will first need its pieces. The Medallion separated into four parts, one for each Light Spirit, and in fact became the Light Spirits. If we are to recover the Medallion, we will first have to sacrifice this world to shadow."
"Well, that does change things, doesn't it…" said Midna, and her brow furrowed. "Well, that really doesn't sound that bad to me. I mean, I'm originally a being of shadow anyhow, so I'll do alright. Link should be okay too, since he turned into a wolf the first time he entered the Twilight. You, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about. Come to think of it, we might all be in danger, if this is Ganondorf's darkness."
"I know this," said Sheik as he stared into his bowl, "but it's the only chance we have, I'm afraid. Without a Hero, we have no chance at all."
"I guess that's true…Alright, then, where do we start?"
"I think the best place to start would be Lanayru's shrine at Lake Hylia. It's closest to Castle Town."
"Sounds good to me," said Midna. "What do you think about that, Link?" He wagged his tail enthusiastically. The sooner we can get the Light Medallion, the better, he thought. I'm tired of being stuck as a wolf.
"Very well," said Sheik. "Let's get going." Sheik rose to his feet and Midna straddled Link's back. Together the trio made their way out of Telma's bar and then made their way towards the field.