Ten

Viserys leaned against the railing on the command platform of his flagship, Falcon's Pride, looking out at the endless blue sky. The enormous bird-shaped vessel currently sailed three thousand feet above the ground, gliding through the clouds.

The Falcon's Pride was a warship, built for the sole purpose of battling the Oocca. The ship, barely a year and a half old, like the rest of his air fleet, had proved her worth -and justified her expense- time and again, once holding off one of the Oocca's gigantic flying castles by herself. This was as much a testament to her crew as to the durability of the ship herself.

The Mercenary King called for a status report and nodded sharply when he received it, listening to the bridge personnel describe the state of the vessel. All was running smoothly; no problems with the ship, crew at full readiness, the other ships in the group reporting the same. No flying fortresses had been spotted as of yet, but, as they usually appeared with little to no warning, this did not mean stepping down from full alert. A scout ship had seen a flying fortress in this area a few hours ago, and all ships were required to be on maximum alert until its position was locked down.

The bridge of Falcon's Pride was open to the air at the moment, and the breeze flowed through the command center and toyed with Viserys' cloak, sending it snapping and ruffling about him. He allowed himself to sink into deep thought, knowing that he could snap himself back to full attention in an eye blink. He gazed out at the sweeping contours of his ship as he pondered the situation in which he had found himself.

The Balacruf, as Viserys' people called themselves, had not invented the airship, but they had radically improved on the existing designs and were now the undeniable masters of the sky, next to the Oocca. Nobody in this part of the world had even heard of the avian race until two years ago, when they started their depredations in this area.

This was one of the reasons that the nation-for-hire was able to maintain their nomadic lifestyle. The whole of the Balacruf could be packed into the air fleet and sail across the sky to wherever they needed to go.

They also maintained a successful shipping company that covered two of the world's continents, or had until the Oocca had started ambushing the transport ships. The flagship's current mission was to escort several ships full of supplies and reinforcements for the ground effort to one of their many bases, paid for by Lord Tywin's gold.

The war against the Oocca had become personal to the Balacruf, and the mercenary work they did was just a source of funds for it. When one ruler decided that he didn't have the money to pay them anymore, they simply moved on to the next territory under siege and offered their services. Maintaining an army, especially a mobile one, was costly work, and nothing was wasted. Every gold piece or Rupee charged went straight to where it was most needed.

As the clouds slowly drifted past, lit from above by the shining golden disc of the sun, Viserys looked past the sweeping lines of the warship to the ground far below, a vast quilt of brown and blue and green, a town or city periodically scattered below like children's building blocks. From his lofty perch, Viserys could see for dozens of miles, and a curling plume of smoke attracted his attention, evidence that the enemy army was on the move, plundering through this area.

Whoever was directing the Oocca's invasion had an interesting way of thinking, in Viserys' mind. The flying fortress attacks were just the beginning. First, the floating castles would come in and bomb any city, town or village they encountered, probably mapping the area at the same time.

Next, a wave of Darknuts and Bulblins, along with Lizalfos and various other assorted monstrous creatures, would come in on the ground, rounding up survivors and establishing bases in what was left of the cities. Viserys thought that the avians were probably planning to use the survivors as slaves, though for what purpose he hadn't yet bothered to speculate.

Roughly three-quarters of the nation-for-hire was engaged in the ground effort, taking back cities and, when they could, repelling the invasion before the enemy force got too settled into the conquered territory.

There hadn't been any demand for flying warships until the Oocca came along, so at the current time, most of Viserys' fleet was made up of converted transports, which weren't faring so well against the avian conquerors.

The Oocca had several means of attack, which Viserys had been studying closely to exploit for weaknesses. Their main advantage was their flying fortresses, which were nearly invulnerable from the ground. An accidental skirmish with a flying fortress while on a routine shipping mission had granted the Balacruf the vital knowledge that the Oocca flying castles had little to no armor on the top, and could be seriously damaged from calculated bombing runs.

He was still mystified as to what, exactly, kept the floating castles in the air, since they didn't use gigantic, gas-filled balloons like most of his fleet did. Falcon's Pride was the first in an experimental class, and was kept aloft mostly through giant propellers pointing downwards. They worked fairly well, and the rest of the fleet was gradually adopting this method.

A whooping, shrieking siren sounded throughout Falcon's Pride, interrupting Viserys' thoughts. Someone had spotted an Oocca fortress, and the crew rushed to get ready for battle. Viserys snapped himself rigidly back to the present as he raised his telescope and scanned the horizon for the enemy vessel.

"Battle alert! Cut off that alarm!" he ordered. He pulled a cord as he said this, opening a series of metal tubes designed to amplify what was said into them through the whole vessel. He'd found this a most efficient way to get his orders to everyone at once. "Alert the transport ships to hold position while we engage," Viserys ordered, searching the skies for the flying fortress.

There, off the port bow, about four miles away. The enormous floating castle's twisted lines were obscured by a puffy white cloud, as if it was attempting to hide from the warships. Viserys found this odd. Usually, they came out of nowhere, cannons blazing and Oocca pouring out of every door on the thing, flying over to sabotage the enemy ships. It might be a trick, he thought.

"Archers at the ready! Prepare to repel boarders!" Viserys ordered. He watched as the archers assembled along the deck railing, bows drawn and arrows ready to shoot down any Oocca that came swooping in.

"What's he doing?" Tyrone, his first officer, asked from the main bridge below. "I've never seen one try to hide from us before."

"Maybe they're finally learning that we're a force to be reckoned with," said one of the helmsmen. "It's about time they started running away."

"Well, gentlemen," Viserys said to the bridge crew, "Let's see what kind of shape they're in. Full spread!"

Five of the forward cannons launched an airborne bomb at the Oocca fortress as Falcon's Pride swooped closer to the enemy vessel. Viserys didn't really expect this particular barrage to hit; he just wanted to see what condition their defensive systems were in. The Balacruf discovered early on in the war that there was some kind of automatic defense on the Oocca flying fortresses that targeted their fire and tried to shoot it out of the sky before the bombs arrived. Most of the time, it was successful, but the skilled gunners had found ways around it.

Skilled gunners in Viserys' fleet were in high demand right now.

As he tracked the bombs across the sky, Viserys was surprised when all five of them impacted against the flying fortress. No shots from the enemy whatsoever.

He leaned forward and put his telescope to his eye again. He zoomed in until it was at maximum magnification and examined the floating castle closely.

It was in poor shape, with great gouges carved out of a number of places and the distinctive craters of bombs splattered almost everywhere across the floating fortress. The gouges were what most interested Viserys; he'd never seen anything like them. It seemed as if the fortress was made of wet clay and great fingers had scooped parts of it out.

"Fire another spread. Aim for the tallest spire." The Mercenary King watched as his orders were carried out and another five bombs sailed for the top of the fortress.

All five exploded against the uppermost spire, blowing off the very top and sending it plunging to the bottom of the structure. The fortress continued to drift with the cloud, not reacting at all to the attack.

Viserys saw this as an opportunity. Perhaps this fortress was just drifting with the wind, and all the Oocca aboard it were dead. If he could capture it for study…

"Tyrone, you have the ship. I'm going to take a squad over and get a better look. I may board it, if it looks abandoned." Viserys stepped down the stairs of the command platform as Tyrone ascended them.

The Mercenary King left the bridge of the ship and headed down to the hangar bay, where the troop transports and scout ships were kept. On the way, he passed several of the working men and women who kept Falcon's Pride in the air.

They simply nodded respectfully to him as he passed; even though he was the ruler of the nation-for-hire, Viserys disdained obsequious displays of obeisance, and never required any of his people to call him anything grander than 'Sir' or 'Admiral' when he was aboard his flagship. All he demanded was the respect due a man in his position.

He pointed at a squad of soldiers he passed in a hallway and jerked his thumb behind him. They fell into step and followed him to the hangar. In case there were any Oocca still aboard the fortress, it wouldn't hurt to be careful.

Once inside the cavernous hangar bay, Viserys and the soldiers boarded a troop transport, a smaller, cylindrical-shaped airship, and buckled in. Viserys sat down next to the pilot of the craft, adjusting his sword. As they took off, he wondered what he would find aboard the enemy craft. If he could discover what it was that had damaged the fortress so much, he would have an advantage over his inscrutable enemy, and he could end this war that much sooner.

Ivan and Kraytos followed Remi deeper into the leafy green forest. As Kraytos looked around, he could tell that this forest was ancient. Many trees were very thick, but nothing was overgrown. The whole place was very attractive and peaceful. He found himself thinking that he wouldn't mind spending the next few months here. He hoped that who(or what)ever the Deku Tree was, it would let the refugees stay here while Link and Arnak found a way to stop the Oocca.

The two warriors had to jog to keep up with Remi, who skipped along the path laughing, as happy and carefree as the child he appeared to be.

Kraytos had his suspicions, however, that Remi was not a normal child. The boy hadn't once mentioned any kind of parent besides the Deku Tree, and Kraytos had never seen a fairy follow anyone for this length of time before. Of course, he had to admit, he didn't know much about fairies.

After following the path through the lush forest for several minutes, they came to what looked like an impenetrable wall of foliage. The trees had grown close together, their roots and branches curling and twining over one another until nothing bigger than a bird could possibly get through without hacking its way in. The wall extended far off in each direction until it disappeared into the thick forest.

Remi stopped at the edge of the wall. His sapphire-tinted fairy swirled about him and flew to the wall. It moved in a vertical circle on one portion of the tree-wall, and the branches and roots parted, making an opening big enough for them all to walk through.

The boy turned back to them. "We'll have to go through the village to get to the Great Deku Tree's meadow," he said. "I'll introduce you to everyone!" Remi said as he dashed off, his fairy floating behind him.

As they followed the boy, Kraytos noticed Ivan tense when the wall sealed up again behind them. Ivan was suspicious of everything, always warning the men of the group to watch out for traps. No one ever asked him to stop doing this, though, because they had escaped from more than one ambush due to Ivan's vigilance.

The forest abruptly cleared away into a pleasant little glade, filled with more laughing children playing among a close grouping of stumps and hillocks scattered throughout the glade. A shallow stream wound its way through the clearing before passing into the forest wall that surrounded the area. It took Kraytos a second to realize that most of the large stumps and hillocks were not stumps or hillocks at all, but buildings and houses. This was a village, a village full of children.

Ivan looked around and murmured, "I don't see any adults. Do you?" Kraytos shook his head by way of reply.

As soon as Remi ran into the village, shouting greetings, all the green-clad children swarmed over to the two men, smiling and giggling and asking questions. Remi waved them all to quiet.

"These are Big People from outside the forest. The flying men made them leave their homes, and I wanted to ask the Deku Tree if they and all their friends could stay here." The little boy looked back at Ivan and Kraytos. "These are all my friends. You'll have to meet them all later, since we're going to the Deku Tree now. Come on!" He started off towards another break in the wall, but one of the other forest children called to him.

"Remi! You can't talk to the Deku Tree right now!" she said. "He's busy talking with the other Big People."

A look of confusion passed across the boy's face. "What other Big People?"

Arnak heaved a deep breath. Teleportation was very disorienting for him, and it was also unsettling. One second you were in one place, and the next, you were somewhere completely different, without even a hint of travel time. The whole thing seemed very unnatural.

He shook it off and looked around as the flash of white light faded. He, Raskys, Link, Midna, Erik, and the strange old man called Majacen were standing in a forest, radically different from their previous location, the Gerudo Desert.

Midna was the first to speak. "All right, you," she said to Majacen, "Who are you really, and what were you actually doing in that pyramid?"

The old man gestured at an array of stumps that looked oddly like chairs, and he sat down in one. Most of the others sat, but Arnak remained standing. Even now, he was on his guard. He didn't know anything about this Majacen except that he was old and knew magic, which instantly placed him under suspicion in Arnak's mind.

"I am a wizard," Majacen said. "I have been blessed by the Goddesses with great magic power, in exchange for helping the people of their creation whenever possible." He pulled back his hair to show them his pointed ears.

That made sense; Arnak had been told that ordinary, round-eared humans could not use magic at all, the exception being if they used some kind of power-granting object. Pointy-eared Hylians usually had some magic ability, but most never bothered to train in it.

"All right, now what were you really doing in the desert?" Midna demanded. "Nobody goes to the Gerudo Desert without a good reason, and frankly, I don't believe the one you gave me there." Midna seemed tense and irritated about something. Perhaps that was why she was being unnecessarily rude to the old man.

Majacen appeared to take it in stride. He laughed gently before he responded. "I actually was in the pyramid to study the Zuna, like I told you. I must have arrived before you did, because I didn't see any of you when I got there. That was the third site in the desert I had come to, looking for ancient magical devices. I collect them, to keep them out of the hands of those who do not know their power." The old man's tone darkened. "And those who do."

He straightened up again, and smiled quickly before resuming. "I had not found anything of any great value, which was unsurprising. Ganondorf had looted the place thoroughly before moving in. I had come to the pyramid mostly to see what remained of the original owners, but I had also come to see if Ganondorf had left the Sword of Darkness behind when he was captured by the Sages."

"What's the Sword of Darkness, apart from overdramatically named?" Raskys said, leaning back in his stump-chair.

"It is a twisted copy of the Master Sword," Majacen replied, "forged by Ganondorf after he was defeated by the Hero of Time. He escaped for several years after his first imprisonment, during which he plotted another takeover of Hyrule. This is when he made the Triforce of Shadow. He made the Sword of Darkness out of leftover material from forging his mockery of the Golden Power, imbuing it with what he thought was enough energy to overcome the Master Sword if he ever encountered it again."

Link spoke up. "I'm going to guess that sword Nemo had was this Sword of Darkness."

Majacen nodded. "You are correct, Hero."

Raskys snorted. "As if he wasn't unpleasant enough already. Now he's got himself a powerful evil sword to harass us with."

"That's not all he's got," Midna said. "He took the Fused Shadows from me with it, and he has the Triforce of Shadow, too, in case anybody forgot."

Erik and Majacen both reacted in an almost identical way to this news. Clearly, they both knew what she was talking about. Arnak considered asking her what the Fused Shadows were, but he decided to save that question for later. He thought this discussion was getting distracted enough as it was. He felt like telling them all to focus on the main objective, which was their next course of action.

"Did he get all of them?" Erik asked. When Midna nodded, he scowled.

"This is indeed bad news," Majacen said. "This means the creature is even more powerful now than I feared." He sighed heavily. "The details of the Fused Shadows are beyond my area of expertise. We shall have to consult with someone who knows more about them than I do." He stood up and raised his hand again, but Raskys jumped up and gave a little shout.

"Hey, now. Where are we going this time? I don't fancy being teleported again." Raskys raised a warning finger at the old man. Arnak shared this sentiment.

Majacen chuckled as he completed his gesture, indicating a path through the forest with a wave of his hand. "I was about to say that he is a short distance away, through those trees."

"Where are we, anyway?" Midna said. "You said Nemo couldn't find us here, so where is 'here'?"

"We are just outside a sacred place known as the Kokiri Forest," Majacen answered. "It is protected by its guardian spirit, the Great Deku Tree, and it is he we are going to speak with."

Raskys moved closer to Arnak. "Let's hope he makes more sense than these other people," he whispered.

Arnak nodded his agreement.

Link moved through the forest slowly, following Majacen as the old wizard walked along the path. He hoped their talk with the Deku Tree didn't last long. He was ready to lay down and go to sleep right then and there under a tree.

Midna, who was walking next to him, seemed to be equally as tired. This was somewhat strange to Link, since she had almost never slept on their journey to save Hyrule. Most of the time, she had kept watch for him as he slept out under the stars, or hid in his shadow when he stayed in a town for the night.

Majacen called for a rest break, and they stopped by a sparkling stream running through the woods. The group spread out to fill their canteens and attempt to wash off some of the grit from the desert.

Link wandered a little ways down the stream, coming to a crystal-clear pond. He breathed deeply, inhaling the fresh scent of the forest. He didn't know why, but Link liked being in the woods more than anywhere else. He took off his weapons and left them on the shore, wading out a little ways into the pond.

As Link bent to splash some water on his face, he felt a foot plant itself on his lower back and shove. Surprised, the young warrior toppled forward, landing face first in the water. He did a push-up and rolled over to see Midna standing over him, smiling innocently.

He raised an eyebrow in mock irritation and took her hand as she extended it to help him to his feet. Grinning Link yanked downward on Midna's arm, causing her to lose her balance and splash into the water next to him.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be, huh?" she said, laughing. She leaped over at him, grabbing his arms and shoving him down, trying to dunk him under the water.

Link reacted with a quick twist of his body and planted his hand between her shoulders, shoving down sharply. He jumped a short distance away, laughing as she emerged from the water, now thoroughly soaked.

Midna swept her hair out of her eyes with one hand, mock-glaring at him. "Now you're going to get it, Mr. Hero!" she mock-threatened, jokingly shaking a fist at him. She continued to pretend to scowl at him until they both broke out laughing.

They stood there a few more minutes, glad to relax and be at peace for a few moments at least.

Link turned to look at the rest of the pond and the forest beyond it. This was an idyllic place, with a sort of peaceful, relaxing air to it. No other forest he had ever visited had had this effect on him.

He heard splashing behind him, but didn't turn to look as Midna waded over to stand next to him. She put her hand on his shoulder in the way she usually did, and he turned his head to smile at his friend.

She smiled back as she spoke, staring out at the forest. "This sure is a pretty place. That was one thing I noticed when you and I traveled all that time together. Your world is one of beauty." Her smile became a smirk. "When it isn't getting attacked by something."

The Hero laughed softly. "That is true. Maybe that's the reason Hyrule is so beautiful; it inspires the Hero to protect it, to preserve its beauty."

Midna rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me the mighty warrior's become a poet," she said, smiling again.

"Well," he replied, "I'm not action all the time." They both laughed again.

"Come on," she said, patting him on the back. "We should head back now." She turned and started back to he shore.

The Hero of Light took one last look out at the forest before he joined her. It was true, what he said. The magnificent beauty of Hyrule was one of the reasons he fought so hard to protect it. From the awesome grandeur of the snowy mountains, to the gentle, sloping plains, each part of the land seemed to cry out to him to protect it from those who would despoil the world for their own selfish ends.

Link took a deep breath, his sense of purpose renewed. He had to find a way to stop the villains who threatened the world. After all, wasn't that what a Hero was for?

Raskys slid his sword back into its scabbard, putting his whetstone into one of his pockets. He stood up as Link and Midna walked back into the clearing.

He noticed that they had both been wet, but decided not to ask why.

Majacen stood up from the stump he had been sitting on. "Is everyone ready to go? The Deku Tree is not more than twenty minutes from where we are now."

The little group gathered their equipment and set off on the path.

True to the wizard's words, they emerged from the forest path into a clearing about twenty minutes later, where the biggest tree Raskys had ever seen dominated the space. It was like an immense pillar of wood, stretching far up into the forest canopy.

What was either fascinating or disturbing -he hadn't decided which- was that there was a face at the bottom of the tree. At the moment, he couldn't tell whether it was carved or naturally occurring.

"Ye are welcome, weary travelers."

It was like a voice inside his mind, not an audible sound. It sounded ancient and full of power, but kind, and oddly, a little youthful at the same time.

"Greetings to you, Great Deku Tree." Majacen said, bowing formally before the face.

He's talking to the tree? Raskys thought. What kind of tree is this?

"What is it that bringeth thee before me, Wizard of the Goddesses?" the voice said.

Majacen straightened. "I have need of your guidance, O Deku Tree."

"Thou knowest much, Majacen. What knowledge have I that thou needest?"

"What do you know about the Fused Shadows?" the wizard asked.

The tree seemed to frown. "My predecessor was tasked with guarding one of those foul magic relics when they were taken from their makers. He knew much about them, but not all that knowledge has yet passed to me."

Midna stepped forward. "What do you mean?"

Raskys sensed disapproval from the Deku Tree.

"Majacen, why allowest thou one of those who were banished into this sacred place? Thou knowest better than most that it is forbidden for them to return to this world."

The old man sighed, as if remembering a long-forgotten memory.

What does that mean? thought Raskys.

Link stepped in front of the Twilight Princess. "With all due respect, Great Deku Tree, Midna has more than earned the right to be in the world of light. You were here when Hyrule was covered in Twilight, weren't you?"

"Indeed I was, Hero. Thou is was who cleared away the cloud of Twilight and defeated the Dark Lord Ganondorf. Thine actions recall the Hero of Time, who once lived in these woods."

"I wouldn't have been able to do any of that without her," Link said, gesturing to the Twilight Princess. "She was my companion, my advisor, my… friend. I wouldn't have gotten far without her." Midna smiled at Link as she put her hand on his shoulder, and the Hero smiled back.

Raskys put his hand over his heart. "Oh, how sweet," he said to Arnak, putting more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

The big man elbowed him in the ribs. "This is not the time," he murmured.

The face on the tree seemed to smile, also. "Every Hero hath someone to help them along. If she is as thou sayest, than she is welcome in my forest."

The face turned, focusing its attention on Arnak. "Two of the Chosen Ones of the Gods are here, I see. The third is not far away, in the ancient temple to Farore. These three should stay together in this dark time, to draw strength from one another whilst they fight the new evil."

The Deku Tree frowned. "Forgive me, Emissary of the Gods. I have been distracted from thy question. What is it thou wanted to know about the Fused Shadows?"

"The current Antihero has managed to take all four of the Fused Shadows from the Twilight Princess," Majacen said. "I wish to know how much of their power he is able to use at this time."

"Hmm. I shall have to concentrate on this a moment. I request thy patience." The tree fell silent for a few moments. "There are two others waiting to speak to me. I shall allow them in while I search my predecessor's memory for the answer thou seekest."

A small boy dressed in green stepped into the clearing, followed by two men Raskys recognized.

Arnak turned to them. "Ivan and Kraytos. What are you two doing here?"

The older warrior answered. "I was wondering the same thing myself, sir." Ivan strode over to Link's group and gripped forearms with Arnak, in a warrior's salute. He indicated the green-clad youth standing next to him. "Remi here brought us to talk to the Deku Tree about the refugees from Castle Town."

"I'm sure it's okay if all your friends stay here, but we have to ask the Deku Tree's permission first," the boy piped up.

"I am sorry, Majacen. It is taking me longer to find what thou seekest than I had thought. The day is drawing to a close. Ye are all welcome to stay in the village for the night. I bid all a good evening, and may thy sleep be pleasant. I will tell thee what I find in the morning."

The tree made settling-down noises and Remi beckoned the warriors to follow him.

The Deku Tree had one last thing to add, however, before they left his meadow. "I will allow all the displaced of Hyrule to reside in my woods until this latest conflict is resolved. Ye may alert them to come here whenever they choose." The tree made the settling-down noises again, and made no noise after until the group exited the meadow.

As they walked into the village, Remi spoke up again. "I'll show you where you can all stay. The Hero can have Link's old house, since nobody lives there right now."

Raskys didn't bother to stick around for the explanation of what that meant, almost too tired to think. He found the hut he was staying in and paused only long enough to remove his weapons and boots before throwing himself down on the leaf-stuffed mattress and going to sleep.

Midna watched the others of their group stumble off to the houses they were staying in. She and Link stayed out in the main village for a little while longer, since the Kokiri were barraging the Hero with questions.

As far as she could tell, the Hero of Time had also been named Link, and had once lived in this village. Link had told her once that green had always been a traditional color of the Heroes, but this Hero of Time had apparently started the trend of wearing the floppy green hat, since almost all of the male forest children wore one.

Further questioning revealed that more than half of the Kokiri had personally known the Hero of Time, which both Midna and Link found difficult to believe, seeing as how that would make all these children at least a hundred and thirty years old.

"They must be an entirely different race," Link said as they settled down for the night in the Hero of Time's old house. "That's the only explanation."

Erik, the other person staying in this house with them, was silent, having already fallen asleep. He showed no sign of being irritated that they were still talking, and lay motionless on the floor, his head pillowed on his boots.

"It's like something out of a fairy tale," Midna said. "Children who never grow up."

Midna looked around the tiny, one-room house. There wasn't much in here, but it certainly didn't look like nobody had lived here in more than a century. It looked like the previous owner had moved out yesterday. It was almost like time had no meaning in this forest. She had looked at the sign at the front of the house with some amusement. It had read "Link's House" in a childish scrawl. She'd pointed this out to the Hero, who had a sign in front of his own dwelling that said the exact same thing, albeit a little more neatly written.

Midna settled down in the bed, using her flowing outer robe as a blanket. Link had graciously offered the house's only bed to her, choosing to sleep on the floor himself. Erik had already been inside and asleep when they entered, having apparently made the same decision.

She rolled over to see Link pulling off his boots, throwing them aside with a contented sigh.

He saw her looking at him and sighed again, exaggeratedly, rolling his eyes comically. "It feels like I haven't taken these off in a year," he said, feigning disgust as he lightly sniffed one of his boots. Midna had to stifle a laugh, and Link grinned, lightly chuckling himself.

The young warrior pulled off his green tunic and dropped it next to where he sat, extricating himself from the light chainmail shirt next. Setting the chainmail next to his weapons, he rolled up his green tunic for use as a pillow and laid his head down on it, going to sleep almost immediately.

The Twilight Princess, however, had a little more trouble. The discussion with the Deku Tree had raised many questions within her, and she hoped to get most of them answered tomorrow, when they spoke with the guardian spirit again.

She stared at the ceiling of the Hero of Time's house, trying to quiet her mind. No such luck. Her thoughts churned around inside her head, making her unable to rest. The empty hole within her mind where her magic had been gnawed at her as well, a phantom ache as if the Antihero had cut off one of her arms instead of taking the Fused Shadows.

That does it, Midna thought to herself. I'm going outside.

She donned her robe again and picked her way across the floor, careful to not disturb either of the sleeping warriors. She stopped at the door and slowly opened it, stepping outside onto the small balcony of the house, where she sat down on the balcony, letting her legs hang over the edge as she tried to organize all the revelations that had come to light over the past few days.

The biggest one, to her, was the sword that lay at the foot of the bed inside the house. She still didn't know what it was, exactly, or even what its real name was. She'd been calling it the Twilight Blade, but for all she knew, it was actually named something completely different. She didn't know who had made it, where it came from, or what its real purpose was.

Was it another evil copy of the Master Sword, like Nemo's Sword of Darkness? Her ancestors would not have been above creating a weapon to match the power of the Hero that eventually defeated them.

It certainly didn't feel evil to her. Link had held it without any problem, but it had looked ready to leap out of Nemo's hand when he tried to use it against her. She thought that if it was a weapon of evil, it would have been the other way around.

No, the sword she called the Twilight Blade was definitely not evil, but it was still a mystery to her.

Another mystery was Arnak, the new bearer of the Triforce of Power. What was it about him that attracted that particular piece of the holy relic? He was certainly physically, muscularly powerful, but that couldn't be the only reason. Ganondorf had been physically powerful, but he also had tremendous magical powers, as well. Arnak himself had confirmed that he had no extraordinary abilities other than what he thought his Triforce gave him.

Not only was Arnak not from Hyrule kingdom, he was from a continent on the other side of the world! What good would it do to give a piece of the Triforce to someone who would probably never come into contact with the other two bearers? Was that exactly the reason why he'd been given the powerful artifact?

But, he had come to Hyrule. According to him, he'd come here in search of the Hero, who he hoped would help him defeat the flying invaders who had destroyed his home and his life. Was this destined to happen, or was it all just a horrible string of coincidences?

Midna shook her head and sighed in exasperation. She stood up, thinking about walking around in the village, when she saw Majacen strolling along by himself, his brow creased in thought. He looked up at her and smiled, waving his hand in greeting.

He returned to his walk and drew away from the house, following the course of the stream. She found herself wondering what he was thinking so hard about.

The Twilight Princess felt a wave of sleepiness wash over her. She went back inside and laid down on the bed, knowing that tomorrow would undoubtedly be another long day.

Author's Note: I revised this chapter a little, cleaning up the sentence structure in a few places and correcting the grammar errors. Thanks to Cloudrunner Sparty for correct grammar for the Deku Tree. If you're reading this for the first time, be glad, because the original version was just atrocious. I didn't know much about Old English, and it showed. It's been bugging me since it was first pointed out, so I'm glad I fixed it finally. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated; I enjoy having a wide array of opinions on my work.