Because the person didn't use the Howl stone, he or she didn't go see our ghostie friend. Great. Just great.

So I won't be including dialogue about that. I don't have the time or patience to do that on the game and I don't know where else I can find clips of it. DX

So, unless this person smartens up...we're sunk.

Oh, and I remember when I first played the game and I saw Link without his shirt on. Hahaha!! xD If this game had come out when I was 11-12, when I had a huge crush on Link, I would've gone CRAZY!

When I first played the horse battle, let me tell you...I did NOT have an easy time. I kept focusing on killing the bulblins, thinking that if I got rid of all of them, I could go after King Bulblin without any distractions. Well...that was a big mistake. I lost sight of him, and more and more bulblins kept coming! DX

I realize now that you have to try NOT to lose sight of him.

Oh, one last thing. You know one of the things I like best about Twilight Princess? Link actually smiles and shows emotions. I thought that was always so neat. :D And yes, I know he did the same in Wind Waker, which was also pretty refreshing to see.

--

We didn't have any other options, so I decided to go up Death Mountain and see if we could get into the Mines somehow.

I did want to take the kids back to Ordon, but it was a long way off and if we weren't careful, something bad could happen. They were safe here for now, so I didn't have to worry about them.

Besides, I knew Midna wouldn't stop bugging me if I stalled for time in getting the Fused Shadow. I had to make haste and get it over with.

So, we went to the trail and I climbed up the mesh netting over the ledge. It was climbable, so I was able to get up there easily. Up ahead some yards away was the Goron guard we'd seen just some time ago when the area was covered in twilight.

He saw us, and needless to say, he didn't look too happy.

"Ah! No humans allowed! These lands ahead belong to the Goron tribe! The elder said no humans may pass!" He yelled.

I was about to turn to leave, but then he rolled up in some kind of a defensive position, and came straight at us!

For a split second, I didn't know what to do, but then I remembered that this was just like back home when a goat would get loose and charge through the village. I was an expert at wrestling goats, so maybe, just maybe, I could do the same for this Goron!

I braced myself, holding my arms out, like I usually did when I was facing a charging goat. The Goron came right at me, and I managed to grasp his rocky surface, but he went too fast and knocked me back, sending me over the edge.

Owww!!!

The Goron, now standing upright, looked down menacingly at us.

"A weak spirit is no match for the might of the Gorons! Do you understand me, human? Then a way with you!" He turned and walked back o his post.

I staggered to my feet just as Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Link, what were you thinking?! You could've been crushed into a pancake! If we're going to get that Fused Shadow, I need you to be more careful!" She yelled accusingly.

I groaned a bit, rubbing my head. "I know, I didn't think it through. I figured I could take care of him like I did back home when I would wrestle goats."

"...What?" Midna said incredulously. "Wrestling goats?!"

"Back home, when a goat would charge, you had to grab it by the horns and toss it to the side." I explained.

"Jeez. Well, whatever! No use going up there now. Guess we may as well go back." Midna said, and then disappeared into my shadow.

Deciding she was right, I turned and headed back to the village. At the entrance to the Death Mountain trail, Renado was standing there, and looked concerned. I guessed he saw me going and followed us.

"Ah, how fortunate you are in one piece! I saw you heading up the mountain trail, so I was worried. Are you trying to reach the Gorons of Death Mountain?"

I nodded.

"It is far too dangerous, Link! They recognize only strength! A normal person could never persuade them..." Then he paused, as if remembering something. "But...I do know one person who was able to best them and earn their trust... His name is Bo. You may know him as the mayor of your hometown, Ordon."

"That fat guy?" I heard Midna mumble from the shadows. Luckily, Renado didn't hear her.

"Please, go to him. And while you are there, please let him know that the children are safe. Of course, getting them back would be best...but we could not keep them safe from the monsters on the road without a horse and cart... Please... Return to Ordon and inform the parents that their children are free from harm. Give them my word."

I nodded and thanked him for the information, then headed back into the village. I heard Midna mumbling from my shadow about wasting time and walking all the way back to Ordon, but I ignored her. If she wanted to go get the Fused Shadow herself, she could be my guest.

But then again, the thought of her getting hurt, lost or killed didn't sit well with me. I couldn't let her go alone, and she knew it too.

We reached the spring, but then I heard something. It sounded like...hooves. Yes! It was hooves! I turned around, listening to the sound of approaching hooves. A horse was likely coming into the village, from the opposite entrance to here.

Sure enough, I saw Epona come tearing around the corner, rushing toward me. She usually did that when I'd call her.

But something wasn't right. She was close to me and didn't stop running. It was as if she was going to ram right into me! I managed to roll out of the way, and then I realized it. Something had spooked her pretty bad, and she didn't recognize me.

She came to a stop, and I took the chance. I ran to her and managed to hop over her and onto the saddle, but she reared in fright, and I nearly fell off. She started to run again, but I managed to grab onto the saddle horn, hanging on for dear life as she charged around through the town. I grit my teeth as my stomach painfully banged against the saddle, but I held on.

Finally, she came to a stop and I managed to fully set myself onto the saddle and grab her reins. I seized her to a stop and she whinnied in protest, and then I leaned over and whispered to her soothingly. Finally, she stopped struggling and calmed down.

I led her out of the spring and toward the way out of the village to get back to the Faron Province when Midna popped out of the shadows.

"Hmm... You're not too shabby a wrangler after all! Won't this make getting back to your town a lot easier? Now go finish your errand so we can get back! Get a move on!"

Midna paused for a moment and looked at Epona, studying her.

"She's really pretty. A fine creature." She admitted. "Is she yours?"

"Yeah. Her name is Epona." I told her, stroking Epona's mane.

"Epona? ...That's the name of a horse Goddess, isn't it?"

I nodded. "She looks a lot like the horse Goddess from the legends, so I named her that. I thought it was nice."

"Mm..." Midna nodded, and then disappeared into the shadows again.

That being said, I nudged Epona's ribs and we rode off into Hyrule Field.

--

It wasn't that far and didn't take as long on horseback, but we finally pulled into Faron Woods where I passed Coro and made my way by Faron Spring, the bridge, and into Ordon.

I left Epona in the spring so she could cool down and drink up. Then I heard something nearby. A familiar sound.

So I turned around and near the water, was the golden wolf from before. I slowly approached it, and it crouched low, growling. I drew my sword, and it leaped at me, and we disappeared.

I met with the stalfos ghost warrior again, and this time he taught me a skill known as the Shield Attack, where I use my shield to strike against enemies with hard exteriors, and it can also be used to hit back projectiles.

After I came to, I left the spring and headed into the village.

Sure enough, everything seemed to be fine, even with the raise of sadness in the air over the kidnapping of the children. Well, at least now I can ease their spirits and let them know that the kids were all right.

I saw Mayor Bo outside his house, and so I ran over to him since I had to go see him about dealing with the Gorons anyway. He seemed to know Renado, so I bet he'd be sure that the children were all right.

"Link?!" He exclaimed when he saw me. He studied me a moment, and his green eyes popped open. "Whoa, it IS you, Link! You're safe and sound! Your clothes... What happened to you, lad?"

"Well..." I said as I approached.

"C-Come quick! Inside!"

--

After we got inside, I told him that the children were in Kakariko Village, and that they were safe. I wasn't quite sure if I should mention that I didn't see Ilia anywhere...maybe he'd assume I meant her as well?

Then again, I didn't like to hide this kind of thing from anyone, but I wasn't sure what to tell him.

"I see... So the young'uns are in Kakariko Village!" Said Mayor Bo, sounding relieved. "Well, that's good... Renado's an old friend. If they're in his care, then we can relax."

He paused, and got right to the point that I hoped he wouldn't mention.

"So... Don't keep me waiting, lad! Tell me of my little girl! Ilia is with the rest of 'em, right?"

I turned away, ashamed. "...She wasn't with them." I said. "I don't know where she is."

I still had no leads on where she was, and I was pretty worried about her. I just hoped nothing happened to her. I'd be devastated if she was hurt.

"...Oh! I see... That ain't what I wanted to hear... Ahh.... But Link... I guess I need to think of all five of those poor kids, not just my own... They're all in danger. What I should be askin' is how I can help out..."

That's when I remembered that I needed help getting past the Gorons. Since Renado said that Bo had managed to surpass them, I knew he was my only chance.

"I need your help getting past the Gorons of Death Mountain. Renado said that you were able to surpass them in strength." I told him.

That caught his attention. "What's that, now? The Gorons of Death Mountain? I see... So Renado told you that... Well, it's true...I did defeat the Gorons in a contest of strength and earned their trust. ...With the help of a little secret. I CAN teach you the secret...but can you promise me that you absolutely, positively will NOT disclose it to anyone?"

I nodded.

"Good. All righty, then. Absolutely no one! Come this way."

Mayor Bo led me through to a back room in his house. It was a large room with a circular platform in the centre. The platform had two horizontal lines parallel to each other. I believe it was a sumo wrestling ring. Mayor Bo was apparently an expert sumo wrestler, which sure explained his size.

"Link, you've heard of sumo wrestlin', right? Gorons like to match strength in sumo contests. Luckily for you, the basics of sumo are the same as stoppin' chargin' goats... You wanna hear more?"

I nodded again. If I had to defeat the Gorons in a sumo wrestling contest, I needed to know everything there was to the whole thing.

"All righty, then. I'll teach you the basics of the ways of sumo. If you're gettin' in a sumo match, chances are you're in an arena like this. The first fella to push his foe outside the arena wins. Step forward and grab your foe. Use your hand to let a retreatin' foe taste your open palm. Sidestep a foe's advance. Three techniques, all of 'em pretty basic. Master all three and you'll be shovin' folks out of the arena in no time, lad! Come into the ring, lad."

So we got ourselves changed, appropriate for Sumo Wrestling, and were ready to go. I'd taken off my Hero's Garb and put on my regular pants. I heard Midna giggling from the shadows as I undressed, and went into the ring without a shirt. I didn't understand why, I was just changing and not wearing a shirt. What's the big deal?

"Ee hee hee! You have a nice body, Link!" Midna teased me. "Maybe you should go around without a shirt on more often! Ee hee!"

I blushed a bit at her remark. My body was trim, I guess. But it wasn't THAT nice.

Anyway, so we stepped into the ring and we practiced Sumo Wrestling. It was pretty hard the first time, but I got the hang of it. Mayor Bo pushed me out of the ring the first time, but I managed to best him in the other two matches.

I had to admit, it was something different, and yet it was a bit like facing a charging goat.

After we were done, we changed back into our clothes-with Midna teasing me as I was doing so-and went back to the main room of the house.

"You've gotten a sight stronger in the short time you've been gone, Link... Strong as you are, though, you can't hope to defeat the Gorons wrestlin' with power alone. Those Gorons are made of rock! Naw, the secret to beatin' the Gorons...is locked away in that chest. Take it with you, lad." Mayor Bo gestured toward a chest nearby him.

Curiously, I went over to the chest he pointed to and lifted the lid. Inside, I pulled out a pair of strange-looking boots. They were apparently made of iron. Wow, so this was how he defeated the Gorons. He had the iron boots in order to prevent being pushed away easily.

"You can probably tell, those boots are made of iron, lad. Whoever wears 'em won't easily be pushed around...even by a Goron. If you're fixin' to fight a Goron, be sure to wear those boots. ...Let's be square though, lad: you can't ever tell ANYONE about these boots! 'Specially Renado!"

"So, then they won't question your change in shoes?" Midna muttered from the shadows.

I ignored her and thanked the Mayor before leaving the house. It was now time to get back to Kakariko Village, up Death Mountain and get the Fused Shadow.

--

Just as Epona pulled up near the large canyon, Midna popped out of the shadows and stopped us.

"Link, wait! There's something up ahead! ...What do you suppose it could be?"

I looked up and noticed a wave of dust heading toward Kakariko Village. As I got a closer look, I saw those strange green monsters on boars from before, the ones that had kidnapped the kids! In front of them was a larger, white boar with a bigger green monster clad in armor riding it.

They were heading into Kakariko Village to kidnap the kids again!

"Hurry Link, they might kidnap your friends again! You wouldn't want that to happen again, would you?" Midna told me and disappeared into my shadow.

I didn't even need to be told twice. I steered Epona into a gallop and hurried to Kakariko Village, hoping to get there in time before those monsters kidnapped the kids again.

We came into the village, rounding the corner. I was mad, really mad. I was going to teach those monsters the big mistake they made in crossing that line.

The bigger monster, the leader apparently, held Colin up toward me, beckoning me to follow him.

Angrily, I grit my teeth and rushed after him on Epona. He was dead meat.

We followed him out the other entrance to the village, the one where Epona came in. She easily cleared the gate and we hurried after him.

The ogre was waiting for us, and had Colin tied to a long wooden pole. We were now in a different area of Hyrule Field. There was the wall of twilight not very far from us. There was also a castle encased within it, which I assumed then was Hyrule Castle.

The other beckoned to me with his hand, and I drew my sword. I was ready to fight him. He then took out a horn and blew into it.

Over the small rise near the wall of twilight, a bunch of the ogre's cronies came running toward us on their boars. Some of them had clubs and others had fire arrows. Great, I had to deal with them too.

The ogre then rode away, and I steered Epona to follow after him. I was not going to let him get away! He was obviously using his cronies as a distraction so that I would lose sight of him.

We managed to catch up to the ogre and I let my sword have it's say, slashing at him. Some of his armor would fall off periodically. At least it made him more susceptible to damage.

Unfortunately, the other monsters caught up to us, surrounding us. I had to get by them, so I slashed at a few of them with my sword, working my way past them to catch up with their leader.

I caught up to him again and slashed my sword at him, ripping off more of his armor. This time, he faltered back, stunned.

After a moment, he regained himself and his boar went off toward a nearby bridge. There was a blockade of logs at the entrance in the archway on both sides. I figured the boar would crash into it, but it leaped right over it. Epona chased after them and also leaped over the blockade. Good thing too, otherwise the pointed ends of the logs would've done a number on us.

Once we cleared the blockage, I noticed a monster standing on a ledge of the bridge, and it fired a fire arrow at the wooden blockade, setting the logs on fire and preventing us from escaping.

The ogre was stationed at the other end of the bridge, facing us. The logs on his side were on fire too, so even if we did get past him, we couldn't go that way either.

I was nervous about this, since one wrong move could send us flying into the black chasm below us. The bridge was pretty narrow and had no supports on either said.

"Be careful, Link!" Midna said from the shadows. To my surprise, she sounded genuinely worried.

The ogre's boar pawed at the ground, snorted, reared and then came running at us. Epona followed his example and ran at them also. I had to be careful since Epona was no match for the over-sized boar.

It was jousting match now.

Just as we came close to the ogre and his boar, Epona leaped over to the side and I slashed at him with my sword. The ogre let out a roar of pain, but regained himself. I turned Epona around and we ran at them again.

I readied my blade, ready to deliver a final blow to him once he passed us. Epona nearly got hit, but she leaped gracefully to the side and I slashed at the green ogre really roughly. This time, he went flying off his boar and into the chasm below.

Looking down into the chasm where the monster fell, Epona then whinnied in triumph and reared back. I felt really heroic this time, since I saved someone I cared for. I raised my sword above my head as we performed a dramatic, heoric pose, with the wall of twilight right behind us.

"Quit with the dramatic poses, already! Get the kid!" Midna yelled from the shadows.

Colin!

The wooden pole holding Colin had fallen onto the ground as the boar was running off. I jumped off Epona and hurried to fetch him. I cut the binds with my sword and checked Colin's pulse. Midna popped out of the shadows, checking him over for any injuries.

"Is he okay?" She asked.

I nodded. "I think he's all right. Come on, we better take him back to the village and see what happened."

Midna nodded and disappeared into my shadow. I carefully picked up Colin and seated him against me on Epona. We then rode back to the village.

--

As we came riding back into the village, the kids were waiting for us outside the sanctuary with Renado and Luda, who had apparently heard of the commotion.

I carefully brought Colin down from Epona, holding him as everyone gathered around to see if he was all right.

"Link...! Please tell me Colin will be okay!" Beth said, on the verge of tears.

"What happened?" I asked no one in particular.

"Colin...he...he pushed me out of the way when those monsters came back to kidnap us... He pushed me aside and they captured him instead!" Beth explained.

So that's what had happened. Colin was trying to be brave, and in doing so he saved Beth and got himself captured instead of her. I couldn't believe it, he actually did it. He was brave.

I gently ran my hand along Colin's forehead and he opened his eyes slowly as he came to.

"Link..." He murmured. "Is everyone...OK?"

Everyone had gathered around us, looking down at Colin with relief and admiration. Especially Beth, since she was smiling at him fondly. Malo even looked like he admired Colin more than before.

"...Good." He smiled, and then looked at Beth. "Beth... I'm sorry, you know...for shoving you. Are you mad?"

Beth looked a bit surprised at the question, but she smiled and shook her head. Even someone like Beth wouldn't get mad for that, being shoved had saved her life after all.

Relieved, Colin turned back to me. "I... I think I finally understand. I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you, Link..." He lifted his arm into the air, curling his fingers into a fist. "He wasn't talking about strength, like lifting stuff. He was talking about being brave..."

Colin then let his arm drop to his side, since he was pretty tired and weak from his injuries. "Link... You saved me, didn't you?"

I smiled in reply.

"You... You can do anything." Colin went on. "You can do something to help the Gorons in the mine too, can't you, Link?"

I gave him a nod.

He tried to smile, and then he passed out from exhaustion. Poor kid, he had a pretty rough time, and needed rest.

Beth and the rest of the kids gasped, hoping he wasn't dead or hurt. Talo came forward and tried to help Colin onto his back, but he wasn't strong enough. Renado solved that problem, he came and picked Colin up. I stood and he nodded toward me before heading over to the inn, where the kids followed suit.

I turned around, and looked toward Death Mountain with determination. I was ready to go up there and face the Gorons.

--

As we were on our way to Death Mountain, Talo mentioned to us that Malo had turned the abandoned general store into his own little shop. That surprised me, but just to humour him, I went inside to take a look.

Something in stock caught my eye, it was a Hylian shield. It was made of metal, likely to prove being more handy than a wooden shield. So I bought it and had Midna store my old one in her helm, much to her displeasure.

Then we went up to the Death Mountain trail where I climbed up the mesh netting along the wall. Sure enough, the Goron guard from before was still there, and he saw us.

"Ho! You are back again, human? You will never pass! You cannot hope to match our brute force!"

The Goron rolled into a ball and came rolling at me. I managed to slip into the iron boots and I braced myself, ready to grab him.

He came at me, and I pushed him back, the iron boots preventing me from being pushed away. I grabbed the Goron's back and hurled him off the ledge where he went hurling down and out of sight.

Feeling triumphed, I took off the boots and continued up the trail. Four more Goron guards had come rolling at us, but I managed to take care of them.

We came to where the Howling stone was, and there were a few of those monster goblins around, shooting arrows. I noticed Hawk grass growing around, so I used that to summon the hawk and took care of the monsters.

Soon we came to the crater, where a few more Gorons were standing guard. Up above a few ledges, I noticed two more Gorons. They noticed me, and one of them curled up into a defensive postion. The other climbed on top of the rolled up Goron, and then the rolled up Goron popped open, sending the other Goron up onto a ledge above them and through a doorway.

Why did I have the feeling we'd need to do that?

There were volcanic eruptions occurring, with volcanic rocks landing around. If we weren't careful, they'd hit us.

Before I could go any further, this long and enormous shaped molten lava rock came shooting down, plunging into the ground. If I had been a bit closer, I would've been done for.

Midna popped out of the shadows after this had happened. "Whoa... This looks dangerous... Is this the traditional Death Mountain welcome? Ee hee!"

"I see nothing funny about this." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Oh Link, at least it didn't hit you! Ee hee! It looks pretty hot. I wonder what's going on with the mountain..." She murmured, and then disappeared into my shadow again.

I went over to a Goron guard, who advanced on me. He threw a punch, but I deflected it with the Shield Attack. The Goron was caught off guard, and I poked him in the stomach with my sword. He rolled into a defensive position.

Getting an idea I'd seen earlier, I climbed onto his back. The Goron must've felt me doing that because he shot up and we went rolling up safely on the upper ledge.

As we went up higher, we had to use a few more Goron "elevators", and then we came to the entrance to the inside of the mountain. So we went inside.

Inside the room we came into was a sumo wrestling ring, and there were a few Gorons standing around it. Up ahead was another entrance to another room, and there were two Gorons standing guard, blocking the way.

The Gorons caught sight of me and immediately rolled into defensive positions, ready to roll at me. I braced myself, but then a loud voice rang through the room.

"ENOUGH!"

All the Gorons immediately uncurled. The two Goron guards parted respectfully as a Goron came into the room from the other doorway.

He must have been important, probably their leader. He looked old, and had some hair on his head.

"Is this young one such an imposing enemy that you must all gang up on him? I think not, Little Brothers." He said to the Gorons.

Cautiously, I approached him.

"I am a Goron Elder, little human." The Goron elder explained. "I am called Gor Coron. Because of certain...circumstances, I must lead the Goron tribe in place of Darbus, our tribal patriarch. Tell me, little human, do you come from the village below? You have done well to come this far. You are strong...for a human. However..." He crossed his arms. "The mines beyond here are sacred to my tribe. Outsiders are not allowed. Unless..."

I gave him a fearless stare, showing him that I wasn't afraid. I would get past him somehow.

Gor Coron then smiled. "I could make an exception...but you would have to beat me in a contest of power. Are you willing to try that, little human?"

I nodded. I was ready for anything.

So then we stepped into the ring, where I switched into the iron boots. Funny how no one seemed to notice that I had changed my shoes.

And here we go.

It was a tough match since fighting a Goron wasn't the same as fighting Mayor Bo. Luckily, with the iron boots, I still wasn't pushed around as easily. There were times I was nearly pushed out of the ring, but I managed to push the elderly Goron away.

Once he was close to the edge, he threw a slap at me, but then I ducked, and grabbed him, pushing him to the edge and out of the ring. I was tired by now, but pleased with myself.

"Young warrior..." Gor Coron gasped, still on the ground. "You have a strong will...and sharp eyes." He then stood up. "Fine traits... Want to see how well you can use them?"

I took off my iron boots and we went over near the opposite doorway where Gor Coron explained the situation at hand.

"You have seen it, I would bet... The Mountain, erupting without pause... When the mountain began to rage, all four of us elders and Darbus, our patriarch, went inside to investigate its anger. We have a treasure that was entrusted to us by the spirits, and we must protect it. Do you understand? But the moment Darbus reached out and touched the treasure...everything went wrong. He collapsed...and before our very eyes transformed into an unspeakable monster! He began to rage through the mines, trailing ruin behind him...and the eruptions grew more frequent and more severe. We used all our strength to seal him deep inside the mountain... It...grieved us to do this to our patriarch...but we had no other course of action. I ask this favour of you, young warrior... Go to the aid of Darbus! Make no mistake, the spirits have guided you here. I, Gor Coron, need your help... On behalf of my entire clan, I ask you for your aid!" Gor Coron turned to the two guards. "...You two! Let the young warrior pass."

The two Goron guards immediately parted, revealing the way into the mines.

With that, we were sent on our way into the Goron Mines.