I really need to stop getting myself into situations like this… Sky thought sadly.

Among his peers at the Knight Academy, Sky was often gently teased (not so gently if the person in question was Groose or Cawlin) for the fact that, despite his abundant amount of intelligence and excellent grades in every subject, he was a bit lacking in the self-preservation department. Frequent tumbles off of Skyloft at night, straining his back helping Henya the lunch lady carry in her food shipments, and the incident involving the chandelier at the Lumpy Pumpkin had earned him quite the reputation among the Skyloft residents even before he discovered the surface and rescued Zelda. After his adventures, Sky had hoped that he had grown and matured from all of his harsh experiences.

Apparently, this wasn't the case.

"SKY!" Ruto's voice frantically called from the other side of the rubble. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, just a bit dazed!" He called back. "What happened?"

"Well, that idiot impostor activated the floodgates for too long. They're only meant to be used for emergencies! The water pressure must have been too much and caused a cave in! This is a sacred temple, for crying out loud! I'm going to DROWN him! Or her. Whatever."

"…I don't suppose there's a way out?" Sky asked hesitantly.

"Sorry, Sky, that's a dead end! I'll look for a way to get rid of this rubble. Stay put in the meantime!"

Sky carefully eyed his surroundings before standing. "I appreciate the concern, Ruto, but while I'm in here I might as well find that Lens of Truth we were looking for."

"I…I guess you're right. But be careful Sky!"

Easier said than done. Sky thought, grinning self-deprecatingly.

Sky began to explore the area, his footsteps echoing loudly in the empty stone chamber. There really wasn't much to see. The temple had clearly been built to be unwelcoming to intruders who thought to steal its treasures. It was exceedingly hard to navigate, and the intricate carvings on the walls and floor seemed oddly intimidating. According to Ruto, the temple was much easier to deal with when it was filled with water and you could swim to upper and lower levels, but Sky found himself doubting that. If anything, having more floors available would make it more confusing.

I really hope the floodgates don't break. Sky thought grimly. I'm a good swimmer thanks to the Water Dragon Scale, but I can't breathe underwater. And I'd hate to think about what would happen to the Gorons down here.

"Well, what's this?" An echoing voice crooned. Sky froze, recognizing it. When the army had first arrived at Lake Hylia, they had been met with the same voice which had threatened them and demanded they turn back. Impa, with a horrified expression, had identified the voice as Princess Zelda's, and the morale of the soldiers had taken a tremendous hit, despite Impa's insistence that it couldn't be real. "It seems there's a lost little mouse wandering around the Central Hall. Here me, Hylian Army! Lay down your weapons and surrender to me immediately if you wish for your comrade to live!"

"Oh, come on!" Sky called out, not knowing for certain if the voice could even hear him. "Don't threaten them with my life! There's nothing in here that could even harm me!"

The very moment the words left his mouth, several Poes teleported into the room.

Sometimes I think the Goddesses have a horrid sense of humor. Sky drew his sword and sent a Skyward Strike in the direction of the monsters before spinning on his heel and ducking down a narrow passage.

"There's no way out of that room, little mouse. You may as well stop trying."

"I'm not sure why you'd just assume I'm looking for a way out." Sky called back, taking the same tone of voice he normally used when arguing with Groose. As he skidded into a small, dark room, a purple gleam caught his eye and he hurriedly examined the object. There was no doubt that it was the Lens of Truth; it looked exactly like what Ruto and Navi had described.

It's certainly lucky that they chose here of all places to store this. He eyed his surroundings with a grimace. Then again, what could possibly be a better place to hide a powerful artifact? I doubt thieves are ever brave enough to come here.

The sound of more Poes behind him pulled Sky from his thoughts, and he quickly slashed them away, sprinting back into the main room so that he wouldn't get trapped in such a small space. He groaned when he saw that even more Poes had swarmed in. Sky backed himself into a corner, hoping that this particular breed of Poe couldn't pass through walls.

"SKY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

Sky looked up. The voice seemed to be coming from a series of pipes in the ceiling above him. "I can hear you, Ruto!"

"TAKE A DEEP BREATH, GRAB ONTO SOMETHING, AND DON'T LET GO!"

Recognizing the urgent tone in her voice, Sky did as he was instructed, grabbing hold of a decorative column and sucking in air. He did so just in time. A horrible sound of screeching metal filled the room, and suddenly powerful streams of ice cold lake water poured down from above. The Poes stood no chance against the current and were quickly swept away. Sky held on for dear life, arms and lungs straining. In the distance he could hear the rubble that had trapped him being forced aside, and the water level receded rapidly until it was no more than puddles on the floor. Sky collapsed onto the ground limply, gasping for air and shuddering from the cold.

"Sky?!" Ruto's voice called down, sounding panicky. "Did it work?! Are you alright?"

"I'm a bit damp, but aside from that I'm fine!" Sky called back, omitting the fact that he was now freezing and that his muscles had been strained. It was his own fault for not paying attention when the ceiling had collapsed earlier and getting trapped, so he had no right to complain. "Thanks for your help, Ruto! I'm going to take the Lens of Truth to Sheik and Impa!"

"Okay, I'll go help Darunia! Don't get trapped again, Sky!"

"Right!" Sky took off at a run, hoping he remembered correctly how to get back to where the others were. The ground under his feet rumbled, and he sped up slightly, eying the now leaking ceiling warily. I wonder if the impostor knew this would happen if they left the floodgates activated. They're pretty clever if they did. They must have known that this would distract us. Hopefully we can take them out before this whole place comes down.

Turning a corner, Sky skidded to a stop, nearly colliding with Impa and Sheik.

"Sky, thank goodness you're alright." Impa sighed. "I thought the enemy had imprisoned you!"

"Only for a little while. Ruto took care of it. More importantly, I found the Lens of Truth."

"May I?" Sheik took the lens and examined it. "Excellent, it seems to still be functional. Come, let's expose that impostor for what they truly are." She beckoned them to follow. "I spotted the main chamber earlier. It's this way."

As they ran, Sky noticed Impa's gaze on him. "Is there something wrong?" He asked.

She sighed. "There will be. You're soaked, and it's freezing in here. You'll be sick for sure."

Sky shrugged with a wry grin. "I know, but it couldn't be helped. I'll be more careful next time."

Impa glared. "You'd better be. I won't be pleased if one of our most promising new recruits misses the war because of a case of the sniffles."

Sky suppressed laughter and simply nodded. Complimenting me and criticizing me in the same sentence… She's so much like the Impa I knew it's unnerving.

"So you've come to face me, have you?"

The impostor stood before them. It certainly looked like Zelda (or at least, the Zelda that Sky knew. His eyes flicked to Sheik and back again, not wanting to give anything away.), but the icy, menacing expression looked rather unnatural on her face, and she seemed oddly drained of color.

"You have some nerve, attacking your own Princess." She sniffed. "You are Sheikah, are you not? Have you no honor? Is your kind not born to serve me?"

"The Sheikah," Impa snarled, "choose to serve and protect the royal family. No one is born into it, no one is forced into it. The true Zelda knows this."

"Indeed." Sheik murmured. "Your facade needs to end here. I will not stand by and allow you to insult Impa and her people." She hoisted the Lens of Truth over her head.

There was a tremendous flash of light, and the impostor let out an agonized scream as it forcibly assumed its true form. Sky wrinkled his nose at the sight of the mottled skinned creature in its ragged purple robes.

"Wizzro!" Impa hissed.

"How…" He groaned. "How could you have seen through my deception?!"

Sheik sighed. "Did you truly think you were being convincing?"

"Of course! It was my most brilliant scheme yet!"

"…I find that rather insulting." A luminescent glow began to emanate from Sheik. "Do you really think-" There was a flash. "-I would ever say such horrible things to my own attendant?"

"Princess!" Impa looked beyond delighted. "It's you!"

Zelda smiled sweetly. "It's good to be back. It's frightening going to war with so little armor. I have no idea how you do it, Impa." She turned to Sky. "I know Ruto told you about this, so thank you for keeping my secret."

Sky shrugged. "It wasn't a problem. I knew you had your reasons."

"HAHAHA! FOOOOL!" Wizzro cackled. "This was my true plan ALL ALONG! I knew you'd reveal yourself, Princess! AHAHA-"

"Why is that such a good thing?" Sky cocked his head to the side in contemplation. "At this point you're so outnumbered that it'd be impossible for you to win. If you had lured her out earlier you might have had a chance, but now you can't do anything about it even though you know she's here."

Wizzro made a choking sound. "W- What?! I… uh… I know she's alive now!"

"But you already knew that." Sky protested. "You wouldn't have been looking for her if she hadn't been alive."

"…What is your name, human?"

"It's Sky. Hello."

"Well, Sky… I'm going to tear you into hundreds of tiny pieces while you scream for-"

"I understand that you're upset, but you shouldn't take it out on me. You're the one who didn't think this through." Sky said with a frown, crossing his arms. Really, after dealing with Ghirahim for so long, normal villains just didn't seem very threatening anymore…

With a wordless howl of rage, Wizzro hurled a ball of dark energy at Sky, who ducked out of the way. Zelda leapt forward and, with amazing grace and speed, used her rapier to stab Wizzro in his bulbous eye. Instead of blood, blackish-purple mist poured out of the wound, which he clutched at.

"EYAAAAAAAGH!" He screeched. "DAMN YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOUUUU!" With that, he teleported away.

Zelda sheathed her blade. "Let's hurry out of here. We need to release the floodgates and-"

Impa cut her off by embracing her hard. "Do not put me through that ever again, Princess. I was so worried…"

Zelda blinked rapidly, apparently fighting off tears. "I'm sorry, Impa…"

Sky quietly slipped away to give them some privacy, heading for the temple exit. He took a deep breath gratefully once outside. It wasn't for long, but I really missed the fresh air. Sky stretched, shivering as the wind blew against his wet clothes.

Sky jolted at the sound of a long, sing-song howl. Is that…? He squinted his eyes, examining the horizon. Yes, it was unmistakable. No normal wolf was that big. He glanced hesitantly back at the temple. I'm sure they won't notice if I slip away for a bit… Quickly, before someone spotted him, Sky made a beeline for his descendant.

Twi yawned in greeting, padding up to Sky as his tail wagged slightly back and forth. He sniffed Sky curiously before transforming.

"What'd you get yourself into this time?" He asked, eyebrow raised at Sky's waterlogged appearance.

Sky sighed. "Oh, just a hapless, clumsy mistake that could have been easily avoided. The usual."

Twi patted him on the back. "No big deal. The important thing is that you succeeded. You did succeed, right?"

Sky nodded. "The Hylians won the battle, Princess Zelda has been found, and I identified one of the Time Witch's allies."

"Black Witch."

"I beg your pardon?"

Twi shrugged. "Yeah, I spoke to Ghirahim. He's managed to infiltrate the enemy ranks, and apparently "Time Witch" is what they used to call her. It's "Black Witch" now."

Sky nodded thoughtfully. "I see… It's fortunate that I didn't mention the name since I didn't want to seem like I knew too much. Using an old title like that would have made me look rather suspicious."

Twi grimaced at that. Sky looked at him in concern. "Is something wrong?"

"Just hoping Link had the same foresight as you did."

The two stared at each other in silence.

"Perhaps… he was covert in his inquiry?"

"Not a chance." Twi looked sharply at Sky. "Hey, are you going to be able to handle another mission?" He reached out and grasped the wet fabric on Sky's arm. "Man, you really are soaked."

"I'm not sick yet. I might as well do what I can for now. Why? What do you need me to do?"

Twi sat down on a stump, crossing his legs and stretching. He looked very tired. "Well, someone has to fetch Link, and I can't do it because he's in the part of my world that was brought over and we can't have our cover being blown by someone recognizing me. Do you think you can handle it?"

Sky nodded. "Of course. I'll call my Loftwing and fly there. The wind will dry me off on the way."

Twi held up a hand. "Hold on, I'm not finished yet. You need to be extra careful. The Black Witch is supposed to be in the Twilight Realm, an alternate version of my world that was summoned as well. No doubt Link has already found that out and is on her trail, so that's where you're going to have to head." He paused. "…Do your best to protect the residents of the Twilight Realm. They've been through enough trouble lately and don't deserve something like this happening to them."

Sky nodded. "I understand." He examined Twi's face carefully. "Are you going to be alright? You look exhausted. When was the last time you slept?"

Twi scowled. "Well, I would have slept fine last night if Ghirahim hadn't decided to send me after you right then. Oh shoot, I almost forgot. Once you find Link, we're all meeting in Faron Woods in the abandoned Hylian base on the night of the full moon."

Sky sighed. "Seriously?"

"It's Ghirahim. What'd you expect?" Twi stood with a groan. "Ugh. I'm heading there now. I'll see you later. I'll have some hot soup ready for your inevitable horrible sore throat."

"I appreciate it."

"Oh, and…" Twi hesitated, looking uncomfortable. "…Nah, never mind. It'll only worry you. I'll tell you when you get back."

As Twi transformed and ran off in the direction of the now-setting sun, Sky glanced back over his shoulder at the temple in the distance. Zelda and Impa were still inside, likely regrouping with Ruto, Darunia, and Navi. I wonder if they'll be angry… But it didn't matter. He had a job to do. Turning away, he summoned his Crimson Loftwing and headed for the Twilight Realm.