A/N: Chapter 14, where Carmen is newly introduced :) Also, as you may have noticed, I took the liberty of adding a few more surviving Kakariko villagers. Anyways, here I give you chapter 14, new and improved!

Rewritten as of 2/12/13, completed as of 10/12/13

Chapter 14: Reunited

I took a deep breath as the bright light faded, and it came out in a contented sigh as I felt a warm breeze and the sun on my back. I let out a quiet hum as I stretched my arms behind my back. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed the warmth of the sun. It was really, really nice. It was cold everywhere the sun wasn't touching, though. I hugged my arms around my chest with a shiver.

"Aw, I was just starting to have fun! Don't forget that Fused Shadow now!" With a giggle and a parting, 'See you later!', Midna disappeared. At the same time, the water in the spring behind where she'd floated began to glow. This was the first part of the Light Spirit preparing to appear, I remembered. And this time, I was paying attention to the little details, something I hadn't done the last few times; I watched the individual lines in the golden orb as it rose from the water, the pattern of the blue glow that formed on the rocks surrounding the spring. I'd forgotten how amazing it looked.

Then there was the appearance of the light spirit itself. It almost looked like an owl, actually. Just... an owl with a moustache. ...I really needed to get my priorities straight. I heard Bethany's quiet 'woah..' from where she stood beside me.

"My name is Eldin." The voice was gentle, though definitely masculine. I opted to call Eldin a 'he'. "I am one of the light spirits of Hyrule, chosen to guard these lands. O, gear heroes chosen by the gods... The dark power you seek lies in the sacred grounds of the proud mountain-dwellers. But already, those grounds have been defiled, draped in shadow and seeded with evil. You must go to those sacred grounds and cleanse them. "

I thought that was alkl. That was all he'd said in the game, why should I have thought otherwise? When Eldin spoke again, I remembered what Ordona had told me; I would learn more about my past, as well as the other travellers, from the other light spirits.

"Young Rose, child of two worlds... of the four otherworldly travellers brought to Hyrule, only one remains to be found. They will be found in the province of Lanayru. You must seek them out as soon as you are able."

With that Eldin dissipated, leaving the three of us standing in the chilly water of the spirit spring. Bethany turned around first, and the excitement rolled off of her in waves as she took in the details of Kakariko village, as it looked in the world of light. I was right there along with her. It looked pretty cool, dusty as it all was. I saw that Link had turned as well, but it seemed he was lost in thought.

I snapped my fingers in front of his face, grinning when he jumped. I offered an unrepentant, "Sorry," though we both knew I wasn't entirely. I was a silly person, if he hadn't gotten used to that, he'd have to.

"So, Death Mountain. That's not...foreboding at all." Bethany commented as we went to leave the spring, I only shrugged at her before I heard the door to the sanctuary creaking open. My eyes shifted over and I saw Colin standing in the doorway, his eyes wide.

"Link?!" the boy gasped in excitement. I heard quiet murmurs from inside, and saw the instant relief on Link's face moments before the four ordonian children came out of the sanctuary. Talo pushed Colin to the side in his hasty excitement, Beth was too excited to consider helping him up. I frowned at that, but wasn't able to do anything before I was being tackled by a blonde-haired blur.

"Do you even understand how much you and Bethany freaked me out when you disappeared? I thought it was Scott happening all over again!"

And there was the scolding... Carmen may have been a year younger than Bethany and I, but she certainly knew how to pitch a fit when she was worried. Wait, disappeared? Well, that answered my question about how time was passing on earth. Almost.

"How long have we been gone?" I asked, settling my friend on the ground. Bethany walked up behind me, my two friends sharing a similar reunion before Carmen answered.

You've been missing for nine day's, Bethany's been gone for five, and I came here a few days ago." she said.

That was an interesting piece of information. Bethany hadn't told me how much time had passed on Earth after I'd come to Hyrule.

Our reunion was cut into by someone clearing their throat. Our trio - and the ordonians - turned to the noise. Renado was there, Luda and Barnes beside him with the three strangers behind them.

"You are the one from Ordon whom these children spoke of?" Renado asked Link. When he nodded, Renado looked to me and Bethany. "And you two are the friends Carmen spoke of, I assume." He got nods from both of us. "We are well met. I am Renado, Shaman of this town. And this..." he momentarily looked to the bomb-maker, Barnes, then to Luda. "This is my daughter, Luda." Barnes 'humphed' before walking off, grumbling. Then the three of us introduced ourselves.

"My name is Link."

"Rose."

"Bethany."

"Hey, I thought you said your name was Celia!" Talo said, sounding confused and almost offended. I let out a small laugh, but I also saw Carmen's confused look. She was probably wondering what was going on, why I'd introduced myself as Rose. That was bound to be a fun conversation.

"Well, I learned some stuff about myself since I came here, like my real name is Rose." I shrugged, promising to myself that I'd talk to Carmen later.

"The beasts took us and left us to die... but Mr. Renado found us!" Colin spoke up.

"At first, I could not believe these children had come from so distant a place as the Ordona Province.." Renado commented. I felt bad for the villagers suddenly, especially the kids. I couldn't imagine going through what they had, completely defenseless and scared.

"Yeah, I... we don't remember much. All of a sudden everyone was captured, and then... until now...it's been like..." the child trailed off.

"A nightmare?" I offered sympathetically, shivering as another cool breeze ran through the village. It was almost ridiculous, sure winter was on the way, but that was no excuse for it to be this cold when it wasn't even officially winter yet.

"Yeah! It was like a terrible dream and we couldn't wake up!" Beth agreed. Renado hummed thoughtfully.

"Nightmares are everywhere these days, it seems. This village has certainly seen it's share of recent hardships..." I noticed grief on one of the women's faces behind Renado. With a sigh, the shaman looked up to the mountain. "The dark beasts attacked, but even worse was the sudden and inexplicable change with the mountain-dwelling Goron tribe."

"What's wrong?" I asked at the same time Bethany and Link did. This received an odd look from the villagers, and a quiet giggle from Carmen. Then another sigh.

"They had long been our friends, but began treating us as enemies some time ago. They refuse entrance into their minds, and no longer deliver us the supplies and protection that they previously did."

"Do you know why they did?" Link asked. Renado shook his head.

"It strains the limits of belief, to think that such a gentle and proud tribe could change so suddenly... It makes me wonder if something in those mines is the cause..." he mused, before shaking his head again. "In any case, you must take these children and flee this village before more nightmares descend.

"What about you?" Carmen asked, sounding reluctant.

"I cannot leave my village in such a time. There is no telling what may happen here, but it is my job to try and rebuild our peaceful relations with the Gorons." Renado responded.

"I think it would be more dangerous if we were to leave." Link admitted. Bethany piped in, adding to his statement.

"Yeah, a lot of monsters have been appearing lately."

"The safest place for them right now is here." I finished. As defensible as the village was from both sides, it was also a valley. There was no easy way to defend from an attack from above, but I was pretty sure we wouldn't have to worry about that. Ordon was no better, Kakariko really was the safest place for them right now.

As for the mines... well, we had to get the fused shadow anyways.

"We can go to the mountain."

A chorus of "What"s followed the statement.

"Link and I can go up to Death Mountain. Maybe we can figure out what's wrong with the Gorons and fix it." I clarified. One of the women behind Renado piped up, then.

"Trying to go anywhere near the mines is very dangerous!" she protested. I'm pretty sure Bethany said her name was Aren.

"It would be more dangerous to wait around and hope nothing goes wrong." I persisted. With another sigh, this time of resignation, Renado gave in.

"Very well. If you insist upon going to Death Mountain, I must insist that it doesn't happen until tomorrow. Dangerous creatures come out after the sun falls, and you are weary. Rest for the night, regain your strength." The last part of his statement seemed directed particularly at me. Did I really look that tired. I mean, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, but I didn't realize I was being obvious about it.

But, that had been my plan anyways. We'd been going for a few days now, I needed sleep. So did Link and Bethany, I knew. I tried to tally up the time in my head. It had taken half the day from the time we started to walk to the Twilight, another few hours to get to the bridge, and by then it was night. Then getting the tears of light had taken the rest of the night, and a lot of today judging by the position of the sun. Approximately two days. That was hard. I mean, I'd pulled allnighters before back on Earth, but I'd barely been doing anything the whole night. This, fighting monsters and running around non-stop, was exhausting.

Link and Bethany were pretty much perfectly clean, having been animals in the Twilight. I, on the other hand, was a mess. My clothes were filthy, the mud in my hair had dried, and I'd completely forgotten my cloak on the lookout.

I'd cleaned up in the hot springs, and the woman Twill had given me a change of clothes; white-brown pants and a dark blue tunic shirt that came to just above my knees. It as more of a dress, come to think of it. I'd needed the clothes when Aren insisted that mine were in need of a good cleaning. I liked Aren, she made me think of my mother. But, even with the change of clothes and a warm bath I felt like I was freezing cold, like I'd just gone out and ran around in the snow in shorts and a T-shirt.

Hence, me going to grab my cloak. I said this when I came down the stairs headed towards the door, when Renado asked me where I was going.

If it was chilly inside, outside was like the arctic. Again, it was ridiculous. Wanting to get back inside as quick as I could, I didn't waste any time. I jogged over to the bomb shop, using Farore's wind to get to the top instead of cutting though it, and it drained me even more. The wind was stronger the higher I went up, if only a little, and it prompted me to move faster. My eyes stung from the cold, and I wiped at them as I entered the lookout storage building. My cloak was on the crate exactly as I'd left it earlier. The only evidence of my misadventure by the bomb storage was the dry mud caked into the outer fabric.

Not wanting to stand around any longer, I shook the cloak out and hung it over my arm, leaving the building as quick as I'd entered.

Unlike before, it seemed the cold wasn't getting progressively colder, having evened out at ridiculously-cold. I picked up the pace again so I could get back to the motel, nearly slipping on the bomb-shop's roof when I went too close to the edge in my hased. I used farore's wind again, instantly regretting that decision when my feet were on solid ground. Already exhausted, that seemed to be 'the straw that broke the camel's back'. My feet dragged, my knees were shaking, and I felt like I was going to keel over at any moment.

"Just a little further.." I mumbled to myself as I continued towards the motel. I stopped before opening the door, leaning against the wall and pushing my hair away from my face. When my hand came away damp with sweat, my brow furrowed in confusion. I was sweating? But I was freezing cold. That made no sense to my muddled brain. With a tired shrug at nobody in particular, I pulled the door open and stepped inside.

I must have looked as bad as I felt, because just seconds after I stepped inside I heard voices asking if I was okay. But they sounded funny, far away.

My head was drooping, my eyes struggling to stay open, but they just couldn't anymore. Then I was falling into the dark.

Despite the mild distrust in the younger teen lately, Link wouldn't deny that he was worried about Rose when she stumbled into the motel, face flushed and sweaty. He saw her shaky stance, like her legs were ready to give out, at the same time he heard her friends questioning if she was okay. They she seemed to sag as he stood up, walking towards her.

He was mere feet away when she seemed to go limp. The green-clad ordonian caught her just as her knees buckled. There were exclamations of shock and worry all around as he lowered himself to the floor, supporting Rose's upper half as she shaman approached.

Link had an idea of what was wrong before Renado reached them, he'd had the idea since the second he'd caught Rose. Bringing one hand to her damp forehead, he nearly recoiled; she was burning hot!

"She's got a fever." he informed Renado. He'd helped take care of the village kids more than a few times when they'd gotten sick, and Rose was warmer than he remembered them being.

"She's worked herself into exhaustion. I doubt that helped her body to fight off the illness to start with." Renado mused. "The best we can do right now is allow her to rest."

With that, the shaman lifted Rose up, going to bring her to one of the beds upstairs. Bethany sighed quietly.

"I'm surprised I didn't see that coming. I forgot how often she got sick back home." she said. Carmen shrugged at her.

"She's been through worse, she'll be fine." the young blonde reassured her older friend. Reluctantly, Bethany nodded. She was still worried, and Carmen wouldn't blame her.

"Your friend gets ill often?" Aren asked. Carmen nodded.

"Honestly, this isn't all that new for us. It's just bad like this right now because she hasn't been able to rest and sleep it off." Bethany commented. As unenjoyable as it was, that was the truth. "Knowing her, she'll be as stubborn as ever tomorrow, up and about before she should be."

"And insisting that she's 'fine'." Carmen added with a laugh. Bethany soon joined her. The two had pretty much grown up with Rose, they knew her better than anyone else. A part of that was knowing she would be fine, another knowing how her mind worked. But with all the curve balls Hyrule had thrown at them, the two had to wonder; how well would they know their friend when her memories were completely returned. As more of said memories returned, the two questioned that more and more.

A/N: Woah, my hands are sore from all the typing and writing. I tend to write my chapters out on paper before typing it out, and I did most of this in the course of a week. So, yeah, my hand hurts.

A/N part 2: It's been 11 days since I finished this chapter, and only now have I finally finished typing it. I'm so sorry, I've been distracted :P