Revised as of 15/04/14

Chapter 34: Restoration and Confrontation

"Hm. As far as the creatures in your light world go... not bad."

This was the response I'd pulled from Midna when I asked her opinion on my wolf form. Link hadn't offered anything, but I was okay with that.

'I'm good with that. Right, so... It looks like we're right outside the forest temple, where we got the Kakariko bridge from. This would be easier if I had my map...' I trailed off, and my head snapped to the right, where I saw the female monkey from what seemed like ages ago. She was running from these weird flying...things. They moved like marionettes on a string, and were moving to attack her.

I didn't wait to see what happened next, I didn't have to. The puppets had noticed us, decided we were better to attack than the monkey.

If I remembered correctly, they were the Skull Kid's puppets. They were taken care of easily enough, once Link joined me in attacking. There were a near-dozen of them, and though they broke easily they also were surprisingly good at dodging. When we finished, the monkey spoke up.

"D-Did you save me? Th-Thank you!" she stammered. I dipped my head once in acknowledgement. "Hey, since you're both so nice, let me tell you something; there's a really pretty wooded area on the other side of this cliff!" she pointed to where we'd seen her come from, and I knew that was where the Sacred Grove was, and that was where we needed to go next. "I climbed over there, but when I tried to get deeper into the woods, those guys attacked me! What's even in those woods, anyways?" she asked. I lifted my shoulders in a shrug, before letting them drop.

'We were just going over there now. And, uh, you're welcome.' I responded. Had I been human, right about now was when I'd be smiling. But I doubted it'd have the same effect as a wolf.

"It sure is a pretty forest. And...You two... your smell is so familiar... you smell like the red girl and the green prince that saved me some time ago. But you can't be them, you're wolves."

I chuckled inwardly at that, before bounding off to catch up with Link. As unfortunate as it was, I had no control over my goddess-given gifts in my wolf form, and had to rely on Midna to get me across the chasm. It wasn't that I minded her doing so, I was just used to being able to use my magic, and it was strange not to be able to after so long. With each jump the wind whipped at my fur, flattening it against my body and cooling me. There was still so much to get used to as a wolf; the feeling of my claws digging into the soft soil as I ran, all of the things my enhanced vision and senses wanted to zero in on, all the scents and sounds rustling around me, prodding for attention.

With some of the jumps my nose filled with the smell of age-old wood and moss, and other times my paws kicked up dirt and dust, and it smelled like rain and dirt. All of those things, those tiny things that were easy to overlook as a human, that were so distracting and interesting as a wolf. How did Link manage without getting distracted?

Right then, my ears picked up something else. It was a song, but it didn't seem to be coming from anywhere on particular, the notes riding on the wind into my ears. It was a howl-stone; I recognized the tune. I let it run through my mind a few times, before I tried to test it out. Opening my muzzle, I started howling, my tones matching the ones that were in my head. Link was doing the same beside me, his howls slightly lower than my own.

The world faded around me, and I saw Link and I were on a grassy platform overlooking Hyrule Castle, as well as Castle Town. On a platform across from us, seemingly so close yet miles away at the same time, was the golden wolf. He seemed to be waiting for our cue before he would howl. With that, we began.

Prelude of Light was already a nice song, but even I'd have to say wow.

Our tones were carried on the wind, going for miles in every direction, until the song ended and it all faded into silence.

"Let teachings of old pass unto you... Take swords in hands and find me..." the wolf whispered, before diving off it's platform. The world faded back into existence around us, and I found myself on the grass before the sacred grove, Link beside me. We both got to our feet, and I shook myself off.

'Is that how it went every time?' I asked curiously as we walked towards the grove's entrance. Link nodded his head. 'Alright, let's find the Master Sword.'

That was certainly easier said than done, though. As soon as we entered the grove, I was overwhelmed by the scents and sounds of the forest. I smelled water, damp earth, grass, and the bark on the trees. And hearing... there were too many small things I was hearing to list them all. One thing that did stand out was another howling stone, though it's tune was more familiar; Zelda's lullaby.

Much the same as last time, the two of us began to howl the tune. When our song ended, a very familiar creature dropped out of the tree in front of us. He had a pointed hat that curled at the end, a blue lantern and a strange looking horn. It was the Skull Kid. He let out a childish giggle before blowing into the five-belled horn, which spewed...leaves? Four more puppets dropped down on either side of us, preparing to attack. I sighed. This was going to be a long day.

'If he giggles like that one more time...' I growled as the Skull Kid evaded us once again with that irritating giggle I'd quickly come to hate. Not only had Link and I gotten lost nearly a dozen times, but the puppets were just coming out of nowhere, catching us off guard. All in all, I wanted this whole thing over and done with.

We'd been going for what felt like hours, but with the sunlight blocked by the trees, I couldn't keep track of time.

'Rose, are you alright? You seem...agitated.' Link said from beside me. I sighed again. As usual, he was right. I nodded my head.

'I'm fine. I just want to get this over with.' I explained. It wasn't the full truth, but it wasn't necessarily a lie either. It seemed he accepted it, because he resumed the chase after the skull kid, into a coliseum type of area. I jumped to the ground behind him, waiting to see what the child would do. He was not happy to see us, and seemed to throw a hissy-fit atop his perch, stomping his feet and jumping up and down. But then...he let out that little giggle, jumping into the air and disappearing in a puff of leaves, appearing on one of the smaller, reachable platforms. He blew his horn again, drawing puppets to him.

Why did I get the feeling this was going to take a long time? Riiiight, because it probably would.

And, guess who was right? Me. It took forever, with the combination of evil puppets and annoying giggling, to get the Skull Kid to stop. He had let out a yell of surprise, falling to the ground stunned. I had thought that would be the end of it, until he sat up, giggled like nothing had happened, jumped into the air and disappeared again. He didn't reappear, but we heard his voice.

"Hee hee hee! ...'Bye!"

I shuddered, shaking my head. That little dude was creepy! But... helpful in his own way, Irealized, when I noticed the once-blocked stone doorway in front of us. We were almost there! Now we just had the...heart puzzle. Oh no... I hate to sound like I'm complaining even more, but that whole puzzle was a pain in the backside. I hung back a little ways as I sifted through my memory, letting Link howl the song that would awaken the stone guardians. I may have had the main points of this adventure stored in my brain, but smaller stuff -like the puzzles- weren't as easy to remember. I wasn't even sure if I could get it right at all.

'Woah!' I let out an exclamation of surprise when I saw that the floor had mostly disappeared, replaced by several square panels that formed the heart puzzle. Looked like there would be no getting out of it for me.

My eyes snapped forward when the Statues jolted, a blue glow lighting within them and giving them life. They slammed the butt of their staffs against the ground in unison, before jumping into the air. One landed behind Link, the other in front of him, while I was a few panels away from it all.

"We are guardians of this land... Guide us to where we once stood. Only then can you enter the true Sacred Grove..." the one in front of him spoke.

Link seemed to know what he was doing, so I simply stood off to the side as he moved. The one that had been in front of him jumped to the panel directly in front of me, and then I remembered I should probably move out of the way. I wasn't quite sure what he was playing at, with which way he was moving, but it seemed to be working... until he got them stuck. We had to ask for them to reset themselves to try again, because they were completely stuck, and neither of us knew how to fix it.

I'm not quite sure how long it took, but at some point I rejoined Link and we just sort of...sat. We tried figuring out some sort of pattern to the puzzle, glad that I was able to look at the situation with a lateral mind, looking at it from several angles instead of head-on. I jumped to my feet as I figured it out.

'I've got it!' I exclaimed. The statues had been reset before we took... did we really sit there for an hour just trying to figure that out? Wow... Anyways. 'Just go in the direction I call.'

In that fashion, it went Right, Down, Left, Left, Up, Right, Up, Up, Right, Down, Down, Left, Up. There was always a gap in time between each call of a direction, because I had to figure things out from a third-person view, or at least confirm it, and it was hard to focus. Especially as a wolf.

Once returned to their original spots and wiith a loud rumble, the statues slammed their staffs on their proper platforms, and the door to the chamber where the Master Sword was slid upwards, opening the way to us. Finally, we were finished.

"Go now to the Sacred place, beasts..." the statue breathed. "We yield passage to the Sacred Grove..."

The blue glow faded, and the floor returned.

"Good job with that, Rose." Midna complemented. I nodded my head at her before taking off towards the entrance to the chamber of the Master Sword. I stopped when we entered, taking time to admire the ancient architecture. Or...what was left of said architecture. No doubt I would be doubly impressed upon entering the Temple of Time, and seeing this entire room restored to its prime.

And there it was, sitting momentously in the centre of the misty, circular room; the Master Sword. I eagerly approached alongside Link.

When we neared, the blade let off a blinding light, and a powerful wind tried to push us back. Midna actually did fly backwards off Link's back from the force. I felt an ache in my head where I knew the dark crystal was nestled, and I knew that the sword was trying to repel us because of it. It was defending itself. I dug my claws into the ground to keep myself where I was, and I heard Link let out a powerful growl when the push became stronger, trying even harder to get us away from it. But, something seemed to have been set off by the roaring growl, because the outward force dwindled away within seconds.

I saw what looked like the black Twilight-pieces darken Link's form, and I saw it was doing the same to my own as well. The world was suddenly covered in white light, and I was temporarily blinded. My sight returned after a few seconds, and I fell to my hands and knees as vertigo swept over me. Wait... hands and knees? I opened my eyes, and saw that my hands were, in fact, hands once again. I glanced over to see that Link was -in his Hylian form once again- already on his feet, drawing the Master Sword from it's pedestal.

It slid out easily, and he pointed it skyward. Another burst of wind swept outwards from the sword, driving away the mist on the ground, and the clouds away from the area. I now saw it was nearly nightfall again. We had taken an entire day to go through the grove. Well, nearly.

"The sword accepted you as its master..." I murmured, shakily getting up. The way I saw it, the Master Sword -being a mythical blade- was much like Excalibur, and Thor's hammer Mjolnir, as only the chosen 'hero' could wield it. That proved, as many other things in our crazy adventure had already, that Link really was the Chosen Hero. But then, I already knew that.

He swung a few times experimentally with the blade, and it whistled through the air, perfectly in his control. I let a grin slide onto my face. It suited him. Midna -who I hadn't even noticed enter Link's shadow- flew up from it, and with a flick of her fingers, two black stonelike objects appeared floating above her hand. The dark crystals.

"These are the embodiments of the evil magic Zant cast upon you both." she explained softly. "It's definitely different from our tribe's shadow magic.." she mused, inspecting it closer. I leaned in to get a better look, but she held up a hand to stop me. "Careful. If you touch it, you'll turn into a wolf again." she warned. I nodded, stepping back a little bit.

"Those things are dangerous." I said. Midna nodded her agreement.

"It's probably for the best if we just leave them here, huh? But... on the other hand, if we kept them you both could turn into wolves whenever you wanted..." she seemed to be thinking aloud once again. She smirked, then. "Yeah, since Zant was kind enough to give these to us, we should be thankful and use them all we can!" she exclaimed. "But listen; to be discreet, I'll hide in one of your guys' shadows when you're human, alright? And you can change whenever you want to."

"And now... we can warp whenever we want to, because we can both turn into wolves." Link stated

That was the first time I'd heard his voice in what seemed like ages. It just wasn't the same when he spoke as a wolf.

"Exactly! But..Hey, Link... I've got a little favour to ask..." Midna's happy mood suddenly dampened, and she hung on Link's shoulder, resting her cheek on her hands. He looked to her, and I could see concern in his eyes. "Would you mind coming with me to find the Mirror of Twilight? It's hidden somewhere in Hyrule..." she looked to me next. "And... I want Rose to come too, if neither of you mind... That mirror's our last potential link to Zant!"

I didn't even have to consider it for a second, and it appeared Link didn't have to either.

"Of course I'll-"

"I'm okay with-"

We both stopped with an awkward laugh, but it seemed to convince Midna, as a timid smile lit up her face and she floated away from Link.

"You'll both do this?" she asked, and I could hear the cautiously optimistic undertone in her voice. Instead of speaking -and risking another awkward moment- I nodded my head, smiling at the imp girl.

"We wouldn't just leave you to go up against Zant on your own." Link agreed. Midna seemed to blush, folding her hands behind her back and ducking her head, before flying back into Link's shadow. For the first time in the grove, Link turned to face me fully, and I saw his face go from casual to shocked. I raised an eyebrow.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" I asked semi-sarcastically, looking down. That was when I noticed what he was looking at. "Well... I guess the goddesses decided my old clothes were no match for my recklessness and frequent brushes with death."

That's right, I had new clothes. My corset-like shirt wasn't quite the same. It had more the look of Link's tunic, though with the same square neckline of my old shirt. Beneath that I felt a heavy shirt of chainmail, and the third layer was a simple white long-sleeved shirt like Link's that covered my neck and collarbone, accompanied by a set of leather bracers on my forearms.

Link didn't laugh at my joke. It probably wasn't the best thing to say, since I knew how much he disliked said events. I bit my lip when I remembered how upset he'd been when I jumped off the bridge into the lake. Not a smart idea, but it seemed like a good one at the time... And It had helped with my fear of heights!

I started when I felt Link's hand tip my chin up, and I felt a feather-light touch against the side of my neck, just above the white shirt. I winced at the small twinge of pain that came with it, though I also felt my face heating up at the contact.

"That's a pretty bad bruise..." he said softly. I sighed. We both had our share of bruises and cuts. The healing arrow-wound in my side was acting up, but I was able to ignore it.

"Yeah. You've probably got some nasty ones too.." I agreed. He chuckled lightly before pulling his hands away. "At least we're both still in one piece." I added, easily slipping into a more casual tone. He nodded, a smile still on his face. "So, should we get going? Maybe head to Kakariko, or Castle Town?" I suggested. He was quiet for a few seconds, his previous nonchalance gone from his expression.

"I think... we need to talk first, about what happened in that chamber." he said. I felt nervousness flitting around in my stomach, making it do flips and such. This was what I was hoping wouldn't happen.

"Yeah? I... I guess we should get that out of the way..." I admitted timidly, looking to the ground. I took in a breath, and mentally braced for impact.

"You kissed me." There was no anger or anything like it in his voice, that was reassuring. It didn't change what I'd decided to do, nor the fact that I shouldn't have done it, but it was reassuring. My mouth and my brain disconnected, and I was speaking words I hadn't planned to.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done. It was stupid of me, and I probably stepped over some boundary in our relationship if you can call it that, and-"

"Rose."

"-I really don't want things to be uncomfortable between us, because we need to work together to get this stuff done, and it won't be easy to do that-"

"Rose."

"-if we've got this awkward tension between us, so I'm just gonna come out and say I'm so-" my higher-pitched babbling was suddenly cut off, though not in the way I had expected.

It was Link. Link had cut me off. Link was... Link was kissing me. Link...was...kissing me!

A/N: Sorry to anybody who was hoping for a more descriptive kiss scene. That kind of comes in the next chapter. Speaking of that, the revisions are officially complete! Yay! *party balloons fall from the ceiling and confetti flies everywhere*