A/N: Quick Note! This chapter and probably until the end of this fic are now going to contain some familiar enemies and monsters from other Zelda games. I figured new place, old monsters, or new monsters in this case but don't worry the SS enemies are still in this story too. Let's see if you guys can figure out what the enemies are ;)

Chapter 36 The Forest

The snakes continued to fly over the waterfalls but even once the group past them, they continued to fly. They were headed towards a part of the Faron province that neither Link nor Zelda had ever been to. They glanced below as the angels flew and noticed right away that the part of the surface they hovered was different. There was nothing but forests as far as the eye could see.

It was nearly two hours before the snakes aimed for the ground. They landed in an open part of the forest, where it seemed the sun only shone down in that particular area. When the angels landed on the soft grass, they released their human before they both plopped to the ground. They were worn out from the flight and the weight of carrying the humans.

Link and Zelda smiled as they glanced at the tired boys. Link reached into his pouch and pulled out two bottles of water which he gave one to Zelda. The skyloftains approached their angel and gave them the water.

"Thanks Link!" Pit thanked him as he took the water and gulped it down. He let out a satisfied sigh as he smiled up as his friend. "That hit the spot!"

"You're welcome, buddy" Link smiled back. "You guys look worn out."

"I'm not worn out. I've flown longer than two measly hours." Dark Pit spoke in his usual arrogant tone to Link while he drank the water Zelda gave him.

Link threw him a look until Pit chuckled. "Really Pittoo? You look more tired than me."

Dark Pit glared at Pit before he dug in his satchel and brought out a bread roll to munch on. Pit saw the food and practically crawled over to Pittoo. He watched the other eat like a dog would. Dark Pit growled and tossed him an annoyed glance. Pit smiled sweetly at him which Pittoo rolled his eyes to and shoved the roll into Pit's mouth.

"What the hell is your problem?" Link snapped as he watched the two.

Dark Pit glanced at him before he shrugged and got up from the ground. He walked away from the group and started exploring the open area.

The trio watched him leave before they glanced at each other. Pit leered at Pittoo with concern as he munched on the bread roll.

"I wonder what's wrong with Pittoo?" Pit wondered.

"He's in a pissier mood than normal." Link commented as his eyes followed Pittoo.

"He's upset about something." said Zelda as she dug into her own pouch and gave the boys some sandwiches and water.

The boys thanked her as the humans joined Pit on the ground and dug into their lunch. They watched Pittoo walk around, eventually pulling out an apple and munching on it.

"What do you think upset him?" Pit asked

"Heck, if I know. Everything upsets him."

"He's been distant since this morning."

"And more of an ass."

Pit bowed his head as the memory of the night before recalled to him. Was Pittoo still upset over that conversation? Was Pittoo like this because of him? He didn't know but he wanted to find out. He glanced over at Zelda, he still wanted to talk to her about that conversation.

After the three ate their lunch, Pittoo had walked all around the opening and returned to them.

"Are we good?" Zelda asked him

Dark Pit nodded. "I don't detect any demons but there are a few monsters around here."

"You can detect those too?" asked Link.

"If their aura is dark." He glanced down at the white snakes by his feet. They glanced up at him which he gave them a quick nod. They turned and slithered the way Pittoo was facing and stood in front of the forest entrance.

Dark Pit walked towards the forest entrance where he stood a few feet from it. The trees were dark and crooked with twisted branches. They definitely gave off a creepy vibe. The inside of the forest looked dark and fog dwelling on the forest floor. He took a step inside and saw there was hardly any light inside the forest. It smelt muggy and creaked with a few weird screeches from the creatures inside.

The trio watched him stand outside the forest and check out the inside of the creepy forest.

"Is something wrong Pittoo?" Pit asked

Dark Pit ignored him.

"Are the snakes leading inside there?"asked Zelda

Dark Pit nodded. He glanced over his shoulder at them. "Draw your weapons. We're going to need them."

"Is it Ghirahim?" Link asked, hoping it wasn't.

"No, but I can tell we will need them for this place."

The trio nodded and withdrew their weapons. They approached the dark angel and joined in his gaze at the forest. A cold breeze blew out from the forest and wrapped around the teens.

"This place is creepy." Pit stated

Link chuckled and nodded his head. "Yeah, it is." He flashed Pit a coy smile. "You scared Pit?"

Pit smirked back. "I'm not afraid of anything!"

Link arched a brow before breaking into a laugh. "Want to have a courage contest?"

"Heck yeah! I'm gonna win!"

Link flashed his left palm. "I don't think so, buddy. I've got the Triforce of Courage!"

"Oh yeah? Well-"

"You two care to join us?" Zelda laughed as she and Pittoo were already walking inside the forest.

The two looked at each other and laughed before they ran after the other two.

It was darker inside the forest than the group thought. The sunlight barely shone through the trees which created a grayish blue setting. The trees had twisted barks and branches with almost no leaves growing. Roots from underneath the ground sprawled up and were spread out all over. The muggy smell was thick but not to the point where they couldn't breath. Fog hovered the ground like a thick blanket, making it nearly impossible to see the ground below.

The group walked cautiously while they glanced around the spooky setting, hearing unusual shrilled cries coming from multiple places in the forest. Link gripped the hilt of his sword while he scanned the branches. A few colored eyes glanced back at him but did nothing more than observe him. He glanced ahead to see Pittoo calm as ever, glancing sideways every now as he followed the invisible snakes.

The sky child skimmed to Zelda and saw her nervously holding her bow as she scanned the forest around them. Link reached over to her and slid his hand with hers and gave her a comforting squeeze. She glanced up at him and smiled with a light blush on her cheeks.

Link gazed over to Pit and saw the same nervousness in him as in Zelda. He smiled to himself as Pit tried to hold a brave face. He honestly was a brave little guy but he was still a kid. This forest was pretty spooky, even to him. The only one that didn't seem creeped out was Pittoo (but in Link's opinion he was a creep so he fit here nicely). Link reach over to Pit's shoulder, making the angel jump and glance up to meet soft blue eyes smiling at him. Pit masked a not very convincing brave face.

"I'm not scared."

"I know that." Link said which caused a smile to appear on Pit's lips.

They walked further into the depths of the dark forest before a shrilled cry came from somewhere behind them, causing the trio to let out an "eep". Pit and Zelda clung to Link as they nervously glanced around looking for the source of the sound. Pittoo turned around and saw them clinging to Link. He rolled his eyes at the pansies behind him until he saw Pit clinging onto Link. His eyes narrowed at him then to Link but moved behind him when something caught his eye.

A creepy skeletal dog-like creature was prowling behind them. It's skeletal head had glowing teal eyes that stared at Link and the others. It leaned down, ready to pounce. Dark Pit's reflexes kicked in: He retrieved his staff and fired a beam of pinkish-purple light at the creature pouncing. The beam struck the creature and landed on the ground.

Link, Pit and Zelda quickly turned just as they saw the creature that almost attacked them, howl before it died and bones exploded onto the ground.

"What the heck?" Pit pointed to the remains of the dog.

"What was that thing?" Zelda squeaked

"I don't know." replied Link

"Wait a minute." Dark Pit spoke, all sets of blue eyes on his red ones. "You mean you guys don't know what that was?"

The humans shook their heads.

"I've never come across anything like that before on my journey on the surface." said Link

Zelda shook her head. "Me either."

"Hmm" Dark Pit said as he turned around. More of the skeletal dogs stood in front of their path. "Looks like it had friends."

The trio glanced to see the creatures surrounding them. Each teen withdrew their weapon and aimed it at one of the dog creatures. The skeletal dogs growled as they slowly analyzed their prey. They let out a cry before they attacked.

Zelda, Pit and Dark Pit fired their projectile weapons at the creatures while Link met them head on. He blocked their moves with his shield then slashed his sword, disconnecting their head from their spine, earning howls as they fell to the ground. One of the creatures sprang onto Link and tackled him down. They bit into the sky child, earning a yelp as Link threw the creature off and accidentally throwing it to his companions. The creature attacked the closest, being Pittoo which bit into the exposed part of his leg. Dark Pit hissed at the pain before he fired his staff at it and kicked it away.

Pit and Zelda fired their arrows on the skeleton dogs, pouring out from the forest's shadows. The two were firing as fast as they could bit couldn't keep up fast enough to cover Link. Pit narrowed his eyes, letting out a battle cry and ran with his bow towards the dogs coming for him. He spun his bow with such speed that he was creating a ring that literally shred the creatures to bits.

Link glanced over at Pit and nearly dropped his jaw at the move he was performing. He was moving his bow so fast he could only make out a bright light from it. He grinned before he was surrounded by the creatures. He positioned himself just so, held his blade vertically then performed the spin attack, instantly slicing the creatures in half.

With the two heroes meleeing, Dark Pit and Zelda were able to use their bow and staff and fire the creatures coming from the shadows. The two made sure to watch the heroes' back while they took out the large groups.

Finally the battle ended and all the skeleton dogs were dead, nothing but bones lying underneath the blanket of fog. Pit and Link panted as they glanced up at each other and gave a high-five.

"You're really good with that thing." complimented Link.

"Yeah, I know." Pit said confidently. "You're really good with your sword too! I thought I saw a light come off your sword."

Link nodded. "Yeah, the Master Sword leaves a trail of light when I slash with it."

"That's really neat!"

"Oh, Zelda, you and Pittoo sure did a great job covering our asses while we fought those creepy things." Zelda did a voice impersonation of Link. "Where we would be without you two?"

Dark Pit couldn't help but grin and let out a small laugh at the blonde girl.

Link flashed an apologetic smile Zelda's way. "Sorry, you guys did do a good job covering our 'asses'."

"Damn right we did!" Zelda said, placing her hands on her hips and smiling down at them triumphantly.

"You guys really did!" Pit agreed before flashing both Zelda and Pittoo a smile.

Zelda giggled while Pittoo said nothing. He just peered down at Pit with those unreadable red eyes of his before he turned away. Pit let out a sigh and frowned as he watched his twin. Link noticed this and placed a hand on his shoulder and offered a soft smile.

"Don't worry about him." instructed Link. "I'm sure he's just having an episode."

"I guess so." Pit said as he rubbed his other arm, nervously. He glanced up at Pittoo who had his arms crossed and was waiting for them to catch up.

He ran up to Pittoo and offered a smile. When he only received a frown back, he reached for Pittoo's hand and snuggled up to him. Dark Pit glared at him and removed his hand from Pit's and walked ahead. Pit watched with a heavy heart as the other walked away. He let out a sigh and decided to walk alongside Link.

Link noticed the angel's sadden state. He flashed a look at Pittoo then at Zelda, who nodded and walked faster to catch up with the darker Pit. His eyes fell on Pit again and decided to try and cheer him up.

"So what do you call that move? The one where you spun the bow in your hands super fast."

"I call it the Angel Ring." Pit offered a small smile. "It's helped me in the past deal with large number of enemies."

Link chuckled as he stretched his arms. "It's a cool move."

"Thanks. What about yours? What do you call that spinny move?"

Link laughed. "I call it the Spin Attack."

Pit laughed too. "Nice and simple!"

"And to the point" He winked.

Link did a good job keeping Pit's spirit's up (of course it wasn't hard) but a few times he caught the angel glancing ahead at the other and sigh. Link followed his gaze to Zelda, whom looked back and gave him a quick head shake. She wasn't getting anything out of the darker angel. He sighed and said a few silent curses towards Pittoo. His dislike for the guy started up again when he thought of how badly he's been treating Pit. He honestly had no idea what happened between the two but it hurt him to see Pit sad about it. It was clear to him that Pittoo really didn't care about Pit's feelings.

The teens walked through the old quiet forest, the only sounds being loud cries that came from either those skeleton-looking dogs or something else. They had walked for a couple hours without stop and it seemed like they weren't really getting anywhere. Everything in the forest looked exactly the same.

"Everything looks the same~" whined Pit.

"It's a forest, Pit. They often look the same." Link said.

"Are we lost?"

"No!" Dark Pit snapped. "The snakes are still guiding us."

Pit groaned.

Zelda and Link glanced at the angel and laughed while Dark Pit rolled his eyes. The dark angel stopped in his tracks before mumbling something to the snakes. He turned to the group and crossed his arms.

"Let's take a break." He said, while he glanced in a different direction. "Though no one should wander around. I'm picking up something...unusual."

"What is it?" asked Zelda

"Is it Ghirahim?" Link asked.

Pittoo shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what it is but it's not the freak show. It feels...weird."

"How so?"

"I don't know it just doesn't feel right."

"How close is it to us?"

Again, Dark Pit shrugged. "Not too close but not too far." He turned his attention back to his companions. His eyes landing on Pit. "Don't wander off."

Pit nodded as he collapsed onto the ground and groaned. He took off his sandals and rubbed his aching feet. The humans laughed and passed around the food they had in their pouches and some water. Pit thanked his friends as he gobbled the food down. Dark Pit didn't accept any of the food but took the water. Link and Zelda sat against a tree while the snacked on their food.

The area they were in was different from the other part of the forest. It was no longer muggy but it smelt fresh, like rain had come and cleaned out the forest. The ground was a bit softer than it had been before, almost muddy even. They sat in what looked like old ancient ruins that had been completely taken over by the forest plants.

"I wonder what this used to be?" Zelda pondered.

Link shrugged as he took a bite into an apple. "Maybe it was something back in the days of war with the Demon King."

"Maybe."

Zelda glanced at the ruins before she noticed Pittoo still gazing away into a darker part of the forest. His eyes were alert but calm as he scanned the forest.

"Are you okay Pittoo?" Zelda asked him.

Link and Pit turned their attention to Pittoo and tensed up, not enjoying seeing their leader so tense.

The dark angel didn't looked at them. "I'm fine."

"Is something wrong?" Pit asked.

"No, I just don't like what I'm feeling."

"What are you feeling?" he asked innocently.

Pittoo shrugged. "I don't know. Tingly maybe. It just feels weird."

"Is it from whatever it is you're picking up?"asked Link

"Yes." he was silent for a bit before he spoke up again. "I don't want to stay here too long."

The trio exchanged looks. They didn't like seeing Pittoo like this at all. It was nice that he could pick up on dark auras but to see him somewhat spooked or nervous was not reassuring for them. Throughout their whole journey in the forest, never once did Dark Pit seem afraid or even concerned about the monsters nearby but this was a red flag. If something was bothering Pittoo this badly (and isn't Ghirahim) it was a sign to be cautious.

Pit stood up and glanced around the forest before he started walking off. His motion grabbed his companion's attention.

"Pit?"

"Where the hell are you going?" snapped Dark Pit.

Pit glanced back at his friends with innocent blue eyes. "I have to pee~."

Dark Pit grumbled. "Fine, but don't go too far! I want to get out of here."

"Are you scared~?" Link mocked him even though he knew he shouldn't. He couldn't help it.

Red eyes narrowed into his blue ones. "I'm not scared!"

While Link teased and joked around with Pittoo, Pit slipped into the forest and walked around, searching for the best spot that was secluded but not too far.

He walked up to the tree, undid his belt and pulled down his pants and did his business. Once he released himself, he pulled up his pants and was tying his belt back when he tensed up. The area around him was cold and rather suffocating. He glanced around his surroundings, trying to figure out if anything was nearby causing him to feel this way. He found nothing. He bit his lip and quickly tied his belt and walked away. Only, he couldn't. Something grabbed his ankle and tugged him down into a narrow pit.

He let out a shout as he landed at the bottom of the pit which his body collapsed into some thick mud. The mud had gotten all over his body and wings. He stood up only to slide back down into the mud. He attempted again, this time successful and glanced up at the hole he had fallen into. He opened his wings and tried to fly out but the mud had caused the feathers to stick together.

He sighed and cupped his mouth, about to call for help when he felt the mud around him shuffle a bit.

"Huh?" He squeaked and looked around. "Hello?"

He received nothing which he shrugged it off and thought it was his mind playing tricks on him. He inhaled in attempt to call out again when something shot up from the ground near him. He let out a startled cry as he fell to the ground, each time feeling more things shooting up from the ground. He quickly got to his feet and saw long, gangling pale arms with red blood-like marks on them.

Pit let out a scream as the arms bent and lunged for them. He dodged a few of their grasps, sliding in the mud and calling out desperately for his friends.

"Link! Pittoo! Zelda! Help me!" He called out before a hand grabbed him by the wings.

Pit cried out and tried to wiggle out of the thing's grasp before another one grabbed him, holding him completely in place and unable to move. He felt the mud underneath him rumble before a hideous creature appeared. It's body was flabby, almost tumorous mass and covered in patches of something that looked like blood. It had two tiny arms that terminate in sharp red spines rather than hands. It's head was gigantic with a gaping mouth armed with huge teeth. Its eyes were black and expressionless, and it's jaw was opened incredibly wide.

The angel screamed as the creature moved towards him.