A/N: More surprises ahead! I feel a bit more confident as I write this part of the story. I'll try not to make it too long for you to know the end of it!


The southern fields of the Dark Realm were full of chasms and rocky pits all around. The once green pastures were now dried up and decayed, a land of death were life had once thrived. A few evil flying creatures could be seen in the darkened sky, the sun a glowing orb barely visible through the smoky clouds, and the edge of the Skull Woods could be now seen closer with each step. They reached the first trees almost 5 hours after they had exited the tunnel and fled from the raid in the Village of Outcasts, and now the grim view of the trees in front of them, twisted and gray-barked, seemed to warn any visitors from getting inside.

"Well, nobody's home, let's go," said Zelda.

"No," said Link. "According to the map, there is supposed to be a village all the way into the woods. We must get there and see if anyone knows this Argo guy."

"Link, do you really think there is anyone living in this dark forsaken place?" asked Zelda.

"Who knows, but we must try."

They walked along the edge of the forest for a few minutes and found a sort of iron arch, rusted and twisted, which served as a doorway to a path that led into the forest. After a lot of arguing, Zelda finally agreed to follow Link and they ventured into the woods. Beams of light filtered through the treetops, and Link felt a chill going through his spine with each step they gave. They tripped several times with roots and rocks that protruded from the ground and more than once Link though he had seen a rood actually crawling out of the floor and twisting across their way.

"Zelda, take my bow and quiver and get ready to shoot at anything that moves," said Link.

Zelda complied and she stringed an arrow, ready to shoot. Link held up the Master Sword, its lilac light slightly illuminating the way in front of them, and they gave a few more steps forward. There was a rustling of leaves above them and Zelda screamed, aiming with the bow upward and trying to find the source of the sound. Link held up a hand and they both looked around, staying alert at the first sign of movement. There was another rustling and a loud crack of a tree branch breaking and an enormous skulltula fell in front of Link; a second fell behind Zelda and she gasped while tensing the string of the bow and looking at the spider.

"Next time I tell you we should leave, you listen to me," said Zelda.

"Just aim and fire!" yelled Link. Zelda released the string and an arrow sunk into one of the spider's eyes, while Link jumped forward and sunk the Master Sword into the ground, sending an electric shockwave toward the other.

Both creatures writhed in pain and lunged at them. Link pulled out the Master Sword and jumped onto one of the spiders, while Zelda jumped sideways, rolled on the floor and shot another arrow into the other spider's belly; when it raised its head, standing on its hind legs, Zelda shot another arrow straight into its heart, killing it. Meanwhile, Link struggled to hold onto the back of its own spider, which was now turning and jumping in a crazy-bull fashion. He sunk the Master Sword to the hilt into the beast's head and fell forward when the skulltula stumbled dead on the floor.

"Link, are you ok?" asked Zelda.

"I'm ok," he said, standing up and retrieving the Master Sword from the carcass. "We should move on before any other of these shows up.

They ran into the woods, encountering a few more skulltulas along the way, until it got too dark for them to see. They gave up when they reached a meadow full of dry trees and mossy rocks.

"It must be night already," said Link. "I think we should stop until it dawns again. Let's gather some wood and light a fire."

"Don't you think it will attract more enemies?" asked Zelda.

"I'm sure it will," sighed Link, "but we can't wander too much in the dark, can we?"

They managed to form a pile of dried roods, branches and bark and Link used his flit to light it up, trying for several minutes until they finally managed a spark. The fire soon lured a few thumb-sized, beetle-like, buzzing bugs that fluttered around the hearth (much to Zelda's dismay) and Link managed to shoot a bunny-like creature which ended up tasting horribly (even after cooking it dry) and they had to throw it away.

Link took the first watch, and Zelda soon dozed off despite the bugs that were starting to come in larger numbers. About an hour later, Link found himself swatting bugs with his mirror shield until the number was too large for him to be able to control them on his own. Zelda was awoken by the racket that Link was mounting, swinging his shield back and forth and slicing through the air with his sword. She gasped and wondered who she could have slept with the loud buzzing and reached for a large wooden slab to swat some of the bugs.

"What the hell is going on?!" yelled Zelda.

"I don't know!" replied Link, swatting another bug with his shield. "But I sure don't like it!"

The bugs then started to revolve around them faster than before, and Zelda screeched in horror as she felt their spiked legs clinging to her clothes and skin, scratching her here and there. Link saw no other way out, and he was about to cast the Din's Fire when he heard a rustle of footsteps running through the woods, he then saw a cloaked figure jump into the clearing, run toward the hearth, and toss some sort of stone into the fire. The fire turned then purple and started to emit a strange odor and, like if repelled by it, the swarm of bugs quickly buzzed away into the forest.

Zelda and Link panted and fell on their knees, their faces and necks full of scratches from the bugs' legs. The stranger approached them and lowered his wood, revealing his face; when Link looked up he felt his heart race inside his chest and tears started to swell his eyes.

"Are you both ok?" asked the man, looking at Link almost as surprised as he was. Link just looked at him, speechless, while Zelda looked from one to the other. "Are you ok?" he repeated in a more demanding way.

"We… we're ok," intervened Zelda. "Thank you, sir."

The man turned around to look at Zelda and opened his eyes wide.

"Is this some sort of trick from the forest?!" he cried out, as he raised his eyes into the top of the trees. "Let me be at peace!"

"Sir…" began Zelda, but the man sprinted back into the woods.

"Link, we must follow him," urged Zelda pulling Link's arm, but then she realized he was crying. "Link, what's wrong?"

"He's my dad…" said Link, "or… or at least he looks like him, just as Ravio looked like me." He got up and, before Zelda was able to say anything, he ran behind the man with Zelda in hot pursuit.


They followed the rustling sound of running footsteps ahead of them until they reached a small decayed village, apparently abandoned from all life except for the light coming from inside a small cottage in the middle of it. Link fell on his knees and couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Zelda knelt beside him and hugged him, for she knew about Link's father from the time that Tara had been locked up in the Castle with her and Viacka and she had told them how she had been captured.

"Link… we must go to him…" said Zelda.

"Yes, I'm sorry," said Link, and he wiped his tears and stood up.

They walked toward the cottage and knocked on the door. They heard a metallic sound of a blade being pulled out of its sheath and the door slammed open, the man that looked like Link's father pointing at them with a rusty blade.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" he asked imperatively. "You are not my son and you are not the princess, so don't try to deceive me, you demons!" he raised his sword, ready to strike them.

"NO, WAIT!" screamed Zelda, and she fell on her knees in front of the man.

"Zelda, no!" shouted Link.

The man reacted to Zelda's name, dropping the sword behind him and giving a few steps backward. He looked at them with a strange look on his face, like if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Zelda stood up and Link stepped in front of her.

"We are not demons," he explained. "We come from a parallel world to Lorule, called Hyrule, the Light Realm. My name is Link, and this is Princess Zelda of Hyrule."

"So…" said the man, "so it is true, then. The legends are true."

"We were sent by a man named Ravio, of whom I'm his Hylian counterpart, in search for a man named Argo."

"Ravio… Ravio…" whispered the man, absentmindedly. Link noticed that, though there was a great resemblance to his father, he was clearly malnourished and a bit crazy. "Yes, my Ravio…"

"Sir," asked Zelda, "are you him? Are you Mr. Argo?"

"Yes… yes… but you can drop the 'Mr.', your highness," he replied with an absent look. "So my Ravio is alive… yes…"

Link and Zelda exchanged a quick glance, for none of them had the heart to tell Argo about what had happened to Ravio. They decided to wait until Argo paid them further attention before attempting to go on with their conversation. It took a few minutes, but then Argo looked back at them and smiled.

"Hi, can I help you?" he asked.

"Yes," repeated Link. "We were sent by Ravio to find you. He said that you could help us gain access to Death Mountain Trail."

"So, my son said that?" asked Argo. "Did he tell you I left? How bad a father I was? I never meant to leave! I was cast away from the Lorulean Royal Guard just a couple years after he was born, but I always sent his mother a bagful of rupees! She always sent me pictures of him, how big he was getting, how strong he was. I also wrote to him sometimes, when he got older, but I never sent the letters. I was scared you know? I thought that he may have resented me for not being there. But he knew about me after all. I thought that his mother would have raised him to think that he was a bastard, with no father, no fancy bloodline… What did my boy tell you?"

Zelda's eyes were full of tears. Link held her close and looked up at the man who resembled his father so much, but had been to Ravio the complete opposite to what his own father had been, who had always been there for him. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Link spoke up again.

"He told us that you could help us access the path into Death Mountain," he repeated.

"Oh, but help you I can; however, you must bring me something first," replied Argo.

"What is it?" asked Link.

"The key," said Argo. "You will first need to get the shiny key that opens the portal back into the Light Realm, but that only works for those who, like you, belong to it."

"Were can I find this key?" asked Link.

"Oh, the key… it has been lost for so long. I heard that the Sages of Lorule hid it deep inside the forest, but nobody has ever managed to get it, or maybe nobody has had the courage? Oh, I don't remember anymore."

"Where did they hide it?" asked Link.

"Where, he asks?" muttered Argo to himself. "Well, maybe I should tell him that it's buried deep inside the Skeletal Catacombs." He turned to face Link, who was still looking at him impassively. "What are you waiting for? Head east from here and enter the cave into where the spirits of the forest dwell. Maybe you'll get the key, maybe not. Let's see if you have sufficient courage."

Link nodded and, without further words, he and Zelda exited the cottage. They ran toward the path that led east, out of the village wondering all along how to tell him that Ravio was no longer alive.