I know it's been a LONG absence. All I can say is that, life happened. I lost motivation for a really long time. However, I think I am going back to normal when it comes to writing. I decided to gift you guys with two new chapters. These were tricky to write, but I do hope you enjoy!

I unfortunately do not own anything.

Chapter 13: The Dry Truth

The constant confidence that would move within her body was suddenly gone as she looked into Link's eyes. No cockiness, no arrogance. Absolutely nothing.

The entire situation had been serious since the beginning. He saw her angry and upset- filled with rage and anger, but he's never seen this look in her eyes.

She held his gaze as she swallowed. She knew he could read her like a book by this point. She wasn't sure if to be happy that he was observant or hate him for it. She couldn't even describe how she felt at the moment. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him. All she could see was the memories of the time she first met him as a wolf and then a scared farm boy. But that scared farm boy that was determined on finding his friends was long gone.

Link had come a long way. He put up with her insults, with the way she treated him. He put up with everything- hardly ever snapping at her because of it. She tested his patience more than once, but he kept it together. He really was the Hero that they needed.

And then she looked at the rest of their unusual group. Unusual was the best way to describe them, but they were allies. Kagome was still an enigma, but she was powerful. The rest had proved to be useful, even if at times she liked getting on Inuyasha's nerves on purpose.

They had spirit. They were fighting for the opportunity of going back home, and by doing so, they were putting their lives on the line for this world. She wasn't sure how they would react to what she was going to say, and in all honesty she really didn't care.

The only one she owed an explanation to was Link.

He noticed the way her red eyes took in a darker hue as she figured out how to start. He didn't say anything, as he knew first hand that pressuring the imp was never a good thing.

She would never sincerely speak of her feelings. Just about her revenge. Revenge for her people. So, he waited for her as all they could hear around them was the sound of the wind moving the sand gently. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. As she took a deep breath, her eyes connected with his blue ones, and finally spoke.

"Back in the lake, with the spirit. Do you remember what it said about the Fused Shadow?"

There was something about her voice that he couldn't find his voice to reply. He gave her a single nod instead.

"Those magic wielders, the ones that tried to rule the Sacred Realm were banished. All throughout Hyrule, they were chased and thrown into another realm by your goddesses. The world they were sent to was my home. Known as the antithesis of Hyrule, where the sun would shine bright… but its denizens became shadows and they were incapable of mingling with the light. Eventually it was to be known as the Twilight Realm, and no one from there could return to the world of light."

Her eyes were shining as her tone shifted, "Everyone there was forever doomed- to live in a world with half-light of dusk!" Her voice cracked, making her stop and look down, "Just mere shadows of Hyrule…"

Kagome could feel tears threatening to fall as she listened to her tale. Forgotten was already the clear heat bearing down on them at that moment. All of them were captivated, not removing their eyes away from the imp as she continued her tale. She could feel the emotion that Midna was emitting with just mere words and it was obvious to anyone that knew the imp, that she was holding her emotions back still.

Midna looked at the rest of them as her eyes landed back to Link, "That is the history of the Twili, of my people that has been passed down from our ancestors. Do you now understand what I am?" she asked as her voice rose, "I'm a descendant of the tribe that was banished to the Twilight Realm!" a shuddered breath slipped from her lips, and unconsciously bit her bottom lip with her fang as she tried to regain control of herself. She brought out her hands and a look of disgust spread through her face, "It was a peaceful place, until Zant took control of the Twilight Realm and transformed almost all of the Twili into shadow beasts."

Sango gasped, "So… the monsters that appeared in our world, that we killed…"

She couldn't finish. She felt beyond sick. They killed Midna's people. Innocent people that were shown a terrible fate. All her mind could think about was of that fateful night at the castle. When the best slayers, her brother, father, and herself went to exterminate a demon. When Naraku took control over Kohaku and her brother mindlessly killed everyone, including her father and almost herself. Bodies falling into their deaths after they were met by his weapon. She had seen her brother's guilt, as it had not been that long ago that she figured out that he remembered everything and he refused to be with her because of his own guilt.

And she had killed someone else's people without knowing.

The tears that Kagome had tried to hold back fell freely then as her heart felt heavy at the thought of it. She had come up close to the shadow beasts. They were horrifying and dangerous. She couldn't see their faces because of the stone like helmets on their heads, but their shrill screams haunted her. A few times she would wake up in the middle of the night because of nightmares.

They had been innocent. Controlled by a man that all he wanted was power. Sacrificing his own people for his bidding.

Inuyasha placed a strong hand on her shoulder as he could feel her distress, and she was thankful for the kind gesture. He was no idiot after all. Kagome despised death, but primarily, the death of the innocent. She reached and grasped his clawed hand with hers.

Link felt his heart drop to his stomach heavily. He had lost count of how many had fallen at the hand of his blade, or any of his weapons. Not once did she say anything or implied anything on who they truly were. She had helped him as a wolf, being able to take multiple in one shot. He thought she hated the creatures, but through her insults, she was suffering for them.

Midna recognized the look in Link's face and shook her head, "Don't apologize. It is not worth putting that over your shoulders. What's done is done. All I know is that it is clear he somehow gained a great evil power previously unknown to my people. In any case… I was vanished by him and when I tried going back, I could no longer go back into the Twilight because of him. However, there's another tale told by my people."

Miroku's eyebrows furrowed. "What is it?"

"Even if the goddesses forbade my people from ever stepping into the light again, they did leave one link between the light and the darkness. It is called the Mirror of Twilight."

"That's what the Princess said… when we went to the Castle…" Kagome trailed off as she tried to remember Zelda's words.

Midna nodded, "It was passed to the protectors of Hyrule. That … That is the only path to the Twilight Realm and we must get there. My world depends on it. Your world does too probably."

And the following question was for everyone, but she waited for his answer as she asked, "You'll come with me… won't you?"

She saw the ferocity flash in his eyes, that look she saw from him as a wolf. He already had a bone to pick with Zant, for what he did to his own world, but now knowing more the severity of what the supposed Twili Ruler had done, he was more determined than ever to settle things.

"I will."

Traveling through the desert proved to be a difficult task for all of them. The amount of sweat that they had shed for the days they traveled was unbelievable. Their clothes clung to their bodies by both sand and sweat. Even Inuyasha's fire rat haori couldn't withstand the dreadful heat. The heat of the sun, that sometimes it felt like it was mocking them, was draining their energy at a fast pace. Kagome sometimes had to rest either on Inuyasha's back or Kirara's since the heat was affecting her the most out of everyone. The first day she had been able to travel and withstand the hell they were walking on. She had stopped caring that sand had made its way inside her boots. She wanted to prove that she could do it, but it wasn't until the second day that she collapsed on her feet,and after that, she was told she would have to be carried at times.

They were thirsty and exhausted, but they knew better than to finish the water they had packed on them. They weren't sure how much longer it would take to reach the prison, let alone how long it would take for them to find the mirror too.

However, the heat of the giant star above them wasn't the only thing that they had to deal with. Inuyasha and Sango got accidentally injured by a form of flesh eating worms that would travel through the sand. Thankfully it had been minor wounds that Kagome had been able to fix. The last thing they needed was one of them catching an infection in the middle of nowhere. They traveled more carefully, until Link figured out that he could use the clawshot to remove the worms from the sand and kill them before they could attack them.

They traveled through the hot sands and withstood the chilling air during the night. Kagome was sure she had lost a couple of pounds during the days they traveled through the desert. Even if they could see the outline of the prison, it was still miles and miles away from them. They couldn't continue forcing Shippo and Kirara to transport them. By the night of the third day of traveling, both demons couldn't continue as much as they previously were. They had gotten about half way there, or at least that's what Link was hoping.

By the fourth day, they had been successful in finding the remaining piece of the Eldin Bridge. However, shadow beasts appeared as if on cue. The instant guilt that Link had felt during Midna's story overwhelmed him, but her high pitch angry voice snapped him out of it. They disposed of them quickly, and Kagome couldn't help but say a silent prayer. Midna didn't even bat an eye, but it was obvious she was using the excuse of returning the bridge to get away for a bit. As they were gone, Link had left them the Hawkeye he had gotten from Kakariko Village a while back. Sango was scouting the sands, when finally in the distance, she saw smoke and the low glow of the amber light of a fire.

"Besides those worm things, these are the first monsters we've come across," she murmured quietly, even if the Bukoblins were miles away from them.

Shippo skeptically looked at the flying thing that kept going around the stone they were sitting on, "So, that's not a monster?"

Inuyasha ignored the kit as he placed his hands inside his haori, "They're not far from the entrance. We make too much noise killing them, it's going to attract others. We could be surrounded in minutes."

Kagome gave him a look, "You're actually being strategic instead of rushing in with your sword?"

He growled at her, but before he could comment something back, Midna and Link re appeared.

"Everything went well?" Miroku inquired as Midna stretched her limbs behind Link. Still in wolf form, he grunted, then looking back at Midna who caught what he wanted. In mere seconds, he was a human again.

Link was fixing his hair as he dryly looked at the imp, "A lot easier than I thought, although for a second I thought she was going to drop it into its own demise."

She angrily flashed her fangs at him, "I knew what I was doing!"

And just like that, she disappeared in his shadow. Sango approached him and gave him the hawkeye, "We have discovered where we need to go next, however, we need to figure out how to be cautious to not get caught."

Link grabbed the item from her hand and followed the direction where she was pointing at. He could see the towers made out of wood and the low amber light of a fire pit.

"We should do it now," Kagome said as she approached them, "We wait until morning, the heat is going to be our own worst enemy."

Link seemed to be going over a plan in his head when his eyes landed on Shippo who was eating some beef jerky that he got from Kagome's pack, "I'll take him with me. I can take them out and signal the rest of you to come. The less noise we make, the better."

Shippo's emerald eyes went wide, "W-Why m-me?"

Link ignored the nervous tone of voice from the kit, "Kirara can take the rest of them once we are done. You can transform into a bird right? It'll be easy. We will use the night sky to our advantage."

Inuyasha scoffed, "You think that's going to work? Look at the damn fox, he's shaking already."

Kagome smacked the back of his head, "Stop it. It's a good plan," she walked up to Shippo who was visibly shaking, "You can do it."

His wide eyes looked up at her and he swallowed. He could do it. He was scared, but he could do it.

"Alright!"

Link smirked, "That's the spirit. Let's go."

Shippo transformed into his bird form and without a second thought, Link jumped on.

The small fox demon thought it was going to be difficult following the directions of the hero, but he was surprised to see that Link wasn't speaking to him like a child. His voice was calm, but authoritative as he told Shippo what to do in the air, how high to go or how low. Shippo could hear him readying his bow and arrow.

"When I tell you when, go as low as you can at a high speed and turn upwards to your right. I should be able to hit all of them."

Link waited and waited, and it wasn't until a third bokoblin joined the other two that were around a boar that was cooking, that he told Shippo to go. Shippo maneuvered his wings, the cold air of the night sweeping through his feathers as he dove down. Link had never shot three arrows at the same time, but it was gonna have to do if he wanted things to be done quickly. With an agility that even Shippo was surprised with, he swerved towards the right, the wind going through his feathers as Link shifted his weight and let go of the arrows. They zoomed, and both could hear the arrows hitting impact with the monsters.

Kagome was watching them excitedly through hawkeye, seeing that Link's plan was working with ease. The few monsters that were left, she could see, were clueless on what was happening. She saw some of them riding boars, but Shippo was faster than them and had the advantage of taking off to the sky. She saw fire arrows being fired at them, but they were never hit, from what she could see at least. It didn't take long to finally see a ball of fox fire going up, signaling them to start going over. Inuyasha opted out with running while the others rode Kirara through the dark sky.

As they were making their way over, Kagome couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the amount of sand dunes that there was. So many of them, as far as the eye could see. As the fire cat demon continued to take into the dark sky, eventually they could see more clearly one of the tallest stone pillars they had ever seen further into the entrance. There were several of them, and from what she could make out, she could see the symbol of the Triforce in one of them.

Link was just getting rid of the last bokoblin at the top of the watch tower when the others reached them.

They walked to what it seemed to be the entrance, taking in the pieces of wood making a barricade to stop them from going in. Miroku was going to suggest that a boar running through it would probably destroy it, but Inuyasha had jumped at the opportunity to destroy it with his sword. It made a lot of noise, but it wasn't enough for them to be surrounded.

Link was swift, and quickly took the lead and took out the bokoblins that could have seen them the moment they would go around the corner. From then, they couldn't see if there were more, but Shippo and Inuyasha could hear them in the distance.

"Kagome," Link said quietly, "I need you to cover me. You're the only one with a bow and arrow. We can take them out from a distance. Whatever gets through us, they can cover us."

She was nervous that he was placing so much on her, but it was the way he was looking down at her, that she nodded. She gripped her bow in her left and took a hold of an arrow. Sango readied her boomerang in case she needed to cover Kagome by using it as a shield. Shippo hopped on Miroku's shoulder while Inuyasha placed a hand on the hilt of tetsusaiga.

It was tricky to say the least. The night sky was an advantage, but if they were not careful enough, it could turn into a disadvantage for them.

The creatures fell to their demise as they traveled through the strange bulblin base. They got spotted a few times, which created for others to show. Arrows with fire at the tips were shot at them and they did their best to avoid them. There was no way Inuyasha could use the wind scar as there wasn't enough space without risking one of his own to get hurt.

For a moment they believed they were all clear and getting close to the entrance of the prison, however, a fire arrow came straight at Kagome. Link, who saw it coming by the way he was standing, grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away, but the arrow ended up going on his right shoulder.

Sango heard him groan and she hurled her boomerang at the tower where the arrow had come from. Kagome made him sit quickly, as she could see the blood already staining his dark green tunic. Miroku went to one of the entrances while Inuyasha went to the other, just to ensure that no more of them would come in.

He was biting his tongue as his adrenaline was fading and he could feel the burning sensation of the arrow. He knew it had gone through, which was a good thing, but it hurt like a bitch.

He followed Kagome's instructions as she was removing everything he had on his back so she could take off the top of his tunic. By the time she did, blood kept trailing down his chest and on his back.

He hissed, "Just break it and finish pulling it off."

Midna came out of her shadow to help Kagome. Kagome opted out with holding him still so the imp could do it. He bit his tongue again, now tasting his own blood, as he felt Midna break it and then pulling the tip of the arrow on the other side. Kagome raised her hand to start to heal him, but he grabbed her wrist.

She turned her head in his direction, confused on why he would stop her. Her heart skipped a beat at the proximity of their faces.

He was panting, "Don't. That drains you. We may need it inside the prison."

She was about to argue with him, but Midna cut her off.

"Do we have anything to wrap it with?"

Sango walked up to them and handed them one of her hand wraps, "I have this, would it be enough?"

Link looked at it and nodded. Midna noticed the off energy that Kagome was having, so she ended up being the one to wrap the Hero's shoulder.

He took a deep breath after he finished putting everything back on with Midna's help. He knew it was going to be difficult to raise his shield now, but he didn't have much of a choice. They weren't sure how long they were going to be there for. And there was also the fact on who knows what could be inside the prison.

With a clenched jaw and a hand tightly gripping his bow, he said "Let's go."

He was panting heavily as he got up and dusted himself off. The throbbing on his already injured shoulder increased, but he couldn't let that stop him.

Riding the large hog had been completely different than riding Epona or one of the goats from his village. It was brutal how it all came down to, but at least they were now at the bottom steps of the entrance of the prison.

Kagome swallowed heavily as she stared at it. She didn't like what she was feeling. They were not even inside yet and she could already feel the souls of the dead. It made the fine hairs of her arms rise. She turned to look at the others. Miroku looked thoughtful as he stared at the massive worn down structure. Sango was concentrated as she tightened the strap of her boomerang, Kirara jumping on her shoulder with a tiny meow. She could feel Shippo's small hands gripping her leg, slightly shaking as he was terrified of going in there. Even Inuyasha looked thoughtful.

Link didn't say anything as he started to make his way up, the others following closely. He clenched his jaw as he took in the empty darkness of the entrance when they reached it. Arbiter's Ground. He could not see the end of the daunting tunnel. He looked at the small kit, "Can you give us some light?"

Still shaking, the small fox demon nodded his head. With some hesitation due to fear, he jumped on the hero's good shoulder and raised his hand, where a green flame appeared, providing more light in the dark entrance.

They carefully made their way down. Kagome could feel herself shivering as she could feel more of the souls of the dead. She never thought she would be this sensitive to it, but her powers had increased for the time she had been in Hyrule. Could also be that this place just held too much sorrow and darkness.

Subconsciously, she found herself reaching for Link, slightly gripping his sleeve as they made their way down. He didn't say anything, but instead of having her grip his sleeve, he made her grab his hand tightly.

She hated the feel of this place. Due to the eerie feeling and being in an enclosed corridor, the only sounds that were heard were their breathing and their shoes hitting the floor as they carefully walked.

Link was grateful that Shippo was providing light for them. If he had to walk through the corridor in pitch darkness, he probably would be more paranoid. He already hated this place. They finally emerged in a circular chamber, and as much as he would like to be surprised, he wasn't. The chamber barely had some stable stone on the floor to walk on and the higher pillars barely were standing as well. To their luck, quick sand is what was in the open area. One misstep and they could be pulled to their deaths by being suffocated by the sand.

"Can you use your clawshot there?" Inuyasha asked as he pointed to a grating on the wall.

"Shippo used a lot more energy after traveling and then helping you," Miroku cut in, "It is best we don't push him further, or Kirara. We may need them later."

"There's the gate on the other side, that's probably where we need to go."

Inuyasha did not waste time and got a hold of Kagome. With two swift hops, he was already on the other side. Link got a hold of his clawshot and looked at Sango. She was hesitant, as he would have to grab her with his right, where his injury laid on his shoulder.

"It's fine. Come on."

He hated that he was already injured before entering the prison, but he didn't have much of a choice. He was also still sore from his fight with King Bulblin. As they got to the platform, she hopped to one, and then the next. However, there came the moment to see that she would have to run across the sand. Kirara then transformed as she did not want to risk her sinking into the quick sand. There was another grating where Miroku was, so he was able to go back to the other man. Kirara flew over, deciding that it was best just to carry both of them.

Link could only look down at the quick sand. At least it was better than being burned alive like how he thought back at the mines.

However, he couldn't figure out which death would be worse.

They got the gate open and continued. Shippo still kept providing much needed light. Kagome huffed as she removed sand from her boots again. She never thought that something as stupid as sand could be annoying. It didn't help that it would stick to her skin like a second layer. It was itchy and uncomfortable. Jumping into the lake was sounding better and better the more she thought about it.

They found lantern oil, which it drew multiple questions on who in their right mind would have a cauldron filled with it in such a creepy and uncomfortable place. At least it gave Shippo a chance to relax for a bit.

As she was putting her boot back on, she felt something crawling on the back of her neck. Automatically she slapped whatever it was, but then the same sensation she started to feel it going up her bare leg.

She let out a high pitch scream immediately. Link's heart sank as he turned around and Inuyasha quickly drew Tetsusaiga out of its hilt.

"Get it off! Get it off!"

Sango's eyes were wide. There were so many of the crawling insects, "We need to get out of here!"

Link was trying to get the insects off of the young woman, but the tiny creatures were stubborn. An idea came to his mind, but he needed her to stay still.

"Don't move!"

Her eyes were on the brim of tears, "What?!"

"Don't move!"

He then brought the lantern closer to her, just to see that the insects could not withstand the heat. She winced as the heat was too strong, but she realized it was the better way to get rid of them. Shippo then came to where the small hoard of insects were crawling out of and set them all on fire. Miroku started pushing the door open, "Let's go!"

They ran, and as Inuyasha was closing it again, Link was already looking over at Kagome. In certain areas of her legs and arms her skin was more red due to the fire. He felt guilty but she shook her head, "It's okay. Thank you."

The way she looked at him made him stop whatever he was going to say. He cleared his throat and looked around. The room was even darker than the last. Even his lantern and Shippo were not able to light the whole room.

That's when they heard it and saw it. The small shadows of skeleton bodies with weapons making their way at them. Inuyasha was able to defeat them all quickly, as his sword was bigger and capable of taking out more with one swing. They could just stare at the piles of bones that were now on the ground.

"I fucking hate this place."

Everyone could only nod in agreement with the half demon.

It wasn't until they reached a new chamber with four blue tinted flames that Kagome felt wrong being there. She felt a chill go down her spine as they were carefully walking in. She could feel an ominous presence as all of a sudden, those four blue flames started spinning around, three of them going to different sections.

You don't belong…

You're not Kikyo…

You're weak…

The hissing of whispers made her jump, looking around the cold chamber for the voice, but nothing.

"Who is that?"

Your brother is dead…

He depended on you…

Sango whirled around, boomerang raised.

The emptiness will swallow you whole…

Miroku's eyes narrowed as he looked.

You're just a half demon…

Kikyo didn't want you…

Kagome doesn't either…

Inuyasha growled loudly as he looked around.

Sweet sweet hero…

You can't win against the shadows…

Darkness will consume everyone you love…

He could feel his heartbeat increase. The whispering almost sounded snake-like, hissing in his head. As he looked at the others, he had a feeling they had heard something too. Shippo was shivering as he held onto Kagome's leg. The young woman was pale.

The one remaining blue flame was floating around them, almost mockingly. They couldn't attack as they were not sure what it was.

But the one that could see its true form was Kagome when she locked eyes with the flame that was now in front of her. Cold sweat started to drip from her forehead and the color drained from her face. Her voice seemed to be lost as she couldn't find the strength to scream.

Link noticed the fear in her eyes and quickly had Midna turn him into a wolf again. He grunted as he got used to being an animal again. His animalistic eyes turned to where she was looking and he could now understand the fear.

The cloaked spirit seemed something out of this world, something worse. Its dark hollows of eyes were more chilling than anything he had ever seen. He could feel Kagome's fear increase when the spirit opened its mouth, that that's when he lunged.

He wasn't sure if it would even work. It was a spirit. As his fangs bared and made contact with it, he was surprised to see that he was actually causing damage.

The other three could only stare in confusion until finally, the spirit was visible to them. Miroku threw a sutra that seemed to stop the spirit's unleash of attacks, giving Link the perfect opportunity to finish it off. The blue flame came out of the spirit's chest and swiftly moved back to its place.

Midna was panting now that it was over. She removed herself from Link's back and floated over to the pillars, "We have to find the other three then."

Link growled in agreement. He then moved over to Kagome, who was still pale from the face. He nudged her with his nose, letting out a soft whine.

She looked at him, her fingers gently tracing his fur on his head.

She took a deep breath, her voice shaking as she looked at the rest.

You're just a weak priestess…

Who would want you...

"I think we are gonna have to split up."