A few hours earlier, the group in Faron Woods had made it across the swamp and were making their way to the Forest Temple. Ivena had calmed down, and they figured that Link would be able to rescue Linkle and find his way back to them. As they approached the temple, Zelda realized that she had no idea what they were looking for.
"Midna, you've been here before, do you remember anything from last time? Maybe an area that you didn't explore"? Zelda asked.
"Well, now that you mention it, I do remember a few things. This is where we saved all the monkeys, got the Boomerang that contained the Fairy of Winds, and where we fought Ook and Diababa" Midna recalled.
"After his adventures, Link put all of his equipment back where he found it. He said it was out of respect for the ancient structures. So, maybe we need to find the boomerang again" Zelda explained.
The group entered the temple and were met with darkness. Midna lit a nearby stick on fire and gasped as she saw something move in the shadows. It was followed by a muffled scream. Then, Midna's torch briefly went out, and when she lit it again something had changed. As she looked around, Midna noticed that she was now in a different section of the temple, and alone. She started backing up, but stopped as she felt something breathing down her neck. She trembled in fear as she turned around and saw herself. Except, it was her true self, and not the imp body that she currently had. The other Midna turned towards her and began to pace around her.
"Poor little Midna, weak and all alone. Separated from her tribe and throne. So tired and confused is she. Why does this appear to be me? Do not worry tiny one. For this darkness has just begun" the figure said in a warped version of Midna's voice.
"Why must you speak in rhymes"? Asked Midna.
"It is the work of the evil one. The one that has a vile tongue" replied the shadow.
"So, are you real"? Midna asked playfully.
"Well of course I'm real! I've come to make a deal" the shadow replied, annoyed. "In return for your beauty and throne, the master wants you to be his own" the shadow said enticingly.
"What do you mean by be his own"? Midna asked.
"That business is his own. For now he sits on Hyrule's throne. Desperate and all alone. He speaks in enraged tones. While his minions sit and moan" the shadow continued.
"Can't you just answer a question with a straight answer?! Stop speaking in rhymes"! Midna yelled, annoyed.
"No! Why don't you understand? Just accept the deal and take my hand"! the figure shouted now angry.
"Well I can't accept the deal if I don't know what I'm getting myself into" Midna replied with a grin.
"Why are you making things so difficult?! This isn't my fault! I'm not the one who…who…" the figure's voice trailed off as she couldn't think of a rhyme. She began to scream as she began to melt away. Within a few seconds she disappeared. When she was gone, Midna found herself in the room where Link had fought Diababa.
"Well, that was interesting. At least now that's over. Now to find…" Midna was cut off as Diababa began to rise from the pool of water.
"Oh come on! You were supposed to be dead"! Midna shouted angrily.
Meanwhile, Ursula found herself also in darkness and separated from the group. Suddenly, a dark figure appeared out of the shadows. It was her brother Colin. Ursula ran to him, but she stopped as she realized that it wasn't really him. He began pacing around her, just as Midna's shadow had done.
"Do you really think that you could learn to fight?! You're just a little girl! There's nothing special about you"! He said rudely.
"That's…that's not true! I have a piece of the Triforce of Wisdom"! Ursula tried to fight back.
"What?! That little tattoo on your hand?! That doesn't make you special! I'm the one that Link personally trained! How much combat have you done? Oh right, none"! The shadow chuckled.
"Well…I've met the Princess and she cares for me"! Ursula shouted back.
"But you're nothing to her. She probably mistook you for a poor little orphan"! He shouted back.
"You take that back"! Ursula yelled angrily.
"No, you know it's true. All you'll ever be is a poor defenseless little orphan"!
"No! That's not true! You're not even real! You're just a monster sent here to scare me"! Ursula shouted back.
"That may be true, but you can't defeat me. You have no weapons and no Princess to save you"! He chided in.
"That may be true, but there is one thing that I have that you don't" Ursula smiled.
"And what is that"? Asked the shadow mockingly.
"The power to see the truth"! Ursula shouted.
At that moment, light began to shine through the darkness and the fake Colin melted away to reveal the room she was actually in.
The room appeared to still be part of the temple, but Ursula quickly realized the problem. She was in a cage made of thick wooden bars. She turned around and was surprised to see that she wasn't alone. There were two monkeys as well as Linkle and Link. Ursula was overjoyed to see them, but quickly became sad due to their unfortunate circumstances.
"You're alive"! Ursula exclaimed, "But, we're trapped. Do you know how we got here? How did you survive the fall? Who are those monkeys"? Ursula eagerly asked.
Link put a paw to his forehead and shook his head as if to say "Oh boy, here we go again". Then, Ursula quickly realized that she had no way to communicate with the animals and slumped down to the ground.
"I forgot I can't understand you," she said. Since she couldn't communicate with them, she told them what had happened since Linkle fell and Link jumped after her, including their walk to the Forest Temple, then being split apart, and the shadow Colin that she had faced. The animals listened intently, and once she finished, the two monkeys came forward. They revealed their true Kokiri forms to her and explained what had happened, what the Kokiri were, and that they were Saria and Mido.
It turns out that after they had left for the Forest Temple, they encountered the same fate as the others, but instead of being separated, they had been put in the cage. Saria also explained that the pieces of the Triforce were beginning to awaken, and that memories from previous bearers were coming back. This power awakening was how Linkle was able to survive the fall with minimal injuries.
Meanwhile, Ivena found herself in a shadow battle as well. This one was a shadow of her sister, and was trying to convince her that she could never be better than sister. However, Ivena was smart enough to see through the shadow, and quickly destroyed it. However, after this shadow came another one. This time it was of herself, but she was different. Her skin was that of a light dweller, and so were her ears. Her eyes were the same red as before, but also mixed with yellow and gold. Her hair was much more red than before, and her skin was darker than any light dweller she had ever seen. She was garbed in a purple robe with a red symbol on it. It was an eye with a teardrop. Ivena stared at it, and was immediately shocked as she saw her reflection stabbed in the back. The figure pulled the knife back out, and her reflection turned to dust. When the dust cleared Ivena saw the murderer, and it was Zant. Ivena screamed and ran away as he began to chase her with the knife.
Ivena screamed when she woke up. It took her a few moments to realize that it was only a dream. Except, it had felt much more real than a dream, and it had exhausted her like the vision she had had in the Hyrule Castle dungeons. She was still in the entrance of the Forest Temple, but everyone else was gone. Except, there were two trails where it looked like people had been dragged. She followed one of the paths through the temple, and quickly ducked behind a wall. She had just seen a jail cell with prisoners of some sort, but it had been such a quick peek that she couldn't see who they were. She took another glance and was able to see that there were two shadow beast guards. She used her new Sage powers to disguise herself as Zant. She stepped out from the wall and began walking towards the guards.
"Let the prisoner's go! These are not the ones you are looking for" Ivena said, trying to deepen her voice, but pretty much failing. Somehow though, the shadow beats unlocked the cell, handed the keys to Ivena, and left the room. Ivena took off her disguise to see the gaping mouths of everyone.
"What"? Ivena asked.
"You just saved us and disguised yourself"! exclaimed Ursula.
Ivena looked around and realized that Zelda and Midna were still missing.
"Where are Zelda and Midna? How did you two survive? Who are those monkeys"? Ivena asked in a frenzied panic.
"It's a long story, but there's no time for that. We need to find the others" Ursula said.
Ivena nodded in understanding, but stopped when she noticed something still in the cage.
"Is that a chest"? Ivena asked.
The rest of the group turned toward the cage and noticed that there was now a large wooden chest. Link quickly ran to it and began barking. Ivena followed him and opened the chest. Inside was a large key and a boomerang. Instantly, the boomerang floated out of the chest and began to speak.
"Thank you for rescuing me. I'm the fairy of winds, but you can call me Gale" she said.
Ivena was very confused, but then again they were crunched for time. Link carried the boomerang in his mouth and Linkle carried the key.
"Eww, gross," said Gale in disgust.
The group continued to walk through the temple until they came outside. There were several moving bridges that rotated with the constantly changing winds. Link threw the boomerang to change the direction of the wind and caught it again in his mouth. They crossed the newly made bridge and went back inside the temple. They stopped dead in their tracks though when they reached a broken bridge. Ivena quickly conjured a new bridge and the group followed. Linkle stayed behind and whimpered remembering the last time she had tried to cross one of Ivena's bridges. Ursula assured her she would be safe, and ran back over the bridge to grab Linkle. Ursula carried her over to the other side and placed her back on the ground.
"Now, was that so hard"? Ursula asked.
Linkle shook her head from side to side to say no.
Finally, after about an hour of walking, they reached a large locked door. Linkle put the key they had found in the lock, and entered the room. They were immediately sprung into action as they came face to face with Diababa, and Midna was nowhere to be seen.