The storm was getting worse. It did not let up for two days, during which time Midna and I constantly were at each other's throats. I don't fully understand how it happened, only that it started with the argument when the rain first fell. We had been traveling for a whole week since we left Coro and Ordon Province, yet neither of us could stand to be in the other's company. Sure, we got along at first, but... well, I can now admit that most of the tension was my fault.

On the last day of our trek through Faron Woods and Hyrule Field, I wore a hooded trench coat that I had the good sense to take from my brother's closet before I left Earth. It was slightly big on me but it served its purposes; keeping the rain out of my face and making me look badass.

"I am freezing!" Midna hissed from below. She was in a particularly sour mood that day. "Hel-lo!"

I stamped my foot on my shadow and yelled, "What do you want me to do about it?!"

"OW! That was my leg, you jerk!"

I stamped again. "Shut up, already!" The terrain was beginning to rise at an angle. If my memory of the game was correct, we were getting close to the Twilit curtain that marked the entrance to Eldin Province. This day had not been kind to us; we had run into a group of Bokoblins that morning, and now my clothes and sword were stained with purple blood. Midna's lessons had helped a great deal, though. I had yet to grow enough for the weight of the sword to be unnoticeable, but I was able to defend myself much more easily than before. I even used a Spin Attack and Ending Blow combo.

However, just because I did well against the onslaught did not mean I was happy there was one to begin with. I hated that arrogant, smug look on Midna's face when she pointed out how right she was, and after a rather unsavory comment from me, it all went downhill from there. … Technically, I was going uphill, but my point stands.

It was at noon that day when I ran into someone I had completely forgotten about. "HEEEEEEY!" a voice cried from nearby. I turned around and saw who else but the Postman sprinting at me. His sleeveless, short-shorted uniform was soggy and mud-stained, and the flag attached to his back was in tatters, but it was definitely him. He slowed down and rested on his knees to catch his breath while I waited less than patiently for him to speak. "Go... Go no further! There is a black wall ahead that blocks the way!" The poor fella started pacing, and I think I saw a tear in his eye. "I-I thought I would deliver a few letters, but it seems impossible..."

"Erm..." Not in a good mood for conversation, I rubbed the back of my head. "Get to the point, Daisy Duke."

"What? Oh!" The Postman bowed with dignity. "I am the honorable and dependable letter carrier, known to some as... the Postman." You don't say. "Now that I have introduced myself, please!" He reached into his satchel and pulled out a small envelope. "Take this letter and read it at your leisure!"

Taking the letter, which felt thicker and heavier than I expected, I sighed and said, "I'm sure you're a busy guy, but I don't exactly have room to hold mail."

The Postman immediately reached back into his red-and-white satchel and pulled out... another red-and-white satchel. Evidently, hammerspace bags were common in Hyrule. "Here, take this post bag. I carry a spare around in the event of hapless travelers like yourself."

"Uh... thanks..." I took the post bag and stuffed it carelessly into my own satchel. "Hey, what's your real name, anyway?"

"Well, my business is concluded!" The Postman saluted me and turned on his heel towards Faron Woods. "Onward to mail!" And off he went, leaving a trail of mud in his wake.

Midna popped out of my shadow and said, "What a strange fellow. What did he give you?"

I sighed and walked over to an overhanging cliff. "It's a letter. It reads, 'If I have a letter for you, I will approach you at high speed! Please do not flee!' … Wait, there's more. 'PS: Thank you for choosing United Hyrule Express! Included is a complimentary red rupee for our favorite customer!'"

"Wha... but you didn't even choose... WHAT?!"

With a shrug, I held up the gem. It was as big as my fist and looked exactly like it did in the games. "It's a marketing scheme, I'm guessing. Still, it's free money." I stuffed both the letter and the rupee into my satchel and continued on my way. "We're almost there, at least. He said there was a black wall up ahead... and..." Oh, there was a black wall, alright. What the Postman conveniently left out were the two Gorons standing guard in front of it.

They were enormous, standing a good two feet over me, with pot bellies that fooled no one and expressions that convinced everyone. "Uhh... What are those?" Midna asked.

"Those... would be Gorons," I replied.

A minute passed, and then Midna said, "Well? Get up there!"

"Gimme a second! They're scary-looking..." I gulped loudly and walked up to them, and for a moment, I thought they were just very well-done statues.

"HALT!" the closer one yelled suddenly. I was so startled by it that I fell flat on my ass, and I could hear Midna giggle quietly below me. "None can enter this way!" He had a very curious accent, like a mix between Scottish and Russian.

Standing back up, I held my hands up peacefully and said, "Look, I'm just passing through."

The Goron shook his head. "I mean it literally. None can enter through this black wall. Not even the Goron Special Crop could penetrate it." He pointed a tree trunk of an arm in the opposite direction. "Turn back, human."

"I need to go," I insisted, but I probably did not sound very confident, especially when the Goron's beady blue eyes peered down at me. "L-listen, I heard that you could get inside if you say a special phrase." I quickly glanced down at my shadow. "Midna, help me out here."

"Why should I?" she asked. "This is fun, seeing you quiver in your little Hero boots."

"Oh? And what phrase is that?" the Goron asked. His breath stank like a mudslide.

I quickly waved my hands in a hush-hush pattern, then beckoned him down and whispered, "It's a secret to everybody."

"... You're quoting something again, aren't you?"

"Um... nooo..." I cleared my throat and stepped away from the Goron. "I can prove it works. Just give me a chance."

The Goron guardsman looked over to his companion, who simply shrugged. "Very well, human. Have your go at it."

Sighing in relief, I passed them and walked up to the black wall. "Ugh, now I have to be a wolf again," I grumbled. "I am going to have so many fleas when this is over."

"Quit complaining," Midna said. "I'm waiting on the other side. Do your super secret ritual."

I cleared my throat again and raised my arms dramatically. "Klaatu! Verata! Niktu!" After a moment, Midna's hair hand erupted from the wall, grabbed me, and yanked me inside. I landed in a heap on the ground, but it was strangely dry. In fact, the area looked positively arid. I staggered onto my feet and noticed my Triforce glowing again. "Ah, crap..." The transformation was quicker this time but no less painful. Bones snapped and rearranged, blood vessels burst and reformed, skin melted and fur grew, and poof! I was a wolf. My muscles ached as I shook some dirt from my body, but at least I was conscious afterwards. "Ow..."

Midna slammed down on my back, and when I glared up at her, she gasped innocently. "I didn't do anything. What're you looking at?" She giggled and held up my fake eye. "Like before, I'll hold onto this for you." The eye vanished into Twilit particles. "Ahh, look! The black clouds of Twilight are so fetching today..." She stretched her arms and grinned widely. "I feel so much more at ease here... And you look so much better like this than in those muddy clothes, anyway. Eee hee! So, let's get going!"

I sighed and rolled my shoulders. I didn't like being a wolf. It was itchy and hot, especially in the mountainous region of Eldin Province, and Midna was kinda heavy.

Don't ever tell her I said that, though.

Anyway, I trotted off into the Twilit-infested area, my paws aching slightly as they stepped on small rocks and debris. Before long, I came upon a great expanse of two landmasses connected by a single bridge... except that the bridge was missing. Nodding to myself, I walked forward, only to jump back when a Shadow Baba popped out of the ground nearby and lunged at me. It was a small one, barely the size of my head, but that didn't make me go any easier on it. When it lunged again, I bit down on its neck stalk and shook it like a rope toy. Eventually, my fangs scissored through and cut the Baba in half, causing it to explode into Twilit particles.

"Oh, blech!" I shook my head in disgust. "That's so gross. Tastes like spinach."

"Hurry up and get moving," Midna ordered with a kick in my sides.

I growled but kept moving, knowing it was just better not to bait her. "Get ready, there's gonna be a Shadow Beast attack when I go near that bridge area."

The Twilian sighed. "That's just great. At least I have plenty of magic power." I nodded and went into the designated fight area, and like clockwork, Twilit barriers appeared around me and Midna. A red vortex opened above and dumped three Shadow Beasts into our midst, with one secluded behind an alcove made by the barrier. "Go for that one first."

"Gee, I never would have thought of doing that."

She swatted my head and barked, "Don't you sass me! Just do it!" Biting back a retort, I moved into the alcove and immediately jumped at the Shadow Beast, latching my jaws around its throat. I felt Midna cling to my fur as I chomped into the monster again and again, then had the good sense to let go before it could grab me. My muzzle black with putrid blood, I snarled at the Shadow Beast and silently dared it to come forward. Once it was close enough, I darted under its legs and jumped onto its back.

I did not expect it to have enough backwards reach, so I never saw its arm coming until I was already being squeezed half to death. Midna came to my rescue and smashed the Shadow Beast in the face with her giant fist of hair, causing its mask to dent inwards. The creature lumbered about for a moment before finally collapsing, but it still held me in an iron grip. Midna sighed and worked on prying open its fingers while I tried to force them open from the inside.

"I have to do everything for you," she grumbled, then used her hair to wrench the Shadow Beast's hand open.

"Oh, shut up!" I barked. "Jeez, let me have a moment once in a while, will ya?!"

Midna raised her hand to slap me, but she didn't. "Stop telling me to shut up. Just stop."

"Whatever." I rose to my feet and gestured at the other two Shadow Beasts. "Time for that energy field thing." I dashed between the two monsters and let Midna work her magic. A black field outlined with orange grew around me, and when the Shadow Beasts entered that field, Midna's hair shot them with electric markers. Once I was sure the barrier was not directly behind either one, I jumped and tore through the first, then the second. I wasn't drenched in blood, though, which surprised me. Maybe Midna was warping me at the same time as I connected with them, I dunno.

Once they fell and the vortex turned green, I approached the missing bridge's edge and sighed. "Well, time to go back for that bridge," I said.

"Great... Okay, um... just, just try not to move..." For the third time in our adventure journey thing, I split into Twilit particles and landed in front of Coro's hut.

"I don't know why you seem so nervous," I said. "You've been teleporting me just fine."

Midna sighed and said, "It's bound to happen sooner or later. I'm gonna screw one of them up, I just know it."

Uh oh... Melancholia... "Heyyy, come on. You're, uh, Midna. The Twilight Princess. Yeah..."

"Oh, it sure is rare to see wolves around these parts," said a familiar voice behind me. I turned around and saw Coro as he was leaving the bathhouse. "You're a good boy now, aren'tcha?" He carefully approached me and I instinctively backed away. From my lowered perspective, his afro was practically planetary. "Good boy..." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't hurt me."

I snorted derisively at him and faced the gate leading to Faron Woods and the bridge segment. "Well, this is gonna take a little while. Have to backtrack through that poisonous fog again."

"Ugh, will this never end?"

"Probably not." I noticed the gate was closed and locked, but since there was a child-sized ditch beneath it, I decided to dig my way through. Clenching my eyes shut, I scrambled through the ditch and emerged on the other side no worse for wear. "Guh, I hate that."

The journey was uneventful until we reached the area holding the bridge and the trapped Shadow Beasts. "They are still there?" Midna asked.

"Apparently. Might as well take them out now... Except I can't get inside."

Midna emerged in her shadow form and crossed her arms. "What do you think? Try to get inside or just go around?"

I shrugged. "Would it be easier if there was a portal right above?"

"Yeah, kind of. Here." She floated up to one of the Twilit posts lining the barrier. "Jump." I nodded and did so, and she used her magic to propel me into the ring. "Alright, this will be a bit more complicated since I have to stay down here, but I'm going to use the energy field." I nodded in understanding and waited for the field to emerge. Once it did, I made sure all three Shadow Beasts were targeted and then jumped.

It went well right up until I tried lunging at the final monster. Apparently, like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, they can learn. The Shadow Beast shot its arm out and caught me right out of the air, then flung me into the electrified barrier. While it resurrected its fallen brethren, I was trying to regain my balance as my muscles twitched with every movement. "Okay, ow!"

"Stay focused!"

"Great advice from the one hiding in the shade," I growled. The energy field activated again, and this time, I made it through without getting wolf-handled again. "Give me a second."

"No. Get moving." She pushed me from below in the direction of the bridge. Deciding it was better to just do as she said, I grit my teeth and trudged over to the bridge.

I looked up at the segment and felt very glad it was a detail that carried from game to reality. "Okay, Midna. Time to build a bridge."

Midna emerged in her shadow form and floated up to the structure. "I-I guess so... Hoo, yeah, I can do this. Okay, I'll warp this first and then I'll come back for you." She flashed a grin at me. "Maybe." She zapped the bridge with her magic, and then she yelled and lifted it from the ground. The bridge steadily became drenched in darkness and then split into Twilit particles. Once it fully vanished, I followed behind in my own batch of particles, and once I was fully formed, I found that I was standing on the bridge as it spanned the chasm... well, half of it, anyway. "Damn it..." I looked over and saw Midna on her hands and knees. She was breathing very heavily, her skin glistened with sweat, and there were dark spots in the shadow of her head.

"Midna... are you okay?" I asked quietly.

She lifted her head and glared at me. "I... am... fine..." What scared me most was not her glare or her voice. It was the trickle of dark red blood running from her nose.

My eyes widened. "You're bleeding."

"Shut up..." She wiped her nose, smearing her glowing wrist and turning the light red. "I'm just not used to moving something so big, okay? Just. Drop. It." She stood up and limped over to me. "I can get you across the rest of the way."

"We don't have to rush," I said gently. "You should take a moment to catch your breath."

Midna glared and yelled, "I am not weak! I don't need a break, I don't need your pity, I don't need your insults!"

"I-I didn't insult you, Midna..."

She sighed and leaned against my side. "Just don't, Zach. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger." I know she felt me shudder but she chose to ignore it, thankfully. "I'm fine, and in the off-chance that I'm not, there's a rejuvenating spring just up ahead."

I didn't want to keep going. Midna getting a bloody nose set off too many warning bells in my head for me to just shrug it off. However, she had a point and I didn't want to risk disagreeing with her. "Okay," I said finally. "Let's go."

Midna floated across the chasm and nodded to me. I wasn't very confident since the gap was fairly large, but I stuffed it down and jumped. She pulled me forward and I landed safely, if unsteadily, on the other side. "There, see? You should have more faith in me."

"Riiight. So, what about the bridge? We might need to take this road back."

"I'll fix it once the Twilight is gone. Promise."

I started forward, passing by several Shadow Bulblins and Shadow Babas, and soon came upon an imposing gate that blocked the way to Kakariko Village. "Oh, look at that. Gated community, very posh."

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "There's a spot over there you can crawl under."

I walked over to the spot and narrowed my eyes. "I'm surprised the person building the gate never noticed this." Sniffing around the hole, I discovered a familiar headband tucked inside. "Talo... Well, that explains it."

"What?"

"Talo, one of the kids from the village in the forest. Must've dug his way through... but that doesn't make any sense. He should have been... oh, whatever." I quickly burrowed to the other side of the gate and shook the dirt from my fur. Before hurrying off, I turned back to the hole and picked up the headband with my teeth. "I figure he'll want this back. Midna, you mind holding onto this too?"

Midna shrugged and vanished it into Twilit particles. "Sure, why not?"

Once that was settled, I walked through the canyon passage that led to Kakariko Village, then emerged into the entrance of the village. From my limited vision as a wolf in the Twilight, the town was a lot bigger than in the game. While it did have the main corridor of buildings and Eldin's spring at the end of it like in the game, there were additional alleys running along where the graveyard should have been, with various signs and stalls for selling produce and other wares. The entire town was deserted. People were either inside or long gone from the area, or worse judging from some dark patches on the ground.

"Creepy," I said as I went down to the central hub connecting the two branches of the town. Once again, a Twilit barrier appeared and three Shadow Beasts dropped down, but that was not all. Joining the monsters were a dozen or so Shadow Keese, each cheeping as they flitted about in the air. Instead of a bat's face and ears, they had the same trumpet-shaped muzzle that the Shadow Kargoroks had. "Son of a bitch..."

Midna reached up with her magic hair to crush a bat, but it dodged and divebombed down at us. "Ech! Get away, you pest!" I had no choice but to run from the flock of Keese as Midna tried to keep them away, only I wasn't looking where I was going. I crashed headfirst into a Shadow Beast that quickly picked me up and threw me into the Keese swarm, knocking Midna off my back in the process.

The damned bats bit into my flesh, covering me in tiny bite marks that stained my fur red, and I struggled to stand up. They were everywhere, gnawing and gnashing at whatever they could get their winged hands on. GET OFF! I jumped and spun in the air and managed to send some flying, but they just kept coming. One of them was particularly stubborn about getting at my eye─my good eye─and I managed to latch onto its tail while it was trying to climb up my head. Snarling in rage, I shook the damn thing like a ragdoll until I heard a snap and it exploded into dust.

One down... I looked around the area and found Midna trying to hold off her own gaggle of bats while a Shadow Beast started lumbering over to her. I tried to run over to her, but the Keese smothering me kept getting in the way and tripping me. I rolled on the ground and managed to squish one enough for me to nab it with my jaws. Two down... After crushing the life out of it, I made a break for my companion and lunged at the Shadow Beast as it was raising its fist. Catching it in the throat, I bit frantically into its leathery black skin and gagged as the foul fluids ran into my mouth. Before it could grab me again, Midna flew up and smashed her magic fist into its masked face. That seemed to be enough to kill it since it went down and stayed down.

"I can't target this many monsters with my energy field," she said as she saddled down on my back. "We're gonna have to take them down one by one. I got three already."

"Two for me," I said as I jumped to the side of a diving Keese. "Five down, a lot more to go."

Midna drew the Ordon Sword and glared at the fiends. "Well, let's turn 'a lot' into 'a little'."

I paused and looked up at her. "I'd rather turn 'a lot' into 'none'..."

"It was a metaphor."

"... Oh." I shrugged and refocused on the battle. Two Shadow Beasts and ten Shadow Keese. Cakewalk. Ignoring the Shadow Beasts completely, I attacked the Keese and swatted two out of the air. Midna impaled one with the sword while I bit into and crushed the other, then she took two more in midair. Six left. I jumped up and caught one in my mouth, then shook it to death.

When Midna killed another, she wiped sweat from her brow and said, "Okay, I think I can handle six, but to be on the safe side, stay close to the Shadow Beasts. They're the main ones, after all." Nodding, I huddled between the two monsters and waited for Midna to conjure the energy field. It spread out like a veil of darkness, swallowing up the Shadow Beasts and Keese and zapping them with orange energy. "Ready... Go!" I jumped through the first creature, then the second, then zig-zagged through the air itself like a steam locomotive. One by one, the Shadow Keese fell out of the sky and exploded into dust, followed by the Shadow Beasts.

The Twilit barrier vanished and I collapsed to the ground in relief and exhaustion. "Well, that was easy."

Midna scratched behind my ear and said, "Yeah. Come on, the spring is right there." I dragged myself over and flopped into the blissfully warm water. My fatigued muscles re-energized and my wounds healed up, and as I washed the blood away, I noticed the light spirit hovering above the short waterfall of its spring.

"Hero... chosen by the goddesses..." Eldin whispered. "Look for... my light... Gather the light stolen by the shadows..."

I nodded and turned around. "Okie dokie, another fourteen shadow insects before the Twilight is banished."

"Got it. I sense three in the tall building close by." She pointed to the shaman's house at the corner of the two corridors of Kakariko Village. After spending some time to frolic in the water, I shook myself off and trudged towards the building, and then Midna gestured to some fixtures adorning the side. "Hey, you can climb up here."

We did another jumping minigame and landed on the roof of the building, where a Shadow Insect buzzed about. It noticed me and swung its stinger in my direction. Dodging to the side, I snatched it in my jaws and crushed it to death, then watched the light orb float to the spring and coalesce with the spirit residing there. Before I could move, the patch of roof I was standing on collapsed. I managed to get lucky and landed on a tall statue bearing an owl at its peak, then hopped to the ground.

I looked around and noticed a huddle of green fire in one corner of the room, which was wide and had several ledges along the walls that held unlit torches. The ledges were split up between two doors on either side of the room and a window nearby, which a spirit orb was pacing past frequently.

Upon closer inspection, I found that the gathering of spirit orbs consisted of Renado, his daughter Luna, Talo sans headband, and the rest of the kids from Ordon Village. Minus Ilia, of course. There were other people there, however; a woman and two old men. The woman bore red hair and a simple outfit consisting of a white elbow-length tunic beneath a dark vest plus an ankle-length skirt that was currently being clung to by Malo and Colin. One of the men was short and stocky, hefting a shovel over his shoulders, and the other looked to be older than all of the people combined, like he had been around forever.

"Cripes!" the spirit orb at the window exclaimed. "I don't see those black brutes anywhere..." The man was chunky, his stomach folding over the loose pants he wore, and on his red-haired but balding head was a welding helmet. Overalls covered his normal pants and reached up to hook over his scraggly shoulders. "They've gotta be hidin' somewhere, waitin' for their helpless little prey to come out! Then they'll FEAST!"

"Wow, what a downer," I said.

Midna patted my shoulder and asked, "What do you mean?"

"This guy here is scaring the kids with talk of what the Shadow Beasts will do to them."

"What a downer."

"We are safe here," said another voice, this one strong and comforting. It was coming from Renado, the shaman of the village. His long brown hair was combed neatly behind him as he stroked Beth's shoulder gently. The girl was shaking as she clutched to Renado's robe. "Be at ease, child."

The woman with red hair frowned and whispered, "I hope my cuccos are alright... the poor things, I haven't a chance to feed them today. And Father... I pray the Goddesses are protecting him."

"Anju, relax," the shovel-holding man said. "I bet old Tortus is all comfy and cozy in his bed... Lucky guy." He yawned and roughly patted Anju's shoulder. "You just wait... while I nap."

The other man shook his head. "This is no time for sleep," he said, his voice probably one of the strongest and wisest I had ever heard short of Din and Nayru themselves. Whoever this guy was, he knew what he was talking about. "We must take the children to a safer place. If the dark creatures are gone, this could be our opportunity."

"Oh yeah?" the man at the window said. "I wonder if the monsters out there agree with you... They sure didn't seem impressed by my bombs! How long do you think we can hold this sanctuary against beasts that strong, huh? Once they attack, it's OVER!" The kids recoiled at his loud, and quite frankly obnoxious, voice. "Remember that lady from the general store? Just one of those things attacked her, and a whole gang from town went to save her! And what happened? She was already gone, and there were TWO monsters waitin'! ...You connectin' the dots? That means that if we get attacked by them, then we'll be..."

"BARNES!" Renado shouted, startling both me and Midna with his tone.

"What's his problem?" the Twilian asked.

I decided to ignore the rest of the conversation and looked around for a stick and an open flame. "He's angry at the guy at the window because he won't shut up about what happened to some lady who got turned into a Shadow Beast."

"Zach... what if she was one of the Shadow Beasts we..."

I froze and stared up at Midna. "Y... you don't think...?"

She shrugged half-heartedly and said, "All I know is that I saw my own mother turn into one of those things, so... it's possible."

All the air in my lungs turned to lead. Every muscle became solid rock, and every nerve in my body evaporated. "No... No, that can't be..." It was too much for me to take. I collapsed to the floor and started shaking. "No no no no..."

"Zach, take it easy," Midna said as she knelt beside my head. "Maybe she wasn't part of that group? I-I mean, this town is pretty big." She sniffled and scratched my ear. "A-and if she was... It was a kindness that we did, killing her..."

Easy for you to say... you've never done it before...

As I tried to recover from the shock, the conversation went on. Beth started crying into Renado's robe and babbled, "I don't want to die! W-will no one come for us?"

"I am afraid that may not be possible," the elder said, his long white beard ruffling as he spoke. "Gates bar the exits, as Talo found firsthand."

The boy nodded and reached up to the empty spot where his headband used to be. "Well... What about Zach?" he asked quietly, but enough for me to hear.

My head lurched up and faced in his direction. "Wha... Talo...?"

"What is it?" Midna asked as she helped me to my feet.

I slowly approached Talo and said, "H-he just asked about me, if I would come for him and the others..."

"What about Zach?" Beth asked harshly. She glared at Talo and shook her head. "He doesn't care about us, you saw how rude he was at home. Mom and Dad were this close to kicking him out!"

Talo shrugged. "I-I know how he was, but he did save my life. He didn't have to, but he did anyway. That... that has to mean something, right?"

"Well... I guess..."

Colin tilted his head. "Father and Mother seemed to like him. They thought he could use some manners, but he didn't seem that bad."

Malo sighed and raised an eyebrow at Rusl's son. "Doesn't it seem peculiar that he showed up just a few days before the monsters? I'm just saying, that's too much of a coincidence for me to believe."

"It was just a thought," Talo said. "I thought that, if it wasn't Colin's dad or the Mayor, it'd be Zach."

Barnes shook his head and peeked out the window. "Boy, I don't have a clue who this Zach fella is... but I've gotta say, I ain't overly confidant he's gonna come save this village!"

Midna suddenly tapped my head and said, "We can lay their doubts to rest later. Let's find the rest of the Shadow Insects first; I sense two below us... but I don't see a door." She chuckled. "You know exactly where to go, don't you?" I didn't respond, so she dismounted and stood in front of me. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Wha..." I cleared my throat and nodded. "I'm okay. I just... I'm not used to being counted on, that's all."

"Who's the downer now?" She smirked and patted my cheek. "Come on, you don't want to let them down, do you? Up and at 'em, Mister Hero!"

Once she was settled comfortably on my back, I looked around once again for a stick, but there were none to be found. "We need to light the torches around here but there's no branch for me to use."

Midna hummed in thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers. "I can summon a piece of cloth and wrap it around your sword. That ought to work." I nodded, and with Midna holding the Ordon Sword as a makeshift torch, we ran the circumference of the room, lighting braziers as we went. Once they were all lit, the statue in the center of the room buckled and shifted to reveal a staircase beneath it. "Aha! Not very subtle, is it?" When I chuckled, she chuckled with me. "What?"

"That's what you said in the game, too." Feeling slightly better and more confident, I ran down the stairs into the darkness beneath Renado's house, the statue sliding back into place above us. It was dark, but I could see faintly thanks to my wolf eye. The hall was tall and narrow, with a bubble in the middle. Once we reached the wide bubble area, I noticed that the owl statue blocking the way to the sky cannon was gone. There was nothing in this room except for one of our targets. One Shadow Insect was clinging to the wall, so I rammed into it with my shoulder and frightened the little bugger off. When it landed on the ground, I tackled and killed it, then smelled something... foul. With my enhanced senses, I could make out a soft patch of dirt beneath where I was standing.

"What are you doing?" Midna asked. "The next Shadow Insect is down the hall."

I compulsively began digging at the ground and said, "I'm curious. This stinks to high heaven, but it's not anything I've smelled before..." I narrowed my eyes as the scent steadily grew more familiar. "Wait... It smells like... Blood."

The ground split open and a great lumbering shape suddenly emerged from the hole I had created. It was heavily emaciated and wrapped in withered bandages, and when it turned around, its glowing red eyes glared at me. Midna and I looked at each other and then at the ReDead, and then we both screamed.

It screamed back.