Chapter Eleven: Kakariko

At some point Link realized that he was dreaming again. It was no nightmare, no terror that drove him to screams or tears, but a serene scene beneath a sky of brilliant stars. He thought he could see the spires of Hyrule Castle in the distance, lit by the stars with an ethereal light. White mist curled around his legs, and then he knew where he was and what was happening.

He heard a slight jingling sound behind him and he turned to see the skeletal wraith in golden armor standing there, watching him with his one glowing red eye. Link hadn't expected the spirit to find him while he was asleep. The knight had told him that he would find him again, but he had expected to encounter the ghostly wolf as he did before. Who was this spirit if he could come into his dreams?

"You should not be so surprised." the spirit said, taking a few steps forward with a metallic rattle. It did not appear as tall as it had the previous time, when he had mistaken it for a Stalfos. "I did say I was watching, and I must say that I am pleased with your progress these past few days. It is as if the spirit within you awoke, and now you can fight as the hero always could."

"How can you get into my dreams? I know I'm asleep." Asleep, and aware that he was dreaming. He didn't normally have lucid dreams, so between this and the nightmares, it was a new experience.

"We are connected, you and I. I had told you that you must learn the skills of your ancestors." The ghost of the knight pointed a skeletal finger at him. "You are descended from me. The bloodline I spoke of was my own." It lowered its hand. "There are other ways that we are connected, but that is the major one. I am able to speak to your soul while you sleep due to this."

"I had wondered what all that talk about bloodlines was about." So what...this was grandpa? It was a strange thought. It was unlikely that this was his actual grandfather, but some spirit from farther up in his family tree. The warrior could have come from either side of his family, since both of his parents had similar warrior families. It was hard to tell what race the skeleton was.

"The reason behind my lessons is not only to prepare you for the difficult task before you. It is also because my soul is trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead, ensnared here by my regrets." The spirit slowly shook his helmeted head. "I was unable to pass on my skills as a swordsman to my children. By aiding you, I may be able to accomplish that goal, and be allowed to rest."

"So that's it. You help me, and I help you." This wasn't some random spirit that wanted to help the hero, or one sent by the gods. Instead it was the soul of a man that was trapped that wanted to rest. Link couldn't blame him for that.

"That is the gist of it, yes." The knight's spirit drew his sword, and in that moment Link thought he could briefly see something else standing there, a man with light-colored hair. Just as quickly as he saw it, the image was gone. "I will admit, you have far more skill than I expected, and perhaps I will not have to teach you as much. Your anger is still a danger, especially now that I have seen how it can drive you to fight. You pushed yourself too far due to it." The skeleton held his sword in front of his face in a salute. "We will speak of that another time. Draw your blade and let's test your progress."

The two of them faced off again, and this time Link fought with a clear head. He wasn't angry or confused about what was happening, and knew a bit more of his own abilities now that he had gotten a chance to fight as a human. Still it was a duel, and he was only aiming to mark the first hit, as the spirit had done on him last time. It was different than how he had fought Bulbins, both with calculated strategy in the mines and mindless violence on Epona. Last time, he actually had been trying to kill the knight.

It did not go well. The two of them dodged one another, neither one landing a hit, until the skeletal knight swung his sword in a wide arc and completely disarmed Link. He shook his aching hand, and looked down the blade held inches from his face by the knight.

"Boy, what are you doing?!" demanded the shade, clearly frustrated. "Why do you hold back? I know you are better than this."

He massaged at his sore hand. "It's a duel, so I'm not actually trying to kill you. The point is-"

"I know what the point of a duel is, fool!" The red eye flared a bit, the soul of the knight angry. That was different. The last time Link was the one who had gotten angry. Not that he wasn't on his way there, after being called "boy" and "fool". "Did you think that you would injure me? I'm dead, boy!"

Link scowled at him. "So it's not a duel? The rules are different?" Now both of them were angry.

"I will honor the rules of a duel and not harm you. You will fight me normally." The shade recovered his composure, and walked over to where the sword had flown. It was impossible for Link to see where it had landed in the thick mist, but the skeleton seemed to know exactly where it was, and bent to pick it up with his right hand. "Try again, boy." the wraith said, flipping the sword up with a bony hand to catch it by the blade, and then extended the hilt towards Link.

"My name is 'Link', not 'boy'." He said, still angry. He took the sword in his sore fingers.

"I know what your name is. You are still 'boy' until you stop fighting like one." The ghost raised his sword and stood ready again, the red pinpoint of light in his eye socket glowing like a small fire.

The knight was trying to make him angry, wasn't he? Last time, he had been furious at the shade for knocking him down repeatedly, and then was told to watch his anger. Was he supposed to watch his anger now? Perhaps that was part of the lesson. He knew that he had problems with his temper, but the shade himself had gotten angry too. He didn't want to concentrate on not being angry, he wanted to concentrate on winning.

This time his approach was different. He wasn't dueling or sparring, he was going for the kill. They danced around one another as before, both nimble enough to dodge each other's attacks, but then Link swung his sword in a similar arc as the knight's shade had done, sending the golden sword fling off into the white fog. He could have stopped there but this was not a duel, this was a fight to be taken seriously. Link brought his sword arm back to the left in a horizontal slash, turning his body and shifting his weight to the left to draw the blade through the neck of the knight. There was resistance, as if he had actually cut through a neck, but the shade's head remained on his shoulders.

"Good. That was a decapitation." The knight's hollow voice sounded pleased. He went to pick up his sword and returned. "You did not get angry, even though I expected you to."

"I was angry, but I was focused on what I was doing." He was starting to breathe a bit hard. Landing a hit on the knight was difficult. Regardless, he raised his sword again for another round.

"Hmm, that was not what I expected. I had hoped to trigger that strength that you have when you lose yourself to anger. Perhaps insults are not enough." The shade swung his blade, beginning the fight.

Link hopped back to dodge. "They aren't." He used a roll to get around the knight, and ran him through from behind, moving far faster this time. He didn't expect praise this time, and did not receive any from the shade. "It only seems to happen when somebody I care about is in danger." He stepped back, lowering his weapon as the knight turned to face him. "It's not something that happens very often."

The skeletal wraith put away his sword and shield. Were they done? "It could be useful, but it also could be a detriment." The knight made a circular motion with one bony finger. "Flip."

"What?" The sudden change in subject caught him off-guard.

The knight did a standing back flip, bending his knees quickly to launch himself in the air, and landing a bit farther away when he was on his feet again. "You've used rolls, which are useful for dodging while making your body a smaller target. A flip is another way to dodge, since the way we fight relies on agility."

Link raised an eyebrow at the knight. "Isn't it kind of showy? It sure doesn't seem practical. Why do that if I can just jump straight back?"

"For most, it is not practical. For you, it is a way to both put more space between yourself and your opponent, and a means to dodge." The shade did another standing back flip, landing even farther away. "I know you think it ridiculous, but consider what I am saying. You are very light. As you finish growing and gain more muscle, you will still not be a heavy man. Your legs are strong. I have seen you run, jump, and swim. You can propel yourself with them far better than other warriors could."

Link looked down at his own legs, and then back to the shade. "How do I do it?" He had never considered flipping around before, whether fighting or not. It was possible he could do it, since he had a good sense of balance, but at the same time he could land flat on his back.

"First off, you likely do not need to bend your legs as much as someone else. Too much force will result in a stumble, which you do not want while holding a sword. Secondly, the means to move yourself is based off your center of gravity, which is at your waist." The knight gestured in a wide circular motion with his left hand. "You are not aiming to move your whole body, only your hips. The rest of you will follow."

"You make it sound simple." He did not consider himself acrobatic. Strong, yes. Quick, yes. Acrobatic? He was going to try to do what the knight asked, and guessed that he would plant his face on the ground.

"It is simple once you understand it. A forward flip is more difficult, but uses the same concept. You will likely not use that for anything. That type of movement is 'showy', as you so eloquently put it." His ancestor nodded at him. "Now, flip."

A flip, right. He went over all the information that he had been given, putting away his sword and shield. He didn't want to land on his sword if he screwed this up. Even if it was a dream, dying while in a dream was horrifying, and the pain of this particular dream felt very real. The shade watched him impassively, his gray-colored skull devoid of emotion. Well, if he didn't do it right, then he'd just try again. Failure was part of the learning process, wasn't it?

Link considered trying to replicate what he had seen, but decided that the best course of action was to try it and move his body in a way that felt appropriate. He flexed his legs quickly and launched himself into the air, and found that he could easily feel the point where he needed to move his hips to continue his momentum. He landed, but not on both of his feet at once. For some reason it felt better to land with his left first, and follow with his right. He stood there, stunned that he had done it so easily, and then looked at the shade in surprise. Did he really just do that?

The knight's ghost gave a short laugh. "First try! Good. Now, again."

He flexed his legs and did it again, and found it was easier the second time. Link did a third flip without being asked, and noticed that it did move him father than simply jumping back. "You were right, it is simple. Watching somebody do it and doing it yourself are two different things." Having moved away some, he walked back to the shade. "Was it like that when you learned?"

"I taught myself. I did not get it on the first try. I believe that you have a better sense of balance and awareness of your body than I did." The knight pulled out his round shield and set it on his right arm. "There was one other thing I wanted to teach you. You are beginning to understand that your shield is a weapon as well, but you are using your whole body. This is not necessary." He swung his right arm wide with considerable force. "This move is how I first knocked you down. You can knock an enemy from a horse, cause them to drop their weapon, or even send projectiles flying. If you discover your courage, you may use it to great effect."

There was that word again. "You keep mentioning courage, but I don't understand what you mean. Not to sound like I'm bragging, but I think I've been pretty brave through everything."

The single red eye socket stared at him. "It is not courage as in bravery. It is a thing that dwells within you. If you haven't discovered it for yourself yet, then I won't tell you the details."

"Oh great, so it's a thing in me that I haven't discovered yet? That could be anything." Link grumbled, not satisfied with the answer he was given. At least he knew that it wasn't something he was already doing. He had recently discovered that he had some kind of magic in his hand, so maybe it would wind up being some other kind of magic he didn't know about yet.

"Some things we must learn for ourselves." The ghostly knight put his shield on his back. "I am pleased that you have the bow that the great hero left with the Gorons. You use it well."

"The great hero? I thought he was just a kid? If he's so great, why aren't people talking about him more?" The previous hero hadn't done too much, other than warn the king of Ganondorf's invasion. He had gone on some small quest along with the young Zelda of the time, but the details were never mentioned in the history that Link had read. "He didn't exactly prevent the war."

The shade was silent, a skull staring at him with an eye like a glowing ember. Then he shook his head, looking away. "The war was inevitable. At least he people of Hyrule were prepared, due to the hero's actions. It could have been far worse." The gray skull looked at him again. "Most of a Hero of Hyrule's deeds are not known to others. It was the case with the child hero, and it will be the case with you as well. Only a very few know of what you have done so far, and very few will remember with time. You must learn to toil in obscurity, and not seek praise or adoration for your acts. That can lead to regrets later."

"I don't want praise or adoration." Link said, a bit offended that the knight would assume that's what he was after. "I don't care about that. What I want is my best friend back, this Zant guy gone from Hyrule, and Midna's curse to be broken. I want to figure out a way to turn the Shadow Beasts back into people, and I want to figure out what this glowing thing in my hand is." He looked at the back of his hand, and to his surprise the triangles softly glowed. He wasn't in the Twilight, so why? Perhaps because this was a dream?

"Do you have any suspicions as to what your golden power could be? You called it forth right now, as you spoke of it. Do you understand anything about it yet?" The way the questions were asked, it sounded like the shade knew what the golden triangles were. If he wasn't going to tell him what "courage" was, he probably was going to do the same with this.

"I have a few ideas. Zelda told me that she has golden power when I met her, and said that she wasn't transformed in the Twilight due to it. My own power did something similar, but I became a wolf. It's like mine is different than hers." The golden triangles faded, and he tried to call them back. Nothing happened, and Link frowned. "I know that this is the crest of the royal family, so it means I'm tied to Zelda in some way. I mean, of course I'm tied to Zelda, I'm the current hero. Whenever there's a hero, there also happens to be a Princess Zelda." He hadn't thought about his connection to Zelda until now. It would be something to dwell on later. "What I mean is there's something else we have that I don't understand yet, some kind of sacred magic."

The knight's shade nodded. "You are correct in those assumptions, and of course there is much more to it. As time goes on, you will learn more, and perhaps you will be able to speak to Zelda herself about it. It would be far better for her to tell you than I."

"Is it related to the Light Spirits?" He knew that the Light Spirits also used sacred magic that glowed a similar gold.

"No. Your power is something far greater. As you said, it protects you in the Twilight. You are using it without even thinking of it. However like any magic, it is taxing to the user. That is why the night after you transform back into a human, you sleep deeply. That is also why the darkness manages to take hold of your body the following night, and you have terrors."

"Darkness?" There was something dark about him? Was it due to his proximity to Midna?

"It is something evil within the Twilight, and it is building up in you. Until you can banish that darkness, your terrors will continue. I'm sorry, but that is the way of things." He certainly knew a lot more about what was happening than he should. This was his ancestor, yet he understood many things about heroes and magic. Who was he?

"How can I do that? If there's something evil in me, I want it gone." He didn't feel evil. It was possible that there was something influencing him without him noticing.

The shade shook his head. "It isn't my place to tell you. Again, you must find your own way." The skeletal wraith stared again, having no way of expressing emotions, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking. "Link, I know that this is frustrating, but you have come far in the past few days. You are an intelligent young man, and I believe all will become clear to you before long. Until then, remember the things that I was able to teach you."

The white mist at this feet grew bright and flew up, covering his vision. Then everything grew dark, and the knight's voice echoed hollowly. "You must rest now, so you may enter the Twilight again. This time you will not dream, and your sleep will be restful. I will visit you again soon."

He opened his eyes to hear humming. Link was laying on his back, one arm flung above his head. It was morning, and he didn't feel sore or tired. He turned his head to the left and found the little imp laying on the bed next to him. Was she there all night, sharing a bed with him while he slept? Didn't she know how weird that was? She had her arms folded behind her neck, and had one leg crossed over the other. He didn't recognize the song she was humming, but for all he knew she was humming it out of key. No, that wasn't it. It sounded like she had a decent singing voice. Perhaps he just didn't know the song.

Midna stopped her humming and turned her head to meet his eyes. "Oh. You're awake." She floated up into the air and away from the bed. "I thought that maybe the kids running around would have woke you up, but you were really out cold."

"I needed the rest." He didn't want to get out of bed. It was comfortable, and while he wasn't all that tired anymore, there was something pleasant about staying in a warm bed for a while after waking up. He didn't usually have that luxury in Ordon, but maybe he could do it here. Maybe, if Midna would let him. She was likely bored. A thought occurred to him then, that he had seen something in Kakariko that she could do while he was asleep. He glanced over at the little shadow and considered telling her about it.

She tilted her head at him. "What?"

"Nothing." He'd talk to her about it later. Link sat up and combed at his hair with his fingers. He didn't need a mirror to know that it was wild in the morning, although he didn't know how late in the morning it was. They were all up past midnight and he had spent a lot of energy the day before, so it could have been almost afternoon for all he knew. Link rose and got out of bed, and pulled the curtain back from the window. It was cloudy, and there was no way of telling what time it was. It didn't really matter, he wasn't leaving until tomorrow anyway.

He examined himself in the mirror and saw there were still faint rusty-colored smears on his forehead and bangs. Link gave a frustrated sigh. "Midna, why didn't you tell me that I still had blood on me?"

"It wasn't as if you were going to take a bath last night." She watched as he poured the last of the water from the pitcher into the basin and proceeded to clean his face and hair. "I wanted you to sleep, since you were kind of a bonehead and pushed yourself too far."

"I'd say being a bonehead is one of my strongest traits." He said, rubbing at his wet hair with the towel. It smelled a bit musty. Everything in the room was as he had left it, including the hastily-made bed. There was no room service in an empty town, so he had to take care of his own room. At least he had the sense to throw the water from yesterday morning out the back door and into the yard.

"Oh, certainly." Midna said, going along with the joke. "I'd also add to that list a complete lack of tact, complete disregard for danger, and a touch of narcissism." She ticked them off on her tiny fingers. "With such a great personality, you'll make all the ladies swoon."

"Is that so? Do I make you swoon, Midna?"

That made her give a short laugh. "Only when I can pet your soft puppy ears."

"You mean if you can pet my ears." Even though he was fine with the few times she had reached out to touch him yesterday, he still did not like the idea of being somebody's doggy.

"Oh come on, Link. Let me be a little girly and enjoy petting a cute animal. Your fur is so nice and soft, which your hair isn't as much, now that I've touched it." She then reached out to rub at his shoulder a bit while he was attempting to control his mane of hair with a comb, as if she was petting him. "Your skin is kind of soft, though. I didn't think guys could have soft skin."

He shied away with a scowl. "That is not okay. Don't do that." He took in her bewildered look and sighed. "Midna, do you understand what is acceptable touching yet? Or is this some weird cultural thing from where you come from?"

Her shadowy face was unreadable, and she moved back to sit on the desk. "I admit, I'm kind of new to how you do friendships in the light world. Don't be offended, I'm the one being a bonehead this time."

That wasn't the truth, and he could see it on her face. He was starting to figure out when she was lying. It wasn't something cultural, and it didn't have much to do with her being a bonehead. She had started sitting on him as a wolf immediately, with no regard for his feelings. While she really hadn't shown concern for him until the mines, that was when she started to warm up to him as a human. After that, she had been a bit more open with things like patting his arm or his face. Last night she even lay on the bed next to him as he had slept. A suspicion started to grow in his mind.

"I'm curious...how long were you in the light world before you met me?" He saw it then, a brief look of panic as her eye darted around, avoiding his, and then it was gone. He had hit it on the nose, and his suspicion seemed to carry weight.

"Weeks, possibly a month. It's hard to tell the passage of time when you don't eat or sleep." She shrugged her spiky shoulders, looking out the window at the cloudy sky. "It was a while."

So that was it. Weeks, possibly a month without human contact. The only other person she had met in the light world was Zelda, and they didn't seem to be friends. In fact, it seemed like they barely knew each other. Link was different though. He was with Midna constantly, had fought alongside her, and even had revealed something very personal to her. Despite the two of them having a rocky start, they were becoming friends. Having been starved of physical contact for weeks before that, it wasn't surprising that she would start reaching out to pat his arm. He was being too harsh on her and hadn't realized it until now.

"I guess it's a good thing you found a crying wolf chained to a floor, isn't it?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood again. "Now you have somebody you can boss around so you don't get bored in the light world."

Midna smiled at him. She knew why he had changed the subject. "I'll be sure to keep you in line." She watched as he knelt to examine his chain mail. "Oh, I wanted to mention. That thing on your hand was glowing while you slept last night. Not for long, but I think it's worth mentioning. Did you have another nightmare?"

"No. It was something else." The chain seemed fine, in fact it didn't seem like it could tarnish or rust. The metal it was made from wasn't steel, and had a faint golden tint to it. He had no idea what it was made of. "Do you remember that wolf that jumped into me in the woods?"

"Oh, the ghost?"

"Yeah." He began to dress, not wanting to put on bloody clothes that smelled of sweat, but having little choice in the matter. "He contacted me to instruct me in combat. It turns out that he used to be some kind of knight, and I'm one of his descendants. He's stuck as a ghost because he never passed on his skills to his children, so he's teaching me." There was more to it, though. The spirit knew way too much about things like his golden power and the previous heroes. "He visited me again last night and taught me a few things. When he asked me if I knew what the sacred magic I had was, it started to glow. It probably was glowing on my actual body."

"That makes sense." She was still looking out the window. The sun was behind the gloom of clouds, so it was safe for her to do so. "Did he teach you anything interesting?"

"I can't show you right now, but he taught me how to do a back flip. I know that might not sound useful, but it can be." He decided that boots, leggings and gambeson were enough for now. It wasn't like he needed his chain mail. "The way I fight involves a lot of moving around and dodging things, although it didn't at first. Now I'm learning that my style is a bit more like my father's than Rusl's." He realized that she didn't have any context for that. "Rusl is Colin's father, the guy who made my sword and the one who was injured in bed when I left Ordon."

"I remember him."

"He continued with my sword training, but the way he fights relies more on strength. What little my father had taught me was more about finesse. Except that now, I'm doing things that neither taught me." It was hard to put into words, the fact that he was able to fight in ways he never had been able to before. She had dismissed it and said not to worry, but it wasn't something she could understand. Midna wasn't the one doing it.

"I never learned how to use a sword, but I knew people who did. The things you do aren't like them, and I'm not talking how you became so angry you were able to kill a lot of Bulbins." Midna turned from the window to look at him. "That's all right, though. You aren't traditional, but instead you're using your own strengths incorporated into the way you fight. That's not too much different than me." She waved a hand, and one of the quivers of arrows appeared. "I use shadow magic in ways that many people don't. Me storing this away isn't due to the helmet on my head, this is Midna doing what Midna does best: tweaking magical things to do them better. So if you're doing what Link does best, you're just better at fighting than other people."

He watched as she made the arrows disappear in a smattering of dark squares. "I did wonder about that. I'm familiar with shadow magic. That's the kind of magic my mother used, and from what I've seen it's all about manipulating shadows to do things, like change somebody's appearance, or move something. You do some of that, I mean you can hide in any shadow, and you even were able to move that switch. But there are some other things that I didn't know were possible, like how you broke that chain to free me."

"That was me moving something. I was only moving one link of the chain, and I moved it enough so it broke. Like I said, I'm tweaking things, but I'm using the same basics as any other sorceress. Just like you're using the basics that your dad and Rusl taught you." She shrugged. "While this is an interesting conversation, I can hear your stomach growling from here. Go find something to eat, and make it something other than fruit for once." Midna turned back to the window. "I think I'm going to sit here for a little bit. It's starting to rain, and it looks so different in the light world. I like to watch it."

"It's raining?" Eastern Eldin was usually dry in the summer, its climate affected by Death Mountain. He didn't think it would rain, especially on the day he thought about washing the blood from his clothes. Link moved to the window and looked out. "Well, I'll be damned. Guess I'm going to smell sweaty a bit longer, if I can't wash and hang out my clothes to dry."

"You could stand in the rain for a while."

"No thanks." He patted her on the head, on the strange shadowy hair. It felt like normal hair, which he didn't expect. "Enjoy your rain. I'll be back later."

"Oh no, don't touch me, I'm offended, help…" She put her hands to her face and rolled her eyes. That would figure. He actually decided to touch her for once, even if it was to be funny, and she insulted him.

"Don't be cute." He turned and left her sitting by the window and exited the room. As soon as he stepped out into the hall, he could smell cornbread baking and felt incredibly hungry. She was right: his stomach was making noises. He didn't exactly eat well the day before. He considered checking in the kitchen to see who was cooking, but decided that visiting the outhouses without Midna with him would be a better idea. He barely got any privacy, so the fact that she was off on her own meant that he could do his business in peace.

When he came back, the person in the kitchen was loudly banging things around, singing off-key. Of course it would be Barnes cooking; Link hadn't actually seen Renado do any of it yet. Then again Renado was the one with the children most of the time. It sounded like a war zone in there, so he stole more apples from the bowl on the long table and went out to Epona.

The horse was happy to see him, but even happier about the apples he held. It wasn't raining too hard outside, and in fact the children were playing with the slingshot in front of the Eld Inn, but he decided to keep Epona in her stall today. He had already considered his route to Lake Hylia, and decided that going through Central Hyrule was a bad idea. There were far fewer settlements in Eldin, so going northwest and passing through Castle Town seemed to be a better solution. It would be a bit of a trip so it was best to let the horse rest for now. He didn't know what he was going to do with her when he came across the Twilight, but hopefully he'd find a place to keep her near the town.

He gave Barley and Rye apples, not sure which horse was which, but they didn't seem to care. He was a human with apples, and the things he said to them didn't exactly matter. Epona expected both the apple and the song, and he obliged. Even after riding her so hard yesterday, the mare still was affectionate towards him, and even nipped at his shirt a bit, making him chuckle. She hadn't seen him in days and had been someplace frightening, and now he hadn't been around much. Epona probably missed him. He remained with her for a few more minutes, then fetched water for the three horses, unsure if he or Luda should feed them.

Link made his way up the back stairs of the inn that went along the outside of the building, and opened up to a door with a landing that was behind his room at the end of the hall. It probably was to give the people in the room easy access to water or the outhouses, but it also meant that he didn't have to walk all the way around the building. He opened the door to his room to find Midna humming to herself again, still sitting on the writing desk near the window.

"Bored yet?" he asked her, shutting the door.

"Why do you ask that?" She turned her large head towards him.

"Because when I'm doing something boring, I usually sing to myself." He gave a short laugh. "Usually when I do chores. You were humming like that when I woke up, and sitting next to somebody for hours while you wait for them to wake up has to be extremely boring."

"I am a bit bored, I admit. I wanted some time to myself, but I don't really have anything to do." Midna stood up. "I need to find a light world hobby."

"Hang out with me, and I promise I'll get you something to do after breakfast."

"Something to do?" The little shadowy creature moved to hover in front of him. "What is it?"

"A surprise." He gave her a smirk when she gave him a flat look. "For now, come with me. I'm going to see if Barnes needs any help in the kitchen. I know it's not as interesting to sit and listen to other people talk, but you can at least be by somebody else that isn't me."

She gave him a smile. "Thanks."

"No, thank you. You were really nice to me both when I had rescued Colin, and after I had that nightmare." And now, we're friends. Not good friends, but friends.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you: the Twilight is causing that. There's something about it that isn't just ordinary shadow magic." Midna shook her head with a frown. "It's the same magic that turned people into Shadow Beasts, but it isn't anything I'm familiar with. It's like all of it is a gigantic curse, affecting everything, including you. I can't figure out what it is."

"That's your job. You're the sorceress, so you handle the magic side of things. I'm the muscle, so I'll handle the fighting. We have a partnership, after all." It felt that way now. They had worked together, and while it didn't give him a huge amount of satisfaction, it felt as if they were now both on the same page. She wasn't bossing him around, and he wasn't getting angry about it.

Midna fused with the shadow beneath his feet. He was only wearing one layer, so it wasn't surprising that she didn't want to ride around on his chest again. It would mean riding between the shirt and his skin, and that probably would be too personal, even for her. "I'll do my best." she said from below. "Let's go see what Barnes is breaking down there. I can hear him from here."

Nothing was broken, but Barnes' approach to working in the kitchen was like a hurricane's approach to blowing out a candle. Link had no idea how one person could be so violently noisy yet not actually break anything. If the man made bombs for a living, hopefully he was far more careful and a lot less chaotic when he did that.

"Want a hand?" Link offered as Barnes finally turned around to see him standing there.

"Oh, hey. Mornin'. Yeah, if you don't mind. Luda went to get some more eggs, but I don't know what to make with them other than cornbread." He waved his hand at the pantry shelves that were along the back wall of the kitchen. "You're welcome to try to put something together, but we've eaten a lot of the stuff that was here already. All that's left is corn meal, oats, barley, apples, potatoes, onions, and of course cucco eggs. I guess we could kill a few cuccos, but I think we'd all rather have the eggs."

"What about the food people left in their homes? I'm sure there's plenty of things to choose from." They weren't using it either, and after what Midna said about the strange magic that had transformed them, who knew when they would return home as humans.

"Maybe? I really haven't wanted to look. It feels like stealing, but the kids need to eat." Barnes' expression fell, and he looked sad. "I guess I was hoping that the people would come back one day. I had a lot of friends here, Link. I'm not the marrying type, so I filled my life with good friends instead…" His eyes teared up, and he raised his glasses to rub at them. "Sorry." Barnes turned his back to him, his voice strained. "I'm not like this."

Link found he could relate to Barnes. He no longer had his biological family, and had found a new one with Rusl's. Ilia meant something to him as well, beyond his physical attraction to her. If Uli and Rusl had been taken away as well as Colin and Ilia, he probably would have been a wreck. "I'm not like this" mirrored how Link's own emotions had been recently. "Hey, it's okay. You've been through a lot. I get how you feel. The most important person in the world to me was taken away."

Barnes huffed a tearful sigh. "Your girl?"

"Um, not exactly." Sometimes it felt like she was, but they didn't have a formal relationship. They were as close as a couple, despite not actually being one. "Still, I need to figure out where she is. She's my best friend, and since she was taken I've felt like…" How could he phrase it? Sometimes it was hard to find the right words. "I feel like a piece of me is gone." He was trying to comfort Barnes, but was starting to upset himself. Better change the subject. "You and Renado have gone through a lot of stress, both with the invasion and then taking care of the kids. If you're upset, I can't really blame you. I'd be pretty emotional too." He had been emotional, and the source of those moments was now obvious. Before everything that had happened, he was just an ordinary person. His mind and heart weren't strong enough to handle the emotional stress, whether he was made the hero or not.

"You were emotional. You lied to Talo yesterday about it, and the kids believed you. I didn't. I saw your face." He wiped at his eyes and put his glasses back down. "You're supposed to be the hero that saves us all, but you're not all that different from me. And you're so young too...I'm more than twice your age." The bald man turned to him, in control of himself now. "I don't know how you manage it."

"Badly." That much was true. He'd have to figure out how to handle the difficult things he'd been doing without having a nervous breakdown. Link gave the man a smile. "Are you going to be all right? Luda will probably be back soon, and you don't want to cry in front of the kids."

"Yeah, I'll be fine around the kids. We grown-ups are supposed to be there for them." He gestured at the shelves. "There isn't too much here, but maybe you're more creative than I am."

Link put his hands on his hips and took in the limited inventory of the inn's kitchen. It was mostly grains, which kept for a while, but didn't offer much that was interesting. He was hoping for something with meat in it, but beggars can't be choosers. He did get an idea. "Is there still milk?"

"It turned. Either Renado or Luda is going to bring more. We need to skim the cream off, but there should be some by breakfast." Barnes went back to the banging, which as it turned out was shuffling around pans of cornbread in the oven so they would heat evenly.

"Hmm. What about honey or cinnamon? The kids eat apples with honey on them, right?" The apples were what gave him the idea.

"Cinnamon? I mean maybe somebody in town still has some, but we're out. That stuff comes from way south, and trade ain't exactly booming right now." Another bang, this time from the heavy cast iron oven door being shut.

"That's too bad, but I can manage." He rolled up the sleeves of his padded linen shirt and got to work. He retrieved a big pot from lower shelf, and then set it on the table.

"What, you already came up with something?" Barnes asked, watching as Link selected a small saucepan.

He hefted the pan in his hand. Yes, this would do. "Yeah. I think the kids will like it, too. It's a pretty common dish in Ordon. Barley porridge."

"Oh, porridge? Eh, I could've made oatmeal I guess. It ain't exactly glamorous though, you know?" He watched Link start to measure out dried barley with the saucepan.

"It's not oatmeal, it's different. It's generally used as a base for other things so it isn't just barley and water. Usually there's some fruit and nuts thrown in, but you can put in something like meat and vegetables in it, just as long as it's something that goes along with cream or milk." He recounted the amount of scoops he put into the pot mentally, making sure he didn't miscount while talking. "My favorite kind has peaches in it. There's this really good cucco and sweet potato kind that Ilia makes…" he trailed off, staring into the pot full of grains of barley. Talking about her hurt. She wasn't dead, and she wasn't transformed, so why did it hurt so much?

"Her name is Ilia? Is she the same Ilia that helped the kids escape? Renado told me about her." Barnes came to stand next Link, and leaned forward to look at his face. "You all right there?"

He didn't answer, distracted by this thoughts. A week ago, everything was as it should be. Life in Ordon was normal, and comfortable, and far away from any trouble. He had found someplace safe to live the rest of his life, had found people that cared about him, he had somebody he was cared for deeply, and had even found a purpose in defending the village from Bokoblins. Now nothing was safe, and he was the one who had to fix it. Even if he fixed it, would he be the same afterwards? If he found Ilia and brought her home after getting rid of Zant, would either of them be the same? Would they feel safe again?

"Link?" Barnes put a hand on his shoulder, drawing him out of his thoughts.

He jumped slightly at the touch, having been pulled away from what he was doing and where he was. His heart beat quickly, not from being startled, but at the thought that his life was changed forever. Not just his life, but Ilia's as well. "Sorry." He picked up the pot and walked over to where the pump near the sink was. He felt like screaming all of a sudden. It was such a rapid change in him, and it was a little frightening. Anger he understood, but this was something else.

No, focus. You're cooking for the kids. Luda will be here any moment to help. This is what you're doing right now. Count out these scoops of water and do what you planned to do. Link began to work, trying to think of what he was doing, and hoping that the strange feeling of anxiety that had come over him would fade.

Luda came in then with a basket in one hand, and a large jug in the other. The heavy jug made her lean a bit to the side as she carried it. Her blouse was spotted with a few raindrops. "Oh, are you helping this morning too?"

"Yeah." Link said as the feeling faded. He hoped Barnes didn't say anything in front of Luda, and that his own expression didn't give away how he had felt a moment before.

"That is very kind of you. Then again, from what the other children have said, it is your nature." The girl set the heavy jug on the floor, and then placed the basket of eggs on the table. She hadn't noticed.

"Yeah. You're a good guy." Barnes clapped him on the shoulder, and had a knowing look in his eye. He understood that Link had just gone through something, even if he didn't understand it.

"I'd better be. I don't think this hero job would work out if I was a total jerk." he said, falling into his habit of making a joke out of everything. If he could do that, then he would be all right. "Is that just milk, or does it have the cream?"

"Just milk, father separated the cream before putting it in the jug. Did you need cream?" She stood on her toes to try to see what he was doing with the pot. She might speak a bit like an adult, but Luda was still very much a young girl.

"No, milk will work." He stopped measuring out water, and reached for the jug of milk on the floor. "Where are the cows? This is cow's milk, right?"

"Up on the top of the canyon walls, past where Barnes' supplies exploded." She sat down at the table, since there wasn't much for her to help with. "I wish father would let me help milk the cows."

"Oh, yeah. That reminds me." Barnes went to peek at the cornbread again. It would never bake if he kept opening the oven door, but Link didn't tell him that. "This morning some Gorons brought me more supplies. I should be able to make you some bombs today, if you're interested."

"Are you sure you trust me after I blew up your shed? Putting anything that could explode into my hands might be a terrible idea." When Barnes laughed, he gave a small smile. It was nice to hear somebody laugh. Not long ago, this poor man was crying.

"I think I can trust you, after you went up to Death Mountain to fix everything. Those Gorons gave a glowing endorsement of you." He shut the oven again. "Did you really befriend Darbus?"

"I think I did? He sure seemed friendly, anyway." Link carried the full pot over to the stove, which thankfully was hot. Barnes had already taken care of that. "All right, time to start cooking this."

Some time later there was a meal ready with soft boiled eggs, cornbread, tea and porridge. Colin wanted to help set the table, but Renado made him sit down to rest. As Link had expected, the kids were happy to have a meal they were familiar with, although Malo had found a way to be rude again.

"Did you really cook this?" he asked Link, giving him a bland look. So much of what Malo said to adults didn't seem to involve a lot of emotion.

"Do you see anybody else here from Ordon that knows how to cook?" Link said, trying not to be grumpy about it.

"I've never seen you cook before." Despite the small boy's criticism, he continued to eat the porridge.

"That's because you don't live with me. How do you think I've been living on my own on the edge of town like that without being able to feed myself?" Just because Jaggle never cooked a day in his life didn't mean that others didn't know how. It was ridiculous how the boy compared everybody to his father's standards. Most children simply bragged about how great their dad was.

"Ilia and Uli bring you food." Malo wasn't wrong, but it wasn't due to him being too lazy to cook. Usually it was an excuse for them to visit him, or to give him leftovers. A seventeen-year-old could eat two dinners easily enough, so he wasn't going to refuse. Still, the fact that Malo doubted him despite obviously being the only one who had made the porridge got on his nerves. He shot the boy a hard look, and Malo lowered his face to his bowl. "...it's good, though."

"That is a better thing to say to Link, Malo." Renado told him. So far, Renado had managed to get Talo and Malo to do all kinds of things that they wouldn't do back in Ordon. Although after seeing Renado angry, he could understand why the two boys wanted to listen. "When someone does something kind for you, do not be critical of them."

"But the young men of Ordon don't know how to cook. I know you and Barnes can, but you're from Kakariko. Back in Ordon, the young men are lazy once they get home from work." The little boy ate some more, and talked with his mouth full full. "They have their moms cook for them until they get married, and then their wives do it."

Link laughed at that, a half-snort due to the food in his mouth. He finished chewing and swallowed. "Okay, he's not wrong. Ordon is pretty traditional, probably from being isolated. But cut me some slack here, Malo. I'm not lazy, and you know it."

"You work two jobs, and you play with us in your free time, and then go do stuff with Ilia. You're not like the others, I guess." The little round-faced boy looked up from his meal. "You could still get married and have a wife that can cook for you, since you work hard. Maybe you could marry Ilia."

Link felt his face turn hot at that comment. "I think you should be quiet and finish your food."

Renado raised an eyebrow at this exchange, but made no comment. Instead he blessedly offered a change in subject. "I am glad that we have some food to eat here, but the Eld Inn's supplies are limited. The Goron merchants that used to visit and bring food from the west and south no longer come. Central Hyrule seems to be quite dangerous, otherwise I would consider going out to see if there was anything at the farms past the forests on the edge of Eldin."

"You wouldn't find much. When I went through there a few days ago, a lot of the farms were ruined. The Bulbins are either destroying the crops or taking them, and looting settlements." He recalled seeing the aftermath of the invasion in Central Hyrule, which only took a day, from what Renado had told him. It wasn't the work of random raiding parties, but an organized effort. "I saw smoke from a lot of fires to the north, off near Castle Town. I'm wondering if they have an army around there. An army would need a lot of food, and there certainly seems to be a lot of Bulbins."

"An army?" Barnes asked, alarmed. "What, do you think this is a war then?"

"I know it happened fast, and there were no battles, but Zant's army invaded at a time when Hyrule was weak." He took a drink of tea after giving them a name for their unseen enemy. Neither man asked him about it. "An invasion means war. I don't know who is fighting back other than me, but I'm sure there are some people." Yet he was the only Hylian that could fight back, and Hyrule was the homeland of the Hylians. How many people could be resisting the invasion? The Gorons seemed to be having problems, and they were known for being strong.

"How do you know that? You've only been through Faron and Central Hyrule so far." Barnes said.

"A hunch. Even if I didn't have this hero thing dumped in my lap, I still would have gotten my sword and looked for the people who were taken from Ordon. I was just a goatherd before that." Nothing would have prevented him from looking for Ilia, and the need to search for her drove him forward just as much as Midna's need for the Fused Shadows. "If I'm willing to that, I'm sure there are others like me."

"Yeah, you've got to be right." Colin said, awkwardly eating with his left hand. The boy was having difficulty adjusting to being unable to use his other one. "We should have faith in the people of Hyrule."

Link wanted to have faith, even in his own statements, but he had his doubts. He and Midna could very well be the only two people taking on Zant and his army. It was a sobering thought.

As the children cleaned up, he decided to ask Renado about an idea he had. It was another hunch, but he probably was on the mark. "Renado? May I ask something?"

"Of course." The shaman did not help clear the table. He had spent all morning caring for animals, and that was after being up late casting healing magic the night before. He looked tired.

"Do you have a supply of books nearby?" He knew that there were shelves of books in the Sanctuary, after having seen them there as a wolf.

"I have many in my home, and then the town has a small library in the Sanctuary." The shaman seemed curious about the request. "Do you have time to read? I know that you are resting today, but I would assume you had other plans."

"Please show me the library, if you don't mind."

It was no longer raining when they stepped outside, but there were still clouds overhead, and a damp breeze that brought the promise of more showers. Renado lead him to the Sanctuary, which was dimly lit due to the cloudy skies. Thankfully, none of the children or Barnes followed them. His idea wouldn't work if they had.

"This is the town's library." Renado gestured at a group of six bookshelves that sat in the alcove by the window. There were two simple wooden chairs beneath the window for readers to sit on. It was certainly more books than Link had, but it wasn't much of a library. "I know it isn't much, but then again most of the people of Kakariko are miners and ranchers, and aren't as interested in books."

"I know how that is. I think I own the most books in Ordon, and I'm the guy with two jobs. Everybody else is too tired after a day's work, but my brain gets bored if I don't have something to read every once in a while." His brain got bored a lot throughout the day, since watching goats wasn't very mentally stimulating. This journey so far had given his mind something more interesting to do, as difficult as it had been on his body.

"I understand that feeling. You are welcome to sit here and read whatever you like." The shaman turned to go, likely having more tasks to do in a town with only two adults.

"It's not for me." His words made Renado stop walking, and the man turned back to Link, confused. Now here came a gamble, although he felt he could trust Renado with anything, after the shaman healed him. "You shared a personal, dangerous secret in order to help me last night, and for that I'm really grateful. I have something I want to share, but you can't tell the children or Barnes. I don't think they'd understand."

"I can keep it to myself, but what it is you need to tell me?" Despite his confusion, the man was still kind and helpful. Renado was probably well-liked by the citizens of Kakariko, or at least was before the Twilight.

"Midna?" He looked down at his shadow, which was cast by the light from the library window. "Will you come out and say hello?"

Her voice hesitated. "Is it all right?" The shaman looked down at the shadow on the floor, surprised at the high-pitched voice coming from it.

"We can trust Renado." he assured her.

Midna appeared, forming out of the shadow on the floor to hover above it. She gave a formal bow to introduce herself. "Hello. My name is Midna, and I come from another land. I'm Link's partner."

"She's my ally in this fight against the shadow beings, although I know she looks like a shadow herself. That's why I didn't want you to tell anyone else. She does her best to stay hidden in my shadow, so no one will get the wrong idea." Not that the tiny creature was all that intimidating, but frightened people do foolish things. "She looks like this because she was cursed by the man who has invaded Hyrule."

"Zant did the exact same thing to my homeland as he did here. He took over and turned the people into Shadow Beasts. I tried to stand up to him, but…" she looked down at her dark form, holding her hands out at her sides. "I was turned into this, which is little more than a shadow in your world."

Renado did not seem alarmed at her sudden appearance, but he stared at the form of the stone helmet on her head. "What is that relic you wear? It has a strong, dark power. It makes me uneasy."

"It's an heirloom of sorts, but don't worry. I can use it safely, but people from Hyrule shouldn't try." She gave Renado a sharp-toothed grin. "It might seem scary, but look at it this way: we're two opposites that came together to combine our strengths. Link has some kind of sacred magic and the Light Spirits on his side, and I have shadow magic and the ancient power of my people."

"That combined might is what will save everyone." Link said. "I know that Midna is using shadow magic, but shadow magic by itself isn't evil. Like any magic, it's how you use it that matters, and she's using hers to help. I trust her." He found that he did. At first he was unsure, but after yesterday, he knew that she was trustworthy.

"If you trust her, than I have no choice but to do so as well." Renado was being reasonable, as Link had hoped.

"We do have a small problem, though. It's her curse. She can't sleep because of it. Every night when I sleep, she has to sit around for hours and wait for me to wake up."

The shadowy imp rolled her red eye dramatically. "It's horrible. He snores, you know."

"Midna..." Link sighed. He doubted he snored, and she was giving him a hard time to be funny. "Could we borrow a few books for Midna to read at night?"

"I can read a few different languages, but the Goron script is a little hard for me to read yet. Any book will do, since I've run out of songs to sing at night." She sang when she was bored, just like he did. She liked books, just like he did. He was starting to have some things in common with Midna.

Renado gave her a friendly smile, treating her just as he had treated Link when they had first met. "It does seem that you two are friends, despite being an unlikely pair. Go ahead and help yourself to a few books. At least someone will use them, then."

"Yeah, nobody's using this library now, right? I'm sorry about what happened to the people of your town. We'll figure out a way to get them back, that is I'll figure it out." She gave the shaman a hoarse whisper that Link could clearly hear. "I'm the brains of this partnership." He let that one slide. Midna floated over to the bookshelves, and started to read the titles on the spines. "If I knew about this library before, I would have come here instead of watching Link drool at night."

"I do not drool." He retorted. The snoring comment he could stand, but not that one.

His response made her laugh lightly. "You're so fun to tease." She selected a blue-covered book, looking at the cover. "A history book would be good. It wouldn't hurt for me to learn more about Hyrule while I'm here." She had mentioned that she lived in the lands of the Twilight, but where was that? The army had come from far west, so perhaps out that way? No one was able to cross the Gerudo desert to find out what was far west, since relations with the Gerudo were strained. "Hmm, a book on the races of Hyrule...and hey, you have some short stories. I prefer fiction if I can find it." She placed the books she found in a pile on the floor. "It's a shame there isn't any erotic poetry, but then again Link didn't have any of that in his house either."

That comment made Renado laugh. "I certainly hope not."

Midna selected two more books and added them to her pile. "I have a particular way of carrying things." She waved a hand and the pile of books vanished in a flash of black squares. "Don't worry, the books are safe and sound."

"How did you do that?" The shaman didn't seem worried about his books vanishing, but instead seemed impressed. "I thought you used shadow magic?"

Midna gave a small giggle. "I tend to bend the rules a bit. But from one magic user to another…" She slightly raised up the helmet on her head to reveal her other eye, and winked it at Renado. "...I ain't telling."

Renado laughed again, and seemed to like Midna now that he had met her. Link wondered if he could introduce her to anyone else. She had been by herself for weeks before she met him, so she had to be lonely. If she could make friends during this journey just as he could, then good.

"Amazing. You actually have two eyes. And here I thought you were a little Hinox." He considered lifting up the helmet to see her other eye again, but then remembered it was a piece of the Fused Shadows. He shouldn't touch it.

"I'll bet that would be funny if I had any idea what a Hinox was." Oh. Way to ruin a joke, Midna. "Thank you for everything you've done for us, especially for Link. The past few days have been hard on him." His crack about her one eye might have missed the mark, but that comment made up for it. Her concern for him was touching, and made him smile.

"I am happy to help. Anything I can do to help the Hero of Hyrule and...the Hero of Shadows?" So Renado figured out that she was like him as well. She had to be his equivalent in some way, even if she didn't want to talk about herself.

Midna gave a mysterious little smile. "Something like that. I need to hide so Link can go do things, but it was nice to meet you." She slipped down into the shadow on the floor, and was quiet.

The rest of the day passed without anything interesting happening. Since the rain let up for a while, Link helped Luda bring the three horses up to the top of the canyon. It was green up there, with fields of grasses on a plateau that went on for miles until suddenly dropping off at a forest. He learned which horse was which; Barley was the dappled gray, and Rye was the roan. The grass was a bit wet from the rain but the horses did not care, and they ran around one of the sheep pastures. Epona could actually run and play with Barley and Rye, although Luda was a bit alarmed when Barley reared up to hit Epona with his hooves, causing the mare to take off running.

"Relax." he told her. "Haven't you ever seen horses play?"

"Not really." Luda said. "Rye is much older than Barley, so the two of them don't play like that. It looks so rough, like they're fighting. He isn't going to hurt Epona, is he?"

"No, and she's the biggest horse here so I doubt she's in trouble. I'm sure you've heard of the word 'horseplay'? If it's a word used when humans play rough, where do you think it came from?"

While the horses were in one of the pastures, Luda brought Link to see the other buildings. There were two ranches at the top of the canyon. One was a sheep ranch, the other was mostly cuccos and geese, with a few cows. While most of the animals could graze, the fowl needed extra feed, and so Renado came up every morning to make sure that they had food, and all the other animals had water. There were three farms not too far away, but the Shadow Beasts had managed to get to them as well, and transform the Hylians that lived there. At least the Bulbins hadn't damaged these fields.

Later in the afternoon, Link checked in with Barnes to see if he had made anything yet. He hadn't been inside the shop yet, and was a bit surprised to see the inside of the building was reinforced with metal. How would shielding on the inside of the building protect Barnes, if he was also in there with the bombs? The reasoning behind this made far more sense once he was able to look past the counter, to where Barnes was working. There was a heavy rolling metal door that closed down on the small window that made up the counter, and the room beyond was not covered in metal sheeting. It wasn't that Barnes didn't trust his own self with gunpowder, it was that he didn't always trust his customers.

"Hey there, Link!" The redheaded engineer greeted him from where he sat at a metal table, carefully measuring out some kind of powder with a scale. He had on a flat metal mask with a square glass window near his eyes that let him see, and beneath it he wore a kerchief tied around his nose and mouth."I'll be you with in just a minute."

"Take your time." Whatever it was that Barnes was doing with explosives, he didn't want to distract him. This was not the kind of shop that had merchandise on the shelves, with good reason. Renado had said that a lot of the people of Kakariko were miners, and while Link hadn't seen any mines nearby, he could understand how the town could be a good place to sell explosives. The Gorons were his customers too, and the signs hanging on the walls to advertise the various kinds of bombs were both in the Hylian and Goron forms of writing.

"All right." Barnes had carefully put away whatever it was he was working on, and flipped the metal mask up. He stepped up to the counter and pulled the kerchief down from his face. "I'm getting orders from the Gorons already. I guess a bunch of the tunnels collapsed in their main iron mine. That's where you were at, weren't you?"

"That's the one. It was about what you would expect from a mine in the side of a volcano. At one point I took a wrong turn and wound up in this big cave with a lava lake in it. Then I had to take care of a pair of dodongos that were in there and wanted me for dinner." He couldn't mention that Midna had killed one of the lizards.

"You fought those without bombs, too. Usually Gorons wait until they open their mouths and cram a bomb in. The fire they spit don't hurt the Gorons none, so they go kaboom from the inside. How did you manage?" Barnes disappeared behind the counter, crouching down to look at something.

"I knocked one into the lava, which it was unable to swim in. The other got a sword in the brain. I waited until it ran out of whatever fuels its fire and stabbed it in its mouth." He leaned forward a bit to try to see what Barnes was doing, but all he could see was the man was going through a metal lockbox.

"You did that with hurt ribs too, huh? How are those feeling today?"

Barnes had no idea. Renado wouldn't have had any reason to reveal his magic, and it was entirely possible that the two of them didn't know each other until they were the only two men left in town. Link had thought up a good lie to cover himself. "They were just bruised, as it turned out. Nothing's broken, so he gave me medicine to dull the pain for now. I should heal up before too long."

"Good to hear." The engineer stood up and placed a leather pouch on the counter that was made of some kind of reptile skin. "I at least had some dodongo hide left so I could give you a bag. It's funny how you said that dodongos can't swim in lava, because they can sit in the stuff if they want to. Their hide is completely fireproof, and waterproof due to that too." He untied the heavy leather cord of the pouch, and reached in to pull something out. There were two round explosives in his hand about the size of tangerines. "You've got two kinds. These darker ones are regular bombs. The light gray ones are water bombs, so they explode underwater. You pull this little cord here to light the fuse on the regular bombs, and you pull this pin here to activate the water bombs. The pin has some resistance when you pull on it, so yank hard." He pointed a black-stained finger at the two bombs as he explained. "You've got about five seconds for the normal bombs, and ten for the water bombs. The water bombs are especially dangerous, because water can carry shockwaves a lot better than air, so make sure you're not in the water near one when it explodes." Barnes put the two bombs back in their bag, and tied it off.

"I was halfway down the hill when I blew up your shed, and it still knocked me down. I couldn't hear much for a while after that, too. I'd rather not have a repeat of that experience." Link reached for the bag, and then stopped with his hand on it, glancing at Barnes. "Are you sure I can have these?" He only had about one hundred rupees on him and had seen the prices on the wall, so he couldn't afford it if the answer was no.

"Positive. If anybody wants to know where you got them, drop my name. No better advertisement for my bombs than having the Hero of Hyrule use them!" He slapped a hand on the counter enthusiastically with that last statement, which made Link jump. Was it all right to do that near bombs? Barnes laughed. "Relax, my bombs won't blow up from being knocked around. They're solid. You can ride on horseback all day with these, and there will be no problem. Just keep them in the bag if you get anywhere hot. I mean volcano hot, just hanging out in the summer sun won't do squat."

"Thanks. I'm sure I'll find uses for them." He carefully tied the bomb bag near the back side of the belt, near the pouches.

"If you like those, you'll love what I'm working on for you next. It'll be something for that bow." Now that sounded intriguing. "Next time you're in Kakariko, give me a holler." The engineer gave him a huge grin.

After dark, Link sat at the fireplace that was on the front wall of the inn, resting on a bench he had dragged from one of the unused tables. The children were going through the nightly ritual of getting washed up and going to bed, and Colin was already asleep after having a dose of medicine. Renado had taken Luda home, leaving Link by himself at the fire. It was raining again, and the crackling of the fire paired with the sound of the rain made him a homesick. When the cold winter rains would settle in Ordon, he had far less work to do and would sit by himself in front of his own little hearth. His house was not fancy, but he found that he missed it already.

He was hesitant to stay here and rest a day, but letting his sword arm rest and his magical power regenerate was a good idea. He had no idea that using magic could be physically tiring, and that in part could have something to do with his moodiness of late. Being stressed, being tired, using magic without understanding how, and the strange new fear he had about Ordon no longer being a safe place all contributed to him having problems controlling his emotions. Wasn't that what you were supposed to do as an adult? Rusl had told him that it was no big deal, that if he expressed himself then it was nobody's business, but that was when he was just Link, the guy who herded goats and shot Bokoblins. Now he was a hero. He had to set an example and be strong. The fact that he had comforted Barnes made him realize that.

Link looked at the triangles on the back of his hand, tracing them with his thumb. Why did he have this power when nobody else in his family did? His mother knew what the mark was and didn't tell him the truth, and it had something to do with the royal family. The royal family always inherited magic on its female side, and had a bunch of different rituals and formal affairs based around that ability whether the girls born to the king and queen had magic or not. When a girl showed considerable magical ability, she would be renamed Zelda.

Did he remember her from when he was small? Was she called Zelda back then? His memory of a brown-haired girl with beautiful blue eyes was vivid and seemed correct, but there was no way of knowing unless he talked to her. Perhaps when he had accomplished his goal with Midna, he could talk to Zelda about everything. She did say she wanted to speak with him, and now he had a reason to speak to her. Perhaps he could talk to her about restoring his family's honor, even if it was in name only and everything his father owned was gone. He never knew what happened to his father, but he assumed that he was dead. If Link was made a knight, it would be something from his family that he would be able to hold onto. He had nothing else, only Epona.

He poked the fire apart to let it burn out and then decided to go to bed. Thinking about what could be didn't give him answers, or peace of mind. It was far better to rest and think about nothing at all.

The next morning he awoke earlier, closer to sunrise, and closer to the time he normally got up. He hadn't pushed himself with travel, fights or magic yesterday, so he didn't need to sleep those extra few hours. Midna was sitting with one of the books on the chair, which looked comically large for her. At least she had some reading to do, even if it was only five books. She probably would wind up re-reading them over and over, but it was better than sitting next to him humming all night.

She sat on the dresser near him and watched him shave again, still interested in the process. He guessed it would seem interesting to somebody who didn't have to do it, although he hadn't heard of other women interested in it. It was still weird to have somebody stare at him while he was trying to make himself clean and presentable. A lot of what Midna did was weird.

He did a quick check of his inventory and put his gear on, as well as his cloak. At least his cloak would cover up most of the blood spatters on his green tunic. Since there was nobody taking care of the rooms, he made sure to tidy up so he wouldn't return to a messy room. Midna slid into his shadow and he went downstairs, the first one awake. He ate some left over barley porridge with an apple, and a bit of cold cucco from the night before. There was some old cornbread, so he took some of that for the road, as well as some hard orange cheese Barnes had salvaged from one of the homes and a pair of apples. Now that he was really packed, he went out to the stable.

The horses were happy to see him, as usual. Barley and Rye were growing on him, and the two seemed to like him too. He fed the three of them, gave them water, and then checked Epona's saddlebags. The birthday gift Colin had made him was in there, which he had forgotten about until he found the disassembled fishing rod and leather pouch of tackle. It was appropriate that he re-discovered it today; it was his birthday, and now he actually was eighteen. The food that Ilia had put in his bags was long gone, likely eaten by the Bulbins. At least they didn't bother with the fishing rod. Link tried to picture the green brutes serenely fishing, and the image made him snicker.

"You seem to be in a good mood." Midna said, not from the shadow on the dusty floor of the stable, but somewhere near his chest. She was riding in the shadows closer to him, but that was fine. It was likely easier to see things that way.

"That day of rest was what I needed after all. Eldin was right." He closed up the saddlebag and looked around the stall. It should probably be cleaned before he left, and he wasn't going to leave the job to Luda. "I shouldn't rush in and worry about the time. Being careful and calculated is far more important than hurrying." He looked around for a broom and a shovel, and got to work.

When he was finished saddling Epona and cleaning up after her, he returned to the inn. The others were seated at breakfast, and they all turned to look at him when he entered the building.

"Oh hey, that's where you went." Barnes said. "Nobody knew where you were."

"I was getting ready. It's time for me to move on, but I'll come back to Kakariko when I get the chance." He took in the children's sad faces, and smiled kindly at them. "Don't worry, I plan on coming back. At some point I plan on going to Ordon to let your parents know that you're all right. For now, I need to do other things at Lake Hylia."

"What about Ilia?" Colin asked him, sliding off the bench and walking up to him. He didn't just look sad, he looked like his heart was breaking. The two of them had just found one another, and now his big brother was leaving him behind.

"Nothing can stop me from finding her." Link told him quietly, quiet enough that the other children likely couldn't hear. He ruffled the boy's hair and spoke at a normal volume again. "I'll bring her here, where it's safe. That way everyone can go back to Ordon together." When Colin put his arms around his waist, he returned the hug. "Hey, come on buddy. You need to be brave, remember? You've done good so far."

"I know, but I'm still allowed to miss you when you're gone." Colin stepped back, and Link could see that he was smiling. He was such a brave child, and didn't need to be reminded. "Be careful."

"I'll come back in one piece." He looked over to the other children. "Be good for Renado and Barnes, everyone. Renado, and Barnes...thanks. Thank you for all you've done."

"We should be thanking you." Renado did not wear his robe today, and was wearing a sleeveless shirt with simple leggings. It probably was his normal clothing. "You freed us from the dark nightmare that befell Kakariko. Throughout Hyrule, there are countless tales of the Ancient Hero, and your deeds bring them to mind." The shaman gave him a smile. "I will pray for your safety, and you are always welcome to return here to rest. Never forget you have friends in Kakariko."

"And never forget that you're gonna have some arrows that go boom." Barnes added. "Remember to stop by the next time you're around."

"I'm looking forward to that." It did sound pretty cool, if a little dangerous. Most of what he had been doing was dangerous anyway, so it would be more of the same. "I'm off. Goodbye, everyone."

There was a chorus of goodbyes, and he went back out to get Epona. He would have loved to stay with the children a bit longer, but there was still Twilight over part of Hyrule, and the final Light Spirit needed to be rescued. As Faron had told him, his own desires were secondary. The things he was doing were far more important than anything else, even though the thing he wanted the most was to find Ilia.

As he came out of the stable leading his horse, he could see a few Gorons in the northern part of the town. They had come down from the mountain despite the rain yesterday, although Link had no idea if any of them had spoke to Renado yet. It was possible that they planned to help the two men with taking care of the town. He hoped that they would, after seeing the amount of animals that Renado and Luda were caring for.

Link pulled himself up onto Epona's back and settled into the saddle. Traveling would be far easier with Epona, although he lost the stealth that he had while traveling through Central Hyrule. After the other day, he probably wouldn't have any trouble if he ran into more Bulbin raiding parties. He nudged the mare into a walk to exit out the northern gate of Kakariko, but then one of the Gorons stopped him, an old Goron covered in dark tattoos.

"Greetings, young hero." Gor Liggs said, holding up his hand in greeting. He was with several Goron guards in armor with clubs. "We will protect Kakariko while you're gone. There are not many people left here, but one day the others will return. No more Bulbins will enter this town."

Link had already figured out how the raiding party had gotten in. "That was my fault. The day before, two Bulbins came into Kakariko on my horse, jumping the gate. I had to calm Epona down, and I let the two of them escape to the gate. They must have found a way to open it up to let the others in. Not only that one, but the north gate too." The fact that they had used Epona to get in was likely part of King Bulbin's plan, too. He had seen the horse with him at the spring, and the Bulbins probably captured her not long after that. They knew about him, and where he had gone. The Bulbins would likely track his movements through Hyrule.

"Do not blame yourself. You had no way of knowing that was their intention. You had to rescue your horse." The old Goron gently patted Epona on the nose. She had never been touched by a Goron before, but did not seem to mind. "Link, may I ask where you are going from here?"

"I need to get to Lake Hylia, but I don't dare go back to Central Hyrule right now. I'm going through the Eldin Plains, passing east either through Castle Town or around the south side of it, and going through Lanaryu." It seemed like quite the trip. At least now he had Epona, but there was the small problem of the Twilight. He couldn't bring Epona with him. She would turn into a spirit like anything else, and he would become a wolf.

"That is what I was wondering, with you heading north. There used to be many towns in Eldin, but they have gone one by one, so I doubted you were visiting there. If you must rest, there is a Goron outpost some miles east of Castle Town. It's mostly used by our merchants, but human teamsters also stop there to drop off or pick up goods. Mention me by name, and the manager of the outpost will let you rest there for free. His name is Hagar." Gor Liggs had unwittingly given him a solution to his problem with Epona. He could stop and rest outside of the Twilight, and leave his horse there while he was out gallivanting as a wolf. It meant that he'd have to find a way back to Eldin to get Epona back after he visited Lake Hylia, but he'd think of something. "I have request, if you don't mind."

"Of course." Even if the Gorons weren't offering a place for him to stay for free, he would have done anything for the Goron elders.

"My son runs a dry goods store in Castle Town with his son. I have been unable to visit them, and now because of the invasion you spoke of, I worry. There are only so many Goron merchants in Castle Town, so if you find them, please let them know that I am all right." The Goron elder looked old then, a tired old man that was worried about his family. "My son is named Gamo, and my grandson is named Gamoson. If you need supplies while in town, they will be able to help you out, likely for free."

Being the hero had it perks. "Hagar, Gamo, Gamoson. Right. I'll let your family know that you're okay here in Kakariko. The next time I'm back, I'll tell you how they're doing." They were likely spirits trapped in the Twilight right now, but he planned on fixing that problem soon. "Thanks. I'll be back soon." He moved Epona ahead, and out of the north gates of Kakariko.