A/N: I have made the crucial discovery that if you say the "young" in "Young Link" enough times, it no longer sounds like a word. "But Luna," you say, "you never call him Young Link!" No I don't because it's no longer a word. And also because I actually couldn't figure out how to without it screwing up my narration style but yes also because it's totally no longer a word.
Ocarina of Time Link's Perspective.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Bottom of the Well
Link's adventure in the Bottom of the Well was anything but safe. Had the Hero of Twilight stuck around just a little while longer, he could have enjoyed listening to the sound of the little Hero explaining to Navi that whoever designed the place was incompetent and had no business being a Hyrulian architect.
After popping out on the other side of the tunnel, Link had found himself standing on a raised section of the brick floor, a ladder leaning against it for him to climb down. He decided that ladders were for cowards and jumped down without a second thought, landing on a diamond-lattice catwalk much like the one he had seen in the Fire Temple.
Link found it somewhat difficult to see, his eyes struggling to adapt to the darkness that shrouded the lower section of the location and turn the world just a little creepier. The wailing and sighs from somewhere far within were only adding to the discomfort he was feeling. As he blinked repeatedly to adjust to the shadows, he perceived piles of filth scattered here and there that, upon closer inspection, seemed to be stacks of crumbling bones. Link gave them a bewildered stare as he walked across the lattice, marching hesitantly over pronounced crimson splatters he recognized only afterwards as bloodstains.
Chains dangled from the ceiling on either side of a large Skulltula ahead of him, beyond which was nothing but another stone block wall. A large skeleton lay collapsed against the left corner of the wall, seemingly the remains of a full grown adult, and another pile of bones and ash was off to the right.
Link could feel shivers tracing down his spine at the evidence of death all around him, but he swallowed down his unease and reached into his inventory for his Boomerang. He halted as his hands touched the mystical Gale Boomerang, which was almost double the size of his own, clearly made for an adult. Link smiled mischievously as he decided he wanted to try this advanced tool, instead of using his own. Even if this new dungeon was potentially terrifying, he was going to have a little fun with these new weapons he had been permitted to borrow.
The Gale Boomerang began to howl as he took it out of his inventory and allowed power to concentrate within it. Winds twisted around his arm and traced his fingers as vibrant green leaves from nowhere danced through the air, generated from the tool. Link targeted the Skulltula and flicked the Boomerang at it, watching the weapon twist into its own tornado and race around the enemy. The Skulltula's web snapped under its weight and the incessant pulling of the wind, bringing the enemy to the ground and killing it instantly.
Both Link and Navi stared at the heart left in its place, before the fairy said, "I think you need to borrow all of Link's weapons."
"I would have loved to be an adult in here, throwing that spiked Ball and Chain," Link agreed. "That Skulltula would have never stood a chance."
"That would be overkill," Navi said, fluttering aimlessly around his head.
"Overkill is the best part of combat," the little Hero protested, walking over to the wall with the skeleton. "Is this all that's over here?"
"I can hear the spirits whispering in this room…" Navi informed him as he examined the bones.
"What are they saying?" Link asked her, hesitantly sticking his hand between the ribcage and wiggling his fingers. "Hopefully something about where we can find better Deku Sticks. It's so dark in here."
"'Look for the Eye of Truth…'" Navi murmured. She glided over to Link and landed on his shoulder.
"I gotta use my eyes to find some eyes?" the little Hero asked skeptically. "But what if it's too dark to use my eyes?" He looked around at the dungeon, noting the complete absence of places to search; this was the only room. Who designed this place? What kind of bad planning decisions did one have to make to decide they wanted a one-room dungeon? "Where are we supposed to go looking if this wall's right here?"
"That's what they are saying!" Navi protested, watching Link draw his sword and stare disinterestedly at the wall.
Having deciding he didn't feel like touching walls where dead bodies spent their time decomposing, Link poked at the stone with his tool. His sword passed right through the blocks, the tip sinking into them as if they weren't there at all. He flinched and pulled it back out, the blade making no sounds to indicate it had ever encountered stone.
Navi remained silent in contemplation, giving Link his own time to consider what had happened. The little Hero risked touching the wall with his bare fingers, surprised when his hand passed right through it. He turned to Navi, a look of astonishment on his face.
"How in the world…?" he asked her, but she just flickered to indicate that she hadn't figured that one out yet. Link turned back to the wall, cautiously walking through it and revealing an entire dungeon ready to be explored.
In front of him, a pool of filthy water dominated most of the floor, before transitioning to solid ground with a shallow but wide path of water splitting off into a T at the other end of the room. Link could see two paths that the water followed, but his attention was drawn by a several fallen beams beside two piles of bones at the opposite wall.
"What is this place…?" he asked, looking around at his sides and spotting two ceramic pots waiting for destruction. He quickly dispatched them with his sword before spotting exactly what he had asked for. "STICKS!" He retrieved his blessing from the goddesses, fetching a stack of Deku Sticks and stuffing them into his inventory, gently knocking his friend's Lantern. Out of curiosity, he pulled out the Lantern and watched it spontaneously ignite, casting a warm orange glow throughout the dungeon and chasing away some of the fog.
A gurgling and hissing sound echoed behind him, so he whirled around and drew the Gale Boomerang from his inventory. He flicked it forward without a second thought, drawing up a Green Bubble and putting out its flame before hauling it toward himself. A thrust of his sword was enough to instantly destroy the monster.
"I love these borrowed items!" Link celebrated, pulling the Lantern off his belt where he had clipped it and holding it out. "Hey Navi, right or left?" he asked, shining his light in both directions.
"Uhh…right?" she suggested. "Does it matter which one we choose first? We can always come explore both."
"Indeed," the little Hero agreed, but he followed her suggestion anyway and began to splash through the shallow water along the right passageway. As he turned the corner, he found himself in another hall, and far in the distance he could just barely perceive what looked like diverging paths. The wall to his right receded slightly, transitioning to bars and informing him that there were even more sections of this dungeon that he could explore.
It's a labyrinth, Link thought. He placed his hand on the left wall and began to drag his fingers along the stone, ensuring that if he got lost in here, all he would have to do was follow this same wall back.
Link's fingers felt a change in the wall, his hand passing through seemingly solid stone and finding a hidden corner in what appeared to be a straight path. He risked poking his head into the illusion, spotting a treasure chest in what looked like a small shrine. The walls were made of earth with thin stone pillars embedded in the corners for support. The earth was illuminated by an unseen light source, which was clearly not from the Lantern he was holding since that was still on the other side of the false wall. Skulls were embedded in niches in the walls, and Link feared they were human.
He shivered. This place was starting to frighten him, especially with the haunting wails he had yet to find. Even so, he couldn't stop himself from stepping into the room and kicking open the treasure chest that he was too curious to just abandon. He retrieved the contents and held the prize over his head: a Small Key!
I think it's time to leave this little enclosure, Link decided, picking up the Lantern from off the floor where he had set it beside the chest to fetch the key. He stepped back out into the main hallway, placing his hand back on solid wall and slowly walking through the dungeon. He passed by the rows of bars, glancing at what lay beyond them. He spotted a Like Like and nodded appreciatively that it was locked up beyond where it could touch him. He quickly brushed aside his thoughts on the monster as he spotted a strange painting in the shadows at the end of the hall.
The painting depicted a very round face with hollow eyes and a haunting smile. His chin rested on his hands, his long fingers like claws on his cheeks. His arms and parts of his head seemed to be wrapped in thorns, but Link couldn't tell due to the fading of the ink on the canvas, as well as the crimson smears that coated some parts of the image. He stopped a short distance away from the painting, staring at it with a somewhat angry and uncertain expression on his face.
Navi abandoned him to look at the painting, probably ready to reveal her secret identity as an art connoisseur. She evaluated it for a moment before commenting, "This wall… It says something here…"
"What does it say?" Link asked.
"'Danger below'…" She returned to her little Hero. "That's what it says."
Link shuddered. "This place has a basement?" he asked.
"At least the painting is nice enough to warn us about it," Navi muttered as the Hylian continued following the left wall. He spotted a small tunnel on the opposing wall, but decided he would come back to it once he had finished following this specific path.
Halfway down that hall, Link spotted a symbol on the floor under the water, and he deviated from the wall to investigate. He looked up at a massive stone head in a recession of the wall, the appearance of which reminded him of the painting he had just encountered. Its mouth was open and water was pouring out, trickling over its cracked teeth and spilling out into the floor. Navi raced to investigate as Link maintained his distance. He regarded the tiny hands projecting from either wall beside the head, before glaring into its flat stone eyes.
"The water flowing out of this statue is flooding the entire floor," Navi noted.
Link regarded the Triforce insignia below him, then looked back at the head. He pulled the Ocarina of Time from his inventory and began to play the familiar melody of the Hyrulian Royal Family. Zelda's Lullaby echoed through the dungeon, the power behind the notes causing an immediate change.
The water pooling around Link's boots began to spill through the gaps between the floor, draining and splashing down an impression in the floor in front of him. The water from the stone mouth began to lessen, and the entire passageway began to dry.
"Magic," Link commented, pocketing his Ocarina and glancing down at the pots down in the floor below. He decided not to bother with them—a rare choice for him, those pots should be grateful to remain intact another day. He turned and continued his trek along the left wall, passing by another corridor that he told himself he would explore later.
It was only as he entered another entirely separate room by stumbling through an invisible wall that Link actually began to realize just how much he hated the dungeon. The first thing that he saw was the two giant beams leaning against one another and forming an X shape over a pool of dried blood. Chains hung from the ceiling nearby, turning his stomach as he realized that whatever that arrangement was, it could only be used for torture, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what kind.
To his left, a massive chest was located within a cage of bars with an entrance Link wasn't sure he could trust. He could see mounds of crushed and broken bones within, as well as two more unused beams banded in iron. A second row of bars opposed the one closest to him, the floor spattered with crimson over there, too. To his left, he saw a locked door, which he knew he had the key to open but wasn't yet ready to use just yet. The room was illuminated enough for him to see all of it without the Lantern, so he returned it to his inventory and took a hesitant step.
"Watch for the shadows of monsters that hang from the ceiling," Navi commanded, and Link drew his sword.
"I know I usually explore dungeons on my own anyway," the little Hero said, listening closely for any sound of rushing air and watching to make sure his own shadow did not change. "But I have to admit I would really have preferred Link's company here…"
"I wonder what he's up to right now…" Navi commented as her Hero's shadow flickered.
"Probably something a lot more fun than this dungeon," Link growled.
. . . . .
The Hero of Twilight was having a decent time, if constant anxiousness could be considered decent. He had been sitting at the top of the well for quite some time now, with Midna floating around him in her shadow form so she could remain hidden from any casual Hylians who looked over at her Hero.
If there's one beneficial thing that resulted from separating from Link, Link thought to himself, it's the fact that I can finally talk to Midna without worrying for our continued secrecy.
So the first thing they had discussed was the reality that the Hero of Twilight had not reverted to childhood, despite his adventure to the past.
"Who would have guessed that going back in time would be a strong indication that we are foreigners in this Hyrule?" Midna asked, resting her elbows on Link's shoulders as he stared down the well. "I take it you realized why you didn't age?"
"Indeed," Link agreed, his gaze not leaving the base of the well. "I cannot return to the age I was seven years ago, if I did not exist seven years ago. Having been sent by the goddesses, I will retain this age no matter how far forwards or backwards through time I travel."
Midna nodded her assent, floating to the middle of the well's opening and hovering directly in front of him. "It's getting harder to cover your tracks," she observed.
"In a single twenty-four hour timespan, I've fabricated the truth significantly," Link admitted, looking up at Midna and seeing that she was staring past him and watching the workers darting uselessly around Kakariko. She saw him looking at her, so she met his eyes as he continued with, "I'm only fortunate that there were several hearts to be dug up in the Upper Zora's River when I jumped from that icy waterfall. Had I not sniffed them out, he would have been more than just suspicious regarding why I was missing so much health despite my perfect condition when he last interacted with me."
Midna yawned, as if talking about something that had happened a couple of days ago was getting boring already. Even so, she remarked, "My favorite thing is that you made them feel stupid for even suggesting that you may be a wolf."
Link returned to staring down the well, waiting for his fellow adventurer to come back. He was starting to feel some guilt in his conscious for continually deceiving his friends, but he knew he could never tell them who he was. Not even his friends from back home knew his true identity. This was a secret he would have to carry to his grave, just like that golden wolf had done. Maybe one day, Link would also be a mysterious wolf helping his descendants. Would he teach them swordplay, or would he just hunt for them? Would he ever reveal his identity to them, either?
"I suppose it's best I continue feigning ignorance," Link finally said, thinking about his friends in this world. "It's better they believe I'm a fool than recognize that I'm not who I say I am. But I…don't like deceiving them."
"It's only for a while longer," Midna reassured. "As soon as this adventure is over, we can return to our own. There's no need for them to ever know."
Link rested his elbows on his legs and his chin on his hands, staring down into the well. "I think my wolf form could fit down there."
"In the tunnel?"
"Yes."
"Link, we just got done discussing that you need to be more careful about your identity, and now you want to go blow your cover? He's already seen that you can't enter. If you went through, you'd have to stay as a wolf!"
"I just want to make sure he's still safe," Link said, straightening and preparing to rise to his feet. "I don't like the thought of him being down there completely alone. I would prefer to check in on him and possibly aid him without his knowledge. At the very least, I just want to ensure nothing bad has happened."
Midna was rolling her eyes at him, but even so, she couldn't do anything to stop him from dropping back down into the well. Growling her frustration, she floated back to him as he entered the Bottom of the Well once again.
"You're certain you want to do this?" she asked.
"I may not even fit," he reminded her. "But if I do, then I'll check the status of the dungeon, and then sniff around to see if he's still in good condition."
"Then we leave," Midna insisted.
"Then we leave," Link agreed.
She clearly wasn't thrilled about it, but she summoned the evil magic stone that Zant had once stuck in Link's forehead. He reached out and touched it, instantly collapsing to the ground and transforming into a wolf.
Link rose to his feet and shook his head, Midna solidifying above him and slamming on to his back, like some kind of punishment for making her a forced accomplice in his suicidal plan. He shot her a look of Really? before turning to the entrance of the dungeon. Tucking his paws in front of him and trying to make himself as thin as possible, he ducked his head and crawled forward.
Midna fell back into his shadow as Link very slowly squeezed into the tunnel. Surprisingly, he was thin enough to actually slip through the passage. However, his movements were very minimal, due to the lack of space for him to extend his paws. He resorted to almost dragging himself forward with his paws, scooting through the tunnel before popping out on the other end.
"My assumption was correct," Link decided, shaking himself off and sniffing the air around him. Midna returned to his back a little less forcefully as her canine took in the environment around him. Link recoiled at the smells that met his nose, thrashing his head and snarling. "This place smells horrible."
Midna also crinkled her nose. "I could've given you the same analysis even without the dog nose."
Link recognized the familiar scent of his friend, distinguishing it from the other unsolicited smells in this place. He sprang off the platform, brushing against the ladder and landing on the catwalk. He shifted his paws uncomfortably on the floor, before trotting forward and regarding the darkness.
"A skeleton," Midna observed, drawing Link's attention to the far end of the room.
The Hero of Twilight approached the body, listening intently to the wind and whispering throughout the dungeon that seemed strongest here.
"There are voices here…" Link said, examining the skeleton. "'Look for the Eye of Truth…' What does that mean?"
"Do eyes lie?" Midna asked as her wolf sniffed the wall.
Link could smell his friend's scent passing right through the bricks, but he didn't understand how that would have been possible. He concentrated, using his senses to see what secrets the room held, only to yelp and jump back.
"What's wrong?" Midna asked, a hint of concern in her voice as she looked between her wolf and the wall.
"That wall isn't there!" Link protested, pointing with his nose. He stepped closer to it once again, poking his snout through it to illustrate his point. He was met with no resistance, his face disappearing up to his ears in the illusion.
Midna waved her tiny hand through the bricks as well before bringing her fingers back to her and studying them. "Eyes lie," she decided, wiggling her fingers.
Link sniffed the air before stepping through entirely, keeping low to the ground as he searched for the presence of his friend. He didn't like this new environment that greeted him, especially not this new drop in the floor with a chain-link fence leading down to another level of the basement. The Hero of Time's scent continued past this point, so Link walked around the area and stopped.
The young Hero of Time was emerging from a door beyond him, still in good health but looking a little shaken. Link stiffened at the sight of his friend weaving around a giant X made of pillars, seemingly heading towards him. He quickly scampered to the left, darting down the corridor before sliding to a halt and backing up.
Treasure chest…he thought, walking into a small and chilling shrine-like area with a waiting treasure.
"I'm glad you can see these fake walls," Midna told him. "If I hadn't been carried through the last one, I would have thought you were going to attack a wall."
I passed through a fake wall? Link wondered, nudging the chest open with his nose and losing concentration on his senses. He fetched a Small Key, something he couldn't use in this form but couldn't bear to just put back. I could always spit it at Link and then race for the exit before he sees me. He turned back around, finding himself trapped in a wall made of wood, but upon closer inspection it revealed itself false. So this was what Midna was seeing?
Link trotted back through the wall, staring at the world without use of his senses and seeing that the area where he had spotted his friend was actually a massive wall. Unless he concentrated, all he could see were roughly hewn stone blocks.
"What is it, Link?" Midna asked, seeing him stare at the wall.
"If the walls in this dungeon are false, how is Link managing to find his way?" Link inquired, stepping towards the wall where he had last seen his friend. "I want to check his progress, and then we'll leave."
Midna sighed in obvious irritation, but she did not stop her wolf from darting to the right and scampering down the hallway. He skittered across the bricks, racing down the hall before sliding to a halt in front of a haunting painting of a face with no eyes and a broad smile of jagged teeth. A perfectly square hole was beneath the image, doubtlessly leading down into Hyrule's netherworld. Link didn't want to go down there, and fortunately the scent he was following seemed to lead away from it. He began trotting down the hall a little more carefully this time, passing by a large statue head and spotting a Triforce pattern in front of it.
According to the scent pattern Link was perceiving, the Hero of Time had lingered here. The Hero of Twilight stared for a moment before he continued following the trail. He noticed a hole in the floor, located in a small room before him, but he decided not to investigate since his friend had not gone that way. He turned left.
"You're going in a circle," Midna commented.
"I'm following the scent," Link informed her.
"The idiot was going in a circle," Midna amended.
Based on how close the scent was to the walls, Link wanted to guess that his friend was trying not to get lost by using the passageways themselves as indicators. Considering that the scent diverted off into a larger room, clinging to the walls seemed to have been working for him. If the little Hero couldn't see where he was going, he was going to feel the way.
He's very clever, Link admitted. Since my senses are sharpened to see the truth, I would explore this place as a beast. However, since he has no equivalent to my senses, he's solving this dungeon in the best way he can. I wish I could guide him through here. It would save him so much time.
Link hesitantly entered the larger room with the X made of those beams, since that was the last location the scent had led. He stopped at a door that his friend had evidently wandered through only recently, before moving on since he couldn't open it as a wolf and he didn't dare transform into a human here. He looked over at a large chest in a cage, left completely untouched by his friend. There was no scent trail near it, indicating that his friend didn't dare trust it. A wise decision, considering that Link could see a massive drop in the floor of the entrance. Off to the right of the chest, there was a large opening that was currently hidden by a false wall. The Hero of Time had never seen it.
"He needs to find that Eye of Truth," Link commented as he trotted across the floor and avoided all traps to approach the second cage of bars at the opposite end of the room. "He'll never find his way through this dungeon without it."
"My answer is no," Midna said, countering what she already knew he wanted to ask.
Link pouted as he approached a small chest. He stared warily at the wooden beams with chains hanging from them on the wall, unease creeping up on him because of this place. He had already been a visitor in a cursed prison once before, and he had to admit he didn't really enjoy the experience. Somehow, Arbiter's Grounds was less intimidating than this place though, due to its lack of lamenting spirits, human skeletons, and invisible traps or walls. Admittedly, there were more puzzles in the cursed prison, but it was far better lit than this place, and was quite enjoyable after the unease finally settled.
Link poked the chest open with his nose and retrieved Deku Nuts, pushing aside his discomfort with a minor celebration that he had finally gotten his own convenient blinding tool. Now he wouldn't have to borrow any from the little Link!
He turned around, casually jogging around a corner and following the Hero of Time's scent once again. Where had that kid run off to this time? How did he have so much luck in avoiding all the problems this dungeon had?
Link wished he had that same luck, because apparently problems followed him everywhere. He stopped in his tracks and backed up as a reddish-orange flame flickered in front of him, contained in the Lantern held out to him by the Hero of Time. The Hero himself was standing completely still, regarding Link with a wild look in his eyes.
"'Just going to check in on him, then we leave,' Midna hissed as aggressively as she could in her quietest voice, right in Link's ear. "'Just want to make sure the dungeon isn't too terrible.'"
"I have realized the error of my ways," Link told her with very soft barks, trying not to seem menacing to the little Hero in front of him.
"Can you realize the error before you make it, next time?" Midna growled, unable to disguise her apparent loathing for her servant never following his orders. "You know what? I think I'm just going to…" She slid off his back and fell into his shadow, disappearing from sight. "See you later."
Link took a step toward the little Hero. The damage was already done, but if he could just communicate with the child, perhaps he could repair or improve the situation. But how could he help the Hero of Time if he could no longer speak to him?
The animals from home would always just show me what they wanted, Link thought. He stared at his Lantern in his friend's hand. It worked for that monkey…
It turned out that his plan would only work if the animal was docile. Link, as a proud and fearsome wolf who could fend for himself, was too intimidating to lead the way as a pleasant and reassuring guardian. He should have realized this error before he made it too, but now he was two errors in and ready to make a third.
He dashed toward the Hero, ready to acquire his Lantern and use it to light the way for the Hero of Time. The little Link was supposed to give chase to retrieve it, and Link was going to lead him around the dungeon. The procedure went wrong at step one, and as the Hero of Twilight leapt forward to snatch his Lantern, his kid friend ducked and hid himself under his massive Hylian Shield. Link went right over him, turning around and realizing at that exact moment that maybe this was not the way he wanted to go about things.
It was already too late. The little Hero had shot to his feet and was sprinting in the opposite direction, racing down the left corridor and turning right before Link even managed to reorient himself.
"Agh, wait!" Link barked after him, sprinting down the hall in pursuit. He skittered around the turn, claws scraping across the ground as he pushed himself forward and began gaining on his friend.
"That wolf was a lot less intimidating when he wasn't twice your size!" Navi protested as the Hero of Time neared the next turn.
Link beat him to it, springing forward and cutting him off before he could reach the back section of the halls. The Hero of Time stumbled back, reaching into his inventory and switching out shields. He equipped a small wooden shield with an insignia on it that reminded Link of the Forest Temple's doors in his own time.
Despite that he apparently seemed ready to fight Link, the Hero of Time began to back up. Navi raced forward and turned yellow to target him, providing her Hero with an enemy synopsis, but unlike her Blade Trap analysis, this one was serious.
"Wolf," she announced. "Watch out for its bite attacks. Attack it when it drops its guard to fight!"
The Hero of Time's eyes flashed a warning at Link, who shot back as the Hero reached into his inventory. Unfortunately, he realized what was happening only after it had occurred, and the world all around him dissolved in white. Link shook his head and tried to clear his sight from the damage done by the Deku Nut, but he couldn't erase the blindness. He turned to escape, just in case the Hero of Time was preparing to attack him, rushing out and colliding with a wall he couldn't yet see.
Link got back to his feet and shook his head, only to find Navi floating above him, still radiating a yellow aura. He could only scarcely perceive her, but he decided he had enough sight to make sure that his friend wasn't coming to kill him. He whipped back around to find the little Hero, but the tunnel was empty.
Shivers traced down Link's spine. Where did Link go? he wondered, spinning in a circle but not finding his friend. Shouldn't Navi leave him alone to join her adventurer? If she was still here, then he had to be nearby somewhere.
However, it seemed that the fairy herself realized the absence of her Hero in that moment as well. She turned blue again and began to flit through the air nearest to where he had last been, before drifting in a circle in that area.
"Link?" she called. "Link, where did you go?"
The Hero of Twilight trotted over to her, spotting his Lantern on the ground as he drew close. He picked it up in his mouth, holding it up to her despite that it was no longer lit. It still had some fuel, but he didn't want to reignite it just yet.
"Is…" Navi began, regarding him. "Is that what you wanted…?" Suddenly, it seemed to dawn on her, "That's the other Link's tool. You followed us down here because you smelled him, didn't you?"
Link cocked his head, pretending not to understand her.
"You can't have that lantern," she scolded.
Link wagged his tail slightly, still feigning cluelessness.
Navi lost interest in the wolf, since he couldn't bother her anyway. She began to pick up her speed in scouring the area, still searching for her Hero.
Link set down his lantern and used his senses again, sniffing the air to try and find his friend, since that was the most important thing right now. He turned in a circle before spotting the scent trail near one of the holes in the floor, passing right through the bricks and disappearing from view.
I should have listened to Midna, Link thought, crawling over to the edge and peering down in the hole he had probably caused his friend to stumble into to get away from him. He leaned down and stared, unable to see anything down there due to the shadows that choked the passage.
"Link!" Navi shouted, disregarding the wolf with half his head disappearing into what looked like a solid floor. "LINK!"
The Hero of Twilight barked down the hole. "LINK!" The scent led down there. But what was down there? Death?
This dungeon is full of paths that lead back into one another, Link thought, lifting his head back up and staring up at Navi. Surely there is a way to climb back out. I should return his fairy to him at its exit, in case there's no way for a wolf to climb out.
Link rose to his feet and backed away from the hole in the floor, turning to Navi and barking at her to get her attention. "Hey!"
Navi dive-bombed him once, smacking into the space between his eyes and returning to the air. "Shoo!" she yelled. "Shoo, wolf!"
Link barked at her again. "HEY!" The result was the same; she dove for his face before returning to the air, scolding him before continuing her attempts to find her Hero. Link should have learned his lesson.
I didn't enter this place to simply cause more problems, he thought. He tensed as Navi shot past him, giving up the search here and trying to locate where her Hylian could have gone. Let me help you.
Link darted after her, sweeping up his Lantern in his teeth and beginning to search the dungeon with this strange fairy companion. They were going to find the Hero of Time, despite their inability to communicate with one another, as well as their very inhibited ability to help one another. They had to find him. This wasn't the kind of place either one wanted to abandon him in.
And now the Hero of Time was truly alone there.
. . . . .
A/N: No-I-don't-totally-accidentally-play-almost-this-entire-dungeon-before-acquiring-the-Lens-of-Truth-because-I-had-no-idea-how-quickly-you-can-get-it-once-you-drain-the-water-until-I-watched-the-walkthrough-to-write-this-chapter-I-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about.
