HUGE THANKS to Cheza the Flower Maiden and ultima-owner for reviewing!

To Cheza the Flower Maiden: Um, sort of, I guess. It's mostly dialogue, but not really between them. Actually, it's kind of one-sided... anyway, you'll see in this chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own, wish I did.

EDIT as of 10-22-14: Changed some word choice, shifted paragraph breaks around, minor stuff. No major alterations.


"WHAT THE- THIS THING SPITS ACID?! HOLY S***!" Vaati shrieked girlishly. I snickered at him and he glared, then I yelped as a jet of acid just barely missed my ear.

"Guys! Focus! Now is not the time to tease each other!" Dark growled, going insubstantial.

The two giant baba heads were now joined by one much larger baba head, which was the one that spit acid. It was also twice the size of the others, and harder to evade. The bomblings, which had been helpful in hurting the two smaller heads before, had sunk into the acid and were probably just little bits of dissolved something by now.

I couldn't get close enough to use my bombs without getting bitten in half, and Link couldn't throw that far. Once again, I cursed my lack of opposable thumbs. Normally I would have just thrown them myself, but using only your jaws...

Luckily, are problem was solved when the baboon from earlier swooped in, carrying a bombling of all things. He was chattering away the entire time, but I only caught bits and pieces of it over the sound of roaring and hissing.

Link threw the boomerang, which whistled under the baboon. The baboon then dropped the bombling in the small twister as it went by, continuing on to explode in the giant baba's face. I almost winced in sympathy. Ouch. That must have hurt.

The middle head roared in pain and collapsed onto the ground, its mouth opening and an eyeball on the end of its tongue (the f***?) flopping out. Seriously, what was the anatomical value of having an eyeball on your tongue of all places? What would you ever get to see besides your teeth and your food?

Anyway, eyeballs on unorthodox locations aside, this eyeball was recognized as the monster's weak spot and immediately attacked, with Link slashing away with his sword, Vaati sending blades of wind at it, and Dark and I clawing at the thing. Against our combined onslaughts, Diababa didn't stand a chance.

The mouth snapped closed and the head reared up, thrashing in pain. Then it suddenly froze and began to shrivel, turning black and twisted. It was like watching a plant being burned in a fire, only without the flames. A horrible crackling noise echoed from the monster as it finally stopped, then it exploded into a million tiny squares of twilight that reformed themselves into what looked like oddly shaped metal plates covered in intersecting designs.

The purple acid began to dissolve, fading back into clear fresh water. The air cleared and was no longer dark and gloomy, while the entire cavern now resembled a larger version of the spirit springs rather than the oppressive monster's lair it had been before.

Midna was saying something about Fused Shadows and great evil, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was more occupied with drinking from the spring that had just appeared. After all, this was the first thing I'd drank since we entered the temple almost a day ago. Vaati had sucked up his dislike of water and was swimming in the deeper part, washing the grime from his fur. Ha. He always had been a bit vain. Always the cleanest and the most focused on his appearance.

Dark was lapping from the spring as well, pink tongue flicking in and out as he greedily took in the liquid. I wagged my tail and trotted over, splashing him a little. He completely ignored me, the only sign that he was affecting having been a slightly annoyed flick of one ear. I shrugged and leapt into the air before free-falling into the pool, making a massive splash that sent waves rippling from my entry point.

"Ach! What was that for?" Vaati sputtered indignantly, having inhaled some water when a wave slapped his muzzle.

"What? It was a cannonball," I barked, swimming over. Link looked at us and chuckled, then gestured to the swirling blue twilit portal that Midna had probably made. Dark growled and shook out his fur, sending water spraying everywhere.

"What's that?" he asked, flicking water off his paws and padding over.

"It's a portal that'll take us back the Faron Spirit Spring so we don't have to go all the way back through," he replied. I swam over and peered at it curiously, noting the resemblance to the twilit portals that randomly appeared in the sky and dropped shadow beasts on us.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go! I want to get out of this place already!" Vaati grumbled, having absolutely hated the cobwebs that got stuck in his fur.

With that we crowded around the portal, which flashed quickly and deposited us back in the spring.

However, instead of feeling as if I was enemy territory like before, this time I actually felt... welcomed. Sort of. Like I was allowed to be there, but whoever allowed it wasn't too thrilled with me. It was similar to the feeling that we had gotten whenever we went to the library, or any other public place, since everyone knew we were obviously street kids but weren't allowed to kick us out because technically the place was open to everyone.

Goddesses, can anybody say run-on sentence?

Anyway, any thoughts on this were halted when the light spirit of this region, a giant golden monkey-thing, appeared on a swirling ball of golden light. It seemed to ignore my brothers and I for the moment, instead focusing on Link.

"Heroic Link... Do not think that Hyrule is now saved from the spread of twilight... Leave these woods and go to the west, where you will find the land protected by the spirit Eldin. There you will find those you seek... But know that these lands lie in twilight... They are now a dark realm covered by the clouds of dusk. If you set foot beyond the curtains of twilight, you will revert to your beast form, so be prepared. Hero chosen by the gods, leave these woods and go west, to the land of the spirit Eldin," it told the green-clad hylian.

Then it turned to us three and I wondered what it would say. The spirit seemed to exude an aura of holiness and pure light, which clashed with my preference of sticking to the shadows.

"Young sorcerers, you must accompany the chosen hero to the lands in the west... The Goddesses have granted you a second chance to right ancient wrongs... by atoning for your sins... you must accompany the chosen hero... And if you wish to regain your hylian forms, then accompany the chosen hero on his journey, for it is inevitable that you return to the Lanaryu region..." Then the spirit faded away, leaving us all utterly confused.

"What in the name of Farore-? What 'ancient wrongs'? The only sins I can think of are stealing, but I'm pretty sure that's not what it meant..." Vaati mused, tail-tip twitching from side to side as he thought.

Just then, Midna popped out of Link's shadow, and, completely ignoring the rest of us, began speaking to the blonde.

"That's better. Searching should be much easier now. Eee hee! But... Of course, you feel the need to go help the other light spirits, don't you? Well, don't worry. When you turn into a beast again, I'll take good care of you. The first thing you need to do is find the land covered in twilight. Once you do, I'll help you out. Eee hee hee! See you later!" Then she dove back down, melting into the ground.

Link just raised an eyebrow at his shadow, as if wondering what exactly Midna meant by the phrase, "When you turn into a beast again, I'll take good care of you." I didn't know why, but something about her tone when she said it made me shiver slightly.

Link cleared his throat slightly uncomfortably and glanced at us, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Well, I guess that means we have to east, then. I think the Eldin region is actually more northeast, though, which means that we have to go through Hyrule Field," he said. The four of us then exited the spring, heading north to Hyrule Field.


The twilight was, in a sense, actually quite beautiful. It was quiet, serene, and peaceful.

At least, it was until the twilight monsters started popping up. Twilit bokoblins at the gate to Kakariko, shadow beasts in front of the spring, twilit kargaroks that sound like out-of-tune trumpets... every animal that infested the fields in the Light World was twisted and deformed by the cursed twilight, blackened until they were barely recognizable as what they were before.

Another conversation with the light spirit Eldin later, we went bug hunting. Again. In a ghost town. In the cursed twilight.

Needless to say, it was a bit creepy. Especially when we found the kids from Link's village, in spirit form. That was just weird.

But honestly, I think I was actually starting to get used to it. Running around, fighting monsters as a wolf, traveling with Link... I knew we'd only been with traveling with each other for, like, five days, but it felt like longer. I didn't know why, but the four of us just meshed well together. Huh.

Anyway, after Link had howled an oddly familiar tune at what looked a rock with a hole in it, he'd come back from the spirit world saying something about the golden wolf from before saying something about finding him when he was in hylian form or something.

Finally, we found all the tears of light and the blanket of twilight was lifted, leaving Kakariko Village and the Eldin Region once again firmly in the Light Realm.


A tearful reunion, failed talk with the gorons, and one escaped horse later, Link was riding across Hyrule Field back towards Ordon Village with the three of us running beside him. Vaati, however, who wasn't built for long-distance running, was riding a twister of wind.

However, when we got to the Ordon spirit spring, the golden wolf from before was there. Link reined in Epona and dismounted when he saw it, walking forwards. The golden wolf just looked at him nodded, then turned to us three.

"Wind Sorcerer, Living Shadows," he rumbled. The three of us exchanged puzzled glances. What did he mean by "Living Shadows"? "I've been waiting for you. I knew you all in past lives, and you also knew me. You may not recognize me now, but I recognize you. However, I will only say this: do not waste this chance. Do not succumb to darkness. If you successfully atone for your past sins, you will not be cast into the abyss like you were before. Do not waste this chance."

With that, he leapt at Link's head, seeming to go into the Hero's body. Link crumpled to the ground like before, though this time he was out a bit longer than last time.


When Link returned from his meeting with the Mayor, Bo, he had new boots made out of solid iron. Actually, it was just pieces of iron attached to regular boots, but on the outside they looked like solid iron. And they definitely felt like solid iron, too! Thank the goddesses for magical pouches.

Anyway, once we were back at Kakariko, Renado insisted that we relax and stay the night before going on to talk to the gorons. Since we were all pretty tired and Renado was one of the few people who didn't freak out at the sight of my brothers and I as animals, Link accepted. Midna wasn't too thrilled by this, but the hero just retorted that if we went barging in when it was getting dark like it was now and all tired out and hungry like we were, we would only get ourselves killed. And that would be counterproductive.

Unable to fault this logic, Midna grudgingly agreed. After all, her wolfboy would be no use to her dead. However, that didn't mean she had to like it.

Unfortunately, there was one unexpected problem: the kids. Once they'd gotten over the shock to seeing two wolves and a panther walk into the house, they'd been all over us- petting, tugging our fur, cooing over how cute we were (actually, it was just Beth that did this) and asking Link about where he'd found us, what were our names, etc etc.

Since the three of us were really not social people, all the attention was a little overwhelming. I had to stop myself from growling in irritation more than once, and I could tell that Vaati's already short temper was wearing thin. Since an agitated wind sorcerer was definitely not what we wanted, Link finally stepping in to give us a bit of breathing room.

Consequently, after dinner, I disappeared to explore the village, not wanted to go through all that attention again. While I'll admit that the scratching behind the ears felt nice, the way they were fawning over me made me feel like a puppy.

Vaati finally found me on top of the cliffs that surrounded the village, curled up on my side and just observing the little town. Most of its people had left after a bad famine had gone through a few years ago, so the only permanent residents were Renado and his daughter Luda.

"Where's Dark?" I asked. The big cat just chuckled and nodded in the direction of the old inn, where our older brother was hiding on the roof. The kids were playing around in the street, laughing and throwing around an old ball they'd dug up from somewhere. The night sky was beautiful, midnight blue and speckled with millions of tiny twinkling silver stars. The moon the round and full, a softly glowing pale white disc. I had a sudden irrational urge to start howling at it.

I'd always felt more at home in the night, where there were shadows to blend with and darkness to hide in. Dark was the same way, though Vaati liked to be flashy and in the spotlight.

"What do you think the Resistance is doing right now?" Vaati asked abruptly. I started slightly, feeling guilty. I hadn't even thought of the group that we'd joined, vigilantes that worked to make Hyrule a better place in general.

"I don't know. I'd guess that Telma's serving drunk soldiers, Ashei and Shad are probably talking, and Auru would be examining those maps of his," I replied. The panther purred, making a throaty sound that was the cat version of laughter.

"Yeah, probably," he agreed. "Hey, do you think they've asked that new guy yet? They were talking about how he seemed nice, remember? They were going to ask if he wanted to join. From what they said it sounded like he had all the right ideals and stuff, but the only problem was that he didn't come to Castle Town often."

"Oh yeah, I remember that guy. What was his name... Ruddy? Rannel? I don't remember, but it did start with R," I barked. "Yeah, he was nice. Be a good addition to the group. Heard he was from far south, or something like that. Hey, wouldn't it be funny if he was from Link's village? I mean, they're Hyrule's most southern village, and that would explain why he doesn't come often if he lives that far away. I heard his village only has one horse, too."

"Yeah, that's gotta suck. Staying cooped up in a village all the time. I think I'd go crazy. At least in Castle Town, we can always go to Hyrule Field."

"Yeah..."

After that, we lapsed into silence, just observing the village below. Eventually the kids went inside and went to bed, tired out. Then the lamps were put out and the only light came from the moon and stars, bathing the area with a somewhat unearthly effect.

Finally, Vaati and I both drifted off to sleep, lying on top of the ridge overlooking Kakariko Village.


On the kids' insistence, the next day was spent just relaxing and hanging out with them. My brothers and I quickly realized that Link was clearly the leader of their group, a bit like the cool big brother to all of them. It reminded me of Dark's role to Vaati and I, actually. Another thing to add to the growing list of similarities between Dark and Link.

Wait a minute... Dark and Link... Dark Link...

Suddenly, it all clicked. The way they seemed almost like carbon copies of each other, their similar mannerisms (they both rubbed the back of their left hands when nervous, they had the same habit of cocking their heads to the side when they were thinking...), the way the golden wolf referred to us as Living Shadows...

Dark and I were quite literally the living personifications of Link's shadow.

...What the holy-d***-f***?!

How was that even possible? But if Dark was exactly like Link, how is it that we're both living shadows if I wasn't exactly like Link too? This made no sense whatsoever.

Unless...

A while ago, I was reading a book on the legends of Hyrule's heroes, and I'd noticed something odd. The legend of the Four Sword, which was now lost, spoke of the hero drawing the sword and splitting into four. However, his shadow also appeared, and worked for the evil demon that kidnapped the princess. But what really struck me was how much the pictures of the four heroes and their shadow looked like me. The shadow even had purple hair, blue eyes, and small fangs...

There was also a passage about the Hero of Time, who had literally fought the manifestation of his dark side on his journey. That fit Dark, except for the part where the monster had been evil...

Vaati also looked like the Wind Sorcerer that had formerly been a Picori, or Minish. Right down to the pale skin and eye markings. It was uncanny, really... and they were both Wind Sorcerers...

The spirit said something about atoning for past sins. Since the shadows and the sorcerer were all evil, that would explain what that meant...

So that meant that Dark, Vaati and I were the incarnations of villains who were given a second chance to become good. Okay... which meant that I used to be evil... and Dark tried to kill the previous hero... and Vaati turned Castle Town's people to stone... and...

Just then, the Golden Wolf shimmered into view in front of me. Since I was in the cavern next to the spring, nobody else saw him.

"Hmm... it seems as if you are more clever than I gave you credit for. However, it is not the time for you to know. So for now, you must forget," he said. Then I suddenly felt very, very tired...

A second later I was out cold, and when I woke up, I had no memory of my previous revelations.