Oni dodged Din's attacks again and again. He backed away from the Temple of Spirit, and felt something strange and almost painful in his heart when he realized that Nayru was not following too.

He tried to stretch his awareness back towards the spirit temple, to find out what was happening there. He knew the shadow wouldn't listen to him when he told him that he should not get close to the temple, but how had he arrived at the temple so fast? And how had he gotten past Nayru's shields? He had almost reached sight of the Spirit Temple with his mind, when his wounds opened up. The bindings that kept his vessel together loosening and forcing him to fall down on the ground.

"You disrespect me with your weakness," said Din, crushing the earth with every step she took. Her presence burned out trees and grass and incinerated the very earth, leaving nothing but barren dirt beneath her feet.

Oni felt something prickling on the back of his mind, something like the whisper of a lamentation for this earth. A remainder of Link's love for this land. Unsurprising, as he was a child of Farore, and probably infused with as much of her love for the land that she had.

Truly, he had picked the worst vessel he could. Here he was, fighting in the battle that he had desired from the very start of time, and he was worried about grass. He was wishing he could know if a shadow was ok, and whether or not he was afraid and in pain, and he felt so stupid and weak, he almost couldn't bear it.

A gust of wind with the smell of coming rain fell over them, and a bright green figure appeared between them.

"Stop!" shouted Farore, wearing Link's body.

Oni growled, annoyed that she dared to use the original vessel he wore.

And yet, when he heard her voice, it seemed to be entwined with Link's voice in a way that Nayru's and Din's voices weren't. As if Link and Farore spoke as one. And when he looked at her eyes, he saw they were still blue, but shone with a green fire.

"Your battles should take place in heaven," said Farore. "Not on the earth we created. All these lives your games have cut short…They were mine! Ours! Din, this is the earth you made with your very hands. If I knew you wished to build a battleground, I would have left it barren," she pointed to the gray ashes underneath Din's feet.

Oni pushed himself up. "My vessel is unworthy," he said, looking straight at Din. "I have been waiting for this battle for eons. I refuse to disgrace it by fighting with this."

Din stepped forward and grabbed Oni by his tunic, lifting him a few feet off the ground and studying the wounds in his vessel. She growled and let him fall down.

"This is no way to have a honorable battle," she said. "I would rather destroy the moon than win it back with such a mockery of a battle."

"I will create a worthy vessel," said Oni, despite the fact that he had the growing worry that he now wouldn't want a vessel that looked different from this one.

"You better," said Din, turning away. "You have an age to do so. Or I will create one for you, and drag you to the heavens to fight me."

A ray of thunder fell on Din, crackling with power, and she vanished along with her vessel.

Oni narrowed his eyes at that. "Is she going to keep that vessel? For an age?" he asked.

Farore shrugged. "Maybe she likes it. Like you like yours. Like I like Link," she said, looking down at Link's body with a sad smile. "I'm sorry I had to take him. I wish I could have avoided it."

Oni grunted. "Just leave before you damage him more," he said, grabbing at Link's arm.

Farore giggled. "Oh, just a few days with the mortals and now you have a heart? How lovely," she said, and left.

Link's body fell limp like a rag doll inn Oni's arms, and he had to let go of his sword to carry him.

Now, to look for the shadow.

And everything else, of course.

But first the shadow.