A/N: Whew! New chapter! How do all of the chapters in this story get so darn long? Shards of Time is almost at 10 reviews per chapter, and yet I write almost twice as much in this story...

Anyway, I've been looking forward to this chapter, for one reason in particular: KIKWIS! They are the most adorable creatures ever. Ever! I wanted to write about them so bad – I've actually been working on a separate oneshot with a Kikwi as the main character. It should be out soon.

Um... There was more stuff I wanted to say... But I forgot all of it when Kikwis were mentioned, so just go ahead and enjoy. XD

AWAKENING

Chapter 5

It took forever to finally fall asleep. It was impossible not to toss and turn and mentally replay and scrutinize every single detail of the events that I'd witnessed today. My mind was racing, trying to accomplish the hopeless task of comprehending all that I'd learned.

According to some mysterious old woman that I'd randomly met after falling from the sky, I was the Goddess Hylia, and tomorrow I'd be setting out into an unfamiliar world to get back my lost memories.

…Well, when I put it that way, it just sounded insane… but there was definitely some part of me that, no matter how absurd it all was, somehow believed this story. Besides, that woman saved my life.

By some miracle, it only took me a couple hours to finally succumb to sleep. And, even more miraculously, I only had one dream, and it wasn't of the creepy darkness quizzing me about my identity. This time I only heard one voice – one very, very familiar voice – that was screaming my name… or what I thought was my name. She kept telling me not to do something… but I just regarded her with cold resignation, and said that I had to…

Unfortunately, it felt like mere seconds later that I was unpleasantly awoken by someone placing a cold hand on my shoulder and whispering my name. I frowned, refusing to open my eyes, but even that act of defiance was proven pointless as the owner of the voice began gently shaking me. "Zelda!"

"What?" I groaned, groggily turning over and burying my face into the borrowed pillow. It smelled weird, kind of like dust mixed with wet grass.

"Zelda, Your Grace!" came the voice that I now recognized as the old woman's urgently. "You must wake up!"

Something about the worry in her tone brought me to my senses – I never was a very deep sleeper, anyway – and I reluctantly pushed myself off of the pillow, turning my head to glare at her. "Fine, I'm up. What's wrong?"

"The seal that holds the Demon King is weakening. I believe it has something to do with your presence here."

I was still slow from having just awoken, so it took a moment for her words to sink in. "Wait… you're saying… the ancient Demon King is going to escape?"

"Not completely. He cannot escape a seal of such sacred power wholly… but I fear that his some of his essence may be able to manifest itself. He will have some power."

Icy fear slowly encased my heart. "How… how much?"

"Enough, Your Grace. Enough to cause severe harm to the forest if he succeeds. I don't believe he will possess his true form – if any form at all. But it would still be devastating for him to leave the Sealed Grounds.

"What are our options?"

She sighed. "The only thing we can do now is have you leave this place. Your arrival stirred up the Demon King's thirst for vengeance, making him fight harder than before."

"I can't just leave!" I burst out, horrified that she'd even suggest such a thing. "Especially if this all happened because of me. This is my fault, so I have to fix it!"

"No, Zelda," she insisted. "This isn't your fault. The seal has been growing weaker for centuries, anyway. It was only a matter of time before he grew restless."

"I won't leave you alone with him," I affirmed. "I have to do something."

A smile flicked across her face. "I admire your determination, but you shouldn't worry. There is nothing you can do in your current state. Fortunately, the Chosen Hero is destined to arrive soon, and with the power of the Goddess Sword he can beat back the evil into hibernation."

I frowned. "The Chosen Hero?"

"Yes… A chosen champion of Hylia. There's no time to explain further. We must go."

"But who is the Chosen Hero?"

"We need to go immediately! Listen carefully – do you hear anything? Or feel anything?"

Doubt and mild distrust clearly displayed on my face, I decided to refrain from asking more questions about this "Hero" and do as I was told. Tilting my head to the side, I listened intently. There was absolutely nothing. But just as I was about to inform this crazy old woman… I heard it. A strange, eerie whisper that seemed to come from everywhere at once – but nothing like the one I'd heard in my head a while ago. This, instead, was dark and radiated power, murmuring words that were too low to make out, but still managing to send shivers down my spine. I clenched my fists, quickly focusing on the sound of my now-quickened breathing to drown it out. Much to my relief, that worked beautifully; as soon as I wasn't paying attention, I couldn't hear it. But the evil that it represented now seemed to lurk at the edge of my subconscious, trying to tug me back into its grasp and pull me in, forcing me to breathe even deeper just so that there wasn't even the slightest chance I would be able to hear it again.

I shuddered once more for good measure, and then asked, "What is that?"

"It's him. He is trying to free himself. That is his way of exerting his power… Now, let's go. I waited until dawn, but we shouldn't stall any longer."

Suddenly a bit more eager to leave, I allowed her to pull the covers off of me. I'd slept on the floor, only the pile of blankets tucked under my body separating me from its cool surface. Now I stood in the empty temple, the woman holding my hand as I shivered. Wordlessly she guided me to the side entrance that I'd initially come in from – I still hadn't seen what was outside the main doors. Sitting beside the entrance was a pair of sparkling shoes, seemingly made from the same material as my bracelets and hair pieces. They seemed a bit too formal and inadequate for travel. Maybe I wouldn't be traveling as much as she'd led me to believe.

"Are all of these elaborate accessories necessary?" I mumbled.

"I have a feeling you'll be grateful for them in the future." She smiled. "Besides, you look lovely in those clothes."

"Yeah, whatever…" Grumbling to myself, I slipped my feet into the lavender shoes and was shocked to find out how comfortable they were. Actually, they'd be perfect for traveling long distances.

The old woman (whose name I still did not know) then led me out of the temple and past the area we'd first met in all the way to a stone arch-like structure that marked a path leading into the woods. "Remember everything I've told you," she instructed. "You will need to find the Skyview Temple in the deeper part of the woods. The Goddess Statue is in a spring is at the back of the temple. Once you find it, purify your body in the waters, and then pray at the Goddess Statue. Avoid encounters with monsters if you can. Flee from any that find you. You're just going to have to trust the Goddess to protect you."

"In other words, trust myself," I muttered.

"Yes," she chuckled. "Trust yourself. Know that it may seem like you're heading into a perilous forest with no way to defend yourself, but believe me: you're better protected than you think." She pried my fingers off of her hand, which only now I realized I'd been desperately clinging too, almost painfully tight. I found that I missed her reassuring contact. In some ways, this woman actually reminded me of my own mother. "You must leave now, Your Grace."

"It's Zelda," I said halfheartedly.

"Of course, Zelda, Your Grace."

I shook my head sadly, but a small smile flickered across my lips.

"Goodbye," I said. "Thank you for everything."

"It isn't me you should thank. Thank destiny."

"Mm-hmm. Whatever you say." At last, taking in a deep breath, I turned back toward the path. A small pang of nervousness arose in me, but I crushed it mercilessly. No. I had to do this. If I really was a Goddess… then I had to do this.

I took a step forward.

"Good luck, Spirit Maiden," I heard the woman whisper.

I smiled, but I didn't turn around. Instead, I kept walking forward. Into the mysterious woods of untold danger.

xXx

I'd only been in the forest for a few minutes and I was already bored.

The woman had told me there were monsters in the forest, yet I hadn't seen any so far. The most exciting thing that I encountered was a forest wall too high for me to climb. However, someone had hung a nice rope for me from a branch on the tree, so I jumped on it and, after a few falls, managed to safely swing to the other side. And then I was bored again.

After traversing a small path and passing under another stone arch, I found myself deeper in the forest, where enormous, spotted plants sprouted up all around me. Vaguely I recalled talking about something similar to this in the Knight Academy – they were called mushrooms, I think. Supposedly we had them in the sky, but they were rare. I walked over to one curiously. When I looked at it from the right angle, the sun glinted off it and the air almost seemed to shimmer, as though there was some kind of powder around it. That's when I made the connection – Mushroom Spores! We used them as medicine for our Loftwings!

Wondering exactly how the spores came off, I tentatively poked the plant. It jiggled and a small puff of the spores escaped into the air. Fascinated beyond reason – my boredom must have been dreadful – I shook the mushroom.

Of course, I was severely startled when a high-pitched squeal ripped through the air, and a black-and-white streak scampered past me through the trees.

For a moment, the only thing I could do was stare down the path that the streak had disappeared, my heart pounding with leftover astonishment. What the heck had that been? A monster? Or some other kind of creature?

Finally, I realized that instead of standing here like an idiot and mentally pursuing answers that I'd likely never receive, I should probably follow that thing. Who knew? Maybe it would lead me to that temple…

The creature had a good head start on me now, but it hadn't been very big, so it couldn't move that fast. Sprinting past mushrooms and dodging trees, I ran straight down the middle of the path –

And suddenly I was face-to-face with a slobbering, angry mouth.

I stared at the thing incomprehensibly. It looked like a plant… but… plants didn't have teeth…

It reared back. Sensing an attack, I dived right, landing hard on my shoulder with a grunt but narrowly avoiding the gaping maw. The thing retracted again and, snarling, prepared to lunge once more. I desperately scrambled to my feet and started running, my breath already shallow from fear. I watched the creature over my shoulder as I fled, seeing it furiously snap its jaws in my direction before slithering into the ground. I paused then, slowly to a halt, and turned to examine the place that it had just appeared in from afar. I noticed a clump of small, tiny, weed-like green sprouts arranged from where it had spawned. They weren't exactly out of the ordinary, but noticeable, if you knew what you were looking for. In fact, now I spotted multiple little sprouts like that littered around the area, mainly growing in the path. I frowned. Now I knew what the woman had meant about monsters…

"Ow!" I suddenly cried as something hit me in the back. Hard. So hard that I nearly fell over. My back now throbbing – it would probably bruise – I gritted my teeth and spun around to confront my attacker.

At first there was nothing… but then a nearby shrub twitched and unexpectedly lifted up from the ground. An odd creature beneath it shot out a reasonably large rock from its snout. I swiftly sidestepped, feeling the wind from it brush past me. I stared at the tiny thing, more surprised than scared. Sure, that rock had hurt a ton, but it wouldn't kill me. Perhaps multiple hits like that would, but it would take quite a few.

I started walking away, figuring that if I got out of range of those rocks then I'd be safe.

That's when I recalled that thing I'd seen run out from behind the mushroom. It had disappeared up a hill, and it might be long gone by now, but still I trudged my way over there, carefully avoiding suspicious-looking shrubs and plant-monster sprouts.

After passing through a tunnel made from hulking tree roots, I found myself in another clearing, this time with a gorgeous waterfall. It was very peaceful, and I paused for a moment, taking in the view.

It's a good thing I did, too, because otherwise I wouldn't have seen it.

On the other hand, it probably wouldn't have seen me, either.

My heartbeat quickened immediately as a red creature from before – a Bokoblin, according to that old woman – perked up at the sight of prey standing stupidly out in the middle of an open space with no protection. Letting out its signature shriek, it charged toward me. Determined not to repeat my earlier experience with the creatures, I took advantage of my newly healed ankle to flee as quickly as I could in the other direction –

Only to find myself in front of another one of them.

This particular Bokoblin was rather stunned, so I tried to use the opportunity to dash around it. However, in my clumsy getaway, I tripped over an inconveniently placed shrub.

Much to the surprise of both me and the two Bokoblins, the shrub squealed and trembled with terror.

I hardly had time to process this occurrence before a strange, heavy rumbling shook the earth, as though something very, very large was approaching. On the ground like I was (as tends to happen after you trip over squealing shrubs) it was easy to feel the vibrations. The Bokoblins became nervous, backing aware in fright.

I, on the other hand, was so immensely confused that I couldn't even bring myself to do that much. I sat there as the thing approached, still marveling over the shivering plant in front of me. I noticed a small creature hiding underneath it. Maybe it was one of those rock-spitting things from earlier? But why hadn't it attacked me yet?

And then a deep voice boomed, "Step away from my Kikwi!"

The Bokoblins cried out in panic and scrambled away, tripping over one another in their haste. At first, pure, unrestrained relief flooded through me as I watched their retreat. That was… until I realized that something that scared even them probably should scare me.

"Ah, Machi, I've finally found you!" I cringed at the voice. It was low and resonant – definitely the voice of something big. I heard a few more footsteps approach, and, eyes widening in horror, I leapt to my feet and prepared to run.

Then the voice shouted, "Koo-leep! There's another one!"

A loud thump nearly knocked me off-balance again. I paused, suddenly curious about whatever had been attacking me. Considering I didn't hear any more heavy footsteps coming my way, it was probably okay just to peek.

Bracing myself for the most horrific monster my mind could conjure up, I grit my teeth, shut my eyes and spun around.

When I opened them, the sight that met me was so unexpected that I could only stare. Instead of a monster, I found an odd creature laying flat on its stomach, a comically undersized plant bulb on top of it. It was reminiscent of the creature I'd glimpsed under the bush after tripping, but rather than being black and white, this one was brown, not to mention bigger than any living thing I'd ever before encountered.

So, after staring for a good long while, I burst out into laughter.

At the sound, the creature held up its head a bit to look at me, which, of course, only made me laugh harder. I nearly doubled over in my fit of giggles, and I continued this way until finally I heard the thing ask, "Kwee-paleep? What kind of beast are you?"

"I-" I couldn't continue the sentence because the sound of confusion in his deep voice was too much for me. Instead I shook my head furiously, gasping for breath in between giggles.

He muttered something again, but it was so low that it sounded more like a great rumble than speaking. He stood up (somehow lifting his colossal form) and addressed the shrub next to me. "I think you can get up now, Machi. This peculiar creature appears to be unintelligent and harmless."

"H-Hey–" I tried to protest, even though my body was wracked with laughter. Quite abruptly the bush leapt up, startling me into silence, revealing a minuscule creature. Perplexed, I gawked at it, my mouth gaping slightly. Since this made me look like a complete idiot and they already believed I was "unintelligent", this probably wasn't the best way to redeem myself.

"What is that thing?" the smaller creature piped up in an extremely squeaky voice, to the point where it was right on that thin border between cute and annoying.

"I don't know," the large one said. "It's kind of ugly…"

It occurred to me that I still hadn't spoken. I closed my mouth and cleared my throat. "Um, I can understand you. And I'm not ugly."

At the sound of my voice, both creatures emitted their signature squeals, instantly dropping to the ground, the strange buds on their backs opening to perfectly resemble a bush. I blinked, beginning to think that after this adventure nothing would ever surprise me ever again, and hesitantly said, "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you guys."

Two round little heads looked up at me curiously. I smiled in a way that I hoped was reassuring. "It's okay. I'm friendly. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Kwee-koo, it's true that you haven't eaten us yet…" the small one mused.

"Perhaps we can trust it…" the large one agreed.

"It?" I responded indignantly. "I am hardly an 'it'."

"Then what are you?" the small one asked.

"I'm… I'm a girl. A human."

"Really…?" It was the smaller creature who'd spoken, and this time without any of the fright displayed seconds ago. He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, and then he got to his feet. "Well, I'm Machi!" he (she? …it?) announced cheerfully. He pointed to the larger one, which was currently hoisting itself back upright. "That's our elder, Bucha!"

"Elder…?"

"Yep! The elder of the Kikwis!"

Kikwis. Hmm. "So you're a Kikwi then?"

"Uh-huh! And you're… a human? I've never heard of anything like that."

"I have!" Bucha exclaimed. "It's been passed down from all the Kikwi elders about the legend of the human race. They once lived in harmony with the Kikwis on earth, but then they moved to the sky to escape the Demons."

"Wow!" Machi's eyes bulged. "You live in the sky?"

"Um…" It was a bit disconcerting how much attention I was receiving because of my home. Both "Kikwis" seemed absolutely fascinated with it. Living in the sky was entirely normal to me… but I suppose that to these odd beings who were probably even incapable of riding a Loftwing would find it rather incredible. I felt the same way about their home, after all. I still couldn't believe that so many trees existed in one place.

I realized Machi was still awaiting an answer. "Yes… I do."

"Kwee…" Machi looked up at me with huge eyes filled with something that closely resembled admiration. "You seem so nice for a sky-person."

"Why? You've met others?"

He blushed. "Well… no. But you're a lot nicer than those scary red guys."

"They were chasing you, kwee?" Bucha inquired. "There's been a lot more lately, and they've been terrorizing us. Now they're hunting humans, too?" He shook his massive head. "These woods never used to be this dangerous!"

This statement reminded me of the woman at the Sealed Grounds's words, and this inevitably led me to remember my original task. I wondered if these Kikwis would know anything about it. "Um… do you guys know if there's a temple in these woods?"

They exchanged looks. "Koro-koo, you don't want to go there," Machi squeaked. "All the scary monsters come from there."

That didn't help my wavering confidence in the least, but I still persisted. "I have to go. Where can I find it?"

Silently I was wishing that I would stop being so characteristically determined and just take the wonderful excuse that Machi had offered. Unfortunately, I'd always been this way – once I committed to something, I didn't turn back. Link was like that too; it was one of the few things we had in common, considering that essentially we were total opposites. We'd gotten into arguments before because we were both too obstinate to admit that our ideas were wrong. Of course, I was always more vocal with my beliefs than him – while he possessed more of a quiet dedication and determination, I was just plain stubborn. In the end, it was usually him who gave up first in the arguments and apologized, and then I felt so guilty that I'd break down and admit that he'd been right all along, and that I was being stupid and couldn't stand to let him win…

Goddess, I missed him…

…And then I realized that Bucha had said something and was expecting a response, but I hadn't heard a word of it.

"Uh… what? Sorry, I zoned out," I admitted sheepishly. "What did you say?"

He shook, shrugging his shoulders as thoughts readjust the bulb on his back. "You really should reconsider, human. We would hate to see you die."

"It's not like you have to come into the temple with me," I countered. "You don't have to see me die… I mean, not that I will, but still…"

Bucha made some thoughtful "Kwee"-ing noises as Machi clung to my leg. "Please, nice human! We've already lost a few Kikwis to these horrible monsters… we don't want to lose you, too."

I'd grown fond of these creatures alarmingly quickly, and it was almost painful to pry those tiny hands away from me. "No, Machi. I'm sorry. But I as already told you, I have to go. It's my duty. Apparently." Besides, looking down at the sad little Kikwi had reminded me of how filthy I still was from earlier. "Um… before I go, can I find somewhere to bathe?"

"There's a pond right over there, kwee," Bucha said, indicating the waterfall pond behind us. I'd forgotten about it entirely. "Machi, will you stay here with this human?"

"Koo-weep! But elder… there's still those scary monsters!"

"You'll be fine," Bucha assured him. "I won't be far, anyway. I will meet you at the entrance to the Deep Woods."

Machi's eyes widened. "Why? We're not actually taking the human to the temple, are we?"

"Kwee, of course not!"

Machi relaxed.

"We'll just point her in the right direction."

Machi stiffened for a moment and opened his mouth as though he was going to reply, but then he closed it again and looked down, defeated. "O… okay. I understand." He turned to me. "All right, nice human. There's a nice pond up at the top, kwee. If you can climb up there, you can use it."

Bucha lumbered off as Machi helped me climb up into the upper pond. I eagerly slipped off my bracelets and shoes and dipped a foot into the water. To my delight, it was a rather comfortable temperature. I couldn't call it warm, of course, so it wasn't as nice as a hot bath in the Knight Academy, but at least it wasn't freezing cold as I'd expected. Best of all, the water was crystal clear and pristine, just like on Skyloft. Well, it wouldn't be so clean for long.

With Machi still watching me, I really didn't want to take off my clothes, so I just slipped right in, dress and all. This pool was awfully shallow – even the deepest part didn't quite reach my shoulders – but I could manage.

I observed in awe as the dirt and grime from my adventure through the tornado slowly seeped out of my skin and floated around me, gently drifting down into the lower pool from the slight current. I started scrubbing, wistfully thinking about how much nicer this would be if I had soap. But I had to make do with what I had, which at the moment was just water.

We were silent at first. However, I faintly heard Bokoblin grunts and snorts in the distance, even over the pattering of the waterfall. It was driving me insane, so finally I spoke up, albeit softly. "So, why don't you always stay with Bucha if he's so big and strong? You seemed very reluctant to leave him."

"We were all separated!" Machi exclaimed. "Koo-weep, monsters ran us out of our previous home, in a nice, big clearing. We couldn't all stay together. I was looking for my friends when you showed up and scared me."

"So that was you behind the mushroom!" I mused. "You know, just for the record, you kind of startled me, too."

"Kwee-koo, sorry," Machi said sheepishly, and I couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable he was.

Once I deemed myself clean enough, I grudgingly trudged out of the water, my white dress saturated and dripping while I shivered as the breeze hit me. Now instead of soap I wished I had a towel, or at least something dry to wrap myself in. Squeezing the liquid out of my dress and hair, I glanced at Machi, who was staring at me with almost unnerving fascination. I couldn't blame him, of course; to a Kikwi, I was probably a foreign and incredible new creature. And it didn't look like he had hair, either, so the way it was heavy and dripping now was probably an entirely new concept as well.

"Kwee, are you ready?" he piped up.

I sighed, frustrated by how long it was taking to get out all of this water, and finally just furiously shook my head like a wet Remlit, water droplets flying in every direction. Machi shrieked in a common combination of surprise and fear and plopped down onto his stomach, opening his shrub again.

It took all of my self-control not to crack up laughing again.

"I'm so sorry, Machi!" I stammered out, still suppressing my mirth. "I wanted a faster way to dry my hair. Did I splash you?"

"A-A little…" Rather reluctantly, he peeked up, surveying the area suspiciously before unfurling his plant and clambering to his feet. "Koo-kwee, please don't do that again…"

"I'm really, really sorry."

"It's okay now, kwee." He let out a sigh. "I wish I could be braver."

"Don't worry, Machi!" I assured him cheerfully. "Maybe someday you'll be as huge as Bucha!"

He shook his head miserably. "No… only the elder's line gets as big as that. The rest of us normal Kikwis have to rely on him to protect us."

"Oh. Well… um…" For some reason, I had the feeling that my attempt at comfort had only made things worse for poor little Machi, so instead of continuing I lamely asked, "Should we go?"

"Kwee, yes." Machi waddled off and I followed after him. I combed through my damp hair with my fingers as we walked, trying to rid myself of the thousands of tangles I'd received. There was yet another thing I wished I'd had from Skyloft: a hairbrush. Goddess, I couldn't wait to finish this stupid journey, kill the Demon King or whatever, and go home…

Once we passed a clump of trees, I almost stopped short at the sight that met me. A colossal vine-covered stone structure stood imposingly, built into the side of the forest wall, large staircases flanking either side. I saw no doors, though. Maybe I wasn't close enough yet.

"What is that?" I questioned. "Is that the temple?"

"Nope." Machi shook his head. "We don't know what it is, but it sure makes an easy way to get up into the Deep Woods. The actual temple is farther into the forest."

"Then where'd it come from?"

Machi shrugged. "We think it was left by another race that lived here before us… or maybe even with us, far in the past."

Humans? I wondered. Maybe the ancient humans had constructed this thing. Now rather excited, I picked up the pace, leaving Machi to struggle to keep up.

I bounded across the grassy forest floor, toward the building and up the stone steps. I could tell that they were extremely old, but they'd stayed together nicely.

At the top of the stairs I was met with a surprise. Bucha was there. I had no clue how he'd made it up those stairs, but I wasn't going to ask and risk insulting him. Machi soon came up behind me, panting and nearly collapsing with exhaustion, instantly making me feel guilty.

"El-Elder Bucha!" he gasped. "I brought the nice human!"

Well, actually it had been me who'd run up the stairs and Machi who had followed, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Kwee, thank you," Bucha rumbled. "The entrance to the Deep Woods is up there, on that ledge above us. You'll see the temple just a bit after you enter. It's all the way at the back of the woods; you can't miss it."

"Thank you very much," I responded warmly, smiling at both of them. "I really appreciate it. I wish there was some way I could repay you…"

"It's no problem!" Machi chirped.

"Don't worry about it, human," Bucha agreed.

We all fell silent.

"Um… I guess I should leave now," I muttered.

Bucha nodded slowly. "Alright. Let me give you a lift up."

Before I could protest, he rolled onto his stomach. I stared at him. "Go on!" Machi urged. "Climb onto his back! Oh, and make sure you have a firm grip on his shoulders!"

So, rather hesitantly, I pulled myself onto his back and then held on tight. He stood up suddenly, making me cry out in shock, but the next thing I knew he'd deposited me on the little cliff where a tunnel leading into the Deep Woods was cut out of the rock.

"Uh… thank you," I said uneasily, still feeling slightly queasy from the experience.

"No problem," Bucha replied. "Now, good luck, human!"

"Be careful, and don't get eaten! Koo-paleep!" Machi added worriedly.

I blinked, slowly trying to regain my composure, and I gave them one final smile. "See you later… hopefully."

And, before I could change my mind or come back to my senses, I turned and headed into the dark path.

A/N: Yeah... I wasn't so sure about the ending, so it might be a little fail. I just knew it was getting long. At least this is 1000 words shorter than last chapter.

I think I used the word "creature" too many times in this chapter... Oh, and if there are any spots where it calls Machi a "she", that's because I was totally convinced that he was until I actually went on the game and asked Fi. Dangit. Oh! And I changed the rating to T... just because. I was mainly thinking about those Bokoblins dying last chapter, haha. That wasn't violent or anything, but that might upset children. Or something. ...Okay, I just wanted a rated T story. So what? XD

Sorry for the lack of plot progression, by the way – that ALWAYS happens to me. I write too much. Sadly, next chapter will likely be the same... Gah, curse my over-elaboration...

Remember to review! ;)