Chapter 3

The Twilight Realm

The heroes rode on until they reached the fields. When they arrived, they could see a great darkness spreading towards them.

"The Twilight Realm!" Gandalf breathed in amazement.

The heroes had never seen anything like it. It was spreading at an alarming speed.

"Heroes of distant lands, we ride for the fate of Hyrule this day! Shields will shatter! Swords will crumble! We ride to our fate!" Link said.

"Death!" Link yelled as he rode with fury into the approaching darkness.

"Death!" Aragorn and Gandalf yelled in unison as they followed the Hero of Hyrule into the Twilight.

As soon as Link had entered the Twilight Realm, he was thrown suddenly off his horse. Ilia landed nearby with a thud and a piercing shriek. Link suddenly felt his body twist from the inside out. The next thing he knew, he was a wolf! He growled viciously.

Ilia, meanwhile was having her own transformation. She turned into a wolf as well. Aragorn had been thrown off his horse as well and had just turned into an Orc. Gandalf had been catapulted off of Shadowfax and had landed with a great crash into a bush as he turned into an owl. The four transformed travelers all got up and looked at alarm at each other. They began to ask what was happening to them, but all that came out was a series of growls, barks, grunts, and hoots. Link was suddenly ravenous for fresh meat. He pounced upon Gandalf and began to dig his fangs in the wizard's feathers. Gandalf gave Link a sharp peck on the nose and Link yelped in pain as he released the wizard and staggered back. All of a sudden there was a rustling in the bushes and a strange imp came out. She was small and had a great stone helmet on with a scarf like thing trailing behind her.

"I am Midna." She said as she bared her teeth at them.

Link and Aragorn flinched.

"I am Link, Hero of Hyrule!" Link snarled showing his sharp fangs.

"Very well, Link, I shall ride you!" Midna said with a thin smile.

Link pounced on the imp sinking his fangs into her neck. Midna pulled him off of her and threw him into the air with a sharp kick. Link yelped in pain as he soared high into the air. Gandalf began to peck Midna in the head. Midna howled in pain. Ilia tackled the imp to the ground and put a paw on her face. Link landed soon after with a thump on the ground. He as well held Midna to the ground.

"I demand to be let go! I have magical powers you know! I'm not afraid to use them!" she snarled in their faces.

Gandalf hooted in laughter.

"Do you even know who I am? I am Gandalf! A wizard from Middle Earth! You cannot defeat me! I am the servant of Arnor and wielder of the flame of Anor, go back to the shadow foul thing!" he hooted in anger.

Midna's one visible eye gleamed red in surprise. She bared her teeth at Gandalf once again.

"I grow weary of this!" Gandalf said in exasperation.

"As do we all." Link and Aragorn murmured in agreement.

Aragorn curled his hand into a fist.

"It's time for blood!" he snarled.

Gandalf and Link looked at the king in shock.

"Aragorn, we need to find a diplomatic solution to this, remember?" Link said with an embarrassed look in his eyes.

Aragorn snapped out of it. It was very strange, he never usually wanted blood. He supposed it was part of his new orcish nature. Aragorn relaxed his hand. Midna sighed in relief. All four of the travelers gave her a hard stare.

"This isn't over yet, Midna." Link snarled in her face.

Midna gave a weary sigh. Ilia gave Link a look of confusion.

"What do you propose we do with this imp, Link? We can't just leave her here, she could alert the enemy!" Ilia growled in her new wolf form.

Link shook his furry head in puzzlement in response.

"Let me think! There is too much noise and distraction!" he growled in annoyance.

On top of everything else he was getting that ravenous feeling again. He used a Jedi Calming Technique to quiet it down. He then went into meditation. It was a crazy sight to see. A large grey wolf sitting crossed legged in midair with his eyes closed. Ilia looked at Link in shock.

"How does he do that?" she said in wonderment.

"If I were to tell you that, I would have to kill you." Aragorn replied.

Ilia bared her fangs at the small orc. Aragorn took a step back.

"Relax, Ilia, it was a joke!" he said as he raised his hands in defense.

Ilia calmed down after a while. Link was still in his meditation an hour later.

"Does he usually stay like that for long periods of time?" Ilia asked worried.

"It depends on the situation. Sometimes it could last for hours or even days." Gandalf explained.

Ilia nodded. So, they could be sitting here like this for possibly a week. She'd been in worse situations. As long as this strange little imp didn't cause any trouble they could survive that long, she reasoned.

Link had been in meditation for over an hour before he had another startling vision. He saw a faint shadow like being. It looked like a bird. It was Vergere!

"Young Hero of Hyrule, I bring grave news! Ganondorf has been released from his prison!" she began.

Link had suspected this. The Twilight Realm had confirmed his fears. Ganondorf must be spreading his evil power all over Hyrule from the hole he had created in the Sacred Realm.

"Am I right in assuming it is because of him that we have this new Twilight Realm spreading all over Hyrule?" he asked the ancient Jedi.

The feathery being nodded her head.

"I should have foreseen this! I have been away from Hyrule far too long! Vergere, how can I stop the Twilight from devouring all of Hyrule?" he asked.

"You must find the heart of the Twilight and drive it back with the Triforce of Courage and the Master Sword. You will find aid in unexpected creatures and places." She explained.

"Vergere, are you telling me we should trust Midna?" he asked.

"Choose and act." Vergere said simply as she vanished into the mist.

Link bit his tongue in annoyance. Why did Vergere have to be so vague? He would have to trust to his own judgment then. He returned from his meditation to find everyone still there and Midna still trapped under his and Ilia's bodies. He sighed in relief. He softly landed on the ground beside the imp. He gave the imp a cunning smile showing his fangs.

"Well, Midna, if that is your real name. We need your help. We must find the heart of this Twilight and drive it back before it engulfs all of Hyrule." He growled.

His friends looked at him with wide eyes.

"Are you crazy? Or have you lost your mind?" Gandalf hooted in indignation.

"We can't join forces with this imp! She's off her rocker!" Aragorn added in a squeak.

"Besides, she practically attacked us!" Ilia growled.

Link howled for silence. Everybody shut their mouths.

"You are going to join with her and like it or become my next meal!" he growled while licking his lips.

The travelers reluctantly agreed. Midna bared her teeth in glee. Aragorn rolled his eyes. They were off on another of Link's wild adventures. He certainly wouldn't get bored. He sharpened his claws against a stone.

"Well, I guess I'll let Aragorn ride me." Ilia growled.

Aragorn clambered on to Ilia's back and looked to Link.

"Oh, alright Midna you may ride me!" Link said with reluctance.

Midna rubbed her hands and jumped on Link. Link visibly groaned. Link led the way, dashing off for the heart of the Twilight with Aragorn on Ilia following quickly behind and Gandalf flying above.

While Link was dashing through the twilight realm, he thought he could hear a faint voice.

"Link, Hero of Hyrule, this is your destiny! Fulfill your legacy. Repel this new evil from the lands of all free people!" the voice echoed.

Link cocked his head in puzzlement as he continued to dash through the realm of twilight. The travelers soon reached a great forest. Link thought it looked just like the Lost Woods. The travelers stopped in their tracks. They all stood there with eyes wide in fascination.

"Amazing, it looks just like an evil version of the Lost Woods!" Link growled in shock.

Midna nodded as her visible eye gleamed red.

"Thus it is in the realm of twilight. The darkness twists and corrupts these lands for its own evil purposes. What you see is the beginning of what could happen to the land of Hyrule. You must seek out the nine temples of twilight and cleanse them for this twilight to be stopped. You will also need to find the three spiritual stones and a mystical weapon somewhere in this realm." Midna explained.

Link and his fellow companions nodded in understanding. Link had long ago come to the conclusion that he would indeed have to track down the three spiritual stones once again. There was the spiritual stone of the forest, the spiritual stone of fire, and last but not least, the spiritual stone of water. He thought it would be best if he obtained the spiritual stone of the forest first, since he was in the Lost Woods. He hoped it was indeed in the Lost Woods. Of course, it could happen to be in normal Hyrule somewhere. He was slowly padding back and forth between two ancient pine trees when he noticed a faint luminescent figure walk out of the woods. The figure was dressed in the brown robes of a Jedi. He had long brown hair and bore a striking resemblance to Luke Skywalker! Could this be Link's long lost brother, Anakin Skywalker? Link lifted up his head in greeting.

"Hello Link." The mysterious figure said as he nodded his head towards the wolf.

Link growled in reply.

"I know of your present troubles, my brother, I have come to offer guidance and much needed aid." Anakin said as he sat under a great oak tree.

Link padded over to the tree and sat next to Anakin. He put a paw on Anakin in a loving gesture.

"Anakin, my brother, I have longed for this day ever since Gandalf told me of his vision! As you undoubtedly know, the princess of Hyrule is our sister. I have just recently rescued her from captivity along with the Sage, Saria. I have hidden them in a secret cave high up in the mountains above the village of Ordon." Link explained.

Anakin nodded. He had indeed known about their sister, Zelda. He gave the young Hero a comforting smile.

"Don't worry, brother, our sister is safe for the time being! But you and your companions must move with haste! For, the realm of twilight is fast approaching the village of Ordon and will swiftly pass over it and engulf the mountain soon afterwards. The Force has shown me the location of the first spiritual stone, the spiritual stone of the forest in fact. It is hidden deep in the far away forest of the Kokiri inside of the forest temple. You and your companions must leave this realm of twilight now if you wish to save the land of Hyrule and its princess! Link, this is your destiny! You are the Hero of Hyrule! May the Force be with you!" Anakin said in farewell as he disappeared in the woods once again.

Link dashed over to his companions feeling energized once again. He quickly explained to his friends what he had just learned from his long lost brother. Gandalf's eyebrows rose with astonishment.

"Anakin Skywalker was here, in the twilight realm?" he asked with shock.

Link nodded. Gandalf wildly flapped his great brown wings in excitement.

"Then we must leave with haste! There is no time to spare! We must make for the legendary forest of the Kokiri!" he hooted.

Aragorn nodded in agreement. The heroes got up and prepared to leave. They then dashed with rapid speed through the twilight for many hours until they zoomed out of the realm and back into the land of light. As soon as they had left the twilight behind, they were all transformed into their normal bodies, with one exception. That exception was the strange creature, Midna. She stayed in her form and appeared to be a shadow. Link was quite perplexed at this. He ran a hand through his long blonde hair and began scratching the back of his head in contemplation. He turned to the white wizard.

"Well, Gandalf, what do you think this creature is? Is she a creature of the twilight intent on killing us in our sleep or is she a guide?" he asked as he put his dark green cap back on.

Gandalf scratched his long white beard while he thought. As he thought, he began to pace back and forth.

"Well, she did surprise us in there, but yet she did not harm us. On the other hand, she hasn't yet explained to us who and what she is." He now turned to the shadowy creature with a piercing glare.

Midna let out a nervous chuckle. She gently landed on the ground and sat down.

"You may call me Midna. As for 'what' I am, you shall find out at a later time. I feel you will not fully understand until you have the three spiritual stones in your possession. After you have them, I will tell you." She said as she hovered in the air once again.

At that moment their horses came galloping over the hill towards them. Had it not been for the return of their loyal steeds, the travelers would have pressed the mysterious Midna further. The horses stopped as they neared them. Gandalf hopped on Shadowfax as Link and Ilia hopped onto Epona beside him. Aragorn hopped onto his horse, Brego, shortly after. Midna hovered over to Epona and took a seat behind Ilia. Ilia didn't look too happy about that, so she edged closer to the Hylian. Link had one of his sly grins on now.