Cover tried to act natural as he walked back into town, but he couldn't help glancing at his shadow every now and then, trying to see a trace of Midna in it. It was barely visible in the dusk, but looked just like a normal shadow, until Midna moved, then his shadow seemed to move of its own accord. Cover always jumped a little when that happened.

"What is she? I've never heard of a hyrulian that can do this kind of magic."

Suddenly his shadow stretched out and a piece detached, the rest snapped back into place, once again only a shadow. The detached piece, Midna, sped off towards the stone. Cover gave another shiver for good measure and then headed towards the opposite side of the area to start the distraction.

It was a simple enough plan. Cover would start causing as much trouble as he could, however he could, while Midna spoke to the gossip stone. The only problem, one that only Zelda and Cover saw, was that Cover would likely never be able to return to the village.

Cover sighed as he reached the other side of town, ironically it was the burn hotel. He gave the town one last look and then dropped a bug-bomb Link had given him to the ground. It immediately ran into a nearby shop, giving off a colossal boom that brought everyone to their windows.

Midna slid along the ground, trying to keep to the patches of real shadows as much as she could. There was a boom from the other side of the village and Midna grinned. Bomb bugs were expensive, but they were worth it.

Midna reached the stone and glanced around to make sure no one was watching. Then she materialized. She made a gesture with her hand and the Mask of Truth condensed out of shadow onto her face. It felt remarkably like the time she had worn Link's shield on her head, the only difference was that she could see with the mask.

The Gossip stone spotted her and gave a little squeal of delight "Someone to talk to! Oh hurray! You have no idea how boring it gets here. The villagers are all scared of me because they think magic is evil, so no one comes around here, except for that gerudo man. He hit me! I suppose it wasn't on purpose. I haven't seen a gerudo in forever, and the first one that shows up is one of the men! Imagine that!"

Midna suppressed an urge to clap her hands over her ears or just take off the mask so the incessant babbling would stop.

"I suppose the gerudo is here because Muerte is waking up. Did you know it lives under the lake? They say that there's only one thing that can defeat it."

Midna perked up, this was what she wanted to know!

"But those villagers ignore every sign of danger! I mean really, constant earthquakes can only be attributed to bad luck so many times right?"

Midna suppressed a groan as the stone once again veered away from the topic she wanted. Cover only had ten bomb bugs; the distraction couldn't go on forever.

Ganondorf was pacing again. He had already finished dinner, but Zelda and Link were still eating and his pacing was beginning to wear on their nerves.

Zelda sighed "Ganondorf, would you please stop? I think even the biggest idiots in existence will notice if you wear a ditch into the ground."

Ganondorf obligingly stopped and leaned on a tree, he began tapping his fingers on the bark instead and Link groaned.

Ganondorf glared at him "I don't like doing nothing." He turned to Zelda "Isn't there something I could do? I know that we're suppose to stay quiet so the villagers won't find us, but I can take care of ten of thise weaklings in my sleep!"

Zelda shook her head sternly "No. Just get some rest, it may take some work to get this item."

"I'm not going to just sit around!"

"Get some rest."

"No."

"Now."

Ganondorf gritted his teeth and sat down on the ground, purposely keeping his eyes as wide as he could just to prove that he wasn't getting rest. Ganondorf hated taking orders, even though he knew perfectly well that someone wielding the triforce of wisdom would have a very good reason for their orders.

Zelda sighed and close her eyes "All right then, keep watch while we sleep."

Link, taking a hint, followed her example. Ganondorf was seethingly ticked off, whatever he did, it would be following orders. Well he could make sure to totally ignore his surroundings while he didn't sleep, but there was no way he would do that. Soon Zelda had fallen asleep. Ganondorf checked to see if she really was asleep, and then put himself into a meditative state. He would rest, but still be able to keep watch. It was annoying that the best solution was following both Zelda's orders, but as long as she didn't know, he could stand it.

Link was the only one not actually getting any rest. His eyes were closed, but there was no way he could sleep while he knew Midna was still in danger. Ever since He had known Midna, the only time that he knew she was battling without him was when she tried to take on Ganondorf by herself with the fused shadows. And that had not turned out well.

"Oh and there was that time that the villager children came and kicked me! They have no respect I tell you!"

Another explosion went off and Midna jerked her eyes open, trying to keep herself from falling asleep. That was the eighth explosion; she was running out of time.

Finally Link couldn't stand it anymore, he stood up and transformed into a wolf. He bounded out of the clearing at top speed. If Cover's distraction was working, then he wouldn't attract extra attention. If it wasn't… then he was needed.

Ganondorf cracked one eye open as Link left, but he let Link go. Perhaps it was because he knew it was something Link had to do, perhaps it was because he wanted to spite Zelda. Or perhaps it was that he knew Link would either have to harm the villagers, or watch Cover and Midna's danger helplessly.

A devious smile crept across Ganondorf's face "my allies for now… but never my friends. Midna isn't entirely necessary for this battle."