You know the part in the cut scene where you first meet Zelda, and when she kneels down before she says "...You were imprisoned?", if you look carefully at Midna, you can see her moving to stand! I never realized that! XD
Oh, and if you look at your shadow when you return to Ordon Spring, you can see Midna's shadow riding your back!
--~~--
I wasn't a stranger to the hour of twilight, the time when the day wasn't quite gone, but the night was just approaching.
But there was something different about this twilight, I could tell. The lighting itself was twilight, but the dark clouds and golden sky were just unnerving. Not just that, but there were strange black particles that rose from any surface, as though evaporating.
On the other hand, I had to agree with the imp. It was beautiful. A very serene, calm beauty. Even more so than the regular hour of twilight.
We went along the rooftops of this castle we were at. I still didn't know where we were, or what this castle was.
There was another spirit up ahead of us, it was another solider like the ones from the waterway down below. How did he get up here?
The imp then told me that he couldn't see me. I was skeptical about that, but went over to listen to what he was saying. He was talking about monstrous birds, and then what he said last caught my ears, "Oh our poor Hyrule Castle..."
So we were in Hyrule Castle! This was where I was supposed to go and deliver that sword Rusl crafted for Princess Zelda. I couldn't believe it, we were here!
But why did the monster drag me here and not with Colin and Ilia, and even the rest of the kids? Or why didn't they leave them with me? Come to think of it, why did they leave me there in the spring? Was it part of their plan?
Or were they stupid?
I was interrupted by the imp telling me that the guard wasn't who she wanted me to meet, and directed me to the tower she pointed at.
There were a few of the monstrous birds that the guard mentioned, but I ignored them and went past them. No, I needed my energy for whatever was to come. I had a bad feeling about this.
I'll help this imp, whatever she needs me to help her with. It's in my nature to help people, and I always will. Besides, she might let me go after we're done.
We made it further to the rooftops, with the tower the imp indicated right ahead of us. I nearly lost my footing and slid down a few times, since I wasn't used to walking on narrow rooftops, but luckily there was wooden scaffolding and I was able to make my way back up.
There were a few more of those monstrous birds, but we managed to get past them.
I climbed up the ledge and went into the window of the tower.
We came to a set of stairs. At the top, there was a door that was slightly ajar. Letting my curiosity getting the better of me, I went over to it, poked it open with my nose, and went inside.
There was a cloaked figure standing at the window of the room, looking out the window. Someone was waiting to ambush us!
I raised my haunches and growled, tensing. I heard the imp giggle from my back, but I ignored her.
The cloaked figure turned around, letting out a gasp when they heard me growling.
I stopped growling and looked at the figure for a moment. Assuming it was a woman, she was genuinely surprised to see us and said nothing that indicated she was the enemy, waiting for us.
We went over to her, and she looked at the imp riding on my back.
"...Midna?!"
Midna? Was the imp's name? Interesting name, it was kind of cute. Well, at least I knew her name now and didn't have to call her "imp". I would've introduced myself if I could talk.
I looked at Midna over my shoulder, but she ignored me, smirking at the cloaked woman.
"Ee hee! You remembered my name? What an honour for me..."
I looked back at the woman as she studied me.
"So this is the one for whom you were searching..."
"He's not exactly what I had in mind, but...I guess he'll do." Midna answered thoughtfully, raising her hand to her chin and then nodded.
I didn't like being treated like a tool, but none the less, I ignored her comment.
The woman knelt down before me, noticing the shackle around my wrist. I felt Midna move to stand on my back.
"...You were imprisoned?" The woman asked me. She looked away a bit, concealing her face more behind her hood. "I am sorry."
I didn't understand why she was feeling guilty. She didn't do anything to me, why be sorry? Well, she probably felt bad for me. I didn't blame her, I'd feel the same way.
"Poor thing, he has no idea where this is or what's happened... So, don't you think you should explain to him what you've managed to do? You owe him that much... Twilight Princess! Ee hee!" Midna suddenly said, giggling.
So there was something more to all this, wasn't there? And why did she call her Twilight Princess? Well, at least someone was going to enlighten me about everything.
The woman looked down at the floor and was silent for a few moments. I could tell she was feeling guilty about something, but she knew that Midna was right.
She looked at us again.
"Listen carefully... This was once the land where the power of the gods was said to slumber. This once the kingdom of Hyrule. But that blessed kingdom has been transformed by the king that rules the twilight... It has been turned into a world of shadows, ruled by creatures who shun the light."
She then told us a story of how Princess Zelda was confronted by strange shadow beasts in her throne room. They'd attacked her guards, and then in came the king of the twilight. He told her that he would spare the people of Hyrule of she surrendered. Princess Zelda had surrendered, knowing that she was no match for him.
"Twilight covered Hyrule like a shroud, and without light, the people became as spirits. Within the twilight, they live on, unaware that they have passed into spirit forms. All the people know now is fear... Fear of a nameless evil..."
The woman stood back up, turning to the window. She was silent for a few moments before she turned back to us and continued.
"The kingdom succumbed to twilight, but I still remain its princess..."
She then raised her gloved hands to pull down her hood. I arched up a bit to get a better look at her, while Midna, not expecting this change in position, let out a cry of surprise and nearly fell off my back. But she regained herself.
"I am Zelda." The woman concluded dramatically once she had pulled her hood down completely, revealing herself.
I'd never seen Princess Zelda in person before, and I had to admit that she was a lovely woman. She had dirty blonde hair that was close to brown, blue eyes, wore earrings, and had a regal tiara on her forehead.
"You don't have to look so sad!" Midna said after a moment of silence. "We actually find it quite livable! I mean, is perpetual twilight really all that bad?" She smiled, bringing her arms behind her head.
"Midna, this is no time for levity. The shadow beasts have been searching far and wide for you. Why is this?"
Midna jumped off my back and floated in the air, facing away from Zelda.
"Why indeed? You tell me! Ee hee hee!" Midna replied.
Well, she obviously knew why. But she didn't want to reveal it for whatever reason. I was curious myself, and wondered what Princess Zelda meant by that.
Zelda ignored her and faced me.
"Time has grown short. The guard will soon make his rounds. You must leave here quickly."
At this, Midna plopped herself onto my back, roughly. I let out a growl of surprise and nearly fell on my stomach, but I regained myself. We looked over our shoulders at the door, as if expecting to see this guard the Princess mentioned.
We looked back at her, and then turned around to exit the room. It was likely the guard would be able to see us, and she obviously didn't want to cause any trouble by having the guard see us in there with her.
I ran down the stairs, but then Midna suddenly tugged on my ear, stopping me. She leaned over me on her stomach, listening as we heard the door at the bottom of the stairs suddenly open.
"Not that way! The guard's coming! Boy, he's prompt!"
Midna straightened herself, looking for a way to get out without being seen. She then spotted the window we came in through.
So we leaped up to the window and went back outside.
Midna floated out ahead of me as I came outside, looking around at the twilight atmosphere. She came to a stop at the end of the rooftop below us. I jumped down and slowly walked over to her.
"Ee hee hee! Well? Do you understand where we are now?"
Yes Midna, I do. We're at Hyrule Castle, and far away from my village. This is where I was supposed to come, but now thanks to this, I think something else is going to happen in its place.
"I guess a promise is a promise, so I'll let you back to where you first stumbled into the twilight..." Midna continued. "But...are you really sure you should be going back? Are you sure you aren't forgetting something important?"
Probably through some illusionary technique, Midna retained the forms of Colin and then Ilia, having both of them screaming.
I gasped. Of course! They were still out there somewhere and I had to go find them and save them! I'd been distracted by getting out of that cell, making my along the Hyrule Castle rooftops and meeting Princess Zelda, that I nearly forgot about them.
"Ee hee! Do you want to save them?" Midna asked me, still pertaining the form of Ilia. She fluffed her hair and smirked lightly, probably trying to annoy me. "Well, in that case, little Midna would be happy to help you! But... Well, you'd have to be my servant...and like a servant, you'd have to do exactly as I say!"
Returning to her normal self, Midna placed her hands on her hips and smirked at me. "Why don't you go back, take a little time, and give it some thought. Ee hee hee!"
I felt a strange feeling course through me, and I opened my mouth in shock as my body suddenly dematerialized into the black particles rising from the twilight surfaces, disappearing into the sky above.
--
Almost instantaneously, I found myself back in Ordon Spring. The twilight hadn't surrounded here, so it was still safe.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention one thing..." I heard Midna say.
I looked over my shoulder, but didn't see her riding my back. What the? How come I can hear her, but I can't see her?
I walked around in circles, trying to find her as she continued speaking.
"Though you may have left the darkened realm, you haven't transformed back to your former self...and you won't anytime soon! Now why could that be? Ee hee hee! See you later!"
