I knew that he was awake before I was. His breathing was faster than it had been earlier in the night. His arms were also still securely wrapped around me.

I didn't move for a few moments, pretending that I was still asleep in his arms. I tried hard to imagine that I was back in the arms of the Hero of Time, and that this wasn't his soul reincarnated into a different body. It wasn't as hard as I thought. Link had the same build as him. He was also the same height, the same weight. Actually, if I closed my eyes and didn't concentrate on where I was, it was easy.

"Are you okay?" I heard Link say after a few moments.

I instinctively jumped away from him and threw my hair behind my shoulders. "Yes. Why would you ask?" I said, my voice sounding calmer than I felt.

"Well...you were crying... Did I upset you by sleeping near you?"

I quickly wiped my hand under my eyes, and was shocked to see that some leftover tears had soaked my hand.

"Oh. I didn't realize..." I whispered. I wiped my face more throughly. "No, you didn't. It was just a dream I had... I think."

"What was it about?"

"I...I don't remember." Actually, I hadn't dreamt, which was strange. I had dreamt about the Hero every night for one hundred years, yet I hadn't...

Link got up and folded his blankets. "Ok. Did I bother you, though? Did you mind?"

I shook my head. Truthfully, I had appreciated it. I had woken up when he had first laid down next to me and had been grateful for the much needed warmth his presence had given me. "No, I didn't mind, really." I smiled at him as I stood and started folding my own blankets. "Actually, I appreciated it. Thank you. I probably would have froze if you hadn't."

"No problem."

At that moment, I heard Midna pop out from Link's shadow. I sighed.

"Are you two awake yet? We really need to get going!"

"Yes, just let us finish packing." Link stuffed his blankets and pillows in his pouch. I did the same.

"Then will you be ready?"

"Yes," I growled, annoyance dripping from the word. Midna just glared at me.

We finished packing and ate a fast, uncooked breakfast of bread, and water Link had gotten when he had left. We then filled in our fire pit and walked closer to the wall of Twilight. As we did, we both looked up in awe at it as we had the night before. Midna disappeared into the center of the closest, largest symbol to us as we did.

I was just about to interpret the markings, when a large, orange hand popped out from where Midna had disappeared, grabbing Link around his waist and pulling him through the wall as if he were just breaking the surface of a pool of water.

Seconds started to tick by, and I suddenly was too worried to try to interpret anything. More seconds ticked by...and more...

What were they doing in there? Were they going to leave me here until they got rid of the Twilight, or what?

"Okay, let's go!" Midna said after Link transformed into his wolf form. She hopped onto his back and pulled on his ears.

Link didn't move. He just plopped his behind on the ground and looked back at her.

"What? We don't need her! Eee hee hee! She will just get in the way!" She smiled. "Aside from that, she will most likely turn into a spirit and won't be able to see you once she enters." Link still said nothing as he glared.

Link howled in pain as she pulled back on his ears. "Listen. We had a deal. You do exactly as I say, remember? E-x-a-c-t-l-y." She said the last word extremely slow.

Link growled as he spun around and nipped at her hand, which was pulling his ear far enough back that he was able to skim her finger with his sharpest tooth.

"Hey!" She yelled as she thumped him on the head. "Be a nice doggy." She frowned at him as she continued to pull painfully at his ear. He ignored the pain as best he could, wincing only slightly. He wasn't leaving without Maple, no matter what Midna said. He knew that, if Maple happened to just turn into a spirit, she would go somewhere she was sure Link would go and wait for him to lift the Twilight. If she turned into a beast like him, then she would be able to help.

Midna smiled. "Okay fine. I'll brink your little girlfriend over. But, if she turns into a spirit, or worst, a twili beast, then let it be known that I'll be telling you that I told you so for days. Eee hee!" Midna then turned around and extended her hair. Link watched as it went through the wall and then came back, a human Maple in its grasp.

Maple landed on the ground and screamed in pain. Link was just about to panic and run over to help her when a light surrounded her. It was gone as fast as it had appeared, leaving in its wake a wolf with one brown eye and one blue.

Link walked up to her and walked around her to get a better look at her new face.

Her fur was pure black, except for her ears and a thick line. They were both golden. The line extended down from her ears and connected between her eyes, almost like a tiara. Her back, left leg was partially gold as well. He also noticed that there was a small, golden heart on her ankle, just above her paw.

At that moment she snorted, shook her head, and stood. She was slightly smaller than him.

Maple looked at him with curiosity for a few moments before looking down at her paws. He saw her smile as she looked back up at him.

"Well, this is interesting."

Link jumped back slightly. "What? We can talk?"

Maple smiled as she started prancing ahead of him, as if she was already used to four legs instead of just two. "Well, of course. My guess is that I am a wolf as well, which means that we speak the same language. That also means that Midna won't be able to understand us." She looked back at him and smiled.

"Okay, I'm lost," Midna said from Link's back. "Can you two stop talking and start walking? We really shouldn't waste time right now."

Link nodded as he ran to catch up with Maple. It was actually easy to catch up with her, considering that she had stopped just a few feet away.

"Hey, do you recognize this? It smells like your village."

Link was just about to question her on how she knew what his village smelled like, when he saw what she was looking at. On the ground was his old, wooden sword, which he had given to Talo just before they had been kidnapped.

"Talo!" Link yelled as he ran up to the item. Maple was right: it smelled like home.

"That's what I was thinking. The kids must not be far from here..." Maple stuffed her nose close to the two broken pieces and sniffed deeply. Link was surprised at how well Maple already knew her body and its limits. Almost as if she had been something similar before...

"I have the scent," She said, breaking his thoughts. "How about you take care of the baddies, and I'll lead you in the direction we need to go."

Link put his questions aside for later and nodded. He really needed to find the kids, and soon, before they were in more danger than they already were.

Maple instantly took off, her nose close to the ground. Link ran after her, surprised at how fast she was. He had to push himself to full speed to keep up with her. He was running so fast that Midna kept squealing and pulling on his ears to keep herself on his back.

Link saw the first Twili and took it down with one pounce. He was going fast enough to do some serious damage. The second was just as easy.

He came to a literally screeching halt when Maple stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"That." She pointed her nose ahead of them. He turned and looked.

Three, large shadow creatures were pacing back and forth ahead of them, blocking their path.

"I can take them out," Link said as he pounced ahead of her, wanting to show her that he could indeed take care of some 'baddies' on his own, even as a wolf.

The three converged on him almost instantly. He felt Midna pour power into him as he hunched over and growled. He waited until all three were close to him, and jumped.

He flew with blinding speed, knocking down all three within a matter of seconds. They collapsed, and then exploded into tiny black squares.

"Impressive," Maple said as she appeared at his side. Link felt himself literally inflate as she smiled at him and stroked his attention-craved ego. Well, at least attention-craved by a girl other than a certain obsessive young girl (cough...Beth). And someone older...

"Thanks."

"But can your super-powers fix that?"

Link looked ahead and sighed as he saw the large gap with a missing bridge.

"Crap," He muttered to himself.

Midna pulled at one of his ears. "Looks like we have a problem," She said, stating the obvious. "The bridge is gone. Most likely the work of those shadow creatures..." Link sighed. "Well, let's see..." She hopped down from his back. "Do you remember seeing anything...out-of-place on our way here?"

Both of them shook their head. Midna sighed.

"Well, we'll have to start looking. I might be able to warp you two out of the Twilight, but no guarantees. Eee hee! Where's your map?

Link looked at Maple and then down at himself. He had no pouch. Where did his stuff go when he transformed?

"Oh that's right! I have it! Eee hee hee!" Midna's hair reached out from her helmet, Link's map in its grasp.

"I forgot I had that," Link said to Maple as they bent their noses down to look at the paper.

"Look, there are some strange markings on it that usually aren't on maps."

"That's where Link has defeated shadow creatures like the ones he just destroyed."

What? Could she suddenly understand them now, or what?

"No, I can't understand you. I just know what you probably are thinking. What are those weird marks? Well, when those shadow creatures are defeated, their remains create a portal. I've marked the map so you don't forget where they are. I'll add this spot, now that I'm thinking about it." Midna snapped her fingers, and another marking appeared at their current location. "There. So, point your nose where you think we should start looking, and I'll try to warp you there."

Maple instantly pointed at the spot in Faron Woods nearest the Forest Temple. "I remember seeing something odd around that area when I was on my way to the temple, and I just want to check it out first," She explained to Link.

Midna glared at her. "I was talking to Link, not you. I take no orders from you."

Link just looked at her and growled.

"Okay fine. Is that where you want to go?" Link nodded. "Alright." Midna snapped her fingers, and Link felt his body shatter as the three of them disappeared into the sky.

I saw it instantly. I silently thanked my sisters for them showing it to me when Midna had pulled out Link's map. I ran over to it as soon as I felt my body reform.

"Here," I said as I turned to look at Link, who had his mouth open slightly as he stared at me. "What?"

"Your fur...glows gold in the light."

I looked down at my paws. Sure enough, my black fur shined gold where the light hit it.

I was actually a little curious to see myself as a wolf. The only creature I had ever been able to transform into was a cat, so a dog was a completely different story.

"Oh, look at that," Midna said when she popped out from Link's shadow. "She glows. Wonder why? Eee hee hee!" I quickly looked up at her and glared. She just smiled in response.

"There's the bridge," Link said once he managed to look away from me.

"See, I told you I saw something odd."

"There's the bridge," Midna unknowingly repeated. "Let's warp it back to Eldin Province, shall we?"