Just a quick note for those who didn't read it before: I'm using the map from the GC version of TP, so east is west and west is east. However, I will be describing towns and similar places as they appear in the Wii. For example: the Spirit Spring in Kakariko is still on the left, as it is in the Wii, and the hotel on the right. Otherwise, landscapes are located as they are in the GC. I'll try not to get too technical on directions to avoid confusion, but that's what I'm doing. Yes, I know, it's confusing, but I did it this way instead of making of fool of myself by sounding like I had actually played the GC version.

Hope this makes sense :)

Link sighed as he turned away from me and looked at the four kids from his hometown. I could tell that he was really, really sad. These kids had grown up with him being a role-model, thinking that he was a hero. I could tell by the way Link looked at them that he didn't quite agree.

"You'll rescue them, don't worry," I said, trying to comfort him. "All you need to do is restore light to this area, and they will be safe."

He looked at me, smiling a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but I just don't feel like they'll be safe here, even when light is restored."

I said nothing, because I knew he was right. No one would be safe as long as this...this king of the shadows was still roaming free.

"That's why you were chosen by the gods, to save the world from the evil trying to destroy it." I bounded up to him, trying my best to look as playful as I could. I crouched down in front of him, lifting my butt in the air as I wagged my tail back and forth.

I saw him truly smile as he wagged his own tail.

This was just more proof of what I was beginning to think about Link. The Hero of Time's soul had been reincarnated into this man's body. The reason I knew this, was because playfulness had cheered up the Hero when he had lost all hope in saving the world. The Hero had once told me that me acting like a child reminded him that there were other things, aside from life, to protect. If the world were taken over by some wicked evil, all joy and happiness would be lost. Me acting like I was now would remind him of that.

Apparently, it worked for this hero, too.

"Okay," He said. "So, that girl said that there were insects down in the cellar, correct?" I nodded as I straightened. "And to open the cellar, I have to light all four candles up above?" I nodded again as I picked up a stick at my feet with my mouth. I leaned forward and pushed the stick into his mouth.

"Use this. Light both ends and just run around the room."

He nodded as he turned around and lit the stick with fire from the brazier behind him. He then ran up the nearest set of stairs and started running around the circular balcony, lighting candles every time he jumped.

As he ran I listened more carefully to the spirits in the room. I could hear the man Barnes muttering to himself as he stared out the window yet again. I heard him briefly mention something about him not counting on 'that Link guy' on showing up. I could hear Renado talking to the children in a calm voice.

Link appeared next to me as he dropped the stick. We both turned when we heard an odd creaking sound, surprised to see that the giant wooden owl statue in the middle of the room had moved to the side, revealing a large hole.

Link didn't even hesitate. He ran and jumped down. I looked back, however, to see the children and Renado staring in my general direction, looks of shock and fear on their faces.

I followed without bothering to listen to what they were saying.

I hit ground after a short fall, and found myself in a musty, dirty basement. I hadn't known about the room before, so the sight in front of me surprised me greatly.

There was a giant owl statue pressed into a hole in the wall on one side of the room. The owl looked different than the one in the room above, yet I recognized it almost immediately. They had been used by the race in the sky, the Oocca. They were the race that, in turn, created the Hylians.

Hmm...wonder why one of their statues rested here?

"There's an insect coming for you!" Link screamed from the other side of the room. I barely jumped out of the way of being shocked by the disgusting looking creature. They were goldish in color, with florescent green eyes and four wings. The one I was looking at was glowing purple from the electricity flowing through its body.

"Damn bug," I muttered as I pounced on it. They were, apparently, weak creatures, because I hadn't used much force, yet it screeched as it curled up its legs. It exploded, letting loose a tear of light.

I watched as it floated over to Link, who grabbed it. The sound of a drop of water filled the air as it was sucked into the Vessel of Light.

"Three down; thirteen more to go," Link said as he smiled at me.

I hadn't even noticed that he had killed two others in the room. I must have been really distracted.

"This way!" He yelled as he continued down the hall. I followed before stopping at a dead end.

"We can climb the scaffolding," Midna was saying as I walked into the seemingly empty room. I watched as Link followed her path up through a hole in the ceiling. I sighed as I followed as well.

They emerged into what looked like a graveyard. When Maple jumped out of the practically invisible hole, she easily pointed out that there was another bug in the area. Link quickly found it and destroyed it, obtaining the next tear as it exploded.

Maple then easily led him throughout the town, leading him to the next shadow insect. They had to make their way into the general store that Barnes had mentioned earlier, and then to the hotel next door. From there, Maple led him up a path from the roof of the hotel, where they found a dried-up hotspring.

"Hmm..." Maple had said when they got up there. "I didn't think that the water would be dried up... This was such a good place to come and think..."

Actually, now that Link thought about it, he hadn't seen much water when they were in the Twilight Realm. The only water he had seen had been in the Spirit Springs. Did other such water sources exist in this realm? He would have to remember to try to find out from either Midna, or from just exploring...

"Hey, come over here," Maple said, breaking his thoughts. He looked behind him, shocked that he hadn't noticed her turn back around and head back toward the path. She hadn't gone down, however, and was standing at the edge of the cliff, looking over the town.

"What?"

"Look. You can see the insects from up here if you look hard enough. The light they stole makes them glow brighter than the things around them..."

Link stared hard and, sure enough, he could see three insects on the opposite side of the cliff, hovering around a tall house.

"Well, that makes our job just a bit easier," He said once he spotted them.

"Yes, it does. I'm going to rest really fast in the...empty hotspring, but take a moment to look around. Don't want you getting lost on me..." Link heard her walk away from him. Link then did as she said and took in his surroundings.

Across the canyon, he saw the tall house where the insects were hovering, and another, taller house that looked like more of a look-out point than anything. Below, he saw many buildings. On one side, he could see the Spirit Spring and Renado's house. On the other, he could see a fork in the road. He couldn't see very far down either road, because the cliff blocked his view.

"How do you know this town so well?" Link asked without turning around.

"I used to live here," She said as she appeared to his right. "I lived here when I was ten until I was twelve. I lived with Renado and his daughter, Luda."

"Oh, I should have guessed. You seem to know the town as if you had lived here once." She said nothing. "Why did you leave this town? Were you unhappy?"

He saw her shake her head out of the corner of his eye. "No. I really loved this town, and still do. I just..." She paused. "Craved city life, I guess. I moved after I realized that."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I would have thought that you just, you know, briefly passed through...or something like that." Again, she said nothing.

Link just went silent. Actually, the more he got to know Maple, the more he noticed that there was something really...off about her, although he couldn't quite figure out what. He had just figured that she just knew about the town like she had just known about everything else...

...Like she had known so much about the Forest Temple. And how she had known where the missing bridge was... And, now, how she knew so much about Kakariko. He had just figured it wasn't a coincidence anymore.

She was too smart to just be a well-traveled girl.

"Are you ready to go?" She eventually asked him. He nodded. She then turned and led him back down the path that led to the roof of the hotel.

Maple then led him into an abandoned house. There he found an insect hiding under a box. He had to move the box to expose the insect to kill it. She then led him to another shop, with no wolf-accessible entrance that he could see. While he was standing on the roof of a shed next to the shop, he noticed that one window was weak and practically falling out of its place. Link easily broke through the window, and Maple was not far behind.

He found another insect inside, hidden behind a dresser, which he had to knock down. He honestly felt bad, wrecking people's houses and stores like he was. This just wasn't how he pictured saving the world should be... He felt like he was wrecking it more than saving it...

Maple then led him out the topmost exit from the store, which led to the roof. They climbed up the roof and found themselves on the cliff opposite the hotspring. Just above the shop, and off to one side, was the large house.

Link jumped slightly when he saw a small flash. He ran toward the house, and saw the three insects he had seen from the hotspring run into the house through a small hole in the foundation.

Link didn't even need to say anything. Maple was right behind him as he followed the bugs through the hole.

They emerged into a small, cramped room, three-stories high. There was a fireplace in one corner, and many boxes scattered on various shelves and on the floor. There were also signs posted everywhere, but Link paid no attention to them as he sniffed around the fireplace. He easily smelled all of the insects, hiding in the long-since burned-out ashes.

"I know what to do," He said as he grabbed a stick and lit it from a small, dwindling fire in one corner.

Just as Link threw the stick in the pit, he heard Maple yell, "NO!"

It took only a moment for Link to understand why she had screamed.

The bugs bolted from the fireplace, fire burning their flesh. They bounced off of the walls, setting everything in there on fire.

He finally caught a glimpse of one of the signs: "Flammable! Lanterns Strictly Prohibited!"

Midna gasped as she started hitting Link on the back. "Huh?! What did you do?! Sorry, but as romantic as this is, I'm not going to stay here with you two. I'm getting out!"

Midna then disappeared through the wall.

Romantic? I wish...

Link shoved Maple toward the hole in the wall they had crawled through. "Go!" He yelled as wood started falling from the ceiling.

Maple quickly side-stepped him and shoved him instead. "My magic can get me out of this easier! Just go!"

Link couldn't even stop himself. She was using her magic to push him out to safety. Link could do nothing but scream as he felt his face reach the outside. Midna took over from there, grabbing him and pulling him away from the burning building...

Leaving Maple inside as the building exploded...

I coughed and wheezed as the smoke surrounded me. I could do nothing but protect myself; there was just no time to escape through the tiny crawl space!

I quickly created a bubble of protection, just as I felt the air around me explode. There was a great rush of wind as wood and fire went everywhere.

It was so strong that my bubble popped, causing me to go flying as well...

If only the light had been restored before.... My powers just didn't work as well here as they did in the Light Realm...

This wasn't my home. Humans just weren't meant to live in this place... This place created by my sisters and I for the Dark Interlopers...

Plus, with Midna out there with that Fused Shadow...and me being in my human form... I didn't have enough strength...

There was no way to save my life...

I was just glad that I was able to save his. Without him... the world was doomed. He was the one chosen to save Hyrule; not me. Yes, I was the Guardian of the World and all that, but that didn't mean that I was supposed to save it. I was just supposed to make sure that there was a means for the world to be saved...

And giving my life to save this new hero's...meant that I had succeeded and fulfilled my purpose... For without him...the world would be doomed...

I smiled.