Chapter 8: Reclaiming Home

As the Warp Star took them towards Ordon, Link couldn't help but notice the large number of creatures infesting the fields below. He wondered if home would escape mostly unscathed from the new threat. He had considered Ordon lucky in that it hadn't been invaded by the Twilight a year ago. Certainly, Zant had made it a point to take control of the province before locking him up in the castle dungeon rather than leave it to one of his minions. Still, he hoped that nobody had suffered from the grudge he was sure Zant had, especially not anyone in Ordon.

"Hey, look down there!" Kirby called out. Link glanced down and saw that they were approaching his tree house, the one that had been his home ever since he became old enough to live in his own house. No one knew its history, but Link had felt a strange connection to it from the moment he had first set foot in it. As he saw it now, though, it seemed to be a sole refuge from what lurked below. At least ten Shadow Beasts had the house surrounded, all threatening to come up and attack. As they landed, Link noticed that none of them were seemed willing to climb the ladder. He had no idea why, but perhaps there was a special significance to the place.

"Uh, Link," Polari stuttered. "There sure are a lot of monsters around." He looked very concerned at the large force right below. "Though, I have to wonder one thing. How come they're not attacking us?"

Kirby also looked unsure about what to make of the beasts below. "I'm not sure, but we have to go down eventually. We need to find out how to restore light to this area. To do that, we'll need to find this province's Light Spirit. Is that right, Link?"

Link nodded. The last time, he had needed to reclaim the lost light in the form of many tears spread across each region. it had been very tedious tracking down every last bit of light, but, for the most part, it involved very little risk to him or others.

"Well, when should we start," Polari inquired.

"We're going to have to start eventually, so let's get going now!"

With that, Kirby jumped off and landed on one of the Shadow Beasts before bouncing off onto another one closer to the direction of the spring. Link followed, not wanting to take a chance on harming one of his friends. Dashing forward after landing on the ground, Link took one last look behind, noticing that only three of the Shadow Beasts were chasing after them. The ones that were seemed bent on securing their destruction. They gained on the party, forcing Link to stop and confront them. He lashed out at the first, quickly pounced on the second, and rapidly struck the third. The three, of course, were not completely beaten, and they seemed to laugh at him for not being able to finish the job in a few short strikes. However, this was still according to plan, since picking them off one at a time would always leave one left to revive the others. Remembering his previous encounters with them, Link baited them into a small enough area where he would be able to unleash a Spin Attack.

When he did, all three, instead of falling in surprise of Link's attack, held out their arms and grabbed him. Pinning him down, they each slashed at him, sapping him of his strength. Evidently, these new Shadow Beasts would be tougher to deal with. Link attempted to free himself, but they seemed to possess too much strength. How can these things be so tough? There has to be some sort of weakness! But what could it be?

He found his answer from above. Noticing some rustling leaves, his eyes followed the pattern of motion until a large tree branch fell from above and struck one of the monsters on the head. It instinctively took its hands off Link and put them on its head, attempting to alleviate the sharp pain that the blow seemed to have dealt. Seizing his opportunity, Link flipped backwards to break free and pounced on his captors' heads. Wasting no time, he swiftly rushed from one to another, hoping to finish them off quickly. They soon fell, leaving behind a strange mark on the ground. Presumably, it could be used to warp back here, just like the strange portals that had disappeared after the Mirror of Twilight was shattered. Link gazed up for a moment, wondering who up there had helped him earlier.

He didn't have much time to think about that, however, as he heard footsteps rapidly approaching. He turned his attention in the general direction and found Kirby rushing towards him along with Polari behind him. "There you are!" he said. "Where were you? We thought you were right behind us until we got to the spring and realized you weren't there!"

Yeah, really great timing you guys. He didn't show anything different in his face, but Link was going to give the two a piece of his mind once he could actually talk again. He mentally added yet another thing that would have to wait a little bit, though he hoped it would not be long.

Kirby took the silent, blank expression as a bit of spite. "What? Did something happen around here?" Link pointed towards the mark on the ground. "Oh. Uh…sorry I wasn't there to help?"

Link sighed and begrudgingly accepted the weak apology. He knew that it wasn't Kirby's fault that he had to face the monsters by himself, but he had still expected some sort of assistance from the stranger. But, if it wasn't Kirby or Polari who came back to help, who had helped him out?

As they approached the spring, Link felt an especially dark presence surrounding the area. He turned to his side and caught Kirby flinching. Evidently, he also felt the presence, and, though neither knew it, both hoped for the same thing: that whatever lay ahead not be as terrible as they thought it would be. The area around seemed to have more light than the rest of the path behind them; however, this light seemed to resemble the Twilight with its veiled colors rather than unrestricted purity.

When they stepped forward towards the center of the spring, Link noticed that there were no sounds at all anywhere. He looked around impatiently, hoping to find the spirit so they could start restoring light to Ordon. To his disappointment, the spirit did not seem to be anywhere nearby. Where could it be?

Polari seemed to be as restless as Link. "Hey!" he called out. "Is anyone home?"

Kirby noticed something stir in a far corner of the spring. "Hey, I think something is over there!" He hurriedly dashed towards the point where he saw the motion. When he got there, he felt some motion from somewhere beneath him. "There's definitely something around here, but I'm not sure what it is."

Link turned his head towards the area, but he didn't seem to think something had been there. Polari, too, doubted Kirby's assertion. Hearing some rustling nearby, they started towards that direction, but Kirby inched closer to the spot in the spring. When he finally stepped on that point, he felt a lot of rumbling coming from the ground. "Guys? I'm absolutely sure there's something here!"

They turned around to see Kirby jump up and down, trying to get their attention. However, he was also agitating the thing beneath. A red mark appeared on the ground beneath him. "That doesn't look good." He tried to jump out of the way, but a mysterious force quickly took hold of him. "Guys? Link and Polari started towards Kirby, but, before they got there, he was launched away towards, Link believed, the desert. "YAAHHHHHHH!" came Kirby's belated cry for help.

Whatever had just launched Kirby off was awakening. The red spot on the ground grew and moved towards the center of the spring where it turned pitch black. A large, dark figure arose from the black mark. It appeared to be a deranged looking goat, as if Fado had done something to cause it to lose its mind. Its horns were illuminated in a sinister red light. It seemed to be very familiar to Link, but he didn't get much of a chance to examine it.

No sooner had it appeared when it charged at the Hero and the Luma. Jumping out of the way, Link tried to study how to approach this enemy. If I were back to normal, I could probably put on the Iron Boots and take it down like an ordinary goat. But I'm not normal, and the boots are in my basement.

"Link! Look out!" The goat-monster opened its mouth and unleashed a long laser, grazing Link's tail. He flinched for a moment, but it was long enough for the goat-monster to ram him into the rock wall at the back of the spring.

Link grimaced in pain. If Midna were on my back, I could ask her to hold that thing down, but she's not here. So how can I take this thing down?

Again when in need of a way to damage his foe, some rustling appeared in some nearby trees. As Link looked in the general direction, a large branch crashed into the goat-monster's horns. Roaring in fury, it charged into the tree, taking down the tree and a comparatively smaller figure. While it was occupied by the new guest, Link hurried up to the monster and attacked its horns, knowing that its weak point had been exposed. The monster reacted violently, doing its best to try and throw him off, but he continued to attack. It was when he looked away for a moment to see what it was that had distracted the monster that the monster was able to throw him off. Link motioned for Polari to go investigate while he continued to fight.

"Hello?" Polari questioned as he approached the spot where the goat-monster had been. He saw a furry figure lying on the ground, apparently worn out from the goat-monster's attack. "Hello?" he asked again, poking the figure. He noted that it felt really soft and warm, giving an almost inviting aura. At the same time, there seemed to be something highly powerful lying inside this being. "Hello?" he said one more time, this time daring to open its eyelids.

The figure regained its consciousness and instinctively pounced on the Luma, not knowing why it was there. Polari thought the worst and frantically waved his tiny arms. "No! No! I'm not food! I'm a friend! Please don't eat me!" The figure eased its grip on him until he was able to free himself, and he to circle around it in order to examine it. Let's see what we've got here. Grey coat…furry tail…really big teeth…powerful presence…apparently feminine structure…

Polari didn't have time to continue his analysis because, at that moment, the goat-monster had thrown Link off onto the Luma. He quickly got up to chase his opponent again, but his eyes caught the figure standing right next to him. When Link took a look at the figure, his heart stopped for a moment. He only had to see those green eyes to know who it was.