Three days later…

Link slowly made his way to the third floor bedroom of the massive mansion. For the better part of a day, Link had explored almost the entire mansion to get to the shard of the Mirror of Twilight. The pair of yetis living in the mansion had been kind enough to show him where the key was after leading him on a merry goose chase around the entire mansion. Link was tired, cold, irritable, and was pretty sure his toes were succumbing to frostbite. The only thing about the entire ordeal that had been worth it was Yeto's soup. Reekfish might smell disgusting, but they made one hell of a broth.

Link sighed, knowing he was almost finished. Midna floated over and placed a hand on his shoulder. She was still concerned about the wolf, but Link had given her no cause to worry. He had let instinct take over a bit while pursuing the scent of the reekfish, but he had stayed well in control of himself. He walked up to the door and unlocked the ornate lock.

Once inside, Yeta led him to the mirror shard. "Come, it this way," she said.

She stopped in front of the mirror. "Here mirror. Look…so pretty."

An imperceptible twitch began in her right eye. "Pretty," she crooned, twitching more violently.

Link stepped back, visibly freaked out. Is this for real?

"So pretty," Yeta said again. Her entire body was twitching now. She didn't even seem aware of it. She paused, then wheeled around with an earsplitting screech. Her face was distorted by an animal snarl. "NOT TAKE MIRROR!" she roared.

Link watched, transfixed, as ice began to swirl around Yeta, forming an imposing whirlwind. Shards of ice began to fly in every direction. As suddenly as it began, the whirlwind stopped, showing Yeta now encased in a cradle of ice. Link cried out, drawing his sword, but Yeta was faster. A shard of ice flashed out, almost too fast to see, slashing across Link's hand. Fingers already numb from the blistering cold, the Master Sword clattered to the floor.

Yeta laughed maniacally as she rose up above Link, massive spikes of ice forming at her howl. These hammered into the ice at Link's feet. Whipping out the massive ball and chain he had taken from a suit of armor, he hurled it at the closest spike. The hardened ice was no match for the solid iron ball, and it disintegrated. He destroyed the rest of the spikes in a similar matter. "Ha!" he taunted, spinning the ball and chain above his head. "That all you got?"

In response, Yeta's cradle of ice rose into the air and hovered above Link's head, where it remained, spinning slowly. "What the-" Link started. He was never able to finish, because at that point, the massive ice mass plummeted directly toward him. A streak of cursing that would have turned the air blue erupted from his lips as he dove out of the way.

Ice shrapnel ground into Link's skin as the behemoth of ice hammered into the ground only a few centimetres away. Scrambling to his feet, Link hammered the ball and chain into the ice cradle. Swinging it around his head to build momentum, he slammed it into the ice mass again, and again. Yeta hissed at him, frantically trying to free the ice cradle that was being smashed piece by piece. She finally freed it from the ground as Link slammed the iron ball into it one last time, throwing all his strength behind it.

Yeta screeched, a high sound that shattered the glass in the bedroom windows. The ice outside was riven into pieces. The ice mass slammed into the ground, shattering into thousands of pieces. Link gasped as a sliver of ice drove into his side, quickly melting from the heat of his blood.

Yeta screeched again as the mirror drifted from her grasp. "No!" she hissed, clawing at the mirror. She convulsed, then went rigid, her eyes rolling up into her head as she went into seizure. After several seconds of thrashing, she relaxed and lay on the floor. The mirror floated over to Link, hovering in front of him. He reached out and grabbed it.

Gazing into the mirror, Link admired his reflection in it. He was really quite dashing, if he dare say so. He blinked, and the reflection changed. Now a blue-eyed wolf's face was reflected beside his. The faces merged, became a single reflection. They melded back and forth, settling on an in-between state, a horrifying mix of wolf and human features, a twisted mockery of both species. NO! Link thought. That's NOT what I am! The reflection persisted, taunting him with a tortured visage. He wanted to throw the mirror across the room, destroy it as completely as he could… He shook his head, growling, shaking the cobwebs from his brain. He motioned to Midna, who had wisely hidden in a shadow in the corner of the room. "Take this," he grunted.

Midna's eyes grew wide. "GIVE ME THAT!" she screeched.

"I was just about to…" Link began irritably.

Midna cut him off as she snatched it from his hand. "You idiot!" she hissed. "Why did you actually touch it?"

"Well…I…" Link started sheepishly.

"Didn't you see what it did to her? Did it even occur to you that it might affect you, too?"

"Okay, okay," Link snapped. "So I'm not known for foresight. Shut up."

Just then, the door slammed open. Link whirled, to see Yeto standing there. With a howl of despair, he ran over to Yeta, knocking Link aside in the process, and gently gathered her up in his massive arms. One romantic exchange later, the two embraced, oblivious to the adventurers still standing in the room.

Link blushed. "Maybe, uh, we should…you know…"

"Yes, let's," Midna replied, creating a portal.

Link stepped out of the portal, then fell, the portal having opened at least a metre above the ground. He grunted, getting up, ignoring the world as it spun around him. He had long since gotten used to the nauseous effects of warping. While Midna busied herself with the portal, he placed his head in his hand, quietly allowing himself a moment to weep. The romance between the Yetis had just reminded him of how everything he loved was either gone, or out of reach. "Link?"

He whirled, quickly wiping his eyes. Had Midna seen him crying? "Yeah?" he replied, trying to keep the catch out of his voice.

Midna gave him a strange look. "You okay?" she asked, concern written all over her face.

"Never better," Link replied briskly, turning. "So, shall we-"

"HEEEEEEEYYYYY!"

Link turned, suppressing a grimace. The postman, just now coming over a hill, always creeped him out. Maybe it was because of the weird places Link always found him. Fado's stable, for instance.

"I have a letter for Master Link," the postman said, sweeping it out of his bag with a flourish and a hummed fanfare. Link took it gingerly, forcing a smile. "Well, off to mail!" the postman said, unheeding of Link's obvious displeasure. He turned and ran off into Hyrule Field.

Link opened the letter, pulling out the piece of parchment. Probably another junk mail ad for Malo Mart, he thought, scanning the letter. Seeing as it was not from Malo Mart, he read it.

Link stayed in a frozen pose for several moments, eyes glued to the letter, the blood slowly draining from his face.

"Link?" Midna asked, seeing his ashen features. "What's wrong?"

His head snapped up. "We have to get to Kakariko Village," he said in a strangled voice. "Now!"