"I hate cannon flights," he spat, shaking sand out of his fur and clothes, and sneezing to clear his nose.

"It beats making your own way here."

"Of course it does, there's no other way here at all, it seems." He looked around, seeing nothing but off-yellow sand, and similar coloured rocks and cliffs, sighing the last of the sand off him. "I guess it'll be easier to search as a wolf."

"Wait... can I... tell you something?"

"Of course, but is now really the time?"

"I think I should tell you. Probably sooner."

Tails examined her for a moment, his face thoughtful, then he selected a rock and perched on it, looking curiously after her.

"Do you remember what the spirit told you? About the Fused Shadows, and the Sacred Realm? What do you think happened to them?"

"Didn't Lanayru say they were banished?"

"That's right. Into a different world."

Tails was far from stupid – he hardly could be, given all his work – and made the connection. "Your world, the Twilight realm."

"Exactly. You're smarter than I thought. It was the complete opposite of Hyrule... it's name describes it perfectly. The denizens became as shadows, unable to exist in the light. All those banished there became like that, completely incapable of leaving again. This is the how the legends have been passed down to my people, the Twili."

"You... no, all the Twili... they descended from them, didn't they?"

"Yes... it is... was... peaceful until Zant... somehow he gained some kind of power unknown to the rest of the Twili, taking over and turning all the Twili into Shadow Beasts, and me... me, into this."

"Shadow Beast? You mean... I've been killing your friends?"

"Oh no. Not killing. Not here. You'd have to be in our realm for that to happen."

"That's a relief."

"I thought you'd like to know that. In any case, I left there for here, in search of the Fused Shadows to expose and defeat Zant, and now... now, I can't get back, the only way is through the Mirror of Twilight – which is the same way-"

"The same way all the others before were sent there? So we have to find it so you can get back, so we can go to the Twilight realm and defeat Zant?"

Midna's eyes widened, surprised. "You'd do that? I mean... I was going to ask, but I didn't think you'd volunteer."

"Hey, I got chosen to be the hero, remember? Don't deal with him, and he'll just be back."

"I guess that's true. Thanks Tails... not just for this, for everything."

"Time to go back to being a wolf?" he grinned back.

"Oh, right! I'd better see to that."

In his normal form, he seemed to sink slightly into the sand, which had made moving around a little awkward. As a wolf, however, he found his paws were perfectly shaped to make it even easier than normal. On the other hand, his fur left him quite hot, so he kept to what little shade there was.

The desert seemed to be endless sand, and little else. He'd found a great crack in the ground that seemed to have no bottom, and decided not to chance jumping it just yet. Like the desert, it too went on seemingly endlessly.

To the south, however, a sharp cliff hanging over them indicated that the Gerudo desert had a definable end. He was beginning to lose hope of finding even a scent to follow out here, when the cliff curved around northwards. At the base of a part of it lay a strange white rock. He paused, still a fair distance away, and sat examining it. Midna slid off his back, coming round beside him to lean on a shoulder. She tapped his forehead, leaving him sat similarly, but in his own form, another thoughtful look furrowing his face.

"Know what it looks like to me, wolf boy?"

"Bridge piece," he replied shortly. "Eldin. Temple." He frowned, shook his head as if to clear something, then tried again. "It's the bit of Eldin bridge that disappeared not long before we did the lakebed temple."

"Something up with your speech, wolfy?"

"I'm not sure. It might be something to do with being a wolf. That's definitely the missing bridge piece though."

"I could get it and us there, but without a portal, there's no way back."

"Maybe we should get closer, see if there's another way."

"To move that hunk of rock? I doubt it."

"Still. I might be able to fashion some mechanism back at my workshop to move it. If the lower floors of it had been brought too, I could have used the Tornado."

"You have a machine to move rocks in your basement?"

"What? Oh, no. It's an aeroplane."

"A what?"

"Oh, right. I forgot you don't know. It's a device that flies through the air. A bit like a bird. I could rig up something to allow it to carry the piece back."

"Right, but you don't have this Tornado of yours."

"No, that's right. Anyway, I want to try a quick experiment. Change me to a wolf and back."

She did so, making him return to sitting on his haunches again, then he was back as himself.

"Alright," she said. "Now what was the point of that?"

"Experiment. Speech." He frowned again, shook his head, then concentrated. "Right," he said finally. "I think that confirms that."

"What?" she asked again, impatiently.

"When I'm a wolf, I think as a wolf does, and my normal side doesn't fully reassert itself for a few moments after changing back, which screws up my trying to talk normally. We never noticed it before because I never tried to talk right after being changed back."

"And this is useful?"

"It might be. Anyway, put me back to a wolf – I have a suspicion we're going to be attacked if we get close to that bridge piece."

"Alright. Whatever wolfy says."

True to his words, four shadow beasts dropped out of a portal, the familiar barrier blocking them in. Even with four of them, there was little challenge to him by now, leaving them with the portal Midna needed to warp the bridge piece back to it's rightful place, then warp back again.

Once back, he followed the cliff northwards, coming to the crack again. He followed it back, finding his own tracks from earlier, until he found what seemed like the thinnest point, and took a running jump over it.

The desert seemed to be just as endless on the other side. He came across another howling stone, but this time when he howled along, he was met by Link in person at the castle instead of as a pair of wolves.

"You did not come on the field," he said accusingly.

"Sorry. I got a bit tied up."

"You retrieved the Master Sword? Impressive. I have little doubt now that you are the Hero the land requires."

"So what did I miss?"

"I have two skills for you. The Helm Splitter, and then the Mortal Draw."

"They sound useful."

"All my skills are useful," he replied, mock hurt on his face. "Are you ready?"

"Of course."

The Helm Splitter sounded exactly like it was, an attack to the opponent's head, while the Mortal Draw tested his courage.

"Again!" Link demanded of him, as he missed the chance for the third time.

Tails re-sheathed the sword, keeping his arm nearby, and waiting for Link to draw close. This time he scored, drawing and landing a powerful blow on him that sent him reeling back, and falling to the ground.

"Impressive power," he breathed.

"Thanks. Anything else?"

"No. I believe we are done here for now. There are just two more skills left. In due time. Good luck in the Arbiter's Grounds."

Tails' vision cleared, revealing Midna stood right in front. It gave him a fright, making him jump up and back, something that clearly amused Midna.

"Come on wolfy," she chided him playfully. "Can't be napping on the job. While you were, I found out which way to go. There's two people to the north that you know."

That piqued his interest. As he ran, he picked up a scent that showed up a very distinct and sharp blue. He was almost certain he knew who it belonged to.

A fence between two rock faces had been shattered, and the familiar sight of the giant bulbin he'd beaten off the top of a bridge earlier greeted him. He was swinging an equally giant axe around at a suspiciously familiar blue blur.

Sonic wasn't having much effect, however, except to annoy and distract the giant bulbin.

Tails glanced back at Midna, who nodded, shifting him back to himself. He drew his sword and dashed into the fight, harassing it's undefended rear with light flicks of the blade, then darting clear again. Sonic paused at one point, nodded to him, then continued to keep it's attention, jumping clear of the axe and pulling a face at it.

Tails continued to take on it's rear, until he took a chance and took it's attention, jumping up in front, and delivering such a blow to the head that it reeled back, dropping the axe, now entirely focused on him.

"Tails? What're you doing?"

"Keep clear!" He ordered Sonic. "Leave this to me."

He put the shield away, freeing his other hand to take the Master sword in both hands, and landed blow after blow onto the bulbin, driving it backwards, back out into the desert, each time making it sway and stumble more.

At one point, it grabbed a chunk of wood that had lain in the sands, and blocked his blow with it, fighting back briefly and unsteadily. The wood was easily cut, however, and it wasn't long before it was stepping back again and again just to avoid being hit.

The canyon he'd seen earlier loomed ahead of him, giving him a plan to finally finish it off again – this time permanently.

He stepped up the pace between each slash, cutting into it's tough skin more until it teetered on the brink of it. Then, he took a leap, hovering over it, and using the Helm Splitter carved into it's head, pushing the bulbin into the the abyss with a great roar, and landing on the other side, crouching low to minimise his impact on the sands so he wouldn't disturb them, and send him after it.

Sonic came up behind, on the other side of the canyon, and glanced down.

"Never seen you fight like that before," he commented.

"It's fairly useful around here. What are you doing here?"

"Renado noticed me getting restless and suggested I go talk to Telma in Hyrule Castle Town. Gotta tell you, I didn't have attract attention there. Telma directed me to Lake Hylia, where some old coot, Auru, told me where to find you. I thought I'd come on out and lend a hand."

"You didn't have to use Fyer's cannon, did you?"

"Nah, I ran here. I needed it. That big old guy you just carved up caught me before I got any further though. I thought you'd gone on in."

"I guess you could come in useful."

"Useful? Fastest hedgehog around, just useful?"

"Hey, who's the hero in these parts?" he teased, flying back over the canyon to join him.