Thanks for continuing with this story for so long!

Special thanks to VioWolf for following, and to miano53 for reviewing again. It just makes me feel so special!

Reviews, favourites and follows are an exceptional incentive to write - as I realise the chapter has barely been started and you're making me feel bad for not writing anymore of it all day.

This time my Spanish coursework is to blame, as opposed to my inept writing ability. I have to remember a whole page in another language that I fail at. Then write it out word for word.

Fortunately, my skill with the English language far surpasses that of any other. As such, it enables me to write this.

But I'm rambling.

I couldn't decide who I wanted to be focused on in this chapter, so it chops and changes here and there. Though I will tell you when it has changed perspective so you don't get confused. I'm not really sure if I like this chapter or not, but still.

Also - Midna's a bit of a potty-mouth! But not excessively. I found I struggle to write swearing. No idea why.

Here it is at long last.

Disclaimer: No. Not mine. This also doesn't make me any money. I don't think...

On with the story!

The Descent

Chapter 5:

Bright

Give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light.

- Ted Dwane

Midna

The tedium of the day is not lost on me. Neither is the boredom.

Who would've thought being a matriarch - or at least a monarch-in-training-to-be-a-matriarch - was so unfulfilling?

I mean, sure they all sang my praises, but it was just so irksome! I didn't even really save them!

So I helped Link to free the Twili, and all of a sudden I'm one step down from being a goddess in their eyes. I can't exactly tell them it wasn't me who saved them, as they'd need someone else to take up the mantle - and who else could bear it? They certainly wouldn't believe me if I told them it was a hero from the light. They all believe the twilight mirror was broken long ago.

I'd feel bad, lying to my subjects, if I hadn't grown so accustomed to it.

So all I can do is hide away in my room, or skulk through the libraries.

When did I get so despondent? It is almost sickening, even to me.

But then I can't exactly leave the castle, can I? To step outside the walls would be to face my people, a thing I would be ashamed to do in my current form.

It may be perpetual twilight in this realm, but that is not the case with the other. Due to their damned light, I was stuck in a most undesirable form which I had slowly grown to hate with all my being.

Whatever time I spent as myself again, truly free, was used with Link. In a state of which his company wasn't overly enjoyable.

Especially recently. I frowned as I rubbed a bite mark on my arm - the beast was getting vicious.

I am seated at the window ledge, my gaze occasionally wandering out onto the fields beyond. What adventures could be had over those distant hills?

I might as well be asking what else would I be denied due to my title, and supposed 'importance'. Though I knew my only real purpose was to keep the peace between my people and prevent a civil war. Had those two not been the case, I most likely would've been murdered by this point.

I sigh morosely as I turn the next page of the huge, ancient book in front of me. My kingdom is nearly identical to that in the light realm, and I did find it amusing to learn that their princess and I used the same bedroom. And that the only thing differing mine from hers was the dark, sombre colour scheme.

It amused me somewhat, to know how alike the light and twilight princess were.

A strange noise came from the centre of the room, almost like someone taking in a deep breath I knew for a fact I was the only one in here.

I furrow my brow, raising my head from the book. Was that noise real or imagined?

Another breath. More obvious this time. Lasting longer, as well as being louder.

Real.

Well, shit. I full well knew what that meant. The beast had come out to play.

Cautiously I turned to look at the small pedestal that had been set in the centre of the room, above which a crystal hovered. I'd have said floated, but that implied elegance - the obsidian coloured thing's movements were jerky, jutting upwards slightly every so often in a feeble attempt to maintain its altitude.

Breath. It was harsh and quicker, as if the breather was running a race and in desperate need of oxygen.

Except I knew that the noise had come from the crystal, which was now pulsing like a heart beat. It changed colours as it did so.

Red. Black. Purple. Red. Black. Purple.

I watched with a mortified expression. Every time the colour changed to red another sharp intake of breath was heard from the pulsating crystal.
There wasn't enough time to reach the twilight mirror - not that I could be of much help in preventing this. But I could protect the villagers from the beast.

I flung open my chamber doors and raced down the hall, praying to whoever was listening - even to the goddesses! - that I could get there in time.

In time for what, I wasn't quite sure. Maybe before things got out of control.

Even in this inhibited state I was able to move fairly quickly. Although, I admit that if I was ever without the ability to float/glide/fly and was stuck in this form it would be much more difficult, especially with how small my legs were.

Could you blame me for using the beast to get around? Flying is tiring, and my legs make things harder - especially since I'm used to being rather tall in comparison to my current size.

The castle was eerily quiet, but I was used to the silence. If anything it made things easier, as I wouldn't be stopped and questioned as to why I was zooming down the halls as if a pack of wolfos were after me.

Typically twilight kept the castle well lit, but in the dungeon everything was much more grim and dark. I swiftly weaved my way through the unused dungeon - after all, any who were considered a threat wouldn't be kept so close to royalty - until I came to a locked steel door. The thing was giant even when I wasn't tiny, but now it was about six times my size as opposed to the usual two. It might've been thought that the only thing you could keep in such a room was a horrid criminal, but that was not the case. There was no way into the room short of opening the door; the walls, door and ceiling were reinforced and even explosion proof.

The door required a key to enter, and only I held that key.

I unlocked the door and slipped into the huge, pitch black room, cautiously locking the door behind me. It was seemingly empty, but I knew better.

I picked up a lamp strategically placed right next to the door and lit it, its soothing orange glow spreading to illuminate the room. There was only one thing in the room, placed directly opposite the door. It dominated the room, its normally luminance runes dulled.

It was the twilight mirror.

With a sigh I stepped forward on to the dimly shining plate by my feet, and instantly the mirror reacted. Its symbols seemed to become brighter, until their radiance hurt my eyes - though I did not flinch.

The light glowed strongly at a point behind me, and when I turned around I was greeted not with the sight of the door but instead a huge portal.
The thing was a mixture of black and white, the two swirling and intermingling with one another. It was nearly impossible to tell were one colour ended and the other began, so closely linked were they.

Without another thought, I discarded the lamp - as it was a hindrance now that the mirror was emitting its own light - before stepping through and into the light realm.

The first thing I registered was a burning light, so bright that it threatened to singe my skin. I cringed at the pain, but otherwise ignored it.
Then I felt the burn begin to fade, replaced by a tingling sensation not dissimilar to 'pins and needles'. Although with very pointy pins and needing needles.

I felt like I was floating through the air, but the sensation didn't bother me as that was my more used mode of travel anyway. What bothered me about it was that it seemed to be direction-less, travelling aimlessly through a world of bright white.

I knew this with my eyes shut, as through the lids the brightness assaulted my sight. Every so often it would lessen, as if the world had greyed slightly, but it would soon return to that intense white.

I dared to open my eyes and gaze at the empty world around me, and was mildly surprised to discover that the whole place wasn't white. As I had known, there were patches of grey here and there, but I was more shocked by the runes that seemed to have been carved into the very walls of this place.

The further I travelled the more bright the light became and the less frequent the grey spots were. So I decided to close my eyes - but I was vaguely proud of myself, as that was the first time I had the courage to observe the strange otherworldly place. It was betwixt and between the twilight and light realms, not quite one and not quite the other, but the closer you came to one the further you were to the other. As such, I had always preferred the journey home; my senses weren't assailed as much for the light was darker the further to the twilight realm you went.

I stumbled as my feet touched ground, hating the sensation of suddenly dropping to the floor without my foreknowledge or consent. It meant I had no time to prepare myself for the unexpected landing. The process in the in-between place - although void was probably the best description of that place - had taken under a minute.

My awkward landing signaled one thing loud and clear.

I was back in the light realm.

When my eyes had adjusted to the intensity of the light here, at least while shut, I opened them and looked around curiously. Fortunately the light was dimmer than it had been in the void, and so my eyes were left relatively unharmed.

But I did hate this world in the day. The sunlight pricked at my skin, the light muddled my thoughts and stabbed at my eyes, the whole sun burned me. As if it knew I didn't belong here.

Well it might've been damn right, but I'd take any opportunity to he out of this realm ASAP. If only to stop the thud-thud-thud of a headache it always seemed to bring on.

Why couldn't this have happened during twilight? This place was not only beautiful at that time, but also harmless.

Dusk was relatively the same, except it provided the beast an unnatural power it was deprived of in the twilight and weakened without in the light.

Well, I suppose everything has its purpose.

I turned my attention to my surroundings, knowing what the expect and hoping that my expectations would be proved correct.

Sure enough, the other twilight mirror was here and shining with its own luminescence, having created the portal I stepped through. It was still bright, the light it was emitting sustaining the portal behind me needlessly.

It was amazing when you considered that not only had I travelled from the twilight to the light realms, but that the two connected mirrors had allowed me to leave from the castle and arrive in a hidden grove deep within the Faron woods.

When I stepped off the stone that had been directly in front of the portal, the mirror began to dim. Its light returned to a much more bearable intensity, its radiance no longer affecting me a threatening to burn my oh so fragile Twili skin.

So now I just had the sun to deal with.

The portal seemed to fade from existence, melting back into nonexistence until I required it again.

I admit, I was relishing the serenity of the place. Despite its faults, I had to admit that sometimes this realm could reach the beauty of my own.
The sunlight dappled through the trees, and I grimaced as it fell on me, waiting for incredible pain to shoot through me.

But then I remembered I was stuck as an imp, and as such the light wouldn't burn me. Much. It just felt like whenever the sunlight touched it was in an oven - uncomfortable, but not painful.

So maybe I could withstand the light. That was interesting to know. I hadn't stayed here long enough to test if the light would burn me to a crisp or not, as I typically arrived and left with the coming and going of twilight. Normally it was the crystal that alerted me to the time, as it pulsed when twilight came because by then it had enough power to escape…

As I looked around at my first glimpse of the day in the twilight realm for a long time - as normally I was well hidden during the day, such as in Link's shadow - where I said a most un-lady like thing.

"Ohhh, shit." I muttered, as realisation dawned on me.

Not only was Link in serious trouble, but I hadn't received enough of a warning. Sure the pulsing crystal tipped me off, but I could guess roughly when twilight would fall and would turn up around then, allowing me enough time to get there as the beast did. But thinking of how strong the rhythm of the crystal had been, and how it was connected to the beast just made my statement incredibly appropriate.

This meant the beast might now have the ability to take over at will. It might mean Link no longer had control, and was buried so deep within the beast that he wasn't coming back.

The - typically silenced - optimist in me suggested that

Perhaps Link lost control briefly? Was weakened by something?

And

Maybe he was in a cave, or somewhere dark and the beast took advantage of that?

I dismissed the latter, although did briefly consider the former. If he had been weakened, then the minute he was better I would beat him - or maybe the beast, as it wouldn't make me feel guilty - within an inch of his life. Even if that meant the beast took control again.

Didn't I warn him not to be weakened? That he had to be strong, because the beast would take every advantage it had and use it to gain control.

He always was stubborn and a pain in the ass. Though I doubt he would do this to spite me. Maybe, but it's unlikely.

I raised my hands above my head, taking command of what little twilight lingered among the brightness of this realm. I smiled lightly as the familiar coils of dark wrapped around my arms and legs briefly, before I directed them to a point just beyond my feet. They swiftly weaved together to form another portal on the floor, albeit much smaller than the one I just used. Stepping onto it, I directed its location to take me to Link's basement.

I broke into pieces of twilight, sinking down through the portal. It was strange sensation, for though I lost sight and touch and hearing I maintained consciousness. It barely took me two seconds to arrive in his basement, where the particles that were me moulded together again.

I saw a small mirror directly in front of me. Despite the dark down here, I could see perfectly well - the only reason I had used a lamp earlier was because it needed some external light to work, at least when travelling to the light realm.

I carefully took in my current form. My size was half of Link's, if that, with the white patches of my skin showing while my dark 'shadow clothes' covered others. I wore a part of the fused shadow, covering one of my eyes while the other shone a vibrant red tinged with yellow. Light blue patterns weaved across my skin and clothing, marking me as a Twili while showing various important symbols. My hair was a bright orange, tied into a ponytail at the back of my head while swaying gently, despite a distinct lack of any breeze. The end of my hair formed a sort of hand, and I smiled fondly as I remembered how often I'd had to open doors with it for Link when he couldn't.

I turn and climb up the stairs - just because I can float doesn't make me lazy! - and pull myself up into Link's house.

The place is dark, with no light shining through the window. In fact, I notice, something is covering the window. It looks suspiciously like a bookshelf. Why would a bookshelf have been pushed in front of the window? I couldn't see an obvious reason as to why this had been done. Was it to block out the sunlight?

But there would only be one reason to block out sunlight. If the beast had taken over, it would be immensely pained by sunlight.

A growl interrupts my thoughts.

With a small gasp, I turn my gaze to the direction of the noise. Laying beneath the fireplace, filled with the black orchids I love, is a wolf.

Or rather, the beast.

With a snarl it launches itself across the room at me. Surprised, all I can do is jump backwards and try to stay out of the way of this first attack.

The beast lands with a loud thud on the ground just in front of me, and almost instantly is standing menacingly before me. Its haunches are raised, lips drawn back to reveal sharp white teeth and allow another growl to wrench from the creatures throat.

Even without the way the wolf reacted to my entrance, this thing doesn't look like Link in his wolf form.

The beast has piercing yellow eyes - wolf eyes - so feral, savage and wild. They are nothing like Link's eyes when he is stuck in this form, which are so human, mournful and lamenting, a sharp shock of blue in an otherwise animal face.

It's coat is black as dusk, darker even than twilight. It explains why I couldn't see him in this darkness, as it allows the beast to blend in incredibly well. Had it not made a noise to alert me to its presence, then I doubt I would've noticed it. Link has dark brown fur, with a white stomach, chest and throat. Though they both share the chain wrapped around the front ankle - it seemed neither could shake the fact that they had been prisoners.

The markings on Link's head aren't present on the beast, either. Instead the beast has nothing there, as if the markings were a sign that Link was conscious, just wearing a disguise, while the beast was just that; a beast.

The two are so different, in both looks and temperament. I know this, if only because Link would never lunge at me.

For no reason, anyway.

The wolf crept closer to me, almost surreptitiously, but I smirked at it and flicked my hair forward. It grabbed for the beast, but it leapt out of the way - having been restrained by my hair before. Which is such a weird sentence that I almost don't want to put it.

The creature backed away from me, still growling, and I moved forward. It obviously didn't like light, and Link had told me it made the beast weaker, so why not try and force it into sunlight?

The wolf obviously guessed my plan, waiting for me to get into the centre of the room before jumping away from the door. I shook my head in annoyance at it, forcing my hair to attack at one side in an attempt to push the creature back towards the door.

When it didn't do so, I ensured my next attack didn't miss.

My hair stabbed through the wolf's back leg and shoulder, having taken the form of huge spears in order to hit it. Much like how I once attacked Zant.

The wolf whimpered, blood spurting from his wounds when my hair retracted. I almost felt bad, but remembered it wasn't Link. It was evil. Even Link himself hated the creature.

Yet I knew when Link returned to control, it would be him with those injuries.

The wolf was in no condition to walk now, and certainly couldn't back away from me. However, this meant it couldn't get outside on its own two legs. That meant either either it was staying in here, but Link would be trapped, or I drag it outside. And Link possibly regains control.

Please, it was obvious what I'd choose.

Light

When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow.

- Ursula K. Le Guin

Shadow

A low growl ripped through the beast's throat, extremely sharp teeth bared in anger at the attacker. It was being attacked both inside and out, by the small girl with painful hair - who always seemed to be here when the beast was in control - and the boy.

The boy! He was very weak and very foolish. The beast knew this well, for the boy often tried to resist but always failed. Instead of being patient and saving energy for one large attack in which control could be regained, the boy persisted with small useless attacks. If the boy had been clever, as the beast was, he would have copied how the beast managed to escape and done the same.

The beast was happy that the boy was too stupid to do such a thing.

But now the beast was wounded and in pain. The girl with painful hair had arrived, and the beast had been overjoyed originally, for this was the first time she was there and it wasn't chained up. Which had provided the perfect chance to kill her, before she could hurt it anymore.

Leave Midna alone!

The feeble voice had said, barely even reached the beast's ears. If it had been able to, it would have laughed.

Unfortunately, it hadn't called her the girl with painful hair for nothing. She was powerful, and the beast had been reckless. It wasn't strong enough yet.

Though that hadn't stopped it from fighting violently when the girl's hair began dragging it outside.

Light, the beast knew, was horrible. Light hurt more than anything, while strengthening the boy. If it went into any form of light, it would be weaker and the boy might break free again. That was why it had pushed the large box in front of where the light spilled in.

The moment the boy saw his opportunity at the distraction of injury, the two began to fight for control. The beast twisted and yelped, pain exploding through it's mind as the boy began to assault it from within. But the beast was strong and managed to push the boy back down, keeping him locked away.

Until the girl pulled the beast out of the door and into the light.

The beast howled in agony, light piercing it's skin and burning, burning, burning...

Go back!

The voice of the boy shouted, the noise only reaching the beast's hearing before dying. The beast growled, angered, as the boy clawed back more control.

The beast was shaking now, lying on the ground and shuddering with the sheer exertion of keeping the boy at bay.

The beast began to convulse more fiercely, but it had an idea. It couldn't maintain control, but it could hinder the boy. It would make it easier later, when it returned to power.

So the beast relinquished control, pretending to be weakened. The boy leapt at the chance, swiftly regaining himself and forcing the beast down.

Or so he thought for now. The beast knew better.

If the twilight mirror part seems a bit strange, that's because I never really fully understood how the twilight mirror works. So they stand on a platform, the mirror emits light to make stairs so they can get into another realm? Uhh, what?

Seriously, it just seemed a bit weird. As such, I decided that the twilight mirror opened the portal-thingy stepped through, and could do so anywhere. That way it could be moved - like into the castle dungeons. I also wasn't really sure if there was one mirror in the light realm which would make a portal in both realms - thus allowing any from either realm to travel to the other - or if there was another in the twilight which did the same job, or what. So I decided there were two, and that they were interlinked - opening a portal with one would cause the other portal to open, so you could step into the portal from the light realm in Kakariko but end up in the Gerudo desert in the twilight realm. It all depends of the position of the mirror.

I realise I probably should have put this explanation at the top, but I felt that was long enough already and it would've told you that the twilight mirror was involved. So it's here.

Important!

Wolf Link - or not-really-Link - is named Shadow. It may seem a strange/rubbish/cliché name, but there is a reason for this, which will be explained later. I promise. If there wasn't a reason, I think it's name would be different. And the reason for constant repetition of certain words (i.e. the beast, light & attack, etc) in the second section will also be explained. If not by a character than by me in a note in a later chapter. Okay?

Shadow needed another quote, purely because I felt like the beast deserved one. I might make every character's point of view have a new quote, because they all deserve one.

Also, Midna has a mildly vain moment purely because I feel the need to describe every character.

Even when you know what they look like.

So, sorry about that.

Hope it makes sense!

Next chapter could take between a three days and a week, maybe more. Will probably be set from Link's point of view. Or Zelda's. I've not decided yet.

Please tell me what you thought of this chapter - I didn't really like it, but did you?

Did you enjoy it?

Scar