A/N: Hello whoever's reading this. I hope you've enjoyed the recent chapters. Here's another one for you! Oh, and I'm hoping somebody can help me with this. I've sort of got a circling argument with my brother about this; how is Hylia/Hylian pronounced? HE thinks it's Hee-lee-uh/uns. I think it's High-lee-uh/uns. A little help?

Rewritten as of 6/3/13

Chapter 6: Road to the Forest Temple

"So what next?" I asked Link. He lightly shrugged one shoulder, still seeming half-in-half-out. "Well, we're gonna need to go to the forest temple obviously, but I meant... do you want to check in with the villagers, or...what?" I elaborated. He shook his head.

"Not until I've got some good news to give them." he replied. I nodded once.

"Right, let's go. Wait.. the gate's locked. We'll have to go see that lantern guy." I remembered.

With that, I led the way through the more-lit tunnel just past the spring. I turned left at the forked path, approaching Coro. He seemed to have dozed off. Unsurely, I reached forward and tapped him on the shoulder a few times. He stirred slightly, before his eyes snapped open and he jolted backwards a bit in surprise.

"Hunh? So... It's the Ordonians! You seemed familiar, but then your clothes," he gestured to Link. "Seemed kinda different, so I got thrown off for a second!" he explained. Then he leaned forward like he was telling a secret. "Listen... Things have been a little rough around here lately, so you should watch your step, OK? There are so many monsters now... I got kinda scared and closed off the path to the temple." he admitted sheepishly.

"Can we have the key you used to unlock it?" I asked politely. Coro eyed our swords and shields, before shrugging.

"You sure look geared up for it to me... So here you go!" he then pulled a gear-like key from his pocket and passed it to me. I took it gratefully, smiling.

"Thanks." I said, before turning to walk away.

"Oh yeah... The woods on the other side of the cave are covered in really thick fog, so make sure your lantern is full! You're definitely going to need to use your lantern a lot in there, so bring all the oil you can!" Coro called to me. I nodded to him.

"We've got it covered." I said to him when we reached the end of the path, waving once to him before turning to where the locked gate was. After I turned the lock, I put the key in my bag in case we needed it later, and Link spoke up.

"Um..." turned, focusing on him."How.. How much of Hyrule have you seen?" he asked. I half smiled as I thought on this. With my real eyes, I was pretty sure I'd only ever seen was Castle Town, Lake Hylia and maybe Kakariko and the Zora village. But in the game... I'd seen it all.

"All of it. Where do you want to hear about?" I responded. That seemed to catch him off guard.

"Well, you've already told me about Castle Town... how about the Gerudo Desert?" he suggested. Every memory - from the game, as I'd never been there as Rose before - came to the forefront of my mind.

"Well, there's not much to tell. It goes on for miles, it's hot, it's monster-infested and it's sandy. At the far north-eastern edge of the desert, right on the edge of Hyrule's borders, is an ancient prison. If anybody wanted to go there - but who in their right mind would? - they would have to cross the bulk of the desert; the Gerudo Mesa. Somewhere in the southeast area of the mesa - don't quote me on this, I don't know for sure - is the Cave of Ordeals, made specifically for the Hero of Legend. In the prison... I'm not quite sure what's in it actually." I laughed weakly. I hoped I didn't give my lie away. Link chuckled with me, though, as we continued into the dark tunnel. I lit my lantern to light the way, flicking away the vermin and keese with my sword.

"What about Lake Hylia?" Link continued. I let a smile come to my face. This, I had a decent abundance of knowledge on.

"It's probably one of the most beautiful places in Hyrule, Link." I sighed longingly. "The water's so clean, and cool in the summer... All the different creatures... and the Zoras! The Zoras are wonderful people as a whole. Queen Rutela is their ruler, she does her job well. There's a temple on the lakebed, but the things inside are not so beautiful or wonderful." I wrinkled my nose, expressing my distaste for the lakebed temple and the creatures inside.

"Above the water is Lanayru's spirit spring, and on the southern end of the lake is a series of caves my parents took me to explore in a few times. And there's this one really cool spot in the shallower part of the lake, with a bunch of neat-looking rocks. They're all different colours, shapes, sizes, all of it. I think my mom has a few of them in her house in Castle Town." I added after thinking on it for a few moments. They were still a little fuzzy around the edges, but it was still coming back to me. "Last time I went there was... a few days before the attack..." I murmured. Against my own volition, my mind went back to the nightmare I'd had at Rusl's house. The terrifying figure that would dwarf even Master Chief, that my father had fought and died against; Astaroth. His terrifying face haunted my inner eye. The face of the demon that...wanted to kill me...

"Rose!" Link's voice startled me, just as I felt a sharp pain in my forearm. While I'd been distracted, a friggin' Deku Baba tried to have my right arm as a snack. I smacked it away with my sword, wincing at the pain in my right arm. I couldn't tell how deep the bite had gone, because my whole forearm was in pain, but I did know that it burned beyond belief.

"Are you okay?" Link asked after ensuring we wouldn't be caught off guard again. I pulled my red sleeve up to my elbow to inspect the damage, Link bringing his lantern up to light it better. I grimaced at what I saw; There were puncture-marks in my skin in a crescent-like shape, and the two longest of the teeth had gone straight through. It was like a sewing pin had gone into the skin of my arm and came out at a different spot. And boy did it hurt.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not." I muttered grouchily, cradling my bleeding arm to my torso. "Look, let's just get out of this freaking tunnel first, then we can take a look at it." I promised. Link reluctantly nodded. Mentally, I was berating myself for becoming so distracted, and kept a careful eye out for more of the monsters that lurked in the tunnel.

"So... Any other regions of Hyrule you want to hear about?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. Link shook his head.

"Not right now, anyways. We should stay focused." he replied. There was a companionable silence until we were nearly outside of the tunnel. "What about your other world?" I tensed. This was a bit of a touchy subject.

"What do you want to know about it?" I asked, pretending to check the map which was on my phone.

"Well, what was your life like?" he suggested.

"The basic life of someone who grew up in that era. There's school, for around twelve years. Elementary, Middle School and High School. After that, College and University are optional and highly reccomended, and then jobs, families, retirement... It was actually in Elementary school that I met two of my three closest friends. Scott Grant and Carmen Vance, though Carmen was a year and a few months younger than I, and Scott one year ahead. And then there was Bethany Marshall, who I'm sure I've known nearly my entire life on 've been inseparable since the day we met. I've always counted her as a part of my family. " I sighed, thinking about my friends. Did they know I'd gone 'missing'? Had any time passed since I'd come here? I couldn't say for sure, though.

By then we'd exited the tunnel, both of us once again lost in our own thoughts. Though, Link was quickly snapped out of his state when our lantern was snatched from his hand. He had a comically appalled look of shock on his face when he witnessed the troublemaking monkey that was now holding his lantern and waving her free arm towards us.

"Hey! What's this monkey's problem?" Midna demanded, coming up into our view. Link just looked confused, now. "You idiot! While you were staring off into dreamland, your lantern got stolen!" she berated him. I rolled my eyes.

"I think she wants us to follow her." I said, cutting off whatever Link had been about to say.

"How do you figure that?" he asked.

"Well, I mean with the obvious hand-waving she's doing, I could guess that her annoying squeaking is her trying to tell us to follow her." I said, nearly rolling my eyes at how he seemed to miss the obvious.

And so, we were lead through the swamp of Faron by this tiny monkey, and forced to fight off the enemies inside it. I wondered how they weren't affected by the noxious mist as we had been, but shook it off in favour of dispatching them quickly so we could get out.

"Right. Now we've got our lantern back, and it's out of oil. Lucky for us I've still got a bottle of oil." I stated when the chase was finished, the monkey having run off after discarding the empty lantern on the ground. Link seemed to frown at that fact. "Hey, at least we got across." I reminded him as I filled the lantern. Even with the lantern I could barely see in the cave as we walked, but I'd already lit some of the torches from inside, so there wasn't much of a need once we reached them.

"I think I can officially say it; all creatures that are not adorable suck." I quietly complained, drawing a chuckle from Link. I rolled my eyes at him, stumbling over a dip in the path in my haste to get this over with. Link caught my arm so I could right myself, and my cheeks flamed with embarrassment.

"Thanks..." I said softly, rounding the bend in the path until the Forest Temple came into view. The tree itself that housed the temple looked similar to the Deku tree in a few of the other games, but I was probably wrong. From there, I went to the little shop manned by Coro's bird, Trill. He squawked at us when he saw us.

"Woo! Hey! Woo! You're super! Now just buy something! Hey!" he yelled. I wanted to roll my eyes again as I pulled the empty bottle out of my bag, but refrained. I scooped the yellow liquid into the bottle and replaced the cork, before dropping a single red rupee into the box below Trill's perch.

"Thank you! Hey! Thank you! Come back again anytime!" he squawked as I made to leave. I dismissed him with a 'yeah yeah' and a wave of my hand, before catching up with Link, who'd gone ahead a little ways.

"Well, our fuel crisis has been averted." I joked when I reached him, but sobered when he didn't react. His gaze was locked on something in front of us. Looking in the same direction, I saw what he had; it was a golden wolf. I heard a quiet gasp, belatedly realizing it had come from me. Seeing something on a TV was one thing, seeing said thing in real life was another entirely. Link drew his sword, eyeing the golden beast warily when it dropped from it's docile position to one of attack. It let out a low growl before snarling and pouncing at us. I found myself blinded again when it's paw touched my chest.

I was by myself when my vision returned, sprawled on my front on the foggy ground of what I recognized as the Ghostly Ether. The golden wolf was in front of me. I imagined it had separated Link and I for a reason. It let out a howl, and I shielded my eyes from another burst of light, and when I looked back, the Hero's Shade was there.

He seemed to be waiting for something. Was he waiting for me to attack him? Probably. With that thought in mind, I drew my sword. I was at a loss, though, unwilling to attack.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." the Shade rasped. I frowned.

"I'm not afraid." I lied. He didn't respond. "Are you testing me?" I asked.

"I am." he replied. "Show me first, what you know of the Chosen Hero's hidden skills. "I am." he said. "Show me what you know of the Chosen Hero's Hidden Skills." he ordered. I wasn't able to do all of them, completely at a loss with the harder ones like the helm-splitter and jump-strike. I must have impressed the Shade, even if only a little bit, because he nodded his head approvingly.

"You seem more than capable of performing my lost arts, though there is a skill set I've been instructed to pass unto you alone." He held out his skeletal hand, palm-up, and an aged scroll formed in it. He handed it to me and I unrolled it. A few bits had worn away with age, but I got the gist of it.

"Farore's wind..." I murmure in awe, my eyes widening. I looked back to the Shade. "I'm going to have Farore's Wind?" I nearly squeaked. He nodded neutrally, but I could feel he was amused.

"Yes." The scoll seemed to absorb into my hand, and I felt a kind of new energy flowing through me that hadn't been there before. "You know how to do this. Try it." he urged. I took a deep breath, and concentrated. I tapped into the new energy, and my vision wavered, flashed green for a moment as the world spun, and then I was several feet away from where I'd just been standing. I barely refrained from letting out an excited squeal at this new power I had.

"This is all I can give you for the moment, Rose. When next we meet, I will gift you with another skill. You do your father proud, child." he said, just before I awoke.

I sat up immediately when I came to, stumbling to my feet. I had to battle with vertigo for a second, but stayed upright.

"I'm okay, I'm alright..." I muttered when I vaguely registered Link again asking me if I was alright.

"What happened to you two? You guys were out cold?" Midna demanded insistently. Link wasn't sure, so he didn't say anything, but I spoke up to explain as best as I could.

"I... we were both just taught secret skills from what I know to be the Hero's Shade. I'm not sure what he taught Link," I lied. "But he gave me use of Farore's Wind." I explained. She raised an eyebrow, probably having heard of that before. I frowned minutely, wanting to make sure I could still use my new ability. I called on that same energy, focusing on a spot that was a few feet away, and behind Link. The same flash of green appeared in my vision, before it flickered. Then I was behind him. "Good, I can still use it, then. I remember he said he'd give me another skill when we meet him again. I wonder what it'll be." I mused to myself, ignoring the shocked looks on Midna's shadow-face and Link's.

"How did you-" Midna began.

"Farore's Wind. I told you, didn't I?" I cut her off, not wanting to explain more in-depth, because I honestly didn't know much about it myself. "Now, what are we waiting for?" I asked, gesturing to the giant tree in front of us that housed the Forest Temple. "Are we going in, or what?"

With a mute nod, Midna returned to Link's shadow, and he joined me at the base of the narrow path that led to the Temple entrance. I let him go first, and we quickly disposed of the waiting Bokoblins that were at the entrance, before burning away the spider webs that blocked our path. I shuddered at the thought of the gigantic spiders inside the temple. I was never a fan of bugs, but this - on top of the Dark Insects in the Twilight - was just making it worse.

"Giant spiders and carnivorous plants, oh joy..." I muttered when we entered the tunnel.

A/N: Another chapter, I really hope you liked it. (That means you too, Mr. Darbyshire) Drop a review and let me know what you thought? If you already reviewed this chapter before I started making these revisions, I do allow anonymous reviews, so you can leave one of those if you have to. Thanks, bye!