A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've been a little busy lately. I will try to post the next one a little sooner (no promises though).

And now, for the new and very cleverly named chapter:

Chapter 10: Lost in Lost Woods

Cody:

Link must have a different definition of sunrise. I was thinking sun peeking over the trees. He thought horizon looks infinitesimally lighter than black. Hey, honest mistake right?

I grumbled as I made sure my sword was securely fastened to my belt. I am not what you would call a morning person. And these guys have never even heard of coffee. I am going to have some serious caffeine withdrawals, I just know it.

Everybody was already ready by the time I climbed out of Link's tree house. Even Malon had her bow out and her quiver on her back.

"Ready to go, lazy bones?" said Saria cheerfully.

I just nodded, not awake enough to give a verbal answer.

We made our way to the north end of the village and to the entrance of Lost Woods (I had to resist telling them my 'the Lost Woods was not lost because we just found it' joke).

"Okay," Saria said, turning to us, "It's very important that we do not get separated. The woods have a way of misleading travelers. If you get separated, we might never find you again."

"I could have gone without knowing that last part, thank you," I said.

"She just said it to impress upon you the importance of sticking together," Link said, sounding annoyed.

"Sorry," I said, a little miffed, "I was only joking. You have no sense of humor."

"I do have a sense of humor. Yours is just wrong."

If looks could kill, I have a feeling both Link and I would be smoking corpses. Zelda and Malon interposed themselves between us.

"Easy there," Malon admonished, "We're supposed to be working together, remember?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. Link could be infuriating at times. What the hell was his problem anyway?

Saria acted as if nothing happened, "Shall we go?"

It did not take long before I was hopelessly lost (no pun intended). As we moved along, I notice that we would often take completely random turns. Like when we first entered Kokiri Forest, the trees were packed super close together with only tunnels to easily get to each clearing. Why we could not head straight to our destination was beyond me.

Saria led the way, and we followed close behind her. Link was right next to her, with Zelda and Malon behind them, and finally me bringing up the rear. I looked around as we walked. There were fireflies (at least, I think they were) floating around. Each clearing often had something different, which made me wonder how it was possible to get lost at all.

We had been traveling for about thirty minutes when Link held out his hand for us to stop.

Silence reigned for a minute, before I had to ask, "Is something wrong?"

He did not say anything, but he did pull out his sword and ready his shield and get into a fighting stance.

"So I take it that's a yes," I said as I went ahead and pulled my sword from its sheathe. Hey, better safe than sorry right?

Malon had an arrow notched and Zelda went ahead and drew her kodachi as well. Link motioned for Saria to get behind him…

With a loud howl, a creature that looked an awful lot like a werewolf jumped through the trees and went straight for Link. Link was ready however. He held his shield out in front of him and braced.

Luckily, the werewolf was not particularly bright. With a loud *clang* the wolf rebounded off Link's shield with a loud yelp. Link then jumped towards the wolf-thing with a yell and came down on it blade first. Link then back flipped away from the now dead wolf.

Show off…

"What is that thing?" I asked.

"A wolfos," Link replied, "A few roam through Lost Woods."

"Ah, I see," I said.

Before I could come up with a smart ass comment involving Wolfos, more howls tore through the clearing. We all faced different entrances to the clearing as more wolfos came rushing in. From behind us, two more wolfos charged. Readying my sword, I charged at them as well.

Though I had some practice with Sheikah combat, I knew that there was no real way to for me to fight effectively with a long sword while in a Sheikah stance. So I visualized Link's combat stance (I had to flip it in my head because Link was left-handed) and…

A shield burst to life from my left Bracer of Armum as I swung my arm at the nearest wolfos. The wolfos was knocked off course and crashed into the ground behind me. I swung my sword at the other wolfos, but he was a little smarter than the others and stopped just short of my sword. I pressed my attack but he always stayed just one step ahead of me. I could hear the other wolfos struggling to its feet and knew that I did not have much time left. The wolfos in front of me kept backing away…

Changing tactics, I stopped my advance and hung back. Time to let him do all the work.

The wolfos stopped as well. It regarded me for a few seconds, and then charged at me. Right before it got to me, I changed stances, flipping my sword in my hand so that the blade pointed behind me: the Sheikah stance.

It was awkward, but it got the job done. I ducked the first claw swipe, and then slashed with my sword, cutting across the wolfos' chest. I turned the slash into a spin and kept going around, slashing the wolfos that was trying to sneak up behind me.

As the two wolfos that I had just fought fell to the ground, I turned to find that the others were finishing up their fights. Link had taken on three wolfos and was dispatching the last two with a magic powered spin attack (I vaguely remember doing something similar myself). Zelda had taken on two, but apparently had killed one before it even got close using her throwing needles. The other she had killed with her kodachi.

Malon had finished her fight at about the same time as I did. The two wolfos she had taken on were filled full of arrows. There were no arrows in any of the trees. I guess she was not kidding when she said that she was a good archer.

We all went to the center of the clearing, where Saria was waiting, and Link asked, "Is everybody alright?"

Nobody had a chance to reply.

The sound of a slow clap filled the clearing as we all spun around to the source of the sound. As I turned around, I could feel the blood drain from my face as I saw the figure that was all too familiar…

The robed man had revealed himself.

"Bravo," he said in an almost silky smooth voice, "Just what I would expect from the Heroes of Time and Dimensions."

From what little of his face that was exposed, I could tell that he was smiling. Fear gripped me as I realized that I was the one closest to the mad man.

He turned to smile at me, "Ah Cody! How wonderful to see you alive!" he bowed to me, "I thought I would not get a chance to actually fight you."

The fear I had was instantly replaced with rage. Flipping the sword in my hand back into the proper position, I charged at the robed man, screaming at him.

"Cody! Wait!" Link tried reach for me but he was too far away to stop me.

I closed the distance quickly. I raised my sword getting ready to slash the horrid man in front of me…

The robed man lazily held out his hand, and a ball of energy flew from his hand. I was so surprised that I did not have time to block the attack. The energy ball connected with my stomach, and I was thrown like a ragdoll to the other end of the clearing. I slammed into a tree, and collapsed to the ground, the wind knocked out of me.

The robed man sighed, "Now, now. That wasn't very nice, Cody," he reprimanded me, "I was not done talking."

I tried to snarl at him but all that came out was a wheeze. I really hated this guy.

Link moved to the front of the group, a dangerous look in his eyes. He had his sword at the ready, energy charged into the blade.

"Who are you and what do you want!" Link snarled.

"Oh, that's right!" the robed man slapped his head as if the thought just slipped his mind, "How rude of me!"

The robed man bowed, "My name is Malgum. It's very nice to meet you."

"I can't say it's been the same for me," Zelda said, a ball of fire appearing in her hand.

Link started slowly approaching Malgum, "Malgum huh," Link said, an almost feral smile appearing on his face, "Good to know. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna have to put a stop to you right this instance."

Malgum sighed again, "Sorry, but I'm on a tight schedule. I only wanted to stop by and say hello. Oh…" he said as an after thought, "I also wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine. I'm sure you will just love her!"

The shadows seemed to envelope him as he delivered his final message, "Don't play too hard. I'm not finished with you yet."

He disappeared into shadows.

The clearing was deathly silent. Ami was bouncing around nervously. Link, Zelda and Malon had their weapons readied and were looking around cautiously. I was busy using trying to pull myself to my feet. I was still having trouble breathing…

A loud screech filled the air. Ami immediately fled into Saria's hair. Link, Zelda and Malon spun around towards where the sound came from as I finished pulling myself shakily to my feet.

Something flew quickly over the clearing. It moved too fast for us to see. We waited for a minute, knowing that whatever that thing was would be back…

We did not have to wait long. Another screech echoed through the woods, and something flew into the clearing.

Powerful wings kicked up a strong wind. Dust was kicked up everywhere. A humanoid creature with giant wings for arms and sharp talons stared down at us. The creature was covered in feathers, and though it had a humanoid face, instead of a mouth, it had a beak. Its head was bald. The harpy like creature had a fearsome look on its face as it let out another screech.

"Oh no!" Ami exclaimed from underneath Saria's hair, "It's the guardian of the Wind Temple: Aviosis! What's it doing here!"

"Wait a minute. There's a Wind Temple!" Link asked incredulously.

"Not to break up this wonderful discussion," Zelda said, much calmer than she had any right to be, "But shouldn't we be doing something?"

Aviosis turned to look at me. With a shriek, it charged at me. I held up my bracer and the shield formed, but I was having trouble concentrating through the pain. The shield was flickering as Aviosis made contact. The shield easily shattered and Aviosis grabbed me with her talons. She gripped me hard, drawing blood. I could barely keep hold of my sword, but my arm was trapped against my side, and I was unable to strike her.

"Cody!" I heard Malon scream as with one final shriek, Aviosis tossed me through one of the tunnels into a different part of the woods…

Link:

We watched in horror as Aviosis tossed Cody through one of the tunnels.

"Cody!" Malon shouted once again and tried to run after him.

Zelda grabbed Malon's arm though and yanked her back, "You can't. They call this Lost Woods for a reason. Go after him and you will be lost too!"

"But…"

"We'll find him…" I said roughly as I grabbed Saria around her waist and threw her over my shoulder (she did not seem to like that very much).

Aviosis was preparing to charge again, so I started shoving Zelda and Malon through one of the exits. Aviosis screeched, and then began to follow us at high speed.

We ran straight, hoping that Aviosis would get lost. But she was so close that there was no way we could lose her. And on top of that, she was gaining.

Malon abruptly turned around and quickly fired off an arrow. Aviosis stopped suddenly and began flapping her wings really hard. An extremely strong gust of wind knocked the arrow off course. It also had the effect of knocking Malon down.

I stopped running and handed Saria off to Zelda.

"What are you planning!" Zelda asked over a squirming Saria.

"Don't know yet. I'm making it up as I go!" I shouted as I drew my sword and charged Aviosis.

Malon was scrambling to her feet as Aviosis charged at her. There was no way Malon was going to get away before Aviosis got to her…

I jumped in front of Malon and swung my sword, unleashing energy with my swing. Aviosis barely got out of the way in time. She spun around near the edge of the clearing and screeched angrily.

I charged energy into my blade once again and waited, just daring her to come and get me. Malon stood behind me, with an arrow trained on Aviosis. Off in the distance, I saw that Zelda had put Saria down and had summoned a fireball once again.

Aviosis looked to each of us with our weapons and magic at the ready. With one last angry screech, she flew straight up into the air and out of sight. We were silent for a few minutes, holding our breath and waiting. After we were sure that Aviosis was gone for good, we all breathed a sigh of relief as we relaxed our guards.

Saria and Zelda ran towards me and Malon as I sheathed my sword.

"Are you guys alright?" Saria asked, concerned.

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"We have to go find Cody," Malon said adamantly.

"It will take hours though," I said, "We don't have the time."

"We can't just leave him out here!"

"We won't," Saria said, "Right, Ami?"

Saria's fairy finally flew out from under Saria's hair, "Um, what do you mean?"

"Can you please look for Cody?"

"But," Ami said, sounding concerned, "I'm supposed to be your guardian!"

"I know," Saria said, "But we need Cody's help. Besides," she looked at me, "Link can protect me while you're gone."

Ami was silent for a moment, before she replied, "Ok. I'll find him and be sure to lead him back to safety," she glowed brighter for a second, "You can count on me!"

Saria beamed at Ami, "Thanks a lot!"

Ami nodded at Saria, and then rushed off into the woods.

We watched for a minute after Ami's quick departure, and then I said, "Well, we need to get going. We have to find that orb as soon as possible."

Saria nodded, "Just give me a few minutes to get my bearings, then we'll be on our way."

Cody:

It took me a minute before I came to. I shakily pulled myself to my feet. My whole body ached and I felt like I went ten rounds with a champion boxer that was wearing brass knuckles (I feel that I am entitled to some exaggeration). I looked around the clearing, but it did not seem distinguishable from the last clearing I had been in when I had been attacked.

Lying on the ground near me was my sword. With a sigh, I picked it up and sheathed it. I was a little disappointed that it did not give me an energy boost like it did the first couple of times I touched it, but I guess it is true when they say that you cannot always get what you want.

I looked around again, but I could not tell which tunnel I had come in from.

"Hello!" I called out, hoping that the others might hear me.

The only thing I heard was the echo.

With a sigh, I picked a random direction (I always go with Mo) and started walking.

For about five minutes, I kept walking forward hoping that I might come across a clearing that I recognized, but to no avail.

I was about to give up when I came across a very familiar clearing. I walked to the middle of the clearing and inspected some imprints on the ground…

"You have got to be kidding me."

This was the same clearing that I was tossed in by Aviosis. But that could not be possible. I walked in a straight line. There was absolutely no way that I could have wound up back here.

I fell to my knees, despair overtaking me. I guess this is what they mean by Lost Woods.

As I sat there, I sighed. I am not going to die from some psycho trying to kill me or some angry monster; I am going to die from lack of food in a magical wood.

My life truly does suck…

"How the hell am I going to get out of this mess," I said, feeling dejected.

"I could help you," said a quiet voice.

I was instantly on my feet, turning around and trying to find the source of the voice, but I could not find it.

"Did I just imagine that?" I asked out loud.

"N-no. You didn't imagine it."

This time, the voice came from right behind me. I spun around and came face to face with a glowing green orb.

"ACK!" I yelled out (I cannot believe that I just said 'Ack!') and fell down on my ass (again).

The orb squealed, and then flew off at high speed towards the edge of the clearing, hiding behind a tree.

As I sat there, trying to bring my heart rate down to a reasonable pace, I realized that the orb was a fairy (some hero I am turning out to be). And it said it could help me…

"I'm sorry," I called out to it, "I was just startled. I didn't mean to scare you."

The little fairy peeked cautiously peeked out from behind the tree. She did not say anything.

"My name is Cody," I said, trying to sound as gentle as possible, "You said you can help me?"

The little fairy started making her way back to the middle of the clearing, but she was flying incredibly slowly. I guess I startled her more than I realized.

Not sure what the proper etiquette for greeting a fairy was, I held out my hand and hoped she would get my meaning, "Can I please ask for your help?"

The little fairy stopped next to my hand. Though I could not see it, I felt her touch my finger.

I do not know how, but I knew that she had turned her head to look directly into my eyes, "My n-name is Via. I'm pleased to make y-your acquaintance."

I smiled at her, "I take it you're shy?"

Via immediately let go of my finger and floated back a few feet. Her green glow briefly changed to a light pink color before changing back to green. Did she just blush?

"I'm not that s-shy," she complained.

I just chuckled, "It's okay. Nothing to be ashamed about."

We sat there for a few minutes feeling awkward (I know I was feeling awkward), before I finally cleared my throat and asked, "So, are you going to help me out?"

Via mumbled something, then shook herself and said, "Y-yeah. I'll lead you out of Lost Woods."

"Actually," I interrupted real quick, "I need you to take me to the Forest Temple."

As much as I hated the idea of going to the Forest Temple alone, I needed that orb to be able to get back to Earth.

"The Forest Temple!" Via exclaimed, her wings flapping faster in her anxiety, "But the Forest Temple has been real dangerous as of late! Wolfos are protecting the Sacred Forest Meadow in greater numbers today!"

Figures…

"I know it might be dangerous," I said, "But I have no choice. I have to go get a stupid orb thingy in order to return to my world."

Via seemed to glow a little brighter, "You… You can't return home?"

I shook my head, "No, not until I get all of the orbs."

Via suddenly flew very close to me, "I'll do whatever I can to help you," she said, suddenly sounding excited.

She flew past me, and I spun around to see her bouncing around the exit to the clearing that was behind me, "Please, follow me!"

I grinned at the fairy, and then ran after her as she went through the tunnel.

Ami:

I floated there, completely shocked by what I just saw.

Via, the Via, shyest fairy in the forest, had willingly talked with somebody she had never met before. She even went so far as to offer her help in leading Cody to the Forest Temple.

What the heck is going on here?

I shook myself, and then flew off after them…