We were back in the land of Hyrule that had been enshrouded on Twilight. Dark specks of something filled the air, and the atmosphere seemed entirely gloomy. Midna, back in its normal form, as opposed to being a shadow, jumped back on my back. It pulled out the shield, and one of the swords. I put the shield on its face and swung around the sword a couple of times.
"Hmm! So these are the weapons of your world? Do you really think that this thing can slay the creatures of twilight?" It tossed the shield and sword on the ground near my feet.
"Well, I won't use these, but I'll hang onto them for you!" It snapped its fingers, and the swords, the shield and both of our backpacks disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Alright, a promise is a promise, I trust you enough to help you guys out." It leaned forward, towards my ear, making me slightly uneasy for a moment. "In exchange for my help though, I need you guys to gather some things for me. Look, I can't tell you all the details just yet, but it'll be easy, trust me. But enough of that for now, do you hear that noise?"
A low sound permeated the air, allowing me to hear a song that itched of sadness. "It's the lamentation of the spirit that had its light stolen. Where in the world could it be? Eee hee! Better get going, don't you think? Don't blame me for this world's fate if you don't hurry up and find that light!"
We moved forward through the gloom, when suddenly another portal appeared above us, dropping three of those black beasts from before.
"Aw, we're penned in again! No use taking them down one at a time, right, you can take them down all at once! So, you can handle this by yourselves, right? Good luck, bye!" And the imp flew off to the trees above, watching the two of us. We easily took down one of them, and then the second one down soon after, but then our ears flinched as an ungodly sound broke out from the third one. The two that we had thought to be downed stood up once more and came back at us.
"What's the holdup?" Midna asked, coming back down. "If you leave that last one alive, it's just going to shriek and bring the others back alive. All you have to do is hold your ground, right? You have an energy field about you guys, and by holding, you'll charge it up, making it bigger. Once all three of the monsters are in the field, you can release your energy and take them all down super quick!"
I nodded, and lowered myself. This was the same feeling I got when I prepared to do something very quickly, almost like a killing blow of sorts. And suddenly, probably because I was a beast, I was able to see it. Darkness expanded out from me, growing in size till it encompassed all three of the shadow beasts, who were clumped up together. I understood instantly; with the energy I had amassed, I could just tear through all three of them.
And so I did, I lunged forward. Speed was my name as I zipped through the air, punching my way cleanly through the first one, landing behind the others, before launching myself once more, dispatching them all with ease in under a second. They puffed into smoke, and the smoke went up to the portal above, also turning the purple on it into teal. I wonder what was up with that. Maybe it was a way for the twilight beasts to know that it was unsafe to teleport to that spot, and they shouldn't go there without lots of reinforcements? I was just speculating.
"Nice job," Zach said. "That was really cool, how you just took them all down so quickly."
I smiled, "I'll let you take on the next group that we fight, how about that." He laughed, and we made our way forwards.
The second spring was close at hand, as I remembered, but there was a distorted light that hovered about it in the twilight.
It cried out to us. "Please be careful… these woods have changed… The dark clouds of dusk cover this land… the drape of shadows is called… twilight. In this twilight, those that live in the light… become as spirits… it is a place… where that dark ones and evil creatures dwell… I am, was, a spirit of light. Grey eyed beast and blue eyed beast. Look for my light… retrieve that light stolen from the dark beasts, and keep it in this vessel."
It hovered to us something that looked almost like a grapevine.
"In the shadows of twilight, the dark insects are as… invisible… as normal beings are here… let me use the last of my power… to reveal the locations of the dark insects that have consumed the light…" I was filled with knowledge of the area, and suddenly I understood where the monsters were.
"Find the insects of darkness, and take back the light."
We made our way through the area. A couple of monsters plants stood in our way here and there, but we took them down. Each bug only needed one bite to kill, and the light they dropped filled on of the rob slots on the vessel that the spirit had given us. We went inside the lantern guys house, killing the bugs that were terrorizing him. We went through the tunnel, which given our animal sight made it way easier to see through. Upon coming to the open area, however, we were surprised to see it filled with purple smog. We quickly decided that we shouldn't go near it, and jumped our way across tree trunks and rocks, killing most of the remaining bugs.
Upon going into the next area, once more we were pinned with black spires and a portal that dropped black monsters to us, but this time Zach gave a wolfish grin as he learned how to use his own energy field to take down the monsters.
We came across the monkey that had helped Talo the other day, and it was being terrorized by the remaining two bugs. After taking care of them, it looked around, before speaking. "Did someone help me?" it inquired, looking around. "I'm lucky, ever since boss has gone crazy; monsters have invaded the woods and are everywhere. The village children were taken through the woods for who knows what reason." It jumped away, and we collected the last vestiges of light in the vessel.
We returned to the spring, and upon offering the vessel to the spirit, the land returned to light, the twilight quickly fading. Midna's form turned back into shadow, and it leapt from me back and hovered in front of us.
"Aww, but it was so nice here in the twilight… What's so great about a world of light, anyways? Eee hee hee, see you later!" And it disappeared back into my shadow. The spirit rose up from the spring. This time however, the spirit that came from the spring took the form of a giant monkey, instead of a ram. It appeared that perhaps the spirits were all representative of different kinds of animals.
"My name is Faron. I protect this forest as one of the spirits who guard Hyrule. In the darkness, where people roam as spirits, you two were transformed into beasts of darkness. That was a sign, a sign that the powers of the chosen one rest within your two, and that they are awakening."
We really already knew some of this, there were a bunch of lights that brought us here in the first place after all. They had already told us that we had to save the land.
"Look at your awakened forms…"
And suddenly, we were back in our human forms. We were both wearing normal looking clothes, although Zach's shirt was a teal like blue, and my shirt was a bright a vibrant red.
"The tunics that have become your garb once belonged to the ancient hero chosen by the gods. His power is yours his is the true power that has slept within you two. Your names are Russell and Zachary, and you are the heroes chosen by the gods. Brave youths, a dark power rests in the temple deep in these woods.
It is a forbidden power. Long, long ago, I and the other spirits of light locked it away. Because of its nature, it is a power that should never be touched by any who dwell in the light. But this world weeps beneath a mantle of shadows, and so there is no choice, you must match the power of the king of shadows. If you would seek this power, proceed to the temple in the forest depths, there you shall find it."
It disappeared, leaving the two of us. Midna jumped out of my shadow.
"Well well, looks like you guys are chosen heroes and all that jazz, huh? So that's why you got turned into beasts! What a shame, I mean; maybe you'd rather just wander as a spirit like the rest of them. Totally unaware of what was happening for all eternity, right? Eee hee! So, what do you want to do? Do you want to head to that temple? Well, isn't that convenient! I was about to head there myself. Look, you want to help those kids, right? The way I see it, maybe they're in that temple, waiting for you to rescue them. Well good luck, misters Important Heroes!" And at that, Midna disappeared back into my shadow.
I looked at Zach, to see what he thought of the situation. "What about you?" I asked him. "What do you think that we should do?"
He looked pensive for a moment, before making up his mind. "I say we go in the temple, and if the bad guys are in there holding the kids hostage, we give them a taste of our steel." He raised his sword slightly, and I could tell that he wanted to show the monsters who the boss was around here.
I nodded and grinned. We made our way forward into the woods. The gate was still locked from earlier, so we headed over to where the lantern guy was now sitting around the fire.
"Hey! It's been getting dangerous around these parts, so I locked up the woods over there." He looked us up and down. "I see that you guys are properly geared up now, with swords and stuff. Here," He said, giving us the key. "You guys can go in since you seem intent on going on in. Just make sure that you bring your lantern, there's a big fog in there that has blanketed the ground."
We thanked him and went on our way. After unlocking the gate and going through the tunnel, we came across the fogged area once more. I took out my lantern, and a monkey came out from the side and tried to knock it out of my hands! Luckily I wasn't a punk, so I had a tight grip on it. The monkey looked a little disappointed, and then we entered a game of charades where it tried to explain to me that the fog wouldn't go away unless I waved the lantern around in circles.
So Zach, me, and the monkey made our way through the fog, slowly cutting down the monsters that hid in the fog and clearing it away bit by bit so we could walk through. Eventually we made our way to the other side, and the monkey hopped off in the direction of the giant tree, so we decided to follow it.
When we approached the giant tree, we noticed that the monkey had seemingly disappeared. At the bottom of the giant root that led up, however, lay a golden wolf, waiting for Zach and me. When we got near, it leapt at Zach, and the world around both of us faded.
When we came to, we were in a world filled with light. The Golden Wolf stood behind us, and suddenly turned into a skeletal warrior. It readied its weapons, and I raised my sword as Zach raised his own sword and shield. Nothing happened at first, so I swung at the skeleton, and it blocked with its own shield before knocking me down.
"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. You may be destined to become the heroes of legend...but your current power would disgrace the proud colors of the hero's tunics you wear. You must use your courage to seek power...and find it you must. Only then will you become the heroes for whom this world despairs."
What an odd message. It was almost like this skeleton was a teacher to guide us, after all it had taken the form of a wolf, which is the beast that Zach had turned into.
"The first art that I shall teach you two is the ending blow! When you have knocked your opponent to the ground, sometimes it will still find the strength to stand back up and fight. When you find an enemy on the ground, you must jump on it, and drive your blade deep into its body, ending the beast's life. Now come at me!"
We both spent a few minutes, sparring with the skeleton warrior, until we had both learned how to use the technique properly.
"And so, you've learnt the skill. The first hidden skill, the ending blow, has been passed on! These skills are only for the ones that carry the blood of heroes, the ones whose spirits are that of the sublime beasts. Grow powerful. Test your courage. And when you find that you need another skill to overcome the threats that face you… Search for the statues that howl with the sound of the wind. Seek the sound that calls to the spirit of the beasts to awaken me again. A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. Remember those words… Farewell!"
And the world of light faded away. We woke back up in the woods, no time seeming to have passed at all. Zach and I looked briefly at each other and smiled. We would be unlocking abilities to fight with, certainly an interesting turn of events, but welcome nonetheless. We began walking towards the tree, time to see what this item that the light should not wield is once and for all.