It was raining, and the world was fully enveloped in an eerie yellow glow. He looked around to get his bearings, only to notice other towers. His heart skipped a beat. 'No.. this.. This can't be..' He blinked and looked in another direction. 'Is.. is this..' His gaze fell upon the central tower. 'Is this Hyrule Castle?' If it was, it had certainly seen better days. Entire towers and walkways had been destroyed, with some structural beams exposed to the elements.

"So, we were finally able to get out. And look at the sky! Isn't the black cloud of twilight looking beautiful today?" Link snorted. 'I wouldn't say beautiful. It looks.. Sickly.'

"Do you know where this is?" Link fought back a whine. 'I have an idea…'

"You STILL don't know?" She laughed, and Link growled. 'It's not like I've ever left my home before now.'

"Look, there's someone I want to introduce you to… but I'll need you to go to that tower to do it!" He tilted his head slightly. 'Someone you want to introduce me to..? Who could it be?' The strange creature, as expected, didn't elaborate, only patting his shoulders to encourage him forward. He let out a breath and jumped down from the ledge, onto the walkway below.

There were pieces missing from the inner wall of the walkway, and further on entire sections were missing from the walkway itself. 'Whatever happened here.. It wasn't pretty…' Nearby the exposed beams, there was another spirit, standing on the edge of the walkway.

"So there are even spirits up here, huh?" She paused. "This whole spirit thing is pretty new to you, isn't it." Link would have nodded, were he human again. 'That's putting it mildly.'

"Even though these guys can see those monsters, they don't know a thing about you!" Link was unsurprised. 'I kind of gathered as much when the soldiers down there were hiding from the monsters but didn't react to a wolf standing in front of them.'

"If you think I'm lying, why don't you check it out?" She laughed, and Link huffed. 'I know you're not lying. I may not trust you, but I'm not stupid.' Nevertheless, he allowed his senses to bring another image to his mind. This soldier, much like the soldiers he'd found after escaping his cell, was clinging desperately to a spear and shivering, likely both from the cold rain and from severe fear.

"What… What are these monstrous birds? What in the world is happening here?" Link growled. 'Monstrous birds? So there's more than just the swimming monsters and the shadow keese?' He huffed. 'Good to know. I'll have to be careful, then.' The guard sighed dejectedly.

"Ah, our poor Hyrule Castle!" Link let out a whine. 'So I was right.. This is Hyrule Castle.' He looked around at the destroyed castle once more. 'This was not how I imagined being introduced to the castle…' He walked towards the exposed support beams, when suddenly the creature on his back laughed.

"That wasn't the person I wanted you to meet, by the way…" Link snorted. 'Obviously not. I'm not at the tower yet.'

"Well, let's just try and get to that tower." Link nodded. 'Not like I have much of a choice otherwise.'

There was another ledge, and a wooden crate nearby the ledge. Nudging it with his head, Link was satisfied to see that it was mostly easy to push it against the ledge so that he could use it to climb up. From the top of the wooden ledge, he noticed what looked like another shadow monster perched on the edge of the stone platform below. 'Is that one of the monstrous birds that soldier mentioned?' He cautiously walked closer, and as soon as he landed on the stone platform the monster perked up and began flying towards him. 'Yep, definitely a monstrous bird.' Where its head and beak would have been, there was instead some kind of fleshy broken bowl with eerie red glowing markings inside of the bowl. Its wings had pieces missing from the membranes, its tail curled down at odd, unnatural angles, and rather than a typical bird call its corrupted warble was more reminiscent of a broken and distorted horn of some kind.

Still wounded from the shadow monsters below, Link opted to avoid the misshapen bird monster and make a dash for the tower. He sprinted across the broken walkway, only to see another of the bird monsters perched on the next ledge he was going to climb up on. Luckily, a well-timed jump into a sprint brought him far enough away that he was out of reach of the bird, only for him to be uncertain of how to proceed. There was a lone tower with what remained of a wooden bridge hanging pitifully from its side, but it didn't seem to connect to where the strange creature wanted Link to go. Out of curiosity, he stepped onto a section of wooden support beams, and tiredly panted as he looked for another way of reaching the tower.

"Look! Just a little farther!" Link blinked in surprise. 'She.. expects me to jump onto those little wooden beams? Can they even support my weight?'

'Trust.' Link sighed, and jumped across to follow the creature. To his relief, the small beams were sturdier than they looked, and easily supported his weight. He now found himself precariously standing on the roof of a building, which had large wooden support beams near the edges. 'With all this rain, it's probably slippery up here.. I should be careful.' As he made his way across the central beam of the roof, he noticed two more of the bird monsters in the distance - one flying in haphazard circles, and the other perched exactly where he would be walking. He stood for a moment, pondering his options. Then he growled. 'I'm not even going to try and sneak past those things. I can outrun them.' With that, he took off running across the top of the roof, ignoring the unnerving sounds that the birds made as he passed them. With a frantic scramble, he narrowly avoided the bird on his tail and ducked into the window of the tower.

He stood for several moments, panting, before looking around to get his bearings. He was in another spiral staircase, though this one was much more intact than the other had been. There was a narrow doorway below him to his right, and to his left the stairs curled around and upward, to where he didn't know. Walking up the stairs, he eventually came to a set of thick metal doors, one of which was propped open. 'I'll bet this is where the person she wants me to meet is.' He paused, thinking. 'There's no telling who they are, though. For all I know I could be walking into a trap.'

'Choice? Trust.' He huffed. 'I know.' He slowly walked into the room, nudging the door open with his muzzle.

In the room was a large bed, tattered and worn banners with some kind of crest, and, in front of the windows, a chair and a hooded figure, who was silently looking out through the window. He took cautious steps closer to the figure, uncertain as to whether he could trust this person. Lightning flashed ominously, startling Link, who began to growl in spite of himself. The strange creature on his back laughed. Whether because of the creature's laughter or Link's growling, the figure turned around in surprise, and then a feminine voice gasped. Link wasn't able to see much of the person's face, but once he saw that the person was human he stopped growling. The strange creature on his back made some kind of sound, almost as if she were mocking him. Slowly, Link walked closer to the figure, if for nothing else than to try and get a closer look at her face.

"... Midna?!" Link paused and tilted his head. 'Midna? Who's that?' He turned his head back towards the creature on his back, who snickered.

"You remembered my name? What an honor for me…" Link's ear twitched. 'So that's your name, is it? Interesting.' He turned his head again to face the hooded person, still trying to figure out who they were.

"So, this is the one for whom you were searching…"

"He's not exactly what I had in mind, but… I guess he'll do." The hooded figure knelt down in front of Link, then looked down at his ankle.

"... You were imprisoned?" The figure looked away, as if ashamed.

"I am sorry." Link tilted his head to one side. 'Why is she apologizing? Did she have something to do with me being imprisoned?' Midna rubbed at his shoulder, and for a moment he almost closed his eyes to enjoy the sensation before he remembered that he still didn't know her or her motivations.

"Poor thing, he has no idea where this is or what's happened… So, don't you think you should explain to him what you've managed to do? You owe him that much…" Midna's tone became lightly mocking as she added with a laugh, "... Twilight Princess!" The hooded person bowed their head again, and Link was left staring awkwardly as she wrestled with some kind of emotion. Then suddenly, she snapped her head up to face Link again.

"Listen carefully… This was once the land where the power of the gods was said to slumber. This was once the kingdom of Hyrule. But that blessed kingdom has been transformed by the king that rules the twilight… It has been turned into a world of shadows, ruled by creatures who shun the light.

"I and the last of my soldiers were standing our ground in the castle. There had been reports of attacks from all across Hyrule, and we knew that the castle would be next. Several of my men stood guard at the entrance to the throne room, to keep the attacks from harming me. It wasn't a good choice morally, but in times of great need the land needs their ruler to guide them. My mother and father were unaccounted for, and that left me as the only ruler Hyrule had.

"Suddenly a massive black cloud streamed through the door, and I knew that the castle was under attack. Shadow beasts sped out of the cloud, taking the soldiers by surprise. Some of those soldiers vanished, while others lost their lives protecting me. Yet I still stood my ground. Then, he walked through the doors.

"He was guarded by two shadow beasts. These two looked different… Stronger, somehow. Two of my men remained. It should have been a balanced fight… However, I did not account for his manipulative tactics. 'It is time for you to choose: surrender or die,' he declared loudly. 'Oh yes, a question for all the land and people of Hyrule… Life? Or death?!' Surely he didn't mean what he'd said? But I couldn't take that chance. I had to do what was best for my people.

"I dropped my rapier to the floor. Not a single sound was made in the throne room, to the point that the rapier clattering at my feet seemed the loudest noise in all of Hyrule. In celebration of their victory, he had his shadow beasts set the castle ablaze.

"Twilight covered Hyrule like a shroud, and without light, the people became as spirits. Within the twilight they live on, unaware that they have passed into spirit forms… All the people know now is fear… Fear of a nameless evil…" The hooded figure stood again, and went back to looking out the window for several moments. Then she turned to face Link and Midna once more, her tone both regretful and determined.

"The kingdom succumbed to twilight, but I remain its princess…" Link gasped as the woman began to move the hood away from her face. 'Princess? But, that means…'

"I am Zelda." Link would've laughed to himself, if he could. 'I guess I really did get to meet Princess Zelda.'

"You don't have to look so sad! We actually find it to be quite livable! I mean, is perpetual twilight really all that bad?" Princess Zelda frowned.

"Midna… This is no time for levity. The shadow beasts have been searching far and wide for you." Midna hopped off of Link's back and began floating in the air above him.

"Why is this?" Midna hesitated, then laughed.

"Why indeed? You tell me!" Link tilted his head to one side.

"Time has grown short. The guard will soon make his rounds." Midna landed back on Link's back, and he grunted in pain at the impact. Then he turned to look towards the door he had come through.

"You must leave here, quickly." He looked back at Princess Zelda, and then nodded. 'Alright. Stay safe, Princess Zelda.' He turned and walked back through the door, and continued down the staircase. Suddenly Midna pulled on his ear, causing him to yelp and stop in place. He began to growl, but then he heard the sound of the door below being blown open.

"Not that way! The guard's coming! Boy, he's prompt!" Just as with the other jumps, Midna floated up to a window and prompted Link to jump after her, and he leapt into the air and out of the window.

Outside, the rain had gotten heavier. Thankfully, there was no sign of the monstrous birds. Midna floated out ahead of him, back onto the roof, and Link tiredly followed her. 'Could you.. slow down..?! I can't fly like you can..' Once he caught up to her, she turned with a flourish and laughed.

"Well? Do you understand where we are now?" Link huffed. 'Of course I understand where we are, it's kind of hard not to after we just met Princess Zelda.' Midna smirked.

"I guess a promise is a promise, so I'll let you go back to where you first tumbled into twilight…" Her smirk became devious. "But… are you really sure you should be going back? Are you sure you aren't forgetting anything important?" Link tilted his head to one side. 'What does she mean?' Suddenly she spun, and her form shifted to that of Colin, then of Ilia, each screaming in fear. Link gasped. 'How could I have forgotten?! This whole time, I.. I don't even know where they are.' Disturbingly, Midna kept Ilia's face for some time as she taunted him, laughing.

"Do you want to save them? Well, in that case, little Midna would be happy to help you! But…" She grinned, returning to her usual form. "Well, you'd have to be my servant… and like a servant, you'd have to do exactly as I say!" Link paused. '... That.. doesn't sound nearly as bad as it should sound.' Midna leaned closer to Link, smirking once more.

"Why don't you go back, take a little time, and give it some thought." She laughed.

Before he had time to fully process what Midna had said and his own reaction to it, suddenly there was a tingling feeling that spread down from the tips of his ears. As it spread further, he felt an odd sense of his weight and body fading away into nothingness, even his vision fading away. He lost all sense of time, his mind floating like so many petals on a spring breeze.