He was glad to see that the torches were still lit, allowing him to not need the lantern as he walked through the now-quiet cave. It was almost peaceful, and with the exception of a section in the middle of the cave where he had to pull the lantern out, it was fairly well-lit. Finally, he reached the other end of the cave, and as the lantern seller had said, the forest was covered in a dense fog. He brought out his lantern once more, and began walking towards the destroyed bridge.
Suddenly, a monkey - the same monkey that had rescued Talo - darted in front of him and took his lantern, attaching it to a stick. 'Hey! That's mine!' The monkey ran to the end of the destroyed bridge, and began swinging the lantern-stick around herself. To Link's surprise, a large circle of the mist dissipated around her. 'Huh. Did she know that would happen?' The monkey turned and beckoned Link to follow her. 'That's a yes.' Midna appeared from Link's shadow.
"Hey, what's this monkey's problem? You idiot! While you were staring off into dreamland, your lantern got stolen!" Link rolled his eyes. 'She's helping us, Midna, relax.' He stepped onto the bridge to follow the monkey, who had begun jumping up and down at its edge. As soon as Link got close, the monkey jumped down into the clearing in the mist and walked to the edge of the circle, before swinging the lantern-stick around once more. Link slowly followed along behind her, being careful to stay close to her.
This continued, until a keese flew down and startled the poor monkey, who began cowering and shrieking. A swing of the sword was enough to send the keese's body flying away into the mist, and the monkey sighed in relief as she resumed the trek through the mist. Any time that a monster came near her, it would happen again, and she would curl up and shake until Link was able to slay the monster. Finally, they reached the cave that led to the temple, and the monkey celebrated by jumping up and clapping. Unfortunately, the lantern fell from her stick, the last of its oil dripping onto the ground. Link sighed as the monkey ran into the cave. 'It's a good thing I bought that bottle of lantern oil.' Once the lantern was refilled and safely on his waist again, he followed the monkey into the cave.
On the other side of the cave, the wooden bridge was still propped up on the cliff face opposite the cave. Two of the purple monsters were bickering off to the side. Link smirked. 'Perfect opportunity to really see how good this sword is.' While it had slain the keese and plant monsters easily, the same was true of the wooden sword. This would give him a better idea of what the sword made by Rusl was capable of. He drew the sword and began approaching the two monsters.
While he didn't have the element of surprise once they saw him, they were still lined up in a way that he could use a spin attack. He grinned as one of the monsters went flying backwards to land on its back, allowing him to slice at the one that only staggered backwards. The monster that had landed on its back stood up and began rushing him, but a lunging stab finished it off, and the two monsters were dead in the dirt. Only one of the monsters had any Rupees on them, however - though it was a blue Rupee, which Link felt made up for the other not having any.
Now that the forest wasn't enveloped in twilight, Link could get a better look at the bridge. It had wooden railings on either side, with tall posts jutting up from the side that was pointed towards the sky. Link had no idea where the bridge had come from. 'The bridge by the Ordon spring is still there.. Maybe this came from somewhere else in Hyrule?' The idea seemed silly, although so did the idea of a bridge suddenly appearing propped up in the middle of the Faron Woods, and here it was. He sighed and shook his head, turning to walk towards the temple. Despite Trill being somewhat annoying, he still smiled to see the bird had come back to his shop. He decided to pay the shop a visit. 'I did use up the oil in the lantern, might as well use the bottle to get some more of the red potion. No telling when it'll come in handy.' Trill cawed at him as he walked up to the shop, as usual.
He took out the empty bottle, inspecting it. He expected there to be some kind of residue in the bottle from the lantern oil, but to his surprise there was none. Shrugging, he dipped the bottle into the potion refill pot, and then slid the cork into the bottle's opening once he was sure it was full. Once the bottle was safely in his pouch, he walked over to the payment box and dropped 30 Rupees in.
"Thanks! Hey! Thanks so much!" Link nodded as he left Trill's shop, and once more the bird thanked him and asked him to come back again. Turning to his right and looking towards the large tree, he was startled to notice something very bright sitting in front of the path up to the tree. 'That.. wasn't there before.' He drew his sword, and took cautious steps towards the glowing thing in the path.
As he drew nearer, it became clear what the glowing thing was. It was a golden wolf, patiently sitting in front of the path as if waiting for something or someone. Link could hear it panting even from quite far away. Finally, he was close enough to get a good look at the wolf.
To his surprise, it somewhat resembled what his own wolf form looked like, from what he could tell. Its pelt was a bright, glowing gold, with white markings on its chest and sides, though the markings were difficult to see due to the glow. It had one red eye, its other eye apparently missing for some reason. Though it plainly could see him, it seemed content to sit and stare into the distance. 'What're you doing here?' He found himself walking even closer to the golden wolf.
Suddenly, the wolf stood up and began growling at Link, who readied his sword in case the wolf attacked him. With a bark, the wolf leapt at Link too quickly for him to dodge, and as its paws connected with Link's head his vision was suddenly enveloped in a bright white light.
He awoke in a world of fog, the panting of the wolf echoing in his ears. He took slow, cautious steps as he looked at his surroundings. Then he realized that the panting was coming from behind him, but as he turned to look for the golden wolf the panting suddenly stopped. Instead, behind him he saw a spectral soldier in golden armor overgrown with leaves, vines, and moss. The helmet seemed to have at one point had horns of some kind, but they had long since been broken off. Inside the helmet, the ghost's face had one red eye and one missing eye, just as the golden wolf had. He blinked as he noticed a castle in the background behind the phantom knight. 'Is that.. Hyrule Castle?'
The ghost raised its decrepit sword and adopted a fighting stance, holding its equally decrepit shield in front of itself. Link, noticing that he also had his sword and shield, adopted his own fighting stance. 'I don't even know if this is real, or if it's a dream, or what. But if this thing's looking for a fight, I've got a sword and shield too.' He stepped around the ghost, waiting for it to attack him. To his surprise, however, it didn't, instead only turning to observe him. After a few moments, he tested the waters with a jumping attack, which bounced uselessly against the ghost's helmet, opening him up for a counterattack which the ghost effortlessly took, slamming its sword into Link and sending him flying backwards to land on his back. 'Ow.. Clearly I underestimated this thing..' Suddenly, a voice rang out in the still air, surprising Link enough that he stayed on the ground for a few moments longer.
"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." Link stood up, finding that while the sword blow had hurt, he hadn't actually been injured in any way. 'Maybe this is a dream after all.'
"You may be destined to become the hero of legend… but your current power would disgrace the proud green of the hero's tunic you wear." The ghost seemed almost disappointed with Link, although not entirely surprised. He frowned. 'What is this guy's deal?'
"You must use your courage to seek power… and find it you must. Only then will you become the hero for whom this world despairs. If you do find true courage, and you wish to save Hyrule from the horrors it now faces… Then you will be worthy to receive the secrets I hold!" Link tilted his head to one side. 'Secrets?' The ghost paused, as if deep in thought.
"Enemies that are filled with energy will quickly recover and attack again even when stunned by a powerful strike. The ending blow is a secret technique you can use on stunned enemies to end their breath before they spring back into action. When an enemy lies collapsed on the ground, stunned, take your sword and leap high into the air to deliver a final strike." Link nodded. 'So it's a lot like a jump attack.'
"Now, try it on me!" Link nodded, and the ghost raised his sword to his chest. Link, realizing that this was likely a gesture of some kind, quickly mimicked the ghost. The ghost nodded his approval, before swinging out his sword in an arc. Link instinctively swung his sword in response, and their swords crossed.
"That is a signal of a fair duel between warriors. You would do well to learn it." Link nodded, and the two withdrew their swords to assume fighting stances.
With only a couple of slashes, the ghost flew and fell onto his back. Link paused, and then leapt into the air to perform a jumping attack. His sword connected with the ghost's armor, however the ghost shook his head and stood up.
"That is not quite right. The aim of your jump was true, but the sword motion is more akin to stabbing." Suddenly Link found himself a distance away from the ghost.
"Try again." Link sighed, nodding. 'Jump attack, but a stab. Got it.' As with before, he slashed at the ghost twice, and the ghost fell onto his back. This time, Link leapt into the air and brought his sword down in a stabbing motion that sent the sword into the ghost's abdomen. The ghost nodded in approval, and Link jumped back as the ghost stood back up.
"Good." The ghost closed his eye and was silent for some time. Then he opened his eye. "Now do it again." Once more, Link was suddenly that same distance from the ghost.
This continued several more times, and each time the ghost offered Link feedback for how to improve at the technique. Despite not being able to be injured, Link was beginning to get somewhat exhausted. However, he found himself enjoying the experience. In his training with Rusl, he had rather quickly gotten the hang of the basics, and thus he hadn't had the opportunity to truly be challenged. The ghost, however, challenged him, pushed him to get better. He found himself almost celebrating each time the ghost praised his efforts, even if the praise was brief and blunt. By the end of the training session, he realized he was grinning.
The ghost sheathed his sword, and nodded approvingly. Link, though enjoying the training, was grateful to be able to stop, and also sheathed his sword.
"Good. That is all for now. The first hidden skill, the ending blow, has been passed on!" Link grinned again. 'That was a lot of fun!
"There are still six hidden skills for you to learn. Those are only for one who carries the blood of the hero… the one whose spirit is that of the sublime beast." Link tilted his head. 'The blood of the hero?' He wasn't quite sure what the ghost meant by that.
"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 beast to awaken me again." Link nodded thoughtfully. 'I'll try and remember that.'
"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. Remember those words…" The ghost paused. "Farewell!" Link's vision was filled again with a bright light.
He awoke where he had seen the golden wolf, standing in front of the path towards the tree that he assumed was the forest temple. He stood up, finding that despite his exhaustion in his training with the ghost, he felt no such tiredness now. 'Dream or no.. I feel like I learned something from that.' He laughed to himself. 'And it was a lot of fun!' He paused. 'Statues that howl with the sound of the wind.. I'll have to keep an eye out for that.' With that, he walked up the path to the temple.
He again found two of the purple monsters near the entrance, who charged at him as soon as he could see them. He smirked. 'Looks like the perfect opportunity to try out what I learned!' He spun with his sword, sending the two monsters flying back, stunning them. He leapt towards one, landing with a stab directly into its gut, and it died. Link grinned, jumping back just in time to dodge the attack of the other monster, which he quickly slew with a wide sword swing. 'That.. was a lot more fun than fighting these things was before.' He wasn't even as disappointed when only one of the monsters had a blue Rupee in its wallet.
Turning towards the entrance to the temple, he noticed a wide spiderweb stretched across the doorway. A quick swing of his lantern easily burnt the web strands away, revealing an open pathway into the temple, which Link eagerly stepped through.
