As Epona carried Link into the village, the grin fell from his face as he recognized the beasts that had kidnapped the children. He gritted his teeth and growled as he realized the largest of them was holding an unconscious Colin up in the air, almost as if it was taunting him. The monsters and their boars turned and ran out of the village, with Link and Epona galloping after them in frantic pursuit. Epona easily cleared the other gate, and Link soon found himself in what seemed to be another section of Hyrule Field. The large beast and its boar stood there, as if waiting for him, now with a large wooden pole curling up from where the beast sat - and the still-unconscious Colin tied to the top of the pole. Link scowled as he drew his sword.

The large monster grunted as it gestured at him. Then it drew out a large horn and blew into it, calling more of the monsters with boars to rush onto the field. The large monster spurred its boar into a full run, and Link spurred Epona into a gallop after it. Epona soon caught up to the boar, allowing Link to slash the monster with his sword. Pieces of the monster's armor flew away with each slash, until all that was left was its chestplate. For a moment the monster seemed unconscious as the boar ran towards a large stone structure, but then it woke up and continued its path. Link galloped after the boar, realizing the structure was in fact a bridge, as the sunset bathed the world in a fiery glow.

A wooden fence proved to be no challenge for Epona, though as they continued onto the bridge there was the sound of a bow being drawn, and suddenly the fence behind him erupted into flames. Epona reared and whinnied in fear, and Link noticed with a start that the large monster and its boar were now facing him, with another flaming barrier behind it. Link tightened his grip on the sword. 'So it's a duel this monster wants, is it?' The boar reared into a charge, and Link spurred Epona forward. 'Then it's a duel this monster will get!'

The monster steered its boar to match where Epona was galloping. At the last second, Link steered Epona to gallop past the boar, and Link swung the sword into the monster's arm, earning a roar of pain from the monster. Epona turned as they reached the flaming barrier, and again they galloped at the monster. This time, the sword swing was enough to send the monster flying off of its boar and down into the dark abyss below the bridge. 'That's what you get for kidnapping Colin!'

In no time, Link got Colin down from the wooden pole, gently laying the unconscious boy in his lap as he rode Epona in a careful trot back to Kakariko Village. The children stood near the entrance, waiting for Link with somber expressions. When they saw Colin, they smiled, though the worry was still evident. Link carried Colin to the spirit spring, hoping that the healing waters of the spring would help Colin recover from whatever had knocked him unconscious.

Slowly, Colin's eyes opened, and Link smiled at him.

"Link... Is everyone... OK?" Link nodded.

"See for yourself, kid." Colin slowly looked up at the other children, kneeling and intently watching him. Link noticed with a slight smile that Beth seemed particularly concerned about Colin. Colin smiled weakly.

"... Good." Colin's smile faded as he looked at Beth. "Beth... I'm sorry. You know... for shoving you. Are you mad?" Link tilted his head to one side. 'Shoving her?' Beth frantically shook her head.

"Are you kidding? You saved my life, Colin!" All at once, the picture fell into place. 'Ah. That monster must have gone after Beth, and Colin pushed her out of the way to save her.'

"I... I think I finally understand. I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you, Link..." Colin reached his hand up to the sky. "He wasn't talking about strength, like lifting stuff. He was talking about being brave..." Colin clenched his fist, a determined look on his face. Then he dropped his hand with a small sigh.

"Link... You saved me, didn't you?" Link just smiled as Colin continued. "You... You can do anything. You can do something to help the Gorons in the mine too, can't you, Link?" Link nodded. 'That's what I was coming here to do.' All of a sudden, Colin fell limp in Link's arms. Link could still feel the boy breathing, something that relieved the momentary panic that gripped him. 'He's just tired. He's okay.' Talo, of all people, stepped toward Colin and without hesitation began pulling Colin onto his back. When he struggled, Renado stepped over and gently lifted Colin into his arms. Renado nodded at Link, then carried Colin into the inn. The children anxiously followed along behind him, leaving Link alone with his thoughts. He looked up towards Death Mountain as a warm breeze blew through the village. 'Time for a rematch with that Goron.'

As he walked towards the path to the mountain, he was startled by a stark change in the general store. Small pieces of cloth dangled from strings, and - most unnervingly - the signs had been replaced with pictures of Malo. 'What...' More out of curiosity than anything else, Link found himself stepping up the wooden stairs and into the store.

There, behind the stone counter, were two shields and a red pot. The fireplace had been lit, but he couldn't see anybody behind the counter. On the counter was another of the wooden shields. As he reached for it, he was startled to notice Malo glaring at him.

"Hey... You can look at stuff, but don't you DARE just take things..." Link could only stare as Malo stood. "That's MY valuable merchandise. You want it, you pay for it..." Link blinked at him.

"I decided to take on this unmanned shop..." Link grimaced as he remembered what Barnes had said about the former owner. Malo seemed to either not notice or not care.

"Buy something... It helps the whole village when you do..." Link noticed small signs beneath each of the items. "Red Potion: 30 Rupees", "Wooden Shield: 50 Rupees", and "Hylian Shield: 200 Rupees - LIMITED SUPPLY!" Link found himself admiring the "Hylian Shield". Its striking blue and red metal with silver accents, the imagery almost seeming to depict a bird of some kind with a curious insignia of three triangles above the bird's head. 'Considering the rocks that fell from the sky when I was last there... Maybe a metal shield is a good idea for where I'm going?' Looking into his wallet, he was surprised to see that he could in fact easily afford the intricate metal shield.

"The Hylian Shield, hm? I believe Mr. Renado said it's just like the kind the royal knights have." Link was only partially listening as he slid the 200 Rupees onto the counter. Malo pulled the shield down from the shelf and placed it onto the counter, then eagerly grabbed the Rupees. Link found the metal of the shield to be smooth as he slowly picked it up. In an instant, there was a flash of light, and he felt the weight of the wooden shield on his back disappear. 'Huh...?' For some moments he just stood there bewildered, before eventually shrugging and sliding the Hylian Shield onto his back where the wooden shield had been. He turned, just in time to see Malo sliding a small sign onto the shelf that read "Hylian Shield: SOLD OUT".

"Maybe I can't become a hero... but I figure I can help people out with heroic business deals. You'd better work hard, too..." For once, Link found that he wasn't unnerved by Malo. He nodded as he turned and left the general store.

Before making his way up to Death Mountain, he decided to check on Colin. He found Renado, Beth, and Luda carefully watching over a sleeping Colin. Every once in a while, Luda or Beth would gently wipe at Colin's forehead with a cloth. Renado turned to face Link as he stood next to the shaman.

"So long as he continues to rest, he shall eventually open his eyes. And these two are doing a fine job nursing him back to health... I shall watch over the children of Ordon, I swear it. They shall never encounter danger while I breathe. I will take full responsibility for them until they are returned safely to their village. You need not worry for them." Link nodded and thanked Renado before leaving. 'No sense in making him worry about Ilia when nobody knows where she is.'

He found himself stopping in front of Barnes' bomb shop. The shop itself was still intact, unlike the building Barnes had been storing his bombs in. He sighed. 'Might as well see whether he's up to anything in this shop of his.'

The interior was almost completely unchanged from when Link had come in as a wolf. The metal fencing off the counter was gone, although Barnes himself was nowhere to be seen. What looked to be a display shelf sat empty behind the counter. Curiously, Link walked up the metal stairs, which he could now see were rusted. He found Barnes shoveling something from a large bucket into a small sack.

"Hey now! It's you." Link fought to keep his expression neutral. 'He doesn't know he saw what you said about the kids, Link. He doesn't even know that you know his name.'

"Yeah, so, I've been thinkin' 'bout gettin' things sorted out so I can go ahead and reopen my shop... Thing is, I can't get the materials I need from the Gorons anymore... Man, I ain't got a CLUE what to do!" Barnes went back to the shoveling, muttering under his breath. "Cripes, those danged Gorons... They're sure takin' their sweet time gettin' me my materials!" Link huffed and rolled his eyes as he turned to leave, only to notice the doorway at the top of the building was still open. His curiosity again getting the better of him, he found himself walking back to the upper portion of the village once more.

Barnes' storage building was still in ruins, as was expected. However, that didn't end Link's detour. Instead, he found himself climbing up to the building at the very top of the cliffs. There was a ladder in the building, which led to a platform and then another ladder. As he finished his climb, he noticed a small wooden chest in the corner. He let out a gasp as he opened it to find-

"A purple Rupee?!" He couldn't believe his eyes. He'd never seen such a valuable Rupee. He found himself reaching out to touch the Rupee, just to make sure it was real. For just a moment, he grasped the Rupee and began to pull it out of the chest. However, all at once the realization of just where he'd found it hit him. Frowning that he'd even thought of pocketing it, Link put the Rupee back in the chest.

"You're just leaving it there?" Midna had appeared next to him. He shrugged.

"It's not mine. A green or a blue is one thing, but a purple?" It was Midna's turn to shrug.

"Unless it belongs to one of the two people who live here still, whoever it belonged to is probably dead by now. This village is... kinda empty." A chill ran down Link's spine as Midna said that.

"That's even worse! I can't just... steal from a dead person!" Even saying the words made Link almost feel sick to his stomach. Midna shrugged again.

"How's it any different than you taking all those Rupees from that temple?" Another chill raced down Link's spine. His first instinct was to deny it. 'No, that was different, the temple's been abandoned for ages...' But even as the thought crossed his mind, the guilt came with it. 'That's no excuse, you still stole from the dead!' Midna, seeing Link's expression, sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Look, they're dead. Whoever they were, however long ago they died - it doesn't matter, they're not here anymore to complain. Just take the stupid Rupee." Link only stared into the chest at the purple Rupee.

"All right, think about it this way. If the person cared so much about it, why'd they stick it in a small chest like this all the way up here? Wouldn't they have put it somewhere safe?" Link frowned. His hand hesitated over the Rupee, before he finally closed the chest. Midna sighed.

"Fine, suit yourself. Don't blame me when you're 50 Rupees short of something you're trying to get." With that she disappeared into his shadow again.

Looking up from the chest, Link noticed an empty note stuck to the wall near the door. He blinked in surprise. 'This... looks like it should have something written on it.' Curious, he walked through the door, finding himself on a wooden platform with a haphazard fence in front of him. The platform gave him a view of the entire village, with the rocks of Eldin's spring seeming as small as grains of sand from the height. For a time, he just looked out over the village, almost enjoying seeing everything from so far above. Then he turned to go back through the door, only to notice a ladder clinging to the wall. The ladder, as he found out, led to the roof of the building. Here the fencing was much more haphazard. Tattered cloth hung from some of the wooden posts, and the dizzying height prompted Link back down the ladder. From there, he made his way back down through the buildings and finally towards the path to Death Mountain. As he walked, the sun began to set once more, and the world was again bathed in a fiery light.

Up the metal grating he climbed again, and again the Goron stood a distance away. This time, however, Link had the advantage of the iron boots. He grinned, imagining himself easily stopping the Goron.

"Midna? Can I have the iron boots now?" She didn't say anything or appear from his shadow, but suddenly the boots were on his feet - and they were heavier than they felt when he tried picking them up. Link grunted in pain as he tried to move even one leg forward. 'Hylia's sakes, I should've tried walking with these earlier!' With great effort, he finally managed to get his leg to move. It took him much more time than he would've liked to finally make his way over to the Goron.

"Ho! You are back again, human? You will never pass! You cannot hope to match our brute force!" Again the Goron curled up into a ball and began rolling down the path towards Link. This time, however, Link not only caught the Goron but slowed his motion enough for Link to push him down from the cliff. The Goron yelled in surprise as he helplessly rolled down the path into Kakariko. Link could only pant from the sheer exhaustion as he hoped the Goron wouldn't cause any destruction to the village.

"Midna... Can you... take the boots... back, please?" His legs were hurting, his shoulders and arms and back were hurting, and all of a sudden he felt dead tired. The boots disappeared, and Link breathed a sigh of relief and fatigue as he walked to the wall of the cliff and sat down. Midna appeared from his shadow.

"What?! It isn't naptime! Come on, you haven't found the Fused Shadow yet!" He just looked up at her.

"Which one of us is doing all the running around? Which one of us just threw a Goron off a cliff?" Midna stared, her mouth agape as if she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. Link huffed as he closed his eyes.

"I need to sleep, if you want me to be able to help you. If you want to find the Fused Shadow, you'll let me sleep." He could hear the sound of Midna - growling? sure, growling - at him, before she fell silent.

"Fine. But I'm going to wake you up before you sleep for too long." Link shrugged.

"Fine by me." The air fell silent, which Link assumed meant Midna had disappeared back into his shadow. For the first time since the children were kidnapped, however long ago that was, Link was able to drift into sleep.