The first thing Link noticed was that the area he was brought to was warm. Not the oppressive heat of the Gorons' mines, but a rather pleasant warmth. Then he could open his eyes, and he realized he was in the area where he had fought the shadow beasts. The ice had melted, and there was now a river flowing under the archway. He didn't need to wait for the strange image-voice to remind him to use his senses.
To his relief, the Zoras that had been frozen in the ice were now sitting and laying on the stairs and ledges of the room. Some of them were gasping for air still, but they were alive. His heart was lighter with that thought.
"Who knew that something so dangerous would come in handy?" Link nodded, for some more moments just watching over the Zoras as they recovered from whatever had caused them to be frozen.
"All right... The Zoras are safe now, so let's go. The ice melted, and restored the water flow to normal. We should be able to talk to Lanayru now." Link took some more moments to watch the Zoras, before jumping into the water. It wasn't frigidly cold like the water had been in the castle's dungeon, nor like the ice and snow on the climb up. If anything he could feel some of the heat from the Death Mountain stone. He was almost to where the current picked up when suddenly a voice called out to him.
"Wait!" He spun around, trying to find where the speaker was. To his surprise, a ghostly Zora floated above the others. She was taller than the Zoras he could see, and she almost seemed to be wearing a flowing dress. He slowly made his way out of the water to speak to her. As he got closer, he noticed something strange. There were several dark shapes seemingly stuck to the Zora's body. If he squinted, he could almost make out an all-too-familiar reddish pink glow from the dark shapes.
"Please, you must allow me to thank you for revitalizing both my people and this spring, which is the water source for all the lands of Hyrule. In life, I was the elder of this Zora village, and the queen of my people. I was called Rut-" She hesitated, glancing at the Zoras below, before looking at Link. "Rutela." Link bowed as best he could, and Queen Rutela almost seemed to smile.
"Not to be rude, but we didn't exactly do it for you guys..." Something in Midna's voice almost seemed guilty as she spoke. Queen Rutela seemed not to have heard Midna. She gestured at one of the dark shapes as she spoke, her voice taking on an angry tone.
"The dark ones.. They raided this village and, as a message to my people, executed me before them." The queen closed her eyes and was silent for a few moments, before opening her eyes and continuing.
"Young man... You who take the form of a proud beast..." Link gasped.
'How did you know?!' Queen Rutela smiled, but didn't answer.
"I have something to ask of you. When the dark ones descended upon our village, I sent my son, Ralis, to Hyrule Castle to inform Princess Zelda of our plight." The memory of Ilia and Telma standing over the Zora boy floated back to his mind. Queen Rutela closed her eyes again. "I fear the dark ones were expecting me to do so. I feel it. His presence grows fainter to me over time... But my time in this world has passed, and though I would give it gladly, I no longer have a life to risk in his rescue." Her eyes opened again, and her voice became pleading.
"Please... Save my son. If you would do this, I will bestow upon you the protection of water. It will allow you to respire in the water as if you were a Zora yourself." Queen Rutela almost seemed to chuckle at that, though Link wasn't entirely sure why. "I know you seek the dark power in the forsaken Lakebed Temple. This power would grant you access to it." Link bowed again. Before he could respond, Queen Rutela's ghost dissipated into the air.
"Hmm.. So if we help her, she'll grant you the power to breathe underwater like a Zora, huh?" Link huffed.
'I'm not just doing it to help you, you know.' He looked back up to where Queen Rutela had been. 'She wants someone to help her son. It wouldn't be right for me to ignore that.' He tried to shake away the memory that threatened to come to mind. 'If my... If I were Prince Ralis, I'd want someone to do the same.'
"I don't suppose you should meet the prince as a wolf though, hm?" Midna laughed, mercifully distracting him from the memories. "So no hurry to return you to the world of light just yet!" Link snorted.
'He wouldn't even be able to see me right now. So first, we talk to Lanayru.' With that he leapt into the water again. The river's current was faster than he'd anticipated, and it swept him away in no time. In the blink of an eye he was pulled down a waterfall and into the lake at the bottom of the cliff. The impact of falling into the water struck him, and all at once everything was darkness.
"Link! It's time to get up, breakfast is ready!"
Before he opened his eyes, Link could smell what was being cooked: fresh eggs, with some rich Ordon goat cheese mixed in. Opening his eyes, he slid out of bed, and started down the ladder. Though he had grown since the first time, his seven-year-old legs still couldn't quite reach the next rung without stretching. Letting himself go, he dropped past the last three rungs, landing on the floor with a thud, much to the amusement of his mother.
"Link, I told you, half the ladder isn't just decoration!" Despite her tone, he could tell she was holding back laughter. Her eyes, green as the forest in summer, would smile when she was happy. They were always wonderful to look at, such that occasionally he regretted that he got his from Dad. He didn't dislike his eyes, though, blue like a river tinged with frost. According to Uncle Rusl, they matched Dad well, his movements as a royal guard being like a flowing river. A spirit of water to rival the Zoras, he said, whatever a "Zora" was. Maybe some type of fish, or a turtle, like the ones that sometimes floated down the village stream.
Walking to the table while Mom dished up a plate for him, he smelled what else she had brewing on the stove: a pot of walnut apple tea. Even though she wasn't fond of it, she would always have a cup ready for him and Dad when they got up. Since Dad was already at the table, having nearly finished his own meal, he took the seat next to him.
"Morning Dad!" Link beamed up at him. "Whadda you gonna do today?"
"I was planning on a lap around the village with Rusl, to check up on things. How's about we go play some afterwards, just us as a family?"
"Yay! Can we go play in the woods? You'll keep me safe, won't you?"
Dad grinned and ruffled Link's hair. "Don't I always? Just don't run too far in, and be careful."
"Hehe! I can't wait, good luck with Uncle Rusl!" He waved as Dad slung his sheathed sword across his back and headed out. He loved playing in the woods, there was so much more space to run around than in the village, and it was right next to the house too!
"-fy, wake up. Hey!" Link became aware of a dull thudding in his ears as he slowly woke up. Water was lapping at his ankles, and it soaked into his fur- wait, fur? He dragged his eyes open, noticing someone hovering over him. Midna. She was staring down at him, not even trying to hide her annoyance.
She also didn't try to hide her sigh when she saw him open his eyes. "Finally!" Link slowly rose to his feet, waiting for the thudding in his head to go away. Midna gestured at the cave behind her. "Look! We got washed all the way down to Lake Hylia! And we're right in front of Lanayru's spring, to boot." Link glanced up, noticing the familiar shape of the cave the man had looked at. 'How did we get all the way up here, though..?' He looked around, and was startled by the realization that Lake Hylia was suddenly much more of a proper lake. The man's strange house was floating on the water now, in the distance.
"Hey, what's the matter with you? Did you forget what we did in Zora's Domain?" Right. The Zoras. 'I didn't realize there was that much ice there.'
Midna sighed again. "You didn't hit your head when you fell into the water, did you?" Did he? His memory was hazy. One moment he was swimming down the river, the next... He didn't mean to let out the whine that escaped his throat.
"Huh? What's wrong?" He shook his head, even with the dull thudding still there. Now wasn't the time to relive that memory.
Midna crossed her arms, frowning. "You had a nightmare again, didn't you." Not entirely inaccurate. Another whine escaped.
She sighed. "Look, it's hard to help you if you aren't talking."
Link huffed. 'Why do you care about helping me anyways?'
"Huh?"
'This whole thing, wasn't it about me helping you?'
"Yeah, but as it turned out, I have to help you in order for you to help me."
'So you help me because you feel like you have to?' Midna's expression shifted as she looked at him. He didn't know why the idea affected him the way it did.
'Then why do you ask about my nightmares?'
Midna stared at him for some moments, her expression still largely unreadable. "If you're busy worrying about nightmares, it's harder for you to help me."
If he were still a human, he would have smirked. 'Is that so?' He raised his head so he could look her in the eye. 'Is that why you didn't say that out loud?'
It was Midna's turn to huff. "Look, I wouldn't be a very good master if I didn't make sure my servant was okay, now would I?" She paused for a moment, as if surprised she said it out loud.
Then she shook her head. "Well, let's go." She floated over to sit on his back again, and he walked into the mouth of the cave. It led to a large room, with what seemed to be tree roots growing down into a pool of water. A small ledge jutted out above the water, and floating in front of the ledge was a pale ball of light.
"I am... the last of the spirits of light... consumed... by twilight... Link... Chosen one of the gods... You have... done well to make it this far... Gather... my scattered Tears of Light... that were stolen by shadow... Gather them... in this..." Another vessel floated down from the ball of light, stopping in front of Link's snout. Midna snapped her fingers, and it dissipated into small teal-black particles.
"I am sure... that you know by now... the forms... that these dark insects take... when they steal... our light..." Link nodded, and Lanayru continued. "Collect... my light... Lift... the final cloud of twilight... that threatens to cover... all of Hyrule..." When Lanayru didn't say anything more, Link turned and left their spring.
When he was again standing outside of the spring, he heard the eerily familiar sound of crackling and snapping that he knew meant there was a shadow insect nearby. To his left was only open water, leaving a wooden bridge that led up from the spring to the cliffs above. As he reached the end of the bridge, his senses showed him the insect scuttling around on the ground. With a growl, he leapt at the insect, tearing into its flesh with his fangs. He did his best to ignore the taste surrounding his tongue, instead focusing on the pleasant feeling of the warmth of a Tear of Light flowing through his body.
A second bridge led to another part of the cliffs. He could see a bridge leading to the strange house, and another leading elsewhere through the cliffs. As he stepped onto the large circle of land, the fence posts that glowed with red markings - Zant's magic - fell down and penned him in. His hackles raised and a low growl rose from his throat as he waited for the shadow beasts to appear. It was again only three of them, who were soon dead with Midna's help. Then she turned the remains of the shadow beasts into another portal in the sky as the fence disappeared.
It was odd, seeing the man's house now floating on the water. An unstable wooden bridge floated next to it, allowing Link uneasy footing to make his way across. When he stepped onto the porch of the house, he noticed a large iron door of some kind, with wooden fencing surrounding the stairs leading up to it. He tilted his head. 'It doesn't look like this has any windows... What a weird place to live in.'
To the side of the house, Link heard a man's voice sigh. "Customers... won't come... even though the water's back. Maybe no one knows? Perhaps I should go tell folks around town. Or maybe I could try and ask Lanayru for guidance?" The man gave another weary sigh, before turning and looking up towards the top of the cliffs, behind the house. "I'll ask Falbi what he thinks. Once I can get back up there, anyways."
The crackling of another shadow insect caught Link's attention, from the back of the floating house. As he rounded the corner, he saw it lazily flying near the wall. He would've liked to jump at it while it was still flying over the wooden porch of the house, but as soon as the insect saw him it darted out to fly over the water. It stayed there, almost seeming to taunt him if its hissing and crackling was anything to go off of.
For a moment it flew back over the porch, but as soon as Link lunged the insect darted back out over the water. He growled as he stared up at it, flexing his claws as he waited for it to make that same mistake.
Midna scoffed. "It's not gonna fly back down. You're gonna have to go after it." Link huffed. She was probably right, though. Now that he'd lunged towards it, the insect probably wouldn't do it again. He would have to chase it. He dug his claws into the wood of the porch, bracing himself to leap after the insect. He could feel Midna grab onto his shoulders as the tension in his legs released and he sprang up after the insect.
He caught the accursed bug in his fangs, biting down hard while he was still in the air. The next instant he was falling into the water again. To his surprise - and relief - the water still had much of the warmth from the Death Mountain rock. He paddled back onto the porch of the floating house, where Midna floated off of his back while he shook as much of the water away as he could.
"You've really started to get used to that wolf form, haven't you?"
He huffed as he looked up to see her smirking at him. 'Not like I've had much of a choice in the matter.' He shook away more of the water, perhaps trying to send some droplets towards Midna. 'Besides, it's not like I can use a towel when I'm like this.'
"Huh, your little village knows about towels?" Link huffed, turning and walking back along the porch to the front of the strange house. To his surprise, Midna didn't land on his back. He glanced around, noticing her floating next to him. He tilted his head to one side.
"Your fur's still wet." Link shook himself off again, allowing himself a grin when Midna let out a sound of surprise and irritation.
"Oh, you asked for it now, wolfy!" She drew her hand back, teal particles bubbling around her palm until a white ball - a snowball - appeared in her hand. Then suddenly it struck him in the snout, exploding into hundreds of flakes of snow. The snowball was cold enough that he could feel it through his fur, making him shiver.
'Hey!'
Midna just smirked at him. "Now we're even!"
He let out his own canine laugh. 'That doesn't sound like something you say to a servant!' Midna's smirk shifted to a different expression, one that Link again couldn't quite read. Link would've shrugged if he were still human. 'But hey, what do I know about how servants are treated? Since apparently I come from a village where we don't even use towels.' The snow had mostly melted away already as he stepped onto the floating bridge from the house to the islands.
"So you know about towels, but not about locking your doors and windows?"
Link huffed. 'Why would we? We've never really had any serious threats come to the village.'
"Never? Then what was with that fence near the bridge?"
'It was either decorative, or to keep some of the wildlife out of the village at night.' The memory of the creatures storming through the wooden fence outside of Ordona's spring splintered into his mind. He shook it out of his mind. 'Definitely decorative.'
When he reached the large island where he'd fought the shadow beasts, he slowed and eventually stopped. With the neverending twilight still interfering with his nose, he wasn't entirely sure where the other insects could be. 'There's those cliffs up ahead, I haven't checked those yet. And it looked like there was another path out from Lanayru's spring that I could check.' Then he remembered the insect that had been outside of Telma's bar. 'Hopefully I find a way to get back up there. Something that doesn't involve climbing these cliffs..'
"Something the matter, wolfy?" He jumped at the sound of her voice. Midna not being on his back almost made him forget she was there.
'I'm not sure where to go first. I know there was that insect at the city, but we can't get there yet.' Midna hummed, tapping her chin.
"Why not start with the cliffs up ahead? Since we're already here, we might as well check now."
A ledge led up to the cliffs, where the path split. To his left, a series of islands he would have to jump across to get to the other ledge. To his right, the ledge seemed to stop at a vantage point overlooking the bridge from Lanayru's spring.
The jumps across the islands were precarious, but nowhere near as bad as the jumps in the Gorons' mines. And sure enough, one of the insects was there, scurrying around through the dirt. The bitter little vermin was quickly dealt with, leaving Link to again puzzle over where to look next. As he looked around, he noticed another island, near a wooden bridge that led to another ledge. 'Might as well see where that bridge leads.'
The jump turned out to be as easy as he thought it would be. Were he human, he'd allow himself a proud smirk.
From there it was another surprisingly easy jump onto the island where he'd fought the shadow beasts, and he turned to look at the wooden bridge to his right. It seemed to be little more than a few wooden beams somehow anchored into the ground, though it at least looked to be more sturdy than the wooden bridge to the strange man's house. He took a tentative step onto the bridge, then another. 'Okay, it seems sturdy enough.'
Another of the insects was burrowing its way through the dirt on the new ledge, and another of the insects was quickly dealt with, allowing Link to go back to looking around. A wooden ladder led up a cliff. His ears twitched as he realized he could hear the whistling of another stone. He huffed. 'Now how am I supposed to get up there?' For a moment he considered asking Midna for help. Though, remembering how tired she was after helping him up Zora's Domain, he thought better of it.
The only thing left to check was back by Lanayru's spring. 'Maybe I missed something?' Sure enough, there was a pier of some kind to the left of Lanayru's spring. He didn't hear or see any of the insects along the pier, however. He sat for some moments, uncertain of what to do next.
"Hey, isn't that another spirit?"
He blinked and stood up to look around. 'Where?'
"Do you see that waterfall?"
'Yeah?'
"Look a little to the left, do you see the spirit standing over there?" He squinted as he looked, before noticing the familiar blue-green glow of a spirit.
'Huh, yeah, now I see it.' He raised his paw to take a step, but stopped. 'Thank you.' Without waiting for her to respond, he leapt into the water and swam to the spirit.
The spirit, as it turned out, was a Zora. The Zora was standing, staring in the direction of the waterfall as he mumbled under his breath. "What's that over there?"
Link followed the Zora's gaze, squinting again. 'I don't think I can see anything. But if he's seeing something, it's probably worth taking a look.' Again he leapt into the thankfully-warm water, swimming until he neared the shore. A wooden frame of some kind, standing over a small dock. At first it looked like there was nothing-
Until suddenly something struck him in the side, with a vicious hissing sound. His fur stood on end, and the side that had been hit tingled. He made no attempt at hiding the growl that came from his throat. 'Stupid insects.'
Sure enough, there it was, flying overhead almost as if to mock him. He watched, waited, until it flew lower. Unlike with the floating house, this time he was ready. With a pounce, he caught the insect in his jaws and killed it.
However, that left him confused again. Where would the other insects be?
Midna shifted on his back. "Hey, there's more of that grass over there! If you call for that Shadow Kargarok, it should come back."
Link huffed. 'And be dragged through that cave again?'
"If you have another way of getting back up to that city, then please, do be my guest, Mr. Important Hero." She laughed, earning an internal groan from Link. 'Fine. But she'd better not drop me this time...'
Howling for the shadow bird - the Shadow Kargarok, she called it - felt wrong. Like he was asking for help from the enemy. The melody came out strangled and insincere. The Shadow Kargarok flew down anyways, snatching Link up in its warped talons and carrying him into the cave a second time.
The flight through the cave was thankfully uneventful, the water seeming to have washed the Shadow Bulblins away - where to, Link wasn't sure he wanted to know. At last, he was set down on the ground as the Shadow Kargarok flew away.
To his left, the woman was still sitting on the stairs. Behind her, a wooden platform from the riverbed was now floating on the water. 'I could use that to get to that stone on the other side of the river.' As he neared the woman, however, he realized she was still shivering. Not out of cold, but out of fear.
"Another bug?! Why do they have to be so big?!" She shivered as she backed away from the insect. "Golly, I am so sick of roughing it in the boonies!
Link quickly dealt with the insect, which seemed to have both confused and relieved the woman.
"Huh... It's gone?" She stared at where it had been. "That was nasty... I hope it doesn't come back." Then she sighed. "Golly, work is tanking just as hard as my personal life these days..." She set her arms on her knees, dropping her head into her hands. "What am I going to do?! The water's back, but I still can't get back in business... I wish some shiny prince would show up and just... fix it all."
Link frowned. 'There's nothing I can do, until I deal with all the insects.' He glanced across the river, at the stone that whistled for him. 'I'll come back and check on her once the twilight's gone.'
The melody from the stone was different this time. The first one had been simpler. This one, he found himself listening to it several times before he felt confident mimicking it. It was a more somber melody, one that somewhat unsettled him.
Again he appeared in the mysterious world with the golden wolf, the landmarks of Hyrule shrouded in fog. Again the two wolves howled together, this time singing that strange, somber song.
The voice of the golden wolf floated across to Link. "Let teachings of old pass to you... Take sword in hand and find me..." With that, the golden wolf leapt down in front of Hyrule Castle, disappearing into the fog.
Link awoke and stood up, looking around before noticing a pair of spirits standing over one of the splits in the river. Curious, he walked over to them.
It was two Zoras, looking down into the flowing water. Because of the masks covering their heads, Link couldn't read their expressions. But their voices carried all the emotion they needed.
"Do you think the prince passed through here?"
The second Zora nodded. "He must have. This waterway goes directly to Hyrule Castle."
"Then we'll start our search for him here." The two Zoras dove into the water.
Link could only barely see them start swimming towards another split in the river, this one surrounded by ornate carvings into the stone. 'Might as well follow them.' The water, still warm, seemed to have calmed down from when it first thawed.
The tunnel was dark, lit only by some torches that lined the walls. However, it soon opened up into a familiar place. A stone bridge stretched over the river, and behind it Link could see the city. With the current being as calm as it was, Link didn't have to fight very hard to swim to the shore and climb up. Then he shook himself off, which seemed to catch Midna by surprise.
Again he dashed past Shadow Bulblins' arrows and past Shadow Kargaroks' talons. When he reached the city, he was surprised to notice a glowing golden light sitting on a ledge next to the bridge into the city. 'Is that the golden wolf?'
From one side, it became much clearer - the golden wolf sat patiently on the ledge. However, Link wouldn't be able to climb up to the golden wolf, not just yet. Vines were the only way up to the ledge, which he wouldn't be able to climb until he was human again. 'I'll need to remember that he's here, though.'
He turned to walk back into the city, only to be startled by pillars that fell from the sky and glowed red. He growled. More shadow beasts were coming.
The area penned in by the pillars was wide, wider than previous arenas. The entrance to the city was completely blocked, and to Link's surprise the shadow beasts hadn't fallen yet. He slowly walked towards the divider in the center, the low growl still in his throat with each step.
Suddenly a shadow beast dropped down in front of him, then another to his right, and another to his left. One raised a hand - to strike at him or to grab him, he wasn't sure - and he sprinted away. 'It's just like the ones from earlier. Kill one, and then Midna can help me with the other two.'
It took some careful maneuvering and sprinting, something which almost reminded him of herding the goats back in Ordon, but eventually one shadow beast was down. It was easier once he could have Midna's help. He wasn't sure what he'd do without her.
As the shadow beasts exploded so Midna could turn their particles into a portal, Link pondered that thought. Where had that thought come from? True, without her help he wouldn't have gotten out of the castle dungeon, and who knew what would've happened to him then.
"Something the matter, wolfy?" There was an edge of impatience to her voice, and Link rose to his feet.
'Was just thinking about something, sorry.' He started walking towards the bridge into the city.
"What were you thinking about?" He stopped, glancing back at her. "If you don't mind me asking, that is."
He wasn't sure what to say, what he could say. After some moments of silence, Midna shrugged, and Link walked forward once more.
