I probably should have put this in chapter one, but I forgot. So I shall put it here.
If you notice any mistakes, either with grammar or logic, let me know. I will assassinate them to the best of my abilities.
Born a Weapon
A Twilight Princess Fan story
Chapter 11
Bug Hunt
Link's eyes slowly opened. Around him was the spring he had fallen asleep in, and the area still had the glow of Twilight about it with strange black squares floating up from the ground. Not surprising, the light hadn't been recovered yet.
Link slowly got to his feet and looked around for his irritating companion and saw her sitting in the water on his right, facing the spot the light spirit had been in before. She had not noticed Link was awake until he stood up.
"FINALLY!" she cried, "What the hell is wrong with you? Sleeping at a time like this?!"
Midna violently seated herself on Link's back, sending him back to the ground.
"Shadow Beasts are wrong with me! Did you forget how they beat the SHIT out of me?!" Link responded as he forced himself back onto his feet.
"Quit whining! And I'm not that heavy! Don't fall over when I land on you!"
"A small amount of weight with enough force can knock anything down! Stop slamming onto me!"
"Shut it and get going!"
Link let out an aggravated sigh, but it sounded strange because he didn't have a human's body to do it with. In all honesty, he probably could have handled the impact of her landing on his back if he was fully recovered. He was grateful for what he had gotten healed, but he was all too aware that until he can get the light spirit's power back, the best that can be done had already been done.
"You still got the magic grapevine?" Link asked.
"You mean this thing?" Midna said as she snapped her finger, materializing the item given to them by the light spirit, and held it in front of Links face so he could see it.
"Yeah, that thing. Ok, let's get this over with. I'm tired of being a wolf."
Link remembered the light spirit's words of the bugs being invisible like the people trapped in the Twilight, so he focused his senses to see if he could find them.
"Wait a minute…" there was a familiar smell on the ground, leading deeper into the woods.
He knew that smell, but what was it. It was also coming from somewhere else, somewhere close. What could it… wait…
Link twisted his head back and sniffed.
"Hey! Get your nose away from me!" Midna complained.
"Did you go into the woods without me?"
"Wha- No! of course not!"
"Midna, your scent leads into the forest. I know you went there."
"My sce- Are you saying I smell?!" Midna said with anger.
"Everyone smells. You just can't tell without a nose like this."
Midna did not look happy at all.
"It doesn't have to be a bad smell."
"And what do I smell like?!"
"You smell like… you?"
"Wha-"
"Look," Link said, shaking his head, "It doesn't matter. I know you went into the woods. I just want to know if you managed to get any of the bugs."
"No."
"Did you find any?"
"No!"
"Are you lying?"
"NO!"
"Whatever, let's just go." Link said with another sigh and proceeded into the woods.
It didn't take long for Link to stumble onto what he was looking for. He entered a tunnel not far from the spring, and when he did, he could feel Midna tense up. He knew that meant there were some of the bugs nearby.
Link looked around, but the bugs seemed to be hiding. It was likely because Midna scared them. Speaking of, he could smell she had turned around and headed back to the spring once she reached this tunnel, so it was likely the rest of the bugs wouldn't be putting so much effort into hiding from him. At least he hoped they wouldn't.
"Midna, answer my question truthfully. Why are you scared of these things?" Link asked. He hoped she just had a fear of bugs, but these bugs might be dangerous enough to scare her regardless.
"I am NOT scared of them!"
"I know you're lying."
"And just HOW do you-"
An electrical noise interrupted Midna, and Link quickly jumped forward and spun around when he landed. The movement almost knocked Midna off his back, but she was too occupied with the thing in front of them to care.
"KILL IT! KILL IT!"
In front of Link was an insect about as big as someone's foot. It had six legs, wings, and a stinger stuck in the ground and seemed to be giving off electricity.
Link quickly dashed forward and crushed the thing in his teeth. He swiftly discarded its body when he heard a buzzing sound and bit an identical bug that tried to sneak up on him and threw its body against the wall.
With a sound similar to the one the Shadow Beasts made when they exploded into particles, the bug exploded into similar particles that disappeared, leaving behind a glowing blue ball. Link checked behind him to see the other bug had done the same. He just didn't notice because he was too focused on the other one.
Link looked back to see Midna lying as far down as she could on Link's back, but once she realized he was looking, she sat back up straight and pretended she wasn't seen.
"When you came in here before, were there only two?" Link asked
"I told you! I didn't-" Midna could see Link was not going to believe her, "… Yes… there were only two."
"Ok, put the light in the grapevine thing, and we'll keep going."
Midna floated off Link's back without giving a reply, which in the short time he knew her Link discovered was unusual. She always wants to get the last word, so something was bothering her, and it was obvious what it was. She had a similar reaction in the dungeon of Hyrule castle. Every time there was a disgusting-looking enemy, she reacted like this. She must have tried to collect the light without Link, saw the bugs, and bolted.
He didn't hold it against her. It was totally normal for people to have fears, especially of disgusting-looking things. In fact, this kind of made her seem more human, if that's the right word considering she wasn't human.
I just hope we don't run into any Skulltulas, Link thought to himself. She might freak out.
Midna held the "grapevine," as Link called it in her right hand by its center as she floated towards the blue light where the first bug died. She looked at it for a moment. This thing was the incarnation of the very reason she had to hide in Link's shadow, and… and… was it getting hotter?
With her left hand, Midna wiped at her face, and it came back covered in sweat.
Damn, Midna thought, I can't get close to this thing without it overheating me. I guess it makes sense, though, since the light would burn me if I was caught in it.
Midna held out the object in her hand, and the blue orb split into three pieces that flew towards the closest part of the container, which happened to be the middle piece Midna was holding.
Midna suddenly cried out in pain and dropped the container. She quickly floated away from it and bumped into Link, who looked very concerned.
"Are you ok?! What happened?!"
"I'm fine! The stupid thing just burned me!"
"Let me see your hand."
She was surprised by his statement and was silent for a second, but it didn't take her long to produce a sentence.
"I said I'm fine! And why do you care?"
"Will you just show me your hand?! You told me the light in my world is dangerous for you, and the thing that just burned you is a piece of that! Let me look at it before you die or something!"
After a few seconds of silence, Midna slowly opened her right hand and extended it. The palm of her hand seemed to have a hint of grey on it rather than its usually black color. Midna hadn't looked at it before now either, her visible eye was wide, and her mouth was hanging slightly open.
"I don't know anything about your species, but it doesn't look bad. What do you think?"
Midna didn't respond. Instead, she just kept staring at her hand.
"Midna"
No response.
"MIDNA!"
Midna snapped out of her stupor and raised her gaze to look at Link.
"Does it look bad to you? I think you're fine, but you're the first of your species I've met." Link repeated.
"I- I um," Midna looked back at her hand, "It doesn't feel bad, but… I've never seen a burn like this. It must be because of the light."
Link could see she was trying to stay calm, but there was fear behind her eyes. She was hurt in a way she had never seen before. If she wasn't at least a little scared, Link would think she had no emotions at all.
"I don't think you should carry the light."
"You think?" Midna said, but her tone still held some fear.
Link walked over to where the container had landed and examined it. The middle had a single blue glow coming from one of the capsules.
"Ok… do you think there is some way to attach it to my paw? I don't have hands anymore, so you would have to do it."
Midna hovered next to Link and looked at the light container.
"I don't think it was designed for that. It won't stay." Midna said.
"I know, but you have to try. Eventually, the whole thing will fill up, and you won't be able to carry it without burning yourself. Just don't touch the glowing part."
Midna knew he was right, but she didn't want to touch the thing again. She took several deep breaths and floated to the ground, and sat next to it. She grabbed one of the ends and lifted it up to examine it. Sweat began to drip down her body again.
"Is it hot just being around it?"
Midna nodded and wrapped the vessel around Link's right paw.
"Ok, let's see," she said as she tried to find a way to get the ends to stay together.
After a few seconds without success, the two ends seemed to try to pull together. Surprised, Midna let go, and the vessel snapped closed around Link's paw.
"Ok… maybe it was designed for this," Midna said slowly.
Link lifted his right paw and shook it to ensure the container was secure and wouldn't fall off. It didn't budge in the slightest.
"Well, I guess I got two bracelet like things now." Link said, holding up his left paw after returning the right to the ground, which still had the remainder of the chain.
"Well, look at you, Mr. Fancy," Midna said, rolling her eyes, but the fear seemed to have left her now that she didn't have to hold the vessel anymore.
Link turned and headed towards the second light ball's location, and Midna seated herself on his back again. When Link was close to the ball, but not close enough to touch it, it split into three pieces and headed into the nearest empty slot on the vessel, just like the previous one. But when the light entered the vessel, for a few seconds. Link's body was glowing with the same color for a few seconds.
Ok, that was unexpected. Link thought. "Midna, did you get burned again?"
"No," she replied, "But it did get really hot when you were glowing."
"Ok, well, at least it's not burning." Link said as he began heading deeper into the woods, recognizing the area because he had to chase after Talo through these same woods. Actually, If he remembered correctly, past the gate ahead was where he fought the Dek-
A large mouth filled with sharp teeth shot out of the ground right at Link's face. Link managed to jump back just in time to avoid becoming a meal. If he wasn't looking at the ground because he was thinking of Deku Babas, he wouldn't have reacted in time.
"What the hell is that?!" Midna screamed.
"It's a Deku Baba!"
"A whatu whata?!"
"DEKU BABA! But it looks different!"
The Deku Baba was a dark black aside from glowing red markings around the mouth similar to those seen on the other strange beasts Link encountered in Hyrule Castle, The Shadow Beasts, and the pillars that had trapped Link with Shadow beasts. It seemed glowing red was a sign of hostility to Link.
Link moved in close enough for the Deku Baba to attack him, and when it did, he hopped to the side and bit down on its stalk, causing it to break and die.
"Still acts the same, though."
Midna looked as the once vicious plant fell to the ground. "Seriously, what the hell is that?" she asked before the remains exploded into particles leaving nothing behind.
"Dead," Link replied.
"Good!" Midna said, "that thing scared the crap out of me!"
"There's another one up ahead."
"What?! This is the second time I was relieved you killed something, and then you tell me there is another one!" Midna face palmed in frustration. "Wait… how do you know there is another one?"
"I had to run through these woods when I chased Talo-"
"Who?"
"One of the kids, he ran off into these woods, and I chased him and brought him back. I ran into Deku Babas, and they jump out of those grass formations on the ground," Link said, gesturing with his head to the formation of grass where the Deku Baba he just killed once was. "There weren't any in here before. I wonder if everything that I fought was replaced."
"Wait," Midna said, "So everything you fought in these woods could be back?"
"It's possible."
"How many things did you fight?"
"Uhm…." Link said, "I don't know the exact number, but there were a lot of things trying to kill me last time I was here."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Midna cried out as she flopped on her back. "First, we have to chase down some stupid bugs, and now a bunch of crazy monsters are going to try to kill us while we hunt the stupid light?! Your world SUCKS!"
"It's usually not like this. I heard this forest is supposed to be peaceful."
Link slowly approached the spot where he suspected a second Deku Baba was waiting, and sure enough, when he got close enough, it lunged for him. Repeating the same actions he used mere minutes ago, he dispatched of his new opponent easily.
"These things are pushovers compared to the Shadow Beasts we fought earlier."
"Are we going to run into anything as tough as those things?"
"If everything is the same, no."
"At least we got that going for us."
After dispatching of a third Deku Baba, Link finally emerged from the tunnel and saw one of the bugs they were hunting dash underneath the gate he had obtained a lantern before going through, only now it was closed.
"There! Get after it!" Midna said as she nudged him forward.
"Wait, there's a clearing on the right with a guy in it! We should make sure he's ok!"
"But there's one right there!" Midna said, pointing beyond the gate, "Just get it!" Link ignored her and headed to Coro's house. "No! Stupid wolf! Do as I say!" Midna demanded to no avail.
Link emerged in the clearing where he had seen Coro before, and the area was a mess. Coro was clearly here but knocked over many things running from something. Using his nose, Link smelt a few different scent trails lead into the house. Whatever he was running from probably followed him in!
"I think he's in trouble! Something's in there with him!"
"Forget about him! We have to find the bugs! I'm sure once we restore the light, whatever's in there will just die!
"He might not last that long! And the things in there with him could be the bugs we're looking for!"
Link followed the scent trail to the door, there were three in total, but two turned away from the door and headed to the right of the house. Link followed them to a window with no glass and only two wooden shutters that looked like they had been forced open so whatever was after him could get inside.
"There! Help me jump to that window!"
"You're just wasting ti-"
"I AM NOT LEAVING HIM TO DIE! So the faster you help me save him, the faster we can go get the rest of the freaking bugs!"
"Fine! But this better not take long!" Midna said as she floated over to the window and used her magic to help Link enter.
Link landed on a wooden platform that had a ramp leading to the ground, which he descended as quickly as he could. When Link reached the bottom, he saw Coro standing on a stack of boxes underneath the ramp Link was just on.
Link heard a noise come from behind him and quickly spun around to see two of the bugs he was looking for.
"HA! See?! Bugs!" Link said as he missed a lunge, and Coro began screaming about how the bugs were abnormal and creepy.
"Shut up and kill them!
"I'm working on it!" Link cried as he caught one of the bugs before missing the other because it took flight as he absorbed the light from the first.
Link waited for the bug to dive at him, and in a similar manner to how he killed the Deku Babas, he dodged and delivered the finishing blow, claiming the stolen light.
"Wh-WHAAT? They just… died?" Coro exclaimed once the bugs were defeated, "Oh, boy, I have no idea what's going on around here…"
Link examined Coro for any injures, but he seemed fine. He must have managed to avoid the bugs long enough for Link to save him. That was a massive relief.
"Can we GO now?" Midna butted in.
"Yes, we can go now…"
"Finally!"
"That took about three minutes! What do you mean finally?!"
Link and Midna continued to bicker as they left the house through the window they entered until they reached the gate the bug had fled through.
"I'm going to dig under this like I did back at Hyrule Castle. Please don't try to destroy my spine once I reach the other side." Link requested.
Midna floated over the gate as Link dug out the ground and slipped underneath. Once Link emerged, he immediately caught sight of the bug and lunged, ignoring the sound of Midna crashing onto the dirt where Link just was. Link had clearly managed the catch the bug off guard because it only turned around when it heard Midna crash, much too late to dodge Link's attack.
Another piece of stolen light recovered.
Link turned to see Midna giving him a death glare. "What?" he said in a mocking tone, "I got the bug. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"Shut up. Right now." Midna said as she reseated herself on Link's back.
Rather than continue right away, Link searched the ground thoroughly.
"What are you doing?! Let's go!"
"Hold on, there was a Deku Baba here last time. I just want to make sure we don't get eaten."
Proceeding carefully, Link entered the tunnel, and there was no sign of a Deku baba nearby. Just after the entrance, Midna noticed a lit torch.
"Hey, look!" She said, pointing to it, "Someone was here before us!"
"Oh, that was me," Link said, "I'm honestly surprised that thing is still lit."
"Oh, never mind then."
A shadow keese was hiding just beyond the torch's light, but Link knew where it was and killed it immediately.
"How did you know that was there?" Midna inquired
"Wolf senses." Link replied, "When we went into the house back there, I actually picked up the bug's scent, so I think I can track them down."
"Good," Midna said, shifting to try to become more comfortable, "Maybe this won't take so long then."
Link remembered just up ahead there was an area with pots he had broken, and the path split there, and one side led to a dead-end, but he couldn't remember which one. On his way there, he had to deal with another Keese and a Deku Baba before reaching the area. He noticed the pots were still broken, and knowing the entire forest hadn't been reset gave him some comfort, and Midna freaking out told him there was a disgusting enemy nearby.
Link turned to see one of the small black creatures about the size of a rat with several legs and no arms he encountered in Hyrule castle. It was called a shadow vermin, he somehow knew.
Link brought the enemy to a quick end, and with it, Midna's panicking, which she immediately pretended never happened.
"Which way should we go?" she said to change the subject from her freak out quickly.
Link simply ignored the incident and checked where the scent went.
"One way is a dead end, and the bugs went… this way!" Link pointed to the straight path, "So either they're all right there, or the other way is the dead-end because the scent doesn't go down the other path."
Link proceeded forward, but soon his nose picked up a new smell.
"Do you smell that?"
"Uh… no. I'm not the one with the super nose, remember? What is it?"
"I have no idea."
Link emerged in the area with the broken bridge that he fought bokoblins in, but a thick purple fog covered the area just down the hill.
"Did you forget to mention this?!" Midna demanded.
"That was not there before!"
"Great! So, I'm guessing you have no idea how to get through then?!"
"Do you expect me to know everything?!"
Midna floated of Link's back and stood in front of his face.
"Shut your mouth!"
"I technically didn't open my mouth."
"Just shut up!" Midna said as she began to wave her hands around. "I've already gone through enough shit! I don't need you- AAAHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Midna suddenly began trying to grab something on her back, but she was too late.
She felt a sharp pain as something slid into her skin, and a burning feeling overwhelmed her as her body convulsed from electricity surging through it. She fell forward onto the ground, and Link was able to see one of the insects on her back with its stinger inserted in her right shoulder, pumping electricity into her body.
Link pounced on the bug and bit it as hard as possible, tearing it off Midna's back before crushing it in his teeth and claiming its light after it died.
"Midna, are you ok?!"
Midna gave a weak groan as she tried to push herself up, but once she began to push with her right arm, she gave a yelp of pain and collapsed again.
"Did you k-!" during Midna's sentence, her body convulsed a single time, interrupting her. "Kill it?"
"Yeah, it's dead, but forget about that for now. How are you feeling?"
Midna sat up without putting any strain on her right arm. "Like shi-" another spasm, "Like shit."
"Midna, don't try to move too much, you were just electrocuted, and you're having muscle spasms."
"That doesn't mat-! Matter!"
This response shocked Link, but before he could say anything, she continued.
"I watched so many people die when Zant took over my realm, and I'm going to do everything I can to save them! I don't care if I break myself or you in the process! And every second you waste is another second they have to suffer!"
Link and Midna just looked at each other for a few seconds until Midna had another muscle spasm and snapped both of them out of their stupor.
"Look…" Link began, "I know how you feel." A confused expression washed over Midna's face at his sentence. "There are people I want to save too, remember? The kids from Ordon are out there somewhere, probably scared out of their minds right now. And I know any time I delay, they have to stay scared for longer." Link turned his head downward and looked at the vessel of light on his right paw. "They were all so kind to me and welcomed me into their village, so saving them is the least I can do." He turned his gaze back up to Midna. "But I can't do that if we get ourselves killed! And ignoring injury is a very good way of doing that!" Midna broke eye contact with Link and looked at her right hand. "We may not like each other. We don't have to, all though I hope eventually you stop trying to take over my life if we're stuck together for long, and maybe we can get along after that. But either way, at least acknowledge that neither of us are invincible, and let me help you!"
Midna did not look at Link, and both were silent for a long time.
"My… whole right arm is numb, and my entire body aches."
"Are you having trouble breathing? Does your heart feel like it's beating faster than normal? And do you feel like you might pass out?" Link asked
"What, are you a doctor or something?"
Link just gave her a look that said, take this seriously, so she gave a sigh and answered his questions.
"No, just aching all over and numbness in my right arm and shoulder."
"Are you having trouble hearing or seeing"
"No."
"All right, I don't think you're in too much trouble. But! We're going to have to do something once we're done here. I'm guessing you won't let me tell any of the villagers about you."
"No! of cou- course not!"
"So, I'll just have to be your doctor for now. We'll use some of the spring water when we restore its power, but you're going to have to rest!"
Midna narrowed her eyes at Link, "How long?"
"I'd say at least until your aching, numbness, and definitely spasms stop. All that could take at least a day."
"A day?!" Midna screamed.
"You're lucky I didn't say longer!"
"I'm not going to-" She stopped what she was saying and remembered what link had said. She growled and spoke through clenched teeth. "Fine! But we're done wasting time here! I'll rest later! Let's go!"
"After I take a look at where you were stung."
"We're not-! Oh, fine! Hurry up!" Midna tried to cross her arms while Link headed around her back to examine the wound but quickly gave up once a shooting pain enveloped her arm.
Link came back around to her front, looking slightly worried.
"Wha-at?" Midna demanded.
"Ok… don't freak out. But the stinger is still in your shoulder."
"Wha- but how? That bug turned into particles, didn't it? Why wouldn't the stinger disappear too?"
Link slowly shook his head, "I don't know, maybe because it broke off before I killed it? Anyway, there's nothing we can do about it right now. I'd need hands and some kind of tool to get it out, so let's hurry up and finish up here so I can get my hands back."
"Good! We've wasted to-too much time here." Midna said as she floated back onto Link's back.
Link tried to find a way across the sea of fog since it was probably poisonous or dangerous in some way, but it seemed to envelop the entire lower part of the clearing. Also, Midna's muscle spasms caused her to squeeze Link and pull his fur, which was both distracting and painful.
"Hey… Think we can ge- stupid muscle spasms! Get across over there?" Midna said as she pointed to the right of the safe area to stand. Link moved over to where she pointed and saw a few pieces of wood sticking out the top of the fog.
"That does not look remotely safe, but I don't see any other way across."
After another muscle spasm, making her pull Link's fur again, Midna floated over to the first piece of wood Link needed to jump to.
After jumping over a few small pieces of wood, Link ended up in another area without the fog.
Midna reseated herself on Link's back and immediately pulled his fur because of another muscle spasm. Link bit down a curse, remembering it wasn't her fault she was pulling his fur.
The area without fog had a ledge that he could jump from to get inside of a broken tree that was turned into a massive platform, and Link could smell more bugs on it. Part of the tree was sticking out to where Link was. It was still a big jump, but luckily there were more pieces of wood in between the ledge Link was on and the tree's ledge. After another muscle spasm, Midna helped Link jump across the pieces onto the tree.
Link quickly eliminated two bugs on the tree while Midna squirmed in disgust and had muscle spasms. Then he proceeded to check if they could proceed further from the tree. Link wasn't worried about jumping somewhere and finding out there was no way forward because he could just jump back to his previous platform.
Luckily there were more pieces of trees Link could jump to with Midna's assistance, and both she and Link nearly got eaten by a Deku Baba that was hiding near one of the spots Link jumped to. But that was the least of their worries as the path Link ended up taking brought him upwards into the highest parts of the trees.
"This is such a terrible idea!" Link informed Midna.
"How do you think I feel?! The next spot I'll have to sta-stand in has one of those Deku Wabas right next to it!"
"Deku Baba but whatever! At least you don't have to worry about falling. You can fly!"
"That won't save me from being eaten! I do NOT want to go over there!"
"Let's just be fast, ok? You go there, and I will immediately jump to your spot, and you'll have to go to the next as fast as possible."
"Fine!" Midna said, seeing no other way to get Link across the fog, "But if w-we get eaten, it's your fault!"
Midna floated to the next platform, and true to his word, Link was right behind her. She almost didn't react in time to pull him over. She dashed to the next platform, and Link jumped, barely dodging an attack from the Deku Baba right next to him only to land next to another and another before they were clear of the Deku Babas.
"For Din's sake! That was close!" Midna said with a sigh of relief. An then had another muscle spasm
"We're almost there, just a few more jumps."
Link jumped off the branch of the abnormally sized tree onto pieces of other wood sticking out of the fog and could finally see the other side of the clearing he was trying to reach.
Midna floated to the last platform Link would have to jump onto before reaching the safe ground and give him a nod to signal she was ready to catch him. Link pushed off his current platform towards the next, and Midna grabbed his body with her magic and began to pull.
Midna's body tensed up as her muscles contracted against her will from another muscle spasm, and the sudden shock caused her to lose her grip on Link, who crashed into the platform he was trying to land on and disappeared in the purple fog.
The landing knocked Link's breath from him, and he instinctively tried to take in a new one. Gas flooded his lungs rather than air, and Link began to cough violently. Rather than avoid taking in anymore, his lungs began to demand more and more breaths be taken, only serving to fill them with gas. He couldn't see through the fog, and he couldn't breathe! It felt like someone lit his lungs on fire, and they were going to explode any second! His head was pounding like someone was beating it against metal over and over. Whatever this gas was, it seemed to suck all the energy out of Link's body. He began to sweat profusely. He felt so tired, and his body seemed to ache all over.
Time seemed to slow down, and Link knew what was happening inside his body. His lungs were desperately grabbing for enough oxygen to counteract the toxins seeping into his lungs, and from there, his bloodstream. His heart was pounding as his body tried to get as much oxygen as it could to his vital organs, and this increased metabolism is why time seemed to slow down.
This was very similar to CO2 poisoning. The only symptoms Link seemed to be lacking was drunk-like behavior and overwhelming panic. Why were those the only two he didn't get? Even though he was dying, he felt calm and able to focus. He was even able to figure out precisely what was happening to him.
Either way, this gas seemed to be killing him similarly to CO2 poisoning, but it was more dangerous because it seemed determined to remove all the energy from his body, forcing him to lie still until his life left him.
Judging by his symptoms and a strange gut feeling, he had at most 30 seconds before he was dead.
"Hey! Where are you?!"
Link heard Midna's voice, but he didn't have the energy to tell her where he was.
"Come on! Follow my voice!"
Link tried to get up, but his legs did not move.
"Come on! What about all those people you need to save, huh?! Are you just going to die and leave them alone now?!"
The people he had to save… the children from Ordon village. Taken from their homes after welcoming him in. Scared. In danger. No… he had to get up!
"Get out here right now!"
Get up.
"You can't die!"
Get up!
"LINK!"
GET THE HELL UP!
Link forced his legs to bear his weight and moved as fast as he could in the direction of Midna's voice, which wasn't very fast, but it was still progress.
"Link, please! I need your help to save my home!"
Link reached a hill and started to climb it, but his world began to turn dark around him. He needed air. Now.
Come on! Link thought, just a little further!
Link's face broke the surface and gulped down air before coughing up purple gas.
"Link!"
Link felt Midna's hands grab hold of his face and pull. With their combined strength, Link managed to escape the purple gas and collapse on safe ground. There he coughed up the vile toxin infesting his body and replacing it with sweet air.
"Hey! Are you ok?"
Link continued to cough up purple mist rather than answer.
"Ew…"
After several minutes of coughing, Link's pain began to subside. Although now his diaphragm ached from coughing so much.
"You good?"
Link looked at his companion.
"You saved me. Thanks."
"Yeah, well, I told you I don't want to make a habit of saving you. So don't let this happen again."
"Oh, come one, you must know this wasn't my fault."
"Then whose was it?" Midna said, thinking he was implying this was because of her.
"That damn bug."
"… Yeah, I guess so. Speaking of bugs, I think there are some around here, I heard their buzzing, but I can't see them anywhere."
"I don't think I can use my senses right now. Give me a bit."
"Just don't take too lo-long. The Bugs could attack us any minute."
Link was aware of the threat, but he just couldn't move yet. And there was no way he could put the energy into using his senses yet. So he just laid there and thought, and he realized something.
Midna became very concerned when she heard faint laughter coming from Link.
"You… actually said my name!"
Midna blinked at him.
"What?"
"Yeah! You didn't say Wolfie or some insult. You said, Link."
Midna rolled her eyes.
"Break out the champagne. I said someone's same"
"Hehehe, it took you long enough!"
"All right, come on, Wolfie! Get up! You've laid there long enough!"
"Come on, use my name! I know you want to!
"Get up, Wolfie."
"Ahh, you're such a butthead. Oh, hey, I found the bugs."
"What?!" Midna quickly examined the area around them but didn't see anything. "Do not joke about that!"
"I didn't. They're underground."
"Underground?" Midna looked at the dirt under her feet and then floated a good distance above the ground.
"Floating won't save you. They can fly, remember?" Link said as he got to his feet.
"Shut up and kill them!" Midna said as she dropped onto Link's back again. Link swayed dangerously in many different directions after the impact until he fell over, dumping Midna on the floor.
"Seriously?!"
"Poison gas! Remember?!"
Midna growled as Link rose to his feet before gently reseating herself on his back.
Link looked down at the ground he knew to contain his targets.
"… Anybody got a shovel?"
"No, now dig."
"Stupid bugs."
Link used his paws to dig up the dirt where the scent was the strongest and saw one of the bug's heads.
"Hello there!" Link said just before he stomped on the bug's head, killing it and claiming its light.
The second bug abandoned its underground hiding spot and tried to attack. Link jumped to the side but began to wobble slightly as he suddenly became dizzy.
"Whoa! Dizzy!"
"Move!"
Link jumped forward and managed to avoid being stung, but he fell over from his dizziness and sent Midna tumbling again. Using his ears, he heard electricity from one side and Midna swearing from the other. Ignoring Midna's cursing, he jumped at the sound of electricity and killed the bug. After Link stopped glowing, he felt Midna's weight return to his back, but he was able to keep his balance this time.
"I think that's all of them here. There's only two slots left on the grapevine."
"Well, at least we're almost done with this dumb bug hunt, but I'm going to miss the Twilight. It's so much more beautiful than your stupid world."
"I certainly won't be sad to see it go. It turned me into a wolf!"
"Eee hee hee! I know! It's been hilarious watching you tumble around trying to get used to four legs!"
"I hate you."
"I don't care."
Link continued forward through another tunnel, remembering that soon he would reach Trill's shop. As Link emerged from the tunnel, he saw a confusing sight and a horrifying one. Propped up against the wall was a large piece of wood made up of several wooden planks. It was just a long piece of wood; it had no purpose here as far as Link could tell, and it wasn't there before.
That was the confusing sight. The horrifying sight was the three Shadow Beasts wandering the clearing. Four pillars fell from the sky, two created a wall blocking the path Link had just come from, and the other two blocked the path he needed to take to proceed.
"This is not good." Link said as the Shadow Beasts noticed him.
"Wow, really?"
"We need to do that jumpy attack thing now. I am in no condition for another fight with these things."
"Get them all close together, and we'll take them out."
Link maneuvered himself, so all the Shadow Beasts closed in on him simultaneously, and Midna prepared the attack.
"Now!"
Link felt Midna lean forward on his back and hold onto him tightly before he jumped towards the first Shadow Beast and destroyed its throat as quickly as possible, and then did the same to the next. The last Shadow beast was farther away than the other two were, but he knew Midna wouldn't have given him the signal if they weren't all in range. Just before Link could kill the last Shadow Beast, it grabbed him with its right hand, pinning Midna to his body, and threw them across the arena. Link slammed into the hard rock wall, crushing Midna under him as she cried out in pain, and her body began to convulse again before Link crashed onto the ground, and Midna landed on his back face first.
"What… the hell was that?!" Midna said as she adjusted herself into a sitting position again. "It felt like I was being stung again!"
"We'll worry about that after these things are dead!" Link cried as they both recoiled from the Shadow Beast's shriek, trying to cover their ears. "The last one was too far away! It had enough time to react! We have to wait for them all to be as close as the other two!"
"Ok, let's try again!"
Link closed in again, hiding his intentions of repeating his attack by lunging at one of the Shadow Beasts and biting the hell out of it. Link jumped off before it could grab him, landing right in the middle of all his opponents and perfect distance.
"Do it!"
Midna began to prepare the attack, but she was interrupted by another muscle spasm.
"Shit!" Link cried as he dashed between two of the Shadow Beasts to escape the terrible position he was now in. The Shadow Beast on his left made a blind swipe at Link, catching him in the side and leaving a bleeding cut.
Link collapsed when he landed because of the unexpected pain shooting through his side.
"Nononono! This is bad!" Midna cried as the Shadow Beasts rushed Link, closing on him with alarming speed.
"Do the attack! NOW!"
Midna quickly charged her magic and unleashed the attack, sending Link flying off the floor and into the first Shadow Beast. Because of his injury, none of his opponents thought he would be capable of such movement and were caught completely off guard, allowing Link to kill all three.
Their bodies turned to particles and floated up, collecting into a mess of squares, which Midna claimed as a portal.
"I hate this job…" Link said weakly.
Midna winced when she caught sight of Link's cut, which he noticed.
"That… looks kind of deep. We better finish up here quickly."
"Speaking of injuries," Link said as he rose onto his wobbling legs, "what the hell happened to you?"
"I don't know," Midna said she reached her left arm over her right shoulder, "It was like I got stung agaAAAAAAAAAA!" Midna began to convulse again and fell to the ground.
"Are you ok?! What happened?!"
"I…" Midna tried to get up, but her body was still weak from the shock it just experienced and fell back down. "I touched my shoulder, and it felt like I got stung again!"
Link looked at Midna's right shoulder, and the stinger wound seemed to be bleeding now.
"We need to get that stinger out of you. We just need healing in general."
Using Link as support, without asking, Midna managed to get back on her feet and then onto Link's back.
"Let's finish this, and then we can patch ourselves up."
Link proceeded forward, stopping at Trill's shop to check he was ok, which he was. Link followed the bug's scent to the spot where he had found Talo and saw the same monkey from the last time he was here cowering on top of the left pillar with designs with the final two bugs circling the floor around her. The giant tree now had an opening in the form of a large hole, but the whole thing was covered by a massive spider web similar to the one Link burned when trying to save Talo.
"Yeek eek! Help!" The monkey cried.
Link had temporarily forgotten he could understand animals but was reminded of it now. Link ignored the new opening covered by the giant spider web, which Midna overlooked judging by her lack of freaking out, and jumped the first bug and killed it with his surprise attack, taking its light.
The second bug took flight and began dodging every attack Link used.
"Midna, can you just blast it?"
Midna fired a stream of black lighting at the bug, which dodged it.
"Shit!"
Midna tried to blast it three more times, but each missed.
"Hold still!"
The bug dodged another blast, and in the process put the empty pillar in between itself and its opponents. Thinking quickly, Link acted. In a similar matter to the attack he used to kill all the Shadow Beasts at once, Link jumped onto the pillar, causing Midna to yelp and nearly fall off Link, then jumped off the pillar and slashed the bug in half.
The move wasn't as fast as when Midna helped him jump through the air, but it served its purpose. Midna smacked Link on the top of his head before yelling, "warn me before you do something like that!"
"There wasn't time!"
"I could have taken it down!"
"I don't care who took it down, just that it's down!"
"And how are you going to get the light up there?"
"I jumped up there once I can do it again, but the ball is slowly floating towards me anyway, so it's fine."
The ball of light was moving very slowly, but it was indeed moving towards Link, or more accurately, the vessel on his right paw.
"Well, that's convenient."
"You might want to get back in my shadow. I don't know how this will work. Once I grab the Twilight could immediately disappear only for the sun to kill you."
"Yeah, good point." Midna said, climbing off Link's back, "I'll just wait in here."
Midna dissolved into Link's shadow, and with her safety ensured, Link collected the last piece of light. He began to glow again, but this time he did not stop. He got brighter and brighter until he couldn't see anything.
In case anyone noticed and/or is wondering, I didn't forget that the monkey says something after being saved from the bugs. Allow me to explain.
This explanation will contain spoilers for the game, but I imagine everyone reading this knows how the game goes. But still, you have been warned.
When you save the monkey, it says the village children had been led through the forest. However, if they ended up in Kakariko, they would have passed by Coro's hut and headed onto Hyrule Field. I don't see why they would be led through the forest, then turn around and head to Kakariko. So that is why I left it out.