Upon finishing the fresh batch of pumpkin soup, Yeto wiped at his mouth with the back of his arm and then handed the bowl back to Yeta, who set it down on the little table. It had been only a day and Yeto's condition had improved. As a thank you, Yeta had given him a bottle of the soup and even allowed them to spend the night at the mansion.

Link felt slightly more at ease, seeing Yeto's speedy recovery and being given another shard, but with two still left to find he couldn't allow himself to rest for too long. Having barely slept a wink, he was out of bed at the first sign of sunrise; dressed in the same green tunic, with his weapons and shield strapped to his back. He headed for the door when the slightest sound of movement followed by the creaking of floorboards froze him in place. He turned around and saw Midna standing beside the bed opposite to the one he'd slept in.

"Link? It's six in the morning… where are you going?"

His shoulders slumped and with a sigh, he moved away from the door and towards her. "We don't have the time to hang around too long, as much as I love seeing Yeto get back to his usual self, we need to find the remaining shards."

"And we will." She assured him. "But we can't rush or else we may miss something."

"I'm not rushing!" He snapped, instantly regretting it as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Sorry, I uh- I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to make an early start, hopefully meaning that we can find the missing shards and finally be able to go and challenge Zant."

Midna rested her hands on her hips, unimpressed with his tone, but choosing to ignore it. "Yeah, I know. I get it. You want to find these pieces, get to the Twili Realm and get Zelda back. I get it, okay? But trying to rush it will only cause mistakes, and we can't afford those. Not when we're this close to putting an end to Zant once and for all. Also, consider yourself lucky! You have someone to fight for, and not just a kingdom. You have an entire land filled with friends who are willing to jump to help you after all that you have done for them! Not all of us are as lucky as you, Link. We cannot rush this. Everything will be fine; Zelda will be fine. Missing something important will only hinder our quest. So, think about that before you go rushing out of the door."

Link stood frozen for a moment with his mouth agape. He wasn't rushing at all, and he hadn't meant what he'd said in the harshest way, but it was as though her words had flipped a switch in his brain and he realized that she was right; not everyone, in fact only a fair few, were as lucky as he. It was something that he easily forgot throughout all his travels and the mayhem that went down in the Kingdom that sent him trekking from a to b.

"Midna, I-" He stopped, unsure of what else to say. Instead he remained silent as he crossed the room and retrieved his bag, having only just noticed that he was about to leave it behind. "I'm not rushing. I just don't want to sit around doing nothing to progress." He sighed. "I'm sorry, sometimes I forget how lucky I am. Perhaps because it seems like I'm always off on these crazy yet dangerous quests… but I never really stopped to think that there are some that don't have what I'm fighting to keep. I guess I'm flawed in that way."

Rolling her eyes, she dropped her hands back by her sides. "It's fine, Link. No one is perfect, and I don't expect you to understand… it's okay to be flawed, just be considerate of the situation that others are in too."

Link remained quiet, responding with a small smile and a simple nod. He quirked an eyebrow, waiting for her to make a decision on what she wanted to do next; wanting to allow her some control over the quest too. This time, she was the one to move towards the door, but she stopped when she realized that he hadn't moved from the spot and turned around with a wide smirk upon her face.

"Are you just gonna stand there, Romeo, or are you going to join me in continuing our quest to save your girl?"

"I uh- I- yes." He stammered, almost tripping over his feet as he moved back towards the door. "Let's see if we can figure out where we go next."

Midna pursed her lips as she thought about Yeto and the second shard. "May I make a suggestion?"

"Please. If you have any ideas, I'm all ears."

"I think by now, it's pretty obvious what the cause of Yeto's illness was. It seemed to clear rather vastly after he passed the mirror shard on to you…"

"Yeah, I noticed that." He agreed. "But what's your point?"

"My point, Link, is that the mirror shard was causing havoc here, what if it's a mirror shard that's causing the chaotic memory loss within Hyrule Castle and Castle Town?"

Link opened his mouth, about to speak, and then closed it again and frowned as he remembered Castle Town, and how no one other than himself and the King had any recollection of the invasion. It was a thought that had gone right over his head at the time, but looking back now, he couldn't deny that it was a plausible possibility.

"Hmm, I think you might be onto something; perhaps it would be wise to check there next."

"I concur. We should head out now, that way we'll get there before noon and have the rest of the day to check every nook and cranny."

Link gave an affirmative nod, and then continued through the door with Midna following closely behind him. Back in the kitchen, Yeta was stirring up another batch of pumpkin soup as Yeto waited patiently at the table.

"Yeta see Link leaving?"

"Unfortunately, I always knew it would be a small visit. We have to move on now, but thank you for letting us stay, and for the soup." He said, giving them a small smile.

"Link no thank us. Yeto want to thank Link for making Yeto better."

"That's really not necessary. It was my pleasure, really." Link assured them.

"Yeto wish Link safe travel. Link come visit soon?"

"Once things have settled down again, yes. I promise I'll come and visit."

"That makes Yeto very happy to hear."

"Of course." He smiled again. "Goodbye, Yeto… Yeta."

Tightening the strap that held his weapons on his back, he sighed as he headed towards the front door to the mansion. Outside, the air was just as bitter as it was when they'd traveled to the mansion, but this time Link didn't take the time to stop and shiver. Instead he forced himself to keep moving in order to prevent freezing. As he neared the lake that would lead them back to Hyrule Castle, he paused and turned to Midna.

"What is it?" She asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I don't want to be held back by freezing after swimming." He admitted.

"Then change into the wolf. You can always change back on the other side."

"Oh. Right."

Link closed his eyes, with the wolf pictured vividly in his mind, and dropped to his knees as a darkness enveloped him. It began in his hands; morphing into the paws of a beast, and soon spread throughout his entire body until all human features had been replaced with that of a wolf. He stretched out, and looked back at Midna with his blue eyes bouncing the reflection of the water. With the same mischievous look he had earlier, he sprung towards the edge and then dived into the water, lifting his head above the surface and waiting expectantly for Midna to join him.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not diving in." She rolled her eyes as she walked over and eased herself down into the water.

Once they were both in the water, Link dived down and was followed by Midna, who remained close as they broke the surface on the other side. He climbed out of the water, and waited until she had climbed out and dried herself off, then shook himself off like a dog; spraying her with water droplets that flew off his fur.

"Link!" She shrieked. "You are such a kid when you're in this form. Change back now!" She demanded, folding her arms across her chest.

With one last look, Link let the same darkness envelope him once again and the morph of his body from beast to man happened vastly. He got to his feet and a boyish grin spread across his face.

"Happy now?" He teased her.

"Yes." She hissed. "Happy, but also wet."

"Sorry about that." He chuckled. "I just couldn't help myself.

"Of course you couldn't." She giggled.

Link smirked, but said nothing in response as he started to walk back up the pathway that would lead them straight into Hyrule Castle's throne room. Upon reaching the door, he froze and instinctively reached for his sword, drawing it and reached for the handle.

"What is it?" Midna asked, noticing the tensing of his muscles.

He brought a finger to his lips, signaling her to remain silent as they proceeded. With no further questions, he opened the door slowly so that it wouldn't make too much of a sound, and then raised his shield ready for if anyone - or thing, should attack. His eyes scanned the room for any abnormalities, locking on the door to the side of the main entrance.

"Looks pretty normal to me." Midna whispered.

Link frowned and lowered his shield. He couldn't deny what he was seeing; the room looked just as it did every other time he'd been in it. But he also couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that his eyes were deceiving him.

"I don't know… this doesn't feel right to me."

"Ugh!" Midna complained. "There is nothing wrong with this room!" She raised her voice.

"But I-" He began but stopped as Midna rolled her eyes and pushed past him, going to stand in the centre of the room. "I don't think that's a good-"

"Stop it!" She interjected. "Look, see? I'm standing right in the middle here and nothing is happen-"

Cut off by a loud rumble, Link shifted into a  fighting stance and steadied himself as the ground began to shake. He watched wide eyed as the floor cracked beneath his feet and rolled out of the way before he could fall through the gap. As he landed back on his feet, he looked back at Midna, who was trapped on a small part of the ground that had been surrounding by cracks.

"This can't be good…" She gulped.

Link rushed forward to attempt to help her, but before he could reach her something slithered out of the cracks. He stepped back, but swung his sword horizontally, slicing at the three Chu Chu that were advancing towards him, and ending them with a single hit. He moved forward once more, but was forced back again. This time, it wasn't Chu Chu that had emerged from the cracks, but Shadow Beasts.

One. At first.

He readied himself as it crawled towards him, and struck it with a vertical slash, watching as it shrieked, split in half and then burst into ashes. Though he didn't have the time to linger on the kill he'd just made as another one crawled out of the chasm that had now formed from the cracks, followed by another.

Soon there were three. Then four. Eventually there were six. Two tormenting Midna, who continuously knocked them about with the hand that formed and stretched from within her golden hair, and the rest surrounding Link, giving him no way to escape.

"Hate to say I told you so, but-" Link yelled, being cut off as one of the beasts pounced.

Thrusting the Master sword forward at the right moment, the sharp edge of the blade pierced through the creature, causing it to shriek and explode.

"I told you so." He finished.

"This is so not the time to get cocky, Link!" She called back, giving one of the beasts a face full of giant fist.

Link didn't have the chance to say anymore as another creature advanced towards him. Without enough time to swing his sword, he raised his shield and allowed the beast to run into it, disorienting it. Seeing his chance, he thrust the sword forward, stabbing the it through the chest.

Four Shadow Beasts remained, and Link had an idea. With two of the beasts still focused on Midna, he made a run from the ones that were gaining on him, towards the chasm. The other two followed him, just as he'd hoped. Before they could reach him, he was the wolf again. He drew back his upper lip in a snarl, revealing pearly white canines and waited until all four beasts were close together. As they closed in on him, he performed a spin attack that wounded them all in equal measures. Now blindsided, the beasts slowed for a split second, giving him enough time to perform another attack, injuring them further. He shifted back into his human form quickly, and held his sword horizontally at arms length, then swung it in another spin attack. All four beasts shrieked as they withered up and then burst into nothing but ashes.

He glanced around the room, and once he decided that it was clear, he sheathed his sword and turned his attention to Midna, still stuck on the small piece of ground amid the chasm. Thinking for a moment, he got as close as he could to the edge without danger of falling in and reached out with his hand.

"I can't get to you, the gap is too wide!" She pointed out.

Withdrawing his hand, he looked around for anything that might be of use, but before he could locate anything, the ground rumbled again and he fell backwards; landing on his back. He scrambled to his feet, once again weary of any enemies that may appear..

"Jump."

"What?" She called out in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? I can't jump this!"

"Yes, you can… Jump, and I won't let you fall." He instructed.

"No way!"

"We don't have time for this, Midna. Just…. Just trust me." He pleaded with his eyes.

The ground rumbled again, this time more violently, and Midna looked around in desperation before realising that she had no other choice. Link was right. They had neither the time to search for another way, nor the resources to create one.

"Please don't fail me, Link." She prayed under her breath, and then backed up as much as she could, running and leaping off the ledge.

Her arms flailed in the air as she flew over the chasm, but relaxed as Link caught her with little effort. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes, but as he was about to set her down, another violent rumble erupted, causing him to stagger and his grip on her to loosen. She slipped from his arms and fell down into the chasm. Link dived to the floor, landing on his chest, but catching her by the hand before she could fall too far.

"Nice save… now, could you pull me up?"

Link nodded, pulling himself to his knees and then gripping her with his other hand to double his strength as he pulled. With a small struggle, she was soon able to reach the ledge with her feet and with one final pull that broke his grip, she climbed out of the chasm, falling forward and knocked Link flat on his back.

"I- uh- sorry." She muttered, flushing from embarrassment as she scrambled back on her feet and offered her hand to help him up.

He accepted, and let her help him to his feet before brushing himself down. "It's- It's okay." He said breathlessly.

"But why on earth would they booby trap the throne room?" She questioned. "It wasn't like that when came through here on our way to Snowpeak."

"That's just it…" He began. "They wouldn't unless there was something to hide."

Midna frowned. "You don't think they hid the mirror shard in here, do you?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a look. Though we need to hurry before these quakes get too bad. We barely made it out safely from the first three."

"Yeah, that was a close call." She agreed. "Well, you know your way around the castle better than I do, where do you think it could be?"

Link thought for a second. "Perhaps we should start where this all began; Zelda's chambers."

"Great. Let's go!"

With that being agreed upon, they moved swiftly towards the main entrance to the throne room, and not thinking of anything else, they slipped through into the hall. But as they turned the corner leading to the staircase, Link skidded to a halt; eyes wide and cat-like, and his mouth agape in shock. Midna stopped a few inches behind him, peered over his shoulder and followed his stare.

"Uh…" She began.

"This can't be a good sign." He finished for her, and swallowed as he drew his sword once more.