Note: First, sorry for the wait…this past week has been the week from hell. Second, excuse any mistakes you find (but feel free to point them out)…after this week I didn’t do much for proofreading.

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Night descended slowly; not that Lily could tell too much. The trees around her were thick enough to block nearly all light. She focused on her fairy guides and ignored the dusk that seeped in around her.

"Duck, climb, step, duck, climb," Lily chanted thoughtfully as she proceeded through the thick trees. "Step, duck...Get branch out of hair!"

She twisted the lodged branch, turning over the idea of cutting her hair. Sure she wouldn't look as feminine but what did that matter when you were trudging through mud and over-grown bushes? Her hair was a wreck anyway, thanks to nature. As she pulled another leaf from its trap on her head, she noticed the fairies had stopping in front of a cave.

"Odd...since when do caves have doors?"

"Inside. Go," one fairy sang as she buzzed around.

Lily wanted to ask again what she was after but she held her tongue as she pushed the door inward. It creaked and gave some resistance but it opened regardless. After The Abyss, the Ordon Caves were cool and moist. The moisture mixed with moss; creating a fragrant smell. Lily inhaled deeply. The air was fresher than she had expected from a cave.

She followed a series of tunnels, promptly dispatching any creatures that opted to give her a hard time. As luck would have it, the cave had many windows along the ceiling that made it easy to see. She still had to constantly dart her attention to the shadows to prevent an attack, but she was happy not to be in complete darkness.

For reasons beyond her comprehension, darkness installed a stale fear she had to force herself to shake off. Night time was different. At night there were the moon and stars...and open space. Being crammed in a dark small space sent chills up her spine. The cave was just roomy enough not to provoke her claustrophobia but dark enough to make her apprehensive.

She huffed and pushed herself on. Determined not to let her phobia over come her she acted as if there were no such thing.

And to her surprise, her phobia ceased. She blinked and instinctively looked down at the pendant she wore. It glowed softly before extinguishing its light. She had shown courage and the pendant had the power to make her efforts come to life.

Her once hesitant steps took on a stronger beat. Surely with the power of the Goddesses to back her, she could come out of this whole ordeal alive!

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Link moved very little as his breaths took on the rhythmic beats of sleep. It wasn't comfortable to sleep while locked in a cage with a hard stone floor underneath; but he had slept in worse conditions.

He dreamed of his adventure a year passed. From this to that his dreams slowly started to manifest themselves until he found himself somewhere he had never been but in a place that felt like home. Somehow his bleak surroundings reminded him of Ordon. It was almost two dark to see and he would have tripped a number of times if not for the small rays of subtle light that danced around him.

From the start, the dream was nothing more than a dream to him. It held no surprises nor revelations until he chanced upon his first beast. The creature of long like a worm but as big as a dog.

"Ewww! Now that's just gross!" he thought.

Pause. Rewind. Replay.

He stopped in mid thought wondering why he would think that! Of all the monsters he vanquished he had never used the terms 'gross' or 'eww'. Ugly, stupid, slow and other choice words he had used. But eww and gross...that was just too much like what the princess would say.

His first wave of shock was recovered when another discovery hit. As he fought the 'gross' worm thing he noticed that his shield had been replaced by a sword. Holding both blades in front of him, he was given no time to think before his body reacted on it's own. He felt his right hand swing with a force he knew he didn't poses. He had always favored his left hand but instead of striking with it, it took on the defense needed. Not long after that his body twisted again and the tables turned. Now he struck with his left sword and sheilded with his right. He knew the motions of a fight but was slightly amused to feel like he was dancing instead of battling.

Once his opponent was dispatched, he continued to walk through the caves. He could sense a goal. He was searching for an item though he could not fathom what that item was or what it did. As with all his dreams of exploration, he was surprised at the amount of curiosity he possessed. Even a year ago while trekking across all of Hyrule he was never as curious as he was in his dreams.

It was as if he shared his emotions with some else.

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She had walked for hours, fought more battles than she cared to count and was tired beyond her own belief. Sure she was in shape, but never had she pushed herself so hard for so long. She should have rested miles back but her curiosity caught her again and again. She just had to know what was behind the next corner. Still, fatigue took over and she stopped to rest by an underground stream.

Her rest was short and not long enough to quench her thirst for peace; but she stood and continued anyway. Her curious nature was at war with her longing for something less adventurous. She rationalized herself into proceeding by reminding her that her fairy escorts weren't likely to let her sit still too long.

She had just rounded the third corner from the stream when she came face to face with a Mare. The horse was deep gray in color and almost twice the size of Epona. She shrieked back - unaware that she had screamed until the echo vibrated back at her.

If the creature hadn't known she was there before, he knew now. He reared up on his hind legs and fixed his red eyes on her. He snorted as he landed back down on all fours; smoke flaring from his nostrils. He scraped his hoof along the dirt floor, lowered his head and charged with no more warning.

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The horse was massive! Knowing it was only a dream didn’t settle the adrenaline that rushed through every vein in Link’s body. He was thinking not as a dreamer but as a seasoned fighter. He reacted as such.

Real or not; the Mare was going down!

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Before she could understand what was going on, Lily had first leapt to the side to avoid a stream of fire cast from the horse’s nostrils and then over his head. She barely had time to think, little less wonder where she had gained such jumping ability, before she was thrusting her sword into the beast’s back as she glided past him.

He wailed in utter pain as she landed gracefully on her feet. Her astonishment didn’t last long before she felt another pull on her body. Though she could counteract at any time, her body seemed to have developed a mind of its own. All she understood was that she had no idea what she was doing but if she let into her instincts she might just have a chance.

Giving over control to the unseen force propelling her to fight scared her. Facing the Mare without giving in control scared her more.

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Link almost lost his train of thought when he began to feel fear. It wasn’t so much fear of the Mare but of something else. He wanted to ponder what it was that frightened him, but he dared not. He had a monster to fight and every intuition he had told him he had to beat it.

There was more at stake here then he knew. Giving into the urge to take the Mare down, he charged again.

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After dodging the Mare’s fire, jumping over the beast when it charged and avoiding the clumps of dirt the monster kicked at her; Lily gained more confidence. The Mare was slowing down. She was winning but she didn’t accept victory just yet. She wouldn’t let her guard down until the Mare was no longer breathing.

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This was it. The final blow. He had weakened the creature to the point of near exhaustion.

But just before he could deliver that blow, he lost control of his actions.

“This is not your battle to win alone,” a voice called brilliantly in his head.

Though his body still moved, it was not under his orders. Link gave up control and let the dream take over.

“You have done well, Hero. She had passed the test. You may rest.”

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The force that had controlled her left but she pushed forward. Thrusting both blades simultaneously into the Mare brought an end to the whole battle. He evaporated into a thin dust before fading away.

Lily was exhausted physically. Mentally, she hadn’t had to think of much during the battle. She hadn’t really done anything but move the way she was pushed and do what she felt was right.

She staggered and gained her balance as a bright light overwhelmed the room. As before, the light took a shape and she knew she was looking at another Goddess.

“I am Nayru, Goddess of wisdom. You, child, have passed my test and earned yourself worthy of my gift.”

She held out her hand and displayed another pendant which glowed emerald green. Without provoking, Lily reached out and took the pendant; placing it around her neck with the first one.

“You hate to give up control and yet you did knowing it was the only way to defeat the creature. Now, take my stone and search forth the final power.”

And just as she had come, she was gone.