It started with a simple mission: rescue Aryll. Things got more complicated as soon as he stepped foot on that pirate ship. Now he was deep in yet another dungeon trying to awaken an ancient magical sword and "awaken" the first of two sages so that his magic sword can defeat a really old man. If his mission became any more complicated, Link would scream.

Link banished those thoughts from his mind. For the sake of his sanity, Link decided to focus purely on the task at hand. Unlike the dungeons from the game he played back at Outset, these dungeons took days to complete. This dungeon alone took a full week so far. They had to set up camp just outside the temple. Although enemies routinely reentered previously cleared rooms, the puzzles fortunately chose to stay solved. Each venture inside the temple required a careful balance between rest and progress and the balance became more important the deeper they got inside the temple.

Just one more puzzle. Link knew both he and Medli were getting exhausted, but there was no time to rest. They were so close to the boss and so far from the exit. To go back now meant trekking through miles of corridors likely repopulated with various enemies by now. To continue meant risking failure, and death, but also promised the reward of a quick teleportation outside.

Link took command of Medli and had her fly to a switch. His exhaustion was now compounded by hers and was now literally draining the life from him. By the time she reached the switch, he was down to his last quarter heart with no potions, soup, or fairies in stock. He barely had enough time to have her step on the oversized button before an enemy snuck up behind his vulnerable body.

With a quick swipe of a blade, the lone blin took away Link's last quarter heart. His body crumpled to the ground. With that, the invisible link between the Hylian and the Rito was severed.

And yet, Link lived. While his body lay collapsed before the celebrating swine, he still had control of the young Rito girl.

Link tried to relinquish control, unaware of what happened. After a few minutes of failed attempts, Link collapsed. He laid there, letting the strength slowly return to the avian body. After what felt like hours, Link flew to his body. By now, the blin had left with Link's Hylian head as a trophy.

"Now what?" Medli thought, trying to regain some control of her body. Link simply took the equipment from the corpse and continued toward the boss room.

"I guess you're right." Medli sighed, "We have a job to do."

The boss itself wasn't hard. Shine light on it, toss it into the spikes, slay as many of its mini-form as possible, and repeat. It wasn't as hard as that Ghoma thing or even that giant flower. As soon as Link grabbed the heart piece, they had time to focus on their current problem.

"This is bad." Medli thought, "I need to stay here, but you still need to awaken the other sage."

Link simply entered the glowy circle and teleported out of the dungeon. Medli mistook it as a sign of his determination, but Link simply wanted to get out of that temple as soon as possible. Who builds temples like that? A simple structure, a big room and a few others would have sufficed. Why the maze? Why the deathtraps? Who does that? It just makes it harder for people to do temple things inside it.

"What now?" Medli asked, "We need to find a replacement to pray inside the temple."

Link let out a scream of frustration. He still had to take the other sage through the next temple and Ganondorf probably had some complicated dungeon of his own. Link shuddered at the idea of going through that dungeon again, escorting another defenseless idiot past countless blins, poes, redeads, and those stupid hand things.

"I am not an idiot." Medli protested, "You have how many weapons and you couldn't hand me one?"

Link ignored her as he walked toward the King of Red Lions.

"How are we going to fix this?"

Link didn't want to think about it at the moment.

"Where's Link?" the King of Red Lions asked, "You know you're not supposed to leave until after Ganondorf was defeated."

Regaining some control of her body, Medli showed him the back of her hand. The Triforce of Courage, bound to Link's spirit and not his flesh, was plainly visible.

"I don't understand. How did you acquire it?"

"Link's gamble didn't pay off." Medli explained, "Tried to control me with just one quarter heart left. One lucky blin later and Link doesn't have a body of his own to return to."

Link tried to regain control of her body, but Medli refused. He was growing frustrated. He was the hero, after all. He had a job to do.

"You may be the hero, but it's my body." Medli told him mentally, "You could have crippled me flying so recklessly."

All he needed was practice. A few days of getting used to this body and he'd fly as good as any bird.

"No." Medli chastised mentally, "You may not realize it, but I have hollow bones. They're built for flight, not durability. You'd get us killed."

Link knew he'd be careful. Besides, he had a job to do.

"Your job can wait." Medli told him, "Besides, how much damage can he do without the triforce? His girl-snatching bird is dead, right? Right?"

Link wanted to tell someone… after he had defeated Ganondorf and would be leaving to look for uncharted lands.

"Tell me what? Did you leave that flying beast alive after you had a chance to finish it off?"

It was a long and tough battle and Link just wanted to finish off Ganondorf. It appeared to explode, though that was just its feathers. It had apparently flown off after eating the monsters in the Forsaken fortress.

"Why am I not surprised?" Medli sighed, "The history of the heroes is filled with cut corners. That's why I'm not tackling any more dungeons until I have my combat skills up to adequate levels."

Link tried desperately to regain control. He made it all the way to this temple without flying. As far as he knew, he didn't need that skill anymore.

"You can't fight like you used to." Medli scolded, "Hollow bones, remember? Besides, this body seems to remember whose body it really is."

Link's frustration was growing. All he cared about now was regaining control and making Medli pay.

Medli ignored him as she climbed onto the boat. She figured Link wouldn't mind her using it. After all, it was more durable than her bones. What's the worst she could do to it that that green-clad idiot wouldn't accidentally do to her? She set sail for Dragon Roost Island. Until she was ready to take on that next dungeon, she was going to live her life. And Link was in for a treat soon. She was going to learn about her changing body and Link has no choice but to see and hear every detail.