The exit to Hyrule Field from the Ordon Village/Faron Woods region is behind the lantern guy’s shop. As Link heads into the field, he fights mostly Bokoblins, with the occasional Kargaroc swooping in, or at night, canine skeletal Stalhounds. There are also Bomskits running around the area, but they don’t seem to pose any threat to Link if he leaves them alone. If he kills one, they leave behind worms that can be used as fishing bait, but I’ll worry about that when I come to it. More interesting in the area are the collectibles: a heart piece in a tree that can be retrieved via the Gale Boomerang, and two Golden Beetles (one each male and female) Link can pick off trees in the region. Link’s quest item screen has a section devoted to Golden Bugs, 24 spots in total, so this is a collection sidequest.
As Link prepares to head toward Kakariko Village, someone calls to him. It’s a postman, warning him about the curtain of twilight that has the village blocked off. This makes the postman’s job harder since he can’t get to the village. He hands Link a letter (vocalizing the lesser item get jingle), which is an introduction to the postman’s services. The postman runs off, and Link heads to the curtain. Midna pulls Link through, and he becomes the wolf again.
A little ways into the twilight, Link finds the wooden sword he gave Talo. From the surrounding area, he picks up the scents of Talo, Malo, Beth, and Colin – Ilia’s not among them, but four of the five is better than none. Just short of the village, Link kills another trio of shadow beings, then notices the bridge across the gorge just outside the village is missing. Midna decides they need to find it, so she has Link get out his map (somehow). Everywhere Link’s fought the shadow beings, they’ve left behind a portal after being defeated. With her help, Link can warp between them. The bridge is in North Faron Woods, near Trill’s shop, but I warped Link to South Faron Woods, meaning he had to cross the purple fog area again. Afterward the crossing, Link fought a Poe, then took the Poe’s soul from its remains; this also seems to be a collection sidequest, although I don’t know how many there are. I’ll guess 100 because of Skulltulas and Kinstones. On finding the bridge, Midna teleports it and Link back to the gorge.
Link has to dig under a gate to enter Kakariko Village, and there’s another shadow being fight before he can reach the spring and talk to the light spirit. Once again, he has to gather the Tears of Light by defeating shadow insects. In the first building on the right, Link can detect the spirit of a man looking out the window, who mentions babysitting. Midna leads him into the house, they find the four children whose scent Link picked up, plus another girl, and two adults. Barnes, the man looking out the window, can’t see the shadow beings anymore, and he gets a little too detailed about how bad things can get, including a mention of the fates of some of the villagers, until Renado, the other man, tells him to stop. Barnes asks if there’s anywhere safer they can hide, at least, and Renado mentions the cellar and how to open it, but the girl says she saw shadow insects inside. Barnes’ ramblings terrified Beth into tears, so Colin tries to calm her, and seems to succeed a little bit when he says Link is coming.
The hunt for the insects starts in the cellar and passes through the village graveyard. Most of the rest are in various buildings around the village, including the Elde Inn and Barnes Bomb Shop. There are also some in the bomb shop storage house, and getting them out of the fireplace requires lighting the fireplace, which turns out not to be the best idea in a house used to store explosives. It does kill all the insects in the shed, but Midna mocks Link for Harry Dresdening the building. The last three are up on Death Mountain, which the Gorons have apparently closed off to humans. But Link’s invisible to the spirits at the moment, so he can freely go up to hunt. Along with the remaining insects, Link finds one of the stones the golden wolf/undead warrior told him to look for, and upon howling the correct notes, opens a cutscene where he and the golden wolf howl. This sequence is very reminiscent of the duets between Sheik and Link in Ocarina, and the song is the Song of Healing from Majora’s Mask. The golden wolf tells Link, “Let teachings of old pass to you… Take sword in hand and find me…” and marks a spot on the map in Ordon’s spring. There’s also another shadow being fight here that opens a portal.
Next: Reunions.
