I believe I told this story as a comment in someone's blog post somewhere, but... here goes. I'm rewinding a bit, though the true panicking moment was after I had all of the tears collected. I remember most of the details as usually these moments are... unforgettable.
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I think my closest call was in Din's Silent Realm. I had all but two tears--the remaining two were amongst the high altitude in the east, where you'd have to dash up the slope in order to retrieve them. I dreaded for the worst, because there were both those poe-looking things as well as waking water (as far as my memory serves me, I think I recall there being both) on the slope. Well, I was stopping on the wooden platform halfway up the slope in order for my stamina meter to refill because I did not want to have to go out of my way to risk getting caught over a stamina fruit... and, one of the poes caught glimpse of me.
I took off for the tear closest to me, which ended up being downhill a tad to my left. With a sigh of relief, I made it. I braced myself for the rest of the way. And... with my luck, I was once again noticed--the preceding tears in this Silent Realm, I had much better luck with... Well, anyways, by the time I made it to the top of the hill, there was a guardian at the top, waiting for me. I made a sharp turn right, picked up the tear, and took a deep breath. My hands were trembling and my heart was racing. I gripped my Wii remote so tightly that I assume my knuckles were white.
Well, on my way back down... let's say I've always had a bit of difficulty steering downhill, so--of course--I accidentally slide into waking water. I literally recall yelping in frustration. Like, come on! I have all of the tears! Just let me make it safely back to the trial gate!. As soon as I reached to bottom of the hill, I took off like a maniac. I felt the determination show on my face. Just a little further... And... right there. As I arrived at the gate... there was a freaking guardian right between me and the trail gate--my only way out! And--something incredible happened. I acted on whim, darted right at the guardian. Somersaulted right under him and made it to the gate. (Closest call, I swear... gawsh, horrible experience) I was... I was shaking so badly for at least ten to twenty minutes after that. I was just upset that I did all of that for a pair of earrings... ¬_¬
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My sister was watching me the entire time, as I need her encouragement for me to do the Silent Realms or else I would have never done them. xD Well, anyways, she was constantly reminding me of how slowly the guardians move. That if I were to get caught, it'll take a while for them to catch up to me. So, I learned to pace myself with the stamina meter, go a bit, ease off, go some more... and so on. That was really useful in Goddess's Silent Realm as I also was running for my life after I had collected all of the tears. ;/ I seriously hugged my sister gleefully after I cleared Din's Silent Realm successfully. I was so... happy. :>