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Prologue

Lightning struck the ground nearby as a young girl, 15 at the most, drug herself across the ground as the heavens released their tears upon her. She had ruby red eyes, bloodshot from crying, and pure white hair. A riding cloak covered her head and body, but it was eventually soaked through, and her entire body was drenched from the heavy rains.

She collapsed on the ground, panting and sweating from pain. Her left leg was broken, and it made travel very difficult. It forced her to crawl along the ground, using her muscular arms to drag her body. She couldn’t go any further. The girl closed her eyes, forcing back tears. The only thing she could do was wait for death to come for her soul.

Her entire village was destroyed and its people dead. Her mother, father, brothers, sisters, friends, and everyone else…they were all dead. Dead was what the girl guessed, since they had all disappeared, leaving her in a destroyed village. It looked as if the village had been pillaged. Most of the houses were burnt down, and the fields and training area were also destroyed. Only the Gerudos would do something like that, but they wouldn’t destroy an entire village for jewels or force the village’s entire population to disappear of the face of the Earth.

So she was alone. A loner, the last of her race. The only place the girl could think to go to was Hyrule castle, since the Sheikah have served the Royal Family since the beginning of time. But she didn’t have any strength left, and she was settled in front of the castle gate, back propped up against the stone wall.

Her elfin ears perked up, picking up the sounds of voices, but they sounded dim, and getting dimmer. They were going away from her. There was possibly no hope now. In the morning they would find her dead. Her eyes slid closed once more, and the girl gave in, allowing the darkness to take over her mind. She fell into unconsciousness.



And yes, it screwed up my triforce thing, but oh well! More, more, more!!! xd 'Bout time, too, huh?



“Yes sir, we found her unconscious by the front gate.” A voice declared.

“And you’re sure that she’s the last Sheikah?” A majestic voice asked, clearly unsure. That had to be the King.

The girl’s stomach clenched at that statement. She hated being reminded of that, but she refused to show these people that she was awake. She’ll wait and see what they have to say.

“Yes sir. The entire village is destroyed. And she looks like a Sheikah. I personally think she might be Impa, the daughter of the Skeikhan chief.” This third voice was gruffer than the others.

“Yes…” The King sounded thoughtful. “The chief did have a daughter around this girl’s age didn’t he?” It wasn’t a question. It was more of a thought, like the King was talking to himself.

The girl, who really was Impa, decided to act like she was finally waking up. She stirred a bit, sighing, stretching, and rolling over to face the wall. The three voices, which were whispering amongst themselves at that time, stopped talking. One of the voices, the clueless sounding one, finally declared, “She’s awake.”

“It wouldn’t take a genius to figure that out, numbskull.” The gruff voice said dully.

Impa nearly gasped out from shock when a hand roughly grabbed her shoulder and flipped her over. She starred wide-eyed up into piercing orange eyes set in an extremely tan face. Gerudo… Impa thought bitterly.

“Ganondorf, don’t be so rough.” The King reprimanded. “She’s still resting.”

“Terribly sorry, your Highness.” Ganondorf muttered.

The King waved off Ganondorf’s attitude and turned to Impa. “So, how’re you feeling miss?” He asked, smiling gently.

Impa sat up stiffly. “Better than before, thanks to you.” She replied.

“Actually, it was Ganondorf and Helios who found you.” The King admitted. “They brought you here to be cared for. Tell us, what’s your name?”

Impa looked from the King’s kind face, to Ganondorf’s face, which was void of any emotion, to who had to be Helios. He was smiling at her, and he had kind blue eyes and dirty blonde hair that fell into his face. “Impa.” She replied after a while.

Helios nodded and walked up to the bed. He crouched down so he was level with Impa, and asked, “You’re the daughter of the Shiekhan chief, Zemnan, right?” Impa nodded. “That’s what I thought.” Helios stood up. “Your Highness, if I may, could you give me permission to try and track down her people?”

“It’s a waste of time and effort Helios,” Ganondorf said from the other side of the room. “They’re gone, and any traces of where they might have went would have burned in the fires.”

Helios didn’t loose his determined expression. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll never know what happened if we never look. Your Highness, please!” He sounded desperate. “If Lara and Link went missing, you’d let me try to find them. It’s no different with Impa. She just lost her whole family!”

The King sighed. “Yes, I would let you look for Lara and your son--” He cut off, glancing at Impa, who had cleared her throat.

“If it helps, every Tuesday we would go to the basin by the Zora river.” She said, praying to Din that the information she just passed would help find her family.

“That’s a good head!” Helios turned to the King. “Permission to take a few of my men to investigate?”

“Permission granted. Just be careful, there is a war going on after all.” The King said, taking a few minutes to think.

“Thank you!” Helios bowed shortly, then turned and rushed out of the room.

“Ganondorf, you are dismissed as well.” The King nodded curtly to Ganondorf, who also turned and left the room in a rush.

“Now, I have a request for you, Miss Impa.” The King held out his hand to help the girl stand up. “The princess has been rather fussy of late, and no matter what I, or any of the nursemaids do, she won’t stop crying.”

“I’d be glad to help, after all, you’ve already done so much for me.” Impa said shyly.

“Helios is like that. He’s the hero, that’s for sure. If there’s ever anyone in trouble, enemy or not, he has to help them, no question about it.” The King laughed. “That’s why I look up to him. He’s my head of the soldiers in war, and he also has a family to take care of. He’s very reliable, that’s for sure.”

Impa remembered Helios saying something about Lara and Link, so she figured that was his “family”. A wife and a son. To her, it didn’t get any simpler than that. Her family consisted of her, her father, mother, and brother. The Shiekhan always considered her very wise for her age, and she knew that she was an excellent fighter with her fists, kunai, and katana. To top that off, she could even wound an enemy with shuriken throwing stars, tiny stars that fit in small pouch attached around the thigh.

Impa had never been a building as grand as the castle, so of course, it was natural to look around the halls in awe. Candles lit up the dark halls, shadows playing on the walls, and there was an occasional side table with a flower vase on it. They finally stopped in front of an old wooden door, lighter knots running through the wood. Impa could hear a faint crying of a baby coming from inside. She glanced up at the King, who was smiling encouragingly at her. Impa reached out, hesitant at first, then firmly gripped the bronze handle and opened the door.

The small room was lightly furnished with an elegant look. There was a table with two cushioned chairs, a small couch by the door, with end tables on both sides, and in the middle of the room, on an exotic rug from the desert, was a white crib, complete with frills and ribbon.

“Go ahead.” The King’s voice was very quiet to Impa’s ears.

Impa moved forward towards the crib. She lightly laid her hand on the smooth wood and peered over the edge, around the frills of the hood. Nestled inside of the blankets was a small girl, peering up at the new face with wide, curious blue eyes. She had light blonde hair and a small nose to match. The Princess let out a gurgle.

Impa smiled gently and turned to the King, “What’s her name?”

“Princess Zelda.” The King replied. “You may pick her up.”

Impa gently untangled Zelda from the blankets and held her close, rocking back and forth. Impa softly hummed a lullaby her mother had used for her and her brother a long time ago. It was a soothing song, hummed or played on piano or ocarina, or even a harp, and her mother had even had the same song sung to her when she was a babe. According to Impa’s mother, her great-grandmother had written it for her daughters and sons.

Impa hadn’t been humming long before Zelda closed her eyes and dozed off, letting out a content sigh. Impa lowered the sleeping Princess back into the crib, tucking the blanket around her. She turned back to the King, only to find him starring at her in shock.

“Amazing!” He whispered. “I had the best of my nursemaids try to get her to sleep, and all it took was a song and a fifteen year old Shiekhan.”

Impa blushed. “It’s not that great of a feat. My mother used to put us to sleep with the same song.”

“Then it must have been magic.” The King declared. “Come now, young lady, you definitely deserve a hot dinner. You must be starving.”
Truthfully, Impa was starving. It seemed like ages to her since she ate last, but she had eaten before falling asleep that fateful night she woke up alone in a burning village. Her stomach let out an upset rumble, and she wrapped her arms around her stomach, blushing as the King let out a laugh.

“Yes, follow me. I’ll take you to the kitchen, and our cooks can fix you up anything you feel like.”

“Rosemary tea, if you have any,” Impa said. Rosemary was always her favorite drink, especially when she was sick. It was the perfect tea for sore throats. “And some ham sounds good.”

“Of course we have Rosemary. It was my wife’s favorite. And I’m sure we have some beans to spare to go with that ham of yours.”

Was? “That sounds wonderful.” Impa said with a smile. Is the Queen with us no longer? Since when did that happen?

The kitchen was just as grand as the two rooms Impa had been in already. It had a magnificent chandelier handing from the center of the room, and a table under it, decked out with food on big, silver platters. Silverware, wrapped in deep burgundy, cloth napkins were stacked up on the other side of the table. She could smell food cooking in another part of the room, blocked from sight by a wall painted light blue.

“Take a seat, and I’ll notify the cooks.” The King disappeared behind the wall.

Impa listened hard, trying to hear the dim voices from behind the wall as she took a seat in the cushioned chair. She managed to pick a few words out, but she couldn’t tell what they were saying. She shook her head, white ponytail slapping the side of her head as she did so. Eavesdropping wasn’t right, she scolded herself. It’s obviously a private matter that she had no business in listening in on.