**Authors Note** After having completed this story, I am going back to revise and edit previous chapters to make sure they are to the utmost perfection. Much of this story I wrote in past tense, and part of this revise is to write it properly. If you begin reading in the midst of my corrections, please do not be thrown off by the shift from present to past tense. Otherwise, Enjoy this story and please review! I really, truly appreciate it. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Pain. In all my years, I swear I have yet to wake up without some sort of pain or ache. My left arm is searing with pain, and attempting to move it turns out to be a horrid idea. I can feel the sleeves of my tunic sticking to my skin due to the warm blood soaking the wound. I open my eyes, though the second I do, light stings them. The bright lamp in the room renders the lighting nearly unbearable. Who's room is this anyway? And what in the name of Naryu happened that caused me to lose consciousness and nearly my arm? My eyes fall shut again, and that's when I feel the pain surge to my head. Good Goddess, why must I always wake up to such pain? I swear, it's easier to just be paralyzed than to deal with the feeling of it.

The last thing I remember before this room is Kakariko Village.. I was in the grave yard, looking for Dampe. However, that does not explain why my arm feels like someone ran it through with a blade. My eyes close tighter as I try to remember what happened just before my familiar friend unconsciousness took over..

The grass under my boots shifts slightly as I walk through the entrance to the graveyard. The note my employer, Anju, had given me from Dampe crumples tightly in my right hand. I contemplate the graveyard. Why does it feel so unfamiliar today? My eyes narrow at a large grave in the back of the yard. It catches my eye, not only because it is one of the largest tomb stones in the place, but also because it is glowing a faint blue.

Glowing? How can it be glowing? The blue light lingers around it. The blue is so hypnotizing with radiance, it seems I have yet to see a color so divine as this in my entire life. Or have I? How can it be that it some how seems welcoming, some how usual. Whatever the reason; my gut tells me to go to the stone, that it is some how safe.

My feet act before I have the chance to process the thought. The blue is so mesmerizing. Now I can see where the blue radiates from. In front of the tomb there is a symbol; a symbol that I find rather difficult to understand. The symbol is my symbol. It is imprinted on my hand, as what I have just always accepted, is just an enigmatic birth mark. Until it appears before me here on this stone, I have never thought any of the wiser..

A noise from somewhere in the room I occupy brings me back to alertness. I open one eye only slightly, enough to see if anyone else is in the room now. A figure silhouetted by the light approaches me. I cannot tell who it is, even though my eyes have somewhat began to adjust to the light.

"Oh good," A stern voice says in a quiet tone, seemingly not thrilled, "You're awake."

How does she know I am awake? I positively know she hasn't been able to spot my glance. Being curious has taught me how to mimic sleep rather well. I'm not one to brag, but I know I have perfected it. Over hearing confusing conversations is my specialty.

"Impa.." Sighs a sleepy voice somewhere else in the room.

"Yes! I know what I've done! But I did not realize who he was before it was too late!" Hisses the stern voice, still trying to keep a tone some what hushed. She rips through the sleeves of my tunic now. Thank Goddess someone finally comes to notice I am probably going to bleed to death. I am beginning to feel uncomfortable laying in a bed soaked with my blood. She must not have seen me watching her then, she must have spoken to the other girl in the room before. She still believes I am sleeping.. But who is the other woman? And if the one tending to my arm is Impa, then she is certainly not a regular in Castletown or Kakariko. Impa definitely is not a Hylian name. And why should she have been able to recognize me? None of it seems to make any sense.

"If he sees us Impa.." Says the sleepy girl at the other end of the room.

"He won't see us. He's out cold. If he is to wake, I can simply bash him over the head again to make sure of his unconsciousness." Impa mumbles disgusted as she dresses my wound. "I cannot believe I was so mistaken.."

"Anyone could have made that mistake." A rustling of blankets followed by soft footsteps. "Besides," She is now near enough for me to hear her breath as she sighs. "He will be fine. He always is." A hand moves stray pieces of hair away from my face carefully. The gentle hand against my cheek is the last I remember before drifting back to sleep, for real this time.

A Brief Interlude

There is a long pause before Impa speaks again. "Yes, but how many people do you see, Princess, running around Hyrule nearly six feet tall, pretending to be a Kokiri and wearing a foolish green hat?" She grows more frustrated with herself by the minute. Impa finishes changing the bandages on the unconscious boy and faces the blond girl with understanding eyes. What the sages will say when they hear that she nearly maimed the Hero. "Stupid, stupid, stupid.. all of them would be ashamed you even be part of the Sacred Realm. Nearly taking a limb from its Hero.. You don't deserve to even have the title Sage of Shadow for what you've done." She scolds herself.

"Don't beat yourself too hard for this Impa.. It is my fault. I should have known better than to ask the Sages to join me in the tomb. You warned me you have seen the Hero wandering around the stone before curiously. I did not think. And what more were you supposed to do? Allow him to walk in on six of the Sages meeting about his fate? If I only would have listened to you-"

Impa holds up a hand to silence the Princess from speaking any further. Her face focuses on something that seems far off. Her eyes gloss over and she appears in a trance, her hand still hangs in the air as she listens to silence. The sound of metal on metal in the distance sets her teeth on edge.

Impa's head jerks towards the Princess instinctively, her silver hair wrapping around her in the sudden motion. Her eyes widen, telling the Princess a silent message.

The blonde beauty has waited for the signal, but is still at a loss for words. She dives her hand in a small, brown pouch sitting on the table beside the sleeping boy's bed. A few other items clutter the small table, such as a bottle, four Deku nuts, a hook shot, and a wallet. Her fingers curl around a small pink flute and she pulls it out of the bag. Wasting a moment, staring at the flute in confusion, she turns to Impa suddenly. "Where is it?! Why doesn't he have it with him? The plan is to warp the two of us to safety if we have to! Where is it?" Her voice fills with panic.

The woman calmly slides her hand into a white leather pouch wrapped around her hips and retrieves the bright blue ocarina. She tosses it to the Princess in one swift motion. She unfastened her white pouch and hands that over as well. "Just in case." She explains.

The girl adjusts the pouch around her hips and brings the ocarina to her lips. The triangular symbol on her right hand illuminates as the ocarina sings. Placing her free hand on the wounded boy, she plays a common tune. In a few moments, a golden light wraps around her and the boy. Just before the two warp, the Princess catches a glimpse of Impa drawing her rapier and running for the door.

Chapter One Continued

Lost in thought, I stare at the mark on my hand, then back to the other glowing on the stone. I try to make sense of what is happening. And that blue.. the blue I swear I have seen some where before..

There is a rustle of grass behind me. I turn to see a dark blue and a flash of silver as a blade pierces through my arm. I look to see the woman who has just ran me through, looking horrified as she sees my face. She rips the blade out and I fall to my knees in pain. Lifting the hilt above my head, she smashes it down and everything fades black.

"Impa!"

Impa.. such an unusual name. No matter how unusual, like many things I have happened upon recently, it never fails to seem so familiar.