As the World Falls Down

by: Eastbrook

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."

- Charles A. Beard


It was nearly past sunset; the sky was painted a soft shade of purple with the faint twinkling of stars visible to those who looked hard enough. Torches flared around her, orange flames dancing exotically in the cool, summer breeze. A shiver danced up her spine, despite her best efforts to quell it.

She stood, as stiff as an stick, well at least she was supposed to be. She resembled a stock of grass more than a stick, but for Impa that definitely was a feat. Her attire consisted of little more than a tunic and leggings, with a simple leather cord used to cinch the waist. No weapons adorned her belt and no quiver hung upon her back. She was completely unarmed and unequipped, leaving her feeling pretty much naked.

Well, truthfully, she wasn't totally unadorned. Around her neck hung a simple golden necklace with an emerald pendant. For some odd reason, one she couldn't quite explain, she hadn't wanted to take it off. The elders had frowned upon her keeping the unnecessary article on, but she had merely told them the clasp was broken and she didn't want to break it. They had grumbled a bit, but eventually conceded after making sure there was no magic instilled in the object.

She fumbled with the pendant idly, as she tried to keep her eyes focused ahead of her. It was hard though, as the more she stared forward, the more and more nervous she got, and the more nervous she got, the more and more she tended to fidget which was exactly what she wasn't supposed to be doing. Reverent and still, that was what her father had told her to be. Too bad, he had forgotten that his daughter had ants forever crawling about her pants. It was about as easy for her to stay motionless as it was to get the Gerudo to wear dresses.

A gravelly voice was speaking behind her, reading words from some ancient text that she couldn't understand. The words seemed to melt into the night air and echo into the sky, only to bounce back at her from all angles. She strained to understand the spoken jargon, but it was all lost on her. She really should have paid more attention during Shelia's lessons.

After returning from the desert, and after being thoroughly scolded by her father for running off and not telling him where she was going, she was swept up in the flurry that was preparing for her Ordeal. Though, it wasn't for quite some time, her father felt that Impa needed a little additional training to get her through the Temple. She was, of course, insulted at the mere suggestion of incompetence, but her father would hear none of it. Mind, body, and soul had to be working together in harmony to lead her successfully though the Shadow Temple, and by thunder, she was going to be the most harmonized Sheikah ever.

Three lessons, six days a week, eighteen hours a day. That left her with six hours each night to do as she pleased, which meant she would instantly collapse on her bed and lapse into unconsciousness. It wasn't like her marathon of training really left her with the desire to do anything else but slip into oblivion.

The three lessons consisted of mind, with Sheila, who just happened to be Barik's mother, and the most nitpicky woman on the face of the earth. Shelia was a corpulent woman with violently red, curly hair and thick hands, which she would utilize readily if she thought Impa wasn't paying complete and total attention to every syllable that slipped from her mouth. Body with Akhil, who also just happened to be her father, as well as leader of the Sheikah. He was a stern man, with a severe precision complex when it came to the art of fighting. There was only perfect in his fighting vocabulary, not okay, not good, not even great. Only perfect, and if it wasn't perfect it wasn't anything, and if it wasn't anything then she had to do it over and over until it was something. Needless to say, after awhile it became rather tedious as she had to guess what his vision of perfect was, because he always forgot to fill her in on that one little detail. Lastly and certainly least was soul, with Old Matron Ratha, who was probably the most boring woman to ever exist on the face of the planet. She just sat here, Indian style, eyes fluttering and hands rested peacefully in her lap. She spoke in a horribly monotone voice that made Impa want to space out at even the thought of it. All they ever did was sit there and pray or something. Impa wasn't really sure. Ratha would chant something in Ancient Sheikah and Impa would mumble it back to her, since she hadn't been paying attention in Shelia's lessons, so she really didn't know any ancient Sheikah at all.

Basically, it was just a big mess and Impa was enormously glad it was all over with. That was until she remembered that it wasn't all over with. Not in the least. The tedious part may be over, but the hardest lay ahead of her. The Shadow Temple, a dark and forbidding place, full of dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, still lay ominously ahead of her.

She sucked in a breath, attempting to be quiet, but not really succeeding. Not that anyone was paying attention to her anyway. The rest of the Sheikah were all spellbound with the words spoken by the man behind her. That man being her father. This was the part where he told the story of the Shadow Temple or was it the part where he spoke of the responsibilities of an adult Sheikah? She couldn't quite remember and since she couldn't understand what he was saying, there was no way for her to find out.

After a few more minutes his words ended and silence fell upon the graveyard once more. Weird place to have any ceremony that isn't a funeral, now that she thought about it. But, the silence was her cue, and she pushed those silly thoughts out of her head.

Swallowing hard, Impa turned to her father and dropped down on one knee. His large, calloused hand gripped her hair lightly, as he read dialogue from the Book of Mudora, an ancient Sheikah manuscript. For once in her life, Impa didn't move at all. She just knelt there, knowing fully well that the Ordeal was no joke. This wasn't something she could just screw up. She had to pass or she would be dishonored or dead. Of course, the Sheikah always felt that dishonor was a far worse punishment in comparison to death. Impa, on the other hand, didn't care for either, so she rather it not come down to a choice between the two.

His gruff voice died off after finishing the dialogue, and he motioned for Impa to rise. She then turned her back to the cave and looked toward her people. They all raised their hands to the sky and said something in the Ancient Language. Something like "Go with honor, return with wisdom," or something along those lines. Again, Impa hadn't really paid any mind. But, as she returned her attention to the entrance, she was kinda wishing that she had…

Her father repeated the saying to her, hand clasping her shoulder tightly. She looked at him, her crimson eyes locking with his own. There was a flash of compassion, hidden in their depths, but it was gone quicker that it had appeared. He then nodded to her and motioned towards the entrance.

Impa sucked in as much air as she could possibly manage and then heaved it out. This was it, this was the point of no return. She didn't chance a glance back, knowing it was probably against protocol anyway.

Squaring her shoulders, she stepped forward towards the cave, and within moments, she was swallowed up by the blackness. Ah, did she mention she hated the dark? No? She wished she had a torch or a candle or anything actually. Anything that emitted enough light to stand a chance against the suffocating black that surrounded her.

She couldn't even see the stairwell that she was walking down, all she knew was that the stairs were indeed there. She began down them slowly, trying desperately not to panic. She reached her arms out, only to find nothingness on both sides and no banister. Figured, of course. Well, she'd have to take it slowly, it would suck to fall down the stairs and crack her head open before she even got into the temple.

She continued down the stone stairway bit by bit, the air growing cooler and staler the further down she traveled. A slight shiver traveled up her spine, and Impa wrapped her arms around her middle. Though, truth be told, she couldn't be certain if the shiver was from the cold or the atmosphere of the place.

The air reeked, it smelled kinda like Barik's socks after he had worn them for awhile. But, the atmosphere, man, if anything in Hyrule was creepier than this place, she really didn't want to see it. She could feel the death lingering in the air, weighing it down. It really was odd, that even though the air was cool, it still felt humid. Beads of cold sweat were beginning to form on Impa's brow, and she hadn't even reached the temple entrance yet.

Fortunately, after walking for a minute or so more, the stairwell began to lighten. Before her, in a large cavernous room, there were about a hundred or so torches, all lit and flickering wickedly. On top of that, inscribed upon the floor in consecutive circles, was, what she was guessing, Ancient Sheikah writing. She be damned if she actually knew what they said, but they seemed to glitter oddly in the lamplight, as if magic was infused in the ancient scrawl.

Impa stared around in wonder, her crimson eyes glistening in the firelight. Who'd have thought there would be something this cool in the Temple of Uber Creepiness. Her lips quirked at that thought. But, they stopped when her focus once more returned to straight ahead of her.

The entrance to the Shadow Temple loomed before her. It was dark, obviously, hence the Shadow Temple title. It was also large, and ominous, and menacing and creepy and sinister and every other synonym to those words. There were no more steps, thank Nayru, but there was that same overpowering blackness that had resided quite thickly on the stairs. She grimaced. It didn't really look like there was any lighting in there at all. Now, that just would not do.

She turned back around and stepped over to one of the torches. Come on, there were at least a hundred of them, it probably wouldn't matter if she took just one. She'd even bring it back after she was done. Okay, no that was a lie. There was no way in hell she was coming back in here if she managed to complete her Ordeal. She'd have Barik, or one of the twins bring it back. She'd just have to question their masculinity and they'd come leaping in here happily.

Breathing in deeply, Impa gripped the nearest torched and pulled. And pulled…and pulled again. Nothing. It didn't even budge an inch. She groaned and let go. That wasn't something she had been expecting. She looked around, hoping to see a stick or something, anything that she could possibly light on fire to provide some light. Again, nothing. Damn whoever cleaned this place.

She pawed at the wood again, trying to see if there was something she could work with. It seemed normal enough, and knocking on it produced a dull, hollow sound. Maybe, she could break it? Was that against the rules? She glanced at the thick darkness that lingered beyond the entrance and realized she didn't even care. There was no way in hell she was going in there without a light.

She braced the torch with two hands, one near the top and one closer to the bottom, and the proceeded to place her foot between the two. Farore, she hoped this worked. Sucking in another breath, she pulled her foot back and kicked the shaft with all her might. A loud crack was her reward, as the torch snapped in two, leaving a splintered stick sticking from the ground.

"Hah!" She cried, raising the torch triumphantly above her head. Unfortunately, her victory was cut short by a low rumbling.

She leapt away from the now broken torch and looked around frantically. The ground was vibrating slightly and the noise only continued to get louder. What in the name of the three goddesses was going on? The noise seemed to be coming from one of the walls, but it was impossible to tell which. The ancient writing below her flickered slightly and then suddenly went out completely. That probably wasn't good.

One by one, the torches around her started going out, slow and first and then picking up speed. Impa watched in terrified wonder, not quite sure how to react. It wasn't until she realized that the door to the Shadow Temple was lowering, and beginning to pick up speed that she shot into action.

Steadying her grip on her new torch, she ran for the doorway and slid underneath. She whirled around, watching as the final torches disappeared from view as the door slammed shut. Dust spewed out, hitting her full on in the face and launching her into a coughing fit. She dropped the torch and furiously scrubbed at her eyes as the coughing subsided and the previously loud rumbling faded into silence.

After a few minutes, when she finally managed to rub most of the dust out of her eyes, she opened them hesitantly. She released a breath, when she saw the torch still flickering on the ground. That could have seriously sucked.

She picked up the precious light and finally took a minute to take in her surroundings. Actually, it probably would have been a better idea to do that right away…

The room was big and, thankfully, empty. It was cave-like in appearance, with dull brown walls and a limitless ceiling that faded into nothingness. A few tunnels shot off from the room leading into, you guessed it, blackness. Impa stared up in awe at the ceiling, wondering just how far up it went. It couldn't be that far since the temple was underground, but then again, anything was possible.

See the thing about the Shadow Temple was that it manifested one's deepest fears. So there was a great deal of magic that went into the whole thing. Impa's fear of the dark was an obvious factor in the whole thing, since everything was…well, dark. She lucked out with the torch, which staved off that fear. However, the temple didn't just manifest a person's known fears, but their subconscious ones, as well. All that added to a heap of trouble, but she seemed to have an edge so far.

Impa swallowed hard and took a few steps forward. There were five tunnels in all, all perfectly identical. Shrugging her shoulders, she started off down the first one. Might as well, she could always turn around if it didn't work out.

Well, it seemed that four out of the five tunnels didn't quite work out, all leading straight into dead ends. This served only to annoy Impa to no end and she stalked down the fifth tunnel only to find that that too was a dead end. She whipped around and stormed back into the main room. This wasn't funny at all. She was stuck in the first room. Maybe, she had triggered something by pulling out the torch. The rumbling had been awfully loud. She could be stuck in here, with no way out. Would they come look for her if she didn't come out? No, no they wouldn't. They'd just assume she had died and leave her here to rot. Her father would probably disown her and her mother would let him! Not only would she die of starvation in this stupid temple but she'd be written out of the books, as well.

She let out a whimper and sank to the floor. This was horrible. She should have paid more attention during all those lessons. Maybe, something they had said could have helped her. That old crack Ratha had probably given her the solution during one of her unintelligible chants and Impa hadn't paid enough attention during Shelia's lessons to make any word of it. It was all her fault that she was going to rot. There was….

…there was a disembodied hand climbing up her leg. She screamed loudly and leapt from the floor. The tiny hand fell off her leg and landed on it…well, it's back on the ground. It flipped upward and stopped moving. Impa stared down at it in complete shock. What the in Din's name was that thing? Where had it come from? She looked around, checking to see that there were a thousand more of those things wandering around. There wasn't. There was just that one little, purple hand just sitting there.

"Um, hello?" She said, hesitantly. The hand twitched a little.

"Hi…little hand, do you, um, well, do you know how to get out of here?" The hand didn't move and most certainly didn't respond. Stupid Impa, what the hell did she thing it was going to do, talk back?

She nudged it with her foot and, suddenly, it gripped her ankle. Hard. She screamed again and shook her leg. The hand flew off and slammed into the wall, dissipating into ashes.

That was weird. She walked toward the wall and stared at the remains on the ground. What was she supposed to do now? She turned away from the wall, confused and a little spooked. Only to come face to face with another hand. Except this hand wasn't tiny. No, this hand was freaking huge. Freaking huge and it was coming straight for her.

Impa ran, choosing a tunnel at random and racing down it. She looked over her shoulder, seeing the giant hand gaining on her. This was bad, this was very, very…

Impa tripped over something and was sent hurtling toward the floor. She flipped over just in time to see a door slam shut behind her and metal bars slide down across it. Well, now if that wasn't sheer dumb luck, she didn't know what was. She could hear the hand scratching at the other side of the door in vain and she laughed triumphantly.

"Hah! What are you going to do now, huh?" She jumped up and yelled through the door. Feeling quite pleased with herself, she turned around to inspect the new room. Apparently, one of the dead ends had been a ruse. Sneaky temple. The room was another cave, round and much smaller, though, and adorned with four torches. Since she had abandoned her own torch in her fervor, she was a bit relieved to see that this place did have some light. Thank the goddesses.

There was a door directly across from her. Save for that and the torches there was nothing else in the room. Impa eyed the door wearily. She'd been nonchalant before, but those disturbing hands had spooked her thoroughly. After staring at the door for a few minutes, she deemed that it wasn't going to attack her. She walked across the room and reached for the handle. Just at that moment several bars, identical to other door's slid across it.

Uh-oh. That could not mean anything good. She turned slowly, fully expecting to see an even bigger hand poised to smoosh her into a little Sheikah pancake, but there was nothing. Just the sound of the flickering torches. Of course, that served only to scare her more. She took a cautious step away from the door, when she felt a strange pinching sensation near her foot.

Another hand. It was little, like the other one, except this one was white. Impa shook her leg furiously, poising to obliterate it to ashes like the other one. The hand pulled from the ground reveling a sallow arm sticking out from the ground. This, of course, led to more screaming and violent leg shaking. The arm finally let go, sending Impa careening backwards into something rather cushy. The cushy thing screamed loudly, sounding far too much like a million babies screaming.

Impa covered her ears and stumbled forward. She dodged a reaching white hand and braced herself against the wall. Quickly, she turned around. She instantly wished she hadn't. The most disgusting thing Impa had ever seen was slithering towards her. It looked like a giant mutilated snow man, oozing with white puss and blood with bulging black eyes. Oh, and Farore, did it smell!

Impa gagged and pressed herself against the wall. Okay, okay, don't panic. Panicking will not help anything. The nasty snowman was slowly getting closer and the smell was soon overpowering her. She had to get to the other side of the room. Quickly, she began to slide along the wall towards the other side. More white hands broke through the ground, reaching, groping for her. The gross snowman turned slowly, bubbling and farting as it did so. She retched and scanned the room. There had to be something, anything to save her from a nasty and slimy death.

The thing was getting close again and Impa scooted along the wall, suddenly crashing against something hard. The torches! She grabbed at the wall torch and yanked. Thankfully, this one was not rooted to the wall and came off easily. Without even pausing, she hurled it at the thing.

It screamed again, it's flesh beginning to sizzle. Gradually, it melted into a large white puddle of absolute grossness and was absorbed into the ground. The white hands slithered back into their holes, as they closed over them. The bars over the doors slipped back into the walls, leaving both entrances free.

Impa released a sigh and slid down the wall. Okay, yeah, so that was absolutely disgusting. The stench still lingered in the air and the ground was still damp. Wait, there was something there. In the center of where the puddle was, was a quiver of arrows.

She stared at it curiously, half expecting it to be a hallucination. She pushed off from the ground and walked over. No, it was still there, complete with about fifteen arrows. Impa nudged it with her foot. It certainly felt like a normal quiver of arrows. She scanned the room once, before she quickly scooped it up. Nothing happened, no rumbling, no creepy hands, not giant blob of nastiness. Thank Din.

She slung the quiver over her shoulder and looked around for the bow. It was no where to be seen. Well, that was wildly inconvenient. It would be a little awkward stabbing at things with just arrows. Then again, she really shouldn't be complaining.

Deciding she was quite done with this room, she walked toward the door. Tentatively, she reached for the handle. No bars, nothing. She turned it and opened the door. Stretched out before her was an enormous cavern. A pathway curved through craggy rocks, to a docking area. A rather dodgy looking river flowed past leading to only Nayru knows where. There was a huge ship docked, complete with a sail. Things just kept getting weirder and weirder.

Impa warily followed the path, occasionally stopping to look all around her. She was definitely through with getting attacked by creepy hands. Once was enough for any sane human being, two was most certainly pushing it, a third time might just throw her over the edge.

Finally, she reached the boat. Staring up at it, she still didn't know quite what to make of it. However, there didn't seem anywhere else to go. She definitely wasn't backtracking.

She pulled an arrow out of her quiver and readied it in her head. Cautiously, she tiptoed up the gangplank. She leapt onto the boat and spun around, arrow brandished. Nothing again. All this nothing was starting to make her extremely nervous, but maybe, just maybe, she was passed the hardest part.

She sighed and lowered her arrow, but did not put it back in the quiver. There was no telling what was lurking on the boat. Hesitantly, she walked toward the front of the ship. The wheel was big and awkward looking. Then, of course, Impa realized she had no idea how to maneuver a boat. She walked over and gripped the wheel, turning it all the way to the left and then all the way to the right. The ship did not move, it didn't even make a noise. It just sat there, rocking in the water. She kicked the wheel, hit the wheel, pulled and pushed on the wheel. Still nothing.

She angrily looked up at the sail, which was hanging limply. What in Farore's name was she supposed to do now? She kicked the wheel again, just for measure. Something clicked, very loudly, and the boat jolted forward. Impa fell against the wheel, as the boat propelled itself forward. The sails billowed out in an nonexistent wind.

Okay, weird. But, she wasn't going to complain. At least, the ship was moving. She stepped to the edge of the boat and peered over the edge. The water was the color of rust and stained the bottom of the boat. She grimaced and stood up straight. This was just too weird. The tunnel before her was dark, but she could make out hulking shapes near the walls. She backed up and went back to the wheel. Goddesses, she just wanted this to end.

When she thought of her Ordeal she hadn't imagined anything ever remotely close to this. She hadn't really known what to think, but this certainly was not it. Of course, in her own mind, she liked to think it wasn't going to be as hard as everyone said. That was the cocky side of her. She had wanted to whip through this thing in record time and blow everyone way. Judging by the amount of time she spent in the first room, that idea was nothing but a distant dream. It didn't even look like she was going to get out of here anytime in soon. It's not like there was a gleaming sign that declared she was nearing the end.

The boat lurched suddenly and Impa was thrown against the wheel again. Adequately shaken from her thoughts, she looked up. The river continued on before her, but the boat had stopped in another giant cavern. There was a similar dock to the side that led to another path. However, this time she couldn't see where the path led, it disappeared down another dark tunnel.

Impa sighed and pushed away from the wheel and turned to walk down the gangplank. There was a small purple hand standing in her way. Impa shot forward with speed she hadn't expected from herself and impaled the hand. It shuttered and frittered away into ashes. A sly smile slid across her lips. That was too easy. Maybe, she was starting to get the hang of this. She started down the gangplank, a slight swagger to her hips. That was until she heard a strange scratching noise behind her. She froze on the gangplank and glanced over her shoulder.

Dozens, no, there were at least fifty, of giant hands were skittering over the opposite edge of the boat and making a beeline straight for her. She didn't scream this time, she just ran. She ran like Din's holy wrath was at her heels, not really caring where the path led because at least it led away from all those creeping, crawling hands.

Eventually, the end of the path came into sight. A doorway stood in front of her, lit by two purple-flamed torches. Impa didn't stop to consider how weird it was that the flames were purple, she just barreled into the room. The door slammed shut like she had hoped and solid metal bars snake across it. Yes, she was the luckiest woman ever to live.

She leaned forward and rested her palms on her thighs, suddenly appreciating all the grueling practices her father put her through. After a few seconds, she shot straight up, surprised there wasn't a gross snowman sliming down her neck. The room was just like the gross snowman room, round, small, and lit by torches. However, like the torches leading into this room, the flames were purple in hue. That instantly put her on edge.

There was no door at the other side. Instead, in the center of the room was a pedestal with a large, shiny bow placed nicely upon it. Impa perked up, excited to finally have some way of more effectively using her arrows.

She took the remaining few steps to the center of the room and snatched up the bow. When her fingers curled around the smooth wood, she immediately regretted her haste. She just knew something bad was going to happen.

Of course, she was right. The ground opened up beneath her and she fell. She fell into a deep blackness, with air so thick that it swallowed her screams and beat against her. She closed her eyes against the cold darkness and willed herself anywhere else. Din, she'd rather listen to Shelia drone on about Gorons and Zoras and Kokiri and everything else, or her father berate her, or Barik ridicule her, or having him laugh at her. Him with his strange green skin and violently red hair. Those ember eyes smoldered inside her mind and suddenly she felt calm. She could feel the light weight of the golden necklace around her neck and she let go.

She hit the ground and bounced. Once, twice, until her weight finally anchored her. It was cushy. Impa didn't like cushy. The last time she felt cushy, she was almost slimed to death. However, this time, it seemed a lot more harmless.

She was situated in the center of a large purple circle. It was soft, stretchy feeling. It actually reminded her a little of the face of a drum. The rest of the room was bathed in thick blackness. All right…she was almost afraid to think of what she had to do next.

Her new bow had fallen a few feet away. She smiled at it. It really was a beautiful weapon. She crawled over and picked it up. There was ancient Sheikah script scrawled across the polished surface. She'd have to think of a clever way to trick Shelia into telling her what it meant.

Suddenly, the shine on the surface darkened and a shadow loomed over her. She swallowed. Oh Din, not again.

She rolled out of the way just as a massive purple hand slammed down, causing the surface to bounce back at her. She fell again, only to have another massive hand smash down next to her, sending her flying back in the opposite direction. And she had been starting think things couldn't get much worse than the horde of creeping hands.

The hands raised themselves again, but paused in mid-air. She leapt to her feet at the opportunity, and steadied herself on the reverberating surface. Out of the blackness, a massive figure emerged. It was a disembodied figure, no arms, no face really, just a torso with a long neck. At the end of the neck, it looked like a giant flower bloom. Impa blinked up at the thing, once again wanted to be absolutely anywhere else. Slowly, the giant flower things bloomed, the deep purple curled back, revealing a enormous, unblinking red eye. Oh yes, she'd happily eat Barik's socks for a year. No, two.

The eye glared down at her, at least she assumed it was, since it was pointed in her general direction. There didn't seem to be any pupil really, so she couldn't be exactly sure. Not that it really mattered, she was on a giant drum about to get crushed by two immense hands, for Farore's sake. That eye could start singing for all she cared.

The hands lowered themselves again and slowly began banging on the drum. Impa was thrown back. Thus began the great dodging game. The hands would slam down and Impa would quickly roll out of the way. This, of course, quickly became tiring and she became exceedingly dizzy.

After a while, Impa miscalculated and didn't roll quite in time. The hand crashed into her back and sent her flying off the drum. She expected to fall into nothingness, again. However, instead she connected with the ground. She had never been happier to have a brushed side before. The hands continued their merry banging on the drum, as Impa steadied herself on the solid ground. The great eye monitored the hands and suddenly a brilliant idea dawned on Impa.

Shoot the eye.

Farore, did she feel stupid. She quickly nocked an arrow and aimed carefully. Thankfully, the eye rarely moved so she had a pretty stationary target. She loosed the arrow. It flew…relatively true. It didn't hit dead center, but it sunk into the outer rim of the eye. The hands flew up to the eye and began pawing at it frantically. Impa placed her hands on her hips triumphantly.

She had defeated…out of the blue, the hands stopped their pawing and the eye turned toward her. She didn't have time to duck out of the way before one of the hands tightened around her and brought her back over the drum. But it didn't drop her, apparently the monster was done having fun. It began increasing it's grip around her body.

Impa gasped, she couldn't breathe. This was it. She was going to be crushed by a giant bongo playing demon. What a way to go. Black spots began to form before her eyes and she became dizzy. She brought up the image of ember eyes again, attempting to calm herself. It was too bad she'd never get to see him again. She had sort of liked him and his cocky attitude. He'd never get his necklace back either, it would remain here with her rotting carcass forever, or until some other unlucky Sheikah stumbled upon her. She doubted he'd really care. Him and his ember eyes…

The necklace! Thankfully, one of her arms was free and she reached for her neck. Snapping the chain with her last vestiges of strength, she raised the pendant and sliced down.

The hand let go suddenly and she dropped, gasping for breath, onto the drum. Her bow and arrows fell beside her and she didn't even pause for a decent breath. She grabbed one of the arrows that had slid out of the quiver, instantly nocked it and fired at the eye. The arrow hit home this time, striking dead center. The red eye exploded, showering Impa with nasty red goo. But she didn't care, she was alive! The hands dissipated into ashes, just like the smaller hands before. It fell onto her and coated her with a thin layer. She was the happiest, smelliest Sheikah alive.

The drum collapsed to the floor and the entire room went black for a moment. Impa just sat there, reveling not so much in her victory, but in the fact that she had survived. She had actually beaten that thing!

After a few moments a door materialized out of thin air and swung open. A soft purple glow emanated from it's depths. Impa pulled herself up and staggered towards the doorway. She had triumphed over the Shadow Temple, she could just sense it. She stepped into the doorway and was met with the sight of a withered old man.

He was seated at a rather decrepit looking writing desk, leaning over a piece of parchment. When she entered the room, however, he looked up. He looked at her and then he looked behind her out the door, then he looked at her again.

"Who are you," He grumbled.

"Um, excuse me?" Impa replied, sorely confused. She had expected the exit to be through here. Not some guy's room.

"I said, who are you? You're not dumb, are you?" Impa blinked at him utter shock. Who the hell did this guy think he was? How did he get here anyway? It looked like a slight breeze would blow him over. She didn't even want to entertain the idea that some homeless Hylian bum had managed to make his way to the end of the Shadow Temple and set up house. But, Farore, it sure looked like it.

"I most certainly am not dumb!" She screeched back, not in the least bit amused. "I beat that massive demon out there, and his little slimy friend too!"

"They're ghosts, dummy, not demons. And I'm most certain you did not beat them. More likely, you annoyed them to the breaking point and they simply did not wish to deal with you any longer. Bongo Bongo is probably off licking his wounds in some deep dark recess of the earth," He put down his quill after that tirade and stared at her pointedly. Impa was struck dumb by his words. This guy was cracked!

"Furthermore," He started up again, and Impa just rolled her eyes. "You did not answer my question,"

"Fine, you nut, my name is Impa,"

Now that, seemed to really get his attention. He turned completely towards her and stood up, his strange purple eyes studying her like a lab rat. Goddesses, this place was seriously the creepiest on earth. Creepy crawling hands, creepy oozing blobs, creepy drum-playing, mammoth monster, and this creepy and utterly crazy old man. She looked around him, hoping there was a door. There wasn't.

"Ah, Impa," He said slowly, as he began shuffling towards her. She backed up, not really wanting him anywhere near her. Her back hit solid wall. What? There had been a door there about three seconds ago. She looked back. Nothing, just wall. Ugh, what a nightmare.

"How did you like the Shadow Temple?" He stopped a few steps away from her, leering at her. Impa really wanted to make a run for it, but it seemed all the exits had simply disappeared. She sighed, resigning herself to this inane conversation with Grandpa Crackpot.

"It was dark and filled with disembodied hands and slimy blobs and that Bongo Bongo thing you were talking about. How do you think it was?"

He chuckled. "Well, I'm hardly a good judge, since I'm stuck here. I find it quite homey now." Crackpot, crackpot, she started chanting in her head. "You might as well get used to it too,"

That made her stop. What? What the hell did he mean? Was she not getting out of here? But, she had beat that thing! Or at least severely annoyed it, as McNutter here had said. Either way that had to count for something.

"Now, don't look at me like that. Of course you completed your Ordeal and yes, you're going to be able to leave in a few moments. That wasn't what I meant. You teenagers can only think of the present, now can't you?" She released a large sigh of relief, not even bothering to mask it.

"Well, why am I still here then?"

"Because, if you haven't noticed, I'm talking to you. Kids!" He threw his hands up in the air, clearly exasperated. He turned and hobbled back over to his desk. She had judged that this old guy clearly wasn't a threat, so she followed a few steps afterwards. What could he possibly want to talk about? She was quite done here.

"Okay, what is it?" She inquired, impatiently. He ignored her this time and sat down. Leaning over, which triggered a low groan, he opened one of the drawers and pulled something out. Something shiny. Something like…her necklace! How did he get it? She had just stabbed it into that Bongo thing.

"I believe this is yours," He said gruffly, handing it over to her. She couldn't help but smile at that. Even the chain was repaired.

"That necklace is going to mean a lot in the future, take good care of it. And please don't take that literally,"

"Uh, right, sure," Whatever, old man. She planned on taking good care of it, but she couldn't really see how he could mean that statement any other way. "Can I go now?"

"Oh fine, get out of here," He said, waving his hand. A door materialized at the opposite end of the room. It swung open revealing a flight of stairs leading up into darkness.

"Thanks. Well, um, bye," She started off toward the stairs, cringing at the looming darkness. Very funny, temple, had to get one last jab in now, didn't you?

"Be careful, Impa. You have every right to fear the darkness," He called after her. She didn't turn, but shivered slightly. She wanted to get out of here. Now.

The stairs reminded her of the ones from the very beginning, shrouded in suffocating darkness. Farore, that felt like ages ago. She stumbled upward, as once again, there was no banister. Finally, she stepped into something hard.

This better not be that crackpot's idea of a joke. She pushed against the wall and slowly it began to budge. It was a door! It creaked open, allowing a wave of fresh air wash over her. She fell out the small opening onto thick green grass. Again, she was easily the happiest Sheikah alive.

The sky above her was still painted dark blue, but dawn was quickly weaving it's way up the horizon. She didn't know how long she had been in there, nor did she care. Records didn't matter anymore, she was out, she had survived.


A.N.: Phew! That was long! I had forgotten how much I liked this story. I finally got my hands on another copy of the game and was able to play it through. My memory was getting a little hazy. I also sat down and outlined the story, so I could stave away the ever dreaded writer's block! This chapter is a bit different than the other, I tried to write action-wise, instead of introspective-wise. Since, well, there's a decent amount of action in it! Thank you to everyone who left kind reviews!