Impa dealt with the unfortunates who didn't flee, but no matter how many knights she knocked to the ground, she saw only her family falling around her. The ritual which gave birth to her strength long ago had sucked the life from their bodies, and in her mind a rapidly fading friend crawled to her.

"Impa...you must live...for us."

Fury and adrenaline kept her from giving in to despair. She hit harder until she came to a recruit who wasn't foolhardy enough to charge at her. The tall woman froze him with her glare.

"You can either keep your loyalty to the king or keep your teeth."

"H-He's in the east wing! Please don't hurt me! I have a family!"

"Your story has moved me," she muttered sarcastically.

It seemed that everyone else surrendered with him, because no more knights attacked her. She stopped at the castle's east entrance, her anger growing at the aura of fear enveloping it.

The king had lost the right to be afraid. He'd tried to do away with her time and again. He'd allowed his men to place themselves above the rest of Hyrule, and after today she knew he was only going to get worse. She also knew, however, that if she faced him now, she wouldn't stop until he was dead. She'd castrate him and cut him into little pieces, one for every time she saw her family die in her thoughts. His soldiers would need tweezers to pick up the pieces.

Even she knew that the images of retribution in her head were extreme, but they tempted her with how easy they'd be to fulfill. She could find a spear, drive it through him with the strength of the people his father had murdered, and watch as he choked on his last breath. She could bash his skull against his beautiful marble throne until it fractured into so many pieces that his brain spilled out.

But she didn't. She felt like a coward for turning away, but she reminded herself that killing him wouldn't help Hyrule. It would only start a war, and keeping Talon safe was more important than getting revenge. The knight who told her that a wolfos was lurking around Lon Lon Ranch had probably lied to lure her into Daphnes' trap, but she refused to gamble with Talon's life.

"I'll be back for you," she swore to Daphnes.

The knights had her polearm, but she found her bow where she left it in the barracks. A man writhing in agony graciously offered his horse to her, and before she could change her mind, she galloped away from the castle.

She ignored the citizens who scrambled to get out of her way as she tore through Castle Town, just as she ignored the voice in her head which taunted her for fleeing. When she entered Hyrule Field and neared the ranch, she found no monsters terrorizing the area, but instead saw a little boy running away from Talon's home. His left arm swung uselessly at his side, covered in dried blood, and his chest heaved as though he'd been running for hours. As she galloped closer, she saw that he was gasping for air because he was crying.

Link's inner turmoil consumed him so much that he didn't hear or see Impa's horse approaching. Briefly forgetting that she was supposed to be fleeing, she wondered if the Kokiri had attacked him, but the gashes on his arm looked like the work of a monster.

"Link! What happened?"

The boy wiped away the tears blurring his vision. "Im...Impa?" A tiny bit of hope rose inside of him. "Can you take me away from here? I know you don't want to take care of me, and I don't have any money, but I can...I..."

Struggling to think of something, anything, he could offer her, he cried anew. Mido and the Deku Tree were right: he was a burden to the good people of the world. He couldn't even keep from sobbing in front of the woman who'd tried to make him less weak. At half Impa's height, Link felt unworthy of even half an existence. Drooping on legs which refused to carry him any further, he hung his head.

His blond bangs hid his expression, but Impa's glowing eyes saw everything. He was tiny, she realized. She'd of course noticed while training him, but when the nine-year-old shrank into himself, it was even more obvious. She was once that small too, she realized, a kid against a world that hated her. Knowing better than anyone how one day could destroy a person's life, she didn't repeat her question.

Instead she swallowed. Part of her wanted to tell him, tell herself, that everything would be okay, but she couldn't remember the last time she expressed emotion without fighting or being aggressive, couldn't remember how to do it. When was the last time she could safely let her guard down?

Still, she knew how to treat wounds, so the hardened warrior dismounted and held his wrist gently. Link bit his lip at the burning sensation of the salve she poured over his arm but said nothing.

"Liiiiiink!" Talon yelled, emerging from Lon Lon Ranch on horseback, and the boy looked down, his brief hope dying. The ranch owner sped toward the pair and dropped to the ground before his horse fully stopped. "Link, what are ya doing? Come back. We can talk about this."

Link shook his head. "It's okay, Mr. Talon. I understand. Miss Marin is more precious to you than anyone else, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"He can't stay with you," Impa interrupted harshly. "The king wants me dead, and his men have seen me train Link. If they find out you're harboring him, they'll think you're harboring me as well, and they'll do anything to get to me."

Talon looked from one injured person to the other. "What happened to you?"

It didn't matter; she'd made those who attacked her pay for it. Still, it was unsettling that Link hadn't noticed her injuries, so damaged was he.

"I can't go back to the castle." Though she could fight her way to the king and kill him, it would cost the lives of more of her people. "I'm going into hiding. I'll take Link with me."

She hoped this statement would provoke a smile, but the blonde didn't react. Her lips parted but made no sound.

"Link...I'm sorry, son. I'm a lazy asshole," said Talon. Link looked at him in confusion; the overweight man worked harder than anyone else he knew. "I devote everything to just one person. I forget that there are other people."

Link didn't react as Talon embraced him, knowing it was an empty gesture. This turn of events didn't mean he was suddenly part of a family.

Impa's expression softened, however. For a moment, she saw the rancher as he was before meeting Marin: younger and thinner with a smile for everyone, even brutes like her. The fool had forgotten how to care about others since then, and without his example, so had she. Regardless of whatever the Kokiri did to Link today, she'd kept him at arm's length. She thought she'd refused his hug this morning for his own good, but how could she protect Hyrule if she didn't care about its people?

"I'll keep him safe. I swear it." Mounting her horse, she faced her young charge. "Come, Link."

His attempt to reach up for the saddle ended before his hands rose above his head. "My arms..."

"No complaining," she barked in the tone she used for training him and then winced at her mistake. When she extended her arm to pull him up as an apology, he didn't take it. Strain replaced the emptiness in his expression, and she watched curiously as he worked through his pain and pulled himself up behind her. Unless her powers had suddenly lost their accuracy, he should have been too depressed for such exertion.

"Where will you go?" asked Talon.

"Somewhere we can heal. After that, wherever Hyrule needs me."

She knew he was going to ask them to stay and rest. Having never been able to say no to Talon, she galloped away before he could speak. Unable to handle the guilt of giving both of the people in her life the silent treatment, she spoke awkwardly to Link.

"Keep your eyes open. I'm going to kill a wolfos that's rumored to be here before we leave. Hold onto me, or you'll fall off."

He didn't. She was about to tell him it was okay to touch her when she spotted a large form running away from them. Impa sighed; it seemed all of her enemies were cowards.

Holding onto the saddle instead of Impa, Link watched her draw her massive bow and shoot at the wolfos unlucky enough to have crossed her path. He expected his all-powerful sensei to take it down quickly, but it was far enough away that her arrow missed. It was faster than their burdened horse, and as the distance between them increased, her second arrow missed as well.

Having decided moments ago that nothing mattered, Link nevertheless felt his pulse quicken when the wolfos turned its head to make sure it was fleeing successfully, revealing a gash across its face. His nemesis seemed to recognize him as well, for it turned around and bounded toward the Hylian, snarling.

For the first time since leaving the ranch, emotion filled Link. He couldn't hate the Kokiri, the Deku Tree, Marin's family, or Impa for not taking him in. He didn't even hate the knight who beat him, because a waste of space like Link deserved no mercy.

The creature which tore his arm up and terrorized Marin, however, was different. Its glowing eyes would have frightened him a month ago, but Link didn't need bravery now. He didn't need righteous anger or even the meager strength he'd worked so hard to obtain, because today he felt something new.

Impa stopped the horse, and Link gripped the hilt of the Kokiri sword with his injured arm, ready to continue the fight from last month. Before he could dismount, however, an arrow pierced the wolfos' head and it fell gracelessly, rolling to a stop. The anger disappeared from its eyes, replaced with the pain and fear of an animal that knew death was coming, and then it spontaneously burst into purple flames like all felled evil creatures.

The flames and the beast disappeared without a trace, and Impa lowered her bow. Still feeling a need to show more concern for Link, she spoke. "Stupid beast. If it hadn't run back for us, it might have lived."

He didn't respond. Unsatisfied despite having wanted this outcome, he glared at the space his foe once occupied. Attacking him was one thing, but anything that threatened Marin—or Saria or Impa—deserved death and whatever pain came with it.

Having been pushed to her limit today like Link, Impa bit back a curse when she saw that her victory was short-lived. The skirmish had apparently given two knights pursuing her from Castle Town time to catch up. Her rage caught the attention of Link, whose eyes widened. Weren't the knights afraid of her?

"Impa, stay away from them!" he said with realization. "The...The Great Deku Tree said that something evil wants you gone so it can take over Hyrule! It must be the king and his knights!"

Impa stopped gritting her teeth and turned to Link in shock. Had the king grown so wicked that even a demigod feared what he might do to the kingdom? Had sparing Daphnes' life been a mistake?

She'd have to ponder it later, for as she searched for the best route of escape, she saw another wolfos in the distance attacking a lone man. She considered ignoring him only for an instant. The knights would catch up to her if she helped him, but again, how could she protect Hyrule if she didn't care about its people?

She was going to kick his ass after she rescued him.

"Hold on!" she growled to both him and Link, but it seemed that the stranger didn't need her help. Upon their arrival, the beast lunged at him, and to her astonishment he plunged a large sword into it, ending its existence.

"Are you all right?" she asked once the flames enveloping it vanished.

It was mostly a formality, for he seemed fine. Taller than most men—taller than her, even—he wore heavy spiked boots and shoulder armor which obviously didn't slow him down. His red hair revealed him to be a Gerudo, which explained why he was so far west, and when he turned to her, she saw that his eyebrows connected to his sideburns and a jewel on his forehead marked him as a man of importance. His every feature proclaimed his power, and he smirked.