Okay, here's the next chapter as promised. So how was everyone's President Day weekend? Mine sucked, basically because I got very sick. But that's another story...
Enjoy the story, and please review!
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Sage
"What?" I cried, panicking at the oracle's words. "Impa's going to die?!"
"Farore's mercy, Zelda, I'm not going to die," Impa snapped. I looked at her, hurt by her reaction. Then I saw that her face was unusually pale, beads of sweat dotting her forehead.
"What did she mean?" I whispered, frightened. "What's going to happen?"
Impa sighed and ran a hand over her head. "I knew this day would come," she said, more to herself than to me. "Of course I knew, but I hoped...I hoped that maybe if I ignored it, I don't know, it would just go away."
"What would go away?" I cried. "Tell me please, Impa!"
Impa looked at me, eyes grave. "I...I am a sage."
"Sage?" I whispered, dumbfounded. I had read of the strange phenomenons called "sages". They were born every few generations, but only when Hyrule was in grave danger, traditionally numbering seven. Their destinies preordained, they usually lived normal lives until the goddesses chose to give them their powers- at that point, they "awakened" as sages and knew what they had to do to fulfill their duties as such. In the past, they had protected the power within sacred temples, hidden throughout Hyrule.
But they were legends. There was no evidence of sages ever being born in Hyrule, only stories and rumors. Likewise, there was no evidence that their temples existed- and if they did, no one knew where they were or how to find them. The only known temple in Hyrule was the Temple of Time, which had stood since the birth of Hyrule itself.
"Sages aren't real," I said at last.
Impa smiled wearily. "If only that were true. Then I'd have nothing to worry about."
I stared accusingly into Impa's eyes. "You can't be a sage. They don't know it until they've been awakened. I read the legends."
Impa sighed. "That is true, normally," she acknowledged. "But I have known since before I even came to Hyrule. The Sheikah clan I was born to, as once lived outside of Hyrule, had a powerful and wise prophet. He saw that I was a sage from the day I was born. He told me, when I was of age to understand."
I gaped at her, openmouthed. My Impa, a sage? A reincarnation of one of the ancients- one who wasn't a legend? How was that possible?
"If you are a sage, then where is your temple?" I demanded.
"That I do not know," Impa said. "I suppose I will when I am awakened to my powers."
"Stop questioning your elders, child," snapped the old oracle, making me jump. I'd forgotten that she was still there. "Being princess does not instantly make you wise to the world of goddesses and destiny." The oracle turned her blind eyes to Impa. "There is another problem."
Impa nodded. "I know," she said wearily. "Ganondorf."
The oracle nodded. "Once he has grown accustomed to his power, he will use it to find the location of the sages. He knows that they alone threaten him. No matter where you go, he will find you."
"Impa?" I said softly.
Impa looked down at me. I knew what she was going to say, and I shook my head to stop her.
"You're not leaving me."
"I have to," said Impa.
"You're not. That's an order!"
Impa knelt so that her eyes were level with mine, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You know that a risk to your safety can override any order, no matter who it comes from," she said gently to me.
I yanked out of her hold, trembling. I hated it when she spoke to me in that quiet, gentle voice. My Impa was only gentle when she had to tell me something truly terrible.
"Stop it," I snapped. "Stop talking to me like that. You can't leave me. Who's going to take care of me?"
"The villagers will," said Impa patiently.
"And what if Ganondorf comes? They can't protect me from him!"
"If Ganondorf comes, you'll go to the Temple of Time," Impa replied steadily.
I blinked at her. "What? Why?"
"It's sacred ground. Ganondorf is a creature of evil. He can no longer cross its threshhold."
I went and threw my arms around her neck, closing my eyes to hold back tears. "I'm frightened," I whispered. "Please don't leave me."
Impa hugged me fiercely, her strong arms crushing the air from my lungs. "I wouldn't if I didn't have to," she said, and loosened her grip. "I have to."
I had to tell her. Maybe she wouldn't go if she knew that it was her I was concerned for more than myself. Blinking the tears from my eyes, I said, "Impa, if Ganondorf takes you-"
Impa pulled back to hold me by my shoulders and gaze into my eyes. "Zelda, you are a princess. Someday you'll be a queen. Get used to making sacrifices."
I stared at her in horror. "Impa, what...?"
Impa stood and looked down at me. Her face was hard; she looked taller, foreboding. "That is the price to pay when you are royalty. Your life is worth more than mine. If I die, I die. We all do, sooner or later."
"You and your cursed Sheikah philosophies!" I cried furiously. "Life is not death, Impa!"
Impa gripped my chin in one hand and bent down to kiss my forehead. "Goodbye, Zelda," she said. Then she turned and walked away, out of my life, leaving me alone with only the old oracle, silent witness to our parting.
I sank to my knees, in the dirt in the middle of Kakariko Village, and wept for the life I had lost that fateful night.
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Continued in Chapter 8: Escape