Yay for fast updates! No Ganondorf for you with this chapter, but lots of new characters to enjoy! I hid a little easter egg in there for people that are really familiar with Ocarina of Time. Also, an image of the Tek'talla has been uploaded to my deviantART page. It's crappy, but if you want to see what the weapons really look like, it's better than nothing. The link is in my profile. Well, please review everyone, and a warm hello and thank you to my new reviewers! I wanted to address everyone individually, but I'm running late for a date, and my girl will kill me xD

Impa strode purposefully down a long hall of Hyrule Castle. Long hallways made up much of Hyrule Castle. She had decided some time ago that the first king of Hyrule must have thought that long hallways made the man. Based on the occasional addition to the castle, that view didn't seem to have changed through the royal line.

She set a quick pace down the hallway and that, in addition to her expression, caused any servants she came across to move quickly aside so as to stay out of her way. Though she was only twenty-six, her naturally snow-white hair and sharp features provided her a very serious and severe look; one that she found constantly useful. Her boots made no sound on the expensive red carpet that led down all of the castle's many corridors. She stared gruffly at the paintings adorning the walls. Most of them were of Hyrule landscapes or portraits of the castle's previous monarchy. All of them irritated her. It seemed not a section of wall in the castle was left without an image to decorate it. She was certain some of them must repeat. There was just so many hallways, and so many pictures... It gave her a headache.

Impa reached the end of her current path. A window to the right looked out upon the castle courtyard. The wall that stood before her now held, surrounding the wooden door to one of the castle's many guest suites, the most audacious portraits of all. They were so unrealistic; so tasteless. A fat mustached man in red and blue? Some sort of green lizard (it was certainly not a dodongo)? Why did the king even keep these? She shook her head—this line of thought led to nothing but more painful headaches. She put these thoughts out of her mind, and pushed through the door to the guestroom.

The blonde girl sitting in a chair inside the room lifted her head from her hands as Impa entered. Her nose and forehead were bandaged, dried blood still visible from the week-old wounds. Fresh tears wetted her cheeks.

"Erryn," Impa began, firmly, yet with obvious care in her voice. "To cry is not becoming of a Sheikah." The girl's blue and white cloth garments were ripped and travel worn, a stark contrast to Impa's deep blue polished breastplate. Impa also wore a matching blue choker, prominently displaying the red eye of the Sheikah on the front of her neck.

"He was just inches from killing me, Impa!" Erryn cried, fresh tears readying themselves for descent. "You should have seen his face! And the way his fist glowed with foul energy! I have visions of it every time I close my eyes!"

Impa sighed. Despite Erryn's training, she remained a child still, not older than sixteen. "Facing death is the way of our people. You must learn to accept this."

Erryn did not respond to the admonition, asking instead, "And what will his highness have done with me? I have failed him."

Impa tried to reassure her. "Have faith in me. I go to speak to the king when I am through here. We all make mistakes, and I am certain he understands that."

Erryn's tears finally subsided. "Thank you, Impa. You are a true friend. I will not fail again." She laid a hand softly on the Tek'talla that lay in her lap. "I will not allow those Gerudo curs to succeed in their conspiracy against our king."

Yes, Impa thought to herself. Still a child, with so much to learn.

Umbar Fait held the title of King of Hyrule, though the title in itself was rather lofty and exaggerated. He ruled the Hylians of the land, but had no jurisdiction over the Goron, Zora, Kokiri, or Gerudo. This was a problem that he fully intended to rectify. As he held the title King of Hyrule, the position was obviously meant for a man of his stature.

His stature, as it were, was one of huge proportion. Nearly seven feet tall, his muscle was as solid as a Goron's back. In battle he carried a great warhammer that the strongest of the royal guard could barely lift. The hammer was like no other weapon in Hyrule. Its head was flat on one side, strong enough to shatter a boulder, and spiked on the other side, able to pierce the strongest platemail like a softened melon. Where the king had obtained this weapon, he told no one. All of this, along with his dark brown hair and long, scruffy beard made Fait seem more fit to lead a bandit tribe than the strongest economic and military nation in Hyrule.

Fait had come to the throne twenty years earlier, when his uncle died of illness, leaving no successor. Another of Fait's uncles had made a grab for the throne, and met with Fait's hammer in a formal succession challenge. Fait immediately proved himself as worthy a leader as he was a fighter, bolstering the Hylian army, strengthening trade agreements with the Gorons (though relations with the Zora soured), and ruling over his people in a just manner. With the freedoms and riches of the King of Hyrule, his belly had grown as if with great desire to catch up to the rest of his body, but his strength and skill never dulled. Through the years, hidden from the public eye, Fait had been planning and preparing, his fair rule over his own people not quenching his thirst for rule over all of Hyrule's peoples. And when the final steps were being put into motion, a problem developed.

"Kirandorf and that boy of his still live," he said to Impa, matter-of-factly. The two were alone in the king's conference room.

"The boy was more powerful than we anticipated. At least as powerful as Kirandorf himself, by reports."

Fait roared with laughter that seemed strong enough to shake the foundations of the castle itself. "A mere boy, as powerful as Kirandorf, the King of Thieves? I am afraid I don't put so much faith as you in that child assassin of yours as to believe that."

"Regardless, she has learned from her mistake," Impa insisted. "She will not fail again."

"The pieces are finally being put into their positions, Impa. The first move is about to be made, and I need it to be made with clockwork precision. I will find something else to occupy the girl's time. I have a new idea for dealing with the Gerudo."

Fait walked to the door and opened it to address the guard outside the room. "Send for my two fastest messengers." He shut the door and turned back to Impa.

"Gildo and Dorcas can handle this matter. I have one more thing for you to do now. I received a report this morning that Naru has finally been caught. She was snooping around the moat trying to find a way into the castle, no doubt to speak with Erryn. She is in the dungeon. You should have a word with her."

"As you wish, sire." Impa bowed and made her way out of the room, passing the two messengers as she left.

Naru barely glanced up from her place on the dungeon floor as Impa entered. She sat with her arms in shackles above her head. Her clothing resembled Erryn's, although considerably more ragged. Her face was beginning to line with age, and her hair was slowly giving up its brunette pigment.

"I figured he would send you. It is just a test of your loyalty, you know? See if you can kill your own mother."

Impa looked at the older Sheikah without any outward display of her feelings. "You are not my mother. I have no mother."

Naru looked into her eyes this time, making no effort to hide her anger. "I raised you from infancy! I am the closest thing to a mother you ever had!"

Impa remained as unreadable as stone. "You are still a traitor. The vast majority of the Sheikah follow me. With your death, your ragtag band of rebels will fall to pieces."

"Your king is the traitor!" Naru spat. "He seeks to bring war on Hyrule because of his insatiable lust for power! You are just as much a traitor for following him! The fall of the Sheikah will be on your shoulders and yours alone!"

The argument was taking its toll on Impa. Her voice began to gain heat. "The duty of the Sheikah is to protect the holders of the Triforce! You have broken the sacred vows that make you a Sheikah!"

"The royal family has not held the Triforce in centuries!" Naru screamed at the top of her lungs now. She stood and pulled against her shackles, bringing her face mere inches from Impa's. "Fait is a fool and the goddesses have forsaken him!"

"Liar!" Impa's hand flashed from behind her back and Naru fell to the wall, blood rhythmically pulsing from the opening in her stomach in a mockery of the final beats of her heart.

Outside the cell, Impa leaned her head against the wall. Unable to hold in her emotions any longer, she sobbed hysterically. After several moments, Fait appeared on the stairs, curious to see if Impa had succeeded. He peeked into Naru's cell, then looked to Impa.

"Do not fret, my child. You have served your duty well." He placed a hand on his shoulder, and made a twisted smile she could not see. "To cry is not becoming of a Sheikah."