The Legend of Zelda: Echoes Through Ages

Episode 2: The Yiga Clan's First Strike!

The morning over Hyrule and Hyrule Castle was a peaceful cool morning, in one of its towers a young woman awakes to the sound of a person landing in her window.

The girl jolts up, her semi short dark messy hair bounces as she looks around… She looks upon her mentor sitting in the window, her white tied back hair off setting her piercing red yellow eyes staring down at her. The tattoos across her face symbolizing something the girl had yet to determine, The massive blade on her back blocking most of the morning sun, she spoke just as the girl removed the crust from her eyes.
"Good Morning Princess." The tall woman said in a smooth tone.
Princess Zelda stretched and yawned "Good Morning Impa… What's on the schedule today."

"Your training today is breakfast." She said tossing Zelda a single green rupee.

"What? Is this a metaphor for something?" Zelda sighed.

"Nope. Just dress in your training clothes and follow me…. Sheik." Impa smirks before Falling backwards out the window.

"Wait, what!" She rushed to the window to see her mentor flip and slide down the curve of the stone and onto the ramparts surrounding the castle.

Zelda groaned and smirked "What a ridiculous woman." She chuckled and changed into her sheik outfit. Complete with a shoto blade and harp upon her back.

She leaped from her own window and followed after her teacher... the two of them rushed across the morning rooftops all the way to Hyrule Castle town plaza. Landing on a roof just across from a bakery…

"So. Your lesson today is to swipe two pieces of bread from that baker's counter and leave the rupee without being seen." Impa crosses her arms and sits down on the ridge of the building.

Zelda raises an eyebrow… "You paid off the baker didnt you."

Impa chuckled "what do you mean?"
Zelda counted on her fingers all the reasons "One, it would be uncouth for the leader of the most respected tribe in Hyrule to teach the Princess how to steal… From her subjects no less. Two. You gave me this rupee to give to him for 'stealing' and its something as simple as bread. And Three… you're not a thief, an assassin and ninja maybe… But not a thief."

"Smart kid. Yes I asked the baker to play along and keep an eye out for my little pupil. I paid him off and you're gonna pay for the bread for this little lesson. Now… get creative, and don't get seen." Impa replies.

"How am I supposed to go unseen! Its the middle of the day!" Zelda exclaims.

Impa laughs and sighs "The dark makes things easy. The Light is when we do our best work." She says cryptically.

Zelda sighs and sits next to Impa, looking around and studying the area… She takes out her harp and falls into the alleyway before flipping and falling onto her feet elegantly.

She plans out a distraction, conjuring some magic and playing a lingering song loud enough for some of the plaza goers near the bakery to begin investigating. She then flips up the wall again and runs around the top to just above the bakery, she made sure to stay low to the surface as she dashes across. Zelda slid down the narrow alleyway next to the alleyway, and took out a small ball bearing. She crouched down and slunk below the bakers counter that faced outside to the plaza. A small toss and clanking off the ball was enough to make the baker turn around and investigate. Expertly she swiped two pieces of bread and left the rupee upon the counter. Back up the alleyway walls she climbed and over to her satisfied teacher watching everything.

Zelda flops back down next to her and tosses her a piece of bread with a sigh of relief.

"Not bad. You're getting better." Impa said, taking a bite of her piece.

Zelda scarfs down her bread and pushes the mask back up. "Thanks, So what's next?" She inquires to her teacher as she looks up at her.

Impa was staring off toward the eastern wall around the castle town… when suddenly a bell goes off… Impa grabs zelda and leaps to the ground. "Guards! Come here!" Impa says commandingly.

Two guards present themselves, "Yes Lady Impa!"

"Watch and protect this girl. That's an order." She says "Stay with them, Sheik." Impa says back to Zelda before leaping off toward the east side.

The Guards look at each other and then to 'Sheik' "Well um nice to meet you. I'm Frank and this is Tommy."

Tommy waves as Zelda replies "Hello… Um. Something important must have happened huh? I've lived here my whole life yet I can't tell what that bell means."

Tommy ponders for a moment "Well It can't be an attack, because every bell would be ringing. It can't be a funeral of someone important cus the church bells are way deeper than that and the Church of Hylia isn't that direction…. So its either a fire or a bad incident that requires the attention of the Great Impa." He explains.

Zelda ponders "Well I hope no one is hurt."

"Us too. Hyrule castle town is pretty peaceful." Frank replies,

"Way to Jinx it Frank." Tommy sighs.

As they converse and bicker, Zelda begins looking about at the plaza goers, some merchants enter, and with them rather strange looking travelers. To the average eye they would be completely inconspicuous, but to Zelda they were weird.

Six strangers total, Four smaller lithe individuals with death stares scanning the crowd with their hands on strangely designed Sickles. Behind them are two bulky looking individuals, both with strange blades on their back covered in cloth.

They acted casual among the crowd, moving over to the fruit cart seemingly looking through the bananas.

The paranoid part of Zelda reached back for her harp, side eyeing that group closely…

And just as their eyes meet Zeldas they begin to walk toward them and move past, heading for the castle…

One of the guards stops one of the big ones… "Pardon me, you didn't pay for that banana."

The big one glares from underneath the shroud, and the leader, a little one with a sickle and bow turns to the guards "Sorry, this one is a little-" He stops as his gaze meets the young disguised girl.

"A sheikah member… here… And what's your name... boy?" he starts and steps forward.

"I am Sheik." Zelda replied, succeeding decently in changing her voice to sound like a young androgynous Hylian.

The guard speaks up "Um excuse me, the child is none of your concern. Are you going to-" the guard is cut off.

"A girl of the Sheikah named sheik… odd… are you a student of-" The man cuts him off, but Zelda decides to put her foot down and draws her blade.

"You will either pay for the food. Or put it back. I am on business for the Chief Impa." She stated clearly.

A wry smile crosses his face… "Is that so?" he says as his hand on his blade. The guards in response draw their own.

A puff of smoke encompassed them all and standing before them, were the travellers in their true form. Yiga clan members stood before the three of them.

"Guards!" Zelda exclaimed and played a note on the harp, making it float just beyond her fingers, A pulse rings out and the smaller three are knocked off their feet.

The two bigger ones staggered for a moment, standing with their large blades coursing with the wind. They immediately rush the guards.

One raised their shield in time to survive the powerful strike from one of the Blademasters, the other was not so lucky, the power and wind wrenched through the metal and violently killed the man just before Zelda… one of her subjects… one of her guards… Frank.

Zelda jumped back and played another couple notes, her short blade lit up with a small storm. She rushed for one of the foot soldiers as they drew their bow. She stabbed into his chest and the electricity succeeded in killing this weaker foe.
Four more guards rush into the fray, two going for the Blademasters and the other two attempting to take out the small ones as they fire their arrows. One of the guards goes down with well placed arrows to the throat and chest. The other managed to block in time with their shield, and the two foot soldiers vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared very short by, one wielding a demon carver and cleaving into the neck of the other guard.

Moving predominantly off instinct the disguised Zelda rushed as fast as she could toward her next target. She plucked another harp string and her blade grew white with cold magic, she began to feel tired, like her arcane abilities are exhausted after this. Her harp reattached itself to it's holder on her hip.

She missed her first slash with the weapon and had too dodge under the demon carver before stabbing the blade into the foot of the yiga clan footsoldier. Ice immediately shot up his leg and bonded him to the ground. She then ripped the blade from his foot and slashed up his neck.

Zelda has been in very few real fights, and this was certainly the first time she's killed anybody… she and her body wasn't allowing her to think about it yet, her instinct forced her to pick up a bow from the dead footsoldier. She turned with an arrow drawn, but the last nearby remaining guard actually defeated the last footsoldier, before getting impaled through the chest by one of the blade masters.

Feeling cornered she loosed the arrow, the arrow slide across the armored mask, this disoriented and stunned the blade master… but only for a moment. She grabbed the footsoldiers quiver and leaped out of the way of a smallish wind burst from the sword of the other blade master.

They weren't giving her any time to attack and simply slashed at her and tried to rush her down.

They were faster than her, but she was more nimble, she fired more arrows, doing minimal damage but all of them decently placed.

When Zelda had leapt onto a wood awning to get to a roof, the wood collapsed in on her, causing her to fall prone and stunned.

One of the blade masters held its sword high, collecting wind and just as he brought it down, a large thick blade was thrown through his back where it stabbed into the ground, the body of the blade master propped up on the blade with its hold buried in his back.

Landing on the handle, balancing expertly, stands impa, two more dead foot soldiers in her arms.

She stares down the last blade master and cracks her neck. "I'll give you one chance to surrender or confess… I would hate to have to make a display in front of my pupil."

The blade master shifts stances, wind collecting in the blade, "Today may not be the day the great Impa of the SheikAh falls. But today is the day you're dear prin-" before he finishes speaking there was a small knife pierced through the mask.

Zelda couldn't even see impa move… it was just a blur…

The man falls with the small blade she conceals in her wrist guard, being replaced with a new blade rather casually. She pulls the other man off the Big Gorons knife she wields, and flips it back into her sheath.

"Come sheik. Let's let them mourn the dead and report back to the royal family." Impa says, making a show.

Zelda realized why she killed that man why he was talking rather than stall and gleam information. It was to hide her identity.

Zelda also felt like she was going to puke, but managed too hold that feeling in until they reached the castle, where she headed into a corner to heave out the bread she sorta stole.

"Princess…" impa said, gently stroking her back, some servants go to rush over, but her teacher just motions for them to get cleaning supplies.

"I-I'm Sorry I threw up… that was… I…" she gasps and composes herself. "I don't know why I reacted this way… I've been preparing for it."

Impa smiles and sighs, taking out a water skin from her hip and allowing her pupil to drink "adrenaline, fear and the rage of battle would make the heartiest off men and women puke at the sight of death. It's common for those who are new to war. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Zelda takes gulps down some water… "They were the Yiga clan right? The ones that split from the Sheikah?" She inquired to her teacher.

Impa nods, "I must confess however… I did not join the fight immediately."

"What do you mean? But the guards-" Zelda started to say.

"Died doing their job… It was regrettable, but I noticed something and had to let it play out." Impa said and she turned Zelda's hand to face up. The triforce was glowing on her hand, with the triforce of wisdom glowing much brighter. "You were fighting way beyond your skill level. Not all Zeldas were fighters… but you were fighting as if you had their muscle memory… Perhaps you've always had that… however I'm not sure." She sighs and ponders for a bit.

"So what do we do now?" Zelda asks.

"We must go to the Spring of wisdom. Where your power may develop further. With the reveal of the Yiga clan, and you showing your latent power. This could only mean its in response to an even more powerful Ganon. I will go inform your parents, gather your things." Impa commanded.

Zelda nodded and Begin walking toward my tower to take supplies for the trip.

Impa walked to the throne room, she knew this would be a difficult trip, but if successful would make Zelda even more powerful and the best chance at hyrule a survival.

-end of episode-

Hey all! I hope you enjoyed, I know it may not have been what you expected, but I think you'll get the formula by now, I'll be switching between links and Zeldas story until they get together!

Don't forget to review. And I'll cya next time on-

Episode 3- A new friend!