Chapter 9: The Organization
"Well now that you two are acquainted, what's the next task at hand?" The tall woman asked. "Wait, you aren't gonna tell me who you are?" Ralph asked back quickly. "Why would I?" "Well you did just choke me out, and threatened to neuter me. I dunno I just thought people introduced themselves after a meeting like that." His tone was sarcastic. "I suppose telling you my identity can't hurt, I'd end you in a heartbeat if you ever tried anything. I am Impa, Princess Zelda's protective shadow. I guard her with my life as is the duty of the Royal Sheikah Guard." Ralph thought for a minute to form a wise crack. "So you're a babysitter with a sword?" He asked jokingly. "I have guarded this girl's soul from the second she was born! It is my sacred duty to ensure her safety. I even went out of my way to teach her the deadly hand to hand skills mastered by the Sheikah. This child's safety is my entire existence, and I'm damn proud to serve as her shadow." Impa continued her long winded speech until Zelda interrupted. "Enough! He understands, and I appreciate you shadowing me my whole life." The last part rolled off sarcastically. "Do you have any idea when the king will return?" Ralph asked, trying to jump back on track. "No one knows. The public hasn't been informed of his absence, and we are trying to keep them from finding out. All they know is that the country is under rule by province, not supreme rule. Search parties made up of the royal guard are searching high and low for him." "When did he go missing?" "We know he was back from his trip over the boarder three days ago, which means he went missing while in Hyrule. The carriage he was in wasn't damaged and all the horses survived, most the guards were killed from behind and the king's corpse wasn't recovered, meaning he was probably attacked by a small force and is being held for ransom."
Ralph was silent, he was doing his best to take all the information in. He looked towards Zelda who seemed like she was forcing her composure together. Those big blue eyes weren't good at hiding feelings. She was worried for her father's well-being, Ralph and Impa could tell. Ralph turned his head to see two men with unusual haircuts walk into the room through the archway. "Who are they?" Ralph asked Impa curiously. "I don't know, but to be here without an escort is unheard of." Impa beckoned for Zelda to get behind her as the two men continued towards them. "Halt! State your name and business!" Impa demanded, her voice like thunder in Ralph's ears. The men didn't halt their movement, they just silently kept walking towards Impa. "Are you deaf!? I said halt!" Impa shouted once more, the men were about fifteen feet away now and showed no signs of stopping. Impa placed a hand on her sword, "If you come any closer I'll cut you down, stop moving!" Her voice was calm. The men were twelve feet away now, and in one blindingly fast chain of movements, Impa had slashed through the first man, his body slumping to its left as blood spilled from the torso and mouth. In a motion just as fast as Impa's, the second man was now dashing towards Zelda. Ralph still stunned by what he just witnessed froze, and gave an involuntary yelp of fear. Zelda removed her head ornament and threw it in her attacker's face. This split-second distraction gave her enough time to close the gap and jab him in the throat with her finger-tips. As he staggered back, the man drew a short sword, and turned to face Impa, who was now right behind him. They engaged each other, locked in a fierce fray of lightning fast sword swings, evenly matched in speed. Ralph came out of his fear trance, and bashed the man in the back of his knee with his nunchucks, causing it to buckle from underneath him. This gave Impa an opening, which she instantly capitalized on, her sword swinging from overhand and nearly slicing her opponent down the middle. Ralph was stunned by what he just saw, his legs felt like jelly beneath him. "You just sliced someone's face in half right in front of me, but that's just part of the job right!?" He stood looking at the corpse, his eyes widened in disbelief. Impa could tell he wasn't used to gore. "Toughen up kid, I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot more of that pretty soon."
After about ten minutes Ralph regained his composure. "Those guys… Th-they looked like the guy who attacked me back in Kakariko. Same haircut… Same armor." He said depressingly. Impa thought to herself for a while. "I didn't want to break the seal on that envelope without the king present, but this string of events can't possibly all be coincidence. Give me the document boy." She said holding out her hand. Ralph took the envelope out of his back pocket and handed it to her. Her facial expression changed as she read through it. "This isn't good. Without the king here, we cannot organize the proper investigation of this incident, and if the Goron people aren't given a response soon, they may declare war on the Hylian race as a whole." Zelda read over the document for herself. "With father gone, I technically have the authority to issue a royal decree." She boasted unintentionally. "What shall you do?" Impa asked. "I'll let the Goron people know of the King's absence, but assure them the issue is being looked into. I guess we should inform General Zigmund of what's going on." Impa pondered for a moment. "I don't think we should tell Zigmund. He was against the idea of hiding the king's absence, if he finds out that there might be something bigger hiding in the picture, he'll definitely want to let the public know." "Wait, why don't you want the citizens of Hyrule to know that their leader is missing?" Ralph asked slightly confused. "Well for one, if word got to other countries that we were without leader, it'd give them reason to attack as the mindset of our people would be momentarily weaker. Another is that if the general public knew about this shadow organization trying to start a war, that organization would try to conceal itself furhter, making the investigation more difficult." Zelda was starting to feel frustrated. "How are we to investigate without General Zigmund knowing. He leads the Royal Guard." She stated. "True, but he does not lead the Royal 'Sheikah' Guard. As the head of the Royal Family during your father's absence, you control them. They are like your own shadow military."
"So you have your own shadow army? Does that mean there are other people like you Impa?" Ralph asked curiously. It was almost as if he forgot someone was slashed in half a mere foot away from him. "Yes, there are other Sheikah, less than a thousand of us left." She replied. "What is our next move Impa?" Zelda asked. "Stay near me, I'm gonna sweep the rest of the castle, if there are any more intruders we'll have to get you to safety." The two children moved closer to the tall Sheikah woman, the trio walked through the archway and around some bushes. At the end of the bush were two dead sentries. Even Impa was caught a little off guard by this. "Ralph, lend me your ear." She said. He moved closer and brushed the hair away from his left ear. Impa kneeled over and pulled him close. "If anything happens to me, I entrust Zelda to you. I know it seems strange for her guardian shadow to entrust her to you, a mere child, but I believe you are the prophecy child. You will learn the way of a warrior, I can feel it." Impa stood back up and continued to walk, the children stayed close behind. Ralph wasn't quite sure what to think about what he just heard, compared to all the other stuff he'd been through recently, it wasn't too far-fetched. The three of them turned archway after archway, finding dead bodies behind every shrub. "So much death…" Zelda whispered to herself, she wasn't as fazed as Ralph was, but it was still irksome to her. They were outside the castle now. "Okay princess, use the shadow magic we've been practicing. You have to disguise yourself while we journey through Hyrule. You remember how to-" She cut her question short when four men in the same armor as the previous two walked out of the guard checkpoint. There was no time to think, the men were sprinting at Impa and the children now. "Ralph, take her through the checkpoint and don't stop running." Impa ordered. He obeyed and Zelda ran right behind him. She was actually much quicker than him, but didn't know her way around Castle Town as she was never allowed to go on foot. Zelda looked back to see Impa fighting her hardest against what was now two men. They passed under the checkpoint to see its sentries lying lifeless at its entrance. "Stop here, I have to disguise myself before we go into the market." Zelda stopped moving. She closed her eyes and focused on her inner energy. Ralph was amazed when a blinding flash of light enveloped her body and then dispersed around them. He opened his eyes to see a new figure before him. Zelda's deep blue eyes were now a piercing red, and her neat yellow bangs turned into dirty blonde spikes. Her figure grew broader, and her fair skin was transformed into a light-brown tint. "Is that you, Princess?" Ralph asked for verification. "Yes, but for now, call me Sheik." She replied, her voice deepening on that last word.