A/N: Kinda long, but that's okay I hope. WHO'S EXCITED FOR MAJORA'S MASK 3D?

IMPA FELT THE entirety of Castle Town holding its breath as she rode her white horse through the streets. The Hylians who seemed to be huddled in their homes cast anxious glances out as she passed, wondering what her presence meant. But the heavy air of potential rebellion was not Impa's concern at this moment. She made her way for Hyrule Castle once more.

As soon as she dismounted at the large double doors, a Hylian guard rushed her inside. They strode through hallway after hallway, up several flights of stairs, until they came upon a large bed chamber with a faint crying coming from within. The guard smiled, unable to control his excitement at hearing the new princess's small cries, but Impa was far more disciplined. She waited for the guard to announce her before walking inside, hands clasped behind her back.

"Impa, so glad you could come," came the voice of Rauru, whose hair had begun to dull with age. He smiled, gesturing for her to come closer to the bed. The Queen, a petite woman with smooth brown hair and green eyes, was sitting up beneath the covers, a small bundle in her arms. Beside the bed stood King Daltus, the happily weathered look of a sleepless father on his face.

"It is an honor, Your Highness," said Impa, bowing at the waist before the Queen. "I trust you know why I am here."

"Impa," said the Queen with a warm chuckle. "You are here for the same reason why a Sheikah was called to my cradle. I do hope I can get a better announcement than my mother before me, however." Her smile was purely content as she looked down at the mewling babe in her arms.

"May I?" said Impa, holding her arms out.

"Of course." The Queen handed the baby to her midwife, who brought her over to Impa delicately. The Sheikah took her as gingerly as she could possibly comprehend, straightening her shoulders and looking albeit rather uncomfortable with an infant in her strong arms. But as she watched the thing squirm restlessly, soft face content save for the occasional grunt of discomfort, Impa's rigid shoulders relaxed. In place of a motherly smile, her brow furrowed and her eyes seemed to gloss over. The baby's hair was a pale brown and she seemed to weigh nothing, as if she were made of light itself. Impa saw a faint glow, one that only a Sheikah could see, coming from the tiny Hylian's heart.

"Well?" said Rauru, clasping his hands together with a hopeful smile. "Any verdict?"

Impa watched the child for another moment, taking deep breaths. Never in her already-long lifetime had she imagined witnessing such an extraordinary event. And now that it had happened, she needed to practice more self-control than she thought she had.

Eventually she turned her somewhat worried expression to the Queen. "I would request a place to stay in the Castle, if not somewhere nearby in Castle Town," she said. "This child needs unflinching and constant protection."

The Queen's face flashed with joy. "Does that mean…?" She shared a look with the King.

"Nothing can be known for certain," said Impa, handing the princess back to the midwife. "But I would caution against excitement. Forces of the universe are at work that might prove harmful if prodded with an iron fire stoker."

After a confused moment, the King laughed. "I won't let any harm befall my lovely daughter, as I'm sure you would agree. We'll have a room prepared for your indefinite stay."

Impa nodded. "Thank you, Your Highness." And with that she turned sharply and exited the room, Rauru close behind.

"Is it true?" Rauru said in a hurried whisper, jogging to keep with the Sheikah's swift gait. "Is the princess truly Hylia's reincarnation?"

"As I said to the King and Queen," said Impa, "I cannot know for sure."

"But clearly you feel something," said Rauru. "Why else would you be staying in the Castle?"

Impa stopped, turning a passive look on Rauru. "Because if you haven't noticed, the people of Castle Town are under an impressive amount of pressure and fear. While the Royal Family is rejoicing the birth of a new princess, they forget that she is a big motivator to the Dinerats to further act against the Hylians."

Rauru gazed up at Impa with an incredulous look. "You are Sheikah," he said simply. "It is in your name and birthright to stand by and protect the Royal Family at all costs."

"And I will do so until the day I leave this realm," said Impa. "I only suggest that things remain a little less jubilant while the innocent civilians of Castle Town are still immensely frightened for their lives."

Rauru shook his head. "This is no longer about rebellion," he said. "The reincarnation of Hylia can only mean one thing."

"I am aware," said Impa. "Which only heightens my fear for Hyrule's innocent inhabitants."

She turned again to continue down the hall, hands clasped behind her back.

Lord Ganondorf dismounted Wrana, leaving her in the hands of the young Hylian man who ran the Castle Town stables. He and his parents were in town after receiving word of the new princess's birth, and they were invited to attend the Announcement Viewing. It was of no surprise or speculation that the princess's name, after her mother and grandmother before her, was Zelda.

Lord Ganondorf had little interest in the princess herself; he had mainly made the trip to Castle Town to speak with General Vincent of Erudone about the Dinerat leader, Link, hiding out in Kakariko Village. He also had the sneaking suspicion that this Link would be in town for the sole purpose of disrupting any celebrations to commemorate the birth of another female heir.

Leaving his mothers to travel through Castle Town on their own (save for the three or so Gerudo guards to protect them), Lord Ganondorf walked purposefully down the wide, cobbled street of the main marketplace. The Goddess Fountain was up ahead, a small monument of foreshadowing to the grandiose castle behind it. Ganondorf turned left and made his way straight to a disproportionately small stall a couple lengths down from the fountain. It was the royal blacksmith's marketplace forge, where an old acquaintance was waiting.

"Goddesses, is that who I think it is?" said Sir Cedric, putting the hammer in his right hand back down on the anvil. "Lord Ganondorf, King of Thieves."

Lord Ganondorf let a chuckle escape his lips. The false title didn't bother him as much as it had other members of the royal Gerudo family tree. "How are you, Cedric?" he said, reaching an arm out across the counter.

Cedric took his hand and shook strongly. "Quite good actually." He was grinning madly. "I've recently become a father."

"Does the Queen have some explaining to do?" said Ganondorf, and the two of them laughed.

"Good Nayru, no," said Cedric between chortles of laughter. "No, although my wife does indeed have as much beauty as the Queen, the royal princess is not my daughter. I have a son."

"Congratulations," said Lord Ganondorf.

"Thank you." Sir Cedric turned his head and glanced at the weaponry on display all around the stall. "I take it you're not here for another special order?"

"No. As King of the Gerudo and ally to the Adventaries, I was invited to princess's official announcement viewing."

"I figured as much," said Cedric. "Although now that I'm seeing you in person, I'd like to thank you for all of your business in the past years. It's nice to provide a service for people outside the Royal Family."

Lord Ganondorf smiled, shaking his head. "Not at all," he said. "You're weaponry has proved more useful and effective than anything the Gerudo smiths could make. Although I'm sure it has much to do with resources."

Cedric nodded. "Yes, I am provided with the strongest of Hylian steel."

Lord Ganondorf paused, golden eyes not leaving the Hylian's face. "I do have a request, actually."

"What would that be?"

"Ganon's Swords."

Sir Cedric's brow furrowed slightly above scrutinizing eyes as he regarded the Gerudo King. "What do you mean, 'Ganon's Swords?'" he said.

"The ones you made for the scholar, in the armory," said Ganondorf.

"I can't just give them to you," said Cedric in astonishment. "They're not really for practical use anyway."

"You can make them useable, can you not?" Lord Ganondorf pressed his palms against the stall's countertop. "I need them."

Something in Cedric's expression glassed over as he watched the Gerudo's face. The features had hardened and his golden eyes had become alight with a fiery ambition. Cedric shook his head gently. "No," he said.

After a brief moment where Ganondorf seriously considered threatening the blacksmith, he eventually straightened his back and the fire in his eyes extinguished itself. He smiled emptily. "Fine," he said. "Not a problem. I'll just commission a pair of my own then."

But Cedric had taken a step back and deeper beneath the stall's ventilated roof. "I don't think I can make you any more weapons."

Another tense moment passed and Lord Ganondorf's expression turned to stone. He realized he would not be getting any help from this Hylian, this turncoat. He wanted to try and convince him, but he was filled with the reasonable fear that anything more out of his mouth would lead to his imprisonment. Curtly and acutely, the Gerudo King turned on his hell and walked away from the forge.

That night Impa sat on a wooden barstool within a tavern by the Castle Town marketplace. She had entertained the possibility of staying permanently in the heart of Hyrule on her way to the city, but now that it was happening she needed a drink. Being a tribe of secrets that lurk within the shadows, she knew she would never be able to see her family again. The new princess presented a conflict for Impa she never thought she'd have to deal with. She downed a large portion of ale that had been placed on the counter before her.

"You look familiar," said the barkeep, leaning against the counter and gazing at Impa with absently analyzing eyes. "You one of those Desert People?"

Impa looked up at him. "I am not Gerudo, no," she said. "I am Sheikah."

The barkeep's brown bushy eyebrows nearly rose to his hairline. "Out in the open, huh? I guess there's a first for everything."

Impa didn't reply for a moment, taking another long swig of ale. Then she looked at the Hylian again. "Why did you mention the Gerudo?"

The man shrugged. "You got dark skin."

"Plenty of people have dark skin," said Impa. "Why them specifically?"

"Guess it's because they came to town today," he said. "Damn thieves."

"Why are they in town?"

"How should I know?" The man turned to help another customer.

Impa cast a surveying glance around the patrons of the tavern. Most of them were light-skinned Hylians, a few round-eared humans, but no Gerudo. She turned back to her drink, looking down at the metal tankard thoughtfully. Within moments her mind was no longer in the present, but back nearly thirty years ago not long before her Shadow Initiation. It was a rite of passage nearly all Sheikah experienced when they came of age to practice the ancient shadow magic of their ancestors. It was also a time when, as is warranted for seekers of the truth, the young initiates learned nearly every secret unknown to most of the world. Impa remembered standing in awe as she heard those secrets, many, many years before her initiation.

"What if the people of Hyrule were to discover the truth?" said an initiate who had just gone through the ceremony. A young Impa watched from the shadows, already naturally proficient with its magic.

"They will not," said the Sheikah who had been training the initiate. Unlike all the other Sheikah, she had deep crimson colored hair. "These secrets must never leave your mouth."

Impa couldn't sleep that night, all of Hyrule's most damning truths swirling around in her head. She wondered why the Sheikah so immovably served the Royal Family, regardless of everything they had put into their people's heads to promote their precious system. Regardless of the whole reason behind adding a tear to the Sheikah Eye of Truth so long ago. Regardless of everything her Sheikah ancestors had witnessed.

Impa was lurched out of her reverie by a shrill scream from outside the tavern. She stood quickly and silently, turning to assess the situation. The whole tavern had grown quiet, gazing out the windows. Suddenly someone ran up the street, a bloodied sword in his hands.

Impa cast her cloak around her body and whisked herself into the shadows. It was a lot like a simple invisibility spell, but the Sheikah magic made it as if she didn't even exist anymore, able to will passage through people and objects without detection as long as she was not in direct light. She snuck across the tavern floor and outside, where she remained in the shade of the building. Up the street, the armed man had climbed atop the marketplace fountain, standing atop the Hylia statue's head with his sword raised in the air. He cried something into the air before a whole legion of armored rebels emerged from the various nooks and crannies of the city. With a hive-like hum of violence, they began to raid the marketplace.

Impa leaped from the shadows and sprinted as lightly as a breeze into the mayhem. She hurled herself into the air and landed on the fountain's edge, pulling a metal shuriken from her boot. She lanced it at the rebel with perfect aim, slicing his neck so discreetly that a look of confusion covered his face before he fell back into the shallow fountain water. Without sparing another breath, Impa dashed straight for the centerpiece of the mayhem. Farther down the marketplace's cobblestoned road was a nicely fashioned stall with a miniature forge under its roof. It belonged to Sir Cedric of the Royal District, the formal blacksmith of the Castle.

Impa knocked out another rebel by kicking the back of his knees and slamming her fist into the back of his head before turning to look inside the blacksmith's stall. It was dark, without any fire in the forge, and she hurdled over the counter to conceal herself in the shadows.

She was about to move through the back, sneaking around the battle to get to its most valued combatants, when she heard a voice hissing in what she knew very well as betrayal. Invisible to everyone within, Impa snuck through the doorway to see a wounded Hylian clutching his chest and leaning against the wall, and a tall, sturdily-built Gerudo man who could only be the widely-known King of Thieves, Lord Ganondorf Dragmire.

"Had I know…" said Sir Cedric, voice wet and shaky with struggle.

The Gerudo King chuckled deeply, and Impa saw blood shimmering on the long blade he observed. "You and me both, Cedric." His golden eyes were fiery, alight with an ambition Impa had never seen before in a man's eyes. "I'll send word to your estate."

"And just what will you say?" croaked Sir Cedric, collapsing to the dusty floor.

"That I fought off the rebel who killed you," said Lord Ganondorf. His voice lowered. "All you had to do was let me into the armory."

"And where would that have led?" said Sir Cedric.

"A swifter end to this battle," said Lord Ganondorf.

Sir Cedric laughed with the last of his strength. "And what then for you, Lord Ganondorf?"

With that, the Hylian blacksmith let go of his chest and lay still on the ground, eyes glazed over with lifelessness.

Impa hadn't moved at all as she watched the scene play out. To her horror, the Gerudo King seemed to look directly at her regardless of her concealment within the shadows of the room. Finally the man turned, throwing his black-and-red cape over his shoulder, and left the blacksmith's market stall.