Link slowly approached the old woman, whom he assumed was the Impa that he sought. She looked… ancient. Her face and hands—the only parts of her body visible to Link under her traditional Sheikah garb—were heavily wrinkled and showed multiple age spots, and she had walked with a bow to her back, leaning heavily on her cane.
"So…" Impa said, her lips curling into a smile that revealed several missing teeth. She looked up at Link, fixing him with kindly grey eyes. "You're finally awake." He was able to see the purple Sheikah Eye tattooed on her forehead now. "It has been quite some time, Link."
"Wait, that's...?" Paya cut her question off.
"You knew me?" Link asked.
"I did, long ago," Impa confirmed. "I have been waiting for your return. I did not expect you to bring company."
Link realized it was probably bad manners to not introduce the others. "Sorry, I haven't introduced them." He introduced his new friends to Impa one by one, each voicing how much of an honor it was to meet her as he did so.
She turned her attention back to Link. "Do you remember me?" Link's eyes fell to the ground, and he gave a small shake of his head. Impa sighed softly, her eyebrows knitting together in a frown. "Do you have any memories of before?"
"...No," Link said. "I want to, but..."
"I see," Impa said. "Perhaps in time, they will return."
"Perhaps," Link agreed.
"Has Rhoam explained who you were?" she asked.
"He did, but I want to remember for myself," Link told her.
Impa sighed. "Before I go any further, I know that you must have many questions, and you are likely not at all sure of your place in all of this. It does not give me any pleasure to admit to you that I am about to place more burden upon your shoulders."
"I already accepted that I'm going to destroy Ganon and save Princess Zelda," Link said. "I made a promise, and I'm going to keep it."
Impa smiled. "It's clear that you have not lost your sense of duty."
Link looked her in the eyes. "Tell me what I have to do."
She told him of the conflict against Calamity Ganon 10,000 years prior, when her ancestors, at the peak of their advanced technology, had created the Guardians and the four Divine Beasts. The Guardians had protected the hero and princess, while the four Divine Beasts attacked Ganon, weakening him greatly. The hero struck Ganon down, and the princess, using her goddess powers, sealed Ganon away again.
"One hundred years ago," Impa continued, her voice softening. "We strove to follow in our ancestors' wake. A prophecy foretold the return of Ganon, so we sought out the Guardians and Divine Beasts of old. We spent years researching and planning, yet… Despite it all, we underestimated Ganon's power and cunning."
Link knew what had come next. Ganon had taken control of the Divine Beasts and the Guardians, turning them against him and Princess Zelda, and massacring the citizens of Hyrule along the way.
"If Ganon is so powerful… how am I supposed to defeat him?"
"That is where the princess' plan comes into play," Impa said, her eyes narrowing some. "Princess Zelda believes that it might still be possible to free the Divine Beasts from Ganon's control." Link's heart began to sink as she continued. "So her final wish before leaving to seal Ganon was for you, when you awoke, to go to the Divine Beasts and free them of Ganon's malice."
"I see."
"It would be ill-advised to try to face Ganon now, as you are, without the Master Sword, and without the assistance of the Divine Beasts. It has already proven ready for such an attack and I fear it will just turn all of his machines against you again if you try."
"I am not sure what the princess saw when her powers awakened." Impa continued. "She seemed to be more aware of what had happened. I believe that the Goddess revealed some things to her. Perhaps she could even see into the future. Whatever she saw, she believed in you, Link. She believed that you would be able to cleanse the Divine Beasts and restore them to their original functionality."
"I don't know why she thinks I can," Link said. "Flayn is the one with powers effective against Ganon."
"Is that so?" Impa asked, scrutinizing the green-haired girl. "You do have a spark of divine power within you, Flayn of Garreg Mach."
"I know," Flayn said.
"You have the potential to be an invaluable asset to Link on his journey," Impa said. "All of you may, in fact. It was said that the Hero of Twilight fought alongside Midna, the Twilight Princess. And the Hero of Ages led an army against Ganon. Perhaps it may be that the Hero is meant to have aid once more.
"But it is you who is destined to face Ganon. You and Zelda," she told Link.
"Then I won't let you down," Link promised.
Princess Zelda hoped that the images that she left on the Sheikah Slate might help you recall some of your memories. Have you… had a chance to look at them yet?"
He frowned up at the old woman. "Images?" He reached down to his belt, unhooking the Sheikah Slate. He held it out to Impa at her insistence, who took it and frowned, her fingers tapping the screen. "Don't hit the blue ones," Link warned, remembering the bomb runes.
Impa raised an eyebrow. After a moment, though, she frowned and looked back down at the Sheikah Slate. "The camera is not here… I don't understand. When she used this, it and the map were the only runes available. Now, there are many more runes, yet no…" She sighed and looked at Link.
"I used it to activate the Sheikah Tower, and those appeared."
She considered this information for a time before nodding slowly. "Perhaps my sister, Purah, might be of some assistance."
Her fingers flicked across the screen rapidly until, finally, she turned it around to show him. It showed the map, and he could clearly see the icon that indicated his currently location. Impa had added another marker, however, some distance away, to the southeast. It was probably at least a day or two's journey, by his estimation, though his understanding of the map's scale wasn't exact.
"Purah, lives here, in Hateno Village. She's dedicated her life to studying ancient Sheikah technology—the Sheikah Slate and its runes, in particular—and it is possible that she may be able to restore some additional functionality to your Sheikah Slate.
"I believe you may have more questions," Impa said.
"I have one," Caspar told her. "We were attacked by assassins who said they were after Link. Who were they?"
Impa's expression darkened. "The Yiga Clan."
"The Yiga Clan?"
"Yes." Impa said. "Almost ten thousand years ago, after the last battle against Calamity Ganon, they were members of the Sheikah. The Sheikah had advanced technology then. However, the people grew to fear the Sheikah and their technology, and the king at the time ordered them to bury it."
"And they obeyed him?" Monica asked. "I saw what the Guardians were capable of. Why didn't they force the king to let them keep it, or declare independence, or take over Hyrule themselves?"
"Because that is not the proper place of the Sheikah, foolish girl!" Impa seemed actually angered by the question. "The Sheikah are to serve the royal family. Whenever the Sheikah have deviated from that path, it has led to disaster for Hyrule and the Sheikah alike!
"But that is what some of the Sheikah thought," Impa elaborated. "There were dissenters who did not want to obey the king. Some of them tried to take over the Sheikah. However, the majority of the Sheikah remained loyal, and the traitors were exiled.
"They formed their own clan, the Yiga Clan. In time, they took up the worship of Ganon. They believe that if they kill you, Ganon will elevate them to a glorious new existence. Fools. Ganon will destroy them along with everything else if it frees itself."
(Kronya wasn't comfortable with that explanation. She could understand throwing off the shackles of one's "proper role." It was what the Agarthan Empire of old had done when they declared war against the Fell Star. But to worship a being like Ganon?
She asked herself if the Agarthans would have worshiped Ganon if it was diametrically opposed to the Fell Star instead of Hylia. She didn't like that she didn't know the answer.
She wished that she could talk to someone about these things.)
"Please, spend the night here in our village. You can head to Hateno in the morning," Impa offered.