#veruminumbra

                                 perhaps  sneaking  into  the  royal  castle  hadn’t  been  among  his  most  brilliant  of  ideas-------- contending  for  second  place,  however,  was  his  irrational  plan  to  pilfer  from  the  estate’s  expansive  kitchen,  which  may  even  dominate  the  former  part  of  his  plan  in  terms  of  FOOLISHNESS.  had  he  lacked  the  arsenal  of  magic  at  his  frequent  disposal,  likely  he’d  have  been  tossed  from  the  castle  with  not  a  single  crumb  of  food  to  show  for  his  efforts.                ---  but  he’d  infiltrated  the  heavily  guarded  building  with  relative  ease,  ever  vigilant  even  as  he  crept  his  way  down  the  lengthy,  eloquently  decorated  corridor  that  lead  to  the  kitchen.  ‘twas  in  there,  he  began  rummaging  through  the  supplies,  tucking  whatever  caught  his  interest  into  the  burlap  sack  that  lay  tied  around  his  waist.  fruits,  herbs,  pastries  -  whatever  sounded  appeasing  to  his  belly,  he  made  sure  to  snatch,  his  palate  hardly  picky,  given  he  hadn’t  a  right  to  be.  at  least  underneath  ganondorf’s  reign,  food  had  been  provided  to  his  faithful  minions,  rewarded  to  those  who  served  him  at  a  level  worthy  of  his  satisfaction.

I don't even know where to start with @dignotions. Everything they put out is absolutely stellar. Their headcanons, their threads, their crack. It gives me life and honestly sometimes is the kickstart I need to feel my own muse for the day. I love the direction they've taken Impa, and all of their Sheikah lore is perfect and cool and just *chef kiss*

— veruminumbra.

HOW’S IT FEEL?? REVENGE IS SWEET

    “ Colonel. ”

Sheik looked up from his work. Moonlight spread through the tent flap, illuminating the Sheikah’s tent. A table, a tankard, several books and weapons scattered about with dog eared pages, and a map, illuminated by a sole candle that now flickered with the opened flap. The wind brushed against cheeks as the red-eyed colonel looked at the soldier quietly, now interrupted. The soldier swallowed thickly against the dark rubies highlighted under bagged eyes.

Biting back a sigh, Sheik straightened his back, turning to fully face the soldier. Taking in his face and body type, Sheik was disappointed at what he saw. A face, not yet stripped of baby fat, white, smudged with mud and dirt and grime, wide brown eyes and lips that were cracked and scuffed from little hydration. This soldier … was truly just a boy. If it were not for their situation, Sheik would have requested the boy be sent to a small division, something that he could be positive to avoid any fighting, but they, Zelda and the other generals, were in quite the bind.

They needed time.

They needed every body.

    “ You have a message for me. ”

There was no question, the colonel already beginning to move around the tent.

    “ O-oh, yes sir. ”

Sheik had found his cowl, placing it around his face.

    “ Uhm … Her Highness has requested your services this evening. ”

Next was his armor. Sheik removed his shirt, pulling on the chain mail. Then his brest plate, paldrons, and greaves. His breast plate bore the symbol of the sheikah, giving a ready tell oaf who he was and that he should be respected. A few leather straps were tightened as the soldier boy stuttered through his next statement, uncertain as the Colonel was getting ready.

    “ She … Her Highness, I mean, says that you - Colonel sir ought to be ready for a mission. ”

Sheik finished with his attire with a cloak. One of a deep rich blue and a soft red on the underside. It’s broach connected from strands and the Hyrule Royal Family’s symbol, telling who it was that he was.

    “ Anything else? ”

Sheik’s voice was gruff and low.

    “ O-oh! Right! Uhm. She also … warned you come armed? ”

There was a soft snort in laughter. The sheikah turned, pushing past the young man. The look in his eyes told a story of years. Ones spent long and hard on the battle field.

    “ I am always armed. ”

Going to Zelda’s tent, she was sitting, bowed over her hands. The look on her face dreary and dim, lips pursed, hair cut, the attire she bore that of a soldier, rather than a princess. Sheik bowed his head, muttering a small ‘your highness’ to her. Zelda waved Sheik off. Her rapier was set ‘pon the table. Zelda looked tired. Sheik sympathized.

    “ You called for me, your highness? ”

Zelda looked at Sheik, and Sheik was taken aback. The calculating look was one he had witness several times. Times of when they were about to go into battle. Times their enemy had almost come on top of them. That was her look of sizing up a person. The fact she was using it ‘pos the Sheik spoke something fierce.

    “ We are going to lose. ”

Silence settled between the two.

    “ Unless we achieve some help. We … are going to lose. ”

    “ Our odds do seem rather grim. ”

A laugh bubbled from the princesses throat and she looked away. Running hands through her hair. She clearly had been stressed … Sheik could not blame her. If someone had told him that the princess would be looking like this so many years ago, he would have called blaspheme. She was almost touchable at this point …

But still … not quite.

    “ I have a plan. But you are going to be in quite a tough spot. “

Sheik cocked a brow at the princess.

    “ There is a spell … one that takes immense energy. I cannot undo it once cast, and will not be able to fix it if something goes wrong. Would you be prepared for this? “

Silence again. Sheik was quiet, thinking it over. He didn’t even know the plan, but he knew the army. Their forces were thin at best, and Sheik was one of the Colonels who held constant conferences with Her Highness to help decide big battles and plan out strategies. Could she really afford to lose him if something bad happened?

    “ What is the plan, your majesty?”

There was almost a relaxing of Zelda’s shoulders. As if she believed he would not even hear her out before making his decision on the matter. Zelda took a deep breath and straightened again.

    “ My plan is simple. I am going to send you back in time … and stop this from ever happening in the first place. ”

Sheik’s eyes widened, startled.

    “ You are the only one I trust with something as difficult as this. You will need to go back in time … and save the Hero. Save him from his death. Keep him alive, no matter what. He needs to survive. To live. If we are ever to have a life free of all this pain and death. “

What was said made sense, and Sheik could agree with bits and pieces, but the idea was ludicrous. Not only that, but a spell that magnitude —

    “ It doesn’t matter what happens here then if you can do that. You will have saved us all … Do you understand, Sheik? “

    “ Does not— your highness, it matters to me! I apologize for speaking out of turn, but it is my responsibility to keep you safe from harm and … ”

Zelda gave Sheik a weary smile.

    “ … and you have already failed. This is the only way. ”

Anger bit at the inside of Sheik’s stomach. He had saved Zelda multiple times. Kept her alive, given her shelter, hidden, away from death. Yet she claimed he had failed? He looked away, glaring at the table. He did not approve …

He could say no.

    “ Will you do this for me, Sheik? ”

He could stop this right here.

    “ Will you save me and everyone here? “

Sheik’s mouth opened, his tongue felt fuzzy and dry.

    “ As you wish. ”

It took two days to set up. All of the Generals stepping in to help use their magic and send their ‘champion’ to the past. Sheik was displeased, but he was prepared. Knives were stored carefully and he altered his attire just enough that he could still look recognizable, but move more stealthily.

   “ Are you ready? “

Only a nod escaped Sheik as all the Generals clasped hands together, magic twisting around him. Pulling the sheikah into the air before he vanished from sight. Gone from that world, and landing in a heap of armor, half-unconscious near the entrance gates of Hyrule Castle. Guards shouting about a man who appeared from nowhere …

@veruminumbra

       There was only so much she could ask of her student- only so many times she could ask of him to traverse the shadows of his realm in to the lights of hers. And while they were not seperate realms entirely, time shifted their sands so far apart that they may as well have been different worlds entirely, and not sharing the same skies of different ages.

       Shadows churned and swallowed around her, trying to consume her whole as she navigated obtrusively through their realm; and failed with increasing agitation on their behalf as a soft barrier of pure magical flux put itself between them and her. She was untouchable. She was untaintable-- she was the already tainted and the source of their misery.

                                                      [ She was a guardian. ]                                                               [ Sheikah. ]

       Finally they fell apart, shredding like fraying threads at the seams of a well weathered cloth being moved after years of rain soaked sun rot. Wooden floor boards creaked under her feet, and the sudden fwoosh of fires being lit circled around her. Crimson eyes glanced about as the shadows released her on a pedestal surrounded by torches.

       Is this what was to become of the ancient cistern? A swell cesspool for evil to breed in? A deep ache filled her heart as the way the shadow temple clawed desperately for the ancient fuel that was her soul. How horrible, such a fate of holy ground... the under realm completely overtaking the grand scale of balance and flooding to leech the very light from everything around it, until the shadows could feed on itself and fester like a putrescent wound on rotting flesh.

In these very halls, thousands of years ago, she turned her young pupil in to a proper guardian.

                                         [ What horrors he would be facing here... ]

       Stepping off of the platform, Impa pulled the collar of her cloak up and walked out to the cliffside, the fires dying behind her like an afterthought that they should have ever been lit in the first place.