Chapter Text
Impa sighed as she walked through her village for what could be the last time in her life. She usually wasn't the sentimental type, but damn she will miss this... what if the castle is the polar opposite of her home, and just turns into her own personal hell? Or-
"Hey, i was looking for you!" James emerges behind her, hitting her on the head to snap her out of it. He was a family friend of Impa's, someone she has spent a lot of time with, mostly because of Sheikah training. They trained together to become the best versions of themselves on a physical level, and they both passed the final test together. Only two others from the sixteen who signed up made it to the very end- Impa, James, Holly, and Sebastian. Impa knew pretty much nothing about Holly, other then how much Sebastian enjoys bullying her into doing his dirty work, and how she talks to pretty much no one but her "family".
"What? Too clingy to let me walk around my own home one last time?" Impa asked with a co*cky grin, which James responded to by just shaking his head. She was referring to their next trial of course. After all, whoever the princess of Hyrule chooses as her guard may never actually return to Kakariko again
"Oh come on... you cant just assume you'll be the one to get the job. Didn't master tell you anything about overestimating yourself?" He said with a slight smile, his hands coming together in front of him as he walked, looking at the ground as always.
"Eh, master was always so boring though... it hurts no one to be a little confident" Impa responded slowly, too focused on looking at the people around her to answer quickly. Everyone they passed was saying their goodbyes, which wasn't many people now that Impa really thought about it- Sure, there were a lot of Sheikah guards who ventured outside of the village and now live somewhere else, protecting someone important for sure, but that left Kakariko always being quite empty, outside of the few kids running around, forever chasing a bird.
No matter. Impa had things to do and places to be, and while she always hated goodbyes, she also had some things to look forward to... Purah was supposed to meet them around halfway through to the castle, so they could spend some time together before the big day- Hell, Purah even promised to bring along Robbie, even though he wanted nothing to do with going to the castle at all... Purah always has a way with words. The three of them were a trio for most of their lives, best friends forever if Impa could say so herself. They were the main reason she had stayed in training... so it was fitting that they would be there with her on that day... the day the princess herself chooses her personal guard. Impa could only hope she is the one chosen.
James and Impa joined Holly and Sebastian at their horses, the latter complaining about how late they are while Holly just nods to them as a hello. James was about to apologize, though a quick look from Impa shut him up quick. After all, Sebastian was her rival, not his. So she should get the chance to handle him, not James.
"Are you really that impatient?"
"About as impatient as you are arrogant."
"oh f*ck off, you couldnt even mount your horse properly"
"that was one time!"
"one time too many!"
"I wouldn't have needed your help if you just let me handle it-"
"your horse was all over the place... I had to calm him down for you"
"Your filthy hands should've never touched my horse and you know it."
The two, both exhausted from yesterdays struggles to pack their things, get their last exercise in and the early hours that they had to wake up for, just rolled their eyes. Getting on their respective horses almost in sync as Holly and James apologized to each other for their respective training partners with a silent look before getting on their own horses.
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Impa always loved being on horseback, the wind catching in her long white hair that was tied at the end, nothing but the feeling of nature and her own horse under her to fill her senses... it was great! And she certainly couldnt wait to finally meet Purah and Robbie again, after months of not seeing her older sister and best friend, she was feeling quite energized from just the thought of the reunion! Leaves fell around her gently, grazing her horse every now and then just to be swept away by the wind as she set a much faster pace for her horse, Impa´s back almost perfectly straight as she put her head up as high as she could, feeling the wind on her skin before being told to ´slow the f*ck down for your horses sake, you numbskull-´by Sebastian.
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The four finally made it to a stable after what felt like hours, James getting off his horse with a slight groan as Holly threw her backpack off the horse and onto the ground, nearly hitting James in the head by accident. They all made it into the Inn and asked for directions, with no real desire to actually stay there as they got no money from the village for their travels. Instead, the four made a quick stop, let James talk to a few people as the group's token extrovert, then continued on their journey
"You know, now that i think about it... how come you didn't talk to anyone there? You usually cant keep your mouth shut" Sebastian questioned, cutting off James´s rant about how pretty he found the Innkeeper with a raised eyebrow, staring directly into Impas soul.
"I only talk to people I'm comfortable with... and people i know i could beat the sh*t out of" Impa said with a smug grin, the last line obviously meant for no one else but Sebastian himself, who just scoffed in return, mumbling something about Impa being immature before riding ahead towards Holly, almost immediately ordering her to give him some water. James just watched with a slight grimace, not too fond of the tone that his teammates had towards each other but familiar enough with it to know he couldn't do anything about it.
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The four teenagers landed themselves into a swamp by sunset, Holly and James on firewood duty as Sebastian set up the tents and Impa started on food. She planned on making them some- hopefully -delicious roasted Sanke carp with rice, being one of the simpler, more filling recipes she knew.
James got the fire up, Holly helping Sebastian finish up the last tent as well as distributing everyone's share of the fish and rice as they got settled around the fire place in a slight circle formation, finally relaxing a little after they realized that this will be their first full night of sleep in years.
"You know, for how sh*t of a taste you have... your roasted Sanke was always one of the best" Sebastian remarked with a small smile, scarfing down half his bowl of rice in one bite and swallowing hard before being met with Hollys calm gaze and slowing down a little, making sure to actually chew his food, thought it proved to be quite challenging.
"I gotta agree with him on this one... you really outdid yourself Impa!" James said with a huge grin, biting down on his own share of the fish eagerly as Holly just raises her fish on a stick as a way to agree with everyone
"Thanks! I hope you know that this is the first and last time I'm cooking through this journey though. James can take cooking duty tomorrow" Impa said quickly, fully aware of the pile of burnt/inedible bowls of food in James´s trashcan, yet enjoying the absolutely horrified expression on everyone's faces -including James- at the idea. Holly was quick to point a finger at Sebastian instead, who then willingly took cooking duty for tomorrow on the condition that everyone agrees to keep James away from the food supply.
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the rest of their meal was eaten quietly, no one really having much else to say nor really wanting to interact with the others too much. No matter how many times James tried to bring up a topic of conversation, he was quickly shut down. So after trying to talk about animals, nostalgia, their expectations for the big test, anxiety, food, and clothes, he finally gave up and just brought up the topic of going to sleep, finally getting everyone's attention with the suggestion of actual sleep- after all, anywhere that wasn't the bricks that they called their beds back in Kakariko would be more comfortable to sleep in, and now that they graduated and had a less strict schedule, they could actually sleep in for once. This motivated everyone to go to their respective tents- Holly being dragged away by Sebastian as James and Impa got cozy in their own shared tent.
Impa rolled around for a bit. She wasn't used to sleeping like this... usually the group kept up a biphasic sleep pattern, cutting up the time they spend sleeping and the time they spend awake into little bits of time- but this? this was just straight sleeping. Multiple hours of uninterrupted sleep... great. Yeah. Totally.
"Impa?"
"James...?"
"I want to watch the moon" James said slowly, getting up from his sleeping bag and slipping out of their tent, Impa following behind him shortly. The two sat back near the fire so they wouldn't freeze their asses off, staring up at the moon in utter silence, it was peaceful, watching the fireflies dance across the sky before letting themselves settle on the grass surrounding them. Of course, like most times, James broke this serene moment quite quickly.
"Well, might as well keep up our normal sleep schedules right? If either of us does get chosen, we will need to sleep even less then what we usually do just to be able to protect her while she sleeps so.." James tries to explain away their inability to sleep, knowing that on their normal schedule, they had about two more hours of awake time before they actually had to go back to sleep. This fact made Impa quite nervous. She knew damn well how James gets at night, all sappy and emotional- and not in the good way at all.. it always ended with some deep as hell conversation between the two of them that while helping Impa a lot with her reflection of herself also became quite tiring after a while. But James seemed to have other ideas, simply putting a hand on Impas shoulder and showing her a huge smile "I know you'll make it... so don't be nervous, okay? You're great!" James said enthusiastically, and while Impa knew the words were more directed at himself than her, she still appreciated the praise with a smile of her own.
"I'm sure it will happen..." Or at least she was trying her f*cking hardest to believe
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Holly and Sebastian were partially huddled up in their tent, the two haven't looked at each other for a while now, though they kept up a semi active conversation with each other
"so... any luck keeping that carp down?" Sebastian questioned with a low hum to his voice, fiddling with a piece of fabric between his fingers. He did seem genuinely worried for her, as he knew how much she disliked being around fire, even the contained campfire they huddled around for food could cause massive anxiety attacks if she wasn't careful- though she seemed to be fine at the moment, so Sebastian wasn't too worried about her situation just yet.
"yeah. Just needed dark..." She replied slowly, her voice raspy and hoarse, as if bruised in a way, she wasn't very used to speaking much, so it was usually a struggle to get a proper sentence out, but she managed most days.
"Good. Should i turn off the flashlight too? I don't need a nightlight, and i doubt we´ll be able to fall asleep anyways" Sebastian suggested, carefully looking over to the girl he treated as his older sister of sorts, whose head swayed from side to side before finally resting on his shoulder.
"mhmm..." Holly responded with a hum, a small sigh leaving her as their tent went completely dark, relief washing over her body almost immediately.
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Everyone woke up like normal, and it was quite clear that literally none of them could actually follow up on that promise for "normal sleep". Neither of them seemed to mind though, as everyone slowly ate their share of some bread and brewed their own coffee, waking up almost as soon as the warm, liquid hit their tongue.
"Well... at least we get to watch the sunset a bit, right?" James said with a tired smile and a yawn, looking up at the sunrise with awe
"yeah, thesunriseis beautiful" Impa responded with a yawn of her own, which she fully blamed on James. Not quite in the mood to correct him outright but unable to resist at least pointing it out slightly with a sarcastic tone in her voice.
Sebastian took this time to sit on the first rock he saw and meditate a little, fully content on not interacting with his teammates yet. Meanwhile, Holly fed the horses, grooming them delicately as they drank water from a nearby lake.
Once everyone properly woke up, Sebastian laid out a map on the ground, secured it with rocks, then took a bunch of pebbles to use as markers
"alright, so. We are currently around here, the ashy swamp. I gotta say, we traveled a lot less then what we could've if we just left earlier, instead of going after dinner, but i guess we don't want to arrive early to the castle so whatever." Sebastian started, glaring at Impa for a second before continuing "The dueling peaks is right ahead, we go through there, travel around the east post, take a shortcut through the forest of time, then end up at the foot of whistling hill, where there is another stable--"
"And we can meet up with Purah and Robbie!" Impa cut him off with much enthusiasm, the idea that she was so close to the two of them made her want to jump up and start traveling again as fast as possible, something that wasn't going to happen as they still had to clean up their tents and such
"--yes. Where we can meet up with those two and actually sleep. Since Impa said that her sister will bring enough money for all of us to get a bed" Sebastian finished with mild annoyance in his eyes, hating to be cut off but grateful at the idea of getting a soft bed to spend the night in
Everyone looked at the map one last time, then started to take down their respective tents, check that nothing was stolen out of their bags as they slept, fully clean up the fire so there is no trace of their travels, then finally get on their horses and continue their travels once more
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Impa saw Purah and Robbie from a mile away, Robbie rocking his usual mullet with a frown on his face as he was made to carry the bulk of their bags while Purah had a much smaller but still considerable load on her back. They both threw their stuff aside, smiling as soon as they spotted Impa, who in turn hopped off of her horse and quickly passed it to James before running up to them both and basically tackling them. They both would've fallen to the ground if Impa didn't pick them both up in a bruising hug.
"sh*t, I've missed you two..." Impa finally put them both down, quickly taking notice of Purah and Robbie's combined sigh of relief and reacting to it with a slight chuckle. Clearly quite proud that she could pick the two up so easily.
"we´ve definitely missed you too; and hey, its great to see that you haven't gone out of shape in our absence" Purah responded with a slight laugh of her own, patting the still aching back of Robbie for emphasis as she put a firm hand on her own hip while talking. Robbie only glared at the smaller Sheikah woman briefly, his attention quickly snapping back to Impas presence as he gave Impa a high five, not wasting a single second to rush Impa into the stable so they can continue chatting
It only took about fifteen minutes for an angry Sebastian to walk into the stable, closely followed by Holly and James "What the hell?! You left us to deal with your goddamn horse while you came in here to chitchat!" He whisper yelled as soon as he got into earshot with Impa. Not because he didn't want to make a scene or anything, he just didn't like the idea of being kicked out because of Impas bullsh*t
Impa watched Sebastian for a second, not really taking him seriously much but understanding that she did kind of ditch them "Alright, alright, i get your point, no need to get all pissy about it... Ill take care of James's horse next time" Impa said casually, being met with a quiet thumbs up from James and an even angrier Sebastian
"Pissy? Are you f*cking serious? You cant just leave your horse in the hands of someone else! Did you forget that we are technically on an active mission?" Sebastian seemed to find it hard to actually keep his voice low, clearly not willing to let it go that easily. James cringed a little at the sudden loud sound. Meanwhile, Holly just stood next to Sebastian with a slightly worried expression on her face, though she seemed to agree with him to a degree.
"Look, I'm sorry! I just-"
"No, you need to stop treating this like some vacation where you can do whatever the hell you want! I just don't get it with you... You are the most composed person when we are given orders, yet as soon as you think you can relax, you turn into an immature child that cant seem to give two sh*ts about her teammates! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Sebastian spat out harshly, stealing some peoples attention as he raised his voice. Holly and James seemed to realize quite quickly that it included the attention of the owner of the stable, a brown haired guy who looked like he could fight damn bears if he wanted to- though that mustache wasn't doing him much good... it still wouldn't be a good idea to anger him by causing a scene.
Holly sighed and put a hand on Sebastian's shoulder, causing the boy to huff out an angry breath before storming out of the stable, muttering under his breath. On the other hand, James sat down next to a very awkward Robbie, locking eyes with Impa for a second and looking away. Impa scoffed a bit, looking over to Holly who simply shook her head before sitting down on a different bed, disapproval clear on her face. Impa couldnt believe it. Where they seriously both on Sebastian's side? Sure, she shouldn't have just left them like that... but there was no reason for Sebastian to blow up, either! It wasn't that big of a deal... she sat down with her hands crossed, an awkward silence filling the group.
"We... found a cool glowing rock on our adventures-" The silence was broken by Robbie pulling out a small stone, glowing a faint blue light between them all. This seemed to take Purah's attention away from the previous squabble as she started to rant again, talking about all kinds of sciency stuff that Impa didn't understand much- something about combining rocks to make different, cooler rocks? Impa was never the science type, though Holly seemed mildly interested in the topic, and James tried to keep the conversation alive by asking all kinds of questions.
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Robbie was fast asleep, Purah only half awake as her and Impa spoke- James had gone outside to look for Sebastian, and Holly had been staring at the ceiling for the past half an hour. "Well... he did always love those mountain crows... i just didn't expect him to chase one off a small hill is all" Purah said in a sleepy voice, her eyes closed with an arm over her face as she recounted a certain day in her and Robbie's adventures. Impa just chuckled, clearly amused at the mental image of Robbie chasing around a crow, then tripping off a hill and rolling down. At least he didn't break anything this time- though it was funny to think that he didn't learn his lesson yet
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Purah had long fallen asleep, James and Sebastian returning together. James tried to put a comforting hand on Sebastian's shoulder, though the latter pushed his hand away quite quickly. Either way, Sebastian's presence seemed to snap Holly out of her zoned out state, finally seeming alive again as she pulled out some water out of her backpack and handed it over to him. Sebastian said nothing and laid down on the bed that she was sitting on, drinking from the flask before handing it back so Holly can drink from it as well. He closed his eyes and refused to even glance towards Impa, something she felt a little salty about. Whatever. He didn't want to look at her? Fine. She didn't need him to admit he was wrong anyways, she knew it deep down and that's all that mattered.
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The next day flew by almost too quickly. Though Purah never seemed to run out of stories, some embarrassing, some impressive, others full of science stuff that Impa didn't even attempt to understand- James had tried to keep up with questions, but if anyone could out talk him, it surely had to be the Sheikah scientist. Sebastian still seemed quite salty, and even Holly grew less responsive to whatever was happening in the group. Robbie was simply cringing at Purah's inability to read the field of awkward silence between everyone but her, choosing not to say anything because, well... it was better to have her talking then not.
They all arrived at the giant gate of Hyrule city, the castle in the middle attracting everybody's attention almost immediately. The guards let them in with very little questions, the bustling city being the exact opposite of Kakariko. People were running around, baskets in hand, guards happily talking with shopkeepers. Pretty girls trying to attract peoples attention and shouting out the name of bakeries, clothing shops, dye shops, markets, etc. little kids playing with wooden swords. A group of three guards suddenly being yelled at by a fish seller to catch a random woman stealing. It was everything and more of what Impa had hoped for- plus, the bars didn't seem too bad either.
They all went through the town slowly, making sure not to accidentally run over anyone as people seemed to disregard any danger that the horses could pose to them. Two guards awaited them at the castle gate, dressed in slightly fancier uniform to show that they were official castle guards. Another man stood between the guards, a chiseled looking guy, a few medals dangling from his detailed uniform. Sir Victor. The head of the castle guards, as well as one of the people reporting straight to the king. He had a serious look on his face, ginger hair cut short, his beard and mustache well trimmed.
"We are honored to have you here" Sir Victor said as he led them through the gate, two stable boys coming to get their horses. Impa marveled at the fancy decorations along the castle walls, the garden containing flowers Impa had never seen before. Marble thrown about to line the dirt said plants where planted in. Hollys jaw had practically hit the floor, James was speechless, seeming like a deer that just heard a branch snap as he looked around. Robbie was nothing down and doodling plants left and right as Purah followed, touching and inspecting pretty much every one of them. Sebastian seemed to be the only one who was relatively normal, a smirk lining his lips as he was no doubt fantasizing about staying here already.
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Sir Victor led them through eerily quiet marble walls, echoing footsteps working almost as a warning whenever a random maid or guard walked past them. Paintings of royals, dinners, parties, and scenes that Impa couldnt even recognize lined some of the walls. She never knew portraits were so creepy... but it felt like some of the people were staring directly into her soul. At least the scenery ones were pretty though, especially one of the skyline, with birds flying into the sun. Eventually they did stop though, at a mostly empty hallway with two doors leading to other rooms, the hallway containing a few small desks with vases on them.
"The far right one will be for the soldiers, the scientists will stay in the left one" Sir Victor explained while gesturing towards the appropriate doors. He then explained the plans of their stay. The trial would be tomorrow, and whoever was chosen will be taught the castle layout and the princesses schedule an hour after that. Presumably to give the chosen guard some time to recover. Either way, Sir Victor said his goodbyes, wished everyone good luck, and went off.
Purah threw her hands up and yawned, looking over at the rest of the group "Ill get all my stuff inside... shall we meet up in your room in like... fifteen minutes? I have a small surprise for everyone!" She said with a wink, gesturing over to one of the bags Robbie was carrying, a mischievous smile growing on her face which concerned pretty much everyone else there
"Sounds like a plan... just don't blow anything up" Sebastian said with a shrug, walking into their room first. Impa could only assume this was a repurposed barracks room, a few crates in the corner of the room, a singular lamp, a round table, four chairs as well as two bunkbeds. Other then that the room was empty, walls made of concrete contrasting quite heavily against the marble of the rest of the castle. The room was a bit colder too- though it did feel quite nice on the Sheikahs skin.
Everyone choose a bunkbed and put their bags down, taking a moment to simply lay in silence, letting their minds turn off. Purah burst into the room a few seconds early of fifteen minutes, a huge grin on her face as she brought along a bag with her, the bag emitting noises of glass lightly bumping together. It clicked quite quickly what the Sheikah scientist had done-
She brought booze with her.
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Purah was sitting on Impas lap as the latter was incredibly focused in a thumb wars battle with Holly. Sebastian, James, and Robbie playing cards together. They had all taken a bit of alcohol, making sure not to get too tipsy. They didn't want to have to go through the trial with hangovers after all-
"Oh, goddamnit!" Sebastian groaned loudly, throwing his cards down as he lost again. This was the fourth time now, and he was growing increasingly angrier ever single time he got to last place "I swear to god you guys have been teaming up on me or something! This f*cking game sucks-" Sebastian continued to complain, causing Impa to look over and giggle which gave Holly ample advantage to win that round of thumb wars.
"I- Wha! That`s no fair, i was distracted!" Impa exclaimed, causing both Purah and Holly to roll their eyes almost in unison
James put a hand on Sebastian's shoulder, slowly massaging him there until Sebastian groaned and gave up complaining, simply putting his head down with a sigh of defeat "...How do you always win whatever card game we are playing?" He suddenly asked James with a small pout, seeming almost innocent in that moment
"I'm- not sure...? I just kind of do" James replied with a smile, quite unsure of what to say in the situation, though this just caused James to groan again, his head hitting the floor as he laid down fully. Robbie scooched back a bit, giving Sebastian extra space to feel bad for himself on the floor, glancing over at James who simply shrugged. James then turned around and tapped Hollys thigh to grab her attention
"I think Sebastian has had more then enough for tonight- do you know how to deal with him?" James asked with a sigh. It was actually a bit surreal to see how much of a lightweight the usually uptight Sheikah boy was- but get him drunk and suddenly he was just like a sad toddler. Holly simply nodded and left Impa there at the table, lifting Sebastian up by his arms with slight struggle before setting him on one of the lower bunks. Sebastian let out a high pitched whine when he was placed down, trying to protest the idea of sleep
Purah finally got off of Impas lap, instead shuffling over to the floor and sitting right in front of Robbie
"Hey. Guess what?"
"what...?"
"You are a great side kick"
Robbie took in a sharp breath, his eyes going wide as he stared directly into Purah's grinning face, absolutely offended at the notion of him being the latter's side kick "How. f*cking. Dare you." Robbie started with a finger lifted towards Purah's head, flicking her on the forehead with a scoff. Purah just responded by getting closer again, poking Robbie's face over and over while basically chanting the word "side kick". Robbie's nose was twitching, his eyes staring daggers into Purah's heart, hands clenching into fists
"Should we... intervene...?" James whispered over to Impa, who had an amused smile on her face
"Nah... i dared her to do it" Impa responded in a hushed tone, causing James to jump back a little and look at her with a slightly dumb founded expression, as if saying ¨Seriously?¨. Impa simply nodded a few too many times, her smile widening into a grin as she tried to suppress a giggle. Making James snicker along with her as they watched the two scientists make each other increasingly annoyed
"Okay I'm f*cking done with you!" Robbie said as he got up, causing Purah to chuckle as she got up as well and started slowly heading for the door, walking backwards as Robbie headed towards her. The two chasing each other around the small room a few times before running out. Thats when Impa, James and Holly actually followed them, trying to make sure the two don't start running around the castle. Thankfully they just ran into their own rooms, a few crashing noises indicating that Robbie tackled Purah to the floor. Muffled laughing erupting only a few moments later. The three Sheikah guards released a sigh of relief, returning to their room as the three sat down on the floor. A slight snoring noise indicating that Sebastian fell asleep already.
The three played a few rounds of cards, taking a few extra shots. Stayed up for around an extra hour and a half before everyone finally decided that they've all had enough, turning to single light in the room off. Impa flopped onto her bed and took a few deep breaths, staring at the ceiling as she thought about tomorrow. She wasn't all that worried. She would probably get chosen... plus, even if she wasn't, she wasn't exactly gonna be in trouble for it. Though she couldnt help imagining herself in one of those fancy castle guard uniforms. She probably would be able to walk into town every now and then- maybe play with a few kids, get some free booze for her services... or maybe just a discount.
It was such thoughts that lulled the Sheikah girl to sleep, anticipating tomorrow with a smile.
