The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors

Chapter 2: Under Siege

With deft, swift movements, Impa tore her giant blade through another crowd of bokoblins, slaughtering them all instantly. Her skill with the oversized weapon that she had bought from the Goron tribe baffled every one of the soldiers who served under her; she wielded into battle as if it were as light as a dagger, despite the fact that the thing weighed what felt like a ton to everyone but the Sheikah guardian. But what made Impa an even more deadly combatant was not just her prowess with a blade; it was also her mastery over the ancient art of Sheikah magic, a skill that very few knew how to defend against or fight off.

As Impa clicked her hefty knife back into its sheath as was her habit after each strike, she glared at the enemy forces that were still alive, having slipped past the faltering elite troops and heading her way. The skirmish had been raging on for at least a few hours now, though it was hard to tell time precisely in the heat of battle, and it was clear that the invading monsters were starting to gain the upper hand over the Hylian troops, much to Impa's aggravation. It was for this reason that Zelda had taken the soldiers fighting under her charge and headed towards the southwestern portion of Hyrule Field in order to defend the outposts and keeps there, while Impa stayed behind to defend the castle keep with her troops. Of course, when the princess had suggested this plan, the Sheikah guardian had her reservations about allowing her young ward to go off on her own, but at the same time, Impa also knew that Zelda was quite the competent fighter in her own regard as well. And so, the two women split up, hoping that they could cover more ground apart and rid the land of this threat before it got out of hand.

Upon having just torn her way through another horde of monsters, Impa let out an aggravated sigh to see that more were headed her way in their mindless pursuit to infiltrate the castle. She had no idea what their motive was for attacking, or even who was leading them, but one thing was certain: they were seemingly innumerable.

"Where did all these monsters come from?" the Sheikah guardian whispered to herself under her breath as she cast some Sheikah water magic upon her blade before taking a broad swipe at more of the creatures. However, upon clearing them out of the way, her attention was caught by one of the elite captains several yards away, standing near an entrance to a keep that happened to be blocked by large boulders.

"Lady Impa!" the captain shouted. "Princess Zelda headed this way, but the path is impassible!"

"Curses!" Impa scowled as she looked over and watched the meager attempt of some of the soldiers to push the heavy rocks out of the way. "We can't get to Princess Zelda with those boulders in the way! We'll have to find some way to get rid of them…"

However, the Sheikah guardian's focus was once again diverted as she picked up on the dying shrieks of several monsters coming from several feet behind her. She knew well that her troops were supposed to be guarding the bridge that led to the castle keep, as its protection was integral to making sure the castle did not fall into the hands of the enemy, but as she glanced behind her, she saw none of them fighting. She only saw one young man whom she had never seen before, clad in the uniform of a mere trainee and tearing through the intruding beasts such speed and skill that Impa had to do a double take to make sure that her eyes were not deceiving her.

"Commander?" the Sheikah leader asked the officer closest to her, still watching the young man as he plowed through every beast in his way. "Who is that soldier over there?" she asked, nodding her head in his direction.

The commander shook his head with a frown. "I don't know, milady," he said, pausing to watch the young knight as well. "I've never seen him before. But from the looks of it… I think he might be a new recruit…"

"I thought I told the trainee captain to keep all of the recruits out of this battle!" Impa growled, though the last thing she had time for was to reprimand a simple recruit for not following her orders. "Just who is this soldier anyway…?" she muttered to herself as the commander went back into the outlying fray. However, the Sheikah guardian only had a moment more to watch the clearly talented young trainee before she found herself surrounded by monsters once more. Impa merely rolled her eyes at the pests before drawing her massive blade and cleaving through them once more.