February Eve
ZD District Attorney
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2010
- Location
- USA
The title comes from the song on the Twilight Princess soundtrack. Some moments are in-game and others are embellished. Rated PG just to be safe.
She hadn’t always been alone.
When she was younger, there were many others, and not all of them Sheikah. She sat at the feet of the elders and listened to stories of a time when the village had been the closest thing to shelter in a world of war. She memorized the stories of her namesake, and how she had aided the hero in his time of destiny.
Then came the rockslides and the quaking earth and the harsh reality that bad things happen even in good times. Many people relocated away from the village, but a few Sheikah returned. The village became a hidden stronghold and she studied the ways of her people.
When she came of age she was allowed the traditional sojourn, and as many wonderful sights as she saw, she was never tempted to stay like some of the others. She returned to her people and her duty.
But slowly, the others began to leave. Some rejected their heritage, and others were not worthy of it. As the times grew dimmer, some were taken by enemies.
Time was the greatest one.
*
By the time she was fifty, she and the elder Rashad were the only ones left. They moved into the same one-room dwelling so that Impaz could care for her ailing senior. She spent days sitting next to her side, reading history books and journals out loud. At times Rashad’s mind was clouded by pain, but her good days made Impaz think that her childhood studies were simply a precursor to the lessons she would have now.
One late autumn evening, Rashad laid down for her final rest. When Impaz found her the next morning, she had to postpone her grief in order to spend the next several hours with the backbreaking task of digging her grave, using one of the old stones in the village as a headstone. With this completed, she moved on to the ancient burial rites. It was not the first time she had done them, but it was the first she had done them alone.
It was nearly dawn of the next day by the time she was done. Exhausted as she was, she stayed at the graveside even with the private ceremony completed. She prayed for her friend’s safe passage.
And as she got to her feet and wearily made her way back to her home, she could not completely put the question out of her mind of who would be around to do the same for her.
*
She learned to live on her own. At first she tried to keep the village ready for any who might one day decide to return. But that became too much work for one old woman, so she tended to the dwellings closest to her. As the days passed and the dust settled, she found less reasons to go out, and stayed home to read her books instead. Eventually that became the only upkeep she bothered with.
She received visitors occasionally. She accepted deliveries and wrote letters just to interact with the postman. One day, he brought a kitten he had found on his route, and when he saw she had such joy tending it, brought another a time later. Those were his only gifts, but the number of cats grew. The cuccoos she kept around for eggs seemed glad for the company as well. They would cluck around the streets and alleys as if guarding their chicks, and the cats would obediently follow.
Then came the darkness and the monsters with their fire. Despite her fear, she ran to every corner of every building to find her children, and cried when she couldn’t find them all before being forced to retreat to her home. She put her books down and prayed for a savior instead.
*
In the time of darkness there was one bright light. Midway through the siege a girl appeared. She was courageous enough to fight off the monsters, which gave her enough time to make it to Impaz’s doorstep. Impaz opened the door and pulled her inside, hastily throwing out a chunk of meat left over from feeding the cats in exchange. It bought them some time; the monsters in their unintelligible grunting began fighting over it instead.
The girl gratefully accepted water and a place to rest. They began to talk. She was from a province Impaz had passed through only once on her journeys. She also seemed much braver about the situation than Impaz herself would be.
“Link will come looking for me, don’t worry,” she said, and explained all about the boy who had just days ago saved another child from the same kind of monsters. Impaz tried not to discourage her by pointing out the numbers in the village.
But Ilia was also not the type to wait around and be rescued. Impaz even thought she might have tried escaping that night except – “I won’t leave until I’m sure no one will be hurt,” she said fiercely. “You’ll come with me, right?”
Impaz thought it would be hard to explain to the girl her orders. But as it turned out, the only thing hard was watching Ilia accept it without protest while blinking back tears.
*
Feeding the monsters, unfortunately, turned out to be like feeding her stray cats. As soon as they realized she had food none would ever go away. They stood around and pounded on the door, pointing at their mouths or making rude gestures obviously meant for the girl. Impaz kept Ilia away from the windows and, acting braver than she was, threw out more from her stores while yelling that she knew nothing of their missing captive.
Ilia already had a plan, but it was not executable until she’d talked with Impaz about the secret entrances and the monsters’ routine. It took several days to finalize the details, and Impaz wholeheartedly wished for her escape while feeling slightly guilty at knowing that she’d miss the spark of hope that Ilia brought with her.
Part of it came from her words about Link. Her stories made Impaz feel she knew the boy herself. And as they got to know each other, the talk turned more personal. “I worry about him,” Ilia confessed softly. “His bravery is one of the things I love about him. But at the same time I just want him to come home safe.”
“If he has even half the strength that you do, he will,” Impaz assured her, surprising herself as she said it that it wasn’t just an empty promise, but that the more Ilia spoke, the more she believed in him.
“You’re sure you can’t leave?” Ilia asked. “Maybe your duty can be fulfilled somewhere else.” Impaz shook her head.
“There are many mysteries in my tribe’s past, but that is not one of them.” She patted Ilia’s hand, then shuffled over to her shelf and picked up a wooden carving. “Don’t let me become one of your worries,” she said kindly. “When you feel doubt, look at this and think of me. I will be safe as long as you cherish it.”
“Then it will be my prized possession,” Ilia promised, and smiled.
*
The night they were waiting for, that of a new moon, finally came. A heavy rain accompanied it and Impaz worried that it would make the journey harder, but Ilia said that it was fine, and even better than she expected. “If something goes wrong, at least fire can’t burn in the rain,” she said practically.
The monsters didn’t seem bothered by the weather, but they did by their guard duty. They wandered back and forth among the buildings, arguing with each other and playing strange gambling games, leaving just enough actual guards to be a nuisance. Impaz had taught Ilia that the best time to leave would be midway through the night shift, when about half the guards would be dozing and many of the others would be drinking and carousing in one of the abandoned buildings.
When the guard in the side yard abandoned his post, they knew they would get no better chance. While Impaz watched from the window, Ilia snuck out and pulled out a charm from her pocket. She played it like a musical instrument, a clear and melodious call that Impaz was petrified the guards would hear. But though the monsters were probably too stupid to pay attention to it in the first place, the crash of a shattering window from another boisterous party rang through the air at that moment and covered the sound of the song.
Impaz could count each heartbeat as she waited for a sign. It came in the form of a galloping horse, which even the monsters noticed. The horse reached Ilia, who jumped up in one fluid motion. She looked over at the window and Impaz knew that Ilia still wished she would come, even if she wouldn’t ask again. The girl quickly tossed the charm in Impaz’s direction.
“You gave me a gift – here is mine. If you ever need it, Epona will come for you. I’ll make sure of it!” The horse neighed as an arrow landed nearby. Ilia gave a wordless command and Epona reacted instantly, galloping in the direction of the exit.
Impaz knew that Ilia would not be able to look back, but she watched them until the girl was out of sight and prayed for her safety for long after that.
*
Despite the chase, the monsters did not seem to believe the girl had escaped, or maybe they believed she was coming back. The pounding on the door was as constant as the ticking of the clock. One day they broke into Impaz’s storage shed while searching, or perhaps they did it out of pure greed. Even knowing she had no way to access it right now, watching them carry away her winter stores was yet another reminder of how dire her situation was.
The time finally came when she fed the last of her food to her cats, and felt as fearful for their welfare from now on as she did hers. She lay on her bed to sleep away the hunger, only to be woken by the familiar shake of the door.
“I don't have any food left to feed you monsters! And I don't know anything about the girl!” she yelled back out of weariness.
The fact that it actually stopped made her pause. After a few moments, waiting for them to come back, it dawned on her that the village, for the first time in days, was slowly growing quiet. Her words alone were not enough to do that.
Peering through the window, she saw a different figure than the one she was used to go running past. It was a young boy clad in green, and when he and a monster would disappear out of sight, only the boy would return. The scene played itself out again and again, and Impaz wondered at the monsters not having enough sense to run away instead of charging him.
Finally it appeared that he was the last one standing, and as he stopped to catch his breath, Impaz opened the door. She had never met him before, but even as she fought her disbelief, she was certain she knew who he was the moment she saw him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t open the door earlier…” She stared up at him, amazed at the thought of all he must have done to even get here. “You’re the savior,” she said fervently. The boy smiled in gratitude, but his eyes lit up even more when she said, “You’re Link, aren’t you? So then, you saved that nice girl? When she was here, she would often cheer me up by saying that you would come to help.”
He nodded in answer, and it seemed the weight of a few of the years had been lifted, knowing Ilia was safe. The least she could do was return the favor. As sentimental as it was, she reached into her sash and handed over the charm.
“Would you help me return this to her? I think she always kept it close to her heart, but even so, she didn't hesitate to part with it in order to protect me…”
She had not known until then how she would thank him. But seeing how his eyes softened as he saw the object, and how tenderly he accepted it, she knew it was enough. “I don’t have much to offer,” she explained anyway, “But if you need anything, please stop by any time.”
Link nodded, and head dipped, tried to hand her a bottle. Impaz took it from him and smelled it. It was soup. She smiled.
“Now that the beasts are gone I can get my deliveries again. But I will not decline a gift so graciously given. Won’t you join me?”
He shook his head, and Impaz knew that he was ready to continue his journeys. She bid him to wait one more moment as she transferred the soup to a bowl, and rinsed the bottle before she returned it to him. “The lighter a man travels, the more precious what he does own,” she said, and he had a mischievous twinkle at that comment, but just nodded and turned to go.
“Link,” she called out one more time. “By royal order, I can’t leave this village until a certain person arrives. But seeing you gives me hope. Thank you.” He looked back over his shoulder, smiled again, and waved his hand in thanks.
*
For the first time in months, Impaz could leave the door open. One by one the cats slowly came up from the basement. Some of them sat at her feet and begged for the soup, but the others dashed out at the sight of freedom and began to explore again. As she watched from the door, another cat cautiously crept out from beneath a building, and then another jumped down from a hidden crevice. She quietly rejoiced. Perhaps they had been able to get away after all.
Somewhere nearby, a clear, crystal howl arose. Impaz paused, momentarily frozen by her memories of fear. But this was not the wild and vicious screams of the beasts that had invaded her village. It was the pure song of a creature calling out to its kindred spirit.
Impaz closed her eyes and gave a prayer of thanks.
***********
Memories of Impaz
***********
***********
When she was younger, there were many others, and not all of them Sheikah. She sat at the feet of the elders and listened to stories of a time when the village had been the closest thing to shelter in a world of war. She memorized the stories of her namesake, and how she had aided the hero in his time of destiny.
Then came the rockslides and the quaking earth and the harsh reality that bad things happen even in good times. Many people relocated away from the village, but a few Sheikah returned. The village became a hidden stronghold and she studied the ways of her people.
When she came of age she was allowed the traditional sojourn, and as many wonderful sights as she saw, she was never tempted to stay like some of the others. She returned to her people and her duty.
But slowly, the others began to leave. Some rejected their heritage, and others were not worthy of it. As the times grew dimmer, some were taken by enemies.
Time was the greatest one.
*
By the time she was fifty, she and the elder Rashad were the only ones left. They moved into the same one-room dwelling so that Impaz could care for her ailing senior. She spent days sitting next to her side, reading history books and journals out loud. At times Rashad’s mind was clouded by pain, but her good days made Impaz think that her childhood studies were simply a precursor to the lessons she would have now.
One late autumn evening, Rashad laid down for her final rest. When Impaz found her the next morning, she had to postpone her grief in order to spend the next several hours with the backbreaking task of digging her grave, using one of the old stones in the village as a headstone. With this completed, she moved on to the ancient burial rites. It was not the first time she had done them, but it was the first she had done them alone.
It was nearly dawn of the next day by the time she was done. Exhausted as she was, she stayed at the graveside even with the private ceremony completed. She prayed for her friend’s safe passage.
And as she got to her feet and wearily made her way back to her home, she could not completely put the question out of her mind of who would be around to do the same for her.
*
She learned to live on her own. At first she tried to keep the village ready for any who might one day decide to return. But that became too much work for one old woman, so she tended to the dwellings closest to her. As the days passed and the dust settled, she found less reasons to go out, and stayed home to read her books instead. Eventually that became the only upkeep she bothered with.
She received visitors occasionally. She accepted deliveries and wrote letters just to interact with the postman. One day, he brought a kitten he had found on his route, and when he saw she had such joy tending it, brought another a time later. Those were his only gifts, but the number of cats grew. The cuccoos she kept around for eggs seemed glad for the company as well. They would cluck around the streets and alleys as if guarding their chicks, and the cats would obediently follow.
Then came the darkness and the monsters with their fire. Despite her fear, she ran to every corner of every building to find her children, and cried when she couldn’t find them all before being forced to retreat to her home. She put her books down and prayed for a savior instead.
*
In the time of darkness there was one bright light. Midway through the siege a girl appeared. She was courageous enough to fight off the monsters, which gave her enough time to make it to Impaz’s doorstep. Impaz opened the door and pulled her inside, hastily throwing out a chunk of meat left over from feeding the cats in exchange. It bought them some time; the monsters in their unintelligible grunting began fighting over it instead.
The girl gratefully accepted water and a place to rest. They began to talk. She was from a province Impaz had passed through only once on her journeys. She also seemed much braver about the situation than Impaz herself would be.
“Link will come looking for me, don’t worry,” she said, and explained all about the boy who had just days ago saved another child from the same kind of monsters. Impaz tried not to discourage her by pointing out the numbers in the village.
But Ilia was also not the type to wait around and be rescued. Impaz even thought she might have tried escaping that night except – “I won’t leave until I’m sure no one will be hurt,” she said fiercely. “You’ll come with me, right?”
Impaz thought it would be hard to explain to the girl her orders. But as it turned out, the only thing hard was watching Ilia accept it without protest while blinking back tears.
*
Feeding the monsters, unfortunately, turned out to be like feeding her stray cats. As soon as they realized she had food none would ever go away. They stood around and pounded on the door, pointing at their mouths or making rude gestures obviously meant for the girl. Impaz kept Ilia away from the windows and, acting braver than she was, threw out more from her stores while yelling that she knew nothing of their missing captive.
Ilia already had a plan, but it was not executable until she’d talked with Impaz about the secret entrances and the monsters’ routine. It took several days to finalize the details, and Impaz wholeheartedly wished for her escape while feeling slightly guilty at knowing that she’d miss the spark of hope that Ilia brought with her.
Part of it came from her words about Link. Her stories made Impaz feel she knew the boy herself. And as they got to know each other, the talk turned more personal. “I worry about him,” Ilia confessed softly. “His bravery is one of the things I love about him. But at the same time I just want him to come home safe.”
“If he has even half the strength that you do, he will,” Impaz assured her, surprising herself as she said it that it wasn’t just an empty promise, but that the more Ilia spoke, the more she believed in him.
“You’re sure you can’t leave?” Ilia asked. “Maybe your duty can be fulfilled somewhere else.” Impaz shook her head.
“There are many mysteries in my tribe’s past, but that is not one of them.” She patted Ilia’s hand, then shuffled over to her shelf and picked up a wooden carving. “Don’t let me become one of your worries,” she said kindly. “When you feel doubt, look at this and think of me. I will be safe as long as you cherish it.”
“Then it will be my prized possession,” Ilia promised, and smiled.
*
The night they were waiting for, that of a new moon, finally came. A heavy rain accompanied it and Impaz worried that it would make the journey harder, but Ilia said that it was fine, and even better than she expected. “If something goes wrong, at least fire can’t burn in the rain,” she said practically.
The monsters didn’t seem bothered by the weather, but they did by their guard duty. They wandered back and forth among the buildings, arguing with each other and playing strange gambling games, leaving just enough actual guards to be a nuisance. Impaz had taught Ilia that the best time to leave would be midway through the night shift, when about half the guards would be dozing and many of the others would be drinking and carousing in one of the abandoned buildings.
When the guard in the side yard abandoned his post, they knew they would get no better chance. While Impaz watched from the window, Ilia snuck out and pulled out a charm from her pocket. She played it like a musical instrument, a clear and melodious call that Impaz was petrified the guards would hear. But though the monsters were probably too stupid to pay attention to it in the first place, the crash of a shattering window from another boisterous party rang through the air at that moment and covered the sound of the song.
Impaz could count each heartbeat as she waited for a sign. It came in the form of a galloping horse, which even the monsters noticed. The horse reached Ilia, who jumped up in one fluid motion. She looked over at the window and Impaz knew that Ilia still wished she would come, even if she wouldn’t ask again. The girl quickly tossed the charm in Impaz’s direction.
“You gave me a gift – here is mine. If you ever need it, Epona will come for you. I’ll make sure of it!” The horse neighed as an arrow landed nearby. Ilia gave a wordless command and Epona reacted instantly, galloping in the direction of the exit.
Impaz knew that Ilia would not be able to look back, but she watched them until the girl was out of sight and prayed for her safety for long after that.
*
Despite the chase, the monsters did not seem to believe the girl had escaped, or maybe they believed she was coming back. The pounding on the door was as constant as the ticking of the clock. One day they broke into Impaz’s storage shed while searching, or perhaps they did it out of pure greed. Even knowing she had no way to access it right now, watching them carry away her winter stores was yet another reminder of how dire her situation was.
The time finally came when she fed the last of her food to her cats, and felt as fearful for their welfare from now on as she did hers. She lay on her bed to sleep away the hunger, only to be woken by the familiar shake of the door.
“I don't have any food left to feed you monsters! And I don't know anything about the girl!” she yelled back out of weariness.
The fact that it actually stopped made her pause. After a few moments, waiting for them to come back, it dawned on her that the village, for the first time in days, was slowly growing quiet. Her words alone were not enough to do that.
Peering through the window, she saw a different figure than the one she was used to go running past. It was a young boy clad in green, and when he and a monster would disappear out of sight, only the boy would return. The scene played itself out again and again, and Impaz wondered at the monsters not having enough sense to run away instead of charging him.
Finally it appeared that he was the last one standing, and as he stopped to catch his breath, Impaz opened the door. She had never met him before, but even as she fought her disbelief, she was certain she knew who he was the moment she saw him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t open the door earlier…” She stared up at him, amazed at the thought of all he must have done to even get here. “You’re the savior,” she said fervently. The boy smiled in gratitude, but his eyes lit up even more when she said, “You’re Link, aren’t you? So then, you saved that nice girl? When she was here, she would often cheer me up by saying that you would come to help.”
He nodded in answer, and it seemed the weight of a few of the years had been lifted, knowing Ilia was safe. The least she could do was return the favor. As sentimental as it was, she reached into her sash and handed over the charm.
“Would you help me return this to her? I think she always kept it close to her heart, but even so, she didn't hesitate to part with it in order to protect me…”
She had not known until then how she would thank him. But seeing how his eyes softened as he saw the object, and how tenderly he accepted it, she knew it was enough. “I don’t have much to offer,” she explained anyway, “But if you need anything, please stop by any time.”
Link nodded, and head dipped, tried to hand her a bottle. Impaz took it from him and smelled it. It was soup. She smiled.
“Now that the beasts are gone I can get my deliveries again. But I will not decline a gift so graciously given. Won’t you join me?”
He shook his head, and Impaz knew that he was ready to continue his journeys. She bid him to wait one more moment as she transferred the soup to a bowl, and rinsed the bottle before she returned it to him. “The lighter a man travels, the more precious what he does own,” she said, and he had a mischievous twinkle at that comment, but just nodded and turned to go.
“Link,” she called out one more time. “By royal order, I can’t leave this village until a certain person arrives. But seeing you gives me hope. Thank you.” He looked back over his shoulder, smiled again, and waved his hand in thanks.
*
For the first time in months, Impaz could leave the door open. One by one the cats slowly came up from the basement. Some of them sat at her feet and begged for the soup, but the others dashed out at the sight of freedom and began to explore again. As she watched from the door, another cat cautiously crept out from beneath a building, and then another jumped down from a hidden crevice. She quietly rejoiced. Perhaps they had been able to get away after all.
Somewhere nearby, a clear, crystal howl arose. Impaz paused, momentarily frozen by her memories of fear. But this was not the wild and vicious screams of the beasts that had invaded her village. It was the pure song of a creature calling out to its kindred spirit.
Impaz closed her eyes and gave a prayer of thanks.