Work Text:
This pile of rock could barely even be called a ruin. Even after eons it was burnt and blackened, ripped apart so thoroughly that it was impossible to tell how many walls it'd even had, especially now that sand had claimed half the rock left standing. Must've been an indirect lightning strike, maybe by a particularly strong ground current; the building hadn't just crumbled, but exploded. She and Zelda had first encountered its debris fifteen minutes ago, well away from the site, earlier in the desert.
It was as good a place to rest as any. There was not enough wood to build a fire with, but Impa had gotten creative throughout the years. Monsters were everywhere and their rags burned long enough when drenched in their fat. She strained her ears and indeed, there you had it, their stupid cheers in the distance. The question now, as always: did she leave Zelda behind and risk her being ambushed, or did she take her with and risk her being wounded in the fight?
The walls' remains might provide adequate cover. Zelda was already poking around, turning over stones and brushing off sand, sniffing around like an excited puppy. She'd be happier here than waiting through the fight. Impa nodded to herself and turned around, opening her mouth to tell Zelda the plan, when Zelda suddenly poked her head up from behind a pile of stones. "Impa!" she yelled, waving her arm excitedly. "Come see!"
Impa suppressed a smile and made her way over. "What would you like me to see?" she asked.
Zelda squatted in front of a relatively small scrap of rock, jagged and obviously blown from a much larger piece, grinning with that bright glint in her eye. She beckoned Impa over. "Come, come!"
Indulgently, Impa sat down next to her. Zelda pointed at the rock, and Impa turned to look at her find for the first time.
It was like being punched in the gut. Her stomach cramped, her breathing failed, and it was all she could do not to scream. She stared at the debris, frozen. The eye of the Sheikah stared back at her.
"You've got that too, right?" Zelda asked, gesturing to the rock and then tapping her own eye. "That eye looking thing!"
That's right. There'd been a shrine down in the desert, hadn't there? There'd been a training camp near it, co-run by the Gerudo. Impa vaguely remembered training there once, as a young child, and hating every second of it. She did badly with heat.
"Do you know what it means?" Zelda asked, practically vibrating with excitement, looking at Impa with bright, curious eyes.
The sun beat down at her. Her hands were sweating.
Impa stood up abruptly. "Nothing you should be concerned about," she said shortly. She turned her back to the shrine's remains. "We must move on."
"Move on?" Zelda said behind her. "But weren't we going to make camp he—" She cut off abruptly. For a second, she stayed quiet. Impa did not turn to look at her.
"Got it," Zelda said finally. She quickly ran ahead of Impa, turning to walk backwards while facing her, a bad habit that'd made her trip at least five times so far. "Actually, this reminds me of that time Fledge accidentally knocked over three separate bookcases. Would you like to hear about it?"
When Impa did not respond, Zelda took it as permission and launched into a long, rambling story about tests and hiding from teachers and something called remlits. Impa heard maybe half and understood even less, but let Zelda's friendly voice wash over her, a welcome distraction.
They left the eye behind, staring.