Hunter Becomes the Hunted
Impa stared down from her hiding spot in the bushes, eyeing her potential target. She wasn't sure if she had the courage to make the beast below her target, and it would never be prey. It wasn't often a Lynel would wander down from the mountains and stray so close to Kakariko Village, but one had, and Impa had no idea if the warriors of the village were prepared for it. There was no doubt they could drive the beast off, perhaps even kill it if they were lucky, but the cost would be steep.
Impa was a skilled warrior herself, but she had no illusions that she could defeat one in open combat. But she was a Sheikah. Open combat should never happen if she were stealthy enough. And all the stars had aligned to give her the perfect opportunity. Even the machine of death that was a Lynel were limited by their senses. Strong senses, but even the sharpest ears had trouble hearing a Sheikah in the rain when she didn't want to be heard. Even the absurd endurance of a Lynel shouldn't be a problem. Impa had gone on this patrol prepared to deal with a number of weaker foes, which had all been scared off by the presence of an apex predator in the area. Which meant Impa hadn't used any of her weapons and was still armed to the teeth.
She could do it. Maybe. Just in case, she jotted down a quick message explaining the situation and calling for backup. Even if she died, Impa planned to go down fighting. If the other Sheikah hurried, the Lynel would still be wounded and tired. Far fewer would die this way. Impa placed the small scroll in the tube on her falcon's back. The bird knew what was required of it without a word of instruction and took to the air with nary a sound.
Still, the Lynel's head snapped to the side, its body turning more slowly as it watched the falcon fly away. Impa's blood ran cold as the beast reached for its massive compound bow and notched a pronged shock arrow from its quiver. The pitter of rain was the only sound as the Lynel pulled back the bowstring and took aim. Every second stretched into an eternity. Eventually, the Lynel seemed to decide the falcon was too far gone to be worth the risk of losing an arrow and put its weapon away.
Impa would have taken a deep breath were it not for the fear of breathing too loudly and giving herself away. Steeling her nerves, Impa lobbed a small rock over the Lynel's head and began to silently move forward. She had no illusion that she was undetectable if the Lynel had been looking right at her, but the rock clattering into the side of the crater made for a far louder, more enticing distraction. The Lynel spun to face the unexpected noise, staring intently to see if it had really just been some loose gravel or if something was sneaking up on it.
As Impa drew close, she drew her two handed blade and tensed for the sneak attack she was about to perform. On a Lynel. Before the insanity of what she was doing could set in, Impa swung with all her might. A large gash, though not as deep as she would like, was opened on the Lynel's haunch. No longer adequately distracted by a thrown pebble, the Lynel wheeled around to face Impa with an indignant roar. Impa let the momentum carry her around, and the second swing of the spin caught the monster in the stomach. Not fatal by any stretch of the imagination, but painful enough to make the Lynel jump back to gain some distance.
The Lynel glared at her, and Impa somehow managed to bury her fear and glare back as the monster removed the large metal club from its back and hefted it menacingly in two hands. It roared again, this time in anger instead of surprise. Impa couldn't
not flinch in the face of it, but recovered in time to roll out of the way of the charging Lynel. The Lynel skidded to a stop just past her, and Impa sprinted towards the beast's backside. She effortlessly leapt onto the Lynel, mounting it like a horse. The Lynel began bucking, threatening to throw Impa off, but her legs were strong enough to keep her on top long enough to smash her sword into the Lynel's back a few times before she went flying through the air.
Impa rolled to cushion the landing, and managed to get to her feet just in time for the Lynel to charge again, crusher pulled back to the side. It swung the massive club as it passed her, but Impa guessed correctly which side it would swing on from the approach it had taken and gotten away unscathed.
Which she realized was the only way she'd get out of this fight. Any mistake at all would cost Impa her life, of that she had not doubt. The Lynel lifted its front legs off the ground, turning sharply as a horse would to face her. Impa had already dropped her sword though so it wouldn't impede her roll, and the Lynel caught an arrow to its face from Impa's recently drawn phrenic bow. The shot that would have killed most monsters barely stunned the Lynel, failing to pierce the thick skull of the beast. Impa notched another arrow and fired without a moment's hesitation, but it wasn't meant to be.
Her second arrow was intercepted and incinerated by the Lynel's fiery breath. Impa leapt to the side, and continued to move out of the way of two more balls of flame that treated the pouring rain as more of an inconvenience than anything. The last fireball was followed shortly after by a charging Lynel. This time the monster stopped short, swinging the massive cudgel in a wide arc in front of it. Impa barely noticed the Lynel slowing down in time to realize that rolling to the side would get her nothing but a crushed skull.
Instead of moving to the side, Impa leapt backwards through the air, the Lynel's crusher passing not even a foot below her. As she landed, Impa capitalized on the rush of pure adrenaline to whip out her naginata and stab the Lynel several times before it had even finished its swing. None of the stab wounds were deep, but they hurt. And Impa knew they hurt from the way the Lynel reared back and raised the crusher above its head, forsaking the speed it needed to catch her with the power needed to break every bone in her body ten times over with a single swing.
Most warriors would have backed off to avoid the easily dodged swing, but Impa needed to wound the beast as much as she could. She saw the massive windup not as a threat, but as an opening. And Impa took it, her naginata darting forward time and again into the tough hide of the Lynel's underbelly. Even ignoring the Lynel's attack until the last second didn't mean Impa was unable to dodge out of the way. The massive weapon had even more reach than her naginata, but comparatively little width, making it child's play to sidestep and overhead strike. The heavy crusher also took time to pull out of the ground after a blow like that, and every second the Lynel spent hefting the club back up was a second Impa's naginata created more holes.
The Lynel realized it had the mobility and ranged advantage, leaping back to create enough distance for another charge. Impa braced herself to react, watching intently to see which way the crusher would come swinging at her. Suddenly though, her focus was broken by a strange tension. Impa looked down at her weapon, wondering what the strange tingling sensation was for a second before the realization dawned on her.
The Lynel was kind enough to snap Impa out of her reverie with a furious roar, and Impa formulated a plan and acted on it in a heartbeat, readjusting her grip on the naginata and hurling it like a spear at the Lynel's head. It served as an adequate distraction to delay the charge, though the Lynel batted it out of the air and glared in satisfaction at Impa, now armed only with her bow. The naginata was away from Impa though, and that was what mattered.
The Lynel roared in anger, and raised its crusher to the sky, threatening once more to bring it down on top of Impa once it closed the distance between them. That was something that would never happen though.
The deafening crack sounded out as a bolt of lightning fell from the sky, drawn to the metal of the Lynel's crusher and Impa's discarded weapons. The naginata exploded from the power of the electricity, but the giant sword's sturdier construction meant it survived mostly unscathed. Impa stared in trepidation at the Lynel, unmoving, crusher still raised to the sky, though it was now lacking the tension and fury it had a moment before. A long moment passed as the rain put out the fires that had started on the Lynel's fur, and Impa finally let out a stuttering, breathy laugh. Somehow, against all odds, she had survived.
Impa surveyed the destruction from their battle, charred earth and shattered weapons littering the ground. Her giant blade had survived though, and Impa walked over to it slowly, exhaustion beginning to set in. She picked the weapon up slowly, wincing slightly at the heat that had yet to leave it. Adrenaline pumped through Impa, her head snapping around as the corner of her eye saw a hot pink light behind her.
The Lynel was less dead than she had hoped, and has decided that now was the optimal time to teleport. The only question was whether it was running away or charging instantly. Impa knew what she would do in the Lynel's place. As the light faded from the Lynel's previous location, Impa spun around, drawing her sword from its scabbard and thrusting it forward in one smooth motion. Her blade met resistance, likely the Lynel she briefly glimpsed towering behind her.
Before Impa could assess the situation further, the Lynel's crusher smashed into her side, sending Impa flying across the crater they had been battling in. Impa tumbled across the ground several more feet, coughing up blood as she did. Grimacing in pain, Impa looked around for the Lynel. She'd meet her death head on.
Instead of a furious, giant Lynel who was also on fire stalking towards her like a demon, Impa saw that the Lynel hadn't moved from where it had hit her, with her sword embedded in its chest. A pregnant silence followed for a long moment, Impa's pained gasping mixing with the rain and distant thunder. Then the Lynel collapsed, falling to its knees and head sagging forward. The crusher fell from its grasp, hitting the ground with a loud clang.
Impa leaned back, relaxing as the rain fell down on her. "Impa, are you alright?" Impa opened her eyes to see Dorian rushing into the crater towards her side. "We got your missive, but… by the goddess, what happened here?"
"I fought. I won." replied Impa simply, though not by choice. Every word hurt a little bit more. "Got tagged. Hurts."
"We'll get you back to Kakariko. You can rest once we get home. Just hang in there until then." Dorian helped Impa to her feet and draped one arm over his shoulders. Impa looked back at the Lynel's corpse as it slowly turned black. Damn it, there was still one thing she needed, but she was in no shape to actually do it.
"Once I'm back, can you come back here and get my sword?"
AN: So uh, sorry if you don't have an omake policy yet. I was in the mood to write a fight scene, and Impa vs. a Lynel was too good of bait to pass up. On an unrelated note, looking up a Lynel's moveset was also the first time I saw a
Lynel teleport. Not that it did him much good.
