She nods firmly. (And her fingers itch to pick up a pen and note down all those events for later inquiry, but it seems impolite.)

"The Yiga has been quiet these last two decades, gathering strength. They have no purchase here, but I hear rumors of their recruiting among the outside villages. I suspect they found out about Link's portended resurrection, one hundred years after the Great Calamity. It is unsurprising. There were sixteen of us left who bore the secret, after the dust settled a century ago, and it is easier said than done to take such things to the grave. You, Princess... I do not see how they could have anticipated you, as none of us did.

"Given this, it is unlikely you will be able to conceal your survival for long. Not if you intend to make a mark on this land, which you must for any hope of defeating Calamity Ganon. All you may do is prepare yourself against inevitable attack.

"The methods of the Yiga Clan have not much changed over the decades. For all their pretensions, they must have suffered as much from the Calamity's rampage as the rest of Hyrule. If Link's display yesterday is any indication, he still possesses the skill to sense their intrusion. Then, the same precautions which served you well one hundred years ago ought to protect you the same today. Go nowhere without Link or a trained security service, trust not the appearance of strangers, and prepare your own food where possible. Share your travel plans with no one and disguise yourself on the road."

She considers her own words, taps her cup, and sighs.

"That advice is... insufficient. These years have been an unusual calm, as I said. There is likely a more sinister plot at work. Some way to neutralize Link on his return, perhaps, or disrupt your hold on Calamity Ganon. But without better knowledge, I regret that I cannot offer more."

"...disguising myself... might be trickier than it seems," she says reluctantly. "My strange powers aren't all upside. I was warned that I might become... more distinctive, easier to recognize, than I used to be, in ways that are hard to conceal."

"Hrm."

Impa thinks for a while.

"There are very few people alive who remember the visage of Princess Zelda of century past. And it is hardly a reasonable conclusion to leap to, especially to those who know it is your power that still keeps Calamity Ganon contained in Hyrule Castle. If you take an alias... you would still be recognizable as the girl who travels with Link, no, that is not a solution."

"I could try very hard to learn stealth, and keep myself hidden most of the time while traveling," she suggests. "I'm not recognizable if I'm not seen in the first place."

"But then if you are ambushed, Link will be unable to come to your assistance. Perhaps... the bulk of the danger lies in being followed out of a town, enabling the Yiga to predict your route and lay a mass ambush. If you disguise Link and leave separately to rejoin on the road, that may be sufficient. Then you only need fear random encounters with Yiga hunters, which Link ought to be able to dispatch easily."

Is nobody going to point this out?

"We can teleport away with the Sheikah Slate if we're ambushed on the road."

"Yes, that's true... though we'd need to leave our horse behind, I think, I'm not sure the Slate would be able to teleport her. Oh, dear, we're going to have to figure something out about that if we bring her to Hateno. Maybe trying to make it there this morning was overly ambitious."

"I had forgotten that was a function of the Sheikah Slate! We never did manage to make it work, before. But it does now? Hateno is less than a day's ride away, but I do not believe you will make it this morning, and there are no reliable rest stops in between."

"All right. So... we should stay here for now, and I should see how easily I can learn how to fight and sneak. And in a few days when I know more, we can plan our trip to Hateno."

"As fine a plan as any. The paths of Kakariko Village are safer than any other.

"I have enlisted a Blademaster Steen to teach you: he will be at the eastern training grounds all of this afternoon, and you may seek him out at a time convenient to you. There is a shrine up on the hill, right of where you entered; it turned orange two days ago, when I presume Link awakened. I trust you know what to do with it."

Link clasps his hands in front of him.

"The shrines give me a sort of power, but I don't know how to manifest it. Do you know anything about that?"

The Sheikah created those things, he's gathered.

"I am afraid I know less than you do. Those shrines were built by our ancient forebears, and our knowledge of it is long lost or forgotten. Purah or Robbie may know more... but I doubt it. They concern themselves more with the physical than spiritual."

She rubs her chin.

"When Princess Zelda was on her quest to awaken her power, she was instructed to pray to the Goddess Hylia for... favor, I suppose. It was never clear to me." Impa turns to Zelda. "What, finally, did work?"

"Not praying to Hylia, that's for sure," she mutters under her breath.

"...but I guess anything is worth trying, even that."

She gets a faraway look in her eyes, and shakes her head slowly. "The thing that worked for me was... having someone to protect. I don't think Link has a particular shortage of that."

Link nods slowly.

"How do I... pray... to the Goddess Hylia?"

"...at its core, it's just... you, and an image of the goddess, and you look at her and think about... what you want to say to her, or what you want. There are a lot of details, and more elaborate rituals, but most of that only matters if you're, well, me. Praying to Hylia the way everyone does it... is just talking to a statue, more or less. The talking part is optional. Some people find it easier than thinking to a statue, that's all."

The mention of a statue triggers a vague flicker of recognition, but Link doesn't think he kept such a practice before.

Nevertheless, it's now on his docket to talk to a statue.

"An old spirit might be able to aid you, but they are near gone from this world now. It was when I was still young, years after the Calamity struck, that I last journeyed to seek the Great Fairy of Lanayru and returned hands empty. Now that old powers are waking, perhaps you will have better luck."

"Hmm," she says. "Yes, we should look into those, you're right." She pulls out her Pocket Notepad and amends her to-do list accordingly.

Great Fairy of Lanayru? Link doesn't ask because Zelda clearly knows and they don't need to take up more of the Village Chief's time.

"Ah, a final note: word of your powers has spread. Do feel free to refuse requests at your discretion, or inform me if our villagers are getting a bit much. We Sheikah pride ourselves on hospitality, but the younger generation does like causing trouble," says a record-holder for trouble-causing in her youth.

...she laughs. "Don't I know it. Understood. Thank you, Impa."

"Good luck, and stay safe."

"I'll do my best."

Out they go.

"So if we have the morning free, then... you should find a goddess statue, and I should find the scriptorium?"

Link nods, though he's not entirely clear what she needs the scriptorium for.

His eyes travel down the stairs. He points at the statue opposite Impa's place, before a little decorative pond.

"Is that one?"