The Minish Cap Chapter 1: How it all Started, a legend of zelda fanfic

When I played through The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, I got ideas for this story- it's the first one I've posted on this site, and I'm not really sure if it's a good one or not, so I'm just going to post the first two chapters and see if it turns out to be any good.

Chapter 1: How it all Started

The day before The Picori Festival, Link sat in a corner of the library, reading 'Legends of the Picori', a favourite book of his. The book explained all about the tiny mouse-like people who'd come from the sky, and how they had helped the Hylians ages ago. Link flipped past most of the pages, until he got to the part with the pictures, which was the original legend. This part read,

'A long, long time ago...

when the world was on the verge of

being swallowed by shadow...

the tiny Picori appeared from the sky,

bringing the Hero of Men a sword and

a golden light.

With wisdom and courage, the hero

drove out the darkness.

When peace had been restored,

the people enshrined that blade with care.'

Link smiled as he read the legend. He was almost certain he'd seen a Picori the other day. Zelda, the princess of Hyrule and his best friend, had agreed with him that one had been there, wearing leaves and a tiny red hat. However, Link's Grandpa Smith had told him he should 'grow up'.

While Link was reading, in the Minish World, Ezlo was looking everywhere for his red thread- and his needle, too! (Oh, why did they HAVE to disappear now?!) groaned Ezlo to himself, wondering wether Vaati had seen them. Vaati was his apprentice, and Ezlo thought of him as his son. He had very pale lilac fur, lilac hair and blood-red eyes. He also wore an apprentice cape and hat. A tragedy from which Vaati had been the only survivor had brought him to Ezlo's village, and Ezlo had given him a home- unfortunately, every other Minish in the village were not so welcoming. Ezlo was blissfuly ignorant of this.

"VAATI!" called Ezlo, "Have you seen my red thread? Or my needle? As you know, they're very important! VAATI?!"

Vaati, meanwhile, was heading inside Ezlo's study. The place was filled with books, and sitting on the table at the end was the magic cap Ezlo was making for the humans, as the gate between their worlds opened only once every hundred years. Vaati walked towards the cap- then heard Ezlo yelling nearby. "VAATI! Have you seen my red thread? Or my needle? As you know, they are very important! VAATI?!"

Vaati hesitated for a moment. He had hidden Ezlo's stuff in the cupboard, and was planning to take the powerful cap. As he stared at the red cap with the gold band and the magic jewel, for a moment he felt a bit guilty. Just then, Ezlo came in, only to see Vaati about to put on the cap.

"Vaati! What are you doing there?" He cried as his apprentice put on the cap, turning to face Ezlo.

As Vaati put on the cap, he felt incredible power flowing through him- and his darkest dreams of power and revenge burst straight from his heart... He felt himself transform, right in front of Ezlo's eyes... A monstrous cloak of something dark, like a one-eyed monster, enveloped Vaati as he transformed...

"Oh! What a vile form you've taken!" exclaimed Ezlo.

Vaati was now taller, and looked decidedly Hylian. His hair was longer, and covered his right eye (the one he couldn't see out of- not that Ezlo noticed). The magic cap had fused with Vaati's regular cap, and was now the same deep blue-purple as his cloak. Under the cloak was a blue-purple tunic. Vaati felt a bit hurt when Ezlo said that. But now he could teach HIM a lesson...

"Vile? I am a sorcerer now, and my power is beyond compare! No-one can stop me..." Answered Vaati. He remembered how alone, how helpless he'd been... Now that would change. He felt a strange anger he'd never felt before... a rush of rage... Had he been too afraid? Too weak? Too timid? Too... nice?

"Why, Vaati?" Asked Ezlo, feeling desperate, feeling as if he should already know but didn't... "What are you plotting?"

"This year, on the day that comes but once a century, the portal opens. And when it does, I shall claim the light force as my own. I will be transformed, perfect, and there will be no-one who can stop me..." He used his new power to send a strong curse at Ezlo- a particular spell that not even Ezlo could fight. The idea was that if Ezlo thought he'd gone evil or something, and Vaati had the light force, Vaati could re-start. Be safe.

When Ezlo saw Vaati attack him, he could barely believe what Vaati was doing. He felt more guilty than angry. (I... can't bring myself to fight him...) Ezlo felt himself transform- "GAAAAH!" He shrieked, feeling as if he were being melded with something else, twisting, changing... - and two seconds later he discovered he was a hat! A HAT!

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!" laughed Vaati, feeling a sense of achievement he rarely ever felt. "Tell me, how does it feel, my sorcerer's curse? There is nothing you can do to break it, Ezlo! or to stop me! And with that, I must be leaving." Vaati, getting used to his new form and power, teleported directly to the gate.

Ezlo was devastated. How could he...? How could Vaati have become...? (I should have seen the signs...) Ezlo thought, (I should have paid more attention to him than that hat... Maybe I deserve to stay like this, but I can't let Vaati get the light force.) So, with a bit of difficulty, Ezlo hopped out of the room, blaming himself for what Vaati did, and would do.

Link closed the book and put it back on the shelf, looking forward to The Picori Festival this year. During that special day of the year, Link always had a lot of fun with Zelda. He'd even managed to enjoy himself two years ago. Even then. Link remembered all those special moments he and Zelda had shared every year...

"Link? Where are you?" Called a familiar voice. Zelda came running into the room, pink dress flowing. "There you are! She cried, "Honestly, aren't you going to help? Nah, of course you will! Come on, come on!" Zelda was dancing with excitement. She grabbed Link's hand and yanked him out of the room. The moment they got out, Link saw everybody in sight decorating, setting up stalls, and practicing music for The Picori Festival. It was all very jolly, and Link could not help but smile as he simply felt everyone's joy. Their happiness made him feel happy too.

Link and Zelda ran around all over Hyrule Town, randomly helping everybody. It was a small town in a small kingdom, so Link knew everybody in town and everybody knew Link. The preparations for The Picori Festival were huge every year, but this year was a particularly special year... The hundredth time this festival had been held. Right after helping various people with their stalls and decorations, they headed to the market square stalls, and helped to decorate and set them up properly. They also said hello to Pina, who was setting up the grand drawing. Soon it was late afternoon, but the two didn't even notice. Just as Zelda was about to sweep Link into a dance practice, Potho came running from the north and Smith came running from the south. The moment he saw Smith, Link knew his moment of fun was over, for his face was like a thundercloud and a volcano rolled into one. However, he felt no true anger- just worry and relief. Link knew that Grandpa Smith was just one of those people who got really cross and\or yelled a lot when they were desperately worried about something or someone (though Link wasn't quite sure how he'd worked it out). Link and Zelda covered their ears.

"LINK! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I SPENT LOOKING FOR YOU?!" Yelled Grandpa Smith. His voice echoed all over the area, and a crowed formed to see what was going on. Everybody stared in silence. Even the music stopped! "YOU HAD BETTER COME HOME RIGHT NOW!" He continued. Link looked down to the ground and followed Grandpa Smith down the main path and out of town. As they left, Link looked back, and for a moment he thought he saw a purple figure in the crowd. Just then, he overheard Potho telling Zelda that she had made him worried sick and not to sneak out of the castle. This sort of thing nowadays wasn't exactly rare in these sorts of situations. Grandpa Smith had been a lot more protected and edgy since Link's parents had died two years ago thanks to an accident involving a horse, a delivery and a missing whistle. However, somehow, Link just understood and felt his grandpa's grief and worry, which had been easy to feel because Link felt the grief too.

All the way back to Smith's house, Grandpa Smith explained over and over why Link should not leave the house without permission. Link listened through the whole speech and said nothing. "... and today, I'll be making the sword that will be presented to the winner of tomorrow's sword competition." Concluded Smith. When Link entered the house again, he felt bad for leaving that morning. All he'd wanted was to have a little fun with Zelda. That was all. Link looked back to that morning...

"Shh... Wake up quietly!" Zelda had whispered, "I'd like you to come to the Picori Festival Preperations with me! Will you come along?" Link had felt her hope. It was warm, and certain. Link had happily nodded. It had still been early, and Smith was not awake, and wouldn't be for hours. But as they say, time flies when you're having fun, and it hadn't seemed like all that long before Smith had come yelling.

Link followed Smith into the next room and picked up a hammer, making it clear to his grandpa that he was going to help, like he had for the last couple of years. "Fayore knows where he gets that strength from..." Muttered Smith before working on the sword with Link. He appreciated the help.

Just as Ezlo was hopping out of his office, Vaati re-formed in front of the sparkling portal to The Human World, feeling yet another sense of achievement for for mastering the spell he'd been struggling with only yesterday (mainly because Ezlo was 'far too busy' to help).

(At last... the portal to The Human World!) thought Vaati triumphantly. He walked into the portal, looking forward to what awaited him there... New power, now hope, and the chance never to be afraid, or to hide again... to be safe. However, his old master's hurt, even guilty face at that moment still haunted his mind. (I'll turn him back.) Vaati reassured himself. (Once I have obtained the light force, once I have my new power...)

("But he saved your life!") whispered a shy, timid voice inside of him, ("Ezlo accepted you when nobody did! And this is how you repay him? By turning him into a HAT of all things?!")

Vaati shook his head to rid himself of his inner voice, then quickly realised that everything was big, monstrously big. To his right was a huge pillar about six minish houses tall and four minish houses wide (the one he'd just come through), and in the distant corners of the room were three others just like it. In the centre was a square pillar the three minish houses tall and seven minish houses wide. Vaati closed his eyes and concentrated on making himself big, as big as the humans of the minish legends. When he opened them again, the room seemed a lot smaller. Now it was clear that the pillars from before were pedestals, and the one in the middle was meant for a sword. It took a bit of time for Vaati to get used to seeing the world from a human's perspective, and he was not in a hurry. Past the pedestals were four statues of a faceless hero holding their sword up, almost like an archway. Vaati left the room, then went down a corridor lined with crystals taller than he was. The entire place was just buzzing with an ancient magic, elemental magic and... Something else.

Once he got outside, he found himself in a small, garden-like area. The strange magic was gone. He continued walking forwards, knowing that random teleporting was a very bad idea... After going though yet another doorway, it became apparent that Vaati was in a castle of some sort. None the less, he realised that if he was in a castle, people seeing him was probably not good. So he stared at his hands to check that he was turning invisible, while doing just that, before proceeding through the castle. (This place is big, even by human standards!) thought Vaati, (But how do I get out of here so I can work my way around this world?) At that moment, some of Hyrule's soldiers came walking down the corridor, talking.

"The Picori Festival's on tomorrow! And guess what- the king is letting everybody have a break to enjoy the festivities!" happily announced one. The others, except one, all cheered.

"But we should still keep a lookout for anything strange." Added the one next to him, who hadn't cheered. The others groaned a little.

"Oh, come on, don't be a worrywart..." Sighed the first one, "Let's all help with the preparations," he glared at the other one who'd spoken. "and the patrol, if you insist."

Vaati was intrigued by how similar they were to normal Minish back in The Minish World. Their skin was the same cream colour, and they all had long, pointed ears, just like the minish but a bit smaller. They looked similar to the way Vaati did now, just with said skin colour and with black, brown, blonde, and even red hair. Their eyes were white with coloured or black pupils inside, as opposed to Minish, who usually had a coulor or black with white pupils. However, he felt a familiar little ache inside of him. He was still different, even after his transformation. He followed the soldiers out of the castle, through North Hyrule field (where some stopped at some sort of stage-like area that was being built), until they reached the town.

There were people all over the place, all looking similar to the soldiers, but no one human was the same as another. Vaati could not remember any Minish like him. the furthest back he could remember were a lot of screams and a lot of water, and Ezlo saving his life at the age of three. Suddenly, all of Vaati's guilt for turning Ezlo into a hat came back- before he squashed those feelings and became visible again. After all, he wouldn't want to pass out. He got a lot of strange looks as Vaati wondered around, watching humans setting up stalls, decorating houses and practicing dances and playing festive music. The humans were all talking excitedly about this 'Picori Festival' which was going on the next day. Eventually, Vaati found a poster stuck to someone's house advertising a sword fighting competition. Now Vaati was glad he'd learned how to read human as well as understand and speak it! The poster read,

'Annual Picori Festival Sword Fighting Competition!

Join in with our festive competition between the swordsmen

of Hyrule! Whoever wins gets a sword handmade by Master

Smith himself and gets the right to approach the legendary Picori

Blade, sealed with the Bound Chest! Rules: You must be over fifteen

years old to join, and you must have some experience in swordplay.

We will provide you with safe, wooden swords. NOT FOR BEGINNERS!

It was the part about the Picori Blade which caught Vaati's eye. He had done much research about the humans and the gifts the Minish had given them. The sacred blade had been one of those gifts, the light force being the other. Just why the humans called it the Picori Blade was a mystery, but most likely (though Vaati could not be sure) the light force would be in that 'Bound Chest'! Something deep down told Vaati that something wasn't right and that he shouldn't open that chest... But he ignored it. Vaati knew that, with his magic, he could easily win the human's little contest, despite only being thirteen years old. Humming along with the festive music, Vaati set off to find the post office. For the first time, he barely noticed people staring at him.

Along the way to the post office, right in the centre of town, Vaati suddenly heard a very loud voice yelling, "LINK! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I SPENT LOOKING FOR YOU?!" His voice echoed all over the area. Even the music stopped! Everyone, including Vaati, turned and stared silently at the spectacle. A messy-haired boy was standing in front of a cross-and-tough-looking old man. "YOU HAD BETTER COME HOME RIGHT NOW!" Continued the loud yeller. Vaati did not really understand what was going on, but something inside of him felt a little sorry for the boy called 'Link' -he himself would not bear that situation- and for a moment, Vaati thought the boy looked in his direction as the loud yeller led him away from the festival preparations. Vaati relaxed a bit as people started talking and walking around a bit. (At least,) he thought, (that spectacle took people's eyes off me.) He continued to walk up town, past the giant bell, remembering he had seen a place labeled 'post office' up there. Hopefully he wouldn't have to say he was fifteen... Just write it.

A few minutes after Vaati left the portal, Ezlo hopped right out of his house. Since people thought it might rain -a serious hazard for the minish- everyone was indoors. Which happened to be a good thing, because the longer he spent explaining, the longer Vaati had to find and take the light force. (Curse this stupid curse...) Crossly thought Ezlo as he hopped towards the portal to The Human World. Even though he was getting used o it, it was still tiresome to have to hop everywhere. He soon went inside the portal himself, and reached the same place Vaati had quite a bit earlier. He hoppped all the way through the castle until he heard voices. Having made himself the size of a regular human hat (Imagine how freaked out people would be if he tried much larger) earlier, Ezlo tried to make himself invisible, only to discover that Vaati's curse limited his power too. So he just went limp on the floor as two humans, who were talking, came along. They were soldiers of the castle, talking about The Picori Festival. One was holding a mug of some beverage and a spear. The other just had a spear. Both of them wore armour and a green under tunic.

"I heard the king is gonna give us all a break tomorrow so we can enjoy the festival!" Exclaimed the one with the drink.

"Wow, really? That's nice of him!" Replied the other one.

"Yeah, do you and your kids want to come and watch the sword fighting competition with me this year?" Offered the first one before taking a sip of his drink.

"Sure, thanks mate." Agreed the other one. Then he noticed Ezlo lying limp on the floor. "Hey, look! That's one strange hat." He said, pointing him out to the other soldier. "You think it's okay to if I take it? My kids are doing a hat stall for The Picori Festival and they're gonna need the hats..."

"Sure, I think it's fine." Confirmed the first soldier, bending down to take a closer look at Ezlo and nearly spilling his drink in the process, "If you look closely, you can see it's been outside."

"So it has!" Agreed the other one, bending over to look at Ezlo too. It was taking all of Ezlo's concentration not to tell them how rude they were being. Then the soldier without the drink picked Ezlo up and hung him over his arm. The two soldiers then continued on their way, trading stories about The Picori Festival. This was just embarrassing. Ezlo, the famous sage, Ezlo, the one people had respect for, turned into a HAT by his own apprentice and and currently being transported by a soldier... Surely, SURELY this day could not get any worse...

Soon after, the soldier met up with two little kids near a tree in North Hyrule Field. One was a boy, the other a girl. Ezlo was feeling pretty dizzy from being swung around too much and he'd been dropped of the floor TWICE along the way! "Hi Jack! Hi Molly!" greeted the soldier holding Ezlo, "I found this odd hat for your hat shop!" The two kids started talking at once, and the boy -Jack- took Ezlo and dropped him in a cart full of hats while the girl -Molly- was saying, "I saw a picori in the woods yesterday!"

(What's a picori?) wondered Ezlo, also thinking that the cart was a better arrangement that being carried by someone, though it was too spacious for Ezlo's tastes.

"You mean the tiny people of the fairy tales?" gently asked the soldier with the drink.

"Yes! They're real! I saw one wearing leaves and a tint red hat!" insisted Molly.

The soldiers shared a look and Molly's dad replied, "Well, maybe next time I'll see one!" then smiled at her. She smiled back. It was obvious to Ezlo that the ssoldiers did not believe in the Picori -who may even be the minish- but that didn't matter right now. What did matter was fining these picori. These could have been the descendants of minish who stayed behind in The Human World, in which case Ezlo could ask them for help! He hopped out of the cart, this new plan all set out in his head, and he set off towards a lot of trees in the distance- most likely the woods Molly spoke of. Ezlo sighed. This was going to take a good while...