Link knew his first day at the academy was going to be a good one when a train almost hit him as he rushed to orientation. This was the most obvious of the good omens. Sleeping in and only stirring when the school bell sounded across Castle City had been the first. The second had been to discover that his knew uniform, a pure white tunic and pointed hat, had been stained green by some Chu Jelly that he hadn't realized was in the pocket of his old junior patrol gear before dropping his clothes off to be washed.
He still hadn't been sure, as he pulled the oddly green tunic over his head while running out the door to try and make it in time to an orientation that had already started, but once he ran across the tracks just as a train came around the corner and nearly turned him into a pancake, there was no denying it: It was going to be an absolutely fantastic day.
The king had outlawed cursing students as a punishment for inept behavior some three decades ago, but with the way things were going, Link fully expected to be turned into a toad anyway as punishment for showing up late.
By the time he reached the gates of the academy he was panting. Once upon a time the run wouldn't have bothered him. Only a year ago he'd been en route to join the royal guard, and often patrolled the outskirts of the city and keeping the streets clear of monsters. It had been rare for one of the knights to let him join in the fight, but carrying their supplies around had done plenty to keep him in shape.
Then some nasty sage at the Sorcerer's Academy had declared that he was fit to learn magic. Even though he was from a long line of swordsmen, descended from the hero who had defeated Malladus, all of a sudden his grandfather wanted him to do nothing but study. After twelve months of self-inflicted torture, confined to his room or the library in preparation for the day he started his training as a sorcerer, part of him hoped that his tardiness would be enough to have him booted from the academy before he even started. Link missed the fields.
To his disappointment, when he passed through the gates and stopped for a minute to catch his breath, the sorcery student on watch to make sure that only magic users entered the academy didn't turn him away. Instead, the fiend snickered at his green tunic and waved him past.
"New students are to attend the opening ceremony speech in that building." The student pointed to a building made almost entirely of glass on the left side of the academy's courtyard. "You want the room at the far end of the hall. Might be better to wait for the other students to come out, though. The dean hates having people interrupt him by coming in late."
"Thanks."
Since he knew it was going to be a wonderful day, Link didn't think he would be so lucky as to be kicked out of the academy, but he still kept the upperclassman's advice in mind. When he reached the door at the end of the hall, he threw the doors open and strode in. The day having gone so well so far, he ignored the looks of all his fellow incoming students as he scanned the lecture hall for an empty seat.
An elderly man standing at a podium in the front of his room cleared his throat. "Link. How nice of you to finally join us."
Oh. Great. The dean already knew him by name.
Actually, now that he got a better look at the man, it was the same wrinkled old fellow who'd cursed him with a career path as a sorcerer. Link did his best to smile despite that. It was the man's job to recruit those with the most potential for his school. Unless he had some sort of mind reading spell or prophetic powers, which he just might, he wouldn't have known how badly Link wished he hadn't been scouted.
Staring at the man, Link became horribly aware of the fact that they were wearing the same shade of green. Though in the dean's case, it was probably something his status permitted. Was that shade of green supposed to signify something? He knew the long beard and bun the man tied his hair in were signs of his status as a master sorcerer, a sage, and the old staff with a bird carved into it was traditionally held by the kingdom's best magic user, but he couldn't remember hearing anything about clothes colors.
He must have stood staring too long, because the dean felt the need to point in front of him and say, "You can take a seat up here at the front, boy."
"Yes, sir."
With his attention on the empty seat right in the center of the front row, Link didn't notice the dean step back from the podium, nor did he see a student step up to take the dean's place. When he sat down and looked up, he was surprised to see a gorgeous young woman where the seedy old man had once been.
She smiled out at the incoming class and brushed a lock of golden hair back under the white veil that female student wore before speaking. "It's wonderful to see so many bright young minds eager to take up the art of magic. In these peaceful times, I'm certain we can find many ways to use our gifts to better the lives of those in our kingdom."
Her gaze swept across the room, and Link blushed when it stopped for a moment on him. Then he realized her eyes were on his green tunic rather than his face, and he blushed for a completely different reason.
"As the newest professor here at the academy, I hope that all of you will be able to come to me with any struggles you might encounter in your studies. I specialize in light based spells. Those of you who have the same element as me will be in my class."
She bowed and stepped back, letting the next instructor take the podium.
"I am Sage Salbrush. It's nice to meet you. As the school's best wind sage..."
Link tuned the voice out, looking past the aging woman now speaking to the lovely blond girl. He'd been told that his affinity was for earth magic, but of all the other types of magic he'd studied, light was the one that made the most sense to him. If he had to go to this school instead of become squire to a knight, and if he couldn't be one of her students, he might still be able to persuade her to tutor. What had she said her name was.
Since he'd already caused enough of a disruption, Link didn't feel he made much worse of an impression of himself by leaning over and asking the boy sitting next to him, "Did she introduce herself?"
"Salbrush?"
"No. The girl before her."
The boy turned to stare at him, eyebrow raised. "You think the princess needs to introduce herself?"
The princess?
Oh.
Link looked back up at Princess Zelda, who was nearly unrecognizable in her sorceress garb. He'd only ever seen her in the elaborate pink dresses she wore during public events, when her hair was tied up and tucked under a hat. In the plain white tunics the sorcerers wore, with her hair showing through that transparent veil, she looked like a completely different person. Even the way she held herself was different. The times he'd caught a glimpse of her while helping the guards get ready for patrol, she'd seemed so refined and distant. As if she were in a completely separate world. And this school, it seemed, was that world. She looked perfectly at ease among her fellow magic users. For the first time that he'd ever seen, she looked like someone could actually reach out and touch her.
She caught him staring, and smiled at him. Seeing that warm gesture directed at him made his heart skip a beat, and Link swallowed audibly. Yes. He would definitely ask her for help in learning to be proficient with a second element.
Maybe it actually would be a good day.
-o-
When teacher introductions ended, the new students were filed out of the lecture hall for a tour of the facilities. Link intended to keep to the front of the group, looking interested and asking good questions to make up for the bad first impression he'd made, but the dean pulled him into the first room the tour group walked past.
"I want you to know I couldn't be more disappointed in you. What kind of fool thinks it wise to come so late on his first day?"
The statement came before Link could even get his bearing on the fact that someone had unceremoniously yanked him into an unlit room, and for as long as it took him to process that it was the dean who'd said it, he didn't have a response ready before the man spoke again.
"Oh, I'm sure you feel sheepish about this whole thing, and you should. You should feel twice as bad as you do now. Our school only takes the best and brightest. For you to... Blast it. Where's the light switch? It should be... Oh, never mind." And orb of light manifested around the man's hand and illuminated the room. The dean, Link recalled, had a light element the same as the princess did. "For you to come two hours late on your first day would suggest you care very little for this wonderful opportunity. Not only that, but you missed hearing about the precautions one must take as a beginning sorcerer. We can hardly start you casting spells with you not knowing the risks. It would serve you right to hurt yourself if you tried, but I'm expected to keep my students in one piece. Now I understand that your grandfather has been helping you prepare for this day, which only makes your disregard for it all the worse, but we can't leave anything to chance. I'll repeat the lesson for you, and we can go around the school by ourselves. Just the two of us. Won't that be nice?"
Link forced a smile. "That's very generous of you, sir. Thank you."
He'd should have known better. After nearly being hit by that train, it had been so obvious that nothing was going to go right for him. He'd been silly to get his hopes up, thinking he might be able to get closer to the princess.
"Now, I'm sure you've practiced a few basic spells at home, but the magic we work here is much more complex. The slightest error in your technique can cause an advanced spell to spin wildly out of control. For that reason, we will have to reteach most of what you've taught yourself." The smile the dean gave Link then sent a familiar chill down his spine. The captain of the guard smiled the same way whenever he was looking to humble one of his men. "Now, Link, can you think of any shortcuts you've been taking with your technique?"
"My technique in what?"
The dean brought his bird staff down on Link's head, leaving Link rubbing the soon to be goose-egg beneath his hat in confusion. He really didn't know which technique he was supposed to be self-critiquing.
"Spell casting, Link."
"Oh. Um... I don't know. Did you see anything strange?"
"When would I have seen something strange, boy?"
"That day in the square. When the cart spun out of control and I made the street slant up to stop it." Some horrible part of Link wished he hadn't done that, since that accidental bit of magic was what had landed him in the Sorcerer's Academy, but he couldn't bring himself to truly regret saving the children who that cart had been speeding towards.
"That was a year ago. Surely you're not so lazy as to have gone a whole year without practice."
"I haven't been able to cast anything since."
Seeing the dean's face fall made Link's hopes soar. He'd assumed it was normal not to make any magic work from independent study alone, but if his failure to spell cast was some indicator that he wasn't sorcerer material after all, then his grandfather would have to let him return to training with the royal guard.
"Well, I suppose that's it's not unheard of for beginners to struggle with the... ah... basics." The dean's smile returned. "You had so much magic potential though, I hadn't expected you of all people to encounter an issue such as that. No matter. I have other tasks requiring my attention, but I can take you through the steps of casting a spell. Do you understand the theory behind how magic works?"
Link did. To prove it, he recited exactly how the process of spell casting was supposed to go.
The dean was scowling by the end. Link had given the explanation word for word from the text he'd been given to study from upon being declared a future sorcerer. Meaning he'd read that passage. A lot. More times than most would ever bother. Possibly as many times as someone might when they kept checking back over the passage to try and figure out why, over the course of an entire year, they hadn't successfully cast a single spell.
Which, it just so happened, was exactly why Link had read that passage from the text so many times that he knew it by heart.
Looking over his shoulder, the dean grabbed an onyx marble and held it out for Link. "Try and make this hover above my hand. You know the spell for moving earth, don't you? For such a small object, it should be simple."
"It won't-"
"Did I ask you what you thought, or did I tell you to try and cast a spell?"
Taking a deep breath, Link held his hands over the marble and gathered his magic. This was one he ought to be able to do. It was the spell he'd cast that day in the square without thinking-without even knowing that he could use magic, much less how it worked. And he now knew the theory perfectly. By all means, the way he manipulated the energy gathered in his fingertips should have made the stone lift off of the dean's hand.
But the marble stayed in place.
"I see."
"It might be that I can only work magic when there's some urgent need," Link suggested.
The dean brought his staff down on Link's head once more. "And here I was thinking you'd studied. Magic doesn't work that way. Under situations of intense emotion, such as the panic we all felt back then, it can burst out easier, but need alone has little bearing on this."
Link had probably read that, but he couldn't recall it being a subject he'd given significant attention to. And he'd had a lot to read up on in only a year. Most sorcerers came from families with a history of magic, and prepared from childhood for the day they were old enough to join the academy. What all was expected students to know before they even showed up for the first day was... a bit much to commit to memory in only twelve months.
"Well, no matter. I can see where the problem is."
"So... I'm not being booted out of the academy?"
"Goodness no! Why, a little practice and you could be at the top of your class." The dean beamed at him like this was good news. "We just need to find you a casting tool first. It's not unheard of for those with the potential for magic to only be able to work it through other magical items. I believe the man who helped found Hyrule was quite adept at manipulating the winds, but only when he used an enchanted baton. Come to think of it, you're named after him, aren't you? I suppose that's fitting."
Link had been named after his great grandfather, the hero swordsman who saved New Hyrule from the demon Malladus, and bit his tongue to keep himself from scowling at the suggestion that he might be named after the Hero of Winds. Granted, that was a perfectly respectable namesake. Hyrule's founder had been a swordsman as well. But when the whole affair was given a magical spin, it left a sour taste in Link's mouth.
"Alright. Let's find you something to cast spells with. We can't send you to your first class to have your spell casting corrected if there's no spell casting to correct. Although," he beamed, "I must say, watching you go through the motions of working a spell, you seemed to have it down flawlessly. Perhaps having to go exclusively by theory prevented you from finding the shortcuts that other students develop a bad habit of using? Granted, casting through a tool is different from working with your powers alone, but I'm sure you'll do well once you've had a chance to get the hang of it. Don't drag your feet, now. Follow me."
Link followed the dean out of the building and across the courtyard into a small brick shed tucked between the walls surrounding the academy and another glass building. They paused at the door, where the dean cast a spell to undo a barrier surrounding the building. Once the barrier was down, he opened the door to reveal the insides of a shed stuffed with all manner of object.
"This is where we keep all our old relics," the dean explained. "Usually, we would find a normal staff for incoming students. But due to a... ah... unfortunate mishap with our advanced class last month, we have none at the moment. A lesson in not taking shortcuts with your spells. Not everything here is especially valuable, so it won't be a problem to lend it to you while you're on academy soil. Once we have replacement staffs, we'll give you one you can take home. Until then, we can make due with something in here."
While the dean dug through a pile of dusty rods and poles in the closest corner of the room, Link scanned for anything that might be nice to use until he had something more final to cast with. The first thing to catch his eye was a vase with a wind pattern pained around it, and he worked his way towards it, slipping between the various old magic gear strewn haphazardly across the floor. The school did a shockingly poor job of caring for its relics.
Just as he was getting in reach of the vase, his foot caught on the strap of a purple messenger bag, and he tumble to the floor.
"You'd better not have broken anything,"
With a groan, Link pushed himself into a sitting position and inspected the items he'd fallen on. "I think we're good."
"Good. Come back over here without any of that clumsiness and help me get this umbrella out."
Link turned to say he would rather not use an umbrella for casting magic, and froze. Tucked behind a pot filled with dragon scales was a sword. About the length of the ones the knights he'd tagged along with wielded, it had a guard shaped like the talons of a dragon, with a deep red gem set in the pommel.
"Are you deaf? I asked you to come and lend me a hand. It's caught under a trunk. I would hate to tear the fabric pulling it out for you. It's not valuable, but it still ought to be able to deflect rain."
Ignoring the old man, Link crawled over to the sword and lifted it up, testing its weight. His upper body strength wasn't as good as it had been after a year of study, but it wasn't too heavy, and the hilt felt right in his hand.
"Could I use this?"
"That?" The dean grimaced. "That blade is... We have a few other magic swords. That one is too dangerous."
"This one feels right," Link insisted. "Isn't it supposed to be that if a magic artifact feels right upon first glance, it will let you handle it easier?"
"That... often is the case," the dean acknowledged. "But it might be nothing more than a fascination with swords. We have several other magic blades on display in the main hall. If you insist on using a... a sword to cast spell, you would be better served to use one of those blades."
He said the word 'sword' the same way some might speak of bathing in pig muck, which Link supposed was fair. When he'd told the captain of the guard that he had to stop helping with patrols and study magic, the knight had talked about spell tomes in much the same tone of voice.
"I like this sword."
"Well, let's hope you like some other sword more."
-o-
There were, in fact, three swords on display in the main hall. Link suspected all three were the sort of 'old relics' that were of high enough value that he couldn't use them as a placeholder for a staff, and the dean must have been eager to dissuade him from the sword he'd found in the shed.
It almost worked. The one on the left he recognized as the sword his great grandfather had used to defeat Malladus. Link would have liked a chance to wield it, but it wouldn't feel right to use the weapon like a wand. And the sword with the dragon claw guards really did feel... right. There was no other word for it. Like the blade sang in his hand and made his skin vibrate with a warmth he'd needed all his life.
"Do any of these suit your tastes?" the dean asked. "This blade was used by one of Hyrule's founders. It can freeze time temporarily, although that's much more advanced magic than we want you attempting right now. Time manipulation is a top tier light spell. Nothing a beginning earth mage should tamper with."
"What's wrong with this sword?" Link asked, holding the one he'd already claimed up. If they were offering him the power to stop time, then whatever his sword did must have been really incredible.
Or dangerous.
"It's more of a... knight's blade, I suppose. These are all meant more for people who prefer brute force, but that one in particular..." the dean shook his head. "What about your great grandfather's blade?"
Link shook his head. It deserved better than to be a substitute magic stick.
"This one, then," the dean decided, pointing to the sword that rested in the middle.
While the swords on either side of it had been set on stands, this one was embedded in a pedestal, with several chunks of, mossy stone spreading out beneath it. The stone was in better shape than the sword, and the stone was in poor shape. The sword might as well have been made entirely from rust, and there wasn't a single detail of it that had remained intact. At least the stone had some decoration that hadn't been completely chipped away. If he squinted, Link could just barely see the worn out etching of an eye on the old, cracked rock.
He cast the dean a skeptical look.
"It was fished up from the floor of the great sea. Supposedly, it came from the legendary lost kingdom of Old Hyrule. The man who donated it hadn't been able to pull it form that stone, but your family has a way with magical swords, doesn't it? Wouldn't you like to wield a blade from Old Hyrule? This blade is a favorite of mine, you know."
"You would rather have me use a rusted sword that you can't even draw than this one? Are we even allowed to touch that thing? It looks like it would turn to dust if you poked it."
"Just test it, Link. It can't be more dangerous than the sword you've already picked out."
Scowling, Link pointed his preferred sword towards the old stone, and attempted the spell to levitate earth again, this time trying to channel his magic through the blade. The stone shifted and wobbled, then rose a few inches from the ground before falling back down.
The impact on the old stone was enough to send a crack running through it, stretching from the edge all the way up the pedestal, and the old sword groaned.
"Don't break it!" the dean snapped.
"I think it would break if I tried to pull it out," Link told him. "This sword works. I want to use it."
"But that... that blade..."
"That's the first time I've gotten a spell to work in a year," Link pointed out. "And it's only until you get new staffs, right?"
"R-right." The dean took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Right. But understand that you aren't to use the edge of that blade against anything. It's only to be used for casting."
"Because I'm to be a sorcerer rather than a knight," Link said, struggling to keep from sounding bitter.
"That too. But more importantly, that sword has a strange ability," the dean explained. "The Beast Blade can store the forms of monsters it slays, and transform its wielder."
"Against their will?"
"No! Then it would be a cursed blade. We don't deal with cursed items." The dean crinkled his nose in disgust at the thought. "But you have to be careful with transformation magic, Link. Particularly with transformations that turn you into a monster. The longer you maintain an inhuman form, the more you lose grasp of your humanity."
Link's grip slackened, but before the sword could slip from his hand, he clutched it tight again. "Then I'll be sure not to use it to that end."
"You'd better not. Let's get you back with the rest of your class. Your teacher can see what adjustments will need to be made to your curriculum."
The dean took his shoulder and led Link from the hall, dimming the lights in the room with a wave of his hand as they exited.
In the dark, there was no chance of anyone seeing the black mist that seeped out of the stone Link had cracked. The rusted sword groaned once more, and the edges began to crumble off.
The giggle of one who had been without their humanity for millennia echoed across the empty room.
-x-
STA: I'm back!
"Back? Who are you, horrifyingly mutated angel, and when were you here before?" you might be asking. Well… I'm someone who's done fuck all in this fandom since… idk… 2009 or something. People still said lemons and wrote author's notes that looked like scripts of them arguing with their story characters the last time I wrote a Zelda fic. If AO3 even existed then, it's news to me. Anyway, Vaati and Link-centric fic. No romance plot threads, save for some minor crush stuff that's just an excuse for Link asking Zelda for lessons. Last time I did something like that, I was anxious about whether or not I'd fit in at high school and there was a reasonable expectation that Vaati might actually appear in another game.
Okay… Deets about the setting. Somewhere 100+ years past Spirit Tracks, if no one's figured that out. Spirit Tracks is in a different timeline from Four Swords Adventure, so nothing from that game applies here. I'm kinda BSing a little with the magic because I know you don't see nearly so much from non-monsters in the games, but whatever. Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and Light and Dark elements. You're not confined to one, but you're only good at one. Weak to and also more difficulty with learning opposing element. Aside from the randomness of Link being earth (don't remember what I was thinking when I picked that, but okay) all alignments should be pretty obvs. Zelda is dark, Vaati is fire, Ganon is water… No. I kid.
Actually, I almost revised this story to be post-BotW. The main details that matter are that the kingdom got wrecked since last Vaati was scene and that my Link is descended from another Link, and it might also kinda make sense if he had canon knight in his ancestry? But I kinda liked the idea of a kingdom that was more established, since BotW is kinda… rebuilding. Seemed like the kingdom that didn't get wrecked and also has more advanced transportation would have an easier time setting up a school. Besides, there's a lot more undeveloped space in ST to work with. I can put the characters anywhere on the map that isn't somewhere you can actually stop your train and y'all can't tell me that's not what the area looks like. If I went with BotW, I'd feel obligated to constantly check the map and maybe even boot the game up five times a chapter to make sure I've got the geography right.
Also this way I can have both Link and Vaati almost get hit by trains. That's not really integral to the plot, but it matter to me.
