Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda, or any of the characters.

Chapter One

A resounding crash sounded out through the fields of Hyrule, as the attack of an Octorok struck Links shield and bounced off. The boy then rushed forwards, taking advantage of the Octorok's pause, and ran it through.

"Link behind you!" Ezlo yelled. Link rolled to the side just in time to avoid a fatal thrust from a Moblin. It didn't impale him, as intended, though it did dig into his shoulder a bit, causing blood to spray. Link quickly drew out his bow, and loosed an arrow into the Moblin's back, followed by two more. The Moblin teetered for a moment, before collapsing. Link sighed, brushing himself off and putting his weapons away. He winced a bit, as he touched his shoulder gently. Ezlo let out an annoyed sigh.

"We'd better get you to Hyrule, boy. A rest at the inn that just opened seems like just what you'd need right now." Link was too tired to argue with the talking hat right now, so he just nodded, and started back towards Hyrule Market.

As he entered the market he waved at Farore, who was outside the house she'd bought. He did the same to Nayru as he passed her. He looked at the top floor of the inn where Din seemed to stay. He felt a bit sorry for her. Her two friends had both gotten a house, and even though the house salesman was thinking of putting up a third one, Din still didn't have one. He shook his head as he entered the inn. He paid for the cheapest room there and crashed down on the bed almost as soon as he'd entered, falling into a heavy sleep.

He awoke the next morning, feeling refreshed. He'd bandaged up his injury and was feeling great. He climbed out of bed, and got the complimentary kinstone he usually received. Then he headed upstairs, wondering if he could talk with Din for a bit. Granted, he needed to be going after Vaati before it was too late, but he was sure there was nothing wrong with a small detour or two. He headed into her usual room, to see the red haired dancer practicing.

She looked up as he entered the room. "Oh, hello Link. How are you today?" Link smiled. "I'm feeling great Din. What about you?" Din sighed. "Not so great. I'm happy for my friends, but it gets pretty lonely here." Link looked at her sympathetically. "Well... I did hear that they'll be putting up another house soon. Maybe you can buy that one?" Din sighed sadly. "Maybe. But what if they never do?" Link had no answer to that. "Well... I'm sure they will, so you don't really have to worry!" Din smiled at him dimly. "Can we change the subject?" Link blinked in surprise. "Huh? Oh, sure!"

The two of them talked for the better part of an hour, before Link finally excused himself from the room. "Hey! Ezlo!" The hat seemed to wake up from a half sleep and looked down at Link. "What?"

It asked. Link paused. "Where do we go from here?" Ezlo thought for a moment. "If I remember correctly, we were to meet the Minish Elder in the library.

Link nodded. "Okay, well let's see if there's a portal in the library first." Ezlo agreed with him and that's right where they headed.

Ten minutes later, Link came back, extremely irritated. "Great. This is just great. They can't be bothered to hunt down their own books, so now I have to do it, or I'll never manage to get to the Minish Elder there?"

Ezlo sighed in annoyance as well. "Those books aren't going to find themselves Link." Link growled but headed off. The first book was easily located, on top of a bookshelf in a young girl's house. However, getting to it didn't seem like it would be very easy. It was too high up to reach, and even when Link rammed into the bookshelf, it didn't fall off. Link looked around for a moment, until he noticed that the wall had several holes and notches in it from the ground up. Small enough for a Minish to take advantage of. Link smiled to himself, and looked around. His smile vanished when he saw no pot in the room. He looked up at Ezlo/

"So, I guess I'll need to find a portal somewhere, won't I?"

Ezlo nodded back. "It certainly seems that way."

Link grinned. "Alright, let's go find one." This actually proved somewhat difficult. Nobody in town seemed to have an overturned pot, even the ones that were usually turned over. Link paused for a moment, looking back at the house.

"Hey... that plank connecting the houses by the roofs... do you think that maybe..." Link wondered aloud. Ezlo smiled.

"Now you're starting to think my boy!" He said approvingly. Link sighed, and heading into the girls neighbor's house. Sure enough, there was a pot in the room. So were the two lovers, but they seemed preoccupied. He walked over, and put out the fire in the fireplace with a bottle of water and then flipped the pot with the Cane of Pacci. He quickly shrunk down and headed for the fireplace.

After dodging the psychotic cat that the girl owned who seemed to think he looked tasty, Link climbed up the wall and then pushed the book off the shelf. It landed on the floor with a thud. Satisfied with his efforts, Link climbed back down the wall. However, no sooner had he hit the ground when the front door of the house opened, and the girl came back in. Link figured that this meant one less person to notice him in her boyfriend's house after he turned back to his normal size. In fact, he found this made it even easier for him now, as she picked up her cat not long after she'd entered, leaving the coast clear. Link ran over to the fireplace, and climbed back up it to the rooftop. He crossed the roof using the plank and started to slide down the other fireplace. However, as he went down, near the bottom he slipped and hit the ground with a thud. Fortunately, he hadn't fallen very far, even for a Minish. However, it reopened his wound from the Moblin yesterday, causing him to wince. He heard a voice in the room, presumably the owner of the house. He listened for a moment, and then stood bolt upright at what he heard.

"Huh? Who turned this pot over? That's really weird, why would anyone do that?" Link started running for the pot, but wasn't nearly fast enough in his Minish size. Mere seconds before he made it to the pot, the boy lifted it up, flipped it over, and set it back down. Link ran headlong into the side, running around it, desperately trying to find an opening. But there was none. Link looked around, on the verge of panic. Nobody else had had an overturned pot in the entire of Hyrule Market, he'd done the check himself not long ago.

"Ezlo!" Link shouted. The hat seemed to be asleep again. "EZLO!" The hat's eyes shot open.

"What is it now?"

Link gestured to the pot. "That." Ezlo looked up. He didn't ask about it, but took it all in at a glance. "Oh dear..."

"Oh dear is right. What are we supposed to do now?"

Ezlo thought for a moment. "Find another portal to use?"

"I already checked, there are no more portals in the Market."

"Oh... that does change things a bit..."

"Yeah. It does."

Link sighed, staring back up at the pot. "What the hell are we gonna do...?"