fleets: i wasn't sure if i wanted to keep going or not, but i felt like the break was more appropriate here so
TAKE THIS SUPER EARLY UPDATE? can't stop won't stop gonna burn out soon but i don't care yeah (was supposed to burn out 10 chapters ago in demonbound but)
Also thank you guys for keeping up with this (kind of sort of) insane updating schedule. I can't tell you how grateful I am for those of you who show up to review again and again despite the fact that i keep posting these one right after the other ;w;
Chapter 2: The Uninvited Guest
Ten minutes since they'd opened the doors to the public, the castle was lively with music and conversation. People were beginning to come inside, and while the high class, easily identifiable with their gaudy and extra glittery attire, initially regarded the middle and lower classes with disdain, they eventually came around with the distraction of food, drink, and music. It wasn't crowded yet, but with more and more people appearing every minute, it was clear that the castle was eventually going to be packed with people.
Vaati sighed, watching the party below from his perch on the window ledge. More people meant more work for him to make sure that there were no suspicious characters about. Zelda hadn't made her appearance yet, and he didn't blame her. She'd once confided that she disliked crowds and social events, and looking at the crowd below that was only growing larger, he couldn't really see how she would enjoy this ball at all.
Vaati's ears pricked when he heard someone approach, and Impa gracefully climbed up to where he was to join him. A few weeks ago he might not have noticed her sneak up on him, but he'd gotten fairly good at picking up the barely audible tells of her approach.
"How is everything?" She asked, and she settled against the wall of the window pane next to him. It was difficult to tell from her tone whether she was asking how he was, or if he'd seen anything unusual so far. Ever since Vaati had recovered his memories, he had a nagging feeling that the older Sheikah wanted to talk to him about something, but didn't know how to start that conversation.
Vaati shrugged his shoulders in response, before going back to his sullen silence.
Impa nodded, her reserved expression difficult to read. For a moment her shoulders moved as though she were about to go somewhere else, but for whatever reason, she decided to stay for a little longer. The two of them watched the people enjoying themselves below without so much as saying a word to each other.
Sometime later, the princess appeared. She didn't make a grand entrance about it, just like her style, and instead blended in immediately among the crowd, shaking hands where needed and throwing on a bright smile while occasionally nodding in agreement to some conversation nearby. It was surprising how Zelda looked like a completely different person while she mingled with the attendees; from her exaggerated, somewhat bubbly mannerisms and her outgoing smile, no one would have expected that she was really quite reserved, and enjoyed solitude more than company.
"I know you're upset that I pressed her to do this, Vaati," Impa said after a while. She'd been so quiet and still this whole time that anyone who wasn't used to her would have forgotten that she'd been there.
Vaati stirred, whatever thoughts he'd been lost in interrupted. "I didn't say anything," he replied, and he took a moment to stretch his arms. Not a single person noticed the two Sheikah watching them from above.
Impa's lips curled up in a small smile. "It's written across your face," she said, and then she uncrossed her arms from her chest and sat down next to Vaati. Her elbows were propped against her thighs and she sat hunched forward, pensive, as the violins from the orchestra struck a note. She rubbed her fingers together for a few seconds as though carefully trying to pick the words she wanted to say, and then eventually spoke in a contemplative whisper as though afraid someone aside from them might hear. "I never knew how to say this, but let me say it now. Thank you."
Beside her, the sorcerer continued to watch the princess dancing, her dress billowing as she twirled. His expression was an unreadable mask, but there was a ghost of an arch in his eyebrows that suggested surprise by Impa's words. His response was silence, as though to inquire for an explanation.
Below them, Zelda glanced up at where they were sitting. Her bright blue eyes locked with theirs for a few seconds, indicating that she knew where they were, before she went back to mingle and gain some favors with the nobles. Her smile lingered a little longer knowing that Impa and Vaati were there.
"For as long as I could remember, the princess never had any real friends," Impa said softly. "I've been somewhat of a parental figure ever since her parents passed, when she was but a child too young to remember. I am not a friend, but a guardian."
Vaati shifted his weight uncomfortably at the mention of parents. He'd always wondered how Zelda had ended up ruling a kingdom by herself at such a young age, and she'd never mentioned anything about her parents. Vaati, too, had no memories of his own. Well, perhaps that wasn't entirely true. He disliked thinking about them, and so he never thought about them. He supposed they'd existed, once.
A vague image of when he'd been young passed his mind, of someone holding his hand as they led him along, his hands tiny in theirs. Then, they pushed him through a magnificent white door and it closed with a thud behind him. The door… the door was somehow important. Special. He could never put a finger on the significance it held, but he was sure that it was no ordinary door.
Then his hands were empty, the fingers slipping away, and all he had left was the feeling that he had no one to wait for, because they were never coming back.
Rage flared briefly as he thought about the parents he barely remembered, creatures who'd only caused him bitterness and grief. He didn't realize that his knuckles were white from clenching his fists at the memory he thought he'd let go. His gaze, cold like steel, finally looked up towards Impa who hadn't seemed to notice his sudden stiffness. Or, if she did, she pretended not to.
He sighed, grateful that for once, Impa's keen eyes didn't catch his sudden change in mood. He shook away his wearisome thoughts, and instead wondered why Zelda never talked about her parents. He thought he already knew why, as he and Sheik were similar in this regard; they carried their burdens and victories alone.
He thought about the fight against Dethl at the Palace of Winds, and his expression softened.
Some things had changed, perhaps.
"I admit I was concerned when I heard your memories had returned. I thought that you were only biding your time to wreak havoc on Hyrule once again. However," Impa paused, her tone tinged with surprise. She seemed to take a moment to gather her thoughts again, and then chuckled softly to herself, shaking her head. She waved a hand at the Zelda below. "I've never seen the princess so happy, even after all that's happened. You can support her where I cannot. Where I must advise her regarding what's best for her as the Princess of Hyrule, you can advise her regarding what's best for her as, well,"
"Sheik," Vaati completed. The one who was free, without all of the titles that weighed their wings down.
Impa nodded, and the two fell to contemplative silence again. The orchestra thrummed with an uplifting tune, and Zelda looked up at them again, this time with a sincere smile other than the plastic mask she reserved for those she wasn't close to. The princess rolled her eyes at the young man who was trying to catch her attention next to her before she flashed a quick wink towards Vaati, causing a tiny smirk to appear on the sorcerer's face.
"It is nice to see she finally has someone her age to talk to," Impa chuckled when she saw Zelda's unspoken message.
At this, Vaati looked up sharply. He scoffed, brushing his bangs aside. "I am much older than you think. Even older than you." The sorcerer leaned back against the window, his head tilted with an amused sneer.
There was a knowing twinkle in the older Sheikah's eyes. It reminded Vaati of how she'd looked at him back when she'd challenged him to beat Sheik during training months ago. "You are still young and inexperienced," she declared.
Vaati wondered how many people actually knew about Impa's overbold attitude. Although she didn't say much and tended to observe more than speak, Vaati thought of her as the type of person who quietly judged people, and would later embarrass people she didn't like with slick, insightful one-liners.
The sorcerer's sneer fell, the Sheikah's toying expression annoying him. He sat up, leaning forward in a challenge. "I will forgive your ignorance once, Impa, but I am over a thousand years old. Hardly what you would call 'young' and 'inexperienced.'"
Impa was unfazed by the sorcerer, and she simply watched him with her discerning gaze. She watched him until the sorcerer fought the urge to fidget under her judgment. Then, her chest rose and fell, a sigh, and she looked at him in a way that caught him off guard.
With pity.
"How many of those thousand years have you actually lived, Vaati?" she asked quietly.
"I…" Vaati started, but he couldn't find the rest of the retort he'd prepared. His red eyes wandered behind the cowl, confused, and then he looked down when he couldn't give her an answer. He fell to sullen silence, his arms folding over his waist and his chin tucked down as he considered Impa's words some more. For a moment he almost looked like a normal young man trying to figure out where he was going in life, rather than the former tyrant-sorcerer-turned-Sheikah that he now was.
Zelda's guardian gave him a sympathetic nod, though she didn't press for his answer. She knew she'd gotten her point across. "I don't know what happened in your past, but I've watched you for some time and I can tell: you never had the chance to grow up."
"You dare…" Vaati growled, but it was half-hearted unlike his usual snarl. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong, but he wasn't able to find the words to object. They both knew that she was right.
"I mean no offense in it, just an observation. You are not the only one here who wasn't able to enjoy a conventional upbringing," Impa added, not without kindness in her voice. She turned her head away, giving the sorcerer some privacy with his own thoughts. Then, she pushed herself up onto her feet.
"Well, the crowd has certainly grown. I will go and check the courtyard for anything suspicious," she said.
Vaati continued to sit, buried in his thoughts, even as Impa left to make her rounds. Once he was sure that she was gone, he sighed loudly, pulling the cowl further over his face in aggravation. How dare Impa talk to him like she actually knew who he was, what he'd gone through?
And how dare she be right?
Vaati shook his head.
No. No she was wrong.
The wind mage dragged his fingers across his face with another sigh. While he regarded Impa with some level of respect, he couldn't help but be apprehensive whenever she was around. If he was around her for too long she was going to dig up parts of his past that had no business being exposed.
Vaati stood up and paced along the window sill to clear his mind of the previous conversation. Then, he realized that Zelda was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, which he understood as a commentary regarding how bad a Sheikah he was being, for being so noticeable. If he paced any harder, surely he would start a fire with his heels and cause the entire crowd to look at him.
With a scowl, he forced himself to stop pacing and instead glared at the people who were, unlike him, having a nice time at the party.
And that was when he noticed someone else looking at him.
A pair of red eyes, watching him.
Vaati turned his head sharply in the direction from where he'd sensed the gaze, and he felt a chill run down his neck when their eyes met.
It was a person who'd been blending in with the shadows along the walls on the far side of the room. They were wearing a simple, dusty black cloak and their face was hidden by the hood. They could have been a middle class guest who hadn't been able to find something better to wear for the occasion, as there were plenty of people in the crowd who'd arrived wearing something modest. However Vaati couldn't shake the feeling that this person was someone who hadn't been invited.
He'd sensed their panic when their eyes had met, as though he'd caught them in the middle of some malign plot. Furthermore, despite his agitated pacing from before, he still would have been rather difficult to spot from the untrained eye, and yet this individual had managed to find him just as quickly as Zelda had.
Who was this person?
The stranger's eyes darted away, and they stood up from where they had been hiding in the shadows and dusted themselves off as though they hadn't seen Vaati at all. Their nonchalant demeanor almost had the sorcerer second guessing himself, but his intuition had always served him quite well, and right now it was screaming at him to keep an eye on this individual.
Vaati jumped up, away from the window sill where he'd been sitting, and hovered up above the chandeliers and against the ceiling of the banquet hall. Few people expected anyone to be floating by the ceiling, which made it a perfect place to hide. Even against those who were trained in the art of sneaking wouldn't expect him there since not many people knew magic like he did.
The sorcerer followed the individual as they casually picked a fruit tart from a tray. For the next twenty minutes or so, they continued to act just like any other visitor at the castle. They munched on the tart while they enjoyed the music, and occasionally joined in on a nearby conversation.
Just when Vaati was going to decide that his intuition about this individual had been wrong, and that there was nothing suspicious about them, he saw them flash a look towards where he'd been hiding earlier, by the window. It had been brief, and just barely noticeable, but Vaati knew that what he saw had been real.
This character was checking to see if Vaati was still watching them.
His suspicion rose, but Vaati wasn't completely convinced that this person wasn't just looking at the window sill simply because he had made them nervous earlier. He had to be sure.
Vaati's eyes glowed as he summoned some sentry eyes who he stationed near the ceiling where he was currently hovering. He had them watch the suspicious individual, and then teleported back down to the second floor walkway that circled above the banquet hall. He stood in the shadow of a pillar, hidden enough so that he would be easily missed by the untrained eye, but noticeable by a trained one.
Then, Vaati turned his back to the suspicious individual to look at some other people on the other side of the room, and he waited.
The answer revealed itself much sooner than he'd anticipated.
While his own eyes could not see what the suspicious individual was doing, the sentry eyes that he'd left near the ceiling showed him everything he needed to know.
This character wasn't just some ordinary middle class person who came to enjoy the party.
This was someone who was trained in subterfuge.
Through the sentry eyes, Vaati saw the person's gaze do a quick sweep of the room before they landed on him, watching him with that same, searching look. The stranger glanced at him several times, as though to make sure that Vaati was no longer following their movements. Once convinced that Vaati had lost interest in them, they set down their half-finished fruit tart on a nearby table. They then began to make their way towards the set of doors that led to the stairs leading further inside the castle.
A grin bloomed on Vaati's face as the uninvited guest expertly disappeared through the door like a true shadow warrior. No matter how well they hid in the shadows, however, they could not escape the watch of Vaati's sentry eyes.
I've got you.
fleets: ughhhhh i know i didn't proof well at all but i couldn't help it i just had to submit a;skdjf
Anyone notice the 'gonna talk about Vaati's past later' setup? I'm really excited to get into his backstory again because I haven't really done that since Tainted Heart, a suuuper old story by me that desperately needs updating. I have a few twists that are hopefully exciting :)
Relatedly, I'm falling back on my 'antihero Vaati' characterization this time! It's the one that's worked best for me, historically, and I've kind of given up on 'disgustingly evil bastard Vaati.' I mean, I tried. In demonbound if you'd believe it. It didn't pan out at all lmao
asdlkfja;sldfj i can't wait until this story actually really starts and it's killing me i have to get through a bunch of other chapters first AUGH
RayHollows: Oh snap I actually got Zelda's dress off of a reference pic. I should post it somewhere soon when I remember :O
My headcanon is that Vaati is more like a brat than a suave gent because he was just a bratchild during MC. Then he gets sealed up and, well, kiddo never really went through the 'grew up to be a respectable adult' phase xD
Serpent Tailed Angel: So happy we're in agreement! He is just a angry sulky doofball :3
We'll get there soon ;)
Lunamew: ;akjsdf me too! And yesss you caught the references to his self-imposed title at the end of demonbound! xD
And yeah that was Minish! I'm surprised you caught that, too :D I'm using the Japanese version of Minish since it's actually based on a real language than a lot of random pico pico noises haha. YES SMUSH THEIR FACES TOGETHER
Reily96: (intense eyebrow wigging). hahaha we'll get there. I mean, they're practically a ship already they just don't realize/admit that yet. Prepare for some severe heartache along the way, however, as I don't intend to make this easy or smooth sailing. :D
Ai Star: Thanks! And yup, the trouble is only getting closer! Hahahaha yeah Vaati holds the worst kind of grudges xD
AquilaMage: As I wrote in Demonbound, Vaati doesn't do subtle hahaha
Ruined birthday incoming in one... two...
plum: Hey there hey! So good to see you back here again plum :D
I'm glad you liked the ending of Demonbound, and expect to see some more Ravio and Shadow in this story, too (would be a shame if I forgot them!)
ANd oh god i don't know what i'm doing to myself because it's 3 in the morning and I should not have this chapter up already x_x
Vesperupus: It's out! With a wtf updating schedule so far! (i need to slow down because i'm going to burn out i just know it)
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed writing salty af Vaati. He holds a mean, mean grudge too :P
I have all different flavors of heartache lined up, hope you got some painkillers with you :D (i should start sending cards with that 'before there's a rainbow, there's always rain' message out to people)
