It feels weird walking through Hyrule with one of the most quiet guys he's ever met. Even Hudson was more talkative. Or, at least, he answered all of Link's questions no matter how ridiculous. But Vaati's this tight-lipped stranger. He doesn't strike up conversation and he doesn't respond to it. It's weird. It's uncomfortable. It makes Link wonder if that's what he's like with Zelda sometimes.
Mental note: respond to Zelda more.
"-and it's just so weird, like, what does a Lizalfos need sapphire for? Why are you carrying it, buddy? Is he gonna go to Gerudo Town and sell all that stuff? Would Gerudo Town let in a Lizalfos if they were a voe. Vai? I think it's vai. Anyway- if a Lizalfos was a girl, would they let it in? What do you think?" He's mostly rambling for the sake of it. And also cause he's been thinking about silly stuff like this for a while now. Even if he wasn't worried that Zelda would lose all hope in rebuilding Hyrule if he said all of this, he knows she'd find the conversation ridiculous and change the topic as soon as possible. It's just nice to have someone else to talk to. Someone who doesn't know who he is and expects something of him. Other than for his help in finding some ratty hat.
But Vaati's just staring straight ahead.
Link lowers his voice. He feels a little self-conscious. "I think they would."
He looks out at the broken down defunct Guardians scattered across the field. A few months ago, he would have been dead quiet walking through here. Listening for any that were still up and running. Now there's nothing to worry about. At least, when it comes to Guardians anyway.
Vaati's got his attention on them too. Link's surprised when he hears the man's voice again. "Is it alive?"
"Nah," Link kicks the thing with his shoe. Oh- but he could probably get some parts from this thing. With all the work Purah and Zelda are doing up in Hateno, he might be overdue for an upgrade soon. It'd suck to not have the parts necessary. He squats down next to the big metal thing and gets to work ripping up its underside, pulling out all sorts of gears and wires. "They all deactivated after Calamity Ganon died."
"...Right. Of course." Vaati surprises Link even further by kneeling down beside him, grabbing the parts to hold for Link. He examines them each carefully, inspecting them for something. Faults, maybe? To see if this stuff is really even good? Maybe he's a Guardian expert. Or enthusiast. There's plenty of those in Hyrule. "This all looks rather complicated for Hylian tech."
Or maybe not.
"Sheikah tech. Hylians are just the lunatics who dug them up." Link corrects. When he's pretty sure he's stripped the thing clean of everything useful, he stands back up and stuffs what he's passed off to Vaati into a satchel. "I don't know, I don't really think too hard on how any of it works. Hard to when you're trying to avoid getting killed by it."
"Half the battle is knowing your enemy," Vaati says this like it's a good joke. Link thinks he's missing the punchline. "Perhaps you should learn how it works."
"Well, they're all dead now, so there's no more battles with them." Link reminds him.
"Mm, I suppose that's a fair point."
Link points ahead at another Guardian. He expects Vaati to protest them going out of the way to just look for scrap, but the Hylian(?) beside him seems just as eager to keep looking.
"You ever get attacked by one?" Link asks when his head's almost inside the thing.
"By what?"
"A Guardian. Like… was it normal to just sort of get chased around by them or did you just sorta steer clear?"
"Guardians… No. I have yet to have one sent after me."
"Lucky you." Link pulls out an ancient core and grins. "I don't know what half this stuff does, but I always get a little excited finding it."
And then, just like that, Vaati's back to silent. Just watching every movement of Link's. Maybe listening to his Guardian stories, too. He seems pretty interested in them, at least. He does ask questions about those occasionally . Like how Link beat them. What were their weaknesses? How did they attack? Normal stuff he might get asked by a Guardian fan.
"You're a really curious person, Vaati." Link says when they're finally back on track. "Like in the asks a lot of questions way, not the weird way." Well, the weird way too, but the weird way is pretty rude to say to his face.
"I suppose," Vaati walks casually beside him, hands in his pockets. "I've always had an affinity for knowledge."
"I'm more of a 'swing first then ask questions' sorta guy." Link says.
"I'd imagine so." He sounds weirdly bitter when he says it. Maybe he just hates when people squander learning opportunities.
"What was that guy talking about before at the stable? When he said you were looking for rupees on the ground?" Link asks.
Vaati looks like he's not going to say anything but then he makes this haughty noise. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"I would. That's why I'm asking."
"Well… you've heard of the Picori, yes?"
The word's unfamiliar. But even more unfamiliar than the word is the way he says it. With this sort of thick accent that Link can barely make out. It's weird. Sounds like something old. Maybe from his and Zelda's time. Not the first time he's heard older Hylian tossed into casual conversation before, it always just catches him off guard. Though this time it seems a little more striking. Maybe he's pronouncing the word wrong.
"No," Link says, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think so. Can you say it again?"
"I don't repeat myself." But he goes onto say, "The Picori are… a children's story. They're said to hide rupees and berries in various places. Helpful little rats that can only be seen by a child whose heart is pure and good." He sounds annoyed by the whole thing. It's probably a basic story all Hylians just sort of know. He probably hates having to explain it all to Link. Briefly he wonders if his parents had told him about the Picori when he was a kid. If when he was a kid he believed in the little creatures. If that's where his love for exploring came from - wandering the tall grass all for some fairytale mice that'd give him gifts for being a good boy.
"Sounds cool," Link drags himself out of the thought. "You believe in them?"
"I… That's a complicated question." Vaati actually stammers. Poor guy's probably shy about it. He clears his throat. "There has to be an explanation as to why the stories began in the first place, doesn't there? Some evidence that might lead back."
That's actually pretty cute. This guy believing in some old fairytale.
"Don't worry," Link says. "I won't laugh."
"You've never been given assistance by them?" Vaati asks. "Never found a stray rupee in the grass - in a pot - in your shoe? " He seems pretty serious about it. Maybe even a little… urgent? Maybe he really is some sort of scholar. One that focuses on old stories like old Guardian tales and kid's stuff. Wanting to find more and more evidence of the unknown. Another big find. Though he doesn't think the Picori could help much if Calamity Ganon ever struck. Not that the Guardians helped in the end...
"Nope. Have you?"
"...Once or twice." Vaati says. Though it sounds like a lie.
"Well, maybe they're out there somewhere. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing. If Calamity Ganon can exist, so can the uh Picoewi."
"Picori," Vaati corrects.
"Picolwe?"
"You're doing this on purpose now, aren't you? Mispronouncing things on me," he gives him a look.
And maybe, okay, he is... but it's only because the look on Vaati's face is oh so cute.
A/N: Thank you to everyone following and favoriting this story! :) I appreciate every alert I get and hope you're enjoying the fic! I also always appreciate reviews and would love to read your feedback or just comments in general – and on that note:
FCL said:
i like this:D Vaati in BotW, interesting:)
and it's also fun if you'll make Link with this habit of eating when he's nervous, stressed or annoyed, like, you know, a lot of people:D that he'll snack on some food whenever Vaati again plays on his nerves, that'll be great:D good job though:D
Thanks for the review FCL! I hadn't actually thought of that to be honest – at least, I don't think I wrote that quirk in some of the fic, but I loved your idea so much that I actually started to include it in the one I'm writing now! C: Sounds perfect! Hope you like this chapter too and hope to hear from you again! 3
And lastly guys: forgive me if my posting slows down a bit. I promise I haven't abandoned or caught up to what I've written – we recently got a puppy and I am doing my best to take care of/potty train my good new boy Razmataz (Spazzy Razzy, Raz, Raz the Spaz, Razzle Dazzle, Puppo, etc etc) so much of my time is getting eaten up on puppy patrol or just trying to catch up on sleep rn. :) Hopefully things will begin to settle into a better rhythm or calm down soon though so~!
