Remember what I mentioned about exceptions? Well, this is one of them. Something that's all three of their point of views. Hopefully this chapter will put the timing of the chapters back in proportion... So,
in the last chapter...
We all got to see a few parts of Link's ever-varying nightmare. Link talked in his sleep in someone else's voice, making Ezlo officially weirded out. After breakfast, Link packed many useful and a few non-useful things in his bag, then Smith gave them both a bit of good advice about how to climb Mount Crenel. They got held up a bit in Hyrule Town, when an emerald-citrine spark floated into the air. As the two of them climbed up the mountain, Link seemed even more confusing to Ezlo, since the simplistic boy seemed to hold such inexplainable magic. Right at the sunny side of Mt. Crenel's peak, Link had to take a rest, so he thought about Zelda, Ezlo and Vaati. He thought all of them needed help, and that he would be glad to do the helping. Soon after, Link and Ezlo were caught in a massive cloud of rain on the way to Melari's Mines, and thanks to that, Link wasn't feeling too well...
Chapter 8: Lost Memories of Friends and Journeys
Vaati curled up tightly in fear while he was asleep...
Fighting... everybody was fighting each other! All because there wasn't enough resources for everyone... again. The sight made two-year-old Vaati absolutely terrified. All this fighting... and on top of that, they might wake up the cat! Next to him, looking at the fighting with him, was that familiar minish who'd taught him so much about the world, present Vaati remembered now.
"...Weren't we all supposed to be allies?" asked two-year-old Vaati to the familiar purple minish with the eyes like his, and the black cross birthmarks on his cheeks.
"Yes... but in the end, all that matters to everyone is living to see another night." explained the familiar minish, looking down at Vaati sadly, yet warmly, "We're lucky, Vaati. We're lucky to have each other. Many of them have been alone since the beginning."
Vaati began to feel tears flowing from his, and his two-year-old self eyes, and hugged the minish, his brother, present him remembered now, tightly.
"Let's go get some food at least." said his brother, "Or we might end up going down with each other too."
Two-year-old Vaati looked into his eyes.
"That sounds much better than one of us leaving the other behind..."
In his sleep, present Vaati whispered, "...though maybe it would be better never to have had family at all then to be torn away from the only one you can trust...", finishing the sentence that he couldn't all those years ago, his eye flickering open. That dream... after all this time, the past he was so afraid of was... returning to him? The more he discovered, the more he wanted to know, somehow. The more he knew, the less scary they seemed to be. Also, to get closer to the light force, he'd have to face Lake Hylia and fish out Rhinestone. Vaati got up and checked his map again. Unfortunately, Rhinestone was STILL at the lake. Probably swimming. He didn't have time to wait now. News was spreading and if Rhinestone found out about him, the game would well and truly be up.
So Vaati teleported right there, not bothering to check if all the gorons were awake. All of this would NOT be for nothing. Vaati was back at the water's edge, looking at his refection in the water so like glass. Why was it that he was so drawn to water, yet so afraid of it? Curious yet scared? He placed his left forefinger lightly on to the surface of the water, touching it yet not. A gentle ripple flowed out from his light touch...
Splashing. Giant drops, double the size of boulders.
The ripple flowed outwards, three more coming from where Vaati was touching the surface.
Water, a river, washing away a home he would never know.
A summer petal flew through the sky, and landed on the lake's surface, bending the earlier ripples and contradicting them.
Struggling. Sinking. Splashing. Screaming.
No. Know. No. Why was it that Vaati was curious now? Curious yet afraid. Far more afraid than curious. The element of wind swept a cloud of petals from the summer flowers, swirling in the sky, responding to Vaati's emotions.
"To know... Do I really want to know?" asked Vaati without realising he was speaking out loud. Right at that rather important moment, a giant announcement of
"CANNON BALL!" echoed across Lake Hylia, and a massive SPLASH sent a huge wave of water crashing over Vaati, completely soaking him- and effectively making him completely and utterly freak out worse than Zelda would be at a spider's tea party (and she has the worst case of arachnophobia in all of Hyrule). No, wait, that's an understatement...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Vaati, sending animals of all sorts running for the hills, birds from everywhere in the area to fly away to the farthest corners of Hyrule, and even the monsters to trip over trying to run away. The wind formed a huge cyclone in the air, affecting nothing but the weather patterns (in what would one day be the Gerudo Desert for that exact reason). After all, Vaati was only just beginning to feel the water... getting soaked by it so suddenly sent him right back to square one when it came to fearing deep water...
Vaati stopped screaming, taking deep breaths and shivering, the wind calming down with him. In front of him, paddling in the water, was a tinged-pastel-pink goron wearing bright-pastel-pink ribbons, which were tied around her arms, complete with large bows.
"Are you okay?" she asked, "You're looking a bit purple, goro."
"..." Vaati just stared at her in disbelief for a few seconds. Of all the reasons why he might not be okay... "I've always been purple. Do you happen to be called Rhinestone?"
"Yeah, goro!" confirmed Rhinestone, "Do Granite and some friends need help breaking a wall?"
"Yes. Will you come and help them out?" asked Vaati, somewhat hopefully.
"...Mmmm..." Rhinestone considered this for a bit, then announced, "Yes- after we have a swimming race, goro! No race, no help. I need to test my skills!"
Vaati went even paler than usual. "A sw-sw-sw-" he stuttered. (A SWIMMING RACE?!) he shrieked in his mind.
("It's okay! Face that fear!") encouraged his timid inner voice. This time, a third voice joined in, one that wasn't the malevolent one but more... calculative.
(I agree. After all, it DOES seem that the light force might be at the end of all this trouble. Besides, for all you know, it's at the bottom of this very lake!) pointed out this new, logical calculative voice. Vaati liked the way it seemed to balance between the other two.
(Don't listen to them!) yelled the malevolent voice, but it was weaker this time- because Vaati wasn't listening to it.
"Ahh, scared of water, goro? No worries- between you and me, I was too!" explained Rhinestone, "You know what? I'll teach you how to swim, goro!"
"Ummmm..." said Vaati, still extremely pale and extremely shaken.
"AND, since I'm helping you, you get the easy way, goro!" Cheered Rhinestone.
"...Easy way? What easy way?" asked Vaati.
SPLASH!
Well... remember that scream from before? That was NOTHING compared to-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Vaati, his voice literally reaching everywhere in Hyrule! All over Hyrule, soldiers stopped their fruitless search for Vaati, shopkeepers stopped selling things, the gorons stopped smashing that tough wall, Ezlo stopped talking, Link stopped being ill, the mountain minish stopped work, Limestone stopped setting up his stall, regular people, animals, birds, bugs, amphibians, reptiles, spiders and monsters all screeched to a halt in whatever they were doing, and one particular goron even stopped sinking into the swamp! In that same three minutes, a huge storm whipped around Lake Hylia, dropping various things around Hyrule, completely flooding a giant iceberg as well as someone's house, ultimately causing more damage than all the monsters in Hyrule could do in a week.
In case you're wondering, Rhinestone just stuck her fingers into her ears (yes, gorons have ears, they're just not obvious) and treaded water, completely unaffected by Vaati's scream which, in fact, is pretty awesome in itself. Vaati, now more terrified than Zelda would be in a hole full of tarantulas (wait- that's a massive understatement), climbed out of the water and barely managed to stop himself from teleporting back to Goron's Cave. Then it hit him!
"I'm okay!" stated Vaati.
"See? Perfectly safe!" reassured Rhinestone, "But next time you might want to take your shoes off, goro, maybe that cloak, too."
Vaati did, and carefully paddled into the water. He didn't feel very safe. But he could feel it... that sense of overwhelming curiosity. Know. No. No to the fear. Know to the memory. He wanted to know. He had to know what had happened.
Struggling. Sinking. Splashing. Screaming.
Vaati carefully paddled in the shallow part of Lake Hylia...
"Help! HELP! Vale? VALE?!"
...then carefully let go of the side, using both his hands and legs to stay afloat...
Tears. Vale had always been scared for him. Yet in the end...
...The ripples of water from Rhinestone and Vaati connected, and the wind swirled gently, picking up tiny droplets of water...
...it was Vale who would leave him behind in the cruel world of the living...
...Vaati began to swim, paddling around the water. Splashing. Swimming. Floating...
...Little three-year-old Vaati was washed farther down the valley, where an old minish was collecting herbs at the flood plains...
...in control. Trusting. A small smile twitched on Vaati's face. At that moment of time, he was...
...A stick was thrust into the water, and Vaati held on to it, staring for an infinite moment at the minish who'd helped him before passing out, now...
...Safe.
...Safe.
Yet, in everything that had just happened, Vaati's entire plan and reasoning was thrown onto its head. Why was he safe? What did he just see? Vale... Vale was his brother's name. Vale Nightshade. Vaati steeled himself and determinedly kept on swimming, Rhinestone cheering him on from the background.
"Don't abandon me..." cried Link, with Vale's voice, in his sleep, "Don't leave me behind! I can't lose you too, Va-"
Then his eyes snapped open to a horrible throbbing headache. His nose was all runny and he felt really dizzy...
"A-A-A-choo!" sneezed Link, "A-CHOO!"
"EW!" screeched Ezlo, leaping up from his place in front of the fireplace, "Don't SNEEZE like that, Boy!"
...now Link's headache was worse and his ears were ringing. He felt dizzy- and threw up a little.
"EW! YUCKY! WHAT'S WRONG, BOY?!" yelled Ezlo, even louder. Ezlo's very loud yelling woke up Melari and all seven of his apprentices. They all came running into to the room to see Link looking really unwell in bed, and Ezlo yelling his beak off in the middle of the floor.
"He's got a really horrible cold... It must have been because of Mount Crenel's rain showers..." sighed Melari.
"He seemed fine yesterday." stated Ezlo, a little confused.
The apprentice who'd cooked the stew last night walked a bit closer to Link. "Okay, so what's wrong? 'eadache? Ill? Dizzy? Ears ringing?"
"A-all of them..." whispered Link, "B-but Zelda... St-starve... Stone c-can't eat..."
"You will be staying right here." said Melari, firmly, "Kids like you shouldn't even go into the Cave of Fire in the first place, let alone try to find the element with a horrid cold!"
"I agree!" added Ezlo, "Beside's, Zelda is in a state of Paaci [Pah-kee]'s Syndrome. She's in a half-asleep state in which she has no need to eat, sleep, or drink though she's fully aware of what's happening around her."
Link was confused. Why did Ezlo make things so confusing?
"In other words, Zelda will be okay." simplified Melari. Link calmed down. "Felo, could you take care of Link? Everyone else can get back to digging or fixing today! No worries, everyone will get a turn helping to fix the sacred sword..."
Melari and six of his apprentices left the room, leaving Felo (the one who'd cooked), Link and Ezlo in the guest room. Felo quickly replaced Link's blanket, talking about whatever came to mind, "Did you know, I'm the only one 'ere who can cook! It's quite awkward at times..."
"Really?" asked Ezlo, "I can teach the others to cook while I'm here, I mean, I might as well do SOMETHING useful while this boy's ill!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
What in the world was that? It sounded like... Vaati? Screaming? Link suddenly stopped being ill, Ezlo stopped talking, everyone in Hyrule stopped everything for three minutes. Link could feel the pure fear in that far away scream, Vaati's fear. Link wondered about the purple sorcerer. Now that he really thought about it, the little brother in the Nightmare had the exact same emotions too, those same marks under the eyes. Could Vaati have been minish once? Ezlo seemed closer to him than one would expect... Link understood that fear, somehow, though who knows how...
Ezlo recognised that scream, though he hadn't heard it since he first met Vaati. That scream... Ezlo half-thought he was imaging hearing something so desperate again after all those years. It did feel as if it were an echo, after all. Really, though, it sounded real, like it was coming from... what, Lake Hylia or something! Ha ha ha, that HAD to be Crazy Theorist talking...
Then Ezlo said, "That scream... why would he be that afraid?"
"So that wasn't my imagination?" clarified Felo. Link shook his head. "Well, any'oo, I think you teaching everyone else 'ow to cook would be a great idea!"
With that, Ezlo hopped out of the room, and Felo left after him. Link watched them go, feeling Ezlo's guilt. Then he took out the blue bottle, the red bottle and the teaspoon from his bag, giving himself a teaspoon of each medicine before putting them away. He wasn't feeling much better, but at least the ringing in his ears had stopped and he wasn't dizzy anymore. His thoughts wandered to this one time when he'd gotten covered in snow and been like this when he was visiting his grandpa for christmas.
"Oh! Master Smith! Is Link okay?" Zelda had asked from just downstairs.
"Meh, he'll be fine, it's just a bad cold. Honestly, that kid is so frail... but to get sick while his parents are out buying presents of all times..."
"Can I go see him?"
"Sure."
Link was glad Zelda had come to see him, but he felt her worry. He wanted to tell her he'd be fine... but his voice was clogged.
"Oh! How terrible! Hang in there, Link, I'll get the medicine!"
She rushed out the room just as Grandpa Smith came in, saying, "You're lucky she's such a good friend."
Yes. He was lucky to have Zelda as a friend. Felo came back in, holding a large, wooden bowl.
"If you need to be sick, do it in 'ere, please." said Felo. Link nodded, his voice feeling clogged (not that he'd have said anything) like last time. This time, Zelda wasn't here because she was turned into a stone statue by Vaati. That's when another thought occurred to Link.
(Why a-am I not angry? Wh-what would Zelda say?)
"It's 'cause you're nice, Link! Loads of people aren't nice."
...Yeah, that's exactly what she would say. Link smiled.
"Are you feelin' better?" asked Felo. Link nodded, then shook his head. Yes, he was; but no, he wasn't. Not really, but... sort of. His head was still throbbing and he'd probably be sick again, but at least he didn't have to worry about Zelda any more- not if both Ezlo and the picori knew she'd be fine. "I'm gonna go get the medicine." said Felo, leaving Link alone again. This time, Link took a notebook and a pencil out of his bag and began to draw in it.
Ezlo left the room feeling like the worst guardian and companion in history. First, Vaati had been scared and unhappy and he hadn't noticed. Next, Link hadn't been feeling well and he hadn't noticed. And he'd yelled at them both. A lot.
The least he could do was teach Melari and the other six of his apprentices how to cook. While he was at it, he'd figure things out... Oh, but that worked SO well nine years ago... Well he could always try again, right? Right. (I'm horrible with kids...) thought Ezlo dejectedly.
Soon, he got to Melari, who was working on the Picori Blade with two of his apprentices. "Hello, Melari. Felo told me that you and the rest of your apprentices can't cook! Well, if you like, I can teach you since Link's sick and I can't help him right now..."
"Well, that does sound like a good offer. I suppose there'll be plenty of time to fix the sword while you two go and get the element- after Link gets better, of course- so sure, why not? I'm sure it'll be fun!" agreed Melari. Melari and his two apprentices followed Ezlo up the mines in a little procession, each of the other apprentices (except Felo) joining in as the procession passed them.
Once they were all in the kitchen, Melari put Ezlo on a very tall stool so he could talk to everybody.
"Ahem." said Ezlo, "First, you will be making something very basic- stew! It's not difficult- just gather up four pieces of meat -that's OPTIONAL by the way- and four chopped vegetables, not to mention the ingredients for the sauce, which are..."
As Ezlo went on and on over the instructions, Melari and the apprentices rushed around doing it and attempting to follow them with a little bit of success. Ezlo watched over them while he was talking to guarantee nothing exploded- he'd learned his lesson about THAT when trying to teach HIS apprentice how to cook! Really- you leave him in that kitchen for five minutes and he goes and blows it up trying to make stew! True story, Vaati LITERALLY blew up the kitchen. In fact, it took two months to get that fixed to the right quality! Two months of berries and cold berry soup made him never want to eat another berry again!
However, Melari and his apprentices were doing a much batter job of it. Ezlo was soon taste-testing the stews. They all tasted different but delicious. This lesson was going well! Felo came in at one point to pick up a bottle of medicine, but that didn't disrupt the lesson at all.
Thanks to Rhinestone's support and helpful tips, as well as seeing that memory, Vaati was feeling better and paddling around in the water. That wasn't to say his fear was miraculously cured. It wasn't. But now he could swim if he had to. It was as if he'd come to terms with it, in a sense. As if he'd come to terms with the memory. The original voice in his head was cheering in there. These feelings... Vaati wasn't sure what to make of them. They made him feel... warmer. More... confident. Slightly less afraid. The fear was there, but it was the fuel for everything else... it all felt so... bizarre. It made him feel stronger. More powerful.
What if he found the rest of his memories? What if they held the key to his safety? What if... he combined this new strength with the light force? What then? ("What then?") echoed three voices back at him, one afraid, one anticipating, one taking this into account. Did he really want to know everything that he'd forgotten that day?
(Ignorance is bliss, as they say...) Thought Vaati, (...but bliss has to end eventually.)
"Hope. Vaati... hold on to hope." said Vale, in a fragment of a memory.
...Hope? Was that what that strange warm, slightly confident, feeling was?
"You can stop if you want to, goro." said Rhinestone, worried because she was just seeing Vaati stare into space.
"I'm feeling much better now." replied Vaati.
"You know what? Let's head over to Granite and buddies, goro. Bashing a wall sounds good right about now, goro!" announced Rhinestone.
Vaati put his sandals and his cloak back on, still rather WET but fine with that. After all, it was yet another warm, sunny day. As the two of them walked to Goron's Cave, Rhinestone asked, "By the way, who else is there this time, goro?"
"Well, Granite asked me to ask Limestone where the other gorons were, and he told me where Basalt was, and when Basalt helped Granite, he told me where Obsidian and Tuff were, and when they helped them all out, Obsidian told me where you were!" explained Vaati.
"Oh, why didn't you tell me my cousin was there form the start?! Goro-Vaati, it's been ages since I last caught up with her, goro! I'd have come along in a jiffy!" Chattered Rhinestone.
Vaati sighed, exasperated.
"By the way," continued Rhinestone as she followed Vaati through that corner of Minish Woods and down the edges of Lon Lon Ranch, "be careful, I heard there was a dangerous wind sorcerer called Vaati around here, goro!" Luckily, she didn't make any further connections. Vaati vaguely wondered wether all gorons were that dense. Well... the gorons he'd met so far were friendly.
"Do you know where any of the other gorons are?" asked Vaati.
"Yeah- there's my brother, Andesite, I mean, he's always SO annoying, really, goro, I wouldn't mention him if I knew where anyone who isn't already helping Granite was, goro." grumbled Rhinestone, "Did you know, HE teased me because I'm a bit pink! Goro! He said, 'gorons aren't pink! Why are you pink, goro!' But you know what I said, goro?"
"What?" asked Vaati, interested.
Rhinestone grinned all over. "I said, 'well, who cares, if I'm pink I'm pink, goro!' HAH! You should have SEEN the look on his face, goro! It was hilarious! Anyway, Limestone said something about Andersite going to get swamp weed for him, Goro-Vaati."
Vaati thought that was a very interesting perspective. He couldn't track down Andersite right now because Rhinestone was right there- and besides, now that he thought of it, it was a very good thing that he kept his things in a waterproof dimensional hole- it had taken a few tries to randomly get one with that property... His stomach grumbled. Oh, right. He'd forgotten to EAT.
"Oh no! Did you not have lunch, Goro-Vaati?" asked Rhinestone, "I know where to find some tasty rocks, goro! Oh wait, you don't eat rocks, do you, goro, Hmmm..." Vaati just continued towards Goron's Cave. He'd get something to eat as soon as Rhinestone was there, that was if he could find anything edible.
Link was sick in the bowl for the second time since getting it, all while drawing away in his notebook. Ugh. He always got sick so quickly... If only that didn't cause people to get upset... Being sick was a hinderance to everybody.
"Feeling better?" asked Felo, holding some herbal medicine and a spoon. He gave Link the spoon with some medicine in it, and Link had a bit. He could feel the innocence of everybody in his memories... There was just something about that little moment which really made Link see from a third's eye to the world. He felt much better and his throat was no longer feeling clogged. Link smiled. Felo smiled back before taking the bowl and the medicine out of the room.
Link sat on the bed, looking at his drawings of the minish in his nightmare and comparing them to his drawings of Vaati. The more he looked at them, the more he saw that they were one and the same. Were they memories? Link had no clue. Where did Ezlo fit in all of this? Link had no clue about that, either. Did Vaati himself know about any of this? Link couldn't help but wonder about these things as he sat on the bed with nothing to do but draw and think. Link began to draw some more pictures, and thought about Zelda. He thought about all those little moments- then giggled as he thought about the day he'd overheard Grandpa Smith and King Daltus talking about how they would make a really sweet couple one day! At first, Link didn't know what they meant, but then he'd looked at a book and burst out laughing. He and Zelda would always be there for each other- but really... THAT?! Grownups were funny.
Just then, Melari came bursting into the room, with Ezlo triumphantly grinning atop his head. Melari was smiling too, and holding a delicious-smelling bowl of soup. He gave it to Link, along with a large spoon.
"Eat up, Boy! I've had plenty of lunch already! And guess what? Now everyone can cook! Well, at least a little bit." announced Ezlo, head held high, "This soup is good for bad colds!"
Link tasted it- and it was truly yummy. Really, really, yummy! He ate it all up faster than everybody in that room had expected, and felt very nearly completely better. He got right out of the bed and slipped past everybody to go take the bowl to the kitchen.
"Th-thanks a lot!" thanked Link, "The soup w-was really tasty!"
"He's feeling much better!" announced Ezlo, happily.
Link, smiling a large, innocent, smile, took the bowl to the kitchen with Melari, Ezlo (still on Melari's head) and Felo trailing behind him. However, Link was still a bit fatigued and would need plenty of rest if he wanted to go and get the element and everybody trailing behand him knew it. Despite this, Link still insisted on helping Melari's seven apprentices with the washing up, in order to help the picori who'd been so nice to him.
Just outside the kitchen, Ezlo jumped off Melari's head.
"What a sweet boy." quietly said Melari to Ezlo.
"I agree," agreed Ezlo, "he is very nice... but a bit too trusting."
"No, no, being trusting is very normal for kids his age, I'd be worried if he wasn't." explained Melari.
"I'm terrible with children." admitted Ezlo, "I should have noticed he wasn't feeling well yesterday."
"Aw, don't blame yourself! Nobody noticed yesterday!" Exclaimed Melari, "Still, kids aren't usually like that after a bad cold..."
Link and the apprentices were soon done clearing up, and Melari's apprentices got back to their work, and Link wandered around a bit, taking a closer look around the mines, and taking out his blue rose and watering it, before putting it away and planting more pansillla seeds around. He knew he'd be fine by the next day- the picori made an excellent medicine!
Ezlo continued talking with Melari.
"Say... I have an apprentice. An apprentice in magic. He has no family left and I looked after him from the age of three... I think I did a terrible job knowing when he was unhappy. I should have known." Melari listened with interest.
"Well, let him know you care. Be a family figure- he'll need you even if he doesn't realise it!" he suggested.
"There was another problem- I don't understand him! Nobody does! He was... different. I should have been there for him. But I wasn't." Ezlo sighed. It felt good finally telling someone who understood. Maybe he should have asked for help earlier, even if it did harm his reputation. Melari thought for a bit.
"Then be there now!" he suggested.
Ezlo took those words in. Maybe he would find a way to be there for him. Even if said apprentice was out causing havoc (possibly) and had turned him into a hat. It was not too late- it was never too late.
"Thank you, Melari." replied Ezlo.
"No problem." said Melari, "Now why don't you go find Link?"
Ezlo hopped off. Then he turned round, and asked, "By the way... Why is nobody shocked about me being a talking hat?"
"Quite simply because it's obvious someone turned you into one." replied Melari.
Ezlo felt... better, but he also worried about both Link and Vaati. Was it too late to stop Vaati straying down the wrong path? Could he keep Link safe even though he got so ill so quickly? Also, Ezlo suspected there was a ghost involved with the two... A ghost of... whom?
Back at Goron's Cave, Rhinestone rushed off towards that tough wall, where Granite, Basalt, Obsidian and Tuff were all smashing away at the wall with zero luck.
"Hi Obsidian!" Greeted Rhinestone, I had a lot of fun on the way here, goro!"
"Oh really, goro? Can you come and HELP,goro? We can talk while we get this wall down!" suggested Obsidian, before turning to face Vaati. "Thanks for all your help, Goro-Vaati!"
"Yeah, goro! We really owe you one, Goro-Vaati!" agreed Granite, pounding at the wall.
Rhinestone went over there and pounded at that wall with the others, Vaati giving them all a boost- but that was one tough wall. Vaati was beginning to think they'd reached the back of the cave, though the magical waves were still very clear and very strong...
"Aw! So close, goro!" loudly grumbled Tuff, "The tasty rocks are beyond here, goro!"
"Goro-Vaati, do ou think you could help smash this wall too?" asked Rhinestone.
"Sorry, but I can't bash walls." replied Vaati, "I'll just go get your brother to help."
He left the cave AGAIN and did the tracking spell once more, revealing that Andesite was right in the middle of Castor Wilds, at the bottom-left corner of the map. Below Castor Wilds was another blank space. Again, his stomach growled. Vaati set off to try and find something edible to eat for lunch, soon finding a very large berry bush. Vaati remembered those red berries- they were definitely edible, as he'd eaten them many times before. To a minish, they were about the size of a football. At his current size, they were very, very small.
Vaati gently, curiously plucked a berry of the bush, holding it between his forefinger and thumb. He thought, (Just another reminder...) A reminder of how small, how insignificant he used to be. A reminder of how powerful he already was now. A reminder of how significant, safe he was going to be. Just searching for the light force was making him stronger, it seemed... Though it was very possible to make it bigger, it felt far more satisfying just to pop it into his mouth and crush it between his teeth. Even now, it was still deliciously sweet. Just less filling. Vaati continued chomping the berries until there were none left.
Then he checked the map again. Yes, the goron was still at Castor Wilds. So how close could he get before he'd have to fly..? Vaati teleported to South Hyrile Field and flew the rest of the way, passing some drill fish (drill-fish live underground and swim through dirt and rocks, but sometimes the show up for a breath of air) diving into the earth. As it turned out, Castor Wilds was a massive SWAMP with some magical waves, but nothing nearly powerful enough to possibly be the light force. Now, the swamp was not the problem here. The problem was the green-eyed goron with the triangular light-green-forest-green scarf STUCK in the swamp up to his waist. Vaati landed on a nearby, high hill in the middle of the swamp, after blasting some ropes (snake-like aggressive monsters). He looked down at the goron.
"Hey! Do you happen to be Andesite!?" He yelled down to the goron.
"YES, goro, but I'm sinking! HELP, GORO!" cried the goron, Andesite.
Vaati was very annoyed. Now he was going to have to risk being found out! Well... he would have to deal with that. Vaati flew down from the high hill and grabbed Andesite's flailing arms in an attempt to drag him out of there. Being mainly made out of an extremely hard type of rock, gorons were heavy, and the swamp wasn't letting go. Even a bit of focus magic wasn't enough, especially since it wasn't exactly Vaati's forte [for-tay]. Vaati pulled, heaved, yanked and flew upwards at top speed while holding onto Andesite- to no avail. The goron was very much still stuck, and very much still sinking.
Vaati shook his head. Both of them were not going to like this... He let Andesite go, and summoned those drill-fish he'd seen earlier from South Hyrule Field, sending them into the swamp. Confused, they drilled into the first rock they saw- aka ANDESITE'S BACK. Vaati quickly grabbed his arms again.
"OW, GORO!" shrieked Andesite, flying though the air thanks to the pressure of the fish shoving him and Vaati yanking him. Said sorcerer swung him around a few times, then threw him directly onto that large hill Vaati had stood on earlier. Amazingly, the ground wasn't harmed. Neither was Andesite. "Ow... dizzy... thanks, goro..." groaned Andesite, getting up. Vaati landed next to him.
"So how exactly did you manage to get yourself STUCK!?" asked Vaati with great annoyance. The wind rushed around above his head, sending a couple of birds off-course.
"Trying to get swamp-weed for Limestone... I didn't think swamps were this STICKY, goro..." explained Andesite. The wind calmed down. Vaati just shook his head in disbelief and grabbed Andesite's arm to teleport them both out of Castor Wilds, and to just near Goron's Cave.
"Huh? Goro? Where are we, goro?" asked Andersite, looking around, "By the way, what's your name, goro?"
"My name's Vaati." stated Vaati nonchalantly.
"Vaati?" Andesite stopped short. "The Vaati?! Vaati the dangerous sorcerer, goro?!" Apparently, no, not all gorons were that dense. He'd have to get it through Andesite's head that- "What strange RUMOURS people have come up about you, goro!" suddenly continued Andesite.
It took all of Vaati's self-control not to burst out laughing.
"Apparently, you turned the princess to stone, and it's your fault monsters are everywhere, goro! But goro, I've heard rumours before, and my mother always said to take a rumour with a grain of sand, so I'm not believing it, Goro-Vaati!" laughed Andesite. Then he suddenly stopped. "By the way, where are we, goro?"
Actually, yes, all the gorons that he'd met so far were that dense. Well, what do you know. The Human World really was full of surprises!
"We're just near the cave where Granite needs help breaking a wall." explained Vaati, "He asked me to ask Limestone where the other gorons were, and he told me where Basalt was, and when Basalt helped Granite, he told me where Obsidian and Tuff were, and when they helped them all out, Obsidian told me where Rhinestone was, and after I had a swimming lesson with her, she told me where you were and is in there helping them out right now!"
"Oh, that sounds fun, goro! By the way, do you keep a diary? I tried once, but I broke it, goro..." chattered Andesite while walking alongside Vaati. He didn't answer, but he thought about his diary. About how he'd thought it was like a friend. Friends listen, don't they? They keep secrets. They help you out, and you can trust them. That was what he'd thought friendship was, back then, before that happened. Before he'd learned it was all a lie. Now his diary was just a memory-storage-case, really.
When they reached the entrance of the cave, Andesite curled up into a boulder-like ball and ROLLED right at Rhinestone, who grabbed him with her arms and flung him to her left. He uncurled onto his feet just as Vaati caught up with him.
"Hi, everyone, goro!" called out Andesite.
"Hi Goro-Andesite..." mumbled Rhinestone, then she said a bit louder, "So aren't you going to HELP, goro?!"
"Yeah, goro! I'll smash more of that wall than you!" hollered Andesite, facing the wall and smashing at it, the other gorons doing much the same.
"Hah! I'll bash that wall harder than you ever could!" announced Rhinestone, bashing that wall even harder than before.
Vaati sent them all a magical energy boost, and the six gorons SMASHED, BASHED, and completely DESTROYED that wall right before Vaati's eye. He couldn't help but be reminded of what 'teamwork' was when he looked at all those gorons smashing that tough wall. They somewhat reminded Vaati of him, before that happened, before he'd remembered how to feel anything, how to be sociable, how to be... nice. But no. Now was going to be NOTHING to do with him.
The gorons, except Granite, all went off to eat the, apparently tasty, rocks lining the cave. Vaati could feel where the energy was originating from- everywhere. Was there some secret, perhaps? A large chest sat in the middle of the room, at the back of the cave. Looking around, Vaati realised that there was no secret- this entire cave was filled with incredibly rare ores, all five of the magic-controlling ores used in magical items and weaponry. Among such magical ores, Vaati thought the true location of the light force, maybe a riddle or a map, could be within that chest.
"Thank you, Goro-Vaati! You know what? Keep whatever's in that chest over there as a thank you from us gorons. I don't know what's in there, but I'm sure it isn't useful to us gorons anyway, goro!"
With that, Granite rolled off to eat the rocks inside the walls, and Vaati approached the chest. This could be it... The next step. This would be a moment he'd remember for good. Yes, it would be indeed... Vaati reached his left hand inside the chest, and pulled out...
A bottle. A normal, glass, EMPTY, bottle.
This was getting ridiculous! Vaati just sighed in disappointment and sat down. At least he could... put a drink in it? Use it to shrink or grow liquids? Oh... well... now he was back to square two, square one not even having a clue, when it came to finding the light force. It seemed the only treasure here was the rare ores, and maybe the bottle. Vaati had had ENOUGH of this nonsense. He hadn't wanted to cause a ruckus, but it was clear that finding the light force alone was nearly impossible. Wait- pause there- alone? What if he possessed the king and got those dumb soldiers to help him find the light force? Obviously they'd be terrible at it, but that wouldn't matter, because he could search around the castle in peace and quiet. Besides, he'd already caused a bit of ruckus anyway.
That's when Vaati decided he would rest up tonight, before teleporting to the castle and possessing the king in the morning. After all, possession requires quite the skill and power. With this new Plan B in mind, Vaati wrote in his diary.
'To whoever reads this thing,
As it turns out, the light force is not in Goron's Cave. After all this, the magical waves were coming from a treasure cove of quetzallite, swallite, macawlite, cuccoite, and phoenillite [fee-o-ni-lite], the five magical ores. Some person wanted it all sealed up! There was also a bottle in a chest. The gorons have been really friendly, if dense, both in the mind and physical sense. They didn't even care that I was different from them... maybe I won't go without a goodbye. Naturally, I've already come up with a Plan B- possess the king and send those useless soldiers off to look for the light force, while I do some proper searching in the castle. According to legend, the minish gave the light force to the royal family, so perhaps they have it hidden away somewhere. As for my memories, I wonder why they return to me now... Well, that doesn't matter. I don't need to know. But... I'm curious. Surely the light force shall be the key to it all... After that? Who knows? Not me, or you, I guess.
-Vaati.'
After putting away his pencil and diary, he curled up right then and there, falling asleep almost instantaneously, with no dreams. Outside, the sun was just setting.
Link, now feeling much, much better, had had a nice time getting to know the mountain minish, drawing portraits of them digging up shiny crystals and metals, and having an all-round nice day. Tomorrow, he would go get the next element and be just that bit closer to saving Zelda! He was scared of the nightmare, but he knew he needed sleep, so sleep he would. They varied. A lot. The feelings coming from everyone in it, the fear, the anger, the pain, it all felt so real, yet it always ended the same way- with the water, the flood, the drowning, and the cry for Va. Link didn't think about it too much. But he did wonder wether it was Vaati and his older brother who'd gone through so much...
Ezlo, having found Link a couple of hours earlier, was now back on Link's head, thinking about when Link had talked in his sleep that other time, in somebody else's voice...
"Don't abandon me... Don't leave me behind! I can't lose you too, Va-"
Va. Vah? Vah-tee, perhaps? Who's voice was that? Link was showing all the side effects of having a ghost in his subconsciousness! Was this ghost connected to Vaati in some way..? But that had to be Crazy Theorist talking, right? A young boy's magic potential alone could never host a ghost. Though a ghost would strengthen him physically, his/her regrets would most likely be like a reoccurring nightmare... maybe the theory did hold water, but not much.
Meanwhile, Link was just heading back to the guest room, feeling Ezlo's nagging sense that something was wrong, that he was overlooking something important. He knew not to ask. After all, Ezlo would blurt it all out when he was ready.
So far, both Link and Ezlo had made many memories up here on Mount Crenel, and as the two of them lay down somewhere comfortable and fell asleep, the entire mines being lit by the orangey-red light of the sunset... Far away from there, Vaati had made and discovered memories too, in his own unrecorded journey.
