The following warnings apply to this chapter:
Kissing
Weapon porn
For disclaimer, please see chapter one.
Come in, come in! It's story time again.
For the first few minutes after Vaati awoke, things were quite blurry, but he could easily identify Chilta by the mountain picori's height. The taller boy was standing at the edge of the bed that the forest picori had been laid in. "Hey, little pal." Chilta smiled. "You gave us a bit of a scare earlier. Feelin' alright?"
Vaati struggled to sit up, his entire body feeling like liquid. "Not in the slightest..." He groaned. "What happened?"
"You don't remember? You started talkin' weird, then this huge wind kicked up and put out the fire." Chilta explained.
"But I can't do magic anymore." Vaati murmured, searching for the magic within his body again. There was a strange, somewhat familiar warmth in his chest, a small amount of magic left over after his spell. "... I can...?"
Chilta chuckled, nodding. "Seems like it. That was pretty impressive, little pal."
"Where's Link?" The smaller picori asked, looking around, his vision beginning to clear.
Chilta gestured toward the stairs. "Downstairs, cooking. He didn't want to leave the house with you out cold, and since he figured you'd be hungry when you woke up, he asked me to watch over you while he cooked. He's probably just about done by now. Just stay right there, I'll go let him know you're awake."
Vaati nodded, watching as Chilta made his way down the stairs. I used it all... The picori thought. I used more than I had, yet some of it is still there... How?
Chilta couldn't help it; he had laughed when he arrived downstairs. It was impossible for him not to; there was a feast on the table, and Link was still cooking up a storm. "Hey, housewife, where's your apron?" The mountain picori snickered, ducking a flying loaf of bread. "Whoa, touchy!"
"How's Vaati?" Link asked, as if he didn't even notice the comment or the bread he'd thrown at the other boy.
Chilta grinned. "Little dude's awake, actually. Seemed pretty surprised that he's still able to do magic."
"Great!" Link smiled. "I'll go up and see if he needs a hand getting down the stairs."
Before Chilta could react, the Hylian boy was past him and on his way up the stairs. "Um... 'kay. I'll just... y'know, wait here."
When Link reached the top of the stairs, a pair of pale arms wrapped around him, pulling him forward. His lips met Vaati's, the picori boy giggling as he let the young hero go. Link simply stared at him, stunned.
"Sorry." Vaati said, blushing and giving Link a small smile. "I'm just happy..."
"I can imagine." Link replied. "Getting your magic back, after all this time, seems like cause for celebration." He flashed Vaati a grin. "Come on, skinny, let's get some food in you."
Vaati rolled his eyes. "You're not gonna stop calling me skinny until I'm as heavy as a goron, are you?"
"It's either that, or call you adorable." Link answered casually, starting back down the stairs; he didn't even have to look at Vaati to know that the picori boy's face had turned a nice shade of red. Kiss me by surprise and I make you blush like a maiden on her wedding day, Vaati.
After a meal - during which Link learned that Vaati wasn't the only picori boy with bad table manners - the trio prepared to set off for the Castor Wilds by way of the Trilby Highlands and Western Wood.
Vaati smiled, adjusting the sleeveless red tunic he wore, glad that he'd managed to find it; it felt odd, having his upper body exposed to the open air. The interior, lined with linking rings of lightweight metal, was cool against the pale picori's skin, but he knew it would warm up after being worn for a while. He couldn't keep from giggling as he watched Link pack his assorted items into a rucksack; the picori had no idea how the hero of Hyrule even got so many things, let alone how he was managing to make them all fit.
Chilta was diligently hammering away at the hero of Hyrule's blade in the smith's forge, humming to himself as he sprinkled a handful of gold dust over the red-hot metal, then another. I hope this works like I think it will... Nodding to himself, he continued working the weapon, the blade gradually changing shape until it formed a double helix. Satisfied, the mountain picori slid the sword into the water to cool down, then set to work on Vaati's blade.
In the end, far more gold dust went into Vaati's weapon than Link's. Chilta decided, wisely, not to alter the shape of the blade as he worked it, simply tempering it and coating it with a layer of gold. It took considerably less time to finish, and as he let the weapon join Link's in the water nearby, he considered what he could do to improve his own weapon.
It took a few moments for the mountain picori to figure out what he wanted to do with the last of the gold dust. Grabbing a chunk of iron and a short, thick nail from nearby, he set to work creating a makeshift mold for the spikes he planned to attach to the metal plates on his gloves. Thinking ahead, the tall boy pounded six holes in the iron block, knowing that it would take far too long to make the spikes one at a time.
When the mold was finished and the melted gold dust poured into it, Chilta finally allowed himself to relax, leaning heavily against the anvil as he waited for the metal to harden, his arms shaking.
Once the spikes hardened, the mountain picori poured the last of the molten gold over them, the mold overflowing. He pressed the metal plates onto the overflowing mold, holding them down until the metal hardened once again, fusing the plates to the spikes. When Chilta pulled the plates back, the spikes came with them, small and slightly rounded at the tips, though they would still work to his advantage in combat. He chipped away the excess gold, then grabbed the two blades from the water and made his way back to the other room.
Setting the upgraded weapons on the table, the mountain picori dropped into the nearest chair and waited for his companions to come down.
It took nearly twenty minutes for Link and Vaati to descend the stairs, the Hylian boy wearing a long, white cloak that appeared to be made entirely of feathers and carrying a rather heavy-looking rucksack. "I've got everything." The young hero declared. "Ready to set off, Chilta?"
Chilta nodded, getting up and pulling his gloves on. "I've been ready for the past ten minutes. What took you two so long?"
"Link had to force everything he owns into that one pack." Vaati answered, picking up his sword. "Wow, you did a nice job with my sword." He smiled, slipping the blade into its scabbard.
Chilta grinned. "Just one of my many talents. Like two-fisted face ruining."
"This design seems familiar..." Link murmured, lifting his sword. "What compelled you to make it like this?"
Chilta thought it over for a moment, then shrugged. "Not sure. The idea came to me while I was adding the gold dust, and I just sorta... went with it."
"Well, I hope we find more materials." Link said. "If you can do this with a bag of gold dust, I can't wait to see what you can do with something larger!"
Chilta nodded, chuckling a bit. "Maybe we'll get lucky and find something in the Castor Wilds."
"Um..."
Link barely noticed the small sound Vaati made. It took him a moment to realize what he'd heard, but when he did, he turned to the pale boy. "Is something wrong?"
Vaati looked away. "I... No, it's nothing, never mind."
"What's on your mind, little pal?" Chilta asked.
"You can tell us." Link added, smiling. "What is it?"
"Do you think... we could go to the Minish Woods first...?" The sorcerer asked. "If we put it off much longer... I don't know if I'll have the nerve to face the other picori..."
Link stole a glance at Chilta, the taller boy nodding. The Hylian returned his attention to Vaati, offering the other boy his hand. "Of course."
Vaati's cheeks pinkened as he took the Hylian hero's hand. "Thank you..."
Link simply nodded, heading outside, Vaati at his side, the pale picori's slender fingers laced between the young hero's own.
Chilta swung his pack over his shoulder, following the two lovebirds. Wonder what Belari's doin'. Maybe he's got some new invention to show off.
Link enjoyed the Minish Woods. The earthy smell of the area, the cool breeze that blew through the trees, and even the fog that drifted in from Lake Hylia in the early morning. The young hero made a mental note to visit the local witch, Syrup, at some point before he and his picori companions left, to stock up on potions. Maybe I can get her to give me a discount if I run for ingredients.
Vaati fidgeted nervously at the Hylian boy's side; he enjoyed the Woods, as well, but he definitely did not enjoy the way he knew the inhabitants would treat him. He silently prayed to the goddesses that they wouldn't hurt Link when the attempt to kill him came. As long as Link was safe, the pale picori could take anything the world could throw at him.
Chilta had, on occasion, taken a trip down to the Minish Woods to visit Belari. The forest picori, though only a few years older than he was, was already quite a well-known inventor, and always had something new to show Chilta when the Crenel native arrived. The mountain picori had never seen the Woods quite the way he was seeing it with his companions, however; his trips had always taken quite a while, and he never had the opportunity to enjoy the surroundings, always worried that an octorok would step on him, or a chuchu would absorb him into its gelatinous body. As he looked around, in awe, a single thought passed through his mind. Is this the way humans see everything...?
Even from a distance, the trio could see the forest picori settlement. Whatever magic had caused the picori themselves to grow had also had an effect on the picori village, and the clovers that surrounded it. Just as Melari's mines had grown while retaining its original shape, the cast-off items that made up the picori village had grown to rival the buildings of Hyrule Town in size, with clovers taller than the trees of the Minish Woods standing on all sides of the village.
Looming beyond the picori village was the Deepwood Shrine, where the picori and humans of old had once met.
Link gave Vaati's hand a reassuring squeeze as the trio reached the path to the picori village. "It'll be okay." He whispered to the pale boy.
Vaati nodded in response; somehow, he believed Link's words. Offering the Hylian a small smile, he allowed himself to be led up the path.