Disclaimer: Any and all publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are properties of their respective owners. I own everything associated with the Thoridian Empire.
Author's Notes: "I PROMISE I'll be faster in the future." BLATANT LIES. School turned out to be a lot more challenging than I thought it was going to be (I don't like writing when my brain is fried), I had to take care of some college stuff and the SATs, calculus is the worst thing of all time ever, and we got a kitten that I've been spending all my time with. Also exposition is hard and boring and why can't I just skip all this nonsense.
In the Fields
Violent sneezing shook Vaati from his heavy sleep. Air wheezed deep in his chest, causing a fit of loud coughing. Both his eyes and throat started to itch upon regaining consciousness. He blearily opened his eyes, only to snap them shut again when they smarted in contact with the air.
Fuzzy thoughts of complete confusion and extreme annoyance alternated dominance in his mind between coughs. He groaned when the fit finally subsided.
What in Farore's name... he thought hazily before spending the next several minutes blinking the itch from his eyes.
Dusty clusters of light shined down around him, falling from small gaps in the distant roof. A faint wind blew outside, accompanied by a faint but constant creaking and light taps of wood on wood. The air was so heavy with particles that he found it difficult to breath properly. When his blurry vision finally cleared enough for him to make out his surroundings, he saw why.
Vaati's blood immediately boiled. He sat collapsed in a forlorn stack of hay under the shelter of a decrepit old barn. One of the doors hung loosely from its hinges, gently swinging against the other. Dried paint flaked off the walls, piling into neat rows on the floor. The ceiling sagged heavily with various holes that led to open sky. The musty smell of rotting wood permeated the thick air.
Quickly extracting himself from the pile, he sharply brushed the remaining strands off with more force than necessary. He spent a few moments vainly trying to fix his ruined clothes before giving up, muttering a string of curses. Yanking the bowler down on his head, he stormed to the front of the building and threw the doors open.
His violent exit caused a stray cat to scamper off into the overgrown fields. Other barns and farmhouses were scattered around the landscape, many of their fields in much better condition than the one he was on. A razor thin silver line stretched across the gently rolling plains, leading to a small town a ways in the distance. Cobble roads lined with low hedges criss-crossed the fields, made useful by dozens of horse-drawn carts that traveled over them.
Setting off on one of the roads to Wellspring, Vaati tried to recall what occurred the previous night. Only vague memories of getting off the train and stumbling half asleep through the fields came to mind. How and when he wound up in a barn was beyond him. He supposed he could be grateful that his clothes weren't soaked through.
The clouds seemed to have passed, the thunderheads advancing west. For the first time since leaving Holodrum's inconsistent seasonal changes, Vaati took note of the weather. Judging by the amount of pollen in the air and the warm temperature, it appeared to be mid to late spring. The Thoridian Empire was thousands of miles away, and with summer approaching, the thought of traveling in such hot weather made Vaati grimace.
He would have to walk, of course; he didn't really have a choice. The trains of New Hyrule didn't travel beyond the nation's borders, and any magical approaches had already been discarded. He had the brief notion of riding there before remembering that he didn't know how to ride a horse. The stupid animal would probably be a nuisance, anyway.
As if his pride could sink any lower.
The question now, though, was how he was going to keep himself supplied on the way there. New Hyrulean plant life was foreign to him, and he didn't want to accidentally eat something poisonous because of his ignorance. He couldn't hunt either; his skills with a bow were lacking at best. He supposed he could carry food and water in his magic pouch if it came to it, but he wouldn't have nearly enough to get him to the capital, wherever it was.
A frown tugged at the corners of his lips. The very grounding realization that he didn't even know where he was going hit him. While one of the maps he had taken from the Indefatigable was a detailed layout of the empire, his navigational skills were shaky at best, and that was if he was still in Hyrule. For all he knew, the stars here were completely different from the ones he was accustomed to.
Vaati's frustration slowly gave way to panic. Through his own arrogance, he had trapped himself in an iron cage, and the walls were quickly closing in around him.
"OI!" A loud voice behind him interrupted his thoughts. The clopping of hooves and clatter of wheels on cobble suddenly dominated his hearing. He quickly dove to the side of the road, his suppressed Minish instincts coming out from his stress. A horse-drawn carriage loaded with grain trundled past, leaving a thin trail of the seed behind it.
Mixed emotions of anger and embarrassment welled up inside him. Standing and brushing himself off with as much dignity as he could muster, he took a long look at the town before him. Buildings sprawled in messy disorder, with no pattern or consistency in placement or structure. People moved about with the quiet bustle of farm commerce, some leading with them horses and livestock to be loaded onto the cattle cars of a waiting locomotive. Tiny, specialized shops lined the main road, each identified by a sign over its door. A lone New Hyrulean flag fluttered gently atop the train station's clock tower.
Noting the messy state of his attire, Vaati felt a sense of gratefulness. The bourgeois clothes were caked with dirt and mud, accompanied by a few slight tears from his stay in the barn, helping to hide their wealthy origins. Even his bowler, which hadn't come in direct contact with the earth, was coated in a fine layer of dust.
Vaati stood awkwardly in front of the main road, unable to bring himself to act. Where was he even supposed to begin preparing for a journey like this? Scanning the buildings that lined the road, a particularly flashy sign caught his attention. A stack of barrels engulfed in red flames burned over the words, "The Powder Pyre".
What better a place to start, he thought in grim humor.
Making his way down the road, he hesitantly pushed open the door of the tavern. It was fairly quiet inside; besides the bartender, only a handful of people occupied the room. His eyes immediately flicked to the green and white uniform of a soldier, who sat in conversation with the bartender. Despite the exhausted expression on the soldier's face, Vaati remained wary.
The bartender looked up and smiled warmly at Vaati. "Welcome in! What can I get for you?"
Suddenly put on the spot, Vaati's mind blanked. What did they even serve in taverns, anyway? "I'll have an ale, if you please," he said, throwing out the most generic thing he could come up with.
"Any in particular?" the bartender questioned, moving over to the tabs.
What? "Surprise me."
The man returned with a large mug of dark, frothy liquid. Vaati grimaced; he smell the heavy alcohol from across the room.
The bartender laughed at his expression. "You asked for it, son."
"He asked for a drink, Scott, not to be knocked unconscious for the next three days," interjected the soldier.
"Don't listen to Horace, here, he doesn't know what he's talking about." Vaati slid a meager amount of rupees over the counter in exchange for the foul smelling drink. "Where are you from?" the bartender continued. "Can't say I've seen you around here before."
Vaati smiled amicably. "You haven't. My name's Arthur, here on commission for the Hyrulean government. I was sent with a committee to survey the population on income and expenses in light of the recent economic devastation caused by Vaati. You can probably imagine how the King's government is going into overdrive trying to fix the situation, but it seems as if things are equally hectic here."
The soldier, Horace, snorted into his beer. "Ain't that the truth. Ever since that bastard mage showed up here, Chancellor Stourbridge has put the entire Continental Army on alert." Vaati suppressed his indignation at the comment. "Doubling shifts, emptying garrisons... can't be too cautious, I suppose. I just got off an awful four hour watch myself, and what with the commotion last night, I think I'm about ready to collapse right here."
Scott leaned against the bar conspiratorially . "It's too bad he escaped again. From what I heard, the army almost had him last night."
Vaati nodded. "I was on the train that was attacked. It was just my luck that I managed to board the train here and escape the station before too much damage was caused. I was pretty shaken up, though, so I don't remember much of the trip here, only that I woke up in a barn outside of town." A hint of disdain crept into his voice at the end of his sentence as he motioned toward his ruined clothes. "As for Vaati... quite a fight took place, I can tell you that much. Those weapons of yours seem to be far more powerful than anything we have in Hyrule."
"What, muskets? I'm not surprised you haven't heard of them. Hyrule's monarchy bans a lot of our exports, supposedly by decree of the Goddesses themselves. Says they'll 'tarnish the purity of Hyrule' or some nonsense like that; absolutely ridiculous. If Hyrule had the industry we have here, not even Ganondorf would be able to take over without the help of a proper army." Horace took another swig from his mug.
"Proper army?" Vaati inquired, curious.
"Yes, proper army. I've heard enough reports from the upper brass to know that the 'armies' used to subdue Hyrule were nothing more than a bunch of monster hordes wandering aimlessly through the countryside. Not exactly the best tactics, especially when you look at what members of the resistance were able to do in comparison. Vaati and Ganondorf," he scoffed. "Idiots, the both of them."
Scott interrupted Vaati's silent fuming.
"In any case," he said, waving Horace off and turning the conversation to Vaati. "I take it you lost your luggage last night?"
"Unfortunately," Vaati responded in a curt voice. "I wasn't supposed to come here, either."
"Ah. Do you have somewhere to stay? A friend of mine owns an inn down the road. I might be able to convince him to lower the price considering your circumstances, if you'd like."
Vaati gave him a smile, but declined. "I'm not planning on staying here any longer than I have to. Is there a place where I can buy a map of the surrounding area? The one I have isn't as detailed as I would like it to be."
Horace stood, finished with his drink. "There's no shortage of those at the barracks. Meet me by the train station in an hour and I'll get you one," he said, putting on his green shako and grabbing the musket he had propped against the bar. "I'm going to go back to the barracks and get cleaned up. Good seein' ya, Scott."
"Try not to hurt yourself on the way back," Scott joked, noting Horace's somewhat disoriented movement.
"Yeah, yeah." Horace waved him off, leaving the building.
Vaati gave a slight bow. "It was a pleasure meeting you, but I think I'll be off as well."
Scott smiled and gave a slight wave. "Good luck on your endeavors!"
With that, Vaati made his way outside, leaving his untouched ale on the bar. The hands on the clock tower read three-thirty; Vaati hoped to leave Wellspring by six and get as far as he could before nightfall. Disguised or not, he was still being hunted.
For the next hour, Vaati wandered along the boulevard, looking through shops, buying necessities, and planning for his journey. He managed to find and buy a second magic pouch - an expensive item that was common among magicians - to serve as a travel pack alongside his original. By the time he started toward the train station, his first pouch had been emptied of unnecessary items, leaving only a few potions and his maps, and replaced with a bedroll, blanket, metal cutlery set, canteen, flint and steel, and compass. He also purchased some clothes, a new pair of boots, and an overcoat to protect him from the rain. His second pouch he left empty, hoping to fill it with enough food to last him until he reached the capital.
He spotted Horace, still in uniform, standing in front of the ticket counters with a bundle of papers tucked under his arm. Horace unraveled one of the maps as Vaati approached.
"I found you a map of all of New Hyrule, too, since I figured you would have lost your old one with your luggage," explained Horace when Vaati noted the contents. The map was much more comprehensive than the one he had, marking railroads and many more of the smaller towns. "We're here," he said, pointing to a tiny dot in the northeastern edge of New Hyrule. "If you want to make your way back to Castle Town or Teleu, I suggest you wait for the seven o'clock train to Moreen. You can transfer there and head back south, maybe explain your situation to the government." Horace rolled the map back up and handed the bundle to Vaati.
Thanking him, Vaati made his way back into town to finish preparing for his journey. With everything but food accounted for, he visited a grocer and completely filled his second pouch with a week's worth of canned food. Deciding that it would be best to eat before he left, he found a small, quiet diner and planned his route.
From what he could tell, Kaistover, Thorid's capital, was some four hundred and fifty miles to the northeast. The map of the areas around Wellspring revealed that, beyond a few miles out, roads slowly vanished into blank edges. A single railroad line extended farther north, but abruptly ended near the unexplored areas.
Vaati sighed, putting the maps away. It will be worth it, I'm sure, he told himself halfheartedly. Paying for his meal with an odd bill system, Vaati left the diner and followed the roads north, fifteen minutes ahead of schedule.
Within moments, Vaati found himself in the fields, finally escaping the provinces of the Goddesses.
Author's Notes: Bleh. Next chapter we go back to Link and Zelda's sickeningly idealistic world AND IT WILL BE HORRIBLE.