Chapter 11: Meeting the Elder
"Inannos soku ukakich ni anustat…" (Don't stand so bloody close…), Vaati snarled as the circle of Minish escorts edged closer around the threesome for the umpteenth time. He held up a threatening hand and the circle widened.
The Minish that had acted as the leader twitched his nose in disapproval. "Amasik wa uoynish uriked nomo wade ian. Yuuji ni irishah uresawam ka." (You can't be trusted. You'd be a fool to think we'd let you walk wherever you please.)
The escorts cringed as Vaati let loose a nasty cackle. "Kaba ga. Aginan otuoyihs ishatau wo ureremot aknomo." (Idiots. Whatever I decide to do, you won't be able to stop me.)
He concentrated on the hand he had held up before him until they glowed a faint blue. Vaati smirked as the leader hesitated and then flung his hand to the side. A bewildered Minish who was standing next to him was tossed backwards into the air, the movement synchronized with the hand.
Daeia and Fey watched frozen to their spots as Vaati and the strange creatures began to jabber in the strange tongue. Vaati was obviously taking glee as the Minish leader gradually became red in the face from anger and frustration. They kept at it for a few minutes until Vaati's face clearly began to show annoyance that they were wasting time. The other escorts began to back off a few feet back as the arguing became more heated. Some brave crowd of onlookers, however, was closing in to see what all the ruckus was about.
"What are they saying?" Daeia whispered to Fey who was sitting on her hat.
Fey twitched her wings: it was her way of shrugging. "I don't know, but I think Vaati is making enemies again."
"Why can't he just make friends instead?"
"I don't know."
"I'd be friends with them."
"You'd be friends with everybody, Daeia."
"Yeah. Daddy said that's a good thing."
"Daddy said…oh…um…of course. Yes, Daddy would say that." Fey shifted uncomfortably on her perch as she continued to eye Vaati and the Minish leader. Vaati began to look like he was really going to blow something up. Fey sighed before she cautiously fluttered over to the mage. "Hey, Vaati! Maybe we should cooperate with them so they'll cooperate with us when we ask for help?"
Vaati stopped mid rant. "What?" he glared.
Fey spun in a circle. "They were taking us somewhere…?"
"They were indeed," he snapped, "but they weren't being very good hosts."
"…and you were being a very good guest?" she asked. She floated past Vaati and hovered just above the Minish leader's nose. "We're sorry about his behavior. Can you continue to take us where you were leading us?"
"Etnan atti?" (What did she say?) The Minish watched her suspiciously and narrowed his eyes at Vaati. Fey also turned to him as she had no idea what he had said.
"Arat arat edianetish ukayah roshi tte onatti sa. Aroh, uoshnet no orokot ni nukieterust roda? Edokok etattust edian ukayah roshi." (She said to hurry the hell up and get going. Look, you were taking us to the elder, correct? Hurry up and take us there.) Vaati said irritably.
The Minish looked from the fairy to Vaati, and then back to the fairy. He shook his head and then held out his hand. "Akerad perapera no uso wo iokettom. Noko seiyou no omishanah atiik aguoh uoradii." (Someone bring some Jabber nuts. We should listen to what this fairy has to say as well.)
He looked to Vaati huffing. "Adnan?" (What?) he asked.
Vaati waved him off with a smug look on his face. "Edota iakuok ometish oznarish." (You'll regret that decision.)
The Minish looked at him questioningly, and then signaled the others to start walking again. "Hmph. Maa ii. Ukakinot noko irigaru nomo wo uoshnet no orokot ni eterust uoki. Noso ineam…" (Hmph. Anyway, we should take this traitor to the elder. But first…)
He gave a curt nod to one of the escorts who then walked up and gently took Daeia by her arm, leading her away from the group.
"Oi, oyetam…" (Hey, wait a sec…) Vaati bristled. Fey noticed her charge leaving and she hurried off to follow, only to be stopped by a firm paw. The leader looked at her severely.
"Ojonak no ishinah mo uoshnet wa iatikik uorad. Iratuf moto ioketiust." (I imagine the elder would like to speak to the fairy as well. The two of you are to follow us.) The Minish cocked his head in the direction that Daeia had been taken and held up a hand to a malevolent looking Vaati. "Emih no toko wa iapmish anurus. Otnach uodnem wo etim asurega." (Don't worry about the princess. We'll take good care of her.)
"Vaati, what's going on? What did he say? Where are they taking Daeia?" Fey asked, her voice rising in urgency.
"Leave this to me," the sorcerer replied flatly as he began to follow the Minish escorts again. They were walking towards a small lichen covered house at the far end of the Minish village. "I don't intend to leave here without the girl. I'll burn this place to the ground if they don't listen to me."
"Mmhmm," Fey mumbled to herself. She looked around at the houses they passed; some of them so well crafted that they would be impossible to distinguish as a home when observed from above. There also seemed to be a magical field in the air that contributed to the camouflage of the Minish village. Besides the style of the homes, however, everything from the paths to the mailboxes to the merchants walking the streets were identical to any other village she had known. She began to wonder if, now that they were at what seemed to be an incredibly safe haven for Daeia and herself, they shouldn't just remain in the Minish village instead of following the psychotic sorcerer.
Come to think of it, why was Vaati so intent to take Daeia with him now that he had the perfect excuse to leave her behind for some other people to babysit? He used to hate the idea of taking Daeia along. She eyed him suspiciously. I'm watching you, Vaati. Though Daeia may trust you and though Link may have thought of you as a friend, I don't think you're full of good intentions. There was the possibility he was good, that's what Link and now Daeia believed; but when it came down to it, what he decided to do was all that really mattered. Fey had promised to watch out for Daeia.
XXXXXXXXX
Daeia made a face after she had been forced to eat the weird red seed the Minish had given her. She hadn't been able to refuse as the young Minish squatting in front of her had shoved it into her mouth after she had shook her head "no" upon seeing the disgusting looking thing. The seed had two knobs on its end that made it look like it was trying to kiss something…
"Yuck."
The Minish began to chuckle, momentarily causing her to pout indignantly between her gags. "Yeah, disgusting isn't it? It's the main reason why it's not more widespread. Otherwise, everyone would just take a bite and we won't have to go through the trouble of learning different languages." It stuck out a paw. "I'm Alta. My dad told me I should stick with you for the time being."
Daeia shook his hand.
"Um…well…mind telling me your name?" he asked after a few minutes of waiting for her to introduce herself.
"Where're Vaati and Fey?"
"Oh, they're off with the elder. That's what dad said." He sighed and looked longingly at the elder's house a little distance away. "Man, I wish I could see what they're up to. Dad wouldn't let me follow him; said that I needed to keep you company or whatever." He jumped onto one of the pebble benches that lined the small park they were in. "I mean, Vaati! He was the evilest Minish in history! I want to see if he's as crazy as they say he is." He stretched. "You still haven't told me your name, by the way."
"I'm Daeia."
"Heh, you negnin have weird names."
She began to frown. Alta was getting on her nerves. Suddenly, however, a name he had said caught her ears. It was a name she had only been told in fairy tales, a name that the big kids mocked. "Wait…did you just say Minish?"
Alta grinned. "Yeah. We do exist, you know."
"That means if I catch you, you have to grant me a wish!"
The minish jumped back behind the bench when Daeia took a step forward. "Nuh uh! I don't have to. That's just a story the big people made up."
"Then why are you running from me?"
He scrunched his nose and stuck out his tongue. "I don't want girls touching me. They have cooties. And I'd have big people cooties if you touch me, and those are extra bad."
"I don't have cooties."
"Sure you do. The first thing you learn at school is that girls have cooties. Anyways," he climbed back onto the bench, changing the subject. "I'm surprised you've heard of the Minish before. I heard dad say something about the elders wanting to keep us from showing ourselves to the big people. I heard back in the old days we were allowed to go play with the little big people."
Daeia leaned against a blade of grass that was growing off to the side. "Why can't you play with us anymore?"
"Well, we used to be able to meet the big people whenever we wanted. Then, they made this dumb rule about how we could only visit one day every 100 years. Now we're not allowed to see the big people at all. It's all because of the guy you were with. Vaati. Apparently the elders were so embarrassed that a Minish had caused so much harm that they were too ashamed to appear in front of the big people again." He tilted his head to the side. "Hey, why are you so far away? There's more room to sit here. Look, I'll scoot over."
"But you said –"
"I said there's room to sit. Come on, I want to hear about the evil sorcerer. Is he really not a Minish anymore? Not even our best mages know a spell that can do that!"
Daeia sighed and walked over to the mousy minish boy. She was beginning to understand why all the older schoolgirls she would occasionally talk to outside the castle would complain about boys.
XXXXXXXXXX
Vaati and Fey were taken to the village elder: he was the stereotypical elder complete with the beard, the cane, the cough, and the slightly hunched back. The elder rapped his cane on the floor and the other Minish took a few steps back. In a husky, aged voice he addressed Fey who was still recovering from eating the nasty Jabber nut. "Fairy who travels with this vile man, what is your name, and by what business are you associated to him?"
"Oh wow…I can understand you now!" she jumped. She fell back down quietly when she noticed all the cold stares she was getting from the Minish. "Um, sorry. My name is Fey. I'm Daeia's attendant fairy, and circumstances have caused us to travel with Vaati."
"You had no prior knowledge of what things he had done in the past?"
Fey took a glance at Vaati, and she found she didn't like the way he was grinning. "I heard he saved Hyrule with…wait…Vaati…what have you been hiding from us?"
Vaati exploded in maniacal laughter. "HAhahaha! Hide! Why, you never asked me."
The elder gripped his cane tightly. "Hmph. I see you were at the wrong place at the wrong time then. If you knew who he was and the full extent of his evil, you would never have travelled with him."
"But, but, he saved Hyrule with Link…" Fey said weakly. Even as she said the words, she lost faith in them as Vaati fell into a more severe fit of laughter. The elder gritted his teeth together in disgust.
"I assume he had some other agenda of his own and 'saving Hyrule' was a side-effect."
"How astute. That's exactly what happened," Vaati sputtered between snickers. "Ah, at least someone still has sense in this world."
The elder gave a dismissing nod at the shocked fairy. "You're excused for the time being, Fey. Please find a place against the wall while I take care of this fellow."
"Yes, enough chatter. I've wasted enough time as is." Vaati tilted his head with a mocking smile at the elder who had raised his cane high above his head. The old Minish was no longer hunched over but was standing straight and commanding. "Interesting. What's this?"
"You've been left unpunished far too long, boy. You never got what you deserved for all the wrong you've done." The elder chanted something and a flash of light surrounded Vaati. A magical prism that appeared to trap him in place surrounded him.
Vaati merely sneered. "Tsk. You'd do well not to call me that – I'm older than any one of you fools." He brought his hands up lazily as though he were wondering if he should entertain the elder in thinking he had him.
The elder's hands were grasping the cane so tightly that they had become claw-like. "That's where you're wrong. I knew Ezlo personally, boy, before he took you into apprenticeship. He was a good friend of mine, and I won't forgive what you did to him."
Vaati was so caught off guard by the statement that he couldn't think of any remark to make. For the first time since he had met the elder, he noticed just how wizened and worn the elder was. The Minish were a long-lived race to begin with, but even so this elder had lived for hundreds of years. From the sunken eyes and wrinkles along his face, features rare amongst the Minish, Vaati realized just how old the elder might be. It wouldn't have surprised him now if the elder were over a thousand years old. His red eyes then strayed over to the cane that the elder held. He recognized it. Bloody hell, he recognized it.
The elder was breathing heavily now, trying to keep the spell in place. He noticed Vaati glaring at the cane that had been whittled in the shape of a bird's head. "You remember this, do you not? Of course you do, it was the cane that Ezlo always had with him when he was alive. As his close friend, I, Terrari, accepted it on his dying words." Terrari took a shaky step towards the now visibly seething mage. "You broke him to bits. Ezlo never got over what happened to you – he blamed everything you did on himself."
Vaati let out a hiss; he was no longer grinning. With a smooth arc of his hand, the prism shattered. Vaati chanted a counter spell that shot the pieces of the prism towards Terrari so that they threw the elder across the room and pinned him to the wall. He kept one hand up threateningly to keep the other Minish from intervening. "Pity. So even to his death Ezlo took credit for what I did." He whirled around with menace. "I did not come here to listen to you complain, old fool. I came here seeking assistance with a spell. I've been patient enough with your idiocy so far, but don't test me. Your spells won't stop me: nothing will. Now, show some cooperation and listen to what I have to say or else I'm going to force you to help me." He took another look at the cane again before looking away and muttering under his breath. Of all the Minish villages I could have gone to…will you never leave me in peace?
XXXXXXXXX
Daeia took a breath after she recounted everything she remembered about travelling with Vaati. Now that she actually told someone, she realized she had few good things to talk about the wind mage.
"Wow, what a jerk," Alta said after she finished. "Aren't you glad you came here though? You're welcome to stay with us – I'm sure dad won't mind. You won't ever have to be with Vaati again."
Daeia shook her head. "He can help me find daddy." Her legs swung slowly back and forth, unsure or herself. "He's a good person."
"Did you hear yourself talk? He's crazy!"
"He saved my life!" Daeia wasn't sure why she wanted to defend the sorcerer so badly.
Alta sighed. "I don't know. Dad said he used to steal away pretty girls and lock them up in dungeons. How do you know he won't do that to you?"
Daeia just stared at her feet. He had her stumped on that one, even though she was pretty sure Vaati wasn't even remotely interested in locking her up somewhere. After a while of uncomfortable silence, Daeia spoke up again. "He kinda taught me a little about magic," she said quietly.
"Really? Wow, magic from the world's greatest sorcerer," Alta said, relieved that they were changing the subject to something less gloomy. "He must know loads of cool spells. I mean, he even got a spell that could connect our world to the big people's world even if it wasn't the 100th year our worlds connected! I think only a few of the elders know how to do that, and even they have to have tons of preparation to pull it off." He held his chin on his hands and sat thoughtfully for a couple of minutes. Finally, he took two sharp glances to his side before he jumped off the bench and scurried off between the forest of grass. Daeia watched him disappear behind the foliage before she heard a whistle and a paw motioning to follow. She hurriedly ran after the minish.
Once they were well into the grass forest, Alta stopped and took another look around him. After he made sure that no one else was around, he relaxed. "Huh, oh, I just wanted to ask you something where no one would hear," he told Daeia when she looked at him, confused. "See, uh, not everyone gets to learn how to do magic. Actually, usually only one person in the entire village gets chosen for apprenticeship once every ten years so it's really hard to be chosen. I really want to get a head start on it so I'd have a higher chance to be chosen in three years when the sages start looking for new apprentices."
Daeia began to frown. "I don't know – "
"It's against the rules for anyone to know anything about magic before apprenticeship. The sages say it's an unfair advantage and that it makes it more difficult to spot 'natural talent.' I really want to learn, though," Alta trundled on, "and since you said that Vaati gave you tips, I was wondering if you can teach me stuff he told you."
"I follow rules," Daeia said sternly.
"Aw, come on."
"I follow rules."
"Please?"
"No."
"My dad's the highest ranking advisor to the elder. His name's Altari – he's pretty high up there."
"My grandaddy's the king of Hyrule."
"Whooaaa," Alta couldn't help himself. "Good princesses help the commoners, you know," he tried.
"I'm going to be a good princess because I follow rules."
"Silly, you're the princess. You make rules. Come on, pleeease?"
"NO!"
"Fine." Alta began to walk back towards the bench. Daeia watched him walk back dragging his foot a little. The minish boy seemed to have lost some energy in disappointment. She ran up to him, feeling bad that she had made someone upset.
"Hey!" Alta turned around just as Daeia caught up to him. "I'll tell you what Vaati told me, but you have to teach me something too."
"Really? Wow, sure. I'll do anything," Alta said brightly.
"I want to learn some Minish."
"What? But all you have to do is eat a Jabber nut and you'd be fine."
"I want to learn Minish," Daeia repeated.
"All right. Agreed," Alta shrugged. He stretched and made himself comfortable. "Let's get started then. What word do you want to know first?"
OXXXXXXXXXO
fleets: Mmm, lengthy chapter with not much going on. Therefore, I don't like it so much. I couldn't think of a way to get rid of stuff though because most all the parts have some degree of relevance in upcoming chapters. Even the last segment with Daeia and Alta which can seem unimportant to the plot (at least, I think it seems that way), is pretty much required for the last few chapters I have planned. We'll get action soon enough, I swear!
Diablo1123: me too!
Astral S. Kepeire: I'm confused on this one. I checked and they said that the door opened every 100 years where the Minish can visit the human world and vice versa...hmmm. Oh geez, your way sounds crazy. I know I wouldn't have the patience to do it.
D3at: Kinda. It's not the same as the 'real' Minish because I took Japanese sentences, changed them into English letters, and then made them backwards. Some words I kept it the 'real' backwards Japanese Minish because they were easier to pronounce. Let's take the word 'princess', which is 'hime' in Japanese. The real Minish would be "mehi," but I just made it "emih." Only the words that looked weird (i.e. idiot -- "baka" to "kaba" instead of akab) I used 'real' Minish. ;D
I luv Vaati: Ah, he wasn't the elder but the leader of the group they met. Oh man, this segment is longer than I anticipated... D:
H-bomber: I'm wondering the same. I surprise myself. ;)
Reily96: :D
Rune Caster: I miss my MC game and all the little Minish folk.
Peka the Corsair: I'm getting the hang of it. Direct translation doesn't really work with English and Japanese though, so people who can read Japanese will find that the dialogue between Vaati and the other Minish are a little different than the actual English.
Cookiekitten: I think it's cute, but Vaati doesn't seem to like the idea too much XD
