fleets: Sorry it's a shortish chapter but I was reading the old version and could not for the life of me figure out how to partition it other than what I did here. Hey, at least this update is earlier than it has been ;)

cover is on deviantart once again.

Chapter 12: Ordon

Hyrule was still oblivious to what had occurred at the castle when Rusl, Link, and Vaati stepped out of Telma's bar. None of them were surprised, however. The townsfolk mostly worried about their daily routines and the Royal Guards were, well, they were the Royal Guards. The future guards weren't the valiant ones that Link had remembered from his time; these guards preferred to ignore a problem lest they be called in to fight, and there was a general air of unawareness. Rusl grumbled how useless they had been the last time Hyrule had been attacked. "Cowards, the lot of them," he had said. Apparently in the last crisis Hyrule had encountered, the majority of the competent guards had been murdered, leaving the untrained guards to take over. Hearing this, even Vaati appeared unsettled: the furthest he'd ever gone was to turn the guards into statues, which he thought was a more elegant way to dispose of them. Bloody murder was too animalistic for his tastes.

"It was all Ganondorf's doing," Rusl explained.

Link maintained a silent fury, while Vaati's mouth twitched into a frown. How crude.

Link and Rusl walked together through southern Hyrule field; Rusl talked about what the future Link had been like, while the blond time-traveler listened quietly. Vaati, meanwhile, trudged on ahead, experimenting with his new boomerang. Link was impressed by how quickly the sorcerer had been able to master the weapon. He had been expecting Vaati to have trouble with conventional weapons because he had an image of the wind mage being reliant on magic. Instead, Vaati had learned how to move the weapon's trajectory in any path he liked. Within a few more throws, the boomerang was able to create small tornadoes of wind along its path, something not even Link was sure he would be able to do. As Link watched the vortex created by the boomerang zigzag across the plains, he suspected Vaati's mastery had something to do with his affinity to wind.

The ex-mage loved the boomerang. It still wasn't as good as being able to control the wind however he saw fit with a twirl of his wrists, but it was better than nothing. He took aim at a pterodactyl-like creature that had been foolishly following the three, no doubt trying to find an opening to attack.

The monster squawked as the wind from the boomerang tumbled it through the air. Dizzy and confused, the Kargaroc flopped to the ground. Vaati grinned, and shoved the creature with his foot. "Ha! You're not the master of the sky anymore, are you?"

"Caw!" The monster stretched out its neck and snapped at the sorcerer, only to be slapped across its beak by the sharp edge of the boomerang. The Kargaroc flinched backwards, and then took to the air when it determined that it had picked a bad fight.

Vaati smirked maliciously. "Ah, ah, ah," he tutted, "come back here." He swung his boomerang towards the retreating bird, making it swirl back to his feet. This repeated several more times as the Kargaroc tried to fly away and Vaati continued to bring it back towards him in a daze. For the first time since he had lost his magic, Vaati was clearly enjoying himself.

Link watched the poor thing totter away from Vaati in exhaustion. "Uh, sorry," he excused himself from Rusl. Link walked over to the tortured Kargaroc and put it out of its misery.

Vaati glared. Once again, the green pest had ruined his fun.

Link shook his head. "There's no need to torture your foes any more than you have to."

Crimson eyes narrowing, Vaati threw the boomerang towards Link. Link managed to dodge swiftly, but not before the sword in his hand was swept away by the wind. The boomerang carried the blade back towards its master who appeared momentarily surprised by the outcome. Vaati grinned triumphantly as he picked up his new prize.

"I'm warning you, boy. When all this is over I'll make sure I kill you slowly for all of the misery you've caused me." He pointed the sword at Link, his chest puffed out in confidence.

Unperturbed, the hero waved a hand towards Rusl who was watching the exchange with a tired expression. "Hey Rusl? Can I borrow your sword for a second? Thanks." Link drew Rusl's sword and held it out in front of him in a fighting stance.

A fleeting look of nervousness passed Vaati's face, and the sword he held fell a little as he lost some of his confidence. He had completely forgotten about Rusl's sword.

"That's not a toy you're holding," Link smiled, noticing the sorcerer's uneasiness. "If you point it at someone you'd better be ready for the consequences."

Vaati growled and made a jab at Link. The blond easily rolled away from the awkward attack, sidestepped, and positioned himself behind Vaati. Before the sorcerer could turn around, Link had given him a good kick, sending the lavender-haired mage sprawling on the ground.

Link made his way towards the sorcerer and reclaimed his stolen sword. "Vaati? I thought they said you were an expert with the sword. Didn't you win the swordsmanship tournament when you first appeared?" the hero asked, disappointment in his voice. He had been expecting a decent sparring match, and had been a little excited about the possibility of practicing against a formidable opponent.

Vaati slowly got up on his knees and wiped the dirt away from his clothes. He sat in sullen silence.

Rusl moved over to the mage and offered his hand to help him up. Vaati pointedly ignored him, stood up, and brushed himself off with his back still turned to Link. "You forget I could use magic back then," he muttered.

"You cheated?"

Vaati whipped around, his gaze acidic. "Mark my words you'll regret ever making a fool of me." No sooner had he taken two steps to storm off dramatically, he collided into a running figure, completely ruining his declaration.

"Ooohhh," a scrawny man wearing a red postman's cap groaned where he had been knocked backwards. He then noticed Vaati on his hands and knees next to him, his knuckles white and trembling in fury. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry sir!" The postman jumped to his feet after the quick apology, and without wasting another minute he reached into his mailbag and offered a letter to Rusl. "Rusl, sir, you have mail."

It took a while for Link to get used to the scene that had just played out before him. He had just witnessed someone run Vaati over and then completely ignore him. It was true that Vaati was relatively harmless without his magic, but the sorcerer could still appear terrifying when he was angry. Looking at the slightly awkward way the postman was swayed from side to side, however, Link concluded that there were people who were oblivious enough to miss the sorcerer glaring murderously at them. And boy, was this postman weird: Link couldn't decide if the huge red flag with the picture of a rabbit strapped onto the man's bag or his extremely short shorts were more offending to the eyes. Those shorts should be illegal…

Rusl seemed used to the postman and quickly ripped open the mail without giving the man a second glance. While Rusl opened the letter and began to read it, the postman turned to Vaati who was still scowling.

"Ah, are you Vasheel Gallows? I have mail for you as well."

"I'm Vaati," the sorcerer said flatly.

"Oh. My mistake then." The postman considered Vaati a little longer. "Mmm are you sure you're not the peasant boy who lives around here?"

"Peasant?" Vaati snapped.

"Okay, I guess not. Well I have to run so I can make my delivery schedule!"

Before Vaati could cause any harm, the postman ran off speedily to his next delivery, all the while mumbling how he was going to be late. There was a rustle of paper as Rusl stuffed the letter inside his pockets, a concerned look on his face.

"The other members of the resistance know about the castle now," he stated. "They should be planning their next course of action soon, so that's good. What I'm worried about is what Auru mentioned in his letter."

The other two turned their heads, wondering what was up.

"Auru mentioned he saw a large monster flying around the field like it was looking for something. We'd best be careful."

Link's hand wandered over to his sword. "You think it's looking for us?"

Vaati huffed. "Undoubtedly. We'll just take care of it when we see it."

"You mean I'll take care of it."

The sorcerer shook his boomerang at Link. "Don't underestimate me." Then, he stomped off towards the direction of Faron woods.

XXXXXXXXX

The three had made it to Ordon village before sundown, and Link gratefully thanked Rusl for his decision to keep his arrival a secret.

"I think it's for the best," the man stopped in front of a modest house built around a tree. It was just outside the main village and sat in a cozy nook right by the forest. "Everyone will eventually figure out you don't remember anything, and I don't want them to worry. You'll be thrown into an uncomfortable situation."

"Thank you. I wasn't sure how I would have to behave." Rusl looked at him quizzically, and Link realized his mistake. He had been thinking about how different his character must be from his future self, and had forgotten that Rusl only knew about his amnesia and not the fact that he was a completely different person.

The man let it slide. He just nodded and didn't press further questions. "I'll take you into the Faron woods tomorrow." Rusl reached down at the rock sitting by the doorway of the house and found a key. He inserted into the lock and opened the door. "You're going to be on your own after we reach the forest. I don't know where the sword lies, but it's in there somewhere. I have a feeling you should start your search at the Forest Temple to find clues." Link and Vaati followed him into the house. "Get a lot of rest. The Temple used to hold monsters, and I'm not certain that they've all gone. I'm afraid I won't be able to search with you because I have my own duties to attend to. I hope you understand."

"We understand. Please don't worry about us, and thank you for all your help," Link smiled gratefully.

Rusl returned it. "Link, I don't deserve your thanks. You've done more than your share of fighting," he said softly. "You're going to come back to Ordon village in one piece, you hear me?"

Link nodded. Rusl tapped him on the shoulder and left for the village, turning back once to give Link a parting wave.

XXXXXXXXX

Link wondered if the house that Rusl had offered them had been where his future version had resided. He noticed Vaati scrutinizing a slightly blurry pictograph of a blond farm boy that was hanging on the wall; the person in the pictograph was the spitting image of him.

Scowling, Vaati sniffed and whirled around. "I hate it. I hate how you always look the same in every single incarnation. It's like the goddesses are making fun of me every time I go against you."

Link frowned. "It's not like I have any control over what I'm going to look like." He walked over to the ladder propped against a ledge. It led to the second floor where he imagined the bedroom was. Link was about to prepare something he could lay on, thinking Vaati would steal the bed again, but was interrupted by the purple mage.

"Go, take the bed. The entire house, actually." Vaati made for the door. When he saw Link looking puzzled, he snorted cynically. "I'm not being nice, if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh. I was about to ask if you were feeling all right."

The sorcerer glowered. "I just feel incredibly sick staying in this house."

Vaati stepped outside, letting the cool wind soothe him. There was no way he was going to spend the night at Link's house; he'd lose his self-respect. The mage looked around for someplace he could sleep, and he settled under a pine tree that was a few feet away. He rolled his cape over himself like a blanket, smiling contently that his cape, a symbol for power, also had utilitarian qualities.

Once comfortable, he stared at the night sky and reflected on everything that had happened so far. He instantly grimaced when his thoughts were unpleasant ones. One of these days he should stop reflecting on things before going to sleep – it gave him nightmares.

I'm going to make you pay for doing this to me, Opal.

He settled for a happier line of thought. Then I'm going to take over Hyrule.

For a few more minutes, Vaati continued to stare at the sky that increasingly became a dark navy as night fell completely. The wind rattled a target dummy standing between the trees.

The sorcerer blinked in surprise: he had been confident that the thought of taking over Hyrule would be able to brighten him up, but instead there was a foreign feeling in his chest. He had felt a flicker of uncertainty when he had thought about taking over.

Me? Unsure about taking over Hyrule? Vaati shook his head violently. What happened to the old Vaati? Was Link rubbing off on him?

Goddesses the brat was like a disease.

He angrily punched a tree. I am DEFINITELY going to make you pay, Opal.

The sorcerer stared at his fist, a little red from hitting the bark. A few seconds later, his face relaxed into a smile; uncertainty had been replaced by excitement at the prospect of getting revenge. That's more like it. Reassured that his old, evil self hadn't died out, he decided to let sleep take him.

After I get my magic back, he thought as he drifted off to sleep, Hyrule will experience my wrath once more.

XXXXXXXXX

Somewhere deep within Faron woods within the ancient Forest Temple, a slight tremor caused the resident owl to jump off of its perch in surprise. These tremors had become quite common since a day ago, and the nocturnal bird didn't appreciate them at all. With a hoot, it flew around the cavernous hollows of the temple in search of a midnight snack. Maybe it could find something decent tonight; ever since the monsters had been cleared out of the temple by the hero boy from Ordon village, even the rats had moved elsewhere and disappeared giving the temple owl some trouble in catching meals. The owl ruffled its feathers as it considered moving somewhere closer to the mountains instead.

The bird landed on an overhanging branch to take a rest, and looked downwards to see if anything edible might scamper by in the meanwhile. Suddenly, its neck twisted crookedly until its head was upside down, its beady yellow eyes staring at the greenish purple swamp below it in confusion. The owl didn't remember seeing the noxious looking pool yesterday. As it continued to stare, bubbles began to form on the surface of the liquid.

"Hoo-?"

"Grrrrraaawrrr!"

Massive jaws of a carnivorous plant shot up from the pool, snapping the bird, perch and all, into its maw. Though without eyes, it appeared to follow one of the owl's feathers as it drifted down towards the ground. With a tiny hiss the plant, which appeared to be a larger species of the common Dekubaba plant, slithered its head back into the poisonous pool and gurgled some more of the liquid into the pool.

The edge of the swamp water inched further out, and a little more of the grass near the water withered and died.

fleets: A semi-important note - for those of you who haven't read my other story Avilux Ignis you will not understand the little quip made by the postman about Vasheel (that's okay though because I just included that as a cookie for continuing readers, and holds no real significance to Rend). People who have read Avilux Ignis, this does not mean that this story and the other story follow the same time-line. It was really just something I included for fun (of course I might be able to write this in such a way that I can put the two stories together, but I highly doubt it). :)

Midna Hytwilian: Oooh yeah and probably one of those fluffy ones (since Vaati's all about hair, right? XD)
fleets: Renting out one Argorok! Get yours now!
Argorok: Barbequessss ssssound fun.

Astral S. Kepeire: Ha, I realize now it might've been confusing for people who've never played TP (especially in the old version) since I threw out names left and right without really explaining anything DX
Argy! (hugs) Ow... his armor hurts... His segments are definitely going to be different in this story.
Oh man Dethl. I still don't like him. I guess that means he plays the role that he was given - to be an ass.

Vaati the wind mage1: Vaati and his ego... he really needs to learn, except his ego's so big he doesn't. (facepalm)

Lord Siravant: The boss itself was pretty easy in TP, and I was a little disappointed by that. I mean, c'mon he's a fire-breathing dragon with tough armor; there are tons of ways he could've beaten Link easily. I plan to take advantage of his abilities in this story and hopefully show just how awesome he could've been in the actual game.
Arrrgh I really want to play OoT but my computer refuses to cooperate. Volvagia looks famazing.
Lol at Link's reaction XD
I also saw your comment on your profile page! It was realllly flattering - thank you!

LilyMoonstone: I agree with you, but this Link didn't really interact much with Telma and Rusl (since they talked over him and didn't give him much of a chance). Had he stayed longer, yeah, they probably would've noticed something wrong.

i-wish-799: I looove Argorok! I didn't give him enough attention in the original (only showed up for one chapter). That's definitely going to be fixed this time around :D