STA: Aaaaand we're back. Reading over this, I don't hate it as much as when I wrote it. Gonna try reviewing the stuff to come and see if not hating that as much also will help spark some motivation with this fic. (Also, I retyped this entire thing today to see how much fat I could trim that way, and then I didn't have the will to proof-read th re-type. Sorry for the typos. I'm sure they're bountiful.)
-x-
Following the third appearance of Risen, a strict curfew was imposed on the city. The trains still ran, but guards rode in and out with passengers. No minors could walk out the gates when the dragon might appear over Hyrule Field again. Citizens were escorted home once the night grew too dark to see the black dragon in the sky. There were even drills to find shelter or deal with fires if Risen returned.
Buildings had been the only collateral damage in the first attack, but a student had gone missing the second time and was presumed dead. The third attack came while the princess, who had been expected to help defeat the dragon, collapsed and fell ill. Castle City would take no chances. The academy went on high alert as well. Upperclassman turned to self-study in between reviewing lessons for younger students in order to free up the professors to help fortify city defenses.
Only the dean refrained from participating, instead dedicating himself to the task of retraining Vaati. Or dealing with Vaati's fits while attempting to coax participation out of him. It depended on how you chose to look at things.
No official reports or even rumors came out linking Vaati with Zelda's illness, and Link didn't bother to start a rumor himself. He'd made it clear enough to anyone who would listen that he thought Vaati evil, and no one cared before. Since he'd been a statue at the time, it wasn't like he was witness to the attack either. No one would pay his continued insistence that the guy who acted mean was a bad person any heed.
The student teacher for earth magic preferred studying to teaching, and never took attendance. As a recent substitute, he couldn't recognize students by their faces. Three days into the change, Link skipped town. He bought a train ticket and hopped off before it had picked up too much speed. His reckoning would come when he needed to get back into the city, but that was a problem for future-Link. Present-Link was antsy about the new magic he'd been gifts, and he didn't dare test it within the city walls. Din's Fire and Nayru's Wisdom could too real damage. And besides, he wasn't ready for people to see that the princess passed on spells to him.
Spells meant for the Spirit of the Hero. Link could already feel how they worked. Know they were meant for him. Every in and out of their powers felt like calling upon an old memory. He just refused to believe they really would work for him. The Spirit of the Hero was too noble to reincarnate as a failure like him. The o9ne chosen by Hylia wouldn't destroy a city and then fear his own sword.
His gut said it was true, but his mind screamed it was false. He had to feel the spells in action. See himself cast them more competently than the princess. He needed tangible proof that the powers were his.
Field patrols were spares with most of the guard focused on the town. There were no patrols that Link needed dodge, and with the lack of monster pruning, it was easy to find a group of boar-riding moblins.
Link crouched down to hide himself as best he could, pointed his sword at one moblin, and recalled how it felt to cast Din's Fire, which he had never in his life cast before. A feeling not of flames, but of power. Raw might condensed into a small red orb formed at the tip of the Beast Blade, which he could send in the direction of the target. The orb didn't move as fast as he might have liked, and once fired it resisted too large a change in direction, but it moved for Link more or less as he willed it. So long as he pointed the Beast Blade, the orb continued forward.
As one moblin rode up to the orb, Link dropped the sword to his side. The orb vanished, leaving the moblin scratching his head.
Link could still feel power pulsating in that spot, swelling and building on itself as he refrained from unleashing it. He counted on-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand, and then he swun the Beast Blade up. The orb detonated.
He spent an hour finding more and more monsters to test the spell on. The guards could thank him later for picking up the slack with monster pruning. He'd found a stash of rupees on Vaati's side of their room that he figured Vaati didn't really deserve anywy, and had been able to purchase green potions before setting out. There was stamina a plenty to burn with his tests. Twisting the angle of his blade made it easier to steer Din's Fire the direction he wanted, but there was no way to make it rise or sink faster. Once invisible, the orb stopped moving. The longer the delay in detonation, the larger the explosion. Any difference in magic cost for how far the spell traveled or the size of the attack was too small for Link to feel.
Long after Link lost count of the number of times he cast the one spell, he recalled that Zelda had a limited number of times per day that she could cast it. How many times had Link seen her use it? Three? But she might have used it plenty before the two of them met up. For all he knew, she sat in her office casting it over and over before realizing she needed to track him down. That he cast Din's Fire so many times proved nothing. Besides, Zelda could cast with her hands, and Link had still relied on the blade Granted, he hadn't tried not to use the blade, but that was obviously an effort in futility.
So he could proudly call himself the great grandson of one of Hylia's Chosen Hero's reincarnations, but it was too early for him to accept that he might be the Spirit of the Hero himself.
He stayed out an hour longer, setting markers with Farore's Wind that he could return to and verifying that it worked as intended before using it as a fall-back while he ran headlong into monsters while casting Nayru's Wind. It should have struck him as odd that he called upon power for an offensive spell, wisdom for defensive magic, and courage to flee, but somehow that suited Link fine. People called him courageous from time to time-even reckless when he was too brace-but Link hadn't felt brace ever since he started at the academy. If his attempt to call upon his courage for magic was used to flee, then the spell was meant for him.
Aside from which, he had cast all three spells throughout the day with neither instruction nor struggle. Link had no way to excuse that.
He trudged back to toward the city, but changed his mind as he approached the station. There was still a paid for ticket in his pocket. He scaled the side of the next train to ease its way out of the station.
Castle City had been a strict place even before the curfew. Link felt that after a long day of his entire self-identity being questioned, he needed something to take his minod off of things, and it was easier to get alcohol underage in Whittleton than Castle City.
-o-
While Link explored the fields, Vaati paced the basement.
The academy wouldn't risk releasing him only for his presence to summon Risen, and Vaati (told himself that he) was content to hide away and practice. Without Link, he couldn't train with the Light Force, but at least he'd developed a sense of the new limitations on his ordinary magic in the meantime. The dark element was completely inaccessible to him, and every other element but his own wind was weakened. He'd have a rough time cursing anyone in the near future, but at least he could teleport use most of his offensive spells still.
The basement door was locked, but Vaati had managed to find a spare key. Inside the basement, of all places. Hylians picked the most nonsensical places to leave keys. He had stopped questioning their practices regarding the matter shortly after leaving the Minish world. At least he'd found it on a shelf rather than in a large chest that could easily be put to use holding something larger and more susceptible to dust.
Nothing prevented him from leaving. Vaati could go wherever he damn well pleased. He could rebuild the Palace of Wings and live far from any pesky heroes or deans. With the princess still in her own castle, no one had any reason to invade his home. Except for Risen, who could burst through the walls and suck the Light Force out of him.
Vaati was lying. Nothing physically prevented him from leaving, but he was very much a prisoner of his own fear.
Twice he had fought Risen and only come out mostly intact thanks to outside help. The deal had healed his arm, but Vaati took a serious blow before Link-Link-saved him, and he'd done almost nothing to Risen while fighting in his Wrath form. (A form he couldn't access without his dark element.) The Light Force could defeat Risen. Vaati was sure of that. If only he could use the blasted thing. You would thing that someone would have given him the opportunity to practice it if they wanted him to fight Risen for them.
He scoured the basement for spellbooks, then passed the time inspecting anything and everything else, and then the next few days mending whatever he found in disrepair purely for the sake of doing something. Out of sheer boredome, he even wove a spell into one cloak so that it would always stir as if blown by a gentle wind when worn. By the end of the third day, Vaati was so bored that he contemplated whether or not he could find enough materials to make a new Wishing Cap. There were parts of the enchantment process that he didn't know. Ezlo kept most of his craft a secret, even from his own apprentice. But he knew it used a magic power similar to the Light Force, so surely he could improvise some manner of shabby imitation.
Fortunately for the world, a distraction arrived before he could make an attempt. Unfortuantely for Vaati, this distraction was named Link.
Vaati set down the fabric that he'd been cutting to sew into a hat when he saw Link, pausing mid-snip to ask, "Who let you in?"
"I did. Picked the lock. You shouldn't have had me learn how to do that. This much power was never meant to be in one man's hands. If locked doors can't stop me, then what can?"
"Crippling self-doubt," Vaati said, recalling the look of horror on Link's face whenever he transformed.
Link laughed, and Vaati smelled alcohol on his breath. Figures he would have a way to overcome his doubts, if only for one evening.
"Let's go," Link siad.
"Where. I thought you were done talking to me after seeing what I did to your princess."
"They're gonna lock you in that dungeon, right? Cargan saw 'em shipping supplies over the past few days, so I looked and there's water 'n food n' stuff. C'mon. You've gotta practice your light thing, so we can do there and do it and not worry about Risen attacking the city again."
"He's close enough to sense me when I leave. What's to stop him from catching us on the way there?"
Link shrugged. "At least we won't be in the city."
"Screw the city. I don't want him attacking me."
"I'll kick his ass then." Link declared, taking Vaati by surprise. He hadn't thought Link knew that word. Must less could use it. "I mean, he's kinda big, but I got him to run once, and I guess that's a thing past mes do all the time, right? Beat up big evil things that everyone else says are too big and evil to bear up? Did you ever meet me before?"
"We lived together for the past month." Vaati made no attempts to mask his irritation, but foled the fabric in his hands and set it down. Link had indeed managed to push Risen back, and the dungeon would give Vaati more room to wander than the basement, not to mention better target practice for his magic and more security should Risen get near. Once he left, the academy might also be forced to push forward their plans regarding him.
"No. Some other me," Link elaborated. "An older me."
Vaati hadn't expected that question. No doubt, the Link he looked at was the same soul that thwarted him twice before in different yet similar looking bodies. He suspected he was also looking at the reincarnation of both heroes who fought that Ganondorf figure as well. However, he'd never once considered that Link might suspect such a thing. It was haughty enough to reincarnate as your own descendant, but an entire new level to think without anyone else planting the idea in your head that you were the reincarnation of multiple legendary heroes.
Then again, Link was at least a little drunk. Maybe it was loose inhibitions. Maybe he was drunk because someone planted the idea, and the Din blasted hero decided to celebrate the validation of his dreams of grandeur. Vaati could just imagine the look on Link's face if those dreams were crushed.
"Yes. And I swear, you get stupider each time you come back."
He could imagine that face well enough that he didn't need to see it for real. Learning where Link was going with this line of thought interested Vaati more.
"They all beat me, didn't they?" Link asked. "Saucks bad enough not living up to your great grandpa. Sucks worse not living up to yourself. So are you commin' or what? You have the magic power and someone thought a shit like me's hero material. That means we gotta go stop the dragon."
-o-
Despite the jaw dropping stupidity that was traveling by night across an open field while hoping to avoid a black dragon, Link and Vaati made it to the dungeon unharmed. Relatively, anyway. Vaai was templed to have Link shoot an arrow through his heart to spare him the hero's half-drunk ramblings about how wrong it was that he be the hero.
Vaati had to wonder, as Link rambled on and on about how amazing the Hero of Time and Winds were compared to him, if he realized how conceited he sounded. He was, after all, talking about his past selves. Vaati hadn't known the second incarnation of Link that he personally delt with, being a monster at the time, but he'd seen the first go from a worthless smith's son to the most infuriating thorn ever to be in his side. From where he stood, The hero's latest incarnation seemed off to a much better start. He lacked formal recognition as a knight, but formalities were formalities. He had sword training and an alarmingly good understanding of the principles of magic. Almost as if he spent most of his life swinging a sword and an entire year doing nothing but reading those principles over and over until he knew them inside and out. Vaati had sort of just wished he could get good at magic and gotten his way, but as far as conventional learning went, Link had picked a good route for quickly picking up new spells. Once you knew the language of magic, the rest went faster.
Since he struggled to learn magic the Wishing Cap hadn't granted him, Vaati found himself more than a little envious. He hoped Link never realized how incredible it was to magically pick the lock on the dean's she without help. The shed wasn't as strong as the dungeon lock Vaati helped Link with, but Vaati had inspected that shed himself on his first day of school and knew it was a competently set spell. Manipulating metal was higher tier earth magic than a wind sorcerer like Vaati could ever achieve, and far more advanced than someone who had only started spell casting in the past few months could normally manage.
"I get it, Link, You're terrible," Vaati said as they descended into the dungeon. "The worst person anyone ever considered as a hero. Are you done yet?"
"Nah. Would it be easier to listen to me if you were drunk too?"
"Significantly more so, yes."
"Kay. I've got a lot of beer."
"Why?"
" 'Cause I needed it." Link reached into a crate set just beyond the dungeon doors and pulled out two bottles of beer. Before passing one to Vaati, he held out a bracelet. "Magic blocker. Comes off easy, but you gotta wear this if you're gonna get drunk. It's the law. They don't want people throwing spells around while they're tipsy."
Vaati took one look at the bracelet, then took the bottle from Link's hand without putting the accessory on. Before he went to sit against the wall and knock back he drink, he peered inside the crate to confirm that Link had set a reasonable armfull's worth of bottles inside a crate of food supples, rather than somehow dragged an entire crate of alcohol into the dungeon. There was only so much he could withstand from the hero in terms of over the top feats.
"Needed it for what?" Vaati asked once settled in.
"Stuff," Link oh so helpfully explained. Since he sat down next to Vaati, he risked being swatted if he didn't elaborate. Wisely, he added, "The princess thinks I'm someone special. That I'm going to live up to all these past heroes. But I'm not as good as any of them. They're supposed to be me and I suck when you line me up with them. My great grandfather saved the kingdom, and all my life I wanted to be half as awesome as he was. He died less than a year before I was born. Did you know that? Before she left, Mom would talk about what a shame it was that I never met him. Except it turned out I'm him. And I can't live up to what he is. It's like instead of letting his legacy down, I'm dragging him down."
"I thought your mom was dead,"Vaati said. "So she left because you're a failure?"
"Nah. She ran off with some dude who I guess is my dad because Grandpa sucks," Link corrected. "I mean, he never came around to see me, but I'm pretty sure he's my dad. I was little when they bounced, so maybe I did see him and I don't remember. Whatever. Grandpa kept nagging them about how they couldn't do this or that because it was all fanciful nonsense that'd drag them away from the life they know, so they flipped him the bird and left that life. And me, I guess. Can't take a little kid on the road with you. You'd think he'd learn, right? Except then he went and pulled that same crap with me. That's why I'm in the academy. Because it means I can't go anywhere until I'm done learning, and then I'll still be expected to stay in the city where the largest collection of books is because that's what sorcerers do. I guess the last me was as shitty a dad as I am a hero, because he gave Grandpa issues." Link popped his own bottle open and took a swig. "Y'know, I was kinda hoping for some consolation when I started talking to you."
"Yes, well, we all make mistakes when drunk."
"C'mon. Try being nice for once."
Vaati rolled his eyes, then told Link, "I am over a thousand years old. Hearing a child talk about what he's aspired to do all his life is laughable. Unless you meet an untimely demise-and the Destiny Bond only works one way so don't think I won't see to that-then you not only haven't been trying for long, but have many more years to fail."
"No. You're supposed to say I have plenty of time to learn how to not to fail."
"Link, you can't be so drunk that you've forgotten I don't like you."
"Nah. Just desperate. I can't go to the princess for sympathy 'cause she'll just say I already know where she stands, and Cargan would think I'm full of it. I don't even wanna know what the dean'd say. Grandpa would drag me by the ear up to my room and nail the door shut to keep me from ever leaving. 'Cause he's an ass like that."
Vaati studied Link;s face. Despite Link looking older, he was a child to Vaati. Almost a baby. So young for someone with such a bitter expression. But Vaati knew that look on a child well enough. Minish facial structure differed from Hylian, but he'd seen that face in the mirror plenty. Back when he was made to perform menial tasks and forbidden from wandering beyond Ezlo's workshop or using magic. He went to study under a great sage and was banned from magic. The only time he was ever allowed to cast as an apprentice was when Ezlo guided him, slowly, through the finalizing of some charm or another. For all the times the old man used Vaati's magic power to finish a task, Vaati felt he was entitled to anything in that shop. Ezlo was a genius, but he'd lacked the raw energy to put his wisdom to use. Not without a battery to exploit, at least.
Vaati might as well have been a slave, kept complacent with the promise of one day learning to spell cast and cautionary tales meant to keep him from hoping that day would come too soon. To say nothing of the verbal lashings. Because the old man was manipulative. Because he was happy to take a naive, desperate little boy on as a power source to compensate for his own shortcoming and pretend it was an equal exchange.
Vaati followed suit with Link and took a swig of his beer. It wasn't good to stew over someone so long dead. Comforting as it was to find someone else bitter about a childhood lost to a controlling old man, he wasn't about to spill his own guts. He could enjoy their pity part in private.
"Lucky me your grandfather only cares about you. Getting duped into living with you was bad enough without that man trying to boss me around. If I were you, once the dragon is dead, I'd grab a horse and chase the horizon. Forget all about him."
"You mean buy a one-way ticket."
"Whatever."
Link burst out in laughter. "You really are old if trains are that hard for you! I betcha look like a little kid 'cause you're overcompensating for being a crotchety old man."
Vaati tried not to let the remark get under his skin.
He failed.
"I don't need to be mocked by a child who thinks he's unique for wanting to disobey his guardian!"
Someone, Vaati's words hurt himself more than they did Link. The entire rest of the four minute tirade he'd planned died in his throat while Link's laughter merely turned nervous for all of five seconds before taking another swig of beer.
"Y'think I'm just being a brat?" Link asked. "I mean, Grandpa sucks, but he sucks in a good way, y'know? Like, he doesn't let me do what I want because he's afraid I'll leave him, and he doesn't want that 'cause he loves his family. 'Snot like he had to take me in when Mom left, and he cooks my favorite meals on special occaisons and when I'm feeling bad or if I make him proud-even if it's not something I ever thought was worth being proud of. Like, he's got a shitty way of showing it, but he loves me and he's trying his best, kinda."
A chill ran down Vaati's spine. "Failure is failure."
"Y'think? I guess I hate how controlling he is, but he cares. Maybe... if I got home now, after being out so late, he'll never give me the chance to leave again. A royal decree wouldn't change his mind. But for as much as I hate being under his thumb... I still feel bad worrying him. Maybe I'll write. Whoever brings you supplies can deliver the letter."
Vaati set his half-empty bottle down and rose to his feet, turning and walking to the cracked section of tile that he and Link had bypassed during their previous excursion of the dungeon. HE didn't need to hear anymore of Link's shpeal. He didn't need to hear Link mistakenly trust some old fool of a user. HE didn't care that it made no sense for him to care about Link's home life. Vaati had gone down that road. Endured for years, always being put down, never allowed any freedom, never allowed to learn a first thing about his passion, and told to be grateful for it because at least he had food and shelter. If Link was too drunk to listen, then Demise take him. He could make all the mistakes he wanted.
"Vaati?"
"I'm going to take some alone time."
His wind magic was sluggish with Link so close, so Vaati skipped attempting it and threw whatever of the Light Force he could grab at the floor bellow him, channeling it with his anger rather than his rational mind. The tiles shattered, and he landed almost gracefully on the floor below.
-x-
STA: If you think I took my sweetass time with getting the plot underway, please appreciate that it also took me until Chapter 12 to really start on Vaati's character arc. Everything up until now has either been main plot setup or developing Link's insecurities.
TyrantChimera: Funny that. I assure you-*crosses fingers*-that any similarity is entirely coincidence. His trait of whacking people with a bird staff definitely didn't come from any manga adaptations of any Zelda games or anything.