Vaati's palms were slick with sweat over the idea of getting inside the death trap that Link insisted was a totally normal form of transportation. With his wind element inaccessible in Link's presence, he could neither fly nor teleport the two of them to the location where he threw the first shard. Since he also wasn't familiar enough with New Hyrule to pinpoint the spot on a map, he had to retrace his steps.
Once there, he was under orders to leave Link and teleport back to the dungeon. It was a safe enough place to be while Risen was on the prowl, and he would be no more useful in finding the shard than anyone else once he'd shared it's general location. In fact, given that he was a beacon for Risen to follow, it was outright counterintuitive to include him on any outdoor task that he wasn't needed to perform.
"Suppose Risen has already recovered from our last fight," Vaati said. Could he knock your train over?"
Link cast Vaati an aggravatingly bemused look. "I'm not sure if the e dragon or the train scares you more."
"The train is a rational fear," Vaati said. It wasn't like he could pretend it hadn't rattled him.
"I've never met another soul who's afraid to ride."
"Then the people of this kingdom are foolhardy. Hylians have no sense of self-preservation."
"Do you think those little thumb-people the dean wants us to have reforge the sword ever take the train?"
Vaati grimaces and didn't answer. Back in his home world, much of the flora and fauna dwarfed him, but the Minish produced things scaled to their own size. There were no other species that could make tools anywhere near their caliber. He'd only had a cursory glance at how Minish lived in Link's world, where other intelligent species were much larger and every bit as abundant, but he had a sense for the cultural differences. Rather than build their own structures, most Minish found nooks in the creations of larger species to call home. Very few followed the practice of adapting existing wildlife to suit their needs. IF he were to search under the seats or along some beam that ran across the ceiling of the train cabin, Vaati wouldn't be shocked if he found insane Minish who saw nothing wrong with living on the train. The lunatics would probably even have their own special garb, with little bits of stolen coal decorating their hats and wheel patterns on their cloaks.
"Vaati?"
"Maybe I should draw a picture of the place where I left the shard. You can track it down from there."
"You really don't want to take the train, huh?"
"You look no more enthusiastic than me," Vaati argued, although Link's concern was likely more to do with his travel partner. "Let's not pretend we enjoy one another's company. An arrangement where I don't have to show you the way means less time spent together."
"A lot of places here look similar to one another. Even if you could draw it perfectly, it would take a long time to find. It's risky... but I think we're better off with you here." Link glanced back at Vaati, sizing him up. Vaati thought he saw a hint of fear in the boy's eyes, but Link feared neither trains nor the mage he'd been saddled with. What frightened him then?
When Vaati said nothing, silently searching for the source of the hero's fear, Link turned away.
"Can I trust you to buy train tickets for us while I run an errand?"
"No."
"At least pretend to consider it first."
"No."
"Fine. Will you wait at the train station while I visit my grandfather?"
Because he could, Vaati pretended to consider it before saying, "No."
Link came to a halt, turning on his heels to glare at Vaati. "You're not coming with me for this."
"I enjoy watching you two fight," Vaati said, which wasn't exactly a lie. Seeing Link so miserable in his own home helped keep Vaati from being miserable in Link's home. But he suspected Link wasn't looking for a fight with his grandfather. And what Link was looking for, Vaati wanted to see even more.
Someone who held you down, denied you everything you wanted, claimed they were only doing it in your best interest no matter how obvious it was that they thought only of themselves... To love them and be loved in return was absurd. Vaati wanted Link to try his hardest to prove he was wrong. Try, but not succeed. Vaati needed Link to prove him right by failing to prove him wrong.
For one second, Vaati met Link's narrowed eyes with his own, then he put on a big smile. He made his eyes go wide with feigned ignorance, cocking his head like the curious child Link once mistook him for. "Your grandfather took me in when I had nowhere else to go, Link. If you're going to tell him about this quest I've swept you up in, it's only right that I be there too."
-o-
Vaati didn't know many Hylian legends, but heroes in Minish stories were always noble. All variations of the most famous tail, in which the Minish bestowed the Light Force upon humans-probably another of Link's blasted past lives-portrayed that human the same. Above all vices that most of Vaati's kind would call petty negative feelings, but that Vaati knew would pave the path to power if you surrendered to them. A true hero would stand above the ugliness of the world and pursue his idea of all that was good and righteous.
The Link who stormed ahead of Vaati might have been the hero reborn, but he didn't seem like much of a hero. Not with his temper.
"Are you sure you're not the villain of this legend?" Vaati asked him. "You don't seem that noble. And wielding a dark sword... doesn't that seem like an evil weapon? You practically wear the carcass of your murder victims."
"Shut up, Vaati."
"It's no fun when you don't even try to think of a good comeback," Vaati said, although this latest Link was ten times more talkative than the others he'd known. Or more talkative than the first, at least. The one who consorted with Ezlo. The Link who cloned himself three times might have been quite the conversationalist, but Vaati lacked a clear memory of his time in beast form. Besides, who chats with a beast?
He waited to see if Link might say something more eloquent upon learning he was letting his new partner in... heroism(?) down, but instead, Link responded by playing mute. The ante needed upping if Vaati wanted to be entertained.
"If you were to kill a human with that sword, would it let you turn into them?"
Link looked over his shoulder to shoot icicles at Vaati with his eyes. "Hold still and we can't test that."
"Hm... Better not. I don't think your evil sword will grant you the Light Force."
Link snarled, but saw the taunt for what it was and picked up the pace towards his home. The sooner they got farewells out the way, the sooner they could start and-in turn-finish their quest.
When they reached the door, Vaati let Link go ahead as he scanned the sky. No signs of Risen. Hopefully the wing Link broke had yet to heal.
"Should we be wasting time here?" Vaati asked. "It gives the dragon more time to track us."
When Link didn't respond, Vaati looked back to earth and saw that the hero had not only gone inside, but couldn't be seen from the front door. He could, however, be heard, as could his grandfather. There was no need to step foot in after them when the whole neighborhood could hear their fight. Vaati gave it fifteen seconds before Link stormed back out.
A minute passed without Link reappearing. Vaati sat down against the side of the house, drumming his fingers on his knee, certain he didn't want to go inside and get between the two, the way they were going at it. He didn't think he ever yelled as much at Ezlo.
If you treated mom half as poorly as you treat me, no wonder she ran away. I ought to chain you to your bed. I'd rather drown myself in a well than live like this. Why do you think I sent you to that school, if not to keep you from running off brandishing some worthless sword?
Poisonous words said to and by a poisonous, controlling man. Link could wish there was something more, but there wasn't. Horrible people who kept you under their thumb were horrible, through and through. It was the right call on Link's part to get away. His only mistake had been to say goodbye to his grandfather.
Two minutes passed. Three. Ten. Vaati heard a train whistle in the distance. Vaati at last resolved to drag Link out if he didn't come in the next sixty seconds.
He counted down, and was just past twenty when he realized they needed to leave a little sooner than that.
"Link?" Vaati called into the house.
The argument paused "Not now!"
"Now, Link!"
"What could be so important?"
"Dragon!"
Link was out the door half a second later. He looked skyward, then back to Vaati to scowl. "He isn't here."
"He's coming," Vaati insisted. He could feel it. A large, dark magic force just beyond the horizon. "Do your trains out-fast dragons?"
"That's not the right-" Link stopped himself. Language corrections could wait. "If they don't, nothing will. Can you sense him? How far away is he?"
Vaati tried to focus on that dark power, then turned his palms up and shrugged. He had always been able to sense the general power of nearby sorcerers, but he'd never had a sharp sense for dark magic before. All he could tell was that one of the new sensations when the Light Force activated let him pick up a large amount of dark energy, and it was getting closer. How far away and how fast it went, he was too new to the feeling to say. "It's coming from there," he said while pointing, hoping not to look totally useless.
Link winced. "We're going that way."
"No you are not." Link's grandfather said, stepping out behind Link. "You boys are going back to the shelter the dean set up, and you're staying there until the adults take care of this. I'm not losing my grandchild too."
Link gestured to Vaati. "There's no adults handling this. He has to seal the dragon and he needs me around to do it."
Vaati grabbed Link's arm and tugged. "I can't do it if we're turned to..." What was the word for ash? "If it sets fire to us. Hurry, Link."
Link let himself be pulled three steps by Vaati, then pulled his arm free. He turned back and ran those three steps to this grandfather, throwing his arms around the old man.
"I'm not going away forever."
Vaati's attempt to tell Link he would be happier if he did was cut short by Link grabbing him and taking off for the train station before his grandfather could think to pursue.
-o-
Evil sorcerers who used wind magic to get around were not good runners, Link learned. While Link purchased tickets, Vaati struggled to catch his breath. His pale skin glistened with swear, and he crouched in the corner of the platform so it wouldn't be obvious that his legs trembled.
Not that Link lived far from the station, or ran at top speed. But if he felt like being a little fair, he could allow that he had longer strides than Vaati.
He didn't feel like being fair.
"Catch your breath on the train," he told Vaati as he took their tickets. "If we can't waste time on goodbyes, we definitely can't waste time on this."
Vaati glared up at him. Funny how he insisted on looking as visions as possible even when he could barely rise to his feet.
"Not all of us trained with the royal guard."
Link shrugged and stepped aboard the train, waiting for Vaati to follow. Truth be told, half the royal guard was in no better shape than Vaati, but telling Vaati that felt like giving him an undeserved win.
Vaati hesitated at the train door, regarding the vehicle warily until something snapped his eyes skyward. He boarded wordlessly and looked around before hurrying past Link to an empty seat.
The train was neither full nor empty, and hopefully none of its passengers would become casualties. Link could find a seat all by himself if he looked, but it was easier to sit beside his evil sorcerer companion. Vaati kept his gaze on his hands, which fidgeted in his lap. Link doubted he even noticed someone sitting next to him.
He didn't bother to ask what suddenly had the Light Force bearer so nervous.
"When we get back, we should practice more," Link suggested. "We can find monsters in that dungeon for you to fight with magic. Even if someone keeps reviving Risen, a reliable weapon to fight him with would give us less reason to worry whenever he comes near."
Vaati gave a noncommittal grunt.
"You're listening, right? You're not just making noise for the sake of sounding attentive?"
He took the silence to mean yes.
Green in the corner of Link's eye made him glance to a row of seats not far back, and without turning his head he spied the dean. They hadn't spoken about anyone coming along with them, but it seemed the dean was more interested in monitoring than dragging him back. That might chance if the dean noticed Risen. Or maybe he realized they didn't have enough time to hide and hope Risen hadn't sensed Vaati.
It hadn't passed Link's notice how Vaati bristled at the dean, and if the two of them got into a fight, the mission might be aborted. He couldn't go back home unaccomplished after fighting with his grandfather the way he had. He nudged his head towards the window and told Vaati, "You're less likely to get motion sickness if you watch the scenery pass b."
Vaati glanced to the window, in the opposite direction of the dean, and bit his lip as he saw the station pull away. The whistle made him flinch. "I still think Hylians are insane to devise something like this."
"Hylians didn't invent the... Wait, what are you?"
Link had noticed Vaati's ears were on the long side, especially when the bloodlines from Ancient Hyrule were thin enough that most people with Hylian ancestry had rounded ears. But he didn't know any other species Vaati fit into. He was too small and male and bone-white for a Gerudo, he had no feathers, no bark, no scales. What else was there?
"It's none of your concern."
"Your main secret is already out of the bad. I don't see the harm in sharing anything more at this point."
Vaati glanced at Link, to the hills flying by out the window, and back to Link again, Apparently, Link was a more pleasing sight, because Vaati's attention stayed on him. "Who else died? I thought the Gerudo girl came to this country alone."
"Who... what?"
"When you and thee old man argued, he said 'I'm not losing my grandchild too.' That means someone else lost a grandchild, correct?"
"He means my mom," Link said. "And before you ask, she's not dead."
"So she wasn't lost."
"She..." It struck Link how little he wanted Vaati in on his family drama, even if he'd naively offered up a front row seat in the past. "It's none of your concern."
He had hoped to see Vaati incensed, or at least defeated that he couldn't call out the dismissal without looking like a hypocrite. Instead, Vaati's attention snapped back to the window. He even pressed himself against the glass to get a better look.
Link didn't follow his gaze. "You see him?"
"Uh-huh."
"Do you think the train can out-pace him?"
"It hasn't yet."
"I thought the trains went too fast for you."
"The train shakes too much. The dragon is the one going too fast for me."
Link clutched his sword, then relaxed his grip. The King Dodongo form had proved effective at keeping Risen at bay, but at the cost of his own mind, and once he forgot himself, he stopped fighting other monsters. Even if Vaati and the dean could revert him back, there were civilians around that he might first hurt.
"You said this... train can harm monsters it comes in contract with. Would it hurt Risen?"
"He's bigger than the train, and I bet his scales are sturdier than the frame." When Vaati gave Link a look that said this mean nothing, he added, "So no. Risen could probably snatch the train up and fly away with us trapped inside."
Link finally looked out the window and saw the black speck in the sky, so far off that he wouldn't know it was a dragon if Vaati hadn't stared at it. It came from the ocean, not quite in the direction the were headed, but close. If the train didn't pick up speed, their paths would cross well before reaching their destination.
"Wind," Link decided. "You can use wind to push the train faster. Get up on the roof or stand outside the car or something. I'll go speak to the conductor."
Link stood, only to have Vaati grab his tunic. "H-hey! Wait! You said outside the train is where it's least safe."
"Yes. If you stand in front of a train and it runs into you, you're going to hurt." Link tugged his tunic away. "Standing on the deck on the back of the car is fine. Way safer than being caught by Risen. Get out their and speed the train up."
As he cast one last glance behind him before exiting the car and explaining to the conductor what they were about to do, Link saw the dean rise from his seat and give a shove to Vaati, who hesitated by the back door. Maybe, if Vaati failed, they could at least have one competent sorcerer save the day.
-x-
STA: Okay technically this is late, but it's exactly as late as the last chapter so in a way it's on time.
I had a really rough time writing this chapter, and the second half of the last one, and all of the next one. All this train and Risen stuff. If I had more free time, I probably would have condensed it a lot more than I already did. I still took the time to trim a lot of fat before posting (with the main reason this is 5 days late being that I just didn't have time to slim down the last scene) but I wish I'd done more. Speaking of my editing process, I actually ran this chapter through MS Word's spell check. Found some funny stuff. I really love scrivener for keeping track of larger projects, but its spell check is so much more basic. It's hilarious how many errors it and I both will overlook.
Actually, a major reason I halved my posting rate was because these last three chapters took me over half a year. I haven't written chapter 16 yet but hopefully it will come easier. I'm getting to the point where I have to finally make up my mind on whether or not to make Dark Link a character in this fic
lordvaatithewindmage: What? Why on earth would Ganon be the villain behind another villain in a Zelda story? That's dumb. Who would ever do that? Idiots. That's why it's never been done before and never will.
Guest: The Hero of Underage Drinking. I'd love to see Nintendo try and market that one.
TyrantChimera: Link wasn't that pissed. He could totally recite the alphabet backwards probably.