CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"Vaati the Wind Mage"

Link, Impa, and Zelda (whom was barely recognizable due to of her lack of noble attire) were fully packed and waiting in front of the farmhouse by the time Brittany and the Picori guides showed up. Din and Nayru stood nearby with Malon and the ranchers. Brittany gave a little wave as she drew nearer.

"Here she comes!" Din called out. "Hey, Brittany!"

"'Hoy!" shouted the Empath. "So...you three ready to go?"

Her companions nodded. The girl noticed Link and Zelda glance over at her shoulder. From the corner of her eye, she could see Vaati waving at the two Hylians. She grinned.

"Hey, Brit," Link hollered, "THINK FAST!"

She looked up just in time to see the hero toss something to her. Whatever it was nearly hit the ground before she could scoop her arms around it. Looking down at her quarry, she saw that she had caught a sword. The length of the blade was covered in a simple black scabbard made of thick, braided animal hide. A long leather shoulder strap was loosely wrapped around it.

"That'll be your blade," the hero added. "It's bit heavier than what I'd originally hoped to give you, but it was the last sword we had left since the festival. Take good care of it."

Brittany's eyes fell to the hilt. A plain tempered steel bar was its crossguard, with a flat thong of hide matching her shoulder strap laced up to the pommel. She drew the sword from the scabbard.

"Not the most ideal blade for a swordswoman, but it should do until you can find a better weapon."

Swordswoman...I like the sound of that! thought Brittany. Her brow knitted into an intense, confidant stare as she tightened her grip around the sword. Taking a fighting stance, she swept the blade up and cut an arc through air. The blade whistled as the girl whipped it downward.

Of course, her excitement had caused her to forget the Minish on her shoulder. Ezlo's screaming brought her back to reality.

"Oops...sorry, man."

"Why are you apologizing, Brittany? Every swordsman just itches to try out their first sword," Link said. She saw him give a slight nod in the direction of her left shoulder, meaning she should keep quiet about the imps for now. Brittany nodded and slipped the sword back into its scabbard, then unfurled the shoulder strap and placed it over her right shoulder.

"I thought you were right-handed, Brittany," Talon spoke up. "I may not be a knight, but I do know you are gonna have a hard time drawing your blade when it's on the same side as your sword-hand."

The brunette froze. Had the rancher spotted the Minish? The first thing that ran through her mind was Vaati being discovered. Her blood ran cold in her veins at her new friend's impending danger.

Wait...no one knows that Vaati was one of the Picori except for us, she glanced around at her small group. Brittany forced herself to calm down and think.

"Well, actually, I'm ambidextrous!" the words flowed from her mouth with steady confidence. "I thought I'd learn to use the sword with my left hand first."

It was not a TOTAL lie. Brittany knew the advantage to being a lefty had in fencing combat. Being the unassuming man he was, Talon fell for her excuse. She let out a tiny sigh of relief. Zelda handed her a small hip pack, which she pulled on beneath her coat. Impa helped the princess onto the one of the two horses they brought before climbing onto the other one herself. Link and Brittany chose to walk.

As they neared the gate, Malon stopped Link.

"Here...a parting gift from me!" the redhead pushed a small package wrapped in her trademark red bandanna into the knight's hand. He unwrapped the cloth to find the fanged turtle medallion the rancher always wore. "It belonged to my mother. It's brought me good luck every time I have worn it. I mean, I was wearing it on the day I met you, so that should be proof enough!"

Link stared at the gift in his hand. "But, this is your most prized possession..." he offered it back to her. "I can't accept this."

Malon merely pushed his hand away. "Yes, you can. It may have been my prized possession a long time ago, but the most valuable thing to me right now is that you bring everyone back safe," the maiden lightly closed her fingers over those of the hero. "You'll come back to me safe, too...right Link? Promise me you will."

Link smiled. "Don't worry about us, Malon. In fact, we may just pick up a couple of people on the way and bring them back safe, too!"

"Oh, you silly!" the rancher playfully slapped his shoulder, eliciting a laugh from Link and a small grunt of disapproval from Zelda. Brittany watched the little one-sided courtship and shook her head. Link was still far too dense to realize that either girl had feelings for him. He folded the cloth back over the medallion and tuck it into one of the small pouches on his shoulder strap-much to the disdain of Milo, who said nothing but looked off to the side-before they headed out.

"Please find our baby sister!" Din shouted. "And tell her we're sorry!"

"I'll pray for your safe journey," called Nayru.

"Remember your promise to me, Link!"

"Come back with lots more of those great adventure tales, kids!"

"Don't get killed..." huffed the scorned workhand, which in Milo language meant 'but I never said anything about not getting lost'.

The ranchers and the oracles all waved farewell to them as they headed off down the road to begin their new adventure.

The journey was a bit slow-going at first. However, by late afternoon, Moosh had already led the small party through Tribly Highlands and part of the way through a plateau that Brittany did not recognize. Her stomach churned a bit at the thought of heading into unknown territory. Not that she wasn't excited-quite the contrary, for she was enjoying what a peaceful start they had. But she knew that peace was not going to last, and that is what nagged at her.

The Earthling felt a tug on her hair. "Hey, Brittany...is something wrong?" She looked down to see a concerned purple-haired Picori staring up at her. "You got so quiet all of a sudden."

"I'm fine, Vaati," she said, "it's just...well, it's the idea that I'm really doing it...I'm really going on an adventure! It...It's something that I've dreamt about ever since I was a little girl. To wear a sword...to go rescue someone...to take Fate into my own hands rather than stay in my room under Mother's watchful eye."

"Then should you not be happy now?" asked the tiny mage.

"Yes...but it worries me, too. I mean, an adventure means monsters and accursed dungeons and all sorts of other dangers. I'm not afraid for my own life, since I should've been dead now, anyway. But I fear for our group. What if I'm not strong enough to protect everyone? What if I get in the way? What if-"

"Stop right here, miss."

The pair turned to Ezlo.

"Master? What is it?" Vaati queried.

"Vaati," the sage turned to the mage, "I spotted an entrance just over there. Do you think now would be a good time...?"

Brittany looked over toward the edge of the path. A huge stone with a flat top lay along the roadside. There was a long, jagged crack that stretched up from the base, which ended in a hole on top of the rock. The imp on her shoulder gave another tug on her hair and pointed toward the rock.

"Brittany! Please, can you take us over there?"

"Um, sure..."

The girl walked over and put her hand up to her shoulder. After the Minish hopped into her palm, she lowered it to the base of the boulder for them to jump off. Link noticed that the girl had halted, so he asked the women to stop the horses.

"We're going to transform while we have the chance," Ezlo said to the young woman. "Tell Link to get our stuff off of the horses."

Brittany nodded. "Hey, Link! Ezlo says-"

"Way ahead of you, Brit," said the hero as he unhooked a covered bundle from one of the horses.

"Right then...I'll go first," the sage turned and entered the crevice. Moments later, Brittany could hear strange chanting-much like Din did when she used the stump to shrink everyone-coming from inside the boulder. A bright light flashed, and wind whistled up through the crack. Not long after, a small, glowing blob shot forth from the hole. The figure continued to grow in size until it was barely over a foot tall. Once the glowing faded, the blob had turned back into Ezlo-still the same Picori sage, only about a foot tall this time.

"Get me offa this thing, wench!" Ezlo shouted. Brittany frowned. She pinched the rucksack on his back and hauled the enlarged Minish up into the air. "Not like that, you twit!"

"You just said to 'get you offa' the rock," she mocked him, "so I 'got you offa' it!"

Ezlo growled. "Okay, it's my turn now!" Vaati called up to them. The second Picori entered the rock and sang the same chant as his teacher had. However, Vaati's transformation was much different. Instead of the tiny gust of wind that Ezlo had produced, wind whipped up in a torrent around the rock. In place of a small flash, a small sun's worth of light seemed to pour out from the crevice until it seemed as though the very radiance would burst the stone from the inside out. Brittany brought an arm up to shield her eyes as she instinctively took a step back.

As light flowed out from the opening, another tiny blob flew into the air. The claw-like limbs elongated into stronger, thinner arms and legs, the chubby frame into a sleek torso, and the mousy nose shrunk back into the face. Its height soon surpassed Ezlo's small girth and continued to increase in size until it towered over Brittany.

At long last, the radiance began to fade. With her head still lowered away from the scene, Brittany slowly opened one eye. Once she had tested her sight against the light, she opened the other eye and lowered her arm.

"Did it work?" Ezlo said as he uncovered his own beady orbs.

Suddenly, a strange voice spoke.

"You tell me."

Brittany's head shot up only to be confronted with the shock of her life. Instead of a gigantic Picori, an oddly pale youth stood on the entrance. A long violet tunic garbed the elegantly muscled body, with a pair of red, puffy knee-length shorts covering his legs. Sandal thongs were laced up the shapely calves. A thick belt with an ornamental clasp was bound around his waist, and an indigo cap similar to Link's completed the ensemble. Lavender hair fell down to his mid-back, with two long parts falling in front of his shoulders and a large mop of bangs covering its right eye. Two pointed ears jutted out from the sides of his head-the signature trademark of a Hylian.

The Empath looked up at the mysterious stranger's face. The enigma had high cheekbones that visibly stuck out through the flesh, a jaw line that ended in a delicately chiseled point, and a nearly flawless complexion-with the exception of a small triangular scar below the left eye. Gentle lips curled into a wry smirk as a deep-set eye opened. The dark blot of a pupil swam in an iris of ruby. The eye gazed down at the young woman holding his Minish teacher.

"V-V-Vaati...?" Brittany stuttered.

"No, Minister Pothos..." the man stepped down from the rock, causing Brittany to jump back. He frowned and reached out a hand toward her face. "Brittany, you silly girl-of course it's me!"

Oh, good Lord-he's gorgeous! thought the girl as she looked the youth over. It's a good thing he transformed outside of Hyrule...criminal or not, every girl and half the guys would be fawning over him! She felt a slight blush creep over her face.

"Do I really look so different to you?" asked the mage. His fingers brushed her cheek as he took a lock of her hair in hand. Giving the strands a small tug, he leaned in closer to the maiden.

Impa gave a small cough. "Link, don't you think you should give the boy his weapon now?" came her agitated grunt.

"Oh...yeah," Link walked over and held up the bundle for Vaati to see. "Hey, Vaati...this is what you wanted, right?"

The mage let the lock fall back to Brittany's shoulder as he took the bundle from Link. He sat everything down on the ground and began to take out the items inside. The sword, rather than being connected to a shoulder strap, was soon tied to the belt over his left hip. The fabric it was wrapped in he loosely tied around his neck. The hooded cloak fell over his shoulders in an indigo cascade, making his flesh seem eerily pale against the sharp contrast of the dark cloth.

Brittany's wits soon came back to her when Ezlo started ranting. "Great, you're BIG! Now, get this hussy to let me go! I'm a powerful sage, not a doll!"

The girl's eye began to twitch. Half growling a sigh, the girl lifted the Picori and placed him into Vaati's hands. "He's YOUR teacher," she groaned. "YOU deal with him!"

Before anyone could say another word, the girl stomped off ahead of them, with Moosh and the horsewomen following suit. Vaati stood there, his teacher in his hand, watching them go. Link looked over at the new Hylian, shrugged, then walked off to join the remainder of the group.

"What happened? Did I do something wrong?" he said.

Ezlo huffed. "How should I know? I'm not human! Glad I'm not! Now," he finished his rant, "let's hurry before they leave us behind!"

With a sigh, Vaati lifted the sage onto his shoulder and they headed off after the small group.