Din does not say much to clarify their situation.
All she tells them is that if Vaati wants her blessing - and he gags at the very idea of it - then he'll have to succeed in her trial. All attempts at finding out more about the trial are met with firm glares and muttered insults. Callous Goddess. At least she has the decency to be forthright. No hiding behind pleasant masks and divine justice. He can appreciate that. Nayru, of course, will be the most sickening of the offenders. He knows that for a fact.
What he doesn't know is what he's about to get himself into.
She assures them that Link may assist in this trial. Which he finds suspicious. It's his blessing, after all. He could easily have Link handle the whole thing and reap the benefits. He's not above using the precious hero to ensure he doesn't get himself killed or worse - humiliated.
And if she's so omnipotent then shouldn't she know that?
Vaati doesn't trust her.
Which he tells Link when the man's putting his clothes back on begrudgingly in front of the Goddess - who doesn't even blink or make a face at the handsome display before her, talk about a stick in the mud.
"I don't trust her."
"She's a Goddess. What choice do you have? Stop looking - turn around," Link scolds.
It puts a bigger grin on Vaati's face to know the cause of that adorable blush on Link is his staring.
Link.
Innocent, precious, boy.
He'd love to have a couple of minutes with the hero all to himself. To show him just why he went down in infamy and prove how great a night could be with him.
But he's got this damn trial.
Vaati turns around, but he still sneaks peeks up until the boy's pants are back on.
"You're a hero. What sort of trial do you think she's planning for us?"
"I don't know." Link grumbles, quiet. His voice is always so low and hard to hear in front of others. Like he almost doesn't want to be heard. Funny, all those years he thought the boy was a mute… maybe he just wished he was one. "Maybe an elaborate puzzle? Or to kill some monster."
He doesn't know much about godly challenges (or much of anything on challenges, divine or otherwise), but Vaati's almost certain it's neither of those.
There's more to this but he wishes he knew what more there is.
He hates going into things blind.
"I hope you're more help during this trial than you are now," Vaati says.
"If you two are finished chatting then we can begin." Din has the wonderful talent of making every word sound angrier than the last. It truly is impressive.
He glances at Link, who doesn't look as sure as Vaati was hoping he'd be. He has a couple of ideas as to why that is, though, and has to curse Din for it.
"Ready then, hero?" Vaati asks.
Link nods. His lips are a thin line. Tight. One minute alone with Vaati could loosen them up… pry them right open.
It's funny.
He doesn't think he inherently likes Link. He can tolerate him. He certainly doesn't hate or despise him. He doesn't want to rip his head off like every other blonde with a sword he's met and he's certainly an acquaintance. A trusted one at that. But Vaati can't bring himself to call Link a friend.
Or a lover, even if they're in some strange sort of limbo of a relationship. Vaati loves a challenge and he loves an excuse for all the rampant thoughts in his head, but it's still difficult to say they're anything other than wandering ideas. Sexual fantasies from being stuck in captivity, away from any other Hylian. It must be the very idea of being with someone that's coaxing him to think of Link in such a way… All that time alone in the sword. Link's a good looking man and a few thousand years will make anyone get aroused at just about every waking moment until they finally get laid. Good Goddesses, he hasn't been laid in at least a thousand years. That is just criminal-.
Link's standing in front of the Goddess, looking over his shoulder at Vaati with a frown on his face. Likely wondering what's taking him so long to get over there. He must think it's nerves.
He moves to his side in a smooth stride, crossing his arms in front of his chest as if he's not the least bit concerned about his fate.
"Well then? What errand will you be sending us on, your holiness ?"
And then Din gets a wicked grin on her face. One that actually makes him freeze in his place. He thinks he's just made a big mistake.
And he knows he has when he sees the look on Link's face. Panicked. Link is gazing at something just past his shoulder with the look of a man that just saw death.
"Vaati!" He dives towards him, weapon drawn. Pushes him away and almost right into the pool of water.
Something hits his foot - stinging, hot , oozing. The smell is unbearable. But the… goop retreats the second it comes into contact with him. Vaati looks away from it to see where the damn thing's coming from but is taken aback when he realizes Link is already covered in the stuff from head to toe. Vaati tries moving towards him but stops. What's he going to do? How do you even fight something like this? It's nothing he recognizes. Not a Chu Chu Jelly, not a strange strain of Like Like. It's just... he doesn't know what it is.
"How telling," he vaguely recognizes the fact that Din's speaking somewhere in the fountain. Know that the voice isn't coming from the direction of where she was standing just before. "He dashed forward to protect you and yet you can't even bring yourself to try to assist the hero. I guess you can change your form but you can't truly hide how much of a cowardly mouse you are, Vaati."
"Link," he finds his voice. He can try burning it off. But it may get on him in the process. Or worse, it could do more damage to Link. Briefly, Vaati thinks to himself that it might just be time he drops the title 'Wind Sorcerer' and takes up 'Fire Magician' instead with how much he's been tossing the element around like some fancy parlor trick, but now's really not the time for rebranding.
The hero turns towards him.
At least, Vaati thinks he does. The excess goop starts to drip off of him, leaving a perfect outline of Link. He hears him choking - gasping for breath - but Vaati's feet are glued to the floor.
A small part of him thinks it serves Link right. Sacrificing yourself will get you nowhere.
But then again, he's been trying to kill that selfish voice in his head.
Something changes in the hero's posture. The noises stop. And then, he takes a step towards Vaati.
"This is quite a predicament," Din's voice reaches him.
He can't move but Link can. And he's getting closer, raising some damn rusted sword he found on their way here high above his head. Vaati feels sick. It's like a glimpse into the past.
"You have a very poor track record when it comes to defeating the champion… However are you going to save yourself?"
The sword's going to come down.
Vaati sees Link's arms rushing with the movement.
He doesn't have a plan. No proper spell in mind, he just throws his hands out and burns himself on whatever the Hell is coating the hero. He needs to put some distance between them before he gets severed in half - but when he goes to push Link, he feels something solid brush against his fingertips. Fabric. Link's shirt. He can get through to the hero. Maybe... pull him out of this mess. Literally.
His push isn't enough to stop Link, though. If anything, the hero seems more determined now to stick that sword right through Vaati's chest.
"I should mention… It might be a wise idea to finish this fight early on. Not only do you not have enough energy for this to go on for long, but the longer that corruption sits on the hero, the more permanent the damage will be."
Great. A timer too. Because it wasn't hard enough having to fight Link.
Vaati gets moving. His cleaver - it's sitting at the entrance of the spring, just a few feet away from them where Link tore his clothes off before. If he can just get past him, he could try hacking away at the crap. But Link's not leaving him much room to squeeze past.
"You have always been a pain in my ass," Vaati grits his teeth. He can jump into the water, but that's going to leave him open to attack… And it's not like swimming is an option for him so he'll be significantly slower, wading through the spring. The only viable option is to stun Link and hope he's not fast enough to catch up with him before Vaati can grab his weapon.
Link always swings hard with his left, if he just ducks right… No. Too risky.
The hero is getting closer.
There isn't a lot of time to act.
There's a third option. Vaati hopes it'll work with the minimal power he has. He always had an affinity for the wind, contrary to the dumb practice with flame magic lately.
He focuses as hard as he can on the air. Well, as hard as someone about to get run through with a rusty sword can focus. Pictures it vividly - the wind blowing so hard to Link's right that it pushes the blonde into the water. He sees the water ripple as a light breeze begins to pick up into a strong gust - but Link stays steady and on his feet. If he wasn't so preoccupied thinking about how he was about to die, he might have heard Din's roaring laughter.
Link thrusts forward and Vaati tries to dodge the attack but finds himself in pain just seconds later, his side only slashed by the edge of the blade. Link doesn't stop, though. Gracefully, the damn killing machine spins around to get him in the back and Vaati sprints forward, clutching where he'd just gotten hit. He trips over his own feet and falls to the ground face first, his nose gushing with blood as vv he scrambles back up.
" Fuck fuck fuck fuck," he's going to die.
Link is finally going to finish the job.
The cleaver's so so close, but Link's closer with that fucking sword. Vaati feels himself yanked back suddenly and struggles in the man's grasp. Link's hands are wrapped firmly around his collar from behind and Vaati feels the goop drip down his back and brush against the skin, burning everywhere it touches. Link turns him to look at him but there's nothing to look at . Just a pool of… whatever the Hell this is. His death .
His disappointing.
Humiliating.
Death.
All those attempts at taking over Hyrule and this is how he dies.
Pathetic.
No.
No, screw that.
Vaati twists his body to the right and kicks as wildly as he can. He feels his foot connect with something and suddenly he's dropped down to the floor again, Link clutching his elbow - that must be where he hit him. Vaati doesn't waste time watching or wondering if it was a good enough hit. He runs to the cleaver and swings it wildly, the air rippling with each strike. No. He is not going to die at the hands of Link. Not because of Din's intervention.
The wind cuts into the goop but Link's still moving towards him. Vaati can see the crap peeling the more and more he hits it. Small chunks fall off and hit the floor but Vaati still puts some distance between them. Takes a step backwards with each swing. There's a sudden gasp, quickly followed by wheezing, and Vaati can see Link's face starting to poke through.
And then- Link stops moving towards him and starts trying to get some air, clawing the rest of his way out of the shit while his whole body shakes with coughs. Vaati doesn't drop the cleaver. Not until he's certain he's absolutely safe. He thinks Link starts saying something to him when he gets out, when the rusty sword falls out of his grasp and hits the ground, but he isn't paying close enough attention to hear any of the words. It's all a blur. His exhaustion catches up to him and his arms feel like gelatin by the time it's all done. He drops the cleaver.
There.
Finished.
He passed Din's damn trial.
His eyelids heavy, Vaati falls to the floor for a second time, (thankfully not face first this time) and passes out.