fleets: Hurray early updates! I surprise myself :P
This chapter also makes Rend my longest story at 36 chapters, and the most reviews and hits (355 with nearly 19,000 hits?! You guys are seriously too famazing for words! I should make you guys a thank you kiriban yes I should)
Chapter 36: Confidence Lost
After panicking for several minutes, Link noticed something hitting his leg every time he took a step. He reached over behind him, and was surprised when his hands closed around the hilt of the sword. The Master Sword was still with him.
Vaati smirked. "Ironic, isn't it? They left you with your most important weapon. It's probably because they couldn't touch it without hurting themselves – it's a holy sword after all."
Link unsheathed his sword and twirled it. "This is the part where I use the only weapon that's conveniently left to escape from near impossible situations, right?" He stepped back, and then lunged as he swung the sword at one of the bars.
Clankkkkk!
The moblins momentarily looked up at Link whose hands were tingling from the impact. They went back to examining the hero's inventory as they grunted in amusement, while Link shook his hands from the numbing sensation.
Vaati put his chin on his hands, and looked up at him from where he was sitting on the floor with contempt. "Overconfidence," he muttered, "it's made you incredibly stupid."
Link sheathed his sword and gripped the bars, watching a boomerang go flying across the room. It bothered him that the moblins were using his items haphazardly in front of them. Link glanced at the mage who appeared relaxed and unfazed. "Okay Vaati, you must have an idea to get us out if you don't even look worried."
Vaati yawned. "No, I don't. I've just accepted the fact that we can't do much except wait and see what happens."
"Haha, that was funny. Okay, so what's the idea?"
"I already told you, I don't have one."
"Of course you do. Tell me."
Vaati's eyes narrowed, and they were intense and furious when he stood up to face Link. "How can I make it any clearer? You've seen what the cell is like; no hidden escape routes. Unless you're strong enough to rip the iron bars apart we're not going to be able to escape." One of the moblins picked up the Wind Waker and scrutinized it. The mage tensed, "You! Don't touch that. That's mine," he hissed.
The moblin grinned, waved the Wind Waker in front of Vaati, and began to pick his teeth with it while the other monsters laughed. Vaati trembled in rage; he decided to vent his frustrations on Link.
"See that? Do you think I would let that fool do that if I had an idea of getting us out of here? NO."
Link stared at Vaati's white knuckles that were suddenly latched firmly on the collar of his tunic. "Um… got it."
"Useless," the mage spat, and punched him in the mouth before letting him go. It hadn't hurt much, but Link fell to the floor stunned and shocked by the fact that Vaati had hit him. Sufficiently aggravated by the situation, Vaati noticed Link's surprise and scowled in disgust. "What, so now the child is going to cry because a mean bully hit him?"
Link didn't hear the mage's mutterings as he was too preoccupied by their situation. He slumped to the floor in defeat. "So we're really just going to sit and wait…." His eyes turned to Vaati, searching for some sort of hope for getting out.
"I suppose I have to go pat your hand now and tell you everything will be all right," the mage rolled his eyes, his voice thick with sarcasm.
Link turned to the floor, letting the reality sink in. He wasn't used to 'waiting and seeing,' and he felt fidgety. Vaati snorted.
"At least there was one good thing about your barrel idea. Apparently the monsters thought we were so ridiculous we weren't worth tying up or killing immediately. If Helmaroc was actually watching I'd be too embarrassed to show my face," he added, thinking of how the great bird would let him hear no end of it.
The moblin with the Wind Waker continued to pick his teeth with the baton while watching the commotion his companions were making. Two moblins were scuffling over a bag of All Purpose Bait. One of them finally managed to wrench it away from the other, and the loser sulked over to look at the Power Bracelets in defeat.
"What do you think happened to that wizzrobe?" Link asked, recalling how Thistle had been Helmaroc's captive.
"Helmaroc probably ate him by now," Vaati snorted without concern.
Link frowned. "Then what are we actually here for?"
"In the remote chance he managed to survive and is around, we can force him to tell us what he knows."
Link remembered the last time they tried to force the renegade wizzrobe to tell them something. Their threats hadn't worked too well. "I don't know," he trailed off.
"Or we ask the Helmaroc King."
Now Link looked even more unsure. "I don't know," he repeated unhappily.
"Look we don't have any leads and this is the closest we have right now of figuring out what to do," Vaati snapped. "Besides, there's no point thinking about that right now when we're stuck in this jail cell."
Link tapped the side of his sword, biting his lip. "There has to be something…"
"If you want, I can cut you in little pieces so you'll fit through the bars."
Now, the two moblins had become interested at the skull hammer. Bait moblin from earlier grabbed it and shook it in the air, claiming it was his. Becoming jealous that Bait moblin seemed to be getting everything good, Bracelet moblin gritted his teeth and lunged at Bait in a full tackle.
"Are you even thinking of a way out?"
"No. It's pointless."
Link threw his hands in the air, exasperated by Vaati's uncaring attitude. "Can you at least look like you're trying?"
Vaati was about to answer when a sickening crack and the sound of iron snapping interrupted him. Heads turned towards Bracelet who had thrown Bait towards the jail, causing the bars to break. Bracelet was as surprised as everyone else with his strength; he hadn't understood the potential of the Power Bracelets when he had put them on. Bait lay dead from the impact, and he turned into a swirl of purple smoke, leaving behind the bait bag he had taken earlier.
Vaati stood up and walked towards the newly opened jail, the purple wisps of the dead moblin trailing his heels. He grinned devilishly. "Good work. We will be taking our leave."
Without another word, Link dashed out of the prison and felled the remaining moblins who were too stunned to fight back. Vaati watched the scene with amusement, thinking how differently the scene would've played out had their roles been reversed. Link was merciless in his slaughter, just like the wind mage would've been had he been able to cast magic. Still, no one would accuse Link of being cruel for shoving his sword into moblins in a routine manner. Once the last of the moblins had been dispatched, Vaati picked up the Wind Waker that had dropped to the floor, and then ran it through a torch until it was glowing red.
"I'm disinfecting it," he stated simply after seeing Link's questioning face.
Link shrugged, and gathered the weapons and items that had scattered around the room. He unhooked his shield that was displayed on a wall, and then took one last look around to make sure he hadn't missed anything.
Vaati's ears pricked up as he heard sounds of footsteps approaching. He glanced back at the wrecked jail cell and the missing moblin sentries. "The entire fortress is going to be looking for us now…"
Link noticed the footsteps as well, and he wasted no time taking out a coil of sturdy rope with claws on the end: the grappling hook. He swung it around and tossed it to the wooden beams running across the ceiling, climbed it, and urged the mage to follow. "Come on!"
Vaati's lips flattened into a straight line.
"Oh. You can't climb." The footsteps were closer. Link took out his hookshot and gazed at the pointed end uncertainly. He couldn't aim and shoot it at the mage without stabbing him, though it would be able to pull him up.
Vaati tapped his foot impatiently. "Hurry up and get me up there. Why are you always so slow?"
Link took another look at the hookshot. Hmmm… tempting.
The footsteps were now by the door.
Oh well, maybe later.
"Vaati! Catch the hookshot when I shoot it next to you, okay?" Link let the hookshot fly. Vaati caught it and was jerked up to the ceiling. They held their breath as eight moblins came barging into the room, attracted by the ruckus of the breaking bars earlier. Link still had his hookshot on his arm with Vaati hanging precariously off the edge as they hadn't the time to properly climb up onto the wooden beams. Vaati didn't struggle to get away from Link even though he was inches away from him, so close he was able to feel the boy's breath on his face; he was too preoccupied with being as still as possible to avoid catching the attention of the monsters below.
After what seemed like hours, the moblins went out of the rooms and alarms began to scream through the fortress. Vaati climbed onto the beam and the two intruders sighed simultaneously in relief. Link took a drink of water from his bottle and passed it to the mage who didn't complain about sharing this time.
"Ready?"
Vaati wiped his face with his sleeve and nodded, looking towards a small door across the beams. "Ready."
XXXXXXXXX
The door led them outside in a narrow walkway. The fortress had sprung to life in chaotic disorder with sirens blaring and the searchlights moving much more vigorously than before. Even more worrisome was the Helmaroc King: he was no longer settled relaxed in his nest. Instead, his head twisted and snapped from side to side as he scanned the fortress for the escapees, neck bent downwards in the position of a predator. Keen to avoid the Helmaroc King until they were in a better position to deal with him, Vaati signaled Link to run with his back ducked behind the walls to avoid the bird's gaze.
"We don't want it to catch us here. We'll get the Helmaroc on that tower where we'll have more room to maneuver." He pointed at the largest tower in the fortress that led to a lookout. It was out of the range of the cannons, so they would only have to deal with Helmaroc alone. "Then we'll hope he's still friendly enough towards me that we can ask him about Hyrule without fighting."
Link almost shot up in surprise. "You want to ask nicely instead of fighting? Who are you and what did you do to Vaati?"
"I would really prefer not to confront the Helmaroc King, but it would take too long to explain why," Vaati replied stiffly, and left it at that.
They ran through the next door and they found themselves looking down on a room from above. Miniblins and moblins were running and shouting in turmoil as each monster tried to get itself together to find the fugitives. A formidable line of moblins marched out of the room with lanterns and spears.
"Come on, we have to hurry before this place gets filled with monsters," Vaati whispered as he pointed to the next door across the room. There weren't any beams they could walk on to get to the other side, and the only thing they had a chance to use was a lantern swinging from the middle of the room.
Link nodded in agreement, jumped onto the lantern, and easily swung to the other side. Though he didn't want to admit it, Vaati wasn't athletically competent enough to repeat the technique, so they resorted to using the hookshot again. Unfortunately, the sound of Vaati scratching the ledge on his way across to the other side caused some of the miniblins to look up. They began to squeak and point upwards.
"Damn," Vaati growled as some monsters quickly ran out the door to cut them off from a different route. A pitchfork flew past him as a miniblin tried to skewer him. The mage scrambled up and grabbed Link's arm roughly. "Link, we're running. Forget sneaking."
The next door led outside again, and this time, it appeared word had gotten around that they were going to be there. Almost all the searchlights were focused on the place they were standing, and a line of moblins were steadily making their way up a stairwell from the main court. It was only a matter of time before the moblin army reached them.
Link and Vaati ran as fast as they could up the narrow, twisted ramp that led in the direction they were planning to fight the Helmaroc King. There weren't many monsters on their way up, but the alarms reminded them there were way too many closing the distance behind them.
Link skidded to a halt as he came across a gap that was too wide to jump across, Vaati following a few feet behind him and visibly out of breath from all of the running. Link noticed a thin ledge he could carefully slide across to make it to the other side. Here goes, he thought as he took a step onto the ledge.
Just as Vaati caught up, Link yelped and jumped backwards. An explosion rocked the tower they were on as a cannon blasted its way into the wall that Link had been standing against. They were now in line of cannon fire, and whoever was shooting was confident the fortress walls could handle a few explosions. Vaati summoned a small cyclone that brought the two of them hovering a few feet into the air to avoid another volley of cannons. "I'm going to take us to the top."
Suddenly, the mage hesitated when he heard a familiar shriek. "Dammit Helmaroc," he cursed as he maneuvered the cyclone towards the other side of the gap instead. They dropped to the ground, and he yanked Link to get him to run.
Vaati and Link were forced to stop in their tracks when a line of sharp feathers rained down in front of them. Vaati paled at the sight of the maroon feathers, almost half the length of his arm, sticking out from the stone walkway where they had managed to pierce into the rock like knives.
"Lord Vaati, it has been a while," Helmaroc landed in front of them imposingly. Vaati stood his ground, but he hadn't wanted to be cornered by the Helmaroc King so soon when they were pincered by the cannons as well.
"Not exactly," Vaati sneered, and he shushed away Link who looked as though he wanted to say something. He needed to handle this alone.
"A couple of hundred years since you've gone missing, presumed dead even, and you think that's not a while?" Helmaroc sneered back in a similar fashion. "You've been gone too long. Your throne has been replaced by the King of Darkness himself."
Ah. Helmaroc really did know how to give him a rise. Vaati was careful not to reveal too much emotion, however; the Helmaroc King had been one of his most troublesome monsters because he was always testing Vaati's worthiness for the title 'Lord,' but at the same time that had been why he had respected the monster as his shrewd and reliable ally. Their sharp barbed exchanges were their normal way of greeting. "And you, as well. You never came back after your defeat. You let the Tower of Flames fall to this boy."
Link was unexpectedly pushed towards the Helmaroc King. In a fit of confusion, he almost dropped his sword. Link turned from the looming bird to Vaati with befuddlement plastered all over his face. He had no idea what Vaati's plan was, and he wondered if Vaati had any concern for his safety. Link ran back to Vaati's side when he felt uncomfortable standing too close to the giant bird. That was when he noticed a small bead of sweat rolling down Vaati's nose, and he understood what this was.
It was just like when Vaati had gone up against Argorok in a battle of bluffs. Except this time, the Helmaroc King knew him a lot better than Argorok.
The Helmaroc King clacked its beak. To Link's surprise he apologized. "I'm sorry for my embarrassing failure." The bird hung its head in a bow. Then, it appeared to grin. "Though I must say I wouldn't have been able to win against one who also managed to defeat Lord Vaati himself."
Some tension seemed to dissipate from the atmosphere with the Helmaroc King finally acknowledging Vaati's title. The bird took a step back and folded its wings that had previously been spread wide in a threatening manner. Vaati, however, appeared cautious to drop his guard.
The sorcerer sniffed. "You don't miss a chance to take a stab at me, do you Helmaroc?"
"Just helping you stay sharp, Lord Vaati." Helmaroc brought its head closer to the sorcerer, tilting it questioningly. "Now that the pleasantries are over with, can I ask what business you have barging into my fortress?"
Vaati hesitated briefly, as he hadn't thought of a good way to phrase their reason for being here. The hesitation was his first blunder, and he regretted it later.
"There's something curious about you, Lord Vaati. I've noticed it since you've arrived here." The Helmaroc King interrupted the sorcerer before he could say anything, and Vaati began to grow uneasy from the way the bird was now scrutinizing him. "You're not the confident sorcerer you used to be, do you understand what I'm saying?"
"No, I don't," Vaati returned with a chilling smile that fell just short of intimidating. He had a bad feeling about where this conversation was headed, and that was the beginning of the end when you were talking with the Helmaroc King. The bird liked to play upon doubts and insecurities, and when he noticed it in your mannerisms and voice, he would mercilessly pounce on you.
The Helmaroc King's feathers that had smoothed over on its back were beginning to rise again. "Even as we speak right now, I think I hear something foreign in your voice. It sounds like you're afraid."
Helmaroc, I wish you were stupid like Argorok was. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Vaati to maintain eye contact with the Helmaroc King's unflinching golden eyes. It was times like these he was really reminded of the reason why Helmaroc was regarded as 'King' in his own right.
Helmaroc continued. "And I can't help but wonder, would the Vaati I had known in the past done something as… ridiculous… as walking around with a barrel over his head," Helmaroc's eyes narrowed dangerously, "and with the hero with him no less?" It didn't escape Vaati that just now, the bird hadn't referred to him as Lord.
"Don't you think you're testing my patience, Helmaroc?" Vaati growled, but he couldn't follow with a plausible threat like he'd done with Argorok. He knew Helmaroc would gladly welcome it as a challenge to prove each other's titles. Vaati couldn't risk proving anything right now.
Unfortunately, Helmaroc caught on to the missing threat that should've followed. The bird screeched, and Vaati flinched in surprise. The Helmaroc King noticed the sorcerer's reaction and this time didn't pause to pin him down under a talon. "No, Vaati, you are the one testing my patience today," Helmaroc hissed. "Don't tell me you're resorting to these idiotic displays because you can't cast spells?"
Well, this went well. Vaati sighed, and tried to maintain his calm façade. "There was a slight mishap. Incidentally, that's why I followed you here: to see if you knew where Hyrule or Ganondorf might be so I can fix this issue."
A sharp pain crushed through his ribs, and Vaati gasped for breath when the talon that clutched him squeezed him against the ground. Apparently that had been the wrong answer.
"You came to me to ask for help? And because Lord Ganondorf did something to you? And on top of that you are working with the hero? You appall me with every word!" Helmaroc screeched.
"I'm not working with the hero, it's just that circumstances – "
"You might as well have known that I'm going to kill you, Vaati!"
Indeed, this talk went very well, Vaati thought sourly. He wasn't too worried, however, because he was pretty sure that Link wouldn't be able to stand by and watch all of this without doing something about it. He smirked when an explosion went off right above the Helmaroc King's talon that was holding him down: Link had shot a bomb tied to an arrow towards the bird's limb. He immediately scrambled away as soon as the weight of Helmaroc's talons lifted off of him. Vaati waved the smoke from the explosion away from his face as the sharp chemical scent from the bomb hit his nose.
He saw Link wrenching open the doors leading inside the tower.
"Vaati!" Link cried, waiting for him.
Vaati took one last look at the Helmaroc King who took to the air in fury. The monstrous bird shrieked and dove towards them. Vaati waved the Wind Waker and summoned a sharp gust that sent the bird careening off course. Then, he ran towards Link and the two dashed inside and slammed the door close. They heard something smash against the door, followed by angry screeching.
"I guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way, huh?" Link made an attempt at being light-hearted as he leaned against the door to catch his breath. They were now on one of the top floors of the tower along a walkway. It wrapped around a large chasm in the middle.
"Yeah…"
Link looked up in surprise by how somber Vaati had sounded. The blond was about to ask if he was feeling all right, but he froze when he heard a door swing open somewhere in the room they were in.
A blue mass of moblins came pouring out of the door on the far side of the chamber, and some of them fell down the chasm in the middle as they were pushed off the side of the wooden platform.
Vaati laughed bitterly. "The monsters are good this time, aren't they?"
fleets: Changed Vaati and Helmaroc's relationship - I don't really know how to describe it except that it's almost purely respect-based (a gross deviation from last time, where Helmaroc was Vaati's cute pet haha). That's the way it works in the monster world - might makes right, and if you don't have it then you're as important as a grain of sand on a beach. I'm already feeling quite sad writing this arc of the story because of the monster rules, actually.
On an unrelated note, I want opinions! I actually don't know (or forgot the reason) why I was keeping Thistle's face a secret (trollololol). cough - Anyway, I have a deviation sitting around, halfway done, on his real identity and I realized that I would have to wait maybe half a year to a full year before might get to the part where he actually takes his mask off in OA (thus letting me show said deviation).
Not sure I can wait that long lol. I am currently entertaining two options: wait until Rend is done and then show you guys, or show you guys right now. At first I was thinking of waiting because I didn't want to give you guys a lot of information about him, but now that I'm writing him out in Rend as well, I think you guys are learning more about him anyway (regardless of what's being revealed in OA). So yeah, I don't know if it'll be a spoiler anymore (or if it was even a spoiler in the beginning - it's not like you can know much just looking at his face haha). Heeeelp me because I am being an indecisive author who can't make her own decisions like a big girl (herpaderp) - wait or do now?
Reily96: Popcorn makes the world perfect. Especially buttered ones. Or maybe caramel ones? Mmmm I'm hungry XD
Blue-Fire-Kitty: Hmmm, well the more I write Rend the more TU will be missing details (i.e. glaring absence of the mention of Thistle, as well as a few rules I made up for Rend that's missing as well). But while it would be nice if I could fix up TU into a Rend version, it would take so much time x.x; I'd have to see how I'm feeling after I tackle OA and the maiden story if I ever do it. And not at all, you don't sound mean :)
Purplegc: I had too much fun in Wind Waker just fooling around with the barrel. Of course I kept getting caught because I would try and sit in their path (and eventually run into them on accident). I'm excited yet sad about the impact Helmaroc's disappointment's going to have on Vaati - I didn't get to write about this before, so this'll be fun for me :D
Mirria1: Link's just a tad too confident about himself right now haha (and of course that's his downfall XD). Sorry Helmaroc, it wasn't what you were thinking! D:
Bishieluver01: It's been a long while since BC first came out, huh? (What, like, 2 years? Maybe more? Gosh I feel old...). Lots of changes! I actually didn't anticipate making this many when I first started Rend. You should see my rough drafts on the outline - it's gone through so many changes since I first wrote it haha. Thanks! I have one tomorrow... and I will need luck... so thanks for that! :D