Link reluctantly let his octopus hug hold of Sidon go and slid to the ground, then turned to look at the Minish who had just introduced themselves as Slateri. Slateri, as in the person their Sheikah Slates told them to contact about the error that made them unable to… un-shrink.

Link's hands were signing away before he even remembered that it wasn't going to be understood.

'Are you the Slateri we're supposed to contact about our slates?'

Slateri looked sheepish.

"I, uh, still don't understand that, sorry", they said, then turned to look at Sidon. "Are you able to translate, Your Highness? Oh, and could you tell me your guard's name?"

Sidon looked bewildered, and glanced from Slateri to Link and back.

"You don't understand sign language?" he asked, then shook his head. "Although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, I do recall Link telling me that the Zora are the only race where everybody knows sign. Ah, his name is Link, and he's not my guard, he's my friend."

Link was pretty sure he also counted as Sidon's guard as far as King Dorephan was concerned, but that was unimportant. Sidon was probably happier not thinking of it like that anyway.

It was true, though, that Zora's Domain was the only place in Hyrule where Link was guaranteed to be understood, no matter who he talked to. The Zora had sign as their second language, the one used underwater where sound didn't carry the same way it did on land. Everywhere else people knowing sign was hit or miss, although there was always someone around in every settlement that knew at least the basics, such as the alphabet. Usually the inn keeper and often the owner of the general goods shop. He could only hope that the Minish had knowledgeable people in their midst as well, even if Slateri wasn't one.

"I'm happy to act as a translator", Sidon continued, making Link quit his musings. At Sidon's glance at him, he repeated his question, and Sidon vocalized it.

Slateri's expression brightened, and they clapped their hands together in glee.

"Oh, that I am! Or at least... kind of", they said, becoming sheepish once more. "I'm not all that experienced yet, to be honest. My father, Slateri the First, is more knowledgeable. My grandma, Slateri the Late, taught him everything before she passed, but my father hasn't yet taught me everything. Is... Is there a problem with your slate? I can still try to help, since my father isn't here."

For a moment there Link had been ready to label Slateri as a male, for clarity's sake, since they shared their name with their father. But apparently they also shared their name with their grandmother, so the name seemed to be unisex. Was there even a polite way to ask someone what their gender was? ...He supposed it didn't matter; he was merely curious but not really inconvenienced by his lack of knowledge. Besides, there were more important things to consider.

Sidon beat him to it.

"Yes, there is a problem", he said, and took his slate out. "We were at Mirro Shaz shrine when this icon here", he showed Slateri the slate, "appeared, and apparently shrunk us down, if I'm interpreting the situation correctly. The icon is now gray, which hasn't happened with the other icons before, and won't turn us back to normal. You can see the text below. Can you fix it?"

Link nodded along, looking at Slateri hopefully. Although, to be honest, he had the feeling that this wasn't going to work. Maybe it was the whole "not experienced" bit, or just the fact that nothing in his life was ever this easy. It didn't hurt to try, though.

Slateri took Sidon's slate and fiddled with it for a moment, then frowned and looked at them again.

"I'm going to need my equipment to have any chance of fixing this", they said, and handed the slate back to Sidon. Then they gestured towards the rocks Link had built their camp by; Link idly noted that he couldn't see smoke any longer, so their fire had gone out. "My cabin isn't far, so you should grab your belongings and come with me. If that's okay?"

Link looked at Sidon, who simultaneously looked at him. Sidon gave him a questioning look, to which Link just shrugged and nodded. Sidon smiled at him, then turned back to Slateri.

"We shall do as you suggest."

ooooo

Their trip back to their camp was filled with Sidon enthusiastically asking Slateri about the Minish and Slateri answering to the best of their abilities. Apparently the Minish were, indeed, usually only seen by children because of their inherent magic turning the adult minds away. However, children were rarely seen around here, as traveling Hylians usually stopped traveling and settled down elsewhere once they had children.

Slateri knew that there were supposedly other Minish settlements all over Hyrule, but they didn't know how the Minish there were faring nowadays. A long time ago some of the Minish had been able to travel via shrine warping just like Link did, but when the network was abruptly shut down, presumably by the Sheikah, so was long distance travel, leaving them in the dark. Now that the network had been re-activated by the hero who defeated Calamity Ganon, Slateri's father had started fixing the Minish half of it, starting with Mirro Shaz shrine. He was currently headed towards the Lost Woods to work on the other nearby shrines. Slateri was staying in the cabin just in case some of the big folk dropped by now that the shrine was distributing the Vertical Shift rune again, which was exactly what had happened with Link and Sidon. Them being unable to shift back wasn't supposed to happen.

Link gathered his backpack and the items he had pulled out earlier, and signaled that he was ready to move on. Sidon grabbed his satchel, and off they went.

"I was wondering about your name", Sidon said, picking the conversation back up while they followed Slateri. "Is it common for Minish families to all share the same name? Have there only been three Slateris so far? I would have thought the slates and shrines were older than just three generations. Or are you so long-lived?"

Slateri chuckled and shot Sidon a fond look, seeming to have taken quite the liking to him already. Link could hardly blame them; Sidon was the best. If his eyes lingered on Sidon a little too long at the thought, well, it was nobody's business.

"We're not particularly long-lived – my grandma was a little girl when the Calamity struck. My father and I have never known life without the Calamity until now", Slateri said. "Usually Minish families have similar names, at least to start with, but our family is special and uses the same name for all the successors for this job. And there have been many, many Slateri before me. The big numbers are depressing, though, so we just recycle a few and use them as status symbols. My grandma was Slateri the First while she still lived, and I was the third. But when she passed, my father became the first. My first born will be the new Slateri the Third."

Sidon looked impressed, but Link was mostly amused, and had a couple of questions. He poked at Sidon's arm to get his attention.

'To start with? And what if Slateri doesn't have children?' he signed.

Sidon forwarded the questions to their Minish companion.

"I have two sisters, one of whose children would take the mantle if I had none", Slateri replied, then took a moment to think through his answer to the other question. "We Minish aren't stuck with our birth names for our whole lives. Usually we're named after our parents' professions in preparation of us continuing in their footsteps when we're old enough, but we're not forced to do that. And if it just so happens that the son of a tailor ends up being a gardener instead, it would be unfitting for him to be named Stitcheri, so he'd change his name to something like Floweri at that point. If he changed his profession again, or got old and quit working altogether, he might change his name again to suit his new way of life. ...We Slateri don't ever change our names after we've learned the trade. As far as I know there have only ever been cases of children initially being named Slateri but then not wanting to become slate technicians when they grew up. They give up on the name right away so that one of their siblings or cousins can take it instead. It's an important job that you have to dedicate your life to, even if there hadn't been much to do besides forwarding the knowledge until now."

Slateri gave them a huge smile.

"I'm so glad I chose to stay Slateri!" they said enthusiastically. "With the shrines activating and you two showing up, the generations of passing forward the knowledge without much else to do is finally coming to an end! I'm sure things will get interesting and busy now. I only wish my grandma was here to see it; she always said that the Calamity was a sign that the shrines would activate again soon."

Slateri hummed happily, a new skip to their step. Link shared a grin with Sidon; even if their situation wasn't ideal, at least they had brought immense joy to this Minish, and it might yet spread to others. Worth it, being shrunk down.

It was shortly after this that they could see a house between huge rocks ahead of them. The house itself was also made of rocks of different sizes – probably for camouflage – that had been patched together with mud or some other similar substance. The door was a piece of bark that had been perfectly fitted into the doorway.

Slateri beckoned them forward and let them in. Sidon had to bow his head to fit through the doorway, but at least the ceiling was high enough that he didn't have to stay hunched.

The house was cozy enough. It didn't look like it had been lived in for long, even if the house itself was obviously old. There were a couple of beds, a big table with chairs, a kitchenette, a couple of cabinets, and a bookshelf with a few ancient looking tomes and a couple of newer booklets. That was about it.

Slateri walked over to one of the cabinets.

"I'm going to need your slates, so please put them on the table", they said as they rummaged. "In the meantime, help yourself to anything in the kitchen. If you need to heat something, I think there should be some Fire Chuchu jelly in there somewhere."

Both Link and Sidon's stomachs grumbled in response. Right, they had meant to eat, not get stuck between rocks hiding from a giant fish, doing a rescue operation, or follow a stranger into their house to have their slates poked at.

"Thank you for your hospitality", Sidon said, while Link was already making a beeline to the kitchen cabinets to see what they had to offer.

There were mostly berries and mushrooms in different states: dried, pickled, jam, juice, powder. One jar said acorn flour. One bag had dried flowers and herbs, presumably tea. There was a big bag of seeds, a barrel of water, and a jar with some kind of nuts that seemed to move on their own. But that was it. No meat, and no fish. Sidon seemed to be trying very hard to not look completely crestfallen.

They would just… get him some fish later, somehow. He could make-do with other stuff for now. It would still fill his stomach.

Link fixed the three of them hot seed porridge with the acorn flour (using Chuchu jelly as a substitute for fire was interesting, and Link was glad to have learned that), served with jam, and mugs of herbal tea. Slateri worked on Sidon's slate while Link cooked, then on Link's the whole time they ate. Once they finished, Slateri finally gave a defeated sigh, and handed the slates back.

"I'm sorry. I've tried everything I know of, and I can't fix the problem."