Link stared at Slateri, hoping that he'd heard wrong. Can't fix the problem? They were stuck?

Slateri waved their hands.

"Oh, don't look so glum!" they said frantically. "Just because I can't fix it doesn't mean that my father can't."

Oh, right. Slateri had mentioned that their skills were inferior to their father's. There was still hope after all. Not that Link's world would necessarily crumble if he was to spend the rest of his life as a Minish, even if he would miss Zelda and a select group of other people terribly, but so far it seemed that Sidon's might. Not to mention that King Dorephan would be heartbroken, thinking his only remaining child was as dead as his late elder sister.

No, staying mini wasn't an option.

Link poked Sidon's arm to get his attention.

'How long will father Slateri be gone? Should we wait or go after him?' he signed, then pointed at Slateri.

Sidon nodded, then repeated the questions out loud.

Slateri looked thoughtful.

"I suppose that depends on how long you're willing to stay small", they said slowly. "My father left three days ago. It takes roughly two weeks to get to the Lost Woods capital city, then he will visit the shrines, there's four of them, that'll take him at least another two weeks. Then, if the warping doesn't happen to work because of the error you have, he might take another two weeks to return. So, six weeks?"

Sidon looked like he just died inside. Link couldn't blame him. Spending over a month on this one thing alone was excessive, and would probably raise alarms; they hadn't promised frequent letters to King Dorephan, but it was implied that they would send news of their progress whenever it was convenient, such as when they reached the Castle. If they vanished for a month before even reaching the Castle, the Zora as a whole would go ballistic. No, it wasn't an option. That meant…

Link tapped Sidon's arm again.

'We'll go after him. Ask Slateri for directions.'

ooooo

It turned out it would take roughly six hours just to reach the stable, where the closest Minish town was. Since it was already almost night, Slateri insisted that they spend the night at his place for safety; apparently Keese preyed on the Minish if they went out during nights, and there were other hazards too, although they were more common to areas outside of the beach. In Link's opinion that meant that they could have gone ahead since they're still at the beach and thus only had one enemy, but Sidon wisely pointed out that there was nowhere to hide in the sandy, or pebble-y in their mini-state, terrain. Link could have argued that he was perfectly able to hide in plain sight if necessary, but then he looked at the violently red scales of his friend and had to agree that Sidon's hiding capabilities were abysmal. So, reluctantly, they stayed.

But first thing in the morning they left.

"Watch out for frogs and darners! Stay by the mountain!" Slateri reminded them as they left.

Link couldn't believe that frogs and darners were something to consider dangerous now. His life just couldn't stay normal for long, could it?

"I truly hope that we can somehow acquire fish at the stable inn", Sidon said, once he was certain Slateri could no longer hear them. "No offense to Minish food, but it truly doesn't keep hunger away at all."

Link frowned at the pebbles they were walking on. He hadn't had any issues with the food; it was largely the same as Hylian food, even if fruit was switched to berries. True, there was no meat, at least in Slateri's pantry, but it wasn't like Link hadn't survived on a diet based on just mushrooms and apples for days on end before. He could definitely make do with what the forest ahead had to offer. However, it seemed that Sidon would have a problem. Now that Link thought about it, Zora always ate fish, even if they might serve other dishes on the side. So far, until they shrunk down, Sidon had always caught fresh fish for the two of them from the river they had been following. Link had assumed it was because he preferred fish over other foods and it was readily available, not because he was required to eat it.

Link glanced at Sidon, who was looking in the general direction of the Pico Pond, wistful.

How the hell was he supposed to keep someone Sidon's size fed during the trip if he required a specific diet? Sidon ate roughly two average sized fish a meal. They could buy all the fish the Minish side of the stable inn had to offer, assuming there was one and they offered fish, but they could only carry so much. Fish also went bad pretty quickly unless it was salted stiff, which wasn't going to be pleasant for someone who usually ate his fish raw. It was an impossible equation.

Maybe he should leave Sidon behind at the inn? He could just take Sidon's slate with him, find Slateri the First, have the rune fixed, warp back to Mirro Shaz, go meet Sidon at the inn, and all would be well.

Hell, he could even warp right to one of the shrines in the Lost Woods and save himself the walk if he didn't have to take Sidon with him. He could just wait for Slateri on the other end.

Link grinned, then reached up to tap at Sidon's arm.

"Yes?" Sidon asked, looking at him.

'I have an idea that saves us time and trouble', he signed, pretty proud of himself for thinking it. 'I could take your slate with me and warp into the Lost Woods to wait for Slateri the First to arrive. Then he could-'

Sidon shook his head, frowning. Link halted his signing and frowned right back at the interruption.

"Hold on. Warp there?" Sidon asked dubiously. "Pardon the assumption, but you didn't listen to Slateri yesterday, did you?"

Link gave him a blank look, puzzled. He had listened to Slateri. ...For the most part. Slateri and Sidon had gotten really chatty as the evening went on and Link may have occasionally tuned them out when he had had enough of words.

Sidon shook his head again, this time in fond exasperation.

"Slateri told me that in order to warp when you're small, you have to register the shrines in the Minish warp points, with the exception of the shrine where the Vertical Shift rune is received", he explained, wrecking Link's plan in one fell swoop. "This means that your slate doesn't have any more Minish warping points in it that mine does. You can't warp into the Lost Woods."

Link pressed his lips together in dismay. So much for his genius plan, then. However, he could still do the part where he leaves Sidon at the inn and follows Slateri on his own. Though he supposed that depended entirely on whether or not they had fish available at the inn. If not, then he might as well keep Sidon with him, since there would be no difference. He'd have to see about that before deciding anything.

Mind made for now, Link kept quiet about his thoughts.

ooooo

Traveling on a pebble-y terrain was grueling. Link was quite used to the sand of the Gerudo Desert, and not bothered by it anymore. He was used to the snow in Hebra and other mountains, and could trudge through it without thinking about it anymore. But the pebbles, the endless, deep heaps of pebbles were new to him, and weren't as easy to walk on as one might think; they shifted under his feet, making every step unsteady, and caused so much noise that he was constantly on guard and waiting for enemies. What Slateri had said was a six hour trip ended up taking the two of them eight hours. Even Sidon was exhausted and quiet by the time they finally saw the first sight of Minish dwellings.

"Ah, I think I can see a house ahead!" Sidon said tiredly, but excitedly, and pointed forward.

Link squinted. He could definitely see what he assumed to be the fence of the stable, and a bunch of leaves, but no house. However, if Sidon said there was a house, then there was a house.

They picked up their speed, eager to get a decent meal and rest after the damned pebbles. After a few minutes Link could also see the house; turned out he had been just short enough to be unable to see it when Sidon already had. He made a mental note to have Sidon act as a scout during the rest of their journey, Minish or not.

It didn't take them long to reach the edge of the Minish town, and Link smiled widely at the sight of it. The whole town was hidden underneath huge leaves and flowers, and the houses matched the surroundings; the walls were wooden and the roofs were made of leaves and occasionally decorated with the same flowers growing around them, likely perfectly camouflaging them when viewed from above by the "big people", as Slateri had put it. Some of the houses were even made entirely out of grass that was still attached to the ground, with just the top ends tied up into a teepee-like structure. At least, Link assumed those to be houses, too.

Walking and frolicking between the houses were the Minish. Most of them were Slateri's size, some were bigger, some smaller, and Link could see both children and adults, as well as a couple of obviously elderly ones. All were dressed more or less the same, with leaf tunics and pointy cloth hats. Some had flower petals instead of leaves, and some had actual cloth tunics, but leaves were obviously the popular choice. All of their faces looked the same to Link. Had Slateri been there, he wouldn't have been able to tell them apart from the others. Did… Did this make him a racist? Not being able to even tell men from women?

He was secretly very glad he wasn't expected to talk out loud to them and mess anything up before his brain caught up to what his mouth was saying.

Speaking of which, the nearest few Minish stopped whatever they were doing to stare at him and Sidon with wide eyes.

"We should probably greet them before they decide we might be the enemy", Sidon muttered, before putting on a cheerful smile and waving. "Hey there, friends! It's a pleasure to visit your lovely village."

The Minish looked at each other, seeming confused. They whispered to each other for a while, making Link's own smile deflate a little, before one of them stepped forward warily.

"Pico?"

What?

"Pardon me?" Sidon asked, still smiling and polite as ever.

"Pico pico, picori?" the Minish asked.

...This wasn't good.