A/N: okay I'm impatient so here's another chapter!
Chapter 3: Pals?
Link kept her eyes locked on Zelda's face, waiting for her to ask her question. The girl's mouth opened, but she hesitated again, before finally saying, "Are you—"
Her words turned into a startled yelp as an unbelievably loud ringtone rang out from the table behind them. Link and Zelda turned to look at the culprit; a burly red-headed guy was leisurely fishing in his pocket for his Slate, which continued to screech the unmistakable tune of "Single Vais." His companions, one short and black-haired, the other tall and blond, hunkered their shoulders as they waited for the horrible ringing to end. Finally, the guy got his Slate and answered with a quick, "Yeah, it's Groose."
Link closed her eyes and shook her head, then turned back to Zelda. "You were going to ask me something?"
To her surprise, the girl shook her head and scrambled to her feet, grabbing her tray. "No, it's nothing." Before Link could say anything, Zelda had already rushed away. She stared at her retreating back in confusion. What had all that been about?
1:30pm
Location: Nohansen Library, Hyrule Royal Academy
"Why am I not surprised to see you here?" Link grinned, plopping down in the seat next to Vaati, who was obviously absorbed in reading his mythology textbook. Her roommate ignored her. Disappointed by his lack of reaction, she leaned over so she could read the book too, pointedly invading his personal space.
Vaati hissed and pushed her away, sticking his palm full on her face, but still not breaking his gaze from the pages. The mumbled protests under his hand were also ignored. That is, until he felt teeth on his skin.
"Nayru's love!" Vaati whipped his hand away, whisper-shouting. He quickly wiped his palm on his shirt. "Are you a child?!"
Link grinned and shrugged. "If it works, it works," she chuckled. Her roommate hissed in disgust, shifting his chair a few inches away from the blonde. "What are you studying, anyway? We don't have any homework yet."
"I'm looking for anything about magic," he muttered. "Unlike some students here, I'm actually interested in accomplishing something with my time here." Link watched as he underlined a section of text and scribbled some notes in the margin. 'A blessing of the Goddesses? Goddesses took it away?'
"Ever seen magic?" Link queried, genuinely curious.
Vaati paused and cast the Hylian a glance from his one red eye. It narrowed. "Would you even believe me if I said yes?" he muttered.
"Actually, I'm pretty good at that. Believing hard-to-believe things, I mean. I've seen a Korok, a dragon, a Blupee, a man disguised as a Gerudo…" Link counted off on her fingers, chuckling a little at the last one. "And I've seen magic, too." Her eyes flicked back up to Vaati.
This instantly caught Vaati's full attention. He turned to face Link, his former annoyance gone in a flash, replaced with eager attention as he leaned forward slightly. Then he seemed to check himself, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "You're just messing with me, aren't you?"
She had the feeling that he had bullied frequently for his interest in magic, hence his cynical reaction. Link shook her head. "Nope! I really did see some magic; I think when I was twelve? There was this traveling dancer who called herself Din, and she always ended her last dance with a spell called Din's Fire." Link spread her arms wide. "It was this ring of fire that just emanated from her. I thought it was just a fancy trick, but my mom told me it was actually a spell." Her 'mom' being Impa, though she never called the Sheikah woman 'mom' in person. It was just simpler to refer to her that way around others.
Vaati nodded slowly. He'd grabbed his notebook shortly after she'd started talking and quickly wrote out notes. "Hmm. Din's Fire is a very specific spell, traditionally only attainable through the blessing of the Goddess Din herself. The same with Farore's Wind and Nayru's Love." He smirked and glanced up at her. "Oddly, we remember the names of these spells, but only as curses or exclamations. This dancer, you said her name was Din? What did she look like?"
Link scratched her head. "Well, she had red hair up in a big ponytail with a gold hairband… Here, lemme draw her." She tugged Vaati's notebook out of his hands and snatched his pencil as well. Her roommate grumbled but didn't try to take them back.
Expertly the Hylian sketched out the dancer, portraying her with her thick ponytail swaying as she twirled in the midst of her dance, gold bracelets and ribbons trailing around her, her skin-tight clothing accentuating her movement. You could sense the motion even though the picture was completely still.
"Like this, if I remember correctly," Link stated, returning the notebook and pencil.
Vaati frowned at the sketch on the page. "Didn't you say you saw her when you were twelve? How could you remember this much detail?"
"Ah, I've always had a strong photographic memory," Link shrugged. That, and years of training her eyes and memory to see and remember every detail of her surroundings, and doubly so for people. Her drawing skills too came from training.
Maybe she was imagining things, but she thought she saw Vaati look the least bit impressed as he studied the picture. Not one to pass up an opportunity to tease him, Link winked at her roommate and said slyly, "I know what you're thinking: Link is amazing, I might be falling for him, he's just sooo cool."
Vaati's expression immediately changed to annoyance. "Not in a million years," he stated, snatching back his notebook. The violet haired student started packing his books into his backpack. "I don't know about you, but I'm not gay. And, you're sloppy and too easy-going, you don't know what personal space is, not to mention you don't know how to take anything seriously, and I sincerely hope you drop out so I can continue here in peace. There's no way I'd fall for you even if I were." Then he scowled and marched away.
"W-wait, Vaati!" Link didn't even have a chance to get over her shock. She hastily gathered her things and trotted after him. Oops—she might've pushed his buttons just a little too much. "Wait up!"
There was no escaping her once she decided to stick around him, and he seemed to realize this. He slowed down ever so slightly and heaved an exasperated sigh. "What, Link?" he snapped.
"I'm not gay," Link chuckled. She patted Vaati on the back in a friendly way. She didn't think it would be helpful to add the fact that she wasn't exactly straight either—gender wasn't a big factor for her—so she just said, "I just like teasing you, 'cause it's so easy to get a reaction out of you." She grinned at him.
Vaati cast her a dubious glare. "So, I'm just a source of amusement to you," he said dryly.
She nodded, still grinning. "But saying it like that makes it sound like a bad thing. How about… you make my world a brighter place, you are the only one that can bring a smile to my face just by being near me, I yearn to see you when we are apart—" Her words were abruptly cut off when Vaati slapped his hand over her mouth. She was pleased to see the tips of his ears were red.
"Stop acting like that! People are going to get the wrong idea," he hissed.
She rolled her eyes but then nodded. Cautiously, Vaati pulled back his hand. "O-kay. I won't tease you like that. On one condition: you let me hang out with you."
Vaati's scowl deepened. "You hang around me whether I want you to or not." He sighed in defeat. "But whatever. Just no more of… that. Ever."
Link nodded and stuck out her hand. "Deal!" Her roommate shook her hand quickly, then let go as though her hand was slimy.
They parted ways after that, Vaati to the dorms, Link to the building her four o'clock class would be held. Link let her smile linger on her face as she walked, but her thoughts grew gradually more serious. Her purpose in being friendly with Vaati wasn't just because she enjoyed teasing him (although that was definitely a big part of it). She'd noticed the violet haired student had a shadow: in the cafeteria, in the library, even now as he walked to class. Link didn't let her eyes stray to the brown-haired girl who was casually following Vaati down the hall. It seemed that Tiv's target was not Zelda, but rather Vaati, and this perplexed Link. She had been so open in interacting with him in their Mythology class, and yet now she was hiding and watching him from afar.
An object of the Yiga's interest was an object of interest for Link. Vaati was not on her original watch list, but she figured it wouldn't be too hard to keep an eye on her roommate as well as her other targets. It was in a thoughtful, quiet mood that she waited for her third class.
