A.N.: A scene from chapter 10 (cursed sorcerer) is up on my homepage. Thank you for all the reviews!

Chapter 8: All for Nothing

It was just a bird. Just a dumb bird and he wasn't even sure if it was the same one he had had in the past. But he'd never felt so…devastated by a loss before.

Vaati clenched the Wind Waker, then relaxed, and then clenched it again as he thought about the dead Helmaroc King. It was true it had been one of his favorite ones: intelligent, obedient, and useful. He never had anything to complain about it except the time Link had beaten it and gained access to the Tower of Flames that had imprisoned one of the maidens he had kidnapped. That was the only time he had felt furious towards the bird.

Furious. That was it. He hadn't even felt remorse when he had first heard his Helmaroc had been defeated by Link. Vaati confused himself when he felt crestfallen this time.

But, it was different tonight, he thought. The Helmaroc King was one link with the past that had survived after all these years (except Link, ugh, that idiot needed to know when to disappear). It may have been a different bird, but when Vaati had put a hand on its rough, maroon feathers, it had listened to him.

I told it to sleep. I told it to die for me, just like I had done in the past. Ha, he never expected it to actually obey since it had gone under the control of Ganondorf. But it had listened, and had waited to die. Waited to die...

He would've let it live, but because it had a pact with the King of Darkness, taking it along would have been dangerous. I had no choice.

Vaati shook his head. Ha, who was he kidding? He was dangerous, but Link had let him live. If Link could do it, then why couldn't he?

"Vaati, are you all right?"

The mage looked up at Link whose features were creased with concern. Silly boy.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Vaati snapped. Link nodded, and stared straight ahead as he walked along the walkway. He stole some curious and worried glances towards the Wind Waker, but Vaati dismissed them as unimportant. If the brat had something to say, he would say it, annoyingly chatty as he was.

They made their way to the top of the walkway. There were no monsters here even though they could still hear the sirens wailing below.

"I'm sorry about your bird…" Link began.

"It wasn't mine."

There was silence again. Link fidgeted with the sleeve of his tunic as though he wanted to ask something, but he didn't say a word until they reached a burned dilapidated cabin whose charred frames were the only things remaining.

"What is this place?"

Blue eyes moved over the broken frames and turned to red ones in apprehension.

Vaati felt himself go cold. He had known that the Helmaroc King might have been a false lead. He had known that there was the possibility that the bird and the fortress full of monsters were the results of another one of Opal's control losses.

He had hoped so hard that the Helmaroc King would give them clues on where they needed to go next that he had believed defeating it would actually get them somewhere.

Overconfidence, eh? Yes, that was a problem.

"It was all for nothing, Link. All for nothing."

Link looked sharply towards Vaati who was chuckling harshly. "What do you mean?" He never heard a more bitter laugh than Vaati's.

"A false lead. We never had any reason to come here."

The mage laughed even more when he saw Link pale and stutter. "W-what?"

Vaati continued his near insane laughter, causing Link to wonder if the sorcerer had finally lost it. He hiccupped and tried to calm himself. Gasping for breath, the mage answered slowly, more to himself than to Link. "No reason. We're back on square one."

Link saw a smile creep onto the pallid face, and even though it appeared amused, the red eyes had lost their glow and had taken a look of torment. Link decided to leave him alone.

Vaati put a hand against the burned doorframe of the destroyed cabin: their reward for conquering the Helmaroc King. He took one final look towards where the great bird had died before he used the Wind Waker to send them back onto the pirate ship.

XXXXXXXX

The next morning, they were headed back to Windfall Island to see if the locals had heard anything peculiar. It was the only sailor's port for miles and it was the most developed island; it was their best shot to gather information.

Link watched Vaati issuing orders at the crew who had gained a new respect for their captain after he had returned alive from the Forsaken Fortress. If the mage hadn't recovered from the loss of the bird, he didn't show it. Vaati had years of experience with underlings to know how to successfully lead.

And was Vaati good at it. Link was sure the mage didn't have a clue about how to run a ship but he somehow managed to fit in perfectly into the role of captain. Of course, no one dared question him; that might have had something to do with all the obedience.

Vaati had changed since their return from the Forsaken Fortress, surprising the boy. He hardly ever used threats to get his demands across, and his words were less shouty and more civil. Link couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not. Before, the mage was all bark and no bite. Now, with the Wind Waker, Vaati didn't have to bark. He could just choose to bite the head off of whoever displeased him. The mage didn't have to be scary to prove he was powerful because he knew he was powerful.

This scared Link more.

"Staring isn't polite. Do you have something you want to ask me, boy?"

Link woke up from his train of thought as he saw the mage standing in front of him, exuding confidence. Link frowned. He wasn't going to let Vaati's new arrogance get to him now.

"Why do you wear purple?"

Vaati lost his composure before he straightened up and sneered. "Because I like it. Surely that can't be the question you wanted to ask. Anything, ask me anything."

"If I buy five apples a day for six rupees each and sold them for eight rupees each, how many days will it take me to gain 100 rupees?"

Vaati's sneer twitched down. "Ask it, Link. That wasn't the question."

"It was. Now answer."

"You get negative rupees because you won't be sharp enough to sell them at a higher price," Vaati growled, and then grinned. "I'll tell you what's bothering you. It's this, am I correct?" He brought the Wind Waker close to Link's face.

Link became quiet. Vaati was right, it was the Wind Waker. Back at the Forsaken Fortress, Vaati had stunned him by holding so much control over the wind. The Helmaroc's attacks hadn't been able to touch the sorcerer once they were in open air.

When Link had seen the wind mage standing cool and composed with the air raging around him, the hero had caught a glimpse of how deadly Vaati could be if he regained his magical abilities. Link had nearly forgotten, and the experience had been a grim reminder of who he was dealing with. If he didn't know better, he would have been somewhat frightened.

Vaati's grin widened. "The Wind Waker. I made an interesting discovery at the fortress. Care to listen?"

But Link knew better. He couldn't forget what Vaati had said at the Temple of Time. The mage's words at the temple pretty much proved all this intimidation nonsense was a façade.

The Hero of Time felt the air pressure change as dark clouds formed overhead. Thunder rolled, muting Vaati's laughter. "You see, Link, this baton has the ability to partially disable my binding curse. As long as I limit my magic to something wind based, I can do whatever I want."

The blue runes appeared around Vaati's wrist and the Wind Waker, just like at the fortress. "Quite a discovery, wouldn't you agree? Perhaps fighting the Helmaroc King wasn't as pointless as it had first appeared."

Well…Link hoped he wasn't mistaken about Vaati's comments at the Temple of Time. Vaati was doing a good job looking evil now that he had the power to back up his words. And there was something about the eyes; they were dull and a bit crazed, especially when he had mentioned 'Helmaroc'. He blinked as he felt Vaati tap the Wind Waker on his head.

"Don't worry, fool, I won't kill you yet. I still have use for you."

Link had had enough. "Well I never had any use for you! I can get rid of you right now."

Vaati narrowed his eyes. "You amuse me, hero. You should have done so when you had the chance."

"You think I won't do it now? You think I can't? I can…I just won't."

"Coward."

Link deliberated on whether he should utterly destroy Vaati's pride right then and there. Just a few words were all it took.

Vaati took Link's hesitation as defeat. "Hmph." He turned on his heel and waved the Wind Waker, causing the storm clouds to disappear. They sky was clear and blue again.

Link sighed. He was as confused as ever on Vaati's actions. Was he a friend or a foe? Sometimes, Link thought the mage was as unsure about the fact as he. A few days ago the sorcerer was just his grumpy self and relatively harmless. Today, the blond boy felt the mage was genuinely dangerous.

Link looked back at Vaati who had coaxed a seagull to land on his hand. He was petting it softly, lost in thought. Link tilted his head.

Well, maybe today he had reasons to be upset.

XXXXXXXXX

The ship arrived at port in the afternoon. The pirates insisted that they get a day of rest before they began moving through town to gather information, but Vaati didn't want to wait. He let the pirates do whatever they wanted, but dragged Link with him to town to begin looking for clues on the whereabouts of Hyrule or Ganondorf.

Link had to make himself look likeable and was forced by Vaati to ask random strangers if they'd noticed something out of ordinary recently.

"Excuse me sir, have you noticed anything strange these past few days?"

"Yeah, you. Now scat."

"Excuse me sir, -"

"Aren't kiddies supposed to be in bed by now?"

"Excuse –"

"I'm busy, shrimp."

"Ex –"

"Hahaha! I'll let you pick barnacles off me ship, boy!"

The sailors weren't very nice.

"This isn't going to work," Link told Vaati after their last attempt on getting information. He remembered how inconvenient being a kid could be. Vaati ignored him as he dragged his finger down a list of notices posted on the town bulletin board and finally tapped one of them.

"This one. We'll try this one."

Link looked at the notice. It was an advertisement for the auction that was going to take place that night.

"Look here. They're auctioning a map of a 'hidden city.' Don't you think that sounds familiar?"

Link looked incredulous. "You think that's Hyrule?"

"I suppose you have a better idea?"

"It could mean anything."

"Of course it can. We may be surprised again by a false lead. I'm well aware of that," Vaati hissed.

Link cringed. The Forsaken Fortress had become a touchy subject. "Um…I'll go get some rupees from Nudge, then."

"Get them if you want, but I don't intend to use them," Vaati shrugged. "Tell the others I want to meet them at the auction house at sundown."

Link stood where he was as Vaati went off by himself. Here we go again.

OXXXXXXXXO

A.N.: I don't like this chapter so much; it's more of an 'explanation and between travel filler' chapter. I think I'll like the next one better. Oh well, onwards then!

Link: Okay, so, I know the reviewers who wanted Vaati on the reviewers' corner won't be too happy to know he's not here today. He's a bit moody about the Helmaroc.

Diablo1123: Link - fleets already replied because we didn't understand GC and GBA. And also because we lacked the history to explain everything...but you wouldn't want to meet the Helmaroc King. It's a bird big enough to snatch me up like a toy and fling me away.

H-bomber: Link - He was upset (hence he isn't here). And now he looks a bit insane. I don't know about 'best friend,' though, and don't let him catch you say that. I have a hunch you're correct, but I'm going to play it safe and pretend he still hates me.

Reily96: Link - Really? I would give anything to see him join Fyer! It would totally ruin his image and he would never be able to pick on me again! Of course, I'm only saying this now because he's not here and therefore can't hurt me. I do feel a bit sorry though. He's never looked so grief-stricken before.

Peka the Corsair: Link - I think he had his reasons...but we both took it hard when we found out it was a false lead. He took it harder. But please don't let him get a giant killer rabbit. I have a feeling I would be the one who would end up having to fight it.

Yuudai Arai: Link - Well, I'm sorry for being boring and ignored. I'll let him know, seeing it's my job to take care of the reviewers' corner now. I'm sure he'll laugh in my face.

fleets - Link, don't sound so bitter. It's kinda true.

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