A.N.: I hope none of my readers run away screaming after seeing this title (AAAhhh Tingle!). But just stop and think. "What was it like to write this thing?" Oh yes, gave me the shivers it did. The things I make Link and Vaati go through...
Anyway, it was amusing to read the reviews from the last chapter. Don't run away from the Tingle chapter - give it a chance, and I promise you'll never ever see him again ;).

Chapter 11: Vaati vs. Tingle

His first encounter with the man in green tights had been when the creep had tried to steal away a force gem from him while going around Hyrule to defeat Vaati. The thought of the middle-aged man floating on his red balloon still gave him nightmares.

Please please please let it not be Tingle. Please let him be dead. Please don't torture me anymore than you have to, Link prayed to the goddesses.

When he had been traveling as his four selves across Hyrule to stop Vaati, the fairy-obsessed man who kept appearing out of nowhere had continually tormented him. Link grimly remembered the time Blue had tried to shoot the man with an arrow:

"Oh goddesses, you shot him Blue!"

"Shut up, Red! He's stalking us, I'm sure of it! He scares the bejeezus out of me!"

"Mr. Fairy, what did Tingle do to deserve your unkindness?"

"AAAAH! He's still alive!!"

Link frowned. Oh yes. Even though the Hero of Time could defeat the great Vaati he could not get rid of Tingle. That man was invincible.

Niko, who was under the grip of Vaati, looked at the shaking Link standing next to him. "Hey swabbie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, if I'm wrong about who I think we're going to meet."

Niko became worried. Whether or not he escaped the wrath of the captain depended on the help of the man on the island they were headed for. He was suddenly thrown down onto the deck as Vaati turned on his heel.

"We've arrived. Everyone besides me and Link are to stay on the ship."

"Aye aye, captain," Niko saluted before hurrying away. The little pirate was glad to be finally away from the captain.

"I'm not…I'm not going. I'm staying right here," Link stuttered as he saw the ship approach the island with a tower that had a face he knew all too well. He cursed the goddesses for ignoring his prayers.

Vaati stopped in his tracks. "Pardon?"

"I'M NOT GOING AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!" Link screamed. "I WON'T! I BLOODY WON'T!"

"…Calm down, boy. I've heard you once," Vaati said with irritation. Link's reaction to the island was worse than his fear of spiders. "I just assumed you wanted to come along."

"No…no…no," Link whispered, obviously in trauma.

The mage snickered. "Curious. Do you know this man who can help us read the map?" Link was trembling so much it would have been impossible to determine he held the Triforce of Courage. Vaati laughed wickedly. "Ah, this will be interesting. A man who can cause the Hero of Time to be genuinely afraid. Perhaps I can learn a thing or two."

Link's voice cracked as he tried to speak. "Vaati…don't go. It's for your own good."

Vaati smirked. "I'm touched by your concern, boy, but this map is incredibly important." He got a cyclone blowing around him and the mage landed on the island smoothly. Link watched in horror as the mage strutted to the tower with Tingle's face on it. The mage wasn't going to know what hit him.

XXXXXXXXX

As Vaati approached the grotesque tower, a short man in his thirties wearing green tights came stumbling down its ladders and halted in front of the mage. Vaati narrowed his eyes; he was getting creepy vibes from the man.

"Hoo hoo hooooooo! A visitor! And that fragrant musty scent! Sir, you have a chart!" the man said as he neared his squinting face towards the mage. Vaati took a small step backwards. "Allow me to introduce myself, sir! Tingle is my name, and no one can best me when it comes to map deciphering."

Vaati cleared his throat. "Erhm. So we've heard. We require your services on this map," he said as he cautiously handed Tingle the map they had won at the auction.

The strange man wiggled in a queer dance before he took the map and held it inches from his nose. "Why, you can't read this chart in its current state! Impossible, sir!"

"So we've figured," Vaati growled impatiently.

"Yes, yes, you've come to the right place, sir! I can decipher it for you…for a small fee."

"Fee? It will do you good if you do it for free." A dangerous grin was appearing around the corners of Vaati's lips.

Tingle continued obliviously with a greedy glint in his eyes. "398 Rupees sir. It's fairly reasonable."

Vaati was beginning to feel nervous. There was something horribly creepy about Tingle and he figured he understood Link's refusal to come on the island. He took out his Wind Waker and pointed it at Tingle, more to defend himself than to threaten.

"That's a rather steep price, fool. Do it without a fee and I'll spare you," Vaati said with his best attempt at intimidation. It wasn't working.

"Ooooh! Sir, that looks magical! Magical…sir, are you perhaps…a fairy?"

There was a brilliant flash of light around Vaati's wrists as the runes of the binding curse spiraled around the Wind Waker and Tingle was sent flying. Vaati stood gasping as he watched the man wearily.

"Now…decipher the map……no fees." His face darkened when he saw Tingle smile.

"You must be a fairy sir, just like Tingle!" Shivers ran down the mage's spine as Tingle hopped up and skipped towards him, not rattled in the least. "Mr. Fairy, you make Tingle happy, for I have longed to meet more of your kind. Yes, yes, so happy!"

"Stay back!" Vaati hissed and he sent a more powerful blast that caused Tingle to smash into his tower. It would've killed a normal man.

Tingle appeared dazed, but then he brushed himself off and reappeared in front of the mage. "Mr. Fairy, are you angry? Don't be angry at Tingle, Mr. Fairy! I mean no harm."

"Get…get…get away from me…" Vaati whispered, spooked.

Tingle appeared disappointed. "I suppose you don't want me to decipher the map then. Ok. Come back with more rupees Mr. Fairy!" Tingle waved and went back up the ladder of his tower.

Vaati took a minute to recover before he stooped to pick up the map the creepy man had left behind. Nothing had ever scared him more than Tingle. It seemed all normal laws went out the window with the man, and he also had the feeling he wouldn't be able to kill Tingle even if he wanted to.

"Excuse me sir…"

Vaati froze and terror swept over him as a Tingle look-alike in white peeked his head from behind the tower.

"Please don't be afraid! I want to help you before my master Tingle realizes I'm gone," the white Tingle said as his eyes darted side to side. Vaati held up his Wind Waker and prepared to get the hell out of there.

"My name is David Jr. Go to Dragon Roost Island. The spirits can read the maps."

Vaati stayed silent, wondering if there was a catch for the advice he was getting.

"Please don't tell my master I told you this. He doesn't like me leading people away from his business."

There was a yell of "David Jr.!" from the top of the tower and the white Tingle flinched. Vaati flinched with him from hearing the creep's voice.

"I'm not misleading you, Sir! I hate Tingle and his brother Ankle. I washed up on this island, seasick, when they got me working on this island. Told me 'self comes before wealth,' ha…" David Jr. muttered. "I want to help you so I can get back at them a little."

Despite everything, Vaati felt a little pity for the man in white tights who had to work under the horrible Tingle. "Would you like us to drop you off at a different island?"

David Jr. shook his head. "I can't travel the seas – my seasickness is horrible. And besides, Tingle has a knack for finding people he's after. I won't have more than a day of freedom."

Vaati nodded. He wasn't eager to bring along someone who would cause Tingle to follow them.

"David Jr.! Come back and turn the Tingle Tower! We need to attract more fairies!"

David Jr. scrambled back towards the tower. "Good luck sir! Follow my advice!"

Vaati had already gone. The great sorcerer hadn't been able to stand another minute of being on Tingle Island.

XXXXXXXXX

"Vaati? Hey, Vaati, are you ok?" Link asked as the mage returned to the ship looking shaken. He saw the mage trying to say something.

"What? Sorry, you're a little hard to hear."

"Leave. Now."

Senza pulled up the anchor. "Where to, captain?"

"ANYWHERE! Just not here!" Vaati's voice cracked. "I mean, Dragon Roost Island. To Dragon Roost Island." He walked like a ghost towards the cabins, and Link followed to make sure he was all right. Link had had enough experience with Tingle to know what kind of an effect he could have on a person.

"Ok, what's your name?"

"Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds." The mage was still in shock.

"Good. Where are we?"

"A couple thousand years into the future on a pirate ship."

"Right, right. What are we trying to do?"

"Get back my magic. Kill you." A hint of annoyance appeared in Vaati's voice as he began to recover.

"Um, a bit off, but I guess that's not wrong. Who am I?"

"Link, Hero of Time. The idiot who keeps ruining my plans, the brat who miraculously survives everything I throw at him, the godda –"

"Great. You're fine." Link interrupted Vaati who had returned to his arrogant self. "I warned you about Tingle. You can't kill him."

The mage slumped as he remembered the creep. "You've tried?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I've tried! He tried to hinder my progress to collect the force gems I needed to beat you in the past," Link exclaimed. "I used to think he was with you, but then I figured even you wouldn't hire someone that creepy. Not your style."

Vaati nodded in agreement. After a while, he put a hand on his chin. "Sword?"

"Nope. He floats with a balloon so I can't reach him."

"Arrows?"

"My blue version tried that. Nope."

"…Bombs?"

"The explosion pushed him away, but no, he came back. Seriously, he doesn't die. He always comes back smiling."

Vaati gave an exasperated sigh. "I see why you didn't want to come. That man, it's like he's from a different world."

"Yeah. Normal people would die after everything I did to him. Normal people would stay away after you try to blow them up. Normal people don't reappear in the future. Normal people don't wear green tights and pretend they're fairies. Tingle's just plain creepy."

Vaati looked at Link thoughtfully. "That sounds just like you, Link."

"Does not!"

Vaati laughed. "Ha, creepy boy, you're hopeless."

Link couldn't help smiling. "I know. At least I admit it." Vaati chuckled; it wasn't the forced laugh Vaati did when he was being arrogant, but a genuinely amused one. "Hey Vaati?"

"Yes?" The mage was lost in thought.

"I was wondering, can you cut poor Niko some slack? He's absolutely terrified of you."

The red eyes glinted in amusement. "Is he now."

"Yeah. It's pretty unnecessary."

Vaati grinned and twirled the Wind Waker around his fingers. "Hmph. He's terrified because he's normal, unlike you. You need to learn from him or you're going to turn into Tingle."

"Goddesses no. If I turn into Tingle I hope you do the honorable thing and kill me. I'll cooperate, I swear."

The two burst out laughing, momentarily forgetting their titles of 'hero' and 'villain' could never allow them to get along. Perhaps the stress of everything made them overlook who they were; an outsider would never have guessed that the two had ever been hostile to each other.

OXXXXXXXO

fleets: The relation between Tingle, Ankle, and David Jr. has always bothered me. Especially David Jr.. If you read the enscription on his figurine you find he was just a poor soul who washed up in Tingle Island and was forced to work there ever since. Tingle is evil.

Reily96: Vaati - Interesting. Let me think.

Link - You're just grinning because fleets hasn't decided to let the fangirls run all over you in this story yet.

Vaati - fleets would never...

Diablo1123: Link/Vaati - (glares at author)

fleets - ahaha, um, Tingle. Creepy fellow isn't he?

Peka the Corsair: Vaati - If I ever meet Tingle again I'm going to kill myself.

H-bomber: Link - Ah, you get used to him.

Vaati - Don't listen to Link, he's abnormal. You should be scared. Terrified. That shows you're normal.