Ok.
I haven't updated in a long time, in months, maybe even in a year, but here - FINALLY - is chapter 4! Much thanks to those that review and watch this story, and I can only hope that you will forgive me for my hiatus. I've had this file on my computer since... well, early this year, and worked on it intermittenly until finally adding the finishing touches on today.
I have started chapter 5, and will try to work on it more often than I usually do. I have another stupid computer class this year, and can actually get a TON of writing done in there, so hopefully the next chapter will be out quicker. I've even started an Ezlo-centric one-shot, although it's going to be very long and it won't be done for a while.
Stupid Koholint, for trying to write something else, right? ;P But I've had both this story and that new one-shot I mentioned in my head for years, and I'm just trying to write it all up.
Thanks for bearing with me, guys, and enjoy chapter 4!
Master and apprentice stayed that way for a while. Time slowed and neither trusted their eyes completely.
Vaati thought that he was dreaming again. His hurt foot still throbbed at him, reminding him with its dull steady rhythm that this was real, but his mind refused to accept it. Could it be… him? Was he going to be rescued?
Vaati kept his eyes locked onto those of the other.
The green-clad Minish sorcerer could do nothing but stare. The frozen kitchen and the dangerous mess that littered the tile floor were for a moment, forgotten. Ezlo, for it was of course Ezlo, could only hear the slow sturdy, beat of his heart- the only thing that told him anything truthful.
He was the first to break eye contact; Ezlo simply could not believe his eyes. He closed them, believing that the scene would disappear, and inhaled deeply.
When he opened them, Vaati was still there. The scene looked like a painting- everything was almost too… precious. Dried smudges of tears stained Vaati's rose-tinted cheeks and Ezlo felt as though he, too, would cry, just by looking at them. Everything was so… real. But Ezlo had to remind himself that yes! This was real!
It finally sunk in, and his relief was so great at finding Vaati that he let out a deep, quaky sigh. If something had happened to him…
No, no, best not to think of that…Ezlo told himself.
Ezlo had known Vaati and taken care of him for so long now that he had developed a paternal concern for him. The small part of him that wished he'd opted for a having a family instead of becoming a scholar found itself completely occupied ever since Vaati had stumbled into his life. And now for the last twenty-four hours he'd been fretting and losing sleep all because of his lost little apprentice!
His parental instincts were on overdrive, and the adrenaline rush he'd had earlier had subsided and left him shaking. If he were that sort of person, he might have even offered up a prayer of thanks for finding his apprentice in one piece…
… well, almost one piece.
Ezlo's quick gray eyes immediately darted to Vaati's injured foot. He'd been feeling a creeping sort of dread that told him things simply couldn't be this easy… was this why? Vaati's injury?
…but no, Ezlo could immediately tell that Vaati's injury wasn't life threatening. He just needed some ointment and some gauze, and a bit of time to heal. Ezlo's mind was nagging him about… something else.
But never mind that now, he berated himself, shaking away that dark nagging feeling, the important thing is is that Vaati is alive and we can easily get out of here now.
Ezlo quickly, and carefully stepping over shards of glass, crossed the distance that separated them and gathered Vaati up in a warm embrace.
After the shock of being reunited had faded somewhat, Ezlo immediately got down to business. Vaati's foot needed treatment right away, and he was definitely in no condition to be spirited back to the Minish village. Ezlo had his bird-headed staff, and healing it would be no problem, but the foot would take a couple of hours to fully mend, as it was so deep. He knew that staying here any longer was foolish, but unfortunately he had no choice.
He turned toward Vaati and gently lifted him. Vaati had collapsed upon the floor as soon as Ezlo had broken their embrace and had remained there, nursing his foot and patiently waiting for his master to finish thinking. It was something he'd gotten used to over the years - if Ezlo needed to think, well by golly, he'd better not be disturbed.
Vaati had been whacked at plenty of times until he'd mastered that lesson quite well, thank you very much.
He winced a bit as Ezlo upset his foot, but it was no longer so painful. Ezlo being there somehow made it all better, and as long as he didn't look at his foot (looking at it seemed to make it worse), he could tolerate the pain. He stood carefully, then looped his arms around Ezlo's neck to steady himself and tentatively asked, "Master…?"
Ezlo smiled down at him kindly and focused his full attention upon his apprentice. "Yes Vaati?"
Vaati swallowed. He still wasn't sure if Ezlo was thinking anymore or not…
"Well, ah… what's the plan?" He smiled sheepishly.
Ezlo chuckled, "We're going to get you fixed up a bit first, and then we can leave."
Vaati noticeably brightened. He felt like he'd been trapped in this Hylian home for years, not just overnight, and thinking about returning to the village definitely lifted his spirits.
"First, though, we have to get out of this kitchen and hide somewhere until we can heal that foot of yours." Ezlo winked and Vaati broke out into a grin. "We're going over there," he pointed towards the living room, "Do you think you can walk it?"
Vaati's grin turned sour and he impatiently rolled his eyes. Chuckling, Ezlo reached over and suddenly swept his apprentice off his feet. Vaati squeaked in surprise, but tolerated being carried, due to his foot. He hugged what he could of Ezlo and buried his nose in his chest.
Ooof kid, you're not a little boy anymore… Ezlo thought, surprised at the effort it took to lift Vaati, Just yesterday you seemed to be so small…
Ezlo picked his way across the now melting kitchen and desperately tried to avoid the shards of glass strewn across the floor. It was made doubly difficult by the burden he was carrying, especially as he was trying not to accidentally nudge Vaati's injured foot. But he eventually made it safely across the disaster site, and gently deposited Vaati underneath a couch, concealed behind the foot. Ezlo crawled beneath the sofa after him and plopped down next to his injured apprentice.
Ezlo let out a large sigh and leaned back on his hands. He felt… beat all of a sudden, as though he'd been mountain hiking all day. It wasn't that Vaati was that heavy, nor that he was that old. It was really a mental fatigue more than anything, and he was glad for the chance to rest, at least for a little while. Yesterday's events and all the worrying he had done had exhausted him. And yet, he couldn't sit and rest forever - Vaati's large red eyes were imploring him as to why he was just sitting there.
Surprising even himself, Ezlo reached out and ruffled Vaati's hair. He wasn't usually so fatherly with the boy, but he decided that the circumstances had mandated it. Vaati's eyes opened wide, with which his now messy hair gave him a frazzled appearance, and Ezlo chortled to himself.
"Don't worry, Vaati, I'll fix that foot of yours. Just let me rest for a bit…" He trailed off, feeling that weariness again as he thought about the events of the past day.
Vaati, now assured that his master was in charge and was going to do something, settled down and waited. However, he couldn't help but fiddle with the hem of his robe, glancing up at Ezlo every now and then. He superstitiously avoided glancing at his foot, but he was starting to feel bored. And when he got bored, well, his favorite pastime was annoying Ezlo. An impish grin made its way across his face and his eyes lit up with a rather mischievous light.
Ezlo, suddenly startled out of his thoughts, looked over at Vaati and nearly jumped out of his skin. He jumped to his feet and ended up slamming his forehead into the overhanging of the couch. Vaati cackled, but quickly stopped when he noticed Ezlo's fierce, angry expression, his hand to his forehead. Ezlo wasn't hurt too badly, but it hurt enough that pretending to be mad at Vaati was easy.
Sometimes though, Vaati really scared him… as silly as that was. Ezlo knew he was just very strong-willed and antisocial, and that didn't make him a bad person. Sometimes though, Ezlo fancied there was a demon inside of Vaati, which manifested itself only in extreme situations. He'd caught Vaati doing some very cruel things before, and those expressions of his were almost more sadistic than his actions.
Vaati could be… evil…
Ezlo, Ezlo, Ezlo, you old fool. Vaati isn't evil! What are you thinking? Sure, he's a bit out there, but then so are you. It was just that expression of his making you think weirdly again…
Ezlo shook these disturbing thoughts from his mind and sat back down again, nursing his throbbing forehead. Vaati looked very apologetic now and scooted closer, leaning his tired head on Ezlo's shoulder, all the while looking at him, his eyes saying, "Are you ok?"
Ezlo shook his head and smiled, then put an arm around his apprentice. Vaati closed his eyes and relaxed, his fears and pains for the moment gone. He was suddenly so tired…
Meanwhile, Ezlo smirked to himself. He was just waiting for Vaati to go to sleep so that he could work on his foot. Healing usually wasn't too bad, but Vaati hated it and claimed that it hurt. So, he would just wait for the boy to drop off to sleep before beginning the healing.
Ezlo always had a plan, even when it appeared that he was idling. Planning, really, almost more than anything, was Ezlo's specialty.
And so he waited.
Vaati finally fell asleep, comforted by the warmth of his master's one-armed embrace and the lull of another's steadily beating heart. He looked the epitome of a sleeping angel, (though of course he really wasn't one). Ezlo inched away, careful not to upset him or accidentally wake him. He let Vaati slide softly onto the floor, his legs brought up toward his chest and his hands slightly curled in their resting position. Vaati's lavender hair spilled out onto the floor and pooled underneath him.
Ezlo – almost – rubbed his hands together in glee. That, of course, wasn't a very mannerly thing to do, and extremely un-Ezlo-ish, but he was delighted that his plan was working so far. He picked up his bird-headed staff, which he'd laid on the floor next to him, and prepared to heal Vaati's foot.
By now, it had been a couple hours or so after the accident, and the blood on Vaati's foot had caked up. The blood flow from his foot was minimal by this point, but not yet completely abated. Ezlo had to clean all of the dried blood off first, and then he could stem the flow of blood and finally heal the punctured flesh, bone, and ligaments.
And so he set to work. He first pointed the bird's head at the foot, muttered some words, and a gentle, cleansing stream of water poured from the tip of the beak. This he used to carefully clean the wound – he didn't want Vaati to wake up because of the sensation of water. He decided it was a bit too risky to continue, however, after Vaati stirred twice. So he whispered another command to his staff and a flaky, glittery powder materialized into his hand. This powder he tossed into the air above Vaati's head, which effectively sent him into a deep sleep. This special sleeping powder would keep him snoozing, even through major things like surgery.
Ezlo finished cleansing the wound with the water and some iodine he'd magicked. It was probably the iodine that made Vaati hate healing so much, as it stung like a cloud of hornets, but it was extremely effective in preventing infections. He finished the cleansing by running more water over the wound to get the iodine off.
As for the magic water and iodine, it didn't run into the carpet and stain things, or get things wet. It was magical, of course, and poured on the surface you wanted it to be poured onto, but nothing else. It had taken Ezlo a while to master the technique perfectly, but he considered all of his practice well worth the time it took. He often used it, mostly around the house, but in some special situations as well.
Now Ezlo really got a good look at the wound. It wasn't as bad as he'd thought earlier – it was just a thin, thin stab through the foot. A stab through the foot was bad, of course, but a thick stab would have been even worse. Ezlo murmured yet another spell, and a thick, creamy substance frothed forth from the beak of his staff. He stuffed the hole in Vaati's foot with it, and let it sit. This substance was a special material that quickly stopped bleeding. Ezlo let it sit a minute or so and then washed it away. He carefully poked at the wound with his finger, chewing nervously at his tongue, to make sure the bleeding had subsided. Luckily it had, and Ezlo could move onto the third and final step of the healing: the actual "repairing" of the foot. Since the wound wasn't as bad as he'd thought earlier, it wouldn't need the couple hours he'd figured it would need. The repairing would be much quicker, which would hopefully work to their advantage – the Hylians could still return home at any given moment.
The repairing was the part of the healing that required his utmost concentration and energy. He softly spoke the healing command and a strange, yet soothing, green light erupted from the head of the bird. This light he passed over Vaati's injury, all the while murmuring different spells and commands.
He kept one thing and one thing only in his mind the entire time: Heal Vaati. Please heal my Vaati's poor foot…
Outside, the wind picked up and then suddenly subsided.
Ezlo's concentration was enormous and his technique precise. The actual mending took less than a minute, but afterwards he felt physically drained. He always did after performing a healing, but luckily this one wasn't very major (compared to others). So he breathed heavily for a few minutes, brought his heart rate down, and then surveyed his work. There was nothing more than a scar left in place of the wound, that would need a day or so to be fully "set", but Ezlo considered his work done
Now he just had to wait for Vaati to wake up… the sleeping powder's effect wouldn't wear off for a couple hours, and carrying Vaati all the way to the Minish village was out of the question. As much as he hated to admit it, he was too feeble and old to carry Vaati very far anymore. So Ezlo had no choice but to wait, which he loathed even more than being old. He fully realized that they were still in a Hylian house, and that the Hylians would return sometime. He just had to hope that they wouldn't come home for a while…
Such thoughts went through his mind, and the sleep lost from the last night already had him nodding.
Vaati awoke, startled by a sound. He managed to comprehend in his half-consciousness that he had been asleep (since when?) and that his foot didn't hurt anymore. Also, there was a warm body somewhere on his right side…
Vaati groggily pulled himself up and saw Ezlo passed out on his right. He sniggered softly to himself at Ezlo's sleeping position. He was on his back, sprawled out, with his mouth open and his head tilted to the side. Vaati figured that if Ezlo were a cartoon drawing, he'd be drooling. The thought alone was enough to send him into a fit of giggles – the perfect, refined Ezlo, drooling in his sleep!
Then another sound shut him up in alarm. He heard the sounds of feet tramping and a gasp. He heard gasps and sounds of shock. A giggle, and then a high-pitched inhalation of surprise. More gasps. He heard voices, and distinctly the word "door".
In Hylian.
Vaati panicked and threw himself at Ezlo, shaking him furiously, attempting to wake him up. Ezlo finally cracked open one eye, then suddenly wrenched himself into full consciousness at seeing Vaati's exasperated expression. He was frightened, and badly. Ezlo's fatherly instinct reared its head and spurred him into action.
"Vaati? What's wrong? What – " Vaati cut him off in alarm.
"The Hylians! Ezlo, they're home!" He hissed in a panicked whisper. He was still tugging panickedly at Ezlo's sleeve.
The effect of the bad feeling Ezlo had had earlier returned in full force. It nagged at his thoughts, telling him that something was about to go terribly wrong. He snatched at Vaati and clutched him protectively to him, his heart rate picking up speed and hammering in his chest. Even Vaati could feel it, the sensation causing a dull throbbing to begin again in his bruised chest. He squirmed uncomfortably, but couldn't escape Ezlo's tight embrace.
The Hylians, meanwhile, surveyed the damage done to their front door and hovered about the disaster site. The father was distraught and the mother was nearly hysterical – they feared that someone had broken into their home. The father was the first to venture into the house, his wife clutching him and their little girl Meggie following closely behind.
The family cautiously ventured in, the father putting his hand to his pocket, feeling for the knife he always carried. He was tense, the smallest sound freezing him in place. He held his family back with an arm, and eventually he called out.
"Hello-ooo! Anyone here…?"
Ezlo clamped a hand over Vaati's mouth and clutched him tighter, praying to the forces that be to keep them hidden and undiscovered.
Ooof, crappity ending right? I was actually at a loss of how to end it, but chapter five picks right up where it left off. I'll try to write as often as possible, but I can't really guarantee anything. Computers are so distracting! xD I can't even get any digital art done anymore!
I know some things are a bit confusing, but just ask me if you need something cleared up.
But hope you enjoyed, and click that lovely review button for me, ok my pretties? Your support really helps, and it's largely due to reviews and watches that I even remember, "Oh yeah, I have that fic to write!"
Thanks for bearing with me, and hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter.
Koholint
