fleets: (gasp) one of...the hardest...chapters I've had to write so far. Mostly because of it's importance. Time to go lie down now.
I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I've been busier than I'd anticipated and I also needed a break in this story for a bit because my inspiration to write had dwindled a bit. For those of you who don't know yet, I've started a manga version of Beyond Centuries on my devart account (accessible via 'homepage') to get me inspired to write again (it's helped). Check it out if you're interested. :)
Chapter 17: The Hearts of Men
"I'm home!" Vaati called out like any other day when he came home from 'school,' flinging his coat across over to the couch and skipping steps up to his room. He set his book bag by his bed and brushed away the springtime pollen from his shirt, sneezing as he did so. Then, like any other day, he went back down the stairs to wake up his master who was sleeping once again in his office.
The boy knocked loudly on the door to Ezlo's room. "I'm coming in!" He swung open the door. "Wake up Master Ezlo you old ma…I mean…I uh…um…hello Master Ezlo…" Vaati's voice trailed when, instead of meeting a napping Ezlo he came face to face with the sage who was very much awake. The sage was watching him closely and the apprentice wondered if he had heard what he had been about to say to him. "You're awake," was all he could manage to say.
"I was waiting for you. An old man I may be, and I am usually tired, but I wanted to have a quick word with you today."
Well of course he heard what I'd said. "About what, master?"
"Sit."
With a sweep of his hand, the sage motioned for Vaati to sit. The apprentice tentatively sat down and cocked his head, wondering what was up. Ezlo's expression was hard to read and he didn't know if he should be worried or not. If in fact Vaati were in trouble, it would be better if he played dumb so Vaati took on the most innocent face he could make.
"How was school?"
"Ok." Vaati felt uneasy under Ezlo's stern gaze.
"That's good to hear."
They sat quietly for a few minutes and Vaati resisted the urge to fidget. After a while Ezlo looked around distractedly and tapped his cane.
"What did you learn today?"
Vaati's face relaxed and he threw out words that had been well rehearsed. "Math, ancient picori, the usual."
"The usual…yes. Now that's very interesting considering you haven't been to school in two years."
"Excuse me sir?" Vaati spluttered, completely caught off guard. His blank face broke and for a moment the boy's face was panic-stricken.
Ezlo sighed and stroked his beard thoughtfully. He let his next words hang in the air for his apprentice to consider. "I spoke with Ms. Tutari yesterday."
Vaati became completely still but his eyes wandered around the room. He knew he was in trouble, but was it worth it to keep playing dumb? He felt Ezlo's steely gaze waiting on him. Vaati shrugged. "She probably didn't have much to say about me." No, there's no use playing dumb now. Vaati smiled innocently. "She hasn't taught me anything in three…I mean two years. Of course that doesn't mean I've let the last two years go to waste Master Ezlo."
Ezlo coughed and he appeared displeased with Vaati's brazen attitude. "You have a good reason for this I assume?"
"School was…a waste of my time."
"Elaborate, m'boy."
"I know all the material. I didn't see the point in going anymore."
"And you think that's a good reason?"
Vaati didn't even hesitate. "Yes. I do."
The apprentice had braced himself for Ezlo's anger at this response. He had expected his master to yell at him for what he had done. Therefore, Ezlo surprised him with his next comment. "Fair enough."
Vaati stumbled over his words. "You're not angry with me master?"
"Oh no, I'm very upset with you boy. Not going to school is not the reason why I would be upset with you." Ezlo put aside his cane and steepled his fingers in front of his face. "I'm angry that you couldn't be more honest with me and explained to me why you no longer wanted to attend school. I would most likely have made you attend anyway I admit…but if I had the chance to speak with Ms. Tutari I would have changed my mind. I spoke with Ms. Tutari yesterday," Ezlo repeated, "and I agree with her that perhaps you will be better off being homeschooled.
Now, I want to talk about the issue of honesty. In this household I want no secrets or deception between us, do you understand? If something bothers you I want you to tell me. For two years you've deceived me. Two years. What do you have to say to that?"
Vaati didn't know what to say. He could have apologized but something held him back. It's not my fault. I can do better by myself. You wouldn't believe me. You wouldn't let me work on what I'm working on now.
"And what have you been working on these past two years if school was a…waste of time like you say?"
"Um…" Vaati faltered. There was no way in the world he could tell Master Ezlo he had been secretly smuggling his books to learn material that he wasn't supposed to be learning yet. Ezlo wanted honesty, but this was something he could just not tell him. Not prepared for what to say, Vaati looked at the ground and Ezlo took this the wrong way.
"Fooling around and doing nothing I presume?"
The apprentice stood up angrily. "No!"
"Then what have you been doing?"
Pure frustration was written all over his face but all Vaati was able to do was bite his lip, his expression completely livid. Ezlo sniffed.
"Hmph. I thought so. I can't believe you, boy. I'm so upset with you that I don't know what to do with you. I should ground you for an entire year and set curfews for…ah, never mind. What would that do for you…" The sage sunk low into his seat and pinched his brows tiredly. Vaati was still grinding his teeth together, annoyed with his inability to tell his master that he wasn't the lazy student he thought he was. "I'm not even sure I'm angry with you anymore," Ezlo shook his head. "I'm disappointed…"
Vaati felt angry. He had begun to feel saddened because the word "disappointment" was a word that could cut deep, but anger had surfaced and had washed away the shame. He was angry because Master Ezlo didn't know anything about him and he had no idea just how hard Vaati had been working. I'm NOT lazy! He wanted to scream, but he held his tongue. All he could do was stand there and look as though he was sorry.
Was he sorry? A little, but thoughts of rebellion ran stronger and he wasn't in the mood to apologize. Ezlo had it ALL wrong, so why should he be sorry? What did he have to be sorry for – after all, he had done everything the way he thought was right. Maybe he should apologize for hiding the fact that he hadn't been to school in two years, but the reason he needed to hide that in the first place was because Ezlo hadn't taught him anything! He wasn't the one who should be apologizing!
Still, apologizing would be the quickest way to end this…
"I'm sorry Master Ezlo," Vaati muttered. I'm sorry you're disappointed and that you don't know anything about me old man.
Vaati's apology made the old sage relax with a relieved look on his face. He smiled for the first time they had started talking. "I was waiting for that," he nodded. "I was afraid we would end up yelling at each other again."
"No, I was wrong for not saying anything to you Master Ezlo." But I'm still right about not telling you what I've been doing.
Ezlo closed his eyes and rocked back in his chair. "I've been thinking…it's been two years since you became my apprentice. This is usually the time apprentice sages begin to learn how to do magic so I am considering teaching you how to do some basic spells. I know you've been frustrated I haven't been able to show you how to do anything yet and believe me, I've felt awful holding you back so far."
If you felt so awful then why didn't you do anything about it?!
"Since you're going to be homeschooled now, why don't we begin our first lesson on spells next week? I'm not going to teach you this week because you do need some punishment for your behavior these last two years. I AM still angry about that, boy."
"Real spells…sir?" Vaati asked cautiously. I don't believe you.
"Of course! There's nothing fake about what I'm going to teach you. In the meanwhile, I want to make sure that you really do know all the material the kids at school are learning. If I find out that you don't, then it's back to schoolwork with you whether you like it or not. If you pass, however, then I'll get you started on magic like I promised."
Promises mean nothing. I'll believe it when you do it. "Yes master."
"All right then, run along now. I hope I won't ever have to find out you've deceived me ever again."
"You don't have to worry Master Ezlo." Vaati was getting tired of this, and he felt eager to leave. Once he saw his master nod, he hopped to the door and sprung it open. He was halfway out the door when the sage called again, and the boy stumbled over his feet in surprise.
"By the way, Vaati…"
Vaati turned around with a somewhat annoyed frown. What is it now? "Yes master?"
"I don't think you've told me everything yet."
Oh for the love of Nayru…
Vaati kept his thoughts to himself and waited expectantly for Master Ezlo to continue.
"How did you get those burns if you hadn't actually been to the science fair?"
Vaati's frown became a thin line as he responded flatly "I was making red potion like I told you. It was a half-truth."
Ezlo didn't seem to take his word. "Are you sure, m'boy?"
The thin line became a scowl. "Of course I'm sure Master Ezlo. Otherwise I wouldn't have told you."
"After all that talk we had I really hope you're not lying."
"And after all that talk I wish you'd realize the only way this is ever going to work is when you begin to trust me, Master Ezlo," Vaati put bluntly. He knew Ezlo well enough to know that this line was going to get him to back off on the subject. It was what the old man feared the most; that Vaati didn't feel like Ezlo trusted him. Of course the sage shouldn't trust him, but the boy knew it made his master uncomfortable when he presented him with such an unkind truth. Ezlo was such a naïve fool at times.
Wow, did I really think that? Vaati surprised himself for the second time that week. What a nasty person I've become…
Nonsense, I'm just saying the truth.
Ezlo froze up in shock and he stuttered a little. "Of…of course!" He paused, and then waved his apprentice away. Vaati bowed curtly and left, slightly miffed that Ezlo had remembered how he had come home singed after his failed attempt at elemental magic. Once Vaati had left, Ezlo shook his head sadly once again. He's right…it's my fault. I need to trust him.
XXXXXXXXXX
After two years of trying to learn magic by himself without any guidance, Vaati had been slightly excited at the prospect of finally learning it from a mentor. He had built up so much anticipation that it led him to serious disappointment on the day of his first lesson with Master Ezlo.
"You hold your hand steady like this and then you gently wave it in the direction you want the paper to go…are you paying attention m'boy?"
"Mmf."
"Boy?"
"Mmf?"
"Vaati! Are you serious about this or not?!"
Vaati slowly picked his head up from his arms that were sprawled over his desk and lazily watched Ezlo demonstrate levitating a piece of paper off the floor. Two years ago he would have found this lesson amazing and awe-inspiring but as of now he was bored to death. He had already figured out how to levitate small objects on his own from one of the books he had snuck from Ezlo's office. With a muffled yawn, the apprentice nodded his head once. "Sorry Master Ezlo. You do this, am I right?" Vaati held one arm out and concentrated on the paper on his desk. He flicked his wrist up and let the paper fly into the air and then flutter back in front of him. Ezlo sighed patiently.
"That's very good, boy, but your technique is also very messy and brash. I said to do it gently."
"But what's the difference? I get the point."
"Don't get cheeky with me boy."
"Fine. How's this then?" Vaati focused on the paper again and he brought his hands slowly upwards so that the paper followed them into the air. However, two years of learning by himself earned him bad habits and instead of moving up gently the paper jerked and fidgeted in the air. Losing his patience, Vaati accidentally threw his hands upwards in a gesture of frustration, forgetting that the motion would make the paper move as well. The levitating paper smacked his master in the face and Vaati stifled a snicker before he straightened up and managed to look apologetic. "I'm sorry master I didn't mean to do that."
"As you can see you still have much to learn so straighten up and pay attention. You may think you know everything but you're just a novice, boy," Ezlo said stiffly. "Now try again and put more effort into it because right now I sense hardly any enthusiasm to learn from you."
This is SO boring though. I know how to do this already…
Grumbling, Vaati held out both hands and moved them slowly up. Instead of levitating just the paper he got his quill and several push pins to levitate as well. After a few minutes, he let his hands fall back down and the objects fell to the floor. Ezlo appeared slightly impressed but exasperated at the same time. The sage coughed. "That's great, m'boy, but next time please do what I asked you to do instead of trying other things. It was a good thing you didn't cause an accident with that spell that time."
Vaati refrained from snorting. He rested his chin on his hands and tried his best to look interested in Ezlo's lesson. "So did I pass this lesson? When are we going to get to elemental spells?"
The sage jumped. "Goodness, Vaati, elemental spells are far too advanced and dangerous! You are most definitely not ready for those yet!" he squawked. "And no, you did not pass the levitation lesson yet because you still have not been able to show me how to do it with careful precision. If you want me to teach you advanced sorcery you have to be able to do all the basics perfectly."
Vaati looked away and seemed to be lost in thought. He hated stalling in basics when he wanted to learn better things. He craved learning more difficult spells and wanted to progress further away from basics. Even if Master Ezlo said he needed to wait Vaati felt ready for other things, bigger things. Still, the apprentice felt too tired to argue. One of these days, Master Ezlo's lessons were going to catch up to the readings he had been doing on elemental magic. Finally, Vaati smiled curtly and nodded. "All right. I'll keep practicing Master Ezlo."
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Come here, boy. I want to show you something." Ezlo motioned his apprentice over. Vaati went off toward the summons lazily. As soon as he reached his master's office, Vaati snapped to attention and instantly became intrigued by the object in Ezlo's hands. It was a bundled up sheet of red cloth with a circlet of gold on the end with a mesmerizing jewel. Vaati recognized it as the completed wishing cap he had seen when he had first moved in with Ezlo. "Sit," the sage commanded.
Vaati sat down, his eyes never leaving the hat in Ezlo's hands. The sage proudly presented his creation and handled it with extreme care.
"I assume you've been wondering what I have been working on." He turned the hat over so that the gem glinted magnificently. "This is a wonderful creation if I say so myself. It's called the Wishing Cap, and it grants any wish its wearer desires."
"Any wish?" Vaati awed.
"Yes. I plan to present it to the big people as the greatest gift the Minish has ever been able to offer. It's nearly done with only a few touchups required. I thought you might be interested in seeing it. Careful now," he said as he let Vaati hold it in his hands. Vaati took it eagerly.
"Can I wear it?"
Ezlo squawked. "You most certainly may NOT!" The sage held out his hand in a panicked gesture. "Erhm, I believe it may be better if I held onto it for the time being."
Vaati handed back the hat grudgingly as he had been given less than a minute to take a look at it. Once the sage had his prized possession back in his hands his shoulders visibily relaxed and he cradled it lovingly.
"This is my life's work, boy. It's something I had always been dreaming of creating. Do you remember what I said about the Golden Power?"
The apprentice nodded, still with a frown on his face because he was annoyed by how the hat had been confiscated from him so quickly. "Yes. The power can grant the wish of whoever touches it and gives the holder power, courage, and wisdom dwarfed only by the goddesses themselves."
"Very good. That's exactly right." The sage put the hat back inside a chest sitting on the edge of his desk and stood up. Vaati's narrowed eyes followed his master's movements but he was keenly aware of the chest with the hat. "I wanted to recreate the abilities of the Golden Power in the wishing cap and I've spent years researching how I would go about doing it. The Wishing Cap you saw today is very near its completion and I now believe that recreating the power can very well be done." Ezlo moved over to his bookcase to look for a book. "Isn't it wonderful?"
"That's amazing Master Ezlo." Vaati would have said that with sincerity and excitement if he didn't feel the danger he was feeling in seeing the sage go over to observe the bookshelf. No doubt Ezlo wanted to retrieve a volume to show his apprentice something, but Vaati knew that there was a chance that the sage wouldn't find the book he was looking for because Vaati had replaced them with his beginner's books for his smuggling. "Uh…Master Ezlo?" the apprentice asked firmly, standing up himself. "If you need something I should get it for you. I don't want you to fall down and hurt yourself while you're reaching up for a book. Just tell me the title and I'll find it."
Ezlo turned to look at him with a curious and slightly offended expression. "Sit down, boy, I can do this myself," he said gruffly. "I'm not as old as you may take me to be."
"But master…" Vaati didn't contain the worry in his voice. Ezlo laughed, thinking it was worry from fearing his safety.
"I'll be alright, m'boy! The book I wanted to get is just right here! It's not very big, but it has a chockfull of information on the golden power. You might be interes…" Ezlo's voice died down. Vaati watched his master stare at the bookshelf for a long time with a flat expression, his wizened hands stopped in the middle of taking out a novel. The boy looked down but it wasn't from apology or shame. He was hiding his face that had tensed as his mind quickly went through different scenarios of how to handle this new development. Vaati knew he was caught and that his cover was blown; the only thing to do now was to see how angry Ezlo was going to be and take it from there.
"My books are gone," Ezlo stated calmly. "What is this?"
The sage quietly began to pull out books one by one until there was a modest tower in the middle of his desk. They were the books that had been given to Vaati earlier by Ezlo when he had begun his apprenticeship. At this point, Vaati had leaned back in his chair and was watching his master lazily as each book was placed with a heavy, incriminating air. There was nothing Vaati could do about it anymore so he wasn't even going to pretend innocence.
"Vaati."
Vaati tilted his head slightly upwards, just enough to let his master know that he had heard him.
"Do you know why your books are here instead of mine?"
Vaati considered Ezlo for a moment. The sage was unnervingly calm but his beard trembled occasionally. The apprentice knew from his master's deadly quiet that he was in serious trouble, but for some reason he didn't feel worried or sad at all. "Yes." Vaati shifted in his seat. "I switched them."
"You switched them." Ezlo repeated slowly.
"Yes master."
"Where are they now?"
"In the woods."
"Where in the woods?"
"Somewhere safe, Master Ezlo. You don't need to worry about their condition."
"How long have you had them?"
"Roughly two years."
"And for what purpose did you switch them without telling me?"
"I just wanted to learn more, Master Ezlo. I enjoyed reading them."
Ezlo looked at him skeptically. Vaati was sitting in his chair without any form of nervousness as though he knew he were guilty but didn't care. Vaati had snuck his books two years ago – the same time when he had dropped out of school.
Ezlo remembered the way Vaati's eyes had wandered when he had been asked what he had been doing during the two years he hadn't been in school. He also remembered Vaati's evasiveness when he had been confronted with how he had received the burns on his robes and face.
And then Ezlo knew why. The sage had never felt more angry in his life when he realized then how Vaati had continued to abuse his trust even after Ezlo had spoken to him about dishonesty, never felt more furious when he realized his apprentice had stolen from him, and never felt more enraged when he realized the danger Vaati had put himself in.
"You got those burns making red potion, Vaati?" Ezlo asked. Vaati cocked his head, taken aback and slightly confused by the sudden change of subject.
"Yes…master." The apprentice sat up a little straighter in his seat, nervousness beginning to creep in.
"You still lie to me?! After all this you still lie to me?! Tell me the truth, Vaati!" Ezlo roared. Vaati's eyes widened in surprise at his master's sudden reaction. "Do you know the danger you put yourself in? Do you even understand how dangerous magic is? Especially elemental magic?!"
The words hit Vaati like a sledgehammer cracking his skull. Ezlo knew, and Ezlo was angry. "I…but I…" Vaati stammered, his composure leaving him as he had not thought out how to deal with a situation like this.
A vein in Ezlo's forehead pulsed. "Bring back those books to me. ALL of them! And don't think for a minute that I will continue teaching you how to do magic, boy, you're going to start at the very beginning! I'm going to make sure you understand all the dangers of sorcery before I teach you any more because you obviously don't know the gravity of the art!"
The corners of Vaati's mouth twitched. He was becoming angry that Ezlo was yelling at him like a deranged old man and that he was going to have to go all the way back to square one in his apprenticeship. It wasn't fair.
"Bring the books back, Vaati!"
Vaati stood up from his seat and stared stonily at his enraged master. "Right now, master?"
"Yes now! When else?! Go! NOW!" Ezlo screamed. Vaati hurried out the door to escape the din.
Once outside, Vaati began to run. He wanted to be far away from that damned house with that damned good-for-nothing sage. His teeth were gnashed together in a furious snarl, angry because he had convinced himself that the only person to blame in this whole entire mess was Ezlo. And now the sage was punishing him for being ambitious, and that made Vaati only angrier.
His pace slowed as he passed the orphanage he had grown up in before he had started to live with Ezlo. It appeared sad and neglected since everyone had gone: after Vaati had left, Miss Britta had been able to find good homes for what was left of the few kids in the orphanage and she herself had moved away to set up another orphanage elsewhere where she would be needed more than here. He remembered when the fretful woman visited him for one last goodbye roughly a year or so ago. As Vaati ran past the orphanage he felt no sadness or regret for leaving the orphanage for the apprenticeship: when Glen had left him for a job in Holodrum he had felt no attachment to the place. Miss Britta had always looked at him with that pitiful expression of hers as though she were sorry for something.
Sorry about what? Sorry that his parents had left him before he was old enough to remember? He could care less about his parents. Sorry that he looked like a freak of nature? Then she could stop staring at him, it wasn't like his looks ever hurt anybody. Sorry that her expressions annoyed the crap out of him and made him like her a little less? Psh, what did he care about the orphanage…
What did he care about anything? He was better off by himself.
But now that was going to be taken away from him. Spikes of anger flared up again as Vaati reached the secret base where he had kept the books he had smuggled out of Ezlo's bookshelf. He picked up each one and dropped it into his bag, his lips flattened into a thin straight line. After he had picked up the last one, he slowly trudged out of his secret base and took one last look around.
Once he was sure he had everything, he began to walk back to his home where Ezlo would deprive him of his wealth of knowledge.
XXXXXXXXXX
Weeks passed. It was winter. Ezlo began to question his outburst on Vaati as he saw his apprentice quickly retreat inside himself and become as impenetrable as steel. The boy spoke little and his responses to Ezlo were minimal – just enough to keep Ezlo from questioning him or getting angry with him. He shirked his duties and disappeared for hours at a time without telling Ezlo where he was going, which made Ezlo take on a strict policy of keeping a careful watch over his apprentice. This made Vaati resent the sage even more and their relationship became further embittered.
"And that is how sorcery was first introduced…yes m'boy?"
Vaati lowered the hand he had been raising. "May I go to the bathroom?" He stood up and left when the master sage nodded.
The boy maneuvered around the furniture and made straight for the door outside, passing the restroom without a second glance. Grabbing his hat, he pulled it over his ears and made sure to cover his face with a scarf and guard his fingers with mittens. The air was crisp and the wind nipped his exposed skin. The snow crunched on the ground beneath him.
Vaati began to walk towards the woods, smoky white puffs forming in front of him as he laughed to himself. He couldn't stay in that room with Ezlo any longer, and he needed time to himself. He hated how Ezlo kept a careful eye on him now so it was a relief during times like this when he could escape and be alone. Ezlo was afraid that Vaati would hurt himself again if he wasn't watched, like that accident with elemental magic.
Vaati wandered around, his footsteps following him in the snow, until he reached the crack beneath the roots of a tree where a four-leaf-clover had grown during the spring. The crack was filled with snow and its edges were iced over. The apprentice climbed onto the crooked root and leaned against the towering trunk of the old tree.
He let himself enjoy the calm quiet of the woods with the wind whistling between the branches. He emptied his thoughts and turned his head skywards. A few dry brown leaves had stubbornly remained on the gray branches and were now shivering with the weight of snow. Between them, he could see a swash of clouds like a huge smoldering pillow. Vaati was a little jealous of those clouds – so far away from everything and so free. He could imagine hovering up there, looking down at the ground beneath him and feeling so untouchable.
Vaati snapped his head around. He heard voices. He ducked his head and peeked carefully around for the source of the noise.
The voices were raised and sounded tense, and it seemed as though someone was sobbing hysterically in fear. It made Vaati scared to hear someone so distressed and he crouched even lower to avoid being seen. He began to have a creeping suspicion that the voices did not belong to Minish but…
Oh no…the big people!
Vaati could see three men and a little girl. One of the men was crouched behind the little girl with a savage knife over her throat. Another had both hands in the pockets of his buckskin jacket, his shoulders set back and his chin held high in malevolent confidence. He was speaking smoothly to the third man who was on his knees and shaking like a defeated dog, chest heaving from wracking sobs of terror.
What are they saying?
Vaati knew he should leave the area, but some part of him wanted to stay there and watch in fearful fascination. Something drew him towards the men, and he gasped in modest awe as he watched the standing man send the kneeling one rolling to the snow in pain with one swift kick. The girl began to scream but with the threat of death she trembled back to silence.
Physically, the dominant man appeared much weaker than the man who was now groaning on the ground, whimpering. He was thin and slight with hollowed cheekbones compared to the muscular lumberjack build of the defeated man. His dark eyes glinted with a cold light and his smile was dark and dangerous like an unstoppable tyrant.
So unstoppable…
The sheer power of the evil that the big people were capable of intrigued Vaati now that he was seeing it first hand. It was something most Minish weren't capable of comprehending, and he recalled those times in the past when he continued to question why the big people could be so evil.
Now he saw why. Here, he saw two men capable of harnessing the evil in their hearts to reduce another one who wasn't as dark to submission. They could ask anything they wanted out of the sniveling man and they would get it.
So powerful…
Vaati's ears twitched when he thought he heard someone call out his name, but he continued to stare fixedly at the three men and the girl. The man on the ground was now pleading in a hoarse voice that he would do anything if they would just let his girl go.
They're so unlike me. If I had been like them, Ezlo would have listened. Delta would have listened. Anyone I had wanted to listen would have listened.
Vaati frowned, thinking, when the men sneered and began to move back away from where they had come from. The man on the ground was shoved to his feet and was led away, while he asked continually if his girl was going to be all right.
The big people were capable of things the Minish wouldn't even dare consider. It seemed to run in their entire existence, evidenced by all those notices Delta had used to bring that spoke of violence in the big people's villages. Was it not a weakness in the Minish race, then, if the big people were able to do things they weren't able to do?
His name. He heard someone call out his name again. Who was it?
The image of the thin man in the buckskin jacket popped up in his head again. He would be lying if he said he didn't fascinate him.
If I had that much power, would Delta have questioned me? Would Ezlo?
"Vaati!"
I doubt it.
"Vaati! What are you doing here?!"
Vaati turned around and saw Ezlo pushing through the snow and making his way towards him just as the big people were leaving. He noticed his master glance at them in fear and then swiftly come over and grab his wrist firmly. Annoyed at being found, Vaati cursed for having been so careless as to leave his footprints behind in the snowfall.
"Stupid boy! I told you not to wander off by yourself. You could've been killed!" The sage sounded angry that his apprentice had snuck off again but relieved that he was safe. Vaati wriggled his wrist free out of the sage's grasp and made a face before he glanced over his shoulder where the men had been earlier.
"I just wanted to see what the big people were doing, Master Ezlo."
That fearful look came into Ezlo's dark eyes again. Vaati watched him curiously. "The big people are dangerous, Vaati. They may accidentally kill us without knowing what they are doing."
"Then why do we help them?"
Ezlo hesitated when he saw the look on his apprentice's face. Something had changed about him. Was it his eyes? They seemed a little more chilling and there was a glimmer about them that was eerie. Cogs were spinning in his head that had been better off stalled, and something about Vaati made him uneasy and unsafe. No, that's ridiculous! "Well," the sage deliberated, "it's because they can use our guidance."
"Hmm." Vaati looked away. Not because you're afraid of the things they are capable of doing?
Ezlo suddenly turned and became stern. "But enough of that! You snuck out of lesson again, Vaati! I'm getting tired of this – this is the fifth time in the last three days! I'm going to ground you for a week."
"Yes Master Ezlo." Fine. That's less time I have to spend with you, and I can just sneak out of the window if I wanted to.
The sage and the apprentice began to make their way back towards their home, the sage grumbling all the while. However, his apprentice never heard him because his mind was clouded by the image of the men in the woods.
Vaati was enchanted.
Enchanted by the wickedness in the hearts of men.
Shadow Blues: Gomen for not updating in so long! Vaati's not the same anymore (shakes head sadly) - but secretly I like him better this way.
yaya2dayoyo: Thank you! It frustrates me a little when people get upset at me for "writing yaoi" when in fact that's not what I had intended at all (if they're not upset then I don't care what they think).
DarkLinkvsRaineSagefan101: Good riddance Ezlo doesn't know Vaati had threatened someone with it! It's bad enough already :O. Haha I won't hurt you - thank you for liking them :)
Reily96: I'm probably a sadist - the more things worsen for Vaati the more I enjoy writing this D8. I say I just miss writing the jerk of a mage he's going to be.
Victoria-BlackHeart: And he's so much the more better for it D
Bishiluver01: He's fallen in with the wrong crowd now. 8(
Darkwind: I really, REALLY, missed writing the bad Vaati. I totally agree with you, 100%
PrincessZelda777: Thank you! No, no, I agree with you about how he's a little 'too' hero (I'm trying my best to fix it as I go along though it might be a tad too late for that). I was recently replaying the Minish Cap and Vaati seems way evil...even more than I remembered him to be. Before I end this story arc I'm hoping to get him evil enough to be truer to the game version. :)