A/N- Thanks for the reviews, darthritter86, maximushyrule and The-Saiyan-From-Hyrule. I'm not gonna reveal anything about this... but... never mind...
Disclaimer- I don't own Zelda
"Oh, do be quiet." Riste said in annoyance. "I would rather you not scream because I have a slight headache, yes?"
"I-I'm sorry... that just confused me a bit." Malina said, much softer now. "If he's evil, wouldn't that make you evil, too? I'm a little bit lost."
"Perhaps if you did not talk as much and you listened more, you would get more out of life." Riste answered calmly. "Now listen to what I have to say. When I first began training Vaati, he was younger than you. I am not quite sure his age at the time, but he was quite young. He was a very good student, indeed. He followed orders, he tried his best all of the time, and he valued every small thing that I had to teach him."
"You make it sound like he wasn't a bad guy." Malina said, doubt in her voice.
"No, he really was not. Including you, I will have had seven students. However, I believe that no matter how many I shall have, Vaati shall always be my favorite. He was kind, powerful in magic, and understood life more so than even I did." His eyes seemed to have a peculiar shine when he spoke of Vaati.
"Understand life?" Malina was getting more and more confused.
"Yes. To be a powerful user of magic, you must understand the fundamentals of life. That is what the entire second half of training is about. I do hope that you will be able to understand in time..." Riste appeared to murmur the last part to himself.
"I will learn in time!" Malina exclaimed. "I promise!" Riste barely glanced at her before answering.
"I do not make promises, I am afraid. They are easily broken, and I do not wish for that sort of thing to happen. And anyway, you most likely do not even know what we are talking about. For the whole 'time' thing, I mean."
"Well, then." She sounded slightly miffed. "I see. What are we hoping for, then?"
"You see, we are hoping to teach you magic before the time that Vaati finds out where we are. If he does, you can expect to be dead an hour after." Malina gulped at this. "But enough of this talk. First of all, we must get food into your stomach before I begin teaching you." Riste glanced about. "Curses, by the time we finish eating you will want to go to bed..."
"Um, okay..." Malina answered softly, still slightly confused. Was Vaati good, or bad? What had happened to him that had made him turn evil? Why did the mention of his name strike fear into her heart?
Malina's thought drifted away from such subjects as they began walking down the hall. About every ten feet, there was a river that ran through the hall. It was only three or so feet wide, so it was easy to cross. The entire Zora's Domain appeared to be made of a sort of white stone. Not marble, but something less... shiny, maybe? Upon the walls were only windows with the same type as the ones in Malina's room. The entire way down the hall, neither of them met any guards for the Zora, which frightened Malina slightly.
After a moment of them walking down the halls, Malina realized what she was wearing and felt slightly embarrassed. "Um, Riste? Is there-" She began, but was quickly interrupted by him.
"Here." He said simply, snapping his fingers. Her clothes were bathed, for an instant, in a glowing light. When it went away Malina was slightly surprised. It was a simple white gown with nothing on it. It seemed to be made of the same linen material as her last clothes. She was also wearing soft boots made from, at least that's what it felt like, cotton. It was rather comfortable, really.
"Um, thanks." Malina mumbled. A stray lock got in her eyes and she brushed it behind her ear. As they jumped over another small river, Malina watched the man that was near her. He seemed to be confident, and older than his appearances showed. He also seemed to have no tolerance for anything that he did not like, which also seemed to be Malina. That made her even more frightened of the man.
At the end of the hall, there was a large opening. As the twosome stepped through, the room silenced. It seemed to be room that was made for the purpose of eating, and nothing else. There were many many many Zora inside and it filled Malina's nose with that smell. However, there were also a few Hylians inside, and one Queen of Areu.
The first Hylian's face that Malina found was Delila's. The girl's face was, for but a moment, filled with a loathing that not many people could possibly feel. Afterwords, she put on her buddy-buddy-face and squealed as loud as she could.
"Princess!" Delila cried and hugged Malina fiercely. "Oh, thank goodness! I was terribly frightened when I heard that you might not wake up! And now here you are, alive and well! I am so glad!"
"Ah, yes." Malina answered softly, still completely not understanding the logic of this strange teen. "I'm okay, don't worry, Delila... wait a minute, how did you know that I'm-" She began, but was interrupted, yet again, by Riste.
"Do not be silly. The first moment I saw you, I called you Princess, giving away your silly little charade. Honestly, I am not sure that I understand exactly why you said all of that. Quite foolish, actually." Malina felt her face turn slightly red and she nodded. Delila let go, her face still the face of innocence.
The others in their little group walked over. Well, besides Shina. Shina ran over to Malina, tackled her, and said, "Don't you ever do that again, you idiot! I don't want to see you getting hurt or anything like that at all!" Malina could only nod dumbly to this sudden outburst. She supposed that it meant that Shina wasn't mad at her anymore.
"Get off her." Ceris said in annoyance, pulling Shina off Malina. "Glad to see you're okay." He added with a small grin. She felt her face turn slightly pink. Sparrow helped Malina up and whispered a few words himself to her.
"Glad you're okay." That was probably a mouthful for Sparrow. However, Malina did not get a chance to be dazed or say thank you or anything because Yuumei eclipsed her in a bone crushing hug.
"Oh, Malina! I am so so so so so so so so so so happy that you're okay! I was so so so so so so so so so so scared for you! Are you okay!?" Yuumei demanded, still hugging Malina as tightly as she could.
"I-I'm fine." Malina managed out, who was starting to see black on the edge of her vision. "C-can't... breath..." Yuumei quickly let go, her face having a touch of pink and giggling slightly in embarrassment.
"Oops! Sorry, Mal!" Mal? Where had that come from? Oh, whatever. Malina thought to herself, not caring by this point.
"Be careful, you crazy people." Riste said gruffly. "I just barely allowed her to be my student and I do not want you people killing her." Allowed? How rude. "It may be rude, but I do not want you thinking any thoughts that are rude towards me, your master.
"Whatever." Malina grumbled, folding her arms. Marit patted her back a few times.
"Don't worry, kiddo. It'll probably only get worse from here."
"That's not helping!" Malina exclaimed, throwing her arms above her head. Marit laughed at her and Riste frowned.
"I came here to get some food in this girl's stomach. We start training tomorrow, and I am not working with a weakling or someone that is broken." Riste folded his arms, still frowning. Everyone nodded slowly, slight disappointment on their faces.
Malina sniffed the air, wondering what they were going to eat. It smelt like... "Fish?" She asked, feeling slightly sick. "I don't wanna eat fish..."
"That is why I have bread and cheese." He said simply. Malina followed, slightly confused.
"Wait, do you not like eating animals either?"
"Of course I do not." He snorted. "Being a magic user means that we have a better sense of what goes on around us. Even the life of an ant suddenly becomes very important, more important than any regular person could understand. Even Vaati understands that."
"Then why would he kill me at a moment's notice?" Malina asked as they sat down on a pillow that served as a seat. He answered after a long pause, but it was not with the happiness that he had spoken with before. Much more like a grieving voice.
"Vaati was... changed, you could say. He will not kill you himself, no matter how much he wishes it. Because, you see, he will feel too much hurt at ending a life. It may even hurt him greater to hurt someone that he knew, like you. I doubt that he remembers anything that happened back then, though."
"What do you mean? Have we met?" Malina asked while chewing on a peice of bread.
"First of all, do not speak with your mouth full of food. It is disgusting. Secondly, yes, but you were a baby. At the time he was but my apprentice, about two-thirds done with his training..." Riste began.
Riste smiled slightly and pointed to the castle. "That is Hyrule Castle, Vaati. We will continue your training there." The boy stared at the castle, obviously in awe.
"It's big." He said softly. "I knew it was large, but not quite this big." The older man snorted.
"Vaati, you've never been to the Lost Woods, even. Quite pathetic, if I might say so." The violet haired boy blushed slightly, looking down.
"Y-yes, I suppose so..." A man ran past the two, shouting excitedly.
"The Queen is giving birth to her child! A child will be born by the end of today! A child, a child!" Riste glanced at Vaati, who seemed to be slightly surprised.
"That's interesting. We happened to be here on the exact day of that." Vaati stared at the castle, his violet eyes reflecting it slightly.
"Do you think it was fate?" Riste asked, a slight smile on his face.
"Oh, yes." Vaati answered easily. "Come, let's hurry, yes? I wonder if they'd even let us see the child..."
"I happen to be an old friend of Queen Zelda's, so yes, I believe she will allow us to see her child." Riste replied calmly, flipping the reins a little faster so that they could see the child sooner. Vaati did the same.
As the twosome entered the castle, panic was everywhere. "The Queen! The Queen!" It seemed to be that everyone was shouting.
"Oh dear." Vaati sighed. "I don't like loud noises, so this should be doom for me." Riste laughed easily as they walked along. Every day more that he spent with Vaati, it seemed to be easier to forget Ganondorf and just feel happy.
"Yes, it ought to be." Riste answered simply.
"That is enough story for now!" Riste said simply, standing up. Malina watched him in confusion.
"What? Why?"
"Because, you would most likely scream or interrupt a thousand times if I told you the entire story." Riste said just as simply as before. Malina pouted at him and folded her arms. He ignored her. Malina chose to begin begging.
"Please? I promise that I won't scream or interrupt... and I'll do my very best while you train me! Please! I hate it when people leave me hanging like that. Mistress Impa did it all of the time just to get on my nerves."
"Fine, fine. Just stop bothering me... and if you do not do your best, I will slap you five times, yes?" Malina gulped, knowing he would do it.
"Uh, okay..." Malina mumbled, bringing her knees up to her chin.
"We were waiting outside the room when..."
"The baby has been born..." A doctor said to Vaati and Riste softly. "However..."
"What?" Riste asked, standing up with his eyes on fire.
"It's just that... it was a girl."
"What do you mean 'it was a girl'? It is a girl still, right?" Vaati asked anxiously. The doctor before them sighed.
"She... she came a bit too early, I'm afraid. She is no longer with us. I know that you, Riste, have the ability to heal someone. Or at least-"
"I cannot bring back the dead." Riste said flatly.
"I did not mean that. I understand at least some of your limitations." The man answered, his voice still slightly soft. "I was wondering if you could help the Queen. She is not taking this very well, I'm afraid."
"Ah." Riste did not like being proved wrong. "I see. Of course. My apprentice and I shall do our best."
"Thank you." The man said simply and led them into the room. Queen Zelda was sitting there, her face tired and full of depression. On the table beside her lay the baby, wrapped in a blanket. However, no one was around her, for everyone was trying to calm down the Queen.
"My baby!" She cried, tears in her eyes. "My baby... my little Princess! It can't be true."
Riste glanced at Vaati, who was not staring at the Queen. He was, instead, staring at the dead child and biting his bottom lip. "Do not even think about it, Vaati." Riste said, his voice low and dangerous. The boy ignored him and walked over to the baby.
Vaati touched the child's head and closed his eyes. By now, everyone was watching him. He seemed to not notice, though. He seemed too intuned by what he was about to do. For a moment, light surrounded him and Riste sighed. It was too late to help either of them by now.
When Vaati opened his eyes again, he was fine. He looked down at the baby and blinked in surprise. She was crying slightly, and moving her arms about slightly.
"My baby... is alive!" Zelda cried, tears in her eyes. "Oh, thank goodness! Thank you so much..."
Malina stared blankly at the man. "Vaati... saved my life? But that doesn't make any... okay, I am so lost."
"Training begins tomorrow." Riste answered, standing up. "Do not be late and get a good night's sleep."
"What?!" Malina exclaimed. "Can't you explain anything to me!?"
"No." Was his answer as he walked away.
A/N- Yeah, Riste is awesomeness. He will destroy you all! BWA HA HA! Anyway, R&R. Oh, and I hated how short this chapter was. At least you got to learn a bit about Vaati.