Updates are most likely going to start being slower due to Very Important Real Life Stuff. Sorry about that... Hopefully they'll speed up again after some time. So,

in the last chapter,

Link and Ezlo, though Ezlo was a bit reluctant to, went into Deepwood Shrine in search for the Earth Element. Link began showing huge amounts of magic potential, and Ezlo accidentally let it slip that he was closer to Vaati than one might assume. Link decided that he wanted to figure out just how the hat and the sorcerer knew each other. After defeating a larger-than-average slime-thing (also known as the big green chuchu) at minish size, Link and Ezlo found the Earth Element! The pair received a bag of bombs and got back to Link's grandpa's house, where Grandpa Smith had a little talk with Ezlo, revealing that Link was the one affected by Epona's accident- as well as something about Link and medicine...

Chapter 6: Searching for the Light Force

It was dawn, and Vaati was already awake and flying. He had decided that the 'sacred place' could very well be Royal Graveyard, located in Royal Valley, located somewhere in Haunted Forest. Vaati was heading there at that particular moment. Apparently, whoever had made the map was scared of ghosts, as there was a warning on the map saying 'Beware! Ghosts live here!'. Personally, Vaati wasn't scared of ghosts. After all, ghosts were dead people with heavy regrets. Vaati remembered, as he flew towards the graveyard, that ghosts needed someone with powerful magic to stay with, or they would disappear from existence. Perhaps that person had gotten ghosts confused with spirits. Everybody did that...

Vaati looked down, and saw Haunted Forest spread out below him in all directions. The trees were a sickly yellow-orange, and there were clouds of purple fog swirling through the trees. They were seemingly endless, yet the graveyard was supposed to be there. The area appeared to be cursed. There would be no entrance from the sky. Vaati turned back around and landed at the entrance of the forest. If he couldn't go over the forest, he'd have to go through it.

Inside the forest, there was exactly no light, and it was extremely dark. However, Vaati could see in the dark. He'd always been able to, and he used to think everybody could- until he'd been out on a little walk and he'd bumped into him... No. Now was not the time to be thinking about him. Just in front of Vaati was a wooden sign that read 'up'.

(Up?) thought Vaati, (As in, 'up ahead'?) Well, that was most likely, considering most people can't fly. A pesky, one-eyed, floating white monster known as a ghini tried to attack him, but Vaati blasted it with compressed wind (Very painful if you're the one who's hit) and followed the directions, ending up in another dark section of forest. Another ghini tried to attack him, but Vaati just blasted it then read another sign in this area. 'Left' it read.

The one after that read 'same as before'. (Left.) thought Vaati, blasting another ghini.

After that, 'same as the beginning'. (Up.) thought Vaati, blasting another ghini.

And after that, 'right'. (Is there no end to this forest?!) thought Vaati, grumpily blasting yet ANOTHER ghini.

And after THAT, 'same as two before'. (Up. Again.) thought Vaati, blasting one last ghini.

After all of that, he was deep into Royal Valley. It was still very, very, dark. Vaati walked toward a huge, locked gate. He could see that the graveyard was beyond he gate. However, Vaati could also see that if he tried to fly over the gate, he'd end up outside the forest again. It was just how these sealing curses worked. Vaati decided to find the key, so he began by barging into a nearby house. "Who's there?" asked a bald, completely hair-less old guy with a hunched back and a shovel asked, "Don't barge in, I haven't lit the fireplace..."

"Oh, but I can see you very clearly... Now tell me, what do you know about sacred places around here, and what do you know about the light force?" asked Vaati, ominously.

The man was clearly too scared to light the fire now, and Vaati's red eye glowed in the dark with an iridescent gleam...

"Um... I know next to nothing about the light force, it's just some legendary power that probably doesn't even exist, and as for sacred places around here... there's the Royal Graveyard, but I can't find the key to there... I've gone and lost it." answered the man, "Why don't you leave now?"

"You lie." stated Vaati, "Where is the key?"

"Here!" cried the man, passing Vaati a rubbery, slightly bendy key. A fake... did this man think he was stupid? Vaai's eye narrowed.

"I'm not stupid. The real one, please." Demanded Vaati, unimpressed. That wasn't even a good fake. He didn't even need to use his gift to know that.

"Okay, okay, here it is!" yelled the man, pulling the real key out of his pocket and throwing it to Vaati, who caught it.

"See, that wasn't hard." said Vaati, the gleam in his eye fading as he left the house.

("What are you becoming? Hurting people? Scaring people? Maybe those people were right to be afraid of you.") said Vaati's inner voice.

("Oh, please. you're powerful now. No-one can stop you. Once you make that power permanent, you'll finally feel safe.") said a darker voice, a more menacing voice.

("But will you BE safe? Power isn't the answer you're searching for!") argued the original, quiet little voice.

(GO AWAY!) screamed Vaati in his head, his feelings mixing up, confusing him. They BOTH made him feel scared. (STOP IT! I DON'T WANT YOU THERE! I DON'T WANT TO FEEL ANYTHING! GO AWAY, go away... make these feelings stop!) pride-horror-guilt-malevolence-fear-rage... Rage. The cold rage effectively nullified the two voices and got rid of Vaati's confliction, at least for now. His goal... he would focus on his goal. That way, he wouldn't have to feel anything.

Vaati quickly went back to the gate and opened it, leaving the key in the lock. He picked up a metal rod nearby and turned it into a metal shovel (a primary form of magic known as transformation magic). He did feel a wave of magic here, but it wasn't quite powerful enough to be the light force. However, Vaati thought that maybe it was buried so deep that he couldn't feel it properly.

An hour later, Vaati could barely believe the sorts of things buried around here... rupees, chests filled with odd blue sea shells, and maybe some other stuff too... However, it had become clear that the light force was not around here. Vaati continued to explore the graveyard. Perhaps there was someone here who could help him figure out where the light force was. First, Vaati dropped the shovel then took out his map and pencil before crossing out all the places where the light force wasn't. He then tried to decide where it might be. Minish Woods was always an option. He also hadn't properly explored Hyrule Town or Castle properly yet. He would even search Mount Crenel or Castor Wilds if the light force wasn't anywhere else. If it wasn't there he was going to have to learn how to swim... because Lake Hylia would be the last place left, unless it was somewhere in between all those places...

"Boo!" suddenly yelled a voice behind him.

"That wasn't scary." stated Vaati, not even turning around. A white spirit with a red hat floated in front of him, and another spirit with a blue hat floated around him, stopping to the left of the spirit in the red hat.

"Sorry about that. I'm Spekter, and he's" Spekter pointed towards the spirit in the blue hat, "Spookter. He's always tryng to scare people... It's embarrassing."

"Never mind about that, do you two know anything about the light force?" asked Vaati.

"Nope." replied Spookter.

"We've barely even heard of it," added Spekter. Unfortunately, they spoke the truth. "but we know someone who could help you out!"

"Yeah! A friend called Gina! We'll show you where she is!" Finished Spookter.

They led the way, and Vaati followed them. Whoever Gina was, maybe she knew something useful. Vaati wasn't expecting to see a pink ghini with a bright red bow when they reached Gina's home. Vaati instantly prepared to attack, but then the pink ghini spoke.

"Wait! Pause! I'm Gina! Don't shoot, don't shoot... It would take me forever to find the way back home again." Insisted the pink ghini, looking worried. Vaati stopped his magic. "Wait... Pause there... You're VAATI, aren't you? Thanks SO much for getting me outta that box! You wouldn't believe how CRAMPED it was in there! I mean, really, I know I'm a ghini and to be fair, I used to be just as dumb and mindless as all those other monsters, but then a nice little girl was nice to me and POOF! I'm suddenly feeling emotions! And then some kid with a sword shows up and that awful bright light flashes everywhere and I'm stuck in a box. Some people are so rude..."

"Gina? You know Vaati?" asked Spekter, "Oh, that means you're the nice guy who helped Gina out!" Vaati was still talking to Gina.

"You were there." stated Vaati, "Then surely you know about the light force, don't you?"

"Do you mean that great big powerful bright yellow thing that hurt so much?" asked Gina.

"That sounds about right." replied Vaati, "Do you know where it's hidden?"

"No clue, sorry. All I know is that it definitely not here." replied Gina, "It won't be anywhere near us monsters, we can't go near the stuff without it burning like crazy... On another note, if you need some help, use summoning magic to bring me right over. I owe you a favour or two. Or more than two."

"I'll keep that in mind." said Vaati, thinking that maybe Gina's help would be useful at some point. He then turned to Spookter and Spekter. "I'll be going now." he told them, but then something made him say, "By the way, Hyrule Town is full of kiddies. I think they might be more easily spooked, Spookter."

After that, he left the graveyard, locking the gate, then dropping the key in the old man's chimney on the way out.

In the sky above Haunted Forest, Vaati crossed that place off the map. He decided to go to Minish Woods next. Maybe, just maybe, there were actual minish in there. If so, he could get some useful information from them. He also made a mental note not to accidentally go to Lake Hylia again. Flying once more, Vaati quickly made his way to Minish Woods. However, as he passed over Trilby Hylands, he spotted Link- wearing a green hat- running along as fast as he could. Vaati's eye widened as he felt the great power of Earth, the power of life itself, flow through to him from Link's bag. What was that boy called Link doing with the Element of Earth? How did he even find it? Vaati decided to ask somebody about that- he didn't want Link getting in his way! Then he remembered Link's words...

"Why d-do you feel no j-joy?"

...that boy was hiding something, but now was not the time to dwell on that. Vaati passed Hyrule Town next, and spotted Malon and Talon speaking to some of Hyrule's soldiers. That would not be good... He soon landed on a bridge which led into Minish Woods, before going inside.

The woods were beautiful. There were boldly-colored plants everywhere, and rays of sunlight flickered through the trees. The grass were many shades of green, and there were bright red mushrooms and pretty blue flowers hiding among great big, leaves...

Seven-year-old Vaati wandered down a small pathway just outside the village. He looked at the beauty of the forest and felt a spark of happiness, of inspiration. Tiny, pure white sparks flickered from Vaati's fingertips, and delightful, pretty silver butterflies seemed to fly out of the palm of Vaati's left hand. He smiled for the first time in years- a true, innocent, genuine smile. He was finally ready.

Vaati bitterly remembered that memory. He never forgot those silver butterflies, and no doubt the teeny-weeny butterflies were still out there, somewhere. That had been his first bit of transformation magic. Transforming air into butterflies. Vaati also remembered what happened next. He'd proudly showed Ezlo what he could do -how he could really see far-smaller-than-minish-sized butterflies in the air- but he hadn't even pretended to be impressed. Back then, he hadn't quite trusted Ezlo (Vaati is not a very trusting person. It doesn't help that his first memory of Ezlo is waking up with no memories) but he had looked up to him. He had been beginning to feel closer to Ezlo, but then he had crushed Vaati's pride. Crushed what he'd found in himself. He'd tried. He'd tried everything to impress Ezlo, but no matter what he did, it was never good enough. No, it should be better, Ezlo had always said.

"No, that's not right." said Ezlo, "Those butterflies are silver- they aren't charged with enough emotion, they should be gold. You're nearly ready, but not yet."

Vaati had been crushed. It had taken him months upon months to bring those silver butterflies. Yet, even now, they never turned gold. In the end, they were just something else different about him. Different... right to the core.

Vaati, in some kind of trance, lifted his left hand, and pure white sparks danced from his finger tips, and he watched as two normal-sized butterflies formed from the air at his fingertips. They were beautiful, but not enough. Never enough. In the end, Ezlo had realised his mistake, but by then it was too late- Vaati would never look up to him the same way again, afraid of being crushed again.

(Once bitten, twice shy, as the saying goes...) thought Vaati... "Ouch." he said half a millisecond later. A hard lump of dirt had hit him in the back. Vaati whipped around to face... a red octorok. Vaati had done research on everything about The Human World, including all the legends and the facts about the monsters. As a minish octoroks were nearly unstoppable, but now? He blasted it, and a few others, with bolts of electrified air. That would teach them to shoot rocks at HIM. "Ezlo... I hope you realise that when I turn you into stone, it will be your fault for being so ignorant of my pain." Vaati told Ezlo, wherever he was. He felt somewhat sad when he said that aloud.

If he said it aloud, it had to be true... yet he suddenly found himself saying, "You cared, Ezlo. But you were clueless. You subconsciously expected me to be someone I wasn't... I was different, and you too felt threatened." Vaati stopped talking. That was true too, it seemed. That meant... he had cared. Of course he had... Vaati thinking he didn't must have been a teenager thing. But Vaati wondered why everyone had felt threatened by him. Back then, Vaati had been the most pathetic minish in the village. He'd been scared of practically everything. Vaati's eye looked down and narrowed slightly. "Well, now I'm scary. Now you can be afraid... Now I truly am a threat. Ironically, it's all your fault."

He had almost blinded him because he believed that someone had to 'deal with' Vaati and it might as well be him. How sweetly ironic that it was his actions which had truly made him dangerous... Thinking about all this, Vaati wandered though the forest, idly blasting octoroks and chuchus along the way. There was clearly no light force anywhere in the area, however, what happened was that Vaati's guilt faded away. He just stopped feeling it. Enough was enough. He would find the light force, turn Ezlo, and maybe Link, into stone, then he'd leave Hyrule and find his own path. A new start. Most of all, he would feel safe, and he would make himself safe.

(Actually,) thought an unnatural malevolent, cold part of Vaati, (turn Ezlo to stone AND throw him into Lake Hylia. That will teach HIM!) chuckling at the thought, his eye an iridescent blood-red, Vaati wondered around some more until he spotted Minish Village. Leaning over, he carefully picked up a terrified minish and stepped forward to keep his balance, squashing Belari's house in the process (Random Story Fact: Belari was out testing his bombs at the time, and was shocked to see his house squashed when he got back. Vaati was long gone by that time).

"What do you know about the light force?" asked Vaati in his home dialect of minish.

"Unknown mysteri-cori, dialect-ipico, ripico-nut jabber?" replied the worried minish Vaati was holding by his clothes between his left finger and thumb.

"How annoying. A different dialect." grumbled Vaati in Hylian.

"Wait!" called a tiny voice from somewhere in the village, in Hylian, "You could try a jabber nut, they can help-"

"I'm allergic to them." cut off Vaati, iridescent eye narrowing at the village, generally towards the minish in the red priest outfit who had spoken. "The stuff gives me pink spots and I throw up. That was with a tiny bite of one! Now, who are you?" Vaati put down the minish he'd picked up and picked up the minish in glasses and the red hat.

"You are a Twilight Minish, correct? My name is Festari," greeted the minish, "and I would gladly appreciate it if you would put me down and kindly explain how your appearance and size have changed."

"Twilight Minish?" asked Vaati.

The iridescent gleam in Vaati's blood-red eye went away. Did this minish know of his origins? Suddenly, a thought occurred to Vaati- (How can I overcome a past I don't even know? There are already many things I must overcome... but I'm curious. I shouldn't be, but I am.) he seemed innocently curious in that exact moment, even a little desperate.

"What, you don't know? I though there was no-one left of that race but I was clearly mistaken, as here you are! The purple, generally red-eyed or violet-eyed minish who only come out at night! I'm surprised you are awake! What brings you here? But first, please put me down." Vaati did so, his head swimming with somewhat hopeful thoughts.

"I'm actually part of a race of Minish? Not some freak?" asked Vaati, who was now too desprate for answers to even think of the light force right now.

"Hmm? You really don't know?" wondered Festari out loud.

"No... I was rescued by a minish at the age of three," Vaati found himself explaining, "I never knew why I was so different... I had lost all my memories the day I was rescued... I don't remember any minish like me. Are you saying I'm the only one left?"

"Yes, unfortunately." explained Festari, "You see, Gentari -our elder- 's father came from The Minish World, and his father told him about the Twilight Minish, and Gentari told me that the Twilight Minish were dying- there was nothing anybody could do. Floods, cuccos, terrifying big things that squash entire villages... They were all being taken in their sleep, while everyone else was awake. I'm sorry..."

"That's terrible..." said Vaati, a single tear dropping from his eye to the ground. "But... now..." Vaati now had no reason to go back to The Minish World. His innocent curiosity was satisfied, and it too, like the guilt, faded away, leaving a satisfied, empty, dark coldness... Now there was nothing but who he would be now. An iridescent, malevolent, scary gleam came into Vaati's eye...

"What do you know about the light force?" asked Vaati.

"Its power is legendary, and it can be found -well, the secret to its location can be found- within a secret, underground cave somewhere in Hyrule." answered Festari, "Why do you want to know?"

Vaati turned his back on the village and began to walk away while giving his answer, "When I find it, my true magic potential will be released. No-one and nothing will stop me from reaching my goals... I will b-feel safe." Finished Vaati, now somewhere in the distance to Festari.

Something in Festari's brain clicked as he remembered something important. "Your name doesn't happen to be Vaati, does it?" he called after the mysterious purple sorcerer, worried.

"Yes. My name is Vaati," replied Vaati, without turning around, waving his left hand into the air as he left, "and I thank you for your help."

Festari stared after him as he mysteriously seemed to fade into the distance, finally realising his mistake. However, Vaati had sounded sincere, even desperate, when he'd asked about the Twilight Minish. When he learnt that there weren't any but him... it was like a lot of what was holding him back was now gone. But was that good? Or bad? Only time would tell...

Vaati had never felt so free in his life. Festari had been speaking the absolute truth, even if he had been uncertain of it. Vaati could now focus on he future in a world full of references to the past. If only he could just tell himself where the light force was... but his gift didn't work that way. If he tried that, there would be no truth or lie to examine, just uncertainty.

Exiting the forest, Vaati came across a large pile of spiky rubble blocking the way. Flying over it, Vaati spotted a strange, humanoid creature which appeared to be mostly made of rock. It had flakes of rock in its hair, it had blue eyes, and it was pounding at the blocked-up, decorated, entrance to a cave.

"Hello." said Vaati.

"Hello," replied the strange rock-creature, "you may not know this, but I'm a goron. My name is Granite, goro! You are, goro?"

"Vaati," replied Vaati, "the Wind Sorcerer." It was strange that the gift accepted that as truth, no uncertainty involved. It was who he was, what he'd grown into. The one and only wind sorcerer of Hyrule. How things changed so quickly... or had it been truth all along?

"I'm trying to bust into this cave, goro," explained Granite the goron, "but I just don't have the energy, you know?"

"Hmm..." said Vaati walking past Granite and examined the wall. Vaati could feel it! Powerful yet faint waves of magical energy pulsing through this cave! No doubt it was well-potected, and this wall was clearly human-made, as it was a mixture of iron, rock, other metals, and quetzallite all melted together with wheat to make some kind of extremely hard cement. However, there were no magical enchantments, and had the entrance not been decorated around the edge (by the goron- Vaati doesn't know that), he would never have seen it. This could very well be the secret cave that Festari mentioned! Deep within it could be the sacred place, built to hold the light force! What a stroke of luck that the goron was here- you see, that certain kind of crystal, quetzallite, is a strong magic-repellant. Vaati would never have been able to break it, but this goron had some hard fists- a creature made of hard rock would be very endurant and possibly resistant to physical pain.

Vaati stepped back and said, "Well, good luck!", placing his hand on the goron's curved, rocky back and sending energy flowing through the goron's very nerves (this is a king of magic known as energy transference- a secondary magic) past the rocky exterior. He then stepped back a bit more as a refreshed look came over the goron's face.

"Wow! A power boost, goro! I feel all revved up, goro!" he announced, before pounding on the wall with twice the energy of before, sending bits of rock, metal and crystal flying everywhere. The very wind currents shifted around to prevent anything from touching Vaati. He didn't even need to think for it to happen, such is the way of elemental magic. Soon, the Granite had pounded his way right into the cave. Vaati followed him inside.

Inside was another wall, even thicker and wider than the first one, made of exactly the same materials as the one before, and the entire cave was lined with it... obviously a trick to make one think they'd reached the back of the cave. Granite seemed pretty convinced that there was more beyond it, and the magical energy waves were stronger now- if only by a bit. Either way, one goron alone would not be able to break it, even with a magical energy boost. Granite tried to pound it anyway- but soon paused to catch his breath. He'd used up all the extra energy, it seemed.

"Oof... This is one tough wall! I'm gonna need some help, goro!" huffed Granite.

"Unfortunately, I'm not really one to punch walls down..." explained Vaati.

"Don't worry, I know a few gorons who could help me out," reassured Granite, "but they tend to wander around, goro. I think you should search for one called Limestone first, goro. He might be my granddad and too old to help me out, goro, but he's a merchant who travels around Hyrule, and he might know where the other gorons are, Goro-Vaati!"

"Thank you." Vaati said, leaving the cave to go and find Limestone. It wouldn't be hard, as he had the sufficient information needed to use a tracking spell (an advanced magic which works by connecting a map with a person's spiritual presence. It's not too complicated to pull off, all one needs is certain information about the person, namely their names and general species, and some idea of their location), which would mark Limestone's location on his map. The mark would move across the map with whoever the magic was tracking, even if said person teleported. Vaati did the tracking spell. A silver symbol -a diamond with three triangles coming out from the top- appeared on the road at Trilby Highlands. That was where Limestone was. Vaati teleported as close as he could to it, then continued to fly towards it, occasionally checking the map in case Limestone moved anywhere. As he flew, Vaati ate a small pastry for lunch.

It didn't take very long, as predicted, to find him. The old goron was walking along the road, eating a rock. Vaati landed nearby.

"Hello. Are you Limestone?" asked Vaati.

"Yes, goro." he replied, "Do you want to buy anything, goro?"

"No, I'm Vaati and I'm searching for the other gorons. Granite needs help breaking a wall." Vaati replied.

"That sounds just like Granite, goro!" chuckled Limestone, "Well, I know a goron called Basalt. He's Granite's brother! Last time I met up with him, which was a few hours ago, he was checking out this cave in South Hyrule Field. I don't know where any of the others might be, but I'm sure he knows where somebody is. Good luck, goro!"

"Thank you." said Vaati, doing the tracking spell again after Limestone continued down the road towards Hyrule Town. The silver mark had disappeared when Vaati had found Limestone, but now it had reappeared, showing Basalt's location- a cave somewhere south of 'Master Smith's House', as it was labelled on the map. Vaati noted that he would have to be careful since somebody lived over there.

Once again, Vaati simply teleported as close as he could, then flew the rest of the way. Next, he began walking to the cave Basalt was in, checking the map every so often, in case he moved somewhere else. Vaati spotted the cave and took one more step towards it, fogetting to look around first- but a familiar very loud voice yelled, "HEY! THERE HE IS! BEHIND YOU LOT! VAATI'S BEHIND YOU!"

Vaati turned around to see Link's grandfather, who turned out to be 'Master Smith', and a bunch of Hyrule's soldiers, who were in front of Smith, all looking at him. (Here we go again...) Thought Vaati as the soldiers attacked him. This time they came rushing with swords instead of spears, but he wasn't even trying to send them flying; they weren't even worth turning to stone. Link's grumpy grandpa watched in disbelief (that Hyrule's army was so weak, not at Vaati's sorcery) as the very air danced with Vaati's fingertips and roared when Vaati spread his arms, and as the soldiers were all sent flying by the air responding to Vaati's general annoyance. It was as if he were swatting away flies.

"What a bunch of slackers." grumbled Smith, unimpressed and not even fazed by Vaati's extremely powerful elemental magic (it is rare to the extreme to be born with a true connection to an element, and it is the toughest of the tough to build a true connection with an element, but of course, Smith knows nothing about magic and sees it as 'cheating') and instead thinking that Hyrule's soldiers should take their job more seriously- which was, in fact, what Vaati was thinking too.

"I agree." answered Vaati on impulse, "Honestly, it's pathetic. No wonder people are so afraid of nothing," he blasted a nearby octoroc, "if this is all they've got for protection. Those soldiers should take their job more seriously."

"Definitely true." grumbled Smith before they both remembered who the other was talking to. There was a moment of awkward silence as Vaati and Smith turned to face each other. Much to Smith's surprise, Vaati smiled a little when they met each other's eyes/eye. Just for three seconds, Smith saw a timid, insecure, lonely boy just three years older than Link standing there instead of a supposedly evil wind sorcerer. Smith blinked a little, and so did Vaati. His smile was now gone.

"My grandson's out there risking his life because of you!" barked Smith angrily, "I'll show you what's what, young lad!" With that, Smith drew a sword he was carrying around incase of this particular situation, and held it expertly in front of him. This time, instead of that cold, unnatural malevolence, Vaati felt something new. Something... pleasant. determined, yet... relaxed. It felt warm. Vaati's eye softened as he formed a violet-crystal sword from the very air, moving his left hand as if he were drawing a sword, which he was. Just like he could see butterflies in the air, he could draw a sword which wasn't there. That was how his powers could work together in contradicting harmony. The wind swirled gently around him, as if it was pushing him forward, letting him know it was there to help.

Smith and Vaati charged at one another. Their swords clashed, and pure white sparks flew through the air. What was that warm feeling of... rivalry? Vaati felt curious again. They continued slashing at one another, both matching the other's moves. Faster, faster... their swords were a violet-silver blur.

Their swords were a silver blur. Two-and-a-half-year-old Vaati felt the feeling of rivalry.

"That's it... keep going, Vaati!" encouraged a familiar voice, of who Vaati could not quite place.

Vaati's warm, rivalry feeling burst into a determined, electrified storm. His face broke into a wide, happy smile and his eyes focused, his pupils narrowing into cat-like slits...

Vaati's warm, rivalry feeling burst into a determined , electrified storm. The wind swirled strongly around him, and the very air was electrified. His face broke into a wide, happy smile and his eye focused, his pupil narrowing into a cat-like slit...

Smith smiled too. This, to him, was almost like the old days against the king, yet it was clear that the boy's skills were somewhat out of practice, like he was imitating a memory. Wait, what was he thinking?! This wasn't a mere boy he was up against, it was a questionably evil sorcerer!

...Vaati leaped into the sky, landing behind his opponent, catching him off-guard...

...Vaat leapt into the sky, landing behind Smith, catching him off-gaurd...

...and put the sword's tip right at the back of his opponent's neck.

"Well done, Vaati!" cheered the familiar minish, "see? You can do it if you try!"

...and put the sword's tip right at the back of Smith's neck. The electrified air seemed to cool down and Vaati's eye went back to normal as Smith tried to figure out what the sorcerer had just done. "What? How? Where did you learn that?" asked Smith, confused.

"I'd like to know that too..." replied Vaati, voice somewhere in the distance... before he summoned a heavy rock into the sky, where it fell onto Smith's head, knocking him out. Vaati just didn't have the heart to turn him into stone... That, and he just didn't see the loud old man as a satue. Funny... Smith reminded him of another loud old man called Ezlo. That's when the guilt came back too, but only for a second before it faded again. Vaati turned the magic sword back to air and used a strong air current to push Smith back into his house. Fewf... apparently, Link's grandpa was a bigger force to be reckoned with than all the soldiers of Hyrule!

Smith woke up an hour later in his living room/dining room/kitchen. His head was pounding. Smith quickly remembered his little encounter with Vaati, and muttered, "That boy's got a good head on his shoulders..." before remembering that Vaati turned the princess to stone and was the cause of Link going to Mount Crenel and risking his life! Of course Vaati was evil, only evil people did stuff like that! But... the purple sorcerer had seemed like somebody else in that moment of time... and during that fight... they'd both been genuinely having fun. Maybe, just maybe, the odd thirteen-year-old boy wasn't evil at all, but that would never excuse him for doing evil things. Somebody would have to make sure he was brought to justice, even if it had to be Smith himself.

... What was with this topsy-turvy human world, where old people were better at fighting than members of the army? Humans were interesting... Just then, the goron with blue eyes called Basalt came walking out of a cave, and right by Vaati, totally oblivious to the battle Vaati had just won, rubbing his belly.

"Yum! That was a good meal, goro!" He said, "What a buffet! I have to tell the others, goro..."

"Hey! Are you Basalt?" asked Vaati.

"Yeah, goro! And you are?" replied Basalt.

"Vaati. Granite needs help breaking a wall! He said to ask Limestone where the other gorons are, and he said you were here!"

"Hah! That is so like him, goro! Could you show me where he is, Goro-Vaati?" asked Basalt.

"Sure." confirmed Vaati, "Follow me." The goron followed as Vaati led him over to that cave near Lon Lon Ranch.

"Be careful, goro, I heard there was a dangerous sorcerer around here." advised Basalt. Vaati thought it best not to answer that, in case he blurted out the truth and blew his own cover. It was only a few minutes before they got to the pile of rubble blocking the cave. Basalt smashed his way through it and then continued into the cave with Vaati behind him.

"Hey, I'm here to help, goro!" hollered Basalt, walking next to Granite. The two of them pounded at that wall, and soon smashed right through it- only to see ANOTHER wall where the cave began to widen, even thinker, tougher and longer than the first two walls- also made of the same materials. Vaati felt the powerful magical energy waves- they were stronger than before! Once again, the gorons and Vaati were adamant that there was more beyond the next wall. Granite and Basalt pounded with all their strength and a little energy boost from Vaati, but it was no good. The wall, while it was slightly damaged, wouldn't budge.

"This wall is tough, goro!" panted Granite.

"We're gonna need some more help, goro!" huffed Basalt.

"I'm no good at pounding walls," explained Vaati, "but do you know where any of the other gorons might be?"

"Yeah- my best friends, Obsidian and Tuff, mentioned that they were going to Mount Crenel to find some tasty rocks, goro. You know, I can smell some delicious ones in here, goro!" Helpfully explained Basalt.

"Thanks for all your help, Goro-Vaati!" announced Granite, "We're gonna keep on pounding at this wall!"

Vaati was already leaving. "Don't mention it..." he said, rolling his eye. He was getting tired of these walls already. Hopefully the light force would be here. He was checking other places along the way (by flying just above the tree-tops), just in case, but so far there was nothing that could be even remotely related to the light force. Vaati did the tracking spell again. Two crests appeared around the base of Mount Crenel, so that was where he headed next. Really, this was getting redundant. Whoever built that place sure knew what they were doing... Surely such a well-hidden, protected and mis-leading place would hold the light force... right? Well, he hoped so, because news was spreading and he couldn't stay invisible for long- it drains one's magic very quickly, even if one has an affinity for transformation magic (one of the five primary magics) and has seen oneself as invisible for five years straight and a little longer than that.

Vaati checked the map, then landed in front of a large, lumpy rock wall witch could be climbed on, though most of the rocks seemed very loose. Vaati looked up and saw two gorons, one with four red arm-bands (two on ecah arm) and four red leg-bands (two on each leg). The other wore a jet-black scarf. Both of them had blue eyes, Vaati could see if he squinted a bit.

"Hello?" He called up to them, "Are you two Obsidian and Tuff?"

"Yes, goro!" they both called down to him at the same time.

"Granite needs help breaking a wall!" yelled Vaati, "He asked me to ask Limestone where the other gorons were, and he told me where Basalt was, and when Basalt helped Granite, he told me where you two were! He also told me that he smelt tasty rocks over there!"

"Hah, that it just like them, goro!" chuckled the goron in red arm-bands.

"Let's go help them, Tuff!" added the one in the jet-back scarf, "Could you please show us where they are, goro...?"

"Vaati," loudly replied Vaati, "and yes, I will!"

"Look out below!" warned the goron in red arm-bands, Tuff, before the gorons leapt down the wall- Vaati barely got out of the way in time! They then followed Vaati all the way past Trilby Highlands, Vaati sneakily made them all invisible -thankfully the gorons were too busy talking to notice- as they went through Hyrule Town, and made them all visible again as they went through South Hyrule Field (far above Smith's house), and finally, past the remains of the large pile of rubble and into the cave.

"Oh, goro, I do smell delicious rocks, goro!" happily commentated Tuff, rushing off to help Granite and Basalt were.

"We'll be pleased to help, goro!" excitedly added Obsidian, "Thanks for showing us here, Goro-Vaati!" She went forward and helped her friends pound at the wall.

The four gorons smashed through the wall, and they eagerly continued deeper into the cave, where it continued to get wider. When the dust cleared, there, in front of them... was yet ANOTHER wall, believe it or not, the thickest, toughest, widest wall the gorons and Vaati had ever seen. The magical waves were so strong now that Vaati could touch them, so close... yet so far.

Even four gorons plus Vaati's magical energy boost weren't enough to break such an incredibly tough wall.

"Whew! This is one tough wall, goro!" puffed Tuff.

"Yes, goro, we do need more help." agreed Obsidian, out of breath.

"I can't smash walls." explained Vaati for the third time that day, "Do either of you know where any other gorons are?"

"Well, could you go find my cousin, Rhinestone? She'll be more than happy to help, and she's obsessed with swimming." suggested Obsidian.

"Good luck! We'll keep smashing this wall." added Basalt.

"Thanks again for all your help, Goro-Vaati!" enthusiastically concluded Granite.

Vaati just did the tracking spell when they were all busy smashing the wall again, and saw that Rhinestone was right in the middle of Lake Hylia as he'd thought, probably swimming. Vaati gulped. It seemed he'd been right. However, it was getting late, so Vaati wrote in his diary. The entry read,

'Age- 13 years old. Date- 17th of August, 307.

To whoever reads this thing,

Today I continued my search for the light force. I searched Haunted Forest and Royal Valley with no luck, unfortunately. In Minish Woods, I discovered something monumental! I'm actually a Twilight Minish- part of a nearly extinct -the last one, namely, being ME- race. I had a fun battle with Link's grandfather, who somewhat reminds me of Ezlo, and I felt this strange, warm, rivalry feeling... I remembered someone familiar- a minish like me. Who are you, I wonder? I've finally become closer to the light force, as it could be within this very cave I'm writing in right now. All I have to do is find a goron called Rhinestone... who's in the middle of Lake Hylia... Goodnight to you, I'm going to need energy and resolve to do this...

-Vaati.'

After putting the diary away again, Vaati curled up on the floor of the cave and fell fast asleep for the night. If one were to look at him, they would see him twitch, hear him scream in his sleep, watch as he curled up tighter in fear, and if one watched for long enough, maybe they would see his tears, or feel his pain of the past he was so afraid of...