Groaning and grabbing his cap off the ground, Link was the first to speak.
"I'm Link... you're the princess!" Zelda rolled her eyes and went back to staring through the window before pausing a sec and turning around.
"Wait, how did you two get past the guards?" Vaati sat up next.
"Wind magic!" The sorcerer said excitedly before realizing sitting up was too much work and remained sprawled out along the grass in the courtyard.
"Do you have the spiritual stone of the forest?" The princess looked around where Link and Vaati landed, hoping to see the stone she spoke of.
"I do. We were told to come to you by the Great Deku Tree."
"I had a dream. One where dark clouds covered the land of Hyrule, but the darkness was parted by a light that turned into a boy in green, holding the spiritual stone of the forest, accompanied by one who turned away from the dark, as well as another, but that's when my dream ended. You two may very well be the ones from the prophecy. Come, look through this window," The young princess motioned for Vaati and Link, who finally were standing up, to come over.
In the throne room, a man with green skin and a menacing aura was kneeling before the King.
"I think the dark clouds in my dream represent that man, Ganondorf. He claims to have no ill intentions but..." She paused. Vaati stared at him, having an acute sense of deja vu.
"That man, I don't know him personally, but what he represents... It reminds me of a long time ago." Link looked at him quizzically.
"Aren't you about my age?"
"It's a long story. Zelda, what should we do next? Did your dream tell you what we need to do now?"
Sighing, the princess relayed the information she was aware of, that Ganondorf was probably after the Triforce, a mystical artifact that could grant any wish, and that the heroes were to find the other two spiritual stones and return to the Temple of Time.
"Alright. We know where to go. Link, Zelda, you follow me!" The mage of winds was itching to show off his fighting skills in front of his new friends.
"I must remain here, for my father's sake." Zelda's conviction did not quite meet her eyes, and both Vaati and Link could tell.
"Zelda, am I right to assume you have some skill when it comes to magic? It was said that the royal family of Hyrule is always taught the basics, and frankly, I have no skill when it comes to healing spells." Vaati felt a need to bring the princess along with the group out of a sense of guilt more than anything, considering the last time he interacted with Zelda, or at least one of her incarnations, it was to drain her life energy for his nefarious plans.
"I-I do! Just... don't let me slow you down. Anyway, we should get going before my father tries to check on me, even though he doesn't seem to care much for me anymore..." She mumbled the last bit, though Vaati's picori hearing was able to pick it up, and he gave her a look.
The three unlikely companions snuck away through the castle gardens, aided this time by the princess, who just happened to know the blind spots in the guards' routes. Vaati rolled his eyes and kept quiet, to avoid confrontation in their new, somewhat shaky alliance. By the time the three got back to Castle Town, it was nearing night time, and they needed a place to sleep.
"So, Link, and Vaati, what do you propose we do about a place to rest for the night? As much as I would LOVE to keep going, there's two problems. The first being that I'm tired, and the second being that people know what I look like. My father is sure to put out a notice that I've gone missing or some such nonsense by morning." The blonde princess put her hands on her hips in a decidedly defiant gesture. Link was too startled to respond, but Vaati always was making contingency plans.
"Easy. One word even," smirking, he reached into his wallet and pulled out a single orange rupee. The setting sun was glinting off the currency, giving it an even deeper shade of orange.
"And that would be?" Zelda rolled her eyes at the theatrics, having seen enough posturing from the nobles at court.
"Makeover," throwing the rupee between his hands, Vaati was certain of his plan. Link, unsure of how to contribute to either side, wisely kept his mouth shut.
"What do you mean, makeover? There is no way that any business owner around here would assist. They all know either me or my father too well."
"Exactly. It's going to be exhausting, I'm fully aware, but we need to make it to Kakariko village tonight."
The princess shook her head in defeat, but agreed that they would need to get out of Castle town before the sun rose once more.
"Uh, Zelda, Vaati, I might have an idea about that... while you two were talking I may have uh... stopped listening and wandered off for a minute or two. There's this really weird guy who sells masks and he's heading back to Kakariko, like now," Link was fully focused on the ground between the two, expecting them to be upset with him.
"Wonderful news. Let's go see him now," walking away with a slight smile, Zelda led the group to the man Link spoke of.
"Oh how interesting! How very fascinating indeed! You three kids need a ride to Kakariko, and I just happen to be going that way! I won't even charge you, I just might need a favor down the line, and hopefully you'd be willing?" The Happy Mask Salesman was ecstatic at having three new helpers for his quest... eventually. The trio decided it would be best to accept the offer, and hope that they wouldn't run into the man again. Ever. He was a little past eccentric, and bordered on insane, but he was also their best chance of making it to Kakariko.
They accepted his terms, and boarded his wagon of masks and oddities, and while the group sat in comfortable silence, Vaati was unsettled by a specific mask in the wagon. It resembled a twisted and demonic-looking face, with a wide grin and glowing, red eyes. The mask was adorned with intricate patterns and symbols, and merely being near it made the sorcerer's skin crawl. Luckily for them, Link and Zelda didn't seem to notice the mask.