After a little while, the wagon stopped, and Vaati was the first out of the carriage. The mask salesman gave him an unusually creepy smile, but he paid the strange man no mind. Link and Zelda followed, equally curious about what a 'makeover' entailed.
"If you wouldn't mind, could you find us an inn and rent a room?" she asked. Link shuffled off with his fairy following closely behind, looking even more grumpy than usual..
"Vaati. What exactly is your plan for a disguise? I can't imagine how putting me in a different dress or whatever your idea is will actually work."
"You're right, just putting you in a different dress won't work," Vaati said, pulling out a pair of scissors. "I've been reading about current trends in Hyrule, and well... How attached are you to having long hair?" In the light of the almost full moon, he looked vaguely ominous.
"W-what? You want to cut my hair?!"
"Look, it'll make things easier if you look less like a princess in distress, especially if you meant what you said about your father sending people to go and look for you. Do you trust me? I know we just met, but I promise I won't hurt you. Not again," Vaati almost dropped his scissors by accident since he didn't mean to say the last part out loud.
"I know you know more than you let on. What normal kid reads for hours on court etiquette and clothing trends? You are about the same age as Link and I, but you also seem much older in some ways. Tell me the truth, and I'll go along with your idea." Zelda said sagely. She was also someone forced to grow up before her time. Vaati explained all he could, starting at the beginning. He spoke of his mentor and his attempts to capture the Light Force, as it was known at the time. He spoke of being imprisoned somewhere for a long time and only recently coming out of stasis. By the time he finished his story, he realized there wasn't just one pair of eyes watching him speak, but three.
"See! Link, I told you he's evil! That he is some kind of dark creature!' Navi screeched at Link, causing him to roll his eyes in annoyance.. Link just shook his head in irritation and waved the fairy away. "He's probably working for that green-skinned man we saw at the castle!" she continued.
"Oh... hi Link. I guess you got the room situation figured out, then... I will, I'll be on my way then. Sorry to be a burden," as Vaati started to slink away from them, he was grabbed by the collar of his cloak by the Princess.
"So what? You did some bad things in an age no one but you remembers, except maybe in some ancient history books. I would be upset if someone else told me, but you told me of your own free will. That's good enough for me. What do you say, Link?" The princess still didn't let go of the sulking mage.
"I mean, if Zelda trusts you, I do as well. Shut up Navi." the green clad boy preemptively shut down any comments Navi was going to make.
"You guys... you really trust me still?"
"Yes, Vaati, I'm not going to say it a thousand times, though. Come on, what's this you were saying about a haircut? Also, Link, if you wouldn't mind, can you go back to our room in the inn? We will meet you back there."
"Alright. See you two soon, I guess."
With Link walking back to the inn, Zelda and Vaati found a quiet place away from any prying eyes.
"So, you wish to cut my hair, I'll admit, that's a little funny coming from a boy with hair as long as mine."
"I promise I can do a good job. I read a decent amount about-"
"You can't learn everything from a book, you know, but fine." Zelda took off her purple and white hood, and shook out her hair. The sorcerer tried to determine how short to cut it, when the princess spoke up, almost reading his mind.
"I can almost see what you're thinking, you know. 'How can I cut the princess' hair short?!'. I wonder how you even managed to be the bad guy, because you're an open book. You should cut it short. I've always hated having my hair be long, so you could make it almost as short as Link's, I guess."
Vaati shrugged and began cutting her hair. After some time, he pulled a mirror from his pack and gave it to the princess to inspect her new look. When she gasped, he thought he had made a mistake, but then she almost barreled into him, giving the mage a shock, and hugged him.
"It's perfect! My father always would say that it's not ladylike to cut one's hair short, but he's not here, is he? "
Vaati took a moment to examine his handiwork. Zelda's hair was no longer at shoulder length, and it was closer to the length of Link's hair, if not a bit shorter. Vaati thought that she looked very out of place in the dress that she left the castle in, but kept that thought to himself. Walking back to the inn in Kakariko, they saw Link was sitting by himself on a stool that was nearly his height.
"We are back from the great adventure of disguise!" Zelda turned around so that he could see Vaati's handiwork.
"You look different. Anyway, what do we need to do around here again?" Yawning, Link gave away how tired he was feeling. Vaati and the princess shared a look, and chose to postpone the explanation until after they all got some much needed rest.