A Boy and His Bird

The last thing Link expected to see when he went out for a walk today was someone wielding what looked like the long-lost object of his quest.

The fact this person looks like him, albeit with different hair and clothes, is something Link hasn’t realized yet from the distance he notices him.

“(The Four Sword...!)” Link whispers under his breath.

“(And he’s using it to clean his teeth!)”

Ezlo can’t believe it either. To think he’d live to see the day when the Picori Blade — the sacred gift of his people — was used for such a despicable act!

Apparently, Link’s whispering at a less-than-subtle volume, as the figure starts to turn towards him. Link hides behind a nearby tree.

The hero finds himself low on defenses, wielding only the Sword of Nerf. His current substitute shield is a cardboard box labeled Angelo’s Pizza; he’s given it a cardboard strap.

When he thinks he hears the figure approaching, Link jumps out with his sword raised and swings it in down in a dramatic attempt to knock the Four Sword out of their hands!

“Hyaaaahhh!”

Blink.

Blink.

“Kid, I think your hat is broken. Might want to get that checked out.”

“I’m not a hat, I’m—!! ...” Ezlo stops himself partway. To explain himself to a random person is just too long a story to tell.

“It’s okay,” Link replies for him. “I’m taking him to the cleaners today."

zhan tiri needs to commit and make a quick judgement to who she shall frame herself to be. no doubt she could wear many masks, none of them too laborious to put on and presume. in part, its not far enough from the truth: zhan tiri was a worshipped dark cult figurehead on a level higher than nobility– zhan tiri was akin to a demonic go͖d͓̰ͅ of chaos and suffering.

playing royalty would be simple.

“fear not, i believe in your enthusiasm and encourage you to provide the love that i cannot. as for the rest: i was a princess, once. long ago.”

she lied and put on her best performance, a master in her craft.

“as it may appear, it’s been long since i’ve stood in court.”

Ezlo squints at her for a second, but then he lets out a sudden gasp, as though he just remembered how to act in the presence of royalty.

“Your Royal Highness!” He bows his head as gracefully as a bird-hat can. “(Go on, Link. Be a gentleman!)” he mutters under his breath to the lad.

Link, who had been continuing to stare breathlessly at the noble ghost — almost as though he’d been projecting Zelda’s face onto her own — remembers himself, his duties as a hero, and his duties to Zelda’s family. He bows his head as Ezlo does in addition to taking a knee.

Ezlo says, “I’m afraid a darkness has befallen the kingdom of Hyrule, Your Grace. My wayward pupil aims to drain the light force from your family.” 

Their new aquaintance doesn’t seem to think that a “gob of slime” is a very good gift, and Gooigi looks somewhat self consciously at the new, gooey plane in Link’s hands. …the boy still seems to be enjoying himself, though, so Gooigi doesn’t see anything wrong with giving out slime. He wants to meet a Chuchu. Unless– maybe they’re like ghosts? A little mischievous? Shocking people doesn’t sound very nice. Gooigi’s been hit by King Boo’s odd energy before– it doesn’t seem like this blue creature is much different. Gooigi thinks that maybe there will always be a bully or two around, no matter what species you are.

“ ! ”

Even more surprising than the idea of other slime-like creatures is the fact that this bird has met Toads. It’s far more specific, and although Gooigi doesn’t know if Toads live in mushroom houses (he’s never been to any of their towns) he knows they’re little mushrooms themselves, and that’s good enough for him.

“ ᑭ - ᴘ - ᑶ ꜟ ⅽ ᑦ ᵒ ﺍ ᵢ    ƒ ᶸ η 𝚐 ի ꜟ !   ҉  ” They hold their hand out flat around the level of their chest, indicating the height of the Toads they had met. “ … ɳ ₒ ᵗ .  ዘ ᵉ ᵣ ₑ .  ദ ᶸ 𝚝  ꜧ ₒ ጣ ₑ .  ധ ᵉ … ⍺ ᵣ ₑ … ⨍ ᵣ ₒ ᶬ …  ﻛ ₐ ጦ ᵉ ….. … .. ⍴ ا ₐ ⅽ ᵉ ?  𐍅 ₒ ᶸ   𐌊 η ᵒ ᐜ  乚 ᓑ ᵢ 𝚐 ꜟ ,  ᥑ η ժ .  𐍅 ₒ ᵤ  ₐ ᵣ ₑ .  ധ ի ٥ ? ”

Ezlo is sure he heard a “Picori” in there, the name humans have for his diminutive kind, though the height they suggest is completely off unless they’ve shrunken to Minish size.

“Luigi? Can’t say that I’ve heard of them before. How about you, Link?”

Link shakes his head. The goo is wearing out again, so he offers it back to Gooigi along with an appreciative grin.

“Ah, but let me introduce myself! My name is Ezlo, and this is Link. We’re actually on an important quest to break a curse upon our land.”

“Have you, by chance, seen a sacred blade or a wicked sorcerer roaming about? We’ll need the first to defeat the second, but, well... we lost the first, you see.”

There were two main reasons Link and Ezlo decided to go to the library today. First, to see if they could discover the whereabouts of the Town Minish, and second, for a book so Ezlo could understand the conversations between Link and his friend.

So far, they’d been coming up short on locating Librari or any of his students. In fact, the library showed no sign of any Minish presence at all. There was no pitter-patter of little feet, no miniature ladders carved into book spines... but, as Ezlo had said before, the Minish people could be hard to find.

On the second front, they found the book they were after: Spiralean Sign Language: A Go-To Guide. However, it appeared that the last remaining copy was in the hands of someone else.

This person is most definitely an adult, so Link’s already under pressure. Ezlo gives Link’s back a nudge with his beak and whispers, “(Well? Go on, Link. Don’t be shy.)”

With a gulp, Link slowly approaches the stranger. He feels less like a hero and more like a kid asking their teacher if he has permission to go use the bathroom in the middle of a test.

“Can... Can I see that book when you’re done?” He manages to get out the words.

“(Good work, lad.)” Ezlo tries to remain still, though his beak moves slightly as he encourages Link.

Crash nods when the other says what he is out loud,the smile never leaving his face as the two had a small convo for a moment before Ezlo straightened himself out to introduce himself properly to the Bandicoot.

Green eyes light up as the other tells Crash about him,a slight look of wonder on his face for a moment before his eyes soon glance over to Link as he spots the other sign over to him. Letting out s quiet snicker,the marsupial happily signs back to him.

‘ A Bandicoot is a animal native to Australia,so not many people know about it! ‘ He signs as a smile formed onto his face. Oh he could talk about his friends for hours and hours honestly…..But for now,Crash thinks it would be best to tell Link about his family to keep the other from getting bored…..As well as not wanting to tire his hands out from signing too much.

‘ I have a brother and sister! My brother is called Crunch while my sister is named Coco….We adopted Crunch into our family a few years ago after some,well lets say misadventure we had ‘

Link makes a concentrated effort to let Ezlo in on the conversation. As fun as it is to have his own thing, he doesn’t want Ezlo to feel completely left out.

“He says he’s from... Aus-tra-lia?” Link only knows how it’s spelled, not said.

Ezlo says, “Aus-tra-lia? Never heard of it. But if it’s anywhere that humans are, I’m sure he’s heard of the Minish before. Or perhaps he knows them as Picori?”

“Coco and Crunch,” Link says out loud, “Those’re his siblings.” Ezlo goes, “Ah.” He doesn’t do much but nod in response, so Link goes back to signing at Crash.

The bird-like hat is correct; Link does seem to be enjoying himself, and Gooigi feels a warm rush of pride at the realization. They’ve successfully extrapolated from previous experience and interacted well with a real, living human kid. They never could have done something like that back when they had only been Goo– they’ve come a long way since their creation, and they’re sure that E. Gadd would be impressed if he could see them now.

The plane is holding up admirably, but without Pixelator data to help it keep its form, it’s beginning to get a little runny at the edges. Gooigi hastily makes a replacement and holds it out for Link to take whenever his current toy becomes unusable.

He’s distracted, though, by what the other creature has to say. Kinder than the ones he knows? Does he just mean people in general, or has he met something like Gooigi before?

Gooigi shakes his head. When he finally responds verbally, there’s a note of cautious hope in his tone:

“ Ⲕ η ₒ ⍵ …  ٥ ᵗ ɦ ₑ ᵣ   ᶬ ᵉ ? ”

The goo loses form in Link’s hands fairly quickly, and seeing Gooigi offer a replacement, he’s happy to exchange the worn-out plane for a fresher one instead.

“I do, in a sense. Where I come from, they’re mainly known as ‘Chuchus’ or ‘Zols.’ Though the only gift you’d get from them is a gob of slime upon your back...”

“And that big blue one can give you a shock. Remember that, Link? Real nasty one, that.”

Link is spinning the plane’s propeller. He’s seen these parts in other contraptions, but never one put together like this! It takes him a moment to remember to nod.

Ezlo shakes his head as Link continues to play. He guesses the novelty will wear off soon, but it’s good to see him take an interest in things that children are meant to pursue.

The marsupial nods as the other signs his name back,letting out a small giggle at the motion the other made before nodding again. Y’know,Crash never really thought about who gave him that name….Was it Cortex? Aku?Himself? That was a question for another day,for now he might as well make a new friend here!

He looks over to Ezlo as he speaks,a hand rubbing at his chin for a moment. A bomb expert? Well the hat would probably be interested in TNT and Nitro crates so whenever they have the chance to talk about that stuff Crash will defiantly mention them! He then watches what the other was signing again,giving a gentle nod as he understood what the other was saying. 

‘ Friend from a journey? That is pretty cool! I’ve made a few friends from my journeys ‘ And a lot of enemies too…..One of which was on this island too….However as the other mimics a bird,the Bandicoot couldn’t help but mimic it back for a moment before giving a gentle nod at the sign for elf.

‘ That is interesting! To some,I look like a dog apparently. But I’m actually a Bandicoot! ‘

Great. Now Ezlo has two people making bird jokes at his expense. As much as he’s grown fond of the boy, sometimes he drives him up the wall.

“A bandicoot?” Link says out loud.

“Abandon a what now?” Ezlo squawks in response.

“Uh, I mean... Ezlo, this is Crash. I guess people mix him up for a dog?”

“Ah, in that case...” Ezlo straightens himself out and stands up tall for a proper introduction. A cat may be a nuisance to Minish, but a dog was certainly fine company!

“Salutations, Crash! My name is Ezlo, and while I may be mistaken for a simple bird, I’m actually a Minish sage of great renown!” (Cue sparkle effects.)

Crash had recovered from worse so shaking off this was no big deal from the Bandicoot. Once he had finished signing,the orange marsupial noticed the others eyes light up as well as the others hat tilt it’s head to the side. The others sudden burst of excitement caused the Bandicoot’s ears to twitch for a moment before a wide grin was on his own face when the other signed back at him.

So there are people here that knew sign language! He didn’t have to worry about having to do hand motions and slight noises to get his message across….Or try to find a pen and paper to write what he wanted to say. He watches what the other signs to him,giving a understanding nod to the motion Link used to describe his name.

His green eyes look back other to the hat-who he now knows is called Ezlo- and lets out a small chuckle at the others description of them.

‘ It is nice to meet you Link and Ezlo! My name is C-R-A-S-H ‘ He too,signs his name individually so it would be easy for the other to catch,his hands gently shaking with giddiness for a moment before continuing to sign.

‘ I’m used to chatty people! My father figure is a talking mask who chats a lot too! Ezlo will not bother me much hah! ‘

‘C-R-A-S-H,’ Link signs back, practicing the motions for his new friend’s name. ‘Is that like,’ he makes the sign for a collision, but follows it up with an explosion-like “plowwww.”

“Are you two talking about bombs, Link?” Ezlo asks from atop Link’s head. Link shakes his head, and Ezlo goes, “Oh. Well, tell me when you are! I happen to be quite the expert, you know.”

Father… figure? Link thinks to himself. It takes him a moment to make the connection between the talking mask and the talking hat. Has Link ever thought of him as a dad? He doesn’t think that he ever has.

‘Ezlo’s not my dad,’ Link signs. ‘I live with my grandpa next to town. Ezlo is a friend from a journey.’ A journey he hasn’t finished yet.

‘Ezlo looks like—’ he cups his hands to his mouth and goes, “Caw! Caw!” for the heck of it, ‘but he is really—’ he makes a sign for ‘elf,’ though to Link’s perspective, he’s not saying ‘elf.’

“ ! ”

That hat is no hat at all! It’s a creature of some sort, one Gooigi hadn’t noticed before, and they lean back slightly as it moves forward. It’s strange, but it’s not the one holding a sword, so it’s probably safe.

Gooigi carefully relinquishes the plane. The separated goo sags a bit at the edges before bouncing back into the toy’s shape, watching the child– Link?– from its place on his trash can lid. It’s this goo’s job to stay in formation, now; Gooigi’s main form takes its newfound freedom from the struggle of shapeshifting to get a better look at the being atop Link’s head.

He can’t make sense of it. In the end, Gooigi decides to simply accept it as a brand new creature, and offers it a little wave. It’s good that this child has someone with him, Gooigi thinks. Maybe this Not-Hat is something like a father? Gooigi’s own creator is not of the same species as they are, after all; it’s not impossible that these two strangers have a similar relationship.

Judging by their reaction to Ezlo, they couldn’t have been native to the Minish Woods. Ezlo should know, having been chased by the forest’s monsters before meeting Link. A Chuchu wouldn’t have expressed such (figurative) shock or self-awareness either, he thinks, as they were rather doddering creatures — but terrifying when encountered at Minish size!

Link tests the stickiness of the goo by tilting his shield from side to side. The plane’s little wheels roll back and forth, putting a smile on Link’s face.

“It looks like you’re having fun,” says Ezlo as Link tests the goo with his bare hand. He pokes it first, then scoops it up and makes whooshing sounds as he waves it around.