screeches of the void

Basically, in my brain, Vaati is around baby Four's age if not a few years older. Developmentally at least, IDK how minish aging works. He's basically an angsty pre-teen/teen with issues and his apprenticeship with Ezlo helped some of those and exasperated others.

Ezlo is not exactly a soft spoken guy and has some trouble properly nurturing a young Vaati with the delicacy he probably needed. An amazing teacher, but his mentorship could use some work yknow?

So his stealing of the cap was born from frustration of wanting to be taken seriously, wanting to reach the potential he KNEW he had, the ego all angsty young teens have... He was kind of an odd ball in minish spaces. In Hyrule we see only a select few groups of minish variety, but none look quite like mini Vaati. Possibly a fringe group even in the minish realm, possibly a pigmentation thing he was born with... The minish are kind, but all kids are kind of brutal and all tweens/teens are sensitive.

So yknow the game events happen etc etc, Vaati is sealed in the sword. This is where things get messy because I've played minish cap but not either four swords games.

Basically a few years pass when Vaati breaks out of the sword, Four has to fight him again, the rainboys do hero stuff, Shadow sacrifices himself. I believe Vaati is sealed once more, and everyone tries to move past it all.

Only, Four and his bleeding heart can't get Vaati out of his mind. Even with everything he has on his plate navigating his minds new form, Shadow's death, his apprenticeship, PUBERTY??? Vaati's anger, his drive for power and respect, his FEAR at his magic twisting him into a form he didn't ask for... A lot of it rings true for him too.

And also there's a scheming little part of him thats slowly, secretly piecing together a plan to bring back their missing piece. Who better to ask for answers then the one who summoned him to begin with?

Sooo in classic impulsive teenage glory, Four pulls the sword with all his magic at the ready to bind and question a angry minish mage.

... Only to get a limp, hallowed looking Vaati fall on top of him.

Vaati at this point, has been sealed in a sword twice over for a few years each time. The first time, he had his anger and taste of power to fuel him. Plans to make, new ideas to try, a new face to want revenge on!

The second... His best ideas have been vanquished. His ex-mentor was nowhere to be seen, unable to be laughed at or even watched to keep his anger going. His most powerful feat yet BETRAYED him, his magic twisted him into a hideous form. That FUCKER LINK became FOUR LINKS and beat his ass!!! He feels... Defeated. Ashamed and regretful. Scared, terrified in his last moments. What would happen to him now?

The sword domain does *not* keep him in a very alert or awake state, it's more like occasionally sort of dreaming in between periods of nothing. If he had never broken out, never had his anger to fuel him, he likely would have stayed there until the magic binding him to the sword faded. He would have faded with it - peacefully really, to go from nothing with barely a conscience to fading back into the natural magic of the world.

That second time took more of a toll on him. It was fitful, nightmares more then dreams of revenge. The swords magic kept him quelled, even if it was rocky he didn't quite have the state of mind to go mad from being trapped. But it was going to be a rougher trip to nothingness, and may have taken even longer.

So when that magic was unbound again, rather then bursting out in a flurry of slow cooked anger and scheming... Well, even that first time he was weaker and had to skidaddle to pull himself together and fully bake his ideas.

This time? He flopped out essentially catatonic.

So now Four, with his arms full of minishhylianmage and no battle in sight, panics a bit. How exactly Vaati looks when he comes out is still something I'm conaidering but whether he's full (small) Hylian sized or the size of a gerbil, he's still partially warped from his magic flashback and clearly weak. So Four decides he's probably not much of a threat, right? And drags him off back home to hide him in his room and stare at him all night.

I'm only now realizing the whole "pulling the four sword splits Link" thing probably is a plot hole I should fill at some point. Ah well.

This next part is more snapshots of ideas rather then a nice plot line!

Vaati has to be nursed back to health after his main source of magic power (da hat) was confiscated, and he finally feels the full effects of sword limbo and doing an UNHOLY amount of magic on himself and the world without really fully knowing what he was doing. That and the magic flashback twisting his body brought up concerns about any impacts on his internal organs- this guy was doing a LOT of shifting between multiple forms, through unstable magic. That can fuck you up!

At some point he is transferred from Four's house to the castle both for better security as well as access to more comprehensive care and magical knowledge.

He wasn't happy about ANY of this, and was regularly lashing out as soon as he had the state of mind to. For a while he was either catatonic or asleep as his mind recovered from the sword limbo state.... Then he was more alert and pissed off about anything and everything.

The minish do their best to help as well, at least the ones who aren't terrified of him. It's in their nature to help, and he is one of them! Even if he's weird and warped and kind of nasty. They're a big help in understanding his needs, and what may have happened to him with all that minish-ish magic he was using.

He won't admit it, but those first few months where he was going back and forth between angry and barely there... It was a comfort to have them sit on his bed and chat amongst themselves. It had been so long since he had heard his own language.

TW for what could be considered suicidal ideation in this part. Vaati is in a rough state mentally.

Theres a Very long period of time where he is no longer experiencing catatonic episodes as much, and is also not quite as prone to lashing out where he simply... Exists. He doesn't want to be there, but he doesn't have the care to do anything about it. He doesn't know why they're doing all this to help him. People help with almost every basic step of keeping himself alive, and he knows their lives were turned upside down by him. Do they not hate him?

Four visits and he can't bring himself to be angry. The hero just seemed relieved he wasn't concious during his time in the sword; didn't go crazy, like people in the halls whisper the hero has. He sees Zelda by chance as she passes through the hall next to the gardens he's been wheeled out to for daily sunlight time, and all he feels in a pit in his stomach when she looks away. The minish visit and while he tries to ignore them, they still braid his hair and bring him gifts - and he can't bring himself to push them away. He doesn't push away the efforts to keep him alive, because he knows that it would take too long of too much work to manage.

TW over

He misses his old life. He misses Ezlo, that cranky hard nosed bastard. He still wishes he could throw him off a cliff most days - but he wants to face him. Wants his old mentor to lecture him for every wrong thing he'd ever done.

He doesn't know if he wants to apologize for any of it.

And some nights, when he can't quite sleep... He thinks of that shade he pulled from the mirror, who wore the hero's face. They didn't see much of each other, once he primed it to be his right hand. He wonders where he went wrong, for it to betray him. Was the ritual off, was it not evil enough, did it become too much of a... Almost, not quite, person?

Did he lead something- someone, to its death?

(Vaati and Shadows relationship ALONE could be a whole post.)

Vaati's first act of his own will is to cut his hair.

No one knows quite how he got acess to something sharp. Maybe he got up and stole it, maybe a minish brought it, maybe he tore something from his room that worked well enough. All they know is at some point, he went and chopped all his long purple hair off.

It was messy, it was uneven, and it looked like he had to tear though chunks just to do it. His bangs looked ridiculous because he didnt even think to touch them. When someone went in to even it out, he made them cut it even shorter. It ended up over his ears - they assured him it looked very cute! He just bared his teeth at them and burrowed back into bed.

Hair has a lot of significance in minish culture. Young minish tend to have short hair, and trimming it is a deliberate choice. Hair is used to show age, magical prowess, authority; even progress in an apprenticship. All three minish leaders have long hair, tied up in their caps. Many minish wear their hair tied up actually, it's very fashionable and possibly seen as polite to not be 'flaunting' it- but many also wear it loose around their ears. Fashion and traditions are always changing after all!

Melari has long hair, and his seven apprentices each have hair that's grown out as well. But most significantly-

Ezlo has long hair, the longest hair we see on a minish. He is an accomplished mage, craftsman, and sage wildy known and respected for his skill. Under his guidance, Vaati hair is in the CUTEST little bob oh my golden three starting to grow as well, a sign of his beginning apprenticeship and magical skill. He was Ezlos apprentice for a reason; that cranky old hat wouldn't take in any old minish! Vaati had potential, a natural talent for magic, and a early life situation that meant he needed a new carer.

Him growing his hair out in his Hylian form is a sign of his confidence- And his arrogance. His desire to be great now, wanting to be seen and praised as a skilled mage rather then a odd looking little shrimp of a minish. Ezlo was tough on him, and he felt like he never truly saw his skill, never saw him as ready for more-

Young hylians are known for being impatient, overconfident, shortsighted, and desperate for approval. Young minish are no different.

Cutting his hair is a sign of Vaati discarding that pride. It's a symbol of shame, of being thrown out of your position, your path to greatness. It's a symbol of going back to something weak, and tiny, and unworthy of anything more.

It's a sign of change.

This kicks off the actual redemption part of the AU. Vaati is still an angry, pompous and dramatic little thing, but the wind was majorly taken out of his sails. He has his moments, where he lashes out and seems to go back to his old ways; if only because he doesn't know what else to do. It's what he thinks he should do, or else what was the point of all of it?

He has to figure out where to fit himself in. He's on community service duty for the foreseeable forever, but it's largely kept to the castle to avoid a panic. He sees Four and Zelda pour over books of old magic and fights the urge to set the royal archive ablaze. (He settles for noblemens mail instead).

I'm not sure where to fit Shadow's revival in all of this. But it's going to be messy, and even if Vaatis input isnt needed they're GOING to end up fighting each other. If only because theres unspoken, unclear feelings on both sides and they both need an outlet. (Again, their whole thing is a post unto itself).

His reunion with Ezlo is going to be Messy. The picori festival has the door open every 100 years, yes, but there are many ways in between the spaces. Some more arduous then others, but they have to send mail somehow. And they have a brand new hero to visit and spoil! It's been so long since their last darling boy passed on, old and grey with his spirit only whispers every so often in their realm.

No matter how he comes through, Ezlo has a lot of things to say to Vaati. Most with a red face and pointy fingers, many with concern on his brow, all with the ache of missing that tiny little minish that used to sleep curled up by the fireplace in his workshop. Apologies are rough and awkward, a new understanding of Vaati and how to properly mentor and care for impulsive young tweens then teens under his belt. He's had to deal with Four for a few years now after all!

It's not perfect. Vaati may not even speak to him for a while. But it's something. And perhaps, when he's ready, he might allow this dusty old hat to guide him once again. He still has potential after all; bounds of it even, if his surprisingly artful handling of raw chaotic magic was anything to go by. And he made a promise to care for that boy no matter what. He'd always have a place by his hearth, if Vaati wanted to give him that privilege.

Vaati heals. He makes friends, in that stubbon hero and the gleaming princess that still makes his heart flutter just a bit. Even in that fiendish little shade, who had more of a personhood then he was intending, and is also tied to seemingly endless community service to Hyrule. Seriously, how much litter could there be to pick up?? Hylians should learn some manners...