Windstill
A Linked Universe story, featuring Wind and Four.
Ao3 Link
Four's world is a mystery, full of small mouse-like people. His brother doesn't talk much about his own past, which is a shame. Fortunately, the Minish adore their hero and love to talk about his deeds. Wind just didn't realise how similar their adventures actually were. For better or worse.
Castle Town was magical in the time of the Four! Wherever Wind looked, he saw little mouse people running around, taking care of things, chatting with each other or following people around to find jobs to do. At least, that's what Four said.
“Minish people thrive on gratitude. The more they can help you, the healthier and happier they are,” said the small smith as they moved along the streets of the town. The air was warm on his skin, reflecting the cheerful atmosphere of the people around him.
“You know, it would be even better to know where they are,” said a gruff voice beside their Smith. Wind looked over Four's shoulder at a face filled with concentration as he walked. He snorted upon seeing it. “You look constipated, Twi.“
“Yeah, well—” his older brother started, looking down at his feet again, “you can see the Minish right now; I don’t want to step on them.” A nice gesture, Wind thought, looking in front of the trio again. None of the Minish seemed to be walking on the street; they were all walking on the kerb.
At that, he heard two giggles coming from the Ranchers' pelt. He looked at the two Minish ladies — at least, Four said they were girls — who were giggling and gushing about Twilight. He couldn’t understand what they were saying because of the distance, but judging by Four's face, it was probably similar to the way Maggie talked about her ehh...admirer.
“You don't need to walk like that,” Four called out as he moved along and crossed a bridge leading to a more secluded area of the town. “The Minish have their own paths, of course,” he said, looking their brother in the face as they passed a patch of crimson and lilac daisies. “And Winds right, you look constipated.”
Twilight sighed and shifted the large box on his shoulder slightly higher. The contents rattled against each other inside the box. “How come you two are in such a teasing mood?” Twilight asked, not really expecting an answer. Hearing his youngest brothers chuckle, he decided not to complain.
They all knew that Wind was the youngest of the heroes, but Twilight didn't know how old the Smithy was. However, his instincts kicked in when he saw Four. It was like when he saw the children of Ordona.
He couldn't be too far off.
Four pointed to a large bush in front of them as they approached it. “Well, that’s a nice shop,” Wind said sarcastically, following Four and Twilight around it. They found stairs going down into the ground. He gasped with excitement and hurried to the front to walk — or rather, hop — down the stairs.
A hidden shop inside a bush!
He jumped down the last step, grinning as he looked up. At the back of the room, in front of him, stood a man behind a counter, writing something down. The man looked up, a surprised expression on his face. This quickly morphed into a smile and he waved at him. "Well, hello there, new person!"
He heard Four and Twilight join him on the floor, especially weighed down by the box. “Ah, and if it isn't Link and another new person as well! Welcome, welcome,' the shopkeeper said, moving from the counter towards them. “Carlov, it’s good to see you again.” Four said, lifting his hand in greeting.
Ignoring it completely, Carlov ruffled Fours' hair with a good laugh while their brother complained loudly. He turned to Twilight and held out his hand. “I'm Carlov, the owner of this little building. I suppose you two are his new travelling companions?” he asked, nodding his head towards Wind. Wind nodded enthusiastically and continued to look around.
The walls were covered in shelves filled with items of various sizes. Behind the counter were tables, some strange machines, and beyond those, some tools for woodcarving. Sky's looked similar.
“That would be us. It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Twilight replied, taking the merchant’s hand. Carlov smiled and moved to take the box from her shoulder. ‘Carlov will do just fine,’ he said, lifting the box and moving back behind the counter to put it on one of the tables.
“Anyway, I hope Link hasn’t caused you too much trouble. Hylia knows how much trouble he can get into,” he laughed. Four crossed his arms and glared at Carlov. Well, as mean as he could manage, with his face shining bright red with embarrassment.
Twilight laughed wholeheartedly while Wind continued to look through the wall shelves. They held little statues depicting various places and people. There were Minish wearing all kinds of clothes and monsters that Wind had seen on his travels, as well as some he had never seen before. And there was...
“He's not a problem. Our Smithy actually helps to keep the group calm,” Twilight replied delightedly in response to Carlove's previous statement. He stood beside Four and laid a hand on his shoulder. The teased smith tried to brush Twilight's hand away, but he just laughed and continued to hold his shoulders, much to the smith's embarrassment. “I will never take you anywhere again, you wet dog!”
Carlov laughed heartily and leaned on the table. 'There's the boy we know,' he sighed, wiping a tear from his eye. 'Every part of him is as mischievous as the next.' Four narrowed his eyes at the older man, preparing to retort, when—
“Smithy!”
—he was interrupted by an excited-looking Wind pointing at the figurines on the shelf. ‘That’s you, right?’ he half-yelled across the room. On closer inspection, he was pointing at a small statue of a boy in a green tunic with blonde hair and a green hat.
The Hero of the Minish. Later, he was also known as the Hero of the Four Sword.
Wind thought he heard Four mutter something about 'his suffering', but he turned around too quickly and started talking to the Carlov again before Wind could get an answer out of him.
He chuckled and turned back to the statue, startling at what he saw. The two Minish ladies were standing by the statue, cooing at it.
The woman in green held her hand (or was it a paw?) against her cheek and giggled lightly. “Gosh, I remember when he was this small, coming to us with muddy clothes.”
The other woman, who was wearing red and had a winter hat over her ears, shook her head and crossed her arms. “That boy still visits with torn clothes,” she said.
Wait, did they know Four when he was younger? Four was very secretive about his past (he basically lives for drama), so they didn't know much. But here was his chance to find out more about his life!
He leaned down towards the Minish and laid his hands softly on the board.
“Excuse me?” he asked, immediately gaining the attention of both Minish. “Yes, dear?” asked the red Minish, walking a little towards him.
“Do you know Smi—er, I mean, Link when he was younger?” he asked carefully. They wouldn't know him as Smithy, but as Link. Names can be very confusing. The Minish turned their heads to the side and giggled. ‘Do I know him? Which Minish doesn't know him!' she said, walking back to the other Minish and pointing at the statue depicting his brother.
“He defeated the sorcerer Vaati and brought peace to Hyrule more than once. I was very surprised to hear how old he actually was when he first interacted with us,” she continued. But before she could say anything else, her Minish friend laid a hand on her shoulder.
“When I met him,” she began, gesturing around with her other hand, “he was definitely too old to see us. But I think Sage Ezlo was responsible for him being able to see us. Even still!” She turned to him, gave him a good look over, then continued moving through the statues, pulling her friend along by the hand.
“You too, boy. You seem too old to acknowledge us,” she said, leaving him with no choice but to follow them. Well, they are short steps, but steps nonetheless!
“I was once blessed by the Great Deku Tree and the Koroks. They are forest magic, so maybe that’s why?” he said, more in the way of a question than he would have liked. He should be proud of what he has achieved; he is proud of it! But the chance to hear about what Four, who was around his age, did on his first quest makes him a little nervous.
“Whatever the reason, we are happy that you are here,” said the red-clothed Minish, and they stopped in front of a statue of a beautiful winged women.
Green, yellow and blue — all light colours. “These are the Great Faeries that Link encountered during his adventures. They blessed him and guided him along the right path.”
“Fairies…” Wind mumbled, feeling his face twist in confusion. His Great Fairies were puppet-like creatures, not elegant like these ones, but more like beings that had once been twisted.
Oh well, floods do that to you.
“You see, both the Minish and the Faeries are beings of pure magic. A Faerie is pure magical energy, while the Minish are bound to forest magic, and to a certain extent, to human emotions and feelings,” she continued, explaining as she walked. The blue Minish interlocked their arms as they walked, leaning against her.
They passed lots of statues, some of people he had seen in the town and some of buildings, as well as lots of creatures he had never seen before. There was also a statue of four men with a plaque saying ‘Tingle’s brothers’. They knew that the man had been around in their time, just like another travelling merchant. But, for Time's sake, they decided not to talk about it too much.
“Unlike some creatures who are made of dark magic,” she said, before being interrupted by her friend: “And shadow magic! Dealing with the aftermath of that mirror was a pain,” she complained, ears pinned back in displeasure.
Yes, no — he was going to ignore that. Their smithy had already complained enough about dark magic; he didn't need to hear about another version of it.
In front of him were huge statues of creatures he had never seen before. He imagined they were some kind of leaders, or at least very strong.
Big green and blue Chuchu.
"They terrorised us when the box containing all evil was opened in the castle."
Big Octorok.
"In the forests, in the mountains—
Gleerok.
Even in the sky, we weren’t left unharmed.”
Gyorg Pair.
“There was a lot of destruction and pain,” she explained, pulling the other Minish closer to her.
Mazaal.
‘But in the end, everything turned out well,’ she reassured her saddened friend, who smiled at her. ‘Link, despite being young, decided to take matters into his own hands.’ As they approached the three large purple and gold statues, he felt like he was intruding on something. Something that his time wouldn't know about anymore. Something that was all lost.
Wind couldn’t begin to imagine the pain his brother endured to save this era. But then again, perhaps he could.
“In the end, he slew a brother of ours who let his desires overtake him.”
Vaati’s Wrath
It was a massive statue, black and purple, adorned with gold. Its red eye seemed to stare directly into Wind's very existence. The wood it stood on didn’t seem worthy of its presence. It was as if it would rip the winds out of Wind's hands and use them — his own gift — against him. It was as if he was standing on top of a tower and everything around him was crumbling. Was that a bell coming from below- no in front of him?
It's a sword that pierces and absorbs souls. His soul, their soul. It's gone. He is gon-
“Sailor?” A hand touched his shoulder, forcing him out of his thoughts. "Huh?!" he exclaimed, staring into dark brown eyes. Oh, it’s Four. He's here. “Smithy, what’s up?” he asked, delighted. It was nice to see his brother.
“I’m finished here. Do you want to stay a little while, or are you ready to go?” Four asked, as the two little Minish ladies walked up to him and climbed onto his outstretched hand. They settled together on his shoulder.
His brother looked at the statues in front of him and his expression turned sour. “That would be Vaati,” he said, looking at Wind again. But he didn't just look at him as he normally would; he stared at him as if trying to find something in him. Something he didn't even know existed.
After a moment's hesitation, he asked, “Who is he?” Four tilted his head and turned around. He grabbed Wind's shoulder, not unkindly, and pulled him towards the stairs.
Twilight was still chatting with Carlov.
“You guys know that, besides Ganon, I fought another being,” he stated. Yes, Wind knew. They all did. Four is sometimes reluctant to talk about his adventures, especially when it comes to the people affected by them. He keeps most of it to himself because he loves to cause drama, but he hides some of it because it’s painful.
Like the eyes. Four is not a fan of eyes. Now Wind knows why. He nodded. They reached the stairs. Four let Wind go.
“That’s the other guy I fought,” he said, stopping. “Multiple times, but with a different mind.”
“A different mind?” Wind asked, looking back at the statue. But he was interrupted by Four giving him a warning look.
He sighed and crossed his arms. “I’m pretty sure that last time I saw him, he was just being puppeteered by Ganon.” The Minish on his shoulder looked at each other, then back at him. Sure, alright then.
“A puppet, huh?” Wind asked, somewhat surprised. A few memories of fairies and a large marionette-like being appeared in his mind.
Four laughed sombrely. “It seems like we share more than just a shield.”
They do.
Four turned around to face the room and looked at their older brother. “Yo, Rancher!” he called, and without waiting for a response, he started to walk up the stairs.
“What is it? Hey, Smithy!” Twilight stuttered, giving Carlov a quick goodbye. Wind called out a 'Goodbye' as he followed their brother up the stairs.