Work Text:
The marketplace in Four's Hyrule Town never rested. Even the formerly monster-infested trails of Mt. Crenel couldn't compete with its ubiquitous busyness and general overpopulation. Arguably, at times it was also far more dangerous, especially when your size made it easier for you to fall victim to a random shoe than to avoid bigger hazards.
And when you were big enough for people to actually see you, the threats that should be especially looked out for were accounting frauds.
With the exception of your typical shops, like bakeries or vegetable stalls, there were shady sellers hiding in every corner of the main plaza, watchful and ready to scam you. It was something most had to learn the hard way.
The group was currently exploring the many possibilities of purchase presented to them, feeling highly impressed and a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of options they could choose from in more cases than not. Even those farther in the Timeline were failing to hide their amazement.
Even though Four wasn’t directly involved in this particular branch of business, he couldn’t help but feel proud of his world. The sparkles in the eyes of some of his companions (some of whom may have never seen a market before, he realised) were what he was always looking for in his own clients at his forge. They, or the lack thereof, told the truth not present in people’s words, expressed feelings often difficult to voice, whether they were positive or negative, and could even expose the true colours of a person.
But most importantly they showed fascination, joy . That’s why when Four saw the bright gazes of his friends he felt accomplished. Seeing them happy made every part of his heart warm up, even if some of them didn’t want to admit it.
Until he witnessed Wind about to make one of the biggest mistakes of his life.
“It makes you find Rupees? ” The Sailor beamed at the familiar-looking vendor sitting on a rug in the middle of the square. Bottles shining with various colours were displayed before him, catching the curious eyes of potential customers and attracting the more weak-willed ones. Wind was staring at the ball of the yellow light as if it were a tiny sun captured inside the glassy prison.
“It sure does! Use it and you’ll become rich before you know it!” Chanted the merchant. He took the bottle in his hands and lifted it up towards Winds face. “So, are you interested? Only 200 Rupees for a brighter future!”
Four rushed to their side and grabbed Wind by the arm before he could say another word. “Sorry,” he cut in the conversation, “we won’t be buying anything this time. Have a nice day!” The two of them went away without waiting for a reply. The younger had been taken aback by the sudden interaction, so he let the Smithy drag him across the streets for a couple of moments before digging his hills in the dirt and halting their little caravan.
“What was that about?!” He snapped, offended. “I was about to make a deal of my life! I would’ve been rich!”
“The only thing you were going to be is scammed.” Four put his hands on his hips and frowned, looking at Wind with the best Time impression he was able to fake. It didn’t look very believable. “I just saved your wallet from draining.”
“Didn’t you hear him? He said that thing was going to make me find money! I would fill my wallet in no time!” Wind wasn’t liking how proud of himself Four looked. Did he not understand what a great opportunity that was? And Beedle always sold him good stuff! Granted, it happened in an entirely different time period but if the hero’s spirit remained the same, why couldn’t others’?
“And did he tell you exactly how much you will find?”
Wind flinched at the remark. That was an aspect he didn’t think through. “Well, no, but does it matter? It’s free money.”
“Of course it matters!” Four threw his hands in the air. “Listen, it costs 200 Rupees and lasts for only 30 seconds. No matter how big of a field you can find and how long you can hold your spin attack, you will be lucky if you find a hundred.” He watched how Wind’s expression changed from livid to shocked to embarrassed within a few short seconds. A part of him felt bad for doing it, the others insisted it was for his own good. “My point is, you will lose more than you earn. Yellow Picolyte is probably the worst thing you can invest your money in.”
“What even is this thing? Beedle hadn’t told me anything except its ‘great properties.’”
“It’s made from the nectar of Picoblooms, flowers grown by the Minish.” Four explained. “Each colour grants different power, others are usually more worth buying but I wouldn’t recommend it in general. You either get something not worth the money you spent or way too much stuff you can’t carry.”
Wind didn’t need to hear much more, his defeat has been proved enough already and he had admitted it. The return to the Smithy’s house was long and silent on his side.
***
That same night, Four’s thoughts were filled with the memories of glowing flowers and the little quest he had taken on to contribute to their growth. How he was looking for whatever Flotari would send him to bring to grow new kinds of Pikoblooms. How he was coming back to the village a bit too often than necessary just to check on them, and how happy he felt when he witnessed the blooming of the last one. How he wished to see it once more.
He's usually not the type to make spontaneous decisions, so he surprised himself when he was up and going in the direction of the Minish Woods mere seconds later.
The moon was fully covered by thick, dark clouds and the breeze that smelled of pine needles and rain pinched his skin with freezing blows but it didn't matter, it was still beautiful. There was something in the air, in the smell of evergreen trees and the sound of life under his feet that always made Four feel safe and welcome in those woods.
He walked along the all-too-familiar path, even if someone blinded him and took his hearing away, he would still be able to make it to the portal and back without the slightest stumble, and stopped before an old tree trunk. He didn’t need it anymore, he could transform on command now after all, but he still uses it every time he visits the village, only if it meant just standing on it while shrinking. It felt right.
The world grew bigger as he started making his way through hollowed-out logs and clover turfs filled with obstacles. Among it all, well hidden from the outside was the smallest village in Hyrule, even in the still-young country’s standards, but any less lively than Hyrule Town itself.
Despite the late hour, the Minish were still up and running between their mushroom houses and other buildings in what looked like a lot of agitation, they didn’t even seem to notice him enter. Was something happening? They were running too fast, he couldn’t stop anyone to ask. Would Flotari know? He doesn’t leave his plants too often but if it’s something big and important the word must have reached him too.
Nodding to himself, Four turned right, the way in which the barrel greenhouse lay. He climbed the stairs at the side and came down the ladder to go inside.
Nothing has changed there, it never did. Colourful, glowing flowers were growing all around, almost ready to harvest at that point. They were big and heavy with nectar, and so lush Four could barely see the Minish hidden between them, checking on the leaves.
The only thing he found unusual was… a napkin? Something big in the corner of the barrel was covered by the dark blue material.
“Flotari!” Four exclaimed at the sight of his old friend, startling the tiny gardener.
“Link!” Flotari jumped, almost forgetting to let go of the leaf he was holding. He turned around to face Four and adjusted his cap. The last evidence of any kind of a grimace ever visiting his features disappeared immediately seeing the wide, overjoyed grin on the other’s face, “It’s so good to see you! But what are you doing here so late at night?”
“You could say I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic lately.” He cackled, “What’s about that thing over there?”
“Oh!” Flortari’s ears bolted up and he rushed to the mysterious object, “This is a special project of mine I’ve been working on. Want to have a look?”
“Of course!” Four joined him in a blink of an eye. The florist grabbed the cloth by the edge and pulled, revealing a flower.
It looked different than other flowers present in the room. It was slightly taller than them, had a thinner stem and white petals. Petals Four noticed. Normally, Picoblooms were similar to dandelions, they had a big, round seedhead filled with fluorescent nectar that made the fluffy seeds growing all over it glow. This one resembled a Silent Princess from Wild’s world if there was anything he could compare it to. Its petals were heart-shaped and white, and they shone brighter than all the others put together.
Four looked at it wide-eyed and awed, not only because of how impressive and beautiful it was but also because the sheer impact he felt by just standing in front of it was enough to leave him speechless.
Being towered over by a fragile plant was one thing, the Picoblooms were similar to those huge lamps or paper lanterns the King would put up during festivals and that’s how Four has been thinking about them most of the time. This one was nothing like that, there wasn’t anything he could think of that would quite match it in appearance. It was probably the first thing in years that made him realise how small he actually was.
“Flotari, this…” he stuttered, “Have you created a new species?”
The florist shook his tiny head, “No, I can assure you it grew out of the same seeds the rest did. I used the essence of fireflies’ light and let it absorb moonlight since the day I planted it. I knew something new would happen but I wasn’t expecting it to turn out like this.”
“So if you’re saying it’s a Picobloom, what does Picolite made out of its nectar do?”
Flotari flinched and grabbed on his cloth. He didn’t answer immediately, instead, he started making noises resembling desperate attempts on speech. Four was about to reach out to him and ask what was going on when he finally got his words out.
“Well…” he started, “that’s kind of the point. They don’t produce nectar.” His voice was barely a whisper as he glued his eyes to the floor. “There’s no use for them other than their light, which we can’t even use because it’s too bright and would expose the village.” He sat on the edge of the pot the flower was growing in and stroked the leaf delicately, “So, for now, they are useless. I’m already working on improving them but it’s a shame I can’t do anything with those I have now.”
Four started walking towards his friend, ready to console him and say that there must be something he could do with his flowers, if not in the Minish Village then surely somewhere else! It was a revolutionary invention after all and he loved it so much!
He didn’t get to say any of this though because he was intruded by the door to the greenhouse slamming open and a Minish rushing inside.
“Flotari, we need everyone available!” Exclaimed the sudden guest, she was soaking wet and clearly out of breath. The sound of rain hitting the ground entered the house with her. “Come on and h— Link!” she gasped, “Link, goddess blessed you’re here, we need help!”
He stopped midstep before the Minish grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him outside. Despite her size, she was extremely strong, if his eyes were closed and he didn’t know who she was, he would’ve assumed Twilight somehow appeared in the village to take him back. He managed to stop only just in front of the entrance.
“Hey, calm down! What’s going on?”
“A bunch of kids left the village in the afternoon to look for shrooms and berries and haven’t come back yet! And the storm is coming!” She screamed, “We have to find them but it’s so dark outside a-and the rain and every torch we lit extinguishes immediately even if we try to protect it!” The girl paused for a second to catch her breath. She looked at Four with hopeful eyes, glassy from tears that have gathered there but refused to come out, “You have something to light up our way, right?”
Four’s heart dropped, the only thing he took with him was his sword and even if he did have his bag with him, his lantern wouldn’t have survived in the rain for too long.
But then he realised.
He turned around, now facing Flotari who was hastily looking for something in the corners of the greenhouse, and smiled to himself, “I might have just the thing.”
***
Over the course of the next fifteen minutes multiple Minish were coming in and out of the greenhouse, grabbing the glowing petals of Flotari’s flower and going back to their search, now equipped with a source of light. Two smaller ones were taken out of their pot and planted outside of the village entrance.
Four joined them on the mission and together, after what felt like hours of wandering through a flooded jungle, they found the group of five Minish children clinging to each other for warmth under a fallen piece of bark, around twenty minutes away from the village.
One of the rescuing crew had said that they had searched that spot before but didn’t see anything because of the darkness.
As they were coming back the light of the flowers left at the village was still reaching their eyes.
And later that night, after all the celebrating was over and the emotions died down, Flotari had gifted his flower to Four in thanks, promising that when he comes back to visit again he will have created the perfect version of it that would be illuminating every house and every street in the village.
The rain had managed to stop and the sun started waking up by the time he was on his way back. He will have some explaining to do, but somehow, he felt like he’d find a way now.