Winds of Desperation - Vaati x Female Reader (BotW AU)

Beginnings

Beware, fool, the Eye of the Yiga~

The words echo in my head as I open my eyes to the throbbing pain through my body and the blinding light coming from the torches around me.

"?!"

I gasp, looking around frantically.

"M-Mom? Dad...?!"

I am answered with nothing but silence.

"Mommy..."

My eyes water, and I can hear myself sniffling, soon sobbing in fear...
Where are my mommy and daddy...?
I'm so scared... It's so cold in here...

Mommy, I'm so sorry... Please, I'll be good from now on...! But please help me! I won't run away ever again, I promise...!

My body hurts, I'm so lonely, so scared... I'm locked up in a cell, and I'm going to die...

***********************************

"Stop doing it like that."

The flame in your hand flickered away as you turned to look at Vaati. "Why? What did I do wrong this time?"

"Your posture and stance are wrong. Do it again."

You couldn't help but groan. But honestly, you're the one who asked for his help strengthening your magic, weren't you?

"It would be easier if you told me exactly what I'm doing wrong though..." you mumbled.

You heard him chuckle mockingly. "If I spent every single minute picking out every painful amateur mistake you make, I would be an old man by now."

You simply glared at him. You focused on your flame again.

Burn in my hands, you little shit.

Yes, you did imagine his annoying grin being consumed in flames, which was odd considering you took magic more seriously than anyone else.

...As you thought about this, the flame suddenly turned into ice.

"Ouch!" The sudden contact with the ice made you flinch and drop it, cursing under your breath. Vaati only looked at you with an amused look on his face.

"I've... never seen anyone mess up like that before."

"Oh, yeah? I take it someone like you has lots of students?" You asked sarcastically. He shrugged.

"No. But in my student days, I never managed to mess up that badly. I guess I'm just superior, that's all."

You couldn't tell if he was joking or not... honestly, if you had been the one to say that, most people would have caught on that it was a joke, but considering how arrogant and full of himself Vaati was... you couldn't tell for sure.

***********************************

"Eat up, kid."

I shake my head meekly. "N-No..."

The man grabs me by the hair, making me whimper as he shakes me like a rag doll.

"Eat. Up."

What do you want from me...?

I can't understand what's going on, and everything passes as a blur. I don't know what happens next, but now I'm standing in a courtyard, in front of an even burlier man. He's yelling at the other men, but...

"You fools brought the wrong one!! This child is a failure!!"

...A failure...

I hear yelling, and more arguing, until things eventually quiet down.

"...Get rid of the child."

"!!"

One of them has a sickle in hand, and another lifts me up by my wrist as I struggle to break free.

"NO!! LET ME GO!!"

I scream at the top of my lungs. Daddy will come save me, right?

"Pipe down you fucking brat!!"

I receive a slap across the face. I can't see straight through my tears... I continue screaming, and I bite down on one of the men's arm before I'm thrown down to the ground.

The burlier man speaks.

"Tch. The kid is too much trouble. Free the kid and leave it in the desert to die."

They spoke as if I were nothing more than an animal.

...I run. I run and I run and I run. I fall down on the sand, scraping my knees and my elbows, getting sand in my hair and my shoes...

I continue running and running and running...

I need to find Mommy and Daddy...

Ohhhh it's so dark now... and I'm so cold...

My legs can't move anymore...

***********************************

"Why are you so obsessed with the Royal Family though?"

"I'm not obsessed. I simply have something to settle with them."
And with the Hero, Vaati thought. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it."

"But..."

"Why do you want to improve your magic so badly though? Turning fire into ice is pretty bad, but it's also unusual... you would have had to learn magic from an extremely powerful witch to get that kind of power."

You stayed silent for a second. "You... you could say that, but I don't see why you'd want to know—"

"Exactly."

He smiled cynically at you. "As long as we both get what we want, we don't need to know anything else."

"..."

He was right.

...But who would betray the other first?