-Chapter 1-
To die, to sleep; to sleep: perchance to dream.
Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 1
Shad gathered a few things after deciding to go and stay at the place his father had built, up on Snowpeak, on a whim when he was young. When you have as much assets as his father had gathered at the time, you end up doing things that most would consider strange. Despite this, his father had still passed on as an extremely wealthy man. As he packed, he recalled that the kook of a Castletown doctor had told him on his last visit that a stay in the desert would do wonders for his current condition, due to the dry air. Therefore, he had decided to do the exact opposite. He didn't exactly plan on living longer than he had to with his sickness.
Shad was a young man, of around five and a half feet in height, of a slightly smaller than average build. He wore his usual fare, a blazer and trousers reaching to his knees. He wore gingham socks, which for all their stylistic atrocities, were exceedingly comfortable. He wore well worn boots on his feet, slightly above ankle height, and a borderline laughably large, thin plum bowtie. A white short sleeve dress shirt rested beneath his blazer, and he wore gold rimmed, round glasses to aid in the sight of his dark blue eyes.
Some hirees had thankfully already moved the few larger items that he would need up to the structure - which was largely empty on the lower floor due to the fact that his father had never actually done anything with the property - with minimal complaining over the cold, which was most likely due to the large sums he'd paid them to do so. He allowed himself one last glimpse of his childhood home. He traveled from room to room, taking in the various photographs and paintings. He came to the banister of the stairway that led to his childhood room, and paused. Smoothing his hand over the well-worn rail, he took a closer look at the faded varnish that remained after generations of Garwoods.
While he was apparently lucky enough to have several siblings, or so he'd been told, their mannerisms towards him had been one of tolerance at best. His eldest sibling, a brother was currently a very respected lawyer for the Castle dignitaries, while his older sister had married a very well-to-do businessman from Terminia. Shad couldn't say that he disliked the man, or his siblings, but he wasn't very inclined towards any certain manner of feeling towards them. He stepped quietly up to his room. While the childhood furnishings had long been replaced by those befitting a man, there was the odd relic of the child remaining on shelves and in fairy tales on bookshelves. As he made his way around the room, he found himself stopping at his smallest work desk, one of the many things he'd left behind. He noticed that a small locket, in which he had placed a photo of himself and a person for whom he cared greatly, lay upon it's worn surface. It seemed to be begging him to retrieve it, and to carry it with him, and he nearly did. Drawing his hand away from the thing, he made his way down the stairs and out of the domain for what he planned to be the last time.
As he walked away towards his rented caravan to the base of the mountains of Hyrule, and a few days later, allowed himself the fleeting thought that perhaps he was leaving his troubles behind him in that old house. He found himself enjoying a small laugh over the thought as he trudged his way up the snow-covered mountain trail to the 'cabin', which was situated on a plateau midway up the mountain.
After about an hour or so, Shad found himself at the 'cabin'. The 'cabin' was an imposing structure, two-thirds the size of the peak mansion where Yeto the snow-beast and his wife dwelt. It exuded a warm feeling of home, despite its cool surroundings. Making his way up to the door, he admired the craftsmanship of the structure, especially the elaborate moldings around the door and tops of the windows. Letting himself in, he locked the door (situated in the middle of the structure) while brushing back his auburn hair so that he might better inspect the work of the hirees. His favorite armchair was close to the fireplace, which the helpers had been kind enough to start a fire in. It crackled merrily as he continued his observations. The well-used desk he reserved for his studies on the Oocca was placed against the far wall, perpendicular to the right side of the fireplace. A few feet away from the desk, on its right side was the entrance to what would have been the study. His father had decided to go without the traditional main hall that the majority of this type of structure contained by default.
Shad decided to forgo exploring the structure, despite his never having actually seen the place before. He'd only heard of it in snatched bits of conversation between adults as a child, in which relatives would inquire over his father's 'hulking mistake on Snowpeak'. His father had never taken his mother, himself and his siblings along to the place for the short respites he often took, due to his mother's frequently poor health. His dear mother...he did miss her often. His mother had been in her early 40's, his father in his 60's when they passed.
Shad was only 19. He had never been very close to his siblings, and his mother seemed to consider him her favorite, as he was the most like her out of his siblings - gentle in manner, while the others were like their father: more rash. He amended that thought; they were kind in their own way, just not as warm. As his older brothers had played war games, he had preferred to read on mythology and histories. He'd never been close enough to his sister to know what she enjoyed, as she had made it a point of ignoring him. Suddenly he realized that he'd drifted off into his thoughts when the sight of the mantel clock above the fire showed him that almost fifteen minutes had passed, and decided to lie down. Removing his plum colored coat, he placed it on the hanger on the left side of the door.
Not feeling up to making his way upstairs to one of the bedrooms, Shad made his way over to the armchair and allowed himself to fall heavily into its cushioned comfort. He carefully removed his circular glasses and placed them on a small table situated next to the chair. Finally gave himself permission to rest for the first time in what seemed like eons, he fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
Ashei, for lack of anything better to do, had decided to go out. She was highly opposed to the idea of going to Telma's Bar in Hyrule Castletown; she was tired of constantly viewing the same backdrop to life. Thus, she planned to go and inspect Snowpeak. Ever since Link had defeated Ganondorf, the few creatures that had managed to escape the reach of the Master Sword had fled to the supposed safety of the mountains. Ashei was an adventurer of sorts in her own right. She had know the old adventurer, Auru, for as long as she had been alive – he was her godfather. Bring Auru's goddaughter had allowed her many perks, one of which being taught how to wield a sword. Ashei was not the frilly type of girl – while she enjoyed cute things, more practical wear was her forte. After several years of training with Auru, she had been able to go out adventuring on her own. This had been the way that the Resistance was formed in Telma's Bar. When Ganondorf's minion, Zant, had come into power, naturally the state of Hyrule was one of a nation plunged into darkness. With this, there resulted a large influx of monstrous minions that needed eradicating – and this was where the resistance came in. Shad aided in the research aspect, Telma the base, and Auru, Rusl and herself the swords. Now that the war against the darkness was over, there was nothing much to do in ways of adventuring aside from the eradication of the remnants. Ashei had not seen Shad in a long while, and she was worried about him. Since Shad had not been to the bar in many months, and his home abandoned, there was one thing left to check – the little spoken of mansion of his father. Packing a few necessities and her short sword, she figured that nothing was wrong with having a little fun. There were sure to be monsters on the way.
Ashei brushed back her dark hair after disposing of a few White Wolfos, which infested the mountain peaks. Every time one was destroyed, several more seemed to materialize. She had yet to find any Darknuts or Lizafols, the smartest of the Ganondorf's remaining creatures. After looking up from cleaning her short sword in the snow, she saw that the long abandoned Garwood mansion had the warm glow of light penetrating its windows. Thinking that perhaps some of Ganondorf's creatures had decided to hole up inside the structure as a reprieve from the bitter cold, Ashei made her way up to have a nice little meeting with them. Most of all, she hoped that it was Shad. While she and shad's interest differed rather greatly – he a scholar and she a fighter – they were still good friends, and it pained her to have seen him in clear discomfort. While Ashei could tell that he wasn't feeling his best, she believed it to be a direct result of Princess Zelda.
He had loved for the Princess for years. Shad's father was a well respected advisor to the royal family, and this had left the whole Garwood clan very well off with gifts of gratitude directed their way. People from all over the known world sought his father's advice – but shy Shad had remained in his room, with his studies. Shad's father had done small research on his own, but it was just a pastime to him, and not something to be pursued seriously. This had caused a large rift between the two relatives, but had allowed the boy to become a playmate for the Princess. Since there could naturally be no way for the princess to play with the young children outside the safety of North Castle, and Shad's father always being about the place a young Shad was always brought along. But that was not the place for Ashei's thoughts to dwell now. Despite how the woman had treated Shad, her place was to support him, and this was her plan as she trudged towards what could possibly be the location of her dearest friend.
As the light was nearly gone from the sky, she reached the building. Ashei took special care not to be seen from the windows. Her coat, which was likened to the appearance of Yeto and Yeta the snow beasts, was especially helpful in that aspect. Carefully peering into the window, she observed no monsters, but did happen to see an acquaintance of hers: Shad Garwood. Sighing in relief, Ashei made her way to the door, and after removing her hood proceeded to knock on the door.
At the sound of knocking, Shad shot up out of the armchair, and scanned the room, trying to discover the source of the noise. The fire, which had burned so brightly when he'd fallen asleep, had eaten itself down to mere cinders, but the light from the day outside Upon realizing that it was only someone at the door, he restored his glasses to his nose. Then he came to the realization that he was in the middle of nowhere, and that the chances of someone knocking on his door in such a remote location were slim to none. Therefore, Shad picked up the closest thing he could find - a bit of scrap wood - and made his way towards the door. Opening the door a minimal amount, to the extent of the chain, at the sound of another knock he peered out of the opening to see who it was. He gently fingered the small dagger at his side, in case he needed it. While it was usually assigned as a book marker, perhaps he could stun a beast with a blow from his lumbar and then stab it with the dagger, which had the image of an Oocca on its hilt.
"Who is it?" Ashei immediately recognized the voice drifting from the space between the door and the frame, and allowed herself a small smile. "You planning on keeping me out here all day, yeah? It's Ashei." She heard a muffled bang as Shad knocked something over or dropped it - he'd always been clumsy- as he gave an embarrassed "Oh!" and undid the chain on the door to allow her access to the rooms beyond. Ashei couldn't help but try to stifle a laugh at the ruffled expression he held as she came in.
"What's up?" she stated casually. Upon seeing Shad's rumpled hair, she pointed to it and stated with a slight tone of worry, "I didn't wake you up did I?"
"It's, all right", he replied, and with a quick look at the mantel clock added, "I've been asleep for too long anyway...It's almost nine now." He tossed a piece of wood to the wall near the door.
"Well I probably should've let you sleep.." "You didn't know, it's okay" Shad stated, and smiled in a quirky manner.
"You can't be angry with anyone can you?" she laughed. "Probably not. Too nice for my own good." was his reply as he held out his hand for the coat she'd removed, and hung it up next to his own plum-colored jacket. As Ashei looked around, Shad couldn't help but wonder how long he could hide his sickness from her.
