~Chapter Two~

His pencil tapped out an atonal beat against his notebook as the teacher rambled on. He'd been going on for about a half hour now about something completely unrelated to the day's subject, but everyone was used to him doing that by now, and Link had learned to just zone out. The class was almost over anyway and he didn't think Professor Auru would get back on subject in that time. So he sighed an ran a hand through a his hair, waiting for the cue to leave.

Slowly he closed his eyes and let his mind wander, and it wasn't long before it turned to a few days earlier, remembering the lake trip. Lake Hylia gleamed in the afternoon sun, dazzlingly bright on this cloudless day. Zora Village stood on the lake side, a strip of festively colored buildings lining the boardwalk. The small group set up their picnic area on a small chunk of land branching off from the village, in a spot that could catch the sun later in the evening. Shad wandered off and quickly busied himself with the nearby tides pools, and Link smiled as Hena wandered after him. The studious boy was completely unaware of her affection for him. Dark and Ashei were arguing about who could dive deeper and were in the process of stripping down to their bathing suits and throwing rupees into the water to retrieve. Link was staring up at the bridge far above their heads when something suddenly hit him in the face. He jumped and looked down at the white pageboy on the ground that had assaulted him, then looked up to find Sheik snickering at him. ""'You're easily distracted' he pointed out with a laugh, then pulled his shirt off. Link froze and couldn't help but stare a bit while he took his shoes off. Sheik was all lean muscles and sharp lines, thin but strong shoulders. He had a tattoo on his left pec, about the size of his palm, of a red eye of truth. Sheik glanced over at him then, and Link looked away with a blush, but not before catching the small smile on Sheik's lips.

"Oh, well look at the time,"Auru finally said when he noticed people beginning to pack up, jerking Link out of his reprieve. "Alight, so next week we'll be moving on to the development of ancient Goron society. Everyone should try to be in class that day," Auru called out to the class as they hurriedly made for the door. But before Link could disappear Auru stopped him. "And Link, in future if you're going to daydream, at least look forward and pretend to pay attention." He took the edge off by smiling, but Link still blushed furiously as he nodded and quickly escaped the room.

Once outside in the center courtyard he frowned and looked up at the sky. It was clouding over in a grey sheet and there had been a significant drop in temperature from that morning. "Bit early for this kind of weather, isn't it," someone observed behind him. He turned to find Shad was the culprit, balancing a pile of books in his arms. "My back pack broke," he explained, turning to show link the ripped out bottom on a thoroughly worn out bag.

"I was thinking the same thing," Link replied, taking a few books off the pile to ease the burden. It was still early September, and the weather on Death Mountain normally stayed mild and sunny until at least the end of this month. "I kind of wish I had brought a jacket."

Shad smiled but before he could say anything Sheik seemingly appeared among them, patting his pockets down. "I'm always loosing stuff," he complained. "And you two are wimps, it's not that cold. Aha, found it," he exclaimed, producing a slightly crushed pack of cigarettes.

"Maybe you're just not cold because you have bad circulation," Shad frowned at him. Sheik simply rolled his eyes and lit up, protecting his lighter's small flame with a cupped hand.

Shad glanced at Link as if for back up, but he only shrugged. "Don't look at me, I used to smoke, the only reason I don't anymore if because I can't afford it. Plus, Barnes would probably fire me if he thought I carried anything flammable."

"Ha ha," Sheik said, poking Shad in the side as he offered Link a drag.

Link took the cigarette and the three were bickering amongst themselves when a familiar dark figure sauntered up to them. "Link, smoking? Again? Such a nasty habit," Dark chastised, snatching it away from Link again. But instead of snuffing it out under his boot, he took a long drag and handed it back to Sheik. "You're poisoning my baby brother with bad habits," he joked.

Link scoffed, "We're twins, moron. Being born last doesn't make me the baby."

"Moron?" Dark gasped, feigning offense.

"You're all morons. Smoking is a terrible thing to do," Shad interrupted.

They all laughed and bickered for a few more minutes before Link thought of something, "Wait wait. Why are you even here," he asked Dark. Dark owned and operated the local potions shop and didn't go to the university.

"Mm, oh yeah, that's what I'm forgetting. There's some guy down at the bomb store. Not a customer though, Barnes was all buddy buddy with him. I thought you might want to know."

Link gave him a confused smile. "It doesn't sound like something I should be worried about. I don't even work today."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. It might be his son," Shad speculated.

Link frowned. "And? It still doesn't sound like anything to be bothered by."

"Well, his son is kind of an ass. But other than that I suppose he might take your job. Barnes would do something like that," Sheik explain as he dropped the end of his cigarette and stamped it out.

Eyes widening in worry, Link stammered, "Wh-what? You really think Barnes would do that to me?"

"It's possible, if his son needs a job he might. Hopefully not though," Dark said. "I've never actually met him before. What's he like," he asked Sheik.

"Well when we were kids he was mean, a bully I guess. It's been years since I've actually seen him though. He's been living out in Gerudo with his mother I think. You know Link, it really wouldn't surprise me if he took your job." Sheik gave him an apologetic look and crossed his arms.

"Damn it," Link breathed as he shoved Shad's books back into his arms and turned to leave.

Dark rolled his eyes and shot Shad and Sheik an scathing look. "Good job sugar coating it guys," he said and turned to run after Link.

Dark caught up with him as he made it to the edge of the campus and started down the mountain. They walked in silence until they made it into Kakariko and Dark veered off towards his shop. "Come by later and tell me how it goes," he called with a wave.

Link waved back absentmindedly and made his way down to where he hoped he still had a job. If Barnes really fired him he didn't know what he'd do. He had a reduced tuition at the school, but if he lost his job it wouldn't matter how affordable it was. He'd loose his apartment too. Dismayed, he dragged himself up the steps and quietly entered the shop, walking lightly so he didn't make any noise on the metal floor. He could hear voices coming from upstairs, chatting amiably. They stopped suddenly though when Link closed the door, the quiet click echoing through the walls. Barnes head appeared over the railing then to see who the intruder was. "Oh, Link. You're not supposed to work today. What's going on kid?" His tone was kind enough, but Link could hear disquiet undertones in the words, already suspicious.

"Dark was saying he saw someone strange come by. I thought I'd stop in to see if everythings alright," he explained, craning his neck back to look up at his boss.

"Oh, well, come on up here then," he said, slightly hesitant.

Link climbed the curved stairs quickly, mentally preparing himself for anything that could happen. But he was still shocked when reached the top and saw the young man who could only be Barnes' son. He was tall, taller than both Link and Barnes, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His skin was a deep shade of tan olive, offsetting the flaming red mop of hair and sharp golden eyes. "Link," Barnes began, "this is my son, Ganondorf."

The boy flashed a wicked smile. "Call me Ganon."