Disclaimer: I own nothing LoZ related.
NUMBER NINE
Chapter Ten: A Dragmire-ly Direction
Dark times will bring people together...
... and split them apart.
"Zeeeeeelda Royallllle," hissed a voice in her ear. Zelda panted and tried to run. Sweat shone on her face and arms, and she was on the verge of crying, she was in such panic. She was totally confused and not sure where she actually was. There were trees. Lots of trees. It was an endless maze of trees as far as she could see. She wanted out, but they all looked the same, all exactly the same...
She tripped on a root, but caught herself on the tree. Her heart thumping like a battering ram in her ribcage, she straightened up and ran... right into someone's arms.
"Z?" Link said, confused.
"Oh Link, oh Link, oh Link I need you," she said, the tears coming. "He's here, he's here, we have to get out!"
"Z?" he repeated. Then he began to change. His warm, comforting arms turned to steel cables binding her from leaving. His chest went from broad to barrel-shaped, and he shrunk a few inches. His skin darkened, and lastly, his sparkling blue eyes turned to dark, cesspools of malevolence...
It was Thursday morning, the day after Ilia's memorial service and Sheik and Zelda's awkward conversation. Zelda woke up, her eyes red.
"Tread lightly, tread lightly!" an annoying little voice echoed in her head. "Tread lightly, tread lightly!"
Oh, shut up, Zelda thought in annoyance. She hadn't got much sleep the night before. She kept thinking about her and Sheik. Even though she'd been telling herself she and Link belonged together... did they? Things had changed once he went to college, but she'd been blaming it on stress and the factor that he was so far away. But what if it was something different? What if this new Link, the one who half the time did not pick up her calls, was the Link that was going to stay? What if the Link that brought her random gifts of candy and movies and such was... gone?
Sheik had always been there for her. Always. Even when no one else had. When her parents had died, the only ones who stuck with her were Liam and Sheik. Their parents and grandparents had teased them about winding up with each other... What if they were right? Sheik was her best friend. What if that meant she'd made a mistake when she'd left him on her porch? What if he didn't want to talk to her anymore?
The though made her stomach churn uncomfortably. She stood up out of bed, and the muggy air wrapped around her legs lovingly. Both of her windows were open, so she could hear the rain last night. It was a mild drizzle this morning. Zelda looked at the clock. She took her time getting ready, meticulously straightening every hair, making sure every eyelash was curled. She wasn't sure why she was being so slow this morning. Maybe to put off her inevitable awkward meeting with Sheik?
When she had nothing more she could possibly do to enhance her appearance, she sighed, grabbed her bags, and stepped out the door. Sheik hadn't come to get her yet... How odd. He wasn't very flexible, and they usually left at promptly seven thirty. It was seven thirty five, and he hadn't come to get her yet. Zelda shouted a good-bye to Liam, and then walked out the door and to the Baldwins'.
When she knocked on the door, there was a little wait, and then Mrs. Baldwin answered.
"Oh! Zelda!" she said. "Are you feeling better?"
"... yeah," Zelda said. Feeling better from what? Had Sheik told his parents about their little episode yesterday? That seemed kind of unlikely...
"Well that's good to hear," she said. "Sheik said that you had the flu this morning and didn't need a ride to school."
Zelda paused. "Oh," she said. "Yeah, I'm feeling better. Could you tell him I still need a ride?"
"Sorry, dearie," Mrs. Baldwin said. "He and Mido left five minutes ago, you just missed them."
"Oh," Zelda said again, dumbly.
"I can take you if you need it," Mrs. Baldwin offered.
"Nah, I'm good," Zelda said, collecting herself again. "Thanks anyway, Mrs. Baldwin!"
"No problem, sweetheart!" Sheik's mother said. "Good to see you up and around!"
"Yup," Zelda said. I'm going to kill him.
Zelda wound up having to walk three blocks to the bus station. Liam couldn't take her to school because he had to be at work, so she had to walk the entire way to the bus stop. Her hair which had looked so great this morning had frizzed and semi-curled with the drizzle. Zelda was kind of hurt that Sheik lied about her being sick so he wouldn't have to see her, and at the same time she was so angry that the entire three block walk she contemplated various ways to kill him. She hadn't ruled out medieval torture quiet yet.
She was on the bus to school with a crowd of rowdy teenagers. Zelda sat in a seat by herself and stared out the window dismally. The roads were slick, it was still drizzling, and she hadn't finished her English paper and was bound to fail it. As Zelda thought about this, the bus came to a stop. Zelda stood up, but people anxious to get inside pushed past. Not wanting to try to fight with the flow, Zelda waited for those who wanted to get off do so before she got off. As she stepped off the bus, someone touched her hand. Zelda yelled out and jumped.
"It's only me, Miss Priss," said a cynical, green-haired girl. Zelda rolled her eyes.
"Why do you call me that? It's not like I have a ton of money."
"Because you do stupid eye rolls like that and you're absolutely perfect with an absolutely perfect boyfriend and an absolutely perfect life," Sienna said. Zelda smiled weakly, thinking about Sheik.
"If you can't stand me so much, why are you talking to me?" Zelda asked.
"Look," Sienna said, looking around. She leaned in closer to Zelda and whispered in her ear. "Another girl died."
"No! Who was it?"
"I don't know, a drifter, I think," Sienna said. "It hasn't hit the news yet. I only know because, well, I found the body."
"What?!"
"I take a shortcut through the woods to get home after school," Sienna told her as they slowly walked on the grounds of Hyrule High. "I found her. They haven't got a time of death yet, but they don't think she'd been dead long."
"So that means it was an adult who's doing this," Zelda said, feeling slightly relieved. She'd only had slight suspicions of people around her, but those had to be void. If Sienna found her on her way home from school and she was already dead, it meant that no one who went to school with them could have done it. Ganondorf, Vaati, and Agahnim popped to mind.
"Not really," Sienna said. "You've never taken the bus home before, have you?"
"Once or twice."
"Well, I live a ways away, and the bus is slow. It has to stop all the time, too. It takes me about an hour after school gets let out to go home. So we can't rule anyone out because of that."
"Ah," Zelda said. She felt a tugging in her gut as the vision of Ganondorf faded.
"Listen, I know you're involved with this somehow," Sienna said, her voice still low and harsh. "And so I want to talk to you. I have dirt on Ilia that no one knows. Not even the police."
"Oh?" Zelda said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Sienna said. "You seem dumb enough and blonde enough to do the stupid things that I don't want to get into, am I right? I'll provide you with information, and you can do the 'sleuthing'."
"Uh huh," Zelda said, her eyebrows knitting together. She wasn't stupid... She wasn't going to go do stupid things, either. She'd still talk with Sienna, but she would keep her head and most definitely not pull anymore stunts.
"How about coffee, after school?"
"Sure," Zelda said. "The one in the center of town, right?"
"Right," said Sienna. "I'll tell you my dirt and then we can plan our next course of action."
"Sure," Zelda repeated.
"Also, don't tell anyone about this," Sienna said. "Some of the people you hang around with seem kind of fishy."
"What do you mean?" Zelda asked, hairs rising on the back of her neck.
"Just watch yourself," Sienna said, and then her face contorted into irritation. "Don't take that the wrong way, it's not like I care about you or anything. But some of the people you talk to seem kind of... Not together. Like that Mikau Merobb or whoever. And have any of your friends been acting different? Changing their ways? Not treating you like they used to?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Zelda said frostily.
"Uh huh," Sienna said smugly. "So why did you ride the bus to school, Princess?"
Zelda fixed a steady glare on Sienna. "That's none of your business."
"Right," she said, smirking. Then, the smirk disappeared. "Coffee shop, after school."
"In the center of town. Don't tell anyone."
"Right," Sienna repeated. "See you then, Princess." She creepily walked away, and Zelda stared after her. She leaned against the wall. She was in the center of campus. There was a small, grassy area and some benches where students could take their lunches and eat them. There was a grassy, flowery area in the middle, and it was shaped in the sacred Triforce of the Goddesses. Zelda sent a quick prayer for luck to the Goddesses, and then stood up and walked into the English department, towards the library, where her first class was.
Zelda stopped by her locker first and dropped off some of her books. She hung her jacket up and put her gym bag inside, and then turned. Several lockers down was a curly, reddish-brown haired kid that Zelda recognized.
"The flu, huh?" she shouted icily down the hallway. He didn't answer. "You didn't think I might have wanted to talk to you about yesterday?" He maintained his silence, gathered a couple books, and turned and walked the other direction. "You were my best friend!" Zelda yelled after Sheik, her voice bouncing around the empty hallway. The silence of no one caring pressed down on her until she felt so uncomfortable that she had to leave, struggling not to cry of frustration.
"Alright, guys, ten laps!" growled Mr. Darunia, the PE coach. With a groan that most of the kids let out, Mr. Darunia's second-hour PE class began running their warm up laps. Zelda ran beside Malon and Saria. Usually, Fox, Mikau, Ruto, and Sheik ran with them as well, but Sheik and Fox were running on their own, as were the new couple of Mikau and Ruto. As Zelda watched them, Mikau looked down with a tenderness in his eye that she hadn't seen from him before. Ruto giggled and her cheeks warmed. Zelda looked away, irritated at the reminder of her and Sheik from yesterday.
"Z, what's wrong?" asked Saria, who ran cross country with her and had her breathing under control.
"Nothing," Zelda growled. Malon raised her eyebrow at her but didn't say anything. Malon was extremely out of shape. She had a cute, slim figure, but she did no exercise whatsoever beside this PE class. She huffed and puffed beside the clearly in control Saria and Zelda.
"Something," Saria said.
"Not right now," Zelda said, her heart hurting. "Please?" I just possibly lost my best friend, and I don't really want to talk about it. Saria's usually pretty easy-going and can pick up on body-
"Okay," Saria said cautiously. Zelda smiled. Saria had pulled through again. Saria was known for her staggering intelligence and her calm we'll-work-it-out-when-you-feel-like-it personality. It was something Zelda really liked about her. Her other girl friends, Ruto and Malon, had a tendency to pry and a tendency to try to make Zelda see things her way. Saria was a very good listener in contrast with the other two.
Zelda, Saria, and Malon finished their laps with one of the first groups of kids. Sheik and Fox had finished before them, and Mikau and Ruto were lagging behind with the slackers.
"Merobb, Eaton, hurry up!" Darunia barked. He knew they could finish faster. The rest of the thirty-odd kids in the class began to stretch out while Mr. Darunia walked around, ready to crack the whip on anyone who wasn't working. Zelda looked around for Sienna, but she couldn't see her. It wouldn't surprise her if Sienna had skipped. Sienna skipped a lot. Most everyone Zelda was acquainted with at Hyrule High was in this gym class, including her group of friends, Ganondorf, Vaati, and Agahnim, and Sienna.
"Alright," Mr. Darunia said as they finished up their exercises. "I really don't feel like taking you outside to run the mile today, like we usually do on Wednesdays, nor do I feel the urge to run it in here, so we're gonna play a game today."
"Mr. D's the man!" Ganondorf said, pumping his fist. Mr. Darunia looked down at him with a flash of tenderness, and then hardened.
"I'm gonna barf," Malon wheezed to Zelda.
"Aim in a general Dragmire-ly direction."
"Can do," Malon whispered back.
"So! Today we're doing dodge ball," Mr. Darunia said. "Anyone want to be captains?"
No one raised their hands.
"Very slow this morning, aren't we?" Darunia muttered. "Fine, I'll pick. Mr. Dragmire, will you do the honor of being Captain Number One?"
"Sure," Ganondorf said, standing up.
"Let's see, uh... Baldwin?" Darunia said. "Yes. Baldwin! Get up. You're Captain Number Two."
"Oh gee," Zelda said, her face contracting again.
"What?" Malon asked.
"This means I'm either on Ganondorf's team or Sheik's."
"What's wrong with Sheik?"
"He's just... being jerkish," Zelda said, her cheeks heating up, remembering that they had almost kissed yesterday.
After a coin toss that Ganondorf won, he picked Vaati, the obvious choice.
"Mikau," Sheik said automatically.
"Japas."
"Fox."
"Kafei."
Sheik hesitated. Usually after the boys from their group of friends were picked, the pecking order was Zelda, Malon, Saria, Ruto. Zelda was next. She stared at the floor so she wouldn't have to look at Sheik.
"Malon," he said softly. Malon, surprised, stood up and joined Sheik's team.
"Darmani."
"Saria."
"Evan."
"Ruto."
Okay, Zelda thought. So, I got picked out of our usual order. He usually picks me before Malon, Saria, and Ruto. But we're still friends, he won't make me go with Ganondorf... Will he?
"Ingo."
"Fado."
"Peach."
"Navi."
"That... kid," Ganondorf said, gesturing at the kid that no one knew the sex of. It was wearing long, black pants today, so no one could see whether or not the leg hair was boyish or girlish.
"Kotake."
Oh, come on, Sheik, Zelda thought. She actually looked up at him, pleading, hoping he wouldn't make her go with Ganondorf. Sheik didn't even look at her. As the teams grew, Zelda remained seated on the floor with the fat kids and Agahnim, who was so skinny and weasly he was no good in sports. At this point, Zelda refused to look at Sheik.
"Agahnim," Ganondorf said. "Hey, how has Zelda gone unpicked?" he asked. Zelda ignored him. Now, he would definitely pick her to torment her on his next turn. There was a slight pause.
"Zelda," Sheik said, clipping her name short. Angry, she stood up and walked to Sheik's team, although far away from Sheik himself. Malon sidled up next to her.
"Seriously. What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" Zelda said shortly.
"Alright!" Mr. Darunia said. "Teams, go to your opposite ends! Captains, help me grab the balls!"
There were a few snickers, and Darunia scowled at them all.
"NOT in that tense!" he growled, picking up a handful of red, rubber, balls from a metal box. Zelda stalked over to her side and waited for the game to begin.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Malon asked her softly.
"Not here," she snarled, glaring at the back of Sheik's head as he helped Darunia and Ganondorf set out the balls and start back to his team. He was now close enough he could hear them, and Zelda did not want to whine about how she "missed" him or anything.
"He didn't give you a ride to school this morning, did he?" Malon asked soothingly. "You weren't with him when he came in."
Zelda said nothing to this.
"Want to talk about it?" she offered again. Saria was silent. Zelda shook her head.
"I told you, not here."
"Do you need a ride home after school?" Malon asked.
"I have plans after school!" Zelda said loudly enough for Sheik to hear. She thought she saw him flinch, but she wasn't sure.
"With who?" Malon asked.
Zelda hesitated. She whispered, "Sienna."
"WHAT?" Malon cried. Several people turned and looked. Zelda ignored them and positioned herself on the line, ready to sprint for the balls (snicker snicker). Her mission was accomplished. Now, she knew that Sheik was probably dying to know what sort of plans had caused that kind of reaction in Malon. Hah!
"Yup. We're getting coffee."
"I'm coming."
"No, you're not," Zelda said, alarmed. "I wasn't supposed to talk about it."
"Which makes it even less suspicious," Malon grumbled.
"GO!" Darunia shouted. The horde of kids stampeded towards the center of the gym, where the dodge balls were lined up. Zelda grabbed two and ran backwards, quicker than most of the other kids. She prowled along the back of the gym. In her currently angry state, she was most definitely in the mood to leave some welts today. Unfortunately, Malon came up behind her, hissing like an angry banshee.
"Talking about what?"
"What do you think?" Zelda asked, dodging a rubber ball thrown by Ganondorf.
"No!" Malon denied.
"You're not my mother, Malon," Zelda snapped.
"I know I'm not," Malon said. A ball came flying at her. Zelda thrust one of her arms out and deflected the flying ball with one in her hand. "I'm a friend. Right now, you're making me a very concerned friend. A very concerned one."
"What I want to do is my business, and my business alone," Zelda said, hurling one of her balls at Agahnim, who didn't see it coming. She glimpsed Sheik in the corner of her vision. Probably eavesdropping, little sneak! "And if I get hurt, it's not your business either."
Malon's mouth formed a perfect O. "What do you mean, it's none of my business?!? Am I not your friend anymore, either?!?"
"No, no," Zelda said, backtracking. Her heart throbbed a little. "I-I, sorry."
Malon pouted.
"Sorry!" Zelda repeated, more firmly. A ball came flying at them, and Zelda deflected it again. "See? I just defended you. I just saved your life."
"I'm just trying to save yours," Malon said quietly.
"So dramatic," Zelda critiqued.
"You don't really listen to yourself talk, do you?"
"Not usually, no."
Malon sighed.
"I said sorry."
"I heard you. I'm just wondering..."
"What?"
"If you really want me to be your friend... You'd let me go with you to the coffee shop."
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Fine. I see how things are," Malon said sadly.
"No, c'mon, don't be like that," Zelda groaned. "Fine. Sienna's gonna kill me..."
"Did you just say Sienna?" Sheik said incredulously.
"No."
"You're lying," he said smoothly. His eyes had a shield over them. It irritated her that he accused her so easily of lying, when he was clearly being the jerk-hole in this situation.
"I'm not the only one lying," she reminded him. "Last I checked I haven't thrown up since..."
"... since we found out Ilia had died," Sheik said quietly. "I was there, remember?"
Zelda remembered how great that day was. She remembered that morning, when she'd first noticed how strong he'd gotten and he'd grabbed her. She remembered parasailing with him...
Then she was angry. Angry at how he'd changed. Angry that he couldn't accept that she liked Link, and just Link, and how Link and she were meant to be together. Angry because he'd put her on the spot. Angry because he'd forced her to make her choose. Angry because he'd forced her to make her choose someone else. She was just angry. She hurled the ball at him, and for the second time nailed him right in the nose.
"Friendly fire!" announced Ganondorf joyously. "I love it when that happens. They're both out now."
"Shut up," Zelda said, stalking over to the bleachers.
"Zelda," Sheik said. She felt him touch her arm. Still mad, she flicked her arm and he let go. She changed course and walked out of the gymnasium.
She'd skipped class plenty of times before, but with Link. Now, Link wasn't here. Zelda debated calling him for old time's sake, but then decided she'd better not. He was probably in class. She walked upstairs to the fire escape, opened the door, and sat down.
This is where she and Link used to go sometimes. She remembered laughing her, occasionally sneaking kisses, and running when another teacher came out. She remembered good times with Link like she'd remembered good times with Sheik. Her two guys... She'd always had two special guys in her life, after Link came along. Link respected that Sheik had been there before, and would always be her friend. Link had made his dislike of Sheik known, but had never made her choose between them. Maybe that was because he thought you might go run off to Sheik, a nasty little voice in her head said. No. She firmly told it. It's because he's a good guy.
... Aw, hell, I'm talking to myself. Aw, hell! she thought as the door opened. She waited for the shouting to start, but it didn't come.
"I used to come here when I skipped, too," said Mr. Darunia softly.
"I'm not going back."
"I know."
A silence settled. Mr. Darunia kept his distance and leaned against the door frame.
"What's going on with you and Baldwin?"
"He's being an ass," she said, not caring about her language in front of teachers.
"If you don't mind me saying, it looked like it was you causing trouble out there," Darunia told her.
"You don't even know," she said venomously.
" 'You don't even know,'," he repeated. "That's what my wife tells me all the time. 'You don't even know! You don't even know!' Ugh, I want to smack her sometimes."
Zelda forced a giggle.
"Maybe I do know," he offered. "If you want to talk, I'm here."
"Thanks, but no thanks, Mr. D.," Zelda said.
"Alright," Darunia said, nodding. "So be it. You don't have to come back to class, if you don't want to."
Zelda internally groaned. "I don't want special treatment," she said, standing up and flashing a smile. "Really. I'm fine. I'm ready to go back."
"You sure?"
"Yup!" Zelda said, showing a one hundred watt smile. "Let's go." She pushed herself past Mr. Darunia and walked into the gymnasium, ignoring the uncomfortable ache in her heart and the knot in her stomach.