and the plot thickens
Pipit grinned at his teammates, sitting out momentarily on the bleachers. Truth be told, after the events that had unfolded on Friday night he was trying to keep a low profile. Karane had been shaken up by what happened and didn't want too much about the incident being exposed to her fellow classmates. She wanted everything to be kept amongst faculty to ensure safety and maintain ease amongst the student body. Pipit on the other hand, believed that everyone had a right to know about what happened to Karane. He wanted Cawlin, Strich, and Groose to be exposed for the violent assholes they were, but he cared for his ex-girlfriend too much to disrespect her wishes.
Unfortunately for him, he couldn't avoid the limelight forever. A pair of slender, tawny colored arms adorned with gems snaked around his neck, slowly and sensuously trailing down to his torso, and daringly, even lower down his body. Pipit cringed at the physical contact, immediately standing up and breaking the lecherous touch. He turned around to face the sultry female behind him, somewhat peeved by the unanticipated groping.
"Gotcha." Nabooru said, poking his chest with a wink. He watched her as she walked around the bleachers, her large chest swaying to and fro with each step. She smiled at him, crossing her arms and pushing her chest up a bit to give him a better view.
Blushing, Pipit looked to the side. Nabooru simply giggled.
"Don't play innocent now. Remember all the fun we had together at that graduation party last year?"
Pipit's face turned even redder, his fists clenching as he recalled the intimate night they shared, if it could even be considered intimate. He was drunk, she was topless, whispering sweet nothings into his ear. He craved the exhilaration, the perverse pleasure that came with sex and got it from her eagerly. He was unaware of her intentions in sleeping with him – along with many other testosterone-driven boys that went to HU. He was clueless as to who was truly on her mind with each of her sexcapades.
"Cut the crap." Pipit said, gritting his teeth. "I know what you want."
"Hmm?" She narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "Well if you know then this shouldn't take too long. If I didn't know any better, I would think that you were avoiding me."
"You must not know anything then." Pipit retorted bitterly, looking down at the football field and deciding how he would worm his way out of this conversation.
"Do you know how hard I have to work?" Nabooru pouted, "Tracking Karane down was hell. And once I got to her the girl wouldn't budge! I was so sweet to her too. But no, all I get is a shove and a flurry of obscenities yelled at me." She grimaced, thinking back to her not so pleasant encounter with the brunette.
"I don't blame her. You don't understand what she was feeling. You shouldn't have agitated her."
"Was she jealous, perhaps? I know that you two must have had something pretty special with each other. Whenever she sees me she becomes as red as an octorok. I wouldn't hope that you told her about our special night together, because –"
"I don't have to tell her anything! Everyone here knows you've slept with 75% of the guys on campus!" Pipit snapped all of a sudden, but he immediately felt bad once it slipped because the look on Nabooru's face fell instantly.
He sighed, grabbing her by the shoulder and pushing her away as he walked down the stairs of the bleachers.
"I don't wanna argue about this Nabooru. Just leave me and her alone."
"Why should I?" Nabooru asked stubbornly, following him.
"Because it's none of your business." He said, rolling his eyes.
"Finding out more information about an assault that could jeopardize the safety of all the students on campus is none of my business?"
Pipit chewed on his lips, his arms quivering slightly at the sudden change in Nabooru's tone. Sure, she was flirty and fun, but she was a thriving student at one of Hyrule's most elite schools for a reason. She knew when to turn off the charm and be serious.
"Nabooru… You're right. We had something special." He turned to face the beautiful senior once more. "It was very special, and no matter how much time passes, I can't let it go. I hold her very closely to my heart. And she doesn't want people to know. She's… she's scared. And humiliated. Come on Nab. I know you have someone that's very special to you, and that if they had something they preferred to keep hidden, you'd respect that. Right?"
Nabooru puffed her cheeks out. She knew that situation well, too well in fact, her mind flashing back to Ganondorf, or as he insisted on her calling him, 'Mr. Dragmire.' She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Even if she could understand his predicament, she was insistent on getting the scoop. It was her job to report on the news around campus, and what happened to Karane had already been published on the website. Questions would be raised if it wasn't reported on HUTV.
"Have it your way. But I will find something, and it will be addressed on HUTV. Things like this can't be kept secret. If we don't hunt down and expose the fuckers that hurt her, we won't be able to ensure her safety."
Pipit closed his eyes, exhaling deeply.
"And what if announcing that you'll be rounding up suspects like you guys did for the so-called 'Chu Jelly Scandal' agitates her aggressors even more? You of all people should know that it isn't that easy." Pipit opened his eyes, looking at her intently. He wanted the truth to be exposed, and he wanted to keep Karane out of harm. "Besides, after talking to the staff they don't want me disclosing what I know. If you want information you're going to have to talk to a member of faculty."
Nabooru arched an eyebrow, stepping closer to him.
"Talk?"
"Do what you must." Pipit said vaguely, a knowing look on his face before he turned to go back down to the football field.
Nabooru smiled lightly, knowing what he was hinting at. She was familiar with guys like him. The 'noble, valiant' types that only wanted the best for the ones that they loved. She knew he was too benevolent to truly believe that keeping the whole situation under wraps was the best way to go about things.
"Well then…" She entangled her fingers within her ponytail, smiling cheekily. "I guess I'll just have to seduce a wary staff member…" She licked her lips at the thought. She knew that convincing an employee to take his pants off was much more difficult than doing such a thing to a fellow student, but she loved a challenge.
»°«
"Shh!" A blue-haired female hissed, glaring at Shad who had dropped several of his books. Shad bit his lip, mumbling an apology and readjusting his glasses as he stood up. He looked at Link, who was staring at him with a ghost of a smile on his face.
Grunting, Shad sat down embarrassedly and organized his books on the table.
"The only people that are more obnoxious than the librarians are their damn assistants." Shad whispered, opening his book. He had been quite fidgety that Monday, his mind still a bit hazy after his date with Zelda.
"You got that right." Link whispered back, looking down at his schoolwork with limited curiosity.
"I heard that!" Lana whispered aggressively, slamming one of the books down on the cart with a little too much force, and earning a few disapproving stares as she did so.
Link now had a full smile on his face, shaking his head and chuckling lightly. He liked spending time with Shad. His nerdy friend always brought laughs with him. They had known each other for a long time and Shad certainly helped make the workload from all his classes a lot easier. They often had study sessions with each other at the library. Shad's intellect came to him naturally, whereas Link had to work a bit harder to be able to earn good grades. Both of them had solid and reliable study habits, which is exactly what Shad needed in order to study with someone else. Pipit wasn't as in tune academically; he enjoyed sports and physical activity much more than sitting down and burying his head into a book.
"I don't understand this." Link said, shaking his head as he looked at the foreign symbols in his textbook. He used his laminated key to decipher the message that was being conveyed. "Ancient Hylian is such bullshit honestly."
Shad chuckled, leaning forward.
"It isn't that bad."
"Yeah, actually. It IS. You'd think we would study more of the grammar and vocabulary and taking actual time to memorize all the symbols, but no. We go straight to the heavy literature and start analyzing its meaning. I think my eyes are going to fall out if I read any more of this. It's unbearable."
"Is it that dry of a read?" Shad asked skeptically. After taking Ancient Hylian as a language at an AP level in high school, he already got the credits he needed to be able to bypass it at university.
"Drier than the well in Kakariko after you play Song of Storms." Link said jokingly.
Shad laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head.
"You seem to be in an awfully good mood."
"So do you."
"Well, you know that Zelda and I went out on Saturday…"
The smile on Link's face vanished at the mention of her name.
"…You only mentioned it a million times."
Shad sighed, scratching his head and regretting the topic. He knew that Link didn't like Zelda, what he didn't understand was why? Zelda wasn't too thrilled with him either, but it was only because he seemed to initiate the tension.
"We… I kind of kissed her." Shad confessed.
Link's head shot up, a look of fury crossing his features.
"What!?" He asked, causing people to 'hush' him. He ignored them.
"Calm down dude." Shad said, a bittersweet expression emerging on his face as he recalled that moment. "It was nice, until she ended it suddenly. She said that we shouldn't rush things."
"Is that all?" Link questioned suspiciously.
Shad nodded.
Link's hands tightened around his book. He figured that what she did was none of her business. It would all come back around, full circle and she would be the one having to live with the consequences of her actions.
"… But we should probably get back to our homework." Shad said, and Link nodded a bit eagerly, happy to get back to not talking about their new roommate. "So, uh, you need some help with translating that?"
"And interpreting." Link said.
Shad shook his head.
"We studied a bit of this in high school. You really have no idea what the passage is trying to say?"
"Maybe I'm just out of it. I'm so damn tired Shad. Even now that I'm down to two jobs. I can't sleep. I'm so anxious. And maybe you've studied Ancient Hylian, but not me."
Shad nodded, feeling sorry for his friend. He understood a bit of Link's situation and how important earning rupees was for him.
"You had to take at least 2 years of a language to graduate. Nearly everyone took Ancient Hylian. What the hell did you take?"
"…Gerudo." Link mumbled.
"What?" Shad asked in disbelief. "Why the hell would you study that?"
"Why not?" Link shrugged.
"It's not like it would help you. If you even went within an inch of Gerudo Desert they would probably tie you up and torture you –"
"I just wanted to do something different." Link said, not interested in hearing Shad go off on a spiel that consisted of anti-Gerudo sentiment.
"They're no good Link."
"That's the kind of mentality that I fuckin' hate." Link murmured, glowering at his friend in disappointment. "I wanted to study more of the language but they stopped offering it as a course here at HU. Which is shocking, considering our dean is a Gerudo himself."
"We already have a national language here in Hyrule, and that group of rogues can either learn it or stay in their desert."
Link shook his head.
"Be careful Shad. Your racism is showing. You and so many other students here. You see a few Gerudos that adhere to our mannerisms and our culture and smile at them, but when you see Gerudos that cling to their roots you get mad."
Shad wasn't quite sure of what to say.
"I just think that it's bullshit. All of it. We can learn Ancient Hylian, a language that isn't even fucking used anymore, but studying the language of the Gerudos that is still used in contemporary times is forbidden? Come on now. That's bullshit, just admit it Shad. Sure, Gerudos and… well, every other race had bad blood in the past, and that it's still happening to this day, but none of it is going to change if we don't put in an effort to understand them."
"You really think there could be peace between Hylians and Gerudos?"
"More and more Gerudos are moving out here to Castle Town, Kakariko, and even Lake Hylia. I don't see why not. It's not about pointing out our similarities, it's about being accepting of our differences."
"They're thieves."
"They're human beings." Link countered.
Shad shrugged, leaning back in his chair. He didn't like arguing with Link about this topic. It wasn't the first time the subject had been approached. Link wasn't sure of what he wanted to do after college, but Shad thought that maybe his friend would become a social worker or something else of the like.
"Let's just agree to disagree." Shad finally said, not too keen on where their conversation would head if they continued.
Link shrugged, looking back at the passage he had to read. He felt rejuvenated and fired up from his mini debate with Shad, if it could even be considered a 'debate.' He translated the passage carefully and tried to recall the context of the quote. He had skimmed through his study book late the night before, more concerned with finishing up the reading to get some much needed sleep. Just as he was about to say something, someone snatched the book out of his grasp.
Puzzled, they both looked up to see a pretty young lady with dark hair and brown eyes looking at the text briefly before looking up. She circled around them, holding the book in one hand with ease while reciting the passage.
"Time passes, people move. Like a river's flow, it never ends." Shad watched her incredulously, her voice was soft and melodic. "A childish mind will turn to noble ambition. Young love will become deep affection. The clear water's surface reflects growth. Listen to the Serenade of Water to reflect upon yourself." She smiled at them warmly, stopping abruptly and placing the book back on the table.
Link smirked at her. It was evident to Shad that these two knew each other.
"It's a lovely quote. Documented hundreds of years ago in one of the logs that was allegedly written by the hero of legend himself."
"Care to explain the significance?" Link asked sarcastically.
The girl rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips.
"There are so many things you can pull from it. The power of music, something that influences our society to this day. The effect that it had back then must have been remarkable. The way that time flows, and how we progress with it. Of course, the context is important too. In a time of political discord, when evil was ubiquitous, finding solace and observing all the good that the world had to offer was crucial." She looked misty for a moment. "We can only imagine the pain that the innocent in the past had to endure."
Shad spoke up, intrigued by the girl in front of him.
"I've never met someone so well-versed in Hylian prose."
She looked at him, stepping closer in curiosity.
"I'm sure you understand it better than me. I'm a fighter, not a scholar." She said with a smile. "I recognize you. You're known for being quite the intellectual. Shad, right?"
"Yes. What's your name?" He asked.
"Ashei." She said, before turning back to Link. "I see you've been preoccupied with your studies."
"Is that a bad thing?" He asked.
"No. You've just missed a couple of practices. I wish you'd come back more often. You were the second best swordsman in our club."
Link chuckled, an amused expression crossing his face. Ashei sighed. He was very handsome.
"Runner up to you I presume?"
"Yep." She said, poking his cheek. "Get yourself together, and come back so we can spar, okay? The rest of the guys in there are wussies. They wouldn't last a second in a real battle."
"Sure."
Ashei nodded in approval, a smile slowly forming on her face.
"I guess I'll get going now." She said, looking at all the papers and books they had on their desk. They were studying hard and she didn't want to bother them. She then turned to look at Shad, staring at him momentarily. "It was nice meeting you." She said, blushing a bit.
"You too." Shad said, staring at her as she walked away.
Once she was out of earshot, Shad leaned forward suspiciously.
"You two seemed a bit comfy with each other."
"What's it to you?" Link asked nonchalantly.
"Do you like her?"
"I tolerate her. I don't know why you care. Don't you have a girlfriend?" Link looked at him.
Shad grunted, looking down at his books.
"I was just wondering…"
»°«
Zelda broke the kiss off immediately. Her face was completely red, and she stared at Shad in shock, genuinely surprised that he was actually bold enough to do such a thing.
"…Zelda? What's wrong?" He cupped her cheek in a comforting manner, but she shied away from his touch.
"Shad, this isn't right. It's… it's too soon. I know that you like me, but doesn't this feel rushed to you?"
Shad sighed. She wasn't ready. And he wasn't sure of when she would be, but he was willing to wait.
"I'm sorry Zelda."
Zelda smiled, pulling him in for a hug. He melted into her embrace, holding on tightly.
"It's okay. I really liked that documentary, and I'm glad you took me out tonight."
Zelda sighed, her grip on her textbook wavering a bit as she walked around the library, looking for a place to sit. She would have gone to the student lounge, but HUTV was scheduled for today and if Nabooru wasn't going to talk about the incident that happened last Friday, she'd be giving more updates about the 'Chu Jelly Scandal,' which no one really cared about after seeing Karane deal with the aftermath of her assault.
Wham!
She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't see the person walking towards her. They collided into each other and she slipped, her textbook slamming onto her left arm none-too-gently.
"Ouch…" She groaned in pain, looking up to find her face only a few inches away from a pair of deep blue eyes. Scooting away a bit she found that they belonged to Link.
Great…
"Sorry." She mumbled, moving away.
To her surprise, instead of making a snide remark, he grabbed her textbook, stood up, then offered her a hand.
"Thank you." She looked at him, a bit puzzled by the nice gesture, but not a hundred percent surprised. After he took her home in his car, she was certain that he wasn't completely insensitive.
"Whatever." He said, crossing his arms after handing her the textbook. "What are you doing here?"
"Trying to find a place to study."
Shocking her once again, he smiled. It was a nice sight honestly. He had a gorgeous smile.
"Wanna sit with me?"
Zelda frowned. She wasn't sure why he was acting so nice to her all of a sudden but it made her feel suspicious.
"Don't you find me annoying?"
"Yes." He paused, looking off somewhere else before turning to look back at her, a look of mischief now firmly planted on his face. "But Shad doesn't."
Zelda's face blanched.
"What!" She said, her mouth wide open. "Shad's here? Shit, forget it. I'll find somewhere else to study."
He grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
"Why? Is he a bad kisser?"
Zelda gasped, turning around.
"You know…?"
"He told me." Link said, amused at how terrified she looked.
She should've known better than to believe he was actually being nice. He had been playing her.
"It isn't what you think –"
"I'd expect that kind of excuse from you. Fortunately Shad also told me that you pulled away."
"See!? I wasn't trying to lead him on –"
"But," He raised a hand, cutting her off again. "If you were smart you wouldn't have let him kiss you in the first place."
Zelda glared at him.
"You weren't even there when it happened. What makes you think your opinion matters?"
He stepped closer to her, causing her to take one step back out of fear. His playful expression was gone, replaced with the all too serious one that she was familiar with.
"Pipit doesn't know yet. And when he finds out, he might not be so happy. I told you before and I'll tell you again. Stop doing this. It'll only end in chaos."
"Link…"
"If you can't do it for my friends, do it for yourself. You could end up homeless if you play your cards wrong…"
She sighed, looking down at her feet. All of her conversations with Link ended in frustration. She could never catch a break with him.
"I'll just go back to the student lounge." She said, turning and walking away quickly before he could hold her back any longer.
He was glad that he let her go, because not even a split second later Shad walked over to him with a curious expression on his face.
"Dude, what's taking you so long? Did you find the book we need?" He asked. He noticed that his friend was staring off into the distance with a somewhat peeved expression. He followed his line of sight and saw that familiar blonde hair swishing from side to side as she stormed off.
"Is that Zelda?" He asked, tempted to run after her.
Link grabbed him by the collar before he could do so.
"Who cares?" He asked, pulling his friend back to their table.
A/N: Okay, it's summer break so I need to finish SOOD.
I'll finish it. I promise. *procrastinates some more*
Fun fact: I had this chapter ready for two weeks but forgot to upload. You can yell at me if I don't upload the next chapter soon, because that one is finished too.
Another not so fun fact: Fanfiction is acting weird af for me. I couldn't upload this chapter so I copied and pasted it from my doc and replaced another doc I have saved on here to be able to upload it. If you guys update your stories frequently, please let me know if you are having this same issue. I've also had issues where I get notifications for reviews but I'm not able to view them even after it's been a day or more. I think that one was fixed awhile back, but still, weird. So if I don't update in awhile that COULD be why.
Sooo, in this chapter Lana made a brief appearance & so did Ashei. There WILL be more of them in the future. (I'm replaying Twilight Princess so the Shad/Ashei feels are going strong and – oh oops… Did I… say something? *COUGH*)