AN: Soundtrack suggestion: Song To a Seagull by Joni Mitchell.
I'm thinking I will start updating once a week, on Saturdays. Just so ya'll know!
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Chapter 3: In Which We Find Out Who Shadow's Dad Is.
Aryll was lost. She knew she was lost, but she didn't know what to do about it. Everything was unfamiliar. She was in some sort of park? She edged closer to the tree. In its branches was the seagull that got her into this mess. She'd followed it all the way from home, even picked the gate lock so she COULD follow it!
Nobody knew she could pick locks. She'd kept it a secret before today, but when she saw the seagull she just HAD to follow it! It was the first seagull she'd seen for a long long time. And . . . she had thought, if she followed it, that it would take her to where they used to live, and Mom and Dad would be there waiting for her.
She didn't understand. Why had they stopped coming to see her? Why didn't they live in their house anymore?
She sniffled. The seagull hadn't led her home, it just flew far far away and now sat in a stupid tree. Aryll edged even closer to the tree, calculating the branch height and weight to see if she could climb it.
Moaning uncertainly, she turned and looked around. There were benches, and grass, and trees, and buildings across the street . . . all their colors kind of blended together. She wasn't sure where she'd come from. Picking locks was easier. You didn't have to SEE anything, you could just feel and hear it!
Everything looked the same.
She sniffled again, then opened her mouth. "LIIIIIIIIIIIIINK!" After a few yells, some strange people came up to her. No no no! I want Link, not you! Aryll ran away, eventually she found a bush to hide in. Strangely, as she sat, she soon heard a seagull cry. The seagull had apparently gotten used to her following it, and had followed her. It landed next to the bush and tilted its head at her, blinking.
Aryll held out her arms from behind the bush, sniffling extra loud. The bird walked forward and Aryll began petting it carefully. "Good bird."
More wing flapping filled her ears, but it didn't sound like a seagull. Her new seagull friend suddenly cuddled right up to her, as if in fear. Aryll put her arms around it like Link did around her and looked around.
There was a bat. A black bat with glowing red eyes. It had landed on the bush. Then there was another.
And another.
And another!
They were covering the bush, and Aryll and the seagull made themselves as tiny as possible.
"Mrah!" said Seagull. Aryll nodded in agreement. She didn't exactly feel threatened by them, but the way they just stared at her was really unnerving.
Aryll had decided maybe she and Seagull had better run! Then she heard footsteps that sounded oddly familiar. "Link!" she called.
But two unfamiliar shoes appeared next to the hole in the bush where she hid, and a big boy crouched down. He was wearing black jeans and a grey T-shirt with some weird-looking ghost on the front. He had really long black hair in a ponytail. Aryll didn't look at his face, so she didn't know what he looked like. He even had a skateboard, which he had set next to him. But it wasn't Link's skateboard. "Not Link," she corrected.
"Hey there!" the boy said, Aryll saw him grin out of the corner of her eye. "Is your name Aryll?"
Aryll's face lit up. "Aryll! Aryll Aryll! Very good, Aryll!"
The boy laughed. He sounded different from Link but also kind of the same. Okay, she HAD to look. She forced herself to look at the boy's face, petting Seagull very methodically to comfort herself. The boy was really really pale, and had red eyes, but he DID look like Link, kinda . . . She leaned forward. He smelled the same. He laughed the same way. But he WASN'T Link.
"My name's Shadow," he said, and Aryll watched his mouth move.
She tried to repeat the word, but wasn't able to. "Link," she said instead. She realized she'd been staring at his face a loooong time . . . and it wasn't bothering her. She stared at his eyes, at how the red irises were shot through with bright sparks, like lines of neon lights.
Shadow grinned again. He had a very big mouth, and his teeth were sharp like a doggie. Aryll giggled a little at that.
"Let's go find Link, okay? He's been really worried about you."
"Link. Worry bout you," she repeated.
Shadow held out a hand to her. Aryll shrank from it, and Shadow frowned. "What's wrong?"
Aryll decided to take a chance. She put forth her hand, and it shook and wiggled as she contemplated what she was about to do . . . and then put it in Shadow's. It didn't hurt.
It felt . . . good. A grin broke out across her face. I'm normal! Am I normal now?! Hugging Seagull to herself, she crawled out from under the bush. She glanced back at the black bats.
Shadow waved a hand at them. "Okay, okay! Fly off! Go! Shoo! Be free!"
They obeyed, flying into the sky until they were tiny specks. He can talk to animals. Aryll stared up at him in amazement. She was still holding his hand. She was afraid to let go. What if it started hurting again?
They began walking out of the park, Shadow hefting his skateboard over his shoulder. Aryll couldn't stop looking at him. He talked to her, and she understood some of it, but most of it she stopped being able to understand. Words were hard when she was tired. She had to focus on them, but his voice was nice anyway. Seagull squiggled out of her other arm and began flying along behind them.
The lights and the buildings and the people were still really confusing, so Aryll just stared at Shadow, giggling at his doggie teeth and memorizing his eyes. Did Link have a face as interesting as Shadow's? Did ALL people look like that? Occasionally Seagull had something to say, as well. Aryll pretended they were talking about her.
Link sat on the outside porch. He was still wearing his pajamas. He was miserable. Granny's cell phone sat in his sweaty hand, and he kept waiting for it to ring. Waiting. Waiting . . .
Bbrrrrrr! Link fumbled with the cell phone.
Shadow: Dude, got Aryll. Hdn bak n0w.
A huge rush of relief flowed through Link. He began texting everyone, telling them the news. A few minutes later, a voice called,
"Link!"
He looked up, and suddenly shot off the porch running. "ARYLL!"
Shadow and Aryll were walking up the street. Or rather, Shadow was holding Aryll's hand and pulling her while she rode on his skateboard. Shock stopped Link in his tracks. He was holding her hand. She was holding HIS hand! A burning jealousy filled Link, but it made him feel bad and he tried to ignore it. He should be glad she was holding anybody's hand, right? But she was really holding somebody's hand! For longer than a few seconds! Aryll smiled in his direction with her eyes closed, waving. Link bit back the hurt and called, "Aryll, are you okay?!"
When he got near, she let go of Shadow's hand and ran over excitedly and grabbed Link's hand instead. And cringed and let go. A look of confusion crossed her face. She ran back to Shadow and grabbed his hand. Just fine. Then she ran back to Link and grabbed HIS hand.
Cringed! She stomped her foot in frustration.
"It's okay, Aryll," Link said gently, trying extremely hard to keep his own disappointment out of his voice. He was honestly touched, though. Aryll had never held his hand before. "You tried . . ."
"Huh?" Shadow said. Link had said something about Aryll being 'artistic' on the phone, like he was talking in an English accent or something, it sounded like "Awtistic." Something like that. I don't get it, he thought. Aryll just seemed like any other kid . . . didn't she? Okay, maybe she didn't talk much, but why was that so different? And now it was like Aryll didn't like touching people. Or touching Link, anyway. He scratched his head. I am so confused right now.
Aryll sighed and collided with Link's pajamas. "Link. Seagull."
"She followed a seagull to Kokiri Park," Shadow explained.
"Really? She must have seen it and that's why she picked the gate lock," Link answered.
Aryll heard the word 'lock' and her face lit up. She began running around Link, making speech noises. Link couldn't help but grin. "I'm really glad you found her, Shadow."
Shadow shrugged. "She's lucky to have you for a big brother." He glanced over Link's pajamas and failed to conceal a smirk.
"Oh shut up," Link responded preemptively, folding him arms good-naturedly. Shadow chuckled, and said nothing.
Zelda came around the corner onto their street. "Link! I got the news! Aryll's really okay?"
"Yep! Shadow found her at the park."
She skidded to a halt next to them. "That's awesome, Shadow! How'd you find her?"
Shadow scratched the back of his neck. "Oh . . . you know. Luck. Was just skateboarding around town looking when I found her. Could've been anybody, really."
Link gave him a back slap. "Well, I owe you, man. BIG time!"
"Oh, naaaaaaaw." They all gathered to watch Aryll happily run around the neighbors' yards, talking likely about her adventure.
A vehicle drove onto their street and parked across from where they were. It was a black and rusty red gas-guzzling monstrosity, somewhere between a police cruiser and a sports car.
Yeah. THAT was a weird combination.
The gold tire rims had spikes, and there was a large, rearing black horse for a hood piece.
It was obnoxious.
A man stepped out of the driver's side door, which was one of those kind that opened UP instead of sideways like normal people cars. The man was extremely tall, like, towering, and wore a sharp-looking business suit, the jacket of which he buttoned back up as he stared at them. His face was owned by a sharp, hooked nose, and he had extremely dark, golden tan skin. His eyebrows were extremely thick and hung over his eyes, which were covered by sunglasses. His hair was a bright red. It was receding at the hairline, especially the temples, but otherwise was extremely impressive.
"Who is that?" Link asked.
Zelda grimaced. "Ganondorf Dragmire. He's a corporate big shot. I met him at a dinner party once. Gave me the creeps."
"What is he doing here?"
Unbeknownst the the two of them, Shadow had slowly sidled behind Link.
Ganondorf was walking straight toward them.
"Why is he walking this way?!" Zelda hissed in alarm, leaning over to Link. Link responded, "I don't know, what do we do?!"
They contemplated running. Just something about the grumpy-looking, obnoxious-car-owning, towering man made them want to be as far away from him as possible. He wasn't just tall. He was MASSIVE!
Ganondorf pulled his sunglasses off his face, revealing bright yellow irises. Then he opened his mouth, and a deep, commanding voice spoke a word neither Link nor Zelda expected. "SHADOW!"
They turned around to look at Shadow, who had folded his arms, nonchalantly looking up at the sky as though he hadn't heard anything.
"YOU ARE IN SUCH HUGE TROUBLE, YOUNG MAN!" Ganondorf continued to yell.
Across the way, Aryll covered her ears in distaste. "Ew. Loud bad man!"
Shadow merely shrugged. Link and Zelda decided stepping out of the way would be a good idea. They looked back and forth between Shadow and Ganondorf, completely confused.
"LOOK at me when I am speaking to you!" Ganondorf yelled.
Shadow made a show of rolling his eyes before obeying and asking in a mock-innocent voice, "Yes, Dad?"
Dad?! Zelda and Link gaped at each other. Shadow's dad was Mr. Dragmire?! WHAT?!
Ganondorf loomed over Shadow, wagging a finger in his face. "What have I TOLD you about sneaking into my lab and freeing the animals?"
Shadow stuck out his tongue. "They didn't want to be tested on anymore!"
Ganondorf growled. "You wasted weeks of research! You are GROUNDED, young man!"
"Young man this, young man that!"
"Now march yourself to my car IMMEDIATELY."
"Ugh . . ."
"Shadow. NOW."
Shadow made a face at Mr. Dragmire. "Yes, sir."
Ganondorf watched to make sure he did so, then replaced his sunglasses and looked to see who the spectators of this event were. He noticed Zelda right away, a bit taken aback. "Zelda! . . . How is your father?"
"Fine, thanks," Zelda replied warily.
Then Ganondorf saw Link. He looked the boy up, then down. And said nothing. "Hmph." He began walking back to his car.
Link ran after him. "Uh, Mr. Dragmire . . . sir!"
Ganondorf stopped. Link tried not to feel intimidated. "You see . . . I don't know what Shadow did or anything, but he was helping me find my sister. She's autistic, you see, and we might not have found her without Shadow, so . . . maybe . . . I mean . . . maybe go easy on him?"
Ganondorf's expression didn't change. Link gulped. Then Ganondorf said, "Your name is Link, right? Link Knight."
Link nodded nervously.
Ganondorf straightened and adjusted his sunglasses. "Shadow's told me about you." He was silent for a moment, then said firmly, "Stay away from my boy. Got it?"
Mouth dropping open in confusion, Link could only watch as Ganondorf returned to his car, started it up, and drove off.
"What a jerk!" Zelda scoffed, coming to stand next to Link and folding her arms.
What's he got against me? Link wondered. "Oh well. I hope Shadow's okay."
"Yeah, me too."
". . . Let's get Aryll and go inside."
Ganondorf looked in the rear view mirror. Shadow was lying on the back seat, face hidden behind some magazine he'd stashed in here somewhere. It wasn't clear if he was wearing a seat belt. Ganondorf thought about snapping at him, but knew he would be ignored. He just hoped his son wasn't that much of an idiot.
"The tracking keese," he began, glancing periodically in the mirror to see Shadow's reactions. "You used them to track that girl, didn't you?"
Shadow's hands gripped the magazine harder.
"How did they work?" Ganondorf continued. "Were they efficient? . . . Well? Aren't you going to tell me?"
A moment of silence, and a quiet, harsh voice replied, "I'd rather be grounded."
Ganondorf sighed. "Suit yourself."
Aryll was very happy to be home. She said hello to every single one of her seagull drawings and stuffed animals, to the cupboards and the dishes, and the fridge, and the ant infestation in the pantry . . .etc. etc.
"Don't forget the drapes!" Link called helpfully. He and Zelda were in the kitchen, sipping on fruity beverages.
Granny had come home a few minutes after Ganondorf left, and now she sat in the living room rocking chair, knitting a sweater with a smile on her face.
"So . . . Shadow Dragmire, huh?" Link said, broaching the topic bravely.
"I guess so. But don't they call him Mr. Waldorf at school?"
"Maybe that's his code name or something, like how your dad signs himself as 'Mr. Red Lion' at hotels to hide from the press?"
"Maybe."
"So what do you know about Ganondorf?" Link asked.
Zelda set her drink down. "Well, he's notorious for not caring one whit about the environment. Normally I'd be wary of anybody claiming someone's anti-green because my family gets falsely accused of that ALL the time . . . but Ganondorf seriously deserves it. You saw the car he owns, but that's just a dust speck on the surface. His factories spew out more pollution than most other companies combined, but he gets away with it because he's good at finding loopholes in the law and functioning in lower industrial countries that have no pollution laws. He pays his employees dirt, especially in developing countries. They can either work for him or starve. His products are all tested on animals, in the cruelest of ways, he's destroyed countless rain forests and wildlife without thought or reason, bankrupted animal sanctuaries, and I hear he's a really tough boss, and generally . . . he's just a jerk. I hear he's even responsible for the extinction of the Korok tribe on the Haven Islands, though there's no actual proof of that."
Link shook his head, rethinking his opinion of Shadow, the vegan rebel. "No wonder Shadow's so animal crazy."
Zelda nodded. "Do you think he'll still hang out with us?" she asked quietly.
Link scoffed. "Knowing him? He'll probably sneak out of his house in the middle of the night to throw stones at my window."
Zelda giggled, then mentioned, "Wait. Didn't he say he lived around here?"
Eyebrows crossing, Link nodded. "I wonder if he was lying?"
"Or maybe Ganondorf just has a really small house?"
They tried to imagine it. Then both burst into snorts and giggles.
Shadow frowned morosely as they turned onto their street. At first all you saw was a long stretch of trees on one side of the street. In the middle of this line appeared, as if from nowhere, a tiny road, guarded by a black gate. Ganondorf swerved into it and pushed some buttons on his dashboard. The gate opened, and he drove through.
At first it was just trees, trees, and more trees, getting taller and taller, but then suddenly there was the house.
House. Shadow snickered. It was a mansion, hidden behind and under all these trees. Ganondorf had spent a fortune to build his house here without disturbing the trees. He hated prying eyes and attention, and so had built a little hidden house in the middle of urbania, privatizing a park in the process (yes, they lived in the remains of a park). Shadow didn't mind so much. He liked having a forest outside his bedroom, but the building itself was gross, powered by unclean energy, hogging internet bandwidth, looking big and dark and gloomy and dangerous. The windows were black, covered in stuff you couldn't see into. On the side of the house was an ugly, fenced in area that held all the equipment used to give them their ridiculous amount of power and . . . Shadow shook his head at the waste of resources. It took enough power to light the school for a day just to keep the porch light going ALL. DAY. LONG. Never mind his dad's countless laboratories . . .
The mansion appeared to be only three stories, but much of the mansion was underground, three or four floors of it, Shadow wasn't entirely sure, and the floors expanded in size the further underground they were. Ganondorf conducted most of his research for his products in his own house, and that all took place in the basement. In that dark, windowless prison were all the animals his father tested on, and wouldn't let him see. Shadow wasn't allowed anywhere NEAR the lower levels of the mansion, but occasionally he snuck into the nearest levels. He'd never made it past level two before getting caught.
Shadow wasn't sure what kind of experiments his father was conducting, or why, but he had seen shadows of tortured animals, seen their carcasses hidden in corners, seen their blood and guts on his father's work clothes, and come on, genetically modified keese?
It made him sick, just thinking about it.
Ganondorf parked inside a garage, and Shadow sped out of the car lightning fast.
"Hold up!" Ganondorf called, grabbing the back of his shirt. Shadow stopped, mad he hadn't gotten away fast enough.
"I just thought you ought to know," Ganondorf continued, "in case you ever get this stupid idea in your head again. Every one of those bats has a remote tracking device. You know I can't let my research fall into the hands of competitors."
Shadow began to feel very, very sick. He heard a few beeping sounds, and Ganondorf showed him his cell phone. On it were several small, red dots. If Shadow was reading the map right, the keese had almost gotten to Kakariko . . .
He watched Ganondorf flick his thumb across the screen until a large red button with the word, TERMINATE, appeared on the screen. Shadow paled.
"Wha-what, Dad, don't!" He wasn't sure what was worse, the finality of the sound of Ganondorf's thumb smacking the button, or how all the little red dots began to disappear, one by one. He felt bile rise in his throat.
"They've all been disintegrated from the inside out," Ganondorf explained matter-of-factly.
Shadow scrunched his face up, shaking like a leaf. He wouldn't let Ganondorf see him cry. He shoved the phone away and stormed into the house, stumbling over things as he blindly ran to his room, tears flowing down his face.
