Author's Note: Hi guys! This is another part where I pre-emptively downplay my ideas so that I'm less disappointed when you guys shoot them down! Yayyy! But now, on some seriousity, I always like to thank you guys for taking an interest. Even if you don't review but still read, I like to sleep better at night knowing that someone enjoyed my work. I will be posting another chapter immediately after I post this one. Maybe its a bad idea, maybe its a good one, I dunno, but I feel pushed to do that because the pacing of this story (or at least the introductory chapters-gosh there's gonna be quite a few to establish Tadao's residency with his new sponsor). Without further adieu, I'll leave you guys to it. Enjoy!
~Naza
Customary Disclaimer: If I owned anything that made money, I would not be sitting at home with the shades drawn, staring at a laptop screen as I gushed over things in my head that don't exist. I'd be in the Galapagos somewhere sipping mojitos and Fiji water. All intellectual property copyrighted by their respective owners.
Tadao Samorin was born twenty one years before the Lylat Wars. He'd found his purpose in the Venomian cause, only to have it taken away from him when he learned of his idol's passing, ten years after the fact of the war ending. For those ten years, he'd spent them solitarily confined in the Fotunan jungle, hoping for word that the Venomian cause was a success, having undying faith in his sole purpose. He looked like most Venomian archetypes: reptilian (in his case, Iguanid) with green, scaly skin, and yellow eyes. For a long time, "Cornerians" were never thought of to look like him. In his mind, Cornerians were Canid or Felid, with soft, beautiful fur, and mammalian. That was before all kinds of different races and species began mingling, before commercials and entertainment media began advertising this "We Are The Universe'' ideology with mixed couples and their multi-heritage children, before a typical Cornerian school classroom constituted of all shapes, colors, and sizes.
Tadao grew up in an impoverished MacBethan city without many opportunities or resources at his disposal, aside from a dangerous and unsanitary career in the mining industry. He'd thought he'd gotten an opportunity, his meaning in life, when Andross announced his rebellion against Corneria, and MacBeth swore allegiance to the cause, with Tadao following suit. He knew he had no future while Corneria was spearheading the Lylat System, and joined the Venomian Army, becoming trained to be a field medic. However, Tadao and his brigade had lost contact with the other Venomian forces, having been driven into the Fortunan jungle by the Cornerian military. There, they waited, hoping, praying that they would get word soon of what was taking place off of the planet…
...Ten years after all of that, today, Tadao looked out of the window of the passenger van, watching Corneria life pass by. The van sped down a freshly-paved, divided, six-lane thoroughfare, flashing past immaculate-looking (to Tadao, at least) strip malls and small shopping plazas, conservation greenspaces and parks, as well as tracts of homes closed in like forbidden cities by red brick retaining walls, with their entrances marked by fancy, flowery neighborhood names, like "The Inscription at Walden Creek," and advertisement signs rendering things such as, "New Homes Starting in The Mid 600's"
Six hundred thousand dollars for a house… Tadao had never seen that much money in his life and doubted he ever would. There was so much wealth flowing through here. He couldn't imagine spending that much for a place to live.
The Iguanid felt the van slow down, getting into a slip lane as it prepared to make a right turn. To his right, he saw a tall wrought-iron fence; beyond it a small artificial lake with a fountain in the middle, shooting water into the air as some exotic water feature; beyond that, in the distance, the rears of immaculately large homes, looking like something from a Zonessian postcard epiphany, what with the earth-tone colors and clay tile roofs, and landscaping decorated with palm trees.
Just as the van turned onto the entrance boulevard, Tadao looked forward. Through the windshield, there was an ornate sign sitting in the median of the roadway they were turning on: "La Cataleya," named after a Zonessian flower. Strange.
The tires of the vehicle rumbled down the brick roadway, lined with freshly-planted palms held in place by 2x4's as if to keep them from falling over, as well as perfectly-cut hedges and other exotic shrubbery. Up ahead, they were approaching what looked like a gated entrance to a military installation. But this gate shack was… Pretty. Made of brick and plaster, with the awning for vehicles to stop under, held up by opulent-looking columns like it was a masterfully designed government building. There were two lanes, two entrance gates, with a sign directing traffic: to the left, under the awning, guests were to stop at the guard shack, which is where the van pulled up to. To the right, Tadao saw a modern-looking, black SUV-despite its euclidean shape, looked sleek like a space fighter-approach the gate, which slowly swung open as the vehicle approached, allowing it to enter the neighborhood. He wasn't sure why, but he noticed the woman driving, her white fur and hair and side profile of her Canid features.
Turning his attention to the driver of the van, Tadao saw him talking to the guard, handing him his government ID, which the guard took with him back into the shack. Was this really a military base? It sure seemed like it. This much security was a little excessive for a mere housing tract. The guard returned a few minutes later, handing the driver a sheet of paper, which he haphazardly flug onto the dashboard, as well as his ID. Then they were on the move again. The vehicle inched forward, and the gate began to swing open.
They were once again on the gateway boulevard, this time within the neighborhood. They passed through two roundabouts, the first of which had an opulent Fuente del Santos-style water feature in the middle. On the second one, they'd taken the first exit, into a subdivision called Vista Del Sol. For a few minutes, it seemed like they were following that black SUV that entered before them. Tadao saw the homes up close now. Lush green lawns and shrubbery, palm trees, relatively large homes. They really did look like an exotic Zonessian getaway. Many of the homes had prestige brand cars parked in front of their three-car garages.
It turns out that they were following that black SUV (or it seemed) because when it turned up the brick motorcourt of 10114 Bellalago Way, the van stopped out in front of that exact same address. The canid woman he'd seen a few minutes ago climbed out, stopping in her tracks upon seeing the van parked in front of her home. Tadao locked eyes with the woman, deer in the high beam expression meeting her equally confused look. Then he saw a realization dawn across her features.
The driver turned off the van and climbed out, walking around the vehicle to meet and confer with the woman. While the ginger Felid government driver talked to the woman in the driveway, Tadao kept his eyes trained on her. He wasn't up to speed on Cornerian beauty standards in the least, but as she spoke, she held an inviting smile of near-perfect white teeth. She kept her eyes on the driver who was dropping Tadao off, and from his spot, he could see the honesty and kindness radiating from her blue eyes. She also had an air of confidence to her, in the way she crossed her arms across her chest and shifted her weight to her left foot, balancing her right on the stiletto heel of her platform shoe. She seemed opulently dressed: a grey sweater vest layered over a white blouse; the aforementioned shoes were red; and the denim pants were odd and seemed to clash with the theme of the whole get-up with the rips all over them, especially at the knees. In the crook of her arm was a fancy handbag, from what he could tell.
She flipped her hair over her shoulder, listening as the driver began talking again.
As previously mentioned, Tadao wasn't educated on what is or isn't beautiful on Corneria, but… He could only assume that this woman was an archetype of "Cornerian pretty".
She turned and looked at the passenger still sitting in the van, smiling and waving. Tadao suddenly felt embarrassed, and immediately averted his gaze.
"He seems nervous," the woman said to the driver.
"Yeah," the driver responded, "he hasn't really spoken the entire ride."
The woman followed the man to the van, walking alongside the vehicle on the sidewalk. The woman hung back, arms still crossed, waiting as the driver opened the door to let Tadao out. The lizard climbed out of the side door of the van, into the late summer heat.
"Hi, I'm Alicia," the woman said, smiling as she approached with an extended hand for a shake.
Tadao almost tensed up, as if she were going to hit him or something. But he quickly took her hand, shaking it loosely, lacking confidence… "Hello."
Alicia pursed her lips, noting his trepidation at the situation.
"Okay, ma'am, I need you to sign here, and here…" The driver said, handing the woman a clipboard and a pen.
She took the pen and clipboard, scrawling her signature on the points marked by the driver on the documents. Once she was finished, she handed the items back to the driver. "Does he have any belongings or anything?"
"No, just the clothes on his back, unfortunately," the driver said, leafing through the documents, making sure they were signed correctly. Turning to Alicia, told her, "If you have any issues, please call us." The driver then took the clipboard, climbed back into the van, and started it to drive away.
They both watched the van pull away, Tadao and Alicia. Then there was an ambient quiet for a moment. Tadao looked around at the impossibly huge homes up and down the street, the smell of fresh cut grass wafted up to his olfactory senses, and the timed sprinkler systems came on. Tadao was literally in an alien world, everything so unfamiliar and… Clean. He looked at Alicia, then, not sure what to say.
"Wanna go inside?" She asked. "It's kinda hot out here."
