Looking For Group

Part 14

Two hours and a shit load of reading later, Twilight found nothing of value.

Everyone who had ever worked in the kitchen was over the age of twenty-five. Even the waiters and apprentices were well into their twenties. Wild said he was probably in his late teens, but thanks to his amnesia he honestly didn't know. Unless he was the youngest looking twenty-five year old in the world, Twilight doubted he was older than twenty-one.

Maybe one of the cooks were Wild's parents? Unfortunately the binders didn't contain any information if the employee were married or had children.

By hour three Twilight chose to give up. He sighed tiredly, rubbed his aching eyes and closed the binder. There were just too many people. Unless Wild could provide a name or description, Twilight was running blind here.

"Fuck," Twilight muttered as he placed the binder back on the shelf.

***

"So that's the basic rundown of it," said Twilight. "You could still be the child of a chef, but that sort of information may take a lot longer to get than a few hours at the archives."

Wild sat in the chair opposite of him. He stared wordlessly out at the café, his fingers rapping the table. He was in the middle of his break, his green aprin draped across his lap. He huffed. "I knew it was too good to be true."

"Sorry," said Twilight.

"No, it's not your fault. Shouldn't have put too much faith in it. But at least you managed to ease one theory in my head. I'd rather know than be left anticipating." He sighed and slipped back on his apron. He got up, his hands tying the strings behind his back. "I need to get back to work. Thanks, man."

"Hey, let's not end this on a shitty note. I'm going to go hang out with my friends later on today. Do you want to come?"

Wild jerked. "What? With the other Heroes?"

"Yeah. Trust me, we're just like any other person."

"... Um, yeah! That sounds pretty cool! What time?"

Twilight told him.

"That's perfect, actually. I get off just an hour before. Cool, I'll see you then!"

Once Wild walked away, Twilight pulled out his phone and sent off a text.

T- I invited Wild to hang out with us. Hope you guys don't mind.

Warriors immediately responded.

W- Mazel Tov! You've finally found friends who aren't us!

T- I have friends!

W- Name one who's not from your village.

Twilight's thumb hovered over the onscreen keyboard as he struggled to think. A few seconds later another text by Warriors popped up.

W- See?

T- Shut up

***

In his hands Wild carried a decorated box. It had pink and white stripes with a tiny little pink bow on top.

"What's that?" Twilight asked.

"Cookies," said Wild. "I want to make a good impression to the other Heroes."

"Usually when people bring us cookies, they're trying to bribe us."

Wild's hands tightened on the box. "Is that the impression I'm already giving? Shit!"

"Man, don't worry, I already vouched for you."

They were walking to the local gym. Sky had already reserved a room to teach Wind basic moves and how to handle the Master Sword. Sky wanted today to be a simple, fun time of tumbling and grappling.

"Who else is going to be there?" Wild asked.

"Well, you already met Warriors and Sky. There's Legend from Koholint Island, Hyrule from the south, Swords-"

"I know him! The guy who does the blacksmith stuff on youtube, right?"

Swords had a small youtube channel where he showed how to make chainmail out of discarded soda tabs and other little metal crafts. His channel was slowly gaining popularity when he was discovered to be a Hero, and suddenly he had more than three million followers overnight. He refused to let go of his channel despite Time warning him against having it, but compromised to uploading only once a month.

"You're a fan?" Twilight asked.

"Sort of. I watch his stuff but I'm not subscribed. What about that big guy? The one with the single eye? I've seen his picture in the newspaper sometimes. Is he as intimidating as he looks?"

"No." Twilight paused. "He's worse. But he won't be here today. As the oldest, he has more duties and responsibilities to tend to. There is one new person who will be there. A newly discovered Hero. His name is Wind. He's fourteen."

"Fourteen? Damn, didn't think you guys started that young."

"That's actually average. But before we go in..."

Twilight stopped in his trek. Wild stopped too, his eyebrows raising in slight surprise.

"You need to promise me you're not going to go to the presses with anything you learn from us," Twilight said. He kept his voice level, his face stern, making damn sure this was not something to take lightly. "No facebook updates, no instagram photos, no tell-all exclusives. I don't care if you talk about me, I'm an adult and I can handle it, but Wind is still just a kid and he deserves his privacy. If I feel like you're trying to manipulate the moment to gain secrets-"

Wild scrambled to reassure him. "Oh! Yes! Yes, of course! I totally understand. When I came out of my medical coma, I was hounded by newspapers asking for interviews. They made me feel like an object, like something to be poked and prodded at. I hated it. Yes, I won't say anything, I promise."

Twilight sighed in relief. "Thanks. Sorry for scaring you. We have to be careful about these things."

"I get it. You don't want outsiders messing with your group. Good thing I brought these cookies to bribe my way in."

Twilight laughed.