Home At Last.

Home At Last.

Summary: Shadow finds himself needing a home.

Shadow wasn’t the only cat on the streets, that much was for sure. There were a few strays other than him. Ones that spat and hissed at most strangers and other animals alike. They didn't seem to really care about him, a thing that carried over from his time as Link's shadow.

There were dogs and rodents too. Though most of the dogs had owners. It was a busy city, of course there would be animals in it, pets and strays alike.

But animals were starting to get taken off the streets by people, 'dog catchers' or something? Well they were catching a lot more than dogs that's for sure. Any animal roaming about on the streets all willy nilly was taken by these guys, and if no hylians intervened (like say, to get their dog back, or to adopt or something) then those animals didn't come back.

Shadow wasn't 100 percent sure what was happening to the animals, but there was no way in hell he was finding out. He needed somewhere to stay so that these guys didn't get him. But where? …

The answer almost kicked him in the face as he walked through the busy market, seeming to notice him before he noticed it.

~~~~~~~~~

I heard a yelp and a thump as I ducked around the offending limb. Turning to see fruits and veg spilling out of a fallen basket. Red was standing over top of me with his hands spread out like he was trying to keep his balance, and he looked down at me with wide eyes.

Woops.

"Little buddy!" He chastised, bending over to pick up his stuff. "You should know better than to run under people's feet like that! Hasn't anyone tripped on you before? I know I almost did!" He sounded frustrated, kinda like this was one more thing to add to a long list of things.

Woops. Well they do say black cats are bad luck.

I walked up to him and rubbed up against his arm as an apology. Then started to help him pick up his veg. An action he seemed really shocked by.

"Oh! Thank you!" He pet me on the head (still gotta get used to that) and went back to picking up his stuff.

I didn't feel too bad, because- by the looks of it -none of his stuff was fragile (would've felt really bad if it had been eggs or tomatoes), but he still looked upset, so clearly something was going on.

He picked up the last of his stuff and was making to get up, when he paused. Staring at something over my head.

I looked behind me to where he was looking and...

Animal catcher.

Shit.

Me and Red made eye contact, and I think he was just as worried about me being taken by one of those guys as I was. So I hopped in his basket and layed down, getting comfy in all the produce.

Red seemed a little taken aback by that but didn't protest, which was perfect because I did not want to be kicked out and have to run from a guy who may or may not just end me, I'm not really sure.

~~~~~~~

Red continued on through the market as though he hadn't just been almost knocked over by a cat and lost all his groceries. Trying in vain to not make eye contact with the animal catcher. Though he did shoot glares at the man whenever he thought the guy wasn't looking.

The catcher was, in fact, looking. Said man making his way over to the ruby clad hero as Red tried to just... leave, maybe to get to a secure alley where he could let this oddly trusting cat go about the rest of his day (hopefully) in peace.

"Mr. Red. Sir! I believe we've already discussed this?" The man said brightly and snarkily, catching up to Red and moving to walk in front of him. Walking backwards. "You can't just take a stray of the street acting like it's yours just to let it go later. That's not your cat, you can't save it from the pound." He grinned, "unless of course it is your cat, in which case congrats on becoming a cat dad! Proof of adoption please."  

Red said nothing, just switched directions. "I ow you nothing, and for the record, this is my cat!"

"Just because your a 'hero' doesn't make you above the law." The man stated dryly, like it was a reminder. His hands were still in the air from making airquotes that Red didn't turn to see.

Shadow was starting to really hate this guy.

"I don't care, this is my cat you can't just take him! You are also not above the law!" Red changed directions again, cutting the guy off as he continued to make his way out of the market.

"If he's really your cat, where's his nametag? Why don't you have him properly secured? Why wasn't he there when we had this conversation earlier with the dog?" The man asked, stacking more and more questions on every time Red went to answer, causing the emotional hero to sputter and struggle to keep up.

"W-well... um... you see-"

The guy rolled his eyes, as though his point had been proven, and reached for Shadow.

Shadow hissed and spat at his hand, swatting at it a few times with his claws. The man barely flinched, his gloves protecting him from any damage Shadow tried to inflict. So he switched gears from attacking and jumped from the basket on to Red's shoulders, glaring at the man from half-behind the hero's head.

To his credit, the catcher did stop after that, looking utterly perplexed.

"I got him a collar, but he's outgrown it, so I need to get him a new one, I think you can tell for yourself why he isn't 'properly secured', and he wasn't there earlier with the dog because- last I checked -he was safe at home. I'm not sure how he got out, I'll be sure to ask the other three when I get home. Now, good day sir." Red spun on his heel with a huff and walked off like one of those boujie ladies with their tiny purse dogs.

Nice one Red. Shadow thought, a phantom grin on his face.

He turned to look at the animal catcher, seeing suspicion and bafflement warring with each other on his face. It was a beautiful sight.

Red left the market, walking a few blocks away from it and then into an alley. Which confused Shadow. Was this the way to his house or something? But then Red stopped, and crouched down. Shadow lost balance and jumped off of his shoulders for a moment, turning around and giving him the most confused cat face he could make.

"Well, that's that then. I'm glad I could help!" He stated chipperly, petting Shadow on the head before standing up.

Wait what? No. Shadow thought, jumping into the basket as Red began to walk away.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Red asked, giggling. He picked up Shadow and set him back down on the ground.

Only for Shadow to jump right back into the basket.

"I- uh... oh." Red blinked twice, before realization danced across his features. "Oh!" He was grinning from ear to ear, and started walking off with a slight skip in his step.

"I'm not sure if we can actually keep a cat, but I'm sure I could figure something out. Besides it would probably be a better idea to get you a collar anyways so that Steve- that's the animal catcher's name by the way -doesn't try to take you or something, oh and-!" Red started rambling plans and ideas into the air, but Shadow found himself tuning it out rather quickly.

The dog catcher's name was Steve???? He looked like he would have a dumb generic name, but Steve???

Red made his way to Link's house, though the building seemed to be under renovation. Made sense, considering the apparent switch from one Link to four. The three bedroom house probably wouldn't have been big enough even if they all decided to squeeze into two rooms, which Shadow found the idea laughable considering the four couldn't even share a boat without Blue trying to kill all of them.

Red practically kicked the door open, taking a deep breath that made Shadow wish he could cover his ears before yelling "WE'VE GOT A CAT NOW!!!!!"

Shadow bolted into the house and under the nearest chair. Not because he was scared or anything by the loud noise that made his head pound for a moment. No! He was just really committed to the bit of being a cat! That's all!

"...Woops." Red muttered apologetically, quickly shutting the door and setting his basket down on the counter before running over to Shadow's hiding spot.

"I'm sorry little buddy! I shouldn't have been so loud." He apologized, making a sad face as he layed on his stomach, getting a better view of Shadow.

"Uuuuh, Red? What the fuck?" Blue came into the room, giving Red a look Shadow couldn't see from where he was hiding.

"We got a cat." Red grinned, turning his attention from the feline in question.

"Yeah I heard. Who's 'we'?" Blue walked over and crouched, annoyingly not revealing any more of his face than Shadow could see earlier.

"Me and the cat!" Red informed chipperly, kicking his feet.  

"Right, and the cat definitely decided to come home with you, is that what you're saying?"

"Yup!"

"And how'd he do that?"

"Well it started at the market and-" Red then proceeded to tell Blue the entire story, painting Shadow as this really clever and smart cat- which Shadow was not about to refute in any way.

Blue made a noise when he got to the part about Shadow hopping back into the basket. Twice.

"Oh wow he really said 'I'm your problem now' didn't he?" Shadow could hear the grin in Blue's voice, the azure clad hero now sitting cross legged in front of Red. Shadow meowed out his "yes" in response, causing the heroes to snort and giggle respectively.

"So, what are you gonna name him?" Green asked from somewhere out of sight, though it sounded like he was in the same room.

Red blinked, looking between Shadow and where Shadow guessed Green was standing, a dumb expression on his face.

Blue leaned forward to get a good look at the now-cat and his eyes lit up in recognition.

"Oh it's Shadow!" He stated, like this was great news.

Shadow had a moment of mild panic- How did he know it was me!? This is only our second meeting! How does he know?! What?!?!-before he was inadvertently drawn from his thoughts by a question.

"How do you know the cat's name is Shadow?" Vio asked, the sound of his voice reverberating through the chair itself. It sounded like he was right above him. Ironic.

Blue sat up, looking up at the purple hero. "You know that cat that snatched you sandwich?" He asked, a laugh to his voice.

Vio grumbled, shifting in the chair. Shadow suddenly felt very proud of himself.

"What about it?" Vio asked, and Shadow could practically hear him crossing his arms, and could perfectly picture the look on his face.

Oh the shade was really proud of himself.

"That's the cat Red brought home. And well, he's a black cat with red eyes and a little shit! Of course I'd call him Shadow!" Blue stated, crossing his arms with a proud look on his face like he was being really clever.

I mean he kind of was but...

Red gasped, hands flying to his face, eyes shining. "That's perfect! We can name his Shadow Sandwich Cat!" He declared.

Wait what? No-. Shadow thought, feeling his cheeks warm in a none-existent blush.

"Yeah we can name his Shadow; Sandwich thief, floof wizard, the destroyer of egos." Green chimed in, clearly joking. Vio scoffing in offence above him.

Red did not take it as a joke.

"YES!!!" He shouted, clapping his hands with a giddy squeal. Blue hand to put his hands up to stop him with a "don't scare Shadow sandwich thief floof wizard- what'd ya say? Oh right -destroyer of egos again" with a half hearted reprimand.

Red covered his mouth with a wince. "Sorry Shadow." He whispered, poking his face under the chair.

Shadow levelled him with an unimpressed look. Not sure how to feel about being named after himself and really just not being impressed with the rest of his new name. Red just grinned at him sheepishly.