WHO: Atreus & Leon Orcot WHAT: Leon goes looking for a familiar face at the local animal sanctuary. WHEN: August 25th WARNINGS: Some swearing squirrel, otherwise not bad? STATUS: Complete!
Leon hadnât wanted to spend much of the $1000 stipend heâd been given upon his arrival. He intended to use it to get transport off this island once he discovered whether or not D had set up shop here. But he didnât trust the Waypoints, and he certainly wasnât going to use them, so he reluctantly spent some money to rent a car for the day.
Heâd been doing some digging, and once heâd investigated all the pet shops in Vallo City to no avail, heâd looked outside of the city and discovered the Vallo Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary. It was unlikely that D had set up shop there (if Leon was being honest, it was unlikely D had set up shop anywhere on the island showcased the usual human hubris and destruction that attracted D in the first place), but asking the local wildlife for information was generally the fastest way to go about it. Animals, it seemed, sometimes seemed to have a sort of sixth sense for when there was a D in the area.
He bypassed the house, not for any real desire to be sneaky or anything, but because if someone decided to give him the tour, heâd be less likely to have a proper conversation with the animals without attracting weird looks; heâd make sure to check in afterward though, just in case.
He brightened for just a moment when he saw someone, and then his shoulders slumped and he let out a long suffering sigh when he saw the unmistakable bushy tail and furry ears. Heâd never met a squirrel that wasnât an incessant chatterbox, talking a mile-a-minute without giving Leon a chance to get a word in edgewise, and most of them were a pain in the ass to get rid of once they discovered they had a listening ear.
Still, it was a start, and so Leon raised a hand in greeting and approached. âHey,â he said. âI was hoping youâd be able to help me out.â
The squirrels at the Sanctuary were of their own particular minds. There was an obstacle course they ran daily surrounding the property, and Batty was currently enjoying the fruits of his labor as he shoved walnuts in his mouth.
They were used to humans talking to them - well, one human in particular, and Batty was just a normal squirrel, so his level of squirrel talkativeness was high as he started chattering away, only to get cut off when a blue spectral squirrel made an appearance, teleporting to the tree above where Leon stood. âOi! You there!â Even when you could talk to animals, most of them didnât speak in a language everyone could understand. âPiss off! These are our walnuts!â
He couldâve kept going - he usually kept going - but was stopped by a voice off to the side, shushing him. âRatatoskr! Be nice.â Atreus popped up from behind a fence with an apologetic grin. He was used to Ratatoskr and his abrupt personality. âHey, sorry. He wasnât raised with any manners.â He paused and gave Leon a once-over. âUnless youâre actually here to steal their walnuts.â
Leon had been prepared to ask about D, but of course, of course the furry rat would start going on and on about who knew what, and he waited, getting a little more annoyed with every passing moment, for a moment to interject.
Except when it came, it was because another squirrel, blue and freaking see through appeared in front of him, and instead of managing to interject about D, he gave a surprised yelp and took a couple hurried steps backwards, tripped over his own feet, and landed, roughly, on the ground.
And then immediately felt like an idiot, because despite its appearances, this one was just going on about its walnuts. Leon let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, and when another voice spoke, he snapped,
âWhat on Earth would I want their walnuts for?â
He looked up then, and took in the new guy, eyes flicking to his ears, and then his eyes. He couldnât tell if he had a tail or not, but he thought he was probably human. Some animals didnât show any outward signs of being an animal - especially dogs - but there was usually something in their demeanor that gave them away.
Leon climbed to his feet with a grunt, favouring his right leg a little. It didnât bother him very often anymore, unless he overworked it or if he jarred it, by, say, tripping over his own feet. It was even worse now that he knew there might have been a human there to see it. Somehow, it was less embarrassing tripping in front of the wildlife.
âSorry,â he said, offering a hand across the fence to the newcomer. âIâm Leon Orcot. Do you work here?â
Atreus winced as soon as the newcomer went down, and made a move to open the gate, but it was too late to help the poor guy. Ratatoskr was a lot less sympathetic to the plights of other people, and he cackled out a laugh and yelled something obscene at both of them before vanishing in a poof, leaving his furry tailed friend Batty behind.
âI promise I was just joking, but walnuts are delicious?â He took the hand offered to him and shook it, apologetic grin plastered on his face. A year ago and the hand-shaking wouldâve still confused him, but heâd adjusted to that over his time in Vallo, and just⊠meeting people in general.
Atreus dropped the hand Leon offered and made a wide gesture, opening the gate. âVallo Wildlife Rehab, Iâm Atreus, owner and-- person who does a lot of the stuff around.â People visiting wasnât out of the norm, but usually it was friends or people who were dropping off an injured animal. âIf you found an animal that needs help Iâll need to go get my kit if you want to lead the way?â
Leon scowled where the⊠ghost⊠squirrel thing had just been. âI oughtta steal his walnuts just on principle,â he muttered darkly. âWhat even is that anyway? Some sort of ghost?â
Could ghosts even eat walnuts? He shook his head; it didnât matter either way, he guessed. âNo, Iâm not here for anything like that,â Leon said. âI just found you guys through an internet search.â He paused, frowning. âTruth is, Iâm looking for something. I figured if heâd set up shop on the island, someone here might have seen him or heard rumours or something.â He was deliberately vague on which someones that might have been; he was pretty sure Atreus had Heard the blue squirrel - Ratatouille or whatever his name was - but for all Leon knew, everyone could hear blue ghost squirrels.
âHeâs a messenger for the Gods in the Norse pantheons.â Atreus supplied, probably unhelpfully. Either people didnât believe him or they didnât know what Norse gods even were, there were rarely someone that fell into the middle. But Ratatoskr was a unique companion all onto his own, and certainly made for a fun story. âHere he just hangs out and tells people to go fuck themselves, but we mostly let him get away with it.â
With the vagueness coming his way, Atreus nodded, still having no idea what his new friend was asking for, but figuring theyâd get there eventually. âIs something keen on animals? Are you looking for a person or a thing or a beast? Does it have a name? We get a lot of strange things that come through the forest in general.â
âHuh,â Leon said. âGuess thatâs not the weirdest thing Iâve heard,â he admitted after a moment. Heâd spent two years of his life with what might have been a minor god himself, so it wasnât like he had room to talk.
ââKeen on animalsâ is a good way to put it,â he said, reaching into the inner pocket of his white leather jacket for his wallet. He pulled out a black and white photograph, extremely worn from five years of being pulled in and out of his wallet, and pointed toward the dark-haired Chinese man - the only part of the photograph that wasnât creased or worn away. âHis name is D, and he looks like this man, though he wears his hair parted down the middle and heâll likely be wearing traditional Chinese clothing instead of something Western. He runs a shop called Count Dâs Pet Shop, and he usually opens it in Chinatowns.â He paused, frowning. âThough, I guess thereâs no Chinatown here.â
Atreus leaned forward to peer at the photograph, studying it for a long second. It wasnât anyone he knew, but if there was anything consistent with Outlanders, it was that people often followed from each world. Eventually he shook his head. âThereâs a group here from Ancient China, but I donât think thereâs a matchup there. And I havenât heard of a pet shop under that name.â
And oh, he kept track of the pet shops. Vallo was thankfully good about that, heâd heard a few horror stories from his friends, but his own rehabilitation works had been a good impact and combination with the local rescues. âWhat kind of pets?â
"Ancient China, huh?" Leon repeated to himself. Maybe they wouldn't know D in particular, but it was possible they're know more about the destruction of D's people. All he knew was the version of events Grandpa D; that the Emperor of China had ordered their destruction because of a rejected marriage proposal.
"Oh, you know, dogs and cats and stuff like that," Leon said vaguely. "Maybe occasionally something weird." And then, because Leon wasn't quite sold on the 'humanity deserves to be destroyed' angle of things yet, and Atreus seemed like a good guy, he added, "I wouldn't buy anything from there if it does pop up, if I were you. But if you start hearing about weird animal attacks, you should let me know."
âI wonât, donât worry.â Atreus huffed out a humorless laugh and gestured behind him to where one of his water monitors was climbing a rock in order to knock his brother off of it. He had his hands full as it was, even if there was still that part of him that missed his dog Blackwall on a daily basis. The weird animal attack comment did get and keep his attention, though.
âWe have strange animal or monster attacks here pretty regularly, youâll hear about them on the network for sure.â He left the gate open for Leon and started back towards the water monitors, just to step in on some sibling scuffles if needed. âIs D someone we should be worried about or not? You can let the DOA know if theyâre going to be a danger to people.â
Leon smiled a little at the lizard brothers' scuffle. He couldn't tell what kind of lizards they were, he just saw a couple of people with scales on them.
Leon's ears perked up at that. Maybe D was here, just lying low, he thought for a minute, but then realized that was impossible. D had been in Tokyo a few days ago. He couldn't have already established himself enough to make it a regular thing yet. Maybe Grandpa D.
He was caught up enough in his thought that it took him a moment to realize Atreus was still talking. He tried to remember what he'd just said. "I can handle D if he's around," he said, waving a hand dismissively. Then he frowned, tilting his head to the side. "His grandfather might be a different story though. He's the one in the photograph." D's father had especially been trouble, but Leon had killed him himself. He wasn't worried about him, and the baby he'd left behind would only be about ten years old now. "But Grandpa D tends to lay low, and I think he's probably raising a kid right now."
âSounds⊠complicated,â Atreus started, without a better word to use for the situation. Not that he was unfamiliar with complicated family relationships, given his own grandfather was Zeus. Atreus still filed the information away, given Valloâs tendency for things to just show up and randomly throw a wrench in everyoneâs day. This sounded like the perfect storm.
âIf you want, I have a few good friends with the DOA and the patrols, I can introduce you so you give them the info and they can keep you updated if something happens?â Shiro, at the very least, was a good contact for that sort of thing.
âYeah, thatâs a word for it,â Leon muttered. Leon had always preferred to keep things simple. Heâd always liked seeing things in black and white, though things had been much more grey this last decade.
âThat might not be a bad idea,â Leon said after a moment. Leon had stopped getting the local authorities involved after his first year of chasing D, mostly because it had generally resulted in him getting laughed out of the station. This place was different; people seemed far more willing to accept the strange and unbelievable.
WhichâŠ. Leon frowned, sizing up Atreus, and then decided to go for it. âTruth is, I thought Iâd ask some of the animals here if theyâd heard anything about him. Animals tend to have a sixth sense about when heâs around, the more wild the better.â He braced himself, preparing for the laughter.
It wasnât laughter that Leon got in return, but a friendly smile. Someone that was willing to go directly to the animals could endear themselves quickly to Atreus, with his own tendency to do that same thing.
âAnimals always know a lot more than anyone ever figures out,â And they came in two categories, the ones that never shut up about it, and the ones that could be cryptic as shit for all time. Atreus was all too familiar with both. âThey havenât said anything to me - I understand animals, I always have - but if you donât want to take my word for it, I can make a few introductions. I have a wolf thatâs out in the forest a lot?â Lore in particular fell into the cryptic as shit category, but that had more to do with the fact that he was Jötunn than it did his animal side.
âYeah, thatâd be great,â Leon said, grinning widely. In all his travels, heâd never met someone that wasnât a D, or that hadnât been influenced by a D, that could Hear animals. âAnd man, youâre telling me. The amount of times that humans are just straight up blind to the things around themâŠâ He tried not to think too hard about how heâd been just like them once. Maybe heâd been worse, heâd spent two years of his life with D and he wouldnât let himself admit that weird shit was going on until the very end, when heâd had no other choice.
âYouâre not wrong,â Atreus acknowledged with a wry grin in return. The animals, no doubt, would enjoy having someone who understood animals talking to them on their own level, even if they didnât have answers for Leon.
Atreus started ahead and gestured for Leon to follow, âAlright, câmon new friend, weâll start at the Bear Barn. Heâs hungry anyway.â He paused, laughed and looked back over his shoulder. âI swear that wasn't a threat.â