Disclaimer: Zelda and all its characters belong to Nintendo.

Date began: 1 December '05

Date finished: 1 December '05

Forward: It's been a long time since I've worked on this… I need a small interlude in the story to get me back on track. Heh… this should give you a good idea of some things… And, yeah… I jump around a lot in this story. Bear with me, it should tie together eventually.

INTERLUDE /

(The skies above were grey; it smelled heavily of rain and smoke. Ahead, there was a smoldering fire. The small, child-like figure walked tentatively towards it, covering her nose. She didn't feel all that much afraid, the fire wouldn't hurt her anymore… but, nonetheless, the smell was overpowering. Her eyes watered.)

Girl: (thinking) Stupid Mido…

(She reached forward and grabbed a piece of burnt wood, and it crumbled beneath her fingertips. She pulled her hand back and rubbed her fingers together, the soot falling to the ground.)

Girl: (thinking) Figures that he'd be too chicken to help clean up this mess.

(She wasn't mentioning any of the others, really. She reached back to where the wood had been and crushed the remaining bits. As a Kokiri, she did feel a faint sadness, as the children of the forest were quite in tune with the surrounding vegetation, but she had to be practical. If you let yourself feel too bad about things, nothing would get done.)

(She went around stomping on the smaller things, getting her vibrant green clothing and skin a strange grey shade. She had to stop when it got too dusty and made her gag.)

(She coughed, wiped her forehead. It was still really hot in the area. She looked up at what used to be her friends house. It was beyond repair, she knew, but it was the first time that she was somewhat glad that he was gone and wasn't hurt from the fire.)

(She turned around when she heard a crack of a broken branch. Through the bushes burst Rinku, flustered and winded. He gulped largely, coughed when all he inhaled was stagnant dust. His face screwed up and he made a show of it, grabbing at his throat and going bug-eyed. She laughed a bit.)

Rinku: Saria why didn't you wake me up? You know I would have helped.

(She offered a shrug.)

Saria: The sun's not even up yet.

Rinku: So?

(She couldn't help herself.)

Saria: (Smiling) Oh… you looked too cute to wake up.

(He scratched his head with an odd, embarrassed grin. He was quite tall for his fourteen years, which earned him the 'right' to do all the work in the village. Rinku knew that it was unfair, but as he matured the chores seemed much easier than they had when he was a short ten year old. He did feel the odd one out all the time, now, though.)

Rinku: So whose house is this? I didn't even know it was here.

Saria: An old friend of mine. Roland.

(He puzzled this for a few moments.)

Rinku: No offense, but what a funny name!

(Saria couldn't help but laugh at this. It was so ironic in ways that he couldn't understand.)

Saria: Suit yourself… but Rinku's a pretty funny name, too.

Rinku: (Offended) Hey!

Saria: (Smirking) Hey yourself. You two were a lot alike, actually.

(He shrugged in nonchalance, and stepped forward, crushing some previously crushed wood and sending up a cloud of soot that covered his legs.)

Rinku: Aww… I can't believe no one else is helping you.

Saria: Well you know Mido… He didn't really like Roland. No one did, really.

(It was always interesting for Rinku to hear about stories that dated before his time. Not to say, that it wasn't odd – here was this twelve year old looking kid telling you stories that were sometimes more than twenty or thirty years old.)

Rinku: What about you?

(She thinks about this as she works, spreading out the dirt evenly to make the mess look a little cleaner. The main point of this job was to get it so that the burnt branches didn't cover up anything that was sprouting, and to get other branches out of the healthy trees surrounding.)

(The topic of Roland was a difficult one, for her to speak of.)

Saria: He was like you. He was Hylian.

Rinku: Really?

Saria: (Nodding) Yes… I suppose we all distrusted him because of that. It wasn't hidden like it was from you. He knew about it from the get-go, and he was brought here when he was a smaller child than you were. I was different then, but I still considered him a good friend of mine.

Rinku: What was he like? … Personality wise.

Saria: Hm… he was very smart. Very clumsy, though.

(She laughs.)

Saria: He used to trip over nothing.

Rinku: … That's impossible.

Saria: Let me assure you… with Roland, it was possible.

(Rinku thought Roland must have been pretty stupid, but didn't mention it. Saria seemed off when she spoke of him.)

(He sought the change the subject, and opened his mouth to speak…)

(…but was interrupted by an odd sound.)

(It was a small whine. Very faint, but their sharp ears picked it up right away. Rinku looked inquiringly at Saria, and she had the same puzzled look.)

(The sound repeated, a little more insistently. It came from above… from inside the smoldered house.)

(Rinku arched his eyebrows. Now why would anyone be in there? He looked again at Saria, but she was already headed in that direction. He followed her closely.)

(They breathed as shallowly as they could. The dust was thicker in here, and because it was still dim outside it was pitch black in the opening. Saria placed her hand on the sooty trunk and fell through, falling flat on her stomach. The small whine, which had been going on constantly, abruptly stopped.)

(Two shining eyes looked at them.)

Rinku: (Thinking) … Who is that

(The eyes blink, and they could hear movement. Rapid, quick breathing… the figure had moved to the back of the house.)

Saria: Hello?

(The figure began to speak rapidly is a foreign, lispy speech. Rinku looked again to Saria and she seemed completely concentrated on the language.)

(And, much to his surprise, she begins to respond in the same language… Slowly at first, as if unfamiliar with it, but she gradually quickened to the voice's speed.)

(Rinku is completely left out as the two have an odd conversation in the dark. He was lost on what they were talking about, and the way it was accented he couldn't tell what they meant. He backed away a little bit, thinking they might want their space.)

Saria: Rinku.

Rinku: … What?

Saria: Stay here.

(He stands helplessly, confused. She resumed the conversation, and for once Rinku could recognize a sort of sympathy in her voice. The other voice was high pitched, but it was a pitch to the point that he couldn't tell the gender. It was all too ambiguous for him.)

(Suddenly, though, the figure began to approach them. Rinku and Saria stood stark still as they began to slowly see the features of the person.)

Rinku: (Thinking) What the?

(He's never seen anyone like it…)

(The round ears… slanted eyes. Weird nose.)

(What a weird person.)

Saria: Ickvathnag?

(The child looked frightened, his eyes were huge on his small head. He looked at both of them, trying to see them. Trying to understand.)

Child: Fado…

Notes: I will update soon. This is all the spur I need for the moment.