Fado tromped steadily up the hill, carrying a stack of buckets to milk his goats. Normally, he would have Link and Epona help with the arduous task, but they had left to save the children. When they were kidnapped, everyone had been devastated. They still were. But, as his father used to say, 'No matter what happens, life doesn't stop when you want it to. No matter how sad, lonely or lazy you feel, life must go on. You just need to keep living, and milk it for all it's worth.'
Setting the buckets down on the ground outside the barn, Fado exhaled slowly through his nose. Milk it for all it's worth all right, Fado thought. For now, I just need to milk the goats. He entered the barn to grab the short milking stool. It was quiet inside; all of the goats were in the pasture.
Suddenly, a quiet rustling met his ears, coming from a small pot sitting on a stack of hay. Fado stared at the pot, sure it had been empty before. Maybe it's a mouse, he thought. The pot wobbled again. Suspicious, Fado picked up the pot to peer inside. Almost instantly, the pot gave a violent jerk and tumbled out of his hands. It landed with a loud Crash! Pieces of blue and white pottery flew all across the floor.
In the midst of pot fragments, a small shape landed with an indignant cry that sounded somewhat like a very squeaky cuckoo. Fado got a closer look. The thing was so absurd looking, he could not tell what it was. It was definitely not a mouse. In fact, it looked like a deformed golden-brown cuckoo with a hairless egg-shaped human head devoid of feathers. It was a little creepy. The thing peered up at him.
"Thanks so much for freeing me from that pot!" The cuckoo thing exclaimed, bobbing its head graciously. Fado was too shocked to speak
"Who… are you?" he asked, bewildered. The thing was so unusual, he wanted to ask "what are you?" But he thought that might be rude.
"Oh dear me…" it muttered, "I am Ooccoo!" the bird pronounced, "Have you seen my son around somewhere? His name is Ooccoo Jr."
"I… uh, can't say I have, sorry," Fado replied, a little lost on what to do. Wanting to help out, he asked, "Where did you last see him?"
"Oh! I left him with that green boy. Link his name was. My son warped him out of that dungeon, but he never came back. He took so long that I started to worry and left to find him,"
"Wait. Link has him?" Fado asked.
"Yes, do you know him? Could you tell me where to find him?" Ooccoo questioned.
"I can't say I can, I haven't seen the lad for many days. But I can assure you that if your son is with him he is safe,"
"Oh! I have no doubt that Jr. is alright, I just want to know where he is!"
"Well, I'm afraid I can't help you there," Fado sighed.
"No problem, I'll just continue on my way," Ooccoo said, as she started to trot out of the barn, a bewildered Fado following.
"Uh… where are you going to look, if you don't mind me asking," Fado said.
"Oh, I don't know, Lake Hylia maybe. That boy did say something about seeing the Zoras. I'd best be on my way. Nice meeting you," Ooccoo gave a short bow, and lifted its tiny wings, flapping furiously to gain altitude. Fado, not expecting the cuckoo to fly, stepped back in surprise. He didn't see how it could possibly get in the air with such small wings, but it was flying all the same. Fado stared as the bird flapped noisily away down the field, crowing, "So long!" Over its shoulder as it went.
The bewildered Fado sighed and stooped down to pick up the pieces of colorful pottery littering the barn floor, putting the shards in one of the buckets he had brought up for milking the goats. First a mail-driven postman, and now a crazed cuckoo and a broken pot. What could possibly happen next? Fado thought. If anything else happens, in the very least I hope I don't lose anymore pots.
A/N Feel free to give me ideas of what to put in the barn! Constructive criticism is always welcome and greatly appreciated.