“Please...tell me...tell yourself...I know you know it’s there...It’s always been there, I’ve seen it before...the way you look at him. The way you act around him. Malon, how do you really feel?”

--Saria

---

Chapter Seven
“Campfire”

Link knelt down beside Saria. He gave her another firm twist on her wrist, causing her to gasp quickly in pain. Link examined her carefully.

“Don’t worry, Saria. I’m not sadistic like those freaks we used to face a long time ago.” Link said in a friendly tone. He slowly pulled a knife from its sheath, “But...there are some things that I can’t help but grow used to along the way...”

He slid the blade across Saria’s cheek, cutting a fine red line across. Saria tightly shut her eyes. Link smiled, “Tell me, Saria. Do you know what my favorite color is?”

“...Red?” Akari repeated. Red looked up at her. They had set up camp a few hours ago. It was dark, but bearable. The campfire cracked and snapped in the silence of the woods. It threw off a faint orange glow around the camp. The shadows of trees danced about in the light.

“Yeah?” Red replied, still somewhat in his daydream. Akari looked at him curiously, “You were pretty quiet for awhile. That’s very unlike you, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, uhm...I was just...thinking.” Red said, slowly. He glanced around and asked, “Where’s Swift?”

“She went to wash up in the river. She’ll be back in a few.” Akari replied. Red sighed and wrapped his cloak around himself. The wind blew, causing the flames of the fire to flicker.

“Akari?” Red asked. Akari looked up at him from across the fire, “Yeah?”

“Tell me about yourself.” Red said. Akari looked down and thought for a moment, “I guess now’s a good time to get to know each other...what do you want to know?”

“Anything...Do you have any parents?” Red asked. Akari thought for a moment and spoke, “I...have a mother who looked after me for awhile...we aren’t blood related.”

Red asked, “What happened to your parents?”

“That’s not a very happy topic...”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway,” Akari began again, “I met my adoptive mother when I was seven, I think...I can’t remember exactly. She’s a very nice person. Strict, but nice.”

“Maybe I can meet her one day.” Red said, looking into the fire. “If you play your cards right, then maybe.” Akari said with a faint smile, the fire highlighted the best features of her face, “Her name is Impa. I guess you could say that I look up to her a lot.”

“My dad,” Red spoke, “I looked up to him as well. I...I lost both my parents when I was ten, but I’ve managed. It’s been alright, I guess. I have a little sister, too.” A faint smile began to form on his face as he thought about it, “We were so close. I can tell that she looked up to me. Looking back on it, I don’t understand anymore. She was obviously the better out of the two of us. She could play music real well. She also took up a little training in swordsmanship. She’s a nice, smart person, too. She a good listener, she’d always know the right things to say.”

“Where is she?” Akari asked.

“Dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry too much about it. I’ve grown to accept it. It doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s alright.”

“You know,” Akari said slowly, “you’re an okay guy...when you’re not acting like an idiot, that is.” Red smirked, “It’s just part of my personality. I tend to act before I think.”

“I know.” Akari replied, “That’s why we’re here in the first place. But, you also have a lot of luck, too. If you didn’t pick to go down that one road, we wouldn’t have met Swift. She has a map to Hyrule. We were actually headed in the direction of a shortcut. It’s a pretty bizarre coincidence.”

“What is?” Swift asked, she had a towel draped over her shoulders. She sat down and rested her back against a tree. She was sitting between Akari and Red, forming an even triangle. “What are you two talking about?” she asked.

“We’re getting to know each other.” Red said.

“Oh, nice.” Swift said.

Silence. After a few more minutes of silence, Akari spoke up, “Well?” Swift stared at her blankly, “Well what?”

“Aren’t you going to tell us about yourself?” Akari asked, slightly aggravated.

“Oh!” Swift exclaimed, as if she remembered something important, “Well, my daddy’s a really great man. He’s done a lot of good things. Did you know he’s considered a hero by a whole lot of people? I remember him saying that he was going to try to bring peace to the world and stop all the needless fighting.”

“Your father sounds like a respectable person,” Akari said, “does he live in Hyrule?”

“Yeah.” Swift replied, “That’s why I’m headed there. I got...separated from him so very long ago. And now I’m going to try for a family reunion.” She sighed softly, “I hope I meet him again. I miss him a lot.”

Her hands moved up to the Goron’s Ruby around her neck. She ran her fingers along the red jewel’s surface.

“Did your father give you that?” Akari asked. “This?” Swift glanced down at the Ruby, “No. My mom gave it to me. She passed away when I was little. I don’t remember her very well. I have a picture of her.” She reached into a bag beside her and pulled out a neatly folded cloak. She unfolded it and pulled out a small framed picture that was placed in the center of the cloak. She wrapped the cloak around herself and passed the picture to Akari, “I don’t have a picture of my dad with me, but I’ll let you meet him when we get to Hyrule.”

Akari examined the picture. It showed a red haired girl smiling and standing in front of a big green open field, she had a pitchfork in one hand, she leaned it against herself. There was a horse to her right chewing on sod. Over her head was a sign. It read: ‘Lon Lon Ranch.’

“She’s very beautiful.” Akari said and tossed the framed picture to Red.

Red catches it and looks at it, “You look just like her.”

Swift looks at Red and nods, “I know...I got my hair color from both my parents. I’m blond; I got that from my daddy. But if you look carefully; you can see my mom’s red hair, too.”

Red tossed it to Swift, she catches it and holds it close, “I’ve had this ever since I got separated from daddy...I think it gives me good luck. When I look at this picture, all the bad feelings go away.”

They all went silent, each thought about their families. Red looked up and broke the reminiscent silence, “I think we should get some rest.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Akari agreed, “But one of us should stay awake to keep watch. We’ll go on one hour shifts each.”

“I’ll go first.” Red offered. Akari nodded, “Alright. I’ll go second. Swift’ll go third, then Red again and it’ll continue from there.”

They all agreed. “Well,” Swift wrapped the cloak tighter around herself as another breeze blew in, “Good night.”

“Night.” The other two said as they settled in for the night.

Red stared at the fire. He felt his heart pendent and sighed heavily, he then leaned his head back against the tree.