CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Din and Nayru"

As the curtain fell back across the window, Brittany uneasily settled into her seat. She leaned back against the wall of the carriage, the feel of worn, smooth wood of the bench beneath her hands as she let her arms dangle along her sides. Across from her on the other seat sat Din and Nayru. The redhead lazily leaned to the side, one leg crossed over the other at the knee, while her blue-haired sister sat straight up with her legs placed side-by-side and her hands folded neatly in her lap. A bemused smirk marked the dancer's face.

"How are you enjoying Hyrule, Brittany?" Din lulled.

"Um...It's great," spoke the brunette, worry bubbling up in the pit of her stomach.

"Heh heh, you have no reason to be afraid, kid," the dancer tilted her head back, giving off a cocky air. "I swear we won't bite."

Brittany just stared. She was trembling so badly now that she felt she was about to go into another of her fits. Try as she might, though, her tremors only began to increase as thoughts of that night raced back to her. She shoved the horrid thoughts to the back of her mind and tried to concentrate on something else.

However, looking over at her hosts did not help quell her anxiety even a bit. Din was a dancer-pretty and lithe with an agile, thin body that perfectly suited her nimble talents. And Nayru...the singer's voluminous, wavy indigo hair cascading over her tiny shoulders and elegant figure only made Brittany ever the more conscious about her own wretched physique. She pulled one leg up into the seat and wrapped her arms around her stomach in attempt to hide the layer of fat that was so conspicuous to her. Noticing the distressed look on the young woman's face, Nayru confronted her.

"Are you in pain, my dear?" crooned the vocalist, her voice trilling like the song of a mourning dove.

"Uh, no, I-ach!" the depressed girl had tried to jerk her other leg up into the seat, but the pain from her knee made her wince. Din raised her brow.

"Let me take a look at that." Brittany raised her skirt a bit and extended her leg as Din leaned in for a better look. She prodded the girl's kneecap for a few moments. "Well, you've obviously injured it. How did this happen?"

The brunette looked up at the singer as if unsure of what to say. "Do not fret," Nayru said. "Din knows what she is doing. You can tell her."

Brittany gulped and nodded. "I dislocated it dancing about a year ago, then accidentally popped it back in place a week and a half later during another routine," the oracle continued to examine her leg. "I haven't had much of a chance to rest it since I've been trying to lose weight. Then, that night you guys found me, I hurt it again while I was running. Malon and her father tried to fix it but it is still really sore."

A concerned grunt came from the dancer. After spurting out a few more questions, she gave the girl's leg a little twist to see how much she could stand-which, with her injury, wasn't very much. Din tried to move the bone around with her thumb as she poked along the targeted tendons surrounding it. Finally, after several more moments of tedious prodding, scarlet eyebrows raised and a smirk appeared.

"Well, you certainly did a number on it, didn't you?" she exclaimed, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Why, what's the matter?" Brittany's face contorted into a worried grimace.

"Just a common injury among dancers-I've seen it before. Judging from what you've told me," the oracle said, "the rancher was wise to keep you off of it."

"Can it be healed?" asked the brunette with a hopeful heart.

Din leaned back and cocked her head with the same sassy gesture she had before. "I'd be a poor oracle if I couldn't!" Brittany let out a sigh of relief, causing the women on the other seat to laugh. "If I could revive Link, a little thing like an injured knee should be no problem. You'll have to wait a little bit, though-I can't work in such a cramped up space."

"Oh, that's fine! That's fine!" Brittany cheered. "You don't even have to do it today! As long as I get to run and dance again, I'll happily wait another week if I have to!"

Din's face lit up. "You like to dance?" she leaned forward, crossing her arms over her own knees.

"Heck yeah! I'd get out in the middle of the university campus back in the old world and dance by myself!"

"Awesome!"

"I used to come up with my own routines by taking bits and pieces of dances I'd seen and jumbling them all together," chimed Brittany.

"Sweet..."

Nayru wearily shook her head. "Oh, my, you just had to get her started, didn't you?" Din shot her a 'what's-that-supposed-to-mean' look. The oracle merely smiled and turned back to Brittany. "There's nothing she loves more than dancing. It's all she ever talks about: what new technique she will use, what music she will perform to...she's always got some routine or other stirring in that head of hers."

"Well," Din shot back, "you're the same way with your songs! Fa la la dee da-I can't remember the last time I got to sleep late with her warbling waking me up at the crack of dawn."

Had you have been there, one could have sworn there were lightning sparks igniting between the two sisters. As the tension between the duo rose, however, Brittany burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" barked Din, her brow narrowed to a mock-scowl.

"I'm sorry...hee heh...it's just," the girl beat her fist on the seat, "it seems so unreal. I mean, here I am, in Hyrule, talking to people that are supposed to be just pixels on a screen!"

The oracles smiled. "I guess it is quite a shock, waking up in a new world and all," Nayru said.

Brittany nodded. She glanced out the tiny sliver of window the curtain had not covered. "It really doesn't make any sense to me, why I am here. This is supposed to be a game world, and yet," she patted the wooden seat, "here I am."

"Well," Din began, "sometimes scenes from our world transverse the realm's barrier and wind up in other places. The same goes for your world, too, only they usually are written off as nightmares or whatnot because of all the tragedy that is usually depicted in them."

"I guess you would know, wouldn't you?" Brittany's eyes never left the window. "I mean, with you being an oracle and all-"

Din shook her head. "Not me so much as our baby sister, Farore," she added. "She's the Oracle of Secrets, so she's supposed to keep everything under wraps. Unfortunately, that is often more than she can handle..."

The brunette now tugged open the curtain and waved at the passers-by. "What do you mean?"

"As wonderful as she is," Nayru mentioned, "she is just too immature for the duties bound of an oracle. We've had to go find her after she'd wandered off chasing insects or small animals too many times to count. There's no such thing as a stranger to her-it's hard to keep her identity a secret when she's so naive. Instead of trying to perfect her disguise, she'd rather go out and tell stories."

"Not to mention she's a klutz..."

Nayru sighed. "Our little sister is so protective of the people she likes, though, and there is not a single thing she would not do for anyone," the blue-haired woman smiled. "But she does not have the ability to protect herself. She has often bitten off more than she can chew. That's one reason why we left her behind."

Din shook her head. "I hope she didn't mind being alone."

At that, the girl's heart sank. Didn't they know Farore went after them?

"She's not here."

"Beg pardon?" Nayru trilled. "I don't believe I heard you properly."

"I said," Brittany turned to the maidens, "she's gone. Princess Zelda said she disappeared the day after you left." The two sisters looked at each other, not with worry but with silly grins plastered on their faces. Din burst out laughing and Nayru put a hand to her mouth to suppress her ladylike giggles.

"What's WRONG with you two? Aren't you worried she might get hurt?"

Forget ladylike. Now BOTH sisters were shrieking with laughter. Din rested her forearm on the wall and leaned her head against it and stomped her feet while Nayru was hugging her ribs.

"I don't see anything amusing about your sister up and vanishing!" shouted Brittany. "I don't care if she was the most annoying kid in the entire world, you two shouldn't be laugh-"

"You don't understand!" Din cackled. "We had to drug her just to buy us a few minutes' head start!"

"Yeah, I know about that! Zelda told me-"

"But we knew she'd follow us anyway," the vocalist said, "so we left 'accidentally' forgot to cover our tracks. After a few days, we left the troupe and headed south. The troupe, however, headed west. Farore knew we would stay near others for protection-and since our main disguises are traveling performers, she never suspected that we would strike out on our own."

"You remember those flagbearers outside?" Din piped up. "They are actually trained fighters from Holodrum, plus a few knights from Labrynna. Zelda wanted some of her men to tag along, but we knew they'd pity poor Farore and leave her signs to follow. We couldn't endanger her like that, so while we went further away from Hyrule, she would follow our troupe to Labrynna, realize she'd been tricked, and go home."

Nayru giggled. "You see, Farore is such a child about these things. She wants to help, despite the fact that she often does more damage than good. And since we have a ton of connections along the troupe's route, we knew she would be safe."

"Ah..." it began to sink in that the oracles really did have their sister's best interests at heart. She smiled. It was comforting to know that her rescuers were such caring people. Pretty soon, she found herself immersed in conversation with her new companions. Even after the parade had stopped in the North Hylian fields, her helping hands were going about as fast as her mouth was running. By the time the sun had set, the camp had taken root and Brittany had finished explaining what had happened since she had come to Hyrule. The performers pulled up several logs around a bonfire that night, allowing Brittany and a few other guests to join them.

"Well, now! Aren't you two a sight for sore eyes?"

"IMPA!" the oracles, whom had just walked into the glen, pounced the portly woman in a crushing hug. The nursemaid just laughed.

"Din! Nayru!" she boomed, trying to keep her grip on a huge basket in her arms. "Oh, how I've missed my girls! What kept you away for so long?"

"Now, now...I am sure there will be plenty of time for questions tomorrow," said another girl. "Misses Din and Nayru must be quite worn out from their long journey."

The oracles turned to the growing group of Hylians. "Princess Zelda, how nice to see you!" the vocalist happily clasped her hands together. "And Link, too! To what do we owe the occasion?"

The hero smiled. "Celebrating our friends' safe return," assured the young man. Another figure soon strode into view.

"Hey, Malon!" Brittany waved. "Say, it looks like the gang is all here! Uh...what's in the baskets?"

Dangling from the arms of the two maidens were huge covered baskets. Impa toted another hulking container in her grip and Link had a cask lashed to his back like a knapsack. The Hylians moved toward the circle and laid down their heavy containers. Malon took the cover off of hers.

"We knew you would be hungry after such a long day," the redhead mused, "so Impa, Zelda and I made you all supper."

Some of the other performers got out dishes and began to pass them around as the newcomers revealed their wares. Roasted cucco, bread fresh from the oven, boiled eggs, cold bottles of the finest Lon Lon milk, and a nice little barrel of soup made from seasonal Hylian vegetables was soon produced-much to the delight of the famished entertainers. Din was probably the most pleased, for her plate was quickly piled with goodies and she began to eat with a flourish.

"Thang wuu so muth!" the dancer babbled as she crammed her mouth.

Oddly enough, no one was staring. Instead, the performers were just as greedily filling their own bowls. Impa laughed.

"Now THAT is the Din I remember! HA HAH HAH HA!"

Taking a brief swig of milk, the leotard-clad woman started on her soup. "After being on...slurp...the road for so long, I've...chomp...not had any of Impa's wonderful...slurp...food for what feels...ohm-nom...like ages! BURP!" a slightly embarrassed look ran across the face of her sister, but Din merely shrugged it off. "Oops...'scuse me!"

The whole gathering burst out laughing, with the exception of Nayru, who was shaking her head at such un-ladylike behavior. Din continued her munching and soon the containers were devoid of all but scattered crumbs and a few drops of soup. The redheaded oracle nearly stabbed ringmaster when the hand of the latter stuck a fork in after the last potato in the cask. After everyone had finished their meal, the performers struggled to their feet and practically waddled back to their tents. The Hylians and Brittany followed the oracles into the main tent. Nayru lit a lamp and they all sat down.

"Now, then...where to begin?" sighed the vocalist.

Zelda spoke up. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Not exactly," added Din. "All we found was mostly cryptic writings at a distant shrine. We made a copy of them in hopes that Farore could translate them when we came back."

"Hold up a minute!" the group turned towards Brittany. "First things first: I want to know why you two brought me here! I've been waiting all day, but you kept putting it off and putting it off. Well, I won't stand for it any longer! I just HAVE to know!"

"But you're not standing," Link pointed out. "You're sitting down."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious, but I am already aware of that!" said the frustrated girl.

"So why did you say you wouldn't stand for something when you are sitting down?"

"Dang it, Link!" Brittany put her hand on her hips and barked. "Is there some sort of hero rule that says you can never learn what a figure of speech is?"

"Geez, just calm down, Brittany. I didn't mean to get you all upset..."

The brunette sighed. "No, I'm the one that should be sorry," she glanced down at the ground. "It's just...everything is so confusing. All of those memories I had of that night keep replaying in my head. I try to make sense of it all, but it's just not happening." Sighing she looked up at the oracles. "I just want to know why you brought me here. Why you saved me from certain death and then abandoned me in the forest."

A sober expression took hold of Din and Nayru. The sisters looked at one another, then nodded.

"I take it you've already been informed about our little trip by the princess, yes?" asked Nayru. Brittany nodded. "Well, a few weeks ago, while Din was practicing a new dance-one which she somehow convinced me to try out-Farore came up to us with an idea for a new story. We were not listening very well, as our minds were clearly elsewhere..."

Din smirked. "That's when it happened..."

"When what happened?" asked the puzzled Earthling.

"Farore has only one real talent, and that is her storytelling," Din said, "and her stories are so realistic...often, they sound incredible, but if you only knew..."

Brittany ground her fists into her hips. "Will you just spit it out already?"

"Farore is the Oracle of Secrets," Nayru began again, "so she has been charged with all of our realm's deepest, darkest riddles. Most of the time, she finds them through books, word of mouth, or just simple observation. She has a photographic memory, so if she ever hears anything, it will always be with her. That's why it is not uncommon to hear her talking to herself-it's how she retains information."

"It gets pretty funny, sometimes, 'cause she'll just be walking through Hyrule Castle Town and you can hear 'Katricia's baby boy was born at 9:15 on the morning of the twelfth' or 'Gladius has three grey hairs on his beard'," Din laughed. "What's bad is she'll record ANYTHING! Do you know how funny it is when she goes by people and lets it slip who has a crush on whom? I can't recall the number of times I've had to bail her out of that one."

"Usually, that's how she gets her information," Nayru said. "Usually. But being an oracle has given her another ability, one far more serious than people's romantic lives."

Brittany crossed her arms. "What is it?"

"Sometimes," Nayru sighed, "the most powerful secrets are the ones that she sees."

"How so?"

"Farore's photographic memory works only through sound," Din replied, "but many times, Farore has had images come to her in dreams. She usually does not remember them for more than a day, so she will often try to commit her dreams to memory through storytelling. And, seeing as how those dreams tend to make the best tales, that's what she uses for entertainment."

The singer gulped. Din put her hand on her sister's shoulder and smiled sadly.

"We knew it was a dream because anytime it was, she would say something silly like 'the spirits have granted me a vision' or the like to get people reeled into the tale. I almost regret letting her go to the square that day."

"Why?" Brittany asked.

Nayru cast the most sobering glance of anyone the girl had ever seen before.

"The last day she told one of her stories," the singer spoke, "she was attacked."