Chapter 3

"Link, are you all right?"

"Yeah, sorry... just having a hard time keeping up."

Din looked back over her shoulder at the Hero, and sighed. Link was clumsily stumbling along through the shifting sands, as the desert did it's best to slow them down. "Hurry up! The sun will be up soon, and we'll want to make camp!"

"Why are we only traveling at night?" Link asked, almost out of breath.

"Because it's cooler at night, and we won't get burned up by the sun." Din answered

"Oh... good point. Hadn't thought of that." The Hero replied sheepishly.

They continued to trek along through the last remnants of the sandstorm, pounded by the still-howling winds. Din pulled her veil over her face to keep the sand out of her mouth, and Link pulled his hat down over his face. This seemed to only challenge the pounding winds, as they appeared to grow even more fierce with every step.

They had left the Gerudo camp at sunset yesterday, and had journeyed across the desert all night. Now, as the first rays of dawn began to creep over the great eastern sky, the two travelers began to set up camp, and preared to rest for the day. Soon the were in their tent, unrolling their sleeping bags.

"Well, our gear is covered, and protected from the sand." Din commented. "We should be good until we're ready to travel again this evening."

"That's good." Link replied, lying down. "It still feels wierd traveling only at night." He looked over at the girl lying across from him. "So how've you been, Din? I haven't talked to you since the Holodrum incident."

Din shrugged. "Oh, you know how it is... there's always a place for a talented dancer." She rolled her eyes. "It's a good way to make a living, traveling from place to place, dancing for your supper, working in seedy taverns where men can't keep their hands to themselves." She rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Well, have you ever thought of quitting, and settling down in one spot?" Link asked nonchalantly.

"Not really. The life of the road... the life of freedom.. that's the life for me." Din looked away. "I could never imagine being tied down to one place -one small town full of people- for my entire life. How anyone can wake up to the same sights every day... with nothing new ever happening, day after day... is beyond me."

"It doesn't have to be that way, Din." Link sat up. Reaching over, the hero gently put his hand on her shoulder. "As the hero, I travel everywhere, and my life is anything but dull. And besides, wouldn't it be nice to have a place to call home, that you can come back to? Or wouldn't it even be nice to have someone to go on life's journey with?"

At that moment, the Oracle of Seasons quickly brushed his hand off. "No Link, it's not. I'm sorry, but I won't let myself be tied to anyone or anything."

The hero looked at her, startled. "What? Why, Din?"

Din closed her eyes. "Because ... I opened my heart up to someone before... and I had that heart shattered into tiny little pieces." Her voice dripped with bitterness. "I trusted someone with my feelings before, and they betrayed me. I'm never going to let that happen again."

"Din... I'm so sorry..." Link replied sympathetically.

She shook her head. "It's okay, Link... and thank you... for being such a good friend."

Nodding, Link laid back down, and tried to go to sleep. But he couldn't get what Din had told him out of his head. She must have had her heart broken while he was away at Kolnohoit Island... the poor girl! It pained him to see her so hurt over what that guy had done to her. Now, she may never trust anyone with her heart again.

As Link looked at her graceful, sleeping form, he wished he could make her understand that not everyone was out to break her heart... that there were good men out there who wouldn't hurt her, and would never let her hurt like that again.

If only she would give him a chance...

--

The next day, the two of them arrived at the edge of the desert, and approached the borders of Hyrule's swamp. Link noticed a very gradual change as the harsh, lifeless tundra of the sands gave way to the to the marshy grasslands of south Hyrule field. It was long before the desert's dry heat melted away before the intense humidity, and the two of them were beset by the swamp's annoying horde of insects.

"Ouch! Damn mosquitoes!" Din yelled, slapping one of the bugs that bit her.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to them." Link laughed, amused to now have Din on his home turf. "Besides, they won't take more than thier fair share!"

"Ha ... ha." Din replied dryly, glaring at him. "I don't understand how you Hyrulians can live in such a harsh environment."

"This coming from a desert dweller!" Link laughed scarcastically. Din scowled and said nothing.

Soon, the two of them began to large, crumbling columns sticking up out of the murky pools of marsh water. As they slogged towards the center of the swamp, a large crumbling structure came into view.

"The swamp ruins." Link said simply. "They were built in old Hyrule in the time before the great flood. The Hylia used the clockwork gear systems inside to control the water levels."

"You mean... this structure dates from the Hero of Time's era?" Din asked in surprise. "It must be well built to have survived for over a thousand years!" She walked towards the building. "How does it work?"

"The Pulley system inside raises and lowers the water levels." Link awnsered "I once used it to drain the entire swamp!"

"You little troublemaker!" Din laughed.

Just then, she swore she heard a faint noise from inside the the ruins. "Wait... what has that?"

"What was what?" Link asked, but Din was already running towards the entrance. By the time the Hero had caught up with her, she was already to the door.

"Hey, what're you-" Link started to ask, but was cut off by a wave of Din's hand. Inside the ruins, the two of them heard two brutish voices talking.

"Master will be happy... if we flood entire Hyrule field!" One chuckled.

"Yeah, master will be happy! Hyrule Castle... Kakariko village... all washed away!" The other one laughed back.

"Moblins ...great." Link growled, recognising their pattern of speech. "And they're gonna try and flood Hyrule field... again!"

"Then we should do something about it, right?" Din pulled out her scimitars.

Smiling, the Hero nodded, and drew his sword and shield.

The moblin closest to the door never knew what hit him, as the Gerudo dancer's blades spun in a graceful arc, cutting the monster in half. A second moblin charged towards her, spear in hand... until Link's sword beam caught the beast in the chest, vaporising him with a scream.

"Link! There's more than just the two in here!" Din yelled, as more Moblins cam charging towards them.

Link blocked a spear thrust with his shield, then chopped the moblin carrying it's head off. Leaping over his head, Din brought both of her swords down, and sent a stream of Fire from each blade. The flames engulfed several Moblins, roasting them alive.

"Din's Fire." Link whispered under his breath, smirking. As the Oracle of Seasons, Din could easily use the magic of the Goddess for which she was named. Both of them continued to cut down Moblin after moblin, as even more continued to pour in through the entrance. Soon, the two of them were surrounded, with no possible route of escape.

"Link, we're trapped!" Din screamed. "There's two many of them!"

"Then let's shake things up a bit, shall we?" The Hero pulled out a small medallion- a quake medallion- which contained the earthquake spell.

"Link, no! You could damage the machinery, and flood all of Hyrule!" Din shrieked.

The Hero crushed the Medallion anyway, and it sent out a wave of energy. The ground beneath their feet began to shake, as the spell took effect. Din covered her eyes, and she could hear moblins scream and die violently around her as everything shook and tumbled about. She cried out Link's name, as it felt like the whole world around her was coming to a violent end...

To be continued...