Chapter 15:
Link awoke with the morning sun shining down in his eyes. Blinking, he found himself laying on the dew-covered grass... with the lithe form of Din lying cuddled against his chest, asleep. The Hero of Cataclysm's eve smiled, and gently stroked her hair. "Time to wake up, sleepyhead." He said with a soft smile.
"Uggh... do we have to?" Din groaned. "I'm still hurting from-"
"All right then, you stay here." Link replied, gently pushing her off. "I need to clean up and get back to the campsite. Nayru and Ralf will wonder where we've gone."
Link stood up and grabbed his clothes. As he started to walk away, Din moaned. "Link?"
"What is it?"
Last night... was magical..."
"It was for me too, Din....." The Hero smiled. "See you down at the campsite soon."
Meanwhile, Nayru and Ralf had woken up earlier, and Ralf explained to the Oracle of Ages how Link and Din had helped him save her. They were both surprised to see their two friends were not there, and Ralf had begun to worry.
"I tell you Nayru, that must have been taken by monsters!" Ralf paced back and forth, in a panic. "We need to rescue them!"
"Calm down, Ralf, they're probably fine!" Nayru stood over the fire, cooking breakfast. "They probably just went out early to gather firewood together."
"Good Morning , everybody." Link walked up, a smile on his face. From the look of him, he had just bathed in a nearby stream, and had a big smile on his face. "How is everyone this morning?"
"We're both fine, thanks!" Ralf replied, looking around. "Hey have you seen Din anywhere?"
Looking at link's silly grin, it only took Nayru a moment to figure out what had happened. "oh....OH!" She put her hand over her mouth, and blushed a deep red. "LINK! YOU DIDN'T!"
"Didn't what? Wait..." Ralf stood there for a few minutes, before realization dawned. "Ohh, Link, you sly dog!" He laughed, then gave Link a slap of congratulations on the back. "I didn't know our goody two-shoes had it in him!"
Nayru only stood nearby in shock, scandalized. "Oh, Link... how could you?"
After getting herself cleaning herself up, Din came down to the campsite, groaning and smiling. It was then when she noticed the others all eating breakfast. Link and Ralf were talking over by themselves, while Nayru sat on the other side of the fire, scowling to herself. Din walked over to her fellow oracle.
"Hey Nayru, glad to see your up again after your ordeal with the monsters." She asked. "I haven't seen you since my last visit to Labyrinia, what's going on?"
"I'm not talking to you." The Oracle of ages scowled back.
"Wait, what did I do?" Din asked, puzzled. Nayru had always been her friend before....
"How could you?" Nayru asked in anger. "You and Link are not even married yet!"
"What business is it of yours?" Din asked, getting annoyed. "Link and I are both responsible adults!"
"It is immoral!" Nayru snapped back. "You don't see Ralf and I doing... that!"
"If I were in your shoes." Din replied sarcastically. "I wouldn't sleep with Ralf either."
"What's going on?" Ralf and Link asked simultaneously.
"Nothing." Both girls snapped, glaring at each other.
The two men looked at each other, then shrugged.
"So, from what Link tells me, you guys are trying to get the enchanted trophy back so you can save Ruto town, correct?"
Din nodded. "Yes, and also to stop Shadow Link's bigger plan... Which we haven't figured out yet."
"Yeah, we've run from one end of hyrule to the other trying to figure it out."
"Well then, that settles it!" Ralf decided immediately. "Nayru and I shall accompany you!"
The two girls scowled at each other at that, but Link replied. "Thanks, we can use all the help we can get!"
As Ralf sat down to eat, he asked. "Say Link, when I was travelling through southern Hyrule, I noticed that it older ruins and more swamps than in northern Hyrule. Why is that?"
Link shrugged. "Northern Hyrule is the old kingdom from before the great flood. When it was flooded, the people took refuge on the mountaintops, and live there for centuries. Eventually, Princess Tetra found a new land to the North, and made it the new kingdom of Hyrule. When the old southern lands eventually un-flooded, they were added to the northern kingdom, making the new Hyrule larger than pre-flood hyrule had ever been."
"Woah, Hyrule has one messed-up history!" Ralf replied with a laugh.
"Yeah.. there was even a time when one of the Zeldas was turned into a ghost, and travelled with one of my ancestors as spirit that could even possesses his enemies!"
"Yeah, right.... like I believe that..." Ralf said with a roll of his eyes.
"We really should really get going..." Din told the rest of them, getting impatient.
"Yeah, the air is starting to get a little foul around here." Nayru replied, staring at Din darkly.
The four of them packed up, and got ready to leave.
Link and Din's travel throughout the lands of northern Hyrule slowed down due to the addition of Nayru, who was still recovering from her abduction. As they continued traveling North, Din asked Link where they were headed now.
"Shadow Link's next target will be Parapa Palace, in the Northern Desert... I'm sure of it." The Hero's eyes narrowed. "So that's our next destination."
"Why would the monsters go there?" Nayru asked.
"It is the resting place of the last treasures that Shadow Link has not gotten his hands on yet." Link replied sternly. "The transformation masks used by the Hero of Time."