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Chapter Text

"Last one to the top of the village is a rotten egg!"

Zelda groaned.

This was another one of Genli's crazy challenges- and Genli knew full well that Zelda couldn't fly!

But everyone else could. Genli was the first one up - obviously- and Kheel and Notts were soon to follow. 

Kotts and Cree were off hunting for Luminous Stone, but if Zelda knew them, she thought they might actually be chasing the "pretty blue butterflies"- Winterwing Butterflies. Zelda threw a glance at Revali, who hadn't even stood up yet. "Rev!" she laughed.

"Yes?" he responded. "Get up, you're a faster flyer than all of them!" she told him matter-of-factly. "I bet you could beat them right now!"

Revali shrugged. "If you say so," he yawned, pretending to be disinterested, though Zelda could tell he wanted to get there fast.

He got up and used the strong wind blowing around to get in the air, before sailing to the top of the village. In the meantime, Zelda got herself hyped. Growing up in a village full of bird-folk as a Hylian, she could never fly like the others. But instead of moping and wistfully wishing to be able to fly as high as she wanted, she taught herself to climb.

She had become a master climber, scaling everything to the small ruins outside of the village to the large pillars sticking out from Lake Totori.

Once Zelda had gotten the max amount of momentum she needed, she ran forward and jumped onto the pillar. She hoisted herself up, scaling up the pillar and arriving at the top. 

She arrived after Genli and Kheel, but before Notts and Revali. She sat down to take a breather- it had been a hard climb. She grinned evilly when Revali was the last to fly up. "Slowpoke," she teased, giving a little playful jab in his arm. "Ow," he said, giving her a glare. "I was just going easy on you all."

"Suure," Kheel sarcastically drawled, causing all of them- but Revali- to burst out into laughter. He frowned. "Look, it's getting dark. You guys better go to your home."

They all began whining and flopping around, trying to convince Revali to play with them a little longer. Zelda stifled a giggle, looking at Revali, who whispered "Help me," with a strained look on his face.

She smiled and sighed. "I'm sorry, girls, but it probably is time to head back now."

With lots of reluctant mumbling and dillydallying, the three sisters headed back down to their homes. Zelda felt slightly bad for Kass and Amali, having to deal with those five constantly.

Zelda stood up. "We should probably go find Kotts and Cree." Revali nodded, and the two of them flew down (Zelda used her paraglider, which the elder had given to her for her fifteenth birthday, she remembered clearly) to the surrounding land on the other side of Lake Totori. They landed and began searching for the two sisters. 

Zelda found Cree, who was dutifully using a heavy Iron Sledgehammer to whack at the Luminous Stone deposits scattered around. "Oh, hey Cree!" Zelda said cheerfully. "Hi, Zel!" she replied, turning from the stubborn ore deposits.

"How much Luminous Stone have you gathered up?" Zelda asked, curious to see. 

Cree frowned. "What stone?" "Oh, sorry," Zelda said, rolling her eyes. " 'Shiny glowstones'?"

The five sisters had invented several names a long time ago for things they didn't know the name of, and now they refused to call these things anything else.

"Oh!" Cree said. She took them out and counted. "I got twelve glowstones, but one fell in the lake."

"That's okay," Zelda replied. "I'm sure Harth and Teba can work with eleven. Now, we need to head back to the village, but do you know where Kotts is?" 

"Oh yeah, Kotts!" Cree said, hopping up and down. "There she is!" Zelda turned around to see Revali and Kotts walking towards them.

"I found this one," Revali said, patting Kotts' head, "chasing butterflies."

"Called it!" Zelda said triumphantly.

There was a moment of silence where everyone cast confused looks at Zelda. "Um, I mean, I didn't," she said, trying to break the silence. "I, um, just thought, maybe Kotts would be doing something else, and, uh-"

"It's fine," Revali interrupted. "Yeah!" Kotts said. "Besides, I found a shiny glowstone in the lake!"

- - -

"Thank you for watching over the girls," Amali told Zelda and Revali as the sun set and the five sisters fell asleep, to their father Kass' soothing accordion. "I love them to death, but... sometimes they can be so tiring. You've really helped."

Zelda nodded. "Of course!" She and Revali walked outside. Now that their source of daily entertainment was asleep, Zelda had no idea what to do.

Zelda usually slept at the stable a little ways from the village, because apparently whoever her actual parents were, they had dumped her there without any other notice, so it turns out. Because of that the village had no time to make her an extra room, and their best architect in terms of the village had passed away when she was young.

Zelda tried not to be bitter about it, but sometimes she wondered who her parents were and why they had just dumped her here for no reason.

Zelda supposed she could go down to the Rito Stable and grab some shut-eye, but she wanted to hang out with Revali a little bit more. They stood there in awkward silence while Zelda tried to figure out what to do. "So," she said, wondering what to say. "So," he responded. "The view was great on top of that pillar, right?" she said. "Uh-huh," he replied.

Zelda frowned a little bit. "You don't seem very invested in this conversation, Revali."

He gave her a look. "And when have I ever been?" Zelda thought, before making a "good point" face.

"Well, I guess I better head to the stable now."

"Good night," he replied, before flying up to his home. "Good night," Zelda responded, her voice echoing in the night-time village. She walked through the main gate thingy that led to the adjacent islands, the more traveled way to get across Lake Totori.

Zelda stopped at one of the little lakes on the island. A lantern stood besides it, casting it's yellow glow over the water. A little fairy bounced around the water, trailing down little sparkles. Zelda smiled at it, then fished around in her pocket at came up with a purple rupee, then dropped it into the pond. The fairy noticed her, and flew behind a bush, trying to stay out of Zelda's sight. She grinned and continued along the path to the stable, humming a quiet tune to herself as she strolled down. The welcoming scent of wildberries and wood drifted to her- the main smells of the Rito Stable, telling her she was close.

She smiled and broke into a run to get there faster.

She loved the stable, obviously because it was the place she had slept for every night for 16 years. But she also loved it's welcomingness, and the stable hands who lived there. She walked inside and crawled into her reserved bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes as she fell asleep immediately.

- - -

Early the next morning(she always woke up early, force of habit), she set out for Rito Village. She skipped across the bridges, feeling fresh and invigorated under the bright blue sky. Wind whipped around her face, but it was nothing to her, who had grown up in a area where this could be considered warm. She took a small break at the pond from last night. The purple rupee was gone, which Zelda found strange. Shouldn't it have stayed there?

She continued to the village. Several Rito were already awake, flying around and walking through the village, but she couldn't see Revali, so she figured he must still be sleeping. She walked up to his house, having a new idea for where they could go explore. She leaned over him (she was right; he was still snoozing away,) and yelled loudly, "BOO!"

"Gyaah!" Revali fell out of bed, while Zelda burst out laughing. He glared at her. "Your face," she spoke through giggles. "You'll regret that," Revali muttered, getting back up and dusting himself off.

"So what is it now?" he asked. "Piper Ridge!" she declared. He frowned. "What about it?"

"When I woke up I asked Galli for any interesting nearby locations, and he told me that there was a Great Fairy Fountain at Piper Ridge!" she exclaimed. "Galli. He is.." Revali asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Oh, he's the stable master," Zelda said. She tugged on Revali's arm. "Come on, come on!" "Okay okay," he said. "At least let me get ready. I'll meet you back at the stable."

Zelda nodded and ran outside, excited for the opportunity. She almost ran into Saki, just stopping herself from bumping into her. "Whoa, somebody's excited!" Saki said, giving her a warm smile. She looked slightly frazzled- Zelda assumed that was thanks to Saki's son, Tulin, who seemed to Zelda sometimes even more rowdy than Genli, Cree, Notts, Kotts, and Kheel combined.

"Yep!" Zelda said excitedly. "I'm leaving the village for Piper Ridge!" "Oh, how fun," Saki said. "But wait, did you have breakfast at the stable?"

Zelda thought for a moment. She remembered scarfing down a few Roasted Wildberries, but...

Her stomach rumbled loudly. "Oh my," Saki said. "Come on. You should have a proper breakfast with me and Teba."

"Really?" Zelda asked. "Yes. I'm assuming you're going to Piper Ridge with that boy, what was his name? Revali? You should get him over too."

Zelda nodded in thanks, and ran over to Revali's house, where he was contemplating a Wildberry Crepe. "C'mon, Revali," Zelda said, "We're having breakfast at Saki and Teba's place."

Revali nodded and dumped the stinky crepe into a small bucket. "Well? What are you waiting for?" Zelda rolled her eyes. "You." Revali shut his mouth, and after a quick moment of silence they headed to Saki's house. When they arrived the table was already set; Saki was just piling the food onto the plates. Tulin was seated and hungrily eyeing the salmon meuniere. 

"Where's Teba?" Revali asked, sliding into one of the extra seats. "He'll be coming back any moment now," Saki said, "probably off gallivanting at the Flight Range."

Zelda snickered at the use of the word "gallivanting," before digging into the hearty meal. "Mmmm," she said, indulging in the use of butter and wheat combined with the tender salmon. "Wow, this is delicious!"

"Thank you!" Saki said, spearing a little bit of fish on her fork and dropping it into her beak. Tulin had ravaged his plate- nothing was left but bits of fish and wheat, and butter was smeared all over his plate and hands. He went to wash his hands, leaving Saki, Zelda, and Revali to their silence. Zelda finished up her meal, and unlike Tulin, she was in the Clean Plate Club. She deposited her plate in the sink and went to thank Saki.

"I really appreciate this," Zelda smiled. "Your cooking is amazing." "Why thank you!" Saki exclaimed, putting her wing to her heart. "And it's fine, you can come for a meal anytime. Have it homecooked instead of stable food." 

Revali finished up his meal, and he and Zelda left for Piper Ridge.

Chapter Text

"This place is amazing!" Zelda said, eyes wide as she looked around the ruins. Revali nodded absentmindedly, studying the map.

"Mhm. We're close to the Great Fairy, so we'll continue soon." He put the map away and frowned at Zelda. "Wh-what are you doing?"

She had climbed up to the highest part of the ruins, and had picked up the moss. She looked like she was about to eat it. "What does it look like I'm doing?" she said. "I'm gathering data."

"By eating moss?" Revali asked. "There are more efficient ways to study the ruins, you know." "Hey," she said, "Just because I'm putting it close to my face, doesn't mean I'm going to eat it." Revali sighed. "Whatever you say, Zel."

He stood up and waited for her to finish poking around. When she had gathered enough "data samples" (little bits of moss and rocks) they continued for Piper Ridge. They walked in silence for a little while.

"Ooh, summer rain," Zelda said, for apparently invisible clouds had started dripping on them. "Ugh," Revali muttered. He didn't like summer rain, they had no source, were wet, and made Tabantha far too shiny for his liking. Zelda appeared to enjoy it though, and he had learned long ago that you didn't complain about things she enjoyed (unless you wanted to be flung into Lake Totori, of course).

Zelda stopped, and suddenly starting running ahead. "Whoa, what is-" and then Revali saw it. Just ahead, there was a... strange, to say the least, sight.

A giant bulbous thingy sat on the ridge beneath them, surrounded by mighty thistles and luminous stone deposits. Four little fairies flew around the area, dropping pink glitter onto the ground. It appeared to be colored bright green, though orange step-like things led up to it and it was covered in reddish spikes.

Zelda had paused at the edge of the cliff overlooking it. "That must be the Great Fairy!" Zelda said excitedly. "Huh," Revali said. "I thought it'd be... more sparkly or golden or something."

"Come on, Revali," Zelda said, looking at him. "You're not gonna let that stop you, are ya?" "Well," he began, "No, but-"

Zelda interrupted by blowing raspberry at him, before she leapt onto the wall and began climbing down. Revali snorted, then jumped, and used the wind to gently land on the ground. He walked around, waiting for Zelda to finish climbing. She landed and said, "Alright, Galli said something about a rupee offering, so..."

Revali groaned. "I didn't bring any rupees, Zel." Zelda winked at him. "Oh yeah? I always have some on me." She walked up the orange steps and knocked on the bulb. Revali stepped up as well, standing next to her.

"What is it?" came a smooth voice, one that sounded rather annoyed. A line in the bulb opened up a little, and a large grey eye peered out at them. It widened at the sight, and said, "Oh! Visitors!"

The line closed, and the bulb spread out, revealing a glowing fountain on the inside.

"This must be what you're looking for, eh Revali?" Zelda said, throwing him a smug look. "I guess it is," Revali said, in awe of the sheer beauty of the Great Fairy Fountain.

The Great Fairy erupted out of the fountain with a big gasp of the fresh air. She coughed a little, before turning to face them. Revali recognized the large grey eyes from right before. "You!" the Fairy said happily.

She booped Zelda on the nose. "I know you!" she said. "I, um, you do?" Zelda asked. "Yes, we met last night, remember?" the Great Fairy said. "I was the little fairy, at the pond with the lantern. "Ohhh," Zelda said, remembering something Revali didn't know.

"But who is this?" the Fairy asked, diverting her attention to Revali. "Revali," he said, then cleared his throat. "Of the Rito."

"Ooo," she said, "A Rito! Despite living so close by I don't get to see very many of them."

The Great Fairy rested her hands on her face, and her elbows on the edge of the fountain. "Anyways, my name is Kaysa!" she said. "I do appreciate that offering you gave me last night, dear," she told Zelda. Zelda took on a look of understanding. "Ohh, the purple rupee!"

Revali cleared his throat. "A-hem. I exist, you know" The Great Fairy started, as if not expecting him to suddenly speak.

…Or Kaysa had just forgotten that Revali was there. Either way. With Revali, Zelda, and Kaysa's elbows on the steps leading up to the Fairy Fountain, it was kind of cramping his space.

"In fact," Kaysa continued, "I appreciate it so much, that I'll help you out! I am a Great Fairy, after all. My history is imbued with magic."

"Uh, cool?" Zelda said.

"Oh, but I first have to address, why did you come here?" the Great Fairy asked. "Oh, "Zelda said.

"Zel knows this guy at the stable called Galli," Revali said, "who told her of the Great Fairy at Piper Ridge."

"Uh-hu-" Zelda started to agree, but then Revali continued. "And then she started pestering me to come with her."

Zelda stuck out her tongue at Revali, but he simply smirked back at her. The Great Fairy looked in between them, before saying, "Well then."

"So, dear, what is it that you would like help with?" the Great Fairy said. Zelda scrunched up her face and thought. "I... um..."

"Oh, nevermind then," the Great Fairy said, a gleam suddenly in her eyes. "I'll choose something for you."

She touched a large finger to Zelda's forehead and closed her eyes. "Hmm... no she's good there... ooooh, fell in the lake, did we... "

Revali wondered how Kaysa knew about when Zelda was ten, when she and Revali had been racing each other around Rito Village and they had both accidentally fallen in the lake. He clearly, and not very fondly, remembered swimming back to the village and dragging themselves out of the icy cold water, shivering like mad. The only good part of it was when Saki made her famous hot chocolate for them. He would cherish that memory of sitting next to Zelda, of wearing blankets by the fire, drinking the delicious deliciousness while Saki and Amali fussed over them.

"We-e-ell," Kaysa said, "Looks like you have a happy life! So let's do something to make life happier for you!"

She began drumming on the fountain with her hands to create a buildup effect, before saying, with jazz hands, "Putting some more love into your life!"

Zelda made a gagging noise. "And why would I want more love in my life?"

"Because," Kaysa said, "Love is a beautiful thing. The bond between you and a special person can be stronger than diamond and more powerful than the Triforce. Besides, I know you have a crush as of now!"

Revali silently choked at that, why or on what, he didn't know. Water in the air? His own existence?

"Really?" Zelda asked. "Me? Having a crush? Also, Rev, are you okay?" She had noticed him choking.

"Yes, you have one," Kaysa said, "And lemme check something real quick..."

She pressed a finger to Revali's forehead. It was cold, yet somehow warm at the same time. "Um," Revali said.

"Oh yes, and it appears to already be requited!" Kaysa said cheerfully. Zelda frowned. "Already?! You were going to force someone-" 

"Was going to," Kaysa corrected. "But I'm not, because there's no need to."

"I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of that was," Revali piped in. Kaysa looked at him. "Purpose of what?" "Putting your finger on my face," Revali said. Kaysa frowned at him. "It's you, you're her love."

Zelda nearly fell into the lake of the Fairy Fountain, she was laughing so hard. "Revali?!" she asked through loud laughter. "I hardly believe that!"

"Indeed," Revali said. "I, em, no. That's.. that's not true, there is no crush, and no... requiting going on here," he added. 

Zelda put her arm around Revali and put her other hand on her hip. "I'm sorry, but we're friends, nothin' more." Revali nodded.

Kaysa shrugged. "That's just denial, my good friends."

"Zel?" Revali asked. "Yeah?" "Can you get off of me?" "Oh." Zelda did as he requested, than turned back to Kaysa. "Continue," she gestured.

"It's just denial," she continued. "Despite you not believing it, you both know somewhere deep, deep, down it's true! Anyways, if there's nothing else, I shall leave now! Awaay!"

And just like that, Kaysa dropped back into her fountain, leaving Zelda and Revali standing there silently. "So, um," Revali said, unsure how to really process the conversation that they had just had. 

"Oh, look!" Zelda said suddenly, "It's getting dark! We'd better head back!"

Revali cleared his throat. "Right! Let's go."

- - -

They arrived back at the village by nightfall. They checked in with Teba (Saki was apparently shopping for ingredients at the general store) who seemed surprised to see them still up this late.

"What were you kids doing outside of the village at night?" he asked. "It's dangerous, what with Stals and Keese out there." "We know," Zelda said. "We were visiting the Great Fairy." "Did you now?" Teba said, turning to face them. Revali nodded. "We weren't attacked, thank goodness." 

"Well, good," Teba said. "Now, you should probably get some sleep." 

For once, Revali couldn't agree more.

Chapter Text

“My back’s killing me,” Revali groaned as he and Saki waited for Zelda to arrive. Normally she woke up pretty early and came over to the village, in the morning, but it was noon and she still hadn’t come. Out of worry for her Saki had joined him in waiting for her.

Revali had been bent over the fence of an unnamed balcony, with the Rito symbol painted onto it, staring at the stable for about twenty minutes now, so he had inevitably complained about how his back was now sore. “Well then,” Saki said, amused, “Don’t hunch over like that.”

He stood up straight and they continued watching. “Maybe she just slept in,” Saki said after a while. “How about you fly down and check on Zelda? I need to go prepare lunch for Tulin.”

Revali nodded, and he jumped off of the balcony overlooking the lake (as one does) before calling his flight and swooping down to the stable. Some puffy clouds were sailing in from the western sky, but it didn’t look like they would be raining today. It rarely ever rained in the village, anyways. Mostly it just snowed in winter. Annnd it was still autumn. Revali had heard things about trees in Central Hyrule, and Ridgeland, and Akkala, and basically everyplace with trees besides Tabantha, turning red. And yellow. And golden-ish.

He still preffered the simple but beautiful pines and evergreens that populated Tabantha, though. Revali didn’t need any flashy changing color leaves.

After a little bit, he arrived at the stable. He brushed himself off, and then walked inside. Oddly enough, other than a lady drinking coffee and a man sweeping up, the stable master was the only one inside. And Revali, of course.

Revali walked up to the inner counter. “Excuse me,” he asked, “But do you know where Zelda is?”

The stable master looked up. “Uh, she left for the village a while ago…” Then he snorted. “Knowing her, she probably got distracted trying to chase a bug or something.”

Revali nodded and left. Not the greatest help, but it was still something. He walked up the path leading away and south from the village, back to the Nero Hill area. When he arrived…

…He found Zelda, crouching behind a fallen pillar, looking intently at something. “Zel!” he said, relieved to have finally found her. “I’ve been-” “Ssh!” she interrupted him. “You’ll scare it away!”

Revali frowned. “Scare what awa-?” Zelda shushed him again and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him down next to her and pointing at “it.” It looked like a rabbit, but glowing blue, and with weird horn thingies. “A Blupee!” Zelda whispered excitedly. Revali noticed she had her sketchbook out with her, and was drawing down the details of the Blupee in it.

He remembered her origins as an artist- Zelda had started out copying pictures from the Sheikah Slate onto paper, but she had quickly become good enough to copy things down from sight as well. She was really good at it too.

However, more detailed things that Zelda had never seen before required them to stand still for enough time so that she could get down all of the details. 

She traced down a few more lines, when Revali shifted around to get more comfortable. He accidentally stepped on a fallen tree branch, causing the Blupee to look up and stare at them. It was stock still, and so were Zelda and Revali. “No sudden movements,” Zelda whispered. 

The Blupee’s ear twitched, but it continued to look at them carefully. Suddenly, a bird shrieked from the sky above, and the Blupee jumped and ran away, dissipating into a burst of sparkling blue light. “Dangit!” Zelda said, punching a rock angrily. “Ow!” she howled soon after. Revali smirked. Of course that would be painful.

“Oh no,” he said in a monotone voice. “The creature has escaped.”

Zelda giggled- even though she was supposed to be angry- and picked up a rock. She threw it at him, yelling, “You’re supposed to be sad!” Revali ducked underneath the rock, yawning, “Well, I’m not?”

Zelda sighed in sadness once her laughter had faded away. She picked up her sketchbook and stared gloomily at the page with the unfinished Blupee on it. “Welp,” she shrugged. “Guess that’s that.” She crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it at Revali, who caught it, staring at her dumbfounded. “What’s the look?” she asked, walking to the path. “Let’s leave.”

”So you’re just giving up?” Revali asked.p, running to catch up with her. In all the long years he had known her, never once had he ever seen her give up. Sometimes it was annoying, and other times it ended in disaster, but Zelda did not give up and leave her problems alone. She was like a very stubborn, ornery… donkey,or something, but unattractive bray or not this was very out of character act for her.

”What?” Zelda asked. “Ohh… I took the wrong path.”

She promptly turned around and continued heading south, towards the Tabantha Great Bridge. “Where are you going?” Revali asked, following her. “To Satori Mountain!” she replied. “I heard there are lots of blue bunnies there.”

There it was. “But isn’t that far away?” he asked. “Yeah,” Zelda said. “And there’s a dangerous lightning place we have to walk through filled with monsters?” “Uh-huh.”

Revali sighed. He could see where she was going with this and honestly, he wouldn’t argue. It meant something to do, and besides, he had never been past the Breach of Demise. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to see the world- and if he could do it with Zelda, Revali wouldn’t turn it down.

- - -

“Headed to the Breach of Demise, hunh?” the stable hand asked as Revali and Zelda reviewed their things. Due to have soent the worse part of his day waiting for Zelda, all Revali had on him was bow and a scarily light quiver. He was hoping he could restock on arrows at the Tabantha Bridge Stable- where they were right now.

”Yup,” Zelda said. She had a Feathered Spear on her- she had always enjoyed the range of spears in combat. Other than their weapons, they had packed some food and water- the necessities. “You probably wanna ditch anything metal you have,” the stable hand pointed out. “Gets really rainy over there.”

They didn’t have much metal on them, so they figured they were safe. After Revali bought some twenty arrows from the merchant there, he and Zelda departed for the Breach of Demise. There they could get better prepared for the monsters that would plague their path, and hopefully get a better map of Hyrule- Revali’s was quite outdated.

After a long time of walking, they were at the Breach of Demise, finally. Revali was still unsure why they had gone through all of that and were about to go through much worse just for a drawing of a Blupee. 

But oh well. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do.

Chapter Text

“No way…”

Zelda stared at her updated map of Hyrule which they had just gotten from the Breach of Demise. On the map they had followed, the only path into Ridgeland was the one leading to the Breach. However, on the new map, a path had been developed and constructed leading literally directly to Satori Mountain. What a waste of time.

”What is it?” Revali asked, who had walked to the edge of the Carok Bridge, looking out over the landscape. Zelda sighed. “I had no idea there was a path leading directly south to Satori Mountain! We totally skipped it. Now we have to go the long way…”

”Lady Medli, is that true?” Revali groaned, knowing full well it was. “Yup,” Zelda sighed. “Now we have to go all the way down to the exchange area, then around the southern edge of the Coliseum, and north to the mountain. Oh joy.”

“Yay-aaaAH!”

Zelda looked at Revali in time to see him slip off of the bridge. She screamed in a panic and ran over.

Pleaselethimbeokaypleaselethimbeokay-

Her hand fell down and grabbed another one, Zelda’s eyes shut tight.

But one of them opened, to see Revali hanging from her, sweating heavily. “Are you okay?” she grunted. “Yeah,” he responded. With a lot of struggle and heaving, she managed to pull him back up onto the bridge. They lay there, panting at the effort (and the scary moment), staring up at the blue sky. The sun was high up, so Zelda was able to hook that up with her relatively accurate internal clock and guessed it to be about noon, maybe a little bit afterwards.

After a little bit of just sitting their, the two got up and began their long journey. “We need to head along Mount Gustaf and take a south turn,” Zelda said. Revali didn’t respond, instead just walking forward. Zelda frowned, walking after him. She loved Revali (as a friend, so shut up little voice in her head that told her that the Great Fairy was right) but sometimes his arrogance was too much for her. Just because she had had to save him from doom off a bridge didn’t mean he should be so sour.

But Zelda didn’t say anything, instead summarizing her annoyance with a quiet glare. They arrived at the fork in the path and looked at the two options. Revali without a word took the southeast one, and Zelda followed. Something felt a little bit off with his choice, though.

And something was made pretty obvious when they arrived at the Sacred Ground Ruins.

”Great choice of path, Revali,” Zelda snarked. “It’s fine though… we could go back… or to-!” “You’re not going anywhere but the dungeons,” came a gruff voice from behind them.

Revali and Zelda whirled around in surprise. A Hylian Captain stood behind them, arms crossed. “What are you hooligans doing trespassing on royal property?!” he shouted.

”Me? Trespassing?” Zelda asked, playing dumb to buy them some time. “The dungeons feel a little bit harsh, don’t ya think?” “What are you doing?” Revali whisper shouted at Zelda. “Buying us some time!” she whisper-shouted back.

The captain took out his sword and pointed it at Revali’s throat. “Come with me. Right. Now.”

”Yes, sir,” Zelda said, fake-saluting the knight.

That didn’t work out, she mentally thought to herself. Her next plan would have to be even better to succeed.

- - -

The two prisoners walked through Castle Town’s Central Square, headed for the Castle’s lockup, reluctantly, hands cuffed to the Hylian Captain’s wrist. Zelda had a plan- but she’d need amazing luck and fast reflexes to get through. She flexed her fingers and initiated phase one:

Smoke bomb! Zelda used her unchained hand to grab a small metal ball and toss it at the ground with vigor, causing fog to roll in around them. She didn’t even remember where she had gotten a smoke bomb from, but Zelda wasn’t arguing. Now she needed to use the cover Zelda had created to start phase two:

Steal the Captain’s keys off of his belt, while he was still stunned by the bomb. “Who did that!” he shouted. “I’ll make you pay!” Zelda snatched the ring of keys off of his belt, and used it to unlock her and Revali’s hand cuffs, smoke still everywhere. Now that they were free, thus began the final phase of her plan:

Get the heck outta there! Zelda grabbed Revali’s hand and together they ran out of the smoke cover, ducking into alleyways and taking random turns and curves. Eventually they found themselves at the Water Reservoir in West Castle Town, sweating and panting.

“What the-?!” Revali asked, still tired from the run. “I helped us escape!” Zelda panted, “Just… just gimme a moment… catch my breath… okay!” She stood up and cleared her throat. “I helped us out, so you should be thanking me!”

“Okay..” Revali said, having not caught his own breath. “Fine… thank you… we need to get out of here.” “How insightful,” Zelda said, walking around the lake and heading to the Moat Bridge. “Zelda! Where are you going!” Revali shouted after her.

”Moat Bridge!” she replied. “Fastest way outta here!” “Yeah- into the Castle Town Prison! And after that, the moat!” Zelda stopped in her tracks, turning around to go back. “Fine then, Mister Smarty Pants, where do you think we should go?”

”Probably… south?” Revali said. “Head back onto the path? Or we could go back into Castle Town.”

They looked at each other, before coming to a unanimous decision.

“South it is.”

- - -

“You mean… you saw her?” 

The figures sitting atop their thrones had just received some very extraordinary years. For six months, they had fruitlessly searched for their daughter, and now a captain had come to them with the news that he had seen her, at the Sacred Ground Ruins.

“Why didn’t you bring her directly here?” the other person asked, a gruff male with a wide stature and magnificent beard. "I tried to, sire,” the captain said, in his kneeling position on the lavish red carpet. “But she and her friend escaped.”

”Her friend?” the first voice, a slender blonde female, asked. “What did he look like?”

”He was wearing the clothing of the Rito people,” the captain informed the royals. 

The queen’s face hardened. “Send all of our available troops to Rito Village at once.”

Chapter Text

“Throw me another one, Bergy!”

The soldier, named Joe, took another swig of the Gerudo wine known as Noble Pursuit, laughing and throwing darts at photos of Bokoblins. 

“‘Alright, Joe!” Bergy replied, tossing another dart at him. Joe caught the dart and threw it, landing right in the Bokoblin’s “eye.” “Ahahah!” Joe exclaimed, too drunk to speak properly. “Bokoseye!”

Bergy snickered. “Lay off the Pursuits, eh man?” he noted. “I got a report bout the Princess finally being spotted, and you’ll need to be sober to spo-”

Joe spat out his Noble Pursuit. “You got a WHAT?!” “Report about the Princess finally being spotted in Castle Town,” Bergy said slowly. “After all these months of searching?” Joe asked. “We’ve finally found her?” “Yerp,” Bergy said.

“Wow,” Joe said, leaning backwards, “So where is she right now?” “Rumours have it she and some Rito guy are headed to Mount Gustaf,” Bergy answered. “On the path our camp is on.” “Either goin’ to Satori Mountain or Rito Village,” Joe decided.

”So we just gotta wait an’ see, huh?” Bergy yawned. “If it ain’t late, though,” he added tiredly. “I think I’mma turn in for the night, kay? Wake me up for my shift.”

Joe nodded and scooched over to the entrance flap of their tent, pushing it to the sides to scout out the path. This camp was located beneath the southern side of an outcropping of rock, overlooking the southern path leading from the Sacred Grounds. No one appeared to be outside, so Joe retreated back in.

He capped off his bottle of Pursuits, putting it away so he could finish later. He did a few jumping jacks and push ups, wanting to be warm and fast for if the Princess really came. Joe sat and waited, occasionally checking outside the tent for passerby. The night was cold and quiet, the full moon gently illuminating the grassy fields beneath.

After a few hours of waiting, Joe was bored out of his mind. Bergy’s shift wouldn’t be for another thirty minutes, and any travelers were nowhere in sight. He could theoretically do the generic snoop-around-Bergy’s-stuff… again… but it was too boring because Bergy was wayy too honest.

Joe took out a notebook and began scribbling down random words, practicing his penmanship. Loud snores were emitting from Bergy’s sleeping bag, but Joe was thankful in around twenty five minutes he’d be the one snoozing away.

The little clock on the shelf ticked by, and soon enough it was nearing Bergy’s shift. Joe was getting ready to wake him up when he heard something. It was very quiet, a faint whisper of a sound carried by the breeze, but he still heard it.

Hooves, clacking along the ground.

Joe checked outside his tent for the ninth time that night, and looked over both sides of the path. The Castle Town side had a lone traveler on horseback- definitely not the princess- slowly trotting down the path. Yet another false alarm.

He went back inside the tent and poked his comrade awake. "Bergster, you lazy man, it's your shift," Joe yawned, flopping in his own sleeping bag. "Alright," Bergy yawned, rolling out of his bag and walking to the front entrance. Joe sank into blissful dreams while Bergy walked outside, patrolling the path.

This quickly got boring, so he walked inside and began juggling two balls he had, picking up a notebook that was on the floor for some reason and putting it on the shelf with clock, which read 1:00 in the morning. The sun would rise in about four or five hours, give or take a few minutes. 

Juggle, juggle, juggle. The balls bounced up and up between his hands, but even Bergy got bored of the sport and began doing laps around the camp. "Berg-meister!" Another soldier called to him as he did his fourth round. She was a woman named Shelby, probably having woken up early. "Hi, Shelby," Bergy said, skidding to a stop and walking over to her.

"Whatcha doing up this early?" she asked, taking a sip of water. "I could ask the same for you," he replied. "Hah!" Shelby snorted. "Good one. Just woke up early, nothin' else." "Anyways, it's my shift," Bergy said, looking back at his tent. "I'm on till sunrise." "Not for another... what, four hours? You should probably go back to the tent," Shelby advised. 

Bergy nodded and ran back to the tent, holding open the flap and walking inside. Joe was still snoring, but the time was still only a little past 1:20. Something interesting needed to happen or Bergy would be stuck with nothing to do till sunrise. 

Suddenly, Bergy's ears, trained to hear things from a mile away like any good soldier, perked up, catching the sound of footsteps. He poked Joe awake- "Psst. Buddy. You hear somethin'?" 

Joe sat up. "Yeah... feet."

The two soldiers crept outside and scouted out the path. Two figures were walking alongside the path, trying to be quiet but miserably failing. They looked to be teens of around 17 each, and one was a blonde haired girl wearing the snowquill clothes of the Rito, with unmistakable green eyes.

It's her. "You see her?" Joe whispered. Bergy nodded in response, thinking up of a plan. He looked to his partner, and their eyes met in understanding- they would follow the princess and her companion, see where they were headed, and notify the other soldiers about it.

Then, they would take her back to the castle... and Ganon's rise could be prevented.

---

Cricket. Cricket. Cricket.

It was totally silent other than the rustling of their footsteps and the song of crickets. White light from the full moon shone brightly down, casting an eerie glow over the fields. Creepy. 

Creepily silent. Until, of course, Zelda accidentally tripped over Revali, causing him to loudly yell, breaking the silence. “Oopsy daisy!” Zelda said, not really meaning it. She helped him up and they continued.

Together, they had decided it would be safest to head directly back to the village, although Zelda was sad because it meant the Blupee drawing would stay forever unfinished. How tragic.

Zelda thought she heard a third and fourth pair of footsteps crackling in the fields behind her, but when she whirled around to check she couldn’t hear anything. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously but continued along the path.

A long while later, they were back at the fork in path, leading to Satori Mountain. Zelda gazed longingly down the path, but she knew Revali would be eternally grumpy if she snuck off.

Then again, Revali was already eternally grumpy…

”Are you thinking about sneaking off, Zel?” Revali asked. “No! Yes. Maybe.” She admitted guiltily. He sighed dramatically, making a point of taking the other path.

Zelda felt a creeping sensation on her spine as they trekked along the Seres Scablands, as if they were being watched. But she didn’t bother to check; anyone stalking them could easily hide in the vast fields.

The trip was mostly safe, but the moment they stepped foot on the bridge, that changed.

BOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

Zelda plummeted, with a cold fear streaking through her heart, as a cannonball struck the wood and the Tabantha Great Bridge, one of the largest bridges in Hyrule, collapsed.

Chapter Text

Revali’s stomach was left behind on the bridge as he and Zelda tumbled into the vast emptiness of the Tanagar Canyon.

It’s okay, he told himself. You can fly.

Feathers sprouted up all along his arms, and soon enough he was hovering in the air. It took him a good three seconds of watching Zelda plummet, screaming and flapping her arms, for him to remind to himself, You know she can’t fly, right?

Alarmed, Revali folded in his wings and swooped into a dive, grabbing Zelda. She was just a bit too heavy, so he turned around, and they crash-landed at the base of Mount Rhoam in Ridgeland, farther to the north. 

They sat there, recovering their energy.

”What just happened?” Zelda asked in a small voice, breaking the mostly quiet silence. “Well,” Revali replied, “It looks like the soldiers from that encampment we passed a while ago shot the bridge down.”

”But why?” Zelda squeaked, standing up and brushing herself off. Revali shrugged, following her lead. Zelda glared at the Canyon, as if it was it’s fault.

Then, she screamed so loud the crows were chased from the trees.

---

"How are we going to get back home?"

Zelda had insisted that they take advantage of the opportunity and head to Satori Mountain, but eventually Revali had had to ask the question he knew was on both their minds.

"The bridge was destroyed, so we have no way of getting back."

Instead of answering, Zelda just scurried farther up the path. "Look!" she said. "Sanidin Park!" For some reason, the area was totally empty. No travelers came by, and the only noise was the birdsong and leaves' rustle.

Zelda was glad for that, though. It meant she got the park all to herself!

A large tree overlooked the statue, shading the worn stone and glowing a soft green in the light. Zelda ran her hands along the fence as she climbed up the stairs, sitting in a bench facing Satori Mountain at the upper level. The horse statue reared it's legs, majestic and welcoming as it's front hooves were raised in the air.

Zelda noticed Revali didn't bother to catch up; he just sighed and went back to patrolling the path, obviously paranoid that the soldiers would come after them again. She had no idea how many times she would have to convince him that they were safe.

She sat there for a little while longer; but by the time noon had passed she was bored out of her mind. Zelda ran up to Revali, who was walking down the path.

"You could fly over," she said, startling him (it looked like he'd forgotten about his earlier question), "But I don't have enough stamina to just go to the bottom and climb up again."

"Well," Revali huffed, "There might be a way..."

---

"What's happening?" a sleepy five-year-old Zelda asked as she followed Revali and Saki outside the village. "Revali has come of age, so he's going to get his wings now!" Saki said cheerfully. "Isn't that exciting!" "It is!" Zelda said, perking up. She had seen the older Rito fly with their wings, but when she tried to remember why Revali couldn't fly yet, all she got was some vague memory of a ceremony and a dragon scale.

"Revali is going to go to Tanagar Canyon- you know, the one that separates us from the rest of Hyrule?" Saki had explained. "When the Dragon Spirit of Fire, Dinraal, passes through, he'll shoot a scale off of her! The scale will give him mage wings!"

She put her hand in her pocket and took out a scale, white and smooth with orange at the bottom, flickering as though there was a fire trapped inside. "This is mine," she had said.

Half an hour later, they were watching Dinraal come in from the north. Revali took out a bow- a Swallow Bow, manufactured en masse for warriors of the army and given to young Rito warriors and singers getting their scale.

Zelda watched him prepare himself, not saying even a word as he watched the dragon come closer. "Saki," she inquired, "Why do we shoot Dinraal? Is she an enemy?" Saki laughed at this. "No, little one," she answered gently. "Dinraal lets us shoot her because she understands the importance of getting a scale so we can fly."

A few days after Revali had gotten his scale, Zelda had asked Teba why she couldn't get a scale, too. Teba had stayed silent for a while, before responding with I don't know. A Hylian had never tried to get a scale from Dinraal before.

Zelda had left the hut, confused, but decided she wouldn't try. After all, it probably wouldn't work.

"So what is the option?" Zelda asked curiously as Revali set up some targets. "I'll tell you," he said, "But for it to come even close to a possibility, you'll need to practice your archery."

She felt a thrill like lightning run through her veins. Archery! Zelda had always wanted to practice archery, but of course all the warriors in the village would say things like You are too young or Maybe later.

But Revali wouldn't say that! She watched excitedly as he finished setting up the wooden circled, marked with blue rings and a red dot. Then he handed her a Swallow Bow, the basic Rito bow that all archers practiced with.

Zelda immediately copied what she had seen Revali do, drawing the bowstring to her face and leveling her aim with the target.

---

Three days and a lot of sweat later, Revali finally deemed her good at archery- but Zelda didn't. Her aim was still wobbly, but she had finally managed to hit a target. "That'll have to work," he grimaced. Zelda put the bow on her back and readied herself to execute this crazy plan of his.

"So," she asked for the ninth time in those three days. "What am I doing?" "Shooting Dinraal and using her scale to fly over the canyon," Revali replied stoutly, causing Zelda to almost fall back.

"What?" she cried out. "B-but- What?!" "I have no idea if it will work," Revali said calmly, "But before we come of age, Rito are basically just Hylians with a higher cold resistance, so who knows? It's worth trying."

"O-okay," Zelda mumbled, feeling rather stupid. How had she not considered that? Besides, if it did work, she'd be the first Hylian to fly without a Rito-built paraglider. Ever! The thought cheered her up, so she gripped her bow and sat down by the canyon, waiting for Dinraal to come.

A long time of silent waiting passed, but as the sun set it was evident Dinraal wouldn't be coming soon. 

Zelda wanted to stay there forever, basking in the never-ending sunlight, but she saw a glimmer of orange appear at the far end of the Canyon. Before she could leap up and announce Dinraal's presence, Revali interrupted.

"Zelda," Revali said softly. "Yeah?" she said absently, watching Dinraal spiral his way slowly into range.

"I've been thinking..." he hesitated. "I've been thinking about our visit to the Great Fairy."

Zelda froze up, blood rushing to her face. "Um, what about it?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant while internally screaming. Dinraal was winding closer and closer, coming to take her far away from this conversation.

But he wasn't here yet, so Zelda had to proceed. She didn't even know why she was so anxious about talking about Kaysa. By all of the Goddesses, he could just want to reminisce about the flora at the fountain.

Somehow, Zelda knew that wasn't true.

“I thought about what she said…”

Zelda’s instincts told her to hurl herself into the canyon, but instead she said:

”You finally recognized your undying love for me?”

WHAT.

Now Zelda really wanted to ‘accidentally’ fall into the canyon. She tried to steady her beating heart as she patiently waits for Revali’s answer.

”Um… yeah, I guess.”

Well. That hadn’t been what she was expecting.