Archive of Our Own ^beta

The bag was yanked off of his head with unnecessary force. Whoever had grabbed it had taken a handful of his feathers as well, and Revali was absolutely livid about it. Not just about the manhandling of him and his feathers, mind you, but this entire predicament. How could this have possibly happened? How could The Yiga have managed to capture all of the Champions?!

Revali had been all the way in Rito Village helping to fend off yet another monster attack when Yiga soldiers had appeared and surrounded him. Of course he had taken all of them on without a second thought. He’d even nearly won the battle when he lost track of a blademaster. The coward had summoned a geyser of air and knocked Revali out of the sky and into an oncoming Moblin club. After that everything was hazy.

With the bag removed he could see that the other champions were lined up alongside him. Mipha and Daruk both looked to be perfectly fine, and other than Urbosa’s disheveled hair she seemed to be in fine health as well. Revali took stock of his body. He was sore, but nothing was broken and his head was clear so no danger of a concussion.

He moved side to side testing his bonds. The Yiga had them on their knees with their wrists bound behind their backs and rope wrapping their upper arms to their sides. Without the use of his wings Revali couldn’t summon a Gale for help, and Urbosa couldn’t command her lightning. He wasn’t quite sure if Daruk’s strange forcefield ability could work with his bound the way he was, but even if it did he had no way of protecting each of them.

The room they were in seemed to be some kind of theater. The champions were on a raised platform, like a stage, while Yiga foot soldiers gathered in front of it. They stalked about the room finding the best places to sit and whisper amongst each other. A gong was sounded and the chatter went quiet. What Yiga were still standing quickly threw themselves onto the nearest area of empty floor while others stood against the wall. They all watched the stage intently.

After a few moments of silence the champions glanced at each other.

“Are we supposed to be doing something?” Daruk asked.

“Indeed you are, my champion chumps!”

Revali squawked as a weight landed on his head and bent him forward. Master Kohga had appeared. He rested his cheek against his upturned palm, and his elbow against Revali’s head.

“You’re going to be dying.” The Yiga master proclaimed cheerfully before vanishing again. Revali straightened and shook his head, sneering at the snickering audience.

Kohga appeared again this time sitting next to Mipha. “You know, I didn’t believe it either when I first heard.” He threw an arm around the confused Zora’s shoulders. “I didn’t think you guys would fall for such an easy ambush.” He vanished and Mipha coughed on the resulting smoke.

He popped up again astride Daruk’s shoulders. “But here you are! Down and bound and just waiting to be slaughtered!” He clasped his hands and rested his face against them. “Oh, someone pinch me. I must be dreaming.”

“I would do better than that if you untied me.” Revali challenged.

Kohga poofed away again, appearing beside Revali and grabbing him by the beak. “Big words coming from someone trussed up like a roast bird.” He pulled the champion’s head around to face him. “I would be saving your breath for begging. Sooga likes hearing his victims scream before he ends their lives. He’s cool like that.” He whispered the last part before vanishing again.

Revali snapped his beak. As undignified as it would have been, biting the Yiga master would have been incredibly entertaining. Said master appeared in front of them. With his back to the audience he assessed them each in turn, mask swiveling from side to side.

“For there only being four of you, you really know how to ruin a guy’s divine duty. All we have to do is kill the princess before she can stop Ganon. Princesses are really easy to kill, you know? They don’t have weapons, they don’t wear armor, and they don’t do any battle training, but with your four around we just can’t do it!” Kohga giggled to himself. “But with you four gone it should be much easier. One superpowered knight can’t protect her all the time. Not even with the Master Sword. And, as an added bonus, I wouldn’t have to look at your ugly mugs ever again!”

Urbosa chuckled darkly. “You must be thinking of your own face. Have you been looking in the mirror again, Kohga? It’s bad for your health, you know.”

The audience tittered but quieted after a look from their leader. Kohga crossed his arms and repeated Urbosa’s words in a high pitched voice. “-bad for your health, you know. Shut up, chief! You’re just jealous I wore your look better than you.”

Revali realized he was talking about when he had impersonated Urbosa to try and kill Zelda. He hadn’t been there to see it, but looking at Kohga he honestly had no idea how anyone could mistake him for the Gerudo chief. All the sand in the area must have damaged their eyes.

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself to get through the day.” Urbosa said.

Kohga laughed and splayed a hand over his chest. “Oh, I do! But not because I have to. Because it’s true. Sooga told me I looked regal and beautiful - I mean handsome!”

Urbosa rolled her eyes.

“Speaking of Sooga,” Kohga looked at his wrist. “Where is he? He was supposed to be here by now.”

“I am, master.”

The crowd whistled and cheered as Sooga stepped onto the stage. He seemed to have come from the very shadows.

“What took you so long? I can only play the crowd for so long.” The Yiga master looked up at the taller man, hands on his hips.

“I had to sharpen my swords. Spines are tougher than most people believe, and I cannot afford to have my blades perform any less than perfectly.”

Revali eyed the swords. They were both almost the size of their weilder. Even dulled the sheer force needed to swing such a weapon would most likely sever any limb it collided with.

“That’s my Sooga,” Kohga told the champions. “Always surpassing expectations.”

Sooga bowed his head. “Thank you, master. I am honored.”

“Alright, don’t go all mushy, over ripe banana on me. We’ve got heads to roll.”

Sooga faced the champions. He rested his hands on the pommels of his enormous swords. “Do you have a preference for who goes first, master?”

“Ehhh,” Kohga tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Ah geez, I didn’t think this far ahead. Uh,” he pointed at Mipha, “why not her? She’s a princess. I’m sure it’ll be good practice for when you do it to Zelda.”

Mipha, sitting at Revali’s left, stiffened and gasped. Sooga pulled his swords from their sheaths. He held them up to the light, seemingly inspecting the edge. Mipha started shaking. Her whole body was trembling as the Yiga Clan’s hulking second banana stepped in front of her.

“P-p-please don’t. Don’t do this, please! I have a little brother, Sidon, he’s waiting for me. And my father-“

“If you have any last words, princess, I suggest you make them brief.” Sooga crosses his swords over each other like a giant pair of scissors. He settled the intersection just in front of the Zora’s silver covered neck.

Mipha looked up at the cracked mask. She took a shaky breath as her eyes filled with tears. “Can...can you take a message to my father? Tell him that I - that I’m so, so sorry to hurt him like this.”

There was a loud noise like a trumpet. All heads turned to Kohga, who was blowing his nose. “Sorry, sorry,” he muttered wetly. “I just can’t stand goodbyes.”

Revali looked around frantically. There had to be something he was missing! There had to be a nearby weapon, a loose thread in his bonds, something he could use to escape. He looked at Mipha, her head bowed and tears trickling down her face. She had a family waiting for her, and the Zora lived a long time. The entire city would be crying over her death for decades. Daruk had a friend in every Goron, and the whole of Death Mountain would mourn him for years. And Urbosa was chief of the Gerudo. She mothered the city and her subjects, leading them into battle and helping them with useless, frivolous nonsense. She would go down in history as the Gerudo’s greatest chief, Revali was sure of it, and her death would leave a festering wound that would take years to start healing.

He knew what he had to do. They weren’t destined to fall here. He could feel it in his bones. Something would happen, but it wasn’t happening fast enough.

Revali cleared his throat and did what he did best: annoy.

“Don’t fret, Mipha. This blind oaf doesn’t have the skill to perform an execution.”

The champions’ heads turned to him. Their wide eyes all shared a look of confusion and surprise. Sooga‘s mask turned slowly towards him.

“You think that the princess can sway me with tears?” he questioned.

“Not at all.” Revali leaned towards him with narrowed eyes. “I’m saying you’re just that bad a swordsman.”

The blades left Mipha’s throat and she gasped. She took deep, shuddering breaths to calm herself as Sooga left her and stalked towards Revali.

“My blades,” he lifted one to Revali’s throat, “have been stained with the blood of countless enemies. Every foe that has crossed me has fallen to these swords.”

“And yet we’re all still alive. How interesting.”

Sooga drew back his sword and slashed at Revali’s head. He was struck in the temple with the flat of the blade and knocked over. Finding himself still in one piece he was filled with nervous, frantic adrenaline. Sooga’s hand wrapped around the front of his tunic and hoisted him up. Dangling above the Yiga’s head and shaking from his near death experience Revali threw himself back into a monologue.

“Can’t even strike me with the right side of the sword, eh? Pathetic, just pathetic. You’re even worse that that knight Zelda drags along, and I never thought I’d say such a thing.”

He was swung and thrown onto his back. Revali could hear the other champions screaming and cursing, and Kohga’s high pitched laughter behind it all.

“Leave him alone you horrible brute!”

“I’ll bring all of Death Mountain down on you, pal!”

“You disgusting, piece of s-“

Sooga crossed his blades and rested the tips against the floor on either side of Revali’s neck. He couldn’t even try to stop the shaking, and now it was starting to creep into his voice.

“Re-really now. You’re just - just going to cut it off as if you’re using a giant pair of shears? Where did the Yiga find you, hmm? Trimming bushes in the royal gardens?”

“Ohohohohoho! Burn!”

Sooga glared at Kohga over his shoulder. The master giggled nervously. “Aheh, sorry.”

Sooga turned back to Revali, leaning closer so that his mask almost touched his beak. “Do you wish to retract your previous statement?”

“No.” He puffed his chest the best he could. Hopefully he didn’t look too undignified laying on the floor like this. “If you’re going to kill me then flap to it. I’m getting tired of hearing your grating voice.”

Sooga chuckled darkly. “I’m going to make this slow. Slow so you can feel each inch of steel cut into your throat.”

Revali glared at him and raised his beak. “Then do it already.” he spat.

The Yiga bladesman cocked his head. “Do you really wish to die so badly?”

Was it quiet or was that just his imagination? The blood pumping in his ears must be blocking out all the background noise.

“Stalling are we? Hahaha, did you forget how to hold your swords?”

Sooga pulled them back, hands resting on his shoulders and the blades pointing straight out behind him. Revali had seen that stance before. He was going to bring them down, and when he did…

He heard them descending. The blades were so sharp that the air seemed to scream as they flew towards him. Revali closed his eyes.

Everything was black.

There was no sound.

No sight.

No feeling.

Then there was a sensation of rising. It was like swimming for the surface under leagues of water. As consciousness returned noise trickled into his ears as if water were rushing out. It was muddled and distorted, but slowly it began to sharpen.

“He’s waking up.”

“Careful now, don’t crowd him.”

“Should I try and find him something to eat? If he fainted then-“

“Hush.”

Revali cracked open his eyes. His head felt fuzzy, and his vision matched. Blearily he could make out wooden rafters high overhead. Something red swam into the corner of his vision, and when he turned his head he recognized Mipha’s silhouette. He must be on his back then. Why was he laying down?

“Revali, can you hear me?” her soft voice sounded relieved.

He tried to speak but his tongue felt sluggish. He swallowed thickly and managed to say something resembling an affirmative.

“He sounds drunk.” Now that voice, was that Impa? That annoying advisor that followed Zelda around? If she was here then...when did he get to the castle?

“The blood loss must be imparring his actions.”

Blood loss?

Blood...blood…

“My blades have been stained with the blood of countless enemies.”

Blood. Blades. The Yiga Clan.

Revali shot up and heaved as the world spun around him. He panted and groaned. His head felt too heavy to support. His stomach was turning. Hands grabbed his arm. They were red. They were Mipha’s, of course they were red, but they weren’t the right red. He saw it now, crusted over her nails and sticking to her blue and yellow fins. It was blood. His blood. He lurched away from her drawing his wing out of her grasp.

There was a splash of red just under his beak and he looked down. It covered him. It dappled his chest plate like rust. It had soaked into his tunic. It encrusted his feathers and stuck them together. He couldn’t stop gasping. The air felt too thin, it felt like there wasn’t enough of it. White spots swam in his vision as he spotted his scarf laying dejected on the floor. It wasn’t blue anymore.

“Revali, please you must calm down!” Mipha shuffled towards him on her knees. She stretched her hands towards him.

Urbosa caught her by the shoulder, stopping her.

“Urbosa?”

“You can’t touch him while he’s like this. It would do more harm than good.”

The chief stepped towards Revali and knelt in front of him. She blocked his view of the scarf, of Mipha, of everything else. Her green eyes locked on to his, her gaze steady as his wavered in and out of focus.

“Revali, nod if you can hear me.” Her voice was soft. It was the voice she’d used for Zelda when she was just a little girl.

Revali nodded jerkily.

“Good.” Urbosa held up a finger. “I want you to inhale, and to keep doing so until I tell you to stop. Inhale.”

He struggled to take in air. To not puff it out and chase another breath. He kept his eyes on Urbosa’s hand. She raised it as he took one long, stuttering breath.

“Now exhale.”

Her hand began descending. He tried his best to match her pace. So often he would stop to take in more air and she would pause. Eventually he started breathing more naturally. He was able to count how long she was making him inhale, and he closed his eyes and continued by himself.

He was absolutely mortified that they had seen him so unraveled. Especially at something like the sight of blood. He was a warrior. Wounds and the sight of them should be a common sight for him. He had seen Rito with broken wings, seen them cut themselves while sharpening blades or spears. But the sight of it and the smell...he couldn’t stand it. It made him sick and upset.

“How are you feeling?” Urbosa’s voice knocked him out of his thoughts.

He opened his eyes and was relieved to see that it had returned to normal. Everything was clear again. Unfortunately that meant he could see every ounce of worry etched into the champions’ faces. Mipha and Daruk were watching him from behind Urbosa.

Looking at him like they cared. He hated them for it. He turned his head away.

“I’m fine.” he muttered.

Ignoring the sticky stain down his front he started pushing himself to his feet.

“Nuh uh, you’re not going up without help.” Hands grabbed his wing and nearly sent him sprawling. He looked up and recognized Impa. So he had heard her voice earlier.

She wasn’t wearing her usual advisor outfit. Instead she was dressed in a tight fitting, dark purple suit. It was strikingly similar to the Yiga costume, but the red eye emblazoned in the front was turned right side up. It must be a Sheika outfit, he thought. Her hat was gone and her hair had been bundled into a huge bun.

“What are you doing here?” Revali asked.

“My sister Purah saw that all of you were here on the Sheika slate. We assumed the worst and came to rescue you all as fast as we could.”

Standing had made him light headed. He stumbled and Impa did her best to hold him up.

“We?” he asked.

Impa pointed towards another dark-clad figure. Even with his face covered from the nose down Revali could recognize Link. His straw colored hair was pinned up similarly to Impa’s. The sword that seals the darkness was sheathed on his back.

“Link came along, obviously. And then there’s Sheik.”

Another ninja was standing nearby. This one had almost the entirety of their face hidden. A thick white cloth, presumably a scarf, wrapped around their mouth and nose, and coiled around the top of their head. One green eye stared at Revali while the other was covered by blonde hair. They seemed oddly familiar.

“What...actually happened?”

Daruk clapped his massive hands together. “It was phenomenal! The big guy was goin’ right for ya, when somebody fired an arrow at him from above.” He pointed towards the rafters where two large, Yiga emblazoned banners were hanging. “He swung around to cut it down and just missed ya.”

“I know that there’s quite a bit of blood, but it was a shallow cut.” Mipha interjected. “There are a lot of veins in the neck, so any kind of cut tends to draw a good bit-“

Revali’s knees buckled. He was getting nauseous just hearing about it, and the smell stuck to him. He felt someone approach him from the side and whipped his head around to face them. It was that Sheik character Impa had pointed out. They were watching him nervously.

Wait. He knew that stance. Sheik stood with their back straight, feet together and arms crossed at their waist. A Yiga bow was slung across their shoulder and the Sheika slate hung from their hip.

Revali blinked. “Princess Zelda?”

The other champions turned to face Sheik. Sheik looked at them all frantically, eyes falling on Impa for help.

“Oh, uh, huh.” Impa scratched her head. “I guess the disguise isn’t as good as I thought.”

“Little bird?” Urbosa asked.

Sheik pulled the scarf from their head. It was Zelda. Her hair was up in an elegantly braided bun. She smiled shyly at the astounded champions.

“I couldn’t stay behind. Especially not if you were all in danger.” she explained.

“But what’s with this Sheik getup?” Urbosa asked.

Zelda wound the scarf around her hands. “When the Calamity wasn’t so close Impa would help me sneak out of the castle to visit the towns. I would disguise myself like this to go undetected by the people.”

“Well, not completely undetected.” Impa went to stand beside Zelda and elbowed her arm. “Sheik is pretty popular with the girls in castle town.”

“You’re just full a surprises!” Daruk laughed. “How ironic is it that that Master Kohga guy was talkin’ about how princesses don’t fight back before you started shooting at his men.”

Zelda smiled bashfully. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Ah, Revali?” Mipha asked.

Revali had turned his back on the group. He clutched at his throat trying to ignore the tacky feeling of dried blood. He was searching for...there. Under his matted feathers was a wide, bare strip of skin. It was shorter than he’d expected it to be. It wasn’t even sore thanks to Mipha’s healing, but touching it made his chest tighten and his pulse start racing.

“Revali?”

He turned. Mipha was looking up at him with wide, admiring eyes.

“Thank you for what you did. For distracting the man with the swords. I had no idea that Zelda and the others were waiting to rescue us. I thought we weren’t going to make it out of here. For you to use yourself as a distraction, I owe you my life.”

Revali blinked. Mipha’s face fell.

“You...you did do that because you knew we would be saved, didn’t you? You wouldn’t have done that if you thought we were about to-“

“If I were to perish here the world would not stop for me,” he said, “not like it would for you.”

Mipha’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Revali turned to face her properly. He pointed accusingly at her chest. “You are the princess of the Zora, beloved daughter of the king. Your people live a long time. They would mourn you for the rest of time.”

“But-“

“And you,” he pointed at Daruk, “know every Goron by name. They all revere you as their hero. I've heard them say so.”

Daruk opened his mouth to object but Revali continued. He didn’t know why he was getting so upset, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“Urbosa,” she watched him quietly, “you’re just like Daruk. You’re always helping your people, listening to what they need and getting it for them. All of you, if you died here, would send the world into mourning.”

“So would you!” Impa yelled.

Revali laughed harshly; laughed painfully. “No I wouldn’t. The Rito like me for my abilities. I have no family there. Sure, you could never find another Rito skilled enough to pilot Medoh, but that would be the only problem wouldn’t it. It’s not like any of you really care about me anyway.”

“Revali,” Mipha cried, “that’s not-“

“True? Of course it is.”

“That’s not for you to determine!” Impa yelled. “I mean sure, maybe we’d be a little nicer to you if you weren't always so worried about your reputation.”

“IT’S THE ONLY THING I HAVE.”

The silence that followed was deafening. He almost felt sorry for yelling like that, but this suffocating feeling in his chest was impacting his judgement. There was a strange pressure building in his throat as well.

“It’s the only thing that gives me meaning.” he said quietly.

“Revali.”

Mipha was standing infront of him. Her back was straight and her shoulders pushed back, but her lip was quivering. Her eyes were dripping fresh tears. Something about seeing her crying made his throat tighten. His eyes started stinging. He shook his head, aghast. No! He could not pass out, have a panic attack, and cry in front of them all in the same hour.

Mipha moved closer and he stepped back.

“Mipha,” he held up his wings. “What are you do-“

Mipha shot forward and wrapped her arms around his middle in a crushing hug. She sobbed into his shoulder ignoring the dried blood down his front. Revali squawked and tried to push her away, but her hands were clasped behind him like a vice.

“Mipha! Mipha stop this. You’re a princess, Mipha, act like one.”

“Revali you annoy me to no end!” She cried. “But I would never wish any harm to befall you. I do see you as a friend, even if you don’t feel the same.”

“Great, fine.” He cleared his throat and rubbed at his eyes. “Now would you kindly - Urbosa!”

The Gerudo chief had joined the hug. She draped one arm over Mipha’s shoulders while the other wrapped around Revali’s head and pulled it to her chest.

“You don’t have to save face all the time, you fickle bird.” Her chin rested over top of his head and her fingers stroked his temple softly.

“Fine. Whatever.” He sniffed. “Now get off before you mess up my feathers. No! Daruk, stop!”

Daruk wrapped his arms around the trio and lifted them into the air, laughing loudly.

“You may be a skinny little guy, but you’re one mean fighter. You’re an honorary brother in my book!”

The Goron set them back down and the three of them finally released Revali. He kept his head down and avoided their eyes. A tear rolled down his beak.

“Now, if you’re - if you’re all done making fools of yourselves-“

Someone charged him and wrapped their arms around his neck. Revali opened his mouth to complain but stopped when he heard Zelda’s voice.

“You’re safe now, Revali.” she whispered. “You can trust us, and we all care for you. I promise.”

And that is what finally pushed him over the edge. He couldn’t stop the tears from falling or the broken gasp that wracked his frame. He buried his head in the princess’s shoulder. She kept her arms wrapped protectively around his shoulders. Urbosa rubbed his back as he sobbed.

Impa and Link watched a short distance away.

“Do you think he’ll be nicer after this?” She asked turning to the knight.

Link thought for a moment. He shrugged.

Impa nodded. “Yeah, it’s hard to tell with him.”

They watched as Revali pulled away and wiped at his eyes. His head was hung low but Zelda put a hand on his shoulder and drew his gaze. She smiled at him and after a moment he returned the gesture.

“I think he needed this.” Impa said.

Link nodded.