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“Knock knock.”
“There is no door. Is this your way of gaining my attention?”
“You’re supposed to say ‘Who’s there?’”
“I know of your identity.”
“It’s a joke.”
“Oh. My apologies. I missed the punchline.”
Ravio laughed, ignoring the concerned look on Fi’s face as he turned back to the fire. It wasn’t particularly necessary yet, as the sky was still a brilliant orange, and the chill had yet to sink in, it had given him something to do instead of just sitting around telling bad jokes. Fi had long since settled on a nearby rock, still and graceful as ever while they waited.
They had been there for several hours now, the southern field stretching out around them, so far untouched by the surrounding war other than some scorch marks carving their way through the long grass to the north and just visible over a gentle hill from where they sat. General Impa had assured them that at this position, they would be unlikely to encounter any of the main branches of the opposing army, but still, Ravio was nervous.
They had, after all, been assigned to this position precisely because there was a chance some enemy messengers would use the area to pass through in order to reach the front lines where the majority of their unit currently was. And there was no info on whether this would be one singular messenger relying on stealth or a group, ready to brute force their way to where they needed to be.
He couldn’t help it as his eyes scanned the edges of the grass, looking for any movement in the far-off trees that might indicate they weren’t alone. His fingers tapped at the dark blue fabric wrapping the handle of his trusted hammer, which was dropped beside him in the dirt. The roughness of the material grounded him somewhat as he focused on slowly counting.
“Your heart rate seems accelerated, but I do not sense any enemies. Do you require nourishment?” Fi asked, startling him out of his thoughts.
“No, thank you, though,” Ravio chuckled, making every attempt to appear normal. “Just me being a coward as usual.”
Fi was silent for a moment. “Is cowardice how you see the mirror of a hero?”
“Excuse me?” The claim confused him, and he cast about in his mind trying to determine whether it sounded accusatory or was simply a statement said with a strange tone.
“That is what you are, is it not?”
“Sounds accurate enough.” Ravio replied, letting his hackles fall as he thought back to his own “Mr. Hero” and the ways that they did, in fact, mirror each other. It had bothered him once upon a time, especially during the long, lonely waiting periods while the other collected the sages.
But that was long in the past now.
Fi didn’t reply, instead humming to herself in that odd tone she had while staring straight at him as if she could see something that he could not. It was almost unnerving. He opened his mouth to continue but quickly closed it, choosing instead to look back at the fire.
Ravio always found himself somewhat uncomfortable in her presence whenever they were thrown together, as rare an occurrence as that was. He had tried to rid himself of it before, forcing himself to make as casual and silly a conversation with her as he could, but her answers always threw him off. She was always serious, taking everything he said at face value. He had wondered previously if this was a her thing specifically or if this was how all sword spirits behaved.
He had unfortunately not come across another but had heard that one was involved in the war, one from Fi’s own time, in fact, though regrettably on the enemy’s side. He wondered if she was familiar with them. He had heard of them only briefly after a small time travel mishap and encounter with the enemy army, though he had yet to gain any glimpse of them.
Not that he wanted to. If they could fight even half as well as Fi could, then he would not want to be on the receiving end of their blade.
A sudden cloud of birds swirled up from the trees in the distance, their calls echoing over to them as they scattered across the skies. Their dark forms were an ominous sign that had Ravio casting about once more. What could have disturbed them all at once? It was now getting dark enough that anything that hid within the woods’ depths was cast into a shadow too deep to be made out from this distance.
“What is your hero like?”
Ravio couldn’t stop himself from jumping, too focused on what he was doing. “What?”
“Your levels are still elevated. Social protocols would indicate that I offer you a distraction,” Fi said, still unmoving from her previous position. “The hero of your era, is he similar to the one here?”
Ravio snorted, half turning to face Fi but keeping his eyes on the trees as he began, “Absolutely not. This guy’s a stick in the mud. Least mine had a sense of humor.” He laughed to himself for a second, thinking back to the small house nestled on the hill, the sweet scent of a late season’s apples drifting into the open windows, “And deep pockets.” He added with a chuckle, falling back into the safety of his favorite character.
“The weight of a hero's duties falls heavy on their shoulders. Mine, too, was a ‘stick in the mud’ as you say, the farther into his journey he got. We were unlucky enough to join this war quite far from the beginning.”
Ravio had to agree with the sentiment. It was easy to see in the dark circles and rough lines that made up this hero’s face that the war had taken a toll not just on the land but also on him. Becoming a commander so young couldn’t be easy with the nation’s eyes now set upon you.
But he also remembered the nights when they were allowed peace, when they were given time away from the front lines, and he could see Link’s shoulders relax. When they would joke together. Link would laugh along with Ravio’s shenanigans and encourage him when he offered his wares to the other generals at ridiculous prices while steadfastly refusing to give in himself. He was only a few years younger than Ravio but Link made it clear that he knew the value of a rupee. Sure, he wasn’t fun to mess with like Ravio’s own hero back in the day—not that his Link didn’t still have gullible moments that Ravio loved to poke fun at—but he was learning more than ever that every hero was different.
“What about yours?” Ravio asked, casting about for anything that would get him out of his head.
“The Hero of the Sky.” Fi started, trailing off into a hum again before continuing. “Optimistic and naive, but he grew well through his adventure. I miss him.” The last sentence was softer, with more emotion than Ravio had thought the sword spirit capable, which was a ridiculous thought, so much so that he could have kicked himself.
“I’m sorry.” It was all he could think to say.
“Don’t be. My duty with him was done. It is…normal to feel regrets.”
“It is.” Ravio agreed, and they lapsed into silence once again. This time, the gap between them seemed smaller and stifling. He wanted to say something. Anything. Well, not anything. His normal jokes felt like the wrong thing to break the silence with. Anything but that. It was hard to keep up his “character” around Fi anyway. She always seemed as if she could see right through him and any facade he put forth.
“Someone is coming.”
She was right. There hadn’t been much sound before, but several figures were now emerging from the shadows and walking towards them. Their faces were in the dark, hiding their expressions, but Ravio felt their eyes on them all the same.
He slipped one hand partially into his robe, feeling for the bombs he had stashed away there, but otherwise didn’t move. They had intentionally set themselves up to be seen, leaving any small indication that they were with the Hyrulean army behind. This area was commonly crossed by those displaced from their homes, so their being here shouldn’t be too out of the ordinary.
The thing they should really be worried about was Fi herself being recognized, as she was very clearly not from any of the common races, but Impa had waived this point away. It didn’t matter how they did it. All that mattered were the orders the messenger carried.
“Oy!” One particularly tall Hylian called over to them. He was hunched over slightly in his walk, more heavyset in build, but Ravio recognized the cocky look in his eye as he approached the fire’s circle of light. “Hand over any food you’ve got.” He ordered, hand tracing the hilt of his sword and showing off the emblem of the Hyrulean army on his glove.
Ah. Turncoats perhaps?
“Oh!” He gasped, immediately falling into character. “But Mr. Soldier sir, we don’t have any,” He indicated the empty area around their fire and shot them a truly pitiful look that he could have gagged at.
The Hylian opened his mouth as if to argue before his eyes drifted over to Fi. “What the—?”
“Welcome, gentlemen,” Fi spoke, moving to stand, or in her case, float, causing the soldiers to flinch back. “Are you perhaps the ones we are waiting for? Or are you truly casting such disrespect on the army of Her Highness?”
“Rall, I don’t like this.” Someone from behind spoke up as the man in front spit into the grass, looking ready to curse them out before Ravio saw the moment recognition lit up his face, and he drew his sword before lunging directly at Fi.
Luckily, Ravio was faster, not even giving Fi the time to counter before he flattened the sword into the ground beneath his hammer. “Now, now, no need for violence,” He joked, leaning on the handle as the man fell back, sword hilt suddenly snapping clean off from the blade. “I think you’re right, though,” He cast back at Fi while keeping his eyes on the figure now below him. “I think these might just be the exact men we’re looking for.”
“And who the hell are you?!”
“Just a humble merchant and a dear, dear friend of mine.” Ravio just loved watching them get riled up. It was so silly how these types reacted. Always big in their words but practically harmless when faced with someone who could actually fight.
He could see the whole group hesitating. True, it was a group of four plus their now weaponless leader against two, but such a big show of strength should stop any actual fight from happening, right?
And they were drawing their swords…. So that was a no then.
“There is a 96% chance of us winning, I suggest you all stay your weapons.” Fi said.
Ravio whistled, hauling up his hammer with both hands. “Not a hundred? Where are we going wrong?”
“It depends on how aware you are of that blade you are now standing on.”
“Wha—?”
Her warning was just in time as the large man lunged forward, gripping the raw blade with his gloved hand and swinging wildly to the side and up, attempting to chop at Ravio’s lower torso. Ravio sidestepped, losing his grip on his hammer but gaining momentum to dodge and grab his ice rod from his other sleeve, aiming for their feet. The man fell hard, and Ravio winced at the crack of the man’s skull as he was knocked clean out.
“How’s that for a 100%, eh?” Ravio asked, pointedly ignoring the fallen man.
“I stand by my calculations. I call them like icy them.”
Did she just?
No time to think. The takedown of their leader was apparently all it took for the others to lose all sensibility and rush them at once, swords swinging wildly. Fi was graceful as she swung about the battlefield, swapping into sword mode as she moved and cutting off two of them so that the group was more easily separated.
Ravio, in turn, stuck to his rod so as not to hit her with the wider blows his hammer required. He channeled just enough magic into it to make the Hylian in front of him’s sword brittle, and their hands sting beneath their gloves. He saw the confusion and rage battling on their faces and couldn’t resist calling to Fi in a moment of pure inspiration.
“I thought these guys would be tougher, but this sure is smooth hailing.”
The soldier before him finally gave in, tossing their sword to the side as the chill overtook them, shouting and moving to lunge at him instead in pure fury. Ill advised, really. It was easy to dodge their clumsy movements and hit them in the side with the other end of the rod, making them lose their balance.
Fi twirled in the air, knocking another to the side as she called back, “It’s about time we draw this battle to a froze then, isn’t it?”
Holy shit, she really did.
Ravio laughed, seeing her move away in his periphery and taking the chance to draw his hammer from the dirt once again and swing it with as much momentum as he could muster, knocking the group together, starting with the soldier in front of him. They landed in a slumped pile, heads knocked together, and Ravio could just imagine the little birds flying about their heads in their daze.
Fi landed beside him, eyeing them before bending to snoop through the bags they had abandoned at the start. “I much prefer this confident side of you to the coward you so often project.”
“Fake it chill you make it, right?”
“Do you truly believe this to be a proper time for such jokes?”
Ravio almost tripped at the reply, just managing to stop his stuttering in response when he saw Fi’s smirk as she stood, envelope in hand, “Of course not. What do you take me for?” He answered easily as they fell in step together.
“Let us get these back to the general. I am sure she would not mind us being a little late, but the princess’ impatience is snow joke.”