Chapter Text
He remembered that day like it was yesterday.
“Hey, Revali,” Link called to get his attention. This was happening more frequently now.
Revali had not heard the hero of Hyrule speak a single word for months after they had first met. The only sounds the boy ever made were occasional grunts during combat and short hums of affirmation whenever the Princess asked him to do something.
In fact, he had been under the impression that the boy was completely mute until one especially chilly night in Rito Village. Zelda had had a luxurious bed reserved for her long in advance of her arrival, though no such courtesy had been extended to Link. And, with the Swallow’s Roost booked to capacity, it had seemed that he would have to sleep under the stars, had the Champion of the Rito not intervened, offering him a spare bed that he had definitely not set up specifically after hearing there would be no bed provided in the hopes of getting to spend more time with him.
Link had entered his roost, beamed at the sight of the bed, uttered one word, “thanks”, and flopped down, immediately falling asleep.
Revali had been flabbergasted ; and barely slept a wink, kept awake in his hammock for most of the night by just one measly word.
Later, he had learnt that Link could , in actuality, speak - to some extent, at least. Under the immensity of the pressure of the rigorous training he had undergone, he had stopped speaking entirely in fear of saying the wrong thing. Only with those he trusted did he talk, though even then, not often. Barely speaking a word his entire life, his vocal cords had been damaged, making it painful for the knight to talk. So, he kept it to a minimum, generally only using it to get people’s attention, or to emphasise the importance of something. Still, it was endearing. Knowing that he trusted Revali enough to even do that around him… it meant a lot.
That was one thing he never did, anymore.
Content that he had Revali’s attention, he reverted back to signing. “What did you think of my cooking earlier?”
“Oh, please, you’re not subtle. The hero of Hyrule wants my appraisal?” Revali sighed. He was not going to budge. He wouldn’t. No, really. Lowering himself to compliments just because the guy he maybe-slightly-a-tiny-bit had a crush on was implicitly asking for them? No. He was a proud warrior of the Rito, their champion, no less. He didn’t engage in compliments.
“But you did like it, right? Please say you liked it…” he had those puppy dog eyes again, and Revali knew exactly what he was doing. Link wasn’t upset, he knew the truth, he just wanted him to say it, and, unfortunately, knew just how to get him to.
Revali decided that his pride could take a hit. “Fine. It was… adequate.”
It was worth it, because the little squeal of delight Link let out might have been the most adorable thing he’d ever heard.
“Yay, I knew you liked it!” If Ritos could blush, Revali would be a crimson several shades darker than Dinraal; the Rito equivalent was his feathers fluffing up, and by Hylia, that they did in excess. He made a mental note to compliment Link more.
It was an early afternoon summer’s day in the Akkala Highlands, the heat beating down on the pair mercilessly. Hardly his favourite weather - the Rito’s natural insulation from their feathers meant they were far better equipped to deal with the cold - however, their current route between two taller hills provided a welcome respite by way of the cool shadows cast over them, blocking the worst of the warmth.
The clicking of his talons on the soft ground echoed ever-so-slightly against the walls enclosing them; the same went for the slow clip-clopping of hooves by Epona, atop whom Link sat. Revali could quite easily have flown ahead while Link rushed on with Epona - that would have been faster. And, indeed, when he was still making an effort to maintain the pretense that he would rather do anything but spend time with the boy, that’s what he would have done.
Yet, Link was persistent in trying to appeal to him, and eventually, Revali caved and decided to dial back his abrasive, faux-nonchalant attitude around him. A bit. Just a bit. Someone genuinely wanted to spend time with him, enjoyed his company, and he supposed he might as well appreciate it. And, gazing upon Link’s half-shadowed face, the sun perfectly falling on his gorgeous azure eyes for just a moment, he decided he wouldn’t have missed this for the world.
Even if the hero could be really annoying at times.
Link turned his head away from the path to look at him, and Revali knew exactly what was coming next.
“Hey, Revali…” he’d be frustrated by the onslaught of questions if it wasn’t so damn sweet. “Why do you think Zelda sent us on this mission? I mean, it’s one Bokoblin camp.”
“Probably because she knows we can handle it quickly. I am, after all, the best archer in all of Hyrule, and you’re…” he trailed off. Oh, Hylia, he nearly complimented him. Flying a little too close to the sun with that one. “We make a good team,” he settled on.
“Yeah. Sure,” The boy paused, before continuing, “but she gave us the entire day.”
“I don’t follow.”
“We’re both amazing at combat, right?”
“I did not say that. I’m amazing.”
“But we’re great at this. If we rushed, this would take us, what, a few hours at maximum?” An inquisitive look crossed his face. It was, frustratingly, incredibly cute.
Thinking about it, the boy had a point. And then… oh. Thank you, Zelda. It was fairly obvious that, despite his best efforts, the other Champions had suspicions about Revali’s true feelings about Link. Urbosa, in particular, had the subtlety of an iron sledgehammer, what with her comments. So, he assumed, this had to be a deliberate effort on the Crown Princess’ part to force them to spend more time together alone. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
“Oh, I’m sure she’s just underestimating how incredible we- I am.” The slip-ups were getting increasingly ridiculous, and his feathers fluffing up again didn’t help. “We don’t have to rush, we can keep going slowly as we are. I know you Hylians get tired so easily with your weaker anatomy, so make sure to thank her when you get back.”
But there was a mischievous grin on Link’s face and a devilish look in his eye that made Revali’s heart beat a little faster. “You said ‘we’.You think I’m incredible. Say it.”
Fuck.
Not receiving any response (due mainly to Revali’s brain’s inability to function after such a stupid lapse of judgement on his part), Link stopped Epona, hopped off her back, and started towards him.
Shit.
“I heard you. You can’t pretend it didn’t happen. You meant that. Say it.” Hylia, Link was so close to him. He felt himself burning up.
“Why are you so desperate for me to say it?” He replied, slightly shakily, breath hitching. This was shameful. He was appointed to help save the world and his nerves couldn’t even handle being close to a guy he found cute. Shameful.
“Why are you so averse to saying it after you already basically admitted it?” He had him there. It was so unfair that Link had a fair point. Even more unfair was how the proximity to the boy and the almost-imperceptible danger in his gorgeous blue eyes alongside his adorable smile rendered him so helpless.
“Shut up, I’m not saying anything.”
Link just stood there. No signing, no reaction at all except for the raising of one eyebrow and putting his hands on his (oh-so stunning) hips.
Was it better for his pride to just admit to his slip-up and move on, or let Link keep reducing him into an absolute mess right in front of him? He supposed he knew the answer.
Closing his eyes slowly in resigned defeat, “Fine. You’re incredible. But this never gets brought up again, okay?”
And then, that giggle again. The boy was going to be the death of him.
Link maintained eye contact though, even as his laughter subsided. His eyes lit up with curiosity. Being the subject of that stare… even in the cool shade, Revali felt unusually warm.
The hero advanced towards him until their bodies were inches away. He moved a hand to Revali’s face, caressing the feathers there, and he leaned a little into the touch. The Rito responded in turn by moving his wings onto the Hylian’s sides. How he wished that pesky Champion’s tunic wasn’t there, covering up his beautiful, tanned skin.
His heart was racing. Was this it? Was he about to…
Then, Link, quick as a flash, raised his other hand and poked Revali’s beak, let out yet another impish laugh, and ran back to jump onto Epona before the Rito could do anything back. But Revali couldn’t have done anything even if he tried; his brain had short-circuited. Speechless. Link could have done anything to him (he wished…) and he wouldn’t have been able to stop it.
Link stopped, realising his companion hadn’t moved, hopping back off the horse’s back and towards him again. “Did I make you uncomfortable? I’m sorry if I did, Vali.”
That broke his trance. “No, no, it’s okay.” He met his eyes and let a warm smile creep onto his face, which the boy opposite him immediately mirrored. “Let’s carry on.”
The pair continued in a comfortable silence after that, making their way toward their destination, the knight eventually dismounting Epona as they neared the roughly-assumed area of the camp. His mind wandered. Was Link just being playful? Was he flirting? Was that a stupid way to respond? Yes, of course it was. He was taller, stronger (he liked to think), normally more confident in every way, but the smaller boy had absolute dominion over him at that moment. He almost wished he had just taken control, pulled him in and kissed him right then and there; Hylia knows he wanted to.
But maybe Link really was just being silly, and didn’t reciprocate his feelings. That could have made him uncomfortable, ruined the friendship they had built, sent Link straight back into that protective armour that he’d coaxed him out of. When it came to the choice of spending a lifetime in his presence even if he’d always want more or risking never getting close to him again, Revali knew which one he wanted.
The boy clearing his throat shocked him out of his train of thought, and he looked up and towards him.
“Hey, Revali?”
“Oh my god, Link, please, can we just ride for a bit in silence, you don’t have to keep asking me questio-”
BANG!
An explosion went off in front of them. Thankfully, they weren’t too close to be particularly damaged, but the force of the bomb launched them both backwards, with Link landing on top of Revali.
His eyes darted around. What was that? Where did it come from?
And then he saw it. Oh. It seemed they had misjudged both the location and the size of the Bokoblin camp. He noticed an archer perched atop a high spot above them, the overhanging hill blocking the entirety of the tall wooden stronghold from view except the tip.
Evidently, his partner had seen it too. Near-instantaneously jumping up, he offered Revali a hand, which he took, before dragging him rather aggressively behind a rock formation that acted as cover.
Unlocking their hands, Link went to sign, “I have a plan. Use your Gale now, let me hold onto you as you do it. We need to attack them from above.”
Revali swallowed. “Are you crazy? You stupid Hylians, you don’t have wings, what are you gonna do when you get up ther- shit!” Another explosion boomed not too far from where they were hidden. At least the Bokoblin with the bow was a terrible shot.
“Do you trust me?”
He almost hated to admit it. Almost. A thrill shot through him. He nodded. Crouched down. Felt Link’s arms wrap around his chest. Felt the roaring rush of the wind circling around him. Felt Link’s soft, silky hair brush against his feathers. Felt said feathers fluff up. If only he could stay here forever… but they had a battle to fight.
With an almighty war-cry and a momentous thrust upwards, he burst into the sky like an arrow, before re-angling himself to fly towards the stronghold, aiming for just above to rain hellfire down upon the monsters below.
Feeling a loss of weight on his back, he turned to see Link falling down. Shit. He turned his whole body in his direction, ready to barrel towards him to catch the stupid Hylian before he crashed against the ground, but before he could, he pulled out a glider and landed expertly on the platform below. Revali noted to himself: never underestimate Link.
No time to ruminate on that, though, as an arrow came hurtling straight towards him, with Revali only managing to just move out of the way before getting obliterated. The tip of the arrow grazed his feathers slightly, giving him a renewed sense of determination to utterly destroy these asinine creatures.
Pulling out his bow, he notched three arrows… aimed… and fired. The three of them arced perfectly, ending up straight in the heads of three Bokoblins standing on a lower platform, knocking them down to the ground. Even in the air, he could aim like nobody else. There was a reason he was the Rito Champion.
The fourth Bokoblin standing where his three victims stood was a darker shade to the rest, armed with a shield. No use using the bow, it would just block any shot he took. So, with a slight sense of nervousness (not that he would ever admit it), he swooped down onto the platform and pulled out his sword. Hardly as good with it as he was with the bow, but if he had to use it…
The Bokoblin was short in stature but strangely intimidating as it squared up to face him. Revali smirked, unmoving, and laughed. A mocking, taunting laugh.
It worked.
His foe charged recklessly, swinging its sword like an amateur, hellbent on smashing an enemy far stronger than it could ever hope to defeat. No finesse, no trickery using the shield. Revali smoothly dodged out of the way, and with one clean swing, cut the Bokoblin clean in half as it fell to the ground, lifeless.
This was too easy.
Glancing up to the top platform, he caught sight of Link simultaneously taking on three Bokoblins at once, making it look like the easiest, most casual thing in the world. Why is that so damn attractive?
In his lovestruck distraction, he didn’t notice the Moblin walking up the steps until it was facing him directly. It towered over the Rito, spear in hand, twirling it menacingly. A tougher foe, certainly, but Revali figured he could handle it.
The Moblin started towards him, and raised the spear, before attacking him head-on. Revali deflected the blow expertly, before pulling an arrow out of his quiver and trying to stab the Moblin in the leg with it, but his enemy was too quick for that. It kicked the Rito hard , causing him to stumble back in pain, grunting. Okay, maybe he was a little in over his head, though he could win this. Besides, he couldn’t flee, he needed to impress Link.
Revali charged at it, beginning a flurry of rapid strikes with his blade, yet the Moblin deflected them all. A particularly brutal strike forced his foe back a little, and Revali took a step back of his own. This was shaping up to be an interesting duel.
Again, the two came to blows. Strike. Deflect. Thrust. Deflect. Swing. Parry. Dodge. Strike. Parry. Hardly two of the most technical fighters in the Kingdom when it came to melee combat, though they were evenly matched.
An explosion went off to the side of them suddenly - one of the barrels caught a stray arrow, he supposed. Still, it distracted Revali for a millisecond, and that was all it took for the Moblin to raise his spear all the way up and bring it down incredibly hard in a smash that it took Revali every bit of power in his body to hold back, knocking him to his knees.
The Moblin smashed into his blade with the spear over and over again. The apparent strategic, measured duellist he thought he was facing was long gone, replaced with a rageful, barbaric brute. Smash. Smash. Smash. Crack. Revali’s sword shattered into pieces, which clattered against the wood of the platform.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. Help. Please. The beating left him unable to force himself back up to run or fly, and he had nothing to block the next strike with. He reached for his bow in a last ditch effort to try something, anything , but before he could try it, a shining sword appeared through the throat of his foe, before being pulled out and Revali was showered in Moblin blood.
With only a glance, Link told him he was safe. That he had his back. Holding out his hand once again, Revali took it, pulling himself back up.
Looking around, it seemed like there were more monsters, if anything, than when they started, coming from seemingly everywhere at once.
“There sure are a lot of them. Do you think you can take them, Hylian?” What he really meant was do you think we can take them , but to hell with admitting to his own vulnerability.
The hero understood the truth of his words though, signing one word to him, “trust,” before turning around to face the horde, revenant Master Sword in hand. Revali did the same, pulling out his trusted bow and notching another set of arrows.
Back-to-back they now stood, two lone fighters against what felt like a whole army of monsters. But they stood together.
After the brief moment they shared, it was right back to brutality and violence. The foes charged at them, shouting indistinctly and grunting. Rito and Hylian worked in flawless harmony, turning in circles like dancers. Revali deftly sniped many of them mid-charge, wounding some and killing others, while Link slew those who broke through. One Bokoblin caught Link unaware as he took care of another, though Revali pulled an arrow out and stabbed it in the neck. They slaughtered dozens; it was as if they’d been fighting together their whole lives.
An explosion sounded down below, causing the whole stronghold to shake violently and panic rushed through Revali’s head. “It’s going to fall!” he shouted mid-duel.
What to do, what to do, what to do… He spied an opening in the charge, and he knew what to do. “Take my hand,” he called, and Link did. Together they ran, making for the edge of the platform. It dropped suddenly to lean on its side, causing the pair to fall and slide down the wood towards the steep drop below.
Revali said one word before they reached the edge: “trust.” And Link did. The Rito jumped first, throwing out his wings to hold himself mid-air as the Hylian jumped next, wrapping his arms tightly around the taller boy. For the second time that day, they took flight. Together.
Flying high above, Revali turned them around to watch as the ill-constructed wooden stronghold fell down onto itself and exploded with a titanic, resounding cacophony of bangs and crashes, before the wreckage caught fire in a mesmerising display of destruction. From his back, he heard Link laughing, and, for once, Revali did too.
The Rito dropped them both safely on the ground far away from the devastation, not far from where they had left Epona. The two boys struggled to regain their breath from both exhaustion and laughing hysterically about the chaos that had unfolded; that had certainly not gone to plan, but they had made it work. They were a good team, Revali had to admit.
“You’re incredible, Vali,” Link signed, a massive grin on his gorgeous face once again.
“You’re…” asinine. That was how he should respond, right? He didn’t give praise. Ever. Yet, all semblance of sense having been utterly demolished along with that treacherous stronghold, riding on the incomparable high of victory - victory with Link - Revali decided that, perhaps, just maybe, both of them deserved the results of him reciprocating the compliment.
“You’re incredible, Link,” he said back, words catching slightly in his throat. Affection was a struggle, but if anyone deserved it…
Wait, when did Link get so close to him?
The boy put his hands together smugly, signing “I know,” and with that, leaned up and kissed Revali gently.
Revali’s mind, for the second time that day, short-circuited completely; or, almost completely. One thought made it through: I need more.
He pushed his head down and captured Link’s lips, wrapping his wings around him to pull him closer and deepen the kiss. The smaller boy let out a whimper, but made no move to pull away, on the contrary, leaning further into him. This was heaven. This was better than heaven. Why had he waited so long for this?
And then, all of a sudden, heaven turned to hell. The boy below him grew ten feet, grotesquely transforming into an infernal abomination, abhorrent, red-black ooze covering his whole body. Two razor-clawed, monstrous appendages seeped out of the demon, one clutching a titanic blade. The unholy beast gripped his throat with its bare arm, claws digging into his feathers, drawing blood, and slowly lifted him up, higher and higher, choking the life out from his body. Not yet. Please. I need more time.
A hellish whirring sound built and built, Revali’s ears ringing horribly. He kicked and screamed and cried and fought and yelled, desperately, anyone, please, but there was nobody. The creature raised its other arm, and Revali knew what was going to happen next. There was nothing he could do.
He felt the accursed blade plunge through his struggling body, so deep that he saw the tip penetrating straight through his chest as he flapped helplessly in the Blight’s grasp. He tried to howl in agony, but no sound came.
And then, in mockery, perhaps taking some sadistic pleasure in his suffering, as his lifeblood pooled on the ground, the wretch pulled him closer and locked its squelching, burning mouth on his. And Revali could do nothing except let it happen as he succumbed to the bitter darkness…
No.
No.
It wasn’t like that.
It was never like that.
He remembered that day like it was yesterday, but that didn’t mean other memories didn’t seep into others. One memory always did.
He remembered that day, because at the time, he had thought it was the best day of his life.
A hundred years of reflection had made him think that, after all, it was the worst.
This was the last time Revali got to spend alone with Link for over a century. After this was Zelda’s trip up Mount Lanayru, and then…
The fire in his heart strengthened into a primordial blaze that day, only to be snuffed out. No longer be able to deny his feelings for Link, only to have to sit with the reality of that in some ungodly state of consciousness as he felt himself slowly lose his sanity, never even knowing if Link felt the same.
Was it just the rush of battle that made Link do that? Was the “flirting” before just teasing? Was it deeper? Was he some lovesick fool, yearning for someone who could never be his? Was he the monster he believed he was, unfathomably undeserving of the love of one so pure?
How long had he stood there, reminiscing? Hours?
The freezing wind of the Flight Range battered against him relentlessly, compounded by the forceful updrafts flicking his feathers.
He was cold.