Chapter Text
There he was, Revali, the strongest Rito of all Rito village, zooming across one side of his training area to another. He flew deep into the cracks of the crater and soared back up into the sky. Here it goes, Revali’s Ferocity, a technique he had been effortlessly and tirelessly trying to hone. He swooped higher and higher, reaching ground level and swirling in great spheres, creating a powerful cyclone with just his wing force. All he had to do now was shoot himself into the eye of it and propel himself...
Just as he entered it, the gargantuous force of air spun him up. It was working; it was finally working. After around a bare second of it, his mind raced with doubts, with insecurities no Rito would ever imagine a champion such as him to have.
And he was launched out of the cyclone and over the boulders of rock and stone until crashing into the wood post of his shelter and passing out.
This was what was encharged of protecting the Rito, this... broken champion, nothing but a failure.
It wasn’t long before he was found lying on the snow coated surface of the earth, knocked out cold with a pained look on his feathery face. He had to be woken up soon, the blizzard would arrive any minute now in the dead of night, and if so, Revali wouldn’t be able to fly back. The Rito were known for their poor eyesight at night, and with that in mind, accompanied by a heavy snowfall, Revali would crash down before making it halfway to the stable, let alone the village.
Something kept shaking him in an attempt to wake him up. Whoever it was, it refused to speak, to call him until he gained consciousness. With no success to his tries, the “person” drags Revali into the shelter, the Rito’s weight adding to the difficulty of the task.
His green eyes shot open, glaring up at the Hylian that was dragging him over the jagged flooring. Emerald irises met with blue, and if he had the energy to shout at the knight dragging him, he would’ve, but the throbbing in his head and the sting in his wing had him knocked out once more in more time.
“Teba...Blizzard...You...Danger,” Link signs trying to get his message through clearly with the little sign language that Revali knew.
The Rito laughs full-heartedly once he understands.
“Teba sent you to warn me about the blizzard? Tch. As if I run in any danger. I’m the strongest Rito. Champion, the strongest Champion of all Hyrule. I don’t need a Hylian by the likes of you, or anyone to save me. So you can march your featherless ass back to Rito village,” Revali snaps, sitting up on his hammock and wincing in pain.
“Blizzard strong. You, hurt.” The silent knight replies, calm as always, and his serene attitude ticks the Rito off.
“When will the Blizzard pass?”
“Tomorrow. Afternoon.”
This meant he’d have to stay with Link until tomorrow and fly back once help arrives to help transport Link back. No, Revali wasn’t planning on carrying that pathetic knight back up into the Rito village. To be entirely honest, he doubted he could even carry himself back home. His wing felt sore from the hit, and he’d lost a lot of feathers from it. Thankfully, Rito grow their feathers back quickly. He must’ve been out for at least 4 or 5 hours; the moon was already launched up in the sky.
Link focused on sipping the soup directly from the bowl, receding back into his usual silence. If anything, Link’s silence made Revali more furious than the existence of the knight. That Hylian thought he was so mysterious and superior to the Rito Champion. Infuriating.
“You know, it was here, in the Flight range, where your existence was made evident to me. Your princess made her way over by horse to ask me to steer Vah Medoh in an assist to her knight, the wielder of the darkness sealing sword. I found it completely ridiculous that I almost insulted the poor girl. I mean, a teenager destined to destroy the Calamity is just asinine. Even with all that ceremonial pomp and grandeur, you’re still a little orphan boy from the palace,” Link looks up from his bowl, eyebrows raised slightly.
Link remained quiet, finishing his soup and stepping out of the shelter to bury the ceramic bowl in the icy snow in form of cleaning it to later put it away. Revali’s eyes followed him closely, eventually finding the strength to sit up on the brown woolen fabric hung from one hook on the pole to the other. While he did so, his body begged him to lie back down, but he had to seem strong in front of the knight.
“What, you’re back into your usual silent mode? Did I offend you, your highness?”
Link stands up from crouching on the ground and walks into the shelter to face the Rito with an angered expression.
‘Highness?’ He signed, a lot shorter and quicker than before. Revali managed to strike a nerve.
“Yeah! Have you not given it thought? You’re arranged to marry Mipha, but it’ll be rather awkward to grow old beside a princess that stays young for hundreds of years. There’s Princess Zelda, though, and you know the fables told by the Hylians: the Knight always falls for his princess. See, Link, one way or the other, you end up becoming royalty, be it Hylian or Zoran, you’re destined to it, even if you are just a pathetic worthless knight.”
“Do you wish royalty?”
Revali blinked. “What are you talking about?”
'You think you’re so great, but deep down you know that you’ll never be as good as the rest of the Champions because you weren’t born like them.’
"Link, stop it, you’re signing too fast—"
'You’re. Scared.’
Revali snapped his beak shut loud enough that it made an echo throughout the entirety of the Flight Range. The knight steps back slightly, heel backing up against his shield on the planked ground. He looks down at it, the silver linings, the blue background, and the golden symbol of Hyrule Royalty.
“You’re right."
Link looks up at Revali, who now was glaring at his wing and bandaged chest and torso.
“I’m scared. The Calamity is any day now and the Princess has yet to awaken her powers. The fate of our world relies on you. Who knows when the Princess will gain Hylia’s sealing powers? The Divine Beasts might not be enough, and... and...” The Rito stopped halfway, breaths heavy and quick.
His non-injured wing flew to his chest, and his laboured breaths grew hoarse as he tried getting off his hammock.
‘Revali, what’s wrong?’ Link signed, hurrying over to the Rito to help him walk. Revali pushes him away, but the knight stumbles back toward him to drag him out. The blizzard grew harsher by the second, and Link made sure to be on the side the wind blew from so that he could cover the incoming snow from Revali’s face.
Revali puked on the ground, red dots of crimson liquid dripping at his beak.
‘Your condition worse. Village now,’ Link signs, and Revali cleans his beak up with his wing, falling to his knees.
“We won’t make it, Link. I... can wait until tomorrow. I just need to... rest,” the Rito replies, but he falls to the ground unconscious, and Link lets go of his shield and kneels in front of Revali, shaking him aggressively back and forth in an attempt to wake him up.
“Revali? Revali!”
Chapter 2: Torment
Chapter Text
The blizzard breeze was as sharp as a dozen daggers. Link walked through the deep and mushy snow, feet digging deep and raising high to take another step, and another, and another. He dragged Epona by her leash, Revali resting on top of her with a quilt over his body and face. His thoughts raced everywhere. What if Link didn’t make it, and it was ultimately his fault? The death of the almighty Rito Champion, all because the knight destined to save the world from Calamity was too slow.
“Please...” the soft, sudden whisper makes Link gasp, stopping his treacherous walk to check up on Revali, and he raises the quilt, finding a still unconscious Rito that babbled nonsense in his slumber.
“Please... I’ve tried my absolute hardest... why can’t I be... chosen like... Link...”
“Revali?” Link mumbles under his breath, a calloused palm hovering over Revali’s forehead, tempted into rubbing it on his feathers.
Even if Revali was just another hater of Link, it’s like every day he passed, he knew the Champion more and more. Something, though—something begged him to know more, more about Revali, more about his past, his attitude, his hatred toward Link.
He’d figure that out later, first, he had to take Revali back home.
But right now, there were bigger problems at stake, like the fact that a circle of Lizalfos were springing up from layers of snow that covered them.
“Shit,” he gasps out, disrenaving the Master Sword from his back.
“Shit, Revali, Revali wake up!” Link cries, still facing the Lizalfos that jumped from side to side, taunting him with their spears and long tongues. The knight could handle this pretty easily if he were alone, but not only was he not; he was also protecting a very much unconscious Revali, and Link hadn’t brought with him many weapons.
One Lizalfos attacked Revali first, coming up behind his horse and preparing his spear. Link turns around completely, bow unhinging itself from his back. An arrow releases from its string and hitting the green lizard straight between his eyes, knocking him back onto the snow with a hard thump. But there wasn’t even a second in which Link could get another arrow out, because another Lizalfos was launching up into the air to attack the Rito Champion, while two more from behind him were thrusting their weapons at Link.
With no time to think, Link slaps Epona in the direction of the stable just around a mile ahead from him, and a spear digs into his armor, sharp end tugging into his skin as he curses, wailing his Master Sword around to push the Lizalfos back. He watched as Epona took Revali far off to the stable, and that put him at ease. At least Revali was safe.
But he wasn’t.
The Lizalfos put up a good fight, so good that they managed to tear huge pieces of Link’s Rito clothing and leave more wounds on already scarred skin. It wasn’t long before he defeated them and limped his way back to the stable where he hoped to find Epona and Revali gone, taken by the Rito guards that had night shifts there.
And that’s what he found, except for the fact that there were Rito guards, other than the ones that had taken Revali up to the village, waiting for the knight at the stable. Before Link could even get there, he fell unconscious onto the ground, and the guards ran up to him, shaking him and checking for vitals, before Link's vision turned entirely black.
When Link opened his eyes again, everything felt blurry. His body ached, armor gone, replaced by linen wraps and warm pelts tucked around his wounds. A soft, golden glow flickered nearby—maybe from a lantern or the fireplace in the corner of the room. The ceiling above him was wooden, carved with swirling Rito patterns. He was in inn, perched high within the village. As he shifted slightly, pain surged through his side, and he groaned without meaning to.
“You’re awake.”
The voice was stiff, layered with an awkward kind of relief. Link turned his head slightly and found Revali sitting nearby on a carved wooden stool, a bandage still wrapped tightly over his shoulder. He looked uncomfortable…but not because of his injuries.
“Honestly, you look like you lost a fight to a Lynel,” Revali said, attempting a smirk, but his voice wavered. “How can the supposed Hero of Hyrule get wrecked by a bunch of lizards?”
Link stared at him silently, blinking slowly, before signing:
‘You’re safe.’
That stopped Revali cold.
His wings stiffened at his sides as he looked away, talons gripping the stool just a little too tight.
“I am,” he muttered. “Because you fought like a madman. You even sent Epona off with me like some dramatic Hylian epic.”
Link gave him a weak smile.
‘Would do it again.’
Revali scoffed but didn't meet his eyes. “Idiot.”
Silence crept in like snowfall, soft and heavy. Revali shifted again, reaching over to pour something from a clay pot beside him. “Here. They left this for when you woke up. It’s hot soup. Not poisoned.”
Link took it slowly, their hands brushing for the briefest second. Revali flinched.
And then, finally, he asked—quieter than before.
“Did I really say all that? When I was unconscious?”
Link paused, watching the Rito carefully. Revali somehow had remembered it. He nodded. Revali exhaled sharply, feathers ruffling. “Great. Just great. I go half-dead and pour my heart out to a knight I can’t stand.”
Link signed slowly, carefully:
‘You don’t hate me.’
Revali froze, to which Link added another sign, gentler. ‘You envy me.’
Revali blinked, stunned for a moment—just a moment—before scoffing. “Please. Envy? Of a knight who barely speaks and throws himself into danger like a headless Cucco?”
But his feathers twitched.
He stood up, pacing to the other side of the room with his arms crossed, eyes narrowed. “You really think I envy you? No—no, Link. I’ve outflown every Rito in the village, mastered techniques no one else dares attempt, and earned my title without a royal bloodline, without some sacred blade handed to me by destiny. Everything I am, I built with my own wings.”
He turned then, eyes sharp—but the fire behind them wavered.
“But...” His voice lowered.
“There’s something... infuriating about you.” He gestured sharply toward Link. “You don’t say a word, but people worship the ground you walk on. You stumble half-dead into a blizzard, dragging a Champion behind you like it’s some noble quest. You don’t ask for anything. You just do it.”
He hesitated for a few seconds. “I don’t envy you. I just... don’t understand you.”
Link watched him closely. Then, with a nod and a soft smile, he signed: ‘You will.’
Revali gave a dry laugh, walking past him toward the window, pretending not to notice how that made his heart flutter.
“I doubt it,” he muttered, wings twitching as he looked outside at the snow beginning to fade under sunlight.
He didn’t finish the sentence.
Didn’t need to.
The silence between them lingered like frost on a windowpane. Revali turned back toward Link, gaze sharp again—but this time... focused. Studying. Observing the bandages around the knight’s torso. Blood had soaked faintly through the side of one.
“Tch,” he muttered, stepping closer with a roll of his eyes. “Of course you’re bleeding through it. Hylians are always so dramatic with their wounds.”
Before Link could stop him, Revali crouched beside the bed and pulled the edge of the blanket aside, feathered fingers deftly lifting the bandage and inspecting the injury beneath. His wing brushed along Link’s side—accidentally, he told himself—and he tsked under his breath again.
“You’ll need it redressed. If infection sets in, you’ll end up even more useless than usual.” Link raised an eyebrow, watching him silently, a small curve forming on his lips.
Then Revali looked up.
Their eyes locked.
Face to face.
Beak to breath.
Too close.
Way too close.
But neither moved.
Link’s gaze flickered—down to Revali’s curved beak, his crest feathers, the subtle tremble in his shoulders. Revali’s own eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned Link’s lips, the curve of his collarbone, the strength in the way he held himself even when injured.
There was something electric in the stillness between them. Something hot and quiet and wild. Neither of them blinked. Revali's emerald eyes stared down at his lips, chapped from the cold and injured in a corner. Link's hand lifted slowly, grabbing onto the Rito's forearm and tugging on it slightly, and attempt to pull him closer.
Knock knock knock.
The door swung open before either could react. “Champion Revali, we’ve come to—” It was one of the Rito guards, standing in the doorway holding a tray of salves and linen wraps. His eyes darted between Link on the bed and Revali crouched beside him, extremely close, bandage in hand, staring like he’d forgotten how to breathe.
Revali jumped back so fast he hit the edge of the chair, feathers puffing wildly.
“H-He’s bleeding! I was checking his injuries! Not that it’s any of your business!” he snapped, turning his head so fast it looked like he was about to fly straight out the window.
The guard looked like he wanted to die.
“I’ll just—uh, leave these here, and come back later,” the guard said, practically tossing the supplies onto the table before closing the door behind him with a muffled squeak.
Silence again.
Link stared at Revali, who now stood stiffly by the fireplace, not meeting his gaze. Revali cleared his throat. “Next time, try not to almost die. It’s inconvenient.”
Link just smiled, nodding. Revali nods back, turning around and grabbing the tray of bandages before going back to Link and unwrapping the ones on his torso to replace them with clean wraps. Link hissed occasionally, but his voice lowered when his eyes stared up at the cold hearted Rito.
What....had just happened between them?
Nevermind. He should shake it off. It was nothing. Right?
Right.