“She’s talking to you.”
Revali refused to allow those words or Link’s absence frazzle him. He refused. He was more than the Rito Champion now. He had earned the title of Master even if it hadn’t been formally granted. He was stronger than this. He was greater.
As such, Revali, quite calmly, gathered their things and organized the small… sanctuary, he supposed was a good enough title for the place, if overgenerous. Obviously, he was the more responsible of the pair, but that had never been in doubt. As the responsible one, as the Master between them, Revali worked to leave no trace that they had been there. Only when everything was put to rights and their things prepared did Revali leave the sanctuary in search of his idiot.
He absolutely was not going to think about such silly things like a statue talking to him Truly, Link was keeping him busy enough. If he ever wanted to get home and claim his rightful title, then one of them needed to focus.
Damn the statue and its one-sided conversations, anyway.
He swore he could feel every missing feather, every too-sensitive patch of skin, as he stalked -- walked -- out of the pathetic little sanctuary. It left his nerves feeling raw, and not seeing Link or Epona when he walked into the field didn’t help.
The idiot had to be around somewhere. Whatever Link’s many flaws, he wouldn’t dare leave Revali. Beyond the absolute rudeness of such a gesture, the fool would be helpless without him right now. He barely had any supplies.
Of course, he left Zora’s Domain in the first place with barely any supplies…
Revali’s scowl deepened, the brilliant sunshine shining off rain-slick grass doing nothing to improve his mood. In the distance, forever taunting, the shadow of the broken castle loomed. Nothing more than a shadow, but Revali’s brilliant memory and imagination more than willingly filled in the gaps.
That damned feeling -- feathers rubbed wrong, the string on his bow off, the change in the air before a blizzard in the mountains -- scratched at him. Damn that statue and its nonsense. Revali was tempted to just drop the supplies and take to the air to find the idiot. He actually tensed, preparing to do so, before his sharp eyes finally landed on Link. Muscle in his jaw twitching, Revali deliberately stood with the supplies and stared at his damned idiot.
Further out in the field, standing there like he wanted someone to see him after all, Link stared southward at… something. Epona trotted a little past him, eating grass or whatever horses did when they weren’t kicking people. Revali couldn’t quite make out Link’s expression. Shadowed, perhaps. Thoughtful. Eyes certainly too dark for this sunny morning.
As tempting as it was to simply throw something at Link to get his attention, Revali only sighed and followed Link’s gaze instead. There was a town or garrison in that direction: possibly both. Revali never bothered to pay attention to Hylian settlements before. Now, watching grey smoke drift lazily upward, there was, perhaps, some regret. Whatever they had been, they had been large enough and close enough to Hyrule Castle to be targets for the Calamity.
Revali glanced back at Link. No telling grief or guilt or other nonsense on his face. His head was tilted up: following the trail of smoke, perhaps?
Looking southward again, Revali tilted his own head back and let his gaze move upward. The smoke danced up and up, rising along the steep cliff. At the top of the cliff, there was a large plateau. He had flown over it multiple times, although he never bothered to investigate it. It always seemed like a quiet, boring place.
What about it caught Link’s attention now?
When Revali looked back at Link, the Hylian had his hand in Epona’s mane and was walking toward him. He looked weary, the shadows refusing to leave his eyes. Perhaps an indication for Revali to leave things alone.
As if Revali cared. “What is up there?”
Of all things, Revali swore he almost saw Link smile. Just a small quirk of his lips but it was definitely something. “The Great Plateau.”
Well, that didn’t answer a damned thing. “Have you been up there then?”
Link’s hesitation didn’t surprise him one whit. Link’s gaze trailed back to the Plateau, his fingers casually scratching Epona’s neck. “Once. With the princess.”
Well. That certainly shone a light on things. Truly.
If asked, Revali would claim he didn’t know what gripped him then. After all, his goals were quite clear. Drag Link to finish his familial duties, then drag Link home so Revali could at last claim his rightful title and honors. He was overdue. Yet instead he found himself eyeing the cliff and the location of the rising smoke. He assessed his own wings and the state of his feathers.
This was either foolish or brilliant. He decided on brilliant.
“Is it true that you can call this beast to you from certain distances?”
xoxoxox
Upon further consideration, it was possible that Revali’s idea was a mix of foolish and brilliant. Even with rest, his wings were still shakier than hoped, the broken flight feathers not helping. Link, for all his slender build, was also heavier than hoped, Hylian bones denser than a Rito’s.
Yet considering Link’s startled gasp when Revali’s Gale swept them into the air and the heat of Link’s body against his as Revali flew, Revali couldn’t bring himself to regret it.
Up here, Revali could smell the faint traces of smoke, but he could also smell the faint traces of yesterday’s storm and Link’s grass-and-horse scent. Link wrapped his arms around Revali’s neck, a loose grip, but it meant that Link was close enough for his hair to brush Revali’s cheek. A distracting nuisance, and Revali would have yelled at him that he wasn’t a damned beast like that horse if it wasn’t for Link’s wide-eyed delight.
Link truly would have been better as a Rito, even if there was still no helping his aim.
“The Temple of Time is there,” Link called, pointing at something Revali couldn’t see. With the wind tearing at Link’s sensitive Hylian eyes and making them tear up, Revali had no clue how Link could see.
Revali grunted, preferring to keep his attention below them. He hoped to avoid the ruins, but there were so many of them. He kept an eye out not so much for survivors as for Knights and Sheikah attempting to make sense of the disaster. Not that they would be able to do anything with Revali and Link so high in the air, but Revali had no desire for further company. “Have you been there then?”
Link shook his head, his hair soft against Revali’s feathers. “No…”
A telltale hesitation, a slight tightening of Link’s arms around him. “No?” Revali prodded. No telling or obvious uniforms under him, but there was movement. Survivors, perhaps?
None of his concern.
Link huffed a sigh, his warm breath tickling Revali’s cheek. “Just… a dream.” Link paused and then added, voice oddly guilty, “Princess Zelda claimed she never had any. I had… several.”
A dream? What did that even mean?
A pale figure below in the ruins, watching them go. Revali thought he saw more but it was hard to tell with the lingering smoke. “We’ve been seen.” He dipped to the side, enough that Link could clearly see under them. He shelved the thought of dreams for later. “Scavengers, perhaps?”
“No.” The earlier hesitation was gone. The sudden steel in Link’s voice made Revali instinctively assess his bow’s position and the best way to reach it without killing them both. “Yiga.”
As if they heard him, the pale figures seemed to flash under them, and there were the hateful uniforms. Revali huffed, willing more speed to his tired wings. “Don’t they know their great master has been defeated?”
Really, the arrows flying up toward them didn’t surprise Revali at all.
“Apparently not.”