Link awoke to birdsong.
He also awoke to a pounding headache.
Groaning quietly, he pushed himself onto his hands and knees. The world swam around him, and Link gritted his teeth until the grass solidified under him. Even as the earth stopped swaying, his stomach still roiled, nausea heavy in his gut and threatening to rise. Link breathed through his nose and forced himself to ignore it and the dull ache in his bones.
What happened? Where was he? The last thing he remembered was --
Revali!
Link lurched into a sitting position, only to gag and grab his mouth. For several long minutes he focused on his breathing, gaze hard on the grass in front of him. Around him, the birds sang cheerfully, uncaring.
Only when he was confident that he wouldn’t throw up did Link carefully try to look around. He had only been there once before, but he thought he recognized the place: the Great Plateau. They had made it.
But where was Revali?
Sitting back on his heels, Link rubbed his face and tried to think. There had been Yiga warriors shooting at them. Revali had laughed at them. There was no way the Yiga would be able to hit them at that distance, Revali scoffed.
Neither had expected the bomb arrows. Link hadn’t even known they used bomb arrows.
Then nothing.
Link pulled his hands away and frowned at the red on his right hand. Carefully, he touched his head again, testing the skin around his forehead with his fingers. He grimaced at the feel of wet heat. Head injury, possible concussion. Hopefully light. He would find out soon enough.
Most importantly, he needed to find Revali.
Link staggered to his feet. He closed his eyes against a sudden bout of dizziness and nausea, but neither lasted long. Manageable. Blood trickled down his face, but it stayed to the right of his eye, so Link ignored that, too. Frowning, he looked around.
He was in the middle of a grassy plain. If he looked to his left, he could see the remains of Hyrule Castle. There used to be a stone wall blocking the view, and Link frowned when he saw its broken ruins. He hadn’t realized the Calamity’s monsters reached this far. Some sections were still smoking. Behind him was one of Zelda’s shrines, dark and quiet. Link steadfastly ignored it. To his right was the Temple of Time.
Also in smoking ruins.
Why had the Calamity’s forces centered an attack here of all places?
It didn’t matter. What mattered was that there was no sign of Revali.
He needed to find him. This was all his fault. Revali would be home if it wasn’t for Link, home and safe. The only reason they were here at all was because of Link.
Wait. What if…?
Link stumbled toward the broken wall. He could no longer hear the birdsong over the roaring in his ears. Even the ache in his bones faded away.
He had landed on the Plateau, but Link was so close to the edge. What if Revali…?
Barely aware that he was panting, Link looked down the cliff. If he saw Revali… If Revali survived the Calamity only to die because of Link’s foolishness…
There would be no honorable death by blade. Link would simply throw himself over the cliff and join him.
Trembling, Link looked over the edge. He couldn’t breathe as he made himself search the ground below.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Only more ruins.
Hylians were known for their hearing instead of their sight like the Rito, but he couldn’t imagine a reality where Revali wasn’t brilliant and bright, even in death. It was ridiculous but Link was confident that if Revali was down there, he would see him, no matter the distance.
Revali was alive. Link refused to believe otherwise.
Link wiped the cold sweat from his face and ignored how his blood smeared over his face and hand. Turning around, pretending he couldn’t see the silent shrine out of the corner of his eye, Link stared at the Temple of Time. They intended to go there. Perhaps Revali couldn’t see him, either, and went there.
If not, the Plateau was only so big. Link would search the entire thing if necessary.
Link glanced back down the cliff. No Revali… and no sign of the Yiga. Clenching his jaw, Link pulled away and started limping toward the Temple. Let the Yiga try to keep him away from Revali.
They would regret it.
The Temple of Time loomed over the quiet plain, impressive even broken. If Link let his eyes go out of focus, he could see the Temple’s soft glow, a gentle light forever burning in its heart. He never told anyone. His father accompanied the King twice there and saw nothing, not even from the Temple’s Goddess Statue. When he traveled here with the then Princess Zelda, he stood guard at the Temple’s entrance, trying not to listen to her weep at the Goddess Statue’s feet.
The statue had been as quiet as the grave. Zelda’s grief and heartfelt desperation meant nothing.
Exhaling sharply, Link trudged on.
xoxoxox
When the plucking hell had the Yiga started carrying bomb arrows?
Revali had no clue, but he did know that he planned on killing them as soon as possible and then robbing their corpses. Bloodthirsty? Probably. But his wings, finally healing from the battle with Windblight and all of the chaos of the Calamity’s return, now ached like Daruk had done of his damned hugs, and his feathers were an absolute mess. Otherwise, he would already be in the air, searching for Link.
Link. He couldn't take that idiot anywhere.
Sitting at the base of the Goddess Statue, Revali gently soothed his battered feathers while keeping an eye out for Link. He was confident that Link had fallen onto the Great Plateau. He just… wasn’t sure of the details. He dodged what looked like an ordinary arrow and only recognized it for what it was at the last second. Then there was an explosion and Revali desperately trying to make sure Link landed on the right side of the cliff and him flapping his wings trying to stabilize himself. He woke up to find himself surrounded by trees and broken feathers.
His nerves thrummed like wings plucking at a bowstring. This was one of the few times Link had been out of his sight since he found the idiot riding toward the Lost Woods. Revali didn’t like it. There was no doubt that the idiot couldn’t take care of himself.
Link should be able to. And yet… and yet…
Revali scowled down at his traitorously weak feathers. It wasn’t his first time being blown up, even if there was, perhaps, a history of most of those explosions being self-inflicted. Perhaps. With each explosion ending in a lesson learned, thank you. He knew how to set everything to rights, and he knew he would be able to fly again soon. One would think that his feathers would be able to handle unexpected explosions better, like one would expect the Hylian Champion to be less… reckless? Foolish? Something.
Hmmm… Revali glanced one more time at the entrance. Seeing nothing, he turned to the Goddess Statue. It was bigger than the tiny one in that broken cabin, even bigger than the one at Rito Village. They took care of their statue, always keeping it clean and providing offerings, but Revali never noted anything special about it. Simply cold stone. This statue seemed no different.
Another quick glance at the entrance. He doubted Link would mock him for it, but… Well. There was no need for witnesses. Not like this was humiliating! It was humbling and pious and he could already hear the Elder scolding him.
Revali ruffled his feathers and took a steadying breath. “Hello,” he said haltingly. “Link… Link said you had a message for me?”
Nothing. Revali clicked his beak and looked around again. This was ridiculous, simply ridiculous.
“If you have something to say,” he continued, his voice gaining an edge, “I’m all ears.”
Nothing. Of course there would be nothing. They ignored even Zelda, and she had Goddess Blood. Revali clicked his beak again, sharp and angry, aware that his recently soothed feathers were fluffing again. Didn’t it matter at all that Revali had passed all of his tests to be Vah Medoh’s Champion and pilot? Of course the divine would whisper a message to Link and then say not a word to Revali.
Damn them all, anyway. Revali had proven --
The Goddess Statue began to shimmer. Revali froze.
The music began softly, so softly that he thought it was his imagination at first. Revali’s breath caught, eyes widening as he stared at the statue. Its gentle shine increased until the Goddess Statue glowed a soft white. The music seemed to fill the Temple, slow and sweet.
I”m worthy, Revali thought, fiercely and a touch desperately. See?
Yet it wasn’t his fellow Rito he thought of, looking at the divine light: it was Link’s earnest blue eyes.
“If you need to say something,” Revali said, voice steady, “I’m listening.”
No words, but it felt like when he first saw Vah Medoh, when he first received his Champion’s Scarf. It felt like the Goddess Statue was talking to him but Revali couldn’t hear the words.
The song swelled. Revali breathed.
xoxoxox
Link spotted the familiar glow as he limped up the cracked stone steps. He frowned, forcing his weary legs to move faster.
Quiet music and quieter whispers reached his ears as he approached the main chamber. Link cocked his head, trying to make it out. It was familiar, yet so different from his last visit with Zelda.
Distracted by memories of that awful visit, Link didn’t expect it when he entered the main chamber and saw Revali. The Rito stood at the foot of the Goddess Statue, bathed in divine light. Revali frowned at the statue, more thoughtful than awed. His feathers were ruffled and bloody, and there was a smear of dirt down his left cheek.
He looked beautiful.
Link stood in the entranceway, breathless. Even when Revali turned and met his eyes, he couldn’t look away.