Chapter Text
The Windblight was fast, blindingly so, and Link struggled greatly to keep up with the monster. He had long since ran out of bomb arrows, and shock arrows, and any other type of arrows one could have, now left with nothing but a guardian sword, a shield on the verge of breaking and his own speed. Unfortunately for the hero of Hyrule, the latter of the three had begun to fail him more frequently the longer the fight lasted.
He hissed and grunted in pain every time the monstrosity’s sword sliced across his ribcage, tearing his tunic and leaving deep slashes that instantly started gushing blood. He barely held back a yelp of agony each time the electricity the creature shot out cursed through his body, locking up his joints and momentarily freezing in place. The loss of blood and lightheadedness made his movements slow and sluggish, and he had no time to drink a healing potion or even sneak a bite of an apple he had in his bag because of the malice-made creature’s never ceasing attacks.
It was only thanks to his ingenuity, the Blight’s own stupidity, and that Sheikah Slate at his belt he managed to defeat the creature, using the rune that granted him magnetism abilities to shove a metal pillar into its face and make it electrocute itself. It shrieked and wailed in agony, Link grimacing at the sounds, and began to dissolve into purple-black mist from whence it came.
A sigh of relief froze on his lips, his sky blue eyes widening in shock when something fell out of the dissipating mist and plummeted lifelessly towards the stone floor. Time seemed to slow down to a complete standstill while Link just stared at the falling body he recognized nearly instantly.
Revali.
That annoying, stuck-up, self-centered, arrogant, pompous jackass of a Rito Link had seen in that memory, triggered by seeing the landing of the avian’s very own name back in the Rito Village. In it, Revali had looked perfectly put together, with his navy blue feathers all slicked down, his braids done up to nothing but perfection, his chest proudly puffed out, beak pointed skyward with an expression that simply screamed “look at me and how much better I am than you!”.
The version of the Rito Champion he was currently staring at differed greatly from what Link had witnessed back then, and that only added to the Hylian boy’s shock, preventing him from immediately rushing to catch his falling once-companion. He dashed forward the second he broke out of his reprieve, shield and sword cluttering to the ground, all exhaustion and pain momentarily forgotten in favor of breaking Revali’s fall. Hitting the stone tiles head-first couldn’t be good for one’s health after all. He reached him just in time, the surprisingly light body landing with a dull thump in Link’s outstretched arms.
While Revali of the past had been an example of impeccable elegance and style, the Rito Link had currently an armful of was anything but. His feathers were disheveled, sticking out in every which way, burned off and singed in multiple places to the point where the normally pink, now reddened, skin was visible. Small and large gashes littered the entirety of the ave’s torso, still lazily oozing blood, as if the cuts had been made not a second ago. One of his wings hung limply, evidently ripped out of its socket at one point, and bent at a weird, unnatural angle; and one of his taloned feet appeared to be broken and twisted. Even his orange, black-tipped beak had not gotten away unharmed, multiple fractures and cracks visible in the dimming light.
The clothing he wore was in no better shape, his brown leather armor torn in multiple places and blackened in others, the quill missing from his back and his once pristinely blue, flowing scarf now mangled and blackened.
For a brief second Link thought that the Rito was dead, but a faint groan coming from the aven proved otherwise, and had the hero heaving a sigh of relief. At that point his own injuries chose to remind him of their presence, and Link hissed, clenching his teeth and nearly dropping the bird to the floor.
As carefully as he could, he placed the seemingly unconscious Revali on the ground, and collapsed down to his knees beside him, reaching for his bag and rummaging through it in search of healing ingredients.
He had just fished out a pair of elixirs when the Rito’s bright green eyes snapped open. Link made a small noise of surprise, nearly dropping the precious items, and stared at him with wide eyes. Judging by the speed with which Revali’s chest moved, the Rito was on the edge of hyperventilating. His eyes darted here and there, unfocused and unseeing, labored breaths escaping his partially open beak.
At that moment Link could safely say the Champion of Winds was bloody terrified. Carefully, figuring any sudden movements might spook the bird even more, he shifted forward and placed a gentle hand on Revali’s shoulder.
The response was instantaneous. The Rito squawked in shock, accidentally flinging himself on the ground with a uncontrolled flap of his wing-arms and sent himself a good foot or two away from Link, collapsing painfully onto the stone floor on his side. He cried out in pain, grounding his beak, his whole body shuddering as he rolled onto his back, shooting Link an enraged look.
“What did you do-?!” the angry screech froze on his lips, and the Rito’s body followed suit.
He stared at Link with comically large eyes, his beak hanging open in shock. Link, unsure of what one was to do in such a situation, offered the bird a meek wave.
“L-Link?” the Rito asked softly, the tone of his voice throwing Link for an even greater loop. Not even a full minute since meeting Revali in person and the Rito had been nothing like in that memory.
Whatever he wanted to say next was cut off by another cry of pain, Revali had tried to push himself up to a sitting position. He fell back with a tired huff, his chest heaving, eyes fluttering a little. Link crawled over to him, exhaustion making his limbs feel like they were made of lead, and opened one of the bottles. Carefully he put it against Revali’s beak and tipped it over slowly to pour the sweet tasting liquid down the Rito’s throat.
A small sigh escaped the aven and his eyes drifted shut, the panicked, labored breathing turning more rhythmical and peaceful, while the potion did its magic on his body. Sleeping on stone was probably a bad idea, but Link had no strength left in him to even attempt to move the Rito to somewhere more comfortable, wherever that would even be.
He uncorked the other potion and took a big swing out of the bottle, the familiar sweet-cool liquid settling comfortably in the pit of his stomach and doing what it was meant to; it was a feeling Link had grown all too familiar to during his adventuring. Without thinking very much about how his back would feel later, he laid down near Revali and with a small sigh of his own, closed his eyes. It didn’t even take a full minute for him to fall into a deep, dreamless slumber.
---
Revali had gotten to Vah Medoh in record time, no easy feat even for someone of his talent and skill.
The joints in his wings burned from exertion as he dropped down right beside the control panel, panting heavily and pulling the Great Eagle Bow off his back, immediately knocking the first arrow.
Something felt wrong. Very wrong.
He looked around, anxiously snapping his head this way and that, hands gripping the bow shuddering against his will. He couldn’t hear the monster’s approach over the pounding of his own heart, how pathetic, how absolutely disgraceful.
The Rito turned around just in time to eat a massive gust of air that hurled him across the entire length of the Divine Beast’s control room. His prized bow went skidding across the stone, while he slammed bodily into the wall at the most unfortunate of angles. A sickening crunch echoed across Vah Medoh, and an agonized cry soon followed.
The manifestation of Malice approached him at a leisurely pace, while he sat there, wide eyed and favoring his dislocated wing. He made a pointless dash for his bow, even if he had gotten to it he wouldn’t be able to shoot it with just one working limb. The beast didn’t allow him to get close.
Another powerful blast of wind from the monster’s arm-cannon slammed Revali into the wall, the back of his head bounced off the stone and sent stars exploding in his field of vision. He slumped over, staring blearily at the shapeless mass of purple and black mist.
‘So this is it, then,’ even his own inner voice could barely come to terms with what was going on.
The plan, one they had worked out so meticulously over so many sleepless nights, had failed. Hours, days and weeks of training to prepare for Ganon’s breach into their realm, for nothing. They had failed.
Revali had failed. The dark mass of thoughts clouded in the back of his mind, its tendrils gnawing hungrily at the bird’s consciousness; memories and words the Rito would rather forget resurfacing. You failed. Again. Again. Again. Again…
‘No.’
With a defiant growl he shifted his still working arm, the other had already gone completely numb, under himself and pushed up. His body shuddered, each breath sending needle-like jolts of pain through his chest, but he pushed it away.
No, he was not going to stay down and… and just die. He was Revali, for fuck’s sake, pilot of Vah Medoh, the Rito Champion, the best damn archer in all of Hyrule, the only Rito in history able to create his own updraft. Conviction and determination burned bright in his mind, chasing off any shadows of doubt and hopelessness.
Ganon’s creation stared at him impassively with its one giant, blue eye, not moving to stop him in any way. Even when Revali reached behind him with a quaking wing to grab his boomerang, it didn’t move, content in simply observing him.
Revali ground his beak, biting back the pain, narrowing his eyes at the freakish entity and lifting his weapon.
“Well!” he screeched, his normal composure all but gone, replaced instead with burning rage.
The Blight didn’t need further incentive. It shot towards the Rito faster than he could’ve thrown his boomerang and slammed into his chest, shattering his ribcage upon impact. He let out a measly cough, eyes widening as he fought to suck in a breath.
All that gave him was the sound of air wheezing out of his pierced lungs, like helium escaping from a slowly deflating balloon. He stumbled, coughing and sputtering, crimson splashing his beak and chest, seeping from the places where broken ribs pierced skin.
He had but a split second to fully process the image of blood, his own blood, staining his navy blue feathers before the Malice creature lunged at him. All at once the control room, the sound and feeling of wind blowing gently over him disappeared as he was consumed by the swirling cloud.
It burned, by the gods did it burn, worse than anything Revali had ever experienced in his life. The tendrils of pure evil wrapped around him, its tips digging under his skin, burning and melting all that stood in their way, setting his insides on fire. He screamed, and screamed, but no sound came out. He tried to trash and break free of the stifling, all-consuming force but to no avail.
The grip tightened even more, crushing Revali’s body until he couldn’t move, couldn’t fight, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see. He could only feel pain, radiating from every cell in his broken body, overpowering him, consuming him to the point where he couldn’t remember his own name.
---
Revali awoke with a scream still fresh in his throat and a wing gripping his chest tightly. For a moment he couldn’t see or feel anything, the darkness of the Blight encompassing him entirely, robbing him of air. And then it was gone, and Revali could see again, and breathe again.
The darkness swirling in his head subsided, but didn’t disappear, instead choosing to nestle itself comfortably in some faraway corner of his mind, not gone, never gone. It cackled at the Rito.
‘So useless, aren’t you. So weak and pathetic, you don’t deserve to be back.’
He shivered, struggling to swallow down the bile that rose in the back of his throat. Over his hundred yearlong imprisonment in the monster he had become intimately acquainted with that dark, mocking voice that would never allow him a second’s rest. Ganon wasn’t content on simply torturing Revali’s body, his mind had to be broken as well.
A small noise from the side startled Revali, he was getting so very easily lately and he hated it. He turned his head to see Link, looking rather worse for wear himself, sitting down cross-legged a foot or two away with a concerned expression.
So it was not a dream, Revali concluded observing the Hylian and willing his racing heart to calm down.
“I’m alright, yes,” the Rito hurriedly assured, answering the unasked question, trying to seep in as much of his usual bravado and confidence into his voice as he could.
The result was lackluster at best and Link wasn’t convinced at all if his cocked eyebrow was any indication. Revali cleared his throat nervously and tried to sit up, suddenly feeling rather uncomfortable. It hurt less this time, the potion must have done its job. He remembered Link giving it to him. How… thoughtful of him.
Trying to ignore the concerned look his less-than-talkative companion was giving him, Revali pulled himself up and shuffled back to lean against the Divine Beast’s control panel. He only partially managed to stifle the strained grunt. Satisfied with being at least partially upright he leveled Link with what he hoped was a bemused glare.
“I suppose I should thank you for rescuing me from that…” he shuddered at the thought of the Blight, “thing. Though I think making me wait a hundred years was a bit indulgent, don’t you?”
He wasn’t expecting Link’s face to fall, his typically bright blue eyes to darken, or his shoulders to slump in a very defeated, and uncharacteristic, manner. The Hylian didn’t even bother to sign a response and Revali felt a small sting in his heart, the cold mask cracking and collapsing into nothingness.
Useless, the voice reminded him, you can only hurt others.
“I’m sorry,” he spoke quickly, trying to rectify his mistake even though it was far too late for that now. “I didn’t… didn’t mean it like that?” he ended lamely, making it sound more like a question, which in turn made him feel even worse.
Link shook his head, moving his hands to sign a quick “don’t worry about it”. But Revali worried about it, nevertheless.
A century of being dead and tortured mellowed out the arrogant Rito, left him but a shell of his old self. Snide remarks and mocking comments had always been his first best defense against the coldness and harshness of this world, they were practically Revali’s second nature. Simply letting go of them was no easy thing, no matter if Revali actually wanted to, but for some reason he found it so awfully hard to return to his old state of being.
They sat in an awkward silence for a good minute, neither making an effort to start a conversation. Eventually Link moved, once again startling Revali. He paused looking at aven, and Revali felt a blush spreading across his cheeks, conveniently hidden under his plumage, at how easily Link could frighten him these days. It felt so humiliating, even more so when Link reached for his bag again, this time with slow, deliberate movements as not to scare the Rito further. He pulled out a pair of apples and handed one to Revali, who muttered a quiet thank you and took a big bite of the fruit. He only realized just how hungry he was when the sweet-sour hit his taste buds, devouring the apple in three big bites.
Thankfully, Link had more in his sack and eagerly offered them to the Rito, a small smiling gracing his lips. Revali decided he rather liked seeing Link smile.
His hunger now satiated, Revali leaned back into the not very comfortable wall and sighed, his fairly good mood once again taking a nose dive when he had nothing to occupy himself with again. With nothing better to do, he took stock of his injuries.
A quick glance at his body, partially hidden by the remains of his once-whole armor, confirmed the smaller cuts had been mended by the potion’s workings. His wing was still sore and one tentative flap sent spider-webs of pain shooting up to his brain, causing him to wince and abandon any further tests. At least he had regained feeling in it, for better or worse. His foot seemed to have mended while he had been asleep and didn’t hurt when he moved it, so that was something to be happy about.
Link cleared his throat to get Revali’s attention, and when he was sure the Rito was looking at him, began to sign.
“Are you okay?” he asked, that concerned frown back on his face and Revali felt a small pang of… something in his chest. It felt most odd.
“Yes, I am well, though my wing is not yet back to being fully exploitable. I’m afraid I won’t be able to fly for some time,” Revali admitted, sadness creeping into his voice without him noticing, and looked down and to the side, avoiding Link’s eyes. He didn’t want to see the pity in his look.
Another, more insistent clearing of the throat made him look up.
“It’s alright, you’re hurt, nothing to be ashamed of,” Revali scoffed a little but remained quiet. “I can take you down to the Rito Village, I’m sure they’d be more than happy to let you recover there.”
The Rito Village. Revali remembered it, but only barely. It had been so long after all. It should feel like his home but for some reason… it didn’t. Why, Revali couldn’t say. It instead filled him with a multitude of different emotions, none of them particularly pleasant. He surprised both Link and himself by how quickly he shook his head.
“No, there is no need, I’m fine.”
I don’t want to sit there and be useless, again.
The voice in the back of his laughed mockingly, sending chills running down his spine. But isn’t that all you are Revali? Useless and weak. So weak you can’t even bear the thought of returning to your home out of fear. You are afraid that no one remembers you. And why would they, you have failed, you have lost, you have died.
Revali took a shuddering breath, angrily blinking back the tears that had begun to fill his eyes. Link was looking at him, brow furrowed, eyes sad; he hated it, he hated it so much. Before the Hylian could sign another question about the Rito’s well-being, Revali rose, a little too fast. He caught his balance before he could beak-plant on the floor and humiliate himself again, and leaned against the wide panel with his good wing.
He looked at Link, all determination and conviction, with his mind mostly settled.
“You still have to free others, do you not?” he asked, or rather demanded.
Link gave a small nod.
“Have I been the first?”
Again, a nod, and Revali felt another… feeling of some sort blooming in his chest. If only he weren’t so terrible at naming his own emotions. He faltered briefly and blinked, but quickly regained his composure; Link had seen enough of his vulnerable side for a lifetime.
“Then you’ll need my help,” he concluded, sticking his beak up in what could easily be interpreted as a stuck-up-jerk move.
Link gaped at the Rito, an incredulous expression on his face. His hands shook as he signed.
“Are you serious?”
Revali scoffed, offended.
“But, of course, why would I jest about a matter as grave as this?” he countered, that nasty voice returned with force tearing through his brain and screaming at him, nearly giving him a migraine, while his own faltered.
See, you dumb bird? He can’t believe it. Ha! Why would he think it to not be a joke, look at you, you can barely stand on your own. He doesn’t need your help, you’d only slow him down. Just go sit in your village, alone like you always were, and stop bothering people with your needless presence!
The navy blue Rito shivered a tiny bit, momentarily scared that Link would say exactly the same words, tell him to stay behind, that his help was neither wanted nor needed.
But Link did none of those things. His face was lit up by a smile, bright and happy, though not as innocent as Revali had remembered from before. No, Link has been through a lot, it showed very clearly in just the way he looked. He felt himself wanting to smile at the sight, the laughing, screaming voice subsiding, turning into background noise.
“We still need to visit the village, refill our supplies, get you a new bow and some arrows,” Link signed excitedly and it honestly made Revali feel so good. For what felt like the first time in forever, someone actually wished to be in his presence, and. more so, was happy for the company.