Chapter Text
"And if you go to the cave under the peak on the night of the Blood Moon you will see the skeleton ghost and it will follow you back to your roost to haunt you…forever!" Saki finished her tale with a dramatic flourish of her wing and immediately ruined the effect by bursting into giggles.
"That's not even scary!" Misa complained, casually grooming her shoulder. The spring moult was no fun for anyone, and teenagers had it the worst, apart from the new fledglings. None of them could even fly right now, hence the sitting around and telling scary stories.
Amali was scratching at the base of new feathers, where it really itched. "Yeah, how can it be a skeleton and a ghost at the same time?"
"It's probably just a stal beast and the aurora," Harth added.
Teba interrupted. "Hey! I don't see you going out at night looking for stal beasts!"
Saki threw him a grateful glance, and he averted his eyes. Sure, he liked Saki, but he didn't want to make it that obvious. Besides, he hated it when they'd all pick on someone as a group.
Unfortunately, Nekk, one of the older teens, chose that very moment to stick his beak where it wasn't wanted. "You think you're so brave, Teba? Dare you to go to the cave under the peak next Blood Moon."
"Hey! It's just a story!" Saki yelled at Nekk, but Teba wasn't going to back down from a challenge.
"Sure. You can come with me to make sure I go right to the cave."
Everyone burst out laughing at Nekk. "He's got you there, mate!" Harth chortled.
"Fine! Next Blood Moon, Teba, you're on. I'll meet you at Revali's Landing after the patrol leaves."
"See you then, Nekk. Unless you're too scared."
Misa's dad, who ran the shop, showed up just then with an entire home-made sushi platter and the teens forgot all about their scary stories in favour of devouring the salmon nigiri.
Sage Kaneli's predictions proved correct, and the next full moon rose red, accompanied by the resurrected monsters screeching and howling in the night. The guard patrol assembled at Revali's Landing as soon as the strange embers began to form, and they were soon flying off to protect the village, the moon lighting the way in distorted shadows of red and maroon. Teba waited impatiently for Nekk to arrive and was just starting to think the older boy really had backed out, when he landed with a flurry of wingbeats.
"Fine. Let's go," Teba said, and leapt off the platform without hesitation. He had his bow ready, though higher up Hebra Peak where they were headed it was unlikely that they'd run into anything more deadly than an ice lizalfos and they weren't much of a problem if you kept your distance.
He didn't bother to look back and see if Nekk was following him: if Nekk was too scared, that was his own problem. Teba never backed down from a challenge, even a stupid ghost story dare. Nekk did catch up once they were over the snowfield, which gleamed an eerie red under the Blood Moon, reflecting the light so strongly that it was easy for even Rito to see.
"Teba! I give up, okay, you win, we don't have to go!"
Teba threw back his head and laughed. Flying like this, soaring above the mountain, he wasn't afraid of anything, only mildly disappointed that Nekk didn't feel the same. A shadow flickered across the red-drenched snow: it came from Vah Medoh, the abandoned Divine Beast, which flew in its endless wavering loop far above the peak, beyond the reach of even the highest-flying Rito. The two boys were directly below it.
"We're already here, Nekk! Too late to run!"
Teba flicked back his wing tips and swirled downwards in a controlled spiral towards the mountain peak. The cave in Saki's story happened to be near a hot spring between the two highest peaks, so it wasn't hard to see, a dark shadow and drifting steam. When Teba landed, he wasn't particularly surprised that Nekk was still circling overhead rather than descending. He gave Nekk a mocking salute and strolled on towards the springs and the cave beyond.
It must be a trick of the light on the water, but it looked like something was glowing blue. Not quite the shade of luminous stone, but close, and what Teba had thought was a trick of the weird moonlight was in fact movement.
"It's not a skeleton, it's not a ghost," he muttered to himself, trying to imitate Amali's mocking tone, but when he glanced up again, the light was still there and getting closer. Teba nocked an arrow. "Hey! Show yourself!"
To Teba's immediate regret, it did. A twisted, broken Rito skeleton, no taller than the adolescent Teba, staggered forward. It was glowing a stark bright blue that wasn't touched by the red of the moon, the light twisting and flowing around the bones in a mockery of flesh. One of its wings was smashed to pieces and part of a femur was burned away; the frail remnants were held together crookedly, as if it was moving by willpower alone; its talons clacked on the bare stone of the springs' edge. An illusion of feathers flashed along the back of its wingbones. It opened its beak as if to speak, and in sheer terror, Teba turned and ran for the edge. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to have seen it!
He dashed over the edge, out into the open air and caught the wind within two strong beats, hurling himself upwards to safety. To his horror, the creature flicked its wings wide and sprang into the air itself, thrown upwards by a powerful wind current that came out of nowhere and beat against Teba. Sharp bones clutched at his ankle and he outright screamed, kicking frantically with his talons as the two of them struggled in midair. Nekk, still circling above, saw him struggle and started screaming himself, which was absolutely no help.
The unnatural wind suddenly dropped off and the weight of the skeleton dangling from his ankle dramatically increased. With one final kick to the skull, Teba finally managed to get free and fly higher, his instincts screaming to get away, get away, get away! By the time he looked down again, the spirit was gone and the Blood Moon was clearing from the sky, everything shimmering white again in the crisp moonlight.
"What – " was all Nekk could manage.
"Let's get the fuck out of here and never come back," Teba snarled at him, and flew straight back down the mountain. He'd never been so relieved to see the soft sparkling lights of Rito Village, and when he landed on the walkway by his home, he let out a long sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Nekk babbled, and Teba cuffed him on the face.
"Shut up! We weren't supposed to be up there and we're going to get in big trouble if we tell anyone." Teba was definitely not allowed to be out flying at the mountain peak, let alone on a Blood Moon!
"Fine. Just…never go there again, please."
"Fine. It's not like anyone ever goes up there unless they're fucking idiots." Teba folded his arms, and Nekk nodded, meekly.
Every Blood Moon afterwards, Teba would cast a long glance towards the top of the peak, and every time the memory of those icy bones grasping his living flesh made him shudder and look away.