Chapter Text
Revali recognises him immediately. He knows it's him from the moment Elder Ylla brings him into the room.
And having just come from Gerudo Town, where it had taken Urbosa two months and a lengthy explanation to even consider that Link had been the tiny Gerudo vai snooping about the palace, Link isn't expecting Revali's twitch of surprise, nor his bemused scoff.
"A southerner?" he snarks from the other side of the elder's roost, crossing his wings and looking Link directly in the eye.
Ylla doesn't notice, smiling all the while as he ushers Link towards the table where Nalle has laid out cups for three. "Revali!" the elder booms happily, seemingly oblivious to the way Link's feathers puff flusteredly around his neck. "I didn't expect you back so early, or I would have sent for you. This is Llac, indeed from one of the Southern tribes." He gestures Link forward, and it takes all of Link's training to meet the other Champion's gaze.
Revali is, of course, having the time of his life, his eyes over-bright with mirth. He looks Link's Rito body up and down, managing a, "Llac, hm?" through a beak clenched in laughter.
"Please, have a seat, Llac," Ylla says, gesturing to one of two cushions across the table from his own seat. Link glares at Revali as soon as Ylla is occupied with pouring the tea, daring him to give Link's secret away. "Revali, I thought you would be out late on Vah Medoh with her highness."
Revali doesn't join them at the table, instead leaning against the balcony doorway where he'd been observing the roosts settling down for the afternoon. "Her highness is translating a passage on one of the consoles," he dismisses with a wave of his wing. "She does not need me there to babysit her."
Elder Ylla, ever composed in front of guests, still sighs. "Revali," he intones, and Link quite likes the way Revali is chastised just from this. He ruffles his feathers and looks back out the open doorway, as close to a pout as a proud Rito could get. Link hides a smirk behind a wing.
The movement pulls Ylla's attention back to him, his magnanimous smile back in place as he hands a cup to Link. "You've traveled very far, young Llac. I'm afraid our inn is full, with her royal highness and her entourage, but we have a few empty roosts to spare if you don't mind sleeping so close to your Northern kin."
"I would actually prefer it," Link says immediately, the words tasting strange through an unfamiliar mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Revali's whole body tense, and he has half a mind to wonder if he had ever heard Link speak, before. "But I have promised a friend I would join them at the Tabantha stables." He nods politely.
"Suit yourself!" he chortles good-naturedly. "Revali, will you not join us properly?" He waves a wing to the empty cushion, but Revali turns up his beak.
"I will not."
Ylla sighs and turns back to Link; he starts to wonder if this is how Revali has gotten away with such pride in the past, with the elder bending to his ward's whims so easily. "What brings you all this way, young Llac? I'll be the first to say your tribe is always welcome, but you seldom take us up on the offer."
Link wishes he had done more research before claiming to be from a known tribe. "I am curious," he finally says, and knows he's given the right answer as Ylla's expression softens.
"As one should be! I would not keep you from your friend, but it is still quite early; would you join us for dinner?"
"I would like that." Link feels when Revali's eyes find him again, can almost pinpoint the exact moment he realises Link does not carry the Master Sword. Instead, he has a simple bow strung over his shoulder, a short blade holsted at his waist; did Revali really think him so much a fool to carry such a dead giveaway to his identity? No, the master sword is safely stored in the chest in his room at the inn.
"I hope you won't mind her highness taking the seat at my table; I would normally have visiting kin in a place of honor, but for propriety's sake..."
"I do not mind, elder," Link is quick to say. "I would actually prefer as little fuss as possible."
Ylla clasps Link's upper arm in the way he's seen other Rito greet each other. "That can be done. We dine at sundown, which this time of year is still two candles away. If you are as curious as you say, would you like a tour of the roost?"
Link has technically been given the tour already, but only as Princess Zelda's shadow, as a Hylian outsider. The whole purpose for his mask, for this body, is to see the Rito world as a Rito.
"I would like that," he repeats softly, ducking his head.
Revali scoffs loud enough for Link to flinch. "Elder, it is clear this Rito does not like to speak," he drawls, the breeze through the open walls picking up his Champion's scarf and shaking his beads gently. With his own thick gold plumage, Link only feels the chill of his words.
"Revali," Ylla sighs, still gripping Link's arm. "It is rude to—"
"Tell him we know how to understand Sign and be done with it."
Link stills. He does not know Rito Sign, has never had cause to even know it existed; Hylian Sign is understood well enough in the kingdom, a sort of common tongue between the different races, but, well, Rito lack fingers. Link has never signed in front of Revali.
Brightening, Ylla raises his wings to Link. "But this is a wonderful idea, young Llac!" He shoots an amused look at Revali, who huffs and turns back away. "You usually show so little care for your kin that I did not expect a sincere suggestion."
"Do not bad mouth me in front of the guests," he grumbles with little heat.
"I–I do not— know Rito Sign," Link stammers, his own voice surprising himself. "Especially not a Northern dialect."
Ylla takes this in stride. "It is not so different from Hylian Sign. Save for the chicks, any Rito here will understand you well; if you do not wish to speak you do not have to."
Bewildered and a little stunned, Link haltingly signs, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, young Llac. Now, with the time before dinner, Revali will show you all the Hebra Rito have to offer."
Revali's feathers immediately ruffle all the way down his wings, which should make him look threatening, but only reminds Link of a startled kitten, and he has to inhale his delighted laugh before it leaves his li— beak.
"Elder," Revali says slowly, almost threateningly, "I am not a tour guide."
Ylla just smiles benignly, folding his feathers under his chin. "But you are the Rito Champion. Surely you would jump at the chance to boast the charms of your tribe."
"I would be honoured if the pilot of Divine Beast Vah Medoh would show me the rest of the village." Link swallows another laugh at Revali's betrayed snarl.
"See, Revali? Didn't you want even the Southern Tribes to know your name? This is your chance to spread your great deeds even further." So maybe Ylla wasn't too lenient with his ward.
Revali physically pushes down his neck feathers and rights himself, giving a haughty scoff and a toss of his braids that fools no one. "If the elder wishes it. But I will not wait for you, if you fall behind."
"I won't."
Revali simply turns up his beak.
"Do the others know?" is the first thing Revali asks, as soon as they're out of earshot of Ylla's delighted laughter.
Link shrugs, falling into pace just a step behind Revali as he looks about the main roost with new eyes. They are sharper, in this body, can see further and clearer, and Link finds himself quite enamoured with the texture of the canvas that the Rito hang over their doors. He wonders what it feels like under his feathers.
Grumbling, Revali just short of stomps down one of the many bridges towards Rito's Landing where they can make for the Flight Range. "Can you even fly in that form?" he snaps, and Link shrugs again, having far too much fun riling him up. Revali had been intimidating only long enough for Link to realise they were the same age —he's still not positive which of them is older— and even if the Rito could best him with a bow, Link is not cowed by him anymore.
"Oh, don't give me that. You were oh so eager to speak in front of the elder!"
"Did not know you could understand sign."
"What, just because we don't have ugly Hylian fingers?"
"That's not very nice."
"Nevermind, I preferred you when you didn't speak."
Link just grins and waves at a passing Rito (Kol, he thinks — Link had met her first thing upon entering the village with Princess Zelda), who openly stares at their visitor. But she must see they have a destination in mind and does not stop them, only giving a warm smile and a wave back.
Revali doesn't seem to notice, muttering to himself as he stomps to the end of the Landing.
Link has had this mask, and the others, since he was a child. Just as he knows how to swim with a Zora's fins, he had been taught to fly with a Rito's wings. Not spectacularly, of course, but he's practiced recently enough, with the almost sole purpose of making sure that Revali could not laugh at him.
It does not make the drop from the Landing any easier to look at.
"I meant it," Revali bites, shaking out his primaries. "I will not wait for you." With this, Revali summons his gale and launches into the sky with an ease Link yearns to match.
But even the other Rito cannot match him, and Link accepts this as he steadies his heart and pushes off the edge of the Landing. And Link is fit even when he puts on the masks, some sort of magic translating his built-up muscle to all the right places that he glides with ease away from the main village and towards the Flight Range. Above him, his sharp ears can still hear Revali grumbling, as if he had hoped Link would crash immediately.
It is foolhardy, he knows, but oh, is Link ever such a fool. "Last one there is a red cucco,” he says just loud enough to be heard, before tucking in his wings and dive bombing for the ground.
Revali lets out a squawk of protest and follows him, diving after him with a few choice Rito obscenities shouted in his wake.
Revali still beats him to the Range, but Link is smiling too hard to care.
He lands rather clumsily, Revali automatically shooting out a wing to steady him. When he realises what he's done, he snatches his wing back and glares.
"You should have known better than to challenge the pride of the Rito!" he says grandly, the single villager at the range quickly taking off at the sight of the Champion and his guest. Link starts to wonder if any of the others actually like Revali.
"I knew you'd beat me," Link signs with a shrug, making his way to the edge of the deck. A Rito's nose is unparalleled, he realises, giddy with the thought that he can tell which direction the canyon winds come from, can smell the snow and sulfur and pine on the air. The updrafts smell of something wholly Rito, and warms him where his feathers do not.
Revali slowly follows him, his plumage splendid even in the low light of the Range.
"How did you know it was me?"
Revali scoffs, arms crossed behind his back as he looks out over the canyon. "Please, you have the same stupid look upon your face, no matter what form you take."
Link smiles crookedly at nothing in particular. And he can see why Revali spends so much time here, he almost wishes he could come back as Link and try his Hylian limbs against the Rito's training course.
"Dare I ask... how you came to be in this form? Surely it was not the Princess' doing."
Link shakes his head, and realises the sign for 'mask' really does require more precise movements than he knows how to make with his wings. "A magic mask," he says softly instead, that tension snapping back to Revali's shoulders.
"I'm sure Princess Mipha knows of your silly mask, then; what did she say, seeing you like this?"
He turns his smile on Revali, pleased with the ruffle it puts to the feathers on his cheeks. "She knows enough, but hasn’t seen me as anything but a Zora and a Hylian."
"So you can— You can become others?" Thoroughly scandalised, Revali's brows pinch together. "How many masks do you have?"
"Four. Well, five, but one of them doesn't do anything." Link turns away to inspect the rest of the Flight Range, and is warmed to see a fire pit with a few pots and cooking utensils on a nearby pine table, as if the warriors in training spent a great deal of time there. Then, he wonders how often Revali could be found here, and how often he had eaten alone.
Which is silly, because Link had never cared before. (Except that he had, a foolish, teenage flutter in his chest ever since that first day on Rito's Landing, that hasn't settled since.)
Revali does not follow immediately, and Link can almost see the wheels turning in his head. "Four... Four for the races of the Champions."
"So you do have some brains after all."
He snaps as glare to Link. "I reckon you've said more to me this afternoon than you have in the entirety of your service to the Princess."
"No need to be nasty." Link pouts, but he's used to such remarks, has had to face far worse since he was small; they only sting when coming from Princess Zelda, these days.
"You do not get to lecture me, 'Llac'. What sort of name is Llac anyways?" He joins Link at the fire pit and kicks a half-used piece of kindling.
" It has the same meaning as my own," he signs. "And a similar sign. It felt appropriate."
Revali's fingers twitch at his sides. "A similar sign?" he prompts, as if fighting himself to say it.
And Link is all too happy to show him, tapping three feathers to his chin and then miming a circle with both hands. "Llac," he says quietly, then taps his chin again and does his best to curl his feathers around each other like the links of a chain. "Link."
His companion is quiet for a moment, eyes never leaving Link's hands. Finally, he says, "You never Sign around the Princess."
Link winces and resists the urge to tell him that he doesn't know their relationship well enough to say that, but then Zelda has never been shy about her loathing for Link. Only in front of her father does she keep it in check.
"I hardly speak at all," he says carefully, watching Revali's minute expressions shift and curl until it is a proper frown.
"Then why do you speak so much, like this?"
Ah, but that answer is easy. "I am not 'Link', like this."
Revali pulls away just slightly and blinks, beak parted enough that Link has to stop himself from closing it for him. An understanding, then, Link decides, as Revali drops his gaze to the planks below their talons.
With a determined shake, Revali straightens and looks down his beak at him, though Link is only a few inches shorter now. "Well, it is hardly any concern of mine how you communicate with her highness, or whatever fantasies deluded you into thinking you could fool me with such a disguise. I won't tell anyone," he adds, unprompted, "because I'm sure Lady Urbosa knows of this and would pluck me bare if I did."
He only stiffens a little at Link's laugh.
Ylla seats Link with the other warriors in a great pavilion that Link has not seen before. All the Rito except those on watch eat the evening meal together, not unlike the knights in Link's barracks: families would often join for dinner, until the mess hall was abuzz with children's laughter and happy conversation.
Revali sits across from Link and barely looks at him. Link is not surprised.
Zelda eats with Ylla and his husband, Edle, and she had not spared Link a glance after their quick introduction; she doesn’t know the Hebra Rito well enough to realise they have a guest, and Link is happy to keep it that way.
Kol had immediately sat next to him, though, and was indeed not phased at all by his Signing. As captain of the archers, she is all too eager to learn of Southern Rito teachings; Link just hopes his half-truths are believable.
He keeps an eye on Zelda, of course, watches her talk excitedly with Edle about her day's work on Vah Medoh, and he tells himself it only hurts a little that she doesn't seem to notice his absence. It is only after his fifth glance at the Princess that he feels Revali's gaze on him.
And Link gets nothing from his expression, no indication to just what he is thinking. Did he pity Link, now that he understood more of their dynamic? Or would he use this as fuel, for more less-than-playful ribbing?
Link raises his chin and dares him to do either.
Unbidden, Revali walks him to the edge of the village after dinner, where "Llac" is meant to fly to the Tabantha Stables, and Link is meant to return to the inn.
Revali is silent the entire way, arms behind his back and gaze forward, and Link does not interrupt him. With such a late start to the day, he had not accomplished much, but he has high hopes for tomorrow, and the two months Zelda planned on staying with the Rito.
Only when wooden bridges give way to grassy hills does Revali speak. "Was this charade only for today?"
"No." Link has to smile at that, at the almost hopeful light to Revali's expression. "I want to learn more about the Rito, as a Rito. This is why the masks came to me, to better understand my fellow Champions." Revali does not make eye contact, but his firm gaze on Link's hands doesn't let him believe his attention is anywhere else.
"Came to you...?"
Daringly, stupidly, Link reaches out and tugs on one of his braids. "A story for later," he says, half expecting Revali to try and bite his wing off for touching him.
But Revali just stares at him, as if only just noticing their height difference has decreased.
Link doesn't wait for him to gather his thoughts, stepping away and letting his fingers find the bottom of the mask, buried in the feathers of his chin. He still isn't quite sure what it looks like to outsiders, Mipha's answers have been rather vague and Daruk refused to witness it himself, but it's a pretty easy process, as far as magical transformations go.
It only hurts enough for his fingers to go numb sometimes, as his bones and muscles snap back to proper size and shape, and he doesn't even feel the warping of his spine anymore. Most of the time.
Link shakes out his hair and tries not to yelp at the sudden cold, letting the mask drop to hang around his neck so he can search his pouches for the Snowquill headband the elder had gifted both he and Zelda upon arrival. When he looks up, Revali is only looking a little horrified.
"I suppose it really is you," Revali finally manages, leaving Link bemused.
"You were the one to recognise me immediately."
"Well, thank Lady Medli that your sarcasm is still intact. I had considered going with you back to the inn, but if this is how you're going to act..."
For all his bluster, Revali turns away to walk instead of fly — slow enough for a laughing Link to follow.
It is several days later that Zelda takes a break from research upon Vah Medoh, and instead holes herself up with Ylla and Edle in their home to learn more about the history of the village. Link is not a confident enough flyer to join the warriors doing drills at the Flight Range, and he has no business trying to tend to the chicks with Crin, but Zelda had sent him away as soon as he’d met her for breakfast, so he is left with little to do. As a Rito or a knight.
Luckily (or unluckily), Revali doesn't take long to find him on one of the smaller landings, looking out over the valley.
He snorts at Link's uncharacteristic forlornness, wings behind his back and Champion scarf fluttering in the breeze. "Well, 'Llac'," he announces haughtily, as if Link had not heard him approach, "Since you fly worse than a fledgling and aren't fit to be seen at the Flight Range, I, the Great Revali, have decided I am willing to teach you a thing or two." Link smoothes his expression into indifference.
"No thanks."
Revali splutters. "Any Rito would be honoured to be personally tutored by the Champion of Vah Medoh!"
"I am not a Rito," he signs and holds back a smile.
"I'm starting to wonder, Llac, whether or not you don't keep your silence around the Princess so that she has no cause to cut out your tongue!"
Link sobers, but Signs, "That could be it," anyways, and it only seems to aggravate Revali further.
He watches Revali get a hold of himself and pat down his feathers, though his glare remains firmly in place. "I'm trying here, Link. Where is the Hylian Champion from the stories? Demure and silent Link, 'the people's hero' Link? The Link who helps anybody who asks, no matter how small the task? Kind and virtuous Link—"
"You've listened to stories about me?"
Revali throws up his wings. "You're insufferable! See if I ever try and help you again—"
Smiling, Link swings up to his feet and lightly pulls on one of Revali's braids, if just to see the mottled skin around his eyes go pink. "I know how to fly, Champion Revali. Perhaps your goodwill extends to teaching me your Gale?" Revali bristles, but Link doesn't give him a chance to respond. "I'm kidding, calm yourself. But if you're so intent on 'helping me', would you take me to Vah Medoh?"
Feathers still on end, Revali's openly-stunned expression is all the more amusing. "Take you to...? Ah, you were not with the Princess, when we landed last."
Link shakes his head; Princess Zelda always parted ways with him before leaving the village for her research: he has yet to even see more of the beast than her underbelly. And ever since the year before, ever since Revali's empty challenge to face one another on Vah Medoh's great wings, Link has not been able to dispel the thought from his mind.
Besides, he's been aboard all the other divine beasts, it would be a shame if he missed one.
Looking him up and down, Revali seems to give it a serious moment of thought. “I do not think you are a strong enough flyer to make it to that height,” he says, and it does not sound like an insult, not like before.
And despite having the worst temperament of anyone Link has ever met, he does trust Revali's judgement: anything less than an absolute master would never have mastered Revali's Gale.
So Link sighs and looks wistfully up as Vah Medoh flies over head. According to Zelda, it requires far more energy to take off than it does to keep her flying, so Revali does not land her often; better to keep her in the air than land her on a whim of curiosity.
"Oh, for the love of— Stop looking so plaintive! Just— Put out your wings." Bewildered, Link obeys. Revali spins him around and grabs him under the arms, a muttered, "Brace yourself," Link's only warning before they're surrounded by a column of wind.
Link makes a sound he could never manage as a Hylian, a high trill of terror as Revali's Gale launches them from the deck and into the air. Even a swimming Zora cannot match the speed that Revali takes him up into the clouds, cold wind ripping through his feathers until tears form in his eyes. The lift beneath his wings shouldn’t feel so different from when he’s flown before, but it does, and the only thing he can think is that Vah Medoh couldn’t have chosen a better pilot.
Revali releases him suddenly, when they’re so high that Link can barely see Rito’s Landing and Medoh looms like Castle Town before them; only instinct allows Link to catch himself before he plummets.
Flying above him, Revali guffaws and Link almost pitches to the ground anyways: he had half believed Revali could only laugh at someone else’s expense. His smiles have always been sneers, his compliments underhanded insults, and Link has never given thought to Revali being happy.
He watches in awe as Revali pushes himself to go faster, cutting through the sky as Vah Medoh slowly banks to the left as if to meet them halfway. Link cannot remember the other champions ever controlling their beasts without touching them.
Revali lets him crash-land this time, stood back and watching in amusement as Link trips over his talons and nearly falls on his face.
"You really do look like a Southerner," he snarks, Link with half a mind to trip his feet out from under him. "You certainly fly like one."
Even this high up, something of Vah Medoh's magic must quiet the wind, so they do not have to shout to be heard, even as Link feels it whip around them. Unlike the other Divine Beats, Medoh is blanketed in green, in flowers and trees and springs, as if the ancient Sheikah had built her to one day carry them all away from Hyrule.
Revali had once bragged that Vah Medoh was made special, different than the others, and Link had privately agreed.
"Do Rito from the South not fly regularly?" he asks once he's steady.
Revali shrugs and turns away to lead him to the nearest fountain, topped with an odd stone cucco with an eerily Hylian-shaped face. "It is easier to fly in warmer air; they do not learn to fly in the sorts of winds the Hebra Rito do."
Link hmms and passes his hand under the beak-shaped spigot, letting icy water cut rivulets through the barbules of his feathers and marveling that he can somehow still feel it, without it touching his skin. In his periphery, Revali observes him silently, leant towards him oddly, and startles when Link turns to smile at him.
"Is it hard?" Link asks softly, straightening from the fountain. "Keeping her in the air?"
"Not... Not usually," Revali murmurs, his gaze now on his feet. "She was built to move continuously, unlike the other Beasts."
"Princess Zelda mentioned they run on the Champion's souls; does it not get tiring?"
"Why all the questions?" Revali deflects, and Link only knows it's deflection from how often he hears it from Zelda. "You didn't have nearly so many, the last time you were here."
"I didn't care about the Champions, the last time I was here," Link tells him honestly — and if it's partially to see Revali's feathers ruffle, well, he doesn't need to know that.
Revali eyes him with his hackles up, clearly sensing ulterior motives. "It really is unbecoming of a Champion of the people to lie so easily."
"Who says I'm lying?" Link frowns, turning to face him properly. "Is it really so hard to believe?"
"Yes," he bites back, crossing his wings over his chest. "You gain nothing by caring about— us. You're still the wielder of the Sword that Seals the Darkness, still her highness' Chosen Hero."
"I didn't think you actually believed that I was in this for the glory."
Revali freezes, something akin to panic in his eyes, but he must realise he can't run and leave Link stranded, and visibly forces himself to remain where he is. "Why else would you put up with her highness' disdain? With. With my own."
Link almost wants to laugh at the absurdity, that he would choose this life because he wanted it, but he doesn't, because the reality of just why Revali showed him so much animosity sinks in, and if Link were anybody else, he might have given him a hug. "You make me sad," Link finally manages, letting out a breath that all but hurts on the way out.
With a squawk, Revali loses the forlorn expression for one of rage instead, but Link holds up his wings before he can argue. "I am here because his majesty asked me to be. Because, for whatever reason, that stupid sword decided I was worthy. If I am the only one able to wield it, I cannot sit idly by and let the prophecy fail."
"You put up with it all out of duty? Are you a masochist?"
Link startles out a laugh, and it's almost sincere. "I don't know," he signs, smiling. "I've never been good at listening to my common sense. But, no, I am not a Champion for the glory, Revali." He pauses, considering the Rito in front of him, his rough edges and pride and temper, the vitriol he hides behind. "Are you?"
Revali stares at him and does not answer.