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annachu-cannot-write · 10 months

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Finding our Way Back

[published on archive 5/3 2023]

[a loz botw fanfic, link/revali, 3474 words]

We loved each other And we lost each other But we found our way back

Revali was flying over the snowy Hebra mountains, patrolling the area. Something that wasn't actually a duty as a Champion, but something that he liked to do when he had time.

Usually on his nighttime flights, he spotted camps filled with either Bokoblins or Lizalfos. Those monsters were easy to get rid of with just a couple of arrows, but they would always come back, making patrolling the mountains more or less pointless. But it was at least something to keep Revali busy with.

On this particular snowy night however, it wasn't a Bokoblin or a Lizalfos that caught the Rito's eye, but something much smaller. On the white, glistening surface of the snow covered hill lay a little figure motionless.

Revali immediately changed course and dove down to inspect what it could be.

Reaching closer to the small figure in the snow, Revali saw that it was a Hylian boy. But not any Hylian boy. It was Link.

Taken aback by the sight, it took the Rito a minute before he decided to pick up the young boy.

With a firm grip around the small figure, Revali started to flap his wings profusely, then shot up into the sky.

Stopping at the landing in Rito village, he adjusted his grip on Link so that his wings were now under the boy's knees and back, and started heading towards the inn.

As Revali walked down the wooden staircases, a couple of passing Ritos stopped to look at him.

"Is that Link you're carrying?"

"What ever happened?"

But Revali ignored them, his gaze only pointed forwards.

Upon reaching the inn, Cecili, the innkeeper, briskly walked up to the other Rito, a concerned look on her face.

"Oh my, quickly lay him down here."

Cecili, was indeed, used to getting weary travellers to her inn; those who hadn't dressed properly for the cold weather, or those who simply hadn't eaten enough and had worn themselves out, but none had come in looking quite as rough as Link had.

And Revali usually wasn't the one to bring them in.

"May I know what happened?" Cecili asked after she had tucked Link under several thick Rito blankets.

Revali just looked at her first but with a sigh, answered the question.

"I found him unconscious up in the Hebra mountains. Seems like the boy doesn't care for his own life… Such recklessness."

He muttered the last bit, turning to leave.

"You mustn't talk about the poor boy like that."

"Poor boy?"

With a scoff, Revali left the inn and Cecili sighed as she watched him leave.

Link stirred in the bed he was lying in, groaning as he felt how his body ached with every movement. He couldn't remember what he had done to be hurting this much. But it must have been something.

Little by little, he noticed that he was lying in bed, but he couldn't remember lying in bed either.

Where was he?

Slowly opening his eyes he realised, as he took everything in, that he was in fact in the Rito village inn.

He certainly couldn't remember going to the inn.

It must have been one hell of a blow to the head.

With as much strength he could muster, Link tried to pull himself up, only to fall back onto his pillow. He let out a frustrated groan, and tried again.

"Link! You're awake - oh you really shouldn't be getting up. You need all the rest you can get… though you also need to eat something, you must be so weak right now."

Cecili hurried out of the inn, and Link tried a third time to sit up straight but eventually just gave in.

Shortly after, Cecili came back with a steaming bowl of soup and sat it down on the shared table.

Walking over to Link, she wrapped one wing around the Hylians back and pulled him up.

"Here, we'll set you down on a chair so you can have some food."

Link sat down on the little stool and looked at the bowl of soup in front of him. He could definitely feel how hungry he was now.

"Dig in and you'll feel better in no time!"

Cecili gave Link a smile before returning to her desk.

The soup did indeed make Link feel better, almost instantly upon taking the first spoonful. It was almost as if the ache in his body completely vanished.

Soup had never tasted this good.

"Oh by the way, it was Revali who brought you here… Thought you wanted to know."

Link stopped at that, brought his spoon down from his mouth, and stared forwards.

That came as a surprise to him. It just wasn't the thing Revali would do.

Just as his brain started to come up with different possibilities as to why Revali had done such a thing, something caught his attention. Or rather someone.

Who else but Revali was walking by right outside the inn just in that moment.

Where was he heading?

Link wanted to shout out to him, but Revali was already down the next staircase.

He pushed away his bowl and made to get up when Cecili shouted at him.

"Where do you think you're going? I said to eat your soup, not run away."

Link turned to stare at her.

"Just stay one more night, alright? Then you can go find him."

Sighing, he headed back to his bed, the soup abandoned on the table.

Link was awake enough to hear the creaking of the floorboards, the loud thump and the squawk that followed it.

Pretending to be fully asleep, he stayed still and kept his eyes shut.

He couldn't hear anything after that and wondered if, whoever had entered the inn, had already left. Then he heard a small scraping sound, as what he imagined was one of the stools being dragged on the floor. And the sound was coming towards him.

At this point, Link debated whether or not to open his eyes and check who it was. He didn't like being crept up on.

But whatever decision he was going to make was cut short by a soft voice calling out.

"Link, you absolute fool."

It was Revali.

With all his might, Link fought the urge to open his eyes, wrap his arms around the Rito and thank him for saving him.

But instead, he stayed still on his back, his eyes closed.

"What were you thinking?"

"Don't you have any self-preservation at all?"

Even though this was the softest Link had ever heard Revali's voice to be, there was still an undertone of the characteristic sneer.

"Making me carry you like you're some helpless little creature."

There was a scoff with that one.

"Don't think I wanted to… but I couldn't exactly leave you there, you would have died."

There was silence after that and Link thought that he must have left. Though he hadn't heard any creaking floorboards.

Suddenly, he felt something soft touch his face. He fought, yet again, the instinct to open his eyes because he didn't want the Rito to know that he had been awake this whole time.

"Link…"

He could hear Revali sigh as Link continued to feel soft feathers on his face and he realised that the Rito must be stroking his cheek.

Link didn't know what had gone into Revali. The Rito was never easy to deal with, making it difficult to even have a conversation with. Always thinking he was superior to everyone else and boasting about himself every time he opened his beak. But yet here he was, talking in a soft tone, stroking Link's cheek.

But Link wasn't complaining.

Though he knew that this wasn't going to last. Surely, Revali only did this because he was alone and thought Link was sleeping. He would never show this side to him otherwise.

That little thought grew on Link's mind more than he wanted to admit.

Eventually, he fell asleep and whether or not the Rito was still there beside him, he wouldn't know.

When Link woke up the next time, it was already noon. Cecili wasn't tending to her desk and Link saw this as the perfect opportunity to get away from the inn. He had already stayed there long enough.

Getting to his feet, he realised that his body still ached, but pushed the pain aside and with a grimace finally stepped out of the inn.

He made sure that no one saw him as he wandered up the multiple staircases, up to the little hut that was Revali's house. It was thankfully an easy task as no Ritos were nearby. Though there was no Rito in Revali's hut either.

He must be at the Flight Range.

Using his Sheikah Slate, he found the shrine he was looking for and teleported himself.

Only seconds later, Link was standing at Sha Warvo and snow hit him hard in the face.

Pulling the furry collar of his shirt up closer to his face, he started heading towards the Flight Range.

He knew he was getting closer when he could see tiny little lights up ahead, coming from the wooden hut.

He tried to look out over the range to see if he could spot the Rito he was looking for, but the snow blizzard made it nearly impossible to see anything.

Link could only hope that Revali was in the hut.

Climbing the ladder proved to be much more difficult than it usually was. With each step, Link's body protested. But Link was tired of the pain, and just pushed through it anyway.

Finally up in the hut he could see, to his surprise, that Revali wasn't sitting by the fire either.

With a sigh, Link sat down on one of the pillows and started to warm himself up. He figured that he might as well stay here and wait for the Rito.

And wouldn't you know it, almost immediately, a gust of wind blew in over the hut and Link could see a figure descending.

Just then, Revali landed on the small platform, flapping his wings to dust off all the snow.

His eyes shot immediately to Link's.

"What are you doing here?"

He turned his gaze away from the other boy, and set down his bow and arrow.

Link, however, continued to look at Revali, and decided to ignore his question.

"Were you out there training in this weather?"

Revali sneered.

"The weather stops for no one. As a champion I should be able to tackle any challenge."

Then he looked up and met Link's eyes again.

"As should the Hero of Hyrule."

"To think that a simple little blizzard could be the end of you -tsk tsk tsk- how pathetic."

"Maybe next time, you shouldn't be out in the mountains when you can't even handle it."

Then it hit him. A wave of memories.

He was up in the snowy mountains, traversing the snowy landscape, when suddenly he got ambushed by a Lizalfos. With one blow from their sword, he was sent down the mountain, his body repeatedly hitting the rock wall.

No wonder he blacked out for such a long time. And no wonder his body still ached.

"Thank you."

"For whatever reason?"

"For saving me."

Revali looked at Link again, squinting his eyes a bit.

"You would have died up there if it wasn't for me."

"I know, and that's why I'm thanking you."

"What were you doing up there anyway? You should know that the mountains are dangerous."

"I was just exploring."

Revali let out a loud HAH.

"Exploring?”

Link shrugged and looked away. Quietly he then asked:

"Why do you care?"

The Rito sighed in frustration.

"What was that?"

"I said, why do you care?"

Link looked up, and met Revali's gaze.

"Why should you care if I die on a mountain?"

The Rito scoffed loudly.

"Oh don't be ridiculous! We can't have the Hero of Hyrule rot away on some lonely mountain when there's a war to be won."

Link, admittedly, felt a tinge of disappointment from that answer.

But what had he expected? It's not like Revali saved him for selfish reasons.

The Hero of Hyrule.

That's why he saved him.

But that couldn't be all that Revali thought of him as, could it?

Link tried not to show the sadness that had washed over him, instead he rose to his feet.

"I think I'm going to head off…"

He didn't want to actually. He hoped for nothing else but Revali to soften up and be open with him, but this conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"... Seeing as I'm a bother to you."

"And why do you think you're a bother to me?"

Link could feel the Rito's gaze burn a hole in his back.

"You don't need to say it with words, your body language speaks loud enough."

With that, he jumped down the ladder, ignoring how pain shot through his body, and ignoring the Rito that was still in the hut.

Yellow butterflies circled over him where he lay in the tall green grass. Flowers of white surrounded him, giving off a wonderful scent. A croak from a frog could be heard not far away.

Link was back at the Great Plateau, a place he found comfort in. In a way, it felt safe, like it was far away from everything else.

He would often come here when he wanted to clear his mind, and this time was no different.

A week had passed since his and Revali's conversation at the Flight Range and he could still not get the Rito's words out of his head.

The Hero of Hyrule.

It wasn't like he had never been called that before, he just didn't like the fact that Revali called him that.

Was that really all he saw him as?

Link sighed heavily and brought up his hand to cover the sun.

This one little thing had grown so strong in Link's mind and troubled him so much.

How was he supposed to be focused on the task ahead of him, of aiding Princess Zelda in the fight against Calamity Ganon, when all he could think about was his stupid feelings for a certain Rito Champion?

…

Feelings… He had feelings for Revali.

Then suddenly, with a force so strong, Link felt a jolt of pain from inside of him. A pain that had been there ever since he woke up on this very plateau all those months ago, but he had always tried to push away. But never before had it hurt this much. In this moment it was unbearable.

He grasped his shirt, right over his heart, and clutched his hand so hard because he was hurting so very much.

Just then, another jolt of pain shot through his head, causing him to scream out in agony.

… And then all the pain he was feeling disappeared and all he could see was flashing images. A memory of old revealing itself. And he understood.

… He had to go find Revali.

Enlightened with a newfound memory, Link was back at the Flight Range, sitting by the fire yet again.

Revali was nowhere to be seen, however Link knew he would turn up eventually and so he waited patiently.

An hour passed and there was still no sign of the Rito. The sky had grown dark and it was getting colder and colder. Link nuzzled closer to the fire, trying to stay as warm as he could. In his mind, he went through all the things he wanted to say to Revali. He had decided it was best to just spill everything, spill his whole heart if he had to. Anything to get the Rito to understand, anything to get him to remember.

…

Realisation dawned on him as he noticed that it had gotten brighter inside of the hut - he had fallen asleep whilst waiting for Revali.

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up from the uncomfortable position he had been in and immediately met the eyes of that exact Rito.

Revali was sitting down next to him, leaning against the wall.

"Did you sleep well?"

Link blinked.

"What?"

The Rito sighed.

"I found you fast asleep when I came back late last night. I thought it would be best to let you sleep."

Link blinked again. Then he remembered why he was here.

"I actually wanted to talk to you."

Revali nodded.

"We should talk, shouldn't we?"

Then he stood up, walked over to the little landing and extended his wing towards Link.

"There's a place with a good view of the sunrise - I can take us there if you want?"

Link stared at him for a second, to try and register what he had just heard.

Then he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

"I'd like that."

And so Link walked over to Revali and let himself be wrapped inside of the others wings, the smile on his face only growing wider.

Revali came to a halt right next to Vah Medoh, on the highest peak in Rito Village.

He carefully put Link down and drew back his wings. He then walked over to the very edge of the cliff formation, looking out over the soft orange sky in front of them.

"The sunrise has always been my favourite. The stillness of it. How peaceful and quiet it is."

He turned his head to look back at Link.

A look on his face that the Hylian couldn't quite read.

"I usually don't share it with anyone."

Link fought with all his might not to break down then and there.

Revali coughed and looked away from him.

"Anyway, you wanted to talk to me?"

Link took a deep breath, steadying himself, and went to sit down on the rock so that his legs were dangling off the edge. He patted the ground next to him and looked up at the Rito.

Revali scoffed lightly, but sat down nonetheless.

Summoning his confidence, Link uttered the words he had been so afraid of.

"The moment I woke up at the Shrine of Resurrection, I had this strange pain inside of me. Something strong that I couldn't really understand. In a way, I felt like it was something that had been there since before I died.

When I saw you for the first time since coming back, that pain only grew stronger. It was as if I was longing for something that I used to have. I kept pushing it away, telling myself that it didn't mean anything.

And it was not until recently that I understood the pain I was feeling.

…We loved each other.

…And we lost each other."

He choked out the last words, his eyes filled with tears.

Revali softly placed his wing under Link's chin, and lifted it up, a sad smile on his face.

"But we found our way back."

Link could only stare back at Revali, tears now streaming down his face.

Sobbing out the words, he responded:

"Did you know?"

"I had my suspicions, yes. But it didn't fully occur to me either until very recently."

"Then… all this pain - have you felt it too?"

Revali turned away from Link, and looked down.

"Yes -"

Then he let out a dry chuckle.

"- But I was so determined to push it away that I didn't stop for even a second to think about what it could actually mean.

… But now I know."

Revali turned to face the Hylian again.

"And I'm happy I do."

Link, now crying violently, threw himself over the Rito in such a speed it almost toppled them both over to the side.

But Revali steadied them with his wings, making sure they didn't both fall off the edge.

They stayed like that for a while, just holding each other, neither of them letting go.

"I'm sorry."

Link's words came out muffled from where he had his face buried in the Rito's neck.

"What could you possibly be sorry for?"

"For leaving you back then."

Revali grabbed Link's shoulders and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Link, what happened is not your fault. Neither of us could have done anything."

Link frowned, his eyes still filled with tears.

"That's not true. I could've done something to prevent it, I should have done something, anything."

"Link - beating yourself up over it won't change anything, what happened, happened."

Revali gave him a soft, sad smile, and then leaned in, touching Link's forehead with his. Link brought up his hands to cup them around the Rito's face.

"It's okay."

…

The orange sky gleamed in the distance, slowly melting into yellows and blues as the sun rose higher.

On the very top of Rito Village, sat a Hero and a Champion.

For the first time in a century, they were both happy.

#fanfic #loz botw #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #link/revali #link #revali #archive of our own #ao3 writer

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