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A Rito Is No Good At Romance

Summary:

Revali had been chosen to pilot a gigantic mechanical bird in the name of Hyrule. While he prepares himself to fight for the protection of Hyrule he couldn't help but grow to loathe the destined Hero, Link. However as time passes and (as Revali is somewhat forced to spend time with Link) those feelings change to something less like hatred and something more...loving.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Chapter 1: Pilots For Hire

Chapter Text

Being a Rito Warrior meant Revali had to go through merciless training regularly. He had to train not only his body to endure freezing cold temperatures far more extreme than the "stay at home" Rito could handle, but he also had to train his mind. Being a Rito Warrior meant that he would have to spend many lonely days doing nothing but spending his hours at the Flight Range shooting arrows at targets to make sure his perfect aim remained perfect. Being a Rito Warrior meant that he would train like there was a threat to the village and the only one who could stop it was him. Being a Rito Warrior meant he would protect his people for whatever the cost.

Yet despite all these things, Revali was being summoned by his village's elder to return at once. Revali shot a glare at the poor Rito who was sent to inform Revali that Kaneli needed him back. Sure, it wasn't the guy's fault but Revali was going to be mad at him anyway.

"Did the Elder at least explain what he needed me for?" The Rito Warrior asked in a rather annoyed tone as he secured his bow on his back.

"No, but I did see two Hylians with him. One of them was the Princess. Zelda is her name, I believe. The other...I don't know. He looked like some sort of soldier." Revali grunted and muttered a thank you before he extended his wings and flew off into the sky, heading back to the Rito Village. He flew a bit slower than his normal speed, he just wasn't in the mood to be interrupted in the middle of training for some kind of meeting with the Elder and supposedly the Princess of Hyrule. He supposed it was kind of an honor though, whatever it may be.

Revali landed gracefully on the platform and looked over to the Elder's home. He could already see the Princess in her royal blue gown and some other fellow who definitely did look like a solider. Now Revali was really wondering what was going on. He sighed and prepared himself mentally before he began walking to the Elder's room.

"Ah, what wonderful timing!" Kaneli smiled and gestured to Revali as he walked in. "I was just boasting about you my boy! Come! Allow me to introduce you!" Revali nodded stiffly as he silently stood besides Kaneli and faced the two Hylians. "Princess Zelda, meet Revali. A fine Warrior- the best there is!- and the most skilled archer in all of the Rito! His skills are most definitely something you'll need! He can create updrafts of air to boost his flying you know, something no other Rito can do!" Princess Zelda smiled and shook Revali's hand.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Revali." Revali smiled politely and knelt down, bowing his head in respect. "As you know I am Princess Zelda. This here is my appointed knight, Link." Link nodded at the Rito warrior. "He's a very gifted fighter and a master with the sword."

"Pleasure to meet the two of you. Now I don't mean to seem rude but may I ask what I was called in for?" Kaneli laughed again and patted Revali's back.

"For a job! A wonderful opportunity for you to show off your amazing skills!" Revali raised an eyebrow questioningly. "These two have come to seek out the bravest, most skillful warriors in all the land! They've asked me handpick one of my finest warriors and I have chosen you." Revali nodded and was about to speak before Zelda spoke again.

"I'm not sure if you know this but my father has tasked the Sheikah tribe to find things on our ancestors regarding the ancient evil that forever torments our kingdom. We have found four mechanical creatures in each corner of our country and we're currently excavating smaller machines. Of the four creatures we found one in the Hebra region. Our scientists have discovered that this one is called Vah Medoh, one of four Divine Beasts." Zelda turned to Link and held out her hand, Link nodded and un-clipped a thin tablet with the Sheikah eye on it and placed it on her hand. Zelda turned the tablet on and showed Revali a picture of the Divine Beast that was displayed on the screen. "Vah Medoh is obviously a bird. With the information we have so far we know that this Beast can actually fly. We need a pilot for Vah Medoh to help us defeat the evil we know is quickly approaching and I was hoping you would accept the position."

Well now this certainly was flattering. The Princess of Hyrule was coming to Revali for help to pilot a piece of ancient technology crucial to Hyrule's safety. Revali knew that that wasn't the way to think of this situation but he just couldn't help it. He loved when people sought him out to acknowledge his skills in some way.

"Of course I will do it. It would be my honor to pilot Vah Medoh and help protect Hyrule as well as my village." The Princess smiled and did a small bow.

"Thank you, thank you so much. Now I'd like to run some things by you. First of which is that since you are the first of four pilots you have to accompany Link and I on the rest of our journey to find the next four. Second, once all four pilots are chosen my father has proclaimed that we all must train together. That will come later though so we don't have to dwell on that too much. Lastly, Link here is...well he is the most crucial part of our plan. While he is highly advanced in sword fighting he will need help in his archery. Since you are the most skilled archer there is you and he will have to train one-on-one for a while. But don't worry, he will be training in other areas as well. We just need him to be highly advanced with all sorts of weapons. I hope this isn't too much all at once."

"No no, not at all." Revali waved the worry away, smiling pleasantly. However on the inside he was squinting his eyes and staring at Link. What could be so special about this boy that learning every kind of weapon there is was a necessity? "I shall head to my home and pack some things then we can be on our way." The Princess nodded and walked off, her knight obediently following her. 

"Ohoho, Revali I'm glad you took the position. I have to say I was a bit unsure if you would."

"That's insulting. Of course I'd take the position to pilot a so-called Divine Beast. Better me than someone less capable." The Rito Warrior mumbled that last part as he began walking out of the Elder's home. He sighed and walked over to the nearby landing, flying up into the air and onto one of the rock pillars close to the Village. Revali liked the solitude of having his home a bit separated from the rest of the village, that and he enjoyed how the morning sun made the village look as beautiful as ever. 

Revali packed up some belongings in a bag that he mostly used when he went out into the Hebra mountains. He didn't have much to pack, just the necessities. Some scarves and extra pieces of armor along with a book or two and some necessary items to care for his beloved bow. With everything packed Revali slung the bag over his shoulder and flew right back to the Elder to say one last goodbye.

"Revali," Kaneli sighed as he proudly gazed down at the Rito Warrior, "I have watched you grow from a young boy barely learning to fly to a very skillful warrior. You have protected our people from countless enemies and proven your worth time and time again. I very proud of you." Revali smiled and bowed his head. "For your trip I have taken it upon myself to give you a small amount of rupees." Kaneli handed him a small pouch that was quite heavy. Revali opened it up to find that there was mostly gold and silver rupees inside. "Now I know it isn't much but I don't want you running out of supplies anytime soon." The Elder stood up slowly and gave Revali a hug. Revali reluctantly hugged him back (physical affection wasn't his thing but he never knew when he'd see Kaneli next). Kaneli let Revali go and told him once more how proud he was before the Rito Warrior and future hero of Hyrule left. 

The Princess and her knight were waiting by the stable. The knight- Link- was with tending to the horses attached to a carriage. Revali landed besides him. The smile put on Link's face by the presence of the horses vanished once Revali made his own presence known. Link nodded at the Rito Warrior, gave a horse one last pat before he turned to Revali and bowed his head.

"Don't let me stop you from tending to your pets." Revali muttered as turned back to look at the Rito Village. "Tell me Link, what's your role in all of this? Do you pilot a Divine Beast as well?" Link shook his head. "Oh, then what is it you do?" Link said nothing but he looked rather uncomfortable. Revali was about to open his beak and say something a bit rude about Link's silence when the Princess returned. 

"Sorry about the wait, I was asking for the quickest route to Zora's Domain. Hopefully King Dorephan has chosen someone already." Link helped Zelda into the Royal Carriage and held the door open for Revali who seemed unsure if he was exactly allowed in. "It's fine, Link is...Link will be fine out there, it is his job after all. Besides I have plenty of guards as well. This is your moment of relaxation before we begin our preparations." Revali nodded and stepped in, sitting a good distance away from Zelda. Link waited until the two were settled before he prompted the horses to begin walking.

There was silence between the two in the carriage. Revali didn't exactly know what to say or do really. He's never really had the opportunity to talk to Hyrule Royalty before and he wasn't the best at socializing either... Reavli sighed and looked around, he caught a glimpse at blond hair and a light blue earring. He found his topic.

"That boy, your knight, what is he?" Zelda tensed up at looked down at her hands. 

"He's the knight my father appointed to protect me. According to prophecies he is an important part of our plan to seal the darkness. I'd rather not explain too much of what he does right now, it'll be easier once we gather the others." Revali nodded. "...But I can...say certain things...for one...he doesn't talk as much as he did before. In fact he never talks. I don't know why but it's been frustrating. Communication is kind of important and not everyone understands sign language but whatever." Well that explained his silence from before. "He's been training nearly all his life to be a knight like his father. When he...proved himself to be something special my father assigned him to protect me as well as...other things. He lived out in Hateno Village but would constantly make a journey to Zora's Domain. His family owned a small farm of cows and has always had a love of animals."

"That seems rather personal information, Princess." 

"Yes well when someone as important as Link comes around we needed to know as much of him as possible." Revali nodded but that didn't stop him from believing that everything the Princess knew was a little creepy. 

The rest of the trip was spent mostly in silence. The two attempted to make small talk; talking about Revali's life, how he became a Rito Warrior, his daily training, his interests, etc. None of those conversations lasted too long. Finally after what felt like weeks they reached a point in their path where the horses could no longer pull the carriage along the path. They had to travel to Zora's Domain by foot. Not even five minutes of walking passed and Revali offered to carry the Princess on her back and and fly her straight to the Domain. She accepted the offer and Link had to take one of his many shortcuts to the Domain. 

When they arrived they were greeted by the young Zora Prince who was no older than seven. Surprisingly enough Link had beaten Revali and the young Prince tore his attention away from Link and whatever frog he caught on the way over to tell the Princess hello. Zelda smiled and asked the Zora Prince (Revali later learned his name to be Sidon) to please show her where his father was. Sidon happily took her hand and led the way. Revali and Link followed behind her.

"I'm impressed with how fast you made it here, Link." Revali mumbled, keeping his eyes straight. "I didn't expect you to get here so soon. There's nothing but mountains around here and I didn't see you climbing anything. How did you manage to get here?" Link shrugged and quickened his pace. Well so much for Revali trying to make some kind of effort to talk to him.

This meeting with the Zora went much like the meeting with the Rito. The King announced the one chosen to pilot the next Divine Beast, Vah Ruta, and then introductions were made. The chosen pilot was Princess Mipha. King Dorephan gloated of how much she was an expert in spear fighting and how her gift of healing would most definitely be something of use to them. Mipha already had her belongings, all that was left was the goodbyes. Mipha hugged both her brother and her father warmly, her brother being the more emotional one in this situation. Once Mipha let go and began walking over to the other three the young Zora Prince ran in front of her and hugged Link's leg. By now it was quite obvious to Revali that Link did in fact spend a lot of time here. With everything said and done the four of them went down the path and back to the carriage, they all climbed in and off they went to Gerudo Town in search of their next pilot.

Mipha seemed nice. Though Revali didn't deem her to be someone worthy to be fighting for Hyrule. She seemed too...quiet. She kept her voice low and it almost always sounded like she didn't want to upset anyone. She spoke only when directly spoken to and just didn't seem like much of a warrior. Then again she was classified as an expert fighter. Perhaps she was a monster out on the battlefield with her spear in hand. Revali decided he wouldn't try to judge her (or further his judgement) until he saw her put that Lightscale Trident to use.

When they finally arrived to a stable near the Gerudo Desert everyone was too tired to even consider crossing the desert. Zelda agreed to stay at the stable, she needed a good night's rest on a bed and not sitting up in a moving carriage. The kind stable workers allowed them to rest for free, Zelda accepted but Link knew how hard it was to tend to animals so he slipped them a silver rupee. The two Princesses fell asleep almost immediately. Revali was going to sleep but he noticed someone wasn't in any of the beds.

Link was outside with the horses, as expected. He sat on a wooden box and wrote in what appeared to be a journal. The only light he had to write with was that of a fire a good five feet away. When Revali found him like this he was kind of surprised. The Rito walked over and simply stood in front of Link. Link closed his journal, tucked it away in sack strapped onto a horse, and waved to Revali.

"What is it you're doing out here?" Link made some incredibly confusing hand signals that Revali only assumed to be sign language. "I don't speak or understand that." Link then took out another book and began writing in that. He lifted it up and read it aloud. "Protecting Zelda? We're in the middle of nowhere. Who will harm her?" He wrote in it again and lifted up the book. "It's my job to protect her from anything, even if there is no danger. Hm, well carry on I suppose." Link nodded and closed the book and turned to the horse. Revali didn't move. Link ignored him.

"Right, well. Have a goodnight." Revali muttered as Link nodded. That conversation was a complete disaster and he was quite sure he had just embarrassed himself. Great. Revali sat down in his bed and sighed looking outside. In a few hours he'd have to wake up and begin his journey across the desert to Gerudo Town. He thought of how nice it would be to fall asleep right now, covered in blankets and their warmth. But it was just that, a thought. He didn't get any sleep that night and when the sun rose and the new day began he was as tired as ever.

They managed to make it to the Kara Kara Bazar without anyone dying of heat stroke. Zelda insisted on stopping, Mipha needed to re-hydrate and Zelda had to take a bath and change into another dress. Revali didn't mind the break, it would be nice to get  out of this heat and have a nice meal. The rest and relaxation only lasted a couple hours but Revali more energized than before. Before long they stopped in front of Gerudo Town. 

The Gerudo Chief, Urbosa, walked out. Zelda explained that she was there for the next pilot of Divine Beast Vah Naboris. Urbosa wasted no time in announcing that she would do it herself. Zelda was shocked to say in the least. Urbosa let Zelda try to convince her to stay and assign someone else- perhaps a warrior? A soldier?- but Urbosa explained that her duty as Chief was to protect her people and helping fend off evil was the best way to do so, besides, her lightning abilities could work wonders for the team. The Gerudo Chief assigned a younger Gerudo (who Revali assumed to be Urbosa's daughter but he wasn't too sure) to manage to their people while she was away. Urbosa invited both Mipha and Zelda into the town but Link and Revali had to stay out due to their "no voe law". 

The two of them were left alone yet again and Revali was beginning to feel like this would happen a lot. They were silent for a long time, Revali was, of course, the one to break this awkwardness. 

"Will you ever talk? It's getting to be rather annoying to be the only one attempting to talk." Link looked over at Revali and grinned. Much to Revali's annoyance Link took out his book, scribbled in it and showed his answer off to Revali. 

"Not in a hundred years." 

The Rito rolled his eyes and decided to ignore the Hylian for the rest of his time there. 

A good hour later and the three came out of Gerudo Town. Urbosa properly introduced herself to both Revali and Link and with that they all ventured back to the Gerudo Canyon Stable. 

Their next stop was Goron City. No one was looking forward to that meeting, especially not Mipha. Once they reached the Foothill stable Mipha tested the fireproof elixir on herself (her being a Zora meant that any sort of small contact with extreme heat like that of Death Mountain's would most likely fry her) but sadly it didn't seem to work. Urbosa suggested having a traveling Goron fetch the Goron Boss and his chosen pilot, Zelda thought that to be unprofessional but she agreed.

They waited for a few hours at the stable, it was around dusk when the traveler returned with another Goron. This new Goron introduced himself to be Daruk, The Goron Boss. He had chosen himself to be the pilot of the next Divine Beast, Vah Rudania. His reasoning for this was similar to that of Urbosa's, he wanted to protect his people and all of Hyrule. He also mentioned he had some sort of protection power. Zelda didn't argue with Daruk but silently hoped he placed someone capable in charge of the Gorons while he was absent. 

Now that all pilots were chosen Zelda made the announcement that it was time to stop by one more place before returning to the castle. She looked over to Link and he nodded, preparing the horses for the trip. As they climbed into the carriage Mipha asked where they were heading. With a sigh, Zelda spoke. 

"The Lost Woods where the sword of legend- The Master Sword- lays deep in the heart of it. We're going so Link can...begin his duty of becoming the ancient hero of Hyrule."