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Link... has never actually been this far north of Rito Village before. He hasn't actually been farther north of Rito Village at all, before. He's never had a reason to. Goddesses, he hasn't had a reason to come to Rito Village at all, except when he's accompanying the Princess (who hates him) to visit Champion Revali of the Rito (who hates him more.)
This is only his second occasion visiting Rito Village, and honestly, he hadn't thought it could go much worse than his first.
He was wrong. Really, really wrong.
The first time, he'd scarcely set foot away from the Princess for two seconds before Revali came swooping in, all grandeur and glory and Revali's Gale this, good luck sealing the darkness that, and dramatically monologued at him like some overcompensating villain from a children's storybook for a few minutes before leaving, not even giving him a chance to get his own words in.
This time, though. He'd thought that maybe, just maybe, he could try actually talking to the Rito. Assuming he'd stay still long enough to read his hands, and assuming he can even understand Common Sign. A lot of assumptions that he may have been slightly too charitable in making.
Arriving at Rito Village had gone well enough. He and Zelda had left their horses at the nearby stable as planned, and it had briefly seemed like maybe, just maybe, she didn't hate him as much when she asked about his horse. But she'd stopped talking again, stiffened up again, as soon as the stablehand had come back around the corner, and hadn't so much as looked at him for the short distance from the stable to the village.
From there, the guards had waved them in, saying something about how they could find the Champion at his favored landing, they couldn’t miss it.
The guards had not mentioned that he wasn't alone. Maybe they didn't know. Maybe they did and just didn't care enough to warn the Hylian princess and her appointed knight what they'd be walking in on.
Link hadn't understood a word of it, it was all in the Rito tongue. But he had seen two Rito who looked unmistakably similar arguing with each other, and one of them was definitely Revali. Before he happened to see Link, scoffed, and took off for Goddesses-knows-where before Link could sign a word, or anyone else could speak one.
The Princess should, at least, be safe enough inside Rito Village, with any number of strong warriors keeping an eye on her.
Which means Link has absolutely no excuse to not be trudging out to the 'Flight Range' in an attempt to at least try to get Revali to hate him less. Because maybe he'll be here.
That must be it up ahead, at any rate. Link downs another elixir before the cold can fully set into his bones and continues on through the snow.
He's halfway up the slope when he sees an unmistakable blue-feathered form streak upwards into the sky. Revali doesn't seem to have noticed him yet. He's too focused on his archery, and the closer Link gets the more he can see that yeah, alright, he was NOT kidding about his skills. He doesn't even use his Gale as much as Link had thought he would, which strikes him as odd.
Revali doesn't notice him, in the end, until he's made it to the Flight Range. Until Link has stepped out onto the main platform, wondering if he should call out or just... wait.
In the end, the decision is made for him. Without any warning, Revali dives— shooting down into the depths of the Flight Range, then soaring back up to land before Link in a gust that knocks him clear off his feet.
"What are you doing here?" Revali sneers, as Link picks himself back up. "How are you even here?"
Link raises his hands to sign.
"Wait, don't tell me," Revali interrupts. "It was Hiru, wasn't it?"
He... didn't actually get the other Rito's name. Link signs, "Looked a lot like you, more red and orange feathers?"
Revali blinks, and squints at Link's hands for a long moment. Then he nods. "Of course he would send you here, after I have just made it abundantly clear that if I ever have to speak to you again, it will be too soon."
"Family?" Link guesses. "Your... father?"
"Absolutely not," Revali all but hisses, feathers bristling. "He is my brother, if you must know. Now, if you intend to ask intensely personal questions of me, you should expect to receive some in return. Are you even capable of talking without your hands?"
Link shrugs. For one thing, he's not actually sure at this point. For another, even if he was, he doesn't owe anyone an explanation, least of all the prickly Rito who took one look at him and decided to hate him.
"...I see. Too personal of a question." His words have the sound of an apology, even if an actual apology doesn't leave his beak. He coughs, and looks away. "You did not answer my first question. Why, o great darkness-sealing knight, have you deigned to grace a mere sidekick with your presence?"
"Okay, stop that," Link signs, and Revali opens his beak to protest, only to close it again at a glare from Link. "I haven't sealed any darkness with my sword yet, and I don't think you're a sidekick."
"Oh?" If he didn't know any better, he might parse Revali's expression as flattered. "Well, if you've come to acknowledge my superior skill—"
"I think you're an asshole." Link's glare intensifies. "And for the record, I don't think your skill is superior. From what I saw on the way here, I'd call us equals."
"Equals?" Revali squawks. "Have you ever even picked up a bow?"
"Have you ever picked up a sword?"
"No, but—"
"I've picked up a bow," Link signs, and he falls silent. "I'm not great at it, nowhere near as good as you are, but there are occasionally things I can't swing a sword at and a bow is really useful for that."
"Your swords are not built for Rito wings," Revali protests.
"And I'm sure your bow isn't built for Hylian hands," Link agrees. "My point is, we're both very good—at our own strengths. You can't compare a swordsman and an archer, the two of us fight in entirely different ways. And... I don't know about you, but I don't want to hate you. And I don't want you to hate me."
Revali narrows his eyes. "We are at an impasse, then."
Link sighs. "What would it take for you to not hate me?"
The Rito closes his beak. He opens it. He closes it again, looking thoughtful.
"Do you have a bow on you?" He says at last. "Of course you don't, you are the darkness-sealing swordsman. Come on."
He walks past Link, towards the interior building. Link follows him with his eyes, baffled, and his confusion certainly doesn't lessen when the Rito champion emerges holding a smaller bow, with something made of fabric and wood tucked under his wing.
"Here," Revali snaps, and suddenly the bow is shoved at Link. "Hit every target, and I'll consider it."
"...Every target," Link signs, just to be certain.
Revali nods. "Be glad that I didn't decide your challenge should be harder. I could hit every target in a single pass."
"Some of the targets are under us," Link signs.
"And?"
"And I can't fly."
"Oh? Do pardon me, I never noticed," Revali says dryly. He retrieves the wood-and-fabric bundle tucked under his wing and unfolds it. "You can borrow this. It is a mobility aid called a paraglider—Rito who lack the strength in their wings to travel long distances use it, on occasion. It will not let you travel upwards unless there is enough of an updraft. Fortunately for you, there is an updraft, which is a large part of why I requested that the Flight Range to be built here."
Link looks at the paraglider. He looks at Revali. This feels like a test of some kind.
"I'm good," he signs, and jumps off the platform.
The wind rushes through his hair, loud enough in his ears to (almost) drown out the surprised squawk Revali makes above him. As amusing as the look on Revali's face must be, he's got work to do.
He draws his bow, in a quick motion. Nocks an arrow—and the world slows down around him.
It doesn't quite slow down for long enough. He gets more than half of the targets, though, before his fall speeds up again. Well, climbing back up from the water is going to suck, but Revali hadn't exactly given him a time limit for his challenge. It'll be fine.
Except it isn't, because Link looks down.
He'd thought, based on a very, very quick glance downward as he jumped, that the Flight Range was situated above water. That said water was where the updrafts Revali mentioned came from.
The issue: that's solid rock not far beneath him. Solid rock that he is falling towards very, very fast. Probably much too fast to survive.
He wrenches his eyes shut.
...And then wrenches them back open when something distinctly feathery crashes into him from the side. It's Revali (because who else could it even be, impossible as it seems?)
It's Revali, who twists in midair so Link's on his back and says, the words deadly urgent, "Grab on. I will not be held responsible for your death, you utter buffoon, you addle-brained fool who knows even less than a chick days out of the nest, you—"
(He continues his tirade, as they soar back upwards, and does not stop once they've touched down back at the Flight Range and Revali's unceremoniously tossed Link forward, further away from the edge.)
"Thanks," Link signs, when Revali finally pauses in his rant to breathe.
Revali pauses for a lot longer, staring at him. Tersely, the Rito says, "You're welcome. You also would be dead without me. What, precisely, were you thinking?"
"Thought there was water down there."
"Congratulations," Revali mutters, looking anything but congratulatory. "You have managed to render me speechless twice in the span of perhaps an hour."
"You're doing a lot of talking for someone rendered speechless," Link signs. "Anyway, I still need to—"
"No. Absolutely not. Not when you have displayed such a flagrant disregard for basic flight safety. The first thing that any Rito chick learns is this: don't jump off something, if you don't have a way back up. Even chicks, however, are capable of gliding on instinct, and therefore don't have to worry about hitting the ground as hard as you were about to. Why didn't you take the paraglider?"
"I thought it was a test."
"A test that you have failed," Revali scoffs. "You think that I would think less of you for using a mobility aid?"
Link gulps.
"...You do," Revali says, suddenly quiet. "I will put this in the simplest terms possible, so that even you can understand. I would not have offered it, Link, had I not intended for you to use it. And I will not have you dying on my watch. I would never be able to prove myself better than you, then."
He nods, slowly, and takes the paraglider. It's only when his boots are on the edge of the platform that he realizes what was so odd about what Revali said. His brow furrows, and he looks back at the Rito Champion, and he signs, "You called me by my name."
"Did I?" Revali says, and shoves him off the platform.
(Weirdly, after he has managed to hit all the targets, Revali accompanies him back to Rito Village the slow way, claiming that it's to keep him from falling off anything else. Even weirder, when Link and the Princess make to return to the castle, he finds the paraglider in his saddlebags.)
(Revali carefully denies any knowledge of it, the next time he sees him. But he knows.)