Chapter Text
Once upon a time, there was a Rito warrior named Revali. Everyone knows about Revali the Rito Champion and Revali the prodigy. But there was more to the Rito warrior outside of his titles and fame. There was his relationships with the other champions and his relationships with his fellow Rito, but who was he outside of it all? Who was Revali the Rito before becoming the champion of the Rito? Who was he before he became that famous child prodigy idolized by so many?
Revali was an orphan.
Revali was the son of two Rito warriors. He was an only child, a rarity among Rito. He did have a sibling but they died soon after they had hatched. They were laid at the same time, but they were not twins as they did not share an egg. The loss of his sibling shook his family to the core despite the fact little Revali was too little to understand the depth of his family’s loss at the time. Little did his family know that would be the beginning of the end of their familial unit.
First was the sudden death of his mother which left his father alone as a single parent. Revali was barely two.
“—be better”
That was the only part of the sentence Revali heard. The full phrase was ‘I promise I’ll be better’, a vow to do his best for his child. He was all his son had left after all. He needed to be a better warrior and a better father. He couldn’t afford to slack off in any way. Little did he know how much his words would impact the tiny Revali.
The family of two only lasted for a year before tragedy struck again. This time it tore little Revali’s father away, leaving the child all alone. The poor chick was only three years old. The days passed by and the Revali’s loneliness only increased. His parents had siblings that came by to check on him but that wasn’t the same. It didn’t do anything for his loneliness or the grief that had infected the house itself like a disease. That grief continued to spread and grow. It had become unbearable, a malignant shadow that loomed over the house and tormented the sole occupant within.
Until one day, the child left. Little Revali ran away from the house, unable to live there any longer. The house itself was too painful to be in, twisted by the shadows of grief and loneliness. He did not know where he was going, all he knew is that he couldn’t stay in that house anymore. He could never stay there again. Only the shadows of mourning and grief live in that house now, and they make for poor roommates. He didn’t want to go to his uncles or aunts, they were reminders of what he had lost. Revali didn’t have anyone outside of those aunts and uncles and that made his heart hurt worse. And if he went to anyone else in the city, they’d either take him to one of his aunts or uncles or return him to that shadow of a house. So he kept going and going. Before he knew it, he had left the city behind. Little Revali did not know where he was going, but the further away he was from that house the better.
Little Revali had no idea how long he was running for. His mind said he needed to get away from there and he did just that. He didn’t have a destination in his head when he left and that moment of panic had left him lost. But despite being lost, the place seemed familiar to the chick. Revali sat down and examined his environment a little better. He remembered visiting a place that looked like this with his mother before. She had taken him here to meet a big bird, a friend of hers.
The thought of his mother brought tears to his face. He lost her too. He lost his mom and dad. What kind of child manages to lose both of their parents? Not only them, but his little brother too. Gone forever. It wasn’t unusual to lose a parent but it was rare to lose both parents and in such a short amount of time. It was also rare to be an only child. He was a lonely little statistical anomaly and all he could do was cry.
So Revali cried. He cried for his mother. He cried for his father. He cried for the little sibling that left this world too soon. He also cried for himself and his circumstances. He did not understand why he cried for himself but he did. He wanted to disappear but at the same time he didn’t want to be alone anymore.
It took him a moment to notice the large silver bird shape in front of him. How long had the big bird shape been there? Little Revali wanted to cover his face with his wings, to hide away from the strange silver feathered bird. Though he couldn’t see clearly through his tears, the shape and colors seemed familiar to the chick. Did he know this large bird shape? He wasn’t sure but that didn’t stop him from stumbling towards the large bird shape for some sort of comfort.
The oldest loftwing had heard the news of his friend and her husband dying. He had many friends come and go, live and die over the years. That came with being never-aging or immortality as others called it. He assumed that his friend’s chick would be cared for by his parents’ siblings, one of them would surely take the little one in. The never-aging loftwing did not expect to see the little one out here by himself. Where were the child’s relatives! They’re supposed to be caring for the chick!
The oldest loftwing swallowed his anger at the ones who were meant to be caring for this child. It would not do to let himself get angry in front of a distressed and crying child. He sat in front of the child, a foot or two away. He was about to stand to approach the little one, only for the crying chick to stand up and approach him instead. The small child snuggled against him, tiny wing-arms gripped his feathers in a tiny hug.
He wanted to ask what was wrong, where were his caretakers but he did not ask those things. He already knew what was wrong, he had met this chick before. He knew the child’s mother and the fate of both of the child’s parents. The child was an orphan.
The oldest loftwing could not take the child back to their relatives in Spiral City. Look at what had occurred under their watch. The boy had managed to leave the city alone and managed to wander all the way out here. Didn’t they know that a grieving child should be monitored closely? Birds need their flock, that went double for young chicks and double for those who were grieving.
This child was alone during a very vulnerable period in their life. The child should have not been alone like this. The loftwing had made up its mind, he was going to be this child’s flock. This child needed a caretaker and he was able and willing. The loftwing had helped raise plenty of orphans in the past, so it wasn’t like he was going in blind. The child’s readiness to trust him cemented his resolve further. He was this child’s caretaker now and nothing would change that.