Revali was quite firm in his belief that Rito Village was the best place to enjoy mornings.
The way the sunlight reflected on the snow turned both dusk and dawn into beautiful sights. The scent of the trees in the crisp air made one feel refreshed. The music played on various instruments and songs sung by various Rito could cause anyone to feel at peace. It was a pleasant way to wake up every morning. Revali woke with the sun, as his rigorous training schedule demanded. But he always felt the mornings were rewarding in their own way. When he returned from the Flight Range after his morning run, it was to the colorful sights of his village as everyone carried on their duties.
This morning was different, however. His typical morning ritual was disrupted by a visit from the Elder. While Revali would admit that he owed the Elder a lot (the old bird and his wife was the closest thing Revali had to parents), he was not pleased by his appearance. Apparently, the princess and her insufferable little knight would be visiting Rito village once again, to record Revali's progress in the mastery of Vah Medoh, as well make any necessary adjustments if required. The Rito Champion was also certain that the princess just wanted a chance to examine some ancient Sheikah technology, and that Vah Medoh was just the perfect specimen for her studies.
So, after being reprimanded like a hatchling for his previous behavior, Revali was told to let go of any grievances he held towards the Hylian Champion and be on his best behavior as he took the princess to view Vah Medoh. Revali agreed, if only to lessen the headache he'd have if he continued the argument. Besides, as he wasn't a fully grown Rito, there was no way he could take both the princess and her knight onto Vah Medoh, so he wouldn't have to deal with too much during the day anyway. Perhaps that was why the young princess was eager to study Vah Medoh. Revali would do the same if he was forced to be shadowed by such bland company.
It didn't help that, as he returned from his training that morning, he saw some of the trainee Hylian knights. Apparently, the king had started requesting that his knights be trained by other races experts to help prepare for the Calamity. Which was fair, until one noticed that the Sheikah were not sent any trainee knights at all. As well as the fact that the training started when the princess became more interested in the Divine Beasts and Guardians. One did not need to be a scholar to figure out what was really going on, and Revali was almost insulted by the very notion that his people were not skilled enough to protect the princess - even when she had her own personal body guard by her side every waking hour of the day. But the Elder already convinced Revali that that was a decision made by a concerned father and not by an arrogant king. So, he let that go.
Revali should have known that arriving early would have been a waste of time. He ended up taking a walk through the village, ignoring the hushed whispers of excitement from children and the shy looks from a certain group of female Rito. He'd gladly showcase his abilities for youth (it was better if they at least learnt something from the best in the village), but Revali had no interest in searching for romance until he could spare more time. He just hoped he didn't attract the attention of the Hylian trainees he'd have to pass by. He really did not feel like dealing with them, especially when he was already not in the mood to deal with everything else the day wanted to throw at him.
"–Heard that he lost his tongue as punishment for speaking out against the king" a voice caught Revali's attention, and he couldn't help but continue listening in.
"I wouldn't be surprised" replied another, "My father told me a lot about his mother. I can't believe the king would trust the child of someone like that with the protection his own daughter."
That piqued Revali's curiosity. There was a small group of Hylian trainee knights that were getting ready for a day of hard work (rather late in the day, but Revali supposed that Hylians placed little value on dedication to one's training). They were gossiping, quite clearly about Hyrule's silent champion. Revali had heard a lot of rumors about the princess's appointed knight, but he hadn't heard anything negative at all until now. To be honest, he hadn't interacted with many Hylians... not since a... incident that he reminded himself that he wasn't going to think of ever again. Revali wondered what else these knights had to say about The Champion.
Especially when the rumors they seemed to have were very intriguing.
"Oh hey, that's the Rito Champion! Master Revali!"
A young man walked over, "Master Revali, it's an honor to meet you. Would it be too much trouble to ask for you to spare some time to train us?"
Yes. Yes, it was. But instead Revali replied with, "I'm afraid I'm rather busy this morning. The princess and her appointed knight should be arriving soon, and I'm meant to take them to Vah Medoh."
"Oh. I see" there was an obvious edge to his voice that Revali thought could have been disgust.
"Is there something wrong with that?" Revali questioned.
The young trainee quickly shook his head, "Of course not. It's just... you've seen the Hylian Champion... does his sword really look like it's magical?"
That wasn't what Revali was expecting, and he actually had to think about for a moment. He had never seen the darkness sealing sword in action. He's never had the chance to do so, the princess was completely safe and out of danger every time he had met with her, and the knight never did get the chance to settle the score with him. So, he hasn't seen the sword do anything other than rest on the hero's back. But, Revali has been near the sword. It certainly had this presence to it that made it feel alive, in a sense. Revali didn't consider himself superstitious, but even he had to admit that the sword was something else.
"I can't say I've seen it do anything special" Revali shrugged.
Another boy spoke up this time, "My father says that it's a fake - he just had it made so everyone would think he's special. And that everyone's going to die because he's stopping the princess from unlocking her sacred power."
The man who approached him grimaced, "Not to mention his mother is a Sheikah - and we all know how loyal they are too the kingdom. So loyal that half of them decided form a clan dedicated to resurrecting the Calamity."
"I heard that his mother was a Yiga assassin who tried to murder the king."
"I wouldn't be surprised. He's probably part of a whole scheme to make sure we fall to the Calamity."
Revali toned them out, having heard all that he needed to hear. These were the rumors spread by those who were jealous and bigoted - two things that Hylians loved to place their pride in being. Either way, everything they said was completely unreliable. Especially the part regarding the Sheikah - Revali had forgotten that a large amount of Hylians had decided to blame the Sheikah for the creation of the Yiga clan, refusing to take any accountability for their previous king's actions, and shunned the Sheikah clan altogether.
Though Revali felt that Link having any Sheikah blood in him at all was a bit of a stretch. The red eyes of the Sheikah were a very strong trait, even those who were only half-Sheikah still carried that trait. For Link to be lacking that was already suspicious, but then there was the fact that Link didn't seem to practise any Sheikah customs either. He lacked the Sheikah style of dress, he lacked their tattoos and he lacked their emblem - something he had seen all Sheikah proudly display. The only thing that he seemed to share was the pierced ears, but Hylians and Gerudo also pierced their ears, so that held no real weight. He was definitely not born, or raised, by a Sheikah as far as Revali could tell.
As the trainees were gossiping, a young woman (not much older than Revali himself, from what he could see) made her way over to them. She wore the armor of the knights of Hyrule and had a scowl on her face she approached. Revali watched in amusement as, what must have been their instructor, waited patiently for her students to stop gossiping, tapping her foot gently on the ground as she did so. When they finally caught on, the boys all stood in line, saluting the arrival of their superior.
"Dame Ashei" They greeted.
"I wasn't aware that we were having a day off. I thought we'd come to Rito Village to train, not to bother one of the Champions while insulting another, yeah" she spoke and Revali had to try to supress his laughter as he watched the young men flinch.
"Well, you see, Dame–"
"When we return to the castle, I'm going to have a talk with the weapons master. You two" and the two in question went remarkably pale, "Will be sharping every bladed weapon on castle grounds. And you two, you'll be polishing quite a lot of armor and shields when we return, yeah. Don't look at me like that, you should be glad Sir Link ain't here - he'd have kicked the crap out of you for disrespecting his mother like that. Now, the lot of you clearly aren't ready for training and you're all late. Get a move on, before I have more reasons to punish you, yeah."
That got the job done as the would-be knights scrambled to get their act together. They ran around like Cuccos who had lost their heads, and the female knight looked slightly amused by the display. Revali felt a little bit of respect for her - from what he knew of Hylians, they felt that females were lesser and required less respect when being interacted with. The fact that this young woman caused four young men to fear her wrath was remarkable. Even Revali had to admit that. With the trainees out of the way, she approached Revali.
"Master Revali, on behalf of the Knights of Hyrule, I apologize for those idiots and hope they didn't cause you too much trouble. They're not the sharpest amongst out ranks" Ashei said.
Revali tried to keep the amusement out of his tone, "That was not too difficult to figure out. You seem to have a rather blunt way of dealing with things."
"You can thank my father for that. Besides, this isn't politics - warriors have no need of ass-kissing, yeah" She then gave a slight smirk, "When those four were first assigned to me, they complained about taking orders from a woman. So, I decided I'd give them more appropriate things to complain about. After they all lost quite embarrassingly to me, they've started to be a lot more teachable."
Revali nodded at that, before the knight gave him a calculating look, "I hope you won't let their stupid rumors cloud your judgement of the Hylian Champion, yeah."
"Their claims were far too preposterous to be taken seriously" Revali tried to ignore the subtle insult there that he could have believed it, "Honestly, I don't know how the rumors of the hero possessing Sheikah blood could have occurred–"
"Oh no, that part is definitely true."
Revali should have been insulted that he was interrupted so rudely. However, at that moment, he was too busy dealing with a bit of shock. The young dame had to be pulling his leg. Surely, Revali would have been informed if that were true - at the very least, there would be some sign that he was a Sheikah, at least in part. The woman looked amused at his clear confusion and he scowled at her.
"Care to explain how the little knight is a Sheikah?" Revali asked.
"His late father, Sir Arn, was a Royal Knight and my mentor. His mother is a half-Sheikah warrior named Medilia. Neither Link nor his sister possess any physical Sheikah attributes, but they were partly raised by the Sheikah and they trained under them, yeah. Unfortunately, since becoming a knight, the king has forced Link to hide that part of himself. But it still shows, in small ways" Ashei answered with a smile before she frowned, "It's just a shame that Link hasn't been able to see his family for a while. With his mother not allowed near Castle Town, and his new duties to the princess, it's been difficult for them to meet up."
Revali had way too many questions from the information he received. Link had a sister? Link received Sheikah training? For how long? Why doesn't the king want him to express his heritage? In what 'small ways' did Link express it? If Link was raised by the Sheikah, could he speak their secret tongue? Did he know of their secret village? Has he been to their secret village? What did Link's mother do to get herself banned from Castle Town? How much of this did Mipha know? How much of this did Princess Zelda know? Revali wondered if he might be the only Champion to actually know this much about the silent knight. He's not entirely sure how he feels about that, however.
"Well, I'd best be off. Got some knights to torment, yeah" Ashei concluded, "I wouldn't mind speaking with you again, Master Revali. It was a bit fun, yeah."
Revali didn't get a chance to respond as the young woman walked off, probably to make good on her joke. He didn't even get a chance to comment on her rudeness or the information she dumped on him. It didn't matter too much, though. Rito had keen eyesight (far superior to any Hylian), so Revali was able to notice quite quickly that the princess and her appointed knight were making their way to Rito Village. The princess seemed to be ignoring her shadow with enthusiasm, though the knight didn't seem to mind at all.
That was when everything hit Revali as hard as one of Daruk's 'friendly back pats'.
The Sheikah were once known as the 'Shadows of Hylians' - silent but deadly assassins for the throne, their only concern was the well-being of the royal bloodline. That dedication had almost wiped them out of existence before, though they had managed to bounce back despite the odds not being in their favor. But now that Revali knew about the Hylian Champion's Sheikah blood, he couldn't stop seeing how obvious it truly was.
The way the knight carried himself was eerily similar to the way on-duty Sheikah did. Silent, but dangerous. Ready with a concealed blade to strike at any perceived threat. What Revali had thought was a blank face, was actually a mask - one that didn't allow his opponents to get a single read on his emotions. The Sheikah rarely lost the composure. The fact that he couldn't even surprise him that time he showcased Revali's Gale only contributed to that theory. After all, it was practically impossible to surprise a Sheikah unless one used magic; their awareness of their surroundings was just too good to be able to do so without it. The long hair that Revali had thought was ridiculously impractical was actually because the little hero probably would have worn it in a bun. All he really needed was to be displaying the Eye of Truth somewhere and there wouldn't be any doubt.
Suddenly, Revali was very grateful that Hylians lacked Rito eye sight, as it meant that he didn't have to deal with accusations of staring at the Hylian Champion. He wouldn't completely be able to deny it if they did. Though he wasn't really staring as much as he was analyzing. He wondered to himself if he should just ask the princess's appointed knight about it, but then he realized if he admitted to being ignorant something that everyone else had known for a while, it would probably give the knight a sense of pride that he had managed to fool Revali. So, he decided to keep quiet for now.
"Hello Revali. I apologize for my sudden appearance, but I thought it would be best to catalogue the progress each champion has made with their Divine Beast" the princess greeted, "After Daruk revealed he had been having some trouble with Vah Rudania, I figured that I should at least check on everyone else."
Revali wasn't surprised at Link's lack of reaction to being treated as if he didn't exist, "I can assure you, your highness, that Vah Medoh and I are doing just fine. Though I suppose you wanted a closer examination?"
"That would be ideal. Again, I'm terribly sorry if I caused any disruption to your day" she added.
Revali shrugged, though he kept the Elder's words in mind, "Nothing to serious, just some training time I can make up for later today. I suppose it's not exactly prudent to spend time on formalities for an informal visit. I can take you to Vah Medoh right now, if your ready."
Revali never understood why Hylians always seemed to flustered and hesitant to climb onto a Rito's back. Was it too difficult for them to admit that they required assistance to fly? It wasn't a big deal to the Rito, they carried young hatchlings on their backs all the time to get them used to flying before they were able to do so on their own. And he was certain he had seen Hylians carry their young ones on their shoulders before (though he couldn't come up with a logical reason why). It better not have been because they feared being dropped, as that would be rather insulting. But today, Revali kept his beak shut and waited for the princess to slowly, and awkwardly, wrap her arms around him as he prepared to take off.
Link was silent the whole time, not even hinting if he was offended or concerned. He looked at Revali and Princess Zelda calmly, and the pride of the Rito couldn't get away from him fast enough. Even though the increased speed meant that the princess tightened her hold him, it was worth it to get out of that uncomfortable, piercing gaze of the hero.
A/N: Yeah, yeah, I started another new story. This is the last one, I'm going to focus on updating my other ones. I promise. Hopefully. Maybe.
Anyway, I got an idea for a story and I decided to roll with it. I actually struggled with a title for this one, but when I realized that the main theme of this fic was how everyone perceived each other (how Revali perceives Hylians, how Link perceives Revali, how a lot of characters perceive the king) I realized that the very simple one-word title would work pretty well.
Also, yes I used Ashei to fill in a role that needed to be filled. That will probably happen a lot. And fun fact - the name of Link's parents comes from the Legend of Zelda comic series. They they're slightly inspired by canon characters in terms of characterization and skills (you'll see what I mean when Link talks about them). Aryll is obviously based on Aryll. And I decided to stick her in because concept art for Breath of the Wild showcased Link having a younger sister, so...
Hope everyone is excited.
Also hope I don't suck at Revali's characterization.