The day of the festival arrived, and Revali and Aquila wasted no time in journeying to Castle Town for the big day. Accompanying them were other Rito, some of them with instruments to perform in the festival, others with bows to show off their archery skills. The two brothers were leading the group, alongside the village elder, Kaneli.

"And here we are: Castle Town," Kaneli said. "Come along, children. The festival is just ahead."

"Leader Kaneli, we are not children anymore," Revali said with a roll of his eyes.

"I wasn't talking to you, Revali," Kaneli said. "I was referring to the other children. Besides I remember a time when you barely came up to my belt."

"And even then, you're still shorter than most of the other Rito," said one of the warriors, ruffling Revali on the head.

The future champion swatted the other Rito's wing away. "My size doesn't matter, only my skill."

"Let's not start anything here," Aquila said. "You two can settle this in the archery contest." He turned to Kaneli. "Meanwhile, I'll go with you and entertain the children."

The village leader chuckled. "You should join the others, Aquila. You're still young, and it won't be long until that vibrant youth of yours is gone."

"I would rather go with you, though," Aquila said.

"Yeah, Mr. Aquila plays the best music!" said one of the kids.

"And he tells the best stories," another of the kids said.

"Alright, alright, he can come with us," Kaneli conceded.

With that, Revali went with the others to set up the archery contest while Aquila and Kaneli led the children to Castle Town Square. Within the square was a grand fountain, along with various musicians playing for the people, whom danced to the song. Gorons banged drums, Zoras strummed guitars, and the Hylians and Gerudo added their own flutes and horns to the song.

"Come on, Leader Kaneli, let's dance!" said one of the kids, pulling on his wing.

"Slow down, young one. I might not be old, but I'm not as energetic as you are," the village leader said with a laugh as he and the children went to dance.

Aquila, meanwhile, went up to the musicians and bowed respectfully. "Greetings. I am Aquila of the Rito tribe. May I join your group in making music?"

"Of course, brother!" the Goron said jovially.

"The more the merrier," the Zora said.

The Hylian and Gerudo nodded in agreement, and Aquila pulled out his harp to join them. The Goron tapped his drum three times to start the song, and the others joined in with him as they all played for the dancing folk. As they played, Aquila started to sing along with the music, and this is what his song sounded like:

[AN: The lyrics here of oy own creation, set to the tune of "Clock Town" from Majora's Mask]

Come with me, all you children

Follow me to Castle Town

Where we're holding a festival

To praise the Goddess above

There we'll have such a good time

Playing games and laughing 'round

And when the moon rises above

We'll all dance 'til the dawn

First you boys find a girl and

Take her by the hand then

Three steps forward, one step back

Then repeat 'til the end

Next, you girls find a boy and

Lead him 'round the fountain

Three steps forward, one step back

Then repeat 'til the end

The song repeated two more times, with each succession getting faster than the last until the dancers where exhausted from keeping up with the tempo. When the Aquila and the musicians finished, everyone clapped for their performance. The Rito gave a bow to the crowd and walked back to his group, whom were still buzzing with energy.

"Geez, you guys don't slow down, do you?" Aquila said, grabbing one of the kids and putting them on his shoulders.

"You and Revali were the same at this age," Kaneli said with a laugh, picking up two of the kids in his wings.

"That was a great song, Mr. Aquila," the child on his shoulder said. "What was it about?"

"Well, it's really just a dance song for festivals like this," Aquila explained. "However, parts of it are based on one of the many tales of the hero, where he traveled through time to save another land from the moon falling onto it."

"Cool!" the kid shouted. "Could you tell me the story some day?"

"Maybe," Aquila replied. "However, I should warn you that it gets really scary."

"Hah, nothing scares me!" the kid boasted.

Aquila gave a laugh and set the kid down, allowing the little Rito to go back to his friends. When he turned to thank the musicians once again, he came face to face instead with his brother. "Oh, Revali! Didn't know that you were here," Aquila said.

Revali glared but softened his gaze a bit. "While you were out here gallivanting around, I was meeting with the King and managed to convince him to let you perform in the ceremony."

"That was me, actually," said a soft voice. Coming up behind Revali was Princess Zelda, whom was wearing a cloak to hide herself from the others at the festival.

"Princess," Aquila said quietly, giving a short bow.

"I suggested to my father to let those that are close to the Champions to perform with the royal symphony," Zelda said. She turned back the castle. "Come. The ceremony will start shortly."

[***]

"Welcome, warriors!" The king announced. "I'd like to thank you for joining me here today, and for your bravery in accepting this… fateful task."

Off to the side, Aquila watched as his brother and the other representatives stood before the king. The owl Rito idly adjusted the strings on his harp, half-listening to the king's speech.

"I officially dub you Hyrule's Champions and bestow upon you this sacred garb," the king said.

Aquila looked over to Revali and noted the new scarf, sky blue with a white etching of a bird on it. He smiled, knowing that Revali was brimming with pride in the moment.

The king continued. "That blue is a symbol of the Royal Family, one that has been passed down for countless generations. Those garments you now wear were all crafted by my daughter, Zelda." He looked down at his daughter. "Zelda, I you with the task only a daughter of the royal family can fulfill. Lead our Champions, Princess. And together, protect our kingdom from the threat of Calamity Ganon."

"Geez, no pressure," Aquila muttered to himself.

With the speech done, everyone clapped for their new Champions. "Now, allow the royal symphony to perform the Ballad of the Goddess, to give protection to our Champions."

Taking his cue, Aquila stepped forward with the other members of the symphony, readying himself to play the song. He plucked his harp with the lightest of touches, each note coming out clear. Aquila closed his eyes and let the music guide him, not noticing the stares he was getting from the others. When the song finished, he opened his eyes and saw everyone else staring at him.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"…Where did you get that harp?" the king asked.

"What?" Aquila said, confused by the question.

"How do you have the Harp of Ages, boy?" the king said, his voice carrying a hard tone.

Aquila looked at his harp; indeed, it did resemble the harp used by the Hero of Light on his journey to another land. "I was given this by a sage in the Temple of Time."

"There are no sages at the Temple of Time," the king said. "The Harp of Ages was not kept there either. Therefore, the only explanation is that you, or an accomplice of yours, stole the harp from the castle."

"What?" Aquila gasped. "I would never steal from anyone."

"Guards, take him to the dungeon," the king commanded.

Aquila didn't have time to react before royal guards were on him, restraining his wings and taking him to the dungeon.

"Get your hands off of my brother!" Revali shouted, making his way towards the guards. He was stopped by a large hand on his shoulder, which made the Rito turn around and give Daruk a death glare.

"Before you do anything rash, maybe we should focus on proving his innocence first," Urbosa said.

"Urbosa is right," Zelda said. "My father can be… very stubborn when it comes to his rulings. I believe that your brother did not steal the Harp of Ages but assaulting the guards will do nothing but get you in trouble as well." She turned to the rest of the group. "It seems that we have our work cut out for us. Champions, let us prove the innocence of Aquila."

[***]

Aquila found himself unceremoniously thrown into one of the cells at Castle Town Prison, as apparently Hyrule Castle didn't actually have its own personal dungeon. The Rito refused to answer any of the questions that the guards asked of him, only giving one response. "When my brother finds out what really happened, and he will, all of you will be made to be very foolish."

Setting his head against the cold cell wall, the Rito thought back to everything that had happened since he had obtained the harp. It was confusing that the king claimed that the Temple of Time had no sage, as that was who clearly gave him the harp. Aquila berated himself at not mentioning that it had been entrusted to him by a person that was in clear favor with Hylia herself.

"Now what am I supposed to do?" he asked himself.

"Allow me to make that decision for you," a voice said. Aquila turned quickly to the window to see a mysterious figure next to the window. "I'm sorry that I got you into this mess, but it was necessary that you were the one to inherit the Harp of Ages. I misjudged how the king would react to seeing you with it."

"First of all, who are you," Aquila said. "And second of all, screw you for getting me into this mess!"

The figure shushed him. "Be quiet. I'm going to get you out of here. Hold tight."

"Hold onto what?" Aquila asked, only to be pulled into his own shadow and dropped outside next to the figure. "What the hell…?"

"Shadow magic," the figure said. She removed her mask, revealing a member of the Sheikah tribe. "My name is Impa, and we have a lot to discuss, Aquila of the Rito."

Author's Note

How's that for a cliffhanger? We never got to see young Impa in the game (only getting that one photo as a tease), so here she is now! I imagine her to be similar to her Hyrule Warriors look, if you want a reference.

I've added a cover image of Aquila to this story, drawn by myself!

If I haven't made it obvious before, I will be referencing other Zelda games outside of Breath of the Wild in this story. In this chapter alone, there are references to Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages/ Seasons, Skyward Sword, and Ocarina of Time.

Next Time: Aquila learns more about his role in the legend, and Revali gets to know his fellow Champions.