Author's Ideas: Oof

I went to an actual archery range to write this fic with *experience* and now I have a big nasty bruise on the side of my arm. The things I do for my fics

A Spark, An Arrow, and A Calamity

second, their lives

~ / . / . / ~

She walks through the halls of Zora's Domain, a literal storm as she turns every corner desperately in seek of one person.

"That feather-brained, egotistical - " she grinds her teeth, turning the corner and almost running into Mipha.

"Ah!" the small Zora gasps before bowing. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Sorry, Mipha," Urbosa apologizes, laying a gentle hand on the Zora's shoulder. "Do you know where Revali is?"

"Revali?" Mipha tilts her head. "I believe I saw him flying along the river earlier. Perhaps he is in Lake Hylia, or along the river somewhere?"

"Along the river… got it." She pauses, and then looks at Mipha. "He won't let you heal his wound, will he?"

"So you do know," Mipha murmurs before she shakes her head. "No, he will not. We have had to resort to sneaking elixirs and doses of medicine into his food to help heal him. He refuses to let himself show any weakness."

"How… was the injury caused?" she questions hesitantly.

"It was partly stress in the physical aspect, and partly exhaustion," Mipha replies. "He was already exhausted, and yet while carrying you kept using his gale to push himself forward. Even though I limited him to three gales every six minutes, he used almost twice the amount, and especially when carrying someone…"

"So I did cause it…" Urbosa murmurs bitterly, a sense of guilt in her voice.

"No!" Mipha cries almost immediately, and Urbosa starts, as does Mipha herself. "I… I did not mean to raise my voice. But it is not your fault, Urbosa."

Urbosa lays a gentle hand on the crown of Mipha's head, smiling. "Thank you, Mipha." Letting her hand fall to her side after that, she begins to walk away.

"Urbosa," Mipha calls, and Urbosa turns. Taking a deep breath, Mipha speaks up. "I… Revali is stubborn and proud. He will not accept any help you attempt to offer him. Please be kind to him - "

"Don't worry," Urbosa smiles, and Mipha lets out a sigh of relief. "I understand him. Infuriatingly, I do. So don't worry."

"Thank you, Urbosa," Mipha replies with gratitude. Urbosa steps forward and pulls the Zora into a short hug before hurrying away. She follows the river to Lake Hylia, looking desperately for Revali.

Urbosa finds him almost an hour later, just on the coast of Lake Hylia. He's shooting at the trees in the forest nearby, his beak clenched and face lined with concentration and pain - he may be able hide from Link or her little bird, but he can't hide it from her.

"Revali," she calls out, and he turns, startled, before scowling.

"What do you want?" he asks angrily as she draws near. "I thought I made it clear that I didn't want anyone to bother me now."

Without a word, she reaches for his left wing. He squawks in surprise, jumping back.

"Hey!" he snaps.

"Let me see your wing," she says, holding out her hand.

"Why?" he asks pointedly, turning so that she can only see his profile.

"Let me see it," she repeats. "Your wing isn't hurt, is it?" Of course, she knows the answer is that yes, it is hurt, but when Revali stiffens she almost feels triumphant.

"I'm fine," he grinds out between a gritted beak. "There's no reason for you to be worried about me, of all people. Now leave me alone." He runs a feathered wing along his bow and then plucks the bowstring as he walks deeper into the forest, but Urbosa can see him trying to hold back the pained expression that blossoms on his face.

"Revali," she presses again, following after him.

"I said," he growls, punctuated by a glare, "I'm. Fine."

"Let me see your wing."

"I'm fine!" Revali yells, turning suddenly and setting his bow down violently. "Okay!? Leave me alone."

"No," Urbosa replies sternly, and Revali meets her gaze angrily. "No, I will not leave you alone, Revali." Before he can protest, she continues. "Calamity Ganon's resurrection is imminent, and I cannot let any of you go into that battle without being fully prepared for it. That includes the treatment of any injuries. Like yours."

"Look, I told you I'm fine - "

"Are you not telling me," she interrupts, her voice low, "because you are prideful, and don't want to show weakness?"

Revali clenches his beak - she's struck a nerve.

"I don't know why you're so concerned, because I'm fine. Okay? It has nothing to do with me being prideful," he snaps, his voice dripping with venom. Sucking in a sharp breath between her teeth, she glares at him.

"Listen, Revali. I'm more grateful than you could ever imagine that you risked and received an injury to bring me to Mipha. And that's why I will not tolerate this behavior of yours any longer. And if I must," she grabs him by his scarf, ignoring his cry of surprise, "resort to my fists - "

She cuts herself off, suddenly letting go of his scarf and planting her hand against his chest before slamming him into the tree behind him.

"So be it," she finishes, her chest heaving as she leans her head in, their faces mere centimeters apart. Revali tilts his head upwards, and she can feel the cool touch of his upper beak as he speaks, his voice somewhat strangled.

"And what makes you think you're entitled enough to worry about us like we're helpless children?" he snarls.

"Am I not a chief of my own people?" she shoots back. "Am I not the one who worries when your bowstring snaps, or when Mipha overworks herself, or when Zelda almost passes out in a freezing waterfall again? Revali, answer me this. Have you ever had to think about your entire village? About their troubles, and their worries?"

Revali doesn't answer, but she can sense a growing guilt behind his heart. She lets go of him, taking a step back before continuing.

"Do you understand, Revali? I have been raised to serve people and to watch over them. Since I was young, the only purpose I knew I had was to serve my people as the chief. And that hasn't changed. That is why I worry when you hide yourself away from the others, and from me."

He clenches his beak again. Urbosa sighs, brushing a strand of stray red hair from her face.

"...Your wellbeing matters to me. I'm sorry if I hurt you more but it was clear you wouldn't listen to me unless I resorted to force." She stifles a bitter laugh.

"...I'm sorry," he murmurs after a moment of tension, and then glares when she gives him a surprised look. "I am, okay? I really… am. I… didn't think you'd worry that much. I didn't know about… you, so I didn't think…"

He rubs his wing as he trails off, and then sighs before turning his gaze to look at her.

"...Thank you," he murmurs, and then averts his eyes.

Urbosa just smiles softly and watches him pick up the bow he had left lying on the ground. He reaches for an arrow, but she shakes her head. After a moment of hesitation, he lets his wing drop and watches Urbosa pull the multiple arrows from the trees around them.

She drops the bundle of arrows in his quiver, worry flashing through her as Revali straps his bow to his back and grunts in pain when he reaches his wing back.

"It's nothing," he murmurs when he sees the worry in her eyes, and then clenches his beak. "We… should get back to Zora's Domain."

Urbosa doesn't say anything, simply letting him take the lead.

And when he doesn't lean on her, out of unspoken concern for her newly healed injuries, and when he goes immediately for Mipha after they get back to the illuminated Zora's Domain, she can't help but feel like she's misjudged this Rito with a bow and arrow this whole time.

~ / . / . / ~

They're sharing a supper at the southern outpost when he fixes her with a stare so intense that she can't help but ask.

"What is it?" she questions, raising an eyebrow at him as she takes her last bite of chilly mushroom risotto.

"Those statues," Revali replies, scraping at his plate with his spoon for stray grains of rice. "What are they?"

"The heroines," Urbosa nods. "Out in the Gerudo Wastelands, right?"

"And the one in the Gerudo Highlands," Revali adds on.

"The eighth," she clarifies, putting her spoon down on her bowl. "She's been forgotten to history, compared to the seven."

"Who are they?" he repeats.

"Heroines that defended the Gerudo many centuries ago," Urbosa answers. "Their names have been lost, but they each possessed certain powers."

"Like what?"

Urbosa shakes her head. "That's what we're trying to decipher right now. It seems to be written in ancient Gerudo script, but we don't use that script nowadays. We still have to recover some documents before we can decipher it."

"What do you mean, decipher?" Revali questions.

"We don't use the ancient Gerudo script anymore," Urbosa repeats. "We have a few translations of the writings, but other than that, we have nothing."

"Hm," Revali murmurs, and then puts his spoon beside his bowl, sighing.

He glances away, holding his wing under his beak, as if in imitation of a person holding their chin. Suddenly, he looks at her.

"What about your sword?"

"My Scimitar of Seven?" she questions before shaking her head. "No. The scholars looked it over, and the best they could come up with is that the heroines must have used a blade similar to this one."

Revali opens his mouth to respond, but the door to the southern outpost is cracked open.

"Lady Urbosa, Master Revali, are you finished with your meal?" a guard asks.

"Ah, yes," Urbosa nods. The guard opens the door in an attempt to take the plates, but Urbosa shakes her head. "You shouldn't be looking after my dirty dishes. I'll come back to collect them later."

The guard nods, and Urbosa gestures for them to leave the door open before standing.

"If you're so interested in those seven heroines, why don't we go take a look?"

"Now?" Revali asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, now. We still have time," Urbosa replies before smiling. "Don't worry, we'll ride Naboris there."

"That's not - " Revali starts before cutting himself off, turning his face away and scoffing. Urbosa laughs softly and tugs at one of his braids lightly. He swats her hand away with a wing and sighs. "You don't need to physically wile me this time."

"I would prefer not to physically wile you at all," Urbosa replies as she turns toward the door. The sound of Revali pushing his chair echoes through the room, and Urbosa pulls the door open.

Naboris is already outside with its ramp lowered, awaiting its pilot. Urbosa rounds the southern outpost, falling into step with Revali before boarding the Divine Beast. Naboris raises itself from the sands and begins its journey to the Gerudo Highlands, two passengers aboard it.

"Have you visited the statues before?"

"No," Revali shakes his head, standing beside her as she touches her hand to the main terminal and displays a flickering map of Gerudo in front of the Guidance Stone. "I've only seen it when I fly in, but it was confusing enough that even I couldn't figure it out."

"Well, that's to be expected," Urbosa replies, and Revali scowls.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"No, I'm simply saying it would be hard to know what those statues are without knowledge of the Gerudo or our history," Urbosa explains.

Revali simply turns his eyes to the map, watching as the small yellow arrow representing Naboris draw closer to the area of the map labelled "Gerudo Wastelands".

No more words pass between them until the towering statues of the heroines break the sandy distance. Revali props a wing on his waist before looking over his shoulder and shifting his quiver. She glances over at him, only to see him twirling an arrow between his feathers.

"What are you doing?" she questions. He starts but doesn't drop the arrow, instead stopping and looking at her.

"It's a habit," he replies snarkily. "I do it when I'm bored." As if to prove it, he begins to spin the arrow again, turning his attention back to it. Urbosa can't help but raise an eyebrow at him.

"You're saying this is boring?" Urbosa asks, gesturing to the map.

Revali doesn't respond, simply putting the arrow away. She holds back a laugh and turns her eyes back to the horizon. The statues are now close, no more than a few Molduga-lengths away.

"...Why do they have to be so big?" Revali mutters under his breath.

"That, I don't have the answer to," Urbosa says before closing her eyes. Naboris comes to a halt a moment later, lowering itself to the ground. Blinking open her eyes, she meets Revali's gaze. "I didn't take you to be a scholarly type," she confesses.

"What - " Revali cuts himself off, turning his head pointedly and sticking his beak in the air. "Assuming that I have a lack of interest in scholarly matters simply because I am a skilled warrior, are you?"

Urbosa rolls her eyes and turns, making for the ramp that has started to lower. A draft of warm air slips into the Divine Beast from the opening. He follows after her, huffing indignantly.

Her feet sink into the unstable sand below, and even though she's spent her whole life in the sands, she's still unused to the deep sands of the Gerudo Wastelands.

"Be careful. The sands are ambitious here," she warns, brushing at her skirt before walking away from Naboris. The sound of crunching sand behind her tells her Revali is following close behind.

Finally, their feet meet sand-dusted tile in the middle of their destination, and when Revali lets out a sigh of relief, she can't blame him.

She doesn't say anything though, and instead looks up, craning her neck to see the statues of the heroines surrounding them. Looking at them for too long hurts her neck, and so she turns to Revali.

"What - " she stops. He's already taken flight, perched atop a heroine's sword.

"...There's nothing unusual about them from what I can see," Revali comments, his voice echoing through the empty sky.

Yet, as he says that, his eyes stay pinned on a small ball no more than a foot away from Urbosa, half-buried in the sand. She follows his gaze before smiling in realization and picking up the metal ball. Revali lands in front of her, his gaze curious.

"There's a symbol on the ball," Urbosa explains. Revali's eyes glaze over, deep in thought. She looks over at him. "What is it?"

"I've seen that symbol before…"

Before Urbosa can say anything, wind is swirling around him, and he launches himself up again.

She watches as he flies around, checking each heroine for something. He stops at the last one he checks before waving her over.

"Drop the ball in the hole in front of this one," he calls. "There's a symbol on this one that you can't see from here, but it matches the symbol on the ball." He pauses, and then laughs. "I see. What a simple puzzle."

Urbosa glances over. True to his word, she can't see it, but she follows his words and carries it over anyways.

Revali lands beside her and stares as she stops in front of him, frowning. "Why is there only one ball, though? If we had them all, we'd be able to solve this puzzle with ease."

"We dug this one up recently." As if to prove her point, she turns the ball over and dusts off bits of dirt and sand still stuck to the metal. "As for where the other ones are, we have no clue."

He watches with sharp eyes as she placed the ball in the nearby hole and claps her hands together.

"Come. It is time we returned to Gerudo Town. The princess will be waiting for me," she tells him. He casts one last glance at the statues of the heroines before turning and following her up the ramp of Naboris, sitting nearby. Their trip back is silent, laden with tension as they sit along the windows of Naboris.

At one point, she takes her eyes off of the horizon lined with the statues of the heroines and turns only to meet Revali's stoic eyes, aimed directly at her. She turns her head away after a moment of staring, but she can still feel his electrifying gaze, aimed straight at her like an arrow.

Urbosa holds back a laugh at the irony of it all.

~ / . / . / ~

"Good," Revali praises. "Just like that."

Urbosa lowers the bow, and Revali leaps into the sky, flying about the Flight Range and collecting the multiple arrows riddled across various targets.

"You've gotten fairly skilled at shooting at an angle," Revali comments as he lands in front of her and placing the arrows he collected into the quiver placed beside her. "Still, you could use work."

"Of course I could," Urbosa replies, smiling.

Today is her little bird's seventeenth birthday - the day she is able to step foot on Mt. Lanaryu. At her little bird's request, the Champions had awakened at dawn to see her off. Revali, despite the frustrated look on his face when Zelda had requested they see him off, had found it in his heart to arrive at Mt. Lanaryu; although, he had been waiting outside the gate at the top of the mountain rather than meeting them at the bottom and climbing up with them.

Her little bird looks over her shoulder, giving them all a parting look, before walking away to the Spring of Wisdom. Link follows after her, and Urbosa feels Mipha gently lean against her. They stare at Zelda's disappearing back in silence, Urbosa laying a gentle hand on Mipha's shoulder.

An awkward crack of Daruk's neck breaks the silence, and he glances around.

"So…" Daruk starts awkwardly. "What now?"

Mipha stifles a small giggle, and Revali sighs, looking away.

"Revali," Urbosa calls out to him. He turns, a scowl on his face.

"What?"

"You should call Medoh over. We can go to Rito Village and stay there until the sun sets and we need to come back."

"Oh, good thinking Urbosa!" Daruk grins. "Yeah, Revali! Call Medoh over!"

"Now, wait just a second. I didn't - " Revali pauses in the middle of his sentence as he catches the nasty glare Urbosa gives him. Taking in a deep breath, he lets it out in a defeated sigh before closing his eyes. "Fine."

Daruk lets out a triumph whoop, and Mipha laughs softly. Urbosa catches Revali's gaze after he opens his eyes and nods, a smile on her lips. He just blinks and then looks away.

And that's how they end up in the Flight Range with the sun slowly descending from the sky, a bow in Urbosa's hand as she aims for the targets Revali had initially set up for himself. She hadn't even planned to be shooting today, but Revali had disappeared sometime after their dinner with the Rito, and so she had set out to find him in the place she knew he was bound to be.

"...Do you think I can hit all of the targets?" she asks then, a cunning plan forming her mind.

He raises his eyebrows at her. "Do you really think you can hit all of those targets without a paraglider or my help?"

"Of course," Urbosa replies, and before Revali can even react, she raises her hand above her head and snaps her fingers.

Lightning crashes down from the sky, splitting and branching as it strikes down all the wooden targets strung up. Revali squawks loudly, almost falling over. Urbosa throws her head back with laughter.

"So?" Urbosa manages after she lets her laughter die down.

"Goddess Hylia," he grumbles. "I cannot believe you did that. No, that does not count!" He glances down into the Flight Range and squawks indignantly. "You've burnt all my targets too!"

"Oh, my apologies," she replies, her grin large before raising her eyes to the sky above the Flight Range. Her smile falls off her lips. "It's time."

Revali lets out a sigh and takes her bow. With a somber silence between them, she watches as he puts the bow away and hangs up the quiver of arrows. She follows him, and he closes the door to the outside of the Flight Range before leaving it.

Just as they descend the stairs, she snaps her fingers again. Lightning falls from above and thunder claps loudly. Revali screeches, and Urbosa throws her head back, laughing, the tension between them broken.

Neither of them know that this is the last time they can enjoy each others' company, nor are they expecting the calamity that they will face up on Mount Lanaryu or the disaster they will meet in their Divine Beasts.

~ / . / . / ~

Their first sign that something has gone horribly wrong is when Daruk stops responding.

"Hey," Revali snaps. "Daruk. What are you doing?"

"What - " Urbosa cuts herself off as the red light signifying Rudania on Naboris's main terminal fades away into a dim light. She frowns.

The lights only dim in that manner when the Divine Beasts are put to rest, often when the Champions retire for the day. To be putting his Divine Beast to rest at a time like this… what was Daruk thinking?

The red light intensifies, and there's the sound of metal clanging against rock.

"Daruk!" Mipha cries, and then gasps when Daruk lets out a hoarse yelp of pain.

"You ugly - " Daruk's indignant cry is cut off, and Urbosa can only watch in dread as the red light on Naboris's main terminal fades away - his Divine Beast has been powered off, or in the worst case, possessed.

"What… What happened?" Mipha questions after a moment of silence, her voice soft with worry.

"I don't know," Urbosa replies, "but from what we heard, it doesn't sound good."

There's a few minutes of heavy tension, and then Revali murmurs, "What in the world…?"

"What is it?" she questions.

"I raised Medoh to get a glimpse of Rudania and Rudania's looking… strange."

"Strange?" Mipha repeats apprehensively.

"Strange. It's… not blue."

A rush of dread slams through Urbosa. "What color is it turning?"

"Black." There's a pause, laden with anxiety and nervousness. Urbosa swallows in dread.

Suddenly, the blue light on Naboris's main terminal dims. They're losing connection with Mipha.

"Mipha?" Urbosa calls out hesitantly. There's no answer. She curls her hand into a fist, biting her lip. Revali lets out a shaky breath, and despite their situation, Urbosa has to resist the urge to make a witty comment - now's not the time.

There's no response, and Urbosa sucks in a breath between gritted teeth.

The blue light glows suddenly, and an ungodly scream from something almost unworldly erupts through her Divine Beast. Revali hisses a curse under his breath as she covers her ears.

The sound of something sliding through water echoes in her ears, and then Mipha, gasping heavily, breathes, "I can't - "

Mipha is cut off then, and the blue light blacks out. Ruta has been powered down.

Urbosa begins to tap her fingers against the stone slab. "Revali?"

"Ruta's starting to turn black… and Rudania's quickly becoming pink at this point. Do you think - "

"I don't want to think about it, but something bad must have happened. Calamity Ganon is in Hyrule… it makes no sense but he must have done something."

Suddenly, the main terminal in front of her glows, and then a stream of black and pink erupts from it. The Guidance Stone dims then, and she knows she's lost connection with Revali.

That's not the pressing issue, she realizes when she turns around. The pressing issue is the towering creature above her, the one summoning a sword on one arm and a shield in another lanky, long-nailed hand. It hunches over, spasming before letting out a blood-curdling scream, sparking with lightning and rumbling with thunder.

"What… are you?" she growls, unsheathing her sword and bringing her shield in front of her.

It doesn't bother answering, just swaying before zipping towards her. With a grunt of surprise, she raises her shield just in time to block its swing.

"You're what's been taking over our Divine Beasts," Urbosa hisses, jumping back as it attempts to swing at her again with its hooked blade.

It attempts to bring its blade down on her again, but she parries the blow before rushing forward with speed and striking at its torso, crippling it.

"This is my Divine Beast," she yells, "and I'll be damned if I let you take it!"

She thrusts the Scimitar of Seven forward, breaking through the creature's eye. The sword and shield it holds flicker, and she grits her teeth.

"You've been using Naboris's terminals' powers, haven't you? That's why I'm losing connection!" She slashes at the creature's eye again.

The Guidance Stone springs to life suddenly, and she turns.

"Urbosa?" Revali's voice asks, a tinge of hope in his words.

"I'm here," she replies over her shoulder, and she can't possibly mishear the sigh of relief he lets out. "Turns out Calamity Ganon sent something rather fierce for us to combat," Urbosa continues as she slashes mercilessly at the collapsed entity. It sparks back to life, slowly rising, and she hops back.

"What?" Revali asks.

"I have no clue what it is," she grunts as she blocks a swing with her shield. "But I don't like it." With graceful feet, she parries another blow and leaps through the air to land a strong slash to the creature's body. It blocks her blow, and Urbosa jumps back, scoffing.

Calamity Ganon's creation raises its sword, bringing it down. Urbosa parries the blow, and as the creature reels back she jumps forward, slashing at it with ferocity. It spasms at every hit she lands before letting out a shriek.

Collecting itself in a glowing ball of blue, the creature disappears before reappearing above the main terminal. Urbosa watches, her shield drawn, as the monster lets out another scream before raising its sword. It begins to sparkle, until it's sparking with the power of lightning, and calls down pillars of metal.

"What's happening?" Revali questions, surely alarmed by the sounds of crackling electricity and metal slamming into the surfaces of her Divine Beast.

"It's summoning lightning to its blade," she replies, narrowing her eyes. "This could - " she cuts herself off as the monster comes zipping towards her.

"Aren't your weapons - " Revali's voice is cut off by the flickering Guidance Stone. Urbosa clenches her jaw, and raises her shield to block the monster's blow.

She should have listened to him.

She gasps, falling to her knees as she's shocked violently, the electricity only intensified by her metal weapons, built such a long time ago that they do not resist electricity like her armor does. In a fit of pain she drops them, and leaves herself open for attack. The creature lets its shield go - something that should have been good - and reaches its disgusting, reeking, and ugly hand down, picking her up with a tightening grip.

"Screw you," she chokes out between the hand clenched around her bare torso and the crackles of lightning against her skin. She's heaving for air, kicking and clawing at the hands of Calamity Ganon's creation, but she left the Thunder Helm in her cousin's care, and without it to defend her from the lightning it sends through her body, she's left defenseless.

The creature raises its sword. She fights with tooth and nail against its grip, sweat beading against her skin. She can't help but scream every time she's shocked, and the world seems to black out longer each time. With her power of Naboris weakening, Calamity Ganon's creation gains more, and soon she can barely even keep the main terminal running.

"Urbosa!" Revali screams, his voice choppy from the poor communication. It almost sounds like he's sobbing - but that's ridiculous, she thinks.

It's the last thing she gets to think about, along with how the lightning crackles against her skin and how their carefully cultivated plan has turned into a failure, all because of one calamity.

And then the sword comes down, and her head is cleaved clean off her shoulders as Calamity Ganon's creation screams in victory. Revali screams.

~ / . / . / ~

Urbosa's spirit remains trapped in Naboris thereafter. She watches as Ganon's creation roars, picks up the two pieces of her body, and throws her into the sands below before commanding Naboris to move itself away from the plateau it had once been perched on and into the desert. Fury boils in her blood as she watches the controlled Naboris stomp through the desert, making for her people - to harm her people.

Urbosa's spirit is not free to stop the beast, although it is stopped. Almost an hour later, she and Thunderblight Ganon are sealed away into the main terminal by her little bird, and Urbosa's never been more proud of her until now. With no one to control it, Naboris powers down, and the Divine Beast slips into a deep slumber.

And so for the next century, she lays, lost in the darkness of her Divine Beast.

In the beginning, she often hears desperate voices at the edge of her drifting conscience that sound like Daruk or Mipha or her little bird or him, and as if in response, she reassures them.

She tells Daruk that their people are fine. She tells Mipha that Sidon won't give up hope, and that he'll lead the Zora in her stead. She tells her little bird that Link will surely save them when he has awakened from the Shrine of Resurrection. And him? She tells him those special words, those words she had never thought were meant for her to say, or for anyone to hear her say.

Slowly, as the decades ebb by, the reassurances don't reach them. Slowly, she can't hear their voices. Their voices fade in and out, and they grieve more. Mipha sobs gently, Daruk beats their chest in anguish, but her little bird holds hope. He falls silent.

Urbosa doesn't hear them for another fifty-one years, until suddenly her little bird's presence disappears. Has she been consumed by Ganon? The evidence points to it - Naboris has risen again, controlled by the scourge of Naboris, Thunderblight Ganon, and her world consists of the lit interiors of what was once her Divine Beast and nothing else.

Is it hope? They don't know - but Mipha's presence lays awash in a pool of tears until the day after, when she too disappears, and they begin to believe.

After Mipha is Daruk. And after Daruk, him.

She can't help but laugh when Link comes to free Naboris and she sees the Great Eagle Bow strapped to his back, and the power of the wind on his fingertips - not unlike a certain other Champion.

Of course, Link doesn't hear her, but when he rests his Sheikah Slate on that Travel Gate, a part of Thunderblight Ganon's control vanishes, and when she speaks, he listens, an intent look on his face. She watches as he bypasses puzzle after puzzle, challenges meant to keep anyone but a worthy Champion from activating the main terminal, and she feels Ganon's power beginning to weaken with every terminal Link frees.

And finally, when all five terminals are glowing blue, and all that's left is the main terminal where her soul has been imprisoned, Thunderblight Ganon itself goes to confront Link, and leaves itself wide open for an attack on both fronts.

In that moment, Urbosa stretches out and snatches control of more of the main terminal than she could've ever hoped for. Her connection with Naboris is reborn, blazing fiery and passionate in her mind, and her own Divine Beast begins to fight Thunderblight Ganon's control, tearing away its power bit by bit, until all it takes is three swings from Link's sword to break what had once been an impenetrable shield.

The world seems to pause when Link delivers the final strike, and then, in the blink of an eye, Thunderblight Ganon is slain, and in a spark of turquoise fire, she manifests into the world she had once been trapped away from.

Link disappears after their conversation, her gift given to him, and Urbosa commands Naboris forward - and it feels so good to be able to control Naboris on her goddess damn own.

Naboris settles where the desert meets the highlands, where it had once settled before, and where Urbosa can see the other beams of red light, draining Ganon of his power. She crosses her arms, and smiles. She's the last one.

The wind stirs behind her, and she glances over her shoulder before laughing.

"It's nice to see you again."

The Rito's spirit remains silent, simply walking to her side. He's enshrouded in turquoise flame, not unlike her. He doesn't look any different. His back is stiff and straight, with an egotistical look to him. Yet his eyes - those green eyes - are different. There's a sense of humility and understanding in him. Her smile grows larger.

"Urbosa - " Revali cuts himself off then, covering his beak with his wing, and she smiles, propping her hand on her hip.

"Revali," she murmurs.

Revali takes a breath, his eyes darting about frantically, as if looking for something to say. He gives up evidently, sighing in defeat. Urbosa chuckles.

"It's funny," she starts, and Revali gives her a strange look as she continues, "it's funny how we only realized at our deaths."

He pauses and then, to her surprise, chuckles a bit. "I suppose it is."

Her heart flutters - a feeling she has never been acquaintanced with. It was what her people described as love, wasn't it? It was something so tender and different from the hardened warrior life she had been so accustomed to; she understood now why people flocked to speak with the Gerudo vai who had already ventured out into the world.

"Urbosa!" Daruk appears in a blaze of turquoise fire, wrapping her in a hug. "Welcome back! Mipha's busy, but she sends her greetings too!"

"Can you leave us alone for one minute?" Revali snaps, and Urbosa laughs. "I told you, give me a minute! Not a second!"

"Oops! Sorry!" Daruk laughs, and then disappears. Urbosa turns expectantly to him.

"...I hope the afterlife has a desert," Revali states suddenly.

Urbosa lets out a short laugh, half from surprise and half from amusement. "Where is this coming from?"

"...I was really fascinated by Gerudo," Revali confesses. "Everything you did was so different. Every value you had, every belief you believed, every different word you used. It fascinated me. It really did."

Urbosa blinks, a feeling of surprise transforming into gratitude. She never knew Revali had these feelings - although, she supposes it's to be expected. Even though he opened up to her at times, she never really knew what he was thinking.

"Your silence is disconcerting," Revali's words break through her thoughts. She raises her eyebrows before replying.

"It's nice to know you were paying attention all those times, vure."

"Sa'oten, vai," he snaps back, and Urbosa laughs again. "You're going to drive me insane."

"Well, if the afterlife has a desert, I suppose you'll be spending plenty of time with me," Urbosa replies, and then purses her lips. "I… I was fascinated by Rito Village too. It was… startlingly different, but nice. I suppose I wanted to know more about you and the culture you had been raised in," she says, her voice blunt but her heart… pounding, for some reason.

"I - " Revali inhales sharply, a feeling of awkwardness emanating from him before he brushes his armor off. "Listen, I - "

"I know," Urbosa cuts him off. He blinks. She smiles. "I know," she repeats.

"I heard you the first time," Revali replies, but he's so stunned he forgets to add the normal tone of egotism to his voice, and she just laughs.

Calamity Ganon lets out a bloodcurdling scream, and Urbosa glances over. Link must be approaching Hyrule Castle, ready to avenge all of them and save her little bird.

A rush of excitement comes through her, and she smiles as the adrenaline begins to course through her. She turns to him.

"You should go," she tells him, and he scoffs.

"I've been prepared for ages. You don't need to tell me when to go."

With a gentle hand, Urbosa reaches out and touches his wing. He freezes, and looks on as he slowly begins to sparkle like Link did when she had sent him off. Hesitantly, he wraps his wing around her hand, and watches as he slowly fades away, until all he is a ball of light that zips away to Medoh. Urbosa watches, letting her hand drop to her side before turning away.

It's time to prepare Naboris's final strike of lightning and thunder against the calamity that had claimed their lives. And then, maybe afterwards, she will see that vure with unparalleled skill of a bow, raised in a world so different than her own.