"Keep shooting it with those ice arrows!" Hazel yelled. She steadied herself on a rocky outcropping, blinking her eyes to keep the torrent of sweat from clouding her vision. She gripped at the rock wall and pulled up with all her might. She'd have to climb higher if she planned to jump. Her body shook from the adrenaline pounding through her veins after another fire infused rock crashed too close for comfort.
"Yes, yes. It's not like I don't know basic elemental properties," Revali clucked. He raised his bow and shot three bright blue arrows into the giant lumbering rock before him. The thick rooted magma lining the creature's rocky skin like thin ropes flickered and dissipated. He let loose six more arrows to be certain that the magma would not return anytime soon.
"This isn't the time to be snarky, Revali," Hazel shakily said. She was far enough up the mountain side to take her chance. Hazel located the talos below her, its vulnerable deposit of rich ore just begging to be smashed, and jumped from her perch and onto the talos's back. She unsheathed her scimitar and sliced into the creature's ore. Slice, slice, slice! If anything, she was quick with a knife and now her new sword.
"Ho hum," Revali sighed. He stuck out his tongue at Hazel and readied his bow once more. "You just had," he shot three regular arrows at the ore, "to go to," Hazel grabbed onto the creature's rocky surface while it attempted to throw her off, "this Quill forsaken," he rapidly shot eight more arrows making the giant pause in its panic, "mountain with the name," Hazel got back up and with the final slash of her sword and the last of Revali's arrows, the creature fell, "DEATH in it!"
The talos collapsed, its many joints dissolving into rubble. Hazel quickly dashed away to allow the giant to explode into a puff of black dust and debris. She brushed off her tunic and pants, spitting out some of the dust she accidentally inhaled. Sneezing, she turned to Revali. He effortlessly glided down to her side and kicked the leftover dust at where the talos's corpse should have been.
"That will teach you some manners."
"Pot calling the kettle black," Hazel mumbled under her breath.
"What was that?"
"I said, look at what came out of its back!" She pointed at five fat rubies glimmering under the red glow of Death Mountain. There was also one finely cut diamond and a shard of amber amidst the pile of rubies. She walked over and bent to pick up their quarry.
"Gems, meh."
"Gems, meh, my butt! We can sell these beauties to get some hearty durians. Oh! Or we could buy something to make this heat go away rather than drinking elixirs!" She held out a ruby, smiling at all of the possibilities. Revali opened his bill to say something when the ground began to thunder. Hazel dropped her rubies. Revali spread his wings as if he could soar up in the air right from that spot. Was it another talos? Could the dormant volcano possibly not be dormant at all? Something burst from a cliff above. It was the shape of a boulder and was loud as one tumbling down a mountain side. The thing careened down and down, getting closer until at only three feet away from the duo, it popped open. A large man spread open heavily muscles arms and yelled at the top of his lungs.
"YOU TWO WERE AMAZING!" The man was huge! He had a white, dense head of hair and beard that resembled the mane of a lynol. His hard skin could have been composed of topaz from how sturdy and sedimentary it looked. The man held a massive sword, or a bat, made entirely from stone. He rubbed an arm across his large nose and showed off two rows of pearly white teeth. Dust from his roll down the mountain flew around him in clouds, so he ended up coughing after his big entrance.
"WOAH! Who are you!" Hazel yelped.
"Obviously someone with real taste." Revali stepped forward and bowed. "Thank you good sir, am quite amazing. I'm saddened that you could not witness a proper aerial dive, for I wish only for the public to know of my best qualities."
"He's been away from people too long," Hazel mumbled to no one in particular.
"Haha! I, too, hope to see your flight, tiny bird man!" The Goron, because he surely must be
one, slapped Revali on the back. The Rito stumbled forward.
"Tiny. Bird. Man," Revali coughed dryly.
"On behalf of my tribe, I thank you for vanquishing that talos! I myself was heading out to turn that thing to rubble. It seems like you two had it handled!" The Goron heaved his stone bat so that it rested on his shoulders. He wasn't winded at all. The thing must have weighed 100 pounds! He adjusted his loin cloth and raised a fist formed with a thumbs up. "My name is Daruk. I am the leader of the Gorons. Please, come to my town and we will throw a grand feast in your honor!"
Revali and Hazel glanced at each other. What ensued was a mental conversation expressed solely through facial expression and gestures.
He called me little bird man. No way. Revali's yellow brows puffed up.
Come on. He's just a little abrasive. Hazel rolled her shoulders around and bit her lip.
No way. The Rito narrowed his green eyes, the white tips of his cheek feathers waving in the wind.
They have foooood. We scattered all those birds and lizards away when we fought that talos.
Food. Eh.
Yes! Come on. Free food!
"Do we have enough elixir?" Revali asked aloud. As if she would really forget to make an elixir that would keep them from bursting into flames.
"Yup! I made ten batches from the lizards you caught last night." And they stunk to high Hyrule after throwing in plenty of molduga guts. If she pretended the elixir was an earthy and tart soup, she could sometimes get through the worst of it. That as until a chunk of skin or innards brushed against her tongue. Yuck!
"Geh, I do so hate elixirs," Revali said as if he read Hazel's mind. If he were Hylian, he would have wrinkled his nose.
"We'd love to come to your town, Mr. Daruk. Actually, we were on our way there when that talos sprung from the ground." She recalled her confusion when the rock that stood still so innocently under her booted feet had unearthed and formed calcified arms that attempted to pin her to the rock wall, blazing with marbled magma veins. Now every rock had a suspicious air about it. She'd never thought she'd be concerned over rocks.
"There has been more monster activity recently," Daruk said. His eyes went bleary as he observed the land beyond Hazel and Revali's shoulders. From what Hazel heard from the man so far, he did not know the meaning of an indoor voice. When he spoke this line while seeming so small and somber, a chill rattled down her back. She peeked at Revali. His feathers were unusually ruffled. He felt it, too. The times had become steeped in the dregs of malice. Daruk woke from his temporary haze and returned to the booming Goron of earlier. "Never mind that! Please, follow me!"
"I am ready to see this feast of yours," Revali told Daruk.
A few hours later, Revali, Hazel, Daruk, and a grouping of Gorons sat in the middle of their town. Apparently the center of the town was literally the center of activity. There was a pool of crackling lava under the bridge that supported the dinner party, and Hazel was sure she would melt from the inside out. A makeshift table of flame retardant cloth had been careful placed in front of the guests. On the tan fabric lay a spread of plates and bowls. Dark rocks resembling cuts of prime tip steak were placed into an elegantly stacked slant. There was a bowl of slate rock that may have been the Goron equivilant of salad, but, as one would assume, consisted of rocks. There were rock rolls with pebble butter. The centerpiece was a beautifully cut slab of pink marble corded with creamy veins. Hazel cautiously peered into her drink cup. Chunky rocks ground into a fine power so fine, it was almost liquid in texture.
"So let me get this straight. When you said feast what you really meant was big pile of rocks," Revali moaned. The Rito had removed his scarf and usual attire in favor of a light tunic and kilt. The elixir may keep them both from frying up into bite sized crisps, but it did not drive away the heat.
"Well, yes! What other food is there?!" Daruk boomed. He cut right through the slab of pink marble by using a swift chopping motion. A piece cleanly broke off, and the Goron let the cool rock land on his tongue. Hazel guessed that Daruk was savoring the taste before breaking the rock up into pieces with his strong teeth. She heard Revali's stomach impatiently rumble, and the avian glared at the rock feast with venom.
"How about we take some of these rocks for provisions later and use what we have now?
Would that be alright Mr. Daruk? That way while we journey, we can think of your tribe. How about it Revali?" She gave the Rito what she hoped to be an eager grin and transferred the same vigorous smile onto Daruk. The Goron leader seemed flattered that the two travelers would want to keep his treasured food as reserves for their journey.
"Err, yes! A fine couple of travelers deserve only the finest of foods," Revali said, not even missing a beat.
"I would be honored, my friends!" Daruk slapped the ground with a massive fist. His fellow Gorons mimicked him, pounding their hands onto the slabs of heat resistant wood. The feasting area began to shake and swing. The village of boulder houses and rocky foundations blurred with the Goron's combined movements. Dear Goddess, they would fall into the lava if the Gorons kept this up! Thankfully, Daruk crunched a few rock rolls, ran his tongue along his teeth, and then leaned over to speak as the ruckus died down. "Hazel, you want a map to help a hero, yes?"
"Yes! If you have one I could copy to my own, I'd be grateful!" Hazel separated their ration of fish jerky and passed the pieces of salted meat to Revali. She threw the water skin of honey water to the Rito as well, and he caught the skin with ease. Hazel's growing map almost buzzed in her pack from the anticipation of another expansion.
"We Gorons have no affinity for writing," Daruk sighed. "So there would be no maps for you here." The Goron observed the little Hylian's crumpled face from his spot across from her. "You can talk to my people, however. We have the memories of, umm, well, Gorons! Nothing can beat our stubborn recollections!" He slapped his large belly and laughed.
"Great! Then I hope you don't mind if I start picking brains tomorrow?"
"I don't know about picking, but you can definitely ask questions."
"Err, ha, yeah," Hazel said. She and Revali concealed their laughter.
After their "feast," Daruk showed the travelers around Goron City. They exchanged the rubies and diamond for rupees that would keep them bountifully supplied for the next few months. There did turn out to be a suit that allowed its wearer to forgo elixirs, but Revali was so against its unfavorable appearance that they ended up brewing more elixirs anyway. Hazel didn't blame Revali. The suit would impair flight and speed, traits of which he highly valued.
Daruk explained the significance of the figure carved into the face of the mountain and pointed out his favorite spots to pluck rock rolls to chomp on. He then took them to a family run inn that his second cousin twice removed owned. The beds were, yes, made of rock. Revali cringed, heaving a sigh so drawn that even Daruk snapped out of his proud recounting of why said beds were constructed from rock.
"I know your bones are weary from your journey. There are some hot springs down below that can heal a cut a mile long! Mmm, it had the best pebbles to snack on, too!"
"I've been without a proper bath for far too long. My exceptional physique should no longer hide behind such filth," Revali said. His green eyes sparkled with the thought of something nice among all these rocks and boulders. Hazel turned to Daruk.
"What he means is yes. We'll go down to the springs."
Trekking down to the springs did not take long. Daruk rolled along with them, revealing his favored springs with a flourish. There had been a poor attempt to create a modesty wall for races other than Gorons to use the springs. It consisted of a rickety wooden plank nailed together with another thin piece of wood. That wall would collapse in a year for sure, but it would do for now. Daruk left them to clean themselves and said he would wait for them up top. Hazel waved goodbye while Revali was already on his side of the hot spring. The map maker scooted to her side, taking off her poor dirty cloths and slipping into the pleasantly heated water. Steam curled in lazy whirls around her, and she found the fact that the water she stood in was milky white from the mineral deposits at the spring's banks. Too bad there weren't any springs like this in Tabantha, or if there were, she hadn't found them and mapped them yet.
"I never thought I would have clean skin again," Hazel happily said to the wall. The spring was situated under an overhanging of a cliff, and so her voice bounced off the slick rock walls like it was playing a game of hide and seek. She passed her fingers over the surface of the water to dissipate the tracks of dirt and grime that washed off of her.
"I am starting to feel like a proper Pride of the Rito again," Revali said from the other side of the makeshift wall. Despite telling herself not to, Hazel still imagined Revali in the water next to her. Would he bathe like a Hylian or a bird? There was a lack of splashing, so she assumed he sat in the water like she did.
"Hmph, when were you not?"
"When I was a pathetic hatchling," came an unexpected reply. Hazel sat up in the spring, staring at a knot in the wooden wall like she would have stared at Revali's face. There was a slight watery movement on Revali's side. "Never mind that. How about you? When did you want to make your silly map?" She could hear him move over to the bank of his spring and imagined him resting his head on his feathered hands, waiting for her to answer. Despite traveling with Revali for so long, they never did go into her heritage. Or his for that matter.
"I came from a family of blacksmiths. Mom took care of the shop up in Tabantha Village. Our house was right on the top of the settlement, and there I'd help her mold and cool the metals used for creating swords, arrow tips, and staffs. She is the best smith I know, and that's not just because she's my Mom. Sometimes, we would take our wares to the Castle Town of Hyrule, and we would let knights test out our weapons against the King's very own smith. Mom's always won."
"If she was that good, then I can't imagine the King letting her leave that easily."
"True. King Rhoam did offer her a position as his Royal smith, but she turned him down." Hazel saw in her mind her mother in front of her, tall and strong, kneeling at the King's feet shaking her head with tears in her mother's emerald eyes.
"Why in the world would she do that? A Royal smith is nothing to sniff at." That meant a lot from Revali. Hazel smacked the water with her palm.
"Well, my Dad is a treasure hunter." Hazel shrugged. The hot water lapped at her chest, and she sunk further down so the water stopped at her chin. "He counted on my Mom to be at Tabantha. That's where they called home. Albeit, Dad never had a steady flow of income, so he'd only come home when he had enough to make up for being gone. That meant me barely seeing him."
"Father's are indeed an interesting breed of creature," Revali scoffed.
"Hmn? Why's that?"
"My mother died when I was but a hatchling," Revali croaked. He cleared his throat, paused as if he was berating himself for actually deciding to continue, and spoke. "Father did not take her passing, uh, well." Hazel could see the Rito shaking his head from a small crack in the wooden wall. "In my little head, I thought that if I made him proud, he would feel better or at the very least remember that he had a son."
"I trained day after day at a makeshift archery range until I could no longer stand or fly. I'd let loose arrow after arrow after arrow until my wings accumulated so many blood feathers, I'd have to let the medics cut them off. When I was not missing half of my feathers I'd fly against the wind currents near Rito Village. I'd keep flying until I wearied or until I was flung from the sky and thrown into the cold waters below. I almost died from cold sickness from a few of those stunts," Revali laughed. His voice caught.
"Father would find me in the early mornings when the skies bled out the stars and moon, leaving a raw, wounded pink behind. He'd stare at me and the pitiful progress I made and say…he'd say nothing. Nothing at all."
Chills pricked at Hazel's skin. The hot springs did nothing to abate the ice in her belly and the little hairs rising on the back of her neck.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"There's no need for pity. I'm not telling you this for hurt words. Actually, I don't understand why I'm telling you this at all. Only, if it weren't for his stern attitude, I wouldn't be where I am today."
"What happened to your father?"
"He died fighting an Ice Talos. His wing was hit by the monster's powerful rock projectiles, and there wasn't much he could do after that."
"Revali…"
"Anyway, that was right when Kaneli became the Rito leader. He took me in. I believe the only reason why he showered me with an overload of praise for any mundane action I took was because he saw how my father treated me. Kaneli, my poor mentor, needn't have worried."
"Why?"
"Because I was born with unnaturally fantastic talent, of course! I already know I am supremely elevated above all others," Revali trilled with his usual prideful gusto. He was very close to sounding like his usual self, but Hazel could tell it was forced.
"I shouldn't have asked." Hazel sunk into the hot water and made bubbles by blowing raspberries. What Revali told her made a certain kind of sense. Why he told her was another matter altogether. The Rito was the definition of pride. To open up like this meant he trusted her implicitly. She held a hand to her chest and felt the thrill of a thundering heart beat. She wished that there wasn't a wall in between them. Revali broke the silence.
"So, I'm guessing you're an only hatchling?"
Changing the subject, huh? Alright, she could deal with that.
"Oh, no! My younger brother traveled to the Sheikah village to become a scholar. He comes home every month bringing back stories and odd gadgets. He even dresses like them now. And my sister got married to a nice man in Hetano. I'm an aunt of two baby boys. Though I guess they'd be toddlers by now."
"You're very proud of your family." Was there a slight touch of bitterness there? No. No, that was longing lacing Revali's tone. Hazel closed her eyes and opened her mouth.
"I wanted to make a map because…my family already accomplished what they set out for. My mom, dad, brother, even my sister, they all shine so bright. I know I'm no fighter. Without you with me I'd probably be dead by now. I thought that if I could do something to help a hero who could fight, something that only I could do, then I would be, umm, worth something." She almost choked from saying it, but she said it anyway. No one had heard this out loud before. Even her.
"Anyway, after being with you the past half year I want to do this map for completely different reasons now. I want to keep safe all of the people and creatures and families we've seen so far. Urbosa, the Gerudo, the Rito and Kaneli, Daruk and his friends, the villagers of Tabantha, all of the villages in-between. These random monster attacks are getting out of control. It's clear that something big is coming. Something that would be a calamity to us all. Hyrule needs a hero. That hero will need a map."
"I can be that hero if you'd like. I can protect all of Hyrule with one wing behind my back."
"Then I would love for you to be the one to accept my map."
They chatted about mundane occurrences after that. What they had unexpectedly both delved into was too much for either of them to properly handle. Especially while naked in a hot spring and unable to see one another. So they spoke of the glowing red dragon they witnessed a few month ago, throwing around ideas of what the beast could have been. Revali revealed his plans to craft a superior bow that would rival even the falcon bow. Hazel talked about her childhood dog and how she was faring now. Their mundane subject continued even after they completely cleaned off and dressed. They then sat on the rocks, watching as a few sparrows flittered by.
The sounds reminiscent of a scuffle rose up to Hazel's ears from far below the cliffs. She cupped her ear, poked a finger inside to clear the rest of the water out, and listened again. Yes, that was surely the sound of a sword being unsheathed and clanging against an opposing force.
"Listen. I think someone might be in trouble," Hazel said. She fumbled in her pack for the scimitar and bow.
"You battle a molduga and a talus just one time and suddenly you can't seem to have enough of monsters and their blood," Revali huffed. His navy blue feathers were now glossy and clean, and his green eyes were sharp as though ready for the proposed danger.
"Stop being dramatic," Hazel said and then paused. "Actually, yeah, if you help me, then you can show off your excellent archery skills to the person we save."
"When you put it that way, I suppose the world does need to know more of the Pride of the Rito. Come on then, up up!" Revali picked up his bow and quiver. He placed a wing to the small of Hazel's back, pushing her over to the cliff's edge so they both could gage the situation.
They needn't have worried.
Yes, there was a gang of blue bokoblins and three black moblins surrounding a lone figure, but instead of triumphant expressions on their faces, they wore masks of fear and desperation. They were battling for their lives. The figure, a boy with sunshine hair, sky blue eyes, and the tunic of an apprentice knight, swung his sharpened sword as if the weapon was another arm. The young man dodged the club a bokoblin hurled at him, twirled, and cut the monster's ankles. The bokoblin fell as another jumped ahead of its comrade brandishing a spear. The swordsman side stepped the spear in time for the enemy behind him to receive the skewering he would have taken if he had stayed still. While in the middle of this move, the youth kicked in a moblin's knee, toppling the creature over. This battle would not last long with such a skilled knight!
"Oh wow! Look at him go!" Hazel leaned over, trying to gain a better view of the fit young man and the enemies his slew. A tan boulder rolled down the side of the mountain, and Hazel pointed. "Look, here comes Daruk." The Goron leader gaped at the circle of dead monsters piled around the knight. The knight sheathed his sword with a click.
"Do you fancy him?" Revailed asked. Hazel blinked.
"What? You mean Daruk?"
"No! I mean that boy there." The Rito impatiently waved at the knight. The youth was calmly listening to Daruk's fanboying banter with his hands resting on his slender hips.
"Revali, he's too young for me. I must be at least ten years his senior." Hazel rolled her turquoise eyes. Honestly.
"How old are you then?"
"I'm twenty six. You?"
"Twenty seven."
"See? You're a much better fit than the knight down there." She began to sweat. Uh oh. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. Her mouth dried, and she licked her lips to keep them from sealing shut. Hazel cautiously glanced up at Revali, expecting him to be either shocked or annoyed. He was neither.
"No. No I'm not," he said. His face was stony and cold. All the warmth and kindness she had grown to decipher was completely void from her best friend. "That boy could give you hatchlings. Your anatomy fits. No feathers or beaks." He looked at his feathers a way she'd never seen him do before. He was always proud of his wings and slight frame, but the way he glared at his lovely feathers…"And though I know I am far superior to that child down there, far far more superior mind you, I still find myself loathing him."
"You've never even spoken to him. I haven't either," was all she could say. Revali's malice was so chilling, she couldn't completely process that this Rito was her Revali.
"All the more reason to forget him and his handsome Hylian face," he spat.