CHAPTER 9
The Rito Childrens Song
The sun rises upon Hyrule and cuccos cluck, waking the town. Link and Epona wait for the princess at the front gates of Hyrule as she readies herself for the journey to Rito Village. She packs food, clothes, and water in a large satchel her horse carries. Zelda and her white horse exit the castles stables and ride down the stone path leading out of Hyrule. "Have fun, your Highness!" an old market owner says. Zelda smiles and replies, "I will." As she rides through Hyrule's gates she sees Link on Epona. Her eyebrows narrow as she looks away. "I've no need of an escort." Zelda says as she starts her journey. Link trails behind her, following the order of King Rhoam.
Later, as the valley started to get dark, Link and Zelda set up camp. Zelda makes her tent as Link starts a fire. Seeing Zelda struggle with her tent, Link tries to help. "I can do it on my own." Zelda cautioned. Link's eyes widen and he goes back to starting the campfire. Link puts a stone bowl on the fire so they could cook food. The moon rises into the middle of the sky as fireflies start to light up the valley. Link realizes that the whole time they've been together, Zelda hasn't looked or talked to him much. "I can cook for myself." Zelda declared as she grabbed ingredients from her horses satchel. Link, silent, watches Zelda sit across from him and cook her food. As she finishes and starts to eats, Link starts to cook his own food. "Why does he just stare at me? And as weird as it is, his silence really burdens me." Zelda thought to herself as she ate. As the two silently eat, the sound of the crackling fire and the crickets chirps fill the valley. Finishing her meal, Zelda stands up and says, "I'm off to bed." Link nods and Zelda enters her tent. She takes off the pins in her hair and pulls her blanket over her, warming her. She lays her head on a bag full of her clothes, it's soft. Link finishes his meal and sits in front of Zelda's tent. He looks up and gazes at the shining stars and moon as he protects the sleeping princess.
The next day, the sun rises and Zelda wakes up. Her hair becomes messy but she brushes it out and puts her blue pins back in. She raises an eyebrow as she notices one of her tent walls slowly caving in. She grabs her stuff and walks out to see Link sleeping on the tent. "Did he fall asleep here?" she thinks to herself. She leans down and points out her index finger, poking Links cheek. "Hmm…soft." she utters. Link scrunches his face and Zelda's eyes widen as she quickly shoots up and walks to her horse. Her face becomes red as she puts her satchel on her horse. Link rubs his eyes and stands up. He stretches and yawns as Zelda goes back to take her tent down. As she packs it up and stores it in the satchel she says, "Time to go." As they get on their horses and continue their journey, Zelda looks at the map on her Sheikah Slate. "The Sheikah slate truly is amazing. If we keep going this way instead of taking the trail we'll be there in no time!" Zelda gushed. They traverse through the green valley and see a huge giant mechanical bird in the sky. The bird is tan and has blue shining lights that outline parts of the body and under the tip of the wing, propellers hover the mechanism in the air. "Divine Beast Vah Medoh." Zelda exclaimed, "It seems Revali has found out how to pilot it." she assumes. "We are much closer than I thought we were." Zelda adds.
The two go to a nearby inn and board their horses. While boarding they can see that the village is decorated with colorful pages that hang on string. The decorations are attached to the trees connecting to more trees and hang off of roofs connecting to the middle pillar where the houses and stairs of the village are built. The stone pillars that connect the bridges to the village are set up with game and food vendors. One pillar has a little stage for the Rito children's performance. Link and Zelda walk on the bridges and look around the vendors. "Today is a perfect day for the festival!" Zelda says as she looks up at the sky seeing few clouds. Her eyes widen as she sees the Rito children running to her. "Princess! Princess!" the children shout out. Zelda kneels down and hugs them, "You came to see us dance and sing?" one of the children asks. "Of course! I wouldn't have missed it." Zelda replies. The child's eyes light up as he looks up at her. "Come look at the decorations we made!" another Rito child suggests. "All right." Zelda says as she stands up carrying the youngest Rito in her arms like a baby. Link gets left behind and seeing that Zelda is safe, he goes to see the Village Elder at the top of the staircase. "Link!" the Village Elder shouts as he sits in his chair, "How lovely of you to come to the festival! Congratulations on becoming the princesses appointed knight. It's an honorable title." "Thanks, where's Revali?" Link replies. "He's probably on his Divine Beast, up there." the elder says as he looks up to Vah Medoh, "If you're trying to find him you may need to wait until he comes back down." The Rito childrens shouting attract Link and the Elder. They walk to the edge of the fenced platform and look down to see Zelda and the children greeting Urbosa and Mipha. "Ah, two more champions have come. The children sure are excited." the elder gushed. Link walks away and goes to a platform that hangs off the cliff.
Standing on the platform he watches Divine Beast Vah Medoh fly through the clouds. Wind blows through his hair. The platform starts to rumble and a small whirlwind starts to form where it drops. Link finds his footing and Revali shoots up, flying in the eye of the whirlwind. He lands on the platforms fence and crosses his arms. "Impressive, I know." he says, "Very few can achieve a mastery of the sky. Yet I have made an art of creating an updraft that allows me to soar." Revali waves his wings and poses, "It's considered to be quite the masterpiece of aerial techniques, even among the Rito." he continues. Link's eyebrows narrow. "With proper utilization of my superior skills, I see no reason why we couldn't easily dispense with Ganon." Revali babbled as he stepped down from the fence, "Now then, my ability to explore the firmament is certainly of note…" He walks around Link and turns to face him, "But let's not-pardon me for being so blunt-let's not forget the fact that I am the most skilled archer of all the Rito." He walks around Link as Links eyes follow him, "Yet despite these truths, it seems that I have been tapped to merely assist you. All because you happen to have that little darkness-sealing sword on your back. I mean, it's just…asinine." Revali says as he points at the Master sword. He shoves his face into Links challenging him, "Unless…you think you can prove me wrong? Maybe we should settle this one on one?" Revali puts his hand under his beak. "But where…? Oh, I know! How about there?!" he says as he points to Divine Beast Vah Medoh. Link looks and sees how high up it's gone. "Oh, you must pardon me. I forgot you have no way of making it up to that Divine Beast on your own!" Revali mocks as he soars. As he flies to his Divine Beast he turns to Link and shouts, "Good luck sealing the darkness!" A corner of Links mouth turns down as his eyebrows narrow.
He sighs and turns around. "Link." a voice calls out. Mipha walks onto the platform, "Hello." she smiles. Links lips curve into a smile as his eyes widen. The two walk down the stairs and Mipha asks, "I was wondering. Since the Princess is safe here, could we spend some time together?" Link smiles and nods his head. The corners of Mipha's mouth turn up as she becomes red. The two walk down to the vendors and eat food, Link more than Mipha. They play the games the Rito have to offer and a familiar voice calls out. "Hey, guys!" Daruk shouts as he walks up to them. "Daruk! Hello." Mipha replies, smiling. Daruk joins Link and Mipha as they win all the games they play gaining multiple handmade stuffed animals. They give all their winnings to the Rito children but Mipha keeps one. It's a small teddy bear plushie that Link won for her and she holds it close to her heart.
As night fell upon Rito Village, small flames encased in colorful rocks light up the festival. The performance is about to start. Zelda, the Champions, and all of the Rito sit on their quilts in front of the wooden stage. Link, Daruk, Revali, and Mipha sit behind Zelda who holds a baby Rito and sits next to Urbosa. "Is it gonna start soon?" Daruk whispers. "It's almost time, Daruk. Just a little more patience." Zelda replies. As silence fills the village the drapes that cover the stage roll up. "It's starting!" Zelda gushed. The lights shine on the stage as eight Rito children stand side by side and start singing. The Rito in Zelda's lap smiles as his face lights up with joy. Zelda starts to sway side to side with it and the two start swaying together. Urbosa smiles. The song of the Rito children soothes through the crowd as every note makes them feel at ease. Their whistles are calm but energetic, telling a story. Mipha looks at Link and sees that he's smiling. She smiles and continues to watch the performance.
The festival comes to a close and all the Rito start heading into their homes. At the inn where Zelda and Link boarded their horses they stand with the other four Champions. "We'll be off then." Zelda declared. Revali, with his arms crossed, replies, "See ya." "You take care of her now, young man." Urbosa demanded. Link nods his head. "I bid you two safe travels, Princess." Mipha says. "And to you." Zelda replies, smiling. "O' tiny princess!" Daruk shouts out, "While you're here I need to ask, can ya bring some o' them scientist to check out Vah Rudania? It stopped working and I can't get em started." "Of course. I, along with some Sheikah scientists will make our way to Goron City as soon as possible." Zelda replies. Daruk gives a big smile and Zelda smiles back. "Farewell, little bird." Urbosa says. Zelda says her last goodbyes and the two leave back to Hyrule. The four Champions watch them leave and Mipha holds her teddy bear closer to her heart.
