It didn't take long for a date to be agreed upon. Both Purah and Impa made sure they had everything they would need before heading off to the Castle for the Ceremony; Purah had quickly checked to make sure Robbie would be okay alone with the others before heading off with her sister, eyeing the Champions' clothes.
The Champions had been notified of the arrival date, and made sure to get there before the Sheikahs had arrived; a day earlier, each having to had rooms to themselves and managed to get to know each other while awaiting, ignoring everyone as they began to whisper amongst themselves about Ganon's return and if they would be able to take him down or not.
"I highly doubt these Divine Beasts truly exist," Revali said as he and the Champions walked around the grounds. He waved his wing as he spoke to make his point known, and watched as the others nodded. "Just because we were told of them doesn't mean they exist. I would rather see them in person to believe it."
"Gotta see it to believe it," Daruk added. "I'm sure we're going to see them sooner or later. I mean, we're going to pilot them."
Mipha hummed to herself. "Do you think they'll actually respond to us? We're just ones who were picked to the best among our kind."
Revali snorted. "I highly doubt they will," he replied. "They're just relics after all."
"Perhaps we should have some faith," Urbosa placed her input. "Let's just wait and see if they are real before we even begin to put in our own thoughts; we might be proven wrong or right."
"Such wisdom," Revali muttered. "When are the Sheikahs getting here?"
"They should be here soon enough," Mipha answered. "Let's head up."
"Fine by me," Daruk grinned.
It turns out, they had the right idea because as soon as they walked to the entrance of the grand room; they were met with Purah and Impa, holding their Champions' wear. Each took them and unfolded the blue cloth to see white markings and a white stitch of their respective Divine Beast. The Champions exchanged a glance before placing them on, knowing they would be expected to wear them.
Revali had his on his neck, Daruk placed his own over his shoulder in a sash-like way, Mipha wore hers around her shoulder in a sash-like way as well, and Urbosa wore hers as her skirt overtop of her old one until she could take it off and switch them out. All four exchanged another glance before nodding to the Sheikahs, signaling they were ready to head inside for the Ceremony to welcome them.
As they walked inside the room, they could see thousands of nobles, and witnesses from their own races to ensure the ceremony was truly for them. King Rhoam and Princess Zelda stood at the top awaiting for them to stand in front of them while King Rhoam opened his arms to welcome them all for coming to the grand ceremony of the Champions, which were named after the group that according to the legend, defeated Ganon using the Divine Beasts ten thousands years before them.
It was a huge name known to everyone, and finally the Champions were back to finish the job; with new ones to finish the job in order to please their ancestors and put the lost souls at rest.
During the welcoming speech, Revali took notice of a blond teenage boy with the Master Sword strapped upon his back and held back a scoff.
Were they serious?
That boy looked like he could be taken down with a single attack dealt. He nudged Daruk slightly and pointed, which made the Goron silently alert the girls so they could see the final member of their group. Mipha smiled as she recognized the boy and couldn't be more happy to know Link was the Hylian Champion and wielder of the Master Sword.
He looked rather dashing in his Champion tunic.
She stole a glance at Revali and took note of how disimpressed the Rito looked. He wasn't on the same page as she was. He looked like he was waiting for Link to slip up and hand in that tunic of his; there was no way, in his eyes, that Link could handle the incoming stress that this group would bring upon.
Deep down, she couldn't wait for her childhood friend to prove Revali wrong.
But she was also worried for his own safety. What would happen if he got too injured during this time while they trained for Ganon's arrival? She shuddered, not wanting to think about it as she tried to focus on King Rhoam's words.
It wasn't until Purah and Impa stepped up that all of them realized the weight on their shoulders; all glancing at each other nervously as the sisters went into greater depth of their mission and required training. They would need to learn how to control the Divine Beasts, which they would be meeting shortly after the ceremony. Daruk felt his stomach twist slightly with nerves, Mipha tensed, Urbosa refused to let her discomfort show, and Revali simply stared.
One single thought ran across their minds; What if we fail?
Failure was always the deadly, horrid, truthful option that would always exist. It would never go away— always looming over people's shoulders, ready to jump at the slightest chance to make sure it was known throughout all the lands. To wake people up and make them realize they would never always have success in life; failure was the darkest side of that coin and it was important.
How else would you grow if you didn't have failure?
All of them wanted to ask the burning question, but they didn't have the guts to ask it in front of everyone. Well, maybe except for one Champion.
"... which is why we will have success in this mission!" King Rhoam added off Impa's words of encouragement and Purah's words of wisdom. "We will succeed in driving the Calamity away and restoring balance throughout the land."
Revali stiffened as he squared his shoulders to stand tall; like a proud Rito. "And what if we fail?" he questioned, voice firm and loud. "There's no guarantee we'll have success in this mission of ours. Failure could come to us too. We can't simply write it out."
"Revali is right," Urbosa added. "Failure might follow our path."
Purah and Impa exchanged a glance, swallowing thickly. They knew it would be an option for them to have failure coming their way. King Rhoam frowned as he stiffened up, squarding his shoulder in order to reply to the Rito Champion's words whilst Zelda locked eyes with Link, both thinking the same thing; What was about to go down?
None spoke as the King and Rito Champion had a stare down, but with the combined gazes of the Champions— the King finally backed down with a huff as he glanced towards Purah and Impa, allowing them to take over the situation.
"We'll make sure we can do everything in our power to lower the chances," Impa cleared her throat as she stepped up. "We wouldn't want them to outdo our chances at success, now do we?"
"And suppose we still fail?" asked Revali. "What then?"
"We'll find a way around our failure then," Purah spoke up, pushing her sister out of the way slightly. "Yes, it's not a hundred percent we'll succeed during our current plan, but until we come across that bridge, we're sticking to the current plan."
Revali nodded, sharing a look with his fellow Champions. It seemed to satisfy the four Champions as they allowed the ceremony to continue on; ignoring the way the King was glaring slightly at the Rito. Link bit his lip as he glanced at the princess before straightening up, standing tall with pride as he moved to stand next to Zelda, under her command when she waved her hand slightly to him.
This was probably the moment when he was introduced to the rest of the group. With a deep breath, Link waited until King Rhoam gestured for him to come stand next to him, and for a split moment; he could feel a burning gaze of slight jealousy from Zelda's eyes on his back.
"And this, my good Champions, is the Master Sword's wielder along with the Hylian Champion, Link. The final member of your team," King Rhoam said with proud eyes, it was obvious in his eyes he was proud of the Hylian next to him.
Revali frowned. "He's nothing special," he mumbled under his breath. "Someone else could easily take his role and nothing would change. Damn Hylians and their pride. Why couldn't it have been a Rito to pull the sword?"
Daruk grinned. "I think we'll get along just fine," he chuckled. "When we're introduced in person, we'll be sworn brothers that way the Gorons will always have his back; plus, we gotta be friends somehow."
"I always knew he had a big destiny in store for him," Mipha softly said as she watched with pride.
Urbosa nodded wordlessly. "Let's hope he can keep up."
Link could feel the Champions' judgemental gazes on them— well, not so much Mipha— rather than the others. But the most intense one was that of the Rito Champion's and when he looked, he paled in color when he saw the way those green eyes were glaring at him with a mixture of hatred and envy. He stiffened slightly as he felt King Rhoam's hand touch his shoulder, almost making him jump when he snapped his attention back to the wall behind everyone to keep himself from feeling nervous.
That was a trick everyone learned; look behind a crowd and you would do fine as you spoke out to millions of people. At the moment, it was proving to be true as his nerves began to settle as he kept his eyes locked at the wall.
This ceremony would be over soon enough.
Surely enough, Purah stepped up after a few minutes had passed, holding a Sheikah Slate in her hands with a wide grin before proclaiming the Champions needed a picture taken to make this moment memorable. They didn't get the chance to oppose because the oldest sister was shoving them outside while Impa walked with Zelda behind them, laughing as she did so.
They stood outside side by side with Daruk in the back as Purah aimed up the shot perfectly, only; Revali was far too much out of the shot, Mipha was tense, and Link didn't know wether to smile or not with the way the Rito was glaring at him. Zelda, Daruk, and Urbosa were the ones who didn't have a problem.
"Revali, move in a little more!" Purah commanded, grudgingly the Rito did so. "Mipha, ease up a little; we're all friends here, no one's going to hurt you!" with a deep breath, the Zora princess relaxed as much as she could. "Link, don't look so afraid and smile for us."
"S-Sorry, Purah," Link stuttered out as Revali sent him a glare.
"Alright!" Purah clicked her tongue. "Here we go!" Daruk took a moment to look at his newfound family and beamed widely as he waited for the signal. "Smile now! 3… 2... 1…"
As soon as the flash went off, Daruk pushed them all closer by putting his arms around Mipha and Revali, making them fall forward. Purah laughed with happiness as she showed them the picture; a wide beaming Daruk, both Revali and Mipha's mouths were open as they nearly fell, Urbosa was giving her usual smirk, Zelda was pushed towards Link with her own look of slight shock, and Link stiffened as he felt Zelda fall on him a tad bit.
Laughter echoed from Daruk as he nodded with approval before taking the pictures into his large hand, showing it off to them all. Revali helped Mipha stand steady as he sent a slight glare to the Goron before gazing at the picture; it wasn't that bad, and he refused to take another one.
Mipha and Urbosa shared their own opinions on the picture before moving to talk with Revali and Daruk about their upcoming duties while Link and Zelda took their own look by taking the picture from the Goron.
"Well," Link hummed. "It's something, alright."
Zelda nodded her agreement. "That it is. At least Purah managed to get a photo of us all together. I wasn't sure if Revali wanted to stay in the picture."
"Yeah, but that's how some people are," Link pointed out with a shrug. "Not everyone likes getting their pictures taken nor like looking at themselves when a photo is concerned."
"That sounds a lot like them hating themselves…"
Link bit his lip as he looked away, folding his arms. "I guess so. But then again, what are you going to do about them?"
"Try to help them love themselves."
"Maybe we should try to help Revali love himself then," Link joked and Zelda rolled her eyes, smacking him in the chest with a giggle of her own at his words. "What? He doesn't like pictures being taken so maybe…"
Zelda gave him a playful look. "You're bad."
"Maybe, maybe not."
She was about to reply when Impa interrupted them by saying she and Purah needed to speak with the princess alone. As Zelda went about to speak with the Sheikah sisters; Link waltzed over to see if he could get along with the Champions he didn't know that well.
It went just about how you would expect; Daruk proclaimed them sworn-brothers, Urbosa gave him a tight nod, and Revali scoffed as he pretty much ignored the Hylian Champion until Zelda rejoined them.
Link was convinced he was the only one who sensed the change in her mood.
…
The moment they had the chance, Purah stole them all and whisked them away to the area where the Divine Beasts and Guardians were being held up at. Impa tagged along as she kept watch from the end of the gang, looking for any people who might try and attack the newly named Champions in order to cease them from sealing away Ganon once and for all.
But thankfully, they didn't have any sort of problem in dealing with those type of people as they safely made their way to the Royal Laboratory where they were met with massive ancient mechanical machines standing proudly; one was laying down on the ground due to its natural habitat being the air.
Immediately, the Champions' jaws dropped in shock as they took in the forms of the massive machines; all taking the form of animals. Link and Zelda's eyes darted back and forth between the machines before landing on the machines with legs, an eye in the middle of the head; it was glowing as it moved around, on the lookout for any dangerous predator that may harm them.
Purah patted one of the ancient machines' legs as she held out her other hand with a proud grin. Robbie gave them all a nod as he came out from one of the animals, hopping onto the ground, sticking his landing.
"Welcome," Robbie greeted. "You must be the Champions! Name's Robbie— I work with Purah and a few others. Your order for the Divine Beasts is complete and ready for pick-up."
"These are the Divine Beasts?" Urbosa repeated, shock seeping into her voice as she looked at them all before glancing at the legged machine. "And those?"
"Guardians," Purah answered. "Another form of ancient relics that'll be on your side. Those beauties will be protecting Link and Princess Zelda on the ground as the wait progresses. We're still working on them."
Revali walked over to the bird-like machine, running his wing on the cold stone. "And this must be Vah Medoh— my Divine Beast, correct?"
"Yup!" Robbie grinned. "He's all yours."
"This is Vah Ruta," Mipha softly said as she placed her hand on the elephant-like machine, her eyes running up and down the big machine. "Princess Zelda didn't lie— Ruta truly is an elephant. Perfect for the water."
Daruk smirked as he headed towards the lizard-like beast. "Vah Rudania, nice to meet ya! We're gonna get along fine, brother!"
Urbosa slowly made her way to Vah Naboris, taking in the camel's glory as she closed her to breath deeply; she could almost feel the legacy the camel carried simply because of the name. They, together, would make the victory satisfying, redeeming their race.
"Tell me," the Gerudo Chief clicked her tongue. "Where am I to place Naboris in the Gerudo Desert? The Divine fellow needs a resting place."
"Preferably somewhere you can get a good aim at Hyrule Castle," Purah explained, pulling out an outline for all Champions to see. "You see, the Divine Beasts all have a very special attack they'll use for the final showdown; it'll weaken Ganon enough for Link to get the fight on his side."
Robbie took over as he swung his arm around his best friend. "In order for 'em to have a good shot, they'll need to be positioned at Hyrule Castle. Position them, and let them do the rest."
After explaining the rest of the details, the Sheikah trio set out to help the Champions start up their Divine Beasts. Purah quickly showed Revali how to work the main control units, making sure he understood how to turn on the terminals first, and then she pointed to a panel where it would analyze his hand print. The Rito Champion placed his wing over it just like the Sheikah instructed, and for a few moments nothing happened.
Everyone watched as they held their breaths before they heard a hawk scream escape Vah Medoh as its fans began to move. Purah quickly jumped off as she instructed Revali to leave the destination panel alone for now; the Rito Champion nodded silently as he continued to wait for Medoh to do his thing.
The breaths were released as gasps replaced them as Vah Medoh began to lift off the ground, and Revali's eyes widened as he looked at the ground; watching as they all got smaller and smaller as Medoh acesanded into the sky.
"Wow," Daruk breathed out before rushing to jump onto Rudania, making his way up to the control units, making sure the terminals were on before he placed his hand over the panel.
A cry escaped Rudaina as the lizard began moving its head, taking a few steps forward as Daruk began figuring out how to control its steps. Purah and Robbie watched with pride as they nodded their approval; Impa watching with Link and Zelda.
"This is amazing," Daruk chuckled loudly. "Yeah… I think I could get used to this!"
Urbosa and Mipha headed off to Vah Ruta and Vah Nabrois, and soon enough; the last two Divine Beasts were turned on as they began responding to their pilots. Purah and Robbie high-fived before they instructed the Champions to turn off the Divine Beasts; it was fairly easy for them to figure out.
Revali slowly eased Vah Medoh onto the ground, jumping down to greet his fellow Champion with a proud smirk on his features.
"Simply amazing," he said. "To think— we're the masters of these Divine Beasts."
"Ganon won't know what hit 'im," Daruk agreed.
Urbosa smirked as she walked to stand by Zelda, glancing over her shoulder at the others. "Naboris will certainly make this victory satisfying with that special attack of his," she clicked her tongue. "I can't wait to see it."
"When are we to take them back to our regions?" Mipha questioned.
Purah shared a glance with her sister before looking at Robbie. "As soon as we get the maps up and running," she explained. "We want to install the full map of Hyrule and the safest route to their locations for their big moment first. After that, you can take these beauties with you."
Before they could reply, the sound of a laser targeting went off and everyone was taken aback in shock as one of the guardians was aiming straight at Zelda. She paled in color as she stepped back, swallowing thickly as the sound got louder and neared the end of the charge up. The Sheikahs jumped into action, trying to disable the Guardian from working when it fired off the laser so suddenly and Zelda closed her tightly, expecting to feel pain, but instead, she felt nothing.
Instead, she found Link in front of her with the Master Sword out from its resting place on his back as he had it positioned to deflect the laser right back at its user. The Guardian slumped down onto the ground after it was hit, and instantly they all backed up as colors began to flash.
Surely enough, the Guardian exploded into millions of tiny pieces.
No one spoke for the longest of time as they all came to terms at what had just occurred before Purah chuckled nervously as she zipped around to glare at Robbie, who held up his hands in defense.
"What the hell?" Purah hissed out, pointing at where the Guardian once was. "I thought you said they wouldn't malfunction."
"Apparently there's still a chance they can," Robbie replied. "I'll look into it, Purah."
Link twirled around to face Zelda, concern written all over his face. "Are you okay, Princess!? Are you hurt anywhere!?"
"No, I'm fine," Zelda replied, pushing him away slightly. She turned her attention to a sheepish looking Purah. "What just happened? I thought it could only target enemies."
"It… malfunctioned."
"Malfunctioned?" repeated Revali. "It almost killed Princess Zelda."
Purah winced at the harsh tone, and Impa felt horrible for her sister. "I know," Purah whispered out. "I'm sorry— it won't happen again. We're still trying to figure them out opposed to the Divine Beasts. We wanted to make sure the Beasts were up and running before the Guardians; there's only four compared to millions."
Zelda waved off the concern. "It's fine," she smiled at the Sheikah. "I'm fine— it's all good. Just… ensure this doesn't happen again, please."
"Will do, Princess."
Urbosa placed her hand over her heart. "Well, that certainly made my heart go at a fast rate."
"Yes," Mipha agreed, taking deep breaths to calm herself, giving Revali a smile when she felt his wing on her shoulder. "I don't think I ever want to see that again."
"At least everyone's safe," Daruk pointed out.
"Daruk's right; we should be thankful for that at least. No one got hurt, and that's the most important part."
Impa watched silently as Purah nodded numbly and felt her heart twist; her sister never thought the Guardians would actually attack the ones they were meant to attack and finding out through this way was the one way to harm her straight in the heart. It was her handiwork that caused this, and Impa dread to think about what could happen next with Purah's thought process.
"We should head back," Impa said as she took a step forward. "King Rhoam will certainly want to ask you all about this. Expect… leave the part about the malfunction out, if you will."
"Please," Purah pleaded. Robbie looked over and nodded his own pleading at the Champions. They didn't want to get into trouble for this.
Zelda gave them a reassuring smile as she nodded before turning on her heels to walk back to the Castle, the Champions following. Purah breathed a sigh of relief as she slumped against the wall, messaging her temples before glancing at Robbie, who was working on another Guardian.
The younger sister stayed for a moment longer until Purah waved her away, reassuring she would be fine as long as she could figure out the problem behind the Guardians malfunctioning randomly.
With a heavy sigh, Impa moved to follow the others.