Zelda returned early from the evening's archery practice. Not significantly early, only a few minutes, but she also came back alone; usually she and Revali returned together. The princess did not, however appear upset, so her companions simply took note of the incident and went about their business.

Revali returned a few minutes later looking no more ruffled than usual, suggesting that there had been no falling out between the two of them, and that no one need be particularly concerned with the current deviation from his and the princess's practicing habits.

Less than two minutes after Revali returned, his companions had cause to reevaluate the situation as the Rito happened to glance in the girl's direction. His eyes narrowed as he looked her over. Setting down his gear, he stalked across the camp to stand over her, wings crossed, glaring down at Zelda.

The princess ignored him.

Revali cleared his throat as if to get her attention, an unusually polite attempt on his part. When she did not acknowledge him, he leaned down and took her by the arm.

"I'm fine," she grumbled, pulling away.

The Rito huffed, but did not try to grab the girl again, likely only due to the fact that most of their camp had given up discretely keeping an eye on the two in favor of staring outright.

"Mipha," he called, his voice overly pleasant and far from genuine. Zelda grimaced.

"There's no need-"

"Are you injured, Princess?" Impa asked, catching on. Vindication flashed in the Rito's eyes as the Shiekah approached.

"It's nothing," Zelda insisted.

"The bowstring caught her arm as she let an arrow loose," Revali offered as the Zora joined them as well.

"And Revali hasn't stopped fussing about it!" Zelda retorted. "He's like an old mother hen! You would have thought I had seriously injured myself, the way he was carrying on!"

"You dropped the bow," Revali pointed out, calm enough now, whatever the girl claimed. "My bow. And it left a nasty welt."

Mipha smiled at the other princess. Winking, she said, "You might as well get it over with. After all, you wouldn't want to make Revali stay up all night worrying about you, would you? Especially with him already in such a state."

"A state?" The Rito squawked. "What state?" He had gone from smug to offended in an instant. Mipha managed to hide her smile, reaching out to Zelda with a grave expression. The Hylian Princess reconsidered the matter carefully.

"I would hate to be the cause of such distress," she agreed, offering the Zora her arm for examination. Grinning, she added, "After all, he did seem quite frightened earlier."

"Frightened?" Revali sniffed, thoroughly offended. "If I appeared slightly alarmed, it was only because-"

"There," Mipha interrupted cheerfully. "Good as new. No need for alarm or distress."

"Thank you," Zelda smiled. "Even if it was completely unnecessary."

"Anything we can do to provide peace of mind for our companions." Mipha replied kindly. Revali shook his head and stalked off to pretend to sort through his gear even though it was too dark to do so. Zelda went back to her own bedroll.

"Nicely done," Urbosa murmured to the Zora. Mipha had managed to maneuver both Zelda and Revali into cooperating with just a few well placed words. "I have to admit, I'm impressed."

Mipha shrugged, but her cheeks flushed. "Part of being a ruler is knowing how to talk to people, as well as how to...motivate them."

Urbosa chuckled. "And you did it very well," she told the Zora Princess. "The rest of us could learn a thing or two from you on that, I imagine."

Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda and its world does not belong to me