A/N: I do apologize to anybody wholly uninterested in my fake legends of these BotW races xD Any of them I present, however, will certainly relate to the characters themselves, if not now, then later on- while I'm totally fine creating and exploring these cultures, there might as well be meaning behind them :p Hopefully they interest you somewhat, at the very least :)

Zelda knelt down, clasping her hands together just beside the tiny lake of water that sat bowled near the peak of Satori Mountain, bowing her head reverently below the flaking blossoms from the tree above. The rest of the Company bowed their heads as well, though it was only Zelda who took the few steps forward to offer up her prayer to the guardian spirit that was said to reside there: the Lord of the Mountain.

In hushed tones, she began her prayer, "Guardian spirit of the mountain. Please watch over this Company of Champions as we seek only the highest good."

Her chest heaved in worry, "Please allow this troupe to get along. Please allow me the opportunity to accept my destiny. I don't know what it might be, and the spirits of the great shrines had nothing to tell me. Perhaps you might allow me the chance to understand."

Her voice tugged at her throat as she spoke them quietly, not daring to allow the others to hear her, though her head lowered even further, her voice shaking as she thought of the journey ahead of them.

"Please let me be right about this…"

With that, she took a deep breath before nodding to herself in conclusion. As if in continued blessing, she dipped her fingers into the waters of the small pool of water before rising to her feet, turning back to the Company who began raising their heads expectantly.

"Alright," Zelda began with a nod, "That should do it, hopefully. We'll take a quick rest up here- Link, you go on and prepare a meal for us, and then we'll break camp and try to return to the base of Satori before nightfall. Is that a plan?"

Daruk raised a triumphant fist, "Any plan involving the food of my sworn brother is a good one!"

"Indeed," Mipha nodded with a grateful smile, "It made quite an impression on the few of us Zora who tasted it."

Grumbling nervously, Link scratched his neck as he peered away into the distance, "It's no big deal…"

"Pfwah!" Daruk scoffed aloud, swinging the large cooking pan from his pack, "You learned enough to knock the rocks off of some of our finest gortisseries! eh, including me!"

Hovering over Link, his eyes drew expectantly, "So what are you making..?"

"Well hold your horses," Link instructed, "I learned how to cook in the army, on extended lookouts. You've got nothing but time, so you learn how to cook food slowly, extracting each and every flavor."

Mipha's fin flopped ungracefully from side to side in curtailed expectation, "You even manage to make it sound good before having started."

"It probably isn't all that," Revali challenged suddenly, waving a feathered hand through the air, "Taking some dead think and stripping it of its skin, or letting your flora sit and lose most of what it offers. Tell me, Hylian, have you caught the thrill of snapping your prey from the very earth at top speed?"

Link eyed him, "No, but I had a fox crawl into a trap of mine once. Is it similar to that?"

"You may have your jokes, but we Rito have only the finest cuisine amongst this land," he bragged, raising his head high, "Only we understand the quickness associated with all things succulent and juicy. Head lose the pelt, where do you think all that goes?"

Link shrugged, readying the communal meal, "Keep on like that and you're not getting a portion. I'll go easy on the seasonings, though; I'd hate to blow you away with my first meal."

Revali scoffed, but his rumbling stomach couldn't help but force him to remain somewhat curious of the man's words. Still, he puttered away while Mipha and Daruk remained in view of the pan of growing ingredients, subservient to their desires. They remained nearby, all to anxious to eat, and all to happy to help Link with gathering anything he needed in order to continue preparing.

Along the mountainous earth however, Zelda remained seated by herself, watching the others with a solemn gaze, quick to turn away at any point when their eyes might have met her own. She did her best to remain as though she were busy with other things, slipping her Slate from her belt and toying with it, though the device remained shut off. Her sidelong glances remained, longingly staring toward the others as they seemed to be so entertained by the goings-on that remained outside of her grasp.

"Princess," Urbosa suddenly spoke from her side, launching Zelda into a quick hop of surprise as her head yanked to look up toward the Gerudo woman, her deep voice chuckling happily, "Don't seem so surprised."

Zelda took in a sharp breathe before apologizing, "S-Sorry."

Shrugging, Urbosa took a seat beside the younger woman, "No need to apologize. Just came by to check on you; your face seemed kind of lonesome.:

Zelda scoffed, turning an incredulous toward Urbosa, "Lonesome? I'm in a Company, of my own assembly no less. I'm not lonesome; I can't afford to be! I'm a leader now, thank you very much."

Huffing confidently, Zelda shut her eyes as she raised her head proudly, offering up a grin from Urbosa, who mutely giggled to herself, "So confident, huh? Well, far be it from me to question such a thing; I was merely coming by to ask."

Urbosa went ahead and pulled her scimitar into her lap, its edge still tender from the night before, taking this chance to pull out a sharpening stone which she carefully ran along the sharpened edge, truing the blade as best she could. The shhiiick shhiiick of her motion laced the air as Zelda kept a secretive glance on the campfire, Daruk and Mipha so ensconced with the smells emanating from whatever concoction Link had already managed to cook up, with even Revali staring from afar, his curiosity piqued as well.

As surely as Urbosa had mentioned it, Zelda's heart tugged longingly. She'd never had a plethora of friends, most of her acquaintances having come from handmaids or servants of her father's choosing, none of whom ever truly showing anything that might have been called a friendly demeanor. Even her schooling had been done within the castle walls, her tutors showing nothing of charisma either. To be sure, her mother had been the only true friend Zelda had ever had, and whenever Urbosa came to visit, it was easily the happiest times of those long-ago days.

Apart from that, her journey with Link had been the first point where she'd truly been able to spread her wings, physically as well as socially; her entire life of longing for friends being dashed by a silent soldier. Even surrounded by friendly people within this Company, she couldn't help but feel apart from the lot of them. She knew she was awkward, an attribute developed by her ravenous studying in place of friendships, and that her status as a Princess often presented her far more reverence than she ever cared to be shown.

"Would we be here if not for him..?" Zelda wondered aloud, quietly, her head hanging low as she caught Urbosa's questioning glance.

Urbosa gave a quizzical stare toward the others, "…Who, Link?"

Sighing lightly, Zelda curled her arms around her knees, pulling them into her chest, "I mean-"

Silence fell upon her, though Urbosa quickly recognized her to be in a saddened mood. For all the teasing she performed on this young one, she had truly developed something of an understanding when it came to Zelda and her emotions; for one so socially inefficient, she never did hide them well to begin with. Still, it allowed Urbosa something of maternal satisfaction, and she gently reached a hand over to press against Zelda's back, rubbing along there to alleviate some of her anguish.

"I used to hate him so much," Zelda muttered quietly under her breath, "He so proudly flaunts his destiny, eager to remind everybody where his duty lies. How easy it must have been for him to be born a guard, knowing from birth what his life would amount to. I despised that, knowing my own destiny continues to be non-existent. Why should a Princess lack a purpose while a soldier is so confident in their own…"

Her body raised in quiet glee as she chuckled sadly, "That's immature though. I tried so hard to understand him instead, to put my insecurities aside. But… I cant help but think, once again, I'm merely piggybacking off the destiny of another. Were it not for Link, the Champions would not extend beyond the two of us…"

"Ah, well," Urbosa began with quiet exasperation, "I had no idea that you, Princess Zelda of the Kingdom of Hyrule, had any intuition or foreknowledge of what fate the Great Goddess, Hylia, might have placed upon you, or anybody else! Please, you must tell me, sooner than later, what She has in store for my own self! I would quite keen on such divine knowledge!"

Zelda tried to hold back her laughter, arising from such a tame show of credulous sarcasm from the closest person she had to a mother, allowing Urbosa to continue on unabated, though she did wrangle in her mood, "We don't know any of these things. And if Link is right about one thing- there's no point killing yourself trying to figure out what's in store for you. Maybe it is more difficult for you for a reason, but-"

Her eyes wandered over toward the rest of the group, her head falling to the side, "Perhaps your fates are intertwined in some way. Who knows until it happens. But until then, there's little point in you being so apart from them. Who cares how, or who brought them to this point; maybe that's how She brought you to this noble journey, through his own journeys."

"Or maybe this is all flying in the face of every one of our fates," Urbosa replied with an exaggerated shrug, her arms outstretched as she did so, "In any case, make some friends. Regardless of your fate, friendships are wonderful to have."

She grinned, "You've known me long enough; you know your mother would totally same the same thing."

Zelda thought quietly to herself for a brief set of moments, turning toward Urbosa with a timid voice, "How do I do that?"

"I don't know; tell stories or something- you know a lot of those, don't you?"

Zelda sighed, "Sadly. What I get for having more books for friends than people…"

Smiling, Urbosa leaned over to playfully lob a shoulder into Zelda' side, "Well, guess what; they're all stuck with you now. You can't exactly mess up being friends with them."

"Ugh…" Zelda groaned queasily, shaking her head, "You're only making me more nervous."

Urbosa smirked, "Part of my job, my Princess. Now, my other job is to eat, and whatever's over there is calling my name, so-!"

She rose to her feet, offering a hand to the younger of the two, "C'mon. Nothing soothes the heart, or creates friendship quite like food. Probably why so many people like him to begin with."

After the trek up the mountain, as well as the subsequent worrying, Zelda felt her empty stomach tangle up within her, slowly taking Urbosa's hand and bringing herself up to her feet as well, following along at the Gerudo's side while Urbosa pounded at her chest, sending a booming voice across the peak.

"I am now prepared to fight you all for the lot of that delicious-smelling dish!"

Daruk's face jumped up to meet here's, gritting his teeth as he took a swipe at the air, "You'll have to surrender the mightiest of Gorons to sate such a desire!"

Grinning sincerely, Urbosa leaned in toward Zelda, "See? Easy."

"Easy..?" Zelda murmured to herself, trying to ward off thoughts of being pummeled by a being eight times her size.

Bowls were passed around, much to the hopefulness of much of the Company, the uncertainty of Revali, who requested switching bowls from one of the others, just in case, and the expectation of Zelda, who'd often been the recipient of Link's cooking during their first journey, though being the more practical sorts, they'd gone without many accouchements that might otherwise lend to those meals being 'delicious'. Even working off the land, Link managed to create interestingly good dishes, so now, having spices and herbs, she had been expecting quite the jump in taste.

"I must say, eating off the wilds of Zorana most my life, this is certainly interesting," Mipha admitted curiously, poking at the soupy contents of her bowl.

Link nodded, "Well, it's de-boned heron, fixed with sautéed mushrooms in butter, covered by a radish stock. I figured I'd start you all off with one of my favorites."

"Favorites?" Mipha asked, suddenly more curious as she respectfully pulled her spoon from its poking and prodding, "Might I ask what heron is?"

Already pouring Daruk his third helping, Link answered, "It's a bird with a long neck. This one was from Northern Tabantha."

Mipha felt a chill down her spine as her eyes jumped across the fire, Revali's eyes staring like bullets at Link, his spoon nary an inch from his open beak and his eyes narrowed critically, figure paused in something resembling incredulity.

"Do you not eat cucco, though?" Daruk asked boisterously, his curiosity piqued by Revali's inability to eat as the Goron might.

Revali sneered, dropping the spoon into his bowl and starting over, carefully avoiding the bits of meat within, "…we try not to point it out."

Shrugging, Daruk turned to Mipha, "The Zora's eat fish, do they not?"

"Quite readily, actually," she smiled, her pride in her people coming to the fore, "Porgy is simply the best prepared steamed! We have scouts run down the Necluda streams and catch them- only the best can accomplish this feat!"

Scoffing as his feathers puffed, Revali nagged, "I do apologize if I do not exactly share enthusiasm with one who sees the scales upon their skin as well as the scales upon fish and see little or nothing wrong with such ravenous activity."

Mipha's head and shoulders began to contract forward, as if hiding herself, leaving Daruk to charge in reply, "You just mentioned-"

"We eat feathered fowl for necessity," Revali noted haughtily, raising his head, "We Rito would never debase ourselves for our most primitive of desires; we are simply too good for such things."

Noticing Mipha's dejected air, Link reached his spoon over and dropped a rather hefty piece of mushroom, from the height of its stem, into her bowl, muttering quietly, "There. That's the best part. Don't let him get to you."

Mipha's eyes raised in solemn comfort, staring as Link returned to nursing the pot of food, in the event that anybody required seconds, or fifths. She felt that same chill from moments ago as she studied Link's straight face, his eyes peering into the dish of his own design. Carefully, Mipha took her spoon as the arguing before her continued its drowned out acoustics, her mouth nearly burning at the acceptance of the soup, its heat trailing down through her body in the most delightful of ways. She'd forgotten how cold Zora cuisine tended to be; this sort of fulfilling warmth was seen as too indulgent, but now, it seemed just what she needed after her previously disheartened mood.

"As it says in the great stories of the bird god, Witwa! The product of a feather's premature end is-"

Daruk roared, "I can not for legend; why don't you care to taste my sworn brother's dish?!"

Revali's face curled, "And you have the nerve to continue eating while engaged in this threadbare conversation?!"

"It's DELICIOUS!" Daruk replied, shoving another spoonful into his mouth.

Suddenly, Urbosa's voice broke through, "Boys, cut it out! Daruk, as we've already seen, Revali hasn't a problem eating around the heron, just leave him be. And Revali, can you not at least show some semblance of respect for the man with whom this meal was made possible?"

A neck twitch coming from the Rito accompanied Daruk's frown, though the two men eventually came to something of an agreement, Revali sighing with that same haughty air, "I suppose I might could enfeeble myself in the name of respect. Witwa might just accept an apology in that instance."

Daruk grumbled, taking in his fourteenth bowl, "Each their own, I suppose."

Taking a deep breath, Urbosa nodded, finally able to enjoy her dish with the spirited conversation having died down, "Now, perhaps our leader has some words to say."

"I-I do?!" Zelda asked nervously, immediately feeling the eyes of everybody upon her, earning nothing but indifference from Urbosa as she continued eating, "Uh, I- Revali! Tell us about this Witwa character!"

Quickly tossing the baton to another, Revali proudly raised his head, smiling as bright as anybody among the Company had seen him, "Ah, yes! Our lord Witwa! Well, it began as a tale between the three triplet birds created by Hylia's handmaid, Farore. There was Witwa, the oldest, and his brother and sister, Timte and Vurla. Witwa was wise as he was powerful, and his jealous siblings plotted to overtake him, the resulting battle atop the Hebra Mountains causing enough of a traumatic moment upon the land of Hyrule that, to this day, it results in rockslides and avalanches, these ancient tremors even rocking our very village atop its mighty perch! Vurla was killed, but Timte remained against his elder brother, even though he was greatly disadvantaged. As it is told, Witwa rained his might upon his younger brother for hundreds of years, though Timte remained steadfast, taking the brunt of every strike, again and again, praying for any opportunity to rise to the ranks of his brother. Only by a bit of trickery was he finally defeated by our lord Witwa!"

"Trickery?" Zelda asked, ensconced.

Revali grinned wide, gleefully accepting such a question about his heritage, "Witwa was too wise, and had already deduced the love affair between the younger siblings. Bringing the bones of Vurla to the fore, her body having decayed entirely during the prolonged battle, Timte's mind was tossed asunder, and he was bested by the greatest among the three! Though, one cannot help but empathize for the younger Timte; such resilience has not been witnessed since."

"Wow, how fascinating," Zelda nodded sincerely, having forgotten to eat as her ears had been filled instead, "Aren't the triplet birds meant to symbolize the three corners of Tabantha?"

With a notably gaze upon the Hylian Princess with all the humility of a teacher upon a student, Revali answered, "Why, yes! We have one so knowledgeable amongst our group!"

Zelda tried to hide her bashful smile as Revali's chest puffed out in proud elegance, "You must know, then, of the Tale of the Flightless Mother! Bossia lost her cygnets in the ravine that had gone hollow, and their tail feathers came back wet! Bwah ha ha! Such a silly one, indeed! Had I a mother, I can tell you, I would be goading her all the same!"

He continued his gleeful howling, his laughter contrasting the dark air surrounding Urbosa as she carefully left her spoon resting along the rim of her bowl. Link's eyes went sidelong, watching her carefully as Urbosa's face fell, leaving Zelda to muster the courage to try and alter the trajectory of the conversation she herself had started.

"Eh, Reval-"

He interrupted her suddenly, lost in his capricious bellowing of verbose language, "Parentage can be such a fickle thing to begin with- I haven't a clue why anybody would ever predicate their continued existence with the idea that any child would-"

A loud clang broke the air, silencing the Rito as the rest of the party ran their gaze toward Urbosa, her head drawn down low. Her bowl had been dropped to the ground, her body ever so still for a moment before the sauntered upward onto her feet, turning to step away from the group without a word. Amidst the worried expressions of the Company, Revali merely returned to his own bowl with a shrug.

"Much like the Rito themselves, our stories don't often land with everybody," he surmised trivially, "Anyway, Bossia took those wet feathers and-"

"Just hush already," Link challenged lowly, poking at the campfire with faint motions.

Offended, Revali charged back, "I beg your pardon, Hylian! Was not I who was given charge of the reins of conversa-"

"Urbosa can't have children," Zelda muttered, frowning sadly with her own head buried toward her chest, trying her best to bridge the divide, "I mean, she can, but- then again, she cannot. It's…not something she cares to be reminded of."

Revali's glare turned droll, in disbelief of such a trifling event having broken his own rousing telling of his people's stories, though he simply scoffed to himself before returning to his bowl, still able to feel the mood, which had fallen to something of woeful patience, Daruk and Mipha both able to catch sight of Urbosa across the peak, staring off into the distance as she settled down. While Zelda had the most knowledge of this entire thing, Link had pieced together enough on his own, simply focusing on the flames beneath the pot as he often did among his brigades. Most often, his comrades would mutter on about women, ales, many things Link hadn't much of any interest in.

He'd become so good at staring down only those flames, zoning the world out, sitting quiet. It was one of the things he'd found himself to be rather skilled at, and given the boisterous retaliations of many, being quiet was quite the skill in Link's experience.