A/N: I don't often describe scenes as "perfect", but this Revali/Link scene is certainly up there, I think xD

"Tell me again," Link complained, rubbing the palms of his hands together to ready them for the climb, his head turned up to view the subtle change in hue along the cliffside that denoted the Zora prison area before his eyes cocked to the side to stare sidelong at Revali, "You have wings. Why are we climbing?"

Revali, perpetually in frown ever since he was given Link as an accomplice in this assignment, curled his lips in distaste, "I fail to understand the correlation between a being such as myself, prone to soaring across the skies, and one able to hover in place like some insipid trite. Leave that incorrigible act to those wanton Rito who make their living putting on shows for the more profligate among us."

"In Hylian, please."

The Rito scoffed, "I cannot fly in place, you fool."

Link rolled his eyes before reaching down for the rope coiled down by his feet, "All I needed to know."

"And yet I sense some further information you were delving for."

Shrugging, Link began tying the rope into a lasso, "I just was interested in hearing you admit some faults, is all."

A droll expression crept across Revali's face, "I have the gizzards to admit to such things. I would be quite bored by perfection, myself; so long as I'm striving for such a thing, I will always be able to improve. I'm sure you-"

Revali's eyes examined Link from head to toe, visibly showing disgust on his face, "A ghastly sight indeed."

Link shot a glance toward the Rito before returning to his lasso, stepping into the loop of rope and sliding it up his body to find its place around his torso before handing the opposite end to Revali, only to return his attention toward Revali when the rope was left untaken.

"Hey!" Link spoke up, waving his hand toward Revali, whose critical gaze turned up to meet Link's eyes.

"What?"

"You're taking this," Link ordered, "If I fall, the only thing- …what?"

Noticing a smirk emerging atop Revali's face, Link turned dour, knowing what was to come as the Rito noted with a wry tone, "Ah, so we hear some of your own faults now."

"Yes. Faults," Link sighed, "If I fall from a tall enough height, I go splat. Weaknesses, right?"

Revali chuckled lightly, "T'would not be a hinderance were you a Rito."

"I recall your ability to fly nearly got you killed in the desert had I not interceded," Link challenged, waving the rope again, "That's how I got this idea, so just-"

The tail end of the rope fluttered about as Link swung his hand in rapid movements until Revali finally took it with a scoff, shrugging as he examined the frayed edge, "So what do I do with it?"

"Now you're just being difficult," Link groaned.

Revali retorted with scorn, "I'm not used to helping those unable to-"

"Splat!" Link interrupted, throwing his open hands toward the ground in pantomime, "Just- Stick it in your belt or something. If I fall, you just need to be able to keep me from plummeting to my death. Then who will tell the tale of Revali, the stubborn fowl?"

Revali's eyes remained narrowed as the two locked eyes, the Rito finally turning away as he slowly readied the rope along his belt, "Well, so long as any publicity is good publicity. Only the brightest beings have their best, and worst, recorded for posterity."

"Well you're truly building that latter's repertoire by the moment," Link grumbled aloud before pulling his notebook from his pocket, earning him another glance of ire from his companion.

"Now what?!"

Link sighed, "Why else are we doing this if we can't communicate with Mipha? We have a plan that she kind of needs to be in the loop about, do we not?"

His plumage shivering with frustration, Revali complained, "You try my patience, Hylian…"

"What, we're just going to open our mouths and alert whomever's keeping watch over her?" Link wondered incredulously, "With your mouth, we'd alert the whole of Zorana."

Revali rolled his eyes as he spun away, shaking his head, "This was not worth the headache. Pshaw. Should've had you bring the Goron; he could've slammed pulsation code up the side of the accursed mountain."

"Well, you've got a point there, if Mipha knew such a mode of communication," Link muttered, his eyes leaving the paper he was scribbling on for a slight, nerve-wracked moment, "She actually knows Hylian…"

Finishing up his note, Link tore the page from his notebook, careful to leave the notes on Vah Naboris undamaged during the entire act, and slid it away into his pocket along with his pencil, returning the palms of his hands together once again for warmth as he examined the cliffside once more. Revali joined him, however begrudgingly, keeping to himself until Link began once again.

"Alright. You ready?"

"No," Revali replied, "But I won't ever be ready, so I suppose we ought to progress regardless."

Link shrugged, "Good answer."

Slowly, with a slight taste of apprehension, Link stepped toward the sheer face of the cliff, eyeing out hand and footholds to take. As a Royal Knight, his training had including scaling brick walls for nimble maneuvering around the castle perimeter in the event that the major throughways were inaccessible, but those walls had clear indentations. Here, Link was left with little more than the naturally random patterns of jagged edges lining the cliffside.

"The side of your foot…" he thought to himself, recalling Zelda's instruction, though even that was slow going as he gradually progressed up the side of the mountain.

Not a few feet off the ground, he looked up to find Revali overcoming the mountain with a zealous speed that seemed to betray his ability to climb the winds rather than mountains, the line of rope beginning to tighten as the Rito advanced with reckless abandon. Link paused for a groan, knowing his request would lead to an argument, yet went on.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Watch the rope!"

Revali stopped, dropping his shoulder to allow him sight of Link, the feathers at his neck sputtering as he drew a deep, annoyed breath, "Do you intend to remain dragging me down?"

"I don't intend to, but-" Link paused as he concentrated on his next step, "I don't have claws."

"Talons, fool," Revali complained, "Claws. Honestly; you take me for a savage?!"

Link's eyes grew for a moment in sarcastic astonishment before muttering to himself, "Well…"

His head jerked up to find Revali skittering back down the wall to match Link's progress, his voice a scathing complaint to himself, "This is why you do things at your own pace, Revali."

Throwing a finger toward Link's waist, Revali suddenly instructed, "Just keep your hips against the wall. And watch your arms! It's sickening to see, now. Keep them straight; straight arms are happy arms!"

Link's brow curled with confusion at the verbiage, though Revali had spoken with such authority that he simply fell in line, focusing on his technique as he pushed himself up, hips rolling along the cliffside as Revali watched with a critical glance.

"Climb with your eyes," Revali noted further, "I don't even bother looking at my talons; they just know where to go."

Link frowned, unable to perform the same, "Yeah, well…"

A jolt along the line broke him from his concentration, his head jerking upward to find Revali holding the rope between them, his face still lined with scorn, "I'm not about to be impeded by the likes of you. Learn quick! If you fail, I've got you."

Confused by the ambivalent nature of his words, Link dropped his head to glance back at his feet before taking a moment's breath, rolling his eyes as a curse passed his lips. He turned his head upward to keep sight of further ledge points for him to take hold of, leaving his feet with no guidance beyond that ephemeral space in his mind where immediate memory rested.

The going was slow, but increased as Link became better acquainted with his movements. Keeping his hips against the wall relieved much of his mind's preoccupation with falling backward, while his arms remaining straight at any given moment left him with little to worry about were his feet to miss a ledge. An hour had passed without further conversation between the two as Link was able to keep up at least to the point where Revali no longer was complaining, the Rito's breaks acting as points for the rope to loosen between the two, though Link wasn't sure if such pauses were certainly for resting up or not. He, himself, didn't have an opportunity for rest, and figured Revali might simply have been cutting him some slack, literally.

As the segment in the cliffside fast approached that concerned them, Link came to a stop, tugging at the line to signal for Revali to the same, even if he was also met with a scowl. This allowed Link to catch up with a heavy breath, knowing better than to look down, shutting his eyes as his lungs were offered a rest.

"Okay, let's get our bearings," Link instructed before looking up toward the slotted window in the wall, no doubt an accouchement brought along with Hylian craftsmen at some point, "There aren't any points that I can see where we can get much closer."

Revali gave a glance himself, his silence denoting his agreement, leaving Link to continue, "So I guess-"

He groaned, "I'll have to climb onto your shoulders."

"I BEG your pardon?!" Revali roared with insatiable aghast.

"You got any other ideas?" Link fired back, "We don't have forever; the sun's gonna come up soon enough. Unless you start hovering like your unquenched girls, we're quite limited on options."

Revali scowled, "Why am I the one to be spoiled by your filthy soles?!"

"Because while we're still on the subject of weaknesses, carrying a fully grown Rito on a cliffside isn't exactly a feat I'm known to perform. Just-"

Link pulled himself up another few feet before sending his foot toward Revali, who immediately flinched, throwing his side from the cliffside so that only a hand and talon kept him elevated, "GAH!"

"Dude!" Link shouted, looking up to find the prison window just out of reach before returning to Revali, "It's right there!"

An intense disgust roiling throughout his gut, Revali shook his head, "I'm this close to simply leaving the Princess if it means bringing ruin to my plumage! I'll have you know, our elders are chosen as such simply because they've been untouched by nothing but the mightiest gusts!"

Link shut his eyes in frustration, burying his face against the wall as exhaustion sank in. They needed to get this done.

"Just think," Link began calmly enough, "How many stories- How many songs will be written about the Rito who sacrificed his own plumage to rescue the Princess of an entire people? They would sing your praises for hundreds of years."

Revali's lips spun with distaste, though as his mind began to wander, his face softened into one of intrigue. Link kept an impatient groan to himself as Revali finally pet fly a scoff, bringing his limbs back onto the wall before maki g another upward movement to better place himself beneath the window.

"I expect the first one to be written within my own lifetime," Revali confirmed with a growl.

"I'll write it myself if I have-"

Revali interjected, "Bah; you'd soil my memory with your lyrics. Just make it quick. Every second atop me is another second of my life squandered beneath the- gah- grimy feet of a land-dweller…"

Link's shoes dug into Revali's shoulders, leaving the Rito gritting more in displeasure than physical strain. Carefully raising himself up, Link came to the bottom surface of the window, slowly raising his head until his eyes broke the plane, revealing a dank-looking prison, within which his window opened into a cell. Opposite the window was a rudimentary assortment of bars, obviously worn down throughout the ages, perhaps due to the Zora's lack of use of them.

It was so clearly ramshackle, Link noticed immediately. The thought of Mipha having willing given herself up crossed his mind- Urbosa had suggested as much- but even the bars that caught him at the window were so plainly lackluster in their presence. He was even afraid to touch them for fear of their brittle-looking construction knocking them loose and causing a ruckus.

Why, then, did Mipha remain in here when she could easily escape?

"Gah, you waif!" Revali complained with a muted voice, "Hurry up!"

Link left Mipha's motivations to her alone as he reached for his note and pencil. Much as King Dorephan had suggested his wife had been the wise one, Link knew of the wisdom of this other half of his, even if it were more conniving in nature, and kept to his plan, sliding the materials through the window, with only a gentle *click* denoting the pencil hitting the floor within.

If only to give Revali some relief, Link made his way off his shoulders, the level of care as he took his holds back upon the wall being immense, and gave a sigh of relief at the completion of the task, revealing, "Alright. Now we just wait for a reply."

At least, he had hoped, given Mipha's understanding of written Hylian. A sour image crossed his mind of the message not even being relayed, despite his careful attempt and leaving the note as basic in script as possible.

Revali took one hand at a time from the rock face, clearing off each shoulder as he mumbled to himself in upset, despising the insatiable need to preen himself while he was quite unable to do so.

"I'll have to get back up there once she has a reply, you know."

The Rito shot him a stare, "Oh, lovely. More outstanding news."

Link rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "I set out an outline of the plan we set before coming here. Hopefully she likes it; we'll need her for a few things, but- These bars are not even stalwart; we were afraid a prison break would be necessary, but she could easily sneak out."

"Fantastic," Revali seethed with sarcasm before returning to his normal, frustrated tone, "So long as this can all be done soon. I'm not keen on sitting around too long waiting for others to fall into place."

Sighing, Link groaned, "I noticed."

"Had you such potential you would understand. Same as if you'd had such magnificent plumage upon your body; you'd not think twice about the possibility of it being distressed in any way."

Revali examined him with a critiquing glance, "What is it about you Hylians that your females prize?"

"What?" Link asked with confusion.

The Rito shook his head from side to side in a tempestuous series of motions, stopping only after each feather above his shoulders had left their well-preened position and had fluffled up into more of a presentation of plumage, Revali noting plainly, "Rito females prize a male's ability to present their semiplume feathers, particularly if the carry an attractive coloration. Ruining my feathers would be like-"

His lips curved inward in consideration, "If I had yanked your ears out until they matched your females'."

Scoffing before losing himself to an incredulous chuckle, Link eyed Revali with narrow eyes, "I'm sorry, what?"

Shrugging, Revali explained, "Your women have longer ears, do they not? Clearly it would not be desirable to find a male with such a feminine trait. How many Rito males do you see strutting around with the drab plumage of a female?"

"Okay, first," Link explained, "That's ridiculous. Two, I've seen, maybe, five Rito up close in my life, excluding you."

Revali shook his head, "You are missing out then. Simply ask next time; we Rito are proud to display our magnificent barbs- there is no impolite setting."

"I will get right on that," Link noted sarcastically, "I'm sure we'll just-"

*click*

The two looked up to find the pencil fluttering through the air overtop of them before careening downward, with no chance for either of them to snatch it out of the air. They shared inquirous glances, wondering why Mipha had tossed it out; however, recognizing the incoming pattern, they immediately returned to watching the window just as the scrunched up slip of paper began sailing forth from beyond the stone window, nowhere near the arm's length of either man.

Link watched in near slow motion as the entire purpose of this vertical excursion fell into the cold air, sailing down toward the water-filled basin below until it finally escaped his view, having disappeared into the darkness.

A jolt at his chest.

He turned to find Revali yanking the rope from his belt, angrily glancing toward Link before bragging, "Watch and learn, Hylian."

With that, Revali leapt free from the rock face, appearing stationary within the air for but a brief moment as his body spun downward, gravity tugging him into gradual motion as his lithe body shot downward, leaving Link along atop the halfway point of the mountain. He peered over his shoulder as best he could, following Revali's silhouette as the Rito launched toward the stray slip of paper, a sigh of relief escaping Link as Revali shot up toward the sky at seemingly the last moment, hopefully with the paper in tow.

Link returned his attention to his present situation, nodding to himself as he waited for Revali to return, keeping an eye on his feet to ensure their solid footing. He pulled a hand free at a time, working his fingers to keep his blood flowing, all while remaining sure to keep his hips against the cliff face. After another few moments of silence, he looked over his shoulder once again, though this time, as he surveyed the sky, there wasn't a trace of Revali in the darkness.

A sour, curdling nausea found itself within his gut as Link shut his eyes, groaning to himself quietly as he recognized his fate, at least for the next hour or so. Slowly, carefully, he made his descent, cursing that bird-man with his every exhale.

"Son of a cuckoo," he muttered to himself, shaking his head with disappointment.

By the time Link had sauntered back, the mood within the curtained room had become a lot more jovial than he had remembered it being. Through strained eyes, he attempted to focus on what was going on inside, though beyond the obvious silhouette of Daruk wildly gesticulating within the shroud, Link couldn't make heads or tails about what he had missed. The sudden apprehension and uncertainty of Revali (had he taken off entirely for some reason?) seemed to be unwarranted; something must've happened to lighten the mood somewhat. Perhaps Mipha had learned something and recited as such within the note?

As he slid his feet, a tiny crack emerged within the end of the curtain, Link watching it curiously as it flew shut, only for Zelda to burst out with a pep in her step, hurrying to meet Link, who was clearly in need of rest.

"Link!" she began in exuberant greeting, though her mood quickly fell upon reaching him, "…are you alright?"

He shook his head, "Never better. at least in terms of my preparedness for bed. Revali made it back here with Mipha's letter, right?"

Smiling brightly, Zelda nodded, "Yes!"

A dip in her emotions once again as her brow coiled in worry, "Revali said he went to snatch it and before he could return and 'valiantly' help you descend, you rejected his help numerous times."

"That," Link sighed drolly, "Was a lie."

"I figured there was some embellishment on his part," she smiled lightly, "I couldn't do much, though, but hope for your safe return. I kept peeking out the curtain until a you came back."

Nodding to approve her devotion, Link exhaustedly ran fingers across his eyes, "Nothing a little-"

He paused at the sudden touch of Zelda patting his forearm, opening his eyes to find her smiling weakly, "Nothing a month-long trip with me couldn't prepare you for, huh?"

"I didn't mean that," Link groaned.

Still persisting, Zelda half-shrugged, "I know I treated you poorly. Worse than much of anything Revali could do. But that's why I feel bad; you've been through enough within my company- I hate to continue the tradition."

His eyes piercing her wayward glance, Link flatly commented, "You mean a tradition of servitude? You left me for dead down in Faron, yet I'd still accept that over some of the rule exerted by your ancestors."

Zelda let a wry smirk upon her face before muttering, "I didn't leave you for dead."

"Could've fooled me," Link breathed a lighthearted sigh before asking, "What did Mipha say?"

Sliding the crumpled bit of parchment paper from her pocket, Zelda began, "You know, you better be happy I like you two. Revali returned and I had to fight both Urbosa and Daruk to retrieve it first so that they wouldn't find out. It wasn't too bad, though, but nothing that wouldn't conceal her novice status."

Handing off the paper to Link, she crossed her arms, "Besically, our plan is officially null and voided. Mipha assured us that she had a plan to carry out. All she said was to leave the fake sword in the throne room after her father retired for the night, which we did before your return."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Link spoke up, "Not bad scripting at all, considering."

Zelda smirked, "You didn't hear a word I said, huh, teach?"

"Yeah, you left the sword in the throne room. You didn't happen to catch the sight of Dorephan retiring, did you?"

Her smirk melting into one of mischievous elation, Zelda replied, "I begged Urbosa to take me with her just so I could see."

Then, quickly enough, her face fell to confusion, "Not what I would have expected."

"Nope," Link confirmed, pulling the parchment paper up closer to his face, "What is this tear?"

Zelda answered wryly, "Oh, that. I kind of had to improvise, juuust in case the letter got to one of the others…"

Worry ran up Link's spine as his eyes jumped toward Zelda, her shoulders spinning back and forth like a schoolgirl as she stuck her tongue out, "I bet you wanna know why."

"Just a little," he sighed, "She is-"

He averted his eyes under Zelda's newly intense stare, her voice pinging out in a teasing note, "Say iiit."

Link frowned, "Or you could just show me the note."

A burst of exasperation left Zelda disguised as a groan as she reached into her pocket to retrieve the other piece, "You're no fun."

"I never claimed to be," he affirmed quite easily, taking the note and reading it amidst Zelda's increasingly warm stare.

Reading it, and re-reading it, Link felt his lips tug with uncertainty over what to say, especially with Zelda's eyes poking holes through his skull. His own eyes scrolled across the paper in affirmation over the messy handwriting that conveyed a message that was so mis-written, yet so indelibly 'Mipha', even if its meaning held so many differing layers of understanding.

"I live yoo," Link finally spoke up.

Zelda squealed, "I had no idea you two were that close!"

"I-" Link came to a halt, thinking of how he didn't exactly think such a phrase was necessary just yet, but then…given what may just transpire over the course of tomorrow, perhaps this wasn't merely a quick scrolling of affection.

What if Mipha expected it to be a goodbye?

"I think you two are adorable together," Zelda declared with a smile, "It's taboo, and kind of weird- and there's that whole royalty thing- but seriously, adorable!"

A sudden embrace from her left Link speechless as she rocked the two of them back and forth with childlike obliviousness, murmuring lightly, "Given all those bad times when we first met- It's so nice that we can share secrets like this, y'know?"

"I don't think this was a secret given to you freely," Link noted pithily.

"I know, but still. I count it," Zelda smiled.

Given their history, Link figured he could allow such a thing as an embrace from his liege, especially since her grasp allowed him a moment's respite from fully relying on his own ability to stand.

Still, his thoughts remained upon Mipha, and what she might have meant by her message. What dread might have been going through her mind as she sat in that dark enclosure?

Should he have told her, as well, that he loved her?

Would there even be another chance to do so?