Zelda slammed her backpack onto the lengthy dining table inside Rabil's home, her eyes waxing fury as she angrily sorted her things, even as Motom hobbled closer to her.

"Princess, I-"

She angrily spun her head to the side, spewing, "I'm furious at you right now! Get out of my sight!"

Returning to her incessant packing, Motom sighed, "I understand your upset."

"Do you?! You certainly don't understand much in the way of diplomacy!" she growled, yanking the rope along the head of her satchel, nearly tearing it off completely as its entrance snapped shut, "You were more than happy to send a child to death! Have you any shame?!"

Motom frowned, concealing his own frustration at her accusation, "There are many times when a leader cannot afford shame. You're spirited, Princess, but still naïve."

"Oh! I'm naïve?" she shot back, "Says the man doing everything possible to slam against a locked door besides using the key. You honestly believe you can continue this murderous cycle of trading blame?"

Motom held his tongue, still considering that, for all her disagreeable ideas, she was still the only royal with any interest at all in helping Dangarnon. At that, he refrained from answering, allowing Zelda to strap her satchel over her shoulder and stomp her way toward the front door.

Not much time had elapsed since Revali's departure with Link in tow. Almost immediately, Zelda had sent Daruk off to speedily make his way to the edge of Tanagar Canyon to make sure of the bridge's presence, even if she knew such a thing was unlikely, given how Revali had spoken of it previously. Still, she was desperate, not only for an avenue through which to advance, but also for the one thing she expected to wield in droves for the entire duration of the trip: hope.

Quickly exiting and rounding the corner, leaving Motom to little more than his own thoughts, Zelda was still fuming when she approached Urbosa, the Gerudo having been sorting out the rest of their equipment now that they were down two members without having lost their backpacks. Mipha was crouched opposite her, turning up to watch Zelda as the princess came to a stop, staring off into space with her fists dug into her hips, a frown still painted upon her face. Urbosa sensed both her arrival, as well as her mood, leaving her to continue without any question, allowing Zelda a moment to decompress.

"Take this and leave it in your pack," spoke up notably, handing a small satchel to Mipha, "There's only so much we can leave for Daruk to lug around. Featherbrain had to travel heavy."

Mipha's eyes fell solemnly, "Why, uh… If I may ask- Do we need to take Revali's equipment with us..?"

Sighing as she rose to her feet, Urbosa crossed her arms, weaving her lips into quizzical curves, "Well-"

She turned to Zelda as if to seek guidance, though the princess remained stoic in her frustration, staring off into the distance as though unaffected by the sound of either woman's voice.

"We're playing the long-game, alright?" Urbosa sighed, shaking her head, "If you don't mind finishing this up-"

Her thought unfinished as she gestured toward Zelda, Urbosa acknowledged Mipha nod with one of her own, reaching for the young Princess' arm to pull her to the side, speaking in low tones as the two of them approached the dark side of the nearest building, away from the stalking beams of light bellowing from the town's lanterns.

"We are playing the long-game, right?" Urbosa inquired sincerely.

Finally bringing herself back, Zelda whipped her head toward her guardian, eyes narrowed in a furious sadness, "Why are you asking me?!"

Urbosa straightened her posture, pressing her fists into her hips as though to take on a more authoritative posture, "Pardon me? I thought you all but took the reigns back there."

Crossing her arms, Zelda shook her head against her chest, "I-…"

Weakening her stance, Urbosa reached over to carefully run her hand along the Princess' shouldered, "Look, I know it's hard. Overwhelming, even. For what it's worth, I don't think I've ever been more proud of you than just half an hour ago."

Still closed into herself in resignation, Zelda muttered, "I don't like being angry…"

Urbosa's lips fell with a melancholy known only to those who understood the young woman's history.

"It makes me feel like my great-grandfather…"

Sighing, Urbosa threw an arm around Zelda's shoulders, pulling her into a side-long embrace, "My child, you're not, nor could you ever be, that man. Anger isn't always bad. In the wrong hands, sure, it can be a weapon, but- It can also incite the most righteous of actions. When the Yiga started pilfering along my people's trade routes, it wasn't mere duty that compelled me to act. It was that quiet anger that compelled me to my people's defense."

She turned her head down toward Zelda, "Much as it compelled you to the defense of your people not an hour ago."

Urbosa could feel a tremor along her arm as Zelda shook her head, taking in a gentle sniffle to quietly signal the tears in her eyes, "I just- I don't know. I can't-"

She took a tumultuous breath, "Link-"

Then, a anguished laugh, "He was right. Before we even made to Sanadin- before we even began this experiment… He told me how naïve I was, and- I thought he was just cynical. But after everything- watching a man willing to offer the life of anybody-"

She looked up toward Urbosa with tears rolling down her face, "How can I bring Hyrule together when so many people are willing to sacrifice their own to keep it apart?"

Urbosa took a deep, reverent breath, sliding her hand up and down Zelda's arm as she spoke in reply, "I don't know. Though I can assume that's, perhaps, why very few have tried to do this before."

A slackened weight fell against Urbosa's arm as Zelda's shoulders slid down in regret, forcing her to continue in instruction, "It may very well require some anger to get where you want this world to be. but it will also require love, compassion- perhaps a little understanding."

"Now," Urbosa reoriented, shaking Zelda as though to rouse her from her sorrow, "I've spent much of our time amongst these Champions doing what I can to take this weight off your shoulders, and I always hoped it was not to your detriment. You have the blood of men and women greater than myself- I never wished to impede your progress, even as I was taking the reins with you at my side. But seeing you earlier- Watching you be a Queen. I truly believe that was a foolish worry."

Zelda chuckled, thinking of her mother, "I'm no Queen. Not yet, anyway."

"And I'm not old and crazy, yet, so don't imply that I am," Urbosa smirked, slamming a slow fist into her surrogate's shoulder, "Feel better?"

"Yeah," Zelda sighed, running a sleeve across her face, "I just feel like I've gone ten rounds with a Goron…"

Unable to hold a chuckle, Urbosa offered, "How about we get out of here as soon as we can? Back on the open road, your mind will be much clearer, don't you think?"

"You might be right," Zelda grumbled in reply, knowing what was to be the Gerudo's reply.

"You thought otherwise?" Urbosa questioned with glaring incredulity, though she ultimately laughed at her own insinuation.

She pushed Zelda ahead of her, as if goading her into leading, causing Zelda to spin her head around her shoulder to glare back toward her guardian, confused.

"After you, Queen."

"J-! Just hush, alright?!" Zelda quickly refuted, "That's not true!"

Urbosa pondered, "Then why were you so Queen-like? How about I remind you, every time that happens, so you can better acquaint yourself with the idea?"

Frowning, Zelda replied, "You really don't want me being a Queen, do you..?"

"What makes you say that?" Urbosa chimed playfully, the two meandering back over toward the town square, where Mipha was still knelt beside the collection of rucksacks.

The Gerudo's eyes quickly dove forward in examination, wondering, "Did something not f-"

In a rapid movement, Mipha slammed shut the book in her hand, dropping it onto the backpack below her as she leapt up to her feet, her eyes wide in shock, "I-! Uh-! E- Everything went fine! Nothing unaccounted for!"

"Alright…" Urbosa muttered in reply, eyebrow raised in suspicion, "Just don't forget that journal you dropped."

"J-!" Mipha stammered, "Journal?!"

Zelda brought her hand up to cover her face while Urbosa went along, "That's what Link meant when he- Look, can we quit the charade? Normally I'd be down with playful bouts of teasing, but I think we're beyond all that."

Mipha trembled in place, unable to reply, even as Urbosa went on as she began collecting her things, "I'm just happy it's not this one who's doing the bounding around behind my back."

"Ur-! Urbosa!" Mipha shouted in frightful protest.

Zelda sighed, "At least I'm not the only Princess you're able to render helplessly embarrassed…"

"Perhaps it's just the maternal part of me, who knows," Urbosa shrugged, "I don't-"

Her face fell in time with her voice as she turned to find Motom approaching the three of them, one hand nursing a cane while the other fidgeted at his side, leaving him to his unassuming presence. The contrast with jarring, Zelda thought; nobody might believe this old, decrepit man capable of offering up a child's life for little more than the dirt on the ground.

"Princess, look," Motom grumbled, his head swaying left and right as he came to a stop, "I understand your upset; I-"

He paused, rubbing his free hand across his chin, "You know, I told myself no excuses… What you saw here- I wish your meeting had come with different circumstances."

"Pfft, no doubt," Urbosa scoffed with disillusioned speech.

Motom grumbled, "I may have given you the wrong impression of this place, but- That error is my own."

He paused, lips twisting in consideration, "It would please me greatly to know you saw this township, not by my own actions, but by the actions of others. of loyal men, prepared to do their master's bidding, albeit to a fault. Of the actions of a father prepared to die for his child…"

"We've gone without for so long- Your arrival was met with such tremendous hope," Motom noted plainly, "I only wish that you do not dismiss everybody here merely by my fault."

Zelda glared at the man, fighting back the vitriol churning within her gut, goading her to spit back vengeance, yet she replied calmly, "Were it not for my Knight, your fault would have been far more severe."

"I know-" Motom nodded remorsefully, "Whatever I might could do unto repentance, I- I would be your humble servant."

Urbosa knowingly peered toward Zelda, though the Princess remained stoic in her appraisal of the man before her. Her eyes rested upon the man even as the pitter-patter of thunderous footsteps began to rumble the ground beneath them, signaling Daruk's return, owing only to Urbosa and Mipha's turned attention.

"Any word?" Urbosa wondered with concern.

Daruk replied defeatedly, "I needed no words. The stable's proprietor took me to the edge of Tanagar themselves. The bridge is non-existent."

"Goddess…" Mipha exclaimed in breathless regret.

Motom slid his balance to one side, peering toward Daruk from beside Urbosa's generous stature, uttering quietly, "You- You're going after him?"

"Of course," Zelda replied, "He a Cham- He's my Knight, after all."

Urbosa couldn't help but smirk at Zelda's preparedness to keep her cards concealed until learning of the old man's curiosity.

"Is that a problem?" the Princess asked with a seething tone.

Motom shrugged, "N- No, I mean- If it's a bridge you require, we've been buildin' new ones up about every time those birds had taken them down. Some of my people, they come from a lineage of bridge-building carpenters, you know."

Zelda's narrowed eyes gradually began to soften in realization before she turned toward Urbosa, the Gerudo having much the same thought as she.

"If- I mean, if it might offer a pittance of retribution, I would be honored to get one constructed by morning," Motom nodded quickly.

"Morning?!" Daruk exclaimed in abject surprise, "But how?!"

Motom smiled, "You just get some boards, fire a line across the canyon with a crossbow- It's not too outlandish, is it?"

"Easier said, old man; where are we gonna get the lumber? The trees that are nowhere to be seen?" Urbosa inquired practically.

With a pitiable smile, Motom lowered his head, "No, no. We've got plenty. I'll get Kobah to round up some of the men- they'll make short work taking about my home."

Zelda's eyes tightened on the man's old, bearded face once more, even as Daruk exclaimed, "Your- home?!"

"I made a mistake," Motom sighed, smiling weakly, "I was scared. If I can make it right- I will."

Urbosa watched with wide eyes, turning toward Zelda with a generous expression, "Well?"

Zelda peered into the old man's eyes, tracing the lines that covered his face. He wore his wrinkles like Zelda still wore those streaks of tears atop her cheeks.

"If you're certain," Zelda concluded carefully, forcing Motom to shake his head vigorously.

"Absolutely," he assured, hobbling in place as he spun around, "We will show you true Dangarnon art, my liege! I assure you!"

As the elder departed, Daruk didn't wait long to offer his opinion, boisterously reveling, "Wow! A true Champions stairway! I mean, a bridge, but you know what I mean!"

"We may need to be Champions to be setting foot in Southern Hebra," Urbosa frowned, "Tabantha isn't exactly welcoming to strangers, as seen here."

"Maybe not," came a quiet voice from Zelda as she haltingly turned toward the paltry remnants of her troupe.

She smiled.

"But so long as we have the will, the hope, to go on," she confided, "I doubt there's much of anything that will stop us, now."

Urbosa shot a wry grin.

"Queen."

Link had no idea where he was, besides the general supposition that this was lower Tabantha. Despite being spared the indignity of being blindfolded atop of being bound by the wrists, without the flames of lanternlight to guide him, he could barely see a few paces ahead of himself the vast thickness of absolute darkness that plagued these lands on this moonless night, grey clouds depriving them even of starlight. What he knew of the Rito, however, given their magnificent eyesight, he figured they required no such thing as light to guide their way, as the gang of Rito strolled along the countryside, hindered by their prize as they were, nary complaining of the darkness.

Keep his head low, Link simply listened, learning what he could once their vicious words directed toward him began to cease. Soon enough, they were agaggle with anecdotes that incited laughter, though must have been of a Rito sensibility, given Link's confusion, and traded words with the newest amongst their party, Revali. Even as he focused intently on the words being traded amongst the Rito, Link couldn't help but raise his head at different intervals, shooting glances as the bird's back, almost as if hoping to ruffle the feathers at the back of the man's neck.

"That wasn't even the worst of it," clamored one of the more vicious-looking of the pack, "I couldn't fell the beast before Lecili reared her head. I had to watch her steal the kill from me!"

He swung at the air in tempered frustration, ultimately smirking, "I assured her that I would show her her place."

"Bah ha ha!" Yzi chortle, "Before you returned to your nest as she showed you yours!"

Another Rito playfully slammed a fist into the first's side, laughing boisterously, "Teach ya to deny a woman her kill! Revali, you enjoy a challenge- I know you do!"

Shrugging, Revali offered in reply, "My entire life has been a litany of such things. While I can't say I enjoy it, challenge has become a part of me, and as such, I find it difficult to despise. "

"How astute," Yzi praised, "Perhaps you'll find our women to be more to your liking, then! The Rito women you're used to, they're- they're far too docile of beings. Wholly domestic in that entitled sort of way. You might find our Lowland sisters rather appealing."

Snickering from behind the front of the pack, Tokk continued in his leader's stead, "Ah, yiss. A wiry sort, indeed."

"If you like a challenge, anyway," Ilyzo chuckled, patting Revali's shoulders, sending the high-born's feathers fluttering in the darkness, "But that's what makes it fun. Never knowing quite where you'll end up landing when your claws meet."

Yzi explained, "In many ways, we've been bolstered by our isolation, really. In our bedraggled state, survival became more of a necessity than thriving. Our women were needed, not merely for breeding, but for work, and they took to it as well as anybody. We mated for procreation sake, not for the feathers upon one's hide; as evolution took its course, we lost much of that plumage that simply hindered us in flight, leaving us quicker in flight than those to the north."

He snickered, "Of course, you'll come to know this yourself."

Gamni postured, working up a tease of his own, "Certainly so. I doubt any of us will have a taste of female until they've all had their fill of the newcomer."

His blatant accusation forced a chorus of laughter amongst the group of Rito, leaving Link's face unenthused at the thought of such a thing. As the boisterous air began to die down, Revali's face contorted in dismay, leaving Yzi slightly concerned as he turned to watch his newest attendee.

"I'm not one for such things," Revali admitted with quiet confidence, as though he were a monk, not a coward.

Yzi stroked his chin with interest as Tokk gagged on a quick laugh, "Caw-! D- D'ya think we're crazy, eh?"

Raising his hand to quell the low rumble of curious exasperation, Yzi shrugged, "Well, if you're not one to take advantage of an endless stream of advances, we have much more to revel in during your stay. Our dunes are second to none when it comes to sunbathing, and we've managed quite a delectable array of cuisine with what we have access to down here."

"Aye!" Gamni chided in, "My lady can make up a stew that'll knock yer cloaca off!"

Link heaved forward, barely able to hide a wretch as his handler shoved his shoulder, "Bah, you primitive numskull! Unable to even comprehend the heights of Rito sexuality."

"I'd rather like to keep it that way," Link grumbled, earning him a rather vicious slap from the Rito's backhand.

With a dismissive click of his tongue, Yzi shrugged, "Shame, really. Having the absolute specimen of a superior beings surrounding him and he refuses even to learn of them."

"Heh heh ha!" laughed Ilyzo, shaking his head in fierce humor.

Tokk offered with bewilderment, "He did, eh, take ta bein' carried by one well enough."

"It's not the first time I've been taken to the sky by a Rito," Link muttered wryly, "It's not even the second time, now that I think about it"

He could almost feel Revali's disdain.

"Do not be fooled," Revali suddenly spoke up, turning his head over his shoulder, "I discovered enough in my time with this Hylian whelp. He prattles on about how good he is, better than us Rito- yet he finds time to lay with a Zora."

Yzi's eyes bolted wide in astonished amusement, "PFFT- HA HA HA!"

Without changing his stoic expression, Link remained undeterred by the sudden chorus of jeers and laughter. He considered how he had played his own self into that counter, though while he cared not about the sudden turn toward him, he knew, well enough, that his own jab was a matter that deeply wounded the Rito he knew.

"Those slimy- Guuuh!" Gamni shivered in fright, "And they have those fins that slither around, almost as if independent from their own bodies! What's with that?! Pleh!"

He spat onto the ground as if the words themselves had left him with a bad taste, his dry heaving going on as Ilyzo shrugged, "I dunno. I've seen a couple of 'em I'd entertain the thought."

"Keh heh! Ilyzo, always ready to test the waters. Literally!" cried another Rito, Penso, "Maybe we should get this whelp in a nest with Crika the Greater and let him know what he's missing!"

"Goddess, no," Link muttered regretfully, "A good flaying would be preferable."

"And easier to stomach!" Gamni spat, "Shut up with your stupid ideas, Penso!"

Yzi raised a quieting hand, "There will be no debauchery, you poults. This Hylian is a prisoner, mind you; he is meant for death, not to taste the sweet nectar of our own. That honor belongs to our newcomer, if anybody, even if such things are not to his liking."

"Once he catches sight o' their coverts, I'm sure 'e'll come around before- well… PAH HA HA!" Tokk cackled, nearly to the point of choking, "C'mon! You know you wan'em!"

Revali scowled, "I want that Beast."

Suddenly, Yzi skid to a stop, his suddenness causing Ilyzo behind him to step into his back, the subordinate quickly sidling away as Yzi remained cold in his silence. Link's brow wrinkled in curiosity, working up a glance from his lowered head toward Revali.

Just as quick as he had paused, however, Yzi spun around, eying Revali with a glimmer of intrigue in his eyes, "You- I trust you understand an explanation is in order, brother."

"You think your schemes to be so well concealed?" Revali questioned rhetorically, "We've known of this plot for some time, yet understood that, as Witwa's true children, there was no possible way for you to accomplish your goals."

"Ah!" Yzi exclaimed, skittering closer to Revali, "But now you see why we see you in such a grand light! With you, my brother, we can do the unthinkable!"

Revali frowned, "So you plan to throw women at me? Entice me with food and a home? I require nothing of the sort."

His brow furrowed in evil intent, "All I need is that Beast. and you and your minions offer me the best route to accomplish that goal."

Link's mind began to churn with consideration. Was this a plan?

Yzi raised his arms in a shrug, "What's in it for me, then? For us? What's your angle? We let you in on our schemes just for you to waltz in and take over? We need your presence, but we don't need your direction."

The leader of the gang dropped his face in a dreadful warning of a stare, "Remember that. Everything we offer is a professional courtesy, but we have our own plans for that Beast."

"At least I can understand," Revali countered, "Why you failed to explain this to me. Were you just planning on leaving me in the dark as we soared to that great height?"

Yzi confirmed, "I had hoped to court you, win you to our cause; perhaps seal our bonds in the blood of children. Perhaps, then, you'd be content to see your haughty village burned to the ground by the gods' fire."

With a scrutinizing glare, Revali retorted, "Why must you assume I would not be contented to see such things now? With that Beast, I would love nothing more than to scorch the very land from which this Hylian, here, hails from. After that, what do I care happens to that place I might call home?"

"It's a trick…" came the voice of Ilyzo, pattering behind his leader with a pacing step, "He's an agent of the Skoss. How else would he be so upfront about this plan were it not to disarm us as it has?"

Gamni scoffed, "He wished to deter our suspicions now, then work his way into your good graces, my brother, Yzi."

Revali didn't bother to return an accusation. He stood there, stone-faced, watching Yzi's eyes as the Rito's stare shot daggers back to him. As if a silent battle had formed in that ethereal space between the two men, Yzi's eyes narrowed in course deconstruction, working out a plan of action, now that he understood the breadth of what Revali knew.

"He is our brother," Yzi confirmed openly, shrugging, "And we should take his word as such."

Ilyzo's glance remained savage upon Revali's face, lips curling in dissatisfaction as Yzi went on, "We have no reason to believe he's anything but disgusted by his treatment by the hands of those Skoss. In fact, we have ample proof that he would want them more dead than even we would hope."

He cocked his head, "We press on, then. We return home, then deal with the Hylian. Retribution must come first."

"Keh heh!" Tokk cackled, "What're we ta do with'im?!"

Yzi tilted his head quizzically, "I've been considering that, myself."

His eyes rested upon Link, who has raised his head at being mentioned, leaving Yzi to scrutinize the Hylian's bedraggled appearance with the darkness concealing Link's ability to return a stare of his own.

"Revali? Any ideas?" he inquired, "It's not every day we have a Knight of the Kingdom of Hyrule to do with as we please."

With nary a moment of thought, Revali answered simply, "String him up. Drawn and quartered."

Following the Rito's logic, a devilish smirk appeared upon Yzi's face.

"My people once raised a dead Rito atop Nero Hill to incite suspicion upon the Hylians. Now, we flip that script. We raise a dead Hylian Knight atop, not Nero Hill, but Cuho Mountain. Let them ponder that act of war upon them before raining down fire of the divine upon them," Revali finished, as stoic as he had begun.

Link's eyes clenched in dour frustration, knowing there wasn't anything he could do but try and figure out whatever game it was that Revali was playing. or was it nothing of the sort? This Rito whom Link had known, for years, to be a scoundrel of the worst sort- What if his vile sputtering were true?

"Cah," Gamni mused quietly in understanding, "That- Yes, that's a good plan."

Yzi nodded, "Turn their own sick game back onto themselves. It's beautiful, really."

"You know, brother," Yzi enthusiastically went on with a grin, "I like that mind of yours."

Revali nodded in acknowledgement, "So long as you allow me the pleasure of stretching this Hylian's skin atop a pike as best I can."

"Whatever you desire," Yzi shrugged, "I'd have taken the harem, myself, but it's your show to run, mostly. I suppose my men would like to see your show of devotion, anyway, before lending you the keys to the Beast."

Revali nodded, "I have no problem proving such things. How close are you to solving the approach?"

"Close," Yzi smirked, "Quite close. With you here, Witwa's vessel will, once again, find its reign in the skies above Hyrule as a whole."

Link barred his teeth as his wrists spun red with coarse friction as his handler yanked him along, the pack continuing its languid journey into the endless darkness.