"Are we stopping anytime soon?" Revali, Rito Warrior and most recent addition to Hyrule's Champions in the coming fight against Calamity Ganon, had quickly proven himself to be short of temper, loud of mouth, and overall unpleasant company. Though surely there had to be a reason that Zelda had asked him to be Champion, and certainly the respect and admiration his own people held for him had to be at least slightly justified, so far all the Rito had managed to do was alienate almost every single member of their group.

Daruk, Urbosa decided, shouldn't count. The Goron was nearly impossible to offend.

"Getting tired?" The Gerudo threw down the challenge. "It's a beautiful day. Nice and warm, and there is a well-known traveler's camp just a few hours from here."

"It does seem like a lovely evening," Mipha agreed cheerfully. Urbosa was almost certain the princess had missed the point, but maybe the Zora Champion was simply too kind to pick up on the veiled insult. Briefly Urbosa reconsidered whether or not she should feel ashamed for stooping to Revali's level, but the Rito was just so unpleasant...

"I cannot say I mind a bit of extra walking today," Zelda admitted almost shyly. The young woman was more relaxed than she had been in a while, and Urbosa was fairly certain the weather, absolutely delightful by Hylian standards-and still quite pleasant by Gerudo-was to blame.

Revali muttered something the Gerudo suspected was highly uncomplimentary under his breath, but did not argue. If nothing else, the Rito did not seem interested in disagreeing outright with the Hylian Princess.

"So we're just going to keep wandering around while the sun sets?" Revali asked several minutes later, breaking the silence and ruining whatever had been left of the mood.

"Relax," Urbosa drawled, receiving a glare in reply. Grinning, she added, "the sun's only just starting to set. We've got a good bit of twilight left, and this area is one of the safer parts of Hyrule. We're highly unlikely to run into anything out here."

Revali rolled his eyes. "I'm not worried about running into monsters," he grumbled. The Rito remained blissfully quiet for another twenty minutes as the golden glow of the setting sun began to deepen into red.

Urbosa watched him out of the corner of her eye. Though he had stopped complaining, however temporarily, it was plain the Rito was growing more and more agitated with ever passing minute. She wondered what, specifically, was setting him off this time.

"How much farther is this camp?" Revali asked, and Urbosa had to resist the urge to grin at the full grown Rito beside her, sulking like a child as he glared at the ground.

Looking around, she answered his question instead. "Roughly three miles," she told him. Revali let out an exaggerated sigh.

"That's at least another hour, the way you people travel." He pointed out. "It'll be dark well before then."

He was most likely right. The world was already fading into gray as the last of the sun disappeared over the horizon. Still, there would be plenty of light from the moon, the air was cool but not unpleasantly so, and they were in little danger from monsters or wild animals. Everyone else was enjoying the rare late walk, or would have been.

"Then fly up ahead, if we're so slow and it bothers you so much." Urbosa said, tired of the conversation.

Revali hesitated, and Urbosa rolled her eyes. "It's safe. You don't have to wait for us lowly ground-kissers if you're that worried about making camp. We'll catch up."

The Rito turned to look at her, his eyes narrowing. "I never said that."

"You didn't have to," the Gerudo retorted. "It's obvious enough you think it."

He shook his head, letting out an annoyed huff of air. Though he continued to keep pace with Urbosa, he did not speak again, choosing instead to watch the ground.

They reached the camp just as the twilight began to melt into darkness. They quickly got to work setting up camp, making use of the remaining light. There was just enough to see by.

"Din, Nayru, and Farore!" Revali snapped somewhere behind her. Urbosa heard something clatter as it impacted with the ground, but was more interested in the fact that the Rito had apparently just invoked the names of three ancient goddesses than in whatever he had dropped. "Son of an egg-stealing serpent!" Something else fell. "Hylia save me from these dimwitted, night-crawling nest-raiders." This last was muttered, but still plainly audible.

Urbosa looked up to find several of her companions caught off guard. Impa, Princess Zelda's attendant and personal assistant, looked particularly pale, while both princesses looked slightly shocked.

The Gerudo spared a glance in Daruk's direction, but if anything, the Goron looked impressed rather than offended that the Rito had just managed to blaspheme four major Hylian deities.

"Zephos and Cylcos take it-" Urbosa raised an eyebrow as it became rapidly apparent that Revali was nowhere near finished with whatever tirade he was currently directing at his gear. She watched him cross his wings across his chest.

Abandoning her own efforts, she came to stand next to her irate fellow Champion. "Problem?"

Revali's feathers ruffled, and he turned abruptly. "Levias have mercy," he breathed out, and for a second Urbosa got the distinct impression that she had startled him.

The Rito glared at her. The Gerudo settled in to wait, one hand resting almost idly on her hip.

"How many gods do you worship, anyway?" she asked.

Revali rolled his eyes. "How many do you worship?" he snapped.

Urbosa shrugged. "Just curious. I don't go around invoking the names of gods I don't worship, whether I believe they exist or not. And I certainly wouldn't go about invoking those I do worship just because of an extra hour or two of walking."

Revali rolled his shoulders and turned his glare on the ground before him. "I don't care about the walking," he mumbled. Urbosa frowned.

"So what's the problem?" she wanted to know. "This is an awful lot of fuss for someone who doesn't mind the extra walk."

Revali rolled his eyes. "It's the dark, all right?" He turned his back to her. "I don't care if we walk all brooding day, but once the sun sets, it's a different story. Nobody in their right mind goes looking for trouble they can't see to fight."

Urbosa stared at his back. "What?"

Revali whipped back around angrily. "I can't see in the dark, Hylia bless it. Is that what you wanted to hear? That I'm practically blind once twilight hits?"

Urbosa felt both eyebrows raise. "Really?" she asked. "Is that what's bothering you? Why didn't you just say so in the first place?"

"Would it have made a difference?" He tossed over his shoulder.

"Of course."

He turned and stared at her, his anger gone as if it had never been. Urbosa waited, but when he did not seem able or willing to continue, she did.

"So is it just you, or is it the Rito as a whole that have trouble seeing in the dark?"

He tensed for a moment before his shoulders sagged. "The Rito as a people have poor night vision."

"How poor?"

Revali hesitated. "We don't like flying close to sunset. Definitely not during twilight. Ever fly face first into a tree?"

Urbosa tried to decide if he would take offense if she laughed. "No,"

"Neither have I. It's not something you live to repeat." The Gerudo sobered. "In the dark? Right now? I'm nearly blind. I can tell you're there, but barely."

"The moon doesn't help?" Urbosa looked up at the sky. She was startled to hear the Rito laugh.

"It does," he confirmed.

Urbosa turned to study the Rito Champion standing next to her. "No traveling after dark, then," she said. "I'll let the others know. Are you going to be offended if I offer to help with your stuff tonight?"

She watched him stiffen, then slowly force himself to relax. "Since it's your fault I'm in this mess..." he trailed off, and the woman rolled her eyes. "Leave the weapons alone."

"I'm not going to mess with your gear," she told him. "I just thought you might prefer to not sleep on the ground tonight."

"Technically, sleeping in a bedroll is still sleeping on the ground." She could hear him smirking. "A hammock, on the other hand..."

"I have no idea how to put up a hammock," she told him. Revali snorted. For a moment he was quiet while she worked.

"It's not a nice thing to say, you know."

Urbosa paused, trying to figure out exactly what the Rito was talking about and why he, of all people, thought he had a right to call her out for allegedly being rude. "What?"

"And I never suggested it," he continued. Urbosa resisted the urge to sigh.

"Again. What?" She looked up to see that was looking somewhere else, or at least, not looking at her. Whether he could actually see anything else was unlikely, based on his recent admission.

He shifted, rolling his shoulders, but continued to look away.

"Ground-kisser," he finally said, and for all that the feathered Champion had had no issue with invoking the names of more gods than Urbosa could list on one hand earlier, now he sounded very much like a child uttering their first bad word-and feeling immediately ashamed for doing so. "I don't know where you heard that, but it's not-it's incredibly rude."

Urbosa considered the source of this bit of information, and wondered if she wanted to know exactly how rude the expression actually was.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Not really."

"Just a little?"

Revali sighed. "It's just-not something you should say." Urbosa waited to see if he would continue. When he did not, she stood.

"So I guess leaving before sunup is out of the question?" she asked, wondering if he'd take the bait.

"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?" he demanded, angry all over again.

Urbosa laughed. It was far too easy to get a rise out of her newest traveling companion.


Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda Universe, Breath of the Wild in particular, does not belong to me.