Urbosa wondered, as the Rito dropped from the sky, if he would get shot down less often if he weren't such a show-off, or if his mastery of flying were the only thing keeping him from being knocked out of the air on a regular basis. Either way, it was certainly skill-and likely sheer Rito stubbornness-that had enabled to survive every crash landing so far.
There had been quite a few of those. More than she would have liked, to be honest.
And the truth was, usually Revali's flying was at its most showy when he was trying to distract whatever monster they were currently fighting from one of his companions. It was easy enough for the Rito to simply fly out of range of most enemies; to serve as a distraction while a fallen ally recovered themselves required him to get far closer, which meant getting in range, and occasionally getting hit.
He was slowing down as he fell, Urbosa noted with relief. That meant he had some control, though part of her wondered as she watched if he were slowing enough. She had little enough experience in the matter-she had to trust he knew what he was doing, even as he plummeted to earth.
His wings flared outward suddenly, catching and straining against the air rushing past him. It was not enough to keep him aloft, but it was just enough for him to tuck into a roll as he landed, using the momentum to regain his footing as if every move had been intentional.
The effect was spoiled almost immediately as he dove out of the way of a spear chucked at him by an angry moblin. Revali landed roughly in the dirt, scrambling to get out of the way as the beast roared and charged at him.
Urbosa could only watch out of the corner of her eye as she faced off against her own monster. They had somehow stumbled across a large camp of moblins without realizing they were there until it was too late to avoid detection. Link, standing literally in the center of the camp, had drawn his sword and dove into the fray without hesitation. Outnumbered at least three to one, the group had suddenly found themselves fighting for their lives.
She dispatched her final moblin and turned just in time to see Revali's opponent kick out savagely, catching the Rito square in the chest. Revali went crashing backwards, the impact sending him rolling along the uneven ground once again, stunned. Urbosa ran to his aid as the moblin followed, intent on its prey.
Revali clambered up off the ground and into a crouching position, still trying to pull air into lungs that did not seem to remember how to work. He faced off against the approaching monster warily, his back to the very river that had provided them with lunch earlier that day.
He lept backwards, dodging the monster as it swung wildly at him, only to realize the river was closer than he had thought. As Urbosa reached them both he lost his footing, plunging into the rushing water with a surprised shout.
"Laruto curse it!" Somewhere past moblin and Gerudo, Mipha swore. Urbosa ignored the Zora as she lunged, delivering a final blow and felling the moblin. Only then did she dare look around.
Mipha raced past her, eyes wide with fear, reaching the river bank and diving in without so much as missing a beat. Revali resurfaced a second later, gasping and spluttering, only to sink once more from view almost immediately.
He can't swim. Too late the Gerudo realized why Mipha had gone after him.
Having grown up in the desert, Urbosa was not much of a swimmer herself. All she could do was stand at the edge of the water and wait, hoping for the best.
The two emerged, Revali coughing, Mipha supporting him with an arm across his chest.
"Calm down and be still." Though not unkind, the order was firm. The Rito stopped struggling, but could not quite relax as the Zora paddled the two of them back to shore. " Lean back. Easy does it." Her soothing voice carried clearly across the lake. "Don't fight me."
They reached the bank, and Mipha shoved the Rito toward Urbosa. The Gerudo reached forward and caught his arm, dragging him up out of the water and onto dry land. Revali stumbled as she let go, nearly falling, then righted himself. Mipha all but leaped out of the river, all grace and flashing scales.
Revali would not quite meet her eyes. "Thank you," he muttered.
Mipha looked him over, concerned. "Are you badly hurt?" she asked.
"I'm wet," he scowled. "It's going to take forever to get dry."
Daruk, who had joined them by now, looked surprised "I thought you had waterproof feathers or something?" He received a glare in response.
"I'm a Rito, not a goddess-cursed duck!" Revali snapped. "You live near a volcano, you want to go jump in a puddle of lava?" He stormed off, grumbling under his breath, completely missing Daruk's honest answer to what had been an entirely rhetorical question.
"I might," Darku's voice was small, as if he suspected the Rito did not want an actual answer but was not entirely certain. The Gerudo standing beside him was tempted to give into a bout of laughter at both their expense, but there were more important things to worry about at the moment.
"Revali?" Mipha called after the Rito, causing him to halt mid-stride.
"I just nearly drowned," he grumbled without turning around. Sighing, he added, "After getting kicked in the chest by a moblin, so a lot of bruises. It feels like a few cracked ribs, maybe." A pause. "I think I sprained my wing. Nothing life threatening. I'd like to get dry as soon as possible."
Mipha watched him as he stalked back to join the others. "He'll be all right," she assured both Gerudo and Goron.
Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda Universe, Breath of the Wild in particular, does not belong to me.
