ATE: When I first started working on this chapter, the outline I was using was only a few points. Instead, by the time I finished I discover that what was supposed to be a short chapter turned out to be lone one with a word count of 10,234 words! Initially I wanted to get this chapter out before the end of November, but work and procrastination kept getting in the way! Now here I am posting this at 12:37 in the morning when I should be sleeping, but I think it was worth it in the end. Hopefully everything thinks so as well.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Zelda related or any references I made in this chapter. I only own my OCs.
~*~Chapter 14~*~
Evangeline didn't know what to make of the sight before her, but all she knew was that she felt a sense of dread at seeing the alarming number of feathers littering the floor inside the hut. One thing that stood out to her was the form laying in the blanket nest, completely hidden beneath blanket to the point that it took her a moment to remember that it was Revali. Another thing she noted was how a good majority of feathers were gathered around the blanket nest itself.
But why?
Reluctantly, she somehow managed to move her feet as she cautiously approached the blanket nest, and as she got closer her ears were able to pick up the sound of Revali's labored breathing, causing the feeling of dread she had to gradually grow. Too soon she found herself before the nest, and by that time her eyes had adjusted to the dimly lit room as she knelt on the floor—just in time to noticed a specific detail concerning the feathers around her.
They were the same dark blue gray color.
Not just that, but there were some with some white on them, as well as others varying in size. The longer she looked, the stronger her dread grew until she was forced to turn her attention to the blanket covered form of the Rito Champion.
"Revali…?" She called out quietly, doing everything she could to hide how she really felt.
As soon as she spoke, she heard the Rito inhale sharply, and it made her realize that he hadn't been aware of her presence.
"…Eva?" He said as he lifted his head.
She frowned. Even after lifting his head, the blanket still hid his form in a fashion that reminded her of a kid wearing a blanket over their head in an attempt to 'look' like a ghost. Normally she would've considered this hilarious if it weren't for the current situation.
"What happened? And why are you hiding under a blanket?"
Evangeline reached out with the intention of pulling the blanket off Revali's form, and the Rito suddenly went tense as soon as her fingers brushed the soft fabric covering him.
"Eva, don't—!"
But his protests were cut short as she pulled the blanket away…
…Only to wish she hadn't.
Hazel eyes widened in shock at what she saw, but the sight itself was something she couldn't even begin to describe—just that it was enough to cause her to loosen her grip on the blanket.
However, it wasn't Revali's current appearance that caused her to become anxious. She knew the Rito was right in front of her, but all she saw—
—was the older woman who resembled her, her head that had once been full of beautiful long dark hair now falling out in clumps, the locks surrounding her as she sat on the bathroom floor. The woman turned to face her, hazel eyes red and puffy from crying as she reached out for her—
—Evangeline stumbled backwards, finding it difficult to breathe and her heart pounding loudly in her ears as she started panicking. She could see Revali saying something to her, but she was unable to register his words. It got to a point where she found herself blindly running out of the hut, not knowing where she was going in her panicked state.
Suddenly she ran into someone, causing them to slightly stumbled from the impact, but a pair of wings grabbed her arms to steady her. She heard a voice talking to her, though it was hard to discern what they were saying. They must've noticed this but continued talking to her regardless; as time when on, she was gradually able to make out the words the person was saying to her, and eventually she noticed it was a male's voice. It took her awhile, but she soon recognized the voice.
"…Locke?"
Sure enough, it was Locke that was before her, and she noticed the look of concern on his face as he let go out her arms.
"Are you okay, Evangeline?" He asked. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."
'If only you knew.' She thought.
"Something like that." She answered vaguely. "Do you know where the Healer's Hut is? I need to see Onra."
"I can take you there. That is, if you want me to."
"I'd appreciate that."
Evangeline followed Locke through Rito Village as he guided her to the Healer's Hut, all the while her thought kept going back to Revali's condition and the memory her mind had forced her to remember in turn. It was instances like these that made her hate her photographic memory because of how vividly she could recall things, particularly the negative memories in her life that she didn't want to be reminded of. Back in school she remembered how some of her friends wished they had photographic memory (due to how well she did when it came to studying for tests), to which she'd shrug her shoulders and tell them it wasn't as great as they made it out to be.
In reality, she wanted to tell them that it was just as much of a curse as it was a blessing at times.
Her train of thought was interrupted when she ran into Locke's back. Though both were slightly startled by this, the russet colored Rito managed to recover quickly and turned to face her.
"Are you sure you're okay, Evangeline?" He asked, concern evident in his yellow eyes.
"Yes, I'm sure!" She insisted, shoving her feelings on the backburner. "I just have a lot to think about."
Thankfully Locke decided to drop the subject.
"Anyways, we're here."
At first Evangeline was confused, but soon realized the reason Locke stopped was because (like he said) they had arrived at the Healer's Hut. The hut itself was bigger than the standard home, though it was nowhere near the size of the inn; she presumed this was due to needing enough room to deal with a large influx of patients if and when such a scenario occurred. On top of the roof was what appeared to be a big wooden canopy of sorts which seemed to appear out of place (the chain that the hut were hang from was constructed in a way to accommodate this wooden canopy). Unlike the other huts in Rito Village, the large window shutters were closed—however there were slots at the top of them that were large enough to allow natural light to enter inside (though she wondered if enough light was getting in during the day); the curtain that would normally cover the doorway was pulled aside and held in place by rope, giving off a welcoming appearance.
Entering the hut revealed that, yes, there was enough natural light filtering in the illuminate the room, along with a circular opening in the middle of the ceiling that was covered by the wooden canopy she'd seen outside (which was likely designed in such a way that prevented rainwater and such from leaking inside). Conveniently situated on the floor beneath the opening was an unlit firepit that was meant to provide warmth to the large room. She could see there were privacy screens situated methodically around the room in a way to create personal spaces for patients to feel comfortable, as well as some lanterns placed on the walls above each area to provide light when the sun wasn't available.
Suffice to say, Evangeline always found herself applauding the ingenuity of the Rito when it came to their creations.
"Oh, you're here!"
Evangeline's attention was brought to the voice that spoke and spotted Onra approaching where she and Locke stood.
"I'm guessing it happened already?" The female Rito asked, a knowing look in her red eyes.
"Did what happen?" Locke suddenly asked, clearly confused.
Onra turned to address him.
"I'm sorry, Locke, but could you wait outside? What I have to discuss with Evangeline is a bit…sensitive."
And for the first time Evangeline witnessed the feathers around Locke's neck slightly puff up in response, although it looked as if he were trying to suppress the action itself.
"O-oh! Y-yeah, I'll just…wait outside!" He stuttered.
She watched as Locke quickly left through the doorway, and she found it strange that the russet colored Rito seemed to have more control over suppressing his ruffled feathers than a certain someone she knew.
"Well, now that he's stepped out, we can finally talk. Follow me."
Evangeline didn't hesitate to follow after the female Rito as the two went to one of the personal spaces within the hut which also happened to have a pair of unoccupied chairs. While she sat down, Onra went over to the nearby table where a mortar and pestle sat, along with a bowl and what looked to be some dried plants beside it. Evangeline couldn't help the curiosity she felt as she watched her carefully pick pieces off the plants, dropping them into the mortar and crushing them with the pestle. Satisfied, she poured the mixture into the nearby bowl before pulling out what looked like a stick, lighting the end of it using a nearby candle, and setting the bowl's crushed content on fire. She was worried that Onra was creating a fire, but soon her nose picked up a scent as the female Rito approached her.
"Here." She said, handing the bowl over to her before taking the seat across from her. "Take a few deep breaths of this."
Glancing down at the bowl in her hands (which she noted was made of clay), Evangeline noted that the burnt contents must've been some sort of incense. Breathing in deeply, her nostrils took in the scent of what smelled like lavender—along with something else she couldn't identify—and immediately she could feel herself relaxing as her anxiety from earlier decreased significantly.
"Is this lavender?" She found herself asking.
"Lavender?" Onra questioned, tilting her head in slight confusion. "I'm not sure what that is, but no. What you smell is a combination of Hyrule herbs and cool safflina. Like the name implies, the herbs grow in abundance all across Hyrule and are known to have healing properties. The cool safflina tends to grow in high elevations, such as mountains in the Hebra or Gerudo regions, and the leaves can help cool the body in hot conditions. There's also another type called warm safflina that grow in hot regions such as the Gerudo Desert, which happen to be warm to the touch and have the opposite effect of what cool safflina does."
Oh. So this whole time what she thought had been lavender was been safflina, and if Onra's words were any indication safflina had a similar smell to the plant she was familiar with. That, or perhaps lavender was referred to as safflina in Hyrule. Either way, it made sense.
"But I know you didn't come here to learn about Hyrule herbs or safflina." Onra suddenly said, opting to change the subject and get straight to business. "I presume it finally happened."
At first Evangeline was confused by what Onra meant by, however it didn't take her long to realize what she was referring to as she remembered why she was here in the first place.
"…Yeah, it did." She answered, her hazel eyes falling to gaze down at the bowl in her hands instead of looking into Onra's red eyes.
"Deep breaths, Evangeline." The female Rito reminded her, sounding as if she were aware of her current state of mind. "I know this isn't easy, but it's important that your answer my questions as honestly as possible."
Okay, so maybe Onra was aware of what she was feeling. But she knew she was right that she had to push forward and tell the Rito what happened to Re—
'Deep breaths.' Evangeline told herself. 'Breathe in the incense.'
Evangeline did so, and after a few breaths she felt herself calming down. Onra was patient enough to wait before continuing.
"What happened?" The female Rito asked.
"Revali has been resting ever since returning to the village. I stepped out for a bit to get some fresh air, but when I got back the floor was just littered with feathers everywhere." She answered.
"And Revali?"
"Awake. He appeared to be experiencing some discomfort, but other than that he was hiding under a blanket. Turns out he had a good reason because of his…condition."
"I'm guessing his condition involved a massive loss of feathers?"
"Y—"
—The older woman who resembled her, her head that had once been full of beautiful long dark hair now falling out in clumps, the locks surrounding her—
'Go away!' She mentally yelled at the involuntary memory. 'I have something important to do and you keep popping up when I need to focus!'
"—Yeah." Evangeline finally managed to get out.
Onra hummed at this.
"Just as I thought." The female Rito commented, sounding as if her suspicions were confirmed. "He's going through a molting process."
"Molting." She asked, wondering if she heard correctly. "As in the same kind of molting birds go through?"
"The very same. Rito children experience molting and only go through a complete loss of feathers four times a year, which goes hand-in-hand with physical growth. This process lessens during adolescence, followed by a Rito experiencing one last massive loss of feathers upon reaching the cusp of adulthood. There will be times where adults will infrequently experience molting, but only to a partial degree."
Okay, that made sense, especially if it was basically the same as growth spurts in Human children, with the addition of molting in Rito children; clearly puberty worked differently between the two races as well. However, there was one thing that didn't make sense to her.
"If that's the case, why did Revali lose all his feathers? Isn't he already an adult, and shouldn't it have been a partial molting?"
Onra let out a sigh at this.
"That's why I had you come to me if anything happened." Onra admitted, lowering her voice. "Have you ever noticed how Rito children have red spots on their cheeks?"
"Yes." She answered, recalling that all the Rito children she'd seen so far had this specific physical characteristic.
"Have you also noticed that Revali has similar spots as well?"
Evangeline thought back to all the instances she'd been around Revali. She did recall how the Rito Champion, in fact, had red spots on his face as well. But weren't those just markings—
Her eyes widening in shock.
"Wait, is Revali a minor—"
"No, no!" Onra interrupted quickly, and the dark-haired girl realized she'd been louder than she intended. "No, Revali is not a minor. He is an adult, but unfortunately, he looks younger than his actual age."
"So he's a late-bloomer, then?"
"For lack of better terms, yes. The red spots on Rito children have will gradually fade away as they reach adulthood, but it's rare for them to remain after that period, as in Revali's case. What also doesn't help is that he's still the same height as a Rito in their late teens and hasn't gone through his final mass molting."
"Until now." Evangeline finished. Did that explain why Revali had been so surprised when she told him her age when he thought she looked younger? Because of his own situation, and that he met someone who he perceived to be in the same boat as him? "You wanted to keep this a secret from the public."
Onra nodded.
"I had an inkling what was wrong with him, but I wasn't sure. My suspicions were confirmed when you showed up." The female Rito stood of up her chair. "There's not much we can do about Revali's situation except wait it out, but what I can do is help decrease the discomfort he'll experience."
Evangeline stood up to follow Onra out of the personal space they were in as she made her way to the back of the main area, which had what appeared to be a worktable and a few shelves filled with jars and containers of what she assumed were ingredients used by the healers. The female Rito was pulling a few jars down, placing them on the table as she pulled out what she needed, but soon she froze as her wing hovered over a shelf that was at her eye level.
"By Valoo! We're out of hearty truffles?" Onra exclaimed.
"Hearty truffles?" Evangeline asked.
"One of the ingredients I use for the medicine I need to make requires hearty truffles. Not only have I run out, but the next shipment won't be until a month from now."
"What do we do then?"
"We'll have to leave Rito Village to find some in the wild. We'll also ask for some help since it wouldn't be smart to head out on our own, and I'm sure there's be monsters prowling around where we're going." Onra then turned to face her with a smirk. "Luckily, we already have someone we can ask waiting outside this hut, and I'm sure he'd be more than willing to agree if you asked."
Onra winked at Evangeline, causing her to raise an eyebrow. Okay, she clearly was implying something. However, she remembered that Locke was probably still waiting outside, and she rushed up to the female Rito.
"Wait, wait, wait! Locke's under the impression I had to see you because I have a problem! What do we tell him?"
"Oh, you can leave that up to me."
She didn't elaborate any further as she headed towards the door, forcing her to follow as well. Sure enough, Locke was waiting outside the hut, looking as if he were deep in thought until Onra cleared her throat. Immediately the russet colored Rito startled as he realized that both she and the female Rito were standing before him.
"O-oh, your done!" He exclaimed, doing his best to recover before facing Onra. "How is she?"
Evangeline was confused. Why was Locke so concerned over her wellbeing, especially if it were to this extent. True, she ran into him, and he likely felt obligated to make sure she was alright (especially due to how she had been when that happened), but this?
It made no sense to her.
"Evangeline is fine." Onra responded. "It turns out she's been having trouble sleeping due to nightmares lately."
Whoa! She hadn't expecting the female Rito to have such a response at the ready, let alone one that was delivered so smoothly. Even though she knew she was lying, she almost believed it with how convincing she sounded. It wouldn't surprise her if she had to deploy such tactics given her profession.
"Really? Is this true?" Locke asked, turning to face the dark haired girl.
Crap.
She wasn't expecting this.
"Yeah! It's been difficult sleeping lately…" Evangeline answered too quickly for her liking.
Whether or not Locke believed her, she couldn't tell. Thankfully, Onra managed to take attention away from her.
"Having learned about Evangeline's sleeping problems, I know what I can to do for her. However, I'm missing a specific ingredient needed to make the medicine." Onra said.
"What ingredient are you missing?" Locked inquired.
"Hearty truffles. It's what makes my medicine so effective when it comes to treating my patients. Unfortunately, I'm out of stock and won't be expecting another shipment until next month."
"What?!" Locke's yellow eyes widened in shock at this news, likely realizing the severity of the situation. If Onra's words were any indication, this was likely true since she did state that hearty truffles, and it made her wonder just how good the ingredient sell was. "This is bad, especially since we're expecting the first snowfall soon. And the villagers depend on you and your cures during this time of year."
Scratch that, hearty truffles were as important as the two Rito were making it out to be. And given how Hyrule was lacking in the technology department (especially compared to back on Earth) winter was going to rough. In retrospect, it made her realized the significance of the blanket weaving service Yuli and Kali provided at the tailor for the villagers.
The gravity of this situation suddenly felt heavier than she initially thought.
"Onra said we'd need to leave Rito Village to find some in the wild, at least enough to last her until the next shipment from what I understand." Evangeline said, causing Locke to turn his attention back to her. "I'm not gonna lie: Onra and I need help finding hearty truffles in the wild, but we can't do this on our own."
"And you want my help." The russet colored Rito noted.
She wasn't a big fan of begging—hell, she rarely resorted to such actions in general—but even she knew there were situations that made it necessary if left with no other option. Given the situation at hand, she was more than aware of the fact that this was bigger than just her or helping Revali—it was about helping an entire village make it through a cold winter.
And as much as she hated to admit it, that thought almost scared her.
"…Please."
Locke regarded her, and the silence was almost suffocating. Eventually, he let out a sigh before speaking.
"I'll help, but even I know we'll need more than just the three of us if we want things to go smoothly. While you two discuss where to go, I'll see who else is willing to join our group. Also, it's best we be prepared for anything, so come armed. We'll all meet at the landing once we're ready."
With that Evangeline watched Locke walk off with the intention of finding volunteers, and she felt that a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. However, whatever relief she felt was suddenly dashed when a snowflake drifted down from the sky, only to be followed by more at a steady pace.
The clock was already ticking down.
"We better hurry." Onra stated, her voice sounding grim.
She couldn't agree more.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The Hebra Mountains.
Out of all the places to go to, the Hebra Mountains was the last place Evangeline expected to go.
The decision had been made by Onra after spending time going over the map she kept inside the Healer's Hut, and it turned out that they needed to go a good distance north of the Flight Range to find some hearty truffles. She questioned the female Rito about this, asking if the Hebra Mountains were the only place to find the ingredient she needed; Onra explained that, yes, hearty truffles grew in other places besides their destination, but states something about how the mountain air provided more nutrients to it or something along those lines. With everything planned out the female Rito packed a satchel with whatever supplies and tools she needed for their trip to the Hebra Mountains, but it was after the two stepped outside the Healer's Hut that she spoke up.
"I just remembered!" She exclaimed. "Evangeline, you should bring your bow. Our group probably won't encounter anything, but it'd be better to have it just in case."
The dark haired girl knew Onra had a point, but it meant she'd have to go back to Revali's hut in order to grab her bow. And she was anxious about his reaction to seeing her if she returned.
'You don't have a choice. Now stop wasting time and grab your bow!' She told herself.
"I'll be right back." Evangeline responded. "I'll see you at the landing."
Evangeline quickly made her way back to Revali's hut, all the while the snowfall was gradually picking up and only served as a reminder of how limited time was. Soon enough she was entering the hut in question, and everything was quiet save for Revali's labored breathing coming from under the blanket he hid under.
Good.
He wasn't aware of her presence.
Quietly, she carefully made her way over where her bow and quiver sat on top of her drawer before slowly picking up and equipping the latter before reaching for the former. With her fingers wrapped around the handle she picked up the bow, but not without a part of said bow accidentally knocking into the wooden surface of the drawer that sounded a lot louder to her ears than it probably was.
"…Eva?"
Whipping around, she found Revali's head turned in her general direction, and froze as she realized he'd heard the noise she'd accidentally made. So much for him not being aware of her presence. She knew she needed to leave to meet the others at the landing, yet she felt herself rooted in place.
'Move!' She mentally yelled at herself. 'Move your feet, dammit!'
"…Eva…don't go…" She could hear him say.
Before she knew it, Evangeline found herself able to move as she fled from the hut with her bow. As she ran to the landing, she suddenly felt a pang of guilt for running away from Revali, especially when his words kept repeating on loop in her head. He outright stated he didn't want her to go, and yet here she was running away!
But she had to go.
She needed to help Onra find hearty truffles so she could help Revali.
"…Eva…don't go…"
…Why her?
Why?
Why?
Why?!
WHY?!
Evangeline didn't have time to think as she found that line of thought coming to a halt when she found herself arriving at the landing where Onra and Locke waited for her, along with two others; she was surprised to see that Sarai had joined them—having a colorful bow strapped to her back—but it was the second person she didn't recognize.
The new face was a male Rito that was slightly taller than Locke, having brown feathers and having a sharp look to his yellow eyes. There was something that was slightly intimidating about him, but maybe it had to do with his demeanor and the spear hanging from his back. Though she didn't recognize him, there was something...familiar about him.
"Good, you're here!" Onra said.
"Sorry if I took so long."
"Actually, you didn't take as long as you think. Thankfully, Locke came through and found some volunteers!"
"I admit I'm surprised to see you here, Sarai. I didn't know you were an archer."
The green feathered Rito laughed.
"Yeah, I tend to give off that impression. Makes it easier for others to underestimate me." Sarai commented.
"Okay, so I know Sarai, but…who are you?" Evangeline asked, turning to the unknown Rito.
"Kei. I run the smithy in this village." He told her.
The smithy?
Evangeline searched her brain, trying to recall this tidbit of information. The situation concerning Revali and the hearty truffles must've been taking up most of her attention than she thought if she was having difficulty. Somehow her mind thought back to Kali who told her how she and her mother owned the tailor while her father owned the smi—!
"Wait, you're Locke's father?" She asked, her eyes wide in surprise.
"I am." He answered. "So you're the Human my son talks so highly about."
"Father!" Locke exclaimed, the feathers around his neck being ruffled.
Okay. First Kali, then Onra, and now Locke's father? What was with everyone lately?
…
Wait a second!
Locke and Kei.
…Lock and key.
Evangeline couldn't help but start laughing, causing both father and son to stop whatever argument the two were having as they both looked at her with confused looks.
"Is…something funny?" Lock asked.
"I'm sorry, it's just you're names."
"What about our names?"
"Both your names are Locke and Kei, as in keeping something under 'lock' and 'key'!" She answered.
At this Locke groaned.
"I told you it was a bad name…"
"Locke is a perfectly normal name!" Kei commented. "Your grandfather was just as proud of the name I gave you as he was when he gave me mine."
"It borderlines on a horrible dad joke!"
"What, was your grandfather's name Dorr or something?" She asked.
The two went quiet at this, with Kei's gaze averted to the side while Locke's talons shuffled awkwardly.
"Actually…" Kei started.
Evangeline busted out laughing again, surprised that a joke she made was actually true! It was clear that the whole naming theme was a dad joke that likely started with Locke's great grandfather. She felt horrible for laughing but she couldn't help but find it funny!
"See? This is exactly why I said it was a bad name!" Locke said.
"It's still a perfectly normal name." Kei stated.
"Which is why I plan to break this cycle when I have children of my own!"
"Assuming you'll have children."
"Okay! We're forgetting why we're here in the first place!" Sarai interrupted before things could get out of hand. "In case you haven't noticed, it's been snowing for awhile now and we need to get going!"
"She's right! We can't waste any time arguing here." Onra agreed. "Evangeline, you'll come with me and Sarai."
"Wait! Shouldn't we stay together in one group?" Locke questioned.
"We'll cover more ground when it comes to finding hearty truffles. The plan is to have both groups search the area we're going to, but far enough that we can cover more ground." The healer explained, sounding as if she'd already had this plan in mind. "Each group will be given some bomb arrows to use in case either one runs into trouble, letting the other group know they need aid. Hopefully, it won't come down to that, but you can never be too careful."
With that settled the groups began to split up, but as Evangeline was about to head over to Onra and Sarai she suddenly felt a wing on her shoulder, causing her to turn around to find Kei gazing down at her.
"Before you go, I want to give you this."
Evangeline watched as the older Rito held out a sword before pulling the blade from the scabbard, and right away she saw that its design was different than what she was used to seeing in entertainment media back on Earth. The blade itself looked as if it were two separate halves that joined together at around the halfway point, leaving a bit of a gap in the middle between the two edges and the cross-guard. The design of the hilt was something she couldn't help but notice due to the coloration reminding her of the bow Sarai was currently wielding on her back. Normally, she wouldn't have thought much of this, but this wasn't the cause since she could see a lot of similar features in other Rito weapons—if the weapons she and the others (minus Onra), as well as Revali, wielded was any indication of this truth.
"This is a Feathered Edge. It's a lightweight, double-edge sword designed in a way that allows Rito warriors to soar into battle unhindered by its weight." Kei told her, sheathing the blade before handing it over to her, holding it by the belt it was holstered in. "It's obvious you're still new to wielding a bow, but it never hurts to have an alternative weapon when the situation calls for it."
"Do I owe you anything for this?" She asked, taking the sword offered to her. Right away she noticed that it was lighter than she expected it to be, are at least lighter than her Falcon Bow.
"Just peace of mind. You might not need to use it, but better to have it and not need it."
"Thank you."
Evangeline managed to strap the belt around her waist until her new sword sat comfortably on her left hip. Nodding in satisfaction, Kei went over to join Locke at the edge of one of the landing's platforms and she did the same by joining Onra and Sarai. She hesitant to climb on Onra's back when she told her to, but the Rito healer reassured her that she (and by extension Sarai) was stronger than she looked; that was all the reassurance the dark haired girl needed before she climbed onto her back.
Immediately, Evangeline realized right away how much she was used to flying with Revali when Onra and the others had to take off with a running start and jumping off the end of the platform in order to become airborne. It was no wonder the Rito highly celebrated their Champion's ability to create updrafts—because no one else managed to accomplish it until he decided to do something about it. Had she really taken his Gale for granted?
Evangeline was so absorbed with her thoughts that she hadn't realized how long the group had been flying until she felt Onra starting to descend. Looking up, she saw that they must've arrived at their destination as she saw everyone else flying towards the snow-covered ground of the mountain. As soon as they landed, she watched as the Rito started dividing a bunch of arrows (that she recognized as bomb arrows) among each other and in the end both groups had a total of five each. Onra then turned to face Locke and Kei.
"You two search over there." She told the two as she pointed in the direction up ahead. "We'll search around here in the meantime."
"Are you sure the three of you will be fine?" Locke asked.
"Of course we'll be fine on our own. We be sure to let you know if we run into any trouble."
Locke looked hesitant to leave, but Kei urged him to follow and the two went in the direction Onra pointed out. With the male Rito gone Evangeline, Onra, and Sarai started their search for some hearty truffles. She wasn't sure how long they were searching around the area (it felt like they'd been searching for hours) and during the search she spotted Rito healer nearby; a sudden thought popped up in her head and she decided to head over to Onra.
"I have question." She started.
"What kind of question?" Onra asked.
"Earlier you said Revali looked younger than he actually was. How old is he, exactly?"
"Why?" Onra smirked. "Showing some interest in the Champion?"
This baffled Evangeline. What was going on with the female Rito she knew bringing up this topic?
"What are you talking about? I'm just curious since we were talking about this earlier."
Onra started laughing at this, seeming amused by her reaction.
"I'm just kidding!" The female Rito managed to calm down before continuing. "He may not look it—at least by Rito standards—but he's actually 26."
Revali was 26? Evangeline knew there were times where he could be aloof, boastful, arrogant (as was the case the first time she'd seen him interact with Link), but most of the time he was capable of being mature and somewhat cordial (when the situation called for it). But she never would've guessed he was 26. In fact, he thought he would've been a little younger than that.
Evangeline was about to comment on this new information when something suddenly whizzed by her, followed by a stinging sensation on her cheek as the cold mountain air made contact with it. She brought a hand up to investigate the spot, only for her eyes to widen when she saw droplets on blood on her gloved fingertips when she pulled her hand away.
What just…?
"Evangeline!" Onra exclaimed.
"Onra! Monsters!" Sarai yelled out, drawing the dark haired girl's attention in time to see her facing down a group of Bokoblins, as well as what looked like a taller version of the species. The green feathered Rito acted quickly by firing off a bomb arrow at the gathered creatures, resulting in a loud explosion as the monsters were pushed back to buy their small group of three more time. "Great! Not just a bunch of Bokoblins, but a Moblin as well?"
Everything seemed to happen so fast. Evangeline drew her bow out and started helping Sarai out by taking out some of the Bokoblins that got too close to their group, all the while protecting Onra (who was defenseless); at first the dark haired girl was only managing to shoot the enemies in the limbs or torso (merely slowing them down) while the female archer was getting more kills, but thankfully she was improving her aim as she figured out what she was doing. She found it interesting how the green feathered Rito used her talons to attack enemies by kicking them when one of them got past them, and there were instances where she thought she saw blood from when the claws would scratch said enemies.
Did all Rito learn to fight like this?
Suddenly the sound of a horn pierced through the air. The sound itself was enough to draw her attention to a Bokoblin that was holding the horn it had just used and it didn't take long before more of them started appearing. She heard Sarai let out a curse in response.
"You have got to be kidding me! Reinforcements?"
She didn't need to be told how bad this situation was as they were gradually getting overwhelmed by the increasing number of monsters.
And what was taking Locke and Kei so long to get here?!
As the battle continued, Evangeline was doing her best to thin out the numbers. What she didn't expect was for the Moblin in the group to suddenly picked up one of the Bokoblin before throwing them in her direction. Thinking fast, she quickly shot an arrow at the airborne monster and her eyes widened when she managed to pull off a headshot, leaving the creature dead before it could even land in the snow. However, her surprise was short-lived when another Bokoblin was charging towards her while wielding a club, and before she knew it she found herself sent flying to the ground, her body in pain and the wind knocked out of her lungs. All the while, she could see the monster approaching her prone form.
'Come on!' She anxiously yelled at herself as she struggled to move. 'Get up!'
Her eyes widened in fear and she was frozen in place as the Bokolin raised the club over its head and prepared to strike her. The memory of what happened yesterday of this exact scenario flashed before her eyes, but this time Revali wasn't around to intervene.
She was going to—
As if out of nowhere, a spear suddenly impaled the Bokoblin in the chest, causing the creature to let out a dying cry of pain before collapsing to the ground. At first she was confused, but that didn't last long as it was replaced by surprise when Kei showed up to retrieve the weapon; all it took was for him to grip the handle and wrest upwards to dislodge it from the dead monster's body.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah! It's not like I just got the whacked with a club or anything." She answered, unable to hold back her sarcasm.
"Heh, you'll live."
Kei wrapped a wing around her forearm before effortlessly pulling her off the ground, all the while making sure she was able to stand on her own. Evangeline looked over to where the others were and saw Locke had joined the fray, having taken up keeping Onra safe in the process. Both him and Sarai looked like they were just managing to get by—at least compared to when it was just herself and the green feathered female—but only just.
"There's too many monsters." Evangeline said, feeling anxious as the battle continued.
"The situation might look bad, but it's not impossible." Kei told her.
"But—!"
The older Rito then turned to her with a stern expression on his face.
"Look, you can either stand here and watch everyone struggle, or you can join us and do something to improve our chances of winning. I don't care what you choose to do, but you better act now, because there's no point in wasting time being scared!"
Kei suddenly took off in the direction of the fight was taking place and all she could do was watch as the others fought. At some point Onra managed to get away from the conflict and went over to where she stood, and she could see the concerned look on the Rito healer's face as she got closer.
"Are you okay, Evangeline?" Onra asked.
"I'm fine." She answered.
"And I'm the Queen of Hyrule. Now let's get you patched up real quick!"
Before Evangeline could respond, Onra was already reaching into her satchel and pulling out a what she recognized as a Hearty Elixir. She didn't hesitate to take the offered elixir from the healer's wing before removing the cork and downing half the bottles contents. Right away Evangeline could feel the concoction taking affect on her body as she felt the pain in her body ebb away, as well as a tingling sensation on her cheek from where the arrow had grazed her earlier.
Was the cut closing itself up?
"Wait, you're supposed to drink all of it!" Onra exclaimed, surprised when the unfinished elixir was handed back to her.
"I only need half." Evangeline said. "It's something I discovered awhile back, so I guess you could consider it a perk of being a Human."
Feeling immensely better after the elixir, Evangeline turned her attention back to the battle at hand, and after a moment she finally made up her mind. Kei was right. There's no point wasting time being scared, especially when she remembered why she and her group were here in the first place.
It was time for her to act.
Before she knew it, Evangeline found herself pulling out her bow, notching an arrow and firing at one of the monsters, all the while reloading and firing as she approached the conflict. Eventually she ran out of arrows and was forced to draw the sword Kei gave her earlier; although her only experience when it came to swords was from what she'd watched from movies/tv and video games back on Earth, she had a general idea of what to do and managed to use it (even if her technique was sloppy) all while doing a decent job avoiding getting struck by the monsters. Surprisingly enough, her involvement was just the advantage Sarai, Locke, and Kei needed to get the upper hand as the monsters' number was gradually decreasing until all that was left was the Moblin. By this time the three Rito were showing signs of exhaustion but were still managing to keep up while Evangeline still had energy to spare. While she and Kei went to take on the large monster up close, Sarai and Locke would provide backup via shooting arrows at it.
It wasn't long before the Moblin was finally taken down, bringing the fight to an end at last.
Even though the sword was light, Evangeline's arm was somewhat sore from having to swing it around, but the soreness itself was nothing compared to the relief she felt from the group surviving this encounter. She realized that she got her body was a little banged up from the attacks she couldn't avoid, but that wasn't something that couldn't be fixed by Onra giving her the remaining half of the Hearty Elixir she had earlier while the Rito healer was tending to the other three.
While this was going on Evangeline spotted something sticking out in the snow nearby, likely having been uncovered during the battle. Going over to investigate, she picked it up to examine it and discovered that it looked to be a gray colored truffle—
Wait, truffle?!
"Hey, Onra!" She called over her shoulder before holding up the truffle in question. "Is this what we were looking for?"
As soon as Onra's red eyes saw what she found, she was immediately rushing over to the dark haired girl at a speed that surprised her.
"No way! It's a big hearty truffle!" The Rito healer yelled as she took the ingredient from the Human's hand. "Do you realize what this means?"
"…Uh, no?"
"A big hearty truffle is a lot more potent than a regular hearty truffle, and because of that it means I don't have to use as much of this to acquire the same affect I would with the latter!" She explained excitedly. "And with it being as big as it is, this'll be more than enough to tide me over until I receive the next shipment of hearty truffles!"
"That's great, Onra!" Sarai commented. "And if the size is anything to go by, you won't have to worry about running out anytime soon."
…
All's well that ends well…?
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After all the excitement of that day the group returned to Rito Village with the newly found ingredient in hand (or wing in the case of Onra). Upon their return, everyone exchanged words and started heading their separate ways, but Evangeline remembered something and approached both Locke and Kei.
"I have something to ask the two of you." She announced, catching the father and son duo.
"That's perfectly fine, but shouldn't you be back to the Healer's Hut with Onra?" Kei asked.
At this the Evangeline turned to look at Onra, and her questioning look on her face must've said it all when the latter responded.
"It's fine. I'll go back and get a head start on the medicine. That way it might be ready by the time you show." The Rito healer told her before leaving.
As soon as Onra was gone, the dark haired girl turned her attention back to Locke and Kei.
"What was it you wanted to ask?" The older Rito asked.
"I was wondering if I'd be able to stop by the smithy at some point to request a commission." She replied.
"It depends on what your request is. Is it some kind of weapon?"
"No, it's more like a trinket of sorts. If it helps, I can bring a sketch to give you an idea of what I want made."
"If that's the case, I'll be able to evaluate if I we can forge it. Naturally, there'll be a fee depending on how complex this trinket of yours is."
"And that's perfectly fine!" She agreed. "Anyways, I should probably get going."
Evangeline turned around with the intention to head in the direction leading to the Healer's Hut.
"Evangeline." Upon hearing her name, she looked over her shoulder at Kei, wondering what he wanted to say. "You did good out there, though your swordsmanship could use a lot of work. I'd suggest seeking some help to fix that."
"You know, I might have to do that at some point."
With that the three went their separate ways and Evangeline managed to return to the Healer's Hut where she found Onra standing at her worktable as she worked diligently on the medicine Revali needed. It couldn't have even been a minute since she entered the hut because the female Rito was soon packaging up the medicine she made in a small pouch and sealing it shut by the drawstring.
"So you finished it?" Evangeline asked as she approached her.
What she didn't expect was for the Rito healer to let out a startled response before whipping around to face the Human.
"Goodness! I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon." Onra said. Her red eyes glanced down at the pouch in her wing before returning her gaze to her. "And yes, I managed to finishing making the medicine in record time."
Onra handed the pouch to Evangeline, and she couldn't help but gaze down at it. To think that everything she went through today with Onra, Sarai, Locke, and Kei—including the battle they fought against the horde of monsters they fought—was all for the medicine contained in the pouch she now held in her hand.
All for Revali.
"I want to thank you, Evangeline." The Rito healer started, pulling her from her thoughts to focus on her. "If it wasn't for you coming here today, I wouldn't have known I was out of hearty truffles until it was too late. You have no idea how much this means, not just to me, but to the rest of Rito Village as a whole."
Hazel eyes widened at this, not at all expecting to hear such words from Onra.
"I didn't do that much." She stated.
"That's not true! Your involvement was what led to use finding the big hearty truffle in the first place. Even though you were scared, you managed to find the courage to act when we needed it most. So once again, thank you."
"Well, in that case…you're welcome."
"By the way, how are you feeling after that battle?" Onra asked
"As far as I know I feel fine. Thankfully I'm not in any pain."
"Good. It also looks like the cut on your cheek is gone thanks to the Hearty Elixir I gave you."
It was?
Evangeline took off one her gloves to feel the spot where the arrow had grazed her check, only to be met with smooth skin.
"No way! The elixir did that?"
"Yep! Not even a scar." Onra then headed over to a drawer. "Anyways, before you leave, let me give you something else for Revali."
Evangeline was confused by this. What else did Revali need aside from the medicine she'd been given? It wasn't long before she got her answer when Onra pulled out what looked like some sort of white fabric; when the female Rito handed it to her, she not only found that the fabric was soft to the touch, but that it appeared to be some kind of hooded robe. The robe itself was large in size with wide long sleeves that were too big for an average person to wear.
"What is this?" She asked.
"It's a robe designed for adolescent Rito to wear during their final molt and provide them a sense of modesty until their feathers finally grow back." Onra answered. "Seeing as the process of growing feathers back will take about a fair amount of time, it's important that he's kept warm, especially since winter is here."
"Make sure he stays warm. I don't think that'll be too much of a problem to do. But what about the medicine? How much am I supposed to give him and when?"
"You should give him a pellet once a day, starting with today. There are enough pellets in that pouch to last two weeks, which should be how long it takes for Revali's feathers to grow back completely. If it takes longer for that to happen, you can come back to me so I can make some more pellets if needed."
"Thank you, Onra. I'll pay you back later."
"No need! I think the big hearty truffle was more than enough compensation for the medicine." The female Rito told her before handing her a sack to place the robe and medicine in. "Now you better be off."
Onra ushered Evangeline out of the Healer's Hut, and it was a good thing she left when she did when she was reminded of how much it'd snowed so far in Rito Village. She quickly made her through the village, and it didn't take her long before she found herself standing before Revali's hut. At first she was hesitant to enter, having remembered how she rushed out after retrieving her bow earlier and how he…
She shook her head, trying to get rid of the memory.
All that matter was that she was back, and with medicine.
Entering the hut, Evangeline saw that not much had change since she left, and she also saw that Revali was still resting in the blanket nest; his breathing was still labored, but it wasn't as bad as the last time she saw him. Seeing the floor still covered with the feathers he lost, she decided her first order of business was to pick them up. Removing the robe and medicine from the sack she'd been carrying, she decided to place the feathers she gathered inside it for easy disposal later. Once the floor was cleared, Evangeline grabbed the medicine and robe from where she left them, she approached the blanket nest and knelt down beside Revali's prone form.
"Hey…I'm back." She said.
The blanket covered Rito lifted his head upon hearing her voice and she watched as he turned to face her direction.
"…Eva?" He asked, his voice hesitant.
"Yeah, it's me. I have—"
"Get away from me!"
Hazel eyes widened at his sudden outburst, and she watched as he abruptly rolled over so his back deliberately faced her. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out his body language since the meaning was obvious enough. She wanted to say something in response, but he beat her to it.
"You made it very clear what you thought when you saw me." He ridiculed, sounding very resentful. "So why don't you leave since you find my appearance so repulsive?"
He thought she had rejected him, and now he was trying to reject her in response.
Evangeline could do nothing but stare at the Rito's back, all while realizing how her reaction to seeing his current state the first time might've come off to him in hindsight. Looking back, she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel guilty about that.
"Look, I'm sorry if I gave you that impression earlier, it's just that—" She cut herself off, her shoulders sagging as she realized the only way she could fix this was by coming clean about her past. "The reason I reacted the way I did wasn't because of your appearance. It's because I was reminded of something from my past."
Revali didn't respond to her words, and she knew she'd have to continue explaining herself.
"Remember how you asked me why I found it important to be self-reliant back at the Flight Range? There's a reason why I said it wasn't easy for me to answer."
"You said you weren't ready to talk about it." Revali scoffed.
"Which is why you better listen carefully, because I don't plan on repeating myself."
She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what she needed to do.
No more stalling.
"As cliché as it might sound, it all started the day I was born. My father was a firefighter—someone whose job it is to put out dangerous fires that can be considered threatening, as well as rescuing people from dangerous situations when needed. My mother was an artist who was able to work from home doing commissions for people. Dad wasn't as lucky since his job was pretty demanding, and more often than not he wasn't around to help raise me. Naturally, that meant I spent more time around Mom and developed a close relationship with her as I grew up, and it's because of her love of art that influenced me to attend college for an art major. However, when I was 15 years old my mother was diagnosed with a horrible disease."
"What kind of disease?"
"It was something called cancer. It's something that occurs when abnormal cells in the body start to grow and spread quickly. Usually normal cells will grow and divide, but those cells know when to stop and over time they'll die off. However, cancer cells will continue to grow and divide with none of them dying off like they should. As a result, these malignant cells will gather to create tumors, which ends up destroying normal cells around it and harm the body. You probably don't understand any of the terms I'm using, and I'm sure you've never heard of anything like cancer before. Hell, I highly doubt the people of Hyrule have ever encountered anything similar to it!"
"Is there a cure?"
Evangeline laughed bitterly at this.
"You know, it's ironic, really. With how technologically advanced Earth is compared to this world, especially when it comes to medical practices, we still haven't found a cure for cancer. At least when I was last there. The chances of someone surviving it depends on what kind of cancer it is, how early it's found, and what stage it's at in order to figure out what treatment is used to 'cure' it. Mom went through a treatment known as chemotherapy, where she had to take specific medicine that fights off active cancer cells. However, normal cells are also just as active, and as a result the medicine also attacks the healthy cells in the process. On top of that, chemotherapy can have some pretty nasty side effects."
The older woman who resembled her, her head that had once been full of beautiful long dark hair now falling out in clumps, the locks surrounding her as she sat on the bathroom floor. The woman turned to face her, hazel eyes red and puffy from crying as she reached out for her—
"I had to watch her suffer for a year. An entire year of watching the woman who raised me go through so much pain and become a shadow of her former self. I did what I could to help her out, but in the end It wasn't enough.
"What happened to her?"
She paused, her throat tightening slightly as she recalled the painful memories.
"…She died."
Her eyes started to tear up, but she held back her tears. She refused to cry, especially in front of Revali. Instead, she decided to focus on the next part of her story, specifically on the anger she felt towards her father.
"Of course. Dad wasn't around when this all this was happening. Ever since Mom passed away, I was left alone to fend for myself while his required him to be away from home for extended periods of time, and it didn't help that I didn't have much of a relationship with him to begin with. He tried to relate to me— really he did—but he found it difficult and things just got complicated between us. Thankfully I didn't have to worry about going hungry or anything since he'd leave me money every month for necessities. It was because of his absence that led to me being self-reliant and as stubborn as I am today."
"How does this relate to your reaction to my appearance." Revali suddenly asked.
"…Seeing the condition you were in reminded me of my mother's struggle during her chemotherapy treatment. One of the side effects she had was massive hair loss."
"Is that why you—"
"Enough about that!" Evangeline interrupted, acting nonchalant as she changed the subject. She started opening the pouch containing the medicine for Revali before holding it out to him. "Onra gave me some medicine to give you for whatever discomfort you'll experience."
Revali was quiet as he sat up to take the pellet she offered him. He popped it into his beak, only to left out a noise of disgust after forced himself to shallow the medicine, a good indication that the medicine had a horrible aftertaste.
"She also wanted me to give this robe to you to wear as well." She added, pushing the bundle of white fabric into him.
Evangeline turned around to give the Rito some privacy to change. As soon as her back was turned to him she allowed her nonchalant façade to drop as her throat started tightening and her eyes trying to tear up again.
No.
She wasn't going to cry.
She wasn't going to cry.
She wasn't—
Suddenly she heard Revali let out a sound from behind her. Quickly schooling her expression, she turned around to face him, and she could see that he was wearing the robe with the hood covering the majority of his face, leaving only his beak visible to her. However, what she noticed was that he was shivering.
"What's wrong, Revali?" She asked.
"Nothing." The Rito told her. "I'm just cold all of a sudden, that all."
"Really? If you want, I can light a fire."
"That'd take too long. You could just…"
Revali trailed off, leaving Evangeline confused by what he was trying to say. Eventually he moved around in the blanket next until he laid down with his back facing her. This didn't seem out of the ordinary, but there was one detail that stood out to her.
He left enough space for another person.
For her?
Was that what he wanted? For her to keep him warm as opposed to lighting a fire?
"Are you sure you're okay?" She found herself asking.
"I'm fine, now get in before I change my mind."
Letting out a sigh, Evangeline took off her boots and gloves before climbing into the blanket nest and occupying the space Revali left for her. She grabbed the extra blanket she left at the end and used it to cover the Rito up, allowing herself to get settled behind him. It was a good thing his back was facing her, because she found herself unable to hold back her tears any longer. She wrapped her arms around him under the guise of keeping him warm, when in reality she had a need to hug something.
Unbeknownst to her, Revali hadn't been cold at all.
ATE: Explanation time!
1) Yes, you finally get to find out who Locke's father is, and his name is Kei. I had the joke concerning both their names ever since Locke was first introduced in the story.
2) Believe it or not, I originally planned for Sarai to be the healer and Onra was going to be the archer. This was something I ended up changing when I saw some readers thought Onra was a healer because she mentioned the Healer's Hut to Evangeline back in Chapter 12. This is the reason why Sarai commented on how she doesn't give off the impression that she's an archer.
Anyways, let me know what you all think!