Away from the strange un-temperature of the Lost Woods, winter has finally set its teeth into Hyrule. Frost sparkles on the hard ground when Link wakes in the morning, reluctantly receding with the weak midday sun. A light dusting of snow decorates the rocks and tree branches, becoming heavier as Link travels further West. Above him, the sky progresses from turbulent to a solid, dark grey.

His destination is Rito "Village", which is actually by far their largest settlement. It's a ramshackle network of dwellings sprawled over the towering cliffs of Lake Totori, where thousands of Rito live tail-to-pinion with each other in squabbling, affectionate chaos. If anyone has news of Vah Medoh it will be them. The main road goes the whole way there, and he runs into few other people on the way, not that he'd expected to. Hebra's vast icy wilderness, with its ground too frozen for farming, supports only a handful of Hylian settlements. But the forests and rivers teem with fish and game, and the Rito have made this place their own.

He's about half a day out from Lake Totori when he sees a silhouette dip out of the sky towards him. Kass flies overhead for a while, before coming in for a landing on a nearby rock.

"Well met, Link," he says, eyes crinkling in a Rito smile.

Link sends a grin of his own back. "Kass. It's good to see you again."

It's strange, in fact, to see Kass again. It feels like he was a different person when Kass accompanied him up Death Mountain. Habits ingrained over a lifetime - and reinforced by the pressure of his position as Champion - war with the more easy-going nature he'd discovered in himself over the past year. It feels a little like going mad.

"Your timing is fortuitous," the bard tells him, interrupting his train of thought.

"Oh? You're having issues with Vah Medoh?"

"Not precisely... But I am in need of new material for songs again. I've finished my composition for your defeat of Vah Rudania."

Kass flies ahead to prepare for Link's arrival, since Epona's pace is awkward for him to match either on foot or by wing. He meets Link at the main rope bridge over to the town, and they make their way upwards through the network of walkways that connect the different areas of the village. Almost everyone they pass greets Kass warmly, and has a few words for the new Hylian too.

"You'll catch cold just wearing wool out here, dear, you should come get measured up for proper Rito-down winter gear - "

"Do you fish? If you want to know the best spots around here, just come ask me!"

"You look like you need a good meal, honey; swing by the cookpot a level up from here, my youngest has a batch of barley stew on - "

"Kass, make sure you bring him to the singalong tonight!"

Kass steers him gently onward, rebuffing the more persistent residents with charm and grace.

"Apologies for their enthusiasm," he tells Link. "Space and privacy are both in short supply in Rito settlements. Though good food, good music and good company are always to be found in abundance."

Kass's house, like most others, is a single timber room with sides that open to the elements. There are hammocks slung under the rafters and cushions around the edges of the wooden floor for seating, but no fire, since cooking is a communal activity for Rito. Kass's wife, Amali, greets them as they enter.

"I've heard many great things about you," she tells Link, clasping his hands between her wings. "The girls are out at singing practice, I'm afraid; they'll be disappointed that they weren't here to see you arrive."

"I thought we could stop by Elder Kaneli to discuss the situation with Vah Medoh," Kass says. "Mostly to have it done with. I'm afraid I must warn you not to expect too much."

"You don't think he's going to be helpful?"

"He's very old now, as Rito count such things," Kass replies, "and has little appetite left for action. He hasn't been heeding my warnings about Calamity Ganon's resurgence. Perhaps your presence will convince him."

Elder Kaneli's hut is about as high up as can be reached on foot, and the view from here is astounding. Kaneli himself is less impressive; clearly once a warrior of some repute, but now stooped and greying. He's asleep in his chair when they enter.

"Elder," Kass coughs lightly. "I've brought the Champion I told you about to see you."

Kaneli squints at Link. "Oh, yes - I see he has the same sort of slate your mentor did. You're a descendant of the Hylian Champion, are you?"

"Not exactly," Link says, a wry twist tugging at his mouth. "But I'm here to help you deal with Vah Medoh."

"It doesn't need 'dealing with', dear boy. We saw it flying around a while ago, but it's disappeared again."

Link looks to Kass, who confirms that. "It was hovering over the village for a while, and then recently it flew off to the North. We sent warriors to keep track of it, but we lost it in the storms."

"Ganon must know I'll be coming for it," Link surmises. "He's trying to keep it out of our hands. Do you have anyone who can help me find it?"

"Harth and Teba were the last ones to see it; they're out on patrol together at the moment, but they should be back tomorrow," Kaneli tells him. "You're welcome to stay and enjoy our hospitality tonight."

"Thank you. In the morning, I'd like to discuss what forces the Rito can muster, to aid the fight against the Calamity. Would that be acceptable?"

Kaneli tilts his head; it really highlights his resemblance to an owl. "The Calamity is contained in the castle. It hasn't been a problem for two lifetimes. Why should we need to go fight it?"

"It won't be contained for much longer," Link warns him. "Princess Zelda is at the limit of her strength; that's how Ganon was able to reassert control over the Divine Beasts in the first place. We need to take the fight to him as soon as her seal breaks, or he'll raze the whole of Hyrule to the ground to rule over the ashes."

"I find that hard to believe," Kaneli says, fluffing up his feathers.

Kass clicks his beak in annoyance. "The scouts have been reporting monsters massing in Hyrule Field for weeks now! What are they gathering for, if not a battle?"

"Alright, calm down," Kaneli hoots. "If the Calamity does reappear, then of course we'll fight it. Rito are exceptional warriors, you know. I myself took down a lynel single-handed, in my youth."

Link glances to Kass again, and Kass shrugs lightly.

"Thank you for your time, Elder," he says. "We'll come visit again in the morning."

"I see what you mean," Link says as they leave. Now that he has his full memories of Before back, to see such apathy from one of the races sworn to aid in the defence of Hyrule grates at him.

"I owe you an apology, by the way," Kass says. "I confess that when first we met, I made the same error as Elder Kaneli. I thought you must be a descendant of the original Champion, or perhaps a reincarnation. But I sense now that I was wrong. It was you, the first time, wasn't it?"

"It was," Link confirms. "But, if you'd asked me at the time, my answer might have been more complicated than that. I had very little memory of the events of the Calamity, back then. And what I did remember, I wasn't ready to talk about."

Kass nods his head at that, and lets the subject drop. "With regard to Elder Kaneli's lack of conviction... Teba is highly regarded by the warriors - and Harth too, for that matter. If Teba takes direct command, with Harth as his second, they should follow his orders. When the two of them get back, we'll discuss the situation with them. Until then, you can tell me all about your adventures since I last saw you. It's been long enough that I'm sure there must be a great deal to tell!"

As a reward for Link spending long hours recounting all that has happened since Eldin, Kass and Amali take him out for dinner and music. He munches his way through a basket of breaded fish nuggets with sauce to dip as Kass's five daughters sing a harmony together to widespread applause. Then they all pile back into the family's hut, which is warmer and cosier with the heavy rug-like curtains rolled down and secured over the windows. They string a spare hammock up for Link, and try not to laugh too hard at his attempts to get into it. In the dark, surrounded by the strange whistling breaths of sleeping Rito, Link sinks into pleasant dreams.

By the time he gets back from exploring the town in the morning, there's a moody-looking black-feathered Rito and a serious-looking white-feathered one standing in Kass's house.

"Ah, there you are, Link," Kass says. "This is Teba, and Harth."

"You're the Champion then?" Teba asks. His eyes take in the sword at Link's back, and the slate at his hip, but he says nothing else. Harth merely nods.

"And you're the defacto leader of the Rito forces," Link replies.

"Kass says you think it's going to be soon. I'm inclined to agree, given the numbers of monsters we've seen massing around the castle."

"We have reason to believe that once Vah Medoh is returned to Rito control, the calamity will put his full strength into breaking free. Thankfully you're the most mobile of all the races, so getting into position to help in time should still be possible."

Teba is all business. "You've got a strategy?"

"The outline of one. Understanding your troops better would help refine it."

The two Rito nod, and Kass brings them all a pitcher of a herb-and-fruit mix to drink as they work.

Later, they've moved on to discussion of tracking Medoh; Harth and Teba both offer to come help Link locate the Beast.

"I'd like to come with you too," Kass says. "Every good quest needs a chronicler."

Then their planning session is interrupted by Kass's daughters barging in, on their way back from visiting Warbler's Nest.

"Daddy, we want to come too!" the boldest of the girls says. Link thinks it might be Genli.

"Yeah, we want to come on a 'venture with you!" Notts (or is that Kotts?) agrees.

"We're going up into the mountains, it will be too dangerous to take you all with me," Kass tries to explain, but they all start yelling over one another to convince him - or, in Cree's case, crying loudly.

"We wanna come!"

Link shares a look with Amali, and coughs. "Hey, your dad's right that you can't come to the mountains with us. But I've got a really important job that I need someone to do, and I can't do it myself. Do you think you could help?"

Immediately the fledglings jump on the suggestion.

"Yeah! Yeah! We can help!"

"I'm so glad," Link smiles at them. "There's a Fairy Fountain, hidden away south of here, and the fairy who lives there is very lonely and sad. She needs some brave friends to go help her fix up her pond and keep her company. I'm sure she'd love someone to sing a song for her. Do you think you could do that?"

Kass sends him a look of gratitude while they all declare their willingness to go.

"Saki and I will take them," Amali offers. "I'm sure Tulin would love to come along too."

"Yeah! Let's go tell him!"

They all pile out again, and Teba shakes his head in amusement.

"I don't know how you do it," he tells Kass. "One is more than enough of a handful for me."

The rest of the day is spent preparing for a trip into northern Hebra. Harth sits down with him to study the maps of the area while the tailor finishes adjusting the full set of winter clothing he bought. There's a warm pair of snowboots to go with it, and a pair of metal contraptions to slip over them which will help him grip the ice. He stuffs his pack with survival gear and the energy-dense seedballs the Rito use as trail food. Tomorrow, they'll leave before dawn.

The first leg of their journey is a straight shot on horseback across flat terrain to the Flight Range, where Link hands Epona in to the small but warm stable built into the base of the wooden structure. His warming elixirs keep things pleasant as they walk along the valley floor, even when they stop to camp for the night. On the second day the trail starts to climb. From here, it's all uphill in the snow, and the cold starts to make itself known on Link's face. The wind begins to howl down off the mountainsides, bringing gusts of powder-like snow with it. When he tries to call for a stop at one point so they can rest and eat, the wind snatches away his words and he has to resort to crude pantomime instead.

The three Rito take it in turns to fly ahead to scout. They're less affected by the conditions than Link but unused to walking such distances. Harth's brow furrows in concentration as they trudge through the snow, and Kass keeps stopping to wrap his scarf more securely round his neck. Teba keeps a watchful eye on the sky even while he walks, one hand on the bow slung across his chest. He has a banked intensity to him; as sharp and focused as an arrowhead, with none of Revali's swagger. Revali had been like a winter gale, howling fury against the mountainside. Teba is the implacable glacier. Link can see why the rest of the Rito look to him for leadership.

Teba returns from scouting on the third day with good news: he's seen the outline of great wings in a snowfield to the north-east. He thinks it's Medoh, landed and getting covered by snowfall. They plot a course to it, over icy crevasses. The snow picks up, enough that they dig out the ropes to lash themselves to one another; in the poor visibility it would be too easy to get separated otherwise. On the fourth day, they're crossing a ravine when there's a cracking noise so loud it reverberates off the cliffs, and with a panicked yell Harth disappears. The rope around Link's waist goes taut, and he's pulled through the ice too. Behind him, he can hear Teba and Kass shouting.

Hitting the frigid water is like being punched in the chest by a Hinox. Link surfaces with a gasp. Every inch of his body screams at him with the cold; no warming elixir is enough for this. His sodden pack and glider weigh him down as he treads water. He shrugs out of them, before they can pull him under.

The rope is still tugging on him too. He scans around, and sees a dark shape floating face-down in the water nearby. He and Harth are both caught in a strong current, being pulled swiftly along between walls of rock and ice.

Behind him trails a ragged end of rope; Teba must have managed to cut the two of them loose before he and Kass were pulled in too.

Link swims to Harth, muscles numb and complaining. The Rito is unconscious. Link turns him until his head is resting back on Link's shoulder, to keep his airway clear. His teeth are chattering strongly. He can feel himself getting weaker the longer they spend in the water. Awkwardly, with one arm, he pulls them towards the side.

It takes longer than he'd have thought but eventually he heaves Harth's limp, waterlogged form onto the narrow rock shelf, and then himself. He rolls onto his back to catch his breath for a second, the chill stone beneath him feeling almost warm in comparison to the water. His breaths hitch, crystallising in their air. All he wants to do is rest.

He forces himself to get up, knowing he only has minutes to stave off hypothermia for them both. He's pleasantly surprised to find himself well-bruised but with nothing broken.

He rolls Harth over too, pressing an ear to his chest. The Rito is breathing, which is good news. Link knows how to re-start the breathing of an injured Hylian, but Harth's birdlike anatomy is alien to him. He's as likely to break his breastbone as to help. Harth's pulse is thready, though, and the breaths are shallow.

Without his pack, there's no way to light a fire, but staying in these wet clothes will be a death sentence. He strips down to his underwear and wrings the water out of his outer clothes with numb fingers. He does the same for Harth's poncho and breeches, but there's not much he can do about the feathers. Harth's continued unconsciousness is starting to worry him, as is the strange angle of one of his wings.

He's shivering and working out whether he can carry both Harth - whose hollow bones make him actually quite light - and all their clothing, when he hears shouts echoing down the ice tunnel.

"Link! Harth!"

"Here!" he calls, relief coursing through him like adrenaline. "We're here!"

"Thank Farore," Kass says as the two of them round the corner on the rocky ledge. "The crevasse was too narrow to fly through where you fell, we had to travel some distance to find a safe way down. Are you alright?"

Teba is examining Harth, patting him lightly on the face. Harth stirs with a groaning sound.

"We need to get both of them warm. Link, there's blankets in my pack. Kass, get a fire going."

With a blanket around his shoulders, drinking a hot cup of the Rito's herbal brew in front of a fire, Link feels like a new man. His clothes are spread out on the rock, steaming. Harth sits nearby, hunched awkwardly with his broken wing bound up against his chest. He'd hit his head on the way down, and is still muddled and only semi-responsive.

"He can't continue like this," Teba says quietly, sounding concerned. "Even if he could still fly. But we've come so far..."

Kass grips his own mug between his hands. "I can make sure he gets back to the village safely. I hate to leave the two of you alone though."

Link smiles at him. "Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it afterwards."

"That's not what I meant," the bard objects, but there's a hint of a chuckle underneath his words, and Link knows he'll agree.

"Oh, we found this floating in the water," Kass tells him, and pulls out Link's glider. Maybe his luck hasn't been completely awful today.

The weather only continues to get worse after they say their goodbyes to Kass and Harth, and emerge from the crevasse. Teba shares his stash of elixirs with Link, but without Link's pack they quickly run down to their last vial, which Link is keeping in reserve for Vah Medoh. Soon he can't remember what it was ever like to have been warm. The oppressive air of Death Mountain seems a lifetime away; Mount Lanayru like a springtime stroll in comparison. The cold feels like a physical presence, dragging at his limbs and squeezing his chest. His breath comes harder the higher they climb.

Eventually the cold gnawing at his extremities and the scouring of the wind against his face becomes too much to bear. Link signals to Teba for a stop, and they find a slightly sheltered spot against the rock wall in which to camp.

"I think we should reach the Divine Beast tomorrow," Teba says. His feathers are puffed up to keep as warm as he can, but he's still hunched and miserable.

Link doesn't even have the energy to reply; he just nods, and wriggles into his borrowed sleeping roll.

By the grace of the three golden goddesses, the storm abates overnight. They wake to bright cold sunlight casting the glacier sparkling silver. From their vantage point, they can see down onto the snowfield. Teba was right: the shape below is clearly Medoh.

"I'm so glad you two salvaged my glider, it will be really handy for this."

Teba sends him a sideways glance. "I noticed it has the Rito crest on it. Is there a story behind that?"

Link huffs a frosty laugh into the air. "Believe it or not, it was a gift from Revali." He spends a moment to be annoyed all over again at Rhoam, for making him jump through so many hoops to reclaim something that already belonged to him.

"Why wouldn't I believe that?" Teba looks puzzled. "All I really know about Champion Revali is that he was an incredible archer and flyer. Was he ungenerous?"

"No, the surprise was just him giving anything to me. We weren't exactly the best of friends. I thought he gave it to me as a taunt, for a long time: 'here's something to remind you how inadequate you are in comparison to me'."

"You don't think so any more?"

Link shakes his head. "In hindsight, I think he just wanted to share his joy of the sky with someone who might appreciate it."

Medoh must sense them coming, because the great propellers power up as they glide in, and it lifts ponderously off the ground. A cluster of little shapes fly out of it, like drones from a beehive. They array themselves in a honeycomb sort of pattern.

"What the - " Teba's musing is cut short by a glow building up in Medoh's beak. It discharges onto the web of drones, sending blue lasers scattering in all directions.

"Crap!"

Link banks sharply, and Teba flaps upward as a laser flashes into the space he'd just been. The drones rearrange themselves for another shot.

Teba glides close to Link, his bow held ready in his talons. "I'll try shoot down these pests! You just try get in for a landing."

It's a good plan, and Teba's sharp shooting takes out the drones in rapid time. Link's close to the Beast now; and then a new wave buzzes out from under Medoh's wing.

"I don't know how many of these it has!" he shouts to Teba. "Can you try distract this set instead?"

Teba gives a short, sharp nod, and banks away to draw their attention. Link carries on.

He stumbles as he comes in to land on the upper deck. In his peripheral vision he can see flashes of Teba, and he spares a quick thought for Hylia to watch over the Rito. He skirts around the central terminal, not wanting to rouse the blight while the lesser ones are still locked out. There's an elevator to take him down into the belly.

"Well, well, look who it is," Revali's voice echoes around him. "You took your sweet time."

Link, with the distance of a century between him and their old rivalry, lets the taunt roll off him like water.

"Well, you know," he replies. "I was saving the best for last."

Revali snorts in response, and guides him towards the map.

Medoh, like Naboris, is mostly empty. The biggest challenge is not falling off any of the many ledges, openings or walkways. Or dropping the slate off, as he comes close to doing at one point. Teba finds him about halfway through, having shaken off the cloud of drones. That makes getting to the more remote terminals nice and easy.

Soon enough, they're standing on the top deck once more, facing the central terminal. The Master Sword pulses blue in his hand; he can feel Fi in the back of his mind, eager to fight.

"Ready?" he asks Teba, and gets a nod in response.

The creature which emerges from this ooze has the stylings of a Rito, with odd half-feathers sprouting from its head and broad forearms that end in a projectile version of the ubiquitous energy weapon. For once, the birdlike mask feels appropriate.

Teba unloads an explosive arrow straight into its eye, and it screeches in anger, bringing its arm up to spray them with rapid-fire bolts of blue energy. Teba springs into the air; Link ducks behind a pillar. Chips of stone rain down around his feet. When there's a pause in the bombardment, he darts across to another pillar. If they can split its attention, one of them can get in close.

They play cat and mouse this way for a while, Teba drawing its fire, until Link can dart in to slash at its oozing form. As the sword connects it howls and slams him away with a blast of wind, then it surges upward into the sky. It summons another wave of drones, and sends bright laser-fire ricocheting around the arena. Link quickly ducks behind a pillar again. He hears a pained hiss from Teba.

"It clipped me!" the Rito shouts. "I'll need to wrap it."

Link runs across the open ground, waiting until the last moment as the energy buildup glows to throw up Daruk's shield. The lasers bounce off, blasting into the pillars and ground. The blight hovers above the central terminal, and Link grips the hilt of the sword tight, mentally urging Fi to channel her power. As he skids underneath, he slashes upward. The sword sends a shockwave of divine energy slicing through the air, that cuts the blight nearly in two. Its non-weapon arm drops to the deck with a dull thud.

This time, when the blight hurls him away with a gust of wind, it also tilts the Beast sharply on its axis. Link falls, into the endless sky.

They're so high up that he has enough time to cycle through a range of reactions - shock, fear, rage, acceptance - before he's suddenly jolted by talons digging heavily into his clothes (and the skin beneath them).

Teba pants above him. "Hold on!"

With huge, laboured wing-beats, Teba hoists him back up to the deck. He collapses into a heap as soon as he sets Link down, clutching his injured wing. Further away, the blight is slumped against the terminal, keening. As Link approaches it brings its one remaining arm up to fire at him, but Link deflects the shots with his shield and keeps advancing. When he reaches the blight, it only takes one more swipe across its throat for it to slump dead to the floor.

Revali appears once more, and he and Teba have what seems like an entire wordless conversation conveyed through body language and facial expressions.

"It's good to see I have a worthy successor," is all the late Champion actually says out loud, at the end.

"I'll do my best, to live up to your example," Teba tells him solemnly. "We remember your skill, even now."

Revali looks like he might explode with pride at this. Just before he fades away, Link calls out to him.

"Hey. Thanks, for everything. I always liked you better than you thought."

Revali's head feathers lift in surprise, and Link feels a tiny surge of pride that the last expression he sees on Revali's face is one of genuine affection.

Notes: I sort of merged the Medoh quest with the snowbird shrine quest, because 'Medoh is flying around and it doesn't seem to be really affecting us at all' always felt anticlimatic. So, instead we have an arctic adventure with Peril! and Teamwork! I've also lightly changed the Medoh fight here, by bringing the cool drone things earlier to replace the shield. It was just more fun this way!