Hello my dearest readers! I don't have a whole lot to say, So I'm going to jump right on into it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda or any of its characters.
Serina belongs to me.
NOW!
GENTLELADIES AND GENTLEMEN
I NOW PRESENT:
Chapter 5 – The Storm
Another day had passed while Serina and Revali located and identified two other shrines, the Ja Baij and Owa Daim shrines. They only needed to locate one more shrine in order for them to have identified all of the shrines on the Great Plateau.
The day was a hot one, no clouds in the sky, only a hot blazing sun burning down upon Serina's back as she sat on a rock. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail in an attempt to cool off the back of her neck as much as she could. She held her glasses closer to her eyes as she squinted and looked at the map in her hands. Occasionally, she'd glance over to her notes in order to find hints as to where the next shrine was.
Revali stood under the shade of a tree to avoid overheating and observed Serina's baffled expression as she brought the map closer to her face.
"You know, staring at the map isn't going to make the shrine's location appear on its own," Revali remarked.
"Well, there is one place we haven't looked yet, and it's that mountain range over there," She pointed, "Would you mind flying up to see if you can spot something up there?"
He nodded and looked towards the mountains she had pointed at. A large swirling gust of wind blew as he launched himself into the air. Serina nearly lost grip of the map in her hands as he took off, she looked up and shaded her eyes so she could keep the Rito in her sights.
Revali scanned the mountains and eventually spotted a shrine sitting atop the highest peak of a snowy mountain. After taking a mental note of where the shrine was, he landed in front of Serina.
"Well?" She asked.
"I found it," He said, "There's a bit of a problem though."
"What is it?" Serina fixed her glasses.
"Those mountains are covered in snow, and from the looks of it, you aren't prepared for any type of cold weather." Revali nodded towards her short sleeved shirt.
Serina scanned over her attire then looked back up at Revali and shrugged.
"As much as I can't stand the cold.. there isn't much we can do to avoid going up there. If anything I can tie my sailcloth around my shoulders. It won't do a whole lot, but it'll have to work." She said.
"The quicker we identify the shrine, the better I would assume?" He asked.
Serina nodded and placed her map into her bag and followed Revali's lead towards the mountain range. Once they started trekking up the mountains, they were quick to find snow crunching under their feet. At first, Serina went unbothered by the cooler climate.
"Huh, it isn't so bad up here," She said.
Just then, as they advanced further up the mountain, a blast of freezing cold air struck her. Revali turned around at the sound of her teeth starting to chatter.
"Spoke too soon?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
She nodded as she hurriedly tried to secure her sailcloth around her shoulders.
"You're lucky that you have feathers," Serina commented.
"There are pros and cons to them," he shrugged, "warmer weather proves to be a bit of a nuisance."
"Because you fly at high altitudes, so you need the feathers to keep warm." Serina said more to herself than anything.
He nodded in acknowledgement to her statement, "You truly are a smart one aren't you?"
"I like learning new things. So I traveled around a lot so I could find things to research in my spare time." She said.
"If I recall correctly, you've been to Rito Village before?" He allowed her to walk next to him.
"I've been just about everywhere, but I've traveled there more frequently, yes." She nodded.
"It's a wonder I haven't seen you there before." He said, "It's rare when we do get visitors."
"I spent a lot of my time there studying, so I don't take a lot of time to visit with people," She explained, "There's only a couple of the Rito there that I'm well acquainted with. Though, it's been a long time since I've been there, I don't know if they'd remember me."
"I'd think it'd be impossible to forget someone like you," Revali looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
A light blush tinted her cheeks, "Wha-? What's that supposed to mean?"
He smirked, "You stand out a bit more than any other Hylian would."
He nodded towards her white hair, taking note of her cheeks taking on a deeper shade of pink.
After a while of hiking, they finally made it to the shrine. Serina grabbed out her notes and her map and re-adjusted her glasses. Hesitantly, her hands left the cover of the cloth tied around her shoulders and came into contact with the engravings on the cold stone.
Revali couldn't ignore the chattering of her teeth as she studied the pedestal. Luckily, it didn't take her too long to decipher the writing. She stood up and wrote down her results after marking the location of the shrine on her map.
"This… is the Keh Numut shrine," She said in between short breathy chatters.
A cold wind nearly blew the cloth off her shoulders as she was putting her notes and map away. Night was beginning to fall and dark clouds had quickly started to cover the sky.
"I believe we should try to find a place we can avoid this storm." He said, "It's coming in rather quick."
Serina agreed and followed him down the mountain. The winds began to blow in longer and stronger gusts.
Revali was able to spot a cave, and quickly led her deep inside so they wouldn't feel much of the wind. He went out and was able to scrounge up a decent amount of firewood before the storm got any worse.
Serina grabbed out her flint rocks and attempted to spark up a flame, but her trembling fingers were too stiff from the cold to allow her to do so properly. Revali knelt down next to her and gently took the flint from her shivering hands.
"Allow me," He said.
Serina gave him some room and leaned up against the cold stone wall. She clutched the sailcloth around her shoulders even though it provided little to no warmth for her.
Revali finished starting the fire and sat next to the shivering girl.
"Here," He took the thin cloth away from her.
"Wh-what are you d-doing?" She chattered.
"Providing some real warmth," He said, "Your sailcloth isn't doing anything for you."
He wrapped one of his large wings around her shoulders. She jumped at first, but felt a bigger difference in the warmth he provided rather than her sailcloth. Serina leaned into his wing, relishing in every bit of warmth he offered.
Her body was still shaking violently as she adjusted and started warming up. She nuzzled up a bit closer, not wanting to feel any colder.
He chuckled at her response to his gesture, "This is better than that thin cloth isn't it?"
She immediately became aware of how close she allowed herself to get to him and blushed.
"S-sorry, I can't st-stand the cold." She said.
"It's quite alright," He said, "I'm willing to let you get as close as you'd like.. for now."
"That's nice of you," Serina shivered.
"I don't usually do this you know," He commented.
"At least I know you aren't going to let me freeze to death." She finally was feeling more warm than cold.
"Now if I let that happen, I'd be without my partner." He said.
She looked down, towards the fire in front of them.
"Something wrong?" He asked.
She smiled, "No, it just makes me feel a bit better to know you're warming up to me a bit."
"Like you said, we'll have to stick together for a while. It wouldn't make sense if we didn't get along." Revali said.
Serina's gaze drifted towards the entrance of the cave. The storm outside had gotten so strong to the point that she couldn't see anything outside of the cave.
"How long do you think until that blizzard lets up?" Serina asked.
"Hard to tell," Revali looked towards the cave's entrance as well, "All we can do for now is rest up for tonight and hope it's lightened up by morning."
She nodded, a yawn forced its way out into the open.
"It seems as though your lack of sleep is finally getting to you," he noted.
"I'll be fine," She said.
"It's unhealthy to go long periods of time without sleeping," He said, "Just try to get some rest, it'll be good for you."
"I'd rather not…" Even though her eyes were getting heavy, she tried her hardest to fight it.
"Your head nodding off says otherwise," He remarked, "Why do you refuse to rest?"
"You'd think it's childish," Serina looked down again.
"Is it something you're afraid of?" He asked.
She nodded, feeling more embarrassed than ever knowing she was to admit why she rarely slept.
"I've always had a problem with nightmares…" She sighed.
"Oh? That's just the thing… they're nightmares, surely they can't hurt you." Revali looked at her curiously.
"They only consist of things of my past, but they're things I would rather not remember. Occasionally though, the dreams I have are of something that hasn't happened yet. Meaning it'll happen at some point I the near future. It's always something horrible." She explained.
"I see," He hummed, "Well, if you'd like, I can stay up for now and keep watch while you try to get some sleep. Would that help at all?"
She yawned again. At this point she was unable to argue any further, her eyes became too heavy for her to keep open. Her head ended up leaning on his shoulder as she quickly faded off to sleep.
His grip around her shoulders tightened, he smiled down at the now sleeping girl.
"I'll take that as a yes." He whispered.
Just as he had told her, Revali remained awake keeping a watchful eye out as Serina slept on his shoulder.
AND that's a wrap! I truly hope you all enjoyed and stay tuned for the next chapter! Of course, please do leave a review. And I shall see you all next chapter! Until then, farewell.
