Hello all! So sorry for the wait. Minor case of writer's block but I got it!
And now, to answer the questions I've received within reviews!
Skye: Thank you very much for your thoughtful review! I'm glad you are okay with reading my OC pairing. In past stories, I've failed to provide Serina's proper background and give readers a reason to want to read more with her in it. So when people say they like my OC I feel a major sense of accomplishment, so thank you! Now to answer your questions.
First of all, I came up with Serina when I wanted to start writing and in a sense, give myself a part to play in certain adventures. You could say I base my OC sort of off myself, a type of alter ego? So I was inspired to start writing stories with my OC because it gives me a way to sort of experience an adventure in my mind that I feel like sharing with people. And to hear that people are really enjoying these stories truly makes me happy.
For your second question, yes Revali is one of my favorite BoTW characters! My favorite Zelda Race has always been the Rito because I'm fascinated with flying. But I have three characters that are actually my favorite because they're all amazing and it's hard for me to choose one favorite. and They're Revali, Teba, and Kass. My three Rito boys!
NOW! So far, that's the only question I've recieved, but if anyone has anymore questions, feel free to ask!
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO!
LADIES AND GENTLEDUDES
I NOW PRESENT:
Chapter 9 – Her Secret
All that night and all the next day Serina remained unconscious. Revali had gotten her to the inn and gained assistance from the kind innkeeper. Not once did he leave her side, he kept a close eye on her in hopes that she would wake up soon.
He sat in a chair next to the bed she was laying on checking over her bow and arrows to see if they weren't too damaged from the water. Luckily, most of her supplies went undamaged. He checked over her bag and took notice of how well it was sealed up. The bag must have been waterproof as everything inside was untouched by the water. Her arrows, on the other hand, were weak and bending from being soaked in the water too long.
Revali's attention directed over to the door where he had heard a knock from the other side. After hearing Revali say it was alright to come inside, a middle aged woman walked in with folded clothes in her hands.
"When she wakes up, I'm sure she'll want some nice clean and dry clothes." The woman set the clothes on the foot of her bed.
The clothes Serina wore were dry, but covered in dirt and debris from the river.
"Thank you," Revali nodded.
"Now, you say she had swallowed a bunch of water?" she asked.
"Yes, she had coughed most of it out before she passed out." He said.
"Alright, when she does awaken, let me know and I'll bring in a warm tea for her." The woman walked back over to the door.
Revali nodded again and watched as she closed the door behind her. He turned his head to face Serina. She had been lying on her back with her hands at her sides. Every once and a while her fingers would twitch. Her chest rose and fell slowly and occasional coughs would interrupt her smooth breathing.
After that whole epidemic, one question had been eating away at him, 'How is she still alive?'
He noticed a strand of her hair in her face and he fixed it behind her ear. If she hadn't fallen in the river, he would have thought she were only in a deep and restful sleep. For the most part she looked at peace, until he noticed her breathing start to quicken. Her closed eyes squinted even tighter and her hands gripped the sheets of the bed.
Revali quickly informed the innkeeper that Serina might have been waking up, so she began to prepare the warm tea. When he returned to the room, he saw that she was still stirring.
He took a seat in his chair and placed one of his large hands on her shoulder.
"It's only a dream, Serina. Wake up." He whispered.
Serina's eyes shot open and she brought her hands to her face to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Her throat felt sore and she was freezing. She felt as though her whole body couldn't move due to her long and undisturbed rest. Revali's hand still was on her shoulder and her head turned over to see his green eyes peering into her tired grey orbs.
"How…" her voice was raspy, "How long was I out?"
"You were unconscious for a full day now," He said, "And because the sun is about to go down, we are going to spend tonight getting your strength back."
"I should be fine once I- Agh!" She began to sit up, but was stopped by a sharp pain in her right side.
When the pain subsided, she slowly picked herself up and leaned her back and head against the backboard of the bed. She lifted her dirt crusted shirt up to reveal her midriff, revealing a long scratch, along with a few other old but strange scars on her stomach.
"Do you have anything to patch that up with?" Revali asked.
"In my bag.. there should be a brown container." She winced, looking down at the scratch, "I must have run into a sharp rock to get this."
Revali reached into her bag and pulled out the container and a rag. He sat on the edge of the bed and opened the container, inside was a light brown cream. The smell reminded him of numerous healing herbs he was familiar with. He dipped the rag into the container and began dabbing the cream substance on the new scratch.
Serina leaned her head back and watched Revali tend to her side, attempting to focus on something other than the pain of the wound.
"You're surprisingly calm after everything you just went through." He said.
"Is that a bad thing?" She asked.
"No, but it raises a bit of a concern," Revali finished applying the healing cream to her scratch.
"Oh? What kind of concerns?" Serina saw the look on his face, as if he were trying to figure something out.
"I'm curious as to how you managed to stay alive, when that fall itself should have killed you. Not to mention all of the water you swallowed." He placed the items back into her bag and stood in front of her.
Serina looked down and thought for a moment. 'Is it safe to tell him?' She thought, 'He'll probably find out at some point… and looking at my situation he's already suspicious.'
She sighed.
"Is there something you haven't bothered to mention?" He crossed his wings.
"Well to be honest with you, I didn't expect to survive that whole thing either." She said, "I'm glad I did though, because I don't exactly want to add drowning to the list."
He gave her even more of a confused look, "What do you mean?"
"When confronted with a life or death situation, death tends to try and turn the odds in its favor, sometimes it succeeds and sometimes it doesn't. In this case, I was lucky enough to stay alive." Serina explained.
"Are you really telling me that you've died before?" Revali's eyebrows furrowed.
"As much as I don't like mentioning it, yes I have, more than once." She looked down at the scars on her stomach, "And the memories stick with me forever."
His eyes trailed down to the scratch on her side and over to the older scars.
"You're immortal." He said.
Serina nodded, "All of these have a story behind them. Most of the scars you see are from something that resulted in my downfall."
"I couldn't even imagine…" He whispered.
There was a knock on the door and the woman came into the room with a cup of tea in her hands.
"Oh, you're awake," She smiled, "Here, drink this. It'll help soothe your throat, I was told you went through quite the struggle."
Serina looked over at Revali, who now had a calm and deep look on his face. He was now sitting in his chair looking as if he were deep in thought. She looked back to the woman and smiled, taking the warm cup into her hands. Her first sip of the liquid made her throat feel as though nothing was wrong.
"Thank you," Serina said.
"I brought some fresh clothes for you to change into, and if you'd like, I can take you to a nice bath so you can clean up. It looks like the river ruined the clothes you have now." The woman lifted the clean clothes into her hands.
"If you don't mind, I would like to clean up a bit." Serina nodded and looked back at Revali.
She brought her legs to hang over the edge of the bed and slowly lifted herself to stand. Placing a hand on Revali's shoulder she leaned down to whisper to him.
"I will explain everything further when I get back," She said, "I promise."
He looked up into her grey eyes and nodded, "Take your time."
The old woman led Serina into a room with a bath. She set the clothes on a stool next to the bath and provided her with a towel.
"You got very lucky you know," the woman smiled at Serina, "That nice young Rito was quite worried."
"Thank you," Serina said, "For being able to help us."
"It's not a problem at all," the woman stood in the doorway, "If you need anything let me know."
After filling the bath with water, Serina removed her dirty clothes and slipped into the warm water. It was a shock to her body at first as she had been cold for quite a while. The warmth relaxed her muscles and she was able to relax properly for the first time since the journey had started.
She thought about her conversation with Revali and his discovery of her secret. Her and Jayne had kept a low profile as being a part of the Castle's royal guard for so long that she hadn't paid much attention to her secret. The only ones aware of Jayne and Serina's extremely long lifespans were Princess Zelda and her father, as well as Link.
Serina decided it would probably be best if she told Revali her purpose… all of it.
After she had bathed and washed her hair, she slipped on the fresh and clean clothes: a different pair of dark jeans, a dark tank top and a cream colored v neck t-shirt.
She walked back into the room where she noticed that Revali hadn't moved from his seat. He looked up when he heard the door open.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"A lot better," She smiled and sat on the edge of the bed.
Serina walked over to her bag and pulled out her sketch book, relieved to see that her bag kept everything dry.
"Now, considering you found me out. I think it's time for me to tell you everything, which will lead up to why I'm here as a Champion today." Serina pulled another chair over and sat across from him, "I don't have any reason to hide anything from you, but there is a reason I've not mentioned anything about how long I've been around."
"Had you planned on mentioning this part of you at all?" His green eyes looked up at her.
"I had thought you were going to find out about it at some point, so I guess sooner is better rather than later." Serina said, opening up her sketch book, "I've had this with me ever since I've become involved in the history of the Royal Family. Now, you know that Ganon has been an evil that dates back up to 10,000 years ago."
Revali nodded.
"There have been generations of Ganon returning to cause problems, before even I was a thought in anybody's head. But when I was born and old enough to know of my purpose to protect people, I had come across my first encounter with the Hero of Time. He was one of the ancestors to the Link you and I know. Long story short, Jayne and I became very good friends with the first ancestor of Link we met and we helped him with his journey of accepting his role of the Hero. Eventually we became a part of the royal guard, and ever since then, each generation of Ganon's return, we've helped the Princess and Link prepare for the battles. With each new generation, my research helps find the new Hero we are to help lead to defeat Ganon." Serina explained.
She handed him the sketch book allowing him to flip through the pages.
"What's all this?" He asked.
"Through all of my adventures, I drew pictures of anything and everything I could that I can use as a memory of what I've helped the Hero accomplish. And memories of significant places I've been that I want to remember." She looked at the pictures with him.
He saw a few pictures of people that look like Link, but they all had their differences about them. One of his ancestors was in a green tunic and a long green cap, and next to him stood a wolf. Both of them had the Triforce on their right wrist/paw. He even saw ancestors of Link that looked like they were only children. There were pictures of beautiful landmarks and scenery from everywhere she's traveled. There was a picture of Jayne posing like she was all big and tough, and there was a picture of Sarah, the small Rito he saw back at Rito Village. Eventually he got to her picture of the Landing and the view of the Hebra mountains.
"These are all incredible… you've been to all of these places?" He asked.
"Everything you see is somewhere I've been or someone I've met." Serina smiled, "That's why I'm here as a Champion, and Jayne has been with me through it all. As difficult as she can get sometimes."
"I'll admit, I was a bit curious as to why you two were joining us, but I never would have guessed this." Revali closed the sketchbook and handed it to her.
Serina placed the book back into her bag and sat on the edge of the bed.
"That's the reaction I would expect," she said.
"Is there anything else I don't know about?" He asked.
"No, that's it. I just have to ask that you help me keep as low of a profile as I can when we aren't with the others." She replied.
"I believe I can do that." Revali nodded.
"Now… while I was out, were you able to get any rest?" Serina asked.
He shook his head, "I was waiting for you to wake up."
"Then I suggest you get some sleep before we head out tomorrow. By now I'm sure everyone is wondering where we're at." Serina scooted over to the other side of the bed so he had room to lie down.
"What about you? You need rest too." He argued.
"I've been unconscious for a whole day. I don' feel like I should close my eyes for a while." She reached into her bag and grabbed out her sweater.
"You cold?" He asked.
"Just a little, nothing a sweater can't handle." She said.
"Nothing my wing can't handle either," Revali smirked.
Serina sighed and slipped her sweater on, "Just get some sleep why don't you? I'll wake you when it's time to go."
Revali chuckled and laid his head on the pillow, folding his wings over his chest. Not too long after he closed his eyes he drifted off to sleep.
Serina looked over towards him, 'Did he really watch over me this whole time?'
Okay! That's all for now! I've revealed all of what Serina could possibly have to hide. So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next! Please feel free to leave a review and/or question and I will see you all next chapter! Until then, Farewell Readers!
