Sorry this chapter took so long. I started GMing a Fallout 2d20 campaign, and I spent a lot of time coming up with plans for that instead of writing this.
While Marianne and Mercedes went to heal the injured among the Rito, the rest of the Company went to do various things around Rito Village. Buying supplies, getting equipment repaired, that sort of thing.
Link, meanwhile, went to look for Teba. He found him in one of the huts on the upper level, talking with a lavender-colored female Rito, who was clutching a child with her wings.
"Look," Teba said, gruffly. "I'm not going anywhere tonight. I'm just going down to check on Harth."
The female Rito's expression showed worry. "I know, but after what happened earlier—"
"I'm not just going to stand by and let us be terrorized by that thing, Saki! Today was just a setback."
"And what of the Elder's orders?" Saki asked.
"To hell with the Elder's orders," Teba said. "Medoh has been steadily getting closer to the village for months now. He doesn't want to bring Medoh's wrath down upon us, but give it a month, maybe two, and Medoh will come for us anyway. I have no intention of sitting back and waiting for death. If I die, I'm going to die trying to bring that thing down."
The child's eyes widened, and Saki pulled him closer. "Teba!"
Teba hesitated, glancing down at the boy under Saki's wing. "Every warrior must face the possibility of his death, Tulin. You'll need to remember that." He held the child's eyes until, finally, the boy nodded, though he still looked terrified.
"Teba, are you really going to chance the possibility of your son growing up without a father?" Saki asked.
"I don't have a choice, Saki," Teba said somberly. "I'm the best warrior the Rito have. If I can't bring down Medoh, who can?"
"At least...at least don't attack it alone," Saki pleaded. "You stand a better chance with a few dozen other warriors helping you than without."
"I'll get what help I can," Teba promised. "But it may not be much. Most of the others are too scared to make a stand against Medoh. But there may be some who will fly against it with me."
Teba turned around before Saki could get another word in and finally noticed Link. He met Link's eyes, his stare fierce, before grunting. "So you're here. I wasn't sure if you'd come."
"I need to get on board that Divine Beast," Link said.
Teba looked over the railing at Medoh, then back at Link. "That could be a problem. You can't fly, and I can't carry you. Unless you happen to have a flying machine I don't know about, you would be better off telling me how to bring down that thing."
"I need to get inside that Divine Beast in order to destroy the being controlling it," Link insisted.
"Destroying the control systems would probably do the job, but it would probably be simpler to just destroy its weapons or its engines," Teba said. "It's an option, though."
"No, I don't mean the control systems," Link said. "The Divine Beast is actually being piloted. There's a creature controlling it on Calamity Ganon's behalf."
Teba shrugged. "It doesn't matter why it's attacking Rito Village. It just matters that it is. But if it has a pilot, that is a potential weak point. What can you tell me about this pilot?"
Link told him everything about the Blight Ganons that had controlled Ruta and Rudania. Teba seemed to frown. "That would be useful if I could get a weapon that could destroy this Blight Ganon, but I don't think my arrows will do the job. I think this avenue of attack is a dead end."
"Unacceptable," Link said. "We have to take control of Medoh."
"Why are you so fixated on taking control of Medoh?" Teba asked. "Why isn't it enough to simply destroy it?"
"We need it to defeat Ganon," Link said.
"To defeat Ganon," Teba repeated.
"Yes. I am freeing each of the Divine Beasts in order to use them against Ganon."
"Who are you?" Teba's eyes narrowed.
"I'm the Hylian Champion from one hundred years ago." Link met his eyes.
"From one hundred years ago."
"Yes, I was resurrected after I—"
Teba turned and walked away from Link. Angrily, Link hurried to follow.
They made their way down several levels of Rito Village, finally arriving at another occupied hut. This one was positioned next to a bridge that crossed over to another, smaller flat-topped spire that rose from the base of the main spire. What looked like a blacksmith's forge sat atop the spire, though its fires were currently out. Inside, Link saw Marianne and Mercedes, along with an adult male Rito with dark grey, almost black feathers.
"Try to stay away from any strenuous activity with that wing for a couple of weeks," Mercedes said. "But you should be as good as new soon."
"Thank you, miss," the Rito that Link assumed to be Harth said. He then noticed Teba and Link. "Hello, Teba."
"Harth. How is your wing?" Teba asked.
"It was broken. 'Was' being the important word," Harth said. "These girls managed to fix the bones somehow. I won't be able to work the forge for a week or two, but I'm in much better shape than I was."
"Take it easy," Teba assured him. He turned to Link. "There might be a way you and some of your friends can get up to the Divine Beast. But I'm not going to take you up there to die. You'll need to prove to me that you'll be able to survive the attack. Gather your friends. Meet me at the Flight Range tomorrow morning. We'll see what you're made of."