The next day Link was woken up by an impatient princess. He blinked and quickly sat up, seeing soft light creep into the room.

"Link! Wake up!" Zelda was standing over him, her brows tied into a frown. "I want to have as much time as possible today to inspect Vah Medoh." She turned away, gathering her things together.

"Be ready soon." Well someone's in a mood, he thought.

"I'm sorry, princess. Just give me a moment." He stretched and scurried over to the dressing screen, trying to be quick so the princess would keep her temper under control.

He came out and saw her, finishing up the braid in her hair. Then, she stood and put on a rather expensive looking coat. Link was glad that he had brought warm clothes for himself as well, since weather was rather cold in the Tabantha region.

Soon, the princess and the knight boarded their horses and were off to Rito village. Neither of them had very much to say, though, so the two of them were mostly left to their thoughts.

In the afternoon, they had finally reached their destination. They boarded their horses in another nearby stable and made their way to the village.

Link always loved visiting here. The towering, vertical structure was fascinating and the whole place was a marvel to behold. The Rito were extremely relaxed and kind, and he always felt at ease when he visited.

He followed Zelda up the wooden bridge.

"You know, I'd love to live here someday. Just imagine it. I feel like I would just be able to leave all of my troubles behind..." She said. Link wasn't really sure if she was talking to him or just to herself.

"I have always been able to relax here." He replied awkwardly and quietly.

The two of them were greeted kindly by the villagers as they walked past dozens of colorful shops, occasionally stopping to look inside. Eventually, the two of them reached a wooden platform, where they were instructed to wait for Champion Revali.

The Divine Beast was above them, soaring in the sky.

"Isn't it amazing that Revali is actually able to control that thing? How is it even able to fly? I must go look at it!" Zelda exclaimed, a childish excitement in her voice.

Link looked to the princess. She had a wide smile on her face and her eyes were lit up. Her nose and cheeks were red from the wind and the cold. She glanced back at him and he returned a shy smile.

She really was something else. The princess was hard to deal with at times, but she was quite beautiful and one of the most interesting people he'd ever met.

He shook his head at looked back at the sweeping landscape in front of him.

Quite suddenly, the Rito Champion appeared. The charismatic Revali greeted both of them warmly, bowing to the princess.

"Welcome to my village. I do hope that you have enjoyed yourselves here."

"Thank you, Champion Revali." Zelda smiled. "I'd like to go look at Vah Medoh, if you don't mind. My appointed knight can stay here and discuss other matters with you."

"Of course." Revali smiled once again.

And in a very quick moment, the princess was off of the ground and had been safely transported up to the mechanical bird. When Revali came back down, though, his manner was different.

He spoke to Link as if he were a disappointment. All of the sudden, the Rito champion had become very full of himself and almost rude. It seemed as if the polite behavior had just been a show for the princess. He didn't even give Link a chance to speak.

"...Maybe we should just settle this one on one? But where...?" Revali grinned.

"Oh, I know! How about up there?!" He motioned to the divine beast, laughing.

"Oh! You must pardon me! I forgot you have no way of making it up to that Divine Beast on your own!" At this point, he wasn't even trying to hide his sarcasm.

As he soared back into the air, he shouted one last thing at Link:

"Good luck sealing the darkness!"

Link sighed and looked away. Though he wasn't going to admit it, what the champion said was somewhat bothersome. He knew that he wasn't the biggest strongest person. He knew he was shy and not well spoken. But he didn't like to think about it. It was hard for him to speak. He had an appearance to keep up. He was terrified of messing up.

And quite frankly, he did not want to let anybody in. After his parents were killed, Link had isolated himself from everybody else. It was so much easier for him to close himself off from everybody in the world. It was lonely, but it didn't matter. At this point, he had forgotten what it was like to be close to people.

A few more minutes passed before Zelda was finally brought back down.

"Thank you, Champion Revali." The princess said.

"It has been my pleasure. Enjoy the rest of your time in Rito village." He responded with a bow, then took off once again.

As the princess and knight walked about a bit longer, she noticed that Link was being even quieter that usual.

"Are you alright, Link?" Zelda asked.

"Of course, princess."

"I know Revali can be a bit... much at times. I'm sorry that I left you to deal with him all by yourself."

"It's alright." The princess didn't think he was pathetic, did she? Did she think that he was weak? That he was some sort of joke of a hero?

Link hoped not. He'd just have to prove himself.

~

That night, Link and Zelda settled at the stable just outside of Rito village. The two of them quickly readied themselves for bed.

Zelda sat on her bed, looking at Link on his. It was a little strange that this was now their normal. But, the stables had one common room for sleeping, and the two of them were going to have to get used to it.

"Tomorrow, we'll head south for the Spring of Courage. It's a little far and will probably take us a few days, but I promised my father that I would go. Then we will return to the castle for a few days. I have not yet decided where to go next..." She glanced at the Master Sword and spoke a little more quietly.

"Admittedly, I'm a little nervous. I still have not been able to wake this power, and I fear that I will fail yet again."

Link just looked down, unsure of what to say.

"Well, no matter. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

~