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It made sense that Vah Medoh’s destruction was what did it. Well, more like the systematic deconstruction of the hulking piece of ancient Sheikah tech. Revali had always assumed that he wouldn’t exist on this plane forever, dead as he was, but he was almost sad to see the big old bird go.
It wasn’t as if his afterlife had been all that interesting, tethered to a giant quasi-sentient piece of machinery as he was. Vah Medoh had not moved from its perch since Link had exterminated Wind Blight Ganon and all the parasites that came with it. Though after the great calamity itself was vanquished, it had finished tracking the castle and folded its wings. That was all the movement it had done in the… however long it had been since then.
Keeping track of time when you were a ghost was not exactly something Revali enjoyed. Apart from the rise and fall of the sun, there were only whatever events that passed Revali by. He took to spending a lot of time perched on Van Medoh’s beak, looking down on the Rito that flitted about the village. He didn’t recognise any from before his death of course, though he occasionally thought he heard the hoot of the Elder from top most hut. Without any names he had just taken to identifying the various Rito by the colour of their plumage.
The Rito were also exceedingly boring to watch, though Revali had known that even before he died. The only interesting thing to do in the village was archery, and even that had to be down outside of town at the range. If only his divine beast had posted itself somewhere more central in Hyrule, he might be able to glean any more entertainment. It wasn’t like either he or the beast were able to protect the Rito, as stationary as they were.
Really, the only fun he got to have was when Link summoned his gale and he got to get a look at the world outside of Hebra. At this point he was positive that the Hylian had no idea that his consciousness was still alive and kicking when he was summoned. Every time he’d tried to get the stupid swordsman’s attention Link seemed to see right through him. Though Revali was intimately acquainted with Link’s spiteful side, the ridiculously blank expression he’d gotten from the man when he visited Vah Medoh led him to assume that he simply didn’t recognise him. The dunce had lost his memories somehow. So no, it wasn’t some sort of pitiful attempt to pull Revali’s tail feathers.
Link simply couldn’t see him.
So no chit chat, though Revali craved it horribly. He was starved of any sort of interaction, with bullheaded blonde men or not. Talking to others, testing reactions and sharing knowledge were sometimes the only things that had kept him sane living in Rito village before he had been appointed. He wasn’t going mad now though, maybe the hulking bird protected him from the cons of being dead, maybe in some sort of apology for keeping him there. It made every summoning to Link that much more bitter sweet. It was nice to see him, even if the Hylian could not share the sentiment. It also helped that his gale was always being used in… creative ways.
Being summoned in the midst of battle was always heart stopping, seeing Link use his gale to get above a swarm of enemies and using his bow to pick them off one by one. A true show of grace to be sure, though the blood he’d see over whatever rags the Hylian had deemed to call good enough that day was always anxiety inducing. Revali had never gotten quite used to how skilled Link could be whilst also being the most bloody reckless fighter he had ever had the misfortune of knowing. Revali was glad that he at least had someone to tend to those injuries -he had been summoned enough times in front of the red Zora man to recognise the showing off (the similarities to Mipha were far more than enough for Revali to feel the bitter irony)- seeing as Revali was, you know.
There was no need to beat a dead horse.
No, Revali would like to think that he was one hundred years too old to be feeling anything close to jealousy. He was an entirely well adjusted Rito, even when he was alive. Link didn’t even remember him for Hylia’s sake! No, instead he was just terribly irritated at how the Zora man seemed to encourage all of Link’s terrible showboating. It was as if he wanted Link to be absolutely incorrigible. No, Revali was very glad there was someone taking care of Link, he just wondered for the man’s taste.
What that said about his own taste was neither here nor there.
He’d gotten off track.
What he had meant to be indicating, -to an audience of just himself, Hylia above if only he could have just one conversation with another being- as the Rito villagers Zelda had enlisted to pick apart Vah Medoh like a pack of hungry vultures, was that he understood. For one, no one seemed to be able to see him. For another, the big old bird had been terrorising Hebra for one hundred years. He was sure that over the past century there had been debates among the Rito as to whether Vah Medoh had killed Revali in the end. The large machine had become such an ill omen for them that the history may have been changed completely. It was surely less embarrassing than having been killed by that wispy little windblight, especially after he’d seen Link blow it to smithereens, freshly awoken from a hundred year nap. He wouldn’t have called Vah Medoh sentient per say, but it had been able to push some sort of approximation of feelings Revali’s way. He would even haltingly call the thing his closest ally… which was rather depressing when he thought about it. Unfortunately that was how his life- or death- had shook out. It was either keep the sliver of Vah Medoh that was uncorrupted company or seek out interaction with Windblight Ganon. The less said about that hulking mess of ancient technology and malice the better. Vah Medoh had even been a decent conversationalist towards the end, getting used to pushing specific feelings Revali’s way in their century trapped together.
And so Revali mourned as Vah Medoh was taken apart piece by piece. It didn’t help that the machine’s beak was one of the first things to go, he had one hundred years and change worth of memories surveying Tabantha, Hebra and beyond from that perch. As his companion was slowly deconstructed, he realised that he was being called to Link’s side less and less. No more flashes of combat or mountains or the open air. It seemed the Hylian was noticing as well, the gale barely cresting him over the roof of one of those boxy Hylian dwellings Revali had no memory of existing. Even if the man’s face scrunching up in thought was infinitely amusing, there was a part of Revali that he was steadfastly ignoring that was so achingly tired and sad. Their pitiful connection, already severed once, was slowly dying before his eyes. Even if Link did not see the true implication, even he seemed sad as Revali’s gale became barely strong enough to ruffle his ponytail. Revali could still see his pout in the crease of his brows, even after a century.
It didn’t take a genius, even if Revali held intelligence in spades, to realise what was happening. With his tether to the world fading, so was he. It seemed his last parting gift to Link was fading along with him, the gust barely lifting the Hylian off the ground by the time where Vah Medoh had perched was empty, its presence being forgotten. The Rito were an industrious people, quickly flying on to the next horizon as their children grew up without fear of a machine turned monster. Revali could only hope that Vah Medoh’s aid against the calamity would live on within their history, the scars it caused healing with time. He didn’t try to wish for his own image to be carried forward, the one who truly should have held it had already forgotten. His gale had subsided, his beast scattered to the winds. He stood on the edge of Vah Medoh’s perch as the sun set on the Tabantha mountain range, wind whistling past him as he remained perfectly still. He could hear calls and laughter below him, could see as lamps were lit and hearths set ablaze to keep back the oncoming cold of winter. He had felt himself fading for days, months, maybe even years. His vow to his warrior was less of an impassioned declaration and more and more like a whisper. His voice and his effect on this world was fading, a flame that could not survive the winds of change.
Change was good and Revali was tired. It was time for Hylia to take him home. And so he closed his eyes, and floated to her.
Floating gently down...
Floating into the still air...
Floating...
The winds were wrong. The fact there was wind was wrong.
The gale buffeted him from side to side but never up, cold blasts of air rocketing him towards a destination. What destination? He was supposed to float, not be twirled over and over like an errant leaf with no up and no down and then he was breaching fog-
There were figures before him, two Rito and a Hylian. One felt like him, passed yet still remaining. The rito child and the Hylian were listening to the spirit with great concentration and Revali- yes he was Revali- had no clue why he was here. There was whorling patterns of sand and a slow drifting fog around them, dampening any sound except for the voice of the other spirit.
He really couldn’t be bothered to try to understand what was going on, the larger Rito spinning some tale that-
Wait-
Ganon?
Link.
That was the Hylian standing opposite him, listening intently to whatever the masked spirit was saying. He was favouring his left leg, bruises and scrapes littering his body, hair especially windblown. As always that blank expression adorned his face, though Revali would admit that Hylian faces always looked so odd without feathers and beaks when emoting. He had never had a perfect grasp on even interpreting those who wore their hearts on their sleeves. Still, Revali was an expert on all things Link and looked to his hands. The Hylian’s hands were on his hips in that odd tendency he had when he was listening. An attempt to make people think he was in control of a situation, for what reason Revali could not begin to understand. However, his fingers were trembling slightly, knuckles white in effort to keep himself still. A bad conversation then, probably of the world conflict variety.
The little Rito beside Link seemed to be filled to the brim with fascination, gasping at whatever the other Rito was telling them. The child looked rather worse for wear as well, feathers puffed up in all directions and blood speckling that told of hidden cuts. That made Revali frown in concern, usually the Hylian was loath to involve children in any sort of conflict, a sentiment Revali himself shared.
“You’re an exceptional Rito, young Tulin. You have gained a mastery of wind more formidable than any Rito before you.”
Revali had never tuned into a conversation so fast. He reassessed the fledgling with indignation. There was no Rito in generations who had shown such a gift with the winds like Revali had. It had to have been only a little over a century since he had died and this sprout had already usurped him? No- no Revali refused to believe it, the kid was one hundred years too early to be matching any Rito- let alone him- in the skill of flight.
The Elder had called him a talent unseen in generations and it had taken him years of wing breaking work to become the beacon of perfection he had been. It was a good thing the others seemed to be unable to see him, with how puffed up his feathers had become in his rage. The spirit must be embellishing the claim- they must be! He hadn’t even been this insulted when Link had used his gale to reach the top of a particularly tall bookshelf.
It didn’t even stop there, every praise of worthiness the spectre laid onto the kid only incensed Revali further. The only one worthy huh? It seemed that worthiness was given to those who were alive to receive it then. He tried to stamp down on the awe that whispered to him as a shining stone attached itself to the Rito child’s ankle. Even while dead he could feel the power emanating from it, the call of wind that left him breathless- well whatever imitation of breathlessness his form was capable of. It was terribly hard not to feel jealous of this child who stood in his place next to Link. Had he truly been a calamity too early? Or had he never had the true skill for this gift? He watched Link watch the child and swallowed the guilt his miniature tantrum gave him when he saw the fear on the Hylian’s face. His face looked impassive as always but he saw the white knuckled grip Link had on his sword, the slight tremor in his arms. Of course the man was thinking about the danger the child would be put in, Revali wasn’t sure if that meant he should be more justified in his anger, but it sure cooled the petty rage he felt back to a simmer. Another injustice to add to the pile he carefully cultivated.
It was only by the swordsman’s body language that Revali realised that their conversation was coming to an end, Link’s posture correcting itself and giving the spirit his full attention once again. Something about this odd little moment concluding connected the neurons in his brain and Revali realised that these might be the final moments he had to memorise the swordsman’s face. He was still very, very dead and whatever minor miracle this vision may be, he was surely gone for good afterward.
This thought spurred him into action, his steps making not a sound as he stumbled in front of the Hylian. Link looked straight through him, and Revali was not expecting more than that. His wings came up to frame the Hylian’s face, hovering but not bearing to touch lest his wings go straight through. Instead Revali memorised the man in front of him. The parts he knew; the slope of his nose slanting just crooked from a bokoblin run in, the light dusting of freckles that came from so much time traipsing outdoors, his eyes clear blue and always so much more expressive in the forced calm of his face. The parts that were new; the faint white scar at his temple, the way his brow furrowed a little when containing his emotion, the sun spot decorating the curve where his chin met his left ear, his golden hair flowing free from where he had always stringently tied it back. Link had become a completely different person since Revali had died and yet the core of him had remained unchanged, even without his memories. Revali could not be more proud of him.
His wings settled at his sides as the two living beings slowly faded out of whatever realm he had come to trespass in. The only trace of their ever being there was the footprints left behind, disrupting the swirling patterns in the sand. Revali huffed a soft laugh as he stared at the impression of Link’s snow quill boots, already beaten and worn with use even if they weren’t the pair that the Rito had been forced to gift him, so many years ago. The pattern of the treads had not been changed in over a century it seemed. Something insignificant as the treads of boots he could not even wear stayed wormed deep in his memory. A pair of boots thrown haphazardly next to the entrance to his hut, treads crusted in mud and icy slurry-
Revali startled at the sound of a throat clearing behind him and whipped around to face the masked figure standing in the same place it had occupied through the whole interaction, seemingly glued to that one spot. Both Rito stared each other down and Revali tried to claw back his unaffected air. This… day? Had been a lot for him.
“I am afraid I do not know you, young warrior.” The apparition spoke, their tone cool and unaffected beneath their mask. Revali envied the amount that the ancient thing hid. “Only those who are connected to my vow should be able to appear here.”
“Yes yes, Link and the chosen brat,” Revali snapped back quickly, “well forgive me, I had not planned for my afterlife to be repeatedly butting into the destiny of others.” He groused and kicked up the meticulously patterned sand in front of him. The apparition took his childish antics with not even a break in their composure and Revali instinctively ducked his head to hide from their judgement. If there was one reaction he couldn’t handle it was silence. He couldn’t work with a blank wall, and this one was even more impenetrable with that damned mask.
It didn’t help that the apparition seemed to be taking some sort of enjoyment out of the awkward silence that followed Revali’s micro-tantrum. They stood there as he shifted from foot to foot, feathers coming up to play with his braid and his beak clacking uncomfortably.
“Okay fine- I’m Revali, the Rito’s best- ahem- former best warrior.” He refused to be cowed by some old ghost, standing his ground and tilting his head up in challenge. Again, the masked apparition stared him down silently for far too long for Revali’s liking. He wasn’t sure what the other Rito was looking for but he was sure that if they hadn’t found it by now, they never were.
“Ah- apologies Revali.” The ancient spirit spoke haltingly and Revali blinked in confusion, “it has been more than a millenia and I am afraid I am rather out of practice with- hm- speaking to others. I was not expecting to converse outside that speech the other sages and I created.”
It was now Revali’s turn to let the awkward silence stretch. He was sure his beak was hanging open, like really, what in Hylia’s name was he supposed to say to that. This was the millenia-old sage that appeared to the heroes and impart deep wisdom and prophecy?
“Picked the right ghost to pop into your little realm,” Revali eventually croaked out into the strained silence. Then the reprieve was over and the suffocating absence of conversation was back.
“So-“ he tried again when it was apparent the sage wasn't going to respond to that in the next year, “so we just fade away now? You’ve done your… thing and I don’t think I have any ‘unfinished business’.” That at least got the spectre to tilt their head in thought as they considered the question. Revali shifted impatiently from foot to foot as they mulled it over. He was uncomfortably aware of the fact that a couple seconds to a being that had been stranded here the past Millenia may seem like an instant. Revali just hoped that they were dormant for that time. He could barely handle the century he’d spent with a quasi- sentient bird contraption, let alone being alone for a thousand years. All he could conceptualise was a sickening dread at the prospect.
“My duty in this realm is completed now I have imparted my gift onto the next sage-“ Revali refocused on the Sage when they spoke slowly, their voice holding a deep exhaustion that Revali could relate to terribly. “You well- hm- well that’s interesting,” the decorations jingled on their mask as they tilted their head to the side, “well I am sure that you will find out presently.” They swept their wing in Revali’s direction and he looked down.
His body was glowing softly, form transparent and mingling with the flowing mist. He looked back up at the Sage, rather nonplussed, “I always look like this now. Think it’s a spirit thing.”
“Ah-“ the sage tilted their head the other way and hummed, “then the next part may be a tad surprising.”
“The next-“
Nothing. Blissful nothing.
Floating in nothing.
Floating.
Floating down-
-No that was falling, the feeling of wind whistling between his primaries in a bid to have him soar through the air, to let the wind cushion his wings in flight. It was entirely instinctual to catch the wind and flap downward, wind heeding his call and shooting him up and up and up-
A high pitched squawk brought his ascent to an abrupt halt and his eyes snapped open. The sky was blue, clear and endless. Dotted with faint suggestions of clouds and- wait floating islands? Revali was forcibly snapped back to reality at the view in front of him. It was almost the same Hyrule he had known his whole life… and unlife, yet it was completely changed. There were forests suspended in midair, a whole fleet of warships grander than even those of the old royal Hyrule fleet circling over Tabantha. The breath that he did not hold anymore was stolen from his lungs at the grand vista of Hyrule spread out beneath his wings. It was a most treasured sight, even as changed as it was. There was nothing more coveted to Revali than being high up, coasting above his beloved lands.
“Hey! Hey! Spirit!” Ah yes, there had been an alarmed squawk from below him hadn’t there. He glanced down to see a Rito child trying their best to keep up with him and ultimately falling behind. The winds below were far less calm than the ones Revali was on. It took him a moment to recognise the white plumage as the child that had been accompanying Link in the ancient spirit’s domain. Revali peered down at him, the chick looking less and less like some great chosen one. Especially seeing that for all the extra flapping the kid was doing, he was steadily falling behind, melting into the rocks that made up Rito Village behind him.
Revali huffed in amusement at the kid’s offended squawks as the gap between them grew. He wasn’t that spiteful towards a hatchling that got something he probably maybe deserved- he swore! It was just nice to show off a little and have someone react to it for the first time- that was all. All the Rito when he had been alive got used to his antics way too quickly for his liking, he had worked hard for his talents after all. So he’d let the kid bask in the glory that was his flying skills and then maybe-
Revali’s entire being was being gripped like a vice, squeezing until non-existent breath was stolen from his non-functioning lungs. The world flew into a bleeding array of colour as he felt himself being slingshotted and flung back at impossible speeds that would have crushed him in a second if he had a corporeal form-
It was pure instinct that had Revali flinging his wings open to avoid barreling towards the ground. He wavered in the air as he tried to regain his bearings. It felt as if his whole body had been turned inside out and forced through a mouse hole, he was sure that if there had been any food in his stomach it would have swiftly vacated the premises.
He coasted shakily for a couple moments before a voice next to him had him jumping out of his feathers.
“Whoa! That was so cool!” He whipped his gaze over to the white hatchling that was now keeping pace with his much slower speed. “You were miles ahead and then bam! You were back next to me!” The kid seemed to forget to flap every few seconds in his excitement, staring starry-eyed at Revali. “My father won’t believe me when I tell him!” Revali tuned the rest of the child’s chatter out as he tried to process what just happened. The same one that had accompanied Link in that mystical plane… surely not…
Not paying the kid’s gushing any mind, Revali took hold of the cold winds and used a gale to push himself away, speeding towards Hebra and leaving behind the squawks of the hatchling. The wind whistled through his feathers as he braced himself for the awful sensation to return even as he hoped it would not. If he kept getting flung back to the kid he would-
It was no better the second time he was slingshotted back to the child, the white Rito howling in excitement.
Or the third.
Or the fourth.
The fifth time the force grabbed Revali and yanked him back to the kid, he was greeted with the crunch of snow. The kid had quietened down by now and had only watched his increasingly frustrated attempts to get away from him with open curiosity. They were somewhere in Hebra, not too far from one of the mountain’s peaks. The fact that he was now standing was enough of a change to stop Revali from just speeding off in another attempt to get away. He lifted and placed his foot back down into the snow curiously. His claws sunk down into the crisp white powder with no resistance and when he lifted it back up there was no print to be seen. The cold that he should have been feeling was but a whisper, a memory of what stepping into snow should have felt like. There was no crunch of the tiny crystals underfoot, no for all intents and purposes it seemed as if he’d sunk through the snow layer until his feet reached the ground.
“Have you finished testing your spirit powers?” Revali was drawn away from the intense staring competition he had been having with his feet to meet the gaze of the Rito fledgling he’d apparently been tethered to. The child’s wings were folded over his chest and his feathers ruffling in the wind that whipped across the mountain peak. It was in direct contrast to how Revali’s feathers were laying completely still, unaffected by the weather. He couldn’t have been old enough to even get his final plumage and yet he was levelling Revali with an unimpressed eyebrow. As if the pipsqueak could even fathom who he was dealing with.
“It was cool, for like, the first couple times- you went so fast- but now it’s like you hate me! I don’t even know you!” The tyke huffed, cheeks puffing out in a way that was not intimidating in the slightest.
Revali levelled the kid with a dry look and a long suffering sigh he had perfected from a lifetime with a certain trouble causing Hylian.
“And why, pray tell, would you want to know a dead man-”
“Why wouldn’t I!”
“Nothing good comes of the appearance of spirits-”
“And how would you know that!”
Revail’s beak clicked shut and he regarded the child in irritation, apparently at an impasse. They stood there in silence, the wind whipping flurries of snow straight through him and the fledgling doing a fantastic imitation of a snowball with the amount he was puffing his feathers. This was the most gifted Rito in centuries, this argumentative little chick. He’d given that sage his devout attention, yet apparently Revali was to be shot down like an overly enthusiastic keese. He narrowed his eyes at the child, daring him to speak, yet the child just narrowed his eyes right back. This was silly- Revali was tethered to a mouthy child and not allowed to rest in peace- this was all completely silly. He groaned and pinched his beak as he tried to not lose his cool. It wasn’t like he could kick at the snow in frustration or anything else as uniquely childish. He had to be the adult here (he was the adult here).
Even with that conclusion settled on, it took him much longer than it should have to open his eyes and look back at the fledgling. Enough time that the kid looking down at the snow, unsure. Right. This was a child, one that talked back, but still a child nonetheless. He crossed the distance, still unnerved by the fact that his talons whispered through the snow. It startled the kid, Revali’s feet suddenly appearing in his lowered vision and making him jump without the crunch of snow there to alert him. He masked it by puffing up his chest, the fledgling opening his beak to go on the attack. Whatever he had gone to say petered out however as Revali bent down towards him. The kid’s bright blue eyes widened at Revali as he lowered himself to one knee, putting them on eye level. His wing came up to his chest in greeting, the lack of a beating heart underneath making the gesture almost odd. Even so, he didn’t let that stop him for more than a moment.
“Well, it seems I must introduce myself. I am Revali, Champion of the Rito and pilot of the divine beast Vah Medoh.” He internally preened at being able to use those beloved titles after so long. Although he may be dead, his accomplishments were still his own and it had been an age since he had been able to introduce himself, to tell others of his feats.
The child stared at him, eyes growing in size and darting from his face to his clothing, to the great eagle bow resting on his back. His beak opened and closed as he tried to form words. Revali could understand, meeting such a mighty figure of the past must be-
“You’re Revali?”
… What in Hylia's name did he do for his afterlife to be this?