A Kindling, of Sorts (Revali x reader)

in the blue hours of morning

You woke up uncomfortable, back sore from sleeping on the hard floor. You sat up with a groan and braced your lower back. It wouldn't bother you for long, but you wished that rito you'd met last night had been kinder.

Speak of the devil, Revali was nowhere to be found. His hammock was left empty, swaying idly in the wind. The mountains were solemnly silent this morning, the blizzard had slowed to a light flurry and blue light filtered through the clouds. Things felt at peace, comfortable, like the world was taking a deep breath. As you watched the hammock slowly swing back and forth, you felt yourself begin to fall back asleep...

An explosion suddenly rang out into the morning air, stirring the mountains.

You jumped at the harsh sound, whipping you head around to see what had happened. Now that the snow had cleared and the morning sun had begun to rise, the cliffs outside the hut were visible, showing dozens of targets sturdily attached to the rocky cliff sides. Or at least they were. A blue blur passed the landing, swiftly destroying almost every target it passed. You squinted you eyes as he whizzed past and it had occurred to you that you didn't know exactly where you were until now, only knowing it was a relatively public area. It became immediately clear that this was a training ground.

Gingerly, you picked yourself up off the ground and stood on the landing, watching Revali train. He was graceful and deadly, hitting every mark perfectly. The night before, you'd thought he was embellishing, tooting his own horn. But if you're being honest with yourself, he lived up to his boasting fully. Watching him soar through the air was mesmerizing, and you let yourself get sucked into is movements. With a quick flick of his wrist, he'd nocked another arrow and aimed it at lightning speed, shooting right before he hit the landing. You flinched back involuntarily just as he caught himself and made another reality- defying updraft, scoffing at you cockily. He ended his routine with a couple more flips and landed neatly before you.

You stared at him, breathless and thoroughly impressed.

"Quit gawking, stranger," He smirked at you, slinging his bow over his shoulder. "Its rude to stare." You gulped and glanced away, mumbling an apology. The rito confidently strode back into the cabin, seemingly gathering supplies from the surrounding storage. You awkwardly followed and began checking your near- empty sack. There were few things of actual use in there, just belongings of sentimental importance that were probably(definitely) inconvenient to have on a trip. This trip wasn't supposed to be longer than a day or two, you supposed, so you couldn't beat yourself up too much about it. Still, you checked your belongings. Everything was unsurprisingly still there.

"Stranger, where is it that you're going?" Revali broke the silence, startling you out of your thoughts. "I could give you a ride."

You looked back up at him and quirked a brow. "A ride?" He didn't seem the type to let some random hylian he'd just met ride him like some kind of pony. "Like on your back?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know you nearly well enough to let you ride me in any other way." he said, crossing his wings with a snide laugh. You frowned at this remark as you felt blood rush to your face. He was obviously enjoying himself, laughing at your reaction. You cursed him under your breath and waited for him to stop giggling to himself, shooting him an unamused glare. He grinned at you mischievously before continuing, "Yes, yes, on my back. And don't worry, I won't drop you."

You groaned at that last comment as he continued to laugh. "Goddess help me," you deadpan. "First thing in the morning and you just can't help but give me hell!"

Revali takes a deep breath and wipes a tear from his eye with a smile. He looks good smiling, you note. Like with a real smile, no smirking or smug looks. You feel your attitude soften a little, and you let it go. No need to argue at the crack of dawn.

"So... care for a ride?"

You crossed your arms at him, chewing your cheek. You wondered for a second if it was really a good idea to go with him, but hell, you had nothing to lose. He had every chance to do something outrageously horrible the past few hours, what would he do now? I mean, he could dump you onto the ground from hundreds of feet in the air like someone, but even then that just seems inconvenient. And who would really do that in broad daylight?

"Sure, okay." you said with a little smile. "I was going to Rito Village. I assume you know the way?" Revali promptly kneeled down and gestured you to climb aboard. Hooking your fingers under his armor, you pulled yourself onto his back as gently as you could manage. He adjusted your legs a bit before hunkering down on the landing, spreading his wings. Before you realized exactly what was happening, you were both launched into the air.

Wind whistled around you in a whirlwind as you got a feeling akin to being weightless. You felt sick and squeezed your eyes shut, wailing into the open sky. That is not how physics work. How on earth does he manage to do that? You can't wrap your head around it, and the swirling updraft didn't help. Everything was spinning...

The rito steadied himself in the air, slowing down and gaining his bearings. You gripped him tighter, burying your face in his back and slowly steadied your breathing. "You okay?" he asked, enunciating slow and clear over the loud wind. You shouted back that you were and thanked him for slowing down, to which he nodded in response.

As you flew, you gathered your courage and looked down at the world, lifting your head from his shoulder and opening your eyes. You ignored the way his blue scarf was whipping at your face and looked below. The scene immediately struck you: rocky mountains stretching behind you, dividing valleys and grand ravines. Grassy spires protruded from a particularly large gorge, connected by rope bridges to what you assumed was Rito Village. You could just barely make out the spiraling staircases and hanging cabins, not unlike where you had stayed the night before. Beneath you stretched great pine forests, framing the gorge. You relaxed at the breathtaking sight and watched the village become closer and closer.

This was nothing like your little town in the ocean, this was grand. It was a nice change of pace, really.

By the time you landed, the sun had risen.

You let go of Revali and stumbled off of him, nearly tripping over your own feet. He looked towards the sun and furrowed a brow. "A little later than I would've hoped," he remarked, smoothing out his feathers. "I'll have to leave immediately."

"You got somewhere to be?" you asked, fiddling with your cloak. You were kind of disheveled after that whole fiasco, with the wind blowing right in your face and everything.

Revali nodded and turned his back to you, wings spread. "Perhaps we'll meet again," he said plainly. "Goodbye for now, stranger." And with that, he left in a hurry. You found yourself a bit disappointed in his haste, which really didn't really make much sense. He hadn't said anything really kind to you since you'd met, but his company was appreciated, as mean as he was. He was an asshole, and you wanted to be his friend badly.