A Kindling, of Sorts (Revali x reader)

admiration

Your sleep was deep and uncomfortable, the kind that doesn't leave one feeling particularly refreshed the following morning. Cruel dreams rang in your head, familiar visions that've been getting more and more frequent the last few weeks. Somewhere in the back of your unconscious mind, you were relieved to have those dreams interrupted by someone groaning in your ear. "Urghh..."

You groggily raised your head, eyes squinted against blue morning light. You were back in the Flight Range, which makes sense you suppose. Though you were supposed to return to your post before sunrise. Oh.

...Oh. You shifted in your seat and tried to stand up, but there was a weight on your shoulder. Slowly, you looked down and realized Revali was sound asleep by your side, wings wrapped around your arm and head nuzzled in the crook of your neck. You felt dizzy as your heartbeat immediately sped up. How did this happen? What happened last night? Why is he voluntarily cuddled up to me?

With an anxious hand, you steadied his head and softly set him down against the hardwood floor, to which he whined to himself and huddled into a fetal position. He was probably hungover after last night, you realized. Goddess, you didn't know he was going to go that crazy. To be fair, you didn't know he was under that much stress, either.

I mean, this 'Calamity' thing does seem really important with how everyone is talking about it. The need for more troops, the strict punishments for petty crimes, the need for the Champions... its all to make people feel safer, isn't it? The real question is will it actually help? There's got to be some kind of plan in place to defend against this coming apocalypse(you assume its apocalypse- like), something you haven't really been told directly... right? Had you ever been told exactly what is going on? Augh, you wished Daruk and Urbosa had told you about that rather than explaining all the drama between Link, Zelda, and Mipha. You still can't even bring yourself to care about it that much. Maybe that's just what happens when you hit a certain age, like living vicariously through them.

Revali shifts in front of you, shielding his face from the morning light. The sun had begun to rise over the valley now, sunshine seeping into the hut. You positioned yourself in front of him to block the light, your shadow stretching over his wing.

It was funny, even when disheveled and in a heap on the floor, you couldn't help but stare at him. Sure, his feathers were scuffed up and sticking out, but they still remained that deep blue sheen. His braids twisted into each other, almost loosely knotted, but they still held their shape. How is it even possible to braid feathers? Your guess is a good as mine.

As you watched over him, he began to snore rather loudly, to which you stifled a laugh. You're sure he probably doesn't sleep like this normally, but you still found it funny how graceless he looked. The arrogant and elegant rito you'd known, the one who'd pick on you for wearing a wrinkled shirt or having an untied shoelace was now before you, snoring on the floor. In a sort of backwards way you nearly felt victorious, like you'd won a bet or proven something.

"Haha! Not so smug now, are you?" you could've said, though there wasn't a point. He was way cooler than you'd ever be, messy sleeper or not. You also weirdly like it when he's mean to you anyways, but you're not ready to confront that just yet. Hopefully that's not unusual.

"Speedy," someone hissed from behind you. You jumped in your seat and looked over to a freckled face peaking over the edge of the entrance. Oh, its her. "What the hell are you doing?!" You glanced back at the Champion, who was still fast asleep, and turned back to her. The woman pulled herself inside, but sat with one leg in and the other still on the ladder. She was in a hurry.

"Are you going to say something?" You looked over to her and shushed her harshly, pointing at the Champion passed out on the floor. The woman looked over at him with surprise, only just realizing he was there. For a moment, her stern expression softened into an admiring smile as he lay there. You weren't the only one who felt adoration towards him, you realized, and for a moment you felt a feeling of both relief and... something else? It felt bitter, like a churning in your stomach. You decided not to think about it and pushed that feeling down. At least you weren't the only one who felt... something about Revali. That made it less weird. Right? Right??

Breaking out of her moment of thought, she turned her gaze back to you and glared. "Do you know how much trouble you could get yourself into?" she whisper yelled. You shrugged with an awkward smile. That night you convinced Russ, an acquaintance of yours, to cover your shift. That guy owed you, especially after ruining one of your only good shirts. Also, he probably could've killed you. Knowing this, he agreed to taking your place that night. Now you're even!

"I mean, I did get Russ to cover for me..." you whispered back. The woman furrowed her eyebrows, a scowl making it's way onto her round face. It was unusual to see her like that, she usually seemed pretty laid back, seemingly always smiling.

"Yeah, and Russ can get in plenty of trouble too," she replied through gritted teeth. Oh man, you've really pissed her off now. "He's a good kid, a hard worker. It'd be a shame for him to get sent home." Huh. That is not how you'd describe that guy. Russ was okay, but a hard worker? A good kid? That was pushing it.

"Yeah, he's a good kid who stabbed me!" You scoffed, rolling your eyes.

"Its fine, you got over it." You couldn't really say anything to that. It was very true, there was minimal recovery time, a few minutes at most. "Come on—" the woman said hurriedly and grabbed your arm. You pulled away from her and scrambled away, thumping against the wood floor. Revali groaned a weak "Shaddup", to which the both of you complied, quieting back down.

"He's hungover, I can't just leave him like this!" you protested lowly. The woman stopped and stared at you a moment, all emotion draining from her face. She looked at you, then at Revali, then you again. "...Why. Is the Rito Champion. Hungover?" Yikes. Things definitely aren't looking great.

"I, uh—" you stammer. "I brought him a gift."

The woman said nothing in reply, only stared with some kind of disappointment. You didn't know just how irresponsible last night's decision was, you'd just wanted to give the poor guy a break. A meal. The wine wasn't even the main event!

"Please keep this between us!" you pleaded quietly. The woman opened her mouth to say something, but Revali stirred for a moment, causing the both of you to freeze in place. He mumbled something to himself before curling up even tighter. She looked at him sweetly, like he was a lost puppy, then back at you. "...Do you even know my name?"

"Do you know mine?" you shot back.

"That's not fair, no one knows your name."

"Ugh, fine, what's your name?"

"Millie."

"Well, Millie, please just—" you sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I've had a rough time. You seem real great, I just really need you to keep this between us." Another beat of silence.

"Why did you even enlist if this is how you're going to act?"

Oh. She didn't know. You'd thought that everyone had caught wind of how you originally got here, but maybe you were wrong. Maybe your weird healing crap even overshadowed the whole dine-and-dash thing? Millie was clueless.

"I didn't enlist. This is a punishment." you told her lowly, like you were telling a secret. Well, the whispering to leave Revali undisturbed probably added to that vibe, but that's beside the point. Millie stayed silent, staring into your soul with a look of confusion. "...And if you tell anyone about this, I am afraid of what they may do to me. They might even send me to..." You trailed off and finally met the woman's eyes.

Millie stared, and you stared back, soldier to soldier. You wonder how she came to enlist, whether it was a dream of hers to serve. Maybe her parents were veterans, maybe she's the first to join the ranks. Does she feel like your presence is a blemish here? Like a false patriot? Whatever the case, she seemingly had immense pride in her serving, and you respected that.

"...Let me write him a quick note or something," you relented with a deep breath. "I'll be down in a sec." With that, your fellow soldier descended wordlessly, and you searched for a pen and paper.

When you'd found it, you scribbled down a quick couple lines:

G'morning sunshine

Had to go talk to you later make sure to drink water or something!

~ Your friend

And with a quick, crudely drawn smiley face, you set the note by his wing and left him to rest, but not before tossing a nearby blanket over his back.