Champions of a Fallen Age

The Final Guardian Spirit

"What are you doing, Master Revali?" Medli asked as she joined the Rito Champion on the ground.

Revali looked from the branch he was holding, pausing in his tracks as he gave her a nod in greeting. "Making a bow," he answered as he resumed stripping the wood of bark.

"May I watch?" she asked.

"It's not that exciting, but you can if you want," he replied absently. Thankfully, she didn't seem offended by his lack of interest and enthusiasm. While making a proper bow wasn't exactly difficult, it required a decent amount of concentration.

The Rito girl sat next to him quietly, watching with interest as he experimentally bent the branch. He growled in annoyance as he felt far too much resistance and heard the faint sound of cracking. He set it down, taking a calming breath before he got back to his feet.

"I have to go find another branch."

"Oh, I'll come with you!" The excitable Rito leaped to her feet and started following him as he began poking around for a suitable branch. "May I ask why you are making another bow? Is your Falcon bow damaged?"

"No, I" He grimaced as he covered his eyes with a wing. He certain that his reason was only something that would make sense in the confines of his own mind. " I've been feeling like I'm stuck or maybe"

"Stagnated," Medli offered.

"Huh?"

"Maybe you feel like you aren't making any more progress. Like you've gone as far as you can go."

"Yeah," he muttered. It was a large part of why he had picked up a sword in the first place. While he felt like he was gaining competence, it was like he was crawling along while Link was bounding forward with his own training. It was difficult to believe he was making progress while one of his peers was so easily able to adapt what he learned.

It was humiliating if he was honest. He had always tried to make himself appear superior in every aspect, but, time and time again, he was given examples of just how far behind he was. "I suppose I thought that maybe I could try to remake my old bow."

"The Eagle bow? How would that help?"

"If I can't remake it with improvements, then it proves that I really can't go any further." He wasn't sure it would be an accurate measure of what he had left to accomplish, but it was something he wanted to try all the same.

"Oh," Medli replied thoughtfully, "I understand."

"You do?"

"Kass likes to tell me that the best learning is done through failure, but I'm not so sure. If that were true, I feel like I'd be the wisest Rito ever," she sighed.

"You're getting better at cooking," Revali offered after a moment of awkwardly searching for something to say.

"Not really. Master Link has to keep making up for my mistakes."

He could sympathize with the hopelessness he saw on her face. There had been a time when he too wondered if his efforts would ever amount to anything.

"So," he started as he mentally reached for anything to change the subject, "how did they make bows in ancient times?" He mentally palmed his face as he considered just how inane the question must have sounded.

Medli tilted her head in thought, forgetting her woes for the moment. "Well, as I understand it, they use the same woods these days; however, they used the tendons from larger animals for the string."

"They what?!" He was caught somewhere between admiration at the ingenuity and disgust at the thought of using such a thing.

"Yep. They used tendons as bowstrings," Medli replied with a nod.