I Give You My Life ~ Revali x Reader

Chapter Ten

[Your POV]

I stood at the entrance of Zora Domain, standing beside Revali. We were just waiting for Zelda and Link. Mipha bowed to the two of us. "It has been an honor for the two of you to stay here. (Y/N)?" She said. I stood up straight. "Feel free to visit whenever you want. Know you always have friends here in Zora Domain." She curtsied and Revali and I bowed back. Link and Zelda exited the throne room and made their way down to us.

"I apologize. We're late." Zelda said. "We wanted to thank King Dorephan personally for allowing us to stay here." My face went red with embarrassment. Should I have done that as well!? Zelda read my mind and giggled. "All is well, (Y/N). He wishes you safe travels."

"Okay." I said, giving a sigh of relief. "Where's Urbosa and Daruk?"

"They left earlier this morning." Link said. "Come. Let's be off." When we exited Zora Domain, there were two horses waiting for us.

"I can fly, so I don't need a horse." Revali said, spreading his wings.

"You can ride with me, (Y/N)." Link said, sitting up on his horse, holding his hand out to me.

"I don't think they'll need to." Revali said. "Can't they ride with the princess?"

"You don't want to impede on the princess, do you, (Y/N)?" Link asked, shooting a glare at Revali.

"No." I said, shuffling uncomfortably. There was obvious tension between the Rito Champion and Link.

"Then you can ride with me." Link said, hoisting me up on the horse behind him. Revali opened his mouth to speak, but Link's horse reared up.

"AH!" I shrieked and wrapped my arms tightly around Link's torso. Suddenly the horse flew forward, leaving Zelda and Revali in the dust.

"Last one to the palace is a rotten bokoblin!" Link yelled with a smirk. Revali took to the air and Zelda hurried to keep on our level. As we were riding, my grip on Link loosened and I relaxed enough to look down at the horse we were riding.

"I-Is this-" I stuttered, pointing down at the horse.

"Epona?" Link finished for me. "Yes, yes it is." With a big goofy grin on my face, I pat Epona gently.

~~~~~

As the sun set, we came to a horse stable. Zelda checked the horses and us in, Link got our food and began cooking at the fire pit. As I got off Epona, Revali landed on the ground next to me. "Did you have fun with the little hero?" He asked bitterly.

"What's up with you?" I asked, giving Epona some more pats. "I thought you'd be happy to get back to the Rito Village."

"Well, we have to stop at the palace first." Revali reminded me. "Why'd you agree to ride with Link?"

"Well, how else was I supposed to keep up?" I asked.

"I could've given you a ride." He muttered.

"You didn't offer it." I said.

"Oh yeah." He said, his face becoming heated in embarrassment. "Well, you can't ride with Link on the way to the Rito Village, since it'll just be you and I."

"Didn't you just say you could give me a ride?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, I did, but I'm not going to have the strength to carry you all the way to the Rito Village-" He suddenly stopped himself. "I-I mean, I do have the strength, you're just not worth my time- I mean-" I giggled at his flustered expressions. "Ugh! You know what? Nevermind! We're losing daylight! I'm going to teach you how to tame a horse!"

My giggles stopped. "Tame...a horse?" I asked.

"What, have you never heard of it or something?" Revali asked, a smirk growing on his face.

I furrowed by brows. "Of course I've heard of it!" I said. "I've just...never done it before..."

"Well, I'm going to teach you." Revali said. "It will be the start of MANY things I will teach you." He pointed to a field behind the stables. Wild horses. "Let's go."

As we walked towards the field, I tried piecing together why Revali had acted so weirdly. He hadn't offered to give me a ride, but made a fuss about me not getting on his back. Insisted I ride with Zelda instead of Link...was he possibly jealous? Of course, he probably didn't have a crush on me, so he was probably just jealous that Link was getting attention. Was that it? It had to be. There seemed to be no other explanation. 

"Here we are." Revali said, stopping me a good distance away from the horses. "Do you see any horses you find fit to tame?"

I scanned the horses. A lot of them seemed familiar, most having a brown to greenish color. But there was one that stood out to me. A pitch black horse ate peacefully among the others. 'I'm about to end that horse's whole career.' I told myself, trying to motivate myself. I pointed to the black horse. "I like that one." I said to Revali.

Revali followed my finger, staring at the black horse. He suppressed his laughter. "Oh! This is going to be fun to watch." He said. "Black horses are the hardest to tame. Do you have any idea HOW to tame a horse, or must I teach you everything?"

I scowled at Revali. He's treating me like a child! I thought back to how I used to tame horses in the video game. "I wanna try." I said. "If I need your help, I'll ask for it." Without even glancing at Revali, I strolled closer. Revali folded his wings and watched with that stupid smirk on his face.

I crouched down in the tall grass, my eyes set on the black horse. If there was one thing I knew about horses, it's that you never approach them from behind. I once knew someone who got their ribs broken because a horse kicked them when they came up behind it. I was so nervous about scaring it, I got down on my hands and knees, creeping closer. It still didn't notice me. Once I was close enough, I took the chance, and clambered onto its back.

I almost fell off when it began kicking uncontrollably, but I wrapped my arms around its neck, keeping my seat. The horse trashed around, kicking the air with its hooves. AGH! What do I do!? Revali's probably laughing his ass off right now...

The horse began running around, then towards the stable. "NO!" I cried. Who knows what it would do there!? I thought back to the game, thinking of what to do to calm down a horse. My mind went to me patting Epona gently.

I reached up and ran my hand down its neck, then its sides, gently stroking it. I prayed it would calm down. To my luck, my prayers were answered. The horse gradually chilled out. Eventually, it was trotting happily around the entrance of the stable. Revali, Zelda, and Link were standing around the fire pit, watching. Zelda was the first to stand. "Wow, (Y/N)! That was amazing!" She said, strolling to my side. "You really do have a gift with animals."

"Thank you, Zelda." I said hoarsely. I gave the horse a gentle pat. I laid my head on its neck, breathing heavily.

"Not bad." Revali said. I puffed out my cheeks. The sun was nearly gone, and most of the light was emitting from the fire pit Link was still cooking at. "Now, go take it to the front and get it registered."

I walked up to the person standing at the entrance, and opened my mouth, but the Hylian man spoke before I could. "That was amazing! There are very few people who manage to tame a black beautiful stallion! I'll register your horse for free for that marvelous show!" He said, reaching behind the counter. He pulled out a saddle and other horse gear. "Here you go! What are you going to name him?"

So the horse was a 'he'. I thought of names, looking up at the horse. We locked eyes and the name rolled off my tongue. "I'd like to call him...Ares."