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Mipha can’t stop herself from letting out a gasp as she crests the hill. Not that her guard fares any better either. The scintillating view of Rito Village fills both Zora with an immense relief after such a long journey. The central spire proudly rises from the sparkling waters of Lake Totori as it ascends into the sky. The sudden shadow that passes over Mipha instinctively causes her to glance up. The imposing form of Vah Medoh soars above. Even with the distance between them, Mipha almost believes she can faintly hear the roaring whoosh from the blades underneath the Divine Beast.
“Shall we proceed, Princess?” her guard asks.
“Yes, we shall indeed. I’m sure there will be more than enough time to admire the view during our stay.” Mipha takes a step forward before clapping her hands together. Turning back to her guard, she says, “You are free to do whatever you want during our stay here. Take some time off to relax and enjoy your stay! It will be a long journey back after all.”
“I would be a fool to waste such an opportunity. I hope to snag some trinkets for my family back home,” the Zora allows a smile to grace his face as his guard drops. “If my assistance is needed Princess, don’t hesitate to ask. My duty here is to you, first and foremost.”
Mipha sends a small nod his way.
Descending into the valley, the unmistakable form of two Rito begin to become clear. Standing in position next to the bridge, spears at the ready, watching the Zora journey towards them. Before long, the smiles on their beaks can be seen. When the Zora finally come within a few feet of the Rito, the avians give a slight bow towards the pair. A female Rito begins the conversation, “Welcome to Rito Village, Princess! I hope the journey wasn’t too arduous for you two.”
“Thankfully not, though, I’m not looking forward to crossing over Tabantha Bridge again.” Mipha lets out a small laugh. “Those creaking boards are bound to make anyone lose their meal.”
“Well, I’m happy to announce that out village was built with sturdiness in mind!” The male Rito to the right gives a flourish with his free wing back towards the village. “Well, don’t let us hold you up too long now. I’m sure you got plenty of things you need to do. My partner here will guide you two into the village.” He gestures to the female Rito by his side.
“Partner!? Is that how you introduce your wife?” The female Rito lets out with an air of mock exasperation.
He sends her a look with one eyebrow raised. “Hush, you. Must you embarrass me in front every visitor?”
“Well, we get so few visitors that I need to savor the moments some do come. Plus, it is quite fun to ruffle your feathers,” she croons back.
A slight blush can be seen tinging his cheeks. He gives her a wave with his wing as he looks at random point in the distance. A satisfied smile graces her beak.
She directs her attention back to the Zora. “Follow me!” She gestures to them and begins to cross the bridge.
The air is filled with the songs of birds that float along the gentle breeze that blows. The water below constantly sparkles from the numerous fish jumping above the surface and creating splashes. The imposing Hebra mountains in the distance with their snow-capped peaks offer a stunning panorama. If Mipha squints just enough, she believes she can spy a building nestled in the foothills on the far side of the lake.
The female Rito spies her looking off in that direction. “That would be the Flight Range you’re looking at. That’s probably where you will be spending most of your time during your stay here,” she explains, “but today, you’ll be treated to a banquet here in the village for you!”
An expression of meekness forms on Mipha’s face. “You didn’t need to throw a celebration for me.”
The Rito brushes her worries off with a wave of the wing. “Nonsense! You are an honored guest for us Rito. So few outside visitors make the journey out here that it is always an occasion when one pops up. That’s not even mentioning the fact that it’s a royal visit we get the pleasure of experiencing.” She glances back at Mipha with a sly smile. “And I should mention that Master Revali specifically requested a banquet be thrown for you. He’s been preparing for this visit the moment he got your letter; and he would not take no for an answer.”
“I was just expecting some training with a bow for this trip,” the princess admitted, “I don’t want to feel like I’m imposing myself on you here.” She does not know what to think about the Rito Champion suggesting a gathering for her. After their encounter at the gala, she thought she had him clocked in as an anti-party person. Apparently, she was mistaken in that regard.
“Princess,” her Zora companion starts, “you are one of the first people to always suggest a banquet be thrown when Princess Zelda visits the Domain. So, I think you have more than earned the right to treated with the same respect. Please enjoy it, all of us Zora think you deserve it!”
As she nervously wrings her hands together, Mipha sheepishly responds, “Th-That may be true. You got me there, but—”
Just as the group begin ascending the stairs and approach the Goddess statue—nestled snuggly within the rock—a high-pitched gasp can be heard from above. Looking up, Mipha sees the form of an excited Rito child peering over the side of one of the large landings above. The young hatchling begins to jump up and down in excitement. Failing to conceal their exultation, the Rito looks back towards the platform as he announces, “She’s here! She’s here! Come on!”
A muffled “Wait—!” is briefly heard before multiple young Rito soon glide off the landing. In what feels like a matter of seconds, Mipha is soon surrounded by a group of young avians looking at her with amazement and flapping their colorful wings in jubilation.
“Is it true you can ascend waterf—”
“Can you show me your spea—”
“What’s it like being a princ—”
“Do you have any stories of Master Rev—”
Mipha can barely comprehend the utter cacophony of questions being thrown at her.
A whoosh of air hits the ground as a voice shouts, “Enough!”
Mipha shields her eyes as a Rito lands behind the young avians. Glancing up, Mipha sees the recognizable blue scarf briefly before it is covered by wings being crossed in front of it. Revali spares Mipha a quick look before directing his attention towards the children. “Now…now. I was in the middle of giving a lesson and you just up and leave?” A thoughtful look crosses his face as his voice takes on an ironic trill. “I guess you don’t want me to teach you my skills after all…”
Looks of utter shock can be seen on the fletchlings’ faces.
“No…!”
“Please Master Revali!”
“Teach us, teach us…!”
“We’re sorry…!”
“Weeeeellll,” Revali draws out, “If you’re sorry, I guess I can forgive you.”
With the utter relief that crosses the young Ritos’ faces, one would think they just survived an encounter with death.
A contented smile forms on Revali’s face, “Give Champion Mipha some room, all of you. Why don’t you go help for the banquet tonight? You can bug the princess as much as you want at that time.”
The gang of fletchlings scatters just as quickly as it forms. With some flying to places higher on the spire, and others ascending up by using the stairs.
The female Rito nods to Revali in acknowledgement before addressing the two. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it.” She motions towards the Zora guard. “Let’s get you checked in to the inn.”
The two ascend the stairs and disappear around the corner. “What kind of shops do—” The start of a conversation between the two quickly fading out of hearing distance.
Revali gives all his attention back to Mipha. He gives a look over the Zora’s form before speaking. “It looks like you made it here in one piece after all! Not that I was doubting your ability to, of course”
Flipping his scarf up, Revali then proceeds to spread his wings in a grandiose manner as he adopts a prideful expression. “Welcome to the home of the Rito, Princess Mipha!”
Mipha clears her throat, purposefully loud enough to be heard.
A befuddled aura overtakes the Rito Champion. His mind scrambling for an explanation before it hits him. He rubs his wings together. “I mean…Welcome to the home of the Rito, Mipha.”
The Zora gives a hum of approval. “I’m glad the opportunity to visit this place has finally been granted to me. I’ve only heard stories till this point, yet the scenic view is certainly living up to the praise.”
“It may be picturesque now, but we pay for this beauty with the brutally harsh winters,” Revali says, “though there is something to be said about huddling around a fire while snow gently falls outside.”
“I wouldn’t mind seeing such a scene. Despite us Zora being especially susceptible to cold temperatures, I yearn to be able to see the snow fall at some point,” Mipha admits.
The pair begin to stroll up the stairs side-by-side; Revali’s feathers briefly make contact with Mipha’s scales. Yet, neither seem to notice.
“Be sure to stop by the clothing shop before you leave then,” Revali directs Mipha’s attention to a hut further up the spiral stairs, “they infuse some of our feathers in the clothing, so it is quite useful for protection against the cold.”
“I’ll be sure to take a peek then. I suspect I might need to get a custom piece made for me though; I doubt you have a lot of Zora-specific pieces in stock,” Mipha lets out with a chuckle.
“Probably not, but I’m sure Typhoon would be more than happy to test his craft by creating clothing for a Zora,” Revali reveals, “he has helped repair my attire on multiple occasions.” He gestures to his attire.
Mipha takes a more detailed looked at Revali’s clothing. It seems to suit him perfectly, yet her attention is taken mostly be the jade rings around Revali’s talons. The luster of the gems have faded with age, yet they remain immaculately clean which the Zora finds curious. They are quite clean for something that I have never seen Revali without. So lost in thought is the princess that she inadvertently runs into the back of the Rito Champion who stepped in front of her to let someone pass down.
“I’m sorry!” Mipha blurts out with a small blush.
Revali look quizzically at her over his shoulder. “It’s fine, I should have been more aware of where I was stepping.”
“No, it was my fault,” Mipha points to the jade rings. “I was just curious about those.”
Revali stops and slightly lifts one of his talons. “These old things? I have had them since I was a young fletchling. Apparently they used to belong to my mother, or that’s what I’ve been told at the very least.”
“Well, I think they suit you quite well. They match your eyes perfectly!” Mipha concludes with finality.
Revali’s beak opens a bit, and he almost loses his balance. “Y-You don’t need to exaggerate now.”
“I haven’t seen jade before, so I happen to think they are quite special in my eyes,” she affirms.
A thoughtful look settles on the Rito’s face as a peaceful silence surrounds the two. As they rise further up, more and more Rito can be seen bustling around. Every so often, Mipha can spy other Rito peering at the pair from within their hovels. Mipha even thinks she spots a… knowing look on some of their faces, though she can’t surmise why.
Eventually, the two Champions come upon one of the village’s largest landings. Various Rito move around setting up tables and one sits aside tuning an instrument. The smell of food being cooked filters over from one of the side perches. Idle chatter and laughter emanate from the fledglings maneuvering through the legs of the adults.
“You didn’t have to do this, Revali,” Mipha says, “I just wanted some archery training on this visit.”
Revali waves her off with his wing. “Preposterous! We can start the training tomorrow after some rest. Let all of us show you some Rito hospitality. You deserve it for coming all the way out to this far-flung place. And it gives us a good excuse to raise some spirits around here.”
Mipha relents to Revali’s insistence. “You need to pay a visit to the Domain at some point, then at least I can repay you for the Rito’s kindness.”
The Zora sees a forlorn smile on the Rito’s beak as he looks towards the Hebra mountains, though the smile’s sorrowful edge softens as he looks at Mipha. In an uncharacteristically soft voice, he responds, “Perhaps. We’ll see.”
A jaunty tune starts up from the Rito with the instrument. Revali directs Mipha over to the highest perch not far from the landing. “The elder should be there. I’m sure he has some message he wants to send back with you. While you go do that, I’ll help with the final preparations.”
“Father did send me with a message for the elder, so I best get that out of the way.” Mipha smiles at the Rito as he looks at her. “I’ll see you in a little bit then.”
Revali cocks his head to the side and takes on a humorous tone. “You better show up, I don’t know how I’d explain to the kids that the princess ghosted the celebration meant for her.”