Landing on the tail-shaped platform of Vah Medoh, I register my Sheikah Slate with the Guidance Stone there, adjusting my skirt a little. A voice rings out, and I look up, then around. Only the voice, but that smug tone is unmistakable. Revali.

 “Well, now. I’ve seen a face much like that before. Are you the child of that Hylian? Wait… no, you ARE, aren’t you! I had a feeling you would show up eventually. But I must say, making me wait a hundred years is a bit… self-indulgent. Anyway, you’re here to wrest control of Medoh away from Ganon, correct? If so, the first thing you’ll want to do is find yourself a map. Doubtless you’d be utterly lost without one, hmmhmmhmm! There’s a proper Guidance stone with the layout of this Divine Beast, further inside. Can you make it there without your hand being held? And, I don’t know if anyone’s told you this, but you look frankly ridiculous in that skirt and facepaint! Hah!”

 

Revali’s voice fades away, and I hunch in on myself for a few minutes. That cut deeper than I expected. I didn’t believe he’d gotten more pleasant after a hundred years, but to have a ghostly voice belonging to that jerk haunting me wouldn’t make my ‘top-ten things I wanted to deal with’ list.

 

Once the unpleasant feeling of crawling discomfort dissipates, I make my way inside. Yucky purple-black spikes and puddles of goop block the way just over the threshold, with a disgusting yellowed eye swivelling, socketless and lidless, to fixate on me. I shoot it with a regular arrow, and it poofs into nasty smoke, taking the spikes and goop along with it. Huh. “I don’t know what that stuff is, but it’s so gross!”

 

The area behind the goop barrier is weird. A huge hole in the floor, with moving blocks and metal slabs. Carefully, I use my Magnesis rune to make a path safe enough to cross, almost getting blasted by a Guardian Scout on the other side. A couple of well-timed smacks with my sword, and it falls to pieces. The Guidance Stone is now mine.

The map of the Divine Beast appears on my Sheikah Slate, along with a notification. ‘Divine Beast controls have been enabled’. Looks like I have access to how things work in here, cool! Let’s see…

Ugh, Revali’s back.

“You’ll need to look closely at your map of the Divine Beast. The terminals that will purge the corruption from Medoh are marked by those glowing points. You’ll need to activate ALL of the terminals to take back control. Think you’re up to it, ‘little girl’?”

 

I grit my teeth and ignore him as I turn my mind to solving this puzzle. Tilting the wings, I drop into the lower level of the Divine Beast, shooting another one of those weird gloopy eyeballs. This one has a mouth, and it spews floating skeletal Moblin heads. Nope nope nope nope nope nope! Smashing it aside, I dart through the opening and look for anything I can do. This one is simple. With judicious application of a spherical bomb, I unblock a pathway, before ascending a ramp and tilting the wings the other way. Paragliding across the room to an elevated nook, I activate the first terminal.

“Four more remaining. Still a ways to go!”

Shut up, Revali! Why are you always like this?!

 

More turning, more runes. Another terminal down, and yet another snarky comment from Revali. How could I forget that I was always at odds with this jerkwad??

Terminal three comes about ten minutes later, as I work my way through the giant machine. Revali’s mockingly-impressed tone returns, and I exhale in frustration.

“There are two terminals remaining. You’re almost there!”

 

Turning the wings back again, I return to the central ‘body’ of the Divine Beast, before tilting it further. With a leap, I glide along beneath the wing, into a small hangar on the far end. Terminal four. As I activate it, Revali chimes in again, sounding shocked, but I can tell he’s just mocking me, as usual. Bastard bird…

“Just one terminal remaining! Well, what do you know??”

Finally, after almost an hour of gliding, bombing, thinking, and getting smack-talked by an oversized duck, I activate the last of the five terminals. I groan internally as Revali mock-gasps.

“That was the last terminal! Now you just need to start the main control unit! I want you to take a good look at your map. There should be a new glowing point there. Weeeell? Flap to it!”

 

I’ll give YOU a new glowing point in a minute, you son-of-a-cucco!

Returning to the central mass of the gigantic bird-mech, I cast my eyes about, looking for anything I can use. The’ new glowing point’ is on what appears to be the outside, on the back of Vah Medoh. An updraft, a powerful one that seems to rise through the roof of the chamber, has turned on, and I shrug. “Going up, I guess.” Hopping in, I unfurl my paraglider and ascend.

In the centre of Medoh’s back is something that looks like a head of garlic. It’s pulsing with the same orange light as the back of my Sheikah Slate, and I approach. As I touch it to the terminal of the control core, the filthy black and magenta slime erupts from somewhere inside the garlic, followed by threads of light, much like the energy emitted by the Guardians when they fire their lasers. Something‘s happening!

 

Turning, I look up, as something takes shape above. Some kind of vile hybrid of Sheikah technology and the sludge. An arm forms from the glop, a torso connected to what looks some sort of anti-gravity pad, and a strange, bulky object that I can only assume is a weapon, rather than some abused trumpet. A head with a face that might be a mask or visor, with long, lank, dark red hair forms, and the monster lets out a battle yell.

“Oh, okay, thanks for mentioning THIS thing, Revali, you ass!” I yell, as it begins trying in earnest to kill me.

“Good luck! That thing’s one of Ganon’s own, and it plays dirty! It defeated ME one hundred years ago… but only because I was winging it.”

“SO I NOTICED!”

“I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but… you must avenge me, Link!”

 

“Not my name anymore! Now shut up and let me concentrate!”

 

With this whatever-it-is shooting at me with its arm-cannon, it takes all my agility and skill to avoid taking a bolt of energy to the face, returning fire with my bow, striking at the muzzle of the warped Sheikah weapon repeatedly, using the updrafts rising all around the area. I don’t know how long the fight goes on for, but, suddenly, the Ganon-creature backs off, four strange floating objects pulling away from the thing’s back.

I stay ready, watching this new development. I end up having to sprint, when the Ganon-monster fires a bolt of energy at one of its floating object. The bolt ends up refracting from the original target to the others, before a barrage of sizzling bolts of light blitz the space I was standing.

I manage to fire off another trio of arrows, switching to bomb arrows, hoping that’ll be more effective. Finally, with the final explosive shaft detonating on the arm-cannon, the creature writhes, the weird goop streaming off it as rays of purple light start bursting out of it, before a huge blast of violet consumes it.

Once I’m sure that no more… surprises are forthcoming, I step forward and touch my Sheikah Slate to the pedestal again. As I finish restoring the original settings, bringing the Divine Beast back under Champion authority, Revali’s voice breaks the silence.

“Well, I’ll be plucked… you defeated him, eh? Who would’ve thought…?”

From above, Revali descends, landing nearby. His body is glowing softly, and turquoise flames dance around him, just like the ghost of King Rhoam.

“Well done. I suppose I should thank you now that my spirit is free. This returns Medoh back to its rightful owner!”

He gestures with an expansive wing-sweep.

He huffs, “Don’t preen yourself just for doing your job, even if you did it while dressed like a clown-”

 

BOOM! While Revali is mouthing off, I summon a spherical bomb from my Sheikah Slate and hurl it, detonating it right next to his head. As he splutters in shock and indignation, I stamp my foot.

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP! Do you even LISTEN to yourself?! Acting like I wanted ANY of this?!”

He blinks. “What do you-?”

“I … I never ASKED… for ANY OF THIS. I didn’t CHOOSE to be appointed Zel’s knight! I never wanted to wield the Master Sword. I… I NEVER WANTED TO BE A BOY!”

Silence. Even the Rito Champion’s legendary sardonicism fails him, as his beak hangs open.

I cross my arms under my ‘bust’, hugging myself. “You… you wanted to be a Champion. You wanted to prove how amazing you are. And I never thought I was better than you! My skills with a bow are like a child’s compared to you! You have so much talent and skill, and I never wanted what you had. I wanted my OWN LIFE, but I didn’t get to make that choice. And you never understood why I was so quiet! You didn’t realise that I was forced to carry the expectations of a whole KINGDOM! Not just Hylians, but the Zora, the Rito, the Gorons and the Gerudo! ALL eyes were on ME. I had to bear all that weight and pressure. And all while pretending to be a boy.”

Revali’s bright green eyes are wide, his beak hanging open. He swallows. “Link, I…”

“Not. Link. MY name… is Link-A. LIN-KA!”

He colours, somehow visible even under his cheekfeathers. He clears his throat. “W-well, in any case-”

I arch my brows at him. “Did I say I was finished, Revali?” my tone is sweet, but there’s a hint of venom to it that makes the ghostly Champion take a step back.

“N-no, of course not. Please, continue.” His tone is humbled somewhat, and I wait a few moments.

“So. I…Have spent… my whole life… living up to expectations I never had a say in. My father was a knight, and he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I never completed my training fully, since I was ‘lucky’ to be in the right place at the right time and skipped ahead several years. I was assigned to serve directly as Zel’s bodyguard. I was put on a pedestal and viewed as a hero. And I never wanted any of it. All I wanted… was to live freely. To be myself...”

I sigh, looking down. “I never wanted you to hate me, I never hated you…”

Revali’s feathers rustle softly as he approaches.

Linka…. I... I had no idea. You were always so… stoic, and hard to read. I thought you were just stuck-up. You were the perfect knight, the Champion of Hyrule, chosen by the Master Sword. I assumed you were following your dreams, doing what you wanted. I… I felt… inferior. I worked my tail off to develop my unique skill, and I was so caught up in my own problems, I… I couldn’t see those of others. I… I’m sorry!”

He bows, both wings held wide. I stare in shock, not having expected this. I’d been prepared to call him an overgrown pigeon, to go on a tirade about how much of an arrogant bastard he was. But… an apology was the last thing I’d anticipated. I smile shyly.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for throwing a bomb at you.”

“I think I deserved it, don’t you?”

Revali straightens, coughing into his wing.

“Anyway, you’ve proven yourself a valiant and skilful warrior, one worthy of my unique ability.  The sacred skill that I have dubbed Revali’s Gale!”

Pirouetting, he throws a wing up into the sky, and a ball of emerald light forms at his wingtip. Drawing it back, he launches it at me, and I feel a rush of power suffuse my entire being. With a thought, wind begins whirling around my feet, and I kick off, catapulting into the air, flipping backwards and landing in an elegant crouch, one hand keeping my skirt from flipping up.

Revali nods in approval.

“It’s now time to move on and start making preparations for Medoh’s strike on Ganon.”

With a genuine smile, the Rito teasingly adds, “but only if you still think you’ll need my help while you’re fighting inside Hyrule Castle? Feel free to thank me now!”

I nod. “Thank you, Revali. I wish we could have been friends before this… the real me, and you.”

He shrugs. “Who’s there to say we can’t change that? Go on, you still have much to do, you know. The princess has been waiting an awfully long time...”

As I nod, heading to throw myself off the wing and paraglide back down, he says one last thing.

“And, by the way… you don’t look like a clown. You look… beautiful. Happy.”