A Hero's Spirit

Chapter 12: The Golden Elixir

Wow, this story is still alive?! Yes! Yes it is. I've explained this a few times to my bnha and Hetalia readers, but let me tell you Zelda fans, too! I never abandon a posted story. I don't care if it takes me years to get back to it, it will never be abandoned. Sometimes my muse cycles between fandoms (it's been hopping between Zelda and bnha for a bit, now). SSHD has brought me back to Zelda for the time being, which means you all get new updates! :D

I hope you all enjoy this! It's nearly 10k words! 

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As the world came back into focus, so too did the irritated glare of a very familiar Rito. Revali stood, wings crossed, before the Hateno Shrine.

"Hi." Link greeted sheepishly, mindful of the small gash on his arm from their encounter with the golden lizalfos.

"Yes. Hi ." Revali's eyes narrowed as he also noticed the injury. "You're lucky I was the first to notice you gone. You can thank me later. You and Zelda were out in the forest studying the plant life, if anyone asks."

Link and Zelda both gave a massive sigh of relief. "Thanks, Revali. I owe you."

"Yes." He scowled. "You do . And you can start by explaining just where you two were."

"Erm..." Link rubbed the back of his head. "We went... to Hyrule Castle."

The Rito stared at the two bashful Hylians with nothing short of disbelief. "You... why ?"

"It was my idea." Zelda spoke up. "I wanted to retrieve a few things, and... I only really wanted Link to come with me. I didn't think it'd still be so dangerous there with Ganon gone."

Revali eyed the two Hylians with a half-groan half-sigh. "Why is my Rito brother such an idiot?" He muttered under his breath, and Link was fairly sure he wasn't meant to hear it. "So let me get this straight. You two risked your lives, returning to the place where you died , to retrieve clothing ."

"There's a lot of important research notes I managed to retrieve from my study." Zelda spoke softly, looking properly like a chastised child.

"Either way, you two ran off without telling anyone ." Revali huffed.

"Like you and I haven't done the same." Link challenged.

"Yes, and that got me an arrow in the shoulder." The Rito reminded him with a wince.

"But you'd do it again." He smirked, and his feathered brother sighed.

"Look, I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying take me with you next time."

Zelda snorted in amusement, quickly covering her mouth with a darkening blush. "Oh, sorry. Forgive us for not inviting you to the party. Next time, I'm sure the knights will be pleased to welcome you."

"Knights?" Revali shot her a look.

"Apparently a couple hundred of them stayed." Zelda nodded.

"W-wait, how many knights did Hyrule have ?" Link startled. He'd apparently missed the number the first go-around.

"Tens of thousands." Zelda smiled sadly. "We had nearly three million Hylians when the Calamity hit."

Link felt like he'd been punched. "That many ?" He whispered. He knew Urbosa had told him as such, but it was no less shocking to hear of such numbers. Link couldn't even begin to imagine such a population.