Champions of a Fallen Age

A New Companion

"I'll leave in the morning," Revali replied dismissively as he folded his wings.

"Okay! Just make sure –"

Link tuned out the rest of the conversation as he lost himself to his own thoughts. In the last few minutes, it had been decided that Revali would travel ahead to a nearby tower in order to acquire more of the map for them. While most of the group was okay with the idea, he wasn't happy. Having Revali traveling to the towers meant that the Sheikah Slate would be in the Rito Champion's care. It wasn't that Revali was incapable of taking care of the Slate, but rather, Link had witnessed a number of instances of his fellow Champions mistreating the device. He wasn't sure why it annoyed him as much as it did but seeing things like Revali dropping the Slate carelessly or Daruk nearly crushing it accidentally really got under his skin. He wasn't sure why, but the piece of technology had quickly become important to him. He couldn't quite put his finger on why, but the object called to him and he was determined to take care of it. Even so, he knew he would have to relinquish the device to the Rito Champion soon.

The Hylian Champions sighed as he took to his feet. There was no practical use in moping. His time would be better spent exploring the makeshift shelter they had found.

As he stepped across what remained of the lichen-covered cobblestone path, he noticed the scorch marks that were etched into the stone, both in the road and what remained of the outpost's wall. What wasn't burned was heavily eroded and served as the breeding grounds for a variety of vines and mosses. Unlike the Eastern Abbey, however, there were a few rooms that had managed to remain mostly intact. That wasn't to say that they weren't heavily damaged, but of course, there was little he could discern from the outside. He altered his course for the closest room, shards of broken and rusted metal crunching under his boots as he crossed what would have served as a courtyard before it had been overrun by the surrounding wildlife.

As Link pulled aside a natural screen of vines, he felt a cold tinge travel up his spine. Despite the knowledge that he was being watched, the Hylian Champion didn't feel as though he were in any danger. In fact, he had become rather accustomed to the feeling after a certain incident following their descent from the Plateau. While Revali and Daruk had been recovering from their race to the bottom, Link and Mipha had wandered off in the hopes to scavenge some supplies. They weren't necessarily in need at the moment, but the Hylian had reasoned that it would be better to stock up on supplies before they completely ran out.

While they were exploring their surroundings, they had happened across a she-wolf who, through some unknown means, had her foot crushed beneath a stone. Though he couldn't see any benefit to helping the poor beast, he decided that he would stop to help and, fortunately, Mipha didn't take much convincing. Unfortunately, convincing Mipha was the easiest part. As soon as he took hold of the she-wolf's leg, her jaws clamped down on his arm as she growled incessantly. Even so, Link only grunted as he maintained his grip, using his other hand to help Mipha lift the stone. As soon as the foot was freed, the Hylian Champion wrapped his free arm around the wolf's head, preventing her from breaking his arm as she tried to whip her head back and forth. Her growls became intermixed with whimpers as the Zora Champion knelt down and calmly tended to the crushed appendage. After a few minutes filled with growls, whimpers, grunts, and a soothing voice, the she-wolf's foot had been fixed, allowing Link to let go of her. No sooner had his dual grip on her loosened, she had released his arm and bolted as fast as her legs would take her.

Link had thought that would be the end of it; however, it seemed that the she-wolf wasn't quite done with them yet. Link had found her skulking around the edge of their camp that night. Of course, Mipha and Urbosa had been far too busy to take notice of it. Daruk had passed out after his fall from the top of the Plateau, which had taken up most of the Zora's attention. While she had acknowledged that there was little to nothing she could do for the Goron, that hadn't stopped her from cooking up a variety of elixirs to try on him. Of course, none of them had worked. Urbosa, on the other hand, had taken it upon herself to make sure that Revali stayed put and was getting rest, much to the Rito's chagrin. That left Link alone to wonder what exactly the wolf was doing.