Champions of a Fallen Age

Never Enough

"What're you doing here?" another one of the contestants asked as Revali touched down. He didn't bother dignifying the idiotic question with a response. He was holding a bow and had gathered with every other Rito who sought to compete in the semi-centennial archery contest. It was among the most looked forward to events in the Rito's culture.

According to legend, the contest had begun as a way to honor a Rito archer who had fought against a Calamity alongside the Hero. If the legends were to be believed, the archer who had championed the Rito in ancient times was without equal, either before or since his time. Though none really believed such fables, the Rito still trained until they wore off the feathers from their hands and wings, determined to prove themselves.

The competition involved flying through a course that took competitors in a circle around the cavity that surrounded the Village. Along the course, the hopefuls would have to spot targets and put an arrow as close to the center as they could. The shots could be made either from land or air, depending on the current contestant's individual preference.

While the contest was similar to many other contests around Hyrule, it was considered to be the harshest. Not only was the accuracy of shots judged, but so were the contestants' speed, maneuverability, and the ease with which they found their marks. Past winners even considered how comfortable the competitors looked while wielding their bows.

When all was said and done, only a true pride of the Rito could hope to win. It was considered so integral to the culture that news of it often spread to other Villages scattered around Hyrule and beyond.

While Revali wanted to come top in every category, he knew all too well that it would take everything he had to win. He had made great improvements in his skills with a bow, but his opponents had the advantage of being trained by past winners; however, what he lacked in accuracy was made up with aerial maneuverability and his keen eyesight.

In order to further prepare himself for the impending contest, he had asked his guardian to hide various targets in his training area. Then, he flew above and did his best to spot as many as he could. When he could finally spot every target each time, he moved on to shooting from the air.

In the beginning, he had crashed repeatedly as he tried and failed miserably to draw and maintain balance while flying. It wasn't until he had watched his peers struggle in the same way that he began to understand his mistakes. In order to give himself time to draw and release at close range, he slowed down, just like they did. Without the momentum to keep them going, they would inevitably lose their balance and miss the shot, if they managed to get that far at all.

With the newfound knowledge, he changed his methods, sacrificing proximity for balance and, hopefully, increased accuracy. It took him hours upon hours of spotting and speeding up, letting his momentum carry him forward as he drew and released. Even after months of practicing for hours a day, he still had a lot of improvements to make. He would just have to hope that being able to hit close to the center as often as he hit a bull's eye would be enough.

He looked down at the bow Kaneli had gifted him with so long ago. He had several bows now, all more powerful than the one Kaneli had picked out for him, but he had chosen to bring that one. It wasn't sentimentality, he just understood it better than his others.

It was tortuous, waiting for his turn to demonstrate the fruits of his training. His nerves had started to poke their heads out as one of the judges explained the rules of the contest. They continued to crawl out of hiding as each contestant took their turn. By the time the second to last contender had gone, his own pulse was deafening. Part of it was his own doubts, the other was due to him being unable to watch the other competitor's runs.