Sight - BotW fan-fiction (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 12 - the harp and the cithern

"Hey, Revali."
Link's voice gently eased him into consciousness, where he was hugging his torso tightly.
"Hm?"
"Could you just move so I can get up?"
"Nnn, why do you have to wake up so early?"
"Princess Zelda is going to the market and since I'm her appointed knight, I do actually have to go with her."
"Can I come with you then?"
"Of course you can. It might make my job a little more bearable."

It was a slow start, but eventually they both got up and waited by the front door for Zelda. The light filtered through the leaves of the trees that stood outside the entrance, spilling its light onto the ground.
"Apologies, I'm here," Zelda huffed as she rubbed her eyes, "We can go now."
Link let out a hum and followed Zelda out of the entrance, checking Revali was behind him as they began walking to the market.
"So what's the sudden visit for, Princess?"
"I'm going to check on the local villagers, but also to indulge myself," she kept a straight face throughout, "Unfortunately Link has to accompany me, as he is my appointed knight."
"Right, so why didn't he have to come with you everywhere before?" Revali thought to when he'd arrived.
"Well, to be blunt, because he was unconscious for most of it, and recovering for the rest. Instead I had Urbosa, Daruk or Mipha come with me."
With a blank expression, he nodded, "Yes, that makes sense."

The sun was little before midday, though the air still cooled Link's skin. He shuffled after Zelda, who talked to stall after stall in the busy marketplace. It was boring, but at least had its benefits.
"Revali, do you and Link want to look at some of the stalls on your own? I need to discuss some business with my father's advisor and I may be a while."
"Of course, thank you Princess," his rito grabbed Link's arm and dragged him off, earning a surprised grunt from the hylian.
They passed a few stalls, and glanced at the wares with uninterested looks, until they came to one that caught their eyes.
"Hey, what is this one?"
A meticulously-decorated, royal-purple booth presented itself in front of them. It had an almost-eerie aura, but Link felt drawn to it.
"Hello!" A cheery voice piped up from inside, "Come on in."
Hesitating for a moment, he stood back and watched as Revali pushed past the silk fabric and entered the tent-like stall. He followed soon after. Immediately, his nose was flooded with the smell of Akkala sea salt and hyrule herb.
It was full of beautiful instruments and jewellery, gold and silver and bronze. All of the earrings and necklaces glinted in the light, and Link noticed that Revali wore his diamond choker.
"Is there anything in particular that interests you two?" A round-faced, pale-skinned hylian smiled at them. She wore her hair down messily, copper-coloured feathers braided into her auburn hair. Her face was littered with freckles.
Link reached for Revali's wing, but found himself grabbing at air. The rito had wandered away to a side of it, staring starry-eyed at a particular instrument.
A gorgeous harp, its frame made from shining silver and the strings looked like gut strings. It was truly breathtaking, and Revali was entranced by it.
"I see you've found your choice," the woman chuckled, "We're having a sale at the moment. All items with the red tie is half off."
Surely enough, a red tie was precariously and gently tied around the silver frame. A small paper attached to it revealed its original price, cut down to 100 rupees.
Next to it lie a stunning cittern, made from fine, spruce wood. It was patterned with silky lines from the spruce, and the strings were perfectly taut. Link ran his hand over the wood, feeling its glossy surface.
Revali dug around in his bag for a moment before producing a pouch of coins. He placed a silver rupee on her desk carefully and slid it over to her. She picked it up and gently bit onto it, Link didn't understand why most of the stall owners would do this.
"It's yours, do you want it wrapped up?"
"Yes, please."
She got up and took the harp, carefully lifting it onto her desk and setting it down on its side. Using some beige-coloured paper, she enveloped the harp in it and tied a string around it, keeping it together.
Revali opened his bag, it was a fairly big backpack, so he could probably fit it in.
Link looked at the price of the cithern, and lit up. He had more than enough for it.
Searching in his pocket, he eventually found the coin purse he'd been given by Zelda as payment. He opened it up and gave the woman a purple rupee. She nodded and gestured for the cithern.

As they exited her tent, Revali had offered to carry Link's cithern in his bag.
The two wandered back over to Zelda, but Revali paused along the way.
"Link, I'll be just a minute. Head back to Zelda."
Link gave Revali a hug before walking off at a fast speed, past the many stalls that he saw.
A tent with a weapon sign above, one with a book sign above. These clearly caught his eyes but he figured he'd come back with Revali later.
After a few minutes, he arrived back at the advisor's stall. Zelda pushed through the fabric and breathed in deeply the fresh air.
She noticed Link alone and asked, "Where's Revali?"
He nodded his head at the market, specifically the place where he'd left him.
"Strange, I'd have thought you two would never separate," she chuckled and Link shot her a look, "Yes, it's obvious. To everyone except Daruk."
He sighed, he really shouldn't be distracted. But it was too difficult, ever since the calamity, Revali had seemed to change. Now he knows that the poor rito was so hard on himself it pushed him to jealousy for Link, who was just excellent at birth.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Zelda looked confused.
Her guard shrugged and looked up to see Revali making his way back over, trying hard to keep in an insult as someone bashed into him.
"Couldn't we have come at any other time? It seems some people are too busy to acknowledge anything else," he shot a glare at the direction of the man.
"Alright, we can return now. I've finished what I came here to do, unless you want to stay I think we'll be on our way."

They entered the castle in the early afternoon, and Revali spoke to Zelda about his home, per Zelda's questions. While the rito looked confident, Link could see the uncomfortable movements he made, like bringing his knees closer together or his eyes flitting around the place.
Bowing to Zelda, he pointed to Revali and tilted his head to their room.
"Of course, you're dismissed. You don't have to follow me everywhere anymore."
Relief almost made Revali sink to the ground.
"Thank you," he quietly said while they were walking off, "I was hoping she would get it."