The door gently closed behind her, and Corvus now stood before all of her old friends. Zariah stood closest to the door, watching the others in case they did something. Miko and Darmar both stood furthest away, watching her with wide open eyes, completely shocked. Jira also looked shocked, but she looked happier than Corvus had seen her in years.
Then her eyes fell onto Aadil. He looked livid. Staring at her with solid gold eyes, his face contorted into a look of rage and betrayal.
She couldn't look long.
She watched them all, and suddenly her world seemed to blur. Several images flooded into her mind: seeing the Gerudo arrive in Rito Village, arriving to the Gerudo Palace, meeting them all for the first time, talking to each one of them, practicing her archery with Jira, helping Zariah climb everywhere, laughing along with Darmar and Miko, strategizing with Aadil... then the last time she ever saw them, all of them stood there watching as she was dragged away, the looks on their faces drilled into her mind.
She wasn't ready for this.
Corvus laid back on the filthy bed, covered in bloodstains, trying to fall asleep. She was alone in the dungeon again, she preferred it when she was alone, there was no one trying to mock her or sneer at her. Subconsciously, she reached for another one of her feathers, then held back. She couldn't fall back into doing that again, she couldn't.
She heard people coming and opened a single eye at the bars of the doors. A group of 4 soldiers had arrived and stopped at her cell door.
She closed her eyes again, "What is it this time?" she asked.
"You've been released,"
She froze, then leaned forward and faced them, "What do you mean? My sentence isn't over for a few more months,"
"The Queen wishes to see you,"
Corvus got slowly to her feet, "Then take me to her,"
The soldiers opened the cell floor and she slowly moved forward. The closest soldier grabbed her roughly and took her away. Her joints ached with every step.
As they dragged her further and further away from the dungeons, she was filled with complete confusion. She had no idea what could possibly be happening. There had only been one time, a long time ago, when Zelda ever wanted to talk to her. Still, she had gone down there to the dungeon, Corvus hadn't been dragged away like she was now.
They made a stop in a side room, where she was met with two servant girls, a familiar pile of clothes to the side, and a warm steaming bath. The soldiers left. The girls gestured her over.
They bathed her, washed the grime and the blood and the dirt off of her feathers and her raw skin, finding the wound and bandages around her neck, her most recent attempt to end it all, which somehow refused to go away, every time she tried to take off the bandages, she would start bleeding again, accidentally tear the skin again, and then she'd have to start all over. Somehow, as their gentle hands washed her wounds, they didn't manage to tear anything.
When they were done, they left her alone with a mirror and a pile of clothes. At first she recognized the clothes as the same clothes she'd worn before she was imprisoned, then she realized they were new, just styled in nearly the same way. It was a tan tunic, and several long green cloths. She wrapped one around her waist like a belt and... after a second, tightly wrapped the other around her neck, concealing the bandages she had there.
She turned to leave, but her eyes caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Captivated, she slowly came closer.
The Rito in the mirror was unrecognizable. She looked taller, somehow, and much slimmer. Before she barely had any fat on her muscular structure, but now she had lost all muscle, she was weaker and frailer than she'd ever been before, nothing but skin and bone. Her black feathers tried their best to conceal this. They were longer than she'd ever seen before, she had more of them, with varying lengths, they seemed a richer black. At the edges, they all turned a deep purple. That was the most surprising thing about her appearance, more surprising than her fragile state, the bare patches of skin, the white bandages that stuck out from beneath the green scarf. As she remembered, most Rito only had one color to their feathers, only a few changed, and never like this. Her arms were black, but her fingertips were purple. It was such a dark color that she realized why she never noticed it before, it blended in with the black. She shifted her gaze, turning her head to one side, noticing the razor sharp end to her beak, the jagged ends to her talons.
She took a breath, then tied back the feathers in her face into a knot behind her head, clearing her vision.
She turned towards the door and opened it. The soldiers waited for her on the other side.
She was silent, allowing them to drag her away again, until they opened another door and let her go inside, alone, waiting for the Queen to arrive.
Aadil whipped his head towards Zariah, "Are you going to explain?" he said, spitting venom.
Admirably, Zariah stood her ground, "It was the first thing I did as Queen," she said, "I regret not doing anything sooner,"
"She betrayed us! Do you not remember that?!"
"Yeah, I do, actually. But in the time that's passed, I've forgiven her,"
Aadil locked eyes with Corvus, "I will never,"
She scoffed internally. Of course he wouldn't.
Jira stepped up, "Well, I'm glad you're finally out,"
And of course Jira would be happy.
Corvus smiled at her as Miko spoke up, he seemed distant surprisingly, "We're all different people from who we were back then,"
Aadil looked at him borderline betrayed.
"Look, Aadil, I completely understand," Corvus said, speaking up finally, "If our roles were switched, I would be furious too. I deserve every bit of your hatred. But it's already been done. The least you could do is to respect Zariah's decisions,"
Her words seemed to spark something in the man, he finally seemed to calm down.
Darmar cleared his throat, "So, what's been going on with you guys?" he said, obviously trying to make it less awkward, "Like, uh, Miko, what you been doing?"
Miko immediately froze up, "I, uh, I explored the world for a while, settled down for a bit in Faron,"
"What happened between you and Aadil? You two were together right?" Darmar asked, not seeing the awkward tension between the two of them.
Corvus could laugh, it seemed hilarious to her, Darmar was completely oblivious to whatever had happened between them.
Aadil uneasily glanced at Miko, "Well, I'm still ready for a relationship,"
Relief flushed over Miko's face, "That's good to hear,"
Jira rolled her eyes and moved towards the center of the room where there was a long table surrounded by several chairs, she drew a chair and lounged back in it, "So, Aadil, how's the arm working for you?"
Corvus finally noticed the sleek dark surface of Aadil's left arm, some kind of advanced prosthetic.
"It's been amazing," he said, grinning, moving it around, "I had no idea it was going to work that great,"
"Were you doubting me?" Jira asked with a slight smirk.
"Never,"
Miko turned to Darmar, "So what have you been doing?" he asked eagerly.
Darmar shrugged, "I've been working as a blacksmith and teaching the other Gorons how to fight, I took after my old master, it's been a dream come true,"
"That's awesome," he said with a grin.
Corvus watched them all for a second and silently moved towards the table, sitting down on the surface, going unnoticed as the conversation went on.
"And what about you, Jira?" Miko asked, joining them closer to the table, "Are you still researching the Sheikah?"
"Naturally," she said, still smiling, "Actually, I, uh, I got married. I have a wife, a step-son, I've finally settled down,"
Jira looked up and locked eyes with Corvus, looking slightly uneasy.
Corvus had known about her marriage for a long time, ever since it first happened. There was still something buried deep inside her that long for Jira. She was still beautiful, still kind, still strong. She was still the greatest woman Corvus had ever met. They had tried to make it work, in the first years in jail, Jira would come and they would talk, a few times they did a little more. But it didn't work out. A few years after they broke up, she got married to Esen. Jira still came and talked about her wife constantly, and every time she heard her name, she died a little inside. She tried to bury her feelings deep inside, but they would never go away.
Jira was the first woman Corvus ever loved.
She buried it back in her chest and turned her attention back to the others. Everyone had casually gotten closer to the center table, sitting around, talking, catching up on everything. They talked like this for hours, and Corvus sat back, a silent spectator. She watched as the sun fell steadily in the sky, apathetic to the conversation until the question was finally asked.
"What was it like?" Zariah was the one who asked, her face torn in emotion, "15 years in a cell, how did you ever do it?"
Corvus scoffed and leaned back on the table, Zariah had also joined her in sitting crisscrossed on the table, "It wasn't easy, I had some good days and I had some bad days..." she trailed off, remembering all of her several attempts, how every time she would wake up again the next morning with a fresh bandage, "After a while I grew used to the silence, grew used to being alone,"
She looked back up at them all, locking eyes again with Jira, if it weren't for you being there...
"The worst part is how different everything is. Before I went in, I spent my life outside, surrounded by a mountain breeze, feeling the warm sun against my neck. I was busy nearly every day of my life, I always had something to do, I was always practicing, always trying to be a better archer. In there, I had nothing. I couldn't do a thing. It was quiet, almost pitch dark, no sun on my back, no nice breeze. It was just cold,"
She didn't look up at any of them, she didn't expect anyone to answer, didn't expect anyone's pity.
After a long silence, "Why did you do it?" it was Aadil, it was clear in his voice it still hurt.
She looked up at him, and then tore her eyes away, "I was afraid, I thought I knew what I was doing, I tried to tell myself I was making the right choice, and I was wrong," she paused, and then looked Aadil in the eye, "Look, I have every right to be hated and despised, if you, if any of you never want to speak to me again, I completely understand. I just want you guys to know that I'm sorry. For everything,"
They fell silent again. She knew no one was going to forgive her, Zariah's forgiveness still surprised her.
"I forgive you," Darmar said.
"So do I," Miko added with a slight smile.
She watched them both for a long time in shock.
"I forgave you a long time ago," Jira added.
Of course she did, Corvus knew that.
She turned back to Aadil, expecting to see fury in his eyes, but instead he was silent, thinking hard, then he finally looked back at her, "I won't cut you off, but you're going to have to earn my trust,"
She nodded, "That's more than I could ever ask for,"
They all fell silent again, then Zariah slid off the edge of the table and walked towards the giant window in the wall, watching over the kingdom. There were still lights in the streets, still stands, people were still celebrating Zelda's life.
Zariah turned back to them all, "I'm going to go join the reception," she said, "If any of you want to join...?"
The others all turned to each other in agreement and got to their feet.
"I'm going to stay back," Corvus said quietly, "I don't exactly want to be surrounded by people who hate my guts,"
Zariah nodded, "Alright. See you later," she smiled, and then she turned back towards the door. She and all of the others left her alone.
Corvus dropped down to the floor, walking forward, looking over a world that despised her, a world where she would never be welcomed or wanted.
The pain that came with that realization barely hit as hard anymore. Today must be a good day for her. She sighed and turned away. She left and went to her room.
It was early that morning, the sun hadn't quite risen yet, but she could see color painted into the sky.
She couldn't sleep, the bed was too soft, she was too used to the rock hard one in her cell. Everything was strange, it was too soft, too smooth, too comfortable. She knew she couldn't stay forever. After trying to sleep, she got up too early and watched the sun rise.
She knew she couldn't stay away from her home. She was free now, free to do whatever she wanted, but the one thing she wanted so desperately was to go to the place that despised her more than any other. She had never been welcomed there, she couldn't help that she missed the mountains, the valley she lived in, she missed archery, she missed flying.
So she left.
She walked out to one of the many courtyards of Hyrule castle. There were a few knights and soldiers around but they knew better than to stop her. She walked out into a clear open space and crouched down.
She didn't know what made her do it, maybe it was out of curiosity if she still could.
She took a steady breath in, then let it out.
Air furled up around her, an updraft. She couldn't help but grin, but now was the most difficult part. She leaped up and let her body be carried away by the updraft.
Almost immediately she knew something was wrong. The gusts were too strong, and she was way too weak. Her body got beaten severely by the winds, it tossed and threw her around like a rag doll. Tears came violently to her eyes as the winds around her tore at her feathers, her flesh, the bandage around her throat.
As soon as she reached the peak of the updraft, she tore herself out of it, spreading her wings and gliding away. It only took a few minutes for her arms to throb painfully, but she held still, flapping her arms to gain more momentum.
Despite the painful experience that using Revali's Gale again dealt to her, she had overall succeeded, she now flew away from Hyrule, escaping her cage, leaving one place that despised her for another.
She let the breeze brush past her, wiping away her tears, she felt the sun's warmth as it filled the sky. The laugh came slowly, until she couldn't hold it back. She was flying again, she was freed. She beat her wings and rose higher.
It was going to be a long journey.
When she did finally arrive in the Tabantha Frontier, she saw the rock that marked her home, and smiled. It was the happiest she had been in years.
The flight back wasn't as painful, she didn't dare use Revali's Gale again, she was obviously too weak for it, but there were updrafts everywhere, part of the reason the Rito settled here. Morning had recently turned to afternoon during her flight.
Although she was certain she wasn't welcomed back, she had absolutely no idea what to expect. Jira had mentioned that Evek was the new leader of the village almost immediately after Corvus was imprisoned, how much had he changed? Evek was a good person, the only good person she had known for a long time.
She knew there was only one way to find out. When her feet touched land again, she stood at the front gates of the Rito Village. Immediately, the guard pointed a spear at her. She struggled to keep back a scoff at the sight of a Rito using a spear and not a bow.
"So the freak is back, is she?" the guy sneered, "What are you doing here? Did you escape Hyrule's prison? I heard it's awful there, serves you right for what you did,"
Corvus kept a straight face, "I was released by the Royal family,"
"Good, now we can deal with you the way you deserve," he said, "15 years is too light of a sentence in my opinion,"
"It's not your decision to make,"
"I'm not letting you through these gates,"
Corvus fought back against the anger biting away at her, "Look, all I wanted to do is see my home again,"
"This was never your home, don't pretend it was,"
Those were the first words she let get to her.
She paused, let out a weary sigh, "At least let me go see Evek,"
"Fine. I'll escort you," he snarled.
She was too tired to snap back, she started up the stairs and he followed a little too closely behind.
The Rito Village was beautiful, more than she remembered. Every shop seemed to be bustling with visitors, several new houses had been built for new families, children ran around her and the guard. Every so often she would catch the older Rito watch her with disdain and shock in their eyes. She tried to ignore them.
Further up in the village, she caught sight of a small wooden room with a hammock. Her old home. As she walked by, watching it, she caught sight of a tall red Rito with kind eyes. She looked around her age. Probably the new resident. Corvus turned her head.
At the last house, the guard stopped and waited. She walked inside. There was no one there. It was much nicer than the other houses, with nice rugs and pillows spread over the floor.
She turned back to the guard, "Where's Evek?"
"You really expected him to be here the entire time?" he said.
That's what she was used to, that's what Gaepora was like.
They waited there for several minutes, nearly half an hour if her counting was right. Finally, there was a flash of feathers and someone dove in from above.
Evek slowly got to his feet in front of her. Immediately his eyes widened in shock.
"Corvus?" he asked.
She nodded, "It's been a long time,"
Evek drew back, adopting a more cautious pose, "What happened, I thought you weren't supposed to be freed for a few more months?"
"The Royal Family released me early,"
Evek nodded in his understanding. He had changed since the last time she saw him. He was much taller, much stronger. His green feathers were a darker color, and longer around his jaw line. Beads and rope were wrapped around the feathers at his temples. He wore a simple, yet dignified outfit. He looked mature, he looked like he knew what he was doing.
"You're looking to see if you still have a home here," he said, predicting her wishes down to the last word.
She nodded.
"I can try to help the best I can but I can't promise you'll be welcomed by anyone else," he said, "I've tried my best to end the prejudice in the village, but I know there are still some that hold onto our old ways,"
She nodded again.
The guard behind her seemed outraged, "Wait, you're not going to punish her? You're just going to let her run free?"
"For what crime would I punish her?" Evek asked,
The guard sputtered, "For betraying us!"
"It wasn't you I betrayed," Corvus said slowly.
He scoffed, "Don't pretend like your betrayal didn't affect the rest of us. When you betrayed your 'pals' you betrayed all of Hyrule, you betrayed the Rito. We were all associated with your crimes for years, we were despised. All because of you,"
Again, she felt rage bubbling up in her, but she held it back, drenching it with her guilt.
"You know, then, why I can't exactly welcome you back with open arms," Evek said, "I will not punish you, I trust that 15 years was enough. There are two things I can do for you. There are more houses built into the sides of the cliff, not connected to the village, I believe a few of them are empty if you want to claim one. As per the second," he paused, then turned around towards the side of the room, opening one of his drawers and pulling out something long and slender. He turned back to her with it in his hands.
She recognized it instantly.
It was her bow. The same bow she had used for nearly her entire life, the same dark slender wood, the same string, the black few feathers still tied along the top of it, the deep engravings. With it, in one hand, he carried her quiver, the tan leather pouch she used to have strapped to a belt.
She couldn't help it, she cried. It came slowly, tears filled her eyes. She could not imagine how overjoyed she was to see her bow again. She was certain it was destroyed when she was locked away. She never thought she would see it again.
Evek gently handed them over and she looked up at him as tears streamed down her face.
"Th— thank you," she stammered quietly, "You can't imagine..."
"I couldn't let them destroy it, I figured I would hold onto it for you,"
She nodded her appreciation. She held her bow gently, flooded by this sense of reunion, then slung it over her back, strapping the empty quiver around her waist. For the first time in a long time she felt complete.
She turned to leave but was stopped by Evek.
"There's another crow in the village," he said, knowing how much his words meant to her, "She's young, around 10 years old, you wouldn't know her parents,"
She turned back to him, "Has she been excluded or anything?"
"I know it hasn't been easy for her, but I've tried my best to help her feel like she belongs,"
"Good,"
She stepped out and headed for a nearby deck she could jump off from, she would search for one of the new houses Evek mentioned. She walked past her old home, lingered by it for a few moments, then turned her gaze back towards the stairs. Standing on the deck she was headed to was the little girl Evek just told her about. She was short and skinny, with pitch black feathers and deep blue eyes that sparkled in the light. It was remarkable how much she looked like her.
Corvus smiled at the kid. Almost immediately, the little girl bubbled up in excitement.
She came a little closer, the girl was already almost her height, she didn't have to crouch down.
"What's your name?" Corvus asked, caught up in the moment.
"Layla," she said, smiling, "I don't think I've ever seen you before,"
"I used to live here a long time ago, I've finally been able to come home,"
Layla glanced at her bow and got really excited again, "Are you an archer?"
Corvus smiled, "I used to be the greatest of all the Rito,"
"Whoa... Could you teach me? When I'm older?" she asked, Corvus couldn't help herself, she nodded, "My dad's an Archer too, he told that if I practice enough he'll teach me too!"
Layla's childish energy seemed to rejuvenate her, it brightened her day to see someone like her for the first time, who wouldn't let any kind of cruelty beat her down.
Corvus looked back at the mountains crowning the ridge, and for the first time in her life she felt happy, truly happy, as if she could forget everything that happened and be like Layla.
"I've got to go now," she told the girl, "But it was wonderful to meet you, Layla,"
"I can't wait to tell my mom about you! I didn't even know there was anyone else like me!" she blurted out, "The other kids can be so rude to me sometimes, just because of who I am. Did they do that to you too? How did you deal with it?"
She knelt down beside her, her heart throbbing out for her, "I held my head up strong," she told her, "I never let them beat me down,"
"I'll show them! I'll show them I can be better than any of them!" Corvus couldn't keep back another smile, "I'll see you later!"
She got to her feet, "See ya later,"
She walked to the edge of the deck, turned back to Layla with a smile, and fell back, letting the wind carry her away.