A Glaucous Crown
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Your POV

Standing in the middle of a grassy plain, you await the arrival of whomever wrote the note. Crumpling it into your left fist, you stare at the birds flying through the air, chirping and warbling happily to each other–as if they were singing a merry carol.

Noticing someone walking towards you, the flowing cloak draped behind them suddenly seemed familiar to you, as a nervous knot twists in your stomach. Alarm bells sound in your mind as you notice the tantalising smirk they wore, and you immediately knew that Revali should've killed him.

"Dear Y/n, it's a pleasure to talk again," his smirk grows wide enough to make a Cheshire Cat jealous.

"It's no pleasure, that's for certain," you grumble with an annoyed voice. Taking a step closer to you, he puts a hand up to his chest, holding mock offense in his expression, causing you to scoff, "what did you call me here for, Nate?"

"Look, sorry about the whole 'trying to kill you' thing, genuinely lost my mind there. I just want to make a deal," everything about his voice sounded off to you, but you knew better than to disappear now. Even if you had the power to do so.

"You want to make a deal with me?" You ask hysterically, raising your eyebrows high enough for them to greet the sun.

"Yes. A simple one at that," removing his cloak, you could see the scar on his cheek from your weapon. It pleased you to know he hadn't recovered from the previous fight like you had. No one had to know that your arm had gotten worse.

"No deal is simple when you're the one giving it," you respond, your tongue sharp and witty like always. He only shakes his head, frowning enough to show you that he was full of shit. Just when you were about to turn on your heel and walk away, he speaks.

"I'll teach you all there is to archery. You know how skilled I am. Only thing I ask in return, is that you don't give the list of names to the Champions," you were stunned. How did you know you had that box with you? Virtually no one would've seen you with the box, and no one would've known what was inside.

"How do you know about the list?" You ask, narrowing your eyes at your fellow Clan mate.

"It's simple. I read the note that Dear Little Mipha wrote you. Sweet one, she is, but clearly, she wanted the scroll for herself. You are aware she wouldn't give you that book for the scroll? She's lying through her teeth," he explains, and the two voices battling in your head grows louder. It was like an unbalanced scale, one side winning and saying to walk away, and the other, smaller voice, saying to stay, to agree. He must've known how much you've wanted to learn archery.

"The terms?" You ask quietly, gripping the note tighter, feeling the crumpled edges lightly digging into your palm. You let the pain ground you, keeping your eyes either on his stupid smirk, or on the horizon behind him.

"Well, if we decide to do archery training first, you'll have to give me the box with the list, so I can ensure you don't sneak it to them behind my back," you scoff, but secretly, you knew you would do that. Giving a slow nod, he raises his eyebrows, "so, when and where are we starting the training?"

"Now, I guess. I can tell you must've learnt to teleport, correct?" Another nod, "great. Well, give me the box and we can go to the royal training yard." You found it suspicious he wanted to go to the royal training yard, but then again, it was one of the only ones to go to. The Yiga one was out of bounds as you'd both run away again, and there was no way that Nate would head to the Rito one, with the changes of running into Revali.

Grabbing your knapsack off your shoulder, you reach in and pull out the small, intricate box. Tentatively handing it to him, you wince slightly as you feel the box being ripped so harshly from your grip. As soon as he pockets the box in his own bag, the both of you teleport to the training grounds.

~~🌹~~

You were standing in the open area with a Duplex Bow in your hands. Nate had somehow managed to steal one from a footsoldier beforehand, and he'd given it to you. He currently was watching you trying and failing to draw back the bowstring, so he walked up to you.

"Your arms are too tense," he states as he stands behind you. His arms envelope your own as he corrects your position with the bow. You shiver slightly at his touch, and you momentarily freeze up.

After repositioning your arms, he says, "shoot," so you let the grip of the string loosen, letting it slip past your fingers. The arrow shot through the air, before setting itself aggressively into the middle of the target. You had only one arrow in the bow, but you knew that you could fire two at once in the Duplex Bow. It had a similar technique to what Revali's bow, the Great Eagle Bow, used.

"See, you did it," Nate whispers in your ear, slowly backing away from you. You then turn to him, noticing a different expression on his face. Raising an eyebrow, you turn around to see where his gaze was, only to notice an angry Rito glaring daggers at him. Except it wasn't any old Rito, it was Revali. When he notices you looking at him, he let out a sigh before walking up to the two of you.

"What's up, Revali?" You greet him, although still confused on the matter.

"Just what were you two doing?" His electric green eyes were glaring at both you and Nate–something you weren't exactly used to. You shuffled nervously, mentally figuring out what to say.

"I was just helping her with her archery training, that's all," Nate says calmly, his voice weaker than usual.

"Oh, so you think you know the most about archery? You think you're just the perfect mentor?" He scoffs, clearly displeased with the current situation.

"I'm a brilliant archer. You're not the only one, birdbrain," you'd enlightened him with a few of the names you'd call Revali, so he thought to use one. Only thing he didn't know, was that Revali would let only you call him those names.

"Watch your tongue, Yiga Scum," he spat, standing in front of him, glowering down at Nate. You decided to back away, staying out of this cat fight.

"Why should I? Why exactly are you pissed at me?" Nate challenges, and you resist the urge to facepalm yourself. Wherever this was going, it wasn't heading in an overly pleasing direction. If they got any crankier with each other, you'd have to step in–the last thing you wanted was bloodshed.

"I think I should have every right to be pissed at someone of Yiga status," he growls back, his beak clicking angrily. Nate rolls his eyes, bringing his gaze briefly to you. You already knew what he was going to say.

"Then why aren't you pissed at her? Last I heard, she's Yiga, just like me," he responds, his smirk growing further at Revali's pissed expression.

"Well last I heard, she fucking hates it there," at his words, Nate turns to you with a furious look. He quickly forgot about Revali as he walked up to you angrily. You make a mental note to punch the shit out of Revali later, but there was minimal time to think about that as Nate aims a quick punch to your nose.

With little time to interpret anything, you take it with a strong expression, the throbbing ache causing your nose to burn, "you don't like it there? Why don't you? The Clan is the best thing that ever happened to you!" He yells, throwing another punch at you. This time, at least, you were ready, so you ducked out of the way and expertly aimed a punch at his stomach, causing him to kneel over.

"I don't have to explain anything to you," you reply just as he returns to his full height. His look was ever enraged, but he couldn't do anything further when Revali holds him in place, both wings on his arms with an iron-tight grip.

"If you think this is another chance to kill her, you are seriously barking up the wrong tree," he mutters dangerously into Nate's ear, causing him to temporarily freeze. You scoff at his response, taking out your dagger that sat patiently at your waist, "honors are all yours, Y/n," Revali says smugly, kicking the back of Nate's leg when it looked like he was going to talk.

Full to the brim with hatred for him, nothing stopped you plunging the dagger deep into his chest, and nothing blocked his painful screams out. You let them into your ears gleefully as you withdrew the dagger, stabbing him again with it. Revali's grin drops slightly at your evil look, before letting Nate's limp body go. He falls to the floor, blood pooling underneath him as you kick his face. Crouching down, you take the box from his knapsack. Turns out you'd found a loophole in his so called 'deal' after all.

After a minute passes, and no noise came from him, you and Revali left the grounds, confident he was dead.

"Y/n, will I ever be on the receiving end of... that?" He refers to your knife, which he gives a small glance to. You chuckle dryly, your veins still pumping adrenaline through your body. You give him a small shake of your head, the two of you walking back up to the castle.

"How about you explain why you were mad at him?" You ask, briefly looking at his face, admiring his ruffled feathers. A part of you wanted to reach a hand up and comb them, but you thought otherwise, as he looked away.

"Like I said, I have every right to be mad at a Yiga," he responds gruffly.

"But that's not why you were glaring daggers at him. There was something else, wasn't there?" You ask gleefully, knowing that you'd get the answer this time.

"Fine, maybe there was another reason. I don't see why you should know," he quickens his pace just as you do, walking through the many corridors of the castle. Even if you'd just murdered another from your Clan, you weren't fazed. You weren't broken up and crying, like you were with Malum's death. You felt... at peace. No more confusion, you could choose your own side.

"C'mon, Revali. You know the curiosity killed the cat," you say, this new side of you shocking the both of you. You were normally more careful with what you said, but with how little sleep you got, and the adrenaline coursing through you, you almost felt drunk. Almost.

"Does it look I care about a fucking cat?" He raises an eyebrow at you, his vulgar words not uncommon to you.

"The truth won't kill you," you say, sighing deeply. You look up at the ceiling, noticing a chandelier splashing warm, golden light across the walls.

"I know it won't, but it'll ruin my ego," he mutters to himself, which you only just caught.

"That's what you're worried about? Oh, you're such a scaredy cat," when you call him that, his head snaps to you, scowling at your smug expression. Bumping your shoulder slightly, he chuckles under his breath at your comment, finding no real anger to it.

"Fine. I'll tell you. If you're so curious about it," the two of you stop in the hallway, standing in front of his Champion's Quarters. With a deep breath, he looks into your eyes solemnly, which unwillingly sends a shiver down your spine. "I didn't like it when he was so close to you. If you wanted someone to teach you archery, you should've gone to me." His words were nothing but the truth, and a part of you felt guilty for accepting Nate's deal. Even if the last time you'd met, he tried to kill you.

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry, by the way. But I'm more than aware that apologies mean nothing to you. What's done is done, okay?" You say, never breaking the eye contact between the two of you. With no one approaching, you allowed yourself to stand in his presence a little longer. "Why didn't you want him close to me?"

"Because I'm jealous," he grumbles, and you fight the will to laugh. Keeping a genuine face, you wait for him to explain, "seriously, you need me to spell it out for you?" Something in your mind clicks, and you feel your cheeks go a rosy red. The heat plays with your brain, sending thoughts spiralling. Briefly looking to the ground, you begin to understand his actions.

"You... like me?" You whisper, bringing your gaze up. He offers a flicker of a smile, his beak slightly curling upwards. There was nothing in the world that could bring your mood down when he responded.

"Yes, I do."

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2198 words.