#no ethari yet

[that-disabled-princess]

I just love the thought of Runaan and Ethari teasing each other about their tastes in tea

[ask-runaan-anything]

Hiiii. Got nothin to ask just wanted to say hi, you give me a lot of drawing motivation

You know what I look like? I thought I was so well hidden...

[ruthari-preacher]

Gren: Do you support gay rights? Runaan: I’m literally gay. Gren: You’re avoiding the question!

[apogean-tides]

I was today years old when I learnt that one of Runaan's early concept designs was rejected for being too "spicy" and now it lives rent free in my head

Me: side thigh slits. what's so spicy about them?

Also me: *watches Hell's Paradise for the first time* o-oh. OH.

[auggiedrawsturts]

Someone get that dumb brittish twink out of the coin right now so i can erase him and the entire dumb moonfam out of my brain

[raayllum]

She Must Pay the Price, or A Drop of Mercy :: A Rayla and Leola Meta

Quick:

You're a young elven girl, and you show mercy and compassion to a human that you definitely weren't supposed to. When it's found out, you're punished, with elves even calling for your execution (6x09, book 1 novelization). Your father does what he can, but there's only so much. You're put on trial. You're found guilty regardless of intent, and only by association. You die for this; you die for them. You're a star. A guiding light. There's even a Great Fall off a precipice (though only one of you hits the ground).

Your name is Leola, or Rayla.

You're the beginning and the end, respectively.

So let's talk about it.

Tests of Love

For years, I had wondered where Aaravos' assessment of "Those who fail tests of love are simple animals. They deserve to be motivated by fear" (2x09) came from, cause you don't drop in a line like that if it's not going somewhere. It's quite a statement and worldview, after all. Now, with Leola's trial, it seems we know.

We can see, then, perhaps that Leola's gift giving was the first test of love — are you willing to break the Natural Law, the Natural Order of things? — to help another? To show another a source of power in order to share, to be compassionate, and in Rayla's case, to be merciful (though we'll get more to that in a minute).

We also know that the love Leola had was powerful and all encompassing:

She didn't care to follow the order set in the stars. Though she was born an immortal being from the Heavens, she loved this world... and all its flaws. Her heart was warm and open.

And she befriended mortals. Animals, elves... and humans.

ETHARI: Who I love, where I love, what I love, are all specific. But to Runaan and those like your parents... love is rooted in all families, all creatures. Souls like that feel called to protect everyone as fiercely as those they hold close. (Bloodmoon Huntress)

Okay, so Leola and Rayla both have big compassionate hearts and befriend creatures from all over the place. So what? So do Callum, Ezran, Soren, and most of our other main good guy characters. Even Claudia to a degree (though she could work on not using magical creatures for spell parts).

Well, specifically, it's because of how they intersect currently more with anyone else on the concept of

Mercy

KOSMO: Daughter of the Moon, yours is a wondrous heart. In a moment of mercy, you sent ripples out into the ocean of time. Ripples that have not yet stilled. (6x05)

Rayla sparing Marcos, as noted in multiple interviews by the creators and by myself in previous metas, is ultimately the inciting incident / lynchpin of the entire series. Without it, there would've been no soulfang proposal or Ez running away to find the egg or any of the number of other elements that had to come together to make achieving peace possible.

While we still have details to discover regarding Aaravos' Fall and development of dark magic, we know that a lack of mercy was ultimately what sent him on his path of vengeance. Leola was not shown mercy, and while it seems there were already "flaws" for an imperfect world, things were (probably) better than they currently are in Xadia in a variety of ways. Then, to kick off the entire Saga, we have Rayla sparing Marcos in a soundtrack literally titled "Mercy" and have Kosmo, seasons and seasons later, spell out directly what a big deal this was for well, the ocean of time.

None of this is to say Rayla can't act out of revenge — she did ("when I first came here, I was on a mission for revenge") and she has ("but I became so obsessed with revenge"), much like Aaravos ("he isn't doing anything out of love, he's doing it for revenge") — but that her general compassion and love for others has always been stronger than her grief or rage, and that even when she had every social and personal reason to, she was and is fundamentally unable to hurt someone innocent.

Even when she's shamed or punished for it by herself or by others. RAYLA: The human looked up at me, and I saw the fear in his eyes. RUNAAN: Of course he was afraid, but you a job to do! (1x01)

EZRAN: Yeah, but then you saw he was scared, and you knew he was a person, just like you. RAYLA: That shouldn't have mattered. I had a job to do. (1x08)

The Cosmic Council — and to a degree, the Silvergrove — say that the reasonings or motivations, the intentions, behind Leola and Rayla's actions do not and should not matter when it comes out to doling 'Justice'. So Leola faces her justice, being literally killed in the one manner that can kill a Startouch elf, and so does Rayla, being metaphorically Ghosted / 'murdered' by her community, regardless.

Neither are enough to ultimately quell their light or their love/power, however.

A Star

RAYLA: That beautiful shining star you just pointed out? We call it Leola's Last Wish. (5x02)

So both Leola and Rayla are stars in season 6, literally and metaphorically respectively. Leola's is more self-explanatory, whereas Rayla's is mostly about the role she has in Callum's life as a guiding light and star. I don't think it's a coincidence, though, that just as Rayla placed Callum on his path of being a primal mage, though, that Leola did the same for humanity. I also don't think it's a coincidence that Callum's love for Rayla restores Callum's own light and agency amid Leola giving humanity the same through light and fire.

It happened long ago, when humans had only just learned to hold fire in their hands without burning. They nurtured their precious primal flames secretly—in the dark of night, beneath shadows and shrouds—as cultivating its glow drew the eyes and ire of monsters. Eventually, for the audacity of their fire, they were hunted, and—though they looked to the stars for salvation—the stars, too, looked down upon them with disdain. Humanity had been given something it was never meant to have. (TDP shorts, Ripples)

In this way, we see the manifestation of a repeating parallel of Rayla representing Leola, a gift giver of life, magic, light, unjustly punished/killed, and Callum representing humanity, looking to the kindest brightest star for guidance, magic, restoration, and salvation if he's just given the chance to grasp it. After all, presumably, Leola's last wish would have something to do with primal magic and humanity, and who represents that better than Callum, with two arcana under his belt and possibly more on the way? With that in mind, I want to return to another quote from earlier but with a different focus on

Ripples

Daughter of the Moon, yours is a wondrous heart. In a moment of mercy, you sent ripples out into the ocean of time. Ripples that have not yet stilled.

The wisest of the humans looked upon the water. His own reflection smiled back at him, and he dared to imagine what such power would feel like in his own hands, should he be allowed to hold it. Imagine, he thought, if I were more than what I am. With a trembling hand he touched the surface of the water. Ripples spread from his fingertips. [...] I hope the stars were watching. I hope they saw it: the moment their perfect reflections turned warped and ruined, churned to chaos by the touch of a single human hand. In this, the humans taught me another lesson. And so I touch the surface of the water. I watch the ripples spread.

Water in TDP is a strange beast, symbolically speaking. There are some more straight forward motifs (reflections, "don't try to control where the river [of life] goes, there's one thing you can know and control: yourself"). For Aaravos, it's connected to deep loss but also his own sense of patience in playing and winning his game, as illustrated above. For Rayla, it's linked to shame, self-reflection, bravery, and loss. Aaravos weeps and creates a sea upon losing Leola; Rayla says goodbye to her family by the lotus pond times three.

We don't know what water represents for Leola. Not distinctly, anyway. The best we can figure though, is that by following the through line of the Rayla and Leola parallels, that the ripples Leola wanted to send out or did send out — not the distortions caused by her father and his grief — are ones that Rayla received, and then continued.

Rayla has always been a foil to Aaravos, and this hasn't changed. She is the one who set Callum on the path initially of being a mage, which put him in Aaravos' machinations as prey; she retrieved his Key; and she's the reason Callum's done dark magic, twice. At the same time, much like the moon, Rayla carries Leola's light as much as she shoulders Aaravos' dark. She literally represents light in Callum's life, helps lead him through the darkness, and him being a primal mage and it's possible growth to other humans is the best possible thing that could've ever happened to Xadia.

Sol Regem says that "no one can save" Xadia or fix what is deeply broken. The Cosmic Council said that Leola had broken the Cosmic order and had to pay the price. Rayla has repeatedly been willing to pay the price for both hers and other's actions in hopes of making things right, of sparing others' pain. Sometimes to her detriment, but—if Rayla as Callum's one Truth could fix the darkness within him, if she's the lynchpin for breaking the Cycle, for bringing back Runaan and fixing her family's souls, in opposing and presenting mercy amid the Council's lack of mercy, in the face of Xadia's violence—

Then Rayla's act of mercy in 1x01, and potentially beyond in S7 with Callum, will be what fixes Xadia.

Leola's gift of magic is what 'broke' Xadia, and her execution is what literally did so, leading to the division of the continent. She wrongly paid the price in the absence of mercy and love. Rayla is therefore her thematic successor — welcomed this time as Light and Truth — as the carrier of Mercy and Love, and she will 'fix' Xadia through her ripples and dynamics. She will mend them back together. There will, at last, be no price to pay.

Misc. Thoughts / Predictions

One thing I was always curious about going forward into future seasons was the prospect of a 'trial' or reunification of the Silvergrove. It felt like a no-brainer the Silvergrove would have to change in order to reflect Runaan's character arc, much the way we see Katolis and the Sunfire elves change to better accommodate the new, more compassionate world order. Pre-S4 a trial felt a little strange as an idea, though post-S4 the parallels it could provide to the Lucia tribunal made more sense about why include either (or both).

However, Leola's trial seemed to hammer home the almost necessity (as this is still a prediction, after all, that may not happen) of Rayla and/or Runaan saying their peace to the Silvergrove leaders. This would be a great opportunity to provide a contrast to the Cosmic Council, reaffirming that Xadia is ultimately better than them because the Moonshadow elves and everyone else can change, and the Cosmic Council seemingly cannot or will not. But I guess we'll have to wait for S7 or beyond (#GiveUsTheSaga) to find out if this'll come to fruition or not.

I also wanted to touch on what we see with Leola ("I'm so scared!") and the repeated emphasis on "recognizing fear as a moment of empathy and personhood" and the horror that can come if you don't have that moment of recognition. This is something I've touched on before most notably as a striking difference between S1 Rayla and S5 Claudia, but I thought it was worth mentioning as S6 added to it specifically with Viren towards Soren and Lissa. This is another point in the "Rayla is an inversion of the Council's lack of mercy" column, as Leola's — a child's fear, and Aaravos willing to pay the price and take her place — earns her no mercy. Rayla, meanwhile, sees someone innocent that she has 'every right' to execute is afraid of her, and that strays her hand; it steadies her sword, and she spares him. Because if someone is afraid of you, it's worth asking yourself why, and what you might want to do instead.

Last but not least I wanted to talk about Leola's parallels to Callum and Ezran as well, since they are very much there (though yet not perhaps to the same extent).

Ezran has Leola's friendliness to animals and soft heart. He too is a child whose death is called for as a means of Justice, and he is granted mercy through Rayla and the discovery of the egg, able to live and grow and help usher in peace. He is, I think, what Leola might've been allowed to be if she'd lived in different times. Callum, meanwhile, carries the gift giving motif through his cube, staff, and tokens he both gives to (moon-phoenix bracelet) and receives (the moon opal necklace) from Rayla, and previous 'human-Leola' magic dynamic. Callum being able to break free fully from Aaravos' and dark magic's control in S7 and turn his eye instead to primal magic will be what helps bring true justice to Leola and hope for humanity / Xadia in righting the Cosmic Council's fundamental wrongdoing. Hopefully, anyway.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into some parallels and potential narrative goings-on between Leola and Rayla as characters. TDP loves its historical and ironic layers in TDP (Ez and the Orphan Queen, Viren's arc from S1 to S6) and I think this layered thematic dynamic between the two merciful young girls was a good, brilliant choice by the creative team. I'm excited to see where this thematic thread goes in the future and how it may continue to be woven into the story. As always, thank you for reading, and I'll see you in the next one.

[themistdragon]

Rest in Peace to the Following:

- Sir Sparklepuff (died doing what he loved, getting brutally murdered for magic)

- Viren (the redemption was too little, too late)

- Karim's last shred of dignity (imagine betraying the woman who loved you and being absolutely humiliated on the battlefield when your old fart of a dragon didn't show up all because you were racist)

- Zym's relevance (the show is literally called The Dragon Prince and yet his screentime has been on the steady decline since season five)

- Leola (being kind to humans is the worst crime in the universe and punishable by death, apparently)

- Tiadrin and Lain (you didn't deserve your fate, but at least you're together in eternity)

- Claudia and Terry's relationship (Terry let Claudia chose her own path, and was surprised when the path quite literally took her away from him)

- Ethari's screentime (just put our weary hearts to rest and reunite already!!!)

[arclundarchivist]

Thinking about Downfall again, and I just have to wonder why the three missing Prime’s weren’t there.

We know why Etharis wasn’t there, we know that Ioun had been taken captive, we know that Kord and Bahamut were waiting in the wings alongside Tiamat.

But what of the Changebringer? The Moonweaver? Moradin?

Could they not stomach the thought? Did they simply not agree?

Was the Lady of Change willing to see the Change of Aeor through one way or another, yet so tied to Freedom that she couldn’t put her own hand on the tiller?

Moradin is the God of Craftsman, was he too impressed by the workings of Aeor, but unlike the chaos within the heart of the Arch Heart was he too staid to lend a hand in its destruction?

Was the Goddess of Love to bereaved by all that would be lost to raise her hand against her children? Did she hear all their secrets and feel too moved by them to move against them? From where does the deepest amount of care spring, love or mercy?

I want to know their thoughts. Why they weren’t there. What they would have done if they had been. Would things have been different?

[ruthariandbluecookies]

Me: What do you mean season 7 is going to happen soon and we haven't seen Ethari yet? What do you mean it's been two years since we last saw him? What do you mean Ethari and Runaan haven't reunited yet? What do you mean Ethari might think Runaan is still dead? Your all liars. Ruthari has reunited and are living out their best days with no Aaravos and no Viren. They are looking after Rayla with Lain and Tiadrin who are very much alive and are also looking after all her friends.

...

Also Me: Denial is a river in Egypt and I am drowning in it

[cosmicpoutine]

i was gonna make more sketches to post with this but my wrist hurts

anyways, modern/biker au. ethari is a mechanic and runaan is a reckless pilot, they're not married yet so that's why i didn't include the horn cuffs. this au coexists with the rayllum modern au.

[jelzorz]

158.

"Hey, you know how to pick locks, right?"

It's an odd thing to ask. Callum's always been weird like that, Rayla supposes, and usually his weird questions are related to magic, and Xadia, and elven script and Rayla is (generally) happy to oblige. What can she say? He likes to learn, and the lilt in his voice and the light in his eyes and the excitement in his smile is endearing, and she's never been particularly good at saying no, at least not to him.

But this one is weird because it's not a Xadia thing, or a magic thing, or an elven script thing, and when he asks, he's not nearly as upbeat about it. At first, she doesn't get it. It's a useful skill to have, and a fun skill to master—it's like a puzzle but more fiddly, and Rayla had taught herself years and years ago because she didn't like it when Ethari and Runaan tried to keep her out of places, so of course she learned (in part) to spite them. Callum's never really had the same restrictions because he's a prince, and all he has to do to unlock anything is ask, usually, and yet—

"Can you teach me?"

"Er. Sure?" Rayla tilts her head at him curiously. "You planning a heist or something?"

Callum chuckles a little. "Or something," he says cryptically. "What, you don't think I can do it?"

"I don't think it's your style," says Rayla. "You're a prince and high mage, why on earth would you need to know how to pick a lock?"

He smirks then. "Ancient tomes, forbidden libraries, old abandoned ruins, jellytart runs... All sorts of reasons. Just feels like a necessary skill for adventure, y'know?"

Rayla laughs at that. "I mean, I guess. How often are you intending to break into forbidden libraries and old abandoned ruins?"

"As often as I need to, thank you very much. I have a whole life of adventure ahead of me, and I'll be damned if not being able to pick locks is the thing that stops me."

Rayla shakes her head at him, trying not to laugh at the way he wheedles. She was never going to say no, and he knows it, and he's far too smug about it for it not to be funny. For a second, she actually forgets that it's a weird thing to ask and teases him back: "Fine, but you'll have to ask Opeli for the handcuffs. I'm sure she won't wonder why you want them."

Callum snickers loudly at that, and it's that simple, that easy, just jokes between the two of them about a skill they don't really need, until later, when Rayla's showing him the mechanics of a lock and a thought occurs to her that reminds her why the whole thing feels a bit off-kilter.

"You know, we've only really had problems with locks, like, twice," she muses. "There was that one time Opeli arrested me, and then that time on Sea Legs, but I mean, you managed fine."

Something flickers across Callum's face. His smile twitches, falters, and if Rayla didn't know him so well, she might have missed it because she can see how hard he's trying to make it less of a deal than it is.

"Yeah, well." He shifts uncomfortably, the memory just as unpleasant for him. "I don't want repeats. I don't want anyone else trying to feed you to any sea leviathans."

"Somehow I think that was a one time thing." Rayla pauses, her smile fading a little as she fiddles with the manacles on his wrists. "How'd you get out of the chains Finnegrin put you in anyway? You apparently didn't pick them."

There's a pause. Callum looks away, and the whole world stills as the realisation dawns over Rayla, as cold as the way her blood froze in her veins that same day.

"...Callum."

"I had to do," he says quietly. He meets her gaze then, and the storm in his eyes makes her intestines writhe like snakes. "I couldn't let him hurt you."

Rayla says nothing for a moment, fingers hovering over the chains locked around his wrists. Her heart thumps heavily. Her breath shudders out. "Well," she says after a moment. "I guess we have to make sure you don't end up in that position a third time."

"You're not angry?"

"I don't know." She touches his hand then and finds herself relieved that it's still warm under her fingers. She doesn't know how to feel about it, but they're both alive and they're both safe so... that must count for something. "It doesn't matter," she says in the end. "I'm just... Glad we're okay. You won't do it again anyway."

Callum looks up at her. "Won't I?"

"No." Rayla hands him the lockpick. "I won't let you."

[colonelpancakes]

Watching The Dragon Prince Season Six Part Nine: Stardust! The time has come to see if Rayla will make it out of this season with the most parents. I hope so

Under the cut as per the usual!

Hey, the quote from the beginning of episode one! I wonder if we’ll find out more about him and that other Startouch elf given that he’s quoting them now.

Ohhh. Okay. I was entirely convinced that the quasar diamond was another fake. Whoops

Oh, Claudia, honey… 🥺

Skafjlk Something about Aaravos just suddenly showing up next to Claudia so that he can shush her is so funny to me. I think it might be Terry’s face.

HUH? EXCUSE ME??? That was not something I expected. Aaravos has a kid?? Hello?

Darling!!! Oh, honey. She looks so sweet!!! I love her already.

I am also already feeling immense dread because Aaravos is talking about her in the past tense and she isn’t here in present day. “Had a daughter” oh god. Something bad is going to happen to the baby isn’t it. I am not ready.

Sweethearttttt. Oh my god, the way that you can hear the love in Aaravos’s voice as he talks about her… It’s not an emotion don't think I could have pictured on him before this episode but it's so tangible, the voice acting in this episode is incredible. This episode is going to murder me isn’t it.

Also, I like how the terms he's using to describe her could also easily apply to Claudia whom he's trying to get to empathize with him. To connect her own love for her father to his love for his daughter.

Okay, this might be me reading into it but. The way his daughter's hands are held in this picture looks a lot like the way I flap my hands when I stim. Is Aaravos’s daughter maybe neurodivergent? Either way, I love her already, she’s so sweet.

Give Aaravos’s VA an award. The RANGE this man has, spanning from threatening to playful to right here where it’s so soft and sad and full of love for his daughter.

Also, the adoraburrs!!! Look at her!!!

…I am remembering vividly that response from the writers when someone asked if the Startouch child in the intro was a younger Aaravos and they responded that the child was Leola. Oh no. And again, the fact that Aaravos is talking about Leola only in the past tense… I am not ready for this episode oh no. NOTHING HAS EVEN HAPPENED YET AND I’M ABOUT TO CRY.

Also, the animators always do such an amazing job with Aaravos’s expressions. I just. Oh…

Callum, buddy, I don't think you're helping.

Oh, Rayla, honey… I might be wrong but I think that’s the first time Rayla has actually verbally acknowledged Runaan and Ethari as her parents. I know she’s called them her family before but I don’t think she’s called them her parents.

“Those coins will guide you. Each coin contains a fragment of a soul. On the other side, the rest of the soul longs to be whole again, for it cannot pass into death incomplete.”

I like the clarification of what the coins actually do to a person and why they’re worse than death. Because they don’t allow the spirit to achieve peace by passing on or allow them to continue their life, they trap them in between life and death. I also really like that they’re bringing back the stuff from Through the Moon.

Callum… I love them so much oh my gosh. He’s so nervous for her…

They're so sweet, I love them!!!

Ough and the fact that, to get her family back, Rayla has to dive into the lake despite her fear of the water.

OHH NOO I am getting Through the Moon flashbacks, Runaan??? Buddy?? I wonder if it’s a side effect of being in the coin? Are Rayla’s bio parents gonna be like that too?

While the corruption obviously isn’t great, I must say, I like the curly hair on Runaan.

RUNAAN. NO. No killing Rayla. Bad Runaan.

Rayla, honey...

Petition to give Rayla a break.

Oh, they’re dancing. Interesting. Maybe it's some kind of trance that Rayla needs to break them out of? Like there's a different challenge for each soul that she needs to overcome? I don't know, something definitely feels off.

Ohh… The way Claudia looks up at him, she's so enraptured in the story.

Baby!!! Baby girl!!

OH??? It looks like each side unlocks a different arcanum and a different version of the book, intriguing…

I wonder if there’s something particularly special written in the book or if it’s just a tome of knowledge of the arcanums. Rayla did originally think the cube was a piece from a children’s game, maybe in a way, she was right.

SKjafslkjf. Leolaaa. I love mustache Aaravos so much. And it’s so humanizing seeing such a different side of him. To have a moment where he’s not some all-knowing mysterious arch-mage but just a father with a young daughter who likes to poke fun at him sometimes.

Oh no!! Kiddo!

Aaravos being so gentle with the little kid…

Ohh Aaravos definitely knows whoever took Leola and by the look of it, he does not like them very much.

Also, I’m curious who the golden dragon was, that’s an interesting detail.

Continued in reblogs!

[bluemoonblade]

Finally made some refs for my cyberpunk au!! 🫶

Ruthari have a gang, are t4t and raising Rayla, who wants to get cyberware, but Ethari doesn't want to install anything on her yet. But worry not, she'll prove she's ready! She eavesdropped and figured out they need a netrunner, and she found one! Maybe Callum isn't really experienced... And doesn't have most equipment... But hey, he's gonna get the job done, trust her!

[raayllum]

Sometimes helping others requires great feats of strength, Rayla. But you are right. Sometimes an act of caring is as simple as being there when it seems no one else is. Both are necessary.

Something I think about a lot is that when Rayla tries to do Moonshadow Form entirely Runaan's way, thinking about the people she loves and the reconciliation of life and death, it doesn't entirely work. Part of this may be because at this point in the story, she hasn't been able to really square with Runaan's viewpoint ("How can you forgive him for putting himself in so much danger? [...] I just don't get why you'd put yourself in so much danger when you have someone who means to much to you back at home?") because she hasn't seen the 'rewards' of it yet (saving Suroh and his family).

I think Runaan's stance here -- that you have to sacrifice to get something 'good' and worth it out of it -- is something Rayla has incorporated into her own worldview... just not as completely. As she says: "Who's to say you can't have both?" It makes me think of how when she also reflects on Ethari's advice, and her desire to protect people rather than her own loss, that's when she unlocks Moonshadow form.

While I could see the moon fam both potentially getting out in S6 and it being delayed to S7, I do think either way Rayla is going to confront and ultimately reject the worst of her parents' ideologies, and instead keep only the good. The woman they're going to meet upon getting out is going to be radically different than the young girl or driven teen they remember, and it makes me think back again to previous hopes about Rayla's development not being contingent of repairing things with her family, but that she grows to the point that she's able to guide them through the path she's just walked into a better world and healthier worldview.

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

Rayllum Month 2024

July 7th - Flowers

Callum and Rayla strolled through all of the different flora at the Xadian border. But this time, they could stop, admire, smell, or even listen to them without having to rush or worry about a mission ahead. It’s been a few years since they’ve defeated Aaravos and now they could just enjoy their vacation in Xadia away from their busy life in the Katolis castle.

Rayla passed by familiar bright yellow petals with pink anthers, and smirked back at Callum. “You sure you don’t want to smell this one again?” She teased. “Uh, Nope. Absolutely not,” Callum said while backing away, still horrified by the putrid whiff he took of them. When Rayla burst into a loud cackle and wiped away tears, Callum couldn’t help but softly smile at her.

They finally found a wide empty spot surrounded by all sorts of vibrant, fragrant plants that set a relaxing atmosphere. They laid down next to each other over the soft grass, with Rayla resting her head on Callum’s chest and Callum had his arm around her, occasionally playing with her hair. They took deep breaths to relax from their long journey and looked up to admire the luminous shades of red, orange, and pink in the sky above them as the sun was setting.

Later, when the stars started glimmering in the early night sky and the pair were better rested, they got up and continued strolling hand in hand, with Rayla still leaning against Callum. A nearby garden of melodaisies harmonized a mellow tune that filled the air around them as they were passing by. Then suddenly, Callum let go of Rayla’s hand and reached for his bag. When Rayla turned to look at him, she saw him already down on one knee and gasped when she saw what he was holding. A bouquet of radiant moonviolet lotuses, her favorite flowers in all of Xadia from the Silvergrove. She hasn’t seen them since before she left for the fateful mission that led to their initial meeting. “Callum, how did you…”

“I reached out to Ethari,” Callum answered.

“He told me about these flowers and how much you loved them, he sent me their seeds and the instructions on how to grow them. And I made sure you couldn’t find them on accident,” Callum chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. She looked at him with eyes wide open and felt her heart thumping in her chest. Callum slowly reached and grabbed her hand. “Rayla, I’ve known you for so long now, we’ve been through a lot together, both the good and the bad and I can tell you, I’ve never been more certain about wanting to spend the rest of my life with anyone else but you,” As Callum spoke, Rayla felt her heartbeat grow even faster and her eyes welling up with tears.

“Rayla, will you marry me?”

Without hesitation, Rayla jumped into his arms and tackled an unsuspecting yet grinning Callum to the ground. “Yes!” She screamed tearfully. “Yes! Of course I would Callum! Without any doubt I would,” When she got up off of him, she used the back of her hand to wipe her tears. Callum sat up and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the bouquet didn’t get squashed between them. Rayla looked at them and giggled. “Sorry about that,” she said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I guess I just got super excited,”

“Hey, it’s no worry at all,” Callum assured her, letting out a little chuckle. He then took one of the lotuses and put it in her hair, which brought out her beautiful eyes even more. Rayla then stood and grabbed Callum’s empty hand to help him up. He passed her the bouquet then cupped her face in his hand. Rayla wrapped her arms around him, holding the lotuses behind his head. They then closed the distance between them, closed their eyes, and gently pressed their lips against one another. They passionately embraced each other as they kissed, allowing the warmth to flow through their bodies. After they finally pulled back, they pressed their foreheads against each other, staring warmly into each other’s eyes, looking forward to their forevers together.

[starlling-writes]

When the Lotus Rises Again

Ethari notices that there is a flower suddenly floating in the pool of assassin lotuses.

Rating: Everyone

Pairing: Runaan x Ethari

Words: 486

— — —

I was sure I was dreaming when I saw a flower—his flower—floating in the lotus pool. I had come to visit yet again; to reminisce about the last time I saw him, kissed him. I was sure it was simply a hallucination.

But the next day I went back and it was still there. And the next day. So I asked someone to meet me at the pool on the day after, and they could see the flower floating too.

“How?” they asked. “What does this mean?”

As if I had answers.

Word spread through the grove. As did speculations. I kept away from it all, though. The sudden possibility that he was alive left my chest heavy. I couldn’t bring myself to believe it yet. Not fully. I couldn’t stand to have new hope only to have it be ripped away if this was actually a spell gone awry, or he can’t—or doesn’t want to—come home.

I tried to distract myself with work, but he still dominated my thoughts. I wondered if I’d turn around and he’d suddenly be there, so I kept checking behind me. The only thing I found myself capable of focusing on was making things for him. New arrows. A dagger. A set of matching bracelets for us to share.

Restless nights made time blur. It felt like ages since his flower started floating again.  The longer nothing happened, the more the old pain started to dig its claws back into me.

“Where are you?” I whispered to the flower late one night. I reached out, traced one of the petals. The moon came out from behind some clouds, its light dancing on the silvery metal. I looked at the sky. “May you be keeping him safe,” I beseeched the moon.

With a soft sigh, I looked back to his flower. But a reflection caught my attention. My breath stilled in my chest. It was Rayla.

I was happy to see her, though disappointed it was only her. “One moment. I’ll cast the spell.” I closed my eyes and took a slow, steadying breath, finding the gaps in the magic that binds her as a ghost. Then I offered her my hand.

But she didn’t take it. The hand was too large to be hers. Fingers too calloused in familiar spots…

My eyes flashed open. There beside me was the one I’d been longing to see for an eternity. “Runaan,” I choked through tears. He was here. Alive. His hand was in mine and he’s home now. I instantly threw my arms tightly around him. His warmth, his touch, his scent—they were finally not just a memory. I pulled back enough to kiss him.

“Apologies for returning like this,” he said, then pressed his forehead to mine. “But I wanted to make sure you were the first who saw me.”

“You’re here. That’s all that matters.”

— — —

A/N: I thought it would be a cute idea that, when Runaan and Rayla go back to the grove, they have a moment where Rayla steps back and tells Runaan she can't enter with him—otherwise he'd be a ghost, even to Ethari. He's surprised his husband went through the ritual, but Rayla tells him about how their last interaction went, and how he did break the spell shortly to talk to & see her briefly. Which gives Runaan the idea to surprise his love :3