#still feeling guilt about that night huh rayla

[raayllum]

1x03 / S6

[pixiestickers]

@rayllum-week prompt: Fireflies

This will likely be my only entry for the week as school is still going strong and taking up most of my time. This is essentially a flashback scene for my fic The Relief Next to Me from a chapter that isn’t finished yet. But it works as a oneshot here. 

Traveling through Xadia, Rayla took familiar routes. Ones she’d grown accustomed to using during her life as an assassin. A life that seemed so far away and yet still proved useful. It was absolutely essential that they avoid detection, and Rayla knew which hills to climb, what dirt trails to trek, and all the deep forests they could hide in. Sometimes they traveled by day. Other times at night. It all depended on the landscape and those occupying it. And as their unlikely trio of elf, human and dragon moved along, making as little noise as possible, she experienced a vague sense that the world was uninhabited. That they were the last of their kind. Just her, Callum, and Zym. It went on like that for weeks.

Until it didn’t.

They happened upon a stream. Rayla waded through it, moving around a bend and out of Callum’s eyesight so she could clean off some days old grim from the underside of her uniform. Sweat and dirt were now old friends that she tolerated, but wished would visit less often. Lowering her top, she let the cold water lap her exposed skin, and savored the feel of it, knowing the musk she’d been suffering through for far too long would finally be carried away by the stream. This was different than the large bodies of water that provoked her gag-reflex. A simple slow moving current was a welcome comfort, and Raya relaxed, dipping her head underwater for a moment, but making sure to keep every sense attuned to the world around her. The birds singing. The song of the stream as it glided around her. The soft buzzing of insects.

And the pixie wings fluttering.

That, she hadn’t been expecting. Rayla glanced around expectantly, but the small golden creatures were nowhere to be seen and she felt a tiny twinge of disappointment. She’d only witnessed them once before but never forgot the sound- tiny bells tinkling in the wind- and was eager to marvel at their unique allure again. Pixies were good omens and also rare. So where were they now?

Something told her to look further upstream where she’d left Callum and Zym. It didn’t take long for realization to dawn on her that the reclusive pixies weren’t the only ones coaxing her to leave the water. Instinct, as sharp as a knife, told her something was wrong. Quickly, she pulled her top back up and touched one of her blades, then readjusted it. Walking out onto the embankment, she listened and waited, the pixie wings growing louder in her ears. Moving on the balls of her feet, Rayla drew both blades from her belt but kept quiet. Voices drifted her way and then a growl, followed by a scream.

Rayla no longer worried about stealth. She ran, the rocks under her feet creating a commotion to match the garbled yells and grunts of a struggle. The attacker spotted her too late. His hands left Callum’s neck, but her blade was already thrown his way. He fell down on top of his victim who struggled underneath the weight. Rayla hurried to retrieve her blade and rolled Callum’s assailant off of him. Seemingly gone from this world, yet aware enough to recognize another elf, confusion drew his brows together before he gasped. Violet eyes grew wide then closed. His breathing weakened and seconds later it stopped completely.

Callum sat up, coughing. Reaching around his neck he rubbed the area the elf had squeezed. His face contorted in pain and Rayla frowned. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, pulling him into her. Still wet from the water, her body soaked his clothes. “I shouldn’t have left for so long.”

“He wanted Zym,” Callum said, his voice raw from the crushing his throat had taken. “Called me a filthy human for stealing baby dragons. I tried to explain, but he’d already made up his mind.”

She glanced at the elf, blood pooling on the rocks surrounding him as if he were laying on a gruesome blanket. He had the markings of a Moonshadow elf, which made sense. They were in the vicinity of her homeland. A fact she’d been actively trying to avoid acknowledging. His clothes marked him as unimportant. No uniform or weapons beyond his hands. Just a common elf out for a walk who’d spotted what he thought was a dragon thief. She suddenly felt extremely tired. Rayla had never actually killed anyone before, especially not anyone of her own kind. Her training had always placed humans in the line of attack. Not elf. And not one who thought he was doing the right thing.

She looked back at Callum, his lips a pale blue, but slowly regaining color. Her eyes filled with tears. Zym ran up next to them and licked her face. “Zym gave him a good bite though,” Callum said. “Got the guy to scream.”

“That’s what made me run to find you.”

That and the pixies.

Rayla wanted to pat Zym’s head and rub his belly. That would’ve been a typical reaction to him doing something good. And protecting Callum was the best thing he’d ever done. But her heart was heavy and wiping away her tears, she said, “I’m just happy you’re both safe. I don’t know what-”

But Callum drowned her out in a fit of coughing and Rayla went to retrieve him some water from the stream, but not before washing the blood from her hands.

                                                   ~***~

In the hours that followed, Rayla thought over and over about taking the elf’s life. He likely wouldn’t be missed by anyone, but her reaction had been so forceful after catching Callum struggling with him. “I don’t think you murdered him so much as you saved me,” Callum said after she’d finally admitted the reason behind her disquiet.

He was right. But still, the elf’s death haunted her. “I saved your life, but I also took a life, and it wasn’t planned. I reacted to the situation with pure emotion, not instinct. I went against all my trainin’. I could’ve knocked him off you. I could’ve explained who we were. But my only thought was- save Callum.”

“And you did,” he replied, threading his fingers through hers. “Those few seconds it would’ve taken to rush up to us and explain might’ve been one too many. I’m here because of you.”

Guilt swelled inside her. Callum had nearly died and here she was, having a moral dilemma instead of comforting him. They held hands for a while and Rayla tried to think of anything other than the tang of blood still trapped in her nose.

                                                     ~***~

“Huh, that’s weird. Don’t fireflies only come out at night?”

Rayla flicked her eyes away from the ground and at Callum. Over the past hour, all her terrible efforts of trying to keep images of her blade protruding from an elf’s back had failed. But when she saw where Callum was pointing, a lightness rose in her chest. Pixies. It hadn’t been her imagination back at the stream. “Silly human,” she replied, smiling for the first time since the tragedy at the stream. “Those aren’t fireflies.”

“They’re not?”

“No, they’re pixies,” she repeated in a voice that was meant to playfully mock. “Magical creatures that mean good luck.”

Callum was skeptical. “What? I’ve never heard of pixies before.”

“And why should that surprise you? Humans are always gettin’ things wrong about us magical creatures,” she replied. “I’m gonna go see what good luck I can find. Maybe they know somewhere we can stay tonight.” When Callum’s brow furrowed in disapproval, Rayla grasped his hand. “Oh, don’t worry, you’re comin’ with too.” She arched an eyebrow.

“Oh, no,” he moaned, and she laughed. Callum hated this part of traveling with an elf but always willingly obliged. With a yank of his arm, she hoisted him on her back and he hitched his legs up over her hips. Then off she ran, following the pixies with Zym close behind, enjoying what he thought was a race. She pursued their golden trail and only stopped when the land did, skidding to a halt on a small cliff above a lake.

Pixies hadn't led her to anything she needed. A lake wasn’t somewhere they could stay, and it was definitely wasn’t something she wanted to cross. They were off the trail a bit, but Rayla knew this land well enough to recognize the body of water. It was one she’d actively avoided as a child. With a heavy sigh, she let Callum slide down and then kicked her foot in frustration against the ground. Only instead of a few clumps of rocks dropping into the water, a huge chunk broke free from the ledge. The surprise nearly made her lose balance. She fell backward into Callum’s arms just as a splash indicated the broken piece had met the water. Wincing over her mistake, she did a quick scan of the area to see if there had been any witnesses. No one. Just the three of them. She didn't smell anyone nearby either, but that was mostly because the tang of blood still saturated her senses.

It was nearing dark now. Soon the sun would be unable to guide her way. That was fine. Her vision worked well in the dark. But tonight wasn’t one for travel. And it would’ve been nice if her good omen had lived up to its supposed potential.

"Looks like the fireflies wanted you to take a swim," Callum said, chuckling.

Rayla leaned back hard against him, her weight making him stagger backward. Then turning on her heel, raised a finger and poked his chest. “Better watch it or I’ll send you in for a swim.” There was no truth behind her words. Callum knew and just grinned that sly grin she hated but also loved.

"I’m sorry for leading us on a wild chase,” she apologized, then paused to exaggerate a groan. “It’s just … seein’ those pixies got me giddy and after the day we’ve had … I just needed to look for something good."

Zym made a little whine of agreement or maybe he just missed the chase.

“But you did find something good,” Callum said in such a way that indicated there was a tease soon to come. “Any time you can force me to ride on your back is a good time for you to bring it up later and make me feel inferior.”

Rayla snorted. “And what about you? What good do you get out of all this?”

“Are you kidding?” He sounded exasperated. “You saved my life today. I think it’s worth one embarrassing piggyback ride. And besides, I always enjoy your company, no matter what my mode of transportation is.”

A lump grew in Rayla’s throat over how cavalier Callum was being. Here he had almost been snuffed out by the hands of another today and his only concern since had been to cheer her up. How could she be so wrapped up in her own moral crisis to not recognize that he was putting her needs before his? She didn’t deserve him.

And it was then she understood. That it was possible to survive. Her taking another life had altered something within and she’d likely carry that heaviness inside her from now on. It was a part of her just like Callum was. The dark and the light. But she’d never let the dark hold her hostage when the light was nearby trying its hardest to pull her from its depths.

It was becoming a theme with them. The light and the dark. Where one was, the other followed.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” she said, taking Callum’s hand and pulling him in closer for a quick kiss.

“Your idea is to kiss me?” he asked. “I’ve gotta say, it’s one of your better ideas.”

Rayla despised the girlish giggle he drew from her. Only Callum could make her shy this way. “No, you dummy. My idea is to find a way down to that lake and get some dinner for you and Zym.” Rayla refused to eat fish- anything that lived in water really- but could forage for berries along the way.

Callum tapped his chin as if he were thinking. “Not as good as your first idea, but I still like it.” He turned to Zym, asking “What do you think?” And the dragon yipped in reply.

By the time the three began walking again, the pixies were long gone, but Rayla had an inclination that despite what she first assumed, they’d worked their magic for her today after all.