☽ ⭂—⭈ ✯
I woke up, surprisingly with little pain. Hopefully the treatment worked. I looked down at my legs, the removal looked like it had gone well.
"How you doing, Y/n?" Viessa asked, walking into the room.
"I'm okay, how does the prosthetic look?"
They pulled something out from under their work table. A sturdy looking leg was taken out, it seemed to be made out of some kind of wood, the pieces of bark being held together by a shiny metal. Engraved in it were small spirals, which were ocean runes. Small wisps of wind and waves seemed to surround the tattoo-like runes.
"Your friend told me you were an ocean mage of sorts so I thought these would look nice." They smiled, noticing my glance towards the runes.
They helped me get off the bed I had been lying on, I used the wall for support while they secured the leg.
"It's beautiful, Viessa. I can't thank you enough." I said, giving them a hug.
"It's no problem, I hope the leg works out for you on your journey. It'll take a bit of getting used to but you should master it in no time!" They said, handing me the blueprint they promised. "Your right leg is still healing so i'd be careful with it." Viessa added. I nodded.
I walked out of the room to see the others, Rayla seemed anxious, probably hoping that I was okay. She perked up upon seeing me.
"Y/n!" She yelled, running up to hug me. After she let go, she kept her hands on my shoulders.
"I was so worried, it went well, right?"
"Yeah! Thanks for the ocean runes." I said, knowing she was the one to tell Viessa that.
"Oh.. Your welcome.." She said, looking away. A faint blush on her cheeks.
"Ahem. Glad you okay Y/n! But we have to get going, remember?" Callum said, interrupting the moment.
"Right.."
We walked out the hut, waving to Viessa.
"Safe travels!" They wished us, their figure getting smaller as we ran off into the forest.
————-
After riding through the forest, we came to a halt after sound was heard from above.
"Someone's coming." Noted Rayla.
She got off her mount, and I let go of her waist. Rayla got her blades out, ready to fight.
Someone with wings landed in front of us.
"Greetings travelers. My name is Naomi-Selari-Nykantia. But you can call me 'Nyx'!" They said.
Rayla threatened Nyx with her blades, pointing them at her.
"Ah! I should've guessed. You're the banished Moonshadow elf." Nyx said, pushing the blade down.
Rayla moved the blade back up. "What? What are you talking about?"
"I'm an emissary of the Dragon Queen. She received your message, and she sent me here to help you." She said, explaining herself.
Nyx mentioned that the letter stated 'human companions' and glanced at Callum & I.
Callum used his dorky accent and then revealed himself as the human all along, posing with his mount. I then mouthed a pathetic 'surprise!' when she glanced at me.
Zym peeked out, Nyx adoring him already. "So, i've been authorized by the Dragon a queen to fly him home directly."
After she finished her statement, Rayla put her blade in front of Nyx.
"Yeah, that's not happening. We're doing just fine on our own, Nyx." She said in a confident tone.
"What matters is that i'll be able to get the dragon prince home the fastest." Nyx said, walking up to Rayla.
She pinned her blade at Nyx again. "We aren't letting you take Zym."
Nyx mentioned her giving them a ride after she realized she wasn't going to get to take Zym.
Her and Rayla argued a bit on crossing the Midnight Desert and soon enough, we were following Nyx to our ride.
—————
Nyx went on to talk about the horrors of the desert, describing the fauna. She mentioned us going above it all, pointing towards a very tall creature.
"That's my ride, an Ambler."
She flew off, leaving us in the setting sun. The mount me and Rayla were on, suddenly jerked towards the Ambler, making me almost fly off. Luckily Rayla grabbed onto my shirt, pulling me back up.
"You have horrible balance, y'know?" She laughed after hoisting me back up.
"Shut up, I still have to get used to this damn leg." I replied, elbowing her lightly in the shoulder.
The giant creature finally met up with us, stomping its hoof close by. Nyx explained the ride across the desert, stating that we'll stay in an oasis.
We agreed on the trip, and the Ambler used its tail to carry us onto the saddle.
—————
I was looking off in the distance, glancing at an annoyed Rayla and Callum trying to talk to her, when we we flown to the front of the saddle. Apparently Nyx's ride had gotten its foot stuck in a hole and she was going to help. Before she left, she warned us to not touch her stuff, looking at Callum. A shiny thing caught his eye.
"What is it? Why are you staring at that thing?" Rayla asked him, popping up from behind him.
He looked at the object with wide eyes. "Something so strangely familiar.." He grabbed a part off the item and observed it.
"Boomerang?"
"Dude put that down before we get in trou-" I yelled at him but got cut off once the Ambler's hoof was freed and we fell back.
"Let's move." Nyx said, swooping up briefly. Callum put the 'boomerang' back onto the object.
——————
The sky's had darkened since our departure, turning a deep orange and yellow. Nyx said we arrived at the oasis, showing a small blue circle which was filled with trees, fresh water, and most importantly, we were safe from the deadly creatures.
We got back to the ground from the Ambler's tail and Callum ran off with excitement. Rayla helped me down from the creature we were riding.
She glanced at the necklace she'd been given and hurried off to Callum. Huh, hopes she's okay. I thought to myself, I wasn't one to help people with their feelings so this wasn't my strong suite.
"Looks cozy enough." She said, looking around. Something fell in front of her which made her stand back. I grabbed onto her arm, feeling frightened. Rayla glanced at me, blushing slightly. I quickly let go of her, feeling very flustered and muttered a small 'sorry' before glancing at what Nyx brought down.
"Gets really cold here at night so we'll need these." She said, patting the bundled up item she grabbed from the ground.
"lI wasn't sure if you guys needed two blankets or just one..." Nyx slyly said, looking over at me and Rayla.
"Just two!" Rayla yelled at her, looking embarrassed.
"I wouldn't mind sharing-" I said, accidentally out loud.
"What?" Rayla looked at me, thankfully not hearing what I said.
"Nothing!"
All three of us received a blanket and we went in separate directions.
————-
After getting settled, the sky had grown dark and the breeze was colder now. I heard someone sniffling by the pond.
After investigating, it was Rayla. She sat down curled in a ball.
"Doing alright here?" I asked, she seemed to stop crying and jolted up.
"Go away."
"You sure? You don't seem okay..." I replied back, i didn't want to leave her alone.
"Just leave me alone!" Rayla yelled back. I was surprised by the yelling and jumped back slightly, almost loosing my balance.
"Please, tell me what's wrong. I'm not leaving until you do." Even though helping other peoples feelings were hard, I had to try. For Rayla. She's tried with me so i have to try with her.
"I've lost everything, i'm a mess...." She started, getting up from her seating poison.
"Everyone that cared about me, my home. It's like I don't belong anywhere." She said, moving away from me.
"You know that's not true. Sure bad things have happened but you have me, Callum, and others that care about you." I said, trying to help her.
"I know... But that not all. I'm at fault for all of this. I failed and let them all down. Now what do I do? They were right to reject me. I'll never be good enough." Rayla said, getting most of her feelings out by now. She sat back down, glancing at the water.
"Get up." I said to her.
"What? Why?"
I pulled her up with whatever strength I had and had made her face me.
"You need to stop talking down on yourself. I do it too, believe me. But please, just listen to me.. I don't care if you go back and turn away from me but just listen." I said to her with pleading eyes.
"Rayla, you shouldn't feel this way about yourself. You're amazing at so many things and these things you're worrying about are holding you back. You're one of the bravest and most skilled person i've ever met. Please don't let this stuff keep you down. If it weren't for you, I probably would've hurt people I don't think i'd ever want to hurt now. Even the little things, like the carvings on my prosthetic leg, mean so much to me. You're really the best." I concluded. And I meant every word.
She looked at me, eyes awestruck. And then she leaned in to kiss me.
"Oh- uh.." I tried saying something but nothing came out. Not what I was expecting...
"Sorry- You were saying all these great things and so I thought I would, y'know.." Rayla said, looking apologetic.
"I mean- I was only trying to help comfort you I didn't think it would go this far, exactly??" I said, still in shock.
Rayla immediately got flustered, realizing what she had done.
"Don't you tell anyone about this. Understand?"
"Yeah, definitely.." I answered.
"And I mean never, i'll steal your leg if you mention anything related-" She walked over to me, getting closer to my face.
"Damn okay, mouth is shut." I said, putting my hands up defensively. Nobody's getting my damn leg.
"We're going to walk away and act like this never happened."
I nodded, a little fearful. We walked back to camp and the fire had been put out. Callum was sprawled out, drooling on his blanket.
"Where's Zym?" Rayla suddenly yelled, frantically looking around.
I kicked Callum's leg and he jolted up.
"What's going on? Why am I awake." He said, still sounding sleepy.
"They took Zym." Rayla finally realized. There was no sign of the Ambler.
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1790 words
got this chapter out a little late due to being busy, hope it was worth the wait!