Again against my better judgement, I'm posting a story alongside another. Crime of Passion still gets my devotion, but I have been itching to post this. I have a weak will, okay?
Anyway, this story is canon deviant from 1x06. I also wrote this before season two aired, so things will be quite different from current canon. This fic is also just kinda coming to me as I write it at work, so I have no idea where it's going, what exactly is going to happen, or when and how it will end. Knowing me, you can expect some angst, and if I can finally manage to contain myself and do so, a slow burn.
On that note, this is also a Raydia fic, so there's your warning now. Flames of any kind regarding the ship will not be tolerated and will be deleted.
There's a few short chapters starting out, but they gradually get longer as the story progresses.
.:One and the Same:.
I.
Rayla was on the border of panicking as she struggled beneath the net she had found herself suddenly caught under. She watched on edge as a shadow cast over her, a pair of heavily worn boots all she could see from her position on her stomach.
"Never caught an elf before," a man taunted. "That was easier than I thought."
Rayla craned her neck to look up at her captor and immediately wished she hadn't upon seeing the dangerous glint in his eyes.
"W-Wait!" she exclaimed as he pulled her daggers from her belt, being extra careful to keep the blades from springing open and setting their owner free. "I-I'm not your enemy!"
"'Not my enemy?'" the man mocked as he kneeled before Rayla. "You kidnapped the princes! You assassinated their father—our king!"
"No!" Rayla claimed again. "I played no part in the attack, and Callum and Ezran are-!"
Her face was suddenly being painfully pushed into the earth as the man snarled above her.
"How dare you speak their names so casually!"
"They chose to follow me!" she bit out amongst all the dirt in her mouth. "We're friends!"
She was yanked roughly from the ground then and shoved up against a tree, the net still restricting her movement as she stared down the dark-skinned man from beneath.
"You watch your tongue, elf," he spat venomously.
Rayla, perhaps against her better judgement, smirked before retorting, "Make me."
A hard punch to her jaw was her reward for her smart talk, and she cringed at the metallic taste that slowly started to fill her mouth. Still, she refused to back down or look away.
"If General Amaya didn't want you alive, I'd gladly put you down where you stand, cretin."
Rayla seethed at the derogatory name, yet wisely chose to remain silent this time. Still, if looks could kill, Rayla was certain this thug would be dead ten times over by now.
"Now," the man spoke, reaching through the net to attempt to tie her wrists together with more rope, "where are the princes?"
"Bugger off."
The man's eyes flashed before his hand was around Rayla's throat and squeezing dangerously. She felt her horns carve bark from the tree as he hoisted her up the trunk until her toes were off the ground. Her hands came to claw helplessly at his, though with her size disadvantage, there was no way she would be able to wriggle out of his grasp. He laughed as he tightened his hold into a vice-grip, and Rayla felt her consciousness fading fast.
"Listen, you little bit-!"
"Rayla!" a new, young voice cried out then.
Startled, the man dropped Rayla to the ground as he spun to come face to face with his other mission objective.
"Your Highnesses," he greeted with a deep bow, "I was just dealing with your captor here. You're safe now, boys."
"She's not our captor!" Ezran immediately exclaimed, his eyes alight with fear as he watched Rayla devolve into a coughing fit. "She's our companion! She's the reason we've been kept safe all this time!"
Callum nodded before adding, "He's right. Elf or not, Rayla's our friend."
The man took a moment to glance between the princes and Rayla before grinning, a light alive in his eyes once more as he leveled it on the girl still gathering her bearings on the ground before him.
"They still don't know, do they?"
Rayla's heart instantly shot to her throat as she stared pleadingly up at him.
"No, please..!"
"How long did you think you could hide it from them?" His grin widened. "You're scared, aren't you? You know they'll hate you!"
"Shut up!" Rayla shouted as she tried to stand, only to crumple back to the ground as she was kneed in the gut.
"Rayla!"
"Stop it!"
"Boys, I'm afraid this monster has been lying to you all this time; posing as a comrade in hopes you'll forgive her for her crimes."
"What's he talking about, Rayla?" Callum asked, skeptically watching the man, yet knowing the terror in his friend's eyes meant something.
Rayla only shook her head, looking to Callum and Ezran desperately. "You need to go," she pleaded. "Just leave me and get to Xadia."
"But we need you!" Ezran cried, stepping from behind Callum and staring imploringly at the elf on the ground.
"No, you don't," Rayla consoled. "You're strong on your own, Ez, and with Callum at your side? You can do this."
"But...what will happen to you?"
She sighed and looked up at her captor, trying to hide the unease in her eyes. "What will happen to me?"
The man simply shrugged. "Probably throw you in the dungeon until General Amaya decides what to do with you."
Ezran and Callum gaped.
"Aunt Amaya...sent you?" Ezran sounded like he was about to dissolve into tears.
Callum looked deep in thought for a moment before exclaiming, "That must mean you're Corvus, Amaya's best tracker!"
"Congratulations, your Highness, you have correctly guessed my identity," Corvus replied dryly, not amused by all this stalling. "None of that changes the fact that my orders were to rescue the princes and detain the elf."
"But we don't need to be rescued!" Ezran butt in yet again.
"Ez, I got this," Callum spoke up calmly, taking a step forward. "Let me explain all this to our aunt; she'll surely have you stand down then," he addressed Corvus.
Corvus smirked. "That didn't seem to work the first time, now, did it? Besides, the general's already returned to the breach. That's why she sent me in her stead. Trust me," the glint returned yet again, "she would much rather be here disposing of this filth than standing on the edge of the world."
"I don't appreciate the way you talk about Rayla," Callum said next, continuing forward while discreetly reaching into his bag. "And as a crown prince of Katolis, I demand you let her go."
This time, Corvus just shrugged. "Very well."
Unsheathing a knife at his hip, he yanked Rayla up from the ground, swiftly beginning to cut the net that had remained on her this entire time. As he reached one of the last cuts, however, he smirked. Spinning suddenly, he wrapped his arm around Rayla's waist, the knife now pressed up against her neck.
Callum was ready though as he pulled out the primal stone, creating a familiar rune in the air quickly.
"Aspiro!"
Rayla had immediately dropped to the ground—stealthily cutting the rest of herself free as she did so—as soon as Corvus' hold slackened the slightest bit. While the tracker was busy trying to stay on his feet, Rayla leapt forward and out of the line of fire.
"Go! Run, now!" she shouted, pushing Callum and Ezran and following behind as they sprinted the opposite way.
They hadn't made it twenty feet before a pained cry from Rayla had them freezing.
"Rayla!"
"No!"
Rayla swayed where she stood, wide, unfocused eyes blinking at the tip of the arrowhead protruding from her shoulder. As she crumbled back to her knees, Corvus came up behind her, eyes stern and another arrow docked, the string pulled taught.
And aimed right at Rayla's head.
Callum and Ezran didn't dare move.
"Nice trick," Corvus quipped. "The next one will cost you her life, and I'm not one to want to disobey the general."
"C-Callum," Rayla spoke past the pain, "just t-take Ez and go."
"But you..." She could see the turmoil flashing in the boy's eyes; the way he was biting his lip in uncertainty, but tightening his grip on his bag all the same.
"I'll be okay," she attempted to convince him, Ezran, and herself. "This c-can't all have been for nothing."
Callum looked as though he hated himself as he slowly backed away. Rayla tried to flash him a confident smile, but couldn't guess how it turned out through the pain. She could now feel the blood trickling from her shoulder, and she brought her hand up to cover the wound, not daring to remove the arrow just yet.
"Ask to speak to the king," Callum told her as he began herding Ezran away, who was busy crying into Bait. "If you explain everything to him, I-I'm sure he'll let you go."
Rayla swallowed the knot in her throat and heard Corvus chuckle behind her, though he thankfully stayed quiet.
"O-Okay," she managed to croak.
Callum offered a shaky smile before turning his back to her and beginning to walk away.
"And Rayla," he said after stopping only a few feet, "once all this is over and done with, I promise we'll come for you."
A single tear made its way down her cheek at the sincerity in his voice, though he never turned back around.
"Y-Yeah..." Rayla said on a breath to his retreating form, the fear mounting inside her the further away they got.
When they could no longer be spotted, all was quiet in the small clearing.
"Well that was dramatic," Corvus huffed, "but now that we're alone again..."
Rayla didn't even see the blow coming. All she felt was a sharp pain in the base of her skull, and all she saw was the crippling darkness beckoning.