Thankfully my brain has yeeted the evil of writer's block out of my head. I hope it doesn't come back. My main motivation right now is getting to when Callum and Rayla kiss. That's my goal.

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Rayla: What are you doing?

Callum: Meditating upon the meaning of sky.

"You really did want to learn primal magic." Lujanne said.

"Yes, and I still do." Future Callum said.

Rayla: Ugh! That's more boring than any answer I would have guessed.

Callum: I'm trying to connect to the Arcanum like Lujanne said, so I can use sky magic again.

Rayla: Didn't she also say you have to be born with the Arcano-what's-it to do magic?

Callum: No, she said you had to connect to the Primal and that magical creatures are born with a connection. But I don't see why I can't make my own connection.

Rayla: By sitting weird and humming?

Callum: Right. Seems reasonable?

Rayla: Uh, is it just me, or are we losing altitude?

Callum: What? No way. I'm extremely attuned to slight changes in the air flow…

Rayla: It's nice having both hands again.

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Fren: General Amaya, we've searched everywhere and there's been no sign of the elves. I think it's safe to conclude that the outpost on the Xadian side remains secret. There, look! The signal! The outpost is secure. Yes, General. I'll ready a party.

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Viren: Who are you?

"Just walk away and leave the mirror where it will be forgotten," Tiadrin says.

"Wait, that staff looks… familiar. I feel like I've seen it somewhere." Lain said.

Viren: What is it? Where are you going?

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Ezran: Phoe-Phoe is okay. She's just tired. She gets her power from the Moon Nexus. The further away we go, the harder it is to carry everyone.

Callum: Wow, Ez, I can't believe you could understand all of that.

Ezran: You did such a good job getting us so far. Thank you. So, what do we do now?

Rayla: Well… Xadia's that way. Across miles and miles of the fluid I both need to survive and hate more than everything in the world.

Callum: You know what? We'll just walk around it somehow. With our legs.

Rayla: No. That's sweet, but walking around is gonna take too long. We need to get that former egg, now adorable baby dragon home to Xadia as fast as we can. We've got to go straight across.

Runaan's jaw dropped. "How is it that you gave us all the trouble, but when a human asks, you agree?" He asked and Rayla laughed.

"Maybe if you told me that the fate of the world rested upon me, then I might have." Rayla said.

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Ezran: Well, we need a boat. And a captain who knows how to make it go.

Callum: Right. Specifically, a captain who doesn't hate elves.

Rayla: That won't be a problem. I can disguise myself as a human again.

"Oh, please don't." Runaan pleaded.

"What is so bad about it?" Lujanne asked.

Rayla: Hello, again, fellow humans, human fellows.

Ezran: Oh, oh! You're going to love this, Zym. I'm a huge fan of human Rayla.

Rayla: Let's go judge and criticize things other humans do, and then do the exact same thing ourselves.

Ezran: Do another.

Rayla: Sure thing, old buddy, old pal. I am excited to rapidly eat a plate of unwholesome food in an excessive portion size.

Ezran: She's right. I'd eat a jelly tart the size of a dog.

Rayla: Won't it be great to encounter other humans, and talk about which roads and pathways will take us somewhere slightly faster than other roads and pathways?

Ezran: It is so true. We do love going slightly faster.

Callum: Hey, sometimes getting somewhere slightly faster is important. Like, right now. Ezran and I will find a sea captain. You stay here and work on growing a fifth finger.

Rayla: You've got it, my smooth-skulled friend.

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"Oh, good. It's over." Runaan said.

"I think it was kind of funny, Runaan." Ethari said.

Viren: You want me to find these items. I can do that.

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Ezran: We found the perfect captain.

Callum: Uh, don't worry, that's not gonna be a problem with this guy.

Rayla: What, is he some kind of enlightened human who can really see the good in elves?

Callum: Hmm. I'm not sure he can see the good in anyone, really. But that's part of what makes him uniquely qualified. We're back!

Villads: Greetings! The name's Captain Villads. The "D" is silent.

Rayla: There's a "D"?

Villads: Arr!

Rayla: Wait, there's a silent "R"?

Villads: Narr.

Rayla: Oh, okay, so it's just the silent "D" then.

Villads: Aye!

Rayla: Ah, so there's a-

Callum: This is our regular human friend, Rayla.

Rayla: Spelled like it sounds.

Callum: And her cute, unusual dogs, Zym and Bait.

Villads: Ahoy, Rayla. Ahoy, doggos. And this is me first mate, Berto!

Berto: I'm a parrot.

Villads: Me ship's this way. Welcome to me water home, The Ruthless! Named after me dear wife, Ruth. Who sadly… don't enjoy sailing.

Callum: So you said if the wind's on our side, we could make it across the bay pretty quickly?

Villads: Aye! 'Course, there's a storm coming.

Callum: A storm? That could be interesting.

Villads: So, we have to delay departing for a few days.

Rayla: Uh, we're on a tight schedule. Isn't there anything we can do?

Villads: Hmm. I suppose if we leave right now, we could race across the bay and beat the storm.

Callum: Yes. Let's do that.

Villads: No problem. Unless the storm catches us mid-bay and kills us all.

"I'm still not convinced that you got Rayla to go on a boat across a bay willingly." Runaan said.

"Oh, but we did. It wasn't that hard." Callum said and Runaan glared.

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Villads: Ye might be wondering what happened to me eyes.

Callum: Well, I didn't want to be rude.

Villads: Me left eye was taken by a flock of mutinous seagulls.

Callum: Uh, wow. And what about your right eye?

Villads: Don't know. Came at me from me left.

Callum: Hey, wait. How are we going in that direction when the wind is blowing us in that direction?

Villads: Oh, that's how you sail, me boy.

Callum: The wind doesn't push us where we want to go?

Villads: The sail is more like a wing, flying through the wind pulling the boat against the water currents below us. It's like shooting a willow melon seed from between your fingers. You squeeze in on both sides, but the seed shoots straight out.

Callum: I think I get it.

Villads: Once you're in the elements long enough, you get a feel for where the wind is and how it's about to change. It's like a connection, deep in me bones.

"Why do I have a feeling that you're starting to understand the Arcanum?" Lujanne said and Callum shrugged.

Callum: Hold on, you feel a connection to the wind? How did you get that?

Villads: What, just because I'm blind and have narcolepsy you thought I wouldn't have sailing sense?

Callum: No! No, no, no. That's not what I meant, I… Wait, narcolepsy?

Berto: Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up-

Villads: What happened? The last thing I remember, I was talking about narcolepsy and then falling asleep.

Callum: Yeah. That's about right.

Villads: Storm's a comin' Seems as if we won't beat it after all.

Callum: Huh. Maybe this is my chance.

Berto: A chance to die.

Callum: I was going to say my chance to learn.

Berto: To learn how to drown.

"I liked that parrot. He was nice." Rayla said.

"Ez liked him too. Even though he was a little crazy." Future Callum said.

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Viren: I've never seen this rune before. You expect me to drink this? Ah. It's surprisingly not terrible. Why should I trust you? I don't even know who… I don't even know what you are. I need time to think.

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Nothing new has really happened since the last chapter. See you in the next one!