A/N: Day 14 - sightseeing. This one changed last minute and kinda ruined my whole flow. But I like it. Hopefully you will too!

Chapter Summary: Rayla didn't hate sightseeing exactly. Callum stopping every so often to sketch a "nice view" was getting a bit annoying. But, that didn't mean she didn't enjoy his sketches. Or his own views on the scenery sketched within his pages.

Word Count: 1,447

Perspective

"Now that's a view."

Rayla shot an incredulous look back something the boy behind her, halting her pace alongside the pathway. She stared at him in annoyance, then followed his sight line over toward the large mountaintops several acres adjacent from them. Sure, it was a beautiful sight. But that was the same mountain they had seen from before. A day earlier they were on the West side of the mountain, now they were on the East. From the distance, it hadn't moved or changed at all. It's foliage and carved landscape limited only to its 360 degree viewings. That, and it was a mountain. They don't exactly change overnight.

"Callum," Rayla groaned. "What's so different about this view compared to all the rest?" she asked, with irritation laced within her tone. "All ya keep saying is, 'Now that's view!' Like, whattya mean! Nothin' changed!"

Callum knowingly shook his head as he clicked his teeth. "Ah, ah, ah, but that's where you're wrong Rayla," he chirped, raising his finger.

Zym perked up at his rebuttal, clearly eager to see where this fight was going to lead. He sat down as he wagged his tail, glancing between the two.

"For we were on the West side yesterday—"

"I know."

"—Which means," he promptly ignored, "a whole new perspective!"

"Oh so instead of seeing the sunny side of the mountain at sunset, we get to see the shady side!" Rayla deadpanned.

Callum frowned at her. "What's with that?" he asked.

She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her right hip. "What's with what?"

"You hating on my appreciation for a good view?" he inquired, circling an accusing finger at her.

Rayla scoffed. "I'm not 'hating'," she corrected. "I'd just prefer getting good progress along instead of stopping to stare at another view."

Callum rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say. You practically grew up here, this view to you might as well be another tree! I'm appreciating the sights!" he defended, jerking a thumb to himself.

"And slowing our progress," she pointed out, gesturing to the path before them.

"Aww, c'mon Rayla," he whined, "this is actually a nice view! It looks so… so… peaceful."

Rayla sighed. She hated seeing his face get so twisted up in his passionate emotions. He stared at the view with an obvious awe as he smiled, completely entranced by its beauty. He was simple like that. Or rather, it was the artist in him. That was what she saw. And she admired that he was taking more and more strides to step out of his shell and sketch more. It made him happy. The same way magic did.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Fine. But ten minutes only," she relented. Maybe she was being soft. Or maybe she was willing to admit she was a tad tired from their walk. Either way, a small part of Rayla couldn't help but forget about her frowning and annoyance once Callum pumped his fist out of joy. He rushed down to the edge of the cliffside, hanging his feet off the edge, and pulled out his sketchbook. The eagerness in his face as he dragged his pencil across the page was amusing to watch. He was like a child given a box of coloured pencils and endless sheets of paper. He was so immersed in his work.

Rayla recounted all the times he got like that over a small view. And how excited he got about it.

After their encounter with Sol Regem, the two had made it up the mountain across and acquired a neat view of the land they had just crossed. From a distance, Rayla laughed at how small and trivial the lava of the Moonstone Path looked. It wasn't actually a complicated nor difficult obstacle, but it definitely raced some hearts for a moment. But Callum took a moment to glance over the river flow of lava. With his tongue sticking out and determination in his face, he sat down, cross legged, and drew the scenery from which they had just escaped.

And he had done so to a perfection. The lava's streams of hot fire and molten, flowing against rocky paves floating with the current. It was done to a small, and intimate detail, but captured with much care. She supposed his photographic memory coincided with that. The familiarity with the landscape was emulated within the piece and it was obvious. The mountains and cliff sides were edged along with a realistic rough sketch, jagged like a true mountain. She asked why did he feel the need to recreate something they had just overcome.

"I dunno. It looked… like there was more to this, then just a line between two countries, y'know?" He shrugged, seeming unsure of himself as he touched off his work. "Like, there's actually nature here to make note of. That exists."

Since then, the cross over to Xadia was an event she looked at as a new page in their adventure, much like Callum did with his sketchbook.

Then the first town they came across, a small Sunfire village just a day away from the border, hidden amongst the wasteland trees. It was a quaint and lively town, mixed with a variety of happy and passionate elves, but wary ones too. Rayla recalled having to keep Callum in a low profile throughout and how stressful it became. An attempt to restock supplies and gain some extra became a taxing experience of keep away from the guards. Walking out, sweat beading down her body and exhausting ridden all over, she noticed Callum—while exhausted—still took the time to sketch out the village. They kept moving afterward, but he managed to get a base to work off from when they camped later that night.

He made the town lively. He made it peaceful. He captured the exact details they had rushed through. The hustle and bustle of the working and eager shopkeepers, selling off their finest merch and exotic resources, was mimicked to a fine degree of expression. The buildings were equally represented in their age, shedding themselves of bricks and stone, with the wear-and-tear of wood and molded scaffolding. The pathway was crowded much like when they were running through it, utilizing its camouflage for strangers to their advantage. But this time, its busyness wasn't out of convenience or purpose, but a mere representation of the culture. She smiled at the drawing.

"Next time, I hope we get to walk through one," he spoke up, clearly noticing her inspection of his work. "Maybe then all this clutter and liveliness will feel more real to me. But for now, at least it's a good reminder."

She quirked a brow. "For what?"

"To come back again when this is all over."

He said that about nearly every place. He said that about the lake by the Ocean Elves, the one that glistened off the reflection of the sun's light and mirrored the moon's true gaze at night. He said that about the mystical and spooky atmosphere of the Cursed Caldera Forest. He said that about the ruins and deserted villages they had wandered across, leaving them to their rusty and overgrown peace. Every place had something to say all of a sudden. And Callum made sure to capture and tell its story.

Maybe he made her realize that the view wasn't as small as she once thought.

"Finished!" he chirped, disrupting Rayla's deep thoughts. Ten minutes had really flown by.

She flashed her eyes over to him, smiling in anticipation as he fine tuned his work, lightly dragging his pencil across some lines. She wondered what the story would be this time, what the focus was that captured his eye.

Callum smiled, raising up his sketchbook at her proudly. A very well drawn portrait of her from the waist up, smiling a sparingly toothy smile. Her hair captured to perfection, her facial expression emulated its exact reality, and her proportions properly sized and balanced. It looked like her. And it was the foreground of his sketch. The background weighed in its own story of mountains and scattered tree lines, with puffy parted clouds and a setting sun. But, he had told her he was sketching the view. Yet, even though she wasn't much of an artist, Rayla clearly was the focus of this piece. It was his perspective drawn, but she was just shoehorned in at the center, posing in the bask outline of the background. It made no sense.

She quirked up a brow, ready to ask her question, but was met with a smug grin.

"See? Now that's a view."

A/N: Sorry for delays. If you are curious, my blog on tumblr explains why i'm delayed and all that. Anywho, I'm too lazy to actually type more so, next prompt is callum's bday.

Until next time,

- Bleh