Rayla opened her eyes. There was a sliver of bright blue visible between the roof and the walls of the barn. Next to her, Callum snored slightly.
She wondered what had woken her, but quickly realized that it was annoyed clucking outside.
Curious, the moonshadow elf unbarred and opened the barn door. Around the side of the farmhouse, Otark sat, upsetting his pearl chickens by stealing their eggs.
"'Hoy, lass", he said, tipping his straw hat, "Kip well? A sure did!"
"Belter", she said tonelessly in answer, "Are the others up already?"
"Up and oan their cuddies", he said, a sad expression on his face, "The Interpreter's got a quality fire lit under her, looks like."
Rayla couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. They hadn't even said goodbye.
"Want some breakfast?", the farmer offered.
"Please", came the extremely grouchy answer from behind Rayla, who flinched.
She'd not heard Callum approach, which was a first. Looking at him almost scared her.
"Are you okay?", she asked in a hoarse whisper.
He gave her a look that spoke volumes. His face was a little pale, even through the makeup. Rayla couldn't help but observe how well it had stayed on. At this point, it was almost worrisome. She now realized for the first time that this was ocean makeup. Meant to stay on underwater. How would he ever get rid of it?
Otark gave an amused cackle. "Gads, lad, you look like morning's got ye loupin!"
A while later, they said their thanks and goodbyes, giving a gift of dried lemon leaf. Otark was excited for the tea he would make from them and insisted on handing them a package of food for the road.
Back on the main road, Rayla scanned the western horizon. There was no trace of Anzha and her daughter already.
"They must've left really early", she told Callum, "I wonder if she even went back to bed after the whole issue with Noli."
As an answer, he merely harrumphed. He still seemed very grumpy, slouching in the saddle.
"What's up?", she asked.
"Nothing", he replied gruffly, "I'm just not feeling well. Riding doesn't help."
Concerned, Rayla closed to his side and touched his shoulder.
She analysed his hunched-over posture. "Stomach ache? Should we stop?"
He gave her a wry, somewhat sheepish glance and shook his head. "Yeah. Stomach ache. I'll be okay. I think dipplings might not be too good for me. The soup was good but… it was the only thing we had that was new in our diet. Are dipplings poisonous to humans?"
"I don't know, never thought about it. I just assumed we'd be able to eat the same food. Maybe that was stupid?"
Her boyfriend grinned tepidly, "I guess we'll see if I live."
This earned him a concerned frown from her.
They rode on quietly for a while. Rayla noticed how uncomfortable her boyfriend seemed in his saddle. He adjusted his pants ever so often and squirmed on rougher parts of the road. It was getting rather difficult not to prompt him again.
Around an hour later, Callum stretched to sit up a little straighter, still looking miserable.
"So", he started, "It feels kinda weird to back on the road, just the two of us. Seems like we've always been in the middle of something or around somebody for the past while."
Rayla snickered. "What, am I not interestin' enough for you now that you've tasted the presence of exciting, evil, intense and nutty elves of other tribes?"
He shook his head. "Nothing could ever make you uninteresting to me, chipmunk."
She laughed. "Now you're really graspin' at water, Callum! `Chipmunk`?"
"Look!", he said with a slightly angry smile, "I don't see you make any suggestions; and you keep calling me `dummy`. I'd like to have something a little mean to call you, too, in an endearing sort of way."
Rayla now seemed a little worried. "Oh. Uh, does it bother you when I call you that?"
"No", he said, "I get what you mean by it. When you say it, it doesn't sound like an insult."
She nodded, thinking hard. What sort of nickname could she live with? After a few long minutes, she started to see his problem. They were all terrible!
There were obvious ones, like 'sweetie', 'baby' and 'honey'. Those made her retch for their sheer sweetness.
All the cute animal names sounded strange to her, she didn't identify with anything safe for maybe sheep - which was a nonstarter - banthers and dogs. 'Kitten' and 'puppy' were too literal in her mind. Ah, but…?
"What about `bear`?", she offered.
He cocked his head. "You really don't have the frame for `bear`, Rayla."
She shrugged her agreement. After another moment, she gave up. "I see your problem, dummy, I can't find one, either."
"So I'm gonna keep trying until I find something, bunny."
She rolled her eyes and changed the topic. "Crazy, how those mountains look, close up."
Ahead of them, the earth rose sharply, touching and reaching through the clouds. They were already trotting over more hilly terrain. Soon, the Ibalin would leave their side to run in a deeper valley basin. To their left, in the middle distance, steam climbed the mountain's windward side.
"Wonder what that is", Rayla said, pointing.
"Saw it back when I jumped the river. Looked really colorful. I'm guessing hot springs or something."
"Makes sense. The plains are dotted with a few small volcanoes and geysers. If we went straight south from here, we could probably find one of the magma flows that end up at the Breach."
"I've never seen them in person", Callum said, "Just read about them. Might be nice to rest there for a bit.", sheepish, he added, "I guess it's not super appealing to you. It being water and all."
It was true; There was something utterly terrifying about the idea of boiling water gushing from far below the earth. It was getting to the surface somehow! There were lightless tubes and caverns full of water one might be pulled into, never to reappear!
The thought sent scared shivers down Rayla's back.
When the sun had reached zenith, they settled down to have lunch in the wind shade of a giant rock. It helped ward off the sand.
Callum eyed the two hard-boiled, blue eggs Otark had packed for them. He peeled one and offered it to Rayla.
"If it's blue, it's probably good for you, no?"
Since she held a piece of bread and a wedge of cheese in her hands, she bent over and picked the egg out of his hand using her teeth. It fell neatly into her mouth, surprising her entirely. It took a moment for her to chew to reduce the volume.
"Chanksh", she said appreciatively, then swallowed, "I'm so hungry!"
The elf was now digging into her own packet with abandon, sparing a few bites for Zym.
Callum couldn't help but smirk. She was adorable, stuffing her face. Chipmunk didn't seem far off.
"What?", she asked between bites, "Not hungry?"
"Uh. I don't know. But, you are just so much fun to watch."
She cocked her head. "That's… a little weird?"
He chortled, "I guess! I just love to see you getting better, is all."
At this, she flushed a little. Sappy prince had made another appearance.
Rayla leaned over and grabbed a golden Mallorn Apple from his pack. He didn't have the heart to protest, but was obviously a little annoyed at her not asking for it.
A moment later, she had sliced and cored the fruit, passing it back to him.
"There! Now eat! I feel weird when you just sit there and watch!"
He laughed. "I thought you were stealing that from me."
"I might if you don't eat it!", she warned, enthusiastically chomping her way through her piece of buttered bread.
He ate a few slices, gave a few to Zym, then moved the rest of the fruit to her pack.
"You don't want it?", she asked, surprise in her mien.
"No. Plus, I think you need it more."
She smirked. "I should get cut up more often, it really brin's out the gentleman in you!"
He frowned. "That's not funny."
She blinked, soberly. "Nah, I s'pose it wasn't. Sorry."
"How's it looking?", he asked, mollified.
She shrugged, gazing up at the sky. "Better every day. Can't wait until the vines go away", she shuddered, "Sometimes it feels like I can feel them writhe, ew."
While she was distracted, he clandestinely moved a slice of buttered bread into her pack.
She saw the motion out of the corner of her eye and scanned her cutting board.
"Are you givin' me more food?", she asked, now concerned, "Callum, you can't starve yourself for my sake!"
"I'm not!", he said, mildly offended, "I have a sour stomach and I want you to get well soon."
"And stuffin' me like a Gobbler Hen is gonna help with that?", she chortled, "Here, take it back, dummy."
She gave his slice back to him, holding it right in front of his mouth.
He grabbed it with his teeth and took a bite. Suddenly, he was glad she'd given it back.
Baking this flavourful shouldn't just be called `bread`.
After they had eaten, she nestled against him.
"Kinda wanna nap for a bit", she yawned, "I'm stuffed!"
He nodded. "Why not? It's nice here in the shade. Probably better if we take a breather until it's not as hot anymore."
She shrugged. "Soon enough those hot, sandy gusts are gonna stop. It's October now."
"Weh, that'll be nice."
"Nah, dummy, we're gonna freeze our butts off; Especially up there. You'll wish the sand was back."
Zym was going after a massive cricket he'd found, and soon there was a disgusting crunching sound.
Callum made a sound of disgust, then picked up his sketchbook. A nearby flower had caught his eye. It had jagged, prickly leaves, looked vaguely like a sunflower with white-silver petals and a purplish-yellow core. It was both beautiful and rebellious.
"That's a Precious White", Rayla said, sleepily, "Pokey and pretty. Also good for fixin' indigestion."
She looked up at him, smirking. "Don't even think about it. I know you are."
Callum snickered. It could've been a nice nickname. But oh well.
She leaned on his shoulder to watch him sketch but quickly fell asleep. He was careful not to disturb her too much, even though it was harder to draw this way.
Callum was eying the sun ever so often. Once it had advanced a few degrees eastward, he gently woke her. The dragon whelp was still busy hunting, catching plenty of unlucky insects.
"Hey, little fawn. Sleep well?", he asked quietly.
"Not long enough", she grumbled with a sleepy smirk, "I still feel full. Wanna keep sleepin'"
Callum smiled, "We need to keep going at some point today, though!"
She sighed, sat up and started putting their food containers back in an ocean magic freezer bag.
"How'd your drawin' turn out?"
He showed it to her.
"As expected, it's perfect. I need to find other ways to handicap you", she laughed.
"Perfect? You mean, like you, fawn?", he asked.
She eyed him suspiciously. His was the face of a sneaky trickster.
"There's your dumb-idea-face again, dummy. Tell me, was that a compliment - or an impossible standard?"
"It's not impossible for you, at least in my eyes."
She put the freezer bag into her empty saddle bag and fastened the clasps.
"Well, I'll get old too, you know? At some point I'll look all wrinkly and act all nutty, like Anzha."
He laughed, "Doesn't matter. I've got a feeling no matter how you end up looking in others' eyes, you'll always be perfect to me."
She flushed. These were dangerous levels of sappy prince, now.
"Hey!", she said with mock-anger, "Stop it, you! We apparently don't have time to cuddle right now and if you keep doin' this, so help me, I will snuggle the stuffin' out of you! Get up, let's go!"
"If you say so, fawn."
He got to his feet, smiling ear to ear. She apparently still hadn't noticed, which suited him fine.
They checked the seat of their saddles, mounted up and clicked their tongues.
"So", Callum started, "Do these mountains have names?"
Rayla shrugged. "Dunno. I know the range's called `Wall of Fire`, but that's it. I'm sure the peaks have names, just never learned them. Hm, ahead the road's gonna get more busy though. There's six roads joining to cross the pass", her mien sagged, "Ugh, I really hope the pass is open. Otherwise we're lookin' at tackin' on another two weeks to this business."
"Snow won't keep us", he motioned aggressively with his hands, "I'll just have to Aspiro-blast a path."
She looked at him, weighing the idea. "You think you could do it?"
"Yeah! It'd be slow going but if you think it's worth it?"
"Ah, I'll decide that once I see the pass in person. If it's covered under ten feet of snow, I don't think it would be a good idea. It's still a good day and a half until we're at the guard post. Hopefully your insane makeup holds out till then."
He laughed. "I'm actually not sure how we're gonna ever get that off!"
Rayla nodded, almost grimly, "I'm lookin' forward to seeing you with rosey cheeks again, dummy."
"Well, that's nice to hear, little fawn"
She nodded, then stopped short. An incredulous smile of realization spread across her face. "You found it, then, haven't you? `Fawn`, eh? I guess I can live with that. It's sorta graceful and cute."
He laughed, "I've called you that a good four, five times and now you catch on?"
She scoffed, "I can't be bothered to listen to every nice thin' you lob my way!"
"That just means I have to do it even more, so you can hear the amount I need you to."
They both chortled and she closed on him.
Stretching far, holding on to her saddle with her legs, she stole a kiss.