Chapter Text
Heartlands
– Now –
You'd think that after everything that happened, after the drought, half of the population turned to stone, after the world was quite literally about to end, with pieces of land swallowing everything that was on their surface and collapsing into themselves…that the diplomatic side of things, now in retrospect a privilege to have, the ability to talk to people that, you know, weren't stone, would get…easier. That peace was going to be a sweet consequence of humanity still existing, tribe now prospering with their people coming back, not stone anymore, but humans with hearts beating and throbbing to find their loved ones, lost for who knows how long.
One of the most jarring and difficult things in the aftermath of the Druun disappearing had been the complete disorientation of people coming back and seeing how much the world had changed since they were a part of it, parents searching their children and finding them no longer fearful beings; but young adults, with a sad glimmer in their eyes that made every parent's heart ache in melancholic worry for what they must've been through without any protection whatsoever, their rose colored glasses now gone leaving them adults trapped in a still too young body.
Still, diplomacy is probably never going to get easier, Raya thought while listening to her father talk about politics while they were having dinner.
Going home
– Then –
It had been two weeks since the Druun were blasted away, and the dragons came back. The dragons came back. At times, it all seems too surreal, too good to be true.
The first days had been such a haze, all her focus and energy put into escorting her traveling companions back to their hometowns; Tong being the first one to leave them, trying to keep his composure but still hugging Noi very delicately and promising to stay in touch with the rest of the group, before heading into Spine. His departures had been bittersweet, with the Ongis comforting the con baby that was sobbing quietly, and Tong leaving clearly conflicted, part of him feeling sad that he had to leave the infant, part of him couldn’t wait to go back to his people. To his family.
The gang – Sisu in particular – tried to keep little Noi occupied, which ended up involving playing hide and seek far too many times, for Raya’s sake, but they still went along with it and they were rewarded with the sound of the baby’s laugh quite frequently. If she had to be honest, it helped all of them, minus Sisu, to have a baby to care for. It kept their minds occupied, and when they reached Talon, they found it way messier than usual.
Full with people trying to find each other, soldiers busy in their mission to capture the – now former – Chief Dang Hu, wanted for having tried to kill the mighty Sisudatu – her defence being that she had no idea about that a dragon could shapeshift into a scrawny violet haired little girl – didn’t really helped her, and with Dang Hai now back, the people of Talon were preparing for a passing of the torch – there were rumours that the Chief turning to stone was a result of just another one of Dang Hu’s cunning schemes.
For now, Raya hoped that the tribe could keep a Chief for at least two seasons, but she brushed the thought, trying not to worry herself with politics just yet and enjoy the view of Little Noi reunited with her mother, who, passed a moment of unexpected joy, was completely speechless at the sight of a dragon sitting carefree in Boun’s boat, and after giving her respect to both Sisu and Raya, and endless thanks, had mastered the bit of courage necessary to ask if they needed a place for the night, eyes circling in between the Princess of Heart and the mighty dragon, not knowing where to direct her deference.
Despite both had tried to put her at ease, it didn’t really work, and after a promise to come back when possible – I insist on inviting you both for dinner – were her words, even thought she had looked at Sisu with the corner of her eyes, probably wondering how on earth were she going to get enough food to satiate a dragon; they decided it was best not to intrude, leaving them to enjoy their time being reunited together.
It had gotten pretty dark by the time Boun put the boat back in open water, going slowly as to wave to Little Noi and her three Ongis, who were all waving back, even if with sadness in their eyes and exhaustion in their bodies, all of them curled up as near as possible to each other. They were at home.
Sisu had fallen asleep shortly after, tired after dragging the boat for a whole day. She didn’t complain, just made a joke to cheer up her friends after having dropped Tong. ‘It’s definitely going to be much easier from now on’. Little Noi was still crying by that point, but both Raya and Boun slightly chuckled at her remark.
Somewhere between Talon and Tail
–Then–
Truth be told, she knew she probably wasn’t going to be able to go to sleep, but she still tried, assigning Tuk Tuk to keep watch while they were sleeping, not wanting to lower her guard just yet. Sisu had given her a stern look after that, but Raya wasn’t going to take any chances. Boun was far gone right as those words left her mouth, the boy’s adrenaline of both what had happened the day before and the thought of reuniting with his family had kept him awake all day, but finally dried off. Not Raya’s though. Sure, she was exhausted, but she also knew herself enough to know that she would let her body rest only after she was reunited with her Ba.
Her Ba. God, how was she going to tell him everything that happened while he was gone? How scared she had felt for six interminable years. How hopeless she had been after a while, her disappointment growing slowly after every search, after every wrong river. How she had to keep a cover of her tracks, and how much time she lost because of it. How all of it felt pointless, because Namaari still found her anyway, seemingly not resting to keep Raya’s pace and pushing herself and her soldiers to gain an advantage on her and surprise her…to do what? To capture her and return the dragon scroll back to Fang?
She had often thought about it, about what would have happened if Namaari had caught her, if Raya didn’t jump into the water at the last minute in Tail, escaping from Fang’s grasp. If Sisu didn’t came back for her, in Spine, when it was pretty clear that she wasn’t in the mental headspace to sustain a long fight with the Princess, to preoccupied with the gem’s pieces, and for her friends, to properly concentrate.
All of it came back to her, every time. To Namaari.
She was the one who told Raya the Fang legend that believed Sisu was still out in the world, in a state of sleep, but still not out of their reach. Most certainly a ploy to gain her trust and, Raya thought with a flinch, it worked. She did. Even after all this time, after all these years and trying to convince herself not to think about it, because it was useless to dwell on it, she still did.
Usually, it was during the long nights she couldn’t sleep, her mind restless wandering about why and how it had gotten all so wrong, so quickly. How she had let her guard down so fast, during that fateful day. Even if she hated admitting to herself, there had always been a strange, intense, and invisible force that seemed to bind her and Namaari together, since the very beginning.
At first, she thought that it had to be some kinds of magic discovered by Fang, craftly used against their enemies to manipulate them mentally and emotionally. She dryly chuckled at her overtly imagination now, lowering her salakot to cover her face now that the moon was high in the sky, their only source of light except for Boun’s lantern. Raya had been very carefree as a child, always encouraged to voice her opinions and her emotions.
Her Ba didn’t like how some of the tribes were raising the younger generations, teaching them at a young age to be fearless and ruthless warriors, instead wanting Raya to be not only a fierce fighter, but a compassionate leader as well. She assumed she was talking especially about Fang, given how Namaari had been especially prepared to be a hard-hearted leader. Or so she thought until recently.
When she infiltrated the palace to steal the dragon scroll, she briefly paused at the sight of the Princess of Fang in the middle of a teaching class with excited but reverently organised youngsters, and even thought she stood there watching for just a few minutes, she had seen how Namaari walked a perfect balance of being gentle yet firm, patient yet never too sever while managing a dozen children eager to learn and please their next Chief.
It was a different side of Namaari, relaxed and smiling expressions painted on her face, one she never thought she’d see. Raya quickly shook herself out of it, taking the scroll and leaving before the lesson was over and using that to her advantage; but she still thought about it when the sun went down and she found a secluded place for the night and was forcing, once again, herself to sleep.
The Heart Princess distinctly remembered thinking If only we could see each other as one people, if only we could keep our differences aside. She didn’t allow in her mind those thoughts after that, viewing them as a weakness and thinking that she wasn’t in the positions to trust anyone. She couldn’t allow herself to make the same mistake twice. And she didn’t.
Until she found Sisu. Until the dragon showed her that she could trust people. That trust was the solution all along.
And in some cases, it was easy. It was easy to trust Boun, a lonely kid who eagerly wanted to help and do something useful, hopeful that he could see his family again one day.
It was easy to trust Little Noi, even though Raya still checked her jade purse for the next couple of days because, well…she was a con baby after all.
And it was easy to trust Tong, his guard down seconds after he saw they had a baby in their crew, Raya quickly understanding that he must’ve lost his child to the Druun; helping all of them to escape Spine safely.
But, Namaari. Nothing with her seemed to be…easy.
Trusting Namaari the first time had been the easiest and thoughtless decision of her childhood, and she regretted it every day since; vowing to never trust another human being again, never try to make friendship, terrified that it was going to end up in grief and betrayal eventually.
Trusting Namaari for the second time had been one of her most conflicting decisions of her life, ultimately, one she didn’t make. She placed her trust in Sisu, and even that hadn’t been fully the truth, hand on her swords while she contemplated why she had agreed to dragon’s plan, her emotions all over the place whilst looking into Namaari’s eyes, the terror and indecision in her eyes mirroring Raya’s, who ultimately didn’t, couldn’t afford to place her trust in the Fang Princess for a second time, sticking her sword to the crossbow the other girl had been trembling holding, terrified of another rejection. Terrified at the thought of never seeing her Ba again.
Trusting Namaari for the third time, had been…a desperate act. One Raya had been willing to make while internally cursing her father for imparting her with hope and the notion of how necessary it was, to always try to make the first step, even if you’d end up burned, or especially in that case. And she had been burned by Namaari for as long as she could remember, so, she should at least try. She had nothing to lose, only her life. A small price to pay for the slim possibility of the world being whole once again. Raya really didn’t know what she expected to happen, didn’t know if her friends would trust Namaari, didn’t know why, looking into her eyes, she had been as sure of it, of her, as she had never been of anything before, ever.
She still didn’t know how to respond, when she felt her body tense and then release, desperately struggling for air and realising that she wasn’t made of stone, looked at her surroundings and found the Fang princess looking deeply at her, intense relief evident on her face and her warm hand still firmly placed on her shoulder. Raya didn’t think twice before grabbing it and squeezing lightly, a wet chuckle escaping her, teary eyes locked into Namaari’s. She suddenly recalled the Princess mouth slightly parted before Boun’s interruption. Her words stuck in her throat, leaving the other girl wondering about what she wanted to say to her. With these thoughts in mind, Raya finally fell asleep, her exhausted body betraying her. Usually, her sleep schedule was irregular and brief, a few hours of relief that she conceded herself while keeping her guard up, her muscles ready to react to any noise around her. That night, after a long time, she slept peacefully, dreaming of soft fingers brushing against her hand and brown eyes gazing into hers.