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They seem to be arguing when he sees them next.
After so long in the dark, so long confined and hemmed in, he wanted to be in nature, to feel the breeze on his skin, which is how he comes upon them. He’s making his way to the caldera lake when the boy rushes past him, Rayla immediately behind.
Something has gone badly wrong in the boy, Callum’s home, but Lujanne ushered him away before he could get the full extent of it. Or perhaps his mind was still too hazy. Regardless, he doesn’t truly understand what is wrong, though he can tell from both of their demeanours that something does seem to be terribly wrong.
They pay him no mind, too wrapped up in each other to notice him it would seem.
“You’ve been up all night, Callum. You should rest-”
Runaan still finds it jarring to look at Rayla, the sudden changes from his perspective disorienting. He understands that two years have passed, that she’s grown and matured, but it feels so very sudden. She no longer looks like a child, but she’s not quite a woman yet either. He still feels guilt and disgust twist his stomach when he looks at her, his throat constricting when he tries to swallow.
His daughter…
She’s reaching for the boy, trying to slow him down or soothe him but he resists, focused and determined.
“I can’t just wait here, Rayla.” He glances over his shoulder at her, not slowing down. Slinging a bag over his back, he shakes his head. “I have to go. I have to find Ezran-”
“I- Okay, okay. I know. I understand.” Rayla hurries around him, putting her hands on his upper arms and ducking her head to catch his eye. “Let me go tell Runaan and get my bracelets-”
“I can’t wait.” His brow is furrowed as he looks quickly between her and where the smoke is looming ominously in the distance. “I’ll see you there-”
“No, Callum, we don’t know-” She looks desperate, reaching for his face. “I’ll be a few minutes. If that. I’ll just need-”
He looks at her, eyes glassy as his voice breaks with emotion. “Rayla, I have to go.”
“Callum-” She’s still trying to plead with him when he takes a step back, holding his arms out before him. Rayla reaches for him, her hands hanging in the air.
“Manus, Pluma, Volantus,” he says it decisively, eyes hard and focused on something behind Rayla before a look of concern spreads across his face when nothing happens. He looks at his arms, shaking them stiffly. “What?! Manus. Pluma. Volantus!” His face falls as he looks from one arm to the other, seemingly speaking to himself.
“Callum, stop. Calm down-” Rayla steps between his outstretched arms, reaching for him but he backs up, arms still held aloft.
“Why isn’t it working! I have to go-” He looks at her now, pleading.
“Callum,” her voice is soft, tight with emotion as she takes his hands, attempting to lower them.
“I have to go-” He collapses to his knees, chest heaving. Taking a shuddering breath, he gasps before he suddenly grips his chest. His eyes are wide, as he strains for air, his distress obvious, even across this distance.
“Callum!” Rayla is immediately by his side, taking him by the shoulders and trying to catch his eye. “Callum, take it easy. You need to calm down.”
“Rayla, what if something’s happened to him?!” His eyes are fixed on the ground, as his breath comes in shudders. “I wasn’t there! I should have been there.”
“You didn’t know, Callum.” She speaks softly, a hand on his face. “Everything was fine when we left-”
“It obviously wasn’t!” He turns to her, eyes wide with fear and desperation.
Rayla is momentarily caught by surprise, though she quickly recovers. “We don’t even know what-”
“I should have gone straight home from the Star Scraper. We had time before full moon.” He whimpers, shaking his head. “Instead-”
“Callum, you couldn’t have known-” She strokes his cheek, pulling him closer to her. “We didn’t know-”
“Rayla, what if something’s happened to him and I wasn’t there?” He cries then, shuddering sobs that shake his body.
“I- Callum, I-” Rayla bites her lip, her own voice tight as she blinks back tears.
He gasps, one hand gripping the scarf around his neck and pulling on it, yanking it free. Runaan can see the human’s chest heaving, even from where he is standing. The boy’s breaths come in gasps and strangled pants, the fingers of his other hand reaching desperately for Rayla.
“Callum, Callum, shush, it’s okay. I’m here.” She speaks softly, holding his hand tightly with one of hers while she smooths his hair with the other. He collapses against her, wrapping an arm tight around her waist. “Breathe, you need to breathe, Callum.” Rayla whispers into his hair, so quietly Runaan can barely hear her. “It’s okay, I’m here. I’m here with you.” She holds him tight, sighing as he begins to relax somewhat, slumping against her. “Breathe.”
She holds him as he cries, soft but still heartbroken. Rayla cries too, stroking his hair, his back, his face, as she gazes at the smoke that is now spreading out across the entire sky.
Perhaps he should move away, leave them to their grief, but he cannot take his eyes off Rayla. For what felt like an eternity he was tormented by his last moments with her… attacking her, passing judgement on her.
She is clearly stronger than he could have possibly imagined. Brave and beautiful. With a new family and a new home.
Or what was once a new home.
This boy, this human… Callum, who journeyed across the world with her… They seem to be everything to each other.
Rayla speaks softly to him, wiping his cheeks when he pulls back and gazes sorrowfully at her. She leans forward, pressing her lips to his forehead and kissing him softly. Getting to her feet, she helps him up.
“I’ll be quick, I promise.” She squeezes his fingers, bending down a little to catch his downcast eyes. “We’ll leave then. Together?”
He smiles sadly, raising his head as he looks her in the eye. “Together.”
She smiles, cupping his face as she kisses his cheek, then turns and hurries in Runaan’s direction.
The boy turns back to watch the smoke, gripping his staff tightly.
Rayla almost runs into him in her haste to make it back to the cottages where they are staying. “Runaan!” She looks over her shoulder at Callum for a moment, then steels herself. “I have to go to Katolis. Callum-”
“Of course.” He smiles at her, wanting her to know that she doesn’t need to worry about him too. He has her forgiveness; she can have his time. “I’ll be waiting here for you when you get back.”