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raayllum · 4 months

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More Than Anyone or Anything

or why I think Callum is Like That: The Meta.

AKA because I realized that while I've talked about Snake Boi Callum and why I view him that way before, it was mostly in regards to explaining his canon traits that aren't usually very disputed. These being:

His sometimes obsessively dangerous qualities, specifically surrounding magic (1x04, 1x05, 2x04, 4x01, 4x02, 4x04)

His ambitious side (man heard from the one magical 'expert' he knows that humans just flat out cannot do primal magic naturally, said fuck that, and got it in a week after one week of practice)

His temper (1x01, 1x06, 1x09, 2x07, 3x08, 4x01-4x04, 5x01, 5x05, 5x08)

His ruthlessness (turning on Viren the second Ezran is in danger despite trusting him for years beforehand; his attitude towards Claudia in 2x07 after she's likewise betrayed him; smiling when killing corrupted soldiers in 3x09 even when Ezran expresses grief and Janai expresses horror when she was facing a similar scenario during the timeskip; arguing to take the violent route in 5x05 whereas Ezran and Rayla pick the more preventative one).

Therefore, for this meta, I will be focusing specifically on why I interpret Callum as Selectively Loyal to the point of being willing to help free Aaravos in order to spare, specifically, Ezran and Rayla's lives (and not necessarily anyone else's, such as Zym and Soren).

Strap in boys — this is going to be a long one.

Disclaimers: As always, this is just my opinion, and an interpretation being popular in fanon does not automatically mean it's better or more valid / rooted in canon than any other kind of (less popular? maybe common) interpretation. I will also be making it clear when I'm drawing on sections/snippets from supplementary material (TDP short stories, novelizations, and Tales of Xadia) but give that it's supplementary material, feel free to take it with the ultimate grain of salt.

Related Metas (that's worth reading if you're interested in other Snake Boi aspects that are not going to be heavily touched on here):

Callum's temper (S1-S3) and how it links to him typically feeling helpless to fix/aid his loved ones, causing him to lash out even sometimes at them

How Callum operates differently from Ezran and Rayla (S1-S4), but very well embodied I believe by the scene in 5x05 where Ez and Rayla side with the "violence as a last resort" option and Callum does not

How Callum views Zym and the egg in Arc 1 differently from Ez and Rayla, or how Callum sees things as tools and why he gets fixated on / what he projects onto objects (much like Viren with the mirror)

Differing Priorities for Callum and Rayla in TTM, in which Rayla only engages in their scheming because she thinks Viren is a threat to the whole world, and Callum comes up with their scheme because he just wants to give her closure

What does the Trio's Tales of Xadia's bios actually mean? (this one will be touched on the most down below, so feel free to skip unless you want a more detailed refresher)

Specifications:

If you're someone who doesn't see Callum this way, but you're genuinely interested in reading a differing perspective, please read on. If you're someone who doesn't necessarily see Callum this way, but you're curious and/or on the fence, please read on. If you'd like to add your own thoughts to this post, feel free to add on if it's in support; if it's differentiation, please make your own post (I'll engage respectfully with if it I want to).

If you're someone who is only going to get upset with my viewpoint, please curate your internet experience and do not read this post. If you're only going to make thinly veiled meta rebuttals of this post in a rude way ("even though some people may think...", linking to this post, general assholery), please do not read this post. You would be far happier if you were less obsessed with an opinion I've held for 5+ years and months & months before you likely joined the fandom. i just want to chill in my corner, please do not chuck pillows at me for doing what I've always had a good time doing that doesn't hurt anyone.

With all of that out of the way, let's get into it

What do I mean when I say selective loyalty?

Loyalty has always been an interesting trait to me, simply because in the bulk of storytelling, it is a necessary character trait for a story to function. One of the biggest things that a character can do to be disliked is be a traitor towards someone that trusted them, and if a character is too disloyal, they can be hard to engage with due to a lack of consistency. Characters who start out loyal to no one/nothing inevitably have arcs, provided they stick around in the story long enough, of garnering loyalty for someone (usually found family loved ones > a cause) in order for them to be able to progress as a character. We want characters to bond, and we want them to be there for each other, and if they're not at all, we want to see what happened or what other bonds they might form with other people. If not loyal, we want to see why they're working with someone at the very least.

Therefore, everyone in real life or in fiction has some elements of 'selective loyalty,' since we all have people (the people we know and love) we are more loyal to, fundamentally, than others (strangers / people don't know at all). It's just a natural normal thing to adhere more to valuing and looking after the people in your immediate circles over people you don't know at all, even if that doesn't mean we're void of caring about strangers, either. Our empathy or compassion, as well as the social structure of our living units and lives, are more cohesion for caring for strangers than it is for competing with strangers or being wholly indifferent.

For a quick overview of the way selective loyalty can work, I'm actually going to talk about Claudia quickly, and her internal hierarchy. While she is loyal to the princes ("Their Dad is dead and you lied about it. Plus they're our friends. It's wrong") to the point of that possibly being an opportunity for severance, initially, with her father ("Careful, if you tell the truth you will lose her"), Claudia's loyalty to her father ultimately trumps her loyalty to the princes, and even to her family with Soren.

For the opposite approach of selective loyalty, I'm going to talk about Rayla, who regularly bails out strangers (the boys in 1x03, Phyrrah in 2x07) and enemies (Bait as a frenemy in 1x05, Nyx in 3x05) as well as the people she grows to love (the boys on regular intervals). She and Runaan, as is Soren, are all willing to put their perceived missions/duties not only above but in direct opposition to their familial loyalty / family ties.

Callum, TO ME, is not, and here's why.

When I say that Callum is selectively loyal, I mean that there is ultimately nothing he will put above Ezran and/or Rayla at any interval with very few exceptions (aka if they're still breathing, he's still going to be fighting for them). This is for a few reasons.

I'm going to talk more about why it's Ez and Rayla specifically later, but for now I want to talk briefly about how they factor into his decision making and what see of them from people who have lost his loyalty.

Despite knowing and having trusted Viren for the bulk of his life ("Claudia! Lord Viren! Anyone!"), as soon as Callum learns that Viren has put Ezran substantially at risk ("Two [targets]? What do you mean?" "I'm here for the king, and I'm also here for his son, Prince Ezran") Viren is fucking Dead To Him.

It's not just that Viren lied, it's that Viren's lies and choices put Ezran in danger, and that's just not acceptable. We see this happen again with Claudia in S2, even after Callum defending her and trying to give her chances. She lied, yes, but she scares Ezran and attacks Rayla again, and that's the breaking point.

When you threaten the people he loves, when you scare them, if he trusted you, he will never look at you the same way again. Any loyalty he felt towards you will snap and snap hard, permanently, like a wishbone.

Callum loves and cares for other people. He loved and cared for Viren and Claudia. But unlike Ezran, who is willing to give Claudia a chance in 3x09 to the point of running after her, helping hand extended, and unlike Rayla, who still adamantly loves Runaan even after their fight and with no hint of change from him, Callum does not take other people hurting his family lightly, at all.

He loves and cares for Amaya, and Soren, and Harrow. But even Harrow, his father, is someone he's willing to put on the backburner — despite having an offered chance from Rayla to save him — in order to do what Harrow asked and what Callum's first instinct is: to look after his brother, because it is fundamentally unsafe for Ezran to stay at the castle for any longer, and he knows it.

Callum knows what the egg might mean, but he does not follow Rayla out the dungeon door blindly. He runs only after Ezran does, and only after Claudia might hit Ezran with lightning. Then he acts. Then he makes a choice. Because his loyalty to his brother outweighs after other substantial relationship in his life, at this point, but it doesn't necessarily stay that way.

Inner circle

In Tales of Xadia, all the characters are given values. While the values have more generic explanations (i.e. Callum's highest one, Liberty, is labelled as, "Have you ever resisted the control of others? This value is about freedom and autonomy. You’re motivated by a world without oppression or suppression") the characters individual bios help offer more clarity on their specifics. Callum's, specifically, states, "I am beholden to my inner circle, not some silly kingdom." Ouch, from Katolis' crown prince and Ezran's heir apparent.

It is, of course, important to not take this trait entirely literally. If Callum truly valued his own personal autonomy over everything else, he would've taken Finnegrin's deal in 5x08 in a second if all he wanted as his own freedom. Instead, Callum's highest value being Liberty is far more about his place with Freedom as a Theme more than something he wholly actively desires; again, we see in 5x08 he's willing to risk more of his freedom by doing dark magic in order to save Rayla.

There are things that Callum values more than his own personal freedom and there are things that he values more than magic (2x04: "Callum, you're being an idiot! Why would you do that? You can't risk your life to learn magic") vs throwing himself off the top of the Storm Spire at the slimmest chance of, once again, saving Rayla.

That said, this value and quote is still very useful, as it does then, beg the question, of who exactly is Callum's inner circle? Well...

Ezran and Rayla are the most important people in the entire world to him. Full stop. There is nothing he will fundamentally put above them. He only stays behind in 1x06, thereby not sacrificing the egg by proxy, because Rayla points out "We'll need to be up here to pull [Ezran] out." Even when he was stressing about whether they'd gotten to the Sea of the Cast Out on time, the second Rayla showed a hint of major discomfort/potential self-deprecation, he was offering to get back into the goddamn boat to comfort her ("I'm getting out—" "No. I can't do it, but you have to"). He's hesitant to go into town to find a vet for the egg because "We will definitely find some elf hating humans," pouting further when Rayla brushes him off, and flings himself off his balcony when he thinks there's even a chance that Ezran isn't okay into what he knows would subsequently be a trap. He's the first to say that they need to leave Rex Igneous' chambers after protecting Ezran from falling rocks with his own body, and the last to actually leave, almost being crushed by rocks himself because he's so committed to standing there and watching Rayla leave.

He equates Rayla's love for him with his love for Ezran on Day Nine (2x03: "I couldn't tell him. And I understand why you couldn't tell me. When you care about someone, it's hard to hurt them. Even when what you're saying is the truth.")

Hell, he even forgets that Sol Regem is there in 3x01 because he tunnel visions on Rayla needing his help so intensely she has to point out the massive ton dragon actively trying to kill them to him.

He's a nurturer, a fixer, a solution seeking. He wants to make you feel better ("See it's working right? Don't you feel a little better?"), he is a kind reassuring word ("Don't be so hard on yourself, Ez") always, he thinks of your problems even when you don't (Rayla's binding in 1x07), he will lay his life down for you without question ("I am Prince Ezran"), he will get mad at you for treating yourself poorly (3x04, like almost all of S4), he dotes, he notices, he will compromise his beliefs for you ("Could he really bring himself to go through with his plan? What if he didn’t succeed? What if he compromised his beliefs and it was all for nothing? [...] But Rayla was in trouble"—S2 novelization).

You mean everything to him: "Rayla's strong, thin arms wrapped around him meant everything" (S2 novelization of the hug scene in 2x04) / "You're my brother, and you mean everything to me" (2x06).

You are his whole world.

If you're part of his inner circle, and not everybody is, so let's talk about it.

[ Callum, excluding Claudia and Soren from their support system, even though the siblings haven't yet betrayed them, while including Rayla, even though he and she haven't made up yet. ]

What about Soren and Zym?

As stated before, Callum's selective loyalty does not mean he doesn't care about other people in his life, such as Claudia (in the past) and people like Amaya, Soren, and Zym in the present. Merely that, slightly like Claudia, Callum does have an internal hierarchy of care — the way you might have friends vs best friends — of who takes priority, and we see S1, S4, and S5 in particular demonstrate this quite well.

As already stated, Callum prioritizes Ezran over the egg in 1x06 and is held back emotionally by Ezran fuelled logic and physically by Rayla. In 1x07, he doesn't want to risk going into town — even to potentially find help for the egg — because of his last disastrous experience with humans and Rayla. In 2x04, Callum is perfectly happy to walk around a sea to let Rayla avoid her fear of water, and approximately 5 minutes later is getting on Ez and Rayla's case for goofing off (with Rayla's thinly veiled and fallible disguise) because "Sometimes getting someplace slightly faster is important, like right now." Wasn't quite the tune he was singing earlier, now was it? For Zym, we see this again in 3x04 — Rayla is having a breakdown, so she has more of an excuse, but Callum should conceivably be much more clear headed, and he still tunnel visions into leaving Zym alone with Nyx leading to the theft. Likewise in 4x07 when the group thinks Zym might be gone, Ezran is the one who states, "I'm not leaving without him," and Ez and Rayla are both pretty broken up about it; Callum is sad, for sure, but he mostly focuses on taking care of Ezran and placing a hand on his shoulder.

Then you have Amaya, who Callum loves dearly, but isn't particularly torn up over not trusting or lying to (1x04, 5x03) in spite of being close to her, and isn't as vexed even when he thinks that maybe something bad has happened.

Even when Callum thinks it was bad, and potentially very bad ("The way Gren was talking, I thought maybe the world was ending or something!") he doesn't get angry and he doesn't get demanding. This is very different from how he responds to Ezran and Rayla being potentially in danger or just in trouble.

Which on that note also highlights another key importance between how Callum treats Rayla, in particular, versus how he treats Soren. Now, you could argue that Callum in 5x01 has emotionally matured/healed further than he has in 4x01 prior to Rayla's return, and that would be perfectly fine to do. However, it doesn't change the fact that just the hint of Soren keeping a secret — even before Callum thinks, at all, that it's about Ezran — makes him wait on the battlements to coldly and sternly interrogate Soren about it. With Soren, he demands,

C: I know this — the ties are true as the ocean is deep [...] It means I trust her. Unconditionally. Let her go. Now. R: About your key and the bow. I can explain. C: No, I meant what I said. You don't have to explain or justify anything to me.

Even when Rayla engages in actually shady behaviour — omitting the truth if not outright lying, stealing his key, and retrieving a painfully poignant weapon — Callum doesn't get mad, at all. Soren just implied he was potentially keeping a secret from Callum at the council meeting and lowkey got his ass handed to him, with Callum literally shoving him out of his way and needing Corvus' help to coral the angry step-mage.

Furthermore, even when Soren goes missing in 4x06, although concerned, Rayla is by far the most broken up about it. Ezran is optimistic because he's, well, Ezran; Rayla is torn because even though she doesn't know Soren that well, she feels like it was 100% her fault he's gone missing and has possibly gotten hurt; and Callum, well... mostly focuses about how she feels about it, and less so about his actual friend (because if Ezran or Rayla are emotionally hurting, they will take priority to him). He's focused on making sure she feels better.

Again: Callum loves Amaya, and Zym, and Soren. He loves them dearly. He wants to and does protect them. He can and will take care of them. But push come to shove, they're not in his inner circle — he doesn't trust them the same way, and he doesn't focus on them the same way, because when it comes to his inner circle, he loves them

More Than Anyone or Anything

So after seeing Callum like this from S1 onwards, you can imagine I was pretty thrilled upon opening up his bio in Tales of Xadia — which seems to be the most 'canon' of the supplementary materials thus far (scenes and ages are changed in the novelizations; timelines get a little wonky in the prequel graphic novels; some designs from "Callum's Spellbook" ended up being different; the art book is full of beautiful concepts, of course, that never understandably got off the ground) except perhaps for Though the Moon — said the quiet part out loud. Not only does TOX have plenty of lore drops and hints at future arcs that are coming to fruition (Aaravos' connections to Elarion, mentioning the Great Bookery of Lux Aurea and Leola, etc) but they did something very interesting when it came to what values which character had. There's some leeway as this is very much an Arc 1 reading (probably most clearly seen in Soren's bio) but there is still plenty of bleed over into Arc 2.

Now, as I said before, we don't want to take the Values too literally. As talked about previously, a lot of the characters highest values seem to be things their arcs are set up to thematically test rather than being a 1:1 what they value the most. But I feel like you can glean a good deal from them, so let's look at the trio:

EZRAN:

Justice — 10: I expect the best of people and try not to become an agent of cruelty.

Devotion — 8: All creatures—regardless of origin—deserve love and appreciation.

Liberty — 8: I value the liberty of everyone, sometimes even more than my own.

RAYLA:

Devotion — 10: Love and devotion compel and define me.

Justice — 8: At great personal cost I will strive for what’s right.

Liberty — 8: My only allegiance is to my heart and those who know it.

CALLUM:

Liberty — 10: I’m beholden to my inner circle, not some silly kingdom.

Devotion — 8: I value those close to me more than anyone or anything.

Mastery — 8: I aspire to know the great wonders of every primal magic.

Out of all the more 'heroic' characters listed in the handbook (Amaya, Janai, Aanya) only Callum and Lujanne do not have Justice, "Have you ever been compelled to fix what’s wrong? This value is about balance, virtue, and reward. You’re motivated by adherence to fairness and what you think is right" among their top 3. Each have it at a 6, instead, which the guide labels as, "This matters, but so do many things" and is the second lowest ranking a value can have. None of the main cast have any value at the highest ranking, 12, either, to help indicate scale perhaps.

Devotion, then, is the one we're currently the most interested in for Callum, since as said before, while the general value descriptions are useful, the specific ones help show more indication. Devotion is referred to in Tales of Xadia as, "Have you ever been obligated to others? This value is about duty, faith, and friendship. You’re motivated by the bonds of loyalty and your love for others."

Although devotion is Rayla's highest value, her devotion value makes no indication of who/what she is Devoted to. Whereas Ezran's reflects his deep love and appreciation towards animals (hence saving the baby glow toads in S5) and Callum's we'll get to in a moment, Rayla's we're not privy to. Instead, we can look at her Liberty value, as it states that her allegiance is to her heart ("My heart for Xadia") and to her loved ones (her friends, her family). Much of her arc is therefore feeling torn between what she thinks/feels her duty is versus what her heart is telling her, indicated by her letting Marcos go in 1x01 and the subsequent fallout.

We can also see her state this more clearly in Through the Moon, in which Callum is the one primarily concerned with her parents ("he’s stuck worrying about her parents. About what happened to Runaan. She can’t move on, not without knowing the truth of what happened [...] I hope you find your parents. And Runaan"), versus Rayla going along with the plan, "Callum, listen. Soren was worried about Viren too. Worried that we never found a body. We need to know what happened to Viren. He’s a threat to the whole world! This might be the only way to be sure he’s actually gone! [Upon entering the Portal...] Okay. Viren. My parents. Runaan" and then 5x01 spells it out even more directly.

R: Callum and Ezran need me. A great evil is trying to return to Xadia and we have to stop it, at any cost. I think this is what you would want me to do. I love you, and I haven't forgotten about you. I never will. [...] It hurts me to know they're trapped like this. It's agonizing. But our mission comes first. The world is in danger, and you can trust me to stay focused.

Now this makes sense, as Rayla having this push and pull has not only been a defining feature of her arc most seasons, but is ultimately what's going to be the most challenged when the Callum possession plotline rears its head. Does she kill/incapacitate the man she loves in order to protect the world, or does she fight to get him back no matter what, even if that may lead to ruin and chaos? (I'm hoping for the second one, but I will eat either up, lemme tell you.) Does she finally refuse to sacrifice, or does she barrel on hoping she'll only have to sacrifice herself?

The reason I bring Rayla up at all is because I think it provides a good contrast to how Callum operates, specifically in 5x04, in which case he reaffirms his devotion ("I would do anything for you") and then risks everyone's lives by staying late at the Great Bookery, even when Rayla says three times that well, this isn't the time: "Not yet, Callum... Believe me, I want to do something, but... Callum, we need to leave!"

Rayla cares about everyone, and is willing to risk her life for enemies and for strangers. She will abandon her mission for the world in favour of looking after individuals because they need help, regardless of what it asks of her: "Live or die, this dragon goes home." (And because she believes Ezran and Callum can accomplish the mission without her, but that's a post for another day.) As Bloodmoon Huntress makes explicit, as Ethari says:

Who I love, where I love, what I love, are all specific. But to Runaan and those like your parents... love is rooted in all families, all creatures. Souls like that feel called to protect everyone as fiercely as those they hold close. Each time Runaan leaves, it is with the weight of knowing that he may not come back. That to fulfil his duty, he may need to sacrifice everything, himself, and all that we have here.

Rayla likewise feels called to protect everyone, and that's precisely why by the end of Bloodmoon Huntress she's chosen to literally and figuratively follow in Runaan's career path, in order to be able to help protect and save people like Suroh (a stranger she immediately becomes entangled with). As Rayla says to the vision of Runaan and her parents in 5x01, "I think this is what you would want me to do," because they are ultimately all more alike (even in the occupations Rayla holds, such as assassin or dragonguard) than they are dissimilar.

The reason I highlight Rayla here is because 1) it is her highest value, being the only character to have it as said highest value (Claudia's, likewise, is only an 8 — but everything she does is indeed for her father, and unknowingly herself) and 2) I think it provides a clear contrast to Callum.

Because Callum's devotion does outline who, or what, he's loyal to. He isn't loyal just to causes and he isn't loyal just to concepts. While he cares about the world, when his back is up against the wall and it's a choice between that kind of security vs the life of a loved on (Ez, Rayla), Callum will always choose the latter. He cares about the world — to a Point.

I've talked about it before, but merely a statement of "I value those close to me more than anything" would accordingly be a lot more vague. There could be discussions and debates on what the 'anything' constitutes (morals, responsibilities, hurt feelings) with a lot more grey room as to whether it would include people (strangers).

“Maybe there is something I can do,” Callum said. “Ezran, you stay here. Protect Bait and Zym. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon—with Rayla.” [...] Could he really bring himself to go through with his plan? What if he didn’t succeed? What if he compromised his beliefs and it all ended up being for nothing? […] But Rayla’s blade bounced off with a clang, sparks flying. She reeled back and tried again. Nothing happened. She was in trouble. Callum inched toward Claudia’s [book].

—Book 2: Sky novelization

But the inclusion of "more than anyone" changes that. It does include people. There is no wiggle room about that.

Now, I'm not going to base my whole thing on one (1) statement from a supplementary material. As previously stated, I've seen Callum with that exact same sentiment for years now, well before Tales of Xadia (March 2022) was released, and well before S4 or S5 premiered. I've gone over a lot of the reasons I thought Callum had selective loyalty even in S1, but I haven't touched too much on one of the biggest reasons why I think that selective loyalty includes a devotional component that borders on dangerous (at least, in a story). And that's, well...

“Rayla told me you used Dark Magic,” [Ethari] said, more stiff and cold. Callum shrank a bit, but his eyes hardened. “I couldn’t just let her die.” “You’d do it again." The prince scowled. “I’m not like Aaravos. He twisted the primal to be like Dark Magic. I would never do that.” “Unless you felt like you had to,” [Ethari] reiterated. “To save Rayla.” “Wouldn’t you do anything to save the person you love?”

—chapter 13 of a fic I co-wrote called in search of silver linings (we discovered gold) from july 2019, respectively

As soon as Callum opened up the door with dark magic in 2x07, I knew it was something he likely would never be able to entirely close. Not for lack of trying or wanting — but that his willingness to engage in dark magic at all spoke to a few different things. The first was the effectiveness — what spell to use, what would be most useful, and what Rayla's biggest problem would be (her swords unable to cut chains) — but most of all was what pushed him there: his devotion.

While magic has always been the thing presenting Callum with paths (to be a mage or not a mage, to be a primal or a dark mage), his bonds with other people, and his love for them — Rayla in particular — has always been what's actually pushed him down certain paths. His love for his mother, and her love for him, is what helps him unlock the sky arcanum. Callum unlocks his wings out of his love for Rayla; he goes down on the path of mage because "you called me a mage, and that felt right."

Although mastery of magic is one of Callum's highest values (an 8, just like his devotion), it was always clear to me that magic is not something Callum values above the people he loves. He can be obsessive, and his love for magic can sometimes put himself and other people unintentionally at risk, but thus far we've always seen him course correct the minute he realizes what's happening. The second things begin to go south at the Banther Lodge, Callum reflects, "We never should've come here," and completely forgoes the quest for the cube. He tries to risk his life just for magic in 2x04, but as we've gone over, he's unable to go through with it, but he will risk his life for his loved ones.

His rejection of dark magic was, to me, of being a dark mage, of not also pursuing primal magic, of relying on dark magic. Not that he would never, under any circumstance, ever do dark magic again if the show put him in the right circumstances. And then he did, in spite of knowing it would make him more vulnerable to Aaravos, in spite of not having any confirmation it wouldn't bring on a second possession, in spite of the fact he was fine being tortured if that meant not doing it or participating.

Then we have Callum giving up the spell, and the fact that the Ocean arcanum is linked more directly to love within his arc — "To love is to simply know this: the tides are true as the ocean is deep" (5x01, 5x08) — in addition to being aware that there are unknown depths in what he's willing to do for said loved ones/Rayla.

This is not to say that none of the main cast would do dark magic — although I don't think Soren or Ezran ever would, and I think Rayla would but only perhaps using herself as spell parts — but that, as the primary mage character, it's going to and is playing a much bigger part in Callum's arc than the others, who are given other thematic considerations.

He hates dark magic. He doesn't want to let Aaravos control him. He refuses to help Finnegrin. He folds on all of those things motivated by love. It's a weakness and a strength; something that, in my eyes, will likely lead to his fall to Aaravos ("Seems to me love's got a tighter grip on you than those chains around your wrists, so I'll do you a favour [by killing Rayla] and set you free") as well as what might save him. But to focus on the fall, with everything already said behind us:

Why Love Instead of Curiosity?

Now, obviously the theory of "Callum will free Aaravos because of [insert non possession reason here]" could be wrong. There's merits in having arcs about the tragedy inherent in losing your agency, it would still open up an interesting arc after the fact, and all that good stuff.

Callum has also very much always been an Icarus figure. He can be obsessive with magic, he can take it too far, and he does have a deep curiosity and thirst for knowledge that has already gotten him in trouble by not excluding dark magic from the bunch.

And deep curiosity is already hinted to be what partially causes him to fall further into Aaravos' clutches in a few different places. The mirror ("What secrets are you hiding?") and the cube ("Perhaps it will be you, Callum, who discover's the cube's secrets") seem accordingly linked and fittingly so, for the Mystery of Aaravos, as is magic: "it's the secret of the primal".

Zubeia also warns regarding curiosity, citing that, "Aaravos was able to give them something they wanted very badly. Aaravos chose as his instruments people who had strong minds and strong hearts… but who had an insatiable thirst and fascination with magic. Aaravos could offer them access to the great mysteries of the universe. Mages were his prey," which implies that this thirst for magic is what got them (primarily) into trouble. This is reflected (pun intended) in both Aaravos' reading of Viren as "You are too curious, hungry for knowledge and power," and while Callum is hungry for knowledge (and not necessarily power), his short story in which he finds the mirror highlights one of these things as well:

Callum’s eyes prickled with dust and tears. He rushed back to the spiral staircase—but as he reached for the figurine that would activate them, he noticed one last door he hadn’t checked. The small chamber beyond it lay dark and silent. A gleam caught his eye. Callum blinked at his own reflection. Curious, he stepped through the door—and there it was. A mirror.

With all that in mind, and I'm sure there's ones I've missed, too, why on Earth am I arguing that while curiosity may play a factor, I think it's going to be love that ultimately causes his initial downfall / playing into Aaravos' hands?

Well...

For starters, I personally find "doing terrible things for love" to be not only a primary theme of arc 2, but much more fundamentally sympathetic than just getting in over your head because you were a dumbass who couldn't read the signs. I know for myself that if Callum fucks around and accidentally gets himself into a place where (under possession at that point or not) he helps free, or just flat out helps, Aaravos knowing everything that he knows, if he does it for love I will defend his choice every step of the way. If it happens just because he wants more power or magical knowledge (hello Viren 2.0 beat for beat) I'm gonna be a lot more critical of him. After all, Claudia has done a lot of awful things but I still have sympathy for her because they were for her family, in their own fractured way, and operating out of a place of deep emotional pain. If she was doing that just because she wanted to be Powerful and Knowledgable, then no, I'm not going to be that sympathetic.

The other half of it, which you might have already guessed, is that curiosity is not a Motivation. It's a manifestation of a character's pyschological makeup. Even for a character like Viren, who very much chased power, ultimately, for the sake of power, we take time to dive into WHY he wanted those things ("To know that I mean something to you, it means everything to me" / "I dream of a bright future for humanity") and his internal justifications, no matter if some of those turned out to be lies.

Characters who are curious are curious because they want to solve puzzles and have a hard time letting things go; or else they are curious because they want to prove themselves by solving things first; or else they are curious because they deeply love and want to understand and protect the world; or else they are curious because they want to know and have access to tools so that they can fix problems; or else... Well, you get the idea.

Even if it is primarily Callum's curiosity and love/thirst for magic that gets him into trouble (and thus far it largely hasn't been, as we see in S2 with his motivation for doing dark magic — yes, there was a part of him that was undeniably curious about what it would be like, but I don't think he would've pushed himself into doing it without the dire straits of "I had to, to save my friends")... That doesn't answer why he's curious.

Either he will pull a full Greek tragedy and be so scared of freeing Aaravos he accidentally walks into it by trying to prevent it directly (and one of the main reasons he's scared of Aaravos is because he's scared he might hurt people he loves through possession) or he needs another motivation, but it can't just be "Callum really wants this [insert magical knowledge here] and it ends badly," because that offers a plot summary, not an emotional character beat. There's no motivation. They'll have to explain why he wants the magical knowledge, why he's chasing it, why this level of curiosity is something he cannot or will not put down even with all the risk factors at play. It has to be grounded in some kind of sympathetic emotion, and love or fear or a desire to be helpful/useful, or all three makes the most sense to me and with all the prior setup.

Conclusion

As a closing note, as well as thank you for reading this far if you have because this got wildly long and out of hand, I want to reiterate that in many ways, to me, Callum's devotion to his loved ones — that he says "I would do anything for you" and mean it — is indeed his saving grace and biggest difference from Viren, who would rather offer up himself or others or have Harrow die than relinquish the egg, because he would never put a weapon into Xadia's hands. Being devotional — valuing the individual — is not always a good or bad thing, nor is prioritizing the 'greater good' always a good or a bad thing. TDP is deeply interested in exploring all the different circumstances of motivation, sacrifice, and choices.

Nor is selective loyalty a bad thing. I'm not wired that way, but some of my closest loved ones are (and of those in the fandom have, overall, greatly aligned with this perceived aspect of Callum). Merely, this meta is meant to examine the claim in Tales of Xadia that "I value those close to me more than anyone or anything," why I was surprised but delighted to see my view of Callum be so directly spelled out, why I had that view and continue to have it, in addition to aspects/pieces of the text that I think support it.

I believe that Callum is loyal to Ezran and Rayla on a fundamental level he does not really extend to anyone else (including many other people who are also his family) and while this is in many ways something that creates the best sides of him — his nurturing, compassionate, thoughtful and protective traits — it is also something that can be exploitable and dangerous, particularly in a narrative where he is set up to be controlled/coerced by the big bad.

And this meta hopefully explained why.

You can take it or leave it.

—Dragons out

#snake boi callum #two pillars #tdp #tdp meta #the dragon prince #analysis series #analysis #tdp callum #callum #multi #tales of xadia #this got so long YES im mad about it #characterization

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tategaminu · 6 months

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“They are both equally important to each other and their development but Rayla is the one who gets the insults…”

What’s even more annoying about this is not only does Rayla get ridiculed for something Callum also does, that particular set of fans will also straight up deny that Rayla is Callum’s priority. “Oh, he would’ve found a way to connect to the Ocean with or without her as motivation. There were other factors in him deciding to do dark magic again.”

No. It was about Rayla, and pretty much only Rayla.

THIS

What kind of bs is "there were other factors" like my guy!! are you watching the show with a blindfold on? sure, he probably wanted all of them to get out of the boat but Rayla was the trigger

A thing I have also seen in fandoms is people trying to invalidate male characters' feelings for a girl, for whatever reason I don't understand. I will always find incredibly beautiful a male character treating a female character as an equal, not as the fairer sex or stuff like that, as an equal who he loves, and we see this with Callum, he has never ever treated Rayla as lesser than him, she's his priority alongside Ezran and that's super beautiful. I will always have a soft spots for guys being the most lovable and protective people towards their girls you know? not because they are girls but because they know they deseve love, so seeing people totally invalidate that feels so wrong to me.

S5 and S2 parallel each other, in S2 we saw Callum connect to an arcanum because he did ark magic for Rayla, sure he also did it for himself to feel useful but it was mostly to save Rayla, season 5 shows it even more clear. We only see Rayla and Callum wanting to scape when they see the other in danger, the reason Finnegrin even wants to throw Rayla to the leviathan is because Callum punched him because he was hurting Rayla, and he was hurting Rayla because he tried to beat his ass for hurting Callum.

We can see Callum letting himself get beaten and still refusing to do dark magic and give the spell to kill Domina away, it's only when Finnegru says he will feed Rayla to the fishes we see Callum BREAK. He tells him the spell right away. He could have invented a different spell but he was too desesperate to save Rayla he told him the whole truth. He could have done dark magic any other moment but it's after this moment when he does, and then he goes straight up to save Rayla, then just as in season 2, he figures out the arcanum after doing dark magic for her, but this time also thanks to the poem A LOVE POEM who he recited before in ep 1 TO RAYLA. The proof is all there like seriously, he can figure out the arcanum because he loves her, it is as clear as day.

He tells her "I would do anything for you" which it's directly shown in this whole episode. Callum is terrified of doing dark magic, not only because it breaks his morals but because he's scared it could make Rayla dislike him and because it would be an step further for Aaravos to possess him, (tho I'm not sure if he fully knows dark magic is what allows Aaravos to possess him at all, maybe he suspects it) we can see how people like Claudia who do way too much dark magic lose a bit of themselves, Callum is probably afraid of that as well and yet he still does because Rayla is more important to him than whatever the consecuences might be.

There are people out there who believe he wouldn't risk the world for her and stuff but c'mon, this guy would risk the entire universe, he is extremely loyal and proctective, his love for the ones closest to him make him twist his morals because he treasures them more than anything (Rayla and Ez that's it). Rayla has been shown as his achilles heel and we will see even more this plays out. I can't believe there are people who can't see it, everyone has their own way to interpret media sure but somes things are just SO clear, like imagine looking at Zym and going "I don't think he is a dragon, he could be a rat", no.

In a summary, I want people to cut slack on those two, mostly Rayla. It would be cool to treat her like an actual good written character and not trying to invalidate her or her relationship with Callum. The show characterizes them and their relationship so well, they are such complex people and I can't believe we have to deal with those kind of comments.

#let callum love rayla 2024 #leave rayla be herself 2024 #i need to let these big feelings out from time to time #god i get so heated up but damn #imagine if i put this much effort into my life eh #mandaloriandragontrainer #thanks you are great #rayla #callum #rayllum #tdp

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iwillhaveamoonbase · 2 years

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Can We Talk?

What if Stella hadn't interrupted Callum and Rayla in 4.3.

------------------

“You look nice, Callum.”

Nice? NICE?! She just waltzed into his study like she’d never left and she said he looked nice ?! “Right. Well, thanks.” She kept talking, going on about how nervous she was. He really didn’t want to deal with this. “You know what? I have a long day tomorrow. I should go to bed.” Moving towards the door, he refused to look at her. She came back the day after his birthday and didn’t even have the decency to say she was sorry for missing it or sorry for intruding or…or anything.

“Wait. What?” She grabbed his arm, her eyes slightly narrowed. “We haven’t seen each other in two years. Don’t you think it’s worth staying up a little past your bedtime?”

She released him, filling him with a longing that she would touch him again. Holding his arm, he tried to sound more tired than angry. “I’m tired.” And he was tired. He was absolutely exhausted, holding in all this anger and trying to divert his feelings into learning about magic or thinking about anything else.

Rayla haunted him. This had to be yet another dream where she came back and they fell back together and he was left feeling hollow and alone and miserable in the morning. He hated how much he still loved her. It would be so much easier to move on if he hated her. But, he couldn’t. Even if he was mad at her, he now understood that she had desperately needed closure and she wasn’t going to get it staying in Katolis. He knew that now. That didn’t mean that being without her didn’t hurt.

Rayla looked at him with slightly hurt eyes. It didn’t make him feel better.

“Fine. What do you want to talk about?” He rolled his eyes and strode over to the mirror. Sources, if this wasn’t a dream….

“Anything, really,” she said. “I’m so happy to see you again, Callum.”

She sounded happy. Why did she sound so happy? And anything? She was going to talk about anything? When she’d been off Lady Justice-knew where doing Sources-knew what after leaving him in the middle of the night on his birthday?!

Needing something to do with his hands, he started trying to move the mirror around. Anything but this. Anything but her sweet voice saying his name. She was already pulling him back to her, like a siren from the stories Harrow used to read to him and Ez. A spell so deeply woven into his soul that he’d never be free of it. Of her.

“OK. So why are you back? Did you find Viren? Was he dead after all?” He put a cloth on the mirror, refusing to look at her as she moved to come stand closer to him. Couldn’t she just stay in the damn corner and talk from there? Did she have to get so close that he could smell that slight wildflower scent that always clung to her? He was going to go under if he wasn’t careful.

But he wanted to. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and kiss her and tell her that everything was OK because she was back and they could do anything if they were together. But he also wanted to scream.

Rayla sighed. “I didn’t find him.”

He turned around to face her, no longer able to control his annoyance. “Oh. So you disappeared for two years for no reason at all.” He got up in her face a bit as she leaned back. “And now you’re back. Why?”

“I missed you.” Rayla said it with such honesty he almost believed her. No. He wasn’t doing this again. He wasn’t going to be her boyfriend and hold her…and kiss her…and…man, her lips looked so good. Soft and just a little shiny. Sweeter than any jelly tart. He still remembered how she tasted. What he wouldn’t give to fall back into her and just pretend that their life together hadn’t been upended by her leaving him.

If she had stayed, maybe she could have been his fiancée by now. He was old enough. So was she. Rayla would look stunning in a Katolian wedding dress, covered head to toe in gold, red, and cream. A blushing smile on her face as they exchanged vows to the Paragons before their friends-No. No. He wasn’t getting lost in his fantasies.

“That’s not good enough,” he finally said. “You just left me in the middle of the night. On my birthday, Rayla. And the first thing you can say to me is ‘hey. You look nice’?”

She winced, looking slightly to the side. “I know I hurt you-”

“Hurt me? Oh, no.” Callum laughed sardonically, shaking his head as he moved around the room to escape whatever she was doing to distract him. “You didn’t hurt me, Rayla. You destroyed me. I was a mess when I saw that you were gone after you lied to me.”

“I left you a letter. And I meant every word, Callum. I loved you back then. I still love you.”

“Oh,and that’s supposed to make me feel better? That’s supposed to make up for you being gone for two years and just showing up out of the blue the day after my birthday? You have a real funny way of delivering late birthday presents, you know that?”

“I deserved that.” Sitting in the chair, she looked up at him in guilt. “I was trying to protect you. I wasn’t sure how long we’d be gone and I didn’t know just what Viren and Claudia were capable of. I don’t regret my decision not to bring you with me because Ezran needed you.”

Ezran did need him, but still. “Even more than you did?”

“No one will ever need you more than I do.”

Callum stopped. That was…unexpected. It wasn’t an apology, but it was nice. Maybe they could-NO. NO. Get a grip, Callum. “That’s not good enough, Rayla. Not at this point. I-you-we.” Releasing a groan of frustration, he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m so furious at you, I could cry. You left me!”

“I know.”

“Stop doing that!” He rounded on her, glaring down at her figure as she wrapped her arms around herself. “Stop just taking it and acting like if you just agree with me, this will all be fixed.”

“What do you want me to do, then?!” She stood up from the chair so fast that it fell backwards. “You want me to get on my hands and knees and beg you to forgive me? Or to love me back? I don’t beg anyone for anything, Callum.”

“No! That’s not what I want.”

“Then what do you want? An apology? Oh, I’m sorry that I tried to keep my boyfriend safe.” She rolled her eyes as she finished in a sarcastic tone. “Guess what? I’m not.”

“Then why are we even talking? What’s the point?”

“Because I want to be in your life again. And I don’t know how to do it. You don’t want me to listen to you yell at me and you don’t want to talk and you don’t want me to beg. So, what do you want?”

“I wanted you!” Callum’s palms were up as his fingers curled. She was so infuriating! And aggravating. And…and…she put her hand on his elbow. And…was she leaning in? Why did she have to come back so damn pretty? Daring, strong, beautiful, smart. She was so perfect.

“I still want you,” she whispered before slanting her lips over his. She was trying to distract him. It wouldn’t work. He had things to say and yell and-oh, oh, he’d missed this. Her soft, pillowy lips were so familiar it was like coming home.

She sighed softly as their lips moved against each other. Strong arms wrapped around his neck as small hands played with his hair. It was like she’d never left. His arms latched onto her waist while she backed up against the wall.

He didn’t care anymore. She felt too good. Dream, real, it didn’t matter. He just wanted to drown in the love of his life.

One of his hands landed on the wall next to her head, tilting his head to devour her more. It wasn’t enough. Her little tongue snuck past his lips to play with his. The last time they’d done this, they’d be way too embarrassed to talk about it. The last time….

Shoving himself off of her, his breath coming out in harsh pants. Her purple eyes were hooded and full of hunger. “Callum,” she whispered, “I missed you so much.”

He’d missed her, too. Everything in him ached to hold her close and do whatever she asked of him. Burning, all-consuming love reignited with such a fury that he didn’t know what to do about it. He didn’t know what to do.

“You need to stay right there,” he said as he walked towards the center of the room. The distance between them should clear his head. “I need to think.”

“You can think next to me.”

Why did she have to be so tempting? Her legs were longer and her waist was more defined under that cloak. He’d felt it with his own hands. Her chest had been so soft against him. Her body had changed and he liked what he saw. It was hard not to think dirty thoughts when she looked at him like all she’d ever wanted was him.

“No, I really can’t,” he finally said. “Where were you?”

She groaned, leaning her head against the wall. “In Xadia.”

“Doing what?”

“Tracking Viren.”

“Is that all you did?” Silence. “Rayla?” Still no answer. Her fingers played with the end of her cloak before she pulled it off. Oh. She was…she was hot. That cloak was practically criminal hiding her from him like that. No. Stop. Focus, Callum. Focus. “Answer me.”

“If you’re asking if I was involved with anyone, the answer is ‘no.’”

Not exactly what he’d been gunning for but he’d take it. “That’s…that’s good. But I still have no idea what you spent two years doing and you won’t give me a straight answer, so I don’t see what the point of us continuing is. So, I’m going to bed and you can just…do whatever you’re going to do, I guess.”

He made his way to the door, ignoring the concerned look from Bait and the weird look he got from the creepy lemur-looking thing Rayla had brought with her.

“I lost someone,” Rayla finally said.

Hand on the handle, he paused. Looking back at her, he saw her eyes on the floor. “What do you mean?”

“I went back to Silvergrove to see if they would unghost me and they refused. Not even a letter from the Dragon Queen was enough. And, they wouldn’t let Ethari see me. So, I wandered around Xadia trying to track Viren and I ran into some assassins who were doing their own thing and I joined their group.”

So, she’d had friends. That was good, actually. It made him feel better to know that there had been people watching her back when he hadn’t been given the chance to. No matter how much it hurt that she hadn’t chosen him, them, in the end, he still wanted her to be safe.

“One of our group, Siobhan, well, let’s just say that she was obsessed with revenge. I connected to her because we both lost our parents to monsters, but she didn’t want closure like I did. She wanted to kill her parents’ killer and I tried to help her. The monster was already dead. So, she killed the kids.”

“Rayla-”

Shaking her head, Rayla looked up at him with teary eyes. “They were just babies, Callum. She kept calling it a monster, but it’d just been a banther. She made me believe it was some kind of noble cause, that we were ridding the world of someone like Viren. It was just a banther. After that, I couldn’t stay and I wandered around for a few months before I realized that I wasn’t going to find Viren. The trail had grown too cold.”

“So you came back?”

“I came back. I’m never going to get closure and a part of me still hasn’t accepted that. I believe he’s still out there, but I’m never going to find him. Or Claudia. They both eluded me.”

“I’m sorry you were involved in that, but I can’t just let you back into my life like nothing happened.” Running a hand through his hair, he tried to find the words to explain what he wanted to say to her. “You’ve hurt me in ways I can’t explain to anyone because I still love you. I’m angry at you. My head’s all turned around, I’m short with everyone, I hate my own birthday now. I feel like I’m becoming someone I don’t like because I can’t let you go.”

“Do you even want to let me go?”

No, he didn’t. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him and their love was the stuff of fairy tales. When he’d jumped off the Spire for her, he’d known in that moment that he couldn’t live without her. And she’d made him do just that for two years.

“I feel like you aren’t listening to what I’m saying, Rayla. You keep focusing on the parts concerning us and not the rest of it. I’m hurt. I’m angry. You are not coming back into my life to do what you did all over again.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes, looking at each other before looking away. The tension was so thick he could have cut it with a knife. “I don’t know how to make this better,” she finally said. “I don’t regret trying to protect you. But, you’re right. I did ruin your birthday and I understand why you’re angry with me. I just want you back, Callum.”

“You never lost me. But I thought I lost you.”

“Didn’t you read my letter?” Her eyes were wide in confusion as she made her way towards him. He didn’t stop her from cupping his cheeks. “You will never lose me. I am irrevocably yours.”

“But you left.” A few tears leaked out of his cheeks. Her calloused thumbs lightly brushed his cheeks. “Rayla….”

“I’m so sorry that I made you feel like I didn’t want you.”

“You picked revenge over me. What was I supposed to feel?”

“It wasn’t revenge. It was closure. I was looking for answers because I don’t know what Viren did to my parents or Runaan. And it’s killing me inside almost as much as being without you is. I’m not the same person I was when I left and I can live with not getting answers a lot easier now. But I can’t live without you.”

“If you’re coming back, we have to go slow.”

“I can go slow.” She leaned in again, stopping before she made contact with his lips. “I can go as slow as you want.”

His eyelids lowered as he felt her breath against him. “I’m still angry at you.”

“We can talk it out. All the Big Feelings Times you want.”

“You can’t leave me again.”

“Never.”

He closed the gap, unable to hold back from the promise of getting lost in her. They needed to talk more. They really needed to work through his feelings and what she did. But kissing her felt too good and he didn’t have the energy to fight her anymore. His heart beat louder in his chest than it had in a long time, her hand coming up to touch his chest right over it. Everything in him felt so alive as she pulled back to the wall.

They had a lot of lost time to make-up for.

#the dragon prince spoilers #the dragon prince #rayllum #rayllum fanfic #moonbase fanfics

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oceanarcaneum · 1 year

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My worst problem with this season is the characterization, personally. Everything just felt so out of place. This is most prominent in the Rayllum plotline, in that, like - yeah, I get it, Callum is being harsh and standoffish because he's upset, but it's been two years and we barely saw a single moment of confrontation about it. "Did you find Viren? / So you just left for two years for nothing?" was a good moment, but I feel like they really needed to have an actual argument about it. Rayla has always been headstrong and tends to rush at her problems, and she gets defensive so easily - and if she's grown into a person who isn't like that anymore, we need to see that development in REAL TIME, not just see the end result. The whole conflict just felt so unbearably bland and devoid of any real emotion, and it wasn't explained well enough in-show to justify it happening at all.

This also has to do with the animation. I rewatched seasons 1-3 right before I started season 4 because I wanted to see it all linearly and have 1-3 fresh in my memory, and the difference in animation quality is so… evident? the movements look so STIFF and the expressions are soooo bland and lacking in real emotion. it's just so obvious, especially in contrast with the previous three seasons, how stiff and lifeless this season's character expressions/movements are.

Also in regards to characterization. I was so FRUSTRATED with how they handled Callum's possession by Aaravos? Not in the moment, the moment was FANTASTIC (though even there it felt like nobody in the room was even barely reacting to it the way they would have or should have), but also as it continued on. When Callum tried to talk about it to Ezran by the fire and Ez thought he was referring to Rayla leaving - like ??? if a mystical star being that even all the arch dragons couldn't hope to take down threatened to take my brother from me, I WOULD NOT BE THINKING ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP ISSUES. And Rayla's approach, too: she says "No one can control you" - Aaravos literally did and YOU WERE THERE. YOU SAW. it felt so swept aside and like it barely meant anything to anyone, except Callum (and even then it was only brought up significantly like two times after it happened.)

It all really just comes down to writing. Everything felt like setup for season 5, and there are ways this could have actually been done good, but you cannot justify and ENTIRE SEASON of what amounts to practically filler after three straight seasons of nothing but plot-driven episode structures.

(Also, and these are more minor things, I hated the retcon-esque nonsense or the way things were brushed aside in-season. Like Callum going through ALL that trouble to decode the mirror: the payoff for all of that SHOULD have been Callum discovering how the mirror works on his own and getting to see him interact with Aaravos privately and directly (mirroring Viren's interactions with him, and Callum has been HEAVILY themed to reflect Viren for a LOT of this season). Or the fact that Zubeia literally said "every arch dragon has a CLUE to where Aaravos is, but no one truly knows the location" only to immediately transition to "this one specific arch dragon has a literal map to where Aaravos is." like. fucking hello????)

#the dragon prince #this season was so disappointing sorry #theres a couple things i like about it but honestly this was absolutely not worth the wait #tdp #tdp season 4 #the dragon prince season 4 #mine #tdp critical #long post

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lovelysheree · 3 years

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So how do Sara and Rune get along with their extended family?

I mean I can’t say how they’ll get along with Runaan and Ethari since we don’t quite know how that story ends canonically yet. But I imagine both Rune and Sara love them a lot (especially since they spoil the kids rotten—especially Runaan). If Rayla’s parents are “de-coined” then obviously they will also love their grandchildren to pieces.

However, I do imagine there being an unspoken tension since the children are halflings. In my own head, I think halflings were considered more mythical than anything else; either side (meaning the Pentarchy and Xadia) considers them to be “cursed creations.” As the war ends, halflings become less myth and more of a reality as elf/human relationships become a little more common, but there is still a lot of hate for halflings that Sara and Rune, even in their social position as royalty, experience.

With that said, I would imagine Ethari and Runaan loving the children (as well as Tiadrin and Lain if they are de-coined/living) but dislike seeing this hate play out in their grandchildren’s lives. They obviously know it’s the world’s bigotry that is the root cause of Sara and Rune’s bullying, etc, but they also know that it could have been avoided had Rayla chosen to be with an Elf instead. I’m actually exploring a one-shot where I dive further into this and explain my thinking a bit more so I’ll leave it there for now. (And btw it’s not just the Elvan side of the family that wrestles with this).

Sara and Rune’s other extended family love them to pieces—Uncle Ez, the Great Aunt Amaya, and Aunt Janai, so forth. The kids see a lot more of them initially because of living in Katolis for the first portion of their childhood. Sara and Ezran get into trouble together a lot, and if Ez wasn’t the King, they’d probably have to deal with the consequences more than they do. This leads to Sara having to find out the hard way she can’t just make messes and run away from them in life. Rune is pretty quiet as a kid, so it isn’t until he gets older while they’re living in Xadia that he starts breaking out of his shell. During that time, he grows particularly close to Ethari.

But those are just loose thoughts I have. It’s hard to imagine how all the relationships will work since we haven’t seen a ton of development with those characters yet in the show (and I haven’t done enough digging myself to be confident in which direction they’ll go). So… yep. Thanks for listening to my TED talk.

Also lmk if y’all feel I misrepresented any characters in this.

#ask #tdp #oc #rayllum family #rayllum #sara #rune #ethari #runaan #Amaya #janai #ezran #rayla #callum #lain #tiadrin #rayllum oc

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blutopaz15 · 3 years

Text

Flufftober: Oct 4

Fireworks

I thought this prompt was going to be really tough, but I just plopped our two dorks in Lux Aurea and it all worked itself out! Hope you enjoy friends!

NOTES: Rated G, ~700 words

ao3 link

It’d been way too early for the party to wrap up when it did: certainly by Moonshadow standards and, Rayla had gathered, even by human standards too. She wouldn’t have even called it dusk yet when Janai and Amaya’s Sunfire guests had started saying their goodbyes to the brides.

Their wedding definitely wouldn’t be anything like that, Rayla thought, feeling restless watching the moon grow brighter in the sky.

Not that…they were actually getting married. Not…yet.

She leaned back against Callum’s chest, her horns avoiding his shoulder and hitting the bark of the tree at their backs instead. His nose rubbed at her cheek when she did, warming it just like his hands were warming her arms and just like the thought of him being hers always warmed her chest.

Maybe…soon, though?

It’d been on her mind all day, honestly: every time he’d snuck a kiss, every time he’d taken her waist…when he’d suggested they slip away…

As odd as it seemed for a party to end so early, it really hadn’t been a surprise when Callum—shortly after they’d both noticed wedding guests beginning to file out of the open, golden courtyard—had wanted to whisk her away.

For one, his tolerance for parties like this, where eyes were on him—thanks to her—as much as they were on Ez, was low. Of course, she’d felt it too—everyone staring—and she wasn’t exactly a fan, but she’d still hesitated when he’d first tried to pull her away. Callum had assured her, though: they wouldn’t be missed by anyone who mattered. This was the official party—one of two, actually—not the family party, he’d said, pulling her away from their table.

Their wedding probably would be like that, she figured, whether they liked it or not.

They’d finally slinked away at dusk—actually dusk—and Callum had flown them here to the outskirts of Lux Aurea, where they’d been watching the final part of the festivities: fireworks.

And—of course—Callum was captivated.

“Do all weddings in Xadia have these?” he asked, reds and oranges reflecting in the whites of his eyes.

“Nope.” She might’ve been a little more enamored with the lights—they were entirely new to her, too—if not for the dumb, adorable way Callum’s mouth kept gaping open with every new pattern of color in the sky.

Callum inclined his head in her direction, blinking between her and the next explosion. “All Sunfire weddings then?”

“Also no,” she said with a slight shake of her head, sitting up and crossed-legged in between his knees. “Magic like this? It’s a pretty big deal, mage, especially at night. Definitely a royal thing, Your Highness.”

Callum smirked back at being teased, his attention fully given to watching her rather than the show of lights still burning above Lux Aurea.

His eyes on her like that never failed to send a flush up from her chest, especially accompanied by a touch as tender as his fingers on her warmed cheeks…

“Thought we’d be first, you know,” Callum said, and everything about the way he spoke was all at once so much lighter than all of the political considerations that heard many a lecture about and so much more real than all the late night whispering about forever. So…sure and steady, and just a little sentimental.

Her heart pounded, like his saying so—like Callum actually seriously talking about marrying her—was because he’d somehow known how it’d been all she could think about all day. “Yeah?”

“You know that’s what I want.” She did know that—he wasn’t exactly subtle—but…yep, there was the panic all over her sweet dummy’s face. “If, uh…if you do.”

He just…stared at her then, almost…expectantly, and—

“Oh…oh. Is this—” she started and then stopped, feeling the fool for being so smug over his stammering. “Are you—“

Callum looked puzzled.

So…not yet.

His eyes went wide when it dawned on him.

“Oh, no!” he exclaimed. “No. No, I need to get—”

Taking his hand wasn’t quite enough to make him stop—

“There are things—”

—so she kissed him instead.

When she left his lips alone, he just blinked at her—wide-eyed—before the startle melted into a lopsided smile. Callum took her other hand in his, his thumbs’ rubbing at her knuckles the only remnant of that anxiety.

“Soon?”

She clutched back at him eagerly.

“Soon.”

#rayllum #rayllum fanfic #the dragon prince #flufftober2021 #lux Aurea #background janaya #Rayla #Callum #tdp

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biqherosix · 3 years

Note

hiiiiiiiiii do u write for the drgaon prince ??????????????????????? it’s totally not el spamming you again bc you deserve your ezran/callum x sister reader even if i’ll give it to you too

the secret life of katolis royalty - headcanons

prompt(s): the royal family uphold a proper, good reputation. but with you and your siblings, there are always bound to be a few secrets whether they're silly or not

pairing(s): familial! callum x fem! reader x ezran

fandom(s): the dragon prince

genre(s): fluff

warning(s): none (if there are, please feel free to point them out!)

other notes: hi el 🙄 anyway yes i write for dragon prince now because there is a lack of content in this fandom, especially for the royal siblings ! i want platonic goodness, and i'm getting it even if i have to make it myself. enjoy :) also reader may possibly be bi?? can be interpreted as whatever you'd like though !

- so you're three years older than callum, making you at least seven when ezran is born

- you're so protective, no doubt about it

- and callum doesn't mind because you're not overbearing (if anything callum is more protective of you and ezran than you are of your brothers)

- which is why callum never finds out about your little things with both soren and claudia (more like a kiss with claudia, dating soren, and then breaking up with soren to try shit out with claudia; spoiler alert you kinda miss soren as much as you love your magical perky girl)

- another reason is that cal has such a major crush on claudia before meeting rayla and you don't want him to feel bad upon finding out

- but let's be honest ezran finds out because he walked in on you making out with soren after exiting a secret tunnel

- ezran gossips with you more than you both like to admit because of this huge secret only the two of you now know

- but it brought you two closer and he's really happy about that because now he gets to cuddle into your side while he asks questions and spills the beans while you play with his hair lmao

- yk sometimes you even shit talk callum and his sword fighting and that definitely stays between the two of you (he always wonders why you two are giggling under the tree whenever he plays around with soren)

- but you love your brothers and they love you so !! freaking !! much !!

- y'all are attached to the hip, you can't be seen without one or the other

- most of the time it's your brothers doing your thing and brushing up your knowledge on royal etiquette because a part of you is anxious whenever your father talks about his royal wrongdoings

- he doesn't mean to worry you, he just wants you to be prepared (you were in fact, worried and unprepared when he died and you now had three mf children and a dragon egg to take care of)

- don't worry though because callum and ezran are here to save the day and will tell you how amazing you are for hours, it honestly passes the time very well

- okay but i gotta get this outta the way before i forget but callum is the epitome of the "you're doing amazing sweetie!" meme okay?? he is

- where he succeeds (magic, art, being awkward) you on the other hand lack and vice versa (you are badass okay? you can fight and spar properly thanks to your mother's extensive knowledge and even without a weapon you can pack a punch)

- rayla doesn't really understand how callum can be so happy and perky even when you suck at what you're doing

- but he's your baby brother and he loves hyping you up

- callum is your biggest hypeman and always has been it's a second nature to him, trust me if someone were to mention your name he'd never shut up !!

- like this one time you drew rayla and callum on a spare piece of paper callum gave you and it didn't really turn out the best but he still fake cried and attacked you in a hug

- he keeps it in his sketchbook and he's never letting that go, so rayla jokingly judges him for it and your boy ezran backs you up with callum

- "i don't see why you keep it, i mean it doesn't even look like us! we're like lil' stick figures" "art is contemporary, rayla. it can be anything you want it to be! isn't that right zym?" "ez is right, plus it doesn't look that bad! it's cute. look, she even drew me doing magic! her markings are so accurate" "callum, i don't even know what spell you're doing" "it's clearly aspiro! look at the wind" "they're lines!" "that's what art is all about!"

- baby gets so nervous when he and rayla kiss bc he obviously has to tell you and your opinion matters most to him; he's just scared bc rayla always teases you and you may not approve

- so he kept it a secret for a fat minute after telling ezran, ez is so annoyed bc he has to keep your soren secret and callum's??? at least bait and zym are there to listen (man relationships are hard)

- you just laugh because you saw it coming and the moment is just so wholesome !! you tackle rayla into a hug, welcoming her into the family with "bad drawings and all" bc she never lets you live it down fr fr

- but later that night callum can't sleep and he lets out everything because he never really told you about his crush in the first place like he feels really guilty because you're always so open with him and sometimes he has some walls up, like how he was with king harrow even if you're his biological sibling

- also you bet on your life that you would do anything to make sure callum was content with his life and so after his lil rant and your assurance he asks if you've ever felt that way before

- and you had to do it to em, so you tell him about soren and claudia

- "why didn't you tell me anything before?" "you liked claudia! i didn't want to be the reason for your heartache" "but you're my sister, you deserve to be happy. maybe you and soren can work out" "eh, we'll see. not gonna lie i was ready to go back for him after he almost killed that dragon. he looked pretty hurt but you looked way worse honestly" "hey! you're making my heart hurt here y/n." "that doesn't count because it was playful!"

- you end up going to sleep that night leaning on each other because that's what you've been doing all your life — leaning on each other and you don't want him to forget that !!!

- you also wake up the next morning with ezran in between you sleeping soundly, and rayla comes back to the three of you making funny faces and laughing like there was no tomorrow

- she didn't get it but the three of you did, it was a simple moment that you would all cherish even after ezran becomes king — perhaps it even makes you better as royals

- and from then on, there were no secrets, just a family trying to piece themselves together again after so much tragedy

#dragon prince #dragon prince imagine #tdp x reader #tdp imagine #the dragon prince #dragon prince x reader #prince callum #prince ezran #human rayla #tpd rayla #tdp callum #tdp ezran #tdp soren #tdp claudia #tdp harrow #soren x reader #callum x reader #daniza's fave characters are paying rent

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tenspontaneite · 3 years

Text

Across Shared Skin (Chapter 2/?)

“This is the worst possible way this could have happened!”

(Chapter length: 3k. Ao3 link)

---

The back of his hand still ached from where she’d hit it. He couldn’t quite draw his mind away from that, couldn’t ignore it, couldn’t get away from it. The back of his hand hurt, because that was where his soulmark was, and she’d hit hers, and of course it had carried over, that was how soulbonds worked.

She was still standing there. Still with those swords in her hands, though she’d lowered them now. Still standing over him, though she’d backed away a little, as if someone had shoved her. Still wide-eyed, still aghast, still an elf, still his soulmate-

“Shit,” she said again, more emphatically, and staggered further backwards. For a moment it seemed like she was trying to lift her hands, to bury her face in them – but then she saw her swords and flinched, shuddering in a violent motion that terminated with her fingers so tight on the weapons’ hilts that they trembled.

She had white hair. All the books had said that Moonshadow elves had white hair, but it was one thing to read it, another to see it. And those horns, too, and the ears – she was – she wasn’t human, she really wasn’t, and for all that he’d spent years trying to imagine what that would look like, it still fell short of reality. It was her. It was really her. This was what his soulmate looked like. “Rayla,” He said again, testing the name, feeling his pulse race so fast that his head swam. She flinched again at the name, eyes jerking back towards him, so plainly distressed that it made his gut twist.

Her eyes were purple. He’d seen that before, of course, when she was standing over him with that sword, but – somehow it mattered more, now that he knew who she was.

“No,” she uttered, despairingly, like it was a reflex response to hearing her name from his lips. Her expression twisted as if to hold back some unbearable emotion.

Ezran was frozen at the portrait hole, and hadn’t moved. Callum was only peripherally aware of that. Mostly, he was aware of the thrum of his heartbeat, and the look on his soulmate’s face, and the part of him that was still tense and terrified in anticipation of death. In those moments, it was all confusion, a conflicting tangle of his shock and his fear. But then – he looked at her, and his mind began to catch up. She’d been this nameless, frightening elf mere minutes ago, but he’d seen her hesitate even then, seen her listen to him – and now she was Rayla, and he knew Rayla, and-

In a sudden, decisive moment, it was like something clicked into place. The elf who’d threatened him at swordpoint and the elf who was his soulmate were the same – and as that knowledge reconciled itself, he felt his shoulders slump with unthinking relief. All at once he understood, without reservation or doubt, that she wasn’t going to hurt them. He knew. He’d never been more certain of anything in his life.

“Rayla,” he repeated, steadier this time, secure in that knowledge, and slowly went to stand up.

She recoiled, flinching backwards as he rose. “No,” she said again, and then again, and again- “No, no, no, this isn’t – this wasn’t supposed to-“ She whirled around, pacing in broken and aborted steps around the office, like she wanted to flee but didn’t know where to go. Her shoulders were so tense it looked painful, and – she snapped towards him, suddenly, one of those swords suddenly up and pointing accusatively his way. “This is the worst possible way this could have happened!”

The way she’d said it, it was almost like she blamed him for that. Like he’d decided that these should be the circumstances of their pre-ordained meeting. “…I’m…sorry?” He offered, weakly, looking back at the bristling affront that had come over her in that moment. She seemed angry, right then, but – then she saw the blade she was pointing his way, and it all crumpled away at once.

“I was going to kill you.” She said, voice tight and haunted, and she looked up at him blankly. Her eyes slid to his brother, still frozen motionless in the mouth of the secret passage. Quiet, she added “…I’m supposed to kill you.”

He swallowed. “Yeah, you said.” He acknowledged, remembering his terror when she’d said she was here to kill his brother, his absolute certainty that he could not allow it to happen. That felt so long ago, now. “You’re…an assassin,” he tested the words, looking at her, looking at the swords, the armour, the wiry muscles tense along her arms. He remembered years and years and years of seeing her write about her training. “You’re an assassin, and you came here to kill Ezran.” He tilted his head at her, a little solemn. “I guess whoever sent you probably wouldn’t mind if you got another human prince, too.”

She barked a harsh laugh. “If you got in the way? No. No, they wouldn’t.” Again, her eyes flickered to Ezran. She exhaled. Again, she said “I’m supposed to kill you.” It was strangely bleak, this time. Defeated.

Ez flinched a little, but Callum didn’t falter at all. Not anymore. He took a step towards her, and she rocked back on her heels as if to lean away from him. He stepped again though, with a confidence that surprised him, and said “You won’t.”

She didn’t move back this time. Just watched him, rigidly still, expression twisting. Her fingers clenched on her weapons. “You sure about that?” Her voice was low.

He stepped again, and again, until he was directly in front of her. Close enough for her to run him through with either blade. Close enough for her to reach out and break his neck. But she wouldn’t. “Yeah. I’m sure.” She watched him, so wary, so conflicted. There was something in her expression that made her look startlingly vulnerable. With utter certainty, he said “You’re not going to hurt us.”

She closed her eyes, then. Exhaled. When she opened them, her hands flexed on the weapons. He didn’t even flinch as they moved, convinced beyond the possibility of doubt that she would never threaten him with them again. And, sure enough, the way that motion ended was with the blades flipping away, melding by some mechanism back into their handles. Sheathed. Safe. “No.” She agreed, finally. “I’m not.” There was an edge of self-recrimination in her eyes as she looked away. “I couldn’t.”

Finally, Ezran seemed to sense an opening in that tension. Cautiously, he stepped out of the portrait hole, creeping a few steps forward until her eyes fell on him. He looked up at her, wary but interested, Bait held tightly in his arms. “You’re Callum’s soulmate,” he spoke, like he just needed to say it, to get it out there. “Rayla. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Her expression twisted, like she wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “And you’re his brother. Prince Ezran.” Her hand went to one of the silvery ribbons she wore around her wrists. “I’ve heard plenty about you, too.” She exhaled, shakily. “I came here to kill you.”

Ezran crept a little closer, surprisingly confident, as if some of Callum’s certainty had bled into him. “Why?” He asked, curious and almost calm, as if this were some matter considerably lighter than one of life and death.

“You’re the son of a king who killed our king and his son.” She answered, bleakly. “We’re supposed to pay it back. Blood for blood. Justice for their deaths. Make it right.”

Callum hesitated, then reached out. His fingertips grazed her forearm; the first time he’d ever touched her. She flinched as though burned, eyes snapping to his. “Revenge isn’t the same thing as justice, Rayla.” He told her, quietly. “You know that.”

“Do I?” Her voice sounded almost tired.

“Killing Ez to make up for what happened to the Dragon Prince wouldn’t solve anything. Wouldn’t make anything better.” He looked at her, exhaling softly, and could finally speak a truth he had never been allowed to write: “Just like…King Harrow killing the Dragon King, to make up for what happened to my mom, didn’t solve anything.” He saw her recoil at that, and added quietly “Didn’t help me, and…didn’t help the world, either. Or you wouldn’t be here.”

“Your mother,” she whispered, like she was abruptly reconciling Callum the prince with Callum the soulmate. Like it had just occurred to her what that meant. “Queen Sarai. The – Dragon King killed her?”

A twist of pain gripped his chest. “Yeah.” He studied her eyes, her expression. “You didn’t know?”

“No.” With that awful understanding on her face, he couldn’t doubt her. She shuddered and looked away, hands clenching on her sheathed weapons. When finally she looked back, she seemed so horribly uncertain that it made his heart ache. “Callum…” she said, finally, the first time he’d ever heard her speak his name. “What am I supposed to do?”

He hesitated, then. He wanted to say don’t murder anyone, but she didn’t need telling that, and…that wasn’t an answer to that question. Not really. She was here in the heart of the kingdom, and could have killed him, and could have killed his brother, and – surely, she wasn’t alone. Surely they’d not have sent only her. There had to be others, and that wasn’t something he knew how to answer.

Ezran, though... “You should follow me,” he said, plainly, finally approaching enough to insinuate himself beside them. “If this is about the Dragon Prince…” he nodded towards the open portrait hole. “Then there’s something you need to see.”

She stared down at him with obvious consternation. She glanced at Callum, as if to check with him, and he shrugged helplessly. “You sure, Ez?” he asked his brother, dubious, and received a very firm nod in return. He sighed. In a situation like this…he had to trust that Ezran wouldn’t mess around. “Alright,” he accepted. “Lead the way.”

‘The way’, apparently, was into the secret passage connected to Lord Viren’s study. Ezran and Bait climbed back into it, but Rayla hesitated before following. She went off to the side, picked something up, and pushed it into his hands. “You dropped this.” She said, quiet. “When I knocked you over.”

It was Harrow’s letter. Callum swallowed past the lump in his throat, and held it close. “…Thanks.”

Ever-so-briefly, and so lightly he hardly felt it, she rested her hand on his arm. Her eyes met his. Then she turned away, and walked off into the dark.

Callum followed.

---

Ezran had been right. They had needed to see this.

“The Dragon Prince is alive,” Rayla breathed, eyes wide, fingers shaking. “This – this changes everything.”

After a little discussion, though, it transpired that some of that ‘everything’ might be a little harder to change than the rest. “So there are more of you.” Callum concluded, voice tight, as she finally admitted that the ‘others’ would be coming.

“Five.” She agreed, voice just as terse as his . “I – was supposed to stay behind. I didn’t. I came early, so they wouldn’t stop me, but-“ She glanced up at the stone ceiling, as if she could see the sky even through a castle’s worth of rock and air. “But they’ll be coming once the Moon rises. When we’re strongest.”

“…Can we stop them?” He asked, carefully controlled. He’d known he had a Moonshadow elf for a soulmate for years. He’d done research. He’d asked people. He knew how powerful they were supposed to be at Full Moon.

She looked at him, uncertainty plain on her face. “If we show the egg to Runaan-“ She started, falteringly. “He…might call the mission off?”

He could see how unconvinced she was of that. “You think?”

She exhaled. “No. But I think we have to try.” She stood. “I know where he’ll be. We should get there as soon as possible.”

Ezran picked up the egg, and the three of them prepared to set off.

Except that was when Claudia arrived.

---

Not much later, with a primal stone in his hands and the exhilaration of magic still fresh in his veins, Rayla turned to him for a moment and smiled. It was a tentative thing, but- “Preferred that to all your sword lessons, didn’t you,” she observed, and he stopped short, strangely breathless. There was something about the reference to their history, to the things she knew because she was his soulmate, that – that was just – kind of amazing.

“So much,” he agreed, heartfelt, and felt his face break into a grin at her. She went a little pink around the ears, but huffed at him with a friendly sort of humour. She patted him on the shoulder.

“Well, magic’s plenty good for defending yourself, so just keep that spell in mind and you’ll be fine.” Her lips twisted thoughtfully for a moment. “Don’t suppose you know that lightning spell too? Looked proper useful, that one.”

“Er,” he said, eloquently, and thought. “I remember the rune. Is that enough?”

“No, you’d need the incantation too.” She frowned.

He tried to remember it, but…in the end, his memory was mostly only good for things he saw. “…Finalous?” He guessed, knowing it wasn’t right. “Culminus? No…”

She scowled at the wall for a second, holding up a finger to silence him. “Fulminis.” She concluded, decisively, after that moment. “I think.” She glanced back at him. “Try it.”

“Now?” He blinked, taken-aback. “Shouldn’t we be going to find your assassin leader?”

“It’s related.” Her teeth gritted a little. “Try it.”

He exchanged a glance with Ezran, then shrugged. “Alright.” He lifted the stone in one hand. Drawing the rune was easy; it lit up with sparks, magic surging at once, impatient for release. And then the incantation did turn out to be right, because saying “fulminis” unleashed a bolt of lightning from his fingertip that crackled loud and bright into the wall he’d aimed it at. He beamed.

Rayla noted this with a sort of grim satisfaction, and said “Good.” When he looked askance at her, she exhaled, and admitted “He’s probably going to try to kill you.”

It took him a second to think of who she meant. “…Your leader?” He questioned, confused. “Because…I’d get between him and Ezran?”

“That too.” She looked away. “Mostly, though, because you’re my soulmate. My human soulmate. And we’ve only just met, so…” She glanced back at him, troubled. “Well, you know.”

Oh. Right. He could imagine how ‘human soulmate’ and ‘only just met’ might be a recipe for violence from a murderous, concerned-for-Rayla elven assassin commander. He winced. “Yeah. He’d…what, want to kill me before it’s ‘too late’?”

She scowled, expression tightening, and inclined her head. “I wouldn’t put it past him to think I’d be better off that way.” Her shoulders straightened, and she reached out to tap the primal stone. “So keep this handy. And defend yourself, alright?”

He swallowed, and nodded. “What about you?” He asked. She looked confused. “He’s – you’re Moonshadow elves. The mission is supposed to be everything, right? You’re supposed to act like you’re already dead, even, so it doesn’t matter if you die to pull it off?”

Rayla stared at him. “How do you know that?”

“He’s been reading about you guys forever.” Ezran offered, and her eyes turned his way. “And talking to anyone who’s ever met Moonshadow elves or knows anything. Aunt Amaya, Lord Viren, everyone.”

At her expression, he shrugged self-consciously. “I knew you were a Moonshadow elf. I wanted to know what that meant. And – you weren’t allowed to talk to me about that. So I had to ask other people.” He shook his head. “That’s not important right now, though. What I mean is – you’re going against the mission, right? You’re trying to stop him. So…” Carefully, he looked at her. “Are you going to be safe?”

She was quiet for long enough that the silence was an answer of its own. Finally, she said “Probably not. I don’t think he’d actually kill me. But…” She shrugged.

Callum set his jaw, and clutched the primal stone close. “I’ll be ready.” He promised grimly.

Rayla looked almost startled at that response, though he didn’t know why. Wasn’t it obvious that he’d try to protect her, if he could?

“We should go.” Ezran said, nervous, looking between the egg in his hands and the ceiling. He glanced around at them. “We’re going to the roof, right? There’s a pretty quick way there. Follow me.”

“How much time have you spent in the castle secret passages?” Callum asked, exasperated, already following.

Ez smiled a little, smug. “A while,” he said nonchalantly, and opened a hidden staircase in the corridor beside them like it was nothing.

They were in a doorway opening out to the castle battlements when Rayla stopped them, suddenly tense. “He’s out there.” She said, terse. “Or he will be soon. I-“ She hesitated for a moment, then said “I’ll try to get him to call off the mission. I might call you out to show him the egg. But if he won’t stop…” She exhaled, hands drifting to where she’d hung her sheathed blades. “I’ll have to stop him myself.”

Callum, meanwhile, was very resolved that she absolutely wouldn’t be doing any assassin-stopping by herself. Not if he had anything to say about it.

He fixed the spell into his mind, gritted his teeth, and waited.

---

End chapter.

Notes: also a cliffhanger! I guess! But the story wanted it, so. Who am I to argue.

Canon is going to get drop-kicked off of a mountain next chapter, FYI.

Thank you everyone for the response. It’s been flattering to hear from those of you who read this in the zine first, who are looking forward to the story continuing. I hope it continues to do justice to the concept!

Worldbuilding stuff of note in this chapter: if you’re curious about what Callum and Rayla meant about the ‘only just met’ and ‘too late’ stuff, the answer is: soulmate mechanics! Gonna tease this for a bit, but you’ll see what it’s about in ch4.

#rayllum #tdp fic #soulmate AU #tdp callum #tdp rayla #tdp ezran

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beautifulterriblequeen · 3 years

Text

B2:S - Chapter 3

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be Lujanne, Callum, Rayla, Ezran, Bait, and Soren goodness!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

Lujanne having excellent fitness for all her walking around the Moon Nexus, and she's so energetic that Callum has trouble keeping up with her! She seems like those active grandmas who almost never stop moving, who have a lifelong supply of endless stamina. It makes me wonder if Lujanne will need that level of fitness for some upcoming conflict.

Callum feeling really hungry over not eating grubs and then still deciding he'd rather be hungry. It makes me wonder all over again how Lujanne got to the point where she eats grubs, considering that other Moonshadow elves we know of back in the Silvergrove don't. I still love my hc that the giant leech ate all of Lujanne's moonberry bushes and she's taking her revenge. Whatever's going on there, Callum is definitely not at that point yet.

When Lujanne asks Callum how he knows she's real, he thinks to himself that he'd put up with just about anything from someone who was going to teach him magic. That's a great parallel and foreshadowing for Viren's student/master relationship with Aaravos! And it's telling that neither student gets exactly what they hoped to get. Lujanne doesn't actively teach Callum any spells, because she believes he can't learn Moon magic at all. Aaravos does offer Viren power, but it takes him to some very dark places - literally and figuratively - and the cost is terribly high.

Callum sees a moon shape among the ruins, and Lujanne explains that the Moonhenge layout is an intricate rune that uses the structures themselves as part of its symbols and power. That's apparently a thing even with ordinary Moonshadow villages like Hollow Wood in the east, which is the coolest idea I've seen in a while: city planning as magic runes!

Yes, that's the same shape as the pendants Ethari made for himself and Runaan. Protection? Home? Feelsiness? A sense of safety and belongnig for all cycles and seasons?

Wonder what this Moonhenge rune stands for, then, and how much of this landscape is included in that rune. I bet it's more than we think!

But it makes sense now, how toppling the stone pillars would disable the spell the druids would cast to connect with the Moon Nexus lake. Breaking the infrastructure of the Moonhenge breaks the rune.

There's a physical sensation involved with the visuals that Historia Viventem brings up! When that one ghostly druid walked through Callum, he felt icy cold. Like in ghost stories. I really wonder about what exactly Historia Viventem is doing when it activates. It shows truth, "what really happened here?", so it must have some kind of time-related element, maybe tied to how the moon always repeats the same cycles or something. But it also seems to draw on the spirits of any living people involved in the flashback, because Callum could physically feel that wispy shape passing through him. So very interesting!

Orrr... is that all wrong, and there's something else at work with this spell than time? Maybe the world beyond life and death can act as an imprint of the things that have happened in the living world, and the spell that Lujanne (and later Callum) casts taps into that place, with perfect recall. I'm looking really hard at the sentence that says "dozens of translucent elf ghosts" and "phantom Moonhenge" and "lost in their own world" here.

Lujanne says more here than in the show about the world beyond life and death, being her mysterious Moonshadow-mage self. She says that "beyond" and "between" might both apply to where this other plane of existence is, and she doesn't much care which. With all the relativity swirling around this place, and not much in the way of empiricism, it's sounding like perhaps multiple conflicting ideas might actually coexist in such a place, allowing more ideas to fit there than we might normally believe is possible. Which is a fascinating bit of worldbuilding. Basically, every headcanon anyone has ever had about the Moon Nexus could all be true at the same time, for all we know.

Oh oh oh, Callum coming in soft with a secret wish! He takes one look at the Moonhenge and immediately thinks of finding a way to see his mom again! Poor boy, my heart! I'd say that could be another interesting parallel with Viren, but then, who wouldn't hold that sentiment?

Oh my, is this another breath of life into Ye Olde Ley Lines headcanon? Lujanne mentioning the Nexuses again, so soon after talking about the runic design of the entire Moonhenge, makes me wonder if the six nexuses are in fact giant runes. On Earth, the places where ley lines cross are called nexuses, and there are those who believe those points got marked with ancient structures, like Stonehenge and many many others. If Xadia were crossed with magical lines which naturally formed nexus points where they met, and if powerful magical runes were built across those entire areas, well. That would be cool beans, fams. Can I smack a map of Xadia and release a spell like Luz Noceda does? Because ngl that is my first instinct here.

Lujanne has got to be missing some grandkids to spoil, right? The way she's always whipping out cake and ice cream for Callum, and she's so grandma-ish about it. Headcanon about her being Runaan's mom aside, she is canonically lonely and she's very sweet to Allen and Ellis and I think she's missing whatever family she once had in the past. She may never get to have that family back, so she's finding a new one among the humans who live nearby, and I think that's sweet. Found family isn't just for the young.

But Ellis is straight up gonna be her fave, I bet, because she didn't turn up her nose at Lujanne's illusion food!

Ezran and Bait have a lot more to their relationship than was visible in the show, and I'm so excited by it! Ez can tell by looking at Bait's colors that he's not truly jealous of Zym, even if he's really grumpy about the dragonling taking up his favorite human's time.

And Ez thinking a lot about his dad and the things he's taught him. They're soft leadership material, and I love that so much! "Pick your battles" and the importance of encouragement. Ahh, my heart. Ezran, you're going to be such a good king.

But wait a second: both times that Bait gets extra grumpy in Zym's first training session, Ezran has just mentioned something about flying. Guys, I think Bait wishes he could fly, really badly. And that's his biggest problem with Zym, and with Ezran teaching Zym to fly, instead of Bait who doesn't have wings so. Bait is so old that his secrets have secrets, and I'm really curious how flying fits into them now!

Rayla, Dramatic Assassin: "I need to patrol for dark forces." That's what Lujanne called the source of the purple wisps that found them. I wonder if that's an official term all Moonshadows know, or if Rayla is just taking her cue from a veteran Moon mage. And I wonder how far Rayla is falling into the apparent pattern of "one mage, one assassin", since she does spend a lot of her time patrolling without being asked.

When Callum tells Lujanne that he was bad at prince stuff, and she asks if he didn't give up and got good at those things anyway, it's an opportunity for Callum to embrace subverting his parents' expectations in favor of seeking his own path, which is a primary theme of the show. But Lujanne is a couple generations older than Callum, at the very least, and I have to wonder what her upbringing was like. Is her version of success the one she took? Was she bad at magic once too, but she persisted? She is very soft and doesn't want to kill anyone.

Maybe Lujanne had dreams of doing something else with her life, but she felt she had to pursue the destiny that others handed to her, so she studied magic as hard as she could, and she did get good at it, but using it to defend Xadia from humans is not what she wanted to do with her life. Whether there's a parallel between her and Ethari on that point, there's one between Callum and Ethari, I think. How much of your life are you willing to let others direct for you?

LISTEN I WAS DYING AT THE EAR BREAD SCENE OKAY

This is my new favorite Soren and Claudia moment ever. Soren loves him his bread, okay. Even as earplugs for Claudia's sleep ocarina tune. The fact that it's "super effective" makes me think of a Pokemon defense. The fact that he learned it at camp, where he also learned about Moonshadow Madness, is hilarious. Later on, Corvus doesn't know Soren by name, but I still love the idea of Corvus being a kind of Strider-esque camp instructor, filling the ears of his young charges with all kinds of useful tactics like ear bread for magic spell songs (which actually seemed to work as intended), and warnings about the enemy elves' blood-themed tactics (which may or may not come back around in BH)

I thought they were gonna go in a kind of deep direction when Soren still wanted his ear bread back, but then he just. Eats them. Just noms them. I love this kid. Give Soren all the bread!

#book two: sky spoilers #book two: sky #b2:s #tdp spoilers #ToX spoilers #gloaming glade spoilers #lujanne #callum #rayla #ezran #tdp zym #soren #tdp claudia #tdp bait

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jelzorz · 10 months

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156.

Villads is kind enough to give them a lift back to Katolis, which is nice, thinks Rayla, because it's quicker and safer and ultimately more convenient, but also horrible, because it's an extra week of sailing, and Rayla's had enough of the nausea and the vomitting and the world bobbing up and down on the waves.

It does give them a lot of downtime though.

It's weird. They had downtime while they were waiting for Ez and Soren and Corvus to come back from their meeting with Domina Profundus too, but it was a different sort of downtime—one fraught with tension and the itch to move, to do something instead of wait for the end of the world. There's a sense of completion this time, which makes sense, supposes Rayla. They have Aaravos' prison and they need to decide on their next move together, which is easier done in the castle after a little rest and recuperation. But until then, they are sailing, and waiting, and the bruises on Callum's face fade with every passing day, and the split in his lip heals little by little until he barely flinches anymore when he eats or smiles.

"It's not that bad," he promises her when she asks. "I reckon I've had worse."

Rayla clucks her tongue at him. "Have you?"

Callum shrugs. "I dunno. But it's what I'm telling myself until something worse does happen." He grins then, but Rayla catches the waver in the corner of his lip, and she knows it stings to put up such a front but can't be mad at him for it because... Well. She'd do the same.

"Forget about it, okay?" His smile softens into something a bit more genuine, and he touches her face, his fingers gentle against her skin. "We're okay now. That's all that matters."

Rayla supposes he's right, but forgetting about it is not as easy as he makes it sound. Twice now, she's woken up frantic and terrified, her hands numb with cold, and her mind filled with images of him, desperate to help her, him drawing his fist back and slamming it into Finnegrin's jaw, him crumpling onto the deck under the force of Elmer's blow. The steady rocking of Sea Legs beneath her doesn't help—if anything, it makes it worse, and she stumbles on her own feet as she gets up, seeking Callum in the dark, just to make sure he's here, and he's safe.

And he is. Of course he is. How could he not be? He's Callum, and he's looked at every challenge so far and laughed in its face. She breathes out when she finds him in the hammock next to her, his breathing steady, his skin warm beneath her fingers, his pulse drumming stubbornly in his wrist.

He stirs under her touch, and Rayla draws back, her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't meant to wake him, but relief floods her anyway when his eyes flicker open and land on hers, green against lilac, his brow furrowed in concern.

"You okay?"

Rayla hesitates, then swallows, then nods. "Yeah," she mumbles. "I—erm—" She coughs. "I just... wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Why would I not be?"

The ship rocks and moonlight flashes over Callum's lip, still swollen, still split. Rayla flinches at the sight of it, the image of him splayed unconscious on the deck suddenly fresh in her mind once more.

"Oh," says Callum.

Rayla looks away.

There's a pause. It's long and it feels like an ocean between them, so many things still unsaid, so many feelings still unaddressed. Callum shifts, finding her fingers in the dark and resting his forehead against hers, his breath warm and comforting against her lips.

"I'd do it again," he mumbled at last. "I'd take it all again if it meant you'd be safe."

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

Another pause. Another breath. And then the press of lips against hers, gentle, tentative, barely passing for a kiss at all, but a kiss all the same. Rayla tastes the metallic tang of blood on his lips, the split not quite healed all the way just yet, and Callum breathes out, his nose against hers, his breath light on her skin. "I'd do anything for you," he murmurs.

Rayla squeezes her eyes shut, her throat tight, her fingers tighter around his. "I know," she says at last. "That's what I'm scared of."

#in anticipation #rayllum #my favourite thing about s5 us the hurt/comfort

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raayllum · 2 years

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So not only does the trauma of Aaravos’ possession compound Callum’s trauma of 1) Viren robbing him of his voice in 1x02, 2) somewhat literally drowning and out of breath in 2x08-2x09, and 3) being almost choked to death by Kasef at the Storm Spire, which would be enough on its own... It also gets at Callum’s core fear of a lack of control. Whereas Rayla’s core fear is being worthless, Callum’s core fear is being helpless/feeling useless.

This is part of why he’s so drawn to magic precisely as something that gives him agency. Time and time again he’s wanted to help people (Harrow, Rayla, Ezran) he cares about but has been uncertain as to how to do so. Callum likes to have a plan (1x07, 2x04, 3x01) and is the group’s default planner, the idea guy. The risk minimizer when Rayla and Ez are being more flippant or foolhardy. That’s not to say Callum is never reckless, but he also knows his reckless streak has unintentionally hurt people in the past like with Rayla at the Banther Lodge and Zym in the storm in 2x04.

He’s already been forced to something awful in verbally hurting his friends. He was forced into his personal worst nightmare. He wants a safety net, a back up plan. He saw Rayla choose what he perceived as duty over him when she left in TTM and she hasn’t refused him anything since she came back. But, shown seconds later when he can’t quite release the cube, he wants something else to let go for him, because he can’t. Not of anything.

#arc 1 #arc 2 #tdp #tdp callum #tdp meta #the dragon prince #s4 spoilers #multi #parallels #GET HIM A BLANKET #analysis series #analysis #callum #which is why when he starts to let go of some of his anger in the finale it's chef's kiss #mage boy #if there is longing on the mirror of my heart

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official-weasley · 3 years

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Charlie's Helping Hand

A/N: For all who don't know @am-i-space and I are (healthily obsessed) with freckled gingers who steal your heart because they are adorable and pure! Two of those are the one and only Charlie Weasley and Commander Gren from The Dragon Prince.

We have made up quite a few stories about them (separate and together) and about a month ago we came up with Charlie being friends with Gren and Amaya. @am-i-space had the idea for a drawing of the 3 of them at once and without really knowing we were doing it, we started working together on this little project below my rambling!

After definitely not losing their mind about the eyes and Charlie's hair EVEN ONCE and me finally getting the inspiration for how to bring Charlie into a different universe, we are ready to post it!

As you might've figured by now the drawing below this author's note belongs to the beautiful, talented and amazing @am-i-space who pleasantly surprised me with every draft piece I received of this drawing and the story behind how this drawing "came to be" belongs to yours truly.

PS. Read to the end to find out how this beautiful piece of art came to existence in the story 💙🖤

“Charlie, you are going to love Katolis.” Gren grinned at his friend as they were walking up the path that will take them back to Gren's homeland.

“I love traveling so I think I will have no problem with it,” Charlie smiled back at him, “and besides you said that it's full of magic and dragons just roam free. It's like you are describing a dream.”

“It wasn't always like that. Dragons were feared and people and magic folk didn't know how to live together.” Gren sighed, remembering the days before their land became one.

“Right, king Ezran and his brother were running away from an elf assassin and they found an egg and joined forces to return it to its mother.” Charlie narrowed his eyes, trying to get the facts straight.

—

It's been almost two years since the great battle at the Storm Spire. The dragon queen has awakened and Zym was finally reunited with his mother. She took care of him, taught him how to fly better – even though Ez did an incredible job already. She also showed her son how to roar and how to use his electric breath.

Xadia was one land again and it thrived like never before. The magic spread to the Five Kingdoms and the people and the magic folk could move freely without sneaking around and fear each other.

Everything was perfect until one day when the dragon prince went flying and got caught up in a giant storm. Because he was still struggling to control his wing movement – when the winds were strong – he got caught up in a whirl and got smashed into a mountain.

Azymondias was found by his mother after she went looking for him as he didn't return home. At first, he appeared to be fine but when the queen wanted to take him flying she noticed that one of his wings was damaged. She sought help from the king of Katolis and his friends.

King Ezran's heart was broken when he found out and gathered a party to visit Zym at once. He couldn't believe it was even worse than he imagined it would be – all of Zym's bones in his left wing were broken and no matter how many elves and how many mages they gathered, nothing could mend his wing.

It seemed that all was lost and that the dragon prince will never be able to fly until one night when Commander Gren was finally ready to talk about his experience of being locked up in the castle dungeon by lord Viren.

He told his best friend general Amaya about everything he heard and seen happening. With his help, they were able to find the coins in which Viren stored souls and with the help of a high mage from the kingdom of Duren their lives were restored and Runaan was safely returned to his husband Ethari and his adopted niece Rayla.

Because Gren found it hard to talk about the whole situation and would gladly completely forget about the horrid experience, he decided to visit Runaan at his home in Silvergrove.

Every time Gren woke up in the middle of the night, having a nightmare that he was back in that dungeon, he felt like he was missing something. He knew that Viren was going down there for a reason and not just to interrogate Runaan. The thoughts kept him awake and he tried his hardest to remember where he was going and if he heard any noises that would help him figure it out.

As Gren expected, Runaan wasn't keen on talking about his experience in the castle of Katolis either but when Gren explained his feelings and the need to talk about it and to help him find out what was happening while they were there, Runaan put his feelings aside and decided to share his part of the story.

When Runaan told Gren about the weird questions Viren was asking him about a mirror and what does it do and how important it had to be for the lord because he seemed very frustrated when he didn't get his answers, Gren decided that it was time to put his fear aside and head down to the dungeons once more.

After telling Amaya everything and informing her of his plan to go and investigate – being so sure that the guards missed something when they rescued him – Amaya wanted to go with him.

She knew Gren more than anyone and it still pained her to this day that she was so far away when everything Viren was doing back at the castle went down that she simply couldn't allow him to relive that alone. She knew Gren was brave and just about the most optimistic and cheerful person she will ever have a chance to meet but she also knew that behind his bubbly personality Gren was hiding all the negative feelings and the trauma of what he went through in those few weeks while being down there.

She knew there will be no way of stopping Gren from going because he has never been so sure that something Viren was hiding down there could help Zym so instead of arguing with her lieutenant she decided to go with him.

As always when they go on a mission they geared up – better be too safe than sorry – and headed to the dungeons.

Before they opened the door that led to the lower parts of the castle, Amaya turned to Gren one more time.

Are you really sure you want to do this? She signed.

I am. I have to see what is down there or I will never have a peaceful night's rest. Gren signed back, his brows furrowed in determination.

Amaya just nodded, admiring how brave her best friend was for facing his problem head-on, and opened the door.

They walked down the stairs and came to the place where Gren was cuffed.

Amaya gave him a worried look while Gren avoided looking at her and the wall he was chained to. Taking a deep breath he first headed to where he knew Runaan was kept. They only found an empty cell with a small window with bars on it so they headed in the other direction.

They have been looking around, opening doors to empty cells for about half an hour until Gren tried turning the knob of a wooden door and it didn't open.

He exchanged a look with Amaya who nodded to him that he should force-open it with his foot. Gren did as he was told but the door still didn't move.

Amaya frowned – not liking when something didn't go her way – so she stepped next to Gren and counting to 3 on her fingers they repeated the action together. The door gave way to their force and they stumbled inside.

The room was a bit bigger than the others they have found. It was windowless making it completely dark with only a small wooden table, a chair, and something covered with a cloth.

Is this it? Amaya signed at Gren who was observing the covered artifact with his mouth slightly opened.

Gren could only muster a small nod. Amaya knew that this was hard on Gren and even though her curiosity was growing she gave him the time to make the step toward it and uncover the object.

The commander shook his head to collect his thoughts and swallowed thickly before approaching it. He lifted his arm slowly, grabbed the cloth, and pulled it down. Amaya and Gren both gasped, not prepared to see a mirror in front of them.

At the first glance, it looked like any other mirror, but then something shone inside it and their reflections disappeared. They saw what looked like an empty office or a library. They knew at once that this was no ordinary mirror and that it would be best if they don't meddle with it but call in someone who might better know what this mirror is for or better yet what it does.

After a month of searching and inviting the best mages in the whole land, including elves from all parts of Xadia, they figured out that the mirror served as a prison in another realm for a startouch elf. They were able to find an elf that knew of startouch elves and who they were.

The only one of their kind the king of Katolis and his aunt Amaya knew was Aaravos who they had to fight to keep Zym alive at the battle that brought them peace. Since lord Viren was associated with Aaravos it was only reasonable that he was the one who was inside the mirror.

King Ezran wasn't delighted to find out that this wasn't the last they would hear of the elf and wanted to resolve the mystery behind the mirror at once.

“You mean the little bug that turned into an elf with a bigger bug around his shoulder?” Soren asked, perplexed when Ezran was telling him, Callum, Corvus, and Opeli what was going on.

“Do you know anything about him?” Ezran gasped, encouraging Soren to tell him more.

“Well, not really. Father was very secretive about him. I remember when we were marching to Lux Aurea he was talking to the little bug on his ear. If my memory isn't deceiving me, Viren was telling him about how he and your dad, Ezran, defeated the dragon king.” Soren said, rubbing his chin and trying to remember more.

“Why would Aaravos want to know about that?” Opeli failed to understand.

“Perhaps he was trapped in the mirror when that happened?” Corvus suggested.

“Viren sounded very proud of his accomplishment, speaking with the voice he uses when he brags about something to someone for who he thinks he did them a favor.” Soren continued.

“Why would killing Zym's dad be a favor to Aaravos?” Ezran thought out loud.

“No!” Callum gasped and stood up.

“What? What did you remember?” Ezran wanted to know.

“No, it's too farfetched.” Callum swung his hand for them to stop paying attention to him.

“No, no. Do tell,” Opeli encouraged him, “perhaps you are onto something.”

“Well,” Callum cleared his throat, “would it be possible that the dragon king had something to do with Aaravos' imprisonment inside the mirror?”

“Get aunt Amaya and gather the elves and the mages again! We have to discuss this!” Ezran stood up and gave the order to Soren and Corvus who nodded and rushed out of the throne room at once.

“It would be possible for the dragon king to entrap the elf inside a mirror.” The high mage of Bel Dur said after hearing the proposal from prince Callum.

“However,” a mage from Neolandia cut in, “in order to do that Thunder would need someone from the realm on the other side of the mirror to help him, making your idea invalid.”

“Why?” King Ezran wanted to know.

“Well, to do that sort of powerful magic, the dragon king would have to have a dragon on the other side of the mirror from which to draw that kind of power.” The mage explained.

“Why would that make my idea invalid?” Callum asked.

“Because there is no such thing as dragons in other realms,” the mage said confidently.

“An hour ago you didn't even know there were other realms and now you are trying to convince us that in those other places dragons can't exist?” Opeli raised her eyebrows.

“Alright,” the mage sighed, “let's say that a place where Aaravos was entrapped does have dragons, how exactly does this help us with the dragon prince's wing?”

“Don't you get it?” Ezran stood up. “Nobody in Xadia can help Zym and this other realm could be full of dragons. What if there is someone who could heal Zym? What if they possess just the magic we would need to help Zym fly again?”

“You do have a point, your majesty,” the high mage of Bel Dur bowed to the king, “however...”

“However, how do we know whoever lives on the other side isn't a threat to us? To the dragon prince, to our kingdoms? Who is to say that they would be willing to help us?” The mage interrupted him.

King Ezran decided to call a meeting with the dragon queen to ask her if she could confirm their speculations and wasn't all that surprised when she told him that it was the dragon king who imprisoned Aaravos in a realm called Earth where magic works differently than in Xadia and despite Aaravos being the strongest and the most ancient of elves, he wouldn't be able to use their type of magic.

After much deliberation, king Ezran has decided to take the risk and explore the realm on the other side of the mirror.

“We have to help Zym. No one in the whole Xadia could mend his wing and we have to try. We can't have the dragon prince not be able to fly. I know it's dangerous and a lot of you will think that I am making a rash decision based on my feelings and me being a kid, but this is how I decided and I am willing to take the risk for Xadia and our kingdom.” Ezran said, his brows together in determination. “We needed years of war and conflict to unite our lands together again and if we aren't willing to help and take the risks needed to move forward then we are back at the beginning and I will not allow that to happen.”

The crown guards and the king's advisors nodded, agreeing with him, while some of the mages from other kingdoms had their reservations.

In the end, it didn't matter as only a day later were they gathering a team courageous enough to walk through the mirror and seek help.

You want to do what? Amaya was signing as fast as her fingers allowed her, frowning at the idea Gren just proposed.

I need to go. I feel that I need to go. I had the feeling about the mirror and look where it brought us. Gren tried convincing her.

You did enough, Gren. Amaya pleaded.

It's been so nice to have him by her side again after being separated on so many occasions during the war and now it will happen again and Amaya wasn't sure she can let it happen.

Soren is going. I have to try. This could be my chance to prove that I am not only good at interpreting.

Nobody is saying that Gren, and you know it.

You never protested so much before, what has gotten into you? Gren wanted to frown but his expression softened instead, looking at his best friend.

I guess I got used to the fact of you being by my side again. Amaya moved her fingers slowly as if she was hesitant to admit this.

“Oh.” Gren breathed out loud before stepping closer to Amaya and pulling her into a hug.

I know. I feel the same but please give me a chance to do this. I will be back before you know it.

Gren bestowed Amaya with one of his warming smiles to which she never could stop her lips from curving too.

Alright, but promise me you'll be safe and cautious. She playfully nudged him in the ribs before hugging him again and saying goodbye.

The next day Gren, accompanied by 5 of Ezran's most trusted crown guards – including Soren – and a mage made their way down to the dungeons once again to walk through the mirror and seek help from the other side.

It took 7 mages to figure out how the mirror works and how to get the crew through it. They warned them they will have a small window to do this that's why they couldn't take more people.

Gren was standing in front of the mirror – the last one to be transported through it.

“Here we go,” he whispered to himself, took a deep breath, and without turning his head to see his best friend one more time, disappeared.

—

“And this is where I come in.” Charlie wiggled his nose, trying to hide that he was nervous as Gren told him the story for the fourth time.

“Look, I know it sounds insane.” Gren sighed. “We found a mirror who entrapped the most powerful elf that ever lived in Xadia and then we went through it, followed the roar of a dragon, found the Sanctuary, and for some reason you were mad enough to say yes to our proposal.”

“In my defense, you said that a baby dragon... No, no, let me correct myself – a storm baby dragon – which is a myth here on Earth, needed help and then you said that you are not from Earth at all but from another realm so you tricked me.” Charlie sniggered.

“Well, my hidden talent to know when someone cares for something deeply has finally come to use.” Gren smiled proudly.

“Just don't get your hopes up. I might be a dragonologist but you said that no wizard...”

“Mage.” Gren corrected him.

“That no mage could help Zym so I am not sure how much I can do.” Charlie bowed his head.

“I know, but it is admiring that you are willing to try and I believe that you will be able to do something, if nothing else advise us what we can do to help the dragon prince,” Gren said cheerfully, looking at his friend.

He and the guards have only been on Earth for a month and they are already going back – needing far less time than Gren or anybody expected them to need to figure out how the people on Earth could help Azymondias.

They were lucky enough that the late dragon king set Aaravos' prison near the Carpathians mountains which also happened to be the secret hideout of the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary.

They were walking for 2 days before they heard a dragon roar and followed the sound for another day before they arrived in front of what looked like an abandoned gate. The mage tore down the enchantments and without thinking twice about it, they entered.

To say that the people working in the Reserve were in shock and not really sure what they were looking at was an understatement. It doesn't happen every day that a group of people with armor and swords walk straight through the gate.

Luckily, dragonologists are very simple and open-minded people – Gren has noticed – so it was easy to explain what was going on.

The second they said that a dragon needed help, a bunch of them volunteered but Gren knew that they can only take one person back so he asked the kind people if they could stay for a few days to observe their work and then pick the one that seemed the best suited for the job.

Charlie stood out to Gren immediately, because he was one of the few that simply raised their hand to volunteer instead of being loud and jumping in the air. His calmness suited him and he intrigued Gren the second he followed him around the next morning and saw how he handled the dragons.

The fellow red-haired dragonologist reminded Gren very much of king Ezran and how he talks to animals. The second Gren decided that this business was too urgent for him to be shy and not talk to him, he approached the dragon tamer and asked him about his ability to talk to dragons.

Charlie cocked an eyebrow at him and laughed a little, thinking the commander was joking, only to compose himself a second later when he saw just how serious Gren was.

With observing his work and asking him all sorts of questions Gren deemed him perfect for the job.

He wasn't even that surprised that he got Charlie on board without any effort.

The second the sun rose the next morning and Charlie said goodbye to the dragons and his co-workers, they made their way back to the mirror.

—

Gren, you are back! Amaya was waiting next to the mirror for them to come back and hugged her friend the second he came out of it.

I'm alright. It went pretty smoothly. Gren smiled proudly.

Who is this? Amaya signed, nodding at Charlie and scanning him from head to toe.

This is Charlie Weasley, he's a dragon tamer back in the other realm and he is here to help Zym. Gren explained.

He's cute. Amaya winked at her friend.

I thought you were in a committed relationship with Janai? Gren giggled.

I meant for you. Amaya nudged him, making Gren's face as red as a strawberry.

Without replying, Gren rushed everyone out of the room, making the excuse to see Zym as fast as possible.

Amaya sent a squad to bring Zym to Katolis so that Charlie would have the time to settle in and get some rest and that he wouldn't get too overwhelmed by his surroundings.

The second he saw the dragon prince and heard his cheerful squeaks despite having an injured wing, Charlie's eyes glowed and he felt like all his dreams came true to see a dragon that not only doesn't breathe fire but can zap you with electricity.

Gren explained to him to the best of his abilities why they call Zym the dragon prince but when he bowed to the young dragon and heard the people behind him giggle, he knew he took it too far. With his cheeks turning scarlet, he cleared his throat and asked everybody to give him and Zym some space so he could do a proper check-up on him.

Amaya, Gren, Ezran, Callum, Soren, and Opeli all watched as Charlie sat down next to the dragon and started whispering something to him. It only took about a minute for Zym to trust him which – with everything Gren saw back in the Sanctuary – wasn't surprising at all.

Zym let Charlie position him in a way to have full access to the wing, while constantly murmuring something under his breath.

“So, did you manage to find out how to help him?” Ezran asked the second Charlie stood up and walked to them.

“I...uh...” Charlie stuttered not knowing how to begin.

“What? What's wrong?” Callum put his hand over his little brother's shoulder.

“I don't want to be rude so I don't know how to say it.” Charlie was embarrassed.

“Hey, we trust in your expertise so don't worry about it.” Gren encouraged Charlie to speak.

“Well, his wing is broken, you got that right but because dragons here and on Earth are magical creatures, magic can't help them much.” Charlie shook his head.

“So, there's nothing we can do?” Ezran was on the verge of tears.

“Quite the opposite, this is very good news. I thought that we would have to mend his broken bones with magic.” Charlie said in a cheerful voice to put Ezran in a better mood.

“And we won't need to use magic?” Soren got curious.

“No. Because Zym is still so young and will need years to grow fully, we would just have to immobilize his wing as much as possible until his bones mend themselves.” Charlie explained.

“It's that easy? ” Amaya signed, looking impressed and Gren interpreted.

“Yes. Zym is still growing and like with children it's easier to have a broken bone when you are young than when you're an adult. If Zym will be a good boy and obey when I put bandages on him, he should be better somewhere from around 6 months to a year if he is like the dragons we have back at home.” Charlie couldn't hide how proud he was of all the knowledge he had on dragons and healing.

“How are you going to wrap him up?” Ezran was beyond happy to know that his friend is going to be just fine.

“With magic, of course.” Charlie pulled out his wand.

“You made a mistake of trying to heal his wing with magic directly, that simply doesn't work with one of the most powerful beings in the world. In cases like this, you have to turn to the good old remedies.”

He walked back to Zym who extended his wing as much as he could for Charlie to do his magic.

Gren and his friends couldn't quite decipher what Charlie said for pieces of cloth to start flying out of his wand and bandage Zym's wing for him not to be able to move it.

“So our mission was all for nothing?” Gren bowed his head.

“On the contrary, commander,” Ezran grinned at him, “if you hadn't brought Charlie here, we would worry about Zym for years and his bones could regrow in a wrong way, and from what I can see, you wouldn't have made a friend.”

“True.” Gren gave the words of his king some thought.

“Also, I think that mister Weasley doesn't mind meeting another species of dragon.” Opeli giggled.

Gren turned around to where Charlie was trying to make Zym hold still so he could cast the spell with bandages on him a few more times and smiled to himself.

“Yeah, you're right. It was completely worth it.” He observed his friend doing his job for a few seconds more before the heat on his cheeks became too much and he turned to Amaya who winked at him with a smug expression on her face.

Gren playfully rolled his eyes and walked to Charlie.

“So, after you do this, how long is it going to last?” He wanted to know.

“Well, Zym is a very energetic and jumpy dragon and these bandages have to be tight for as long as possible so I would have to change them a few times per day.” Charlie chuckled when Zym let out a happy squeak.

“Meaning you will stay here?” Gren tried sounding normal but was bad at hiding his excitement.

“Would that be okay?” Charlie scratched the top of his head. “I mean I don't know how realms work or if this is even allowed?”

“We can ask the mages but since we stayed on Earth for a month, I think it wouldn't be a problem.”

“Well, I love traveling and would love to help Zym for as long as I can, so I wouldn't mind at all.” Charlie couldn't believe how lucky he was to embark on this amazing adventure.

“What about the people back at home? Won't they miss you?”

In the time Gren spent with Charlie, he had the opportunity to get to know him very well and it became evident early on that Charlie was a man who would do anything for his family and his loved ones.

“They will,” Charlie shrugged, “but they are used to seeing me only a few times per year and besides, it's work-related and they understand how much my job means to me.”

“In that case, I would...” Gren cleared his throat. “...I mean we would love to have you.”

“It's settled then. I am staying. I would just like to ask if there is a way for me to send a message home?”

“I am sure that can be arranged.”

Charlie and Gren turned around to the voice and saw king Ezran smiling at them.

“I would like to thank you personally, mister Weasley...”

“Please, king Ezran, call me Charlie.”

“Only if you stop calling me king,” Ezran giggled, “my friends call me Ez and I think it's safe to say that you are now a friend. Wouldn't you say so, Gren?”

“Exactly!” Gren exclaimed.

“As I was saying, I would like to thank you for doing this. You have no idea how much this means to the magic folk, to us people, and me personally.” Ezran walked to where Charlie was kneeling next to Zym and wrapped his arms around him.

Charlie let out a suppressed chuckle, not expecting a king to hug him, but then returned the embrace before standing up.

“I will need a place to stay.” Charlie giggled nervously as they were standing in front of the castle door, waiting for the guards to let them in.

“You can stay with us,” Gren said and pointed behind him.

Charlie turned around to see Amaya signing to Gren for him to interpret.

“I think you will fit in with us just nicely,” Gren translated while Amaya sent Charlie a wink.

No amount of freckles could hide the dragon tamer's burning cheeks as he couldn't believe just how nice everyone in Katolis was.

Gren and Amaya took him to the garden the second he came from the much-needed shower from all the kisses and licks Zym gave him. They were sitting on the bench and conversing – Charlie trying to take in as many signs as he could because he was determined to learn sign language.

“Charlie, I bring good news!” Prince Callum came out of nowhere. “Ez told me that you want to send a message home and asked me to talk to the mages. They can prepare the mirror for you tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, Callum. That is indeed great news.” He grinned at the prince, relieved that he will have a chance to explain to his family where he has gone to.

“Now that it's official and you're staying I think we have to give you a rank.” Ezran appeared next to Callum.

“A rank?” Charlie tilted his head in confusion.

“And armor!” Callum exclaimed.

“What are you two talking about?” Gren chuckled at how excited they were and glanced at Amaya who just giggled as if she was hiding something.

Amaya, what did you do? Gren's curiosity got the better of him.

Well, since Brandon retired last year I am without my third in command so I am giving that position to Charlie. Amaya explained.

“To me?” Charlie jumped in his seat after Gren told him what was going on. “But I can't fight!”

“You are doing admirable work, worth of a title.” Gren interpreted.

“I-I don't know what to say.” Charlie was left speechless.

“Oh, I know what you could do!” Callum gasped loudly before running away from them.

Not even 5 minutes later, he came back with his sketchbook in his hands. Without saying anything he ordered Gren, Amaya, and Charlie – who were sitting on the bench – to stand up.

“We will celebrate with your official portrait,” Callum explained his actions.

The trio exchanged a look and then turned around when they heard someone clear their throat.

“Callum, you can't draw them without Charlie being in his new uniform.” Soren shook his head and handed Charlie a package.

The redhead was looking at it in awe before being rushed to the closest bathroom to try it on.

“Oh, look at you!” Soren and Ezran said together, admiring the scales on Charlie's chest.

“You look...” Gren's mouth fell open, lost for words.

Dashing. Amaya signed and winked at her best friend.

“Uhm, yeah.” Gren nodded.

Come on, Gren. Say it to him. She encouraged him.

“Dashing. Uhm, you...you look dashing.” Gren knew there was no way to hide his strawberry freckled face but seeing Charlie blush at his words too, he no longer cared.

The trio positioned themselves in front of Callum who drew them and as the crew watched him hard at work, sneaking looks at Charlie, they knew their group gained a new friend.

#tpd #the dragon prince #harry potter #charlie weasley #tpd gren #the dragon prince gren #tpd amaya #the dragon prince amaya #commander gren #general amaya

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