༄ؘ 𝑨𝑹𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦

༄ؘ ✧ 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑰𝑿

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ༄ؘ 𝑺𝑰𝑿 ༄ؘ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

𝑺𝑳𝑬𝑬𝑷 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝑯𝑨𝑫 𝑩𝑬𝑬𝑵 𝑭𝑰𝑻𝑭𝑼𝑳, 𝑺𝑶 𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑵 𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑵 𝑾𝑶𝑲𝑬 𝑼𝑷, 𝑺𝑯𝑬 felt even more exhausted than she had the night before. After wearing herself out using her powers and doing things she didn't even know she could, she'd felt weak and sick. Now on top of both of those feelings, she got barely any sleep. Ezran and Bait had been curled into her side the whole night, with Callum's back pressed to her own. Rayla slept on a tree root that had been eroded from the ground over time, just above the three of them so she could be on alert and ready if anyone came after them.

But ever since she'd woken, she hadn't moved. Ezran's head was laying on her arm as a pillow and if she moved, he would wake up as well. But thankfully she didn't have to wait that much longer because Ezran woke up anyway.

Marin smiled at the still-sleepy Ezran, who yawned and sat up. "Morning, Ez."

"Morning, Marin," Ez stretched and crawled out from their spot underneath the risen tree roots. Marin painstakingly schooched her way into a sitting position but had to duck her head so she wouldn't hit it on one of the roots. She watched Ezran look around, before he gave a tiny gasp when he looked up at where Rayla had gone to sleep the night before.

"Marin? I think we're alone..."

Her eyes widened at the words and she ignored the aching in her bones, crawling over to the edge of their spot and looking for Rayla, who was gone. Marin leaned back and tried shaking Callum awake. "Callum. Cal, wake up. We have a problem."

Callum cuddled one of the baguettes to his chest and mumbled in his sleep. "Finally... Oh, I've been waiting for this moment."

She chuckled despite the situation at her brother's sleep talking. "Callum?" Ezran shook him this time.

"Mmm. Your breath still smells like peanut butter."

Marin burst into laughter, earning a confused look from Ezran and Bait, but she didn't see the looks since she was too busy trying to breathe again because she was laughing too hard. She couldn't believe that Callum was dreaming about Claudia. She would definitely have to tell Soren about that after they returned the egg.

"Callum!" Ezran shouted in his ear.

Their brother finally opened his eyes in confusion, and Marin stopped laughing. "What... what?"

"Wake up! Rayla's missing."

Callum was awake and sitting up in seconds at those words. "Oh, no, did she take it?"

Ezran picked up his backpack. "The egg's still right here."

"Okay, good," Callum sighed. "You know, that still doesn't mean we can trust her."

"Why would you think she would take it?" Marin raised her eyebrows. "If she wanted to take it and go, she could have days ago. She's not bad, Callum. Give her a break."

"I like her, Callum," Ezran added, shrugging.

"Hey, I like her, too. But the thing is, she's━"

"An elf?" Ezran asked incredulously. "Who cares? So is Marin! It seems maybe everything we've ever heard about elves is wrong."

"Aw, thanks, Ez."

"No! I was gonna say, the thing is... She's not telling us everything. I can feel it."