rayemma oneshots & other

Dragons & Gold

• Oneshot

Spoiler warning for chapter #103 and #181 - mentioned locations, mentioned events

Note: for RayEmma week 2021, day 5: magic/day and night. This is the magic prompt

Ray looked over at the other side of camp. 

Emma was laying on her backpack with her head propped up toward the sky, and she was holding her necklace up to the moon, tilting it back and forth so the light would drizzle through different angles in the pendant. 

He couldn't sleep with everything on his mind about the Cuvitidala ruins and the Seven Walls, so he decided to sit down with her. She spared him a glance and a smile, but quickly returned to her observation.

His interest got the best of him and he leaned over her shoulder. Tonight was the full moon, and it pierced through the pendant; it glowed especially vibrant in turquoise and oceanic blue, and even some specks of white like stray dotted stars reflecting along a placid river.

"I was thinking," Emma said, tracing her thumb along the golden eye-shaped outline. "Magic, like dragons and demons, places where it's day and night at the same time… those things are actually real. And it's crazy to think about."

She then picked the necklace up by its chain and dangled it. "Is it… weird? That it's really exciting to me? My favorite books were always the ones where they went on impossible adventures in fantasy worlds. The world we're living in is far from nice or fantastical like those ones." She curled the chains into her palm. "But when we see things like this, where there are giant creatures and deities, it seems pretty close, doesn't it? This world is pretty magical." 

Ray put his arms behind his head and leaned back. "So you think this world sounds more exciting than a human one?" 

"No, no, not like that!" Emma said. "It's not like I want to stay here forever, or I don't acknowledge the dangers of it. But don't you think so too, Ray? This world is full of amazing things. When we get the chance to see some of them, it's fun." 

Ray looked up at the sky. "Only you could take a tedious and risky journey like this as an adventure." 

"Mean," Emma muttered, and went back to looking at her necklace. "If you'd seen it, you would feel the same! The dragon was huge. Its eye looked just like this one, and it glowed." 

"He said it was a vision from the past, didn't he? Maybe you saw one that once existed."

"Yeah! And maybe some exist today, too, but we just don't see many anymore!" 

"Huh? No way. The dragons are definitely extinct, if they ever existed at all." 

"But there's a possibility! They can't all be dead! I mean, the manuscript said there was a whole town of them here!"

"Once," Ray stressed. "And you seem upset." 

"Well..." Emma frowned. "I just hope there's still one living dragon out there." 

"Why?" Ray asked. Emma went silent for a few moments, and when he turned to her he saw this excited look on her face. "...What are you thinking about?" 

"...Imagine getting to ride one," Emma said with wide eyes. 

Ray snickered. "You and your weird obsession with riding animals." 

"But that would be so cool, and you know it! Even just getting to see a living one would be the coolest thing!" 

"Yeah, it would be, but I don't think I care as much when we already live with a dragon."