'White lies are illusions you build with your words to protect the hearts of those you love.'
When Rayla found a lead that could bring her to Viren, she decided to cooperate with a peculiar Skywing mage who bears a strange resemblance to a certain P...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A/N: TW warning: mention of blood and mutilation
"You draw?"
Jofus suddenly yelped, slamming his sketchbook shut so hard on his face, and the sound he caused almost frightened the birds in the area. He whipped his head towards her direction with startling green eyes as if she caught him red-handed stealing her Moonberry juice.
"I'm sorry," Rayla apologized as she stepped back to give the Skywing elf a space to recover his bearings. "I didn't mean to spook you. I've been calling your name several times, but you're not responding, so I went here, and then I saw you busy...doodling."
"Did you see it?"
"What?"
"My drawing," he asked evenly. "Did you see it?"
The Moonshadow shook her head. "Not even a smudge of your pencil."
"Oh. Oh, thank Nexus," he sighed, slipping his sketchbook and his pencil case inside his knapsack.
He patted the loose dirt on his trousers as he stood up. "Are we leaving now?"
"If you're ready."
The two decided to take a short break near the stream to refill their water flasks and to gather enough supplies for their journey. But when Jofus told her that his food keeper was still full, Rayla roamed around to forage for herself instead, leaving him her Moonstrider with an assumption that the Skywing mage would meditate somewhere peaceful and alone.
She didn't expect that Jofus has a hobby.
"I'm sorry if I was rude back then," the Skywing said, rubbing his nape shyly as Rayla mounted her ride. "I was surprised, that's all."
The Moonshadow shrugged him off. "You don't have to explain everything to me. Everyone is entitled to privacy."
"But still."
"You know," she gripped the reins of her Moonstrider while giving him a coolly stare. "You were lucky I found you first, and not some bounty hunters or someone who works under Viren. Don't lower your guard - I've seen some people who did that and lost their head literally the next day."
He gulped audibly. "D-Dully noted."
"Good."
Rayla didn't want to sound mean, but she had to address his carefree attitude before someone ambushed them along their way. Everyone in Xadia has been looking for the mysterious key, and for an elf like Jofus to carry such vital information, she deemed it impossible that no one caught wind of it.
Besides, she wasn't joking when she told him about the possible consequences of being complacent. And the way his face paled at her morbid implication, she knew that he was fully aware of her reputation as the Grim Reaper.
