The morning had finally come. Rayla barely slept at all that night, and when she did it was just light enough for her to wake up from whenever she chose to. It was pure luck that she woke up just when she wanted to and not a moment later. She opened her lightly dazed eyes towards a sky as dark as night, but she knew it was creeping into morning- a corner of the world above was already looking a brighter shade of blue than the rest of the sky after all. It was very, very early, but it still counted as morning and therefore a not-so-suspicious excuse to get up. She just had to be quiet about it.

Slowly she shifted her head up from the large pebbled pillow behind her and assessed how the situation might be. The four of them had traveled long and hard in search of a resting a pot that wouldn't kill them in the night and thankfully stumbled upon towering trees with large tree roots available as a camp ground. Callum was snoring softly, his head lolling back against the tree trunk with a thick wooly blanket around him and a much smaller body. Ezran looked all too cozy under the blanket with his big brother, snoring slightly louder and drilling onto the protective arm hugging him. Had it been a different morning, Rayla might have laughed out loud. But she had to conceal her voice and settle for a quick grin.

Rayla carefully turned to the biggest member of their group, the one she had been sleeping against earlier. The giant black shape was limp as a noodle, his heavy breaths creating the nightly ambience for them. Rayla grinned again at the sight of the peaceful dragon who, like Callum with Ezran, had draped his tail over her lap like a protective arm. The Elf girl reluctantly peeled it off and set it on the ground, before silently crawling over to her dragon's head. She pecked his snout with a brief kiss and earned an unconscious smile from the slumbering titan. As tempting as curling up with him again sounded, she knew she wouldn't get a chance like this again.

She turned and stalked off into the woods around them, careful not to disturb any loud birds while they got their much-needed siesta. It took some time for her to reach her destination, enough time for the dark sky to grow a little bit brighter as the sun continued to awaken. Thankfully, the more sunlight she got, the more she could make out her surroundings and get her memory kick-started. There were the blue bushes she'd seen, and there were the deer footprints and there was the bent tree...Yes! This was it; a circular wall of tall green shrubs surrounded something incredibly large, just as untouched as the day she scouted the area for possible enemies. The Elf girl pushed aside the thick branches hiding it from view and stepped forth towards her long-awaited prize.

For reasons not quite known to many, certain small lakes appear in various forests with unique attributes. For one, the water they held was filled with so much salt that it eliminated its usefulness to fish or animals that wanted to drink from the water. For another, the water was permanently heated to steaming degrees, and the salty steam warded off insects that might think to use the small lake as a breeding ground. Despite the way it warded off animal life, it was well know in Xadia that such pools were the perfect bath; with relaxing temperatures and rich salt to purify the pores of Elves. To find one was like finding gold, essentially, and there was no way she was going to share this gold with the other three.

The princes didn't need to worry about getting dirty because they very seldom did any sweaty work and her Dragon probably didn't understand what a bath was. But Rayla had been in this Assassin Uniform for a full month and few days, too. By this point it was cooking her alive and concealing most of her bodily sweat in ways that made her cringe. Sue, the suit left her armpits and other areas exposed, but even humans didn't wear the same underwear for a full month. Not without an opportunity to wash them and themselves as well. Rayla intended to do both of those things.

She unclipped a thick vial from her side, containing a hefty mixture of D'ku plant oils, ash from burnt wood and animal fat to carry over to the ater's edge. After adding salt water to the mix, she shook up the concoction next to a tree stump and slathered some of the greasy mess on top of it. When she lit the lit the greasy soap on fire, she admired the sweet-smelling aroma of the smoke and assessed the low hanging tree branch above the stump. Perfect.

She unclasped the sides of her sleeves and then the torso of her suit, finally peeling it off of her clammy skin and hanging it above the fire. She felt a wave of relief as she slid her pants down her hips and kicked off her shoes; it would have been so embarrassing if the three she left behind could see her now. It almost made her paranoid, to think that some woodland creature might be getting a good view of her birthday suit, but that was just silly. The pool warded off animals, so the only one who could see Rayla was herself.

With that self confirmation in mind, the elf girl waded into the small lake with the soap vial in hand. It was nothing like she'd ever felt or expected to feel. Sloshing warmth surrounded her like a giant blanket up to her neck. It slithered this way and that around her body with bubbling heat that almost instantly relaxed Rayla. She sighed in content as she got more and more used to the feeling taking over her skin, seeping into her pores and giving her complexion a soft glow. She leaned back in the water and let herself float with her front facing up to the sky. Her arms casually pushed her forwards like a slow rowboat, giving her the weightless sensation of flying; a like a carefree bird soaring through the fluffy clouds of warm moisture. She slowly opened the vial of soap and was just starting to rub it over her extra sensitive flesh when a flurry of startled birds flew away into the sky, just beyond the circular wall of shrubs.

That didn't sound good; something big must have scared off those birds, and now it was coming right towards the pool. Rayla hissed as her lower body swiftly flew down beneath the surface again, leaving only horns and a pair of cautious eyes peeking out from the water's surface. She should have taken her swords with her; not cast them aside in fear that they would wake up everyone. How would she defend herself when this animal saw her in the water? What if it was humans? Goblins? Orc bounty hunters?

The creature finally broke through the shrubs, receiving a panicked stare from the elf.

No.

No, no, no, no-

The black dragon sniffed worriedly at the ground, his jaws split on to utter baritone nonsense as he followed an undeniable scent. She winced as he reached the burning tree stump, then the edge of the water before finally looking across to where she bobbed. A happy bark echoed in the air as the beast smiled at her like a dog when its master returned home. She took into account that the creature was a light sleeper, but it didn't look like he woke up when she left.

D'oh! The stupid thing must have woken up when he realised she wasn't there anymore. She must have worried him sick.

"No! Go'way!" She whispered furiously at him, hoping to dissaude him from entering the water. She was only mildly relieved to see that Callum and Ezran weren't following him to see where she'd gone. "Don't come in, jes' go!"

There were sparse moments, over the course of their developing friendship, where Rayla's body language and words combine to make just enough sense to the stupid lug. At her frantic whispering, the dragon cawed with confusion and titled his head; it didn't take a sorcerer to understand that he was confused by her request.

"Why?! Because Ah dunnae want y'ta see me right now!" She was aware of the heat rushing to her cheeks, and it wasn't from the pool. "Ah'm in th'nude, okay?!"

He tilted his head again, warbling sadly at not being able to understand her worry. Rayla exasperatedly sighed bubbled into the water and ended up staring down at her own reflection. She couldn't let him in the water, not when she was without clothing. Sure, he didn't have clothes and probably wouldn't really care if she was naked too...not to mention he'd no well enough where not give her kisses if she just told him. And she did feel the lightest bit guilty for making him worry about her, even if he'd seemingly forgotten his own worrisome state a while ago. She sighed, looking back at her dragon.

He had lowered his head to the edge of the water to sniff at the steam pouring up from it. His tongue licked the water experimentally, and he shot up with a cough of disgust what he'd tasted. Despite herself, Rayla giggled softly at the sight. "Y'goof. Y'nah supposed t'drink it." Reluctantly, we raised a hand from the water and beckoned for him. "Come."

Cautious, the dragon waded into the water until he was floating along on his belly and jaw. Like a giant, uncertain crocodile, he floated his way over to her and instinctively pressed his snout against her cheek. She sighed and ran her hand along the bony ridges in thought. He really didn't mean any embarrassing harm by being here. And though she wouldn't admit it out loud, she felt better being able to share this pool with someone.

"Fine. You can stay." She pecked his snoit once more and patted it softly with her palm. "Just donnae splash me'r tell anyone about this. Or Ah'll deny et!"

The dragon cooed softly and shifted to lick her cheek.