Rising Storm || Genshin Impact

5: The Enemy

Y/N tossed and turned with discomfort. She was exhausted, her tired eyes unable to open, but her restless body unable to stay still. It was evident that she would not have a wink of sleep tonight.

The trio were staying in an abandoned hilichurl camp. Thankfully, it wasn't far from Starfell Lake, only a 10 minute walk. They had brought several sheets of cloth when they left Mondstat in case of a situation precisely like this one. However, the layers were thin, thinner than the ones at the Angel's Share the night before. Y/N's back would surely be burning the next morning.

The girl let out an exasperated sigh, shifting to lay on her left side. There was no point in trying to sleep now, she might as well take a walk to ease her restlessness.

Quietly, Y/N crawled out of the tent, careful not to awake either Paimon or Aether, who seemed to be resting in a deep slumber.

She smiled as she watched her the two laying peacefully beside each other, oblivious to Y/N's troubling situation.

"Must be nice to fall asleep so easily."

She remembered how panicked Aether was when he realized that the sky had already gone dark. Though she had no idea why, she felt confident enough that she could handle it herself if things ever gone too out of hand. Just to be safe, she decided to bring her polearm along on her late-night stroll.

...

Mondstat at night was truly a sight to behold. During the day, the forests were full of life; sunlight casting leafy patterns onto the forest ground, animals chittering amongst the rustling of trees, flowers displayed in an alluring array of color. At night, everything was quiet, as if the land itself had gone to sleep. Y/N liked it. It seemed to reflect a comforting sense of serenity.

Y/N sat on a large rock on the shore beneath Starsnatch Cliff. In front of her was a large body of water that seemed to stretch out beyond the horizon, the clear surface reflecting the gentle glow of the moon. Y/N rested her spear on her lap as she took her time taking in the view.

"I wonder what happened to get Aether so on edge..." she whispered to no one in particular.

Y/N's muttering was interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping in the forest behind her.

She immediately stood up, holding her spear out in front to assume a battle position. Her shoulders tensed as she tightened her grip on her weapon.

"Woah there," a lighthearted voice echoed from the woods.

A strange figure stepped out from the shadows, his hands raised in the air as if to mock surrender. He wore a mischievous smile on his face, as well as a glint of amusement in his blue eyes. 

Y/N saw the red mask resting in his orange hair and immediately knew who he was.

"Childe..."

The boy lowered his hands and nonchalantly walked up towards Y/N, who had all her defenses up as if she were backed into a wall.

"I'm just here to enjoy the view, like you! No need to get tense."

"Uh, aren't you in the Fatui? Why are you here?"

"Hm, did the mask give it away?"

Y/N blinked. Wait, this wasn't right. The Fatui are supposed to be dangerous, she should be on edge. After all, it didn't seem like this was a game anymore.

"Cut the crap." Y/N interrupted.

"What's your business here? Spill. Now."

"Hey, I'm not a bad guy." The harbinger joked. "Well, technically, I am the bad guy. But I'm not here to harm you, so don't worry!"

Y/N clenched her teeth. She had to obtain at least a morsel of information from Childe, for her own benefit as well as the Knight's. Letting him escape without doing so was not an option.

"So then what are you here for, if not plotting against Mondstat?"

Childe raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I'm surprised you don't remember. Or rather, perhaps you weren't informed at all..." he muttered with his hand on his chin.

At this point, Y/N was infuriated. Not solely because of Childe's presence, but because he was right. Why hadn't they told her what was going on? It seemed as if she was the only person in all of Mondstat to be completely clueless about the current situation.

Did they not trust her? Was she a threat?

Y/N subconsciously loosened her grip on her spear.

"I'm not a threat...am I?"

Childe threw his head back in laughter, then pausing to look back at Y/N.

"No matter. I'm afraid that since you saw me out here, I cannot allow you to head back into the city. You would surely rat me out, and we can't have that, now can we?"

Y/N snorted in disgust.

"So what, you're gonna kill me? On my second day here, nonetheless."

Childe's eyes widened, taken aback by the girl's response.

"What? No! Of course not!" he stammered, shaking his head defensively.

"I'm just gonna have to take you back to Snezhnaya, that's all! Once we're there, we can-"

Just then, a fiery burst of bright flames charged towards the duo, interrupting Childe mid-sentence. The familiar figure had his weapon drawn, the claymore brimming with fire, casting a blinding light throughout the pitch dark forest.

"Diluc!" Y/N cried out in relief. Finally, someone to save her from this unbearable situation.

Childe gave an annoyed 'tch' at the figure's presence.

"You're timing could not get any worse." he sneered as he drew his blades, preparing for battle.

To Childe's surprise, the redhead didn't even care to spare a glance towards him as he sprinted past the harbinger. Instead, he continued to charge towards Y/N with hatred and betrayal oozing out of his eyes.

...

Y/N stood idle in shock as she watched Diluc raise his weapon over her body, preparing for attack. What did she do wrong to make him glare at her so threateningly? What had happened to make Diluc, a man who slept in a wooden chair so that Y/N could rest peacefully in sheets, to suddenly show no mercy advancing on her, as if she was an enemy more menacing than a Fatui harbinger?

Y/N dropped unwillingly dropped her weapon, the spear thumping onto the sandy shore.

Staring back at Diluc's vengeful gaze, she couldn't bring herself to counterattack. She must've done something unforgivable to deserve this, there's no other explanation. All Y/N could do now was pray that Diluc could find it in his heart to forgive her for whatever act she had unknowingly committed. If he didn't, at least she wouldn't die from a single blow.

Y/N braced for impact, wincing as she anticipated the scorching slash of Diluc's blade.

.

.

.

It didn't come.

She only heard the clank of metal meeting metal instead.

"What are you doing!" a distressed voice shouted out.

.

.

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