𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 [𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝘼𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙤𝙨 𝘼𝙐]

𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣- 𝙄 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚 (𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 2) + final notes

The sheer cold was not going to take them down.

I mean, it's almost impossible to die with two Pyro characters in the team, right?

As the harsh snow and wind fell around them, the team trudged on in the snowy weather to fully explore dragonspine to its max potential. The one Zou was controlling now was Yanfei since her normal attack was pure fire. Meaning if she needed to light a fire, it would be much quicker than using Hu Tao's skill.

"There doesn't even seem to be any chests around." Yanfei had told Zou. "And the compass doesn't work here."

"I know. That's why I have the interactive map on my phone! So we can see what we're missing."

"Oh, delightful! Where's the nearest chest?"

The map did not show a chest, but a nearby puzzle that gave a luxurious chest upon completion.

"About 67m away. It's a puzzle. It shouldn't be difficult if we figure it out."

~~~~~

"What is this even supposed to mean?"

The puzzle had around 9 different pressure plates. On the wall was different symbols that were hard to make out. Unless you happened to step on the plate. A symbol corresponding to the plate would light up. The group was trying to figure out what the main objective was. Did you have to light it in order? Is there a pattern you have to do?

Yanfei stood on the plate to her left and a random symbol lit up.

"Hm."

"Let me try!" Hu Tao offered, and hopped on another plate...

...before the previous symbol blinked and both of the symbols faded.

"Was that not right?"

"I think not. It appears that the key point of this brain racking puzzle is to match the symbols together, rather than doing it in a sequential order. Please, allow I, the Prinzessin Der Verurteilung, to demonstrate."

Fischl strolled to the plate Yanfei was standing at and stepped on it. The symbol for it lit up.

She walked over to another plate, one that no one had went to, and stepped down on it. The symbol lit up as well.

Both of the symbols matched.

"Oh, great observation, Fischl!" Zou praised. "You guys just have to figure out which plates go with which symbols to match them up. You guys took your souls out, right?"

The girls nodded, before looking around for their fourth companion.

"Guys, where did Venti go?"

A small snow pile began to move in front of them, before exploding and revealing their friend trapped within it.

"Hi.."

"What were you doing in there?" Hu Tao giggled and pulled him up to his feet.

"The snow from the tree fell on top of my head and I got stuck underneath it!"

"Now that you're here, help the others out with the puzzle so we can get more exploration percent!" Zou directed him to the puzzle they were trying to complete.

For a team of four, they solved the puzzle with surprising ease. It was a simple puzzle of matching the symbols. The beautiful luxurious chest unlocked itself for them, and together, they opened it and grabbed the goodies.

"Ha! Mora!" The bard exclaimed, showering himself in the golden riches. He stuffed them into his hat as Yanfei glances at him before doing a double take at him.

"Hey! You're not gonna hog all the mora for yourself, huh?!" She tackled Venti into the snow, laughing and fighting for the 300 mora earned from the puzzle. Fischl and Hu Tao shrugged their shoulders, giggling and surprise-attacked the duo.

Now, all four of them were in the cold snow, tackling and laughing and hugging, with Zou laughing behind the screen, but the cold snow didn't affect them.

Because the heat from within their souls was enough to warm them up.

(Hello. Author here. The one that left for a very long while.)

(I know I haven't been here for a long time, but you know, I decided that stories like this are better as short ones.)

(Don't worry. This technically isn't really discontinued, since it is the end. But I have a much longer story I'm thinking about doing! Hang in there until it comes out!)

(With much love,

Vynnie <3)