𝚂𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 (𝙰𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚡 𝙾𝙲)

Chapter 21 - Hope

Takeda against Amber. The entire city of Mondstadt was raving over who they thought would win. There no longer were teams for any of the other contenders, much to Fischl's dismay, for she wanted all of the attention on her. It was either Takeda of Inazuma, or Amber of Mondstadt.

The venue was completely filled. Thankfully, they were out in the open again. Unfortunately, it was bitterly cold. The arrows in which the competitors for round 7 were frozen to the touch. Dragonspine was a horribly cold place, much worse than the coldest of temperatures in Inazuma.

Bayler was regretting not wearing layers underneath his trench coat. All he had under it was his usual black shirt with a purple cross stitch pattern across the front. He kept his hands concealed in his pockets where they couldn't be nipped by the cold wind.

He stood beside Takeda and Amber who were being given proper instruction. From what Bayler was able to pick up on, they were to shoot the frozen arrows at targets without the arrow snapping in the process. Each were given warm gloves, a scarf, and a jacket to cover whatever else they were currently wearing. The Knights of Favonius' emblem was on the back of the jackets.

"That should be no problem at all. I've faced worse challenges than these Mondstadters even know," Takeda said snidely. "It's all warm weather and sunny days here."

Amber looked up at Takeda and frowned. "Were you terrorized by a dragon so dangerous that its name was changed to invoke terror?"

Takeda scoffed. "Hon, my Archon tried to rip away who I was inside for her own greed. Eternity is a lot more perishable than freedom. I won't give up on my only chance at a fresh start, not even for you."

His eyes narrowed into slits, and the bottom of Amber's chin seemed to quiver. "Bayler's not the only one with a reputation here," Takeda continued. "I. Don't. Miss."

"Takeda, what are you even talking about?" Amber asked. Bayler could see she was struggling to pull herself together. The pain in her eye was heartbreaking.

"I won't lose today, Amber. You aren't going to win the grand prize. Still, you can try, but you won't get far after your performance yesterday-"

Bayler looked at his friend in shock. He'd never known Takeda to turn savage like he was now. What was going through his friend's mind? One second he was perfectly happy and ready to compete, but now he was not only cold to the touch.

Amber looked ready to break down and cry. She was clenching her jaw and holding on tight to her bow, and still it didn't seem to be enough. It looked like Takeda was ready to continue his verbal smack down as well. While deep down, Bayler had agreed not to aid Amber in any more of her endeavors, he couldn't bring himself to watch more of it.

Bayler gritted his teeth and stood protectively in front of Amber. "That's enough, Takeda. You're going to get yourself disqualified."

"The Knights? Disqualify me?" Takeda spat on the ground. "They'd be honored to have me serve in their new division. Pretend all they want, but they need me more than anybody else. It should be us two in the finale."

"Apologize to Amber," Bayler demanded. "Or so help me I'll make sure she never sees your face again."

Takeda gave a wry smirk. "Is that a threat?"

Bayler stepped closer, and the heavy aroma of alcohol hit his face. He hesitated. "...You've been drinking, haven't you?"

Takeda scrunched up his nose. "So what? This should put me at a disadvantage, if anything. We'll really prove who's the best. If you're siding with that red rabbit girl, then you have problems."

"I'm not the one with problems," Bayler retorted. "Amber doesn't deserve anything you're saying to her."

"Yeah well, she's playing us both. Be careful of who you side with."

He turned away and walked off without another word. Bayler watched him leave with a saddened look, unable to process what he had just heard. That's when a sniff sounded behind him.

Bayler turned around to find Amber was crying. She tried to cover her face, but he lowered her hand gently with his own.

He was frightened of what Takeda had said, and deep down, he slightly believed him. Bayler should've walked away to follow his friend, and normally he would've. This was Amber, however, and he wanted to do everything he could to make sure she was okay.

"Hey," he cooed. "Takeda's gone, alright? You don't have to cower away from me. Are you okay?"

Amber looked up at him with one bleary eye. "I don't understand where I went wrong... Takeda, the competition, you, is any of this worth this? Maybe he's right about everything he said."

Bayler lifted her chin. She tried to resist him, but he held her firm. "Your performance yesterday doesn't reflect who you are as a person or your ability to compete in archery. Everyone has an off day, and what's tough about competitions is that they don't see all of the work put in beforehand. All they see is the final performance."

She sniffled, a tear rolling down her flushed cheek. "Takeda deserves the win though. He needs it more than I do."

He shook his head. "I've seen how much you care about this competition, and I think you're amazing. You deserve the win, no matter what. Yes, Takeda has his own ambitions. We all do. However, just because he only sees one open door doesn't mean there are more. I'll talk to him about it later on, but for now, you have a competition to get back to."

Bayler lowered his purple mask. She was about ready to protest against his speech when he pressed his warm lips against her forehead. His eyes fluttered to a close and he held her like that. Her eyes stared into his chest, warming him on the inside.

When he finally pulled away, her tears were dry and she was smiling her golden smile for him. "I'm ready..." she murmured with a tad bit of hesitation. "Thank you, Bayler. Thank you."

She lifted her bow above her head and skipped away to where they were meant to compete, but something was off. A large amount of Knights were circling around something unknown. The cold air of Dragonspine was suddenly filled with anxiety and fear.

Bayler prepared himself, but waited to summon his bow. He grabbed onto the back of Amber's outfit and pulled her back. He took the lead, approaching the Knights and realizing they were circling Takeda.

"After much deliberation, we have no choice but to disqualify Takeda from the Windblume Archery Contest for harassment and unprofessionalism. Amber is to move on to the next round and will NOT be facing off against Takeda," Jean declared. She had been standing right in front of Takeda, but he no longer was there.

Bayler's eyes widened and his head pounded in his chest. Takeda was running away from the venue, a twisted scowl on his face.

Amber looked panicked. "No, no! He can still compete today, he didn't harass me! You don't need to disqualify him for anything!"

The Acting Grandmaster approached Amber. She placed a gentle hand on her Outrider's shoulder and gave her a stern look. "I heard everything he said, and none of the Knights of Favonius deserve that treatment. He would've been disqualified regardless, for he made a poor decision by showing up intoxicated. Takeda is not the Master Archer we are looking for."

She walked past Amber, leaving the girl in red silent. Bayler gently rubbed Amber's arm and offered her a smile. "Congratulations on moving on."

"...can we finally talk?" she murmured.

Bayler's smile didn't falter. "Yes."