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Kaeya sat at his desk idly twirling his pen between his fingers.
Reports sure were a bore… but they had to be done.
A knock sounded at his door
“Come in!” Kaeya said not looking up from the paper he was working on.
“Kaeya, can I talk to you?” Jean asked
“Ahh if it isn't our lovely Grandmaster… of course Jeannie”
“ACTING Grandmaster” Jean corrected and Kaeya gave his signature smirk
“Anyway…” she continued "we've had a lot of reports come in about some strange activity in Dragonspine and the adventurers are getting worried. I need you to go check it out to ease the unrest”
Jean handed him a map with many areas circled.
“This is where we've gotten reports from. I expect it to take two days to investigate.”
Kaeya perked up at the idea of leaving his stuffy office and grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and then looked at the map. Lots of ground to cover…
“Well of course, I can head out right now, these reports can wait”
“Not just yet, I'm sending Amber with you and she's still packing some equipment”
“You don't have to bother our dear bunny Jean, i can handle it on my own”
Kaeya knew Amber didn't exactly agree with his way of executing things, and would only slow him down at times.
“Kaeya, Dragonspine is absolutely freezing this time of year, i need to send a pyro user with you”
“Thats what we have flint for Jeannie”
“No arguments, you're going with Amber. It's a safety precaution”
Kaeya sighed and turned to zip up his already packed expedition pack. He never bothered to unpack it so it was ready at a moment's notice.
“Alright alright, ill finish this report while our pyro bunny is getting ready, have her meet me when she's done”
“Thank you. And don't try anything reckless. If something happens up there, come back so we can organize a better team”
“Don't you worry your pretty head now, with me on the case this threat will be eliminated in no time”
Jean sighed and shook her head with a small smile.
“Just be careful okay? Good luck guys”
Jean walked out, closing the door behind her and Kaeya decided he might as well finish a few reports while he was waiting on Amber.
A report or two later a fast paced knock sounded on his door before it opened to reveal Amber dressed in a heavy coat.
“Captain Kaeya, are you ready?”
“Just a moment dear Amber i need to grab my pack and well get going”
“I'd grab a coat too. It's going to be frigid up there” she said
“I won't need one. I AM a Cryo Allogene. I have a resistance to the cold.”
Amber sighed “alright if you complain later ill just say i told you so”
Kaeya let out a laugh as he grabbed his pack and put a fluffy white scarf
“Well at least its something” Amber said with a smirk. “Ready?”
“That i am. Lets go”
The two headed out the gates towards the mountain
***
The morning had turned into early afternoon as they got closer to Dragonspine.
“Youre awfully quiet” Amber said after awhile of walking
“Just glad to be out of the stuffy headquarters and enjoying the sunshine”
“Well drink it up now because its still snowing up there” Amber said, mentally shivering at the thought
“Cold already?? How are you gonna survive up there?” Kaeya teased, to which Amber scoffed
“Cmon we got alot of ground to cover Captain” she said, looking at her copy of the map
“Shall we ask these adventurers what were up against?” Kaeya asked as they approached the Dragonspine camp.
“Wouldn't hurt to have a little more info, besides i was going to throw something On the fire for us before we headed up.” Amber said, slinging her pack off her shoulders and digging out a few ingredients.
Amber began cooking as Kaeya asked around for sightings, strange activity, and anything that would help them get an idea of what was lurking up there.
“Were not too sure, we got outta there before we saw anything but it sounded like a pack of hilichurls-”
“No way was that hilichurls man” the adventurers friend cut in “Hilichurls dont screech like that”
Kaeya nodded, taking mental notes and going over in his head what it could be. Lawlachurls? Abyss mages perhaps??
“Anything else you saw or heard?”
“Not much else. As soon as I heard that I turned heel and ran” the adventurer said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.
“I see, well thank you. Well be headed up shortly to deal with whatever it is” Kaeya said as he headed back to Amber
Kaeya sighed as he sat down on a bench near the fire
“So??” Amber asked as she poured the soup she made into two separate bowls.
“Pretty much… nothing”
“Not at all?” She asked as she handed a bowl to Kaeya.
“Thanks… no not much besides a few adventures hearing strange screeches”
“And no sightings?” The pyro allogene asked as she took a spoonful of soup.
“Nada”
“Hmm” Amber mused as she continued to eat the veggie soup.
“Guess we'll see when we get there Outrider…”
“I swear if this is a false alarm and i was sent with you for two days ughhh” Amber moaned as she twirled her spoon
“Hey hey am i really that bad?” Kaeya teased
“Sometimes yeah” Amber retorted without hesitation.
“You wound me Amber” Kaeya said as he put on a sad expression and put his hand over his heart to which Amber rolled her eyes.
“Alright alright enough slacking Captain finish your soup and lets get going”
***
The two had trecked over the broken bridge and towards the frostbearing tree where many of the reports came from
“Alright… this Is the place” Kaeya said glancing at the map dotted In red circles. “Keep your guard up”
Kaeya drew his sword as he walked around a bit looking for anything suspicious.
Amber had her bow ready as she scouted around too.
“Do you see anything??” She asked
“No… its strange”
“Maybe they moved??”
“Perhaps… shall we try looking near the Entombed City then?”
“Wouldnt hurt”
The walkie On Amber's belt beeped, a new communication device imported from Fontaine.
“Amber? Kaeya?” Jean's voice came through.
“Were here” Amber answered.
“Hows it going up there?”
“We haven't seen anything yet. We're checking the next area now”
“Okay good luck and be safe you two” Jean said, and then the walkie went silent.
There was an air of unease between them. Countless reports of strange activity from adventurers and not a single sighting?
The ruins of the old temple came into view through the snow.
The wind whistled through the trees and echoed off the old stone pillars.
A screech caught their attention and the two Favonius looked at each other.
“I think we found our target” Kaeya said, creating a mean looking frost sword with his vision.
Amber made her way to the temple to get a higher ground for scouting while Kaeya took the lower route to sneak up on the enemy.
A Frostarm Lawlachurl. Great, he was at a disadvantage.
The Frostwind Swordsman looked back at Amber and gave a nod, then launched his flurry of attacks.
The Lawlachurl let out a suprised growl as it swung its arm around but Kaeya Dodged and landed another strike on its backside. The sheer impact shattered his frost sword.
The Knight grunted in annoyance as he summoned his regular sword and Amber created an opening for him with a rain of fiery arrows.
Kaeya sliced the back of the enemy’s leg causing it to stagger.
The Lawlachurl swung an icicle coated arm to swat the knight away and it met its target on Kaeya's side.
The strength of the beast sent him flying a few feet into the freshly fallen snow
“KAEYA!!!” Amber shouted
“Im… Okay” he panted, regaining his footing “Keep shooting!!”
Amber launched her Barron Bunny to hit the Frozen Beast's head and the explosion was enough to stun it as Kaeya drove his sword into its heart, the Lawlachurl vanishing to dust.
Amber glided down from her spot atop one of the pillars
“Are you alright??” She asked looking Kaeya over
“Ahh, ittl just be a nasty bruise thats all. Dont worry about little ol’ me now Outrider”
“Okay… guess that mission went better than we thought. We should be back by Midnight”
“Good shooting Amber” Kaeya said with a grin as he de-materialized his longsword.
“Thank you Captain” Amber said with a smile
Just as the two were about to head down the mountain the sound of something teleporting behind them caught Kaeya’s attention.
He turned around to find two Abyss Mages, one Cryo, the other Pyro.
“Well what do we have here???” Kaeya said with a smirk
The mages spoke in their garbled abyssal language as they floated closer.
“Now what would the Abyss be doing in Dragonspine hmm?” Kaeya said as he re-summoned his sword.
Amber got back in a fighting stance, bow drawn and waiting for Kaeya's word.
“Ill take the pyro one, you take the other” Kaeya commanded, still focused on the two abyssal creatures before them.
Before they could act, a herald appeared behind them.
What the hell. What would an abyss herald be doing in Dragonspine??
“I think you should stay out of our business” the herald's chilling voice rang through the air.
Amber froze. She's only heard of these abyssal creatures before, but never seen one. Kaeya however, didn't have a crack in his composure
“Anything in Mondstats borders is our business” the blue haired knight said sternly, pointing his sword to the herald.
“Kaeya… Remember what the Acting Grand Master said” Amber whispered
He wasnt going to walk away now, not with such a powerful abyssal creature in Mondstat.
“Amber, ill take care of this, get to saftey” Kaeya said as he summoned a powerful wave of cryo energy from his hands.
This knocked down the Pyro Mages's shield and he was able to land a hit on it.
“I'm not leaving!” Amber yelled as she let another wave of fiery arrows down on the enemy.
“You should know your place Alberich…” the herald seethed as it launched a fast paced attack.
Swords clanged and Amber's arrows continued to come down relentlessly on the mages.
“What are you doing in Mond?” Kaeya seethed as he let his own flurry of attacks on the Herald.
He summoned another large wave of cryo and threw it in the Heralds direction.
The sound of a mage's dying shriek sounded behind him.
“Good work Outrider” he thought as he focused on the battle before him.
“Not gonna talk huh? Fine” Kaeya growled as he teleported behind the herald to land a few hits.
The Herald grunted and whipped around
“Truly disappointing, an Alberich fighting for Mondstat” the Herald seethed as it launched another fast paced attack on Kaeya.
Kaeya winced at the threat, hoping Amber didnt hear, but she was too busy taking care of the Mages.
Its dual swords caught Kaeya by surprise and white filled his vision as the cold metal ripped through his skin.
He didn't even know he screamed as his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, painting the snow a deep crimson
“KAEYA NO!!” Amber shrieked as she ran to her Captain.
“That will teach you to stay out of our way” the Herald said before disappearing in an abyssal portal.
“Kaeya, Kaeya can you hear me???” Amber said taking his head into her hands
“The mages???” He weakly asked
“Theyre gone”
“Good…” Kaeya said in a strained voice. Archons everything hurt so much and even the moonlight through the snow seemed blinding. He just wanted to close his eyes.
“No no no stay awake. Stay awake for me Kaeya.” Amber panicked “You're bleeding too much i… i dont know what to do” she sighed with tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.
Kaeya took ragged breaths as he stared at the snow drifting above him.
“You did well Outrider.” Kaeya breathed.
“Kaeya just... save your breath. You'll be okay. You'll be okay…” her words trailed off into the wind.
She then remembered the walkie she had on her hip and pressed the button
“Acting Grand Master! Jean. Come in please!!” She shouted with a shakey voice.
“Amber?? Whats wrong???” Jean said stifling a yawn. Was it really that late??
“Its Kaeya. Hes hurt!!” She cried
“What!! What happened?”
“The abyss showed up out of Nowhere and they got him… Bad”
“The abyss!!? Wh- how bad is he hurt??”
“He's bleeding alot. He's got two large slashes through his abdomen.”
“Where are you two? I'm sending people right away”
“Were at the entombed city palace. Please hurry!!”
“Im on my way now Amber. Just keep pressure on that wound!!”
With that the walkie clicked off.
“Oh Kaeya…” Amber breathed as she put pressure on his heavily bleeding wounds.
He shivered a bit under her touch.
“It is freezing huh. I TOLD you to bring a coat.”
“Heh looks like you were right Outrider…”
Amber moved Kaeya's hands to cover his own wound.
“Keep pressure on that. Im starting a fire”
“Mhmmm” Kaeya mumbled
Amber quickly collected a few fallen branches in the area and lit them up using her vision before sitting next to the Captain again.
“I told you to keep pressure on it!” Amber chided as she applied pressure again earning a soft grunt from the blue haired man.
“I was…”
“No you werent, just, hang on okay? Jean is on her way.”
Kaeya didnt have the strength to keep his eyes open anymore and drifted into sleep.
Amber sighed, grabbing his wrist and checking his pulse.
“Stable… for now. Please hurry guys…”
***
Jean gathered any available healers and a small team to go up to Dragonspine to retrieve their Captain.
“Remember, stay vigilant. The Abyss is up there according to Amber.” She told her small group of knights and healers.
They hurried up the mountain as fast as they could while lugging medical supplies and a stretcher.
A bright red ribbon caught Jean's eye
“AMBER???” she called through the wind and snow
“OH ARCHONS YOU'RE FINALLY HERE!” Amber called back, not removing her hands from Kaeya's wound.
Jean rushed over and… archons it WAS bad.
Two major cuts in his side still flowing lazily with blood and a bruise forming on his cheek. His eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell raggedly.
“How long have you had pressure on him?”
“Since i called you pretty much” Amber said, face still wet with tears.
“Jean, i, we cant lose him. Im always so mean to him too but… hes my friend!!”
“Amber, look at me. Its gonna be ok. He's strong, hes a fighter.”
Jean summoned her healing winds and the blood stopped flowing.
The healer present haphazardly wrapped his middle in tight bandages before getting him on the stretcher.
“Its just to hold, we need to get him to the cathedral”
The group rushed down the mountain to one of the few horse drawn wagons they had left and carefully laid the Captain down.
“Huffman, you take the reins. I need to make sure hell make it to mond…” Jean said with a dark tone taking over her voice.
With how long the two had been up there before they arrived, Kaeya’s chance of survival dropped greatly.
Huffman hopped on the horse and with a start, signaled the horse to move full speed ahead. They didn't have time to take precautions about jostling him around. They needed to get to the Cathedral.
“Kaeya, Kaeya can you hear me?” The healer in the wagon tried.
The Cryo allogene didnt respond other than a soft grunt.
“He's still somewhat conscious. Good.” Jean breathed.
“Im sorry Jean…” Amber whispered.
“I didnt even see it happen”
“Amber, honey. Things happen in battle its not your fault.”
“I know, i just wish i couldve helped more…”
“We all have regrets and wish we could've done something differently, but you did what you could.”
Amber just silently nodded as she looked at the wounded man next to her.
Once at the cathedral's steps two of the accompanying knights carefully grabbed Kaeya and took him inside.
“WE NEED A HEALER STAT!!” Jean called, to which her little sister Barbara rushed out.
“Oh no! Bring him back here, quickly!” She instructed.
Barbara and the other healers began removing his multiple layers of clothing to assess the damage.
“I need time, but hes going to be okay.” Barbra assured before they sent the two knights to wait outside.
Jean sighed deeply as she sunk in one of the churches pues to wait and prayed to the archons above.
“Please let him be okay…” she whispered.
Amber sat down next to her silently.
“Are you hurt at all Amber?” Jean asked looking over at the young outrider with a soft expression.
“No, not really. Just a few cuts and bruises is all…”
“Here” Jean said reaching out her hand to grab Amber's and summoned her healing winds once again.
Ambers cuts slowly closed and the bruises faded a bit.
“Thanks Grand Master…” Amber whispered.
“Of course. Why don't you go home and rest? Ill keep you informed of any changes on Kaeya”
“I… i could use some rest actually. If he wakes up before i get back, tell him im sorry i didn't have his back enough.”
Jean just softly nodded as the Outrider walked out of the church.
It was going to be a long night…
***
Kaeya woke up to a sharp pain in his side and gasped as he shot upwards
Trying to sit up was a bad idea clearly as he was met with another wave of pain.
“Hey hey easy, youll pop your stitches” a voice said from next to him.
Fiery red hair contrasting the cathedrals white walls… Diluc.
“Luc???” Kaeya croaked out.
“Yea its me” he replied as he grabbed a glass of water on the bedside table and helped his brother take a few sips.
“Why are you here???” Kaeya asked.
“I heard what happened and Jean was looking absolutely exhausted so I sent her home.”
“Jean???”
“Do you not remember?”
“I… i remember being hit with the blade and Amber lighting a fire for us but after that… its all fuzzy”
“Hmm. Not suprised. Jean said you did bleed quite a bit. But the Abyss? In Mondstat??”
“I know. Its odd”
“More than odd, theyre up to something. Ill go take a look after you go back to sleep”
“No!”
“Kae wha-”
“I said NO you are NOT going up there alone. This isnt just the abyss. You think i got struck down by a few mages??? There was a damn herald up there”
Dilucs expression turned serious.
“Whatever theyre up to, they brought the big guns. And… They knew who i was Diluc… i dont know what theyre planning but they know who i am…”
“Like as in…”
“They know im from Khaenri'ah” Kaeya whispered “that im one of them…”
Diluc sighed. “Whatever theyre planning well worry about later. For now just rest. You scared alot of people ya know?”
“you included??” Kaeya teased
“Of course me included. Kaeya, i still care alot for you. Youre my little brother whether i accept it or not. And when i got here and you were deathly pale and wrapped in bandages i just… I dont know something in me snapped”
“Good to know you have a heart under all that cold Master Diluc…” Kaeya mumbled as his eyes grew heavy again.
“Just sleep you idiot… Ill be right here”