chapter 24 - trouble

(Credits: @rokuyo221 on twitter)

We had a long road from Dawn winery, through the back of Springvale, and the mountains looking down to Windrise, to the location we picked above Falcon coast.

Our journey there was tranquil, the weather was pleasant and we avoided any obstacles. We chose a spot on the top of the mountain, close to the edge, but we hadn't looked down to Falcon coast just yet. We set up our fake picnic date, using a blanket on the ground. The walk was long enough for me to get hungry, even after the filling breakfast Adelinde made.

If anyone would have seen us, they wouldn't suspect anything. For the trespasser, we looked like a young couple enjoying the nice weather and the view of the sea together.

I opened the picnic basket for some food and drink. I offered a sandwich to Diluc.

"Want some?" I smiled at him.

"No, thank you" he refused, opening up a bottle of sunsettia lemonade.

"I think you should eat" I commented while I was chewing on my delicious sandwich. "You will need all the energy you can get"

He slightly nodded then accepted the sandwich after all.

"Where is the cave you've mentioned?" I asked.

"Somewhere right below us" he said. We finished our sandwich then I walked to the edge of the cliff. I sat down, letting my legs hang.

"Come here" I told Diluc. He followed my example and sat down next to me. My gaze shifted down in the direction of Falcon coast.

"We can't see clearly from here" I said, resting my head on Diluc's shoulder. We were playing a role after all. It was hard to act natural in this situation and I was surprised at my own boldness.  "But that could be a good thing" I continued. "If we can't see anything then we are not seen either"

"There, if you look down on the shore." He pointed at the location he was talking about. "It is small, but it looks like a Fatui tent"

"You are right" I nodded. I stood up and scanned the area around us. No soul in sight.

I quickly packed our picnic basket. "Let's go down to the cave. Maybe we will see more from there"

He led us down the cave, it was halfway down between the cliff and the sea. The cave was small and cold, in the middle of it a clear sign of a past fire lit, even some wood was left there.

"Was it you?" I asked, pointing at the black ashes.

He simply just nodded. I didn't question him why he was camping in this cave and how he found it.

"It is almost sunset" I said. "I will take a look at what is down there. Stay here"

"I can't leave you go alone" he grabbed my arm, he looked serious. I shook off his hand.

"Don't worry, Diluc" I smiled at him. "I can take care of myself" I stood at the entrance of the cave, the small piece of the Fatui tent was more visible from here. "If I don't return by the time the sun reaches the horizon, you can come look for me"

I didn't wait for his answer, I started ascending from the cave slowly. I climbed down the rocks, slowly getting closer to the Fatui tent. I was almost down, but I stopped there.

I gasped at the view. There was another cave down there probably, that's why the Fatui here was unnoticed by anyone, leaving only a small tent outside. There were three guards around the entrance of the cave. I was slowly climbing around, trying hard to stay hidden from the guards.

That is when I found a small hole looking down the cave. I quickly lay on my stomach to look inside. I couldn't see much, but it was obvious that now the amount of Fatui is not a few. I guess there were at least a dozen or more of them.

Well, we are in so much trouble.

I deeply concentrated to be able to hear something. But I was too high up, so I decided to get slightly closer to the guards in the hope of catching something.

"...so who did you serve under before?" asked one Fatui member from an another.

"The eleventh, Tartaglia. I admit he was a good fighter, but I've never seen someone as bloodthirsty in battle as him"

The third guard started laughing. "Then you will not like it here too much, comrade" he stated. "Your new commander isn't afraid to dirty her hands either"

"Well, I admit she sends shivers down my spine" said the second speaker.

"Well, anyway, the mission must be really important if even a harbinger came here personally"

My heart pounded like a little bird in a cage. A harbinger is here? I was wrong. We are not in trouble. This is a disaster...

I breathed in and out slowly to calm down. Then I carefully and silently started climbing back to the cave.

Diluc was standing at the entrance, offering me his hand to help me enter the cave.

"What did you see?" he asked.

"It's bad..." I breathed out. "It is very-very bad"

"Okay, calm down" he sat me down by the little fire he lit. "Tell me everything"

"There is a harbinger here..." I said.

"Are you serious?" he asked. "Which one?"

"They didn't mention her name. All I know is that she is a bloodthirsty female. I don't really know much about the harbingers anyway"

"Well, it doesn't narrow it down..." he commented.

"It is concerning..." I bit my lip. "I find the whole situation so strange... they came here to steal something, but we don't know what. But for a simple theft, there are too many fatui here, not to mention a harbinger..."

"It is suspicious indeed, but I think it is more simple than you think" he said. "What they intend to steal is probably very important and they can't obtain it by negotiations. I think the amount of force here is simply a threat. If Mondstadt would oppose, we would risk a war with Snezhnaya..."

"It makes sense... but... can we even do anything at this point?" I looked up at him. "Fighting is not an option, diplomacy is not an option, our only chance would be to figure out what they want and hide it somewhere... but to figure that out, we somehow should be able to get in that cave, but we have around 4% chance we wouldn't get caught. I think we are okay against some soldiers, but a harb.."

I couldn't finish my sentence as Diluc put his hand over my mouth. My first thought was that he heard something from the outside, but looking at his expression I gathered that he was simply deep in thought.

"Don't be afraid, Tessa" he looked at me eventually. "I might have a plan that could work..."

——————-Author's note

Hellooo

Sorry for the delay. I thought I would have time to write during the holidays, but I ended up with 0 amount of rest, visiting family, meeting with friends... the usual stuff.

Anyway, if you celebrate Christmas, I hope it was good for you, aaand Happy New Year guys xxx

I will try to update again in 2-3 days, we'll see

See ya next chapter xx