Tartaglia: Finding the Good in the Bad
Childe was an odd sort too many. To the traveler he was a person of great power who had to hide his cause on the sake of the country he represented, before he was beaten then picked for the team of said traveler.
He was known to be a bit of a serious sort when it came to business, which often lead to prank wars with a man named Thoma, and what he found was the previous god of freedom. Which was unique to figure out how the wind would blow some food or money he dropped either in his face or down the street but never just letting it lie.
There was an air of danger around him but for all his brother knew, he was a toy salesman on a distant shore. Except all the toys he sent to his little siblings were modeled off of weapons and honestly the more he thought about it how did he get here?
Biting his lip in though for a moment he couldn't put it together if he tried. So him, a woman with a purple bob haircut, a girl with shattering ability and explosive know how and the cry captain of cavalry of Mondstadt had to do some exploring and seeing as some of the Fatui were still here, one of the other harbingers would be enough to get them to move on, because even Childe could see it after hearing the stories that they really had no need to be here and if it wasn't for the Scaramouche, and Signora they would be more focused on other things.
Inazuma had been a place he had never been before and it was a very pretty place and from what the quiet girl with the thunder vision explained there was a lot of myth and legend about great battles and fights he wish he could get a taste of. It was trying to wish for such adventure that she seemed a bit off, about it like someone had begun sliding on an ice block to cover a lake instead of just walking around.
The small island inlets barely above the water was a great place to rest from their walk so far. Sun was high and bright, the sand smelled of mineral and salt, the crabs were skating away from the team the traveler had put together to clear this job. All work and no play was something he could not abide by so at the behest of the one called Klee lunch was unpacked and he was ready to relax under the sun and in the waves. Kaeya had begun to take the smaller knight around the beach seeing this and that, almost like her real father, and while it looked like that was not the case there was still a clear bond that made him homesick for his back in Snezhnaya. Although the warmer water and bright scene was a nice thing to enjoy.
Except he had one problem. A team member had not been playing ball and it was starting to get his collar as a military man about the needs of the team, the strange girl from Inazuma was dressed well, and her skill with a weapon and a thunder vision most likely hidden under one of the layers of fabric had been sitting looking at the sand as if something had offended her.
"Hey, Inazuma." he called.
No answer. She had to be a noble, they were often a bit too hoity-toity for his tasted but he was the team leader for a reason and that meant she had to work with him.
"Oi Inazuma!"
He knows she heard him and while she did not answer, she did not give a name to work with.
Leading the team it did get him aggravated and he also knew how she could get a little wet. Pulling from his elemental ability the summon of a great horned whale from the shallows didn't have enough mass for damage but did have enough to thoroughly drench her.
Kaeya and Klee were looking with open eyes wondering what had cause a water whale to splash the goddess of eternity. She had not made any favors and while the scene unfolded he could hope that they wouldn't need to diffuse the situation by putting it on ice or just using some of Klee's favorite bombs. Ei had been her name but she had be short to give it out and while the rest of the team did not need her it would be something of an easy path for any citizens to get out of the way upon realizing the goddess was here.
Part of him wanted to stay away and let them handle it out for the sake of the young spark knight at his side, because if they hurt her there would be words to his brother and Inazuma or not there would be a price to be paid.
She was clearly angered at the large splash and could see the team leader with a wide grin out in the water clearly wanting some kind of conflict and now she was ready to deliver such things to the young man who was trying to stifle his laughter from what she guessed was the vision of her body wet from the whale and now the disrespect was enough for her to talk off her sandals slowly and begin dashing in the water towards the offender.
What was going to be a brutal smack down had become more of a game of keep away and it was clear it was needed by the pair for different reasons as despite the electro ability was in a shallow in an ocean with a very skilled water elemental Fatui who was currently doing all he could to tweak the nose of the Inazuman.
It soon devolved to a game she did not know she was participating in until she got to deep water and tried to make her way back while the Fatui leader was swimming rings around her. Despite her age she never needed to learn how to swim in water, and now she wasn't even a leader while the so called leader was swimming rings around her, a god being mocked by a human. This was part of having too integrate in society according to Yae but she could not like it especially showing such weakness to a human.
The scene was an odd sight but one that made the small child chuckle and laugh before running out arms outstretched as too here it dawned that they were playing some of the games she was so proficient at. Despite the a forces involved and the Kaeya was watching the child, he did not feel she was in too much danger and it was well known through their travels so far that she could handle her share of threats if needed.
The goddess of eternity was not happy to see the spark knight come her way while trying to handle the playful nature of the team leader. A handle was beginning to manifest but could not be pulled as she had turned to see that the power of her own electro could not be funneled so easily in the water and while she was well defended to the power there was the issue of the now gentle splashes growing to their position.
While she was not too careful as the child despite her size had taken to enjoying blasting her foes to ash she still had some portion of childhood innocence that was endearing to many. Klee had been making her way closer to 'Miss Slashy' as she called her and getting close enough begun to pull at one of the layers. Childe had been hidden from his attacker it really was Klee who should be a Fatui in his mind, that would get the silent woman to calm down.
Standing up from the water he had put a hand on his shoulder and pointed to the team's smallest member.
"Klee I was playing with Miss Slashy, she is getting tired though, do you want to play with me."
"Can we go fish blasting afterwards?"
"Of course small one. How else are we going to eat dinner." He said with a smile
Being a team leader was something he knew well as a Fatui and it was something to strive for because if the people under him believed in him as the leader then he could work with them to get as much done as possible. Despite issues with Ei, after she gave her name, Klee took the water happily noting it being warmer here then in Mondstadt where the breezes especially in higher areas would keep it cool, and Dragonspine was always the best example of it, for if the waterways on it were not frozen then they would be enough for anyone putting a toe in to be in misery until they could get off the icy mountain.
Playing with Klee made him think of the three he was on the team with and it had been through Kaeya that he found out the identity of Ei with in the structure of Inazuma and it shouldn't have shocked him that she was the third being like that in the group with either Venti and Zhongli.
He wished he could have such power, but that was a plan for another time, today the was in charge of Klee, Ei and Kaeya was trying to survive what would be a journey in the very least as many creatures and men were ready to fight for the death in the name of honor or some misplaced pride. It was something that made something turn foul.
Despite the smile he had to deal with enough, but while each of those brutal scenes lay in front of him like the water of a river pooling in the lakes he could see that for know he was here and while he may have to fight some of those he knew, working with the traveler, and as a fatui that he would have to balance for his own life, and those of the family he cared for.
One day he had hoped that looking down to see the eyes of Klee that the world could be at peace enough that she could see his family easily, the younger brothers and sisters would get along well with her he was sure.
Finding the good in the bad made him steel his soul and it was an action he thought he could hide from the rest of them but as the sun fell and Ei and Klee slept in their tents after some fanciful stories by the spark knight that had gotten the morose one to smile lightly. Kaeya seemed to look at him knowing what was to come, steeling his soul for the future had been a sign for the cavalry captain, in his hand as he walked up a pair of gourds used for alcohol that was made in the are a they were traveling through.
"It must be strange having to follow me."
"At some point I have just resigned myself to do my best and let things go, after all if things went bad with you as leader do you think you could take on all three of us?"
He laughed as he took an offered gourd filled with lavender melon wine.
"You and Ei maybe, just because I will never count against myself. Young Klee though, I look at her and I am reminded of my little brothers and sisters, they would love her as a friend, fish blasting in the frozen waters. I don't know if I can actually bring myself to fight her."
Kaeya nodded lightly as he uncorked his own melon.
"How long before things get really bad for all of us, you think."
Childe turned his head and was slightly shocked at the question as the swordsman drank from his own gourd before sitting back on the flat edge of a busted wall.
"I do not know." He answered honestly
"But it is coming."
"Yes I do believe it is." answering before taking a seat next to him.
"Can the worst of it be stopped, you think?"
"Doubtful, we are after all the pawns of forces greater then us, with the traveler though we may have a chance to mitigate the absolute worst of it, and I will take that."
"I will drink to that, and to finding the good memories in the bad times."
"Indeed, and to tweaking the noses of those too serious for their own good."
The sounds of the pair of warriors, previous adversaries laughing carried with the breeze of early night and for a moment in all the problems they had been trying to fix the day really was finding the good in the bad, and that was something he could be proud of because one day maybe Klee and the others could come by in a world of peace and such hopes were some of the best reasons to continue in the worst of times.