"That should be enough," Amber said, putting the last of the wolfhook berries into her inventory.
"Klee, don't run off too far by yourself," Kaeya called, giving Amber a brief nod.
They had already taken out the small hilichurl camp a little off the path and gathered the needed berries and it was still early in the afternoon. Kaeya's babysitting mission had finished even faster than expected. He shouldn't call it that, he knew, but it's not like three allogenes were really needed to pick some wolfhooks, even if there was supposedly more hilichurl activity in the area than usual. Which, by the way, there wasn't.
Klee stumbled over a tree root in the path and tumbled to the ground, hurriedly picking herself up before the others could catch up. She was attempting to dust off her dress, only succeeding in spreading the dirt, when something caught her eye and she called out.
"It's the weird grown up!" she shouted bouncing as she pointed to a rock ledge a little taller than she was.
"Weird grown up?" Kaeya mused as he caught up to her position.
Upon spotting said person, he abruptly forgot all nicknames and scrambled up the ledge.
"Diluc? Are you okay?" He immediately began looking for injuries, because everything was obviously not okay. Okay people didn't collapse on narrow ledges in the middle of Wolvendom.
"Don't…. touch…" the red head finally mumbled, only semi conscious despite the prodding.
The warning was too late. Before Kaeya had a chance to wonder what it was in relation to, his hands began to sting, the unpleasant feeling gradually working its way up his arms.
"Stay back," he warned his party members before they got too close.
This was no ache from a normal, physical wound, it went much deeper. It stung like acid and sapped his strength in a slow but unrelenting way. Slowly he realized it was the corrosion of an abyssal monster.
He didn't know why it was in Mondstadt, or if there were any more, but first he had to deal with the damage already done.
"Amber, take Klee back and get Jean. I need a healer, as fast as you can."
"Together we can carry him," Amber suggested, "or, I think I saw a cart a little ways back. If we can get it-"
"No," Kaeya rebutted. "Corrosion is very transmissible, and I've already been affected. I need you two to get back and send Jean so we don't affect you or anyone else in the city."
She still had questions, but Amber grasped the need to hurry, so she nodded and took Klee's hand. "Come on, Klee, we have to go."
Truthfully, Kaeya himself had questions. The only monsters he knew of capable of this were rifthounds, wolf-like creatures from the abyss, but he'd never heard of any in Mondstadt before. They had claws which could tear into you, much as one would expect, but the worst part was that that was only the beginning. Their corrosive attacks depleted strength and health, and much like a curse, the effects couldn't be cleansed. One must simply survive them, and many didn't. In a few hours, the body would work its way through the taint, and if you were still alive, then you could work on recovery. A healer made living through the ordeal much more likely, but as they couldn't actually remove the taint, it wasn't a guarantee. They could only undo the damage to the body that was already done.
Kaeya kept himself busy working Diluc's coat off of him to reveal the damage done. The majority of the damage was to his back, claw marks that had shredded the back of his shirt and left deep gashes in his skin.
"Really managed to get yourself good, didn't you?" Kaeaya said aloud, only receiving an inarticulate groan in response.
He rummaged through his pack for first aid supplies and set to work dressing the wounds as well as he could.
Time ticked by slowly, and Kaeya could tell he was slowing as well. He wasn't sure if corrosion damage was cumulative, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was. And with how many lacerations there were… it wasn't good. Now, he struggled to keep a firm grip on the bandages, and felt the not so subtle draw of sleep threatening to pull him under. If he slept, there would be no one to defend either of them though, and they were out in the open, and the sun was beginning to set.
No, he had to stay conscious, he told himself.
He searched through his bag for food, hoping a little sustenance would help him regain some strength. This had been supposed to be a simple mission lasting half a day at best though. All he had were a couple apples and some mint infused water. Still, better than nothing he decided, taking a bite from the apple.
"Want some?" he offered to Diluc, but received no reply.
He couldn't exactly feed the apple to an unconscious person, but he did attempt to get the other man to swallow at least a bit of the water.
Another undefined amount of time went by.
If it had been him, he could have ice bridged across Cider Lake and entered from the side of the city, effectively cutting the distance needed to travel in more than half. Amber could have glided off the cliffs in Wolvendom and probably nearly made it across the water. But Klee couldn't swim very far, and her short legs could only carry her back so fast. It seemed like hours since they had left though. Surely, someone must be on their way back by now.
Unless, something had prevented their return. Or they couldn't find a healer. Or… he didn't think paranoia was a side effect of abyssal taint flowing through his veins, but suddenly every possible thing that could go wrong occurred to him.
A branch snapped in the distance, setting him on edge again.
Hilichurls weren't nocturnal, but that wasn't to say they never wandered around after dark.
Kaeya summoned his sword, grip tightening as he nudged Diluc, hoping he would wake up in case they needed to fight, or run.
Diluc's breath hitched, and Kaeya realized just how shallow his breathing had become.
"Don't go dying on me now."
A lone hilichurl wandered into his line of vision. Never before had he been so scared of such an inconsequential monster.
His shift in position caused a wave of dizziness to wash over him, vision greying at the edges. Maybe it would pass by without noticing them. Was that too much to ask for?
Apparently it was.
"Ya!" the hilichurl shouted, raising its club and making its way toward the rocky incline.
Kaeya summoned an icy shard of cryo and aimed toward the enemy. And missed.
They had made it this far only to be clobbered to death by a hilichurl, he thought darkly, struggling to maintain consciousness when suddenly-
"Gale blade!"
The hilichurl was launched into the air and when it finally hit the ground quite a distance away it didn't get up again.
An invigorating warm breeze enveloped him as Jean used her Dandelion Breeze, instantly reducing the gashes in his brother's back to mere scratches and making the whole process of breathing considerably easier.
"Are you alright?" Jean asked, still standing as far away she could allow and still cover both of them with her elemental burst.
"Better," Kaeya answered, turning to check on his brother.
Eyelids fluttered in response to his probing, and eventually a low groan. More response than he had gotten in at least the last hour.
"I came as soon as Amber and Klee explained what had happened," she explained, "but I was worried it wouldn't be fast enough."
It almost wasn't. No use in telling her that. She made it, they would be okay. This was exactly why had called for Jean instead of Barabara. While Barbara's healing skills might have been better, Jean was more adept at fighting and survival skills, she would be able to make the journey faster.
"I think it's safe enough to move now," Kaeya said. He still felt like he could sleep a solid day, but they still had to make it back to the city. Then he would see about asking for the day off tomorrow.
"I'll see if I can carry Diluc on my back, in case he's still infected, since I've already been exposed."
Jean agreed, though she wanted to be of more help, watching her friend clumsily situate the other man over his shoulders and slide down the rocky incline.
As the city finally came into view, Diluc stirred, shifting and muttering like he was annoyed at being woken up until he realized exactly where he was, draped over Kaeya's shoulders and back, arms slung forward to balance his awkward piggyback ride.
"I can walk," he murmured quietly.
"Now that I did all the hard work," Kaeya grumbled good naturedly. In truth, it had been a long walk and his back hurt, but he remembered how unsteady he had been at first and doubted his brother would be any different.
"We're almost there now."
"Put me down," Diluc groused.
"Fine," Kaeya acquiesced, making his way to the nearby tree to balance against.
Diluc managed to climb down without his legs crumpling underneath him, just. The tree Kaeya had stopped under managed to save him that indignity at least.
"We'll be going to my house, as it's much closer to the main gate," Kaeya announced, "I'll handle any necessary paperwork tomorrow, assuming that's okay with you, Acting Grand Master?'"
Jean met his gaze with one of incredulousness, as if he and his brother hadn't nearly died to abyssal corruption, then proceeded to walk two hours back to the city with a person on his back, as if it weren't nearing midnight and he hadn't slept, not mention eaten much all day.
"You'll be taking at least a day off to rest and recover, Captain," she returned, tone saying she would enforce the same upon Diluc if she had the authority. "And if I find you've done anything more strenuous than get checked out at the Cathedral, you'll be in solitary for a month."
Kaeya suddenly envisioned himself surrounded by Klee's art projects and explosive 'treasures,' and couldn't help but grin.
"Yes, ma'am. I'll behave myself."