A week after the incident with the Treasure Hoarders in Mondstadt, Kaeya swiped idly at a bush as he walked along the path, muttering under his breath. "Why would Jean send me as the Knights' representative to meet with the Tianquan?" He strode forward, his single visible eyebrow bent in frustration. Eventually he said to himself slowly, "Eula is not a good choice, I suppose, for obvious reasons. Lisa wouldn't go unless Ningguang had an overdue book. Amber would be totally oblivious to whatever Ningguang slips into our revised treaty. And the rest of the Knights…" He wouldn't admit it out loud, but his brother did have a point about their inefficiency. They were decent at keeping the peace and performing basic tasks, they were friendly and generally tried their best to be helpful, but… in the case of major decisions about future relations with their closest neighboring nation, none of them could be counted on. Kaeya let out an annoyed puff of air. "I suppose it does have to be me."
He tossed his sword to the side without bothering to watch it. The cool metal slid into nothingness before reappearing at his back. Kaeya kept moving, letting tiny icicles play along the tips of his fingers. His main complaint was how much walking he had to do to even get to Liyue, let alone the vast distance from Stone Gate to Liyue Harbor itself. The border was not far behind him at this point, and he'd already been walking for a couple of days. He'd thought about staying the Dawn Winery on his way through, but he didn't want to risk irritating Diluc. Our relationship is tenuous enough without me disobeying his direct commands to stay out of the winery. Without conscious consent, his mind flicked back to that awful day, as it had a thousand times before.
Diluc's tragic face flashed across his vision for an instant, betrayed shock and unfathomable hurt in every line of his whole body.
His claymore swinging down, Kaeya doing nothing to stop it, welcoming his impending death.
The sharp chill in his chest that snapped into a physical barrier between Diluc's fury and Kaeya's guilt.
Shaking his head hard, the Cavalry Captain dismissed his aching memories. "Enough. I can think about all that later, once I've got this mission over with and I'm sitting in the Angel's Share with a cold drink," he said aloud.
Something wet hit the top of his head and soaked slowly through his dark hair. He glanced up at the darkening skies. "Just perfect."
There didn't seem to be any shelters nearby, and Kaeya would have simply pushed on to Liyue Harbor if it hadn't been for the distant rumble and the tang of ozone in the air. Lightning storm, then. He groaned.
He was in the middle of the Guili Plains, but he estimated another day of hiking at the very least. The young Knight looked around for shelter, and decided to break off into the hills in search of some type of building.
Several ravines later, he was regretting his impulse. The thunder had faded in the distance, proving that he should have just kept moving, but the rain didn't seem about to let up any time soon. He trudged through the narrow passage, his hands firmly shoved into his pockets and his shoulders hunched against the driving rain.
It was pouring so hard that he didn't even notice the skirmish until he rounded the corner and found himself in the middle of a fight.
Half a dozen Fatui had cornered a traveler, their breathless threats just audible above the rain as they tried to take him down. But the stranger in the dark cloak wasn't about to give in. His claymore was a blur of motion, too fast to follow.
Kaeya felt a thrill of concern at that claymore. Diluc! No… no no, this is Liyue. There's plenty of claymore users here. But the way he moves, that style… C'mon, you're just having flashbacks from that fight in the alley last week. Shaking off his momentary distraction, he launched into the fight with a dark chuckle. "Need some help?" he asked as he shot a blast of ice at the nearest Fatuus.
The hooded stranger lost his attack pattern and faltered, spinning around to his unexpected ally. Startled carnelian eyes met Kaeya's gaze through the mask that shielded the upper part of his face. Kaeya jolted back.
"Kae…?" That voice was more familiar than his own.
"Diluc, what in Teyvat—?!"
But the distraction cost the brothers dearly. The hulking Fatuus wielding an Electro hammer took advantage of the allies' confusion and aimed a powerful blow at his original target.
"No!" Kaeya lunged forward, but he was too late to stop the hammer from connecting. Not again! I won't lose him!
His brother's lean body was thrown against the canyon wall and collapsed to the ground, hard. He didn't move again. It was hard to tell if he was even breathing. Kaeya stared at the scarlet locks spilling out of the disheveled hood, Diluc's white face still half-hidden from view by his sprawled arms. Slowly the Cryo user turned to the Fatui raising various weapons for an attack. Ice edged every word for deadly emphasis as he enunciated carefully, "You. Attacked. My. Brother."
One of them scoffed. "From all accounts, we've done you a favor. Didn't he try to kill you a few years ago? Kinda invalidates the whole 'brother' thing, in my opinion." The Electro Fatuus raised his electro-charged hammer above Diluc's helpless, limp body, intending to end his life with a final blow.
Kaeya lost his breath when he saw the threat to his brother. He was moving before he even registered his emotions. He shot forward faster than thought, rage fueling his limbs and his Vision. "FREEZE!" With all the strength he could muster in a single blow, he knocked the enemy away from Diluc, positioning himself to defend the unconscious redhead. His single visible eye flashed dangerously, inviting the Fatui to their death."Come and take him… if you dare."
Author's note: I didn't realize this story wasn't marked as complete yet! But it works well, as I did indeed have quite a bit more to add onto it. My apologies for the unexpected hiatus!