Chapter Nineteen

Kaeya sat a few feet away from his sleeping brother, his back to one of the several wooden boxes scattered through the area. He was wondering if it was safe to risk a fire, but after thinking back through their narrow escape, he decided against it. He eyed Diluc with concern in the gradually increasing light. It looked like changing back to Mondstadt's beloved grumpy vigilante took everything he had. Maybe we should've waited to attempt it until we were out of danger. No… he's been trapped as a cat for too long. It's better this way. I don't think either of us would've passed up a chance at changing him back.

Diluc had fallen asleep sitting up, his head tipped back against the stone, one hand loosely cupping the Vision at his side. Kaeya's eye went to the glowing gem, remembering the last time he'd seen the orb nearly flicker into nothingness. To his relief, the Pyro Vision still shone defiantly. It was a little duller than usual, but certainly bright enough to allay his fears.

He let out a quiet breath. All right. Where do we go from here? The knight pulled out his map and laid it across his knees, smoothing the wrinkles from the well-used parchment. He studied the detailed lines of Stormterror's Lair, his gloveless knuckles brushing his chin lightly. We should be fine to keep traveling along our current path. Hmm… I don't know how I'm going to make it out of the valley with this arm of mine, though. Carefully he ran a finger along the limb in question. With a wince, he admitted silently, It's not fully healed yet. If I want to have a shot at being back to battle-ready within the month, I'll need Jean or Barbara to give it a bit of a boost. He sighed and returned to perusing the map. I also need to make sure Diluc eats before we set out. Thankfully, although the Fatui had confiscated the Aquila Favonia and Cryo Vision that Pieter had thereafter returned to him, they hadn't thought to delve into his inventory. He had a few spare meals squirreled away, and he sorted through them, searching for an especially energizing one.

The knight settled on Northern Smoked Chicken, served cold. He got to his feet and crossed the small space, dropping down beside his brother. Diluc shifted, a small frown crossing his face in his sleep. Kaeya held his breath, but Diluc remained deep in slumber, and Kaeya let his breath out slowly. He set the dish down in front of the redhead, then sat back with a small sigh. Leaning back in a mirror pose to his brother, he let himself relax. They'd traveled hard through the night after walking all day, and he was exhausted.

Just for a few minutes…

oOo

When he awoke, he could immediately tell that he'd slept for a few hours. He opened his eye and sat up quickly.

Diluc was not beside him.

Drawing a sharp breath, Kaeya sprang to his feet and reached for his sword. But before he could panic too much, a movement caught his eye. Diluc was seated against one side of the gateway, keeping watch over the valley. At Kaeya's abrupt motion, the Pyro user's sharp eyes flicked up to him, taking in Kaeya's aggressive stance with a raised brow. He rose from his place at the archway, running a gloved hand through sopping wet hair. Kaeya relaxed.

Diluc took one more look out at Stormterror's Lair, then turned back to Kaeya. His voice was sarcastic. "And where were you running off to, hm?" The tall former knight limped past, flicking water droplets at the Cryo user.

Automatically Kaeya froze the water before it hit him, smirking. "Just making sure my brother wasn't headed off on a one-man attack spree of the Fatui again."

Diluc turned to face him, his mouth tightening. "There's just one Fatui that I need to dispose of shortly."

Kaeya knew exactly who he was talking about, but he blinked innocently. "Surely not our friend Pieter?"

"Of course not."

He put a hand to his mouth, contemplating the middle distance in an exaggerated thinking pose. "Then… your enthusiastically naïve pet owner, Sven?"

Diluc snorted. "No. He did his best to protect you. I won't hurt him."

"Mm, I'm afraid I can't think of who you mean, then," Kaeya said breezily. "You wouldn't be thinking of trying to take on a Fatui Agent in your current state, just for a bit of revenge… right?"

His brother didn't answer, but the way his gloves flexed was answer enough. Kaeya sighed. "He's not worth it, Diluc."

"He hit you. Twice." Diluc's voice was strained. "I won't let that go."

"We're not kids anymore. You don't need to defend me from a simple punch or two, you know." Kaeya was about to continue when he saw Diluc sway slightly. He took a step forward. "Hey… you okay?"

The tall redhead lifted his chin slightly. "I'm fine. A little better than last night. I'm just having trouble getting used to moving as a human and not a cat. It's… harder than I anticipated. And my stamina hasn't quite recovered yet."

"Understandable. Did the Northern Smoked Chicken help at all?"

Diluc nodded. "Thank you for that." His eyes landed on Kaeya's arm. "How's your arm today?"

That was a topic Kaeya wanted to avoid for now. "Let's just say it's about as good as your stamina and leave it at that, shall we? Oh, by the way, why is your hair wet?"

"It rained again while I was keeping watch," Diluc responded. He squeezed the end of his scarlet ponytail, gloomily watching an impressive amount of water drip from it. "It was quite a great deal of rain."

Kaeya smirked. "Turns out you can still look like a bedraggled cat even when you're a human, brother."

Diluc flicked more water at him. "You're just lucky you picked a sheltered place to fall sleep."

His smile fading, Kaeya frowned as a thought occurred to him. "Wait a minute, how long have you been on watch?"

Diluc shrugged. "Since I woke up and found you asleep." When Kaeya narrowed his eye at him, Diluc thought for a minute. "A few hours, I suppose."

"You should've woken me! I would've taken a turn at it," Kaeya scolded, crossing his arms.

His brother was unrepentant. "You said yourself that you were worn out. I don't mind keeping watch for a bit. Neither of us are in the best shape, and at least one of us shouldn't be running on low sleep." He glanced up at the overcast skies. "It's just past noon, if you can believe it. Unfortunately, it seems we've run into one of those particularly rainy stretches of spring."

Kaeya looked up, too, and received a raindrop on his cheek. Wrinkling his nose, he shrugged. "It might help us, actually. If it keeps Vlad off our tail, I'll gladly put up with a bit of rain."

"True." Diluc moved stiffly, sitting carefully against the wall again. His elbows rested loosely across his knees as he glanced up at Kaeya through the crimson hair obscuring his eyes. "So what's the plan? Wait until nightfall, or try to head out now?"

"Heeheehee, neither of those suit my plans, actually."

The high-pitched voice sent both brothers shooting upright, reaching for their swords. Kaeya let out a Khaenri'an word under his breath, but the Dendro Abyss Mage drifting into their hideaway waved his finger tauntingly at him. "None of that now, traitor. You don't get to speak our language."

Kaeya flinched slightly at the accusation, and beside him, Diluc tensed. "Hey! Leave my brother out of this," he warned, gloves tightening on his greatsword.

The mage cackled slightly, stroking the jewel mounted on the end of his little wand. "Oh, very well. He can just enjoy the show, I suppose. After all, it's not every day that you get to see a human change into an Abyss Lector."

Kaeya raised his sword a little higher. His eye flashed with dangerous amusement. "Oh, so sorry, but I'm afraid I'm not really interested in that sort of thing. I certainly don't think it will be happening today, little mage."

Snarling, the mage retorted, "There's nothing you can do about it, so give up already, traitor!"

"Two to one seems good odds to me, especially when the two happen to be a Cavalry Captain and the youngest knight to ever make Captain," Kaeya remarked breezily.

"Ah, but I brought some backup of my own." The mage cackled again when the brothers stiffened. "Get in here and take these two out!"

The sound of clanking machinery furrowed Kaeya's brow for an instant, before a great Ruin Grader stormed through the archway, its single glowing 'eye' seeming to lock onto them. Kaeya snorted. "All right, I'm definitely taking watch next time, since you somehow missed that sneaking up on us!"

"Hey! I kept a careful watch! I have no idea where that came from!" Diluc protested hotly.

The Dendro Mage sniffed. "You act like I'm so incompetent I couldn't mask our approach! Foolish humans, how little you know! Now then… enough talking! Take them down!" He flung his scepter out at them dramatically, and the Ruin Grader's metal fists clenched.

"Understood. Initiating annihilation protocol."

And with that, battle was joined.

Author's Note: Fair warning, the next few chapters are going to be rather emotional!