Amber and Eula meet for breakfast at Good Hunter that morning.
"There you go, an Adventurer's Breakfast Sandwich and some Tea Break Pancakes." Sara gets to their table bearing a huge smile and carrying plates on each hand; she lays the sandwich in front of Amber and the pancakes in front of Eula.
"Thank you lots, Sara!" The outrider rubs her hands together as she fixes a napkin around her neck.
"My thanks and appreciation." Eula sets her napkin down on her lap as she readies a knife and fork.
"There's no need to be so formal, you know." Sara laughs with her hands on her hips.
"Huh?" the captain turns in her direction.
"I mean, I thought it'd be pretty obvious, it's been how long? Two months of you and Amber being regulars? Keeping such a formal register seems a bit superfluous, and besides, I'm not that old."
Sara crosses her arms in front of her chest.
"My utmost apologies."
The server glares at her.
"I'm sorry." Eula stares back at Sara, solemnly.
"Hey, hey, relax, there's no need to be so stiff. We're in an open air tavern and I always discount your orders every time you girls come around anyway, I'd say we've reached past the point for formalities, wouldn't you?"
Sara pats Eula's shoulder and she heads back to the kitchen; the captain looks at her leave dumbfounded, only to then turn to face Amber. The outrider is enjoying one of her sandwiches with her mouth full to the brim and some juices dripping at the corners of her mouth.
"Did you know about that?"
Amber swallows the bite she was chewing quickly.
"About what?"
"The fact she's giving us a discount."
"Yeah, why are you asking?"
Eula groans as she strokes her temples.
"Amber, this makes me indebted to her, I need to find a way to repay her kindness".
"Slow down, Eula, no one forced her to give us a discount and we're already paying it back by eating here so often, aren't we?"
"I don't know, this is an unusual circumstance to me, how do you behave when you get discounts from other people?"
"I accept and thank them, it's as easy as it looks." Amber smiles, ready to bite back into her sandwich.
Eula remains thoughtful for a few instants, her chin resting on the palm of her hand.
"You commoners really do have some peculiar customs." The captain cuts her first pieces of pancake.
"I'll take that as a compliment, but now we really need to finish our breakfast, we have a meeting with the Knights of Favonius captains in a bit. They're finally letting me participate, I'm super pumped!" Amber raises her arms and then lowers them with her fists tightly closed in an energetic gesture.
"After your impeccable contributions these last few months, I'd say that's a must."
Eula sighs and finishes the food left on her plate. "As for me, I detest meetings of this kind."
"Gee, I wonder why I'm not surprised."
Eula stares at Amber grimly.
"At least you won't be by yourself this time." The outrider holds Eula's hand on top of the table.
Eula looks at them, then at Amber's cheerful grin.
"I have to admit, you're right." She hints at a smile.
The two of them make their way to the Knights of Favonius headquarters, a few minutes early. The meeting is in the Grand Master's office; the participants sit on the table beside the desk, Jean at its head, while beside her sit Lisa, Kaeya, Albedo, Eula and Amber. A huge map depicting Mondstadt's land is onto the table.
"Some captains haven't returned yet, I will take it upon myself to inform them of the result of this meeting once they're back. Alas, we can't wait for them." Jean starts.
"I agree with the Acting Grand Master, but that makes me wonder, what is our only outrider supposed to be doing here?" Kaeya smirks with a raised eyebrow, as Amber furrows her own.
"I determined that she would be ready to attend, seeing the latest successes she collected." Jean's voice is calm and collected.
"I understand, hopefully you didn't misplace your trust."
"I'm sure if the Acting Grand Master didn't find me up to the task I wouldn't be sitting at this table." Amber forces a smile.
"Oh?" Kaeya's smirk widens on his lips. Jean coughs as to bring the focus back to herself.
"The explorations led by Amber as well as by the Reconnaissance Company are pointing towards the fact that hilichurl activity is increasing exponentially; they're drawing nearer and nearer to Mondstadt. Every few weeks some areas of increased activity concerning tens if not hundreds of specimen come to form, attacking every human in sight. Albedo, Lisa, do you have any theories concerning what may be behind such a phenomenon?"
The librarian and the alchemist share a glance before turning to speak to Jean.
"The Chief Alchemist and I have researched into the state of affairs and the most likely explanation is that the hilichurls might be drawn by a strong corrupted energy, though the source of said energy is still unknown, as well as why their activity switches through different areas." Lisa point to various locations on the Mondstadt map.
"Thousand Winds Temple, Wolvendom, Windrise, these are more recent examples, as of now they're directing their activity to Dragonspine." The mage circles around the mountain with her index finger as she looks at Albedo.
"Dragonspine has always been a place submerged in a peculiar energy, but lately it's as if monsters decided to occupy all of the mountain's height; it's not unusual for adventurers and common folk alike to get attacked as of late. We need to look into this before the situation gets out of hand." Albedo's stare fixed on the drawing of Dragonspine on the map as he talks, Jean sighs.
"We need to organize an expedition to clean up the area and look for clues. Eula, you will lead your team in Dragonspine and rid the area of enemies as much as possible. Amber, you will l accompany her, seeing as we have a shortage of soldiers wielding a pyro Vision in the Reconnaissance Company. Recently I've seen you both develop quite some synergy, so I expect you will be able to maintain it in battle."
"You can count on us!" Amber jerks her head energetically in approval; Eula nods subtly, remaining silent.
"Albedo, you will escort them as an expert of the territory".
Albedo nods.
"Kaeya, you will stay with me and Lisa in Mondstadt to monitor the situation and react in case the city were to fall under attack."
"As you wish." Kaeya shrugs vaguely, without losing his grin.
The day of the departure Eula, Amber and Albedo meet in front of the Knights Of Favonius headquarters, accompanied by the whole Reconnaissance Company. The tree of them take each take guidelines to follow, shortly followed by Eula turning towards the Company.
"Today we'll take part in a reconnaissance operation joined by the Outrider Amber and the Chief Alchemist Albedo, thanks to their expertise in the field of exploration and the hostile lands in Dragonspine, they will certainly ensure we carry out our mission most optimally. We will spend three days and two nights traveling. Amber will be entrusted with obtaining emergency provisions in the wild seeing as we can't take much with us because of the shortage of horses to fasten to our wagons; Albedo will be responsible for the management of our equipment. We will advance from dawn to dusk with a lunch break; once we get to the mountain, I'll update my directions; for any problem you happen to face you can turn to me, but also to Amber and Albedo, seeing as they're my deputies in this mission. Any questions?"
The soldier's heads shake in denial.
"Let us leave, then. Amber, stay at the center of the party, while Albedo, you can go to the ends to check on the situation."
"Yes ma'am!" Amber smiles, salutes and heads to middle; Albedo nods wordlessly as he approaches the tail end.
The Reconnaissance Company begins to march across the streets of Mondstadt with Eula leading them. Once they're out of the walls they proceed towards a plane path in the mountain's direction. The weight they're carrying causes the process to be more lengthy than expected.
The first night goes on without many hiccups. Albedo, Amber and Eula hold a small meeting in front of the campfire to go over how the day has progressed. Albedo is the first to leave once the talking is done, leaving the two young women alone under the light cast by the fire and stars.
The outrider and the captain allow themselves to chat about nothing in particular, before going back to their tent, at least until they reach the mountain.
Once there, they decide to stop a little over the slopes; the first snowflakes begin to fall lightly on the tents, partly melted by their fire.
Eula doesn't join the team, instead she sits on a tree trunk on the outskirts of their makeshift camp. The light coming from the fire shines on her pale back, while she points her gaze towards the mist surrounding Dragonspine's peak, revealed by the moonlight behind the mountain. Snow deposits on her hair and shoulders, but she stays still as it begins to pile.
Amber approaches Eula, cleaning the snow from the top of her head and her shoulders with a light thouch; Eula startles a bit, and the outrider sits beside her.
"The moon in Dragonspine is totally different from the one we see in the city!"
Eula looks at Amber for an instant, nodding, as she returns to stare at the night sky.
The outrider observes the captain's face, getting close enough to brush against her shoulder, as she crosses her legs.
"Wanna tell me what you're thinking about?"
Eula lowers her head.
"Dragonspine was the first place where Zhiruo took me to train on reconnaissance".
"Oh".
Silence falls between them, but not for long.
"I barely knew how to hold a sword at the time and his greatest show of intelligence was to bring a ten year old girl on the slopes of the most hostile environment in Mondstadt because, according to him, breathing some fresh mountain air would have done my spirit some good." Eula hints at a smile.
"Yeah, Grandpa's always had, uh… A unique perception of what was good for children." Amber laughs lightly as she rubs her thumbs together.
"We walked along the mountain's edge, but I must admit it did help me. So much so that every time I find myself on these slopes I can't do anything but let myself go to this overwhelming sense of nostalgia, not very befitting a noble." Eula strokes her hair, tidying it gracefully behind her ear.
"Wow, you nobles even get an anti-nostalgia shield?" Amber giggled; Eula turned towards the direction of the outrider looking indignant.
"That wasn't the point of what I was saying!"
"I can picture you using Song Of Broken Pines as a shield from this nostalgia monster inhabiting some cavern in Dragonspine".
Eula groaned. "I knew it, I should have told you anything, I will have my vengeance for this affront." The captain stands up, ready to leave; Amber grabs her wrist before she can walk away.
"I'm sorry, you're right, it wasn't the time for this kind of joke, I'm sorry. What I was trying to say is that even if you're of noble blood, nothing is keeping you from freely expressing nostalgia, melancholy and whatever other feeling makes your usual imperious and stoic captain persona crumble." Amber caresses the back of her hand with her thumb, pulling her towards herself, as if to invite her to come back beside her. Eula sighs as she sits back on the tree trunk.
"You commoners have a most bizarre way of expressing whatever concepts you have in mind."
"I could say the same thing, but what's important now is: got the message?"
"As per usual, your understanding of noble customs is disappointing to say the least." Eula turns opposite of Amber with her arms crossed, a soft smile forming on her face as her cheeks turn slightly rosy, something that could be attributed to the small amount of light coming from the campfire. Amber leans in and, the moment her trained eyes grasp a bit of the other's face, she smiles and blushes too.
They spend some moments in silence, only the hazy melody of leaves and pines moved by wind and the crackling of fire accompanying them.
The smile fades from Amber's face; the girl fixes her gaze on the ground, where the snow is pressed down by their footprints.
"Hey, Eula."
Eula faces her, furrowing her brows the instant she notices Amber's expression.
"Want to tell me something about Grandpa? Anything is fine." The outrider forces a smile. Eula looks at her, observes each minute detail and, the more she notices the way her lips tremble, her eyes fixed on the ground, as if afraid, and the feet that Amber had started rubbing together, the more she feels a lump forming in her throat.
Eula swallows.
"That would be an honor."
Amber turns towards her, nodding and taking a deep breath.
Eula was ten, she was hiking on Dragonspine's slopes with Zhiruo, immersed in the fresh end-of-March wind that accompanied the ever constant snowflakes from the mountain. The man was holding Eula's hand and helping her along the path. Around lunch time, they stopped to eat.
"And that's how I managed to end a whole brown bear with three arrows!"
"That's the third time you've told me this story."
"Oh, really? Sorry, but I'm afraid my memory isn't as sound as yours." Zhiruo took a big bite out of his chunk of meat and eagerly finished his meal, but instants after he noticed that Eula wasn't even halfway through her own, even though they had been eating for a good amount of time.
"Hey, little wolf, what's wrong?" The man left behind the remainders of his meal to kneel in front of the child. Eula kept looking at her food, avoiding Zhiruo's gaze.
"It's nothing."
"Is nothing keeping you from eating?"
Eula remained silent.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Eula stood still until a long sigh escaped her lips.
"My mother, she told me it's useless for an omega like me to train in the Lawrence clan's martial arts, that only alphas can master it and guarantee a noble maintenance of the family values."
Zhiruo patted Eula's head silently, listening to her talk. The little girl's eyes dampened, so much so that big droplets started streaming down her cheeks.
"Whatever I do is never good enough for her, for anyone! I study, but I'm not smart enough, I speak, but I shouldn't, I want to train, but I'm not worthy. What can I do then? Mom… Will mom ever even love me?" Zhiruo hugged her softly, paying no mind to the child's tears or the sauce that were staining and dampening his uniform little by little.
"I'm here with you. Everything you've done is really admirable, and remember you've always put your all into it; if other people don't want you for who you are, then they're missing out on one of the sweetest, most intelligent and kindest little girls in Mondstadt".
Eula nodded against the man's coat and he held her until she eventually calmed down. Then, the little girl backed away as she used her hand to dry the remaining tears on her face.
"What do you say if we took a small revenge on your family? Nothing violent, we will show them how amazing you are to make them regret all the nonsense they told you."
Eula looked at him, puzzled.
"And, how are we supposed to do that? I've already tried everything, but there's always something that isn't up to standard."
"We need to find something only you can do, so that we'll make them green with envy! What do you usually like to do?"
Eula started thinking about it with seriousness as she focused her gaze on an arbitrary point of her surroundings; she then answered.
"Dancing. I found out that noble families had this traditional dance, called Dance of Sacrifice, and that our family had been assigned act III: Flickering Candlelight." A big smile appeared on Eula's face. "I saw some aunts and uncles practicing it as a hobby and since then I've been practicing it in my room, I've learned all of the first few steps, it's so pretty, and the music gives you so much energy that you feel like you could break the world in half! It's also a solo dance, and it makes you feel so strong and elegant, I've spent entire days watching the steps, it really is wonderful."
Zhiruo smiled as he stroked her head.
"Okay, I think I've got it. Dancing, eh?" The man stroked his chin, immersed deep in thought.
"I know! What if I helped you develop your own unique fighting style? We could blend fencing with dancing, so that the Lawrence clan will be left dumbfounded and will regret not giving you credit where credit is due."
Eula's eyes lit up.
"Can we really do that?"
"Of course, it'll be our own revenge against all those who've always mistreated you; what do you say, are you in?"
Zhiruo reached his hand towards the little girl, extending his pinky out. Eula nodded vigorously as she exchanged the promise with the man, no second thoughts.
"Will that make my family love me?"
Zhiruo smiled bitterly.
"That I don't know, but I can promise you that if you'll want it, I'll gladly become your family in their stead."
"Now I know who to blame for all the threats of vengeance you throw at me." Amber giggled.
"Let's just say he enabled this side of me. But I do think that if it wasn't for him being there I wouldn't be a knight, who knows, maybe I would still be stuck in my room at the Lawrence estate, feeling sorry for myself. He helped me, welcomed me, every time he was around I could finally breathe some calm in the air, compared to all the rules and impositions in my family." Eula looks at the stars, hinting at a smile.
"Yup, he was always like that; got a problem? He'd make you forget about it in seconds! Even the biggest weight could be lightened if he helped you carry it..." Amber's eyes become watery as thin tears start flowing down her reddened cheeks.
"Oh, what am I even doing? I still get emotional because of some old stories. Sorry Eula, you told me this beautiful anecdote from you past and all I can do is sit here and cry like an idiot. I really am a lost cause, aren't I?" Amber tries and tries to dry her face with her hands, but the droplets keep going more and more insistently. Eula stares silently as she furrows her brows, biting on her lip as she narrowly opens her arms.
"May I?"
Amber nods through the sobs. Eula reaches forward and holds her close.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten over me, it was such a nice story and I was the one who came here to cheer you up in the first place, I'm such a mess."
Eula caresses Amber's hair.
"That's not true, your feelings matter just as much as mine, so bear in mind you will face my vengeance if you try to belittle the way you feel again."
Amber smiles.
"Grandpa shouldn't have put vengeance in your head, now my fate is sealed!" The outrider holds her as well as she digs her face in the hollow of the captain's neck.
"And keep in mind, I won't let you go until I keep each and every promise of vengeance I make."
Amber laughs.
"I've never been so happy that someone wanted revenge on me before."
The moonlight shines on Amber's tears as they softly dampen both of their uniforms.
Note:
Mwahahaha! And so, chapter 5 is done, things are starting to get interesting as I plot in the shadows eheheh.
Btw I had to rush this chapter a bit because of my full time job, hope you like the result anyway u.u
Go follow the beta and translator, she looks a bit scary but I promise they don't bite… At least not me 😉
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(I couldn't bite you even if I wanted to because I've just had a wisdom tooth pulled out, which is also why I was late on my schedule, opsie –nyarasss)