The following morning, the party wakes at dawn. During breakfast, Eula assembles everyone around the campfire. Amber and Albedo are standing at the captain's sides.
"We have reached the mountain. We don't know what awaits us or how numerous the hilichurls may be, I'll send a handful of soldiers picked by me personally to examine the gravity of our predicament and elaborate an attack strategy. Whoever may remain at the camp with me will be tasked with equipment management, gathering provisions and strengthening our camp, for we will be using it until the mission's end. Seeing as Albedo already has a vast knowledge of Dragonspine, he will be escorting the reconnoiters to his base, where he will equip you with all of the necessary information to explore the mountain; at that point Amber will be entrusted to assign an area to investigate to each of you, based on your experience. Listen to them and follow their word as if it were mine." The soldiers nod vigorously at Eula's words. Amber smiles and looks at them, greeting and waving her hand as soon as her name gets called.
"The reconnoiters will have the entirety of today at their disposal, one night and the morning after to finish their reconnaissance and return to camp; I'll remind you that beside the monsters, we need to localize anything that might be the source of abnormal energy drawing in the hilichurls. It is not in any way allowed to engage in combat with the enemy, any impromptu act of heroism will be strictly punished, as a transgression. I will now proceed with announcing the names of the knights chosen for this exploration." The captain reaches for a small sheet of paper and she reads the names of the seven knights she has chosen, as she then leaves to let the party finish eating in peace. Amber approaches her and they sit next to the campfire, a bit further away from the rest of the knights.
The outrider bounces on the spot with a bright smile.
"Happy?" Eula looks at her as the hint of a smile crosses her features; Amber's face doesn't show any trace of the tears from the evening prior.
"Yup! It's the first time I get my own team! And I know you're technically giving me your men, but you know, I never thought I'd get the opportunity to do outrider stuff with an entire group of people once more! Knowing there's other people like me exploring the mountain gets me like aaaaahhh!" Amber stands swiftly, her arms raised towards the sky. Eula sits observing, she blinks a few times and then laughs.
"Not only that, you're going to be captain."
Amber lowers her arms as she gazes at the clear sky.
"Thank you." The outrider flips her hair over her shoulders, facing front of her figure; she strokes it.
"Huh?" Eula sits still, gazing at Amber's back, her eyes following the barely visible lines of muscles under the fabric, she blushes as she lowers her stare.
"God damn it, Eula! What are you doing? This behavior is not befitting a lady!"
"I've noticed, you know?"
Eula flinches.
"Oh, fuck."
Amber turns to face her as Eula's cheeks redden even more.
"The knights you picked for reconnaissance, they all used to be outriders." Amber looks at the ground, her voice trembling if barely "some of them used to be my seniors when I was in training."
The outrider starts rubbing her thumbs together. "When the outriders took their separate ways I thought it'd be impossible to see them again and go on a mission once more, but now it's possible thanks to you. Thanks, Eula, you're the best!"
"Oh? Ah!" The captain clears her voice "I simply recalled some of my subordinates' specific areas of expertise, there's no reason to thank me for such a trivial reason."
"Calm and collected" the captain assured herself.
"That doesn't change the fact that you're the best!" Amber fixes her hair once more as she bends over, towards the other young woman. Eula's gaze falls on Amber's cleavage and on the shape of her breasts, covered by a white shirt. Eula's face burns up.
"Are you okay? Your face is flushed all of a sudden." Amber puts her hand on Eula's forehead, lightly caressing as she moves her bangs out of the way; she notices a small drop of sweat cross the Lawrence's reddened face. Eula swallows emptily as she averts her gaze.
"It's just the cold."
"Wow, didn't think Eula Lawrence could get fazed by the cold like this."
"I'm a human being too, you know."
Amber laughs.
"Yeah, you're right, sorry; there." Amber takes off her red jacket as she places it on Eula's shoulders.
"It's a bit small, I know, but at least it's better than nothing, isn't it?"
Eula observes Amber, she notices the toned arm muscles, as expected of an archer, right away, a sign of the many explorations in Mondstadt that the outrider partakes in daily. Her arms are also covered in many scars, some thinner and fairer and some thicker and more pronounced, some older wounds that would have brought any other knight to their knees. The outrider's tan doesn't look uniform, but Eula can still tell that even where Amber's skin is lighter it's still distinctly darker than hers, if their fingers were to cross they would have formed a pleasant contrast in tone.
"Yes, thank you."
Amber smiles as she walks a few steps further.
"Where are you going?"
"Going for a run, I've still got too much energy! I need to wear myself out a bit, otherwise I'll look like a fool in front of the other knights.""
Amber waves her hand; Eula waves back as she watches her leave, resting her head on her shoulder, on the red jacket. Amber's smell wrapped around her, it's relaxing to the point that every other feeling seems numb and almost disappears.
The morning after, Amber wears the thicker clothing she brought. Once the party is supposed to leave, Albedo and the outrider gather with the other seven knights and head towards the path, the alchemist taking the lead.
Amber chats with the other knights, recalling the time she spent training among the outriders.
Amber was thirteen when she enrolled in the aspiring Knight of Favonius training program. Grandpa had introduced her to the rest of the outriders, puffing his chest with pride, with a stray tear rolling down his cheek.
Amber had bonded with her seniors quickly, they were always present and ready to help her, but this did not seem to do anything but wear the young girl down.
"If I need to be helped that means I'm still not good enough, I need to train more!"
She woke up every morning at dawn with this thought, with the purpose of arriving before her seniors and train with her bow, while the night cold still permeated the morning air.
She kept on shooting arrow after arrow, until the evening, from every spot she could think of, until it became too dark to see the target. At that point, she would light a lamp, leave it next to her objective and pick her bow back up.
The older outriders admired this diligent side of her, even if Amber wound up destroying miscellaneous objects left unsupervised because of her aim, which still needed some work.
One day Nikola, the senior she had bonded the most with, had found her sleeping on the pit wall next to the training camp, surrounded by arrows that had fallen from the quiver strapped to her side.
Beside her, on the reddish ground, was a small metal container.
"Hey Amber, it's morning, wake up!" She shook her gently.
"Uh? Oh, Barbatos!" Amber started awake, looked around and realized Nikola was next to her. She went pale as she frantically rummaged through her pockets.
"Is this what you're looking for?" Nikola handed her the small metal container. Amber nodded and grasped it without a second thought, took a candy out and ate it, breathing with relief.
"Never seen someone be in so much hurry to eat candy." Her senior laughed as Amber blushed.
"It's just, I feel at ease when I eat them."
"Oh, got it, nervous because you're the only recruit?"
"More or less".
"I understand. There's nothing wrong with that, though maybe falling asleep out of exhaustion on the training camp isn't a good sign, you know?"
Amber blushed even more as she averted her gaze.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take up the camp space."
"Hey, don't worry about that, I'm worrying for your health, are you okay?"
Amber looked at Nikola again.
"Yup, but I'll feel even better when I'll be a true outrider!"
"Amber, there's no need to fall asleep on the training camp in the middle of January to become a true outrider, I never did that and I managed to pass my exam."
"But Niki, I want to be the best! So I can protect Grandpa when he'll need it!"
Niki stroked Amber's shoulder.
"Amber, if you compromise your health I don't think you'll ever be able to protect him."
The recruit stared at the ground.
"But I want to! I need to make him proud!"
Niki noticed the mud on Amber's cheeks, the scratches, dirt on the red bandana, her wrinkled clothing and the leaves in her hair.
"Right, you have the pressure of being the top-dog's granddaughter… What do you say if I help you with some extra training? At least I won't have to worry about finding you exhausted to death tomorrow."
Amber looked at Niki and beamed.
"You really would?"
"Oi, I'm your senior, am I not? Of course I'll help you!"
Amber threw herself towards Niki as she hugged her tight.
"Oi oi, alright, I love you too, but we need to fix you up, you can't come to the morning meeting looking like a boar just trampled you!"
Amber laughed; the two headed towards the outrider base.
It was merely a few month later that Zhiruo disappeared without a trace. The team disbanded, leaving Amber as the only outrider. She never got to go on a mission with the comrades she had gotten to know in her brief year of training.
Amber smiles bitterly, thinking of those memories that took place almost eight years prior.
She feels a hand on her shoulder and it shakes her from her brooding.
"Oi." Niki waves to her, she's older, she's at least in her thirties by now, but she kept the same happy-go-lucky smile that lives in Amber's memory.
"Hi Niki" Amber lights up.
"It's nice to see how our little Amber grew so much." The woman pretends to dry a stray tear, as if too emotional.
"I'm not little anymore" Amber giggled.
"You're right, on the contrary! You're my superior in this mission; when I saw you I was like, shook! If I could, I would have yelled: I trained that one! But I know the captain would have scolded me; sigh, I've ended up surrounded by people ten years my juniors with a better career than mine! Even if being the captain looks like a huge pain in the ass."
Amber laughs, followed by Niki.
"I'm happy to see you again."
"The feeling's mutual, how's it going?"
Amber stops to think for an instant, she remembers all of the missions spent by herself in the forest, all of the nights merely accompanied by the stars and the song of creatures. When she saw all of her comrades leave, one after the other; but at the same time she remembers how, since she's met Eula, that loneliness has partly dimmed.
"I'm fine, nothing to complain about."
"You didn't have anything to complain about even when you were a recruit."
"What about you? Any news?"
"Oh, I got news alright! I'm about to get married to my neighborhood's baker, he's also a beta and we fell in love while I was buying baguettes, I'll invite you to the wedding."
"OH MY GOSH I'M SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU!" Amber jumped happily, drawing the other's attention. Niki laughed.
"Thank you, I'm glad I'm still able to talk to you like this."
The outrider looks at her, puzzled.
"Why wouldn't you?"
"I was scared you hated me, you know, for leaving the team. I… I always wanted to apologize to you, Amber, I was the older one between us two, and yet I'm the one that abandoned you."
Amber smiles as she squeezes her old comrade's hand.
"It's okay, Niki, it wasn't easy for anyone."
"That doesn't change the fact that I'm sorry. If you ever need anything tell me, I can even give you discounts on bread if you'd like!"
"My mom would be a big fan of that."
"I'll let my future husband know."
They both start laughing.
"Anyway, Amber, any juicy gossip in the romantic department you might want to let me in on?"
"No baker husband to introduce you to, I'm afraid."
"Well, there might be a future wife captain of the Reconnaissance Company, for example." Niki winks, and Amber blushes.
"What makes you think that?"
"Hm, might be the fact that the Lawrence girl is only civil when talking to you? I didn't think she was even capable of smiling before seeing her with you, I think rumors are already spreading around the company."
Amber colors a bright red from her forehead to the base of her neck.
"Don't mind that, Eula is a human being, after all. You've only got to give her an occasion to open up, I'm not that special."
Niki laughs.
"If you say so."
Amber keeps staring at her, more and more embarassed.
"We're here." Albedo interrupts their chatting as he points to the entrance of his laboratory, inside a cavern.
The small party goes inside and the alchemist heads towards some shelves and takes a few maps, bringing them over.
"I've prepared some Dragonspine charts and I've marked the areas that I've elected might be where the most concentration of monster activity lies, but we will need to be there in person to check." He hands everyone their own map.
"I wrote some notes and advice tied to unique weather conditions on the mountain, regarding each individual area, so you shouldn't face any problems in your journey."
Amber turns her map, as she finds the paper forming its back covered in neat writing, divided in bullet point and orderly paragraphs. She tries reading them, furrowing her brows and focusing on the words; but they're elusive, some letters seem to appear either bigger or smaller than the ones they're closer to, she can't seem to distinguish where a word starts and another begins. She feels her eyes crossing more times than she can count, before she can even manage to read the first three words.
"Chief Alchemist, your notes are brief and precise as ever, I don't even feel the need to ask any questions at this point." One of the knights compliments him.
"There's no need for such praise, in a laboratory keeping one's notes tidy and to the point is essential for doing one's job well." Albedo waves his hand in the air, as if to dismiss the flattery received.
"I guessed so, but you know, I wish all of the reports from other knights were as organized as your notes are, Chief Alchemist."
Amber listens silently, sighing and smiling bitterly. She turns the map to look at the outline of the mountain, without even managing to read beyond the first line of notes.
"Now is not the time to let such silly things get you down!" The outrider puts her fists close to her chest, to give herself courage.
"Albedo, can I talk to you in private for a bit?" Amber approaches the alchemist; the two of them step a bit further away, far enough that the other knights can't hear them.
"Is there a problem, Amber?"
Amber rubs her thumbs together.
"Could you tell me what was written behind the map?"
"I'm sorry, is my handwriting not legible enough?"
Amber jerks her hands wildly in front of herself.
"No, no, it's not your fault." The outrider averts her gaze as she strokes her neck. "It's just, I have a hard time reading. If something is written too small for me to read it quickly and understand it I'd only slow the mission down if I keep obsessing over trying to read it myself at all costs, so that's why I'm asking for you to tell me what's written."
"Of course I can do that, but why didn't you ask one of the soldiers? Eula entrusted them to you, they're at your command for this mission."
"That's why I can't do that!" Amber's voice raises faintly in volume, echoing against the cavern walls. The outrider takes a deep breath before she goes back to speaking.
"They all used to be my seniors, but now I'm in charge of them. What would they think of their leader knowing she can barely read? They would think I'm a dumbass, that's what."
Albedo nods.
"Understood. On the back of the map, I briefly explain how the climate varies in each area of Dragonspine; the northern coast has the mildest climate, while on the contrary, the southern coast is continuously surrounded by freezing whips of wind that make certain survival abilities necessary. There are no peculiar winds to look out for in Starglow Cavern, but the temperature inside it and the suspended path make it not quite beginner friendly. The rest of the mountain maintains itself stable, if chilling; the real problem is the peak, which is not only steep but it's also where an everlasting blizzard runs amok for the whole year, making freezing very probable for anyone that tries to climb it."
Albedo points to each location one by one. Amber listen carefully, nodding occasionally.
"I got it, I think I already know who to send to each area. Thank you, Albedo." The outrider smiles.
"I didn't do anything monumental. Besides, Amber, you're not the first person with this kind of issue that I know, if we are ever to work alongside each other again, I will make sure to write so to make reading easier for you."
"Oh, no worries, there's no need, oral summaries like this are fine."
"We don't always get the chance to communicate verbally, so I'm asking what to do when writing right now, so that I can help you if that occasion comes."
Amber remains silent for a few instants.
"Oh, wow, sorry, it's just no one ever offered to help me by changing their handwriting before, so I never even thought of an answer." Amber started to think, rubbing her chin with her hand.
"Well, I'd say to write a bit bigger, maybe block letters, not as frilly, that should help. I usually struggle less with that."
"Understood, I'll keep in mind to put what you told me in practice." Albedo hints at a smile, and the two return to the knights.
Amber divides the knights in a professional manner, keeping in mind each of their own abilities.
"I will take it upon myself to explore the peak, it's better if I do it because of my Vision. It's the most difficult path, so I might take even more time than what the captain has given us. I expect you all to gather here tomorrow by early afternoon, and if I'm not back by then, the Chief Alchemist will escort you back to camp to report the results." Amber turns to Albedo. "I'm going to confide in you to be the one to let Eula know in my place if I am late to the meeting, tell her to focus on the monster camps the others might find first, and to only look for me only once the rest of the mountain is clear. We need to put the mission first and my Vision will let me survive for long, if there happened to be any accident. Of course, we hope not." The outrider chuckles; Albedo nods.
"Perfect, now let's stop wasting our time, otherwise the captain will rip our heads off, let's go!"
The reconnaissance mission starts, the knights and Amber splitting up, while Albedo stays in his base.
Amber begins her climb along the mountain's slopes, the path in her ascent becoming more and more impervious, whipped by winds that seem to freeze her from inside out. She can't keep herself from trembling and chattering her teeth as the storm gets in the way of her route. She observes her surroundings from behind her goggles that she usually keeps around her neck, the more height she reaches, the more signs of life around her become scarcer, as if the cold has become too much to bear for even the most stubborn of creatures.
During her climb, she runs into few monsters, mostly small hilichurls that surely don't pose a threat to the Reconnaissance Company.
After a few hours, Amber has to use her Vision to make her body's temperature rise.
Dusk arrives while she's halfway at the peak, and she decides to stop in a small cavern nearby. She gets her tent ready and lights a small campfire, covering it from the wind, she sits in front of it as she rubs her hands together.
Her breath condensates in small clouds of steam in front of her face, as the reflection coming from the flames dances on top of the goggles' lenses.
"I don't think I've ever been this cold in my entire life!" Amber takes a ration of dried meat and chews on it as she tries to keep her shivers at bay. Come an hour, a small bubble of heat has formed inside the cavern, enough that the outrider can stretch out her legs and relax without feeling her bones chilling.
Amber turns to look at the night sky.
"This time, I'm not the only one looking at this sky." She smiles.
She goes to sleep, the cold keeping her company for the entire night, never to disturb her dreams.
She wakes at dawn and continues to climb, the more she does and the more the cold becomes sharp, the air thinned out, forcing her to take frequent breaks to catch her breath despite her training.
Near the peak she ends upon an open space, she hides behind some rocks; a few hilichurls have gathered around a specific area. They all seem drawn in by a burgundy stain on the snow, where a lawachurl is sitting peacefully.
"Maybe that stain is the key to understanding why the monsters are drawing closer to Mondstadt!"
Amber takes a vial out of her backpack and gets closer silently. She studies the hilichurls in the camp and their disposition. She takes her bow and, after carefully checking the wind conditions, shoots two flaming arrows into one of the nearby pines, setting it on fire.
The hilichurls approach the fire, followed by the lawachurl. Amber takes advantage of the situation, as she swiftly gets closer and takes a sample of snow, stained with the unknown substance. She quickly gets back into her hiding spot before the monsters even realize she's there.
Behind the rock, Amber admires the mysterious matter from the glass and her gloves. It's viscous and it slides slowly along the glassy surface.
"How come it's not congealed?"
Amber puts the vial in her backpack, careful to position it as to make the possibility of it breaking the least feasible it can be. She smiles, satisfied.
"I just need to go back to the camp and I'm done." Amber gets ready and gets up, but she stops in her tracks the moment she hears a loud crash echoing against the mountain walls: an avalanche. The snow is too quick for her to get away.
Amber flattens with her back against a rock as she hugs her bag to protect it, the landslide hitting her and the monsters. Amber closes her eyes and plunges her face in the backpack's fabric, deafened by the noise of tons of snow on top of her.
When she opens her eyes, she can only see white around her. The rock shielded her from the impact, allowing for the formation of the small air sack where she resided. She sighs in relief, briefly, followed soon after by the knowledge that her head is under meters of snow and the air isn't going to last forever.
Note:
Ehehe, we've reached the sixth chapter, and I just realized that I never told you all about the changes to classic omegaverse tropes I made in this fic lol.
First off, the thing I wanted to specify is that female alphas have a penis, while male alphas have a vagina, as to explain how pregnancy can happen on a biological level (both of those cases mean the characters are intersex coded, bitches ehehe).
I'll let you find out the rest for yourselves as the fic goes on, how heat cycles work and how the alpha biting an omega works here ;)
Now go and follow my beta reader and translator u.u
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