Kaveh was still hovering, not that Alhaitham was surprised. It had only been a day since he had returned to work so some hovering was to be expected; no, the thing that was odd was the nature of it.
Usually by the time Alhaitham returned to work, Kaveh was less attentive, less present in a sense, and oftentimes antsy to get back to work in a greater capacity. Kaveh wasn't behaving like that. Alhaitham watched him, book lying open and temporarily forgotten on the table, as Kaveh quietly worked on some illustration. From what glimpses Alhaitham had managed around Kaveh's normal behavior of hiding it before Alhaitham could really see it, it didn't look like Kaveh's normal work. It had looked a bit too abstract, less focused, or perhaps too complex for a simple sheet of paper to hold, like Kaveh was trying to capture how the stars hung in three dimensional space in a two dimensional image. But despite Kaveh's appearance of working diligently away on his latest piece, Alhaitham knew better. Kaveh's gaze was focused on the in-between space rather than the page itself. Instead of precise, almost dance-like, long movements from Kaveh's arm, the movements were small, fleeting, and seemed to drift more than to dance. Even his expression - which could range from a scowl of frustration to a lax concentration - was blissful in a way Alhaitham had only ever seen on Kaveh's face once and he didn't care to see it for a second time.
Despite those oddities, Kaveh was as attentive as the man had been for the last three days. Even now, Kaveh's gaze lifted from his work and focused on Alhaitham as if he had felt Alhaitham watching him. Part of that blissful expression slipped into something more familiar, something Alhaitham had seen regularly during those three days. "Need something? A break, maybe?" Kaveh started putting down his materials, careful to make sure the project was covered from prying eyes, but Alhaitham didn't bother working out a response. Kaveh's gaze unfocused like the man was focusing on a thought for the brief instant that it took for Kaveh to stand; there would be no point in saying anything when Kaveh would feel the real answer anyway. "Yep. Breaktime. Come on." Kaveh came to a stop at Alhaitham's side and grinned at him. "Let's go take a walk and then you can come back to your reading. We'll see about getting some food into both of us while we're out."
The idea of eating anything sent a curl of disgust through him. He wasn't hungry despite knowing he was supposed to be if not outright starving. It had certainly been long enough since the measly amount he had managed to consume earlier in the day to not be.
Kaveh's expression softened; he was grateful it held no pity. "I know but you have to at least have something small. We'll try your go-tos and work from there." Kaveh's hand closed around Alhaitham's upper arm and he automatically reached up to grab ahold of Kaveh's forearm. Kaveh wasn't strong enough to pull him bodily from the chair but the tug was enough for Alhaitham to move under his own power. "If all else fails, I did bring a few crackers so you can have those and some water when we get back. And juice, if you can manage it. Get some other nutrients in you as best we can."
Appreciation was thick in his chest as Kaveh reseated Alhaitham's headphones back into place, even going as far as to make sure the noise canceling was active before the lift had even arrived. Had the remnants of the illness he had suffered through not been present, he would have found this attentiveness irritating. Kaveh led the way at Alhaitham's side filling the space between them with words. It was clear Kaveh had no expectation of Alhaitham's participation but Alhaitham did what he could to be attentive of the other's words.
It quickly became apparent that he was incapable of tracking anything Kaveh said. Moments would slip through his fingers and he would find himself suddenly aware of Kaveh's words and the world around them like he had just woken from a dream. Kaveh was always in his line of sight whenever he came back to awareness with a patient cheerful expression and oftentimes something being offered. Most of it was food that Alhaitham turned down but there were the occasional trinkets, a number of which were shown without intent to buy, a rarity with Kaveh. It wasn't often they walked the market and Kaveh wasn't relying on Alhaitham to not let the other man buy every trinket that caught his interest.
When had his head gotten so foggy?
"How about this?" Coming back into awareness at Kaveh's question, the blended smell of fresh bread, a mix of spices, and vegetables was the first thing he was able to focus on. It took a moment before he was able to actually understand what he was looking at even as his hand was already closing around the filled bun. He wasn't sure why he took it. It wasn't like his appetite had returned. But maybe a part of him knew he needed food and the filled buns had always been a safe option.
He recoiled from the texture first and the taste second. Kaveh's hand was under his in an instant, slipping the filled bun free of his grasp and quickly replacing it with a bottle of water. "Drink," Kaveh directed, his voice still that same carefree sort of tone it had been in all day.
Alhaitham took a long drink before returning the bottle to Kaveh. "I can eat it," he said, his gaze on Kaveh's face.
Amusement bloomed across Kaveh's face and the man smiled at him. "You could," Kaveh agreed, lifting the bun to take a bite, "but I'd rather you have something that you want rather than the first thing I hand you."
That wasn't exactly right. Kaveh had handed Alhaitham plenty of food throughout however long their walk had been. This was simply the first he had taken. "Kaveh," he started but they both knew he didn't have the words to follow it.
Kaveh offered him that smile again, the bun already half gone. "Come on. We've got two more stalls to check out on this street."
In the end, it was the least expected item that had drawn Alhaitham's appetite out and the pair of them returned to the sanctuary of the Grand Sage's office with several skewers of barbecued meat and icy drinks. Alhaitham started for one of the small side tables but Kaveh had other plans and promptly walked towards the balcony with the plate of skewers. Alhaitham - now ravenous - followed after as irritation pulled at his chest. "Kaveh," he started but Kaveh waved him off as the other man opened the balcony door with his elbow and back out onto the balcony itself.
"We've been in the stuffy office all day. Let's at least eat out here. Look. There's even some nice seating here."
Sure enough, the blanket and cushions Kaveh had put out there the day prior were still there ready to be utilized. Alhaitham had somehow managed to forget all about them and stood just past the threshold holding their drinks as he watched Kaveh settle in the middle of the cushions, shoes tucked neatly at the edge of the blanket. Kaveh reached for the drinks as soon as the plate of skewers was safely placed on the low table and Alhaitham handed the drinks over without much thought.
The blanket was cool against his bare feet as he joined Kaveh. Habit had him sitting straight with one leg tucked tight forcing the other to be propped higher than the other. It kept him sitting upright as Kaveh passed him a still steaming skewer. The meat on it was gone before Kaveh had finished his first bite.
Kaveh filled the silence with soft chatter between mouthfuls. Alhaitham contributed very little and settled into the cushions once he was sated. Despite the voracious appetite that had seized him, Alhaitham had managed half of what he would normally have consumed. Kaveh didn't comment on it, coaxing instead for Alhaitham to at least finish his drink before he took the unintended nap he was heading for.
He wasn't sure he had managed to drink all of it before falling asleep.
What he did know was that a lot of time had passed by the time he had woken up. The balcony had been warm and well lit but was now dark and while he was warm thanks to whatever Kaveh had draped over him, the air on his face was cool. He sat up, letting whatever covered him slide to gather on his lap, and found Kaveh as soon as he started looking around.
The sky beyond the balcony was speckled in stars. The only reason Alhaitham was able to see anything was the light from the door and the two lanterns mounted on the wall. Even then Kaveh's face was cast in thick shadows as it was pointed up towards the stars, oblivious to the rest of the world. The other man's back was bare of its normal split cape. That particular item was now gathered in Alhaitham's lap along with his own cape piece.
Alhaitham stood. The fog he had dealt with during their walk was gone. He refused to acknowledge just how severely he had needed food and a nap as he walked over to Kaveh's side. The railing was still warm as he leaned back against it, letting his forearms take his weight as Kaveh took his gaze. Even then Kaveh didn't react to him. Kaveh's eyes were locked on the stars without really seeing them and that blissful look was back on his face. A thin string of unease pulled taut through Alhaitham's chest. "Something interesting got your attention?" he asked, half expecting to be ignored.
"They're so free up there."
The unease was masked by curiosity and intrigued but not wholly forgotten. "Oh? And who are they?"
Kaveh shrugged, a half formed gesture that could have been a simple shift of weight had Alhaitham not known better. "Another otherworlder, kind of like the Traveller."
Alhaitham turned his gaze to the stars knowing he wouldn't be able to see whatever held Kaveh's attention. Kaveh had connected to this otherworlder on a level Alhaitham couldn't even fathom. Being an Empath was rare among Sumeru's populations - possibly all across Teyvat if his research was anything to go by - and Kaveh was proving once again that he was not on the same level as other Empaths. The part that concerned Alhaitham about it all, though, was how connected Kaveh had become to some otherworlder who hadn't even touched Teyvat soil. The last time Alhaitham had witnessed Kaveh get so entangled with another, it had ended poorly and he had foolishly believed - or naively hoped - that the first time had been the only time Kaveh would ever suffer through such an entanglement.
"Are they coming to visit?" Alhaitham asked, turning enough for his body to face Kaveh.
Kaveh's bliss slipped at the edges as he thought. "They're curious but they have somewhere else they wish to be." That bliss came back full force and Kaveh leaned into the railing with enough weight that Alhaitham instinctively straightened, unconsciously - irrationally - thinking Kaveh would put too much of his weight over the railing. "They are going to fly by! They'll be close enough to see!"
With a hand still hovering over Kaveh's arm, Alhaitham looked up, eager in a way he would never verbalize to see even just a glimpse of whatever had enthralled Kaveh. The seconds turned into minutes and although time seemed to stretch on longer than it really needed to, Alhaitham didn't say anything. He moved about, obviously, into something more comfortable when it became apparent the otherworlder wasn't as close as he had originally assumed but he never broke the silence. Neither did Kaveh, still leaning heavily on the railing, gaze still locked on the night sky above.
Kaveh spotted them first. "There!" he exclaimed, this time leaning so far over the railing he teetered on the edge of falling. The back of Alhaitham's fingers ran against Kaveh's spine as he took hold of the other's shirt collar through the opening in the back. He yanked hard enough to bring the man's weight back onto the balcony but did nothing more as his gaze searched the portion of sky Kaveh was pointing at.
For a breath, Alhaitham thought he wouldn't be able to make the otherworlder out, only for something he had assumed was nothing more than another twinkling star to get larger in the sky. Alhaitham vaguely noted the rail pressing into his gut as he watched that star slowly grow in size until it was nearly as large as Alhaitham's hand spread wide. It slowly started to dip down in the sky, like it was coming to land not far from Sumeru City, before a tail started to appear and it banked to the right. It flew across the sky in a brilliant streak of light, golds and blues most prominent of colors in the trail left behind. For a long minute it continued its horizontal trajectory before banking steadily south with a lazy arch skyward.
Alhaitham withdrew from the rail with a fond smile on his lips. Kaveh was still enthusiastically waving to the otherworlder even if the otherworlder couldn't see it and Alhaitham was content to let him wave to his heart's content.
Something on the far hill the otherworlder was rounding caught his eye. Just as his gaze settled on the hillside in confusion, a beam of light flashed into existence anchored to the point on the hill and continuing on into the night sky, a beam of light that cut right through the cluster of light that was the otherworlder.
A wretched, guttural, fear- and pain-filled scream tore itself from Kaveh as Alhaitham watched the otherworlder's trajectory drop dangerously. The beam of light had been brief, like a lightning strike, and had burned itself across his vision. It made the details of the balcony hard to discern but he could see Kaveh enough to watch as the man finally tipped over the railing.
Alhaitham wrapped one arm around Kaveh's waist as the other hooked around the front of Kaveh's shoulder. He pulled Kaveh back, pinning the man to his chest even as Kaveh thrashed against him, desperate and panicked. "Kaveh," he grunted, struggling to maintain his hold on Kaveh. "Calm down. We've gotta-"
A second beam of light shot into the sky, this time from a different location and far less blinding yet still very visible against the night sky. The otherworlder hadn't yet managed to regain any of the altitude they had lost but they had made distance. Already they were nearly the size of any other star in the sky and the beam of light seemed as thin as spider silk. There was an interruption in the otherworlder's path but they were too far away for Alhaithan to tell if the second beam had made contact.
"Go! Keep going!"
If Kaveh's shouting was anything to go by, the otherwordler had managed to dodge that one.
"You can do it! Just get high enough! Come on! Get higher!"
Alhaitham lost track of the otherworlder as the distance between them grew too great. If he had to guess, the otherworlder had to be near Aaru Village at that point.
"Come on! One last burst! You can do it!"
Kaveh was trembling. He had probably been trembling since the moment Alhaitham had pulled him back from the rail but it was only as he turned his gaze from the sky that he noticed. Without thinking, he shifted his hold to check Kaveh over for injury, hands pressing against Kaveh's sides, back, chest, but nothing broke Kaveh's gaze. Nothing gained him so much as a hiss of pain or a flinch, not even when he pressed a spot that he knew was ticklish.
Irrational or not, he was immensely grateful the Empath ability was only of the mind and not shared by the body as well.
"Yes! Just a bit more and you'll- NO!"
Kaveh lurched forward, breaking what measly hold Alhaitham had of him and slammed into the railing. The railing created the brief second Alhaitham needed to wrap his arms around Kaveh again and yank the fervent man back from sure death. Tears were streaming down Kaveh's face, a sheen of sweat covering what exposed skin Alhaitham could see as Kaveh seemed unable to stand anymore. The trembling had turned into tremors yet Kaveh's gaze never wavered. Alhaitham sank to his knees as carefully as he could with Kaveh pinned to his front.
Kaveh's breath shuddered. "No, you have to- I know it hurts. It hurts so much." An ache settled in Alhaitham's chest. He had thought he had heard Kaveh speak in every way possible but this… "But you have to get higher. You have to get out of here. Come on. Just a bit more strength and you'll…" For a moment those heartbroken words stilted to a stop. Alhaitham - foolishly - thought that was it; the otherworlder had pulled their strength together and was going home; but then Kaveh tensed against him. "No. No, don't pass out," Kaveh urged, frantic in a way his body seemed unable to replicate. "You have to get away. You have to- No! They're there! Don't fall asl- No, they're right- NO!"
Kaveh lurched forward as if he could reach the otherworlder but Alhaitham moved with him, his arms tightening around Kaveh's chest. Panic seized his chest when Kaveh's dead weight nearly threw both of them to the floor. With a quick weight shift, he managed to drag Kaveh's body around enough to get the other laying against him. That panic flared into terror at the thought of Kaveh keeling over dead from whatever connection he shared with the otherworlder flickered briefly into existence but the tremors were still going strong and Alhaitham could feel Kaveh's chest rise and fall from where his hand was splayed on the other's chest.
"Alhaitham?"
He looked up, startled by a voice he hadn't heard in quite some time. There, standing on the railing as if she had floated down from the stars themselves, was the Dendro Archon. She hadn't changed; she was still wearing that small dress of green and white on her small form with nothing on her feet. In contrast, the person who stood on the railing beside her Alhaitham only half recognized. The stranger was dressed in predominantly blues and black and had a wide brimmed hat from which a pair of ribbons hung from the back rim. He was certain he had seen them before but his mind refused to hand over a name.
He turned his attention back to the Dendro Archon. "Lesser Lord Kusanali." The words scratched at his throat and fell heavily from his tongue. Five different questions tangled into a knot deeper down, choking off anything else he might have said. He flexed his jaw as anger churned through him. No, he refused to do this now. He had questions and at minimum he had to know why she was there.
"Oh no." She hopped down from the railing, her eyes on Kaveh and a sad expression settling into place. The Dendro Archon settled on the ground at their side as she placed one of her hands on Kaveh's arm. "I had hoped he hadn't been bound so tightly when I had heard his screams." She shifted back on her ankles, looking to her companion. "Wanderer, will you please take Kaveh to the Sanctuary for me and then send word for Tighnari in Gandharva Ville."
Unfortunately, the name didn't sound familiar.
The stranger huffed but stepped off the railing with an odd amount more grace than the Dendro Archon had. "Fine. But don't expect to get anything other than an earful from that Forest Ranger when he chews you out for not taking him to any of the doctors here."
Wanderer bent down to pick Kaveh up but paused when Alhaitham's arms tightened. It had been instinct, he wanted to snap but the words wouldn't come forth. Instead, he met the stranger's incredulous gaze with a flat one of his own, daring them to do something about it even as he fought to relax his hold.
The Dendro Archon's small hand settled against one of his arms. "It will be alright, Alhaitham. Wanderer won't cause him any more harm. He will be well protected and well cared for in the Sanctuary."
Alhaitham gritted his teeth, his grip flexing before finally going lax. Wanderer's arms slipped under Kaveh, rubbing against Alhaitham's chest and legs in turn. He expected the contact to be rough but the stranger's movement was fluid and careful, even going as far as to make sure Kaveh was well situated before standing. A small fraction of his worry eased. "I'll be back," the stranger said before hopping up onto the railing. A burst of anemo energy churned the air on the balcony as the stranger stepped off and disappeared from sight.
"Do you know what happened?" the Dendro Archon asked.
Alhaitham shook his head. There was a weight on the back of his tongue, almost as if the words had physical form he had to talk around, and all he managed was a garbled, "Can guess," out of the complete sentence he had wanted to say. He tried clearing his throat but that only made his throat feel more raw. "I…We saw…parts of it…from here."
He clenched his jaw even as he sucked in a breath to try and calm down. To his relief, the Dendro Archon didn't react to his stagnant speech.
"The first attack?"
He nodded. "And the second," Alhaitham said. There was a tightness to his throat but talking was getting easier. "After that…I only had how…Kaveh reacted to go off of." Another shuddering breath and slowly words were easier to say. "Kaveh had talked as if the otherworlder could hear him. He tried to convince them to leave while they still could but it…the third attack hit. Kaveh's trembling had turned to tremors from it and the way Kaveh talked…" That ache returned, heavy and thick at the memory, stagnating his breath for a moment. "The rest of his words were too broken for a clear picture but I believe there was either a fourth attack or the otherworlder fell unconscious and into the awaiting arms of their attacker. He passed out with the last one, regardless."
The Dendro Archon nodded her head. "From what little more I could see, it was the former, though that does not exclude the latter completely. However, it does create a problem. We can hope that they have landed far from the reach of those who were attacking them but if they truly landed in their arms…"
"We're out of time."
She nodded again. "I will send Wanderer with you but I suggest you take others with you. Not very many more, though. Too many and you risk being slowed down."
"You're sending me after them?"
Those large, not quite human green eyes focused on him curiously. "You know what is at stake if we take too long and I doubt we have time to fill many more in." The Dendro Archon stood and brushed off her skirt as if it was dirty. "I will stay with Kaveh and make sure he is ok. On the off chance something goes wrong or if I find more information, I will do my best to let you know as soon as possible. I have never tried to communicate across that far of a distance before but in theory I should be able to reach Wanderer."
Alhaitham frowned. "Reach?"
She held out her hands to him. "There are a few people who I can talk with, mmmm… telepathically, I guess you could call it." When he didn't react to her reach, she bent down and took hold of his hand. "Wanderer is one of them, though not by design." Oh. She was trying to help him stand. He tucked his legs under and stood without putting his weight on her. "I can speak with the Traveler in the same manner, though that is due to everything that has happened. I will try reaching out to the Traveler as well but I have no idea if the connection is strong enough. It seemed improper to continue such ways of communicating while the Traveler wasn't within the city, let alone Sumeru itself so I fear I won't be able to bring the Traveler to your aid."
"But if anything changes…"
"I'll let you know through Wanderer."
"Are my ears burning or are you two actually talking about me?"
Wanderer landed on the railing again. For a brief moment, Alhaitham caught sight of Wanderer's hat as a halo of anemo energy before returning to its natural state. The Dendro Archon took a few steps towards Wanderer, answering, "I was letting Alhaitham know that you will be joining him to go find our guest."
Wanderer raised an eyebrow at her as he crossed his arms. "Does it have to be me?"
The movement fluttered long strips of fabric hanging from the back of Wanderer's outfit, strips of fabric that suddenly reminded Alhaitham of something similar. Alhaitham gathered up Kaveh's split cape and his own.
"Yes. I want to make sure Alhaitham and those he chooses to go with him have another powerful Vision bearer at their side. Not to mention your talents will make finding our guest that much easier. Even with Alhaitham's talents, you are able to get higher than Alhaitham is which will lend itself to tracking our guest or any of their pursuers." The Dendro Archon was the size of a child and very much looked like one with her hands clasped behind her back and smiling gently up at an unamused Wanderer. "You can think of it as a task for me, if that helps."
Wanderer scoffed. After a breath, Wanderer replied with a crisp, "Fine, let's get this over with."
The Dendro Archon looked to Alhaitham. "You will ask others to help you, won't you?"
"It won't be just the two of us," he assured her, handing Kaveh's split cape to the Dendro Archon. "Keep an eye on him for me."
She offered him a rather sad sort of smile. "Do your best to return with little injury, as well."
It went unspoken how bad it would be if Alhaitham never returned.
Alhaitham was unsurprised to see Cyno standing at the bridge to Aaru Village when he and Wanderer arrived. What did surprise him was who was standing next to him.
"I would have expected your duties with Aaru Village would have kept you from helping," Alhaitham said.
Amusement flickered across Candace's face. "That explains why I heard about this from Cyno. No, I made arrangements for Aaru Village in my absence after Cyno arrived last night asking about the shooting star. I saw where it fell and assumed it was best to simply join the expedition rather than give you a crude map, especially when he was unable to tell me who all was involved."
Cyno shifted his weight as he spoke up. "I expect we will find Fatui at the heart of all this. Their activity has been unusually high in the areas where those beams of lights came from." Cyno nodded towards Wanderer. "And if he is the only other person you've managed to get to join us, I would strongly suggest accepting Candace's offer and have her join us as well."
"I will not stop her from joining us if that is her choice. Has there been any evidence any of the Harbingers have been present?"
Wanderer snorted behind him as Cyno shook his head. "Not in the areas I've checked but that doesn't mean we won't find them where the otherworlder fell."
"You'll most definitely find one there. This was far too organized to just be some underlings doing their dirty work," Wanderer put in, sounding a bit too pleased by that fact. Wanderer turned his gaze onto Alhaitham, a flat look crossing Wanderer's face. "We don't have time to stand around for pleasantries. Talk while we walk or I'm going on ahead."
Alhaitham looked to Candace. "Lead the way."
The trek from Aaru Village dagged and disappeared in equal parts. Once Candace announced they were reaching the area where the otherworlder had landed, they had nearly made it to the border of Sumeru. They walked parallel to the southern border scouring the sands for any sign of the otherworlder and Fatui activity. Wanderer went from walking among the group to using anemo energy to get as high as he could before gliding along their walking path, searching the dunes for any sign they were in the right area.
Wanderer caught sight of the crater at the same time Cyno caught sight of the Fatui. "Wait," Cyno called out. Candace and Alhaitham stopped immediately. Candace stiffened on the edge of Alhaitham's vision; she had spotted them before he had.
"The one we're looking for crash landed a good few miles to the south," Wanderer said as he landed in the middle of the group. "Doesn't look like it matters, though. Those Fatui have left a nice line in the sand leading right to the crash site."
"Is anyone able to make out the otherworlder?" Alhaitham asked, squinting in the direction of the tiny dark shapes off in the distance. The sand under his foot shifted and he found himself sinking knee deep into the dune. "Curses," he muttered as he pulled himself free. "There's sand in my shoes."
Wanderer must have heard him because when he looked up as Cyno started talking, Wanderer was looking at Alhaitham with an incredulous look.
"Not yet but it'll be dark soon. I say we tail them until they camp or, if they keep going, we use the darkness to our advantage and strike them as they move."
Candace nodded in agreement. "We'll only attack once we've got eyes on the otherworlder." She looked to Wanderer. "You will be the fastest out of all of us so it would be best if you are the one to take the otherworlder and run. Cyno and Alhaitham can hold their attention and I will make sure you have cover."
Wanderer turned his incredulous look onto Candace. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean, the Dendro Archon did vouch for my strength and it's not like going up against some Fatui underlings is anything new to me."
"Then you will be able to protect the otherworlder on the off chance any get past me." Candace looked to Alhaitham and Cyno. "Any objections?"
Alhaitham shook his head. Cyno voiced, "We'll adapt as we need to. We still don't know if they have any of the Harbingers with them."
The Fatui didn't stop to camp until the sun had long since disappeared below the horizon, a horizon that was only discernible due to the moonlight on the dunes. To Alhaitham's surprise, Wanderer didn't say anything about the plan again, not even as they moved to one side of the Fatui camp and Candace and Cyno went to the other.
"I see them," Wanderer muttered suddenly. At a glance from Alhaitham, Wanderer pointed towards the back of the elongated Fatui camp, towards the darker reaches of the camp itself.
Alhaitham wasn't sure how he hadn't spotted them before. The otherworlder practically glowed in the moonlight, a mane of hair that looked nearly white spilling over the edges of whatever they were laid out on. The sheet that covered them looked dull in comparison.
Wanderer shifted in his peripheral, drawing Alhaitham's gaze again. "Still no sign of any of the Harbingers." A deep frown pulled across Wanderer's face, barely visible in the shadow of his hat while his eyes seemed to glow as he met Alhaitham's gaze. "The shorter the interaction we have with these Fatui, the better."
Alhaitham was all for making this as short as possible.
He rushed into the air over the camp with a pull of dendro energy. He took half a second to note Cyno and Candace dashing in, illuminated by bursts of electro and hydro energy respectively, before plunging to the camp below. Immediately, dendro energy condensed and the chisel-light mirror already hovering behind and over his left shoulder gained a second as blade shaped dendro projections slammed into the ground, catching two Fatui by surprise and alerting the rest to his presence.
He directed the two chisel-light mirrors around to his front and spat, "Diffract," as he sent them over the area before him. A small area was contained in dendro including a number of Fatui before reflecting dendro energy within for the few seconds it existed.
He hated the sensation of being nearly depleted of dendro energy.
With the burst spent, Alhaitham darted around and tagged as many of the Fatui as he could with dendro so that Candace and Cyno could cause more damage. Dendro cores started littering the camp Candace's wake and Cyno's electro attacks were sending them as sprawling shots into the Fatui.
A burst of anemo illuminated the darker reaches of the camp for a few precious seconds. Alhaitham's gaze snapped to the area as smaller instances of anemo followed rapidly after. With a final swipe at the Fatui closest to him, he darted forward, tailing Candace as she converged on Wanderer's location.
Wanderer gave one last vicious slash of anemo before Candace intercepted his assailants. Alhaitham rushed the Fatui at Wanderer's back. Cyno seemed to come out of nowhere and overwhelmed the Fatui in his place, allowing Alhaitham the chance to make sure Wanderer had the otherworlder and a clear path out.
Alhaitham wasn't sure what it was that had tipped him off - maybe it was Candace's gaze locking onto something over his shoulder or maybe he picked up on the person's presence without realizing it - but he lacked the dendro energy to rush out of harm's way like he instinctively wanted to. Pain ripped through his right side and it was all he could do to not stagger to his knees as the pain stole the strength from his right leg. He grabbed at the injury and was unsurprised when his hand pressed against wet fabric and raw skin. His stomach dropped out as he realized his hand would do little to stifle the bleeding. Something had torn open his side deep enough that just putting pressure on it was going to do absolutely nothing if he kept fighting.
"Fascinating." He dragged a foot in the sand as he turned to face his assailant, watching as the new arrival twirled some sort of bladed weapon in their gloved hand. The blade glistened red. "I didn't anticipate you moving so quickly without the use of dendro energy." The blade snapped still. "I wonder if you can dodge this one, though?"
The new arrival gestured over their shoulder with the blade.
Alhaitham barely had half a second to even see the circle of bright light before a very familiar beam appeared. It was brief yet the camp went unnaturally dark when it vanished. Alhaitham staggered from attempting to dodge but he knew he hadn't been fast enough on his own. The left side of his face felt like it had been burned and his left shoulder was uncomfortably hot even under the several layers that covered it. With a significant portion of his vision obscured by the afterimage, he barely made out the electro energy being expended as Candace came to his side.
She yanked on his arm towards the direction Wanderer had gone, shouting, "Go! Run!" before throwing herself into the fray to aid Cyno.
A part of him fought the notion of leaving the two of them behind. Logically he knew he couldn't fight anymore but Cyno and Candace were no match for the new arrival. Not with whatever weapon had been fired at him. Even a glance towards the beam's trail proved just how destructive that beam of light was. Anything that had been in the beam's path bore a hole with scorched edges. The dunes beyond the camp had sections sagging and resettling, swaths of glass looking as if they were glittering as the sand shifted around them.
Had Cyno been any later, Alhaitham was certain he would have been killed.
Running was a challenge. While adrenaline had numbed his side, it numbed his legs too. He forced his legs through the motions but it felt like he was struggling through muck, seeming unable to run as fast as he normally would have been. As soon as he had enough dendro energy, he rushed into the air and glided towards the teal blip on the dune ridge that had to be Wanderer. His feet touched sand far too soon but it didn't matter. He had to keep moving.
It wasn't until he was nearly on top of them did he realize Wanderer had been followed by two Fatui.
Alhaitham slashed at one before catching the other with a dendro projection, drawing both of their attention to him. It wasn't until he nearly got hit in the face by one of their attacks that he realized the dark spots in his vision weren't the afterimage. Even if he suddenly had enough dendro energy for a rush, he knew it wouldn't be enough to take care of the two in front of him.
Anemo energy overtook one of the Fatui before Alhaitham saw Wanderer land heavily in the sand, his hat returning to its original state. Taking Alhaitham's place, Wanderer unleashed a burst of anemo energy that knocked one Fatui off their feet and made the other one stagger. Wanderer shoved at him. "Go take care of the otherworlder." A vicious grin crossed Wanderer's face. "I'll deal with them."
Despite how rapidly Wanderer had appeared, the otherworlder had been carefully placed into the warm sand, situated so that they were propped more as if they were sitting into the leeward side. Wanderer had taken pains to wrap the otherworlder snuggly in the sheet that had been draped over them as well as a second similar piece of fabric. Alhaitham wouldn't be able to carry the otherworlder as Wanderer had been. He tugged at the wrappings to free the otherworlder's limbs, leaving behind handprints and streaks of crimson in his wake. His hands shook as he buried his right knee in the sand and tugged at the otherworlder. Their deadweight was surprisingly less than he had expected, being enough pressure on his back for him to know they were still there but light enough that he didn't actually feel encumbered. Or maybe that was the adrenaline. He hefted them higher on his back as he stood, his arms hooking under their knees to keep them in place.
A beam - larger this time than the one that had been aimed at him - obliterated a clear line through the dunes. For half a second, there was a gaping hole through several dunes and even from where he stood he could tell the beam had bore through the cliffs in the distance. Then gravity took hold of the free hanging sand and pulled.
The sand under his left foot gave way.
A massive portion of the dune was missing. Glass glistened on the edges of the damage and clearly marked where sand stopped and stone began. Be it by design or pure chance, the beam had cut through the dune grazing the top of bedrock. Only, instead of leaving a scrape of barren hard earth, the beam had revealed a cavity in the bedrock with a depth Alhaitham didn't have time to guess at. The entirety of the dune was collapsing around Alhaitham and he was going down with it.
He pulled the otherworlder to his front and threw open his glider.
Even braced for the brief lurch in movement his vision blackened dangerously as he drifted towards the gaping hole beneath. There was very little he could do to get his vision back without simply waiting. It cleared enough for him to make out a light off towards his left, back in the direction of the Fatui camp.
Searing heat erupted across his upper back as an all too familiar lurch made his stomach drop out. He managed to open one eye enough to see a smudge of white and blue and teal quickly filling his vision before he succumbed to the pain and passed out.
