The Inner Soul

I don't own GI.

Chapter II

Bennett didn't scream again, but this only fueled Kaeya to go faster as he deftly sprinted past trees, bushes, rocks, and whatever else was in his way. Images of young Bennett being gagged and tied popped up in his mind, simultaneously fueling his anger and making him sick to his stomach.

The teenager, despite all his bad luck, was so cheerful and nice, if anything happened to him-

Kaeya turned a corner and skidded to a stop when he saw Bennett.

Who was currently hanging upside down in a tree, both of his feet caught on the branch point right above him.

"Captain Kaeya! I really am lucky!" Bennett cried, his contemplative frown instantly turning into a wide smile as soon as he saw Kaeya, his hands waving ecstatically. Then that smile dropped a little. "Wait, I didn't disrupt your-"

Kaeya couldn't take it anymore. He fell down to his knees and hands and laughed, out of both pure relief and the honestly hilarious sight before him.

"Uh, Cap-"

"Kaeya, what-" he heard Diluc say behind him before a pair of rushing feet suddenly stopped. Any thought that Diluc might chastise him for laughing quickly died when Kaeya clearly heard his brother stifle a laugh.

"Is it really that funny?" Bennett asked incredulously and maybe a little hurt. Kaeya felt a bit bad about that, so he tried to pull himself together but it was taking longer than he would have liked.

Luckily, Diluc had greater control of his laughter.

"Sorry Bennett," Diluc apologized as Kaeya heard his brother walk past him and towards the young adventurer. "We thought that kidnapper had attacked you, so we were laughing out of relief, not at you."

"Oh, I see!" Kaeya, who had finally managed to stop laughing long enough to look up, saw that Bennett was wearing a relieved smile. "Don't worry, it wasn't the kidnapper that scared me, it was the crow!"

"Crow?" Kaeya asked right as he heard a loud bird cry. A small glance up showed him that there was indeed a crow up in the tree, with something shiny in its black beak. "Ah, I see. Well, what were you doing in the tree in the first place?"

"I was getting apples for a commission from Brooke in Springvale," Bennett explained as Diluc, who had reached the adventurer by this point, looked up and down, obviously figuring out the best way to get Bennet down.

"You came all the way to Brightcrown for apples?" Kaeya asked as he finally got to his feet, brushing the dirt and grass off his pants afterwards.

"Yeah, I couldn't find any until now," Bennett explained as he pointed to the apples hanging on the branches above him. Then he let his arms hang down in disappointment. "But I couldn't even get them."

"It's okay, we all have bad days," Diluc said as he grabbed Bennett, one arm around his torso and the other underneath Bennett's legs. "Alright, hang on."

With some careful but quick maneuvering, Diluc got Bennett out of the hold the tree had on him and set him down on the ground.

"There you go," Diluc said as he let go of the teenager. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so," Bennett said with a tilt of his head. Then he perked up when he saw that there was an apple at his feet. "Hey, I did get one! And it's not even bruised-ow!"

Bennett, who had reached down to grab the apple, suddenly winced when he put weight on his left foot.

"Bennett!" Kaeya cried in slight alarm as he quickly moved forward. Bennett in question instinctively put all of his weight on his right foot, which unfortunately made him start to lose his balance. Luckily, thanks to being a mere few feet away from Bennett, Diluc was able to easily reach out and catch him before Bennett could fall to the ground.

"Easy there," Diluc said as he held Bennett steady by holding onto his arms. "Looks like you did something to your foot."

"Let's put him down there," Kaeya said as he tilted his head to a couple of old, abandoned crates conveniently sitting by the tree. Diluc nodded before he bent over and picked up Bennett into the bridal hold. His brother then effortlessly carried Bennett over to the crates, where Kaeya got down on one knee and began to inspect Bennett's left foot, which thankfully wasn't bruised.

Not yet anyway.

"How bad is it?" Diluc asked behind him as Kaeya carefully turned Bennett's foot around. When Bennett didn't wince, Kaeya gently poked it.

"Did that hurt?" Kaeya asked.

"Not really," Bennett said with a shake of his head. Kaeya nodded as he gently continued his inspection before smiling.

"Well, today really is your lucky day Bennett," Kaeya said as he let go of Bennett's foot. "It looks like you just rolled it. Just stay off it for another minute or so and you'll be as good as new."

"Really? Well, that's a relief!" Bennett exclaimed happily. "And here I thought my pain tolerance just got higher!"

"Nope, not today," Kaeya assured him as he rubbed Bennett's head. When Bennett beamed as a result, Kaeya smiled. It was nice when Bennett didn't get injured for once. The unlucky boy could use more days like these.

"So how many apples did Brooke ask for, Bennett?" Diluc asked. "We can grab them for you while your foot recuperates."

"Um, you're sure? I can do it!" Bennett said, looking a little guilty. "I don't want to disrupt you two from whatever you were doing today."

"Oh, don't worry, it's no trouble at all. We were heading back to Mondstadt anyway," Kaeya assured him. "And while we're at it, we can even walk with you back to Springvale on our way. You know, to make sure the apples stay safe and secure from any hilichurls or treasure hoarders."

Even though he and Diluc hadn't decided to leave Brightcrown Canyon before they heard Bennett scream, that last part technically wasn't a lie. They weren't having any luck finding the kidnapper so they might as well make sure Bennett got back to Springvale safely. They could always go back to Brightcrown later. Or just search in another part of Mondstadt altogether.

Kaeya was sure Diluc would agree with him.

"Oh...alright then!" Bennett agreed happily. "Brooke wanted six apples, and I got one here, so-"

"Five more, understood," Diluc said with a nod before he started to climb the tree. "Kaeya, get under me so I can just drop the apples to you."

"Understood," Kaeya said as he got up and walked until he was exactly underneath his brother. In less than a minute, Diluc had picked five beautiful red apples off the branches and dropped them down to Kaeya, who caught them without a problem, despite only having two hands. As Kaeya looked down at the apples in his arms, he suddenly remembered how he and Diluc used to gather apples in this exact way when they were kids.

Kaeya smiled at the happy memories, glad that while a lot of things have changed since they were kids, some things haven't.

"Hey Bennett, do you have something to help carry these apples?" Kaeya asked as he walked back over to Bennett.

"Oh yeah! I brought a bag with me! Hold on," Bennett said excitedly, probably happy that he was able to contribute something to the commission he had accepted from Brooke. However, before he could go searching for said bag, Diluc said something.

"What are you holding?" Confused, Kaeya turned his head away from Bennett and looked back up to Diluc. His brother was still in the tree and was reaching a hand out to the crow, who was perched on a nearby branch.

"Diluc, what-"

"Gagh!" Without warning, Diluc flinched so violently that the hand holding onto a branch slipped off.

Kaeya's stomach dropped when Diluc started to fall. For a brief moment, Kaeya could only stare as a golden shine enveloped Diluc's body, which Kaeya automatically dismissed as just the glare from the sun or a similar trick of the sunlight.

"Master Diluc!" Bennett cried behind him, finally snapping Kaeya out of it.

"Diluc!" Kaeya cried as he instantly threw the apples down to the side and ran towards his falling brother. Before he knew it, he was back standing underneath his brother, who had yet to make another sound after his initial cry of pain.

"Don't worry! I got-" Kaeya cried as he held his arms and braced himself for a hard crash from catching his muscular brother.

Only for Diluc's body to inexplicably evaporate into many golden sparkles that danced in the air before they disappeared completely.

"You?"

Yeah...sorry not sorry.

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Until then, have a good day/night!