Grounded

2

Este crouches down, and lightly touches the stem.

The sweet flower is small, and it feels delicate in his hand.

Rubbing a leaf between his fingers, Este hums. The texture is slightly more rubber-like than the leaves on a Cecilia. Sweet flowers are common, and very useful, so Este is familiar with going out and picking some from the wild for his mother.

He pulls lightly, and the flower comes off the ground. The roots are easy to pull, and some part of him wonders at the plant life of this world.

His favorite food is definitely a Sweet Madame.

Este pulls himself up from the ground, and adds the flower to the basket. Eyeing the amount quickly tells him he already gathered over twenty, and he should be going home soon.

Este pulls his hands up into the air, and stretches. His slowly growing hair in a ponytail loosens and he turns around just in time to see his hair tie fly off in the wind.

He stares after it, and combs one hand through the shoulder length hair.

He really should be getting back to Mondstadt soon.

Reluctantly he turns to the road, and starts walking. It's only after a few minutes, when his eye catches sight of something purple does a sinking feeling appear in his stomach.

Closer inspection of the purple tells him it's a wolfhook berry. He pops it into his mouth and let's out a delighted sound when the taste bursts on his tongue. Bitter, like medicine, with a spicy undertone that is just to his tastes. Este like spicy stuff, especially Jueyun chilies, but wolfhook just has that special herbal taste to it.

Wolfhook is his favorite, but finding a wolfhook in the wild is usually bad news.

He is supposed to be in Springvale, more to the direction of the famous Dawn Winery. How the hell did he wander so close to Wolvendom?

Anyways he has to get out of here!

A close inspection of his surroundings tells him nothing. The ball of dread sinks to the pit of his stomach as cold shivers start to break out.

He rubs his arms absentmindedly.

He is lost isn't he?

"Okay don't panic Este, that only spells more trouble." He says to himself, and a reassuring warm brush of wind goes through his hair.

He doesn't have a map. He had relied on the surroundings and his memory of the map to get around. He doesn't even have compass.

Dread makes goosebumps rise on his arms. No amount of warm wind can make them stay down.

Este bites his lip, the panic is slowly rising. He can only hold on for so long, the body he has is still physically a child and honestly can't handle the amount of stress getting lost causes him.

His eyes burn, and tears start to leak out. His shoulders and hands tremble. Hiccups escape his lips, and Este can only forcibly keep them shut to prevent himself from outright sobbing.

He narrows his eyes and ducks his head. The sight of his trembling hands clenching around the basket handle make him shut his eyes as a light whiny whimper escapes his mouth.

"Woah!"

The sound snaps him out of his daze. His eyes spring open, and he turns around. He comes face to face with a boy, aged around nine years old or so.

"What are you doing here!" The boy demands in a curious tone, like a wannabe entitled little noble man. Este frowns, actually scratch that. Judging from the clothing the boy actually is a rich kid.

"I got lost..." Este quickly turns the puppy eyes to max. The boy clearly falters, the passionate expression with furrowed brows dropping for a moment. He shoots Este a curious look with his brows raised, and Este's response is to run closer to the boy.

"How can I get back to Mond?"

The boy shows him a baffled look.

"I thought you- Springvale is an hour journey from here, and Mond two hours! How did you wander so far?"

He though Este was a Springvale local? How cute, Este isn't your typical kid. He knows all the tricks in the book on how to avoid danger.

"No, I'm from Mond. I went to pick Sweet Flowers for mom, and I may have gotten distracted." He responds, his face slightly amused.

"That's a careless mom you got there, kid!"

Este got irked. Kid? The boy looks barely two years older than Este, he has no right to criticize his mom if his own parents allow him here.

"What about you big brother?"

The boy at first looks a little confused at the form of address, but seems to dismiss his thoughts before responding.

"Oh me? I'm training to be a knight, so I get special approval to go explore!" The boy shoots Este a proud grin, and his eyes twinkle. The adult in Este is screaming their head off at whoever let this kid out.

"You're allowed to explore all by yourself?"

The boy gains a bit of a sheepish look.
"Actually I usually have my brother with me. And I'm not supposed to be this close to Wolvendom..."

So Este caught him disobeying set rules. He gives the boy a look which the older avoids with guilty eyes. The boy shakes his head, and starts off talking again.

"Well, let's go to my home! It's actually closer than Springvale, you can get a map from my home and then get back to Mond."

Este nods, that seems reasonable.

Este starts following the boy, who keeps talking to Este. The topic wavers between his family, swords and the actually relevant info, like the most common hilichurl camping spots and how he usually avoids them.

Este listens with half an ear as he continues talking about how totally amazing his father is, and that his brother knew how to this and that. Este wasn't really interested in hearing about how this boys brother tied an especially cool looking knot.

When a building comes to sight, Este directs his attention to that. At first Este doesn't notice anything, but then... the realization hits.

Isn't this Dawn Winery???

"Father!" The boy next to him yells, and runs towards an older man near the entrance.

Este stands there, stunned, as slowly but surely the boy's young appearance starts to look all too familiar to him.

"Oh, Diluc, you've got a friend here, who is this young fella?" Crepus Ragnvidr crouches down, and offers a hand to Este.

The young boy who just told Este that he liked eating Valberries? This boy who fanboyed after his fathers so called 'passion'? The boy who had just asked what was Este's favorite flower?

Este fumbles, his hands gripping around the sweet flower basket.

"Ah! My name is Este!" He fumbles out, and glances at the short haired nine-year-old.

That boy Este just met is Diluc, isn't he?