Through Thick and Thin- Diluc x (female) Reader

Chapter 18: A Bad Feeling

With the mushroom pizza and Bennett's note in my basket, I waited for Diluc at the fountain. As I waited for him expectantly, I began to feel that bad feeling again. I had been waiting for a little while...
Those feelings disappeared when I saw him walking towards me, waving slightly. "I'm sorry I'm late," he said, smiling apologetically. "I had a bit of business I needed to take care of at the tavern before we left."
I nodded, smiling happily. "It's no worries," I forgot all about that dreadful feeling, my heart skipping a beat. "If it's okay, I'm delivering a note for someone, they should be just outside Wolvndom."
He raised a brow. "Who?"
"Ah," I said, taking the note out of the basket. "Someone named Bennet asked me to bring this note to a 'Razor'. Cant say I know them," I shrugged.
"Well, alright," he said. "It doesn't bother me."
"Okay!" I put the note back in the basket and began walking alongside him towards the gate. "He said Razor should be waiting just outside Wolvndom."
"Razor..." Diluc said, putting a finger to his chin. "That name sounds familiar..."
"I'm sure you can put a face to the name once we see him," I said, smiling.
Diluc nodded, and then offered his arm to me. "I'm sure I will."
I couldn't help but flush at his offer. Carefully, I slipped my hand under his arm, holding it as we walked. "I'm glad you wanted to go on a picnic again," I said.
"I'm glad you're willing to take me."

I glanced down at the basket as we approached the entrance to Wolvndom. Reluctantly, I let go of Dilucs arm to grab the letter from Bennet.
When we approached the forest I looked around, seeing no one. "Strange, Bennet said he'd be waiting right here..."
"Hmm..." Diluc said in thought. "Try calling for him, maybe he's nearby."
I nodded before calling out. "Razor! I have a note for you! From Bennet!" Holding the note in my hand, I waited for a reply. "He couldn't come so we are giving it to you for him!" I tried to explain.
"Odd..." Diluc said, scanning the area. "Maybe Bennet got the wrong place? Or day?"
"Hold on," I said, my ears perking. The twitched as they picked up the small noises, ones Diluc couldn't hear with his ears. While I was occasionally made fun of for them growing up, they provided an advantage. The only person who ever evaded their range was Sucrose. "I heard someone..." Faint footsteps crunching on leaves began to grow louder. I looked over towards the noise. "Razor? Is that you?" I called out.
Suddenly, a boy about the same age as Bennet emerged from the trees hesitantly. His long white hair peeked out from the back of his hood. His clothing seemed rough, and slightly crudely crafted.
"Are you Razor?" He hid behind a tree slightly, hesitant to come out. I held the note out for him. "Here, it's from Bennet. He couldn't come, he said he was having an unlucky day."
Razor carefully came out from behind the tree, watching me with his red eyes. "Bennet sent you?"
I nodded. "Yeah, here."
He studied me for a moment before grasping the paper, reading it over. Razor read it slowly, his eyes concentrating and his brows furrowing. Did he have trouble reading? I wondered if he grew up in the forest.
"Thank you," he said, putting the note in his pocket. "Razor," he pointed to himself.
"I'm y/n," I said, pointing to myself as well. I gestured to Diluc, who studied the situation. "That's Diluc."
"It's... good to meet you." He struggled with the words for a moment. "I have to go now."
He turned and walked back into the woods. My eyes widened as I caught a glimpse of an electro vision. "I wonder..." I said under my breath.
"I thought that name was familiar..." Diluc said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Razor was raised here. There's been rumors, but I had yet to meet him myself."
"Raised here?" I asked, looking over the forest. "By who?"
"Believe it or not," he said, smiling a little. "He was raised by the wolves here."
"Really?" I asked. I had heard tales of such things before, but never expected it to be real. "That explains his struggle with language. It seems Bennet befriended him," I put a finger to my chin, pondering something to myself. "Bennet isn't so unlucky to have made a friend like that..." I said under my breath.

"Here we are!" I spread the blanket in the wind, laying it over the grass. We were in the same clearing that we sat in beforehand.
Diluc carried the basket over as I spread the blanket, setting it down on the woolen surface. Sitting down, I pulled out the mushroom pizza.
"Pizza?" Diluc asked as I pulled the food from the basket.
"It was pretty good last time, so I grabbed it again," I said, opening the box. "I hope that's okay."
He smiled slightly, nodding. "I don't mind at all."
As we began to dig in, my mind wandered off. I had met two more vision holders today. Vision users could do just about anything, in my mind. They had power granted to them by the gods, after all.
I hadn't even realized how much time had passed. "Are you alright?" Diluc asked, concerned. "You haven't said so much as a word since we've sat down."
My ears twitched slightly in embarrassment when I realized. "I'm sorry, just lost in thought," I smiled warmly, not wanted him to be concerned.
"Is something on your mind?" Diluc asked. "You seem troubled by something."
"I... Do you think I'll ever receive a vision?" It was the same question I asked Venti. Even though I had already asked it, it lingered on my mind.
Diluc seemed surprised by my question at first. "A vision?" He put his finger to his chin in thought. "Who can say? I believe someday you might."
"How did you get yours?" I asked out of curiosity.
He was silent for a moment. "I used to serve the Knights of Favonius," I raised my brows in surprise. He used to serve them? But I thought he disliked them?
"I already know what you're thinking," he said, smiling a little. "It's a very long story. I don't think I was serving them for myself..."
"You weren't?" I asked, an ear raised.
Diluc shook his head. "That is also a long story. I used to be Jeans superior, even. It was a long time ago."
"Her superior?" Jean was acting grand master now. I was sure that a few years ago she probably wasn't as high a rank, but it suprised me still.
"But the vision," he began. "It just sort of... appeared. I had worked hard to get that far up in the knights, and perhaps the pyro archon recognized that. Even still... I'm not sure if that's the true reason."
The true reason? "The gods thoughts are above us, that's for sure," I smiled. I felt a bit better about it, talking with Diluc, although it still somewhat troubled me.
"Why don't you show me that bow of yours?" Diluc asked, gesturing to the weapon on my back. "I'm still not sure I believe your story," he said jokingly.
I rolled my eyes. "We don't have a target, where do I even shoot?"
"Hm..." Diluc thought for a moment. "Ah, I know."
I tilted my head as he stood up, walking over to a nearby tree. Taking his glove off, he circled his finger on the trunk. "How about..." he continued for a moment. "Here."
I watched as he set his finger on the light colored tree, and heard a slight sizzling sound. Standing up, I saw that he was using his vision to create a burn on the tree. "A burn mark?"
"This should be a good target," he looked at me and smiled. Chuckling, I took the bow off my back.
"Okay then," I shrugged. "I can't guarantee that I'll pull it off again."
Diluc chuckled as he walked over to stand behind me. I grabbed an arrow from the quiver on my back. Notching it, I remembered Ambers advice. Aim too long and my grip will get shaky...
I raised the bow and pulled it back, aiming for only a moment before letting the arrow fly. I watched as it whizzed, and hit my mark perfectly. My heart jumped with joy. "Hey, look, I did it!"
Diluc clapped. "Good shot," he congratulated me. My heart raced, I impressed him. "Can you hit that trick you mentioned?"
My stomach clenched for a moment, nervous about it. It would be embarrassing to miss that in front of Diluc. "I'll try..."
I repeated the process. Notch the arrow, raise the bow, let it fly. As I released the string, I heard a crunch in the distance. A twig?
"Try again, I'm sure you can do it," Diluc said. I missed? I had been looking off into the forest towards the sound. "Is something wrong?"
"No, I... thought I heard something, that's all," maybe I had imagined it? I heard nothing else. "Let me try again."
He nodded, running off the collect the arrow that had flew straight passes the tree. "Diluc, I have more arrows!"
He turned for a moment. "It's alright, I'll be back. You don't want to waste any," Diluc yelled back.
As he ran off, I got that feeling again. Dread, like something was watching me. I hesitated, wanting to go with Diluc, but I felt that he would think I was being strange. That bad feeling returned, freezing my legs in place. My brain went wild, foggy even. Do I follow him? What do I do?
I had a panicky feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I heard the crunching of leaves. It was... all around me. Snapping my head around, my ears twitched in every which way, not sure which sound to focus on.
I went to grab an arrow from my quiver, trembly. Something was coming... my breath was shaky as I pulled the arrow from its quiver, before dropping it in panic.
I cursed under my breath as I picked it up, notching it. Of all the footsteps I heard around me, still nothing from Dilucs end. Was he still grabbing the arrow?
As the footsteps grew nearer, I saw somewhat familiar figures gathering at the clearings edge. I counted at least 7, although I could hear more within the woods. Turning in circles, I processed the situation I was in.
I was surrounded. The arrow notched, I pointed the bow at each of them, trying to keep them back.
One of them stepped forward into the light. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
That voice was familiar. "Who are you?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from breaking. "What do you want? Stay back!"
"Like I said," his face was covered by a bandana. Treasure hoarders? "I wouldn't do that."
"I told you before, I don't have any mora!" I yelled at him, not putting my bow down.
"I know," he rolled his eyes as if he'd heard it before. "That's what you said last time. Now put the bow down before you get hurt."
I glanced around as the other figures stepped into the light. Sure enough, more treasure hoarders. If I was quick, maybe I could hold off until Diluc got there, although there weren't enough arrows in my quiver for all of them.
That idea left my mind almost instantly. Several were carrying crossbows. Faster shots than regular bows, I didn't stand a chance against several of them. The crossbows were notched, loaded and ready to shoot.
My eyes widened when I truly understood what was going on. Reluctantly, I lowered my bow. "Listen, if you don't want mora I don't know what to tell you," I looked back at the leader of the group. I squinted for a moment. "You... robbed me last time, didn't you? Do you have it out for me or something?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, but that's not the entire reason why we are here."
My ears went flat as I furrowed my brows. "Then what?"
"Well, we are in fact after some mora," he said, his words stinging the air like venom. "Just not... directly."
I froze, nervous to move. What does that mean? I struggled to make sense of his words. They wanted mora but knew I had none. Did they want Dilucs? No, they knew not to tangle with him, at least not directly. It went pretty badly last time for them.
"Ransom?" I guessed.
"Hey, you got it pretty quick," He said cockily. "The Dawn winery makes a pretty sum every day, and you two seem to have grown close since then."
I felt angry at his words. He was trying to use me to get money out of Diluc. "You're crazy, he probably wouldn't pay you for me. We haven't known each other that long, you know."
"Yeah yeah, heard it before." He rolled his eyes, approaching.
I raised my bow at him. "Don't!" I grew more serious as I did so, although I was terrified underneath. Come on, Diluc! "He'll be back any second and then all of you are screwed!"
"Then you better put that bow down before he does," he said, pointing at his men. "Or they'll shoot."
I felt conflicted. Diluc didn't deserve to go through this trouble. I never wished to be a burden on anyone. But... I didn't want to die, and who's to say they wouldn't turn their weapons on him?
Reluctantly, I tossed my bow to the side, removing the quiver and dropping that too. "Fine."
Maybe I should have worried about that feeling.