Elements of Love II Albedo x Sucrose

Hilichurl Attack

"We'll be nearing the Dawn Winery soon. We just have to pass through Wolvendom." Ping called to the back, guiding the horses to the left slightly. 

Sucrose bit her thumb a little, nervous. She had heard from Mona the astrologist, who visited the lab often, that there had been several attacks on merchants and travelers by hilichurls in Wolvendom. It would be dreadful if the carriage was attacked, but Sucrose wasn't sure she should say anything, perhaps it would be better to let Albedo-

"I've heard that there have been some hilichurl attacks on travelers in the Wolvendom area." Albedo said, startling Sucrose out of her thoughts. 

It's just like Mr. Albedo to always know what I'm thinking of and help me find a solution, Sucrose thought gratefully. She sent a small smile in Albedo's direction, which seemed to give him a jolt.

"Just rumors, just rumors." Ping said, waving his hand as if shooing off a pesky bug. "There's really no need to worry, besides, you two both have Visions, right?"

"We do, but they're more for resea-" Albedo began, but Ping cut him off.

"Anyhow, you can protect us should a few hilichurls come wandering in our path. It's really no big deal." Ping insisted, urging the horses forward slightly.

Albedo looked at Sucrose nervously. As careful researchers, they always took precautions against any harmful incidents occurring, and the same applied for outside the lab. The two alchemists avoided fighting hilichurls, preferring instead to either paint or study them.

However, Sucrose did understand that hilichurls could be aggressive when provoked, and she didn't want to cause any trouble to their journey. If hilichurls attacked the carriage and sabotaged it somehow, Sucrose and Albedo would be in trouble.

"It's alright, Sucrose." Albedo whispered, taking her hand in his. He could visibly see how troubled she was, overthinking every little detail. Sucrose's eyes widened slightly, and her fingers curled slightly around Albedo's hand.

Sucrose bit her lip nervously. "We should be able to fight off the hilichurls with our Visions, but it might cause a delay in our journey." 

"Even if we have to fight off the hilichurls, everything should be alright." Albedo said reassuringly, leaning forward on his forearms. 

Lord Barbatos, Albedo was really close to Sucrose. He was looking at her with a sort of wonder in his eyes that Sucrose really only saw when one of his experiments succeeded, with ground-breaking results. 

In a sort of slow motion, Albedo lifted his hand to touch Sucrose's cheek, his gloves soft against her face. Was Albedo going to kiss her? Sucrose found she was positively giddy with the thought, and inched forward slightly, closer, so their faces were almost-

"We're entering Wolvendom." Ping called, loudly breaking the moment. One of the horses stumbled, jolting the carriage. 

Albedo lurched back into his seat, drawing his hand away from Sucrose's. She was suddenly aware of how comfortable she had gotten, holding his hand. Uncontrollably, she flushed.

If the carriage had been small before, it was now unbearably cramped. 

"Just to let you know, there's been a small hilichurl camp sighted near our path. Be on your guard, alright?" Ping said casually, as if they weren't heading into an imminent threat.

The carriage moved along, with everybody getting increasingly nervous, including the horses. At every little sound they jolted and startles, shaking everybody in the carriage. Sighing, Albedo put away his sketchpad, as it was no longer possible for him to draw what with the shaking.

A loud shout came from above the carriage. Sucrose recognised the hilichurlian cry, and told Albedo immediately. Sucrose had studied a while with Ella Musk, a researcher on hilichurls, for a while. She was suddenly glad for that research.

"Well, we seem to have encountered some hilichurls. Hopefully, we'll pass by without any trouble. Just, well, attempt to remain quiet." Ping said, guiding the carriage underneath the pass. 

Suddenly, the horses reared up on their hind legs and took off, dragging the carriage along with them. A crack sounded, echoing and loud in the empty woods. 

"W-what was that?" Sucrose asked nervously, peering out the window. They seemed to have stopped moving. 

"I don't know." Albedo admitted. It was rare for Albedo to say he didn't know something, not for his pride, but rather that he often knew the solution to nearly every problem.

The two left the carriage and turned in a wide circle. With a start, Sucrose realized the attachments keeping the horses to the carriage had snapped, presumably from some outside force, or the horses pulling too hard. 

"Where do you think Ping could be?" Sucrose wondered, examining their surroundings. She could hear the horses galloping away in the distance. Her guess was that it was too late to go after them now. 

Albedo crouched down and shifted some of the broken pieces of wood aside. He unearthed PIng, lying underneath. He was clearly knocked out, judging from the bruise on his forehead.

"I suppose it will be too late to go after the horses," Albedo said, sighing in disappointment. Sucrose made a small noise of agreement. 

"He looks to be unconscious. From a medical standpoint, I think our carriage driver will be knocked out for at least another few hours." Sucrose said. She had studied medical sciences a little, as they were closely related to her bio-alchemy studies. 

"Besides, there isn't much for him to drive, anyway." Albedo gestured at the carriage, broken and leaning on the ground like an old man leans on his cane. Sucrose laughed a little. They were in quite the predicament now.

"We could carry Ping to the Dawn Winery and get medical care there," Albedo offered, rubbing his head.

"Um, Mr. Albedo, I don't think either of us are physically strong enough to carry a dead weight that far." Sucrose said. From the ground, Ping let out a groan. 

"Well, maybe we could leave Ping here underneath a tree, walk to the Dawn Winery, and ask somebody to come back for him?" Albedo suggested, his hand on his face in what Sucrose recognized as his 'thinking' position.

"Alright." 

Albedo and Sucrose picked Ping up and placed him underneath a tree, covered in a blanket. Sucrose felt a bit bad about leaving their carriage driver here like this, but there really was no other option.

"Ready to get going?" Albedo asked, offering his hand to help Sucrose stand back up. She took it, yelping slightly when Albedo pulled her up with more strength than she expected. His hand reached out to her waist to steady her. 

Their hands fit together very nicely, Sucrose thought. Blushing, she picked up her bag and brushed some imaginary dust off of her clothing.

"Of course. There's only so much daylight left." 

The pair made their way down the path, comfortable in each other's presence.