Kaebedo || Where The Cold Doesn't Touch

Found - 43

(TW- Violence)

Kaeya and Rosaria made their way toward the freezing mountain. The nun knows the mountain like the back of her hand, she had prepared beforehand with a map for Kaeya but assured him they wouldn't need it often.

The captain trusts her like no other, they have been friends for a long time and he wouldn't trade her for anybody to fill in those shoes. She squints her eyes and surveys the land before her.

"This'll be tough..." she kneels to the ground, brushing a hand over the snow, "There isn't any residue of tracks. It's either covered up or no one has been out here at all."

Kaeya grimaces, that isn't a good sign. He knows that they shouldn't waste their time searching without any clues but he doesn't want to walk in circles either. He feels powerless if they don't search at all, it seems Rosaria can pick that up just from the way his expression changes.

"We'll both cover some ground but it's dark outside right now, it'll be unsafe to split up. So stay close by and leave tracks just in case we do get split apart." She takes out a hand-held lamp  and lights a fire. Rosaria hands it over to him and nods her head.

They both start to walk through the trees and snow. Their footsteps crunch against the white sheets of ice but they make no effort to quiet down. Too much is at stake and they don't hesitate to move faster.

But there is ultimately nothing. Everywhere felt like a dead end, only ice and snow beyond the rocky surface. Kaeya never quits though, he keeps moving even if it's pitch black at this point. "Kaeya, stop moving."

He stops.

"What?" He asks her, more confused than anything.

"Shh," she places a finger up to her lips.

He stops his breathing, listening to the howling winds. At first there's nothing but the little crackle of their lamp, the falling snow and the unruly wind. The captain opens his mouth, to ask what she could've possibly heard until a sudden gust of wind pushes past him.

A figure rushes through them, both of them fall back slightly but Rosaria recovers faster. Before the figure could completely get away, she looks up and her eyes lock with familiar ones. Auburn eyes, ones that burned but now completely filled with a chill of fear.

Sucrose.

Rosaria's eyes widen and she tries to run after the figure holding Sucrose but is pushed back by another gust of wind.

"STOP!"

Kaeya's eyes widen this time as the Dark Knight hero himself is running past them, his claymore searing with flames.

Rosaria looks at Kaeya for a second and takes off after Diluc. He catches his breath before running after them as well.

The three run like they've never ran before. Diluc is in front and cuts a path for the two behind him, they weave through trees and cave openings. But the chase doesn't seem to stop, the figure is fast and calculative, agile enough to maneuver all of them.

Sucrose doesn't seem to be all there, her eyes droop but she's fighting to keep them open. Her mouth opens as if she's screaming but no sound escapes her mouth.

"How- how much more until we can't- run anymore," Kaeya wheezes out, running is taking a toll on his body.

"We might have to cut him off," Rosaria has built up stamina so she can think a little more clearly than he can.

"Diluc!"

Diluc doesn't stop running but he jerks his head toward her, it's a sign he's listening.