✧.*┊ a harbinger's pupil. // various!genshin x reader

05. ┊ joy of freedom

In front of you was Tartaglia, or Childe. Except now, he was a six year old boy. Before he was involved with the Fatui and a Fatui Harbinger, he was known as Ajax.

You were taken aback, "Ajax?"

"Is something wrong with it?" Childe- Ajax frowned, a genuine sadness forming around him.

"No." You replied back blatantly, shaking your head.

He blinked, "Uh- Well, are you here alone?" Ajax quickly moved the topic along.

"Mhm, I got lost in the woods." You nodded timidly, making sure your performance was believable.

"You can tag along with me and my father! Our camping site isn't too far from here... Which is why I found you here in the first place..." Ajax nervously laughed again, as if he made a fool of himself.

Your eyes lit up, "Really?!"

"Yeah!" Ajax's mood shifted, and he smiled brightly.

"Is that really okay?!" You gasped, secretly sighing of relief that you didn't need to build a makeshift shelter.

"Uh huh! And when we go back down, we can take you back to your family!" He added. The small awkwardness between you two was beginning to diminish, growing a little more comfortable around eachother.

"Yayay!" You cheered, hopping around excitedly, "Let's go!"

"Okay, follow me closely!" Ajax motioned you to follow him as he ran off in the opposite direction.

"Father! I'm back!" The little Childe exclaimed, looking around the site area.

"Uh oh, he's not here." Ajax seemed worried.

You stared off in the distance. The camp site was located right next to a frozen lake, probably because they were ice fishing.

You squinted your eyes, "Is that him?" You pointed, spotting a man that was chopping up a piece of wood.

"Oh, it is." Ajax was relieved. Your eyes drifted away from him, and soon began taking in the surrounding area.

You spun around, glancing at the sky. The sun was gone now, but you could still see the last rays of the sun's brightness peaking from through the clouds.

As you looked back over at Ajax, you saw him rummaging through his bags.

"What are you doing?" You asked, walking in his direction.

"I'm looking for something to start the fire with." Ajax replied as you watched him dig deeper into the bag.

You tapped his shoulder softly, "I have something we can use."

"Really? What is it?" Ajax stopped in what he was doing. He was interested in what you were going to use, so he quickly switched his attention to you. He saw as you pulled something out of your backpack, his eyes following it. "Is that... a lighter?" He gasped

You turned back to him, "Mhm! Why do you seem so surprised?" You seemed genuinely oblivious.

"Well... It's just that lighters cost a lot of mora... Are you rich?!" Ajax enunciated on the word "lot", dragging it out and making it seem like lighters were extremely expensive.

You froze up, mentally cursing, "Shit." You didn't know what was expensive in terms of mora. After all, the first five years of your life were spent living inside Zapolyarny Palace.

You couldn't let the kid Tartaglia find out that you were involved with the Fatui, let alone The Tsaritsa, so you had to quickly think of an excuse.

"No!" You burst out, startling him a little bit. "Oops... Did I scare you?" You noticed him jump.

"I-It's fine!" Ajax's face turned red from embarrassment.

"I just found it on the ground... I didn't think it was expensive..." You told him, swaying as if you did something wrong.

"It's okay, do you know how to use it?" Ajax reassured you.

You nodded, "I played around with it when I found it... Do you want me to start the fire?"

"Can you?!" Ajax was excited. It looked almost as though he had stars in his eyes.

You headed over to the pile of wood on the ground. You brought the lighter close, and pressed down on the button. Right as you did so, a bright flame emitted from the container.

Ajax was in awe, he'd never seen a lighter before, so this was the first time he ever saw one.

You looked over at him, seeing excitement written all over him.

Who would think that such an innocent child would become a weapon of war for the Fatui? It was strange looking at someone and knowing their future.

A thousand thoughts ran through your head, and each one had one clear idea.

Even if him falling into the abyss was inevitable to the story, you could at least give him the satisfaction he wanted and protect the innocence that he had up until he fell.

You lifted your finger from the lighter, "Do you want to do it?"

Ajax was surprised, "R... Really? You'll let me use it?"

"I already played around with it, so you can use it." You offered, smiling at him tenderly.

Ajax nervously took the lighter out of your hand. He looked as though he was deciding on something before he switched the lighter on. The flame yet again sparked out, and you could only watch Ajax's face light up in amusement.

"So cool..." Ajax murmured out. He probably didn't catch that he said that out loud as he lowered the lighter near the wood.

Both of you observed closely as the flame traveled from the edge of the woods to until the flames engulfed the woods entirely, lighting up the objects close to the fire.

You took a seat on a log not too far away from the fire, warming up to the heat. As you were distracted, Ajax came and sat next to you.

To be honest, you were completely surprised that you were able to escape. And it's not like your plan wasn't flawed, there was just some reason that it wasn't guarded as well as it usually was. You didn't even expect to meet a younger Childe here, and especially in the forest.

It was all very... hectic.