My Dear Friend | Chilumi

The Chase

The next morning, the bags under Lumine's eyes were a clear indicator of the lack of sleep she had endured that night. The accumulated fatigue, the stress, the strange noises they kept hearing throughout the night were definitely a recipe for disaster. Lumine knew being targeted by the fatui was definitely due to what happened in Inazuma, not to mention even before when they had tried to kill her when she was with Childe. She knew better than to think she was stronger than the lot of them alone, the scar on her stomach was a testimony to her last tango with death. It also felt like the tsarista had an infinite supply of soliders to throw out on the field, and an unimaginable number of people that they have manipulated into her pocket.
Although Lumine loved Liuye, it was time to move on, somewhere safer perhaps, away fron the crowds. What better place than the forests of Sumeru? She thought.

She needed to face her fears and just get out of the city. Hopefully she was just being paranoid. Although, the dreadful feeling she felt in her heart made her more worried that something did wait outside to strike her down. They may be stronger in numbers, but she could still defend herself, she did it with ease only days ago, why not now too ? She didn't have Aether or Childe beside her, but she did have herself, and she knew she could only depend on herself, and Paimon. She couldn't forget Paimon.

The girls packed their things, ate and drank a couple of cups of coffee to wake themselves up, then set out on the road towards the chasm, where the path would lead them into Sumeru.

"Sure hope nothing bad happens to us on the way here." Paimon said.

"Thanks for jinxing us, Paimon." Lumine said to the fairy.

As soon as they found themselves outside of the city, away from the prying eyes of commoners, Lumine knew she was in for a rough time. She had felt someone's watchful gaze as soon as she left the inn, and it wasn't someone with good intentions. She kept her sword unsheathed, her shoulders were tense, the wind was unusually quiet and the wildlife was nowhere to be found.

She saw in the corner of her eye a dark figure and swung her sword in it's direction. The fatui assasin was taken by suprise and a deep cut adorned his chest. He attempted to throw his knives at her but she dodged his attacks and cut another deadly slash across his chest, making him fall to the ground, dead.

She started running and pushed Paimon in front of her, trying to get her out of harms way. To her right, she saw another fatui assassin, she sent a starfall rock in his direction and crushed him. To her left, another one was running up towards her. Her threw a knife towards her that scraped her thigh. She winced, stopped running and waited for him to get closer. When he
was close enough, she sent a gust of wind in his direction. He was knocked over and she planted her sword in his back. She whipped the blood off of her sword in a swift motion and kept running. In barley 5 minutes , she was being chased by multiple fatui soldiers, she didnt count, but it was obviously too much for her to handle on her own.
A couple of them attempted attacks , and she did her best to dodge them all, but a few hits landed their targets on her. Thankfully they were only light scratches, but it didnt stop them from bleeding. She ran as fast as she could, still pushing Paimon in front of her and trying to control her breathing. Then, she saw the road block ahead.

The path was surrounded by tall rock formations and in front of her stood three fatui soliders and a wooden spiked barrier. It was then and there that she realized she was cornered. They really wanted her dead if they were willing to go through so much trouble to catch her. She stopped in her tracks and started walking backwards towards the stone cliff walls, the soldiers she had tried her best to run away from circled her. Paimon let out a squeak and hid behind her as the fatui raised their weapons in her direction. More than a dozen surrounded her and she didn't know what to do.

"We could really use some help right now." Quivered Paimon.

And then the idea hit Lumine.

"Xiao!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

A gust of wind and black smoke engulfed Lumine and the fatui. She saw her chance to attack as they were distracted. With Xiao by her side, the enemies were nothing but a nuisance, bugs to be stepped on. In a flash, the two fighters had taken them all down.
The adeptus took off his mask and stared at Lumine. His piercing yellow eyes seemed to exhibit a worried feeling for the traveler.

"Thank you for coming. I didn't know what to do anymore." Lumine said.

"I will always come when you call my name. I gave you my word." He said as he analysed her bleeding cuts.

"Xiao has a soft spot for us, hehe." Paimon laughed nervously.

"This isn't time for laughing, Paimon. They're out for my head Xiao, we need to get the hell out of here. I tried to get rid of them but they outnumbered me so fast." She said as she looked around herself, worried to be attacked again.

"You're bleeding." He said, seemingly ignoring her concerns.

"Oh you're right Xiao, are you ok Lumine ?" Said Paimon in a worried voice.

"Yeah, but it's fine. I just need to get to Sumeru, and get there fast. I'll patch myself up later." She said as she examined her wounds.

"I'll deal with the rest of them. You go." Xiao said, his spear in hand.

"We'll fight them off together. You can't take them all by yourself, there are probably a dozen more on the way right now, or maybe they are waiting on the road ahead." She said with determined shine in her eye.

"I was just on the road ahead near the chasm. The coast is clear. Besides, they will keep sending more and more after you until they catch you. They will just follow our tracks. Its a stupid way to get you killed. You go and I can cover you, lead them away from you." Xiao said in a stern voice.

"He's got a point." Paimon said.

"Fine, but be careful please." She said to the conqueror of demons.

They nodded to eachother and Xiao watched her as she ran to escape her followers.

It took Lumine a couple of hours of running and taking walking breaks to get to the chasm. By the time they arrived near the mine, darkness had already started to fall over Liuye. Thankfully, nobody else had followed her on the way. Lumine climbed as high up as she could to get a good vantage point of her objective in the morning and set up camp for the night. They settled the tent inbetween some rocks high up on the uneven cliffs. That way, Lumine was a hard target to reach and she had the advantage of the high ground. She didn't dare start a fire and reveal her location. Lumine scrubbed off the dried blood off of her skin while on the first watch. The girls took turns sleeping and as soon as dawn peaked from the horizon, they packed their things and set off. Their destination was just up ahead and she could see the lush green forests of the land of wisdom. Waiting for her arrival and calling her name in the breeze. Finally, her journey would stop stalling. Finally, she would be one step closer to finding her brother. It was the only thing she desired.
Are you sure about that?
She reminded herself that she could only afford to think of her brother, nothing else. No one else.

They climbed back down from their campsite and made their way to the tunnel formation that harboured the path into the forests. The cold morning was a harsh reminder of the frigid night that they had passed without a fire. Paimon kept complaining about how hungry she was, but with no fire , Lumine couldn't make food for them. Her stomach also growled for sustenance, but they had to get someplace safe before even thinking about setting up a fire.

They entered the dark tunnel while following the light to the other side at a hurried pace, but once they reached the exit, the fatui harbinger she had so desperately tried to forget had his back leaning against the tunnel wall, his arm's and legs crossed and a grim look in his dark eyes.