Buried In The Desert - A Fatui CyNari fic

Chapter 2

The second Tighnari woke up, he felt bad. His whole body was slowly rocking back and forth by a force he doesn't know what it is, and he doesn't want to know. Getting knocked out cool right after seeing Fatui doesn't really comfort a person. Tighnari could pretend he's dead. Pretend until they actually consider him dead and they let him go. But then... he had been unconscious, and if someone was near him, which he was positive about cause he could hear them shift in their seat, they have definitely seen him breathe in his sleep. Pretending to be asleep and wait for the perfect moment to flee also wasn't an option. This is the Fatui. Tighnari would be dead the second he tried to take one step in the wrong direction, he felt like. So then accepting he was in deep shit and opening his eyes was his only option.

"You don't have to pretend to be asleep." A masculine voice sounded. They sounded... somewhat bored. No, not bored. More likely invested in something so much that they have little grasp on the real world. But then they also acknowledged Tighnari's awakening, which wouldn't make sense if the person was in their own world... It was weird. Was it just their normal way of talking?

Opening his eyes, Tighnari found a man sitting on a chair right beside the bed he was laying on. He had grey hair, and there were headphones covering his ears. From Tighnari's perspective, almost half of his face was blocked by a jacket that had a Dendro vision hanging from it near the man's shoulder and he had bangs covering his eyes. When Tighnari and sat up and tilted his head just slightly he could see teal eyes that had a thin line of orange surrounding the iris scanning a book that the man seemed to be reading. Now Tighnari thought about it, the man looked... Sumeran?

"It's inappropriate to stare." the man mumbled out, flipping a page of the book.

"So is catching someone off guard and knocking them out cold." Tighnari reasoned, crossing his arms as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Now he could see where he was, he understood why his body had been and still is rocking back and forth ever so slightly; it seemed as if they were on a boat. When Tighnari turned to look out of a small window in the wall at the bed, all he could see was blue and water, confirming his suspicion.

The taller looking man (if Tighnari looked at the length of his legs) took a moment before responding, probably finishing reading a sentence. Eventually he did reply, though. "As much as I understand your frustration, don't let it out on me. I'm only here to make sure you don't jump overboard or do something else that's considered reckless. The one who knocked you out was Nilou."

"Okay, and then who are you?" Tighnari asked with a shrug of his shoulders, putting emphasis on the 'you'.

The man sighed as he closed the book he had been reading, not even folding a corner of the page he'd been reading or putting something that could be used as a bookmark in it. "That isn't relevant right now. What is relevant, is..."

'Did I do something to that caused the Fatui to want me dead? Is he going to tell me all the crimes I have possibly done that gets the Fatui pissed off?'

"Are you seasick?"

Tighnari blinked a few times before frowning, his ears flopping to the back, pressing against his head like that. "Huh?"

"It's a simple question. With such big ears, I doubt you didn't hear me." The man reasoned, his facial expression being as plain as ever. Despite his statement, he repeated himself. "Are you seasick?"

"...No." Tighnari replied with. He wasn't lying. Although he's never been off of land before, he doesn't feel any of the effect from seasickness he knows will show up if you do feel ill.

"Good," the other hummed. "because we'll be on this ship for a while." The man opened his book again, and started reading again... was he really right at the page he was at before??

Tighnari was about to make a comment on it when the door of the room they were in opened.

A woman with long, red hair and bright blue eyes walked in carrying a few books in her arms. "Alhaitham, I wasn't sure which books you've already read, so I just got you-" She was looking at her foot as she gently nudged the door closed with it, but when she looked up, she cut herself off upon seeing Tighnari sitting on the bed. "Oh, you're awake!" She said with a bit of a higher pitch in her voice. She too looked Sumeran, like Alhaitham and Tighnari.

Alhaitham stood up from his seat. "Now you're here, I suppose I won't be needed anymore. I'll take these." He said as he took the books from the lady, before he left the room without another word.

The woman watched him go, until the door was closed once again, and it was just her and Tighnari in the room. "I apologise for having Alhaitham watch over you." the lady started off with. "I had something to take care of, but I'm here now... if you even want that." her voice was high pitched, yet soft. It was quite soothing to the ears.

Tighnari didn't understand why she was apologising, but he didn't comment on it. But he did know that he had to respond to her in order to avoid an awkward silence filling the room. "I'm assuming you're Nilou?" He asked.

Nilou hummed and nodded her head, but she then looked apologetically at the botanist. "I'm really sorry for knocking you unconscious. It were the orders I was told to do, I promise."

How could Tighnari blame her? Nilou looked like she wouldn't even hurt a fly. And the apology sounded sincere, too. "If it's your duty, then there's nothing you can do about it, I guess." it wasn't exactly forgiveness, yet it wasn't exactly blaming her at the same time.

"Yeah..." Nilou sighed as she sat down on the chair Alhaitham sat on before. But she kept looking at Tighnari. It was almost as if he was some sort of being that Nilou has never seen before... which might be the case. "So you're a Valuka Shuna? That's interesting." She said.

Tighnari wasn't sure if she said that just to fill the silence, or if she was genuinely interested. "I am." He replied with. "Never seen my kind before?"

Nilou shook her head. "I have only heard of Valuka Shuna before. That they moved from the desert to the forest and all... Is it- I'm sorry if I ask inappropriate things, but is is true that your hearing is better than normal human's?"

'Oh, she's getting curious.' Tighnari thought, but didn't mind. He constantly got questions like this whenever someone spoke to him about his half fennec fox being. "It is. Hearing and smelling is enhanced."
And then Nilou started to ask him more and more about his race. It was so much, that Tighnari completely forgot to ask what in Teyvat the Fatui wanted from him. Well, he forgot until he caught himself.
"Oh, I have a question for you now... Do you know why I'm here?"

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I'm sorry if the ending seems a little rushed (because it is) :')