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"So, we'll meet tomorrow morning? Dragonspine, of course, I would suggest the hill overlooking the lake. Do we have a deal, comrade?"
Quite smoothly, the Harbinger stretched out his hand. Even though their mutual fight had merely finished, his arms were no longer trembling. It was the first time Lumine could take a closer look at his glove outside of a battle. And yet stiffened over his elegant fingers, she thought. Especially the silver ring on his pinky caught her attention. Not to mention the fact that the glove didn’t cover the back of his hand which left his wrist exposed up to his forearm. Pale skin and light almost transparent hairs, and a smeared trail of blood leading under his sleeve.
"No deal?" inquired Childe as he leaned forward.
Was that his breath on her cheek? Lumine tried to pull back. She cleared her throat and looked up. Golden, sun-colored eyes met sea-kissed blue ones. To say the truth the traveler found this color particularly beautiful. Her face showed no sign of the thoughts inside her mind, but it was difficult for Lumine to answer. The scratching inside her throat took her sanity away as much as the feelings for Childe that she was trying to suppress.
“Are you trying to get some home field advantage?” Were Lumine's words.
She grabbed Childe’s right hand, without waiting for a response. Their handshake was short but firm.
“By no means, not at all. Although you're right that homesickness has gripped me a bit.”
No matter how hard the traveler tried, she couldn't wrest the gaze from the man in front of her, perhaps she didn't want to. A warrior who was so ambitious and competitive, it almost broke her heart. Always in prospect of a fight and an ultimate victory that would come with it.
“Snezhnaya and Dragonspine, huh. The snow is a comforting change from the ever-green in Mondstadt,” Lumine uttered.
As expected, Childe's facial expression changed completely as she spoke these words.
“We should go ice fishing after the battle. To state the truth, I'm a professional in that field, comrade!"
Oh. The traveler would’ve gladly agreed, but at the same time she knew she shouldn't get involved in anything more than a fight. Not when it came to Childe. How many times she’d imagined taking him to her quarters after a battle, to clean and doctor his wounds.
“No, unfortunately, I have other business to attend to that can't wait.”
The Harbinger laughed and then said: “Oh, of course. Forgive my bluntness, I had forgotten how in demand our traveler is. Too bad, I am good at fishing.”
A cliché one might think, but the silence between the two lasted for exactly five seconds.
Two seconds in which Childe raised his eyebrows and leaned even closer to Lumine. Three seconds in which Lumine studied Childe's facial features and pondered the art of ice fishing.
“I’m not a fish,” announced the traveler.
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Rarely was the view on the highest mountains of Dragonspine so clear. The sky over Lumine stretched into a deep blue, almost white on the horizon, mixed with the bright rays of the rising sun. Usually clouds and fog swirled around the snowy peaks, but today the whole area did without. It was a good day to come to Dragonspine, although the clear skies made the temperatures drop faster.
Still a bit exhausted from the climb, Lumine stroked her bare arms. Her dress didn't cover enough for trips into the snow, but she had gotten used to it. In all the other places she’d stayed so far, she was doing quite well with her choice of clothes. Somehow, she couldn't part with the dress.
At heart, she knew exactly why not - the memory of her brother was deeply anchored in these fibers.
After making sure there were no enemies nearby, the traveler decided to set up camp for the time being. Lumine leaned her sword against an old fir tree, next to it she placed the bag in which she had packed some food. Then she lit the campfire.
The blonde traveler spotted a snow fox down by the hill. It hid behind a bush, blinked through it with its sea blue eyes and an elegant white fur. Not for a single second did the fox lose sight of its prey, a small squirrel that was banging its nut against a tree. Two wild animals on their hunt, both with their own goal in mind.
Lumine squinted her eyes a bit, focused her gaze. She hoped that the squirrel would get to safety in time. Even though the traveler herself had to go hunting and kill animals for her survival, the nut that couldn’t be opened hurt her soul.
The squirrel hadn’t noticed the snow fox – not yet – gripping the nut between its molars.
“Here you are!”
“Oh my god!” Lumine did not scream, but her voice was louder than usual.
With her mind completely elsewhere, Lumine hadn’t noticed. Childe had approached her from behind. If it’d been someone else, an enemy, it would’ve been a decisive disadvantage. She grabbed her sword, a reflex that had burned into Lumine.
The traveler felt like the squirrel, clueless and exposed. In the food chain below the snow fox, below Childe, who had crept up on her silently. These thoughts seemed stupid and childish to Lumine. Even more because she knew that the fights between the Harbinger and her were not to the death. No one would die here - and both were good fighters anyway, neither was any link in any food chain.
“Are you all right, comrade?” Childe asked.
Since Lumine was still holding her sword in defensive position, he kept his distance.
All a sudden there was a loud rustling at the bottom of the mountain. The sounds were over so fast that they couldn’t be interpreted. Lumine guessed what had happened, which animal had attacked, and which had lost.
Lumine remembered how she ‘d said the day before that she was no fish. Somehow everything seemed surreal. She was indeed no fish, and she was no squirrel. If anything, it was the others who had always made her into something smaller. All the people around her who asked for a favor, who wanted to be saved, who couldn't do little things themselves, who didn't think and were naive.
The traveler missed her brother, and she missed acting on her own.
Childe was not the problem, nor were her feelings for him. But the problem were her permanent thoughts, thinking that feelings were in the way and a burden. Her thoughts, she should not be strong and stronger. Her thoughts, she must always remain kind and helpful.
Constantly do. Forever be. All the time.
Must never say no, only to the Harbinger she dared to. Only with Childe, she fought until her opponent bled and cawed.
Half laughing, half screaming the man with orange hair ran towards her in battles.
How she loved and enjoyed these fights.
Lumine dropped her sword on the icy ground.
“Are you all right, comrade?” Childe repeated, coming already closer.
No words came from her lips, only a soft sigh. Once the Harbinger stood in front of the traveler, not even half a meter away, she grabbed the fabric of his clothes and buried her face in his chest. Then they stood there in the freezing cold while Childe gently patted Lumine's head.