"Just our luck." Edith murmured under her breath.
"I was kinda hoping the guy was just a klutz and got lost. This complicates things." She looked pensive for a moment before putting both hands on her waist. "But this is nothing for heroes, amirite?"
"Sure." John played along. "So what's the plan?"
"It's simple really." She stated as she readied her bow. "We take care of business."
"You're not actually thinking about taking them on in the forest are you? Out in the open is one thing but the woods are cramped and with the rain-"
"Do you know you complain too much?" She flicked his forehead. Interrupting John before he spiraled out of control.
"Life's too short to care about the what ifs. Besides, heroes get the job done no matter the situation they find themselves in." She paused before a grin tugged at her lips. "Unless you're too chicken~" She taunted.
"Me? Chicken? Hah. I'll take on a whole army of hillichurls easy!" He lashed out defensively.
"Good, then you wouldn't need my help would you?"
"W-Well, now hold on… I was just-"
"Hah, you're so easy to mess with." She laughed, ruffling his hair. "Relax, I'm not the kind of senior who abandons their precious juniors."
"I hate you." He muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing…"
***
John's hair and clothes were soaked to the bone by the time they entered the forest. The sound of wet grass crunching and the occasional branch breaking was all he heard as they kept a low profile.
John's eyes worked overtime, squinting hard just to barely see the outlines of trees. His face was scrunched up, pinching his nose as he struggled with the growing nauseating smell of rot mixing horribly with the forest's natural earthy smell. Breathing through the mouth wasn't any better. In fact it was even worse as he could practically taste it.
Edith on the other hand was doing better than him. It was obvious she was a seasoned adventurer. Her leather hide outfit was waterproof, built for this weather in mind and to top it off, she had a mask on. Compared to her, he was basically underprepared. All he had on was a t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a worn out leather sword strap he bought from Wagner for cheap. He stuck out like a sore thumb in Teyvat.
'It'd be nice if I could at least see something.'
Edith suddenly stopped and motioned him over.
"What is it?" He whispered, squinting even harder to see in front of him.
"Found him." She spoke, her voice muffled by her mask.
"What? How can you tell?"
"I just can." She winked, which made John cringe a little.
"How many?"
"None. I only see Allan. He's tied up by a tree." She took one step before John quickly caught her by her shoulder.
"Are you crazy? You can't just walk up and free him loose."
"Why not?"
"Everything about this screams it's a trap."
"You don't know that."
"Yes I d-" He paused, stopping himself from getting riled up. "Call it a hunch or a gut feeling but there is no way the hillichurls took him just to tie him to a tree. Think about it."
"There's no need to. Hillichurls aren't smart. They are no different from animals." Edith insisted, taking his hand off her shoulder.
John cursed under his breath. Why won't she listen? He had watched too many movies, read too many books, and played too many games to know damn well this was a trap.
Despite it, Edith was already gone. Only the sound of something rough ruffling told him she was already trying to untie Allan.
John felt helpless. The slightest touch of plants around him set him off the edge and small moments of complete and utter silence was agonizing because his ears were the only thing he could rely on. Worst of all, he felt eyes on the back of his neck. Like they were being watched from the very moment they stepped foot into the whispering woods.
"Edith!" He whispered loudly.
"What!" She whispered back.
"Are you done yet?"
"I will be if you'd stop… Done!" She exclaimed. "Easy as pie."
"You can celebrate all you want once we're out of here."
Following the sound of her voice during their brief conversation. He found his way to her.
"See? I told you there was nothing to be afraid of."
"Save it. Let's just go."
The two shouldered Allan and began to trudge their way out.
John's throat grew drier by the minute. Something's wrong. Something's wrong and he knew it. His eyes scanned anything in his field of vision.
Any moment now, a group of hillichurls were going to burst through those bushes. Any moment now, a mitachurl would come chargin-
An arrow whistled past his face and hit a tree with a resounding crack.
"Get down!" Edith yelled, violently yanking him down just in time as a volley of arrows were shot.
"Damn it. I knew this would happen."
"Yeah? You want a prize?" Edith barked and began blindly shooting in the dark.
"How can they even see?"
"Hillichurls aren't like us. They don't even rely on vision. They rely on elem-"
"Elemental Sight!" He finished her sentence.
"Can you use it?" John asked, hoping a 'Yes' from her.
"No, I can't, only vision bearers or those who have strong affinity for the elements are capable of it. I'm just used to the dark. I can't actually see in it." She explained between firing off arrows.
"Then how are we getting out of this?"
This time, there was a long silence before she replied.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Gee, I'm sorry for not knowing everything. My bad." She said in a mocking way.
"Let's just make a run for it. If we're lucky we won't get hit."
"That's your plan? Just leave it to luck?"
"Got any bright ideas?"
As much as he hated to admit it, that was probably the best course of action they got.
"No…" He admitted reluctantly.
"Then we'll make a break for it once they stop shooting."
"What about Allan?"
"I'll carry him." She replied.
Damn it. This was so not manly of him to make her do all the heavy lifting. He didn't even have a good excuse other than his arms were no different from pool noodles.
"On three." Edith began.
"One." The wind howled wildly.
"Two." Lightning flashed for a brief moment before.
"Three." Thunder roared.
The both of them bolted. Despite carrying Allan, Edith was way faster. Embarrassingly fast.
The sound of wood cracking didn't stop. They were a hair's breath away from getting shot.
At this rate. They might actually make it. This might actually wor-
"Argh!" Edith let out a high-pitched cry, followed by a dull thud, collapsing on the ground.
"They got me." She said through gritted teeth.
"Where?"
"My thigh!" She swore, her voice shaking with every syllable.
"Go! Take Allan. I'll stall them." She barked.
"There's no way I'm leaving you to die." John retorted.
"That's the adventurers' life, Johnny. I knew what I signed up for."
"Don't talk like it's already over! I'm not leaving you!"
"For once will you listen to me!!" She shouted.
"Take Allan and go! There's nothing you can do about it unless you're miraculously able to see in the dark!"
See in the dark… Elemental Sight. That's the only chance he got. Come on focus! It can't be that hard. The traveler got it on their first try. Focus John! Focus!
John closed his eyes, his chest heaving up and down, slowly drawing in deep breaths. The sensation of rain… wind… grass… The feeling of water being sucked up into trees… The sound of critters crawling about… Edith's labored breathing and quickening pulse…
The whole world is connected. Everything i- What's this? This tingling sensation on his skin akin to goosebumps. Wave after wave of chills shooting up his spine. The burning sensation in his core…
'There!' His eyes snapped open.
Before him were four crystal clear silhouettes outlined in blue. No, they were practically glowing. The grass… The trees… He could see it. He could see them.
"John?" Edith whispered, her voice weak and shaky.
"Your eyes…"
"Beautiful, I know."
She chuckled dryly.
"It's going to be alright now." He reassured her unconvincingly.
"I'm going to do something very… stupid"
***
John hid among the grass, crouching so impossibly low he might as well be prone. If he could see them, they could see him.
Hillichurl shooter, one, walked a little too far from the group and was met with a blade to the chest. Dissipating before it could get a squeak out. The sound of its crossbow dropping muffled by thunder overhead.
Hillichurl shooter, two had its back to the tree not accounting for an attack from above.
Hillichurl shooter three and four had their backs to one another. Aware that they were being picked off one by one.
'Damn it!' John cursed, panting as he eyed them from afar. His muscles were so tense to the point they might cramp up at any moment. He had to finish this quickly. Edith was running out of time! But could he take the two shooters head on?
Without realising it, John started to come out of his shell. He had gone from a shut-in to now assassinating hillichurls without much thought.
Time wasn't on his side, he had to act now.
He shifted his weight on each foot, taking in shallow breaths to minimise his presence. His Adam's apple, elevated. A clear sign of his nervousness. Visible beads of sweat formed on his face, blending in with the droplets of rain.
In a single breath, John charged, blade pointed forward like a stick.
Hillichurl shooter, three was caught off guard by John's sudden boldness and aimed, nicking John's ears as it got stabbed in the gut. Hillichurl shooter, four, immediately fired, hitting John in his left shoulder.
John winced in pain, biting his lip to keep him from screaming. This window of opportunity was all he was going to get. This single second would decide his fate.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared. Illuminating the both of them for a brief second as John brought down his blade.