Chapter Text
When the morning came, it was sunny and warm and, blessedly, rain-free. The ground was still soft from last night’s rains, but the birds sang sweetly in the trees and even the rough and tumble winds that blew out of Old Mondstadt had softened to gentle, mild breezes. Sucrose opened her eyes to the sound of clattering outside the tent. Noelle was nowhere to be seen - she’d already rolled up her sleeping bag, apparently. Rubbing her eyes, Sucrose sat up, finding her glasses and shoving them onto her face as she yawned. Her back ached, and her neck was stiff. How had humanity survived before the invention of the mattress? She longed for her soft bed back in her Mondstadt apartment, and her cat-shaped pillow.
Crawling out of the tent, Sucrose discovered Noelle, who was already dressed and ready for the day, her hair already done up in her traditional partially braided style. In comparison, Sucrose, still in her rumpled uniform and with her hair a knotted nest at the nape of her neck, looked like she’d never been a part of polite society. Regardless, Noelle gave her a sunny smile.
“Good morning! I’m getting breakfast ready for us. And I brought back some water from the lake for you to wash up.” She gestured to a small bucket full of clear water. “How do you like your eggs?”
“Um...any way is good. Thank you, Noelle,” Sucrose murmured, finding herself overwhelmed. She retreated back into the tent, finding a change of clothes and yanking her brush through her hair, before going to wash her face. The splash of water woke her up some, but Sucrose found herself yearning for a cup of coffee. She’d always started her morning with one...or three. But she supposed it would be difficult to brew in the middle of the woods.
The smell of eggs cooking drifted over to Sucrose as she stuck her head out of the tent, who realized how hungry she was when her stomach growled angrily. Plus, Noelle's cooking was always a treat. Sucrose joined her at the campfire, only to be immediately handed a plate of food. "Eat up! We've got a long day ahead of us."
"Thank you, Noelle. You are truly a lifesaver." Sucrose sat cross-legged on the grass, popping a bite of egg into her mouth. Noelle hummed as she finished up cooking her own meal, and Sucrose found she liked listening to what was clearly a habit for her companion. It was homey and relaxing.
"Did you sleep well?" Noelle questioned, sitting down and starting to eat herself.
Sucrose nodded, swallowing. "Not the best sleep of my life, but it'll do. How about you?"
"I feel surprisingly refreshed, actually. Maybe that aspect of this trip won't be too hard."
"I hope so." Sucrose had been alternating between hopeful and despondent ever since Albedo had told her the truth, and currently, she was leaning towards the latter. She picked glumly at the remains of her eggs. Sensing her companion's gloom, Noelle hurriedly finished eating before she stretched her arms up above her head with a contented sigh. "I've got one little treat, before we set off." Rummaging about in her pack, Noelle produced a small container that she opened to reveal a selection of berries - before jumping in surprise. The berries were still tinged green. "Oh. They're not ripe yet. I'm sorry, Sucrose,” she said, embarrassed. She made to put the container away again, but Sucrose, finding she didn't like that disappointed expression, put out a hand to stop her. "Wait! I, um, I have something for this!"
Going back to the tent, Sucrose took two vials out of her belongings. She poured one into the other, swirling them together to produce a frothy, dark green mixture. Taking the berries from Noelle, she poured the mixture over them - and in short order the berries, drinking in this food, appeared to ripen. Noelle, amazed, started to clap. “So this is something alchemy can do?”
Sucrose, blushing furiously, handed the container back. “Yes. Among, um, many other things. I wanted to make something like this because, um, well, sometimes when I buy fruit I forget about it, and it goes bad...this makes it so I can buy slightly unripe fruit and then eat it when I want….I guess it’s silly, but-”
“Not at all!” Noelle broke in. She’d bitten off a bit of one of the berries, and a broad smile was illuminating her face. “Sucrose, this is positively genius to have with us on a trip like this.”
“Y-you really think so?”
Noelle nodded earnestly, patting the grass next to her. “I do. It means we can enjoy some of the wild fruit we find as well, after all.”
Letting out a relieved sigh, Sucrose sat. “That’s what I was thinking it might be good for. I’m glad you agree.”
Noelle smiled again, handing Sucrose a berry plump and bright red as a ruby. “I’m glad to be traveling with someone as skilled as you.”
After packing up, within an hour of travel Sucrose and Noelle were completely out of Mondstadt - and perhaps more alarmingly, they were in land populated by nobody. The space between Mondstadt and Khaenri’ah had never been settled, for it was either lake or thin, rocky soil in which crops would not take root. The only sign of human influence were the remains of the road they followed, and even that was fading away.
But where humans could not find purchase, animal life flourished. The trees were a riot of birdsong, and vegetation grew thickly. Sucrose found herself itching to collect samples, but stopped herself with a stern reminder that they would wither long before she got back to the lab. Maybe, once Albedo was better, they could make a special trip out here. Once Albedo is better. She held to that wish desperately.
They were in a wide open meadow, thick with wildflowers and heavy with the smell of the earth, following the nearly faded remains of the ancient road that had run from Khaenri’ah to Mondstadt. The ground was still soft from yesterday’s rain. A wide river, lazy and slow-moving, ran next to them. Sucrose wondered what it would have been like to travel this road when it was still in use. She could imagine the sound of carts, heavy with goods from Mondstadt and Khaenri’ah, rattling by; the gentle plodding of hooves; greetings passed from stranger to stranger. Maybe friends would have met on this road, and stopped for lunch, just like they had. It was all guesswork now: all the memories of that time were long gone, consigned to be remembered only by the stone beneath their feet.
Sucrose was trudging up a hill behind Noelle when the knight-to-be suddenly flung her arm out, stopping her in her tracks. “Hold on! There’s a hilichurl camp down there,” Noelle whispered, crouching down. Sucrose followed suit. Peeking over the crest of the hill from between the long grasses, she could see the wood and canvas huts, and the rickety watchtower of wood and rope and bone that the hilichurls favored.
“Can we sneak past?” Sucrose asked softly. Noelle, biting her lip as she thought, eventually shook her head.
“We can try, but I don’t think so. The river’s too wide to cross, and there’s nothing to really hide behind…”
“Let’s go far to the other side, then, and just try to keep low?” Sucrose suggested, and at that, Noelle nodded.
“We’ll try that, but just be prepared for them to notice us anyways. I’ll go ahead.”
Bent low, the two of them started to wade through the long grasses, moving as quickly and quietly as possible. Sucrose’s heart was beating loud in her ears. She’d fought them before, sure, but it had always been with the assistance of Albedo. She’d never fought with Noelle before, and wasn’t sure if it would go as smoothly. Don’t be silly. Noelle is just as capable as Mr. Albedo, Sucrose admonished herself. Nobody with Noelle’s level of dedication to the Knights could ever be a slouch in battle.
The treeline was in sight when a cry rose from the camp. Noelle sucked in a breath. “Sucrose, get down!” In an instant her claymore was in her hands, her Vision flaring as a shield coalesced around her. None too soon, for an arrow arced through the air towards them, only to bounce harmlessly off the shield and land on the ground. Sucrose yelped, dropping to the ground and cowering behind Noelle, who took a defensive stance, waiting. Two of the hilichurls were running towards them, waving their clubs, while three of them hung back, crossbows in hand.
Looking up at Noelle, Sucrose could see that her expression was focused determination. And when the two foremost attackers drew close, Noelle dove in, swinging her claymore in a powerful arc that sent one of them flying immediately. Though she may not have been the fastest on her feet in battle, her shield protected her from the blows of the other hilichurl as she whirled around, bringing her blade up.But as she did so, the three hilichurls in the distance began to ready their arrows. Sucrose would have to act to defend her friend.
Scrambling to her feet, Sucrose started running towards them. “Stop!” she cried, flinging her hand out as pure Anemo energy coalesced beneath the hilichurls, flinging them up into the air before they had a chance to fire their weapons. Sucrose skidded to a stop, her breath catching. She’d done it! But as they began to pick themselves back up and turn their gaze on her, Sucrose realized she was going to need another plan.
Panicking and looking back over towards Noelle, she saw that one of the hilichurls was still seemingly down for the count, but the other, persistent, was gaining the upper hand. Noelle was too slow, and her foe was too quick. If only it could be knocked down for good measure….
“Noelle! Over here!” Sucrose yelled, jumping up and down and waving her hands. Noelle looked up in confusion, but, seeing Sucrose flailing her arms, chose to listen. Spinning sharply, Noelle began to run, the hilichurl hot on her heels. Sucrose had produced a bottle of a volatile-looking concoction, and the moment Noelle drew close she threw the vial to the ground. It shattered, and an unearthly butterfly erupted from the remains, pulling in the hilichurls and tossing them violently into the air. More importantly, all four of them were in one place. Noelle understood. Hefting her claymore, the rest were quick work.
The battle was over. While Noelle leaned against her claymore, catching her breath, Sucrose looked around at the camp. It had been so short, so violent, an encounter, but together, they’d managed it. “Are you hurt?” she asked Noelle, who shook her head with a relieved smile.
“Not even a scratch. How about you?”
Sucrose looked herself over carefully, but she couldn’t find a single stitch out of place in her uniform. “I’m...fine, actually.” Catching Noelle’s gaze, she grinned. "Wow...you're so strong, Noelle! If you weren't here, I don't know what I would have done."
"Actually, I feel like you did most of the work. Without you knocking them down, I think they would have been too fast for me." She giggled. "I guess this is what Bennett means when he says teamwork is dreamwork."
Sucrose had rarely ever spoken to Bennett, but she recalled his infectious catchphrase with a tiny, embarrassed laugh. "I guess so."
As her giggles faded, Noelle surveyed the camp, then nodded. "Right, then. Let's get out of here fast in case they had any friends away from the camp."
The rest of the day passed quietly, and that evening, it rained once again. But they were warm and safe inside their tent, and when the morning came, both women were in high spirits, the trepidation they'd felt washed away by the euphoria of the journey. Even the overcast sky and occasional showers of misty rain couldn't dampen their spirits.
They were back in a forest. The path had long since disappeared entirely, choked out by the trees and the passage of time, leaving Noelle and Sucrose to cautiously pick their way among twisted tree roots and gnarled branches. The trees echoed with a riot of birdsong, and a lingering curtain of drizzly rain fell, giving rise to a misty, wispy fog that made the whole place feel otherworldly.
Sucrose had gone ahead - her wide-ranging knowledge about plant life suited her for the role, lest they accidentally stumble headfirst into a poisonous thicket. Scrambling up a hill, Sucrose paused for a moment to lean against a tree and catch her breath. The path down was similarly steep, but there were enough points where the roots jutted out to embrace a small ledge of earth that she figured they could carefully pick their way down to the bottom. Still…
“Be careful,” she called behind her to Noelle. “This is pretty steep.”
“Got it!” Noelle responded, unsticking her skirt once again from a thorny branch. Perhaps she should have worn a different uniform. Then again, Sucrose wasn’t having the same problem with her long cape, which always seemed to swish precisely out of danger of getting caught. Was it a little nudge from her Vision? Or maybe it was something more mundane, like the way it was cut...
A yelp, followed by the sound of cracking branches, interrupted Noelle’s wandering thoughts. She inhaled sharply. “Sucrose!”
Sucrose had slipped and tumbled down the hill. She lay curled at the bottom, gripping her ankle. “I’m coming! Hold on,” Noelle called down. She gripped tightly to the trees as she picked her way down, trying to both move quickly and not succumb to the same fate. “Are you okay?” she asked breathlessly, kneeling at Sucrose’s side once she’d alighted on solid ground once more. “Let me see your ankle.”
Gingerly, Sucrose moved her hand, revealing a rapidly swelling, bruised ankle. Noelle winced. She’d clearly twisted it. “It hurts,” Sucrose said in a strained voice, trying not to cry. “I don’t...I don’t think I can walk.”
“You don’t have to.” In a swift motion, Noelle gathered Sucrose into her arms, ignoring her cry of protest. “Let’s find a place to camp, and I’ll bandage you up.”
Sucrose leaned her head against Noelle’s chest as she hurried through the trees. Wow, she’s really strong. To Noelle, Sucrose must weigh almost nothing. She felt her cheeks grow warm again. It felt nice to be carried like this.
Finding an open clearing, Noelle sent Sucrose down gently, leaning her against a sturdy tree. “Does it still hurt?”
“Yes,” Sucrose admitted. “A lot…” She hated to admit it, but this was probably the worst pain she’d ever been in, even more than when she’d fallen trying to harvest some violetgrass.
“Sit still, then.” Noelle rummaged through her bag. She was gentle and thorough in her ministrations, and once Sucrose’s ankle had been cleaned and bandaged up tightly to be set at the right angle, she straightened up, standing. “Now, for the tent…”
“I’m sorry,” Sucrose murmured, glum. “I should have taken my own advice I guess.”
“Oh, please don’t worry about it!” Noelle protested. “Bad things happen. You’ll be right as rain soon enough.”
Sucrose closed her eyes, listening to Noelle buzz around and set up camp. She had gotten even more efficient at it over the past few days, and soon enough, she even had a fire going. The sound of Noelle’s gentle voice, talking to herself as she debated what to make for dinner, accompanied by the clatter of cookware and the crackle of the fire, lulled her into a gentle half-sleep. This is nice...I wish I could have gone camping with Noelle without all this….
As she laid out some of the preserved sausages Noelle had brought from Mondstadt, she raised her eyes to where Sucrose sat under the tree. The alchemist’s eyes were closed, her head leaning forward on her chest which rose and fell with soft, steady breaths. She was sound asleep, Noelle realized, and a tiny smile flitted across her face. She crossed over to her, carefully removing Sucrose’s glasses and tucking them away, before covering her with a blanket. And then, without thinking, she pressed a tiny, fleeting kiss to the top of her head.
When Sucrose awoke, the sky was dark and full of stars. The fire was still lit, and Noelle sat next to it, a map spread open on her lap. She looks tired, Sucrose realized with a start. How late was it? “Noelle?” she asked softly, and Noelle looked up, a glad smile brightening her face.
“Oh, you’re awake. How’s your ankle?” Her voice was tender and warm.
“It still aches, but it’s not that bad.” Sucrose sat up, rubbing her ankle. It was tender to the touch yet, and she winced. Noelle stood, and went to join her. “Why are you still awake?”
“I didn’t want to wake you up to go into the tent,” Noelle admitted.
“You wouldn’t have bothered me,” Sucrose protested, but Noelle just shook her head.
“It’s fine. Anyways, I figured I’d check our route on the map. We’re over halfway there. Isn’t that great? We’re making great time.”
Hearing that, Sucrose smiled, but her spirits quickly fell. “Still, I don’t think I can walk…” as if to demonstrate, she started to try and stand, but Noelle stopped her.
“Don’t push it. Let’s get into the tent.” Draping Sucrose’s arm across her shoulders, Noelle stood, and Sucrose hobbled alongside her into the tent. Gently, Noelle helped her to lay down in her sleeping bag, and even tucked a blanket in around her. Sucrose lay still, unsure of how to react beyond a mumbled series of ‘thank you’s.
Noelle sat next to her, starting to remove her armor piece by piece. Once she’d done so, she opened up a small cleaning kit, starting to wash all of the muck and grime of the road off piece by piece. Sucrose watched her, how her brow knitted in concentration.
“Noelle, why do you spend so much time cleaning?” Sucrose finally dared to ask. “I mean, you almost never seem to have any time to do anything else with how detailed you are. I always thought I was tidy, but I’m a slob compared to you.”
“Well…” Noelle’s tone was thoughtful. She held up one of her gauntlets, looking at how it gleamed in the lantern light. “I think a tidy environment reflects a tidy mind. I don’t know how anybody could think clearly when everything’s a mess. And when you clean something, you get a result right away, based entirely on the work you put into it.” She sighed, looking wistful. “You don’t need to wait to hear how you did, and there’s no confusion over what you did wrong. I like seeing how the windows sparkle in the morning.”
“They certainly sparkle a lot when you clean them, Noelle. But don’t you get tired? Don’t you just want to relax and read a book sometimes?”
“Of course, but I just have to get faster at cleaning, then. When I started my cleaning regimen, I never had a minute of free time. But now I do have time to read books. And every day I get just a little bit faster. If I don’t have the discipline to clean, how can I have the discipline to join the Knights?” Noelle questioned, as she examined her last piece of armor.
Sucrose found herself trying to sit up. “Noelle, you’ll work yourself to death eventually! Please, you need to slow down just a little bit. When we get back, let’s go have lunch at Good Hunter sometime. And you can’t help clear the table.” She tried to sound firm, but it was cut off by a yawn.
Noelle blinked in surprise, then laughed. “Okay, okay. We can do that. But for now, you should get back to sleep. Good night, Sucrose.” She leaned over and extinguished the lantern, plunging them both into darkness. Sucrose felt Noelle’s weight settle as she laid down, and Sucrose almost instinctively pressed up against her. Instead, she pulled away, almost to the edge of the tent, wondering if that wasn’t a small sigh of disappointment she heard Noelle make.