Chapter Text
Noctua Chapter: Act I
By A Hare's Breath
“Captain Diluc!”
Diluc spared a glance over his shoulder. Across the training yard, an elderly man marched with a stomping gait which would have been a Mitachurl to shame. Soldiers wavered in Diluc’s peripherals but he was acutely aware of the eyes on him as the man approached. Diluc tipped his head when he noticed a bobbing red ribbon poking out from behind his wide frame.
Shouting, scraping metal, and thudded strikes fell silent once he stopped before Diluc. The Outrider Division’s medallion emblazoned on his chest shone in the early morning sun; its glare covered as the outrider pressed his fist over his heart.
“I apologize for the interruption,” he said. His head lowered in a respectful bow, and between the thin grey-black locks lining his temples, a balding spot shone like a polished blade.
Diluc was a little ashamed to admit he recognized him immediately upon seeing it. Although he knew him by rank, their first meeting was interrupted by the untimely arrival of a bird’s nest falling out of a tree. It landed in that very spot and while the outrider gaped, Diluc struggled not to laugh. Saved by the grace of a few trembling leaves falling from the tree overhead, their attention diverted to its trembling boughs. Diluc did think it was unusual, considering bird nests normally didn’t fall out of nowhere.
However, the outrider grimaced knowingly and turned sharp eyes up to the tree boughs where a bird’s distressed chirping was matched by a child’s frantic shushing. After a few hissed words and stern glaring, Diluc was treated to the sight of a little girl crawling down the tree’s bark. A vague sense of deja vu overcoming him as he watched her dig her heel against the tree’s roots with a sheepish smile.
Golden eyes, lidded and downcast, rounded and widened at the sight of him. Her mouth fell open and the sheepish timidity was replaced by something else Diluc couldn’t quite put his finger on. What he did know was that this girl would be a bit of trouble. If not a nice reprieve from the monotony of his duties.
Snapping back to the present, Diluc smiled politely. “No need, Outrider Kongsang,” He peered around him to where the small girl hiding behind him could barely be seen. “It is good to see you as well, Amber.”
She squeaked, ducking behind her grandfather’s leg. A few of the soldiers around them dissolved into hushed chuckles and murmurs, and Kongsang shook his head. He motioned for Diluc to come closer, and he did so. Diluc tipped his head to allow his ear while Kongsang muttered to him in a low voice. “She insisted there was something she needed to tell you. I’m aware how important your time is, but I ask that you entertain the girl for a moment…”
Diluc hummed. He pulled back and nodded in agreement, glancing down to where a single golden eye peeked from behind Kongsang’s leg, quickly darting back like a rabbit hiding in its burrow. An understanding smile curled at his lips and Diluc stepped aside then sank down to one knee. The field quieted once more. Few who were attempting to at least put up a guise of training slowed their lazy assaults to listen in.
Immediately aware of the sluggish behavior, Diluc feigned glancing over his shoulder and those gawking hastened to pick up their weapons in a clatter of metal.
He shook his head. “When you’re an Outrider like your grandfather, remember that hard work is important even if no one is watching,” he turned back to Amber who stared up at him starry-eyed. “Alright, Amber?”
Amber straightened up at the attention and Diluc could have sworn the tips of her ribbon perked up. “I will,” she said proudly, flashing a grin up to Kongsang.
Diluc caught her grandfather’s withering glance toward him and hiked his shoulders in a half-hearted shrug outside of Amber's preening view. There was a time where he begged his father to teach him the sword, and only after wearing him down did Diluc finally get his wish. If anything, he could understand Amber’s plight more than her grandfather’s. He cleared his throat then settled his hands atop of his knee, smiling down at her. “So, what is it you had to tell me?”
Amber looked away from Kongsang to Diluc, her lips pulled to one side and eyes squinted in confusion. Then as if suddenly remembering, her mouth fell open then snapped shut a few times. She seemed to notice her unflattering gape when he hummed inquisitively, her lips twisting into an almost pained grimace. Pink dusted her cheeks and she stared down at her boots, scraping a small hole in the dirt with her heel.
The dalliances grated on her grandfather’s nerves faster than Diluc’s own, a rough clearing of his throat bringing both of their eyes to him. “Amber,” Kongsang started. “Captain Diluc is a busy man, if you have something to say, it’d be best to do it now.”
Amber took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, standing as tall as she could. Then with a shout that rung in Diluc’s eardrums she cried, “Please go out with me!”
Kongsang choked on a breath and the sparring stopped, a hushed silence fell on the field where only the wind and Amber’s deep panting breaths could be heard. Even Diluc was stunned into silence, staring blankly at the girl. He knew he should have said something but he hadn’t expected her to ask that. Especially not with that much fervor.
Numbly, he muttered, “… Pardon?”
Once the words were said, a fire lit in Amber’s eyes and she hopped forward on one foot, her hands clasped in fists in front of her. “I saved up a lot and lot of Mora for a sticky honey roast from Good Hunter’s, but grandpa has a lot of work to do and I can’t eat it all by myself … or go by myself … s-so I thought Captain Diluc might like sticky honey roast and…”
She rambled on and Diluc half-listened, vaguely attuned to the conversations around them.
“… Poor girl, doesn’t know what she’s getting into…”
“No way is the Captain gonna go for this…”
“… Sticky honey roast, is she serious…?”
“She’s just a kid…”
Diluc closed his eyes, making up his mind in an instant. His lips quirked up in a wry smile, and he rose to his feet, effectively cutting off the chatter and Amber’s murmurings. Her eyes followed him and she looked disheartened at his silence, the tips of her ribbon drooping slightly.
Well, he couldn’t have that.
Turning to Kongsang, he smiled warmly. “Then, I should be asking your permission, shouldn’t I?”
Amber’s eyes lit up as her grandfather’s and the rest of the soldier’s faces fell in shock. Inside, Diluc couldn’t help but laugh.
Oh, this was going to be an evening to remember indeed.