Chapter Text
The breeze blew warm over Mondstadt, announcing the coming of spring's hottest days. The aroma of the tallgrasses hung in the air due to last days' rain and the starry night above was a painting, prettier than what any man could create. The clarity above reflected in scarlett and pale blue respectivally as two sets of small footsteps filled the air.
"Ugh I just don't get it! No matter what i do everyone likes my drinks! I've tried every ingredient there is in Mondstadt!" The small girl grumbled, kicking a pebble as her ears twitched in annoyance
"I'm sure there's some way to.. uhh.."
"-Make dreadfully disgusting coctails and destroy the Mondstadt wine industry!"
Diona sighed looking over to her companion.
"Ooh, have you tried that weird looking plant Big Bro Albedo brought you?" It was one of those rare moments where Klee actually looked thoughtful.
"Yes, yes I have! It didn't work, no use at all. All my little cat ears heard that night was "One more cup of that good stuff!" A soft sigh escaped the young girls' lips.
"I hate this" Diona grumbled and looked over at her companion. She had a detirmined glint in her eyes, one that she'd seen many times before.
"Klee, what are you thinking?" The pink haired girl asked, her voice laced with suspicion mixed with curiousity.
"Klee has the perfect solution for you! Just you wait!" Klee exclaimed, bobbing up and down. Diona raised an eyebrow but decided not to question it, her friend often had rather excentric ideas -something she probably picked up from that alchololic boozehound that was somehow also the Cavalry Captain-.
"Uh.. Okay, just.. just be careful alright?" Everything aside, Diona knew how Klee's plans generally ended: lots of explosions, at least 17 broken clauses of the Ordo Favonious rulebook and a very angry Acting Grand Master.
Her blonde companion giggled "Don't worry! Klee's got this!"
"Alright then.. I suppose… Well then, it's getting late and I want to make it to Springvale before Daddy starts drinking." Diona replied as she bid goodbye at her friend and rushed ahead to grab Margeret's hand ,the bar owner sometimes accompanied Diona to Springvale -something the short girl appreciated, but would never dare admit-. Klee watched her friend for a few seconds before setting off herself.
As much as she usually broke it, she still had a curfew and unfortunately she only had 15 minutes to go and she had a mission to do tommorow so she couldn't afford an angry Acting Grand Master. Klee sprinted towards the Ordo HQ, running through her plan in her head. Diona might've used all the ingrediants in Mondstadt but she definetly hasn't gone to Dragonspine! Well, neither had Klee but she'd heard that Aether had gone there; so it couldn't be that bad! Plus there was bound to be some weird stufff she could bring to her best friend! It would be a quick in and out, a 20 minute adventure. She'd go to Dragonspine, get.. something, come back and give it to Diona and then she'd… Oh! Right! Her Big Bro had promised her breakfast at his house, 11.00 they'd agreed on. Kaeya had even promised Klee her favourite toast and he’d even said that he might make a little suprise for her! Klee's mouth watered just thinking about it, Big Bro Kaeya always made the best breakfasts. Speaking of him..
Klee shouldered open the door to the Ordo Favonious HQ and immediatly ran towards where she knew to be Kaeya's office. "-You have to understand that you have a big impact on her Kaeya, and quite frankly it's more negative than positive!"Oh no, she could hear Jean in his office, was her big bro in trouble? Klee crashed into the door, opening it with such frevor that it ended up crashing into the wall. Jean swung around quickly, eyes widened with surprise while Kaeya didn't seem fazed in the slightest.
"Big Bro Kaeya!" she exclaimed before stopping abdruptly. Oh, right. Klee was supposed to knock. She quickly closed the door and this time, instead of barging in, knocked on the hard wood door.
A few moments later Jean sighed and opened the door. "Come in Klee, but don't forget that your bedtime is in four minutes." She said, offering the young girl a tired smile but not before giving her second in command a pointed look.
"I won't!" Klee said quickly and side stepped the Acting Grand Master as she ran over to her big bro and jumped into his arms. Klee could faintly hear Jean let out an exaspered breath and softly close the door.
"Hey there my little clover," Kaeya said hugging back small bundle of bright red in his arms. Klee giggled and pulled back to face him, she tried to smile but instead all that came out was a small yawn.
"I just wanted to make sure you didn't forget breakfast tommorow!" The Cavalry Captain chuckled fondly as he ruffled her hair "How could I forget breakfast with my dearest Klee." He said as he got up from his chair, Klee still in his arms.
"Let's get you to bed now shall we? You best get some rest, I might have a little surprise for you after breakfast as well." He teased as he pushed the door open "What is it?" Klee immediatly perked up, looking at her big bro expectantly, to which Kaeya replied with a smirk "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you now, would it?" She whined and pouted but didn't argue "Okaaaay, fine."
As the two approached solitary confinement, or at this point Klee's room, Wood opened the door and gave a formal salute to the Cavalry Captain to which he replied with a dip of his head since he had his hands full. Upon entering the room Kaeya closed the door behind him using his foot and softly dropped Klee onto her bed, helping her get changed into her pyjamas. Tucking the small girl in, he made a move to leave only to be stopped by said girl gripping onto his fur cloak
"Could you read me a story?" Klee asked somewhat shyly. A small smile tugged at his lips as he grabbed what he knew to be her favorite story book. "No,no not like that. Klee wants you to tell a story." The Cavalry Captain raised an eyebrow "Oh? And what would you like the story to be about?" He asked, now fully smiling. Klee though for a moment before exclaiming "Oooh! How about a dragon, aand.. A pirate crew! Oh oh and a detective that always catches the bad guys!" Kaeya feigned distress as he spoke "My, that's a tall order.. But for my little clover I shall oblige." Klee beamed at him as she hugged her Dodoco plush, not the one on her bag; this one was even bigger. Kaeya cleared his throat and begun his story of dragons, pirates and detectives..
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
The early morning sunlight, soft and diffuse, gave way to the first strong rays of light through the bright red curtains of the Spark Knight's room; landing on her uncovered face awaking her from a gentle slumber. She let out a small grumble and raised herself from the warm embrace of the red checkered blanket, a gift from Ms. Lisa she'd gotten on her birthday. Klee yawned dangling her feet down from her bed and softly landing on the carpetted floor. She stretched her limbs and glanced over at the watch on her wall, her big bros had taught her how to read it. Narrowing her eyes and focusing, she came to the conclusion that it was about 6 AM, the small knight smiled, she was getting faster. Oh! That reminded her, she had a super secret mission to do. Klee quickly threw on her usual attire but this time wore thermal stockings to at least keep her legs warm in Dragonspine, speaking of the mountain.. Grabbing her backpack she reluctantly took out most of her treasures and indstead placed the flashlight her Big Bro Albedo had gotten her, a box of cookies and a big bottle of water. She threw on her backpack, now significantly lighter as she didn't have her treasures in it. Before running out the door she grabbed her catalyst, Skyward.. something. Whatever, she'd ponder the name later, right now she had a mission to accomplish!
By some miracle by the Seven, she managed to make it out of the HQ and the main city gardens, without running in to anyone. Usually she'd take the main path out, but as Big Bro Kaeya told her "The main bridge is always guarded, if you want to go fish blasting -which you shouldn't- take the side exit." Remembering his words, Klee took a turn left and ran over to where Hertha would usually be stationed. As it was still quite early Hertha wasn't there yet, realizing her opprutunity she burst out the side exit and ran over to the makeshift dock. Looking around she spotted a boat, now normally she wouldn't take something without permission because Klee was a good girl and she knew better. But this time there was no other way to get across aside from swimming which she couldn't do because both her big bros, Jean, Lisa, Noelle and… well many others had warned Klee that swimming alone was very dangerous and wasn't something a good girl would do. Well there was one other way, she thought as she climbed into the boat.
She smiled as she remembered the last Ludi Harpastum. Jean had grounded her because she'd accidentally blown up part of Mona's house, thankfully the young prodigy had long forseen this and wasn't home, that meant she wouldn't be able to see the fireworks that night. Or at least she shouldn'tve been able to. Her Big Bro Kaeya had broken her out of solitary confinement once again much to Wood's dismay. Not that he could've done anything to stop him, Big Bro Kaeya was a captain and he wasn't afraid to pull rank if he had to. The two of them had taken the left exit ,not the one Hertha was stationed at, and Kaeya had created an ice bridge to get across the water. After that the two of them may or may not have went over near a small cliff near Brightcrown Mountains and watched the fireworks together alongside Razor, Bennet and Fischl.
Klee was pulled out of her thoughts as she crashed into a small rock, it wasn't enough to break the boat thankfully. Realizing she was now at the shore, she climbed out of the boat and did her best to pull it onto land so it wouldn't drift away. Taking out the map she always had tucked in her bright red coat. Looking at the map and pondering, she drew a route to Dragonspine with her marker she also kept in her coat, identifying the route she took off. She giggled to herself, she felt like Big Bro Kaeya. Sometimes he'd let her spend solitary confinement with him, during those times she'd watch him draw routes and circles onto the big Mondstadt map he kept in his office. Sometimes, both her big bros would work together to make her treasure maps! Kaeya would make the map, Albedo the treasure itselft and the two of them together would write the riddles. Klee could always tell who wrote the riddles because Kaeya's ones were always harder. Oh! That reminded her, while she was at Dragonspine she might as well grab something for her big bros as well. Humming to herself she pondered on what she could get her big bros. Oooh, maybe Klee could get a plant for Albedo, but what about Kaeya..
Klee was dragged out of her thoughts with a loud bang, immediatly turning towards the noise catalyst at hand she spotted Bennet fighting a group of hillichurls. Or at least he was, one of the hillichurl shooters had shot the pyro barrel behing the ill fated adventurer sending him flying. Klee rushed forward to help, but at that moment the mitachurl raised its axe; aiming to strike down Benny. Klee gasped as she willed her legs to work faster, without her treasures she'd have to use her catalyst the traditional way. The mitachurl swung its axe, only to freeze mid strike. Klee was confused, could Benny command the hillichurls?
"Shadow raven! Let. Night. Fall!" And with that thunder struck down the remaining hillichurls, with a final strike of the night raven's talons paired with a well aimed arrow the mitachurl collapsed. Oh. Nevermind Klee thought as she watched what just happened. Coming to a halt she looked around the now cleared camp and the girl dressed in purple rushing towards Bennett. Oh! Right! The girl dressed in purple was.. Fish? No wait.. Fischl! Yes that was it, an actual princess of some nation she couldn't pronounce.
"Princess! Benny!" Klee exclaimed as she ran towards the pair. Both raised her heads to find the source of the noise, Bennett was the first to recognize her. "Hey Klee!" Benny smiled and replied as he grabbed Fischl's hand so she could pull him up. "Dusk and dawn but fleeting shadows are. Once more, the twists of fate have led you into my everlasting night. To what do I owe this pleasure to, Spark Knight?" The prinzessin spoke, flicking her wrist and pushing the hair that was on her hair back. Seeing Klee's confused expression Oz translated "Mein Fraulein means 'Hello.'"
"Oh! Hi Princess! Klee has a super secret and super super important mission, so I have to go! If Jean asks for me I was never here!" Klee replied remembering her mission and running past them before either could make a move to stop her. Glancing behind her for a moment she saw Bennet and Fischl exchange a look. Klee grinned thanked the Anemo archon as Barbara had taught her to do, dashing forward and continued her journey towards the sunrise, and by extension Dragonspine.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Tired and a little bruised from her scirmishes with hillichurls Klee eventually arrived at what seemed to be an abandoned campsite, a human one this time. Looking around she spotted a women dressed up in the traditional adventurers' clothes. As she looked the adventurer up and down, said adventurer took notice of the small girl dressed in red.
"Hello sweetheart, are you lost?" She asked with a polite smile. "Hm? Oh! Klee's not lost!" The small knight put her hands on her hips, a glint of pride in her eyes. "But.. What happened to your camp?"
"Oh, we were doing research in Dragonspine but we've gathered all the data we needed. Now we're heading back to the Adventurers' Guild. And what are you doing, dear?"
Klee was a good girl and she knew she 'shouldn't lie unless she absolutely has to or has something to gain' -as her Big Bro Kaeya had taught her- but at the same time her other big bro had taught her to always trust her gut and right now she felt like if she were to tell the truth she'd get sent back to Mondstadt.
"Umm… Klee's just waiting for her friend, Razor. I wanted to give him a few sunsettias and there's a tree right.. There!" The short girl replied pointing at the tree behind the two.
"I'll leave you to it then. Ah, It's already 1 PM, the others must be waiting for me. Stay safe." The adventurer smiled and rushed ahead as Klee subtly celebrated her small victory that quickly got washed away with a wave of realisation. 1 PM, that means she missed breakfast with her Big Bro.. He must've gotten angry that she didn't show, or worst dissapointed. The Spark Knight contemplated going back as she walked over to the sunsettia tree picking a fruit and sitting down to pull out her cookies, mulling over this thought.
After a much needed snack Klee got up and continued towards the mountain, she'd come this far, might as well make the most of it. Slowly walking towards the towering beheamoth she realised how big it really was. She took a deep breath and walked into the snow covered plain, she wasn't scared and she could do this!
Despite the noon sun shining bright, there were gray clouds gathering around and the snowflakes began to fall slowly and steadily from a sky without wind. The snow landed on her face freezing her delicate skin and she sneezed. Perhaps this wasn't going to be as easy as she as she'd hoped..
Klee couldn't feel her fingers. Or legs. Or anything for that matter. The snow became so thick that the trees appeared as if they were flakes that danced. Everywhere there was light the snowflakes reflected the now somewhat obscured rays from above. The mountain path grew wide where the snow was tall and then narrow in the rocky passes, half the time she couldn't even see the path. But it always led upward to the peak. Klee knew she wouldn't make it alive if she were to head there. In fact she wasn't even sure she'd make it out alive now. Her vission blured. Cold. So cold.
Through her specked vision she saw a bright flash of red. Red. Red meant warmth. A fire perhaps? Slowly but steadily she made her way towards the redness. As she got closer she heard voices.. Her Big Bro Kaeya's words about being vigilant rang hollow in her ears as she stumbled towards the red. Getting closer she realized it wasn't a fire.. It was… What was it? A bright red cavern and a vibrant flaming crimson.. thing in the middle.
She could mearly make outr the form of a big blue blob, the Fatui? Her vision blurred, the voices became panicked and urgent. Something cold pressed against her head
A gun? Her gut told her to fight, run, escape but all she managed was a measly sob as she blacked out in the snow.