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“Maybe we should stop here,” getting her voice to get heard is hard, around the bitter and cold winds of Dragonspine howl and scream, “it has been already hours since we passed the Fatui camp, and the last trail we found was the one before we started to climb the mountain.”
Diluc is but a mere steps away from her, but with the way that he has to turn and even bend down a little to her, it’s clear that he’s having trouble hearing her over the sound of the cruel winds.
“And judging by the clouds there’s a high chance that a snowstorm will soon start.” Diluc looks up, and he frowns, so focused he had been on their mission that he hadn’t taken note of the worsening climate. He nods and walks toward her.
“The Fatui may have realized about the incoming snowstorm hours ago, maybe the reason as to why they left their camp.” A solid motive, she agrees, there had been no sign of struggle or of a fight once they arrived at the abandoned camp, but by the way that the things had been left it was clear that the place was abandoned in a hurry.
“And so they left in search of refuge.” She finishes his sentence.
“But I fail to understand.” slowly and with time against them, they begin their descent, if the snowstorm were to catch them while still up in the mountain, they would be left with no refuge, and the chances of the winds throwing them down were too high.
“If they were in search of a refugee against the snowstorm, why go up the path that directs to the foot of the mountain?” She gives some seconds to think about Dilic’s question.
“Hidden caves,” it’s her answer, but for her, it also comes as a revelation, “the last trail was just before starting the way up the mountain, and ever since we started climbing it, we have seen no other sight of the Fatui.”
Diluc’s proximity helps to fight against the cold, she’s not as susceptible to the elements as a normal human, but she still isn’t invulnerable, “They are really hard to find, but the truth is that the mountains all around Dragonspine are full of caves and holes.”
At her side Diluc hums. “Considering our situation one of those hidden caves would be a total blessing for us. There’s no way that we’ll be able to leave Dragonspine before the snowstorm begins.”
Diluc is right, the snowstorm will begin by the time that they manage to climb down the mountain, and then there’s still some hours of walk to leave Dragonspine. It would be wiser to arrive at the foot of the mountain and search for a safe place than do the foolishness that would be trying to leave Dragonspine while the snowstorm is over them.
“Considering all the exploring you have done in the area, you probably know the zone better than me. Do you recall any cave in the proximity, or at least a place in which we can find refuge?”
“Let me think…” there’s the cave by the lake that they passed, “not there,” they don’t have time, to reach it they would need to come down the mountain and then walk at least for an hour, “maybe…” it’s not exactly a cave, it’s just a hole that was carved into the side of the mountain, but at least it would provide them protection, “no, not possible,” right, the Hillichurl camp, it’s a rather large one, and fighting during the snowstorm it’s only asking for an accident to happen.
The wind picks up, and she moves closer to Diluc, their bodies touching. He says nothing and leaves her to her thinking.
“Right! I know where! The forest we saw before climbing, it will be hard moving through it, but in the middle, we’ll find a little stream, we’ll have to follow it, and we will end at the foot of another mountain, with a cave at its base.”
The problem with arriving at the cave is that the zone is hidden by a dense forest, and even on the days in which, the sun is shining above the place is submerged in shadows. Following the stream is truly the only way at arriving without getting lost.
“Then we better hurry, at least by the look of the forest even if the snowstorm begins it will somewhat offer us some protection.”
The sky quickly darkens, both by the set of the sun and the snowstorm that gains traction by every second, the winds are starting to blow with no mercy by the time they arrive at the bottom of the mountain.
Once leaving the mountain they practically run all the way to the forest, once inside Diluc lets Lumine to lead, she knows the place best and knows where their destination lies.
Just as they expected the snowstorm then hits, and traveling through the forest becomes harder, but they keep going on, they have no other option.
“Where almost there.” Currently, Lumine is more worried for Diluc, at the end, even with his Vision Diluc is still human, the limits for the cold weather between both of them are vastly different, and aside from the annoyance that comes with the strong winds making walking hard, and the snow hitting her, the truth is that Lumine is currently doing well, the only thing she feels is a prickling in her hands, probably as a result of the worry she has been carrying ever since they began their mission.
“There! Can you see it?”
It’s almost impossible to, that with the cave naturally hidden by the tress and because of the ongoing storm, but after some seconds of squinting and concentration Diluc nods, and then both are once again running towards it.
Stepping into is an immediate relief, neither the wind nor snow are able to enter, and while the cave is still cold, by leagues it is lesser that the one outside.
There is not much to it, snow that piles at the entrance, the little stream runs along until it ends ups disappearing amongst a minuscule crack in the rock, there’s really nothing in which they would be able to sit comfortably but at least the rock of the one the floor and walls are made off is smooth, and while still hard and cold, won’t stab against their bodies.
Walking towards the farthest wall against the entrance Lumine lets herself fall to the ground, legs crossed and arms crossed over her chest she closes in on herself, and when Diluc goes to sit at her side, she leans against him.
His higher temperature obtained thanks to his vision is a nice plus.
“We should probably get some sleep, who knows how long it will take for the storm to go down.”
Diluc nods, “I’ll take the first watch.”
She wriggles a little in her place, trying to get comfortable, when she does, she finds herself slowly dozing off. A yawn takes over her, and she stretches her arms in front of her.
And as she does Diluc lets out a gasp.
“Lumine! Your hands!”
She’s stopped mid-yawn by Diluc’s hands grabbing hers, taking them close to his face he examines them, and after a while, he gently removes her gloves. As he keeps on watching the frown that appeared on his face keeps growing and growing, clearly whatever it is that he’s seeing isn’t to his liking.
“How do your hands feel?”
“Uh, now that you mention it, I can’t actually feel them. I can’t feel your touch, I also don’t feel the cold on them.”
Diluc involves both her hands on his. She’s still unable to feel something in them, but she assumes that he’s trying to warm them up.
“Your legs? Arms? Face? Is there any other part that you can’t feel?”
It takes her a while, but after assessing her condition everything else it’s fine.
“No, only my hands.”
Diluc nods once again and goes back to attend to her hands. Slowly sensation starts returning to them, both the feeling of Diluc’s touch and then the warmth encompassing them.
But even once everything is all right, Diluc retains her hands on his, refusing to let them go. And as an answer, she does the same.
Outside the winds are violent and snow keeps falling, and by the look of it, it will take a while before the weather calms down.
But having to wait inside the cave, Diluc firmly at her side, and his warmth all around, it isn’t that much of a problem.