Chapter Text
Cyno knew this was bad. As he rushed under Ghandarva Ville and deeper into the forest, the sense of dread only seeped deeper into his bones.
He wasn’t worried because Tighnari had written for him, he was terrified because they hadn’t. For weeks now, he hadn’t been able to reach Tighnari. He reached out to Collei, and only got one response before it was silence from her as well. It was silence from everyone out in the jungle, all the forest rangers.
Yesterday, Cyno had heard from a Lieutenant that Fatui troops had marched into the rainforest and had yet to reemerge. The timeline matched perfectly with his loss of correspondence with Tighnari, then Collei, then anyone. He knew that anyone in the jungle was in deep trouble.
And gods, he hated it.
The rest of the public had been warned to stay away, and those who ventured too close were sent away by mercenaries hired by the Akademiya. The only people Cyno encountered in the forest once he passed the mercenaries were Sumeruan teenagers, adept at sneaking past the authorities. He was able to get information from them that was akin to an experienced scout, and these kids weren’t even aware anyone other than mercenaries were behind them. Cyno gave it a few years before at least one of them received a vision; he’d see them again.
But he wasn’t able to think fondly on the coincidence for long. The kids had told them of three exploration parties sent into the forest by the Fatui. One had been chased out by forest rangers, but the other two were larger and split up during the assault. Most of the rangers, including Collei, needed to fall back and receive medical treatment. The two Fatui parties had rejoined after that. There had been a few attempts from smaller bands of rangers to chase them out, or steal their supplies to render them useless, but nothing worked.
No goals had been achieved or established. And there was no sign of Tighnari.
Halfway through the night, Cyno found the Fatui soldiers in their camp. They were all awake, which was annoying if commendable. He’d found them, and he still had the element of surprise. But what would that be worth if all he was able to attack was one soldier before the rest were on him.
He considered it enough to be worth the advantage. At least if executed correctly.
Cyno climbed a nearby tree, and for the next hour, observed their movements. It was unclear if they were guarding any valuables besides their supplies, but he could deduce that there were no prisoners in the camp.
The moment he began to notice signs of fatigue in the soldiers, Cyno made his move. Electro power hovered around him, and he plunged from the tree, shaking the earth as he landed and flinging several Fatui grunts away from their campfire, now extinguished.
“Why are you here?” he demanded. He knew he didn’t have to yell; he had their attention.
“A general!!?” Someone screamed. Cyno had guessed, correctly, that at least someone would notice who he was. “I thought this place only had podunk forest rangers!!”
“It’s not the rangers you should be worried about!!!” Cyno growled, letting electro flow through him as he began the assault. But, after landing one blow, he found the Agent knocked back to the ground with a pained shout. An arrow was in his shoulder, and grass burned around him.
“I disagree.”
Tighnari stood on an enormous root, bow pulled taut, arrow nocked, and only the slightest look of pride on his face. No one but Cyno would notice it was there, and it was gone in an instant. “I think the forest rangers are exactly who you should be afraid of.”
The Agent that Cyno knocked down pushed himself up from the ground. He scoffed, “One?”
Tighnari’s look of pride was gone. The look of pride on his face was replaced by the increasing glow of dendro power at the top of his arrow. His face was expressionless, even more terrifying in the green glow, the only source of light besides the fires.
“One.”