Chapter Text
Warm rays of sun streamed through the branches, pleasantly lighting the path. The woods were devoid of hilichurls today. Birds landed on the branches, chirping out a poorly improvised song. The path was clear and smooth today, thank the winds. It was a perfect retreat away from the world.
Away from his responsibilities, honestly. Diluc had a million things to do today, but he just couldn’t be bothered. They were all minor, things Elzer and Adelinde could figure out on their own. But ever since he had returned to Mondstat, his two hands had wanted his opinion on practically everything. Just like he was his father.
He much preferred retreating to Wolvedom.
Okay, it certainly wasn’t the smartest idea. Enemies usually lurked around every corner, and if not, the wolves weren’t happy about trespassers. But they had always tolerated him for some reason.
He kicked a pebble down the path, soaking in the serene sunlight. As he got closer to Andrius’s ring, more branches littered his path, creating a satisfying crunch underneath his boots. He was almost tempted to take his coat off in the warm summer air. The breeze had stopped, too.
That was strange.
A noise cut through the darkness, a whinny. The cry of a distressed horse. Diluc scrambled towards the noise, leaping over the log that got in his way. Without a thought he drew his claymore. The black stallion was bucking, trying to avoid the sharp claws and teeth of the Riftwolf hounds. Two whelps, but still incredibly lethal if they got their corrosion on anything that couldn’t heal.
Diluc made quick work of the attackers, careful not to get even a scratch. Finally, the last one was sucked into a vortex, leaving him alone with the skittish horse. Blood oozed out of the claw marks on its flank.
Without another thought he threw his coat across the horse as a horrible attempt to stop the bleeding. He tried to put a hand on its flank, but it backed away a couple steps. He looked up to meet its eyes.
The stallion looked completely unfamiliar. There wasn’t a single horse left in Mondstat after Varka took them all, even the Winery had sold every last one of them to the expedition cause. But Diluc had grown up around them, visited them. For a while he was even their Calvary Captain.
Not one of the horses born in Mondstat was pitch black, with a starlike symbol on its forehead. And those eyes, deeper than anything he had seen before. As if he was almost sucked in simply by gazing at them.
Where had this horse come from?
Diluc spoke, voice low and steady, hands still a hairsbreadth away from touching it. “It’s going to be alright. I can take you back to the Winery.”
He would be a fool to think there wasn’t corrosion running through its blood right now. The abyssal effect would run its course, but not before killing the poor creature. It wouldn’t survive the trip back to the Winery. However, he couldn’t stifle his fleeting hope.
The stallion seemed to understand, pressing its face against Diluc’s shoulder. The man let out a sigh of relief, stepping away to press his hands against the coat. Now he just had to get the foreign horse all the way back to the Winery. Great.
He hid his distress, petting the soft coat. “We’ll be home soon. Just walk with me, won’t you?” The man pressed closer to wrap an arm around it to guide the stallion, but the moment his pyro vision touched it, the creature bucked away.
Diluc quickly held his hands out, trying to frantically soothe it. Thank Barbatos, the creature was well tempered. After calming down, it almost apologetically pressed its head into his hand. Panic melted off his face, a small smile coming to replace it. “That’s okay. It’s my fault. Shouldn’t have spooked you.” He slid his vision to the back of his belt. “Let’s just- find a better way to do this.”
It took a lot of adjusting, but finally he had tied the coat securely around the horse’s flank. Honestly, it had been long enough that the corrosion should have faded away. Truly a miracle the poor thing was still standing. He gently entangled his hands in the long mane, careful of the matted mess it was.
And then Diluc attempted to guide it home.
It took hours . The horse didn’t always understand what he meant, and his patience was truly tried. Every time it bucked away or halted in confusion Diluc took a deep breath, and remembered Father’s lessons about handling startled animals. Sure, it was supposed to be about training his hawk, but the same principles still applied.
As the sun set, the pair reached the vineyards of the Winery. A worker looked up and waved, Diluc awkwardly nodding back. He reached the door, and gestured to the horse.
“The stables are still vacant, am I correct?”
The poor girls at the front door nodded, scrambling to tell the necessary workers and get medical supplies at his request. Adelinde came out and sighed, tsking. “Running off and coming home with another pet, really Master Diluc? I thought we grew out of this phase.” Her voice was nothing but fond.
The wound wasn’t fatal, luckily. The horse had lost more blood than what was preferable, but Diluc was assured it would easily survive.
“Did it have any signs of an owner?” Adelinde prodded. At the shake of his head, she continued. “Well, what are you going to name it?”
He stared closely at it. The star shape, the abyss-like eyes, the infuriating yet endearing nature… almost familiar.
“Dakota.” He remarked proudly.
“I’ve never heard that name before.”
“I made it up on the spot!”
“Ah, your poor animals. First Reggie the hawk, now Dakota the stallion?”
He huffed. “Did you have a better idea?”
She shook her head. “Well, even with the new addition to the family, you still
must attend to your work
.”
“Were you able to handle it without me?”
“Yes but-”
“Then I wasn’t needed. Now come, help me out with this cursed mane.”
Adelinde sighed softly, but grabbed a brush and some scissors.
The scissors were very much needed by the end.