Chapter Text
Six walks weakly on the sandhill slope, covered in a worn yellow coat from head to toe that doesn't do its job much and a backpack with some pieces of equipment on, including a tent and a canteen handing on the sides.
Her body sweats under the humid bandage, which she can't help much about. Her resources are scarce 3 days after the Eremite camp she refugeed in for 5 days got decimated by a person. She didn't want to provoke the person as he could easily take on 10 members of the Eremites.
The young man had dangerous-looking purple-electricity power, so she escaped the scene swiftly after the friendly masked doctor taking care of her told her to leave and find an "archon" beyond the desert.
"Hope the Doc is safe."
Regardless, she keeps walking into the desert, looking for an archon.
She looks up at the blazing sun scolding the sand of the desert behind her bandaged hands, and the dry breezing makes Six want to sit down and rest. However, she proceeds to walk further into the desert. She knows that shade is better to rest in the shadow than in the hot rays.
Suddenly, as the wind ceases and silence dwells upon the sand, Six's star eyes wander. She thinks about everything that happened.
It may have only been five weeks since she escaped from it, but she can still remember what happened at that moment.
The moment her hometown, Khaenri'ah, got savaged, decimated, destroyed, and consumed by the Abyss, as the Divine Princess said.
Everything...
The Monster from the Abyss...The abomination people turned into...The persistent yet futile of the Royal Guard and the Field Tillers's resistance against the Abyss.
After that, everything collapsed.
Her mother...her friend...Mo...
"Urghhh..."Six knees down on the sand dull as her headache tortures her upon thinking about the name. She can feel her body burn from the inside as if fire savages within her. Her eyes darken, and it hurts so much that she almost tips over and rolls down the sand hills. And part of her bandage around her neck falls off.
"Make it stop..."
She dips her head into the sand, holding her head harder to distract from the inner pain. Yet, it is futile.
"Please..." Six shreds of a tear of pain.
"..."
Eventually, it stops. Six is displeased by such experiences as something like that is torturing. And it also happens every time Six reminisces about the past.
Suddenly, Pain spreads through Six's right arm, which she hastily checks. Part of her skin has turned dark, looks burnt, and oozes some black blood under the harsh sunlight.
Six urgently covers it with the slightly torn bandage back on. That blood quickly dyes the bandage black before the color fades away under the sun's rays.
Maybe she should stop until she meets the so-called Archons. Before, the medicine that the Doc used to give her helped her with these, but now that she is cut from them, this wound gets more and more annoying.
"..."
Maybe she should look for the Archons, who she heard the captain of the Royal Guards that they were the seven gods dwelling upon the surface. Seven gods for seven elements which is just a fancy name for mundane things in her home.
Pyro for fire. Hydro for water. Geo for stone. Anemo for wind. Electro for electricity. Dendro for plants. Cryo for ice.
That was strange for her little mind at the time. However, she observed with the doctor, who led her to one of the "Statues of the Seven", and saw it resembling a female nurturing a single round object. Doc said she was the Dendro Archon nurturing the meaning of Life itself while two chess pieces, one purple, and one green, floated in his hands.
There was something more to what the Doc said on the surface, but Six didn't mind it.
"Hmmm...It's almost noon." Six distracts herself by estimating the time of day with the sun on the top of the sky.
She has to hide under the shadow of a structure with an unusual and ancient door in the middle of nowhere. She can neither open nor do anything about it.
Six doesn't question its existence as it gives her a moment to rest. And she uses every bit of it before the day reaches noon as she takes out the leather canteen to drink. After a quick gulp, she observes her surroundings.
There are some gigantic structures and a massive tornado in the distance.
The tornado is a no-go, and she also decides against walking to the structures as she can see some yellow dots on the surface, where the sand scatters around the places, hinting at the abundance of those places.
"Time's up. Let's go." Six encourages herself to keep on traveling into the desert and stands up.
Suddenly, someone grabs her shoulder. It isn't harsh, but it makes her yelp in shock. However, Six quickly shrugs it off as she prepares for conflicts after hastily keeping a distance.
Six holds her hands tight and observes her opponents. Her mind prepares for any rash action from him.
And that's when Six becomes more stressed and frightened, and she tries to hide behind the shade of the coat.
The person standing before her is the same person who single-handedly destroyed the camp. One of his amber eyes dwells under the shade of his off-white long hair. He wears very distinctive head accessories in the shape of a dog's head.
His clothes, which are only shorts with a layered cover around the waist, some stockings, and shoulder covers, barely cover his dark skin under the harsh sun. And there is only a small canteen on his belt with the eye symbol in the middle.
How could he survive in the desert in such conditions?
No. What's more concerning for Six is the polearm in the man's arm. The head is yellow-brown and has a singularity that emits an intimidating aura, which Six doesn't want to get hit. And its heavy appearance doesn't make the man struggle at all.
His appearance and aura are overwhelming and suffocating.
"Are you Six?"
Six nods while remaining alert. The man slowly walks towards the girl with the spear. With every step he steps, Six becomes more stressed. She can't move.
Is he going to kill me? He's not going to, isn't he?
However, contrasting to what Six thought he would do, he walks right by and behind her. Then, he continues as he commands.
"Follow me. I know someone who can help you."
"..."
Now, Six is confused by what the young man said.
"To where?"
"Sumeru City, the capital of Dendro Archon City."
Six notices how the "Dendro Archon" is emphasized, adding to her confusion.
Six turns to the man, who does the same to her. His serious and sharp eyes show no malicious intention with her. Yet, it also shows her the consequences of whether she refused the commands.
Six decides to follow him after retracting the bandage around her arms and neck.
"What's your name, sir?"
"Cyno."
Cyno answers with a cold and serious voice as he keeps walking, seemingly not waiting for Six.
After a while, the two people walk on the sand as the sun sets on the horizon. And the man hasn't shown any fatigue or burn from the sun.
"How could you stay awake in this condition without much clothes?"
"I'm a Desert Dweler, born and used to the desert."
Cyno says with the same serious voice, seemingly only answering what information he wants Six to know. That is evident by the next question Six asks.
"Where and why are you taking me to?"
"We're going to Caravan Ribat, a town connecting the desert with the rainforest. From there, I will treat your condition."
"What condition?"
"Then, could you tell me what your bandage covers?"
"It's the wound I got after waking up after a long slumber. The Doc helped me with it a bit before you destroyed the camp."
"..."
Cyno keeps walking on the sand as he remains his head ahead, not turning back to Six anymore from there onwards.
.
The two people stroll in the desert until the sun sets.
The girl hasn't seen the man decrease. And his endurance is admirable.
Six, however, has to keep following him as he doesn't seem to stop unless she is on the verge of collapse. Her coat's inner humidity is due to her sweat, which only loosens her bandage.
Thankfully, the sun has set, so that means the burning sensation on her skin won't come anytime soon. In fact, she would rather travel in the dark if it wasn't for the freezing temperatures of the desert.
However, Six doesn't like how Cyno travels throughout the journey despite her occasionally asking him about Sumeru City. Sometimes, he would offer a rest or hide when Eremites were on the way. Only then did she rest a bit.
Then, Six sees the giant spike of minerals forming a wall in front of them as the sun has come down and the dry wind of the desert quickly becomes freezing. However, the night sky also shows her the light beyond the walls.
They walk towards the right side of the walls, where Six can see the light from the town more clearly and the people behind the gate.
They are finally at the entrance of the place where she can see an town.
"We're here."
"Where are we?"
"Caravan Ribat, where we will meet with a person who will check on you."
Cyno says as he walks into the town, and Six follows hastily.
The road is neither too crowded nor too scattered, and there are all kinds of people.
Residents enjoy with their friends and colleagues and enjoy their dinner after a long day of work at a local bar of a busy merchant or shop owner trying to catch up with the demand.
Some children are playing together, and some have to return as the sky's amber color is replaced by the darkness, which stays a little while before the light from the infrastructure soon dominates the streets.
The two walk through the active streets as people pay some level of respect for Cyno and move out of their ways.
In the end, they move through the streets without breaking a sweat.
Six wonders how high his social status is for the people to respect him to such degrees. Cyno glares at her for a while before turning forward.
However, her thoughts are quickly replaced by surprise when she sees a person with huge ears approaching them and waving to Cyno.
"Good evening, Cyno!"
"Hi, Tighnari. Here's the kid I mentioned in the letter. You should check on her condition. Even though Eleazar has been wiped out of the people of Sumeru since he saved the Irminsul, she has a similar state as Collei seven years ago."
"Is it?! "
The man named Tighnari says as he turns to Six, who is distracted by his ears, but eventually pays attention to what he says afterward.
"You should come with me to the nearby Rangers' camp. Let me check your condition."
"Are you a doctor?"
Six says with a nonchalant tone.
"Yes. So let's go."
Tighnari grabs Six's hand gently before he guides her to where to go.
"I will come after submitting some reports of the Doctor."
"See you."
"Yeah."
Cyno says goodbye to them before coming to the largest building in the town while Tighnari slowly leads Six into a flourishing and lively tropical forest, contrasting with the dry and dead desert.