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The cavern was immense, its walls formed from ice that was nearly as old as Albedo was. At least, that was the alchemist’s best guess. He couldn’t be certain without further testing.
Albedo had never imagined a place like this lay hidden under decades of snowfall. The ice was startlingly blue and sparkled under the glow of bioluminescent plants. The ice’s lullaby echoed throughout the cavern. He had always considered the mountain a living thing that could breathe and bleed, but he had never imagined he would hear it sing.
Realistically, he knew the sounds were created from movement in the ice, but he couldn’t help thinking of Dragonspine as a living being. There was too much evidence that the mountain was far more than it appeared on the surface. The cavern was just another layer in its mystery.
“How did you discover this place?” he asked his companion.
Kaeya had been standing patiently a few meters away as Albedo marveled at their surroundings. The knight shrugged.
“Through a mix of good and bad fortune, I guess.”
“That…doesn’t answer my question.”
Kaeya grinned, “Well then, perhaps once we reach our destination I’ll be more inclined to give you a satisfactory answer.”
Albedo sighed and turned away from the ice he had been observing, following Kaeya’s footsteps as they continued deeper into the cavern. He supposed his research could wait a bit longer. And he had agreed to take a break today.
This little adventure had started with Kaeya throwing a cloak at his face and deciding that Albedo was going to put his research on pause for a few hours.
After a full week of secrecy the knight was finally showing his hand, so Albedo hadn’t put up much resistance. Kaeya’s scheming had been all too clear in the way he would smile to himself when deep in thought, how sometimes his gaze would linger just a bit too long. How he would disappear for a while and dodge questions as to his whereabouts, frost clinging to his eyelashes and his hair a windblown mess.
“You’re cold resistant, not immune,” Albedo had told him once, setting Kaeya down in front of the fire and handing him a warm mug. Kaeya only laughed slightly.
“I know.”
Occasionally he would catch his fellow researcher’s concerned whispers. Albedo thought it was silly. Despite all the subterfuge, he had known that whatever Kaeya was planning couldn’t have been that dangerous.
After all, Kaeya kept the truly dangerous things hidden under a perfect mask.
Regardless, knowing that Kaeya had something planned lingered in the back of Albedo’s mind. Albedo had tried to ignore Kaeya’s strange actions and focus on his research, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t relieved to find out what the Cavalry Captain had been working on all this time.
Safe to say, he was not expecting Kaeya to discover such an important location to his work. And yet, it appeared the cavern itself wasn’t why Kaeya had brought him here.
They descended further into the blue depths, the ice forming strange spiraling pathways around a central pillar. Those red crystals, which he had taken to calling scarlet quartz, were growing abundantly here. They stood out against the snowy wasteland, like drops of blood that had crystallized.
A metallic shine caught his attention and Albedo turned to find the claws of a ruin guard reaching out towards him from where the machine was frozen into the wall. He startled slightly before noting its lifeless core.
“Ah, don’t mind them,” Kaeya said. “They’re all quite dead. I checked.”
Albedo nodded in acknowledgement. Kaeya continued walking, unconcerned with the ancient machine, but Albedo hesitated. He reached out a gloved hand to press against the ice, the cold slowly seeping through the fabric and into his palm. What could’ve caused a machine of war to freeze in its tracks?
Albedo stared at the Khaenri’ahn star, imagining how cold it must’ve been.
He felt an observing eye upon him and turned to follow Kaeya. If his companion felt any connection to that godless land, he hid it well. Albedo tilted his head, inviting conversation. Kaeya only closed his eye and led the way. That was a no, then.
They eventually arrived at the bottom of the cavern, its floor covered in a light dusting of snow and those bioluminescent flowers. There were remnants of Kaeya’s footsteps from his previous visits in the snow. Light filtered in through an opening in the ice wall, leading to the outside. The winds outside raged wildly, nearly white out conditions.
There was a decent sized pond a little ways back from the exit, its surface only partially frozen over. A few torches had been roughly put together around its edges. Kaeya set his pack down next to one, pulling out flint and steel to set it alight. Albedo moved closer and sighed contently at the warmth.
“You brought me here to show me a…pond?” Albedo asked after the feeling returned to his fingers.
“Not exactly,” Kaeya winked (blinked?) at him. He approached the water’s edge and holding a mora in between his fingers, he cast a fan of cryo over the pond’s surface. It froze instantly into a perfectly smooth sheet of ice. “Have you ever gone ice skating before?”
Albedo stared at his reflection in the ice. He knocked his knuckles on the surface. It was surprisingly sturdy. He shook his head.
“I haven’t.”
Kaeya smiled, “Well then, today is your lucky day!”
“Is this what you’ve been doing all week? Looking for the right place to set this up?”
“Yup, there are surprisingly few places suitable for ice skating around here,” Kaeya said. He pointed his thumb towards the blizzard outside. “I accidentally found this place while trying to escape that .”
Before Albedo could comment on the fact that Kaeya had wandered around alone in a blizzard, the knight created cryo blades on the bottoms of his shoes and gracefully glided away to the middle of the pond.
The edge of the blades caught the ice, bringing him to a stop with a small shower of frost. Kaeya turned back towards Albedo, a self satisfied smile on his lips. The Chief Alchemist crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.
The Cavalry Captain’s smile grew wider and more wolf-like before he spun on his heel, hiding his expression from view. He began skating backwards, lean legs propelling him easily. Not a single motion was wasted, each used beautifully as he glided through spins and jumps.
Their eyes met countless times through his dance. The glow of the ice under the bioluminescent flowers reflected in it.
He was truly one of a kind, a star among stars. Albedo’s fingers itched. Oh how he desired to paint.
Kaeya’s performance came to an end with a flourish and a bow. Albedo whistled under his breath. Kaeya skated to the edge of the ice, taking a knee on the stone.
“Sit,” he said, gesturing to the rock in front of him.
Albedo only hesitated for a moment, not enjoying the thought of sitting on an uncovered rock in such a cold place. It would only be for a moment, he reasoned. Kaeya directed him to raise his feet up and set about forming the cryo blades. The coolness seeped through his boots, but it was not uncomfortable.
Finishing his task, Kaeya nodded to himself and offered a hand to Albedo. He pulled the alchemist to stand with one easy motion. It was a novel feeling, standing on a blade’s edge, but surprisingly simple. Then again, he hadn’t stepped onto the ice yet.
Walking to the edge of the frozen pool took conscious placement of his feet. Kaeya held his hands the whole way, completely focused on Albedo’s every movement. It was only when he stepped back on the ice that he let go, allowing his momentum to slide back a short distance away from the edge. He held out a hand.
“Alright, your turn!”
Albedo once again found himself staring at his reflection in the ice, though this time it was distorted by the ice skate marks. Kaeya smiled encouragingly. Albedo took a deep breath and stepped out, one foot then the next.
Standing still wasn’t so bad. He managed to maintain his balance. But the difference was instantly clear. Just from stepping onto the ice he was sent slightly forward, gliding easily but without any sense of control. Kaeya held back a laugh.
“Relax, you’re shaking like a newborn foal.”
“How?” Albedo said, glancing between Kaeya and his own feet. “I have zero control over my legs.”
Kaeya maneuvered himself to stand before Albedo. He took his hands the way he had when they had walked up to the ice. Kaeya’s thumb caressed the back of his hand soothingly.
“I’m going to pull you along,” he instructed. “Just point your feet forward and get a feel for the ice, yeah?”
Albedo nodded and Kaeya began skating backwards. The marks left by Kaeya’s skates made for an uneven glide, the once smooth polish now fettered with imperfections. He looked down and could no longer see his reflection. Though, perhaps it was better that way.
“Keep your head up,” Kaeya’s voice brought him back to focus, a hand lifting his chin to gaze into Kaeya’s eye. “Your body will follow your head. You’re more likely to fall if you look down.”
Albedo was so mesmerized by how Kaeya’s eye took on the same color as the ice that he simply nodded along and continued to stare. Kaeya brought him around the pond a few times, his footing becoming more sure. The shaking had stopped.
“I think I’m getting it,” he said.
“Ready for me to let go?”
Albedo thought for a moment, then nodded. Kaeya slowly loosened his grip and sped up his backwards stride until he had pulled ahead and out of Albedo’s way. Albedo forced himself to keep his head upright, tentatively pushing off with one foot. With such little force behind it, he didn’t glide very far. But it was a start.
Ice offered far less friction, and the skates had such a narrow base of support compared to any other footwear Albedo had ever worn. His experimental side took an interest in this challenge that Kaeya had posed to him. He skated slowly around the outer edge of the pond, slowly unraveling how much strength was needed to send him gliding across the distance he set for himself.
He figured that stopping his momentum would be the next challenge. There were no brakes, at least not ones built into the skates. He recalled what Kaeya had done, using the long edge of the blades like a wedge. Albedo didn’t think he was quite up to that just yet.
Instead, as he approached the snow bank he clumsily turned himself in towards the center of the pond. He spotted Kaeya on the other side, who had seemed content to watch him silently.
Before he could think about it, Albedo sent himself gliding quickly across the pond. Kaeya had inadvertently made himself a prime target for mischief. The knight’s reaction was flawless, catching Albedo in his arms and easily dissipating all his momentum into a harmless backwards slide.
“I really thought you’d go farther than that,” Albedo mused, seeing as how Kaeya’s skates hadn’t even touched the snow bank. “I used a fair amount of strength.”
“Nothing I’m not used to. Klee is a great partner in preparing for stunts like this,” Kaeya half joked. “Not to mention Luc.”
Albedo tilted his head in question, “Luc?”
Kaeya paused, realizing what he had said and corrected himself, “Diluc.”
“Ah.”
Albedo stepped back out of Kaeya’s arms, though he noticed the knight had not quite let him go so he made no attempt to move any further. He could almost see the thoughts flitting through Kaeya’s mind. Eventually Kaeya let him go, but was quick to intertwine their hands as if worried that Albedo would move too far away. He gave the alchemist his mask of a smile.
“So, what exactly were you trying to do? Pin me against the snow?” he teased. “Been reading more of those books Lisa suggested? How scandalous.”
Albedo had half a mind to actually do just that, but refrained. Any response he could give would only become the fuel for further teasing so he changed the subject.
“You seem to have quite the experience with ice skating, how long have you been doing it?”
Successfully turning Kaeya’s attention away from himself, the knight pondered the question for a moment.
“It must’ve been years ago. Maybe the first winter I spent in Mondstadt? Back when I lived at the Winery, Dragonspine’s foothills were a lot more convenient to travel to. Master Crepus taught us how,” Kaeya appeared very pleased with himself as he spoke. “Safe to say that I’ve got the two of them beat in terms of technical skill.”
“And when exactly have you taken Klee ice skating? How is this the first I’ve heard of this?”
“Ah well,” Kaeya sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “There may have been more than one occasion where Klee would sneak away in an attempt to follow you on one of your expeditions. One thing led to another and ice skating was the best idea I had to divert her attention.”
Somehow Albedo figured that was a partial truth, but he let it slide. By that point, they had been slowly skating around the rink. Side by side this time.
“You picked this up surprisingly fast,” Kaeya noted. “Trying to be my new competition?”
“Not even close,” Albedo shook his head.
“I’ve seen your footwork in a fight, I think you’d pick up the more complicated stuff pretty easily,” Kaeya encouraged. “Plus, you could stand to take more breaks like this.”
Albedo glanced up at him, a conspiratorial smile on his face, “If you wanted to take me on another ice skating date, you could just say that.”
“I–you–” Kaeya’s mouth opened and closed but only strangled words managed to come out. Albedo laughed and Kaeya looked away, hoping his ears weren’t as red as they felt.
Albedo managed to get his laughter under control, “What’s this, the Cavalry Captain can’t handle being teased?”
“Shut up.”
“Well, either way, I accept your invitation,” Albedo replied coolly.
Kaeya’s head whipped back around, slightly shocked, “Wait actually?”
Albedo shrugged, “It’s pretty fun. I’d like to do it again.”
Kaeya’s smile was genuine this time, “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
Getting off the ice proved to be a bit of a challenge, ending with Albedo covered in snow and a thoroughly amused Kaeya carrying the alchemist off the ice. He placed Albedo down by the relit fire, their skates disappearing into a small puff of cryo and the rest melting away as fire grew.
“Oh right,” Albedo remembered, staring at the blizzard that raged just outside the cave, “another thing.”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t ever, ever step foot in a snowstorm alone again.”
“...got it.”