Chapter Text
Standing before the Knave, called just as dusk approaches; Freminet has his back straight as he holds tightly onto his clock-meka penguin. Staring at the floor to the space right before his fathers gold and black heels; the diver awaits the instructions for his next mission.
…
“Freminet.” a deep voice calls his attention and Freminets eyes shoot up to meet with his fathers. “Yes, Father.?” he responds in what he could get closest to the voice of a soldier, as if answering to a commander, his shoulders back and square, his face mustered up into one of confidence- false confidence, yes- but confidence all the same. The Kave looks him up and down, she seems pleased.
“I have a new job for you” the stern voice replies, “It's a simple one, or it should be for you, my child.” It's a compliment. Or it is by the standards of the Knave herself, Freminet lets out a soft breath he was unaware he was holding something easy, something without bloodshed he hopes.
“There is a shipment coming from Liyue. It is to be delivered to an aristocrat's home by dawn tomorrow. I would like you to intercept this package and bring it back to the Hearth.” Her words are kurt and simply stated. It leaves no room for questions, not what's inside the package or why it's being delivered so late at night. It's just a job that Freminet has to complete, and it sounds easy too. He won't let her down.
Despite all, Freminet remains still. Arlecchino keeps her gaze on the young boy before opening her mouth with a soft sigh. “I expect you to be back before the sun rises, if you complete your mission without a hitch,” she pauses for a split second. “There will be a reward waiting for you when you come back. The information you’ll need is in the file on the dresser next to the door. Grab it on your way out.” She switches back to the same strict and uncaring voice as before, it's a command to leave and start his mission now . Freminet decides he won't test her patience. He lets out a quick “Yes Father” before making a quick sprint to grab the file and run out the door to get his materials in order.
First aid, check. Small snacks and rations, check . Water, check . Diving gear, check . Pers.. check .
The diver goes through his short list of items he needs to have, the mission itself should only take about a few hours, but only the seven could know what might go wrong in such a short amount of time.
--
Gaming is ecstatic. This is the first time he’d ever travelled outside of Liyue for a delivery, or outside of Liyue period, unless you count the time he technically stepped into Mondstadt to hand over some cargo but that's up to interpretation- Point is, he's over the moon to be in Fontaine, and he's surprised he hasn't been there sooner, considering how close some of Fontaines further out islands are to Yilong Wharf.
Whatever, that doesn't matter much now. Gaming thinks as he follows eagerly behind the delivery man Man-Chai is also following with Gaming just as eagerly. As the small group makes it past a small clearing over to what seems to be an old treasure hoarder base, the fire had long been smothered out and the boxes around seemed to be looted. The merchant sets down the carriage he’d been hauling and asks Gaming to light a fire, saying that they’ll take a long break here, and continue as dawn comes. Gaming nods and goes off to the smothered pit, sending Man-Chai to go grab a few sticks while he picks up a few logs left by the previous hoarders. He puts his pyro vision to work arranging the logs and sticks that Man-Chai brought back into a worthy position before lighting a small spark, watching as the fire grows from dots of light to a comforting crackle. Gaming stands up and announces that he's going to go to a fishing dock they had passed by earlier to catch some fish. With the deliverer's permission he sets off with Man-Chai not far behind.
--
From a distance, Freminet watches over from the cliffside nearby one of the fatui’s old safehouses, a spy glass in hand looking at the lone delivery man, and around him for vantage points, debating his options. The file Father gave him said that the cargo should be waterproof; that makes it easier for him. His eyes peek at a pond behind him, further down the path from the camp. There's an underwater tunnel that leads to open water, far from the eyes of his targets, he can set up a net near the shore of the pond and load the cargo into it to easily drag it through the tunnel. It's perfect.
Freminet stays a moment longer at the sight of a second figure approaching the man. A member of the adventurers guild ? No, no he isn't wearing the uniform, a treasure hoarder ? No.. he hadn't spotted any other camps on his way- including the current one his target seems to be resting at right now, the unknown person waves to the delivery man eagerly and shows off the small basket of fish he had acquired, perhaps a friend or family member then? The diver spots a large claymore leaning on one of the tents pillars, the unknown person strides and puts the basket of fish down near the weapon before going back to the fire, waving and molding it into a smaller flame for cooking. A vision user, a pyro one at that. A guard then probably . This is good and bad; on one side, this is definitely the cargo he's looking for, on the other side this is gonna be a bit of a rock on the road for him.
The cryo user quickly slides out of view when he sees the guards head turn his direction, Freminet nearly slips and falls into a tree at the sudden acknowledgement of the other person. He catches himself and curses as his shin collides with the tree; starting to bleed not long after. Shit, barely even completed getting a lay of the area and there's already been casualties. Father won't like that. He does the best he can to do basic medical application, but the blonde is already running low on time and a limp won't help that. He needs to move, now . But how’s he gonna distract the guard…
