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"Wake up!!!"
The Traveler's eyes shot open, prepared to swing a sword at anything from a wild boar to a giant Ruin Guard. Because out here in the wilderness, what else could have Paimon panicking enough to slap and shriek?
"We messed up! We messed up so bad!" Paimon continued to shout. She waved a paper in the Traveler's face. "Take a look at this! Paimon wasn't reading all these notices, but then she got bored and started to peek, and we really messed up!!"
"Damn, was there an emergency notice we missed?!" The Traveler's raised to half the volume of Paimon's, getting caught up in the urgency. Eyes started to skim the page as more questions tumbled out. "Something with the Abyss?! The Fatui?! Is he already back?!"
"Worse!!"
Worse than the infamous Sinner they had encountered in Nod Krai? Archons above, was the world ending?
After years of constant adventures, it was only natural that the Traveler would get burned out every so often. When that happened, all that was needed was a relaxing several days in the wilderness, away from any civilization or person who could bring up new requests or curiosities. All the Traveler would do was a bunch of Adventurer's Guild requests, sneak in and out of town to claim rewards and collect new daily work, and tackle some giant monsters that had become like chore work to slay. During that time, any new events that occurred would go blissfully ignored - maybe some things might be limited time only with no possibility of coming back, but at this point, did that really matter? The Traveler had seen and done so much already, it wasn't like everything had to be experienced.
But if there was a crisis overlooked-
Except the words "Dragonspine International Cross Country Challenge" finally registered. Assuming that maybe something had gone wrong at the event, the Traveler kept reading, but could not find anything out of the ordinary. This was just one of the many pamphlets they'd pick up, announcing ongoing events people could take part in. So what was Paimon getting freaked out about?
All the panic evaporated, the Traveler asked just that. This caused Paimon to snatch the paper up and point to one line in particular.
"What does this sound like to you?!"
In the "Snowtrace" gameplay mode, Travelers will take on the roles of "Rebel" or "Hunter,"-
"SHIT!"
"Uh huh!" Paimon echoed. "Now do you see?! They snuck this in and we were none the wiser!"
"Wait, we got this pamphlet awhile back! Is it already over?!" Some more skimming. "Thank the Archons, it's only halfway through! We can still make it!"
"Then let's hurry!"
When Windtrace comes knocking, you answer the call.
Unfortunately for Bennett, the knocking had been soft, and he hadn't realized what was going on until he managed to overhear chatter that suspiciously sounded like the recap of a Windtrace match. Except, it didn't sound like an old story - it was definitely recounting details that hadn't been part of the previous runs.
After some investigation, he realized that Windtrace returned; however, instead of being its own event like usual, it was included as one of several activities part of the grander Dragonspine International Cross Country Challenge event. In fact, it wasn't even being referred to as "Windtrace", but as "Snowtrace". These facts combined, no wonder he had not realized it'd returned.
Windtrace seemed like it would be one of those annual games, but since the last event, it had gone radio silent. Prior to that run, there had also been a very noticeable gap, but at least the Traveler hadn't explored an entire new nation - start to finish - and moved on to the next before a single Windtrace could be held! At some point, there was serious doubt about if it would ever be held again, much to the chagrin of Bennett's new Natlan friends.
Oh, but if it's at this international event, maybe that means they're already getting to play, he thought. I better head over there ASAP and check it out!
Along the way, he familiarized himself with the rules. Since there was a new name going along with the Dragonspine theme, that was already a sign something might be different. Plus, the last Windtrace had been way different from any before, so it was a good habit not to assume you could just drop back in and be fine. What Bennett learned is that the new mechanics of the last Windtrace - repairing devices in order to win as Rebels - were almost gone, instead slightly reworked into a system that'd aid but not technically be required for victory for the Rebels. Basically, the cold of Dragonspine would still affect you, so you had to occasionally turn on heating devices to keep yourself from getting frozen; if you froze, you'd be marked on the map for the Hunter, and even before then you'd visibly start shivering. However, activating a heating device would similarly alert the Hunter - a bit like it did before - so you couldn't even linger around a device for long. On the surface, it seemed pretty stacked against Rebels, but Bennett knew that as the event went on, people would get into the groove of things and figure out how to win no matter what side they were on.
Another curious difference was that, instead of locations all across Teyvat like usual, all three locations for matches would be on Dragonspine. Well, that kinda made sense - this was a wider event all set on Dragonspine, after all, and it wouldn't be much of a "Snowtrace" if you ended up in somewhere like Natlan, right? As far as he knew, only Dragonspine had the chilling effect on travelers that this version of the game seemed to rely on. Well, maybe Snezhnaya might be the same, but so far it didn't seem like they'd be hosting anything - guess a prerequisite for these kinds of events was that the Traveler had paid you a visit.
Speaking of, I wonder if I'll see-
Just as Bennett brought the Snowtrace rules paper out of his sight line, his foot snagged against a rock in the road and the boy was sent flying. He glimpsed the Dragonspine camp just up ahead - and in the next moment, darkness. He'd hit his head and knocked himself out.
Needless to say, Bennett did not get to play Snowtrace that day.
But at least there was still over a week left to go?
Waterside Camp
Is she really trying?
That was the thought Kinich had as Xilonen ran the opposite way of him. He wasn't even a prop - he was standing right in the open, in his striking black and green outfit. If it were some of the folks that wore whites and blues, then maybe he could understand how their clothes could help camouflage them in the Dragonspine environment. But not only had she glossed over the sight of him, she wasn't even spotting the far more colorful Varesa and Mavuika!
Granted, Kinich had no idea where Mavuika was. Yet Varesa was even a worse mark on Xilonen's record, since prior to him running around in her vicinity, Xilonen had been repeatedly marking Varesa with her Sensor! The Rebel had climbed the small tower on the map and was apparently still in vertical range for the ability, even though Xilonen was on the ground. The confused Hunter circled around the tower, being notified of the Sensor's success but seeing neither Rebel nor the wisping mark that'd linger in place for a few seconds. Throughout all of that, she never thought once to look up. Maybe she didn't realize the tower could be climbed? Apparently, looking up was a chronic problem in this game, hence why so many Rebel strategies involved climbing things.
Seeing her struggle made Kinich curious, though, and so he decided to risk hopping around where she might catch a glimpse. At one point, he truly thought he'd been spotted. Xilonen had looked in his direction and he lingered for only a beat before launching himself by his heels in preparation of a chase. But when he looked back, he did find her running - just away from him. Could she really have been that blind? Even if she were expecting them all to be hiding as props, the fact she saw a person in this area should've been a red flag to investigate. Unlike some of the Windtrace Contested Zones in the past, all three of the ones this time were deficient in life. The only people around were the Hunter and Rebels.
There was the possibility that this inept performance was on purpose. Kinich had heard that some did not enjoy this game, but did enjoy its prizes. As long as they played - win or lose - they would get a sum of Windtrace coins, building up to prize tiers. And Xilonen was only here for the International Country Cross Relay on someone else's request, not her own true desire to take part. Still, if that was her angle, she should know that putting on more of an effort to win would result in more Windtrace coins per round - and therefore fewer rounds needed. Maybe she was here because someone else asked her to, just like with the wider event? But would she be so spiteful as to purposefully play poorly?
One reason or another, it was hard to understand.
I guess I'll play more aggressively. Either I finally spur some action from her or I get to have some extra fun at her expense.
In the meantime, Xilonen had gone off to the other side of the map, where a heat source had sounded off its activation. By the time Xilonen arrived, however, there was nothing suspicious to be seen. She did a lap of the area while popping off her Sensor, but didn't get any hits. Likely, the Rebel had abandoned the heat source the moment their chill had been cured, not wanting her to catch up to them. They would've had plenty of time, seeing as this heat source was on the very edge of the map, making her have to run a respectable distance to reach it from the other side.
Unbeknownst to her, the Rebel hadn't run off very far. In fact, Mavuika had leisurely strolled back to her hiding spot - a spot behind the wooden fence right in front of the Contested Zone border, where a snow pile rested and took up a bit over half of the space - and resumed her disguise as a vase. When Xilonen had been searching the area, she had actually stepped right over her, yet had rather unfortunately failed to consider using Sensor at that moment. Mavuika's heart skipped a beat, only for true exhilaration to hit as she realized the situation.
She really has no clue! Maybe I should keep this moment to myself, to avoid embarrassing her...
Yet as the round was nearing its end, such a thought had completely slipped Mavuika's mind with how everything concluded. Xilonen was running amok, trying desperately to catch just a single Rebel as the timer ticked down. She returned to Mavuika's corner of the map, even going behind the wooden fence again. Her heels dug into the snow pile and she started to collapse upon it. Whether she tripped or was simply succumbing to exhaustion, Mavuika didn't know. But the moment Xilonen hit the ground, Mavuika dispelled her prop disguise and stood above her with one second remaining on the clock. Xilonen didn't even release the Capture ability. The round concluded with her utter defeat.
Somewhere, a barrel with a leaf sticking out of it returned to being Sayu of Inazuma. In a rare moment, even she had survived the whole round, when often she might be the only one the Hunter caught - the same being true of her new friends Klee of Mondstadt and Yaoyao of Liyue, who had their own preferred Contested Zones to join rounds in.
Smirk on her face, Mavuika was ready to fully gloat, before noticing Xilonen not moving an inch in the snow. Her expression and victorious stance softened, but not the thoughts on her mind.
"Are you okay? Because it's hard to believe you were genuinely trying there..."
A snore was all she got as an answer - and all the answer she needed.
Within the next day, Bennett was determined to be fit enough to try Snowtrace. Carefully, he jogged to Dragonspine the moment he was cleared and just caught a group being led by Sayu in need of their last Rebel. He noticed how everyone had pale outfits; if he were the Hunter, that'd be a difficult thing to keep track of against the snow, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be a Rebel when he'd stick out more clearly than his comrades. For once, he wanted to be the Rebel that carried everyone else to victory by surviving. No more optimistically seeing his Captures as sacrifices to buy his teammates more time.
"Oh good," the tallest of the group said. She was a woman with long white hair, red eyes, and a foreign outfit that faded from white to blues. "I was getting concerned that I'd be having an 'unfitting' encounter with my student."
"My name's Bennett! I'll be happy to join your game! I've been playing Windtrace since the initial revival."
"We'll be in your care," a shorter Fontaine blonde with a chef's hat replied.
"Actually, I think I'll be in your care. I haven't gotten to play this new version yet."
They lightly chatted on the way to the Contested Zone, with Bennett and the Fontaine girl - Escoffier - carrying the conversation. Sayu - the only person Bennett knew from past Windtrace runs - would sometimes chip in. One of the other strangers - who introduced herself as Skirk - only offered that she was curious about Teyvat's games after some conversations with the Traveler and Paimon, and that re-directed the conversation towards their mutual acquaintanceship with them. The other stranger, who looked even more out of place than Skirk despite the plainer clothes in comparison, didn't say a word. Bennett wondered if this was another acquaintance of the Traveler and Paimon's, given they were always meeting new and unusual people. Skirk - who spoke Teyvat's name in conversation enough that Bennett started wondering if she was implying something of her origin - was a testament to that.
Upon their arrival to the Contested Zone, that silent, unnamed stranger was the one designated as the Hunter. The rest of them scattered across the map in the thirty seconds they had. And then...
Nothing.
The countdown timer ended with no other timer replacing it. The decoy props and heat sources all disappeared. Bennett came out of his disguise entirely out of his control. The Contested Zone's border vanished. They were simply in another mundane spot of Dragonspine.
"Huh, that's weird..." Sayu said, after she came out of her disguised mode at the exact same time as Bennett, only further solidifying that it had been a widespread cancellation. "Nothing Snowtracey is happening?"
"The strange magic that makes this game work must have malfunctioned," Skirk mused as she walked into their view. "Has this happened before?"
"No, I've never heard of this happening!" Bennett insisted. "Something must be wrong. Let's go back to camp and talk with the organizers. Either they already know or we gotta warn them."
They did just that, with Escoffier following behind.
What about the Hunter? Each of them assumed that, just like Escoffier, the stranger had noticed them leaving and caught up to them. It wasn't until the group made it back to camp and flagged down one of the organizers that they realized they were gone.
But that was only because the organizer questioned why the group had tried to launch Snowtrace without a Hunter.
"I should have realized..." Bennett heard Skirk murmur as they were funnelled into other half-formed Snowtrace groups. "That person... was outside of this world, just like-"
Yet he missed the end of it as his new group began to cheerfully greet him, trying to dispel the unease present on his face.
Frozen Cave
Feeling for the strain on her muscles as the signal on when it was time to let go and maybe warm up at a heat source, Jahoda continued to watch the ground like the Fatui security drones she'd once helped the Traveler bypass. During a previous match within this Contested Zone, she discovered that the wind current towards the back went so high, she could float and cling on the giant stalactite canopy over the back half of the area. A good position was to the side of it, so that a Hunter floating up the wind current wouldn't so easily spot her. Even if she was spotted by one going up and down the ledge she was facing, she'd have time to get away - although that would probably be the end of her trick. So it was a good thing that Hunters often forgot to look up, nor did she think most players realized the untapped potential of this stalactite.
That's what she thought, until a glow suddenly entered her vision. She skimmied to the side and was thankful the glow didn't follow her. Once she was in a better position to study it, she also saw that it was wispier than the beacons that'd be unleashed by the Hunter's special skill unlocked by the Favor. That was the other thing about it - the Favor hadn't even descended yet. What could possibly be triggering things to glow without a Favor?
Jahoda realized the other possibility just as she looked down and saw Aino losing her mind. The little Hunter was running in circles on the ground floor directly below Jahoda, with a Sensor emitting from her every other second. Each time it did, an exclamation point appeared over her head and another wisp marked Jahoda's location - though that was useless when Aino didn't realize how far up her Sensor skill could detect things.
Pretty soon, Aino gave up and moved on to trying to search for other Rebels, unaware of Jahoda's smiling and giggling at her expense. In part, her movement was due to anticipating the Favor to begin descending soon enough. She could use that to reveal where that crafty Rebel was. Therefore, she chose to ascend to the top part of the map. That way, she could see where the Favor would land the moment it spawned in the sky and glide over before it even touched ground.
What she didn't realize is that she was heading for the other two remaining Rebels of the game (Yaoyao having been captured pretty easily and early on). Ineffa decided to risk staying her ground in her hiding spot, which meant she had the perfect view of Flins leaping off a side of the cliff away from Aino's landing - and the man falling without letting his glider out. Flins' legs hit the ground hard, yet the man showed no sign of pain on his face. Indeed, he merely kept running, until he was out of view of both Ineffa and Aino - the latter completely unaware of the Rebel that had slipped past right under her nose.
Later, when the round was over, Ineffa would inquire as to what he was thinking. Apparently, within the boundaries of active Contested Zones, there was no damage to the body no matter how far you fell. At least, that's what Flins had observed, and others asked would corroborate. Realizing this, Flins grew fascinated enough to just keep leaping off the cliff and fall without a glider. He honestly would've done it even if Aino hadn't been on the approach.
Odd. The mechanics of Snowtrace hinted at a deeper magic being utilized, but such a bending of physics is nearly unheard of. How did the creators of the game realize they could do this? Is it possible to replicate this outside of the Snowtrace game? The potential applications would be groundbreaking in all kinds of areas of normal life - not to mention in combat, adventuring, and warfare. This game has attracted the Traveler's powerful acquaintances all across Teyvat for years now, yet it is strange we have not seen similar inventions crop up during that time. Have they truly not noticed? Or is the replication proving difficult? Just how does this Snowtrace-
Ineffa had gotten so caught up in her thoughts that she had Frozen. Although, fortunately for her, it did not prove immediately disastrous. By that time, Aino had gone for the recently appeared Favor. The map Ineffa could magically see in her head - yet another wonder of the Snowtrace game - showed that Aino was on the approach, but Ineffa would have time to free herself and activate the heat source. However, she'd immediately have to bolt once she was warmed up.
As she went through these motions, she at first thought it strange that despite obtaining the Favor, Aino had not activated the beacons that'd reveal every Rebel in the area. But after considering it for a moment, she realized the plan at play. Just like with hunting down the Favor, Aino would reach a high point of the zone to have maximum visibility when the lights first shone. Truly, a child genius that repaired Ineffa and ran the Krumkake Workshop would think of such a plan.
Perhaps she did, yet it turned out there was another reason for the delay in activation: she already had a Rebel in sight. When Ineffa finally leaped off the cliffside and glided down, she witnessed Flins being the first to go up the current. Aino followed - and then spotted Ineffa. In that split second, the Hunter descended to change targets mid-air. Finding the distance from the ground satisfactory enough, Ineffa canceled her wind glider early, hitting the ground running while Aino was still in the air. As she turned the corner, the beacon of the Hunter's Favor finally engulfed her, to ensure Aino didn't completely lose sight of her.
Not good. It will be difficult to outrun her for 20 seconds and lose her right after. The best course of action would normally be to run around the giant stalagmite and go back up the wind current, but Flins might still be up there. I do not believe he was aware he was bringing the Hunter to me, but even if he did, it could potentially cost the entire game the match if I lead Aino to him. I cannot guarantee that Jahoda, wherever she is, could outlast Aino on her own.
But just when Ineffa thought all she could do was run, she spotted something about the landscape and decided in a split second to take a risk. She stood right next to one of the blue crystals dotting the area and hoped it would be enough to camouflage her beacon. Of course, she was still marked on the Hunter's map, but as long as Ineffa was swift enough, she could dodge all of Aino's attempts to Capture her. She noticed Aino had a tendency to spam the Capture ability, which could be unleashed at a maximum of three times consecutively before the cooldown timer became a problem. That could help buy her some time in this cat and mouse chase.
Once again, Aino found herself having her Sensor ping her over and over again, yet the Rebel was nowhere in sight. She unknowingly was pulled into a dance around the crystals, with Ineffa always trying to be quick enough to stay out of her line of sight. By the time Aino grew wise to the tactic, a considerable amount of the beacon's timer had been wasted, and all Ineffa had to do was run out the clock. With seconds before its expiration, she activated the Rebel's invisibility skill, which also made the beacon disappear prematurely. When the skill's timer ended, it was perfectly lined up to coincide with the beacon's expiration, meaning Aino had lost Ineffa's trail for good.
The child genius let her Sensor out. Jahoda - who had taken the chase as an opportunity to utilize a heat source before returning to the stalactite - was detected again. Aino looked around. Activated the Sensor. Looked around again. Then, she plopped down at the ground, with seconds left on the round's timer.
"I'm sick of this stupid game!!"
Finally, I get to play this amazing game!
Bennett wondered if it was fate that Snowtrace finally worked for him on the Contested Zone that resembled the previous Windtrace's Dragonspine representation the most. The recollection of Razor sniffing him out just reminded Bennett of the lengthy passage of time and how far Teyvat had come since the Traveler's early days of exploring. Back then, Inazuma wasn't even open to travel, and all he heard of nations beyond Liyue were from that purple-clad merchant that annually visited Mondstadt. But now, folks from all over Teyvat (and apparently out of it??) were gathered at this one spot to play games together - Snowtrace being the best one for group activity. And although the Traveler and Paimon had yet to reach Snezhnaya itself, there were still scraps of representation for the nation via Childe and the House of the Hearth.
Unfortunately, Bennett was discovered pretty quickly. Reading up on the rules was different from actual playing experience, so when the round first started, Bennett didn't know what to do. He panicked around the starting area until he settled on a spot to hide disguised, but the Hunter had searched the area with Sensor the moment the round started. He was marked and his attempt to escape with invisibility was just a hair too late, the Hunter being quicker to activate Capture. Like previous Windtraces, Bennett took the spectating time to study the map, realizing there had been plenty of space he hadn't thought to run to and even an upper layer.
Then... He was out. No, he hadn't somehow been captured a second time while spectating. He was out cold. A bit literally, at that! Bennett just suddenly collapsed, feeling like he could freeze for generations like Diona's ancestor. Maybe doing such a thing would relieve him of the chill and the exhaustion, which was the last thought he had as he gave in to unconsciousness.
What felt like a moment later, Bennett blinked back to consciousness, yet he didn't have the strength in him to move or speak. At most, he could interpret some of what he was feeling. Although he himself wasn't sending orders to his body, he was moving. He felt limbs all over him, carrying him across Dragonspine. They seemed to be halfway to the camp at this point.
"It's working! We've got him back!" a voice - Dahlia? - sounded. "Keep doing what you're doing, Lauma!"
"He didn't have any dreams..." another murmured, and Bennett only recalled it was Yumemizuki Mizuki because of the mention of dreams. "This is a serious case. Yaoyao, let the organizers know what just happened, in case it could strike other players. The rest of us should keep going all the way to the church."
"Got it!"
"Keep holding on, Bennett," the kind voice that had to be Lauma's told him. "You still have many years of life left ahead of you. Do not let this mountain claim you."
At that, Bennett was taken back to the revelations unexpectedly had at the summer resort in Natlan. When he was a baby, his parents' whole adventuring group gave their lives to keep him from being claimed by the Abyss. An adventuring group where every person was from a different Natlan tribe - just like this Snowtrace group, where each of his saviors was of a different nation.
I don't know what happened, but everyone here is trying to save me, even though I only just recently met two of them. I have to match their resolve - I have to stay awake this time!
By the time they reached the camp, Bennett had recovered enough to not need everyone carrying him. A cart was prepared to help shorten the time to the city, as well as keep him from using up his strength. Once again, Bennett stayed for over a day within the Church of Favonius. He didn't feel too disappointed, since Snowtrace was briefly shut down during that time anyway. The organizers had to investigate what went wrong - but apparently, nobody else had experienced what Bennett did.
For some reason, the magic that kept people from experiencing the full harshness of Dragonspine - particularly when they were in spectator mode - had failed, yet still kept up the appearance that it was working. That was why Bennett had been brought to the point of collapsing from the sheer cold without noticing the elements were getting to him. Looking back, he had started to feel colder than usual, but hadn't thought it would get that serious during a harmless game that never exposed them to the elements before.
People told him he was lucky that he'd been playing with a party of various healers when such a thing happened - and that he was a hero for enduring it, so the organizers became aware of the possibility and fixed it. But deep down, Bennett knew it was just another case of his misfortunes that it'd only happened to him - and therefore, he made the difficult choice to stay away from Snowtrace even after he recovered, just to be safe. Now that it happened once, who knew if it would happen again? The organizers assured him it was fixed - and he knew everyone else was playing just fine - but the sudden shock of just how bad his troubles could get while playing had made him too anxious to get into the game now.
Do I really know for sure that everything will be okay? There's just no point wasting my time if nothing is going to go right for me...
That's the mindset Bennett was left with, up to the final day of Snowtrace. While trying to catch up with prizes for the other games, he saw how good his luck was going for the day, and wondered...
Mysterious Ruins
In an instant, the Rebel count was halved. At one of the other heat sources, Sethos and Sigewinne were simultaneously captured by the terrifying Hunter Clorinde. She'd grown a fearsome reputation for playing efficiently and perceptively as a Hunter, likely influenced by her background. The heat source hadn't even gone off before the duo had been captured, one even as a prop. She just knew where to look and when to time it.
Durin's hopes of protecting Klee this round were nearly dashed. Somehow, he'd have to keep the Hunter's attention off of her for what amounted to two thirds of a Snowtrace round, while trying to survive himself. That also meant trying to steal the Contested Favor. Maybe if it were another Hunter, it'd be doable. Then again, he wouldn't be in this situation if it were any other Hunter...
But what was the worry here? Didn't you win some and lose some when it came to the Trace games? He could handle loss, and Klee had played pretty much every match that occurred in this Contested Zone since the event began. The concern about rewards was far behind them.
However, Durin had noticed something during his time of playing. Klee and her two new friends were very easily caught in almost every match they played in. They didn't seem to mind, yet he wanted to do something for them nonetheless. Especially his dearest friend Klee, the daughter of one his late mother's friends - someone he considered an aunt, which would make Klee a cousin. As an older cousin, Durin had to ensure her fun during games - and protect her from "threats" like Clorinde.
Alright. I'll just have to channel the energy I've seen from some of the confident players, like the Anemo Archon. I'll mess with her and waste her time. I can manage that, right?
Durin could not manage that. Clorinde was simply not the kind of Hunter you tried to troll. The moment he got in her line of sight, she descended upon him like a lioness (ironic, given Durin heard an actual "lioness" had played poorly in the role). He attempted to ensure a chase, but it was over before he could reach the other side of the map. It wasn't just the difference in leg size - Clorinde was simply used to pursuing people. She knew how to maneuver to make gains and catch her prey off guard. Even without most of her abilities, stripped down to just her natural stamina and intellect, that was enough to spell Durin's doom.
I'm so sorry, Klee. I can only hope I bought you enough time to... Ah, it didn't really amount to much, did it? I really hate tragedies like this...
The Contested Favor hadn't even appeared, yet the round was already over.
...Wait.
"It's over?" Durin, too in shock to contain it, asked out loud.
Clorinde misinterpreted, for she said, "I went a little overboard, didn't I? Maybe I should ask if it's possible I get assigned Rebel roles for the remainder of the day..."
"No, I mean... You never found Klee."
"The Spark Knight? I know. I never capture her and the other two, but I still get the Hunter's win. I believe it has to do with the fact that they aren't official players?"
Durin blinked. Being a new player, that hadn't occurred to him. But now that he reflected on the stories told from the Traveler, Hat Guy, and all his Mondstadt friends, Windtrace had always been played with 3 Rebels. Since this was technically Snowtrace, he hadn't thought too deeply about things that were different from the stories, but then he reflected on some of his own matches. How many of the Rebel losses had involved the extra Rebel being caught? With the trio being easy to discover, he hadn't noticed that the numbers didn't line up.
They were optional. They were just playing around for the fun of it.
And by letting himself - the last official Rebel standing - be captured, he had ensured Klee would never get caught.
Not that he had to worry to begin with. Unbeknownst to him, Clorinde had discovered her right off the bat. However, recognizing that the trio of girls were allowed to insert themselves into matches to have fun and therefore weren't necessary for her victory, she started to purposefully spare them - especially with how many Hunters would capture them, sometimes very early on. For the sake of the Spark Knight's pride, though, she masked this behavior, letting her believe she had truly won with her hiding skills.
Seeing Klee come out and give Durin a big hug, immediately going on about her point of view on the match and how much fun she had during it, Clorinde felt only vindication in this decision.
Bennett decided to give Snowtrace one more go; and so far, he was happy with this decision. The match was halfway over and he hadn't been caught yet. Although he couldn't let himself get cocky - at this point, no one had been captured, so he could still end up as the first to fall.
His heart raced not just with the mindset of being hunted, but at the thought of the clock ticking. Not just the match's timer, but the entire event's. Bennett didn't dare let himself touch Snowtrace until he had exhausted every other activity of the overall event. The anxiety-driven procrastination meant he had gotten into one of the last organized matches, whose timer was behind the event's. If the Hunter didn't capture them soon... He wasn't exactly sure of that. He'd never played this late before. But in the hope that his woes were over, he had gone a full day of doing other things to prove nothing would go wrong, and now he would reward that effort with at least one Snowtrace match. Even if he lost, he would do so with no regrets.
The Contested Favor was claimed by the Hunter, with Bennett's spot in the tree becoming illuminated. Having done few matches this whole event, Bennett decided his best bet at victory was to copy what one of the other players did. In that case, he followed Emilie to the back of the zone, climbed a tree, and descended down to the heat source when she did. What he found was that as long as they got into the trees before the Hunter came into view, then the Hunter wouldn't even think to climb them. And as long as he followed Emilie's lead - which was based on the Hunter's movements on the map - then he didn't have to worry about the timing of the Frozen effect.
Up ahead, they watched as the Hunter - Ifa of Natlan - tried and fumbled with climbing up the ruin structures that made up the center of the zone. The beacon of their fellow Rebel Ororon was even further ahead, but Bennett didn't have a good enough view to tell if Ororon was on top of the structure or ahead of it. Likely the former, or else why would Ifa be trying to climb it? Unless Ororon was somewhere hard to immediately ascertain, with Ifa wanting to get a good vantage point.
Just as Ifa was starting to properly climb the structure, everything that made Snowtrace Snowtrace vanished. The beacons and props disappeared. Bennett could no longer turn into a prop or go invisible. Neither did the minimap of the area, lit up by symbols of the players, work anymore. It was just like when Snowtrace failed to launch earlier in the event, but now in the middle of the match.
Suddenly, a round-shaped Saurian flew into the area, hovering around Ifa.
"Oh wow... No way, bro! Hahaha!"
"Don't rub it in!" Ifa scoffed. "I guess this means defeat, even if I didn't get the full time. At the rate I was going, I concede that I couldn't have gotten everyone in time."
Which would mean Bennett won by surviving. Not that he would accept that - the victory only came because the match prematurely ended. The fact that the Saurian appeared clued Bennett in to the fact it was an expected premature ending - the organizers of these games never let companions like that in, lest they disrupt the balancing of the game by giving unfair aid or hindrance. (Mini Seelie were given a pass since they were considered more of a "trinket" than a pet or companion, although Rebels equipped them at their own peril.)
It's over. The entire event is over.
Despite the finality of that statement and the context of everything leading up to that moment, Bennett burst into a grin.
I got to play Snowtrace to the very end!
Was it an overly optimistic interpretation of how his Snowtrace went? Definitely. But did it make all the hardship he faced during the event duration feel a bit lighter on his shoulders? Absolutely. And although he had no idea when Windtrace - or whatever it might be called next - would return, that thought helped make him feel too satisfied to care about the wait.
But... Maybe it could return a bit sooner this time? Please?