Chapter 1: A Long Delayed Rescued

Eula was starting to get a little……concerned, about how long it’d been since she’d seen her girlfriend.
A day or two was expected, as she was the Captain of the Reconnaissance Company of the Knights of Favonius, and Amber was the last remaining Outrider.
They were both out scouting a lot of the time, Amber mainly going solo out in the more wild areas which the Recon teams weren’t as prepared to deal with, while Eula was in charge of confirming worrying rumours, which meant they often met up more out in the open air than others would expect.
Eula was used to coming across ashy craters near the remains of Hilichurl encampments, and knowing she could find her girlfriend either in the area, or that she could leave a sign for her to find.

She’d had no such luck in the last seven days. No ashy craters, no leftover bits of those admittedly cute Baron Bunny decoys her beloved used, no ‘my camp is over here’ marks, nothing.
Well, not entirely nothing.
The villagers of Springvale had told her Amber had last been seen heading towards the Dawn Winery, apparently guiding a Surveyor.
One of the workers at the Winery had seen Amber and the Surveyor heading towards the ruins of Old Mondstadt, which didn’t add up.

Surveyors didn’t go that far without a Knight Captain and a Company of Knights, just due to the inherent danger of such a trip.
So why would Amber take a single Surveyor there?
Amber was fast, and clever, and resourceful. But there was only so much a single Outrider could do to guard a curious Surveyor.
Beloved, I will have vengeance upon you for the anxiety you are causing me.

Looking at her map, she quickly scanned it, hoping for a spark of inspiration.
Cape Oath made no sense, given the direction she’d been heading.
Cider Lake was possible, but one of the lookout guards would’ve signalled if someone was stranded in the lake.
Starsnatcher Cliff had already been searched, since that had been one of the last places on Amber’s Scheduled Route, the final place being Wolvendom and the town of Springvale.
She dismissed the ruins again, before one name caught her eye.

Brightcrown Canyon.
Wasn’t that the place the Adventure Guild’s receptionist had told me to keep an eye on?
When she’d first gone there, she had found a strange Geo cave, but ignored it, since strange Elemental formations weren’t uncommon, and had marked it down for a future commissions for the Surveyors.
…for the Surveyors.

It wasn’t uncommon for Surveyors to get commissions for exploring strange things before either Amber or Eula could organise a Knight-backed commission, since many of the resident Mages had an uncanny knack for finding them first.
Wasn’t there a new Hilichurl camp in that area?

When she’d first scouted the entire region specifically looking for her beautiful bunny of an Outrider, she’d found a camp having recently been formed, which was a common problem with that area, camps forming and reforming daily.
Thankfully, between the Honorary Knight’s adventuring, the Adventurer’s Guilds commission work, the Knights’ own diligent efforts, and the natural threat of the Wolves of Wolvendom, the dangers of the tribes of Brightcrown Canyon were somewhat contained.
…..but she hadn’t checked on that strange cave.

Is that where you are hidden, Beloved? Are you trapped with a Surveyor due to a Tribe making camp?
Given how high the cliff had been, and its proximity to a route to the ruins, it was possible this particular encampment had stuck around for much longer than normal.
Which means her Beloved was in danger. She probably had a day or two of provisions on hand, which meant there was still a noticeable chance she was alive.
And Eula was going to wreck a cold fury upon those who had caused her girlfriend to suffer like this.

———————————————-

There had been something……wrong, with this encampment.
Eula knew the Hilichurls weren’t entirely monsters. She’d seen reports from the Honorary Knight and Ella Musk, of successfully communicating with them, which meant a common ground might eventually be established, if the Abyss Order is ever dealt with, since it felt like they were often the ones inciting the various Tribes to attack the people of Mondstadt.

But these ones were sick. Frothing at the mouth, attacking anything that moved, violently vomiting whenever they drank, wandering around the cliff in a daze.
She’d been carefully to always freeze every Hilichurl and Mitachurl she’d struck down, to the point where even she was feeling the cold power of her Cyro manipulation, to ensure nothing touched her. Their bodies shattered and left nothing behind, both for good and ill.
She hadn’t managed to kill the Abyss Mage who’d been watching, laughing at the misery of the Hilichurls.
I hope that foul creature was the cause of this, otherwise we need to organize some quarantine patrols for the area……

Leaving the frozen wreckage of her rampage, she reached the cliff that acted like a wall for this plateau, and started to worry.
Except there wasn’t a Geo formation.
There was a small crack near the base of the wall, but not big enough for someone to get into.
She walked the perimeter of the wall, carefully comparing it to her memory.
This was definitely where the construct had been, yet it was now missing.
Eula placed her hand on the wall where she believed the construct had been, and closed her eyes. She wasn’t the Reconnaissance Captain for no reason, her senses exceptionally sharp.

Time passed, and just as her frustration reached its breaking point, she noticed two things.
A strange, human sound, and a familiar Pyro signature.
Amber’s Pyro signature.
…..behind the crack in the wall.
Like Anemo, Geo had a more ‘neutral’ reaction to other Elemental energy, unlike Cyro and Pyro. Anemo was a more ‘active’ reaction, causing it to swirl and unleash elemental chaos.
Whereas Geo was more passive.
Which meant by she just had to push her Vision just a bit further. She pushed Cyro energy into where she remembered the Geo construct had been, and watched as the Geo energy flared back to life.
The small crack seamlessly opened enough for her to easily pass through, when she heard the voice of her beloved.

“….la……..He…….E..l…….ck!” She was quick to act, and forced herself into the cave, the wet slapping sounds oddly reverberating as she came closer to a sight she had not expected.

Amber, tiredly reaching for her, the aforementioned Surveyor between her legs, rubbing their genitals against Amber’s.
The sight confused Eula, dumbstruck.

“Eula—mmmff….pyro overload……..knock—-mmmm…..them out….mmm–please!” Amber tiredly moaned as she asked her girlfriend for help.
Amber’s voice brought Eula back to reality, as she was quick to pull out a sedative. She shoved the sedative into the neck of the rutting Surveyor, who then quickly stopped moving as the sedative did its job. That particular concoction was for sneaking past Mitachurls, so this Surveyor should be out long enough to get them to safety.

But as she stared down at the sexual mess of the Surveyor and her girlfriend, she came to a realization.
Amber had quite the sexual stamina, to the point Eula often had to keep her bound during their dalliances while exploring. Yet this Surveyor had reduced her to a weak mess.
Is that what she meant by Pyro overload?

Amber had passed out shortly after the Surveyor, which meant they were using the Teleporters. Marking both individuals and all the various bits of equipment, she teleported them to a safe place, where they could potentially figure out what was going on.