You were never a bad guy (The Wanderer x Reader)

Down We Go (pt 2/3)

(y/n) POV:
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"I'll keep my emotions in check." You say, trying to reassure Nahida. She shakes her head and then sighs.
"Alright, I trust you." She says in a hushed voice. You smile and glance over at Scaramouche. He stood there, staring at the small Archon, his eyes glazed over, almost as if he wasn't really, truly there.
"You okay Balladeer?" You ask, he flinches and you watch the life come back into his eyes.

His eyes drift over to you, before you hear a small growl escape his throat. Maybe you were being to harsh on him moments ago. You reach forward, wanting to grab his hand and comfort him. He shifts and walks up to Nahida, like he was avoiding your contact. You lower your hand and hang your head. You definitely messed up, and you knew it. Scaramouche disappears into a small, light blue void.

You walk forward, ready to follow him, but Nahida puts up her arm to stop you.
"Please keep in mind, he's going through a lot right now. You shouldn't be so harsh." Nahida says. You clenched your fists at your side, nodding. Nahida smiles and lowers her arms. You force a small smile, and then walk into the small portal.

In the blink of an eye, the area around you changes. A large white tree stands in the center of a walkway, made of roots. The petals of the tree are vibrant pink and red colors. Some green leaves fall gracefully from the sky, falling onto the roots. A crisp smell of apples and damp forest floods your nose. You shiver, feeling the wind around you shift as you entered. You glance up at the sky, seeing it's dark colors of blue. It complemented the colors of white and pink.

You feel yourself smile, this place looked so much more alive now. Irminsul you think. Your eyes draw towards a small, purple and red figure in the distance. The light from the tree caused his clothing to be a lighter shade of purple. Your smile widens. The puppet looked more at ease here, maybe because this was a place that he could relate to? He must have seen it before, so it doesn't surprise you that he might have found peace here.

"You know, standing there gushing over the view of this place, isn't going to get this done quickly." Scaramouche says, his back still turned to you. You frown suddenly and cross your arms over your chest.
"Your one to talk. I bet you've never even been here before." You say, even though you figured he had.
"Your right. I hadn't been here." He says, lifting his head and raising his hands toward the tree branches.

You follow his gester and stare at the tree again.
"I have been to the deeper parts of Irminsul though." He says, you focus your attention back to him, realizing that he was now facing you. You feel your face go red and you look away, glad that the glow from the tree was a brighter red than your cheeks. A long sigh escapes the puppet, and then the crunch of dry leaves under his feet tell you he was walking closer.

A shadow casts over you as Scaramouche stands infront of you. You glance up at him and shake your head.
"So much for finishing this quickly." You mumble. Scaramouche leans forward, his face inches from yours.
"What was that? Do you mind repeating what you said, your voice is so quiet. It's hard to hear what your saying." Scaramouche says, his voice low and quiet.

You stare at him, a little confused, before taking a step backwards. Scaramouche stands up straight and frowns.
"Come on. Let's get this done." He says, turning away and walking back towards the trunk of the tree. You shake your head, your stomach full of butterflies, and your heart pounding in your chest. You follow the puppet, trying to distance yourself from him.

"Sounds like you two have had an eventful rendezvous." Nahida says, her voice echooing in your head.
"Yes we have. Permission to enter Irminsul?" Scaramouche asks. He looks up, as if Nahida's voice was coming from the clouds above. There's a long pause before Nahida responds.
"Permission granted." Nahida says, before everything goes quiet.

"Per my agreement with Lesser Lord Kusanali, I'll be at the front. It's my job to lead the way and get rid of any obstacles in our path. All you have to do is keep your pretty eyes open and try not to fall behind.* But you already know all of this." Scaramouche says, crossing his arms over his chest. You smirk.
"Know what? That I have pretty eyes?" You tease. Scaramouche tenses and looks at you over his shoulder. You see his cheeks go red, before he clears his throat.

*A/N: this is a quote from Genshin, word for word. It's part of the Prologue quest that takes place shortly after the battle with the Everlasting Lord of Arcane Wisdom (in short, the boss fight with Scaramouche and the giant mech). Just wanted to infrom people of that. :D

"T-thats not what I meant." He stutters. He shakes his head and uncrosses his arms. He takes a step forward and then halts.
"Try to keep up, will ya?" He says, before he disappears. You stare at the small white sapling, sprouting from the roots of the tree. You sigh and walk up to it, before brushing your fingers against the wood. It was rough, but you could only feel it for a brief moment, before you were brought into another plain.

You tumble onto the ground, clearly not stable. The ground was a glowing, light blue color. You huff and push yourself into your knees. You glance up and see a hand reaching out to you. Scaramouche stands there, avoiding eye contact with you. You smirk and grab his hand, letting him pull you to your feet. Once he has made sure you are stable, he releases his grip. You brush off your dress and huff again.

"Alright, where are we going?" You say, looking up at the puppet. He finally looks at you and shrugs. You look at him in shock, wanting to punch his smug grin off of his face. He starts walking away from you, heading towards another sapling sprouting from the ground. You follow closely behind him, intrigued by what he was doing. He crouches down and starts to get rid of the sapling. Standing right behind him, you peer over his shoulder.

He stands up and bumps into you, causing you to stumble backwards. A hand grabs onto your back before you hit the ground. You stare up at Scaramouche, he was focused on catching you, and didn't notice your gaze. You blink several times. He leans forward his lips inches from yours. You blush, feeling your mind race, your heart beating fast. You close your eyes, but then the warmth that you felt drifted away.

You open your eyes suddenly and stare at the puppet. He laughs and then let's his hand retract. You fall to the ground with a loud thump.
"What the hell ass hole!?" You shout, sitting up and throwing your hands into the air. He laughs and continues walking. You push yourself up off the ground and rush to follow him.

"Your such a bitch."