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Those Who Yearn For the Gods' Gaze
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(F/n) stood behind the resistance they had grouped up with, gazing quietly as the Fatui agents that had walked up to them.
Their dark blue eyes darkened upon the delusions that the agents were pushing over with a mixture of food and other needed supplies.
The small group of the resistance gave a look of relief and excitement as they saw all the supplies that they were going to be given.
"Is this all?" A samurai asked, raising a brow.
Teppei stood beside (F/n), his eyes sparkling in excitement at all the food and supplies that the unknown sponsor gave them.
With a flick of their tail, the ombre bluenette released a small scowl from their lips as a single Fatui agent nodded his head.
"Of course," the Fatui agent replied.
The group watched as the agents walked away after their small goodbyes.
"Look at all of this!" Teppei exclaimed in awe, as he walked up to the multiple carts of supplies.
The samurai gave a sound of approval. "They even gave us visions," he added.
Before anyone could touch a delusion, (F/n) spoke up.
"Don't touch," (F/n) hissed softly.
The group of resistance gazed at the feline in surprise.
Teppei looked at the feline beside him. "Huh? Why, (F/n)?" He asked in confusion.
The ombre bluenette felt their ear twitch and flick in annoyance as the teenager huffed lightly. "Just don't," they replied before turning around and walking off.
The resistance members looked at one another before shrugging their shoulders and following after the feline; pulling the carts with them.
However, there was always that one idiot that didn't like to follow orders.
The sound of metal clinging together caused (F/n)'s ears to perk up and quickly jerked their head.
A resistance soldier was holding a delusion in his hands, gazing at it in awe while handing out a few others to the resistance members.
"You dumbass bitch."
✧˖*°࿐
(F/n) pulled an arrow back and released it on the incoming enemy who released a thundering roar.
Their brows furrowed a bit as they released another arrow, but this one was charged with cryo.
Where were the other resistance soldiers? They were on their way to the shrine unless they were already there, (F/n) didn't know since they had allowed the soldiers to move on ahead.
Footsteps captured the feline's attention, causing them to look over their shoulder and take notice of Paimon and Aether.
"(F/n)!" Paimon exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"Hey so, um. A little help here?" (F/n) retorted with a deadpanned expression, waving towards the giant Lawachurl.
Aether quickly nodded his head and manifested his blade before joining in the fight.
The duo was able to take on the enemy as Paimon cheered for them off to the side.
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"Phew... glad that's over. As monsters go, that one was pretty tough. But what's such a huge Thunderhelm Lawachurl doing here in the first place? It doesn't make any sense... Also, the atmosphere here gives Paimon the creeps. Anyway, the good thing is that it's over now. We should probably get going... Huh, Teppei? What are you doing here?" Paimon turned her attention when she noticed Teppei walking up to the small group of three.
(F/n) glared at the ground as they heard a cough leave Teppei's lips.
"...Wow, this is a surprise. Didn't know you were the ones investigating here. I just got back from delivering some supplies to the front line. I figured I'd stop by and clear any threats in this area on the way back," Teppei answered, coughing once more into a closed fist.
Paimon and Aether gave a worried look.
"Are you alright there buddy? You're looking slightly worse for wear," Paimon asked.
Teppei nodded his head. "I'm fine, it's nothing. I must've caught a cold a couple of days ago while I was out at sea. On my way past, I heard that someone had just arrived on the island to investigate, so I thought I'd come and take a look. If there'd been some real danger, I might've had the chance to be the hero... Heh, shame it was just you guys. Guess I came here for nothing," he chuckled.
(F/n) mumbled something under their breath, lightly kicking a nearby pebble that was sent flying into the water.
"Teppei, don't you think there's something strange about this place?" Paimon asked.
Teppei's brows furrowed as he placed a hand on his chin. "Hmm... now that you mention it, there is something a little off about it. It could be that the Tatarigami is more palpable here, I guess. We're not that far away from Orobaxi's remains," he agreed.
"Orobaxi? Who's that?" Paimon asked in confusion.
"A god. Look, there's the corpse over there," Teppei pointed over at the huge snake skeleton off in the distance.
"Aah! It's a gigantic snake skeleton. It looks terrifying!" Paimon exclaimed.
(F/n) listened quietly to the conversation, lightly tapping their leg with their tail.
"Orobaxi was the one who brought out ancestors from Enkanomiya up to the surface. That's the origin of the Watatsumi Island you know today. Our ancestors regarded it as a guardian deity, but during the Archon War, Orobaxi invaded Yashiori Island. The Raiden Shogun came out in person and slew Orobaxi with the Musou no Hitotachi. That same slash also formed what later became known as Musoujin Gorge," Teppei explained.
"The Raiden Shogun created Musoujin Gorge in one slash? Wow, that's pretty incredible..." Paimon gasped out in awe.
Teppei nodded his head in agreement. "Yes. But the Archon War was brutal..." He went quiet for a second as a cough left his lips, before continuing to talk, "and Yashiori Island was completely destroyed during that battle. They say the shogun lost something very dear to her along the way too. Since Orobaxi's death..." Another cough, "there has always been some animosity between Watatsumi Island and the Shogunate. But our different beliefs have nothing to do with why the resistance was formed. We only rode up to fight against the Vision Hunt Decree."
Teppei then turned his full attention to Aether, Paimon, and (F/n). "When Orobaxi attacked civilization, the shogun stood up and put a stop to it. But now that the shogun is stripping people of their ambitions with the Vision Hunt Decree, it's time for someone to stand up and stop the shogun..." He trailed off as he covered his lips with a fist and coughed into it.
The male sent a reassuring smile to the trio before him. "Alright, I'm heading back. I was just dealing with some of the Shogun's elite samurai, so I think I'm gonna take a quick breather, then it's onto the next assignment. You should report back to Sangonomiya as soon as possible. Don't stay here longer than you need to – being around the Tatarigami too long won't do your health any good..." He trailed off with another cough.
"Take care of yourself," Aether lightly scolded.
Teppei chuckled lightly. "Hey, don't worry about me. Peak condition..." He replied before heading off.
"Teppei's sure made some big progress if he's already dealing with Shogunate Samurai. Paimon can hardly believe it," Paimon states.
Aether turned his attention to (F/n), who was silent this whole time.
"Eh? (F/n), are you alright?" Paimon asked.
(F/n)'s ears perked up in alarm as they broke out of their thinking process, and quickly waved their hands in front of their face.
"Huh? Oh, yeah! I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me! Just digging deep into my... Into my thoughts! Yeah, that's it! We should hurry up and report to Kokomi. C'mon!" (F/n) retorted quickly before heading off.
"Wah, hold on!" Paimon squeaked out as she floated after the feline.
Aether frowned lightly, wondering where (Y/n) was since he only saw the said (H/c)ette once ever since he has been on Watatsumi Island.
Shaking his head, he followed after the duo.
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