#ningguang did catch me instead of klee but klee didn't escape for long

[deprecavi]

Kaeya had managed to get Jean to agree to let Klee out of solitary confinement with a solemn promise from the girl that she would behave and his own word that he would keep an eye on her. He wanted Klee to have a chance to play Aether’s game before Aether stopped creating matches, the traveler had already indicated that he would only be setting them up for another day or two. Albedo was working on duplicating some of the ideas Kaeya had come up with for their own version to play with Klee at a later date, but Kaeya was going to take Klee out for an actual match first. 

She had invited Diona along and Kaeya met up with Aether flanked by the pair of them, Klee practically bouncing with excitement, using Kaeya’s hand she was holding to propel herself slightly higher. Diona had declined the offer to hold hands, insisting she was quite old enough to walk on her own thank you. She had also very seriously informed Kaeya, when Klee wasn’t listening, that she was only coming because she’d heard Aether saying they were going all the way to Liyue again and she wanted to check for potential cocktail ingredients out there. Kaeya offered to try them if she mixed anything, and she gave him a disgusted look.

Aether transported them out to Quince village using the teleport technology that Kaeya found immensely handy but also thoroughly disorienting each time he used it alongside the traveler. No one else seemed capable of activating it but Aether, so usually Kaeya rarely came out this far, as it was a long journey to do so. Diona looked slightly queasy for a moment and Kaeya could sympathize, remembering the first time Aether had taken him along via teleport. Klee’s enthusiasm had momentarily waned as she took a moment to reorient herself. 

Kaeya, for his part, was admiring the scenery. The multi-leveled terraces that made the main geography of the village were beautiful in themselves, sweeping formations of low stone walls, but the colored flowers contained within only made things even more aesthetically pleasing. He noted the area that Aether was leading them toward contained significantly more scarecrows and remembered that the traveler had indicated that was his newest idea as a disguise. He’d apparently abandoned the notion of boxes and barrels, as there were none placed in the area for the trio to use.

A tall woman who looked like she meant business was waiting as they entered the area Aether had set up for the game, and the traveler introduced her as Ningguang, the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing. Kaeya arched one eyebrow at the title, wondering what such a figure was doing, agreeing to play a game with literal children. She did not quite match up to his expectations of her from the correspondence she and Jean shared, and he suspected she might be the type to take this game very seriously despite playing with rebels as young as Diona and Klee. He just hoped she would give the rebels enough time for Klee to get a real taste of the game.

Aether had clearly already set expectations with Ningguang, as he turned to Kaeya, Klee, and Diona instead to explain the new area. There were numerous dead snags in the watery areas of some of the terraces that were hollow and could be hidden inside by someone of Klee or Diona’s size, though Kaeya doubted he could fit into one. The scarecrows were also an option, red and blue and scattered throughout the fields. Kaeya could also see a couple of trees toward the back of the area that looked promising as vantage points, high above the rest of the area, not to mention a small house he could easily scale.

When Aether gave the signal for the rebels to hide, Diona dashed off on her own immediately but Klee followed Kaeya. He kept his pace to something she could match, mindful that his legs were quite literally longer than her entire body, jogging as she dashed beside him. The time to hide wasn’t going to be quite long enough to get all the way up into the trees if Klee was coming with him, so he stopped in one of the higher terraces instead.

“How about a scarecrow?” he suggested. Klee nodded enthusiastically.

“Klee will hide with big brother Kaeya!” she announced. He didn’t have the heart to tell her the best strategy was for the rebels to all hide separately. He helped her climb into the blue scarecrow, tucking her securely inside it so that her glaring red was not visible, wondering if perhaps he should have opted for a red one instead. He climbed up to a second scarecrow himself, the straw tickling his face as he wriggled into the space Aether had designated for the hiding rebels. As usual, Aether’s hiding places were designed with people his own height and shorter in mind, leaving Kaeya and other tall players to struggle to adapt.

Below them, Aether signaled for Ningguang to start hunting. She circled the watery terrace first, examining the dead snags before heading up past Kaeya and Klee toward the higher ground. 

“Stay still,” Kaeya breathed a warning at Klee, who had started to wriggle with the delight of being overlooked when Ningguang went by. She obediently went still, though he heard her small muffled giggle. Ningguang was attempting to scale the cliff face toward the back of the area, though she kept slipping. Her shoes were not meant for climbing, and neither was that dress. She clearly realized that herself, as she turned away and went to examine the trees Kaeya had been eyeing. Perhaps it was for the best that he hadn’t followed his initial instinct, she was clearly a sharp hunter when it came to strategic locations.

Kaeya suspected she had only overlooked him and Klee because of how mundane their hiding place was, she’d gone to check the more clever spots first. Beside him, Klee was shifting again, trying to keep an eye on the hunter and still giggling over the thrill of the game in general. She had moved enough that part of her red hat was now visible and Kaeya thought again that he should have opted for a red scarecrow to hide her in. It wasn’t the same shade of red, but it would have been less glaringly obvious than the blue was.

“Klee, when I give the signal, I want you to run,” Kaeya instructed, noting that Ningguang had also seen the tell-tale red fabric of Klee’s hat from her vantage point and was making her way back down toward them. He didn’t think she realized he was also there.

“Ok!” Klee agreed brightly. She wiggled loose and waited, watching him rather than Ningguang. Kaeya waited until Ningguang was a few steps away.

“Go!” He called, extricating himself from the scarecrow so rapidly that it essentially disintegrated, throwing himself between Klee and the hunter. Klee leapt down and dashed off, laughing. Ningguang, caught off guard by Kaeya’s sudden appearance, switched targets immediately and reached out to capture him instead. “Let her have a little fun, hm?” he suggested with a chuckle. Ningguang let out a low laugh in return.

“I intend to win.” She gave him a gentle shove toward Aether’s vantage point and Kaeya shrugged, strolling over to wait by the traveler. Klee was still racing across the terraces below, a bright beacon of red easy for Ningguang to track amid the orange and yellow flowers.

“Next time I’m getting her a different jacket,” Kaeya commented to Aether, who laughed. Ningguang, despite her heels, easily caught up to Klee with her long legs and neatly captured her second rebel. Kaeya spotted Diona in another terrace, with no disguise, putting a flower in her mouth experimentally. She was clearly more caught up in the notion of finding a new ingredient for her cocktails than playing the game and it was a wonder Ningguang hadn’t already noticed her.

“Did I run good?” Klee asked breathlessly as she trotted over to Kaeya and Aether. Kaeya laughed and ruffled her hair through the hat affectionately.

“You ran very well, Klee. Keep it up and you’ll outrun me someday.” She beamed at him proudly and tugged at his trailing decorative overcoat.

“Pick me up!” she demanded, and he complied, placing her on his shoulders so she could have a better view of the playing field. “Run Diona!” she hollered at her friend, whom Ningguang had just spotted as the girl chased a butterfly. Diona looked back toward Klee, saw Ningguang bearing down on her, and jumped, her cat tail stiffening in a way that was almost comical to Kaeya. She took off at a dead run, but the height advantage Ningguang had gave the hunter an undeniable edge and she neatly captured her third rebel.

“Ah well, that’s a loss for us. Better luck next time,” Kaeya chuckled. Klee bounced on his shoulders.

“Let’s play again!” she demanded, and Kaeya laughed, looking at Aether. 

“Well traveler? Do you have another round set up?” Aether laughed and said he’d work on it for them.