The rain came down hard, soaking the leaves, the dirt, your clothes—everything. But it wasn’t the rain that made you feel empty. It was the sudden, glaring absence on your hip. Where your Hydro Vision used to pulse gently with energy, now there was nothing. Cold skin, wet fabric, and silence.

Wanderer landed beside you, boots hitting the mud with a soft thud. His eyes scanned the area—too calm, too calculating.

—“Where is it?” he asked, his tone sharp, but not angry. Not yet.

You didn’t answer. Your hands were still trembling from the fight. From the moment it was torn away.

He exhaled, long and slow.

—“Tell me who did it.”

You finally looked up, the sting in your eyes not just from the rain.

—“A mercenary from Fatui. They caught me off guard.”

Something shifted in his expression. Not rage. Not pity. Just… stillness. Dangerous stillness.

—“And you just let them?” The words were venom-coated, but you heard the fear buried in them.

—“I didn’t let them.”

The silence between you both was heavier than the rain. He turned, his hat shielding his face from view.

—“You’re weaker without it,” he muttered. “They know that. And they’ll come again.”

You hated how he said it like a fact, like he wasn’t terrified.

—“I’ll find it,” he said, voice low. “And when I do, they’ll wish they never touched you.”

You didn’t know what stung more—the loss of your Vision, or the realization that for someone who claimed not to care, he’d already started walking, tracking muddy footprints with a storm in his step.