Playing with Fire

One late afternoon, the ships were transporting crates full of munitions and fuel. Amber warned everyone to be careful while delivering them, they all listened except Mona who ordered everyone around painstakingly. "Ay, get those wagons a'moving, you hear, we gotta handle these munitions as quick as we can!" she told Hu Tao. "Oh, you must be mistaken, but I think these were Amber's orders, not yours" she said. "Well forget her orders, listen to mine!" "You can contemplate all you want, darling, I would love to play around, but I have work to do, so unfortunately I can't, good day" finished the Pyro cheekily. Mona then went to Xiangling to tell her about the new orders. "I don't know if you had heard, but you need to-" "Yeah yeah yeah, I know get done with this so I can handle the munitions, piss off, will you, I already know it" grumbled Xiangling. "Right, you know what to do!" Mona stated. "That girl, she will never learn sense, and somehow she's an astrologist, but if she insults us once more, I'll make her see stars, both literally and figuratively" Xiangling thought to herself. Once it was time to unload the munitions, Mona came in inspecting like a detective. "Alright everyone, do as I say, and keep your eyes on the crates!" "Amber, please tell her that we only take orders from you, not her?" Xiangling complained. "I know Mona can be quite tedious, but she is actually giving you good advice" said Amber. Xiangling, while being abashed took the first few crates without no issue. "Be careful, Xiangling, these don't look stable" warned Hu Tao. "It's fine, don't worry about me, I got it" "No you don't, that box isn't boxed up properly!" Mona accused. "Wait, Mona, watch out for the buckets of fuel" Lisa said. "No, if I wanna move, I move!" "Motherfucker, are you stupid or-" But Xiangling stopped herself as she saw one of the fuel buckets leaking, it was heading straight for the crates. "Everybody move!" ordered Amber as they were backing away. And that when it happened, explosions were happening left and right, spreading fire throughout the woods. "Quick, we need water!" suggested Hu Tao. "The fire's blocking it off!" said Lisa. "Tell everyone to evacuate and go to Liyue so they won't get hurt!" shouted Amber. "But we need Xingqiu, he's the only Hydro we have here!" Xiangling informed. "No, don't drag him into this, let him and the others get to safety!" exclaimed Lisa. "There's only one option, I have to brave through that fire to get the water to put it out, it's the only way!" "No Hu Tao, stay where you are, the fire would consume you alive!" Xiangling said. "Let her try, Xiangling, maybe she can find a way to-" "Shut it, Lisa, the eggroll's right, that fire's getting larger minute by minute!" snapped Mona. "Alright, everyone, I told the people in Liyue to give us water, so come on, pass it down!" said Amber from afar. Everyone passed cups, bowls, and whatever to put out the fire. Fortunately, the fire was slowly getting smaller, until finally it was diminished. "Alright, now that it has been put out, you can come back, Hu Tao" Xiangling said. But she received no response. "Hu Tao, Hu Tao, are you there!?" cried Lisa. "Wait, don't tell me she, she-" said Xiangling while about to cry. "She's gone" Amber finished solemnly. "No, it's can't be, it's Hu Tao, she always bounces back" told Xiangling. "I'm afraid she didn't bounce back this time, have mercy on her soul" announced Lisa. Xiangling fell to the ground and started crying, Lisa gave her a hug, but Xiangling refused. "You!" she said to Mona as she pinned her to a tree. "You son of a bitch, your stupidity lead to Hu Tao being killed, do you not realize who you took away from me, she was my best friend, and now she's gone!" Then Xiangling took her spear and was about to stab Mona, until she dropped it. "It's no use, killing you won't bring her back, I'm going home, I'm not working until I feel better" she said before leaving. Everyone remained silent, and Mona, feeling ashamed, was about to go home, but she was stopped by Amber, who put the young Hydro into a forceful chokehold. "Do you have any idea what you've done, your actions might've killed us all, you're incredibly lucky I don't have to the time, because if I did, I would make you suffer, all the pain and turmoil we all have to go through because of you, you are hereby not to enter the domains of Mondstadt and Liyue, is that clear!" Amber's voice surged with authority. "Y- Y- Yes ma'am" said Mona trembling. Lisa said nothing, and just went back home as well. "We'll miss you, kid" she whispered. When the news reached Klee, she was distraught. "No, it can't be true, tell me it's just a myth!" "It's not a myth, Klee, it's on the front page of the newspaper, 'Local Pyro Dies While Trying to Put Out A Fire'" Dori assured her. Klee broke down crying while hugging Dori tight. "That girl was a proud inspiration to us all" whispered the Dendros mournfully. Ever since then, Bennett just sat at the spot where Hu Tao was before her passing, but that's when he saw what looked to be a person coming out of the water. Bennett rubbed his eyes and took a deeper look. "Wait, everyone get up, it's Hu Tao!, it's Hu Tao!" he chortled. Everyone got up to see what was happening, and when they saw Hu Tao, they all sighed with relief. "Sup guys, I'm alive and well, so what did I miss?" she asked fondly. "Oh Hu Tao, thank goodness you're ok, but how did you survive?" asked Amber and Bennett while hugging her. "Well, I was swimming to get some water, but the high tide pushed me away even further, so I swam and swam until I eventually found my way here" she explained. "Thank God, but Xiangling and Klee, how will they react?" asked the others. "I'll go talk to them individually on my own, see you guys later" she said happily. "But does that mean that Mona is still banned?" asked the twins. "It's been reduced to a suspension, a little too light of a punishment, but I simply don't have the time" finished Amber gravely. Hu Tao went to Xiangling's house next morning and knocked on her door. "Go away, I don't want to be bothered" Hu Tao just smiled and knocked again. "Listen, if you don't leave me-" "What's up, Xiangling, I survived' announced Hu Tao happily. "Hu Tao, thank goodness you're ok, don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear me, girl" she said while spinning her around and hugging whilst shedding lots of happy tears. "Oh Xiangling, I never thought that you would be scared of something, I thought you were always fearless" she joked. "Well there's only one thing that scares me, which is losing my friends, welcome home, young Pyro" Xiangling said humbly. Hu Tao then went to Sumeru, and when she arrived, she saw that Klee was sleeping, so she decided not to bother her, but Dori and Sayu insisted, so she gave in. Hu Tao gave Klee a little nudge, and at last she woke up. "Huh, wait Hu Tao, Hu Tao, you're not dead, oh my god, I can't control myself" Klee said while being giddy. "Well there's one thing that everyone knows about me, Klee, and it's that Hu Tao always bounces right back"