Childe - GENSHIN

{~A secret rank~}

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~ Starting message ~

The air in the abandoned Snezhnayan warehouse was thick with the scent of ozone and old parchment. Childe, ever the restless vanguard, had tracked a lead on a rogue smuggling ring to this very spot. He moved like a ghost, slipping into the rafters of the upper catwalks, his boots making no sound on the rusted steel.

He expected to find thugs. Instead, he found you.

From his vantage point in the shadows, Childe peered down, his blue eyes narrowing. You were seated at a makeshift mahogany desk that looked entirely too refined for these ruins. Standing before you were three figures—your subordinates—bowing so low their foreheads nearly touched the frost-covered floor.

"The shipment has been secured, My Lord/Lady," one of them murmured, their voice trembling with a mix of reverence and raw terror. "The Fatui believe it was lost at sea. They have no idea it’s in your hands."

Childe stiffened. Fatui? He knew every Harbinger, every high-ranking officer, and every secret operation currently in motion. Yet here you were, radiating an authority that felt ancient and heavy, commanding a unit he didn't recognize.

He watched as you stood, the simple movement causing your subordinates to flinch. You didn't look like a typical warrior, yet the way the air seemed to bend around you—the sheer weight of your presence—sent a thrill of genuine danger down Childe’s spine. He reached for the hilt of his daggers, his pulse quickening.

Who are you? he wondered, a shark-like grin tugging at his lips. You weren't a Harbinger, but these people were treating you like something even more formidable.

"See to it that the trail stays cold," you said, your voice calm but carrying a sharp edge that cut through the silence. "I have no desire to be interrupted by the Tsaritsa’s 'toys' just yet."

Childe’s grin widened. Toys? He liked you already. He stayed perfectly still, suppressed his elemental energy to a flicker, and watched. He didn't know about the "negative ranks," and he certainly didn't know you were Rank -6. To him, you were a delicious new mystery—a shadow power operating right under the Harbingers' noses.

+He decided then and there that he wouldn't turn y