Author's Note: This is just a quick little something I wrote because it came to mind as an idea. Happy New Year everyone!
"Now!" Amber yelled, letting fire an arrow from the bow string and launching it toward the anemo slime, puncturing it and causing a blast of wind to erupt into the air. Lumine had jumped over the impact zone at the perfect time but opened up her glider too light, instead catching the after-draft of the initial gust which is several times less powerful for flight. Seeing that she was nowhere near higher than the first twenty-eight times, she dropped down and walked over to Amber, annoyed by yet another failed attempt at the illegal slime launch. "I would suggest we try again, but you look exhausted and the area is probably cleared of enemies at this point considering we've looped around this mountain three times."
"Can't say walking away will lighten my spirits," Lumine responded, calling her sword into her hand and swiftly stabbing it into the ground to lean on. "Got any better ideas?"
"If you don't mind hunting at night, we can come back after dinner. Anemo slimes love the cliffs. Being able to blow opponents off the sides gives them one of the few edges they have in battle, so there will be more around in a few hours. When they do, I'll jump with you so you'll know how to time it. Sound good?"
"You had me at dinner, let's go," she said, reaching out to touch Amber's arm.
She stepped out of the way. "Not to town. Remember that cliff side a long while back when we first encountered Dvalin with Venti? I have food and I much want to enjoy the view of the sea from the top. There wasn't exactly time to take in the expanses what with the threat of the Abyss Mages controlling the power of gods looming over Mondstadt."
"Paimon hears food!" A voice suddenly peeped out of nowhere as the fluttering sparkles and particles appeared behind Lumine.
"Damn it..." Amber muttered, looking away and crossing her arms.
"I could really go for a pudding pretzel, oysters, takoyaki, and maybe even a curry."
"I said I had food. I didn't say I was a five-star buffet. Where on earth did you come from anyway?"
"Where there's food, Paimon follows!"
"Oh so you only like Lumine for the food, huh?"
"What all's got your ribbons tied up?"
"Nothing, guess the irritation of the flightless day is hitting me now," Amber stated, feeling around her hair to see if her bow really was twisted about.
"Well then, seems a seascape is exactly what we need." Lumine poked Amber's shoulder and before either knew it they were standing beside the tele-point at the bottom of the mountain.
They all stared up toward the uphill battle to the top and Paimon sighed, her stomach growling. "You couldn't teleport us any closer now, could you?"
The summit hike was easy enough and the sight was well worth it. Sitting with legs draped over the ledge and the wind waving through their hair. The beach a thousand meters below them was a thin sparkly white border around the roots of the cliffside. With the setting sun the waters turned to a tinted orange that made the ocean along the horizon appear to have the consistency of lemonade, but the mountain casted a shadow that sliced through the colors. At jagged borders, the light turned a deep-sapphire and closer to the coast a rich purple that sunk itself to the depths of the shores. The floral scent in the atmosphere was a pleasant change from the dense forests beside the slime spots. Fireflies were beginning to dot the grass around them and the occasional crystalfly joined the flickering lights in swirls of cyan against the yellow. But the real pleasure was the calming quiet of the place. No people in town yelling after them to ask for aid and no battle cries to defend the city. The only sounds were the rustling of the wind along the flower petals and the rustling of Paimon in Amber's bag searching for food.
"Would you calm down? I'll get it out in a second."
"Paimon came for dinner. Paimon will get dinner," she responded, ignoring the pleas and continuing to bury her hand in search of delicacies.
"I will give you more food if you'll wait a minute and sit over on that rock while we eat," Amber offered, pointing at a rock about fifty feet away. All Paimon heard was "more food" and zoomed off obediently. "Better follow through with my end then," she said, pulling out two Zhongyuan Chop Sueys. "Here, this ones yours. I'll be right back."
The two enjoyed their meal separately from Paimon but they all shared the view nonetheless. The food, as usual when Amber picked it out, was phenomenal, but it was a recipe Lumine did not recognize. "What are the boosts with this?"
"Does it matter? It's not like we're fighting right now. Just enjoy that it's delicious," Amber answered, taking another bite from the skewer which weakened the meat piece enough that it tore and fell to the ground. "No!" She reached to save it but it had already been spoiled before she even had the chance to react. "My child..."
"Amber do you-"
"Shhh..." She interrupted, holding out her arm to silence the traveler. "I must mourn my loss." A tear began to form in her eye.
"Would you like to share mine?" Lumine asked, holding the skewer in front of the poor girl's line of sight.
She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I shouldn't eat too much before we try flying again anyway. To answer your question, by the way, your stamina decrease will be slower for the next twelve hours. Plenty of time to get an illegal launch in."
"Alright, when should we start?"
"I mean, we can start now, or enjoy the view for a while. Take in each other's company while we relax," Amber added, gesturing out to the darkened sky.
"I want to continue. My persistence knows no bounds," Lumine chanted, jumping up to her feet.
"Figured you'd say that..." The bow began materializing in her hand. "Alright, better get this done before it gets too dark."
They spent a few hours running through the wilderness ending parties of slimes one after another without any luck of achieving the height off the blast they wanted. Twice Lumine flipped into the ground face first, achieving the same feat with the substitution of rocky dirt for a tree only fifteen minutes later. Six times her glider wasn't opened at the proper time. Four times she forgot to open it entirely. The closest attempt to success was when she fell onto the slime from a branch, but the timing of her drop was slightly off. The sun had completely disappeared behind the clouded night and they were still searching for more anemo slimes.
"You know, the nights still young. We can change plans and come back to this another time," Amber suggested as they pathed around the plateau.
"Shh, I think I hear something," Lumine whispered, peeking around the rocks to be met with the sight of the largest slime she had ever seen. "There's our ticket."
"Look at that tree!" She exclaimed quietly, looking over the traveler's shoulder. "They're almost the same height. You'd have to jumped from the rock wall, but syncing up with the slime bursting will be aggravatingly difficult. Not to mention, the explosion will certainly be a bit painful."
"Can you jump with me? The slime should be big enough for both of us and that should fix the timing."
"Sounds like a plan to me. Race you to the top," Amber teased having already leapt onto the wall.
The head start wouldn't do her much good. Lumine faced her palm toward the ground and let out a spiral of anemo power directly under her feet which blasted her well past Amber. A small "Shit, forgot she could do that," escaped through the outrider's heavy breathing as she picked up the pace of her scaling. Leaping along the cliffside she was soon thankful for the lack of stamina loss, but knew that Lumine was working under the same advantages. It didn't take her long to reach level ground, but it was to see wind girl holding out a hand to help her up, having won the race thirty seconds ago.
Once Amber had been pulled to the top, she exclaimed, "If only you could be this fast at learning," before laying down in the grass to catch her breath.
"Come on, don't rest now," Lumine pleaded. "The slime will be gone by the time your nap is over."
"Ugh, you're so pushy. Fine, only for you though," Amber said, reluctantly sitting up.
They made it over to the ledge above the slime, seeing that it was docile for the time being. However, its calm night was coming to an end with the whistles of flaming arrows beginning to rain down on it from the skies, Amber letting them fly in volleys. Even with the monstrous size of the creature, it wasn't holding up well against the piercing hits and it was helpless to defending itself against the higher ups. It wasn't long before she was grabbing onto the girl's hand to prepare the launch.
"I'll open my glider and hold onto you. Don't worry about opening yours till we're in the sky, got it?" She moved her goggles from wrapped around her neck to her face. "Oh, and make sure you close your eyes before we make impact. This might be rough."
Lumine nodded and with a light tug they leapt off the cliff side, plummeting toward the earth with the rushing wind behind them. As told, she closed her eyes during the descent and could feel Amber's arms wrapping around her to stabilize them. After a few seconds, the falling had seemed to pause for a second as the anemo slime popped and the oncoming storm fought against gravity. Then it was quiet and she felt like she was falling again, this time much slower than before.
"Lumine, you can open your eyes now!" Amber yelled into the clouds.
She saw Mondstadt as a distant city with dotted lights against the expanse of the lake. They had to have been thousands of feet in the air just based on how small the houses looked. It was the same glide that Venti forced her into during the fight with Dvalin, but less terrifying with the lack of a dragon attacking them. The stars were so beautiful so far away from the lights of town. Some of the constellations she recognized while others slipped her mind even though the names were on the tip of her tongue. Flying through clouds was an odd experience whenever the occasional one flew by, like entering a foggy forest that was a lot more humid than she remembered. Part of her wondered if the four winds enjoyed the views as much as she was now, but it was probably second nature to them. Perhaps they'd need to reach for stars before the same emotions could be brought to their minds.
It was after several minutes of getting lost in the world around her that Lumine realized Amber was still holding onto her. Not wanting to be a burden, she cried out, "I can fly on my own from here. You don't need to hang onto me the whole time."
The statement was seemingly ignored. "Can Paimon reach this high?"
"No, her floating only lets her get a few inches off the ground," Lumine yelled back to ensure Amber could hear over the rushing air.
"Good, I was wanting to ask you something," she said at a similar volume. "Are you and Lisa together or something?"
"What? No! Why would you think that?" She answered, not sure if the heat in her face was embarrassment or adrenaline.
"I saw you two on a date a while back and wasn't sure if you two were an item. Never got a chance to ask because Paimon is always around and she tends to interject situations with her own thoughts."
"Lisa didn't tell me it was a date! I thought I was collecting library books with her."
"Do you like her though?" Amber continued asking.
"Can't say I've thought about it too much."
"In that case, I have no issues doing this!" Amber retracted her glider and suddenly they both began racing toward the ground. Without any idea of what was happening nor any ability to open her own glider while being held, Lumine was yelling out incoherently and trying to struggle free. Amber was simply laughing out ecstatically as they dove through the air, trying to calm the girl down by saying "Don't worry! I'm not going to let us get hurt! Trust me!" It was a difficult bit of reassurance, but she had no reason to doubt it and trusted in the fiery personality that was currently letting them crash toward the ground. Amber had rolled over lightly during their fall. Her back was toward the ground and she was facing Lumine who was now above her and still held as tightly to her chest as before. There was a worry that she wouldn't know when they were close to the ground, but faith prevented the traveler from trying to open her glider preemptively.
"I've always wanted to do this with you!" Amber was exhilarated.
"Yeah, this has been a lot of fun," she replied, but it was met with a shaking head.
"Not the freefall, this!"
Before Lumine could react, Amber had moved a hand behind her head and brought their lips together the exact moment they passed into a cloud. Out of shock, Lumine tried to back away, but she wouldn't let her fingers leave the girl's hair and forced the kiss to hold for a very long moment. Soon she kissed back. The thin air around them made it difficult to think with so many events happening simultaneously. Her mouth felt hot and her lungs were screaming for air, but Amber wouldn't give in and kept the two trapped together until they were about to hit the ground. It was only when they were thirty feet in the air that she let loose her glider and brought them gently drifting to the ground. When they landed it was with Lumine resting on top of Amber and the two staring at each other with a mixed flurry of emotions blending in their eyes.
When they were able to breath again, all Lumine could ask was "What the hell was that all about? I was suffocating!"
She giggled a little bit at her reaction. "I was confident going in, but was scared of what you'd say when I broke it so I didn't. Since Paimon wouldn't be around, I saw it as the only opportunity I'd ever get."
"How long have you been planning this, exactly?"
"All week. I'd ask what you think but I'm afraid to know."
"I think we should find another slime to launch off of," she said, and Amber placed a hand on her cheek.
"Don't need to, you can kiss me right here if you want. I just wanted Paimon out of the picture at least once."
"Probably shouldn't. It's late and the hilichurls will be roaming around." This was met with the most disappointed pout she had ever seen.
"You're absolutely no fun! After everything I've done to get us here, you're going to ruin the mood that quickly."
"Take your wins with your losses."
"Not if I can't take you with me!" She grabbed Lumine by her shoulders and flipped them over, pinning her down to the ground with one hand beside her head and the other holding down her wrist.
"You know, one spiral and you'll be sent flying again."
"I haven't been hit with it yet, so a part of you must be okay with this, right?"
"Either that, or I'm buying into a small pile of patience I have stored up for my friends."
"Come on, quit toying with me. Do you love me back or not?" Amber asked, reeling back with her fingers running along Lumine's white dress until she was resting on her knees instead of lying the girl. "'Actually... Nevermind... You're being nice, but I think I know the answer."
"I'm sorry, I just don't know what to think right now," she admitted, sitting up as well.
"It's not your fault. I sprung this on you suddenly. Besides, your like an adventurer in the stories I used to read as a kid. Moving from one task to another without much time for relationships. They're a burden for time, and I guess time isn't exactly something you have with your brother still out there."
"Yeah, learning the anemo slime launch was to make travel easier so I can find him."
"Would you be more open to love after your family is whole again?"
"I can't say definitively, but it might be more likely."
"That's good enough for me then." Amber sighed, collapsing backwards into the grass with her arms sprawled out. "Promise you'll let me have the first attempt at wooing you then. I know Lisa's been thinking about making a move too."
"Amber... I... I'm not from this world. If I made a relationship here it would only end later when I go home."
"I've thought about that before tonight, and I don't care. If you're willing to indulge in a little happiness with me between now and leaving with your brother, then I can accept breaking the relationship in the end. I just felt that we could make something of it before you left."
"And if I left tomorrow?"
"Then tonight was one of the best dates I've ever had."
"I don't remember agreeing to a date," she said, leaning back next to Amber and staring up at the twilight sky.
"Not yet, but arrangements can be made. I glide with the wind, as it were, and I'm weary of wasting time without knowing how much I have left. So, put it this way, if you ever get lonely, my arrows aren't the only things that can keep people warm at night. Feel free to stop by my room whenever."
"That sounds like I'd be using you rather than loving you..."
"Trust me, I won't see it that way. Outriders get lonely a lot too."
They lay there in the grass for a while longer watching the stars pass by through the dark waters above them. Neither were quite sure what to think about the current moment other than a serene happiness and quiet dread. Nothing was said between them for the remainder of the day, but their fingers intertwined and held onto each other until they began drifting off. Amber rolled over to spoon the adventurer and buried her face in her blonde hair before letting go of all conscious thought and falling asleep.
Lumine stayed awake the whole night, observing the forrest around them, Amber's arms warm to the soul. She grabbed onto one of her hands, holding it close to her chest with an underlying hurricane in her eyes. The slimes could be anywhere among the trees. Hilichurl encampments scattered amongst the cover of hillsides, waiting for the proper moment to strike.
Let them come. It won't matter how many.
They won't make me lonely again.