-Aether's POV-
"Uh, Paimon has a question for you." She nervously twisted her fingers together. "Paimon wants to know about your sister."
Aether raised an eyebrow. Despite being a constant chatterbox, Paimon didn't really ask a lot of personal questions. Notably, most questions were food-related or food-adjacent. "What about her specifically?"
"Your sister hasn't looked or talked to Paimon all morning." The floating girl hung her head in shame. "Paimon thought maybe Paimon did something wrong since she looks so… sad? Mad? Paimon can't tell."
Aether pinched the bridge on his nose. No matter where they went, people kept operating under the assumption that something was just different with Lumine, that she was condescending or special in some way.
But the reality was that she just didn't display emotions very well. Her resting face was her poker face and the way she emoted was subtle to the average person. Her voice conveyed her emotions instead. Without it, many assumed the worst. It didn't help that she wasn't the type to wear her heart on her sleeve or that she was far more reserved and thoughtful than he was.
But she was also his twin. They just knew each other in a way most people couldn't fathom. They've rarely been apart for long and they'd shouldered each other's dreams and burdens through countless travels.
He knew by the ever so subtle twitching of her brows and the gleam in her eyes that she wasn't sad or mad at anyone in particular, but busy trying to solve a difficult problem.
A problem that she wasn't telling him about.
"It's fine, she's always been like this." Paimon tilted her head quizzically. Aether rolled his eyes before elaborating. "She's always been more of a thinker, you know? She likes really hard puzzles and complicated books.
"So stuff that would make Paimon's head spin."
"Seems like it."
"What was that?"
"Nothing." Aether blurted out. "I was just saying-"
KA-BOOM .
An exploration roared in the background, too close for comfort.
Aether dropped into a crouch, summoning his sword and tracing the treeline for the source of the explosion. Out of the corner of his eye, Lumine did the same.
She gestured off into the distance. "There, near the waterline."
A thin wisp of black smoke rose past the top of the treeline not far off.
They kept to a brisk pace as they neared the site of the eruption. The smell of smoke and burnt fish permeated the open air. Not far behind Aether, Paimon trailed with a look of curiosity and alarm.
The smell grew stronger, and debris began to show itself at their feet. Aether stepped in front, clearing away branches for a better line of sight.
In front of them was a larger lake, the soil surrounding it was evidently damp and deceased fish littered the floor.
Oh wait, that one's alive; he noted.
"Another one?!" He heard from his side. When he followed his sister's glaze, he noticed a child sitting by the water's edge. A fish grasped tightly in her hands and a 'I did it!' smile plastered on her face.
Lumine pushed past him, her face twisted in concern. This was the second little girl wandering around a monster infested forest alone.
If there's no such thing as a coincidence, then this place is just alarming. Or maybe this is some world where only children exist, and they pop out of the ground or something. The boy thought sarcastically.
Lumine wasted no time rushing to the little girl's side. "Are you alright?"
The red-clad girl glanced up, her red eyes widening in surprise. "Oh, hi!" The girl's cheeks puff out. "Wait… Big Brother Albedo said I wasn't supposed to talk to strangers." Her voice lowered as if realizing something sad. With that she turned around and went back to collecting the beached fish.
Aether looked at his sister with an understanding look, then to Paimon who looked ready to speak.
"Well, we won't be strangers if we introduce ourselves! Paimon is Pamion." The fae folk put a little fist over her chest to indicate who she was talking about. As if that wasn't already obviously enough.
The little girl turned her head to look and seemed to think about Paimon's logic for a second. "Makes sense to Klee!" She nodded to herself and waddled closer to the trio. "I'm Klee!" she waved. "What's your names?"
Aether wasn't surprised by the development. The logic of children is universal it seems he mused. "Hello there, I'm-"
He's interrupted by his sister stepping in front of him to start introducing herself. "Hi Klee!" A gentle wave. "I'm Lumine." She pointed a finger to him. "This is my big brother, Aether."
The little girl—Klee, nods. "Wowwww~! You two look very much alike!"
She chuckles. "That's because we're twins."
Her eyes widened in interest. "Cool! Sir Kaeya told me twins can hear each other's thoughts. Can you? Can you?"
"No, silly, I'm afraid not but we do know each other very well that some people think we do."
"Oh." Klee nodded sagely. "That makes sense."
"Well, what are you doing out here?"
"Fish blasting~!" Klee declared, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She bounced up and down, her excitement barely contained and slightly infectious. Lumine even cracked a shy smile at the girl's antics.
"Fish blasting?" Aether repeated. It was more of a fish massacre. Over a dozen fish laid out, their scales charred and blackened.
Lumine nodded at the musing. "Yeah, uh, Klee?"
"Hmmhm?"
"What is fish blasting exactly?"
"Oh it's only the most funnest thing ever! It's when I use my jumpy dumpties to blast fish out of the lake! They taste so good afterwards! Want some? Jean said I should share my food."
Lumine looked back to him, that was the third name the kid had mentioned. So obviously someone was supposed to be watching over this child. That disproved his flawed theory that there were only kids running around the world.
While his sister got up to exchange words about what was going on, Paimon left his side to talk more with Klee.
"What are jumpy dumpties?" She questioned, only for the child to go through her backpack and pull out what seemed to be a cute round toy.
Paimon's coos were the last thing he really paid any mind to before being fully engaged in conversation. "You saw her ears, right?"
"Looks like an elf's." Aether nods. "Elves are a subspecies of fae, right?"
She gave him the 'so-so' hand gesture. "In many worlds, yes. I would assume so in this world as well. We haven't come across evidence that suggests humans exist in this world."
He wasn't so sure about that hypothesis. "I don't 'bout that. Your ears are covered, but mine aren't. Neither of them have commented about it. Worlds with just faefolk were quick to comment about our ears."
She sighed. "True."
When they turned to look back to the others, they spotted Klee picking up one of the slightly charred fish. She reached for a pendant with a smooth red stone hanging off the side of her backpack. She held it over the stone, and an aura of blues and purples pulsed out, covering the surface of the fish. Once the light dissipated, the fish was nowhere to be seen.
Lumine crouched next to the little girl who was repeating the process with another fish. "Uh Klee? Can I ask you another question?"
"Oh, I like it when big brother Albedo asks me questions!" The little elf girl glanced up with wide eyes. "Will Klee get a snack if she's right?"
"Sure."
Aether looked at her sister like she was crazy. They only had fruit on them. He was pretty certain that kids don't tend to want fruit as a snack. Too plain and healthy for a snack. Kids liked candy.
"Okay!" The little elf agreed without much thought.
"Well, where'd the fish go?"
"In the Vision, silly!"
"Can you take it back out of your Vision?"
"Yeah."
"How do you do that?"
Klee placed a hand on her chin, deep in thought. "Well I just think about it! Whatever I want back, it comes back to me!"
Aether met his sister's eyes, coming to the same realization.
It was just like their pocket space.
But how?
His memories were still fuzzy, but he could distinctly recall that pocket spaces were rare, definitely not something a little seven year old girl should be carrying around.
"That's amazing!" Lumine praised; her tone shifting to that patronizing speech people use with small children and pets. "How do you get these 'Visions'?"
"Oh, Paimon knows that!" Piped up the fairy. "Visions are gifts from the Seven that are granted to people who they deem worthy to hold power. They allow the owner to wield a small part of one of the elements to fight and stuff."
Klee nodded. "Yeah! Barbatos gives these little marbles to say 'well done'! And Klee got one so that means he must like me," she giggled.
That didn't tell us anything new. She said that about visions yesterday. Aether dryly noted.
He noticed that his sister didn't respond, rather she glanced off into the distance and clenched a fist, remembering something unpleasant. Ever since they landed in this world, their memories were hazy, present but obscured. They instinctively knew things, could recite things off the cuff, but dwell on anything for too long and it would slip through their grasps.
Aether placed a hand on her shoulder and redirected his glaze to Klee. He was about to ask her if she was lost or needed help getting back to town. (There must be a town nearby for her to be here, he'd reasoned.) Though the boy didn't get the opportunity to inquire about such.
Paimon's shrill shrieks brought him back to the ready. "Someone scary's coming!" she shouted as she floated behind his shoulder.
A pair of large gray wolves slowly made their way down the path, their heads lowered and fangs bared. In between them walked a short teenage boy, wearing an orange poncho-like shirt, dark boots, and a dark hooded coat which barely contained his long spiky gray hair. Impressively (or perhaps worryingly as his sister might say), he held in his hands with little effort a gray wide-bladed claymore. The intense focus in his bright red eyes and the noticeable scars running along his cheek and exposed arms only raised more red flags.
So far, this world was proving to be very generous in the department of 'unsettling series of terrible implications'.
"Give back Klee!" shouted the hooded stranger, his words sounding strangely stunted.
"Who are you?" Aether's eyes narrowed as he summoned his blade and marched forward. "And how do you know Klee?"
"Klee, friend!" claimed the stranger, lowering his claymore. "Friend, but… big hassle."
Aether spared a glance at Lumine, who was keeping Klee shielded behind her.
"Don't smell familiar. Don't smell like people from town. Don't smell like knights." The wolf boy shifted his stance, keeping his blade low, but at the ready. "Who are you? Why Klee with you?"
Aether lowered his blade as well. "Uh," his eyes glossed around at his surroundings for additional threats, but found none. Just the wolves flanking them from multiple sides. "We're just travelers passing through. Who are you?"
"Me?" The stranger put a fist on his chest. "I am Razor." He then gestured to the wolves slowly encircling the group. "And they are wolves. My lupical."
The word lupical sounded vaguely familiar to him. But he couldn't help but feel that the word was made up. "So why is your 'lupical' mad?" The wolves kept their fangs bared, crouched low, ready to pounce as they circled the small group. Aether stayed at the head of the group, keeping his sword down and hand up to show he wasn't a threat, but ready to intercept any sudden attacks.
"They are angry with burny girl. Big fireball scare away boar. Black wolf and pack hunt everything, try to take over land. Less boars to hunt. Tonight, they go hungry."
"Really? I'm sorry!" Klee reached out for her Vision and began to produce charred fish carcasses. "Klee didn't want to be a bad girl. Klee didn't mean to hurt Razor or Mr Wolfies!"
"But we know Klee the red one does not mean to hurt. She tries to help but does not." Razor's red eyes narrowed and the wolves shifted focus to Aether. "But we do not know you. Don't know if Klee or pack is safe."
"Oh, it's okay!" piped up Paimon, peeking out past Aether's shoulder. "You don't have to worry about these two. They're really new to this part of Monstandt and need help figuring out where everything is!"
Razor tilted his head to the side quizzically. "Help?"
"Yes, help!" chirped Paimon. "This is Aether and that is his twin sister Lumine. They came from far away so they don't know where things are! They don't even know what a Vision is!"
"Not even know what vision is?" His stance loosens up ever so slightly. "Razor not know what vision was at first too. But Lisa help Razor understand." He's focus diverts a little, a pondering look flash over him.
It made Aether wonder who this 'Lisa' was.
"Oh yeah, Miss Lisa taught Razor for a while. She's suppppper smart!" Klee piped up from behind his sister.
There was an impasse forming, now neither side was sure if the other was a threat or something to wave off. At the moment Aether had trouble reading if the air was less tense or not. Talking might defuse the situation further or snap whatever tension was present.
"Okay, we don't mean Klee any harm."
"Then what do you mean?"
"We just want some answers. We're don't kno-"
A crash , snap , and thump stole everyone's attention away. "Eyyyy! Hilichurls!" the fae squeaked.
Several things happened at once.
Paimon shattered into a scattering of lights.
Razor let out a wild roar, a thunderous boom signaling the emergence of a werewolf-like phantasm, cloaked in purple electric energy. He rushed the nearest hilichurl, effortlessly swinging his claymore in tandem with the phantasm's claws.
Lumine thrust her arm out to protect Klee. The little elf, taken aback at the sudden appearance of hilichurls, stepped further behind his sister. She summoned her sword and twirled it only to slash at one, driving it back. Another aimed a crossbow directly at her, and panic momentarily flared within Aether.
His sister barely noticed the arrow hurling towards her and stuck out her hand. Aether flinched back, mentally preparing himself for an arrow to sink through flesh and recalling as much first aid as he could.
But something unexpected; in a day full of unexpected events, happened.
Instead the sound of metal sinking into flesh, the sound of an arrow snapping in two filled the air. In mid-air, some translucent green energy unfurled from Lumines's palm and spat the pieces back to the archer.
What is wrong with this world?!
Aether shrugs off the question and dips himself into the squabble once he was reasuressed his sister was gonna be fine.
Swish, swish, stab, stab-
A punch from a big hilichurl; closely resembling the one they had encountered previously, came from his blindeside, pain flaring throughout his cheek. Though it didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have.
Our powers! Are they still there?
"Aether!" His sister shouted above the commotion.
"I'm fine!" He rolled out of the way before the thing's axe could connect with him. Surprising him, Razor dived in to help. Slashing at the thing before ending his combo with a purple slash. It resembled claws and the blond could feel small amounts of electricity charge through the air at that moment.
The rest of the struggle was growls and blades and whatever the heck the others were doing.
Razor wielded electric abilities along with his comically big claymore, tossing anyone unfortunate in his way aside like toys.
The wolves pounced on the unfortunate hilichurls, snarling as they dug their claws and fangs into the monsters.
Lumine kept her palm out, manipulating small amounts of wind to toss around her enemies and fling projectiles back.
And just when he thought it couldn't get weirder, that little girl Klee took out those things he thought were toys and threw them at the nearest hilichurl.
A bright red fireball engulfed the poor hilichurl.
They were bombs.
Aether wanted to go home now.
All in all, it took less than two minutes for them to defeat the ambushing monsters.
Aether felt a little disappointed, not having done much to contribute in the fight. All he did was defeat one hilichurl, whose body was now dissolving, while Razor and Klee had teamed up against the larger axe-wielding hilichurl. Defeating him in an explosion of fire and electricity.
He hated being useless, unable to contribute or help out. He didn't get as hurt as he thought, so clearly not all of their powers were gone, but how? What did they lose and could they get them back?
Razor came uncomfortably close to him, apparently having no concept of personal space or ability to read social cues. "Your lupical has no vision, but can use element. How?"
Aether glanced back at Lumine, hoping she'd have an answer.
She made eye contact for a split second, giving him a 'sorry' look.
He felt betrayed.
He glared back at his sister, his eyes wide as if to ask 'what was that?'. She merely shrugged at him. "I had an interesting development last night."
"And by that, you mean…?"
She does a one over at the crowd near them. Apprehension paints her face. "I'm not quite sure? Regardless, I don't think we should speak about that here."
"Then when?" He'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit to a smidge of jealousy. Aether appreciated a good fight, testing his skills, pushing them to his limits and surpassing them, but his sister was a master of technique. She'd learned the sword techniques and how to wield their powers first, but she was also restrained. "We can't just wait. We need answers."
"Once Klee gets home, I take you to the Guardian." The wolf boy butted in.
Lumine's eyes narrowed in suspicion at the wolf boy. "Who?"
"The Guardian of this Land," explained Razor. "He is very strong, very wise. Taught me many things. How to hunt. How to fight."
"Wait a second!" interrupted Klee. She glanced down at the ground in the way kids do when they did something wrong. "Klee doesn't want to go home yet."
Lumine knelt down beside her. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"Jean will be mad that Klee went fish blasting without telling her."
"Well, how about we don't tell her that?" suggested Aether, despite not knowing how this "Jean" would react to Klee suddenly showing up with three strangers in tow. He leaned in conspiratorially. "We can tell her that you were our guide, since we're new here."
Klee's eyes widened. "Oh. Okay! But you guys will go fish blasting with Klee again, right?"
"Of course."
Aether turned his attention back to Paimon. "So, how far away from this... Springvale are we?"
"Paimon doesn't think we're that far." The little fairy girl rested her finger on her chin as she thought deeply. "Paimon thinks we should be there by dinner!"
Aether spared a glance back at his sister, who remained engulfed in conversation with Klee. Razor silently trailed behind, keeping a vigilant watch on their surroundings, his wolf companions nowhere to be seen. Great. Keeping his voice low, he asked Paimon, "Do you know if the people of Springvale are friendly?"
"What do you mean? Of course they are!" Paimon pouted, though it was a little too cute to be intimidating. "The people of Mondstadt are the friendliest in Teyvat!"
Well, that was reassuring at the very least. Far too often places were wary or outright hostile towards outsiders and far flung travelers. Sometimes it was a necessity, due to ongoing conflicts or rampant crime, other times it was as simple as blind hatred and bigotry.
It would be refreshing to finally meet some people who didn't immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion.
-Allan POV-
Allan's luck; like always, was terrible.
Not only did he fail to nab anything on his hunt, again , for the third day in a row, but he'd been attacked by hydro slimes and as a result of his panicked dash to safety, lost his coin pouch. Thankfully he'd packed light, only bringing the tools he needed for the day's hunt and a little bit of mora in case of an emergency, but the loss only added insult to injury.
He just wanted to prove that he was just as good as any of the Springvale Hunters. Sure, he was a rookie, but he was capable!
That was the only reason he even bothered to venture deeper into Wolvendom's forest. There was good game in those woods and few were courageous enough to hunt further up the hills. He just needed to bag something big, something that would prove to Draff that he was worth his weight.
But instead he'd made a fool of himself. No catch, no mora, only shame.
Maybe he could at least snare a few squirrels or rabbits on the way-
KA-BOOM.
Allan's blood froze.
An explosion?
That can only mean one of a few things. He'd heard that one of the alchemists-in-training with the Knights of Favonius was some sort of mad bomber, so it could've been that. But why would they be here? They had plenty of training grounds and if they wanted an isolated area, Dragonspine would've been more appropriate.
Hilichurl attacks were becoming more frequent, so maybe the Knights increased patrols. Of course, that had to be it. Why else would they be in the forests of Wolvendom?
Except they didn't have any patrols that went that deep into Wolvendom. Draff had told him and the other hunters not to stray too deep into those forests for that very reason. If they ran into any trouble, they were on their own.
Just like Allan was.
Alone.
Deep in the forests.
Possibly surrounded by hilichurls.
Or worse.
Whopperflowers.
As quietly as he could, he made his way towards the nearest tree, trying his best to recall his stealth training with Draff. He moved quickly and with purpose, avoiding the many dead branches until he felt like he was in earshot of the voice.
Not voice.
Voices.
He could clearly hear two voices, but couldn't make out the words. From his vantage point he saw two blonde strangers with some weird floating… thing whispers in their ears while they spoke to a wild-haired boy flanked by wolves.
"...pack hunt everything, try to take over land…"
Allan froze upon hearing the mysterious voice. Take over what!? Who are these people?!
The brunet crept ever closer to gain a better ear to listen in on. He took his time, not wanting to alert them. It was the last thing he wanted.
Come on, just a little bit closer so I can hear them.
Instead of getting more context however, he heard the sound of a twig snap.
Allan froze, worried that he gave himself away, but it was his only indicator of what would soon come.
Hilichurls burst from the treeline.
Surprising even himself, he managed to muffle his scream of horror as the monster descended on the strangers. Allan squeezed his way into a large cluster of bushes. From there, he watched terror and astonishment as the spectacular fight.
It struck him as odd that 3 vision users were there at once, he even felt in awe of them. Until, that is, he realized the blond girl who manipulates the same element his god reigns over, didn't seem to possess a Vision.
But sh-she didn't have a Vision!?
Yes, she even got uncomfortably close to his hiding spot, and as far as he could see, no rock encased within a metal frame was present on her person.
It wasn't like Visions couldn't be hidden, but from what little knowledge he had of them, they needed to be out to be used.
But to use elemental power without a Vision?
But that meant…
But that meant…
Allan racked his brain for anything of the sort. Most of the Knight's higher ranking members had Visions, so did their alchemists. All of them were fairly visible.
"...interesting development last night."
He caught the tail end of someone's words. He leaned in for more.
"...you mean…?"
"...not quite sure? …don't think we should speak… …here."
That didn't sound too good. And with his suspicions, he couldn't really pin them down for who they might've been. The strangers wore exotic clothing yet possessed no Visions. They were talking to the strange boy who seemingly commanded the wolves about taking over the land.
But who would gain from that?
The Fauti...
He'd heard rumors at the tavern about Fatui using something else that wasn't Visions. Delusions or something or the sort, something that mimicked a Vision. It was also no small secret that tensions between the Knights and the Fatui were increasing.
Could that be it?
But if they were Fatui and plotting with that weird wolf-whisper…
He needed to get back to Springvale!
People needed to know.
This was bad.
Yeah… this chapter took way, way too long to come out. Between work tiring me out, playing video games with my buddies, grinding Genshin in preparation for Inazuma (and exploring Inazuma), and being a DM for a Dungeon World game, this chapter just never got done.
Even worse, the fight scene was just the worst thing to write. I like action, but it's been my greatest flaw as a writer (outside of indecision and procrastination). Hopefully it does the job and as we go forward, the flow of action scenes improves.
What are you talking about? I wrote the fight scene. You just edited like, 3 of the sentences. Fite me bro. (ง'̀-'́)ง
Anyway, Imma be the one writing the next chapter and fair warning, as far as the outline is concerned it might be mostly filler,,,