A/N: This still counts as a February update, seeing as last month was so short.
Alright! Lets start March off with a bang!
Here's a little something happy to lift your spirits in these dark times.
In others, I know about Ayaka's mother now. Nope! Not having that sad past! Nope, nope, nope! Not again!
Someone also introduced me to Sesield's genshin comics and ow lawd that gave me ideas~! Check them out. They're adorable! SAAAAARRRAAAA! I can't stop laughing!
Alright, shameless plug over.
As ever, the Embers rule still persists. If folks don't like this story? Poof! Gone! Awaaaaay to the void it goes. Gone once and for all. Forever. Completely. That's no joke. So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! I'm literally working every day now, so I have less and less time to write. Daily updates might...slow down for a bit, but I know that would upset a lot of people. Its just hard with two jobs.
Now for your questions, comments, and concerns! Mind you, some are...a bit visceral this time.
Q: How old is everyone?
A: To clarify, Ei, Makoto, and Klarion are the eldest and pretty much inhumanly strong as a result. Of course they are! They're gods!
We're getting REAL close to the events of the game...
Q: Why do update so damn much? Nothing you do will be remembered. Get a life, amateur.
A: Rude little thing, aren't you?
I do have a life outside of this site. Its a decent one, nothing to write home about, but I'm content.
And funny you should call me an amateur; because I really do still think of myself as such. There are great authors out there that outshine me EASILY. I mean really, this is Fanfiction. None of us get paid for this. We're just here to express our imagination and enjoy a good read or two.
So lets all get along, please~!
Q: What determines if you take a request or not?
A: Many things, but music, mostly. I've had so many requests, some better than others, but lately folks have been attaching SONG suggestions to said requests. For instance, "I'm Still Here" came with the song suggestion, and it fit beautifully.
So did "Strike a Match." As did "Untraveled Road" and several others.
The song doesn't HAVE to match the title, but if someone recommends a track that fits with the vibe of what I'm writing, the subsequent story turns out MUCH better than it previously would have.
Q: Can I run a request by you?
A: With my timetable the way it is, I can only promise to listen. Who knows? If an idea intrigues me -see Serving a Schnee, Battlemaster of Beacon and Weapon Masters of Remnant- I tend to at least keep it around and write up a rough draft.
Q: Why are these chapters so much shorter than the others?
A: Because we've got world-building to do, and its nice to have some family moments, no?
Alright, I've kept you waiting long enough, methinks. Lets get the gears moving!
As ever, I own no references, memes, or themes.
Get ready to grin.
"There is no greater joy in this life than a happy family."
~?
Snow and Thunder
Ayaka loved the lightning.
Many an Inuzuman child dreaded such; for to see that bright flash of light in the night sky was to know that their God was near. The lightning was him racing through the clouds, the thunder that followed the sound of him descending to Teyvat to walk among them. To speak the Lord Shogun's name aloud would surely herald his arrival.
But to her, it meant Papa was home.
Ayaka knew it by the sudden hum her vision gave, if not the booming voice that chased it,
"Kayo~!" Father called for Mother first, just as he always did. "Ayaka! Ayato!" Laughter swelled from the front door. "I'm back!"
Scrambling to her feet, she hastened out of her room, raced across the hall, and pelted down the stairs. Even then she knew she wouldn't be the first one to reach him. Big brother was out for the day, so he would surely miss this, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
Father had the whole of Inazuma to run; he could seldom show himself in person. Shadow clones were nice and all, but they were a pale imitation to the real thing. You couldn't squeeze a shadow clone for fear of popping it, couldn't truly spar with a doppelganger for fear of dispelling it entirely and-
"Oh, my!" Mothers voice echoed just up again, cutting through her thoughts like a knife. "What's this...?"
Pouring on one last burst of speed, the little ice wielder hurtled around the corner.
...and her breath was stolen away.
"My my," Mother was standing before Father, tutting over something in his arms, simultaneously blocking her view of him. "Poor dear! What happened to her...?
"Well, its a bit of a long story." Father quite see her yet, but she saw his whiskered cheeks dimple in a small smile. "Not too loud, now. She finally fell asleep on the way over here.."
"And wherever did Havria go? I was so looking forward to seeing her again after all this time."
A low laugh. "Having a stern word with Morax and Guizhong about the children of Liyue."
Ayaka crept closer, not quite willing to reveal herself. Mother looked a bit healthier today in her white robe, as she always did when Father returned. Mother, a shining beacon of health, a glimpse of the beauty she would one day become, albeit much taller and with far longer hair. Her eyes danced as she noticed her at last.
"It seems we have an eavesdropper, dear."
Ayaka ducked back around the corner.
"Now, now, come on out...
Naruto leaned past Mother and too late, Ayaka finally noticed the little girl nestled in his arms like a fine china doll. Young, too. Younger than her. The first thing she noticed was her dark hair, dirty from travel and fighting perhaps, yet still midnight so pure as to be cut from the abyss itself. Her eyes were slanted-yet-shut in sleep as she nestled against his shoulder, clinging on tight even in slumber.
And there, dangling from those ebony tresses? A Cryo vision gleamed just like hers.
"Who is that, Papa?"
"This is Shenhe." Father's smile was pure as lightning. "Your new sister." he nudged the little one in his arms. "She's going to be staying with us for awhile. Why don't you come and say hello."
Ayaka puffed out her cheeks and pouted. "I do not wish to."
That seemed to stir the girl; because she woke at last.
She didn't even speak. She just...stared. At her!
"Ayaka," Mother chided, "You will be polite."
"Yes...mother... Her nose wrinkled. "Did Father have another child...?"
"Nope." he beamed, wholly ignorant to the coming storm. "Havria and I found her in a cave!"
Shenhe squirmed free of Father's arms as he set her down. Still unspeaking, she stepped forward to regard her.
Ayaka's pout redoubled at the sight of this frail, tiny creature. It wasn't fair. She already had to compete for Father's attention with Brother and literal gods but now this...this...just who was she?! Mother had ever taught her to be polite, but at the end of the day, she was still a child. Children seldom think before they speaking.
"So she's not really my sister, then?"
Mother sighed somewhere behind her. "Oh, dear...
Shenhe visibly flinched aside at the remark, eyes gone wide.
"Ayaka, no." Naruto knelt down and enfolded the startled girl in a warm embrace. "Apologize."
She tried to escape, to no avail, he caught her with the other arm and tugged her into his chest. "I didn't mean it like that!"
Too late. The die had been cast.
Shenhe scowled at her from the safety of his arm."Meanie! I don't wanna play with you!"
"Me?! Ayaka recoiled. "You're the meanie!"
She hissed. "Nuh-uh!"
"Yeah-huh!"
Someone sniffled. She wasn't sure who.
"Waaah!"
"Bwaaaah!"
Both girls burst into tears and flailed at one another, determined to be adversaries for life.
Kayo tutted a little. "I'll fetch some sweets. That should set them to rights."
It was like flicking a switch.
Ayaka's braid twtched.
Shenhe perked up.
"Sweets...?"
A/N: Must protecc Smol!Ayaka and Little!Shenhe at all costs!
As ever, the Embers rule still persists. If folks don't like thi? Poof! Gone!
Awaaaaay to the void it goes. Gone once and for all. Forever. Completely. That's no joke.
So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! I'm literally working every day now, so I have less and less time to write. Daily updates might...slow down for a bit, but I know that would upset a lot of people. Its just hard with two jobs.
So In The Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly? It keeps us all alive.
Without reviews, we wither and die. Sorry, but that's the truth.
No previews this time. No one seems to like 'em, and this story clearly isn't half as popular as "Archon" or "Eternity" these days. T_T
...fine, just three. We'll see if ya like them...
(Preview)
"Father, look!" Ei preened at her handiwork. "See what I made~!"
He was looking at a miniature Ei, roughly of young Kokomi's age. "What in blazes...?"
"She's a puppet!" his daughter crooned, holding her up. "Isn't she wonderful! I've named her Mei! She runs on sweets!"
Behind him, Makoto and Raikou cooed over the little thing. Then the child looked back at them. Or rather, up at him. Raised her arms.
"Proffer praise upon me, Father. I wish to be held."
Naruto's heart twitched a little.
"Alright, she stays."
"Bwaaaah!"
"Oi! Who made the girls cry?!
Sara's right eye twitched. "Permission to speak freely, Lord Shogun?"
"We're in the middle of a battle!"
Sara glared.
"Fine, granted." he ducked a spear, snatched an arrow out the air, and flung it back at the archer who tried to do him in. "Speak your mind. This ain't gonna end anytime soon."
"Then I shall be blunt." Sara swayed away from sword without looking, slapped a man aside with her wings, and brought a torrent of lightning down upon another. "You have way too many offspring. Honestly!" tutting, she caught a club, spun it around, and brained the man with it. "Show some moderation, my lord!"
"Bah!" he stove a man's face in with a rasengan. You love babysitting them."
Her pale face sparked red. Her next shot went wide, but the subsequent explosion still devastated an enemy squad. "I do not!"
"Really?" he thumbed his chin. "That's not what Itto told me. I mean, I know you're pregnant and all, but isn't it a little early for you to be this moody?"
Oh dear. He shouldn't have said that. "HE'S A DEAD MAN!"
"I believe the term is Oni."
"Still dead!"
"Have you seen Mother? I need her for something...
"She's tending to your brother at the moment, but..." She heard Father tapping his foot. "Ayaka. What do you have there?"
The little girl stilled, then offered up her hands, "I...I found a baby bird. Its wing is broken."
Naruto's face softened. "Let me see.
She held it up for him to see.
"Hmm." those inhumanly bright eyes narrowed. He knelt before her. "Why don't we give him a name? Toriyama sounds nice."
R&R~!