Author's Note.

Hello and welcome! My name is Plant, and I'm glad you've come! While most of this story was written some time ago, this first chapter has been newly rewritten just recently for its release here! I have been publishing it procedurally on Ao3 under the same title and using the same username for around a year. It was the first bit of story writing I have attempted in this way, so the following chapters might dip to less experienced quality for some time.

This work is written on two sides of a time skip. Half of the chapters take place after Aether and Lumine first awaken, and the other half start at a purposefully un-dated point in the future when they and many of their friends have been thrown into the midst of the war. The chapters will be labeled numerically as normal for the first section, starting now. For the second section, I have been using roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv..). I also do not attempt to stick to one perspective. Every chapter or chapter break will be denoted by bolded headers stating the character's name.

I plan to publish a new chapter here every few days, thrice a week, up until I have caught up to myself at chapter 20. At that point, I will not be able to promise the same level of consistency but I will do my best. In addition, I want to apologize now for any first-time formatting difficulties, as they may very well rise up.

With all of that business out of the way, I hope you enjoy the beginning of this story :)


Beidou

"Morax's tits that's a lot of blood…" Beidou swore, in a whisper horrified enough that it slowed the rest of the group.

At a nervous and careful walk, the students fanned out as they approached the clearing. As Xiao had informed them, there were no signs of hostiles, but the scene before them was still enough to set all of them on their guard.

Keening winds twisted and lunged between the formation of dark trees that surrounded the glade while moonlight forced its way past their suffocating canopies to reflect on streams of blood where they collected in pools on the ground. The white flowers blanketing this area of the woods had been crushed and stained, and the sounds of the forest seemed to have quieted for miles.

More notable, however, than the aspects of the scenery were the torn-up corpses strewn about the edges of the clearing. Where they laid across gnarled roots and thorn-bearing bushes they dripped crimson ichor into the drying streams running towards the center of the clearing and behind them, bursts of gore had exploded across the woods, forming a grotesque 12-pointed star of blood. Each of the dozen cadavers was marked by circular wounds and holes boring through their limbs. It was the work of some magic, but not any that Beidou had witnessed before. Furthermore, the fallen were wearing Smezhnayan special forces uniforms and carrying fine weaponry. Such an assembly was not easily felled.

In the middle of the ring, on a bed of ruined flowers, were two bodies of a very different sort. One, lying face-up in the exact center, appeared to be disturbingly younger, given the situation. He had a long golden braid woven through with a few white feathers, and a massive sword wound in his chest. It bled slowly through a tight brown shirt that ended at his ribs, over the top of which he wore a golden scarf that was dancing subtlety in the wind.

The second of the pair was close to the first and seemed to have been trying to close the gap. Her hand was outstretched toward him desperately, but she had collapsed at the end of a bloody trail before she made it.

Beidou knelt beside the golden strangers. They looked a lot alike, to an unbelievable extent. She had the same hair and face as she did. They were also both without any foci or weapons. Had they done this? The wounds didn't match the soldiers, there was nobody else here, and they were right in the middle. It was rational enough but…

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a cynical drawl.

"They're alive. So is a soldier over there, but he won't stay that way for long. The rest are gone," it observed in a familiar, cold voice.

"They have some strange energy. It's… bright," Rosaria added, her burning pink eyes crinkled up in disgust as the color of her signature drained from them and her perceptive powers faded.

Even though she knew better than to question an assessment from Rosaria, and the Eyes of the Heartseeker, Beidou was more than a bit taken aback by the conclusion that they were alive. They didn't even seem to be breathing.

Still, she wasted no time before giving out orders.

"Hu Tao, stabilize them as best you can. Rosaria, watch for any other life forms coming into Heartseeker's range. Everyone else, keep your guard up."

Beidou then directed the three first-year students with her unit to collect the Sneznhayan's weapons for the academy's armory. She should also ensure that-

"Your scout just entered the radius," announced Rosaria. She seemed to be annoyed by that fact, as with everything else. It was a trait that she seemed to share, ironically, with Xiao. They were certainly both annoying to handle for their damn leader...

A flash of dark green and black darted through the hole in the canopy and, after performing a neat forwards handspring out of his dive, Xiao slid neatly over the sodden flowers to a landing in front of Beidou. He was wearing a tight but unbuttoned forest green uniform jacket that matched his hair with a white tank top underneath and baggy pants, despite the fact that they were on a mission and required to be in full uniform. His eyes reminded Beidou of his adeptal heritage with their feline shape as he looked up, and their brilliant color betrayed the existence of his signature.

The rather diminutive second year watched Hu Tao ripping off the bottom of the boy's shirt to access the wound with a confused expression before turning to Beidou.

"Are they actually alive?" he asked, incredulously.

"Yes," Rosaria answered, as if she had never before been so offended as she had by that question.

"Isn't this a Snezhnayan problem? They didn't kill our guys," Xiao argued, looking around restlessly.

"They're kids, they must be your age. And besides, they might be killing our guys soon if the Snezhnayans get them. In addition, you're forgetting something," Beidou answered, narrowing her eyes at the unenthusiastic wind mage.

"Oh, yeah. Well, there's nobody here."

That was good at least.

"Captain?" Rosaria intruded upon her thoughts.

"Yes?" Beidou responded, turning back to her warily.

"You should decide now. Are you saving them because they're children, or because they're weapons? Because those reasons won't go together when we get back."

The captain looked again at the two young forms that had collapsed amidst the carnage. They looked almost like fairies, sleeping in the twilight. That is, if you ignored the mortal wounds they had been dealt. Something about the sight emboldened her with determination. She had her answer.

"Rosaria, Hu Tao, and you two. We're taking these two back to the academy. Xiao, take the rest of the advance guard and meet up with Diluc's unit. Explain the situation and continue from there with the mission," she ordered, turning on her heel and putting an end to the matter.


Rosaria

Snezhnaya and Mondstadt were separated by a pair of mountain ranges known as the Frostjaws, the Twin Spines, or the Stormbearers, depending on who you asked. The mountains themselves cradled Mondstadt in a moderate, coastal climate where it expanded from the eastern coast. On the other side, however, the land became colder and colder while the forests gave way to mountains. The true border of Snezhnaya was far to the north, but they controlled everything up to the outer range. The valley between the mountains, where the party was currently located, was neutral ground.

Of the seven nations of Teyvat formerly ruled by archons, the lands of Air and Earth were in the most tumultuous position. They had long been close allies, having grown close when the world was still ruled by gods but even with their strength combined, the conflict they both had with the land of ice had been at a dangerous stalemate for some time. They could find no peace. There would always be plotting, killing, skirmishing, and the whole rest of the spectrum of unfortunate background activity that came with restless war.

After the second archon war, in which none of the conflict's namesake deities nor many others survived, the humans of Teyvat were left alone to grapple with themselves. The driving forces of the conflict were gone, but the hatred did not simply fade with the bloodstains. It did not take long for Inazuma to decide that its own borders were more important than bringing eternal peace to the world, and it withdrew. The mercenaries of Natlan followed when the Snezhnayan coffers started to empty. Sumeru and Fontaine believed the war should end, and perhaps the nations of wisdom and justice should have been given more credit. At the time, Liyue, Mondstadt, and Snezhnaya did not listen. They never changed their minds, and so the Northern War continued.

The group of five were headed directly east with their charges, on a route that would take them through Mondstadt itself, the capital city. The injured pair needed more medical care than their one field medic could provide, and to travel back south towards Dragonspine Academy would mean that they did not reach a full-fledged settlement for far too long.

Rosaria's boots kicked through the fallen flowers of the forest, stomping down its small attempts to bloom in this land of blood and snow. It was hard to see the ground over the body of the girl in her arms and there were multiple times that she nearly tripped over the winding roots of the trees that had managed to find a place for themselves in this valley. She glanced down from time to time, employing her signature to check up on her charge's vitals.

She did so again at that moment, stopping for a few seconds as she scanned the body she was carrying. The heart was working properly, as indicated by the consistent flashes of scarlet through her circulatory system. She was certainly breathing, and the bleeding from her wounds… Rosaria narrowed her eyes. The bleeding had stopped, and the harsh black mark across her chest was gone but Hu Tao hadn't imparted nearly enough healing energy to completely seal the wound…

Rosaria cut off Heartseeker and kneeled on the ground. The rest of the party, having previously paused, now moved in beside her with concerned and confused expressions.

"Is someone near?" Beidou quietly demanded, tensing her fingers around her dazzling weapon. Droplets of water had already begun to spin around its length as the storm mage's magic started to flare.

"No," Rosaria flatly stated, a bit exasperated. She was rather confused already, and perhaps she simply resented being commanded by a younger student, but the captain consistently got on her nerves.

She laid the girl down and motioned for Adam to do the same for his armful.

"Hu Tao, do you see it?"

Rosaria didn't expect much of the young healer, but why not test her?

"Ooh, just look at that," Hu Tao exclaimed, clearly fascinated by the concerning situation. She traced her finger along the outer edges of the girl's shoulder wound.

"The magic should only have mended this about half of the way, but it's almost finished! The scar tissue is already forming nicely. I have no idea why this happened so quickly!" she trilled to the group, like a small and bothersome bird. "It's certainly my magic, look!".

There were indeed faint orange butterfly wings burned over the slash, leaving slightly scarred skin, but skin that was nevertheless healed. The bleeding had all but stopped and the edges of the gash had almost completely pulled together. It was still obvious, but it was not a dangerous wound anymore. Rosaria had to give the disturbingly enthusiastic first-year due credit. Privately, in her own mind, of course. Never out loud. She did not need to hear more of this.

"I suppose your healing is finally showing some improvement unless it's something else."

Rosaria pulled Heartseeker back, noting the dull pain in her eyes as she neared her limit. Would they wake up soon? How much was the boy's injury improv- Ah… fuck.

"Beidou. There are three strangers heading toward us from the east, poorly trying to hide."

The captain settled onto the ground as if resting but held her trident tightly.

"Be cautious. Assuming they're here for these two we would like to know if Snezhnaya wants them dead or captured. Hu tao, ward them both. Unless you are forced to, don't break concentration," the captain quietly and quickly iterated.

Rosaria tried to follow the thought process. Were they just going to play defense? As the five of them crowded in around the injured she scanned the area. She saw no other visitors, but when she looked back east…

"There's a fourth now, moving into the trees. The taller birch, the one shaking. They are all adults, coming closer, and already closing in on 30 yards away," she whispered.

"I was hoping they were people from Diluc's squad," Adam softly groaned. "If they only want these two they'll either attack from the ground and then have their climbing friend try some ranged trick once we're disoriented or open with him, then charge as we panic."

Rosaria thanked the old archons that the trees got sparser around them. The attackers would need to leave cover if they meant to approach

"Well, that would only have worked if we were surprised," Beidou resolved.

Or if you didn't have me, little girl. Rosaria thought.

"Assume shell formation as soon as they make their move," Beidou whispered, clearly more comfortable with a grasp on the situation, even as daunting as it was.

The trio of newcomers stopped moving when they were 20 yards away, which Rosaria quietly relayed. When she had just barely finished that sentence, she saw the figure in the tree shift slightly. Not half a second later, a crossbow bolt came shooting through the air.