When Amber was young, she lived with her grandfather. Her boundless energy would often bring about complaints and her grandfather would constantly shelter her from blame. When he disappeared one day, Amber was inconsolable for a while but eventually she moved on. She moved on because she wanted to become the greatest outrider. She moved on because the work her grandfather had left behind was disappearing. She moved on because she was no longer afraid of the future without her grandfather.
She remembers the words her grandfather had left behind, inked on paper in his own cursive handwriting and stowed away in an envelope addressed to her, "What you lacked was not wind, but courage. It is courage that has allowed you to become the first flying birds of this world."
Those words she realised, how true they were when they are applied to the Traveller.
Amber met the Traveller on one fine day when she was scouting a hilichurl camp in Windrise. She was hidden behind a rock, taking peeks occasionally to map out the camp. Then came along the Traveller out of nowhere, his sword swinging and his palm unleashing a burst of Anemo power on the unfortunate hilichurls. Amber watched the stranger carefully as he took down the hilichurls. His movements were strange, as if he was second guessing himself. His sword missed far too often and more importantly, Amber could not find a Vision on his person. Amber whipped out her bow, she had many questions for the stranger but it would do her no good if he died before he could answer them.
When his flying companion appeared, the number of questions she had for the stranger doubled.
"And this... mascot, what's the deal with it?"
"Emergency food."
"Paimon's not emergency food!"
The Traveller was suspicious but he is honest and in Amber's opinion, does not look like he belonged to an evil organisation like the Abyssal Order. And he is looking for his lost sibling, Amber can relate to that.
(Jean would berate her later after she recounted her encounter with the Traveller.
"I know he looks innocent and he has done a lot for Mondstadt in a short amount of time, but can you at least be slightly suspicious of him?")
Amber led the definitely-not-suspicious man to Mondstadt, only to lose him along the way. Admittedly, Amber had not been paying attention. She was hungry for some Sticky Honey Roast and she admits that she might have walked slightly faster than usual so she can reach Mondstadt before they are all sold out. She was relieved when the Traveller walked through the gates of Mondstadt an hour later after she had arrived.
"I'm so sorry! I thought you were behind me!"
"It's okay, I met an adventurer who wanted to teach me how to cook."
"Oh? How did that go?"
"I think I'll let other people do the cooking."
Amber led the Traveller through the city, introducing him to various shops where he could resupply, the Adventurer Guild where he could do commissions in exchange for money, to the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius where he could seek help for any inquiries. She brought him to the famous cathedral of Mondstadt and to the plaza where the statue of the Anemo god Barbatos stands.
Amber does not comment when the Traveller tripped at the start of the incline up into the heart of Mondstadt. She did not comment when he tripped on the first step of the stairs up to the plaza. (She reasoned to herself that the Traveller was tired.) She did not comment when his companion pulled him along by the hand, making enthusiastic comments, as they followed her on their impromptu tour of Mondstadt. (She reasoned that they must have been close and the Traveller was simply indulging his friend.)
When Amber revealed the glider to the Traveller as thanks for clearing out the hilichurl camp, she was met with disappointment. Even when the Traveller tried to hide his face of disappointment, she could tell from his despondent tone as he thanked her for the gift. Before Amber could ask what was wrong, several things happened at once:
The sky darkened. Stormterror appeared. Storm clouds gathered. Tornadoes appeared. People are panicking at the Stormterror's appearance. And the Traveller was blown into the sky by a strong gale.
His companion, Paimon, started panicking as she frantically called out the Traveller's name before she was carried off by a strong wind. Amber caught her in time, before she could be blown out of Mondstadt. Paimon thanked her before flying down the streets towards the Traveller.
(Aether is a nice name, Amber thought to herself before snapping out of that and started running in the direction where the Traveller had been blown off to.)
As Amber watched the Traveller battle Stormterror in the sky, she continued running until she found Kaeya in the midst of ordering soldiers to evacuate civilians to safety. The Traveller had ascended further up into the sky with Stormterror and the storm clouds shrouded the both of them, hiding them from the eyes below. Amber followed the knights to assist in protecting the civilians from flying hazards and escorting them to safety at the same time. Eventually, the storm that engulfed Mondstadt finally dissipated when Stormterror left and Amber ran over to the Traveller after having spotted him slowly gliding back down. His companion had already flown up to meet him halfway.
(Where had she disappeared off to? Amber wondered to herself as she watched Paimon cry into Aether's arms while the latter whispered words of comfort to the former.)
While Amber was checking the Traveller for injuries, Kaeya appeared. Amber knows that the Traveller is suspicious in many ways but come on, he saved Mondstadt! And now, it was up to Amber to sort this out and hopefully, she can keep the Traveller out of jail. Okay so maybe she had accidentally jailed a tourist once so her track record is a little shaky on that but she is trying her best!
The two of them led the Traveller and his companion into the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius. Kaeya had not mentioned that he is bringing the Traveller to the headquarters to interrogate him but Amber is fairly sure that the Traveller is well aware of Kaeya plans. Amber hopes that there will not be another incident because she really does not want to ask Noelle to help clean up again.
Fortunately, no incident occurred within the walls of the headquarters. Unfortunately, there was a much bigger incident that is related to the entirety of Mondstadt. Amber somewhat wishes that it was an incident and not a bigger incident because the first one does not require going toe-to-toe with a dragon. But Amber is an Outrider and a Knight of Favonius, if she has to fight a dragon, she will try her utmost best!
Thankfully, she did not have to fight a dragon.
Jean had asked the Traveller to assist in destroying Stormterror's sources of power in exchange for the knights to assist in finding his sibling. The Traveller had agreed and everyone went off to the Four Winds' Temples they were assigned to. The Traveller chose to accompany Amber to her assigned temple and Amber found that she did not mind the Traveller's presence.
"I look forward to working with you. But, I should warn you though, I don't slow down for anyone, greenhorn or otherwise."
Aether snorted, "Likewise."
They chatted as they made their way to the temple. And in that conversation to the temple, Amber learned many things about Aether and Paimon. Firstly, Aether fished Paimon out of the ocean. Amber did not believe it but Aether swore that it was the truth and Paimon backed him up. Secondly, Paimon ate like a glutton. They had to sidetrack several times along the way when Paimon smelled something delicious or saw something edible. The path towards the temple is now stripped of berries, sunsettias, apples and sweet flowers. The wildlife are probably too traumatized to even think about crossing the path. Thirdly, Aether keeps staring at her Vision. When Amber kept asking about it, Aether kept dodging her question. Fourthly, Aether does not have a Vision. Somehow, Aether could use Anemo power without a Vision. At first, Amber had thought that he hid his Vision but there was no tell-tale glow of Anemo power leaking out from his clothes. Lastly, Aether prefers to walk on grass. Even when Amber discreetly leads Aether back onto the path and out of the grass, he would always end up back onto the grassy side of the pathway.
When they reached the temple's entrance, Aether stood behind Amber while Paimon flew in front in awe of the sight of it. As Amber explained about the temple, she felt a burst of an ill aura of power emanating from the temple. Paimon had shivered when the burst of power emerged and she retreated back to Aether's side. Aether was frowning while looking at the temple's entrance.
"Did you just feel that? The wind here... Something's off...Let's go in and take a look, Traveler. Be careful, the dragon's power is disturbing this area."
Amber slowly pushed the door to the domain open and Aether followed her inside. They walked slowly, keeping their footsteps quiet as they progressed deeper into the domain. When Amber spotted a hilichurl scout ahead, she halted the Traveller with her hand who promptly walked into it before staggering back. Amber raised an eyebrow but ignored it and pointed to the hilichurl with her finger before drawing out her bow. Aether looked confused, as if he had no idea what she was pointing at. Paimon whispered into his ear and Amber could hear the words 'hilichurl', 'one' and 'scout'. Aether nodded at Paimon who returned to hiding behind him and they waited.
Were they waiting for her to initiate the battle? Amber did not know. She decided to take the initiative and fired a charged shot at the lone hilichurl to take it out. Aether rushed out just as a horn blew from the other side, no doubt another scout out of view who had seen the attack. More hilichurls appeared and everything collapsed into a mess of battle, explosions and occasional fire. Amber was no longer paying attention to the Traveller as she took down enemy after enemy, dodging club swings on occasion and dropping her explosive puppet to draw attention away from herself. When all the enemies were defeated, Amber turned to face the Traveller who was tending to a large bruise on his hand.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, one of them snuck up on me and I didn't notice it."
Amber was worried for the Traveller. He seemed capable when he fought against Stormterror but looks to be having trouble fighting a few hilichurls at the moment. Maybe he was still tired from having battled Stormterror. After all, the day has yet to pass and the Traveller has yet to sit down and have a proper meal aside from the dried fruits Amber had offered him along the way. However, even after Amber made Aether take a break, some of his actions had not made sense. But there was time and place for everything and now was not a time to confront Aether on his behaviour but Amber swore to herself that she would get to the bottom of this.
Amber did eventually get to the bottom of everything. It also took a few weeks. And in that few weeks, the denizens of Mondstadt almost rioted when they found out that Jean was missing. Missing in that she would be gone for awhile according to the note found on her table and not actually missing in that she got kidnapped. And when the denizens could not riot (because that would cause trouble for Jean), they all got drunk. So now the rest Knights of Favonius have to deal with rioting drunk civilians. The worst part about the whole thing was that Kaeya was conveniently absent and Albedo took Klee out of Mondstadt with his apprentice which means that only Amber and Lisa were the only ones left to maintain order. Amber did not get a wink of sleep, having done every odd job that came her way for the citizens of Mondstadt (again, why does the Knight of Favonius have to find a lost cat? The same cat was missing three times in a single day!). When Amber finally found the time to take a quick nap, she woke up to Mondstadt loudly celebrating the triumphant return of the Traveller, Jean and Venti (Diluc had already snuck back to his bar by that point).
As she watched the group walk up the streets of Mondstadt, surrounded by a large crowd, she noticed how the Traveller would hang back behind Jean despite being the hero. Venti stuck close to the Traveller, his hand wrapped around Aether's arm as he joyfully sang a few verses. Paimon was floating on the other side, making conversation with Aether. Whenever Aether stumbled over uneven ground, Venti would help stabilize him. Thankfully, the crowd had dispersed when the group finally made their way to the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius. Venti reluctantly departed and Paimon hovered closer to Aether.
All in all, it was a nice scene but what drew Amber's focus was that Aether was not entering the building. Jean had already entered when Venti was bidding Aether farewell and after that, Aether did not move. The two knights who stood outside glanced at the Traveller but made no effort to approach. Aether sighed and walked forward, only to trip on the steps and plant his face into the door.
That definitely got everyone around moving.
The knights helped Aether up as he rubbed his nose in pain. Amber ran forward as Aether pushed the knights away, only to turn around and walk smack into Amber. The two of them fell down onto the ground and Paimon avoided the collision by floating away.
"I'm really sorry!"
"Traveller, are you okay?"
"Amber!?"
Aether had not recognized her. He only recognized her when she spoke. Aether had not seen her. Aether had not seen at all.
Amber grabbed Aether by the hand and hauled him up, surprising Aether. She then dragged him off to the side. This was a conversation that has to be away from curious ears. She pulled him forward until they stood face to face. Paimon had disappeared to parts unknown, leaving only the two of them alone.
"Aether, tell me the truth. Please, tell me the truth. You're blind, aren't you?"
"I…"
"You're blind. You're blind this whole time. You...You fought Stormterror and you're blind. You saved Mondstadt! You saved so many people! And you're blind," Amber paused. Aether looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here right now. His eyes glistened with tears, threatening to fall. But Amber could not let him go yet. She knew that if she let him go now, he would never come back to Mondstadt. So she took a deep breath and continued speaking. "You saved so many people despite your disability. You're incredible. You're a hero. Thank you for saving us, Aether."
Amber hugged Aether and he began to cry. "I'm not a hero, I only fought Dvalin because I couldn't let him suffer in pain anymore. I didn't save Mondstadt, I just wanted to help a friend."
"Helping others is what a hero does, isn't it?"
Amber let Aether cry out as long as he needed, eventually he stopped but Amber continued to hug him as he sniffled and tried to wipe away his tears.
"Do you know what this calls for?"
"No?"
"A celebration! Come on! You have to try the Sticky Honey Roast!"
As Amber led Aether to Good Hunter, Paimon had popped up chanting 'Sticky Honey Roast'. When asked where she went, Paimon replied, "Paimon thinks that Amber could help Aether better than Paimon can so Paimon gave you two privacy."
As the three of them ate, Aether told Amber the tale of two siblings who were caught by a goddess. Cast into an unknown world, one missing and one sightless. Amber listened as he spoke. And when he reached the end of his tale, Amber made a promise to him, "I'll help you find your sister, I promise."
Aether thanked Amber, for the promise and for the food. But he had a request, one simpler than the promise she made.
"Can you help me braid my hair? Lumine used to do it for me and I haven't been able to since coming to this world. Paimon's hands are too tiny. Everything's messed up from Stormterror but I don't want to loosen it without having to fix it up."
"Of course! You have to tell me if I'm doing it right though."
"Paimon will help!"
And Amber made a silent vow to herself as her hands intertwined with the Traveller's golden hair.
"For as long as I am an Outrider, I will always look out for you."