Lupical is family. It is a fact like how the sky is blue and the grass is green.
(Kaeya told Razor one day that the sky is not technically blue and the grass is not always green. He did not mention it again after Razor took a bite out of the reports he was reading.)
Lupical also means that they hunt together, they play together, they eat together, they sleep together and more importantly, they protect each other. The wolf pack who lives in the woods of Wolvendom are lupical. The wolves hunt together with Razor, the wolves play together with Razor, the wolves eat together with Razor, the wolves sleep together with Razor and the wolves protect each other with Razor.
Apart from the wolves however, there are few people that Razor could call lupical. Most of the people he knows, he would call them friends instead. But even the word 'friend' would be something Razor would not use on everyone he had met.
"The word you are looking for is 'acquaintance'", Lisa had told him one day when he asked her.
Razor nodded his head. Lisa is smart so she must be correct.
Klee is not lupical. Klee plays together with Razor, Klee hunts fishes together with Razor and sometimes Klee eats together with Razor. But Klee does not sleep together with Razor. Razor would protect Klee but Klee is also a knight (someone who protects others, Lisa had explained to him) so Klee can also protect him. Klee is not lupical but she is a friend.
(He also thinks that Klee would burn down the forest when trying to protect him and hopes that it would never come to that.)
The bard, Venti, would occasionally visit Wolvendom to play his lyre for the creatures in the woods. Venti is neither lupical nor is he a friend but the wolves love his song so he is not an enemy either. Venti does not play together with Razor, Venti does not hunt together with Razor, Venti would eat when a few creatures offer him food like apples but he does not eat together with Razor, Venti does not sleep together with Razor and Razor thinks that Venti does not need protection because he feels stronger than he looks.
Lisa, the librarian, who teaches Razor how to use his Vision is not lupical. Lisa does not play together with Razor, Lisa does not hunt together with Razor, Lisa would bring food for Razor but she does not eat together with him (Razor still does not understand what the word 'diet' means). Razor thinks that if there was any danger, Lisa would protect him but he thinks that Lisa is far too scary to need protecting (he would protect her if he has to but he believes that the enemy would be dead before he could come to her aid). Lisa is not lupical but she is also not a friend.
"Teacher, I am your teacher," Lisa answered after Razor asked one day.
At least 'teacher' is easier to pronounce than 'acquaintance'.
Then what is the Traveller to Razor?
Is he an acquaintance? A teacher? A friend? Or is he lupical?
Razor met the Traveller killing slimes in Wolvendom while he was on a hunt with his pack. Upon taking out a slime that was about to attack the Traveller from behind, his floating companion, Paimon, screamed a warning about wolves to the Traveller. Razor quickly reassured them that the wolves will not hurt them before they misunderstand and attack the wolves.
Razor talked with the Traveller and Paimon for a bit while the wolves continued the hunt without him. After revealing that the pack had lost the boar they were chasing because Razor helped them, Paimon insisted on helping him hunt for another boar. The Traveller agreed with Paimon despite Razor's misgivings.
Razor was nice enough to provide them with traps at least.
To his surprise, the Traveller had caught a boar with the traps. Unfortunately, it was only one boar. Razor hoped that the rest of the pack had better luck hunting for more boars.
"At least you did better than other knight friend... the red one, burny girl. If she was here, whole mountain is fire. Can't catch even one boar."
Razor departed, carrying the dead boar on his shoulder. That night, after the pack had eaten, Razor spent the night awake thinking about the Traveller. Maybe he should ask Lisa about the Traveller the next time he goes to Mondstadt.
A few days later, a rival wolf pack trespassed into wolvendom and attacked the pack. The black wolf had led the pack and ambushed Razor's pack when they were hunting. Razor fought off the rival wolf pack until they backed off but the damage was done, the boars had hidden themselves in the commotion. That night, Razor's family went hungry.
Razor had been unaware at how bad the attacks were getting. He was so focused on protecting his family from the black wolf pack that he had not realised that the enemy's pack had also been targeting the humans in the nearby village. The black wolf was strong but Razor did not want to go to Mondstadt to ask his friend or teacher to help. This was a problem for lupical, not for friends or teachers.
Razor met the Traveller again when he was preparing to stop the mob entering the woods of Wolvendom. Razor begged the Traveller and his companions, Paimon and Amber, to leave Wolvendom. There was a mob coming and Razor would not be able to protect them. This was a problem for lupical, not for friends, teachers or acquaintances.
(Razor would remember later that the Traveller was none of those, not yet.)
The Traveller refused, standing his ground. Paimon agreed with the Traveller and offered to help Razor while Amber reluctantly agreed to help. Razor did not understand. They were not lupical, they were not friends, they were not teachers, were they acquaintances? But he has only met Amber today and the Traveller and Paimon twice. Even then, do acquaintances help even if they are not lupical?
"Razor, sometimes we don't need a reason to help people," Aether told Razor after he helped deliver medicine to Tunner at the Dawn Winery. "It's okay to help people for just that reason alone. I'm not saying that you should always go out of your way to help someone but it's okay to not have a reason to help someone. Maybe it's along the way or it's something you already have on hand or it's not much trouble to help. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't have a reason to help someone. Like, if helping someone today means that person will help you later. An ulterior motive doesn't make you a bad person. Unless that ulterior motive means you would hurt them later, then no matter what, you're breaking their trust. That doesn't make you a good person."
Things got worse when Razor smelled blood in the air. He rushed to the source of the smell with the Traveller, Paimon and Amber following him from behind. There was a large patch of blood on the ground and a trail of blood leading deeper into the woods. Razor growled and hoped that it was not one from his family. They followed the trail until Razor spotted a wounded wolf whom he recognized from his pack. He growled and quickened his pace and did not stop or look back until he reached the wolf (even when he heard the Traveller yelped as he tripped over a root). The wounded wolf licked Razor as Razor nuzzled into his fur. Razor growled, his lupical got hurt and he will ensure that the black wolf and his pack will pay for their transgression. If they had not attacked the humans then the humans would not have a reason to attack. The Guardian would help. But first, the area is far too exposed. He needs to bring the wolf to somewhere safe so that he can treat the wound.
The Traveller helped Razor carry the wolf on his back while he led them deeper into the woods towards where the Guardian of Wolvendom dwells. Paimon followed while holding the Traveller's sleeve, occasionally pulling or pushing him away from stray roots. Amber followed Razor and kept asking questions. Razor did not understand, he had answered the questions and Klee understood him so why does Amber not understand?
Razor led the group to the outskirts of the arena where the Guardian sleeps in. The Traveller set the injured wolf down at his request and he began crushing the Wolfhook seeds he had gathered along the way.
"Crush them. Put on wound. Bleeding stop."
"It's true. Wolfhook seeds have a liquid coating that not only functions as a mild painkiller, but also has a hemostatic effect. I read that in a book."
It was not enough however, Razor needed more seeds. The Traveller and Paimon volunteered to find more seeds.
"Paimon, can you help me find the seeds? I'm not sure I can see them with elemental sight."
Razor does not understand what 'elemental sight' means but he plans to ask Lisa the next time they meet. Meanwhile, Amber stayed with Razor to ask him more questions. By the time the Traveller came back with more Wolfhooks, Amber was satisfied and Razor felt exhausted from talking. Unfortunately, humans found them.
Razor tried to explain that it was not his family who attacked the village. The Traveller was standing in front of him, his stance defensive, like he was protecting Razor. Amber was trying to use her authority to stop the mob from going after Razor. Everyone was talking over each other and no one was listening to each other. What they did listen to however, was the mighty snarl of Lupus Boreas, the Wolf of the North, one of the Four Winds.
"What is this disturbance to which I awaken?"
The Wolf of the North was enraged. The outsiders had awoken him and attacked one of his own. Razor tried to calm him down to no avail, forcing to block the swipe of his claw with his broadsword when the enraged wolf attacked him.
"Please! Calm!"
The Traveller leaped into the arena to assist Razor while Paimon floated above the arena. Amber led the others away to safety. Razor was pulled back by the Traveller as the Wolf of the North swiped at him with his other paw.
"You seek to protect these outsiders, Razor? You cannot tame my fury."
"We were the ones who caused your rage so leave Razor alone!"
Razor did not understand. Why was the Traveller protecting him? He was not lupical, he was not friends, he was not teachers, he was only acquaintances. So why is he protecting him?
The Traveller parried the blow, the claw falling to the side. The Traveller rushed forward and slashed at the wolf's snout, only to miss by a hair's breadth. The wolf used the opening to bite at the Traveller, only to miss when Razor pulled the Traveller away from the rushing fangs. Razor glared at the Wolf of the North and growled.
"No! You. Will. Not. Hurt. Him!"
Razor roared, summoning the Wolf Within and slashing at the Wolf of the North with his Thunder Wolf Claws. The giant wolf leaped away from the attack and the Traveller went on the offensive when the wolf landed. The Wolf of the North dodged the blows that the Traveller tried to inflict, only to take a single attack from Razor from behind. The battle continued until Razor's electric wolf disappeared and the giant wolf had the Traveller pinned beneath his claws.
"Please. Calm down." Razor was begging but made no move for he feared what Lupus Boreas might do to the Traveller.
"Hmph...It's just like he said. An outside wolf pack coming in and breaking the rules. They will reap what they have sown. But Razor, you must not get involved. This is for the wolves to settle between fight not with claws, but with the sword. You strike not with teeth, but with lightning...You are human, Razor."
"I am not like them! I don't belong." Razor was snarling but he quickly shut himself up when he remembered where the Traveller currently was.
"You are no wolf. This is a matter for the wolves, and the wolves alone. And you, you are Razor's lupical amongst humans. Your nobility stands out against others of your kind."
Razor did not understand. Lupus Boreas had declared the Traveller, Aether, to be Razor's lupical, just as he had been declared the wolves lupical all those years ago. Aether is not an acquaintance anymore. Aether is not a friend. Aether is not a teacher. Aether is lupical.
And Razor does not know how to feel about that.
The others tried to cheer him up (after the Wolf of the North had left) and Amber invited him to return to Mondstadt with her but he could not. He is not human and now, he is no longer a wolf. Razor does not belong anywhere.
"Then come with me, we don't have to belong anywhere. If lupical is family, then it's not a place. Who cares if you're human or wolf? Who cares if you belong nowhere?"
Aether is smart like Lisa. Aether is nice like Klee. Aether is human. And Aether is lupical like the wolves.
Razor is not smart. Razor tries to be nice but people often misunderstand. Razor is human and wolf but now he is not human and not wolf. But Razor understands lupical.
"Okay. We go together."