Aether woke up, slowly opening his eyes. Pushing himself up off the ground, he looked around, searching for Paimon. The sun's soft glow in the early morning illuminated his surroundings.
Finding her on the ground a little ways away, he walked up to her. Staring at her sleeping form, many questions ran through his mind. Did Paimon have family here? Were there any other sentient races here besides her and the "gods" he swore to kill? He didn't know.
While Aether was lost in thought, Paimon slowly woke up.
Seeing Aether stand over her menacingly, Paimon yelled, "Ahhhh! What are you gonna do to Paimon?"
Realising why Paimon was so afraid, Aether explained, "Sorry, I was just about to wake you up. It's morning, and I wanted to get to the city-"
Paimon interrupted, "It's called Mondstadt, remember?"
Aether continued, "As I was saying, we need to make it to Mondstadt as soon as possible. Preferably before the sun sets."
Paimon got up from the ground and floated up to Aether's height level.
Pointing southwest, past Starfell Lake, Paimon directed, "Well, we have to go that way to get to Mondstadt. After we get to the Whispering Woods, we should be pretty close."
Paimon began floating off towards that direction while Aether followed. As they traversed Teyvat, Aether once again noted just how beautiful this world was. As he was thinking this, he was also reminded of Lumine. With the thoughts of his sister also came thoughts of revenge.
When would he finally meet the one who had taken his sister away? Did she have allies, anyone she had any connections with? Because if she did, Aether wasn't going to miss the opportunity to make her experience the same pain he did when his sister was taken from him from him, never to be seen again.
Paimon, seeing that they were about to enter the Whispering Woods, turned to Aether and said, "We're almost to Mondstadt! After we pass through these woods, we should be able to see it."
Startled out of his thoughts, Aether forced a smile, "Well, that's good, isn't it?"
The duo continued on into the forest. After a while of walking, they reached an opening in the forest.
"Huh? Look at that!" Paimon exclaimed.
Looking ahead, Aether saw that there was a dragon and person ahead of them. He ran and hid behind a tree, Paimon following close behind. Pulling out his sword, Aether debated whether or not he should fight them.
If dragons in this world were as strong as others in different worlds, then he believed that he could beat it. However not without suffering many injuries, and having to expose all his powers. He wasn't quite trusting of Paimon enough yet to show all of his skills.
Aether put away his sword and listened in.
"Don't be afraid. It's alright now. I'm back." the boy in the field comforted.
Confused, Paimon asked, "Is he talking to a dragon?"
As Paimon was saying this, something strange happened. Aether felt his anemo power go out of control, causing him to make a small gust of wind. Though not strong enough to harm anyone, it was still enough to alert the boy and the dragon to his presence.
The dragon roared, attempting to attack the boy who had been talking to him earlier.
Turning to them, the boy called, "Who's there!?"
However, Aether was not given a chance to answer as the boy teleported away, leaving him and the dragon by themselves.
Taking advantage of the situation, Aether pulled out his sword and rushed at the large creature, hoping to get the first strike. Roaring, the dragon confronted Aether. However instead of attacking, the dragon leapt up into the air and flew off.
Seeing that the threat was gone, Paimon flew over to him, questioning, "What were you thinking? You couldn't have fought that thing! If you died, Paimon doesn't know what she'd do!"
Aether, feeling a little guilty for making his travelling companion worry, apologised, "Sorry, I don't know what came over me. Let's just get out of here. It's not safe to stay here now."
"Now that, Paimon agrees with! Let's get out of this place!" Paimon exclaimed, not wanting the dragon to return and eat them whole.
However, as the duo left the area, Aether saw a large red crystal on the hill the dragon was on top of. Paimon, not one to ignore anything that looked remotely valuable, flew up to it, with Aether following slightly behind.
As they inspected it, Paimon said, "Paimon's never seen a stone like this before, so Paimon can't tell what it is. Looks valuable though!"
While Aether also couldn't tell what it was, he was drawn to the power within it. It felt like it was calling out to him. Imbuing his powers into it, the once blood red stone turned light blue, now resembling a crystal of some sort.
"Wow! How did you do that? Paimon's never seen a crystal this beautiful before," Paimon asked excitedly.
Aether shrugged, "I don't know. It just reacted to my abilities."
Paimon looked at him inquisitively, but then she shrugged and waved it off. After all, it didn't matter how he did it, as long as she got a new shiny stone.
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I wonder how much mora we would get if we were to sell this," Paimon exclaimed.
Shaking his head, Aether grabbed the stone and put it into his traveller's bag.
"We can't sell this. Not only would we have to explain where it came from, but it also may have other uses that are more important than money." Aether explained.
Paimon disagreed. Nothing could be more important than money!
Shaking her head, Paimon said, "Well let's just get a move on already! Mondstadt awaits!"
Aether, seeing his companion's excitement, couldn't help but feel excited as well. After all, he was exploring an entirely new world with new sights to see and people to meet. He followed Paimon out of the Whispering Woods and looked to the right. In the distance, Aether was able to spot the city they were heading to, Mondstadt. What dangers would await them in the city of freedom?"
Sorry it's been a while. I kinda just lost interest in Fanfiction for a bit. But it's whatever, see you in 2 months or however long it takes me to write the next chapter.