As Aether and Paimon were exiting the Whispering Woods, they suddenly heard footsteps as if someone or something was running at them. Quickly bringing out his sword, Aether looked around, waiting for the source of the sound to reveal itself.
A girl dressed in red jumped out in front of them, yelling, "Hey, you! Stop right there!"
Paimon, seeing the Pyro vision dangling at the girl's hip, whispered to Aether, "This person could be dangerous. Be careful."
Aether nodded and waited to see what the person had to say.
"May the Anemo God protect you, stranger!" the girl greeted.
At these words, Aether tensed. Did she just say god? As in one of the gods who had killed his precious sister? Aether became angry but then quickly reined it in. After all, the girl probably had no clue what the Unknown God had done to him.
Ignorant of Aether's thoughts, the girl continued, "I am Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius. You don't look like citizens of Mondstadt. Explain yourselves!"
"We're not looking for trouble," explained Paimon.
Aether, wary of Amber, debated whether or not to attack her. From what he had learned, he could guess that she was part of some sort of larger force. The Knights of Favonius, it was called? He also knew that there was a god for this city or region that controlled Anemo.
However he doubted that it was the Unknown God. This was because the Unknown God didn't use any Anemo attacks that he saw, so to say that she is the Anemo God would be a stretch. But the fact that there was a god here at all made him irritated.
Before Aether could act on his irritation, Amber asked, "Well? Aren't you two going to introduce yourselves? It's rude not to, you know."
Paimon said, "Well, I'm Pa-
"I'm a traveler and this is my companion." Aether interrupted.
He shot a glare at Paimon. He didn't know if this person was trustworthy yet.
Not getting the hint, Paimon continued, "I'm Paimon and this is Aether."
Aether facepalmed.
"Okay then. Well look Paimon and Aether, there's been a large dragon sighted around Mondstadt recently. Best you get inside the city as soon as possible," Amber explained. "It's not far from here. I'll escort you there."
Aether shook his head, "No, it's fine. We can head there ourselves. Besides, shouldn't you have something to do if you're out here in the wilderness?"
Amber nodded, "Well yes, I was sent here to do something. But I can do that and escort you back to Mondstadt."
"No, it's okay. You said you were a member of the knights, right? We don't wanna get in the way of your duties," Aether refused.
'Oh. Alright then. Stay safe on your journey to Mondstadt then!" Amber said, seemingly upset at her offer being rejected.
The traveling duo watched as Amber headed off in the distance. Aether felt a little bad for rejecting the girl's offer, but he couldn't risk it. If he got roped into the Knights of Favonius, he would have less leeway to do what he wanted.
Paimon, on the other hand, exclaimed, "Why didn't you want her to escort us?! Paimon thinks that she wasn't a bad person."
"I don't think she was a bad person either, Paimon. However, I have stuff I need to do in Mondstadt, and I think we can get there faster with just us two." Aether explained.
"Well, alright then." Paimon shrugged, not really getting why he refused Amber.
Aether and Paimon then started heading for Mondstadt.
"So what are the Knights of Favonius, Paimon?" Aether asked.
"Well, the Knights of Favonius are like the governing force of Mondstadt. Sort of like the Liyue Qixing," Paimon explained.
"Liyue? What's that?" Aether questioned, confused.
"You don't know what Liyue is? Well, whatever. Liyue is the city closest to Mondstadt." Paimon said.
"Ok, tha-" Aether cut off.
A scream echoed out through the forest. Aether swiftly turned towards the direction of the sound.
"Paimon may be mistaken, but that was Amber, right?" Paimon asked.
Aether nodded. Would he abandon someone calling for help who was probably dying? Honestly, he might've. But Amber reminded him of his sister. That cheerfulness and eagerness to help people were traits the two both had in common.
With a sigh, Aether rushed towards the direction of the sound. Stopping on a hill above the area, he stopped to observe the situation.
The eerie glow of the sunset illuminated the hilichurls' camp. Farther away from the camp was the unconscious Amber, bleeding heavily on the ground. She had taken out most of the camp, proven by the corpses of hilichurls and mitachurls near her.
As a mitachurl approached Amber, Paimon yelled, "Aether, do something!"
Thanks to Paimon's scream, all the enemies turned to look over at Aether. He glared at Paimon which she returned with a shrug and a grin. Luckily the scream had diverted the enemies' attention away from Amber, but Aether planned to do this stealthily.
Rushing at the first hilichurl, Aether slashed at its shield with his sword. Knocking the shield away, Aether channeled Pyro into his left hand and grabbed the hilichurl's face. Hearing the sizzling of its flesh, Aether spun around to be face to face with a mitachurl.
Dodging its axe, Aether jumped back and yelled, " Fireball!"
Before his very eyes, a ball of flame materialized in front of him. Aether thrust the fireball forward, launching it towards the mitachurl. Taking it head on, the mitachurl let out one last groan before falling backwards and dying.
The last three had decided to come at him together. A shield mitachurl charged at him, while two Pyro hilichurl grenadiers picked up two Pyro slimes. Dodging to the right of the mitachurl, Aether sped towards the weaker enemies. With only a single slash, Aether ended their lives and quickly turned around to confront the shield mitachurl.
Imbuing his sword with Pyro, Aether charged at the remaining enemy. Plunging his sword straight through the shield, Aether stabbed the mitachurl in the chest.
Aether looked around for more enemies. Luckily, there were none. Heading over to where Amber was lying, Aether sat down and checked her injuries.
"Aether! She's losing a lot of blood and I can't stop it!" Paimon exclaimed.
Looking over Amber's body, he could tell that she would've died if they hadn't rescued her. Her right leg and left arm were broken, and she probably had been hit in the head. That could mean a concussion and maybe brain damage. Not to mention all the places she was bleeding.
Aether turned to Paimon and said, "Can you go and gather some food for us? I'll try and help her, but it's getting dark and we need to eat."
Paimon seemed suspicious of him, but she nodded and went to get food. As Paimon floated off into the wilderness, Aether decided to use his Hydro abilities to heal Amber. he put his hands over Amber and began to heal her. Feeling his Hydro energy travel through her, Aether guided it to the spots that needed mending and healed them. Sweating intensely, Aether managed to finish the process of healing Amber.
Aether wiped the sweat from his head. He had forgotten how hard it was to use healing magic. Looking up at the night sky, Aether's expression saddened. His sister was always the one who was healing him when he got hurt. He would never see his sister again, no matter how many worlds he traveled to. He sat there for awhile, thinking and reminiscing about the time he had spent with his sister, until he heard a voice.
"Aether, are you okay?" Amber asked, quietly.
Startled, Aether looked down at Amber, who had just woken up after being healed. Their eyes met and Aether stared into Amber's golden eyes.
Suddenly breaking eye contact, Aether lied, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Though it was obvious he was lying, Amber didn't push the topic.
Instead she asked, "So what happened back there? I only remember failing to kill the last of the hilichurls."
Glad that the topic was different now, Aether explained how he had saved her and killed the rest of the enemies.
"You saved me? I know words don't mean much, but thank you. How about I treat you to some Sticky Honey Roast at Good Hunter?" Amber asked.
"Oh sure..." Aether replied, confused since he didn't know what that was.
Amber looked down at her injuries.
Surprised, she turned to Aether, 'What happened to my wounds? I know I was badly hurt earlier, but i look like I wasn't even in a fight at all. Did you heal me?'
Aether explained, "You're right. I did heal you."
"Wait, you're a vision user? I didn't see one on you." Amber questioned.
"Yeah, I keep it hidden." Aether explained simply.
"Well, what element are you? I have a Pyro vision!" Amber asked, proudly showing Aether her Pyro vision.
"Yeah, same." Aether lied.
Then Amber's eyes widened, "You have one too?! That's so cool!"
Aether chuckled at her excitement, "Well, we better head to sleep now. It's already night, and we can travel back to Mondstadt in the morning."
Amber nodded. The two of them laid down on the group a little ways away from each other.
"Night, Aether," Amber said.
"Good night, Amber." Aether replied.
The two drifted off to sleep as the glow of the moonlight.
Paimon floated back into the area where she had left Aether and Amber. She was exhausted. She had been looking for food for the past hour, and on an empty stomach too! Luckily, now that she had the ingredients, Aether could make food and she could eat to her heart's content.
Seeing them both sleeping, she groaned, "Oh come on!"
I bet you thought that I had forgotten about Paimon. Well, I didn't. Kinda. I'll see you next time in two or three months. Probably longer if I feel lazy. Maybe one month? Nah, I write too slow for that.