Cover art by emorboobs on Twitter. Check my profile for the source.

Disclaimer: Genshin Impact belongs to Hoyoverse. League of Legends belongs to Riot Games.

Note: This is an AU where Teyvat is actually an unknown region of Runeterra. Get ready for Amber's journey with her friends.


Prologue: Doubt, resentment, loss

Act I: A New Wind

One year back, it dawned on the people of Teyvat that the world they were living in was more complicated than they once thought. Previously, the world around them only consisted of two parts. The first part was Teyvat, the happy paradise where Celestia and the archons granted them protection. The other part was the Dark Sea, a term that encompassed any piece of land or water where the eyes of Celestia never lingered. However, with the arrival of the people of Runeterra, the old belief came to be shaken. Those people claimed to be traders who arrived in peace. They showed the locals their life, products, and service in exchange for knowledge and goods. Thanks to them, the people's absolute faith in their archons now stands before great challenges.

To Outrider Amber, this new world offered tempting opportunities and countless hidden dangers. As a guardian of Mondstadt, she needed to stay strong and loyal, not be swayed by the intense change in atmosphere.

Contrary to popular belief, she was still not confident in her martial skills. Not once in a thousand years would anyone think that she would be standing in the training ground of the Knights of Favonius as a trainee. The sun had already ascended from the heaven line, highlighting the brown shade of her hair and the amber eyes. She stood there in a fighting stance to perform some basic sword moves against a training dummy.

Her grandfather used to teach her some swordsmanship and archery since she was young, but she could not keep her interest in the sword and stayed with the bow instead. However, upon the arrival of the Runeterrans, she had a change of heart.

The woman gripped the sword firmly in one hand, performed a downward cut from left to right, then immediately retreated her grip.

Not enough speed. Amber gritted her teeth. The cut followed through, but she felt that it was still not fast enough for her to react if it failed to hit the target. Thinking so, the Outrider readjusted her stance and focused again. If she cannot master what all knights can do, can she call herself a defender of Mond?

"Amber?"

The young knight turned towards the other side of the ground upon hearing her name. A blonde woman in a white dress walked in with a white-haired fairy accompanying her. She looked surprised at the sight of Amber practicing.

"Lumine and Paimon, you've arrived."

Amber lowered her sword guard and smiled at the newcomers while the fairy rounded her eyes and raised her high-pitched voice.

"Amber, Paimon never thought you would be into swordsmanship."

The mentioned girl giggled awkwardly, clarifying. "Well, I started training at a young age, but I soon lost interest in favor of the bow. Recently though, I have been getting my friends to teach me what I have missed."

Getting friends to teach her was certainly one way to put it. She had consulted various skilled knights to train her abilities. At first, she thought of asking Eula. The woman was her dearest friend and an accomplished swordmaster, though the Reconnaissance Captain was often busy patrolling far from the city. Kaeya was her second to go. His skill could equate to Eula or Acting Grandmaster Jean, but the guy showed disinterest in tutoring her. Whatever… she pretty much grew half-hearted with him after months of trying to prove herself. Furthermore, pestering people with their personal things gave her pain. To sum it up, she did not learn much for those reasons.

"Let me guess," Lumine made a smug face, "this is about the so-called Runeterrans. You fear that they may one day turn into enemies of Mondstadt, right? And you want me to train the sword with you?"

Amber smiled, "If you don't mind, we can start right now."

"Sure thing."

She sheathed the sword she was holding and set it back on the weapon shelf next to her, then walked to the nearby one and pulled out two other swords of similar models.

"Catch." Amber threw one sword towards Lumine, who grabbed it securely in her grip.

"Alright, shall we start?" Amber said as she unholstered. "Those are made blunt for training, so don't worry about cutting each other." She added after seeing Paimon's concerned face.

Despite being training swords, they still were symbols of knighthood and heroism in Mondstadt. And as such, wielding one of them still brought a sense of pride to the user.

"Paimon, you might want to back away a bit," Lumine warned while unsheathing, "it's about to get reeeally dizzy."

The blonde made a basic stance by holding the sword in front of her. It looked almost identical to Amber's style, but she knew enough about Lumine to realize it would be different.

"Get ready to be stepped on, outrider," the blonde gave that smug smile again.

Amber returned the smile. Fighting talk. Exactly what Lumine would do. She liked it. But if Lumine wanted to intimidate her at all, then it was a massive failure.

The young knight engaged with a forward thrust. As she expected, Lumine parried the strike by pushing it to the left of Amber. As Amber's opponent redirected their blade towards her neck, she retreated her grip upward in an attempt to block the attack.

It would have been successful if she had been fast enough. Instead, the attack was directed to the side of her neck, forcing her to step back in shock.

Lumine stood there with a gleeful expression. "It was but a light thrust, girl."

Amber shook her head. "Don't be cocky. I haven't done yet."

With that said, the Outrider was still unsure of her chance. She was no stranger to Lumine's and Eula's combating moves, but she never thought of a way to counter them. Nevertheless, being the ardent flame she was, Amber believed that experience would bring her a long way.

She put herself into stance and readied to go again. Amber had a feeling she could anticipate the opponents' moves a bit better now. She lunged forward, delivering an uppercut. Lumine swiped the blade aside and sidestepped the attack. She closed in quickly and grabbed Amber's weapon holding wrist. The Outrider responded by attempting to draw her sword back to no avail and took a forceful thrust to her armpit.

The impacting power forced her to fall, which heavily embarrassed her.

"That's too showy!" Amber shouted in objection. The blonde dared to disrespect her like that.

"Too showy?" Lumine burst into laughter. "Want me to tone it down a bit?"

Tone down? Never. The best Outrider doesn't need pity from her opponents. Lumine might have won the first time, but backing down was not Amber's style.

"Don't underestimate me," pouted Amber, "and do your best moves, Lumine. See how I defeat you."

The blond girl raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly. "Roger that."

Fifteen minutes later…

Amber fell to the ground… another time. She felt so fatigued she did not bother to stand up. The knight huffed in a constant, irregular breathing pattern, signifying a need to sit up and rest. Her opponent seemed to have the higher ground but was equally exhausted. Yet, Lumine still moved towards the poor knight and attempted to sit on her.

"H-hey, what are you doing?" Amber yelped.

The blonde smiled victoriously before pointing her weapon at Amber's face with one hand grabbing the sword blade.

"Asserting dominance." She replied, huffing.

Amber laughed with an unclear breath, "Next time I knock you down, be aware that I will do the same to you."

"Well, if you try something like that halberd over there," Lumine beckoned towards the weapon shelf, "then maybe, just maybe, you will defeat me."

Amber's eyes widened. Wow, the disrespect… "Hey, I am not that incompetent, okay?"

Both of them laughed silly at the bite backs from each other. The excitement made the knight so occupied that only after a while did she realize that Lumine was still sitting on her.

"Uhhh, can you please…" She cleared her throat, "cut my body some slack?"


Angel's Share, 7:06 PM.

After the first contact with the Runeterrans from the island of Aurma, Mondstadt had got a few more peculiar-looking guests, especially in the taverns. The dull hue of the cloaks those outlanders wore implied a minimalist lifestyle. Or it could be that they sailed the seas for so long that the fabric had faded away.

Those traders usually bring gossip from overseas to different corners of the city. On various occasions, Amber filled her ears with some news they shared on the streets. The grandness of the deserts of Shurima. The elegance of the Great Demacia City. The harshness of the cliffs of Targon. It boggled her mind that such an immense world had never been known about until recently. What happened within the millennia of the history of Teyvat? If over two thousand years of independence and history could all happen in such a small piece of land like Mondstadt, what else could be waiting out there?

Right now, one of the tables in the corner was seated by two people who are undoubtedly Runeterrans. The Outrider in red did not pay much attention to them at first. She was busy messing around with her cup of apple cider, thinking about how boring it was, until her tablemate Eula drifted her attention.

"Amber."

The blue-haired woman whispered. When Amber looked up, she saw her eyes already glaring at the two customers in the corner. They were wrapped in yellowish-white clothing and spoke with an unusually thick accent unique to Aurman merchants. Granted, Aurman were the only people Amber had seen from Runeterra.

"I still don't feel very comfortable with those people." Eula squinted at the outlanders in her speech, of which Amber disapproved.

"They are just travelers, Eula."

Amber had always had this belief that all people deserve respect. During investigations and scouting missions, she treated strangers with a degree of friendliness, as is the way of a knight of Favonius. Therefore, she particularly shunned actions that displayed overwhelming hostility towards people.

Occasionally, Amber could see Sister Rosaria and Captain Kaeya sitting near the counter and glancing at the Aurmans in secret. While Kaeya's eyes spoke up his interest in the foreigners, Rosaria's posture showed her discomfort. While Amber could understand why the sister had always been suspicious towards everyone, she still disliked how Rosaria handled things.

Eula sighed. "They better not do anything to this city. I can't take vengeance on the citizens if they killed them first."

Hearing that, Amber could not help but crack a giggle. She loved the way Eula talked. The woman always acted as if she had a serious feud with the Mondstadters yet still cared for and protected them like her children.

"Ah, just Eula being Eula." Amber stretched her arms and leaned on her chair. It was good to know that her friend was not being serious. "Loyal to her homeland, as always." That made Eula turn away and blush, but it was only barely noticeable.

A blonde suddenly rose from under the table back to her chair. "Did someone say something about loyalty?" That went without warning.

"WHAT THE-" Amber jumped up from her seat, almost knocking her cider off. Her scream was so loud that the bartender and other patrons turned to look at her. Eula looked at her, speechless, while Lumine displayed that familiar amused face. This time, it was Amber who flushed red in embarrassment. The duo at the counter gave nothing than apathy, and the merchants turned back to their conversation as if nothing had happened.

"What took you so long down there?" Eula glared at Lumine.

"You two didn't notice it?" Said girl giggled. "I sneaked off for some wolfhook juice then snuck back while you were still busy admiring the Aurmans."

Truthfully, Amber had always been amazed by how Lumine was like the soul of a childish grandma residing within a master swordswoman. Not overly hyperactive, but enough to become a menace with her presence.

"Anyway," Lumine turned her head to the counter for a brief moment, "someone's coming, gotta run now!"

The woman lept from her seat and ran straight to the tavern door.

"Lumine!" a high-pitched voice shouted. The fairy Paimon flew out from somewhere behind the counter furiously, seemingly angry at Lumine.

"Give Paimon's wolfhook juice back!"

She rushed for the entrance and fortunately flew out before the woman on the other side could close the door.

"Ominous," Eula commented.

Amber giggled at the description and nodded along, "Like the moment Jean discovered Kaeya was the one who taught Klee to lie."

The friends laughed with each other. They seemed to have forgotten the heavy atmosphere looming over the group just a minute ago. This was proven the moment Amber glanced at Eula's purple eyes. They had already been freed of the stressful look they usually bore. Pure joy and bliss.


Good Hunter, 11:32 AM

"Happy birthday, Amber!" Lumine and Paimon chirped simultaneously.

Amber felt happy that after traveling for so long, the blonde and her companion still remembered her birthday. Lumine placed an object on the table, which Amber recognized was a dagger nicely fitted in a leather sheath.

"This is forged from the starsilver I collected from Dragonspine."

Amber rounded her eyes, lifting the dagger using both hands. The sheath had a line of glittery text that reads "Happy birthday, little bunny". As she unsheathed the blade, her eyes sparkled in awe of its beauty. The metal had a light blue shade and a glistening reflection of the light of day. She placed her forefinger on the spine and slowly slid it through as if to appreciate the work of art.

"Th-Thank you so much," said Amber with a voice almost shivering from the surprise. "You worked so hard for this."

"As long as you are happy." Lumine shrugged with a smile.

Footsteps were approaching as Amber could hear. It turned out to be Eula, who was holding a small box. She looked a bit concerned and hurried, judging from the short breaths.

"I hope I have not come too late." The woman spoke up her worry.

Amber laughed. "Relax, we have not ordered yet."

Eula huffed as she sat down. "The Acting Grandmaster called for a sudden meeting at the last moment. Another transgression to add to my list of vengeance."

The Outrider giggled. "I can see that being very annoying."

"You too, Amber," the woman squinted at her, "don't think about running away from me. You are on the top of the list."

"Uuuuh," Paimon interrupted with a tired tone, "can we call the food now? Paimon's starving!"

Amber realized and called for the owner, "Oh right. Sara! We want to order."

The woman at the counter called back. "Sure. And you will have a fifty percent discount on all the meals you buy. Call it a birthday present."

Paimon jumped up, even though she was already in the air. "Hurray! More food, Paimon loves Mondstadt! She loves Sara also! Ahem." The fairy cleared her throat, preparing to name the order. "Sticky honey roast, sweet madame, sauteed matsutake, Springvale bratwurst, oh, and a satisfying salad as well!"

Eula rolled her eyes. "She really is utilizing the discount to the fullest, huh?"

"You know what, Paimon?" Lumine crossed her arms, "I, too, love Mondstadt. Because Mondstadt has Amber."

The Outrider was startled. She did not know how to react to that. The girl had heard a lot of praises, but this one was particularly new. Eula nodded to show agreement with Lumine, but not before she gave the blonde's leg a quick sweep.

"It's true, Amber. Without you, I don't think Mondstadt would be the same in my eyes." The blue-haired woman added.

Before Amber could respond, Sara chimed in. "I think we can all agree that with the Outrider's presence, our city becomes much livelier."

The girl in the center of attention flushed red. She scratched her hair out of awkwardness. "Girls, thank you so much. I appreciate it."

Amber felt she did not really deserve the praises. She knew that she was the beloved child of Mondstadt because of her work and not of her background. She was born into a well-off family, had loving parents, was raised to trust and love, and was trained to protect those who she held dear. Her life had been going the way she wanted.

Well, mostly.


1 hour later, Grandmaster Office.

Jean was sitting in her office signing documents when she heard knockings on the door.

"Come in." She said.

The door clicked open, and a smiley Outrider walked in. The brunette looked different, but Jean could not put a finger on it.

"What do you need help with, Outrider Amber?"

"Master Jean." Amber bent down as a salute. Jean felt more confused because the Outrider was not usually this formal.

After straightening herself up, Amber entreated. "I request access to the office of my grandfather."

Jean went even more bewildered when she heard the request. Amber wants to access the room of her grandfather?

Five years back, Amber's grandfather, the captain of the Outrider Company, vanished without a trace. Due to his office being in order, the Knights of Favonius had concluded that the departure was planned. Many rumors spread around. Some said he deserted the Knights, others even go so far as guessing that he defected to the enemy side. Though groundless, those claims were a heavy blow to the Company. No leader, fame tainted, the Outriders gradually fell into obscurity, leaving Amber as its sole member to save what was left.

There was a time the Outrider said that she stopped thinking of her grandfather and focused more on her duty. It was his dedication that drove Amber to gain a position in the Knights.

Could it be that he had gone to Runeterra? No, it couldn't be. That would imply that he had known about Runeterra beforehand, years before Mondstadt's first recorded contact with Aurma.

Thinking about it only made her head hurt.

"Right, let me elaborate," Amber added upon seeing Jean's confusion, "Today is my birthday. I want to spend it cleaning his office as a way to show gratitude. I hope that you will grant me this favor."

"I see." Jean nodded with a smile. "In that case, I have no reason to not let you."

The woman opened the drawer next to her desk to pick out a keychain.

"Follow me." She said, walking out of the door. The two knights walked beside each other without saying anything. Amber still showed to be happy and excited like the excellent knight she was. It was not until they were moving upstairs did Jean notice a silver bracelet situated below Amber's glove, only revealing a portion of itself.

"That brace," she started, looking at the ornament, "is it a birthday gift?"

The Outrider's face brightened up. She nodded with sparkly eyes. "Yep, it is from Eula. It has letters carved on that say 'Follow your heart'. A warm message, don't you think?"

Jean nodded, showing approval. "It is good to know that you two still get along well."

The atmosphere fell into silence after that. Jean internally sighed. It was Amber's dream to follow in the footsteps of her grandfather. She was passionate, kind, and helped lift the atmosphere of Mondstadt during the darkest of days. She was the beloved child of Mond for that very reason.

Still, there was one thing that irked Jean. Amber lived up to every ideology that Mondstadt taught: live free, live to the fullest, live for her love and life.

"Alright," the Acting Grandmaster stopped by a door, and the Outrider followed suit, "this is the place."

She unlocked the door quickly then turned to Amber, "You can find the tools by the end of the corridor. Remember to report to me when you are done."

The younger knight nodded with a smile. "Gotcha!"

However, after Jean departed, the Outrider did not go for the cleaning tools and instead opened the door straight.

Just a look through first, then clean later. Thought Amber as she strolled in. Hitting her eyes was a sight to behold. The working desk sat in the middle calmly, with a thick layer of dust embracing it. The shelf of ornaments still reflected a substantial amount of light from the corridor, but the wall paintings had been coated in dust.

The Outrider strode towards one particular drawing behind the desk and chair. If the position of the artworks still followed what she remembered, then it should be the one she longed to see the most.

She made a few knocks on the wooden frame to dust the glass off, and there it was. Four figures appeared in the family drawing. An old man with a large and mighty posture stood in the middle, marking the oldest person in the group. A young couple sat on two chairs before him, leaving the grandfather visible by his head and upper torso. Sitting between the couple was a little girl of about six years old. Although the drawing was charcoal, Amber could realize the younger version of herself smiling brightly at the Outrider.

She beamed at the artwork. Ah, the nostalgic feeling, mixed with a bit of embarrassment of the days when she still had to follow papa and mama around. When she-

A paper suddenly slipped out of the hind of the drawing, which caught her attention. Amber narrowed her eyes as she pulled it out from the hanging state. It still had a few running lines written with ink on it. Perhaps the air-tight condition had preserved the parchment well.

"Olivier Wang, Captain of the Outrider Company, oldest of the Wang family."

"Monica of Springvale, Olivier Wang's spouse." (Small note: "She was not here when we made this drawing, but I want to print her name into my memory forever.")

Amber sighed at the line. She was born without ever feeling the warmth of a grandmother. Monica, as told by her grandfather, had a weak constitution. Grandma spent her last breath in her bed. When the church said that grandma had no hope, he brought her back to their residence. Grandpa had a habit of keeping the sorrows to himself and used nature as a coping mechanism. After grandma went, he spent most of his time in the woods until Amber came to be.

The Outrider shook the thoughts away, looking back on the remaining lines.

"Elliott Wang, son of Olivier and Monica, a senior member of the Adventurer's Guild."

"Alvina Arkan, Elliott's spouse, a senior member of the Adventurer's Guild."

Amber clicked her tongue at the appearance of the two names. She could remember vaguely, the times when she and her parents strode together around Cider Lake, enjoying the fresh breezes and savoring the sweet berries in the forest.

Vaguely, because most of her memories with her parents stopped when she was seven. The two adventurers disappeared without a trace, leaving Amber with grandpa. At first, she assumed that there was a domain so hard to tackle that they had to spend days dealing with it. Then grandpa came back one day with bad news: dad and mom stumbled into a trap. The Guild failed to retrieve their bodies. When the other adventurers arrived, there was nothing left of them but a few pieces of fabric.

The Outrider felt her eyes choky but quickly huffed off. She turned to look at the last line on the paper.

"Amber Wang, daughter of Elliott and Alvina."

She furrowed her eyebrows, looking at the time on the paper. So the artist created the artwork thirteen years ago, whoever they were.

She sighed, sitting down on the chair next to her to recover from the flood of memory. The room brought back so much weal and woe for her brain. Five members, now only one left. Even though Amber did not actively seek out the missing grandfather, she still held a little candle in her heart, hoping that he would one day come back.


Olivier Wang's family house. 9:33 PM.

Dear journal,

My birthday this year was extra special. I got to clean grandpa's office as a way to show him some respect. I got to reminisce about the days when we were still a happy family that would help out each other at every turn. Of course, I must not dwell on it too much. Outrider's duty awaits.

Amber gave the page a contented smile, holstered the quill, and closed the inkpot.

Time could heal many wounds, but it could also leave deep scars for the involved. When Amber lost her parents, she virtually broke down. No one wanted to lose their beloved, not to say it was such an abrupt loss for her. It took months for the little girl to forget and recover from the trauma.

From then on, she decided that she had to become stronger. Stronger, to protect her family and friends. Moved by the endeavor, her grandfather taught her everything he knew and cared for her affectionately.

Yet, at fourteen, she lost him.

...

"Amber, we're sorry, we still have yet to find any trace of your grandfather."

"It's… fine. It's fine. Wherever he may be, I will still train hard to not disappoint him."

She suddenly lept from her desk and ran downstairs carrying a pyro lamp. She remembered that her grandfather left some books about swordsmanship down in the basement. Amber had neglected them for years, but now may be the time to whip them out again.

The brunette reached for the table in the corner and quickly knelt, springing a trapdoor open. On the way down the staircase, Amber tried to seek out the right bookshelves. Once she identified the spot, it took her no time to dip her eyes into the sea of martial arts. Under the warm light, she skimmed through the titles, both familiar and strange.

"Sword fighting for beginners - A guide by the Knights of Favonius." She had known that one since the day she started her training.

"The fighting style of lady Vennessa." She had seen this title but never once touched it. Perhaps it was because she was not interested in reading much.

"Aurman close-quarter combat."

Huh? Amber's eyebrows furrowed at the title. A Runeterran name? How can this be?

The Outrider carefully pulled the book out of the shelf. The title was meticulously sewn into the leather cover that protected the pages. On the footer of the cover, she could see the author's name.

Olivier Wang

Widening her eyes, Amber set the lamp down and opened the book. She inhaled, not knowing what to expect out of the content. Her grandfather knew about Runeterra? He had contact with them before Mondstadt had ever known about them?

The foreword gave her no answer either.

"An introduction by Olivier Wang to basic Aurman combat."

She skimmed through the pages. There was nothing special other than the instruction manuals hand-drawn by her grandfather. Some brief explanations and backgrounds added more savor to the book, but there was no indication of an answer to her question.

Sigh.

Mayhaps she should not overthink it too much. Although she still had a lot of questions, it was not the time to try working them out.

After that, she slowed her pace down, enjoying the bits and pieces of the content in the book. It was not big of a deal because the moves were elementary. What posed the challenge was the skill needed to turn those simple techniques useful in practice. All in all, not surprising for the instruction of grandpa's level. Except…

An incantation?

She realized that it was the last page of the manual. A Cryo logo in the middle, surrounded by a square. An arrow that pointed towards the symbol and read "2 hours". Below the sign was the line "12:00 AM to 2:00 AM". Finally, above the Cryo sign was another square she was not sure the meaning of.

"Is this a type of puzzle or something?" Amber verbalized her thoughts. It was clear that she needed a source of Cryo power, while her Vision bore Pyro.

The Outrider was not familiar with this type of puzzle. In fact, she didn't even know where it was. It could be right in her house for all she knew. Something that required Cryo to activate and laid below a squared or cuboid object? Quite possible.

She thought about it and looked around the basement. What could be a square or cuboid object? A tile of brick? Not likely. A carpet? There was one in the corner right next to her, so perhaps…

Amber held the carpet tightly and snapped it away. Had it not been for her quickly covering her face, the dust would have violently stormed her eyes. After a while, she coughed away the dirty substance and swiped her hand from the filth. She put the lamp closer to the tile below, and under the flickering light, she could see it.

An image of a snowflake was ingrained into the stone.

A Cryo symbol.


So dear readers, welcome to my rewrite of the fic "The Outrider spreads her wings". Due to a major change in the plot, I have to redo the fic to provide a more in-depth characterization. I figured that I can't span so much attention over a wide range of characters so now I focus on solely the main characters of the story. Also, as you can see, I've changed the rating to T because the violence will be less graphic than I've imagined it to be.

So, that's it for Prologue 1. I'm currently working on Prologue 2 and hope to bring it to you guys as soon as possible. My schedule is packed though, so don't expect frequent updates.

Next chapter: Amber discovers some stuff and I've got the OC (as tagged) to introduce. Stay tuned.

Thank you Plebers (or Ouroboros if you are on discord) for helping me with the story.

Constructive criticism and suggestions are welcomed. Remember the word "constructive".