On steel wings

Bleary eyes slowly opened wincing slightly as they were struck by the morning sun, a light wind moved the curtains gently as the birds sang outside, the girl unlike the rest of the morning's inhabitants simply groaned in slight annoyance and sat up, her long hair disheveled as she stared at nothing with a bored expression.

Same room as yesterday, so all of it hadn't been a nightmare…

...and this was truly her life.

She didn't really know how to feel… honestly, she felt an odd sense of calm, a calm that didn't feel quite so real like it wasn't herself that had done so. Still, it brought her some clarity so she was grateful for it.

She pushed the covers out and sat on the edge of the bed, her feet not touching the floor as she swung them around lazily reminiscing slightly before starting the day and checking her wounded body.

Weirdly enough it was fine, the cuts and bruises healing up nicely.. almost too nicely.

She sighed thinking about the other person in this house.

He probably had something to do with this, all of it, all the oddities started with him after all.

Her nose twitched as it was attacked by a wonderful smell, her stomach rumbling soon after pleading with her.

She tapped it in frustration looking down in disappointment at her own weakness "Well might as well go take care of this problem." Shenhe said to herself as she hopped down from the bed her body following the sweet smell on its own her feet dragging on the wooden floor.

"I see you're finally up." he said with his back turned too busy to fully turn around "I was going to wake you up sooner but I feel like you need some more rest, you're body is probably feeling pretty stiff."

She shrugged not really giving him a verbal response as she instead stared down at the table with half-lidded tired eyes.

Shirou on the other hand merely continued trudging along humming some sort of song that only he knew, it did feel rather peacefull if not a bit boring just waiting around at least it let her think for a bit...

Until a plate filled with food interrupted her little sightseeing section.

She regarded it with curiosity, it was a type of breakfast she had never seen before… fried eggs and bacon, it probably tasted wonderful from the way it looked but wasn't it a bit…

"Trust me it's good." he answered with a slight smile of amusement "Well it isn't exactly good for you but just for today it won't do much, tomorrow I'll give you something a bit more healthy."

Shenhe looked at him in doubt for a second, she wasn't exactly wary of him but she didn't really fully know why he wanted to 'help' her to begin with or why he was being so nice to… someone like her.

She shook her head slightly now glaring at her plate in anger.

Shirou simply sighed as he watched the myriad of emotions passing through her face "We won't start training today I don't think you're fully prepared for it just yet, how about instead I give you a tour of the place."

"...okay…" She muttered as she played with the food, her mind elsewhere.

He looked down at her for a second his mouth opening slightly but closing soon after without comment.

Not another word passed between the duo.

Even with the hot food in her belly everything around her still felt cold.

(Afternoon)

Step, step, step…

Her feet moved one after the other with no real purpose as she boringly stared at the stainless wooden floor of the house.

Step, step, step…

The tall man continued to talk with a serene tone as he fully explained every other passing room to an absent audience as she remained quietly staring with half-lidded eyes at the images passing by but the world had been fully tuned out from her mind at this point.

She had paid enough attention to see where the essentials were, she had a bathroom close by her room while he had one on the second floor so she had one all to herself which she was thankful for, that had been more than enough information for her so she tuned out everything else other than the fact that the second floor was filled with unused rooms.

She had nodded once or twice, more of an automatic response than anything serious, doing whatever made this end faster…

...she really just wanted to be alone right now.

"...and here we are again, feel free to decorate your room however you wish, it's yours for however long your stay is." He said with a slight smile on his face that she couldn't help but feel was fake.

She nodded once more out of obligation and grabbed the handle fully intent on staying in the room for the foreseeable future… a hand stopped her plans though and she stopped herself from trying to bite it off immediately.

"Why don't we go outside for a bit, some fresh air will do you good." Shirou explained himself trying to calmly appease the glaring child "I know you're probably tired and want to rest but I have something to show you and it pertains to your training."

Shenhe continued to glare for a bit before giving up and letting go of the handle.

The man simply sighed "Good c'mon now."

She followed after him once again as he opened the front door, the light encompassed her as she shielded her eyes away from the change. When she was finally able to fully open them and step outside a beautiful scenery greeted her.

Golden trees, large mountains, green grass, blue water…

Beautiful but rather normal.

No different from the one she had back in the small town she had once lived… before everything changed.

Her mood soured further as she was forced to remember a frown marked her usually emotionless face before shaking it off and pushing it back inside and looking away deciding that it would be better for her to keep an eye on that man.

He had been inside some type of shed and she could hear him moving stuff inside, of what kind she had no idea but it was probably best to wait outside for him since she had been left to her own devices.

Did he trust her to stick around without his watchful eye? Well, he did say she could leave whenever she wanted but still…

She didn't fully believe in his wish to teach her, disregarding her own unique trust issues, he still didn't make much sense to the girl. He appeared out of nowhere in her time of need sure but for what purpose she couldn't really say.

Until she knew more she would have to keep an eye on him and her guard up.

Her eyes narrowed further as he came into view again holding a small object in his hand. It was circular in shape.

"You didn't ask for it so I'm guessing you didn't notice or don't really remember it." he explained as he gazed into the small object.

Shenhe gave him a questioning look not really understanding "That was with me?" she questioned as she went through her memories drawing a blank.

Shirou chuckled slightly as he twirled it around in his fingers "See for yourself." and threw it at her.

She caught it easily with two hands.

Immediately she could feel a change, the temperature dropped, her breath came out foggy and small bits of snow fell around her.

None of this felt uncomfortable as it should from the drastic chance to cold, it was as if it was a part of her.

She turned the object around, her eyes widening at the blue snowflake that now filled the mirror-like object.

Even she would recognize something like this…

"A vision." she said in awe as she cradled it in her hands as if it would break easily.

"Cryo huh..." she heard him mutter in a serious tone as he watched her carefully "Honestly expected pyro but this works better… I'm guessing you've never seen anyone use it before?"

She shook her head her eyes still firmly on the small god-given object.

"Want to try?"

Shenhe finally broke away from her awe to look up at him, her eyes alit with a new flame despite the new powerful chill she felt surround her body.

She didn't answer but the look she gave him was enough.

He gave her a smile and spoke gently as a teacher would "Close your eyes…" she did just so gripping the vision tightly with one hand "...relax and search for something that you want frozen in time, something happy. It doesn't have to be a memory just a feeling." she frowned as she searched for one finding nothing…

How could she possibly have that?

Didn't he understand why she was in this place, to begin with…

Her teeth grinded against each other in anger…

He was mocking her, wasn't he?

"...Shenhe…" she heard his voice as it cut through her rage-filled mind "I know that right now it might not seem so, but I'm sure there was someone who loved you at some point, this world isn't just misery there's beauty for you too…"

Somebody who loved her?

Did someone like that truly exist?

From the recesses of her mind, something came forth, less of a memory and more of a feeling, an image really of a smiling woman who brushed her hair and left her feeling warm…

Perhaps it was her mother or simply a one-off happenstance.

She had no way to tell…

But it was enough for now…

Energy slowly weaved from within her feeding the little object grasped in her hand, as a small breeze of cold hair gently passed through her black hair, as if brushing it.

She slowly opened her eyes and smiled back for the first time, as she noticed the frozen blades of grass around her.

"Seems you found something…" he said with a tinge of pride "Why don't we continue trying for the day and see what you can do?"

She nodded and for the first time, it felt real.

(Night)

Shenhe panted for air as she lay under the starry night, her body drenched in sweat even still her large smile remained. A unique sense of accomplishment filled her pushing back at the darker thoughts that shadowed her.

Perhaps if she focused on something else with all her being she wouldn't have to remember much of all…

She shook her head slightly and rose up from the ground stretching her arms and groaning as she heard snaps and crunches.

She would be feeling this in the morning…

Her nose twitched slightly, a more and more common ordeal, as it was confronted by a sweet smell.

"Are we done for today?"

A voice came from behind her surprising her slightly… so it was that man…

He had been less intrusive than she had expected throughout the day, other than a few pointers here and there he had pretty much just let her do her own thing. She had enjoyed that leaving her to explore her own powers was something quite new to her.

She hadn't made much progress in general but still, any day that ended happily was a victory on its own.

She turned around to regard him lifting an eyebrow in question as she noticed the two mugs in his hands.

He motioned for her to grab one with a small smile.

She did so with a tilt of her head regarding the dark liquid with a bit of suspicion but not having enough self-control to stop herself from drinking something that smelled so good.

She gulped down once her eyes widening soon after "Yum…" she said without any real notice her cheeks turning red as she heard him chuckle.

"So what did you think of today?" he asked sitting down next to her and gazing at the starry sky.

Shenhe shrugged too proud to say she somewhat enjoyed herself "It was fine…" she muttered as she continued to drink.

He simply 'hmmed' at that and continued to stare off into the black sea that was the sky.

The duo remained in silence as they both took quiet sips from their mugs, it wasn't exactly a comfortable one either as a weight of unknown left the girl feeling awkward… she really had no idea how to interact even if she had wanted to.

"It's too soon for this but when you want to talk, I'll be here." he said suddenly surprising her with his words.

She had to refrain from scoffing outright "I'm fine…" she growled out her fingers digging into the dirt.

He regarded her for a minute with a conflicted expression before sighing and seemingly giving up… something that only pissed her off further.

Shenhe stood up quickly nearly falling again her mind getting obscured in anger "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing I didn't make you come here because I expect something from you.." Shirou said in a soft tone looking right into her glaring orbs "Trauma like what you went through can fester and dictate how you live your life forever, trust me I've seen it before. I'm simply opening the door if you ever want to talk whether or not you do so, only you can say."

She opened her mouth to yell, to scream that she didn't need his help… but let it go soon after, at this point, she didn't really know what she needed and she was far more tired than she had hoped. Her body slumped as the energy given by her wrathful emotions left…

"Why don't you go rest for today, tomorrow we'll start in full so you'll have to wake up early."

Shenhe gave one last nod and walked away to her room.

Leaving behind Shirou to stargaze by his lonesome.

(Morning)

She gasped for air as sweat poured down her body, groaning in pain under the hot sunny day, cuts and bruises littered her body as she glared up at her enemy, her mind set on one objective obliterating the person in front of her…

That's what she expected or rather dreaded her day to be as she slept quietly on her new bed…

...perhaps this was a whole lot worse.

"Now go to page 6, and you'll see part of the history or rather legends of the adepti." the man said with a nostalgic smile "It's honestly not really true but since it's on history books we shouldn't really take it for granted I guess, there is power on what people believe rather than it's true account and this is actually what I want you to learn…"

He continued to talk in a rather animated fashion as he sat upon a wooden desk, his legs crossed, behind was a blackboard with some things written namely their names and the subject of the day… history.

Her head tilted, her face showing complete confusion.

First of all, why did he even have a classroom, it was fully decked out too… at least ten tables as far as she could tell as her mind was still addled from the surprise.

Second, why had his whole demeanor changed since yesterday, now he felt more like the handsome dorkish teacher that she heard some of the teenage girls gush about.

And last but not least…

Her left eye twitched as she stared at him in disgust.

...why was he wearing those glasses.

"...Shenhe…"

She had seen him read before without needing them and he didn't seem to have any difficulty without them.

"...Shenhe…"

Was he mocking her?

"SHENHE."

Her head snapped right, as she finally heard him calling her "Y-yes?" she answered a bit ruffly having been caught off guard.

The teacher simply sighed and took off his glasses with one hand now staring at her like the child she was "Is there a problem?"

"Is there..?" Shenhe asked looking at him incredulously, some of her fire coming back giving her the courage to say what was on her mind "I just… what exactly am I doing here?"

"I am teaching you like I said I would." Shirou said simply waving his hand to his classroom as if it were obvious.

"Yeah but I thought…"

The man sighed and put his book behind him and stepped off from the table, his back straightening now feeling every inch as imposing as he did yesterday "You thought it would be combat correct?"

Shenhe nodded looking utterly confused.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Shirou broke that connection and walked to one of the windows overlooking the plains and mountains beyond the small cottage "What do you see?"

She shrugged still confused about where he was going with this "...Nothing?"

He nodded "That's right nothing, not a city, not a settlement, not even a neighbor… you'll be here for at least a few years with minimal human interaction." Shirou explained as he moved back to his chair "You are here to learn to control yourself but the end goal is to eventually return to society, and for that, you need to learn more than just how to dodge and throw a punch."

"I see…" her eyes were wide as she stared at him in a new light before they dimmed as a thought passed through her mind "… but what if I don't want to go back there."

He shrugged and gave her a small smile "Then don't…" Shirou said with some amusement as the girl gave him a questioning look "I am here to simply get you ready for whichever road you want to take for your life, but the choice will always remain yours… whether or not you want to reach out to humanity once more only you can say but if you do, what you'll learn here will help you."

She nodded a small smile playing around on her lips as well feeling a lot more confident about this "You seem used to this."

"You aren't exactly my first student." He said with an odd smile, half bitter half nostalgic as he took off the glasses "These were actually a gift from one of them, he said I would look more professional with one of these and feel like an actual teacher."

"Really?" she snorted out almost laughing "They were probably joking."

He chuckled as he set them down on the desk "Oh for sure, he was mocking my efficiency at the time, he always had a roundabout way of making his points across…"

Shenhe narrowed her eyes in curiosity "Why do you wear them then..?"

"Because he was right and I want to keep remembering that." he answered smiling at her flabbergasted expression "Now open the book the lesson is not over…"

She groaned but opened all the same.

(Afternoon)

Choices…

It was something she lacked in her life now that she thought back, she had never really been given the opportunity to choose anything for herself, that isn't exactly uncommon for most children as adults most of the time would take it upon themselves to choose for them until they were ready to take on the world.

Her father had taken that to the extreme and at one point she had lacked even the choice of living…

...regardless she had never really been given any real choice up until she had met him, now everything was a choice.

Do you want to train under me?

Do you want to live here?

Do you want chicken or beef?

It had taken some getting used to and she had no idea how and if she had made the right ones, but now though…

...she simply had no idea.

"Take your time…"

Him constantly telling her that with a nice voice wasn't exactly helping either…

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to regain some composure.

In front of her neatly set on the ground were all types and assortments of weapons, from bows to polearms, to swords, to ones she had no idea existed.

He had put them down and just told her to choose as if she had any idea how any of them work other than stabbing with the pointy end.

Wasn't it his job to tell her what was the best for her anyway?

Instead of making her thoughts known she simply picked the one closest to her, which just so happened to be a simple sword.

She swung it a few times feeling its weight around, it felt fine kinda like a stick only much heavier.

"You can drop it."

"Huh?" she turned around confused…

He walked towards her waving his hand in a dismissive way "Don't worry about it, I just wanted to see something… besides it's a bit too early for you to learn how to use this for now we'll get your body in shape an…" he stopped suddenly turning around slowly.

"Shirou?" Shenhe asked as she noticed his change.

He turned around staring at nothing with narrowed glowing silver eyes as he motioned for her to stay behind him… something that she didn't really follow as she had no idea what was going on.

All she could really see was a small pond of water…

"Just come out you're not fooling anyone."

Are you sure you aren't..?

She started to question his sanity slightly until the pond started to move and shimmer as if alive.

A hand reached through it grasping at the sky, water around the area forming from seemingly nowhere joining and taking form into a monstrous body, it was tall, taller than the man in front of her his armor as blue as the water that surrounded it, if that even was an armor, to begin with.

A weight fell on her, a certain type of pressure making it hard to stay upright, the air itself feeling damp and slimy… it was hard to breathe and she had to take quick ones or pass out from this feeling.

She could only watch in fear, her survival instincts going haywire as she prepared herself for another battle for her life.

Until someone took a step in front of her shadowing her from the monster's view.

"What is one of the abyss doing here?"

Why was he speaking so casually couldn't he tell the power of this monster?

"The princess wishes to speak." her body shook slightly from the unnatural voice, it felt rigid and devoid of life.

"If she does she can come out herself… otherwise you should really leave." Shirou said his tone remaining unchanging throughout as if he was simply talking about the weather.

The monster said nothing but his arm rose his hand stretching out towards them, by his command water once again formed this time around them… it was clear the time for words was over a battle was about to begin.

From the power she could feel this was no normal enemy, the darkness felt even stronger than the remnants of that monster in the cave.

This wasn't good…

She gulped and looked at her supposed teacher for some type of guidance, instead she could only see him staring down the monster as if uncaring for the incoming attack.

She was about to yell out.

Slink, clang, stab…

A multitude of metallic noises stopped her in her tracks as the water fell into the floor with a splash.

She turned her head slowly towards the monster once more.

And her eyes widened.

For what she saw was that powerful monster made prisoner by a dozen blades, his arm still stretched but unable to move unless he wanted to be skewered by the swords surrounding his body.

One step back or one step forward would mean certain death… it was over before it even began.

A slightly delirious smile appeared on her face as the stress of the situation gained control of her, he knees buckling slightly, again an enemy presented itself, and again she survived the ordeal, this time not by her own hand. This feeling of being on the edge of a precipice without hope…

Her hand clenched enough to draw blood.

Next time I'll slaughter you.

If only the day ended there...

Shadows engulfed the unknown being disappearing soon after leaving nothing behind in its wake.

"I see you haven't changed at all Shirou." a soft feminine voice spoke from within the darkness soon revealing itself to be a pretty young woman with golden hair "Sorry for the hello, I didn't really think he would go that far…"

He let out a mocking laugh clearly not believing her words "I'm sure you didn't Lumine." Shirou said, his voice for the first time taking on a dangerous tone "Why are you here?"

The woman smiled "I can't even say hi to an old friend?" she giggled lightly before stopping waving her hand in a dismissive way "Everything will start soon, I'm here to ask you not to interf…"

"You know me better than that." Shirou said interrupting her before she could finish.

Lumine sighed and any sort of fake happiness vanished from her expression "I knew you wouldn't honestly I just wanted to see you one last time before everything fully changes."

"You're five hundred years too late for that…"

She shrugged and smiled bitterly "I guess I am…" she looked down noticing the black-haired little girl at his side "I see you picked up another stray, you've always been fond of doing that… tell me child do you know what he is, has he told you that?"

Shenhe looked confused as she stared back and forth at the arguing duo.

Shirou sighed and blocked the woman's view from the girl "Enough, what do you want Lumine?"

"Fine, fine… In a few years, someone like me will appear, he's going to need some help navigating this world if you can help him as you did with me… I would be very grateful."

Shirou didn't respond but that was enough as she nodded in gratitude, the shadows reappearing once again swallowing her surroundings.

"I'm glad I got to see you one last time… see you later bird brain... and thank you for everything."

And then she was gone as if she was never there to begin with…

Shenhe looked at him her confusion clear "What was she talking abo…"

"Let's start with training." Shirou said as he walked back towards the assortment of weapons "Seems we no longer have time to waste…"

"But…" Shenhe tried to speak out but he didn't seem to hear her…

Guess she didn't have much of a choice now huh?


New chapter and honestly this wasn't really much fun, I'm still trying to figure out shenhe, not only as a kid (I'm pretty sure I'm not good at writing these based on this story) but one that can use her emotions freely, the most we see from her in the game is the small snaps that once or twice happen when she interacts with npcs, that and the general trauma she goes through... I kinda want to use that and have her be a lot more expressive since she doesn't have the red ropes and whatnot... hopefully I did alright, right now everything is just a building block for the rest of the story so not the most exciting of chapters I'm sure.

Also if anyone feels like they have a good grasp on genshin lore and has some free time please message me if you feel like it, I think I need someone to go through some stuff with me.

Next chapter is Salvation should be 1 or 2 weeks from now...

Thanks to Ivan Tridelan for helping me with this chapter.

Edit: so this was a mess huh seems like the site is finally working somewhat, sorry everyone for uploading it again hopefully we don't go through this one more time.