Disclaimer: Mihoyo owns Genshin Impact. Not me.
Even with her blindfold on, Ninli saw light. It was more amazing since the stars over Sumeru–the skies all over Teyvat–had long-since fallen. Still, she danced as she always had, the flaps of her cloak adding to her rhythm like how the sand clung to her boots. So too did her large chakram. It cut through dim moonlight, and the green glow along its rim blended in with her twin braids falling over her. It also alerted Ninli to the new arrival with the clouds rolling over the sands.
She didn't stop, moving under the dune's shade. The cloud passing over was of no concern. If anything, it cooled the trickles of sweat running down her bare arms and slim frame. It also kept her bracelets close to her black gloves as she waved them over her face. The jingle from them and those on her boots kept away the worries of the upcoming mission.
A fiery red flash brought them back. It also sent Ninli's chakram into the air. "Are you done?" another woman said from atop the dune, the voice far colder than the lingering heat.
Ninli caught her descending weapon and held it around her for one last spin. The sand she kicked up fell upon the white cloth flowing over her leg. "Now, I am," she told the interloper with a smile. "You know interrupting isn't nice, Gini."
The same red light from before made Ginita's frown all the more obvious, despite NInli's blindfold. Even the twirl of pink hair popping from her dark hood turned crimson, much like her pale skin. "You were too conspicuous. Be lucky no other Eremite had found you," Ginita said, ever serious. Probably glaring too beneath her own blindfold.
A rising Ninli matched it with a flourish of her red cloak and chakram. The latter reflected the dark of her skin and green of her bangs as she mounted it on her back. "A little dance never hurt anyone, Gini," Ninli said. "It's tradition, after all."
Ginita's hand lowered, as did the outline of a tiny pyramid-shaped object floating above it. Her Catalyst, no doubt. "Say that again after a Galehunter's arrow hits you," she said, touching the dark wrappings over her abdomen.
Shrugging to herself, Ninli followed Ginita over the dune. Despite sharing the same cloaks of their tribe, they couldn't have been any more different. Ginita's dark dress and ever-raised hood reflected her dour outlook. Not like Ninli, who threw back her cloak and expanded her lungs against her white top to take in air. She even bounced on her steps to pass the boredom. There was little to look at beside the moon and the clouds trailing along distant dunes. How the elders even put them up to this task was beyond her.
"So, where is he? Our employer, I mean," Ninli asked, twirling one braid around a finger.
"You don't know?" Ginita asked from ahead.
"No. Why should–?"
Ninli stopped and darted from the long bar of metal along her boot. The man holding it stared back, his tan face as large as his hammer's bulky head. The fact he had no blindfold, his brown eyes clear to see, clued in Ninli to him being an outsider. He certainly was no Eremite.
Still she had to ask. "How? Gini, is this man…?" Ninli's question trailed, and her other hand stopped short of her chakram. The bag on the man's belt–money, no doubt–was enough for Ninli, so she met his gaze. "Um, hello?"
"... Hello."
The low and quiet voice shouldn't have been a surprise. The newcomer may have been a bit taller, but he was just as skinny as Ninli. Okay, maybe not skinny, since she had a lean build but still. His sleeveless robe too was as strange as his weapon, dark with green vine patterns. The popped up collar hid any smile or frown from Ninli's eyes.
"And that's why you should be more aware," said Ginita as she approached. Her free hand, pale and uncovered, pushed aside her cloak. "Sir Ozab of the Akademiya, this is Ninli of the Betlem Tribe."
The Akademiya? Of course, those knowledge-grubbing city-dwellers would wear strange clothes. "A Scholar with a hammer? Now, I've seen everything," Ninli said. She tilted her head at the man's mumbling. "What was that?"
"I'm not a Scholar," Ninli heard the man, Ozab, say. His shaggy dark hair should've told her as much, but Ninli followed his eyes to the side. "Loremistress, I'm–"
"Loremaster," Ginita corrected.
Seeing the confusion, Ninli told her employer, "Just go with it. Believe me. Gini's very particular about these things."
"It's tradition, Nin." The irony was as biting as the breeze. Ginita went on, unabated by it. "Sir Ozab, please tell–"
"I know about the Irminsul branch, Gini," Ninli sniped back and crossed her arms over her chest. "I just want to know why you'd need me for this. After all, not everyone wants to find some dead tree."
After stabbing the sand with his hammer's shaft, Ozab drew out a parchment from his robe. The symbol on it was like a chess piece, albeit with flowery designs leading up to the heart-shaped crown. "Someone sent this back to the Akademiya last week," Ozab said. "The last I… we heard of him, he was not far from Mount Damavand."
Now, it made sense. Among the many tribes of the Eremites, Floral Dancers like Ninli could control different plants. And there were many wild ones at Damavand. If anything, she could guide them all through the mess. "Worried a flower might bite you?" Ninli joked. She held up her hands at the glare. "Okay, okay, I get it."
"Forgive my… companion," Ginita told Ozab. "We will continue at night, as discussed."
Ozab put away the parchment and walked off. His renewed silence put off Ninli. She swore it was like dealing with another Ginita. "Oh well. At least this won't be a boring night," Ninli told herself, twirling her braids again as she followed.
AN: Just a little thing I had written on a whim some months ago. Honestly, I'm not a gamer and I've stopped looking at Genshin's story early on because, well, it lacked a proper story. Its worldbuilding is something, and fan animations usually catch my attention every now and then, so I came up with this. Basic idea was this: the Archons are gone, the skies have fallen, and the world of Teyvat is left with everyone wondering what to do. That being, I don't expect an actual story to come out of this one.