Ch.1

"I caught it!" you said to yourself, glancing at the bag full of preys that you caught, you can't help but feel happy knowing you'll eat good tonight, or maybe you'll eat good for a couple of days.

Seeing that your bag is full of dead preys, you decided to go home. It was already sunset, you knew how dangerous the forest was at night, especially for those who doesn't have a vision like you. Knowing that you decided to quicken your pace.

Perhaps you were too preoccupied with yourself that you didn't pay attention to your surroundings, there was a ruin hunter right behind you, you only noticed when you heard a weird noise, looking back, the ruin hunter was ready to attack you, stupefied, since there wasn't much time to think of ways to dodge the ruin hunters attack, all you could do was cover your face with your arms.

You knew it was dumb to do that, you knew you stood no chance to the ruin hunter, yet you still did as hoping it could decrease the injuries that you'll be getting from the impact - that is if you're still alive by then.

You waited for the attack yet nothing came, you didn't feel pain, you didn't feel anything - so then you decided to take a peak, what you saw flabbergasted you and gave chills down your spine.

There, you saw a man who has a fine structure, jade coloured hair with deep beautiful amber eyes that gave you a cold and intense stare. You wanted to ask what his name was, you opened your mouth yet no words came, after a few minutes of staring at each other, you finally said something.

"..beautiful."

As he was taken aback by what you said, you knew immediately that he's not used to compliments. You've been staring at him for quite sometime and you knew it was disrespectful, you wanted to look away yet you can't, his beauty can't be explained in words.

Couple minutes passed, he said something, "the forest is dangerous, go back to your home as soon as possible." just after he said that, he vanished. You couldn't help but smile, "even his voice is beautiful.." you thought to yourself.

After a few minutes of trying to analyze what just happened, you rose to your feet and decided to go home. "i wonder when will I be able to meet him again.." you uttered to yourself.

"..what a strange mortal."

...וו×...

By the time you got home, it was already pitch black. Glancing at the preys that you caught, you groaned, you were overjoyed earlier because you caught tons of them, but then you realise you have to clean them - the part that you hate the most.

After you cleaned them, you hung them for dry age, realising that it's already late at night, you decided to skip dinner and went straight to bed.

...וו×...

The next morning you decided to take a stroll, you admired the tall bamboo trees and the greenery. The silent gentle waves, the warm weather accompanied by the chirping birds. Everything seemed great, you felt great - or so you thought.

Even with the amazing scenery infront of you, you still can't forget the interaction you had with the man. He seemed to have captured your mind making it think of him and only him. You wanted to meet him again, though you knew it was impossible.

You kept on strolling, then something in the corner of your eyes piqued your interest. There you saw a young looking man with a.. floating fairy..? You seem to be lost for words, nonetheless you decided to go over and greet them.

The floating fairy noticed you and waved at your direction. You - of course, waved back. "Hello! are you from around here?" asked by the floating fairy. The young man who seemed preoccupied with something turned his head to your direction, he then soon came over to you.

"No, I live north-east from here." You said in reply to her question. "Oh! ...oh ..oh??" You studied the fairy's expression, she seemed to be.. confused? just when you were about to ask, she let out a loud screeching shout. Both you and the young blonde man gasped in unison. The two of you looked at her confused. "is there anything wro-" "YOU MEAN YOU LIVE IN THAT SPOOKY PLACE?!" she said cutting you off.

You left out a small laugh before nodding. "Anyway, may I ask what's your name? I'm [y/n]" You said hoping it's not too much to ask, you were tired of calling them floating fairy and young blonde man.

"This is Aether and Paimon's Paimon!" she said while those two little hands of hers is on her hips. "Nice to meet you, [y/n]" said Aether. "Nice too meet you too." "Anyway, you two seemed like you needed help, or was I wrong?" "oh great heavens! yes we do need help, we're lost"

...וו×...

After I said those words, they were devastated. They planned on going to the capital, they were supposed to go straight yet they turned right, leading them here. "But Paimons tired already! I can't walk anymore." "But Paimon, you're not even walking." Aether said in response, in which Paimon turned her head to him, clearly offended by what he said.

I let out a small laugh making them look at me.

I suggested that they take a rest in my place, Paimon was hesitant at first but then agreed. Couple of minutes later we arrived.

"Spooky..." Paimon uttered. She was holding onto Aether's clothing. I then assured her that there's nothing to be afraid of. I took the preys that I killed and decided to make food for them. Paimon's mood improved drastically as soon as she saw what I was doing. "Oh you shouldn't have! exept you totally should." I could only laugh at her sentence.

After they finished eating, they took a quick rest and continued with their journey.

"Aether and Paimon huh.. That blonde hair boy looks oddly familiar.." You said to yourself while in a daze, anyone who'll see you would know that your brain isn't with you at the moment.

Glancing at the dishes, you stood up to clean them, only to realise how dirty your run-down place is. You sigh in disbelief. "Did I really just made my guest eat and take a rest in this dirty house of mine? Gosh I'm so unbelievable.."

With that you approached the sink, about to wash the dishes. After you washed the plates you then took the broom and swept the floor. Then you continued doing house chores. After an hour of cleaning the house, you took a sit on the couch to rest.

You didn't blame Paimon for saying your place was creepy. It was true anyway. Wuwang hill rarely got sunlight, so in daytime it looks like 5:00 in the afternoon, whereas nighttime, it's pitch black. The only light guiding you was the moonlight.

To make matters worse, you rarely cleaned your home. Aether and Paimon would've probably think that the house was haunted if they didn't know you live in here.

You laughed at the irony. That was literally the first impression you had when you first came in this abandoned place.

Four years ago you ran away from your "home". You ran and ran and ran until your legs gave out. Fortunately you were close to the Qingce village and decided to take a rest there.

You saw how happy the children of the so called village were. You thought to yourself, "will I ever be happy like them?" "will someone accept me if I ever come knocking on their door?" "will they let me in their house?"

With that, you decided to ask the village chief for help. But then something suddenly came into your mind making you halt. "What if they lock you up? what if they don't allow you to go outside? what if they force things you don't want to do?"

Your mind soon got filled with what ifs. The situation made you remember your past. The past that you hate so much, the past that you buried deep inside you.

One day, you mentioned that you wanted to be a doctor. Your mother looked at you shocked, perhaps she wasn't expecting that one day you'd think about becoming a doctor. And you didn't expect it too.

Perhaps what pushed you to be one is your father. He died from an illness. He took care of you, raised you and he was there for your whole life.

Your mother didn't want you to be a doctor. Few days later she said that you should go to inazuma and join the shoganute's army. There was a rumor circulating that if the shogun's army wins the war, then the tenryou commission will give hefty amount of mora to the families who helped.

You didn't want that, you didn't even know if the rumor was true or not, were they even going to win the war in the first place? nonetheless you declined. with a few reasons actually.

First, is that you didn't want to join the war. You wanted to be a doctor, not a military. You didn't want to be forced in doing something you don't want to do, you didn't want someone making plans for you in your life. Second, it's inazuma's problem, why should a liyue citizen risk their life in a foreign country's problem? And lastly, you're literally twelve years old at that time. What would a twelve years old do in a bloody war? distribute foods? do a cheerleading dance while the two armies fight to death??

Your mother mentioned that you could be a military doctor, yeah sure but you didn't want to be caught in that conflict, who knows wether you'll be alive or beheaded.

There's difference between worrying and manipulating, and you could clearly tell by the situation that it's the latter one.

Suddenly, you heard some footsteps approaching you. Instinctively you hid behind the bushes. "Strange.. I thought I saw someone.." said by the old lady. You didn't know what to do, but having those memories come back to you, you certainly didn't want to get adopted.

With that, you decided to go to some other place. Slowly stepping back one at a time. Unfortunately, you slipped and fell into the water. Waking up you were already in Wuwang hill.

The moment you opened your eyes, fear overwhelmed you. Seeing that you were in some place that seemed like it's out of a horror movie, you took the courage and stood up. You wandered for what seemed like hours.

As there wasn't much sunlight going through and with similar trees all around you, it seemed like you were going in circles, in which it was the case.

You were getting exhausted. Then you saw an abandoned house.

As soon as you saw it, you were overwhelmed with fear again. You were a twelve year old little girl who ran away from home, and now you're in some scary place with an abandoned house in it. You almost felt like passing out.

You once again took all your courage to go inside and inspect it. You were scared as hell. The stone floor was almost as cold as the snow in Dragonspine, there was no light inside the house. It was full of web spider and dust. The creaking sound of the door didn't made the situation better.

You found it funny how this place scared you, yet now it's where you're living.

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