Chapter Text
The duties of the Outrider division of the Knights of Favonius were as varied as they were plentiful, but Amber bore every single one of them as its sole remaining member. When she came of age, Acting Grand Master Jean had been kind enough to re-establish the branch for her. Amber knew that, under the grand scheme of things, the Outrider division was only part of the Ordo Favonius, but that only motivated her even more to work hard and return it to its former glory. One day, her grandpa would come back to Mondstadt, and see how the division he had once started still kept on serving all of those in the region, be it its citizens or any travelers who happened to be around.
Had it been a few months ago, Amber had truly felt that might never happen, that she would not ever see him again. But after what just had happened? Dvalin, the ever guardian of Mondstadt, had turned on them; she had met a mysterious traveler and his floating companion in what had been a routinely scouting mission; and had found out that Venti, that drunk of a bard that never seemed to have a fill for liquor, was Lord Barbatos? Anything could happen next, and Amber felt as invigorated as ever to keep up her duties for the Outriders.
It was now a little over a week after the whole Dvalin ordeal had finished. Aether had said goodbye, and left for Liyue to continue on his journey. Amber would have loved to have gone with him (perhaps Liyue held a clue or two about the whereabouts of his grandpa), but she still had her duties to fulfill as an Outrider.
Patrolling Mondstadt at night beyond its city walls was one of those many duties. One always had to be on the lookout for Hilirchurl encampments; if they were too close to the city or too large, they would have to be dealt with. Abyss Mages were also a threat, as they were both dangerous and intelligent, the latter trait something that Hillichurls lacked (Amber swears there have been multiple times where a Hillichurls had slept or played with a butterfly while the rest of its encampment was being dealt with, so they either are not smart, or they simply never cared). Or Reckless Pallad needed saving. Again.
All of these were important reasons to go out patrolling, but really the one that Amber cared most about (not to say she did not care for the safety of Mondstadt and its citizens) was the fact that, as a night patrol, there was no real rush to her task. After a day of sprinting and gliding everywhere, where time was of the essence, nothing beat a walk on Starfell Lake or Starsnatch Cliff with the cool, accompanied by the night breeze and the light of the moon. Lamp grass, her favorite flower, also shone only during nighttime, which was an added bonus.
Of course, she was still on duty, so despite enjoying her night strolls, Amber always kept an eye out for danger and her bow ready to be drawn. Tonight was no different, as she walked up one of the many cliffs of Stormbearer Point. She always made a point of walking up to the highest points of them, as they served as great vantage points for the surrounding area (including the reflected moonlight on the ocean horizon!). Once she made it to the end of the cliffside, Amber held her bangs from blowing into her face from the strong breeze and peered to her surroundings.
A fireplace on one of the openings just beneath the cliffside but got her attention. Normally, people camping out in Mondstadt was not uncommon, but it took a strong body and the will of an adventurer to do it in such a far away place and with such rough terrain such as Stormbearer Point. Amber could barely make out the silhouette of a sleeping figure near the fire, but something else glowed near it...
Amber knew that only one thing glowed and made a perfect sphere. Whoever was sleeping out there was slowly being crept up by an Abyss Mage! Taking note of how the wind blew her hair, Amber took out her Baron Bunny, looked down and closed one eye, taking aim. As she threw the Baron down, she pulled down her goggles, took a few steps back, jumped off the cliff with a leap, and opened her glider. As she slowly fell down, Amber thanked the Archons that the Abyss Mage had been the icy kind. If the glow of its shield had been orange, her only option would have been to pick up the sleeping person and run for it.
Baron Bunny was the first one to land, immediately catching the Abyss Mage’s attention. The Abyss Mage pulled out its Leyline branch wand, and with a twirl and a swing, summoned forth icicles which Baron Bunny took like a champ. After the fourth one, Baron had enough and lit itself into an explosion, taking the Abyss Mage aback and damaging its shield. Now that she had glided down to a safe altitude, Amber put away her glider and lept down with a rain of arrows. The arrows simply bounced off of the Mage’s shield, but in its confusion, Amber took the chance to focus her vision at its highest intensity and with a Fiery Rain, both destroyed the weakened shield and the Abyss Mage alongside with it once its protection were no more.
Amber let out a sigh of relief, thankful that her attack had hit just the right spots to wipe the Abyss Mage in a single volley. The crackling of the fire left by her attack helped Amber’s heart soothe down from the rush of adrenaline her body had just been pumped with, but it quickly skyrocketed again when she heard movement behind her. In a swift motion, Amber lept away, turned around and drew an arrow, only to find a blonde girl in an intricate white getup, with her hands held up in a resigning manner.
“Um, hello?” she quizzically called out with a clear look of confusion on her face.
“Don’t you know it’s dangerous out here? There are monsters everywhere, so away from the city!” Amber put down her bow.
“And also cute girls with fire Visions and trigger-happy bow and arrows.”
The sudden compliment caught Amber off guard. “D-Don’t…!” Amber cleared her throat, she could not be tripping on her words when she had to perform her duties as an Outrider. “Don’t you know I just saved you? You had an Abyss Mage creeping up on you as you slept!”
The stranger looked even more confused until she glanced at the patch of grass behind Amber on fire. “That explains that, then,” she said as she pointed at the blazes. “By the way, your boot is going to catch on fire.”
“Huh?” Amber looked behind her, and in the jump she had instinctively made just now, her foot had landed inside the fire. In the heat of the moment, she barely noticed the heat (the fire resistance provided by her Vision had not helped either), but now fully aware of it, Amber quickly jumped away from the fire and patted her boot down, making sure it had not been set ablaze.
“A-Anyways…!” There she went, tripping on her words again. “It’s dangerous out here! You should come with me to Mondstadt.”
“And… you are…?”
“Oh!” How could she forget, again?! She had completely forgotten to introduce herself in front of Aether about a month ago, and now she was doing it once more. “I am Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius!” Amber straightened her back and did the Favonius salute, fist to her chest.
“Nice to meet you, Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius,” The stranger repeated, putting her hand on her chest too.
“May the Anemo God protect you, stranger.” Well, Amber was planning to do the protection, but it was part of the Knight’s code to say that line.
“Please, call me…” The girl paused for a moment, before nodding to herself. “Ying.”
“Alright… Ying.” Amber was not too convinced with her name, but Ying looked suspicious right from her getup. “You’re not of Mondstadt, are you, Ying? Explain yourself.”
“So inquisitive… is that how things work in this region?” Ying wondered out loud, but before Amber had the chance to answer, she continued. “I’m just a traveler, out to see the worlds. I had heard of a Dragon being sighted in Mondstadt, so I arrived not too long ago to witness it.”
Dvalin? Certainly it had to be Dvalin, very few dragons lived in the modern day. Perhaps news of the Dvalin attacks on Mondstadt had spread across Teyvat, but not of its stop. “Where do you hail from, Ying?”
“Very far away. Further away from what you can see on the horizon.” Ying turned to face the ocean, and the way the moon illuminated her golden hair made her look ethereal, like she came from another world.
“Sounds like a very long trip to come here to Mondstadt.”
“Hmm. Yeah, I guess it took a while. I’ve been traveling for so long that the journeys don’t matter too much, only what’s in the end.” For a moment, Amber could see a hint of sadness in Ying’s eyes.
Now it felt so much harder to tell her that Dvalin had kept to itself in Stormterror’s Lair for weeks now, and that Dvalin only made itself present on rare occasions.
“And what are you doing out here, Miss Outrider for the Knights of Favonius?”
“Amber is just fine. I was simply on a nightly patrol, keeping an eye out for danger and monsters, and saving people from said dangers, like I just did with you! Now, come. We should get you into the city, it’s not safe out here.”
“I think you cleared out all the monsters around her already, Amber. And besides, the Fatui are in the city, no? I… don’t like them.” Ying sighed and sat down near the fireplace. “I’m safer out here than I’ll be in there with them.”
“Well...” Amber knew very well how much more dangerous the Fatui were when compared to some lowly hillichurls or a few Abyss Mages, and the way Ying spoke made Amber feel like she had some reasons to dislike them, just like Collei. “I won’t force you to come, if you really feel that way.”
“Thanks.” Ying offered Amber a smile, one that the Outrider could not take her eyes off of. “And besides, if I ever need to be rescued, the Outrider for the Knights of Favonius will come to the rescue, right?”
Never had Amber felt embarrassed by her own title, but these past few months had been a lot of first times for her. “J-Just be careful out here, okay? I need to get back to my patrols.”
“Right, I’ll keep an eye out, Amber. May the Anemo God protect you too.”
With a salute, Amber bid farewell to the stranger she had just met, and made haste to get back to her patrol route. With her short skirmish with the Abyss Mage long over, why had the adrenaline rush not gone away? If Amber did not know any better, she would say her heart was about to fly out of her chest.
“Did I really call myself Ying ... Cute girls will be the end of me…” Ying said to herself as she rubbed the temples of her head. Standing up, she walked up to the burnt grass left by Amber and picked up the Leyline branch the Abyss Mage had left in its demise.
“I wanted to travel alone here, but someone just had to insist they had to come along…” Ying shook her head and pocketed the Leyline branch.
“Aether has made some very cute friends, hasn’t he?”
Now, Lumine just had to get Amber to rescue her again, but how will she do it next time?