Chapter Text
The constant rumble of voices exchanging words, laughter, and song. The soft amber glow of iron lanterns that reflected in foam-laden tankards of the same shade spilled over from countless pours. The sizzle of fried meats dressed with spicy peppers that danced on numb tongues. All of which made up an atmosphere most comforting to Beidou after her travels.
But she was never meant to rest for long.
"Five carts of noctilucous jade marched away just like that! Do you know the amount of labor that woman has costed us? How am I going to keep my children fed for the rest of this month?!" A man's outcry sang above the bustling crowd of the tavern and turned the beer on Beidou's tongue sour. It certainly wasn't the first complaint she'd overheard regarding the Tianquan and it seems they've only multiplied with each visit she's paid Liyue Harbor after days at sea.
Considering the insurmountable fines Beidou has paid and letters attempting to quell the illegal severity of the goods she continued to smuggle she'd sent, she knew she was skating on thin ice with Ningguang and tried to play the part of an agreeable captain up to now. However, if it wasn't mist elixirs, silk flower brocades, or even jueyun chilis... what would she steal from the people next... their lives?
She gulped down the remaining beer in its vessel and slammed it into the tabletop before retrieving her scarlet claymore and storming out of the back alley of the bar. Strapping the sword into its holster at her spine, Beidou swiftly climbs the siding of the brick building and lands on the roof. Milky dusk coats the sky and Beidou peers up at the jade chamber hidden within the clouds. She smirks, "I'll just have to teach you a real lesson on the meaning of balance then, Miss Tianquan."
Soft exhales and groans patter through the air as Beidou leaps and climbs across Liyue Harbor's rooftops like seaside cliffs. When she reaches the highest peak available, she pauses to surveil the wind currents, as any seasoned sailor would. A set of glittering gold wings expand from betwixt her shoulder blades and with a determined furrow of her brow, she makes a broad jump from the ledge, soaring upward like a hawk aiming for its prey.
Skirtails floating behind her like a kite, Beidou directs her movements amongst the breeze as if she were steering the Crux to catch winds in its sails during a storm. Flying being her second favorite mode of transport next to ship wielding. Blissful laughter bubbles from her chest as the feeling of freedom and invincibility propels her through wisps of clouds.
A temple-like structure of deep green and gold comes into view and Beidou slowly lowers herself until her boot heels touch upon the jadeite eaves cresting the roof. She makes quick work to retract her gliders and begins to analyze her surroundings. She notes quite a few catalyst-armed guards scattered amongst the front entrance gardens, decorated in fully bloomed glaze lillies. Just below her position is a balcony she decides to descend upon. The doors are wide upon, breeze catching the sheer ivory curtains billowing from within the room.
Beidou unsheaths her blade and cautiously moves forward into the candlelit space. To the left is a wall completely overtaken by a massive bookshelf that stretches from floor to ceiling. To the right, a collection of rare objects rest atop a series of floating geo cubes. Agnidus Agate, The Spirit Locket of Boreas, Noblesse Oblige, Archaic Petra, The Lost Prayer of the Sacred Winds, and even a crystalized teardrop from the mighty dragon Stormterror. Beidou's uncovered ruby iris glimmered as she marveled at these treasures she had never laid hands on despite the territories she'd traversed.
"It seems even a captain as cunning as the 'Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean' is just a thief entranced by whatever shines in the light at the end of the day, hmm?"
Beidou's eye widens and her hands come together at the hilt to swing her gravestone furiously toward the source of the voice behind her. Ningguang takes a step back and puts up a thin shield between her and the blade that nearly slashed her shoulder. A flash of yellow light conceals her briefly and in seconds she appears nose to nose with Beidou, hairpin removed from the crown of her head and now dangerously curved toward the arteries in Beidou's neck.
The remains of the geo power Ningguang used dance in the air around her like fireflies as Beidou holds a tight grip on the sword that threatens Ningguang's life just the same.
Beidou scoffs and puts on a mirthless smile, "Are you always this intimate with guests, miss?"
"Only the ones I intend to never see again," Ningguang responds with a fox-like grin as she trips Beidou with her foot, taking the momentary opportunity to summon her catalyst.
Never fully falling to her feet, Beidou regains her composure and smirks, still armed. "I wasn't aware that murder was on the list of 'heavenly balance' maintenance, let alone stealing from the honest people of Liyue." She swings with a grunt and Ningguang sends an attack in response that she dodges, leaving it to blast a vase to pieces.
"Oh please, a lawbreaker like you pointing fingers now? I've never stolen as much as an apple from my people. They know the consequences when tax payments and regulations aren't met, as should you, captain."
The flames of Beidou's righteousness begin to burn and she starts to slash recklessly forward with every beat of her heart. "Your people? The ones you leave to sell everything but the skin on their bones to survive? The children and the grannies barely scraping together their daily meals? The families ripped out of their homes by Fatui scum and hilichurls just outside the harbor. Tell me how it is you sleep at night in your jade palace and bedsheets of gold while your people shiver and starve in the night, oh great Tianquan of the Qixing?!"
Beidou backs Ningguang all the way against the railing of her balcony, sanguine-dipped blade caressing her chin. Ningguang's face contorts into a mix of confusion and rage as Beidou bores a hole in her skull with just one eye dripping with bloodlust for the people she cares for more than herself.
And in that burning wine-colored gaze, Ningguang loses her steely resolve, tears brimming her own eyes. Caged within Beidou's grasp, the most feared woman in Liyue bared her tears and said, "I-I'm sorry."