Work Text:
Breath of Life
Alatus Nemeseos Chapter: Act III
Xiao hardly knew what to make of the scene before him.
An inordinate level of malevolent energy drew him to the mountain peaks nearest to the southwest of Liyue Harbor, and while he looked for a potential foe, he stumbled across the carcass of a Mitachurl. Its mask shattered with cracks of hoarfrost keeping the chipped fractions from showing the stricken, milk-hued clouded eyes beneath. Axe lying centimeters away from its outstretched hand, webbed over with ice. The tall, green grass bent beneath cool winds sweeping over him as he approached the abandoned axe. Its steel blade embedded in the crudely-shaped handle crusted with blood and upon his fingertips brushing against its edge, a spindly crack emerged before it shattered like brittle glass.
The wooden handle fell to the ground while steel glass rained over a cluster of crushed flower petals. Xiao flicked a glance over their mangled state then lifted his chin, tipping his chin to one side.
An unnatural chill lingered in the air with a hint of cryo woven delicately, two interlocking patterns traversing further down the grassy hillside. One brushed against his cheek with an enticing curl tracing his jaw, prickling cold til it tipped his chin. The other faded before it could reach him, a ghostly echo lingering in the air until it dissipated entirely. Turning on his heel, he left the corpse in his wake with only a curt nod and flourish of his spear’s blade as farewell.
Descending the slope, he glanced over the wildflowers tipped with morning dew frozen on their colorful heads. A trail that’d been cleaned up beside another half-done, perhaps unconsciously considering how the tracks go cold at a rocky ledge where a single qingxin sways against the wind.
He tapped his spear’s hilt on the ground, embedding it in the dirt beside the white-petaled flower undeserving of his confusion nor scrutiny. Still, he knelt to brush his fingers along the underside of its heart-shaped leaves clinging to a delicate green stem. If he snapped it then the flower would wilt within days if not properly cared for but the thin glaze of frost coating its petals glistened beneath the sunbeam crested over the cliffside.
Someone had been there prior, and was likely still close. Misted puffs of cryo wafted toward him and slowly he rose to his feet, lifting his spear.
Grass bowed beneath his footsteps as he approached the cliff’s edge, stepping off with wind caressing the underside of his heels slowing his descent. Violet grass clung to the bluff’s craggy face and qingxin dotted tiny ledges near proper climbing footholds should someone try to reach their heights. Cryo prints melted beneath the sun’s heat but he followed them down to the base of the cliff, landing in a low crouch.
“Xiao…”
Rolling up to his toes, Xiao braced himself then looked over his shoulder. A small, hollow was carved out the cliff’s base, hardly big enough to house an entire family of foxes let alone Ganyu. Her body folded up tight with her head bent low to keep her horns from scraping against the low roof, though upon approaching, he realized that might not have been the case. His spear evaporated in a shaft of golden light as he bent a knee, staring down at the sleeping face half-obscured by a tattered beige talisman. Her hat nearly slipped from the top of her head and he grasped its brim, carefully situating it above her brow.
Her quiet breaths, too slow for the average human but fast enough that his concerns dissipated, filled out his unspoken questions. Nevertheless he looked to Ganyu unsurprised to find her staring back at him.
“The flowers were for Baizhu,” Ganyu explained without prompting, staring down at the sleeping child’s face pitifully. “He hasn’t felt well as of late, and Qiqi wished to help with brewing his medicine.”
Xiao hummed, low and imperceptible. His eyes flicked over her. Residual wisps of dull and bright blue adepti energy still circled around her hands, her pallor skin an etheral waxen shade. “She lost control,” he pinched the end of the talisman between his fingers and lifted it. Lilac side-swept bangs fell over her closed eyelids, rimmed with dark circles. Ganyu’s fingers tenderly brushed her bangs aside and Xiao watched silently as she fussed over Qiqi’s barrette then dragged her knuckles down the underside of her chin.
“There’s been increased hilichurl presence near the gate, she was informed but..”
Her voice trailed off and the unspoken acknowledgement of Qiqi’s forgetfulness passed between them. Xiao sighed. No blame was to be placed, it was merely misfortune commonplace for a child born under a bad moon during an unforgiving age. Still, she breathed and persisted in her avoidance of death’s clutches. If this small life could be so tenacious in clinging to existence then what right did they have to deny her of it?
Looking up to Ganyu, Xiao frowned at the small wrinkle between her brows drawing attention to watery eyes and a red-tinged bottom lip likely bitten more than once while she waited. His hand laid atop of her own, fingers curled around her poorly trembling ones. The material of her gloves was chilled against his palm but he held fast and curled his fingers around her then squeezed. Remembering the act mirrored when his own hands gripped his spear too tight, slick with blood and slipping, he scrambled and grasped for the shaft as if it were his only lifeline.
Then two hands, much colder from an ice unrestrained, wrapped around his own. Distracting him from blood’s subtle warmth, slick and burning against his flesh, washing over him — numbing and bitter. She was just as hurt as he was, reminding him with every sharp prick of her nails against his palms. Scars glazed over with hoarfrost til his hands were glacial blocks incapable of grasping a weapon let alone reciprocating the touch.
He thought she’d been trying to harm him then, only to realize she had been all that was grounding him while his friend burned to ash before his eyes.
When her trembling eased, Xiao loosened his hold. His thumb tucked beneath her pointer and middle finger, pushing at the joint to uncurl them from the others then guide them to the talisman’s edge. Ganyu hesitated before her fingers could brush against the worn paper, pulling back against his hold strong enough to wrench herself free but stopping just shy of it.
“We can still save her…” Xiao said softly, and Ganyu whipped her head up. Her horns scraped against the cavern wall, but she barely flinched.
“We tried to save her before,” she hissed, and he could hardly tell whether the pain straining her voice was from guilt or the wound she inflicted on herself. “Perhaps we…”
“That is not our choice to make,” he tightened his hold on her wrist and brought her hand down just shy of where Qiqi’s chest rose and fell. Her breaths were ragged, raspy little things as if she couldn’t take in more air than strictly needed. Ganyu quivered and Xiao stared at her, hoping she would forgive him for this brief cruelty. Her answer came in the way her fingers folded over his own and a tear, slipping down the crest of her cheek when she closed her eyes. This time, her trembling quelled on its own and the dewdrops of tears sealing her eyelashes to her cheeks was peeled away leaving unfettered determination scalding like ice’s burn.
Together, they extended their pointer and middle finger then laid it upon the talisman.
Qiqi opened her eyes slowly, pressing her hands down on either side of her before pushing her shoulders up off the ground. Her head rolled forward then backward in a sway while her eyelids fluttered. Yellowish-green grass sweeping across the side of her leg stopped shy of a familiar dirt path mere centimeters from the tip of her shoes. Though behind her eyelids, a snowflake danced on a playful breeze nudging at her shoulders then wrapping around her body. Two — no, four — intersecting paths pinned her arms to her sides but the hold wasn’t uncomfortable, it was warm and cold all at once.
She closed her eyes again, and heard a whisper in each ear.
Her eyes shot open then and the hold was gone, replaced by the shade of the tree she was leaning against. Surveying her surroundings confusedly, Qiqi hummed absentmindedly then rubbed her hand over her chin. Pressing both hands down while shuffling up to her feet, her joints feeling a little stiff. Once she returned to the pharmacy, she was due for another set of stretches it seemed.
Her head cocked to one side as she mulled over what she’d been doing away from the counter. Uncertainty dribbled into the crevice of her psyche as she brought a hand to her mouth, then patted around her pockets for her notebook. The lack of its bulge twisted her chest uncomfortably. “Where… oh…”
There was a slight hesitation when she looked down, noticing her notebook peeking beneath the handle of a wicker basket filled to the brim with freshly picked qingxin and violet grass. Her fingers lingered at her chin as she looked around for the basket’s owner, then reached out for her notebook, easing it out of the bouquet then holding it to her chest. Cold metal rings grazed the underside of her chin as she cradled it close, swiping a hand over the rough backing. Pulling it away, her hand settled on the cover then lifted it by pinching the corner.
Beneath were several words written in a handwriting she didn’t recognize, but it was terribly pretty and neat.
“Gather flowers for Baizhu’s medicine,” Qiqi recited, gasping in realization then peeping past the notebook at the basket. It must have been hers and if medicine was needed then Baizhu was having another bad day. A fleeting pang of guilt surfaced but she closed her notebook then tucked it away, lifting up her basket. There was no time to feel guilty, she would help Baizhu just as she was ordered to.
Ganyu curled her fingers around Xiao’s, resting her head against his shoulder as she watched Qiqi run up the steps leading to Bubu Pharmacy’s pavilion. Gui met her shortly before she could cross past the shop’s open doorway but she muscled past with great strength that didn’t match her petite frame. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips when she noticed how quickly and unobtrusive Qiqi’s path had been.
“Should you be using the wind like this?” She asked, pressing her cheek to his shoulder as she peeked up at him.
Xiao huffed, seeming embarrassed at being caught. His head turned away from the scene though a sliver of gold peeped out the corner of his eye. “The Archon of Wind doesn’t care for restriction, it’s fine.”
She pressed her fingertip to the knob of his thumb and gradually, he tilted his chin toward her. They kept one another’s gaze. Apologies exchanged without a single word said but his lips brushed against her horn and she shivered, pushing lightly at his chest when the touch became a bit too much. His hand sliding down her arm until it touched her hand, pressing against his chest a little firmer than before.
Chaos brewed beneath his skin, it twisted and turned, burned while trying to tear him apart. She could feel it but when she looked him in the eyes - there was determination hidden beneath a look of placidity.
A desire to keep living.
Her breath slipped past her lips, crackling cold trembling between them as he lowered his head. Their foreheads pressed together for one long moment, hands grasped so tightly it would take nothing shorter than a second coming of Osial to break them apart. Sharing one breath, both cold and warm. Then, Xiao’s head lifted to Ganyu's confusion and she watched he stared off in the direction of Bubu Pharmacy. Flicking a glance between her and the building's sloped roof, she wondered what he heard when the corner of his lips thinned, twitched upward once then remained still. He pulled away from her but their hands still connected even as he rose to his feet, helping Ganyu to her own.
His brow hardly pitched a millimeter, and she answered his unspoken question by slipping her fingers in the crook of his elbow. Keeping his arm at her side as she led him away from the harbor gates and the cliff they watched from, their hands meeting as they walked on together.