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The moon’s watchful gaze was gentle over the night-swept landscape, silent water’s face reflecting her as if liquid silver had been poured upon it. Amongst the sound of frog’s songs and water lilies swaying in the wind, an unnatural sound could be heard - footsteps which were made without care, disturbing the ground beneath them. These odd steps belonged to the face of a woman, one whose face was shrouded carefully by a mask which concealed all but her eyes.
This woman was not alone in the silent swamps of Liyue, however. Resting among the mud flats were two ancient beasts; robotic creations abandoned by a fallen nation. Ruin Guards were what the current civilization referred to them as, nothing more than a danger to their surroundings as their original purpose had been forgotten. However, to this woman, they were not without a use - at least for the time being.
The woman’s careful hands moved to brush a strand of blonde hair from her eyes as she crouched before the first of the fallen machines. There had been hope to salvage some parts, but with the large weapons still entirely intact, it would take a long time to disassemble them both. In addition to that, there was a risk that it could-
Bright flashes signaled the arrival of something unwelcome. Specifically, this unwelcome force came from the machines themselves, a terrifying creaking sound hanging heavy in the air as both activated. In moments, they had risen to their full height, looming above the woman who was now faced with quite the conundrum.
“I’ll be fucked, that doesn’t look great!”
Despite the heavy danger which now faced the adventurer, who was merely armed with a flimsy bow and bag of unknown contraptions, her voice was not one of terrible worry; but instead a slight annoyance. With no urgency to her motions, she drew the bow into her hands, in the same motion revealing an amber-colored charm which hung near her waist. It was a pyro God’s Eye, casting a glow that lit up the ground at her feet and tip of her arrow’s blade.
It wasn’t the God’s Eye whose power this woman seemed to rely on, however. Instead, drawn from her bag was a small contraption she hooked to the arrow she had drawn, aiming the device towards the robotic monsters. Both were shuffling towards her with giant steps, red lasers aimed directly at her body. If she missed this shot, she’d be in a whole other world of trouble moments later.
“Bombs away~!”
The woman’s shot did not miss, she knew. Her aim was true, and the following explosion shook the ground to a notable distance past. For some reason, however, her vision was cloudy, and she couldn’t quite make out if she’d managed to damage the machines or not. Whether it was moments or minutes that her mind was left in this haze, she did not know, but eventually an unknown voice speaking her name drew her back to reality.
“...Alice?” the voice calling out was familiar.
The blurry shape of a golden-haired woman was leaning over Alice’s fallen form. How had she ended up on the ground? Though the woman with the God’s Eye attempted to push herself upright, she found that it was difficult to move, and all of her limbs were sore. That was annoying.
“Did I get ‘em?” she managed to cough out in response after a moment of silence.
As her rescuer came into focus, in addition came the scent of cecilias, filling the air around the form of the golden-haired lady. This newcomer wore a dress colored peach and yellow, beside her resting a lance elegantly carved from silver. Her eyebrows narrowed in frustration, speaking softly to the woman resting in the grass.
“I had to fish you out of the rubble - there’s nothing left remaining in the area, hostile or otherwise.” the newcomer paused. “Just how many bombs did you set off?”
“One. It was… experimental,” Alice gave an odd sound somewhere in between a giggle and a cough. “Must’a taken those ruin guards out, cause I don’t hear ‘em anymore.”
“Be more careful. If you die, I don’t want to be left with your personal burdens.”
Alice did nothing but laugh louder, which was uncomfortable with how tightly her mask conformed to her face. “If I died, Rhine, you’d cry like a baby.”
“How about you shut up,” another emotion surfaced in the golden-haired woman’s voice. Gentle gloved hands pulled away the mask which covered Alice’s face, which the other had likely worn in anticipation of an accidental explosion. She might have been a little odd, but Alice certainly wasn’t a stupid one, and the woman known as Rhinedottir was thankful to see that the other woman’s face had been kept safe from injury.
Alice opened her mouth as if to speak, just as she’d told her not to. What a fool, Rhine mused to herself in her mind, to do nothing but blab her mouth as if nothing was wrong when having just been rescued from the brink of death.
In one smooth motion, Rhinedottir lowered herself to the other’s level, pressing a kiss to the lips of the fallen women. Alice hadn’t been expecting the sudden contact, but barely had the time to enjoy it before the other had pulled away again.
“My healing should have already taken effect on you. Will you be fine if we part ways now?”
It wasn’t the first time that Rhinedottir had kissed Alice, yet the injured woman found herself caught off guard for a moment. Once she’d regained her senses yet again, however, she managed out another witty remark, voice as jovial as always.
“Was that a healing kiss, or did ya just miss me that much?”
Rhinedottir’s voice didn’t betray any emotions audibly. “I should be going; I have more important things to be attending to.”
“Be seein ya, Rhine~! It’s a shame you’re in such a hurry!” though Alice had regained the strength to push herself upright again, the golden-haired woman had already risen to her feet as if she intended to leave.
“We’ll meet again. Under more reasonable circumstances, I’d hope.” and with that, the form of the woman with the silver lance had faded into the moon-lit night.
Alice, who sat amongst heaps of upturned ground and destroyed scrap metal, was left alone to ponder the oddness of her encounter with an old friend who shared the same feelings even hundreds of years later. It was a long walk back to Wangshu Inn still, and her worn and tired body wasn’t looking forward to the trek with partially destroyed clothes and supplies, moreso dreading the questions that would come from her travelling companion Zhongli over anything else. Still, before she attracted more monsters, she figured it would be best to head off soon, her swift footsteps carrying her back into the night from whence she had come.