Chapter Text
Lumine was tired.
She was doing a good job of hiding it, she was fairly certain. No one seemed to have noticed yet. Paimon, maybe, but... but Paimon was a good friend and had yet to say anything.
But the fact remained, hidden or not. Lumine was tired.
What was the Loom? What were the Abyss Order planning to do to Osial? Was it coincidence that the Fatui had been planning to use Osial in their plans? Why had Aether been so shut off and distant? Why had Dain thrown himself headlong into the Abyss after promising to keep the eye safe? Would there be more answers in the other nations? How did she get to Inazuma if it's borders were currently closed so tightly immigrants were more of refugees escaping in ramshackle rowboats?
Everything weighed down and made her chest and shoulders feel heavy. It kept her from smiling genuinely. She hadn't laughed in what felt like ages. Interacting with people, even her friends, felt like a chore.
She stopped walking, heaving a sigh as she stared at the dirt.
She was so tired, in a way that no amount of sleep or calming tea could help.
Maybe she should go see Nimrod. Ask if the Treasure Hoarders dealt with illicit substances at all, or just Mora and artifacts. She might not be ‘of age’ to drink, but if she was tearing apart Treasure Hoarder camps on her own time, who was going to stop her from pocketing anything she found for herself? And it wasn't like she was intending to go forming a habit. She just... needed something to put a little pep in her step. Dull the edge and shine her eyes, or something.
... Well, even if she did do that, Nimrod was in Mondstadt, and she was currently in Liyue. It'd have to wait until she went back to Mondstadt.
Speaking of where she was...
Lumine lifted her head to look around. Paimon had offered to give her some time alone. Feeling bad about making her friend worry so much, Lumine had taken three bounties in rapid succession, and given all the Mora to Paimon to spend as she pleased. After that, she'd just... started walking.
And from the looks of things, she had walked a very long way. She was in... it looked like the Dunyu ruins, though she could be mistaken. It was starting to get dark, after all. Had she really walked for so long? Her feet weren't even sore...
Finding her way back at this point would be risky at night. She hadn't kept track of where she was going, and the shadows were only helping her mental funk make remembering landmarks hard. Her best course of action would be to hunker down for the night somewhere and head back in the morning. Hopefully Paimon wouldn't be too upset with her...
If only she'd brought the Serenitea Pot. Then she could at least sleep in the bed Tubby kept made. But she'd left that with Paimon too.
Sighing, Lumine looked around.
There was a mostly-intact tower over there. It was missing it's upper half, but the walls should keep the wind out, and with any luck there'd be enough fragments of stairs left to crouch under if the weather turned. It wouldn't be cozy, by any stretch of the imagination, but it'd do the trick of providing somewhere... semi-safe to sleep.
After a quick check of her surroundings for Ruin Guards— Field Tillers, Dain said— or any hostiles, Lumine made her way over to the tower. She had to climb up the side after discovering the door was blocked by caved-in rubble, but that was fine. She climbed the mountains and cliffs filling Liyue on a regular basis, this was nothing. Reaching the top, she realized there was... smoke.
Someone was already in the tower?
... Well, hopefully they weren't opposed to sharing.
Lumine began down the spiraling steps that remained. Chunks were missing here and there, forcing her to jump across gaps. But before too long, she'd reached the bottom.
There was a dedicated camp set up, she realized with surprise. It was very basic and rudimentary, but it was almost like the small tents that she'd found pitched all over Teyvat thusfar. There was a stack of books, a bulletin board, a cooking pit, a small heap of blankets and other linens...
And a mitachurl staring right back at her.