Chapter Text
Lumine still remembers when she was adopted, a tiny little kitten that could fit in a grown man's hand and was slightly malnourished. She traveled with her brother, both of them scavenging dumpsters for food, constantly moving homes and occasionally getting into scraps with other alley cats. On a good day, they’d come across a nice brown box(that she later learned was cardboard) to stay under and a human would feed them bits of food.
As a young kitten, Lumine longed to get away from the alleyways of her hometown and see the world. They were abandoned when they were so small, they don’t even know what their mother looked like. She didn’t understand why her current owner adopted her brother and her, considering how much the woman loved to travel. The youngling didn’t mind, she was getting her wish whether or not her owner knew.
Her owner may not understand her words, but they indeed knew of her adventurous nature considering how often she ran out of the house during the day and returned during the night. However, a terrible incident occurred several years after they began living together.
In a lovely city known as Teyvat, separated into several districts which each housed many types of people based on wealth, a horrible accident took place. She remembers it as clear as day.
“Lumine! Run!” They were out in the yard of the home their owner had bought, playing around and adventuring their new environment together as usual. Their owner was out, likely working or whatever humans did. Alone, the two adolescent cats had to deal with this new intruder, a large, furry white beast with striking orange-gold eyes.
“I won’t leave without you, Aether!” Her brother had been picked up by the scruff of his neck, kicking and clawing and hissing at air in futile attempts to retaliate against the unknown beast. Lumine herself charged forward with a loud hiss in a counterattack, scoring a hit and dragging her claws right across the intruder’s back. Despite the bleeding, it does not fall. Instead the beast claws back against the much smaller cat, knocking her down before fleeing with Aether in tow.
She sighs internally, her ears flat against her head. The place has been nice, at least. She misses Aether, her brother, her other half. Their stay in Teyvat extends, her owner refusing to leave without Aether. Lumine looks out the window she is seated behind, staring out into the open where countless missing pet posters are scattered across lampposts.
She stands from her spot on the kitchen counter, no point grumbling about it. She still isn’t too familiar with the place, having been too depressed to leave without her brother beside her. Now, however, she’s ready. She’s ready to brave this new city, with or without her brother, and she’s ready to get out there and finally look for him. The young cat doesn’t even want to think about the possibility of him being dead. There’s no way. He’s so much stronger than her.
This is no time to be depressed, she thinks. She has a whole new world to explore and Aether to find and no doubt rescue from that terrible beast. The feline leaps down to the vinyl flooring, landing perfectly. Lumine does a quick stretch, readying herself for the adventure ahead.
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Lumine leaves her home, venturing down the street. An hour passes by, but nothing other than tall concrete buildings greet her. Not even another animal, wild or not. Maybe she’s lucky that her owner is so loose with her…? Finally after another hour of walking, she arrives at a new area.
A stretch of houses greet her along the street, all of which bear a wild feeling. The sight is fresh for the little cat whose travels have only seen tall sky-reaching towers of solid cement. These houses are much smaller, homey, even. A comforting feeling. Before the large block of houses, the path’s paving stretches off into a different lane, which Lumine decides to follow.
It leads the cat to a park, the breeze blowing strongly at her arrival as if expecting her. In the middle of the park stands a lonely statue of a person. A god, perhaps? Not that Lumine knew much of human religion and whatnot. What drew her attention was instead a pond within said park, filled with fish and a consistent splashing near the middle.
She snuck closer to it, afraid of scaring the source away. The splashing only grew, and little droplets of water hit her face despite the distance. Nevermind, maybe it isn’t a fish. Diving in, she swims to the source of the ripples and grabs it with her mouth, bringing it over to solid ground before dropping the culprit on the ground.
Now that she’s gotten a closer look at it, she realises it’s a bird. A white sparrow, to be more precise.
“Ah!! Please don’t eat Paimon, I’ll do anything!” The tiny creature screeches, its pitch a huge pain to the cat’s sensitive ears. The bird stands itself up on it’s tiny little feet, hastily turning its head in all directions confusedly. “Wha? Where am I? I’ve never seen you before!” Lumine can already know this little avian is going to be a pain.
“My name is Lumine, I moved here a bit ago. I haven’t left my home since my first day here.” The feline introduces herself, pointing a claw towards her feathered guest. “How about you?”
“Right! Paimon’s name is Paimon!” A simple-minded greeting, the cat supposed, for a simple-minded bird. “Thanks for saving me from drowning back there. I don’t know what I could do to thank you.” The sparrow twitters. All of a sudden it starts flapping its wings excitedly, chirping, “Oh! I know! You said you’re new here? How about I show you around? I can be your guide!”
“I don’t see why I’d need a guide, Paimon. It’s just a city. Not the first one I’ve been in.” Well it’s not like she’s seen the place, but nothing a little exploring couldn’t fix, right?
“That won’t do! A lot of places around here are-” The tiny sparrow shudders, “ forbidden , even to the local animals. If you go to those places you’ll have a lot of trouble on your, er, paws.” The sparrow acts as if it’s clearing its throat. “I can tell you where not to go! I wouldn’t want someone new getting attacked all of a sudden.”
“Not much of a ‘guide’ then, are you?” Lumine snarks, but her mind flashes back to the furred beast she encountered on her first day. If to avoid something like that… maybe having a local show her around would be helpful. “Fine, then I don’t see why not.” The cat concedes, and the sparrow gives another happy chirp.
“Hehe, don’t worry! The locals around here are really nice and they always feed you as long as you’re a pet!” Her new feathery companion is… blushing? “I’m not really one, but I can get by. Some pet owners around here have really good bird feeders. I could show you the best ones if you want!” The sparrow lands on the cat’s head, and Lumine is a little less than amused.
Lumine huffs, “What need would I have for bird feeders? I’m a cat, if you haven’t noticed. We don’t eat seeds.”
“Ehehe~ Oops… Then I could tell you which houses give out the best treats!” The sparrow cheeps, pointing a wing at the lane of houses Lumine noticed earlier. “The first destination of our tour is Mondstadt! Let’s go!”
Following along the path, they head towards the houses. The feline still doesn’t have a clue where her brother is, but maybe she’ll find him with time.