Chapter Text
"Shizun!"
Panicked footsteps. Even far below the lofty misty peak of Mount Aocang, the voice carried into the heavens.
Cloud Retainer stretched her wings and glided down to find her eldest disciple. Ganyu's blue hair was in disarray over her face, sweat and mist condensating onto her forehead with a dull sheen. Cloud Retainer resisted the urge to wipe her face; now was not the time.
"For what cause have you come to find me, Ganyu?" Cloud Retainer asked.
Ganyu gasped for breath. "I saw a meteorite fall onto Qingyun Peak from the halls of the Yujing Terrace," she said. "I came as fast as I could. Shenhe — Shenhe was still in meditation in the Dwelling—"
At once Cloud Retainer was rising into flight. "You keep watch here," she commanded, without looking down. "I will find your shimei."
How could this have happened? As she swooped southward to Qingyun Peak, she cursed herself for having recluded herself inside her abode at such a critical moment.
The acrid smell of smoke passed by downwind. She followed the scent. Already, she could see the grand mountain formations emerge from the mist. She was worrying too much, she told herself. Moon Carver lived on the mountain; he would let no harm come to Shenhe. But she could not guarantee that Moon Carver had been there at the moment of the meteorite's impact. Perhaps, just like she had been, he had disappeared deep into his dwelling, where no troubles of the outside world could creep inside.
She ascended upwards to the Dwelling in the Clouds. Here, the scent grew stronger, and her heart dropped like a stone to the pit of her stomach. As she approached, she saw that the roof of the abode had collapsed inwards, as if struck on the side by a large object. It remained sealed in the sky by the mechanisms that Cloud Retainer herself had painstakingly crafted, but was partially obscured by grey dust.
"Shenhe!" Cloud Retainer called.
For an eternity of a second, there was only silence. Cloud Retainer paused in the mid-air, feeling as if her worst fears had been confirmed.
But then, in the midst of that long, harrowing moment, there came a muffled coughing sound.
"Shizun," someone said quietly.
Cloud Retainer flew into the haze of dust at once. Her younger disciple was huddled beneath the central pillar, her head buried deep into her knees. Large chunks of the stone roof lay around her.
"No harm came to you?" Cloud Retainer asked, looking over her disciple for any obvious injuries. It appeared that the roof had narrowly missed her; and while Cloud Retainer was confident in Shenhe's abilities, she was still only a young mortal girl. In the end, unlike Ganyu, there were some wounds that, if sustained, could never be healed.
"No," Shenhe said. "I remembered Shizun's teachings and used a talisman to shield myself."
"Good," said Cloud Retainer, brushing the top of Shenhe's head with her wing. "This master is proud of your quick thinking."
Shenhe only blinked, and then slowly nodded. Her lips remained in a flat line, like a doll.
"Let us investigate the meteorite," Cloud Retainer declared, turning away to look down upon Qingyun Peak. "It is a bad omen to encounter such. We must be prepared for the worst."
With easy familiarity, Shenhe clambered onto Cloud Retainer's back. As they descended past the peak, Cloud Retainer saw that a faint golden light was emerging through the mists at the southward crags of the mountain and circled down towards it. Even if the chill of the evening wind must have been cold, Shenhe remained obediently silent against her back.
Eventually, the golden glow grew brighter and brighter. As they approached, Cloud Retainer became hesitant as a distant memory reemerged.
A long, long time ago, still in the age of the War of the Archons, stars had escaped from their cradle of the night sky as a shower of meteorites. Mortals who touched them became cursed into eternal sleep, doomed never to wake. And though it was easy to forget Shenhe's mortal origins, one could not so easily escape their birthright.
She instead landed onto a nearby peak. "Stay here," she instructed Shenhe. "It may be dangerous. And be on the look out for Moon Carver." It was strange she had not sensed her fellow adepti's presence, not when such an unexpected happening had occurred.
"Yes, Shizun," Shenhe said, bowing her head.
Once again Cloud Retainer set off into the skies alone.
As she approached the source of the light, she could feel a prickling sensation all across her entire body. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before. There was no way to describe it except — many years ago, in the days when Cloud Retainer still dined regularly with Rex Lapis and the dust goddess Guizhong, she had been one of many adepti that had faced against the great ocean lord Osial. That oppressive sensation that took away all breath, the knowledge that one was no match at all in the face of a primordial force itself—
—and then all at once, the sensation was gone.
Somehow, this unnerved her even more. But she could not back away now. She briefly steeled herself, then slowly continued downwards.
As she passed through the dusty mist, the figure deep within the golden light began to slowly take shape, now not a meteorite at all but:
A young girl.
She was unconscious. A small pool of blood had formed around her, staining her strange white dress. But she was still breathing — her chest, unevenly rising and falling, the movement so slight a less observant viewer would have missed it. Her mouth was agape in a silent scream.
Cloud Retainer immediately dropped down beside her. The girl remained still. Upon closer inspection, her skin on the back of her arms and legs had become shredded with impact. She had shielded the worst of any skull injuries with her shoulder, which left her arm twisted at an odd angle. A mortal would have died immediately.
Who was this strange girl, who had descended so violently upon their sacred lands?
"Come," Cloud Retainer said, swooping beside Shenhe. "We must find your senior sister."
Shenhe obediently climbed onto Cloud Retainer's back once again. She glanced at the strange, bloodied body of the girl beside her, staining Cloud Retainer's proud feathers with scarlet, but said nothing.
They returned back onto the Mount Aocang in silence.
As they descended, she saw that Ganyu was seated at the front of the abode, chatting animatedly with Moon Carver. Both of them turned to look at Cloud Retainer: Ganyu with relief, spying Shenhe's pale silhouette, and Moon Carver with confusion.
"Old friend, I came to find you at once when I saw the meteor," Moon Carver said. "This has never happened before in our illustrious history. I thought you, as keeper of these memories, would know what happened."
"Bah," Cloud Retainer replied, waving her wing. "Many strange things have happened in these years. I cannot know of them all."
"Shizun," Ganyu said, her eyes finally falling upon the new figure on Cloud Retainer's back. "Who is that girl?"
"It was her who fell and created the impact," Cloud Retainer said. "She is no mortal. But when she wakes, perhaps we will have the answer we seek."
Moon Carver's lips fell into a perplexed frown. "A girl from the Heavens," he murmured. "Is she perhaps from Celestia?"
They exchanged glances. It had been centuries since they had last had contact with the Gods, and it had left them both with no good memories.
"She does not smell of the stars," Cloud Retainer finally said. And then, firmly, she waved Ganyu over. "It is no matter what she is. Help me bring her into the abode. And do not mention the truth of her existence to the Qixing."
"But—"
"They will only meddle uselessly," Cloud Retainer said, and her word was final. Ganyu nodded, and did not protest. "I will speak to Rex Lapis in the morning. As for now, we wait."