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Step by step, heavily as Mona lifted her foot from the snow. Right, then left, and then right. For Hydro Vision users such as her, Dragonspine was a very frightening place. particularly during a snowstorm.
Over her head, Mona pulled the hat closer. She was meant to be enjoying some hot chocolate and food from The Cat's Tail in her lovely room in Mondstadt. And yet she made the decision to travel to Dragonspine in pursuit of a mystery. She was only certain of the fact that fate was waiting for her here, as predicted by the stars the previous evening.
It was easy to decipher the stars for others, but she herself could not see clearly what was relevant to her. Indeed, if everyone easily grasps destiny in their hands, life is no longer interesting. For though we are dim and do not know what awaits us in the mist, our feet still walk with the hope that we will find the meaning of our lives. Mona was doing the same. She was trying to explain the stars and find her destiny.
Destiny.
At that moment, the whirlwind blew off Mona's hat. She looked in the direction of the wind in a panic. The hat fluttered and fell on another person who had just appeared in the mist. He was about the same height as her, a peculiar hat on his head, and Mona's deep purple one flew right into his face, making her unclear who it was.
“What in the world?!”
The stranger shrieked. He yanked off Mona's cap and grimaced up. They locked their gaze. For a moment, Mona felt that this person was very familiar, though she couldn't remember the name.
"You..." He said, one hand pointing rudely at Mona's face. "You!"
"Excuse me?" Mona gave a frustrated response. "Do I even know you? Can I have my hat back now?"
Mona made an effort to raise her legs and approach him. She exclaimed while extending her hand:
“My hat?”
The stranger was stunned for a moment. The Anemo Vision on his chest caught Mona's eye. Then he gave her beloved hat back. How odd.
Mona gave him a glare and turned away. Only a few more steps could she take before another fierce wind began to blow. If Mona hadn't taken refuge right now, this snowstorm would have enveloped her. Fortunately, she spotted a shabby little house nestled along the mountainside. Snow and boulders had covered half of the house, but the remaining portions appeared to be in usable condition. It's certainly preferable to nothing. Mona made an effort to move her freezing body. Then a shadow cast over her.
The strange guy got ahead, leaving her far behind. He also made his way over to the house. It was awful. Mona had no desire to share the shelter she had just found with such a rude person. And yet she couldn't catch up with him. It was as if he was gliding in the snow and not on his feet.
By the time Mona arrived, the man had already entered the house. He removed his odd hat and placed it on a table. He then proceeded to explore what was left of the house. Mona surmised that he was searching for wood to start a fire. Without waiting for an invitation, Mona headed inside.
It wasn't much warmer inside than it was outside, but at least she wasn't hit by the wind anymore. Mona found a stack of straw near the table where the guy's hat was. She ignored it and dropped herself into the straw.
"Aren’t you gonna help?" He asked while keeping an eye on her.
"I-I can’t… feel my hands… a-anymore…" Mona retorted apologetically.
"How useless."
As soon as Mona heard him murmur, she rolled her eyes. She would have argued with him, if her lips hadn't split and her teeth weren't trembling. Mona was about to freeze. She feared the stranger would watch her freeze to death, but instead, he threw down some dry woods and lit them on fire with some nearby stones.
A short while later, the warmth from the fire radiated and its light shone all around. Mona crawled up to the fire, holding out her hands and then her body.
"So warm!"
She exclaimed. As she warmed up, she noticed that the man had left for a secluded spot instead of sitting there.
"Hey? Aren’t you gonna warm yourself up?"
"I’m not cold."
He replied curtly. Mona could only see his head sticking out behind the pile of wooden crates.
Although the weather was terrible, he didn't feel cold. She was not sure if he's different from everyone else or if he's lying because he didn't want to sit with Mona. But he didn't need to invite her to sit with him — he could have built himself a fire instead. She felt strange thinking about it.
After a while, Mona felt much cozier. She rummaged through her bag looking for something to eat. Mona picked up a few delicious sunsettia and approached the other.
He had his eyes closed, was sitting up straight, and had his arms crossed over his chest. He appeared to be either meditating or hatching some dreadful plans. Mona held out a fruit.
"Here. For you. Thank you for the fire."
He merely opened an eye and said:
"I’m not hungry."
Mona considered it an insult to turn down her goodwill. She had deliberately given him the fruit to thank, and yet…
"Neither cold nor hungry. No courtesy either! I've never seen anyone as weird as you!"
The other smirked as if saying "You won't find anyone like me!" But he chose to be sarcastic.
"And I've never seen a crazy person unprepared, in the middle of a blizzard, climbing a snowy mountain alone, without knowing how to make a fire."
Mona puffed her cheeks. She replied:
"I've followed the stars here! I was prepared, too. It's just... It's just that some of the things fell when I climbed up in this snowstorm..."
Thinking that her favorite hat was almost flying away, Mona shuddered slightly. Fortunately, this guy picked it up for her. When she just started to like him for a brief second, he irritated her once more.
"Those ridiculous stars, again? You haven't changed at all; still naive and blindly believe what is so written in the sky above."
"What do you mean by that? Have we ever met before?"
He took a brief pause as though recalling something. Or perhaps he felt a twinge of guilt for being too impolite. Mona furiously put the sunsettia down next to him and said:
"You may not believe in astrology. But to say such things to someone like myself who has dedicated their entire lives to properly studying the stars is excessive!"
Then she headed off to her fire, making a decision to stop caring about the unpleasant idiot anymore.
*
* *
Extra dry woods were added by the Wanderer to the dying fire. After the blizzard passed, the moon and stars could be seen against the sky once more.
The sky in Teyvat is a lie. When he first encountered this girl, he had stated that to her. If they weren't on two different front lines at the time, they might have been friends. For in the endless life of the Wanderer, the people he found interesting were really few.
But it didn't matter anymore, because like the rest of Teyvat, this girl had forgotten him.
Her faith in the stars, as well as her persistence, were both naive and admirable. It's strange. He wasn't sure what this emotion should be called. He didn't expect to see her again in such a situation like this. They were no longer hostile now. They were merely two passersby who accidentally got caught up in the snowstorm. It would probably be best for both of them if she didn't recall who he was.
The Wanderer watched as the girl named Mona slept soundly on the pile of straw, occasionally trembling against the wind. He gently removed his outer garment and laid it over her. She was still sleeping. Maybe he would be gone before she woke up, but he had a strange feeling they would meet again soon.
It irritated him. She had caused him problems when they first met years ago. On the contrary, he had repeatedly made her miserable. They may indeed be described as rivals.
The Wanderer's fingers involuntarily came to a halt on Mona's forehead. He tucked her hair aside, whispering:
"Stay out of trouble, you fool."
And the "trouble" here was himself.
-The End-