Chapter Text
His limbs felt numb, mind still processing the fact that he got run over by a madman. It took him a bit to realize that his eyes were open and he was actually seeing things instead of just pitch black or whatever sight you see in the supposed afterlife.
A :] appears in his view.
"Purple Not-Nara is awake!" It squeaks out, "Purple Not-Nara, how does Purple Not-Nara feel?"
"I feel eternally dead." He blandly replies, sitting up and making the aranara that stood on his chest fall to his lap. A hand flies to his throat, because he does not sound like that.
"Eternally dead! Is that good?" The unknown aranara asks dumbly. Strangely, he couldn't really find its naivety adorable...
Actually, he didn't find it annoying, either.
"Yes." He answers, taking in more of his surroundings. If he's remembering right, he's by the entrance of the Electro Regisvine cave, beside a rukkhashava mushroom. "Who are you?"
"Arakala is Arakala, a traveling aranara! Who is Purple Not-Nara?"
He's not sure how to answer that. He inspects himself, his appearance, so maybe he could get a gist of why he sounds different and why he feels wrong.
Pale hands, soft and unblemished. Light purple silk flows over his arm. Dark, short hair falls to his face as he tilts his head.
The aranara eagerly watches him, waiting for his response.
"Take me to a lake." He says instead, tone suddenly harsh. He winces at that, and in a quieter and softer tone: "Please."
Arakala nods and waddles, making funny sounds. He would usually be cooing at this point, but he didn't feel like it. They exit the cave, heading past a small shrine and towards the looming mushroom trees. Arakala stops by the anemo slime area. "Purple Not-Nara is going to drink?"
"No, I'm..." He pauses, leaning down to get closer to the water's surface. He notices he's barefoot, and that the light purple kimono he wears had gotten soaked, and he notices that his face looks familiar.
Darkness stare back at him through his reflection, without the three lights that was usually in his eyes. Outlining them was red eyeliner that he had used for the event. Pulling at his hair also moves his head, touching his face was felt by both his fingertips and his face.
He notices that he hasn't blinked.
"Purple Not-Nara?"
Arakala calls.
He doesn't know if he can take the name, but he does.
"Kabukimono." He responds, inspecting his elbows.
Instead of seeing a smooth patch of skin, he sees a ball-joint.
And, that's enough self-inspecting for today.
Arakala, despite having a permanent :] face, seems disgruntled. "Not-Nara Kabumomo? Name is too hard."
"Call me whatever is most simple."
"Not-Nara Mono!"
"Whatever floats your boat." At this idiom, Arakala tilts its head, a wooden keychain hanging like an earring at the hem of its cap.
"Not-Nara Mono's name can float boats?"
He sighs.
--
Somehow, he ends up joining Arakala in traveling.
"Just leave me here," He had said to the aranara, but he ended up being coerced into helping it with something that he's not sure what.
"Arakala travels to find Arakala. Not-Nara Mono travels with Arakala to help find Arakala, and maybe find Not-Nara Mono too!"
"Well, 'Not-Nara Mono' thinks it's a terrible idea to let him join on your journey."
Arakala jumps to his non-veiled head. "Silly Not-Nara. This path is for Arakala. Arakala's path is long, so Arakala and Not-Nara Mono can look for Not-Nara Mono while going on Arakala's path."
The amount of redundant usage of names would've made him irk, but he feels resigned instead. "Use pronouns, why don't you?"
"Pronouns? What is that?"
"It's Nara magic that makes languages easier to listen to."
"If it's Nara magic, then that means Arakala can't use it! Can Not-Nara Mono use it despite being Not-Nara?"
He blames himself for turning it into an impromptu English lesson - or maybe Teyvatian lesson, whatever its language is - and points out: "What does the 'it' mean in your sentences just now?"
"It?"
"'That means Arakala can't use it,' 'Can Not-Nara Mono use it.' Those, what are you implying by using 'it?'"
Arakala looks at him with questions displaying on its small body. "Arakala means the Nara magic."
He stares back with similar intensity, "Using pronouns - ahem, the Nara magic - means to exchange a previous noun with a simplified common word. Nara magic, in your case, was simplified into 'it,' instead of using Nara magic over and over and over." The aranara remains still, either still processing or did not get anything.
He sighs yet again: "For example, instead of saying 'Arakala can't use Nara magic because Arakala is an aranara and can't use Nara magic.' You say, 'Arakala can't use Nara magic because they are an aranara and can't use it.'"
The little mushroom perks up, "Oh! Arakala gets it! But why did Arakala become they and is become are?"
Goodness, now he had to explain plural forms...
--
The travel was smoother than he expected.
To be honest, he was waiting for himself to collapse after two hours of nonstop walking, especially since he was barefoot, but Arakala had stopped them first.
"Arakala exhausted their energy, They must rest." Which was understandable since it was night time, but he kept feeling tense because of any sounds.
He cradles the resting form of Arakala closer, staring at the moving bushes across him.
A gear rolls out, followed by mechanical whirring and finally, it came out.
It was Karkata.
He's suddenly alarmed, looking around for any signs that they're near Gandharva Ville or Pardis Dhyai.
Karkata was stepping forward to pick up the gear, but froze at the sight of him.
"Kulilu?"
He doesn't understand the sounds. He just kicks the nearby gear towards the machine. Karkata makes a happy sound, picking up the gear with its two front legs and retreating into the bushes.
He remains tense, huddling around the little aranara in his arms, waiting for anything else.
When nothing appears, he relaxes a bit.
...
...
...
...
"Krr..."
He stands up, backing up behind a tree as Karkata emerges from the bushes yet again. Its yellow core pulses, as if it's a beating heart, and in between its claw-like grasp was a dead ruin core.
"What do you want?" He couldn't bring himself to yell, voice coming out in a harsh whisper.
It shakes a bit, then drops the ruin core to the ground and pushes it towards him.
He eyes it, trying to remember what could've caused this behavior, before remembering that one dying researcher and that cutscene.
He thins his lips, "I don't need this." Says he, as if the machine understands him. He'll probably regret this decision, but he does it anyway.
He moves to grab the core, too big for his hand to hold, and motions to Karkata.
"Where's your creator?"
The machine understands it, perking up and moving away quickly.
--
He doesn't really feel anything when he enters the leyline overflowing cave, but Arakala definitely does.
Arakala jumps from his arms when they get close.
"Eek! What is that!" They say, moving away from the entrance of the cave. Karkata turns back, waiting for him to follow. "It's smaller Bulky Iron Chunk!"
"That's Karkata." He corrects.
"Not-Nara Mono is heading into powerful cave! Cave makes Arakala dizzy!"
"Yes, it's filled with leyline energy, because someone thought it was a good idea to extract it when it's not to be extracted."
Arakala looks worried, even with its :]. "Will Not-Nara Mono be safe?"
"I'm Not-Nara, remember? I'll be fine."
"Okay..."
Karkata moves further within the cave as he follows behind. Arakala waits a few meters away from the entrance, probably hidden away or something.
The energy presses down against him, feeling like very thick air, getting denser as they head closer to the source.
"*Cough*...Karkata?" Asks a hoarse voice, then a crash is heard.
"Kalu!" Karkata crawls over, quickly providing support to the fallen researcher.
"I think... My heart is failing..." Dejectedly says Abattouy as he struggles to stand.
"Obviously." Abattouy's head snaps up, tacky goggles staring right at him. "If you don't get out of here, you're going to die."
"Who-?!" The researcher coughs harshly, pushing away the mechanical part that Karkata offered.
"Kuli..."
He walks over to them, grabbing Abattouy's other arm and slinging it over his shoulder. "Wait... The extractor...!"
"We'll deal with the machine later, we need to get you away from here."
"Kalu! Kalu!"
"See? Even Karkata agrees. Now let's go."
"How do you..."
He doesn't have difficulty supporting Abattouy's malnourished figure. He does have difficulty in getting out though, because several Ruin Sentinels were surrounding a small Arakala who was blocking the way.
"Back! Or else Arakala will use Ararakalari!"
"Arakala!" He calls out, but shoves off to the side when a sentinel shoots at them. Karkata goes in front of them, claws forming a shield.
"Not-Nara Mono!" Arakala appears on his shoulder. "Long Iron Chunks appeared! Not good!"
"I have no time for this..." He grumbles out, trying to look for a way out. Abattouy slumps beside him, most likely unconscious. One of the Ruin Scouts prepares an attack, its core glowing menacingly.
"Arakala's Ararakalari isn't for fighting..." Arakala notes belatedly.
"Well, what does it do?" He braces himself and Abattouy's body, hiding it behind him and going closer to Karkata's shield.
"It supports! Makes Nara stronger!"
Karkata withstands an attack. "Kuli!" It seems to be frustrated.
He thinks about what he can do, because there's no way he doesn't have any strength right?
He's not human.
What can he do?
He hears Abattouy wheeze, desperately trying to breathe.
Goodness, why did he do this again? He knew he was going to regret this decision, but he didn't think it would be this early!
The Ruin Destroyer makes an irritating sound, preparing to sink into the ground. He shocks it in anger.
...
He shocks it?
The Ruin Destroyer falls over, momentarily deactivated.
"Woah! Not-Nara is sparkly!"
His hand was sparking and twitching with electro energy. He felt strong, and he felt wrong.
"Arakala will support Not-Nara Mono, then we will run!"
Arakala, without waiting for a response, applies dendro to the sentinels. "Hit them, Not-Nara Mono!"
"A special kind of Withering?" Paimon repeats.
Tighnari agrees, "Yes. They discovered it because a mechanical crab stole parts from various passing merchants, and attempting to recollect them led to the withered area."
"Why would a mechanical crab steal parts... Is it trying to build something?!"
The fox raises a brow, "As interesting as that would be, I doubt it. It would need a special kind of programming to build something from discarded machine parts."
"So, we're going to check out this area?" The traveler asks. Tighnari nods in agreement.
"It's much easier for vision-holders to navigate. Let's go - the quicker it's solved, the better." Tighnari then looks at the person behind the traveler, arms crossed and face covered by their hat. "By the way, I see you have new company."
"Oh yeah!" Paimon faces them, "Tighnari, this is Wanderer! His name is a work-in-progress."
Tighnari greets him with a bow of his head.
Wanderer slightly tilts his hat in return.
Preview:
"Hm." Wanderer goes closer, then crouches down so he's directly staring at its core. "Where's your creator?"
It stills ominously for a few seconds, then whirrs.