Work Text:
Children do not pass through Minlin. Children should not be able to solve the Three Cranes Puzzle. Children do not fly.
But a child is about to fall off her Dwelling in the Clouds.
Cloud Retainer makes haste. With the gales at her command, she reaches for the tiny child at the edge of the plaustrite platform. Held up by the scruff of her collar, the child jolts, ruby eyes wide, white hair flying, wearing an expression Cloud Retainer has come to know as guilt from when Shenhe snuck off to Liyue Harbour.
“Child of Liyue, you do not belong here.”
The child pouts, limply hanging in the air.
“I asked for permission. I prayed at Rex Lapis’ statue every time I was here.”
… Cloud Retainer did recall a rather persistent prayer in recent times. Of safe passage through Minlin. She had assumed it was simply that of a merchant passing by. Now that she reconsiders it, the voice was relatively young.
“Regardless, children do not trespass.”
“But the notes said it was fine… and the puzzle mechanisms were left functional.”
That puzzle. A child… seeking ascension? Preposterous. Cloud Retainer ruffles her wing at her impudence. Apparently, the child takes it as her warning to leave.
“Let me stay up here a little longer!” she pleads, eyes watering out of nowhere, “I just need to make a few more notes on the plaustrite mechanism and I’ll leave myself. Please.”
Inconceivable. Only Guizhong would be capable of fully grasping the intricacies of Cloud Retainer’s inventions. A mortal, a child no less? Humanity’s hubris truly knows no bounds. Cloud Retainer huffs. Still, she supposes ascension to her old sanctuary deserves some merit.
“How did you chance upon one’s creation? Answer well and one will reconsider.”
The child pulls out a ratty bundle of feathers on her back. Cloud Retainer stares at that travesty of a flight mechanism. What has that bard popularized in her years of seclusion?
“I have a glider,” she chirps. Her eyes spark with hope.
“Nonsense.”
The child’s face falls, even as she tries to mask it with a neutral expression. Damn the Archons– Cloud Retainer sets the child down. The child scrambles to find her footing. Much is to be desired from her physique, unlike Shenhe.
“Go about your business. One shall escort you later.”
A smile blooms across her face. It appears rather… self-satisfied. Her eyes dance with joy… or is that mirth? How absurd.
She gives Cloud Retainer a quick bow.
“Thank you!”
Lopsided. Sloppy. Cloud Retainer’s mind supplies, no doubt due to that glider. The mortals would not know true flight with this. Perhaps she should bestow her guidance on the mortal realm once again.
Cloud Retainer lets the child go about her way. It is only from the soft pad of footsteps does Cloud Retainer perceive the child’s lack of shoes. Are children so poorly these days? Rex Lapis, what has this nation come to?
The child continues to kneel at the platform, half her body extending over the edge, that glider at the ready, furiously scrawling notes down. It is akin to the position Cloud Retainer picked her up in. Her gales swirl around the platform at the ready. The child’s white hair whips around her but she only grips her notes tighter. Tsk. The young now are without fear. Would this one jump to challenge a god too?
After the time for a stick of incense to completely burn, the child leans back, satisfied.
“What have you gleaned, child?”
The child pokes her head up from the shuffling of her notes. She presses her lips together, appearing rather timid for once.
“The plaustrite. It’s not… the ones used in the xiao lanterns, is it?”
“Astute observations,” Cloud Retainer says, “Most mortals assume the singular difference of plaustrite is that of the colour. Due to such small quantities in xiao lanterns, their ignorance may be excused. In truth, their colours reflect individual properties unique to the variety.”
“It took one many experiments to decide on a suitable base. See how it has stood against millennia?”
The child’s eyes sparkle. And, she hides a smile at the adeptus’ puffed up chest.
“Tell me child, do you know which species of plaustrite my creation is built upon?”
“Vermillionite?”
Cloud Retainer preens. At last, some appreciation for her inventions. Her old friends have no respect for the craft, always reliant on those mechanisms of yore.
“Excellent. Moon Carver, that fool, would sooner tell one that it is green. That is true for all plaustrite surfaces. The visible tell of hues lie within. Those of the common variant are fragile and volatile. Azurite is a rare tone, found in sparse deposits. Vermillionite is relatively sturdy in nature, able to bear weight, and is receptive to one’s designs.”
The child clasps her hands tight to herself, tilted slightly forward, hanging onto Cloud Retainer’s every word. The perfect picture of an eager apprentice. A fervent passion of eons old finally whetted. Cloud Retainer lifts her beak, a stream of words readied in a zealous surge.
Then, like how the mountains shift, stones slotting into place, barring a river’s flow, Cloud Retainer halts. How long has it been, Guizhong?
The child bats her eyes, confused, innocent of little schemes. Cloud Retainer’s wing extends over the child, shielding her from the sun’s glare, the wind’s tug, the precarious heights.
“Child, how did you ferret out that plaustrite?”
The child pouts at the association to an animal. How bewildering, Cloud Retainer found the description quite fitting. The child thumbs through her notes, eyes not quite lingering on the page, weighing out an answer.
“The glow and lustre are different. And um, the humming is too.”
The last she whispers, stealing a frightened glance up at Cloud Retainer, squeezing into herself.
The crane nods. There is no blessed by Rex Lapis, a scoff at her sensitivity, dismissal at her prodding. The adeptus has seen this before. That is to be expected, really, given that they lived for millennia. Still, Ningguang relaxes, eases into the wing’s shadow.
The crane’s other wing extends. A breeze sweeps under them.
“Well child, shall we go?”
Ningguang lifts herself on her tiptoes, as if that helps her examine the domain seal any better, a childish delight gleaming in her eyes. Gingerly, her hand traces over the talismans on the translucent golden seal. This is not her purpose here. Ningguang chastises herself. She curls her open palm into a loose fist, a firm tap against the shimmering surface.
The resulting sound is more a boing than a typical hollow knock. Huh.
A flutter of feathers, a telltale gush of wind and a voice that reverberates far more than any ordinary person’s should descends on her. Ningguang freezes.
“Child, you are akin to a calf that challenges a Rishboland Tiger. This time, you stumble onto one’s abode?”
Ningguang swivels around with her brightest beam– the one that placates most merchants she’s taking business from. The adeptus narrows her eyes at her, thoroughly unimpressed.
“Cloud Retainer!” Ningguang articulates the syllables, the full title in an act of respect, “This descendant of Liyue brings offerings for the bestowed blessing.”
The crane’s plumage twitches. A throaty, low muffled chatter resonates from her closed beak.
“Enough with the formalities, child.”
Cloud Retainer unfurls a wing, a mock cuff at Ningguang’s shoulder, shooing her away from the domain. Ningguang obediently sidesteps from the entrance. Cloud Retainer scans her up and down. Something has to catch her eye because the giant bird squeezes past the cave’s narrow passage… with little regard to how Ningguang practically hugs the wall.
“One will return in a moment.”
Cloud Retainer disappears into the domain. Ningguang shrugs off the basket on her shoulders, pulls out a package carefully bound in parchment paper. Inside is a layer of cloth, and another of parchment paper, next to a warming bottle acquired from Mondstadt. A toasty warmth, along with a crisp aroma of baked pastry emanates from the package. Looks like her little idea worked perfectly. Ningguang beams, only to be startled by the growl of her own stomach. Ningguang belatedly bites back her own hunger from the trek up Mt. Aocang.
“Child…”
Cloud Retainer stops in her tracks. A small clay pot floats in the air, the fragrance of qingxin and violetgrass melding with Ningguang’s own mora meat. Cloud Retainer cranes her neck over the package. Ningguang ducks away from her beak.
“Curious.” Cloud Retainer mutters, “Is this your offering, child?”
Ningguang nods. Cloud Retainer retracts, tilting her head to the side.
“Come, and we shall speak further.”
Down the stairs of the secluded cave they walk, Ningguang’s cautious tread and the clicking of Cloud Retainer’s claws against stone. Cloud Retainer exerts a light push on Ningguang’s shoulder, sits her down at the base of the stairs.
“Rest your legs on this.”
Cloud Retainer gestures to a small stone. More a command than an option, Ningguang follows suit, though her skin squirms with this disrespectful posture. Cloud Retainer doesn’t speak. With a flick of her wing, the lid of the clay pot tips off to reveal an herbal paste. A cooling sensation spreads across cuts and grazes on the soles of Ningguang’s feet. Ningguang jolts, flinching away from the invisible touch.
“Do not worry, child.”
Cloud Retainer’s voice is almost soothing. Despite the otherworldly echo, Ningguang swallows, tears pricking her eyes. Head bowed, she clutches the package at her front. Bandages tighten around her feet.
“One devised this mixture after one’s apprentices’ injuries. The flora in Jueyun Karst has absorbed the essence of the land for millennia. Their properties are second to none.”
Ningguang knows how to read people, bred in the land of commerce. Even in those a step above humanity, Ningguang can tell there is something beyond simple care. A faint pause. Ningguang tilts her head up. The adeptus almost seems… conflicted?
“Child, you are of weak constitution.”
The clay pot is pressed into her hands. Almost as awkwardly, Cloud Retainer switches the subject.
“Now child, speak of your own invention. One shall preside judgement.”
Ningguang withdraws her legs up to her chest, rubbing at her wrapped-up ankles. Firm but not uncomfortable. The adeptus is clearly experienced. Of course she is, she was present during the Archon War. Ningguang lowers the pot into her basket, taking her original offering’s place, nestled in a bundle of cloth. Ningguang sucks in a shaky breath. Unlooping the brown string around her parcel, Ningguang produces her little warming bottle and mora meat.
“I acquired this from a merchant in Mondstadt. The adventurers in Dragonspine will bring it along for temporary warmth. With it as a source, my mora meat remains hot.”
Ningguang perks up after her own enthusiastic little ramble, hoping to receive some praise.
“Why not a portable stove? Does that not ensure the quality of food–” Utterly used to Guizhong’s ceaseless trifling, and their one-upmanship over the mechanical arts, Cloud Retainer’s appraisal jolts to a halt at the sight of a teary-eyed child again. Hastily, she adds, “But one is compelled to admit the convenience of this contraption. One appreciates this offering. One shall study this warming bottle further.”
Cloud Retainer pecks at the mora meat, delicately peels open the parchment paper. Ningguang averts her eyes in an effort to remain polite. Did the adepti take offense to staring? Ningguang really wouldn’t know. One of her own mora meat falls into Ningguang’s lap. The crane takes the rest, the parcel hovering behind her. Cloud Retainer sets her eyes on the sun on the horizon.
“Finish and one shall escort you to Liyue Harbour. Minlin is no place for a child at night.”
Time is cruel to humans.
Cloud Retainer swears by Celestia that the current Tianquan– Ningguang, was it? – is the same child that clambered onto her Dwelling in the Clouds. As Ningguang addresses the adepti, on this Jade Chamber of hers, as Cloud Retainer speaks on part of her old friends, as the memories overlap in nauseating clarity, Cloud Retainer laments.
Even in her condemnation of Liyue Harbour, Cloud Retainer had at least expected some mortals to remain unscathed. Those with hearts of ruby cluster, as those of blackened ink. If Liyue Harbour is so fraught with darkness that such a child had been touched… dear child.
The mortals maintain their innocence. Ganyu neither steps in nor intervenes. A shame that her ward did not inherit Cloud Retainer’s ability to hold a conversation. Ping herself has grown fond of humans as well. Could Cloud Retainer not say the same? She thinks of Shenhe and the child across from her, stubbornly raising her head. Despite her own misgivings about mortal ambitions, Cloud Retainer does find it fitting, that it was that child in the end.
Had it truly been years past? But ah, Shenhe too, is of age. Humans are such frail creatures. Their memories so fleeting. No matter, as an adeptus, Cloud Retainer will retain them for her own. But truly, where are those that share the memories?
“Esteemed adepti,” Ningguang never does forgo polite address, despite the circumstances of this all, “The contract devised by Rex Lapis was between yourselves, with the newly built Liyue Harbour as an article in the scope of protection rather than an individual party. Even if such is rendered void by his passing, this is no sufficient reason to lay blame to the city.”
“You speak, Tianquan, as the one that witnessed the rite of millennia fail by your hands.”
Moon Carver.
Cloud Retainer eyes the old stag but does not protest. The adepti are one on this matter, even if her companions can’t hold a conversation to save their life. Ningguang maintains her smile. But her pallor pales a fraction more. Memories of strength change one’s physique.
Child, you are of weak constitution.
Ningguang shrugs, “I have no such power. Regardless, if the adepti view it as such, that is no reason to lay blame to Liyue Harbour for an individual’s actions alone.”
“Ningguang!” the Yuheng hisses. Ganyu is more than a little perturbed at the assumption, shaking her head as not to take it further than that. Ningguang flicks a hand out, undeterred. Unlike how the Yuheng burns with determination, the Tianquan speaks only with quiet notes of confidence.
“That much is true, Tianquan.”
Moon Carver concedes. Of course, it’s true. Cloud Retainer grouses, feathers ruffled. Ganyu lets out a visible sigh of relief. Sweet rain, you are fond of this era’s Qixing, aren’t you? The Yuheng gathers herself to bear the adepti’s questioning. But Ningguang continues on.
Stubborn child.
“There are schemes afoot in Liyue Harbour. We, the Qixing, have not pursued further action since then. Would the current suspect not lie in the party most eager to act?” Ningguang puts her hands in front of her chest, palms pressed together, head slightly bowed, a hidden smirk on her lips, “I have word that all will act soon. We need only wait.”
Familiar. It’s all too familiar. There are muted murmurs among the adepti of vague agreement. Ningguang seizes it then and there, pushing forward with their amity.
“For now, let us return to the calling of this meeting. You have come to reclaim Liyue Harbour in Rex Lapis’ name. Let me propose an alternative: Liyue Harbour of now can form a contract on its own terms.”
The blasphemy is disrupted and can only be disrupted by the Overlord of the Vortex.
The Jade Chamber falls.
That explosion is surely caused by Vermillionite. That child has to remember.
A look around the people on the port and– where in the Archons is Ningguang? That idiot child surely would not have sunk to the depths. With agitated flap of her wings, Cloud Retainer is ready to turn her questioning to those two fools for saving everyone but Ningguang. Ping shakes her head slightly, eyes wrinkling in a reassuring smile.
Ningguang descends alone in a golden glow a moment later. Soaked, but alive. As pitiful as the child she picked up years ago. Cloud Retainer breathes a silent sigh of relief. Her eyes briefly meet Cloud Retainer’s and lid again. Child.
Don’t look so despondent.
Cloud Retainer should chastise her for the fragile smile spent bartering for Liyue Harbour. For the set smile wavering at Ping’s vouch for her. For the placid voice naming the Jade Chamber ‘a leverage’.
The sheer obstinacy in insisting a new age for Liyue.
Cloud Retainer stifles the ounce of pity in light of such treacherous heresy. That is the issue at hand.
“One doubts you would be fit to be part of such a lineage...”
“But how will we ensure that the Liyue Qixing will not simply exploit their power once we depart? In my view, that is still a thing to be guarded against...”
What more do they want from her?
Ningguang trembles when all is done and dealt with. Her breath catches in her throat. Hot, hot tears prick her eyes. A belated surge of anger sears through her veins, welding with the heart-wrenching loss of her Jade Chamber. She… needs to be alone.
Ningguang pinches her brows. The cold twinge from her nail guards cut through the feverish heat spreading to her body. Her drenched clothes have almost dried at this point. How long has she been standing here? Ningguang abruptly turns on her heel, wincing at the twist. For the first time in the decade she’s lived here, Ningguang flees from Liyue Harbour.
Retracing her path by foot, Ningguang only stalls when she realizes she’s halfway to Yaoguang Shoal. Ningguang grimaces. Where to go after that? Her mother surely wouldn’t want her home after all this time. And oh fucking Archons even when the adepti finally see reason, it’s like her mother all over again. The familiarity slides into place like her chess piece going in for checkmate.
With every listless step, sand scatters beneath her, and Ningguang sinks in their faint hold. Build a castle out of sand and it will surely collapse. Sandy grains itch against raw, tender skin. The ocean glimmers without a trace of red sails. Oddly enough, Ningguang is relieved by this.
No one sees me like this.
Ningguang delicately plucks her heels off, contemplating how far they’d fly with a swing of her hand. She briefly entertains the thought of chucking her vision away too, along with the rest of her Jade Chamber. But, as Keqing has proven, the recognition of the gods will return to her side again.
“For fuck’s sake– Ningguang.”
Someone drags her by the shoulder. Bright, angry teal eyes burn into her own. Oh, Yelan.
“Where the hell are you going?”
Ningguang shrugs in lieu of an answer. Her white hair hangs limp, the tapered ends clinging to her with moisture. Those ruby eyes swirl even darker than when Yelan first met her. The captivating shine being sanded off, leaving Ningguang dull. The woman almost looks ghostly. She looks like how Yelan felt in her seclusion. That’s absolute fucking shit. Yelan tugs her closer, in an awkward half-embrace that encapsulates their fucked relationship. Yelan breathes through her nose.
“The Jade Chamber fell, Ningguang. I thought you died.”
“I didn’t.”
Leave all matters to the extraordinary Yelan. Yelan tsks at her own vision. How pathetic. Her efforts were far from sufficient if the literal uprising of a god could slip her by. If she had gotten to the Golden House faster… she’s always one step behind. This time, Yelan hadn’t damned her to death by Ningguang’s own merit. Yelan can’t lose her too. Yelan turns.
“Lie on my back.”
Ningguang sways on her feet. Her physical condition appears to give first at the proposal. Yelan laughs humourlessly. How have the tides turned. Unquestioning, Ningguang tucks her head into the fluff of her coat, leaning up against the soft expanse, wrapping her arms around Yelan. Yelan hoists her up, lifelines slipping from her bracelet to steady Ningguang. In a cloak of translucent hydro, they speed back in the direction of Liyue Harbour.
Apparently, Cloud Retainer feels for Ningguang. Ping told her as much as they gathered in Rex Lapis’ dream. That surprise comes after the ‘Why in Celestia’s name are you alive?’ at Rex Lapis. Cloud Retainer stares at Ping as if she’s grown a second head. She has heard less absurdity from Guizhong.
“Nonsense. Shenhe and Yaoyao are the only human children one cares for,” Cloud Retainer lowers her voice. Her apprentice is not ready to return to the mortal realm yet; she will not allow that information to pass to any of them. Ah, she should make introductions with Ganyu though.
Even in their dreams, the mortals– the Qixing sharing this dream– debate into the night. If nothing else, Cloud Retainer supposes the Qixing are diligent. And innocent. Cloud Retainer glowers at Rex Lapis. They are going to have a talk at one’s stone table. Rex Lapis shudders. His eyes of cor lapis look at anywhere but herself. Hmph. Rex Lapis should have reconsidered when he implied these children of deicide.
Ping chuckles again.
Cloud Retainer groans. She is far too much like Guizhong now after the passage of years. A simple knowing laugh, leaving Cloud Retainer to puzzle out what that meant. Yet, Cloud Retainer begrudgingly admits that it is well that Ping has become attuned to the mortals like Guizhong. Now if the Rex damned Lapis understood that–
“Ningguang is a good child,” Ping’s eyes twinkle, “I did say she deserves some praise.”
“Perhaps…”
Ningguang is asking Rex Lapis his preference for his funeral rite. Having been visited by him once already, Ningguang speaks on behalf of the humans, a bridge to their divine god. Ganyu too, sides with the humans, though her gaze grows increasingly clouded. Rex Lapis I swear to Celestia–
“I’m an old woman, Cloud Retainer. I might get some rest now.”
Cloud Retainer scoffs at that notion.
“What does that imply of one then?”
Ping folds her hands behind her crooked back. She peers up at her through her glasses.
“Now, Cloud Retainer, I said nothing of the sort of you. Yaoyao is coming by early in the morning. These old bones need some sleep. Goodnight, Cloud Retainer.”
“Goodnight, Ping.”
Cloud Retainer swallows and lets Ping pass her by, disappearing into the clouds. Since all that’s left are Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper and Xiao, she decides she too will retire early for the night.
“Master?” Shenhe wakes.
Her apprentice had watched over Jueyun Karst in the adepti’s steed. Since their expedition to Liyue Harbour, Shenhe has become more sensitive to the happenings of their dominion. Her wings have truly hardened. And Liyue Harbour… is the destination for her child’s first flight.
“One was simply meditating, Shenhe,” Cloud Retainer shakes her feathers out, shifting her weight onto her claws, a test of her gales reveals a certain Outlander trespassing once more, “One believes it is a good day to proceed with Mountain Shaper’s training. One wishes to delve into one’s mechanisms for today.”
“Of course, master.”
Shenhe dips her head before she leaves their domain.
Now, Cloud Retainer sighs as she goes back to work on her Supreme Cuisine Machine, tinkering with how the gadgets within respond to the elements. The warming bottle was a quaint contraption, the flaming stamens able to provide sufficient heat for its purposes. But an automatic cooker requires an infusion of electro from within to kickstart the process and an extended source of pyro. Which more than not overloads and then… explodes.
Cloud Retainer fluffs her feathers out, expelling the ash from within. The Outlander brings food so her invention can wait another day. Shenhe could enjoy the offering for now. Perhaps… she too should consult another. There will be no other human that matches Cloud Retainer’s ingenuity for at least a thousand years.
The Outlander returns successfully with the blueprints for her Dwelling in the Clouds. After they have been sent off, Cloud Retainer inspects the broken seal of the blueprints. As expected, not a trace of geo. With what little guidance, that child had truly constructed a dwelling that rivalled– no exceeded her own. That child deserves some praise. Cloud Retainer sighs. Ping was always more shrewd in these matters.
The myriad of reasons somehow makes this harder than it already is. Much to tell, few words with which to carry across. This is for Shenhe’s sake as well. Cloud Retainer comforts herself. To entrust her child with another, giving more thought is only natural. That is, until the sun sets and Shenhe is slated to return within a burning incense’s worth of time.
In return, one has enclosed one’s blueprint for the Dwelling in the Clouds. Of the components, one can provide the adepti sigils should you ask. One’s apprentice shall deliver them. Please watch over her.
A letter swiftly penned. Cloud Retainer does not allow herself second thoughts as she completes the letter with a sigil. Riding the winds, the letter should arrive in no more than a day. Head shoved under a wing, Cloud Retainer groans. She does not look forward to a response.
With Beidou gone, Ningguang rests her head against her knees, her body folded in. She misses her. She feels alone. She needs reassurances. Ningguang lets out a quiet, derisive laugh at herself. Dear Archons, this is pathetic, isn’t it? She wants– something. Anything but this tangled mess that continues to plague her.
Beidou had been a bandage that staunched the bleeding in her heart. A gaping wound the Jade Chamber left behind. With that ripped away from her once again, tossed to the far lands of Inazuma, Ningguang– she shudders, something of a sob forcing its way out her throat– feels the bleed start anew. The structures have not nearly mended in her presence, does she truly expect Beidou’s absence to help?
When this bout is finally over, Ningguang wipes away the tears gathered on her lashes. Extracting herself into an appropriate seating position once more, Ningguang simply sighs as she reaches for the next roll of parchment. A sigil causes her to stiffen.
Breaking it open, Ningguang makes a futile plea with any god– not Rex Lapis– for it to be from anyone else but… ancient Liyuean. Oh dear Archons what does she have to do now?
The letter speaks not of any blame. Only questions about an invention, an enclosed blueprint and an apprentice? Signed by Cloud Retainer. Ningguang winces at the recent memories. The letter is assigned to her, Ningguang. She must answer appropriately, lest she be deemed incompetent by the adepti. Ningguang sighs. She sets away her pen, having just been dipped in ink.
“Clear my schedule, Baiwen.”
An offering then. She remembers the path from childhood. Back within a day.
Ganyu had gladly helped Ningguang pack according to Cloud Retainer’s tastes. She even lent her some cryo infusion– which proved to a godsend in this forsaken heat. Ningguang sulkily suckles on an ice cube from her hamper. All its contents should have been for the adeptus– and her apprentice but Ningguang figures they wouldn’t know. Now her feet ache, her skin’s sticky with sweat, and if it stains her clothes she’d simply collapse in her sheets and cry. Ningguang grimaces in disgust. How her younger self made it, she’d never know.
Crunching down on the melted remnants, Ningguang feels a vengeful sense of satisfaction. This awful pilgrimage from her being summoned by the adepti of all creatures. Would Yelan have eased it with her hydro vision? She did recall her summoning an entire wave of hydro arrows. Granted, Ningguang herself got drenched afterwards but that’s vastly preferable to this.
Finally winding her way between the mountains of Jueyun Karst and up Mt. Aocang, Ningguang briefly considers freshening up in that pool of Cloud Retainer’s. She also wants to crush both their chairs at the stone table but she resists. Her geo vision shimmers.
Cloud Retainer makes her grand appearance, ducking out of her abode with wings flapping, and Ningguang swears she catches a stutter.
“One would have been satisfied with a letter.”
Ningguang narrows her eyes imperceptibly. Alright then.
“It would have been rude for this one to ignore summons from one’s forebearers. Please, take these offerings one has prepared.”
“Enough with the formalities, child.”
The crane swats her wing at thin air. Cloud Retainer is surely more agitated than usual. But something else, a vague sense of familiarity has the dull ache in her heart sprouting up once more. Ningguang nods in acknowledgement.
Cloud Retainer’s transparent unease almost makes Ningguang want to fidget herself. Conjure up some crystals or her pipe to play with. Instead Ningguang presses her palms together, head slightly bowed.
“Of course. I will produce any findings or ideas that may be of use.”
Cloud Retainer swats that away too. The crane’s throat bobs. That echoing otherworldly voice jitters.
“No– One means it. No formalities between you and one are needed here.”
“I see.”
Ningguang responds just as dumbly. Oh Archons.
Cloud Retainer is one of the adepti that followed Rex Lapis for millennia. Cloud Retainer has built inventions that rivalled that of Guizhong’s. Cloud Retainer has raised multiple apprentices. She is excellent at holding a conversation, “One has to ask… are you well?”
“Yes…? Thank you for the concern?”
Curses. Cloud Retainer calms nerves that should not exist, being an enlightened beast of old. How did that Yanfei child accomplish this? How does Ping accomplish this?
Cloud Retainer is never more glad for the fact she need not open her beak to speak. The shameful amount of times she attempted to start a sentence only for the words to die are unspeakable.
“My child,” Good, she has Ningguang’s attention, “One is referencing the ordeal…”
“Of that divine trial that isn’t so.”
The bird squawks. Why is the adeptus so hard to understand? Ningguang brings her arms in front of her chest in a defensive posture. For Archon’s sake, Rex Lapis again? If she has to sing their Lord’s praises again, Ningguang will scream.
“Rex Lapis has explained this thoroughly in his dream sent to us. I will not question our lord’s will.”
Cloud Retainer hmphs, “Rex Lapis has revoked his place at one’s table until one’s anger has subsided. Child, we shall speak of him no more.”
Ningguang bats her eyes up at Cloud Retainer in blatant confusion and oh how one’s heart softens. Yes, her dear children deserved far better than him. Her voice turns gentler.
“One admits… One’s judgement was flawed. One had to learn to appreciate humans for what they were. Your mortality hinders not," Cloud Retainer's eyes run over Ningguang, the overlapping memories of a clever little rascal and a person worthy to be lauded as Liyue's hero merging into one. Even if you do not deign to return to this old fool after this, you will still be one's child, "And, one is proud. Your achievements do not lack for one’s acknowledgement now. But, one gifted you the blueprints anyway as additional aid. One perhaps needs some as well.”
“Cloud Retainer, I…” Ningguang swallows a whimper. Her years of reading people have entirely backfired on her. That fragile part of herself basks in Cloud Retainer's gaze, a tender expectance of Ningguang for her own sake, all other worldly extravagances shorn off. No she can’t cry here… can she? “I do remember.”
A modicum of silence passes between them.
“Shall we sit?” Ningguang gestures towards the cliffside at Mt. Aocang. Without further ado, she walks alongside Cloud Retainer. The reds and oranges and yellows of Jueyun Karst stretches beneath them. Crystalline blue winds between the peaks.
Ningguang folds her legs under herself. Cloud Retainer does not roost, remaining on her claws.
The silence extends for a little longer until–
“Do you have a partner?”
Ningguang suppresses her laughter as she bobs her head.