Chapter Text
The boy bent down, yanking a dandelion up from the ground. He held it in front of his face for a moment, studying the white puffy seeds, memorizing the way each one swayed in the wind. Another second passed before he brought it closer to his face and blew, dropping the green stem as he watched the seeds fly off in the wind, not paying it any mind as it slowly floated down.
“They’re free now.”
. He looked back at the little wind sprite next to him, who could only tilt its head to the side, the stem of the flower in—what could only be described as a mouth—leaning with it. If only the little sprite could speak, if it had hands to hold the flower, then it would ask whatever he meant by that.
The bard only smiled at him, somehow able to understand his simple gestures. “Such are the characteristics of a bard”, he’d say, and the wind sprite would send a wide, closed-eye smile, unable to convey his gratitude in any other way.
“I mean that they aren’t stuck in the ground anymore,” he began, looking back down to the stem of the dandelion he had dropped earlier. “Did you see the little seeds, swaying in the wind, asking to be whisked away? And in the end, all they needed was a little push, a stronger breeze, to finally leave and find a new home.”
His smile grew more solemn, his eyes slowly turning away from the ground. “It’s a shame, that they only were able to fly freely after their last breath. Perhaps, Venti, have you seen any little yellow dandelions outside the storm walls?”
The little wind sprite responded by tilting its head the other way, suddenly turning itself back upright when the white flower it was holding began to slip from its grasp. The boy laughed at him, and the wind sprite’s eyes soon turned upwards, a twinkling-like sound coming from it, as though it were laughing along. Soon the bard ended his moment of joy with a sigh, opening his eyes once again to look at the sprite, shaking his head.
“Never mind that, what have you got for me?”
The sprite dropped the flower it was holding into the boy’s outstretched hands, the white petals floating down and coming to rest on his fingers. He quickly grabbed the stem in a similar manner to which he held the dandelion, before holding it closer to his eyes, inspecting it. “Another Cecilia?” He asked, a chuckle lacing his tone. Once again, the sprite's eyes turned upwards, looking akin to little crescent moons. The bard shook his head in playful exasperation, another small laugh escaping him. “Oh well, I can’t complain. You know I love them.”
His fingers gently traced one of three large, white petals, before he carefully nestled it into his cape, covering the clip. “It’ll fall off if I put it behind my ear,” he said once, long ago, the first time he was brought one of these flowers. He so wished that he could plant them nearby, care for them, instead of staring longingly where they stood just outside the storm walls. They wouldn’t grow, not in Mondstadt, for they required the harshest of winds to survive. And so, he settled with being brought a fresh flower every day, courtesy of his wind spirit friend. “Cecilia”, he named it then, not knowing whether it had another name or not.
“Next time, do you think you could find a dandelion?” He asked, once he made sure the Cecilia was safe by his heart. “A yellow one, that’s alive. I think it would bring me some reassurance.”
The wind sprite responded by happily floating in circles around his bard friend’s head, once it got over its initial confusion. The boy laughed, shielding his eyes, the wind tousling his hair. After a moment, the wind settled, and he opened his eyes to see the little sprite hovering in front of his face, its eyes wide and curious. He held out his hands the same way as he did to the Cecilia, letting the small creature settle in.
The little sprite, once it got comfortable, looked back up to its friend with those large eyes once again. And for once, the boy didn’t understand what it meant. He thought that his little friend was being innocently curious, as usual, and so the wind sprite never got an answer to its question.
But when the boy brought his friend closer to his cheek, so it could nuzzle against him, the sprite relaxed. Why does it need to know why its mortal friend functioned the way he did? If he wanted a Cecilia, it would bring one to him. If he requested dandelion seeds, it’d bring many to him. Even if it had to wrestle with an eagle so it could bring one of its feathers back to him, it would. After all, that’s what it was here for, right?
To bring subtle changes for the better. To carry the tiny seeds of hope.
If the wind spirit brought those little changes and planted tiny seeds of hope by bringing its friend the things he requested, then it would do that for him as long as time allowed.