Archive of Our Own

It was a matter of "when", not "if".

Time had passed since the prophecy of Fontaine "came true", while the next Teyvat adventure was slowly preparing itself over the horizon. But there were certain constants in the time being going from one nation to the new, with the annual Windtrace games hosted by Gygax being one of them. It had felt too long since the last one. A longer absence only made the Traveler more eager to make the most of its limited run...

Yet, just as the hero of Teyvat was preparing to dive head first, the conversation with Gygax halted the rush to get going. Ears used to same-old dribble, trained to drown out such talk, suddenly pinged something new. To be doubly sure, eyes trailed over the rulebook once, then twice. Paimon confirmed that everything the Traveler was reading was true.

This was not the Windtrace everyone had grown familiar with.

Winery Confrontation

This year for sure.

That was Bennett's final thought as the game began. Every time, his Windtrace experience was subpar compared to the rest of the player base. Always getting caught, never finding all three Rebels... The game was still fun, of course, and the losses meant more games to be played to earn the maximum amount of rewards. In a way, that part should be considered a blessing...

But this was now the fourth Windtrace event. He kept getting outplayed by newcomers in their first games, while his "juniors" in the sport had become masters. For the sake of his pride, he had to have a remarkable game this time around!

He took a few steps. Some things had changed this year - there was a new goal for the Rebels, they weren't just hiders anymore. With the games just starting, everyone was still adjusting, so he at least had the assurance that everyone else was in the same boat as him - everyone needed to learn the new ropes. So he used this initial starting time to pinpoint the spots on the map where those broken Signaling Devices were. There were six in total, but only four of them needed to be repaired for the Rebels to win.

Just as he figured out where the closest Signaling Device was, his vision turned blue as that dreaded sound ringed in his ears. No, there was no way! It had only been about five seconds!

Turning around, however, he caught a glimpse of that awful truth. The warden of the Fortress of Meropide - Wriothesley - was already charging through the spot he just stood on, as Bennett was magically launched elsewhere in a ball of energy. The Hunter had already found him! He thought he had time before the Hunter was released, but that grace period was completely gone now! Adapting to the new rules was even tougher than he expected...

However, another rule change tipped the scales of Bennett's luck, if just a little. Rather than being an invisible spectator, he found himself in a see-through box. A timer to when he'd be released was already ticking down. He had a second chance - getting caught once wasn't an immediate game-over anymore. He could still play!

A bit later into the match, Bennett would find himself captured yet again - this time being out of the game for good. Yet, given his previous experiences, he didn't completely mind.

...

Although, he hadn't been the only one to have bad luck with Wriothesley. Just as the round had begun, Venti peered over his shoulder to find the warden in view of Venti's starting position already. Their eyes locked and Venti was horrified that Wriothesley stepped forward and kept going. Realizing what this had meant, Venti was immediately gunning for it, but Wriothesley's legs were longer. It was a classic staple of Windtrace - the taller being faster than the smaller.

Venti's saving grace was spotting Bennett in the corner of his eye. The boy was completely unaware of the chase, still in his unguarded state under the illusion that danger was still a ways away.

I vow to carry out whatever prayer to Barbatos you next utter to the wind...

Twisting his body, Venti narrowly avoided a casting of the Hunter's Capture skill as he switched directions - heading right for Bennett.

...if you take this hit for me.

Two flashes reached Venti's eyes at the same time. The first was the invisibility skill he activated as he passed Bennett. Right after came the Capture skill - ensnaring Bennett but just barely missing Venti. The bard held in his sigh of relief, not daring to give himself away, as he turned one corner. Fate flipped a coin; Venti called heads. Wriostheley went for the opposite turn. A moment later, he had just missed Venti coming back from invisibility.

He had dared to stay in place to watch the gamble's outcome, but now he was on the move again. Being able to still see the Hunter's back - even if it was turned from him - was unnerving. He wouldn't risk Wriothesley immediately getting back on his tail.

I'm really gonna give the person who tweaks this game a piece of my mind! was his thought as his heart continued to rapidly beat until the game's end.

"What the heck?! This isn't Windtrace! This is barely even hide and seek!"

After the end of the Traveler's first match, Paimon let out what she'd been holding in the entire time as she watched. She at least made sure to have this outburst away from the other players and the overseeing staff.

"Gygax gave us the full run down..." the Traveler responded, much quieter than Paimon. "But, yeah. That experience was still unexpected. I'm still not sure how to feel about it."

"We waited for so long, and it's not even the same game anymore... All the hiding strategies built up over the last three times are all useless now! Hiding itself is useless now!" Paimon let out a floaty stomp with each of her next words: "It's. Not. Hide. And. Seek!"

"Well, there's still some things to get used to, but this might turn out to be fun, too, maybe?"

"But not even an option to play the old Windtrace? And is this it - are the old rules gone forever now? Since Windtrace is only available for a short amount of time, that just sucks! Paimon was so eager to get back to the old flow, and we hyped up the game to all these new players, and now it's all different and no way to play the original!"

Even the Traveler, attempting the optimistic approach, had to admit Paimon had a few good points there. Still...

"Not much to be done about it right now, though. Let's just play the new rules until the time's over, and then we can give Gygax some feedback. Maybe suggest more opportunities to play, switching between the modes?"

"Alright..." Grumbling that out, Paimon crossed her arms. "It's not the real Windtrace, but it's still a Windtrace... Best to enjoy it while it lasts."

Rumble in the Ruins

His feet were already making a break for it as soon as the round began. His body's condition would make him pay for it later... But if he didn't at least try Windtrace a few matches, Baizhu felt he might carry on with an ounce of regret. Close to this year's launch, he stumbled upon the notes Qiqi wrote of past games, and how much fun she had... He almost thought she might, deep down, harbor some subconscious memory of her highlights.

However, there was only so much he could take on in a single day, so he had to play smart and make the most of each match. Once he realized all he'd heard of past iterations were useless, he paid close attention during each match and would talk strategy with other players.

This time, on this map, there were two things he wanted to test out. The first, right off the bat, was a piece of advice he'd gotten from the former Acting Grand Sage and current scribe of the Akademiya himself:

"When you first arrive on the map, the spots the Rebels and the Hunter get are directly opposite from each other. As soon as the game begins, go right for the other end of the map. Most Rebels stick to the closest Signaling Devices to their spawn and don't expect danger that quickly."

Within seconds, Baizhu clocked a spot of red. Following it, he sprung his Hunter's Capture, suspending the boy Gaming in midair.

"Huh?! Already?!" Gaming yelped. "The game just barely-"

His voice faded away, as did the rest of his body, as he was magically transported to one of the holding spaces for temporary imprisonment. Gaming would have a second chance and Baizhu would have to catch him once more, but losing a life so early had to be crippling to the Rebels. Wasting no time, Baizhu scanned the surroundings - for people's outfits, for props that felt off. He wandered around the nearest Signaling Devices, noting that the one Gaming didn't go to had some progress in repairs. The other Rebels must've noticed his approach fast enough to escape.

That just meant it was time for strategy #2. This one would only work on this map specifically, as it required the ruins' tower in the center. This one he had learned through observing the Hunter in a previous game. Another Sumeru scholar, this one blonde, had kept climbing the tower. He'd shout, "I see you, Alhaitham! You're mine now!" Then he'd glide across straight towards his target. Unfortunately, this Hunter hadn't won his match: For one, it became clear to Baizhu early on that Alhaitham was specifically baiting the Hunter each time, distracting him while the rest of the team repaired the Signaling Devices. He could take on this risk because he was skilled in using Concealing Beacons and the map's topography to keep escaping capture. Once the Hunter truly believed he'd lost Alhaitham, he'd waste time going back up on the tower, with the cycle beginning anew.

But Baizhu had to admit the logic in attempting it in the first place. So with the knowledge of the risks and flaws, he hoped to improve upon that poor scholar's idea. One other thing he was bringing to the table was the Hunter's skill, Mysterious Hunch, and the Secret Favor ability, Insight. With those, he could go up to the top of the tower, use them, and then glide in whichever direction was pointed out to him.

Although this time, using Mysterious Hunch was unnecessary; he immediately spotted a brazier scurrying through the grass, going from one Signaling Device to the next. Nothing rang out in that direction, so this Rebel must've caught on to the strategy of saving the pings for later in the round, spreading progress across all the devices. They even realized that due to the nature of the new Windtrace, many Hunters were zoning out moving props in favor of spotting running people (although he heard that was a problem every Windtrace). If only, for them, he hadn't found a good vantage point...

Baizhu descended on the brazier, which turned into little Yaoyao in a final attempt to gain more speed in order to run. Unfortunately for her, the name of this year's Windtrace was speed and outrunning, and certain heights were just naturally able to attain more speeds than others. She was captured, but she did not need to worry about the round ending early. One more Rebel was on the field and enough time had passed that Gaming would be free before Baizhu could find them.

With his Mysterious Hunch still active, he returned to the tower, still wary that the Rebels might turn things around...

...

Xianyun bolted as soon as the Signaling Device rang out. She couldn't afford the Hunter catching up to her. This one was too smart. Her team was already a bit behind, with her being the only one with both lives. She could hope, at least, that the Hunter would waste time going for a Signaling Device that now had no Rebels nearby... But then again, given the tact she'd already seen displayed, she shouldn't count on that either.

There were both pluses and downsides to the revised Windtrace. To start with the negative, it meant that after finally taking on her human form to take part in all these activities Ganyu and Shenhe told stories of, she never even got to experience the Windtrace they had. There was something a bit depressing in that... Not that she'd admit this mortal-made game was anything to mourn over. She could probably come up with a superior game if she put the work into it; but then again, machine inventing was her forte, so why bother going out of her preferred zone to prove a pointless point?

As for the positive... Xianyun wasn't the only one starting off clueless. Even her veteran player disciples were starting from scratch. She wouldn't have to suffer the humiliation of being outplayed in the first few days; everyone was on the same even playing field.

Suddenly, she heard a shout from Gaming: "Over here!"

Turning, she found him waving at her before turning a corner. As she followed, she found no trace of him, until she realized she could see through her own hands. Gaming had dropped a Concealing Beacon and goaded her into coming into its sphere. The motivation for this became clear as she heard a familiar coughing. Baizhu, the Hunter, wandered around the area. He only left once he heard the Signaling Device Xianyun had just abandoned suddenly ring a second time. The only explanation was that Yaoyao had attempted to sneak more repairs while Baizhu chased Xianyun; a bold strategy, but one that was likely to fail her, as Xianyun didn't give Baizhu the expected chase.

"I noticed while I was imprisoned that he goes up the tower and watches the entire map," Gaming explained. "We have to be extra careful when moving."

"You think the climbing would waste time..." Xianyun muttered. Taking a glance at the tower, though, she could see how only a few leaps would be necessary. Utilize enough speed and you could be at the top within a second.

The other thing she realized was that Baizhu was lacking his iconic white snake. Although, since Changsheng could speak, it was likely she wasn't around out of fairness; otherwise, he'd be playing with two sets of eyes.

"We should split up," Xianyun said, just as Yaoyao's permanent elimination was announced. "I will return to that Signaling Device. Now that both of its rings have been used up, it shouldn't draw his attention from here on. Even if he still lingers there, I still have a life to spare. And we desperately need one finished."

Time was running low. It wouldn't matter if Baizhu didn't capture them, just failing to repair 4 devices in the time limit would also cause them to lose. With Yaoyao out, both of them would have to work extra hard.

"I wonder if we could try taking advantage of the center device being in his blindspot..." Gaming said. "Use one device or ourselves to lure him from the middle, go invisible when he climbs, then repair it while he's up there."

"Don't bother. If it rings, he can just jump down. It's too much of a risk when there's plenty of other spots to target."

"True..."

They split up, watching in the distance as Baizhu's back grew further from them, the good doctor once again going for his vantage point. This was the slim window where they could travel without being spotted. Xianyun took full advantage, repairing the first Signaling Device silently. She'd told Gaming that it wouldn't alert Baizhu, but that was only technically true. If Baizhu was even more perceptive than she anticipated, even just seeing this device suddenly disappear from the map would make him suspicious enough to gun for the area. Yet if she vacated too carelessly, she risked being spotted with his bare eyes, regardless of if he noticed the change on his player's map.

Fortunately, a ring sounded out right after her repairs were complete. That'd definitely catch more attention than her, so she waited behind the safety of ruined walls as she watched Baizhu on top of the world... But he never came down. Not towards Gaming and not towards her.

What is it now? Is this his idea of toying with us, with "letting us" start to win?

A possible answer came a few moments later as a Favor descended from the sky. On this map, the Favor sometimes landed on something that had to be climbed, making it even harder to snatch quickly. This time it landed somewhere more reasonable, but Xianyun had to wonder: did Baizhu anticipate potentially needing to glide from the tower onto another structure? Had he been anticipating the Favor coming at this time? Perhaps, since this was when he finally began to glide - and straight for it.

With that advantage, it was practically suicide for her to go after it herself. Instead, she used this as an opportunity to move and gain more progress on another device. The Hunter having a Favor was definitely a problem, whatever effect unpredictable, but it was one she'd have to deal with at this point. The worst that could happen was Gaming getting struck by Imprison long enough for his final life to be taken, leaving her with having to somehow repair 3 more devices to completion on her own in just a single minute.

She was halfway done with this new device, having made it ring once, when it finally happened. Her vision was filled with blue as a light encompassed her form, pointing out from her and into the sky perpetually. Insight. This was the easiest of the three Hunter's Secret Favors to deal with. All she and Gaming had to do was outrun him for twenty seconds; even better that he had to keep track of two moving lights. Even if he caught one, if he did so too late then the other's light would disappear.

Just as she began her run, she realized her fatal mistake too late to avoid the consequences. It had taken a suspicious amount of time for Baizhu to activate this ability after taking the Favor. Usually, in such situations, it meant the Hunter was waiting until only Rebel was on the field - that way, they could beeline for a single light the entire twenty seconds. Yet Gaming was still around. That meant one other explanation, which tracked with his behavior: he was waiting until he was on top of the tower to activate it, where the better vantage point meant better visibility and a quick way to zone in on one of them.

And he had chosen her. He was still gliding in the air, but just as Xianyun made a turn to avoid his path, he put his glider away early. Landing suddenly, he was in the perfect position to instead run the old fashioned away - much faster than continuing the glide above her. The goal of the game was to avoid capture, but under the present circumstances it was even more imperative that Xianyun get away.

When she lost the stamina to run, she resorted to mad jumping. Unfortunately for her, this time around, the Hunters were given the magical boost of never running out of sprinting stamina. On her next leap, she found that her feet never touched the ground.

But she had wasted his twenty seconds. Gaming just had to survive long enough for her to get back on the field. The game was not over yet for them...

Yet it also did not matter. She got back into the game, but only a few dozen seconds remained. In the time that she waited, Gaming had repaired only one more Signaling Device. The first one she reached after being released still had a measly 20%. Baizhu's strategy may not have ensured all their captures twicefold, but it did cause them to waste valuable time in chasing and avoiding his gaze.

Hide and seek? Evading too much still results in a loss. What genre of game does this fall under? The best way to win is to be aggressive, bold... Very much unlike the stories Ganyu and Shenhe told.

By the end of the first day of play, it was the Traveler's turn to bring up a gripe.

"After playing the whole day, we've only hit four maps..."

"Actually, Paimon was starting to wonder about that, too..." She pointed to the Traveler's hip. "Pull up the event page. There should be a map overview like last time. Maybe even a selector to request going to a specific one tomorrow."

The Traveler did just that, eyes scanning the page, but only finding four pictures. "Dawn Winery, Dadaupa Gorge, Ritou, and some Liyue ruins... That's really all there is?"

"Really? Just Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma? But we had Sumeru included last year, what gives? And nothing from Fontaine?!"

"I guess Fontaine wasn't ready to open an area for Windtrace this time..." But that still felt odd. And what about Sumeru? All the Sumerans had fun with the game last year, so it was weird to think they wouldn't organize the same areas or even some new ones.

"Eh, that still doesn't make sense." Per usual, Paimon clocked inner thoughts the Traveler left unspoken. "Yeah, there was the whole prophetic flooding fiasco, but that was a long time ago! Inazuma opened up to Windtrace when the civil war was still fresh in everyone's minds. And it can't be because of all the water. Underwater Windtrace would be cool but kinda hard, but there's plenty of available landmass away from water that'd get in the way."

"And when it comes to the nations taking part this year, the options are limited compared to last Windtraces... Was it difficulty brought on by the new rules? Did they struggle to adapt more of the areas to the new rules in time?"

"Paimon doesn't know, but it's just disappointing that not even one map takes place in Fontaine. Having a new Windtrace map from a nation we just adventured in is basically tradition at this point! The lack of options compared to last time would've been more bearable if they at least got that right!"

Shaking their heads, the Traveler and Paimon retired for the evening, with the thought that maybe it wasn't just Gygax they needed to talk with; Neuvillette and the Palais Mermonia were also due for some feedback.

Canyon Confrontation

With a few hops, Furina joined Neuvillette on top of the hilichurl tower. Two of the Signaling Devices on this map were on these towers, with this one being on a small cliff to boot. Such areas could be considered the riskiest of them all, due to being very visible, but it was actually more balanced than at first glance. The Hunter needed time to reach the top, which gave enough time for the Rebels to jump or glide down and get a headstart on a chase - just as long as the Hunter didn't think to jump down early themselves.

Neuvillette had already rang this Signaling Device once, which is how Furina knew to come over here to help. She was confident in her actions due to the Hunter - a two-tailed cat girl from Inazuma - being preoccupied with chasing after a different Signaling Device's ring on the other side of the map. Doubling up like this would cause the repair to go faster; maybe, even, they'd fix it before the Hunter could reach them. Her back was to the rest of the game area, but Neuvillette was across from her; his height and direction meant he could watch out for the Hunter for the both of them.

Suddenly, his gaze hardened, the faintest tense in his body becoming visible. Despite her previous confidence, Furina paused her repairs to look over her shoulder. A faint figure was growing bigger in the distance. Briefly checking her constantly updating status tracker, she found that the other Rebel still had both lives. Likely the Hunter had lost sight of them and was now gunning for the easiest to spot target: them both.

As the Signaling Device sounded out for a second time, Neuvillette murmured lowly, "We have time to finish this one. And if we jump too soon, we risk falling right into her grasp."

"Yeah..." Furina put her full trust into Neuvillette - just as Focalors had done - turning her back to the incoming Hunter once again. With their teamwork, the progress bar was rising at a quick rate - just like the hairs on her body, rising out of anticipation and anxiety.

This Hunter was friendlier and bubblier, apparently having a good relationship with the other Rebel on their team. Across the various games she and Neuvillette joined, she'd encountered a variety of Hunters with their own demeanors. A majority of them were strangers to her, but also plenty of them being so nice to her it was like they were already friends. And yet...

She'd heard that some of the Fatui were playing along, albeit only the ones who were acquainted with the Traveler. She'd even played with the Harbinger she'd falsely accused months ago: Childe. There were whispers of the Knave being in Mondstadt, heading towards Gygax's table. Nobody had said anything about playing with the Knave, but Childe himself had confirmed she and the House of the Hearth were nearly playing Windtrace nonstop.

It was a nonzero chance that they'd cross paths. Her breath seized at just the thought that this encounter would be with her as a Rebel and Arlecchino as her Hunter. Even if Neuvillette was on her team, she couldn't handle it. She'd play as if it were the Windtrace of old - sticking to one barely visible spot as the tiniest prop she could, waiting until the round was over. It'd be too much on her heart to cling to Neuvillette the entire time, because there was only running and using evasive skills in this game - no actual means of physical defense. If she even caught a glance of the Knave sprinting towards her, she'd die on the spot.

"Almost..." said Neuvillette, suddenly and softly. He must've mistaken her sudden anxious symptoms as being due to the current situation. Since it wasn't, the comfort was practically useless for her; nonetheless, she put on a false smile for his sake.

These were silly thoughts, anyway, and distracting her from the game happening here and now. The harder she tried to banish them, though, the more she just thought about it. So instead, she tried a different technique that she had been taught - to redirect. Sure, she may be paired off in a game with Arlecchino; but there were other combinations that could happen besides her as a Rebel and Arlecchino as a Hunter. They might both be on a Rebel team, making them allies, making them working towards the same goal and acting in support of one another - just like Neuvillette was doing for her now.

Or... Furina could be the Hunter, with the Knave as her prey for once. A complete reversal of their current- well... of the dynamic Furina saw them as. It wouldn't just be Arlecchino as a non-threat to her - Furina would be the threat instead. The Hunter. The chaser. The assassin.

The corners of her mouth, once wavering just to appear arched, now curled in a genuine grin. This happened just as Neuvillette shouted out in a whisper, softer than the bells ringing from below:

"Now!"

...

Neuvillette took note of two sights.

The first was the body of the Hunter still clinging to the ladder of the tower. At first she seemed hyperfocused in her task of climbing - of reaching where she last saw them - but then her cat ears twitched. After that, her head swerved, catching sight of them. Her hands let go of the rungs, prepared to beat them to hitting the ground. That was the thing when it came to the Hunters with animalistic traits: almost all of them had superior hearing to the average human. Neuvillette had "shouted" as softly as he could to avoid the Hunter catching on, yet she'd heard nonetheless; well, she either heard him or heard their flowy clothes flapping in the wind.

But more important than that - to him at least - was the look on Furina's face right before they jumped. He'd taken note of her sudden anxiety, then her habit of "acting" creeping back in when he let that fact slip. And yet, she started to beam. It didn't seem to be his doing, but that didn't matter. Whatever had gotten her worried, she'd overcome and then some.

His former "Archon" had been having so much fun since the Windtrace began. They were meeting new people, exploring new lands, and having new experiences. It was good for her after everything that happened these last 500 years. She was finally getting a proper, human life. And he had the joy of witnessing it.

With her immortality gone, he would have to cherish the decades she had left.

Dipping his body, he directed his glider to take him to a different landing point. The Hunter was hot on their heels. It was strategic to split up at this point regardless, but he specifically hoped to be the more desirable target - to potentially sacrifice himself so that Furina could continue on. Potentially - he still had no intent on getting captured himself...

...which is what ended up happening regardless, after only a short chase. His legs were longer, but the lead the Hunter had was too great. For the brief moment he was in the air being transported, though, he could see that Furina had managed to keep a good distance between her and the Hunter. His sacrifice was not in vain.

As the seconds ticked by in the temporary imprisonment, his thoughts returned to Archons and immortals. Amongst the new faces they were seeing at the Windtrace table, there were a few that would catch a glimpse of him and shirk away. A Monstadt bard, a Liyue gentlemen, an elegant Inazuma lady, and a small Sumeran girl in green. The closest one he got to was the bard, who saw that his next game would be with Neuvillette, only to suddenly cancel and conveniently go use the restroom. Which was a shame - he and Furina had shared pleasant hellos and smiles, seemingly already getting along with each other.

He was not naive enough to not notice this quartet were likely four of the Archons. They matched descriptions, they were the only ones avoiding him, and the nail in the coffin - as the Traveler had grown acquainted with the Archons of the five nations traveled so far, those four Archons were likely to appear to play in the games. In fact, Neuvillette had heard they'd already done so in the past.

His vow to judge the Archons as accomplices and complicit in the usurping of the Dragon Sovereigns still held. He would one day judge them all in court - one by one, over centuries, if necessary. Their behavior suggested they were already well aware of this - or at least they knew what he was and the significance of that, that fact being enough to make them wary. However, regardless of his vow and duty, he also deemed this as too inappropriate of a time. These were fun festivities for all - derailing them in favor of cornering the Archons, forcing them into his court, would simply not do. Especially since Furina was having so much fun. Even if he was paired in a game with just the Archons, he would act amicably and play fairly.

"Hey, Iudex, what are you doing?!"

The shout from Chiori - the other Rebel on their team - cut through his thoughts, making him realize that the translucent blue walls around him had disappeared. When had that happened? He might've just been standing here out in the open while still freed... Thankfully, the Hunter had not noticed this freedom.

"Thank you for the warning," he said as he passed Chiori. "Let us finish this game."

...

It was getting down to the wire. Chiori had just nearly finished her Signaling Device when Kirara - the Hunter - stopped by. Luckily, Chiori had a Concealing Beacon in place against one of the wooden barriers next to the device. Even though Kirara spotted her, she quickly disappeared from her view, all while still being in the area. However, Kirara was still walking slowly around the area, on guard for invisible Rebels or out-of-place props.

They had 3 Signaling Devices repaired. The longer Kirara stalled here, the more time the other two Rebels had in repairing the Signaling Device away from here. Regardless of whether Chiori was caught or could not reach the device, the victory seemed sealed. And yet... She'd been hoping to be the deciding factor! And her device was literally a second or two away from completion! It was so close, in fact, that she was almost tempted to just leap out in front of Kirara and claim victory herself...

But that wouldn't be smart, either. Kirara was just too close. And if Chiori was caught, then she definitely wouldn't be the one winning it for the time. Her best bet was just to wait and hope - hope that Kirara left soon and hope that the other Rebels still needed much more time to repair.

Well, she was doing more than waiting, actually. As Kirara carefully roamed around, she let out a few Sensors. Even under invisibility, a Sensor would notify the Hunter of her presence and even leave a mark of her location. If that happened, she could kiss Kirara leaving goodbye. Whenever the nekomata started to get too close, Chiori would take a few leaps in the other direction, hopping around in a silly dance that Kirara was blind to. Thankfully, she never let out a Capture too close to the Concealing Beacon Chiori placed down.

A bell chirped with each step Kirara took, bringing a smile to Chiori's face. There'd been warnings to leave behind accessories that were too noisy or visible - regardless of a player's status as a Rebel or Hunter - yet Kirara insisted. Unbeknownst to her, she'd been paying a heavy price. Like in this game, where the ringing served as an early warning sign of her approach. There were times where Chiori heard Kirara way before actually seeing her. Ironically, as Rebel, she had more going for her: the invisibility that Concealing Beacon and Transparency brought also seemingly silenced the bell magically. Then again, Chiori had yet to hear people's footsteps when they went into that mode, so perhaps it was something the game's developers had taken into account; how useful was invisibility if the Hunter could still hear you running? Yet when turning into a prop, that bell could still be heard.

Finally, Kirara abandoned her search, having come up empty for too long. With her back getting distant as she ran off - yet still in Chiori's field of vision - Chiori darted out of the range of the Concealing Beacon and right onto the Signaling Device. Two seconds later, the game was over.

"Better luck next time, kitty," Kirara whirled around in complete shock at Chiori's taunt, before groaning twice as loud as her accessory bell.

It was the last days of Windtrace. Only a few days into the event, the Traveler and Paimon had changed their tune on all the changes. They'd become infected by the exhilaration of finally getting the hang of things, achieving long win streaks as they put new plans that'd never work in old Windtrace into action. The Traveler could thwart the Rebels as a Hunter with only half a round's runtime. As a Rebel, strategies were enacted like clockwork, the only failures really being due to bad luck and the occasional poor teamwork. 

That was the other thing that the Traveler realized was different - the Rebel team truly was a team this time. In previous Windtraces, it was optimal to split up and never cross paths. Now, grouping up had equal risks and benefits. One player doing poorly in old Windtrace still meant a well hidden player could win the round for everyone. But if even one person wasn't playing their part in new Windtrace, it could drag all the others down.

When this Windtrace first started, people were saying that things had been balanced towards the Hunter's favor. Players told stories of Hunter winstreaks and Rebel losses - how this was completely different from things before, that this new Windtrace was the Hunter's to win. But in the Traveler's experience, the Hunter could still flounder and fail just like in old Windtrace. It all depended on skill - and some luck. Really, things seemed overwhelming in the Hunter's favor in the beginning due to the Rebels needing time to adapt: to the Hunter being out right from the get go, to rewiring their instinct to hide to instead constantly roam the map, to figure out the new optimal ways to game the mechanics. From there, the deciding factors for victory were whoever had perfected the mechanics the most.

"This is way more engaging as a Rebel!" Paimon said. "And Paimon's barely seen people stand and wait out the clock like last time. Maybe now the naysayers won't complain about boredom anymore."

The Traveler could only agree.

Ritou Runaround

While a majority of those participating were strictly in it for games, there was one group in particular that were utilizing the limited time event for training purposes. Because of this, for most of their games, Windtrace coins weren't up for grabs. Instead, the Rebel team was playing for a greater prize:

Their Father's approval. Or, at least, avoiding her disappointment.

It was proving quite tricky.

On this specific occasion, Lyney was out of lives. His strategy in this match was to play bait, in order to allow his siblings more time to achieve objectives without the Hunter breathing down their necks. But now the result was that one Rebel was down before the halfway mark, with only one Signaling Device fully fixed. No more bait against the Hunter - his siblings would have to escape on their own. Which was easier said than done, when said Hunter was flying from roof to roof almost perfectly silent. One subtle heel-tap on tile was the only warning you got before the predator swooped in. But in fact, it didn't really count as a warning - if you heard that , it basically meant you were already dead. 

Still a spectator, Lyney was already predicting Father's criticisms in his mind: "Loyalty to family is a virtue, but recklessly losing your own life is a bigger vice. Members of the House must be able to play their parts - what you see as charity, in fact, is coddling. Focus on strengthening your family against danger, rather than fruitlessly keeping it away from them."

He was even more certain he'd be hearing something along those lines in another minute, as he watched Lynette get ambushed. The Contested Favor had fallen - her logic must've been that the tides might turn if she could get it before the Hunter, especially from previous experiences, but that was exactly what Father had planned for. She at least made the valiant effort to try and take the Favor anyway, if to at least deny the Hunter's ability to use it against Freminet. But Father had plotted her positioning and point of attack too well - Lynette simply couldn't make it fast enough.

Fortunately, Lyney's earlier chases with the Hunter meant that this was still only one life taken from Lynette. Freminet still had both. As long as their little brother could hold out against the Hunter long enough, this match-

Was over.

Freminet was encased by a blue, translucent box. The Imprison skill. So that was what Father had chosen this time around? She never specialized in a specific skill, like some of the other Hunters. This wasn't a game to her, after all. This was a valuable training opportunity. She would throw every single strategy and idea she could come up at them - until they finally learned how to counter her. Well, if that was even possible. At best they could at least improve their on-field improvisation capabilities. Plans didn't always survive the enemy, after all.

Seconds after Freminet was trapped, the Hunter had sniffed out his location. Despite both him and Lynette having remaining lives, the fact they were both in the Captured state with no other active Rebels meant the team automatically lost. Yet another loss condition they would have to account for in the next match.

Three heads fought to stay held up - to avoid hanging low in shame - as their Father, the Knave, approached them. One taloned finger curled in a gesture for them to follow. Her silence did not last, as she spent the whole way back to Gygax's table grilling them on where they went wrong and what she would have done in their positions. It was cold and harsh, but they didn't take it as cruelty. This was how their Father loved them. And if they didn't overcome their weaknesses in training, they could be killed during the real thing - and then Father would be down three precious children. From this perspective, her attitude made sense to Lyney.

And he was taking notes. Not just her critique, but how she was giving it. Because one day, as her chosen "king" of the Hearth, it'd be his job. He would have children to raise. Children he couldn't afford to lose.

...

They were climbing up some of Mondstadt's steps when Arlecchino stopped. No longer hearing her heels clacking, the sibling trio looked back questioningly.

"Although I would love to see if you've taken my advice to heart in person, I have an errand awaiting me now. Continue honing your stealth without me. While being prepared for the riskiest of situations is best, it is also a fact that you will often come against common folk, not as skilled as officials. Many of the current players would serve as good practice to tuning yourselves to any combination of enemy talent."

Nodding along, her children swiftly departed to carry that out.

In truth, she had no outstanding reason to leave them now, although her words had still been the truth - they wouldn't grow if they just faced the same opponent over and over again. And with knowledge of the rules she obtained before the event period even started, she knew that they'd always be on the Rebel team if they entered as a trio. That would serve them better than sometimes being broken up by her being assigned as a Rebel.

Speaking of things she'd "learned" before the games started... She could've sworn that the famous Dawn Winery of Mondstadt was retained as a traditional battleground for Windtrace. Yet in the hundreds of games the House of the Hearth "played" over these last few days, not once had they set foot there. Something like that seemed like more than just luck.

It was a mystery she wasn't too invested in solving. But the answer was quite simple: the master of the winery refused to allow his home to act as the setting for games involving the Hearth, lest they use it as an opportunity to memorize the layout for a future operation. To appease him and keep the tradition of Dawn Winery always taking part, Gygax agreed to keep track of the House of the Hearth players, always rigging matches with them to never end up at Dawn Winery.

It was a smart move on Diluc's part. Because even if there was no planned operation against him... Arlecchino would've still loved to have intel in her back pocket, anyway.

The clock struck. The alloted time for Windtrace was over. No more games, with no knowledge of how long the wait would be - and what would greet them once it returned.

Now that there were no more rounds to play, that fact had overtaken the Traveler and Paimon's minds.

"This Windtrace ended up being more fun than Paimon initially thought it'd be..." the latter began. "But... Paimon still misses the old Windtrace. Are we really never gonna get to play that version again? But then, getting that version means not getting this one." She wobbled in the air, hands pressed into her hair. "Ohhh, Paimon's all conflicted!"

"It'd be nice if we could get both Windtraces, even at the same time," the Traveler agreed. "That'd be kinda hard to set up, though. And now that the precedent of completely revamping the rules has been set, it's also possible next Windtrace will be an entirely new third thing."

"Aggh, you're right! The possibilities feel endless now! But we only get Windtrace for so long, and so rarely...! They really need to organize it more often! Alternate the rules maybe, or..." She perked up. "Or maybe they can run both versions at the same time! What if they reserve certain areas for one rule set, and the rest for another? That way, there'd be more maps again, plus way more variation and unpredictable-ness! Well, technically, people would just start memorizing the maps better, if the options are limited... But that's par for the course with Windtrace, anyway! And then if people prefer one version over the other, they can just go only for those maps and not the others."

"We better mail Gygax that idea. I'm sure he's eager to hear how taking the massive risk of changing the game turned out."

Paimon smiled. Then: "Oh, and let's make sure to let everyone in Natlan know about Windtrace, so they can get some areas prepared in advance! Nothing against Mondstadt and Liyue... But Paimon's starting to get sick of the same places she's so used to."

Natlan... What better way to prepare for new experiences than by indulging old comforts first? But changing up those traditions, too, had helped prime the Traveler for the unexpected.