Chapter Text
The crazy thing about growing up is that nobody tells you anything.
Or at least, that’s what Collei decided as she lagged behind her two guides who were going back and forth in hushed voices, trying (and horribly failing) to hide the fact that they were bickering. If they were lost, they needn’t hide it. If they made a mistake, she wouldn’t care. It wouldn’t hurt to know though.
Collei bit into her apple as the three walked, the two in front looking back to her at the sound of the crunch. The acknowledgment lasted but a moment before they turned back to each other and continued their “conversation”. She sighed.
You’d think that when you’re older you’d be let in on all the grown-up stuff, and trusted to do things independently, but no. Instead, you still get told what you must and mustn’t do, only this time the consequences are to be faced alone.
And you still get left out of adult conversations.
The second bite of her apple did not get a reaction from the two in front of her this time, what did though was the sound of her choking on it.
“Collei???” They both dropped their conversation whipped around to make sure she was alright. She coughed up the piece that caused her to struggle but she couldn’t stop coughing. “Are you alright??”
“Absolutely–” a cough interrupted her. “I’m fine Tighnari...”
His furrowed brows tell that he doesn’t buy it… and surely enough Collei starts a coughing fit again. Tighnari turns to his left.
“Cyno, water please.”
Cyno quickly fishes a water skin from his bag and hands it to him, Tighnari then opens and gives it to Collei as he tells her to sit and “drink.”
After a few short embarrassing moments, the coughing ceases and there is a small, awkward silence.
“You two can continue arguing about how lost we are.”
The guilty eye contact the duo made tells her she wasn’t far off.
“I’m a forest ranger anyway,” she continues, “what would I know about getting to Liyue.”
The glances the duo exchanged were somehow even guiltier than before, and this time held a hint of concern. Of course, Cyno’s the one who speaks up.
“Sorry you had to hear that Collei, but we’re not lost, don’t worry.” He assured. “We were simply conversing the minor details of how we’ll do things after we get there. Look.”
Cyno pointed off into the distance before him, and from where she sat, Collei couldn’t see much other than the slowly darkening sky. She stood up and took a couple steps closer and behold! Liyue harbour alight and bustling in all its glory! A beautiful town by the sea, lit up by shops, restaurants, and scattered lanterns. Docks full of beautiful ships and people, and stunning structures unlike anything she’d seen in Sumeru or Mondstadt, standing against the backdrop of a dimming pastel coloured sky.
The lights dazzled in her eyes for a moment as she soaked it in from afar, atop the mountain path. If it was this beautiful from here before the sun even fully set, it must be even more stunning up close after dark.
“Oh.” Was all she could really reply. She was significantly less frustrated with this reveal.
Cyno nodded his head in the harbour’s direction, and Tighnari offered her a hand to help her up.
“Let’s get going, why don’t we.” He smiled.
It would be an odd thing to say you were awoken by the smell of the sun, but Collei has no explanation for what woke her up today, other than the oppressive smell of the midday sun on her sheets.
The room she slept in had glass windows, yet the sun’s rays seemed to know nothing about staying outside of them. She stretched as she sat up from her bed and rubs the sleep out of her eyes. When she swings her legs over the edge of the bed to set her feet on the floor, she nearly stomps on a disorderly pile of blankets haphazardly left on the floor.
Correction: she nearly stomps on Tighnari under a disorderly pile of blankets haphazardly left on the floor. She forgot he and Cyno had slept there.
After arriving in Liyue harbour last night, the first thing the trio had done was eat out and go “site seeing” (they looked at docked boats). By the time they finished it all, it was around midnight and every hotel or motel in sight was already booked for the night.
Somehow though, Cyno managed to find a small, single bedroom to rent at the last possible moment, and they were forced to make do. It was surrounded by small time shops with a semi-popular family-owned restaurant nearby, which gave it a sort of cozy feeling despite the slight inconvenience.
Collei thought it’d be common sense to ensure appropriate accommodation for one’s party before entering a city, or at the very least, before exploring it, but apparently such thoughts did not cross either of her guardians' minds at all.
As Collei stood up from her bed she was now careful to avoid trampling or even disturbing Tighnari in any way. He was entirely submerged in blankets, save for his ears and tail which adorably poked out from beneath them. He snored gently.
Collei very quickly came to the realization that Cyno was not beside him, and after glancing around the space noticed that he was missing. He must’ve gone outside.
His bags were still by the door though, so he couldn’t have gone too far. Perhaps running errands first thing in the morning—no, afternoon—then. They were all on vacation together after all, he wouldn’t just disappear on the first day.
Then she saw the note on the door. Ah, of course. What a very Cyno thing to do.
“Getting breakfast, will be back soon, beware of hungry fennec for now.” It read. And at the bottom of the little note was a drawing of Cyno warding off an angry Tighnari with a giant kebab skewer, all while shielding Collei from his wrath. The drawing was by no means professional. In fact, if would be far more accurate to call it a doodle considering the characters lack of detail and… bodies. They were just heads. Tighnari’s and especially large, and sharp-toothed one at that.
She didn’t miss the “(he’s scary when he’s hungry)” in fine print at the very bottom.
She lets out a short giggle as she opens the door, taking one last look at Tighnari before closing it. He rustles a little, but he’ll be fine, she’s sure.
She knows where to find Cyno. Collei remembered hearing the locals mention the family restaurant nearby being an especially good breakfast spot, with great service and pricing too. Looking for the general Mahamatra anywhere else would be straight up wrong.
She’d forgotten the name of that restaurant, however. Probably because the name was of an unfamiliar language to her. She hadn’t an inkling of experience with the Liyuean language.
It had been something along the lines of “Wameen”. Or was it Wingmeen? Maybe the “meen” part sounded a little too Sumeru-ish. Wing-Ming then? No, it sounded more like Wang-Ming—
“Stop!”
The sound of what seemed to be a boy shouting harshly jerked Collei out of her internal debate.
“Stop!”
Again, this time a more feminine voice called, frantic and concerned. Collei slowed her pace. The street was busy and crowded so she couldn’t see the source of the voices or the commotion that surrounded it. She attempted to peak above the people in front of her to no avail.
It seemed to have come from the direction of the restaurant in which she was walking towards.
“Come back! Don’t go there!” They were closer now, but Collei still could not see. Until the crowd split. Then she saw.
She saw a wild-eyed boy running straight toward her at a speed he maybe shouldn’t have run toward her at. Then the two collided, knocking for heads and sending them both crashing toward the ground.
Collei was certain she had taken the harder hit. She was utterly confused, however, how being hit in the head like that could burn so bad. The boy who’d ran into her was surely made of pure molten iron.
People were probably staring. She was too dazed and in pain to notice or even really care. Except when a silhouette stood over her.
“Ohhh no, no, no, no, no, this is bad! So bad! What have you done?!” It said.
There was a gasp. “No! What have you done?! This is your doing, Xingqiu!” Someone else rebutted. She thinks. Their voices sounded similar… kinda. Did it matter really? Collei was too tired for this right now.
She closes her eyes.
“Shoot!”