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“Aether!” yelled Amber. She’d been scouting in Dadaupa Gorge again to check on the hilichurl population. They weren’t very present for the past couple weeks in Wolvendom, Windrise, and Springvale, let alone the city proper. She thought she might as well see how they were doing further south.
Down there she was greeted by the sight of decimated camps, and the living reason why they had become so few these past couple weeks.
Aether.
Known as the traveler, the viator, the honorary knight, and many others, Aether was a lad that just… popped up from another world. Since his arrival here a couple years ago he’d become quite the superstar. Saving Mondstadt from a corrupted Stormterror, saving innocent travelers from hilichurl raids, completing countless quests. All on top of his never-ending journey to find and save his sister.
One would think that such a megastar would be this noble and dashing hero who was so clean and courteous.
But no, instead, Aether was the opposite of that. He was, well… wild. The golden wildchild, as some would say.
Aether sat in the middle of a decimated hilichurl camp, snacking on the meat the hilichurls were cooking to be their meal of the day. The entire community had been wiped out. From the lowliest hilichurl to even the mightiest lawachurl. Aether sat there on the ground alone, where he sunk his teeth into the cooked meat, the juices dripping as he tore off another piece from the bone.
“You’re all dirty again… I knew you were behind all of this,” Amber said as she raced on over to the lad. Aether growled at her as she knelt down beside him, trying to cover the food in his hand. “I haven’t seen you in a bit. I’m glad you’re okay though… The hilichurls were really beginning to rack up in numbers again lately and then suddenly they’re just dropping like flies. I guess the former’s true when you’re out of state and the latter happens when you’re back, huh?”
Aether merely grumbled in response as Amber placed her fingers through his hair. Usually done into a ponytail, his golden locks were a tad dirty due to being unwashed, and were also completely undone and just left to flow wherever. Amber pulled out a comb and just started to pick out all of the leaves that had gotten stuck in his hair, and a cloth to perhaps rub out some of the gooey hilichurl stuff that stained and tried to cake some of his strands.
“I’m really glad you’re back, Aether. Even if it’s only for a little while,” Amber told him. He never really gave any responses to her outside of feral grunts, so she just assumed that meant he was listening. “It’s good to know that no matter how far you go and for how long, you always do come back here. Now if only you could take a bath.”
Aether really grumbled at that one. Though he didn’t move away from her. He just sat there as she cleaned out his hair. Soon she was braiding it back to its original braided ponytail.
“All done!” Amber smiled, and suddenly, her stomach grumbled. “Oh… hehe…”
Aether rolled his eyes as he grabbed a fresh bone of meat, handing it over to her.
“Oh! Th-thanks!” Amber smiled even wider. She smelled the pleasant aromas of the cooked meat. She’ll admit, as much of a nuisance the hilichurls were, they sure knew how to cook! She bit into the meat, feeling the juicy textures and bursts of flavor from the first bite. Though as she bit into it, Aether bit the other end of the meat, staring right into her eyes.
Amber blushed madly as she realized the only thing separating her and Aether’s lips were some meat and a bone. She pulled away, her face all red as she chewed. Aether on the other hand merely chuckled as he chewed.
The wilds of Liyue were a place prone to brigandage. It wasn’t enough that would-be adventurers are faced with monsters, but other men as well, looking for their mora and other possessions. Fortunately most people had the common sense to not go out into the wilds during the darkness of night, though not everybody could say the same for early morning.
Out in the early morning, some merchants, traders, farmers, and other common folk must leave the safety of the city and venture out into the wilds. Staying on the path or not, there was always someone out to get them.
Though perhaps not today. News was that Aether was in Liyue today, and would continue to be so for the next couple weeks. He tended to do that, constantly roaming the corners of the world but always prioritizing one nation at a time. The order was pretty simple, it was the order of his entry into them. Mondstadt was always first, then Liyue, then Inazuma, then Sumeru, then Fontaine, and then finally Natlan before returning to Mondstadt to restart the cycle. Though knowing Aether, it was clear that a new nation will enter the fold to extend the cycle even longer.
Shenhe lived during these times where Aether was more common. She often tried to find him out here in the wilderness, following the trail of righteous destruction he left in his wake. The people passing through the paths were always happy to tell her where they last saw him, they talked about him the same way they talked about an exotic creature, and some believed he was an adeptus himself.
Whatever it may be, the story was usually always the same. Aether roamed the lands like a golden ghost, appeared during someone’s time of need, saved the innocent and slew the attackers, and then fled. He may or may not have asked for some mora and food for exchange. Well, assuming he was even allowed to ask. Usually he was just given them out of gratitude.
Shenhe eventually did find Aether out in Jueyun Karst, where he laid amidst a pile of ruin guard parts, all ripped into ribbons. Aether growled at Shenhe as she approached, though he didn’t really stop her from just sitting right beside him.
There he was. She finally found him again. Now if only she could bring him back to Xianyun. Cloud Retainer’s grown quite fond of the unsophisticated boy herself, and it seemed that Aether may or may not have been rubbed the wrong way during his first impression of her. He seemed to like Shenhe though.
Shenhe pulled out a box of biscuits, to which he grabbed and started snacking. She giggled as Aether scooched closer to her as he crammed the biscuits into his mouth.
Aether snarled as he found his head being scrubbed with a big brush, the shampoo forming bubbles as they worked to clean out his dirty mane of hair, all the while other servants scrubbed his body with soap.
The feral lad had found himself back in Kamisato Estate, and not through any of his intentions either. Ayato found him roaming the coasts and managed to coerce him with some food, which ultimately led to Itto hitting him in the head with a club and restraining the lad until he could be brought over to here. Ayato will admit, working with the rambunctious oni was surely something, but it seemed he and his gang were strapped for mora. They both saw an opportunity, and so they took it.
Which brought him back here where he laid in a large wooden tub, and aged servants collaborated with cleaning him up. They shaved him clean, rinsed him with soap, and kept pouring water on him. Aether snarled like a wild cat and tried to break free, but the bait he consumed to get here was also drugged, and thus made his movements weak for the time being.
Ayato watched as Aether ineffectually thrashed in the water. The lad was nothing short of an absolute conundrum. On one end, he was a savage who tended to live out in the woods. He was unrefined and often just growled or snarred at people rather than actually engaging in conversation. On the other hand, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that a human heart still did live in him. Despite his savagery, Aether was at the forefront of reopening Inazuma. Throughout his time here during his initial visit and his subsequent ones he’d always made it a point to roam even the furthest corners to dispense justice, taking down all sorts of brigands and beasts.
He was as powerful as he was wild, and as beautiful as he was incomprehensible.
Worst (but also at the same time best) of all, his sister clearly wanted him.
The Kamisato bloodline must continue, after all. Though many did express concern about having the genes of such a wild beast of a man join the history of the bloodline. Some say it sullied its sophisticated history, while others advocated it as being an elevation of status. Aether was an illustrious icon in Inazuman history now, after all.
Ayato himself of course had his own concerns, though in the end his sister had her exotic infatuations and a chance to both extend the clan and elevate its position was always welcome. And if it meant having to clean Aether up so he can appear at least somewhat more presentable, then so be it.
By the end of it, Aether was dressed up in traditional Inazuman clothes, and even his hair was braided differently. He was sprayed with cologne as he found himself forcibly seated in a room. The sedation was still active, though it was clearly going to wear off sooner or later. He sat there with his legs crossed as Ayaka came in with her own traditional garbs, excited to see him.
Ayato and the elders let out a sigh of relief as Aether ended up playing along with the arranged dinner date. The savage actually ended up talking to Ayaka about his travels, though he tended to always keep things frank. Honestly Ayato was more surprised at the fact that Aether knew how to use chopsticks.
Aether found himself wrapped in a large yet thin and loose robe, complete with something to cover his head. His entire body was covered with intentions of keeping his body cool, and in Nilou’s own personal interests, keeping his skin as covered as possible.
He… did not have the best relationship with the desert. He tended to roam the dunes of Sumeru the same way he roamed all the other landscapes of Teyvat, which of course meant that he had no protection whatsoever from the scorching hot sun as it bore down the entirety of its fury upon him. Nilou had taken to making sure he was at least covered. The last thing she needed was an irritated Aether teleporting back to her because he was a few minutes away from a nasty sunburn. Or worse, already had one.
Aether just sat there as Nilou dressed him up, she giggled at how tame he was. It was clear he’d become humbled by the wrath of the desert sun. She was just glad he was listening to her. On top of the fact that she was always the first person he went to whenever he came back here.
“Oh?” Nilou blushed as Aether nuzzled her chest. She wrapped her arms around his head. “Aww… is somebody scared of the sun?”
Aether growled.
“Okay, okay. I won’t tease,” Nilou rolled her eyes. Even when he was being soft he had to be tough. Tsk tsk tsk. Such a silly little boy.
Aether growled as he found himself pinned onto a bed. He was belly down, sprawled on the soft cushions as Furina laid on top of him, her thumbs pressed onto his back.
Aether growled at her some more, but the Fontainian merely grinned at him as she dug her thumbs deeper in, causing the growl to turn into a moan. She could see the beautiful yet wild golden-haired man drool as she massaged him. She was always amused at how she was easily able to get him like this.
Aether was usually a whirlwind of destruction wherever he went. Well, a whirlwind of destruction for the wicked. He tended to not annihilate the noble, innocent, and helpless. Her fingers undid his braids. They weren’t their usual dirty tangled mess, meaning somebody got to him before she did and shampooed them back to silky softness. She admired his mane as she massaged him some more. The whirlwind pacified by her fingers. He was completely helpless like this, completely at her mercy.
Furina could feel his deeper sensations all riled up, yet ultimately suppressed as she kept pressing into his back.
“Good boy,” Furina patted him in the back of the head.
Aether growled at her, and she retorted by pressing her thumbs into his back, turning it into a moan once more.
Good boy indeed.
The funniest part about Aether growling and sometimes even barking like a dog is he tended to whimper like one too.
This could be seen in how he whimpered as Citlali pulled him by the cheek and led him to who knows where, probably her room. Aether had made the mistake of growling at her a little too loudly. So now naturally granny had to punish grandpa, as Ororon put it.
Aether could just break out of it, but there was something about being under the control of the woman that kept caging the poor beast-man. Well, either that or he probably does see Citlali as some kind of grandma and as a result there was a level of power he ended up being subservient to.
“You wanna be a dog so much? Fine! Let’s see you on a leash!” Citlali spouted. Tsk tsk tsk. Aether’s been a bad dog. A bad savior-of-six-nations master-of-the-elements wildly popular and sexy but still quite feral dog. Aether whined as he was powerless under Citlali’s grip, and he was led to who knows where.