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“SON OF A PROTOSTAR!” Echoes across the winds of Liyue’s mountains, catching the attention of a lone adeptus, one who recognized the voice and, within seconds, arrived at the scene.
“Traveler.” Aether lay on the ground, tears streaming down his bruised face, taking the adeptus by surprise, “What happened?” Xiao knelt beside him, observing the way his body shook, “A stupid lector–caught me off-guard.” Aether spat with a venom he never directed at Xiao.
The adeptus’s head shot up at the sharp scream that came from the traveler, “What—What’s wrong?!” He asked, holding the traveler close to his chest, as if he could protect them from what he couldn’t see.
“It’s nothing, Xiao–” Aether pressed against Xiao, trying to put distance between them again– “Don’t lie to me, Traveler. Now what is it?” Xiao pressed on, looking over the traveler's frame, trying to see for himself what could be wrong.
Before he could figure it out, though, he felt the traveler’s body go limp, Xiao’s arm around their waist the only thing keeping them from falling onto the harsh stone. “Aether?!” Xiao shook them slightly before hooking his arm under their knees, flinching at the sharp cry that tore through the unconscious traveler.
In a flash, they were gone and at Wangshu Inn.
Xiao placed the traveler onto the empty bed in one of the available rooms—and made a mental note to pay Verr for the room later—Xiao had never really had to patch someone up after battle before–sure with the other Yaksha he’d help out, but they were entirely different from the average person, the pain tolerance, the skin texture, the healing process–it was all different.
He knew he had to examine the body for any injury, though, but first fatal. Xiao placed his gloved hand on the back of Aether's head, feeling around for any bumps or abnormalities–a slight bump on the back of his head, toward the left side. Xiao pulled his hand back, just to place it back quickly when it returned with blood coating it.
He tilted Aether’s head, his expression souring as it revealed blood soaking into his golden hair, and staining the side of his head. Xiao kept a firm hand on the wound, ignoring the flinch from the traveler as he examined their chest, the deep bruise expanding across their abdomen.
A swift teleport had him gone and returning with medical supplies before the traveler's head could even fall back onto the bed.
Xiao carefully caught their head, guiding it back down slowly. Then he set the bandages he had brought down, along with cloth to clean the blood.
Xiao suppressed a flinch as he brought his hand to the traveler's braid, carefully undoing it before wrapping the bandages around the wound, careful not to get their bangs stuck under the wrap as he pulled it across their forehead, tying it in the back. He moved down their body, carefully slipping his hands under their crop-top and pulling it over their head, trying not to move them too much.
He tilted his head curiously at the glowing mark covering the center of their chest, pulsing with the color of anemo, synchronizing with the ones on his shoulders. He made a note to ask about that later–for now, he felt under the glowing area, checking their ribs for any injury, and luckily finding none, though there were a few scars…nothing that needed his immediate attention.
He moved to their legs, slipping their right one off with ease, watching as the fabric of their pants that was typically tucked in fell down their leg. He repeated the process for their left boot–or at least tried to, having to pause when a shriek pierced his ears.
How the traveler was able to be so vocal and unconscious was a mystery to him.
Xiao silently offered an apology to them as he tugged the boot off in a swift motion–flinching at the scream that followed.
Once they had settled, he rolled their pant leg up, carefully avoiding touching the actual leg as much as possible, uncovering another mark. However, this one was entirely devoid of color. Unlike the anemo pulsing strongly, this one was hollow, with no color pulsing, no signs of life, or anything beyond the void.
Xiao curiously moved his hand toward it, brief concern–and horror crossed his face as his fingers fell into the space rather than touched it.
Quickly retracting his hand, Xiao straightened the traveler's leg as gently as possible, making one more teleport and returning with two straight pieces of wood, repeating a process he had seen excorcists use years ago–setting them next to the traveler's leg, and wrapping the bandage around their leg and the wood, effectively keeping it in place.
He still wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing, but it was better than nothing. Now all he could do was let them heal… So with a last glance at the travelers still form, he left to carry out his other duties–and tell Verr that the room was occupied.
...
A muffled groan signified Aether's return from his impromptu nap.
He looked around the familiar room, easily recognizing the inn. How he had got there, though… He does not know.
He slung his legs over the edge of the bed–being swiftly reminded of his injuries as he almost collapsed onto the floor due to the pain.
He bit the inside of his mouth to keep from terrifying the entire inn with his screams, and stood from the bed, curious as to when he had treated his injuries… blood shot through his mouth as he walked over to the dresser where his shirt had been discarded…along with his gloves?
Weird… he never takes them off when treating his wounds…
Aether shook his head, dismissing his thoughts as he took his shirt off the dresser and maneuvered it over his head, ignoring the strain on his ribs as he slid it into place, followed by his gloves.
He didn’t feel like rebraiding his hair–gods know how it fell out in the first place. So instead, he tucked his hairclip into his pocket and grabbed his scarf on the way out of the room, taking a moment to figure out how to put his boots on with his newly acquired stick-wrap bandage on his leg. Before ultimately deciding to forgo his usual boots in favor of the shoes Venti had gifted him a year ago–that just so happened to match his own.
He disbursed his shoes into his vision space, letting his pants do the work of covering his injuries. He went down the stairs, greeting the desk cat and Verr. “Uh, so how much for the room?...” He fished out his wallet–only a bit concerned about the price…Wangshu Inn wasn’t cheap after all.
“Hm? No payment is necessary. The young Yaksha insisted you get your rest.” She purposely didn’t mention how the Yaksha had vaguely threatened to destroy the other guest rooms if she dared charge the traveler a dime—
“Yaksha?.. What was Xi–” Aether snapped his mouth shut, remembering the Yaksha’s tendency to appear at the mere mention of his name– “What was the Yaksha doing here? Doesn’t he prefer the mountains?” It was unusual for Xiao to even come into the building, let alone talk to the people working there–wait, did Xiao know he was injured?
“I assume he had been the one to bring you here, since you didn’t check in or even come inside.” Verr shrugged and went to deal with–whatever it is she deals with–leaving a very puzzled Aether at the desk.
Xiao… Where was Xiao? Aether made his way to the balcony with a newfound energy, and a demand for answers.
“Xiao!” He yelped as the yaksha appeared in front of him rather than behind–or on the roof like he typically does. “Traveler. I see you’re up and moving again.” Xiao looked them up and down, closing his eyes with a finality– “But you’re not nearly healed enough.” Just to glare at them with the annoyance only a nurse with a bad patient could have.
“It’s fine, Xiao, really.” It really wasn’t. He could barely feel his leg and was primarily leaning on his other one. “You’re lying to me.” Xiao frowned. Honesty was something he held onto–something he valued. And yet, Aether lied to him. “I-I’m not lying. It is fine, as in it will heal.” Aether brushed past him, leaning onto the railing that kept him safe from the fall that awaited anyone who went too far.
Xiao stepped to stand beside him, quietly observing his physical well-being, “...Can I ask you a question, Aether?” Xiao toyed with his gloves, unsure if he even had the right to ask. “Shoot.” Aether shrugged, turning his head to show Xiao had his attention– “The gems, on your clothing…”
Aether waved dismissively, “I assume you’ve already seen them.” He took the glove off his left hand, showing Xiao the glowing energy there, “Though, I wouldn’t call them gems per se, as you can pass through them. It’s more like condensed energy.”
Xiao’s hand wandered to his, and Aether didn't stop him, just let him explore what he wanted. “The ones in my clothing, however, are gems in a way–they resonate with the energy pulsing beneath, and reflect it.”
Xiao's hand dipped into the energy, feeling it swirl around the tips of his fingers, rather than push him away. “–But on your leg–” “When the energy is damaged–or something inside breaks, it stops resonating.” Aether interrupted, seemingly already knowing what he was going to say, “In fact, when the resonation is completely cut off, my limbs can detach.” Aether shrugged, briefly cutting the energy from his wrist and watching as Xiao jumped to catch it–and watching it reattach like a magnet.
“I’m not quite sure how it works. Probably a last line of defense that evolved with time.” He twisted his wrist around, waiting until the fuzziness subsided, “Not mortal either, for the record. So stop treating me like I am one.” He risked a glance at Xiao, observing the pout on his face with interest.
“Well, you didn’t exactly go out of your way to disclose that.” Xiao huffed, feeling just a bit tricked. “Hmmm, is that embarrassment I sense coming from the great Yaksha?” Aether bumped shoulders with him, catching sight of the light blush on his face at having been fooled for so long.
“Don’t feel too upset about it; no one else knows either. Except Venti and Albedo…” Xiao nodded, knowing firsthand how perceptive the Anemo Archon was. “Then… if you aren’t mortal, or human. What are you?” Xiao hadn’t seen anyone like Aether, from the clothes he wore to the abilities he had; all of it was new… and unfamiliar.
“Hm… I’m a star, in a way.” Aether gave Xiao a quiet smile, “Say, Xiao, do you remember… let’s say about 500 years ago?” Xiao nodded; his memory was quite adept and able to retain details for decades.
“Do you recall seeing stars shooting through the sky? Like a meteor shower in a way.” Xiao thought about it… 500 years ago the archon war was long over, and he was still searching for his fallen comrades… but there was a time, near dragonspine, where he was fighting off against a festering grudge, and two stars lit up the night sky entirely on their own, briefly making the night, day, he remembers having to turn away from the light, and cautiously watching as the sky turned back to the dark hue it was before.
“Yes… I had wanted to investigate the matter, but the stars passed into Mondstadt, where I do not roam.” Aether laughed quietly, “Yeah, I guess that's why I woke up there. You were one of the few to witness the last time I had been with my sister.” He shook his head, as if dismissing a thoughtless idea, “I can no longer return to the skies, but it’s nice to know someone got to see me fly.”
Xiao's expression soured. As much as they tried to make it sound normal, there was nothing normal about being ripped from the sky. “Don’t think too much about it.” Aether bumped his shoulder against his, a reserved smile on his face, as if this was something he had long since accepted.
“Say Xiao…do you have any important business to deal with today?” He asked, pulling his glove over his hand and stretching, “No.” Xiao subtly tried to stretch his back, all the leaning leaving him just a bit sore.
“Then would you mind accompanying me to pick up Paimon? I left her with Chongyun… Definitely longer than I should have, she’s probably worried sick.” Aether grimaced, remembering all the times he had scared Paimon in that month alone–unintentionally, of course.
“You're still healing.” Xiao crossed his arms, not bothering to hide his disapproval. “Well, I can’t just leave her alone, now can I? I’m the closest she has to family.” And she’s the closest I have left to a family. Went unsaid as Aether crossed his arms, mimicking the yaksha’s stance, “So, accompany me or not, but I’m going,” and in true traveler fashion–he walked away, leaving the adeptus to follow him in the shadows.