Work Text:
Prologue
"What is this..."
The glow of the computer in front of the girl illuminates her puzzled expression, her brow furrowed and her head slightly tilted to the side at the scene in front of her.
'This wasn't mentioned as part of the update.'
She says inwardly to herself as her character nears the strange phenomena in the game,
A black void in the shape of a diamond can be seen somewhere between the shore and the tree in Windrise; its empty texture stands out in contrast to the scenic greenery of the surrounding area.
The young girl shifts her eyes from her monitor to the digital clock placed on her bedside, '2:29 AM.' She had gotten carried away with her tasks and exploration in-game.
'Let's just get this over with for now.'
Her character stands before the "portal," and the interact button pops up like with any other object in the game.
'I don't think glitches do this…'
Out of curiosity, she gingerly presses the E key on her keyboard; nothing happens for a few seconds until the portal suddenly glows and light consumes the screen.
Talk about a flashbang in the middle of the night.
...
The soft sound of a lyre can be heard throughout the vicinity of the massive oak tree in Windrise.
Y/N's POV:
'eurgh… What the fuck just happened?'
I thought as I groggily peered my eyes open to be met with a bright blue sky with some clouds, regaining some sense of feeling of my body and its surroundings, the way my body lay against the soft ground of the meadow, blades of grass mushed and tickled my exposed skin. I sluggishly pulled myself upright. 'God, it feels like I've been hit by a truck...' My muscles felt weak, and it felt like I hadn't slept in days.
After a few seconds of staring at the ground, I lifted my head to take in the surrounding area. Where I sit, the grass is lusciously green with some wildflowers scattered around. Just ahead, I find a rocky hillside. I ignore the sluggish feeling and stiffly stand up. Turning to the left, I find a beautiful sandbar and an ocean that stretches out to the skyline.
'Beautiful...' I mutter out, slightly dazed by the scenic view in front of me, before turning to the giant-ass tree that stands in the middle of this meadow, to which a lightbulb of realization lights in my mind.
'Hold on, did I just get sucked into Teyvat?!? '
I thought as my eyes widened and my mouth gaped in mild horror and shock at the realization,
Despite the slight nervous breakdown from the reality of my situation, I gather whatever remaining pieces of my sanity I had left before deciding to venture off into a world I've never been to but know my way around. But then a grumble emerges from my stomach.
'Oh… I should look for food, I think before looking around my surroundings to scout for any possible sources of food.
And then a few feet away from me, I spot some apples on the grass below the giant tree. I slowly make my way so as not to disturb the animals nearby. Upon further inspection, as I reach closer to the tree, the sound of a lyre can be heard, its soft melody blending in and complementing the serene atmosphere of the area.
My eyes wander to pinpoint the source of this melody, landing on what seems to be a person sitting on one of the branches of the giant tree before me.
I suppose the person heard me making my way towards the tree and peeked from where they were sitting.
Upon locking eyes, the kind stranger offered a smile and a wave before promptly finishing his song.
Before jumping down from his former position to a few feet away from me, their appearance slightly puzzled me, as this stranger wore clothes a boy would wear but had a fairly feminine face with two twin braids cascading down from below their cheek to their collarbone; their bright turquoise pupils looked into my own as if they saw through my soul.
"Hi there, traveler! Haven't seen you around these parts. New to Mondstadt, I suppose?" they say with a cheeky, welcoming grin.
"I guess you can say so... I'm Y/n, pleasure meeting you."
"Venti! Pleasure meeting you too."
A somewhat audible grumble can be heard; embarrassingly enough, it was from my stomach. I could feel my cheeks warm and my lips purse in embarrassment.
"Excuse me..."
I said awkwardly.
"No problem! Here, you can have some of my apples; that'll sure fill you up."
Venti says happily as the kind bard picks a few and hands them to you.
"Erm… Thank you… If you don't mind me asking… Male or female?"
I say shyly, not sure how to exactly ask, I was going to say ma'am or sir, but I figured I might as well be direct.
"Ha? HAHAHAHHAHAHA!~"
After an awkward pause of a few seconds, the bard bursts into laughter, holding his stomach and almost rolling off the small hill.
"Eheheh... Excuse me for that bit. I'm a guy biologically speaking, but I never really pay attention to much of that, hehe."
The bard says as he dusts off any dirt from his garments.
"It's no problem. Apologies for the out-of-pocket question, and thank you for the apples!"
I say bashfully, before munching on the sweet, juicy apples that have been given to me minutes before,
"You are quite different from all the other travelers I've seen who stumble into Mondstadt. If you want, I can show you around, even show you some good spots to go here in the city! You should definitely try Angel's Share's dandelion wine! Mondstadt's specialty, eheh."
I take a moment to consider his kind offer and decide to take it. What harm could it do?
"Yeah, sure, that'd be great."