The Winds Bring with them Change (Volume 1)

He was correct in his assumption that it would be a difficult day, when he was first called by a man in the Qingce Village to clear out some of the creatures gathering on the route they took to barter and sell their goods in Liyue Harbor and such. Paimon had readily agreed to their request when they had brought up the possibility of reimbursement afterward, and Aether made a sarcastic comment about her greediness to Xiao. He would've probably smiled if he wasn't as irritated as he was. It had been difficult work the day before, and he hadn't exactly gotten much sleep, feeling the darkness creeping upon his thoughts, and doing the only thing he was sure helped, causing himself more pain. Controlled pain.

Aether had seemed to notice something was off, perhaps he still smelled of blood, or maybe the corruption was worse than he had anticipated. But the gentle grins shot his way every so often said differently. Or so he hoped. Still to this day he couldn't stand pity. He had been walking quietly behind Aether as they made their way through the bamboo shoots, Paimon chattering away to him about something or another, most likely food of some sort.

Xiao finally snapped at the pixie, a threat slipping through his lips like a knife thrown at the heart of its target. And it did hit the heart.

"We should use you as bait with how much you talk, they wont notice us no matter how loud we are." He recognized that his words were cruel, and that he would probably regret them to some degree later. But as of now, they seemed completely justified, even lacking to some degree. He missed Aether's look of shock when he pushed past the traveler in a burst of wind and was upon the enemies in an instant.

A hilichurl flew back towards Aether, and Xiao's grip on his weapon loosened only enough to swing it back behind him to hit it away from his companion. His feet hit the ground only long enough to push himself into the next, and he swung his polearm in the same moment, impaling two more before him. It was a slaughter, his feet hitting only long enough to give him something to push off of, before using his vision to shove his body into the ones in front of him. When he had finished, his heart was pounding away in his chest, and he could feel his head beginning to throb from all the sudden movement.

Aether grunted behind him, and Xiao turned just as he cut down the last of his own opponents and wiped the blood from his face with the end of his scarf. Xiao knew that they were far from done, his duty was so much greater than a single group of corrupted hilichurls. He turned away from the source of his irritation, beginning his trek towards Mt. Hulao.

He often had to fight to keep himself sane, but the easiest way he had found was during his fighting of the corrupted beings that always seemed to gather on the peaks of Liyue. Qingxin flowers grew wild up there, and they helped him almost as much as pain. Almost. He honestly wished they helped more, he figured then he wouldn't have to resort to letting himself get more injured than was necessary.

They were nearly to the top when Aether set a careful hand on his shoulder, pulling him around to face him. "Are you alright?" he asked with a slight tilt to his head. "I mean, I know that a couple months ago, we found Pervases shrine destroyed, but it's rebuilt now, and I'm sure that he's happy." He kept pausing as if to think about what to sign next, and finally settled on, "I saw my sister."

Xiao dropped back to walk beside him, he knew that the whole reason for Aether's wandering was to find his sister and while he knew that he and Aether could not be friends, he still hoped that he would find his dream. Xiao's own dream was so simple, but he knew that it wouldn't come true in his lifetime, so he simply hoped for others dreams. Therefore, though he did not consider them friends of any sort, he still prayed to his Lord for Aether's wish.

He inclined his head toward his taller companion, as if to tell him that he was listening whenever he wanted to speak. Aether's hair swayed gently, his earring glowing from his ear while he tried to gather his thoughts. Xiao enjoyed the silence while Aether signed the story to him, clearly leaving out some bits by the way he paused every now and then, "I was fighting an Abyss Herald, and she stopped my killing blow, before telling me that I have not yet learned the true nature of this world, and that I still had to finish my journey." He seemed to start to sign again, but stopped with a shake of his head and a shrug as if to show that he didn't care.

But he did, it was clear to Xiao that he did, no matter how long you'd been apart, being pushed away by someone you cared about so strongly hurt. He hadn't exactly been pushed away by his friends, they had died by his hand instead, and he figured that was similarly awful. He tried to imagine Ganyu, who had taken a role similar to that of a sibling, saying anything along those lines and knew that he'd probably be feeling lost. Probably much like he had felt on and off for the last decade.

He could hope that Aether was stronger than he himself, or he supposed he could go against everything the Adepti had ever warned him about and hold the shaking boy. He, admittedly awkwardly, held his arms out, making sure his face was calm as he could make it whilst feeling like he was burning form the inside out. Aether was watching him while he did this, and his face slowly pulled into what looked like it would become a frown, and then he started crying and slid into Xiao's arms.

Xiao knew that it would be awkward, but he was also aware of how much they both probably needed this, and only held him tighter. Paimon had been hovering there seconds earlier, but had since vanished. Xiao was a little glad for it. He didn't enjoy feeling weak with an audience, but the man in his arms probably didn't care that he need the embrace just as much.

He probably wasn't going to get much work done while Aether, and now him as well, were feeling like this. But seconds later, Aether pulled back from his hug, an embarrassed look on his face. Xiao watched as his eyes darted from the ground, up at his face, back and forth for a few seconds before he signed so quickly Xiao almost missed it, "Thank you."

Perhaps this was truly different, good. Maybe Aether would be his friend until he died a natural death from old age, or something human like it. He made up his mind at Aether's smile to go and speak to his Lord about this the next day. If his Lord recommended, he would simply not see the boy again.

They were nearly at the mountain's peak now, the amber beginning to get more frequent as they ascended. Aether's breathing got progressively shallower as they continued to climb, and though Xiao knew it was because the air was thinner, he still spared an extra glance at him every now and then. Pretty soon the flying irritant appeared again, looking as if she'd seen something to use as blackmail. Were she were a more honest creature, Xiao would have worried, but he was sure that any words that left her mouth about their earlier encounter would be scoffed at by any who knew him. And any who didn't? He didn't much care what they thought of him. Nor his personal dealings.

He shot a look at Paimon, one she yelped at, and disappeared again. Aether gave him a look in return, one of knowing exactly why she had vanished. Xiao merely crossed his arms over his chest in defiance.

They were at the summit now, more enemies gathered there than he had anticipated, and his friend(?) pulled his sword immediately, pulling their opponents closer with a strong wind that kicked up dust. Xiao was quick on his feet, his polearm in his hands when they came flying towards him. He aided his jump with a bit of anemo, his grip on the pole tightening significantly before he turned his gaze towards his enemies and flew forward. He collided with the ground rather hard, his shoulder screaming at him when he stood, his fingers and arm tingly in a way that suggested it might've dislocated. That was just great.

He groaned when a hatchling dove towards him, dodging its mad dash with a roll that had his bones grinding together in a way that made him cry out in pain. Xiao was in excruciating pain, from the curse bearing down on his shoulders, to his hopefully not worse than dislocated shoulder. Unfortunately, this was not the mind clearing sort of pain, the kind he maintained by postponing his own healing. This was numbing, it had his vision swimming before his eyes, and he knew he was going.

Though he worried for Aether, it was not because the man would not have his help. His concern was more over that while he was leaving, it was staying. His pain, his guilt, everything that made him both a demon and a demon vanquisher. He only hoped that Aether could run faster than others had been able to before. Though he fought to stay, he knew his attempts were futile. In his last moments before darkness, he called a name he knew could stop all this.

"Morax save him!"