The Winds Bring with them Change (Volume 1)

45: Mundanity

Aether had commissions, and Kazuha had agreed just moments ago as the others spoke to stay back with the severely hungover Archon, at least until someone else returned to the abode.

For the moment however, Xiao allows himself to enjoy the easy domesticity of eating with the others, the quiet bickering between his boyfriends so similar to music that he goes through the entire meal without even noticing Venti's appearance. His hair is longer, by quite a bit, and his usually teal eyes are bordering on yellow with how green they look. But perhaps that's just the lighting. Xiao is quick to brush off any suspicions in the face of the absolute joy he's feeling at the thought of the battlefield once more.

He is the first to finish his meal, and he brings his bowl to the basin as Aether's still coaxing Venti into at least trying a little of the tea Xiao had prepared the night before. Unfortunately he had much experience dealing with this particular problem with the amount his partner liked to drink. With a quick check on how they were both feeling in the wake of the alcohol, Xiao gathered his things.

Though it likely wouldn't be long before he was back in the teapot, inevitably drinking with the ones he cared for, he still felt dread deep in his chest as he pulled his coat over his shoulders. Though he was going to assist with finding a lost child, the excitement he felt was as though covered in a sheen of fear. He wasn't even sure why.

He was nearly ready to go when Venti bounded from the kitchen and into his arms, followed fairly quickly by a blonde head that also gripped him tightly to their chest. Kazuha looked uneasy as he watched the scene from the couch, poem book held as tight as he could probably manage this soon after waking up.

Words were whispered into his neck as the both of them held him tighter.

"Running really hurt my head." He felt Aether's bodily giggle at that one, Paimon tutting them from where she'd appeared with food in hand.

When the both of them finally pulled away, Xiao was once more left in awe of what exactly it was that he had now. Aether pressed a tentative kiss to his cheek whilst Venti hit him with a much more aggressive one.

Kazuha piped up from were he was still watching them. "Let him go now, both of you."

Thank the Archons for their now dearest friend, and the way he had taken to shielding Xiao from his partners clingy attachments. Though he wasn't really looking forward to leaving all of them for instead the freezing cold of Dragonspine, he still shot a little smile at Kazuha.

The other two still didn't let go, Aether finally just lifting Venti up off his feet to move the both of them away from him. They paused in the doorway, arms around each other in a way that made Xiao's chest flutter.

After a moment of admiring the two of them, he pulled himself from the view, and made his way out of the teapot. It had been left in the residence of one Kaeya Alberich for safe keeping this time, and he nodded curtly at the frazzled looking captain when he exited.

His chest hurt in a way he had slowly become used to when he was away from the others, almost amusing him. After so long spent on his own, dealing with every single thing by himself, the fact that he could barely be alone anymore without feeling it was almost funny.

The trip to Dragonspine was longer than he would have liked, as he wasn't as familiar with that area of Mondstadt as he'd become with the rest of it. Venti wasn't particularly fond of the icy winds and freezing temperatures, so they didn't go often. Thankfully, Aether kept his kitchen fully stocked with potions for all sorts of temperatures, and had pressed a couple into his hands much earlier in the week.

Now Xiao had to thank his foresight as he downed one quickly, carefully pocketing the empty vial for reuse later. Aether had a thing about leaving things of that sort to just lie around. Something about another world he'd lived in having big problems because of that sort of thing. Anyway, Xiao focused around him once more, the blowing wind not helping in his search for any area that might have been stayed in in the past week.

There was a camp, but the ashes in the firepit were more than just old, and the journal that had been left for anyone to write things in had a date from months ago as the last entry. Clearly not one that a lost young man had visited anytime in the past week.

The snow blew harder, wind whipping around his farm even as he turned to stand in the shelter of the trees. This mountain truly was god-forsaken. He had never heard of anything good coming from it, nothing but tales of death and destruction leaving the bloodied lips of adventurers who ventured into the bleak landscape.

He cursed under his breath when the ribbon holding his hair back flew away, torn by the wind, leaving his hair to fly wild. Nothing was more irritating than even less visibility than he had had previously, especially with the camps of Fatuus and hilichurls that called the mountain their home.

Speaking of which, sound reached his ears, and he ducked behind the pile of snow beside him.

Though he couldn't decipher what exactly it was they were speaking about, the clanking of metal made it known that they were at least human. Likely a 'research base' here on the mountain, messing with the great dragon's remains as Aether had said that they were prone to doing. It was near blasphemy, disturbing such ancient beings in their slumber. Xiao knew that if he were to have died so long ago, he would have liked his bones to be left to themselves, to the wilds to do with as they pleased.

But he was not here in this horrid place to mourn old dead gods, he was to find a lost young man. In the commission, he had been described as blessed by the Archons, which meant that it was more than likely that he had a vision. While it would make it easier to follow the trail of his power if Xiao were to know which Archon it was they were claiming blessed him, having the tiniest trace of power to follow was good enough.

The wind made it difficult for any glimpses of power to reach his eyes, but thankfully, he himself had been blessed by the Archon of the wind. Though he could not see the power shimmering in the air as Aether had said he could, he could feel it in the air around him, twisting and becoming more strongly rooted into the place. It had been there a while.

Probably not what he was looking for then. He shut his eyes, moving blindly with the wind as his guide, pulling him towards the power he found the most interesting. It was blinking furiously, moving frantically as if to pull him closer, verdant and strong.

And....there he was. He wasn't nearly as young as the message and prayers had made it seem, looking to be at least in his mid-20's, sleeping away on a little cot under a rocky overhang. With a quick look over his form, defenseless in his sleep, Xiao figures that if nothing else, he is not injured in any way physically. The blanket wrapped around his shoulders is radiating heat, and with a moment's inspection, its clear that its was made with a flaming flower stamen.

There seems to be nothing to worry about, and for a moment, Xiao marvels at how truly fragile mortals are. He hadn't so much as stirred when the yaksha approached, leaving his back and neck open for an easy enough kill. Truly idiotic.

Xiao tapped at his side, directing a breeze to blow at the back of his exposed neck.

He was up with a jump, swinging around blindly, as if to fend off anyone who might be attacking him. It was at the very least amusing, as useless as it was.

He cleared his throat, making his presence known as the young man's eyes widened.

"Ah, an Adepti?" He seemed to be talking more to himself than he was to Xiao, shaking his head before coming to the bright conclusion that, "No, you must be the Guardian Yaksha!"

He sounded all too chipper, and Xiao narrowed his eyes at him, crossing his arms defensively. This man had no right to speak of him being the last anything.

"Your family is worried over you. I suggest speaking with them." Even that little bit of voice seemed to squeeze out of him, and he knew he was glowering by the look of fear that passed over his face.

It mattered not.

Though he'd taken more care with mortals affair as of recent, he had no care for young mortals who could not yet control their words before beings much, much older than them.

It started slowly, as he wandered back to the foot of the mountain, a creeping feeling that something was terribly wrong. The winds were no longer speaking to him as he was used to, as if they were keeping something from him.

The sky was still bright and clear, but that feeling of dread he'd felt that morning seemed to squeeze in his chest uncomfortably. Something was terribly wrong here.