#freedomwisp

Ash hadn't intended to follow the bard. In truth, he’d had an odd sense that something was wrong with the ruins as well. He didn't have the same personal knowledge or supernatural insight that Dvalin and Venti did, of course, but his instincts told him that something about the wind wasn’t right. Mondstadt being his home now, he felt it his duty to report such a thing to its Archon.

One could imagine his shock when he exited the forest, intending to scope the place out and deliver reports of abnormalities to Venti, only to witness the sight of a dragon on the cliff he was going to use for surveillance. It caused him to stumble and a few loose rocks fell. Then he heard the familiar voice call out, and he sighed.

A week goes by a lot faster than you think it does when you’ve slept through most of it. Alura took longer than regular people to heal due to the nature of her abilities. She spent her time resting and if she wasn’t resting, she would somehow find herself talking to the people at the camp. It’d be rude to just to up and leave without talking to them any. It wasn’t ideal- she wished she could’ve found some secluded inn and stayed there but the people were kind and honestly, it was doing her some good.

Alura left early that morning- not expecting Venti to be there as early as her. She was healing up nicely, still a small cough and bruising on her head still which was normal for her. It’d probably take another week for the head wound to be gone and another two for the cough to disappear completely.

Holy f—

he wasn't one to turn his nose up at alcohol — yet dandelion wine never failed to turn his stomach instead. it was too SWEET for the wanderer's liking. ( the taste reminded him of overripe sunsettias. ) he grimaced at the bottle in his hand, trying to think of a good way to rid himself of it — preferably in a way he could spin to his ADVANTAGE.

❝ ... hey, bard.  ❞ he raised the wine. ❝ fancy a TRADE? the bottle is all yours if you answer a few questions.  ❞

Xiao had been resting in the tree above Wangshu Inn, having dealt with all his duties beforehand, when he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling to him. It sent him rushing to Venti's side, the tone filling his movements with a sense of urgency and fear.

Fear that he wouldn't be there on time. That he wouldn't be able to save his beloved archon. Those worries were quickly pushed aside, as he needed a clear head to be able to fight whatever it was that put Venti in danger.

He was there in a flash, already donning his mask, yelling out Venti's name. Seeing Venti's crumbled form and the Ruin hunter above him... It filled him with a rage not even a god could rival. He didn't give the hunter a chance to even so much as move before he slammed his entire body into the damned thing, flinging it into a different wall before using his spear to pierce its eye and destroy the core for good. Sure, the action would leave a bruise, which was already starting to bloom across his arm and torso, but it was nothing compared to the destruction it created on the hunter.

Once he was sure the hunter was off, he was quick to rush to Venti's side, gently picking the small form up and teleporting back to the inn, landing in the room that was set aside for him.

He gently laid the other on the bed, before fetching some supplies thaat he started keeping around to clean and wrap the boy's wounds. He worked quickly, but carefully, tending to each injury with care.

It was another uneventful night in the Angel’s Share. Diluc had originally taken to working behind the bar upon hearing that an important individual working for the Fatui would appear sometime, but it seemed as though that fellow had not come tonight, so tonight was simply a time for keeping the customers happy.

One such customer was a young bard of whom he’d become very accustomed to seeing in his bar these days; one whom was quite fond of entertaining his patrons and drinking his wine, so fond that he was still within the bar just as it was close to closing time, much to Diluc’s frustration. He’d have to eject Venti out himself; he couldn’t exactly let him stay here all night, after all, not to mention he had to clean the place and lock it up so that he himself could get plenty of rest for tomorrow.

Atria had, strangely, found herself growing a bit more fond of Mondstadt recently, and moreso of the area within Windrise.

This may have had to do mostly with the wonderful music she’d sometimes hear while moving from one post to another.

Luckily, there were rarely ever any other Fatui members nearby, so she could get around the area without getting in too much trouble by being late to her next post.

Today was a bit different, though.

Atria made her way closer to the massive tree within the area, following the music that almost seemed to have her in some sort of trance. Something about it made her feel surprisingly at ease, feeling relaxed in a way that Atria was rather unaccustomed to.

Under the shadow of the leaves, Atria peered around the trunk of the tree, eyeing the source of the music with curious, masked eyes. Something about him seemed strangely familiar in a way that Atria couldn’t quite place.