#strdstd

❛                   you look like you've fought the entire abyss but did not find what you needed.       ❜

    @strdstd  /    ♡ 'd for a one liner.  

Uri felt a chill rush down her spine, settling like ice in her veins as she now stared at his back. He was there, he was real and yet he seemed to not see it all the same way. So far gone from the many years and centuries past that it was clear there was fracturing within his own mind.

It made her chest ache. For he was the last person to deserve something like this.

"I...suppose it would be cruel of me to have expected you to believe, especially after all this time.." She chuckled, the sound fragile. Uri let the silence settle between them for a moment, her own thoughts trailing off and as the moments passed, could only find herself growing angrier.

Not at Dainsleif but at the situation that they had been put into so, so long ago.

"Look at me, please. You know me. You know I'm real. It's Uriel, Dainsleif." Uri's voice cracked at the end which made her realize how much her sight was blurring with unshed tears, how her bottom lip quivered minutely when she finished speaking.

“Dainsleif.”   With  only  the  sound  of  the  hollow  winds  in  Ochkanatlan,  the  Traveler’s  sullen  voice  rang  out  clearly  despite  its  placidness,  the  normally  bright  glint  in  his  golden  gaze  dimmed  with  melancholy  after  the  events  of  the  past  several  hours.   It  was  a  risk  to  search  this  area  on  the  low  chance  Dainsleif  was  lingering,  but  it  was  a  gamble  Aether  had  been  willing  to  take  –  and  it  paid  off.   Whatever  reason  the  illusive  man  has  for  being  here  still,  he  hoped  it  was  enough  to  keep  the  other  from  fleeing  when  approached.

Aether’s  levels  of  trust  in  Dainsleif  were  both  high  yet  skeptical;  the  other  man’s  conviction  was  undeniably  unwavering  and  steadfast,  zero  doubt  laid  there.   Yet  there’s  so  much  truth  hidden  within  the  layers  of  this  universe,  and  the  traveler  often  finds  it  difficult  to  piece  together  the  full  picture  (  especially  when  the  topic  is  Khaenri'ah  itself  ).   Between  the  three  viewpoints  –  Dainsleif,  Lumine  and  her  Abyss  Order,  and  the  general  public  opinion  of  Teyvat  –  there’s  numerous  sides  to  this  dice  in  regards  to  this  story,  and  he  himself  felt  like  a  lost  reader  trapped  in  the  pages  of  a  book  written  in  a  foreign  language.

And  after  his  confrontation  with  his  sister,  Aether  has  developed  more  inquiries  than  answers,  as  per  usual.

“I  have  questions  for  you.”   Direct  and  stated  matter-of-factly,  the  Traveler  crosses  his  arms  over  his  chests  as  he  keeps  his  focus  on  the  bough-keeper  (  just  in  case  the  other  feels  flighty  ).

Magnolia, even from the beginning of her extremely long life, has always been a staunch pacifist. The thought of causing pain to any being, even if they deserved it or if it was in self-defense, always put a horrid feeling in her stomach. Perhaps it came with her profession and abilities as a healer, or her complete lack of combat prowess, but the woman has sworn to not incur any suffering if she had any say in the matter.

She had found a Treasure Hoarder, injured and unable to move off a seldom-used path. The poor man, if he was left untreated, there was no telling what would happen to his injuries. He was already delirious from blood loss, so it wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume he could die from his injuries if no one else found him. Slowly, calmly, as to not startle the man, she approached with her hands raised and promising to help.

As Magnolia worked her magic and knit his wounds together, he was regaining his lucidity. She pulls her hands away after a job well done, only for pain to bloom across her arm and the man to rush off in a hurry... with all of her belongings. Honestly, she was more upset he jammed a dagger in her shoulder than the theft, but now she was contending with her own blood staining the ground, and none of her tonics to assist with pain relief of healing. It seems this would be another injury she had to deal with on her own.

Magnolia wasn't mad, only disappointed, as she leaned back against a nearby tree to keep herself calm and relaxed. No point in freaking out now, the deed was done, but how the woman wished her powers worked on herself to the degree it did for others. She figured she could give herself the chance to rest before setting out to get some supplies to patch herself up.

Boothill vc: We thinkin' about bitin'-?

{...Pyro Boothill thinkings are being thunked-}

Months have passed but their thoughts still drift back every now and again to that fateful encounter at Angel's Share, coming face to face with a ghost from the past.  Although the same couldn't be said for the ghost in question.  The years have been many and the curse an unbearably heavy toll on his body.  It's a miracle he's managed to survive for as long as he has, let alone the fragments of himself that remain in tact.

Being unable to recognize Adrian is but a small price to pay in the end but that doesn't make it any less painful, pretending as though they're nothing more than strangers.  Although a part of them thinks it might just be better off that way.

As their home comes into view so does a silhouette standing beside it.  This wouldn't be the first time someone's come knocking in the middle of the night for a medical emergency so they're not particularly caught off guard.  Not at first.  But they can feel him before they see him — the corrupted energy.

There were always people who would need help throughout the cosmos, and while Magnolia knew it was a futile effort to save each and every one of them, the woman still made it a goal to help whoever was in front of her.

Following her freedom from the Luofu, Magnolia had opened a small clinic aboard, but such was the issue with newfound peace; with the Lord Ravager gone and the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus back in the shadows, there wasn't much she could do with her overabundant healing. So she decided to take some time to explore the universe, helping people along the way. It was fulfilling work, even if some of the places she slept were uncomfortable or dangerous.

Her travels brought her to a planet that was recovering in the wake of civil war. Small skirmishes were still being fought despite the war being 'over', so Magnolia was helping the victims, whether they fought or were bystanders caught in the crossfire.

The sun was setting and her patients were decreasing at a steady rate, and eventually the woman was able to call it a day. What was happening on this planet was a tragedy, and the amount of children she saw today...

The sound of footsteps alerted her to someone's arrival. Magnolia didn't mean to be rude, but she was still cleaning blood from her hands, so she didn't turn to face them. "Ah, one moment, please. Is this an emergency patient? Just give me a second-"