#theashenfox

As often were with the Archon, it felt like a mere blink had passed before the first day of Windblume was upon them.

Colorful banners decorated the high spaces between the buildings, flowers were planted on the edges of the paths, various small stalls filled with games and activities had been propped up in the main square and the large statue of Barbatos already had a large amount of flowers and other offerings resting at its feet.

Somewhere, jolly music reached his ears and the sweet scent of various bakings and drinks filled the air, and Venti found himself humming as he weaved between the crowd of people-- some local, some tourists, his chest filled with joy to the point it felt like it was about to burst. He could feel every soul of Mondstadt resonate somewhere deep within him, hear their whispered prayers carried in by the wind and dandelion seeds, and grant his blessing with each warm breeze that made the children laugh as they ran around with their small kites.

A lot of couples were already making rounds holding hands or leaning against each other, gifting flowers or other small items of importance. It was no surprise that he found himself giving some of the people lessons in writing poems near the fountain; it happened every year, after all!

"It doesn't matter whether what you write rhymes or not; what matters the most is that it comes from the heart. Even the clumsiest of words gain a soul and will make your feelings heard."

The small crowd around him mumbled and nodded their agreement, and the bard perked up at the sight of familiar ears that weaved past the crowd yet he couldn't help but laugh at the utterly baffled expression on his friend's face.

It was nice being welcomed into Inazuma more freely. Since the abolition of the Vision Hunt Decree, foreigners were allowed to come and go from the country as they pleased, more or less. However, Ash still found himself in a tight spot. While the lack of scrutiny gave him better room to conduct his “business”, it also meant that the people he was looking for could get in without being noticed. Luckily, he’d been informed beforehand of Ritou’s fixer. As such, he tried not to draw attention to himself as he casually walked through the streets until he finally saw the other foreigner who matched the description given to him. Approaching him, he said in a low voice, “You Thoma?” It was a rather blunt way of establishing contact, but with how important this was to him, he figured there was no sense in beating around the bush.

Being approached by all sorts of people while browsing through the streets of Ritou wasn't really that strange of an occurrence, but the greeting would still get a small " -hm? " out of the fixer regardless. He'd thought he'd taken care of any curious passersby who'd had a question for him earlier, but it seemed like there was still one more person.

" Yeah, that's me. " he'd confirm. " But I don't think we've actually met before, have we? Did someone else send you here looking for me? "

Feeling Quinn’s fingers running through his hair caused a smirk to creep over his face. “Hmm~? Yes, sweet Quinn~?” he purred, not turning around just yet. “Is there something on your mind~?” He was pretty sure he knew what it was, but he liked playing coy with her, especially since her transformation into a succubus. What could he say? Hot as she already was, she was even more so when she got aggressive.

🐾 Continued from here

Was Ash making a mistake? He frankly wasn’t certain. All he knew was that Wakako had organized this little operation, and she had sold it to him as being lucrative work, and all he needed to do was help this woman--Rebecca, or so the Fixer had called her--with a Tyger Claw splinter group causing trouble for her business.

And so, to cut a long story short, here he was in the back of one of Wakako’s vans, to be dropped off about a quarter-mile from where the splinter group was located. “I got this assignment from Wakako, if that’s what you mean,” he replied in a neutral tone. “Wants us to flatline these gonks together for some reason.” He meticulously checked his guns, almost to an obsessive degree, as if he were afraid the safety had somehow switched off when he wasn't looking, or a round had entered the chamber without him noticing.

One of Becca’s brows arched high. Careful cybernetic eyes searched his features for any sign of deceitfulness. Not that she was the best judge of character to begin with. But she certainly was the most suspicious. Natural edgerunner conditioning. Night City was full of people who were just out to cover their own asses. She’d been on plenty of jobs with other people who had left her in the dust halfway through a job just so they could get all the payout. They didn’t last long.

"My apologies if I'm intruding, but you seem to be a tad lost."

A gentle smile played on the bard's lips as he curiously studied the traveler he had come across, his appearance letting him know immediately that the other was not from these parts of the land.

"Thanks again for joining me on this investigation!"

The bard's hands rested against his lower back as his feet carried him down the path toward the large mountain, where various sizes of debris had already littered the ground around the now-open wall. Turned out that his little show-down of power against Silver had been strong enough to make the nearby rocks shake and crumble, and had revealed what seemed to be an ancient ruin of some sort.

Naturally, because he had been responsible and they could not be sure if the ruins held any ancient threats within, he had been assigned to search through those said ruins to ensure the safety of Mondstadt.

Asking Ash to join him was also something that had come quite naturally by now; it seemed like the two were doing more and more together lately.

"I'm pretty sure they should be safe but then again, a lot can be reserved within stone," he mused out loud, pausing to peer inside the darkness. The stones were rough to touch, and the walls held a pattern to them that told them that there indeed was some sort of construction inside the mountain, not just mere caves. The ground was a bit unstable underneath the loose rocks, and he carefully made his way closer until he could take hold of the mouth of the entrance, squinting his eyes slightly.