Xiao was exhausted, to say the least. He awoke in a cold sweat, his teal bangs plastered to his pale face. Salty perspiration dripped from his brow and into his eyes as he gasped for air.
The sun had just dipped above the horizon, painting the cloudy sky with pink, yellow and orange hues. In the distance, a white crane's call could be heard echoing around the uppermost floors of Wangshu Inn.
Xiao recalled fighting hilichurls and the like, slashing through their masks as he wiped slime condensate off of his cheek. A mitachurl swung at him, its flaming axe making an almost delectable swish as the embers faded from the air.
Xiao inhaled the sour scent of battle, assessing the scene before him. Three large pyro slimes to his left, a gaggle of hilichurls to his right, two immature vishaps in front of him, and...
He turned to look behind himself. Practically an entire army at his back. The adeptus had a long night ahead of himself. It was always like this during the lantern rite. Beasts and monsters, especially those under dark karmic influence tended to flock towards anything joyful.
The teal-haired adeptus stood up from his crouching position, just in time to leap out of the way of a massive lawachurl's axe. Dammit, where did that come from? Xiao thought, his pulse quickening.
He gazed at the lawachurl intently. Dark karmic energy swirled around the enemy, forcing it unto a crazed frenzy. Now, on top of avoiding everything else, Xiao had to deal with this?
Beside him, one of the pyro slimes burst forth, the fiery energy it emitted scorching the end of Xiao's sleeve just as he slashed through it with a powerful swipe from his Jade-Winged spear.
The yaksha continued to fight off these monsters, ignoring the stinging karmic binds that felt like thin wires around his body, itching and biting at his flesh.
Even for Xiao, it was too much.
His final clear memory consisted of falling to his knees, his bloodstained spear clattering into the dirt beside him, as the monsters overtook him.
And... a flash of golden hair.
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Friend || a xiao x lumine (?) fanfiction
FanfictionXiao was exhausted, to say the least. He woke up in a cold sweat, his teal bangs plastered to his pale face. Salty perspiration dripped from his brow and into his eyes as he gasped for air.
