Genshin Impact One shots

Not a Monster - Xiao

The sun cast its first rays of light over Wangshu Inn, the place where you'd been staying off and on for the last four or five months. There had been a lot of commissions popping up in that area, and the Knights of Favonius decided you'd be the one to stay in the area and handle them. It had its perks, but you were starting to get tired of being tied to one place for so long.

The scenery was nice, the food was amazing, and everyone had been friendly towards you. But the strangest thing was that being at Wangshu Inn for so long had brought you closer to the Yaksha named Xiao. He'd always seemed like an enigma that you'd never be able to get close to; however, he seemed to keep popping up two weeks after your arrival.

You were leaning on the balcony railing, watching the sun light up the golden ginko leaves, thinking of how strange it was that the two of you had actually gotten to know each other. It was definitely an unexpected perk of staying at the inn for so long. He'd always come off as someone who wanted as little interaction as possible...

Just as you were thinking that, you felt someone join you at the railing. It was Xiao.

Most times, you felt that it was difficult to pick the right thing to say to Xiao. You'd treaded on eggshells just in case you might accidentally steer him away from you, but today, you couldn't help yourself.

"You sure seem to like finding me." You said.

Xiao stared at the horizon and didn't even look at you as he replied, "Is that a bad thing?"

You let out a defeated chuckle, instantly regretting what you'd said. You hung your head and stared at your hands on the railing with a faint smile. "No, it's not."

A silence fell between you just like it usually did. Xiao's version of company involved a lot of long silences and it took you a long time to get comfortable with that. Eventually though, you found yourself looking forward to these moments. They were little moments of calm in your ever moving life.

"More commissions today?" Xiao asked.

"Mhmm," you nodded. "There's some treasure thieves staked out that need to be driven away."

You paused for a moment as a rash thought crossed your mind. You decided you were going to be bold with Xiao today.

"Would you like to come with me?" You asked him.

He thought for a moment and then nodded. "Okay. I think it would be interesting to see you work."

"Alright," you replied, trying to hold back your surprise. "I was thinking about leaving soon."

Xiao had never been interested in the affairs of mortals, so the fact that he was interested to see you work made you incredibly excited, even if what he had said was a small lie or not. Xiao nodded and told you that he was ready. You grabbed your gear from your room and then the two of you set off across the sloping marshy hills around Wangshu Inn. After a few hours of hiking in silence, you double checked your map.

"We're getting close," you told Xiao. "Stay quiet."

The two of you snuck up a hill and overlooked the treasure hoarder's campsite. There were five men - one of which appeared to be a heavy hitter. Their camp was slowly coming to life for the morning and a kettle sat on the fire with some sort of oatmeal or porridge in it.

"How do you want to do this?" You turned to ask Xiao, except...

He was no longer by your side. You looked around yourself and cursed silently. Maybe he got bored and left, or maybe he decided the men weren't worth his trouble. You even wondered if he was really only going to watch you fight and not help you. He hadn't said he would fight after all.