Genshin Oneshots

"It's me or them"~ Aether

TW:
Angst, character death and implied, Blood/Gore

Notes:
Tbh i had this whole idea in my head and just kinda threw it at my friend who thought it was cool. Also i haven't been in the right place mentally so i'm truly sorry i haven't updated in like over a month... i've also got covid... so that's super fun.

Anyway as always I hope you enjoy this chapter:) and a vote and/or comment is appreciated!

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Aether was stuck underground. Lost and very confused. He let out a sigh as he looked around for, once again, another exit from the area he was in. He had lost track of time and had no idea how long he had been trapped, and he hadn't eaten in a while. Paimon let out a sigh beside him.

"Are we stuck here?" Paimon asks

"I think so... Let's keep looking though. You look over there and I'll look over here. Shout if you find anything alright?" he asks and she nods floating over to where Aether had pointed. Aether walked over to another area, and looked around for any cracks, large piles of rock that could potentially cover an exit, anything. Aether was honestly getting desperate. He had no idea if he was going to run out of oxygen and die, if they would starve or grow incredibly tired. Shaking his head to clear the negative thoughts, he glanced at Paimon worried.

'I have to stay positive for Paimon, like she has for me.' he thought to himself, a determined look falling into place on his face. He stood in front of a large pile of rubble, and using the power of Anemo he had 'borrowed' he aimed at it and to no luck he slid back a few feet only breaking a few pieces of rock away. With a defeated sigh he looked away, kicking a much smaller rock as it bounced and rolled away.

"Traveller! I think.. I think I found something!" Paimon exclaims and Aether looks towards her, seeing her hopeful gaze as he practically runs to her. She pointed at the large pile of rocks that seemed to have once been hidden.

"Stand back alright?" he asks and she nods, floating behind him, as he once again uses the borrowed power of anemo and moments later the rubble and rock fell, opening a way out.

"Yay! We found a way out!" Paimon cheers, spinning around excitedly before holding her head with a light groan about being dizzy. Aether chuckles slightly before gesturing to her to follow him as he walks through it. After a few minutes of walking, they were met with more broken debris and rubbish lying around, however there was an opening in the air, as light filled the hole.

"Ahhh... That is a slight problem... we can't climb it either..." Aether muttered, looking around before seeing some form of mechanism. Approaching it, he touched it and it lit up, as the ground beneath him shook slightly, and began to lift into the air.

"Paimon quick!" Aether called as the girl squealed floating towards him and onto the floating earth. Letting out a relieved sigh that Paimon was safe, they noticed they had reached the open air, and the once floating earth had found its home on the ground almost like it was never missing in the first place.

Looking around Aether expected to see greenery, trees and other rocks dotted around, especially since they were in the Liyue area, but he saw nothing but mess. Trees were burning and so was the grass, screams filled the air even though there weren't usually people where they were currently standing. He looked around for Wangshu Inn, and he let out a gasp seeing it was burning. Things where they shouldn't be, almost like people had thrown rocks around.

Walking through the burning nation's outskirts he came across someone, they were covered in blood, and definitely injured.

"Traveller?" he asks relief, filling his tone, but Aether could still see the panic on his face.
"What's going on?!" Aether asks