When the thunder meets the mountain

Chapter 1: Loneliness

She can still remember that day as if it were yesterday, a pretty much alive sun shining in the sky, fluffy clouds roaming through the air, loud noises of people talking, the sound of laughter... 

Everything was fine.

Everything was normal.

Everything seemed so... happy.

Everything was pretty good.

(Was it really?)

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She remembers her sister's happiness by encountering her friends, she remembers her old identity... A humble, but powerful, kagemusha. She used to live between the shadows, trying to be undetectable. Like it was meant to be.

She was meant to be Makoto's blade, she was meant to be her bodyguard, not someone important. This feeling of emptyness was killing her slowly, it would never leave her and she knew it pretty well.

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'C'mon Ei! Cheer up! We're almost arriving in Liyue! I can't wait to see them again, I really missed these little meetings. Will you join us this time, please?' Makoto's voice was soft towards her sister, she knew that Ei never truly cared about these meetings, but she felt sad that Ei would remain alone until the end of the negociations, like always. She simply couldn't understand why Ei was always so uncompanionable 'What's so fun about always isolating yourself in a corner, away from everything and everyone?' Makoto asked, but as she expected, no answer came out of Ei's mouth.

'Well, it looks like you're not in the mood for conversation today, I shall not bother you again then, just be safe and wait for me if you wish. See you later, take care sweetie' said a pretty happy Makoto preparing herself to land, Ei could only notice the amusing smile in her face, Makoto couldn't even hide her joy.

These simple moments made Ei happy, seeing her sister's happiness was everything, if Makoto was happy, she was happy. Makoto's smile made everything worth.

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Ei had left Makoto at Mt. Aozang's entrance. She could see all the seven gods from a distance, whilst she was hiding behind a tree. While looking around the place, the girl's gaze met a certain god's back. It was Morax, indeed. She would recognize him anywhere. The truth is that she always had a little crush on him, he was extremely powerful and wise and even after Guizhong's death, the love of his life, he stood strong and took care of Liyue, making it reaches the greatness it has nowadays.

They looked really happy while talking about their nations, their future plans and remembering loved friends that had passed away during war times. That kind of conversation could be very uncomfortable but they managed to make it slight and sweet, it looked like they were honoring their memories and this made a gentle smile appear in Ei's face.

 

It was great for Makoto to have such dear friends... She was indeed under good care near them. However, Ei was way too shy to gather them... She felt too negligible near their presence. What would they think about her? Was she being intrusive for observing them from distance? Will she ever have such good friends one day? Maybe she was fated to live alone, maybe it was better for her to remain alone. But she can't deny the thoughts of going there gathering with them, it would be pretty nice... However, she wasn't suit for this anyway.

The more she stared at them silently, the more she felt alone. The emptyness of her life was eating her soul, she needed to get out of there as soon as possible, she needed to take some time for her and mainly... she needed to eat. Staring at those delicious food and desserts was making her even more hungry.
The young kagemusha wandered throughout the mountains near Mt. Aozang until she found a small river. It looked like a peacefull place for her and it even had some apple trees nearby, that's all she could ask for. The girl walked to the rocks near the river and sat there, appreciating the view. All that could be heard were birds singing and the sound of the wind, nothing more.

Ei looked at her messy reflection in the water, some people used to say that she and Makoto were the same... After all these years almost no one ever realized the true difference between them. Ei thought that Makoto was way prettier than her, mainly if we are talking about personality. Makoto had such a beautiful soul, she was always smilling happily to everyone, like a friendly dog. Ei was indeed different, while Makoto was like a cute and friendly dog, she was like a hostile snake or a grumpy cat.

 

Suddenly, a restlessness noise came from some bushes behind her, the samurai girl turned back and almost immediately drew her sword and held it tight, aimang the moving conglomeration of leaves.
... But nothing more than a little brown lizard appeared. It didn't look scared of her, but quite the opposite, the tiny being approached Ei fearless, as if it knew the girl would never hurt it without a reason.

'Oh, hello there little one... What are you doing here? Are you lost?' she asked with the softest voice she managed to make, while cautiously bringing her hand out to pet the little creature, the lizard approached her more and placed its head under the palm of her hand.

'You're pretty friendly, you know. I wonder how did you arrive here...' she said while looking at the lizard's face.

She knew that Liyue was the land of lizards, but this one was nothing like the drawings she saw on the books, it didn't look like a geovishap at all... It had a pair of golden horns and claws, its small body was much more elongated and it had a long pair of whiskers, looking more like a dragon than a geovishap.

 'Maybe it's a different species?' She asked still looking at the creature.

'Aren't you scared of me, little one? I'm almost sure we have never met before but you still dare approaching me, I have to say that you're really brave' said Ei, with a soft smile in her face. It looked like the creature could understand everything she was saying, and it wasn't showing any sign of fear at all. After cuddling it for a while, she gently grabbed the fragile lizard and put it onto her lap, softly petting the back of its head, the tiny creature seemed to enjoy, as it curled itself in order to get even more comfortable.

'My little friend, it's very dangerous for you to approach everyone with no fear, some people have bad intentions and could harm you for no reason... Please promise me that you'll return to your family in safety and will never approach anyone this easily again. Is that all right?' Said the purple haired girl, finally resting her hand on the lizard's back in a protective way. The lizard had the size of a cat, but she felt this urge to protect it, maybe because she was afraid something would harm it anytime.

'Haha... Look at me, talking to a lizard that can't even understand what I'm saying, this is very pathetic... Though, talking with you is way better and easier than interacting with people.' Ei said while looking at the lizard, noticing that its big amber eyes were fixed on hers... Maybe to confort her? Maybe it was judging her? Well, she didn't know, although it was pretty good having some companion sometimes.

She stood there with the creature for a while, appreciating the view and thinking about her life, if someone saw her like that, they would think that she had a lizard as a pet. 

She really wanted to have a pet but she wouldn't have time to take care of any creature.

But that moment, Ei was happy, because at once, she was feeling comfortable near someone that wasn't Makoto, even if it was, actually, a creature she have never seen before.

All the samurai girl wanted was company, but everytime she tried to interact with other people than Makoto, she would freeze... It was too hard, too unlike for someone like her... who have been living in the shadows since the beginning.

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