My Warmth Is Yours

Chapter 6: Warmth and Stories

It was late afternoon by the time the trio reached the Adventurer's Guild camp.

"We should probably stay here for the night," said Paimon. "It's less dangerous traveling by daylight." Aether nodded.

"We can head towards the city tomorrow. Also, I don't know about you, but I need food." Paimon nodded. "Yeah! Paimon hasn't eaten all day…" she flew over to the guy at the kitchen to see if he had any leftovers, abandoning the other two entirely. They watched her go.

"She's quite the character… how did she end up with you?"

"Caught her with a fishing rod." Aether couldn't help but laugh at the concerned expression on the Kreideprinz' face. "I'm not joking, I did actually fish her out of the ocean… pretty weird, to be honest, but at least i have a travel companion. And she's not that bad usually. She's just been salty with me all day for not listening to her about a lot of things." He smiled sadly at the sight of her bargaining with the cook with the few Mora she had managed to get out of her shoes.

"Why do you keep apologizing for her? It's not like she's doing anything wrong… she's simply acting like any child would." This time it was Aether's turn to give the other young man a surprised look.

"Well… I guess sometimes she can come off as rude, and kind of mean, and I didn't want you to be offended. I mean, I just realised I probably shouldn't have asked you some of those questions I did earlier, and thank you for answering as much as you did, but I do realise that… well, forgive me if I'm wrong but I feel like this might have been a bit of a ride for you after everything and I don't want you to be any more jarred than you are now. I'm rambling now, aren't I? You probably don't need to hear me say all that." He looked down, embarrassed. Why was he rambling so much like that? He usually didn't. It was embarrassing. He sat down on the grass, as did the Kreideprinz.

"Well… thank you. For everything. I owe you now, don't I? If there's anything I can do for you… just say the word. I'll be happy to help." They shared a small smile at the Kreideprinz' statement. Then Paimon returned with the food.

"Here you go! Paimon got us some food! It wasn't much, but there's Fisherman's Toast for everyone!" She opened a cloth bag that housed three slices of buttered toast, covered in tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Peppered with onion slices and a little bit of basil, Fisherman's Toast was a small-but-filling Mondstat classic. Paimon handed one to the Kreideprinz, dumped one in Aether's lap, and took a rather large bite out of the third. While Aether attempted to not make a mess of his slice, Paimon finished hers in three seconds flat.

"Fithemanth' Toatht ith the beft!" Paimon exclaimed with her mouth full. Aether put his toast down, laughing. "Paimon, mind your manners. Talking with one's mouth full is unbecoming when one has guests," he said in a mock aristocratic voice. Paimon swallowed her food and put her hands on her hips. "If that is how you treateth the one whomst gave you such tasty snacks, then that in itself is, um… unbecomingst!" she retorted. They continued an aristocratic ping-pong match about manners, until they were both stopped by the sound of the Kreideprinz' soft laughter. He broke his toast in half and gave each half to the others. "Keeping peace is integral to a successful journey, no?"

There was a brief silence, and then all three began laughing. Paimon's loud cackling, Aether's hearty laugh, and the Kreideprinz' soft chuckling. A few people looked over at them, but there weren't many around anyway. Eventually, they would calm down and Paimon would go to sleep, leaving the boys alone again, at least in a sense.

"Is there anything I should know? Before we head towards the city?" The young prince took Paimon from her sleeping spot on Aether's lap and held her a little like a child, with her head on his shoulder. It almost seemed instinctive, the way he picked her up. Like someone who knew how to take care of kids.

"Well… first off, the city isn't up that way anymore." The Traveler pointed northwest, towards Stormterror's Lair. He wasn't exactly sure when Sal Vindagnyr had been a functioning nation, but from what he knew it had fallen before the citizens of Mondstat rebelled and moved to their current location. He could go off of that, at least.

"A couple hundred years back the people in the city took down the God of Storms and moved east. Right now, it's a city that worships the concept of freedom and the Anemo Archon that ascended after the revolution. Although Barbatos hasn't been seen by the general public in ages." That was the basics of it, at least. No need to mention the Dvalin incident from earlier that year, it was embarrassing to hear about it now. "That's pretty much it, if you want more details then I can probably find someone in the city who knows the story. There's a lot of bards." Then he got hit with an unexpected question.

"What about you? You seem more like an outlander, rather than a citizen of Mondstat. Who, exactly, are you?" It caught the outlander off guard. Although… with someone like him I guess it was bound to come sometime. I did sorta walk into that. He waited a moment before answering, trying to find the words.

"...yeah. you're right. I am an outlander. I've been travelling Teyvat for the last year or so looking for my sister. She disappeared a while back, and I haven't seen her since. I've been with the Adventurer's Guild for a while, looking for her while I do expedition commissions. Actually, that's how I found you." There. That was enough, it outlined his story while still keeping his secrets.

"I see. Well… I hope you find her. I can't do much to help you, but if it means anything… I think I know how you feel." The two didn't make eye contact, but instead wordlessly drew closer to each other, seeking a little warmth in the cold and each other's support. Before long, both fell asleep, falling into the endless plain of dreams and into the mirage of happier times, if only for a night. Tomorrow, they would confront the fires that life would bring. Tomorrow, they would continue down the path of destiny, following it wherever it led them.