CHASING WORLDS | honkai star rail

ii.

the forests of pteruges-v were lush, filled with all kinds of plants [name] had never seen before. she looked around curiously, examining everything as they walked. sunlight filtered through the branches of the looming trees, and squirrels scurried across the ground. her eyes were wide with amazement. she hadn't left fontaine in over five hundred years, but the forest was reminiscent of sumeru's, if she was remembering correctly.

the trio was currently walking on a dirt path. dan heng was silent, his gaze focused ahead while march was taking a few photos. [name], upon feeling someone watching her, stopped walking. she looked around in the tree branches before spotting a dark figure above. they were holding what appeared to be a polearm.

they leapt down, the shadows hiding their face. they were darker-skinned from what the archon could tell, and had long, curly red hair that dropped to their waist. they let their polearm rest on their back before stepping into the sunlight. [name] was startled. their appearance was similar to murata's, the pyro archon.

from the red hair to the small freckles dotting the bridge of their nose, they were nearly identical to murata.

"murata?" she mumbled, causing everyone to look at her. embarrassed, she wore a sheepish expression and waved her hands frantically. "sorry! you just look similar to someone i know."

"is that so?" they spoke. "am i correct to assume you are the nameless?"

"that is correct," dan heng responded.

"my name is jahid. i will take you to our village." they began walking, leaving behind the three nameless. [name] was the first to move, noting how humid it was. having lived in fontaine her entire life, she was used to the feeling of stickiness. regardless, it didn't make the feeling any less uncomfortable.

"jahid, could you tell us a bit about what the stellaron has done?" march asked, still looking around curiously. "the planet doesn't seem too affected yet..."

"what you're seeing now is a result of the cancer of all worlds. these forests used to be sand and oases. trees seemingly grew overnight and the sand is all but gone, replaced by dirt. it is rather odd."

"that is odd. usually a stellaron destroys planets and their ecosystems. hey, dan heng, have you ever heard of a stellaron giving life?"

"...no."

march sighed and shook her head before a silence fell over the group of four. jahid walked quickly, uncaring of whether or not they left the others behind. [name] hurried after them, not willing to be far from the group. the walk was quiet, aside from the chirping of songbirds.

as soon as the village appeared, the group was greeted by an older looking woman with short, graying blue hair and a sharp gaze. she was wearing some sort of head scarf, [name] noted. most of her skin was covered, which was definitely something the archon wasn't used to.

"jahid," she started. "who are these people?"

"reshma," jahid responded. "these are the nameless. they are here to-"

"i know why they're here. i refuse."

"refuse? why?" march asked.

reshma, the elderly woman, glared at the pinkette. "as if i'm going to let some strange people who claim to suppress stellarons' powers interfere with our life here. we will deal with the situation ourselves."

"but we are not-"

"silence. my decision is final." the woman shot one last glare at the astral express crew before walking off. jahid sighed and turned to the trio.

"i apologize for her. she means well, truly, but it is best that you head back to the astral express. prolonging your stay here will only anger her further."

"is there truly no way we can help?"

"i don't think there is, march. leave it at that."

[name], however, scoffed and crossed her arms. "refusing outside help is an idiotic decision. personally, i say we press charges against her. there's no way she'll refuse us if we probe her guilty of something."

dan heng, march, and jahid all stared at the archon, who looked at them curiously. "what are you staring at?"

"um, it's just...isn't that a bit too extreme?" the pinkette questioned. "i mean, surely there's another way to get her to cooperate? besides, what would we charge her with?"

"uh..." the archon trailed off, thinking. there were obscure laws in fontaine and thankfully, she remembered them all. as she thought about which law would be the best to charge reshma with, she was unaware of the confused look dan heng and march shared. "i have no idea."

defeated, [name] slouched her shoulders and looked down at her feet. surely there was something they could do? she refused to just leave. leaving would mean losing, and she had little dignity left after lumine beat her in that duel. losing would mean the last of her dignity would be gone. her heart ached slightly as she thought of her homeland.

she missed fontaine. it had only been a day since she was transported to the sea of quanta. she had acclimated quickly, but she still missed her hometown. she had lived there her entire life, after all. regardless, she had a mission to complete: convincing reshma to let them solve the stellaron crisis.

putting the elderly woman on trial was sadly not an option, as she had nothing to accuse reshma of. as she thought, [name] was unaware of the concerned look march 7th was giving her. threatening the old lady could possibly work, but was far too risky, and the archon didn't want to take such a risk.

she sighed and shook her head, looking back up at the three people around her. "i have no ideas. i refuse to leave, though."

"perhaps himeko has an idea?" march suggested. "she's usually good with this kind of stuff..."

"is she?" [name] questioned. taking out her phone, she went to text himeko, only to realize she had a few missed calls from the lady. startled, she stared at the notifications before clicking on one. immediately, it started dialing himeko.

it took a few seconds before himeko picked up. [name] put the call on speaker and tilted her head curiously. "himeko? did you need something?"

"we have an emergency. we're needed at herta space station. the antimatter legion is attacking."

•••

just a little heads up: they will be returning to pteruges-v, but not for awhile. pteruges-v is an actual planet in honkai: star rail!

also! [name]'s appearance is however you imagine her. the only difference is her eyes are heterochromic (like furina's) and she has blue-streaked hair. otherwise, she looks like you imagine her.

as for her names, think of them like titles. focalors is her god name and furina is the name the people of fontaine called her. i wanted to touch on this in case anyone was confused.

i'm hyped for the next patch. penacony will be exciting, i just know it.