"we meet again, traveler."
a lot of time passed since their last brief meeting at the rocky cliffs of liyue's abandoned islands. back than things looked simpler than that, but the traveler didn't change. although the bright colours on his face and the helpful smile he carried faltered to persevere, he still seemed like the sun itself chose him to carry its legacy.
the room was filled with people discussimg their next steps, with gorou in the middle of fiery speech he didn't believe in. both kazuha and the traveler felt prone to leaving as soon as possible, unable to withstand the atmosphere. so they sat in the corner quietly and took their time to chat.
aether pulled out a handkerchief and slowly wiped the old stains from his blade, "it's been a while indeed. is there any point asking how you have been?"
"i suppose we might as well skip this part. just by looking at you i can tell the answer wouldn't be too colorful."
"well," aether smiled, "but it's a story worth telling for sure."
"so i've heard. you got to meet her excellency... hold on, how does gorou call her? her excellency thunder up my butt?"
aether giggled, "to be honest i still feel that thunder up the places i don't show around. but otherwise, inazuma is beautiful. and lethal."
he spoke the last part with a nasty gleam in his eyes. kazuha had a weird feeling that aether found his only enjoyment in going on a little slaughter trips, in which case becoming a wanted criminal and a part of the revolution was definitely something he'd consider fun enough.
"where's your travel companion? paimon, was it so?"
"oh," aether rolled his eyes. "bullying the cook, i suppose. i think she's trying to persuade him to fry the fish better, but since there's a shortage of staff in general, the current cook can only boil eggs. and that is, if he remembers how to put the stove on."
following the shortage of people, as well as deciding that he's no good now without a sword, kazuha bit down the bitterness and agreed to take on the position of a doctor at the camp. his skills weren't best, and he himself still needed to recover. but because he had a history of successful first aid training (years of stitching tomo because tomo was a walking disaster, as well as stitching himself because he was also a walking disaster), he got the job whether he liked it or not.
overal, it's been a few days since he arrived. the curious and suspicious looks all died out soon, and no one really cared about him anymore. it was another shade of loneliness to be back to his roots and discovering the forest has been long lost to the wildfire.
aether sighed out and stretched his arms. he had cuts and bruises covering every bit of revealed skin, but overal seemed fit for challenge any second. looking back at kazuha, however, his eyes looked gentle.
"speaking of travelling companions..."
kazuha couldn't help the tension swirl through his muscles. he could only shake his head without looking through his shoulder. because among the people gathered in the room, there was a certain close someone taken away from him like a moon to the earth. always near, never quite in reach.
but kazuha knew traveler was the closest person to understand; still looking for his sister and knowing she's watching. instead, she forces him to end this journey alone. wherever the end is supposed to be.
for all they knew, it might be tomorrow.
"for some reason when you told me, i imagined him differently."
"is that so?"
"i mean," aether coughed and looked away. "he's buffed and stuff... i thought he'd be... smaller?"
YOU ARE READING
sailing miles away // tomokazu
Fanfiction-and he ran, never turning back. and he ran, with the dying vision burning out scars on his palm. and he ran, because if he didn't, all would die that day. tomokazu.
