Chapter Text
The morning sun cascaded over Inazuma City as Lumine walked to the adventurer’s guild to pick up her daily commissions. A little thievery here (from treasure hoarders, of course), a little clearing fog there, and before long she wound up in the depths of Tsurumi island. Paimon appeared beside Lumine as she checked her map for the location of the commission.
“Aww, rifthounds again? Why can’t anyone put out commissions for good doggies? Paimon thinks that would be a good change of pace…” Paimon pouted.
Lumine sighed. “I couldn’t agree more, Paimon. These rifthounds can be pretty tough, especially when they’re riiiiight…”
Lumine looked up from her map and pointed to the coastline, noting not only the rifthounds, but also the abyss mages, hilichurls, mitachurls, lawachurl, and specters that were next to them.
“…there,” She said. This was a commission she did not look forward to. It was inevitable that she took quite a bit of damage due to the sheer number of enemies in one place. Still, she steeled herself and charged into battle.
A few minutes later and the rifthounds (along with everything else) were vanquished. Lumine was still standing, thanks to her dodging and the food she had brought along. Nevertheless, she was certainly worse for wear.
“Huff… You’re right, Paimon, I could use some good doggies right now.” Lumine said, catching her breath as the last of the corrosion left her body. Once the words left her lips, an idea popped into her head. “Lucky for me, I know just where to find some.”
As Lumine picked herself up and started walking to the nearest teleport waypoint, Paimon studied her face and began making guesses.
“Are we going to the Komore Teahouse? Paimon’s sure Taroumaru will be happy to see us again!”
“Nope.”
“Then… oh, what about that Sakura tree Thoma showed us? There’s lots of dogs there.”
“Good try, but guess again.”
“Ooh, Paimon knows! We must be going to….. ugh, nevermind, Paimon can’t think of anything else…” she sulked, defeated.
Lumine laughed, touching the waypoint. “Why don’t you just wait until we get there?”
A familiar white light engulfed them as the waypoint activated. When they opened their eyes, they were greeted by a panoramic view of Sangonomiya Shrine from the cliffs above Bourou Village. Compared to the bleak and cloudy skies of Tsurumi, the soft blues of the late-afternoon sky and the occasional bubbles floating through the Watatsumi air gave the island an ethereal, peaceful feel.
Lumine paused for a moment to take in the scenery before hopping down the cliffs to continue her mission. Paimon continued to try to pry information out of her.
“Watatsumi island sure is pretty, but what are we doing here? Paimon doesn’t know of any dogs on Watat…” Her squeaky voice trailed off as she noticed a certain resistance general at the edge of the village. “Oh. OHHHH, NOW Paimon understands!!”
Lumine gave Paimon a wry smile and chuckled, putting away her wind glider and daintily setting down at the entrance to the camp. She had only taken a few steps when the general’s ears perked and he turned to look, a smile spreading across his face at the sight of her.
“Lumine!”
“Gorou! Hi there!” Lumine waved, trying not to stare at his wagging tail. She didn’t want to embarrass him too much while his troops were around, not after all the embarrassment that Yae Miko had put him through. A few of them had already noticed, but she wasn’t about to draw attention to it.
Gorou, of course, was oblivious. “What brings you to Watatsumi? Do you need my help with something?” He asked earnestly.
“Not exactly. I was just finishing up my commissions for today, and I was planning to go into town to turn them in. Do you want to come with me and keep me company?”
“HEY! Isn’t Paimon company?” Paimon interjected. Lumine gave her a sharp look.
“Um, sure! I don’t have any pressing matters at camp at the moment.” Gorou said.
He was a bit confused by Lumine’s request, as she normally just handles her commissions alone. He had glimpsed her on occasion as she sprinted across the cliffs, swatting at specters or whatever other commissions the guild had assigned her. It seemed to him that she turned in her commissions as a part of her routine before she went about her business socializing or anything else. He had great respect for her work ethic. Still, he couldn’t deny that he was a bit flattered that she interrupted her routine just to have him as company.
“Great! Then let’s go, shall we?” Lumine took Gorou’s hand and began walking to the nearest waypoint so fast that she was nearly dragging him for a moment. She promptly released his hand when she noticed how aggressively she had tugged on him. She gave a small apologetic smile before they continued toward the waypoint.
It was not long until they were sitting beside the adventurer’s guild enjoying a dango, with Lumine having claimed her goodies and Paimon eagerly counting the mora they had received. Lumine could tell that Gorou was thoroughly enjoying himself, savoring every sweet bite and grinning happily.
“So… have you ever been to Mondstadt, Gorou?” She asked.
The question made him pause for a moment. “No. I’m sure it's a nice place, though. I’ve heard a few people talk about it. Why?”
“Would you like to visit? There’s someone I think you would enjoy meeting. Well, I’m sure they would enjoy meeting you, anyway.” Lumine said, being intentionally cryptic so as to not let anything slip and ruin the surprise.
She caught him completely off guard. His ears flattened as she watched him wrack his brain for anyone who might know of him in Mondstadt, or anyone who could have told someone in Mondstadt about him. Would anyone from Mondstadt know about the war between the resistance and the Shogunate? Maybe an outlander merchant who went home after the war? But what does that have to do with him personally? Wouldn’t they be more interested in meeting Her Excellency Sangonomiya?
Gorou was stirred from his musings by the sound of Lumine chuckling as she watched him. He blushed out of embarrassment for a moment. He glanced at the sun dipping into the horizon behind Lumine. It was approaching sunset when they sat down for their dango, but had he really been postulating for that long?
He cleared his throat. “Well, you certainly have my curiosity. I am also interested in meeting this person, now that you’ve brought them up to me.”
Lumine smiled. “Then let’s go!” The longer she thought about bringing him to meet Razor, the more she wanted to see that interaction and the more impatient she got.
“Wh- Right now?” Gorou glanced again at the setting sun.
“Yeah, why not? Are you busy?” She asked, standing up. He made quick work of the last of his dango and stood up with her.
“No… with the war over, I don’t have nearly as many duties as I used to. But I didn’t think a trip to another country would be so… spontaneous. Don’t you have to arrange things with the Crux or something?” Gorou asked.
In reply, Lumine looked to the end of the street, and Gorou followed her gaze.
“Oh right. Teleport waypoints exist outside of Inazuma.”
Upon the realization that he could be in an unfamiliar country in a matter of seconds and go on to meet an unfamiliar person who somehow knows enough about him that they want to meet him personally, Gorou began to feel nervous. He knew Lumine wouldn’t bring him to someone with ill will for him on purpose, but he wasn’t sure if being the subject of a fan’s attention would be any less difficult.
While he was thinking, his sensitive ears overheard Lumine muttering something to Katheryne about not being available for commissions for a few days. Before he had time to ask her about it, she was already trotting over to the waypoint, motioning for him to follow.
When he got there, she was excitedly standing beside the waypoint, grinning from ear to ear as she looked at him. Seeing her smiling helped to make Gorou feel less anxious about the trip, but something about her smile was a little… mischievous?
“When you asked me to join you to turn in commissions, this is definitely not what I was expecting.” Gorou chuckled, his ears flicking and betraying his nerves. “I-I’m not scared, but traveling to another country at the drop of a hat is… a lot.”
He chose not to bring up what he had heard implying this was a multiple-day affair. He didn’t have anything urgent for about a week, so a few extra days out would be fine. He hoped.
Lumine put a hand on his shoulder. “Gorou, remember when I helped you overcome your weakness against Yae Miko?”
His ears flattened and he smiled awkwardly. “How could I forget?”
There was a moment of tension before they both broke into laughter.
“Okay so maybe that didn’t go all that well in the end, but the point is we worked through it together,” Lumine said, managing to restrain her laughter enough to speak. “You got this, Gorou. And I’ll be right here if you don’t.”
Gorou was touched, and with newfound confidence, he placed one hand on the waypoint and held Lumine’s hand with his other. They shared a grin before the light from the waypoint engulfed them.
———————————————————————
Just as Gorou was about to open his eyes, he felt Lumine hurriedly cover them.
“Wait, keep them closed for a minute, I’ll tell you when you can open them.” She said. Gorou nodded and she removed her hand. She lightly grasped Gorou’s hand and gently began leading him to wherever it was that she wanted him to be.
While Gorou could not see the Mondstadt landscape around him, he could feel the crisp evening air on his skin, hear the wind blowing past them, and smell the dew in the grass beneath his feet. He wanted to open his eyes to take in the beauty that the rest of his senses were experiencing, but he remained patient for Lumine’s surprise.
He suddenly felt Lumine wrap her arm around his waist and press her body against his. Gorou was immediately flustered and was in the process of trying to say something when he felt his feet drop from underneath him, and was suddenly losing his balance sliding down a rock. He found himself yelping like a puppy and desperately grabbing onto Lumine in an attempt to not fall completely. The two of them were back on level ground about a second later. Lumine giggled and returned to holding his hand normally, while Gorou was hesitant to release his grip.
“Sorry Gorou, but there wasn’t really a way off of that ledge without jumping or sliding. There’s no more ledges after that one, though.” She said. She felt guilty when she noticed his tail tucked between his legs.
Gorou straightened himself. “Good. I wish you would have given me more of a warning though.”
It took Gorou a few steps to regain the confidence to walk quickly enough so that Lumine wasn’t tugging on him. They were going uphill, and every step was a shot in the dark as to whether the ground would catch him as he leaned into the hill or if he would be left to faceplant as the incline stopped.
“Wait here for a second,” Lumine said, releasing Gorou’s hand. He heard her scamper off in front of him somewhere, followed by the sounds of her clobbering some form of monster. He sniffed the air. Slimes. It put him at ease to know she wasn't fighting anything more dangerous alone. After a few more elemental attacks, she was back to excitedly tugging on Gorou’s hand and he was back to haplessly following behind her. A moment later, she tugged his hand downwards, motioning for him to sit, and he complied.
“Ok, you can open your eyes,” Lumine whispered.
He opened his eyes and was left speechless. They were seated at the edge of an overhang overlooking the vast city of Mondstadt, whose lights twinkled softly in the moonlight. The city sat perched upon an island, surrounded on all sides by impressive castle walls. The picturesque view of it with a backdrop of clear blue water and miles of hills made it seem so much grander in scale than Inazuma City. Gorou especially noticed the large statue of, he guessed, the anemo archon, with his arms outstretched to the sky and wings spread wide. The statue felt so much more approachable than the statue of the Omnipresent God outside of Tenshukaku, which felt cold and intimidating.
Once he was able to pry himself away from the cityscape, he was still mesmerized by the rolling hills and cliffs of the Mondstadt countryside. There were so many types of trees that he had never seen before, some of which were so large it seemed they could rival the Sacred Sakura.
Lumine enjoyed the view with him for a few minutes before standing up. “Well, we should keep moving. I want to find him before it gets too late.”
Gorou stood up and noticed her handing him something. “This is… a wind glider, right?” He had seen her using hers a few times. He had no idea where she was keeping it though, as her dress didn’t appear to have pockets and it wasn’t the one she used.
“Mm-hmm! I thought it would make it easier to get down.” She motioned to the edge of the overhang they were standing on and then to a ledge about 20 meters below it.
Gorou took the glider in his hands and unfurled its wings. Beautiful streaks of orange were ornately patterned throughout the golden-brown fabric, and he couldn’t help but notice it matched his hair and parts of his outfit.
“Did she get this just for me? ”
Lumine helped to attach it to him. “It’s pretty easy to get the hang of, but if you lose control, roll to break your fall.” He nodded as she gave instructions, intently listening to every word she said.
When she was finished, she simply hopped off the cliff and deployed her glider, floating gently down to the ledge below. Gorou followed suit, and although his balance with the glider was a bit sketchy, he made it down in one piece. He went to give it back to her, but she insisted he keep it and enjoy using it around Inazuma, and that she had plenty of spares.
They ventured into an area Lumine referred to as “Wolvendom”, and the trees got thicker and denser as they went deeper into the woods. The area felt much more ominous than the rest of Mondstadt (that he had seen), and Gorou kept having the feeling that something was watching them. Soon they had stopped in the trees just off the path. The two of them said nothing, and Lumine scanned the area. Gorou sniffed the air for danger, but only smelled Lumine, the plants nearby, and a distant, unfamiliar canine smell. He assumed it to be one of the wolves of Wolvendom, but stayed alert in case they became a threat.
Suddenly, Lumine called out, “Alright, you can come out now” rather loudly into the woods. After a few seconds, Gorou smelled the wolf’s musk approaching, and cautiously socketed an arrow. Moments later, a face appeared out of one of the bushes, and a boy emerged from the brush, crouching close to the ground.
He was younger than Gorou, but only by a few years. His clothes were worn and dirty, and looked handmade. He had long, unkempt hair that extended from the back of his hood all the way to his hips, and a curious innocence in his eyes.
After another quick sniff, Gorou confirmed that this person was the source of the wolf smell, and that he was alone. He put his bow away, but kept his gaze on the newcomer.
“Lumine!” The boy said in a gruff but happy tone, standing all the way up and walking towards her. It was as if he hardly used his voice.
Lumine grinned. “Gorou, meet my friend Razor. Razor, this is Gorou.” She said, motioning between the two of them as she made introductions.
For the first time besides his initial glance, Razor looked directly at Gorou, and Gorou watched as his eyes drifted from his face up to his ears and widened.
“You… have ears?” Razor said. Within a moment, the wolf boy was inches from Gorou, grabbing at his ears to verify that they were real. Gorou instinctually flattened his ears in response, which only excited Razor more. “They move!” He said.
“Yes, they’re my ears after all and-“
“You have a tail!” Razor exclaimed. Gorou immediately felt him touching it, sending a chill rocketing up his spine.
“H-hey be careful with my tail!” He said, turning around so he had the rest of his body between his tail and Razor. He also caught a glimpse of Lumine barely containing her laughter and being thoroughly entertained by the two of them getting acquainted.
Razor sniffed at Gorou. “You… not of Mondstadt. But smell like wolf. You… are Lupical!” He said, smiling at Gorou.
“Uh, t-thank you??” Gorou said back, looking at Lumine and loud-whispering “What does that mean?”
Lumine chuckled. “It means he thinks of you as family.”
Gorou was speechless, and looked between Razor and Lumine, blushing profusely.
Gorou gazed down at Razor (who wasn’t currently standing at his full height, otherwise they would be at eye level with each other). He had always been the youngest, having 4 older siblings, and working with recruits usually older than himself in the resistance. But as he looked at this wide-eyed ragamuffin staring up at him in admiration, he wondered if this was what it felt like to have a little brother.
Lumine looked up at the moon. “We should look for a place to make camp for tonight.” She said, estimating the time from the moon’s position.
“Sure. But first, let’s hunt!” Razor said, looking at his new friend.
While Gorou agreed with Lumine, he found it difficult to reject Razor’s request, given how absolutely ecstatic he was. Besides, hunting wildlife wasn’t something he normally did, and he figured it would make for good tracking experience.
“Follow Razor! Smelled boar this way!” Razor said before running off into the woods. Lumine and Gorou quickly made chase.
To Gorou’s surprise, he did actually smell a boar this way. Razor’s nose was certainly impressive, given he was just a normal human. He was also quite fast.
In a moment they caught up to Razor and crouched beside him. “There!” Razor said quietly, pointing to a boar about 30 meters away.
Gorou’s mind immediately began planning. “Alright, so Razor will take the right flank, and I’ll take the left flank. Lumine will bring up the rear and keep it from retreating. When Razor and I are in position, we conduct a pincer maneuver and secure the boar!” Gorou explained.
As soon as he finished saying the plan, he looked at Razor and realized that he understood literally none of what he said.
“Flank? We eat flank AFTER we hunt boar.” Razor said.
Gorou felt Lumine tap on his shoulder. When he looked at her, she cleared her throat and made a motion with her hands as if she were drawing back a bowstring.
“Oh, I see. That…would probably be simpler, huh?” Gorou said, realizing how severely he was overthinking it. He turned back toward Razor only to find that he was gone. Gorou spotted him right behind the boar, raising his hand. Suddenly, purple crackling electricity emerged from his body and formed into a huge set of sharp claws around his raised hand. In one swift movement, Razor lunged forward and slashed the boar across its side, killing it instantly and unleashing a triumphant howl.
Gorou hadn’t noticed that Razor possessed a vision, and the fact that it was an electro vision made him wonder what the shogun saw in him that said “eternity”.
“NOW we eat flank!” Razor said, smiling innocently and hoisting the dead animal onto his back.
Perhaps the shogun simply liked him. He was hard to dislike, after all.
Gorou volunteered to take the lead on hunting the next boar. He was beginning to feel competitive and he wasn’t about to let Razor’s nose outshine his own. There was something profoundly satisfying to Gorou about the act of crouching through the woods stalking prey. He told himself that he would have to try hunting boars on Kannazuka or Chinju Forest. When the boar he had sniffed out was in sight, he followed Lumine’s advice earlier and simply shot it from a distance with one of his geo-empowered arrows. The animal fell dead and Gorou went and picked up the boar and hoisted it onto his back, just as Razor had.
Yet again, Gorou was impressed by Razor’s abilities. This boar was heavy, and Razor had been carrying it around without breaking a sweat. He did use a claymore as his weapon of choice, though, so it made sense that he was that strong.
Lumine giggled as the boys trotted back to her, grinning and carrying their trophies on their backs. “Are you two satisfied? C’mon, I know a place where we can make camp.” She said, walking away. Of course, both of them followed closely behind her.
Soon they arrived at a small clearing up on a ridge, encircled by trees but still having a clear view of the stars. Gorou set down his boar and began collecting dry leaves for kindling. Lumine noticed that Razor was still standing and holding onto his boar though.
“Razor, why don’t you put down your boar and get comfortable?” She asked.
“Razor only need one boar to share. I give other to my Lupical.” He replied.
And with that, he disappeared into the woods to deliver his kill to the wolves. Lumine turned back to Gorou, who was now gathering larger sticks.
“Oh, I have a better idea Gorou, wait one second.” She said, squatting beside his assembled pile of fire-starting materials. Gorou watched curiously as she pulled out some sort of small gadget and tossed it on the ground. It spun for a moment and after a little poof of smoke, a miniature cooking pot atop a square platform stood in its place, already lit with a fire. He watched, awestruck, as the boxy structure it sat on then glowed a soft green and the whole thing floated off the ground to a more convenient height for cooking.
“Wow!” He said. “Is there any way I could get these for the resistance?”
“In Liyue, these are called ‘Adepti Seeker’s Stoves’. The green part that makes it float is plaustrite. I make them at forges like the one in Inazuma city. I could try to teach you sometime.” Lumine said, going over to the boar and preparing the meat for cooking.
“That’d be great! You sure must learn a lot on your travels around Teyvat.”
“Well, it helps to be as multi-talented as yours truly.” She joked, beginning to cook the steaks.
Just then, Razor returned to the campsite. “Smell like meat!” He exclaimed. He walked up beside Lumine and peered over her shoulder to watch what she was doing. “You are cooking! I like your cooking. Taste better than raw.”
“Aww, thanks Razor! One day I’ll teach you how to make a nice steak like this. For now, though, you do make really good hash browns.”
Razor smiled and plopped onto the ground to continue watching her work. Before long, the three of them were sitting around the fire enjoying their food. Lumine briefly wondered why Paimon wasn’t drooling over her steak before realizing she had accidentally left Paimon back at the Inazuma branch of the adventurers guild. That would explain why she had been so uncharacteristically quiet the entire evening. Whoops. Oh well, pretty much everyone in town would recognize Paimon, and Katheryne should be able to babysit her until Lumine got back if need be. For now, though, Lumine enjoyed having it just be the three of them.
After dinner, they all laid side by side and stargazed together for a while, talking about their constellations and trying to point them out in the night sky. Lumine shared some of the knowledge she had gleaned from all of Mona’s talk of astrology, and the boys occasionally asked her questions.
Over the course of their stargazing, they had all lowered their voices to a whisper. Razor was the first to fall asleep, although he was so quiet normally that Lumine didn’t notice for a while. While she was telling stories of one of her adventures in Mondstadt, she saw that she had lulled Gorou to sleep as well.
Sure enough, Gorou was indeed clutching his fluffy tail in his arms as he slept. He looked so peaceful, but Lumine couldn’t help herself. She gently stroked the length of his tail. It was incredibly soft, like touching the tummy fur of a kitten, and so warm and cozy. Lumine definitely understood the desire to snuggle with it at night. Who wouldn’t? As she petted it, she noticed the tiniest of smiles appear on his face as he slept. Her heart melted and she had to restrain her “Awww” so as to not wake up the boys.
She returned to laying on her back, looking up at the stars. Her already heavy eyelids began to droop.
“Today was a good day.” She thought, glancing at her friends beside her. She closed her eyes and basked in the moonlight, comforted by the warmth of the boys on either side of her and the sense of safety their presence gave her. Before long, her breaths fell into a slow rhythm and her mind went quiet as she fell asleep.