A delicate feather charm swayed beside her ear, whispering of far-off places she'd once crossed.
Her eyes were a lucid gold—sunlight trapped in amber—burning all the brighter against the storm's bruise-colored sky. In that gaze lived grit and resolve, the kind that didn't yield to any gale.
The wind slowed her steps.
Every stride bit into resistance.
Yet she kept running—unhesitating, sure-footed, unstoppable.
She wore a blue-and-white, foreign-cut dress; the hem flared with her sprint. Gold diamond inlays at the skirt's edge scattered light like tiny, set stars. A white scarf streamed behind her in a parted ribbon, tails fluttering down to her legs in elegant arcs. White sleevelets tied with rabbit-ear bows trembled at the cuffs, lending her a playful quickness.
Her boots—white and gilt on wooden soles—landed with light authority, as if even in a storm she could still move with poise. Translucent diamond ornaments along the boots and dress breathed with a mild white glow, fireflies in the squall, announcing a radiance that was hers alone.
Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
Stormterror's vast shadow corkscrewed through the clouds. Every beat of its wings ploughed up ruinous gusts, scavenging the street bare. Houses groaned, clock-bells clanged, screams braided with shouts—Mondstadt's peace twisted into a battlefield at the eye of the wind.
At the doors of Good Hunter, the young man did not fit the panic around him.
The gale teased the hem of his coat and lifted his black hair, yet Kairo stood without a flicker of fear—so calm it looked unreal beside the stampeding crowds.
The blonde girl—Lumine—caught sight of him as she dashed through the square.
"Move!" she shouted, voice nearly swallowed by the wind. "Stormterror's here—get inside!"
"Don't just stand there! Run! The twisters are in the inner city already! If you get caught in one—"
She sprinted harder, reaching to yank him along.
A translucent panel blinked into being before Kairo, lines of text spilling like cold light.
You're on your way to rendezvous with Seele when you run into a Nameless from the Astral Express—the Trailblazer, Stelle. She's frantic: March 7th went out shopping and never returned. Faced with the Trailblazer's plea, you choose…
Option 1: Answer without hesitation. You can't ignore a Nameless in need. Help her find March 7th—tracking people is something you're decent at anyway. Who could refuse the Trailblazer? Maybe you'll pick up intel on the Astral Express… perhaps even make a friend? (Reward: Footprints of Fate — advance a Path you've stepped onto; if none, promote a Path skill.)
Option 2: Keep your distance. Lost girl? Not your specialty—and you've got other plans today. Offer well-wishes and let the Trailblazer handle it; she'll find March 7th without you. (Reward: Undying Starlight — fallen radiance set into a brilliant gem; priceless and still potent.)
Option 3: Walk on. Pretend you didn't hear the plea and head straight to meet Seele. The Astral Express is packed with hardened veterans; they don't really need your help. In this world, watching your own step matters most. (Reward: Undying Embers — cooled sighs of light; at least they once burned.)
Kairo blinked. …Those rewards are stacked.
Footprints of Fate? If he scored that, he could strengthen the Path techniques he'd copied—Clara's steadying ferocity, Sampo's slippery tricks. The other two rewards weren't "skills," but Undying Starlight and Undying Embers were invaluable in their own right—materials thrumming with power.
"Come on!"
Lumine's fingers brushed his—then she felt a vicious pull at her back. The nearest twister swelled, its suction ripping at the air as cobbles shivered underfoot. Her face tightened; she let go at once so she wouldn't drag him into danger with her.
"Don't worry," Kairo said softly.
He flicked a thread of borrowed power—the Hunt's quickening breath, a Path-aligned boost he'd taken from Seele—and cast it onto Lumine like a ribbon of wind.
An invisible hand seized her, heaving her skyward. Golden hair snapped in the gale as the twister swallowed her whole.
"It took her!"
"Is she going to fall from that height?!"
"Stormterror's winds—no one can get close!"
Cries rose from those who'd made it to safety. Then, all at once, gasps rippled through the crowd—because the girl tore free from the spiral's grip and dropped, a comet, out of the high churn.
"…My speed—why did it spike?"
Lumine didn't understand it either. A breath ago the wind had hauled her upward; now strength flooded her limbs, control sliding back into her bones.
She glanced down at Kairo.
This shift had begun the instant he spoke.
"Oh? Interesting." A mild, faintly amused voice brushed her ear—surprised, and not unkind. "Your body shelters another current—mysterious, and strong enough to rival the Thousand Winds."
"It's still small… but the potential surpasses the Thousand Winds themselves."
"In that case—let me lend you a hand."
"Picture it: gather a strand of wind. Let it pierce the clouds."
Wind surged. A pair of nearly invisible Anemo pinions blossomed behind Lumine, layering over her Wind Glider. Air cradled her; she steadied, weightless, suspended in the roar.
She flexed—and the sky answered. The new wings were lighter than any glider, more alive, fusing with the very breath of Mondstadt. The storm didn't buffet her; it buoyed her, slipping around her like a river offering its current. A tilt of her shoulders and she slid sideways, free and precise, a hawk playing in thermals.
A roar tore across the square.
Stormterror beat its wings and bore down, a living wall of wind blotting half the sky. Its slit pupils caught the glint at her back; jaws yawned, condensing a whirling pressure orb that screamed toward her.
"—Move!"
She flashed across the air, the blast raking past. The aftershock pawed at her balance, but she did not fall. I'm hovering… inside Stormterror's storm.
Lumine opened her hand. Anemo gathered there, thick as silk. A needle of wind formed at her fingertips, keen enough to bite through a gale.
"This is stronger than the breeze I've called before…"
She nocked and loosed.
The wind-arrow tore out, slipping between shearing currents to hammer Stormterror's scales. The dragon snarled—more anger than pain—then stooped, a mountain diving.
Sword in both hands, Lumine cut. Anemo climbed the blade's arc; a crescent of wind slammed into the dragon's charge.
Boom—! Shockwaves erupted. For a heartbeat, the monster's dive checked.
Only checked.
Its wings flared again, power compounding for a second assault—
—and a thread-thin melody sighed from far away, almost not a melody at all so much as a memory of one.
Stormterror stilled.
With a final, ragged bellow, it flung itself upward and fled into cloud, leaving only its rabid twisters unraveled across the squares and streets.
Why did it retreat…? Lumine descended, narrow-eyed.
Below, Mondstadters gawked.
"Who is she?! She's flying—in that wind!"
"Barbatos's envoy?"
"She traded blows with Stormterror—and drove it off?!"
The twisters waned; Lumine alit amid the cracked flagstones of the plaza. Amber raced up, breathless.
"Are you okay?!"
She'd been herding citizens and had nearly lost sight of Lumine when the blonde had shot skyward. Now, with Stormterror gone, she all but skidded to a halt at Lumine's boots.
"…To spar a dragon," someone murmured, awe-struck. "That power—"
"I leave for a short while," a smooth voice said, "and return to find a storm met with another."
Kaeya strolled into view, one eye smiling. "Welcome to Mondstadt, our guest… or perhaps, our new wind?"
"Kaeya! You're back!" Amber brightened—then winced at the sky. "Stormterror… it's started striking inside the city!"
"Kaeya, Traveler—you came at the right time, let's—"
"Wait a moment, Amber." Kaeya lifted a hand. "Not everyone has been properly introduced, have they?"
Amber paused, scratching her head; with the worst passed, she nodded. "Right—this is Kaeya, our Cavalry Captain. These two are travelers from afar: the Traveler and Paimon."
"From afar, and no further?" Kaeya's eye narrowed, amused.
Amber quickly recounted how they'd met. Kaeya chuckled, inclining his head. "I see. Welcome to Mondstadt—though I regret the timing."
"I know how hard blood-ties torn apart can hurt, Traveler," he added, voice softening. "And while I won't ask why you seek the Anemo Archon—everyone's entitled to their secrets."
"In any case, the Knights of Favonius owe you thanks."
"It's nothing," Lumine said, shaking her head. The mysterious voice, the sudden lift in her speed—the memory made her brows knit.
"You did help drive Stormterror off," Kaeya insisted lightly. "I suspect the Acting Grand Master will be… very interested in speaking with you both."
Amber nodded. "Knights' Headquarters—can you come now?"
Lumine glanced once at the sky, then at Kairo by Good Hunter's door.
"…All right," she said. "I can leave any time."
Across the square, Kairo's panel dimmed—three options waiting like baited hooks.
He looked from the fading storm to the nameless wind still ringing in his ears… and to the Trailblazer he hadn't met yet.
Which choice would earn him destiny—and which would make destiny notice him back?
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