Chapter Text
“C’mon, Paimon’s starving!” Paimon flitters in the air, flying circles around Lumine as she approaches the long, stone bridge that leads up to Mondstadt.
“You’re always starving,” Lumine says, barely acknowledging Paimon’s whining. “And we’ll be there soon. We can have lunch at the Good Hunter, okay?”
“Hehe!” Paimon grins widely. “Yay!”
But, before Lumine can take even one step across the bridge, she stops. The scent of ash and smoke suddenly fills her nostrils.
“Is something cooking?” Paimon stops and starts looking around.
“Something’s… burning.” Lumine frowns. But… it doesn’t smell like burnt food or even just normal burning wood. There’s something… different about it.
Turning to observe the nearby scenery, Lumine feels a familiar twinge as she activates her Elemental Sight. The world fades into muted greys, except for the soft Dendro in the grass and a trace of Anemo on the wind and the long, winding path of Pyro leading towards the nearby forest.
“There’s a trail,” Lumine says. “Pyro energy.”
Paimon gasps. “Then- is it a monster!?”
“Only one way to find out.” Lumine summons her sword, the weapon a familiar weight in her grip. “Stay close.” And she hurries away.
“Woah! Wait for Paimon!” Paimon falters in the air for a second before quickly flying after her partner. “I’m coming!”
Following the strands of Pyro energy, Lumine approaches the Whispering Woods. In the soft earth, she can see footprints heading further inside, exactly tracing the path of Pyro.
“These don’t look like they’re from hilichurls…” Paimon peers down to look. She points at Lumine’s feet. “They’re the same as yours!”
“So… an adventurer?” Lumine asks.
Paimon shrugs. “But, then where’s this smokey smell coming from?”
A fresh breeze blows through the forest, rustling the trees and loosening a few green leaves into the air. At the same time, another wave of that smokey smell wafts through.
“We should go look, just in case,” Lumine says.
“Hmm… okay.” Paimon sighs. “But we can go eat afterwards, right?”
“If you’re so desperate, you can take something out of my bag,” Lumine says. “There should still be some of Kaeya’s skewers in there from last time.”
“But I want sticky honey roast!” Paimon shakes her head. “It’s okay, I’ll hold out a little longer.”
With a chuckle, Lumine turns away from Paimon and the pair walk deeper into the woods.
After only a few minutes of walking, Lumine sees the Pyro energy suddenly become even more prominent. Looking around, she also sees fresh scorch marks across the ground and some nearby trees, as well as…
“An arrow?” Lumine crouches down. She picks up the arrow and, though the tip is mostly broken off, she recognises it immediately. “This… is Amber’s.”
“Amber!?” Paimon exclaims. “What’s she doing, lurking around these parts?”
“It’s her job, Paimon,” Lumine says. Then, with a deep breath. “Amber!?” She shouts. “Are you around here?”
“Amber!” Paimon flies a little further in up the air. “Amber!? Where are you!?”
Immediately, both Lumine and Paimon hear a loud rustling from nearby.
“Eek!” Paimon ducks behind Lumine’s shoulder.
Lumine looks over at the source of the sound, spotting a large bush flanked by a cluster of small lamp grass. And, after a moment, the bush rustles again, this time accompanied by a flash of moment as what Lumine thinks is a hand reaches out and snatches up one of the nearby flowers.
“Ah!” Paimon gasps. “What’s it doing?”
Carefully, Lumine takes a steps forward, sword still in hand. She uses the tip to reach out towards the bush and… Woosh! She dodge-rolls forward with a precise swing of her blade, cutting through the main body of the large bush.
“Woah!” A new, unfamiliar voice calls out in alarm.
“Huh?” Paimon and Lumine look up at the… at the strange person sitting in the dirt beside them.
Dressed in red, white and brown, the young-looking person has short, brown hair tucked into a hand-sewn hat complete with large, false bunny ears. They’re dressed in a white blouse under a red vest and matching red jacket, with long and frayed brown paints. Their entire outfit is covered in scorch marks, including a large, black smudge across their cheek.
“What was that for?” The stranger laughs. “You surprised me!”
“You surprised us!” Paimon immediately retorts. “What were you doing hiding in a bush!?”
The stranger sighs. “Jeez, calm down.” They smile up at Paimon, revealing a missing front tooth. “I was just pickin’ flowers. No big deal.”
“Did you leave all this Pyro energy around?” Lumine asks.
“Oh?” They tilt their head to the side. “Haha, yeah. Sorry if I worried you, Traveller.”
“You… know me?” Lumine asks.
“Sure.” The stranger get to their feet, dusting off their knees. “Are you saying you don’t remember me?”
Lumine and Paimon make eye contact. Lumine turns back to the stranger. “No.”
“Ack!” They stumble back, hand over their heart. “A low blow.”
“You still haven’t told us who you are!” Paimon shouts. “Spill it, weirdo!”
“Weirdo!?”
“Baron!”
Lumine jolts up, finally getting back to her feet. “Amber?”
“Amber!” Paimon grins.
“Amber!” The stranger somehow smiles even wider. “I’m over here!” They wave their arms around and, sure enough, Amber’s familiar form soon appears in view, seemingly coming form the main path.
“Woah!” Amber gasps at the sight of the three of them. “Lumine and Paimon!” She turns to the stranger. “Baron! Why did you run off like that!?”
“Not my fault.” The stranger, apparently named Baron, rubs their head sheepishly. “I got a little distracted.” They grin. “You’ll forgive me, right Amber?”
“Jeez…” Amber crosses her arms. “Just don’t go burning the forest down on accident, okay?”
“Low bar. I like it.” Baron nods. “Deal.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Paimon waves her arms. “What the heck is going on here!?” She turns to Amber. “You know this guy?”
“I do.” Amber sighs. “Guys, this is Baron. Though… I guess they’ve already met you before, so no introductions needed.”
“And again!” Paimon scowls. “How do they know us?”
“Though, we’re sort of famous by now,” Lumine says.
“True.” Amber smiles widely. “I’ve been hearing about your adventures in Sumeru, you know! News traveled all the way out here-” She catches herself. “Um. Well, maybe we can catch up another time.”
Lumine looks Amber up and down and finally spots the thing that’s been bothering her. “…Amber?”
“Hm?”
“Where’s your vision?”
Paimon gasps. “You’re right!” She points down at Amber’s belt. “It’s gone!”
“No… its not.” Amber waves her hands placatingly. Her eyes wander over towards Baron. “They’re… right here, actually.”
“…What!?”
“So… to recap.” Paimon crosses her arms. “Suddenly, your vision started shining super brightly… and then this weird guy appeared? And your vision was nowhere to be seen?” She squints at Baron. “And… they can use all your cool abilities with Pyro?”
“That’s about it.” Amber nods. “I was walking through the forest towards Windrise when it happened and I…” She blushes. “Sort of freaked out and ran away… I managed to track down Baron eventually, only for them to get distracted by the lamp grass.”
“Can you blame me?” Baron interjects. “This is my first time with a body!” They gesture to themselves. “I want to pick flowers, run and jump and glide!” They laugh loudly. “Who knows how long this is gonna last? I need to take advantage of it!”
“I guess you sort of have a point…” Paimon says. “But, hold on, how does something like this happen the first place?”
“Well, I was about to head back to the city of try and figure that out,” Amber says. “I would have gone right away, but… you know…”
“Well, how about we go together?” Lumine asks. “I promised Paimon lunch anyway.”
“Really? That’s great!” Amber grins. “Alright, let’s go.” She looks at Baron. “And no wandering off again, okay?”
“Okay…” Baron shrugs. “I promise.”
So, with two new companions, Lumine, Paimon, Amber and Baron finally head back towards Mondstadt. Under the bright afternoon sun, they cross the stone bridge and approach the city gates. Like usual, Swan and Lawrence are dutifully standing guard. But, when Lumine goes to greet them, Lawrence steps up to meet them.
“Outrider Amber!” He gives a nod of greeting. “I’ve been informed that you’re needed at Headquarters as soon as possible.”
“Huh?” Amber blinks. “What’s this about?”
“Well…” Lawrence’s eyes pan over to Baron. “Just, you should go as quickly as possible. And, please, watch your step.”
“Huh?” Amber gives Lumine a confused look, but quickly bids Lawrence farewell anyway before heading through the gates.
Inside the city proper, the four of them quickly discover what Lawrence was talking about. With a few townsfolk gathered around, they see that a huge part of the main road in front of the adventurer’s guild is heavily coated in ice. Shards of frost stick out of the ground beside a thick, frozen layer covering the road and stairway, with parts of the nearby building also coated in ice.
“Woah!” Amber gasps. “What happened here?”
Moving closer, Lumine can see another knight, Guy, attempting to melt the ice with a fiery torch, which seems to be having minimal effect.
“That’s not normal ice,” Baron says. “Looks like someone with a Vision did that.”
“Someone with a Vision?” Paimon frowns.
“Here, I can help with this.” Baron grins, stepping forward.
“Wha- Hey, Baron!” Amber reaches out to them but not fast enough.
“Stand back, peoples!” Baron extends their arms. In an instant, flames burst to life in their hands, quickly running up their arms and along their shoulders.
Onlookers gasp and move back as Baron crouches down to touch the ice beneath him. Upon contact, their flames grow even brighter, attacking the sheer cold with pure Pyro.
Sneaking a glimpse through her Elemental Sight, Lumine can see small instances of Melt occurring at the point of contact. “…It’s working,” She says.
Sure enough, in the few seconds that pass, Baron makes a larger and large hole in the ice’s surface.
“Baron, we’re supposed to be in a hurry remember!?” Amber calls out.
“Oh, right!” Baron gasps. “Better hurry this up!” They pull away from the ice and take a few tentative steps across the frozen surface, slipping a few times. “Woah!” They grin. “Okay!” They raise their hands and… being to dance.
“Oh my Archons…” Amber covers her face.
“That’s… the Baron Bunny dance!” Paimon gasps.
“One, two, three!” Baron laughs. “Fire away!” In a large blast, fire suddenly engulfs their body.
Paimon shrieks in surprise and hot air flares outward.
“Ah!” Amber shields her face.
And, when the smoke and fire clears, Baron is still standing in the same spot, clothes and skin covered in ash. Still, they grin proudly, looking down at the newly thawed road beneath their feet. A few of the larger ice crystals were only minimally effected, but the road itself is newly cleared.
“W-Woah…” Guy reels back.
“Hehe.” Baron wipes their face. “Hey, why’re you all just standing around? Weren’t we in a hurry?”