Winter Moon | Xiao x Fem Reader

Pieces

"So you're saying the only reason you ran off in the middle of the night was that you were looking for something to pick a fight with because you were sad you lost to Xiao?" You asked incredulously, with your head in your hand.

"Ojou-chan, when you put it like that it doesn't sound that great does it?" Childe replied, laughing sheepishly and scratching the back of his neck.

While looking for a way out you and Xiao had stumbled onto Zhongli and Childe, the latter of which was slashing at the wall with his water blades. When you'd asked him why he was doing that he'd only replied with "It's faster than travelling through the tunnels." to which you'd sighed exasperatingly at.

"Although, ojou-chan, the sigil you said belongs to your friend, Yin, looks pretty interesting. Where do you reckon she got that?" The harbinger asked with a hand on his chin. His look turned sharply at the object in your hand. How he went from looking so aloof to so calculating and canny in just a matter of seconds would remain a wonder to you.

"Ah, it's something she always had with her from what I can remember," you laughed airily. "She was quite well off so it's no wonder she'd own such prestigious items." You tried to play it off, diverge his attention as much as you could. His interest wasn't uncalled for nonetheless. The sigil itself was the most beautiful thing you'd carved out yourself with stardust.

It was a small thing, able to fit in the palm of your hand, the luminous silver circled a crescent moon symbol made from a fallen star from a constellation symbolising happiness and luck - something you wished desperately to be able to give to your yaksha. You'd worked on the small sigil for 30 nights, polishing the stardust until it shined brighter than a diamond. Yin had cried when you'd given it to her, bowing relentlessly and thanking you from the bottom of her heart. You wish you'd be able to make her this happy again in the future.

"Hm, a yaksha that has their own riches? Haven't heard of a phenomenon like that seeing as most yakshas would rather serve than be served." Childe eyed Xiao for a second. You didn't know if he meant what he said or if he was looking for another fight with the yaksha. You looked over at Xiao to gauge his reaction to Childe's mocking words but you found him looking intently at the ground in front of him, seemingly lost in thought. He'd been like that ever since you'd had that conversation deep into the caves.

You sighed and turned back to Zhongli, trying to divert your own attention from the Yaksha that seemed to unknowingly demand it from you. "Where do you think we should go next? Yin was obviously here, left this sigil on purpose for us, I'm sure of it, so she'd want us to follow her."

Zhongli hummed in consideration and looked to the north and pointed at a mountain far off into the distance. "I can't be exactly sure but the closest place she could go to would be Qingce village. Perhaps it would make sense she'd leave this moon carved sigil here when the closest village is one of the only ones in Teyvat who still celebrate the Lunar Festival, don't you think?" He'd looked at you with a hidden emotion in his eyes. In turn, you tried not to let surprise take over your features. You'd roamed Teyvat for over 2000 years and hadn't come across someone who still celebrated the Celestial Moon God, for it was a long-forgotten custom. You looked at the sigil in your hand and then North to where Qingce village was supposed to be. This was definitely Yin's doing.

---

The group trekked for 3 days and 3 nights across hills and mountains, taking necessary sleeping breaks for Childe until you finally arrived at a cliff before Qingce village.

It was a tiny village built between two mountains populated by mostly elderly people. The houses were made from wood and stone, the fences around it were ready to fall over but what made you stop and look in awe were the seemingly layered gardens of flowers at the base of the mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous.