Sometimes life changes for no reason. The interesting thing is whether these changes are good or bad.
Does waking up in an unknown world with many people who develop a crush on you count as a nice thing?
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This village is every sleepwalker's nightmare. Most of the huts are high up in the trees, so you could fall to death. The huts that are closer to the ground aren’t any better either as there are cliffs everywhere. Not to mention that wildlife is significantly more hostile than in any other region you were until now. So, to sum it up, it is good that you aren’t sleepwalking through Teyvat. You are just sitting at the edge of a wooden path in the big tree, your legs dangling off of it.
On the plus side, you have quite a good view of your surroundings up here. As the night has already come, all the nocturnal insects have awaken to chirp to determine who the best singer among them is. The fireflies on the other hand do their little illuminated dances in the air. This peaceful nature has something truly beautiful to it.
“Please do not jump out of shock this time, the fall down here would put you in a significantly worse position than your friend’s one. It’s just me – Tighnari.”, says a male voice from a medium distance before coming closer to you.
You sigh. “I am usually not that jumpy - still, thank you though. How is Aether doing?”
“He hasn’t woken up yet, but his condition is stable. Haypasia, the scholar you met back at the cave, has improved so far that she already has left again. She forgot to eat during her meditation and she ended up collapsing because of it. By chance, your group met her exactly at that moment. There wasn’t a common factor that made both your friend and the scholar sick.”
“And what is or was wrong with Aether then? He isn’t malnourished or something like that and you said before that the air wasn’t poisoned either, soo…”
“I have an idea what might have happened, but we will have to wait until he wakes up.” Still standing, Tighnari massages his forehead.
“Having a headache?”
“It is hard not to get one if a flying child, worried for her friend, is constantly talking with her high-pitched voice despite being told to be quiet multiple times.”
“Ah, you must have a sensitive hearing because of those ears… Yeah, Paimon loves to talk. As far as I know she used to do all the talking before I joined their traveling group, but nowadays Aether speaks more for himself, so it isn’t as obvious anymore.”, you chuckle, “Please don’t be mad at her – she only means well. Really. But back to Aether: Could I go and see how he is doing myself?“
“Sure. Come with me.”
Once you arrive at the hut where Aether is taken care off, you are greeted by a peacefully sleeping blond boy with Paimon sleeping on the same pillow as him, snoring lightly. Careful not to wake them up, you walk up to them. “Get well soon, you adorable idiot.”, you whisper and gently remove a strand of hair out of the Traveler’s face.
Equally quiet as you, Tighnari sits down on a stool. “Are you two a pair? A romantic one, I mean.”
“WH-“, you pause, remembering that you have to be quiet to not wake up anybody. “How did you get that idea?”
