If, and Only If || (Xiao x Reader)

十九

His curiosity still remains, but it was more resistant.

That time, he had found his way up into a deep mountain, after he had been playing around in the village right down below.

He had met a boy and girl, siblings. They enjoyed their time, but had to go back to their house, leaving Xiao to be by himself. And to try and go find something to entertain his small little mind.

Once again, distracted in his own thoughts. He stopped in the middle of the plain.

It seemed never ending, it didn't have an end, he couldn't see the sky. Or any other part of Liyue.

He was lost.

Frantically searching for any signs of light, he looked around. But found only darkness. Desperate. He was desperate for a way out, and his feelings of wanting to get out seemed to be heard by something. Because he heard a few steps, coming from behind him.

Like anyone, he turned around, and squinted his eyes to see a figure walking towards him slowly. And it sure wasn't a human. But a white tiger.

A creature not seen at all across the region. It looked absolutely intimidating to his young mind. He was just a few years into his young age, so he felt fear course through him immediately. He hadn't moved at all from his spot, as he stared at the e/c colored eyes, and the tiger didn't seem to bat an eyelash.

Xiao didn't think it had acknowledged his presence in here.

The tiger only stared right back at the young boy.

Xiao wasn't sure what to do. What do you do when you see such a creature staring you down? Run? No, that would be a foolish idea. He couldn't outrun it. It would have their sharp teeth stabbed right into his head.

Surprisingly, the tiger huffed and stared at his eyes for a good 5 seconds. Then turned around, walking into the mist and fog, as their tail would swing from side-to-side.

Xiao stood bewildered. And those good 5 seconds felt like the white beast had told him to follow. And that huff from their nose. Were they... making fun of him?

Quickly, collecting his senses, he ran over and followed its path.

The white tiger didn't look at him, as they kept walking deeper though the forest. Little Xiao had thought, or assumed they lived on this mountain.

They stopped in their tracks, as Xiao mimicked their action, looking at the tiger confused. Answering his confused state, the white tiger moved their head in his direction, and looked back forward. He followed their gaze, and he found himself in front of the sunsetting of Liyue. In the far distance, the mountains were tall, and some birds flew around them circling in around.

The white tiger had found him an opening away from the foggy mountain. They must have noticed he seemed lost, and scared.

Though he didn't know, that the tiger hoped that if he saw this scenery, he would calm down. And not wanting to go through the trouble of helping out this kid, they wanted him to stay away from the place.

Another day after Xiao had played with his friends, he climbed up the mountain. And the mountain was tall. The tallest, specifically. No normal mortal human being should be able to come up. Not even a child. But Xiao had went up just fine, without much of a problem.