The Winds Bring with them Change (Volume 1)

36: Be Safe

It was dark, but he seemed to be in a place closely resembling the very town they resided in outside of this dream. A little girl wandered around the streets, clad in green and white, her footsteps softer than should be on the harsh stone-paved walkways of the city. He kept up with her, not concerned with her noticing him, as only ones who resided in the dream could see him, and that was only Aether.

"You are not a mortal."

Or so he had thought. Though it had happened before, it was rare enough, and he figured she wasn't actually looking for him to speak, so he only continued his search for bright gold hair.

"I cannot see you like I see the others." She was walking beside him now, eyes bright with something otherworldly. Suddenly she stopped him, tugging on his hand harshly.

"You're not wearing a terminal, are you?!" Her grin grew and Xiao got the impression that she meant no harm to him. So he answered her finally, keeping his tone gruff.

"A what?" Her eyebrows drew together in that way a little child's does when they think on something.

"The glowing terminals they give you at the front gate."

Oh.

"We threw ours in some bushes at the entrance." If the devices they were handing out at the front gates of the city had something to do with the emptiness of the streets, then that meant this was a bigger problem than Xiao had thought it would be. The girl skipped until she stood in front of him, sticking a hand out towards him.

"My name is Nahida. How did you get here?" The girl's eyes glowed ever so slightly as she moved once more, bouncing on her feet. Xiao considered the truth for a moment, Venti's voice all serious in his head. However, though she had taken on the form of a small child, that did not guarantee innocence.

"What about you?" He redirected the question in a way so similar to how the ones he loved did when speaking with mortals. She grinned, stretching idly as she walked ahead of him.

"It's a secret." She turned to face him once more, long white hair brushing over her shoulders as she tilted her head. Xiao wondered why in a dream he hadn't run into Aether. When walking through other's dreams, it was usual that he ended up right in front of them. However this situation was clearly less than usual, as the blonde traveler was no where to be found.

"Aether." That sounded too gruff. He tried again. "Have you seen Aether in here?" At the turn of her head, he remembered that she was like him, in other's heads, and might not have seen Aether at all.

"Blonde, about as tall as I am, wearing strange clothing. Travels with a pixie." Her posture changed from the ease she had presented before into something stiffer, more on-guard. Her eyes glowed as she turned, threatening whilst she inquired with another unwieldy tilt to her head.

"What is it you need with the traveler?" Perhaps this was good. If Aether had someone already so fiercely protective of him in this land, then perhaps he would manage to keep himself out of any more trouble. But considering his track record.... it wasn't likely.

The blonde was prone to getting tossed in the middle of conflicts by people who didn't care if he lived or died. It was becoming a bit of a pattern. A pattern Xiao and Venti weren't particularly fond of. At least in the matters pertaining to their countries, they had helped him along a bit, though Xiao had been fairly cold in the doing so.

"I care deeply for him, and we have not heard from him in weeks. His other friends and I were only worried." Yes...friends. Though Xiao had never longed to be more to a person in his life, even as the words left his lips, he felt his hands tightening in his gloves. He did, he wanted to be more to Aether more than he'd wanted a thing in his thousands of years of existence. They had had conversations about such a thing happening, Venti and him, and both seemed to be onboard with their relationship being more than just the two of them. However, they'd never really found a right time to bring it up with Aether, and all feelings had been left to simply marinate.

Perhaps they would have to think a bit more seriously about having that conversation, once they were all back in the safety of their home. Until then though.

"Where is he." This was not a game, and he was getting more than tired with the little girl.

She gazed up at him for a second more, before sighing unhappily and walking off in another direction.

"Your friend is this way, follow me." Xiao stalked behind her as the sky began to lighten, yellows and oranges lighting on the street in the face of the rising sun. She kept walking until they stood in front of another home, the doorway small in the fashion he had noticed most seemed to be in Sumeru. As he stepped over the threshold, bright gold eyes met his, widening instantly.

In the next moment he was holding a form clad in white in his arms, even Paimon choosing to hug him tightly. Brave decision. But one he was ok with as long as they were safe. He could feel Aether shaking slightly in his grasp, his fingers grasping at the back of Xiao shirt desperately. Paimon pulled away after a short time, leaving only the blonde in his arms.

He didn't want to let go. But something was definitely wrong here, and he needed to know what. Aether pulled back away from him, rubbing at his eyes furiously as if they'd offended him. His hands reached for Xiao's face, fingers trembling so hard he could feel it against his skin when Aether finally touched him.

"You're real." He jerked his hands back, emotions flickering over his features before settling on confusion and panic. Xiao noticed briefly that his voice was softer, smoother than the few times he'd spoke vocally in the past.

"You're real, how did you get here? You can't be here." His braid whipped around as he shot a frantic look at Paimon who just looked scared. His hands were on Xiao's face again, turning his head side to side and sighing in relief when he didn't find what he was looking for. A slight flush rose on his cheeks and he lifted his hands in embarrassment.

"Sorry." He signed, and though Xiao was stopped in his tracks when Aether spoke, it was reassuring to see him speak rather than hear it. He didn't speak often, and when he did, it was usually out of strong emotion. It made sense in that his understanding of the language was still limited, and Paimon did most of the speaking for him.

"Kazuha and I are sitting by your bedside, waiting for your awakening." He stopped, adding after a moment. "We worried."

Aether's face split in a grin, before he quickly signed," Did you use the devices they gave you when you entered the city? If you are, you need to throw them away." Xiao nodded, pulling Aether's hands to his chest, immediately regretting it at the look on the blonde's face.

"What do you need us to do?" Aether's look became pensive for a while before he shrugged and signed simply.

"Hug Venti for me. We have to deal with this from in here." He pulled his hands back gently, a look that Xiao once again couldn't recognize crossing his features. Paimon flew to Xiao quickly for yet another hug, her form seeming smaller even than usual before they stepped back through the doorway.

He nodded, watching their forms fade for a second before whispering under his breath.

"Be safe."