SCENE I
An agonizing voice made a piercing echo in his ears as he slept. He tossed and turned, trying to escape the strangely familiar events that caused a ruckus in his slumber.
"Apologize to me."
Venti's eyes burst open with astounding force and he jolted into a sit, panting ferociously as he recollected his nightmare.
One of his shaky fingers wiped the cold sweat from his colorless face and he finally caught his breath.
"Um... Mister? Are you okay?"
Just to his right, stood a young child— a girl who appeared to be around the age of seven. She had a hand rested curiously on the giant tree in which Venti leaned against.
Although his eyes were locked on hers, the bard looked to be in a completely different world.
He was likely still in shock, but fortunately still seemed aware of where he was.
He glanced above him, only to see the overflowing branches of the elegant tree that sprouted itself from the ground in Windtrace.
Compared to Venti's previous state, the environment was extraordinarily peaceful, with the only sound being the soft rustles of the branches and leaves as they flurried with the wind.
He breathed a deep sigh and tilted his head backwards so it could rest itself on the stump of the tree.
"Mister?"
The child's voice sounded again and this time as to not alarm her, Venti replied.
"I'm alright, kiddo." He smiled warmly, his head still against the bark, but now tilted to face the girl.
"Why are you all alone?" She asked as her brunette braids fell over her shoulder. "Don't you have any friends?"
Venti stifled a laugh. "Why of course I do~ I've got so many friends that I couldn't even count!"
The young girl dropped into a criss-crossed position and scooted next to the bard.
"Then why do you look so sad? Did you fight with one of them?" Her curious eyes gazed deep into Venti's, and for a mere moment, he was afraid that she could read his mind.
Once again, he sighed.
"I guess you could say that." He broke the eye contact and fixated his vision on the grassy plains in front of him.
"Was it a really really bad fight?" She noticed that her company's gaze had moved, so she crawled over to follow it.
Venti only chuckled and said nothing.
"You know..." She began. "My mom said that whenever you are mean to someone, you should say you're sorry, and then it'll be all better!"
"Haha... is that so?"
"Yeah! So did you say you're sorry to your friend yet?" The girl wore an ecstatic and fearless glow, which made her appear much wiser than her age showed.
"Haha. Let's just say that I want to, but I can't. I don't think my friend wants to talk to me anymore." Venti formed a friendly grin and patted the girl on the head.
"Woah, you must've done something really bad!" She exclaimed with her curiosity growing greater by the second.
"Sure did." Since he was speaking to a child, Venti wore a cheeky tone, but it was clear that he had a lot of trouble keeping his worry and disappointment from boiling over into his words.
Venti knew that what he had done to you was unforgivable, and he knew that he could do nothing to repair it.
Your life had been ruined by him. His ill thinking and impulsive actions had brought you to your demise and he couldn't even begin to explain how he felt about it.
It was all his fault and for thousands of years those condemning thoughts circled his mind without an end.
He sincerely wished he could vent his feelings to someone— anyone, in fact, but the little girl in front of him knew nothing of the severity of his actions, and she would be horrified if she did.
"Hehe~ You could say that I'm a bit of a troublemaker." That signature mischievous expression once again made an appearance on Venti's face.
The child abruptly stood and plopped her fists to her hips. It seemed that a spritely scolding was sure to come to the bard. "Mister, you are not a very good friend!"
To assert dominance, she now glared down at Venti, whom actually looked a tad surprised by her sudden outburst.
"W- Well... That's a bit—"
"No excuses! You are a bad friend!" The girl swung her pointer finger in circles near Venti's face to make her point even more tremendous. "And you're a little unsmart too."
"Unsmart? Did she just call me... unsmart?"
Venti's fraud of a grin still remained and he tried his best to remain a friend. "And what is it that makes me so... unsmart, exactly?"
"Well one time I thought my friend hated me, but it wasn't true! He was just avoiding me because he thought I hated him!" The young girl appeared absolutely fascinated by her own story, and continued with such passion that it internally amused the bard. "But I'm not unsmart so I said I was sorry, and guess what!"
"...What?" Venti played along and adhered to the child's lecture, albeit with quite a monotone.
"We are best friends now! Isn't that crazy?!" The amount of enthusiasm she possessed worried Venti that she might pass out. "So, Mister uh... green boy, I'm pretty sure your friend doesn't hate you and prolly wants to be your friend again."
The bard breathed and then again relaxed his head against the gigantic tree.
"Just say you're sorry and everything will be better, I promise!"
"It won't be better, and you'd agree with me if you knew what I did." He thought, honestly not listening to the girl's words anymore.
"Here." Carefully, she opened Venti's sweaty palms, leaving a shocked expression on the bard. "Take this and give it to your friend."
The child had placed something in his hands, and the slow speed and caution she mannered led the bard to believe it was a rather fragile possession.
Once she moved, Venti's heart quickly dropped to the bottom of his stomach.
In his hands laid a Cecilia— one of the most gorgeous local flowers in the region of Mondstadt, albeit this one was slightly crumpled and torn from the child's rough handling.
He stared and stared at the flower, and at this point was certain that the child could read his thoughts, for there was only one place where these plants took their form.
And that place was Starsnatch cliff.
Much like the Cecilia flower, at Starsnatch cliff is where all of Venti's regrets stemmed from.
With the Cecilia still lying limp in his palms, Venti's arms gave out and plopped onto his thighs. His eyes were still wide, for his mind raced wild.
Minutes went by without so much as a breath, and both the child and the bard were silent.
He exhaled and closed his eyes.
"I guess I should go talk to her, huh?" His sentence finished with a weak and lifeless chuckle as he waited for a reassuring response.
And it was during this time that he realized how unnatural it was for such a small child to be wandering around the vast wilderness on her own.
"That reminds me, kiddo. What might you be doing out here by your—"
"Promise me you'll take care of that flower, alright?" The girl's prominent childish joy and naivety had suddenly appeared to have a whole new meaning.
She paused for a moment, looked towards the ground, and continued. "And promise me you'll take care of your loved ones while you still have the chance."
HI HERES QUICK AND SHORT CHAPTER (I'm still on vacation) ALSO I THINK IM GONNA TRY TO MAKE SHORTER CHAPTERS SO I CAN UPDATE MORE OFTEN.
and yes I know 'unsmart' is not a word