The Innocence Of The Youth; WUWA

the innocence of the youth; WUWA

This was requested by @crystalkat6747, it's in a headcanon format since I don't know how to stretch it long enough.

Characters in a Platonic Relationship: Jiyan, Baizhi, Rover, [Redacted], (Chixia is mentioned in the first part but doesn;t have her own headcanons.)

Details: shy and quiet child!Reader (+genderneutral?) who hardly speaks unless it's with someone they know, but then becomes childish, open and can be talkative with someone they are very close too. Already has their tacet mark, likes to explore and fight sometimes to prove your not a little kid anymore.

credits for divider: @saradika-graphics

You were a young child, and you were even younger when the house that you had lived in had crumbled into nothing above you due to an attack from wild monsters, who you would come to known as Tacet Discords.

Your body was in pain, pinned down by the materials of your house, honestly looking back at it now from the past you were surprised at how cheap building materials could keep you down, but then you remembered you were young, younger than you are now, not as strong, definitely malnourished and weak.

From under the rubble you could see your family, the people of your small village be ruthlessly killed by the tacet discords, you didn't cry at the bloodshed you had been a witness to, nor to the chaos you had been a victim to. Being on the verge of death and being a subject to something so painful had made your body and heart numbed.

The carnage didn't last however, once all the people of your village had either died or escaped, a person had swoop down, killed the tacet discords. By then your vision was blurry, and your eyes were slowly closing, you tried to speak, and get their attention but it was so hard, all you wanted to do was close your eyes and sleep, hoping this was all a nightmare. .

The sound of footsteps and the rubble being removed was the last thing you remembered, along with the feeling of warm hands holding to your small, broken form.

When you had awoken you were laid on a bed of straws, it hurt to sat up but you force yourself to as your form was covered in bandages. "Are you awake now?" a gentle voice said as you turned to the person, he was frail, an elderly man who you would come to call gramps.

Apparently when you were old enough, he had told you how he had found you. Hurt but bandaged at the side of a commonly used road. That meant that he wasn't the one who had pulled you out from the rubble, still that didn't make you love him any less. For he was the one who brought you to the large city you had now begun to call home.

Jinzhou of the Huanglong nation, that was where you lived now with Gramps. He worked as an artisan that meant having to go out of the city in search of materials, hence he had found you while he was going back home with a cartful of items (the straw was something he picked up for a neighbor that tended to animals).

After arriving at the city, he had prioritized in getting you properly checked up. "Why don't we ask Baizhi!" Chixia had suggested, Chixia was a patroller that had spotted helped protect you two from tacet discords on your way to the city. Her hair was a fiery red, but instead of reminding you of blood, it reminded you of warm fire for some reason which had soothed your nerves in the overwhelmed state you were in.

Although Baizhi was a researcher instead of an actual doctor, she accepted the request and had healed you, of course the rest was history as you began to slowly settle into the peaceful city life while meeting more and more kind people who treated you gently and with love, as if nurturing you like you were a sapling that had the potential to grow into something. .

BAIZHI❄️

❄️ Baizhi who was surprised to find you visiting her once again, like you had done so many times. Well rather than visiting, it was more like shyly spying her from the corner.

❄️ how did you even get inside? she wondered.

(you basically snuck in, taking advantage of your small frame)

❄️ You who wanted to thank her but found it hard to verbally say it, so you ended up just putting small gifts on her desks from cute stones, to some sweets you were given but thought she might like them, and even Laternberries!

❄️ wait- how do you even have this???

❄️ definitely the reason why Yangyang watches over you when they both realized you'd been leaving the city every now and then (of course that was when you were older and more fit).

❄️ Baizhi who confronts you one day when you were putting some flowers on her desk because Yangyang stopped you from going out of the city.

❄️ Baizhi who instead of kicking you out or scolding you, made a comment about preferring to receive presents in person.

❄️ Baizhi, who after a few days, had a small smile on her face when she felt small hands tug at her clothes to get her attention.

❄️ who traded the snack in your hand with a small gift of her own. A snow globe with real snowflakes inside that would never melt thanks to her efforts.

❄️ the snow globe that sat prettily on your bedside table, which you shake before laying down, watching as the snowflakes gently swayed before falling asleep.

JIYAN🐉

🐉the both of you definitely met in less than. . normal circumstances.

🐉Jiyan was either on the battlefield or walking around the camp to deal with TDs when he saw you walking on the path with a slight skip to your step, your bag heavy with items.

🐉the general who was concerned on why a child like yourself was alone so he approached you and asked you if you were separated by your parents.

🐉only for you to stare at him wide eye, unblinking, and unmoving as if his gaze made you scared and speechless.

🐉you who reacted by looking at your feet and then at him, wondering if he was a good person. Jiyan probably realizing you were scared of him or maybe just terribly shy, or both, crouched down to now tower over you and smiled.

🐉Jiyan who although had experience with dealing with children was at a lost, he didn't have any trinkets or snacks to give that were appropriate for a child, nor did he remember any jokes that a child would be able to digest. ah!

as you hugged your bag closer to you, you wondered if you should run. But you didn't not when the man had held his hand out and something shiny, blue and green emerged. a dragon!

it glowed brightly, dancing around his arms before reaching out to you. did he control it? or did the dragon have a life of its own? you didn't ask as you cupped your hands together and watched as the dragon used it as a sort of nest, blinking at you before circling around you, head gently butting you.

you giggled at the gentle feeling and the small warmth the dragon had generated.

you decided then to trust the fellow who told you of his name, Jiyan.

🐉 Jiyan was relieved that he got you to follow him to the camp, which was a much more safer location. Of course the soldiers or midnight rangers couldn't help but stare, baffled at the usual stoic general holding the hand of a child who was chattering his ears off with various stories you experienced or were told.

🐉 Jiyan who ended up leaving a few of the rangers to watch over you and the camp, thinking you'd prefer their more outgoing or friendly personality compared to his own that has been jaded with responsibilities and lost throughout the years.

🐉 Jiyan who was surprised that the minute he and the others returned, you had came, tackling his leg and burying your face into it. "Hi!" Who had learned from those who watched over you that you rarely spoke to them. Who didn't believe it at first, especially when the both of your were in his tent, as he worked through his paperwork, he could hear you talk about the plants and tacet discords you found when you were walking around before bumping into him.

🐉 Jiyan couldn't help but feel smug at the fact though, a fact that his rangers didn't fail to notice.

"General!! how do you get [name] to open up to you?" one of his soldiers asked when he was alone and you were busy elsewhere.

Jiyan who simply responded that he did not know how, while the rangers looked at each other and then at the grin that was on the teal haired man's face.

🐉 his rangers who despite being jealous of how you opened up with the general, were happy because finally they felt their general feel or become more humane or at least. . more content than jaded, than haunted.

They watched as you were helping Jiyan with caring for the wounded, as you who drowned in focus, tried your best to wrapped an injured man's arm with bandages. The general standing behind you, giving you pointers every now and then.

They watched as their general smile, patting your head when you managed to get it right or at least improved.

🐉 Jiyan when it was time for you to go when your friends had found you to escort you back to your worrying gramps, had simply smiled, assuring you that you should go with them when you hesitantly looked at him.

🐉 Jiyan who found his tent eerily silent the first day that you were gone, who couldn't help but feel lonely.

🐉 Jiyan who found notes around his camp and with his rangers for him with simple notes of 'hello!' 'how are you?' 'did you eat?' 'did you rest?'

He found one of his medicine kit, a small note with a flower that was starting to wilt. 'Thank you for teaching me how to wrap bandages!'

He who received one from his rangers who had a beaming smile as he read 'I like you and the midnight rangers, your soldiers are funny hehe'

He who found one in his drawer, a small polished rock used as a paper weight 'make sure to rest and not frown too much! things will be okay! Gramps said that our lives aren't filled with just sufffering after all!'

He who probably found the last note, this one was bigger and folded. Jiyan who found a drawing of not only you and him, but also the other midnight rangers!

🐉 Jiyan who ignores the other rangers that visit him more and more, definitely just to take a peek at the framed drawing. He didn't mind, it was for everyone after all.

🐉 Jiyan who muttered to himself at one note in particular.

'do you miss me? :3 I definitely miss you big brother!'

"I miss you too."

🐉 Jiyan who didn't let the loneliness consume or distract him, who used your notes for motivation, that add to his resolve as he braved the night and day.

🐉 Jiyan, who when he finally received a break, decided to spend it by visiting you and your gramps.

ROVER ✨ (gender neutral for both rover gender-friendly)

✨ Rover first met you when they had first entered the city with Chixia and Yangyang. You were in the streets, walking around clearly bored when Chixia had called for you to approach them.

✨ They noticed your smile upon seeing the red haired girl, only for it to disappear when your eyes landed on them. And your immediate reaction was to shy away by hiding behind Chixia.

✨ Chixia had laughed at your reaction and rover's who felt an arrow struck their heart wondering if they were unapproachable to warrant such a reaction.

"They're shy" Yangyang told them with a giggle, as she passed the rover and walked towards you, crouching to not seem to scary. "Hey there name, have you been good since the last time I saw you?" The black haired woman asked and you bobbed your head 'yes' in response.

"Really? then why have I seen your running around the city without an adult?"

You pouted, running to Rover, preferring a stranger over Yangyang's silent wrath (an exaggeration, but something so real for a young child such as yourself). The golden eyed rover was surprised at the weight that was put on one of their leg. "Woah!"

The both of you almost fell from losing your balance.

✨ On days Yangyang was keeping on eye on you to make sure you weren't leaving the city alone without an adult, were the days you decided to force the Rover the accompany you. Baizhu and Chixia weren't an option since they had their own responsibilities, and even if Yangyang offered you knew you wouldn't be able to do anything exciting or fun due to her overprotectiveness.

✨ Meanwhile the Rover was wondering when had the child distribution chose them and made them a babysitter? Well they weren't entirely complaining, not when you were helping them deal with the tacet discords and exploration, they were a bit surprised when how easily you dealt with them though. . maybe Yangyang's worries weren't unfounded, , huh?

"Hey [name]?" you called him over as you two find yourself sitting on a rock, enjoying the view with snacks in hand that Yangyang had provided.

You turned to him expectantly, cheeks puffed up as you were in the midst of chewing. Their hearts squeeze at the cute sight, resisting the urge to pinch your cheeks they asked "When did you get your tacet mark?"

To their credit you didn't shy away from the topic, usually tacet marks were a very sensitive tale to an individual. "Dunno. . got it when I woke up after getting hurt."

They winced "sorry, it must have been a bad memory. ." You shrugged, perhaps because you were a child you still didn't understand the gravity of the incident, "maybe. . but i dunno, I dont feel too sad"

Watching your 'family' and the villagers die, it didn't make you feel any grief, really all you felt was the impending doom of what was going to happen if they found you or no one did.

"Still, you're safe now." They reached out their hand, patting the top of your head softly, fingers combing through your locks as you felt such bliss. "I'm glad I got to meet you [name]."

"me too. ."

✨ Rover definitely became one of your self-proclaimed older sibling, you had a lot of those now huh?

✨ but you weren't complaining, they let you accompany them outside the city and even let you handle tacet discords (With their supervision).

✨ He also helped introduced you to new friends your age! who have tacet marks too! like Encore and Verina!

✨ Rover has definitely met your gramps too, who made them promise to keep you safe whenever you were with them.

✨ Rover who still lets you have fun whether it be with fighting with TD or joining you when they want you to do something else, but still making sure things don't get out of hand and that you are safe.

✨ Rover who is truly happy to have met you, because in this world of uncertainty and with no memories, you were there like a comforting friend, a younger sibling.

SCAR🩸

(hope you don't mind, but I wanted to sneak scar into the headcanons 💕)

You frowned, rubbing your nose as you had bumped into someone. Someone rather tall and strong who did not fell on their butt like you had upon the impact.

"Well well, look who we have here" the person said and you couldn't help but think wow, they had such a good voice and why did it seems so familiar?

Staring up at the person you were met with a man who had two hair colors and two eye colors, you were mesmerized by the colors that complimented his face.

"It's been awhile little lamb" Scar said, lips twitching to a smile as you stared up at him with those innocent wide eyes as if you found him so. . amazing.

🩸 After bumping into the man (who danced around your questions about his name), you found yourself easily growing attached to him to the point you could quickly talk to him.

🩸 Since he wouldn't give you his name, you made things easier by giving him the title of 'older brother'.

🩸 Scar brushed off the title, making a comment about how you two weren't even related but inside he couldn't help but feel. . lighter at the nickname.

🩸 Because of his chaotic and dangerous nature as well as personality, he was probably one of the few who accepted and even encouraged you when or rather IF you want to start fighting tacet discords using your Forte.

🩸 Since he's a wanted criminal, you two usually meet up at night, it usually involved him sneaking into your room and bringing you outside the city to avoid anyone interrupting you. But sometimes he'd bring you into his domain thingy (where he fought the rover) if you ask nicely aka. .

“pleaseeee”

“Please what?" he asked, feigning ignorance as his two colored eyes lit up in mischief.

Pouting you tugged on his cloak "Please big brother? I wanna go into your super cool domain!"

"Atta kid" he said with a satisfied smile as he'd then mess up your hair while you two were brought into his domain.

🩸 whenever you could sneak away during the day, he'd suddenly appear and mess with you and annoy you, he was beginning to act more and more like an annoying older sibling.

🩸 once he was confident in your skills and use with your forte, he'd probably start training you seriously.

"Okay, so see how this guy is attacking me impulsively, you can take the chance and do this!" he laughed maniacally as he demonstrated one of his signature moves which effectively killed the tacet discord on impact.

". . . that's so cool!" you nodded vigorously, burning the memory into your mind.

And after a few days of practicing, you showed off all your efforts and training by doing the same move and killing a tacet discord in front of him.

Scar was definitely happy and proud! "Good job kid! I'd say you deserve some ice cream, come on." He'd then carry you off to a store where you guys do your usual routine.

🩸 that routine was to threaten the owner to get free ice cream and you'd act as a hostage. Then you'd two leave and when Rover finds you, you are alone, safe and sound, with some ice cream at the corner of your mouth.

Scar didn't expect to meet you once again, when he found himself in the same area as the hometown he left years and years ago, he decided to take a look, only to find the place on the brink of destruction and death. Yet instead of helping, he watched, watched with cruel eyes and a sinister smirk, the same people who casted him out were now paying the price for their ignorance and pride.

When the residents of the town had either perished or left, then did he jumped into the fray and deal with the Tacet discord. Yet he was surprised to find something other than excitement and carnage, there you were, on the verge of death, trapped under a pile of rubble. So against his better judgement and his chosen way of life, he took you out, bandaged you as you were fading in and out of consciousness.

He questioned what he was doing, hand combing through his locks. He wasn't one to take care of children, nor save them. Especially know when he was part of the Fractsidus. You stirred in your slip, eyes slowly opening but there was a haze to it, your eyes were unclear due to the layer of drowsiness on you, no doubt you'd fall back asleep quickly.

And yet you had enough energy for your hand, bandaged and broken as it may be, to grab his own. Your hand barely even enveloping his large ones, you fell asleep back once again, a small smile on your face, feeling accomplished for catching some 'warmth'. Then there was a glow on your hand, a tacet mark had formed.

"oh?"

Perhaps Scar will stay with you a bit longer, but not permanently. When your condition had stabled, he had made the choice to leave you at a fairly used route by merchants and residents of the Jinzhou.

Possibly this will be my last post for the WuWa fandom, I just got so burnt out with it for some reason that playing it is hard for me.

Can I be tagged in your Baker fanfic?

ofccc I'll tag you on the next chapterrr ꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡

hello, how are you? ✨ i love your heading banners and dividers, they're always so detailed and lovely 🤍. i was wondering if you could make some disney alice in wonderland themed ones? that is if you're not too busy 🥺

hey anon! Sure - the movies have such interesting themes & symbolism, I had a lot of fun making these 💖 thanks for sending this in! 🐇♥️♣️ 🫖

[Free] Masterlist Headers & Dividers!

Please consider liking or reblogging if you use 💕

Hello I'm sorry if this is a bad time but I wanted to ask if you're comfortable with writing platonic requests, while this is mainly my curiosity talking I also wanted to ask because most of the requests I have in mind are platonic, I simply wanted to ask so I don't accidentally cross a boundary ☺️

Hellooo, don't worry you didn't catch me at a bad time. I am comfortable with writing platonic relationships (as long as I know the character, and dw I'm willing to research more about that character!)

the 'evil imposter' just wants to be a baker!

Prologue: The Foodie turned Imposter?!

Part 6: Ginisang Ampalaya

[ part 5 ] || [ masterlist ] || [ part 7 ]

divider is made by @/saradika-graphics

"Wait!" Paimon yelped as the Pyro slime that accompanied you lunged at them, going into their ignited state. The floating fairy dodged with ease as Aether was about to bring out his sword out of its sheath.

"Don't hurt them!" You pleaded, and he hesitated, which caused the Pyro Slime to hit him in the face. "Wait Don't hurt Aether either!"

"Yeah!" Paimon nodded in agreement, but yelped in fear once again when the pyro slime turned its attention to her and glared. Who knew something as cute and small could have such a fiery gaze.

Ignoring the two smaller companions, you worriedly approached Aether who was on the ground, he was rubbing his face and wincing at his own touch. "Oh I'm so sorry Aether, he didn't mean it okay? he was just protecting me." You apologized, hands reaching to his face to find the skin dry and warm, but luckily he did not end up with any degree burns, perhaps it was the plot armor protecting the main character's face.

Luckily the blond seemed to be nice about it as he let the incident go, "'s alright, I kinda did freaked you two out." he waved his hand to dismiss your apologies.

Your eyes continued to glance at his face, soaking in his appearance and the finer details the game did not have, it did not also do justice to the other worldly beauty that is Aether "Still your face is a bit red, is it because of pyro here?"

Aether rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed "I'm fine really. it's just . ." he glanced away from you and you flushed realized how you were invading his personal face.

Reeling back you awkwardly chuckled "so what brings you two here?" "Oh. ." Aether stood up, holding his hand out for you silently as he thought about what to say. Should he not tell you just yet so he could easily observe you while your guard wasn't up? or should he tell you now and risk you putting on a mask?

"Well. ." Paimon looked away, slowly floating closer to the duowhile eyeing the pyro slime warily who also approached it's master, you. "We just wanted to get materials and do a few quests in the area." Aether easily offered with a well practiced smile.

Bobbing your head, you didn't think too much about his lie. You had a sneaking feeling after all on why he was here. A part of you wanted to run, run from anybody that wasn't an 'enemy' or 'mob' by the games standards. But Aether was an outlander, maybe he didn't have this crazed devotion to the Creator like Jean and Lisa did.

You took his hand without complaint or any fear, were you this quick to trust people? he wondered. "Thanks!" you smiled at him and stood up with ease- but quickly faltered as something electrocuted you both. It was a tingly sensation at first, until light and golden lightning sprouted from where your two hands made contact, then it travelled, to your wrists then up your arms-

"Ack!" you yelled, shivering in fear as you stepped back, slapping his hand away. "I'm so sorry! What happened?!"

Your eyes widened as you stared something right in front of you. There, right in front of you, emitting a golden light. . was a holographic tabs you'd seen in sci-fi movies.

"What the. ."

[Color] eyes met golden ones, both wide due to shock. You two could both see it. It displayed both of your inventories-

There you could see the uniform Katheryne had given you, the only item in the Cosmetics Section, which was an entirely new section!

୭ 🧷 ✧ ˚. ᵎᵎ 🎀

You two had left the shores of the lake, far away from prying eyes as you two entered stormterror's lair. Since the hilichurls may not take kindly to Aether and Paimon you stayed at the east entrance you had used to get to the lake.

The entire walk had been silent, you and Aether having a calculating look in your faces as you tried to understand what this means for the both of you.

Deciding to just fuck it and hope he doesn't kill you, you decided to speak first, taking charge of the conversation. "Aether. . by chance, did you always have the abilities to have your own inventory space and pull out a virtual map?"

You two had also separately inspected the glowing virtual screen that displayed in front of you. "Yeah, it's something me and my sister picked up from traveling different worlds." He told you, eyes finally moving to glance at you.

That would explain it other than saying the game developers just gave it. "I see. Then, why do I have one. I may come from another world, but being here is purely accidental." You told him and watched as their jaw drops.

"You're also from another world?!"

You nodded at Paimon's question, then put a finger to your mouth to make them quiet down. "Yes." You weighed the options of whether to tell Aether about the whole world being created by a game, it would definitely destroy the residents of the world's mind, but Aether wasn't affected the laws of the world, maybe he'd be safe with this knowledge. . or does uttering it cause an event similar to what happened in the deserts due to the forbidden knowledge?

Still since Paimon was here you decided to hold off on it.

Aether frowned, did that mean you were no imposter nor the creator. That would make you a normal person stuck in a very bad situation. Still. . your voice was familiar to him, as if it was a forgotten song he was slowly remembering.

You felt familiar yet different,

new and old,

friend and stranger. .

"You are finding your sibling right." you suddenly asked, no, it was more of a statement with your tone. The way you spoke and held yourself in front of him, you knew something.

Then your face contorted into one of sadness and pain, as you told him "The journey ahead of you will be very tough Aether, you're sister was fine, but for reasons I'm not yet entirely certain about, she does not want to be found, nor does she want to leave Teyvat at the moment."

"What?!" he grabbed your shoulders, tight enough to make you wince as he desperately waited for an answer.

"She. . She is planning something with an organization, I know things but I cannot make a certain conclusion with it." She winced, the lore and story of teyvat was heavy yet she wasn't an expert, nor was she one to theorized the future and even then she had a hard time wrapping her head around the story. She didn't want to misinform Aether because she, you acknowledged that you aren't entirely sure of things anymore.

The game didn't have a creator, so what knowledge is real or false, what information has been neglected in the game that may be important here?

"At. . at least she's alive." He sighed, nearly falling to the ground from the revelation. Knowing his sister was alive was nice enough, that she was well and kicking and planning like usual. "Could you, could you let go of my shoulders now? it's starting to hurt. ."

He quickly let go "I'm sorry!"

Waving him off, you rubbed your shoulders, the pain slowly disappearing. "It's alright." you assured him, you understood why he reacted after all. This was just the cherry on the icing anyway, the future. . despite being surrounded by many people, you couldn't help but think that Aether was lonely, for he missed his sister who was always within out of reach.

"You, you know my name though, and about my sister. If you come from another world. . how do you know?"

You eyed Paimon and your pyro slime, "could you two leave us for a bit? how about you eat some fruits and pinecones." you suggested to the two with a smile. The two small companions stared at each other, and despite pouting and huffing, they obliged.

"I cannot say for now. I don't know how you'll react to it." You honestly confessed once the two were out of earshot. Would saying that he was in a world that was created to be a game destroy him? because he would realize that his and his sister's journey, separation and the loneliness was caused to be the premise of a game where he was to be controlled for entertainment. .

"However, all I can tell you, without bringing the world to destruction (with forbidden knowledge) is that I'm always on your side Aether, I have been with you since the beginning of your journey."

"beginning. . but" he clutched his head at a flurry of memories, he knew Paimon was the one there with him, ever since he fished her up. But then those memories slowed down, connecting with one another to be coherent.

"Alright, so now I have to fight the shogun to end the archon quest in Inazuma. ." there's a faint voice in the back of his head as he stood in the middle of Ei's throne room. The ashes of Signora laid on the tatami mats as the Shogun silently stood, waiting, or were they paused.

And just like usual, his body was covered in a faint golden glow, it was like he was stuck in a warm embrace as his body was being controlled. He pulled out his map, as his finger clicked on a waypoint to a domain.

"Since I got Ganyu, I should build her for the boss fight. Then I'll cook some recovery Items." A voice said, he couldn't quite tell where it came from. Because it felt like the voice was from everywhere and no where in particular, it was in his head, it was from above, then to his sides.

Suddenly he watched, while standing inside the Momiji-Dyed Court as the visages of Diluc, Xiangling and Diona appear beside him, all covered in that same glow. They two had been summoned by the voice. "Hello Traveler, it seems her divine excellency needs our assistance. Do you know who this is for?" Diluc asked, though his body could not move, he was able to speak.

"It's for Ganyu this time." Aether said as the man nodded in understanding.

"Aether!" he was pulled out of memories, finding himself on the ground with the others staring down at him worriedly. "I. . I remember."

"Remember what Aether?"

"This. . This has all happened before. But you where there, you were everywhere. Your voice, your guidance, you control us, control me as I travel to Liyue, then to Inazuma, then to Sumeru and Fontaine. But you also controlled other vision users!" he said, his voice had started off as slow and in awe but as he continued he spoke faster and quicker.

His face turned to one of awe and respect for her, because he remembered, not everything but enough to know, to know that the voice he had heard before was the same you now held. That your warmth was still there, though now withdrawn from the pains the others had caused you.

"You helped me."

"Ah. ."

Yet your face turned to a stark contrast from his own, instead of awe or happiness, you stared at him terrified.

. . .

Aether knew, he was beginning to become self-aware. You assumed he was talking about the times you controlled him to push forward the plot, to finish archon quests after archon quests. . You hoped he wouldn't utter those words, you were afraid of causing another incident similar to that of Sumeru's.

Seeing you look, he took a few deep breaths, placing his hands on top of your own as he sat up, once again your eyes met and he said softly, and with all the sincerity he had.

"Thank you."

Even though the world and time itself rewound, even if he lost all progress and has to go through all the nations again, still he can't forget about her help. Vaguely he could recall your commentary from different events, how you were silent when he died, and how you had been respectfully silent to mourn for his death. How you shouted and complained when his sister left him once more, when none of the first three archons could give him any concrete information. How you laughed when you chose to call Paimon an emergency food every now and then. How you shared his sentiments, wishing you didn't have to help everyone only for missing flyers to be your reward.

"hic. ."

You found yourself crying again, you knew the world was just a game, and you knew you only played it because of the food, and the visuals and for comfort at the beginning, but for you to get attached to the characters and the world, for you to painstakingly go through those annoying missions and dialogue, to build characters and pull for them. . .

to have Aether of all people to genuinely thank you, when he had gone through a lot of things (and he remembers) made you feel a sense of accomplishment, what you did wasn't useless. It wasn't for nothing.

Because if it were nothing, he wouldn't be thanking you, and shedding tears with you.

⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡

"You guys are weird!" Paimon complained as she rubbed her swollen eyes, having shed a few tears to "Who shares a few words and suddenly bursts into tears anyways!"

You and Aether chuckled, walking once more as you offered to show him where and who you have been staying since nearly being killed by Lisa. "Make sure to not attack or scare them okay? The hilichurls are nice as long as you are too. Right?" You turned to the pyro slime who made a motion similar to that of a nod.

"I. . I see. I'll make sure to be on my best behavior." Aether said though seemingly he had begun to regret the idea when you were heading for a very huge hilichurl camp.

"Unu!" You hear someone shout, and they repeated as if spreading the word that you had returned. "Hi guys-" you said before gasping as a few hilichurls began to attack Paimon and Aether.

"What hey-!" you yelled stopping them, "Odomu, they are Odomu!" you quickly said pointing to them. "Odomu?" they hesitated, clearly suspicious of the two new comers who accompanied their God.

You nodded in confirmation, "This is Paimon, and that is Aether, whose hair you are still pulling." Huffing you approach, chiding the hilichurl who was pulling the blond's hair.

Pinching the bridge of your nose you repeated, first pointing at Paimon "Odomu Paimon. Odomu!"

"Odomu. ."

"Aether, Aether Odumu."

"Odomu. . ."

Then you smiled as they finally lowered there weapons, your hand stretched out, patting their heads like you would do for a child "Good. . Good job guys. Thank you for trying to protect me."

Despite the language barrier, seeing your soft expression, hearing your gentle voice and feeling the warmth form your touch alone. . they simpered.

"She makes Hilichurls look like docile puppies. ." Paimon couldn't help but comment as Aether silently nodded, his hand petting his frayed hair.

The hilichurls calmed down when they realized she had returned from a trip, pulling out the contents from her rucksack they slightly deflated from the lack of meat. Rolling your eyes playfully at their reactions you asked Aether for some help getting some Meat and Eggs which luckily he had in his inventory.

So as you managed to convince the Hilichurls to let you cook, you found yourself in the cooking area with Paimon, Aether and your Slime. The pyro slime returning to the dug out hole with ashes and wood.

"Oh I'll get some sticks and branches!" Paimon offered as she looked around the camp for materials to stoke the growing fire. "Anything you need help with?" Aether turned to you, realizing he was left with no tasks as Paimon and your slime were finally getting along swimmingly.

"Well can you fill the pails with water for me?"

He nodded "sure, that's easy." With the help of his map he was able to find the few ponds or rather water sources near the camp. After a couple of trips, he was now helping you wash the ingredients clean.

"So while Paimon and the Slime are busy, can you tell me what you know of this. ." you trailed off before bitterly spitting out ". . imposter and creator situation I got myself in?"

Aether begun slowly explaining while you both began preparing, he was tearing the cabbages as you were cutting the bitter gourds. "So first, there's this Divine Creator. In simpler ways to explain, they are higher than the archons, possibly Celestia. And they're considered the mother of all due to her caring and warm nature."

You nodded along, scooping out the inner contents of the bitter gourd or 'ampalaya' after having slicing the ampalayas into two. It was luckily you found wild ampalaya growing. "They think I am her or some cheap imposter then?"

"Yes, apparently imitating the Divine Creator is grounds for quick execution without trial." Aether said with a frown, one that mirrored your own. That was. . unfair. "Do they not understand a person is not born with the choice of how they look like?"

He didn't have an answer to that, whether the residents of Mondstadt were fanatic believers that didn't take the time to think about things logically or whether they were just. . dumb, well he wasn't sure. It was beyond him really, their thinking process that is.

"Anyways, Kaeya sent me here, he was a bit skeptical of how they handled the situation and quickly labelled you as an imposter. He told me how there is a prophecy, that well prophesized how an imposter, a demon or sign of catastrophe would come to Teyvat and cause disasters while wearing the face of the great Mother to smear their name and spite them."

"So me going to Teyvat when Dvalin was terrorizing the city as Mondstadt. . was just some bad timing for me. ." your frown had deepened. You were slowly becoming even more bitter as you held the knife tightly and begun to cut the ampalaya pieces into thinner slices.

"uhh" Aether wanted to get the knife away from you as you dangerously begun to cut the ampalaya in a quick and heavy pace due to your foul mood.

"so," your smile was icy "anything else I need to know about?"

"Jean, Lisa, Amber and the other knights are hunting you down since they haven't found your body in the lake. . ."

thump!

"c-can you give me the knife-?"

OMAKE

the hilichurls sadly stared at the food you had prepared for them, not much meat in sight. they even noticed you had prepared something with bitter gourds, which they knew would be very bitter.

Paimon and Aether were silently waiting as well for someone to eat first. The atmosphere was thick and they wondered if it would be rude for them to start eating now.

Meanwhile, Pyro was eating some sticks and pinecones, which burned into nothing inside their fiery stomachs. You sat near them, a smile on your face as you patiently waited for them to eat your cooking. Having noticed their eating tendencies, you realized that they ate more meat than vegetables. "Come on it tastes good, It's not going to be bitter I promise."

Ginisang Ampalaya was the dish you cooked, it was something you learned from one of your Filipino classmates. It had a mixed of ampalaya slices, eggs, tomatoes, some pork, and onions too. It would be nice to have some rice but even Aether hadn't been able to buy any.

"You need to eat your vegetables too." you told them. The samachurl who had also been silent, decided to take a bowl of the ampalaya, "Mosi gusha!" (eat vegetables!) it told the others who repeated in a more sad "mosi gusha. ." and thus they begun eating. But. .

"!" they stared at the meal, finding it to not be bitter as they had anticipated. They tasted the meat and the eggs more than the bitter gourds. and so they ate at a more happy pace.

Paimon and Aether followed, with Aether smiling "This is good, I didn't know you could cook something like this without a recipe!" You chuckled, cheeks flushed with the praise "It's no big deal, I learned that in school."

"Oh like a home economics class?" he briefly remembered a world like that, perhaps it was yours? "Kinda but more professional, its a cooking school so you can become a chef."

"A chef?! that settles it! come with us in our journey to find aether's sister!" Paimon said through a mouthful.

You all smiled and laughed as you talked, and suddenly you didn't feel so bitter anymore.

To help the readers in their long journey, I decided to give you a few functions! Nothing tooo op, but something very useful especially for travelers and chefs! You have your own inventory system (which is the same as the ingame one)! Of course shared with the traveler as you two are connected as the player and the vessel!

NAMING THE PYRO SLIME EVENT: ONE ACCOUNT IS ONLY ALLOWED TO SUGGEST AT MOST 2 NAMES (this applies to me)!

Current compiled suggestions: Fuji_Sen has suggested! Lava Cake or "Java" based on the food / coffee" Fuji_Sen has suggested! Monsieur Creme Brulee or "Creme" based on the food. @Fantasyhopperhea has suggested! Soleil or "Sol" @Cactus4226 has suggested! Ruru (Py-ro, ro -> ru -> ruru) @bunniotomia has suggested! Helios or "Hel"

taglist: @fantasyhopperhea @rhoswen-drake @cchiiwinkle @aman3kkun @coffee-or-hot-cocoa @bunniotomia @esthelily @earth-to-name @fandomfan-102

hopefully the tag works now, I've been having trouble with a few accounts since the tag wouldn't work on them. If you are not tagged successfully that means tumblr thinks you are a bot (because you don't have posts, or much interaction), you have been shadowbanned, or your visibility is set to prevent you from being tagged.

check here for more info.

the 'evil imposter' just wants to be a baker!

Prologue: The Foodie turned Imposter?!

Part 5: Burning Pinecones

[ part 4.5 ] || [ masterlist ] || [ part 6 ]

divider is made by @/saradika-graphics

warnings: the usual violence/blood for sagau fics.

"Traveller, would you like to accept a personal quest from me?"

Aether stared dubiously at the man in front of him, which the Cavalry captain noticed "Come on, aren't we friends?" The blond and Paimon stared at him incredulously, then the two travelling partners stared at each other, engaging in a mental conversation.

'Do they not trust me that much?' Kaeya felt a bit hurt but brushed it off when the duo turned to him once more. "You're not going to ask us to hunt down this 'imposter' are you?"

It was the blue haired man's turn to stare at them flabbergasted "My, you think so little of me. Haven't you heard the saying Innocent until proven guilty?" "We know that!" Paimon huffed "it's just. . you're still in the knights of Favonius, We're surprised you haven't gone all. ."

"Murderous" Aether offered.

"Yeah! It's a surprised you aren't as murderous as Jean and Lisa were with this lookalike." Paimon pointed out. "That's fair, but I would prefer knowing all the details before acting."

Aether sighed, "all right, then I'm guessing you want us to track down the lookalike and gather information to help decide whether they are the imposter or not. . right?"

"Astute as ever dear Traveler" Kaeya clapped with a Cheshire like grin. "Why can't you do it though?" The traveler questioned "You're more familiar with the region as a resident of Mondstadt."

"Be that as it may, I am a member of the Knights. I expect Jean will be ordering all of us in a mandatory man-hunt for the 'Imposter.' You two on the other hand have a chance of not partaking in it in the guise of already being on a separate quest."

Aether and Paimon frowned, "are they really set on killing them?" He asked, he did not like this, he did not like how they were acting. Upon first meeting them, they seemed reliable and level-headed, now they seemed like. .

"Faith does a lot of things to a person traveler, Paimon. You will find that once word spreads across Teyvat that person will no know peace, even if they end up really being the Creator. So hopefully you find them first."

Golden eyes stared into periwinkle eyes. "Should I warn them about everything?"

Kaeya combed his locks "I'll leave that decision to your judgement in character. I should go now, I have a feeling that Jean will have someone call for me soon."

"Then me and Paimon will head out now, but. . have you any idea where they might be?"

ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐

Thanks to the effort of the Samuchurl and the other hilichurls you had recovered quickly. All though the scars remained littering your body, still the pain that lingered was gone, you were no longer bothered by the lingering effects of electro from Lisa's attacks.

Your stomach was no longer empty and you were no longer in tattered clothes. The Pajamas although salvaged was now in a rucksack, you debated on whether throwing it away but seeing as it is your last memento of a life so far away from your grasps. . you decided to keep it in the end.

Now however, what draped your body was clothes that you could only describe as traditional or ethic, the type of clothes you'd see hilichurls wear. Luckily it fitted you and covered you properly considering hilichurl clothings usually cover the lower half of the body if you compared it to the in-game models. It reminded you of Claude's first attire in 'who made me a princess'*.

However the Hilichurls did not wear shoes so you had were still going to be walking barefoot. Dvalin or rather in the current timeline, Stormterror, had not returned to the area, you assumed he would be with the abyss mages or terrorizing mondstadt so you weren't scared for your safety (not like Dvalin would ever hurt you but you don't know that-) and you could stay with the hilichurls and your pyro buddy who were the best company right now!

Still. . you can't help but let your eyes linger away from the hilichurl camp. Despite the trauma that would no doubt haunt you for a long time, you still wanted to just. . explore Teyvat and everything it had to offer, well except for the people, you wanted to try the cuisine, wear there clothes and if it seemed like you'd be stuck here till you die. . maybe open up a shop or find a permanent home.

Inazuma would be nice as it would be based on Japan, but Liyue's culture also caught your eye. . but then Mondstadt's scenery, Fontaine's architecture and fashion. . .

"So while the hilichurls were busy you decided to take a walk, of course, some inkling inside you knew to avoid any humans and since your choices were either the brightcrown canyon teeming with enemy mobs or go south and find your way to dawn winery and then wolvendom. .

Brightcrown canyon was your choice of course.

"What-" you stare at the pyro slime that was angrily bouncing in front of you, as if stopping your escape. "I'm just going to take a walk."

It's stare was unnerving, clearly not wanting you to go anywhere else but the hilichurl camp. "I'm not going near any mondstadters if that helps my case!"

It stopped, blinking and then began happily prancing around you in circles.

You chuckled at the cute pyro slime as you scoped him in your hands, you didn't question how you weren't harmed by its flames, you were afraid to know what that means for you after all. Would that be considered proof of being an imposter?

ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐

"Okay so last that anybody has heard of this creator lookalike, is that they fell off the cliff behind the headquarters of the knights and landed in Cider Lake" Paimon repeated as she and Aether were just outside of the city, across the bridge and in front of a fork in the road.

The left road would lead back to the whispering woods then to the lake, then the beach where they came from when Aether first came to Mondstadt. The middle one would lead to Wind rise and farther off would be cape oath. Then the path that led to the right of them would lead to a small village named Springvale, then to dawn winery and Wolvendom and the farthest place there would be Stormterror's lair.

They stared at the map that Kaeya had kindly given them, marked with numerous locations that were well known in Mondstadt. "Okay then what happened after is that Stormterror came during the commotion which led to a chance for the person to escape. . then when they fell into the lake, followed by soldiers trying to catch them. . Stormterror took a sip or rather bite out of the lake and ate the people there?"

Aether continued with a distraught looking expression as he tried to imagine it, well he didn't have to imagine it for long because due to a commotion near the lakeside he turned, finding Amber and a few knights pulling a net which contained fish, clothes and . . dismembered limbs.

Paimon paled, floating behind him as she covered her eyes.

Despite the nauseating feeling he approached to inquire about the bodies, it would be bad if the creator lookalike had been eaten by Stormterror. "Oh Traveler come here!" Amber waved over as he gulped but nonetheless reluctantly got closer. The smell of iron filled their noses, nauseating them.

"A-are you finding the 'lookalike' I heard they fell into the lake?" Aether offered, trying to ignore the close up looks of the bodies in his peripheral vision. "Yes, we are looking for the 'imposter' we need to make sure they're dead." The outrider corrected, with a disturbing look the travelling duo could not quite place for a lack of better terms.

The blond haired boy scrutinized the outrider in front of him, sure they had a rough first meeting when Amber was very suspicious of him but he got past that because she was doing her job, this however. . hunting down a person just because of the face they were born with, was this her job as well as an outrider? as a knight of Favonius? This was not the person he respected, and that made it all the more disappointing.

This entire situation flabbergasted him, perhaps it was because he was not of this world but. . was it common sense to hunt someone down and kill them on sight for having the face of a God? would there be no trial? no interrogation or due process? He understood the appeal to devote ones self to the Creator, for he felt their lingering warmth and love even from an inanimate statue in their image.

He also understood that there was a prophecy of an imitator, a devil disguising themselves as the creator and being a sign of chaos, and sure Mondstadt was in a chaotic state but what if the prophecy wasn't real? prophecies weren't exactly reliable anyways and was it worth risking the chance of harming and offending their Creator if that person wasn't an imposter??

"What got you so quiet?" Amber noticed as the boy flinched, "nothing, it's just the smell is bothering me."

"Oh- that's fair, Sorry for making you come closer I should have approached you instead" she at least had the nerve to be sheepish about it "This is the first time Stormterror killed someone. Mostly they have been causing disturbances with the storms and some injuries here and there, but this would be the first recorded casualties."

"Does that mean, Stormterror's gotten ticked off by something?"

"Probably, it's probably because of the Imposter" the brown haired girl's lips had thinned considerably "I guess Stormterror has a bit more common sense to attack the Imposter as well. That's nice at least, if only he had finished the job."

Aether forced himself to laugh awkwardly, "well, I uh see. . anyways I need to go. I have a quest to fulfill."

Not really noticing his behavior, Amber offered something with a smile "Oh where are you headed? I'll be going on a search and exterminate party with a small group of knights maybe we could join together and help each other."

"Maybe some other time-" Paimon finally spoke, cutting Aether off "Sure! Where are you headed?" Amber who brushed off what Aether was originally going to say "We're going to comb the areas around the lake, if Stormterror didn't managed to kill the imposter then it's likely that they were able to swim to the shores."

"Wait-" Paimon quickly elbowed her friend before turning to Amber "then uhh, we'll pick the farthest one, it's more important that we find the Imposter after all, right Aether?"

"I- oh yeah, I guess." he quickly said after realizing why Paimon was agreeing to the suggestion.

Paimon's eyebrows had ticked in annoyance at the subpar acting Aether possessed. Honestly, could he not be so obviously weird about the imposter-lookalike situation!

Amber meanwhile smiled "That's great!" she was none the wiser "It's nice to see you prioritizing the more important things in life!"

She unrolled the map as she let them take their first pick, Paimon and Aether glanced at each other, wondering which place should they take.

Their outrider friend(?) was called away by a knight so they spoke in hush whispers. "where do you think they'd go. ." aether hummed as paimon whacked him in the head, "hey!" he hissed "what was that for!"

"For you terrible acting, could you be anymore obvious?? You know we have to find them first!" Paimon complained tugging at his ear, "right look sorry!" he swatter her much smaller hand away "but we have to choose now."

Paimon bit her lip "but what if we picked the wrong location and Amber and the others find her first. ." The traveler sighed "It's a risk we have to take, hopefully. . her luck doesn't run out."

ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐

"I need some herbs and spices, oh and some more sweet flowers and berries. . It'd be nice if I could catch some meat too." You absentmindedly said, as your pyro slime friend stared at you curiously, you love food after all so it's not entirely weird to be collecting ingredients.

The rucksack on your shoulder was already filled with mint, mushrooms, matsutakes, pinecones, sweet flowers and a few carrots. It was getting fairly heavy but still, you were excited to begin cooking with the ingredients and food that Teyvat had to offer. Would the mushrooms taste even slightly different from the ones in real life? is sweet flower sugar a better type of sugar than the one in real life as well? what about pinecones? how do they taste? she actually tried biting it but it wasn't any good, since the description of the item in-game was about having oil-rich seeds you assume it was either a substitute for cooking oil or the seeds are actually eaten or could add a taste to the few recipes that used them in the game like the hash browns.

"Want one?" you offered an apple to the pyro slime who shook in your hold, "so that's a no. Do you prefer sticks and coal? or what about pine cones?"

The pyro elemental being stared at the pinecone you handed him, and proceeded to eat it, simply by burning it inside of him. "Oh. ."

Luckily he seemed to like it enough when he jiggled like a happy jello. "We really need a name for you!**" you smile, petting him. There was a couple that went to your mind however before you could decide you stop by the coast or shores of the lake, you could see Mondstadt in the distance where the city was under dark gloomy skies.

'serves them right'

your eyes widened, surprised at your own bitter thoughts, one part of you loathed the city that traumatized you and rejected you but a part of you couldn't help but think of the poor people. .

"it's going to be okay, the traveler will save Dvalin and everything will be fine."

You basked in the sounds of the water and the chirping of the birds, as the smell of burning pine cones and freshwater filled your nostrils. You felt a sense of calm despite seeing the city under a blanket of darkness, from the looming dark clouds above it.

*snap!* body freezing up as you hear footsteps and the shaking of bushes. Your pyro slime friend jumped out of your hands, wiggling threateningly at the direction of the noise.

Turning slightly, you see two people getting out of the bushes. A boy with long blond hair, braided neatly and another, much smaller, floating near the other with silver hair.

Aether and Paimon. .

*this is claude, of course the clothes are not that open so your chest is covered (tho depending on you there may be a side-boob view (based on the shirt cut meme)) ** I will be posting a poll for the pyro slime's name, you are free to recommend names here, and if a name has been chosen, the person who gave the idea can request for a special chapter from this series (that can happen canonically, or not, or in a diff region.) however if a name I have suggested for has been chosen then I'll give a list of ideas for special chapters you can vote on that will be written.

ONE ACCOUNT IS ONLY ALLOWED TO SUGGEST AT MOST 2 NAMES (this applies to me)!

Current compiled suggestions: Fuji_Sen has suggested! Lava Cake or "Java" based on the food / coffee" Fuji_Sen has suggested! Monsieur Creme Brulee or "Creme" based on the food. @Fantasyhopperhea has suggested! Soleil or "Sol" @Cactus4226 has suggested! Ruru (Py-ro, ro -> ru -> ruru)

taglist: @fantasyhopperhea @rhoswen-drake @cchiiwinkle @aman3kkun @coffee-or-hot-cocoa