A man From A Far Away Land
Despite it being a warm day, the nation of Mondstadt was definitely much cooler than what Kele was used to. A stray dandelion seed passed under his nose and he let out a sneeze, sniffling a bit after. “Why was I here in the first place?” He muttered under his breath. A stray piece of hair came out from his braid and he only groaned in annoyance and he tried to tuck it back in but more came undone. With a sigh, he located the nearest tree and made a move towards it. He set his things on the cool green grass and sat down himself. With a hair tie in his mouth and his fingers busying themselves to fix the mess that was his hair, his eyes began to wander.
It was an unusual time in the year, where the summer had ended yet it wasn’t quite autumn. The flowers still bloomed beautifully and the greens of the grass and plants around were still a pleasant dark. The only way to tell was that the wind was colder and more harsh, occasionally a leaf would fall and land nearby.
His thoughts dispersed upon realizing that he had finished his braid. He ran his hand one more time over it to ensure its neatness, before reaching up for an apple. Snapping one off the tree branch, he ensured no bug was living inside and cleaned it off on his clothes before taking a bite. The juicy and crunchy insides quickly filled his taste buds and an uncontrollable smile came over him, he loved Apples. A crimson fox poked his head out from the tree and eyed the apple in his hand. Kele tilted his head and the two watched each other for a bit. He reached up once more to pick an apple and held it out to the creature, smiling softly as it came slowly towards him. The fox nibbled the apple and gave a please squeak before diving in fully. He chuckled a bit before going back to eating his own, enjoying the cool breeze.
“Hey! Are you feeding wildlife?” A voice called from a few feet away. The fox yipped and jumped up, grabbing the remaining apple he had in his jaws and scurrying away. Kele sighed, sad that the voice had scared it away. He peeked up at the girl who was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. “Well the animal was wanting an apple but there wasn’t any on the ground for it to take so I simply took one and gave it to him.”
“That’s still feeding wildlife, mysterious stranger!” Kele let out a chuckle and stood up. He patted himself off and grabbed his things from the ground, making sure no dirt laid remnant on it. “Apologies then ma’am.” He gave her a closed eye smile. “The name is Kele. I’m looking for a city named Mondstadt.” He tilted his head and looked into her eyes, heterochromic eyes meeting amber. “Would you happen to know where it may be?”
The girl’s body language changed immediately, growing cheerful and friendly instead of strict and on guard. “Sure do Mr mysterious traveler Kele! I'm the Outrider Of The Knights of Favonius, the name’s Amber!” The name oddly fit her. “It’s nice to meet you Miss Amber, please, just call me Kele.” She reached a hand out to shake and he took it. “Then just call me Amber! I needed to go back to Mondstadt anyway to report to HQ. Would you like to come with me so you don’t get lost?” Kele grinned. “If that would be alright with you!”
As the duo walked, Amber told more about the city and herself. She was the only Outrider of Mondstadt and, Kele prays, hopefully not the last. Her grandfather before her had been a noble one and she was determined to follow his steps, and from what Kele hears, he believes she’s already exceeded him. “Hey, is that a Pyro vision I see?” Amber asked, tilting her head to look at the bead armlet on his biceps that held a pyro vision encased in a silvery Natlan case with a feather dangling from it. “Indeed it is. I’ve noticed you have one too.” She grinned, “Yeah! There’s three other people in Mondstadt that have one, maybe you’ll meet them while you’re there to take care of businesses!” He hummed in response, thinking thoughtfully.
Four Pyro users in Mondstadt?...
Interesting.
“Where are you from Kele?”
“I’m from Natlan, born and raised.” And the conversation about him died there when he didn’t say anymore.
Kele felt dumb. How the hell did miss such a large city, sitting smack dab in the middle of the nation and on a lake. “I need to really fix my sense of direction.” He muttered under his breath. Amber laughed good naturedly, “I get that. Fear not good sir! You’ve had me, Outrider Amber, to guide you!” Kele grinned. “Thank you, my fair lady.” She returned it back with an equally bright one before clearing her throat. He watched with confusion as spread her arms wide and presented the city behind her.
“Welcome to Mondstadt! City of freedom, dandelions, and Wine!”
Mondstadts architecture was definitely much more different compared to Kele’s homeland. The windmills stood tall and proud over the stone walls and he could only watch in awe at the beautiful sight. He crouched down and picked up a dandelion, the seeds flying away after a few seconds, ready to find a new home to settle down. The two guards at the gate saluted respectfully to their higher up but gave a small side eye at the foreigner, confused as to who Kele was and why he was being accompanied by their Outrider. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as they conversed a bit before shrugging and going back to work. “What a lovely city we have here.” He grinned, his eyes twinkling mischievously at the different sights. “Ad astra abyssosque Amber!” A female voice called from behind a booth. The shorter girl turned to her direction and waved cheerfully before addressing Kele. “Is there anywhere in particular you wish to go to?”
“I actually needed to go to the Knights of Favonius headquarters to talk to Miss Jean.”
“Oh! Let’s go together! I need to talk to Jean anyways. Come on! I’ll give you a tour around after and we can go to the Good Hunters so you can try some Mondstadt specialties! What’s your opinion on drinking?”
He shrugged a bit, “I don't drink, I’m underaged.”
“Oooh, ok! Makes sense, you do look young. Maybe around..” Amber trailed off. Kele tilted his head in confusion, “Yes?”
“Sorry! Got lost in thought. Let's go!”
“W-WOAH! Amber! Slow down! I'm going to trip over you!”
“No time like the present my good sir!”
From afar, on the hands of a statue, someone watched.
"Well, about time our fair wanderer has arrived." He twirled his lyre and tossed it before catching it and disappearing in a strong gust of wind.