"Okay, let Paimon see if she's got this right."

A month. It had been a month since The Child had escaped the confines of their prison, and since then, their travels had been joined by the creature they had saved from the river; said creature soon revealing to them that they were actually a child like themself as well, and they went by the name of 'Paimon' with she/her pronouns. The Child had nodded along with Paimon's explanation, of course, and then proceeded on with their day despite knowing full well that they had absolutely no idea what this 'gender' Paimon spoke of was.

"You ... were raised in an ... arena of some sorts, along with a bunch of other kids, who you were forced to fight until you finally managed to somehow escape?"

The Child nodded. "Y ... es ..."

One of the advantages of having Paimon as a travel companion was the fact that she was very willing to teach The Child how to speak proper Teyvat in order to make communication between the two of them easier. Admittedly, The Child was having some trouble understanding certain words and how to pronounce them, but Paimon still felt proud and reassured them that it was progress no matter how slow they were learning.

"I was ... alone. Then ... found Paimon, and ... not alone ... anymore ..." The Child stated, turning to Paimon as they spoke.

"Oh, yeah, Paimon really owes you for that one. If you hadn't been by the river that day, Paimon would have likely drowned!" the floating girl confessed, scratching her temple in an embarrassed manner.

The Child only hummed, nodding in agreement to Paimon's words before staring out into the sea, remaining silent as they almost always did.

Paimon went silent as well, looking to stare not at the sea, but the stoic child that sat next to her. She didn't know a lot about them yet, nor did she know what they went through in the arena they had been supposedly raised in since birth. All she knew for now were four things:

1. The Child had no idea what a birthday was, so they of course didn't really know much about aging, meaning that they also had no clue about how old they were (Paimon, however, suspected them to be around 9-12 years old based on their height, but she couldn't be too sure considering the child was a different species from anything or anyone she's ever seen).

2. Gender was a concept The Child had never been taught.

3. The Child was wary of almost anything that moved; always wanting to terminate any possible 'threats' before they could cause some type of harm. It was good to be able to protect yourself in a fantastical world like Teyvat, but sometimes the child could get a little ... carried away.

4. And last, but most certainly not least: The Child did not have a name, only a title that they were often called during their battles in the arena: The Blood Child.

Paimon could remember very clearly her reaction to The Child's words: something in a mix of panic, fear, and overall concern. But, still, she made sure not to freak out too much, and had simply told The Child that she would maybe prefer to just call them 'Child' or whatever other nickname she would eventually decide upon on their way.

"We should probably get going," Paimon finally spoke, placing her hands on her hips as she flew higher into the air. "Like Paimon said, she owes you for saving her life a month ago, so Paimon will do her best to be a great guide during our tour of Teyvat!" she exclaimed, sounding optimistic.

The Child hummed, responding to Paimon's words with a curt nod before standing up to their feet—I mean hooves (man, Paimon would probably never get used to that) and readjusting the fairly large crown that sat atop their head.

"Okay," The Child nodded again. "We go."

Giggling at The Child's response, Paimon began to fly off, humming a small tune to herself as she listened to The Child's hooves walk along the along the sandy shores of the beach. It didn't take long for them to stumble upon a dead end along their path, but luckily enough, The Child knew how to climb very well (though Paimon was curious as to how they didn't struggle once in the slightest, despite their feet being literal pig hooves), so the duo could easily carry on their merry way.

"Okay, let's take the route we planned!" Paimon began, pumping a fist excitedly into the air. "We're off to ... a Statue of The Seven!"

The Child's nose twitched as they took in the scent of the air around them. Sweet ... Something fruity was nearby, possibly in the trees? The Child did recall Paimon mentioning something about how fruit often grew from plants like trees and bushes. Did that mean something to eat was nearby?

Deciding to follow their nose instead of Paimon, The Child found themself standing at the bottom of the tree and staring up at what they assumed to be the 'fruit' Paimon had told them about. They believed it was called something along the lines of ... sunset? Sunsetty?

Well, it's not like the name of the fruit mattered to The Child, anyway. Food was food, and they were going to get it.

So, without even a moment of hesitance, The Child's ears flickered, and then they brought one of their hooves up and placed a rough, aggressive kick against the tree before them; the sheer power of their kick being enough to not only shake the tall plant, but also cause all of the fruit hanging from its branches to drop to the floor at their hooves.

With their nose beginning to twitch once again, The Child crouched down and picked one of the fallen fruits up; sniffing it one more time before bringing it to their lips at last and taking a large bite.

A second passed.

The fruit that once sat in The Child's hands was now completely gone, and The Child's face was now covered in juice.

Paimon had watched the entire ordeal in a moment of stunned silence.

"Um ..." Slowly, the pixie-like girl flew over to The Child's side, her hands held behind her back. "Paimon takes it that you liked the sunsettia fruit?" she questioned, quirking a curious brow.

The Child only nodded, picking up another sensettia before looking to Paimon once again and nodding for her to continue leading the way.

Finding the sight of the messy, unorganized child with a blank expression as they clutched a fruit larger than their own hand in their grasp to be amusing, Paimon merely giggled and nodded; turning around and leading The Child off once more.

Then, not too long after, the duo managed to reach the edge of a cliff, and Paimon found herself gasping at the view, her eyes wide and sparkling with awe and wonder.

"Oh wowwww ..." the floating girl muttered, feeling the breeze tickle at her skin and fly through her white locks of hair, the sound of leaves rustling against one another catching her ears.

And yet despite not saying anything themself, The Child was also left in awe at the scene—breathless, even. Their pupil-less eyes were wide, and their mouth was left agape as they dropped the.sunsettia in their hand and took a couple of steps forward, wanting to close the distance between themself and the beautiful view.

But thankfully enough, Paimon was there to grab The Child by the back of their robe to keep them from walking off of the edge completely.

"That's a Statue of The Seven!" Paimon started, pulling The Child back and placing herself in between them and the edge, an innocent smile etched out upon her features. "There are a few of these statues scattered across the land to show The Seven's protection over the world," told the floating girl. "Among the seven gods, this god controls the wind," she explained. 

The Child tilted their head to the side, oh so very obviously confused. Paimon sweat-dropped at the sight and released a nervous chuckle.

"Right. Sorry, Paimon forgot that you don't really know much or anything about this stuff ..." the white-haired child trailed off awkwardly, scratching her temple.

The Child continued to stare.

Paimon then smiled, albeit nervously, and decided that since not much of what she was saying was actually getting through to The Child, the two of them should just head on over to the Anemo God's statue—she could try explaining the rest on the way.

"Paimon will be taking you to the Anemo God's place first, and there's a reason why~" the flying girl sing-songed, once again leading the child along yet another path. "You may not know this, but poetry and language flow like the wind, so there should definitely be someone there who can help you adjust to your new life out here, too! And maybe, while they're helping Paimon teach you more words to speak, you'll also learn how to read and write as well!" Paimon said ecstatically before adding, "Whether the gods actually answer you is a different story, though. But, you never know unless you try! So, let's hop to it!"

Humming at Paimon's words, The Child nodded yet again and only continued to follow after her silently. Once they came upon the small lake that surrounded the small island the statue stood upon, though, The Child came to a stop and began to intensely stare at their reflection in the water.

Noticing that The Child was no longer behind her, Paimon came to a stop as well and then turned around, her eyes widening slightly as something seemed to finally don upon her. "Oh!" The white-haired girl flew back over to The Child's side, glancing between them and the water. "Do you not know how to swim?" she asked.

The Child didn't respond, still staring at their reflection.

Paimon took that as a good enough answer for herself.

"That's okay, Paimon can teach you!" Paimon told, smiling brightly as she lifted her pointer finger into the air in a knowing manner. "Okay, so first you wanna—"

Paimon didn't get to finish her explanation, sadly, because before she could even utter another word, The Child suddenly threw themself into the water, and not too long after they did, they began to sink.

Paimon gasped, her eyes instantly going wide with horror as she hurriedly flew over to The Child and grabbed ahold of their robe. As concerning as this may sound, Paimon was for once grateful about the fact that this child was so light, otherwise pulling them to land would have been a lot harder.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Paimon yelled once she had finally managed to get The Child to land, her eyes still wide and her breathing heavy. "WHY—WHY WOULD YOU JUST—" The Child began to cough up water, their back rising and falling with their deep breaths as they desperately took in as much air as they could. Was this what it was like to feel cold? The Child wasn't really sure.

Paimon, however, was unfortunately still heated from the recent events, and still hadn't gotten everything out of her system just yet. "YOU CAN'T JUST THROW YOURSELF IN THE WATER LIKE THAT, YOU UNDERSTAND?!" the flying girl snapped, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "YOU ALMOST GAVE PAIMON A HEART ATTACK! DO YOU WANT PAIMON TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK?!" she questioned, sniffling. "THAT WAS REALLY, REALLY DUMB. YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE ... have ..."

Trailing off, Paimon soon went silent once she saw The Child sit up and bow their head to her, their pointed ears lowering with shame as they closed their eyes, almost as if they were expecting something to happen.

Like the wind just then, Paimon's anger and fear faded away, and the white-haired girl sighed; her dark eyes noticeably going soft as she slowly flew over to The Child, this time making sure to keep her voice at a lower volume.

"Paimon's sorry," the girl said, lowering her head slightly to meet The Child's eye level. "Paimon didn't mean to yell at you like that. Paimon was just scared because she thought you were going to drown," she explained. "Please don't be scared of Paimon. That's the last thing Paimon wants."

The Child sniffled, their nose twitching and their gaze averting back to the ground; unmoving and blank. The Child then proceeded to offer Paimon a curt nod, and without anything else, they stood up and suddenly began to shake the water off of themself, surprising Paimon and making the pixie-like girl cry out, trying to shield herself from the water with her arms.

"Hey!" Paimon whined, flying around the child in an attempt to dry herself off with the wind. "Next time you do something like that, make sure to warn Paimon first! Paimon doesn't wanna get wet because of you!" the white-haired girl told with a huff as she firmly placed her hands upon her hips, her cheeks puffing out to create an irritated pout.

The Child stared.

"... Anyway ..."

Paimon and The Child turned their attention to the statue that sat before them. "Why don't you go ahead and try praying to it?"

The child, with absolutely no idea what the heck it meant to 'pray' to anything or anyone, didn't respond and simply decided to just silently place their hand against the statue, waiting for something to happen.

"..." Nothing. The breeze flew by, the birds continued to sing, and Paimon frowned.

"Do you ..." the small girl flew to The Child's side once again, "know how to pray, actually?" she finally asked.

The Child shook their head, taking their hand away from the statue as Paimon sighed, her shoulders drooping. Paimon ... should have probably guessed that sooner ... she thought to herself.

"Er ... That's okay!" Paimon quickly waved away her gloomy mood and went back to smiling at The Child, whose pointed ears suddenly perked up, but at a different sound other than Paimon's voice. "Paimon can teach you how! Okay, so first, you wanna—"

Once again, Paimon was cut off by The Child. Only this time, however, the floating girl was suddenly grabbed out of the air by The Child and placed beneath them; the youth having positioned themself closer to the ground, their blade drawn, and an animalistic growl leaving through their sharp teeth as they intensely watched a winged creature fly above them through the sky, said creature earning an astonished look from Paimon, who was being protectively held against The Child's chest by, well ... The Child.

"Wow! What is that?!" Paimon questioned, her and The Child's eyes following after the creature whilst it soared through the clouds. "Hey! It looks like it's heading towards the heart of the forest!" Paimon pointed out, using her index finger to point up at the creature.

The Child let out another growl; the sound lower and sending a rumble throughout their chest. Paimon felt herself tense up, understandably, and she lifted her gaze up to stare at The Child, wondering what was possibly going through their head.

Are they acting this way because they're technically part pig? Paimon silently gasped at her own thoughts and shook her head, frowning. Don't think of something like that, Paimon! That sounded so rude!! the girl scolded herself.

"We must proceed with caution," Paimon declared at long last after minutes of silence, managing to wiggle her way out of The Child's hold in the process.

"Come on," the girl's smile returned, "Paimon will teach you how to swim now."

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

Hooves walked along the trail of a supposedly serene forest, and a child's pointed ears twitched as their nose sniffed the air around the area, quietly searching for the winged creature them and their companion had seen not too long ago.

Along the traveling duo's trail, the floating one gasped; lightly patting her hybrid partner's shoulder to draw their attention. "Look at that!" she whispered, pointing ahead.

The Child's ears perked up, and they did indeed look ahead, their eyes landing on what Paimon had spotted instantly.

Amongst all of the shrubbery and wildlife of the forest, there stood a figure, who looked to be reaching out to the very winged creature the partners were looking for.

Running ahead in order to take a closer look at the stranger and (what The Child assumed to be) their winged friend, The Child and Paimon were quick to hide themselves out of sight behind a tree before subtly peeking out behind it, the two of them watching the scene before them unfold intently.

"... Don't be afraid," the stranger said, unknowingly confusing The Child with the way they spoke.

Strange.

They sounded oddly ... soft, in a way.

"... It's alright now, I'm back."

"Is he talking ..." Paimon tilted her head to the side in curiosity, "... to a dragon?"

To put it simply, The Child honestly had no idea on what a dragon was, but honestly, that was not going to stop them, just like how anything wasn't going to stop them. So then, in a moment of wonder and impulse, The Child suddenly decided that it would be a good idea to step out into the open and reveal themself, because hey: if this stranger could walk up to this ... dragon thing like it was no problem, then why couldn't The Child?

Turns out, there were many reasons why The Child could not actually do that.

Instantly taking notice of The Child's presence, the dragon let out a ferocious roar and spread its wings, making The Child immediately go tense and take a step back, one of their hands already reaching for the handle of their blade as Paimon gasped and flew to their side, looking between them and the dragon—as well as the stranger—nervously.

The dragon roared again, and this time, it swiped one of its claws at the stranger, who had easily dodged the creatures attack, but not without the consequence of them finally taking notice of the traveling duo's presence as well.

"Who's there?!" they snapped, their angered eyes snapping over to both The Child and Paimon, who, too, also locked eyes with them.

Much to The Child's surprise, the stranger's frustration almost seemed to disappear completely in a matter of seconds the moment their green (really green) eyes landed upon their shorter form, which was still yet to move from its spot, even despite the fact that Paimon was currently trying to pull them away from the whole scene by their hair.

"H-HEY! PIGLET!" Paimon yelled over the wind, which was beginning to pick up with the breeze the dragon was creating with a mere flap of its wings. "WE SHOULD PROBABLY GET GOING, YOU KNOW!!"

The Child didn't respond.

As always, they stared. They watched.

And as they watched, the dragon flapped its wings once again, and in that moment—a split second, really; hidden behind the winged creature's flying appendages—the stranger disappeared from sight.

There was a harsh wind after that, and as it passed through the air, The Child—with their gaze still refusing to move away from the spot the stranger had once stood in—suddenly grabbed ahold of Paimon with ease, and proceeded to casually hold the small girl against their chest to prevent her from flying away with the dragon (although, with how little Paimon weighs, one could easily guess the direction she would have ended up flying in if it had not been for The Child standing with her).

"That was close!" The Child remained silent. "Paimon almost got blown away!" exclaimed the small girl, who then lifted her head up to offer The Child a grateful smile. "Luckily, you managed to grab ahold of Paimon before that could actually happen! Thanks!" she said.

The Child only hummed, loosening their hold on Paimon and allowing the girl to float off back into the air.

(For a moment, The Child's gaze lingered back to the place the stranger used to stand.

How strange they were, The Child thought curiously, to speak to a deadly animal in such a way, as if they weren't scared of it; as if they didn't think it would hurt them in any way.

The plump ones with chains in their sweaty grip and cigars between their teeth never spoke like that to their animals.)

"Just what was that?" Paimon asked, snapping The Child out of their thoughts. "Paimon thought we were gonna get eaten! Hm ..." Paimon helf her chin in thought. "It definitely has something to do with that weirdo who was talking to the dragon ..." she concluded.

Huffing through their nose at Paimon's statement, The Child began to walk past her, making the floating girl blink and watch after them in confusion.

"Hey! Where are you—" Paimon's words came to a stop when The Child climbed up to stand atop of a rock, where a strange object floated above at.

"Oh? What's that?" In the blink of an eye, Paimon was once again at The Child's side. "Paimon's never seen a stone like this before, so Paimon can't tell what it is," she said, casually pushing The Child's hand away from the glowing crystal the moment she saw them begin to reach out to touch it.

The Child's mouth closed, and they took a moment to stare at their hand, feeling a small bit disappointed due to the fact that it was in fact lacking in a shiny, floating rock.

"All Paimon knows is that it's dangerous. Best we put it away for now," Paimon said, putting the crimson stone away in her own inventory. "Okay, we've got it! Now let's get out of here!"

The Child huffed, feeling slightly upset at the fact that Paimon did not trust them enough to care for the shiny object themself, but they still nodded and followed after the pixie-like girl either way, finding it hard to show even the smallest bit of negativity to her due to her enthusiasm.

Not even that far down the duo's path, though, they found themselves and their travels being brought to a stop once again.

"Hey, you! Stop right there!"

The Child tensed immediately and seemed to instinctively step in front of Paimon, their hand already gripping onto the handle of their sword as their pointed ears lifted up and easily caught onto the sound of footsteps, which were obviously racing toward their duo.

There was a refreshing breeze that passed, then, and as it did, a woman in red was suddenly jumping through the air.

Needless to say, this was going to be a long day.

* * * * *
NOTES !

get ready ya'll cuz a custody battle's about to happen.