Paimon and I had left the anemo statute when we were promptly accosted by a girl clad in red.
"Halt in the name of anemo!"
In front of us was an archer character with leather straps in her outfit and long brown hair. I looked at Paimon for guidance, but she looked as confused as I was. We stayed where we were until she was done talking.
"Strange... yet respectable travelers, what are yo u doing here around Mondstadt."494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQobN8ohNp
I decided to answer for us, "We were going to visit Mondstadt?"494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UTxw6rIe4
The girl's expression changed immediately, "Oh, well, then I shall be your tour guide; I'm Amber."
"I'm Aether."
Amber nodded, "You definitely do not sound like you are from around here." She gave me a friendly smile.
If only you knew.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Uv2WjfKLb
She looked at Paimon who had strangely stayed quiet this whole time, "And what is this?"494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrE5LEZoR4y
Without thinking I blurted out the first thing I could, "Emergency food."
"Paimon is not emergency food!" She floated in my face again.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNuUVv1JAn
I smiled, "You know I'm only joking... Or am I?"494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhT0mMG47GG
Amber stepped forward to break us up. Paimon knew I was joking, but boy, she was a feisty creature
"Well, I can bring you two to Mondstadt safety; I'm not Mondstadt's only Outrider for nothing!"494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBqAUBe9sg
Again, we were off, Amber being our new tour guide to the dismay of Paimon; she was doing such a good job, and I was stuck in the middle of them. The longer we continue down the trail the more I could see of the city of Mondtstadt and could only stare at it more. The city, like the anemo statute Paimon and I found earlier was on an island, although the city had a stone bridge that led into Mondstadt.
Amber tapped me on my shoulder, "Uh, Aether, was it?" I looked away from the city and focused on Amber, "If this is not much to ask, I see that you have a sword. And since you two are adventures--at least you--I was wondering if you could help me take out a hilichurl camp."494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IVpnQiSPW
She had lowered her voice when she had spoken about Paimon not being an adventurer, but I honestly thought she could have some other powers under her cape that were more than just floating. Thankfully Paimon did was a little bit in front of us, also staring at the island city.
It was true that I had fighting experience, my younger sister Lumine would spar together all the time to hone our skills, and sometimes just for fun to prove "who the better twin was at fighting," although we both knew we had slightly different fighting skills. But that did not answer what a "hilichurl" was, so I had to ask, "What's a hilichurl?"494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmd4DK9DsdP
This seemed to be loud enough for Paimon to take notice, because she came over to me quicker than Amber could open her mouth to explain herself; it was like she teleported and poped up in front of me she was so fast.
"Paimon'll tell you! Hilichurls the monsters than pushed Paimon into the ocean!" Her explanation was not very helpful, but I noticed Paimon's lie immediately.
"I thought you were swimming and got your cape stuck in your face."
Paimon looked away from me, a guilty look on her face, "I was swimming... after the hilichurls pushed me."494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGP6WfDP0w
Amber intervened between us, giving me a proper explanation about hilichurls, "As Paimon said, they are basically monsters." So much for a proper explanation.
"Hey guys! Look over there!"
I looked over where Paimon was speaking, a few yards away from her, I could see what could only be described as a monster, "Are those hilichurls?"
Amber nodded, "And as I was about to ask, I was wondering if you... and Paimon could help me defeat that hilichurl camp. As you can see, this camp is pretty close to Mondstadt, and, as an Outrider, I need to keep my people safe, along with the area surrounding Mondstadt, so could you two assist me?"
I shrugged, pulling my sword out; I could do this.
Paimon nodded, "Let's do this!"494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpfRT85BKE
Even though Paimon was just beat up by hilichurls, she had a fearless spirit, even though Amber and I had to defeat them by ourselves.
The process was surprisingly easy, I took out the two hilichurls on the ground all by myself while Amber had a bow that shot out fire--or pyro as she claimed--arrows. Surprisingly, Amber also had a vision, and she was able to control the element pyro, and as I quickly figured out, I controlled the element of anemo.
After the fight, Amber congraulated me--and Paimon--for helping her with the hilichurls.
"Thanks for healing me with those hilichurls, now Mondstadt has one less hilichurl camp to worry about, I would continue searching and taking out camps, but as your tour guide, it would be impolite of me to not bring you into the city."
+ + 000 + +494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4uoAA43AN
We left the emptied out camp, and turned our sights to the city. When we arrived at the bridge, there was a little boy surrounded by piegeons. Amber took special cuation and moved slowly coming up to the birds. I did not know what she was doing, but I followed slowly behind her.
Unlike me, Paimon did not seem to get the message because she floated right above the pigeons. When the pigeons started to fly away, the boy started to yell at us--loudly, "What did you do?!" He came up to Paimon, and us (we had started to walk at a normal pace now), "How could you disrupt my pigeons?!"
Paimon looked frightened, "Uh, sorry?"
Amber groaned under her breath, seems she did not like this kid. "Timmie, this would not a problem if you and your pigeons stayed somewhere else. Of course the birds will fly away when someone comes close to them-"494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQoYqYJAFG
"Not with me." The boy stood proudly, guess he felt attraction to his birds?
"This happens every single day, when I leave and come for Outrider duties, the birds fly away and Timmie here is on my case. He does this to anyone and everyone that comes in and out of Mondstadt; even strangers." She whispered in my ear again.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVo1I59wRn
"I am sorry I spooked your pigeons, Timmie, but I an currently a tour guide and need to give these lovely people a tour of Mondstadt." She tried to drag us away, but Timmie had one more line to say.
"But my pigeons is an important part of Mondstadt's official tour!"
She turned to Timmie, pushing me towards the gates at the other side of the bridge, "Currently, that is not a part of the Knights of Favonius Handbook, but you can put a request up to Jean--for the umpteenth time this week."
And as we left Timmie and his pigeons, Amber started our tour of Mondstadt...
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