"I suggest we stop and rest, we're far enough from our original camping grounds and it seems like there are no enemies around us." When Lumine announced those instructions, everyone relaxed and stopped for the night.

All of you had to pause the travelling because Paimon would pop out of the blue every now and then to complain about how hungry she was getting. Surely enough, after feeding her whatever was in Xiangling's backpack, there was no food for the rest of the party.

It was only a minor setback, you were used to walking long walks and not eating for a while, you supposed that was a part of your Fatui training. Anyway, you've always liked to take a break whenever you were presented with the opportunity. Scaramouche rarely gave you any time for yourself except at night...

While Lumine and the trio of best friends unloaded their own small tents from their inventories, you stood there awkwardly rocking on the balls of your feet. Normally, a large Fatui tent would be waiting for you to get in, however, that wasn't the case. You didn't really want to walk into another Fatui campsite with this bounty over your head.

So, your only option was to sleep outside, exposed. You weren't comfortable, nor did you think it was in your place, to ask Lumine or Xiangling if they could make some space for you. All the more, you obviously didn't want to ask any of the boys if you could sleep with them. One of them absolutely loathes you.

It wasn't so bad of an area, in your opinion. At least there wasn't any snow or risk of frostbite. (You remember that Childe would make jokes to foreigners visiting Snezhnaya. He would say something like "When travelling in our nation, if we don't keep moving, we could freeze to death. Literally~!" to which they would only respond with uneasy expressions.)

A few metres away, there was a tree with smooth, almost soft-looking bark, surrounded by a nice blanket of long, pressed grass. You felt like it would be comfortable enough to sleep on. Additionally, it looked to be pretty secure and private. You were confident no one, even an enemy, would spot you from afar.

"Xiangling... Can you make me more popsicles...?"

Your ears perked up at the sound of a fatigued voice.

"I'm sorry, Chongyun, I'm out of those ingredients!" Xiangling sighed, struggling to get her tent to stand upright. "But I can go search for them!"

"I will join too," Xingqiu offered, standing proudly next to his finished tent. "We would not want a repeat of what happened in the Wanmin Restaurant, nor at the Wangshu Inn."

The icy-haired male nodded weakly, "Good... Because I don't think I can hold on for much longer..."

"We will work as quickly as possible," Xingqiu reassured him.

"Hang in there, Chongyun! We'll get those popsicles ready for you in no time!"

"Thank you..." The exorcist looked like he was turning greener by the second, "I... I'm gonna go... clear my head a little..."

Before anyone got a word in, Chongyun quickly took off, leaving everyone with a sense of worry for what was going to happen to him. You, surprisingly, felt pity for him and honestly, you wanted to know if you could help him out in some way.

As you continued to twirl your fingers together, the other Liyuen boy noticed you standing idly. You failed to notice that he was making his way towards you and in turn, you tried to look as approachable as possible.

"[Y/N]," Xingqiu walked up with a kind grin. "Xiangling and I will be gone for a bit to collect some ingredients for Chongyun's popsicles. She will be over there collecting Mist Flowers. Whereas, I will be climbing up that rocky mountain to retrieve some Qingxins."

You nodded as you made a mental note of their whereabouts, "Would you like me to join? I can help, I won't get in anyone's way..."

"Do not worry about us," He smiled, golden eyes gleaming with boyish charm. "We will be alright, your kind offer is greatly appreciated!"

"We'll be back soon!" Xiangling exclaimed joyfully, picking up a small panda with one hand out of nowhere and a chili pepper in the other.

Both of them wasted no time and soon, left the temporary camping grounds. You gave them a sad-looking wave, feeling useless and slightly uncomfortable. The thing was, you were so used to carrying out any errands or requests Scaramouche would order you to do, so all the more, you felt unproductive.

You felt like you needed to be busy with something.

There was no use sulking about not having a job to do, so you immediately turned around to find the Traveller (which you found to be a little bit ironic). You stepped away from the two tents and began searching for Lumine.

While walking around the area and looking around, you rubbed your elbows out of nervousness because you were still not used to being in Liyue's wilderness. There were Whopperflowers pretending to be mints and Dendro slimes hiding beneath your feet, it was more bizarre than you expected.

Yet, there was something beautiful. Maybe it was the stone mountains or the small grassy ponds that were piquing your interest. In Snezhnaya, most of the mountains were covered in thick snow and any possible body of water was iced over. Seeing what was underneath all the pure whiteness was refreshing, in a way.

You found Lumine digging in her inventory and then putting the bag away when she noticed that you were walking up to her. Paimon, who was floating next to the blonde, placed her hands behind her back as if she was caught being sneaky.

"[Y/N], what's up?" Lumine shined you a tired smile, tilting her head.

"Where are you going...?" You asked quietly as you eyed the full pouch of items under her arm.

The Traveller broke eye contact with you for a split second, "Well..."

"Ehe..." Paimon pressed the tips of her fingers together, glancing off to the side. "It's a little hard to explain...!"

Lumine drew your attention back to her, "I'm not going anywhere far, I'll only be on the top of that mountain for a few minutes."

You followed her finger when she pointed at the large stone hill in the distance, "Okay, but... why...?"

"It's something I do every night, it's kind of a mindless routine now. Haha..."

Lumine had a look of relaxed dismay on her face, those usually bright yellow eyes were slowly becoming dull with sadness.

"I make wishes on the falling stars..." She explained wistfully, clutching her bag. "I make wishes for my brother to come home... to come back to me."

Though you didn't really understand how that would work, you didn't say anything that would potentially upset her. When you were a kid, you would hear stories about loved ones returning home if you wished really hard on the falling stars.

You remembered how your older brother would wish for his father to return but, of course, it was only a childish dream. It's difficult to imagine being in Lumine's shoes, not knowing where your family is. At least you knew where Nikolai was: safe with your mother back in Snezhnaya, your father's job at the Embassy provided some security.

"Would you like me to accompany you?"

Lumine shook her head politely, "I'll be fine, Paimon is with me for some good luck."

"Okay..."

Both girls said their temporary goodbyes and began making their way to the tall rocky mountain in the distance. You felt a sad frown pull at your lips as you were left alone once again. If Scaramouche were here, he would be making fun of how horrible you were with making small talk.

That or he would stay behind and keep you company... The thought made you even sadder.

To shake Scaramouche off your mind, you decided to do what you do best: walk around the campsite and scout around for any signs of danger. As long as you stay within the area, you shouldn't get lost, right? Nothing but a short stroll would clear up your head.

So, you too started your own little mission and began circling around aimlessly with no particular destination. With your hands swaying at your sides, you moved confidently with every step as you kept your eyes peeled and ears strained. You just hoped you didn't look silly marching all by yourself.

It's been about five minutes and you were already growing tired of walking by that same tree you saw from before. You didn't know what made you so drawn towards it, it's just an ordinary tree. Maybe you were that lonely and bored that you're starting to find entertainment in Liyue's agriculture.

You came to the philosophical conclusion that you were starting to hate being by yourself. It's bland and that voice in your head was starting to get more annoying by the second. You just wanted to talk to someone, anyone-

All of a sudden, you stopped in your tracks. Right away, you couldn't tell if this was a blessing or a curse from the universe.

After your seventh time (probably) walking by the same large rock, only now did you realize a strand of icy-blue hair was peeking up from behind it. Curious, you quietly walked parallel to the stone-y structure and sneakily stepped to the side to see who was there.

With his back towards you, Chongyun had his hand against the boulder as he leaned forward, painfully coughing up something. He was heaving quite heavily as he struggled to even get a deep breath in.

From the swaying of his body and the way he touched his forehead, made you realize that something was indeed wrong with him. It was a complete contrast to what you saw when you met him in the afternoon. He wasn't grumbling to himself or stabbing his claymore into anything, it was something different.

After a few seconds, he crouched down weakly and leaned against the rock for support, letting out a sharp hiss. You decided that it was best to probably leave while you had the chance.

"Fatui girl." With a raw voice, he called you out when he noticed that you were watching him. He glanced over his shoulder tiredly. "What are you doing here...? You should be with the Traveller."

"Are you okay?" You asked softly.

"I'm fine." He replied flatly. "I don't need your sympathy."

"But you look sick..."

"I said, I'm fine...!" He was cut off by his own cough which caused him to slouched further. "I'm just... feeling a little hot..."

"I can try to help y-"

"We need to hurry up and get to the Wanmin Restaurant..." Chongyun interrupted you as he thought out loud, his voice becoming painfully sarcastic. "But I wonder why we had to stray off the main road..."

You tried not to look bothered by his indirect insults. Though you hated to admit it, you were kind of used to being talked down at. But Chongyun was not on the same level as Scaramouche and you wanted him to know that you didn't like being put down like this.

Carefully, you walked closer towards the young man, offering some assistance.

"I can let out some frost from my tank?"

Chongyun drew away, "Don't get all friendly with me. For all I know, you'll finish what you started from that day!"

As the Cryo user attempted to get up and leave, you saw that he was overpowered by his mystery illness and then staggered with his footing. Your eyes widened slightly and out of reflex, you moved out of the way when he collapsed to the ground face first.

A defeated groan resonated from the fallen boy, it seemed like he just accepted his little tumble. You awkwardly step around him and crouched down, tilting your head to the side to get a good look at his upset face. Chongyun gave you the dirtiest side-eye and you stared right back at him with the same attitude.

"What is wrong with you...?"

"Just... Get Xiangling..." Chongyun muttered.

"She's out collecting Mist Flowers."

"How about Xingqiu...?"

"He's scaling a mountain for Q-Qingxins."

"It's pronounced Qingxin...!" Chongyun snapped right at you but backed down after realizing it was probably not the best time to reprimand you for your poor Liyuen pronunciation.

You glanced away sadly at his lack of cooperation, thinking that maybe you should go out and look for his friends.

"Can you get the Traveller...?" Chongyun then ruggedly shook his head. "Actually, don't. She almost poisoned me last time I asked for her help... Ah, I'm all out of options..."

"Will you just..." You huffed in frustration. "Tell me what's wrong...?!"

"Fine." He gave in. "But first, help me up."

Without another thought, you bent over Chongyun's body and hooked your hands under his arms, easily pulling him upright. He sluggishly threw his head back and leaned against you briefly before resting his back against the stone behind him.

You shuffled away to give him some space and patiently waited for his next request. But then, you mentally slapped yourself for acting like you were awaiting orders from Scaramouche. This transition without him was harder than you thought.

"Hurry up and tell me what's wrong." You questioned him like you were undergoing some sort of interrogation.

"It's my condition..." He finally answered.

You were still in the dark, "What do you mean?"

"I'll make this quick," Chongyun sighed deeply, looking anywhere but you. "I was born with an abundance of yang energy. Now, since you're Snezhnayan, you probably don't understand what that means. To put it simply, it's positive energy. I have the ability to ward off evil spirits with only my presence because they have yin, negative, energy. That's what makes me such a good exorcist... and the reason why I'm absolutely sick to my stomach..."

"But why?" You tried your best to comprehend his explanation. "Why are you acting this way if there are no evil spirits around?"

He ran a tired hand through his hair, "To me, you're like a source of yin energy, we're not supposed to be together... Or maybe, it's my hatred towards the Fatui...? Whatever it is, it's getting me all fired up... all I know is that it has something to do with you."

"But... I'm not a ghost... Moreover, I don't even believe in ghosts."

"You don't believe in-" Chongyun whipped his head and glared directly at you, pouting deeply. "What do you mean you don't believe in ghosts?!"

Your shoulders raised in confusion, "I've never seen one, I don't really think they exist..."

The young man fumed, "Are you saying that I'm some sort of fraud? I'm offended. Do you know that I'm dedicating my entire life to exorcising evil spirits?"

"Have you ever seen a ghost?"

Chongyun paused for a second before smiling angrily, "Oh, you're more clever than you look, Fatui girl."

You glanced away briefly, W-What did I even say??

Once again, the boy clutched his stomach and let out another pained gasp. His skin became a horrid shade of green and you thought you saw his blue eyes spiralling with nausea. He was shaking his head every now and then, probably shaking off the heat that is currently tormenting him.

"You know what? Just shoot me..." Chongyun finally surrendered to your offer. "I feel like I'm dying anyway..."

You perked up at his words and immediately unholstered one of your guns, carefully aiming it away from him, "Are you sure...?"

"Yes... Just do it already..."

You looked down at the weapon and watched it glow with Cryo energy, the frost from the glass tank began buzzing feverishly. Adjusting a knob at the side, you filtered the amount of frost seeping out of the barrel, switching it to the lowest setting.

Chongyun flinched a bit when you aimed the spray gun at his face. As much as you felt sort of a grudge against him for the way he's been treating you, you knew it wouldn't be right to blow up his face and leave the trio down to two.

Pushing that dark thought out of your head, you pressed down on the trigger and gave him a little mist shower. Tiny snowflakes floated in the air and landed softly on Chongyun's face, melting on his skin. Feeling the cold air waft over his body made him relax, you could almost see a tired smile pull at his lips.

"That feels good..." Chongyun exhaled longingly, in a surprised tone. "It's as good as my popsicles..."

"Let me know when to stop," You saw the way his behaviour changed.

The male was clearly enjoying himself. You supposed that his condition was practically making him overheat and then ultimately have him succumb to some kind of heatstroke. Well, at least you figured out that you may not exactly be the reason why Chongyun was so hostile to you in the first place.

Maybe it was your Fatui title? Or some sort of Liyuen myth? You didn't really know exactly, but you were happy to know that you could have a potential friendship with him.

"Can you make it stronger...?" Chongyun leaned closer to the gun.

"If I do that, you might get hurt..."

"I can handle it..."

Well, if he insists... You focused deeply on the flow of the mist and tried to make it colder than before, adding more of the Snezhnayan frost into the mix. You received a positive reaction from the icy-haired boy, he started to nod in encouragement.

"More, please..."

You complied with his request and increased the sparkling drizzle. Chongyun was now murmuring to himself as he basked in the pleasurable feeling. You too were also enjoying the decrease of the temperature around you, feeling the frost swirling around brought you comfort in a way.

"I want more..." Chongyun suddenly lunged into your personal space.

"W-Woah, slow down...!"

You felt your face burst with hot blush as the male quickly unbuttoned his sweater to lift it over his head. His hair tussled to the side and he continued to bathe in the everlasting frost, shutting his eyes out of satisfaction.

Chongyun tugged at his collar to let the cold breeze in, his exposed shoulders were glistening with sweat and the snowflakes coated over his flushed skin. He was on the verge of pulling his arm sleeves down, but he relaxed when the mist showered over his uncovered body.

A squeak of surprise left your lips when he grabbed the gun, making you fall to the ground on your butt. That action alone was as dangerous as grabbing onto Scaramouche's hat!

You cursed yourself for thinking about him again.

"We're back with popsicle ingredients!" Xiangling's voice came out of nowhere, making Chongyun snap back to his senses.

"However, I think we can only make two," Xingqiu added on.

His blue cat-like eyes widened when he noticed the close proximity between the two of you and couldn't help but let out a small gasp. Puzzled and now a stuttering mess, he didn't know if he should be worried about you pointing your gun at him or his friends catching him in this embarrassing situation.

Chongyun immediately separated from you and steadily got up, not forgetting to pick up his sweater. You released the trigger and watched him stumble away, the snow slowly melted in the air and left traces of invisible frost.

He left without saying thank you.

Left alone, again.

Well, it wasn't like it bothered you or anything, you were used to it anyway. But, you really thought that you saw the real Chongyun back there.

Whatever. It was time for bed.

Considering your options right now, you actually think it's not that bad of an idea to sleep against that tree you saw earlier.

•••