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Shenhe sat atop her roost on a quiet night in Liyue. She preferred high altitudes for as long as she could remember, becoming accustomed to solitude from a young age, and although she had begun to integrate into Liyuan society, she still retained a certain fondness for the cool peaks of her home region. Despite her disposition towards the chillier peaks, she still couldn’t help but admire the warm hues of Liyue Harbour from above, breathing in the glow of the lanterns from the mountainous heights she had situated herself in for the night. They weren’t as cool or as quiet as what she was acclimated to, her usual residence being within the celestial peaks of Mt. Hulao and Qingyun Peak but it’d suffice for the night. She rested upon Mt Tianheng, observing the harbour.
It wasn’t her job to watch over the city, nor was she expected to, as Rex Lapis was presumably long gone, and she had no instruction from her fellow Adepti or the Liyue Qixing to do so. Perhaps she felt indebted towards the people of Liyue somehow. She had allowed them her services in the past, defeating the enraged god Beisht alongside the mysterious Traveller and the hard-working Qixing, as well as the ever tenacious Milileth. If Shenhe was a humorous person, she may have found the power of the Qixing in comparison to her to be laughable - she was single handedly able to accomplish what an entire army could not. She even surmised the possibility that she could annihilate their numbers in their entirety with one strike of her weapon, polearm glinting in the dewey waters of the ocean in which she once fought the god.
Despite this, she knew that ordinary people were able to accomplish things she couldn’t. Ningguang managed the financial affairs of all of Liyue. Keqing’s entire job was managing people. Surely managing an army as big in numbers as the Milileth must be taxing, even for an extrovert. As great as her power was from her years within solitude, she struggled with things that most would consider ordinary; mundane even. Shenhe couldn’t help but feel melancholic as she mused what Ningguang and Keqing could accomplish in a day with their social skills. As much as she detested the idea of merging into Liyuean society currently, the Liyuean mountainside could get lonely on nights like these…
Shenhe felt the wind change behind her.
“Woah there, tiger.”
Shenhe whipped around, drawing her polearm fiercely, and in the direction of which stood a strange woman dressed in blue. It was unusual for mortals to linger in the mountains at night and this woman seemed to appropriately carry an aura of mystique with her. Her attire was adorned in gold and jewels which hid underneath a white jacket resting on her shoulders. Although they did not scatter across the woman’s short azure dress in an overly extravagant manner - accenting her neck, wrists and arms just enough for her to appear like a person who engages in lucrative activities in her downtime rather than a tycoon in the same vein as Ningguang. Her hair was swept to the side, failing to conceal turquoise eyes, inquisitive and deep, yet sparkling brighter than the stars. Even at spear-point she appeared to be collected, holding her arms in feigned defeat. She made the act of surrender seem more of a formality than anything else. Shenhe couldn’t help but be lost in the intrigue of her, even if it was only for a fleeting moment.
“Who are you? Do you consider sneaking up on an adeptus apprentice to be wise?” Shenhe could have redacted the “apprentice” part of her “career” title (if you could even call it that), rivalling ancient beings in raw power, but felt it unnecessary. Surely mortals trembled at the mere mention of the Adepti, especially at the end of a spear’s point.
“Relax, songbird, I wasn’t sneaking up on you,” the woman in blue retained her composure, even seeming amused, “Not intentionally anyways. Sorry, guess I forgot about my affinity for sneaking up on people.”
“Songbird? I fail to understand this title you have addressed me as. State your identity and purpose for being here… I don’t have any interest in your wordplay.”
“You seemed lonely.”
Shenhe broke her composure for the slightest moment.
“Excuse me?”
“Was that harsh? I apologise,” she continued, lowering her hands to her sides, as if she didn’t already seem more relaxed than she should have been, “But surely it must be lonely for you, no? It’s dark and cold and there’s no one here but you.”
“I am not lonely. I can cope with the solitude of Liyue’s mountains.”
“You’re far more easily accustomed to them than someone like me, I suppose. I find them quite desolate.”
Shenhe gave the woman a sceptical glare, contending with her own common sense whether or not to lower her spear. Glancing down at her vision - Liyue - Shenhe pieced together that whoever this woman was, she was from around here. Her intentions may not be clear, but her knowledge of Shenhe’s past times was not unthinkable. The little opera singer was as kind as her voice was dulcet, but Shenhe never considered the ramifications of her private information being so… public. It’d surely only take a moment of pondering to realise where Shenhe lived after being unable to find her anywhere in the harbour. Shenhe, somewhat fighting herself on the inside, lowered her polearm in the presence of the woman. Whatever it was about her which set off alarms inside Shenhe’s head simultaneously soothed them. She was a walking paradox to Shenhe, more so than the other residents of Liyue.
“I suppose you heard Yunjin’s opera?”
“Now is that what she’s called?”, the woman had begun lazily twirling a strand of ebony hair between her fingers, “I just thought her dance was sweet, honestly. I had been unfortunate enough to miss her initial show when I was out of town, but she promised to put on a special show just for me.”
“What are you called? You’ve yet to give your name. Currently you’re just causing an interruption to my night.”
The woman smiled at Shenhe.
“Yelan. I work for the Ministry of Civil Affairs but I’m pretty in and out.”
“Good to meet you Yelan, but I do not require company tonight. Goodbye.”
Shenhe turned from Yelan, digging her polearm into the ground with a great thrust, and sat down once more, exhaling, satisfied with her social interaction of the night despite her exhaustion. No one had been killed, even though Traveller wasn’t present - surely this meant only good things to come.
Once again Shenhe felt the wind change around her, as Yelan sat down directly adjacent to her. Had she not understood the meaning of goodbye?
“Don’t be ridiculous, Songbird,” Yelan continued, “Everybody needs company. I mean, not me, but everyone else of course.” Her words dripped with sweet deceit, and yet she seemed almost compassionate towards the colder woman.
“Not me. I don’t do well with crowds, or people. My polearm isn't able to tell them apart from dangers to myself, and the ropes that bind my certain urges can only do so much… it’s fine by me,” Shenhe mused, “Thanks to the Traveller I’ve been able to gain some understanding of human society, but it’s still… very distant to me. Humans have such a strange way with words - like you. I don’t understand why you’re calling me that. I’m not a bird.”
“But you were raised by a bird, right?”
“I was taught the Adepti arts by the Adeptus Cloud Retainer, but I believe she isn’t classified under the category of “Songbird”. I believe Songbirds are-”
Yelan burst into a tempered fit of laughter, “It isn’t that literal y’know. One thing about humans “like me”, we aren’t as specific or as literal as you might think. It’s just a cute nickname.”
“Humans like you are strange.”
“I get that a lot.”
The pair resolved to a moment of quiet. Shenhe was almost grateful the stranger had permitted her a moment of respite. Yet she glanced back at Yelan for a moment, observing the mysterious woman, as she peered over the orange and gold hues that found their way even back to Mt Tianheng. She rested her arm on her knee, propped up, her extravagant heels burrowed into the grass and mud. Comfortable, effortless and yet ever so confident. Shenhe almost couldn’t help but be taken in by how deliberate everything about this woman was, as if she had a perfect grasp on her, and yet, was barely scratching the surface of the icy shield she had seemingly cast around herself. Warm yet cold, fierce yet tepid. Shenhe was always a straight-forward person, so she didn’t ever quite understand people like Yelan, whom she felt was weaving her between her fingers like putty. Yelan also happened to be quite pretty, as strange as she was. She was almost bathed in the hues of the Liyuean lanterns - not close enough for her form to be engulfed by fiery oranges and yellows, but just enough for her to be tinted ever so slightly, appearing warmer than she had a moment ago. The light may have been artificial but it lit up Yelan’s face beautifully.
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“Liyue - at this time of night.” Yelan’s turquoise eyes traced the architecture, eyes falling and dipping with the crests of the buildings, like waves, rising at sea, only to crash upon the shore. She was right - Liyue was beautiful. Shenhe almost longed to be among the people who roamed, weaving between each other as they carried out their nightly tasks. Truly a marvel that it was still this busy at this time. Yet she was all too aware of how she was truly in her element away from the bustling crowds. It was an unfortunate fate, which she had accepted for herself long ago, though it was unusual for Shenhe to want to be among people at all. The Traveller must have rubbed off on her.
“I suppose it is beautiful from a distance.”
“Is it not the same up close?”
“I prefer to keep my distance.”
“...We should go out.”
“We are outside.”
“I mean for fun.”
“Fun isn’t necessary to me.”
“Maybe, but you could definitely use some fun”, Yelan got to her feet, wiping away lingering dirt, slender fingers straightening the fabric of her dress slightly as they smoothed out its folds, “Anyone ever told you that you can be depressing?”
“I’ve been called a witch.”
Yelan scoffed lightheartedly, “Despicable for anyone to speak of such a fine lady that way.” Her words hinted at ire, yet she spoke in a lackadaisical tone.
“They aren’t completely incorrect”, Shenhe didn’t budge from her place, digging her nails into the ground, “I’m not a witch, but I’m not entirely human, not in the way that they are.”
“How’d you like to learn to be human?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“You sure? You sure looked like you did a moment ago, staring at the harbour like that.”
An unusual instance for Shenhe - not often did she meet someone able to comprehend her the way Yelan seemed to and with such ease. To others Shenhe was an unsolved mystery, and yet to Yelan, she was an open book, the words of her life seemingly spilling out onto endless pages. Perhaps it was due to her gaining a tendency to open up more easily due to the Traveller’s interference, or perhaps Yelan was simply that skilled at reading people, even those as difficult to decipher as Shenhe. Just how did she become so proficient at this… Taken aback by the sudden read of her character, Shenhe took a moment to compose herself. Never had her eyes felt as if they were bulging in astonishment, though it was likely unnoticeable to most - despite her shock, she was still more stone-faced than the average person would be.
“Don’t look so surprised, Songbird. You were staring. And it was different from your casual dead fish-eye stare,” Yelan smirked, “You had your tells - you looked happy. And you know, a night in town wouldn’t kill ya.”
“...I can’t. My urges, they don’t let me be around people, even if I wanted to. The ropes can only do so much...”
Yelan looked momentarily disappointed, her cocksure grin dropping ever so slightly. Had she never failed to smooth talk someone into going out with her before? …Not as if this would be a date, Shenhe had never been intimate with another person anyways. Taking someone like her on a date would be a wasted effort, as she was sure she simply didn’t know how to connect with humanity anymore, especially on a romantic level. Surely Yelan was able to understand that. It’d just be a quaint, human outing between two humans.
“Can’t you just leave your polearm at home?”
“I don’t have a-”
“I know, you don’t have a "home" like a mortal might, I mean more along the lines of leaving it somewhere safe for the time being. Being non literal again…“ Yelan mused for a moment before clapping her hands in paled excitement, “Ah! You could leave it with Ningguang in her Jade Chamber! She’ll be up this late at night most definitely, with “official business” or whatever it is she does in that chamber of hers - she owes me a favour anyways.”
Shenhe wondered what she was dipping her feet into if this woman was owed a favour by someone as affluent as Ningguang. She rose to her feet, pulling her polearm out of the ground in which it was buried in one sharp motion, despite how firmly she had dug it in, gripping on to it tight. Calamity Queller seemed to have a mind of its own, her homicidal urges directing her more so than she directed them in the past. Her grip on them had been steadily increasing in recent years, but she feared she may lose her grip if she were cast out into public like this.
“My polearm would be safe with Ningguang surely, however I-”
Before Shenhe could continue to wrestle with her own thoughts, Yelan draped her own arm over Shenhe’s shoulder, pulling Shenhe’s face and body closer. The position was somewhat discomforting for someone as reclusive as Shenhe but she hadn’t the wherewithal to pull away - she couldn’t remember the last time someone had embraced her, even in a position as uncomfortable as this one.
“Relax, Songbird. I wouldn’t be inviting you out if I thought you’d get me in more trouble than I could get out of,” Yelan said, balancing her strange sense of concern and conceit with her comforting words, “Besides, it’s late out. Not like the city will be swarming, but if things get out of hand, I know a few corners of town where it’ll be just the two of us and some drinks.”
Yelan looked down at Shenhe who ever so slightly seemed to shrink in her grip. Unusually so. Shenhe had never retracted from anyone in such a manner before - but Yelan seemed to have been pulling her strings. Everything about Yelan compelled her, potential reasons why seeming to evade Shenhe’s line of reasoning. She was a stranger, yet she felt so familiar. Her gaze was calculating and cold, yet her hold was amicable. Shenhe resolved herself to cracking open the enigma that was Yelan. “If I do something to anyone I will not accept the ramifications. This was your decision.”
“So you tell yourself~ your answers are usually more straightforward than that, but should I assume that was a yes?"