Chapter Text
The Kingdom of Nod-Krai was a nation settled near the northern regions of Teyvat. It wasn’t as prominent as its Neighbors, but it was a prosperous land nonetheless, thriving on trade. It was known for its big bustling docks, innovative technology, and brash mouthed townsfolk. But during the past 10 years or so, their princess has become the talk of the town. Daughter of the Late Queen and Sickly Father, Aino Jakoavain was the young and sole heir to the throne. Protected by palace walls, talented soldiers and the warm embrace of the church, Nod-Krai had seemingly kept its pride and joy coddled and safe from harm. Providing her save space to grow into a bright young girl with a brilliant mind. Only seemingly though; the Princess was currently well outside of the castle walls.
Princess Aino could be seen sitting in a clearing surrounded by trees. Her long flowing hair kept her fair face and focused expression shrouded from view. Her shoes and headpiece were discarded near a rock, if it wasn’t for the dress, you could hardly tell she was even royalty.
Aino sat there still, head leaning on a propped up arm as she sat on the ground with a disinterested expression. She had the air of someone who was clearly frustrated but still had the reflex to try and remain composed; She didn’t have to be, there was no one here. She surveyed the blueprint she had drawn into the dirt and huffed a loud sigh; It was a failed design. She could tell it was because the proportions she drafted were ‘close enough’ and not exactly right.
On top of that, she was bored. She went through all the trouble of sneaking out of the palace, risking getting not only herself in trouble, but Flins and Illuga as well, and she was still bored. Running off was supposed to slow the spread of boredom, but here it was. Creeping up like a snake and biting down on her brain. She shook her head, a gesture to rid herself of the Boredom Inducing Serpent, and tried to fix her blueprint for the third time.
Her marks in the dirt became increasingly more aggressive, a pout appearing on her face. She’s a genius, if she wanted something to come out of this outing, then surely it will eventually. Measurements were erased and hastily changed, and sketches were altered. She let out a groan of annoyance that was on the verge of a whine. It still didn’t look like how it was supposed to.
If she were to continue with this cycle, she’d probably be at it until sundown. Scratching and erasing until she deems it fit. It would be stubborn, she was stubborn. But she didn’t stay until sundown. Something made her stop, something broke her focus.
Caw!!
She didn’t see the bird before it flew infront of her face, it startled her. That’s a lie, it scared her. Her body froze and clenched up like a spring under pressure and she brandished her stick like it was a sword, and not an impromptu writing utensil. For a while, there was silence. Just her heartbeat. She opened her eyes. There was no one there. No avian assassin, just the Princess. The Princess who got scared by a bird.
“Ughhhhhhhh”
Aino placed her head in her hands and leaned back until she was lying on the ground. Embarrassment was a familiar feeling and while she hated it, it kept her grounded. “Ok ok fineee I’ll take a break!” she whined to no one in particular. Her hands moved downward, pulling down at her eyelids, then they flopped down to her side, outstretched like a beached starfish.
She stared at the sky, face still in a pout, this time with the addition of a slight blush. She tried to concentrate on the sky instead, the blues hidden behind the green of the trees. The Princess’ heartbeat slowed. The unease turned into the calmness she was used to. Then, she noticed them.
Birds. Different than the one that scared her of course. She counted at least 20. They were circling in the air, probably about a 10 minute walk away from she was.
“Hm….Birds…”
“Papa?”
“Yes?”
“Those birds are circling around in the air! Why are they doing that? They’re ’posed to go straight”
“Well dear Aino…they’ve simply… Found treasure! And they’re discussing who gets first dibs!”
Aino stood up and walked over to her head-piece and shoes. She put them on and dusted herself off. Then after looking back up at the sky, weighing some factors in her head, she walked in that general direction. “I don’t actually think there’s a treasure chest there” she thought to herself, as if to prove something “I’m just…bored. That’s it”
-
It was a 15 minute walk, not a 10 minute one. It just served as more proof to Aino that she was having an off day. As she got closer to her destination, she noticed the birds weren’t circling as much. Some dived down to the ground before flying back up, or just stayed down. She was no animal expert, so she had no answer for this.
After following the flock and pushing apart some tall weeds, the Princess found herself in a meadow. There were flowers peppered around the area. Without trees for shade, the sun shined freely on Aino’s fair skin coating her in a warmth that spread from her fingertips to her heart. She thought to herself that it was a nice meadow, and made a mental note to return to it during a future escapade.
Caw!!
Her attention darted back to the center of the meadow. The flock of birds was almost completely on the ground, creating a mass of feathers on the grass. Aino carefully slid down the slope and approached them slowly to get a closer look. Within the group, she noticed a reflective material, blinking a few times as it bounced the sun off into her eye. Upon further inspection, she discovered that she was looking at armor; armor attached to an arm.
Since when do birds eat people???
“What the— Hey what are you doing?!” Aino ran into the fray with her arms stretched forward to shoo the birds off. She half expected them to defend their kill, given their size but they let up pretty quickly. She won the battle at the cost of feathers on her dress. “Ewwww…it barfed on my shoe!” Aino groaned in disgust.
After disposing the smelly accessory, she hobbled over looked down at the person she saved. It was a young woman in golden armor.
“Hmm…probably a knight” she noted. Despite being plagued by avians, she was relatively unharmed. Aino crouched down and rolled the woman over so she was laying on her back instead of face first on the ground. Her freckled face sported a few scratches, and was framed by pale blue hair in two buns.
Aino tilted her head, intrigued. She could tell the Knight wasn’t a Citizen of Nod-Krai; her armor didn’t look anything like any of the guards that frequented the palace or the kingdom, she also noted that her complexion and facial structure was different as well. Her skin was tanned, and her nose and forehead was broad.
The woman stirred a bit, reminding Aino that she was infact human and not a foreign piece of tech. “Hello? Are you up yet?” Aino shook the knight’s shoulder to rouse her. She WAS still worried about the woman.
In the story books, when someone regains consciousness they gasp and sit right up. The Knight however, simply opened her eyes like she was waking up from a nap. The sun rays were the first thing she noticed. Then the feeling of the grass beneath her, then the little girl staring at her. She felt an impulse to jump back incase the girl was a threat, but she pushed it down; She didn’t look older than 13, maybe even younger. The dress she was wearing wasn’t exactly suitable for combat either.
“Are you ok? You aren’t hurt are you?” Aino leaned over the Knight and looked over her, checking for injuries.
“I’m ok.” The knight’s voice was monotone. “My face stings though”
“Oh, that makes sense” Aino muttered it, loud enough for the Knight to hear, but quiet enough for it to seem like an afterthought “I-It wasn’t me, these big birds were attacking you while you were asleep!”
“Birds attack people?” The Knight tilted her head
“I…No…But these ones did! They had big wings and bald heads, and they stunk really bad!” Aino stretched her arms out to support her point, the stray feathers falling off her person did that enough, though.
“Mm. Sounds like they were vultures. They eat dead stuff.”
How do I know that?
“Ohhhhh, so they thought you were dead?”
“I think so.” The Knight sat up. The movement was sudden so Aino moved back to give her space.
“A-are you sure you’re ok? Even if only your face hurts, you were…out…cold? Are you even paying attention??”
The Knights gaze bore into Aino for longer than necessary, then her hand shot forward to grab one of the feathers that lingered on Aino’s dress, then she reached for another
“Agh! What…what are you doing“
“Hold still,”
“Eh??”
“Hold still.
-
The Knight didn’t relent until Aino’s dress was free of feathers, and when she was done the former laid down on the grass in defeat
“Hm… Maybe you wouldn’t be so tired if you stopped squirming” The Knight had a hint of smugness in her tone and expression. All of it mild, but still there. She had the feathers she removed stacked in a neat and uniform pile next to her.
“…It tickled” Aino pushed herself back up so she was sitting on her knees and pointed an accusatory finger at the woman, confidence returning to her voice. “What was that for anyway?? Shouldn’t you be going home now??”
The Knight shrugged in response “I felt the need to return the favor for saving my life. you were not in any danger so I settled for cleaning you up. As for going home…” Her slender fingers went to her forehead in a gesture one would use to recall something “I don’t remember where it is”
Aino’s arm dropped back down to her side and she tilted her head. The situation didn’t seem as lighthearted anymore. “You mean…you don’t remember your address?”
The Knight shook her head “No. I don’t remember anything about my home.”
“Er…What about people? Do you remember your family or friends?”
“No. Nothing comes to mind”
“…Not even your name?”
“No.”
Aino shrank under each revelation while the seemingly empty husk of a knight stared blankly at her as if she forgot items on a grocery list. There was no sign of mourning the memories she lost. Maybe it was a mercy she couldn’t remember how important things like that were.
“What if it was me instead of her?” Aino found herself thinking. “What if I woke up and forgot everything. My friends, my heritage, and everything everyone worked so hard to teach me?” It was unsettling, but the victim of this fate was unphased.
The Knights hand reached forward again and found themselves on Aino’s head, slender hands patting her scalp. It was supposed to be comforting, Aino didnt know if it worked or not.
“Please don’t worry about me little one. I can probably figure it out on my own.” The sun was setting, the rays framed the Knight perfectly from behind. She stood up and turned away, facing the forest on the edge of the meadow. “Thank you again for saving me. But you can head home now”
She started to walk away, leaving Aino. She was still sitting in the grass. Next to the feathers that were picked off of her and left in a pile. The wind made them sway away from the structure set for them. Soon, they’d be gone. Just like—
“WAIT! WAIT WAIT DONT GO!”
The Knight stopped in her tracks. A couple more steps forward and she would’ve disappeared into the woods. She turned around and looked at the girl who called her back. She was standing now, and trembling. She could tell as much, despite being quite a ways away from her.
“You…It’s dangerous for you to be on your own! You could get hurt again!”
Aino raised her hand so it was outstretched towards the woman, inviting. No one said anything for a while. She felt the embarrassment creeping up again, so she directed her gaze towards the grass. “I could…I could help you out. It wouldn’t be any trouble”
The Knight still stared. Her hand lay against the trunk of a tree. She felt tugging. Something tugging her to disappear behind the trees, that tugged her to the feeling of freedom. Fleeing felt familiar to her. Safer. She had done it before, probably. And even though it probably stemmed from her pride or ego, she felt as if she had a good chance of surviving the night. It was viable, and if something happened she’d only have herself to blame.
But something else tugged her towards the girl with her hands extended and head low, that had a feeling dread and yet also…warmth. It’s natural to seek warmth, it felt natural at least. But pursuing felt shameful— No, condemnable. “If I let her in, something bad will happen” the thought was unwelcome, but it flowed through her brain all the same. As if it’s been here before.
The person she was before wants her to run. But she didn’t want to listen. The reasons she was given weren’t good enough. She took a step forward, letting her hand drag along the tree bark before falling down to her side. She kept going forward until she was standing infront of the small girl. She placed her hand in the small palm, and smiled. The expression felt natural now.
“Ok. Lead the way, Miss…”
The Girls eyes brightened up and she tightened her grip and shook the Knights hand wildly. “Yay! You won’t regret it! Just call me Aino!”
“Ok Miss Aino”
“Noooo Just Aino!”
“…Ok Aino”