Chapter 1: The Drunk
Venti was sitting in his usual spot in Angel's Share, downing his seventh bottle of dandelion wine. Charles, the bartender, stood a few paces away behind the bar, looking rather annoyed at having to deal with the infamous drunken bard for yet another night.
It was just them at the bar, which was rare, considering that they were in Mondstadt, the city teeming with drunks. The reason being that Diona, the bartender at the rival tavern called Cat's Tail, had just pulled out all the stops and released a barrage of new drinks, so everyone was flocking there… Except Venti. He's allergic to cats.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, revealing a strange-looking woman. The first thing that caught the bard's attention was her pointy ears. Not something he would see normally… The woman also had icy-blue hair and piercing yellow eyes, which seemed to glare right at the single customer. There were a few seconds of silence as the three just stood in the thick tension that hung in the air before the woman opened her mouth, her lips curving upwards in a gleeful, almost childlike smile.
"Give me the strongest booze you got!" The woman exclaimed, shooting her fist in the air, causing Charles to sigh. Venti smiled as he realized he missed something crucial. The woman reeked of alcohol, the bard not noticing earlier solely due to him confusing the scent of booze with his own.
She sauntered up to the bar, sitting herself down while Charles reluctantly poured her a glass of alcohol. Venti watched, his aqua eyes glinting with mischievousness. Perhaps…
"Hey, lady." A cocky smile grew on the archon's face, and he picked up his glass and waved it around as the contents sloshed inside. "Let's play a game."
"A game?" The woman tilted her head, putting a finger on her chin in an expression of curiosity. "What would you like to play? I don't have my Switch, but I'm sure we can think of something."
'Your... Switch?' Venti paused, confused. But it only lasted a moment, and he waved away his thoughts. "No, no. The game I have in mind doesn't require… Whatever that is." The smile returned to his face. "Let's drink as much as we can and the first person to pass out has to pay the bill."
Charles almost groaned out loud. Which was saying something, because he's usually the perfect picture of patience. He has to be, working at a bar in Mondstadt , of all places. He knew that Venti was only challenging her because he had no funds to pay his tab, as per usual. It wasn't the first time he's 'challenged' others before, either.
He almost felt bad for this poor stranger. Never before had he seen the childlike bard lose a drinking contest.
The woman grinned once more, wider than the smile she wore earlier, oblivious to the bartender's sour face. "You're on!"
-
Earlier
Lamy's eyes fluttered open as she awoke to the sound of chirping birds. She groggily stood up, holding the empty bottle of sake that she barely remembered finishing before passing out. She looked around, taking in the lush plains around her, a scarce amount of trees littering across the area. When she looked up, she realized that she was sitting underneath the largest tree in the area, with its tree roots uprooting the ground around it. A statue glittered blue a little ways away, and a walled city rose in the distance. 'How much did I drink?' Lamy wondered to herself as she tested her footing. She swore under her breath. She was completely sober. "There better be booze in that city over there."
She then started the long trek towards the city. But on the way, a sudden icy blue blob seemingly popped up out of nowhere, landing on the grass with a wiggle. The slime turned to stare at her, its blank eyes boring into hers before it started to bound towards her.
"So cute!" Lamy ran over to the slime with a smile on her face, arms outstretched to hug the adorable little creature, only for the slime to jump up, colliding with Lamy's face as hard as it could. Lamy yelped as she stumbled backwards, falling over. She looked up to see the slime look at her with its cold, dead eyes. Even though those eyes showed no emotion, Lamy could detect the hostility coming from the slime.
"I take that back, you're no longer cute," Lamy grumbled as slammed her sake bottle on the grass, causing it to shatter. The slime instantly turned around and started hopping away as Lamy stood up and approached it, giving the little blob a malicious smile. "Two can play at that game."
-
Amber was humming to herself as she walked down the roads of Windrise. She had just finished taking care of a nearby hilichurl camp, and was patrolling the area for any more dangers before she would head home for the day.
"Fucking! Stupid! Fucking! Slime!" Amber straightened as she heard a woman shout obscenities, her training kicking in and suspicion rushing through her head.
'What could that be about?' Amber thought to herself. She started to approach the source of the voice, nocking an arrow just in case the person turned out to be hostile. When the scene finally came to view, the archer's eyes widened.
The woman, seemingly the source of the shouting would have seemed regal and dignified to Amber if she wasn't pounding a slime over and over with a broken glass bottle, shouting obscenities with every strike. After what seemed to be an eternity, the slime disappeared, combusting into a cloud of icy particles, causing the woman to yelp in surprise.
"Halt, stranger!" Amber called, hopping up to make herself visible.
"Ah!" The woman jumped at Amber's voice, instantly tensing as she noticed her bow. "What do you want?"
"Greetings, suspicious traveler!" Amber smiled and waved, lowering her bow but not putting it away. "I'm the Outrider Knight of Favonius, Amber! I was scouting the area to see if any more hilichurl camps popped up. Who are you and what are you doing here, strange yet respectable traveler?"
"Konlamy! I'm Hololive Fifth Generation's Yukihana Lamy!" The woman now known as Lamy responded cheerfully. "I woke up in the middle of nowhere so I was heading to that city over there to get some info."
"Ah, if that's the case, let me escort you there!" Amber gave Lamy a welcoming smile, despite not understanding a single word that just came out of her mouth. If this suspicious stranger wanted to go to Mondstadt, the Outrider was in no position to deny her. It's the City of Freedom, after all. But after watching her beat up a slime with a broken alcohol bottle, perhaps it was best to accompany her… Just in case. After all, Amber has had to escort drunk citizens back home for doing the exact same thing several times before.
"Really?" Lamy's eyes started to shine. "Thank you!"
"No problem!" Amber's smile widened in response, and she finally put away her bow. "Follow me."
-
"Let me officially introduce the city of wind, dandelions, and freedom! Lamy, welcome to Mondstadt!" Amber said excitedly, turning around to face the elf as she gestured to the city around her.
"Woah," Lamy scanned her surroundings, looking like a deer in headlights as she admired the buildings that surrounded her. Amber wasn't sure if the dazed expression was caused by the structure of the city or if it was because Amber ruthlessly murdered some of Timmie's pigeons not two minutes ago. Something about needing fowl. The Outrider continued on as if nothing had happened. "If you're looking for information, I can take you to the Knights of Favonius headquarters or the adventurer's gui-,"
"I smell booze!" Lamy exclaimed. "Thanks, Amber!"
"Wai-," By the time Amber had time to react, Lamy had already blended into the crowd. Amber tried desperately to chase after her, but the stranger was suspiciously quick. Her mood plummeting, the knight's expression soured. She couldn't believe that she let such a suspicious figure get away from her so easily.
"I guess I have my work cut out for me," Amber sighed out loud, pinching the bridge of her nose.
-
Present time
"You're pretty good at this," Venti slurred. Even though he had a handicap of several drinks, most people don't last as long as this… Lamy person has. They were both on their fifteenth cup of dandelion wine and both sufficiently intoxicated.
"This stuff is really good, but the sake back home is much better," Lamy replied, going through the entire cup in one gulp.
"Ah, I personally prefer the dandelion wine, especially the kind from Dawn Winery. The owner is nice and doesn't try and kill me for stealing food and alcohol." Venti nodded approvingly.
"Do you even have the money to pay for this?" Charles tilted his head, an agitated expression on his face. It seems he knew the answer, but it still didn't hurt to ask.
"Obviously not. She'll pay," Venti retorted as he jutted a thumb at Lamy, who recoiled in shock.
"Who said I was going to pay for this?" she whined.
"We agreed that whoever passes out first pays the bill," Venti reminded the strange woman, "And I don't intend on losing."
"What a coincidence," Lamy slammed her cup on the desk. "Neither do I."
"Pour us another one, old man!" Venti exclaimed with a smile, waving his empty glass.
"Just… Pace yourselves. You should know best out of everyone how Master Diluc gets," Charles grumbled as he emptied yet another bottle of dandelion wine. It seems he was used to this. For better or worse, it was unknown.
As the two started to down their respective cups of wine, the doors burst again yet again. Both Lamy and Venti turned to see Amber panting as the door closed behind her. "Lamy! I've been looking everywhere for-," she trailed off as she saw Venti sitting next to the snow elf. Normally, she would be glad that someone was watching the strange traveler, but did it have to be him out of everyone? She would almost prefer Captain Kaeya. "Ah… Greetings, Venti! I see you've met our newest visitor."
"Amber! Perfect timing!" Venti smiled as he tilted his head, his whole body swaying with his head. "Can you be a dear and pay for this, pretty pretty please?"
"I..." Amber blinked at Venti's request. Of course, she knew that Venti was notorious for asking people to pay for his drinks, but he didn't expect for him to do it in front of a total stranger. Has he no shame? "I don't-,"
"Come on! Your name is Lamy, right? Let's go!" Venti grabbed Lamy's hand before dashing out of the tavern in a gust of wind, leaving Amber alone with the bartender.
"I'll… Have a word with Master Diluc. It's not the first time this has happened, so we'll just… Have to track him down. Again. Don't worry about paying for them." Charles gave the Outrider a smile full of pity. Amber sighed, massaging her temples.
"Lord Barbatos, give me patience," she muttered.
-
At the same time, a certain Fatui Harbinger was strolling around the lands north of Liyue Harbor, looking for a fight. Decimating treasure hoarders wasn't nearly exciting enough for Childe. It was just a one-sided slaughter; there was no fun in that. He wanted a challenge. He wanted to feel the adrenaline rush through his blood at the height of battle. A borderline crazed smile was spread on his face as he continued to fantasize about sinking his blades into his enemies.
Childe's thoughts were interrupted by a strong presence, and he materialized his bow in his hand. There was no time to waste. He wanted to fight now. He instantly rushed to the source as fast as he could. 'Maybe I'll finally get another decent fight.'
His plan to instantly jump into battle was immediately torn apart when had to physically stop to avoid getting nailed by a flying hilichurl. He turned back just in time to see the monster slam into a tree with enough force to topple it over. The Harbinger's excitement only grew.
Just ahead, he saw a man with dark skin, an eyepatch and a large broadsword easily twice Childe's size, which he swung around with ease as he sliced a mitachurl apart with a slash. Turning around in a single fluid movement, he smacked a group of charging hilichurls with the flat of his blade, sending them flying just like the one before.
"Hey!" Childe called to get the man's attention. The stranger turned, hoisting his giant sword on his shoulder. "My name is Childe. Tell me yours, then we can fight." His soulless eyes were gleaming with childlike excitement, and the possibility that the stranger would refuse didn't even cross his mind.
"People who have fought for as long as I have lost the joy of battle," the man replied evenly, his voice deep and his one eye shining with wisdom beyond his years. "My name is Aragami Oga. I have no intention of fighting you."