Wind-Riding Knight, Amber

The girl had long brown hair kept back by a cute red headband that had two red floppy ends that looked like bunny ears. She had a cute face with amber colored eyes (probably why she was called Amber).

Her outfit looked like it consisted of a white undershirt with dark lapels turned down to reveal a tasteful amount of her modest cleavage, a red jacket that only covered her arms and back, a dark brown corset with gold details that connected with her short shorts, thigh-high white boots that had a diagonal cut along the tops revealing her thigh-high red socks. To top it all off she had aviator goggles hanging around her neck, some satchels hanging on her hips and dark brown gloves covering her hands.

{And thighs! Don’t forget the thighs!}

Yes. Her creamy white thighs were showing between her shorts and her socks. Matt also knew that if she turned around, they would see how short her shorts were with a small peek at her lower butt cheeks. Matt was glad to know that this world was going with her original design and not the new censored one. Genshin Impact was made by a Chinese company, and their country’s politics were sort of... conservative, is putting it lightly. There were a few characters that had new designs to avoid an overbearing top brass breathing down their necks.

Good to see that this wasn’t the case here.

“You don’t look like citizens of Mondstadt. Explain yourselves!” She demanded with authority.

“Eh? Wait, we’re not looking for trouble.” Paimon pleaded. Amber crossed her arms beneath her breasts in response.

“That’s what all the trouble makers say.” She said, sounding unimpressed.

“Hello, my name is Aether, and this is my wife, Lumine. And this is our traveling companion, Paimon.” Matt introduced them to the Outrider.

“Aether, Lumine and Paimon? They don’t sound like local names... at least, I haven’t met anyone by those names before.” Amber seemed to wrack her brain for any recognition.

“That’s because we’re not local. We’ve been traveling around, seeing the world and now find ourselves here.” Aether explained their situation, minus the deal about finding their “sister/in-law.”

{Argh, we missed the Emergency Food dialogue option!} Jen muttered in her head with some mild irritation. She was referring to the moment in the game where the player could introduce Paimon as emergency food.

“So, you’re travelers then.” She said, now understanding who they were and what they were about. She then sighed before explaining why she was questioning them. “Well look, there’s been sightings of a large dragon in the region for the last few days. It would be best if you got inside the city as soon as possible.”

She gave her warning and Matt wondered if he should tell her about the three of them seeing the dragon in question earlier. Would she question them? Interrogate them? The game didn’t have such dialogue so ultimately, he decided it was best not to.

“The city isn’t far, as you can see,” She said as she pointed over her shoulder. They were still high up enough that the cliff-side covered a great deal of the city, but they could make out some of the windmills turning lazily in the wind. “I can escort you most of the way.”

“You can’t take us the whole way?” Lumine asked, speaking up for the first time. Of course, she already knew that Amber had a mission to take care of.

“Well, I do have to take care of something important before heading to the city, and I can’t put visitors in potential harm's way.” Amber explained regretfully.

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Lumine said, then she turned to the side and summoned her sword with a small flash of light. “We wouldn’t be very good travelers if we couldn’t take care of ourselves. And we might even be able to help.”

“Hmm... I suppose that could help me make short work of things.” Amber held her chin in thought. “Plus, I’d be able to keep an eye on all of you.”

That last part might not have been meant to be heard.

“Seems like you don’t particularly trust us.” Aether called her out.

“Oh, ah... I’m sorry. Probably not something I should say as a Knight.” She at least had the grace to apologize. “I give you my apologies, ugh... strange yet... respectable travelers.”

“Uwah, that sounded pretty fake.” Paimon muttered to Lumine.

“Do you have something against the type of language usage prescribed by the Knights of Favonius handbook?!” It seemed that she heard Paimon’s muttering regardless.

{Calling someone strange yet respectable is in their handbook?}

Paimon waved her hands in front of her.

“No, no! We’re very strange and very respectable.” She said, caving to Amber’s somewhat rude behavior.

Though, she was very cute and sounded cute when saying all of that, so Matt and Jen forgave her these transgressions.

The four of them got moving and trekked the rest of the way out of the Whispering Woods and down onto the winding path leading to the city. The path lowered in altitude as it went downhill towards the shores of the Cidar Lake. The incredible view of the city was revealed in all its glory now with nothing to obscure it.

{It does look bigger here. But just how much bigger is it compared to the game?}

[Hm, I think it might be three, or even four times as large. Just look at all those buildings. And that castle wall goes on and on.]

{The island itself looks much bigger too.}

“So, suspicious travelers, what brings you to Mondstadt?” Amber asked them as they walked.

Matt left it up to Jen to explain anything to do with her “sister”.

“My husband and I got separated from my sister while on this journey. So, we’ve been looking for her. Then we met Paimon here some days ago.” She told Amber.

“Yep. They saved my life! And now I’m helping them find Lumine’s sister.” Paimon chipped in.

“Oh, looking for your family... huh.” Suddenly Amber seemed a bit more... subdued? Wistful? She stayed quiet for a bit as if her mind went far away. Then she came back to herself and gave a suggestion. “Once we’re done with my little mission, I can help by putting up posters around the city if you like?”

“Thank you. That would be much appreciated.” Lumine told her with a smile.

“What does your sister look like? Is she older or younger?”

“She’s my twin.”

“Identical twins?” Amber asked, and Lumine nodded. “Ah, then that makes things easier. I just have to get a sketch of you, right?”

“Sounds good to me.”

{Draw me like one of your Fontaine girls.}

Matt had to look away and hold back a snort. He didn’t need Amber or Paimon to question why he thought that was funny, since they couldn’t hear his wife’s thoughts like he could.

“What’s your little mission anyway?” Paimon asked.

“Oh, it's pretty simple. There have been sightings of hilichurls getting too close to the city. It could be because of the dragon that's also been seen recently. I’ve been tasked with investigating and potentially driving them back.”

“Wait, isn’t that really dangerous?” Paimon asked, sounding worried about the risks.

“No, it should be fairly easy. I clear out hilichurl camps from time to time. And now I have help. It shouldn’t take any time at all.” Amber said with confidence. “By the way, I noticed that none of you have visions, and yet Lumine was able to make a sword appear. Care to explain how you can do that?”

Ah, we were going to need to explain something that the people of Teyvat might have trouble wrapping their heads around. Someone who can channel the elements without a vision, a weird trinket given to people by the gods for some mysterious arbitrary reasons.

“We, and I mean my wife and I, are a bit of a special case. We can use the power of Anemo without a vision.” Aether told her, curious to see how she would react.

Predictably, Amber stops in her tracks and turns to look at them. Matt noticed Jen pouting from the side since Amber’s butt was now facing away from her.

“Without a vision? I... I’ve never heard of anything like that.” The skepticism was thick in her tone. “Can you show me?”

“Sure.” Aether agreed readily.

He stepped to the side and allowed the feeling of the wind inside him to churn and channel through his arm. The air in front of his outstretched palm spun and grew. Aether charged it all the way before letting it burst with a whirlwind, flattening the grass around them.

Aether straightened up and looked back to Amber.

“That... was definitely Anemo...” She said, eyes wide. “But... how can you use it with no vision?”

“We touched one of the Statues of the Seven back that way,” Lumine explained as she pointed back towards Starfell Valley. “Then green light came out and we somehow absorbed it.”

Amber stared at her for a moment as she processed that.

“Then... the Anemo God must have blessed you himself.” Was the conclusion she came to. “But then why not gift you your very own visions?”

Both Aether and Lumine just shrugged in response.

“We were hoping to ask him ourselves, if that’s possible.” Aether said.

“...well, the Anemo God hasn’t been seen in a while. So, I’m not sure if you’ll actually get to meet him, but it couldn’t hurt to try, I guess.” Amber said with a thoughtful expression, her hand on her chin. “You could try talking to the people at the Church of Favonius. I’m sure they can help you.”

“Yeah, we’ll do that. But first, shall we get your mission over with?” Aether asked.

“Oh, yep. Let’s finish that up quick.” Amber nodded her agreement.

The group of four turned back to the road and followed Amber’s lead.

---Waifu---

They walked along the coastal road with the Cidar Lake on the right, with Mondstadt City as their backdrop. On the left were fields of grass and the sporadic tree. There were hills and sheer cliff walls to the side, and a road leading up into those hills.

The group of four turned onto that road and climbed their way up.

{All this walking... I might just go straight to sleep tonight. No hanky-panky.} Jen complained quietly to her husband.

[Truly a shame.]

{Yes. Indeed, a tragedy. How will you ever cope?}

[With the most intense wake-up sex, now that your body is sturdier than before.]

{Oooooh. That... might be pretty hot.}

While they were exchanging silent flirtations, Paimon and Amber were chatting.

“Oh, so you’ve visited Mondstadt before?” Amber was asking Paimon.

“Yep! It was a little while ago, but I missed it. Is Sara still at the Good Hunter?”

“Yes! She’s still there cooking for everyone.” Amber nodded her head cheerfully. It would seem her sense of trust in them was increasing while talking of familiar things.

“That’s good! I loved her chicken-mushroom skewers and her fisherman’s toast. Has she still been experimenting with new dishes?”

“Hahaha, yeah, she’s been successful with quite a few of them. This guinea pig here can attest to that.” Amber patted her own stomach. Paimon giggled along and they continued to chat about the city’s residents.

They kept climbing a path that was steep at points and curved back around, giving them an incredible view of the city.

“Wow, that view is really pretty.” Lumine said, breathing in the crisp air.

The sun had climbed to its zenith a couple hours ago and was on its way down the other side of the sky. It was the afternoon now and the sky was blue as far as the eye could see, with the occasional cloud drifting lazily. The lake reflected that deep blue, giving off the impression that the island that Mondstadt was sitting on was floating in a pocket in the sky.

“Oh, yeah! I’ve never seen it from here before.” Paimon gushed.

Aether looked over to Amber and saw her with her hands on her hips and a look of pride on her face.

“Yep, the City of Freedom is beautiful indeed.” She said with a nod.

Aether looked back to Mondstadt and took in the new size of the city. It was most definitely bigger than the video game version. From this angle it was difficult to make out any recognizable landmarks besides the church at the top end of the island, the circular area surrounding the statue of Barbatos in front of the church and the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius. He couldn’t see the square near the front gate or the Angel’s Share tavern. The surrounding buildings and city wall were obstructing any other familiar places at the lower end of the island.

It also looked like there were more districts available for exploring. Which made sense when considering that there were supposed to be different clans making up the upper class of the city, and yet the game never really showed their presence beyond the Lawrence clan. If those other clans were represented here in this world, then it stood to reason that there would be more housing in the upper regions of the city and more housing for the lower classes too. Although, in Mondstadt’s recent history, things weren’t as favorable for the upper-class folks.

“Looks like a great city. Have you lived here your whole life?” Aether asked Amber.

“Yep! Born and raised!” She replied with a proud beaming smile.

They all took in the sight for a little longer before going on their way. They climbed a little higher and weaved between a couple hills before coming across another one of those teleport stones on the side of the road. It was much further from the city than in the video game but it must have been close enough relatively on this worlds map.

Just as Paimon caught sight of it, Lumine tugged her hand and spoke to her quietly. The fairy girl seemed confused but nodded along. Meanwhile, Aether was distracting Amber with a question.

“So, what does an Outrider actually do?” He asked conversationally.

“We scout around the region for any dangers or threats. We patrol and help where our assistance is needed.” She explained. Simultaneously, Matt heard what his wife had said to Paimon through the mental bond they shared.

{“Let’s keep this a secret for now.” “Eh? Why?” “We don’t know how the people of Mondstadt feel about these things.” “I guess...” “Plus, they might get suspicious of us if they knew we could turn them on.”} They whispered back and forth.

Paimon didn’t sound convinced but she kept her mouth closed afterwards.

They were closer to the small little teleport stone in the next few steps and Aether asked the question, “What is that little statue there? We’ve seen a couple around but never had anyone to ask.”

“Oh? Ah, those things. Hmm... I’m not actually sure to be honest.” Amber stopped by the device and scratched her chin in thought. “I kind of just figured they were part of the other ruins dotted around the place.”

Aether took advantage of their proximity and his apparent curiosity to lay a hand on the side of the stone. Like before, the red jewel in the crown changed color and the light it emitted changed with it. The weird thunking feeling also occurred inside him. From his wife’s eyes nothing had changed. The light stayed a red hue for her.

“Are there any scholars that would know a thing or two about them?” Aether asked.

“Well, we do have someone who could know. We could ask her when we get to the city.” Amber suggested.

“Sounds good to me.” Aether agreed and moved on. He and Amber walked away from the teleport waypoint.

Meanwhile, Lumine stepped up to the odd device and touched it like her husband had. Matt saw the light change for her through her eyes. Next, Lumine nodded to Paimon so that she could lay a hand on the device. The fairy girl obeyed and nodded when it was done.

They continued on up the path for the next five or so minutes when they finally caught sight of Amber’s mission target.

“Uh, do you guys see that hilichurl up there?” Paimon pointed out. She was looking towards a rocky bluff sticking out of the hill they were climbing up.

The hilichurl, a lone shooter, seemed to be dozing in the sun. He (or she? It was difficult to tell if hilichurls even had females) hadn’t seen them yet.

Amber shot forward and a bow appeared in her hand with a flash. She ran up the hill and took aim from higher ground. Aether and Lumine took out their swords as well while Paimon hung back, but they watched as Amber charged her bow with Pyro energy. An arrow made of fire shot out and struck the hilichurl as it was distracted. The primitive creature cried out in pain and alarm, rolling around to extinguish the fire.

Aether and Lumine rushed forward to help, but Amber’s second shot put the hilichurl out of its misery. The thing disintegrated into burning embers before even those disappeared.

“Wow. Those arrows pack a punch.” Aether complimented her when they caught up.

She struck a pose, with hands on her hips and her head held high. Her bow disappeared in the same motion. “An Outrider for the Knights of Favonius must be quick and decisive.”

Aether, Lumine and Paimon grinned at the cute way she showed her pride in her work. If it were anyone else, they would have come across as haughty and full of themselves, but Amber really did take her work seriously. Despite being the only Outrider there was.

“Anyway, this really is a little too close to the city. I wonder what made them venture so close.” Amber said out loud, muttering to herself, hand on chin. “Is Stormterror really the cause?”

The trio of travelers glanced at each other, not knowing what to say. However, Amber didn’t ruminate for long.

“Anyway, let's go clear out their camp. It must be up ahead.” She put action to her words and continued on the path. The rest jogged to catch up.

Before long the path leveled out and the group could see a few structures up ahead. Around thirty feet in front of them, straddling the road, was a hilichurl camp. Their crude architecture was apparent even from this distance. Their fence looked poorly constructed and the archer tower they made next to it looked like a strong breeze would blow it over. There were also a couple barrels that probably contained their food and a dead log lying on its side next to a camp fire.

They could see three hilichurls in the camp. One on the tower and two lounging around next to the camp fire. They hadn’t spotted the group of humans yet.

“How do you want to do this?” Aether asked the Outrider.

“If I focused on the one up on the tower, would you two take on the others?” Amber requested.

“No problem.” He responded as his wife brandished her sword out of thin air. He did the same and the three of them sprang into action.

Amber shot at the shooter up above which got all of their attention. The other two jumped up in fright before brandishing their weapons. They charged out of their camp, only to be met with Aether and Lumine’s swords. The hilichurls only had regular clubs in hand. There would be no use of fire here, unless Amber provided the spark with her arrows.

Aether swung at one of them and Lumine dashed to the side to flank the other. They cut at them with speed and strength and separated the two. Lumine unleashed a Palm Vortex in the face of her opponent and chased it across the field.

Aether stabbed and weaved around the wooden club of his opponent. He didn’t use his elemental powers here because the enemy seemed awfully weak. Within moments the hilichurl collapsed and disappeared in a puff of red and black smoke.

Lumine had just finished with hers at the same time. They both looked to the third and saw the archer tower burning like a bonfire with no hilichurl in sight. Amber walked up to them; her bow gone since the fighting was over so quickly.

“Heh. Nothing to it.” She said with a grin. “And you two aren’t bad either. Thanks for the backup.”

In response to the compliment, Lumine flourished her sword and casually threw it back over her shoulder where it disappeared in a flash of light.

“Anytime.” She said with a grin and her hands on her hips.

“Why were the hilichurls here? They don’t usually camp so close to cities, right?” Paimon joined the group now that the fight was over.

“That’s right. It’s normal for them to live further out in the wilderness. But because the dragon– Stormterror –has been running amok all over the region recently, destroying orchards and disrupting trade caravans, I think it’s likely that the hilichurls have been chased out of their usual lands.” Amber explained. “And when the dragon appears, unnatural storms follow, causing injuries and other damages. The Knights of Favonius have been tied up doing the best they can to defend the area.”

“So, in all that chaos the hilichurls have been approaching unchallenged?” Paimon asked.

“Yes, that’s right.” She nodded. “That said, clearing this camp helped make the area a bit safer. Thank you for your help.” She thanked the married couple and even Paimon. “Now that my business is concluded, let us be off. We have time before night falls but I’d still like to make sure you get to the city safely.”

Everyone agreed and the group turned to leave. There were still daylight hours left so it was likely they would get to Mondstadt before evening fell.

{More walking...} Jen moaned into their connection.

[Bear with it, Love. Stare at one of the girls to pass the time.]

{Okay~}

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