This new world was strange. Caelus had never seen anything like it before
It looked… dead. And yet, clearly not. The buildings stood empty, but clearly well-loved. Almost like someone had been caring for them, in the absence of their inhabitants
It was big, sprawling and vast, from the frozen wastes to the North, where the earth shone silver with permafrost, to the oddly charged winds of the South, the electrified water sparking an odd purpley hue, the grass bright and saturated
He dragged his fingers along the ridges of the statue he had found near the beach where the Astral Express had touched down. It was set in the middle of a dried-out lake, the edges of it oddly sharp and clifflike, almost like it had been made by a comet of some kind.
A little ways away stood an overgrown forest, its mossy floor littered with odd, lamplike flowers, wild apples and orange, pearlike fruits growing in abundance on its trees. A haven for wildlife, but, judging by the way the boars reacted to his presence – namely, immediately trying to ram him – not so much for humans
Animals darted through the underbrush, boars that seemed too small for their species and dogs that bore signs of being tamed, once upon a time.
The earth was oddly yellowish here, more like sand than anything else, light and airy. More to the point, the grass surrounded the dried husk of a lake on all sides was overgrown and wild, save for one path that wound through the jungles, where the grass was cropped low and trim, forming an impromptu trail for the Trailblazers to follow
The impromptu path led them straight to a lake, the waters murky and greenish, littered with the broken remnants of a footbridge. Pigeons perched on the bits of rock that poked through the near-opaque waters, idly pecking at the scuffed stone
And in the center, on a vast hunk of barren rock, stood the ruins of a city, bounded with walls that may have once stood proud, but were now broken and crumbled, the tattered remnants of faded red pennants hanging from their towering ruins
It was small, was the first thing Caelus noticed - certainly smaller than the dockside city they had found in the far east, buildings made in the Xianzhou style, part of it clearly having sunken into the yellowy waters centuries ago
And definitely much smaller than the ruins they had found to the east of THAT, consumed by the green jungle that surrounded it, populated only by the odd-looking tigers and colorful birds that clearly named that region of this continent their home
But it had been the one to yield the greatest results. The buildings had been overgrown, covered in creepers and vines and plants of all manners, but still mostly intact
And inside one of them, a small tavern nearer to the towering statue that marked the centre of the statue, features too eroded to be recognisable, they had found their prize
A photo, lying on the tavern’s dust-coated floors, clearly having fallen out of the pocket of someone paying the place a visit, for it was clearly far newer than the building itself
It depicted an odd pair - a young boy with shining blonde hair, tied into a rat’s tail, his bronze eyes sparkling, his arm wrapped around the man that stood beside him- a rather disgruntled-looking individual, hair an oddly-bright red.
The blonde boy’s other hand had been brought up in a peace symbol, and a wide smile decorate his admittedly-cute features, the expression clearly for the benefit of whoever had taken the picture
A hand was stretching into the photo, dressed in an oddly puffy-looking white sleeve, a frill encircling its wrist, a blurred face poking out just above its shoulder - clearly someone who had tried to make it into the photo and failed
On the back of the photo had been scrawled, in a coarse, chickenscratch script - “Do you remember where we first met ? Starfall Lake ? I do. I don’t think I can ever forget”
A pause, and Caelus angled his eyes up towards the statue’s face, features having long-since eroded into a featureless mass of rock
God, he hoped this was the right place. If it wasn’t, March would never let him hear the end of it
A pause, and then he heard rustling behind, followed by the rhythmic thump-thump of feet on grass
He swirled around, arm already moving towards the handle of his trusty baseball bat, before another hand grabbed him by the wrist, fingers rough and calloused – the hands of a warrior
“What are you doing here ? Who are you ?”, a rough voice demanded, sounding oddly disbelieving, like he was shocked at finding life here - which was fair, given how abandoned this world seemed
Caelus drew in a sharp breath . Peace first, he reminded himself, and then you can cave their heads in
He cleared his throat in a vain attempt at sounding somewhat professional, looking up into the intruder’s face, features drawn and shocked-looking, bronze eyes wild, blonde hair cut to brush against his shoulders. Half his face was scarred, the tissue an odd blackish hue, veins of brilliant blue webbing their way across it
“Greetings, sir”, he tried his best to bow, but the man simply refused to let go - which made sense. As far as he knew, he was the only other sentient life form this poor man had seen in years, “I’m …”, the urge to introduce himself as the Galactic Baseballer resurfaced, before being overridden by the thought of Dan Heng’s disappointed face, “… Caelus. From the… Astral Express ?”
“Who ?”
“Ah, right”, Caelus mentally berated himself- he lived on a dead world. Of course he wouldn’t know who they were !! , “We… explore worlds. For the accumulation of knowledge”
“Oh”, slowly, the man let go, nodding slightly, “I see. I see”
“Um…”, Caelus looked around, but no other viable life form offered to show itself, so he turned back to the man, who was clearly on the verge of some kind of breakdown, “Would you happen to know this planet’s name ? And would you care to serve as a guide ? We would pay you”
He grinned. The man, eyes glassy and unfocused, didn’t seem to care much
“Sir ?”
“I…”, the man began again, his eyes snapping back to focus, his voice hoarse, “Of course”, he laughed humorlessly, “Yeah. I’ll show you around”
“Right”, Caelus’ grin widened, “Um… so, where are we ?”
“Right”, the man swallowed thickly, “Right. This… I don’t actually know the world’s name, but… but… this continent. It is… or at least, was, once named…”
He pressed his eyes shut, seeming pained, “Teyvat”
