Could the free wind of vast seas find an echo in the dark corridors of the past?
In pursuit of maple leaves, Kaedehara Kazuha, who sought the horizon aboard the ship Alcor, was unaware that the waves would drag him into a nameless stranger, one who had escaped his fate and had his name and past erased. One was an endless ocean without boundaries, the other was a storm lost within the corridors of his soul.
When wind and storm meet face to face; either the waves will cleanse the corridors, or the darkness will swallow the ocean as well.
As the Alcor was violently dragged from side to side through the turbulent waters of Inazuma, the moon had already reached the halfway point of its watch in the sky.
To escape the storm and securely anchor at Ritou in clear safety, everyone in the heart of the Alcor was working with all their might.
The voice of captain Beidou, issuing orders to the crew, was as loud and unruly as the storm itself. In fact, one of them was almost on the verge of tears, his fear mingled with reverence.
Cold sweat sliding down each of their backs combined with the relentless shaking of the Alcor, churning their stomachs. Trying to keep balance on the wet deck had begun to feel like torture. Their only wish was to step onto any piece of land on earth and, without losing their lives, return once more to see their families or loved ones.
Amid all this fear and hope-filled longing, Kazuha’s consciousness made a sharp return from that sheltered harbor in the middle of the storm back to the reality of the waves. In the first seconds he could not quite understand where he was, but soon, with the sound of waves crashing into his cabin and the violent shaking, he remembered he was aboard the Alcor.
Carefully he stood up and, with heavy steps on his zōri, left his cabin.
The moment he stepped out, the merciless wind striking his body whispered into his ear that they were in Inazuma’s waters. This whisper—both sorrowful and mocking—balanced Kazuha’s expression between a broken smile and disappointment. The bitter cries of lost memories, which he had forcibly buried in the depths of his fragile mind, burned through every vein in his heart. Was it only the storm of the ocean that caused this, or was it the work of unruly waves carrying memories of loneliness, shrunken into solitude?
Kazuha felt as though the storm itself was sweeping away his very being. He raised his palms toward the damp, hazy, and endlessly gray sky. The blades tearing through that suffocating sky seemed to imprint a faint silhouette into the boy’s blurred gaze. He could not breathe, could not believe what he was seeing, and at that moment, as the ruthless waters suddenly hurled the Alcor, his shaken body lost its resistance and his knees collapsed mercilessly onto the deck. He felt neither pain nor heard the cries around him. His eyes were blind, his lips mute, his ears severed.
The Alcor was thrown again, but this time something was different. Stronger, more merciless waves were rapidly rising, already advancing as if ready to swallow the ship whole. Kazuha—aware that this was the last time—looked once more at the sky, which had begun to darken even further:
"Gods, was my life worth nothing to you? Must this exhausted body be taken so early? Why do you write such utterly painful fates into the bones of humankind? For what purpose did you tear my dear friend from my chest?
I abandoned these sinful lands and condemned myself to exile upon the vast seas so that I might hold onto the memory of my friend in my hands.
I rebel, O gods! I rebel against you! If you will tear apart the broken pieces of this helpless body you have abandoned; if you will scatter this wretched soul and essence into the infinity of your torment, then why now? Did you make me—the most ruined wreck of the world, the most wretched fruit of creation—your miserable puppet teetering on the edge of madness?"
When the words left his lips, he himself did not know whether it was an outward cry or a silent plea within.
The answer came with the roar of those ill-omened waves rising like an apocalypse from the dark sea, tearing through the sky. The monstrous shadow of the raging waters, surpassing the masts of the Alcor, plunged the world into darkness for a single moment, and then crashed down mercilessly upon the boy. As the cold, lethal water swallowed his consciousness completely, Kazuha jolted with a deep breathlessness and opened his eyes.
𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆🌊⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ
When he sat up in bed with a silent sob rising from his throat, neither the deck had collapsed nor the waves struck his skin. The only thing surrounding him was the familiar, dim, and relatively sheltered silence of the Alcor’s wooden cabin. The wooden ceiling swayed gently with the rhythm of the ocean; from outside came the muffled sound of waves hitting the ship’s hull. His heart was pounding as if it wanted to break through his ribcage. The only thing soaked was his clothing, drenched in cold sweat flowing down his skin.
in order to free himself from the poisonous weight of the nightmare, he hurried onto the deck. Outside, although not as apocalyptic as his imagination, a harsh storm still raged. The Alcor was struggling mercilessly against the waves of Inazuma’s waters; yet this storm was neither cruel enough to sink the ship nor did it demand lives from the gods above. The crew, under Beidou’s booming orders, continued their usual discipline, clinging to ropes, everything flowing in its natural order, as it should be.
And it was precisely this normality that became the heaviest stone pressing on Kazuha’s chest. The young samurai, as he recalled the venomous cry he had uttered against the gods in his dream, felt as though the wind within his soul had completely ceased; a deep, unbearable shame settled inside him. For Kazuha was neither someone who blindly loved the gods nor someone who hated them to death. He had always believed that those lofty wills also held a certain discipline within this universe and carried out what was right in their own way, and he respected that balance. Now, even if only a trick of his mind, having desperately pleaded and rebelled against that unwavering order was the most tragic defeat against his own pure self.
in his dream, Kazuha had been a wreck kneeling before divine will; just a few steps away stood a mortal who had dared to defy storms and ancient sea monsters beneath the waves themselves. After finishing her final orders and handing the helm to the first mate, Beidou turned toward Kazuha, who was tucked away like a shadow at the edge of the deck. The captain’s sharp eyes had not missed the unusual, distant expression on the young boy’s face.
“Looks like the burden of your omen hasn’t left you again, son of the wind. Shall we each have a drink once we set foot in Inazuma?”
“Thank you, captain. I don’t think alcohol or a cup would do my soul any good. Mine is something else entirely.” Kazuha’s lips curved with forced reluctance.
“Eh, fair enough. Still, it would’ve been nice to get you to agree. I need a calm drinker by my side.” Beidou grinned broadly.
Yet Kazuha, for the first time, could not bear it. The captain’s spirited demeanor amid the storm and the light shining in her eyes felt to him like a dying man clinging to life without losing hope. Just like in his nightmare, when he thought he had seen the manifestation of his lost friend among the lightning, he had felt as though the burden of memories was not only his own, but also carried upon his companion’s spirit. In every corner of Teyvat he wandered, he was never truly alone; his companion was always, at every possible moment, right beside his helpless body.
this was the second part, i'll share the third part soon. thanks for reading!!
a/n: first of all, english is not my native language, and i originally wrote this story in turkish. i don't know if the translated version will have the same impact as the original (i highly doubt it), but i wanted to share it, please report any errors in pronouns, etc. enjoy reading!
01; a stranger on the shore of the ocean
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝
𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆🍃⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ
The wind weaving between the rooftops of Liyue Harbor carried the scent of roads far from the sea, of a lost homeland. Seated at the harbor, one knee pulled up and the other stretched out, his hand resting on his chin, Kaedehara Kazuha was savoring the sensation of the not-so-fierce wind slipping through his hair and lifting its delicate strands. His eyes were fixed on the boundless horizon, thinking about how much his homeland—where he would set foot for the first time in many years—might have changed.
While Kazuha was grappling with piercing thoughts and feelings, he did not hear the sound of footsteps approaching from behind. He only came to his senses when he became aware of a body sitting down beside him as if carelessly dropped there.
The person who plopped down to his right with a wide grin was Captain Beidou. She placed her palm firmly on the boy’s shoulder and, drawing out her words, spoke: before setting sail for Inazuma, she jokingly said she wanted to drink osmanthus wine one last time but feared she might have overdone it.
Kazuha smiled as he always did at her behavior. He offered to take his alcohol-scented captain back to the ship; they still had plenty of time before departure, preparations were not yet complete, and he thought it would be good for Beidou to rest during this time.
“Come on, Son of the Wind, I’m fine. Do you think the mighty Captain Beidou would be brought down by a few glasses of liquor?” Beidou said with a grin as she tried to stand up at the same time, but lost her balance and instinctively prepared to throw herself into Liyue’s calm waters. However, with a light breeze and a gentle touch against her skin, Beidou found herself not in the water but in Kazuha’s small yet calloused hands. She burst into heartfelt laughter. “I knew it, little friend! I knew it, you caught me.”
A faint smile again spread across the young man’s lips. “We should really leave now, Captain. May the gods protect us, if you intend to steer our ship into Inazuma’s stormy, violent waters in this state, all of our lives will be in danger.” Kazuha’s words made Beidou laugh again; she held her stomach and turned her half-closing eyes toward him. “Very well, take me then. I’ll be laid out like the dead on the floor of the Alcor.”
After these words, she leaned against the boy’s body and, to avoid falling asleep on the spot, struggled intensely to keep her eyelids from closing.
When they finally reached the lower deck of the ship, Kazuha gently laid his captain down and went back up to the deck.
Preparations on deck were still not finished. Unable to find anything to do amid the Alcor’s hectic rush, he turned his steps toward the streets of Liyue.
Before doing so, he took his small notebook—where he wrote his poems—and the pen attached to it. Before leaving this beautiful place and the friends he had met here, he felt it was his duty to write a few lines.
As he walked slowly through Liyue’s lively streets, he directed his steps toward the merchants to look for a few small gifts for Captain Beidou and his friends.
A light breeze carried the tinkling sound of wind chimes from somewhere ahead into Kazuha’s ears. A strange sadness filled the boy’s heart; the sound of the chimes awakened the memories in his satchel. They were both the bitter springs of his homeland and the memories of this beautiful place he would soon leave behind.
He ignored it—or rather, tried not to acknowledge it. His only desire was to bury his melancholy into eternity as quickly as possible and replace it with joy. That way, those accursed pains would never be able to surface again.
He took a deep breath; the heavy, salty humidity of the sea contrasted with the gentle breath of the wind at that moment.
How many steps he took was unknown, but when his eyes fell upon the wind chimes, a fierce gust strong enough to burn his tear ducts scattered everything, and the chimes rang out in pain.
The unease that filled Kazuha’s heart—one he could not quite understand—forced him to step back. On one hand, he wanted to stay there, buy a few wind chimes, and hold his memories in his hands; on the other, he wanted to leave as quickly as possible, never again deigning to pass even near that shop, both now and on his next visit to Liyue.
Caught between the relentless two paths that emerged in his mind with the unsettling sound of the wind chimes—between leaving and staying—he felt unable to postpone his decision. It was as if everything around him had suddenly begun to rush past.
As he cautiously took a step toward the shop, he hesitantly extended his right hand forward as well.
The next second, the wind slipped over his knuckles. A few hurried drops met his skin and quickly multiplied. The shopkeeper was hurriedly starting to pack up his stall.
At that moment, Kazuha wanted to say something, to stop the shopkeeper. He could not; it was as if his vocal cords were tangled together. Not even the faintest sound could escape between his trembling lips and come to life.
He was getting soaked, drenched from head to toe, yet he remembered how, in his homeland Inazuma, he would swing his blade through the stormy sky without a second thought.
“Hey, Kazuha! Why are you just standing there? Have you lost your mind?”
A member of the crew was announcing that preparations were complete and the ship would depart from the harbor in half an hour.
“Is that so?” he thought. “We’re setting sail in this weather? Then again, Inazuma’s weather is far worse.”
He lifted his gaze to the cloudy sky; the rain hitting his eyes stung, but he paid it no mind. When he looked ahead again, the stalls had already been packed up, leaving behind only an empty, soaked ground.
He moved forward, scattering puddles that reflected his own image, carefully tucking away his notebook so it would not get any wetter.
When he finally returned to the ship, no one was in sight except for one person. He did not mind and headed toward his cabin to sleep through the gloomy journey to Inazuma. As the wooden scent of the cabin dulled his mind, the wind chimes of Liyue were replaced by a far more ominous hum.
this was the first chapter. i'm publishing the story on wattpad, so the chapters might seem a bit short. anyway, i hope you enjoyed it!
