Hi! If you're still free for requests, I'd love a continuation of the exploring dragonspine hcs, for (uhhh everyone but let's say) Mona, Diona, Lisa and our new boy Xiao - Anon from the last ask 💛
Yay! Thank you for your request and here you go <3
(for other parts check the “exploring dragonspine” tag)
Exploring Dragonspine pt.3
Mona
She hates every second of it.
In no way is she adapted to such cold. Her outfit obviously is not acceptable for this kind of weather, so she has to wear an ugly big coat provided to her by the Adventurer’s Guild.
She also lacks nutrition, considering her limited diet. Some basic food is obviously provided by the guild too, but eating some dried meat and goulash after weeks and weeks of salads is a deadly strike for your stomach.
And when you are hungry even a simple gust of wind can chill you to the bone, and long mountain camping becomes unbearable on a physical level.
The result is she usually whines and complains a lot. Probably even too much, considering all the problems can and should be solved, but experience is just overall unpleasant. She never gives up though or even falls behind. It’s like she can get fuelled by the irritation alone.
What’s worse, she can in no way carry out her astrological readings. It’s usually too cloudy to see the sky during the night and that’s when you don’t stay in some cave. And in the blizzard it’s often impossible to make out the person standing next to you let alone the stars.
On the sunny days when all is seemingly fine the problem is finding water that hasn’t turned into muddy blocks of ice. But if Mona gets lucky to find a running mountain river or even a small melted puddle it’s truly worth it. She says herself that the pure waters of melted snow are optimal for hydromancy, that’s how it’s done the old-school style.
She finds her new motivation in desire to reach the mountain top. To be able to carry out a long deep reading being so much closer to the stars. For her this experience is worth the suffering.
Diona
Being the one to usually complain about anything and everything Diona surprisingly loves the snow.
It’s usually hard to get her so openly excited about something, but snow crunching under the boots and puffy snowflakes slowly falling from the sky do the trick. It’s like she finally lets herself act like a kid.
She is not afraid of the wilderness of these places at all, her cat instincts fully sharpened, little cat-ears twitching at every suspicious sound. Her survival skills are something to learn from truly.
Snow storms ruin the experience though. Diona is not comfortable hiding in some stupid cold cave for long, so if the blizzard calms down by the nighttime she will insist on moving out and continuing the expedition.
Thankfully she can be a decent guide, using her night-vision. “Haha, primitive ones, you can’t even see in the dark!”
As you can guess, this plan doesn’t work for everyone. And if you don’t want to wander around in complete darkness led astray by the wind and snow, paralysed by sheer cold eating you up from the toes, relying solely on a fussy tiny cat-girl, for SOME strange reason that is TOTALLY NOT obvious, there is a way around it.
It’s possible to calm Diona’s temper a bit by simply making her stay by the fireplace for some time. Add some warm drinks or even milk and some casual hugs and Diona will calmly dose off for a few hours.
How to wake her up to go into the windy nightmare of a trip again? Well, you will have to find that out for yourself. A little tip - Diona actually likes to be carried around (but don’t we all?).
At times, when she gets too tired of trying to keep up with the rest, mind you, much taller teammates, she can simply jump up on your back, no questions asked. So be ready to look out for the claws.
Cats will always be cats.
Lisa
Lisa is probably the least outdoorsy person you can imagine. The fact she agrees to go out of her cosy library is a miracle on itself, but Dragonspine? No one will believe you if you tell this.
The truth is, she has a certain private interest in that place, that she wouldn’t reveal this easily. Maybe it’s something about the ruins of an ancient city buried under the snow and the relics it’s inhabitants left behind? Or maybe it has something to do with Durin’s remains and Albedo’s research? As Lisa likes to say herself: “Every woman has a secret”.
An unaware bystander may get a heart-attack seeing Lisa rock her usual outfit in this weather, walking around effortlessly in high-heals like she’s flowing above the snow. The trick is actually pretty simple, she wears a tiny warming Seelie captured in a little bottle as a necklace.
Being both the laziest and the smartest person in Mondstadt, she finds all kinds of clever ways to ‘cheat the system’. For her, creating some obscure method of battling cold on the go is always a better option than prolonging the trip even for a minute.
Warming potions, gliding potions, energy potions, fire potions, anything you can think of Lisa has a potion for. And even if she doesn’t, it takes her a few minutes max to come up with the solution. “The sooner we’re done, the sooner we come back. I’m not planning to miss my five o’clock tea.”
If you encounter a puzzle, Liza will solve it for you almost instantly. While you waste your time and warmth looking through old books in desperate need to translate some runes or pace around searching for some clues, all the doors open before Lisa and all the magic barriers fall.
It kind of steals the excitement of riddles, so if you like, she might let you solve it yourself from time to time, just don’t make her wait for too long.
She prefers to keep her usual laidback attitude, avoid unnecessary battles, act efficiently and not waste her energy on something not worth her attention. However her maximum productivity is reached when it’s time to return back home from the expedition.
Lisa can actually just use one of her magic tricks to teleport back to the library almost instantly, but it takes a bit too much energy even for such a skilled mage. Besides, she would never leave her sweet little apprentice all alone.
Xiao
One may say he looks too displeased and totally unhappy to be here but you are well familiar with Xiao to know that’s just his resting face.
He is not concerned by the weather conditions in the slightest, not the rain, not the wind, not the sheer cold. It may seem it gets to him at times. “It’s not. Only mortals can be affected by such minor inconveniences”.
He stays as distant as always, following you on the nearest mountain side or silently dashing through the tops of the trees. Sometimes you can’t even see him, but can always feel his presence.
Xiao patiently keeps the watch during nights, hiding somewhere in the darkness by himself. He never joins you or even enters your tent or a cave you chose to stay in unless you specifically ask him too.
Peeking at him from behind while Xiao sits silently by the fire you can sometimes catch a glimpse of him enjoying the warmth and sound of wood slightly cracking.
He never shows his emotions, nor would he admit to have any in the first place. But sometimes he goes deep into his thoughts, looking around the snowy peaks, listens closely to the wind.
Is it sorrow in his eyes? Or maybe longing? Nostalgia? Is he thinking about some long-lost friend? Just don’t let him catch you staring or he will surely disappear again, looking over you from somewhere you can’t see.
“I have no interest in this place. I’m only escorting you on your quest, so don’t even think about asking questions.”
If you try throw a snowball at him, it might end poorly for you. Better try to explain the concept to him first, that is if you care to have your arm intact. He will claim to have no time for such silly things and the usual bla bla serious adepti stupid mortals kind of deal. But if you still want to start a snowball fight be ready for a snowball war, or even a snowball death.
“You are too carefree. Unlike for me, this place can be very dangerous for you. You don’t want to know about all the dark entities hiding below the snow and ice of this place, it bares many secrets and many lost souls. That’s why I’m here. To protect you”.