KazuScara during the era of Wanderer still being a harbinger where they're fluffy (in certain fics) reads to me as for an unknown and powerful reason Kazuha somehow, in some way, managed to domesticate a harbinger who would rather drop his goal of becoming a god than admit his feelings. Hm.
SINCE WHEN WAS THERE A KAZUSCARA ANIME NOBODY TOLD ME OMG?? KAZUSCARAA AHAHAAHGSYAHDGJFEHMHWHS I LVOE THEM SM OMGOMGOGM AYAYSAGHWHEHEA THEYRE SO CUTE PLS HOYO MAKE THEM KISS (THEY WONT BUT OH WELL) AHH KAZUSCATATATATAARARAARARARAARARARAARARARARARA AGAHAGWHDGEHAGAHAAHAHAAH SO CUTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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!
