Xiao & fennec fox child hybrid reader
A lost little feral
Xiao's patrol was supposed to be simple. Clear the areas, and check Azhdaha's seal. Until he finds a lone little foxling rustling about by Azhdaha's tree.
cw; none, i think? fluff. minor mentions of sickness. its x reader
ha betcha didnt think i woyld write genshin again after throwing up a cod drabble. its eating my brain xiao is my baby
The rain pours its tears onto the earth as Xiao walks down the dirt path towards Nantianmen. Azhdaha has been defeated and resealed, but the seal must be checked periodically to prevent fault.
A geovishap hatchling screeches and chases down its mother's tail. A few burrowing weasels wrestled by a pool, where a crane serenely picks at its talons and sips atthe water.
Amidst the roots of the majestic tree Azhdaha sleeps under, quiet rustling pricks at Xiao's ears and snares his attention easily.
Xiao sighs. He must check, lest there be a threat he might accidentally dismiss.
His patrols were supposed to be a simple matter
A sharp cry scares the peaceful crane, and it flies off, startling the weasels, who burrow away. The geovishap curls closer to its mother while she scans the surrounding area before cooing down at her precious little warrior.
A blink, and Xiao is nowhere for a moment, before a little fennec hybrid lets out a muffled shriek as the yaksha reappears behind them, shushing them with a hand to their mouth.
"You are a long way from home, little fox," Xiao mumbles. observing the squirming child caught in his arms. "What are you doing here?"
The fennec simply squirms and wriggle in his hold, tail tucked between their legs and large ears flattened in clear fear.
"Tell me." His grip tightens slightly, and the child wails softly in pain, their struggling beaten down quickly. But they don't speak.
With a huff, Xiao pushes the child away allowing them to scramble off and hide in the winding roots of the large tree. "If you won't speak, fine. Will you follow me to the Harbour?"
They look at him with fear and apprehension in big doe-eyes that somehow fit with their vulpine features, and they shake their head. He sighs. "Do you have a name?" They shake their head again.
Xiao thinks for a second, and teleports away.
The second time Xiao finds them, they're stuck on the tree, ears pinned to their head and tail tucked around one of their legs. When Xiao tries to approach, the little kit just wails and scampers away, higher and higher onto the branches. His brow twitches.
It takes about five minutes of Xiao chasing the child all over the tree for him to catch the wriggling, fearful fiend and deposit them back onto the ground, safely. It takes another minute for him to try and fail to calm their panicking as they just keep running away from him.
Xiao sighs, shakes his head, and moves on with his patrol.
The third time, it was raining again.
A coat is draped onto the shivering fox's shoulders once Xiao finds them again, and he sits beside them, uncaring of the mud that will rub into his sash.
He pulls out a sunsettia. "Eat."
The child mumbles a small thank you in a tongue he does not understand, before biting into the fruit. It tasted of mangoes, with the texture of an apple and the shape of a pear.
When Xiao leaves, three sunsettia cores have been left by the tree's roots, the little kit ushered into the cavity under the roots where Azhdaha's seal is visible.
Xiao left them a warning not to touch the barrier, and an armful more of sunsettias.
For the fourth, the child does not skitter away once they see him, and Xiao counts that as a win.
He sits by the entrance, the soil still damp and cold, and pulls out a container of "Sweet Dreams," his take on the silky almond tofu. Xiao portions a bite onto a spoon and holds it out to the foxling.
"Come here, eat it," he coaxes, but Xiao doesn't think it's doing much, considering he was never one for verbal comfort. Still, he holds out the spoon, waiting patiently.
It's only when an ache starts to bloom in his outstretched arm that the child trots closer, gently gripping onto his hand as they eat the bite of the sweet, silky dessert.
And if Xiao smiles when their eyes widen and sparkle and they drape themselves over his lap asking for more, no one will know.
On their fifth meeting, when Xiao finds the foxling curled up, shaking and sick, he only sighs, and bundles them up to take back to the inn.
It has been raining periodically, and the yaksha is unsurprised when the foxling eventually succumbs to a flu.
"Do you really not have a name? I can't keep calling you 'child'," he mumbles down at his shivering charge, and when they shake their head, he pats them gently.
"Alright then."
Xiao pets the foxling's ears. "We will find a name for you later."
He hefts the sickly kit into his arms, and teleports away.