>> the wind sings of a journey | genshin impact, kazubedo

[rielity]

First of all I would like to say that in the month that went into planning this story, including mapping out Kazuha's journey from start to finish, my Dragonspine exploration progress increased by 20%. I also triggered Albedo's story quest by accident (after having it open in my quest list since 1.2), and it led to a dramatic breakdown while I was on call with my Genshin buddies. It remains unfinished in my game, and Albedo is now in his camp. I log out from his camp every day, and Kazuha gets to see him every day.

Secondly, I have never fought a lawachurl with Kazuha or Albedo. In fact, Klee is my go-to when I see a lawachurl in any form. If you have never seen Klee fight a lawachurl, I most strongly urge you to.

...I digress.

This Kazubedo took a whole month of stewing in my head and aforementioned exploration before it took proper form over the last week. And even as it took shape, it even had the audacity to 1) balloon into this gigantic 9k fic when I was expecting 3k at most and 2) went completely off-course and off-script.

Anyway, Kazubedo are really intriguing in that they are both similar in personality and interest, while being significantly different still. Albedo carries with him a clinical detachment that befits him as an alchemist, while Kazuha is, in Beidou's words, someone who "opens his mouth and flowers come out". Throughout the story it reflects in the way that they each string words and observations together. 

There were several aspects to both their characters that I wanted to explore:

• Albedo's questionable morality, his slight inhumanity and 'unhingedness': his cold observation that few would survive to find the cliffside camp; his choice to observe Kazuha fight instead of going in to assist him immediately; the strengthening of the sleeping draught that he gives to Kazuha, on suspicion of the danger Kazuha might possibly pose to him; his intellect bringing him to draw the conclusion that Tomo's Vision shell is a prize of war and not ever considering the probability of it being a memory of a fallen friend; thinking first of research when it comes to the Vision shell, but also recognising from past experience that it is insensitive of him to do so
• In contrast, Kazuha is significantly more human. Yes.
• Kazuha's silence when it comes to himself: much like Inazuma, Kazuha has clammed up about himself, accepting assistance with gratitude but keeping his own intentions secret; Kazuha has a voice line where he says he likes frank people, which is why I think he will get along well with Albedo, but at their first meeting, where he does not know Albedo's intentions, but knows that his status as a wanted man is probably a direct concern to the Knights, there is absolutely no reason for him to be honest; similarly, he understands why Albedo does not confess to watching him, or opening his pouch and finding the Masterless Vision within
• Kazuha's backstory: Tomo, The Crux, and the Resistance all play major parts in Kazuha's recent life, and I wanted to expound on them through the story, and the love and gratitude he carries for them;
• Reawakening Tomo's Vision: Kazuha's convictions also are shown when he speaks with Albedo - I thought a lot about how he considers Raiden to be in the wrong for taking away the dreams of the people, and how he considers the Vision a symbol of "a desire to move forward" for mortals. Finding a new bearer for the Vision would be equivalent to finding someone to carry the baton that Tomo could not, a relighting of a snuffed torch
• But Albedo does not view his Vision as a manifestation of his ambition; it is merely a tool to him. So he has no interest in Kazuha's view, in that sense. On the other hand, what is fate if deliberately constructed? That is Albedo's question, which he does not raise to Kazuha. An intentional search for something that you do not know the means of, is that chance, choice, or blasphemy that seeks to play god? 
• On their questions about the Vision itself, though, I think both of them are on the same page. When Kazuha attempted to figure out in Act II's Prologue how to 'forcibly' reawaken the Vision by bullying the Treasure Hoarder, I could see Albedo coming to the very same conclusions and raising the same questions. Hence there is no reason for Kazuha to deny Albedo the chance to study it, and Albedo leaps at the chance to.
• A running motif through the story is the use of Kazuha's haikus. I am no good at haikus, but their main purpose was to mark each stage of his journey through Dragonspine, and emphasise the transience of their existence against the lasting, inked one that he writes about Albedo at the end
• Smell is another major running motif through the fic, throughout all of Kazuha's POVs. I chose graphite for Albedo because he was sketching during that first encounter. I do not know if pencils exist in Genshin. I am allowed to do whatever I want. Trust me, I have a permit. 
• I wanted to include the line Kazuha says at his fifth ascension, and so it appears at the parting of their ways: that he is sure fate will bring them back together once more. 

Other than these thoughts on characterisation, there were other more, lore- and research-based information I tried to sneak in:

• Ukko's lore and how it fits into Dragonspine. I've always found it adorable that there are so many snow weasels around it every time I pass by
• Aether's mysterious achievements: thawing out the mountain, learning of Ukko's story
• The cliffside campsite is, in fact, the one where you find the Ancient Investigation Journal III. I was delighted when I came across it by accident. 
• Emergency supply points would make sense to exist all around the mountain, other than what we see in game. Since Aether has thawed out the ice near the cliffside camp, there is no reason for the Knights to not make it an emergency point of sorts. 
• Albedo cooking Woodland Dream (though it goes unnamed in the fic) for Kazuha was a very happy coincidence. Albedo cooks Mondstadt-style meals for both of them, and Kazuha loves fish. I think he would definitely appreciate the attention to detail that Albedo puts into Woodland Dream, and I think it would be a very Albedo thing to theorise that Kazuha missed eating fish! 
• Klee and Yoimiya were an Easter egg I wanted to add in, I love the idea of them telling each other about this extremely sunny Pyro girl who deals with dangerous fiery things
• Shiunko, or ziyungao, is a herbal medication used in both Chinese and Japanese traditional medicine for treating wounds from cuts, abrasians, burns, and frost. I don't think you're supposed to use it on like, burn scars the way Kazuha does, but creative liberty is mine to take! 
• The goulash that Kazuha cooks early in the fic is a suspicious goulash, because he did not have chilled meat to prepare it with and used jerky instead. That explains why it wore off so quickly :')
• I struggled a lot looking for the kinds of pouches Chinese travellers used in the past, and in the end settled for belt pouches, hebao (lit. lotus pouch). What images I could find make the hebao seem really small, used mainly for trinkets and as a show of status, but I'm sure the Crux crew would have made one with a size suitable for Kazuha's travel needs.
• Kazuha has that nightmare on the first night because he was sleeping too deeply. This is because of Albedo giving him a stronger sleeping draught than usual - Kazuha is canonically sensitive to stormy weather at night, and he would be a light sleeper, so he could not have slept well without it. In other words, Albedo's sleeping potion put Kazuha into REM sleep which gave Kazuha a nightmare. (sorry, it was funnier in my notes, just not when written out like this)

Ultimately though, the biggest message I wanted for this fic was to draw the parallel between Inazuma and Dragonspine - the forbidding, dangerous environments they call home. Albedo has made a home of Dragonspine, and even though Kazuha is away from home, he has found safety in yet another dangerous place; Albedo is sure that it is but a matter of time before Kazuha returns home to Inazuma.

As a closing note, I would like to just add that Kazuha's entire journey can be replicated in-game from start to finish. I did physically map out the different steps of the journey on Kazuha (granted I have Venti in my party as well, who reduces gliding stamina, but I do not have the max stamina of 240 for proper testing which means I could not reach the southernmost shore of Dragonspine from Guyun... HAHAHA). It is difficult to climb up to the cliffside camp from the bottom if you do not know where you are headed, but it is doable. (I did it by accident)

Yes, I actually mapped out the whole story. I am a clown.

This was a plot-heavy fic, which is not a forte of mine. I struggled with pacing and narration, and I think it shows. Oops. It was very fun though, and I do hope you enjoyed reading it!

PS:
I had no title in mind when I wrote this, and even when I was done with rereads and edits, nothing had come to mind. I opened a file I'd saved for Xiaobedo fic prompts (there's a long, long list), and past me had saved "the wind sings of a journey". I took one look at it and knew it was exactly what I was looking for. :')