[Nov Catchall] ✵ Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.

[phoenixblessed]

⌛ Who: Diluc Ragnvindr (phoenixblessed), Red Wine, (judgementor), Vennessa (vennessa), Thanatos (inevitablerest) & Raphael (cupiditasmedendi) & you perhaps.
⌛ What: TDM things, general prompts, closed prompts for November. Drop me a prompt to answer if you like!
⌛ When: Through November
⌛ Where: Noted in prompts
⌛ Warnings: Will be marked when they are needed

---

✵ Diluc Ragnvindr
  + [CLOSED] Kazuha
  + [CLOSED] Zhongli
  + [CLOSED] Kaeya

✵ Red Wine
  +

✵ Thanatos
  +

✵ Vennessa
  + [CLOSED] Childe
  + [CLOSED] Kazuha

✵ Raphael
  +

Comments

[vennessa]

Ah...

[Well, then. She smiles readily and sets her pack down again, moving in closer to the fire. Although she does have enough food in her pack to make herself a meal the smell of the stew cooking makes her stomach rumble quietly and she curls her hand around it.

She wouldn't expect him to feed her - Vennessa is used to going hungry - but if he's offering so kindly...]

Thank you.

[Vennessa smiles, then her eyes fall on the Visions attached to his clothes. The glassy trinkets are things she has seen many times before though she had never been blessed with one herself. Though, she has never seen a person carrying two...]

... Are you from Teyvat?

[leafwhistle]

[One of Kazuha's greatest pleasures is being able to cook for someone else, so sliding into the role of offering a stranger part of his meal comes quite naturally. He stirs the stew, incorporating the water and mushrooms he's just added, and then looks over his shoulder at her.]

I am. I hail from Inazuma.

[He looks over at her, his eyes studying her, though it's more his sense of smell and hearing that's working more to attempt to place her. She smells like campfire. He can't quite determine where she's from.]

Are you familiar with it?

[vennessa]

With Inazuma? No... only by name, and a few pieces of knowledge.

[She could find it on a map only by virtue of knowing it was an island nation to the south, but she knew next to nothing about the place save that it was the home of the Electro Archon, and by all accounts a beautiful country.

She sits down, content enough to be seated on the ground and finally rest. Spending at least some of the night with company would be a welcome change - she couldn't call on Venti every time she felt lonely.]

I'm Muratan, from Natlan.

[A quick smile is sent his way.]

Though most recently of Mondstadt. My name is Vennessa.

[leafwhistle]

[The ronin perks up some at the mention of Natlan. He’s never met anyone from there before— Inazuma really couldn’t be much more remote than the rest of Teyvat and outlanders from as far as Murata’s domain were very rare.]

All the way in Mondstadt? That’s quite far from home.

[He sits near her, but not so close he’s in her personal space. In any case, he goes through his own pack a moment later, removing a bottle and two cups. Before placing both down, he looks at her.]

I’m Kaedehara Kazuha. Wine?

[vennessa]

Kaedehara Kazuha... [She tries his name out softly, looking off into the distance as she does so and admittedly butchering the pronunciation somewhat on the first try. Realising this, she makes a face and tries again, making a much better job of it the second time.

Vennessa laughs quietly at herself, nodding at the offer of wine.]

Yes, please.

[And she begins to rummage in her pack to look for something.]

Your name sounds like poetry. It's lovely. Do all Inazumans have such names?

[leafwhistle]

[He smiles to himself as she practices his name, taking no offense as he pours her a cup with two hands, then waits while she rummages in her pack.]

Names are very important in Inazuma. They denote lineage from my ancestors and also mean something. [He smiles warmly at her. How nice it is to have company tonight.] Mine means Ten Thousand Leaves.

[vennessa]

[It is nice to have company. Vennessa has relaxed by several degrees since she first came across the camp and is finding more comfort than she expected in the simple presence of another person. It has been very lonely, staying in the wild by herself. While she had always been a nomad it had been with her tribe, not alone.]

Ah... how lovely. [She knows so little about Inazuma - and most other places, in fact - though has never had reason yet to feel ashamed of her ignorance. Muratans simply had... other concerns.]

Do you prefer the whole name used, then? I... will certainly try to not insult you with my pronunciation.

[leafwhistle]

[Vennessa seems to be very straight forward and open, which just makes Kazuha like her a great deal already. He's always enjoyed conversing most with frank people, as it meant that there wasn't too much guessing about what the other person was feeling.

He laughs a little, but shakes his head.]

Just Kazuha is fine. Kaedehara is my clan name. My given name should be much easier to pronounce.

[He's learned his lesson with expecting outlanders to know etiquette, so he helps himself to his own cup of sake, taking only a small sip for now.]

Have you been here long?

[vennessa]

Kazuha. [She echoes with a smile. That's easy enough.

He might find her lacking in many aspects when it comes to cultural knowledge of other lands. It wasn't part of her education - the wandering Muratans focused more on survival skills and combat than any kind of history, even their own - but she is always happy to learn things. That would be a trait that would serve her well in the coming years...

But she shakes her head at his question, holding her hands out to the fire to warm them.]

No, not long at all. It's been strange, being here. Though I suppose you know that. [Her lips curve in a wry smile.] The strangest thing is that I haven't met a single person from Teyvat who is from the same time as me.

[Vennessa's fingers curl in towards her palms and her expression grows distant for a moment.]

I expect that I died a thousand years before you were born.

[leafwhistle]

[It's been a little bit of time since Kazuha has had company at his camp. At least not since he camped with Childe a few months ago, and that was a planned arrangement together. It seemed possible if his new companion intended to stay the night, then hopefully he won't have the same issue he had with the playful Harbinger— one bedroll, two people.

Her mention of possibly being from the past makes him sip his sake again, his brows raising as he looks at her. Rather than rushing to questions, he mulls it over a moment. He's met centuries old Archons, but it's a bit different to be a human from the past.]

If I said that Inazuma is embroiled in civil war it likely wouldn't help narrow down a timeline. My homeland has never quite remained peaceful for long periods. What's Teyvat like for you?

[vennessa]

I...

[Vennessa frowns and looks embarrassed for a moment, lowering her eyes to her hands. Ask her about fighting, about how she felt about family and freedom and she could answer. Ask her how to survive with barely any food and no shelter, and she could answer.

But that? It seems like so simple a question, yet she still shakes her head.]

I don't know. I know very little about the countries outside of Natlan and Mondstadt, and not very much about those either. [Admitting her own ignorance is more difficult than she expected it to be, and she sighs.]

My tribe are wanderers. We don't give much time to history and stories - not when we barely have enough to eat from day to day. Ten years ago, we were chased into Mondstadt by Ursa the Drake, and enslaved by the nobility there. [Her hands fidget in front of her, that frown not disappearing from her face.]

I've been a slave for ten years. I fight in the Colosseum. Or-- I did. I don't think I shall have to do that from now on. [Then she looks up at him with a small smile.] For me, Teyvat has seemed cruel and unkind for a long time. But I still believe things can change for the better.

[leafwhistle]

[Instead of surprise, Kazuha only looks at Vennessa with sympathy. Despite the clear timeline gap between them, it hardly feels like such a divide at all. He covers his mouth with his hand, hiding a small little laugh.]

Is not life and the future our path to carve? No god or man has the right to take another's dreams.

[He finishes off the rest of his sake, then reaches to pour himself another. He pauses, seeing the company, but he moves onward after a moment's hestitation. She wouldn't know what is and isn't polite in this case.]

There's no shame in being sheltered. Inazuma has remained mostly unchanged for five hundred years. We're a very isolated nation. I've only been able to travel outside it recently.

[He brings the cup to his lips, looking over it as he smiles.]

I don't know much about other nations, but what I do know, Mondstadt has not had slaves or nobility for centuries. There's a better future ahead for you.