"Thank you for the ride, Kazuto," Lilith said with an affectionate smile, turning towards the male whom she rapidly formed a close friendship with over the short time span.

"I apologize for not being able to accompany you on your journey, but my clan requires my immediate presence," Kazuto apologized with a deep bow.

"No worries. Besides, this isn't a battle for regular mortals. If the person I am pursuing is truly here... no, even if she isn't, the ones she controls are far stronger than mortals," Lilith explained, shaking her head. "I'll visit you after I'm done, though, and maybe you can join me on my trip back to Liyue. I'll teach you a couple special songs nobody else has even heard before; my own original songs!" I'll need to wait for the ship so no one figures out that I'm an immortal... Archons, keeping a low profile sucks, she thought to herself.

"I await that opportunity with all of my heart," Kazuto said with a light bow. He then stepped forward, cupping Lilith's left cheek with his hand. Her face flushed a bit, not used to close skinship with someone she doesn't see as a brother. Kazuto chuckled, a low, rough sound like the rustling of leaves, and pressed a gentle kiss upon her forehead. "May your journey flow smoothly, like water over a brook." He pulled away with a smile, then turned around and walked towards a waiting retainer.

"That ladykiller... even Luci has nothing on him," Lilith grumbled, then giggled to herself. As she looked at the red streaks in the early evening sky, she smiled as she thought of the autumn-leaf haired young man who allowed her to grow as a person. "Now... let's say I go hunting," Lilith mused to herself, a giddy grin spreading across her face as her irises shone with flecks of silver, her pupils glinting with a reddish sheen.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Hmph. Another miss," Lilith scoffed, flicking her sword to the ground to rid it of blood. "She keeps scurrying around from den to den like a filthy rat. It's only a matter of time before she shows her tail, and when she does..." She gripped her hand into a tight fists, fury blazing in her eyes.

She sighed, then tossed her sword up into the air and de-summoned it. "I have a couple days before the ship back to Liyue gets ready and Kazuto manages to get a good enough excuse to come along, so how about I do some sightseeing? I heard that the Inazuman sakura mochi is to die for... ehehehe," she chuckled, drooling a bit. However, her ears pricked a bit as she heard the distinctive sound of a blade hitting flesh. "A battle...?" she murmured to herself, deciding to do what every idiotic protagonist in a B-rate splatter flick does and go into the creepy, Electro infused woods towards the mysterious noises.

"Searching for quests~ Roaming the land~ Before long, they will be sung about and become thousands, even millions of melodies~" she hummed to herself as she trekked through the cumbersome brush of the woods, the sound of metal hitting flesh becoming less frequent... and the sound of flesh beating on metal becoming more frequent. Lilith hurried her steps, quickly breaking into a sprint as she realized that whoever was fighting monsters in this part of the woods, they were losing. She quickly pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and slipped her mask over her face, a precaution for meeting whoever she was about to save. As the trees began to thin out, she could begin to make out the menaces of the sky: Archons-forsaken specters.

"Cha, dammit!" Lilith shouted, summoning her sword and, stomping her left foot into the ground while aiming with her right hand, hurling it like a lance. She teleported after it, appearing on top of the specter just as her blade pierced through it. She mercilessly ripped it out and, using the slowly descending corpse as a foothold, left towards the next. She made quick work of the specters, hatred of all the times they would pop out of nowhere and annoy her to death fueling her blows. Within minutes, the group of ten or so specters were completely decimated, leaving their materials behind. "Tch, serves 'em right. Karma's a b***h, bozos," Lilith spat, bending down to collect her loot. "And you, what were you thinking, taking on this many monsters by... your... self... damn you're hot," she unconsciously said when she caught sight of the woman she just saved from one of the most dumbest deaths on Teyvat history.

"Thank you very much for saving me and for the flattering words, kind stranger," the purple haired woman said, bowing slightly. She wore a pastel pink midthigh-length kimono that gradiated to lavender and plum purple towards the ends of the sleeves and skirt. Her black-and-gold hair accessory glinted in the moonlight as she squatted down to retrieve a dark purple wagasa (the umbrella thingy), the flowers on it rustling a bit with the movement. She held the wagasa in one hand while she sheathed her purple, Electro infused sword into her... chest?

"Oh, no worries," Lilith grinned, waving a hand nonchalantly. "I hate those suckers anyways. A group less to harass unsuspecting travelers, I say!"

"Nevertheless, I am in your debt," the woman said with a gentle, thankful smile. Her soft voice seemed to soothe Lilith's very soul, causing her to relax just a bit. "Please, allow me to grant any wish of yours."

"Hmmm... I don't really have many wishes at the moment, and the ones I do are a bit much for someone I just met... Ooh, I know!" Lilith explained, snapping her fingers. "What say we become friends and you give me a tour of Inazuma's town? I reeeally want some good snacks after that workout, but I just got here and don't know any good shops," she suggested with an excited grin.

The woman blinked, a bit surprised with the simple request, then chuckled, a tittering sound like bells ringing. "If that is what you desire, then I shall treat you to the most exquisite food Inazuma has to offer as a token of our friendship."

"Yay! Oh, my name is Lilith, by the way. And you are?" Lilith introduced herself, removing her mask and lowering the hood of her cloak. This woman held virtually no animosity within herself, not even residue hatred towards the monsters from earlier. Her tranquil aura soothed Lilith's very soul, telling her that she could trust this woman.

The woman's eyes widened a bit when she caught sight of Lilith's bare face, as smooth and unblemished as a porcelain doll's, and silken silver hair, the moonlight reflecting off of the metallic strands seeming to produce an otherworldly glow. "I am Raiden Makoto, but please, refer to me as Makoto. There is no need for formality between friends," Makoto replied, snapping out of her momentary reverie.

"Here's to a new friendship, Makoto!" Lilith cheered, pumping her fist enthusiastically as Makoto giggled with amusement.

A.N. The next few chapters will definitely deviate away from the whole "hunting down the Evil God to free Alatus" idea, but I had ideas and needed to make connections and stuff.