Honkai: Starting to Wander with Kiana

Time flew by as they worked. Ryn and Kiana had spent the morning patching the large hole in their cabin with wooden planks. Glancing at the old clock on the wall, it was almost noon.

"Are we eating lunch alone again?"

"Mm-hmm. That lousy dad's been gone for days now. I've been eating by myself every day."

Kiana's eyes grew sad. Siegfried had once acknowledged her, teaching her the Kasslania Fist and the ideals of the Kaslana family. But not long ago, Kiana woke up to find Siegfried had disappeared. At first, she thought it was a joke.

She waited all day for him to return, but he never did. Hungry and alone, she couldn't cook for herself. She went to bed, hoping that perhaps he'd come back if she fell asleep.

In her dream, she saw Siegfried again, but his left arm was missing. In his right hand, he held the Sword of Samash, its hilt ablaze with roaring fire—this was the zero-level power of Heavenly Fire Judgment.

And the target of that fire was her.

"Dad, no!"

Kiana jerked awake, her normally ice-blue eyes now one gold, one blue. After a blink, they returned to their original color.

She hugged her knees and curled up in a corner of the bed, silent. The night was still, interrupted only by the occasional growl of her empty stomach.

The next day, Kiana woke up and searched the house and nearby areas for Siegfried, but found no trace of him. However, it wasn't entirely in vain—she encountered two Charge Rank Honkai Beasts. Without hesitation, she pulled out her twin pistols and fought them off.

After exhausting most of her energy, Kiana finally killed the two beasts. Staring at their carcasses, she thought, If that lousy dad were here, he'd just wave his hand and take care of everything.

She dragged the beasts back home. This would be their food for the next few days. Siegfried had once roasted one of these with Heavenly Fire. It was bland and tough, but at least it was something to eat.

A few days later, after searching the surrounding area of the log cabin with no luck, Kiana decided to follow the road, determined to find Siegfried.

With a large backpack nearly as big as herself, Kiana gave one last wistful look at her room, locked the door, and set off.

On the road, she found Ryn, half-frozen and barely conscious. And now, here they were.

Ryn paused, then asked curiously, "So, you must be a great cook, right?"

Kiana shook her head and pointed to her massive backpack. "Nope. I've been eating Honkai Beasts raw for the past few days."

"You can eat those things?" Ryn exclaimed, stunned.

According to what Stigma had told him, Honkai Beasts and suicide troops were like wild beasts in the Honkai world. Suicide troops were basically corpses, so how could Honkai Beasts be any different? Yet, she could actually eat them?

Kiana eyed him suspiciously, circled around him, and asked, "Why can't you eat Honkai Beasts?"

"Huh?!"

"Huh?!"

"What's with the 'huh'?"

"I don't know. You said 'huh,' so I just did too."

Ryn rolled his eyes and walked to the kitchen to prepare something to eat.

"No rice? No flour? No vegetables? And no stove! What do you guys usually eat?" Ryn entered the kitchen and found both the fridge and cabinets completely empty. Surprisingly, there wasn't even a stove.

"A stove? What's that?"

Kiana blinked, realizing she'd just heard a new word. But asking about it left Ryn speechless.

"It's where you cook food! How can you eat without a stove?"

"Huh?! We usually just put stuff over the Heavenly Fire. After a while, it's cooked. I've never seen a stove before!"

Kiana looked down, her small hand resting on her chest, tapping her fingers absently. Then, as if remembering something, she brightened up.

"Wait, there's the big one outside. My dad and I often roast things over that."

"Normally, having a big fireplace in a log cabin is already pretty cool. But if it's usable too... Looks like it hasn't been used in a while. It's all dusty."

"Dad used to just stick the Heavenly Fire in and out of it to start the flames. Now that he's not here, I don't know how to light it."

"I bet we don't even have any fire starters. I don't know how to make fire by rubbing wood together either. So let's just eat the Honkai Beast raw. I don't know if I can eat it, but it's better than starving to death. Can't believe the world's mighty savior would die of hunger out here in the snow."

"Well, we've got food now, and that's good enough. If you want something else, go out and find it yourself. My stupid dad always brings back tons of ingredients when he comes home. Even though everything tastes like burnt charcoal after cooking on the Heavenly Fire, at least we have food." Kiana opened her huge backpack and pulled out a pink ball the size of her head, covered in lumps and clear teeth marks.

"How much do you want to eat?"

"I don't know. It's my first time eating one of these too." Ryn and Kiana exchanged glances, then both looked at Ryn's belly. Kiana scratched her head and raised her hand to start pounding on the ball.

In the end, she couldn't knock off even a small piece. She tilted her head, her fluffy hair swaying, and, to Ryn's surprise, opened her mouth and bit into it. Despite the beast being too tough to break by pounding, Kiana was somehow able to tear it apart.

A moment later, with her cheeks puffed out, Kiana looked at Ryn. After a pause, with no reaction from him, she grabbed his hands and spat the piece she was holding into his palms.

With that done, Kiana sat on the sofa and devoured the rest of the snack in large bites, while Ryn stood frozen.

In his mind, two voices echoed. The little winged Ryn, with pitch-black wings, teased him:

"Eat it, just eat it. It's got Kiana's saliva on it—an indirect kiss, you know~"

The little Ryn with white wings shoved his dark counterpart aside and said firmly, "We should wash it first and then eat. We're supposed to be the saviors of the world—we need to have some basic manners..."

As Ryn's mind was filled with this storm of thoughts, Kiana walked up to him and waved a hand in front of his face. Seeing no response, she raised her hand, intending to pat his cheek. Suddenly, her gentle touch turned into a hard slap.

"You pervert! What are you thinking? Go wash it before you eat! Don't tell me you're wondering if you should eat my saliva, huh? Sicko!"