The traveler and paimon froze, listening carefully for more noises.
The rumble sounded like it had come from somewhere nearby, but it was hard to decipher its exact origin due to the oppressive quiet in the area.
The traveler looked to paimon, both of them looking uneasy at the strange noise.
"What... was that...?" paimon whispered, trying to keep her voice low.
"I... don't know..." the traveler replied, scanning the area for the source of the noise.
The two of them stood still, listening for any more sounds or signs of movement. But all that could be heard was the same eerie silence, and the distant, echoing rumbles.
The whole forest seemed to stay frozen in a silent moment, as if whatever had caused the noise had suddenly vanished into thin air. Paimon looked around, her eyes darting from tree to tree, trying to make sense of the sudden rumbling.
The traveler stood silent and still as well, his hand gripping his weapon tightly, wary of any further disturbances.
The traveler and paimon were still on edge after the strange rumbling noise earlier, looking around at their surroundings.
Suddenly, they heard a cheerful voice cut through the silence.
"Hey there, you two!"
The traveler and paimon jumped, surprised by the voice. They turned around and saw Venti casually approaching, a grin on his face.
"What are you two up to out here?" he asked cheerfully.
Paimon looked at him with a mix of surprise and annoyance. "You scared us!" she exclaimed.
Venti chuckled. "Oops. Didn't mean to." But he seemed amused by their surprise.
The traveler regarded Venti with a bit of suspicion. "What are you doing here?" he asked."Oh, I was just passing by and saw you two here," Venti answered casually. "I overheard some strange noises and got curious, so I thought I'd come over to take a look.
" The traveler raised an eyebrow at that. "*You* got curious?" he asked with a hint of skepticism.
Venti shrugged. "What? I can't be curious?" he said with a smirk. "Besides, I've heard these strange noises before. I want to see what's causing them."
The traveler glanced at paimon, who seemed to be thinking the same thing: that Venti's interest felt suspicious.
"You've heard these noises before?" the traveler asked, eyeing Venti warily.
The traveler studied Venti's face, trying to read any hint of deception in his expression.
But Venti was good at keeping secrets, and his smile gave away nothing.
"I've heard some things," he said vaguely. "Just a little bit."
The traveler and paimon looked at each other, both suspecting that Venti knew more than he was letting on.
The traveler looked back at Venti, his voice taking on a firm tone. "Well, since you know more than us, do you have any ideas about what's causing these strange noises?"
Venti shrugged again, still keeping up his casual demeanor. "Could be any number of things. But whatever it is, it's not something that concerns you two."
The traveler narrowed his eyes at Venti's response. "Not something that concerns us? That's pretty hard to believe."
Paimon chimed in too. "Yeah... sounds kinda suspicious to me..." she said, giving Venti a distrustful glare.
Venti laughed, seemingly not bothered by their suspicion. "Oh, you're both too suspicious. Just a little bit of rumbling and you're already looking for trouble."
The traveler was still eyeing Venti carefully, sensing that there was something that the Anemo Archon wasn't telling them.