Chapter Text
(Ajaw is not mentioned, feel free to add him or just idk send him off for some reason)
After the Natlan war, Mavuika let everyone exit Natlan or go where they wanted as reward.
Gaming happened to be in Natlan to deliver a cargo with medical supplies for the aftermath of said war. Tighnari was also in Natlan (in Varesa tribe quest he appears) to study some weird mushrooms. After completing their tasks, both Gaming and Tighnari went to the Scions of the Canopy as last stop before starting their journeys to return to their nations (the desert was harsh, so they needed to pack supplies). There, they met Kinich who, exhausted and still a little injured from the war, had no choice but to accept their help to get back to his house.
SIDE NOTE
Remember that during the aq Kinich went to that big ahh Abyss ball in the sky? Well, that gave me an idea to make him suffer more because of course I felt the need to do that.
ALRIGHT SO the area around that big Abyss ball was full of high concentration of Abyssal power and Kinich remained there for quite a while and so his body absorbed some of that power/fog (because yes there was a fog that basically swallowed everything if I remember right). And now that he was exhausted that power made him hallucinate or something like that so Gaming and Tighnari took care of him for the night.
After that experience, Kinich decided to go with them to see Teyvat outside Natlan.
The day later, while walking in the desert, Gaming and Tighnari noticed that Kinich kept trailing behind, looking exhausted but a different kind of exhaustion than the previous evening/night. They knew it wasn't because of the heat since Natlan was way hotter than the desert (it's literally built on lava, the heat is very different and idc if its not accurate thats just how my kind saw it).
(The next part about Kinich's watch is inspired by a fanfic I read a long while ago)
At some point, Kinich's watch started to glow fainter, showing the text "Phlogiston levels low" (or something similar, you get my point i hope). Tighnari and Gaming knew enough about Natlan to understand that it wasn't good. While they were trying to find shelter, the sand underneath them disappeared and they fell inside some hidden ruins (cough i think its canon that people fall in ruins this way in the desert).
They were blocked down there for a month, trying to find another exit since the way they fell down from sorta vanished under sand and some other stuff. Luckily, Kinich had some Embercore Flowers, so he was able to keep his Phlogiston level at minimum necessary to survive.
Their Archons (Mavuika, Zhongli and Nahida) grew worried when their citizens didn't return to their respective nations, so they sent Capitano and his soldiers to search for them (yes Capitano is still alive here DO NOT QUESTION).
Capitano had this weird device capable of searching Phloginston (if someone can find some reason why he has that, congrats) so they were able to find them by following Kinich's faint Phloginston signal.
Once they found them, their conditions weren't the best. Gaming was sick and injured due to exhaustion and the constant fighting (because of course the ruins were HUGE and full of monsters/old mechanisms), Tighnari was weak due to the intense heat (canon) of the desert and he was also injured, and Kinich was in the same situation as Gaming due to the constant fighting and the Phlogiston problems that only aggravated his condition.