Chapter 3

He could recall it clearly in his mind, though to be fair that was because to him it had happened only a few minutes ago. With the whirling sequence of events that had just taken place, it was almost difficult to remember that. Like several weeks had been crammed within the span of a few moments. Even now, Death was still adjusting to where he was and what had happened, but his goal was still clear in his mind, as well as what had happened before he had come here.

Flashback:

Tree of Life - Lost Light (Shortly After The Fight With Archon Lucien)

"I have the Angel Key," he said as he approached the Crowfather.

The old, wizened little being looked at him, expression unflickering. "Then your task nears its end," he spoke, his voice rasping a little. Beady eyes watched him without blinking., before turning to one of the portals that was nestled within the Tree of Life. Death turned with him to look. "Tread lightly. You will find not that way but shadow."

Death nodded once in affirmation of what he heard, but he would not be afraid or dissuaded. He still had a task to do. So he stepped forward, letting the portal envelope him. He let it carry him away, through space and dimensions, but this time something happened. Something that had never happened before.

He was not familiar with the magic that created portals or made them work, so he could not say with any certainty what exactly happened or what had caused it. What he did know, however, was that something distorted the portal while he was in the midst of it. Something that was nearly always fatal-though he could only say "nearly" now because he was a survivor, when he had never heard of any other like himself. A light engulfed him in the middle of the distortion, and before he could understand what that light was or where it came from, he was somewhere else. Plummeting towards the ground where he now currently found himself.

Present Time

Location: Jueyen Karst - Liyue

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I ended up taking a wrong turn," Death ended his story rather simply, after he had caught his audience up on what he had been doing and he cast a look around him, taking in the bright, sunlit surroundings that seemed utterly at peace. Very unlike most of where he had been journeying recently. "I can most certainly tell that this was not the realm I was originally aiming towards."

The adepti had begun to relax as he had recounted hostile, and by the end of it they had calmed completely. Their readiness to fight had been born out of a sense of the unknown, and how great powers could sometimes be very unfriendly powers at the same time. Hearing Death's story about how he was trying to save his brother from the punishment of crime that Death was certain he did not commit was something admirable, and they relaxed their hostile stances towards him. Though it was one that actually sounded a little familiar to them, when they stopped thinking aggressively and began to ponder over what their newcomer had said in detail.

Zhongli himself was also quite interested in what had been said, and his great memory was also stirred by what Death had been saying. He looked at the being, golden eyes filled with thought, and opened his mouth to say something when a noise made him pause. He stiffened, understanding what the sound was immediately, right as his senses picked up the approach of dozens of monsters coming up on them, fast.

"Behind us!" he said, whirling around right as the other adepti did, sensing the disturbance only a heartbeat behind him.

Hilichurls erupted out of the undergrowth in piles, yammering and racing towards the adepti and Death without seemingly any regard for their own safety, even though foolish creatures such as themselves should have been well aware of the power of the foes they were facing and kept a respectful distance. It was almost as if they were incited to attack thanks to something else, and what it was Zhongli could not immediately say, but he was almost certain it had something to do with their new arrival.

"It appears that we have unwanted company!" Moon Carver yelled, getting himself into a fighting positions as the hilichurls rushed at them.

Death did not say anything, and simply readied his swords for another fight. He frowned as his gaze swept over the hoard of enemies, and then after picking his target he lashed out. The other adepti and even Zhongli fought as well, and Death noted out of the corner of his eyes that they all were very experienced fighters, that much was obvious. Were he to ever battle them, win or lose, they certainly would not make it an easy battle. Not as easy as these creatures currently were, definitely. For comparison, these "adepti" could certainly give some angels and demons, that he knows of, a run for their money. Especially the one known as Zhongli. The Horseman could definitely tell that the being was holding back much of his power.

It was difficult to understand why these creatures were attacking with such little regard for their own safety, but Death did not think too much about it. Cutting through them was like cutting down sheep, a similarity that was even more close due to the fact that these things, whatever they were, all possessed a white, fluffy mane of hair that was so round that it reminded him exactly of sheep. They leaped at him and he cut them down in mid-air, some latched onto his back before he yanked them off, at times he swept his blades out and cut through several at once. The others did much the same, tearing through the hilichurls' numbers, only for more to appear. It seemed like there was two for even one they ended, and maybe they thought by sheer numbers they would be able to overwhelm those in the clearing. In his experience that never worked, but considering that these creatures seemed to be wearing only loincloths and their tactics simply involved rushing, he could not imagine them being particularly versed in battle. War would have a very derisive opinion of them, that was for sure.

Already he was beginning to get annoyed by the seeming unending number of them. They certainly had to end soon enough, and the only way to get through a meat wave was to simply kill as many as he could as fast as he could. Sheathing his blades, he whipped out Redemption and began firing as fast as he could pull the trigger, making every bullet counts they tore through the ranks of the hilichurls. He could even hit to the creatures that had not come close enough yet, shooting them as soon as they came out of the bushes and into sight.

The sound of the gun firing made Cloud Retainer turn her head, and she frowned upon seeing what Death held in his hand. She could not comment on it immediately though, especially given how she was still busy fighting off hilichurls herself, but it was something she told herself to keep in mind once the battle ended.

The adepti and Death stayed close together, facing against the hoard of hilichurls as a solid group rather than letting themselves be overwhelmed individually by numbers. They fought back, Zhongli also aiding them in their fight, until after several long minutes the amount of hilichurls seemed to be thinning out, and then abruptly their number ended altogether as the seeming last of them charged out of the surroundings and was cut down again.

For a moment, there was no sound in the clearing except for the panting of the warriors as they stood there, tense and waiting for seemingly another attack to take place. Death still had Redemption pointed at the bushes, eyes narrowed ad waiting for another sheep-like creature to appear, and even the adepti were watching the undergrowth with suspicion. But as the long seconds ticked by and not even the slightest sound of rustling bushes came to them, they started to relax again. Still a glance was thrown to the bushes every once in awhile, but when a minute went by without a sound even the most cautious of them began to feel that they had reached the end of the waves of enemies that were thrown at them.

"That was unusual," Xiao muttered, casting a glance at Zhongli as if asking for an explanation. If the other saw it, though, he did not deign to answer the other's confusion.

In the meantime, Cloud Retainer shook herself a little, smoothing herself back down after the mess of the fight. Not that she ever had a feather or hair out of place, but that still did not mean that she should look a mess. She retained her natural sense of dignity and looked over to Death, seeing that the gun he had brought out was still in his hand, so a perfect time to make her inquiry. She glanced at it to make sure that her observation was correct, but Cloud Retainer was rarely incorrect when it came to identifying mechanics, and this one was familiar to her

"One recognizes the firearm you used during the battle," she spoke to Death, watching as he turned to look at her. "How came it to your possession?"

The moment of surprise made Death not answer immediately, as he took in the information of Cloud Retainer's words. That she recognized the gun, which could only mean one thing. Or, maybe, instead she just meant that she was asking how he had come across a gun to begin with? Though he had not seen much of this place, from what he could tell so far of their dress and weapons, it did not seem like firearms were much in use here. They seemed to favor older weapons, like spears and swords and the like, so perhaps she was simply inquiring about what it was? But he did not wish to insult her intelligence, so he decided to play it safe.

"In another realm," he said. He did not wish to have to constantly explain the context and the history of the places he went to, and yet he also knew that being brief might make it seem like he was hiding something, which was probably not a good impression to leave them with. Considering how they had regarded him with suspicion at first, it would not take too long to bring it back to the surface.

"I was in another realm, and there were some people there who wished for my help. Because our goals aligned in the end, I gave them the assistance they needed, and one of their smiths gave me this in thanks." He added as he held up Redemption. "They did not make the gun, but they knew how good of a weapon it was and held onto it."

Zhongli narrowed his eyes a little, peering closer at the gun. Cloud Retainer's words had gotten his attention, along with those of everyone else's, and they clearly were trying to get good look at the gun as well. But Zhongli, casting his memory back, did recall that he had actually seen that weapon as well. But whether it was sheer coincidence or not was unknown to him, so he decided to ask to clarify.

"The wielder of that weapon went by the name of Strife. Do you happen to have any particular connection to him?

So he had been correct, then, and one of his brothers had been in this realm before. Well, that would certainly make things easier, but he did wonder exactly how much these people knew about the Riders. Strife was...not the best representative of them, that was for sure, and his tendency to make violence erupt around him would not have helped much in creating any sort of friendships, that was for certain. Not that Death was particularly interested in friendship either, but he could understand the necessity of diplomacy.

"I do. I am Strife's brother." Death answered. At their surprised looks, he added: "He is one of the Four Horsemen. As am I."

The Adepti around him gasped, but not in the horrified way he had expected. In fact he had braced himself for the inevitable flood of questions about whether the apocalypse was coming to this realm or not, but it seemed more like his words had shocked some sort of memory or revelation out of them. There was a knowing in their eyes as they looked at each other, lacking entirely in fear and horror, but more as if they had all had an epiphany of some sort.

Despite that, he could not entirely put his finger on why. In fact it was a reaction he rarely got and had certainly not expected, and curiosity drove him on. He could not help himself.

"Why are you all so shocked?" he asked, his voice calm and neutral as he did. It was a rare sight to see this particular reaction to finding out who he was, so he wondered about the reason behind it if nothing else.

It was Zhongli who answered, as it seemed some of the adepti were still too surprised to speak or were struggling for words.

"Strife used to talk about his siblings." he answered simply, with a small smile.

Well, that might explain why they weren't asking him if the world was about to end. He hated having to explain that.

"Ah," Death replied, nodding in understanding. "Strife does like to talk a lot."

That was something of an understatement, and now he was wondering exactly how much Strife had run his mouth around these people and what else they could have possibly heard from him.

He looked around the adepti, and stood a little straighter. "I think proper introductions are in order," he said. "I am Death, as you all know, but I do not know your names yet."

The adepti all looked at each other.

"One is Mountain Shaper," Mountain Shaper spoke first. A surprise since he had not said anything up until this moment, but he regarded Death with no suspicion in his eyes.

"One's name is Moon Carver," Moon Carver said next, giving Death a friendly smile.

"I am Xiao, Conqueror of Demons," Xiao said proudly, holding his chin high.

"Interesting," Death remarked. He had half a mind of asking him about it, given how Death himself had slain a great deal of demons, himself, but before he could get side tracked about that, there was a final introduction to be made.

"Cloud Retainer is one's name," Cloud Retainer spoke up, a little haughtily, but still with openness as she regarded Death.

He turned to her. "When you asked about the pistol, you didn't mention my brother's name. Why is that?" Perhaps she had assumed it was a copy, but he still felt like there was more to it than just false assumptions.

Cloud Retainer narrowed her eyes and turned her head away from him.

"Hmph!" was the only answer she would give to him.

Zhongli looked at her, an indulgent smile on his face, and then turned to Death, his expression still the same.

"Do forgive her," he said calmly, his voice warm and diplomatic. "She still hasn't forgiven your brother for all the times he annoyed her during his stay among us." His smile stretched then, and he seemed almost on the verge of laughing. "In fact, I remember a time when-"

"Do not get one started!" Cloud Retainer's annoyed voice cut through his words, her eyes flashing and looking for all the world like a ruffled bird. Clearly whatever had happened between the two of them, having the incidents brought up in detail was the last thing she desired.

This time Zhongli could not help himself, and a chuckle escaped from him. He did not wish to do so in front of Cloud Retainer, but her behavior was too amusing not to, and he knew she was mostly annoyed at Strife, rather than him. Xiao sighed a little, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. Even Death let a small chuckle escape him, a rarity coming from him. He knew well how much Strife enjoyed getting on people's nerves, so hearing that he had been up to his old tricks was nothing new here. In fact it only confirmed that they had definitely met him.

"Seems like he was living up to his namesake." he said, and this time even Moon Carver let-out a small huff of a laugh. The tension was now well and truly gone.

Zhongli looked around the group with a satisfied smile and then turned to Death again. "Since you are here for the time being, perhaps you would like to come back with us and get accustomed to Liyue?"

While Death did not particularly like hearing that, especially since he was still on a mission, he knew he did not have a choice at the current moment, and if nothing else, it was better to try and get adjusted rather than fight what had happened. Who knows? Perhaps these natives will aid him in his quest as others have. That was certainly preferable to having to do battle with them. An avoidance not born out of fear but nonnecessity. The Rider fears little and rarely, if hardly ever, shows fear to others if he does possess it.

He also could not fully deny the fact that his curiosity was ignited by the fact that Strife had apparently been here before, and been here long enough to actually end up annoying several of the locals, and they could spot his gun on sight. It would do well to learn about what his brother had been doing here when he had made his visit, and see what locals he had befriended, if any. But if Strife had seen these people as worthy of staying with, then that meant they were trustworthy in Death's eyes as well.

"That offer sounds fine with me," he said, his voice still staying neutral and calm, letting little of his inner thoughts be revealed. That was simply how he was, and had little to do with whether he trusted these people or not. Even with friends, he liked to keep his emotions to himself. "Lead on, I will follow you."

To Be Continued

Yep. The Horseman that arrived to Teyvat before Death is indeed Strife. I have a few reasons in mind for that, and I think you will like them if and when I get to them :)

Fun little fact: Death comparing hilichurls to sheep was inspired by An Unexpected Visit (Darksiders x LOTR crossover) by KUMA-Fury19. In that story, Death compared cutting down orcs to cutting down sheep. Armored sheep but sheep nonetheless XD

Once again, shoutout and credit goes to Chibistarr on Deviantart for helping me create this chapter :)

As I said before, I am always open to input, constructive criticism, and people sharing ideas with me. If you have any ideas to discuss with me for this story, feel free to leave them in reviews or PM me and I will get to them when I can