Back from the dead.
That was how best to describe the startled expressions of guards and acquaintances who had assumed he had met his end. He had to wonder what rumours might have circulated and no doubt there would have been some who were relieved at his demise. Yet here he was, in flesh and blood, striding through the 'streets' of his homeland. Add this to the fact that he had a rather unique companion with him and one could only assume he was turning heads for more than just one reason.
For some reason the young cub had chosen to stick with him and while she had been able to mask her appearance some of the time she had been rather blunt; she didn't enjoy it and it felt peculiar. The older male had simply accepted that on this occasion she wouldn't be told and now that deities were becoming a more 'frequent' occurrence in this particular reason he was going to encourage the naivety of his fellow Al-Siq.
Yes; where Di Yi came from they had wings and horns.
...And no, it was awkward and couldn't be visited, she'd found him.
Nevertheless it was clear to him that the fidgeting cub between his shoulder blades had taken note of the attention, though as usual, she seemed to be unaware that a large portion of it was down to her appearance as opposed to his.
"Oooh you are right," he felt her clamber up his neck until she was peering down, albeit upside down and directly in his line of sight. "They are awfully awkward aren't they?" she mused and righted herself just enough to allow Adar'Malik to continue on his way to wherever it was that he saw fit to go.
She'd noticed he'd kept himself in the shadows, deliberately seeking to hide himself from view and yet he was noticed regardless. His descriptions of his homeland held true by the looks of things; the majority of individuals would immediately turn to look at him but dared not to approach him. There was an apprehensive sheen to their eyes and while they held still and let him slip by undisturbed it had become clear to her that he wasn't really wanted.
Well, he wasn't wanted in this particular region.
Would it be better wherever he was intending to take her?
She settled again as he moved on, releasing a sigh at his albeit noncommittal snort in reply to her previous observations. She'd grown rather fond of this one, he was gruff but had a good heart, even if few others seemed to be able to see what she could.
Unfortunately it seemed that while many would have preferred to allow him to walk through in peace, the quiet was shattered by a surprised voice that called out from their right. At first it seemed unsure of itself, then with a shuffle of paws it drew nearer until the male was directly in Adar's path...An unusual occurrence but Adar did at the very least draw to a halt.
"Where the hell did you go?" The male choked. It was Satsumaimo, one of the lions that had gone out to research the bizarre happenings beyond their borders. He'd chosen (for now) to ignore the young lioness on Adar's back in favour of giving the entirety of his attention to Adar. This was the significance of his return, the significance of his appearance and quite clearly it had caused some measure of concern. "What the hell happened?" he added as he gazed down towards Adar's now wasted limb.
The limb had bulked out slightly but the claws were long gone and it was unlikely it would ever fully recover. Not that Satsumaimo had the place to judge too harshly given that he too had sustained injuries that to this day, Al-Siq healers couldn't identify. Evidently both he and Adar had recovered but the 'war-wounds' left were unmistakable.
"The same place that you do," Adar shook his head. "Though it would seem the caverns played tricks and led us both astray."
"I found him though so it's ok," Di Yi announced proudly. It was enough for Satsumaimo to glance up, pause, and absorb exactly what he saw before him. Unsurprisingly by the confusion on his features he didn't know what was in front of him.
"We thought you were dead, we waited for a week," Satsu grimaced, dragging his gaze away from the cub and back to the male in question.
"If it is of any use to you, I came out the opposite side," Adar admitted and hazarded a shrug.
"You are aware that you were registered -"
"I had a suspicion," Adar rolled his eyes. "I am no ghoul, I am very much alive, just waylaid temporarily by unforeseen circumstances." He paused and glanced over his shoulder at Di Yi who was now regarding Satsu's shriveled paw with interest. He hadn't lost his claws and no doubt Di Yi was contemplating how that was possible if the damage looked similar.
"More importantly did you discover anything?" Adar added, distracting the spotted lion from his prophetic return and motioning for him to continue down the path. If he were truly denoted as dead then he was going to have to make a point of advising the necessary authorities that he still walked this green earth.
"...No," Satsu admitted, taking the hint to move out of the way. He stole a quick glance at Di Yi and then down at his own paw, upon returning his gaze to her's she did nothing more than smile and return her attention to what lay ahead of them. "All that we were able to identify was that the anomalies are widespread and how they manifest may be different in other regions. Whether they be giant lakes, chasms, meteor showers... The only constants is peculiar lights and strange whispers."
"So we have no source," Adar clucked his tongue.
"None at the moment."
"Unfortunate, but we can at least take some relief from the distance between the Al-Siq and the worst affected regions."
"Can we...?" Satsumaimo didn't sound convinced, he'd seen the chasm in the Kizingo'zaa as they recovered. That hadn't been there until recently and it had been without warning that it had opened up. The world had been torn asunder and it was pure luck that none were hurt in the process.
"We are too far north, if anything were going to happen it would have done so by now." He sounded more confident than he felt, but as he'd returned home he had noticed that the number of unusual events had dramatically reduced. He wouldn't put this down to any form of divine intervention, but he'd certainly count the Al-Siq lucky on this occasion.
"Nevertheless we don't have a means to prepare."
"Neither did anyone else," Adar shrugged and ducked under a textile into the caves that made up the 'government' offices. He had never enjoyed it in here but he had also been a firm believer in the Al-Siq's policies; consequently he needed to remove his notice of death and register his wayward cub companion as well. "At most," he ducked again, this time under a smaller door into the 'office' of one particularly bureaucrat that he'd never been a fan of.
...She hadn't been pleased to see him either, the Genet had already wrinkled her nose in distaste. They'd never gotten along and now he was going to have to ask her to amend certain 'records'.
The conversation was bound to go swimmingly.
"We at least know what to expect if it does come; and the advice we might need to provide," he paused briefly to shrug Di Yi off his shoulders and turned his attention to the Genet.
"I like your spots," Di Yi said finally as she settled herself on the ground and peered at the puzzled Satsu, he still hadn't worked out who or what she was yet, hell she hadn't even been given a name yet!
"I like your stripes," he offered with a small nod.
"Sy'bl." Adar could be heard speaking the background as Satsu and Di Yi regarded each other. "Just tell me what needs filled out and who I need to speak to and we will not need to look at each other's beautiful faces again."
There was no additional conversation to fill the noticeably awkward gap until the Genet in question began to speak. It was only then that Adar glanced towards Di Yi and shook his head.
"Did you ever pick a name?" Adar asked.
"Huh?" The tiny deity paused to consider his question before nodding. "Oh yes! It's Di Yi!" she announced; she was met by two rather affronted expressions and oddly enough, one bemused one. "What?" she asked curiously.
"Nothing," Adar amended as he returned his attention to the Genet.
"I thought his story was awesome," Di Yi peered at Satsu in confusion, her normal point of contact currently distracted.
"To some maybe," Satsu replied weakly. It wasn't his place to educate the cub but he did have to wonder how she had gotten 'awesome' from a myth of despair, destruction and bloodshed. Was there another Di Yi in the world beyond the walls or had Adar chosen to tell a different variation of the tale that few would dare speak of in polite circles?
It was a conversation for another time and while Di Yi's name might have caused some controversy, apparently advising a pride that you weren't dead was significantly more complicated than one might have imagined. Suffice to say they would be here for a while and even though he had no immediate obligation to stay he elected to do so. For all he knew, Di Yi might decide to speak again and perhaps then he might gain some clarity.
...For now though he'd just enjoy listening to the dispute between Genet and Lion. 'Hag' had already been mentioned so he had no doubt this would quickly spiral out of control.
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