28th Harvest - [Video]
[He sits astride his white horse, the backdrop of expansive sky behind them a subtle blurring of crimson and blue, some point between districts where the division even meets sky.
For a time Death is silent as he gazes out and down below- below for Binky stands in midair as though it were solid ground. Even high above the city is an unusual stillness for no breeze stirs black robes nor snowy mane.]
IT UPSETS YOU.
[The hooded figure seems to split, the second stepping out from behind Death to stand beside the rider and his mount. His bony hand rests upon the ornate silver hilt of a sword, belted at his side. The glowing blue pinpoints set deep within the black pits that stretch far into eternity look downward as well.]
IT DOES. [Death finally breaks his silence, turning his skull towards his Shadow.]
YOU HAVE CHANGED. [The Shadow meets his gaze, actinic blue intensity mirroring the other, skulls both set in a perpetual grin, yet conveying an overall grimness.]
WE HAVE CHANGED. [Death corrects.] HAVE BEEN, EVER SINCE MORTALS BEGAN TO INTRIGUE US.
YOU STRAY FURTHER AWAY FROM TASK, FROM DUTY. THEY KNEW THIS, AND THEY SOUGHT TO RECTIFY IT. YOU INVITE THE VERY SAME TO HAPPEN, HERE.
[Death turns his head away from the Shadow, looking out towards the city again, towards the souls that despite all, continue to fight on.]
IT MAY HAPPEN, OR IT MAY NOT. THEY ARE NOT THE AUTHORITY IN THIS SPACE.
THERE ARE OTHER AUTHORITIES. THIS PLACE CARES NOT FOR DEATH, TAKE IT- TAKE YOU FOR GRANTED. WHY SHOULD YOU BE HERE THEN, YOU HAVE ASKED. WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU SERVE? YET, WHEN ONE FALLS, HERE, WITH EACH UNNECESSARY LOSS OF LIFE, YOU REGRET. YOU FEEL.
[The Shadow drags the blade from its scabbard, its edges outlined in an electric blue, humming thinly with the movement as its held outward, slicing atoms in its wake.]
THE DUTY....
[Death's gaze flares briefly, and he watches the sword- his second favorite weapon, as his Shadow holds it out before them.]
THE DUTY.... IS ALWAYS THERE. THE DUTY MUST BE PERFORMED, FOR THAT IS WHY I AM, WHAT I AM.
[He reaches out, skeletal fingers clasping over his Shadow's phalanges that grip the sword. The Shadow turns its skull towards him.]
AND WHY WE ARE HERE. ALTHOUGH WE WONDER... [It allows that sentence to hang, but Death knows well the implications. Both their grins convey some sort of understanding.]
WE DO.... AND SO LONG AS WE ARE HERE....
[The Shadow nods.] SO LONG AS YOU KNOW THIS.
ALWAYS. [Death nods back, and soon finds his hand to be the only one holding the sword, and this, he slides with great care into the sheath that's appeared at his side. When he pulls his hand away, it's to regard the slender card that had been nearly wrapped about its hilt.]
For a time Death is silent as he gazes out and down below- below for Binky stands in midair as though it were solid ground. Even high above the city is an unusual stillness for no breeze stirs black robes nor snowy mane.]
IT UPSETS YOU.
[The hooded figure seems to split, the second stepping out from behind Death to stand beside the rider and his mount. His bony hand rests upon the ornate silver hilt of a sword, belted at his side. The glowing blue pinpoints set deep within the black pits that stretch far into eternity look downward as well.]
IT DOES. [Death finally breaks his silence, turning his skull towards his Shadow.]
YOU HAVE CHANGED. [The Shadow meets his gaze, actinic blue intensity mirroring the other, skulls both set in a perpetual grin, yet conveying an overall grimness.]
WE HAVE CHANGED. [Death corrects.] HAVE BEEN, EVER SINCE MORTALS BEGAN TO INTRIGUE US.
YOU STRAY FURTHER AWAY FROM TASK, FROM DUTY. THEY KNEW THIS, AND THEY SOUGHT TO RECTIFY IT. YOU INVITE THE VERY SAME TO HAPPEN, HERE.
[Death turns his head away from the Shadow, looking out towards the city again, towards the souls that despite all, continue to fight on.]
IT MAY HAPPEN, OR IT MAY NOT. THEY ARE NOT THE AUTHORITY IN THIS SPACE.
THERE ARE OTHER AUTHORITIES. THIS PLACE CARES NOT FOR DEATH, TAKE IT- TAKE YOU FOR GRANTED. WHY SHOULD YOU BE HERE THEN, YOU HAVE ASKED. WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU SERVE? YET, WHEN ONE FALLS, HERE, WITH EACH UNNECESSARY LOSS OF LIFE, YOU REGRET. YOU FEEL.
[The Shadow drags the blade from its scabbard, its edges outlined in an electric blue, humming thinly with the movement as its held outward, slicing atoms in its wake.]
THE DUTY....
[Death's gaze flares briefly, and he watches the sword- his second favorite weapon, as his Shadow holds it out before them.]
THE DUTY.... IS ALWAYS THERE. THE DUTY MUST BE PERFORMED, FOR THAT IS WHY I AM, WHAT I AM.
[He reaches out, skeletal fingers clasping over his Shadow's phalanges that grip the sword. The Shadow turns its skull towards him.]
AND WHY WE ARE HERE. ALTHOUGH WE WONDER... [It allows that sentence to hang, but Death knows well the implications. Both their grins convey some sort of understanding.]
WE DO.... AND SO LONG AS WE ARE HERE....
[The Shadow nods.] SO LONG AS YOU KNOW THIS.
ALWAYS. [Death nods back, and soon finds his hand to be the only one holding the sword, and this, he slides with great care into the sheath that's appeared at his side. When he pulls his hand away, it's to regard the slender card that had been nearly wrapped about its hilt.]