In a faraway universe stands a realm for immortal makers, A realm crafted precisely by the makers and for the makers to thrive and prosper. It is a vast world, beautiful and lively, full of the sounds of life itself.
But once upon a dusk, a grim creature had traveled its way down such a realm. A creature feared by all creatures and respected among all warriors. He is Death.
The grim reaper walked his way down the stony corridor of Drenchfort , A holy palace made of iron and stone that carries the tears of the mountain within it. The purest water of all realms starts here.
The sound of the water current running lively in the tunnels echoes within the walls forming an ancient orchestra depicting the birth of life, the water so clear that it shone bright as if it emitted light from within, the breeze smells refreshing and cool and just like a maker's realm. It smells of life.
Death walked, not sparing the view any thoughts, he has lived long to understand that true beauty lies in peace, And his peace lies in death...not in life.
This place... was just too noisy for him.
His iron boots thuds against the stony road as he walks with a hunched back and frowning eyes that glows gold under the bright light around him. Even in the serenity of this place, his looks would strike fear even in a passer maker, for Death was as grim as if he was walking through the dead plains itself.
The grim reaper was focused on the path in front of him and nothing else...
Well maybe not only the path, the girl talking behind him also demanded a healthy amount of his attention, Not intentionally though, but there is very little he can ignore when she talks nonstop like a broken device he can't turn off.
Sometimes she would tread beside him mutely and as silent as a construct, but that is only when Death is on a mission or if they have company, and since right now he isn't on a mission nor has company... The girl's chatter mode is on.
She was called Ori once, but now only known by the name he had given her... "Dust".
However, the name "Ori" was not entirely forgotten by him... He had known her long before she became his Dust... She may not remember but Death never forgets.
Ori walks behind her master like his own shadow, following him around everywhere. She is his crow guide and his trusted sidekick. Now in her human form and not the crow form, she wears a tattered knee long piece of cloth that fit around her waist like a dress. Maybe it was a dress, some long time ago before it aged that bad.
The crystal clear water reflects bright moving shimmers over their walking figures.
Though as grim as ever, the moving light didn't seem to affect the pale horseman's scary figure at all, but Ori unlike her grim master has an entirely different humanoid physique. She was much smaller than him in size with her hair much paler than his demonic black but no less silky, it appears much fluffier than her master's greasy like long locks of hair, and when the cool breeze of the maker's realm runs through it, she would even be considered beautiful despite her ghostly pale skin and devilish crow eyes of hers.
It's not a compliment for neither of them considering the crow "Beautiful". The few who attempted to express the thought out loud to Death has been either fed to Harvester, or suffered great deal of loss that they shall never speak to the grim reaper without thinking beforehand ever again, depending on the horseman's mood.
Ori strides behind her master in a quick pace to match his long steady steps, she didn't seem bothered by the extra effort, dragging her messy black wings behind her as she talks.
She speaks nonstop of vibrant vivid stories. Stories, that Death had stopped wondering long ago if she would ever find an end for.
" -and then Dust was surprised, Dust told her to stop being such a meanie, But Vio ignored Dust and snatched the eye Dust had saved to rot and be sweeter. Dust felt so sad ! And Dust learned not to tell anyone about its cooking, But not you master! Dust shall tell master Death all about the eyes Dust saved to rot out! Master Death is welcomed to eat Dust's humble cooking !"
Ori spoke referring to herself as an absent "It" and to her master as a holy "You" Her grammar is not something Death can fix even if he expressed his unfamiliarity with the way she speaks, he knows she won't change it anyway. It's her own special way of expressing respect.
Ori kept talking about her precious eye stock and her sister who stole it from her.
For a rather skinny crow that follows the grim reaper who leaves her a trail of food wherever he goes, Ori spoke so passionately of food as if she was starving all the time.
Death has no idea how old this story of hers was, the last time his crow encountered her other crow siblings was no less than half a millennia ago or maybe even longer, before she was bound to him yet She speaks of them as if she just met them yesterday ... Death gave a sigh.
"That's not cooking, Dust ... That's merely-"
Death was about to say 'sickening' but he made the mistake of eyeing Ori from behind his shoulder, she looked at him with hope in her eyes and a smile that anticipated a compliment ... And despite himself he said "-Patience."
Ori grinned "Oooh! Dust is so patient! Dust waits for food to grow flies and give worms , Dust is as patient as an old one! "
Death turned back to the road ahead, choosing not to reply sarcastically to the "old one" comment , his little crow has a mind of a child and she and the "old one" could never coexist in the same sentence.
"Ah! also Dust has special demon fingers! Chili like the burned pillars of hell, Dust loves demon fingers as a snack when Dust is free. Would master Death like to try Dust's special demon fingers? It smells as delicious as a month old dead body, Too delicious! Master Death must try!" Ori raved excitedly, her crow wings flapping behind her in obvious delight at the mere thought.
Even Death, the most patient creature in the universe, has his own limits, and Ori had been speaking of smelly corpses for ... A long time. Death had finally reached his own.
He growled out "Dust, I've heard enough of rotten food. Can you rather speak of something else? Or perhaps ... Not speak at all." The last bit was said in exasperation.
Ori clapped her wings over her mouth in shock.
"Oh! Dust has been over talking again. Dust is so sorry. Dust will shut up now."
"Good" he grumbled.
For a whole two minutes Death was in blessed silence Ori was quiet, But Death's reprise was short lived as Ori spoke again.
"Ah! master Death may like Dust's special dried human blood powder on the demon fingers chili snack. Human blood powder is a little sweet and very good with chili-"
Ori was about to continue, But Death cut her sentence short.
" Dust, Why are you speaking of only ... food ?"
Death wanted to sound angry but despite himself, he just sounded tired.
"Well, Dust can speak of other things if master wants!"
"Yes, please ... I'm thriving for a new topic today." His tone was as dry as the desert.
That however didn't seem to deter the tiny figure "Dust can tell master death of how the mighty Crowfather liked Dust's special crunchy dead maker's ears!"
"Ugh for hell's sake."
Ori saw her master growl in frustration, and she frowned in worry.
"Oh! master are you alright?! Does master not like sweets? foolish Dust will be careful next time. Dust shall never speak of sweets again. Dust never meant to upset master Death's stomach! Now Dust to apologies shall talk only about salty chili rotten goods!" She was very pleased with her clever solution.
Death's eyes widened when Ori mentioned talking about her own version of salty "goods".
" No, no. No more food! And no more goods. No more dead rotten bodies to speak off. Do you hear me ?"
Death wanted to intimidate her, wanted his tone to sound like a warning. He wanted to give her the scary idea that she will find herself on the sharp edge of his harvester if she spoke more of bodies... But once he turned to her to do just that and... He couldn't. She looked paler, the fear draining away any color left, and tense... so he sighed ...again
"Speak of something else, Dust " and if his tone was kinder, there was no one but empty walls to witness.
Ori paused for a moment and Death watched as the color began to rise back on her skin.
"What does master Death want Dust to speak of?" Her voice was small, slowly gaining confidence.
Death paused turning back to the road.
" Hobbies ,perhaps. Do you have hobbies, Dust ?"
Ori grinned
"Oh Dust has many hobbies, Dust loves to discover what all of the universe's dead bodies taste like" She trailed of dreamily.
Death fought not to face-palm.
"Aside from ...food, What else can u do ?"
Ori opened her mouth to say her other hobbies, But she paused... Thinking
" Dust loves to play games with her siblings ..."
"Good , What kind of games?"
Ori grinned again
"Hard games for strong minds! Dust loves to show off its smart skills."
Death smiled beneath his bony mask.
"May the smart Dust tell what her games was about ?"
Ori's wings flapped behind her almost lifting the small body of the ground from excitement."
" Ah! a game of taste! Dust hides its eyes and Dust's siblings offer Dust food , Dust shall say from the taste and texture which body part that was ! Dust is so good at this game ,Shall master Death want to try and test Dust's strong memory of taste?- Um master ? Are u alright?"
The End.
A/N : Hello :D
I hope you guys liked this twist. I love the small funny interactions between Death and Dust through out the game and the novel. I couldn't help but imagine if Dust can shapeshift so they can actually talk and their interactions be funnier xD The idea of a female Dust is because I like to think that Death has two faces when catching souls, a nice face with the good souls and a grim reaper with the bad ones and because I can't imagine darksider's Death caring about looking nice and charming I imagined a kindred nice equivalent of him who is a female Dust, she is everything opposite to Death but she is the face he shows to children and good souls so they won't get scared.
If You guys liked this, let me know. I may write more about them. I'm not used to share my writings but at the gates of a new year, I'm willing to change and be more brave about it :D
I tend to write a lot of description so I really hope you guys are actually enjoying it and not bored by it. English is not my first language but I tried my best to correct any grammatical or spelling mistake. Thanks for reading thus far ^^