Littlest Reaper
Death's high priest was an old man who was, quite frankly, a lot closer to the end of his life than the start. Oh, he wasn't afraid of his impending demise. He'd met Death many times, and he had no reason to fear her. He'd lived a good, honest life, and he'd done his best to teach others how to do the same. His only fear was that he'd die in some ridiculous fashion. His unfortunate predecessor had choked on a pickle. That wasn't to say he was hoping for a heroic death or anything so noble, but dying in his sleep wouldn't be half bad. It would certainly be better than becoming known as 'the second pickle guy'.
His goddess had appeared several minutes ago and had immediately set about devouring some of the offerings her loyal worshippers had left. Gold was all well and good, but Death had always had a soft spot for cookies, and even a person of little means could usually afford to get a cookie or two. In keeping with the wisdom his predecessors had left behind, the high priest waited patiently for her to finish. Interrupting her while she was eating cookies was a good way to earn a smiting, and there were times when he wondered if that's what had caused his predecessor's humiliating demise.
When she was finally done eating, she set her plate down and stood to her full height. The high priest was not a short man, but she was still taller than him. Strangely, she'd left some of the cookies uneaten. That was the first time he could ever remember her doing that. "So… you're probably wondering why I decided to visit today, right? I usually drop by on Tuesday, but it's Thursday."
"I do hope it's not time for me to go," the high priest drawled. "My successor still needs a bit of seasoning before he's ready to take over."
Death chuckled. "Nah. You've got a few more years left in you yet." She grinned. "You've done a good job, you know. You're definitely in the top five high priests I've ever had, and I've had more than a hundred. It'd be a shame to lose you before your time. I'm just here to introduce someone."
The space beside Death bent and twisted, and a small figure stepped out. Much like Death, the little figure wore a cloak of bloody shadows, and there was a small scythe draped over her tiny shoulder. Beneath the cowl of the cloak she wore, he could glimpse a pair of star-like silver eyes, but the hair that framed her face was not dark like Death's but unmistakably pale. The little goddess took one look at the cookies Death had left behind and immediately began to inhale them in an almost identical manner to Death.
"Honoured Goddess," the high priest began. "I do not wish to make any assumptions, but could this be…?" The gods did not often sire children with one another. There was little need for it since they were immortal and possessed unbelievable might. This was especially true for gods like Death whose powers were beyond even those of their peers.
"Yep." Death reached over and ruffled the little figure's hair, earning herself a scowl. "This is Little Death. She's my daughter – and Bureaucracy's. But she takes after me more. I mean she even came with her own scythe, so it was pretty obvious which one of us she was going to be like."
"She came with her own scythe?" That could not have been comfortable.
Death must have known what he was thinking because she laughed. "Ah. Right. She wasn't born like a mortal child or a demigod. You see gods like Bureaucracy and I can't have children in the usual way. Our powers are too great. Instead, we have to combine our divine essences to create a new being. Little Death is the result of that, and she came into being fully formed and with her own scythe. She's actually only been around for about a month, so I thought I'd bring her down here, show her a few things, and maybe let her reap a soul or two."
"I see." The high priest bowed low to the ground and then spoke to Little Death. "It is my greatest honour to meet you, Honoured Goddess. I never thought I would be so lucky as to see a child of my goddess."
Little Death said nothing, but she did smile and nod… and continue to eat cookies.
"Don't mind her. She's really young still, so she's a bit quiet. She'll start talking more in a couple of months." Death chuckled. "It's also a good chance for Drei to learn more about the mortal world."
"Drei?"
"You know how I have a dog?" The priest nodded although calling Zwei, Watchdog of the Abyss and a Divine Beast of unbelievable power, a mere dog would have been blasphemy if anyone but Death had done it. "Drei is her dog."
There was a little puff of smoke and fire, and the smell of brimstone filled the air. A three-headed puppy appeared. It growled as menacingly as it could given its small size before it bounded into Little Death's arms. It glared balefully at the high priest with all three of its heads.
"An impressive beast."
"Don't worry." Death laughed. "This is just how he likes to get around. Like Zwei, he can get a lot bigger if he has to. He just likes being carried." Death shrugged. "Anyway, I thought I'd drop by and let you know what's going on. You're going to have to modify my temples and all of that since Little Death's a bit young to have some of her own. I'll have Bureaucracy forward you the paperwork."
"Of course." The high priest bowed again. He was so going to make his successor do all of it. He could call it a training exercise or something.
X X X
Death bit back a laugh as Little Death pointed her scythe hopefully at the cat that had just been run over by a wagon. The irate feline hissed at the wagon and bounded back to its feet. Before Little Death could take a step closer, the cat waved around a little punch card and hissed angrily.
"Not yet." Death showed Little Death the punch card. "See this? Due to some… finagling that happened way, way, way back, cats get nine lives. This fellow just used up his third life, so you can't claim his soul just yet." She returned the punch card to the cat who promptly darted off only to be stepped on by an ox. The feline sighed and then continued on, more carefully this time. "Although having so many lives can make them a bit careless."
Little Death huffed. She'd been looking forward to reaping a soul.
"Don't worry. We can keep looking." Death smiled. "Ah, there's a good one over there."
They vanished and reappeared miles away next to the body of a bandit. The scruffy fellow had been running away with his latest haul when he had tripped and impaled himself on his own sword. Apparently, he'd been spending all of his money on wine and women instead of buying a scabbard for his sword. He was right there in front of them and choking on his own blood.
"We can just wait here." Death patted her daughter on the head. "He should be done any second now."
Not content to wait, Drei hopped out of Little Death's arms and landed on the bandit's back. The dying man gave a choked gasp, and the three-headed puppy jumped up and down, driving the bandit further onto his own blade until he finally expired.
"Or we could do that."
Right on cue, the bandit's spirit appeared above his body. He took one look at Death and Little Death and tried to flee, but Little Death was ready. She bounded forward and struck out with her scythe. His soul vanished in a flash of light, and she turned to her mother with a grin.
"Good work. Now, given what he's done, he'll probably go somewhere nasty, but don't worry about that." Death smiled sunnily. "We'll see if we can find a battle, and then maybe we'll grab some cookies and then head back."
Still standing on top of the dead man's body, Drei barked a suggestion.
"No, you can't go around and kill some people, just so we can harvest their souls. That's not how it works. There's a schedule for this sort of thing." Ruby smirked. "Or do you want to tell Bureaucracy you decided to break the rules."
Drei gave a low whine and shook his head.
"I thought so."
X X X
Author's Notes
As always, I do not own RWBY. I'm not making any money off of this either.
People have been asking for snippets where Death!Ruby has a kid for a while now, so I thought I'd put one up. This version of Death!Ruby is with Bureaucracy!Weiss, so their kid is a full god, just like they are. And just like Ruby, Little Death has her own dog, albeit a more vicious one that Zwei. Just as Ruby is Death's name, Little Death also goes by Luna.
Some of you might also find Little Death a bit familiar. There's a good reason for that. She is heavily based on Young Death, a character who appears in two of my collections of original short stories, Divine Assistance and Divine Interference. If you enjoy my fan fiction, you might want to check out my original fiction on Amazon. You can find me there as L. G. Estrella.
As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.