Old Friend
Princess Weiss raised one eyebrow. "Why are we visiting a tortoise?" She paused. "And where exactly are we?"
Death smiled and patted the massive tortoise on the shell. "This old guy is a good friend of mine. I've known him since he was this big." She gestured at a height somewhere around her ankles. "As for where we are, it's not anywhere your people have discovered yet. In fact, we're about as far from civilisation as it's possible to be."
"Right…" Weiss nodded slowly. "So, again, why are we visiting this tortoise?"
"Like I said, he's a good friend of mine." Death grinned. "How old do you think he is?"
"Hmm…" Weiss pondered the question. She knew Death well enough to understand that she wouldn't be asking the question if the answer was obvious. The hint of a mischievous smile tugging at her lips also gave the game away. "A hundred?"
"Nice try, but this guy turned two hundred twenty-five last Tuesday. That makes him the oldest non-divine tortoise ever." Death gave the tortoise's shell another fond pat before her expression fell. "But today's the day."
"The day? Oh." Weiss bit her lip. "You mean…"
"Yep. I remember the day he hatched. There were fifteen of them in that clutch of eggs. Five didn't make it past a week. Another five of them didn't make it through a year. It was a lean year, and there wasn't a lot of food to go around. The other five all made it to at least fifty, but this guy was the only one to crack a hundred. The other gods were all betting against him making it to two hundred, but I knew he'd make it. He's a tough, old guy, a real survivor."
Weiss sat down on a rock next to the tortoise. He didn't seem to be bothered by them. If anything, he seemed to recognise Death. How many times had she visited? "That's admirable, I think, to last that long against the odds."
"I was kind of worried it might be a predator that did him in. He's too old now to put up too much of a fight, but that's not it." Death sat down beside Weiss. "He's just about done eating, and in a few minutes, he'll go have a nap under that tree there, and he won't ever wake up. It'll be quick and peaceful, and he'll wake up in the afterlife for tortoises."
"There's an afterlife for tortoises?" Weiss asked incredulously. "You can't be serious."
"There's an afterlife for people, Weiss. Why not for tortoises?" Death gestured at the sky. "It's a wonderful place. There are no predators, and there's plenty to eat and drink. There are lots of other nice tortoises, and he'll get to meet all his old friends again."
"You have to be making that up." Weiss tried to picture a part of the afterlife full of tortoises and failed miserably. "Does that mean there's places in the afterlife for rabbits, wolves, sheep, dogs, cats, and all the other animals?"
"You'd be surprised, and it does vary. Like people, deserving animals go to what they think of as paradise. For a guy like our friend here, that's pretty much somewhere free of predators and full of food and drink. For a pet, well, most of them ask to get sent to the afterlife where their owners are."
Weiss's expression softened. "That sounds pretty nice, actually. I can imagine a lot of cats and dogs might ask to be with their owners, and I know a lot of owners would ask for their pets to be with them wherever people go."
"It's tricky with pets," Death continued. "The Cycle of Death and Rebirth means that nobody except the truly damned stays dead forever. Everyone gets reborn. But kindred spirits have a way of finding each other. It's why sometimes people get another dog years after their first one died and it feels kind of like the original one. It's because it is the same dog, the same soul, anyway, even if the body is different."
"That's…" Weiss would always deny that her voice got a bit rough. It just had to be the dry air here. "That's really sweet."
"Love finds a way," Death murmured. The tortoise had gone to nap under the tree, and she got up to sit down beside it. "He had a good run, this guy. It seemed like a shame for him to pass away on his own, so I thought I'd keep him company." She patted the tortoise's shell again and watched as his breathing slowed and then finally stopped. "And there he goes. Think of how much he must have seen, Weiss. Two hundred twenty-five years."
Despite not having known a thing about the tortoise until a few minutes ago, Weiss couldn't help but admire the reptile for lasting so long. Two hundred twenty-five years… that was three times the length of an average human's life. It also seemed wrong to just leave him under the tree where scavengers could get at him.
"We should bury him," Weiss said at last. "We could give him a headstone too."
Death smiled. "Yeah… that sounds nice."
As Death gestured and created a hole under the tree, Weiss asked, "What name should we put on the headstone?"
"He always seemed like a Gary to me," Death said. "I mean… we could also put Big Shell, which is what the other tortoises called him, but I think he would have gone by Gary if he could have picked his own name."
"Gary, huh?" Weiss chuckled. "Gary 'Big Shell' Tortoise. How's that?"
"That sounds great."
X X X
One of the great unsolved mysteries of history is the discovery of an elaborate grave and headstone beneath a tree on the Palagos Islands. These remote islands are more than three thousand miles from any major landmass, and they are on the complete opposite side of the world from the kingdom of Atlas. Nevertheless, the writing on the headstone is unmistakably that of Classical Atlas. Further confusing scholars is that fact that a tortoise, apparently named Gary 'Big Shell' Tortoise, is buried there. If the grave is not a hoax, and there are many who believe it might be, then somehow someone from Atlas got to the Palagos Islands and saw fit to bury a tortoise.
Who was responsible, and why did they go to such efforts to bury a tortoise? We may never know the truth, and perhaps the only ones who do are the gods themselves. It is notable, though, that Death has been sighted visiting the grave more than once. Did she know the tortoise, or did she perhaps know the person responsible for making the grave?
– Extract from Historical Oddities: Odds and Ends From Across the World
X X X
Author's Notes
As always, I do not own RWBY. I'm not making any money off of this either.
Somehow, I can see Death really getting to know some of the longer-lived animals around, and there aren't many things that can outlive the longest-lived tortoises. You can bet that when Gary gets reborn, she'll drop by to see how he goes. Who knows? Maybe he'll be something other than a tortoise in his next life. He did dream of flying a few times. Maybe he'll be a dragon. Also, if you've enjoyed my fan fiction, you should check out my original fiction. You can find me on Amazon and Audible as L. G. Estrella.
As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.
