Uniform

Death's gaze roamed over the spirits that served her. Although she had more than enough power to reap all of the souls of the dead herself, having her own subordinates made her life easier and alleviated some of the loneliness she occasionally felt.

The reapers were still a bit… awed by her, but they had only been created recently. Not everybody could be like Zwei. Her friend had been demanding belly rubs, steak, and cuddles from the moment she'd created him. She doubted any of them would ever grow to be quite so informal with her, but she was hoping they could become friends of a sort.

At her side, Zwei was also examining the reapers. As her first creation, he held seniority over all of them, and he trotted back and forth through the assembled ranks of spirits, pausing now and then to peer more closely at a reaper who had caught his attention. Rather than create all of them with the same appearance, Ruby had allowed for quite a bit of variation. Some were human in shape whilst others had more exotic appearances. It made sense since people were generally most comfortable having their souls collected by someone who resembled them.

It wouldn't do, for instance, to send an octopus-shaped reaper to collect the soul of a human. They'd probably think it was some kind of eldritch abomination come to devour their soul instead of a reaper whose job it was to send them to the afterlife. True, her reapers could alter their shapes, but she and the other gods had found that having a 'default' shape was generally better for the mental health of their creations.

Even Zwei, as mighty as he was, had a form he preferred even though his might was more than enough to let him take on whatever form he wished.

However, even if her reapers didn't all have the same shape, they were united by something else. All of them wielded scythes, and all of them wore cloaks similar to hers. True, both items were but pale shadows of the ones she possessed, but the very first reapers had asked for them, as had all of the others. They wanted to feel a stronger connection to her, and the scythes and cloaks were an easy way to do that.

Plus, mortals had gotten used to Death coming for them with a scythe while wearing a cloak. Having reapers show up in all sorts of different clothing would only make things more difficult for mortals who, by definition, would already be having a tough time if their souls were being collected.

Yet amidst the ranks of reapers, there was one person who was not dressed like Death.

Zwei.

The dog had never really bothered with clothing. Why would he? He was the Watchdog of the Abyss. Clothing meant nothing to him, and any armour he might be given would likely be more of a hindrance than a help. Still… it might be fun to give him his own uniform to match the reapers.

"Zwei." Death called him over, and he nudged her leg before sitting back and wagging his tail. "How would you like a uniform to match all of the reapers?"

He nodded, and a blood-red cloak swirled into existence around his shoulders. A small scythe appeared too, and he caught the shaft of the weapon in his mouth. The reapers closest to him were all trying very hard not to stare, but Death could see more than one looking as though they wanted nothing more than to rush over, pick him up, and pamper him.

The reapers were extensions of her will and purpose. It was not surprising that they'd inherited her love for Zwei. She'd have to keep an eye on him. If she wasn't careful, he'd have all of the reapers spoiling him rotten the entire time.

"You don't have to wear those all the time," Death murmured. "But it might be fun to bring them along during official meetings with the reapers."

Zwei barked happily around the scythe. He could do that.

X X X

Blood Bite had ruled the oceans for many years. As a truly colossal shark, there were few things in the oceans that could challenge him. Yet today would be his last day, and these would be his final moments. His foe – a gigantic whale – was dead, but the wounds the other beast had inflicted were fatal.

Slowly, the world began to grow dim, and Blood Bite sank down through the water. Was this the end? Yes. It must be. And then, from the darkness emerged a figure…

Another shark holding a scythe in his jaws and with a red cloak draped over his dorsal fin.

Blood Bite laughed. So the rumours were true. Death had finally created subordinates. Better still, not all of them were in the shape of those silly two-legged creatures that lived on land who occasionally sailed out to try to harpoon him. If he was going to die, then who better to reap his soul than another shark?

X X X

Author's Notes

Death appears in many forms… and so do her minions.

Also, Reaper Shark is the best.

Finally… we cracked two million views. Yay!