Opposites

2. Those days.

Time was slow in the forest, days flew by like a soft summer breeze. Life tended to her garden and her friends every second of the day but, some days, she seemed to get a break from the chaos. On those days, she would sit not too far from the line. The area she sat in was that of a group of small ponds, each surrounded by beautiful plants. Life lowered her body into the water, a quiet hum coming from her lips as she relaxed.

The ponds were in viewing sight of the line and, of course, death was there. He sat quietly, watching the goddess. He didn't mean to be a creep but he just found her relaxing so well.. relaxing. He sighed and got up, turning around to head back into the fog. Of course, however, she spotted him. She got up and walked over towards him, her hand on her damp hip.

"Death? What are you doing here?"
"Oh uh, nothing. Just thought I'd check to see any fleabags passing through onto my side. It gets kinda lonely here, you know?"
"Ugh.. just, go back to your little cave or something.." She said, turning to go back to the peaceful waters. That's when she noticed one of her senior deers heading over the line. Her eyes widened and she tried to call it back:
"Oh no, dearie, come back! Don't go across the line..." her speech stopped slowly as she noticed it looking over at her then continuing to walk. She then watched it walk over to Death.

He stood there, his eyes turning to the deer. They were soft, as if he truly cared for the creature. Life's expression became confused but she stayed silent. Death got down onto his knees, the deer following him down. It laid calmly, it's eyes closing as he began to sing a tune that eased the deer. You see, this mammal had had quite a hard life. As it grew older, problems with its joints and stomach seemed to increase more, much too difficult for life to fix.

"Goodnight darling, you may rest now." Death said as he placed his hands gently on the deer's maw. Without a blink, the deer's chest stopped moving, it's frail body limp. Her eyes furrowed, her crossed her arms and stood at the line, her eyes practically piercing through him.
"What did you do that for?!" She roared, Death's arms going up in a defensive manner.
"Hey, hey. Chill out. It came here on its own accord. Sometimes life's too much." He explained, her expression becoming that of a shocked one as she covered her mouth in one hand.
"How DARE you! Why don't you just spit on me?! It'll weigh up in the rudeness of what you just said!" She spat at him, leaning slightly over the line to get their faces closer. She seemed to want to intimidate him in a way but all she got was a step back and a sigh.
"Look.. life is alright and all but people can only hold on for so long. I give them somewhere more relaxing then you could ever give them" he said, his hand going to the deer and making a pulling movement upwards. Following his hand, a glowing blue smoke lifted out of the deer then floated off into the fog.
"Their souls live in this place, their final solitude. Do you understand?"
"No, I do not understand. Why would they not want to live? It is a beautiful thing to have."
"Well...some can't cope with the stress of their day to day. Some have been around for long enough. Some have issues even a goddess like you cannot solve. They come to me to get rid of it all."

At that moment, Life face went blank. What he said sounded absurd from her perspective but, of course, it wasn't her perspective she needed to see through. She thought for a second, looking at the corpse on the ground of an elder she helped grow up. Having issues like what the deer had? Of course it'd want an end to it all.

Life stepped back, looking up at Death who was waiting for a response. She simply walked off however, leaving him at the line. His eyes followed her until she disappeared back into the forest. Death then picked the deer up and headed into the fog to where a burial site was. It was a calm, clean place - despite the burning around it - with various plants he dared not touch. With an already dug hole, he placed the deer down. His hands ran over the infertile dirt until the deer was completely covered before getting up and walking away.

Death headed over to a small, hill-like structure that took the forest higher slightly. In this small hill was a set of Smokey doors that seemed well hidden. Opening the door, the dark clothed figure took a step onto the staircase that led down to what looked like a home.

His house wasn't much to look out; a dusty cave with a small dining area made of rock and wood, a fire pit and a sort-of makeshift bed made of burnt grass, ashy wool and wood. In the corner, there was a collection of skulls with small, intricate carvings on the side. They were beautifully carved out but, of course, to the normal eye, they seemed quite creepy.

Death sat on his bed, picking up one of the skulls he had been working on. He pulled a small handmade knife out of his pocket and began to carve into it. He spent hours on the carving, making sure the edges stayed smooth and the design was just as he imagined it to be. Once he'd finished, the male got up and went to the corner his other pieces of art were on. He placed the skull on the top shelf, taking a step back to look at his collection. The expression on his face showed that he was quite proud of himself, like these skulls were a sort of accomplishment for him.