Thread: Life is Death, as Death is Life

I sighed as I felt the breeze run through the air, bringing along with it the putrid stench of death, the copper scent and taste of blood in the wind. It was something I regrettably had grown used to after the seemingly endless years of war and conflict I had faced. The battlefield had become a home for me, another regret I carried as a weight upon my shoulders while I walked in an endless direction forever to be stained in blood and followed by Deaths scythe, not a single soul spared of its razor edge, its haunting presence. It was like a second shadow, Death. As wherever I stepped it seemed to be, whether by my hand or others, the land was forever tainted and life was soon eliminated from the stain of my footprints on the very ground, washed away with the blood that once fueled peoples lives. Despite the regrets I hold and my wish for it all to end, I find it impossible, as I refuse to die and am immortal through age, disease never finding me, yet finding those I pass by. Life has become something I question, as to why any form of Gods, Goddesses or higher beings would allow something of my being to exist, tormenting and destroying the precious life they had created. Why they would make something in the image of their beloved creation also their downfall. I have long forgotten my original name, as I have walked these endless and ever changing lands for longer than I could remember even if I wished to recall it. The lives that I extinguish have called me a great many things in fear, hatred, despair, and in confusion before they are torn apart by whatever force I seem to exude from my very being. My eyes open, spared of any tear as the memory of the blood and corpse filled field passed through me as if I had been reliving it personally. If I had shed any tears before they had long since run out, my eyes empty of emotion as I walked the desert trail. I was always moving, for if I remained in one place I feared that Death would forever infect the area and life could never return to it no matter what was tried. So I walked the seemingly endless world, knowing after so many countless years that life would continue to appear as long as Death didn't linger in one spot. As my legs walked, never once giving out, never once breaking or burning from fatigue and wear. My body, as well as my health, always seemed to remain perfect despite the conditions I caused by simply living, by existing. My clothing wore out yet I had always seemed to find replacements, crafted by someone who later fell due to having met me. After a short while rumors would be spread about me and people would attempt at my life, either to be fell by my blade or by the fate of having seen me. My will to survive had always seemed to overpower every thought of my life, and I had never once received a wound. Even when the sky was blackened with arrows, not a single head of the blades had hit me, and the army had fallen. In fact I was I truly regretful over everything? Perhaps or perhaps not. It had not only become routine but the only life I knew and believed I ever would know. Maybe what I felt was simply boredom over a repetitive life. I guess Ill never know, as nothing would ever change. And so I continued to walk, covered in a long worn coat made of multiple scraps of cloth, a large thick blade practically as tall as I was, a near 61 in length, strapped by a leather sling over my back. Short messed silver hair covered my head, not caring to care for it as it mattered not to me. The desert trail felt hot on my bare feet, yet I felt no pain from blistering or burning, as I never seemed to succumb to wounds or even receive them. Lifeless, golden eyes peered from under the short bangs that hung to my face, as if completely unaware of what was around me, yet in truth had merely grown tired of seeing the same outcome again and again. Never seeing a change in the life lived, if I could even call what I was living, life. Although appearing as a lifeless drifter of the lands, I was aware of the eyes that stuck to me as I wandered into a small desert settlement, clueless, curious eyes at my massive figure simply entering without a goal, without a path other than the one that trailed the ground. In practically no time the effects of my presence became known, the buildings suddenly starting to rot, the stone aging, eventually turning into ash from practically nothing at all. The panic set in almost immediately as well, the people finding their bodies simply turning to ashes and crumbling to the ground without warning, slowly, yet also painlessly. One by one these lifeless eyes of mine observed life expunged and leave, creation lost, to be replaced later only to once more be lost. An endless cycle. One I had no choice with. One that had completely expunged all emotion and feeling from me. And then I saw something out of place, actually causing me to halt my position, a small hint of life appearing in these golden eyes of mine as I observed the anomaly. A young girl was standing in front of me, couldn't be more than 15, possibly even younger, in age. Though as the world around her crumbled and died, and her body was darkening from the process of being turned to ashes, her lips were spread in the strangest of things. A sweet, innocent smile. A smile that seemed untainted by what was happening to those around her and to her own life as well. One that seemed to reach inside the carcass that I called my body and pull out the last hint of life that resided within. Her long brown hair slightly swayed in the breeze and emerald eyes gazed into mine, as if drawing me to them, calling for some form of warmth. He arm raised then in a strange fashion, above her head and then waving side to side. Something I had seen only a few times. A sign of farewell or a greeting. As the arm grayed out and started to crumble to ash, along with the rest of her body, her smile only broadened. Her lips then moved in a formation of farewell, the last hint of color I saw the emerald of her right eye before she succumbed the the effects of my being. I stood there, surrounded by ashes of what was one life and creation, the dull lifeless eyes more alive than ever upon the sight of the young girls smile. And for the first time since as far as I can remember, I felt tears run down my stained cheeks. My legs suddenly felt like dead weight and I collapsed onto the hot desert floor, arms limp at my sides as the stream on my cheeks dropped onto the dry lay below me. I felt my voice choke up in a sob, soon stringing it out in pained cries and coughs, eyes never leaving the spot where I had observed the girls smile in the face of despair and death. The will to live had left me, as if the tears were its physical manifestation, sobs escaping me in a pained rush of sadness, guilt, regret, despair and depression smashing into me all at once, centuries long repressed, crushing my physical and astral being relentlessly. As the emotions swept over me and my body fell completely to the floor, dirt and tears staining my face, my hands buried in the sand, my voice letting out a cry of pain and frustration. Pain of everything I had caused, frustration at being unable to stop it. I wanted it to end, willed it to end, demanded even! To whatever had cursed the world as well as me with this constant shade of death to remove it and end it all. What loving being or even being of evil would allow me to exist and cause it all? Why? Why, I asked, why!? For what seemed like an eternity I remained on the floor, questioning it all as the ashes swept over me along with the sand, as if coating me with the sin and shame of what I had done. The tears seemed to flow endlessly from my eyes, not once halting in their endless stream. And then a felt a sudden warmth press against my cheek. One of my hands, filthy with dirt and ash, raised shakily towards the warmth, surprised to find a physical object pressed against it. It was smooth to the touch and warm with life. Slowly I rose my head, covered and stained with dirt ashes and tears, to look at what had touched me. I blinked as I saw something I couldn't explain. I saw a feminine figure before me, though I saw no features at all upon it. No eyes, no hair, no lips. It was as blank as a canvas upon an artists mantle. However all I felt from it was warmth, a kindness, a happiness. Dont cry.. My eyes widened from the voice that came from the figure, surprised in the beauty it delivered, the sincerity and love. You aren't at fault...such is life..such is death.such is us. The tears began to stop flowing as her other hand leaned own. I found my own arm stretching out, taking her delicate fingers into mine. Upon Death..Life is preserved.. I began to slowly rise to my feet as the featureless figure helped me up, its warmth sending strength back through my body. Do not regret what you are or hate it.as without Death..without you.Life is impossible.I would be impossible.. The figures hands lay upon my cheeks, my skin seeming to clear of all foreign obstruction. And do not fear Death..as it is not the end..but a new beginning. A bright light began to engulf me, enveloping me in a warmth I had never once felt. My eyes closed as it cradled me within it and I found my lips slowly spreading into a smile. Even divine beings make mistakes or forget themselves, as I did, as Death. However Life is always returning to remind me, showing that What I do isn't wrong, isn't a sin, and that I am not a plague upon the land in human form. I am merely a shepherd for them, sending them to their new lives. To Life, my other. As without Life, there can be no Death, and without Death, there would be no meaning to Life. Emotions would be pointless and non-existent as would love. In the end, Life and Death are no different from one another, and love is what they bring, our gift to the beings of the world.