Chapter Text
The Dark Forest was bathed in soft light as the remnants of the Wishing Star scattered in the air. The forest wouldn’t be around much longer and it wouldn’t do to linger for too long. Still, Death found itself settling into the grass to watch the show. It had spent the past few days relentlessly hunting down that stupid cat only to walk away at the last second. That was for the best, Death reasoned. As annoying as Puss in Boots was, the issues his death would cause weren't worth the momentary satisfaction. Even knowing this, Death felt disappointed and it allowed itself to have a moment to be disappointed before returning to the Ever After. Besides, it wasn't exactly looking forward to the talk it would inevitably be having with-
“Enjoying your vacation?”
Death didn’t need to look to know who had appeared on its side. Life, in the form of a snow-white stag, was standing over it, neutral expression fooling precisely no one. Death could feel the anger radiating off the other entity.
“What vacation,” Death spat, standing to meet them, “That idiot Horner had me working the whole time.”
The two entities stared each other down, icy blue eyes locked with glimmering red, each daring the other to back down first. Life would be waiting a long time if they thought Death was going to be the one to break.
“What the hell was that?” Life finally bit out, the desire to start ripping into Death winning out over their desire to win this particular staring contest.
“What was what?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Death. You know what I’m talking about,” Life growled, gesturing at the forest around them. Death rolled its eyes.
“He’s just a cat, Life. Besides, he had it coming and you know it.” Death’s claws tapped against its sickles impatiently, already sick of the conversation. It would much rather Life drop the subject and tell it to get back to work.
“That’s not the point and you know it. Your job is to collect souls when their time is up, not to come down here and take them. You completely overstepped, thi-”
“I overstepped? What about all the times you overstepped? What about all the mortals you decided to give another chance? Who gave those damn things nine lives in the first place?” Death snarled, looming over the deer. Life stood their ground, glaring daggers at the wolf.
“Who do you think you’re talking to, exactly?” Life asked, voice cold as a winter dawn.
Death opened its mouth, ready to tell them exactly who it thought they were when a strange sensation in its chest made it click its jaws shut. The ever-present chill surrounding it was quickly fading and its body was feeling far too solid. Life was trying to force it to incarnate, Death realized with a jolt. It looked down at its claws in a panic, unsure if it was imagining the way they seemed to grow duller by the second. Growling, it called on the remains of its power to drop its current form only to go silent when it realized there was no power to call upon. Paws of flesh and bone flew to its chest as if Death could physically rip itself from its body.
“I think,” Life began, Death snapping its head towards the other entity, “you are due for a change in perspective.”
“And I suppose you’re just the arbiter of justice, aren’t you? This is crossing the line-” Death hissed, drawing its sickles. They felt too heavy in its paws, having turned to plain steel with the rest of its body.
“It is,” Life said matter-of-factly. Neither spoke for several tense moments before the deer scoffed and began to walk away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Death demanded, paw shooting out to grab the deer by the arm. Life shook it off, turning to face the wolf.
“Home. I have better things to do than babysit some mortal.”
Death stared, open-mouthed at its partner, waiting for the follow-up, the apology, the punchline. It knew that Life would be angry, but it figured this would be just like any of their other fights. Quick, heated screaming matches followed by weeks of icy silence until they both calmed down enough to call it even and move on. In the thousands of years they had existed they had never done anything to each other. It was an unspoken agreement, never would Death even consider doing something like this to Life. Yet there they were. Spirit and mortal, face to face.
“You don’t mean that. Life, it was- I didn’t even do anything,” Death protested, hyperaware of every minute motion of its tongue.
“But you were going to,” Life replied, unmoved.
“But I didn’t!” Death shouted, slamming its sickles into the ground.
“Unlike you, I care about intentions,” Life spat. With that, the deer vanished.
Death snarled curses, slashing at the trees surrounding it. How dare they. How dare they. Death was not some underling to be thrown out whenever they saw fit! Metal met wood, splinters flying as the spirit (it was still a spirit, it was) raged. They were partners, they were meant to be equals. Its blades swung in a deadly arc, cutting cleanly through the foliage. All this over some mortal that Life hadn’t even cared about until they needed a reason to come pick a fight like always-
The trees were rotting, Death realized. In its frustration, it had forgotten about the Dark Forest’s current state. Normally such a thing wouldn’t phase it, but given its new condition, the destruction of the forest presented a much more tangible threat. With a growl, Death put its sickles away, scenting the air for any signs of life. It seemed that the mortals on the Star had also hung around to watch the lights. Perfect, at least one of them had to know the way back out of the forest.
This was only temporary, Death assured itself. Life would get bored or lonely eventually. It just had to deal with it until then.