A Reaper's Introduction

Dearil is a normal boy, as normal as he wishes to be.

In an unkind world, which pushed him down, he persevered, dreaming and living for a future.

Sadly for him, "Come here, you little shit." that future may never come.

"Dammit, dammit." Dearil curses at himself as he ran.

Cause of that, his legs ache in pain along with the freezing wind. It wasn't a good sign for the future. Another breeze causes a shiver up his spine. He looks up, noticing the sky dimming, the sign of an incoming storm.

He combs his black hair away as he looks around, his mind thinking a mile a minute before a shout interrupts him. "You little shit! Don't make this harder." He hears the click of a gun as he instantly took cover from the gunshots that followed. The blizzard intensifies as he runs as fast as he could, with the blizzard covering for his retreat.

With him finding relative safety, he puffs out a hot puff of air as he slumps beside a tree, his teeth chatter as the freezing wind intensifies. The frigid air flowing around his skin as he shakes harder, he hugs himself, earning an insufficient warmth.

"Dammit, I knew they wouldn't just bring me for a ski," He mutters in a mix of anger and disappointment. This new scheme they pulled off dashed the little hope he had, hoping they could ever be a normal family.

He shakes his head. He had no time to untangle this mess of feelings. The present requires him to figure out a plan to escape the mess he found himself in.

The man, meanwhile, braces through the storm, trying to find the boy. He notices the traces of footsteps despite the blowing wind. He smiles in a sick grin before he follows.

Dearil grits his teeth as he clenches his numb fingers. His breathing stills as he hears the man step closer. He reaches through the snow beneath him, taking out a rock. His eyes, filled with determination, ready for the imminent confrontation.

Unaware of this and with the storm blocking him, the man gets closer with each step. Dearil shivers before a hand grabs him with a shout, "Got you, you little shit!"

Dearil takes this chance and with every fiber of strength he has, he smashes the rock over the man's head.

A scream of pain follows as blood flows freely. The man holds his head in pain as he falls back into the snow. He sat as he shouts in anger, aiming his gun, "Die, you fucker."

The sounds of gunshots ring out through the blazing winds. Dearil stops as he smells the scent of blood. He looks down in shock as the pulsing wave of pain emanates in his abdomen, he falls back.

He grits his teeth in anger and frustration, as everything he had ever worked for will die with him here. He realizes perhaps it was all for nothing.

But no, he wasn't someone that gave up so easily. With every fiber of his being, he dragged himself up, hoping to escape his pursuer.

Unfortunately, a few seconds later, the man catches up, his boots burying in his sides. Dearil groans as the man stands before him as he spoke, "I got you now, you little shit."

With a sickening grin, he lowers himself, intent on taking him back. He notices Dearil's wound, and he winces. He notices the amount of blood leaving his body. "Fuck, I needed the kid alive."

The storm intensifies, bathing everything in white. The man looks around in concern before shaking his head. He can't possibly carry someone in this weather. "Ah, whatever. The boss can get his own kidneys."

He aims his gun at his head. Dearil stills, as he watches the man point his gun. He cries inside as he whimpers, he guesses that this is it, despite all the sacrifice he did to live.

The click of a gun rings before a playful voice cuts in, "Jesus man, were you going to kill a kid."

The man looks back in panic. The snow blurring his view, revealing a silhouette. He points his gun at him as he shouts, "Who the fuck are you."

"I don't know, though, you can tell me later." His sentence ends with a miracle. The snowstorm disappears in a flash, the sky clears, leaving no traces.

With its disappearance, it revealed a white-haired man in an overcoat standing there with a playful smile

Dearil watches this through the tears, his consciousness fading. He grips his wound as the pain wakes him up as he tried to sit up, ready to take advantage of the distraction.

He put pressure on his wound as he stood up, feeling a bit relieved from the snowstorm's disappearance as he limped away from the two men locked in confrontation.

"I don't know who you are but you better fuck off if you don't want to die." The man took aim, his concentration focused on the new arrival.

The man tutted as he gestured his head to Dearil. "Jeez, forgetting something?"

He looked to Dearil in a panic, before someone whispered beside him, "Got you."

A quick strike to the stomach incapacitates the pursuer and before he could respond, an elbow strikes the back of his head, leaving him unconscious.

After such a debacle, he looks at the unconscious man as he takes the gun. He follows the boy, was limping a few feet away.

"Hey, kid. You alive?" The man poked Dearil, who remains unresponsive, his concentration stuck on escaping. With him Unable to notice the world around him.

The man shrugged as he followed the boy, a soft smile on his face. He fondly shakes his head at the determination before him.

Though before he could take one more step, he collapses. The man catches him in his arms as light emanates from his hand, patting his head for a good job.

Dearil was dead. That is what he thinks as he looks at the white expanse in front of him. He sits down, hugging his knees with a whimper.

"I guess all of it was for nothing."

All the time he worked, all the time he sacrificed for the money to escape the family he was born in.

"I never got to have any friends. I never got to have anything. Its all just been work."

He shouts in grief as he punches the ground, "Dammit, dammit, dammit." Each punch reverberates as he released every bit of anger and frustration.

He looks up with a sigh, his tears flowing freely as his emotion show themselves to bear.

Then through the tears, "Sounds like a pain," an ethereal voice spoke, its presence encompassing and infinite.

Dearil shouts in a panic as he stands up. He looks around him, trying to find the voice. "Who are you, where are you?"

A chuckle replies, "I'd rather you not know."

"Then, can you at least tell me where I am?"

The voice chuckled, "I believe this is a mindscape, the closest representation of your soul."

Dearil looks down, ruminating on what this could mean. "So, I'm not dead?"

The voice responds fondly, "No, I don't think you are."

A beaming smile appears on Dearil's expression as he jumps with celebration, "YES!"

"Though I believe it would be best if you wake up."

He looks around for the voice as he replied, "How do I do that?"

A hole opens up below him, swallowing him whole.

Dearil gasps for air as he looks around in a panic. He sees the bright sun shining down upon him from the mountain. With it came relief.

He looks to his wound, noticing it to be healed. He spoke in confusion, "What!?"

"Oh, you're finally awake," a playful voice spoke to me as I look up.

A pasty face reveals itself to him. "Uh, hello."

The man eagerly waves, "Hello."

He offers his hand to him, "The name is Arius. Nice to meet you, kiddo."

Dearil looks at his hand in hesitation before taking it. "Um, what happened?"

The man looks at his unconscious assailant and Dearil follows his eyes and gasps in shock, the stranger seems to have taken care of it for him. He bows to the man before him as he says, "Thank you so much, Sir."

Arius waves away, "Don't think about it, kiddo."

"No," The boy shakes his head as he looks up in thankful smile, "How could I possibly thank you?"

Seeing this, he kneels down to Dearil's level with a smile, "How about you hear my proposal."

Dearil nods in hesitation, a fact which makes him smile, "Great, now. This is kinda embarrassing, but would you like to be my apprentice?"

The words stop any thought in Dearil's head. He could only utter a sound of confusion. "Ha?"

He rubs the back of his head as he shows an embarrassed smile, "I mean, I always wanted a little apprentice, so?"

Dearil looks at the sincerity in his eyes, something he has learned to discern. Perhaps because of the countless adults that betrayed him and his trust, he learned to see which eyes bear the truth.

Dearil replies to him as he looked down, "I don't know."

"It's fine, kiddo. I mean, becoming a reaper and all is a hard choice."

"Becoming a what!?" Dearil unconsciously shouted as he realized his words. He put his hand up his mouth as he realized what he did.

"Oh, I forgot that did I?" He sheepishly smiled as he looked around, "Well, Reapers are the guardians of the universe."

Dearil wows to himself, as the job alone seems to bear much authority.

Arius eyes look around as he thinks, "They're more like neutral observers, really."

"That sound so cool," Dearil mutters to himself.

Hearing this, Arius hugs him while rubbing his head in a fond manner. "Ahh, I knew you'd get it. That's why we chose you as a recruit."

"Rec-"

"As a recruit of our organization."

The sentence fills Dearil with weariness. Why would something so powerful pick him? "But, why m-"

He cuts him off as he lets him go, "We pick the most promising recruits, so we know that you have more than it takes to be one of us."

Dearil ruminates on the offer. After all, there's nothing left to lose. No one to remember him and no one he cares for. And what Arius is offering seems to signify a new beginning.

He offers his hand with a playful grin filled with excitement, something that took away any hesitance he might have left

"So, are you willing to join us?"

This moment, unknown to Dearil, was something he'll cherish forever.

He grabs his hand back as he shouts with a smile, "Yes!"

They were preparing to enter a portal as Dearil realizes something. "Oh wait, what about the guy there?"

"No problem," Arius waves his hand as the other aims. He shoots him in the head, killing him. "There, let's go."

"What!?" Dearil looks in shock at the sight of death and with something strange happening. A transparent ethereal energy enters Arius' arms.

He smiles as the both of them enter the portal. "First lesson, death is something you have to get used to."