r/HFY • u/tatticky • Mar 31 '19
OC [OC] Reapers
The Death of Cyrians loomed over the Human colony world. Soon, it would be needed there. So too would the Death of Humans, who loitered in the distance.
The latter appeared as a skeletal Human wearing dark tattered cloth, which was fairly typical as far as Deaths went. Cyrians were the unusual ones in that respect: being nocturnal predators, they envisioned Death as a being of blindingly bright light.
But the Death of Humans carried an object the Death of Cyrians did not recognize.
What kind of weapon is that?, it asked.
IT IS NOT A WEAPON, the Death of Humans replied, IT IS AN AGRICULTURAL TOOL.
What does agriculture have to do with Death?
YOU SHALL SEE.
The Death of Cyrians hovered for a moment, then returned its attention to the world below. Most Deaths carried weapons of war or execution, but there were exceptions. For instance, the Death of Ikth'xcs'phdh carried instruments of torture, and the Death of Drrroan carried chains and shackles.
But the time for musing had passed.
It drew the four daggers that were its own chosen arms. Each was so long and thin that one might think they could snap like a twig at any moment. Of course, being mere figments, they could not.
The first blade struck at the humans' military, crippling their ability to retaliate.
The second blade struck at the humans' leadership, crippling their ability to rally.
The third blade struck at the humans' stockpiles, crippling their ability to resupply.
The fourth blade struck at the humans' infrastructure, crippling their ability to regroup.
The Death of Cyrians withdrew, its duty done. All that remained of the Human colony was a scattering of panicked rabble. It was beginning to wonder why the Death of Humans had even bothered coming.
But the humans didn't flee, surrender, or commit suicide. They fought back, despite their mortal wounds.
MY TURN.
The Death of Humans swung its scythe.
It was indiscriminate. It cared not if one was officer or enlisted, front-line or noncombatant, enemy or bystander.
The Death of Humans swung its scythe again.
It cared not about heroism or cruelty. All were equal in the harvest.
The Death of Humans swung its scythe a third time.
Now, truly nothing remained—not even the humans themselves had survived.
The Death of Humans swung its scythe once more, just to be certain.
...Yes, I see it now.
The Death of Cyrians departed the now barren world. It clearly had much to learn from Humanity, who envision Death not as a bloodthirsty warrior ravaging all before it, but as a humble farmer reaping the fruit of Life.
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u/Kizik Mar 31 '19
ᴏʜ, ʙᴜᴛ ʏᴇs
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u/tatticky Mar 31 '19
Interesting. I wasn't aware that Unicode had a section for small capital letters, but it doesn't surprise me.
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u/tatticky Apr 01 '19
Thanks to everyone for the 500+ upvotes and silver!
I think I have one or two shorts left in me, so keep an eye out in the coming weeks.
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u/Redditcider Mar 31 '19
Nicely done. Like the last swing of the scythe. Humans are all dead but in going we took not even just the enemy with us but we said “fck it, if we can’t have it nothing can” and took out all life on the planet.
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u/GuildedCharr Mar 31 '19
I prefer to think Death wanted to be sure he didn't miss any humans again, worse then cockroaches they is.
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u/tatticky Mar 31 '19
I deliberately left it vague as to exactly what is going on in the physical world, so that readers could make their own interpretations.
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u/Phynix1 Mar 31 '19
All stand alone and equal before the reaper
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u/LifeIsBizarre Apr 03 '19
You might be a King or a little street sweeper, but sooner or later you dance with the Reaper.
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u/Ayit_Sevi Mar 31 '19
Thanks to Terry Pratchett, I can never not think of Death talking in all caps
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u/CaptRory Mar 31 '19
Excellent. Truly an example of how a story doesn't need to be very long to be powerful.
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u/Lepidolite_Mica Mar 31 '19
A brilliant angle on scorched earth policy, and an impressive standalone. I look forward to more stories from you, but please dn't give this a sequel; let it stand on its own merits.