A tall, pale figure approached from the foliage. His thin frame was clad in wispy, dancing shadows save for his spindly hands, bare feet, and hauntingly gaunt face. Anything that brushed his skin immediately wilts and dies and his footprints leave barren dirt. His empty eyes fixate on another figure in a clearing.170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgqGXao2LB
She was pleasantly plump with a lively brown skin with striations almost like bark. Her loose, long, aquamarine hair veiled her naked body and trailed behind like a winding river, sprouting greenery whenever the strands touched the ground.
"Kamatayon," she acknowledged the stranger in the foliage before turning to face him.
"Kinabuhi," he replied.
Kinabuhi nudged a strange looking fish back into the water and both strangers watched it clumsily drag itself with its lobed fins and disappear beneath the blue.
"I am glad you finally answered my invitation," she beamed at him.
"You encroach upon my domain and make demands of me," he flatly responded. "Was the ocean not enough? Now I see your pitiful vermin creep further inland."
"Need I remind you how you poisoned the seas? Shrouded the planet in volcanic dust? Froze the surface from pole to pole? Pushed the moon away so that the tides may never wash my creations deeper inland?"
"Yet you and your creatures persist."
"Precisely. And that is why I must speak with you. Where did this conflict start? Why must we be at odds with each other?"
Kamatayon crossed his arms and raised his brow. He had no answer, and most importantly, no idea what this stranger is up to.
"I would like to propose an arrangement. Let me and my creations occupy every corner of the world. You can eradicate as much and as often as you please, granted you leave some to repopulate before you can do it again," Kinabuhi approached him.170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotw2xsAkvu
Kamatayon stood his ground, "What do I get from this agreement?"
"I grant you dominion over every living being that has passed. Ones that die by natural means, and ones that you willingly take. They are yours."
"And why would I want that?"
"It must be lonely being by yourself all this time. As compensation for what they have taken in life, it should be fair that they are yours to keep in death for the rest of eternity. May they serve as your subjects; as servants or companions."
Kamatayon was taken aback by Kinabuhi's assumption. She was right. He was alone for an unfathomably long while. It wasn't until relatively recently that he had to share the world with others. Most of all, no one ever thought about him in any way- much less concerned about his solitude.
"With you culling the population, I could improve whatever is left for you to take again. It could be our little competition! We could see which of my creations live after the last catastrophe you inflict upon them. We could also see how much destruction it takes to exterminate most of them," Kinabuhi giddily hovered around the stranger.
The pale stranger was amused by her enthusiasm to offer her creations to him. Kamatayon hated to admit how creative Kinabuhi was- her designs were always better than the last and took whatever he threw at them. He wanted some of those for himself. And he was curious as to where this truce might lead.
He reached out his hand, "Then I agree to this arrangement."
Kinabuhi, smiling ear-to-ear, took Kamatayon's hand and shook it. Tendrils began to grow between their intertwined fingers.170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW03jiskfvx
As the two go their separate ways, some of the tendrils fell into the earth, growing over everything death has touched. A reminder of the strangers' mutual deal.
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