"It can't climb." York makes me jump when he's suddenly jumping onto the branch I was hanging off of.
"Good to know." I accept his offered hand and carefully stand up. "You didn't lose the soul in all that, did you?" He shakes his head quickly, unzipping a small pocket that looked like it had been added by hand that was on his jeans. I hadn't even noticed it before.
"Aster will sew zipper pockets into your pants if you ask him too." He says as he holds the slightly glowing bottle in front of my face. "They're very good to have, especially in situations like this." He grins ear to ear before tucking the bottle back away in his pocket.
"What now?" I ask. I can still hear the creature down there and assume it's time we go back to our planet to return this soul.
"Now, I want to show you something. Real quick, won't take longer than twenty minutes." He folds his hands and holds them in front of his face, like he was begging me for something.
I shrug. "You're the boss here." He grins happily and claps his hands.
"I promise you; you'll like it. Follow me." I nod, immediately following after him when he jumps off the branch to the next tree's closest one.
We fly through the trees, the sounds of the creature quickly disappearing as we did. It would probably go back and finish its meal now.
I zone out a little as we jump through the trees, just thinking about where I'm grabbing next or where my feet can land and can't.
"Almost there." York calls to me after a few minutes. I'm a little relieved when York finally jumps down from the trees onto solid ground, because the bark had been tearing my hands up with every swinging grab.
"And where is there?" We're walking through tall dark blue grass, where I can see the trees end and there's a cliff. "Are you going to push me? Because that's going to piss me off." I jab York in the back when he ignores my question of where we are.
"Just look." He says, pointing through the trees and to the edge of the cliff.
Oh, wow.
I walk ahead of him a little, breathing in a little when the trees break and the fresh air from the exposed cliff side smacks me in the face. It's slightly cool and smells clean, much more so than our planet. The moons have disappeared in the sky, and light is slowly beginning to creep in, making everything turn a beautiful dark purple. Streaks of dark red, deep orange and light pink streak through the sky as not one, but two suns start slowly creeping over the horizon.
"Beautiful." I mutter to myself as I stand on the edge of the cliff and watch the sky change colors rapidly. I looked away from the suns a little to the landscape below. It glitters and glistens in the morning sunlight. From here I can see how big this place really is. It's just miles and miles of sparkly blue trees, stretching as far as the eye can see.
"This place is three times larger than our planet." I jump a little at the sound of York's voice behind me. I had gotten a little caught up in the sunrise.
"It's very pretty." I nod a little as my eyes return to the suns in the sky.
"How did you feel about your first job?" York asks me. I back away from the cliff a little so I can stand beside him.
"It didn't go the way I thought it would. But I don't see why I couldn't do what you did, too." York nods, watching me as I talk. He was being strangely… adult. Like he was acting more his age. This was the proof I needed; York might not actually be a bad person. It kind of seems to me like it's just an act he puts on for people. Because I had seen him show remorse, compassion, sorrow, all in one day. Something that when I first met him, I thought I would never see.
"Let's return this one to a body, then we can start our next job." I nod a little, hesitating as York turns away.
"Honestly, I think I'm good. I think I can do it on my own." I hear York still a little.
"Are you sure? There's no shame in tagging along for a few more jobs." I shrug, my eyes still focusing on the sky.
"I learn better through trial and error, to be honest. Now that I know how to actually get a soul, I should be okay with the rest. I turn then to look at him. He shrugs, then nods.
"Whatever you say. Let's get this soul home and then we'll go talk to Aster." He grins at me and pulls his katana from his back.
I turn to look at the sparkly landscape and glowing sky one more time, before following York into the portal he'd opened.
Time to start my new life as a Reaper.