The sky's orange flared and rose as civilian evacuation airship No. 21 was engulfed in flames, and Sieve could only watch as it collided with another of it's kind to spiral into a sunset of cruelty across the mechanical city below it. The plague was unstoppable, the war was in full swing. He was an organic machine made to surpress disease, but had failed so greatly that it left Sieve numb to where even coherent thoughts were locked away. 

Quietly he stood up from the rocky floor and gingerly grabbed both sides of his robe with a pair of doll-like bone hands covered in coal colored gloves. The rhythm of his steps rang louder in his skull until it dominated all else. Clank, clank, clank, pause. The sound ended, and the crashing of waves on the shore began to receive his undivided attention. Even from hundreds of meters above the noise managed to strike his frail bones. Sieve turned his head mechanically to stare at the ruined city. Sieve cast his gaze on the shore and gripped his robes tightly. Sieve jumped.

It couldn't have been the afterlife, that was for those gifted with a body and soul. The skeleton his mind occupied belonged to a man who quietly died due to the plague. [i]He's the one in heaven, not me.[/i] Sieve made sure his plague doctor uniform was in perfect order, or at least as good as it could be for something so old and worn out. He saw the crowd in the distance, dots of color mingling with the fog made it seem like the dust and air from opening and old book again. Fifteen meters away a flamboyant figure lay in the grass, seemingly unbothered by the change of scenery. It had it's back turned to Sieve.

As the plague doctor cautiously approached the silhouette, it turned in one smooth motion and stared. It was a skeleton. 

The most important rule of being a skeletal plague doctor was to never reveal an inch of bone, as it would reveal your unnatural, subhuman status. Doctors of this category were dressed head to toe in the darkest, most form-concealing clothing available and at times it seemed like the only reason they didn't waddle around inside a wooden box with eye holes was the mobility. They were considered civil servants till death, and were employed to scout zones before their human counterparts could help, due to their plague immunity.

The stranger before him was dressed in a tight green dress with cleavage that showed a woman's ribcage. She had an enormous hat adorned with larger than life feathers and flower petals. Her skull was painted intricately and vividly, an exaggeration of what a human woman would touch herself up with. Sieve immediately felt disgust, envy and fear after processing what his sockets were showing him. This woman broke every guideline on blending in, and seemingly introduced a few more just to break them and use them as flower petals for her dress. She was everything he could never be.

Her bones remained motionless, but the rose red around her lips flared as she spoke, every word haughtily soaring over the six months of etiquette that was hammered into his skull after he was reanimated.

"[i]Are you new here, little bird? They say that those blessed with marks on their hands are allowed to enter the caverns behind you. Poor me, for my hands are nothing but bone! Ohohohoho![/i]"

Sieve quietly slid his left glove off, in part to show the woman their similarities and to see if he had been "chosen". The stranger caressed his bare hand in surprise and spoke in a soft tone.

"[i]Una calavera...[/i]"

He sharply withdrew it, not being used to such unconservative behavior. At the woman's request, sieve dislodged his avian mask from his uniform, revealing his skull for the first time in what had felt like an eternity. Her anticipation quickly turned to shock, an emotion that was reflected in the reds, blues and oranges that were streaked on her face.

"[i]Interesting, fortune favors our people. On your skull is a simple, round heart. You're not near my level, but it's a start. Enter the caves and return alive for us, ohohoho!!![/i]"

Sieve couldn't remember well what he did before appearing in this strange new place, but he thought about seeking answers on the nature of this new world. He looked at the crowded zone far away from him and felt motivated to take action.

After suiting up again, a pair of doll-like skeleton hands gingerly gripped the sides of a grayed out robe, and a head mechanically turned to his new destination. Sieve ran.