Jared sighs.
"I...if I go as the dog...isn't that just me giving in to Wepwawet? When I don't even have doggy instincts to hide behind?"
Anubis made a chuffing sound.
"In the first place, Wepwawet gave you rather the most dark interpretation of what you were going through. Has it occured to you how human dogs are?"
Jared turned around, perplexed, to look at Anubis. The jackal head was tilted slightly.
"Huh?"
"Dogs have been human kind's companions for thousands of years, and they gave up wolfhood to join your ancestors willingly. The creatures they have become are a little bit wolf, but mostly, they are human. The reverse is also true: humans have picked up a lot from dogs. There is a fine and ancient tradition in many lands of dog-men. Bridges between your two ancient and allied species."
Jared doesn't really know what to say to that one. He looks back and forth between the bird and jackal for a moment.
"...so...what...happens, when I go back to the dog?"
Thoth nods, saying "In that case I would leave first. You would not wish to come back to a corpse, so I'll need to handle that first. Anubis will bring you along after me, to reenter your revived canine body. My colleague and I will take it from there."
Jared sighs. Then, he looks up.
"...ok. Back to the dog pound."
The ibis nods, and vanishes. Jared is taken a bit aback. Anubis chuckles.
"Don't let that dry voice deceive you. He's perfectly capable of being a show off when he wants to."
The god walks a few steps, motioning for Jared to follow. He does, though the desert seems endless, infinite. Maybe it is.
"You must not worry about time. It doesn't...flow, normally, here. We'll give Thoth a moment to work, then step down and get you strapped in."
Jared still looked uneasy. The jackal god turned and patted his shoulder again.
"Try not to think of it as becoming a dog. Think more like you're riding a dog shaped mecha."
Jared twitches a grin.
"You know what a mecha is?"
A large, canine grin matches his own.
"You think we don't get the internet up here? Please. We have better Wi-Fi than you ever will!"
They laugh, and make small talk. Jared thinks its somewhat strange, how gentle, how down to earth, this god of death and dying is.
"Can...I ask you something?"
"I guarantee no simple answers, but I will do my best."
"Why aren't you...I don't know..."
"Distant? Cold? Grim?"
"I guess."
"How many souls, do you think, are well served to be greeted with such on their death, usually already a painful experience?"
And to that, Jared has nothing to say, but he nods.
"I take my duties seriously. I guide souls; that means more than making sure they don't fall prey to a monster or hazard. I, too, am a dog-man."
He leans down, making eye contact with Jared.
"Do you understand?"
"...no, but...I think I'm starting to."
"Good lad. It's time."
"Right. I'm...I'm ready."
"I know."
He bends to pick Jared up. The sand begins to stir, a wind from all directions and none blowing...
...dry warmth of the sand, soft warmth of Anubis's arms...
...spinning winds, spinning world, scene dissolving like sand...
...darkness, from the other direction this time...
He feels the cold of the table beneath him, and a stiffness in his joints. His paws...yes, paws again. He's got paws, and a tail, and warm, shaggy fur.
Jared, in the body of Shaggy, alive once more, sits up to look about.