Dust in the Wind [Open!]

[cityship]

|| Attention, crew, Attention. All personnel who wish to attend the funeral of Howard Bassem and Cedric Diggory, please report to the Observation Deck. ||

Once again, the Observation Deck is prepared for a sending-off of the dead. A hard pod containing Howard's body sits in the center of the room, with a much smaller pod containing Cedric's wand sitting beside it. The observation window is open, showing the attending crew a stunning view of a nearby fiery red star: the final resting place of the two fallen crew members.

Before the launch, though, there are goodbyes to be said.

Comments

Eulogies

[cityship]

Any crew member who wishes to say goodbye to either or both of them is welcome to speak.

Re: Eulogies

[kaya_waterwave]

She walked up to this, unfazed. She shouldn't have been unfazed: she should be a quivering mass of sad, crying and banging her fist. But no, that wasn't going to happen. First words needed to be spoken.

"I knew them both," she said, her voice quiet but strong, "and they couldn't have been more different, except for one strong similarity. They were both happy to live. Cedric tried to make the most of his time on Stacy, get people involved, talk to those from his world. he told me a little of the attributes of the house he was in on his world, Hufflepuff. They were strong, loyal, never gave up. I can say, having met him, that Cedric exemplified these attributes and more. He was kind, sweet, and willing to lend a hand. After hearing how he died, a part of me isn't surprised. I expected him to go with nothing less than a boom.

"Howard was also happy to live, but in a different way. He lied, cheated, connived his way in the world, and people who didn't like that didn't like him. But there was more to him if you looked. He still cared about people here, he joined medical. He still did his best to make life a little easier on the ship. I can say without fail that he made me laugh at the ugly things, if only because he understood life could be ugly. If Cedric is an ideal, Howard is the part of us we like to forget, if only because we like to think we can never turn our heroism off. Howard offered no apologies. He was who he was and didn't care if you didn't like it. Awhile back I was forced on a date with him, and despite being frustrated at times, it was the most fun I had in awhile. I cared about him more than he knows, and can still hear him calling me Bubbles.

"I don't plan on letting their deaths just be another day. They are a reminder that the war gets worse and worse, and that being ready doesn't mean we won't eventually die. They tell me that their stories make a difference, changes us, and so long as we remember that, they never leave the ship. I will miss them, Howard Bassem and Cedric Diggory. But I will never forget what they did. I hope you all don't either. Thank you."

She stepped off quietly.

[mercyisweakness]

Crematia never been to a funeral before. Are they always this boring? And so much weeping. It's sickening on the weakness that is thriving here and Crematia is forbidden to do anything about it.

But Howard did help her, gave her a cow, information, and there was a beginning of a relationship that would have included backstabbing and thievery - the very thing Crematia approves. So much to her annoyance when she learn of Howard's death came about, because now she is back to square one. Of course, this means mastery of the Warehouse of course. For all intents and purposes, it is hers now, and as a result, she is given some sort of power over these weaklings. So in a way, she benefited from Howard's death.

She much preferred if she did the killing of the boy, whenever that will be.

But no matter. He's dead, and Crematia has a few words about that.

"I don't know this Cedric, so I won't bother talking about him. Say what you want, I don't care. What I am here to speak of is Howard. He was the first to help me when others saw fit to ridicule my request for help. He gave me a cow and information, and we hit it off very well."

A sweet, saccharine smile grace her lips. But that smile turn into something more vicious.

"I once heard the phrase, 'an eye for an eye,'" she said, looking at the crowd before her. "I agree to it completely and take it to the next level. 'A life for a life.' So, for the sake of this old soul, I must ask you to tell me if he has been truly avenged. If not . . . I will say that avenging is my speciality.

That is all."

Crematia leaves.

Someone will come to her, she knows it.

[teethofneedles]

Not many people are going to recognize the woman who steps forward to speak. At least not without a lot of rot and decay on her. She seems a bit a awkward, a bit out of place. Her eyes were red - she'd spent quite a bit of the last few hours crying, both in a release of so many emotions from over the years and from sorrow and anger and loss. Karis has herself under control for the moment, but actually seeing those stupid caskets and knowing that Howard's gone are enough to tear at her heart again.

Of course, a little part of her is crying out for joy simply because she's feeling it instead of dim shadows and half-remembered ideas of emotions. But she's not about to drag that out.

"I knew Howie better than most of you," She starts in shakily. She takes a moment and gets her voice to stop trembling and continues, still trying to be just as full of piss and vinegar as she usually is (was).

"He was a decent kid. He wasn't a damn hero like most of you. He wasn't a fighter. He wasn't even interested in saving the damn universe. Howie... just wanted a place to call his own where he'd be safe and he wouldn't have to worry about assholes blundering in and screwing things up for him. And he didn't care if you were a human being or a damn zombie, you were all equally stupid and likely to cause problems."

Karis pauses and takes a breath, fingers flexing as she tries to think of what to say next.

"He did stuff that a lotta you wouldn't agree with. He stole shit. He snuck around. But who cares? There's a lot of stuff you people don't like and it never stopped me. He was who he was and he was a good friend and a good kid and to Hell with anyone who says otherwise. He didn't want to be here and now he's gone. So. Bye, Howie."

Karis sinks back into the crowd and goes to find a wall to lean against. Before she starts crying again.

Re: Eulogies

[anwei]

Anwei stepped forward, hoping that no one noticed her legs trembling. She had walked the Hangar, up and down the long rows, and then given up and borrowed something called a 'landspeeder' to complete the search. But Fuyu's motorcycle was not there. She was gone too.

"Hello, Howard," she whispered to the hard pod, laying a paper flower down in it; it was the best recreation she could make of the ploom she had given him once. Then she raised her voice and addressed the mourners.

"Howard Bassem was my friend. I don't know why he was Chosen to come here, except perhaps that he fought for life: fought for it with every strength he had. He was very young to have to fight so hard, and to be so strong. We are the less for not having him here with us. I will remember him, and hope that a part of him lives on in me, and in all of us."

She turned to the smaller pod, and laid a paper lily on it. "Hello, Cedric. I'm sorry I never got to know you. Thank you for being Howard's friend, and for fighting for him."

She bowed to both the pods, and stepped back.

Re: Eulogies

[paidinbeer]

There was some commotion as a massive figure approached where everyone had been talking. Orc had gotten it into his head to say a few words, despite that he had been attempting to drink his body weight in beer since having found out.

When he reached where he decided he would stand it took him a woozy blank eye'd moment to make out the crowd, and when he opened his mouth a burp escaped it. He was passed the point of caring though and swallowed down the contents of his stomach that were threatening to revolt on him at any moment.

"Back home...Howard didn't have alot of friends."

A pause.

"Just me really."

Another pause.

"I guess he was my best friend...even if he used me alot."

Another pause, this one much longer, one might begin to think he'd forgotten what he was saying. It was starting to get uncomfortable when he spoke again.

"But I guess things were different for him here...and that's good."

All this talking seemed to have winded him, his voice was gravely already so it didn't help to carry his words to the back. Those who weren't close enough would have to strain to make out the words.

"Howard wasn't...good really. But...he was still my best friend. And he deserved better."

It took another few minutes to decide if he was done. By now his face was stained with tears but it would be hard to tell if he was crying from a distance or if it was spilled beer that had missed his mouth.

"Goodbye Howard."

Orc took a cautious step, then another stumbling in a way that seemed to shake the floor, and made a very...very sad crooked trudging path to the back. Every step seemed labored and heavy even for him.

Reactions

[cityship]

The pods are launched into the star, departing the life of the ship. Their role in the funeral is over, but the effects of their loss aren't.

Re: Reactions

[grimbiker]

Sirius would have liked to deliver a eulogy. He had cursed himself for missing Lily and James's funerals (but what choice did he have?). Sometimes at Azkaban, when he could think past the memories, he imagined what their funeral had been like. He thought of what he would have said. He had wanted to be there and so he knew he had to go to Cedric’s funeral. But now that he was here he wished he'd never come at all. His throat stung too much to speak.

There was no body. There was nothing to bring back, nothing but pieces just like poor Benjy.

Had it hurt? Sirius wondered. Had he been afraid? (He must have. Sirius would have been terrified.) If Sirius had been there beside him could he have stopped all of this from happening? And even if he couldn't have at least then Cedric wouldn't have had to die alone.

Sirius couldn't stand in front of everyone and talk about Cedric's life. He hadn't known him very well. He had known Howard even less. They had talked only once.

Sirius had lost more friends than he could count. At first it had been unbearable. He’d severed his connection to his family but they were still alive. Death was a different kind of finality. There was no going back. There was no chance to make amends for past mistakes. There wasn’t a chance to see them again, laughing, smiling, talking, breathing.

That realization had been a terrible blow. Sirius had cried for days and had been numb for far longer. But the deaths kept coming and Sirius had to keep going. He put on a brave face, gave others a comforting shoulder to cry on, and privately confided his fears and turmoil to James. He went on living but with each death he felt a piece of himself dying. And then the worst came. Regulus and his father- damn them both- and others as well until he lost James and Lily. Staring into their glassy eyes, Sirius was sure he had died with them.

Then he’d come here. And it hurt, oh it hurt but he learned how to live again. He couldn’t have done that on his own.

No, he didn’t have anything to say to the crew. He didn’t know Cedric well enough to talk about his life. He didn’t have the strength or courage to tell them about how Cedric had inspired him either but he did have something to say.

“Thanks for teaching me how to laugh again.” Sirius whispered.

Bendytimed to after all shit is done?? (OOC: Is that allowed?)

[electricman]

Two people dead, two people dead, one of whom he barely knew, the other he didn't.

The worst thing, they were both kids. Kids who didn't deserve to die.

He feels loneliness and sorrow. Kids aren't supposed to die, they aren't supposed to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders.

So, mentally, he prays, for the first time in a long while. And maybe, just maybe, a tiny tear falls from his eye.

"Wherever you both are," he says. "Hope you both are at peace."

[mythoughtsoncloning]

What had he said to Howard once?

"Expecting bad things to happen doesn't save you from them. Expecting the worst of people doesn't stop them from doing the worst."

On the one hand, he'd been right about how expecting the worst, expecting bad things, didn't stop them.

On the other, Howard had been right about the worst happening in the first place, hadn't he?

All Kon knew is that he regretted having called him a cynical little weasel during all that. Even if he thought he was one, as Kon watched the two pods rocket off into the nearby sun, he kicked himself for ever saying it aloud.

[splendid_roman]

Ian was calm, if quiet, during the funeral. It was only after, once he'd seen the pods launch, that he walked purposefully across the room and went to punch the wall. Except he realised at the last minute that he'd be punching Stacy and it wasn't her fault exactly, and his punch stopped just short.

[first_in_time]

Once Barbara had said her goodbye to Cedric, whom she'd only met briefly, and Howard, she left. Barbara wanted to go back to the TARDIS, lock herself away in her storage room come bedroom for a while, and deal with her grief but she found Ian first. He looked positively livid, and with every right. That didn't stop her, however, from quietly approaching.

Just as when Howard and Orc were punished only a few weeks ago, Barbara hugged Ian without a word. Although this time she began to cry into his shoulder, and twice beat her balled up fist against his back feebly, all her strength going into crying.

Re: Reactions

[whining_unicorn]

Rarity heard about the mission but she was not expecting deaths, especially someone she knew. The pony couldn't bear to look at the bodies but she managed to adorn the pods with wreaths.

Watching the pods jet away, she tried to remember her first encounter with Cedric. She was cheering him up by changing his suit to a yellow colour. He in turn, demonstrated his use of magic as well and she learned humans could do it too.

All the unicorn could do now was to sit numbly on the floor and stare into space.

Re: Reactions

[kaya_waterwave]

She walked over to Rarity. She felt like she could barely stand, that her heavy heart couldn't take much more, but there was work to be done. She knew that well enough. The dead died, and then their story ended: it was up to the people living to keep them alive.

"Rarity," she said softly, "I'd like you to please make me some Quidditch Robes, his colors. There's a memorial I'm going to have to make for the headquarters. I'm not about to let people forget Cedric Diggory existed."

[appletastic]

"I just can't believe it. Gone."

Applejack hadn't known either of the boys, but she'd come by to pay her respects. Her hat was clutched in a hoof, looking awfully droopy from all the tears.

She sat next to Rarity in silence.

[morganknight]

He took longer than he really cared to admit to notice her -- not for any good reason, either. Morgan was simply that painfully oblivious, at times. But even he couldn't fail to keep noticing a poor, miserable pony forever.

So the Akashic came over, sat down beside her, then put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Just to offer a little... well, human contact.

Re: Reactions

[kaya_waterwave]

Finally. The pods were shot, the words were said. And Kaya could just cry. She found a corner, stood against it, and just let the tears fall. It hurt when someone died, but even worse when you knew them, and expected them to still be there and knew they wouldn't be.

So she cried, and didn't care who saw. She wasn't a stone.

Re: Reactions

[morphitudinous]

Of the two, Billy had only briefly spoken to Howard once, but from what he gathered he was resourceful and a friend. More importantly, they were Kaya's friends.

And so he was here for her. Billy walked to her side, tugging her into his shoulder.

[not_the_philistine]

Goliath had stood to the side of the wake, silent, without enough knowledge of the deceased to speak anything meaningful of them.

For him, the sadness of bringing a dead child's remains back to his loved ones was starting to give way to deep anger that Howard and Cedric had been put in the position to die at all. But he had not known either boy well enough to mourn them properly. Kaya, it seemed, had.

He went over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. That she should mourn alone was unfitting.

[teethofneedles]

Karis finds a wall to lean against, eyes locked on the ground. She's still getting use to the body. She's still getting used to being alive again. She's nineteen again and she's alive and she can't stop herself from sniffling every so often and choking back tears, because she's actually sad now. It's so strange. But she welcomes it. And she feels - energetic. Alive. Ready to go. Full of energy. Warm.

None of which dulls the ache that's settled into her gut from the loss of a friend, but it does give her something to celebrate after this is all over. For now she's just waiting for the service to end as she sits and thinks.

She'll figure it out. She'll figure it all out.

There's so much she wants to do. Even if Ter is gone. Even if Howie is gone. She'll do it anyway. Just so she can live for herself. Truly and really live.

She's got ten years of lost time to make up.

So she starts by mourning.

Re: Reactions

[crazypsychic]

Sabrina had a reputation for not being very emotional, but this was something different for her. Once she had heard that a couple of the crew had died via Stacy... It shook her to the core, no matter what she appeared on the surface. What made matters worse for her was that Sabrina knew one of those who died: Cedric. She was not sure what she was feeling: anger, resentment, sadness, or something else. Sabrina had no prior experience dealing with something like that.

[volatile_vespa]

Janet sat near the window, looking at the pods being ejected into space. She knew Cedric, he was a kind and decent guy who did not deserve such a fate. Her head kept thinking about the time when they went flying in the Quidditch match together. The poor lad was gone too soon and she wished that she spent some more time with him.

Re: Reactions

[anwei]

As the pods were launched, Anwei lowered her head, eight fingertips to her forehead, and prayed silently.

Swift Death of Eight Wings, Whose flight encompasses all the worlds and the places inbetween, please find these two souls, Howard Bassem and Cedric Diggory, and help them find their way back to their Gods. They have Your passage-price, for they will tell You such tales of their life that You will wish You could fly with them forever.

And if they cannot find their way back to their Gods, or if their Gods reject them, O my Death, please take them to that Last Home where all wear their true names and true faces; and where nobody wants for anything; and where nothing can ever hurt them. And tell them that I will see them there, someday. Thank you, my Death.

She raised her face and just stood, waiting for the grief to empty out of her enough for her to move.

Re: Reactions

[paidinbeer]

Orc had tried to leave as soon as the pods were out of sight, but he found to his dismay he couldn't stand anymore.

It would take him some time to build up the energy to stand once more so he just sat staring out the port at the star where his best friend's body had vanished, stinking of Alcohol and face stained with the salt of his dried tears.

What was he supposed to do now? It still didn't make sense to him that Howard was just...gone. He had been fine just a few days ago hadn't he? How long had he already been gone?

Was he scared when he died? Yes probably. Alot of things scared Howard and Orc was sure that death was high on the list.

And Howard didn't believe in god really...so what would happen to him if God still existed out there now that the OHM had taken their world?

It was all too much to think about, so he didn't. Instead he just sat, and stared, and felt sick to his significantly sized stomach.

Re: Reactions

[monster_san]

Cedric.

Fuu shut her eyes, though it did nothing to stem the flow of tears as Kaya spoke. She didn't feel as though she had the right to give a eulogy herself... she had liked Cedric. He had been all of those things; Fuu remembered clearly how she had found him during the end of SHODAN's terror, attacking robots and power dampeners with a handgun. Yes, he had been very brave, and kind.

She had wanted to teach him archery. She had even borrowed a tape measure from the shop so she could find out how big of a beam bow he would need....

"Goodbye, Mr. Diggory. I'm sorry." Sorry that she hadn't known him better, sorry that she couldn't give him a fitting eulogy, sorry for his friends here and whoever would be waiting for him in the pods.