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

[not_the_philistine]

"It's never easy to lose a friend."

Unfortunately, he'd had too much experience at it already. Too much to stand by while a young person endured her latest brush with such loss.

"Your words were well-spoken. I only knew Howard, but I did not know him well enough to speak for him."

Kaya's eulogy did not, perhaps, paint a picture of the most upstanding of individuals, but they supported what Goliath had originally assumed - that a clever young human willing to risk trespass in his castle had a strong inner sense of care for the people for whose sakes he trespassed and stole.

[kaya_waterwave]

"I've lost friends before," Kaya said softly, "when they've been podded. I've seen some good people on this ship die. But this is the first time that I lost two of my good friends."

She laughed lightly. "I feel like if I had just gone up and done nothing but praised Howard, he would have haunted me for sugar coating him. He wanted to live comfortably because his life had been pretty bad. I just...hope I made him feel a little better being on the ship."

Cedric was a whole chapter to himself. Really, they both were.

[not_the_philistine]

"The only time we spoke, he was thieving from my castle."

It had, he felt, given him a fair overview of Howard's personality.

"He was gathering resources for the benefit of the crew. I wouldn't have given him leave to return if he hadn't been."

He brushed his chin with his right hand, the one ringed with a thick, angry-looking scar, in thought. "I might do honor to his memory by finishing that work he started."

After all, there was plenty of stuff in the castle that was untallied and unused.

[kaya_waterwave]

He was thieving from Goliath's castle. Why was she not surprised? That sounded exactly like the sort of thing that Howard would do. He was all about self preservation, just in case. It was both infuriating and understandable once you know where he came from.

"Where he lived, resources were always low, and people eventually turned on each other. Howard wanted to live, and he wanted to make sure that he had the tools to keep doing do. It's a horrible sort of irony, actually."

Kaya nodded. "I can add some things myself."