<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>

They had two reason’s for going back to Renyu’s ship: she needed to get any possible communications equipment she could find in order to get back into contact with the Illuminate, and she wanted to bury what was left of her pack there.

It had been months since she had crashed here. Physically she had recovered (well, as best as you can with an amputated arm), and mentally… she still wasn’t quite back yet either. Asher had kept her from going insane in her isolation, but they both knew he could only do so much. He had been good to her, though. He was her only friend on this world, the only friend she had for lightyears really.

Asher pulled them up to the crash site, noticing the tracks he had left in the dirt before had almost vanished under all the grass that had overtaken the land. “Well, at least the grass came back?” He wasn’t sure if that was insensitive in some way, so he switched subjects, “We should empty the back of the truck first before we get anything from inside. I’ll do all the heavy lifting, alright?”

Looking out the back Window at their cargo, Renyu nodded. “I’ll do what I can to help, at least. I don’t want to stand around being useless.” Asher didn’t object, opting to get out of the truck and start unloading the back. The wicker unstrapped some sealed metal crates and carefully slid them to the open end so he could get them out. Each one had a label with a name—Eilani, Kasama, or Nesyu.

Renyu didn’t have many choices on what to do with her pack’s remains while she was bedridden, and even just thinking about it at the time would send her into a deep depressive episode, but she eventually made the decision to cremate them, as she wouldn’t be able to do any other kind of burial for who-knew-how-long. Their belongings were put into separate containers to be buried with them… they didn’t exactly have a family to be sent to, Avali didn’t work that way. Renyu was the only remaining member of her pack, and keeping their things around wouldn’t help her get past her loss.

It was awkward carrying anything with one hand, but Renyu did her best to help carry what she could. She decided to have Asher start digging in front of where he had found her months ago. He started without hesitation, making sure not to let things get too quiet to keep Renyu from drifting off into her own mind, chatting with her as he dug out three shallow holes.

After half-an-hour, they were deep enough for him to place each crate into. Once in place, Renyu hobbled over with three of her own feathers in hand, dropping one in each grave. A major part of her would be buried along with them, even if she was still alive. Renyu held a hand up to her face, body tense as she did her best to fight off tears again as she stepped away to let Asher finish what she’d asked him to do.

Putting the dirt back in wasn’t nearly as time consuming, and he was done in half the time. Stabbing the shovel into the earth, he sidled up next to Renyu, immediately giving her a hug, resting his snout on her head. “You can let that out you know. You don’t have to stop yourself from crying, Ren.”

“No,” Renyu leaned into her friend, hugging back with her one good hand, grabbing onto his coat firmly, “I’ve cried enough the last few months. I just need…this.” She squeezed him as best she could with one arm, and Asher lifted an arm up so he could hold her head to his chest. He didn’t say anything, no need to.

<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>

Posted using PostyBirb