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31_days2006-08-30 08:00 pm
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2006-08-30 08:00 pm
[Aug. 30, 2006][original] Reminiscence over a Coffin
Title: Reminiscence over a Coffin
Day/Theme: Aug. 30, 2006 "How strange that we, perambulating dust, should be the vessels of eternal fire."
Series: original
Character/Pairing: Seif, Li, Ran, Alywin
Rating: PG
"Life is so fragile," Ran choked out between sobs as he stood over Alywin's coffin.
"My heart's breaking!" Li agreed with a tremble and another stream of tears.
The two men held onto each other hopelessly like lost children. General de Portola approached slowly, coming to pay his respects to the fallen warrior. As he caught sight of the weeping knights he turned away. Their tears made him nervous. He was not much of a shoulder to cry on and he preferred not to enter such an awkward situation. Heading back to his tent, he wondered how quickly Pavia could fetch him a cup of tea.
Alywin's body was being carefully shipped home to be buried on a hill outside White Castle. A man of such stature could not be put to rest in foreign soil. He would go home to the land that he loved, that he had given his life to.
Seif, who had cried himself to sleep the night before, could barely look at the reddish-brown coffin. Alywin's last talk with him had turned the world as he knew it entirely upside down. He was uncertain if he should share what he had learned with Ran and Li. Now, at least, did not seem like a good time to bring it up. His heart was in chaos, and it was the least he could do for his friends to keep this from them for just a while longer.
"Seif? Are you over there?" Li called shakily.
The sandy-haired knight could conceal his presence no longer, he rubbed his red, watery eyes on his sleeve and came to join his comrades. "I was just lost in thought," he explained simply. These were not the times in which his reasons would be questioned.
"Uncle Alywin will be glad to go home," Li mumbled, the silence pressuring him to say something, although he had nothing he truly felt the need to tell the others.
"Just try to remember the good times," Seif advised his two friends. Ran raised his head slightly and Li's eyes shimmered briefly with a flicker of hope. Seif continued, haltingly at first, but with gradually greater confidence, "He...he took us out to the ocean...where he walked on the pier...and smelled those barrels of stinky fish. There were the tales he told us...and the practices we had with those wooden toy swords... Do you remember how he would tuck us in at night? How he let us get away with fidgeting during services? Uncle Alywin, was truly a man among men- not just for his heroism as a knight and general, but also, and perhaps more importantly, for his compassion and love as a priest...and as our father."
Both Ran and Li were left wide-eyed when Seif finished speaking. Li sniffled absently, unaware that he was still doing so. Seif had put the feelings of all three men into words. It was a fitting to tribute to the key figure in shaping their lives.
"I didn't know you could talk like that, Seif," Ran whispered in wonderment.
"Neither did I," Li seconded his sentiment.
Seif blinked and shook his head, "For matters like this, you just never know... It came straight from my heart."
Day/Theme: Aug. 30, 2006 "How strange that we, perambulating dust, should be the vessels of eternal fire."
Series: original
Character/Pairing: Seif, Li, Ran, Alywin
Rating: PG
"Life is so fragile," Ran choked out between sobs as he stood over Alywin's coffin.
"My heart's breaking!" Li agreed with a tremble and another stream of tears.
The two men held onto each other hopelessly like lost children. General de Portola approached slowly, coming to pay his respects to the fallen warrior. As he caught sight of the weeping knights he turned away. Their tears made him nervous. He was not much of a shoulder to cry on and he preferred not to enter such an awkward situation. Heading back to his tent, he wondered how quickly Pavia could fetch him a cup of tea.
Alywin's body was being carefully shipped home to be buried on a hill outside White Castle. A man of such stature could not be put to rest in foreign soil. He would go home to the land that he loved, that he had given his life to.
Seif, who had cried himself to sleep the night before, could barely look at the reddish-brown coffin. Alywin's last talk with him had turned the world as he knew it entirely upside down. He was uncertain if he should share what he had learned with Ran and Li. Now, at least, did not seem like a good time to bring it up. His heart was in chaos, and it was the least he could do for his friends to keep this from them for just a while longer.
"Seif? Are you over there?" Li called shakily.
The sandy-haired knight could conceal his presence no longer, he rubbed his red, watery eyes on his sleeve and came to join his comrades. "I was just lost in thought," he explained simply. These were not the times in which his reasons would be questioned.
"Uncle Alywin will be glad to go home," Li mumbled, the silence pressuring him to say something, although he had nothing he truly felt the need to tell the others.
"Just try to remember the good times," Seif advised his two friends. Ran raised his head slightly and Li's eyes shimmered briefly with a flicker of hope. Seif continued, haltingly at first, but with gradually greater confidence, "He...he took us out to the ocean...where he walked on the pier...and smelled those barrels of stinky fish. There were the tales he told us...and the practices we had with those wooden toy swords... Do you remember how he would tuck us in at night? How he let us get away with fidgeting during services? Uncle Alywin, was truly a man among men- not just for his heroism as a knight and general, but also, and perhaps more importantly, for his compassion and love as a priest...and as our father."
Both Ran and Li were left wide-eyed when Seif finished speaking. Li sniffled absently, unaware that he was still doing so. Seif had put the feelings of all three men into words. It was a fitting to tribute to the key figure in shaping their lives.
"I didn't know you could talk like that, Seif," Ran whispered in wonderment.
"Neither did I," Li seconded his sentiment.
Seif blinked and shook his head, "For matters like this, you just never know... It came straight from my heart."