01-05-2010, 10:11 AM
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 The group was impressed by what it saw of Phoenix Valley, and though it had gotten an inkling on its way up here, for the first time the older members understood why people would deal with this place. It was beautiful, moreso than the Pine, though Jantus and his sisters would not make light of the home they'd fought over and protected. What was more, they had made effective use of human structures, which wasn't a boast they could make (barring the coyotes, who had been living in run-down human abodes for many years now). It did seem to be a good place to be lain to rest. Jantus nodded to the rest of what Jefferson said, though he got quieter as they got closer to the point of their business. He had words to say himself, as he knew he would probably be called upon to begin the ceremony. Short and sweet would be the name of the game, for him; he was bad at being sentimental. By contrast, he remembered Skoll being a bit overblown about this sort of thing...he tried to put romanticism into some things that both of them knew good and well were starkly brutal and all too real to be idealized. Aivyr had some of that too. He supposed that maybe what he'd seen on those occasions when the golden-tan wolf had waxed poetic was the remnant idealism of a younger wolf whose beliefs had led him into this life. Most fighters came into it with some cynicism: it was a job and nothing else. Maybe it took a disillusioned idealist to reach that level, to have the dedication to take what others considered a tragic fact of life and pursue it so far. He certainly didn't sound very idealistic sometimes...but he thought he could remember Tanya once saying that the most cynical of all were those dreamers who had been betrayed by their ideals. He'd never know for sure, and he supposed the point was moot, now. He nodded his thanks upon reaching the graveyard, and the group immediately set to work finding the stone of their fallen ally, friend, and family member. It was Aivyr who found it first, and the rest of them organized around it, looking somberly at the name etched into stone. In a world where most didn't read, it was a little odd to recognize a stone by a written name. Aivyr's understanding of the human language (he didn't know there was more than one) suggested Skoll should be spelled "Skole," but he couldn't think of anything wrong with the double-'L' spelling. It occurred to him that maybe even Skoll hadn't known the proper spelling of his name...or did people choose their own? At first all of them stood around it, unsure of how to begin, but at a nudge from Mala, Jantus approached the stone and turned from it to face the rest of them. He'd done a few of these before. He was usually very good about bringing his subordinates back alive from battle, but during the War of Shadows, the odds had not been in their favor, and they had lost far too many, especially after their true alpha, Bold, had fallen. "Here lies Skoll Axehand, mate of Asphyxia Holocaust; father of Culexa Axehand, Ambien Holocaust, and Trigger Holocaust; brother to Skirnir of StoneTree; son of Freyr and SkyDance; mentor to Aivyr and others; ally to the Snow-Capped Pine; leader of the resistance against the Shadow Priests; and former guardian of the Storm and Shadowed Sun packs." The introduction was long, but he'd memorized it on their way over, and been reciting it as they approached their destination. It was custom to detail the relationships of the deceased to all those present, and to make mention of their important affiliations in life, even if none were present to represent those affiliations. "Skoll was first met by the Pine in a badly wounded state: his wrist broken, and multiple stab wounds being tended by a friend named Gale and a medic named Sarah. He was on the path of a fleeing cult who had kidnapped the medic's children and attempted a sacrificial raid on his pack of the time: Storm. His wounds had been received by their raiding party, who he had successfully slain. He told us that the cult members sought to return to their brethren, where they would have more strength, keep the children, and continue their religious raids. With him also were the first allies to join his cause: the coyotes Tanya and Nikolov." The coyotes remained silent. "At this point, my alpha Bold and I already liked him, and we weren't alone: his tale of daring bravery had inspired the wolves of the Pine to join him, and a dozen of our number did. He led a successful campaign against these foes with us and fifty others who joined him, and though many of us quailed at the horrors of that war--the details of which will not be uttered in the ears of his children--he stayed strong and brought us through it, despite his injuries. Since then, stories of his heroism can always be heard in the Pine, though you may need to go to his friends if you want to hear them in their true, less fanciful forms." He smiled at that, and some of the audience did, too. Amazing or not, no hero's story was immune to embellishment, either their own or that of others who idolized them. "We come here to pay respect to this man, to speak his deeds one more time in front of him, to bring his family before him, and to send our farewells when finally we leave him to rest by his stone in the land that he loved." With that, Jantus's head lowered, and he walked from the stone, leaving it open to whomever was next ready to speak. He chose a place nearer to Jefferson to sit back on his haunches and await the next speaker. |