Finn's Funeral
Note- I'm not depressed, I just love to pick on Finn. I do not own Storm Hawks.
On with the Story!
Finn was dead. He wasn't even killed by a Cyclonian. The Sky Knight Council had decided that the Storm Hawks were just too strong and decided to break up the team.
Aerrow had argued, saying that they hadn't cause nor reason nor grounds to break up the Storm Hawks. He couldn't understand that the very people he championed for were scared of him.
Finn was going to be sixteen next week. He was fourteen when the Storm Hawks had formed. The youngest. The most immature.
The council had decided that if the Storm Hawks would play by the rules, than it was time for the Council to break some, for the good of Atmos.
Finn had woken them up that morning, yelling about a mind worm infestation that was really funny in hindsight.
Even Stork had laughed after he scared the wits out of Finn. But shhh, don't tell Finn I like the joke. I want to tell him during lunch. Stork was so certain that at lunch he could tell Finn about how well the joke was done. Even talk about the joy of laying traps and secondary traps, just for that look on their face when they realize they've been had.
Finn had over heard the Sky Knight Council plotting to kill or disgrace Aerrow and destroy the Strom Hawks when he was hiding out in town.
They had caught him and decided that he would do instead.
Now Finn's body was laying in the ground of a Terra that was not Atmosia or Cyclonia.
The faith in the Sky Knight Council to be fair was shattered. Many Terras were considering defecting to the Cyclonian side. They wanted certain rights that Cyclonis was all too willing to agree to, she was planning on a fair rule, but why the sudden change of heart?
Finn's body was so cold. The coffin….they couldn't even afford a proper coffin. They destroyed Finn's Skimmer in order to build him a final resting place.
As Master Cyclonis stormed through the palace to the Skimmers, the Sky Knight Council threatened to disown any of the Sky Knights who attended the funeral, as though they were the ones wronged.
Finn's body was all the evidence Atmosia needed to realize that they needed the return of a strong ruler to loosely govern and direct them. There was plenty of other evidence, but the Sky Knight Council was a fortress, and for the moment, they were sealed inside while Sky Knights rallied for their trials.
Finn needed to be buried. There was no reason to post pone the burial when the trials could take months. Finn would want to be buried looking his best.
It's raining on the little rock that they found for Finn. The view is spectacular, even with the rain, you can see to where the sky is blue through the gray.
Aerrow wishes that he wasn't reminded that there was light at the end of the tunnel. Right now, he just wanted to feel the grief.
He didn't want to stand dry eyed at Finn's side.
Piper cleared her throat and stepped forward.
"I realize that the Captain is the one to go first, and that Aerrow knew Finn best, but I would like to start. I want to say that Finn is- the best marksman that Atmosia and Cyclonia will ever know. He would never be bested in battle. He would say the dumbest things, but always with the best intentions. In fact, one of our best training tactics is his idea- Aerial Keep Away. We even talked once about how all the games we play are actually war simulations. That we can't get away from war. We argued over how the drive to improve affected everyone, the pros and the cons and how… how…" Piper sobbed.
"All I can think about is that Finn was more than just book smart. He was always going on about how I knew so much, that I didn't know about living. Finn was more than just smart. And now he won't have the chance to teach others what he taught me- about being worldly smart."
Piper ducked back into the group.
There were no flowers to rest on Finn's grave.
Stork went next.
"I hate having to get up in front of crowds. But here I am, in front of everyone. Well, no, I'm not. One of us is missing, and he always will be missing. Finn was daring. He was willing to go where no one wanted to. He was always exploring. If he had to break a few rules in order to get what he wanted, then he went for it. I…I wanted to tell him about how funny the prank about the mind worms was. And now I can't tell him that I wasn't really angry with him."
Stork felt his mouth open and close a few more times, but his throat was sealed. He dejectedly joined the group again.
Aerrow walked forward.
"When I met you Finn, you wanted to know why you should follow me. I told you because it was going to be dangerous, and that I needed a marksman to watch my back. We've gone through so much together, and I know that it is cruel of me, but I wish we were going through this funeral together. You were always going on like a kid. And really, all of us are kids. We grew up, refusing to back down because we were young. Now I think that we are too young to die. But that's just the rage talking. You always could take the stress away. Make any of us laugh. If," Aerrow licked his lips, and looks down for a moment. Heat pooled in his eyes, the stinging wetness refusing to spill over.
"If Piper is the brains of the Storm Hawks, keeping us on course, than Radarr is the arms, reaching out to us, Junko the trunk, where the teams solidarity comes in, Stork the legs that carry us through, and I'm the soul that gives us purpose. But Finn, you were the heart that beat in the Storm Hawks. You could seem so insignificant, and sometimes you were depressed, but no one could sow better than you could when we all started hitting our growth spurts and needed alterations." There were a few chuckles that died when the Storm Hawks remembered finding out that Finn could sow. He was a better tailor than the people they paid to make their clothes!
"You were the feelings that kept the Storm Hawks from being cold veterans in a war that was taking everything from us- everything but what we fought for."
Aerrow felt the hot tracks down his face.
"I'd salute you, but I know you'd hate that so….thanks Finn. For being my wingman and my marksman."
Radarr chirped at the grave.
Aerrow walked back while Radarr howled at the grave. The team didn't know how, but they felt the loss ring through their ears and into the earth.
The storm picked up, but none of them moved.
Junko went last.
"Finn, buddy, everyone has such eloquent things to say to you. But I want you to know that you made me feel needed. I was a Wallop that was liked because I was strong. You liked me because I was nice. I remember the first time I made you laugh. We had just gotten on the Condor, and I said something about the room arrangements, and you just cracked up. You slapped me on the back and told me that you couldn't wait to be my best friend."
Junko sniffed. "I never had a real friend before I met any of you, and now I have a family beyond my Wallop parents, and all of the thanks go to you."
Junko fell back into the group, his heavy figure walking nearly knocking the awning that protected the coffin while the storm raged over head down upon them.
The Storm Hawks stood out in the rain. They weren't leaving until they wanted to. And right now, there was no life to return to.
The sound of the violin was what they first heard.
Ravess came into view, playing her best violin in the rain. Master Cyclonis and the Dark Ace flanked her on the right side, Snipe walking on the other side. The piece was mournful, with a hint of reverberating and looping slowness that magnified the loss.
Master Cyclonis stepped towards the coffin. None of the Storm Hawks stopped her.
"He was an arrogant brat, and he made no apologies for it. Finn, you lived by the moment, for the moment, and never worried about the next day. Some would call that shallow. I say that you lived by your own beat, and refused to bend to another's will. That is an admirable trait. I wish that you had lived longer, because…because you were a good person overall. I rarely see a person with a soul like yours. You are as rare as an Eternity Crystal, and twice as precious."
Master Cyclonis walked back to Ravess. "Today, I am here as not just Master Cyclonis, but because I am Lark, and I appreciate dying for your friends." Ravess continued playing through the eulogies.
Snipe step forward.
"I, uhm, don't really know what to say. Even when you in that cloning fiasco, you were willing to protect your friends. I remember that when I had finally managed to beat the truth out of you, you told me that the instant I hurt one your friends, I was dead meat. There was a fire in your eyes. A fire that let me know just how dangerous you would be if I did hurt someone you cared about. You didn't care for the crystal, obviously."
Snipe coughed and shuffled back to the group.
The Dark Ace sighed, then he stepped up to the grave. Right up to where Finn rested.
"I look upon you now, and you still seem so smug. And you have every right to be. Do you know how many men quake in fear to do battle against me? How many would rather submit than face me? All I can think is that anytime we fought, you would charge me. You would take me on. You who could be frightened so, would face a man that legends talk about on your own- and you did not falter. You never relied on luck. You went after me with all of your skill. Just like Aerrow did."
The Dark Ace lifted his gaze from the grave. "Just like all of the Storm Hawks do. Finn is one of the bravest men I know. This boy would face me even when he knew that Aerrow was the only one with a chance to defeat me. He never faltered. I…I was looking forward to what he would become. Now I know what he has become. He is a legend."
The Dark Ace stepped backwards and knelt before the grave.
"Finn, you are recognized by Master Cyclonis and Cyclonia as the best Marksman of our time. I, the Dark Ace, recognize your skill as a marksman."
The rain continued to pour long after the passage was intoned by Master Cyclonis, and both Aerrow and the Dark Ace gave their acknowledgments to the Honor of being named the best.
They heard the cursing later, as Starling swore the Rex Gaurdians out of the Sky and more Sky Knights began to land. They settled around the grave.
Starling had brought flowers. The Rex Gaurdians had coins to lay over Finn's eyes for his journey. They stayed for as long as they could, but other Sky Knights that hadn't realized how corrupt the Council was were rallying to the Council. The message was spreading, but some Sky Knights plain refused to believe what had happened to Finn.
The others left to deal with them. The Storm Hawks and the Cyclonians stayed all day and into the next, the storm passing by over head. The food was shared, but mostly the Storm Hawks starred at the grave. Finally, Aerrow turned around and walked to the Condor. The others could hear him getting ready to leave, but he made no press upon them to come along. Finally, they drifted away.
The war was said to have ended that day. Master Cyclonis is a fair ruler, and she allots the Terras certain rights and independence, but in the end gets the final say, unless sixty percent of all the Terras under her rule can argue a better case. There are hearings every month for two days for issues to be settled.
The Storm Hawks still claim no Terra as their home Terra, but they make camp in Terra Cyclonia when they are exhausted, rather than head to Terra Tropica.
The Dark Ace accepts Aerrow under his wing and tells him that it's okay to be sad and angry. Even two years after Finn's death. He gets the entire team to journal about their lives.
The Dark Ace doesn't fill the gap that Finn left.
But it's easier to grieve when you can cry to someone who also knew Finn but doesn't make you think of all the times you spent together with him.
The Storm Hawks have sworn allegiance to the Sky Knight Code, and to Master Cyclonis. The funny thing is, Master Cyclonis just wants to understand what connects the world of Cyclonia together rather than terrorize her citizens.
Piper laughs at the idea Finn had off-handedly mentioned to her once, about harmonizing crystals through music.
The successful feat of combining crystals with musical theory becomes known as the Finn Theorem. Piper still cries into Lark's shoulder at night when they make a crystal that seems absolutely worthless, until placed in the right conditions.
Stork does dark poetry. He actually owns a radio wave now, he's so popular. He makes lame jokes just like Finn would, then balances them with his own poetry.
"And yet," he is known to say "without the lame jokes, my poems just wouldn't be the same."
Aerrow takes risks that infuriates the Dark Ace, and when he demands what Aerrow was thinking, flying under the rogue ship, Aerrow replies "What's life without living a little? Dull and boring."
The next time, Aerrow and the Dark Ace both race under the ship and know that Master Cyclonis will scold them for being reckless, but they feel alive. Radarr feels that he has a crazy master who's rubbing off on the Dark Ace and tells Master Cyclonis quite plainly what he thought of the race.
Junko builds engines. Plain, energy efficient engines. But when he's done with work, he goes into his room and builds delicate wings that flap around in patterns, because Finn had once commented on how he never had a hanging mobile over his head as a baby, because there hadn't been a ceiling there.
Piper had sarcastically jibed that maybe that's why Finn needed highlights in his explanations, before she realized that Finn had admitted to a bad childhood without a real home. She had apologized so much that day.
Finn had just laughed and asked that she make him a mobile.
Junko has built toys that handle much wear and tear. Even Tynki has tested a few and finds that they don't break easily.
Tynki doesn't quite understand why Uncle Junko makes the toys for Uncle Finn when he isn't here, but he holds Uncle Junko when Uncle Junko cries.
Life as a Cyclonian is not always fun, and sometimes there are screaming matches among them. But they always find themselves talking to Finn about their problems and sometimes they laugh over how stupid they were, or how they overreacted from stress. Sometimes they apologize.
But the Storm Hawks are still flying. Even with a damaged heart, they soar above the clouds, living in the moments and they can feel the heart beat driving them forward.
Finn is dead.
But his heart beats in the Storm Hawks.