*smacks her forehead* Okay, that last chapter was supposed to be dedicated to Invader Bast... but leave it to AF to forget such a thing... so, that last chapter is for Bast!
*Crying* I swore I wouldn't cry... I dun own IZ... I also dun own Goodnight My Friend. Veritcal Horizon does...*SOB!!*
EPILOGUE
Death. The finale in the play. So many pass on; to where no one knows. That was what troubled him now, as he gazed out at the eternal blackness sprinkled with tiny spots of brilliance. Where was Jendai Kaalae now? Off flying freely among those pinpoints of light, finally happy? Or lost, cold in some remote blackness and so alone it pained him? Could he see the sun? Feel the warmth against his face, or the refreshing touch of the moonbeams on his skin? He smiled faintly, forehead resting against the thick, clear material of the window, purple eyes scanning the stars. Jendai had always waited for sunset, waited for the moon to come. The blue-eyed mechanic had always liked the night the best...
Goodnight my sun
Goodnight my friend
Rest your soul at this
Long day's end
Did Jendai know how many missed him? Did he know how many he'd left behind on Irk and Earth who still cared about him and loved him? Armored hands folded over his chest. He probably didn't. A sigh tore from his throat. The news had spread rapidly. He'd seen the vid-images from the West Jihi workshop... Candles. A thing Irkens hadn't used in a little over a century. Candles, of all things, decorated a small memorial, guarded by a single, gray-eyed mechanic who wept more than anyone in that shop-even more than the orange-eye, the magenta-eye or the red-eye combined. That was how Jendai Kaalae would be remembered, that small shrine. He couldn't forget that small gray-eye. No matter how much he thought of other things, that picture of the young mechanic, clutching an equally young student in his arms, sobbing bitterly before the pedestal covered in candles and holographs.
The fire inside
Will warm our night
And Daddy's arms will
Hold you tight
Mother of Irk, what he wouldn't give to have his best friend beside him now. To have him alive and all this sorrow lifted from his planet and his life. To see him again after all those years. Briefly, he remembered their time before he became Tallest. When they would run around on either the roof of his teacher, Swar, or Jendai's, barefoot, letting the roof material almost burn their feet after cooking in the hot sun before ducking back into the cool shadows of a parked voot runner. They would sit there, hiding from the summer heat, telling stories while their teachers spoke about things, drinking ahki or some other drink the two young males were not allowed. Sometimes... he would tell a long, peaceful story, just to see if he could bore Jendai into sleeping. After achieving his goal, he would then see how many times he could poke his friend before he woke up angry and chased him around the roof once more. How he had loved those times... everything so simple. The hushed, sometimes outraged, tones of their teachers dismissed as merely the troubles of their jobs... Mother of Irk, how naive they had been...
Dream of summer skies
Sunset is bound to each sunrise
Rest is your first right
My friend goodnight
They were both wise now. Too wise in Jendai's case. Too wise in the ways of cruelty, torture and pain. He wished with every ounce of what soul he possessed he could go back. He wouldn't be so blind to the tricks, the lies, of the opposite Class if he could. There was nothing he could do. Time was one thing even an Almighty Tallest had no power to work with or to modify to their specifications. If he could, he would grant himself that power, even if it were only to feel the bond again. The bond... he'd loved that. To feel like you were constantly part of something bigger than just your life. To be connected to another Irken-his best friend-in that way. He missed it. He knew it was gone forever, thinned and broken by the vast distances death had drawn between them to hide the mechanic from the scholar.
This world spinning
Time always winning
The silver chains keep thinning and
This is just your beginning
Another thing troubled him as he watched the stars. Soothing, soothing stars. Always there to guide you, tell you that you weren't completely by yourself. That wasn't what bothered him. Zim... Why did the last Irken Jendai set his blue eyes upon have to be Zim? His poor friend. Trapped with such a pathetic small thing...
What he didn't know was, that at that same moment that he stood before his window, that same small thing was working his hands off. A shovel, bigger than he was, grasped in his gloved hands. The small thing shivered violently in the chill of the Earthen morning. He could feel the rough handle digging into his palms, drawing blood, even through the gloves. He couldn't stop. Doggedly, he dug on, careful not to disturb the other grave lying beside this new one, ignoring pain and cold. His ally lay, safely locked in a box stamped with the Student symbol, a few feet back from the spot where he dug. Finally, just as the first rays of dawn peeked over the distant skyline, the hole was done. Straining to finish before the sun fully woke, the Invader buried his ally, almost sobbing as he poured the soil back to where it came from.
...No. He should take that back. Zim had shown he was different than he'd first categorized him. Now, he knew of the circumstances in which the Invader had come across Jendai. Now, though, Jendai was dead. And he couldn't forget Zim's story.
Sleep my friend
At last be free
No we won't forget
Our merriest melody
Oh sweet Mother of Irk... Jendai was dead. He fell to the floor, still leaning against the window as if it were the only thing he had left to turn to. Jendai Kaalae, his best friend... his blood-brother, was gone forever. Lost to the world. The only comforts he had now were the ancients' tales of heaven. It was said that the Mother of Irk watched over the head, protecting their spirits as they slept in her arms for all eternity. It was supposedly a beautiful, peaceful place where the dead looked upon the Mother's face freely, and were filled with joy at the sight. He smiled wanly. Jendai had always enjoyed being happy. And he had too, whenever his friend was near.
Gone to another place
Of carousel rides round an angel's face
I'm sure we'd both laugh at the sight
He took another deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. A repeat of the incident a week ago would not have been wise at the moment. Too many were worried for him. It was almost time he started accepting Jendai's death and getting his priorities back in line. Almost. Even Irkens needed adequate time to grieve. He drew his knees up to his chest, curling in a protective ball. These quiet, reflecting times were what he craved now. When all the memories could come back and support him. Letting those pleasurable moments settle around him, he relaxed. Jendai was dead. It had already, even through the delusions memoirs brought, begun to sink in. The realization almost made him feel better. Jendai was dead, he thought again. No matter what he did, his friend wasn't coming back... unless he chose to pull up his face in his mind...
My friend goodnight
The Massive cruised silently through the stars, unfazed by the trauma within its walls. If you looked closely at one of the large windows barely visible from a distance, you might have glimpsed a huddled figure in purple regalia, leaning against his window, eyes shut as he resolutely drudged up memory after sweet memory of a brother lost... A smile on his thin, pale green lips.
My friend goodnight...
Coming SOON!!
DIVISIONS!! The third in the Kaalae Name Series. (Yes, I decided to make it a series! JOY!) This fic will take the Soldier/Student rivalry to new heights with the explanation of the Uprisings... Takes place on the day Jendai is banished and goes until the day of Impending Doom I... SQUEE!! I can't wait either!
*Crying* I swore I wouldn't cry... I dun own IZ... I also dun own Goodnight My Friend. Veritcal Horizon does...*SOB!!*
EPILOGUE
Death. The finale in the play. So many pass on; to where no one knows. That was what troubled him now, as he gazed out at the eternal blackness sprinkled with tiny spots of brilliance. Where was Jendai Kaalae now? Off flying freely among those pinpoints of light, finally happy? Or lost, cold in some remote blackness and so alone it pained him? Could he see the sun? Feel the warmth against his face, or the refreshing touch of the moonbeams on his skin? He smiled faintly, forehead resting against the thick, clear material of the window, purple eyes scanning the stars. Jendai had always waited for sunset, waited for the moon to come. The blue-eyed mechanic had always liked the night the best...
Goodnight my sun
Goodnight my friend
Rest your soul at this
Long day's end
Did Jendai know how many missed him? Did he know how many he'd left behind on Irk and Earth who still cared about him and loved him? Armored hands folded over his chest. He probably didn't. A sigh tore from his throat. The news had spread rapidly. He'd seen the vid-images from the West Jihi workshop... Candles. A thing Irkens hadn't used in a little over a century. Candles, of all things, decorated a small memorial, guarded by a single, gray-eyed mechanic who wept more than anyone in that shop-even more than the orange-eye, the magenta-eye or the red-eye combined. That was how Jendai Kaalae would be remembered, that small shrine. He couldn't forget that small gray-eye. No matter how much he thought of other things, that picture of the young mechanic, clutching an equally young student in his arms, sobbing bitterly before the pedestal covered in candles and holographs.
The fire inside
Will warm our night
And Daddy's arms will
Hold you tight
Mother of Irk, what he wouldn't give to have his best friend beside him now. To have him alive and all this sorrow lifted from his planet and his life. To see him again after all those years. Briefly, he remembered their time before he became Tallest. When they would run around on either the roof of his teacher, Swar, or Jendai's, barefoot, letting the roof material almost burn their feet after cooking in the hot sun before ducking back into the cool shadows of a parked voot runner. They would sit there, hiding from the summer heat, telling stories while their teachers spoke about things, drinking ahki or some other drink the two young males were not allowed. Sometimes... he would tell a long, peaceful story, just to see if he could bore Jendai into sleeping. After achieving his goal, he would then see how many times he could poke his friend before he woke up angry and chased him around the roof once more. How he had loved those times... everything so simple. The hushed, sometimes outraged, tones of their teachers dismissed as merely the troubles of their jobs... Mother of Irk, how naive they had been...
Dream of summer skies
Sunset is bound to each sunrise
Rest is your first right
My friend goodnight
They were both wise now. Too wise in Jendai's case. Too wise in the ways of cruelty, torture and pain. He wished with every ounce of what soul he possessed he could go back. He wouldn't be so blind to the tricks, the lies, of the opposite Class if he could. There was nothing he could do. Time was one thing even an Almighty Tallest had no power to work with or to modify to their specifications. If he could, he would grant himself that power, even if it were only to feel the bond again. The bond... he'd loved that. To feel like you were constantly part of something bigger than just your life. To be connected to another Irken-his best friend-in that way. He missed it. He knew it was gone forever, thinned and broken by the vast distances death had drawn between them to hide the mechanic from the scholar.
This world spinning
Time always winning
The silver chains keep thinning and
This is just your beginning
Another thing troubled him as he watched the stars. Soothing, soothing stars. Always there to guide you, tell you that you weren't completely by yourself. That wasn't what bothered him. Zim... Why did the last Irken Jendai set his blue eyes upon have to be Zim? His poor friend. Trapped with such a pathetic small thing...
What he didn't know was, that at that same moment that he stood before his window, that same small thing was working his hands off. A shovel, bigger than he was, grasped in his gloved hands. The small thing shivered violently in the chill of the Earthen morning. He could feel the rough handle digging into his palms, drawing blood, even through the gloves. He couldn't stop. Doggedly, he dug on, careful not to disturb the other grave lying beside this new one, ignoring pain and cold. His ally lay, safely locked in a box stamped with the Student symbol, a few feet back from the spot where he dug. Finally, just as the first rays of dawn peeked over the distant skyline, the hole was done. Straining to finish before the sun fully woke, the Invader buried his ally, almost sobbing as he poured the soil back to where it came from.
...No. He should take that back. Zim had shown he was different than he'd first categorized him. Now, he knew of the circumstances in which the Invader had come across Jendai. Now, though, Jendai was dead. And he couldn't forget Zim's story.
Sleep my friend
At last be free
No we won't forget
Our merriest melody
Oh sweet Mother of Irk... Jendai was dead. He fell to the floor, still leaning against the window as if it were the only thing he had left to turn to. Jendai Kaalae, his best friend... his blood-brother, was gone forever. Lost to the world. The only comforts he had now were the ancients' tales of heaven. It was said that the Mother of Irk watched over the head, protecting their spirits as they slept in her arms for all eternity. It was supposedly a beautiful, peaceful place where the dead looked upon the Mother's face freely, and were filled with joy at the sight. He smiled wanly. Jendai had always enjoyed being happy. And he had too, whenever his friend was near.
Gone to another place
Of carousel rides round an angel's face
I'm sure we'd both laugh at the sight
He took another deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. A repeat of the incident a week ago would not have been wise at the moment. Too many were worried for him. It was almost time he started accepting Jendai's death and getting his priorities back in line. Almost. Even Irkens needed adequate time to grieve. He drew his knees up to his chest, curling in a protective ball. These quiet, reflecting times were what he craved now. When all the memories could come back and support him. Letting those pleasurable moments settle around him, he relaxed. Jendai was dead. It had already, even through the delusions memoirs brought, begun to sink in. The realization almost made him feel better. Jendai was dead, he thought again. No matter what he did, his friend wasn't coming back... unless he chose to pull up his face in his mind...
My friend goodnight
The Massive cruised silently through the stars, unfazed by the trauma within its walls. If you looked closely at one of the large windows barely visible from a distance, you might have glimpsed a huddled figure in purple regalia, leaning against his window, eyes shut as he resolutely drudged up memory after sweet memory of a brother lost... A smile on his thin, pale green lips.
My friend goodnight...
Coming SOON!!
DIVISIONS!! The third in the Kaalae Name Series. (Yes, I decided to make it a series! JOY!) This fic will take the Soldier/Student rivalry to new heights with the explanation of the Uprisings... Takes place on the day Jendai is banished and goes until the day of Impending Doom I... SQUEE!! I can't wait either!