NOTICE: This is ambiguously canon. It's that hard to decide.
…
Tale #32: Sello's Funeral
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Everything was going so well. That morning, Link woke up to East Iron Island off the bow, a pleasant sight considering that the Island Symphony had been running too low to use the Sky Lines for four days. His crew was just as relieved; four days' travel seemed light compared to their adventure last year, but it still wore on the crew since they had become used to the convenience of the Sky Lines. Leynne had had his coffee and was being his proper, collected self. Dholit was keeping herself busy chatting with the other Gelto rather than irritating Link with her usual propositions. Line was being a good little helmsman. Docking went smoothly, and the company receiving the goods were taking advantage of the Island Symphony's cargo doors by driving a cart into the deck (a new method, one which Leynne reported as no trouble for the ship itself) and loading up instead of trying to haul everything onto the pier.
Then came the bad news.
"What do you mean 'Sello's missing'?"
Lawrence and Leynne shrugged at the same time. However, it was Leynne who started talking. "It would appeah that ouh mascot of mayhem has found his way off the ship without anyone knowing," he explained. "I have seahched all of his nohmal hiding spaces. Then I enlisted ouh off-duty complement to look around below. I have even inspected the machine deck myself. I am afraid that Sello has gotten loose."
Link, his face molded into an irritated scowl, looked at Lawrence. "You guys are supposed to be watching him," he said.
"Las' I saw, Cap'n," Lawrence replied, "'e was still sleepin'."
Link sighed and placed a hand over his eyes. "Great Goddesses, you guys…" After heaving another exhausted breath, he said, "Okay, then. Get the deck crew organized and go find him. I suppose we're at least assured he's somewhere on the island."
"I have already handed out assignments," Leynne said.
Link gave him a confused look. "Really?"
"Since the last time he escaped, I've given the crew pehmanent seahch assignments. Lwamm and Dholit take the nohth, Floweh and Line take the south, Twali and Layna seahch the east, and Cale and I seahch the west."
"Be' no other ship's tha' prepared," Lawrence said with a grin.
"For drunks, yeah," Link told him. "For homicidal engineers? No. Leynne, get them moving. If we wait any longer, he's gonna kill someone." He stood from his desk. "I'll check around the port; I know where some of the junk machinery is stored."
…
One thing Link hated was how easy it was to lose a day because one of his crew was missing. It was made worse by Flower having a bout of dysentery, forcing Line to cover part of the island (small though it may have been) by himself.
However, as the afternoon wore on, the search parties began to dread the worst. Sello was not one to keep quiet. If there was an accident subsequent to him disappearing, Sello was always at the epicenter. No one on the island had any memory of seeing him nor had the island guard arrested him for his usual transgressions. The Island Symphony had not taken on any mysterious machinery. Years of experience left Link and his seasoned airmen with the unavoidable conclusion.
Sello was dead.
Rampant drunkenness and piers that hung over open air inevitably claimed airmen trying to stagger back to their ships. The fact that Sello had lasted so long was evidence of his incredible luck and the crew's dedication to keeping the bane of common sense from blowing an island or two out of the sky. The crew had spent the whole day searching for him. But, between the lack of explosions and no one seeing him since the crew first noticed his disappearance, the only conclusion drawn among Link, Line, Randy, Lilly, and Flower was that Sello, in his drunken demeanor, had fallen off the island.
Leynne made the announcement to the rest of the crew that evening. Link would have to wait until the next morning to log Sello's death since he had to wait a full day to declare Sello missing. Even then, he would not be officially declared lost for a week, but it would allow the ship to continue operations.
Well, it would at least allow the Island Symphony to travel. This was a heavy blow to Link, having done all he could to keep his crew safe for over a year. The crew also seemed quite depressed. As big of a menace as he had been, the crew loved their insane drunk. Who knew how long it would take to get back to work? The crew was not in any sort of hurry.
The following morning seemed to solidify the idea. Leynne, under Flower's direction, purchased a plain box of a coffin. Although there was no body to place in it, tradition dictated that those who had fallen off an island still deserved a coffin, which was to be sent to them.
Leynne then gathered the crew together. For a long time, the crew just stared at the box, set with one end on top of the bulwark in preparation to be shoved over. Misery clouded the deck. It finally took some prompting before conversation began.
"Misteh Floweh?" Leynne whispered. "I cannot say that I am familiah with this… ritual. Should we… say something?"
"Aye, sir," Flower said, holding his aching stomach. "It'd be the respectful thing to do."
"What's there to say?" Line asked. "I know I'm gonna miss him."
"I'll miss him sneakin' inna the galley for food," Lilly said, using a handkerchief to wipe her face.
"I shall miss his bountiful happiness," Dholit said. "Such a joyful creatuah, even when he was acting psychotic."
"'Acting'?" Line asked. "He was drunk."
Lawrence gave a sad chuckle. "Miss 'avin' ta 'aul 'is' 'alf-dead ass 'round," he offered.
"Goin' off on people we don' know for no reason?" Harley suggested, giving his coworker a grin.
"Late night stories," Lidago said with a nod.
"Wait, he told you stories?" Flower asked him.
"I think," Lidago replied. "I not understand well. He use many strange words."
"Yeah…" Irleen spoke up. "I have to admit, he made me laugh."
"It… will seem quietah without his random violence," Cale said.
"And catchin' him nappin' on the deck standin' up?" Gold said with a grin.
"I punch him when I mad…" Dubbl uttered.
"This… actually all sounds kinda horrible," Randy commented. "Why did you like this guy?"
"He made it funny," Helo said.
"Ah."
"Theh was some discipline to his madness," Leynne said. "Such a—"
Ch-BOOOOOOOOOOOM! An explosion jolted the ship and startled the crew. Everyone quickly spun to see a large, black mushroom cloud rising from East Iron Island. Shock gave way to expressions of relief. Still, as if to confirm the crew's hopes, an amplified shout rose in the air from the small island.
"I HAVE LOST MY TRAIN OF PANTS! GIMME A TURNIP OR TWO MILLION OYSTERS IN A LIMOSINE CASE! I AM SELLOOOOOOOO!"
Link wondered how Sello had been overlooked. Then, it occurred to him what side of the island that explosion had come from. That was the south at the far end of the port. He turned immediately to Line, who had been standing right beside him.
Line met a glare that would have incinerated his skull and offered up a cheesy grin. He turned back to the coffin. "I'll miss the way he—" WHAP! "Ow!"
"GO GET HIM!" Link hollered, shaking the hand he had just used to slap the back of Line's head while pointing at the cloud with the other.
…
Tale #32 of the Island Symphony – END
NOTICE: This story is ambiguously canon. But, really, there's little reason to believe that this didn't happen somewhere else in canon.