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Description

The soft slope of sand angled quickly downward and the scene that spread out before the visitors was something out of an enchanted fairy tale. Leafy columns of color rose from the sea floor, seeming to dance in the gentle current. Rays of warm light shone down, creating little glints and flickers among the rainbow forest.

It may have been hard for a non-Jssfloon to see the place as a graveyard, as everywhere one looked the place was full of life. They hadn’t even reached the forest yet but they could already see schools of bright creatures swimming about, little shelled and tentacled things skittered along the sand and rocks, what appeared to be feathers reached out long arms to snatch underwater pollen.

All the Casablancasa gaped in awe at the sight of the farewell beds.

Benson’s fingers twitched, itching to paint what he was seeing- the same way they had the first time he’d laid eyes on the Casablanca itself.

Kessie, who’d known what to expect, was still affected by being there in person. She swam next to Flyspur, drinking everything in with her eyes.

“It’s…” Tertio gasped quietly, eyes as big as saucers. “This is a real place?”

Anne felt similarly as if she’d just swum into an underwater grove of truffula trees. The fact that this was a graveyard… It was fascinating, and beautiful.

Unlike the others who could turn to swimming, Rover continued to walk along the sea floor, barely even lifting with his steps.

Unlike human cemeteries which were often avoided because they were feared or held in high reverence, Farewell Beds were considered welcoming places. A calm place of beauty to have a leisurely swim, for children to play and for the thoughtful to contemplate those that came before. Even now, during the solemn event taking place, the light and the creatures rejoiced in the life of this thriving forest.

The procession swam downward, hugging the sea floor where black stone peeked out from the pink sand. Now closer to the farewell plants they could see that each column sprouted from a tulip-shaped pod rooted solidly into the stone. Several thick leaf-covered strands sprouted from each of them. There were some shorter green ones but all the brightly colored plants grew impossibly tall, most of them stretching far above them to the surface. They could now see that the plants were covered with a variety of trinkets. Tied to the vines and leaves completely surrounding them and flickering in the light were musical instruments, bits of jewelry, tools and holographic tokens broadcasting little videos of smiling people. Every possible type of thing was represented among the rocking foliage. It seemed that the trinkets were tied only to the tall, colorful plants while the green ones were almost entirely left bare.

In spite of their reason for being there, Flyspur smiled broadly at their reactions. He had given up Jssfoon, but its beauty was still deeply part of him and he was glad to have a chance to share it. “Do you like it?” He asked, keeping his voice low.

Kessie nodded, wordlessly, in response to Flyspur’s question.

Tertio felt tears well up at the beauty of the place. On reflex, he brought his hand to his eyes to wipe them, and wound up soaking his face as his wet hand passed easily through the breather. “Apph!” He spluttered in surprise.

Kessie looked back at the sound and couldn’t suppress a slight chuckle at seeing what he’d done. “Just gonna have to let your tears flow, Black-Tongue.” She whispered.

The further down they went, the heavier the water became. The humans were all very glad their breathers covered their ears as well as their faces. Even so, they were popping like crazy.

Anne gazed at the graveyard and all it’s floating trinketry in unabashed wonder. The colourful plants were beautiful enough, but the effect of the light shafting through the underwater forest and glinting off the thousands of shining, flickering objects was at once surreal and dazzling. Particularly interesting was the fact that none of the objects were covered in algae or barnacles or any other kind of growth. Everything looked as clean as if it had just been placed there that morning.

She noticed Rover watching her and gave him a smile. Then it suddenly came to her that one of these plants must belong to Soorn.

Fortunately the procession didn't go much further and Dorene and their small group had a clear view.

Roofaya floated down to an empty pod. Unlike its fellows surrounding it, it had no colorful bloom, nor even a string of green kelp coming from it. Just a closed, young bud. The rest of the group sank down until they all surrounded the plant.

Rover stopped on the outskirts of the small crowd, standing on the sea floor. He made a small motion that the others should stop there as well. They were guests here, observers, but not participants. His smile faded as he watched. Finn alighted on the ground beside him, gripping a rock with his toes so he wouldn't have to tread water to stay steady. "It's just watchin' from here." Rover whispered to the others.

The gathering had gone silent, the whole group simply hanging in the water, watching respectfully. They could see Ooflit and Nooyan floating near Jyl and her family. The girl clutched her mother's tail. Jyl looked as if she might throw up, while Jyson had a tight-lipped scowl.

Joornan was not far from them with his lower hands held firmly in the 'respect' gesture. Now that everyone was still, they recognized many healing house workers present.

Anne followed Joornan’s example and made the respectful gesture too.

Kessie was no longer in a chuckling mood, watching the ceremony with her heart in her stomach. She ‘stood up’ straight in the water, floating beside Flyspur, hugging herself and letting her swim bladder keep her in place. She was crying, but her tears were invisible in the water.

Roofaya slipped her fingers under a petal of the bud and pulled. It didn't seem to move. She tried again but it still wouldn't budge. A couple of her family started to move to help but suddenly Jyson darted up beside her. She looked down at the boy in surprise. They exchanged a few quiet words and gestures before they both tugged in unison. The petal peeled back, revealing the pod’s hollow interior. The widow gave Jyson a grateful look and touched his cheek before he swam back to his family.

Rover watched, his throat tight and tears sliding down his face. All he could think of was when he had been in the old woman's place, opening another farewell pod so many years ago. But being here, watching this, it hurt like it was yesterday. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked down to see Flyspur sharing a look of deep understanding. He had been there too. Rover returned the gesture, hooking an arm around his oldest friend.

She closed her eyes for a moment, seeming to steel herself before turning to the basket. She declined an offer of assistance as she reached down and gently and tenderly pulled Ofrin out where his body floated up beside her. With the buoyancy of the water it was a simple task to move him over to the pod and slip him, feet first into the opening. Soul spots nearly glowed on her face as she pressed her forehead to his one last time before pushing the petal back in place, sealing him inside. She leaned on the pod for a long time, long enough that some seemed to be growing concerned. But finally she pulled back and reached a hand into her robes that floated all around her and pulled out a kitchen laser tied to a cord, and held it up for the group to see.

Some of the group's sadness shifted towards amused approval. There were many gestures of agreement, though some clearly weren't for the trivial token. Whatever the group thought, Roofaya bent down and tied it around the pod's short stalk. She then pressed one hand on the side of the farewell pod. "Ofrin...I am glad I had the chance to share my life with you."

She pushed off from the ocean floor and began to swim around the pod in a wide circle twirling and spinning in the water, her family joined her, copying her moves, creating an underwater spiral. Many of the group soon followed until the spiral had become a column of spinning Jssfloon bodies. Then abruptly they stopped and sank back down to the sea floor. Roofaya gave a deep grateful bow. "Thank you. Thank you all for coming. I am sure O….Ofrin would be glad to know his farewell was attended by so many friends."

And with that, the ceremony seemed to end. Some of the group began swimming back toward the shore, while others approached the family with words of comfort.

Anne saw Rover’s face, and it didn’t take much to realize what might be going through his mind and his heart. Discreetly, so as not to distract from the ceremony, she floated over to settle beside him and Flyspur and Finn. She took Rover’s hand and gave him a sympathetic look, before turning back to watch the rest of the ceremony.

Tertio, who could barely see through his tears, did still notice Jyson’s act of kindness toward the elderly widow. He blinked, trying to clear his vision, and furrowed his brow as he squinted. Yes, he was sure that was Jyson. Huh! Maybe he was coming around, realizing that Jtrel really was as bad as everyone was saying she was.

Once the ceremony had ended some of the attendees moved to Ofrin's pod, putting a hand on it and saying a few words before swimming off, toward the shore or the family.

The group noticed that many people, almost everyone in fact, would stop here and there for just long enough to grasp a hanging token from a nearby bloom and run their hands briefly over it. It seemed random and few of them really stopped to look closely at whatever object they had picked.

When the ceremony was over, Kessie immediately swam over to speak to Roofaya. She hung back respectfully until the crowd had thinned a bit before finally coming forward. Her head was bowed, and- much like Gobby elsewhere- she was making the gesture of sympathetic grief.

“Roofaya... I’m Kessica Rolko.” She said in perfect Jssfloon. “My sadness is a deep trench...” She met her eyes, radiating tragedy. “I... I...” Her face crumpled a little. “I’m devastated that this has happened to your family!” She took a moment to gulp internally, and hugged herself. “Thank you, for allowing us to attend and pay our respects.”

The widow hovered quietly as Kessie spoke, interest and gratitude merging with the profound sadness in her eyes. She noted the appropriate hand gesture. She reached out and brushed an upper hand briefly on Kessie's cheek while her lower hands formed 'gratefulness'. "Thank you for coming. I'm sure Ofrin would have been glad to have such a kind and thoughtful girl at his ceremony."

Kessie’s face crumpled further at Roofaya’s words, and more invisible tears were added to the sea.

She floated aside, making way for others.

(Admittedly there was a whole section with Pie here that was pretty adorable. But I edited down a bit to be a manageable size and focus on the bits relevant to the illustration. A pic from an RP with Artoveli . Kessie Tertio and Anne belong to her and she wrote their bits. While the Jssfloon Rover and Flyspur are mine and I wrote for them. )

Description

The soft slope of sand angled quickly downward and the scene that spread out before the visitors was something out of an enchanted fairy tale. Leafy columns of color rose from the sea floor, seeming to dance in the gentle current. Rays of warm light shone down, creating little glints and flickers among the rainbow forest.

It may have been hard for a non-Jssfloon to see the place as a graveyard, as everywhere one looked the place was full of life. They hadn’t even reached the forest yet but they could already see schools of bright creatures swimming about, little shelled and tentacled things skittered along the sand and rocks, what appeared to be feathers reached out long arms to snatch underwater pollen.

All the Casablancasa gaped in awe at the sight of the farewell beds.

Benson’s fingers twitched, itching to paint what he was seeing- the same way they had the first time he’d laid eyes on the Casablanca itself.

Kessie, who’d known what to expect, was still affected by being there in person. She swam next to Flyspur, drinking everything in with her eyes.

“It’s…” Tertio gasped quietly, eyes as big as saucers. “This is a real place?”

Anne felt similarly as if she’d just swum into an underwater grove of truffula trees. The fact that this was a graveyard… It was fascinating, and beautiful.

Unlike the others who could turn to swimming, Rover continued to walk along the sea floor, barely even lifting with his steps.

Unlike human cemeteries which were often avoided because they were feared or held in high reverence, Farewell Beds were considered welcoming places. A calm place of beauty to have a leisurely swim, for children to play and for the thoughtful to contemplate those that came before. Even now, during the solemn event taking place, the light and the creatures rejoiced in the life of this thriving forest.

The procession swam downward, hugging the sea floor where black stone peeked out from the pink sand. Now closer to the farewell plants they could see that each column sprouted from a tulip-shaped pod rooted solidly into the stone. Several thick leaf-covered strands sprouted from each of them. There were some shorter green ones but all the brightly colored plants grew impossibly tall, most of them stretching far above them to the surface. They could now see that the plants were covered with a variety of trinkets. Tied to the vines and leaves completely surrounding them and flickering in the light were musical instruments, bits of jewelry, tools and holographic tokens broadcasting little videos of smiling people. Every possible type of thing was represented among the rocking foliage. It seemed that the trinkets were tied only to the tall, colorful plants while the green ones were almost entirely left bare.

In spite of their reason for being there, Flyspur smiled broadly at their reactions. He had given up Jssfoon, but its beauty was still deeply part of him and he was glad to have a chance to share it. “Do you like it?” He asked, keeping his voice low.

Kessie nodded, wordlessly, in response to Flyspur’s question.

Tertio felt tears well up at the beauty of the place. On reflex, he brought his hand to his eyes to wipe them, and wound up soaking his face as his wet hand passed easily through the breather. “Apph!” He spluttered in surprise.

Kessie looked back at the sound and couldn’t suppress a slight chuckle at seeing what he’d done. “Just gonna have to let your tears flow, Black-Tongue.” She whispered.

The further down they went, the heavier the water became. The humans were all very glad their breathers covered their ears as well as their faces. Even so, they were popping like crazy.

Anne gazed at the graveyard and all it’s floating trinketry in unabashed wonder. The colourful plants were beautiful enough, but the effect of the light shafting through the underwater forest and glinting off the thousands of shining, flickering objects was at once surreal and dazzling. Particularly interesting was the fact that none of the objects were covered in algae or barnacles or any other kind of growth. Everything looked as clean as if it had just been placed there that morning.

She noticed Rover watching her and gave him a smile. Then it suddenly came to her that one of these plants must belong to Soorn.

Fortunately the procession didn't go much further and Dorene and their small group had a clear view.

Roofaya floated down to an empty pod. Unlike its fellows surrounding it, it had no colorful bloom, nor even a string of green kelp coming from it. Just a closed, young bud. The rest of the group sank down until they all surrounded the plant.

Rover stopped on the outskirts of the small crowd, standing on the sea floor. He made a small motion that the others should stop there as well. They were guests here, observers, but not participants. His smile faded as he watched. Finn alighted on the ground beside him, gripping a rock with his toes so he wouldn't have to tread water to stay steady. "It's just watchin' from here." Rover whispered to the others.

The gathering had gone silent, the whole group simply hanging in the water, watching respectfully. They could see Ooflit and Nooyan floating near Jyl and her family. The girl clutched her mother's tail. Jyl looked as if she might throw up, while Jyson had a tight-lipped scowl.

Joornan was not far from them with his lower hands held firmly in the 'respect' gesture. Now that everyone was still, they recognized many healing house workers present.

Anne followed Joornan’s example and made the respectful gesture too.

Kessie was no longer in a chuckling mood, watching the ceremony with her heart in her stomach. She ‘stood up’ straight in the water, floating beside Flyspur, hugging herself and letting her swim bladder keep her in place. She was crying, but her tears were invisible in the water.

Roofaya slipped her fingers under a petal of the bud and pulled. It didn't seem to move. She tried again but it still wouldn't budge. A couple of her family started to move to help but suddenly Jyson darted up beside her. She looked down at the boy in surprise. They exchanged a few quiet words and gestures before they both tugged in unison. The petal peeled back, revealing the pod’s hollow interior. The widow gave Jyson a grateful look and touched his cheek before he swam back to his family.

Rover watched, his throat tight and tears sliding down his face. All he could think of was when he had been in the old woman's place, opening another farewell pod so many years ago. But being here, watching this, it hurt like it was yesterday. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked down to see Flyspur sharing a look of deep understanding. He had been there too. Rover returned the gesture, hooking an arm around his oldest friend.

She closed her eyes for a moment, seeming to steel herself before turning to the basket. She declined an offer of assistance as she reached down and gently and tenderly pulled Ofrin out where his body floated up beside her. With the buoyancy of the water it was a simple task to move him over to the pod and slip him, feet first into the opening. Soul spots nearly glowed on her face as she pressed her forehead to his one last time before pushing the petal back in place, sealing him inside. She leaned on the pod for a long time, long enough that some seemed to be growing concerned. But finally she pulled back and reached a hand into her robes that floated all around her and pulled out a kitchen laser tied to a cord, and held it up for the group to see.

Some of the group's sadness shifted towards amused approval. There were many gestures of agreement, though some clearly weren't for the trivial token. Whatever the group thought, Roofaya bent down and tied it around the pod's short stalk. She then pressed one hand on the side of the farewell pod. "Ofrin...I am glad I had the chance to share my life with you."

She pushed off from the ocean floor and began to swim around the pod in a wide circle twirling and spinning in the water, her family joined her, copying her moves, creating an underwater spiral. Many of the group soon followed until the spiral had become a column of spinning Jssfloon bodies. Then abruptly they stopped and sank back down to the sea floor. Roofaya gave a deep grateful bow. "Thank you. Thank you all for coming. I am sure O….Ofrin would be glad to know his farewell was attended by so many friends."

And with that, the ceremony seemed to end. Some of the group began swimming back toward the shore, while others approached the family with words of comfort.

Anne saw Rover’s face, and it didn’t take much to realize what might be going through his mind and his heart. Discreetly, so as not to distract from the ceremony, she floated over to settle beside him and Flyspur and Finn. She took Rover’s hand and gave him a sympathetic look, before turning back to watch the rest of the ceremony.

Tertio, who could barely see through his tears, did still notice Jyson’s act of kindness toward the elderly widow. He blinked, trying to clear his vision, and furrowed his brow as he squinted. Yes, he was sure that was Jyson. Huh! Maybe he was coming around, realizing that Jtrel really was as bad as everyone was saying she was.

Once the ceremony had ended some of the attendees moved to Ofrin's pod, putting a hand on it and saying a few words before swimming off, toward the shore or the family.

The group noticed that many people, almost everyone in fact, would stop here and there for just long enough to grasp a hanging token from a nearby bloom and run their hands briefly over it. It seemed random and few of them really stopped to look closely at whatever object they had picked.

When the ceremony was over, Kessie immediately swam over to speak to Roofaya. She hung back respectfully until the crowd had thinned a bit before finally coming forward. Her head was bowed, and- much like Gobby elsewhere- she was making the gesture of sympathetic grief.

“Roofaya... I’m Kessica Rolko.” She said in perfect Jssfloon. “My sadness is a deep trench...” She met her eyes, radiating tragedy. “I... I...” Her face crumpled a little. “I’m devastated that this has happened to your family!” She took a moment to gulp internally, and hugged herself. “Thank you, for allowing us to attend and pay our respects.”

The widow hovered quietly as Kessie spoke, interest and gratitude merging with the profound sadness in her eyes. She noted the appropriate hand gesture. She reached out and brushed an upper hand briefly on Kessie's cheek while her lower hands formed 'gratefulness'. "Thank you for coming. I'm sure Ofrin would have been glad to have such a kind and thoughtful girl at his ceremony."

Kessie’s face crumpled further at Roofaya’s words, and more invisible tears were added to the sea.

She floated aside, making way for others.

(Admittedly there was a whole section with Pie here that was pretty adorable. But I edited down a bit to be a manageable size and focus on the bits relevant to the illustration. A pic from an RP with Artoveli . Kessie Tertio and Anne belong to her and she wrote their bits. While the Jssfloon Rover and Flyspur are mine and I wrote for them. )