Beyond the Celestial Cradle

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Akira110
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Re: Beyond the Bounds

#16 Post by Akira110 »

Chapter 15

Yoshiro awoke and found that he could only see out of his right eye, he immediately looked over at his right arm and noticed that it was a cybernetic arm. He sighed and moved the arm around, as a nurse walked over to him, "Captain, your suit saved your life, it put you into a state of hibernation in order to slow your pulse down and staunch the bleeding." Yoshiro nodded slightly, "Where's the body?" The nurse looked around, "What body do you mean?" Yoshiro sighed, and sat up, "We need something to bury when we get back home, don't you think?" The nurse blinked, "Oh, you mean Walthari? He's in the morgue, we recovered his body and his mech." Yoshiro nodded and moved his legs to the side of the bed and the nurse spoke up, "Where do you think you're going?" Yoshiro looked at her, "I'm going to his quarters, you can either help me, or get out of my way."

The nurse gasped slightly as Yoshiro climbed out of the bed, he used his cybernetic arm to steady himself, though he knew that he had to have gone through a blood transfusion, his body was still slightly weakened from the sedative that his medical implants had injected. He used the arm to help him get out of the infirmary and on the way, he picked up an eyepatch, removing the bandages over his eye as he walked out. He walked down to the lift and once there, he pressed the button that would call the lift as he leaned against the wall, placing the eye patch over his left eye. He watched as the lift doors opened and walked into the lift, slumping against the railing as his energy returned to him, "Living Quarters." He sighed as the lift doors closed and looked at his cybernetic arm, he closed his hand into a fist and sighed slightly, "So this is what I get, huh?"

The lift doors opened quickly, and Yoshiro walked out of it and down the hallway, towards Walthari's room. Pain starting to enter his mind as the sedatives started to wear off completely, but he didn't care as he used his cybernetic arm to steady himself. Suddenly something grabbed his left arm, "You don't have to go alone." Yoshiro recognized the voice as Freja's, "You're welcome to accompany me if you want." Freja wrapped his left arm around her, "Use me to steady yourself." Yoshiro nodded at the Mus and allowed her to help him to Walthari's room. The door was locked, but Yoshiro placed in the override password, causing the door to open, "Hah, still remember that. I had that installed in case of an emergency." Freja helped Yoshiro into the room, and Yoshiro leaned against a wall, scanning around the room, "He really didn't want any luxuries. Took that a little too seriously."

He sighed slightly as he thought of Walthari, and Freja looked at him as she sat down on the floor, "Something you want to get off your chest?" Yoshiro chuckled slightly, "Well, I remember the time he first went berserk. It wasn't long after Katriina had died and I assumed my duties fully as a member of the royal family for the sea elves. At the time, I didn't know what happened, I saw my little brother and a lot of people hated him for some reason. He was scared, there were too many people for him to fight, and I came to him armed, causing him to attack." Yoshiro opened up his uniform's jacket, revealing his bare chest underneath and he ran his finger across four scars, "He clawed me in the chest, got me good in the back too, but I didn't care. I hugged him, he was my little brother and I loved him and didn't want to see him get hurt."

Freja nodded, "There's more to this story, isn't there?" Yoshiro nodded, "When he calmed down, he apologized profusely, I didn't care, but that's when the townspeople found us, he was being blamed for the murder of one of their own. Walthari was frightened, he didn't know what to do and he was just as scared of them as he was of himself. He didn't want to get hurt and as it turned out later, I'd find out, that he didn't kill anyone. But I didn't know that at the time, I stood up against the crowd and looked them square in the eyes. I told them that if they wanted to get to him, that they'd have to get through me, that as the prince of the Sea Elves, I was placing him under my protection and attacking me would provoke a war." Freja smiled slightly, "You're a good man, Yoshiro, that's why I like being around you."

Yoshiro nodded, "I was scared at the time." He moved over to the bed and sat next to Freja, "Walthari taught me that to be brave isn't to deny the fact that you're scared. It's to do the right thing in spite of the fact that you're scared. He taught me a lot, over the course of my life. You think you get used to the fact that people around you die, but this is the first person in my life that died how they wanted to go." Freja blinked slightly, "What do you mean?" Yoshiro sighed and laid back on the bed, "Walthari died a true hero, he gave his life so that I could risk my own, just so I could save all the people on that planet. He's going to be celebrated in death, when he wasn't celebrated in life, and honestly, I think that's what he wanted, for people to celebrate what he did, instead of fearing what he was."

Lilah's voice spoke up, "According to his will, that's exactly what he wanted, so we're heading back to Verbana, when's the funeral going to be?" Yoshiro sighed, "Whenever we get a statue for Walthari, he deserves a hero's burial." Freja nodded, "I concur, but Yoshiro, you have to admit that you're becoming a hero, yourself." Yoshiro nodded slightly, "I guess I am. This is the first time I fired a shot and didn't kill anyone. It feels nice not having killed anyone for a change. Lilah, hand me his will, please." Lilah handed over the datapad and Yoshiro read over it, the will wasn't too particularly long, but Yoshiro smiled at how Walthari really did want to be remembered, "Brother, you'll be remembered as a hero, this much I promise you. I'll make sure of it."
Been around this forum for over 8 years now. Everyone I've known has left, now it's my time to do the same.

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Akira110
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Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:43 pm
Location: Somewhere around Verbana
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Re: Beyond the Bounds

#17 Post by Akira110 »

Epilogue

Three months had passed and Yoshiro stood in front of a statue of Walthari, there was a hole in front of it. He walked over to the casket that held his brother's corpse in it, his left eye had since healed, but he still had his cybernetic arm. He looked at the body, Walthari looked so peaceful, more so than he ever had in his entire life, this brought Yoshiro a sense of peace, knowing that his brother was at rest in the wheel of reincarnation. He smiled slightly, "Rest well, little brother, I hope you have a more enjoyable next life." He turned around and walked over to the Podium, tapping the microphone with his right hand, "Excuse me, may I have your attention?" Everyone looked at him, and Yoshiro sighed slightly, "Thank you."

He smiled at the sight of thousands having gathered here, he was a little nervous as he wasn't used to doing ceremonial things any more, but he summoned up his courage, "Thank you all for gathering here, it means a lot to me and I know it would mean a lot to my brother. I know that some of you only four hundred years ago hated him, but thank you for coming today. Walthari as you all know wasn't always the great man he died as. He was a war blood and the grandson of the Lupine Deity of war, but upon forcibly learning about that through his own personal awakening, he rejected it. He didn't like it, the man was a true son of Minako, her influence spread through him, just like his biological parents wanted."

Yoshiro turned his head to look at the casket, "Walthari was a man of honor, he wanted to use his abilities to protect those that couldn't defend themselves. He loved his friends and family, he leaves behind a centauress widow and centaur step children, but he doesn't want them to be saddened by his loss. He wanted them to be happy that he lived and died how he wanted, that in his last moments, he was happy." One person spoke up, "And what were his last moments?" Yoshiro closed his eyes and smiled, "He sacrificed himself to buy me enough time to save millions of lives, this man is the true hero you see before your eyes. I'm just the person he used his last action to give the chance of saving others." The man nodded, "He sounds like a true hero."

Yoshiro nodded, "What none of you actually know though is that Walthari trained under Master Erasmus, he was taught how to control his rages and eventually attained complete control to let him use Mana during these states. He rarely used his berserker state at this point unless he absolutely needed to use his mana, never for anything else." Another person spoke up, "Walthari is a lot more different than we thought." Yoshiro nodded and walked over to the casket, he smiled and tears streamed down his face, "This is good bye for now, little brother, these people, upon learning your deeds, see you as a true hero." Yoshiro placed a flower from a basket near the casket onto Walthari's body and closed the casket.

He stepped away as the casket was lowered into the ground, he tried to hold back his tears, but they started to flow full force. He watched as the dirt was placed back into the hole and smoothed out. He walked back over to the podium and pulled out a stone with a plaque on it, on it said, "Here Lies Walthari Jaeger. Born 15 AVL, died 580 AVL. Father, friend, brother, son, and most of all, the greatest Hero of this Generation." He sighed and placed it in front of Walthari's grave, he watched as the crowd looked at it and started to walk away, except for Killian. Killian stood there and sighed, "This is what my brother would've wanted, Yoshiro, thank you so much." Yoshiro hugged Killian, "He's our brother, Killian. He always was our brother and always will be. Hopefully when we're all reincarnated, we'll be siblings once again."

Killian nodded slightly, "Let's go down to the pub and drink in celebration of his life and accomplishments, shall we?" Yoshiro smiled and nodded, and as the two of them walked off, Kimiko walked over to Walthari's grave, "I heard your wishes, Walthari and I heard Yoshiro and Killian's. I shall grant you a new life to make the wait for them to join you less tedious. The three of you shall be reborn 1,420 years from now as siblings, whether adoptive once again or biological, I cannot say at this moment, but this much I promise all of you. Though you will have no memories of who you are in your previous lives, you will feel close to each other, this is as much as I can give you and I apologize to the three of you." Walthari's ghost appeared over his grave and nodded, "I understand, Aunt Kimiko. Thank you, and on the behalf of Killian and Yoshiro, I thank you." Kimiko smiled and touched Walthari's ghost, which disappeared, "Then start your life anew, Walthari, as a Kani, this time."
Been around this forum for over 8 years now. Everyone I've known has left, now it's my time to do the same.

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