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[Furtuka]

Julius pushed Leo's hand away, and kept staring at the ground. In a fit he tossed his mask to the ground beside him and and smashed his fist into the mud.

"God dammit... it's not suppose to be this way."

[Blade Master Model 42]

Sheila lifted a hand, and took a half step forward before letting her hand drop back to her side. No. He didn't want to be consoled. "...Things happen outside our control. That's just something that happens sometimes. Sorry." It sounded cold once the words were out. But what could she say? You'll save the next one? You can save everybody so long as you get real strong? Those were the dreams of children.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Undeterred, Leo put his hand on Julius's shoulder again and continued to heal him.

"I'll give you space if you need it, once your wounds are healed. Until then, please bear with me."

[Sirus]

Grifen continued to kneel by Eleanor's body, wiping away the occasional silent tear. She hadn't known the other woman very well, and the nomad didn't exactly have the fondest memories of her, but Eleanor had been a part of the group which was reason enough to mourn for her passing.

With a small sniff, the nomad rose to her feet and began gathering flowers to place on Eleanor's body. Masallan traditions called for burial, rather than the cremation that Leo seemed to be planning, but she needed something to do and Sheila already had the wood-gathering down pat.

[SeriousConcentrate]

(I'm just going to assume a lot of wood has been gathered by now due to lack of posting.)

Julius's wounds healed, Leo began gathering the amount of wood that had been brought and started making a platform of it. Once it was formed, he picked Sara up and placed her upon it, then began piling wood around her as well.

"...Grifen, Julius, would you like to help? You don't have to if you don't want to."

[Sirus]

Grifen held out a small bunch of flowering plants that she had gathered.

: "Back home, we put folks in the ground with flowers and bury 'em. These ain't anything fancy, and I'm pretty sure some of 'em are weeds...but is it okay if they go with her? And shouldn't we get everyone else up here?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo blinked.

"...Forgive my saying so, but putting the dead in the ground doesn't make sense to me. You need to burn the body away to free the soul and allow it to join the Dragon, or so we're taught."

"But yes, it will be fine to put them with her. I've heard of cases where people have burnable possessions or incense cremated with their bodies, so they can take it with them or for blessings. I'm sure she would appreciate the gesture."

He patted Grifen's shoulder.

"You can gather everyone if that's what you would prefer to do. She was one of us, so we should all see her off. I'll wait we're all gathered to light the pyre."

[Haspen]

Now that a funeral pyre, in accordance to church rites, was being piled up, Matilda left their irksome 'allies' and went to investigate. She stopped when she noticed the masked one on the ground.

"...Oh. She's dead?" Matilda furrowed her brows, staring at the lifeless corpse. She then looked at Yonn, who apparently was dismissing some of his men away.

Matilda's grip on her lance tightened, so hard her knuckles turned white.

"He's lucky I haven't found out earlier." She let out a sound similar to a hissing snake. "Leo, faster with the rites, please. I'm not going to stay here all day for just one fallen comrade." With those words and voice of no emotion, Matilda turned around and slowly walked downards.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"One doesn't hurry matters such as these..."


Leo sighed.

[Haspen]

Matilda stopped, (un)fortunately hearing these words. She turned by 180 degrees and approached Leo.

"Leo, we need to talk for a moment." She spoke and then walked few feet away, indicating she wanted a hush-hush conversation, not in front of the people.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo stood and made his way over.

"What is it?"

[Haspen]

"Look, I agree that funeral rites and proper burial is all proper and required but you should be aware that we might lose companions in the long run. No one's immortal." She rubbed her forehead, not used to this kind of talk.

"And that after we're done with my task, there will be more than enough time to both celebrate the victory and mourn for the our fallen comrades. Do you understand? Now we have to be quick and find out who's pulling tricks on us, lest something more terrible than this misunderstanding befall us and you will have to play burial priest for several more of us. If you really need to perform the rites, at least, I don't know, use the shorter version or skip the pompous parts."

[Sirus]

Grifen shrugged.

: "Ain't a lot of trees on the plains, so there ain't a lot of wood. Not fer burnin' people, anyway. 'Sides, it makes the grass grow better, which means the herds get more to eat."

She sprinkled her assorted blooms and weeds over Eleanor's body as Matilda led Leo away, trying not to look at the uncovered face of the wyvern rider. She really didn't want to see what lay behind that strange mask, for fear that it might set her sobbing all over again.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"I understand that people pass on, Matilda. As we speak there is an old man succumbing to age, a soldier bleeding out on the field, a still birth. Death is the order of things, and it cannot be stopped, only delayed. I know better than you what mortality is; I have attended to the dying many times and I've held more funerals than you have, I'm sure."

She probably didn't even know her father didn't have long left due to illness, and that she only had another decade or two left to her. He wasn't going to mention it, though; Sigismund had asked him to keep it secret, and so he would.

"Regardless, we have time, now, while Yonn is taking care of his own fallen men. And though we may have got off on a bad foot, I know that there was good in Eleanor, and even if there wasn't she was still a human being. I will not disrespect her memory, but even so all there is left to do is burn the pyre and gather the ashes afterward. We're waiting for everyone that wants to attend to do so. You may stay, if you like. Or not. I understand we're all just bodies to be thrown at the Empire to you anyway, and the sooner we die off the less you have to pay us."

Leo turned around and walked back to the pyre.

[Haspen]

Matilda scoffed at Leo but didn't reply, waving a hand at his last words.

"You will be paid as soon as we finish." She said to his back. Then, she turned around on her heels and walked down the hill.