Embark {Severus' Last}

It is the summer's heat that burns the spear's steel. 

It is the cry of melancholy that rustles in the winds.

It is the hands of Earth that catches his fall. 

It is a lifetime coming to a close. 

Softened fists unfurl into collapsing wings of agony. Pillars of pain replace branches of bones while waters of purity leave dimming eyes. For an instant, there is despair drenched in the chaotic delusion of denial. An urge to find an island of refuge close enough to this drowning vessel. An instinct to stand despite his legs already full of failing feelings. For an instant, there is a belief that Death has not come for its second Ward.

Another body breaks and the sacrifice is finished. The living launder in the fields of mourning while the dying descend further into numbness. The strength of Ronan's hands are almost alien underneath Severus' layer of frosting skin. The sound of his steady breaths so different to the ones laboring from the blonde's bleeding chest. He cannot help but slump onto Percy's side, for there is no searching for the sunset tonight.

Raven's hands catch him as he falls from his saddle in a final failure of life. Where she sets him, his head in her lap beside the billowing edges of the tattered big top, he knows will be where he last lays living. There is a silence in the somberness surrounding his passing, a quiet he wants nothing to do with. It is a silence that invites his mind too much to wander into the valleys of his fears. Like Rory, he needs there to be more than just the sound of wind and tears.

"Thank you."

The small boy's words whisper, his hands finding one of Ronan's and one of Raven's.

"For an adventure I'll never forget." His teeth begin chattering in a dance from the creeping cold.

"For the sunsets."

His hand squeezes Ronan's.

"For the questions."

His hand squeezes Raven's.

"For the songs."

His eyes turn towards the sky in search of Rory's smile.

He feels his hair rustle from the same hand which has rubbed it every day so far. He can hear the muffled sound of Ronan's voice, but the words exist only for the living. He smiles softly as if understanding anyway, for Ronan needs to know he's still happy despite the water on his cheeks. A sudden thought catches Severus' mind. He turns his face towards the girl above him, cradling him as he can feel his heart slowing.

"I'll see Dove for you..." his breath catches between his words in a soft gasp, "so that you don't have to. So that it's okay for you to keep going."

Her face is hidden behind a mirage of mist, but in her eyes he can see the faintest figure of tears that she'll never let fall. He looks away and towards the cloud covered sky. A quiet final song leaves the smooth curves of his lips. His breaths slowly fading into nothing.

"Out in the garden where we planted the seeds
There is a tree as old as me
Branches were sewn by the color of green
Ground had arose and passed it's knees

By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top
I climbed the tree to see the world
When the gusts came around to blow me down
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
I held on as tightly as you held onto me

And, I built a home
For you
For me
Until it disappeared

From me
From you

And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust..."

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The boards creak in a dance with the swaying sea. Grey waters turn in tides of the past as mists muddy with memories cover the sky. Moments of guitar strings and hand drawn sketches hover endlessly on the vast horizon. Meanwhile, the boat moves onward with its course, no captain at its helm or crew under its masts. Only a single sailor stands atop the deck on a lonely journey. However, he senses this is not the ship's maiden voyage.

Within songs of his own voice, Severus spies a shore emerging from the folds of the fog. A dock awaits empty for its arrival as a figure sits with her legs draped over the wood and dangling above the sparkling sea. Her brown hair dances in a light seaside breeze as the sound of anchors splash into the ocean. Severus disembarks staring towards the girl who smiles and stands at his sight. He races into her arms for a swift embrace.

Rory is every bit as real as when he last saw her with his hand entangled with her own. However, she seems more peaceful here. She seems as though calmness has woven itself into the cells of her being. He can't help the smile that turns up his cheeks as they walk down the dock and onto the grey sands.

"Where do we go now?"

He asks as they continue to walk down the colorless shore leaving not even a single footprint behind them. This world is far more mysterious and unknown than the one they have left behind. He doesn't know how the afterlife is supposed to work.

She smiles while she walks, "Somewhere safe, with no pain." She looks towards him with the next detail that floods his body with anticipation. "Your sister's waiting for you."

From behind, the sound of chains turns Severus towards the ship. Its white masts carry it back out and into the misty waters leaving a sense of worry trickling down Severus' spine.

"What about the others? Will they be okay?"

He remembers Ronan's hand and Raven's face above him. How can he just leave them to suffer while he moves on further down the shore? Rory's hand finds his, leading him back to calmness.

"One way or another. We'll see them again."

Severus' worry fades and his curiosity returns. A simple nod flicks his head followed by a renewed smile.

"Okay," he looks down the curves of the grey sanded beach, "lead the way."

The further they venture down the shore, the further he wonders when he'll see her. What he'll say or what he'll do. For years he has dreamed of meeting her again, getting to know the sister that was stolen so long ago. The anticipation spurs words from his mouth.

"Is Kiena close?"

Rory smiles.

"Why don't you go see for yourself."

His mouth widens in excitement as fingers unfurl from her's. He looks at her once more before heading further down the coast.

"Okay. I'll see you soon!"

And he's off.

His feet fly across the grey island as though pain has never punctured his skin. His smile grows as though there has never been a reason to cry. His arms out stretch like angelic wings never having to have played a devil's game.

He is free.

Up ahead a flare of red stuns his sight. Her figure stands atop a causeway of stones surrounded by the lapping sea. She is every bit as beautiful as he remembers, every bit as incredible as his memories of her. And as though she knows that her younger brother has finally found her, she turns towards him with a small smile resting beneath her eyes. She is a single spot of vibrant color on an island of greys.

He runs straight into her arms, wrapping himself in a warmth as wonderful as the sun. Here he finds exactly what he has been looking for. Here he finds home and finds happiness in the words she speaks.

"Severus Ward, I am so proud of you."
 

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Lyrics from
To Build a Home by the Cinematic Orchestra