A Final Farewell://Until We Meet Again

[nina]

The War of the Amethyst had ended just over two weeks ago, and Nina Foster had come to say a final farewell. She managed to barter passage from another Southern ship with an emerald that she had smuggled off the Emerald Isle over a month ago. It seemed so much longer ago than that; almost a whole other lifetime ago. Nina shook her head from the thought. The war and they Amethyst were the last things she wanted to think about now.

The Red River Graveyard seemed peaceful enough. A few leaves crackled under Nina’s boots, no birds were singing, and she couldn’t see nor hear the presence of another person in the cemetery. Nina hadn’t been in Sanara in so long, not to mention Danarta itself. The wind blew through the yard, bring a yellow parchment to Nina’s feet. Nina picked it up as she continued walking the path and found herself staring at her own face.

Wanted: Nina Elizabeth Foster
Murder of Vance Immanuel Colvin
Height: 5’5 – 5’7
Weight: 118lbs – 125lbs
Short Brown Hair
Blue Eyes
Fair Complexion
Armed and Dangerous
*Reward*

A smile played about her lips. Nina was staring down at her own wanted poster. She crumbled the paper up and left it on the ground. Danarta was in turmoil right now; they are leaderless. Nina doubted that anyone cared, or even remembered Nina Foster. Funny how life worked out.

Nina turned off the cobblestone path as she found the Colvin’s burial grounds. Suddenly, Nina felt a lump form in her throat, and she tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down her face. All these years, the memory of Vance had dwelt in the back of her mind, but now it pushed itself forward. She shook her head again. She didn’t come here to cry or to mourn, but to say goodbye. She had lived in the past for too long, and it was time to move forward. She had to move on.

Vance Immanuel Colvin
Loving Son and Brother
May you rest in Peace after your Untimely Death

Nina had found Vance’s grave, and suddenly, her legs refused to support her. She knelt on the ground, and supported herself from completely lying on the ground with her hand on the headstone.

She found herself unable to speak as she wanted to, but in her heart, she knew this would be her final farewell.

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[Jarad]

(Mind if I join?)

[nina]

[[not at all, please do I ment to put "OPEN" at the top XD]]

[Lyneya Oceanheart]

Lyneya was standing nearby. Though she rarely entered graveyards, for fear of the amount of lingering souls to be found within them, Lyneya had seen Nina go into the Red River Graveyard, and followed her. At first, Lyneya believed she had gone in search of the man she once called her King. Though Khalora's body had left the knowledge of the south when his body was left upon the White Warrior, most probably to be dumped in the ocean along with the other bodies, save for those of the Northerners, which would be frozen, as was their custom.

But the statue that was placed among the other Southerner Kings was not where Nina Foster walked. Instead she went far into the graveyard, past trees that seemed to reach out to grab Lyneya into a wooded section that seemed to be far less frequented than the other sections of the graveyard.

Lyneya stood for a moment, forcing most of the ghosts of men and women and children long dead from her mind and watched Nina. She looked so beautifully sad as she stood and looked at the wearied gravestone. Lyneya could not read the name on it, but she didn't need to. Nina's movements said more than any words could. She knelt before the grave of the person she had once loved and rested close enough for her to almost embrace the gravestone itself as the last remnant of the man she loved.

Lyneya decided it best to walk forward, to reveal her presence. She didn't mean to intrude on Nina, she hadn't seen her since the war over the Amethyst, and perhaps it was fate, or a different force that had drawn them both here. She walked closer and stood behind Nina, not touching her. She wasn't sure if Nina and her could be considered friends. Lyneya had never realised how much she wanted friends, and having never had one before, beside her mother, Lyneya wasn't sure when she would actually be able to call another person a friend.

"Saying goodbye has always been one of the hardest things to do." Lyneya said, looking more at the ground than Nina, wondering what response she would recieve. "But it's the curse that goes with saying hello, because everything we greet we have to part with. Everything has to end, and even the strongest bond of all, human love, is severed in the forces of life and death."

Lyneya looked up at the back of Nina's head. "But what if I could tell you that saying goodbye could be made easier?"

[Jarad]

Geddo sighed, he wasn't sure why he was at this graveyard, but he was. He hadn't noticed the girl who he had met during the search for the stone, and he really didn't notice anyone else at the graveyard. He wasn't sure if the southerners were going to allow pirates into their lands, but who cared? He was a pirate, he doesn't go by any laws except his own.

[nina]

Nina closed her eyes and sucked in her breath as she felt the presence of another behind her. Any thoughts of goodbye vanished for the moment, as a fear set in that her identity had been noticed by Southern Law. The last thing she wanted was another man's blood upon her hands...

But it was a woman's voice that broke the silence. Lyneya... Nina's eyes fluttered open as she listened to her words.

"But would if I could tell you that saying goodbye could be made easier?"

Nina removed her hand from Vance's grave, stood with her back to Lyneya, and recomposed herself before turning to face her. "We were never supposed to say goodbye. We were going to live forever or die together; there was no other option. This damn war brought our dream to a halt, and before it was over, someone murdered -" Nina choked on her words.

She touched the sword that still hung at her waist, fingering the embellishment that circled its way around the hilt. "You know, I didn't even get my goodbye until now. They though I did it! That I could kill the man I loved!" It was hard to hold back the tears though her sprawling words.

"Don't tease me, Lyneya. There's nothing that can make this goodbye easier... I don't even want to say goodbye." Nina's voice had returned to normal, but there was an odd look on her face and in her eyes: A longing, regret, remorse, and a long-forgotten memory. "Sometimes I wish I could just join him, wherever he is now... but, ironically, I don't believe in life after death." She shook her head and stopped talking as she came to realize she was talking nonsense.

"What are you doing here, Lyneya? Why are you in Sanara?"

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[Lyneya Oceanheart]

Lyneya looked Nina directly in the eye. Though Nina was in control of the situation, Lyneya knew so many things she did not. Her face was wet, as if she had been crying, but Lyneya admired how much of a strong face Nina put on. Lyneya could only hope to be able to do that. She had cried too much in the past, it felt like nothing could phase her anymore.

Lyneya took a step forward, though she wasn't sure if it would work. "Dreams never turn out the way we want them to, Nina, because plans are weak in the way of fate and nothing ever works the way we want them to. But we have to make the most of what we have, and sometimes goodbyes are inevitable."

Lyneya stole a moment to look across at the dead ghost of Vance, standing so close to Nina and yet she could not feel his touches. She was oblivious to his being there. Lyneya looked back at Nina before continuing.

"Goodbyes have never been easy, and never will be. But hiding goodbyes inside you won't work either." Lyneya took a deep breath, she had said things like this to so many people, and so often they didn't believe her, and she was rejected, or shunned by tear filled yells or attacked. "How much would you give to see Vance, and speak to him one more time?"

[nina]

Nina took a step back as Lyneya approached her. She spoke the last words Nina wanted to hear, though in her heart, Nina knew she was right. But Lyneya being right made no difference.

What is she staring at? She's speaking in riddles. Just who is this girl? Nina's thoughts and confusion were racing. She knew so little about Lyneya, yet, Lyneya seemed to know so much more about her.

But Lyneya was still talking. A handful of emotions were swirling inside Nina. "What do you know of goodbye's Lyneya Oceanheart?! You don't know me, you don't know anything! Why do you plague my heart with questions and ideas that cannot come true!?" Nina was enraged, and her voice was like venom. Had Lyneya been a stranger, Nina might have struck her.

Nina shook her head violently, and tried to catch her breath and regain some composure; but the memories of Vance, and Nina's hopes were too much. "You want the truth? I would give my life; sell my soul to the devil - anything to see him, to talk to him, to feel him one more time." Her anger subsided, and Nina ran a hand through her thick tresses.

In a soft voice, she said, "But those things are impossible. Vance is dead. He's gone. There are no real goodbyes, no more chances, no last requests.” Nina’s blue eyes were staring off into some unknown space. They were so far away.

Nina looked back at Lyneya, who was still staring at her. “Who are you to toy with me, flaunting the impossible?" she asked audaciously.

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[Henry]

Geddo listened to the two girls conversation, because they seemed to be talking about the dead or something. He sighed and walked over to them to try and lighten up the mood the only way a Pirate knows how. With Sake.

Geddo walked over to the two, "Evening ladies. Is something wrong?" HE asked them. His sword on his belt. He wanted to know what was wrong, seeing as the two girls had been on the same side as he.

[Lyneya Oceanheart]

Lyneya, for a long moment had stood simply looking over at Nina Foster. She had never seen Nina truly angry, but Lyneya was no stranger to anger. For the first time Nina had seen, Lyneya was standing her ground, unflinchingly looking at the woman that was so angry with her. Lyneya didn't kneel down and cry, like she had so many times before. Nina had shown her that crying would achieve nothing. Lyneya had finally learned that. So, with dry eyes she simply looked at Nina as she spoke words dripping with acid to her. They were only words, after all.

But as quickly as it had come, Nina's rage seemed to disappear, replaced by a soft, sad voice. Nina was a melancholy person, Lyneya had learned that. She was, in Lyneya's eyes, patient and always sad, now Lyneya might be able to finally give her something for all the advice and guardianship Nina had given her.

Lyneya, always aware of Vance standing next to her, eager to talk to Nina, opened her mouth to speak.

But her words were cut short by the Pirate King walking into the clearing. Lyneya looked down at the ground, annoyance flooding her head.

[nina]

Lyneya hadn't moved the entire time though Nina's outburst. Looking at her now, Lyneya still met her eyes, and Nina almost felt a twinge of regret for yelling at her. She was just trying to help after all. From what Nina remembered, Lyneya had some power that manipulated the minds and dreams of others; she had done something to the ice warrior on the Isle de Meuna from what Nina recalled.

Perhaps there was something more to Lyneya than Nina could see. A whole world of the unknown existed that Nina denied and Lyneya could penetrate. Of course, Nina would not allow herself to think of such things, get her hopes up, prepare herself for disappointment... she'd had enough.

...but would if there was some way to speak to Vance again? Could he -- could he tell me who his murderer is? The reason behind the massacre? That would be too much to hope for, I suppose. And it would leave me with the inevitable obligation to avenge Vance's death and add another pint of blood to that already upon my hands… Nina thought as she stared down at her worn, masculine hands; They had lost their femininity along time ago.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nina caught sight of another approaching them. Her thoughts vanished, as well as the desolate emotion that lined her face for it was replaced with a cold stare toward the approaching man. Nina's memory jarred as she recognized the pirate she had met during the Amethyst War a few weeks ago. His name played on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't gather it.

"Everything is fine, though I hardly see how either way the situation pertains to you," Nina said tartly. A glance toward Lyneya, and Nina noted how the man's presence aggravated her as well.

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[Henry]

Geddo seemed to flinch, "Your words sting miss. If you don't recall, we where on the same side when trying to get rid of that stone. Not all pirates are brutes and womenizers." He said to them. He bowed to them, "But it is an honor to meet you two off the battle field. I wish to know your names, and maybe a drink of Rum to celebrate that we stopped many more from dieing. Though I do feel sorrow for those of us who have gone." He said as he turned and looked at the southern King's grave. "He was a friend in deed." HE said quitely to himself, his words only being heard by those who listened to the winds.

[Lyneya Oceanheart]

[ooc: Jarad can you start using your Jarad log in when using Geddo's character, please?]

Lyneya looked up at Nina for a second while Geddo spoke. Her face trying its hardest to look impassive. Geddo was right, he had saved them once, though as she heard it, it wasn't really Geddo that had destroyed the Amethyst. The Amethyst never really was destroyed, but it was beyond the reach of Humans. Even the Elves knew very little about what happened below the ocean, and Lyneya doubted the Mermaids would care much about it. It was just a pretty gem to them.

"I don't drink." Lyneya said shortly, moving to the side a bit, a clear indication that she had no intention of talking to the Pirate King. She no doubt appeared somewhat stuck up in the movement, but Lyneya had never really cared much for how people viewed her. Chances of her meeting the Pirate King again were fairly slim.

She found a fallen down tree and sat on it, crossing her legs and watching the Pirate King and Nina Foster. She could wait patiently until the King had said what he had come to say, though she could see Vance trying to reach out to Nina; trying to hold her close to him, like he had been for as long as Lyneya had known her. Lyneya wondered if Nina had ever felt his touches. Felt his love crossing the endless border between the living and the dead. Love was the only true bond left between the two realms.

[nina]

Nina stole a glance at Lyneya when she replied to the Pirate. Clearly, Lyneya wasn't much of a socialist, and Nina couldn't help but almost laugh at her reluctance to even look at Geddo. Looking back at the Pirate herself, Nina shook her head. "As much as I could use a drink right now, I know now is not the time. Two, I cannot celebrate that a few people did not lose their lives in the stupid war... there are too many who did, too many people who are grieving, and too many people who wish for war to continue. There will always be bloodshed. The time to celebrate is very far away."

As Nina spoke, the images of the battle upon the white ship raced across her mind. The death of the Southern King, and the countless cadavers that desecrated the sea still danced across her imagination, and the lifeless corpse of Vance haunted her thoughts. Vance had little to do with the war, except oppose it as strongly as Nina herself. He left this world before the war could reach them permanently. Perhaps he was lucky; maybe Nina should be grateful. As strong as he was, his heart could not take the massacres that have plagued the land since his death.

It is the memory of Vance that kept Nina going. Until the day she died, she would fight against this war that the two lovers had fought against together many years ago. Nina could almost feel his strength, could almost feel his courage, could almost feel his love... yet it is Nina's doubt that burdened the connection between them - between her world and his.

"Nina's the name," she said shortly, interrupting her own thoughts that had run away with her. She extended her hand politely enough.

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[Jarad]

Geddo nodded, "I know that war and death are hard to cope with, and if you don't wish to have a drink with thee, that is fine to. I just came to give my respects to the Southern King and the others who have fallen in this war." HE said as he took a swig of Sake from a bottle he had just happened to have on him. "I can see that I am intruding on you two, so if you don't mind, I shall be leaving so you two can deal with what you came to deal with without a pirate here to ruin it." He said with a laugh and started to walk away. He didn't come here with any other pirates and so he had one small boat to go to. He started his way to it.