We Were Waiting

[Jasper]

February 1st, Year 1

"It gets more crazy every day you know. Just a while ago we had another skirmish. It was chaos from what our men told me, one of our council members abandoned them in the field when it got too rough. It was Aladdin, I should have figured he do this. I should have at least thought to have asked more than one of them to go." A hand was scrubbed down Jasper's face as he stared down at the grave before him. It was littered with fresh flowers and few other trinkets. Things that he had brought with him upon his visit. His fingers lightly touched the dirt before another hard breath left him. It felt almost impossible to intake the air he needed.

"Look, this is... really hard for me to do. I know you made me do this with pop when he died, but I can't... I don't know if I can keep doing this, Jo. This is just so hard-" He grimaced, letting his hand rest on his forehead. "This is so hard to deal with now that you're gone. I should have done more to protect you." He muttered to himself. There was just so much guilt he had to deal with now, and he wasn't sure if he could handle it much longer. He found himself fall as silent as the graves around him. His face echoed a perplexed expression.

He felt so lost.

[Shani]

"We all wish we could have done more..."
The words were quiet, carried on the breeze like fallen leaves. Shani lifted her head off of the stone that marked her mother's grave, which Shani herself had marked in her own way so she'd be able to easily find it again.
She wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep there, but she'd woken up when Jasper arrived, listening in silence as he spoke.

"The point is, you're trying your best... we're all trying our best, to keep things together, and keep moving forward despite all of... this," she gave a small flick of her tail to indicate the other graves around them. A soft sigh left the cub's muzzle as she hopped off of the gravestone and walked over to Jasper, plopping down next to him.
"I don't think... it'll ever get easier. But the best we can do right now is help each other, and be there for each other... don't you think?"

[Zamora]

Zamora could not offer words.

She was new to this cause. New to the land, new to everything. She didn't know who Jo was, or who these graves belonged to. But she knew exactly what Jasper was feeling. She knew the feeling of death, the hollow ache it left behind. The feeling of helplessness. Should have done more, should have tried harder...

There's a low thrum from the massive extraterrestrial's chest, and she moves from her standing spot to settle next to the leader-figure. She doesn't touch, but her tail loops lazily around behind him, crossing in front as if to surround him.

An odd gesture, but for her, it was a motion of silent comforting. She seems to be doing her best.

[Hikaru]

Hikaru had been walking along with Zamora keeping an eye on her. While the alien had been in the camp long enough to get familiar with most areas, she was still very injured, and a large, blind alien creature. A few weeks were not enough to heal a missing limb, and certainly not enough to confidently ensure every one in the camp was... comfortable with her.



And so, she needed a chaperone, a duty Hikaru easily volunteered for. Since she was the first being Zamora had encountered she had been unofficially designated as Zamora's baby sitter. So Hikaru followed her around giving her descriptions to the sights she couldn't see, and doing her best to answer Zamora's rough questions.



Hikaru hadn't thought much as they wandered towards the graveyard, merely followed Zamora's lead. When they came upon Jasper and his private grieving Hikaru almost ushered Zamora away to give him space. But then instead, the alien had stepped up alongside Jasper, seemingly giving him comfort in the best way she knew how. So Hikaru stood back and let them have their moment.



Hikaru looked along the many graves of the victims of this war. She felt the sadness of the tragedy, but it was a distant feeling she couldn't really empathize with. Hikaru hadn't experienced much loss. She had no one to grieve beyond her late father, and even then she was a little... numbed to it. She had loved him dearly, he raised and cared for her, but she had never gotten a chance for the death to really impact her. She had been too busy surviving under Sykes, and later when the war broke out... she tried not to feel anything.



Hikaru looked over at the grieving and consoling parties. A part of her wished she could join them. A part of her wondered if she was broken.

[John Silver]

Silver watches from afar, the ursid stood a considerable distance from the currently grieving leader. Silver himself was lucky, he had yet to lose anyone to this stupid war, drastically different from the young prince Kopa and his family. It tugs at his heart at moments, but mostly it was in the back of his mind. Silver hardy knew Simba so it unfortunately didn’t effect him much. He moved  towards his young helper now watching her as she in turn watched  the group. “How is our pit beast holding up today?” He paused  behind Hikaru, his flesh hand gently gripped her shoulder giving it a sort of squeeze in greeting. “You’ve been good at keeping a eye on her” He praises

[Kopa]

Kopa made his way towards the growing group. He took a second to breathe before clearing his throat loudly. "Um, am I interrupting something?" He asked half-heartedly. He barely could keep his eyes open much less talk. He had been awake late every night, never getting any sleep. He hoped no noticed that he had bags under his eyes. He never told anyone he was up late anyway.

[Beast]

The Beast kept his distance for the time being. He was at least a little self-aware; thinking he wouldn’t be able to gracefully handle a moment like this. He’d only turned up recently and so hadn’t gotten attached to anyone in the army yet. Furthermore, he had no one to grieve; not even his parents, who he rarely thought about since their ship went down at sea.

What Beast felt was more of a lingering worry. He knew full well why he’d chosen to travel out here; Beast was determined to protect his home and country. Being so close to the cemetery, he couldn’t help but to think about how he would feel if he lost someone he was close to. Blue eyes fell to his paws before he brought his great head back up. The Beast would not let that happen.

Feeling a sense of bravery, albeit temporarily, the creature’s pads crunched the grass as he strode up close to the others. He didn’t say anything; in fact, it seemed like he was waiting for permission to speak.

[Boso]

Boso had no reason to be here. His family was in Böhmerwald and safe (he hoped), so he had no one to pine for. The roe fawn would have walked on by had he not seen the growing throng of motley Freedom Fighters, including Hikaru and Jasper. Boso's black-tipped ears pricked. What was going on?

He approached the gathering. All around, several upright slabs of stone had been set up in rows. They all had indentations carved in them, like tracks in mud. Jasper had called them "graves." Speaking of which, in the center of the crowd, Jasper was looking down on one.

Oh.

Kopa then cleared his throat before loudly asking if he was "interrupting something."

Boso stared at him in disbelief.

[Jasper]

The silence that he had been seeking was quickly broken by the sound of a child's voice. All too familiar with the way it cracked with sleepiness. Bright orbs of silver and green turned towards Shani, his heart ached at the sight he was met with. She was curled up on her mothers' grave again.

He swallowed hard before he attempted to make any sort of word but he immediately flattered as more people seemed to emerge from nowhere.

Jasper felt uncomfortable with how many individuals were around. He had wanted some semblance of silence with his brother. Such a thing was few and fleeting nowadays, so when everyone came around he felt himself grow tense. Hostility was quickly building but the looming shadow of Zamora had him cast his gaze upward and quickly the tension fell away. Her presence was comforting. Some part of him swore he should have been frightened by her presence but he had already forgiven her for the large healing scar that he now carried across his face. He was thankful for her comfort and a small broken smile graced his lips before he turned his attention back to Shani.

"I swear you get wiser everyday little one." He responded softly to her. His hand settled on the cub's head gently, fingers brushing through the soft tuft of fur that curled over her forehead in a fatherly manner. Both of them had been through much, but Jasper was thankful he could be there for her when he could. He was also thankful that Rafael kept an eye on her too...

The sound of Silver's voice caused him to steal one more glance back towards the growing group, spotting Hikaru, Boso, The Beast and finally Kopa. The clearing of the young adult's throat grated on his frayed nerves. A hard breath was exhaled from his nose, his thumb and index finger pinching the bridge of it though he immediately recoiled from the action. His face still extremely sensitive from the still healing wound.

Teeth gritted in annoyance from both Kopa and the pain he had inflicted on himself before he breathed out sharply. "No. You aren't interrupting anything. Nothing important, anyway." He replied with irritation unable to hide his discontent.

[Shani]

Shani's ears twitched as she heard others approach, but she gave them no mind for the time being, still focused on Jasper. She could almost feel his tension build the more that others arrived out of the blue, for seemingly no reason. She shuffled closer and pressed her forehead against his leg, hoping in some way to provide comfort.

It seemed to work, since he turned his attention back to her, and she felt the soft brushing of his hand on her head. Letting out a soft purr-like noise, she pressed her head into his palm,
"I have good teachers; you, and Rafa, and everyone in the medic tent."

The happy moment was swiftly broken however, when Kopa's irritating tone reached her ears. She cast a sightless glare in his direction, and after hearing Jasper's reply to Kopa's words, she found herself bristling with irritation. Had he no respect for anyone but himself?
"Hey Kopa, how about you go SCREW OFF for once, huh?" She snapped, tail lashing back and forth as she took a few steps toward him, placing herself between Jasper and the lion,
"If you have nothing nice to say, then why do you bother even talking, huh? It's obvious you don't give a damn about anyone else's feelings! "Am I interrupting something?" Why the HELL would you ask something like that!? OF COURSE YOU ARE! YOU INSENSITIVE SON OF A-"
She cut herself off, breathing heavily as tears started to well in her eyes. Letting out a growl, she turned her back on him and sat down next to Jasper,
"Just leave, Kopa."