Cor Jaffel: Origins
Loss
The sun had just set as she set the last rock she had found upon the cairn. This wasn't the first time she had lost someone, nor was it the first grave she had made, but the unforgiving surface of this random haven she found herself stranded on would not give way to the makeshift shovel her simian crewmate, Braze, had made for her that morning. Rocks would have to suffice. She had been piling rocks for hours, but she couldn't find any more. So, she simply stood there and stared.
"Hey!"
She already knew he was coming, and knew it was Braze. His powerful gate could be felt, and the metallic artifice keeping him alive and vibrant made a slight hum that anyone could hear out here in the thin air of the astrosphere. She turned to look over her shoulder, just enough to acknowledge him, but without breaking the trance she had found herself in since last night.
"I found some more rocks. And some food, I think."
Hearing himself out loud, Braze felt as foolish as he believed he sounded, but he wasn't very good at comforting others and really didn't think there was anything useful to say anyway. Somehow, the two of them survived. But, what they lost made their survival bittersweet at best.
"Thanks."
Braze was almost surprised to hear her voice; she hadn't spoken to him since just after the crash, when she realized she survived. The simian rested one of his powerful hands upon her shoulder. He expected her to shrug away, but she didn't.
"I know you made me promise, but…"
As Braze began to speak, she walked towards the cairn with the stones he had brought her.
"She made me promise, too." Braze blurted the rest of it out before he forever lost the chance to get it off his chest.
Braze wanted to say more, but he sensed his friend's thoughts were far away, at a time before.
