Video - Open

[lionunchained]

[Video opens with Shiro outside. It looks like it generically outside almost as though he had attempted to try and make it harder for him to be found, but in the background, a glownie wanders by at a distance if someone is really paying attention so that at least put him near the pasture]

So I’ve been doing some thinking recently and I know... it's kind of morbid to be bringing up. But I’m curious to know what other people’s thoughts on death are. Like, is there something after it? And... if you lost someone and never got say goodbye, will you eventually get that chance? Or is that chance gone?

Comments

[cannot_flinch]

Where I am from there is a whole group that studies death. Thanatonauts. They die on purpose to see what is in that second between life and death. Because Guardians can be resurrected.

From my own personal experience with the deaths of those close to me I do not think goodbye would help. They are gone and you continue. The continuing is the more important part. It honors them.

[lionunchained]

Really? I'd never even thought something like that was possible. So then at least for them, there is something after it. Coming back at least.

Yeah... it is. It's not like these thoughts are going to stop me from continuing, but it was... unexpected... and complicated.

[cannot_flinch]

It is in my world though most Guardians don't go into in field. There are risks to seeking out death.

The hardest deaths to accept are the ones we did not anticipate.

[hadthehighground]

In my galaxy, it's always been understood that when one dies, they become one with the Force.

I've only recently learned that those of us strong in the Force can learn to preserve our consciousness after death. Something I am meant to learn, but coming here disrupted that.

[lionunchained]

The Force? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that.

[hadthehighground]

It’s what we Jedi draw our power from. An energy that resides in all living things and binds us all together. It’s what gives us life, and our life energy returns to it when we die.

[beholding_archivist]

[ Oh, such a fun topic. ]

Death is... hm.

I used to think about it a long for a while. I lost people in my life that I never got to say goodbye to, yes. My parents, for one, because I was too young at that time. My grandmother when I was studying in London and couldn't afford the trip in time to meet her. One of my assistants got- Replaced... And we didn't notice it until months later. When I found the tapes she recorded when... It happened.

[ He pauses there and sighs. ]

And then people just... Kept dying. Even me. I was... Physically dead. For six months. I dreamed during that time. But death... It's also... On my version of Earth Death also used to be something else. The End or Terminus. The Coming End That Waits For All And Cannot Be Ignored. It is the one Dread Power that eventually will claim everything and leave nothing behind.

For my world the answer was simple: Death was the end. Unless their souls were bound by supernatural means, but these souls were left to suffer until properly released. The rules are likely to differ for your world.

[lionunchained]

[Shiro listened quietly, patiently as he spoke. It sounded very familiar to him]

It feels rather strange for me to be thinking about it this way. I also lost my parents when I was far too young. And then... I was the one who was supposed to die. So I've never really worried about my own death. I've known that it was lurking right around the corner.

But this last one... somehow I never considered...

[beholding_archivist]

As I said, it might be different for your world. But back on my Earth, I got to talk to a young man who's soul had been bound to a book when he passed away.

He wished for nothing more than to be released and made me promise to take his page and burn it. He said it hurt... Being like that.

[orangewayfinder]

[Terra had thought on this a lot while in the Darkness after his Master had died. But then he got another chance to see him and speak with him before he disappeared into the light with Master Xehanort.]

In my world, they move into the Light. But..I like to think they wait to talk to you again.

[Not that he knows this for sure.]

[lionunchained]

I see. I kind of hope that there is the chance to talk to them again, but then again I'm not sure what I'd say.

[orangewayfinder]

[He was quiet because he hadn't known what to say to his Master either, other than he was sorry, he missed him and wished so much could've been different.]

Maybe you could tell them what's in your heart.

[ezra_of_lothal]

I talked to my parents after they died. Just the once, really briefly.

[Well, twice, technically, but that was either a doorway into the past or into another timelines. He's not quite sure.]

But then, yes, as Master Kenobi said, I believe the energy of consciousnesses stopped being something separate and became one with the Force - that is to say everything.

[lionunchained]

So you were able to speak to them before they became part of the Force? Is that something that happens often?

[ezra_of_lothal]

That's what is felt like to me. I'm sure some people would say it was just a dream, but I felt them, like I do people who are alive, and I was awake.

I wish I had a good answer to whether it happens often.

I think they held on because they knew I really needed to hear that they were proud of me. That things were already changing, and I was going to have to stay strong, but that there was hope. And they had to wait until I was ready to hear all that from them.

Video

[holtfinder]

Where I'm from, the spirits of elves that die gather at the crystal palace. They can still be with those they loved, even if they cannot touch. I...keep meaning to visit, to see the spirit of my daughter, Crescent, but haven't...the time hasn't been right.

[She shifts uncomfortably.]

Here, though. Here, I don't know what will happen if I die. Where my spirit will go, if it's able to leave Temba at all.

[lionunchained]

Ah, I see. It is good that you have the ability to still see them. Perhaps when you leave, you can go see her.

[Time was always one of those elusive things. There's so much of it, but then none at all]

I hope that if we did, we would go back to our homes and whatever awaited us there.

[holtfinder]

We can both hope that, but there's no way to be certain. In the meantime, the best plan is not to die.

What got you thinking about it in the first place?

[hisfathersimage]

They hang around and give you unwanted advice on things and then refuse to answer your questions about the things you really need to know about but you never get to see the people you really, desperately want to again.

[ Someone's feeling a bit sorry for himself today. ]

I just wish I could have told them I love them and I'm sorry and I get it.

[lionunchained]

[Sorry, he has a feeling that he's at least somewhat serious about that, but it is rather amusing and he is going to chuckle]

Yeah, I know the feeling. There's a lot I wish I cold have said.

[hisfathersimage]

[ Luke gives him a bit of a grin. It is sort of ridiculous. ]

All the Jedi I know who have died hang around at home. And a couple I don't really know who seem to have Opinions. But my Aunt and Uncle... they're gone.

[kyley_b]

Ah, jeez, dude.

Logically I think that they're just gone. Like, there's nothing after, this is it.

On the other hand... I am pretty sure that I've seen legit ghosts before. So. Fuck, I dunno.

I hope we get to see our loved ones again.

[lionunchained]

Yeah, I hope that we get to as well. But I think that is all we can do. Hope.

[video]

[the_tailor]

Ah...

[All things considered, he has an inkling of why Shiro might be asking about this, considering what he's learned about his personal life.]

I want to believe there's something after. Or maybe, that we're reborn? It's hard to say.

[To be honest, despite his dangerous life and throwing himself into the worst of it, death still scares him. More so the deaths of those he loves.]

I mean, I sorta kinda died once, but it was super quick so I didn't exactly make it to the light and find out just what does happen. And as for your last question... I don't know. Maybe we will get that chance again, if there's an after. It's hard to say. I hope there is one, even if just a brief one.

[lionunchained]

[For Shiro, death wasn't really something that he feared when it came to himself. It was something that he feared for others. He didn't like the idea of losing some else.

But on that note, he has immediate priorities]

When did you die? It wasn't that time in the castle with Sendak?