And The Grave of a Bishop

Instructions

[Please read the notes before reading this] [I'm too lazy to draw right now so take this] For a while after Trash was seized, Nico had gotten into a sort of… trance, so to speak. Sacarver was very aware of this. Of course, the others were too. They just didn’t confront it, trusting that Nico knew what he was doing. But from his blank gaze, Sacarver knew that he didn’t. So one day, Sacarver decides to ask him about it. At first, it was a challenge to just find him. The stone hallways of the towers were silent, save for the occasional citizen scurrying around or Andre trying to practice that spell to use to raise the Glorious Gone. Boring, but comforting. Eventually, Sacarver decided to check the lower parts of the towers, which was where he found Nico. Immediately, they rushed to catch up with him, all plans to ask what’s happening to him getting thrown out of the window. “Nicolas! Where are you going?” They asked, clearly out of breath. “The yard.” He responded emptily. Sacarver stared at him. Nico never went to the yard, nor did he head out of the city walls unless to chase Clancy or the Torchbearer. The neon gravestones caused his eyes slight discomfort and the yard was where those dear to bishops (or bishops themselves, although they were basically immortal) lay. Since Nico quite hated those before him and his relatives, he never went there either. “Why..?” Sacarver questioned genuinely. “My affairs where the dead lay should not concern you.” Nico growled in response, sweeping his cloak over his shoulders once more, before stomping out of the tower. Sacarver was Sacarver, so of course they weren’t satisfied. Instead of leaving it at that, they followed him. He padded toward the gate, unlocking it with his claw, before setting paw on the soft grass. Sacarver managed to catch the gate with their tail and snuck in behind him. Hiding in the shadows, they tracked him to the grave closest to any sort of life other than the grass in this single yard, (which absolutely disgusted the remaining bishops) which was the weeping willow. This was where the kindest of the bishops, Keons, was buried after his execution. This caused a lot of confusion within Sacarver. Nico always acted like he hated everything and everyone around him, and if that’s the case, why go to one of the most infuriatingly kind bishops’ graves? Certainly not to honor him, right..? Right..? Nico sat down in front of Keons’ grave, his claws digging into the soft dirt. His tail swished around behind him as he stared down at the stone and ruby gravestone. Keons Single father, bishop of Eastern Dema A kindred soul, though a traitor to the bishops, may he rest in heavenly peace. /How odd./ Nico thought. /I suppose nobody was really there to plan what to put on the stone. It was likely up to the public to do so. Even if it’s more contradictory than anything../ He reached out his black, matted paw, before faltering. What was he doing, mourning a loss? If anything, he should be mocking Keons for trying to save Clancy. But even so, although he was an embodiment of depression itself, his emotions took over and he reached his paw out to the paw on the stone, it felt almost like Keons’ paw, though more rough, nothing like Keons’ soft paw pads and fur, due to its limestone origin. Oddly, his paw didn’t leave a mark afterwards. Just that same blank off-white color. He snorted a sigh and lowered to the grass, laying his head on his paws. Where did it all go wrong..? Was it when Nico warned Keons not to allow his emotions to deter him? Was it when Sacarver tried to kill Clancy as a child? Or was the breaking point just Keons getting Clancy and Josh out of the city? He looked up at the gravestone again, before closing his eyes. “You know, I remember when we were pups.” He mumbled, talking to nobody, knowing that, moon above, Keons wouldn’t hear him. “Innocent. Much before the walls were built. Before my father gained the role of bishops.” He chuckled. “This old body… I’m surprised I still find it easy to remember. To execute others.” But his expression dropped, his ears folding down again. “I’m surprised I was able to execute you. The others believed that fatherhood made you soft, but if anything, it made your ferocity grow, even if you didn’t remotely show it.” His paw found its way to the paw engraved in the limestone again. “I’m sorry it had to end this way, Keons. You put up a good fight. We are both old. We are all tired. But I think it’s time for you to rest… Rest peacefully, old friend.”